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Colombia: Cali’s Salsa Circus · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Vicki Kellaway writes about Cali's salsa circus in her blog Banana Skin Flip Flops: “there are the clowns, the devils and the daring trapeze  artists. Then there are the tiny sequin dresses, the winning smiles and  the principal dancers whose feet move so quickly they almost cease to  exist. Throw all of that into a huge circus tent on a balmy night in a city  park, add a bottle of rum and 1,000 enthralled Colombians and you have  yourself a party.”

author: Silvia Viñas


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Colombia: Getting Ready for Campus Party 2011 · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Bogotá is getting ready to host the fourth edition of Campus Party Colombia, which will take place from June 27 to July 3, 2011. You can read more about it in the event's official blog [es].

source: news-globalvoices

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


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Cuba: Activists, Bloggers on the Cuba Money Project Vimeo Channel · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

For anyone interested in United States (US) policy, human rights activism, or the problem of free expression in Cuba, there is a new must-see channel on Vimeo. It belongs to the Cuba Money Project.
Last December, journalist, blogger, and Flagler College professor Tracey Eaton began the Cuba Money Project (CMP), a non-profit research and reporting initiative that aims to investigate and bring greater transparency and accountability to US federal spending on “pro-democracy” programs in Cuba. With the help of a grant from the Washington-based Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, Eaton has employed a blend of traditional and new media techniques in his work.
In addition to an active newsfeed and blog, the CMP website includes data visualizations of spending details, a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) tracker, and spaces where readers can contribute their own knowledge.
Tracey Eaton interviewing a man in Baracoa, Cuba. Posted with permission of Eaton.
US funding in Cuba: ‘Pro-democracy’ or anti-government?
Despite sanctions against spending US dollars in Cuba, the US government has spent millions of dollars over the last five decades on an interventionist policy towards Cuba. Since 2007, Congress has allocated between 13 and 45 million USD per year to be spent on “pro-democracy” programs in the country.
These programs have grown out of a US-Cuba policy framework that once sought to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. US ire for Cuban leadership began decades ago with Fidel Castro’s declaration of the socialist character of the revolution, and his refusal of economic aid from the US, and Cuba’s subsequent alliance with the Soviet Union.
Today, the rhetoric has shifted: the stated goal of US policy in Cuba is no longer to bring the downfall of the government, but rather to support Cuban citizens’ efforts to improve their lives through the restoration of human, civic, and economic rights. Yet regardless of how the US chooses to represent its efforts, the “pro-democracy” programs that it supports are, by nature, anti-government, or at least fall in opposition to some part of the Cuban system as it currently stands.
Diverse opposition
The 24 interviews on CMP’s Vimeo channel feature Cuban human rights activists, traditional dissidents, bloggers, and government workers and supporters, along with policymakers from Cuba, England, and the US. I recently had the chance to interview Eaton about this impressive archive.
Eaton’s goal is to get representative views from across the spectrum of opinion and influence on these issues:
People have passionate views. I want to help them tell their story without taking sides. Letting them talk into the camera is a great way to do that. […] Video [allows] people to speak directly to the [viewers] without any intervention from me. I ask questions, but I don’t filter what people say. I try to let them tell their story. I edit the videos very lightly, if at all.
He says that the archive is far from complete, and that he is determined to get more Cuban government supporters and workers to participate.
The videos do not form a cohesive narrative about activism and US involvement in Cuba; rather, they show the truly diverse range of ideas and goals espoused by Cuban political activists and by those in the US who influence US-Cuba policy. As dissident leader Martha Beatríz Roque says:
[l]a ideología dentro de la opposición es diversa. […] No somos partido único—partido único es el partido comunista.
One-peso note. Photo by Tracey Eaton.
One important difference between activist groups that is all but indecipherable in mainstream coverage of Cuba is that which separates “old guard” dissidents, whose primary aim is to bring about the downfall of the Castro regime and the Cuban socialist project at large, and those who advocate for human rights in Cuba.
While leaders like Roque, who is connected with anti-Castrist leaders in Miami, believe that more US government money could make a meaningful change in dissident work on the island, Oswaldo Payá, leader of the famed 1990s Varela Project, is not so sure of this:
El dinero de los Estados Unidos no va a decidir el cambio en Cuba. […] La esencia del problema es que el gobierno cubano no reconoce los derechos de los ciudadanos cubanos en Cuba. […] El problema está en Cuba, y la solución está en Cuba, y entre cubanos.
Unemployment among opposition activists
Eaton has interviewed several members of the women’s opposition group, Las Damas de Apoyo, who advocate for the end of politically-motivated incarceration in Cuba. They work in support of the Damas de Blanco, a coalition of women whose husbands and sons have been imprisoned for political reasons. Each of the women interviewed described how she had lost her job, and was unable to find work, because of her political beliefs:
Unemployment and underemployment among members of Cuba’s political opposition is widespread…[They] are in a difficult spot…They have to do something to get by. I can understand why a dissident might accept help from a non-governmental organization.
But, he says, “It’s a risky proposition. Accepting support from a US-financed NGO can set them up for possible arrest or jail time.” And doing political work costs money:
If dissidents from Havana need to travel to another town to meet with other dissidents, it costs money…Internet access and phone calls are extraordinarily expensive…Simple things can be tough to accomplish in Cuba, especially if you are strapped for cash. You can’t just walk to a Kinko’s on the corner to make copies.
Opposition leaders in various camps described the problems that money can create for their cause, particularly when coming from the US. Aleida Godinez, a state security agent, believes that when US money stops coming in, the dissident movement will end. When asked about US support for pro-democracy initiatives in Cuba, Godinez notes an important problem that many Cubans perceive within this paradigm:
Los promotores de los valores de la democracia, de la libertad, son norteamericanos. No entiendo por que razón no permiten que un país como Cuba no puede elegir su propio sistema social. […] [Demuestra] una falta de respeto para el pueblo cubano.
“Dissident bloggers” or just bloggers?
Eaton has interviewed three of Cuba’s most prominent anti-government bloggers, Claudia Cadelo [es], Laritza Diversent [es], and Yoani Sánchez [es]. I asked him what he thought of their involvement with opposition initiatives, and how he saw them fitting into the larger landscape of pro-democracy activism that CMP seeks to better understand.
Blogger Laritza Diversent. Photo by Tracey Eaton.
Eaton calls Cuba’s bloggers a “diverse bunch.” “[T]hey shouldn't be lumped together with political dissidents,” he told me. “Some Cuban bloggers support the socialist system. Others rebel against it, but don't consider themselves to be dissidents.”
“Many bloggers want change, but steer clear of politics,” he told me:
When I talked to blogger Claudia Cadelo last year, she…didn't seem too interested in politics. She wants change. She wants an expansion of basic freedoms. But I wouldn't consider her to be a political dissident.
[…]
Some bloggers purposely avoid the U.S. Interests Section in Havana because they don't want to be linked to American efforts to undermine the Cuban government.
Indeed, many of the island’s most widely read bloggers advocate for change, but do not engage directly with politics. Even Yoani Sánchez did not begin blogging with a particular political agenda, though unlike many, she has since become a vociferous advocate for particular political changes in Cuba.
If there were a political platform for bloggers, Eaton says it would be advocacy for free expression and open Internet access for all Cubans:
My impression is that a key issue for many Cuban bloggers is freedom of expression. They want Internet access for all. They want it to be affordable. They want to network with other people and they want the freedom to use technology without someone looking over their shoulder. […] Outside Cuba, there are many bloggers and democracy activists who are eager to see change on the island. Many are Cuban exiles who have no plans to return to Cuba while the Castro brothers are in power. They are quick to support many of the bloggers, and sometimes pull them into the swirling currents of the U.S.-Cuba grudge match whether the bloggers want that or not.
Projects like Eaton's might well serve as a counterbalance to the common assumption by many activists groups that all Cubans who criticize their government are alike. No matter what side they're on, anyone interested in the complex political world of Cuba today should check out the Cuba Money Project Vimeo channel.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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Cuba: Confronting Fate  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Death always makes you reflect. In front of the mirror you tell yourself, “You too are at the mercy of the same power that took the lives of those dissidents. What are you waiting for? What will be your fate?”: Laritza Diversent realises that her fate is “the same as that faced by all Cubans within this island.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Cuba: Farinas Ends Hunger Strike  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Uncommon Sense confirms that Guilllermo Farinas has ended his hunger strike, which he began “to demand an independent investigation of the police beating death last month of dissident Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia.”


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Egypt: Exploring Twitter’s Potential on the Ground · Global Voices
Lilian Wagdy

This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.
If there is one area in which the Egyptian Revolution was an “eye-opener” in terms of social media, it would be how it introduced thousands of Egyptians to the popular micro-blogging website Twitter.
In little over three months, the Egyptian Twittersphere grew, not only in volume, but also in content and versatility; what started out as a modest, laid-back community quickly developed into a vibrant socio-political arena, where everything is open for discussion and there are virtually no taboos or red lines.
The spirit of these discussions inspired one of Egypt’s active bloggers and tweeps Alaa Abd El Fattah (@alaa) to bring the best of two worlds – Twitter and Tahrir Square – under one umbrella.
The result was Tweet Nadwa, a seminar-like gathering in which Abd El Fattah outlined the purpose from in a blog post entitled “Birds of a Feather, Meet Together”.
The gathering took place in the Center of Development Support in Cairo’s upper-class district of Dokki on June 12, 2011. The topic for this round: The Islamists.
Already generating a lot of buzz on Twitter, discussing Islamists ranges from how they are perceived in the Egyptian society to how they envision a civilian and democratic, post-revolution Egypt. It was only natural that Abd El Fattah decided to invite some of Twitter’s most prominent Islamists to clear the mist surrounding these topics up.
Speakers included Ibrahim Houdaiby, freelance columnist for the Guardian and the great grandson of Hassan Houdaiby, the second General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), as well as journalists Abdel Moneim Mahmoud and Ahmed Samir, the former being an ex-MB while the latter remains – to this date – a member of the group.
Over three hours, these speakers discussed their relations to the Muslim Brotherhood, their economic vision of Egypt from an Islamic perspective in addition to tackling the tricky question of civil liberties in an MB-ruled Egypt.
In Twitter fashion, the speakers as well as the participants were only allowed a 140 -second response to each question (recalling the 140 character Twitter update limit per tweet) and instead of clapping for speakers, participants waved their hands to simulate the act of retweeting. In addition, the over-crowded room was supplied with a large screen displaying the Twitter page created for the ‘Tweet Nadwa,’ updated with impressions, photos and videos of the meeting.
Participants largely commended the meeting with users such Hussein Adel Fahmy stating that:
#tweetnadwa is innovative and great initiative. My opinion is Egypt islamic background shouldnt contradict with the concept of civil state.
Alaa Abd El Fattah at the Tweet Nadwa. Picture by Dr Mostafa Hussein.
Dr Moustafa Hussein praises the performance of Abdel Fattah as the meeting’s moderator while providing photos of the Nadwa.
Huge participation in #tweetnadwa @alaais a good group therapist.http://twitpic.com/5arcqj
And users like Mai Zeiny  conclude that:
#tweetnadwa was a great success, the spirit of tahrir is back. diversity in attendees and great dialogue! Thank you @alaa @manal & every1
Abdel Fattah confirms that there will be another round of twitter-like discussions:
Was a great #tweetnadwa thanks for all the team, am internetless but we discuss next one soon
As he then goes back to the realm of the virtual world.
This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.

author: Lilian Wagdy


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Egypt: The Story of the Israeli Spy in Cairo · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.
Ilan Chaim Grapel, an American immigrant to Israel, was arrested in Egypt last Sunday. Grapel has now been detained for 15 days as he is being questioned by the State Security Prosecution over alleged espionage activities in Egypt, attempting to instigate conflict between the Egyptian people and the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, and to incite religious conflict between Muslims and Copts.
In an interview published on Monday 13 June, 2011, on the Lebanese news site El Nashra, Yehia El-Gamal, Egypt's deputy prime minister in the interim cabinet, has accused Israel of being behind the sectarian tension plaguing Egypt.
Ilan Grapel in Tahrir Square carrying a poster which calls US President Barack Obama stupid. Source, Ilan Grapel's Facebook account.
Desmond Shephard reported the news on Bikya Misr blog saying:
Judge Hesham Badawi of the Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered the suspect, named as Elan Chaim Grabel, detained for 15 days on suspicion of “spying on Egypt with the aim of harming its economic and political interests,” the MENA news agency reported.
The Israeli officials on the other hand refused the accusations, and called the reports from Cairo to be unreliable.
Egyptian blogger Hossam El-Hamalawy didn't digest Grapel's espionage story, and he stated historical incidence to show that such kind of stories are usually suspicious:
When students and workers took to the streets in Alexandria, November 1968, denouncing the Nasserist regime, the state-run media announced the arrest of Israeli spies who were involved in the agitation for the protests (Arab Report and Record, 1-15 December 1968: 399).
My mother, who took part in the 1971-2 student protests against Sadat, recalls how the Central Security Forces were beating them with sticks while denouncing the students as “Israeli agents.”
During the 18 day uprising, a young woman journalist appeared on TV “confessing” she was trained by the Mossad to foment those “riots” in Tahrir. And of course it turned out to be a big lie.
And now, the government has announced it caught another Israeli spy gathering information about the protests and fomented chaos with the intent “of harming political, economic and social interests and negatively impacting the course of the revolution”… and “prosecutors suspect he paid protesters to cause friction with the military and to foment Muslim-Christian tensions.”
Seriously what a soap opera.
El-Hamalawy believes that such move was made by the intelligence agency in order to prevent people from criticizing the Army in the future:
By this latest case, the Mukhabarrat [Intelligence Agency] is trying to pull together a cheap move, so that any public criticism against the military would be depicted immediately as the work of Israeli spies. More importantly, the Mukhabarrat is trying to convince the public it’s a vital agency, in charge of protecting the country of any “foreign plots”, so as not to receive the same treatment as State Security Police.
…
Dear Mukhabarrat, stop treating us like children. Who the hell is this Israeli super agent who will single handedly go around fomenting protests, agitating against the army in the streets and mosques? Get a life, grow up.
The reactions on Twitter were not any different. In fact they went further to mock the whole news and they created a hashtag for it, #ElGasoos (i.e. The Spy).
@MagedZakher: Oops! Now they know where we used to demonstrate! Tahreer Square should have been kept a secret! Oh! Spies!
The Spy behind Omar Suleiman – Photo taken from the We are Sorry Mr. Spy Facebook group
In the early days of the revolution a Facebook group was made by Mubarak supporters under the name ‘We are Sorry Mr. President’, and since then whenever people want to mock anything they create a Facebook group with the ‘We are Sorry…’ naming style, and ‘We are sorry Mr. Spy‘ wasn't any different here.
Also the fact that Ilan Grapel had a public Facebook profile with all his information, his photos in Tahrir Square and different other places in Egypt, made people on Twitter more suspicious and they wondered if real spies are that naive.
@RAbdellatif: Excuse my skepticism, but would #Israel send a spy who was in their army AND posed in pics in his army uniform?
@NohaAtef: A spy was caught in #Egypt, ppl looked him on #FB , browsed his photos, some reported his profiles, others added him :D follow.
Away from all this mockery, and away from those who are saying [Ar] that Israel needn't any spies when they already had the likes of Mubarak and the likes of the IMF here, some do believe that the spy story might be true. Some others are blaming the revolution for all this fiasco.
@mrrizkallah: What if we're wrong? and he is a real spy?
Zeinobia also shares the same point of view with @mrrizkallah, and criticized those who are making fun of the story in her blog.
Of course some of our tweep revolutionaries are turning it in to a comedy in a way that amazed me as a person, it seems that they hate to think even in the possibility that there could be spies among us like any other county, as if Egypt is not that important, and what happened was nothing in strategic terms. Our revolutionary tweeps ignore the fact that this incident could harm Tahrir square as well, as they hate to admit that this incident will raise from the stake of SCAF and General Intelligence Service (GIS) high in the street. “Ironically people are saying that Police should learn from GIS”.
I hate to say it but there is difference between opposing SCAF for political reasons and acting in this way which I can't find a word to describe it.
And finally, Sama Habeeb tweeted…
@MissPharaoh: Humanity, if you think “Israeli spies” don't exist then you're naive. If you think “fake spies” do not either,then you're naive-er
This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.

author: Tarek Amr


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Ghana: Whose Land Is It?  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ghanaian blogger Kodjo looks at the problem of land ownership in Ghana: “The other day I spoke with one of the richest men in Ghana (founder of a large financial institution) and he told me he stopped buying land in Ghana because he has lost all faith in the land title process.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Jamaica: “Dudus” Commission Report goes to Parliament  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As the Manatt/Coke Commission of Enquiry Report goes to the Jamaican Parliament today, Girl With a Purpose is curious to see “if the report puts him [the Prime Minister] and other members of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party, in political jeopardy.”


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Jordan: King Abdullah Shares His Vision for Reform · Global Voices
Nadine Toukan

In a much needed speech during tense times, His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan spoke to the country Sunday night about national unity, reform, priorities and his vision.
The Jordanian monarch stated clearly that the country would move to a constitutional, elected government, and pledged to forge forward with democratic political and economic reform, guaranteeing fairness and transparency of the electoral process. Actions will be implemented based on the recommendations of the National Dialogue Committee.
Jordanians have been wanting to hear the King speak directly with them, especially after ongoing protests that started six months ago, escalating frustrations, and a general communication breakdown between the government and citizens that has left a gaping void in leadership narrative.
Here's the complete televised speech of His Majesty King Abdullah of Jordan [ar]:
Jordanians were quick to share their reactions on the speech on social networking sites Twitter and Facebook. Here is a snap shot of some of the reactions.
Salah tweeted:
Blogger JawazSafar live tweeted quotes from the speech:
HMK Abdullah: A Parliament with an active political parties presence & with a majority to form a government.
HMK Abdullah: We'll ensure applying the outputs of National Dialogue committee in regard of Elections & Parties laws #ReformJO
Also quoting from the speech, printmaker _yaz shared:
HMK Abdullah: nationality is based on loyalty to the country not origin nor religion. RT @JawazSafar
ZeinKF picked up on the King's emphasis on women's rights:
1 of the best points of HM speech is how he highlighted woman rights.Where can u find that? Next to #JO they can't even drive #ReformJo
Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh tweeted:
Address to the nation by HM King Abdullah ll. Clear roadmap for political, economic and social reform. HM himself leads the process.
From the Facebook group “Le Café Politique – Amman” Engineer Faris Ghawi commented:
(screen shot taken with permission)
FadiSamara was not content:
Why is everyone that pleased with HM's speech? Nothing we haven't heard before. Didn't feel the passion to #reformJO!!!
And Jamal_Bat felt some exclusion:
The King's vision? I think we're grown up enough to have our own vision. Gov & king should be working on people's vision not other way around.
MohannedA did not find anything new in the speech:
JawazSafar replied:
@Hazem @MohannedA not even this “تشكيل حكومات على أساس الأغلبية النيابية الحزبية” ? its not a surprise i know but its good to be there
HaithamAbulfoul quoted His Majesty:
King's Address: I favour no one individual or group in the family or differentiate between them. I am one of you, and I am all for you #Jo
LumaQ highlighted:
HM King Abdullah speaks of rumours, and how they effect our country,and that rumours on corruption and defamation are unacceptable.
Nostalgic yasmeeneh tweeted about missing HM King Hussein:
I miss King Hussein's speeches. the beautiful accent, the strong voice, the comfort and love we felt with him. R.I.P your majesty
And geek RaniDababneh shared:
Direct words by #KingAbdullah (على الوجع) I wish gov & people will take it into action now! Loved King Hussein pic in background
Lawyer Nasser Khasawneh tweeted a call for action:
The promise of a parliamentary government in King's speech is a major step forward. It's now time to set a clear timetable.
The complete English transcript of His Majesty's speech is available on this link at the Jordan Times.
King Abdullah's speech was delivered on the evening of June 12 marking the anniversary of the Great Arab Revolt, Army Day and Coronation Day.

author: Nadine Toukan


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Kenya: The Death of Cinema · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Njeri discusses the death of cinema in Kenya: “Rising Cost of Living: I would attribute this as one of the main causes of the Cinema's demise. With the price of bread at Ksh. 40, Maize meal at almost Ksh.100, most consumables have become a luxury. Thus we cannot even start to discuss entertainment as many Kenyans are surviving nowadays, not living.”


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Kyrgyzstan: CIS counterparts ready to intervene · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust updates on the situation in Kyrgyzstan following the one-year anniversary of the 2010 inter-ethnic violence in Southwestern Kyrgyzstan, as the nation's external counterparts are closely monitoring the situation and the “elements of aggravation”.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Kyrgyzstan: Revisiting the 2009 death of a journalist · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Tomyris revisits the mysterious assassination of Kyrgyz opposition journalist Gennady Pavlyuk in 2009, as one former Kyrgyzstan national security service agent and two Kazakhstan citizens are facing court trial in Almaty.


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Macedonia: Spreading the Word About Protest and Civic Journalism · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

IT.com.mk has published an interview [mk] about civic journalism with Vnukot, the blogger who is providing a consistent coverage of the protests against police brutality in Skopje. Also, Al Jazeera has scheduled [mk] an interview with him during the evening of June 13 (around 9 p.m. CET).

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Malawi/Jamaica: Malawian Blogger Visits Jamaica · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Malawian blogger Victor Kaonga blogs about his recent trip to Jamaica: “When it comes to African countries, three seem to have a special place in the heats of Jamaicans. These are South Africa because of Nelson Mandela after is named the popular Nelson Mandela Highway, Zimbabwe because Robert Mugabe who invited Bob Marley in 1980 and Ethiopia because of Emperor Haille Selassie.”


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Peru: Protesters in Puno Demand Cancellation of Inambari Hydroelectric Project · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Isabel Guerra, Global Voices author and translator, writes [es] that protesters in Puno are demanding the cancellation of the Inambari hydroelectric project. She adds that on Saturday, June 11, 1,000 peasants from Puno blocked the road linking Peru to Bolivia.


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Petition to rename South China Sea · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A petition initiated by the Nguyen Thai Hoc Foundation urges the renaming of the South China Sea into Southeast Asia Sea. It is related to the dispute over the Spratly Islands which involves China, Vietnam, Philippines, and other countries in the region.

author: Mong Palatino


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Puerto Rico: Uproar Over Blogger’s Story · Global Voices
Alfredo Richner

The first post on the FemiLista blog [es], titled  “Bájate de mi carro, puta” (Get out of my car, whore) was published at 3:44 am on Wednesday,  June 8, 2011. In it, the blog's author and creator – who goes simply by the Internet handle of “Yuyu” – narrated the unfortunate events that led to its creation.
As Yuyu explains in her blog [es], a night out socializing and partying with friends (and friends of friends) ended up with her catching a ride to a club with three fellow Puerto Ricans – men she had just met, but trusted enough to get her to where the rest of the group was convening. During the ride, the car's driver, one Mr. Eduardo Hilera, Legislative Assistant to Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner in Washington, turned hostile toward his newly met passenger while questioning her manner of speaking:
Empezamos a conversar: de dónde somos, qué estudiamos, las preguntas de rigor. De golpe, el joven que va manejando me dice: “¿Qué problema de autoestima tu tienes que hablas así?” […] “Pues no me gustan las mujeres que hablan así. Tengo mucho respeto por las personas que hablan simple”.
The conversation turned to politics, with Mr. Hilera insisting several times to know her opinion about Puerto Rico's current Resident Commissioner, Pedro Pierluisi, who unbeknown to Yuyu at the time, was and is still his employer:
Bueno, pensé, a la tercera va la vencida: Pienso que no sirve para nada tener un tipo que tiene voz pero no voto en el Congreso. Sabía que había cometido un error.
Mr. Hilera, who has been under employment at his current position since 2009, proceeded to unleash a slew of insults on his female passenger, identifying himself and another one of the men as employees of Pedro Pierluisi. She was then told to exit the car – “Bájate de mi carro, puta” (Get out of my car, whore) – and left alone in the streets of D.C.
The account spread through the Internet via email, the blogosphere, and social networks, where it reached local media outlets and well-known reporters, such as Rafael Lenin López, President of Puerto Rico Journalists’ Association or ASPPRO [es] who sent out the following tweets with links to FemiLista later that evening via his @LeninPR Twitter account:
@LeninPR: Un relato que si es serio deben despedir a alguien. Si es broma…un buen cuento de una noche en DC http://t.co/0l2VVqK”
Followed by:
@LeninPR: La autora del blog me reafirmó lo escrito. Quiere mantenerse anónima por represalias. Mañana a las 6am en @radioisla1320 http://t.co/0l2VVqK
The next morning, as promised, Lenin asked the Resident Commissioner during his morning radio show on Radio Isla about the FemiLista blog's account of Mr. Hilera's behavior in Washington.
Pedro Pierluisi had this to say, as reported by local newspaper El Nuevo Día [es]:
Sí me dicen que hubo un incidente mi equipo de trabajo… Yo no he hablado con Eduardo Hilera. Él está en Washington, yo estoy acá en Puerto Rico. Y lo que te puedo decir es que si hubo algún tipo de insulto en ese incidente… porque la dama se haya expresado negativamente en cuanto a mi persona o lo que yo hago… Yo rechazo cualquier insulto. Esa no es mi manera de ser… Eso lo saben todo mis empleados y ellos deben reflejar como yo me comporto y lo que yo hago. En su momento me sentaré con Eduardo y le llamaré la atención si es que ocurrió tal insulto […]
The report gave way to commentaries by Puerto Rican bloggers such as Puerto Rico Indie contributor Sandra of Sand(r)eces [es], who recognized in Hilera's insulting phrase a profoundly antidemocratic sentiment [es]:
[A]quél que vota no puede tener ningún tipo de opinión sobre el votado ni su gestión ni tampoco puede involucrarse en la gestión política más allá del voto cada cuatro años. El cargo político, una vez alcanzado, se cubre de una impunidad que le permite al que lo ejerce disparar a diestra y siniestra frases machistas, racistas, homofóbicas, etc. sin ningún tipo de consecuencia.
She goes even further, linking Hilera's desire to silence Yuyu with the role of Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner in Congress:
Reproduce también la ironía del cargo: elegido democráticamente en la isla, va allende los mares (¡de domingo!) a gestionar de la forma más antidemocrática: sin voto. Lo que se le niega al Comisionado es lo mismo que se le niega a Yuyu, la traductora. Y esto es lo que la infortunada frase de Hilera esconde: una hilera de prejuicios y una hilera de políticos bajándose del carro.
Fellow Puerto Rican blog La Acera had a different take [es], volunteering the following advice to FemiLista‘s author:
En momentos como ese, es mejor decir una mentira positiva, que la realidad negativa. No conocías a esa gente, y estoy seguro que con un “me da igual” llegarías hasta tu hogar sin humillación. Tristemente, fueron tus palabras que prendieron este fuego.
But it's clear that Yuyu would rather let her opinions be known, writing on FemiLista:
Este blog será dedicado a denunciar actitudes y comportamientos misóginos por parte de nuestros políticos, periodistas y pensadores. Asimismo, destacará temas de interés en torno al movimiento por la igualdad de género. Espero que esta página sirva como un espacio para reunir a mujeres y hombres con el valor de decir “¡basta!” en la tierra del eterno “ay bendito”.

author: Alfredo Richner


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Russia: Bloggers Discuss the Fall of Russian Newspapers · Global Voices
Ashley Cleek

A spate of firings at the nearly century-old Russian daily Izvestia as well as the online news site Gzt.ru has seen journalists appealing to the public for their jobs, as the blogosphere questions the merits of the “old guard” journalists.
On June 6, 2011, the new publisher of Russian newspaper Izvetsia, Aram Gabrelyanov, announced that nearly two thirds of the paper’s staff may be let go to revamp the decades old journal and make it a more profitable business model.
“Effective papers”
Old newspapers. Image by Flickr user ShironekoEuro (CC BY 2.0).
In an interview with Slon.ru [ru], Gabrelyanov, an owner of the Russian tabloid Zhizn and a popular portal LifeNews.ru, said that he plans to make Izvestia “much cooler than Kommersant and Vedomosti” [two main Russian business dailies], and that he would start by letting go off journalists who don’t do anything:
Это нормально, когда из 130 журналистов только 30 пишут, а остальные 100 – хрен знает, что делают? Когда есть менеджеры, которые непонятно чем занимаются? Я так не работаю. Мне нужны эффективные газеты, эффективные менеджеры.
Initially nervous, Izvestia staff published an open letter in Novaya Gazeta [ru] on June 6, appealing to loyal readers, concerned citizens, and fellow journalists.
In the letter, the journalists, headed by deputy editor, Sergey Mostovschikov, claimed that:
Работодатель держит коллектив в полном неведении относительно выплаты зарплат за отработанный период, компенсаций за неиспользованный отпуск, порядка и условий увольнения, способов продолжения трудовой деятельности. […] Понимая незаконность действий, предпринятых собственником в отношении сотрудников газеты, отдавая себе отчет в том, что корректное, соответствующее действующему законодательству, увольнение персонала обойдется “Национальной Медиа Группе” в сумму более двух миллионов долларов, редакция, тем не менее, не намерена совершать действия, провоцирующие возникновение громкого трудового спора.
Mostovschikov, who helped pen the open letter, told OpenSpace.ru [ru] that journalists at least merited enough respect to be warned about “what is to happen in their lives.”
He noted, however, that he expected that Izvetsia’s owners would “either smash everything to pieces (simply because it is better to not waste two million dollars), or behave themselves in a civilized way and secretly flick them off and despise these stupid journalist-creatures.”
Я думаю, что у них большой проект и большие виды на здание и на выборы. Во всяком случае [заместитель главного редактора Елена] Ямпольская в частных беседах говорила, что им надо пропутинское, имперское и православное. Но это на самом деле совершенно не интересно, то есть совсем. Интересно, что достало отношение к себе как к скоту, извини за банальность.
Agreement reached
On June 8, the National Media Group and the staff of Izvestia  came to an agreement [ru] that the company would pay the journalists “for the period that they had worked, compensate them for vacation days not-taken, and pay two months severance.”
The plea and subsequent firing of the Izvestia journalists, coupled with the firing of 30 journalists from the online version of Gazeta (gzt.ru [ru]), as well as the discontinuation of the BBC Russian Service, has caused a pool of conflicting ripples in the Russian blogosphere.
Ekho Moskvy reporter, Kseniya Larina posted the Novaya Gazeta plea on her Facebook page [ru] with the comment:
вот совершенно их не жалко. прогибались под каждую шестерку, стелились под решения ЦК, любую назначенную сверху серятину принимали, терпели цензуру, поливали “либеральную прессу”,а теперь – “коллеги. помогите”. Удавитесь со своим арамом.
Her post received dozens of comments and back and forth debate, from friends and fellow former Izvestia journalists. Commenter Leonid Sokolov disagreed with Larina:
И опять же, главное – сдали газету. А Известия – это газетный Гагарин. Простите, просрали. Поле битвы как всегда осталось мародерам. А все такие умные-благородные могут теперь утереться. Это ведь – скажу еще раз – не газету Известия хоронят, а журналистику. Журналистику эпохи 90-х годов.
The Moscow News writer Tim Wall called Larina’s comments “unworthy”:
It is not easy at all for ordinary journalists to stand out against the prevailing winds of censorship (self-imposed or otherwise) when most of the country’s media follows instructions from either high officials or oligarchs. The basic rights of journalists and other workers in the media – to a decent job and pay, with the freedom to report objectively without interference from the rich and powerful – are always worth defending, whichever side of the political barricades you’re standing on.
On June 7, Izvestia rolled out a new, trimmer A2 format. Natalia Oss [ru] posted a picture of the new front page next to the front page of the Wall Street Journal under the headline “90% of journalists are copy-pasters,” and attributed the quote to Aram Gabrelyanov.
Lenta.ru turned Oss’s post into an article [ru], which seemed to highlight the whole conundrum of the situation. As more and more journalists turn to blogging in order to write what they really think, and more and more readers look to websites and trusted LiveJournal pages in order to know what is really happening, will blogs fill the space of hollow, party line articles and tabloid nonsense?
One commenter questioned the general merit of a paper like Izvestia:
а что вы хотите? В Известиях больще 100 журналистов. Зачем кормить столько дармоедов?

author: Ashley Cleek


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Singapore: ‘Save the World’s Saddest Dolphins’ Campaign  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Below is a brief introduction of the ‘Save the World’s Saddest Dolphins’ campaign in Singapore:
25 bottlenose dolphins that once roamed free and wild in the vast Pacific Ocean, are now facing a life of captivity, boredom, stress, claustrophobia, frustration and slow death, thanks to Resorts World, which plans to keep them in its spa at Sentosa, Singapore. Two of their family have already died during the ordeal. Please help save these remaining animals
The campaign appeals to all animal lovers to pressure the management of Resorts World to release the dolphins:
What Resorts World, Sentosa is doing to bottlenose dolphins is enough to upset any animal lover.
Dolphins, you see, are highly social creatures that are accustomed to being in family pods.
These dolphins face a bleak future. It is up to all of us animal lovers to get Resorts World to rethink their decision to keep them in captivity.
Please ask Resorts World to let the dolphins go. Please lend your voice and support.
Below is a YouTube video in support of the campaign:
Avaaz.org, an international non-profit group, supports the petition
Petition To Resorts World Sentosa:
We call on you to release all the wild dolphins from captivity, stop your practice of buying dolphins caught in the wild, and support global efforts to end the hunting and capturing of wild dolphins.
Maybe the management will listen to the petition in the same way it canceled a whale shark exhibit two years ago after it too was protested by the public:
Resorts World was forced to abandon plans for a whale shark exhibit two years ago because of the huge outcry that threatened their reputation. Let’s build a massive call now to free these intelligent, beautiful creatures — and make this a turning point in the fight to end the global wild-dolphin trade. Our petition will be delivered to Resorts World and the media. Sign now and share this with everyone!
Facebook photo by Pearlyn Cheong
Below are some blog reactions. From Otterman Speaks:
As far as I am concerned, this plan to bring dolphins for display is a direct challenge to our dignity as a nation. Are we really going down this road of having dolphins jump through hoops?
It has also been tiring to hear very old and worn arguments from the 80′s and 90′s surface about the research and conservation benefits of having dolphins in captivity. The myriad of ills which the ocean faces will not be aided by any of this.
lekowala! criticizes the plan to use the dolphins for the hotel’s ‘interactive spa’:
What was RWS thinking? Anway, how can they use excuse that the dolphins can be used for “Interactive SPA” to heal the sick and disabled children. (I have no doubt dolphins make anyone feel better but it would be so wrong if the dolphins are captive). If RWS is really sincere about this, they should donate their earnings to hospitals, hospices and other organizations which are in a better position than an integrated resort whose main expertise is food, entertainment – namely gambling, to do these things.


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Singapore: Conditions of expats and workers · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Aurvandil links to some studies on the conditions of expats and workers in Singapore and made this conclusion: “It's a serious policy failure on the part of the (government) that they make the lives of Expats so good while at the same time make the lives of Singaporean workers so hard.”


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Singapore: Flooding and the Marina Barrage · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Jeremy Chen asks if the recent flooding in Singapore was caused by the Marina Barrage.


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Singapore: Social media stats during election · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Chan Chi-Loong from Singapore provides a summary of social media statistics, including the most talked about topics and personalities on twitter, during the general election last month.


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Singapore: Tap water for a fee? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

G Hui criticizes Singapore food establishments which charge customers who ask for a tap water.


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Syria: Lesbian Blogger Amina is a Married American Man · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.
The Gay Girl in Damascus turned out to be a straight married American man, who seems to have no issue in taking the world on a wild goose chase after claiming that Amina Arraf was kidnapped by Syrian authorities in Damascus a week ago.
Thomas MacMaster chose to keep his silence for seven whole days while activists, bloggers and even officials continued to look for Amina, fearing the worst. Questions continued to evolve when a woman who claimed that ‘Amina’ impersonated her, stealing her photographs from her private Facebook account, that investigations questioned that the gay girl of Damascus might not be who she claimed to be.
On Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah and Benjamin Doherty put pieces of the jigsaw together yesterday, pointing fingers to MacMaster as being the possible author of the blog.
While we believe that the information gathered here is compelling in its own right, we have managed to corroborate additional information from several independent sources that we are not publishing and that significantly increases our confidence in the information we have. We do not know the motives of the person or persons behind this hoax.
The information presented below connects the “Amina” blogger to two people in real life: Thomas (Tom) J MacMaster and Britta Froelicher who are married to each other.
The Electronic Intifada wrote to MacMaster requesting to speak to him about “Amina,” to which he responded, “Thanks, but as I have stated before, it is neither my wife nor me.”
In a short post entitled Apology to readers, MacMaster, who identifies himself as the sole author of all posts on that blog, finally excuses his act saying:
I do not believe that I have harmed anyone — I feel that I have created an important voice for issues that I feel strongly about.
Others believe that MacMaster's deception has left a damper on the work of activists on the ground, social media and the role it is playing in this year of Arab revolutions and the credibility of the Arab blogosphere. Some also note that his prank takes attention away from campaigns being coordinated for real activists and bloggers in prison and under threat and also puts the Syrian gay community at risk.
At American-Arab group blog Kabobfest, Ali Abbas and Assia Bounaoui this post, where they write:
MacMaster, in all of his privileged splendor as a straight American white man, appropriated and “outed” his avatar Amina as a lesbian activist, and in doing so put numerous queer Syrians at risk. Writing from a cozy home in Georgia/Edinburgh/Turkey bares no risk, allowing for plenty of slack when it comes to accuracy and accountability. Yet the victims will ultimately not be the MacMasters of the world, the phony bleeding heart liberals, but the people on the ground that Amina fails to represent.
The writers continue:
Regardless of whatever lazy apology MacMaster nervously reaches for, Amina was never intended to be a fictional character for the betterment of women or LGBT people in the Middle East. She is a western fantasy intended to arouse and titillate the western sensibilities to feel, not act. This is the ultimate neo-orientalism as it not only re-imagines an existing geographic location, but invents an entire human landscape.
MacMaster posts a longer apology here, which is shot down by people disturbed by the prank, including British-Kurdish Ruwayda Mustafa, who tweets:
Tom McMasters extended apology about #Amina Hoax: http://t.co/McfWpPj Not a shred of sympathy here. Pathetic man.
Abunimah adds:
My hunch is that the person behind #Amina hoax has a long history of, and need for deception that won't stop just because he was caught.
Antoun Issa writes:
Tom MacMaster exploited the weakness of the blogosphere, a simple fundamental that anyone can produce content and claim authenticity #Amina
And Ahmed Shihab-Eldin stresses:
Sure, #Amina is a hoax, but we still must RELY on voices of bloggers since Media is not allowed in Syria.
Andy Carvin is grateful to a reader for asking questions. He notes:
Just wanted to publicly thank @DannySeesIt for contacting me one week ago to express his skepticism re: #Amina. His note got me asking Q's.
And finally, I made the following comment on Twitter:
Questions I have been fielding all day from the international media: Now that #Amina is not Amina, how does that impact the credibility of bloggers? How does that reflect on the LGTB community in Syria and across the Arab world? And what sort of weakness in the Arab blogging movement does it point out? Seriously? … So some prankster somewhere in the world decided to fool the world, and now it is an issue for Syrian activists and their credibility; Arab gays and lesbians and their reality; and the Arab blogging community at large? Am I missing something or is my brain just playing games on me, refusing to stoop to that level, as I see no relation on how giving so much airtime, energy and thought to a prank could get the real people tortured, imprisoned and in real danger now under the spotlight they deserve. This prankster's ill-deed is unforgivable. And giving so much weight to this story and creating such a distraction and detour at this juncture of our history is even more unforgiving than all that MacMaster has done.
Understanding #Amina by Ethan Zuckerman
Timeline of the Amina saga by Andy Carvin on Storify
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Taiwan: an alternative Japanese history · Global Voices
David Reid

Sponge Bear speculates about what would have happened if Taiwan had remained a territory of Japan after the Second World War.

author: David Reid


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Trinidad & Tobago: The Imagine Cup  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

TECHTT is “happy to see that Trinidad will have a representative team at Imagine Cup 2011…a student technology competition organised by Microsoft.”


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Tunisia: Protest to Free a Government Critic · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.
Protesters took to the streets in the Tunisian capital Tunis yesterday, calling for the immediate release of Samir Feriani, who openly criticized the Interior Ministry. Feriani has been in custody since May 29, 2011.
He was arrested after he published two letters in Al-Khabeer (The Expert) magazine, claiming that those holding key positions in the Interior Ministry are responsible for the murder of protesters during the revolution and that highly classified documents involving the former president with the Israeli Mossad had been intentionally destroyed.
Feriani is accused of  “harming the external security of the state,” “releasing and distributing information likely to harm public order,” and “accusing, without proof, a public agent of violating the law.” His case has been transferred to a military court.
Photo by Facebook page "Tous Uni avec Samir Feriani" (All United with Samir Feriani).
On June 9, Human Rights Watch released a statement asking Tunisian authorities for the immediate release of Feriani. “Tunisian authorities should free the police officer Samir Feriani from military detention and drop any charges that are based solely on his whistle-blowing efforts and transfer any other charges to a civilian court,” says the organization.
The protest did not witness any clashes with security forces though it took place near the Interior Ministry. The following video shows dozens of protesters marching down Hbib Bourguiba Avenue, holding photos of Samir Feriani, chanting “the Interior Ministry is a terrorist Ministry,” and “people demand the fall of Hbib Essid [the Interior Minister]”.
Ben Jebara (@benjebara) tweets:
Selon MFM, dans la manif pour la libération de Samir Feriani, on demande aussi la démission du MI.
Kais Berrjab (@ostezedgar) adds:
مسيرة سلمية تضامنا مع سمير الفرياني http://t.co/GmgAsJK #Tunis : manif pacifique en soutient au haut commissaire de police samir feriani
Photo by TunAnonymousNetwork
On its Tunisian Facebook page, Anonymous issued a statement to the Tunisian government:
Dear leaders of the Tunisian government,
dear leaders of the Tunisian police.
Hello. We are anonymous. You know us.
It has come to our attention that one of your police officers, Mister Samir Feriani, has been arrested and is detained because he intended to denounce the destruction of important secret archives on Ben Ali's regime.We, Anonymous, consider that all the truth has to be known about Ben Ali's regime. Those who have been tortured under Ben Ali want to know the truth. Their families want to know the truth. Their friends, their neighbors, their coworkers, want to know the truth. The people of Tunisia want to know the truth about Ben Ali's regime. It is your duty to respect the Sate archives, because the State archives are the political memory of the people of Tunisia. Your duty, your MISSION, is to protect them – not to destroy them and arrest people who try to stop you.
We, Anonymous, consider that Mister Samir Feriani has acted in the name of transparency. If they want a better future, the people of Tunisia have to know where they come from. They have to know why they are poor and anxious. They have to know every detail of Ben Ali's system of fear, economical rape, and voyeur censorship. They want to know why they have suffered and why they still suffer.
A very respectable and influent international NGO, Human Rights Watch, has declared that you have to free Samir Feriani immediately. We, Anonymous, agree with Human Rights Watch, and we join the campaign: we propose that, in order to prove that you want to protect fundamental rights in Tunisia, you free Mister Samir Feriani today. Please realize that more and more associations, groups and activists will join Human Rights Watch and Anonymous in the next days if you do not follow our advice.
You know us.
We are Anonymous.
We are legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect us.
This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.

author: Afef Abrougui


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Turkey: Election Results, Reactions and Hopes · Global Voices
Kubra

Turkey held its general elections on June 12, 2011. The campaign period for the elections had seen a change in rhetoric in many of the key parties and leaders of Turkish politics.
Election results showed a land-slide victory of 50 per cent of the votes for the Justice and Development Party (“AK Party” or “AKP”) in its third term and a quite different parliamentary distribution that blocks AKP from unilaterally changing the constitution.
Supporters of Turkey's ruling AKP party celebrate with party flags after the first results of the parliamentary election, in Istanbul, Turkey. Image by keremyucel, copyright Demotix (12/06/11).
Peace and Democracy Party (“BDP”), a Social Democrat party well known for its focus on Kurdish minority interests won over 30 seats in the parliament, a large success in the history of the party.
Main opposition Republican People's Party (“CHP”) stayed at approximately about 26pc and Nationalist Movement Party (“MHP”) gained approximately about 13pc of the seats. There was a large variety of responses and reactions, to all parties and aspects in social media.
@jamilabayraktar tweeted [tr] about how AKP had managed its third term victory quoting a Turkish analyst, Taha Akyol:
Taha Akyol: “AKP'nin hizmet siyaseti tutmuştur & BDP beklendiği kadar devrim yaratmadı & bundan sonrası için AKP şımarmamalıdır”
@lubeayar sharing the “public service” emphasis, tweeted [tr]:
ve.. doğusuyla, batısıyla türkiye halkı ‘siyasi görüşü'nü şöyle ilan etmiştir: mevzubahis ‘hizmet’ ise gerisi teferruattır..
@nibenka, critically emphasising AKP’s stance of not appointing any hijabi MP candidates, tweeted [tr]:
Hizmet kazandi, is kazandi dogru ama ‘sus otur sirani bekle’ de kazandi; bunu gormezden gelemiyorum maalesef
@berxwedaan emphasises about the success of BDP, tweeting [tr]:
akp/rte %50 oy almıs olması aslında kesin bir başarı olarak degerlendirilmeli ama seçimin mutlak galibinn bdp/blok oldugu gözardı edilmemeli
@oemoral also stresses the roles of the new MPs from the Social Democrat BDP, tweeting:
In brief: #Turkey shall benefit greatly with 36 socialist/democratic MP's in parliament. Freedom will occupy some seats there finally
Blogger Aengus Collins analysed the election results focusing critically on CHP and partly on AKP, writing:
Securing 26 per cent does not feel like the result of a party that the electorate will trust with power any time soon. Moreover, the additional votes that the CHP won were cheap votes taken from smaller parties that faded in significance in this election. The CHP needed to begin the process of eating away at the AKP’s vote. It didn’t.
…
While a vocal, substantial and growing minority in Turkey worry deeply about the direction in which the AKP wants to take the country, this election proves once again that a greater number of Turks do not share these fears. That is the reality of political life in Turkey, and much though it may pain them, it is a reality to which the opposition parties will need to reconcile themselves if they are to get back into the business of winning elections.
ErhanErkut on the other hand found CHP's results successful and commented in general as:
CHP +%5 basari. 35 Bagimsiz iyi bir sonuc. Diger partiler silindi. Daha birkac secim 4 partili parlamento cikar herhalde. Baraj dusmeli.
@yavuzbaydar comments on how AKP should consider the results:
The voters send a clever message again: They told AK to go on alone as a single engine, as they asked it to seek consensus in parliament.
Other topics discussed a lot in the social media were the question of a new constitution based on the election results, new MPs and speeches made by main opposition leader Kılıçdaroğlu of CHP and current Prime Minister Erdogan of AKP.
@CorrodaDynamite mentions the first Syriac MP of the Turkish Parliament:
#Turkey's 1st #Syriac MP Erol Dora from #Mardin (#BDPcandidate): “it is important for co-existence of people together”
@cigdemmater comments [tr] about the youngest MP:
meclisin en genc vekili 1984 dogumlu, istanbulda akp vekiliymis, bilalmacit, 27 yasinda, sahane.
@nhacizade summarises the speech of main opposition leader Kılıçdaroğlu of CHP in her tweet:
Turkey's main opposition leader: CHP still successful/3.5 m new voters + will go on reforming itself + will follow up w/new constitution.
@cemilertem summarises [tr] the speech of AKP’s Erdogan, tweeting:
Başbakan'ın söylediklernin özeti:Yeni Anayasa olacak;ama buanayasa aynı zamanda bölgdeki tüm ülkelere de yol gösterecek;biz bölge lideriyiz
@dalalmawad tweets about drafting of the new constitution:
#AKP will now need the help of other parties to amend constitution in #turkey including pro-kurdish MPs
@kaplanfat also comments [tr] on the prospect of a new constitution based on election results:
AKP ve BDP,bu ülke halklarının mutluluğu için uzlaşmak,barışmak,yeni anayasa yapmak zorundalar,üzerlerinde vebal var,ona göre davransınlar

author: Kubra


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U.S.V.I.: Thinking About Transfer Day  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“On March 31st of 2017, the territory will have been an American possession for exactly one century”: A Nation or Nobody suggests that as the U.S. Virgin Islands approaches this milestone, it must “not lose sight of the fact that we are not at the end of history and our society continues to be shaped, often by forces beyond local control.”


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Algeria: Involvement in Politics · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

MnarviDZ, at Patriots on Fire, shares two stories on the involvement of Algerians in politics.


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Africa: New Media Tools For Africa’s Development · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Watch a video showing why New Media tools are so popular and how they can be used to contribute to African development.


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Africa: Should Africa be ruled by monkeys?  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

4thLetter reacts to a map suggesting that Africa is “ape controled”: “Seriously DC Comics: get a black friend. Male or female, it doesn’t matter, just get one. We’re easy to find. Get one and then ask him if it’s cool to have Africa ruled by a monkey. Just run it by them, real casual-like. “Hey man, what do you think about this?” If they give you the gasface or their eyebrows narrow… change your plans.”


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Algeria: No Protests, but Strikes Continue  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“While a number of other Arab countries have been indulging in what has come to be known in the press as the ‘Arab Spring’ with various degrees of success, here in Algeria, various factions of the ‘civil society’ (if such an entity indeed exists here) have preferred indulging in strikes,” writes algerianna.


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Argentina: 25 Years Since the Death of Jorge Luis Borges · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

June 14, 2011 marks 25 years since the death of Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. Blogger Juan Carlos Lynch pays homage [es] to the author recommending “The Gospel According to Mark“, a short story that helped Juan Carlos get rid of that common ‘fear’ associated with reading Borges.


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Bhutan: The Wind In Wangdue Phodrang Dzong · Global Voices
Rezwan

“Legend has it that the Wind in Wangdue comes from a hole in the elephant hill,” – so describes Passu about the “man-blowing” wind at the southern end of the Wangdue Phodrang Dzong in Bhutan.

author: Rezwan


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Cambodia: Footage of female Khmer fighters · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Eyes of the Pineapple links to a video showing an archived footage of female Khmer Communist rebel fighters in Cambodia.


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Cambodia: Land dispute turns violent · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Licadho, a human rights group in Cambodia, condemns the violence which erupted in Kampong Speu province over a land dispute. Clashes between police and villagers have been rising in the country over demolition threats in several development projects of the government.


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Cambodia: Power woes · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Cambodia As It Is blogs about the power shortage problem in Cambodia.  A power plant is being constructed but it seems the intent is to sell power in nearby Vietnam instead of addressing the power needs of Cambodia.


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Chile: Mapuche Demand Compensation for Flooding Caused by Hydroelectric Dam · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Indigenous News reports that “More than sixty Mapuche families from Panguipulli are banding together to demand compensation for flooding that occurs on their lands each year caused by a nearby hydroelectric dam.”

author: Silvia Viñas


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China: Beauty Concept · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jocelyn Eikenburg from Speaking of China writes about her experience in a makeup shop which reflects Chinese woman's idea of beauty.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Hand made condoms · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Kenneth Tan from Shanghaiist finds a video showing how workers pack condom manually in China.


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China: He took bribes · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

C. Custer from China Geeks introduces an independent website, He Took Bribes[zh], for netizens to report on corruption.


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China: History of Red Song · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

David Bandurski from China Media Project translates in partial an article from Southern Weekend about the background of the recent revival of red song culture in China.


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China: Lawyer Li Zhuang Released From Prison · Global Voices
John Kennedy

It is seldom that one reads in China of what becomes of those sent to prison in political trials, and even more unlikely that you'll see such a post exclusively featured on Sina‘s main blog portal.
But, following the release this past weekend of Li Zhuang, the Beijing-based lawyer who was given a prison sentence of 1.5 years after he defended a Chongqing mobster in that city's Party secretary Bo Xilai's campaign against corruption, this is what Sina has done, carrying this post [zh] from Li's initial defense lawyer, Chen Youxi, which gives us a bit of an idea of where Li—as well as China's legal profession—is at.
Sina seems to be the only main Chinese blog portal which has given prominence to the post.
Chen writes:
他现在知道，原来外面有这么多人在关心他，并为他付出。原来他并不孤单。失去自由的日子里，他受到了礼遇。他有书看有电视碟片看，但没有新闻、没有信。写了不少古体诗，他背了几首，觉得平仄、对仗、意境都不错。他说感谢重庆，让他有了静心思考、认真养性的机会。
今天中午，辩护顾问团约晤李庄，在清华大学边“大益膳坊”为其接风洗尘。李庄已经从河北老家看望父母回京。[…] 聊了一些昨天、今天、明天的事。李庄脑子和身子都很好，依然健谈并自信。
He knows just how many people were concerned for him on the outside, and the price they paid. That he wasn't ever alone. During the days in which he lost his freedom, he was treated well. He had books to read and movies to watch; although, he wasn't allowed to read the news or receive any letters. He wrote a fair number of classic style poems, even memorized a few, and the tone, antithesis and imagery in them are not bad. He said that he thanks Chongqing, for giving him the chance to think things over and to recuperate.
This afternoon, Li's defense team came to meet with him and hold a welcome back dinner at Tsinghua University. Li has already been home to Hubei to see his parents and since returned to Beijing. […] We chatted about the events of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Li is sound in both mind and body, and is just as talkative and confident as before.
他向所有这一年半来关心他、理解他、支持他的朋友们表示真诚地感谢。他需要先休息调整一段时间，正在看儿子李亚童为他准备打印好的一人高的关于他案件的报道。他要“恶补”这一年半的信息。里面的时候，有人告诉他，他早已经被这个社会抛弃和遗忘，没有人关心他。这两天他才知道愿来自己已经是中国和世界的闻人。他有点受宠若惊。真是造化弄人。
这两天，全国的律师同行们纷纷来电祝福李庄。大量的媒体朋友都想采访李庄。李庄都没有接电话，请家人谢绝了。他先需要安静，需要一点时间休息和调整。但是他知道有太多的人需要感谢。大家问了几个一直纳闷的问题，李庄讲了一些很有趣的故事。
今后，关于他的事，关于他的行动，都可以由他自己说了。我们代言的使命终于完成了。
These past two days, Li's fellow lawyers from across the country have, one-by-one, been phoning Li up to wish him well. Many media also want to interview Li. Li isn't answering his phone, but he thanks everyone all the same. What he needs now is quiet, some time to rest and readjust. He knows that there are just far too many people to thank. One depressing question people keep asking is if Li has any interesting stories to tell.
As of today, the things he's been through and what he did, he'll have to tell us himself. Our task of speaking on his behalf has concluded.
[…]
虽然李庄出来了，至今我心依旧。《南都周刊》发了长篇背景报道《大牌律师转型》，季天琴记者写得很好，沈亚川编审把握、策划得很好，但是这是新闻界对律师业的一种善意鼓励。时间匆忙，有很多值得一书的人没有写进去。新闻界可以这样鼓励我们，但我们当事者自己不要真这样以为。今日中国律师依然偎葸，并没有那张电影海报般的照片那么雄壮。盛名往往是悲剧的开始，朋友离去的开始。古语说“木秀于林，风必摧之”。我是“木曲于林，人必伐之。”敢不诚惶诚恐。
律师界当前需要沉思。要让国人觉得我们长大了，是一个可以托付的群体。（2011。6。13）
Although Li Zhuang has already been released, I remain worried. The Southern Metropolis Weekly reporter Li Tianqin did an excellent job in her lengthy background report [zh] on Li Zhuang's legal team and how the role of big-name lawyers in China is changing. The copy editor, Shen Yachuan, did an equally good job of framing the story, however those of us involved in it do not agree. Lawyers in China today remain stifled, and aren't anywhere as grand as that movie poster of a photo which accompanied the article would have you believe. Making a name for yourself only leads to the onset of tragedy, and friends departed.
The legal world needs to reflect on this. It also needs to show China that, as a group, we have grown and can be trusted.
June 13, 2011
Southern Metropolis Weekly graphic

author: John Kennedy


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China: Mass exodus of the rich · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The Fool's Mountain has a blog post about the trend of the elite and the rich emigrating out of China since 2009.


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Cuba: Actress Recognized  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Havana Times reports that “Cuba’s coveted National Cinema Award for 2011 was received by actress Eslinda Nuñez.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Cuba: Worry About Hunger Striker  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The regime cracked down on him once against after he assumed the posture of NOT ceasing his anti-government activities”: Pedazos de La Isla blogs about the hunger striker Jorge Cervantes Garcia.


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Egypt: On Iran’s Theological Rule  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian An Arab Citizen (Ar) discusses the model of the theological rule in Iran in this post.


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Guinea Bissau: A Step Forward Towards Women’s Rights · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

On June 6, the Parliament of Guinea Bissau passed a bill that forbids female genital mutilation [pt], known as “fanado”. For journalist and blogger Helena Gouveia [pt] “although the law alone is insufficient, this is an important step to combat a barbaric ritual that violates the basic rights of women.”

author: Sara Moreira


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Honduras: Policies to Improve Agriculture · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

“What is the appropriate mix of policies regarding agriculture in Honduras?” asks blogger Jose Falck Zepeda, who then argues that Honduras “need[s] to look for innovative approaches to improve smallholder  productivity, to improve medium and large scale agriculture, promote  exports and to develop the non-farm rural economy.”


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India: Attack On Journalists · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sans Serif reports that in India there have been 17 instances of attacks on journalist in the last six months and at least three journos died.


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India Close Behind China in the African Continent  · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.
In May, the second India and Africa Summit was held at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This Summit should lead to the adoption of two documents: the Declaration of Addis Ababa and the Cooperation Plan between India and Africa (which can be found on the official website of the African Union [all links in French unless otherwise indicated].
The Summit has inspired comments from Francophone African bloggers on the competing influences of China and India in Africa. It has also inspired TheLeadersOfTheWorld to post this short satirical video  on YouTube:
Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. Image by Agência Brasil, Creative Commons (2.5 Brazil).
Blog journaldutchad.com gave the key statistics of the Summit:
India will therefore break its piggybank and cash meters are already going crazy  with a list of loans totalling 2400 billion CFA francs (5 billion USD) for the African continent over the next three years. Moreover, the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, who shares the same vision for the continent, intends to grant a subsidy of 336 billion CFA francs (700 million USD) in grants to Africa.’
Patrice Garner on afrique7.com gives further details on the new projects:
Acts speaking louder than words, and in line with this new partnership, an Institute of information technology will be built in Ghana, another Institute for educational planning in Burundi, an Institute of foreign trade in Uganda and a diamond institute in Botswana.
Indian investments are already visible in the daily life of Africans, reminds Assanatou Baldé on Afrik.com:
One of the most important investor  is the Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel, which has disbursed $ 10 billion to access the mobile telephony industry in 15 African countries. Indian car maker Tata trades  in 11 countries on the continent and has the monopoly of public transportation in Uganda and in the district of  Thiès, in Senegal.
A Tata minvan in Africa. Image by Robin Elaine on Flickr (CC BY 2.0).
A debate has opened on the platform Flamme d'Afrique, les autres voix de l’Afrique (Flame of Africa, other African voices) opened by the Panos Institute website, where Ousseini Issa compares the Chinese and Indian approaches in Africa:
The way Delhi manages trade and cooperation with Africa differs from the Chinese way, with a swoop on mainly private local companies, but bought with subsidies from the Indian state, via a merger and acquisition strategy, whereas China favors direct trade with governments. But India also has this feature:  that it tries to develop approaches inclusive of the regional economic institutions such as ECOWAS and SADC. […] the issue is, for many, the prospect of the continent building different relationships from those marking its exploitation for centuries, under  the north-south axis.
Commenter NIBIZI hopes this partnership will herald a new era:
With this new partnership, African leaders should learn a lesson and break away from  the corrupt ways that have plagued the continent. The culture of human rights must come first,  if we want to make the most of the dividends, which will put an end to wars, and the internal power struggles which have prevented Africa from making a good start.
karl is more pragmatic, both confident and worried, wary of a possible ” land grab” [en]:
This summit should be an opportunity for Africa to negotiate ways to collaborate to solve the critical energy issue. But it should also put an end to the lease and sale of African land, while farmers are struggling to access them to help achieve food self-sufficiency and to satisfy their right to housing
On the Radio France International website, an article on the Addis Abeba Summit has also generated comments from readers. They are much more vocal in rejecting “L'indépendance sous haute surveillance” (Independence under strict surveillance, lyrics from a song by African singer Alpha Blondy), which is to say, the post-colonial cooperation model imposed by France.
With India and China arriving on the African continent, we are very proud, because it will help us shoe away the imperialist thieves who have been looting the continent since 1960. […]
[…] I don't see (President of Ivory Coast) Ouattara grant juicy markets to Indians or Chineses and deprive France of them any time soon. Unless he does not wish to stay long in power.
These forms of cooperation, where Africa's natural resources are coveted by many (Europe and the BRIC countries) cannot be a sustainable solution for the development of this continent. Cooperation must be built around a long term vision that will allow African to  sell some day Tata cars to India, China or France (ok, I'm going overboard here). This involves training young people, democracy, and long term ambitious economic policies, to put an end to the outstretched hand policy (begging) of this continent.
The Addis Ababa summit was also an opportunity for a percussionists band from Rufisque, a city southeast of Dakar, to bring a touch of West African culture in Ethiopia. On rufisquenews.com, Cherif FAYE announced they had been invited to perform in Ethiopia by the Embassy of India in Senegal:
The “Kër Gi” band from Bargny [should] perform a concert called “Guur Nduuy” which means “léboue tradition”. The “Guur Nduuy” show trace some aspects of the rich immaterial heritage of the léboue community.
This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Kuwait: Stop Internet Limits  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Social Slave from Kuwait discusses limits on internet users in the country and what is being done about it in this post.


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Lebanon: New All-Male Government Formed Amidst Continued Wrangling · Global Voices
Antoun Issa

After almost five months of protracted negotiations and political bickering, Lebanon's Hezballah-led March 8 alliance finally announced a new exclusively male, 30-minister government to be headed by Sunni billionaire Najib Mikati.
Qifa Nabki has provided a list of the new cabinet ministers, as well as a breakdown per political and sect affiliation.
The new Beirut government has, however, already run into obstacles, with two ministers reportedly resigning only hours after the formation of the cabinet.
Hezballah and its predominantly Christian allies triggered a collapse of the previous unity government led by Saad Al-Hariri in January 2011. The Hezballah initiated move was motivated by a deep concern that Hezballah members were to be indicted by the United Nation's Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, Saad's father.    The Syrian-backed March 8 alliance successfully enticed Druze leader Walid Jumblatt to renounce his allegiance to Hariri's March 14 bloc, providing Hezballah and its allies with the necessary numbers to form a majority government without its March 14 rivals.    Despite gaining sufficient numbers to form cabinet on its own, the March 8 alliance struggled through five months of internal wrangling over who to allocate which cabinet seats and portfolios.    Dismay was also expressed at the exclusion of women in the new  government, with all cabinet posts awarded to men, and thus, attracting accusations of Lebanese politics as an exclusive gentleman's club:
Mustapha at Beirut Spring blogged his disappointment at the exclusion of women from the new government:
I can’t get over the fact that there’s not a single woman in our new government. Not one. Zip. Zero.. Zilch.. Nada.. None..
This can’t be right. In the past, we always had a few token female  ministers as a symbolic gesture to the aspiration that women, in an  ideal world, should be well represented. They humored the feminists as  it were, but this time they don’t even pretend to care.
Indeed, the announcement of a new government evoked little enthusiasm amongst Lebanese bloggers, most of whom have long been disenchanted with the country's inefficient political elite.
Karl reMarks analysed the latest development, however, as a significant shift from consensual to majoritarian politics, with the new March 8 government abandoning the previous national unity model between all major parties in the country.
Whether this provides Lebanon with greater governance remains to seen. Karl reMarks certainly is not optimistic about any short-term prospects, but the evolution from consensual to majoritarian politics is, nevertheless, a progressive move worth noting:
I called this ‘the Cabinet of Curiosities’ because in  many ways it breaks away with convention to overcome the paralysis in  the Lebanese political system and the failure of March 8 to offer a  solid programme of governance. The unequal number of Sunni and Shiite  minsters is one of those ‘innovations’, dispensing with the token  gesture of appointing women ministers is another. The one distinctive aspect about it is that it created a de facto parliamentary opposition for the first time in a long while in Lebanon.  Said oppositions consists primarily of March 14, which will have to  restructure itself to perform this role effectively. I have little faith  that this will actually happen, this being the flipside of March 8’s  inability to govern. Nevertheless, the success of both in playing those  roles would represent a significant step forward for Lebanese politics  which has been stuck for too long in the vicious cycle of consensual politics.
It is equally impossible to discuss a new development in Lebanese politics without referring to the main patron, Syria.
The latest turmoil in Syria has kept Lebanon's key political players on edge, and several commentators in the blogosphere offered their observations on Syria's role in the formation of the new Lebanese government, beginning with Karl reMarks:
Sayke:
This is a mostly a victory for bashar al-assad. at a time when his  regime has been shown (again) to be just another brutal dictatorship,  this demonstrates to other rulers that being a brutal dictator works. if  you play regional spoiler, and hold the stability of neighbors and the  larger region hostage, you will not be confronted by the international  community. threatening to assassinate political opponents of your  proxies in neighboring countries works. nobody will stop you.
Danny:
All along I have been harping away that it  was not matter of negotiations…That Syria had the line up and called the  shots. they think Arslan is dispensable as far as they have Jumblat as  well as the Thief… Could you ever fathom that Berri would willingly tilt  the sectarian balance if it was not Syria’s command? wallaw?
Again, I stick to my “gunz”. It has been Syria all long looking for the  vacuum. Ghassan well put re: Caretaker government where HA controls all  security apparatus.
Prophet:
Finally, a Lebanese cabinet was formed .The question is why now, and  not four months ago. For months ago, Syria was more stable, the Arab  spring has not reached the Syrian coast, and Assad’s fear of the STL was  his main concern. Now that his whole regime is in danger, The STL seems  to be a less of a threat, compared to his fear of loosing his power,  and everything else. A friendly Lebanese government might suit him  better than a political vacuum. Ghassan’s point of Marada and HA  securing the defense and interior mister is  very  important, but not so   much of the fall out  of the STL’s indictment, but more  so of the  need to  protect  Syria’s  border and infiltration of Syrian’s opponent from Lebanese soil.
If this  cabinet  receives a vote of confidence from the parliament, we   will see a sudden policy  and practical  changes  in the ways  Lebanese   authority deals  with  Syria and  the trouble facing Assad’s regime.  More security will   be  put  on  Lebanese /Syrian borders, more  security  cooperation will take place, and more open support  of   Syria’s  regime will be announced by  this  cabinet.
Also, the possibility  of a wider  conflict would require  a friendly cabinet, that  would  support  HA’s resistance policy as well as Syrian  position against  the US and Israel.
The formation of Lebanon's new government comes at a crucial time as the Syrian turmoil shows no signs of abating. Lebanon's political life is largely dependent on the power that sits in Damascus. Should that power become unstable, Lebanon's government will face an impossible challenge of preventing a ripple effect in the tiny, divided country.

author: Antoun Issa


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Macedonia: Reasons for Protesting · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

This post is part of our special coverage Macedonia Protests 2011.
Bloggers from Macedonia consider the historical significance of the current protests against police brutality, in the context of democracy development.
Sead Dzigal, a researcher, media expert and co-founder of the influential blog network Komunikacii.net, expressed his view – in Macedonian and in English – that the protests represent the first authentic outburst of direct democracy in the history of Macedonia:
Civil protests against police brutality which have been taking place in Skopje [since last Monday, June 5, 2011] and since Friday (June 10, 2011) in several other cities in Macedonia (Bitola, Strumica, Kumanovo, Kocani, Veles …) are significant turning point for democracy in Macedonia. For sure, this is the first example of a successful Online Activism where young people from Macedonia used social networks (Twitter, Facebook) and blogs to distribute information, coordinate activities and organize events and protests where they voiced their resistance to injustice and deviations of the institutions. They demanded accountability of those hidden behind the grandeur of the state, institutions and the state system, asked for responsibility of those who abused all professional rights, used force, hid the truth, manipulated the public and shamelessly lied all in order to keep their positions of power and sources of material benefits. Among many other things, these protests represent a voice against process in which state apparatus is forming a special class of people who are above the law, especially against those who are using brutal physical force.
This was a rare case, if not the first, where citizens used their legitimate rights to practice direct democracy without interference from political parties. In this particular case they used protests, petitions and loud and clear demands to implement justice. [Direct Democracy] in Macedonia is almost completely absent and is dominated by “Representative Democracy” model. In most of the cases this type of democracy is managed (or even manipulated) by the political parties as in the case of the expected referendum on the name issue, the [referendum for territorial division from 2004] and so on. The protests are a reminder that for most important issues in the society people must engage themselves directly and they have to move their assess in order to achieve something. Things are totally unlikely to change by themselves, and those who expect problems to be resolved by the political “saviors”, leaders, etc., often face the cruel reality that the only thing they save is their own interest.
Macedonia is a society highly politicized by the main political parties and citizens in the past  years witnessed the incredible growth of political parties’ power. This is the main reason why civil society has regressed dramatically in the past decade or so. Parties have “exclusive rights” to debate and settle all important issues in the society, from business, employment to interpretations and implementation of political rights and civil freedoms, and marginalize all who don’t agree with them. They succeeded in this venture mainly due to passive stance and weak resistance of the citizens, and were strongly supported by the highly corrupted media. They managed to establish some sort of a Political Party Monopoly on Democracy and supremacy of “one dimensional model of representative democracy” (you elect them and then you lose your right to interfere in public issues). So, only the parties have a right to decide and make decisions, of course always in the “name of the citizen.”  The Citizen was reduced to a voting machine who regardless for whom he/she voted was actually reproducing the same system: society ruled by the party in which the citizen is a citizen for only one day in four years. For the remainder of the mandate their only role in the society was that of a humble taxpayer, subordinated administration serviceman, powerless pensioner, poor and unemployed student e.t.c.
After achieving this dominant status in the society, political parties continued to mock citizens rights and make a circus out of democracy through daily childish arguments between each other which served them only to postpone resolving of the burning issues, control public debating and basically keep the same well controlled system intact: serial one-party system in which only one center of political power can do what whatever it wants. Everything else related to a functional plural society remained formal. No NGOs, no courts, no other institution was able to resist their plans and pursuing of their selfish interests. This of course lasts until another political center of power replaces them and “legitimately” inherit the right to do whatever it wants for their own interest.
These protests emphasized that Macedonia needs, more than any change of government, a change of the ruling model practiced by the elected political parties. The process of abandoning of the parties’ monopoly on democracy (supported by the corrupt media, party affiliated NGOs, paid institutes and intellectuals, pseudo-experts and others) is inevitable. Of course, this change and giving “a chair” to citizens in deciding HOW and not only WHO is governing is not going to be easy as it requires those in power to concede parts of their power, but it is a right which belongs to citizens and is a right they can’t give up. Moving from the existing Party Democracy to Citizen Democracy is essential move towards real democracy. This generation owes it to generations who come after us and for sure there will be no excuse if we spend 30 years of independence to secure this right.
And so, after a long, long time, with the ongoing protests about an important issue the citizens showed up independently and aside of the political parties. How about that for an “Awkward Moment”? They stood for their rights and are still trying to break the endless cycle of arguing between the parties, who continuously blame each other and do nothing to improve things. To show up in public was such a refreshing feeling, and it was encouraging to see young men and women who know what they want proving they think with their heads, and are trying to contribute for their own and common good altogether. On the other side were the young representatives of political parties with their unenthusiastic faces and repetitive clichés, reading their written announcements and accusations (prepared and written by those who are using them as an instrument), trying to shun responsibility for those in power and those who have put themselves above the law and human justice.
This generation of young people also distanced themselves from the elderly citizens, who spent most of their lives in Communism, and who answer the question what to expect from the elections only answer:  just employment for the young people so they can carry on with their lives normally. Well, well… a right to work is OK, but is this a proper understanding of democracy? This reduced idea of “democracy” is completely wrong! Democracy is not supposed to be “get a job and keep silent on anything else that's going on in the country,” as most of the public servants are practically doing. Silence is Not a Democracy, silence means totalitarianism and we believe we have abandoned this since the end of communism. Or perhaps not?
Democracy is expressing your voice and being in constant activity and struggle for your rights and values: it is continuous effort through peaceful, legal, civil, democratic and lawful means in order to achieve justice for the common good. Democracy, like any other “plural competitive system”, requires constant participation and activity. If you abandon this you will be pushed aside by the powerful and this is only because you have already pushed aside your dignity and you’ve forgot about your legitimate rights.
Youths sit in the streets while chanting slogans against police brutality, Skopje, Macedonia. Image by igor banskoliev, copyright Demotix (08/06/11).
For a bit wider theoretical framework, see the 2009 lecture on the Role of Local e-Content in the Development of Local Democracy by Dzigal, available online on the website of the e-Society.mk‘s annual conference.
VBB wrote [mk] that “without public reaction, the murder case would have been hushed up.” He also added:
While talking about the autocratic characteristics of this government with a friend who supports the [ruling party] VMRO-DPMNE, he asked:
“Why do you whine about dictatorship here, while you often travel to Russia, which has far more limited democracy?”
Man, I do not go there to engage in politics. It is good to travel, to see beautiful cities, which make Skopje look like the last backwater, to see magnificent museums, and to meet an even more magnificent girl (I wrote photo-reportages [mk] about such trips). In many respects, the Russians are a hundred times better than us, but my friend, I do not want to copy/paste that system here! That part of the world has its own philosophy of authoritarianism and oppression, with a rich continuous tradition: [Ivan the Terrible], [Peter the Great], [Stalin], [Putin]. Even though it's obvious they have some successes, they have no freedom. There's no chance for Putin to step down; journalists like [Anna Politkovskaya] mysteriously disappear; mysterious bombings take place (some suspect secret services); no chance for [Mikhail Khodorkovsky] to exit prison till the end of his life; opposition protests are suffocated; oligarchs and mafias run the natural resources like oil, gas, diamonds – our [Dzingo] is a two-but pickpocket when compared to them; the glorious Russian Army, whose parades we admire [mk] also has  [“dedovshchina”] – the worst form of the often deadly harassment as regular practice for new recruits in remote garrisons; the bureaucracy is terrible; corruption rampant; thousands of people from the provinces want to live in Moscow, but there's limited freedom of movement – the police checks your papers and ask for permits all the time, and can detain you if lacking (especially you, with a bit darker complexion, can be a suspect as terrorist or illegal migrant worker from Chechnya or Dagestan ;)). You can tell your quasi-Russophiles ;-) who probably have never been there or in Moscow cafeterias only, that even though they are angry with the EU, the Eurasian despotism should not be Macedonia's goal. In spite of all the problems, Western values are closer to us, and we must strive towards them: democracy, transparency, rule of law, free elections, freedom of expression and movement, pluralism (political and any other kind)…
This post is part of our special coverage Macedonia Protests 2011.


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Malawi: Citizens “Fuel” Facebook for Gas Updates · Global Voices
Victor Kaonga

As one way of updating one another on latest fuel supplies at gas stations, Malawians are using Facebook in advising where they can fill up their tanks. Over 210 subscribers share updates on an open group called Malawi Fuel Watch:
Fuel shortages are said to continue … if you know there s fuel somewhere let others know so that they can spend less time looking around … also if you have hit a wall somewhere share it so that others don't hit the same wall!
Paraffin lamps on sale at Chinseu market, Malawi, for 30 kwacha apiece. Paraffin is hard to come by, so some people have been using diesel fuel, which has the unfortunate effect of creating smog clouds in one's home. Image by Flickr user john.duffell (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
Malawians have been queuing up for hours for fuel since last year.  Malawi's Natural Resources Energy and Mining Minister Grain Malunga indicated that he was going to resign over fuel crisis. He later changed his mind.
In February, 2011, Malawian police in Lilongwe detained the organizers of demonstrations against the chronic fuel crisis.
One of the subscribers Monday evening posted:
Petroda pa Kameza no long Qs the attendants ali Bo akuserver fast and there are more pumps i only spent 8 minutes ndathira!!!”
Today, Herbert Nkhoma wrote:
Plenty of diesel and petrol at Chileka BP
Later, he added this information:
they were allowing K3000.00 only per vehicle
Tione Makawa wrote:
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
LILONGWE AND THE CENTRE
PETROL
THERE IS STILL PETROL AT:
• M1 – Bunda T-off (To finish By Noon)
Andrew Matambo wrote:
Petrol at Constantin Total Filling Station next to Angoni Car Spares & Accessories in Old Town
Aubrey announced that his friend was selling petrol:
Some friend is selling petrol 20 Litres at 2pin per 5 litres if u are desperate tiwuzeni ife tathira kale dzulo!!!!
Group creators  and administrators Fredrick Bvalani and Kondwani Chirembo said that they created the group to save fuel other than hopping from station to station. Responding to a question I sent to his Facebook page, Bvalani said:
We felt there was a need to share info about where we could to (avoid) the  tendency of hopping from filling station to filling station using up the  little fuel that remained in the tank. Also if one person in the group  hits a blank wall at one filling station he would spare the other  members a fruitless trip to the same station.
Natural Resources Energy and Mining Minister Grain Malunga was last week reported to have said that Malawians should get used to fuel shortages. Malawi has for more than a year now suffered erratic fuel supplies negatively affecting thousands of motorists, passengers and businesses.
The situation is blamed on President Bingu wa Mutharika's government failure to manage the forex shortages, donor relations and other internal national concerns.
Malawi is currently suffering lack of strong opposition to the DPP led government. The civil society has since been silenced on fuel demonstrations.

author: Victor Kaonga


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Malaysia: Government website receives hacking threat · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A group called Anonymous, warned that it will launch a cyber attack against a Malaysian government website on Thursday morning.


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North Korea: Photos of Secret Spots · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

UK-based photographer Charlie Crane took photos of the sterile landscape of Pyongyang, the  capital of North Korea. Abby Wilcox from the Live Fast site posted the photos with explanation.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Pakistan: Religious Racism Spotted · Global Voices
Rezwan

Farhan Janjua captures the photo of a banner situated in Garden Town, Lahore, Pakistan which reads: “Christian’s Graveyard in Muslim Population is Not Acceptable! Not Acceptable!.”


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Pakistan: The Beasts Kill Again · Global Voices
Rezwan

“The beasts in Pakistan have made it a habit to kill. Kill in the name of sect. Kill in the name of religion. Kill in the name of tribe. Kill in the name of Islam – They are not aware that in Islam killing one person is like killing the whole of humanity,” comments Mohammad Yusha while discussing about the recent twin blasts in Peshawar which killed 39 people.


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Palestine: Call to Free Khaled Zawahre  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Occupied Palestine shares the plight of Khaled Zawahre, who is detained in Ofer prison, allegedly for beating up an Israeli soldier and throwing rocks. Occupied Palestine maintains Khaled's innocence and shares photographs and videos.


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Peru: Government Announces End of Concession for Inambari Hydroelectric Project · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Isabel Guerra updates [es] her blog with the latest news on the Inambari hydroelectric project: after protests demanding its cancellation, the government has announced it will suspend the temporal concession given to Egasur, the project's developer.