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D.R. of Congo/Republic of Congo: A thorn in Brazzaville and Kinshasa relations · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Is Gen. Faustin Munene, a thorn in Brazzaville and Kinshasa relations?: “After many theories, the police told the media that the February 27 coup attempt was organized and executed by the exiled General Faustin Munene who is in Congo Brazzaville. DRC has been requesting Congo Brazzaville to extradite Gen. Munene…”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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East Timor: Satire on expats working in development · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Read the satirical blog Stuff Malai Like for some humor on “the wide spectrum of strange malais presently living in East Timor”. Malai is the Tetum language word for foreigners or expatriates.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Sara Moreira


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Ecuador: Latest Study on Internet Use · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Christian Espinosa in the blog Cobertura Digital writes two (1 [es],2 [es]) posts on a recent study about Internet in Ecuador. The study, by the INEC [es] (National Institute of Statistics and Census), shows that “29 out of 100 Ecuadorians are connected,” and other information by region.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Ecuador Tells US Ambassador to Leave Over Leaked Cable · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

The Latin Americanist reports that Ecuador has requested U.S. Ambassador Heather Hodges leave the country: “The main gripe against Hodges has to do with a cable uncovered by Wikileaks where she alleged that corruption was entrenched in Ecuador’s national police […] She also claimed that President Rafael Correa was aware of corruption allegations against several senior police officials.”


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Gabon: Documentary Wins Prize At Web TV Festival 2011 · Global Voices
Julie Owono

WebDocu.fr [fr] has announced that the documentary “Gabon : violence d'un coup d'état électoral“[fr] (“Gabon: violence of an electoral coup d'etat”) is the winner of the Jury Prize in the Web-Politique category. The documentary was produced in 2009 after the violence that followed the controversial election of Ali Bongo as president.

author: Julie Owono


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Guyana: Knowledge in Bloom  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana-Gyal can't believe how stingy some people can be with their knowledge, which is why she wants “to start a knowledge-sharing revolution.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Haiti: Martelly Declared Election Winner  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bloggers are reporting that Michel Martelly has emerged victorious in the recent run-off election to become Haiti's next president; Throwing Down the Water, meanwhile, is unhappy with the Miami Herald's early declaration of the winner: “I don't appreciate news agencies interfering with Haiti's attempt to actually hold a legitimate run-off election and announce the results in accordance with the schedule they have set and the time-line they have promised.”


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Israel: Goldstone Op-Ed Taken on a Media Spin · Global Voices
Gilad Lotan

The Washington Post published a highly controversial op-ed by Richard Goldstone, who led the UNHRC fact-finding mission to investigate international human rights and humanitarian law violations related to the Gaza war (Dec '08-Jan '09). In the article, Goldstone retracts from some of the UNHRC's earlier findings, writing that Israel did not have a policy of targeting civilians. Additionally he accuses the UNHRC of conducting itself with a bias towards Israel. Goldstone adds that Israel has “undertaken credible internal processes to assess its own conduct of hostilities” while Hamas has “not conducted any investigations into the launching of rocket and mortar attacks against Israel. That the crimes allegedly committed by Hamas were intentional goes without saying — its rockets were purposefully and indiscriminately aimed at civilian targets.”
While Israeli media and politicians have jumped on the bandwagon, inviting Goldstone to Israel and amplifying certain aspects of the op-ed, there have been a plethora of interpretations disagreeing with the interpretation of Goldstone's intentions, and overall, the op-ed's implications on the validity of the UNHRC report.
Idan Landau questions the hypocricy in Israeli society, and the media “spin” the story has been receiving across Israeli mainstream media:
Whatever Goldstone writes, Israelis do not understand him. When he discussed witnesses of Israeli war crimes in his report, he was called an antisemite. Now, when he takes specific claims back, he is embraced as if a long lost son coming back to the motherland.
Idan urges his audience to read the actual op-ed and not second hand media “spins”. He continues:
Goldstone regrets one thing and favors another. He regrets blaming Israel for intentionally attacking civilians in Gaza, and supports the internal investigations conducted by the IDF…
The joyous calls this report aroused within Israels critics, will turn into victory cries by its supporters. All this media noise is missing the key point: the crimes themselves. The television studios will continue to discuss if there were intentions to harm citizens, or not. At the same time, Israel will continue to kill civilians in Gaza, without intent of course, kill fishermen in front of the Gaza shore, without intent of course, kill farmers in their fields, without intent of course, kill sick by delaying them, without intent of course, kill elderly in their bed while under arrest, without intent of course, and continue the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, with no one making any effort to come against it.
The common Israeli and American Jewish reaction was extremely supportive of judge Goldstone's retraction, though many claim that the “damage is already done”. Rick Moran writes:
If the Judge wants to do some good, he can start an international tour to make the points he does in his new article in venues around the world where the hatred of Israel only intensified as a result of his initial one sided report. That report created a moral equivalence between a civilized nation state defending its civilian population, and a murderous death cult fueled by Islamic extremism and anti-Semitism, whose rocket firing supported a long time goal of indiscriminate killing of Jews.
On a similar note, David Merhave writes:
Goldstone crossed the line. He gave international legitimacy to the fascist regime in Gaza. Although in Jewish spirit, giving respect for those with an answer not necessarily those who are righteous, we can forgive him. Question is if he takes one more step forward and declares his regret for “grazing in the enemy's fields”. Whats clear, is that this evil initiative – the Goldstone Report – has collapsed and disappeared.
David's post spawned a series of reactions.
Dan responds:
Maybe we should begin with the endless, repetitive stupidity of the Israeli government. Lack of strategic thought; reactionist instead of being pro-active. Lack of cooperation yields a heavy price in international relations. And then self-righteousness. One cannot run a country this way!
Meriap adds:
Goldstone is only one of the committee members. After it was published, Goldstone's opinion is a personal one. After you hear witnesses from Shovrim Shtika, you have no need for an int'l report. The operation's policy was to kill many Palestinians so that the rest will be deterred from shooting missiles… Its enough that a soldier thinks that a child in front of him can kill him, that he can shoot, justifying his fear at a later investigation. In the beginning of the operation, Israeli forces waited for Palestinian police to gather in order to kill as many as possible with one explosion.
Jerry Haber composes an insightful post on the +972 blog describing the Goldstone op-ed as misrepresented and misleading:
It is the unfortunate fate of Judge Richard Goldstone to be condemned and praised for what he doesn’t write. The responses to his op-ed in Washington Post from the Israel advocates are laughable. Even a superficial reading of the op-ed shows that he has not retracted a single comma in the Goldstone Report, nor does he express any regret for having written the report the way it was written. He simply says that had he known then what he knows now, the report would have been different.
A highly retweeted post by @NaomiAKlein engaged over 100 Twitter users to repost the same text:
About #Goldstone backtrack: the reason bullies bully is because it often works. Entire operation was collective punishment. #Gaza
The organization Im Tirtzu published a post titled “throwing the Goldstone Report into History's trash” – a call to action, for people to gather in front of Naomi Chazan‘s home (President of the New Israel Fund) in Jerusalem and demand Naomi Chazan and the Keren to publically apologize for taking part in Goldstone's fraudulent tales.
Dahlia Scheindlin asks if Israelis are missing the point? That even the best of “hasbara” (a.k.a “PR”) won't end their international woes. It's the policy:
The fetishization of the Goldstone episode won’t help a single soldier who saw combat in Gaza erase what he did or saw.
Nor will Israel’s Goldstone obsession make the world any more sympathetic to its failed policies. Just as the report did not cause Hamas to become suddenly circumspect about its terrible civilian attacks, the reservations about the report will not suddenly whitewash Israel’s behavior.
But maybe this latest development will finally prove something Israelis keep missing: even the most vindicating “hasbara” in the world won’t end Israel’s international trouble. It’s the policy, stupid.
Perhaps Goldstone will offer his explanation, and help the world understand his intent in publishing this op-ed. But until then, we'll be trying to makes sense of the discussions happening on blogs and in social media spaces.

author: Gilad Lotan


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Japan: Journalist Takashi Uesugi exposes Tepco and govt lies · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Blogger TokyoTom published an interview [en] with Japanese freelance journalist Takashi Uesugi, “a critic of the Japanese news reporting establishment who now is lancing some of the lies and half-truths coming from TEPCO and the Japanese government with respect to the Fukushima nuclear reactors.” The interview appeared on online journal Time Out Tokyo on April 1st.

author: Scilla Alecci


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Japan: “The Fear of Magnitude 0” · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

This post is part of our special coverage Japan Earthquake 2011.
In the wake of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake which hit Japan, changing forever the lives of so many people, popular writer Keiya Mizuno (水野敬也) decided to use words as a means to react to the event and reflect on the meaning of life.
In a post titled The Fear of Magnitude 0  published on his personal blog, the author of ironic books such as Yume wo Kanaeru Zoh highlights the importance of memory and the value of remembering lessons learnt from such tragedies even after these may have, for some, tended to sink back into oblivion.
Take as a given, by Reading Circle. CC license.
The day the earthquake hit
phone lines in Tokyo went down and text messages couldn’t be received
On top of that, the nuclear plants in Fukushima exploded and rumors spread of radiation reaching Tokyo
and so
People stopped going to work and stayed at home
and more and more people started to flee to Kansai
But
actually at this point in time
there was something absolutely crucial that men in Tokyo should’ve done
That was
To dash to the side of the woman you love
I was dumped once because at the time, I didn’t understand the true meaning of this act
The girl I was dating was having some trouble at work and was feeling down
I was really stressed too because of work
Just then, a friend of mine was going on a trip to Korea for a few days
And luckily, I managed to get those days off work
so
I went to Korea
at the time I thought
I’m too stressed out
if I don’t take a break now, I won’t be able to help her anyway
But when I got back, the first thing she said to me was
‘I wanna break up with you’’
Thinking she was upset because I was the only one having fun
I desperately started making excuses
‘Oh, I didn’t plan anything before I left so we ended up in a random Korean BBQ place! I mean the meat there – you gotta chew and chew before you can swallow! It’s like rubber I tell you, rubber!’
But that wasn’t the reason she was angry
She said
‘Someone who leaves your side when you need them the most
Surely will not be there for you in the future either’
And then, the trust that once existed, disappeared forever
This experience made me realize something
Girls are beings that need someone by their side when they’re troubled
and there is nothing logical about it
all they need is to be ‘physically close’
So when Tokyo came to a halt for a few days
the act of ‘dashing to the side of the woman you love’
would’ve been a razzle-dazzle move to get the attention of the woman you love
And for people that have a wife or partner
‘At the time of the earthquake, that guy did this for me’
Would’ve built a strong foundation of trust that would last for decades to come
…but, I couldn’t write this article
Because
As the news revealed one by one, the damages caused by this massive earthquake which was so huge
I felt like this article, which in a way tries to turn a negative situation into something positive, would be offensive to a lot of people
But
If I had posted this article at the time
it might’ve been able to change the lives of a few guys
Yea, I do think it would’ve been improper and wrong to post this one week ago
But at the same time
communicating ‘specific ways’ to make someone’s life better
is also one of my reasons for living
So I want to write here, what can only be written ‘now’
11th March
We experienced something we’ve never seen before
It was not only for the people in the North
But even for me in Tokyo
Something for the first time in my entire life
The thought that ‘I might die’ crossed my mind for the first time with the big tremor of the earthquake
We experienced the halt of transportation systems and shut down of phone lines
rice, toilet paper, battery, gasoline were all sold out and our ordinary life quickly crumbled beneath our feet
For days and nights after, Tokyo continued to be shaken by aftershocks
This earthquake, even for the people in Tokyo
must’ve been the closest they’ve come to ‘death’
But
3 months from now, no, in less than a month
we will be struck again
This time, it won’t be as intense as this disaster
The complete opposite actually – a gentle wave
But in some cases
it’s powerful enough to make the living, a living-dead
The name of this wave
Is…
‘Ordinary life’
We will
Forget that one day we shall die
And the fact that ‘death’ will come suddenly
We will be engulfed in a wave called ‘ordinary life’
If there was a way to prevent it
the only way would be to make use of ‘now’
‘Am I happy with my life now’
‘You only live once. Is there anything left undone’
‘Is there anything I haven’t done that I would regret’
These ‘ordinary’ words held no meaning in our usual lives until now
But
Because the current situation is not ordinary, these words have huge meaning
What we need to do now, is to ‘use’ this unprecedented disaster
To re-examine ‘life’
But we must hurry
Yesterday, people filled the streets of Shibuya, and although their lights were dimmed, shops opened as usual
It’s a sight that people had long been waiting for
But at the same time, it felt like they’d started to forget that feeling of urgency that was felt after 11th March
So for now, please turn off your TV, showing repeats of the same news and broadcasting the usual programs
What you need to be looking at now – is ‘yourself’
…and 1 month from now, 3 months from now
please remember and think again about the victims of this crisis
By that time, the news may have forgotten about them
But for us living in Tokyo
there may be even more things we can do for the people in the North
This post is part of our special coverage Japan Earthquake 2011.


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Japan: The only native Japanese Imam in Tokyo · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Uchujin/Adrian Storey realized a photofilm [en] that tells the story of Abdullah Taqy, the only native Japanese Imam in Tokyo – a metropolis of over 13 million people.


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Malaysia: Enough with the political sex scandals · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Juana Jaafar criticizes the excessive attention being given to the political sex scandals in Malaysia.

author: Mong Palatino


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Map of People on Twitter in Thailand · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Richard Barrow has created a map of twitter users living in Thailand which can be used to get live updates and pictures that  might also be useful during natural disasters in Thailand.


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Russia: Anti-Corruption iPad Application Beats “Angry Birds” · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

iPad application for Rospil.info, Russian crowdsourcing anti-corruption service created by Alexey Navalny, has taken over [ru] “Angry Birds Rio HD Free” application in the Apple App market. The application has been created voluntarily (and free of charge) by Russian iPad app developers.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Russia: LiveJournal under attack · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Putin Watcher reports on how a cyberattack by DDOS and hacking against top blogs on LiveJournal, Russia's most popular blogging platform. This attack follows earlier incidents this year, aiming to knock out LiveJournal.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Russia: Online Fundraising Changes Transparency Standards in Politics · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Oleg Kozyrev, popular Russian blogger, writes [ru] about the effects of online fundraising (this year online opposition activists had fundraised nearly $230,000): 1. it improves transparency standards of opposition politicians, thus making them resistant to corruption allegations and criminal cases, 2. it brings activists closer to their supporters, 3. it makes activists more dependent on public opinion, since they're sponsored by the people and not ‘narrow political groups.’


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Russia: Tandem under the carpet · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Streetwise Professor discusses various scenarios on relations between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Premier Vladimir Putin against the backdrop of the most recent white paper [RU] of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov.


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Taiwan: Start-ups Ask “Where’s the Love, Government?” · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

As an CEO of a new start-up, Alex shares his feeling about the indifference of Taiwan government toward start-ups[zht]. He admires the positive policies of Singapore and US that encourage and welcome foreign start-ups. While wondering that is it “not-loving-Taiwan” if start-ups leave Taiwan for survival and for better global competence, he also questions “when will Taiwan government ever love start-ups back?”

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Trinidad & Tobago: Mohammed’s Sacking  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Trinidad’s unerring instinct to do the wrong thing at the wrong time continues in spades,” says B.C. Pires of the firing of the Police Service Commission Chair, adding: “Instead of Nizam Mohammed being made to see the error of his ways, he has now been made a martyr.”


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Yemen: Crackdown on Protestors Continues · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

On Monday, the Yemeni cities of Taiz and Hudaida were the scene of bloody crackdown by security forces on peaceful anti-government protestors. Once again, Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Yemeni president for the past 32 years, responded with force and live bullets to protestors calling for his immediate removal.
Reuters reports that in Taiz, at least 15 people were killed and 30 wounded when police opened fire. In Hudaida, demonstrators gathered to show their solidarity to the people of Taiz, but they ended up with the same fate as their compatriots in Taiz when police and armed men in civilian clothes shot at them. Eye witnesses also said that they saw snipers on roofs shooting at protestors.
Protester takes part in the funeral of Abdullah Hamid al-Jaify, an anti-government activist killed in clashes with the police, in March 2011 in Sana'a, Yemen. Image by Giulio Petrocco, copyright Demotix (11/03/11).
Eman (@Emy_Al)  tweets:
اليمن تدخل أسوء مراحل ثورتها..أخشى أن يتكرر سيناريو ليبيا فيها !!
Ghada Mohamed (@Ghada__Mohamad)  tweets:
اليمن اليوم ..جرائم جديدة لعلي صالح
Situation in Taiz and Hudaida
Nasser Arrabyee, a Yemeni journalist based in Sana'a  describes the situation in Taiz and Hudaida:
At least three protesters were killed and tens others injured Monday when security forces tried to prevent angry protesters from storming the Presidential Palace and the government buildings of the local authority of Taiz province.
The sources, who are participating in the marches, said the clashes are continuing as protesters are insisting on marching and surrounding the government buildings. “I myself saw one protester dead in the hospital,” said Riyadh Al Adeeb, journalist and activist in Taiz.
He adds:
In coastal city of Hudieda in the west of the country, clashes between security forces and angry protesters are also continuing.
“The new thing today and yesterday is that the protesters are marching in the streets and not sitting in their sit-in places,” the protester Abdul Hafez Al Nehari, one of the leading protesters in Hudeida, said. “About 400 were injured by the tear gas used by the security forces today and yesterday,” Al Nehari added.
The protesters seem to be planning for marching forward and surrounding the important government buildings, in an escalation step to press Saleh to step down.
Graphic Youtube videos
On Monday two youtube videos have been circulating the net. The first one shows protestors running away as the sound of gun shots is heard.
The second one which is extremely graphic, shows an injured man shot in his neck in pain.
US pressure on Saleh to step down
On Sunday, April 3, the New York Times reports that the US administration has dropped its support for Ali Abdullah Saleh, a major ally for the US its war against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. “The United States, which long supported Yemen’s president, even in the face of recent widespread protests, has now quietly shifted positions and has concluded that he is unlikely to bring about the required reforms and must be eased out of office, according to American and Yemeni officials.” reports the New York Times.
WessalMubasher reports:
البيت الأبيض: جهود مكافحة الإرهاب مع اليمن لا تعتمد على شخص واحد (…)
Gregory Johnsen analyzes:
It is unfortunate that the Obama administration's policy only began “to shift in the past week.”  Salih's demise has been self-evident for much longer than that, and consistent US refusals to see that and the resulting dithering and calls for negotiations (asking protesters to give up the only leverage they have) has only put U.S. security interests more at risk.
He adds:
I'm not sure if the US asked itself this question or if it just came to the conclusion that no matter what it did Salih was on his way out, I suspect the latter, but have no inside information.
We should be clear, both scenarios – Salih leaving or staying – are potentially dangerous for US national security, which is one of the reasons the Obama administration is so hesitant to withdraw its support from Salih.
If Salih leaves the US is worried that the next government won't be as  willing to meet US requests in fighting al-Qaeda as Salih has been in the past 14 months (because when journalists talk about Salih being an ally of the US in the war against AQAP this is the period they are referring to).
If, on the other hand, Salih stays, in the current environment it would likely take him several months to reassert control over much of the country that he has lost in recent weeks if he ever could, meaning that AQAP would not be as opposed as it has been.

author: Afef Abrougui


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Africa: Use of Web 2.0 in the Schools of the PanAf project  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Dramane posts a link to a document which highlights the PanAf network’s research specifically regarding ‘Web 2.0’ in the sampled schools in Africa: “The PanAf network is centred on an open data set made available by researchers at the partner institutions. Open access, and ‘wiki’-style updating of the indicators is intended to echo the collaborative style of ‘Web 2.0’ in the project’s design.”


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Bangladesh: A Video On Eve Teasing · Global Voices
Rezwan

Shawn at Uncultured.com posts a video on eve-teasing, a euphemism to describe forms of verbal and physical abuse by men against women.

author: Rezwan


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Bermuda: Confronting Crime  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Respice Finem says of the growing crime problem: “When we act decisively to confront the social malaise coming out of the impoverished neighbourhoods that all too often provided the breeding ground for violence we will have made progress.”


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Chile: Refinery Reopens in Spite of Intoxication in School  · Global Voices
Elizabeth Rivera

The Chilean Ministry of Health decided to close a school on March 23, 2011, after confirming 40 cases [es] of citizens and students intoxicated by sulfur, copper and other sulfur-containing materials in La Greda, in the Valparaiso region. Those affected experienced headaches and vomits after inhaling “a blue cloud” coming from the refinery of the state mining company Codelco (National Copper Corporation of Chile). Besides La Greda, some other nearby populations, such as Horcón [es] y La Chocota [es], were hit by this emergency that, according to Codelco, was caused by a failure during metal processing.
Ventanas industrial area, Chile. Image by Flickr user Fernando Mandujano (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
Besides the temporary closure of the school, on March 30, a Court from Valparaiso sentenced Codelco to halt smelting [es] in its “Ventanas” refinery while the lawsuit of the Ecologic Council of Quintero and former workers of Enami [es]- current Codelco- that brought about the company shut down is under investigation.
On March 30, blogger @CEFIRAX informed about these news on Twitter:
Tribunales d Justicia paraliza funcionamiento de #Ventanas por contaminación en #Puchuncaví #Paiscontaminante #huelladecarbono
Paola Arévalo (@Lolitalolein) gave her opinion on the same day:
Menos mal que atinaron, la solucion no era cerrar el colegio de #LaGreda, si no cerrar la fundicion #ventanas. Obvio!!
While the “Ecologist Party” (@ecologistachile) informed:
Corte paraliza obras de la Fundición #Ventanas de #Codelco por contaminación en Escuela La Greda. Tras… http://fb.me/Uxe8fmWo
Researcher Marta Barba (@martukabarba) also wrote:
Por suerte decidieron x la escuela y no x la fundicion #ventanas … Momentaneamente. A ver q pasa.
Ricardo Díaz (@Aaeero) said enthusiastically:
Excelenteee pararon #Ventanas ojalá la cierren pobre gente de Puchuncaví hay que puro catetear para que la cierren es el colmo !!
Journalist María Paz llanes (@MPazIS) also celebrated the news:
Que bueno q cierren #ventanas. Tenerlo abierto es como meter presa a la víctima y dejar libre al ladrón
Nonetheless, the same court that sentenced the shutdown of this plant, allowed its reopening in less than 24 hours after Codelco lodged an appeal. In order to win this appeal, the company presented a report of the head of the Legal Department of the Regional secretary of the Ministry of Health, Juan Luis Solari, who asserted that smelting does not endanger people’s health.
In addition to this, next Monday, April 4, children were allowed to go back to school [es] in La Greda after the Minister of Health asserted that Codelco had presented a written commitment promising that there will not be a similar case in the next three months while the school is opened, before it is relocated in a place that does not endanger children’s health.
The Puchuncavi town council, the former workers of Enami and environmental groups intend to overturn the Valparaiso Appeal Court's decision that allowed reopening the station.
Since March 31, reactions on Twitter appeared quickly. Journalist Angélica Salcedo (@angelicasalcedo) argued that:
El desarrollo económico NO puede fundarse en destrucción del medio ambiente #Ventanas
Willy Flores (@willyflores) asked:
Lo de #Codelco #Ventanas a lo menos es extraño. ¿No?
@cubicado commented that,
La sistemática destrucción de #Ventanas, #Puchuncaví y #LaGreda por parte de ENAMI/CODELCO es cuento viejo. Llevan 40 años matando gente
Blogger Daniel Fuentealba (@dfuentealba) said:
Codelco se ríe de la corte suprema… #ventanas sigue funcionando. Con estas acciones los estudios de impacto ambiental no tienen sentido.
Melanie Weissohn (@meluweissohn) asked for,
#Fiscalización estricta y responsable para #Codelco #Ventanas y para todas las empresas cuyos desechos y emanaciones sean #tóxicos.
The controversy is far from over. An article [es] that confirms that pollution is not a new issue in La Greda was published in the online newspaper El Mostrador on April 1. In addition to this, there are accusations of neighbors being intimidated as informed by Radio Cooperativa and mentioned on Twitter by news curator @Canal_Chile:
Vecinos de #Ventanas acusan “amedrentamiento” por parte de funcionarios de #Codelco http://t.co/2eDnhG2 vía @Cooperativa
The case is still open.
Ventanas Refinery, Chile. Image by Flickr user lukas_y2k (CC BY-NC 2.0).

author: Elizabeth Rivera


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China: Love the Future · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China Digital Times  has translated a number of netizens’ support messages for Ai Weiwei. Many Chinese netizens build their messages by including a phrase, “Love the Future,” which looks and sounds very similar to Ai Weiwei’s name in their microblogs.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: No More Time Travel Drama · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The Chinese censor machine is not happy about time-travel drama, saying that it disrespects history. ChinaHush has translated the local news about the banning of the TV genre by the General Bureau of Radio, Film and Television.


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China: Reactions to Global Times’ Lashing Out at Ai Weiwei · Global Voices
Andy Yee

Three days after prominent Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei went missing, state-run newspaper Global Times broke the media silence in China by running an editorial, ‘Law will not Concede before Maverick’, both in Chinese and English.
The article attacks Ai Weiwei as a ‘maverick’ (in the Chinese version, tèlìdúxíng, or ‘standing out and walking alone’) who consistently challenges legal boundaries. It also accuses the West of using human rights to violate China’s sovereignty and divert the attention of Chinese society.
Promotional billboard for an exhibit by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in Munich, Germany. Image by Flickr user sanfamedia.com (CC BY-ND 2.0).
Groundwork for arrest?
The article has raised fear that Ai Weiwei’s detention may not end soon, and that the authorities are possibly preparing the groundwork for a criminal arrest.
The Global Times is affiliated with the official Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the People’s Daily. Its Chinese version has often been accused of its strongly nationalistic tone, while the English version is more moderate.
Below is an extract from the English version of the editorial:
It is reckless collision against China’s basic political framework and ignorance of China’s judicial sovereignty to exaggerate a specific case in China and attack China with fierce comments before finding out the truth. The West’s behavior aims at disrupting the attention of Chinese society and attempts to modify the value system of the Chinese people.
Ai Weiwei likes to do something “others dare not do.” He has been close to the red line of Chinese law. Objectively speaking, Chinese society does not have much experience in dealing with such persons. However, as long as Ai Weiwei continuously marches forward, he will inevitably touch the red line one day.
The West ignored the complexity of China’s running judicial environment and the characteristics of Ai Weiwei’s individual behavior. They simply described it as China’s “human rights suppression.” “Human rights” have really become the paint of Western politicians and the media, with which they are wiping off the fact in this world.
The article has sparked repercussions and mockery among Chinese Twitter users; the following tweets are from April 6, 2011.
Ai Xiaoming, feminist literary scholar, documentary filmmaker and human rights activist (@xiaocao07):
我要问该报社：你们公布了真相吗？你们让抓艾未未的人给出抓人真相与罪名了吗？你们让广大读者搞清楚真相了吗？
Wen Yunchao, prominent blogger and activist (@wenyunchao):
文章沒有說艾未未哪些事觸犯法律了，真是神文，在我看來法律確實彎曲了，不過是向內彎。
Xu Zhiyong, prominent legal scholar and activist (@zhiyongxu):
法律不需要在任何人面前弯曲，要保护每个公民的权利，可中国的法律在强权面前不只弯曲，而是卑躬屈膝毫无尊严。艾未未即使触犯了法律，那也要有程序，毫无手续被强行带走这跟绑票什么区别？
Peng Xiaoyun, opinion page editor of Guangzhou-based Time Weekly Magazine (@Pengxiaoyun):
要么犯法，要么没犯法，前者请拿出法律文书来，请公开审判，你敢吗？后者，没犯法的范畴内，爱怎么特立独行是咱老百姓的权利，你觉得特立独行，我还觉着人家是举世皆浊我独清呢！感谢环球时报标题，特立独行对于一个处于黑暗时代的人，恰恰是最大的褒扬。
Ja Jia, Beijing-based writer (@jajia):
环球时报中文版批评艾污蔑艾，环球时报英文版却频频采访艾赞许艾，以向英文世界”报道一个真实的中国”。这样神魂颠倒、利令智昏、自相矛盾、唯利是图、唾面自干的媒体，真是中国媒体的第二大败类！
He Qinglian, United States-based Chinese academic (@HeQinglian):
《环球时报》这段话值得琢磨：“他很多时候离中国法律的红线不远，….客观说，在如何对待他这样的人的问题上，中国社会的经验并不多，法律的判例也不多。”这文章如果是上面授意，那应该是目前还未想好用什么罪名治老艾。
Joshua Rosenzweig, of the Hong Kong-based China human rights group Dui Hua Foundation (@siweiluozi):
按照《环球时报》的社论，中国法律的红线似乎一清二楚。那个红线真的比宪法对言论自由、公民有权批评政府等保障条款那么清楚吗？
Galileo Cheng, Hong Kong media worker and columnist (@galileo44):
環球時報社論也挺逗的，都把中國的特別複雜而無前例情況點出來了：「…客觀說，在如何對待他這樣的人的問題上，中國社會的經驗並不多，法律的判例也不多。但只要艾未未不斷「往前衝」，他有一天「觸線」是很可能的事…」「西方在無視中國司法運行的複雜環境，也無視艾未未個人行為的複雜特點…」
Mo Zhixu, prominent critic and writer (@mozhixu):
环球论调纯法西斯化：民族崛起至上，若少数人特立独行，就要付出代价，即时法律也帮不了他
Lian Yue, well-known social critic and blogger (@lianyue):
环球时报评论员语文基础太差，大批判文章竟然用“特立独行”这样的褒义词。
Netizen @zashi:
环球时报意思是：aiww肯定犯罪了，但是罪名我们正在找。给我们点时间，我们一定能找到

author: Andy Yee


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China: Waking from a ten-year dream · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China Labour Bulletin has translated an article about rural migrant worker, Lü Lianjuan's 10-year struggle in an industrial town (Dongguan) in Southern China.


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Cuba: Blame it on the Culture?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Octavo Cerco is reticent to blame Cuba's problems on its culture.


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Egypt: Basboussa for President! · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.
“Former Egyptian television anchor and activist Bothaina Kamel announced on her Twitter account late Friday evening [ar] Cairo time that she plans to run for president in the next round of elections, making her the first woman ever to announce her candidacy for Egypt’s highest office”, Manar Ammar
This is how Manar Ammar reported the news of Bothaina Kamel running for the Egyptian presidential elections. Kamel (@basboussa1) has received mixed reactions from Twitter users.
Twitter user @FaresADL could not believe it, so he wrote to Kamel wondering if the news had been confirmed or was just a rumour:
Fatma Emam, who is a feminist wrote about the news:
Photo taken from the Facebook account of Bothaina Kamel; participating in a demonstration during the World Day Against Corruption.
Lara (@FarawlaLawra) found it good news, whether she is convinced to vote for her or not:
Mahmoud Salem, aka @Sandmonkey, also wrote in support:
In this video uploaded to YouTube by user moushebl1 on April 3, 2011, Kamel announces her plans to run for presidency [ar].
Some people commented on the above video against her running for presidency.
Radwa El-Shami questioned the reason behind the huge number of candidates running for presidency in Egypt:
Radwa then continued:
This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.

author: Tarek Amr


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Haiti: “Sweet Micky”‘s Mandate  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Dying in Haiti puts forward the new president's mathematical mandate, saying: “His opportunity to do good for Haiti is huge. It would be great if he would deliver on just one of his big promises above. It would be great to be pleasantly surprised.”


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Hungary: Catholic church scandal · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Pestiside.hu addresses a current scandal rocking the Catholic church in Hungary, including allegations of pedophilia and financial misconduct.


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Macedonia: Construction Over A Probable Archeological Site · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

After examining historical documents and Google maps, Volan concluded – here and here [MKD] – that the new administrative building for the Public Enterprise of Skopje Waterworks is probably being built over the remains of Skopje's ancient Lower Town – an issue ignored by the traditional media. “How could the government – which annually spent several million Euros on archaeological research in the last 5 years – omit the fact that this location first needed protective archaeological survey, before they started digging” with bulldozers [MKD].

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Nigeria: Exhibition of Images From Presidential Campaign · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

George Esiri followed the PDP Presidential campaign trail around Nigeria.  An exhibition of the images he captured was launched at the Yar'Adua Centre yesterday.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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North Korea: Delegation Visits Silicon Valley · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

A delegation of North Korean officials visited Silicon Valley in California to tour the Google headquarter and Stanford University, Martyn Williams from North Korea Tech Blog coalesced reports on their rare two-week trip to the United States.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Russia: Anti-Government Slogans Published On a Hacked Soccer Club Website · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Blogger pilgrim67 publishes [ru] a screenshot of the “Zenit” soccer club website that has been hacked this morning (now restored). A hacker had defaced the website and posted pictures of Valentina Matvienko (mayor of Saint-Petersburg) and Vadim Tyulpanov (speaker of the city assembly), both members of “United Russia” party, and called the visitors to vote against the ruling party.


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Russia: DDoS Attack On LiveJournal Has Russians Debating Internet Politics · Global Voices
Ashley Cleek

On March 30, 2011, the blogging platform LiveJournal experienced serious functionality problems [ru] for over 12 hours due to a powerful Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack (the attack resumed on April 4 and 5, 2011).
The most popular blogging platform in Russia was only fully functional around midnight on the 30 March.
The head of Russian LiveJournal, Svetlana Ivanikova, issued a statement saying the attack “was definitely of a different sort from those suffered by LiveJournal previously” and that “this was the first attack of such strength in the history of LiveJournal.”
On March 30 Russia's most blogging site, Live Journal, was the subjected of the strongest DDoS attack to date. Screenshot of LiveJournal main page.
Conspiracy theories
While it is still unknown who was behind the attack, once the server was up and running again, the Russian Internet buzzed with conspiracy theories over who could have planned the attack and which blogs were the main target.
Many bloggers were quick to suggests that the attack may have been targeted at blogger Navalny [ru] who has been the recent epicenter of curiosity regarding his on-going exposé of numerous corruption cases, the most controversial one being within Transneft, a state-owned company that owns and operates Russia’s oil pipelines.
Blogger nafanko pegged [ru] the government for the attack:
Пока Навальный не исчезнет из ЖЖ, они продолжатся. Это политическая мотивация.
While dimk_dims seemed [ru] to blame the attack on Navalny’s political blogging:
из-за одного революционера миллион хомячков остался без уютной жж-шки на сутки. маладцы, чо.
Blogger Yuri Pronko claimed [ru] in fiery language that the attack on LJ was an attack by the Russian government on “on freedom of speech in Russia”:
Все должно быть в рамках закона! LiveJournal позволяет это делать, атака на ведущий дискуссионный интернет-ресурс показывает только одно: ЖЖ боятся, но на законных, правовых условиях вести разговоры не готовы.
Всем должно быть понятно, атака на ЖЖ – это атака на демократию и свободу слова в России!
Everything should be within the framework of the law. LiveJournal allows for that, and therefore, the attack on a website that leads an active discussion means one thing: they fear LJ, and are not ready to debate within lawful, legal grounds.
It should be clear to everyone: an attack on LJ is an attack on democracy and freedom of speech in Russia!
Other users wondered whether such attacks would become more frequent in the future, and some commenters and bloggers suggested that maybe it was time to switch to another format.
Blogger cadu3m [ru]:
Журнал-паралитик?
And grazdano4ka [ru]:
Ценные записи, пожалуй, стоит скопировать себе на жесткий диск.
Ну или завести аккаунт где-нибудь на другом блоггерском сайте и туда просто тупо копировать все, что пишется здесь.
Blogger usoft [ru], seemingly poked fun at both blogger Navanly and Live Journal:
Давайте скинемся Навальному (или еще там кому) на отдельностоящий сайт, пусть перестанет сидеть в нашей уютной жежешечке =)
Anton Nosik [ru], well-known Russian IT-entrepreneur and one of the main LiveJournal evangelists, suggested that maybe the DDoS attack along with an article in the newspaper Argumety i Fakty [ru], which advised Russian LiveJournal users to move to a new platform, could all be a giant orchestration by the government to disband the platform's community:
[…] в тексте не приводится ни одного серьёзного сравнения функционала ЖЖ с теми платформами, куда народ агитируют сваливать. В реальности основной результат ухода русскязычного блоггера из ЖЖ — потеря связи с читателями, для которых эта среда привычна. А в случае, если исход интересных авторов из ЖЖ действительно начнётся, для РУНЕТа это будет означать потерю важнейшей независимой медиа-площадки. Которой, видимо, в предвыборный год по-настоящему испугались грязные технологи на службе Вертикали.
In the comments below his post, LJ bloggers debated. Webchillout wrote [ru]:
Из жж нужно бежать просто потому что этот сервис говно. Он тормозной, с ублюдочными древовидными комментариями, с засильем ботом. Все нормальные люди уже постят в фэйсбуке, а на жж клоаку просто репост делают.
Later Webchillout argued [ru]:
Антон, мне кажется наивным валить отдельно взятое ЖЖ.
Если, к примеру, тому же Навальному захочется распространить “компромат” — он это сможет сделать одним твитом со ссылкой на какой-нибудь закардонный хост (blogger к примеру).
И “разнесут” это все по твиттеру-фейсбуку-и другим интернетам моментально. И будет даже эффективнее.
Не надо превращать ЖЖ в панацею. Это просто инструмент. Сегодня один — завтра другой.
You don’t need to make LJ into a panacea. It is simply an instrument. Today there one type – tomorrow another.
Ilya Dronov, LiveJournal's head of development and LJ blogger, has posted [ru] lots of helpful material on how LJ users should save and protect their blogs, assuring that in all likelihood, no information was lost while the site was down. However, he warned:
Скорее всего, подобные ситуации будут повторяться в будущем

author: Ashley Cleek


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Russia: Majority of Russians Are Unaware of the Blogosphere · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Levada-center has published [ru] a survey poll results on how Russians use the Internet. 39 percent of users use it for entertainment, 27 percent use it to search information, 18 percent – to communicate. Answering the question which bloggers they trust most, respondents have pointed out president Medvedev… and prime-minister Vladimir Putin (doesn't have any online presence). 95 percent of respondents, however, couldn't remember even one blogger.


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Russia-Romania: Interview with Rogozin · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Gabriela Ionita of Power&Politics World publishes an interview with Russian ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, on Russia, Romania, and European relations.


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Rwanda: 17 Years Ago Today in Rwanda · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

17 years ago today in Rwanda: “There will be a number of ceremonies in Rwanda this year to mark the 1994 Genocide. I understand there is a candle light walk tonight, April 6, starting at 6pm from Amahoro Stadium in the Remera district of Kigali, heading to Kicukiro district. On the morning of April 7, there will be an official mourning ceremony, also at Amahoro Stadium.”


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Syria: Bread and Propaganda · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.
As protests in Syria continue into their third week, the Assad government is making concessions in the hope of appeasing protesters.  Today, the government closed the country's new casino and reversed a ban on niqaab [Muslim female head covering] in schools, in an attempt to reach out to conservative Muslims.
At the same time, the government is asserting power via propaganda, some of which is finding its way to the most unlikely of places.  This afternoon, CNN reporter Hala Gorani (@HalaGorani) tweeted a photograph of loaves of Syrian bread that included a special message to the Syrian people:
@HalaGorani: Leaflets handed out w/ bread purchase in#Damascus: “#Syria is our sect (…) We are all Bashar…”http://yfrog.com/gzpk8glj
Syrian bread promoting love of President Bashar al-Assad. Image uploaded to Twitter by Hala Gorani.
According to Assia Boundaoui (@assuss), the leaflets also read “the nation is bigger than upheaval.”  Meanwhile, Maisa Akbik notes that even “Egyptians didn't create something like this.”
Twitter user @sapiensprod takes a less lighthearted approach:
@sapiensprod: Football league games cancelled in #Syria and propaganda on the bread. Give them bread, no games…meanwhile many people detained…#Bashar
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.

author: Jillian C. York


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Trinidad & Tobago: Equal Representation  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Mohammed made an ill-advised move earlier in his appointment in a confrontation with two police officers and lost a lot of credibility thereafter, and there was subsequently a national petition to have him removed from office–but surely the bigger picture is that he is right about the imbalance in the Police Service and that it ought to be addressed.”: Lisa Allen-Agostini suggests that the former head of the Police Service Commission may have had a point.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago: On Race  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“We need to work hard at bringing all of our people back fully into the national family if we ever hope to advance as a nation…”: Plain Talk tackles the issue of racism.


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Uruguay: Police Clash with Artisans at Independence Square · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Blogger “Fonzi” from With a camera in my pocket [es] posts pictures of policemen removing artisans who were selling their work at Independence Square in Montevideo. The blogger accuses the policemen of using excessive force and criticizes the Municipality of Montevideo for requesting that the artisans be kicked out of the square.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Barbados: Windies-Leaks?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Two Barbadian blogs take note of a new website dedicated to “all the West Indies Cricket Board dirt, all the time.”


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Bhutan: Losing The National Game · Global Voices
Rezwan

Passu is worried that archery, the national game of Bhutan may go into oblivion soon.


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Brazil: Blood appeal for the victims of school shooting rampage · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Bloggers support blood appeal to help the victims of the shooting rampage inside a school in Realengo, Rio de Janeiro, that echoed the Columbine High School massacre. Luiz Felipe Vasques [pt] says “it is time for solidarity, folks. We can ask why we only copy bad traits from North-Americans later”.

author: Paula Góes


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China: Everybody Can Become Ai Weiwei · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Good times for those still trying to explain the irrelevance within Chinese society of all the people detained, arrested or disappeared since late February. Chinese Internet services continue to block essentially any mention of these names, and Ai Weiwei‘s situation remains unreported by Mainland Chinese media.
Even Hung Huang, writing simply of Ai Weiwei, “Still no news.”, appears to have had that update censored from her Weibo account this week. A search on Weibo for Ai's name brings back only the message that:
根据相关法律法规和政策，搜索结果未予显示。
For more about what little is being said in public about Ai Weiwei's arrest, see GVO writer Andy Yee's post here. Off Twitter, amid the relative silence among politically active ‘netizens’ as their peers and opinion leaders have disappeared, one of the few public statements in recent days came earlier this week from Guangzhou-based academic, writer, feminist and filmmaker Ai Xiaoming, with her post on Canyu.org, ‘Today, everybody can become Ai Weiwei’:
艾未未昨天在北京机场被带走，此后失去消息，其工作室和家人住处都被查抄，抄走三十多台电脑等。到今天晚上9点，世界各大主要媒体都报道了这个消息，不奇怪，中国的主流媒体当然没有报道。
很多推友在推特上呼吁释放艾未未，签名正在进行时http://twitition.com/ao9m7，艾未未的研究网站也在运行中http://aiwwstudy.appspot.com/，昨天到今天36个小时过去了，依然没有看到新的消息。
Many Twitter users are calling for Ai Weiwei to be released, and a petition is underway here, and a website to learn more about Ai Weiwei has been set up here. Yesterday marked 36 hours since he was detained, but still there is no new information.
In addition to Twitter reactions seen in Andy Yee's post, Ai Xiaoming has also collected these:
五岳散人：靠恐怖与失踪来消除异议、统治国家，第一不能算是盛世，因为没有一个盛世是在刺刀与警棍中实现的；第二是不可长久，多少个前车之鉴已经证明了这点，以后还会接着证明。
翟明磊：做为研究公民社会的学人，艾未未是我见过的最优秀的大公民，查访死亡学生名单，纪录杨佳案，仗仗漂亮，这样的人应当请到主席台上替换那些人模狗样的道德标兵，而不是关在囚车里。——当然老艾会在主席台上翻跟头树中指的。
浦志强:杨佳案他呼吁公正，川震人祸他推动调查，老谭入狱他作证遭袭，艳萍被抓他回马枪搭救，艺术家遭拆他冲上长街，胶州路大火他走访真相，钱云会惨死他直面媒体人。这世道有他没啥不同，没他却大大不同。赶明儿他出来，我还得面对这胖脸，所以我无法沉默。
Looking at how Ai Weiwei's art has come to overlap with his activism, particularly since last year, Ai Xiaoming continues:
艾未未创造的经验，一个是对待冲突的态度。因为过去我们拍，会觉得在冲突中只能偷拍，因为你没有能力和警察冲突。但是艾未未他们创造了一种直接冲突的经验，并且能够以技术手段转败为胜。因此，他非常有力地强化了公民拍摄的合法性，就是我有权拍摄，我有权监督。他呈现了在公权力面前，拍摄者应该有什么样的位置。过去这个位置是不被强调的，因为我们觉得拍摄者很弱小，随时会被击碎，所以是避让的。但是艾未未他创造了这样一种姿态，他一下子突破了一大步。这个突破不光是影像内容上的突破，很重要的是：一个拍摄者站起来了。这就是说，拍摄者不要跑，拍摄者站起来这个态度、这个姿态，非常有启发性。站起来，不退让，拍到底，对拍。这是一个突破。
再一个，艾未未他们做到了及时拍，及时上传。这也是他的一个理念：速度很重要，做事的效果跟速度有关联。所以他及时拍，立即传。还有一个经验是，就是他运作了一个团队。这个团队当它彼此一起工作的时候，它的力量、团队协作，是个人拍摄不可取代的。
[…]
今天我在推特上发了两段话：艾未未被抓走，也许几天后会回来，也许几年也不回来。而他身后的观众，可能有几十万。其中，80后90后是大多数。潜在的、他的同龄人还有很多。艾未未留下了他的观众，这个观众群里有无数人会继续艾未未的理想和实践。在这个意义上，艾未未不战而胜。
有关艾未未不战而胜，我既不是指他不会吃苦头，也不是指他没有受损失。而是说，在挑战强权的方式上，艾未未有他的奇思异想。他不光是勇毅过人，而且精灵鬼马，妙趣横生。这是中国多么稀缺的人格，是年轻人多么向往的个性。
[…]
中国不能回到任意抄家、遍布文字狱的红色恐怖之中，但抄家抱电脑的事情已经十分普遍。有人说，你再张嘴，下一个失踪者就是你！对此，我姑且引用推特上所传艾未未一段话来说明：“我怕的要命，不是无所畏惧，或许比其他人更要害怕。我之所以勇敢，是因为我知道危险就在那里，如果我不采取行动，危险会越来越强大。”请注意，我说的是“姑且”，它的另一层意思是：你真相信他怕吗？你看那“敏感地带”上的《中国男人》，谁不是脱下裤子，跃跃欲试，向着自由裸奔。
所以我还发了另一条推文：
今天推特上看不到艾未未，今天，人人都可以成为艾未未。如果你喜欢他，你就像他那样去生活，像他那样去爱亲人，爱朋友，爱孩子，爱小猫小狗，爱那些受苦的人并且为他们说话。无数个你成为了艾未未，中国就不必是马勒隔壁大草原了，你这位草泥马太祖可以骄傲地看到，你的后代进化成人——幸福的中国人。
Which is why I also tweeted that:
Today we don't see Ai Weiwei on Twitter; Today, everyone can become Ai Weiwei. If you like him, then live like him, and love like him. Love your friends, the children, every cat and dog. Love the people under torment, and speak for them. Countless numbers of you will become Ai Weiwei. China doesn't need to be a barren desert full of crabs. As descendants of the grass mud horse, you can see and be proud, knowing that your offspring will evolve into humans—into happy Chinese people.
“Missing persons: Ai Weiwei”, a stickeraction from Chinese Wikipedian Shizhao's blog.

author: John Kennedy


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Côte d’Ivoire: Gbagbo Resists, Africans Protest · Global Voices
Julie Owono

This post is part of our special coverage Côte d'Ivoire Unrest 2011
While former Côte d'Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo is still holed up in a bunker in the country, resisting arrest for continuing to deny his loss of the 2010 presidential election, the participation of France in the bid to oust him is raising reactions amongst French politicians and citizens [fr], as well as within the African community in France.
Pro-Gbagbo protests in Paris, France, March 26, 2011. Image by Flickr user anw.fr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
From Paris to Douala
On April 6, 2011, a demonstration was organised in front of the French National Assembly in Paris, as a series of videos posted by YouTube user Mamou922 shows. In the following one, we see the crowd facing French forces protecting a public building:
On April 5, 2011, in Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon, Moto Taxi drivers gathered downtown in order to show their support to Laurent Gbagbo. The following video was posted on Wat TV by Gri-Gri International, a news blog:
One of the interviewees in the video explains :
The problem of Côte d'Ivoire concerns all Africans […] we warn the international community and France to stop what they are doing in Côte d'Ivoire […]
Referring to what happened in Cameroon during the war of independence in the country, he adds:
Today we are understanding that it's true that France killed our parents 50 years ago
Embassy difficulties
French Defense Minister Gérard Longuet reported [fr] to the French Senate Commission on Foreign Affairs on the morning of April 7, 2011. He reported that the forces protecting Laurent Gbagbo number around 1,000 and explained that the main difficulty regarding the intervention of the presidential palace in Cocody (where Gbagbo is hiding) is the presence of numerous foreign embassies surrounding it. The latter are fast becoming strategical and tactical points:
French newspaper JDD posted on its Facebook page the rescue by the French UNICORN military force of the Japanese Ambassador from his residence in Abidjan, which was invaded by mercenaries on the night of April 6. The video source is the French Ministry of Defence:
According to Jeune Afrique, the main African French language magazine, 100 Angolan special forces [fr] are backing Gbagbo's militaries who are protecting the presidential bunker where the former leader is still hiding.
This post is part of our special coverage Côte d'Ivoire Unrest 2011

author: Julie Owono


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Cuba: Political Opposition  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Uncommon Sense republishes “what repression on the island looked like in March”, according to the statistics put forward by Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation.


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Guatemala’s “Mobile Phone Democracy” · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

“Guatemala’s evolving mobile sector, representative of the region, shows how this technology can offer unprecedented participation in both local and global civic conversations and actions. It is presenting an opportunity for nation-building (however nascent) and democratization that neither the Guatemalan government nor U.S. and European foreign policy have been able to do.” Kara Andrade looks at Guatemala's “mobile phone democracy” in the latest volume of ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America.


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Hungary: Fear of Pushing Copyright Term Extension Proposal · Global Voices
Marietta Le

Kluwer Copyright Blog writes: “According to an official press release, the Danish government has changed its position and now endorses the European Commission’s proposal to extend the term of protection for sound recordings. Since Denmark was part of a fragile blocking minority in the European Council, there is a danger now that the EU Presidency (Hungary) will try to push through the proposal within a matter of weeks.”

author: Marietta Le


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Jamaica: Poetry & Sensuality  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

For his 21 Days/21 Poems series, diaspora litblogger Geoffrey Philp posts an erotic poem by Jacqueline Johnson, saying: “What I love about this poem is the subdued sensuality.”


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Japan: Earthquake catfish prints · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Pinktentacle published images from the series of namazu-e (lit. “catfish pictures”) that was realized in the 19th century after the Great Ansei Earthquake. “These prints featured depictions of mythical giant catfish (namazu) who, according to popular legend, caused earthquakes by thrashing about in their underground lairs.”

author: Scilla Alecci


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Malaysia: State Election Brings Another Sex Scandal · Global Voices
Jerrenn Lam

At the end of March 2011, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the Sarawak state election will be held on April 16. The Prime Minister has said that the government will be using the election result as a barometer to decide on the timing to call a general election, due at the latest by 2013.
Bloggers’ support appears to be slanting towards the opposition, with many bloggers criticising the current government. Lucia Lai has insisted that the current government, led by Taib Mahmud, does not deserve to stay in power:
Taib Mahmud had been the CM for 3 decades, mind you, 3 decades – 30 years. During those 30 years, he had amassed a fortune… all at the expense of the poor people of Sarawak, especially the natives, many of whom he (and his family) stole their land (from). He is one of the most corrupt leaders of South East Asia!
Writing for the Centre for Policy Initiatives, Dr Lim Teck Ghee provided a better constructed argument:
According to Bernama, the Election Commission (EC) has decided not to give accreditation to Mafrel (Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections) to be an independent observer in the Sarawak state election, polling of which is to take place on April 16.
This statement coming from the EC makes it clear that the Government is afraid of –and will prevent – independent observers from monitoring the coming Sarawak election which, in all likelihood, will be the dirtiest one ever since the stakes are so high. Sarawak has to date been the biggest of the BN’s electoral fixed deposit.  If Sarawak goes to the opposition or if the expected landslide for the BN component parties does not take place, it could be a precursor to the BN losing power at the national level in the coming general election.
Mired in corruption
This reaction from citizens should not come as a shock, as many already regard the government to be mired in corruption; it has been reported, for instance, that there are many deceased people still on the list of eligible voters, leading to concerns of corruption.
Politicians have taken to the Internet to campaign as well; Tony Pua and Teresa Kok, both opposition politicians in Peninsula Malaysia, posted a Democratic Action Party (DAP) campaign message in their respective blogs:
Now is the time for the brave people of Sarawak to make their voices heard. NOW is the time for the people of Sarawak to send a loud and clear message to the incompetent and corrupt BN state government. NOW is the time for the people of Sarawak to send a clear signal to the entire nation in preparation of the upcoming 13th Malaysia general election.
The DAP offers the promise of change to Sarawak by fighting the rampant abuse of power, cronysim and corruption by the BN leaders, who have enriched themselves at the expense of the rakyat, especially the poor and the marginalized, during their 50 years in power.
In an analysis and prediction of the election results, Dr John Brian Anthony wrote in his blog [now unavailable] that the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition will have a hard time ahead:
The lack of development in rural Sarawak will hurt the BN as its poor record of delivering development projects just added salt to the wounds. The ever mounting “corruption” practices that are being exposed by on line media and the Government inability to counter the corruption charges will have a telling effect on BN. The golden rule of “silence mean acceptance” will apply.
The blogger at MyLongkang pleaded to Malaysians to consider very carefully when casting their vote:
This election is going to be a free-for-all. Opposition parties are going all out to make their message heard while the ruling coalition will do their usual ‘instant’ projects to remind us that development needs rule the game in the state.
Use your vote wisely. Who do you think you should surrender your trust and faith for the next five years? It cannot be denied that everything is about vested interests but beyond small term gains, listen to what your conscience tells you.
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. Image by Flickr user KamalSelle (CC BY 2.0).
Scandal
The election comes right at a time when opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is mired in yet another scandal, which broke out around the same time as the announcement of the election, this time over an alleged sex tape. Anwar has denied that the man in the video is him, saying that it is another government conspiracy against him. His family has also come out to support him, convinced that he is innocent.
AFP news agency reported that the Malaysian police chief confirmed the authenticity of the tape, and also pointed out that the two of the three people who have claimed responsibility over the video are in fact members of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the party which has a majority in the BN coalition as well as the party that the Prime Minister belongs to.
Popular blogger Kenny Sia has his reservations:
Everytime an election comes around, a sex video tape pops up. On the day the Sarawak state assembly is dissolved, a “Datuk T” emerged, producing a video alleging “someone who looks like Anwar Ibrahim” getting jiggy with it with “someone who looks like a Chinese prostitute”.
To that I say, how do they know it's a prostitute from China? Maybe it's his “personal friend”? (When another Malaysian leader, Chua Soi Lek, had a sex tape of him leaked, he said that the woman involved was his personal friend)
Suddenly, everyone is pointing fingers to everyone. Fingers are pointed to Anwar, saying he is not fit to be a leader. Fingers are pointed to Datuk T, for broadcasting pornography.
Then I wondered. How come no fingers are pointed to the China woman for prostitution?
Blogger Pasquale from blog BarkingMagpie, however, believes that it is indeed Anwar:
I have no doubt in my mind and convinced that the man shown in the one minute video clip on You Tube is none other than him. For a man who constantly in his arrogant streak mode saying “catch me if you can” has actually been caught and on tape!
What I find so tragic is to see a picture of desperate Malays – Wan Azizah, Nurul Izzah and that stuttering Malay turncoat of a traitor Khalid Ibrahim – trying desperately to defend Brother Anwar Bin Ibrahim (BABI), caught in a sex video which is now being viewed by the whole wide world!
Sarawak Reports has created an ‘Election Guide to Sarawak’ which has a brief profile of the different political parties contesting in the election, and leading English daily newspaper The Star has a section dedicated to election coverage, as do online alternative news website Malaysiakini.

author: Jerrenn Lam


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Mexico: 59 Bodies Found in Mass Graves in Tamaulipas · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

In Vivir México [es], Perla Cristal Gomez reports that 59 bodies and 8 mass graves were found in San Fernando in the state of Tamaulipas, the same municipality where 72 migrants were found dead in August of 2010.


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Nigeria: Will Technology Impact 2011 Elections? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This post is part of our special coverage Nigeria Elections 2011.
Nigerians will go to the polls on 16 April 2011 to elect their new president. The election was postponed from 9 April 2011 because of organizational difficulties. In this post we are looking at how Nigerians are using technology to enhance electoral transparency, political participation and good governance.
Take a Stand, Publicly!
Nigerians on social networking sites can take a public stand using Take a Stand website:
TakeAStand allows people to identify publicly with their positions on certain issues. Take a stand was built to fight apathy, double speak and non commitment by our friends and colleagues on the forthcoming Nigerian elections .  Take a Stand is the ‘option A4*’ of online voting  *Option A4 also known as open ballot is the voting system that was used in the 1992 Presidential elections. Voters were required to line up behind the candidates they supported. The 1992 elections is aclaimed to be the freest and fairest election held in Nigeria.
FAQ about Take a Stand:
What is the diffience [sic] between this and online voting  Online voting is anonymous. With TakeAStand, you stand by your vote publicly. Besides, you can stand for only one candidate unlike in online voting where you can use multiple email adderesses to vote for multiple people. Why are there only 4 candidates when there are about 18 contesting?  Exactly the same reason the 20 premier league clubs do not go to the Champion's League. However, if enough people email info@takeastand.com.ng requesting for a particular candidate, we will consider. I am in a position of neutrality therefore I cannot state my position publicly (e.g. military, INEC official)  Fair pont. Journalists are not exempted though, they should balanced, not neutral. I do not have a Facebook or Twitter account.  I am sorry, that is the only universal public identity tool.
Online Voting For Nigeria Elections 2011
Online Voting for the Nigerian 2011 Election is a website that allows Nigerians who will not have the opportunity to vote to do so online:
For Nigerians in Diaspora or Nigerians online as a whole who will not have the opportunity to vote, this Internet portal has been set up to allow any interested parties vote for the presidential candidate of their choice in the Nigerian Election of April 2011.  Voting Rules      The result will be displayed as soon you select one candidate and click the Done button     You will need to be of Nigerian heritage     You can only vote once – (Just to keep close to the real thing).
Nigerians Decide
Another website that allows Nigerians to vote online is Nigerians Decide:
Fellow Nigerians, it is time to decide our future as a country. Your vote is your POWER  to decide who will lead NIGERIA out of  poverty, unemployment, insecurity, and the candidate that will restore the true dignity of Nigerians. VOTE NOW! and VOTE RIGHT!
Here are the latest results:
1. President Goodluck Jonathan (Peoples Democratic Party) 	621 	21%
2. Muhammadu Buhari (Congress for Progressive Change) 	1870 	64%
3. Nuhu Ribadu (Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) 	343 	12%
4. Pat Utomi (Social Democratic Mega Party) 	24 	1%
5. Dele Momodu (National Conscience Party) 	7 	0%
6. Ibrahim Shekarau (All Nigeria Peoples Party) 	34 	1%
ReclaimNaija:
ReclaimNaija is a broad based national platform for popular, grassroots engagement in promoting electoral transparency and democratic government. ReclaimNaija uses Ushahidi platform to monitor the Nigeria Elections 2011.
ReclaimNaija: My Vote, My Power!
The objectives of ReclaimNaija are:
To empower the individual Nigerian Citizen as a monitor of incidents in the area of:         Free and fair elections;         Corruption of public officials,  civil servants and law enforcement agents;         Human Rights abuses     To provide a mechanism for citizens to report on incidents of electoral malpractices, corruption and Human Rights violations that they experience;     To provide a resource to the Mass Communication industry in publicising the incidents reported by Nigerian citizens;     To provide mechanism for collating and analysing reports and channelling them appropriately to inform public decision making, shape and influence policy outcomes.
Writing at Ushahidi blog, Linda had this to say about ReclaimNaija:
The reclaimnaija platform, which is driven by the Ushahidi web engine, is a reporting platform set up as a mechanism for grassroots people to get their voices heard on issues of electoral transparency and governance. The platform makes it possible for citizens to monitor the electoral process and report incidents of electoral fraud and other malpractices simply by sending text messages or calling dedicated numbers in four major languages (Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and Pidgin). For the text messages,FrontlineSMS is what has been used as the SMS gateway. Citizens can also report to the platform via email, direct reporting on the site and twitter.  Community Life Project successfully deployed the platform for promoting electoral transparency in the pre-election phase of the 2011 elections.
Reclaim Naija is redefining election monitoring in Nigeria:
In addition, the reclaimnaija.net website serves as a one-stop online resource for information on the 2011 elections. It features all the polling units, senatorial districts and wards, the Nigerian Constitution, information on candidates, the 2010 electoral act, the election timetable, electoral guidelines, certified voters’ registration figures, political parties as well as civic and voter education modules.  For the first time in our history, citizens of this country have a formidable platform for promoting electoral transparency and popular participation. Citizens were able to positively influence the electoral process. For instance, a lot of reports came from communities with limited access to registration centres and a couple of such communities had the deadline for voter registration extended by two days.  Reclaimnaija.net has already succeeded in redefining the paradigm of election monitoring in Nigeria.
This post is part of our special coverage Nigeria Elections 2011.


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Pakistan: Killings And Abductions In Balochistan · Global Voices
Rezwan

“Pakistani media and its civil society cannot abandon their duty to highlight the woes of all those Baloch who are being killed, tortured or abducted” – comments Raza Rumi while discussing about the secession movement in Balochistan and the repression of the authorities.

author: Rezwan


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Peru: Blogger Interviews Mayor of Lima Susana Villarán · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Blogger Carlos A. Quiroz [es] interviewed the mayor of Lima, Susana Villarán, and posted a video and photos of his meeting with “the mayor, activist, educator and blogger.”


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Puerto Rico: Clarifying Domestic Violence Decision · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Blogger and feminist lawyer Veronica RT, also President of the Women's Commission of the Bar Association of Puerto Rico, clarifies the misconceptions created by public officials [es] regarding the recent controversial Supreme Court decision that leaves “adulterous” women without the special protections offered by the Law against Domestic Violence [en].

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


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Puerto Rico: Digital Literature · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Journalist, artist and blogger Carlos Antonio Otero has decided to expand his digital experimentation to Twitter under @cuentopatuiter, which he is using to publish a story in 10 parts. “As soon as it ends, and you have read the story, I will be waiting for your reactions,” he says in his blog El Naufragio de las Palabras [es].


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Russia: Communist campaign against tandemocracy · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Vadim Nikitin of Foreign Policy‘s Russia Blog discusses a campaign video [RU] for the 2012 presidential elections, allegedly first posted on the Communist Party website, which portrays the Putin-Medvedev tandemocracy as an apocalypse in the making.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Russia: Compromising Photos of Saint-Petersburg Judge Leaked  · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Blogger Yanvarlamov publishes private (and quite compromising) pictures [ru] of Alexey Kuznetsov, Saint-Petersburg judge famous for sentencing opposition activists. On the pictures, Kuznetsov is depicted as a heavy drinker and a person that can hardly be called a source of a reasonable judgement. Besides, on one of the pictures his colleague exposes a gesture similar to a Nazi salute.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Russia: RuNet Celebrates 17 Years Today · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Habrahabr-user kremlin reminds [ru] the world that on April 7, 1994 “.ru” domain had been included to IANA, root zone database. This means, today is the 17th birthday of the Russian Internet! Congratulations!


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Sri Lanka: Women’s Photography Exhibition 2011 · Global Voices
Rezwan

Dushiyanthini at Groundviews writes about the recently concluded  Women’s Photography Exhibition 2011 held at the Harold Peiris Gallery in Colombo. Thirty Four Sri Lankan women photographers participated in the exhibition.


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Ukraine: Eyewitness Video of a Racist Attack on Kyiv Metro · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Slava Baranskiy witnessed (RUS) the beating of a black African man on a crowded metro train in the center of Kyiv, between Khreshchatyk and Arsenalna stations, on April 2. Baranskiy was in an adjacent train car and recorded the beating on video, which he later gave to the police, who, according to the blogger, had detained one of the offenders.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Afghanistan: Violence against Aid Workers  · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joel Hafvenstein reflects on the latest and earlier cases of violence against international aid workers in Afghanistan and says that it’s not quite right to talk about a steady increase in such violence.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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China: Privilege Zone · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Mary Ann O'Donnell has translated an essay on “Why is creating SEZs a logical fraud? The “Special Economic Zones (SEZs)” was designed as a testing ground for reforming and opening China. However, the article argues that it is a privilege zone for multinationals to explore workers.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Colombia: Finding Colombia in New York City · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Elsa Tobón walks around and Roosevelt Avenue [sp] in New York City, pointing out all the details that make her believe for a moment that she is back in Medellin, Colombia.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Cuba: Exam Fraud  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Fraud in Cuban schools is a deep evil, almost endemic,” says Iván García, who explains that “on a greater or lesser scale it’s been happening since 1970.”


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Cuba: House Arrest for Fariñas · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Uncommon Sense has the details on independent journalist and human rights activist Guillermo Fariñas’ latest detention.


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Cuba: The Dangers of Bureaucracy · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

In La Polémica Digital [es] blogger and journalist Elaine Díaz reflects on the dangers of bureaucracy in Cuba.


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Gambia: Yahya Jammeh is a brutal dictator · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sentenced to six months in prison after falling foul of Gambia’s Jammeh government, democracy and human rights activist Edwin Nebolisa talks to Pan-African Visions’ Ajong Mbapndah about his ordeal

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Global Voices at the 7th Annual BOB Awards · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

A number of Global Voices contributors from around the world are among the nominees for the prestigious Deutsche Welle Blog Awards – the BOBs.
The annual event is organized by Deutche Welle, Germany’s prime cultural export vehicle in the area of traditional media.  Like the BBC, the other world-famous public broadcaster to have emerged from a rich and powerful Western European nation, Deutsche Welle has been at the cutting edge of development of online journalism.
According to the contest rules, an independent jury first filters the selection of nominees, and then the public has its say. At the end there are two kinds of winners, those chosen by the jury and those chosen by Internet users; the latter can vote once a day, using their Facebook and Twitter accounts for easy login.
Sami Ben Gharbia
Best blogs
In the overall Best Blog category are two Global Voices (GV) Tunisian authors who mainly publish in Arabic and French, and sometimes English.
Nawaat [fr, ar] is a Tunisian collective blog about news and politics, co-founded in 2004 by veteran activist and GV Advocacy Director Sami Ben Gharbia. In addition, Nawaat’s outlet 24sur24 [fr, ar], a multiple-user platform for documenting and sharing multimedia information on a 24-hour basis, is also nominated for the Reporters Without Borders Award.
In December 2010, Lina Ben Mhenni was among the first to spread the word about the revolution outside of Tunisia, with her article that explained how the suicide of poverty-stricken Mohamed Bouazizi incited the first riots in Sidi Bouzid. Her blog A Tunisian Girl [fr] has been nominated both in the categories of Best Blog, and Best Blog French.
Lina Ben Mhenni
The two face a  diverse array of nine tough competitors though, including: hilarious cartoonists – Russian Egor Zhun and Iranian Vahid Nikgoo; somber works advocating the rights of people with disabilities Arquitetura Acessível (Accessible Architecture) by Thais Frota from Brazil; and the records of the personal journey of Sabrina Chowdhury from Bangladesh.
Global Voices represents!
The Best Blog French category also features candidate Les informations en direct des villages maliens (Direct information from the villages of Mali) [fr] by GV French translator Boukary Konaté, a teacher from Bamako, Mali. On his other blog Fasokan [fr], he also translates the content of this blog into Bambara. He recently won a Rising Voices grant to further develop online communication in his native region of Ségou, through provision of more local-language content and providing skills and knowledge to villagers so they can make use of new technologies.
The Best Blog Arabic category also features a seasoned GV contributor – Hisham Almiraat. On his blog Mamfakinch (No Compromises!) [ar] he covers the ongoing pro-democracy movement developments in his native Morocco. This blog also provides coverage in French.
Jillian C. York, Boukary Konaté and Hisham Almiraat
Best Blog English features another nominee with close ties to Morocco – United States-based Jillian C. York. She is a GV Board member and a co-founder of Talk Marocco, a blog that swept both the Jury and the User Award in this category at BOBs 2009/10. This year, she goes it alone with her self-titled personal blog, which she uses to write “about free expression, politics, and the Internet, with particular focus on the Arab world.”
Blogging revolutions
Not surprisingly, this year quite a few blogs from North Africa/Middle East have been nominated in the general categories, indicating the influence of these social media outside of their respective cultural spheres, and the worldwide interest about the current events in the region. An instance of this trend is Yaqoob in Japan Show, which is nominated in the Best Video Channel category.  Through it, GV contributor Yacoub Al-Slaise utilizes the popularity of Facebook as a springboard to reach people in his native Bahrain, while observing the situation from his current residence in Japan.
Yacoub Al-Slaise, Eman AbdElRahman and Sana Saleem
In addition, one of the nominees for the category Best Use of Technology for Social Good is Kolena Laila (project translates as ‘We are all Laila’), a collaborative effort providing opportunities for Arab women to speak out against injustices they face, founded by Egyptian engineer and GV contributor Eman AbdElRahman. Participants in this initiative devote a day to blog about this topic in synchronicity, and since its beginning in 2006 the movement has gained adherents in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen, and Libya.
Another blog advocating women’s rights deserves a special mention. Gawaahi Speak Out has been nominated in two categories:  Best Social Activism Campaign and Best English Blog. Co-founded by Sana Saleem, a digital renaissance woman and a prolific GV contributor from Pakistan, it features testimonials by people who fight to end traditions of abuse and muted consent through personal examples. Some of the posts involve the use of digital storytelling, a multidisciplinary approach involving use of new technologies, psychology and forms of group therapy.
Voting for the BOBs 2011 is open until April 11. It takes less than a minute per category, and has a pretty nifty automated feature for informing your friends/followers on the most popular social media.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Guyana: Losing Your Religion  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Each cast different blame. Your country fault. Your religion fault. And none can see that both is wrong…”: Guyana-Gyal thinks that many of the world's problems could be solved if people would actually listen.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Jamaica, Barbados: Search Putting CARICOM at Risk?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Abeng News Magazine says that “Jamaica’s foreign minister…is intimating that…CARICOM could be threatened if an alleged vaginal search of a Jamaican woman mid March by Barbadian border service agents is not dealt with frankly and honestly.”


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Kazakhstan: Elections are over · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Christya Riedel analyzes the outcomes of the presidential election in Kazakhstan, noting that they could be called “competitive, unpredictable and exciting” only with a large share of sarcasm.


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Laos: Vientiane Vision 2030 · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Sao Darly links to a youtube video about the urban development masterplan for Vientiane, capital of Laos.

author: Mong Palatino


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Mexico: News of US Clandestine Operation Draws “Fast and Furious” Response · Global Voices
Deborah Esch

This post is part of our special coverage Mexico's Drug War.
Recent Twitter searches under the twin hashtags #estadofallido [es] and #failedstate turned up a tweet in common that bore news of a scandal that continues to unfold. On March 26, 2011, Pedro Lara (@Lohomabe) signaled the breaking story:
Rapido y furioso se autorizo en Washington, revela ex jefe de ATF http://www.lajor.mx/ejdrbr #LaJornada y #CBS #estadofallido #failedstate
The link provided by Lara yields a report [es] in the Mexican daily La Jornada. The article followed up on a series of investigative reports by Sharyl Attkisson of the American broadcast network CBS that included an interview with Darren Gil, a former senior official in the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives).
The CBS interview with Gil, which was promptly picked up by a host of news organizations in both countries, brought to light the secret operation, sanctioned at high levels by United States (US) officials, under which ATF officers monitored without intervening as more than 2,000 weapons were purchased at a handful of gun stores in Arizona and transported over the border into Mexico.
“Gunwalking”
The practice is known as “gunwalking,” which in theory gives the ATF an opportunity to observe patterns of circulation and establish the eventual destinations of the firearms. In the event, according to the CBS reports, some of the weapons found their way to crime scenes deep within Mexican territory. One was used in the murder of a US agent.
One blogger among many to take verbal aim at the ATF's secret operation was Horacio Garcia Fernandez, who posted [es] on ApiaVirtual, taking issue first of all with name of the mission, which he parsed like an impassioned linguist:
“RÁPIDO Y FURIOSO”  fué el nombre que eligieron para una cruenta acción de guerra contra México.[…]
¿Qué significan exactamente esas dos palabras así reunidas?
Acudimos a un buen “tumba burros”, también llamado “diccionario” y leemos que “rápido”significa “con ímpetu”, “impetuoso”.[…]
Por tanto, lo de “rápido” lleva asociada la idea de “energía”; un movimiento “rápido” es un movimiento “enérgico”.
El programa de acción que fué bautizado ( ¿? ) con ese nombre de “rápido y furioso” nos envía un mensaje de fondo: “¡Cuidado! este asunto está cargado de energía”, en lo que claramente es un intento de asustarnos.
“Fast and Furious” was the name they chose for a vicious act of war against Mexico.[…]
What exactly do these two words, so conjoined, signify?
We consulted a good […] “dictionary,” and we read that “fast” means “with impetus”, “impetuous”.[…]
Therefore, “fast” is associated with the idea of ”energy”; a”fast” movement is an “energetic” one.
The operational plan that was baptized (??) with the name “fast and furious” sends us a fundamental message: “Caution! This matter is full of energy,” in what is clearly an attempt to scare us.
He continues:
Viene después la palabrita” furioso”, la cual nos dice el diccionario que significa “poseído de furia”, “violento”, “terrible”.
A su vez, “furia” significa ” ira exaltada”, “violenta agitación”.[…]
Por tanto, la “furia” ES UNA VIOLENTA IRA DESATADA Y FUERA DE CONTROL, provocada por alguna causa mayor, fuera de lo común.[…]
Los E.U han puesto las armas, y nosotros, los mexicanos, hemos puesto las víctimas, los cadáveres.
Next comes the little word “furious,” which the dictionary tells us signifies “possessed by fury,” “violent,” “terrible.”
In turn, “fury” means “exalted rage,” “violent agitation.”
Therefore, the “fury” is a violent rage spinning out of control, caused by a force majeure, extraordinary.[…]
The US have their weapons, and we Mexicans have the corpses.
On EjeCentral, contributor Martha Anaya noted [es]:
Pero acercarse a la información de primera mano sobre la operación “Rápido y Furioso” no es nada fácil. Ni siquiera en Estados Unidos, pues ningún funcionario del Departamento de Justicia ni de la  ATF han comparecido ante el Comité senatorial que investiga el caso.Según un reporte de la CBS, Kenneth Melson, director general de la ATF, tenía programada una audiencia en el senado el jueves pasado, pero no asistió.
Así que, al igual que en México y Estados Unidos, la operación “Rápido y Furioso” está provocando que sus principales implicados se escondan. Pero, como la avestruces, sólo ocultan la cabeza, todo lo demás queda –o va quedando– al descubierto.
But to obtain firsthand information about operation “Fast and Furious” is not easy. Even in the United States, no officials from the Justice Department or the ATF have appeared before the Senate committee investigating the case. According to a CBS report, Kenneth Melson, general director of the ATF, was scheduled to appear at a hearing in the Senate last Thursday, but did not attend.
In Mexico and the United States, then, Operation “Fast and Furious” is prompting its major players to hide. But, like ostriches, they only conceal the head, everything else is being – or will be – exposed.
Twitter reactions
In the meantime, Twitter users were likewise galvanized by the revelations. Ross Romero (@rosseromero) ventured on March 30:
#Mexicorojo  Seguro que rapido y furioso pronto va ser el nombre de la empressa que armara a los mexicanos para defenderse de la violencia???
Mexican journalist Juan Pablo de Leo (@juanpadeleo) wondered on April 5:
North of the Rio Grande, a self-described “American. Conservative. Mom. Wife. Blogger” with 160,000+ followers, Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) leavened her skepticism with humour on March 30:
Code name for Obama stonewall/denials on Operation Fast and Furious — Operation False and Spurious.
Writing from Mexico City (D.F.) on the same day, Julieta Boy (@julieboy) perhaps spoke for others south of the border:
Estados Unidos tuvo un operativo llamado “rapido y furioso”, Mexico tiene el suyo: “en chinga y encabronado”
This post is part of our special coverage Mexico's Drug War.

author: Deborah Esch


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Puerto Rico: Media critique · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

The team of #EnProfundo [es] come back with another podcast full of their biting media critique.


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Russia: Distributed Denial of LiveJournal · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Russian online space is getting more violent. The last series of attacks on LiveJournal blogging platform has proved this once again. The attacks happened three times (on March 30, April 4 and April 6) paralyzing the Russian political blogosphere. Whatever are the reasons (political, technical or commercial), the attack on LiveJournal is an attack on online speech in Russia. Bloggers, however, share responsibility for the situation.
Russian DDoS warfare: 2007 – 2011
Frank, LiveJournal's mascot, has now more reasons to cry. Screenshot of LiveJournal website.
The possibility of an attack on LiveJournal was predictable. In January 2010, when I was asked by Ivan Sigal, GV Executive Director, what were the most probable DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) targets in Russia, I called LiveJournal the most endangered platform. Usage and seriousness of DDoS, the universal online weapon used both for commercial extortions and political assaults, are increasing every year. Russia, in this context, is famous not only for having a long history of suppressing dissent, but also for being a country with one of the widest and cheapest markets for DDoS services.
Noticeable political DDoS attacks have been happening in Russia since 2007. Before the attack on LiveJournal, the targets were either independent or semi-independent media (novayagazeta.ru, kommersant.ru, vedomosti.ru being the most known cases), and pro-democracy political parties (mosyabloko.ru was attacked in 2007). 2011 has been marked by political DDoS, too. In the beginning of February 2011, the website [ru] of a small but vocal Libertarian Party of Russia was ‘DDoS-ed‘ [ru] by its virtual spoiler ‘Party of Liberty‘ [ru].
Things changed in 2011. On February 25, for the first time in the RuNet history, the website of the United Russia’ party was attacked [ru]. A Ukraine-based information technology specialist has registered a website with a provocative name putinvzrivaetdoma.org [‘Putin Blows Up Houses,’ a reference to the conspiracy theory behind 1999 appartment bombings in Russia [ru] and installed LOIC (Low Orbital Ion Cannon, a weapon of choice of the Anonymous hacker group), an open-source tool for crowdsourced DDoS. For several hours, United Russia‘s website was unaccessible.
Commercials attacks are a grim reality for many websites as well – they are being organized on a daily basis, and their owners are being extorted [ru]. According to the latest research [ru] by Russian cybersecurity company Group IB, 35 percent of DDoS attacks are conducted by Russian (or, to be more precise, russophone) hackers.
Versions behind the attack
In these conditions, anonymous and relatively cheap DDoS attacks are more efficient than legal prosecution or physical harrassment of bloggers. Combined with human bots that spin “hot” topics, this tactic helps authorities deny any evident fact of cyber censorship. Other evidence of the political origin of these attacks is the fact that before LiveJournal, an anti-corruption website rospil.info had been attacked by infamous Darkness/Optima botnet (the name of the network of infected computers). These and other details of the attack were published by the independent analysis [ru] at Kaspersky Lab, a cyber security company.
At the same time, it's important to realize that politics is not the only explanation for attacks. As mentioned earlier, Whichever version is true, the consequences of the attack became political. Commercial explanations have split into two main versions:
Technical version of the lack of functionality has been voiced [ru] by German Klimenko, a creator of the competing service LiveInternet.ru. According to this version, LiveJournal's blackouts were connected with the new system of caching introduced by the company before the attack.
Why concentration is dangerous.
Historically, many Russian Internet users became bloggers with the help of LiveJournal. Being one of the oldest blogging platforms, LiveJournal had natural advantages over other platforms. A hybrid of a publishing tool and social network, LiveJournal became even more popular when its invitation-only regime was abandoned in 2004.
In October 2006, SUP [ru], a company now controlled by Kremlin-affiliated oligarch Alisher Usmanov, acquired a license to manage the Cyrillic services of LiveJournal. In other words, the Russian segment of LiveJournal was managed by a Russian company. In 2007, SUP acquired [ru] the rest of LiveJournal.
LiveJournal‘s popularity and outreached have increased ever since and resulted in the core of the Russian blogosphere being “comprised mainly, though not exclusively, of blogs on the LiveJournal platform” (Berkman Center Research, 2010).
The high concentration of political bloggers made LiveJournal a strategic element in the infrastructure of Russian free expression and digital dissent. This fact means that any disfunctionality of the platform (intended by the Russian authorities or not) automatically resulted in political consequences in the Russian political landscape.
Having a blog on LiveJournal was fashionable, convenient (since “everyone is here”), while LiveJournal‘s managers stressed its uniqueness in the Russian blogosphere. This formed a feeling of very tight affiliation with the platform. Below are the typical reactions of popular Russian bloggers.
Andrey Malgin [ru]:
Я, конечно, вечерком от нечего делать завел себе аккаунты где только можно, буду зеркалить до посинения, но все же призывы некоторых товарищей уходить на другие сервисы не поддерживаю. Это же прям мечта врага: чтобы все разбрелись кто куда. Нет уж, сидеть на этом корабле надо до последнего. Даже если он на глазах под воду уходит.
Artemiy Lebedev [ru]:
Дорогие мои! Пока жив в ЖЖ последний читатель, никогда я не перейду на стандалон. Никогда не начну вести блог на сраном Блоггере. Никогда не отправлю своих читателей смотреть фотки на Фликре. Никакой Твиттер не заменит настоящую свободу – наш ЖЖ.
Some however, were less attached and quickly created Blogspot accounts (such as opposition politician Boris Nemtsov). Eugene Gorny, a media analyst and author of the book “A Creative History of the Russian Internet,” wrote [ru]:
«Многие лже-юзеры причитают о незаменимости жэжешечки и выражают свое no pasaran. А по мне так решение проблемы должно состоять не в сохранении этого добровольно-принудительного колхоза, а в нахождении технических решений наподобие p2p, которое позволило бы пользователям всех стран совокупляться в любые конфигурации независимо от платформы без посредства какого бы то ни было центрального сервиса.»
Besides, the relations between top bloggers and the SUP managing company remain unclear. If some bloggers, like Anton Nosik [ru], drugoi [ru] or Artemiy Lebedev [ru] were once employed by SUP, it is unclear wherever they have conflict of interests regarding LiveJournal.
Trebor Scholz, a media analyst at The New School in NYC, described the situation as the “enforcement of the digital cages.” In the article ‘Infrastructure: Its Transformations and Effect on Digital Activism,‘ he wrote:
The drastic effects of LiveJournal's paralysis are due not only to the possible (quite possible) political attack, but also to the hyper-concentration of the bloggers in one place. Even though this concentration creates a surplus in discussion or decision-making, it is the bloggers – and not the platform – who create content and influence political agenda. The only positive effect of attacks against LiveJournal is that bloggers and digital activists have realized how fragile the Russian blogosphere really is.


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Russia: FSB Representative Urges to Ban Skype, Gmail, and Hotmail · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Alexander Andreyechkin, head of Information and Special Communications Protection Center of Federal Security Service (FSB), said that uncontrollable use of Skype, Gmail, and Hotmail ‘can lead to a massive threat to Russia's security” and urged to ban these services, RIA Novosti reported [ru]. On the same day, anonymous Kremlin representative stated [ru] that such proposition was Andreyechkin's ‘personal opinion’ and ‘didn't reflect government Internet policy.’