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Amid More Political Discord, Kyrgyzstan’s Media Suffers · Global Voices
Aiganysh Ibraimova

While Kyrgyzstan's parliament debates a new ownership structure of the Kumtor gold mine – the largest foreign investment in the country – protests in the Issyk-Kul province where the mine operates ensure the legislature's discussion take place against a fiery background. In reporting on the brewing political crisis, even reputable media outlets seem to take leave of their senses.
On October 7, between 300 and 500 protesters gathered in the center of the town of Karakol, demanding that the Kyrgyz government insist on a 70% stake in Kumtor under the new restructuring, rather than the 50% which the government has so far proposed in negotiations. The restructuring discussions between the company and the government began in January this year and are now reportedly close to conclusion. In May, riots near the mine in the eastern Issyk-Kul region and the seizure of a government building in the country's south rocked the fragile republic. A video posted on YouTube appeared to show the involvement of local criminals in inciting the riots.
Emil Kaptagaev, a former Presidential Chief of Staff and current governor of Issyk-Kul, had a strange day on October 7 (scanned photo taken from Gezitter.org)
Now the “K” word is spicing up Kyrgyz politics again. During the afternoon of October 7, in what began as a non-violent demonstration, the governor of Issyk-Kul province, Emilbek Kaptagaev was suddenly taken hostage in bizarre circumstances. During the ensuing hours, which saw police and protesters clash, rumors flew that he had been covered in gasoline and readied for immolation. Once freed, Kaptagaev clarified [ru] that the protesters had only threatened to burn him and “cut him into pieces like mutton”.
It should be noted that Kaptagaev, a former chief of staff to ex-President Roza Otunbayeva, is not a popular public figure. In a comment under an article where he describes his recent experience as a hostage, one reader, writing under the pen name “reader”, wrote [ru] the following:
О Боже, какой он бедный и несчастный! Зарезать прям его хотели…Да и вообще тебя надо было пристрелить или зарезать. а потом волкам на шашлык отдать. Хотя, если так посмотреть, то даже волки достойны лучшего мяса чем у лысика.
My God, poor unlucky him! They actually wanted to cut him… Well, they should have either cut you or shot you, and then they should have served you to the wolves like a kebab. That said, wolves deserve better meat than this baldy.
In parliament meanwhile, an ad hoc parliamentary committee has decided to renew discussions over Kumtor's ownership and also prepare a vote of no confidence in the government.
Dastan Bekeshev, a young Kyrgyz MP and one of the most followed Tweeps in the country found the committee's sudden flurry of activity amusing:
Как-то “во время” Алымбеков выносит вопрос по недоверию Правительству. Видимо хочет подмохнуть настроениям митингующим против Кумтора.
— Дастан Бекешев (@bekeshev) October 7, 2013
It is strange to see how “timely” Alymbekov's [member of the parliamentary committee] decision to issue a vote of no confidence in the government is. Apparently he [Alymbekov] wants play on the moods of protesters against Kumtor.
Bekeshev also reflected [ru] that without Kumtor Kyrgyzstan's political opposition would not have much to do:
Повезло оппозиции и ещё нехорошим силам – есть Кумтор, есть повод. А так пришлось бы повод выдумывать.
— Дастан Бекешев (@bekeshev) October 8, 2013
The opposition and other bad forces are lucky to have Kumtor as a pretext [for disturbances]. Otherwise, they would have to come up with something else.
Edil Baisalov, another former presidential chief of staff and an active Twitter user, argued during the maelstrom that the country's beleaguered prime-minister should leave the office:
Кстати, на тему: Сатыбалдиев должен уйти в отставку по любому. Не справился, не оправдал, не получилось. И не только по #Кумтор!
— Edil Baisalov (@baisalov) October 7, 2013
By the way, while we are on this topic: [Jantoro] Satybaldiyev [the prime-minister] should resign anyway. He has failed, has not met the expectations, has not been able to make things work. And it is not just about #Kumtor!
Among the republic's small Twitter community, #СпаситеЖанторо [#SaveJantoro] is now trending as a hashtag. The idea is to save Satybaldiev – by sacking him.
Protesters in Karakol held governor Emil Kaptagaev as hostage. Image by Kloop.kg, used with permission.
Mainstream media melts down
Although Kyrgyzstan is not a perfect democracy, its media enjoys the dubious complement of being the freest in post-Soviet Central Asia. Mainstream media coverage of events in Karakol, however, was poor. The state-owned first channel, OTRK, aired just a short report about the events, paying much more attention to President Atambayev's trips and his birthday message for the Russian President. The channel did not even mention the fact that the protesters in Karakol held a governor hostage.
Elvira Sarieva a Bishkek entrepreneur tweeted [ru]:
@vbbogatyrev кем бы он ни был – полпреда нельзя захватывать, власть должна сразу реагировать, не дожидаясь ночи; @KTRK_kg нормально освещать
— Elvira Sarieva (@Olvira) October 8, 2013
Whoever he [Kaptagaev] is – they cannot simply capture a government representative, the authorities should respond immediately, without waiting for the nightfall; and @KTRK_kg [state TV] should cover the news adequately.
As conspiracy theories whirled about the government being overthrown by ex-presidents and “outside forces” such as the United States, Vecherniy Bishkek, one of the oldest and most respected newspapers of Kyrgyzstan, posted a host of articles citing its “own sources” that seemed designed purely to fan the rumor mill. An article citing [ru] a mysterious figure “in the echelons of power” said that Emil Kaptagaev's capture was planned by his former boss, ex-President Roza Otunbayeva, acting jointly with former Prime Minister, Omurbek Babanov and, surprisingly, Kaptagaev himself.
Under yet another sensationalist article full of unnamed sources, a reader wrote [ru]:
Уважаемая вечерка,понятно,что на вас давят и требуют,чтобы вы размещали подобную информацию из “источников” . Но,помните,что для многих вы являетесь пока еще источником достоверной и объективной информации. Попробуйте объяснить тем,кто на вас давит и заставляет публиковать чернуху и желтуху, что вы просто перестанете пользоваться доверием и превратитесь в такой же отстой, как,скажем,аки-пресс.
Dear Vecherka [diminutive for Vecherniy Bishkek], it is clear that you are under pressure and [they] demand that you print such information based on “sources”. However, remember that for many people you are still a source of reliable and objective information. Try to explain to those who are putting pressure on you and forcing you to publish such rubbish that you will simply cease to enjoy the trust of your readers and turn into the same crap as Aki-press [a Kyrgyz news agency].
Atai Sadybakasov summed up the collective bemusement with arguably the country's leading print and online media outlet when he tweeted [ru]:
Вечерочка, солнышко ж ты мое, ты совсем ебанулась, да? :*
— Атай Садыбакасов (@AtaiFromKG) October 7, 2013
Vecherochka [even more affectionate diminutive for Vecherniy Bishkek], my sunshine, have you gone ****ing mad?
Below are scenes from the chaos in Karakol, where one protester threatened to set himself on fire.

author: Aiganysh Ibraimova


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China’s Air Pollution Monitoring Network: Too Little, Too Late? · Global Voices
Owen Guo

This post is part of our ongoing special coverage China's Pollution Problem.
In this screen capture from Youku, smog engulfed northern China during the October national holiday.
Heavy smog in northern China during the seven-day national holiday resulted in the shut down of more than 30 highways and a number of airport in Beijing and its surrounding areas.
To address public grievances and frustrations, the Chinese authorities reintroduced its three- to five-year plan to monitor air quality under the Air Pollution Control Program, which has been unveiled earlier in September. However, netizens are getting impatient with the situation: instead of monitoring, why not address the root cause?
The Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention said the nationwide monitoring network would be built within the next three to five years. The system will be charged with establishing correlations between air pollution and people's heath, and the first batch of the monitoring sites, a total of 43 and all in smog-prone provinces, will be put to work this year.
People are rather skeptical of the monitoring system. Hanlei Qiu Baoyang, who lives in Beijing, questioned on popular Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo if the monitoring network would really solve the air problems:
3-5年只是建立一个监测的。是不是还得10年去控制？对中国只能说呵呵了
We are going to spend the next three to five years merely setting up monitoring [system]. Are we going to spend another ten years controlling [the pollution]? China, I offer no comments.
Equally skeptical is “Shenyang Jixiangzi”, a resident from China's northeastern city of Shenyang. He wrote:
真不可思议啊，检测的数值明明都已经爆表了，却还说要等5年建立一个检测网络。请问有关部门是不是还需要10年后才考虑建立一个管理机制、15年后考虑建立一个考核机制，20年后考虑建立一个监管考核机制……,到最后都没有惩罚机制的考虑。
Unbelievable, even with the [air pollution] index already off the charts, they still talk about spending five years to build a monitoring network. May I ask relevant departments, do you still need ten years to build an administrative mechanism, 15 years to build an appraisal mechanism, 20 years to build a supervisory mechanism….., in the end, there will be no consideration for punitive mechanism.
“YiZhi Xianren”, a sales manager in southwestern city of Chengdu, roared:
我国今年雾霾影响人口约6亿。自杀行为，原由在哪儿？谁该为此负责？？能不能及时刹车，根本治理？？
The smog in our country this year has affected nearly 600 million people. [It is equivalent to] suicide. What was the reason behind it? Who should be held accountable?? Can we put a stop to it and get rid of it in a fundamental way??
Studies have already established the negative effect of air pollution on health. A recent study published by the National Academy of Sciences indicated that a person living in the north of China has a life expectancy cut short by five and a half years because of pollution. According to Xu Donggun, an official with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the lingering smog in 2013 has affected 17 provinces in China and 600 million people – nearly half the nation's population.
To tackle the situation, the State Council announced in June a set of initiatives to combat pollution, including improvements in vehicle fuel quality, downsizing the high-polluting industrial sectors, and a shifting toward renewable energy sources. The plan has been consolidated into the 2013 to 2017 “Air Pollution Control Program” released by the State Council in September 2013. The program, which will cost 1.7 trillion yuan (about 278 billion US dollars), set [zh] an ambitious target to cut PM2.5, fine particles most detrimental to human lungs, by 25 percent by 2017 in Beijing and its neighboring areas.
Back in January of this year, the US Embassy in Beijing announced on Twitter that the PM2.5 level was “beyond index”, which means a reading above 500. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, people should avoid outdoor activity at the levels between 301 and 500. A New York Times reporter compared the over 500 record-breaking hazardous level to an airport smokers’ lounge.
More netizens commented sarcastically about the travel chaos caused by smog during the recent national holiday. Yaochen, a Chinese mainland actress who is followed by 50 million Weibo users, wrote in mockery:
国庆长假期间，北京车辆稀少，市内道路畅通，呛人雾霾依旧。”主要污染源是机动车” 的谣言不攻自破，机动车终于得以沉冤昭雪…
During the long national holiday, there were few vehicles on the roads of Beijing, the traffic in the city was smooth, but still [the air] was smoggy and suffocating. The rumour that “vehicles are the main polluters” does not hold water, vehicles have been redressed and spared of injustice.
It is clear the the pollution is related with the pursuit of GDP growth, Shanghai resident Chai Xiaowei wrote, spelling out the relationship between smog and the Chinese economy:
雾霾成常态后下的中国，汽车消费的不可阻挡，环保、医药、新能源行业趋势向好，提升行业估值。
China, under the norm of smoggy weather, opens a straight road for car consumption and industries like environmental protection, medicine, new energy have got bright futures, there will be increased value in those industries.
This post is part of our ongoing special coverage China's Pollution Problem.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Owen Guo


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Chinese Netizens React: What is Patriotism? · Global Voices
Abby Liu

In the wake of the National Holidays, China's state media CCTV interviewed people on the streets and asked: “what is patriotism?”. You can imagine the huge gap in response between young and old (or conservative versus liberal). Offbeat China has translated some comments online and the discussion continues there, begging the question of just what is Patriotism to the average person? To some it's nationalism, to some it's progressivism, and to some it's an opportunity to take a sarcastic jab at the powers that be, one netizen said:
To be a patriot is to immigrate to reduce the country’s burden.

author: Abby Liu


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Conserving South Asian River Dolphin in Bangladesh · Global Voices
Rezwan

Manish Datta, an EDGE fellow, is working to save the South Asian river dolphins in Bangladesh from a number of threats. In a blog he explains that a huge portion of the coastal people don’t even know that this is a species of dolphin and consume or kill them as a fish.

author: Rezwan


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Costa Rica’s ‘Green Judges’ vs. Illegal Property Developers · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

In Culture Unplugged you can watch a short documentary called “Costa Rica, a Land for Sale“:
Between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, the smallest country in Central America is now the planet’s champion in biodiversity. However, for several years, the success of ecotourism has been driving Costa Rica into runaway urbanization. Today the country is for sale, regardless of biodiversity. That is why the state has created the Environmental Tribunal. A battle has been engaged, and the green judges have declared war on illegal property developers.

author: Silvia Viñas


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For the Russian Opposition Olympic Flames Burn Cold · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

A guard lights the Olympic torch with a lighter during the relay through Kremlin. YouTube screenshot.
Over a million people have watched a YouTube video [ru] of an Olympic torch being lit with a lighter, after the flame went out as it was carried through the Kremlin during the 2014 Winter Olympics torch relay. The incident is a study in the sort of information warfare most users of the Russian Internet are engaged in — whether they like it or not.
The news spread quickly spread through Twitter, people tweeting in disbelief and with quite a bit of schadenfreude:
Бляяяя!!!!!! Факел потух про забеге в Кремль!!! Его запалил заново охранник от зажигалки!!!!
— Тот самый Терновский (@dternovskiy) October 6, 2013
F*****ck!!!!!! The torch went out during the run through Kremlin!!! It was re-lit by a guard with a lighter!!!
Wrote the photographer Dmitry Ternovskiy. Lawyer Mark Feygin, of the Pussy Riot defense team fame, responded:
@dternovskiy Это знак. Снег в Сочи растает и привезут искусственный. Охранники с зажигалками и гастарбайтеры с папиросками…
— МАРК ФЕЙГИН (@mark_feygin) October 6, 2013
Its a sign. The snow in Sochi is going to melt and they'll bring in fake [snow]. Guards with lighters and gastarbeiters with cigarettes…
Feygin was referring to worries that Sochi might be too warm to host the Winter Games. Many Russians have opposed the games from the start, claiming that it is simply a vast scheme for embezzlement and an opportunity for corruption. Opposition leader Alexey Navalny quickly published a post [ru] saying that the 2014 torches cost over 200 million rubles (6 million USD) to make, and implying that the money was wasted, in a sort of metaphor of the failings of the Russian government.
Some netizens have noticed a similarity between the design of the 2014 Games torch and the logo of the Russian brand vodka. Anonymous image freely distributed online.
Opposition activist Roman Dobrokhotov joked in a similar vein:
Мало кто знает, но это все не случайно: олимпийский факел гаснет каждый раз, когда Путин спиздит 1 млрд. долларов.
— Roman Dobrokhotov (@Dobrokhotov) October 8, 2013
It's a little known fact, but it's not a coincidence: the Olympic torch goes out every time Putin steals a f*cking billion dollars.
The torch has gone out several more times since the first occurrence, and you had better believe that the opposition media is keeping track [ru] of exactly how many times it's been.
Unfortunately, some of the ridicule heaped at the Russian government and the Olympic project spread to the man carrying the torch that went out. The heavyset, older gentleman invited jeers from opposition blogger Andrei Malgin, who wondered [ru] why the torch was being carried by someone “fat, with breathing problems” (Malgin later deleted the statement). Another opposition blogger, Olga Leonova [ru], also commented [ru] on the carrier's “un-sportsmanlike” appearance and breathing problems.
As it turns out, and as pro-Kremlin bloggers were quick to gleefully point out, Malgin and Leonova were disparaging none other than Shavarsh Karapetyan, an Armenian, former champion underwater swimmer, and real life hero. Karapetyan's breathing problems stem from a bad case of pneumonia that he contracted in 1976, while saving 20 people from drowning in a bus that fell into an icy lake.
Dmitry Chernyshenko, the president of Russia's Olympic Organizing Committee, tweeted [ru] that educating people about “legendary” individuals like Karapetyan is the whole point of the torch relay. He also alleviated fears that the Olympic flame, which is supposed to be kept burning once it is lit in a Greek temple, is now of a more plebeian sort:
RT@ChernyshenkoRu Сотрудник не полностью открыл клапан. Следующий этап восстановили от лампады с аутентичным огнем. Такое случается. — Дорогая редакция (@lentaruofficial) October 6, 2013
A staff member didn't open the vent all the way. The next leg of the relay was relit from a lamp carrying the authentic [Olympic] fire. This stuff happens.
Chernyshenko was correct, as some [ru] bloggers [ru] were keen to point out, citing the London and Beijing Summer Olympics — apparently torches constantly go out during relays, and there is never a big to do, since there is always a backup Olympic flame. Of course, some people would prefer it if flame was no more. For example, the wacko religious activist Dmitry Enteo tweeted ecstatically:
В олимпийском факеле теперь обычный, а не идоложертвенный огонь!!! Слава Богу, который по молитвам св. Георгия Победоносца, сотворил чудо!
— Дмитрий Энтео (@dimitriyenteo) October 6, 2013
The Olympic torch now has a regular, not idolatry, flame!!! Thank God, who made this miracle with the prayers of St. George!
Deacon Andrei Kuraev, a prolific religious blogger, was on the same page [ru]:
Но седой Кремль и его святыни не пустили этот огонь в себя. Он погас аккурат в момент его пронесения под Спасскими воротами (с восстановленной иконой Спаса Смоленского). […] Огонь, зажженный в Кремле и обнесенный вокруг его святынь, можно передать всей России.
The hoary Kremlin and its shrines didn't let this flame within themselves. It went out at exactly the moment when it was carried under the Savior's Gate (which holds the restored icon of the Smolensk Savior). […] A flame that was lit in the Kremlin and carried around its shrines can be relayed to the rest of Russia.
Paganism-related explanations seem to be in vogue lately — just days before the torch incident another religious figure (a high-ranking monk) said [ru] that the Russian super-heavyweight boxer Alexander Povetkin lost a title fight against Ukrainian Vladimir Klitschko because of his interest in neo-pagan traditions.
Much like the extinguished torch, Povetkin's loss is also viewed by many commentators as some sort of portent. Former Kremlin insider Alexey Chadaev thinks [ru] that this type of looking for “signs” and indulging in “superstitions” is simply the result of the Russian opposition subconsciously trying to desanctify the Kremlin and President Putin. All such attempts, however, pale in comparison with good old capitalism. Zippo brand lighters now has the following cover photo on its Facebook page, along with the hashtag #zipposavesolympics:
Zippo Facebook page. Screenshot.

author: Andrey Tselikov


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Hong Kong Journalists Kicked Out of APEC After Questioning Philippine President · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

[The author of this post is a voluntary editor for the news site inmediahk.net, which is quoted multiple times in this report.]
Nine journalists from three media outlets in Hong Kong were kicked out from the venue of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bali on October 6, 2013 after they questioned the Philippines president over the mishandling of the 2010 hostage tragedy which resulted in the death of eight Hong Kong tourists.
The journalists asked President Benigno Aquino III if he would meet Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and apologize to the families of the victims. The Indonesian Communications Ministry official in charge of the media center for the APEC summit accused the reporters for “protesting” as they did not “speak normally”. Aquino’s communications secretary said the reporters had crossed an ethical boundary by aggressively questioning the president.
On the other hand, Chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalist Association Sham Yee-lan stressed that “it is a journalist's job to ask questions of public concern”, and that the barring of reporters for asking critical questions is an infringement of press freedom.
A group of journalists protest outside the Philippines Consulate. Photo from inmediahk.net
To make their position clear, the Journalist Association organized a protest in front of the Indonesian and Philippines consulates on October 8. Protestors chanted slogans, such as “I am asking, not screaming, OK?”; “We throw questions, not bombs”; “It is a journalist's job to ask”; and “Support journalists, shame on APEC”.
Chloe Lai, a former reporter and a current editor for citizen media platform inmediahk.net, attended the protest and explained in her commentary that the APEC's intention in evicting the journalists was to save face:
為了保護元首的面子，他們用嚴厲的手法，阻止記者繼續採訪，踐踏新聞自由。
記者是在酒店的走廊向行經的阿奎諾三世提問，當時阿奎諾有大批隨行人員在身邊，現場亦有保安人員把記者隔開。在這種情況下，記者要發問，當然要大聲提問，否則怎能引起對方注意？大聲提問是記者當時必須要做的，所以「大聲提問不合禮儀」，完全是只從總統先生的角度出發的藉口。
To save face for the president, they stopped the journalists from doing hard-hitting reporting and infringed on press freedom.
The journalists raised the questions to Aquino III in the corridor of the hotel, where he was surrounded by a large number of security guards. The hotel security staff barred the reporters from getting near. Under such circumstances, the reporters had to raise their voices to catch his attention. Such a move is necessary to fulfill the job of a journalist, and the accusation that “screaming the question is rude” is just to defend the nobleness of the president.
Lai also pointed out that both the Indonesian and Philippines government are typical examples of the Asian authoritative government model:
亞洲不少國家都是專制政權，政府貪污腐化，公民權利不受保障和尊重。當權者覺得記者和新聞是為權力服務，而不是監察權力。在某些國家，記者生命更隨時受威脅。印尼一名憲法法庭的法官最近被控貪污而停職。上星期他到有關部門接受問話時被大羣記者包圍，法官在聽到其中一名記者提問後，當眾打了記者一巴掌。記者說當時用法官以前對被控貪污人士的指責向這位法官發問。在菲律賓，兩個月前，在兩天內，三名記者被槍手開槍襲擊。菲律賓在無國界記者2013年新聞自由排行榜的179國家及地區中，排149。印尼排139。
Many countries in Asia are authoritative in nature, with corrupt governments and unprotected human rights. In these countries, the authorities expect journalists to serve them rather than monitor them, and in some cases journalists receive threats on their lives for their reports. Last week in Indonesia, a reporter was slapped in public by a judge because she raised a question concerning his involvement in a corruption case. Two months ago in the Philippines, three reporters were attacked with shot guns within two days. In Reporters Without Border's 2013 Press Freedom Index, among the 179 countries, the Philippines is ranked number 149 and Indonesia ranked 139.
As the APEC summit will be hosted in Hong Kong next year, Lai anticipated that Hong Kong police will fall in line with the heavy-handed style of APEC to repress protesters and restrict press freedom.
Tension mounted further when Aquino III refused to apologize to victims of the 2010 Manila hostage incident in his meeting with HK Chief Executive Leung Chung-ying on October 8 in Bali. On August 23 2010, a dismissed Philippine National Police officer hijacked a tourist bus carrying 21 Hong Kong tourists and 4 Filipinos in demand of a fair hearing on his dismissal. Negotiations broke down and the police arrested the hijacker's brother and thus incited him to open fire inside the bus and killed 8.
Some netizens turned their anger towards Chief Executive Leung. For example, on blog-hosting platform VJmedia, commenter “On Time Production” wrote:
阿基諾話政府無錯，梁振英你就停手唔追問下去？
阿基諾拒絕道歉的原因很簡單，就是政府都沒有做錯，為何要道歉？[…] 錯就錯在那個槍手而已。
聽到這樣的答案，所有香港人，都應該激到紮紮跳！明明兩年前菲律賓當局的調查報告，就指出由上而下，由市長到警方指揮官，再到那批特種部隊，都有做錯、有缺失，那個阿基諾竟然可以拋下政府沒做錯這樣的說話來玩弄香港人？作為香港特首的梁振英，你又有什麼回應？你有沒有即時引用菲方的調查報告，直斥其非？可惜的是，我們完全看不到你有這樣做。
[…] 會面前，你根本無做功課。當菲律賓總統在耍你和全香港人的時候，你卻沒有站出來，駁斥其歪理。如果你熟讀了那份調查報告，知道誰該為慘劇負上責任，你是絕對可以馬上反駁阿基諾的無恥言論。偏偏，連這些基本功課，你也沒做。你連勇敢站出來，保衛香港人的利益也完全沾不上邊。
Aquino said the [Philippine] government had done nothing wrong. How can you, CY Leung, take that as an answer and stop questioning?
The reason why Aquino refused to apologize is simple: because the government had done nothing wrong, why apologize? […] The gunman took all the blame.
An answer like that has outraged all of Hong Kong's people. Two years ago, even the Philippines’ official report pointed out a huge number of mistakes committed by a number of government personnels [who handed the hostage incident], including the [Manila] city mayor, the police chief and the special forces. How can Aquino play this trick on the Hong Kong people by saying that the government had done nothing wrong? As Hong Kong's chief executive, what is your response, CY Leung? Did you use the Philippines’ report to rebuke him? We did not see you do so.
[…] You didn't do your homework before the meeting. When the Philippines president played tricks on you and on the Hong Kong people, you did not stand up. Had you read the investigation report, you would know who should be responsible for the tragedy and you could rebuke Aquino's shameless talk. But you did not do this simple homework. You have shown no courage to defend the interests of the Hong Kong people.
To express their anger, some netizens set up a Facebook page calling on people in Hong Kong to boycott exports from the Philippines, including fruits and domestic workers. Political group People's Power [zh] even urged the government to impose visa restriction on Filipinos. Even though the suggestion is very unlikely to be implemented, the chief executive will face a round of public scrutiny for his apparent weakness in pursuing justice for the victims of the Manila hostage incident.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Join Us On “The Bridge” · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Some of the people whose work you'll be reading on “The Bridge”, starting October 10.
In July last year, at the Global Voices Summit in Nairobi, Aparna Ray and Nwachukwu Egbunike stood at the front of the long, narrow room in the building we'd christened The Giraffe House and posed the question: what if we expanded the writing on Global Voices to include “original” content?
In true Global Voices fashion, from their respective homes in Kolkata, India and Ibadan, Nigeria, Aparna and Nwach had been co-leading a virtual pre-Summit working group exploring the idea of going beyond our traditional style of “neutral” reporting. To a roomful of Global Voices contributors from 60 countries their question was a provocation.
In the nearly nine years that Global Voices has existed, we’ve prided ourselves on being curators and facilitators of global citizen media, taking pains to report as faithfully as possible on what others are doing online. Our commitment to neutrality has won us respect from journalists and researchers, along with a reputation as a trustworthy source. Surely this should be protected?
“Neutrality—what's that?” quipped some of the more wry individuals in the room. Others felt that introducing a more personal element into our stories could enhance our reporting. In their presentation Nwach and Aparna had raised the issue of how difficult it was to construct stories around citizen or social media buzz when events were developing at dizzying speeds. Perhaps this new style of writing could help us react more quickly to events. Others worried about the world's bloggers: by making a shift like this, were we leaving them in the lurch?
By the end of a long debate the outlines of a decision had begun to emerge, to be confirmed some weeks later by a survey circulated among the entire Global Voices community. We would create a new species of Global Voices article, clearly labelled and distinguishable from the other kinds of content, and corralled into its own section.
Tomorrow, October 10, we'll finally be unveiling that new section. We've called it “The Bridge“.
Why “The Bridge”? As anyone who’s ever created something—a new gadget, a startup, a Kardashian baby—knows, finding a good name is tough, though sometimes the best one is sitting right under your nose. When “The Bridge” appeared among the torrent of names suggested during our community brainstorm, those of us who've been with Global Voices for some time slapped ourselves on the forehead and said: “Well—duh.”
Bridges connect places, of course, enabling communication and the passage of people and ideas, but the word “bridge” also has a deep resonance in the history of Global Voices. At the very first Global Voices meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2004 the Iranian blogger Hossein “Hoder” Derakhshan coined the term “bridge blogger” to describe a type of person emerging within the nascent international blogosphere. The bridge blogger writes for a global audience, helping readers understand her place of origin in all its messy complexity.
There’s no shortage of personal essays, opinion and commentary on the web, and we wouldn't add to the supply unless we felt we could offer something of value. One of the unique features of Global Voices is the astounding array of countries represented in our community—countries where most of our contributors were born and continue to live and work. We believe there’s as great a need as ever for well-told stories about localities and communities not adequately or accurately represented by mainstream media. Through “The Bridge”, we aim to bring you ideas and conversations from people who have a genuine stake in the stories they’re telling—stories we hope will surprise and delight.
With that, we welcome you to Global Voices’ “The Bridge.”

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Teachers Strike and Protest on Spanish Balearic Islands to Defend the Catalan Language · Global Voices
Cristina Simón

The incredible Hulk protesting for public education. Illustration by Juan Francisco Mota.
After two weeks of an indefinite teachers’ strike on Spain's Balearic Islands, more than 80,000 people have taken to the streets to demand the withdrawal of a new education decree that would trade Catalan-language education in favor a new trilingual model.
On 29 September, a “sea of green” [es], the colour representing the side defending public schooling in the protests against the cuts, invaded the streets of the Balearic Islands capitals to protest against the regional government, presided by José Ramón Bauzà (People's Party). According to the Balearic Mathematics Society [ca], in Palma more than 80,000 people demanded the withdrawal of the new education law under the motto “Call for quality education”.
It was a continuation of the indefinite teaching strike that started on the Balearic Islands on 16 September, with more than an 80 percent of teachers participating [ca], according to the unions. The controversial decree proposes a tri-lingual education model (TIL), which displaces Catalan as the lingua franca in schools. The protest declares that the government is using trilingualism as a front to weaken the local language.
At a delicate time for public education, threatened by austerity policies and constant cuts [es], imposing the TIL model on the islands, where Catalan is an official language as well as Spanish like in Catalonia and Valencia, was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Over the past few weeks, people from various cities [ca] in Catalan-speaking regions have come together. On Twitter, the hashtag #VagaIndefinidaDocents [#IndefintiteTeachersStrike] has become a global trending topic.
The government's point of view
In the face of the most widespread [es] social protest during the current era of democracy on the islands, the government affirms that the strikers and protesters do not represent the majority [es] of society, and it is adamant in its decision not to retract the decree. Moreover, it is playing down the figures [ca] (while the unions speak of 80 percent of teachers participating, the education authorities record only 20 percent). The government is also threatening the striking teachers. Antoni Camps [es], member of parliament for the People's Party (PP) and member of the Balearic Parliament's Education Commission, said in an article [es] published by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo:
[…] es conveniente que los docentes que se «apunten» a la huelga sepan que hasta la fecha, a los instigadores de las mismas, léase sindicalistas apoltronados/as, NO se les descontaba de su sueldo los días que hacían huelga, pero este año va a ser diferente. Es decir, que estos señores/as que, únicamente, trabajan los días de huelga, verán recortados sus emolumentos al igual que el resto de «huelguistas».
It's convenient that the teachers who “show up” for the strike know that, up to now, the instigators of the protests, referring to the lazy trade unionists, are NOT unhappy with their salary on the days that they are on strike, but this year is going to be different. This means that men and women that are only working on strike days will see pay cuts like the rest of the “strikers”.
Images shared by demonstrators showing a spirited protest:
Foto espectacular de la manifestació d'avui. El verd a Palma. Bauzá aquesta és la majoria silenciosa!!! pic.twitter.com/O6Cljak7Di — Xisco Bellés (@labollanumero8) September 29, 2013
Spectacular photo of today's protest. Green in Palma. Bauzá, this is the silent majority!!!
Under the tags #29sTotsSomDocents [#29SeptWeAreAllTeachers], #Bauzádimissió [Bauzáresignation] and  #alesillesencatalà [#onthecatalanislands], among others, show a support on Twitter that rivals what is seen in the streets.
The TIL, which was passed [ca] in April 2013, establishes a trilingual teaching model where Catalan, Spanish and English are employed equally. This modifies the Catalan Language Immersion model that has been used on the islands for the last three decades.
During Spain's transition to democracy, normalisation of Catalan in schools was promoted on the Balearic Islands, like it was in Catalonia and Valencia. The 1986 Linguistic Normalisation Law [ca] assures the recognition and the progressive use of Catalan as the lingua franca in education and calls on the government to guarantee that this continues.
The trouble started in summer. Three head teachers in Mahon [ca], Menorca were suspended without pay in July because they refused to apply the TIL model. A support campaign [ca] was launched on Change.org, and on Twitter the hashtag #TotsSomDirectorsMao [#weareallheadteachersmahon] received expressions of solidarity. On 25 September, the government assented [ca] to reintegrating them, even though they remain expelled. Up to now, this has been the only conciliatory gesture with prospects for the strikers.
The Supreme Court of Justice received the appeals against the TIL from the unions UGT (Workers’ General Union) and STEI [ca] (Union for Educational Workers on the Balearic Islands) in early September. On 6 September, a judge ordained its preventive suspension [ca], but hours later, the Executive approved the model by decree without parliamentary debate, and it was put into effect immediately.
The government alleges that its model will contribute to reducing academic failure. Many doubt this claim, such as Jaume Lladó (@datiljlj), a maths teacher, columnist and activist, who explains [ca] in an opinion article in the Catalan newspaper Diari de Balears:
Quant a la llengua estrangera, també està demostrat que només s'hi poden cursar matèries curriculars quan s'ha arribat a un cert nivell de coneixement. En cas contrari, no s'aprendrà la llengua i, a més a més, s'aprendrà menys de la matèria o matèries en qüestió.
Regarding the foreign language, it is also said that students can only pursue curricular subjects when they have reached a certain level of understanding. On the other hand, students will not learn the language, and what is more, they will learn less of the subject or subjects in question.
If a student has problems understanding a subject in their own language, what advantage can introducing a new foreign language that they don't speak fluently bring?
Moments of solidarity
There have been many demonstrations of solidarity [ca] within the education community. Teaching platforms, social and cultural entities, institutions and famous people from the rest of the Catalan-speaking regions and Spain have expressed their support for the strikers.
The same citizens have gathered funds to compensate the reduced pay for the teachers on strike. Journalist Joan Canela (@JoanCanela), one of the journalists behind the project Mèdia.cat [ca], tweeted:
Més de 40.000€ a la caixa de resistència de la #vagaindefinidadocents I després diran q no són temps de solidaritat http://t.co/gtvIdtuJC0 — Joan Canela (@JoanCanela) September 19, 2013
More than 40,000€ [about 54,000 US dollars] in the resistance funds for the #indefiniteteachersstrike and soon they'll be saying that these are not moments of solidarity http://t.co/gtvIdtuJC0 — Joan Canela (@JoanCanela) 19 September, 2013
For the moment, and until the government and organisers sit down and negotiate, the strike will continue.

author: Cristina Simón


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Saying Good-bye to Baseballer Mariano Rivera · Global Voices
Ariel Moreno

Mariano Rivera.  Photo by Keith Allison on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Panamanian baseballer Mariano Rivera has retired from professional baseball after a successful 19-year career.
The occasion did not go unnoticed by Panamanians nor by Major League Baseball fans, who took to the Internet to pay homage to the top closing pitcher of all time.
At the age of 42, Rivera missed the entire 2012 season due to an injury. For some fans that signaled the end of the Panama native's career, but Rivera decided to return for another year, announcing that he would retire at the end of the 2013 season.
Pitching with the New York Yankees for his entire career, Rivera saved 43 games during the 2013 regular season (the Yankees did not qualify for the postseason) leaving his record at 652 regular season and 42 postseason games saved, becoming the pitcher with the highest number of saved games in the entire history of professional baseball.
The media in general has honored the career of Mariano Rivera, who has not only distinguished himself in the world of sports, but has also gained the respect of the general public, even while playing for a team as hated as the Yankees.
Rivera's popularity led baseball fans everywhere to offer him a heartfelt tribute at every stadium he visited during the 2013 season, bidding farewell to one of the greatest baseballers Latin America has produced in recent years.
The New York Times recapped what happened during the Yankee's final home game this season, the last of Rivera's career:
The Yankees, in their last home game of the year, were trailing the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-0. Rivera, the king of saves, was not going to get one more. But he retired four batters, and with two outs in the ninth, Manager Joe Girardi, in a neat gesture, sent Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte — two of Rivera’s teammates in some of the Yankees’ best years — to the mound. Rivera handed the ball over and then buried his head in Pettitte’s shoulder. For a long moment they stood still as the crowd cheered and cheered.
Colombian newspaper El Tiempo [es] recounts the humble origins of Rivera, who went from fisherman to amateur baseball player when he signed on with the Yankees:
Nació un 29 de noviembre hace 43 años (1969) en Ciudad de Panamá, hijo de Mariano Rivera y Delia Jirón, y creció en Puerto Caimito, un lugar pobre. De niño recogía piedras y las mandaba lejos y el deporte de los bates y las manillas lo practicaba con palos, guantes de cartón y bolas elaboradas con red de pesca. Soñaba con ser grande, aunque el béisbol lo jugaba más por diversión y le apuntaba al fútbol.
He was born one November 29th in Panama City 43 years ago (1969), the son of Mariano Rivera and Delia Jirón, and grew up in Puerto Caimito, an impoverished village. As a child he used to gather stones and send them flying, and he played the sport called “bats and gloves” with sticks, cardboard mitts, and balls fashioned from fishing nets. He dreamed of being great, although he played baseball more for fun and was more focused on soccer.
Jayson Stark of ESPN also devoted an article to the “real” Rivera, emphasizing the fact that he has set the bar very high, so high that it will be hard to meet or exceed:
Perhaps you're asking yourself: Who's the next Mariano Rivera? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. You're kidding, right? No current closer, who is still in his 20s, is even within 500 saves of him. Yep, 500. The only two current closers in their 20s who even have 100 career saves: Craig Kimbrel (138) and Chris Perez (132). We'll rejoin their pursuit of Mariano in — what? — about two decades?
Panama also paid tribute to their native son in various ways. Journalist Álvaro Alvarado shared a photo of one of the floodgates in the locks of the Panama Canal, painted with the number 42 (the number worn by Rivera for his entire career):
Homenaje a Mariano Rivera. pic.twitter.com/pFZGcnBhiR
— Alvaro Alvarado (@AlvaroAlvaradoC) September 29, 2013
A tribute to Mariano Rivera.
User Carl Gustav shared an image of Rivera's last time on the mound at Yankee Stadium:
Just this once, there can be crying in baseball. #MarianoRivera pic.twitter.com/dxqtLZQY5X#MarianoRivera September 27, 2013
John Cornyn expressed the sentiment of thousands of baseball fans who, while having little sympathy for the Yankees, see in Rivera one of baseball's best players.
@CaptYonah I hate the Yankees, but Rivera's greatness transcends team affiliation.
— Primary John Cornyn (@LibertarianTex) September 27, 2013
Susana Marina shows pride in the world's discovery of the existence of Panama and of Puerto Caimito (where the pitcher was raised) thanks to the excellent work of this player:
Hoy el mundo escuchó el nombre de Panamá y de Puerto Caimito… Gústele a quien le guste #Mo
— Susana Marina (@susanamarina) September 22, 2013
Today the world has heard the names of Panama and Puerto Caimito…like it or not.
Michiko Kakutani has written an article titled: “Mariano: A Zen Master With A Wicked Cutter” for the New York Times, in which he comes to the same conclusion that thousands of fans, baseball experts, and professional ball players have also drawn about this player's retirement: Rivera is moving on, “jogging into the future and retirement. And through the gates of Cooperstown [the National Baseball Hall of Fame] and into the forever of history.”
Farewell, Mariano.

author: Ariel Moreno


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Singapore’s Tuition Craze · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

More than 90 percent of Singapore's primary students are enrolled in private tuition or tutoring classes. Each year, parents in Singapore spend an estimated amount of 680 million US dollars to send their children to after-school tuition centers. Despite the government declaration that tuition is unnecessary, parents continue to enroll their children in tuition classes which have proliferated in recent years.
Singapore students of Nan Hua High School. Photo from Wikipedia.
Sky explains how the tuition craze started in Singapore:
Tuition used to be thought of as addition coaching meant for academically very poor students and whose parents can afford to spend money on hiring tutors for what schools are supposed to have already covered. Over time, as the income level of households rise, most are able to fork out the money for such private coachings. And today, it has evolved to become a million dollars industry that if your child is not having tuition, you belong to the rare minority.
As a parent, Amie thinks there is sometimes a need to ‘outsource for tutors’ to help in the education of children:
Now I have my fair share of struggle whether or not to send my children for tuition. I believe we are unable to avoid such a day to come if there's a need. Every child's learning ability and need is different. We just have to go along with the flow and help them along the way. The stress level of the education now is different from the past and school teachers expect parents to be involved in their own children's academic progress. If we as parents are unable to help them to excel further, we have to outsource for tutors to help them.
June believes tuition is not bad for children but it can lead to a ‘mindset of dependency’:
These days, schoolers face so much stress and anxiety. So much rushing around to the next thing on their schedule, so little time to dream…
I dream of a day when “tuition” and “enrichment” will no longer have a compulsory place in the everyday experience of a school-going kid.
I’m not calling tuition inherently evil either. It still has a rightful place in society, to cater to real learning needs of different children with different struggles. But a blind subscription to the entire “if-I-don’t-do-this-my-child-will-lose-out” mentality may cause your child to be bound in a mindset of dependency for much of his growing years or even adult life.
Students who are already doing well should not be forced to attend tuition, says @mummybean:
I can understand needing tuition to get some extra help where the student is struggling and would benefit from some extra coaching, but tuition for students who are already doing well? To me it shows that our students have developed a form of crutch mentality, where they feel like they need the tuition in order to do well when in actual fact, they should be perfectly capable of managing on their own. Aside from being a waste on resources, I think it's very unhealthy.
The tuition industry is thriving because parents continue to believe in the effectiveness of tuition classes, according to Hri Kumar
Parents who believe their children need more personal attention for whatever reason will look for solutions elsewhere. Every exam requires some level of preparation and practice.   Parents and students will always try and get an edge, and if they believe tuition will help, that is what they will do.
There are reports which suggest that tuition does not help. That may well be so, but the truth is that most of us are insecure, and will feel guilty if we feel we have not done all we can for our children.
Petunia Lee interviewed some parents who have kids enrolled in tuition centers:
They try their best to work within the system, spending $500+ to $1200 a month on tuition for ONE child alone. NONE of them believe that Every School is a Good School. None of them believe that tuition is unnecessary because they have personally seen their children's grades go to the top AFTER administering expensive tuition to their children.

author: Mong Palatino


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Underwear Bombardment on North Korea?  · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

A Swedish underwear brand launched a ridiculous Ad campaign entitled ‘Weapons of the Mass Seduction’ that pledges to drop 450 pairs of free underwear to the country voted the most in the poll on Oct 31 by an airdrop. North Korea, so far, was placed on top by garnering over 5,500 votes and news has generated many comments in South Korean online venues.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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White American Claims to Be Kenya’s First Female Maasai Warrior · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Mindy Budgor is an American woman from Southern California who has released a book, “Warrior Princess: My Quest to Become the First Female Maasai Warrior“, detailing her controversial attempt to become the first female Maasai warrior.
A photo of Mindy Budgor's book from amazon.com.
Mindy says that she traveled to Kenya from the US and lived among the Maasai who took her through the rituals of becoming a warrior. The Maasai are a Nilotic ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and Tanzania, known for their centuries-old traditions. Maasai men become warriors after going through rituals that demonstrate bravery, courage and patience.
Her journey has sparked intense debate online about cultural appropriation and insensitivity. TMS Ruge, the co-founder of Ugandan technology incubator HiveColab, shared his thoughts on Mindy's warriorhood:
I have been toying with the idea of writing a full blog post in response Mindy Budgor’s ill-advised Warrior Princess book that I linked to yesterday. Partly because I got so incensed by and felt I really needed to dig deeper to understand her reasoning for thinking this was a good idea. Then I thought, how many amateur NGO’s or ‘guilt of privilege’ projects have I heard of that started after a volunteer came back from a two-week trip to Africa or read about some injustice on the continent? Nearly all of them turn out to be spectacular disasters. So why should I waste any more energy on this one?
He then posted a comment left by a Maasai woman, Rarin Ole Sein, on a Facebook discussion group:
I have expressed how I feel about this piece elsewhere but I have to add my 2 cts to this discussion as a Kenyan Maasai Woman. What I find disturbing about it;
Of course the obvious ‘white savior’ aspect – she came, she did and now we all should be able to follow suit. Like we needed her to come show us the way. Who told her we want to be ‘warriors’? Who told her we need to be ‘warriors’ to make a ‘difference’?
The culture insensitiveness of it all – that she can just trot into the wilderness and claim to be a ‘warrior’ after a month WTF it takes about 15 years to be a Moran and even then some don’t make it – so what is she saying – the Maasai morans are slackers?
Insulting to the many Maasai women and Maasai Culture in general. Especially all the brilliant women working towards equality for themselves and girls. As far as I know Maasai women don’t become warriors and don’t want to be warriors But if they want to and choose to…they don’t need an ‘outsider’ to come fight their fight for them.
Africa is a Country described the background of Mindy's trip to Kenya, and went on to critique Western media coverage of her book:
Loads of our readers have been badgering us to blog about Mindy Budgor, a young white, middle class American from Southern California (her site comes with a health warning) who traveled to Kenya for a PR campaign for Under Armour sports clothing prior to starting an MBA degree and disguised the trip as a white feminist cause to end sexism among the Maasai. Budgor predictably published a book (Warrior Princess: My Quest to Become the First Female Maasai Warrior) and goes on about her “tribe” of Maasai. She now gets interviewed by glossy women’s magazines and even suckers The Guardian and the BBC (both of whom should be ashamed of themselves). The Guardian have chosen to indulge this sort of drivel plenty of times before despite always considering themselves better than other British newspapers, and we have to wonder why Mindy’s piece wasn’t posted to the Guardian Africa Network page if they really thought it was a piece worth publishing. It’s one thing to talk about getting past the bad old way of writing about Africa, quite another to show that you are really serious.
Young Maasai warriors doing the traditional warriors’ dance. Photo released under Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) by Wikipedia user Bjørn Christian Tørrissen.
A commenter on their piece, Rachel Kay Albers, expressed her total disgust:
I am absolutely DISGUSTED by this! And her personal website is the WORST. Apparently the “first female Masaai warrior” wears Chanel nail polish and washes her PEARL earrings in Smart Water. Are you effing KIDDING ME?!?!? Oh and 25% of book proceeds go to “empower” women. Yay! Let’s empower women of color to seek out “brave” middle class white women to be their heroes AND make money do that. “Go ahead! Appropriate my culture and get rich doing it! I’ll take 25% How empowering!!!!!!!!!!!!”
However, another reader, Micah, argued that Mindy pursued her passion of experiencing a different culture:
I think Miss Budgor pursued her passion of experiencing a very interesting culture and has done an incredible job at creating a universe around this experience. All of the naysayers are clearly jealous of the ability to take a brazen leap into a new journey, and are solely focusing on her “privileged” situation. I applaud Mindy’s efforts and I think the book was punchy and sheds light on a culture that I was not familiar with. Bravo Mindy Budgor!!!!!!!
April Conway, who said she spent five years in an African village, disagreed with Micah's argument:
I’m a nay-sayer (this book is horse-crap, and she’s exploiting the concept of the noble savage for her profit), and I can certainly say I am not jealous of her. I think her a fool. I’ve spent over 5 years living in an African village, learning from them without trying to change their culture and without exploiting their culture for my profit. I think you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Read some of the Maasai women and the Kenyan peoples responses to this article and maaaybe you’ll get a clue. Seriously, three months in a place is just a flashy vacation – to promote it as otherwise is moronic (Not Moran-ic).
In another post, Africa is a Country shared two responses from their readers who happen to be Maasai women. aerofloatbo wrote:
I am a Maasai woman (from Kenya) and we have seen these (white) women come and go. We have Maasai women members of parliament, doctors, lawyers, professors, civil servants, teachers, nurses, business owners etc., but of course, we don’t exist in the eyes of fools like this Mindy woman whose sole purpose always appears to be to fetishize Maasai men (our sons, brothers, fathers and husbands) in one way or another. How many books are going to be written by white women about how they came and fell in love with a Maasai man, gave up everything for him, helped poor ignorant Maasai women, taught Maasai men how to behave etc, etc. We are sooooo fed up! I’m surprised it was an American this time because usually, the British are the WORST culprits.
Another Maasai reader, Leah, said she was offended by the book:
As a Maasai woman I feel very offended by Budgor’s attempt to gain fame at the expense of Maasai culture. There is nothing unique she has done that a regular Maasai woman hasn’t done and/or experienced and we don’t call ourselves warriers for a good reason. It’s like me coming to America and claiming I am the first female football player because I spent two weeks at training camp!
A discussion thread on Africa is a Country Facebook page, “Please.Stop:With.This.Nonsense ( “How Did This California Girl Become a Real Warrior Princess?”)“, has attracted 62 comments and 66 likes at the time of writing this post. Adding a comment on the thread, Chad McClymonds complained:
Oh my God. The worst part is, so many great African writers get rejected by publishers, yet this bullshit gets published and dispersed widely. I only wish it was a parody it is that God awful absurd
Laurah Sambuli made fun of her:
I read through hoping to read that she had killed a lion with her spear or bare hands (that's how it used to be to become a Maasai warrior). And she claims to have succeeded in changing the Maasai gender policy. Ntsk!
Tunan Nyokabi noted:
what a nonsense! Laurah Sambuli that's how fake these books by people who have no idea about our cultures continue to spread stereotypes
Following widespread criticism about her attempt to become a female Maasai warrior, Mindy used her website to explain herself:
I never intended to fall in love with Africa, nor find myself living among the Maasai. But I did and I have. During my first trip to Kenya, as a volunteer in a women’s clinic, I met an inspiring man named Winston. This Maasai warrior explained the rites of passage to become a warrior, a path closed to women because we were not strong enough or brave enough, but one I could try to master.This conjured up feelings of my own inadequacies, physical limitations, and lack of confidence in the unknown. Perhaps I would have forgotten about Winston’s words if I hadn’t met a Maasai woman named Faith later that day; she told me that women in her tribe have wanted the right to become warriors for generations. Faith explained that women longed to receive this status, and thus ultimate respect in the tribe. She took the offer seriously and encouraged me to understand its significance.
She concluded:
In the end, a group of elders decided to take it upon themselves to work to allow girls the right to become warriors because they believed it was in the best interest of the preservation of the culture. Today they are working to allow twenty Maasai girls in Loita to be part of the next warrior class.
My experience with the Maasai was transformative. I was pushed in my physical and mental capacity on a daily basis, despite wanting to wave the white flag on countless occasions. It seemed to me that the Maasai didn’t care that I was white, Jewish, or came from a family of financial means.
My intention in sharing my story was not to stir up controversy and surely not anger, but to build awareness for the tribe and show that even the least auspicious person can allow her or himself the freedom to explore other perspectives.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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A Call to Rekindle Immigration Reform Amidst United States Government Shutdown · Global Voices
Robert Valencia

Hundreds of Hispanic families took to the streets to call for comprehensive immigration reform. Photo courtesy of Alliance for Citizenship.
The “National Day of Dignity and Respect” on October 5, 2013 was a huge event in the United States involving hundreds of vigils, marches and pilgrimages across the country that demanded definitive immigration reform.
One of the largest gatherings took place at Washington DC's National Mall.
The shutdown of government operations that began on the October 1 has threatened the country's economic stability. As Republican and Democrat Members of Congress have not reached agreement on a spending plan for the new financial year and the start of the so-called “Obamacare” healthcare program, important issues like immigration reform have been in danger of once again being left behind. In the midst of this government chaos, the Democrats in the Lower House presented their own bill on the 2nd of October aiming to improve immigration law, while also calling for Republican Members of Congress to take immediate action.
The national march received support from figures such as the Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emmanuel and the Governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn, who came together in Chicago's Union Park to request an end to deportations and to vote for proposed changes to federal immigration law. Another march is expected to take place on October 8, called “Camino Americano”, which aims to bring together thousands of people in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
On Twitter, the hashtag #TimeIsNow was created for the national march, and these were some of the most notable comments:
The cost of @SpeakerBoehner‘s inaction on #immigration reform? 112,684 deportations and counting: http://t.co/KRrK6bEKcz #Oct5 #TimeIsNow
— Gabe Ortíz (@TUSK81) October 5, 2013
The #timeisnow for Republican House members who support real #immigration reform to step up. No excuses http://t.co/QyHyVxYVTf
— Frank Sharry (@FrankSharry) October 3, 2013

author: Robert Valencia


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A Tour of Typical Argentine Food · Global Voices
Laura Schneider

Argentine asado. Photo by Laura Schneider
Typical Argentine food is without doubt a topic of great interest for tourists and visitors, but between pastas and meats many people wonder: What is the most typical food of Argentina?
According to Wikipedia in Spanish [es]:
La  se caracteriza y diferencia de las gastronomías del resto de América Latina por grandes aportes europeos. En Argentina se combinan perfectamente, la gastronomía criolla, italiana, española, e incluso algunos pequeños influjos del África subsahariana, debido a los esclavos llevados desde África al territorio que actualmente es Argentina.
The  is characterized and different from the cuisines in the rest of Latin America because of great European contributions. In Argentina the iberoamerican, Italian, Spanish, and even some small influences from Sub-saharan Africa, due to the slaves taken from Africa to the territory which is present-day Argentina, blend perfectly together.
In the blog Animales de ruta [es],Guillote asks [es]:
¿Existe la comida tradicional argentina? Esta pregunta ronda mi cabeza desde que empecé con mis viajes a través del mundo conociendo diferentes culturas. Muchos países tienen sus comidas típicas y tradicionales. Pero para empezar el debate, tengo que dar mi punto de vista y/o opinión de qué es la comida tradicional.
La comida tradicional o típica de un país es aquella que se come con regularidad, ya sea en casa o restaurantes caros. También es aquella que se vende en los puestos callejeros, comprada por la clase trabajadora en sus mediodías por ser barata y accesible.
Does traditional Argentine food exist? I've been thinking about this since I started my travels around the world getting to know different cultures. Many countries have their own typical and traditional foods. But in order to start the debate, I have to give my point of view and/or my opinion about what makes up traditional food.
A country's traditional or typical food is that food which is eaten regularly and is found at home or in expensive restaurants. It is also the food which is sold by street venders, and is bought by the working class for their midday meal because it is cheap and available.
The author concludes:
De la lista, la única que (a mi opinión) consideraría comida típica es la empanada: la venden en cualquier lado, la comen todas las clases sociales frecuentemente y es barata
From the list, the only food which (in my opinion) would be considered typical food is the empanada: It is sold everywhere, every social class eats it often, and it's cheap.
The blog Pura gula [es] also commented on empanadas and posted a recipe for empanadas from the Córdoba province [es]:
Las empanadas son una comida típicamente argentina. Tan típicas que cada provincia tiene la suya.
Empanadas are a typical Argentine food. So typical, in fact, that every province has their own version.
Beef empanadas. Image by Pablo Flores on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
But for many, Argentine food is associated with the asado [roasted meat]. The asado, a cause for Sunday family get-togethers, a gathering of friends, football games, birthdays, and other festivities, is never lacking on the Argentine table. Even though there are several ways to make it–on the grill or on a spit, for example– in the end an asado is an asado.
The Blog from NOA [es] presents some alternatives for preparing it:
La cocción a fuego directo es la técnica de cocción más antigua usada por la humanidad. En el campo las dos maneras más tradicionales de preparar son el asado con cuero, bajo tierra, o al aire libre ensartado en asadores o estacas. El asado con cuero es exclusivamente argentino. En el noroeste suele hacerse con carne de llama, un verdadero manjar de los dioses.
Un auténtico asado es el que se realiza con brasas de leña y madera y no con carbón vegetal. Hay quienes consideran un agravio el asar carne con carbón vegetal. Según los cocineros salteños las mejores maderas son las duras. Porque las blandas se queman más rápidamente y no producen buenas brasas.
Cooking by direct fire is the oldest cooking technique used by people. In the country the two most traditional ways to prepare the asado are the asado with hide, under ground, or in the open air inserted onto roasters or spits. The asado with hide is exclusively Argentine. In the northwest it is usually made with llama meat, which is truly a food of the gods.
An authentic asado is one which is made with wood chips and not with charcoal. There are those who consider it offensive to roast meat with charcoal. According to professional chefs the best woods are hard, because soft woods burn too quickly and don't produce good embers.
The Argentine Club of Spit Roasters [es]says that “the asado is friendship,” and shares a video of one of the most traditional methods for making the much sought-after asado:
Concebimos el Asado a la Estaca como un patrimonio cultural y cada estaca, cada costillar es cuidado con el mayor celo profesional, con la mayor dedicación, con el mayor amor y los resultados, están a la vista. No hacemos los “asados mas grandes del mundo”, sino verdaderas obras de arte gastronómico que justifican haberlos hecho durante horas y los disfrutamos al máximo, con buenos vinos y nuestras amistades. – El Asado es Amistad.
We conceived the asado on a spit as a cultural heritage and each spit, each ribcage is cared for with the greatest professional enthusiasm, with the greatest dedication, with the greatest love, and the results are clear to see. We don't make the “biggest asados in the world,” but rather true works of gastronomic art which justify spending hours making them. We enjoy them completely, with good wines and our friends. – The Asado is Friendship
On the other hand, The chef Marcelo España in the blog Mi Mundo en una cocina [es] tells a story about typical foods from the country [es], where she mentions a dish which we can't leave off to the side: milanesas, or breaded beef cutlets:
Se rumorea que los argentinos tenemos el hígado a prueba de balas. Será de tanto comer milanesas con papas fritas, el dúo más exitoso de este lado del Río de la Plata (más que los Pimpinela). Muy simple: es un filete de carne rebozado con huevo y pan rallado que, por algún motivo que la ciencia no ha logrado determinar aún, combina fabulosamente bien con unas papas bien crocantes.  Además es, por lejos, el plato favorito de los niños argentinos.
It is rumored that we Argentines have bulletproof livers. It would be too much to eat breaded beef cutlets with French fries, the most successful duo this side of the Río de la Plata (more successful than Pimpinela [a famous Argentine duo famous for singing romantic songs and their unique style of singing]). It is very simple: It is a fillet of meat dipped in batter with egg and bread crumbs which, for some reason that science still hasn't figured out, combines fabulously well with some crisp fries.  In addition, it is by far the favorite dish of Argentine kids.
In addition, España mentions some typical desserts, like flan (custard) with dulce de leche:
A la hora de los postres, el flan con dulce de leche es el broche de oro de cualquier cena. Se prepara con huevos enteros, leche y azúcar. Aunque dicen que es un invento romano y que el propio César lo degustaba antes de dirigirse al Senado, el flan es argentino por adopción. Pedirlo con dulce de leche resulta una obligación y sumarle crema batida es, casi casi, una perversión.
At dessert time, the flan with dulce de leche is the highlight of any dinner. It is made with whole eggs, milk, and sugar. Even though it is said to be a Roman invention and that Caesar himself tasted it before speaking before the Senate, flan is Argentine by adoption. Ordering it with dulce de leche has become a requirement, and adding whipped cream is nearly a perversion.
On YouTube there are many videos that teach how to prepare typical Argentine recipes. On the Recetas de Tortas YA! [es] channel, sweet preparations are shown, like these alfajores de maicena:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBZAU5ZRUcw
It should be noted that Argentina shares many typical dishes with her neighbors, especially with Chile and Uruguay.
Beyond these, there are many other typical dishes we could mention. What is typical Argentine food to you?

author: Laura Schneider


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Chilean Navy and Human Rights Groups Visit Torture Site on Dawson Island · Global Voices
Mi voz

This article originally appeared in El Magallanews [es] on October 8, 2013. El Magallanews is a local, online citizen newspaper and part of our partner Mi Voz.
Welcoming the human rights groups to Dawson Island
Dawson Island is located at the southern tip of Chile in the Strait of Magellan, 100 km below Punta Arenas. Stretching across 129,000 hectares, it served as a concentration camp where the Ona people were interned from the end of the 19th century until the middle of the 20th. Fifty years later it became a torture facility, this time for political prisoners.
It was on the island—one the most emblematic symbols of the repression exercised by the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet—that some 400 political prisoners were held and where, 40 years later, members of their families were able to begin to heal their wounds thanks to the initiative of the Chilean Navy.
It came about when a group of more than forty members from different Human Rights groups [es] and their families visited the site on October 7 as part of the commemoration activities marking the 40 years since Chile's military coup of 1973.
The initiative was the result of a petition by the Unión Comunal de Derechos Humanos led by Francisco Alarcón, who approached the Commander-in-Chief of Naval Zone III, Rear Admiral Kurt Hartung Sabugo, with the idea of bringing the group to the island, which had again been used as a concentration camp from 1973 to 1974.
Images from the island's concentration camp:
Activities on the island
The tour began at 7:30 in the morning, when the visitors boarded the patrol vessel Piloto Sibbald, docking at site 2 of Puerto Harris around 11:30 a.m. Later the group visited the national monuments preserved on the island, namely the smokestack of the Gente Grande cattleman society's sawmill, the chapel of the Salesian mission of San Rafael, and ending with the Río Chico internment camp.
The ranking naval authority in the Strait of Magellan pointed out that this “is the third time that a Navy ship has brought a human rights group to Dawson Island, a gesture that has once again filled us with gratitude at being able to meet the needs of our citizens.”
Today Dawson Island is home to some three hundred people, mainly naval personnel and their families. The island's naval base provides training and logistical support for the ships of the third naval zone.
Political prisoners and literature
It is worth noting that the Isla Dawson concentration camp was designed by former SS officer and war crimes fugitive Walter Rauff who fled to Chile. The camp existed under the jurisdiction of an army division headquartered in Punta Arenas, and its guards were provided alternately by the Chilean Marine Corps and members of the Chilean armed forces.
Here lived 99 political detainees, the majority of whom were members of President Salvador Allende‘s inner circle. Among them were Sergio Vuskovic, Luis Corvalán, Anselmo Sule, Osvaldo Puccio, Arturo Jirón, Clodomiro Almeyda, Julio Palestro Rojas, Fernando Flores Labra, José Tohá and Sergio Bitar.
The latter immortalized the story of the Chilean concentration camp in his memoir entitled Dawson, Isla 10 published in 1987. The book was brought to life on the big screen in the film of the same name directed by Miguel Littín in 2009.
Trailer for the film “Dawson, Isla 10″

author: Mi voz


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‘Chola Power’: Peruvian Superhero or Sex Symbol? · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

‘Chola Power’ is Peru's “first and only female Superhero”, as Gareth Hunter writes for Peru This Week.
Hunter argues that although scantly dressed, “with long shiny black hair, large dark eyes and green loincloth”, Peru's female superhero “doesn't seem to be an offensive female character”:
Although attractive, she has a seriousness and solidness to her that suggests she means business and is not to be trifled with, rather than a glamor model who has decided to play dress-up and join in with the boys in saving the world. Unlike some of the DC and Marvel creations, her character seems to have some depth and personality, though this remains to be seen in her future adventures.
Visit Hunter's post in Peru This Week to read more and to see photos of Chola Power.


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Hungry in Haiti · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Why – when the country has received at least one billion U.S. dollars worth of food aid between 1995 and the 2010 earthquake – is hunger on the rise?
Haiti Grassroots Watch examines “complaints and rumors about the misuse, abuse, or negative effects of food aid.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Media Ignores Farmers and Disabled Advocates Occupying Mumbai Train Station · Global Voices
Rezwan

An unexpected coalition of drought-striken farmers and disabled people brought a south Mumbai railway traffic to a standstill this week for about four hours as they occupied a station in protest, but the incident went largely unnoticed by media outlets and social media.
Vidyut at Aam Janata reported that hundreds of disabled people from across the state and farmers from drought and flood affected regions of Vidarbha occupied Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station on Wednesday, October 2, 2013.
The Asian Age reported:
The protest has been named Dera Andolan, which means all the protesters will camp themselves in the city till the government gives a time limit for fulfilling their demands.
The incident went under-reported in mainstream media, and the reasons for protesting were not explored, probably due to the lack of political clout the demonstrators have. But Vidyut suggested the possible issues of the protests:
I have no idea what the farmers were protesting, but God knows they have plenty to protest about when it comes to their conditions in Maharashtra.
The deaf-dumb people seem to be demanding for Indian Sign Language to be formally included in curriculums and recognized as an Indian language as per this photo.
The Mid-Day however reported that the government had promised financial help and a raise in pensions for the physically disabled and the needy. But with progress on that front after seven months, people protested.
Vidyut continued:
Strangely our newspapers are not interested in what could have got farmers and disabled people to travel overnight to occupy space in a train station. The one journalist who did click a photo and comment wondered if they had purchased tickets. Then wondered at the speed by which they “took over” the station. A few thousand people taking over the largest station in the city is a bit extreme considering that a single train carries several times that number easily.
Journalist Rajendra Aklekar (@rajtoday) tweeted the incident:
Hundreds farmers/disabled gather at Mumbai CST railway station 2 press for demands. All ticketless? @dna #MumbaiLocal pic.twitter.com/UbL361iyOW
— Rajendra B Aklekar (@rajtoday) October 2, 2013
PHOTO–Protestors at Mumbai CST railway station also stoped trains doing rail roko. Tks SushantMore @dna #MumbaiLocal pic.twitter.com/3a7gECtlwr
— Rajendra B Aklekar (@rajtoday) October 2, 2013
The Times of India reported that the protesters were met with force and now face prosecution:
A day after a mob of 2,000 farmers and physically challenged people laid siege to CST, security agencies registered criminal cases against them and are scrutinizing footage from CCTV cameras to identify the accused. The RPF has booked the protestors under the Indian Railway Act for trespass, obstructing the running of trains, obstructing railway employees in their duties, drunkenness or nuisance and endangering safety of commuters. The GRP has also booked the protestors for unlawful assembly and wrongful restraint.
Protests are common, but punishing peaceful protesters is less so. The actions of police are an unfortunate show of how those with less political muscle are easier to punish with law.


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Russians Remember “The Day Democracy Died”  · Global Voices
Gina Lentine

The Russian White House after being shelled by tanks in 1993, screenshot from YouTube.
The three words Thomas Hobbes used to describe life—”nasty, brutish, and short”—eloquently sum up the two-week constitutional crisis that wracked Moscow twenty years ago. President Boris Yeltsin disbanded the Supreme Soviet on September 21, 1993, removing one of the Soviet system's major vestiges in one fell swoop. The Supreme Soviet, led by Speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov and Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoi, barricaded itself in Moscow's White House in response, voting to impeach Yeltsin, and drumming up support for armed, anti-Yeltsin gangs to attack the Ostankino Television studio.
Yeltsin's reaction, of course, was one for the history books. On October 4, 1993, he ordered troops to open fire on the Supreme Soviet, embroiling the city in what was reportedly “the worst street violence Moscow experienced since the October Revolution of 1917.” In an atmosphere marked by political tumult and an economic crisis, Yeltsin brought a swift and violent end to the battle with the country's legislature. While some Russians cheered Yeltsin's actions, others worried for the fate of their nascent democracy. This month, twenty years later, much of the chatter on the RuNet criticizes Yeltsin's decision to fire on the White House, characterizing the moment in post-Soviet history as a turn for the worse.
Politician and analyst Vladimir Milov wrote [ru] on Ekho Moskvy's blog:
Удивительно, как 20 лет пролетели со дня трагических событий 3-4 октября 1993 года… Но я читаю сегодня отзывы о тех событиях от сторонников Верховного совета – изобилующие фразами типа «узурпатор Ельцин», «расстрелянный парламент», «растоптанная демократия.»
It's amazing how twenty years have flown since the tragic events of October 3-4, 1993… today I read several pieces written by the Supreme Soviet's supporters, which were teeming with such phrases as “Usurper Yeltsin,” “parliament shooter,” and “trampler of democracy.”
Facebook user Pavel Pryanikov commented [ru] on what Russia could have been if the events of October 1993 had played out just a little bit differently:
Долго думал, на что была бы похожа сегодня Россия, победи тогда, в 93-м Верховный Совет. Сначала на ум пришла Испания. Но вряд ли – при всех гримасах патернализма Испания всё же имеет корни в европейской цивилизации.Наверное, современная Россия была бы похожа на современные Чили или Уругвай, “вторичную Европу”, тяжко переживающие тоталитарное наследие и сегодня. Но современные Чили и Уругвай всё же будет повеселее той страны, у которой главные друзья Каддафи, Ким Чен Ын и Эмомали Рахмонов.
For a long time I've thought about what Russia would be like today if the Supreme Soviet won back in '93. The first parallel that occurred to me was Spain. But that scenario is unlikely—for all of its paternalist antics, Spain still has roots in European civilization. Probably modern Russia would have been similar to a modern Chile or Uruguay, “a subsidiary Europe,” which still suffers greatly from its totalitarian legacy today. But modern Chile and Urugay will still shine a bit brighter than a country that has such great friends as Qaddafi, Kim Jong Un, and Emomali Rahmon.
Chief editor of Dozhd Television's online portal, Ilya Klishin, raised the importance [ru] of Yeltsin's decision twenty years ago as a bad precedent for democratic development. It is not coups or violence that produce institutional change, he says, but rather free and fair elections, independent media, and a transparent judicial system:
Во всей дискуссии по 1993 году главная польза состоит в том, что поколение двадцатилетних — а ведь тут битва идет именно за их умы, сороколетние все давно для себя решили […] Что на честных выборах побеждают те за, кого голосуют, а не те, кто нам нравится. Что в свободной прессе говорят то, что считают нужным, а не то, что нам хочется. Что в справедливых судах, выносят вердикты по закону, а не по нашему желанию. Заумно говоря, более широкая демократическая идентичность пробивается из кокона более узкой либеральной.
In all of the discussions about 1993, the main thrust is our generation of twentysomethings—and yet here it is a battle for their minds, as the fortysomethings already long decided this for themselves […] It's that in fair elections those who win are those who get votes, not those whom people like. It's that a free press says what it considers necessary, not what we want to hear. It's that just courts reach verdicts according to the law, not according to our wishes. To put it more abstractly, a broader democratic identity breaks out of the cocoon of narrow liberalism.
Livejournal user borko [ru] claims to have been shot during the 1993 shelling of the Supreme Soviet. Writing on his blog, he shared the story of Otto Pol, another survivor of the shootings, as well as some of Otto's photographs (warning: graphic material):
Я приехал в Москву, чтоб найти правду и разрешить свои сомнения, но обнаружил, что стране, а также самим выжившим в октябрьских событиях не удалось сделать ни того, ни другого.
I came to Moscow in order to find truth and resolve my doubts, but instead I found that the country and the survivors of the October events have failed to do one or the other.
Meanwhile, writer and political dissident Eduard Limonov posted [ru] a mordant free-verse poem about Yeltsin's decision and its repercussions:
Сегодня пасмурная дата.
День смерти российской Демократии.
В этот мрачный день, двадцать лет назад, преступный Ельцин расстрелял из танковых орудий Российскую Демократию.
Русские плохо вдумываются в эту дату.
Подумать только, в столице европейского государства, из танков, расстрелян был парламент страны.
Такого злодейства последние века себе никто не позволял. Даже самые дикие правители народов.
Нужно бы когда-нибудь вышвырнуть его прах с кладбища, где он там лежит, поскольку упырь и злыдень.
И СССР убил.
Today is a gloomy day.
The day Russian Democracy died.
On this dismal day, twenty years ago, that criminal Yeltsin shelled Russian Democracy using his tanks.
Russians don't think enough about this day.
Just imagine—in the capital of a European state, our country's Parliament was shot up by tanks.
For centuries, no one had dared to commit such an outrage. Even the most savage national leaders.
Sooner or later, we ought to toss out his ashes from the cemetery he's in, the nasty old ghoul.
Plus, he killed the USSR.

author: Gina Lentine


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The Walls Speak in Puerto Rico · Global Voices
Los Muros Hablan

Foto Alex Díaz
Sixteen well-known Puerto Rican and international muralists have entered a conversation that unites their creative practices with social concerns, with the goal of rejuvenating abandoned urban space in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. The neighborhoods of Santurce and Río Piedras have been transformed into platforms for public art in “Los Muros Hablan” (“The Walls Speak”), the largest annual international festival of urban art in the Caribbean.
Los Muros Hablan [es], which runs from October 3 to 13 under the sponsorship of the Buena Vibra Group [es] and Lanco, has joined together with the community, uniting residents, students, and families in the common goal of renewing the city. This year's program has been created in collaboration with local groups, and the results promise to have educational value to equal their artistic and cultural value.
Foto Alex Díaz
“What characterizes and distinguishes this event is the fact that every one of the selected artists has passed through a curatorial process that ensures that, as with last year, the best artists in Puerto Rico and in the world are being presented,” explained Alexis Díaz, the well-known Puerto Rican muralist and curator of Los Muros Hablan.
The international muralists who are participating are Conor Harrington (Ireland), Interesni Kazki (Ukraine), Liqen (Spain), DALeast (China), Faith 47 (South Africa), Inti (Chile), together with the Puero Ricans Rafi Trelles, Omar Velázquez, Juan Salgado, Edgardo Larregui, The Stencil Network, David Zayas and SKE. Furthermore, the new generation of Puerto Rican muralists will be represented by a group, DEFY, that was selected as the result of an online call for local artists, and the Dominican community will be represented by Poteleche.
Foto Alex Díaz
This year the festival will be documented by Rom Levy, editor of the website streetartnews.net, the premier source of information on the worldwide street art and mural movement.
The artists will be working on their murals during the ten days of the festival, and after the conclusion of the event their works will remain permanently for the appreciation of the public.
For more information:
Los Muros Hablan [es] on Facebook
#losmuroshablan [es] on Twitter
Buena Vibra Group [es]

author: Los Muros Hablan


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Too Many Universities in Singapore? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Limpeh noted the proliferation of higher education institutions in Singapore. Is this good or bad for Singapore?
…has this expansion in choices been at the wrong end of the market? So whilst this expansion may have generation jobs for some people (which is a good thing), how many parents want to actually see their children end up in one of these institutes catering for the lower end of the market…


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‘World Habitat Day’ Celebration in Cambodia · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

More than 500 Cambodians joined a protest march during the World Habitat Day celebration in Phnom Penh to highlight forced evictions and land disputes in the country.
Protesters decry land rights violations in Cambodia. Photo from Facebook of Licadho


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Your Fantasy is Her Nightmare: ‘Sexy’ Pakistani Women on YouTube · Global Voices
Sahar Habib Ghazi

Fully clothed in traditional shalwar kameez, chadars draping their heads, the teenage sisters stepped outside their home into their private garden, to dance.
The distant hills of northern Pakistan’s Chilas valley sparkled in the rain as the sisters laughed and spun in circles. Someone took out a mobile phone and made a video of their private, playful and innocent moment.
In June, the two sisters and their mother were brutally gunned down by their step-brother, an apparent honor killing over the mobile video.
Screenshot of the alleged mobile video that got the two sisters killed from a YouTube Video uploaded by NewsMedia24.
The video clip circulated from phone to phone among their conservative community. Apparently it had brought “shame” upon the family.
By ending their lives with his gun, the step-brother was trying to wash away the shame his sisters had brought upon the family, thus reclaiming their honor or ghair’at, as it is called in Urdu. Some say the video and honor killing were part of a plot to maneuver his stepmother out of the family property.
To many, the Chilas sisters’ video seems completely ordinary, but in their hometown, girls dancing in the rain, even fully clothed, is seen as erotic.
“In a society where segregation (across genders, but also across class and gender) is so prized, just access to the mundane life of a random pakistani girl is so exciting,” Pakistani filmmaker and culture blogger Ahmer Naqvi explained in an email.
The Chilas sisters are not the only Pakistani girls who have had their private moments hijacked and sexualized for public consumption.
A search for “Pakistani Dancing” on YouTube, a site that is banned in Pakistan, yields hundreds of thousands of results. Many of these videos are private moments captured at family functions, weddings and school events. They are frequently shot on mobile phones, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were uploaded without consent.
The tagging, titles and comments around these often innocent videos is almost always sexualized. To highlight the range of ways in which videos made by Pakistanis for private consumption are misappropriated, we concealed the faces of the dancers and used the YouTube clips to create this short film, “Suck on the Sugarcane of Love.”
Pakistani girls are hot and sexy on YouTube
The film opens with a woman doing a traditional dance at an intimate family gathering, but is titled “Pakistani girl dance in Islamabad College party.”
A mobile video of a student mimicking a Bollywood dance in a classroom is likewise labeled “HOT Young Pakistani girl Dancing in Lahore”. This particular clip has been appropriated in various ways across YouTube, including in a Jihadist propaganda video titled “Modern CoEducation In Pakistan or Sex Nurseries.” Another clip is an outright name-and-shame video, identifying students from “City School”, one of Pakistan's largest private co-education schools.
“abbotabad pakistan hot girls sexy dance pashto song”, the next clip in, is probably not from Abbottabad, where Osama bin Laden was killed; the “hot girl” in the video probably isn’t Pakistani and her gyrations are definitely not to the beat of the Pashto song amateurishly overlaid on the video. On YouTube, the same clip has been uploaded with various soundtracks and titles including, “Pakistani Girls Sexy Indoor Dance: Sexy Mast Dance Leaked Video”.
These clips, and many more, are systematically tagged and titled with erotic signifiers to attract a prurient audience. Ahmer Naqvi has appropriated this tactic in his critical films. He explains, “All my YouTube videos have tags like sex hot threesome pakistani couple kissing etc because all desis [South Asians] search for them and its the best way to get unsuspecting hits.” Naqvi’s short film, “A Pakistani Sex Scene”, has has no nudity, but it has been viewed more than 650,000 times on YouTube and another 630,000 on Vimeo.
Privacy is an illusion, fantasy is real
Pakistani women dance and sing even in the most conservative towns, but usually only with trusted family. Many never dance in front of ghair (outsiders), to avoid casting a shadow on their family’s honor. This private culture has been repeatedly exposed through indiscreet sharing of images captured for private use.
“You never know when one of your innocent images that you clicked while having fun with friends or while showing off a new dress or hairstyle is used with a sexual overtone in obnoxious videos,” says Pakistani technologist and digital privacy activist Fariha Akhtar in an email. “Before putting online our private videos, we need to ask ourselves if there's really no other way to share them with friends and loved ones.”
Other videos on YouTube are from opulent private wedding dance parties. Currently, in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, you can buy DVDs titled, Ameero ke Raks (Dances of the Rich), clips from private weddings packaged into films that condemn the rich for their vulgarity while at the same time reveling in their hedonism.
This phenomenon points to a larger issue. “The lack of conversation on sex and sexuality is a society-wide problem,” says Ahmer Naqvi. “The various new stories about Pakistanis leading the world in online searches for weird sex stuff is just one symptom. But it manifests itself in various ways. At some level this intentional sexualisation is also about fantasy “
The Chilas sisters, it seems were also living out a fantasy: dancing freely in the rain. For some women in Pakistan, the reality is that even simple fantasies can have deadly consequences.

author: Sahar Habib Ghazi