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Africa: Citizen Journalism, Journalism for Citizens · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Last week, 700 journalists, bloggers, researchers, students and policymakers from more than 40 African countries took part in three days of discussions, debates and training at the 12th edition of Highway Africa conference in Grahamstown, South Africa. Highway Africa is the largest annual gathering of journalists and other media practitioners on the continent. This year's themes was Citizen Journalism, Journalism for Citizens.
The conference is organised by the School of Journalism at Rhodes University with the the support of Absa, Telkom, the Media Development and Diversity Agency, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, the Department of Communications and MTN.  New and well-known bloggers attended the conference. Below are some of the posts written by the participants:
SNP English River discusses the theme of the conference in the context of media environment in Seychelles:
This year’s theme had ample importance for Seychelles: citizen journalism, journalism for citizen.
To what extent is journalism in our country serving the Seychellois public? Is every local journalist conscious of the classical liberal role we have to inform, educate and speak truth to the powers in our society?
As we celebrate the year of our constitution, the theme has helped me to reflect more deeply about citizenship and belonging. Being a journalist for well over 15 years, I’m well aware how the media can be a vital force in the democratisation of Seychelles. We tend to think that the government has monopoly of common sense in this country.
Dan Gilmor was keynote speaker at Highway Africa. He writes on his blog about the conference:
I’m at Highway Africa, an annual journalism conference that brings together some of the continent’s most Internet-savvy folks to discuss ways to boost African journalism. It’s my third visit to the gathering, held in Grahamstown, South Africa, and sponsored by the journalism school at Rhodes University and SABC, the country’s biggest broadcaster.
The theme this year is citizen journalism, which has taken root more slowly in Africa than in some other places — in part due to the slower pace of Internet adoption — but which is now generating significant interest from constituencies of all kinds. Those include the traditional media, of course, representatives of which have pointedly asked about issues of trust and credibility; some have hinted broadly, in a place where government intervention in media has been endemic, that regulation may be needed. To the latter I respectfully disagree, naturally.
Nick Haralambous gave a presentation on Digital Media Business. He posted the presentation on his blog:
This is the presentation I just gave at Highway Africa 2008.
Sim writes some basic facts about Highway Africa:
Highway Africa means a big deal to me; as it does to others around the continent involved in education, research and the practice of journalism.
Let’s get some of the facts out of the way:
• This year’s conference runs between September 8 and 12 (inclusive).
• This is the 12th time HA has been held
• Every HA Conference has been held in September
• The 2010 HA Conference will be held anywhere between June 10 and July 12, 2010, to benefit from the World Cup Soccer tournament.
• Highway Africa is the largest collection of African journalists in the world! This year, an estimated 800 people have are attending, a big jump from the 65 who attended the very first conference in 1996.
Enoch Darfah-Frimpong attended the opening ceremony:
Opening the conference, the South African Deputy Minister of Communications, Mr Radhakrishna Padayachie, said the media had a responsibility to help Africa keep up with the current surge of digital advancement.
He said while the government was responsible for helping the ordinary citizens gain access to digital media by creating the right policy frameworks, regulations and legal functions, the media must educate the masses about ICTs.
Mr Padayachie said the biggest restriction to the digital revolution in Africa was poor infrastructure and cited the prohibitive cost of importing broadband to most African countries as an example.
In relation to mobile phones, he said a recent report from Nokia showed that while South Africa for instance boasted the highest concentrations of mobile technology available in the world, the cost of handsets was high and the sophisticated generation and development of software was still unavoidable in the country.
The Deputy Minister of Communications therefore challenged African governments to engage the private sector, civil society and media workers to actively involve the local people in the development of ICTs and the digital revolution.
He held the view that technology had transformed the traditional media landscape, as well as newsrooms.
Jean-Louis Kayitenkore posts a link to a Mail & Guardian story about South Africa's cult status vlogger, Khaya Dlanga. Khaya was named the winner of the Innovative use of the Internet award.
Khaya Dlanga, one of Thought Leader's most popular bloggers and a cult-status “vlogger” on YouTube, has been named winner of the Innovative use of the Internet award at the 12th annual Highway Africa conference in Grahamstown.
The 30-year old copywriter is a global phenomenon on YouTube, where his 117 videos ranging from “crazy to stupid” (in his words) have attracted more than three million hits.
Other Dlanga videos attracting huge hits on YouTube include “I quit smoking pot and cigarettes when I was 10 years old” and “I'm going to commit suicide”.
Blogging at Highway Africa 2008, Aasra Bramdeo asks, “Can anyone be a journalist?”:
Trying to get a perspective from delegates at highwayAFRICA, the media rendezvous in Grahamstown which ended on September 10th, is no easy feat. With the theme of this year’s conference being: Citizen Journalism,  Journalism for citizens. Journalists and academics all have an opinion on the phenomenon that is changing the face of the international media landscape.
The argument is essentially this: if journalists practice their profession according to a certain code of conduct, and if they are given certain legal protections, would the same codes and protections apply to citizen journalists.
Cisse Hamaye, the editor of the African Editors Forum (TAEF) in Mali says: “A journalist is a professional who should give factual, verified information therefore there must be protection. There is greater responsibility for a journalist.” But that isn’t always the case in Africa…
South Africa's Deputy Minister of Communications, Radhakrishna Roy Padayachie, attended the conference and talked about the importance of journalists to Africa's digital revolution:
Speaking at the three-day 12th Highway Africa Conference, which started on Monday at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, Padayachie said: “Media workers had an excellent opportunity to mobilise, educate and bring mass of awareness of Digital Migration to ordinary people.”
South Africa has already begun implementing the changeover phase from analogue broadcasting to digital broadcasting.
This was one of the FIFA requirements South Africa agreed to when bidding to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup, apart from other technology infrastructure.
Department of Education Director General, Lyndall Shope-Mafole said part of the success of hosting the world cup, would some as a result of the technology infrastructure that the continent was currently putting in place.
In addition to debates and discussions about media and technology, participants were entertained by a live Congolese music from the band, Afro Fiesta:
Participants at the 12th Highway Africa conference in South Africa were mesmerized as Afro Fiesta musical group from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) took the stage at the Associated Bank of South Africa (ABSA) dinner night on Monday.Led by Mermans Mosengo Kenkosenki, the group played out their songs which portrayed the beauty of the African continent. Kenkosenki said he was happy to be part of the Highway Africa conference – an annual gathering of journalists, media and information experts from Africa. “I would like to thank ABSA bank for sponsoring us to come to South Africa and perform at this Africa night,” he said.The group played music of Africa touch from rhumba to kwasakwasa before they bowed out. Some of the delegates at this year’s conference have come from countries like Kenya, Namibia, Malawi, Uganda, Nigeria, Senegal, DRC, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Zambia.ABSA bank Chief Executive, Happy Nchingira said the bank was excited to be a friend of Highway Africa and an enabler of the growth and development of the Africa media.
There are videos of the conference on Zoopy, Africa's leading video-sharing site.


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Aruba, Venezuela, U.S.A.: Wonderful World?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

arubagirl blogs about everything from Sarah Palin to Hugo Chavez’ expulsion of the US Ambassador to Venezuela.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bahamas, Guyana: Fringe Benefits  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bahamian blogger The Gaulin Wife reflects on her experience at the recently-concluded Carifesta: “Perhaps being left out of officially sanctioned spaces is sometimes the critical jolt that remembers us to ourselves – reminds us that no government, and no festival can create art or artists, we create and define ourselves.”


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Bangladesh: The other face of Dhaka · Global Voices
Rezwan

Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh comes with the usual facets of a megacity; it is congested, polluted and with a lot of traffic jams. Dhaka Dweller reminds that it also has its “cultural diversity, the sheer warmth of the people and the magic of the old town”.

author: Rezwan


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BAO, a news aggregator for francophone Africa · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

L'observatoire des médias links to BAO, a new user-driven news aggregator for francophone Africa.  Users submit links to news content from around the web and vote on their favorite links.  “A great initiative for our dear continent, a step toward rejecting mediocrity and laxness” [Fr], L'observatoire writes.

author: Jennifer Brea


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Taiwan and China: Fury over poisoned powdered milk made in China · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

The powdered milk products, produced by the Sanlu （三鹿） Group in China, were found to be contaminated by  melamine after hundreds of babies in China got sick with kidney stones. One baby in the Gansu province, China, died because of that.
25 tons of powered milk products manufactured by the Sanlu Group were exported to Taiwan this August, and this news caused extensive panic in Taiwan.
Sinhong talked about how late people were informed by the China government about the powdered milk contamination.
今年三月，中國境內即傳出有嬰兒喝出問題，六月中傳出病例報告，奶粉出口到台灣即在此時，八月初中國三鹿公司驗出奶粉含有毒的三聚氰胺，卻九月十一日才封存回收，十二日傍晚才通知台灣。
Eric further criticized how Taiwan government ignored the warning and acted slowly.
人命關天的大事，十二日接到電話的海基會竟感覺「善意」，而後府院噤不做聲，見事態愈演愈烈後，到昨日才由劉兆玄召開跨部會議下令展開交涉，這種末梢神經近乎麻痺的狀態，最可能的病因只有一個，就是唯恐破壞馬英九上台後一路「呵護」的兩岸氣氛…影響所及，連人民最基 本的生命健康都無能保障。
Sinhong also talked about the possibility that the China government covered this scandal because of the Olympic Games this August.
中國隱瞞毒奶粉事件與北京奧運脫不了關係，京奧在八月八日到二十四日舉辦，之前，中國政府就下令全面掩蓋有損國家形象事件，毒奶粉驗出含毒正在奧運舉辦前夕，顯示中國當局為了面子，草菅人命，還禍延他國，專制顢頇，罔顧人命，令人髮指！
The Sanlu Group claimed that the melamine found in their powdered milk was added by the dairy farmers and milk dealers to meet the nitrogen standard after they added water to dilute the milk. However, not everyone believes their claim.
Eric reasoned based on the milk powder production process.
添加三聚氰胺以提高含氮量的原理，必須具有一定專業知識，因此所謂獨由酪農下手的可信度實在不高。
Williamlong also reasoned based on the chemical property of melamine.
三聚氰胺是不溶于水的白色粉末，怎么可能掺入牛奶中呢？即使掺入也无法溶解，产生沉淀。因此三聚氰胺应该是后期直接掺入奶粉之中的。
Lianyue, who is a Chinese, appealed to China government for taking this scandal seriously, finding the real problems, and solving the problems.
若不彻查所有涉及人员…中国乳制品业一同崩溃。三鹿这样的企业都下毒，人们有理由相信，其他企业也有嫌疑。三鹿为了自保，可能放风它的做法是行业“公开的秘密”，拉着整个行业一同陷入信任危机。…中国的食品业接着垮台。连自己的孩子都可以毒，那么，还有什么底线？毒毒宠物，毒毒青少年、成年人，不更是毫无顾忌吗？中国制造由于连连涉毒，在国际上已经恶名远扬，三鹿这次安然过关，就等于让三鹿为大家敲下最后一根棺材钉。
There was also rumor saying that Baidu took money from the Sanlu Group and helped them filter opinions harmful to the company when people search on Baidu. t4822k11b said,
三鹿的危机公关解决方案被内部员工曝光，其中内容显示三鹿如给百度支付300万公关保护费，百度就通过搜索技术屏蔽三鹿负面新闻。…百度的这位公关经理还解释说：“在百度上搜一下，之前的负面新闻都在，这就是最好的证据。”…通过搜索发现，百度上所有的三鹿负面新闻，都是在9月12日后开始出现的。用网上广为流传的热帖标题“三鹿，在小朋友的生命健康面前请不要表演”作为关键词搜索，9 月12日下午，google显示11400篇，而百度在9仅能显示11条；9月13日上午，google显示11800篇，百度却一下子上升到54条。

author: I-fan Lin


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China: Dalai Lama’s 30-years of dialogue · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Skylight from the Fool's Mountain assesses Dalai Lama’ 30-years of dialogue with the Chinese government with a detailed chronology.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Kidney Stone Gate · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ChinaSMACK follows up the poisonous milk powder incident in China with the Kidney Stone Gate story Part I and Part II.


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Guatemala: Celebrating Photography Throughout September · Global Voices
Renata Avila

Photo by Andrés Asturias, courtesy of Foto30.
“A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know,” once said photographer Diane Arbus and that a photograph captures emotions, places, situations, reality, fiction, the visible and the invisible.  During the month of September throughout many galleries in Guatemala City, Antigua and Quetzaltenango will celebrate “Foto30, a month of exhibitions, workshops and activities to celebrate photography.
I will like to share the impressions of bloggers, who are attending and participating in Foto30 Guatemala 2008, but first I will like to highlight how galleries and cultural organizations are using blogs to display information about the event, show the reader a preview of their exhibition, and provide more information about the artist, first impressions, critics and suggestions:
September is also a good excuse to check out amazing pictures in many Guatemalan blogs, like Paracaidas [es], on her recent post Ceremonial  (capturing a Mayan ceremony), or cool shots by Pictoricas blogger [es] Paula Morales, while Jose Manuel Mayorga captured the Foto 30 gigantographics in Guatemalan urban streets. Luis Villacinda´s blog Ex Acto Non Once [es] displays sweet images of kids who took one of the photo workshops .
And there are also photojournalism blogs, like Mi Mundo [es] by photographer James Rodríguez, where you can always find an images of those without a voice calling for our attention.

author: Renata Avila


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Colombia: Upcoming Free Software Events · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Carolina Botero writes about upcoming events featuring free software in Colombia, as well as Ecuador [es].

author: Eduardo Avila


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Cote d’Ivoire: Deforestation and the booming housing market · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Y-Voir-Plus and readers discuss the alarming rate of deforestation in Cote d'Ivoire and the explosion of the housing market.


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Cote d’Ivoire: New blog on web and mobile tech · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Blogger Cartunelo, who studies web programming in Abidjan, launches Monde Techno, a new blog dedicated to “decrypting, analyzing, exploring and showcasing” the best in internet and mobile technologies in Cote d'Ivoire and across Africa [Fr].


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Cuba: Suffering a Setback  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“To Cubans and others who love the country, what just happened is truly heartbreaking. Two powerful hurricanes in ten days ravaged agriculture, wreaked havoc with the electricity grid and telecommunications and damaged or destroyed well over three hundred thousand homes”: Havana-based blogger Circles Robinson says that “Cuba’s development strategies for at least the next several years have been seriously set back.”


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D.R. Congo: Several television and radio stations shut down · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Mediatic [Fr] writes about the recent ban on five unauthorized television stations and two radio stations in Kinshasa and suggests this is just a preview of the big “housecleaning” of the government has been promising.  (via Réseau International de correspondants francophones)


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World Bank Film Competition – Social Dimensions of Climate Change · Global Voices
Juliana Rotich

The world bank has a call for submissions of short 2-5 minute documentaries that show the social effects or aspects of climate change. The deadline for the competition is October 24th 2008. They would like submissions from developing countries (particularly from the youth), covering any of the following categories.
- Conflict: As climate change results in scarcity of resources and economic and, in many cases, political instability, how may it lead to social unrest and armed conflict?
- Migration: Are there any links between climate change and population migration?
- Social Policy: How do governments prepare effective social policy to meet climate change challenges?
- Drylands: What is the social response in drylands related to climate change?
- Urban Space: How do climate change adaptation measures take into account the needs of the poor in the urban environment?
- Rural Institutions: How do local level institutions in agrarian societies build capacity to handle risks associated to climate change and deliver solutions?
- Indigenous Peoples: How are Indigenous Peoples responding and adapting to the impacts of climate change?
- Gender: Are there different implications of climate change for men and women, boys and girls?  How or where can instances of this be seen?
- Governance: How can social accountability be promoted in climate action?
- Forests: What are the threats and opportunities for local communities in efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation?
- Human Rights: What are the human rights implications of climate change?
More information about the competition is available here.
Below is the call for submissions video.

author: Juliana Rotich


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Georgia: Tbilisi Photos · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Photos from a weekend walk around Tbilisi's old neighborhoods – by LJ user shupaka (RUS).

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Georgia: Travelogue · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Michael J. Totten's Middle East Journal recounts a recent trip from Azerbaijan to post-conflict Georgia. Traveling with veteran Caucasus journalist Thomas Goltz, Totten details an attempt to visit Russian-occupied Gori and an unfortunate encounter with Azerbaijani customs officials on his return to Baku. The problem? The Lonely Planet Guide to Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Guyana: El Dorado  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana-Gyal thinks up some alternatives to her country signing the European Union Economic Partnership Agreement.


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Hong Kong: Save the Ha Pak Nai Wetland · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

According to a mainstream media report( quoted from inmediahk.net), a major developer in Hong Kong is planning to develop one of the most beautiful piece of wetland called Ha Pak Nai （下白泥）in Yuen Long. The plan is to build 122 country houses, 56 village style hotels, a golf court around the 5 million square meters wetland and a tiny insect museum, which means the whole wetland area will be privatized in term of spatial arrangement.
People's blog urges people to submit form against the town planning application. The deadline is Sept 26. The blogger also posts a map showing the details of the development plan.
Chan Siu Ming creates a facebook group calling for an alliance against the development plan. More than 460 people have joined the group. Here are some of the discussions in the group:
Judy To: can we do something like protest… signing activites to voices out our disagreement????
Felix Chan:
122個豪宅單位同56個低密度酒店單位，哥爾夫球場…起完呢堆野仲有q昆虫咩，個昆虫館用黎昆d人捉虫用啊…?
122 luxurious houses and 56 low density hotels, and a golf court… after building all these, can the insects still survive? what's the function of the insect museum? to preserve the dead insects for cheating us?
Kan Cheng plans for further action in the group:
to Loy, we can write a letter to EPD about this after 26 September, but it must be pro, about the environmental concern of golf course to the surrounding ecology. I can do it later because the EPD may not even know about this project right now, and we need time to make a detailed objection.
To Him, that is why we need to raise concern in the public, but it must be simple, because people in Hong Kong are some how pro-development. But if we can raise concern in certain concern groups in the society about the ecology, fairness issue or whatever, then the Government may not take the risk to support this.
To Felix, this is a kind of give and take -> the “planning gain” of approving their plan… so we need to point out that those open space and insert place can hardly be used by the public due to transportation issue, we can revoke this application.
Loy Ho gives some more political background about the so-called environmental friendly development plan:
Eco-architecture has not yet happen in Hong Kong. It got passed in the pass only because environment science knowledge is not functioning on Land and Law level. Our Environmental Conservation Department is a very small department inside the government, they don't have no power to stop to developer, even though they failed environment protection. If company is rich enough to do good PR strategy, they can buy the district opposite voice down. That was how they get pass most of the time. Taking Fung Yuen Butterfly garden or CLP LNG project for example. Fung Yuen project is so obvious another screen effect development. What developer did was to 50meter buffer zone from the butterfly garden as their protection for the garden.
So how does the Ha Pak Nai wetland look like? (All photos are from the facebook group.)
Maybe now you will also consider to submit the opposition letter to town planning board or write some comments to the Hong Kong Tourism Board before September 26.


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India: Attacks on Christians · Global Voices
Rezwan

Kim writes in Desicritics on the recent communal violence in Mangalore and argues that the incident was not given proper coverage.


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India: Delhi serial blasts and after thoughts · Global Voices
Rezwan

On September 13th the capital of India was rocked and terrorized by serial blasts. This is the fourth bombing incident targeting innocent people this year after Jaipur, Bangalore, and Ahmedabad.
Aaman Lamba reports in Desicritics:
Five bombs went off in succession in Karol Bagh, Connaught Place, and Greater Kailash I, killing at least 18 people and injuring over 90. Two live bombs have also been reportedly defused…. .
The relatively new Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility for these blasts….sending an e-mail to media channels minutes before the first blast.
The Wikipedia entry on this tragedy provides more links and updates. Mayank Austen Soofi has uploaded some pictures of the blasts in Flickr.
Now we will highlight some of the reactions of Indian bloggers :
Ahmed Hussain stated in a twitter message:
The turn of events @ Delhi has left me saddened. The perpetrators hiding behind the cloak of religion are doing themselves no good nor Islam.
Interim Thoughts sneered at the Government's usual statement in response to this bombing:
The statement consisting of 135  words rained on the attackers yesterday late in the evening. Future terror attacks have been averted thanks to the statement which is a  mix of old words and a terror template. The government was able to ready the statement at short notice after changing dates, place and number of victims. Terrorists have had sleepless nights based on the strong words used in the template.
Cutting the Chai contemplates on how the general citizens are reacting to these blasts after blasts:
What is worrying me now is that I don't understand the emotions that I'm feeling while watching the visuals on live television and reporters and anchors repeating the same thing over and over again.
Perhaps I've become comfortably numb. And that's a dangerous thing.
The Great Bong slams at the numbness of the society against these barbaric terrorist acts:
Do we, as a nation, understand that the whole “spirit of the city” feel-good is nothing but an euphemism for people becoming so inured to flying ball-bearings and bloody corpses that they accept terrorist violence as a fact of life, like traffic jams and power cuts?
So how can India diffuse these threats? DeeptiA has some suggestions how to tackle this problem. The Acorn has a seven point manifesto towards a national anti-terrorism policy.
But more than these the general citizens need to be more conscious of the situation and keep vigil against all threats including exposing those who anyway support these terrorists and their cause.


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India: The complex middle class · Global Voices
Rezwan

Supriyo Chaudhuri writes in his blog Sunday Posts about the Indian middle class and the complexity of its composition.


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Ivorian television goes global · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

According to Le Blog de Yoro [Fr], TAM TAM, Cote d'Ivoire's first private television station, is set to start broadcasting content over the internet via GlobeCast, a subsidiary of France Telecom in a deal that also includes satellite distribution.


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Japan: Idiomatic Expressions · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

You can pick up some Japan idiomatic expressions at Yuki Sakuma's blog post.


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Japan: TechCrunch50 · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Serkan Toto from Tokyotronic lists out 10 things he learned from the TechCrunch 50 conference 2008.


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Korea: The Harvest Moon Festival and How to Spend.  · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

It’s Harvest Moon Festival (HMF) again. The time when family members who live apart can gather together and relatives who rarely meet can greet each other in their home towns. Your stomach is happy with traditional home made food. However, not every one is waiting for this moment.
A funny post shows why some people are worried about the HMF.
어르신들 이번 추석때 동네 젊은 처녀 총각들 만나 인사를 받거던 언제 결혼 할래 —취직은 했냐—-그런 말은 묻지 마세요– 시집 안간 처녀 장가 못간 총각 취직 안된 처녀 총각 정말 민망하답니다
어르신들—젊은이가 인사하거던 처녀에겐 예뻐졌다 총각에겐 의젓해졌네– 이제 이런 인사를 해야 한답니다 금년 추석때 젊은이들 고향 찾기를 꺼린다고 합니다. 친척 동네 어르신들 —질문 인사가 민망해서 랍니다.
신기리 동네 이장이 하는 동네 스피커 방송 내용입니다. 장가못간것 시집안간것 취직 못한것 정말 억울하답니다.
That is the content of what a town chief in Shingi-ri speaks on the town broadcasting. Unable to marry and unable to find jobs… it is painful.
Here are comments on the post.
문제는 어르신들이 이렇게 인터넷을 안본다는거져 쩝~~
전 11월에 결혼했는데 다음해 설날 물어보시더군요 애는 언제낳냐고..
A blogger and journalist introduce some people who decide not to spend the HMF with their families.
더도 말고 덜도 말고 한가위만 같아라는 덕담이 오히려 가슴 아픈 청춘들이 많다. 지독한 불황과 실업난으로 고향에 있는 부모님을 찾지 못하는 20∼30대 젊은층이 이번 추석에는 유난히 많다. 바쁜 일상에 지쳐 달콤한 추석연휴를 꿈꿨던 젊은 직장인들도 얇아진 지갑 탓에 이번 연휴가 곤혹스럽다. 너무 짧은 연휴 때문에 그리운 어머니의 품에 달려가길 포기하는 직장인들도 있다. 취업 실패, 쪼그라든 살림살이 등으로 추석이 두려운 2030들의 속내를 들어 보자.
취업을 포기하고 대학원 시험을 준비 중인 김모(25•여)씨는 부모님을 뵙고 싶은 마음이 굴뚝 같지만 이번 추석에 내려가지 않기로 했다. 경북 구미가 고향인 김씨는 10월 중순에 있는 대학원 시험에 떨어질까 마음이 불안하다. 김씨는 매일 오후 8시부터 10시까지 세탁소에서 아르바이트를 하기 때문에 사정도 여의치 않다. 부모님은 항상 “빨리 시집보내야 할 텐데…”라며 걱정이 이만저만이 아니다. 김씨는 “아직 젊으니 걱정마세요.”라고 부모님을 안심시키지만 항상 스트레스에 시달린다. “언제까지 공부만 할 작정이냐.”는 친척들의 질문 공세도 두렵기만 하다. 부모님을 뵙고는 싶지만 고향에 가서 친척들을 마주치기가 싫어요. ‘취업은 어떻게 됐니. 남자 친구는 있니….’ 끝없이 이어지는 스트레스를 이번 추석에는 피하고 싶어요.”
Ms. Kim (25) who prepares for admission to graduate school instead of finding a job decides not to go back home even though she misses her parents. Her hometown is Koomi, Kyongsangbuk-do and she is nervous about her examination in the middle of October. She has a part time job at a laundry store from 8 to 10 pm. Her parents are worried about when she will marry. Even though she comforts them “I am still young,” she is always stressed out. “How long are you going to study?” She is afraid of questions from her relatives. “I would like to see my parents, but I don’t want to run into relatives in my hometown either. ‘How about your job? Do you have a boy friend?….’ Endless questions depress me so much. I want to escape them.” “
임모(28)씨는 올해도 나홀로 추석을 보낸다. 2년째 설, 추석 명절 때마다 고향인 울산을 찾지 못했다. 명절 연휴는 아르바이트생에게 황금기이기 때문이다. 임씨는 지난해 초 대학을 졸업했다. 학기 중은 물론 졸업 뒤 1년 동안 여러 기업에 응시했지만 번번이 떨어졌다. 올 들어 구직 활동을 단념하고, 행정고시 준비에 들어갔다. 임씨의 집안 형편은 좋지 않다. 대학 시절에도 과외나 아르바이트로 등록금과 생활비를 충당했다. 고시준비 시작 이후도 마찬가지다. 낮에는 백화점에서 일하고 밤에 공부한다.
객지에 나와 생활하면서 집을 찾는 횟수가 뜸해졌다. 명절 때만이라도 고향을 찾아야 하지만 무직자로서 부모님 얼굴을 뵐 면목이 없다. 명절이 되면 아르바이트 시급이 평소보다 두 배 오른다는 점은 돈이 궁한 임씨로서는 뿌리치기 힘든 유혹이다. “올 봄 누나가 결혼해서 시댁에 갑니다. 저라도 부모님 곁에 있어 줘야 하는데 마음이 아프죠.”
아직 독신인 회사원 윤모(38)씨는 이번 명절에도 고향인 경남 하동에 내려가지 않을 핑계거리를 찾고 있다. 회사는 요즘 일거리가 많지 않다며 고향이 먼 사람들은 연휴 앞 뒤로 하루씩 더 쉬라고 권하고 있다. 하지만 윤씨는 부모님께 “일이 많아서 명절에도 일해야 한다.”고 거짓말을 할 생각이다. 부모님은 “막내동생 아들이 벌써 초등학교 1학년인데, 넌 여태 결혼도 못하고 뭐하고 있냐.”며 추석연휴 내내 맞선 스케줄을 내밀 것이 확실하기 때문이다. 뿐만 아니라 윤씨네 집이 종가라서 명절마다 연인원 50여명이 다녀간다. 고향집에 다녀가는 집안 어른들은 윤씨만 보면 “장가 언제 갈거냐. 국수 안 먹어도 좋으니까 제발 결혼하라.”고 말한다. 심지어 올해 설 연휴에는 조카들까지 “삼촌은 여자에게 인기가 그렇게 없냐.”며 놀리기도 했다. “제가 장손은 아니지만 그래도 부모님께 미안하죠. 하지만 온가족이 둘러앉아 밥 먹을 때마다 올해는 꼭 장가가야 한다고 강조하시는 통에 체할 것만 같습니다.”
직장인 박모(34•여)씨는 추석 연휴 동안 일본으로 여행을 다녀올 계획이다. 부모보다 남자를 택한 것이다. 박씨는 매년 명절 때 친척들이 자신의 결혼 여부를 두고 입방아 찧는 모습을 보는데 이골이 났다. 그녀의 올해 목표는 무조건 결혼이다. 박씨는 올 봄 두 살 연상의 남자를 만났다. 업체 회의 때 처음 봤는데, 한 눈에 반했다. 서른살이 넘으면서 그 어떤 이성을 봐도 가슴이 떨리지 않았는데, 그 남자를 본 순간 전신에 전율이 솟구쳤던 것이다. 박씨는 그에게 먼저 다가가 선물 공세로 관심을 끌었다. 시간이 흐르자 그도 차차 마음을 열며 그녀를 받아들였다. 두 사람은 자연스럽게 연인 관계로 발전했다. 하지만 그뿐이었다. 몇 개월이 지나도 남자에게서 청혼 제의가 오지 않았다. 속이 타던 박씨는 호기를 잡았다. 그의 부모가 이번 연휴 동안 미국에서 생활하는 딸을 보러 출국하기 때문에 그 남자 홀로 추석을 보낸다는 말을 들었다. 박씨는 그에게 일본 여행을 제안했고, 그도 흔쾌히 동의했다. “명절만 되면 부모님과 집안 어른들로부터 결혼 압박에 시달렸어요. 부모님도 이해할 거예요. 일본에서 꼭 프러포즈를 받고 귀국할 거예요.”
고향이 전북 전주인 회사원 정모(29•여)씨는 올해 추석엔 고향을 찾는 대신 부산에서 보름달을 보며 부모님께 안부전화를 드리기로 결심했다. 명절 연휴가 3일밖에 되지 않아 남편의 고향인 부산에 다녀오기도 벅차기 때문이다. 정씨는 친정에서 내심 서운하게 생각한다는 것을 알지만 어쩔 수 없다. 정씨는 3남매 중 둘째딸이고 남편은 외동아들이기 때문이다. 친정의 경우 정씨 외에도 언니와 남동생 식구들이 찾을 예정이다. 그래서 정씨는 과감하게 이번 추석에는 시댁만 찾기로 했다. 2006년 결혼 후 정씨가 명절에 고향집에 못가는 것은 이번이 처음이다.[…]
A blogger introduces an old custom of how married women tried to meet their parents during the Festival.
추석날 시집 간 딸을 만나는 풍습인 반보기
추석 때가 되면 사람들은 모두 고향을 찾아 길을 떠난다. 아마 올해는 가장 많은 사람들이 고향을 찾아 길을 떠날 것으로 보인다. 고향을 찾는 사람들은 선물 꾸러미를 손에 들고 간다. 그리도 돌아올 때는 고향의 정이 가득 담긴 선물꾸러미를 안고 온다. 이것이 우리네 살아가는 정이란 생각이다.그런데 지금처럼 차로 고향집을 찾아가던 시절이 아닌 과거에는, 시집을 간 딸이 친정에 오는 일은 거의 없었다. ‘출가외인'이라고 했으니, 시집을 가면 그 집 사람이란 뜻이다. 그래도 딸들이야 친정 생각을 하지 않을 수 없다. 그 마음에서 늘 그리는 것이 친정이었을 것이다. 그래서 일년에 한 번, 추석이 되면 < 반보기>를 한다. < 반보기>란 시집을 간 딸을 친정과 중간이 되는 곳에서 만나보는 것이다. 아침 일찍 차례를 지내고 성묘를 하고나면, 주부들은 서둘러 음식을 싼다. 평소에 어머니에게 드리고 싶은 음식을 정성스럽게 준비하고 집을 나선다. 예전에는 시집을 멀리 가질 않았기때문에, 이런 풍습이 생겼을 것이다. 만일 지금처럼 멀었다면 어찌했을까? 차가 있으니 지금에야 멀다고 해도 어디나 갈 수가 있겠지만, 예전에 걸어다닐 때는 친정이 멀면 반보기를 할 수가 없다. 그래서 아주 추석을 지내고나서 친정나들이를 하는 것을 < 온보기>라고 했다.
친정어머니는 어머니대로 딸이 좋아하는 음식을 준비한다. 그래서 친정과 중간 쯤 되는 곳에서 서로 만나, 그동안의 회포를 푸는 것이다. 요즈음에야 이런 풍습을 두고 딱하다고 하겠지만, 당시는 이 반보기를 기다려 친정어머니를 만날 수 있었기에, 그런 추석이 남다른 의미를 갖고 있었을 것이다.[…]
Every year when the Harvest Moon Festival is coming, people go on pilgrimages to their hometown. This year, many people of course plan to head to their hometowns. Their hands are full of gifts for their relatives and family, and they come back with a package of gifts from them as well. I think this is how we live with affection. In the past, when we couldn’t go back to our hometowns with cars, it was almost impossible for married daughters to go back to see their parents. A married daughter is no better than a stranger. That means if you leave for another house, that house is yours. However, how can they stop missing their parents and other family members? They miss their houses all the time. So every year the Harvest Moon Festival is the one time when they can do Banbogi. It means that a married daughter and her family can meet in the middle of the distance of their houses. Early morning after she completes an ancestor-memorial service at her husband’s family, she is busy wrapping food. With the food she would like to share with her mother, she leaves her husband’s house. In the past, women usually were married off to a place where it is not so far away from her house. Therefore, this kind of custom could be possible. Without cars, Banbogi would not be possible at that time either. So sometimes some housewives dropped by their houses after the Harvest Moon Festival. It is called Onbogi (full watching). Anyhow, her mother also prepares food that the daughter usually likes. In the middle of their houses, they meet together and talk. The custom doesn’t happen now anymore, but at that time, the Festival was so meaningful to those people.[…]

author: Hyejin Kim


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Kuwait: Special Girgian Celebration  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

People in the Gulf region mark the middle of the Holy Month of Ramadan with a celebration, where children dress up and go door to door, wishing neighbours and collecting treats and sometimes money.
From Kuwait, intlxpatr was in for a treat when an unexpected knock on her door:
The doorbell rang.
No one rings my doorbell. The doorman always calls to let me know if a visitor has arrived.
“Who’s there?” I called out.
“It’s GIRGIAN!” a chorus of voices rang out.
Girgian is a children’s holiday, a little like Hallowe’en, about half way through the month of Ramadan, when costumed children come and ring your bell and are given sweets, sometimes money. If you are really lucky, they sing a song. My understanding is that normally the children go around to their families, like aunts and uncles and cousins, and to close neighbors.
Needless to say, intlxpatr was delighted with the surprise:
In come eight gorgeous little Kuwaitis, all English speaking, all dressed top to bottom in gorgeous finery, bright thobes and prayer caps, beautifully hand woven bisht with gilt trim, dresses with embroidery and lace and gilt skirts, golden headdresses – oh! They were gorgeous!
No one has ever come for Gergian before. I didn’t have anything prepared. Thank God AdventureMan has a sweet tooth, and thank God, they were polite and appeared delighted with handsfull of Oreo cookies and marshmallows, which were all I had.
Some days, you just never know when a blessing will appear. Those darling children made my day.
She even shares a video uploaded on YouTube of the celebration by Kuwaiti blogger Chikapappi:

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Lebanon: Ramadan ‘not that great’  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Kuwaiti blogger Ray is in Lebanon where she says: “lebanon isn't that great in ramadan. [But] the weather is AMAZING.”


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Lithuania: State of the Blogosphere · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Vilnius Blogs notes that even though “blogging is trendy [in Lithuania] just as everywhere else,” “there are not too many English-language blogs about Lithuania.”


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Pakistani soldiers stop US Insurgence : reality or drama? · Global Voices
Rezwan

The Teeth Maestro comments on the recent firing of Pakistani troops on US troops: “…on a critical evaluation in light of the BBC report I suspect its all an orchestrated drama to salvage the cordial ties between the US and Pakistan“.


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Paraguay: High Expectations on Lugo · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

With the beginning of Fernando Lugo's presidency, Muna Annahas writes that there may be too much expectations on the new government, even though that he is enjoying more than 90% approval rating.


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Russia: Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Siberian Light posts this month's Russia Blog Roundup: “Unsurprisingly, most of the Russia blogs have been extensively covering the war in Georgia, but I’ve decided to showcase mostly non-war related stuff this month, for those hankering after more peaceful times.”


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Russia: “Extreme and Absurd, Violence and Art” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Moscow Through Brown Eyes lists recent “extremist actions” in Russia, writes about one of the possible reasons for the ongoing South Park scandal, and posts a video of a “provocative performance” by art group “Voina”: “As a present to well-known xenophobic and homophobic Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, the artists acted out the piece ‘Hanging,’ in which three migrant workers and two gay activists pretended to be executed.”


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Russia: Lavrov Needs a Vacation · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Eternal Remont thinks that Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, deserves certain pity and needs a vacation.


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Russia: Putin’s Sex Appeal and the “New Cold War” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Vilhelm Konnander writes about Vladimir Putin's sex appeal and the West's alleged “psychological need for negative power projection – a primitive urge to make Putin look impotent at a time when ‘barbarious Russia’ stands at the gates of our ‘imaginary western world of values’.”


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Russia, UK: Russians in London · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

IZO writes that the Russian government allegedly has a say in how Russian “oligarchs” are spending their money on cultural and other events in London.


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Saudi Arabia: Sarah Palin for Saudi? · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

American Bedu wonders whether Sarah Palin would make an ideal citizen of Saudi Arabia: “she favors creationist teaching instead of evolution…She does not believe in abortion… She ‘should’ know much about oil coming from the key American producing state.”

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Saudi Arabia: The need for laws not just education · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Hala outlines her position on male guardianship over women: “I’m just a simple person who believes that although education about rights and wrong is important yet it’s not worthy without laws that protect the rights, since we can lead a horse to the water but we can’t make it drink… If we gave the men the power over women lives, then how can we make sure they’ll not abuse it?”


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Senegal: President Wade, man of the people · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Blog politique au Senegal [Fr] gives a tongue-in-cheek account of President Wade's visit to areas of Dakar affected by recent floods, made all the more hilarious by some clever photoshopping: “In a grand spirit of soldarity with those stricken [by the floods], [Wade] didn't hesitate to “get his shirt wet”…he got down from his vehicle and took a few steps among the crazy, chanting crowds…as soon as he got back in his car, the president's doctor administered anti-diptheria, anti-cholera, anti-tetanus, and anti-typhus drugs.”


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South Ossetia: A Photojournalist’s Musings On the War · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

See Global Voices special coverage page on the South Ossetia crisis.
Firsthand reports from the conflict zone in the Caucasus continue to appear here and there in the Russophone blogosphere. On Sept. 8, one month since the beginning of the war in South Ossetia and Georgia, Russian photojournalist Oleg Klimov posted his musings (RUS) on what the war looks like and what it smells like, on the media and propaganda, and on what seems like a universal nature of wartime looting.
[Oleg Klimov's photo of peacekeepers “between Tskhinvali and Gori”]
[Oleg Klimov's photo of a post-funereal “wake amidst the ruins in Tskhinvali”]
[Oleg Klimov's photo of “a village between Tskhinvali and Gori”]
Worst of all I dislike the smell of war. Its stench. A combination of burned damp wood, plastic and the smell of dead bodies. “A parfume.” A sense of war smell is one of the five important senses, an ability to perceive and recognize the smell of the events of the past. I've always regretted that photos, like money, do not smell… If they smelled, we'd definitely be all sick now. At the beginning, at least, more than from the graphic pictures of dismembered bodies and other horrors…
Tonight, I watched a “documentary” from Vesti-24 [on a Russian state-owned channel]. Turns out Georgians have been “genociding” Ossetians and the Abkhaz throughout centuries. I really don't understand where the law on “inciting ethnic hatreds” is. This hatred is being imposed not just on the level of “politicians and journalists,” but on the level of peoples. And the peoples hate each other. And “the smartest politicians” say that on a human level, it is possible to understand the people… Expect that it is exactly on a human level that it's impossible to understand this.
Georgian houses are being burned and looted. The same is happening to the Ossetian houses. And they'll continue to burn and loot them. Perhaps, this is human nature. It always happens this way during “ethnic wars.” It was there in Bosnia and Kosovo. In Pala (close to Sarajevo), in the [neutral zone], detachments of “Russian Cossacks” and [mercenaries] were among those who did the looting. There was a whole “system” to it: risking their lives, they were delivering carpets, TV sets, etc., to the Serbian zone and selling them wholesale to the middlemen, who, in their turn, were selling the “trophy goods” at civilian markets. I witnessed this in person and heard attempts at justification: “freelance mercenaries” have nothing left to do because no one is paying them for “heroism at someone else's war.”
Outside Tskhinval (and inside the city, too) any car near a deserted house means one thing: looters. If you ask them, “What are you doing?”, they'll respond: “Oh, nothing, our relatives used to live here…” There've been instances of murder, however, as well. Of women, too, not just men. And there is blackmail. For example, at one village the local police rounded up the residents and issued an ultimatum to them: “If you don't pay $10,000, we'll burn the whole village!” (This is almost official info from the Dutch embassy.)
[…]


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Sri Lanka: How cool are you? · Global Voices
Rezwan

Cerno talks about the coolest people in Sri Lanka and their status.


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Taiwan: More than 10,000 bloggers compete in this year’s Blog Award · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

The fourth Global Chinese Blog Award-the biggest blog award in Chinese blogosphere-hosted by Taiwan's Chinatimes.com just finished sign-up stage this evening with a result of more than 10,000 blogs signing in 16 categories. The most competitive category is Art and Culture which has 3,015 contesting blogs while the least is Political Parties and Central Government with only four runners. I was one of the judges in last year contest and I managed to read over 7,500 blogs at that time as if I was mad.

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Trinidad & Tobago: Financial Armageddon?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidadian blogger The Liming House is concerned about “events that have shaken Wall Street, the City of London and the global financial system to its very core”, adding: “You might think – if you live in the Caribbean, for instance – that what’s happening ‘out there’ might not affect you.  You would be completely wrong.”


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Turkey: “Armenian Istanbul” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sundry Translations and Other Tangentialia translates Mark Grigorian's LJ entries (RUS – here, here, here) on Istanbul's Armenian dimension.


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Armenia: Opposition Momentum Declining · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

The Armenian Observer comments on yesterday's opposition rally in Yerevan and says that it was the smallest gathering yet.


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Azerbaijan: Gay Artist Detained in UK · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped: Gay Armenia reports that gay Azerbaijani artist Babi Badalov has been detained by British police. Badalov is currently seeking asylum in the United Kingdom and the blog posts details of a protest demonstration to be held in his support today.


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Bangladesh: Money vs. Country · Global Voices
Rezwan

“11 national cricketers prefer more money than the honor of playing national cricket for Bangladesh.” Unheard Voices echoes the outrage of many Bangladeshis after these national players decided to quit to join the lucrative Indian Cricket League (ICL).


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China: Full Transcript of Leaving Fear Behind · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Woser posted the full transcript of an underground documentary, Leaving Fear Behind, produced by Tibetan.


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China: Reporter Fieldnote on The Shanxi Mudslide · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translated Reporter Huang Xiuli's fieldnote on the Shanxi mudslide, which resulted in more than 200 deaths. The fieldnote was first published in her own blog but was deleted and warned.


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China: Infant-killer milk powder sickens the country · Global Voices
Bob Chen

Is food in China edible? Chinese people started to ask.
Since last year, alerted by a series of products safety accidents, the world has questioned China of its food, toys and even animal feed safety, while the answers, both official and folk, were that Made in China is trustable. But now as the toxic infant formula showed up again in China, killing 2 babies, sickening hundreds more, our trust has painfully drained away, taken place by panic.
It started from 9 Sep, in Gansu province, where press revealed that 14 infants were afflicted by kidney stones, suspected of having had contaminated infant formula.
In the next day, scores more cases were reported, and the victim babies were all found to have milk powder manufactured by one company, the Sanlu Group, a leading Chinese dairy producer.
The situation kept worsening. In 10 Sep, an infant died of the disease. In ten other provinces, kidney-stone babies were reported. In interviews, doctors in different places agreed that they found cases of baby kidney stones abnormally surged in the past a few months.
Fengfeng, 7-month-year-old from Jiangxi province, had milk powder made by Sanlu Group since his birth, and had already suffered from two kidney surgeries due to the stones. Now, his parents found more people sharing the same experience.
However, Sanlu refused to claim its responsibility by stating at 10am, 11 Sep that “the formula is produced strictly at national standard”. It moreover alleged that according to the Gansu province quality check department its products were of good quality, reassuring “their milk power has no problem”.
But the Ministry of Health gave Sanlu the late while fatal strike, just a few hours after the company’s self-explanation, officially warning people to stop taking tainted infant formula by Sanlu. One hour later, turning 180 degree in attitude, Sanlu announced a recall of its products. By estimation, the tainted formula amount to 700 tons. Not until this moment were millions of babies protected from the deadly dairy products.
Too late
Up till now, 16 Sep, 1253 sickened babies were reported, 2 of them died. Panic is spreading. There are over 30 thousand potential victims, predicted from Sanlu’s influence in domestic market.
In a formal statement by Sanlu, it claimed that a chemical called melamine, usually used in plastic production, had been added to the formula by dairy farmers and milk dealers. The purpose of doing so, accordingly, is that the nitrogen-rich chemical could help the milk meet the nitrogen standard which is to test the protein content, after they added water to dilute the milk and gain more profit.
But such a statement came too late, much later than the fact was actually discovered.
猪猡纪 in his blog posted a screen shot, which shows as early as in July, 31, an urology pediatrician has complained on the website of Administration of Quality Supervision, that he doubted infant formula was the cause of kidney stones in babies he had treated. However, his suggestion only got the response ——“Go to find the health department.”
Netizen “zcfonline” further more pointed in BBS that:
三鹿发布召回2008年8月6日以前的产品，为什么现在到了9月12日才发布，并且只是8月6日以前产品。事实这样，三鹿已经获悉毒奶粉造成的危害了，8月6日以后的产品中取消了该三聚氰胺的添加，又是一种不负责任的行为，让祖国的花朵又忍受了一个多月的毒害！
三鹿企业理应破产！
Only the products made before 6, Aug were recalled and such a recall is not published until 12, Sep. The fact is, Sanlu has actually discovered the problem long ago and stop using melamine in formula made after 6, Aug. Its late recall poisoned our babies one more month.
It should bankrupt!
What might be devastated is not only one company; made-in-China is undergoing a severe test as well.
Early in March, 2007, U.S FDA has found pet feed killed dogs and cats due to the melamine added to the raw material imported from China. The use of the chemical is exactly the same as this time, but it is not enough to alert Chinese government, though it claimed in 2007 after this event
中国政府打击三聚氰胺取得可喜成果
Administration achieved greatly in rooting out melamine  (2007)
The trust on Made-in-China endangered, even in Chinese hearts
In 2007, when Chinese products got attacks due to the lead in toys, and in 2008, Carrefour got boycotted because of the unfriendly treat of torch relay in France, people called on a firm support of domestic products. But today, as 尤大之吻 said
我爱国，但是民族企业自己不争气，让我们无从爱起。
I love my country, but my country’s enterprises were so disappointing that I find nothing to love.
aswlw888 complained
恳求国家质检总局将中国人类食品标准提高到美国狗粮标准
I entreat the Administration of Quality Supervision to enhance the standard of food safety for human in China to that of the pet in U.S.A.
莫之许 in bullog.cn posted a text record of CCTV’s probe into how melamine was added to the milk.
只见他拿着一口大碗，从一个纸箱里舀出白色粉末倒入桶内，水桶里已经有了一些奶白色的液体，还用手仔细将碗里的残留物抹干净，随后这名工人拿着一根钢管用 力搅拌，搅拌的同时还把沾在水桶、钢管和手上的东西一一抹干净，和到水桶里，搅拌均匀后，再将这调好的一桶桶白色液体倒入奶罐中。
….. the journalist saw the worker bowled white powder from a paper box into the barrels, in which some milky liquid was already there. He then wiped out the residue in the bowl, and stirred the barrel with an steel club….. he then poured the barrels of white mixture into the milk tanks.
The white powder is exactly the chemical used to increase the nitrogen content to cheat that there was more protein than it actually had.
The journalist found:
而500多元买来的掺假原料就能勾兑出价值2000多元的牛奶
The adulteration material bought in 500 RMB could make mike sold in over 2000 RMB.
The adulteration, according to the news source, is prevalent among local milk farmers.
Who is to blame?
Now with no doubt Sanlu is the target of fury, even though it tried to exculpate itself, claiming it was also the victim of unlawful milk farmers. But in another GVO post by I-fan, you can see how people argue against it, saying Sanlu deliberately added the chemical.
Blogger Beifeng（北风）also posted a collection of questionable points, pointing Sanlu is likely to be the real murderer.
2.有问题的是700吨奶粉，要数千吨鲜奶原料啊……几家奶农加三聚氰胺能达到这效果？
….. 2. the 700 tons of milk powder need thousands of tons of raw material, and melamine by a few milk farmers could make such a consequence?
3.三聚氰胺是微溶于水！加鲜奶里暂时成为混悬液，放置后应该会有大量沉淀的……
(Milk powder is dried from liquid milk). Melamine is only slightly soluble in water! Adding it to liquid milk would create lot of sediment.(It should be tested out by Sanlu)
10. 假如真的奶农掺了三聚氰胺，那么三鹿的所有奶粉都出问题才是，事实上，只有三鹿最便宜的婴儿奶粉出了问题……
If farmers added melamine then all the products by Sanlu should have problems. But in fact, only the cheapest type, the infant formula were found tainted.
Besides Sanlu Group, the government is also undergoing people’s inquiries. In March, when sickened babies’ parents first appealed the administration to check Sanlu formula, all they got is a guarantee of no problem. And in 2, Sep, the state media CCTV even recommended Sanlu as a shining star of made-in-china, a trustworthy symbol.
Many babies started to take Sanlu formula since their birth due to the brand’s reputation, which means the problematic formula has existed for years. But the shame is that during the course, the authority stood by.
Famous columnist, blogger Lianyue 连岳 said in his post “If Snalu keep standing, the Chinese government would fall”:
3、所有相关职能部门的破产。三鹿不仅牵扯到质检、卫生、工商、食品药品监督等等部门，还有强大的国家宣传机器背书——比如CCTV，三鹿从现在新闻来看，早在07年底就涉毒，从高强的讲话来看，三鹿三月就知道自己产品有毒，这反证了所有职能部门形同虚设，在这么长的时间里，它们没有作为，甚至几天前，还有甘肃的质检部门证明其合格，人们因此得出政府信用破产的结论，是必然的.
It might bring to the bankruptcy of all the related national departments. Sanlu scandal concerns Quality Check, Health, Commercial, and Food Supervision departments, and the national propaganda machine CCTV. Judged from the news, Sanlu has produced tainted formula since last year, and it itself understood this, according to Gaoqiang, the minister of health department.
This shows all the departments were useless craps. It did nothing at all in such a long time. Even a few days ago the provincial department admits Sanlu’s good quality. People could certainly judge from this that the credit of government is no more.
But a netizen 月落鸟不啼 commented ironically:
三鹿不会倒，中国政府也不会倒，光看看汶川地震后的报告吧，学校都处在地震带上这种谎言都编的出口，他们还有什么不敢说的
S
anlu would stand, so will Chinese government. Look at the report published after the Si-chuan earthquake, which says all the collapsed schools were standing on seismic belt, such a ridiculous lie. What else dare they not say?
Or everything would just be like what 空心狂人 said:
这是中国，习惯就好！
This is China. Get used to it, and all will be fine!

author: Bob Chen


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Costa Rica: New Podcast for Northern Costa Rica · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Norte En Linea [es], a digital magazine devoted to activities in Northern Costa Rica recently unveiled its first podcast, which includes music and interviews.


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Cuba: Assessing the Damage · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The blow to food supply is particularly severe: crops lost in the field, stocks damaged in warehouses, and Cuba’s capacity to import affected by losses in sectors that generate foreign exchange earnings”: The Cuban Triangle posts a roundup of reports on post-hurricane damage in Cuba, which is estimated to be in the vicinity of 5 billion dollars.


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Cuba, South Africa: Castro Wins Award · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Uncommon Sense cannot believe that, according to a mainstream media report, Fidel Castro has won the South African Ubuntu award for his contributions to “humankind beyond boundaries.”


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Czech Republic: Interview With Lonely Planet’s Author · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Journeys of Captain Oddsocks interviews Brett Atkinson, an author who is updating the Czech Republic sections of Lonely Planet's Eastern Europe and Europe on a Shoestring guidebooks.


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Dominica: Longevity  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Dominica Weekly takes a look at aging gracefully in “The Nature Isle”.


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Dominican Republic: Other Tourism Options · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Tourism in the Dominican Republic is much more than the ocean and beaches, and Rocío Díaz of Monaco [es] thinks that there are other parts of the country that are worth promoting, such as San Pedro de Macorís and Montecristi for its exquisite architecture.


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Estonia, Latvia: iPhone · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

AnTyx writes about iPhone in Estonia; Telecoms in Latvia writes about iPhone in Latvia – here, here, here, and here.


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Taiwan: First English blog award begins · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

Taiwanderful has announced the 2008 Taiwan Best Blog Awards. The awards are for English-language blogs related to Taiwan in eight categories. According to Taiwanderful: “There are hundreds of bloggers writing about Taiwan in English. The English language bloggers in Taiwan contribute some of the most comprehensive up-to-date information about the real Taiwan on a wide range of topics, from travel through politics to culture….. The blog awards are intended as a tribute to these devoted bloggers. Their blogs are a unique form of promotion for Taiwan.”


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Guyana: Fire Kills Three Children  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

After three Amerindian children die in a dorm fire, Living Guyana voices his disapproval over the way in which the funeral arrangements were handled by the government, while Signifying Guyana posts two poems by Martin Carter in their memory.


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India: Victim of terrorism · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sanjukta‘s family narrowly escaped the recent bomb blast in Delhi. The first thought came into her sister's mind is that: “we have all been turned into insects, just waiting to be crushed anytime. There is no value of our lives, you never know when, where and how.”


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Japan: The Success of Saizeriya · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Blogger teruyastar draws over 800 bookmarks [ja] with a post [ja] about why Saizeriya [ja], a Japanese fast-food restaurant chain that serves Italian meals, has been so successful in Japan. As reasons for the chain's success, teruyastar points out that Saizeriya's prices are very low (you can buy everything on the menu for 26,000 yen [or 250 USD]), that the chain minimizes the number of kitchen staff by pre-arranging food for meals, and that the company does not advertise at all, drawing customers instead with low prices.

author: Chris Salzberg


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Kosovo, South Ossetia: Recognition Score · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Fistful of Euros writes about international recognition of Kosovo vs that of South Ossetia, and explains why it is likely that Kosovo will soon be recognized by Montenegro.


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Kuwait and Ramadan · Global Voices
Abdullatif AlOmar

It has been a busy Ramadan in Kuwait, with the collapse of the Stock Exchange, social activities and artistic creativity.
We kick off this week's round up of Kuwaiti blogs with charts and numbers, who writes a three part series on the collapse of the Kuwait Stock Exchange:
The recent collapse in the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) index this past week has not been given its proper placement in the headlines. I have found it difficult to find resources covering the details of the collapse or reasons justifying the decline. Some might hail the events as a market correction but I believe the reasons are far more complex and intertwined with recent economical events in the country.
Dahem AlQahtani, a journalist and blogger, writes [Ar] about the Minister of Information Shaikh Sabah Al Khalid, who has met with the editors-in-chief of local newspapers.
He wonders why the journalist union was not invited to the meeting:
وزير الاعلام الشيخ صباح الخالد حينما يعمل لوحده فإنه يبدع
ولكن وحينما يترك الأمور لغيره من طاقم وزارة الاعلام فأنهم
لا يهدونه إلى سبيل الصواب وإلا ما الذي يمنع الوزير من توسعة
المجال قليلا ليشمل القوى الحقيقة المؤثرة في الاعلام الكويتي ,
ولماذا لا يعمل بأبسط التقاليد المهنية ويقوم بدعوة رئيس نقابة الصحافيين
لحضور اللقاء وهي النقابة المعترف بها
The Minister of Information Shaikh Sabah Al Khalid is creative when he works on his own. However, when he depends on his team at the ministry, they don't lead him to do what is correct. Otherwise, why has prevented the minister from expanding the circle of invitees and including the real movers and shakers of the Kuwaiti media and why hasn't he respected the minimum professionalism expected and invited the president of the journalists union to attend the meeting and it is the union which is recognised.
The blogger also discusses the impact of online media and television, and wonders why they have been excluded from the gathering:
وزير الاعلام الشيخ صباح الخالد حينما يصحو من النوم يكون
أكثر تركيزا ونشاطا فيكون لحظتها وزير إعلام عصري يتابع
العصر بلغة العصر , ولكنه وحينما يمضي في يوم عمله
يصطدم بالعقليات المهنية التي عفا عليها الزمن فيتحول
إلى وزير إعلام تقليدي يختصر الاعلام الكويتي
في 14 رئيس تحرير صحيفة لا يملك معظمهم القرار في صحيفته .
When the Minister of Information Shaikh Sabah Al Khalid wakes up from his sleep, he is more focused and active. At that time he is a contemporary Minister of Information who speaks the language of the age. But as the day progresses, he collides with the professional mentalities which are old and changes into a typical traditional minister who sums up Kuwaiti media in 14 editors-in-chief, the majority of whom don't make the decisions in their papers.
Meanwhile, Bader from Moodart
creates a traditional artwork from recycled material. He describes his creation as:
ايضا من اطارات السيارات
طولها متر ونصف وعرضها نصف المتر
الوان اكريلك
Also from car tires,
One and half metres long by half a metre wide,
Acrylics
With his blog in mind, Yousef over at somecontrast, writes about ghabga he shared with 60 plus friends. A Ghabga is a late night meal in Ramadan, where friends, relatives and acquaintances are invited to socialise over traditional cuisine.
We had a Ghabga* at the Diwaniya yesterday. We took pictures of the whole thing. My brother got carried away with the camera and now i have over 350 pictures of every person of the 60+ who were there. When it was time to arrange the buffet I thought I should take as many pictures as possible, you know, good blogging material
Check out Yousef‘s blog for the array of food on the table.
And finally, Hellraiser writes about the purpose of Ramadan:
Contrary to popular beliefs, Ramadan, is not about eating, sleeping, Ghabkas and Sohoor [the last meal of the night before people start their fast]. Its about patience, self control to help oppress passions and temper, helping the less fortunate and Taqwa by reading the Quraan [the Muslim's Holy Book] and to strengthen one's faith

author: Abdullatif AlOmar


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Laos: Coffee industry · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Nye Noona blogs about the coffee industry of Laos

author: Mong Palatino


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Latvia: Death Penalty · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Marginalia writes about the talk of reinstating the death penalty in Latvia.


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Latvia: Stradini Hospital · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Arnis Balcus posts photos from one of the biggest and oldest hospitals in Latvia.


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Macedonia, Romania: Computer Literacy; Creative Commons · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Information Policy writes about Macedonian government's “Computer for Every Child” initiative and the launch of the localized Creative Commons licenses in Romania.


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Malaysia: Anwar ready to form a new government · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Think Vision's Weblog posted photos of a political assembly where Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim announced that his party is ready to form a new government.


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Maldives: Election postponed · Global Voices
Rezwan

Mohamed Nasheed comments on the recent postponement of the scheduled ‘October 4th presidential election of Maldives’ and predicts what will happen next.

author: Rezwan


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Pakistan: rape and silence of the society · Global Voices
Rezwan

Adil Najam of All Things Pakistan discusses the growing number of rapes in Karachi and opines that the silence of the victims and the society is to blame.


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Pakistan: The sectarianism menace · Global Voices
Rezwan

Ambreen Kazmi writes in Chowrangi: “In Pakistan today there is discontent, envy, hatred and animosity and all uncharitableness. All these have resulted in economic down fall and social chaos.”


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Puerto Rico: Real ID is really intrusive · Global Voices
Michael Castro

Puerto Rican bloggers are calling attention to the government‘s latest deed, the application of the Real ID Act to the island's drivers. The Real ID, which has come under fire by many states in the mainland US, is one of the measures implemented by President Bush's administration to “fight terrorism”.  According to Wikipedia:
The REAL ID Act of 2005 is U.S. federal law which imposes certain security, authentication and issuance procedures standards for the state driver's licenses and state ID cards, in order for them to be accepted by the federal government for “official purposes”, as defined by the Secretary of Homeland Security. Currently, the Secretary of Homeland Security has defined “official purposes” as presenting state driver's licenses and identification cards for boarding commercially operated airline flights, entering federal buildings and nuclear power plants.
Opponents believe the problem with the Act comes from the fact that the required documentation reveals too much about the person for comfort, although the law says that states are not obliged to issue a Real ID in their territories as long as they issue a clause in their licenses stating that each particular license issued by that state is not valid for federal matters and that passengers of transportation regulated by the federal government will be required to submit to additional screening procedures.
What worries many bloggers in Puerto Rico is that all the data required to get the license is going to be stored in a central database that will be linked to the databases of other states and the Federal Government. This has raised the eyebrows of people concerned about their privacy. Thus, Anthony Romero, the executive director of ACLU, stated:
Real ID is an unfunded mandate that violates the Constitution's 10th Amendment on state powers, destroys states’ dual sovereignty and consolidates every American's private information, leaving all of us far more vulnerable to identity thieves.
The act has been rejected by most of the 50 states, from Arkansas to Wyoming, but  on July 7 2008, Puerto Rico Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá announced that all 15 Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works Driver's Services Centers will implement a new system complying with the Real ID Act.
Ivonne Acosta Lespier, a noted Puerto Rican historian, said in her blog (es) Sin Mordazas:
En Puerto Rico bajo este gobierno no se puede siquiera pestañear porque le cuelan a uno cosas increíbles.  En contraste con muchos estados que se han opuesto al Real ID y por eso hubo que posponer la puesta en vigor del reglamento, nuestro colonizado Gobernador (que se las da de “soberanista” cuando le conviene), ha aceptado con entusiasmo ser partícipe del espionaje del Homeland Security…
The action taken by the governor of Puerto Rico has been seen by many as an act of subservience. According to the satirical blog (es) El Ñame…
Acevedo Vilá Se Lesiona La Espalda Eñangotándose Ante Los EEUU Al Implantar El “Real ID”
So far, the bloggers who have written most extensively about the subject have been Myrisa and Z. Teruoc in their blog (es) En el país de los ciegos, where they sum up the surprise of many in the island:
Mientras muchos estados le dicen no al Real ID, el ELA se coloca a la vanguardia del espionaje de Homeland Security.  Confieso que ingenuamente creí que por buen tiempo no nos tocaría, confiada en que, dada sus posiciones neonacionalistas, el gobierno PPD dilataría este asalto del poder federal sobre la esfera local.

author: Michael Castro


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South African Cartoonist Takes on ANC President · Global Voices
Muhammad Karim

ANC President, Jacob Zuma, was recently back in the headlines as his trial on charges for corruption, amongst other things, was thrown out of court to the dismay of many South Africans but also to the cheer of his millions of supporters, particularly from parties allied to the ANC.  Parallel to this, Jonathan Shapiro a.k.a. Zapiro, South Africa's foremost political cartoonist had Zuma in his sights as he published a controversial cartoon in the Sunday Times (from Waiting in Transit):
This has got to be one of the baddest cartoons I’ve ever seen and I am sure that Zapiro’s going to get in trouble with the protagonists in the cartoon, if he hasn’t already. The thing is, even though I sort of cringe at the story unfolding in the cartoon, it rings true. The thought ( or the concept) has crossed my mind a few times about Zuma and I know the same thought has crossed the minds of many others. Zapiro, utilising his creative licence just put those thoughts into pictures.
Another reason why I’m one of Zapiro’s biggest fans
The cartoon has prompted Zuma to publicly condemn the cartoon and he has threatened to sue Zapiro.  Zapiro doesn't seem to have been phased by Zuma's comments as Waiting in Transit also did a follow-up post – “Zapiro's Double-Whammy on Zuma” in which he covers Zapiro's second cartoon which wasn't covered by most media…
Zapiro’s at it again today with this absolute gem, given the current fight launched against him by the protagonists in his first cartoon. Well, here they are again with another satirical Zapiro-style hit.
Glass Pearl Marketing shows their support for Zapiro…
By 6.15 am though I was wide awake when Aden Thomas mentioned a new controversial Zapiro cartoon published in the Sunday Times, on Cape Talk.
It is so good to know that someone out there is brave enough to take on Zuma and his supporters on a level that is as base and crass as they are.
Well done Zapiro!
In The News has an interesting point of view on it…
It seems like there is no getting ANC President, Jacob Zuma out of the news headlines these days. This past weekend, cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro who publishes under the pen name Zapiro released a cartoon showing Zuma unzipping his trousers while his alliance partners hold down the Lady of Justice and egg him on suggesting that Zuma is about to “rape” justice. As most had expected when they saw this cartoon in the Sunday Times, Zuma was not going to take this cartoon lightly and it is suggested that he is going to sue Zapiro. Zuma would be suing Zapiro for defamation. This would not be the first time as in the past Zapiro published cartoons of Zuma after his acquital on charges of rape in 2006.
It looks like this latest tussle between Zuma and Zapiro is headed to the courts. Zapiro has since come out and said after the cartoon was published, “I stand by the cartoon and I won’t apologise. If he does decide to sue me, then I will fight it.”
If you have not seen the cartoon yet, click here to see it and let us know what you think. Is this cartoon wrong? Should Zapiro be sued for this? Is the ANC right to say this cartoon is wrong? Many questions are being thrown around. Let us hear from you.
According to Pierre De Vos the metaphor of rape used by Zapiro was inappropriate:
Perhaps one could still argue that a cartoonist may use the metaphor of rape in his cartoons to address a situation that he sees as dangerous and immoral – although I am not a woman and have never been raped, so maybe I am not the best one to judge this point. The metaphor of rape is definitely a powerful one – especially in a country like South Africa where so many woman have been and continue to be raped.
But I do wonder whether by using the metaphor of rape, Zapiro is not cheapening the horror of rape and – given our deeply patriarchal and sexist society – is not helping to desensitize us to this scourge. In a society where many men still see woman as something to be owned, I worry that this kind of cartoon might somehow send a signal to some men that rape is not such a bad thing.
Another cartoonist, The Paper Boy, comes up with an interesting cartoon of his own showing the battle between Zuma and Zapiro.
South Africa – A local editorial cartoon artist with International Awards, Jonathan Shapiro AKA ‘Zapiro’ raised the fury of the President of the ANC, Jacob Zuma. (with a cartoon published in a National Newspaper – The Sunday Times.)
Here’s another take on the event, after all it’s not often lowly cartoonists receive such public recognition from the high office of public servants, ergh read politicians… View the offending cartoon here
… and finally,  I Luv Sa, but… has just recently put up a piece commenting how the cartoon has increased the governments attempt to censor the media…
You liked the Zapiro cartoon recently, yes? The ANC is pressing ahead with a Bill that will outlaw cartoons like the one from Zapiro.
These are people that preach hatred and threaten to kill but woe betide anybody who draws a silly cartoon picture or writes something that throws muck back at them. Suddenly they scream ‘we need censorship!’
Too bad we can't get a Bill that prevents morons from speaking in public. The country could do with the quiet.

author: Muhammad Karim


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Stampede in Indonesia · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

More than twenty people who were queuing for alms died in a stampede in East Java, Indonesia. Blogger Raja Singa was shocked.


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Suez Canal donates 1,000,000 Egyptian Pounds to Doweika Victims · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

Like Asser Mattar, many Egyptians were happy to find out that Suez Canal canceled its annual celebration on September 14 to donate a total of one million Egyptian Pounds to support the victims of the Doweika tragedy. Scores of people were killed and injured when huge rocks fell on 35 homes in the slum in one of Cairo's poorest neighbourhoods.
In his Facebook note, Asser started by quoting Suez Canal revenues in August 2008:
One of the main headlines that I read on a monthly basis is that the revenues of Suez Canal broke a new record. Yes, it happened on a monthly basis for at least the whole past year. The revenues never decrease, and the Suez Canal tolls for those of you who don't know are collected in US dollars, which is equal nowadays to approximately 5.4 Egyptian pounds.
After the Doweika catastrophe, where at least six hundred people were buried alive under the rubble of Moqattam hill, Asser decided to calculate how much time does it take Suez Canal to earn the one million pounds.
The SCA had announced, in a statement by its official speaker, that the general revenues of the Suez Canal in the month of August 2008 was the highest in its whole history, as it had passed 500 million USD or 2.746 billion EGP, the exact figure according to the speaker was 504 million Dollars.
Let's stick to the Egyptian Pounds. Since they keep bugging us with statistics about the increase of population and how a baby is born every 26 seconds, I will show you what happens in these 26 seconds.
As we said previously, the revenues of the SC last August were 2.746 billion EGP, which means 2476 and six zeros to its right. This amount is in 31 days, let's divide it together on 31, we will find that the daily revenue is 88 million and 606 thousand pounds and a small fraction, I will round the figures to make things easier.
88,606,000 in one day, which means in 24 hours, let's divide by 24, the result will be about 3 million and 692 thousand EGP, that is in one hour, got it?
Now let's see the minutes. How many minutes are there in an hour? So what number should we divide by? Bravo! You're clever, we'll divide by 60, and the result would be sixty one thousand five hundred and something, for those who can't believe the letters they are reading, it's 61,500 Egyptian Pounds, yes that's in a minute, accordingly we will divide 61500 by sixty, and we will get the Suez Canal revenues in one second, which is 1,025 EGP. A very easy and simple equation even for a schoolboy.
Now back to the generous one million pound donation, after we have learned how much time does it take to gain this amount. We will just divide 1 million over 1,025 pounds, and the result is 975 seconds, which is exactly 16 minutes and 15 seconds, sixteen and a quarter minutes.
Asser concludes his post by a number of unanswered questions:
Now where have been all this money going in the past fifty years? And please nobody tells me that the public expenses are huge. Like they say that a baby is born every 26 seconds or even every ten seconds, I can say that the Suez Canal generates a revenue of 26 thousand pounds every 26 seconds. How much of this amount will be distributed on the newborn?
I wonder how many more sixteen and a quarter minutes will be paid after another disaster, and I wonder why we always wait until the disaster happens, when we have all the money and the power to prevent it!
Asser Mattar's note in Arabic can be found here.

author: Marwa Rakha


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Syria: No Chrome for Syrians  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Syrian Yaser Sadeq says Google new browser Chrome is not available in Syria because “our friends in Google corp. have decided or agreed to withhold their services from syrian users as part of the embargo by the U.S government against Syria.”


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Thailand protests: Conflict of elites · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Thailand Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was found guilty of violating the Constitution by appearing in a cooking show while holding a public office. The court ordered him to step down as Prime Minister.
Initially, the ruling party promised to re-elect Samak as Prime Minister. But later on, party leaders announced that Samak will no longer be considered for the post. The Parliament will elect a new leader this coming Wednesday.
The protesters who occupied the Government House welcomed the removal of Samak. But they vowed to continue with the protests since they are also demanding political reforms.
Before proceeding, a brief background of the political crisis in Thailand: Protesters belonging to the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) have stormed the Government House last August demanding the resignation of Samak. They accused Samak of being a puppet of ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra. PAD leaders want a new form of government. They want majority of Parliament to be appointed by a governing body since they fear the rich cronies of Thaksin will continue to buy the votes of the poor in rural Thailand.
Last Friday several East Asia bloggers held a virtual meeting to discuss the crisis in Thailand. Dan of absolutely Bangkok.com served as our main resource person.
Dan described the crisis in Thailand as a “conflict of the elites.” He noted that the old elites include the army, Bangkok aristocracy, and academics. The new elites belong to the faction of Thaksin.
Dan further explains and theorizes on why the Court issued a swift verdict against Samak:
“Thaksin simply took away a big piece of the cake (from the old elite)…It looks right now that the old elite is trying and able to pull quite some strings…even influencing the courts. I mean, the Constitution Court heard Samak on Monday, on Tuesday the guilty verdict was ready.”
The crisis has plunged Thailand into deeper division:
“So you see, there are two major forces opposing each other. In the middle are the ‘instrumentalized’ and radicalized people. Society is divided by deeper hate than under Thaksin. It's a complete city vs. country…educated people vs. poor farmers…a complete black and white world with hardly any middle.”
Kevin Li from Hong Kong comments:
“Unfortunately the urban-rural divide is being used in the political struggle.”
Participants of the meeting also discussed the proposal of PAD. The protesters want a “new politics”, or a “guided democracy”. Some described it as “functional democracy”. In short, they want less voting, more appointments in establishing a new Parliament.
It is somewhat similar to Hong Kong’s political system. Oiwan was quick to clarify that even in HK, this system is seriously criticized. She thinks this proposal is an excuse for taking power in Thailand.
Dan agrees:
“All they want is a kind of unproven politics nobody really understand what it is, even the PAD changes positions… The ideals of PAD are noble (or novel?), nobody refuses that. But not workable.”
Portnoy from Taiwan raised an important question: Who will appoint these interest groups or academics? Under the PAD proposal, these sectors are supposed to appoint majority of the members of Parliament. Portnoy is worried that “a group of unelected elites will appoint another unelected group of elites.”
Dan replies:
“That's another unsolved question. It would be a ‘tyranny of a minority’, disguised under a pseudo-democracy.”
Kevin Li has a relevant observation:
“While people are looking at Bangkok, looks like no one cares about what happened in Northern Thailand… the environmental destruction is going on…”
Oiwan adds that the voice of the rural poor must be heard.
Dan writes that “Thailand is in a huge vacuum – nobody really knows what will happen tomorrow.” Kevin Li concludes:
“I think one day the protests will end, but without meaningful results.”
The virtual discussion was the second meeting of East Asia bloggers. The first virtual chat was conducted a month ago about the corruption scandal in Taiwan.


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The Balkans: Subotica Mosque; Balkan Muslims · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Kakanien Revisited writes about the new mosque of Subotica, the first one in Serbia's Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, “built with funds from Novi Pazar […] and Turkey.” The 8th Circle jots down notes on the Balkan Muslims from a recent Reuters piece.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Hot, Hot, Hot!  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A Caribbean Garden posts an authentic recipe for Trinidad pepper sauce.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Turkey: Genocide Stories · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Project Common Humanity, a new blog established by researcher and writer Ziya Meral, asks its readers to submit stories of Turks who saved their Armenian neighbors during the 1915 Genocide.


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Ukraine, Romania: Snake Island Dispute · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The 8th Circle writes that the Romanian-Ukrainian dispute over Snake Island isn't about “a piece of rock in the Black Sea (about 600×400meters)” – but about natural gas and oil reserves under the Black Sea.


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Zimbabwe: Full Text of Agreement · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sokwanele posts the Agreement between the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-Pf) and the two Movement For Democratic Change (MDC) Formations: “It is a lengthy document and difficult to read on screen, so we have added jump-links to the top of the document to help you navigate to different sections.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Africa: People will work on their mobiles · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Joshua Goldstein looks at the future of mobile technology in Africa: “As I mentioned in a recent post, one of the most striking aspects of the African Internet economy is that we don't know what the mobile Internet will look like when it is proliferated in Africa, much the same way we didn't know that banking would like M-Pesa.”


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Angola: MPLA wins over 80% of votes and secures 191 seats · Global Voices
Paula Góes

The final results of the Parliamentary Elections disclosed late last night by Angola's National Electoral Commission [pt] confirmed the ruling party the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola‘s victory with 81,64% (5,266,216 votes). The runner up, the main opposition party National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, had 10.39% (670,363 votes). A total of 7,213,246 Angolans went to the polls, out of 8,256,584 people who had registered to vote – an 87% turnout.
This means that the MPLA makes 191 of the 220 elected Members of Parliament, while UNITA will have 16, PRS 8 and the ND and FNLA both will have 2 seats (click here for a full list of those elected, by region). Jorge Santos from Leste de Angola [pt] was among the first bloggers announcing the following results:
MPLA – 5.266.216 ( 81,64%)
UNITA – 670.363 (10,39%)
PRS – 204.746 (3,17%)
ND – 77.141 (1,20%)
FNLA – 71.416 (1,11%)
PDP-ANA – 32.952 (0,51%)
PLD – 21.341 (0,33 porcento)
AD Coligação – 18.977 (0,29%)
PADEPA – 17.509 (0,27%)
FPD – 17.073 (0,26%)
PAJOCA – 15.535 (0,24%)
PRD – 14.238 (0,22%)
PPE – 12.052 (0,19%)
FOFAC – 10.858 (0,19%)
Camara de Comuns [pt] publishes an analysis from reader Rui Miguel Menezes Vaz, who lives in Bié, one of the most battered provinces during the war. He explains why he believes the results were for the better:
Não é preciso ir muito longe e perceber que o MPLA, mesmo sendo um partido manipulador e dominador, era a única saída para a estabilidade. A UNITA não apresentou uma única vez um quadro, ao nível de governação, capaz de mover forças. Alias, os únicos que teriam capacidade de liderar excluíram-se destas eleições e o povo não esquece o passado. Durante o período eleitoral é facilmente constatável que o MPLA tinha muito mais direito de antena e muito mais protagonismo. Mas não foi esse o partido que levou este pais a evoluir e atrair o investimento todo em Angola?
There is no need to go very far to realize that the MPLA, even if a manipulative and dominating party, was the only way to stability. UNITA had not once presented a framework at the level of government, capable of moving forces. Moreover, the only ones able to lead were excluded from these elections and people did not forget the past. During the election period it was easily observed that the MPLA had more rights to air time and more prominence. But wasn't it this party that led the country to evolve and Angola to attract all this investment?
Carlos Lopes [pt] commented on what this result means to the opposing party UNITA, which lost more than 50 of its seats, saying that “worse than losing the war was losing the elections”. He said the results in Luanda at least were surprising:
Não foi se quer, o problema da mensagem da «mudança», que era bem aceite e «colava» nos ouvidos do eleitor, mas antes, um sério problema de avaliação do potencial do eleitorado em termos de resultado, ou seja, a quantidade de votos que o partido iria recolher nessa Província, Município e Comuna. Os dirigentes fizeram-se a estrada e apostaram em locais, cujos eleitores não corresponderam a expectativa criada, porque aqueles que dirigiram a campanha da UNITA, com base em dados pouco fiáveis e alguns inexistentes, não conseguiram colmatar as falhas que apareciam, muitas vezes por desconhecimento
The problem was not even the message of ‘change’, which was well accepted and ‘stuck’ in the voters’ ears, but rather a serious problem of assessing the potential of the electorate in terms of outcome, that's to say the amount of votes that the party would gather in that province, municipality and commune. The leaders have invested and bet in places where voters did not match the expectations created, because those who directed the UNITA campaign, based on unreliable and some non-existent data, failed to bridge the gaps that appeared, often out of ignorance
Luciano Canhanga [pt] analyses the situation for smaller parties which didn't get much confidence from the polls and now are at risk:
Dos partidos concorrentes às eleições e que não conseguiram acentos, apenas o PDP_ANA se livra da extinção compulsiva, já que conseguiu tangencialmente transpor os 0,5% da votação geral exigida por lei. Os que não concorreram ficam obrigados a concorrer em 2012, sob pena de extinção. (…) E que dizer de formações como o PRD, PPE e FOCAC que dizem ter conseguido as 15 mil assinaturas com que se habilitaram à corrida, mas que findo o escrutínio acabaram com menos de 15 mil votos?
Out of the competing parties that failed to get seats, only the PDP_ANA is free of compulsory extinction, as it tangentially managed to get the 0.5% of the general votes required by law. Those who did not run this time must compete in 2012, under threat of extinction. (…) And what about parties such as the PRD, PPE and FOCAC which claim to have achieved the 15 thousand signatures that enabled them to compete in the race, but that after the ballot ended with less than 15 thousand votes?
Koluki [pt] publishes a link to the Human Rights Watch report ‘Angola: Irregularities Marred Historic Elections’, published last September 15 highlighting that there was ‘no independent oversight, media bias’. She provides her own observations on the document, and concludes:
Em suma, e’ minha conviccao que os resultados eleitorais nao sao determinados apenas durante a campanha eleitoral ou no dia das eleicoes, elas sao determinadas ao longo de anos pelos eleitores que acumulam as experiencias de vida que acabam por ditar as suas decisoes de voto, por muito que, infelizmente, o processo eleitoral nao decorra de forma tao transparente quanto todos desejariamos, a bem dos proprios eleitores, ou seja, do povo e da nacao.
In short, I believe that the election results are not determined only during the election campaigning or on the election day, they are determined over years by voters who gather life experience that ultimately dictate their voting decisions, although, unfortunately, the electoral process does not happen in so transparent a way as we wished, for the sake of the voters themselves, who is to say the people and nation.
The September 5 election was the first since 2002, when the 27-year civil war fought between then rival factions MPLA and UNITA came to an end. Angolans will choose a president next year.
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author: Paula Góes


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Egypt: Another Doweika Tragedy Waiting to Happen! · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

Students at the faculty of Engineering in Alexandria University created a group on Facebook called “The Mokattam Catastrophe to be repeated in the faculty of Engineering.”
The student's cry follows a tragedy in Doweika, a Cairo slum, where rocks came tumbling on homes, killing and maiming scores of poor people.
In the description of the group the students wrote:
حنموت تحت الانقاض
المبنى بعد ما كان ايل للسقوط بس دلوقتى مال و العواميد من كتر الحمل شرخت
كل العاملين فى المبنى مرعوبين
المشكله بقى لما الدراسه تبدا و الحمل يكتر يا ترى ايه الى حيحصل و المبنى بيدخل فيه اكتر من 7000 بنى ادم كل يوم
المشكله كمان حتى لو المبنى وقع و مفيهوش حد دا فيه معامل ب ملايين و كتب نادرة كل دا حيتعوض ازاى
We will be buried under the rubble and debris.
The old building has always been liable to collapse but now it is tilted. The pillars are clearly cracked.
All the workers in the building are terrified.
Soon the university will open its doors and more than 7,000 students will set foot in that derelict building.
The best case scenario is that the building will collapse when it's empty and we will lose millions of pounds worth of laboratories and rare books. And how will we ever compensate all that?
The Facebook group has so far attracted 1,144 members – and photographs of the building are available here.


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Arabeyes: Ramadan Thoughts  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

With the holy month of Ramadan quickly wrapping up, bloggers from around the Arab world share their thoughts on the month, their activities, driving standards and their yearning for a holiday.
Iraqi Bookish complains:
It is very hard to fast because of the hot weather in the current Ramadan. I do not feel hungry but so thirsty……Well, the worst thing is that I am losing weight.
To illustrate this, the blogger posts her weight on the scales before and after breaking her fast – where the difference is a kilogram.
Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset during the month.
Shopaholic Q8eya, from Kuwait, can't wait for the month to end. She writes:
I am so ready for Ramadan to end. I want my coffee. I miss seeing our tea boy placing my XL cup of starbucks bold coffee. I want to be able to drink water while working out in the gym. I am fed up with all those Ghabqa’s [late night social gatherings and meals] yet I always have fun going to one. What’s up with everyone passing away? Just got a call and he didn’t make it. He has been in the hospital for few days now and I guess it was meant to happen..May his soul rest in peace. This is the 4th funeral since Ramadan started. I told you this month should be over very soon.
And Khadija Teri, from Libya, too is waiting for the month to end.
Ramadan is the season for beggars and pickpockets. Unfortunately, I seem to be a magnet for both. The other day when Jenna and I were out shopping we nearly had a repeat of the pickpocket experience we had before (I posted about it here). […]
Ramadan is lasting forever this year… I am ready for it to be over.
Back in Kuwait, Pearls complains about driving standards:
Driving is crazy now. Better to avoid going out unless it’s necessary. I was so close to getting into two car accidents yesterday, first wasn’t my fault. The guy in the van turned on me and I hit my breaks hard. The second one was because the car in front of me took a sudden stop and I wasn’t focusing well.
So I got away with the last two but it didn’t take me too long. Today I hit the car in front of me but my feet were off the pedal so no harm was done. Again I got away with it …
From Saudi Arabia, Stilettos in the Sand posts a similar complaint about driving. She explains:
Driving While Fasting… Dangerous. Driving in the Sandbox is scary under the best of conditions! To say that driving, here, is challenging is the understatement of the century if there ever was one – and you literally take your life in your hands the moment you step into a vehicle, whether as the driver or as a passenger. The chances of being in an accident are exponentially multiplied during Ramadan as “drivers, eager to reach their destination, throw all driving sense and caution to the wind.”  Yep.  ‘Tis true.  Today's Saudi Gazette has an article that says, “The standards of driving are known to be erratic in the country and it only gets worse in the holy month of Ramadan.”
And while Desert Girl, from Kuwait, is full of praise for a series of advertisements celebrating the virtues of the Holy Month, Khadija Teri is polling her readers to find out what their thoughts are about Ramadan's television programming. She explains:
There are mixed feelings about the amount of TV watched  and the type of programming available in Muslim countries during Ramadan. There's even a ‘No More TV in Ramadan’ campaign. And a lot written here. […]
What are your thoughts about TV in Ramadan?
At Qatar Living, the Spirit of Ramadan is being celebrated with a photography contest.
Joe was named the first winner for this photograph of children sitting on a cannon, traditionally fired to mark the end of the fasting day:
Iftar is when fasting is broken during the holy month of Ramadan. Followers of Islam, fast from Sunrise to Sunset during this month. In Qatar, a canon is fired to mark the end of the day's fast. People here, gather to near it to watch the canon being fired and then rush home where a delicious meal awaits them.
And last but not least, Teach the Masses, from Kuwait, has holidays on her mind. She writes:
The rumour mill is up and running. KSA [Saudi Arabia], Qatar and other Gulf states are giving the last 10 days of Ramadan as a holiday and will Kuwait follow suit?
So far no confirmation- some people saying yes and some maybe but no official link.


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Bahrain: Hair-raising conversation · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Sous, a Swede living in Bahrain, repeats a conversation she had with an Indian woman, who after finding out that Sous was fasting told her she should cover her hair: “Swede: Well, I’m thinking to shave it all off and then that problem is solved! Indian:No!…Aren’t you married? Swede: No. Indian (too caught up in her mission): Well then your husband has the RIGHT to enjoy your hair! You can’t take that right away from him!”


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Bangladesh: Was Bridget illegally adopted by McCains? · Global Voices
Rezwan

Shada Kalo blog questions whether US presidential candidate John McCain and Cindy McCain's adoption of their Bangladeshi daughter Bridget is illegal as according to Bangladesh Law ‘no foreigner is allowed to adopt a Bangladeshi child’.


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Barbados: Extortion Ring  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“They stop tourist hired cars by standing in front of them. They inform the drivers that the road is closed, instruct them to drive another way and then demand money for the ‘assistance'”: Barbados Free Press calls on the police to clamp down on the Boscobel “Road Toll Gang”.


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Belarus, Ukraine, Russia: Chernobyl Photo Essay · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Chernobyl and Eastern Europe links to a photo essay created by teenagers from Belarus, Ukraine and Russia for the International Conference on Chernobyl held in Belarus in April 2006: “It is interesting to see these images – effects of the Chernobyl disaster as seen through the eyes of the children.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Bhutan: The culture of stating the obvious · Global Voices
Rezwan

Lilac discusses in Kuzu Bhutan Weblog about the Bhutanese culture of stating the obvious.


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Bolivia: Lord of the Lakes Celebration in Oruro · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The annual feast of Our Lord of the Lakes that takes place in the department of Oruro, Bolivia brings many surrounding communities to participate in a pilgrimage to the site, where the faithful can ask for one of many wishes [es] writes Virginio Sandy.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Cambodia: Online petition to save Boeung Kak Lake · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

An online petition was set-up to stop a government project that will displace residents around Boeung Kak Lake in central Phnom Penh