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India: Dengue Outbreak In Delhi Spreads Fear · Global Voices
Rezwan

Last week when India's veteran film director, scriptwriter and film producer Yash Chopra (80) died from Dengue fever, people became aware and panic spread in some parts of Delhi. Doctors were receiving calls from patients suffering from suspected dengue infection, seeking medical advice.
Delhi has seen an increased number of dengue cases over the last one month with several deaths. The Southern parts of the Indian capital were the hardest hit. Netizens were quick to report about the outbreak on Twitter:
DelhiSMENews: Delhi registers rise in dengue cases, 75 reported over weekend http://t.co/aQbVuL2i #News #Delhi
MitKat_Advisory: Dengue cases in Delhi touches 901: People travelling to Delhi must take the prescribed health precautions against dengue.
Mosquito sucking blood. Image by mrfiza copyright Shutterstock.
YearOfRat: Delhi reports 920 dengue cases. Saw at least 30 people in just one hospital yesterday.
However the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) says that there is nothing to worry about. On the other hand the Delhi government blamed the municipality and other civic bodies for lack of mosquito repellant activities and awareness campaign in that area. Cases of Dengue have also been reported in other parts of the country.
Netizens were also seen using Twitter and Facebook to crowdsource rare group of blood for the patients:
an_tyagi: RT @crazyabtsrk: Guys please help. O-negative #bloodneeded urgently in #Delhi. It's a serious case of #dengue. Contact +919811916830. Please RT @FRAZASAD
A Kenyan Doctor residing in Delhi blogs how fear creeps in as he looks for the rash that develops in the body of a dengue patient:
I can't stop checking myself out in the mirror and now, I am also seeing the offending mosquitoes everywhere I turn.  I see them whizzing silently by on the street (Dengue fever is transmitted by a day time biting mosquito). I feel them munching on my bum as I walk on the street, I am constantly swiping them off my back ( never mind that I am wearing a shirt). I think I must be suffering from Mosquito Induced Post traumatic Stress Disorder.
Robin writes:
I know that every mosquito will not cause the Dengue but I can't analyse that which mosquito bites me so whenever I see one it looks like snakes and I feels after it's bite no one will come to know that I'm dead or alive here alone in this new place.
I'm cleaning my entire room all the time and not letting water to log anywhere near, also using the mosquito killing sprays and all but they are not in control and comes to bite me don't know how.
And that's the reason Dengue is threatening me again and again, daily.
The blogger also posts some advice to keep away from dengue.
Dr. B. P. Tyagi says:
The sudden change in climate in Delhi with stormy rains will cause more attacks of asthma, dengue and malaria.
Untimely rain will further add to the menace of dengue, malaria mosquitoes’ growth.


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Madagascar: How Much Does a Political Crisis Cost?   · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Since 2009, an additional 4 millions people now earn less than $1.25/day, 500,000 more children have dropped out of school and 336,000 jobs were lost because of the prolonged political crisis.
Blogger Razoky summarizes [fr] the latest economic report on Madagascar.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Pakistan: Increase In Crime Affects Eid Celebrations · Global Voices
Rezwan

Omair Alavi reports that increase in crime rate in Karachi marred the recent Eid-ul-Azha celebrations.

author: Rezwan


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President Martinelli Addresses Panama After Repealing Law 72 · Global Voices
Ariel Moreno

The President of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, yesterday tried to put a close to a chaotic week which left four people dead. He gave a conciliatory speech inviting people to seek peace following serious confrontations in Colon in protest of Law 72. The law would have allowed the sale of land located in the (tax) Free Zone of Colon.
The press conference was broadcast on Panama’s national channel on Sunday, October 28 to a public anxious to see what the Head of State would say after a silence previously broken by only two concise tweets. These tweets were sent during his official visit to Japan which coincided with this crisis.
The Telemetro [es] website summarised parts of the President's speech:
“Tengo el corazón triste, por las vidas perdidas, los heridos, y los bienes saqueados, triste porque en vez de avanzar retrocedimos” fueron parte de las palabras del mandatario quien expresó que se derogó una Ley cuya explicación no llegó a todos. Recalcó que“la violencia nunca debe ser la vía para resolver nuestras diferencia, por el bien del país y de los panameños, estas confrontaciones no se pueden
President Martinelli of Panama by Flickr User LuisCarlos Diaz, CC BY-NC 2.0
During the speech some Panamanians on social networks demanded the resignation of the President, while several ridiculed the lack of apologies, and others saw a real opportunity for peace.
For El Joe (@hilmerj28) [es], for example, the President taught his opponents a lesson by delivering a conciliatory message to the Panamanians:
@hilmerj28: “@gonzalezbmariac: Buen mensaje @rmartinelli demostro mensaje conciliador Panama y los colonenses!” triste los lagartos opositores no crees?
But for others, such as Zeus Delgarte (@ZeusDelgarte) [es], the speech was too short:
@ZeusDelgarte: Mejor hubiera hecho twettcam RENUNCIA MARTINELLI MENTIROSO
For Luis Castillo (@Luis03Castillo) [es] the speech was the same that has been used in other governmental crises where everyone is guilty except the Government:
@Luis03Castillo: El discurso d @rmartinelli fue el mismo q uso tras de la crisis de bocas y los gnobes. Lo dije en la mañana culparan a todos, menos a ellos.
The Minister of the Presidency Roberto Henriquez (@RCHENRIQUEZ) [es] saw in the speech sincerity and the chance for reconciliation:
@RCHENRIQUEZ: Ley 72 derogada.Discurso sincero y conciliador del Pres. Martinelli. Ahora vamos a organizar el dialogo con las fuerzas vivas de Colón.
In contrast, opposition Deputy Beby Valderrama (@BebyValderrama) [es] believed that the speech was simply an opportunity to clean the Government’s hands of the matter and not ask for forgiveness:
@BebyValderrama: 9 días, 192 horas, 11,520 minutos y 691,200 segundos 4 muertos, + de 42 heridos y en 5 min pretende enlodar a todo el mundo y no pide perdón
Although the speech called for reconciliation, reactions in social networks have been diverse and conflicting. Perhaps this is not the last we have heard of this controversial law.

author: Ariel Moreno


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Russia: Assessing Predictions About the Coordinating Council Election · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

As RuNet Echo readers know well, the Coordinating Council's elections took place last week, and that body has already convened virtually through Facebook and once again in person. Weeks in advance of the vote, Global Voices offered projections based on Yandex's blogger rating index. After we published that forecast, the opposition's Elections Commission approved an additional 60 last-minute candidates. Those individuals have been added to our blogger rankings, and are now reflected in the updated data below.
In short, the blogger index successfully predicted 56.7% of the winners [ru] in the election's most important general civil category (17 out of 30 seats).
We wondered how this prediction method compares to other forecast approaches, so we also ranked the top-30-rated [ru] debate performances by candidates, aired on TV Rain before the election. That group of 30 individuals included 66.7% of the vote's ultimate winners. In other words, debate performances predicted ten percent more of the results of the election than did candidates’ blogging popularity.
Given that our Yandex blogger index was meant to test the influence of netizen activity, it's important to note that many of the winners missed by the blogger index prediction are still prominent online figures. Dmitri Bykov, Garry Kasparov, and Filipp Dziadko — just to name a few — maintain entire LiveJournal communities, manage their own web portals, and edit magazines with well trafficked websites. Because they don't author individual blogs, however, the Yandex ratings don't capture their online stature. That blogger ratings were almost as accurate a predictor as debate performance is particularly noteworthy insofar as the debates were scored exclusively by registered voters from the Coordinating Council's election. (Meaning that the same people who voted in the actual election were also responsible for ranking candidates in the debates.)
Without further ado, here is a comparison of the final election results, the predictions of the blogger-rating model, and the debate-performance model.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Sanctions in Iran: Who Stole My Medicine? · Global Voices
Arseh Sevom

This post by Peyman Majidzadeh was first published by Arseh Sevom.
The lives of six million patients in Iran are adversely affected due to shortages of medicine, as an immediate result of unprecedented sanctions. On top of the existing crippling sanctions, European Union ministers agreed to a new set against Iran on October 15, 2012. These new sanctions ban the import of natural gas from the Islamic Republic. They are framed as part of a dual-track strategy including both diplomacy and pressure. It is no secret to the international community that its strategy on further isolating Iran has devastating effects on ordinary citizens, and particularly on patients, in Iran.
The Washington Post highlighted the fact, stating:
“The effect [of sanctions], the experts say, is being felt by cancer patients and those being treated for complex disorders such as hemophilia, multiple sclerosis and thalassemia, as well as transplant and kidney dialysis patients, none of whom can afford interruptions or delays in medical supplies.”
Fatemeh Hashemi, head of the Foundation for Special Diseases, also voiced her concern over the situation of six million patients in Iran affected by banking restrictions affecting imported medicines. She emphasized that patients with cancer and multiple sclerosis are most affected by the shortage of drugs, but thalassemia and dialysis patients are also dealing with difficult situations. In a letter to UN General Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, she asked for “lifting the sanctions as they are political in nature and prove to the inexcusable detriment of patients in Iran.” The sanctions have seriously complicated banking transactions, causing a hike in prices, and even a “shortage” in some sectors. This is true even though sanctions do not specifically target the sale of medicine and medical equipment to Iran, Hashemi added.
Some argue that this represents the desired outcomes of sanctions. They believe that sanctions are working to bring Iranian officials to nuclear talks, believing this is the inevitable cost Iranian society must pay for change. The question remains what if all these costs do not pay off? Who is to blame for the loss and suffering of ordinary people in Iran? Is it the international community or the Iranian authorities?
Hesam in his blog [fa] provided a comprehensive media review on this topic and quoted a thalassemia patient saying: [referring to the shortage of medicine]:
“I think they want to get rid of us!”
In a blog dedicated to multiple sclerosis patients, MS Irani [fa], the author has provided a list of 50 difficult-to-find medicines and says that the list is growing in length on a daily basis. S/he argues that as a result of economic sanctions, a drug crisis is happening in Iran. The scope of this crisis is now limited to patients with certain diseases, who are a small fraction of the population; but the crisis will soon grow to the general population. S/he believes that the problem is with the provision of the raw materials for local production. The author reiterates the fact that it is not the medicine itself which is sanctioned, but the difficulties in financial transaction that lead to the shortage of specific drugs. S/he warns against the side effects of medicines or raw materials imported from China and India to fill the gap, adding that it is not only side effects and the shortage affecting access to medication, but also the sudden 30% to 40% rise in the price are the contributing factors to this crisis.
Nei C [fa] says:
“Sanctions are in our homes now. My grandma had an operation a while ago. I don't know if anesthetics are also sanctioned or not but when the nurse wanted to remove my grandma’s stitches she didn't use anesthetics due to its shortage. My grandma fainted out of pain… My younger aunt is suffering from MS. Not only does she have to pay much more than before to get her medicine, she also needs to deal with its shortage. The worry ‘can I even find my medicine?’ causes huge mental distress for a MS patient.”
Ahmad has talked about patients suffering from hemophilia and published a letter to the head of World Health Organization (WHO) in his blog [fa]. The letter addresses the hardship and difficulties hemophilic patients are facing accessing their required medicine.
Marzieh, in a blog post called “Sanction is a chic name for war” [fa] says:
“Sanctions might mean a rise in prices for us, but they are also taking the lives of many people. If someone dies in a war or an armed conflict, it matters, it makes it to the headlines, people take positions towards it; but it is not known how many people are dead so far as a result of sanctions, how many are killed, have lost their lives. War is noisy killing while sanctions are silent. It seems like they have muted a war that is happening. Perhaps not for us, but for those who are dealing with special diseases, sanctions can be even crueler than wars; because they are left alone with their problems. Their problems are those of individuals and not the public. Consequently their pain is not reflected in the news, analysis or human rights statements.”

author: Arseh Sevom


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Africa: The Challenges of Building African Platforms · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

John Karanja discusses the challenges of building African platforms:
What is an African platform? What does it look like? and perhaps more importantly what does it do? Will it address a Need or a Want? What exactly will make it African? Will it work elsewhere in the World?

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Brazil: Wikileaks Reveals Officials’ Disdain Towards the Guarani Kaiowá · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Brazilian investigative journalism website Pública reports [pt] on documents leaked by WikiLeaks on the plight of the request for land of the indigenous Guarani-Kaiowá. A cable from 2009 reveals disdain by local authorities from the state of Mato Grosso do Sul towards Guarani-Kaiowá's demands for the demarcation of the lands that farmers have cultivated for decades.

author: Sara Moreira


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China: Medicinal Alcohol · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Screen capture from YouTube video: ‘”The League” 3 Penis Wine Infomercial’
A netizen (Derek) has introduced the Chinese tradition of medicinal alcohol online, in particular the three-penis alcohol that apparently enhances a man's power.
There is a YouTube video showing a brand of three-penis alcohol available for sale in North America (via 300 Shots at Greatness).

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Ningbo Protests Point to Middle Class Discontent · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Over the weekend, residents took to the streets in Ningbo, Zhejiang, to protest against the expansion of a paraxylene (PX) plant in their city. Sophie Beach from China Digital Times highlights the middle class discontent reflected in the protest.


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China, South Korea: Gangnam Style in Chinese Universities · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Screen capture of the video: Gangnam Style at Nanjing Hehai University, featuring 3,700 dancers uploaded by Beijing Cream.
South Korea PSY pop, Gangnam style has landed in China. Around 3,700 people danced the Gangnam Style together at Nanjing Hehai University and a few dozen students danced on the stage of the Peking University International Cultural Festival… But Ooops, the stage collapsed. (Via Beijing Cream)


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El Salvador’s Tough Abortion Laws · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Voices from El Salvador highlights several stories of Salvadoran women affected by the country's abortion ban, ” which includes cases of rape, incest, and when the health of the woman is at risk.”
The issue is compounded by other women’s rights issue, including femicide (El Salvador has the highest rate in the world), sexual violence, economic disparity, and others.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Greece: Public TV Journalists Fired After Criticizing Minister  · Global Voices
Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni

On October 29, 2012, two journalists, Kostas Arvanitis and Marilena Katsimi, were fired by the Greek Public Television (ERT) after analyzing claims by British newspaper The Guardian of police torture of Greek anti-fascist protesters in Athens, and criticizing the Greek Minister of Public Order.
Here is the excerpt [el] from their morning television broadcast:
Kostas Arvanitis himself explained the reason for their removal in his blog [el]:
M. Katsimi: And here are the forensic findings for the 15 arrested people that The Guardian was writing about. For this case [Minister of Public Order] Mr. Dendias wanted to sue The Guardian
Mr. Arvanitis: Didn’t he?
M. Katsimi: He didn’t, because the findings show that it is indeed a felony.
Mr. Arvanitis: Is he going to resign now?
M. Katsimi: I do not think so. […]
Mr. Arvanitis: And now what? Will he say he is sorry?
M. Katsimi: I do not know ….
Mr. Arvanitis: Wow… that’s difficult for Mr. Dendias. And he is from the same place as you, from Corfu.
M. Katsimi: And he is a serious man, I have to say.
Minutes later, he tweeted [el] the news of their removal:
@karvanitis: τελικά μας έκοψε ο κος Λιάτσος http://kostasarvanitis.blogspot.gr/2012/10/blog-post_29.html …
@karvanitis: Apparently, Mr. Liatsos cut us off… http://kostasarvanitis.blogspot.gr/2012/10/blog-post_29.html
It's worth mentioning that ERT's recently appointed Director, Aimilios Liatsos, didn't contact the two journalists first to get information; instead they learnt about their removal from their Head Editor, as Marilena Katsimi stated to news website Zappit.gr [el].
In a public statement [el], Aimilios Liatsos accused Mr. Arvanitis and Ms. Katsimi of infringing journalism's Code of Ethics and defended their dismissal:
The General Directorate of ERT fully respects the rules of Free Press; it's proven in daily practice by presenting all views. However, it can not tolerate the violation of the basic standards of journalistic ethics.
The presenters of the daily magazine “Morning Information” on NET, Mr. Kostas Arvanitis and Ms. Marilena Katsimi, made unacceptable insinuations against the Minister of Public Order, Nikos Dendias, without even giving him the right to express himself, while it seemed that they commented on the case, prejudging the outcome of the judicial decision.
Mr. Dendias had announced in parliament his intention to sue The Guardian newspaper, as user Dimitris Bounias tweeted:
@DimitrisBounias: Greek media report #Dendias in parliament: “I will sue Guardian on behalf of the Greek state for defamation of our democracy”.
TVXS (TV Without Borders) website reported that [el] the journalists’ removal has become a political issue, as it started fueling intergovernmental dispute.
Social media reactions
On Facebook, many users are expressing their support to the two journalists through the TV show's Facebook page:
Margarita Zontou: Και οι μάσκες πέφτουν…
And the masks fall…
Kosmas Tseligaridis: Ντροπή και αίσχος στους αυλοκόλακες της κρατικής τηλεόρασης. Η λογοκρισία δε θα περάσει.
Shame and disgrace to the “courtisan flatterers” of State Television. Censorship will not pass.
Twitter users are expressing their disdain using the hashtag #Dendias, requesting, amongst other things, that Dendias should quit.
@monahus: Δένδια παραιτήσου #dendias
@monahus: Mr. Dendias, quit #dendias
@blacktom1961: Αντί να παραιτηθεί ο χυδαίος και προφανώς κρετίνος #Dendias, που εκτέθηκε μόνος του σαν τον τελευταίο ηλίθιο του πλανήτη, φιμώνει κριτικές.
@blacktom1961: Instead of resigning, as he exposed himself like the last idiot on the planet, scoundrel and obviously cretin #Dendias silences criticisms
User Rogiros compared [el] ERT's Director, Aimilios Liatsos, to Italian President Silvio Berlusconi:
@rogampf: Ούτε ο Berlusconi δε θα τολμούσε να κάνει τέτοιο πράγμα στη RAI σαν κι αυτό που έκανε ο Λιάτσος στην ΕΡΤ. #Dendias #Arvanitis #Liatsos #ERT
@rogampf: Not even Berlusconi would dare to do such a thing to RAI [the Italian public service broadcaster] like the one made by Liatsos in ERT. #Dendias #Arvanitis #Liatsos #ERT
Political parties and organizations have condemned ERT's action, while journalists at ERT/NET will launch 24-hour rolling strikes as of October 30, until the decision on Arvanitis/Katsimi is withdrawn.
Censorship hurricane
Other censorship examples have emerged recently. On September 25, a 27-year-old netizen was sent to trial after his arrest over blasphemy charges that he was maintaining a Facebook page entitled “Gerontas Pastitsios” (Elder Pastitsios), including satirical comments against Christianity and the religious figure Elder Paisios and his alleged “prophecies”.
On October 11, religious groups and neo-nazis protested against gay-themed play ‘Corpus Christi’ in Athens, deeming it blasphemous; they assaulted a theater critic and forced the cancellation of the performance.
On October 16, Greek public TV channel NET censored a gay kiss scene from the BBC TV series ‘Downton Abbey’. “The irony of the issue is that newly appointed director of ERT/NET TV is the former director of a private channel that constantly shows Myconos wild parties and naked women butts during summer”, Keep Talking Greece mentions.
The latest case of the two journalists comes only a day after the arrest of journalist Kostas Vaxevanis, whose magazine HOT DOC published a leaked list of over 2,000 names of Greeks with bank accounts in Switzerland.

author: Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni


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Iran: Four Facebook Users Arrested · Global Voices
Hooman Askary

According to several Iranian news sites,four people were arrested and charged with “propaganda activities against the regime and insulting officials in Facebook” in the southern city of Sirjan.

author: Hooman Askary


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Kenya: The Influence of Technology in Governance · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Will Mutua writes about a report investigating the use of Twitter by various presidential candidates ahead of the 2013 national elections:
This first report (a mini-report really) investigates Martha Karua’s engagement on Twitter: mentions, hashtags, sentiment analysis, key words used in tweets by her or about her and other such interesting tidbits from analysing her activity on Twitter.


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Military Parade in Turkmenistan · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Screen capture from Turkmenistan state-run TV.
A huge military parade was staged in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, on October 28 to mark the 21st anniversary of the country's independence. LJ user al_lex_ey and NewEurasia.net's Annasoltan offer a rare glimpse into the Turkmen parade.

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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Pakistan: Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy fired from LUMS · Global Voices
Kumail Ahmed

MIT alum and preeminent physicist Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy has been fired from LUMS (Lahore University of Management Sciences). Dr. Hoodbhoy's contract will not be renewed for the next term starting January2013.
Dr. Hoodbhoy's contract was buzzing news in the twitter community.
In LUMS he initiated a course titled “Science and the Contemporary World Order”. The course discussed the relationship between science and religion in our modern world. The reason for introducing this course was to bridge the gap between science and art students at LUMS.
Dr. Hoodbhoy believes that this course provided the ideological impetus to fire him from his job. In his letter to Mr. Adil Najam (Vice Chancellor LUMS), he writes:
“I have been left bewildered by the decision-making process under your watch, and the fact that during the meetings over the past year I was presented with an ever shifting set of reasons for why my contract would likely not be renewed.”
Hoodbhoy says that the reasons given for not renewing his contract are ‘illogical’. One of the reasons stated is that he gets a big salary! Another reasons states that Dr. Hoodbhoy is above 60 years and hence it's against LUMS policy to renew the contract. On this point, Hoodbhoy says that there are many professors at LUMS that are above 60.
Other reasons, as presented in the article, are either vague or open ended. He ends his letter with the following remark:
“It seems to me that while the reasons given for not having me at LUMS have been readily reinvented from time to time over this year, the outcome seems to have been decided quite early on.”
Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy. Image by Scularpakistan courtesy Wikipedia
Mr. Adil Najam, Vice Chancellor LUMS, says that there was no hidden ideological motive behind this act. He makes a different point. Speaking to Express Tribune, he says:
“Dr Hoodbhoy is not being expelled, terminated or fired…. [He] was on a contract which ends in December”
He fails to give a logical reply to Pervez Hoodbhoy's letter. He goes on to admire Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy's contributions and says such decision are hard to make and ‘anyone can agree or disagree with the decision’.
A majority of twitter users disagree with this decision:
@SarahMunir1: extremely saddened by the #LUMS vs  #Hoodbhoy debate. regardless of right or wrong, its sad that sides need to be picked even in academics now.
@zubartorwall: Murder of critical thinking! On the prestigious campuses in Pakistan the lovers of Taliban teem in. #Hoodbhoy #LUMS#QAU
Salman Sikandar tweets:
@SALSIKandar: @beenasarwar #Hoodbhoy is nothing but name of pride for any university and country. Shame on Pakistan and LUMS.
Syed Ali Raza Shah tweets:
@legelSubtleties: #Hoodbhoy is the only local name that comes to mind after Dr. Salaam. Both great scientists troubled in this country they called own. #Sad
An online petition was signed by 1215 people who support that Dr. Hoodbhoy should be given an extension at LUMS.
Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy has taught Physics at Qauid-e-Azam University, Islamabad for 36 years. He is also a recipient of the UNESCO's Kalinga, American Physical Society's Joseph A. Burton Award, and Abdus Salam Award in Mathematics.
Saad Durrani comments:
I hope we keep him here in one of our universities, rather than getting him exported.

author: Kumail Ahmed


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Panama: Statements After the Chaos Unleashed by Law 72 · Global Voices
Melissa de Leon

The impressions of Panamanians and foreigners living in the country were immediate after the chaos unleashed by the approval of Law 72. This law, without consultation, promoted the sale of land in the Colón Free Trade Zone, a source of income for the country and this province that practically lies in ruins after having gone unnoticed by the government. The protests against the law have left four dead and dozens injured and detained.
The blog Otramerica [es] describes the chaos that caused President Ricardo Martinelli to announce the he will appeal the law:
El Gobierno pierde el control de las calles de Panamá: Saqueos en Calidonia y en la Central, choques entre antimotines y manifestantes en la Plaza Cinco de Mayo, un colapso del centro de la capital de Panamá y el miedo a un desborde de la violencia social, han hecho que el Gobierno nacional cambie de posición por enésima vez en las últimas horas… Las imágenes no concuerdan con la ‘postal’ ideal que Martinelli trata de vender en cada uno de sus viajes al exterior y en sus populistas discursos en casa.
The government loses control of the streets of Panama City: ooting in Calidonia and in the Center, clashes between riot police and protesters in the Plaza Cinco de Mayo, a collapse in the center of the capital of Panama and the fear of an overflow in social violence, they have made the national government change its position for the umpteenth time in the last hours…The images are not in line with the ideal ‘postcard’ that Martinelli tries to sell on every one of his trips abroad and in his populist speeches at home.
While Erick Simpson Aguilera of the blog Pma507pty [es] says the following:
Balance de la Crisis en Colón: Tres vidas segadas; perdidas millonarias en los puertos de contenedores, zona libre, comercios, y turismo (puertos de cruceros); la buena imagen internacional del país que tanto nos ha costado construir, vulnerada por la exposición mediática en cadenas noticiosas internacionales que le han dado amplia cobertura a los disturbios en Colón, han sido el saldo de una crisis que pudo evitarse, si tuviéramos -que no es el caso- un gobierno responsable que vele por el bienestar nacional y mida sus actos con prudencia y altura de estadista.
Statement on the Crisis in Colón: three lives cut short; millions lost in the ports of containers, free trade zone, businesses, and tourism (cruise ports); the positive international image of the country that has cost us so much to build, violated by the media exposure in international news networks that have given widespread coverage to the disorder in Colón, have been the balance of a crisis that could have been avoided, if we we had -which is not the case- a responsible government that ensures the nation's wellbeing and measures its acts with caution and statesmen's height.
Erick also shared several videos [es] such as the following, which was produced by Abel Aronátegui:
Meanwhile, Lee from the blog Boquete Guide shares his impressions in the post “A black eye for Panama”:
What made the day bad was not the fact the people took to the streets, that happens here, too often. Taking to the streets is a way to get the government to listen to the people they are supposed to represent. The people of Panama are vocal when they feel the government is ignoring them. The bad part happened when the protests turning into looting and violence.
Several people have concentrated their analyses and reactions on President Martinelli's actions. Erasmo Elías Muñoz Marín from the blog Entre el Fuego y el Hielo [es] compares President Martinelli with the obscure character that inspired Bram Stoker to write the novel Dracula.
Martinelli un personaje de terror moderno: El Presidente es un vampiro moderno, que no absorbe sangre de la gente, sino dinero, vidas, tierras, y su sed de poder llega a tal punto que ha contaminado a sus secuaces para que actúen de forma tan irracional como la de él. Desde la crisis de Changuinola, pasando luego por el tema Ngbe Bugle, el conflicto minero y hoy día los recientes hechos por el interés de vender la Zona Libre de Colón, en dos años y medio ha logrado más muertes, y lisiados permanentes, por la represión estatal que todos sus predecesores juntos, bañando de sangre su gestión, llenando de rencor, luto y dolor a cientos de familias panameñas
Martinelli is a character of modern terror: The President is a modern-day vampire that does not absorb human blood but rather money, lives, land, and his net of power has reached the point that it has brainwashed his followers to act in a way as irrational as his. Since the crisis in Changuinola, later passing through the Ngobe Bugle region, the miner conflict and now the recent issue caused by the interest in selling the Colón Free Trade Zone, in two and a half years has achieved more deaths, and permanent injuries, by state repression than all of his predecessors combined, bathing his management in blood, filling hundreds of Panamanian families with rancor, mourning, and sorrow.
The blog Bananama Republic titles its post “Martinelli amateurism causes chaos and violence”:
It could very well be that the value of the CFZ land can be put at much better use for Panamanians, or for Colon, than by just collecting rent on it. If that is the case, Martinelli should have explained it, presented his plans, convinced everybody. But he never does, because all he and his goons want to do is steal.
Finally, on October 30th the blog Panama Guide reported that “the climate of anarchy is subsiding”:
It feels like the corner has been turned on the crisis this morning. Officers of the National Police have been scattering the “protesters” (criminals) who have been looting stores, breaking windows, and mugging people all over town. There was a brief focus of activity where it all started near the National Assembly building, with the police all clustered around the Assembly in a defensive perimeter. Once the looting started the police officers started to push back, and it's taken them a couple of hours to regain control.
The photo shown in this post is a screenshot from the video [es] produced by Abel Aronátegui

author: Melissa de Leon


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Philippines: Online Shame Campaign Against “Epal” Politicians · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

With less than a year into the 2013 national elections, netizens launched an online shame campaign against the common practice of Filipino politicians to attach their names to government projects that are funded or assisted by their office.
These politicians are labelled “epal,” a Filipino slang term meaning “attention grabber,” for using public funds and programs to promote themselves through tarpaulins and other publicity materials.
The campaign initiators encourage people to submit photos that expose “epal” politicos to the #epalwatch blog. An Anti-epal Facebook page has over 33,000 likes and dozens of submissions by concerned netizens.
They've also partnered with local IT company Kwan Initiatives for the integration of a new anti-epal feature into the smartphone mobile application Instapatrol.
Through this new feature, Instapatrol users can now only easily share photos of floods, traffic, potholes, and other everyday inconveniences but also photos of “epal” politicians.
The examples of “epal” images submitted in these sites range from the brazen to the ingenious. Here's a billboard by an alleged political dynasty in the southern Philippine province Davao del Sur described by posters as a “family portrait.”
Walls along main thoroughfares and side streets, like those of Manila below, are common victims.
So are government vehicles.
There's a Happy Halloween tarpaulin complete with the faces of government officials.
Disaster relief goods are meanwhile utilized for “early campaigning.”
The virtual spaces of Facebook and other social networking sites have also been invaded. This is President Noynoy Aquino's cousin who is also a senatorial aspirant:
Even peanut butter is not spared.

author: Karlo Mongaya


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Puerto Rico: Prejudice Between the Lines · Global Voices
Ángel Carrión

Félix Jiménez denounces in a short note in the digital magazine 80grados the prejudice that is revealed between the lines in the sports sections of the country's main newspapers when covering Orlando Cruz, the Puerto Rican boxer that recently came out as openly gay. Jiménez says:
To review articles supposedly supporting Cruz is to find just how weak that alleged solidarity really is, the poorly convincing “acceptance” of Cruz […] and the resistance to write about Cruz the same way other boxers are written about.

author: Ángel Carrión


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Puerto Rico: The Unwritten Rule of the Puerto Rican Press  · Global Voices
Ángel Carrión

Luisa García Pelatti talks [es] in her blog Sin comillas (Without Quotation Marks) about the alleged illegal use of government funds by the newspaper El Vocero [es] (The Spokesman) that was denounced by the newspaper El Nuevo Día [es] (The New Day). García, a former employee of El Vocero, said the following:
What El Nuevo Día published […] is, basically, what those of us who were working there already knew. […] What is surprising is that the newspaper broke an unwritten law among the Puerto Rican press: to not say anything about the competition, neither good, nor bad.


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Retio: A Free Application to Fight Drug Trafficking in Mexico · Global Voices
Periodismo Ciudadano

Diverse initiatives have arisen in Mexico that use citizen participation to report on the violence caused by drug trafficking, from the use of tags on Twitter to broadcast acts of violence that are censored by the media, to crowdsourcing initiatives like Hero Reports [es] used to geolocate reports of positive social behavior in the most violent cities in the country.
Retio is a free application that uses citizen reports to geolocate “information about shootings, murders and assaults, vandalism, blocked roads, police abuse and all kinds of corruption through Twitter.” Paula Gonzalo explains more about this application in an article from Periodismo Ciudadano [es] (Citizen Journalism).
What follows is the article [es] by Paula Gonzalo which is licensed under a NonCommercial Acknowledgement 3.0 Spain (CC BY-NC 3.0) Creative Commons license.
Retio
Technology has become a prominent tool in the effort to fight for the defense of human rights and freedom of expression. In this regard, there are numerous proposals for trying to deal with problems as serious as drug trafficking in Mexico. On PC [Periodismo Ciudadano] we have spoken of initiatives like El Blog del Narco [es], the wonderful work of Judith Torrea, with her blog Ciudad Juarez, in the shadow of drug trafficking [es], (a prize-winner selected by by Reporters without Borders for her coverage on the War against Drug Trafficking) or Wikinarco.com [es], who we also interviewed [es]. Now Mario Romero and Jose Antonio Bolio, two friends from Mérida, Yucatán, aged 29 and 24, are the creators of a free application called Retio [es] that tries to map the war against drug trafficking through the contribution of citizen reports.
The task is not easy but this application can be very useful for the citizens themselves considering that it allows the inclusion of information about shootings, murders and assaults, vandalism, blocked roads, police abuse and all kinds of corruption through Twitter.  On their website [es] you can see how this mapping application works through Twitter. To send information you just need to include the Twitter address of the site followed by the city in which you find yourself, for example, @RetioDF [es], followed by the description of the problem to report.
An automatic system classifies the report according to the type of problem. Anyone with a Twitter account can contribute with information and access the site to find out about major incidents related to their city but, for the moment, only iPhone and iPad users can download the application. For instance they tell us [es] on their website:
Los reportes son enviados vía Twitter a la cuenta correspondiente para cada ciudad (ejemplo: @retioMID para Mérida). El sistema obtiene la información geográfica disponible en el reporte y lo clasifica para su re-publicación. Desde la web los usuarios pueden completar el contenido del reporte, así como mapearlo, en caso de todavía sea necesario, mediante un sistema tipo wiki.
The reports are sent via Twitter to the corresponding account for each city (example: @retioMID for Mérida). The system obtains the geographic information available in the report and classifies it for re-publication. Using a wiki system, web users can fill out the contents of the report, as well as map it if necessary.
In comments from the Texas Observer Romero, 29, points out:
“The original goal was to organize and optimize Twitter to avoid different problematic situations that people face every day in Mexican cities,” Romero says. “Users in different cities started using hashtags to inform themselves of these type of situations, but it wasn’t an ideal solution – our plan was to build a better tool to resolve this and we’ve been able to do that. But we’re still not done.”
Its two creators began to work on the project in January 2011 but it was not until July that it was launched in Mérida, and the launch was expanded to the City of Mexico, Monterrey and Guadalajara, the three largest cities in Mexico in August. In February 2012 the application was launched for the iPhone and the coverage was expanded to all states.
As pointed out by Priscila Mosqueda, it’s striking that while the Mexico DF Twitter account [es] exceeds 62,000 tweets with more than 6,000 followers, in Ciudad Juárez [es], only two tweets and 14 followers appear, although according to Romero this is normal at the beginning.
The application is not only interesting with regard to reports about problematic events but also with regard to combating police abuse [es]:
Creemos también que es importante que  las autoridades se sepan vigiladas por la ciudadanía en todo momento y se comporten en consecuencia. Estamos convencidos de que esto ayudará inhibir las extorsiones, detenciones arbitrarias, abusos de autoridad y actos de brutalidad policíaca de la misma forma que la transparencia ayuda inhibir la corrupción en otras autoridades.
We also believe that it is important that the authorities know they are being monitored by citizens at all times and so behave accordingly. We are convinced that this will help inhibit extortion, arbitrary arrests, abuses of authority and acts of police brutality in the same way that transparency helps to inhibit corruption in other authorities.
In an interview with Periodismo Ciudadano [es] Judith Torrea spoke of Ciudad Juarez as “the most dangerous in the world since the beginning of the so-called war against drug trafficking”, perhaps that is why all efforts to actively involve its inhabitants in achieving a slightly safer life are welcome.

author: Periodismo Ciudadano


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Tajikistan: Students Forced to Love President · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

As the president of Tajikistan tours the country's northern province of Sughd, blogger Teocrat reports [ru] that thousands of students were mobilized to greet the president wherever he goes. This has become a standard practice in Sughd. In June, thousands of students were sent to the streets to greet the president's cortege in the capital of the province.


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Tajikistan’s ‘Million Dollar Baby’ Hangs Up Her Gloves · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Mavzuna Chorieva, Tajikistan's “Million Dollar Baby” who brought the country a bronze medal in the women's lightweight boxing at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, has hung up her gloves, at least for a year. On October 27, the 19-year old boxer got married and announced [ru] that she would not return to the boxing ring until after she has a child. “I love the sport,” she told journalists. “But family is more important to me.”
Global Voices Online reported on August 9, that Chorieva's success at the 2012 Olympics made her a “role model” for thousands of girls in the country. One blogger even proposed that the fighter could become Tajikistan's new “national symbol”. Chorieva herself promised [ru] that she would win gold at the next Summer Olympics in 2016.
After winning an Olympic bronze at the 2012 Games, Mavzuna Chorieva was greeted as a hero in her native town of Kulob. Image by ASIA-Plus news agency, August 18, 2012, used with permission.
Congratulations
The boxer's announcement has divided the internet community in Tajikistan. In the country where family is commonly viewed as the most important ingredient of a person's life course, many people are happy for Chorieva.
Underneath a news report about the boxer's wedding on Ozodi.org, ‘Salim from Dushanbe’ wrote [tj]:
Муборак шавад! Офарин! Канд зан! Кушапир шавед!
Congratulations! Bravo! Well done! Live happily until the end of your days!
Among many similar comments, an anonymous user added [tj]:
Дуъо мекунем, ки Мавзунабону бо чавони дустдоштааш хушбахт шаванду точикписару точикдухтарони далеру ватандорро ба дуне оранд.
We pray that Mavzuna and her beloved [husband] be happy and have many courageous and Motherland-loving Tajik sons and Tajik daughters.
Mavzuna Chorieva and her husband dance at their wedding in Kulob. Image by ASIA-Plus news agency, October 27, 2012, used with permission.
“Like everyone else”
But some netizens view Chorieva's marriage and her intention to have a child as putting an end to her sports career. Moreover, some people are disappointed that Chorieva, who was becoming a role model for the country's girls, has chosen to be “like everyone else” instead.
Blogger Shukufa wrote [ru] on Blogiston.tj:
С одной стороны, я её конечно понимаю. Она девушка, ей хочется обыкновенного женского счастья: муж, ребёнок и т.д.
Но с другой стороны, очень жаль, что мы теряем такой образец для подражания. Вернуться в спорт и продолжать одерживать победы после рождения ребенка будет уже, скорее всего, невозможно. Нашим девочкам будет не на кого равняться. Девочка из Куляба, которая всем своим поведением показывала: “я не такая как все”, теперь стремится доказать, что именно такая. Что она не хочет выделяться. Что хочет быть “как все”. Грустно.
On the one hand, of course I understand her. She is a girl, she simply wants to be happy as a woman [that is, to have] a husband and a child, among other things.
But on the other hand, it's a real pity that we are losing a role model. It will most likely be impossible for her to return to a sports career and continue winning tournaments after having a child. Our girls now don't have anybody to look up to. The girl from Kulob [Chorieva's home town], whose very behavior used to state, “I am not like everyone else,” now seeks to prove the contrary. That she does not want to stand out. That she wants to be “like everyone else”. This is sad.
Chorieva said she intended to return to the ring after having a child and to try to win a medal at the next Olympic Games. However, many people doubt that such a comeback will be possible.
Jasur Ashurov tweeted [ru]:
Таджикистан потерял олимпийскую медалистку. Что бы она ни говорила, медалей ей теперь не видать.
Tajikistan has lost an Olympic medalist. Whatever she says, she will not win any medal now.
Mavzuna Chorieva, greeted in her native town of Kulob after returning with a medal from the 2012 Summer Olympics. Image by ASIA-Plus news agency, August 18, 2012, used with permission.
Still, others believe that Chorieva has left sports, even only temporarily, under social pressure. In Tajikistan, boxing and other combat sports are traditionally denied to women.
Underneath a report about the athlete's marriage on news.tj, Faridun Bobokalon wrote [ru]:
Это её выбор. Мы ведь все знаем, что девушка-боксер в Таджикистане это нонсенс. Чориева, видимо, не хотела, чтобы на нее всю жизнь показывали пальцем. Вот и выбрала быть такой же как все.
This is her choice. We all know that being a female boxer in Tajikistan is nonsense. Apparently, Chorieva didn't want to have people pointing fingers at her for all her life. This is why she has chosen to be like everyone else.
Rare optimism
Amid such comments, there are also rare voices suggesting that Tajikistan's “Million Dollar Baby” might still have it all.
Mulex tweeted [ru]:
А может она еще вернется и всем докажет, что можно завоевывать медали и после замужества и рождения ребенка? Надеемся на это.
Maybe she will still return and prove to everyone that one can win medals even after getting married and having a child? We hope for it.


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Talking With Rebecca MacKinnon About ‘Consent Of The Networked’ · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Rebecca MacKinnon, co-founder of Global Voices, is a journalist and blogger with many years of experience, very refined in her opinions on the topics that she is involved with, which are usually related to knowledge society and freedom on the Internet. Last January she published her book Consent of the Networked, where she goes in depth into this subject matter. To mark the publication of this book, Global Voices contributor Bernardo Parrella wrote:
How do we ensure that the Internet develops in a way that is compatible with democracy? Given the strong push provided by social media to the recent uprisings in the Middle East region and elsewhere, how can people ensure that the same tools are not being used for government censorship and surveillance (often with more than a little help from Western technology companies)? And ultimately, how can we stop thinking of ourselves as passive “users” of technology but rather as “netizens” who take ownership and responsibility for our digital future?
The book was published in Spanish last June by Editorial Deusto [es] under the title No sin nuestro consentimiento (Not Without Our Consent) [es]. The Spanish-language edition includes additional texts of two ‘gurus’ of the Hispanic Internet: José Luis Orihuela wrote the prologue, and Enrique Dans wrote the epilogue. Orihuela blogged about it and posted the prologue online, which among other things says [es]:
El gran tema que plantea MacKinnon en esta obra es nada menos que la gobernanza de internet, y la exigencia de reclamar como ciudadanos digitales que las decisiones políticas y corporativas que afecten a la red no se tomen sin nuestro consentimiento informado.
No sin nuestro consentimiento es un amplio y detallado diagnóstico sobre las prácticas corporativas y los controles gubernamentales que están cercenando los espacios digitales de la sociedad civil, pero también un inventario de iniciativas en marcha que abren caminos para expandir los bienes comunes digitales frente al avance de las empresas tecnológicas y de los gobiernos sedientos de control.
The great topic that MacKinnon considers in this book is none other than the governing of the Internet, and the need to demand, as digital citizens, that the corporate and political decisions that affect the Internet should not be taken without our informed consent.
Consent Of The Networked is a wide and detailed diagnosis about corporate practices and governmental controls that are cutting off digital spaces in civil society, but also an inventory of initiatives working to open paths in order to expand common digital assets in face of the advance of technological businesses and governments thirsty for control.
Enrique Dans did the same and among what he comments on in the epilogue that he wrote, the following [es] can be highlighted:
si algo hace este libro es despertar la preocupación por comprobar hasta qué punto, si las cosas no cambian, tendremos que, cuando hablemos con nuestros hijos, referirnos a la red como a un espejismo de libertad que vivimos a lo largo de un par de décadas, pero que terminó por convertirse en otra cosa. Nunca, en ningún otro momento de la historia de la humanidad, hemos tenido tan clara conciencia de hasta qué punto estábamos siendo manipulados por un poder que, disfrazado de algo que llamaban democracia, se dedicaba a manejar a las personas mediante el uso de medios unidireccionales, de asimetrías comunicativas y de técnicas de manipulación colectiva. Si algo hace este libro es demostrarnos que, como debería ocurrir con el poder en el mundo físico, el poder en el mundo digital debe ser restringido, balanceado y controlado por los propios usuarios.
If this book does something, it is to evoke concern about realising up to what extent, if things do not change, we will have to, when we speak with our children, refer to the Internet as an illusion of freedom that we lived for a few decades, but which ended up becoming something else. Never, not in any moment in the history of humanity have we been so clearly aware to what extent we were being manipulated by a power that, disguised as something that used to be called democracy, spent time manipulating people through the use of unidirectional media, communicative asymmetry and techniques of collective manipulation. If this book does something, it is to show us, as should happen with power in the physical world, that the power of the digital world has to be restricted, balanced and controlled by the users themselves.
I spoke briefly with Rebecca about her book during the most recent Global Voices Summit in Nairobi, Kenya:
Perhaps it's not for sale in all Latin American bookshops, but in any case it remains a piece of recommended reading. Electronic versions are available in Spanish and English.

author: Juan Arellano


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Thailand: Bangkok Launches Bike Rentals · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

To decongest traffic and encourage people to use public mass transport system, Bangkok has recently launched a bicycle rental program. Richard Barrow attended the launch and provided ideas on how to make the program successful in Thailand.

author: Mong Palatino


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Thailand: Gun Crimes on the Rise · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Thailand's homicide rate has declined since 2006 but criminal cases involving guns are on the rise. Bangkok Pundit analyzes some statistics on gun crimes, homicide cases, and gun ownership in Thailand


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Thailand: Hotline to Help Children · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Childline Thailand Foundation is an NGO that runs a nationwide 24-hour telephone hotline to help children in Thailand. The “SaiDek 1387” hotline is also maximized to urge government compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child.


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What Exactly is a Hackathon? And What is Open Data? · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

In an earlier post, we announced the next regional hackathon for Latin America: Developing Latin America 2012 [es]. But it is likely that some readers are not sure what a hackathon is or above all, what it's for.
Martín Onetto of Red Users [es] commented [es] on the origin of the term:
el “Hackathon”, (es un) neologismo compuesto por las palabras “hack” + “marathon”. “Es ‘hacker’ en el sentido originario del término: no el que comete delitos informáticos sino el que es capaz de desarmar y transformar para resolver una tarea compleja”,
Wikipedia in Spanish has an article [es] that offers a good definition of what a hackathon is:
es un término usado en ambiente hacker para referirse a un encuentro de programadores cuyo objetivo es el desarrollo colaborativo de software. Estos eventos pueden durar entre dos días y una semana. El objetivo es doble: por un lado hacer aportaciones al proyecto libre que desee y por otro aprender sin prisas.
There is a great variety of projects to which programmers, or developers, can dedicate their efforts. In fact, there are also distinct types of hackathons, including those which deal with specific types of platforms, such as cellular phones or certain operating systems, or those which develop software using only one programming language or for a particular company.
Image from datos.gob.es on Flickr, under Creative Commons license Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Unlike the hackathons mentioned earlier, Developing Latin America is dedicated to social issues, such as health, education, public safety, transportation, among others. What you may be asking yourself is, how can developers deal with these issues by making computer programs? Here enters the concept of open data.
And what is open data? Referring again to Wikipedia [es] in Spanish, we find that it is,
una filosofía y práctica que persigue que determinados datos estén disponibles de forma libre a todo el mundo, sin restricciones de copyright, patentes u otros mecanismos de control. Tiene una ética similar a otros movimientos y comunidades abiertos como el Software libre, el código abierto (open source en inglés) y el acceso libre (open access en inglés).
The Open Data Handbook, a project of the Open Knowledge Foundation, lists a similar definition:
Open data is data that can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone – subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and sharealike.
In general, when we talk about open data or the opening of data, we are talking about government data, under the concept that the collection and administration of this data is done with public money and therefore it belongs to everyone. This governmental data usually covers almost all public activities to which the government as well as citizens dedicate money.
To find out more about open data, we spoke with Mariano Crowe, hacker and co-director of Escuelab [es], a learning platform and co-development space in Lima, Peru.
Not long ago, David Sasaki, of Omidyar Network, summarized [es] the main characteristics of open data in a post titled “The Eight Main Principles of Open Data (and Hipsters)”:
- Completo: todos los datos públicos está disponible. Los datos público no contempla datos privados ni limitaciones de seguridad o privilegios.
- Primario: los datos son recolectados en la fuente de origen, con el nivel de granularidad mas alto posible, no en forma agregada ni modificada.
- Oportuno: los datos están disponibles tan rápido como sea necesario para preservar el valor de los datos.
- Accesible: los datos están disponibles para el rango mas amplio de usuarios para el rango mas amplio de propósitos.
- Procesable por maquinas: los datos están estructurados razonablemente para permitir un procesamiento automático.
- No discriminatorio: los datos están disponibles a cualquiera, sin requerir un registro.
- No propietario: los datos están disponibles en un formato sobre el cual ninguna entidad tiene un control exclusivo.
- Libre de licencias: los datos no están sujetas a ningún derecho de autor, patenté, marca registrada o regulaciones de acuerdo de secreto. Razonable privacidad, limitaciones de seguridad y privilegios están permitidos.
AESIC, the Agency for Electronic Government and Information Society of Uruguay, leads the country in these issues, and on part of its website dedicated to open data, the organization comments [es] why we should care:
¿Ud sabe exactamente qué cantidad de dinero de sus impuestos se gasta en alumbrado público o en la investigación del cáncer? ¿Cuál es la ruta más corta, más segura y con vista más linda en bicicleta desde su casa a su trabajo? ¿Y la calidad del aire que respira en el camino? En su región, ¿dónde encontrará las mejores oportunidades laborales y el mayor número de árboles frutales per cápita? ¿Cuándo puede influir en las decisiones legislativas o gubernamentales sobre temas que le preocupan profundamente, y con quién debe hablar?
Later on, they mention that the use of open data on the part of citizens can benefit citizens themselves, many different institutions and even their own government, and they offer some examples:
- En el área de la transparencia, ¿Adónde va mi dinero? de Gran Betaña, es una aplicación web que muestra cómo el Gobierno gasta los recursos que recauda a través de impuestos. En Dinamarca y Brasil existen aplicaciones donde se puede seguir el proceso de legislación del parlamento.
- El área de información geográfica es una de las más avanzadas, existen múltiples aplicaciones de interés para el ciudadano. Autobuses de la ciudad en tiempo real, de España, permite conocer la ubicación del transporte público en tiempo real y los minutos que le restan al ómnibus para llegar a la próxima parada. OpenStreetMap puede considerarse la “Wikipedia de los Mapas”. Provee datos geográficos gratuitos y de libre disposición para todo el mundo.
- In the area of transportation, Where does my money go? is a British web application that shows how the government there spends the money it collects from taxes. In Denmark [da] and Brazil [pt], there are applications available that allow you to follow the legislative process in parliament.
- The area of geographic information is one of the most advanced, with many applications of interest to citizens. City buses in real time [es], from Spain, allows you to find out the location of public transportation in real time and the number of minutes until the next bus arrives. OpenStreetMap could be considered the “Wikipedia of Maps”. It provides free and unrestricted geographic data for everyone.
More examples of applications developed with open data can be found on this other link [es] from AGESIC, on this link [es] from the Regional Government of Andalusia, and on this link [es] from the Generalitat of Catalonia. In addition, in this post [es] from Ticbeat you will find 10 applications that various people would like developed using open data.
But, what can motivate developers -who normally have high-paying but demanding jobs- to dedicate a part of their free time to continue programming without compensation? To answer this, we return to Mariano:
Many elements have to come together to successfully and effectively work with open data, from a government that has a clear and decided vision to that respect, to a civil society that promotes and disseminates its use. But, in a way, programmers are the key element that make sure these types of initiatives move forward.
Are you a developer? Give your two cents to make the place you live a better place. While reading this article, have you come up with an idea on how to collaborate? Sign up [es] for Developing Latin America and participate!


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Afef Abrougui, Blogging From Tunisia · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

As many might remember, it was in Tunisia, as a result of the demonstrations in Sidi Bouzid, where the revolutions and uprisings, collectively known as Arab Spring, came into being. However, in spite of the revolution and the changes it brought about, some people still think that “nothing has changed.”
In this regards, it is illustrative what Afef Abrougui, a Tunisian blogger and activist, tells us about what people have experienced and what they are still going through in her country. It also helps us to know a bit more about a country which, when separated from the Middle East, we actually do not know much about.
Afef Abrougui, Tunisian blogger and activist
The interview has two parts, the fist one is a video recorded in July in Nairobi, Kenya, during the last Global Voices Summit; the second is a written interview conducted by e-mail. You can find both below.
Global Voices (GV): Alef, tell us something about yourself.
I'm student of International Relations at a Tunis based college. I worked before with the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and Index on Censorship. I do not have a personal blog but I have recently launched the Arab Region in Media Monitoring Blog. The blog is a project for the Young Leaders Visitors Program, which I recently took part in. The blog aims at monitoring the coverage of the Arab region in the most influential mainstream media outlets. I started with a blog to develop good content until I get funding to launch a website (hopefully.)
GV: What are your feelings about the protests against the anti-Islam film? Is it justified or is it an over reaction?
The violent reactions to the amateurish film outraged me more than the film's content. And I'm not the only Muslim who believes so. Nothing can legitimize violence. However, we need to take into consideration the socio-economic background at the reactions of these protesters who attacked the US embassy in Tunis. Most of them are unemployed, deprived, ill-informed and manipulated. All these factors put together can easily lead to the creation of a religious extremist.
GV: This takes us to religion, I know is a very personal thing, but, how important is religion for you in your daily life?
Religion, though important to me, remains a very private part of my life. I don't discuss it much in public. Since you asked me about religion's role in my daily life I would not mind answering you. People deal with stress in their daily lives in different ways by drinking alcohol, doing Yoga, taking a walk or partying. For me the teachings and values of Islam [honesty, tolerance, patience, gratitude, humility, generosity…] is what keep my daily life less stressful and brighter. I guess this illustrates how important religion is to me in my daily life.
GV: We used to think about women in the Arab world as oppressed and with very little freedom. Please tell us your personal and close experience on this.
This stereotype about Arab women is very common in the West. This stereotype is  disseminated by mainstream media which erroneously depict the Arab region as a homogenous entity that looks like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan (though the last two countries are not Arab), that oppresses women. Being born, raised and educated in Tunisia, I did not face any pressure for being a woman.
GV: Tell us about your city and your country. What are your favourites spots?
Well I'm in love with my country's historical heritage. Tunisia is a mosaic of Amazigh, Phoenician, Roman, Arab and Ottoman civilizations. This makes the country diverse and unique. Taking a walk in the Medina (Old city, in Tunis) is priceless for me. Tabarka, a coastal city in the north-west of Tunisia famous for its coral fishing, international jazz festival, and our forests are a good place for peace of mind.
GV: How do you see the future of Tunisia and the Arab Spring? What are the next important things that are going to happen in your country?
I think we as Tunisian citizens longing for democracy and the respect of human rights, are going to face tough and challenging days. It is urgent for Tunisia to have a new constitution as soon as possible (the country already suffered from almost two years without a constitution) and to set an election date. Also, as long as there are still thousands of Tunisians suffering from social injustices and deprivation, the country will still suffer from instability.
In the video interview we talk a bit about Afef's life, her work, her participation in Global Voices, her opinion about the Global Voices Summit, people's reaction to her writings, Tunisian politics and of course, her experience in the demonstrations in Tunisia.
If you like reading Afef's posts in Global Voices, you can read them from her author profile. You can also follow her in Twitter.
Acknowledgments:


text:
Arab World: Sandy Unleashes Wrath of God on Infidel America  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

As the world turned its eyes to New York and New Jersey to follow the news of hurricane Sandy, and the destruction it has caused, many across the Arab world debated whether the storm was the embodiment of the wrath of God – unleashed against the infidels and in retaliation to US foreign policy. Seriously.
Abdulaziz Alhies wonders why Sandy got more attention when it hit the US East coast [ar]:
ترى إعصار #ساندي ضرب جامايكا وهاييتي وكوبا والدومينيكان بعد.. ولا القلب مايشوف غير أميركا!
@azizAlhies: Sandy has also hit Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba and the Dominican too .. or does the heart not see anything other than America
Nizar Mohammed Othman links between the coverage ‘small’ episodes in the Sandy hurricane are getting, in comparison to the silence the atrocities being committed against the Syrian people are met with. He tweets:
يهللون لرجل ينقذ كلبا من إعصار ساندي، ويغضون الطرف عن أسد يبيد أطفال سوريا، أهو عشق الحيوانات؟
@NizarAbdalla: They are praising a man who rescued a dog during the hurricane and turn a blind eye to Assad eliminating the children of Syria. Is it a love for animals?
On Almoslim.net, Sheikh Naser Al Omar urges readers to be happy for the destruction Sandy has caused. He blogs:
إن أمريكا هي قائدة الظلم والطغيان والجبروت في هذا العصر، استخدمت أموالها التي مكنها الله _جلّ وعلا_ منها في ظلم البشرية في مشارق الأرض ومغاربها، وتاريخ أمريكا تاريخ أسود على كل المستويات ، وفي شتى أنحاء العالم، وخصوصاً فيما يتعلق بالأمة الإسلامية، فأمريكا أمة كافرة باغية محادة لله ولرسوله – صلى الله عليه وسلم – ومحاربة للمسلمين، دنَّست كتاب الله وأهانته، قريبة من كل شرّ بعيدة عن كل خير، حامية الإرهاب في العالم. .
من الذي يدعم إسرائيل ؟
من الذي يحمي اليهود بلا حدود ؟
من الذي أباد أفغانستان ؟
من الذي دمر العراق ؟
من الذي يأخذ خيرات المسلمين في مشارق الأرض ومغاربها ليعيدها لهم صورايخ وقنابل ورؤوساً نووية ؟
America is the leader of injustice and oppression in this era. It has used the money God has blessed it with to spread injustice around the world. It's history is dark, across all levels, and around the world, particularly when it comes to the Islamic world. America is an infidel nation, an enemy of God and His prophet and the Muslim people. It has desecrated the Holy Book, and insulted it; it is close to all evil and far from all good; and it protects terrorism around the world.
Who supports Israel?
Who provides unlimited protection to the Jews?
Who has wiped out Afghanistan?
Who has destroyed Iraq?
Who takes the wealth of the Muslims from the East and West and returns it to them as rockets and bombs and nuclear heads?
Al Omar continues:
إن ما أصاب أمريكا هو قدر كوني وعقوبة من الله _جلّ وعلاّ_؛ لطغيانها وعصيانها وجبروتها وظلمها وبعدها عن الله _جلّ وعزَّ_..
What has happened to America is its fate and a punishment from God for its oppression, disobedience and injustice and for straying away from God.
إننا عندما نرى هذه الرياح العاصفة تدمر أمريكا أو بعض ولاياتها نعلم أنها نعمة من الله _جلّ وعلا_ تستوجب الحمد والشكر والفرح
When we see those storm gales destroying America or some of its states, we know it is a blessing from God, which deserves thanks and happiness
On Twitter, such sentiments did fly. Rakan comments:
أكتشفت ان ماعندنا وسطية ، ناس يدعون على أمريكا بالعموم ، و ناس يدعون لأمريكا بالعموم ، طيب أدعو الله أن يكفينا شر الكوارث عالعموم #ساندي
@Rakankov: I discovered that we aren't moderate. There are people cursing America overall and others praying for it. Why don't they pray to God to protect everyone from natural disasters?
@OwaysKins adds:
من فرِح بـ #ساندي امريكا نسِي التفريق بين أبرياء شعبها الذين سيجتاحهم ، وبين أفعال حكومتها الذين سيتربعون في البيت الابيض ريثما ينتهي ..
@OwaysKins: Those happy about Sandy forgot to differentiate between those innocents who will be effected and the actions of a government, which will continue to remain in the White House after the hurricane is over
Kay, Sophisticated writes:
عقول متخلفه تتشمت في مصايب الغير، شو ذنبهم اليهال ولا الناس الباجيين في قرارات سياسيه وحروب عقدتكم ..
@k_a_world: Backward mentalities, happy for the calamities of others. What has the suffering of children and innocent people got to do with political decisions and wars?
Egyptian Abdulgawad Mohammed is conflicted:
أتمني سقوط#أمريكا الدولة المستبدة راعية #الارهاب في العالم لكني اتمني من الله ان ينجّي المستضعفين والأبرياء من هذا الاعصار
@abdelhawadmoha1: I hope for the overthrow of America, the oppressive country which supports terrorism around the world, but I hope God protects the innocents from this hurricane
He continues:
أشعر بالضيق ممن يخافون علي هلاك أمريكا ويدعون لهم بالنجاة ولم يرفعو ايديهم للدعاء للمسلمين المشرّدين في#بورما
@abdelhawadmoha1: It hurts me to see those who are worried about the demise of America and are praying for its safety. They did not raise their hands in prayer for the Muslims persecuted in Burma
Meanwhile, Egyptian Nasry Esmat concludes:
بعد كم التعليقت الغبية اللي قرتها من عرب عن اعصار ساندي اعتقد أن مزبلة التاريخ هتكون افضل مكان ندخله .. مش بسبب الحقد لكن عشان الجهل
@nasry: After all those stupid comments I have read from Arabs about hurricane Sandy, I think that the black books of history is the best place for us .. and it isn't because of the hatred, but because of the ignorance

author: Amira Al Hussaini


text:
Former Brazilian Model Turned Beggar Stirs Debate on Racism · Global Voices
Melissa Rossi

Tall, blue-eyed and wrapped in a blanket while roaming the streets of Curitiba in the south of Brazil, Rafael Nunes, a former Brazilian model (now known as the photogenic beggar of Curitiba) has gained international attention after his picture and story went viral on Facebook and Twitter.
Rafael, aged 30, ended up on the streets because of crack cocaine addiction and his story was only revealed after Indy Zanardo, a tourist, was approached by Rafael and asked if his picture could be taken. After uploading it onto her Facebook wall [pt], Indy Zanardo explained that:
Este rapaz chegou ate mim nas ruas de Curitiba e me pediu se eu poderia tirar uma foto dele e eu perguntei para que, ele me respondeu: Para colocar na “radio” quem sabe eu fico famoso :) … Na “radio” eu nao posso por mas aqui no mural do meu Face sim, e ele sera famoso entre meus amigos.
Photo by Indy Zanardo shared 54,000 times on Facebook
This guy came to me in the streets of Curitiba and asked if I could take his picture, so I asked what for, and he answered: to put it on the “radio” who knows I may become famous :-)… Although I cannot put the picture on the radio I can put it on my Facebook wall and he will be famous among my friends.
Besides the general reaction to his good looks and his sad drug addiction story, the debate on Rafael’s case has grown into a racism-oriented discussion about how Brazilian society only reacts with indignation to situations of social exclusion when those affected are white and ‘European-looking’.
Although Brazilians are one of the most racially diverse societies in the world, the top of the country's social economic pyramid is still widely occupied by white Brazilians and most social indicators connected to education, access to health-care and employment overwhelmingly privilege this group.
Blogger Robson Fernando Souza from consciencia.blog.br [pt] argues that very few people would have reacted in the same way if the case was that of an Afro-Brazilian beggar:
Em outras palavras, para nossa sociedade, não é normal ver em mendicância e miséria um branco de aparência europeia. Para ela, brancos merecem muito mais do que isso. Mas, por outro lado, negros nas ruas pedindo esmolas e implorando por dignidade é considerado algo mais que normal.
In other words, it is not normal for our society to accept a white person with a European aspect living in homelessness and misery. For us, whites deserve more than that, while a homeless black person begging for money and dignity is considered something normal. This is already tradition.
Fatima Tardelli, who blogs with Bule Voador [pt], argues that Brazil’s models of beauty are based exclusively on white patterns (i.e. fair skin, blue-eyes, straight hair) a clear sign dangerously ignored by society, that there is a hierarchical perception of race in Brazil. As an example of this distorted perception, she states that:
Outras pessoas em vários portais mostraram-se assustadas com o fato de um homem branco ‘bonito’  ser mendigo, chegaram a dizer que era golpe de marketing ou viral. Alguém já pensou do porquê desse ‘susto’?
Several people in the social media [sphere] have appeared shocked by the fact that a white and “handsome” man could be a beggar, and many even argued that the whole thing had to be a marketing move. Has anyone considered the reason “why” people are so surprised?
“Hung – Dreams burned by inequality. São Paulo-Brazil.” Photo by cassimano on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Another sign of this social denial is that the discussion on Twitter has revolved mostly around the fact that Rafael should be on a fashion show rather than on the streets, while very few picked up on the underlying social theme that renders a white blue-eyed homeless guy a sensation while there are thousands of black and mixed race beggars in the country that are “invisible” to the eyes of society.
On Twitter [pt], journalist Jéssica Batista (@jessicabatista) ironically pointed out this double-standard:
O mendigo de Curitiba foi pra rehab. Legal. Mas só pq era branco de olho claro e todos ficaram com dó. CLAP CLAP CLAP
The Curitiba beggar went to rehab. Cool. But everyone felt sorry for him only because he was white and blue-eyed.  CLAP CLAP CLAP.
Of course, it is positive that the social media’s reaction has helped to shed light on Rafael’s individual drama and might very well give him the opportunity to start over after he was sent to rehab. However, as Fatima Tardelli and other social media citizens have pointed out, the degree of surprise and indignation reactions regarding his situation, when most of the time people completely ignore issues related to indigents and their personal dramas, hints to a bigger social problem.
At its basis is a historical acceptance that race and poverty are mutually inclusive and thus “acceptable” if one is black, instead of being perceived as the product of centuries of social exclusion and narrow-sighted state policies that only recently have started to consider the question of race and inequality in a country where more than 51 percent [pt] of its population are considered of African descent.

author: Melissa Rossi


text:
Mexican Blogger Ruy Salgado Reappears, Ends Broadcast  · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Arjan Shahani writes about the case of Mexican blogger Ruy Salgado from el5antuario [es], who had gone missing in September of this year. On October 20, one of his former collaborators livestreamed [es] a 3-hour Skype call with Salgado, who confirmed that he was alive but also announced that he was ending his popular online broadcast.
The objective of his final message, he said, was to tell everybody that he was still alive but that he had decided to cease and desist in his civil disobedience broadcasting because he felt he could no longer provide a voice to el5antuario without putting his family in danger. In this decision el 5anto called himself “a repugnant coward” and asked others video-bloggers “to be very careful.”
[…]
In sum, the good news is that Ruy Salgado is alive and the bad news is even through anonymity divergent ideas are not safe in today’s Mexico.


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Colombian ‘Tiger’ Radamel Falcao, Nominated for FIFA Ballon d’Or  · Global Voices
Lully

The Spanish football club Atlético de Madrid has launched a campaign promoting Colombian striker Radamel Falcao‘s bid to become the 2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or.
The spot of the campaign, entitled “Falcao: A golden tiger”, contains images from the surroundings of the Vicente Calderón Stadium, where the traffic signs have been replaced by the picture of a tiger's head.
The video includes a musical background based on the famous song “Eye of the tiger” by Survivor, well known as the “Rocky III” movie theme. The version of the song that appears in the video is by Chiara Mastroianni.
The video concludes with the message: “Welcome to the Calderón: The house of the Tiger”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_9-ylB5imFk
The campaign has been well received among Colombians, who have been sharing [es] the spot and commenting the campaign on Twitter using the hashtag #UnTigreDeOro [es] (A golden tiger). Although most people have shown their enthusiasm [es], some express  skepticism [es] about the Colombian's chances to achieve this honor facing footballers such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, among others.
Tomás Chalela (@Tomastxa) [es] bewails the fact that Falcao is competing with Messi, whom he recognizes as a better footballer:
@Tomastxa: Falcao es un monstruo, pero no le alcanza para balón de oro. Tuvo la “mala suerte” de jugar en época de Messi que es mejor que todos, lejos.
@Tomastxa: Falcao is a genius, but that is not enough to become Ballon d'Or. He had the “bad luck” of playing in the times of Messi, who is by far the best of all.
Sebastián Bermeo (@SebastianBermeo) [es] supports Falcao and claims to be proud:
@SebastianBermeo: #QueLoSepaElMundo Falcao es un orgullo para todo un país y para mi tiene ganar el balón de oro.
@SebastianBermeo: #QueLoSepaElMundo (May the world know) Falcao is a source of pride for an entire country and, in my opinion, he has to win the Ballon d'Or.
On the other hand, many users have made reference [es] on Twitter to the declarations of the ex football player Faustino Asprilla [es]: “it is almost impossible for Falcao to win the Ballon d'Or while at Atlético de Madrid”.
But among many Colombians the support to Falcao [es] continues increasing.
Meanwhile, Radamel Falcao (@FALCAO) [es] has expressed his gratitude on his official Twitter account:
@FALCAO: “@Atleti: VÍDEO. @Falcao suena para el balón de oro. Cuidado, #UnTigreDeOro anda suelto en el Calderón: http://ow.ly/eMIBZ  ;)” Gracias!!!
@FALCAO: “@Atleti: VÍDEO. @Falcao a possibility for the Ballon d'Or. Attention, #UnTigreDeOro (A golden tiger) is roaming loose in the Calderón: http://ow.ly/eMIBZ  ;)” Thanks!!!

author: Lully


text:
Far-Right Party Performs Strongly in Ukrainian Vote · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

While the results [uk] of the Oct. 28 parliamentary elections in Ukraine are still being finalized (not a controversy-free process, of course), netizens are already discussing the anticipated outcome. Many are paying special attention to the far-right Svoboda Party (VO Svoboda, the All-Ukrainian Union “Freedom”) and its victorious leap over the 5% threshold necessary to obtain seats in the Parliament.
Before 2004, VO Svoboda was known as the Social-National Party of Ukraine. Its current logo, which features a Tryzub-like pro-independence gesture, was adopted also in 2004, replacing the “idea of a nation” sign similar to the one used in Nazi Germany.
One of the people behind this image revamp was Oleh Tyahnybok, who became VO Svoboda's leader in February 2004. At the time, he was also an MP for the fraction of Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc (which was his second term [uk] in the Parliament; the first one had been between 1998 and 2002 [uk]). In July 2004, however, Tyahnybok was expelled from the soon-to-be Ukrainian President's political force because of the xenophobic statements [uk] – anti-Semitic and anti-Russian – that he had made in one of his speeches.
Leader of the All-Ukrainian Union “Svoboda” Oleg Tyahnybok gives a speech during a pre-election opposition rally in Kyiv. Photo by Sergii Kharchenko, copyright © Demotix (26/10/12)
In the 2006 parliamentary elections, VO Svoboda received 0.36% of the vote, in 2007 – 0.76%. In 2009, the party won the Ternopil Regional Council election, defeating Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (GV text – here). This year, VO Svoboda signed a cooperation agreement with Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna Party – aka the United Opposition – shortly before the elections (Tymoshenko herself has been in jail for over a year now). According to the preliminary results [uk], Tyahnybok's party has 10.42% of the votes cast on Oct. 28.
Many of these votes come from people who disagree with or do not take VO Svoboda and its platform seriously.
Serhiy Petrov, member of the Board at Wikimedia Ukraine, explained [uk] VO Svoboda's success this way:
[…] Svoboda's result doesn't surprise me. They've been moving towards it for a long time: they always come out to rallies with their own banners, they distribute leaflets, newsletters – at the time when others rely on the ranking of their leaders. And it was this lack of transparency and systematic approach of the leaders of all the “democrats” that drew even those to Svoboda who did not share their ideology […].
LJ user dmytro noted [uk] that many of VO Svoboda's voters in Kyiv were “Russophone or mostly Russophone bilinguals, and there were also plenty of ethnic Russians”:
[…] For most of them, it was a protest vote – the capital's residents are too sick of the [parties that have been in the Parliament for a long time], especially [President Victor Yanukovych's Party of Regions]. And so, if Svoboda wants to keep these votes, it should be moving away from natiocracy towards a more democratic version of nationalism – without xenophobia and obscurantism. […]
Olena Tregub wrote this [uk] about VO Svoboda:
[…] I am against their racist and homophobic rhetoric, but it's nothing but rhetoric. And the real difference will stay – this is the only ideological party that believes in something other than money. By the way, all my Russophone Kyiv relatives are voting for them – a phenomenon!
Later, Tregub added in a comment [uk]:
I agree that Svoboda isn't a completely civilized party, but our country is uncivilized in general. Also, the way I understand it, those skinheads who are beating gays aren't running for parliament. [Svoboda's] program talks about lustration, about involving young people in state management […].
Journalist Sonya Koshkina posted this “endorsement” [ru] of VO Svoboda on the eve of the vote:
[…] Tyahnybok & Co. have a solid worldview. One may disagree with it (and I do disagree, on many points), but it's hard not to respect the fact of its existence. […]
Journalist Vitaly Portnikov replied [ru] to Koshkina:
Just as I thought: the [Weimar Republic]. 1932. Back then, however, they were voting for the original, and now they are voting for his interpreters ). And the result, fortunately, will look like farce. But it feels no better because of that.
Oleksandr Aronets, responsible for PR at VO Svoboda's Kyiv branch, joined the discussion started by Koshkina, first addressing [uk] Portnikov:
Vitaly Portnikov, it's hard to read your nonsense about NSDAP [the National Socialist German Workers’ Party], but I'd like to say that communism and socialism are capable of creating Hitlers, too. A few more years in this country without Svoboda and we'll have such a hitler – a collective Yanukovych, or Yanukovych's family. And then you'll be crying because you were so deeply wrong before.
Later, Aronets got involved in a conversation about nationalism in Ukraine and Israel, defending (somewhat clumsily) VO Svoboda's current “party line” on the issue:
Dmitry Rosenfeld:
NATIONALISM IS AN INFERIORITY COMPLEX
Aronets:
I wonder why all the Jews are nationalists then? :)
[…]
Nationalism is love for one's own, but definitely not hostility towards the other. This is why all Jews are such nationalists – they love what's their own best of all.
Rosenfeld:
Jews are nationalists? Nonsense. […]
Aronets:
Somehow I'm sure that there are only Jews in the Knesset, unlike [the Ukrainian Parliament], where different ethnicities are represented. […] Call it Zionism. We have our own analogy – the Ukrainian nationalism. […]
In these comments Aronets echoed his boss, Tyahnybok, who, at a post-election news conference, was asked if VO Svoboda was “an anti-Semitic party.” Here's what he responded [uk]:
I respect the Israeli citizens’ patriotic views. I find it worthy of respect that Israel has a Foreign Affairs Ministry that, through its statements, is trying to defend the interests of [the Israeli citizens]. I'd like to ask the Israeli side to have a similar respect for our patriotic feelings and treat with understanding the expression of free will of the Ukrainians. Because, perhaps, every party present in the Israeli Knesset is a nationalist party. Every single one. God willing, we'll have it the same way.
Aronets re-posted the video [uk, ru] of this news conference on his Facebook page, reiterating [uk] Tyahnybok's message less diplomatically:
Jews are always nosing around! Let them put things in order in their country, and we'll somehow manage by ourselves in our own!!!
And here's VO Svoboda's “party line” in the interpretation [uk] of one of the supporters, 22-year-old Yakiv Glovatsky:
[…] Of course, the frail [communists] will raise a stink – not the best times for their gay synagogue now! Of course, the useless liberals will be crying – because the Ukrainophobe politics will no longer have a chance! Of course, the spineless [Donetsk residents] are [scared] – because now they've got a serious Enemy, […] – the Power and Glory of Ukraine, its cultural vanguard, it's wolf-like Courage and a Snake's intellect! […]
VO Svoboda's banners at the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in Kyiv. Photo by Sergii Kharchenko, copyright © Demotix (12/10/12)
Aleksei Bobrovnikov, who considers [ru] VO Svoboda “a party that espouses the politics of ethnic intolerance, while being funded from the budget of oligarchs close to Yanukovych,” had a close look at the party's platform [uk] and highlighted [uk, ru] some of the least agreeable items on it. A few of them are listed below:
[…] To introduce “ethnicity” line in passports and birth certificates. To determine ethnicity through parents’ birth certificates, taking into account the Ukrainian citizen's wishes. […]
[…] To introduce criminal responsibility for any kind of manifestation of Ukrainophobia. […]
[…] To ban termination of pregnancy, except in cases when there are medical indications and a court decision [confirming that a rape took place]. In the Criminal Code, to equal illegal performance of an abortion to attempted murder. […]
[…] To ban adoption of Ukrainian children by foreigners. […]
Artem Chapeye and his Facebook readers placed [en, uk] Ukraine's situation into a broader European context:
Artem Chapeye:
according to exit polls, about 12% of Ukrainians voted for far-right, ex “social-nationalist” party.
it's even more than in hungary, right?
Oksana Dutchak:
no, [Jobbik] had 16%
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_parliamentary_election,_2010#Results
Mykhailo Kozak:
[Marine Le Pen] had 18% in France. :)
Andrij Gucul:
Honestly, I did think about the Le Pens, too. 16+[%] in the first presidential election and 18[%] in the second. What's worrisome here isn't really the percentage of those who voted, but the fact that [these forces] are in the parliament now.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


text:
Halloween an ‘Alien’ Holiday in Tajikistan · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Halloween Jack o’ Lantern by Toby Ord, via Wikipedia
We should teach the younger generation that Halloween is alien to Tajiks and all Muslims. Proud Tajik boys and girls who love their nation should never celebrate alien holidays.
Blogger Bachai Sako [tj] on why people in Tajikistan should not celebrate Halloween today.


text:
Japan: Election Tweeting Forbidden · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

Even though Japanese is the second most active language in the world on Twitter, for the country's political candidates, tweeting during election campaigns is forbidden. A group of young activists is seeking to change this situation.
Candidates are restricted from publishing documents or pictures, including online activities such as posting blogs or sending out e-newsletters, or tweeting about meetings. Kensuke Harada, who started the One Voice Campaign [ja] to allow voters to find more information on the Internet, writes in his blog [ja]:
有権者は、
応援したい候補者の応援サイトを作ってがんがん更新とかできない。
政策の情報がわからない。
そもそも、立候補者の情報がわからない。
こんなんで、まともな政治家がうまれるわけがない。
若者が政治に関心持つ訳がない。
日本がよくなるはずがない。
政治家を選ぶ、”選挙制度”がだめだ。
Voters are not allowed to set up a website to encourage particular candidates. Voters can't find information on candidates and policies on the Internet. This is not a good environment to produce a decent politician. Young people have no way to be interested in politics. This is no way to make Japan a better place. The current election system to choose politician is just broken.

author: Keiko Tanaka


text:
Protest Against Rohingya Persecution in Myanmar · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Protesters in Malaysia are asking the Myanmar government to end the violence in Western Myanmar and the atrocities committed against Rohingya people. Photo by Mohd Fazrul Hasnor. Copyright Demotix (10/25/2012)
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Puerto Rico: Political Parties Reap the Benefits of Social Media · Global Voices
Ángel Carrión

All links lead to Spanish language pages.
Social media play an increasingly important role in daily life. They have shown themselves to be extremely effective tools of communication, organisation and mobilisation, a fact which has not escaped the attention of Puerto Rico's many political parties. With varying levels of success, each one has sought to establish an online presence as a means of reaching out to their supporters and — even more importantly — of attracting potential undecided voters.
For the more recently formed parties, which do not boast the same vast financial resources as the two most popular ones, social media are the most convenient way to have an impact on large groups of people whilst keeping publicity expenses to a minumum. But the two largest parties in Puerto Rico, the New Progressive Party [Partido Nuevo Progresista] (PNP), which is currently in power, and the Popular Democratic Party [Partido Popular Democrático] (PPD) have also tried to reap the benefits that social media offer, although perhaps not with the same creativity as the so-called emerging parties.
The Traditional Parties
As an example, the PNP candidate, who supports the union of Puerto Rico with the United States as a solution to the perennial problem of the Island's political status, has, like the majority of the other parties, a Facebook page with more than 110,000 likes, a Twitter account (@pnp_pr) with more than 11,000 followers and an official YouTube channel. Their Facebook page is used principally to share photos and videos of their caravans all over Puerto Rico as well as TV spots, which also appear on local television. The PNP is the party that has attracted the most followers on social media.
The situation is similar for the PPD, which has spent years alternating in power with the PNP and is the oldest of the so-called ‘traditional’ parties. (Each of the traditional parties has existed for several decades, unlike the emerging parties, which were established more recently.) It also boasts a Facebook page, with more than 39,000 likes, a Twitter account (@ppdpr) with more than 10,000 followers and a YouTube channel. Interestingly, despite possessing a similar number of followers on Twitter to the PNP, they have not attracted as many fans on Facebook.
Overall, the online strategy of the three parties mentioned above mirrors a traditional political campaign, which could be summarised as a bombardment of overly optimistic and self-confident publicity.
The Emerging Parties
The Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party [Partido Puertorriqueños por Puerto Rico] (PPR) is the oldest of the recently established parties. The PPR took part in elections for the first time in 2008 and, surprisingly, received more votes than the PIP, which boasts many decades of participation and therefore more experience. But it would seem that the PPR has not been able to maintain this advantages considering that their Facebook page has a mere 115 likes. It must be said, though, that the party leader's page, Rogelio Figueroa, has more than 13,000 followers, a number comparable to Juan Dalmau's Facebook fanbase. His Twitter account, however, has only 2,000 followers, which seems to indicate that the PPR has yet to successfully make the most of the potential offered by social media. The tone of its publicity is markedly different to that of the three traditional parties, distinguished sometimes by its humorous nature.
In Puerto Rico, political parties tend to be defined according to the their stance on the country's political status. As previously stated, the PNP wishes for Puerto Rico to become the 51st State of the US whereas the PIP
Official call for poll workers
defends complete independence. The PPD demonstrates two currents of thought: the sovereigntists — who urge for free association, an option which would would allow Puerto Rico to choose which powers it cedes to the United States (such as defence), if any — and those who defend the status quo on the grounds that, owing to some subtleties in the interpretation of the current relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States, Congress did not retain complete power over the Island when the current agreement was made. The latter faction is the one that channels the PPD's official discourse.
It is therefore unusual that the PPR has chosen not to support any particular political status. The reason they give for this is that they believe it possible to resolve many of the country's problems regardless of its status.
The second of the so-called emerging parties is the Sovereign Union Movement [Movimiento Unión Soberanista] (MUS), which supports sovereignty by means of a Constituent Assembly in which ‘decolonising’ options [i.e. make decisions that would reduce the US's power in Puerto Rico] would be chosen as a solution to the problem of political status. This year marks the first time that the MUS will participate in elections. Their Facebook page has more than 5,000 likes and its Twitter account has more than 3,000 followers. But what has distinguished the MUS in their use of the internet is their live streaming of debates — broadcast to the general public before the MUS became a party — in which they explained why they support sovereignty. They have yet to place as much focus as other parties on producing TV spots, instead selecting snippets of interviews and podcasts to spread their message amongst potential voters.
But it is perhaps the final party to be mentioned, the Working People's Party of Puerto Rico [Partido del Pueblo Trabajador] (PPT), which has capitalised on social media the most. Just like the MUS, this year marks the first time they will participate in elections. In a matter of months and with scant financial resources they have successfully ingrained themselves as a hot topic in the Puerto Rican political psyche with a campaign that has very effectively brought the party away from anonymity. Despite that on Facebook they have a little less than 3,000 likes, the governer candidate's official page, Rafael Bernabe, boasts more than 17,000 likes, more than any other minority party (Arturo Hernández, the MUS candidate, has 870 likes at the time of writing). On Twitter the party has little more than 2,000 followers. The PPT has also failed to embrace any stance on the country's political status, believing it to be a divisive rather than a unifying issue, although unlike the PPR its candidates have expressed their personal preferences regarding the Island's status.
The three emerging parties have used social media not only as a marketing tool but also as a means to recruit poll workers and announce training programmes for them.