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Taiwan: The future for the aboriginal people after Typhoon Morakot · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan Aug. 7-9, triggering the worst flooding in 50 years in southern Taiwan and leading to landslides that buried remote mountainous villages and tribal settlements. In order to speed up the post-disaster reconstruction, the Legislative Yuan passed an urgent special statute to raise a special budget on 27 of August. However, the Statue  authorizes governments at all levels to impose compulsory relocation of villages or tribal settlements from areas vulnerable to floods and landslides to safer areas. For aboriginal people, the geographical location and tribal community are crucial to the preservation of their culture and tradition, many are worried that the “compulsory relocation policy” would make their more vulnerable in the future.
Home buried in mud
imagelight visited Mashia village and reported,
橋樑房屋無一倖免，全被土石流吞噬…村裡像是剛戰爭過一樣…還有二十幾名村民被埋在土石堆裡。
由於道路不通，電力一直無法恢復…晚餐五點多就開始吃了，就是怕天色暗了夾不到菜…現在要清理道路，就是希望可以將山上的水果運送到山下去賣，順道帶幾部發電機回來。
After the typhoon, many people from other less affected aboriginal villages bring food and generators across the mountains to these isolated villages. Judie reported,
遠從宜蘭、桃園、新竹來的泰雅族勇士(包括女性)，以最簡單的提袋(ka-chi-a)綁上綿繩和塑膠水管當背包，揹著重重的民生物資，徒步越過已不成路的土石堆，進入鄒族部落。這樣的行動持續超過兩個禮拜。
The government asks the survivors to evacuate, but many of the villagers prefer to stay in the villages. Gaea explained their reasons.
居民不願下山「是擔心政府之後就不開路，我們就回不了家」…「下了山，我們就不是『居 民』，而是『難民』。」三民國中教師葉一萱指出，原住民離開部落，幾乎不受任何法律保障。
Culture and social network
In addition to material damages, the Typhoon has also destroyed aboriginal people's culture heritage. Airportman said that in Hsiaoliin village,
平埔族聚落幾乎覆滅，他們辛苦活化起來的大滿族文化、夜祭、公廨都淹沒在泥土裡。
Furthermore, for the aboriginal people who have been evacuated, gaea said they will be more vulnerable.
必須面對部落分散的狀況，對原住民來說，等同另一種毀滅。
Village relocation and Post-Disaster Recovery Statue
Coolloud, a citizen media website, discussed about the Post-Disaster Recovery Statue《莫拉克風災重建條例》:
中央政府、縣市政府得就災區安全堪慮或違法濫建之土地，劃定特定區域，限制居住或限期強迫遷居、遷村。金惠雯批評，此條文無限擴張政府權力，完全沒有原住民參與遷村決策的機制。
gaea reported that before the Post-Disaster Recovery Statue was passed
災區部落的代表與民間社團前往立院靜坐抗議…要求「強制遷村」應拿掉，以及「應取得部落同意」的訴求。
coolloud discussed the possibility of reaching a consensus:
金惠雯說，遷村議題一定要回到原住民「傳統領域」的概念，讓原住民保有傳統領域，再由原民住他們選擇安居適合的遷村地址。
The government has a mortgage plan for the survivors, but kikisweets said there are still many problems for the survivors to rebuild their home.
貸款的申請期限僅僅只有一年，意味著在一年內必須要決定該在哪居住。部落的族人依舊希望能夠返回家鄉居住，然而面對消失的土地以及外界專業學者的建議，原地重建的機會渺茫，不得不向外另尋住所…嘉蘭真正需要的是實際的經濟援助，以及未來安置上的專業規劃與建議，家園失去了，族人之間的聯繫與文化是不能失去的。
時間一天天的過去，族人們究竟該何去何從？

author: I-fan Lin


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Translator of the week: Boukary Konaté in Mali · Global Voices
Claire Ulrich

Boukary Konaté, 31, teaches French and English in a high school in Bamako, the capital of Mali.
Fate, and hard work, brought him from rural Mali to Bamako, where he discovered and fell in love with the World Wide Web.
Joining the translators team at Global Voices in French has steered him onto a new path. He is now involved in multiple projects to promote his native language, Bambara, on the Web, and to bring more Internet access to rural Mali.
If you are on the iPhone and ‘information overload’ side of the digital divide, you will appreciate that Boukary has a sobering, inspiring, and even magical story to tell in this interview.
Q: How did you discover Global Voices in French and decide to join as a translator?
It happened in December '08.
One day, around 8 PM, I was sitting alone in my room in Bamako when I was seized by the wish to learn more. The following words formed in my mind: “I want.” These are powerful words for me.
I got up, went to the cyber café, booked a computer and typed, “I want” in the Google search bar. I browsed the results and found Global Voices en français.
The next day, I enrolled as a volunteer translator.
Q: Your native village, Sanogola-Bamoussobougou, has no electricity, much less an Internet connection. Please tell us a bit about your life.
I am the son of Négué, a farmer, and Djènèba Kané, a housewife. I grew up on a farm, helping my parents. One evening, I was shepherding cows with other kids when we met a man on the road, a sergeant. His Suzuki motorcycle was broken. His name was Lassinè Traoré.
While we helped him, he asked if I went to school. I said “No”. He went to see my father and advised him to send me to school. For weeks, he came back, until my father gave his consent.  Sergeant Traoré told me, “There I leave you. You now have the duty to do well at school to honor me, and later to take care of yourself and your parents.”
I walked six kilometers to the nearest school for years until I moved to Bamako to attend high school. I did bricklayer work and odd jobs on week-ends to make ends meet with my state grant. My mother wanted me to succeed in school, she did everything in her power.
I went on to teachers’ school. I would have liked to go to university, but I don't have the means for that. So I trained myself to use a computer and surf from cyber cafés in Bamako. The Web soothed my thirst for knowledge.
Boukary (left) and his father with a picture of him in hunting gear. Photo: Toujours Pas Sages, on Flickr
Q: How well is Mali connected to the internet nowadays?
Mali has done a lot to promote new technologies in government administration, but there’s a lot left to do to connect people, especially in rural areas.
The interest in new technologies is huge, but people cannot access them. The cost of personal computers, training and Internet connections are too high. A new laptop costs that equivalent of six months of a teacher's wages.
In Bamako, an hour in a cyber café costs around 500 CFA francs (USD $1) or even 1000 CFA francs in smaller towns. Compare this to the price of a 50kg bag of rice, which is 17.500 CFA francs (around US $38) it's well beyond the means of most people.
Q: You've not only started blogging since you joined Global Voices, but you blog in Bambara!
It so happened that Maneno.org, a blogging platform for Africa co-founded by Global Voices’ author and translator Elia Varela Serra needed African translators. I speak and write in Bambara, a major language in Mali.
Bambara has special type fonts [see this post] and no keyboard. We overcame this problem with a virtual keyboard. I localized the platform in Bambara and opened my blog, Fasokan. I blog in Bambara and French about Mali, the problems of farmers, and my thoughts.
It is now my great wish to promote African languages on the Web, so that African people can relate and share across the continent. In rural Mali, many people speak and learn to write only Bambara in elementary school. I want them to be able to access the web  in Bambara too.
Boukary trains villagers in Mali to use the Internet. Photo: Toujours Pas Sages on Flickr
Q: That dream came true this summer?
My dream was to bring the Internet to my village, to introduce my family and the farmers to the Web. Through Global Voices in French, I met Albertine Meunier, who conducts internet workshops with senior citizens in France. We launched the Toujours Pas Sages (Still not wise) project on Maneno, in French and Bambara. Thanks to Fondation Orange Mali, we got a mobile Internet connection for remote places.
With donated laptops and camera phones, Albertine, her friend Caroline and I trained children and grown-ups for two weeks in Ségou and my village to use Google to find information, and use the Web to upload digital photos and videos. The villagers were so surprised that they could read and write in Bambara on the Web! It was a great success.
My father is a hunter and was very curious about hunters in America and how they hunt. On Google, he finally discovered what they looked like. And we also learned that it is possible to charge a mobile phone with a dynamo hooked to a bicycle.
Now, we are going to try and train my pupils in Bamako.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Claire Ulrich


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UAE: On Japan  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From the UAE, Al Mobde3 Al Arabi (The Arab Innovator) [ar] shares his thoughts on Japan in this post.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Africa: Preventing blackmail and extortion against gays · Global Voices
Haute Haiku

Blackmail and extortion has proven to be a lucrative business towards gay people in Africa. Internet scams have become rampant as more gays are trying to come to terms with their sexuality.
The “unfamiliar gays” or the “newly coming out” are the target for this activity as they are lured into what is referred to as a “honey trap.” This is when unsuspecting persons are lured into dark alleys or traps with promises of sex or sexual favors, but actually meet with wicked characters who threaten, blackmail and sometimes assault.
This always starts with visits to the internet in search of love on dating websites, without suspecting that the alluring profiles on most of the sites are fake.
Easy Track Ghana suspects that the majority of these profiles are fake:
On international gay chat sites, there are a disproportionate number of young men from Ghana professing to search for true love. Many people get excited when first reading all the lovely gay profiles professing a search for romantic love. Well, none of it is true! Let us be direct and say that 98% of these guys online do not rank above a 3 on the Kinsey Scale of Human Sexuality. Only a small 2% of the guys on these gay chat sites are ‘gay’ in the sense you think of it in the West.
A page on Squidoo has:
If you look at the online dating sites, you will notice that many of the guys from Ghana claim to be as young as 18. Many of these people are not actually gay. The ones that are, may not be genuinely looking for what they claim. The pictures are often fake and their profiles may well be copied from other peoples.
Due to the governments’ inability to counter assault and blackmail towards people of different sexual orientation, some bloggers have taken matters into their own hands to protect their own by shining a spotlight on the fakers.
An online movement against scammers
A blog called Fakers2Go deals solely with the extortionists who trap their unsuspecting victims in houses and then show up with the police or gang who strip the victim naked.
Fakers2Go
The blackmailers work in groups; with the police and cyber café owners whose main aim is to squeeze the slightest cash from foreigners and the rich just because they can:
In Ghana, On-line criminals are targeting men who have sex with men (MSMs). They aim to extort money through kidnapping, violence and use of Ghana's archaic colonial law.
As homosexuality is illegal in Ghana, MSM's have no protection under the law and reporting a crime can lead to the victim being criminalised.
Furthermore, the police often work with the criminals to extort money and therefore cannot be trusted.
Easy Track Ghana writes:
Just remember, this is a business here. At many Internet cafes there will be 3 or 4 African boys working together, each having multiple chats with foreigners. This is the reason the chat and profiles all sound so similar. Some people are illiterate and hire typists who move from computer to computer answering chat messages. They work together to help each other formulate responses to questions in chats and email. They cut-and-paste sweet love.
Even more shocking though, there are some Internet cafes that are *completely* devoted to this type of activity. It is truly a business, with finders fees paid for arranging a meeting with a foreigner, and 11 and 12 year old year-old boys watching pornography en masse and learning how to chat ‘gay’. On the Internet, anybody can be anything, so you really do not know who you are chatting with.
Gay Ghana warns visitors to Ghana:
Dating sites are the most frequently used ways to meet a (potential) lover or gay guide in a foreign country. At sites like Outpersonals or Gaydar you will find that Ghana is the country in Africa with the most registered hopefuls. No other country in Africa has so many boys and men looking for a partner on Outpersonals with picture (often naked) than Ghana. Does this mean Ghana is the Gay paradise in Africa? No…! It may mean that there are plenty young men desperate enough to seek greener pastures elsewhere, whilst developed enough to have access to the internet and a digital camera.
GALCK, a Kenyan website, has a post titled, “Have you ever been blackmailed?” where they try to tally the amount of money Kenyan gays have been dishing out to the fakers in return for their silence. Gays are vulnerable and scared of the stigma from workmates, neighbors, friends because they know that their are life would be in danger and profession would wither under the glare of a homophobic community.
GALCK claims that blackmailers ask for as much as KSH 2,000,000 (approx $25,000) and as little as KSH 500 ($6)…
Have you ever been blackmailed because of your sexual orientation, or know someone who has? GALCK would like to establish the true cost of being Gay in Kenya. Blackmail and extortion are the twin crimes that afflict the LGBTI community in Kenya today, but majority of the cases are never reported. By compiling this report we shall be able to establish the extent and total cost of what we have paid to “keep the silence.”
From the stories we have gathered so far, our people have paid from Kshs. 500 to Kshs. 2,000 000. The latter having paid only a month ago. Let us join and compile this report – we shall not use real names, unless you want us to. You may also write your story down, and email it to  info [at] galck.org, if you do not want to come in person. Call us on +254-20-2426060 to arrange an interview.
Some basic safety advice
How do you identify the fakers on the net? Most write with horrible grammar. It is reported that most are illiterate and rely on typists who are hired to do the dirty work. Over-disclosure: they profess their love to you and narrate their background, a family member who needs a hair or nail transplant. At the first meeting, they ask for money even before you know them:
Any person who comes at you with instant love is a faker or a scammer. The instant love they feel for you is love for the opportunity that you present and the money you have. The scams sound sincere, but all involve you sending money. Even if you are a poor person in your country, you are a very rich person by comparison to most of your African chat buddies. This disparity in wealth profoundly affects any relationship you develop.
Safety Tips from Fakers2Go:
How not to get beaten up and robbed
Take great care when meeting people on line. Below are some of the things scammers have said to people when arranging to meet them:
Sometimes they might text you a sexy message and ask you to respond. If you text back something sexual they can use that as evidence against you with the police. Yahoo chats and your online photos can also be used as evidence.
GALCK says that the first question a blackmailer asks any unfamiliar gay is whether they’ve heard of GALCK, if response is yes, they leave in a huff:
Secondly spread this information around to your networks. In fact every time you meet a new person, ask him or her if she/he knows about GALCK. This has two advantages, one – if your friend does not know about GALCK, s/he gets to know about our activities which s/he may find helpful some day. Secondly, GALCK is now the code word to ward off blackmailers. Indeed I have been told, the first question blackmailers ask their potential victims nowadays is if they know of GALCK. Do yourself and your friends a service, lets all spread the word, and especially the GALCK contacts so that our people can not just feel but actually be protected at all times.
In addition to having a recreational center library, movie sessions, forums and discussions on men who have sex with men (MSM) and gay pride events (CSWs), they have people who defend the gays and they stress that every lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered or any queer identified persons should have their phone number saved on their phones….
Here is what to do when confronted with challenging circumstances.
First of all, we should all save this number in our phones – 020-2426060. This is the GALCK number, GALCK will always rush to your defence when confronted by difficult legal situations regarding your sexuality. And this includes even when you have been caught in the ‘very act’ – especially if you have been caught in the act. So comrades, shed off the fear!

author: Haute Haiku


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ASEAN Basketball League · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The ASEAN Basketball League was recently launched in Manila, Philippines. Basketball is a popular sports in the Southeast Asian region.

author: Mong Palatino


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Azerbaijan: The importance of life · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

In the time of butterflies, a new English-language blog from Azerbaijan, contemplates the importance of life after an incident with an abandoned kitten. The blogger says that the battle she witnessed as the kitten struggled to escape death made her realize why the sanctity of life is more important than anything.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bahrain: We Have Our Own Idiots · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Bahraini blogger Flymenian wonders about the use of foreign labour in Bahrain: “I'm not here to say that foreigners are all bad and we do not need them, I'm simply saying instead of importing idiots to fill stupid positions why can't we employ our own idiots; at least they are local and it is good for the economy.”

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Bangladesh: Free Bus Service For Retail Consumers · Global Voices
Rezwan

Shehzaad Shams at Bangladesh Corporate Blog wonders about the unwritten dress code in some retail stores in Dhaka, Bangladesh and proposes that these shops should introduce free public transport services to make their shops more accessible to the consumers who do not have their own vehicles.

author: Rezwan


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Bermuda: Labour Day  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bermuda Jewel wishes everyone a happy Labour Day!

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bhutan: Women As Executives · Global Voices
Rezwan

As a matriarchal society Bhutan has the least amount of discrimination against women among all the countries in South Asia. Considering that Tshering Tobgay wonders why Bhutanese women are not usually seen in the executive role or in any top position.


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Brunei: Disaster preparedness · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Brunei Doctors Mess Club asks if the country is prepared to answer disaster calls.


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Brunei: Holiday allowances for doctors · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Brunei Doctors Mess Club lists the holiday allowances and other benefits which are due for Brunei doctors.


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China: Tanks roll in Beijing · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Imagethief noticed the symbolic shift on tanks roll in Beijing city through the military parade celebrating the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Yunnan Naked Girl Seeking Justice · Global Voices
Jennifer Zhang

Recently, “Yunnan Naked Girl” has become one of the hottest topic in the Chinese Internet world. A 21-year old girl, Peng Chunping decided to post her nude photos online in order to draw attention and help from the society. ESWN has translated a full report from Southern Weekend on the background of this girl, her petition journey and what she had been through in her “nude protest”.
According to Southern Weekend's story, Peng was an orphan whose father was sentenced to death penalty in 2000 because of murder and her mother left the village for work on the same year. In 2003, when Peng was 15-year old, she started her journey to find her mother. She returned 2 years later and found that her household registration and house had been taken away. She blamed her family misery to local government's oppression and started her petition journey.
She wrote blog, called major media, paid petition visit to county and provincial government and finally reached Beijing in June 2008. There she heard of the story of FurongJiejie or Sister Lotus – how she became famous by posting photos online. Since then she has published three sets of nude photos and attracted some media attention. Of course the focus was not in her injustice. Some reporters even directly or discretely indicated to her that her “injustice” were not valid. She would get angry and blame the reporters. The most recent development was about her sexual relation with a Yunnan reporter, who eventually disappointed her in his report on her story.
There are many doubts about the credibility of Peng's story, for example, some comments on her personal blogsaid:
如果是一件客观真实的事情，逻辑上是不会出现这么多可笑甚至荒谬的结构的。你说的东西可能是真的，但是那成分少得可怜。
A  Netease netizen  even questioned her intention:
彭春平就是想骗钱……她在我们这里就是做小姐的，到处骗男人的钱！
However some do take Peng's story seriously with sympathy as it told us a lot about the China society in the grassroots level, in particular the failure of grassroots social welfare. yghren pointed out that even she had psychological problem, the society should help her:
假如她确实是无理取闹，假如她确实有神经病，我们、我们的政府、我们的妇联就看着她自生自灭吗？
In the comment section of her blog Liu Xu, a Sichuan netizen who had suffered from the earthquake also blessed her:
祝福你像四川人承受地震灾害一样坚强不屈，与坏人斗争到底！！！相信胜利一定属于正义的，也是属于你的！！！！！！！！
The role and ethics of the media was again brought under the spotlight. A blog  written by 静夜思（Calm Night Thoughts） response to Southern Weekend’s coverage discussed why the girl is willing to post her nude photos on line and fall victims to vicious people again and again.
那 什么是彭少女想要获取的东西呢？答案只有一个：就是记者掌握的话语权、媒体具备的社会影响力！彭少女一年前贴出裸照上演“裸女寻母”时就说的很清楚：为了 制造轰动效应，为了引起更多的人们的关注！ 一年之后，彭少女之所以愿意献身记者，可能是因为其渐渐明白：自己打打闹闹固然可以声名大噪，但这又能如何？想要真正地吸引眼球、让社会各界知晓自己，还 得借助记者、媒体。因为记者掌握着自己不具备的话语权、媒体具备着自己永远无法企及的社会影响力。

author: Jennifer Zhang


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Cuba: Political Conscience · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Uncommon Sense focuses the spotlight on one of many political prisoners who cannot attend the Juanes concert, saying: “Hopefully, Juanes will…come to understand that without justice for him and other Cubans imprisoned because of their commitment to their consciences, there will be no peace in Cuba.”


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Ecuador: Guayaquil Plans to Produce Biogas from Waste · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

With the amount of organic waste produced in the municipality of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Xavier Márquez of Tecnodatum [es] reports that the local government has solicited bids in order to use the waste to produce biogas.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Egypt: Tune in to the Naglaa El Emam Show · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

Naglaa El Emam, a lawyer and head of a human rights organization, was first seen on TV claiming to be Noha Roshdy's lawyer when sexual harasser Sherif Gommaa was sentenced to three years behind bars, hard labor, and was also ordered to pay 5,001 Egyptian pounds fine to Noha Roshdy Saleh for groping her in the street.
This is the same Naglaa El Emam who decided to appeal in favor of the harasser Sherif Gommaa after she found out that Noha Roshdy was born in Jaffa and carries an Israeli passport.
We are still talking about the same Naglaa El Emam who invited Arab youth to sexually harass and rape Israeli women as a form of resistance.
Naglaa El Emam made headlines again when she converted to Christianity and changed her name to Catherine. Hazeena 3ala Masr (Sad for Egypt) wrote:
She wonders:
She concludes:
Naglaa El Emam was prevented from leaving Egypt until her lawyer appealed, Hazeena reports

author: Marwa Rakha


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Grenada: Bishops Killers Scheduled for Release · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Repeating Islands reports that the last of the “Grenada 17″, convicted for the murders of then-Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and ten others, “were scheduled to be freed as early as this past Saturday after serving nearly three decades in prison.”


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Guadeloupe: Erika Delays School · Global Voices
Fabienne Flessel

The first day of school was seriously challenged by Tropical Storm Erika: les Cantin en Guadeloupe [FR] expresses fear as the alert levels are raised, Critiqart Guadeloupe [FR] can't see the need for delaying the first day of school because of some rain and wind, and Shakazulu [FR CR] thinks that having school resume in early September doesn't take the local climate into account.

author: Fabienne Flessel


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India: Teachers Day · Global Voices
Rezwan

September 5 was celebrated as the national teachers’ day in India for the appreciation of teachers or Gurus. “One most important thing that is inherently Indian, is the respect given to Gurus in India,” informs Uber Desi.


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Indonesia: A generous president? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Martin insists that the Indonesian president has claimed that he donated 58.8 percent of his total personal wealth for the victims of the 7.0 strong earthquake that rocked Java last week.


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Indonesia earthquake: Donations still needed · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Donations are still needed in Indonesia as the number of homeless residents continues to rise after a 7.0 strong earthquake rocked Java last week.


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Iran: A political prisoner’s daughter was arrested · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Alefba, an Iranian blogger, reports  [fa] that Atefeh Imam, a political prisoner's 19 years old daughter was arrested to increase pressure on her father, Javad Imam.The blogger asked other Iranian bloggers to support this girl.[ she was released after 24 hours]

author: Fred Petrossian


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Japan: Deconstructing Gundam · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

Bloggers ARM1475 and R360 went to photograph the deconstruction work that has begun for the gigantic model of Mobile Suit Gundam in Odaiba, Tokyo. The attraction welcomed 4.15 million visitors in six weeks. Its next destination is undecided.

author: Tomomi Sasaki


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Martinique: Gas Station Assault · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Repeating Islands republishes writer Raphaël Confiant's account of his experience of “physical aggression at a service station in Martinique.”


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Morocco: Child Labor Under the Spotlight  · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Zineb Chtit in hospital
A young girl is suffering in a hospital, bruised and beaten. Sent to work as a domestic servant at the age of 10, Zineb Chtit knew no other life than the one she had, working for affluent employers who beat her and refused her food.  As A Moroccan About the World Around Him described her injuries in a recent post:
Zainab looked emaciated. Her body was bruised and bleeding from beatings. She was branded on her lips with a red-hot iron. She was burned with boiling oil on her chest and private areas. She was illiterate. She never experienced the joy of playing with friends. Her future was decided for her: trudge around the mill till the day she dies. And a few days ago, she almost did.
Unfortunately, Zineb's story is far from unique.  Morocco has 177,000 child workers under 15 years of age, 66,000 of whom work as domestic servants.  And although Morocco is party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, its minimum working age remains at 12, with minimal restrictions in place.  Numerous reports as to the mistreatment of domestic servants have been made, such as this one by Tingis editor Anouar Majid.  And yet, driven by poverty, families continue to sell their daughters to the highest bidder, to work as servants, sometimes around the clock.  Blogger Sarah Alaoui tells of the plight of most young maids:
These poverty-stricken, uneducated women come from villages on the outskirts of Moroccan cities and have no choice but to provide for their families and children by taking jobs as maids for the country’s most ostentatious citizens. The stigma of poverty they are branded with at birth is further emphasized by this symbolic occupation—maids are to be seen and not heard. They work behind-the-scenes—similar to the house elves in J.K. Rowling’s famous wizarding series.
There are many families in Morocco who attempt to provide a home and not just a workplace for their maids. My grandmother has always made sure her maids’ children received an education alongside her own children and grandchildren—during the time her mother worked in my grandmother’s house, Naima went to the same school as my cousin. Unfortunately, it is safe to say that most people in the country do not provide the same earnest care to their maids.
A report [FR] in La Vie éco states that both the husband and wife who had employed Zineb will be charged with a crime, but as blogger Reda Chraibi suggests, more change must occur, and soon.  In a detailed post [FR], the blogger offers a proposal to prevent families from sending their young girls to work.  A piece of the proposal:
Accorder des aides sociales aux familles les plus pauvres afin qu’elles ne soient pas contraintes de faire travailler les enfants au lieu des le envoyer à l’école. La scolarité pour cette catégorie de la société devrait être totalement gratuite tant pour l’enseignement que pour l’équipement scolaire. A ce propos, l’opération de distribution de cartables équipés est une bonne initiative qui devrait être étendue dans tout le Royaume.
Donner à l’Association « Touche pas à mon enfant » (touche pas à mes enfants) ou à une institution publique le droit de recenser et de contrôler le travail des enfants servantes, le droit d’entrer dans les maisons pour discuter avec elles et vérifier si elles sont traitées dignement. Encourager leur éducation et leur alphabétisation. Ouvrir et faire connaitre un centre d’accueil pour les enfants servantes qui veulent fuir d’urgence le foyer dans lequel elles travaillent, afin que plus aucune Zineb Chtet n’èrre dans la rue dans le sang en demandant l’aide d’inconnus…
A Moroccan About the World Around Him concludes his post with a quote:
I am reminded of a speech Mr. Eliezer “Elie” Wiesel gave at the White House in 1999 “The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees — not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in denying their humanity, we betray our own.”

author: Jillian C. York


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Myanmar: Flying Buddhist Monk? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

This short video from Myanmar leads viewers to wonder whether the clip shows a UFO sighting or a flying Buddhist monk.


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Myanmar: “I’m your doll” phrase  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Dawn translates a song from Myanmar in English and explains that the “I'm your doll” part of the lyrics is a popular phrase in the country.


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Nepal: The not so pristine Himalayas · Global Voices
Lester Bolicenni

On travel blog Worldhum, Joanna Kakissis reports that climate-change watchdog group Eco Everest has created a successful new “cash for trash” program that rewards climbers for the waste they bring down from Mount Everest.

author: Lester Bolicenni


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Nigeria: New Submarine Internet Cable Lands in Lagos · Global Voices
Rebekah Heacock

The arrival of the GLO-1 submarine cable in Lagos this weekend has West African bloggers excited.  GLO-1 connects Nigeria and 13 other West African countries to the global telecommunications system via Europe, bringing new bandwidth to the region.
GLO-1 is Africa's newest submarine cable.
Map via Many Possibilities.
In late July, damage to the SAT-3 cable — which until last weekend was Nigeria's only link to the global communications system — crippled bank services and Internet access throughout the country.  Approximately 70 percent of the country's bandwidth was affected.
According to the Chief Operating Officer of Globacom Limited, which financed the GLO-1 project, the new system will be able to meet all of Nigeria's broadband needs for the next 15 to 20 years.  Bloggers are looking forward to faster speeds and cheaper and more reliable access.
From Cameroon, Bill Zimmerman writes:
The cable is expected to drive down broadband costs and provide faster and more robust connectivity for voice, data and video services. The technology sector in West Africa stands to benefit from Glo-1 as companies will be able to communicate more easily with clients and partners overseas. It equally holds promise to open Internet access to individuals and small businesses who’ve been unable to afford connections of their own.
For Yomi Adegboye of Mobility Nigeria, the improvements GLO-1 promises can't come soon enough:
Before now, the entire country depended on only the SAT-3 cable under the monopoly of NITEL for cost-efficient high-speed access. Industry watchers have been in expectation of Glo-1 for months now, as its launch will undoubtedly impact on the cost and delivery of high-speed internet access in Nigeria.
Now that Glo-1 is here, when exactly do we begin to enjoy the services?
GLO-1 is unique in that is the world's first privately owned submarine cable.  Theresa Carpenter Sondjo of Appfrica explains:
Most undersea cables, including the SAT-3 that currently connects West Africa to the rest of the world, are built by consortiums of private and public (national) companies. Glo-1 is unusual because it was financed entirely by Nigeria’s GlobalCom….  Nigeria currently depends on the NITEL monopoly for access to its own SAT-3 landing station and buys extra bandwidth from neighboring Benin.
Munashe Gumbonzvanda of TechMasai adds:
The interesting thing about the cable is that unlike other ventures like Seacom [Editor's Note: Seacom, a cable connecting the eastern African coastline to Europe and Asia, went live in July 2009], this venture was entirely financed by Glo alone. The consequences of the Glo-1 are major, but will probably take a while to take effect.  This as with Seacom is a great moment for African technological innovation and development.

author: Rebekah Heacock


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Palestine: A Change Of Language · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

In Gaza, Abu el Sharif has decided to start blogging in English instead of Arabic: “I really need to be more rude, and talk a little more about the shit we live here, without thinking too much about the results!”


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Palestine: Settlers Attack Shepherds · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

In the West Bank, Samuel Nichols has taken a video of Israeli settlers using a sling to hurl stones at Palestinian shepherds.


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Philippines: Covering Books with Plastic · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

The KyusiReader looks at why Filipinos love to cover books with plastic.

author: Karlo Mongaya


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Sri Lanka: Bloggers Protest Journalist’s Sentence · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sri Lankan bloggers are protesting the 20 years sentence of journalist J.S. Tissainayagam, who wrote critical views of the Sri Lankan government. Ajith P. Perera at Dare To Be Different posts a roundup of bloggers’ reactions.


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Taiwan: Deaflympics open in Taipei · Global Voices
David Reid

The Deaflympics began with the opening ceremony in Taipei on Saturday night and the sporting events began on Sunday. Bartek reports on a volleyball match. Brian Webb reports on the friendly vibe at the main stadium.

author: David Reid


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Thailand: Amnesty criticised on lese majeste issue · Global Voices
David Reid

The issue of lese majeste is again in the news following the 18 year prison sentence given to Daranee Chanchoengsilpakul. International human rights groups including Amnesty International have come under criticism for their failure to take sufficient action in lese majeste cases. Political Prisoners in Thailand says that Amnesty should be ashamed of its position on the issue. Bangkok Pundit also criticises Amnesty's response.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Commission Off Track?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As the Commission of Inquiry into the Construction Sector in Trinidad and Tobago is postponed because of a legal oversight with regard to gazetting, This Beach Called Life comments: “This latest incident shows the people either how smart manish this Government really is and everybody knows a smart manish Government could never be good for the many…”, while Jumbie's Watch is concerned “that money is spent wantonly and wastefully…”


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Afganistan: Universities and master programs · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Afghan PenLog explains why universities in Afghanistan are not academically prepared to offer master programs.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Afghanistan: Animal House in Kabul · Global Voices
Joshua Foust

Tim Lynch, an American security contractor in Afghanistan, used to work with the now-fired security guards at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. He says:
“The problem with the current guard force is that they are on a sh** contract.  Ignore the money value published in the papers – that number is for five years executed at full value which is impossible to do .  Armor Group North America is losing big money on  that job and they are about to lose a lot more.  I was asked by a few companies to consult on their bids for it back in 2006 and my answer was always the same – don’t bid because if you win you’ll lose money. There were requirements in the contract that could not be filled”.
Even if western contracts for the Embassy seem daunting, there remains a curious sense of excess in much of Kabul. Hameesha writes of her organization trying to find a new office building outside the gaudy, rich districts of the capital, and how incredible some of the buildings are:
Another [house] came with furnishings that featured some of the best buzkashi and persian miniature artwork and nooristani woodwork, but the owner had an aversion to renting it out for office space. he preferred for it to be an ambassador’s residence. all houses came with standard issue manicured lawns, rich garden of roses and patonias, double-glass panelled vacuummed windows (ideal insulation for kabul winters), complete internet installations or at the very least lan wiring to all rooms, plenty of parking, and the ubiquitous fences over the walls complete with concertina wiring. one had an automated fire alarm and sprinkler system (unheard of in Kabul) and central heating and climate control mechanisms.
The relative decadence of Kabul makes for a sharp contrast with the goings-on in other areas of the country. Kabul Perspective notes that in the south of Afghanistan, the counter-narcotics campaign is failing:
Most poppy crops are cultivated in five southern militancy-hit provinces where Taliban have been challenging the writ of the Afghan Government making a strong comeback after they were ousted by the US-led forces. Over 50% of the total production is just cultivated in Helmand province, the heartland of Taliban militancy stronghold.
Similarly, Danger Room notes that in Kandahar, a drug raid netted a bit more than some drugs and maybe a smuggler or two:
The operation, which took place on July 18 in the Argestan District of Kandahar Province, resulted in the arrest of Border Police Commander Shar Shahin. The operation kicked off after Shahin was lured to Kandahar Airfield, where he was placed under arrest, along with five bodyguards. Once the mission was triggered, a task force that included a DEA Foreign-deployed Advisory and Support Team and members of Afghanistan’s National Interdiction Unit, set out for its objective, a compound suspected of being used as a drug storage point.
Things in Kandahar remain tense. Alex Strick van Linschoten, one of the only independent writers living full-time in Kandahar, writes on his Twitter feed that, weeks after the election's violence in the city, there are still shoot-outs between western forces and local militants. He even posted video:
Trouble is not limited to the south of the country. Just east of Kabul, the second-highest intelligence official for the country, Dr. Abdullah, was killed by a suicide bomber in Laghman province. Tim Lynch has posted some pictures of the aftermath in Mehtar Lam.

author: Joshua Foust


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Afghanistan: Contractors and warfare · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nick Fielding analyzes the Congressional Research Service report on contractors in Afghanistan and notes that there are some fascinating material on the economic shape of modern warfare.


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Afghanistan: Conversation with soldier · Global Voices
Joshua Foust

Captain's Cat, an aid worker in Gardez City, posts a conversation with a young American soldier, where he expresses exasperation at the way Afghan culture works, and admits he only joined the Army to pay for college.


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Afghanistan: Mystery of the missing opium crop · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nick Fielding tries to understand why and how, according to the Afghan Opium Survey from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime report, the bottom is starting to fall out of the Afghan opium market with opium cultivation down 22%, production down by 10% and prices at a ten-year low.


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Afghanistan: Protecting People or Bombing Hospitals? · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust reports that U.S. forces bombed a hospital in Paktika Province because the hospital was treating a Taliban commander. Moreover, the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan claimed the Americans attacked one of their clinics as well.


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Afghanistan: U.S Army – To Stay or Not to Stay · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Safrang reviews the recent opinions on Afghanistan, the new strategic assessment of the counter-insurgency measures and anticipations of the upcoming review of the strategy this fall.


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Bahamas: International Literacy Day  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bahamian bloggers Womanish Words and tings mash dedicate their posts to the marking of UNESCO’s International Literacy Day.


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Bangladesh: To Get An Indian Visa · Global Voices
Rezwan

Kowshik describes the painful ordeal a Bangladeshi has to go through to get an Indian tourist visa from Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.


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Barbados: Hearings on Tourist Murder Begin · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As the preliminary hearing into the murder of tourist Terry Schwarzfeld begins (to no local press coverage), Barbados Free Press says it is a “poor show all around by our police, government and tourism authorities.”


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Bermuda: Gambling Shooting  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As a Bermudian man fights for his life after being shot at a gambling event, Catch a fire, who is “particularly concerned about the prevalance of organised gambling”, also acknowledges the bigger issue: “We currently live in an increasingly atomistic society, a collection of households rather than a neighbourhood, workers instead of co-workers. We increasingly surrender to the bystander effect and an idea that ‘its not my problem’.”


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China: Crowdsourcing subtitle translations · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Activist Tan Zuoren, little-known outside China, is the inspiration for a new documentary from artist Ai Weiwei and his Sugar Jar posse. Featuring civil rights lawyers Liu Xiaoyuan and Pu Zhiqiang, Chinese netizens have since begun transcribing and translating subtitles for the film.

author: John Kennedy


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China: New real-name requirement · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Rebecca MacKinnon from Rconversation discussed the implementation of real name registration in online discussion and pointed out that the system, started from South Korea, is becoming a global trend.


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China: Wal-Mart Workers Beat Customer To Death · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translated a local news story about 5-6 a 37-year old woman customer beaten to death by 5-6 Wal-Mart workers in Jingdezhen plaze, at Jiansi province.


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Colombia: Medellín Celebrates its Festival of Flowers · Global Voices
Cati Restrepo

Each year when August arrives, the city of Medellín, Colombia turns into a Festival of Flowers in every sense of the word.  Cultural activities take place in the city's museums and parks, and numerous musical orchestras play concerts around the city. There is also a parade of antique cars that make up part of the schedule of events enjoyed by residents and visitors.  However, one of the main attractions is the parade of “silleteros” (flower carriers), who are peasants that move throughout the city to showcase the large variety of Colombian flowers.
Photo of Silleta Flower Display by Jota Estrada and used under a Creative Commons license.
The “silletas” are works of art created by the silleteros, and have become the defining symbol for the Festival of the Flowers [es]. During the last days of this event, close to 500 flower displays parade through the city on the shoulders of the silleteros, showing the color and size of these flowers cultivated by the peasants of Santa Elena, a municipality located one hour of travel time from the city of Medellín.
During the 2009 version of the Festival of the Flowers that took place from July 31 to August 9, people around the world followed along with the events through the official blog. On the blog, the festival administrators give the overall festival organization, events, attendance, security, and hotel occupancy high marks [es].
Photo of Silletero with flower display on his back by Felimartinez
However, festival organizers also recognized some things that can be improved upon [es], including some complaints about the high prices of admission for some tours, which were not well attended.  There was also some disorder with the organization of some events:
Aunque las cifras entregadas hablan del éxito de la fiesta, este año la ‘mala nota’ la sacaron la noche de silleteros en Santa Elena y el desorden en el Desfile de Carros Antiguos.
Blogger Xady of Expresate [es] writes about the city traffic that was affected by the closing of the principal avenues in order to accommodate the thousands of residents of Medellín, other Colombians and foreign visitors who enjoyed the multitude of events:
Para realizar algunos eventos o en su defecto muchos eventos la alcaldía y la secretaría de tránsito optan por cerrar vías que son muy utilizadas por otras personas que no están en los eventos agendados, generando así una congestión vehicular o una aglomeración en el transporte público tal como el metro que es la vía más rápida cuando hay este tipo de problemas en las calles.
Aparte de todo esto, en el evento de arrieros, mulas y fondas suele suceder que hay demasiadas riñas y peleas y adivinen el motivo, las mujeres o simplemente el trago. Generando así una cara negativa de la feria de las flores.
In order to put on some events or many events, the Mayor's office and the Transit Secretary chose to close some roads that are used heavily by other people who are not attending the planned events, which creates a vehicular congestion or an agglomeration in some forms public transportation, such as the metro which is the fastest way to move when there are these types of problems in the streets.
In addition, in the event of the carriers, mules, and fondas (bars), there are often many conflicts and fights and guess why, women or simply alcohol. This creates a negative side of the Festival of the Flowers.
Even with the things that went right and went wrong, the Festival of Flowers sought to unite the city through a tradition that started in 1957, after the peasants had been coming down to the city of Medellín with flowers on their back in order to sell them. Here are some highlights of the 2009 version of the Festival of Flowers produced by the festival organizers:

author: Cati Restrepo


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Egypt: Two Coptic Orthodox Church Channels · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

After a series of failed attempts to launch a television channel for the Coptic faith in Egypt over the past 15 years, two channels were authorized and four more are in the pipeline.
In 2005, The Free Copts Blog celebrated Aghapy TV – from the Coptic word for “love” –  as the first ever television channel in Egypt to broadcast programs with a purely Christian outlook.
It's been a long time in the making, but the first Coptic television network, Aghapy TV, broadcast its first program Tuesday to audiences in the United States. Under the auspice of Pope Shenouda III, the Heliopolis-based network aims to bring the teachings of the Coptic Church, through liturgies, Bible studies, children's programming and more, into the homes of Copts worldwide. “The channel is under the guidance of Pope Shenuda III himself, who appointed a general committee of 13 bishops,” Aghapy executive director Father Bishoy al-Antony said. He said the channel would be run out of a convent northeast of Cairo.
Khawater reported that finally (September 2009) the channel gained the license to start airing
Arab Church Forum celebrated the second channel
Bikya Masr blogged about a call for a joint religious channel in Egypt:
The rise of religious oriented television channels has become part of the framework of Egyptian society, but a recent effort by controversial Coptic Christian lawyer Naguib Gorbail, the President of the Egyptian Federation for Human Rights, hopes to end this separation of religious ideology. He announced this past week that he will submit a proposal to Al-Azhar’s Grand Sheikh Sayyed Tantawi and Coptic Pope Shonouda to form a joint religious channel.
He says the aim of the channel would be “to address common issues of the Muslims and Copts, as soon as the end of the month of Ramadan.” … He explained that another motive behind this proposal is the existence of satellite channels that call for religious extremism and limits its programs to one religion, either Islam or Christianity and “these channels demean the other religion, whether Islam and Christianity.”


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Egypt: US “Activist” Travis Randall Deported · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

On his blog, Travis Randall describes himself as
… a nomad – in Cairo for the last 2+ years. Other places that feel like home include Azerbaijan, London and Denver. I have the freedom to wander, explore and see what the world will offer a young man with a resolution to take chances and try to leave places changed – either through meaningful relationships or bringing justice or healing to the vulnerable and hurting. I have the most legendary family I could ask for, each a hero or heroine in their own right. I am overly blessed to be part of so many wonderful lives and stories.
Hossam El Hamalawy reported the news of Travis's detention and deportation
Travis Randall, a US citizen and one of the activists involved in the To Gaza March, has been stopped by the police at Cairo’s International Airport, arriving from London. His laptop has been confiscated, and he awaits deportation. (You may notice there are increasing cases of police stealing laptops of passengers in airports. Remember, schools r starting soon, and those poor pigs also have kids who deserve some Back2School gifts.)
The US Embassy in Cairo, as usual, did nothing… and I’d be interested in hearing what Mr. Yes-We-Can in DC has to say about this.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) issued the following statement highlighting the fact that
Assuming that the authorities have the right to stop the blogger from entering Egypt though he is accused of nothing, they have absolutely no right to seize his laptop and prevent him from making phone calls. This is an intolerable abuse.
Currently in London, Travis blogged about his experience saying:
The night before last I was deported (technically denied entry) when I tried to return home to Egypt, where I’ve happily been living for a bit over two and half years. If you’re in the friend or family category looking for an update, I’m fine and well – if not just a bit surprised and saddened by the potential ramifications this may have on my plans to return to Egypt and the work and life that I love there.
Travis stated that his last blog post was a couple of years back and his only “activist” act was the Gaza March
As far as the story goes – no one told me why I was denied access to the country – and I presume the soldiers holding me didn’t really know. I was ‘in the computer’ and can only assume, as the articles written in the last 24 hours suggest, that it had to do with my presence on the march. So for now I’m happily held up with friends in London. This is more than I can say for the poor young men who I shared an immigration detainment cell with for only a night, in which some of them had been held for nearly a month. In an odd twist they were primarily from Gaza, travelling with visas but unable to cross a closed boarder, waiting in no mans land without a country to get sent back to. Their story deserves to be told – travel being just one of the hardships bore by an oppressed and ill-fated people – and maybe I will at a later date.
Bikya Masr tells his side of the story as he held the keys to Travis's house in Cairo
An extra set of keys rattled in my pocket on Tuesday evening for the first time in months. It was the only way Travis Randall was going to get into his house later that night. That was around 9:00 pm. Randall had just sent an SMS saying he had landed and thanking for a taxi that was waiting in the parking lot. All he had to do was quickly stick the visa stamp into his passport and be waved through, just as millions of foreigners and Egyptians are each year. But, that never came.
Instead, at 9:36, Randall sent a “I think I’m about to get interrogated” message
an hour later and he was still waiting in a security room for information. It was then that I sent a tweet out saying that Randall had been detained at the airport. The goal was to hopefully find someone who had a contact at the airport in order to ease the situation.
At around 2:00 in the morning,
his phone and laptop computer were taken and all went dark and we waited for his call from London. Although it did eventually come at 4:00 pm, the fact of the matter is Randall is not in Cairo; cannot see his friends and cannot live his life. The entirety of the absurdity is eerily similar to Joseph K being accused of a crime he does not know. Nobody should ever feel like a criminal without knowing the charges. Randall was escorted and purchased a one-way ticket back to London for $800.
Farewell, my friend. Your keys are waiting for you upon arrival.
Bikya Masr expressed his disappointment at how the Egyptian National Press lied about his deportation. quoting the article in the Egyptian Gazette, Bikya wrote:
The article said that the official told the government run English daily that Randall, “a US journalist had been denied entry into Egypt … due to his regular criticism of Egyptian authorities, pointing out this was not the first time he have problems with Egyptian security.” The article continues to say that Randall had been “arrested last year after participating in a protest against the closure of the Rafah crossing on the border with Gaza.”
The reality for Randall is that these charges could affect a number of foreign journalists working in the country over the articles they write. If critical, it appears the Egyptian government is willing to force these people from the country.


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Global Voices Bloggers Mentor New Danish and African Bloggers · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

Emails have begun to fly this week between 31 Global Voices mentors and 31 participants in a newly launched educational program in Copenhagen, Denmark called Global Change.
The course is organized by the development agency MS Action Aid Denmark (more info in Danish) and will bring together university students and professionals from Denmark, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia to build their skills in online and offline activism over three months.
Global Voices bloggers will act as virtual mentors to the students in the first six weeks of the course where they will be learning about blogging, citizen media, and online activism.
Organizing for climate justice
The final challenge for the students at the end of the course will be to develop a project related to “climate justice“.
After the first six weeks in Copenhagen, participants will conduct fieldwork in Denmark and Kenya (incidentally coinciding with the African bloggers meeting, Kelele) before returning to Copenhagen once more in time for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in December.
Through personal online communication, the mentors will introduce their mentees to the wonders of blogging, and help inspire them to see possibilities for creative use of citizen media for activism. Many will also be volunteering advice about micro-blogging and other technologies.
Mentoring from South to North
Among the mentors  (from left to right): Tharum, Gayle, Joe, Renata, Ismail, Elia
The 31 Global Voices mentors come from more than 20 different countries, including Venezuela, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Cambodia, Brazil, and Bangladesh. Two-thirds of the students will be from Denmark and the rest from Africa.
Alongside their involvement with Global Voices, several mentors are well-known bloggers in their own countries, and all have either extensive experience or knowledge of online organizing efforts in their own regions. We expect that pairings between – for instance – a blogger in India with a blogger from Denmark; or a blogger in Azerbaijan with a blogger from Uganda; will lead to new friendships and greater understanding of how global community can be fostered via the internet.
Developing a new model for blogger mentoring
The Global Voices mentors are developing the new mentoring program themselves through IRC chat room meetings, a shared wiki for “lesson” ideas, a Google group email list, and a Facebook group.
Mentors intend to create enough documentation that the experience could easily be repeated by Global Voices or by others in the future. In their own blogs and tweets about the project, they will be using the tag: #gvmentors and we will be sharing developments and conclusions on Global Voices too. Later on, there will also be a student website at: globalchangenow.net
If you know of similar mentoring initiatives we should look at, we'd love to hear about them in the comments.
For Global Voices, this project is a welcome source of alternative revenue. Individual mentors (who usually contribute to Global Voices on an entirely volunteer basis) will be offered modest stipends for their work as mentors, but their collective effort is also generating revenue to support the Global Voices community as a whole.

author: Solana Larsen


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India: How To Stop Online Movie Piracy · Global Voices
Rezwan

Soumyadip at Cutting The Chai discusses ways to curb online movie piracy, which is affecting the Indian movie industry.

author: Rezwan


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Indonesia: Raising toll fees · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Youthful Insight from Indonesia advises the government on how to raise toll fees without affecting the inflation

author: Mong Palatino


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Iran: ‘Green Movement and Iran’s government’ · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Pejman Elipur‘s cartoon talks about the Iranian opposition (green) movement and the government's attempt to stop it.


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Jamaica: Drugs & Politics  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica Salt and Letter from Jamaica blog about a move by the United States to extradite local Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke on alleged drug and ammunition trafficking charges.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Jordan: Migratory Birds over Amman  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

While driving, Jordanian blogger Naseem Tarawnah “noticed a swarm of birds, possibly the largest I’ve ever seen in Jordan, swooping by.” He had his camera with him and here‘s the proof.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Kazakhstan: Lenin. More Alive Than the Living · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Two similar messages have entered the Kazakh blogosphere from opposite ends of the country. They both talk about the revival of one symbol of a bygone era: head-and-shoulders statues of Lenin. What motivates people to turn to the image of the leader of the international proletariat? Nostalgia, perhaps? Tormozz witnessed [ru] an amazing scene unfold as he traveled across Kazakhstan, where he visited the city of Aralsk, specifically the gas station, and there…
“And there was Vladimir Ilyich, hanging in a noose!
It turned out that the owners of the gas station saw this bust lying around behind the local Culture  Building. They purchased it for some 1000 tenge and decided to install it in front of their business. I happened to catch them as they were in the process of doing it.
The old lady then gently washed the holy scalp with hot water. As we were leaving, I recommended that they get a sign saying, “The V.I. Lenin Memorial Red Flag Gas Station.”
The next day, on our way back, we passed by again. A sculptor was already working on the bust, restoring the original shape of the nose.
As the title of his post pycm from Karaganda used the famous Soviet phrase, which one was supposed to utter with particular pride and reverence: “I have seen Lenin!” [ru]:
In the past, there used to be an administrative building behind the gray picket fence. In the near future, a new car dealership will be opening here. Entrepreneurs are attracting more local businesses. Now the building has a café and a store. Ilyich stands on a pedestal in the middle of a small fountain, surrounded by flowers. Very amusing. The owner of the building is named Volodya (diminutive of Vladimir).
Also posted on neweurasia.


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Kazakhstan: OSCE Leadership and Increased Autocracy · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust points out a recent series of human rights violations and arbitrary prosecution in Kazakhstan and says that the OSCE Chairmanship has become a cover for worse repression than before.


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Libya: Meeting the Dentist at Midnight   · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Everything gets turned upside down during Ramadan. Tonight I had a dentist appointment at midnight,” complains Khadija Teri, from Libya.


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Morocco: Moroccan Recipes  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The View from Fez shares some Moroccan recipes in this post.


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Pakistan: Illegal Number Plates · Global Voices
Rezwan

Naeem Sadiq at All Things Paksitan brings up the issue of an increasing irregularity in Karachi, Pakistan where many cars are carrying illegal number plates and the authority is doing nothing to stop this practice.


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Pakistan: Martyr Certificate · Global Voices
Rezwan

“I can’t aggregate words to describe what this image says. It is a Martyr Certificate” exclaims Pak Factor after posting an image of the martyr certificate awarded by Tehrik-i-Taliban to a person from South Waziristan, who died during an insurgency.


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Taiwan: Pheasant-tailed Jacana struggles for survival · Global Voices
David Reid

Typhoon Morakot damaged a reserve for the Pheasant-tailed Jacana (Hydrophasianus chirurgus) in Tainan County. Stop Hushan Dam! writes about the challenges the birds face to survive.


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Tajikistan: Controversy over state company’s audit · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Salimjon says that IMF Office in Tajikistan preferred to keep the results of the audits on Barqi Tojik, the national state energy company,  and Talco, the national aluminum company, confidential, despite numerous problems in accounting and bookkeeping.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Budget Comments  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“It really didn't say much and didn't seem attached to a reality where citizens of the country exist”: KnowProSE.com posts some general impressions of Trinidad and Tobago's 2009-2010 Budget, while kid5rivers says of the TT$7.7 billion shortfall: “Such shortfalls…are really debts to be repaid by future generations…”


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Turkmenistan: Naval base on the Caspian Sea · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Elina Galperin reports that Turkmenistan intends to open a naval base in the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi to fight smugglers, terrorists and any other forces.


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Uzbekistan: Decay of the Uzbek hospitals · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Neweurasia provides a photo-post about the disastrous decay of a once-famous hospital for tuberculosis patients in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.


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Venezuela: Another Miss Universe Crown · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

After Miss Venezuela was selected as winner of the Miss Universe beauty pageant for the second time in a row, and which was the sixth Venezuelan in the history of this pageant to win, the Venezuelan blogosphere exploded with pride and joy. Once again, the country holds the attention of the world focused on the beauty of Venezuelan women, when Stefanía Fernández was crowned.
Nevertheless, within all the pride of the incredible hard work that every girl participating in this kind of contest has to pass through, some Venezuelan bloggers question the real pride behind an industry that has had such an impact on Venezuelan culture. Leaving aside the large number of online notes and posts about the excitement of having a new Miss Universe crown in Venezuela, there has been another parallel online discussion that has questioned cultural interests, concepts of beauty and hard work, and actual pride.
Grets, in her blog I'm F***ing Fantastic [es] has a more categorical point of view:
..no es que yo les esté mostrando una realidad alternativa, sólo que ustedes se empeñan en vivir en un logro ficticio, por una corona que no importa más que 9.000 niños muriendo de hambre en una noche tan linda como esta; un certamen que no sólo se hunde en el mal gusto sino que da pena que un país en sus tristes condiciones esté celebrando ante los ojos del mundo su desgracia.
It is not like I am trying to show an alternative reality, it is only that all of you are insisting in living a fictitious achievement based on a crown that is not more important than 9,000 children dying of hunger on a night as beautiful as this one. This is a pageant that not only sinks in bad taste, but it is also shameful, being this a country in a sad condition, celebrating its misfortune in front of the eyes of the world.
Also, Luis Manuel of the blog Voyage [es] tells the story of how, in Paris, he changed his mind on what he used to consider one of the prides of his country:
Antes, andaba yo orgullosisimo de vivir en el pais de las Miss Universos y de las Miss Mundos, el pais con las mujeres mas lindas del mundo.
Y fue un simpre crepero,(…) quien se encargó de estropear mi orgullo ridículo. “Ahhh tu eres de Venezuela?” me preguntaba mientras reía, “es verdad que ustedes tienen una escuela para formar misses? que gracioso!” “es verdad que desde pequeños tienen concursos en las escuelas para elegir a la niña mas bonita?. Que cultura!”.” Es verdad que es uno de los paises en donde se hacen mas cirugias plasticas? y gastan dinero en eso?, que superficiales!”. “Es verdad que es el pais del mundo que gasta mas cosméticos per cápita?, y teniendo gente que muere de hambre?. Qué contraste!”
Eso me hizo reflexionar, en verdad de lo estupidos que somos en esta sociedad!: tenemos el mismo sistema organizado de captar, formar y desarrollar talentos del mundo desarrollado, pero en vez de cientificos o deportistas, formamos misses!. Es verdad que las mujeres aqui son especialmente bellas, pero de que nos sirve tener tantas Miss Universo?,
Before, I was very proud of living in the country of the Miss Universes… the country with the most beautiful women in the world.
But it was a simple crêpe seller, who was the one who broke my stupid pride. “Oh! You're from Venezuela?” He asked me while he laughed “is it true that you have schools to train beauty queens? How funny is that! Is it true that when the girls are very little there are pageants to choose the prettiest? What a culture! Is it true that yours is one of the countries where the people have the most plastic surgeries? and spend money on that? How superficial! Is it true that it is the country that spends the most on cosmetics per capita? and has people dying of hunger? What contrast!”
That made me think, truly how stupid are we in this society!: We have the same organized system to capture the attention, shape, and develop talent than the developed world, but instead of scientists or athletes, we shape misses! It is true that the women here are especially beautiful, but what good is it for us to have so many Miss Universes?
In addition, a lot of people on their YouTube channels have made videos and collection of clips of the exciting moments in which Venezuelan beauty queens have achieved world titles like Miss Universe and Miss World. However, it was ABC Australia who made a documentary (the video can be found here) of the beauty obssession in Venezuela, and how this concept is led by the most important organizer of this famous contest: Osmel Sousa.
This was not the first time that beauty contests were discussed to be superficial or part of entertainment. Nevertheless, taking into account the influence of the Miss Venezuela concept both in media and in people, it is a way to look into the culture's contemporary questions around their ways to see themselves and how they show their image to the world. More of this discussion can be seen in these tweets.

author: Laura Vidal


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Yemen: Healthcare under the Spotlight · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Yemen, Omar Barsawad complains about the state of government hospitals and asks: “Hadhramout and Yemen as a whole, simply do not have the facilities to handle such kinds of ‘complications’. I have been wondering: if Egypt or Jordan can, why can't Yemen?”


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Albania: Enver Hoxha · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Albanian Blogger links to an article about the former Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha, which appeared in the Guardian: “Also the picture of the statue of the dictator in the main square, which was pulled down by protesters about 19 years ago brings back memories for me. I was very young then, but I did witness the event at less than 100 meters from it.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Bangladesh: New Paradigm Of Microcredit · Global Voices
Rezwan

Unheard Voice suggests a new paradigm of microcredit: “The agenda of development through microcredit should move from ‘microcredit-as-the-goal model’ to ‘microcredit-as-the-means model.’ The latter essentially looks at microcredit as the means to other development goals that can generate long-term economic growth.”


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Belarus: Google Translations · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Siberian Light is testing Google's newly-added Belarusian language translation tool.


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China: Considering Han chauvinism · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Xinjiang remains offline and online discussion of the recent ethnic unrest there continues to be highly restricted. Building off radical interpretation of Uighur-on-Han violence in Ürümqi, however, and noting that neighboring Mongolia has its fair share of neo-nazis, what conclusions can be made regarding the violence from both sides?
Beijing Spring editor Hu Ping, in a recent post for RFA, wonders if Uighur anger can be attributed to government policies in the region, lists several reasons why that might be and, using the term Han chauvinism, concludes that it is. Wikipedia defines Han chauvinism as:
“Referring to people carrying ethnocentric viewpoints that favor the Han Chinese majority ethnic group in China at the expense of the other minority ethnic groups, often under the assumption of cultural superiority. […] Actions and speech that constitute the ethnocentric and ideological aspects of Han chauvinism (such as hate speech against minorities) are illegal in the People's Republic of China and are either banned or censored.”
Hu's post brought in a number of comments:
08/31: 本人是汉人，去过东突厥斯坦维吾尔地区。胡平先生所说的情况完全属实。该地区的大部分区域目前的汉化状况十分严重，并不断有大量的汉族移民，维族完全被边缘化。
09/01: 如果是这样的话，那美国是不是也在搞英语同化政策呢讲印第安语言的人你在美国可以畅行无阻吗？共产党的干部队伍里不但是少数民族广大汉族也一样被剥夺了宗教信仰的权利啊！维吾尔人可以不受限制地生儿育女，而当地的汉族人却被国家的计划生育政策严格限制哦！作为在中国生长的汉族人，我们真的没有感到所谓的大汉族主义！
09/01: 同化、融合是社会的进步，拒绝融合是没有出路的，就想在美国不会说英语还有机会进入主流社会吗？陈破空在美国不也只是一个社会的边缘人。
09/02: 维吾尔人或图博人（Tibetan）在自己的土地上说自己的语言应该是畅行无阻，这应该就是当地主流社会的语言。
09/02: 真会胡扯！在台湾原著民还不是要说汉语.写汉字！
09/02: 真是胡评了，别忘了汉人到新疆的时间比维吾尔早
09/03: 我没去过新疆，但是在我的家乡湖南，最起码我读书的两个城市：永州，长沙。还有现在在的这个城市：深圳。维族人跟我们（汉族人）比起来权利是大很多的—— 他们可以强买强卖，他们卖的价格非常高，而且看了东西一定要买，这个我们一点办法都没有的。警察可以骑在我们头上，对他们是一点办法都没有的，就是犯了事也很快出来！
09/04: 对待伊斯兰，必须大棒和胡萝卜政策同时实施，目前来看应该大棒为主。伊斯兰需要改良、进步才有出路。目前它就是反人类的宗教。
09/05: 维族被边缘化.这个基本是事实
Hu's piece was reposted to UighurBiz, founded by the ethnic Uighur economist and netizen Ilham Tohti; Tohti was detained in July and released in late August, and generated some discussion online this week after expressing support for the new Xinjiang Party boss Zhu Hailun's tougher stance (canceling the ‘less arrests, less executions, more leniency’ policy) on crime. Here are some comments left today on the UighurBiz post:
*两少一宽应该取消*
伊力哈木还对乌鲁木齐刚刚上任的市委书记朱海仑宣布取消“两少一宽”(少捕少杀，一般从宽)的少数民族政策表示赞同。他认为，法律面前应该人人平等。他说，这个政策确实让少数民族中的犯罪分子获利，同时导致了汉族人的不满。
人都是一样的汉族人被针扎了才想起要王LQ下台,维吾尔人安全受到威胁了才想起取消两少一宽.还能想起自己曾经的态度吗?
伊力哈木算是维族人里面少数能够讲的通道理的人物，对民族和国家有着比较清醒的认识。不象其他在这的一群维族小喽罗根本就是屁也不懂，还去指责汉人的FF，其实也都是五十步笑百步。好好和你们老师学一学。
伊力哈木算是维族人里面少数能够讲的通道理的人物
汉族里有多少个对维族没有歧视的？
其实，新疆的很多当地汉人对维吾尔族不仅歧视而且不当人看，举个例子，6年前我在新疆出差，在乌鲁木齐延安南路路边打出租车，比我后来一个维族女孩也站在我旁边打车，冬天在乌鲁木齐往往打车需要很长时间，冻得不行了，好不容易一辆空车来了，根本没在女孩旁边停，直接停我面前了，我还好奇，上车后问司机什么不拉女孩，汉族司机说：我们不愿拉这些皮帽子（维族人）。问问什么？他说有次拉了个维族给的是假钱，我问有没有碰到汉族乘客给假钱的？他说也有。我说如果你们这样对待维族，你们不担心将来维汉矛盾越来越深吗？司机答：他们不敢，我们有枪。我再也没说话。出差3天，每次打车我都问司机愿不愿意拉维族，都是众口一词，什么维族人脾气大、不讲理、不愿意拉之类的话。后来问了当地一个维族人才知道乌鲁木齐全市有近六千俩出租车，由于维族乘客屡遭拒载，终于让200 多辆维族司机开出租，满足不了需求，没办法，很多维族人就做黑车生意了，二道桥一带的夏利基本上都是黑车。了解了情况后我心想这样的地方将来一定会出事！
没有无缘无故的爱和恨，就像一面镜子，你如何对待他人，他们也会如何对待你。不反思一下自己的所作所为，动不动给一个民族去贴标签，对一个世世代代在此繁衍的原住民族带上歧视的有色眼镜，新疆怎能不乱？
汉族里有多少个对维族没有歧视的？
其实，新疆的很多当地汉人对维吾尔族不仅歧视而且不当人看
uighurhr 发表于 2009-9-9 07:41
要让别人把你当人，你首先得表现的有个人样。
多谢党妈妈长久以来对维吾尔人的美化宣传，
以至于我们这些内地人在多次遭遇维式流氓侵害后还是不敢相信自己的眼睛。
维族不讲理是惯的，党妈一向对维族的优惠政策，如民族团结最重要，如少数民族优先等等养成了他们越不讲理越能拿到好处然后就变的更加不讲理。
久而久之，汉族们就不喜欢跟你们打交道了。
希望这个网站不要在天天宣传和蛊惑仇恨的魔鬼。看看吧，这个网站有多少文章在宣传仇恨的魔鬼。
西方人对黄种人，对中国人没有歧视吗？但是和100年前相比，去掉那些意识形态的影响（中国现在还是共产主义国家？），这样的歧视是多了还是少了？从100年前的人见人欺到现在的G2，这样的变化是因为老外道德素质提高了根除了种族歧视？


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China: How artistic these buildings are! · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

MOP forum posted a number of photos on some newly constructed residential buildings in Guangzhou. From a far, one can see some “artistic” white pattern. When getting a closer look, their are all cracks. These buildings have all passed the quality check.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Costa Rica: Web 2.0 on a Sunday Morning · Global Voices
Jenny Cascante Gonzalez

Costa Rican bloggers, twitter users and other internet enthusiasts enjoyed their own first DELM on August 30, 2009.  DELM stands for Domingo En La Mañana (Sunday Morning) and has been taking place in various Latin American cities such as Santiago, Chile, Barranquilla, Colombia, and Guanajuato, Mexico. These meetings are held, just as its name states, on Sunday mornings, but can take place at a café, park or even at someone's house in order to share knowledge and experience.
Photo by María José Lerena and used with permission.
David Alfaro had the opportunity of attend and participate in the meet up. He shares some of his personal thoughts related to the range of the different types of social networks in his blog Tiquicia Sublime [es]:
Las diferentes tecnologías de medios sociales tienen diferentes grados de inmediatez y de sostenibilidad de conversaciones.
Inmediatez: Me refiero a la facilidad de acceder a medio cuando ocurre el impulso expresivo, la rapidez de publicación y la rapidez de recepción. Una alta inmediatez permite una alta virulencia.
Sostenibilidad: Me refiero a la longitud de una interlocución, cuántas idas y vueltas conversacionales con alguien es realística y cómodamente tener.
The different technologies applied to the social networks have diverse degrees of immediate response and sustainability of the conversation.
Immediate:  I refer to the facility of access that a person possesses when the expressive impulse occurs, the promptness of publication, and the velocity of reception. A high-degree of immediacy allows for a quick expansion.
Sustainability: I refer to the length of a dialogue, how many conversational comings and goings with somebody are realistic and yet comfortable to have.
Moreover, Alfaro stresses some important differences [es] between Twitter and Blogs:
Twitter tiene una enorme inmediatez, a pesar de su sistema de replies, Twitter una baja sostenibilidad de conversación, esto es debido a su falta de hilos de conversación y grupos.
Por otra parte los Blogs tienen una inmediatez bajísima, pero una sostenibilidad altísima pues permite al autor construir un tópico, crear su posición e iniciar una discusión, hasta en hilos si quiere.
Twitter possesses a huge promptness, despite its replies system.  Twitter experiences a low support of sustainable conversations because of the lack of conversational strings.
On the other hand, a Blog has a low promptness but a higher conversational sustainability because it allows the developing of a topic and discussion if desired.
Reiner Sibaja, author of Hoy en Costa Rica [es] delivers a detailed summary of the activity, as well as some pictures.  On the discussion held regarding new media in Costa Rica (blogs, twitter, podcasts, & live streaming), he writes:
Para concluir el tema de los streamings, quedó muy claro que todos podemos tener un streaming siempre y cuando le pongamos cariño pero sobre todo esfuerzo en el contenido que presentaremos a nuestros “viewers”.
Also, he writes about the participation of the international guest [es]:
Christian Van Der Henst – @cvander –  fundador de proyectos como Maestrosdelweb.com y Forosdelweb.com hizo su participación desde Argentina vía Skype. El compartió una perspectiva a nivel latinoamericano del fenomeno social que esta pasando la web en estos momentos.
Feedback and reoccurring meetings are part of the next challenges that the DELM organizers and participants will be facing in order to offer continuity to the project.  DELM was widely commented in Twitter under the hashtag #DELM, which is surely helpful to not only gather opinions, but updates on coming gatherings.

author: Jenny Cascante Gonzalez


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Cuba: “Let Juanes Come!”  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Generation Y takes to the streets of Havana to ask Cubans their views on the upcoming Juanes concert: “I’m glad to be in tune with my people.  Let Juanes come!”


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Eastern Europe: WWII and the Jews · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Foreigner's Guide to Slovakia writes about WWII and the Jews of Slovakia. CzechFolks.com writes about the rescue of hundreds of Czechoslovak Jewish children by Sir Nicholas Winton in 1939. Polandian writes about “the crazy idea of moving Eastern European Jews to Madagascar” that was considered by Poland in 1937.


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Egypt: Bad Boys Who do not Moderate Blog Comments  · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

After learning that blogging is a serious crime in Egypt and that speaking up for others is something that warrants punishment, state security officials are now arresting bloggers who do not moderate comments on their blog posts!
Khaled El Balshy, Editor in Chief of Al Badeel Newspaper, has recently been subpoenaed by State Security and charged of slander because he did not delete a “bad” comment that was left on one of his blog posts  dating back to 2007.
Dr. Mostafa El Naggar is against gagging bloggers:
Dr. El Naggar stated his worst nightmare:
Omar El Hady blogged the incident quoting Khaled El Balshy himself:
He also mentioned that this incident is not the first of its kind:
Azza Moghazy understands the fact that print media organizations including their editors and contributing writers self censor their articles and moderate reader responses to avoid legal liability but she refuses to apply print media laws to cyber space:

author: Marwa Rakha


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Egypt: Prison Awaits Those who don’t Fast in Ramadan · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

Fasting in the holy month of Ramadan is the 4th pillar of Islam where Muslims are expected to refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to sunset as an exercise of self-discipline and penance that has a deeper spiritual level. Some Muslims do not fast … prison time and fines await those who eat in public.
For the first time in Egypt, the Ministry of Interior arrests Muslims who eat and drink in public during Ramadan. Hassan El Helali wrote a post titled:
He goes on listing the arrests:
El Helali quotes Gamal Eid , the General Manager of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), saying:
Khawater posted opposing reactions:
On the Christian front:
The Salafi Sunni front says:
Hide and Seek commented on the arrests saying:
Bikya Masr said that the Egyptian government denied the arrests:
In an exclusive statement to Egyptian newspaper al-Youm al-Saba’a, Assistant Interior Minister General Nagi al-Hasi denied the reports, which were reported by Bikya and the Egyptian newspaper.
He said that police crackdowns in Aswan were not part of any “government campaign” to arrest those who publicly broke the fast. He argued that people had “mixed things and were confused over the matter, since the security measures taken are to follow-up on field activities of all police departments to combat crime in general and drugs.”
Hasi added that police arrested those who were acting “suspicious” to police.


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Hong Kong: Journalists accused of incitement · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Last Friday (Sep 4), three Hong Kong journalists were beaten up and detained by Xinjiang armed polices when they were covering the protest in Urumqi. Yesterday, the authorities in Xinjiang claimed that the three journalists were under the suspicion of inciting public disorder by making hand gestures. The director of the Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Information Office, Hou Hanmin, claimed that two of the journalists had not been authorized to report in the city and described the brutal act of the polices as an “unfortunate incident”.
This is not an isolated incident. Back in August, two reporters from Now TV were accused of possessing drug in their hotel rooms when they were reporting the trial of citizen rights activist Tan Zouren in Sichuan. On Sep 6, again 5 Hong Kong reporters were detained in Urumqi. All these incidents are threats to journalists’ personal security and the freedom of speech and press in Hong Kong. The Xinjiang government's statement, accusing journalists of inciting public disorder, has further outraged the public and many expressed their anger in blogs and online media.
Erynnyes from Those were the days cannot imagine how a government could tell such kind lie to the world.
童工從未想過，一個政權、一個大國，今天，總算是擠身於國際舞台、總算是在國際社會中，開始有點地位了，竟還可以如此無恥、無賴、無法無天，以非為是、以 黑為白、把受害人變犯人，扭曲事實、扭曲真相，這樣的一個偉大祖國，還可以厚顏無恥地叫香港人去愛國？敢問胡主席、溫總理，香港人何以從何愛這樣的一個偉 大祖國呀！
The 60th anniversary of PRC is approaching, Martinoei pointed out that there is nothing left to be celebrated:
乜嘢叫顛倒黑白，呢種就係，點只拉人打人唔駛本，連老屈人都唔駛本，明明新疆自己理虧在先，仲要大大聲惡人先告狀，老屈手持記者證嘅香港記者煽動。 好多記者聽完，慶到上頭，真係想針筒、釘鞋呀，乜叉都擲過去俾新疆政府班白痴嘆吓。依家大家明白，點解漢人同維吾爾人，可以咁慶走晒上街示威，個政府白痴 白爛成咁，俾我都上街喇。
「國慶」？好慶就有，嬲到要走去土耳其訂一百打鞋擲過去果種慶。免得報完更慶，所以小弟呼籲，今年十月一日，記者集體杯葛報導「國慶」。呢啲老屈人唔駛本嘅政府，十月一日佢地自己慶爆佢喇，記者唔去報免費又被老屈煽動國慶鬧事，然後打鑊更甘。
Anniversary of the nation? How should we celebrate? Probably we should order 100 dozen of shoes from Turkey to throw at the stage for celebration. I urge reporters to boycott the reporting of the anniversary. Let them celebrate by themselves, and we could avoid being beaten and accused of incitement while reporting the event.
The blogger also opened a facebook group to boycott the celebration of PRC's birthday.
Another facebook group condemning the brutal action of mainland police has more than 750 members, here are some of their wall comments:
Huang XueTao:
香港，定要撑住新闻自由！不撑，就会倒塌。
据理反击，不仅捍卫记者的权益，也是给国内官员教训和进步的机会，还能为国内的记者撑开一丝空间。
Spare Tire:
請不要再對中國的人權存有幻想。
Andrew Brian Rex Tam:
Vicky Kwan:
新聞自由不可踐踏！ 如果公安指乜就拍乜，仲駛乜記者，新華社通稿就得啦！ 只要喺法律允可范圍內，公安武警冇權自己釋法，現時並非戰爭狀態，軍隊武警無權限制新聞自由。
冇錯，內地一直冇新聞自由，冇結社自由，所以，香港記者責無旁貸，中國新聞自由，由香港記者開始。 我支持你哋！
They don't have freedom of press and association in mainland. That's why Hong Kong journalists have their responsibility to advocate free press in China. I support all of you.
Leslie Leung:
哈, CCTVB成日自我審查, 擦阿爺鞋又如何, 阿爺d狗奴才咪又係唔俾面照打可也?
Dickson Cheung
中共根本就係黑社會!!!
D契弟成日話胡溫開明~我開佢老母!!!
以曾蔭權為首的特區政府每個月出我地香港人人工~理應為香港記者向中共嚴正抗議!!!並應取消捐俾四川的一百億!!!否則我地納稅人唔想再出糧俾曾蔭權班契弟!!!
Wanky Chik
這就是中國共產黨的真面目,信佢一成,雙目失明
還指望共產黨會給香港人一國兩制,高度自治?不要發夢了!
只有共產黨倒台,香港才有前途!!!
Po Cheung:
基本上從當地公安既行動來講, 香港記者受到既待遇已經與內地體齊.
真正的回歸祖國了 ~


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Hungary: Budapest Gay Pride Parade Protected · Global Voices
Marietta Le

The 14th Budapest Pride Parade was held last Saturday. The parade was one of the closing events of the LGBT film and culture festival which began on Aug. 30. Because of the violent attacks that took place in 2007 and 2008, the 14th Pride March was under increased police protection.
Eva S. Balogh of Hungarian Spectrum wrote about the tense atmosphere preceding the closing event:
[…] Within a few days the atmosphere became sufficiently tense that a statement was released by the embassies of Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The statement read in part: “we express our support for and solidarity with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities in Hungary. We support the right of these communities to use this traditional occasion to march together peacefully and lawfully, in order to express their desire to end the silence surrounding the specific issues that affect them.” The statement ended with these words: “Our governments’ policies in this area are in accordance with the principles set out in the Joint statement on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity delivered at the United Nations General Assembly on 18 December, 2008.” To find among these thirteen the Czech Republic and Slovenia is really a slap in the face and shows how low Hungary has sunk even in the region. Today Mátyás Eörsi (SZDSZ) expressed his gratitude for the support of these countries. In addition Whoopi Goldberg, who knows and loves Hungary dearly ever since she spent some time there while filming and who jokingly said that she wouldn't mind being the U.S. ambassador to Hungary, was so worried about the Hungarian situation that she sent a message to Hungary via YouTube. […]
Here is Whoopi Goldberg's YouTube address:
Saturday gave a lot of work to the Hungarian police since that was also the day when Hungary played against Sweden in a World Cup qualifying football game. IndymediaCalling posted this report:
[…] The only positive thing about 2008 Pride was high attention of the media and increased security (Not all cops are bastards after all) this year. Not only Andrassy avenue, where the Parade took place this year, but also parallel streets were closed and surrounded by fences. Basically, a big part of central Budapest including metro was closed.[…] Crowds of people were to be observed outside the fences, apparently not as many as previous year. Moreover, this day was a football match between Hungary and Sweden and most probably most hooligans were already at the stadium by the end of the Parade. The Parade participants turned out to be hard nuts for those willing to attack them, as police was escorting them even after the end of the Parade at Deak sq. and Blaha Lujza sq., as all the participants were recommended to go to Blaha Lujza by metro.
Hungarian Spectrum also had a report on the march. Former prime minister of Hungary, Ferenc Gyurcsány, participated, too, but he left the parade with his wife before the end of the event through a station of the yellow metro line:
[…] There were about 1,000 participants including former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány and his wife; Tamás Bauer, former SZDSZ member of parliament; Mátyás Eörsi, SZDSZ MP; Péter Kende, writer; and András Léderer, former president of SZDSZ's New Generation. In addition there were representatives of Amnesty International, Democratic Charta, and other civic organizations. This was the first public appearance of the former prime minister since his resignation in March. […] I'm not sure how the police managed to keep the anti-gay groups outside the cordon but they were successful although trouble started even before the parade began. It was a relatively small group at Hősök tere but loud enough. First they used all sorts of four-letter words against gays and Jews, and when they discovered Gyurcsány in the crowd they had a few kind words for him as well. […]
Thanks to the increased and extended protection of the police, the marchers could enjoy the parade without facing the groups of counter-demonstrators.
Here are links to two video reports from the parade: in the first one, people talk (HUN, ENG) about why it's important to participate in events like this, while the second one – titled “100% hetero” – features the police and the anti-gay crowd.
IndymediaCalling concluded that the parade of 2009 as a mostly peaceful event:
[…] To the Pride 2009 itself: there were a number of groups and individual people from both Hungary and abroad. The opening speeches were delivered by Juris Lavrikovs, Paata Sabelashvili (ILGA Europe) who welcomed the participants and shared their thoughts of the importance of the Pride. There were two cars with sound systems, a group of people carrying a rainbow flag, and a number of smaller groups including Amnesty-Hungary (the yellow group) and the pink-black bloc.
Overall, it was just another good opportunity for queer people to claim for their right for equality and for their supporters to express their solidarity. Hopefully, the peacefulness of Pride Parade 2009 will become a good tradition and the tolerance in Hungarian society to queer people will grow to the level that no fences will be needed in the future. […]
The vigilant blogger of Hungarian Spectrum reported on the riots around the protected pride march and the closing party later at Corvintető (“Corvin Rooftop”), at Blaha Lujza Square:
[…] However, farther down the road there were a few hundred demonstrators who tried to break through the cordon at Octogon. Again, they didn't succeed. The participants apparently weren't even aware of the upheaval outside the cordoned off area. By 4:30 about 300-400 people gathered at Deák tér where they attacked the police, and here the police had to use tear gas. The crowd began to disperse but unfortunately they then lingered in neighboring streets, including Dohány utca where the famous Budapest synagogue is situated. One can imagine what happened afterward. They called the Jews all sorts of names and tore down posters advertising the Jewish Summer Festival. All this was done while these savages were carrying Hungarian flags. How patriotic. Not far from Dohány utca there is the Astoria Hotel where another group gathered that began going along Rákóczi út to Corvin Department Store whose flat roof is used for all sorts of parties. Apparently some of the gays were planning to hold a party there. While about 150 people were gathering in front of the department store battling with the police, on Deák tér about 200 people were throwing bottles and rocks at the police and broke the windows of at least one car. Altogether 11 people were arrested. Some of these “gentlemen” apparently beat a young woman who wore a T-shirt identifying her as a participant in the parade. She was waiting for the street car when three men appeared from the underground passage in front of Astoria and, without saying a word, began to beat her. Because of the blows the woman fell on the ground. So, for good measure they kicked her several times. She suffered head and arm injuries. […]
According to The Budapest Times police have initiated legal proceedings against 17 people for violence against officers, and altogether 41 people were detained for various reasons including disobeying police, endangering public safety and carrying explosive materials in various parts of the city. The gay march, attended by some 1,500 people and secured by iron fences and a large number of police, ended without major incidents.
And Sweden defeated Hungary. 2:1.

author: Marietta Le


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India: Blogs And Ad-revenues · Global Voices
Rezwan

With a cartoon post, Brainstuck takes a humorous look at the consequence for optimization of blogs to get more ad-revenues.


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Jamaica, Barbados: Sandiford Speaks  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp features writer Robert Sandiford in his own words.


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Jordan: No to Bad Internet!  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordan's Facebook users are joining hands in protest against what they describe as bad Internet services in their country through forming this group.


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Maldives: Arabization Of Dhivehi Language  · Global Voices
Rezwan

“I am against Arabising Maldives’ unique language and culture, and so I will never use ‘Dhivehi alphabets with dots’ in order to accommodate Arabic language,” vows Hilath.


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Myanmar: A Childhood Spent Scavenging · Global Voices
tan

Irrawaddy reports about a twelve-year-old scavenger called Maung Chan Thar, whose name means “Master of Wealth” in Burmese.

author: tan


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Palestine: Travelers Say Israel is Illegally Denying Access · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

An entry stamp issued for Palestinian Authority areas only
As the Palestinian West Bank is occupied by Israel, visitors intending to travel there are required to obtain proper visas and documentation from an Israeli consulate.  Such documentation, of course, also allows the traveler to visit the rest of Israel if they so wish. Or, at least, it did.
This summer, however, numerous reports have surfaced from travelers to the West Bank who found that their visas prohibited them from visiting the rest of Israel.  According to Time magazine, the policy was quietly enacted by Israel in June as a “security measure.”  According to a number of bloggers and activists, the policy violates international law and a promise made by the 1995 Oslo II Accords of unhindered movement for foreign travelers to Israel.
Palestinian-American Toufic Haddad, writing for online newspaper The Faster Times, details the offense, drawing potential comparisons:
Moreover, the very restriction on travel is equivalent to a country issuing a visa to a specific area of its country, but not to the whole country. A parallel might be the U.S. issuing a visa only to majority-black Harlem in Manhattan, or the Mashantucket Pequot reservation in Connecticut.
Marcy Newman, who blogs for Body on the Line and until recently lived in the Palestinian town of Nablus, writes of her own ordeals of living under occupation:
ultimately i knew that i could not stay in palestine forever given that foreigners (i.e., not palestinians; read: zionist colonist terrorists) control the borders and they get to play a game with the lives of all people who cross over into palestine whether they are originally palestinian or not. i’ve long heard stories and received emails–some from friends and comrades, others from complete strangers–about being denied entry. about being allowed limited entry, in terms of time. about three weeks before i left a friend of mine left for amman to renew her visa. she’s finishing up research for her dissertation and living in ramallah. she came back and said she had only a few days and she had to leave again. not only could she only stay one week (in lieu of the normal three month visa granted to foreigners at the malak [King] hussein bridge), but she was granted a west bank only visa. this was the first time i had heard of such a thing. but it turns out that it was quickly becoming a phenomenon.
Canadian paper The Globe and Mail has suggested that the policy unfairly targets Arab-Americans and Canadians and simply those with “Arab-sounding names.”  Canadian Dawg's Blog agrees, writing:
Canada isn't the only place where having a “funny name“–like Abdelrazik, Mohamud, Khadr or Arar–can get you into trouble. Try visiting Israel if you have a name like that.
Canadian and American citizens with “Palestinian-sounding names” are now routinely denied entry into Israel at Ben Gurion National Airport, and told to use the Allenby land bridge from Jordan into the West Bank. But once they get there, their passports are stamped “Palestinian Authority only,” and entry into Israel is still denied.
U.S. nationals to whom this has happened have banded together and complained to the U.S. Consulate.  Palestinian Joharah Baker, writing for MIFTAH, encourages more to do so:
So, US nationals, the next time you are turned back at one of Israel's borders or are given a PA-only stamp, file a complaint with the US Consulate just for good measure. Just don't expect a reply.
Although U.S. President Barack Obama has issued a statement condemning Israel's actions, the visa restrictions still remain.  A U.S.-based campaign, run by the Arab American Institute, encourages American citizens who are denied entry at the Allenby bridge to fill out a denial form to submit to the U.S.

author: Jillian C. York