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Chile: Reasons to Protest Again · Global Voices
Elizabeth Rivera

[All links in Spanish unless otherwise indicated]
On April 25, 2012, students took over the streets of Chile to protest for a free, inclusive and good quality education after several months of “silence” and days after President Piñera presented the reform for high education financial aid.
The reform proposes that the universities themselves – not the banks – finance general student loans and also ask them to cover the gap between reference and real tuition and lower the grades required for scholarships applications for low income students
With the following video the leaders of private and public universities federations invited people to protest and launched the Twitter hashtag #yomarchoel25 (I protest on the 25)
The famous student leader Camila Vallejo (@camila_vallejo) explained:
Porq no queremos cambiar deuda x deuda, porq necesitamos erradicar el lucro y recuperar la educación pública #YoMarchoel25
Because we don't want to exchange debt with debt, because we need to abolish profit and regain public education #YoMarchoel25
The student leader, Giorgio Jackson (@GiorgioJackson) was optimistic:
Ojalá mañana seamos varios miles los activistas del pacifismo… ¿Quién marcha mañana?#yomarchoel25
Hopefully tomorrow we will be thousands of peace activists… Who is protesting tomorrow? #yomarchoel25
Architecture student Pablo (@cut_copy_) shared this background information:
#yomarchoel25 porque según la UNESCO, el sistema educativo de Chile fomenta la DESIGUALDAD@javier_alatorrehttp://portal.unesco.org/geography/es/ev.php-URL_ID=15019&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html#yoapoyoalosestudiantes
#yomarchoel25 because according to the UNESCO, the education system in Chile fosters INEQUALITY http://portal.unesco.org/geography/es/ev.php- URL_ID=15019&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html#yoapoyoalosestudiantes
Matías Goyenechea (@mgoyenechea) took the opportunity to talk about the changes he wants to see in the health system as well:
Porque en Chile requerimos cambios estructurales:#yomarchoel25 por la educación, voto en el#PlebiscitoSalud
Because in Chile we need structural changes: #yomarchoel25 for the education, I vote in the #PlebiscitoSalud (health plebiscite)
Gabriel Boric (@gabrielboric), President of the Student Federation of the University of Chile (FECh), summarized:
Porque queremos que en Chile, la calidad de tu educación no dependa de la plata en tu bolsillo,#YoMarchoEl25
Because in Chile we wish the quality of your education didn't depend on the money on your pocket, #YoMarchoEl25
STUDENT MOVEMENT SPECIAL 2011. Picture by Flickr user Museo de Arte Callejero (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) taken on September 25, 2011
From Talca, @Nadapablo gave some advice:
Conoce tus derechos en caso de detenciónhttp://www.codepu.cl/documentos/cartilla.pdf(vía CODEPU) #YoMarchoel25#Yoapoyoalosestudiantes
Get to know your rights in case you are arrested: http://www.codepu.cl/documentos/cartilla.pdf(vía CODEPU) #YoMarchoel25 #Yoapoyoalosestudiantes
The music group Illapu (@Illapu) sheered up:
Vaaaaamos compañeros hay q ponerle un poco + de empeño salimos a la calle nuevamente la educ chilena no se vende se defiende #yomarchoel25
Goooooooooo companions we need to put in a little bit more energy and go out to the streets again, Chilean education is not for sale, it is to be defended #yomarchoel25
Netizens also commented why they support the students using the hashtag #yoapoyoalosestudiantes (I support the students)
The Difamadores account (@difamadores) stated:
#yomarchoel25 Por que basta de aspirinas, hay que hacer cambios profundos al sistema educacional chileno. #yoapoyoalosestudiantes
#yomarchoel25 because we had enough aspirins, we need profound changes to the Chilean education system. #yoapoyoalosestudiantes
Paloma (@myta_colombe) criticized the solutions presented by the government up until now:
Porque no queremos “soluciones” parche y queremos educación de calidad, gratuita y laica #yoapoyoalosestudiantes
Because we don't want patch “solutions” and we desire good quality education, free and secular #yoapoyoalosestudiantes
Twitter user Jessica Tabilo (@JessicaTabilo) said:
Por el derecho de todas las familias a dar a sus hijos una EDUCACION de calidad #yoapoyoalosestudiantes,ahora y siempre!todos a marchar hoy!
For the right every family has to give their children quality EDUCATION #yoapoyoalosestudiantes now and always! Everybody to protest today!
Luis Emilio (@DiazLuisEmiLio), who recently graduated, concluded:
Sólo en la calle se consiguen grandes transformaciones sociales #yomarchoel25
Only on the streets are great social transformations achieved #yomarchoel25

author: Elizabeth Rivera


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Colombia: “San Andrés belongs to Colombia” · Global Voices
Cati Restrepo

Nicaragua has presented a claim [es] in the International Court of Justice over the sovereignty of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, which is currently part of Colombia's political map after a treaty signed by both countries in 1928. Many in Colombia have expressed their desire for San Andres to “remain Colombian”, and on Twitter they are sharing various opinions under the hasthag #SanAndresesColombia [es] (San Andrés belongs to Colombia).

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Cati Restrepo


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Colombia: Video of Art Installation and Performance in Bogotá · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

The art collective Invisible Society in Bogotá brought together 53 artists who set up art installations or performance arts, and the process and result can be seen in their video.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Cuba: Bloggers Summit in Matanzas · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

The bloggers from La Joven Cuba [es] have organized a Summit of Cuban Bloggers [es] that will take place April 27th and 28th in Matanzas. Follow the conversation on Twitter under #BlogazoxCuba (@BlogazoxCuba).

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


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France: The Presidential Election Through Foreign Eyes · Global Voices
Rakotomalala

While the French are preparing to choose a president in the upcoming weeks, French voters overseas and the foreign online media have reacted as the first round poll came to an end. Some peculiarities of the French electoral process, such as the ban on posting polling estimations in the media before 8 pm on election day, were intensely debated.
Drawing of Petar Pismestrovic in Austria shared by @alissabernathy on Twitter
Ban on tweeting election results before 8pm, even abroad?
In France, Law No. 77-808 of July 17, 1977 on the publication and dissemination of opinion polls [fr] prohibits the broadcast of the first estimates, before 8pm. With the ubiquitous rise of publications online, this ruling quickly became problematic to implement. Tefy Andriamanana, from Madagascar, summarizes the complexity and challenges of applying this law [fr].
As lawyer and famed French blogger Master Eolas explains on his blog, this method should also apply to the publication by French surveys in the foreign media [fr]:
Notons qu’ainsi rédigée, la loi interdit de faire un rappel de l’évolution des intentions de vote des candidats après vingt heures mais avant minuit le jour du scrutin, même une fois les bureaux de vote fermés et les estimations proclamées. C’est une pure maladresse de rédaction, mais la loi est la loi, je fais confiance au parquet pour être ferme (..) Les article 113 du Code pénal posent les règles d’application de la loi pénale française dans l’espace (pas au sens de “Des cochons dans l’espace”, mais dans le sens de sa territorialité). Ces règles sont les suivantes : la loi pénale française s’applique à toute personne se trouvant sur le territoire français, quelle que soit sa nationalité. Une infraction est réputée commise en France dès lors qu’un de ses éléments constitutifs est commis en France. On assimile au territoire française les bateaux battant pavillon français et les aéronefs immatriculés en France (article 113-4). Quand les faits sont commis à l’étranger, la loi française peut leur être applicable, à certaines conditions. Sans rentrer dans les détails, qui feront les tortures des étudiants de L2 de droit, la loi pénale française s’applique à l’étranger quand l’auteur est français, ET, condition cumulative, que les faits constituent un crime…
Many French abroad are surprised at this law and ask what would constitute a violation of this law. Paul asks [fr]:
créer un compte twitter qui vous envoie automatiquement les résultats (en avant-première) en DM n’est donc pas délictueux, puisqu’on reste dans la communication privée ?
Joe poses the following hypothesis [fr]:
..Un agent provocateur Bordure, depuis son ordinateur de Szohôd (donc en Bordurie) décide de poster à 18h30 les premières estimations qu’il aura entendues à la radio Syldave sur un forum public, par exemple dans les réactions du blog d’un célèbre avocat blogueur Français…
L’agent Bordure ne risque rien (si j’ai bien compris la démonstration du Maître), mais est-ce que le responsable Français du forum peut être inquiété ?
Campaign Poster by JC Benoist on Wikimedia CC License -3.0-BY
Foreign internet users find that French law is rigid and outdated. Trésor Kibungala, a native of DR Congo blogs on North Africa [fr]:
Seulement voilà, depuis 1977, les choses ont changé. Les nouveaux médias sont arrivés et cette loi paraît inadaptée à la nouvelle donne. Déjà, les pays voisins de l’Hexagone ne se priveront pas de rendre public les résultats de la présidentielle française avant la messe de 20 heures. RTBF par exemple a déjà annoncé qu’elle dévoilera les résultats du scrutin à 18 heures 30 (..) Sur les réseaux sociaux, pas sûr non plus que les twittos obtempèrent. Certains ont commencé à mettre en place le dispositif Radio Londres. Une chose est sûre : on va bien rigoler ce dimanche sur twitter, facebook et autres. Mais, chut !@Tresor_k ne tweetera pas non plus les résultats avant 20 heures ! Rendez-vous sur les ondes de #RadioLondres.
Thus, Radio Londres, is the common thread on Twitter to comment on the elections in coded language without the risk of breaking the law. Radio Londres refers  to a few minutes of daily program broadcast [fr] on British radio, BBC, to the first resistance fighters who had fled the German occupation entitled “The French Speaking to the French” [fr]. The meanings of the coded messages used during the resistance [fr] can be found on doctsf.com, including the famous “Wound my heart with a monotonous languor,” which announced the landing.
International issues in the French elections
Foreign media watch the the elections in France with great interest and respond to the 1977 Act. Jean-François Munster in Belgium does not understand [fr] why we still have this measure, he says:
Une loi complètement obsolète à l’heure d’internet et des réseaux sociaux et qui profite aux médias étrangers, dont Le Soir, qui diffusent les premières estimations sur leur site internet dès qu’elles sont disponibles – à partir de 18h45 – alors que les médias français doivent rester muets. (..) Les médias (français) respecteront la loi. Cela ne les empêche pas de dire tout le mal qu’ils en pensent. « Cette loi est ubuesque sur le fond, dénonce Thierry Thuillier. Aujourd’hui, une information produite est une information diffusée. Il faudra impérativement la dépoussiérer ».
However, it could be that foreign media are prosecuted for any distribution that violates French law. Boris Mahenti reports that [fr]:
La Commission de contrôle va plus loin et menace de poursuivre les médias belges et suisses qui diffuseront les résultats de la présidentielle dès 18 heures. “Si une information est diffusée sur le territoire français, alors le média tombe sous le coup de la loi française. Les médias belges et suisses sont susceptibles de poursuites.”
Presidential campaign in Antananarivo by the French Legislative from Abroad on Facebook
The African continent did not dwell on the controversy of the dissemination of poll results  prior to 8pm, rather, it focuses on the election results’ long term consequences for the continent. In Kenya, Global Voices translator [fr] Laila, is excited to be able to vote in Nairobi, Kenya:
@hardcorekancil: Bureau de vote de Nairobi: A 10h30, plus de 100 électeurs avaient déjà voté. Le bureau est ouvert de 8h à 18h. #présidentielle2012
In Madagascar, the candidates’ campaigns were going door to door. Legislative French from Abroad's Facebook profile says [fr]:
La démarche du porte à porte est inédite à Madagascar. Nous avons suivi une équipe en campagne vers Ivato puis à Tsaralalana. L’accueil est réceptif. Les franco-malgaches sont d’abord surpris puis ravis que l’on s’intéresse à eux et que l’on prenne le soin de venir chez eux pour leur parler et les inviter à une réunion de quartier..
In Ivory Coast, Théodore Kouadio takes the pulse of Franco-Ivorian voters. He reports some voters’ voting intentions [fr]:
« Moi, j’ai l’habitude de voter socialiste, car ce sont eux qui sont sensible à la cause des minorités en France. Mais surtout à la situation des noirs. Mais je vais voter Sarkozy », explique Cissé Mamadou, un sexagénaire. Pour lui, c’est sa manière à lui de merci à Nicolas Sarkozy pour son implication dans la résolution dans la crise post-électorale en Côte d’Ivoire, qui a fait 3000 morts officiellement. Noel Koffi, installé dans la zone depuis 2 ans, mais de nationalité française est du même avis. Pour lui, ce serait une bonne chose que le Nicolas puisse rester au pouvoir pour accompagner les autorités ivoiriennes dans la reconstruction et dans le processus de réconciliation nationale.Dan Emmanuel, lui est alarmiste. Il pense qu’une défaite de Nicolas Sarkozy au soir du 7 Mai va être catastrophique pour le gouvernement ivoirien en place.
Geostratégie publishes an interview with Charlotte Sawyer [fr] entitled “From France-Africa to France without Africa” and conversely she affirms:
L’Afrique a, surtout, appris une chose : qu’on ne pouvait plus faire confiance aux Français, devenus détrousseurs de grands chemins et grande compagnie. Enfin, à peu près tout ce qu’on voudra, sauf l’ami et le protecteur dont rêvaient encore certaines capitales africaines.(..) Demandez donc aux Maliens ce que vaut l’égide française ? Quant aux Ivoiriens, beaucoup se demandent ce que vous avez fichu dans leur capitale..
Finally in Germany, Daniel Dagan gathers some funny German cartoons [de] on the French presidential elections.

author: Rakotomalala


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India: The Hand Drawn Rickshaws in Kolkata · Global Voices
Rezwan

Debolina Raja Gupta notes that although the West Bengal Government In India had decided to take the hand drawn rickshaws off by 2005-2006 they are still plying in Kolkata roads.

author: Rezwan


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Kenya: Four Young African Men Stand Up to Hollywood Stereotypes · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

After watching a YouTube video by MamaHope featuring a 9 year old boy retelling the movie Commando, 4 young men from Kenya approached MamaHope wanting to make their own retelling of Hollywood movies: in their case, the stereotypes around how movies portray African men.
African Men. Hollywood Stereotypes  was written by medical students Gabriel, Benard and Derrick; human resource management student Brian and MamaHope.
They said, “If people believed only what they saw in movies, they would think we are all warlords who love violence.” They, like Mama Hope, are tired of the over-sensationalized, one-dimensional depictions of African men and the white savior messaging that permeates our media. They wanted to tell their own stories instead, so we handed them the mic and they made this video.


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Panama: New Law Establishes Ministry of Culture  · Global Voices
Ariel Moreno

On April 24, 2012, the Panamanian National Assembly approved the “Law of Culture”, which among other things elevates the National Institute of Culture [es] to the Ministry of Culture. The main sponsor of the law, Deputy Jose Blandon (@BlandonJose) [es] announced it yesterday on Twitter:
En pocos minutos se aprobará en Tercer Debate el Proyecto de Ley General de Cultura. Sólo faltará la sanción del Ejecutivo.
In Panama, for a law to take effect, it must first be approved by the Assembly of Deputies and then sanctioned by the executive (the president and his ministers)
Panamaon [es] reminds readers of Deputy Blandon's intentions in presenting the law:
“Queremos que sea un proceso ampliamente participativo en donde haya la mayor consulta posible, por eso vamos a citar y a invitar a participar a todos aquellos que tengan interés en que Panamá tenga una moderna ley de cultura que permita explotar todo el potencial que la cultura puede tener para el país”,
Traje tradicional, "pollera" panameña". Imagen de usuario de Flickr whl.travel (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The reactions on Twitter were that of gratitude and support for the new law. Although certain people like Nicole Rubatino (@nickolin26) [es], recalled that this law, even though it hasn't been sanctioned, could have the same luck as the 308 law that intended to protect domestic animals.
Despues de todo, la Ley de Cultura q incluye?? Seguro la aprobaron porq no hay conflicto d intereses como #Ley308
Zaida Amelie (@zaida_amelie) [es] celebrated the approval of the law because “it was time”:
Tenemos ley de cultura!!! Wow!!! Me encanto ya era hora de darle valor a este sector super importante de mi Panama!!!
Annette Caicedo (@annettec14) [es] congratulated the current director of the National Institute of Culture and noted that the approval of the law demonstrated that there were good people in the government.
No sabia que ya se habia aprobado la ley de la cultura! Felicidades Maruja Herrera eso demuestra que tambb hay gente buena en el gob.
And although the law is now awaiting presidential approval, Panamanians are celebrating that slowly legislators are beginning to take steps towards greater cultural protection in Panama.

author: Ariel Moreno


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Peru: The Festival of the Peruvian Cajon  · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

The Peruvian Cajon is a very commonly used instrument in Afro-Peruvian music and Peruvian music in general. It is believed to have originated in colonial times but it took its definitive form in the 20th century. In 2001 it was declared to be a “Cultural Heritage of the Nation”. Its use has extended to other parts of the world, most of all as a part of Flamenco music, stemming from Paco de Lucía's and his band's contact with this instrument in Peru in the 1970's.
The renowned Peruvian percussionist Alex Acuña is one of the people who has helped this instrument to become known throughout the world. Here we can enjoy it with a cajon solo in a concert:
Regarding the Cajon's use in contemporary Peruvian music, the web page Cajón Peruano [es] (Peruvian Cajon) tells us:
el cajón está presente prácticamente en todos los géneros de raíz afro (lundero, landó, festejo, alcatraz, toromata, panalivio, ingá, etc.), así como también acompañando al vals peruano, a la polka criolla, al one step, al pasodoble, al tondero y a la marinera.
Asimismo, el cajón es adoptado por los habitantes costeños de origen andino y empieza a ser utilizado por ellos para reinterpretar algunos géneros “tradicionales” y crear nuevas expresiones de música popular de la ciudad. Luego, coquetea con el rock y de ahí salta a las corrientes llamadas de música fusión, World Music y música étnica, entre otras.
The cajon is present in practically all genres of Afro-based music (lundero, landó, festejo, alcatraz, toromata, panalivio, ingá, etc.), as well as accompanying the Peruvian Waltz, the Peruvian Polka, the One Step, the Paso Doble, the Tondero and the Marinera.
Also, the Cajon has been adopted by coastal inhabitants of Andean origin; they have begun to use it to reinterpret some “traditional” genres and create new expressions of popular city music. Moreover, it flirts with rock and from there it makes a connection with other trends of music such as Fusion, World Music, and Ethnic Music among others.
This video showcases an example of the cajon played to a northern Marinera beat.
However this does not give us an idea of how popular the instrument is among Peruvians, above all along the coast, where there is no shortage of “cajon specialists” [es]. These are people whose work is teaching others to play this instrument and help with the Cajon festivals [es]. But what is a Cajon festival and what takes place during one? These specialists explain:
Un Festival de Percusión que tiene al Cajón Peruano -instrumento de percusión de origen afroperuano- como anfitrión. Conciertos, conferencias, muestra de videos, clínicas musicales y clases maestras que tienen a la percusión como protagonista. Diversos géneros y escuelas, variedad de instrumentos. Cajón, batería, congas, tabla india, timbal, cajita, marimba, tamborete, checo, pandeiro, y percusión sinfónica, criollo, jazz, cantautor, afroperuano, fusión, etc.
The festival's fifth anniversary took place this year and it was a complete success; particularly for the activity known as “La Cajoneada” which consists in bringing together the largest number possible of cajon players. This time  more than 1,400 cajon players were brought together [es], which beat the previous Guiness Record from the 2009 festival that brought together 1,050 cajon players. Rafael Santa Cruz [es], the event's organizer, commented [es] on the reason for the Cajon's popularity to a local news station: “it's very therapeutic, in fact they are using it often in music therapy. It can also be used in a group setting.”
In the following video I was able to capture the last part of the final Cajoneada that was performed in the Plaza de Armas in Lima this year:
Tribute was paid [es] only moments before to the previously mentioned musician Alex Acuña with the Medalla de Lima (Medal of Lima) for having dedicated the whole of his life to music and spreading Peruvian culture abroad. The event had not even finished when the cajon players began to party among themselves; I was able to record some of it:
Two other videos show how the event continued.
The Cajon spreads joy and fun among people of all ages and transcends racial and social backgrounds, as is mentioned [es] in the Corresponsales Escolares (School Correspondents) blog from the newspaper El Comercio (The Commerce), where a father and son who are cajon players are interviewed:
“Es un orgullo tocar el cajón, especialmente cuando salgo fuera. Me gusta mucho la idea de esta congregación de gente”,
“Esta es una oportunidad de motivación para reencontrarnos con nuestros antepasados”
“It is an honor to play the cajon, especially when I play outside. I really like the idea of this congregation of people”,
“This is a very motivating opportunity to meet our ancestors”
Although it could seem somewhat anecdotal, this is very important with respect to the cultural identity of members of the Afro-Peruvian community. As Rafael Santa Cruz points out [es]:
Así como existe en el Perú una “historia oficial” que prácticamente excluye a los afroperuanos de la vida pasada del país, existe también una posición de no reconocimiento a los aportes de los mismos. En el caso del cajón este aporte es claro, contundente e indiscutible. El cajon es un elemento real y vital de la resistencia de los afroperuanos.

author: Juan Arellano


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Puerto Rico:  30 years of the Organization of the Working Woman · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

In 80 Grados, Carla Minet interviews feminist activists Josie Pantojas and Marta Elsa Fernández on occasion of the 30th anniversary of the important Organización Puertorriqueña de la Mujer Trabajadora (Puerto Rican Organization of the Working Woman-OPMT).


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Puerto Rico: Feminism and Friendship · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Feminist blogger and lawyer Verónica Rt talks [es] about how she practices feminism through friendship.


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Puerto Rico: Interview of Young Fashion Designer · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

The digital magazine El Punto Es [es] interviews [es] the young Puerto Rican fashion designer Namibia Viera Martínez.


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Russia: Julian Assange’s Debut on RT · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Mark Adomanis criticizes the critics of Julian Assange's debut on RT (Russia Today) last week.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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South Africa: Urban Road E-Tolling Looms Despite Public Resistance · Global Voices
Ismail Dhorat

Despite public outcry, legal challenges and protest actions from unions such as COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions), Urban Road e-tolling is set to go ahead in Gauteng on 30 April, 2012. Electronic Toll (e-toll) is a cashless payment system for road used by road operators to pay toll fees.
E-Tolls in Gauteng are the first open road tolling system in South Africa, and will be used to service a 20 billion rand debt as part of the GFIP (Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project).
OUTA (Opposition to Urband Tolling Alliance), a group of Unions, Associations & Businesses have also lodged a court case to seek an interdict against implementation of E-tolling, with the Judge ruling that the matter was urgent.
South Africans protesting against e-toll. Image courtesy of Flickr user SiyaAfrika.
Outside the court, there was also a single lone supporter of E-tolls who tried to disrupt an ongoing protest.
A one supporter of E-tolls outside a Johannersburg court. Image courtesy of @GiaNicolaides.
SANRAL (South African National Roads Agency) argues that E-tolls are an effective way to fund road improvements, and works on a User Pay principal.
Arguments against e-tolling focus on how ineffective it is, since a large portion of the money collected will be spent on administration and collecting the toll fee.
COSATU previously held a protest on the 7th of March.
The labour union has also planned a Protest & Blocking of roads on the 30th of April, with a mass stay away planned for May.
One YouTube user posted a video of the incident which now seems to be a stunt or prank.
IAN Ollis of the DA (Democratic Alliance), Described Gauteng’s e-toll system as:
“the world’s most expensive toll collection system”.
He said it would cost over R1bn a year just to collect the fees.
Below is what netizens are saying about the e-tolls in Gauteng:
ramblersafrica feels that:
Putting it plain and simple. Etolling of our roads is absolute hogwash, especially the M1 in Johannesburg. Its illegal and all the corporate politics associated to make further money out of public is crap. Bullying tactics of SANRAL and our government have failed so far, and hopefully continue to fail for as long as possible.
MyNews24 User Antonieb discusses issues with billing:
And strangely they also indicate you last “transactions” for the e-toll, which on my account showed i passes a bridge at 5:21, even though i only wake up at 6.
So Sanral [South African National Roads Agency] has a lot to fix before getting this to work.
http://youtu.be/yibYBkJMJII
Terry Bell discusses the economic impact of e-tolling:
As Cosatu general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, has pointed out, without cheap, efficient public transport, road tolls will raise the cost of living for everyone in South Africa. This situation is exacerbated by the recent increase in the road tax and fuel levies and the consequent rise in fuel prices and transport costs.
MyNews24 User Russel feels that the GFIP project could have been covered by government had there been less corruption and wastage:
paying toll for the roads built as part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) is nothing more than double taxation to pay for government’s mistakes.
He further writes:
We all know that infrastructure isn’t free! It costs money to build and most thinking people don’t mind paying for it. What the vast majority is up in arms against is having to pay for the infrastructure twice!!
However, Ben Kelly feels that e-tolling is effective:
E-tolling is the most effective way of collecting this money.
I am not debating whether we are getting a good deal from our current service provider. It appears that our Austrian friends have done a great job of negotiating themselves a sweetheart deal and Sanral would be well advised to renegotiate this contract in short order. However, increased fuel levies or special taxes on license fees are all less than optimal ways of ensuring that the roads get paid for. Sanral needs a direct way of collecting money without the treasury getting in the way.
Nanima has extensive coverage on her website of comments posted to her facebook page, here is one of them:
Personally, I think its total madness and those who say improved/better roads are blind sighted. Is that not why we pay tax and are there not enough tolls already?!  If the E tolling goes ahead its going to have a major impact on the economy. Prices of things are going to go sky high. Is petrol price and water and electricity not high enough already?!
On Twitter, netizens also voiced their opposition using the hashtag #etolls.
@ramabulanamk: In 2006 Sanral [South African National Roads Agency] used figures: R200m for operation&maintenance per year vs R6.3bn total capital cost to make decision for #etolls
@ThysErasmus: Holding thumbs that the #etoll interdict will be granted. Conspiracy: “is the petrol price going up again in May with 23c to cover etolls?”
@Zwelinzima1: SANRAL rely on its intimidation tactics to get people to “voluntarily” buy e-tags it can't enforce this policy. Don't buy make it unworkable
@deliaVipond: Bought my #eTolls tags going to register them at the etoll customer care office at Cedar Square today! Sorry not boycotting!
@nengomash: Paid Etolls is the re-introduction of worse hierachy of poverty,where the poor suffers most, the rich feels nothing,a severe punishment
@Snyzza: Over 500 000 etags bought already…who is betraying the revolution before it even starts? #etolls
@MercurialMac: At the rate the #Etolls scam is unfolding, Zuma himself may not vote #ANC in the next elections #sanral
@JoburgAdvocacy: Eheheheheh! A classic #etolls cartoon from Jerm :)) yfrog.com/odst3jjj
@VinceMol17: #etolls saga is a result of black colonialists(black skin, white soul) tendencies who think they own this country and its rightful people
@Renee_Burton: Imagine this much effort around etolls-what abt the other pressing issues that plague our societies daily,unemployment,poverty, corruption!
There has also been a meme on Twitter with #SANRALSongs
@kimkitso: #SANRALSongs and i was like pay me pay me pay me ooooh
@mike_said_what: #SANRALSongs Get off the road Jack and don't you come back no more no more no more no more!
@Jet_Ward: “Turn around~ Every now and then I wanna get on the highway but I'm broke so I can't~ Turn Around~ #sanralSongs”
*Protest video source: Youtube User Samara Dinay

author: Ismail Dhorat


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Uganda: Protesters Bare Bras After Police Sexually Assault Politician · Global Voices
James Propa

After the A4C (Activists for Change) was banned in Uganda earlier this month, the activists rebranded it “4GC”, which stands for “For God And My Country” (Uganda's official motto). The 4GC members including the leading opposition figure Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye, Mathias Mpuuga, Ingrid Turinawe and others have continued to stage rallies around the country. This time on Friday 20 April, 2012 the rally was at Nansana in Kampala.
The moment Ingrid Turinawe, the chairperson for Women League of the Forum for Democratic Change and one of key female politicians in Uganda, arrived at the venue of the rally, police officers came to arrest her. One of them intentionally held her right breast and started to press it. This made Ugandans react angrily after NTV Uganda ran a video footage showing a police officer sexually assaulting her.
Image of Ingrid Turinawe being sexually asaulted. Courtesy of Uganda's Daily Monitor.
Ugandan Police spokesperson Ibn Ssenkumbi came out and denied the allegations saying that the arrest was conducted by a female police officer. This prompted NTV to show the video footage in a slow motion for the people to see clearly.
Following the incident, women activists stripped to their bras in public showing anger and disapproval of police brutality against the female politician. Six of them ended up being arrested and detained.
Uganda's community on Twitter came out and reacted angrily about the incident:
@TusiimeSamson says:
@TusiimeSamson: After watching the @ugandapf vs #IngridTurinawedo, i get this feeling that #EminBaro‘s of this world wd want to join police.Pathetic sight.
@gabrieloguda thinks:
@dukedanny4: History indeed repeats itself. Suddenly we are going back to the 1970's and early 1980's #brutality#IngridTurinawe #Uganda
Women activists who stripped to their bras being arrested. Photo courtesy of urbanlegendkampala.com
@Ugandanet asks:
Ugandanet: If they can do that to Ingrid Turinawe in public, imagine what they do to other women when no one's watching? #Uganda #IngridTurinawe
@pmagelah tells the Ugandan police that:
@pmagelah Let @ugandaupf stop using excuse that those who arrested #IngridTurinawe were women, it wont change a thing, it remains sexual violence
@IsNyaga belives police brutality has made Ingrid a presidential material:
@IsNyaga: #dearMuseveni you just made #ingridturinawe a presidential candidate.
@pmagelah requests for the arrest of the officer who assaulted Ingrid:
@pmagelah: Indecent Assault of a woman is a crime. Uganda Police must arrest &charge their officer who assualted #Ingrid#Turinawe#StopUgandaPolice
@joydoreenbiira tweets about the suspension of the police officer who asaulted Ingrid:
@joydoreenbiira: The #UgandaPoliceOfficer who assaulted#IngridTurinawe has been suspended over the alleged sexual assault; i need proof of this#CldBeVerbal
Opposition leaders and their supporters have been staging public rallies and protest in Uganda since 2011. Inspired by revolutions in North Africa, Uganda’s opposition groups staged protests against high fuel and food prices, calling on Ugandans in urban centers to walk to their work places.

author: James Propa


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Video: Mothers Around the World Share Their Different Experiences · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

In the International Museum of Women, the current online exhibit is all about mothers. MAMA: Motherhood around the Globe explores the different aspects of motherhood through video interviews to women in Nigeria, Kenya, Afghanistan, USA, Colombia, Hungary, China and Norway.
Lusina from Kenya is one of the interviewed mothers for IMOW
Mama to Be is the section on the expectations around motherhood and pregnancy, and how the different women, some not even out of their teens reacted and faced their impending motherhood.
How many women in the world actually have an opportunity to decide if, how, and when to create a family? What are the reasons that women today are choosing – or refusing to choose – motherhood?
In Healthy Mama, Healthy Baby, the stories these women share on their birthing experiences serve to illustrate how different cultures view birthing and health.
Every day, thousands of women worldwide give birth to new human life. While many of these women will have happy and successful deliveries, hundreds will die in childbirth. How do things like geography, income, and age affect your chances of a safe delivery? What is being done to improve upon the world’s maternal mortality rate, and how can you get involved?
In the Featured Voices section, stories were submitted by the audience and six stories were selected by an international jury for the Community Choice Awards. One of them is this excerpt of the hard situation in the Colombian hospital maternity wards by Jorge Caballero for Gusano Films.
In Birth Journal Maternity Excerpt, a mother of six arrives to a checkup and then to deliver a baby. During the checkup, her story comes out through the questions asked by the doctor, and his attitude towards her changes, ending up with a suggestion for a tubal ligation and a curt farewell. During delivery, there isn't even time to move the lone woman to the gurney and into the maternity room, she gives birth on her hospital bed.
One-on-one interviews in Meet the Mamas focus the conversations around the woman and her personal story, for example, it helps contrast the different situations between a teen mother in Liberia, living what she calls in Critical Condition, and a teen mother in the United States, who through family support is able to move on ahead and continue her studies.
This exhibit in the International Museum of Women aims to get more people informed on the state of Women's Maternal Health, on their Get Involved page they suggest different ways in which readers can participate in improving the statistics and raise awareness themselves on these important issues.


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Australia: What Would Change Your Mind on Climate? · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

The scenario is simple. A wily conservative ex-politician and a young climate activist visit their ‘experts’ around the globe together. It’s a futile and inevitably failed attempt to change each other’s mind.
The ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) showed a double-header on 26 April 2012: the resulting documentary I Can Change Your Mind, followed by a Q&A panel session. You can also watch both programs on ABC iView till 10 May 2012.
In a post-show post on the ABC’s Drum, Anna Rose of the AYCC (Australian Youth Climate Coalition) shares her doubts about the approach:
Debating those who reject the science of climate change is a risky business. Was it worth it?
…Some people told me that I was naive to think I could ‘win’ the argument; that the whole idea of the show played into the denialists’ strategy of framing the science as disputed (when there actually isn't any reasonable doubt left) and that it was just an opportunity for Nick to place figures opposing the science into the mainstream media.
You can’t say she wasn’t warned. Graham Readfern had offered Anna his opinion beforehand:
…in my view the show’s format was flawed in that it would put non-peer-reviewed, pseudo science conducted by largely unqualified non-experts alongside decades of genuine peer reviewed scientific research. It might make for engaging telly, but it creates a false sense of balance.
If I were a climate sceptic activist or a fossil fuel lobbyist designing a format for a TV show, this show is what I’d probably come up with.
Twitter brought out the beast in many. Try searching ‘Anna Rose’, ‘Nick Minchin’ or #changeyourmind if you don’t mind personal attacks.
This exchange between Gavid Dwyer and Stu Moffat captures the combative tone of the whole exercise:
@gdfollow:
#qanda Anna Rose's expert Prof Muller hid research showing global warming has stopped. http://ow.ly/1LgkpS #auspol #pmlive #agenda
@stu_moffat:
@Gdfollow #qanda What rubbish! Looking at one 5-10 year graph of surface temps and saying that climate change has stopped is just ignorant!
@Gdfollow:
@stu_moffatt I agree. But if it's ok for Anna rose to sprout horrible unproven non science based rubbish to get point across so can I
@MrDenmore, who regularly blogs about the media at The Failed Estate, compared the show with another Aussie TV program about asylum seekers:
The SBS doco ‘Go Back to Where You Came From” was about challenging ignorance; the ABC's #changeyourmind #qanda is about legitimising it
The blogosphere have also been vocal. Quite a few were live-blogging. Simon of Australian Climate Madness gave up after detecting what he saw as ABC bias by using a pro-climate action scientist in the audience:
APPALLING BIAS to allow Matthew England act as Q&A's “appointed” climate scientist – WTF? Where's Lindzen for balance?
OK, sick of this now. ABC has abandoned any pretence of impartiality. Going offline. *fume*
Roger Jones of Understanding Climate Risk is aware that it’s easy to see what you believe:
What’s the wrap? I think this doco showed how important people’s values and prior assumptions are in influencing the way we view evidence.
He seems to prove his own observation in the next sentence:
I don’t think Q&A achieved all that much but I was glad Matt England was there to clarify a few things.
Loon Pond refused to watch the program but takes Nick Minchin to task about his follow up newspaper article:
Minchin presents himself as open-minded and willing to learn, but all you get in the piece is a repetition by rote of a few talking points, a mish-mash of ignorance and misinformation, all designed to reinforce the bee in Minchin's bonnet.
Tory Maguire, editor of News Limited’s online blogsite The Punch, has her own doubts about human nature:
Not only did they not change each others’ minds, it’s doubtful they would have changed anyone else’s minds either.
Climate researcher Ian McHugh seemed to agree at Crikey:
The sum total of useful commentary on ABC’s stultifying I Can Change Your Mind About Climate …was five minutes of British scientist and author Ben Goldacre. That the most edifying moments in the program included his admission that he’d rather slam his cock in a door than “debate” climate change probably tells those of you who missed it most of what you need to know.
Not everyone was as cynical. In the end Anna Rose Above it, according to Drillvoice:
In all, last night was some great programming. It was challenging, but Anna rose to it. Australia’s soft sceptics were exposed to a likeable, effective climate communicator. Australia’s climate-concerned were exposed to likeable, effective climate communication.
Wake Up 2 The Lies isn’t fooled:
Finally someone stands up to the Australian Youth Climate  Cult and says what a lot of Australians have wanted to say. Climate Depot’s Marc Morano’s fantastic rant from the ABC’s documentary “Can I Change Your Mind About Climate”
Over at The Conversation, Astrophysics professor Michael Ahsley isn't a Morano fan:
Morano is a master of the Gish Gallop, spewing out a rapid-fire string of arguments – sea level is dropping, polar bear populations are increasing, temperatures are going down – which are impossible to refute on the spot in a television debate.
The ABC, as our national broadcaster, is supposed to help us to form our views by presenting competing ideas. Many feel that giving equal time to the small percentage of scientists and commentators who are climate sceptics, delayers or deniers provides unwarranted weight to their arguments not true balance. Academic Stephan Lewandowsky argues:
What would it take for a documentary to provide a properly balanced perspective on climate science? Simple: Anna Rose should have had 97 scientists in her corner to balance Minchin's sole climate scientist. Because 97 out of 100 actual experts know that the climate is changing due to human greenhouse emissions. Two are undecided and one in 100 opposes the mainstream science.

author: Kevin Rennie


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Bangladesh: Citizen’s Voice, A Citizen Watchdog for Public Services · Global Voices
Salman Latif

Screenshot from the Citizens Voice Website
As internet connectivity grows in developing nations, technology is coming to play vital roles in shaping the trends of social activism and awareness. Although there is still limited access to internet in countries like Bangladesh, it is very promising to witness projects that are beginning to  use ICT to address social issues.
Citizen’s Voice (Nagorikkontho.org) is one such project which has been launched by Population Services and Training Center (PSTC) to empower Bangladeshi public by having their voices heard, especially regarding feedback on public services. The platform supports both Bangla and English language to make it versatile for all the users and all the technology platforms (mobile texting sill do not support Bangla font).
Bangladeshi government agencies have recently defined service deliverables in their Citizens Charter. Documenting feedback about these services is important for their quality to be assessed.
Citizen’s Voice believe that this would help enhance the standard of these services and bridge the common man to the public authorities:
Citizens Voice – www.nagorikkontho.org/
“If common people become aware of what are their inalienable rights stated in the Citizen Charter, they can understand their needs and performance of the public service agencies. Therefore, they can monitor their deserved services and raise their voice to the civil societies and respective public authorities. This monitoring will further improve their civic facilities and augment their living status.”
The portal has been built based on Ushahidi platform and it contains different reports which cite the irregularities by government institutions, and has emerged as a watchdog for such irregularities, and media outlets can use it to locate such issues. One example is a report about Panchagah Women’s College. The college was charging students a fee for entrance forms more than double as high as was sanctioned by the government.
A stack of bricks in a parking space that shouldn't be there. From Citizen's Voice.
After Citizen’s Voice published the report, the media took notice, and college authorities were ordered by the board of education to revise their fees. This is one example of how something as apparently simple as a digital report published on a website can actually be significant enough to make a practical impact on ground. To facilitate access to a common man, reports can be submitted via sms, email or through a web form.
The header on the site lists a number of questions, asking about the availability of common services – such as access to health facilities, free education, and so forth. ‘If not, please send a report,’ it says. Reports can also be submitted in the form of a video, photo or a blog post. One video listed on the website by maaDiyan on YouTube shows a busride on “the busiest highway of Bangladesh” between Dhaka and Bandarban, and how drivers skirt traffic rules to get ahead faster.
We were taking the bus back to Dhaka from Bandarban. I think it was on 10 Sep 2011. I was wondering if there were any changes to how people drive on highways in Bangladesh, after so much was going on about road safety. I got my answer. These drivers are simply crazy. There were enough traffic signs on the road, but I have a suspicion that these bus drivers think those are there for decorative purpose only.
In these ways, Citizens’ Voice offers a democratic space for interaction between service recipients and providers through technology.

author: Salman Latif


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Bolivia: TIPNIS Indigenous March Again · Global Voices
Pablo Andres Rivero

Over 500 members from Bolivian Indigenous organisations gathered in Trinidad, approximately 600 kilometres from La Paz, and began on April 27, 2012, at 8 pm (GMT) a march to Bolivia's Seat of Government for the second time. They are opposing Bolivia's governmental plan to built a road that would cut off right through the middle the Indigenous Territory and National Park Isiboro Sécure (TIPNIS for its initials in Spanish). Real-time reporting is available on Fundación Tierra website [es] and also the hashtag #TIPNIS on Twitter.

author: Pablo Andres Rivero


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Chinese blind lawyer and activist Chen Guangcheng flees house arrest · Global Voices
Violeta Camarasa

Chinese blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng has reportedly escaped from his well-guarded house in Dongshigu (Shandong) after more than a year of house arrest. Sources report he entered the US embassy in Beijing. He has put out a video  denouncing corruption, exposing abuses  and expressing “extreme concern” about the consequences his flight may have for his family.

author: Violeta Camarasa


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Estonia: Places to Eat Out in Tallinn · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Nami-Nami recommends places to eat out in Tallinn in Spring 2012.


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Ethiopia:  Netizens Outraged as Ethiopia Steps Up Internet Censorship  · Global Voices
Endalkachew Chala

Ethiopian netizens are outraged and expressing their concern on different social media platforms as the Ethiopian government increasingly engages in blocking and surveillance of selected websites, blogs and Facebook pages. The report about Ethiopia’s authorities engaging in online censorship came about after all previously blocked websites and blogs became available for three successive days during Ethiopia’s Easter celebration in early April.
Reporters Without Borders reported on 26 April, 2012, that:
Reporters Without Borders is very worried to learn that access to the Amharic website of Ethiopia’s leading independent, privately-owned weekly, The Reporter, has been blocked for the past five days. No one has been able to access the site from within Ethiopia since around 4:30 p.m. on 21 April unless they use a proxy server.
The reason for the blocking is unclear and Reporters Without Borders urges the authorities to provide an explanation. “Everything indicates that the blocking is being carried by the state-owned company Ethio-Telecom, since it is Ethiopia’s only Internet Service Provider,” the press freedom organization said.
Zelalem Malcolm Kibret, a blogger residing in Addis Ababa, reacted strongly on his Facebook page:
Ethiopian blogger and journalist, Eskinder Nega, is facing the death penalty. Photo courtesy of FreeEskinderNega.com
First EPRDF [the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front] going to be MAD, then gone WILD & now gone WILDER.In an effort to smash dissenting opinion in Ethiopia, EPRDF block 100 + websites and bloggers that puts Ethiopia as blocker-in-chief of Ideas in Africa.* . The recent wild act is blocking mediocre blogs like Abe Tokichaw's blog. Abe’s new blog is launched today for the fourth time with a new name. This can be the best instance that fits formerly mad and now turned wild government mad action.
Abe on his latest interview to a monthly Ethiopian Amharic Magazine called Addis Times via e-mail says:
‹‹ አሁን ባለሁበት ሀገር በቃ የምሰራው ብሎጌ ላይ ስፅፍ መዋል እና ማሰብ ብቻ ነው፡፡ ኦ ይቅርታ መንግስት ብሎጌን ሲዘጋብኝ አዲስ መክፈትም ሌላው የእለት ከዕለት ስራዎቼ አንዱ ሆኗል››
My only task here in a country where I am residing is only to blog and to contemplate. One more task is to produce different blogs on daily bases.
In Dictatorship we Un-trust.
* In Africa, Only Sudan & Ethiopia block websites in a ‘substantial manner’ and Ethiopia is the only country that blocks Political websites.
Markos Lemma, a blogger and Global Voice author, warns Internet censorship agents in the country that other people will be inspired to start blogging if blogs are blocked:
To whom it may concern: It might be possible to block 100s of blogs but not 10,000s or millions. I bet the second one blog is blocked in Ethiopia, 10 new blogs created. Thanks who ever writes, shares and communicates
Another blogger, debirhan, reported about his blog being banned in Ethiopia:
The Web address of De Birhan (http://www.debirhan.com/) has been blocked since Saturday night (21 April 2012) in Ethiopia. According to readers from Addis Abeba and the Website internal Audience Data Report, De Birhan was not accessible in Ethiopia for two days now. The regime in Addis Abeba has mastered the blocking of Websites, News and Information media since the 2005 election. Most Diaspora based Ethiopia focused News and Information Websites are blocked in Ethiopia.
De Birhan advises its readers to follow our Facebook updates at De Birhan Blogspot and use mobile phones or proxy servers to access us.
Incidentally, similar accounts of online censorship on mainstream media have been on the increase since early April.Huffington Post and New York Times indicates in their reports that Ethiopia’s government engages in online censorship.
A recent article posted on New York Times pointed out that Ethiopia’s government has stepped up its grip on both online and traditional media with the technical help from the Chinese government.
Iginio Gagliardone, a research fellow at University of Oxford highlights how Ethiopia’s government is being helped by the Chinese government in online censorship technologies and expertise.
Gagliardone writes:
China's EXIM bank provided a $1.5 billion loan to overhaul the country's telecommunication system, free media are struggling. Opposition blogs are blocked and the Prime Minister (Melese Zenawi) argued that Ethiopia has a right to jam the international broadcaster Voice of America because of its “destabilizing propaganda.”
Gagliardone further notes that Chinese companies are replacing Western companies such as Cisco Systems:
China has been accused of providing the technology and expertise to make these forms of censorship possible. A few years earlier, however, it was the expertise provided by Cisco Systems and Hughes Networks, two companies based in the U.S., that allowed the Ethiopian government to develop WoredaNet, one of Africa's most ambitious and problematic e-government projects.
A recent document [am] said to be shared by sources close to The Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE), an opposition movement based in the US, has made stronger claims that China supports Ethiopia’s online surveillance capacity in name of building Ethiopia’s national security.
The document [am] further states that Ethiopia’s only and government-owned Telecom Corporation and all of its network facility is appended to Information Network Security Agency (INSA), a government agency established to safeguard key government and public information systems from any security threat.
The document claims that with a huge technical and monetary aid of the Chinese technology companies, INSA has developed a competence to use ordinary cell phones as spy devices by tracking citizens’ movements and listening to people’s private conversations even when the cell phones are turned off.
This document further highlights that private conversations and movements of select members of the diplomatic community, civic society, opposition party leaders, journalists and individuals are closely monitored.
LAst year, Global Voices Author Jillian York reflected on Ethiopia’s Internet censorship:
Ethiopia [‘s], government filtering of websites has long been common practice. Despite an Internet penetration rate of only 0.5 per cent, the Ethiopian government blocks a range of political opposition websites, as well as independent news sites reporting on the country and the sites of a few human rights organizations. Ethiopia's Internet infrastructure is state-owned, leaving control of it entirely at the hands of the government.
ONI points out that Ethiopia together with the Sudan are the two leading sub-Saharan Africa states when it comes to Internet censorship. Freedom House 20111 report noted that Ethiopia is one of the worst offenders of freedom on the net.

author: Endalkachew Chala


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Haiti: Death by “Clairin”  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“In early 2011, a dozen people died after drinking ‘clairin’ – a traditional Haitian alcohol drink – made with methanol in the Fond Baptiste region, north of the capital. Another 20 or so were blinded or paralyzed”: Haiti Grassroots Watch learns that “judicial, health and commerce authorities have not investigated who was responsible for the tragedy” and that “the production and sale of clairin – and ‘fake clairin’ – continues with no regulation”, saying: “The tragedy could occur again at any moment, on an even larger scale.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Indonesia: New General Election Law · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Colson discusses the possible political impact of Indonesia's new General Election law.

author: Mong Palatino


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Iran: Opposition sites under cyber attack · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Several blogs and sites reported [fa] in recent days several Iranian reformist and green sites such as daneshjoonews have been under cyber attack.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Jamaica: Of Art & Literature  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Nadine, Unscripted, notes that there are three Jamaican writers who have made the shortlists for the 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize and Commonwealth Short Story Prize, while ART:Jamaica blogs about an exciting new local space for art.


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Malaysia: Rare Earth Processing Plant Creates Backlash · Global Voices
Jerrenn Lam

Recently, the Save Malaysia! Stop Lynas! campaign started to protest against the release of radioactive waste from a rare earth processing plant in Malaysia.
The situation unfolded when the New York Times published an article revealing that Lynas Corporation, an Australian mining company based in Western Australia, has established a processing plant in Kuantan, Malaysia, called the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP).
In particular, many Malaysians are incensed that this plant was constructed without the residents’ consent, as there are residential areas within 30km of LAMP.
From the Facebook page of Stop Lynas! Save Kuantan
Khoo Kay Peng articulated this opinion in his blog:
This Federal Government claimed that it is willing to listen to the people. But listening cannot be a selective work. In the case of Lynas, the people have spoken and they would like a project with such huge risk and low benefit to the people to ship out of the country.
The way the government welcomes and fought for the Lynas plant to be operational in Gebeng is a monumental shame to our inability to attract better quality investment.
Glam also rubbished the Malaysian government’s assurance that the radioactive waste will not harm Malaysian citizens:
Prime Minister Najib Razak said the Government has instructed Lynas Corp to relocate its residue disposal site to a location far from its Gebeng plant and local communities. In the same breath, he also said that this did not mean the rare earth project and its residue were harmful (The Star, March 03, 2012, p 02). So tell me, Najib, what exactly did you mean?
…the government itself is clueless on what to do with Lynas’ “radioactive waste”.
We simply cannot let the government do this the second time around! You and I may not be living in Bukit Merah or in Gebeng-Kuantan, but in the case of Bukit Merah, fellow Malaysians have suffered and in Gebeng-Kuantan, another group of Malaysians will suffer if we permit this government to be reckless. Let's stand in solidarity with them and do what is necessary to put a stop to this madness! Stop Lynas!
However, there are also those who think that the plant’s operations would not affect Malaysians. Eddy wrote:
My recent post on Lynas Gebeng had a surprise distinguished visitor, Datuk Dr. Looi Hoong Wah himself, I would like to share his comments, which would more or less put paid to the rubbish and scare mongering by the Stop Lynas crowd. I am reproducing his comments in full as follows, please read:
All the Anti-Lynas foot soldiers and RED GUARDS BARU should realise that they have been misled by some very sophisticated ultra-devious people who are experts in mass brainwashing and are using the issue to gain political mileage for their own evil ulterior motives.
In Bukit Merah, the radiation comes from Thorium and Uranium which are our own and has been in Malaysia for billions of years.
Although the radiation level is well over 37 times that of the Lynas waste, there is no definite well controlled scientific proof that the cases of leukaemia and birth defects are caused by radiation from the waste.
Unscrupulous people have been using videos and pictures of patients with congenital abnormalities and other illnesses to instil fear into the population. There is absolutely no scientific proof that these cases are caused by radiation.
Zurairi Ar also wrote about the distortions of facts by anti-Lynas groups.
The bulk of this fear can be attributed to the level of distrust against our ruling government and local authorities.
Like many other Malaysians, I do wish for a cleaner and greener Malaysia, but it should go beyond a partisan affair.
Stopping Lynas and saving Malaysia… they don’t always need to be the same thing.
Shinliang brought in a different perspective, expressing scepticism at the Government’s ability to manage such a site.
Would I want the processing plant next to my home? No. Just like I don’t want any factory near my home, I don’t want the processing plane near my home too. All I am saying is that the danger of the plant is, at times, exaggerated. The danger of this processing plant is probably similar to any other factories. In fact, it could be safer.
But I did say I oppose the construction of the Lynas plant, yes? Of course, and here is the real reason. Our government.
No factory is accident-proof. An accident, after all, is defined as an unexpected event. But in a country, where cow-feeding operations can become real estate agency; where jet engines can be lifted from an air base; who is it to say that a rare-earth processing plant cannot become a nuclear catastrophe? The problem is, there is just not sufficient trust in the management of our government agencies for a project like this. While I acknowledge that there are projects that are well-run by our government, but I can also say that about half of them are equally abysmally managed. As the rakyat, can we afford the risk? As the Prime Minister of all Malaysians, should you take the risk?
iMyn voiced similar concerns:
Well, I’m not saying that I support the Lynas Advanced Material Plant (LAMP) 100% but I can say I don’t oppose it 100%. The biggest question is whether we are ready to take up the responsibility of handling a risky but very beneficial business on our soil. Would we just give up and say, we are not ready for this, or we make things happen? Besides any business has risks. The oil & gas industry has potential to pollute the environment as much as the Lynas factory.
On Facebook, the Stop Lynas! Save Kuantan group has garnered 11,709 Likes at the time of writing, while a Twitter account that goes by Stop Lynas Coalition is actively campaigning against the issue as well.
On Twitter, Bobby Teoh wrote:
Hey you! Why are you doing this? Why are you destroying ppl's home. Do you think money is everything? Do you care about mother earth? #Lynas
Which received a reply from Tims Trading:
@Bobbyteoh #lynas provides jobs for locals while is safe for the environ don't believe lies
There are also many videos that have been circulated on YouTube, for example, a video by Stop Lynas Save Malaysia.

author: Jerrenn Lam


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Nepal: Asia Pacific Photo-Story Contest 2012 · Global Voices
Rezwan

Nepal Youth Task Force On Rio +20 informs about a photo contest titled “Asia Pacific Photo-Story Contest 2012″ to mark the Voices of Youth globally in RIO+20, The UN Conference on Sustainable Development (June 20-22, 2012) in Brazil. This contest is open to anybody aged 15-35 from the Asia Pacific region and the deadline for submission is May 10, 2012.


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Russia: Putin Proposes Contentious State Power Grab in Siberia · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

On April 20, the Russian newspaper Kommersant revealed [ru] an ongoing legislative project to create a state company to oversee the economic development of Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East. Working on orders from Vladimir Putin, the Ministry of Economic Development has drafted a law to establish this entity, and has already distributed the document to four other ministries for approval. If created, the state company would be responsible for developing 16 sub-federal units in Russia's east that collectively make up 60% of the country's entire territory. The legislation would suspend many current laws on subsoil extraction, foresting, land ownership, urban planning, labor, and citizenship. Most contentiously, the state company would be under the direct control of the Russian President, effectively granting the Kremlin carte blanche over fundamental elements of local governance across Siberia.
A gas pipeline in Novosibirsk, Russia. (19 Dec 2011) Photo by AIHAM DIB, copyright © Demotix.
News about Putin's plan for Siberia has provoked a variety of reactions in the RuNet blogosphere. The prospect of a ‘grand national project’ (the end-all panacea to the country's woes, according to Russian ‘patriots’) has predictably met with approval from Putin's supporters and opprobrium from his critics. Study some of the individual responses, however, and the schism at the heart of any such dichotomy quickly reveals that Russian bloggers harbor certain apprehensions that shape their political perceptions. While a trend emerges that ostensibly demonstrates a divide in popular opinion, a closer reading can identify fundamental shared assumptions that are vital to understanding the landscape of RuNet civil society.
The Anti-Putin Bloggers
Yuri Krugovykh represents one of the most peculiar groups of bloggers: anti-liberal, anti-Kremlin Russian nationalists. Twenty-years-old, Krugovykh is convinced that Putin's plan for a new state company in Siberia is an American plot to colonize Russia's eastern regions through Moscow. Attacking the groups that assembled earlier this year to defend Putin against liberal democrat protests, Krugovykh writes [ru]:
It's very funny to listen to the ‘anti-orange’ activists after Putin's election victory was so favorably received by the United States. What's all this about the GosDep [the U.S. State Department]? What are you on about? Putin is doing everything exactly according to instructions. The Kremlin's [American] bosses are entirely satisfied.
Konstantin Krylov [ru], a pro-liberal, anti-Kremlin Russian nationalist, also worries that the proposed state company in Siberia would hark back to Tsarist colonialism, replicating Ivan the Terrible's oprichnina [en], a seven year period in the mid-sixteenth century, when the Russian Tsar held exclusive power over vast territories and many of the financial centers of the empire.
Echoing Krugovykh's concerns about the Kremlin's interest in obtaining foreign wealth, Krylov writes [ru]:
Incidentally, removing 60% of [Russia's] territory from local control would also seem to pursue ‘curious relations with foreigners’ (just as Ivan the Terrible had). I wonder, will they sell off the land by the roots, or just empty out all its useful deposits and limit themselves to that?
Blogger Maksim Kalashnikov [en] (real name Vladimir Kucherenko) is a Eurasianist Russian ‘patriot’ (not to be confused with Russian nationalists, whose beliefs bear a distinctly ethnic component). While Kalashnikov shares others’ unease that the new state company could inflict upon Russia a new wave of colonialism, his most serious objections are rooted in the notion that Putin's draft legislation embodies “the privatization of the state,” marking the pinnacle of Putin's ‘fanatical support’ for economic liberalism. For Kalashnikov, the state company in Siberia represents a clone of the East India Company, which Putin intends to use to destroy Russia's state apparatus [ru]:
Under the happy pretext of ‘developing Siberia,’ they are not only creating a clone of the East India Company, but are also legalizing the very principle of privatizing the government and the state apparatus. […] Next, the monopolies will take over the state, become the authorities, take over command of the army and penal system, and finally brush aside even the appearance of democracy with a junta.
In Kalashnikov's doomsday scenario, the United States is just as much a victim as Russia. Capitalism's impact on governance (represented by state-controlled monopolies) will be the same everywhere, he contends, consuming Washington and Moscow alike.
The Pro-Putin Bloggers
Khakassian blogger Mikhail Verkhoturov strongly endorses [ru] the proposed state company (even going so far as welcoming comparisons to Ivan the Terrible's oprichnina), and accuses liberals of premature objections:
The liberals are astonishing people. They can't even for a second resist their fault-finding psychosis and not start talking about how ‘they'll skim off the budget, they'll plunder everything, they'll sell Siberia to the Americans-Chinese-Japanese.’ They've already started to whine, when the corporation hasn't even been created yet!
Nikolai Starikov [en], a well-known conspiracy theorist and state television manager, also embraces the oprichnina label, perceiving [ru] it to be the only measure capable of countering ‘Western-engineered’ decentralizing reforms initiated during Russia's winter of street protests:
The Russian state lost the information war that was unleashed against it on the eve of the elections. […] In an information war, people aren't wounded or killed, but the losers are reprogrammed by the winning side. […] After December 2011, the centerpiece of Russia's concessions to our ‘Western partners’ was the passage of the new law on elections.
According to Starikov, the direct election of governors is also a Western initiative to weaken the Kremlin:
If the President doesn't get the ability to ‘filter’ the list of governor candidates, it will be a powerful blow to the territorial integrity of Russia. […] Think about it: what does the direct election of governors really mean? It is a reduction of the President's rights. Before, he could appoint — now he cannot. Ask yourself what, other than pressure from the West, could prompt the urge to pass this law in such a short timespan?
Finally, Starikov defends the creation of a powerful state company, under the direct control of the President, as a last line of defense against the chaos unleashed by the West:
How do we neutralize the potential election of governor-populists and governor-democrats and governor-separatists? How do we avoid the creation of authorities at the regional level, who might begin to sabotage federal programs and prioritize development programs based on Washington's ‘requests'? What is to be done with those who are suddenly ruled by narrow local concerns, rather than nationwide interests? […] Put Eastern Siberia and the Far East under [the President's] personal control. Create a structure that will bypass the rebellious boyars and promote the national interest.
The RuNet's Distinctions
While the pro-Putin and anti-Putin battle lines are as clear as day, it is worth noting that the Russian blogosphere is permeated by misgivings about the outside world's intentions. Critics fault Putin for surrendering too much to the agents of the West, whereas his supporters defend his tactics as the only way to deter further Western (and perhaps future Chinese) manipulation.
Respectable public figures, like former Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin, have based their objections [ru] to Putin's plan for a Siberian state company on concerns about crowding out private investors and competitors. Worries focus on the freeness of the market and durability of the rule of law, if the state company is endowed with the proposed extraordinary special powers.
While legal and economic questions play a role in the RuNet debate about the potential Siberian state company, conspiratorial phobias animate all sides, sometimes driving the conversation to extremes that are difficult to understand without a thorough appreciation of the RuNet's particular landscape.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Russia: Dombrovsky and Molotov · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Faculty of Useless Knowledge tells a story of writer Yuri Dombrovsky‘s brief encounter with Vyacheslav Molotov, and shares a link to a documentary [ru] about Dombrovsky's life.


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Taiwan: Travel with Art · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

Blogger and artists Lovingpure(黃愛淳) uses contemporary paintings about Taiwan from distinguished painters to create this video as the ultimate travel guide for foreign tourists.

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Trinidad and Tobago: Watching Crime & Dangerous Dogs · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Two controversial topics are grabbing the attention of bloggers from Trinidad and Tobago: the recent arrest of the host of “Crime Watch”, a popular local television show and the proposed legislation against dangerous dogs.
Of the Ian Alleyne arrest, The Eternal Pantomime says:
Ian Alleyne, Crime Watch and TV6 are Charged for the toro toro (aka bullshit) they did to that child last year on the programme.
…People’s champion or not (I really not getting into that argument) we have to agree that if Ian Alleyne breached the law, he shouldn’t be above it. To justify Alleyne’s abuse of the law is to set a bad precedent. Now, for all intents and purposes, what is clearly a legal matter has been made into a political issue…Alleyne, all of a sudden has become the PNM [the current opposition party] poster boy for Govt abuse…so many more scary instances of abuse occurring daily, and the issue that get PNM People riled up yesterday is Alleyne’s roughing up by the police? I seriously have to wonder where people’s heads are at.
The blogger is very clear about the television station's role in the debacle:
I am also happy to see that TV6 didn’t escape unschathed (sic). You were part of the broadcasting process…clean up your acts…both of you.
While the show highlights criminal activity in the country and certainly depicts Alleyne as doing a better job than police there are a few changes I’d like to see:
less gore and dead bodies during a time children watching tv.
less of Alleyne in the middle of the crime scene
better production and editing
less showcasing of specific police officers.
statistics on how many of Ian’s arrests actually led to convictions!
In another post, she writes:
Crime Watch continues in court today. All yuh can’t say Ian Alleyne don’t keep improving on the entertainment value of his programme. No doubt with the expected increased police presence, it’ll be even more of a pappy show! And to date the real issue still getting lost…a child’s image was shown on television in a sexually (sic) way….Ian aired the tape, the station broadcast it twice…This was a breach of law. Yet the issue that has held most of the population’s attention is how ‘Ian get rough up’. Note that Attorney Om Lalla never said the police’s behaviour was illegal…just abusive. Can we press on? There are far more abusive things happening daily in this society that never gets us this riled up.
Jumbie's Watch calls Alleyne a “publicity hound” and goes on to comment on “the circumstances leading up to and surrounding this event [the arrest of Ian Alleyne], and the law as it applies”:
I do not fault the police for arresting him. They are well within the law to do so. What could have been handled differently, is that Alleyne should not have been given any opportunity (whatsoever) to gallery for the cameras and public. His arrest should have been done quickly, put into a waiting vehicle, and taken along to the nearest police station. Instead, we see him in handcuffs, being given full opportunity to speak to supporters at the gate, and rolling on the ground and on car bonnets putting on an excellent show.
I am yet to see that the television station responsible for airing the video being sanctioned in any way. Ian Alleyne alone did not broadcast a video. It is a collective effort of many persons and the ultimate responsibility lies with the  head of the station. Editors and producers may have some level of input, but final responsibility lies at the top. They had broadcasted news of the arrest prior to the actual arrest…once again, it shows the hound that is Ian Alleyne seeking to milk publicity. It’s good for the ratings, after all.
kid5rivers sums it up by saying:
The habitual inadvertence of the State to ensure that, twenty-four-oh-seven, all accoutrements are in place to have a person lawfully apprehended access to bail may yet prove its undoing in Ian Alleyne's case and thereafter, as a right frustrated is a right denied in the same way justice delayed is justice denied.
The Eternal Pantomime, in a post in which she uploads eerily similar photos of the country's first Prime Minister, Dr. Eric Williams, and Ian Alleyne, has the last word:
Since last week, I’ve been looking at Ian Alleyne be treated as the next messiah…all that was missing in his triumphant march through Port of Spain yesterday were palm branches and a jackass…ok…just palm branches. But as much as I find some aspects of Alleyne’s show and his public posturing crass and vulgar, I see quite plainly why he is so popular. He appears to be performing…Alleyne seems to be doing for members of the poorer classes, what the police and government seem unable to do…fight crime. If ever there was a poster boy for ‘perception is reality’ Ian Alleyne is it!
And his success here just shows you how far we have fallen as a society. Alleyne sullies crime scenes, has no real conviction rate to speak off and breaks laws such as the Sexual Offences Act…and people are actually rallying to his side and asking that he be given a bligh because he solving crime and is the ‘voice of the poor man’.
His popularity has become extremely dangerous…so much so, that an arrest of Alleyne for an obvious infringement of the law is now made to be look like the suppression of  a voice that speaks out against the government.
Bloggers are also being quite vociferous about the Dangerous Dogs Act.  Jumbie's Watch, a diaspora blogger who lives in the United Kingdom, gives a bit of background by publishing the proposed legislation “in its entirety”:
Having read this Act, I now find myself baffled. Many dog owners and dog lovers are reported by daily newspapers…as being ‘flawed’.
I notice however, not one person so far has actually pointed out a flaw. Instead, they point to the fact that the DDA (UK) is repealed. That is a non-issue…the recommended changes is (sic) not merely to remove the 4 main listed breeds of dogs, but to be more encompassing to include any and all dogs that are deemed dangerous. So far from citing the UK DDA and its so-called faults, they should beware lest the T&T Government move into a Dog Control Act and put more responsibility on owners and handlers. At the moment, owners of the three listed breeds can claim to be treated with a large measure of leniency.
He goes on to list all the measures that owners of the dog breeds deemed “dangerous” will have to do, and ends his post by saying:
The fines and prison sentences are high, and rightly so. So far, I see nothing in this Act that is either draconian or unfair. Consider that the past 10 years, over 14 persons have been killed, including children, and many more injured, I think it is right that the onus of responsibility goes to the owners. If anything, I think this law is still too damn lenient.
Coffeewallah has a different perspective:
In 2000, after a spate of dog attacks, the then elected Government, in the usual third world knee jerk reaction, to appease the population cringing behind locked doors, declared that something must be done. The something consisted of a piece of legislation “borrowed” almost wholesale from the English. Nothing really new in the colonies. Except the legislation in question had been written specifically to deal with a situation in England in the 1990's, by 2000, it was already somewhat out of date and in any case, was ancillary to existing animal protection laws. In the Trinidad version, it singled out three breeds, the pitbulls and two others that weren't even present here. As per usual, instead of addressing the issues, we sought to put the usual band-aid on a festering sore.
She continues:
Pitbull terriers are a cross breed between terriers and bulldogs, bred for their tenacity and later, for their fighting ability. Man made dogs if you will. In truth, pitbulls, like humans, are products of their environment. If you condition any dog to be aggressive, whether a daschund or a russian wolfhound, that's what you'll get. And that's the point really.
Dog lovers in this country do not oppose legislation for the sake of opposition. In fact we would welcome any legislation that would get people to behave more responsibly towards their animals. Legislation that allows for the equitable humane treatment of the animal ensuring that they are properly secured, have access to shade and water during the long hot days, that they are micro-chipped and registered so that they can be traced to their owners when they are lost or worse, they attack someone. Instead, we have a craven piece of legislation being brought back from the legislation graveyard that singles out breeds and that is essentially punitive.
But Plain Talk finds “the rally planned by the Pit-bull owners to fight the law that has been passed to safeguard the public from these dangerous animals” rather “idiotic”:
One look at the group's event advertising and what jumps out is the capitalized ‘Do NOT bring your dogs'…it seemed like such a strange and bizarre admonition for a pro-pit-bull rally, I found myself asking why? Why leave out the star of the show in all his foaming, snarling glory? Is it because they know full well that the public associates any image of that animal with death?  I asked (politely) if I could bring the survivors of pit-bull attacks and the families who lost loved ones…
I got to wondering as to how protests usually go, the things you chant (Our Right to Bite is just all right?), or what would their placards read –  ‘You are infringing our rights to maul’ or the ever popular ‘dangerous animals have rights too.’ Are these people collectively right in their heads?
The best deflection of all is that there are no dangerous dogs, only bad owners. If this is indeed the case then what a remarkable coincidence that ALL the bad owners ended up choosing this one particular breed to mess with. Doesn't that strike you as just a tad strange?
He echoes Jumbie's Watch's support of the legislation:
I for one am very impressed with the testicular fortitude demonstrated by the Attorney General in bringing this legislation and making it law. I always say I will support anyone who is doing right by the people of this country, and this legislation, short of an outright ban on these rediculously (sic) ferocious animals is the absolute right thing to do.
Coffeewallah counters by going right back to the issue of Ian Alleyne:
Real change, real development takes place when we the people hold ourselves to higher standards. When we the people demand of our leaders that they think and act with integrity, that they practice governance by reason as opposed to photo op. That they construct rational legislation, they support equitable enforcement across the board.  Perhaps like Don Quixote I am tilting my hat a windmills, but be that as it may, we must get to that point otherwise our country will continue its slide. Ian Alleyne's often vulgar, always self serving antics cannot be our only voice or form of action.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Grammatically Correct  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I know that I would really judge someone who couldn’t construct a sentence properly. I write for a living. Can you blame me if I think that great grammar skills are sexy?”  Karel McIntosh, writing at Outlish, says that “if a guy has poor grammar skills, that’s a deal breaker.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Talking Common Sense  · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

The Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies, based in Trinidad & Tobago, has posted video of the presentations from one of its Common Sense Convois series,  “Food First: Building An Economy From the Kitchen to the World”: Roger Pulwarty, climate scientist, and Sam Dowlath, former CEO of the National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation.

author: Matthew Hunte


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Tunisia: Uproar at Kiss of President’s Hand · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.
Outrage, shock, and disgust; this is what Tunisian netizens felt when a YouTube video featuring two men kissing the hand of President Moncef Marzouki appeared on April 26, 2012. The video features Marzouki making an unexpected visit to a public market.
As he enters the market, some in the crowd start screaming “Long Live the President”, and “Long Live Marzouki”. As he shakes hands with some of those who work there, two men kiss his hand. Hand-kissing was popular during the rule of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and is viewed as against the values of post-uprising Tunisia.
The Tunisian Presidency was the first to publish the controversial video via its YouTube channel. It then deleted it replacing it with another one in which no hand kisses occur. But it was too late; the video was already all over the web.
http://youtu.be/ZhiR1K1Bq_g
Mohamed Ali Chebâane was outraged:
@MedAliChebaane: Mr @Moncef_Marzouki, laisser un citoyen vous faire le baise main pendant une visite de terrain est écoeurant!
Moncef Marzouki Elected Interim President of Tunisia, Photo by Amine Landoulsi © Copyright Demotix (December 2011)
Emna Mejri felt the same:
@emnamejri: la vidéo de @Moncef_Marzouki 3ar 3ala tounes
Some believe that Marzouki is not to blame. Hamdi Gatri tweeted [ar]:
Ghazi Hakim wrote [ar]:
Blogger Fatma Riahi (who writes as Fatma Arabicca) asked the president a question [ar]:
Blogger Emna Ben Jemaa likened Marzouki to ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, in a post entitled “Long live mediocrity…Long live Marzouki” [fr]:
Une scène que je n’ai jamais oubliée, et pourtant j’étais très jeune
Ben Ali venait de faire son fameux discours du 7 novembre 1987, et une foule de tunisiens s’est mise à crier « Vive Ben Ali », il a souri et leur a dit « Non, dites Vive la Tunisie »
Quelques temps après, il s’est non seulement habitué à cela mais je suppose qu’il aurait même trouvé anormal que les gens ne crient pas à sa gloire
On s’est débarrassé fort heureusement du dictateur et de ses méthodes, et on a pour président PROVISOIRE un ancien militant des droits de l’homme. Mais…qu’est ce je vois sur la vidéo que je partage avec vous.
Marzouk s’offre son bain de foule, certains crient «Vive le président, Vive Marzouki !!! »…Et il ne réagit pas, il se limite à sourire fièrement.
Pire il tend sa main pour des baise mains ? Même Ben Ali retirait sa main quand certains voulaient l'embrasser. BAISE MAIN????
C’est quoi encore ce nouveau délire ?
Est-ce que notre destin c’est de vivre dans la médiocrité ?
This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.

author: Afef Abrougui


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Ukraine: Update on Yulia Tymoshenko’s Case · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes comments on “the latest twists and turns” in ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko's case.


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A look into China’s ‘red aristocracy’ · Global Voices
Violeta Camarasa

The Stream, a social media community with a daily TV show on Al Jazeera, has put together content from different social media sources about Chinese billionaires, known as the ‘red aristocracy’ for their connections with Communist Party leadership.


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Angola: Youth Demonstration Against Alcoholism Violently Repressed · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

According to Facebook reports, today's youth demonstration against alcoholism, prostitution and domestic violence (April 28), was violently repressed, informed [pt] the blog Angola Resistente. On April 23, an opinion article [pt] from Makuta Nkondo stated that in a year of elections, the ruling party since 1975, MPLA, organizes “food and drinks marathons” in order to please and distract the voters.

author: Sara Moreira


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Bahrain: Where is Abdulhadi Alkhawaja? · Global Voices
Mona Kareem

For some days there has been no news of imprisoned Bahraini human rights activist and opposition leader Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, who has been on hunger strike since February 8. It is feared that Alkhawaja, who was sentenced last year to life imprisonment and has reportedly been subjected to physical and sexual torture in detention, is now either being force-fed or is in a critical state.
Hunger Strike
On February 8, Alkhawaja started a hunger strike and made it clear that he would not stop until he was released. According to his family, he has been preparing them to accept his death. Since April 23 Alkhawaja's family have had no news about him, and requests for visits have been denied by the authorities. Concern is growing, and thousands have been tweeting on the hashtag #WhereIsAlKhawaja, demanding an immediate answer from the government. Human rights organisations around the world, including Front Line Defenders, have joined the calls for information about Alkhawaja.
Khadija's tweets of love
Abdulhadi Alkhawaja and his wife Khadija Almousawi. Twitter avatar of Khadija Almousawi (@tublani2010).
Khadija Almousawi, Alkhawaja's wife, has been using her Twitter account (@tublani2010) to send messages addressed to her husband. In one tweet she mentioned her daughter Zainab, who tweets as @angryarabiya and is currently in detention after a one-woman demonstration for her father:
@tublani2010: Dear Hadi, Today we did not need to expand our dinning table. the family has shrunk. Zainab is in jail. Ur absent and missing too.
In other tweets she said:
@tublani2010: Dear Hadi, I hear officials telling me that u r ok. But i need to hear it from u. U never lie. They always do. Why cant u call me?
@tublani2010: Dear Husband: U continue ur fight for freedom from ur bed in where ever u r. If ur still here.
@tublani2010: Dear Hadi, I stand by u 100% and I will keep supporting u 100%, I just miss u. Miss ur smile, Miss ur kindness
Bahraini solidarity
Many Bahrainis have expressed their fears about the status of Alkhawaja, even those such as blogger Suhail Algosaibi who has previously debated Zainab Alkhawaja:
@SuhailAlgosaibi: If Abdulhadi passes away it will be a disaster in #bahrain. #WhereIsAlKhawaja
Bahraini cartoonist Ali Al Bazzaz has created a number of works about Alkhawaja and the one below, showing Alkhawaja with Gandhi and Mandela, has been retweeted widely.
Alkhawaja with Gandhi and Mandela. Image by @bazzaz32
Force-fed?
Maryam Alkhawaja, another of Abdulhadi's daughters who is living in exile, has expressed her fear that her father is either in a critical state or is being force-fed. She said, “I know that my father is not going to willingly drink or eat anything so if they are giving him anything it is by force.”
The debate over Alkhawaja's situation has been fueled by a recent interview with Bahrain's prime minister. He called the protesters in Bahrain terrorists, asserted that he would not tolerate Western interference in Bahrain's affairs, and said that Alkhawaja is fine and taking liquids.

author: Mona Kareem


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China and Hollywood: A Toxic Mix? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Dan Harris from China Law Blog highlights the recent discussion on Hollywood's direct investment in China and bribery scandals.

author: Oiwan Lam


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India: Protests Against the New IT Rules  · Global Voices
Rezwan

In April 2011, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of India quietly issued ‘Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules 2011’ restricting web content that are designated as “disparaging,” “harassing,” “blasphemous” or “hateful.” Rishabh Dara at The Center for Internet And Society cites the rule's chilling effects on free expression on the Internet.
Moreover, the Indian government has asked the United States to ensure that India-specific objectionable content are removed from the social networking such as Facebook, Google and YouTube. According to news reports they also want these international service providers to set up servers in India to help regulate the content locally.
We have already seen several incidents of online contents being taken down for containing ‘offensive’ content. Vinaya Naidu shares how the Mumbai Police Crime Branch put a ban on cartoonist Aseem Trivedi's website www.cartoonsagainstcorruption.com, following a complaint that his cartoons were disrespectful to the nation:
There was no legal notice, no court order, no advance warning and not even a letter/email requesting to remove the objectionable content. And this is the freedom of expression in the world’s largest democracy. Since then, Aseem has continued to fight against corruption through his blog ‘www.cartoonsagainstcorruption.blogspot.in’ which is quite under the scanner.
Save Your Voice Facebook Campaign by Aseem Trivedi and journalist Alok Dixit
The discussion forum on ‘Internet Censorship’ at Indiblogger.in captures more opinions on such threats.
Amrit Hallan writes:
To be frank, the Internet scares the shit out of them, especially after WikiLeaks, the unshackled conversations over Twitter and Facebook and social networking-supported civic unrests. And it’s not just the government; all the agencies, may it be bureaucracy, the conventional mainstream media and the old school businesses that thrive on people’s inability to communicate with each other, would like to throttle the free flow of information on the Internet. Precisely this is the reason why there is no hue and cry on TV channels on the government’s new censorship drive.
Amrit lists the threats according to the new Information Technology Guidelines notified by the government which will create an Orwellian world.
Internet Democracy project quotes Anja Kovacs talking about the background on such rule:
Since its founding, the independent Indian nation-state has wielded censorship as a tool to both contain the conflicts that emanate from India’s tremendous diversity and to ensure its homogeneous social, moral and political development. [..]
But if the advent of satellite television already revealed the vulnerabilities of this strategy, the Internet has of course made clear that in the long term, it is simply untenable. [..]
India’s use of censorship as a way to ensure national harmony has of course to some extent always had to elide, and silence, the enormous diversity within Indian society itself; censorship always benefits the status quo, and the Indian case has been no different.
This video by Internet Democracy Project shows the impact of the new IT rules:
The Indian Netizens are not sitting idle. This petition titled “MPs of India: Support the Annulment Motion to Protect Internet Freedom #stopitrules” is circling in the web and more and more citizens are signing. On April 22, several organizations and forums issued this press release which revealed:
In view of the possible deleterious effects of the Rules, the Honorable Member of Parliament, Shri P. Rajeeve has moved a statutory motion to get the aforesaid Rules annulled. This motion has been admitted and will be coming up before the Rajya Sabha during the second half of the Budget session of the parliament that starts on 24th of April, 2012.
The press release calls all MPs to support the annulment motion. In the meantime a public interest litigation, calling the amended IT rules “unconstitutional”, has been filed in Kerala.
Here is a list of more campaigns:
Protests are going in several parts of the country against the IT rule. Ashfaq reports about a protest on 21 April:
Don’t Censor Me – Pranesh. Image courtesy http://dontcensormeindia.tumblr.com/
FreeSoftware Movement Karnataka(FSMK) organized a protest to show our concern over these vaguely made laws. Blogger's, students, Teachers, IT professionals, Photographers came together in the center of the city shouting slogans and holding banners showing their apathy towards this new rule.
Protest at Karnataka. Image Courtesy Ashfaq at Just Another Coincidence. Click on the image to see more pictures.
Harshitha shares the experience:
A mass of young, energetic and vibrant youth, software engineers and bloggers voiced their opinion. Being among them I felt the power of connectivity, an air of pride, of struggle for freedom. People sang in vigor, held placards and shouted slogans to save the internet.
I really hope the Indian government keeps the democracy alive by not passing the bill.Let's all strive for betterment of the society and let freedom of expression prevail.
Freedom in a cage campaign. Image Courtesy Save Your Voice. Click on image for more pictures
Another protest by Save Your Voice titled “Freedom In A Cage” was held in April 22, in Delhi's Jantar Mantar. Check the report and the pictures at the Kafila blog.

author: Rezwan