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Russia: Hacker Hell, Scourge of the RuNet · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

When noted Russian anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny's email and Twitter accounts were hacked on June 26 [ru], it came as no surprise that a hacker [ru] who goes by the somewhat pretentious moniker “Hell” took responsibility [ru]. After all, the same hacker claimed [ru] to have gained access to Navalny's email and Facebook accounts last fall, apparently seeking to expose his activism as fraudulent. The motivation for the second attack was, according to Hell [ru], a desire to finish the job, since he was not able to extract all of Navalny's correspondence in the first attempt.
The exercise seems petty — then, as now, there do not seem to be any smoking guns secreted away in the gigabytes of Navalny's emails. The vandalism of Navalny's Twitter (Hell tweeted from the account in a style that can only be described as obscene inanity) was also immature, at best. This, however, is the point. Hell, in the long tradition of Internet trolls, thrives on pettiness and immaturity. A legendary figure in the RuNet, Hell gained his notoriety in 2005, following a string of LiveJournal-account break-ins (see here [ru] for a full list). He would hijack an account and its associated email, and either delete all the posts, expose private emails and messages, or both. The early hacks seemed to be without rhyme or reason. Some targeted Russian Internet personalities Hell for some reason found annoying or offensive, resulting for example in attacks on politically neutral journalist and blogger [ru] Samson Sholademi and a notorious LJ troll, Stalinist, and anti-Semite [ru] szhapokljak2 (now defunct).
Other targets evolved into personal vendettas. Such was the case of Andrei Malgin, a liberal advertising/newspaper entrepreneur, who currently lives in Italy and blogs as avmalgin [ru]. Malgin's LJ account first was hijacked by unknown parties, then “returned” by Hell, ostensibly as a gesture of good will. Malgin, believing Hell was behind the hacking, refused to let bygones be bygones. His excessive attempts to “deanonimize” [ru] Hell (at one point [ru], he visited another blogger's home, accompanied by a lawyer, on the erroneous belief that this was the mysterious hacker) led to the account getting hijacked again. This time, Hell did not give it back. The two engaged in low level warfare, which culminated in Hell — for whom no subject is taboo — blaming Malgin for the suicide of his daughter [ru].
Screenshot of Hacker Hell's webpage (23 July 2012).
Another vendetta developed between Hell and Vladimir Pribylovsky [ru], the quirky proprietor of Anticompromat (a RuNet clearing house of political and internet rumors). Pribylovsky, another of Hell's victims, embarked on a mission to locate the man behind the name. At the moment, he believes that he has discovered Hell's real identity as a Russian national living in Germany. The evidence is lengthy, but fairly circumstantial [ru].Pribylovsky is also one of the main believers that Hell's attacks are politically motivated, not acts of random Internet vandalism. Although the evidence is once again tenuous, it does appear that liberal, or at least opposition-minded social and political activists are recently over-represented among Hell's targets. For instance, Hell recently hacked the LJ account of protest organizer and mystery writer Boris Akunin [ru], deleting all of his entries. Other notable liberal victims have included Oleg Panfilov and Valeria Novodvorskaya. Nationalist bloggers are also in danger, as shown by Hell's attacks on nationalist figure Vladimir Tor.
Alexey Navalny visits camp of opposition in Moscow, 24 May 2012, photo by Anton Belitskiy, copyright © Demotix.
The story is complicated by the fact that Hell has sometimes returned stolen LJ accounts to users hacked by others. Beneficiaries include pro-Kremlin blogger and counterculture writer Eduard Bagirov, sci-fi writer Oleg Divov, Irkutsk history professor Sergei Shmidt, and rather surprisingly Irina Vorobyeva, a member of the opposition and former Yabloko youth activist. (Irina publicly thanked [ru] Hell in her returned blog.) Of course, it is quite possible that Hell himself was both the villain and the hero in these situations. Regardless, the opposition has little patience for such nuances: during the most recent imbroglio, Navalny claimed [ru] that FSB was using Hell to leak emails it acquired after its raid on his apartment.
If Hell is indeed being used by the FSB [ru], we can expect to see more “hacks” of the opposition leaders whose computers were confiscated in the June 11 raids [en] (Ilya Yashin, Ksenia Sobchak, and others). Even if this happens, however, we will never know with absolute certainty who is behind it. Although Hell denies his involvement with the Kremlin, he does not deny his antipathy toward the Russian opposition movement. His desire to incite outrage and induce reaction can easily characterize him as either a Kremlin shill or a professional troll. This, of course, is a perennial problem of Russian politics and the Russian Internet.

author: Andrey Tselikov


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South Sudanese Marathoner to Compete Under Olympic Flag · Global Voices
Richard Wanjohi

This post is part of our special coverage London Olympics 2012.
Guor Marial, an athlete from South Sudan, will be participating in the London 2012 Olympics, but not under his country's flag. Marial will be competing in the longest race of the Games – the men’s marathon – as an independent.
South Sudan is the youngest country in the world. It formally declared independence on 9 July, 2011 and has not been recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as yet.
Martina Nicolls wrote about Guor on Feast or Famine blog:
“Guor Marial will run as an independent athlete in clothing without a country flag or identification. He will race under the Olympic flag. The 28-year old will compete in the marathon which takes place on August 12. Marial’s country of birth South Sudan, gained independence a year ago and is yet to form a national Olympic committee. His country of current destination is (United States of ) America. Marial, a permanent resident in America, is in the process of gaining American citizenship. However he is not yet a US citizen and cannot therefore run under the United States flag.”
Guor Marial will be in London for the men's marathon. Image courtesy of www.RunBlogRun.com
The IOC initially urged Marial to compete on behalf of Sudan, but Marial refused to represent the country he fled when he was 15 years old. Rajib Sen wrote:
Guor Marial was born in Southern Sudan at the start of the long-drawn conflict in that country which resulted in the creation of the world’s newest country, South Sudan, only last year. Thus, it has not yet established a National Olympic Committee, so it cannot send a team to the Games which open (this) week, which leaves Marial unable to represent his own country. The IOC has suggested that he runs for Sudan, which has invited him to join their team but Marial who lost 28 members of his family in the war has refused. “I lost my family and relatives and in South Sudan two million people died,” he said by telephone from Flagstaff, Arizona, USA where he lives. “For me to just go and represent Sudan is a betrayal of my country first of all and is disrespecting my people who died for freedom.
There are two other athletes who will compete under the Olympic flag:
As many as 204 countries will be participating at the London Olympic Games opening next week. But Philipine van Aanhotl and Reginald de Windt will not be part of any of their contingents. They will compete (as) Independent Olympic participants only because they will represent no nation. They were citizens of the Netherlands Antilles of the Caribbean Islands, a country that was dissolved on 10th October 2010. Accordingly, the Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee withdrew its membership of the IOC. That’s how two Olympic-standard athletes were left stranded without a country to represent.
Nick Weldon of Runner’s World blog interviewed Marial:
If I get permission, all I can do is go there and be open-minded. You never know. But right now it’s important for me to just be there, to show the world and South Sudanese people. I am here. You are here. You are a country. You are here. Which means, next time, 2016, it’s not going to be me there alone. There are a couple of kids, when they see me this year; it’s going to motivate them. It’s going to make me happy if I can see that kind of thing happen.
This post is part of our special coverage London Olympics 2012.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Richard Wanjohi


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Spain: Street Protests are Unstoppable · Global Voices
Elena Arrontes

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.
Since the miners arrived to Madrid, on strike to protest against the 63% cuts to their sector, the demonstrations haven't stopped in the Spanish capital. Since last July 10th there are daily protests in which different professionals like fire-fighters and government employees have joined. The police and army unions jumped in saying their patience also had a limit.
On July 19th many protests took place in several cities across Spain against the cuts announced by the President Mariano Rajoy. Also, the “Protest of the Unemployed” with thousands of unemployed marched towards Madrid from countless cities. Their arrival to the capital was on July 21st.
The biggest cut during Spain's democracy led by the Popular Party, added to the promises that this same political group have failed to fulfill systematically, and the insult to the unemployed by Parliamentarian Andrea Fabra with her famous phrase “Que se jodan” [es] (Screw them) (follow the conversation on Twitter under the #QueSeJodan hashtag) have been the sparks that have ignited the street demonstrations of the last days. The protests sometimes were not peaceful showing the people's anger while the authorities repressed them violently.
Protests against cuts in Madrid. Picture by Fotogracción.
Social media and the self-named counter-information media showed the events through images. We selected some of them here. (All the pictures – unless specified – were taken by Fotogracción and republished under Licence CC BY-SA 3.0):
Miners after walking 400km arrived in Madrid with their claims:
Miners walk with their regional flags in downtown Madrid.
There were difficult moments in downtown Madrid the day after the miners arrived. Riot police shot rubber bullets at the protesters who in turn responded screaming “shame you” (July 12th). Here are some examples of  the videos collected by the webpage Spain Revolution.
Pictures of the spontaneous protest of government employees in front of the Congress after it announced the cuts that will affect them- July 15th.
Government employees gathering before the majority parties’ headquarters,PP and PSOE, in front of the Congress.
A woman is arrested during the protest.
Images of the protests caused by the cuts and Deputy Andrea Fabra's “Screw them”.
A banner that symbolizes the social unrest that Spain lives.
Fire-fighters declare themselves “burned out”:
Mieres fire-fighters strip themselves to protest against the cuts. Photo by @elcomerciodigit.
A fire-fighter truck moves among the protesters.
Economy lessons in a balcony at Leganés, close to Madrid:
Clear complaint against President Mariano Rajoy's cuts published by @janc1991
Union call to a protest across the country on July 19th:
Banner calling for a protest.
This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.

author: Elena Arrontes


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Spain: King’s Controversial Son-in-law Gets Salary in Millions · Global Voices
Lourdes Sada

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.
Last week it was made public in the press that Iñaki Urdangarín, the Duke of Palma, husband of Princess Cristina, and therefore the son-in-law of the King of Spain, had renewed his contract with the telecommunications company Telefónica. According to El Mundo, with the new contract, Urdangarín will receive a salary of 1.5 million euro as well as 1.2 million euro in-kind. The compensation in the event of termination would be 4.5 million euro.
The news has caused an outcry, especially since a few days after the news, the most severe budget cuts that the country has seen in recent history were announced. The Spanish have already been hearing talk of salaries and compensation in the millions for the upper executives of large companies and banks, who seem to be getting through the crisis with more relief than the average citizen.
Salaries and compensation for the heads of rescued banks, image from maestroviejo.wordpress.com
In addition to the scandalous salary, it must be added that Iñaki Urdangarín is being investigated in connection to various crimes perpetrated under the cover of the Nóos Institute, a supposedly non-profit entity that allegedly could have served as a front in a scheme to appropriate public funds illegally. The Duke of Palma is charged with obstruction of justice, forgery, misappropriation of public funds, fraud, and money laundering, for which he could be sentenced for up to 18 years in prison. In addition to the Duke, other executives of Nóos, along with some of their spouses, are incriminated, although up until now the judge has rejected the prosecution of Princess Cristina so as not to “gratuitiously disgrace a sole individual, which is not acceptable.”
Social networks immediately spread the news about Telefónica's renewal of Urdangarín, which was a trending topic on Twitter. Some handled it with humor, like the users @LargoJavariega and @eraser:
@LargoJavariega: En el país de los móviles, Urdangarin es el fijo.
@eraser: HOLLANDE [Presidente de Francia] ten compasión d pueblo gorfante INVADENOS!! desde las + altas cotas dla miseria hastas las cimas dla #monarquia #Urdangarin #15M
The fake doodle that Google dedicated to Urdangarín. Image from the Facebook page «His Excellency Don Iñaki Urdangarín, Great Swindler of the Kingdom»
But the majority of the messages reflected the helplessness that the Spanish people feel when faced with this type of abuse. Julia Romero comments on the news on the Facebook page Su Excelentísimo Señor Don Iñaki Urdangarín, estafados mayor del reino [His Excellency Don Iñaki Urdangarín, Great Swindler of the Kingdom]:
k fuerte…. pero trankilos… k no va a pasar absolutamente nada… si alguien tiene k pagar algo…. somos nosotros… k ellos roben k ya nos recortan a nosotros!!! verguenza de pais y verguenza de todo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cagonto Pormil Porcien, with a comment in El Mundo, says:
¿Urdangarín en Telefónica? Pues lo mismo que Zaplana como delegado de relaciones institucionales para Europa en Telefónica. ¡ Y sin tan siquiera hablar inglés ! O sea, que Telefónica es un cementerio de impresentables y delincuentes. Menos mal que ya no trabajo para ellos, porque estaría cien veces más indignado.
It so happens that Telefónica has already been losing clients for several months to ADSL, mobile phones and other landlines, and many internet users have expressed their intention to leave the company, driven by their rejection of paying a salary in the millions to Urdangarín, such as Beatriz Rico (@bearicoactriz):
@bearicoactriz: Si Telefònica renueva a Urdangarín por 1,5 millones d euros, no quiero q mi factura d teléfonía contribuya a ese sueldo; cambio d compañía.
Meanwhile, others confirmed they have already terminated and urged other readers to do the same, like David Barba (@SmartPowerUp):
@SmartPowerUp: Vete de Telefónica. Mira lo que hacen con el dinero. CORROMPIDA LA VIDA ES MAS #Urdangarin #Vomistar http://pic.twitter.com/hNC23BVG
In their defense, Telefónica has justified their decision to renew Urdangarín's contract to avoid “condemning him in advance”, although several members of the directive council have made known their rejection because of “the damage that the Urdangarín case is causing in-house.”
It is worth mentioning that Telefónica is carrying out an ERE [Spanish process of workforce downsizing] in Spain, with which it hopes to layoff 6,500 workers until 2013 and save 250 million euro in 2012. Another turn of the screw for the Spanish economy in its crippled state.
This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.

author: Lourdes Sada


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Sri Lanka: Remembering 23rd Of July 1983 · Global Voices
Rezwan

Shubha remembers the dark days of the Sinhalese-Tamil riots in Sri Lanka which began on the 23rd of July 1983, in the aftermath of a funeral of 13 Sri Lanka Army soldiers, who were ambushed and killed by the LTTE in Jaffna.

author: Rezwan


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Tajikistan: Learn the National Anthem to be a Doctor · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Tajikistan's Deputy Health Minister has recently announced [ru] that “without knowing the national anthem, doctors will not be able to correctly diagnose their patients”. Netizens have responded to the announcement with irony. Blogger Harsavor writes [ru], for example: “[M]y donkey cannot diagnose people. Maybe it is because he does not know the anthem?”

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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United States: Weaving Poetry on the Streets of New York · Global Voices
Yarisa Colon

“El Tejedor en Nueva York” (The Weaver in New York) [es] is a traveling multimedia anthology produced by the photographer and cultural promoter Juan J. Sanz Morera, and his independent publishing house La única Puerta a la Izquierda (The only door on the left).
Sanz, who started the “Weaver in New York” collection with David Gonzalez in Madrid, collaborated with McNally Jackson bookseller Javier Molea, and the Spanish writer Isabel Cadenas Cañon to interweave the writings of 17 poets who come and go from New York. The anthology features poets from Latin America and the Caribbean.
Below is a fragment of the anti-rules that guided the analogies:
Quizás los criterios de selección que seguimos determinaron ese espíritu. Cansados de antologías cronológicas, correctas, apolilladas, decidimos aprovechar la ocasión y hacer un libro para textos que no tienen lugar: una antología de textos no antologables. Los autores que figuran aquí recibieron una única consigna: debían enviarnos textos que creyeran que un antólogo nunca seleccionaría. Así que esta antología es, para comenzar, un acto de desobediencia contra las antologías. Primera resistencia.
To create this project, Sanz toured the city with the poets, interviewed them in different scenarios, had open air poetry readings, and then put all the material out on his website [es].  The objective: “for us to find out through them what's cooking in the cities where we travel. This way we won't get to just read and enjoy these writings, but also get to know the city, its hidden pockets, its feelings, its people.”
Here are three of the interviews available on the website. In the first, the Colombian writer Carlos Aguasaco, speaks about–among other things–the resurgence of literary works of Caribbean and Latin Americans in New York.
Aguasaco also directs Artepoética.com, [es] from which he runs a radio and television broadcasting station, as well as publishing news, essays and information about literary competitions.
We continue with the interview of the “Puerto Rican poet, performance artist, teacher and polemicist” Urayoan Noel Martínez, who recently received a postdoctoral grant from the  Ford Foundation to finish a book about Nuyoricans [Puerto Ricans living in New York] from the sixties to the present.
We close with the interview of Soledad Marambio, Chilean journalist and writer:

author: Yarisa Colon


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Africa: Digital Citizen Indaba 7 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Digital Citizen Indaba 7 is coming: “In recent years we discussed the role of bloggers during disasters, we showed the latest digital tools in activism and continued the conversation about the digital gap.This year we propose to tackle two hot items: African digital outcasts and Internet privacy.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Bangladesh: Despite Obstacles, Girls Outshine Boys in National Exams · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

According to the recently published results of Bangladesh's national Higher Secondary examinations [bn], girls have outdone  their male peers. This year, the success rate of female students is 79.19%, which is higher than the 78.23% success rate male students attained.
In addition to the General Education system, the results of the Madrasa Education Board & Technical Education Board are also out and girls lead in these fields as well. In the last few years there has been a rise in the success rate of female students in public examinations and many people attribute this to several steps taken by the government.
Hasan Ferdous commented [bn] on this feat:
It would be wrong to interpret this success by numbers only. It is known to us what difficulties a girl has to face in Bangladesh. A girl child is stil unwanted to some families. If there is a boy in the family all attention and privileges are provided to him. They get the best meal and the girls are given the leftover. If the family cannot afford to send children to the school, the girls are the first ones to sacrifice. .. still there are the pressure of the society, religion, eve teasers. And the parents conveniently decides that it is too risky to send the girls to school.
After overcoming all these obstacles when they top the boys in education, then we have to say “three cheers”.
Women celebrate and show the victory sign after the announcement of the Higher Secondary Certificate results. Image by Bayazid Akter. Copyright Demotix
One of the main barriers in the way forward for women is ‘eve teasing’ or sexual harassment of girls. Bangladesh Nari Prgati Sangha depicts in one of their reports:
In 2010 28 girls committed suicide after being sexually harassed and 7 more tried in vain. There had been reports of harassment of 166 women. 10 men and 2 women died while trying to protect women from harassment.
Jui's story:
Hawa Akhter Jui is a very simple girl from Bangladesh. She was married off when she was still in school. Her husband did not want that she would continue her studies. Her father recognized her passion to study and got her admitted in the 11th class of the Narshingdi Government College. Her husband, who was living abroad, got angry hearing that she had been admitted to college. When he came back he cut off her five fingers after an altercation so that she would not be able to carry on her studies.
But that did not stop her. She appeared at the HSC exam this year (with the help of a cousin) and she has passed securing “A” grade [bn].
Gender inequality in education sector:
The Bangladesh Government has committed to raise the rate of literacy to 100% within 2014 in its National Education Policy. The report of Unnayan Anneshon titled “The Gender inequality in Bangladesh” says that in 2000 the male literacy rate was 49.5%. In 2010 it rose to 61.12%. On the other hand in 2000 the female literacy rate was 40.1 which rose to 54.8% in 2010. So the stats tell that the female growth of literacy rate is 1.47% per annum. At this rate the 2014 target (100%) will not be achieved. There is a stipulated shortfall of 39.32%. And there is a difference between the passing rate of urban and rural girls. In higher studies this becomes more evident between male and female students.  Although at the primary level female students are gaining grounds, in higher studies they still lag behind. In public universities the female enrollment is only 24.3%.
According to the Bangladeshi constitution man and woman hold equal status. But in reality, within families, discrimination exists. So to empower women, it is required that every custom, ritual, law and policy that differentiates male from female, needs reform and change and there should be coordination between legal, administrative and community efforts to achieve this.
In this post of BNPS solving social problems is stressed as a solution to achieve higher female literacy rate:
The past few years there was increased budget for the female primary education which helped in decreasing the gap between male and female students. So Bangladesh could achieve the MDG goal at the primary level within the time frame. But the drop out rate is still in an unacceptable level. So there is still an wide margin of gender inequality in the secondary and higher education levels. The gap has decreased little in the past 10 years. Steps like full free tution for girls upto higher secondary could not do much in bridging the gap. The main reason is the sexual harassment and early marriage. In order to increase the female literacy, these social problems needs to be addressed urgently.

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)


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Bermuda: Social Politicking · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Respice Finem examines the pros and cons of social media when it comes to its role in political campaigning.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Gender Verification Policy Introduced at London 2012 Olympics · Global Voices
Richard Wanjohi

This is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee and the International Association of Athletics Federations have come up with measures to ensure minimal incidences regarding gender concerns at the London Olympics. The two bodies have introduced a new gender verification policy.
Writing about the new policy, Humanities and Health says:
At the 2012 Game, more than a decade after the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) abandoned routine sex testing for female athletes, a ‘sex testing’ policy will once again be in place. The change came in response to the case of Caster Semenya, the Sotuh African runner whose sex was first challenged by her competitors at the Berlin World Athletics Championships in 2009.
Following her victory at the 2009 World Championships, South African athlete Caster Semenya was subjected to gender testing. Image courtesy of www.erki.nl/
The post continues:
Ultimately, the debate started from Caster’s case demands us to reflect on the meanings and aims of sports, in other words, its ‘ethos’. Caster has qualified for the Olympics and focuses on gold after finishing second last year at World Track (Athletics) Championships in Daegu , South Korea
Redirect blog points out that the new gender verification policy looks at solely female athletes’ testosterone levels:
The Olympics evoke images for many around the world: an athlete with their nation’s flag draped around their shoulders, donning a gold medal around their neck. But as the London Games near, the IOC recently fixed its gaze below the belt, quietly issuing its new gender verification policy.
While there are several different criteria for determining one’s sex, the newly adopted policy looks at solely female athletes’ testosterone levels. Women whose test results fall within the normal male testosterone range will be banned from competition unless and until they submit to medical intervention
The blog raises serious questions about gender verification:
There is no tidy definition of gender. We tend to think of it in binary terms – male or female – but gender exists on a spectrum. As such, perhaps the IOC should look to include multiple measures of sex and gender in making their determination. A more comprehensive test that examines testosterone in addition to chromosomes and genitalia would be more invasive, but has the benefit of weighing multiple factors when determining athletes gender.
Is the IOC’s new policy imperfect? Sure. Is there a better way? Certainly. But at the end of the day, there is no perfect answer. There exists a need for gender verification and you have to draw the line somewhere. The Olympics have never been about universal inclusion. It is a privilege reserved for sport’s most elite. Athletes must comply with numerous other requirements before they can compete as Olympians – everything from age minimums, to time standards, to citizenship verification. Why not just approach gender verification as another step on the road to the games?
In conclusion, Theolympicgamesblancaemiliogonzalo sees improvement in gender equality at the Olympics:
Gender discrimination has always existed in sports, even during the Olympic Games. Anyway it’s something which is changing….
The IOC has taken this decision in order to manage properly the situation in Saudi Arabia. At the same time, women’s boxing has been add(ed) to the Summer Olympic Games to get equality regarding to the sports in which both male and female can participate.
This is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.


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China: Chinese Alcohol · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Derek from 300 shots at Greatness explains to his readers the ingredients behind different types of Chinese Baiju (Chinese Vodka).

author: Oiwan Lam


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Colombia: “Are We Truly Independent?”  · Global Voices
Cati Restrepo

On July 20, when Colombia commemorated its 202th year of independence, netizens published various opinions with respect to the event. The country began the day with various debates on the situation regarding the indigenous population demanding the disarmament of their territory, the production of narconovelas (television dramas focusing on social injustice) on national channels, and mining. Additionally, there was a parallel between posts that expressed pride for the holiday and those that posed the question, “Is Colombia a truly independent country?”
In the blogosphere, historian Ángel Ortiz [es] says the independence of Colombia was not a messianic act:
El proceso de independencia se dio en realidad porque las grandes familias descendientes de españoles y nacidas en predios americanos, querían disponer de los recursos, administrarlos y repartirse las cuotas de poder.
Geraldine expressed her concern upon seeing that there aren't that many people who waive the Colombian flag anymore [es]:
Picture of the Colombian flag in Geraldine's post, used with permission.
Hoy me levante temprano por el calor, la luz se había ido y el ventilador, pues no servía. Eran casi las 9:00am, y cuando salí al balcón, ya la bandera estaba ahí, enrollada en su propia asta por el viento. Fui, la organicé y me percaté de cuántas banderas más habían: Era la única del edificio y las de la calle se podían contar con los dedos de una mano. ¿Qué pasó con esos días en que la gente no se había levantado y ya estaba colgando sus banderitas?
She also adds:
No somos independientes. Por lo menos no económicamente. Pero eso no quiere decir que no debemos celebrar una fecha importante en la historia de nuestro país. Como digo yo “Feliz día de la Independencia de España, las otras vendrán después”.
On Twitter, various hashtags that expressed patriotism, in addition to those that questioned whether Colombia was truly independent, became local Trending Topics. These tags were: #TierraQuerida [#BelovedLand], #SoyColombiano [#IAmColombian], Orgullosamente colombiana [Proudly Colombian], and Feliz día de la independencia [Happy Independence Day].
Juan Gossaín (@DonJuanGosssaín) [es], a journalist that has become renown over the course of the past few years, wrote:
@DonJuanGosssaín: Estoy seguro que llegará el día en que celebremos nuestra segunda libertad: vivir en paz. Feliz 20 de julio #TierraQuerida
User @DanielitoBang [es] ironically addressed those Colombians that were ranting about the indigenous populations in Cauca:
@DanielitoBang: Un feliz día a todos esos patriotas que hace un par de días despotricaban de los indígenas colombianos.
Sergio Serrano (@sergio_serrano_) [es] responded to the greetings from the United States embassy in Colombia (@USEmbassyBogota) [es]:
@sergio_serrano_: Cómo así? Ya se van?
User @donnyrossoff [es] reflected as follows:
@donnyrossoff: O aprendemos algo, sufrimos suficiente o nos cansamos de lo mismo… ¡Salvemos a esta #TierraQuerida! http://pic.twitter.com/LpzANnra
On her part, Silvia Restrepo (@silviarpo) [es] called for remembering those that are kidnapped:
@silviarpo:Feliz Dia de la Independecia! recordemos a todos a quienes les han quitado lo mas preciado… La libertad! Orgullosamente COLOMBIANA
Vallenato singer Felipe Peláez (@Felipe_Pelaez) [es] also made a heartfelt comment:
@Felipe_Pelaez: Desde USA, feliz día de la independencia a mi bello país… A mi tierra colombiana!! No hallo mi vida sin ti Colombia!!
Much like him, Juli (@hopeyoufind) [es], who also expressed her pride of having been born in Colombia, commented:
@hopeyoufind: Soy Orgullosamente Colombiana y me vale lo que digan de mi hermoso país, estoy muy orgullosa de haber nacido acá, TE AMO COLOMBIA.
Netizens shared various images on Facebook, such as that Anonymiss Colombia [es] reposted, in which they criticize the presence of multinational corporations [es].
Map of Colombia with logos of multinational corporations, reposted by Anonymiss Colombia.
Finally, the Facebook group Amo a Colombia [I Love Colombia] shared an image in which homage is made to the Colombian flag, the yellow representing [es] gold, the blue representing the richness of Colombia's seas, and the red representing those who fought for Colombia's freedom:
Happy 202th Birthday Colombia

author: Cati Restrepo


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Colombia: Locals Concerned Over Media’s Slant on Cauca Conflict · Global Voices
Julián Ortega Martínez

Though the serious situation affecting the southwestern department of Cauca in the last few days is quite complex, the most notorious event was the removal of around 100 soldiers from a military base at the top of El Berlín mountain in Toribío on Tuesday, July 17. A close-up photo [es] of Army sergeant Rodrigo García, taken by photographer Luis Robayo of AFP, crying out of humiliation after been pushed by dozens of indigenous, prompted outrage on social media sites [es] and made the cover [es] of centre-left newspaper El Espectador on Wednesday, July 18.
Most Colombians learned about the incident through television [es], but the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca (ACIN) uploaded their own version [es]:
The Defence Ministry [es] and other indigenous groups, such as the OPIC [es] (Pluricultural Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Cauca), have accused the main local indigenous organisations, ACIN and CRIC (Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca), of being infiltrated by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), despite the communities’ public rejection of FARC. The weekend before these accusations, some indigenous people and a crew from newscast Noticias Uno were caught in the crossfire [es] as indigenous youth tried to expel guerrilla fighters. Days before, sergeant García himself recorded with his mobile phone [es] and uploaded footage of the indigenous as they destroyed military trenches to his YouTube channel.
Furthermore, on Thursday, July 19, the Indigenous Guard caught 4 indigenous guerrilla members, which they sentenced to be lashed [es] and also exiled from their territory if they return to FARC [es]. A photo by Manuel Saldarriaga depicting armed indigenous people circulated on the web [es] and was published by economic daily La República on its front page [es] on Wednesday 18. Racist, anti-indigenous comments poured on social media, though there were also respectful tweets supporting the Army (all links lead to Spanish-language tweets).
On Atrabilioso, Adas Oz claims [es] that the Cauca department is controlled by FARC and criticizes the current government for its lack of action:
¿Por qué ponerle un ultimátum a las FFMM si son una fuerza legítima del Estado creada para brindar seguridad en todos los rincones del país y para defender la soberanía y el orden? ¿Por qué no ponerle más bien un único ultimátum a las FARC que son los que siembran el terror en la zona y en toda Colombia? ¿Por qué la supuesta guardia indígena no se alía con la verdadera fuerza legítima para combatir el flagelo del narcoterrorismo que azota al departamento del Cauca? La respuesta es muy sencilla: porque el CRIC no es más que otro frente de las FARC y porque no tienen ningún interés en dejar a un lado su actividad cocalera.
The CRIC has complained  [es] about “the subjectivity and bias” showed by mainstream media and “the expressions of racism and resentment against the Cauca indigenous peoples.”
Carlos Cortés Castillo wrote two posts about the media coverage of this situation in his blog Subversión de los hechos. In the first post he mocks [es] the speeches delivered by hosts of the morning radio programmes on Caracol Radio (Darío Arizmendi and Gustavo Gómez Córdoba) and W Radio (Julio Sánchez Cristo):
El discurso nos dará bríos para enfrentar el futuro, afianzáremos los lazos familiares, llamaremos a esa tía que hace diez años olvidamos. Pondremos la Constitución en la mesa de la sala. Nada de esto lo verá el periodista, que recibirá abrazos de todos sus colegas, Había que decirlo, Well done. Poderosas tus palabras.
In the second one, Cortés writes tongue-in-cheek [es] about a harsh interview [es] by Luis Carlos Vélez, a former CNN journalist and now director of Noticias Caracol newscast, with two indigenous leaders: Luis Évelis Andrade, head of CRIC, and Marcos Avirama, an indigenous senator (he also posted the interview with some of his own notes [es] with what Vélez would ‘actually’ do and say):
[Vélez] aprendió el oficio en dos escuelas similares, idénticas para los observadores más agudos: la Doctrina de la Guerra Preventiva, de Estados Unidos, donde acumuló horas de vuelo, y el Análisis Futbolístico Estrambótico, que lleva en la sangre.
In a comment in this post, Hermes Trimegistro says [es]:
creo que los indígenas se equivocan y que han extralimitado el margen de autonomía que les da la constitución. Sin embargo ese es un debate aún abierto y que merece mayor sosiego y crítica objetiva. Los medios no han hecho más que suscribir ciegamente la posición gobiernista, con la despreciable mirada racista y dogmática propia de las dictaduras.
Álvaro Duque carries out an exercise [es] with this interview: using a strategy he claims is used by Japanese companies, he switches the questions around, as if the indigenous leaders where interviewing Vélez.
Finally, artist Lucas Ospina assesses [es] both the interview by Vélez and another one (in the same confrontational tone) by veteran newscaster Yamid Amat with Giovani Yule, a spokesperson of CRIC.

author: Julián Ortega Martínez


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Cuba: Pro-Democracy Leader Oswaldo Payá Dies in Car Crash · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

On July 23, 2012 Cuban pro-democracy advocate Oswaldo Payá was killed in a car accident in the eastern city of Bayamo.
Leader of the famed Varela Project and a winner of the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for human rights and democracy, Oswaldo Payá was internationally recognized as one of Cuba's most pragmatic, forward-thinking advocates for freedom of expression, freedom of association, and other fundamental rights on the island. His colleague, Harold Cepero, was also killed in the accident.
Oswaldo Paya, at his home. Screenshot from video by Tracey Eaton, taken with photographer's permission.
Survivors included Angel Carromero and Jens Aron Modig, European politicians from Spain and Sweden, who were supporters of Payá's efforts. Both currently remain hospitalized, but are reportedly in stable condition. As of yet, no account of the accident from either survivor has appeared in mainstream or citizen media.
The public first learned of the advocate's death through reports from acclaimed Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez, who was close with Payá's family. Sanchez tweeted to her followers that she received a call from Ofelia, Payá's wife, informing her of the accident:
@yoanisanchez: #Cuba Acabo de hablar con Ofelia Acevedo esposa de @OswaldoPaya y me confirma que su esposo sufrio un accidente Los mantengo informados!
Hours later, Sánchez tweeted to her 270K followers that Paya had died:
@yoanisanchez: #Cuba Confirma Carlos Amador secretario del Obispo de #Bayamo el fallecimiento de @OswaldoPaya @el_pais @CNNEE
In Cuba's main national newspaper, Granma, a short article described the accident and named Payá as one of the victims, but did not refer to his political work.
Respected by many, but criticized both by government supporters and hard-line anti-Castro groups, Payá founded Cuba's Christian Liberation Movement, a non-denominational political organization working to advance human rights and civil liberties in Cuba. A decade later, in 1998, he spearheaded the Varela Project [es], which to date remains one of the most pragmatic and measured attempts by a Cuban civil society group to advocate for change within the Cuba's political system. Payá and other members of the project collected 11,000 signatures on a petition calling for a referendum on the country's constitution. The referendum, which was not accepted by the Cuban government, would have enshrined rights to free expression, free association, full electoral participation, and other fundamental liberties for all Cubans.
Payá was also known for his commitment to non-violent action, his moderate approach to advocacy, and his refusal to accept support funds from outside governments, most notably the US. In a 2011 interview with journalist Tracey Eaton, he commented on these convictions:
El dinero de los Estados Unidos no va a decidir el cambio en Cuba. […] La esencia del problema es que el gobierno cubano no reconoce los derechos de los ciudadanos cubanos en Cuba. […] El problema está en Cuba, y la solución está en Cuba, y entre cubanos.
Tracey Eaton interview with Oswaldo Paya, from cubamoneyproject.org:
Payá's death became a global trending topic on Twitter shortly after Sanchez confirmed his death. Marta López García [@aircag] tweeted:
@aircag: #CUBA Oswaldo Paya jamas insulto a sus contrincantes.La lección que deja,la ética por encima de las diferencias.Descanse en libertad !!
Soon after the reports surfaced, Payá's daughter, Rosa María, told foreign press outlets that she feared the crash was not an accident. While state media reported that the driver lost control of the vehicle and that the car crashed into a tree, other reports have held that the car crashed with another vehicle, possibly a truck.
Many voices on Twitter commented on this allegation:
@ZapataVive tweeted:
#CUBA OSWALDO PAYA Y SU ASISTENTE HAROLD CEPERO MUERTOS POR SER OPOSITORES DE #CASTRO QUE EN PAZ DESCANSEN !!
Blogger and photographer Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo [@OLPL] tweeted:
Hay algun culpable? Habra juicio? O se dio a la fuga? Se busca? O fue un fallo tecnico? O acaso un acierto tecnico…?
Pardo Lazo live tweeted memorial services on the afternoon of July 23rd and included a brief video in which mourners can be seen applauding Payá. Details of the accident will be reported on Global Voices when they are known. For now, those who admired Payá continue to express their grief over his death, and admiration for his work.
Arturo Lopez Levy, a Cuban-born doctoral candidate in Philosophy at the University of Denver, wrote a detailed essay on Payá's political organization and pragmatism. Lopez Levy commented on the leader's uniquely moderate position among pro-democracy advocates in Cuba:
Payá deja un camino apenas empezado: trabajar desde el orden constitucional post-revolucionario para canalizar la vibrante pluralización social de la isla en una alternativa racional y nacionalista, de democracia y estado de bienestar, al proyecto de reformas parciales de Raúl Castro. Quizás en Washington y Miami se iniciará una reflexión sobre el costo de continuar una política maximalista, contraproducente a la consolidación de un proyecto de oposición moderada.
Blogger Dimas Castellanos [es] wrote:
Payá, con independencia de cualquier diferencia con su proyecto o forma personal de dirigir, por su labor durante más de dos décadas, por su persistencia, por permanecer en Cuba y por otros muchos por, ocupa un un lugar en la historia de Cuba. El mejor homenaje es darle continuidad a su obra, es decir, a la lucha por la democratización de nuestro país.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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Indonesia: EngageMedia’s Video4Change Retreat on Video for Social Change · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Indonesia was the host-country for Video4Change, a week long retreat where different organizations came together to discuss how video can be used for social change and also come up with solutions for the resource gaps.
Engage Media and WITNESS co-hosted this event with participants from 12 different organizations all focused on using video for social change. From Engage Media's summary of the event:
One of the highlights was to witness the breadth and depth of how video could be used to contribute to social change. The participating organisations had different approaches and theories of change in using video for change. Some organisations use participatory video as way to bring communities together, some use video to document human rights abuses in order to make significant policy changes and to raise awareness on the realities communities are facing, and some use video to support community and citizen journalism to increase people's ability to represent themselves and their issues. This range of experiences contributed to being able to defining video4change.
2012 Video for Change gathering participants
Not all was discussion though. Throughout the process, as they mapped resources and materials available for those interested in using Video for Change, they were able to determine gaps in the knowledge available for training people in Video for Change. While enough material, resources and guides exist for some stages such as Strategy, Planning and Pre-production, while other areas needed more help, specially with updating, expanding and making sure the content is in a language plain to understand for the audience and including case studies and relevant examples and during the second part of the gathering, they came together to try and fill those gaps.
The MIT Center for Civic Media was one of the invited organizations, and on their activity report, attendee Becky Hurwitz wrote summarizing the event:
It was the best kind of hackathon. The v4c gathering was for building knowledge, v4c training resources, and community and it succeeded on all counts. Creating a successful event is some combination of planning, intention, and magic.
MickFuzz represented Transmission Network as well as more active FLOSS Manuals at the event. In his blog post, he made a point to highlight the work of organizations such as  Witness, Small World News and Insight Share who produce training resources for using video for social change.  The after-hours activities seemed to be as productive as the academic ones: for example, the use of an online subtitling site to find videos to sing along which are not usually found at karaokes, and the experiences of street screenings shared by Egyptian video group Mosireen.
This is a great way of bringing together communities and celebrating our identity and past history (and sharing it with others too!). That is a real Magnet and Transporter! In some ways, these kinds of grass roots community uses of video outside of the mainstream are for me the most exciting aspects of video for change.
Both participants and organizers have expressed the desire for more of these gatherings. In the meantime, Engage Media will continue to post updates and outcomes from the Video 4 Change gathering on their blog.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Kenya: Javelin Throwing Olympian Trains Using YouTube  · Global Voices
Richard Wanjohi

This is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.
Julius Yego, the African and Kenyan national javelin champion, broke the national record over the weekend in a field athletics meet in Finland. After using YouTube to hone his skills and techniques, Yego's record improved to 81.12 metres.
Julius Yego – Image courtesy of nation.co.ke
SportsKenya blog compiles Yego’s exploits:
Participating in an event which has never been a speciality for Kenya let alone Africa, he managed to hone his skill and better his technique using this (YouTube) social media platform. And true to word, his skill got better and his technique won him the first ever gold medal for a field event for Kenya in the 2011 All- Africa Games in the Mozambican capital of Maputo. This he did by breaking the national record to a then (new national) record throw of 78.34 m.
Hoping to better his throwing before the start of the July-August event, Yego will surely join the many sportsmen and women who have made Olympic folklore not just by becoming champions but also by the mere part of participating in this sporting extravaganza. And he still recognises the role that social media plays in his everyday life of ensuring he becomes a world beater in the throw sport of javelin…thanks to YouTube!
Heart, Soul & Mind makes it clear who they will be rooting for:
We will compete in the 4x400m men relay and have a representation in the field games with Julius Yego embracing his javelin (a first for us). In the ring Ben Gicharu and Elizabeth Andiego will carry the flag. I will certainly be watching the Olympics this season, rooting for Team Kenya and enjoying the strength and lessons that sport always brings out.
Highligting Yego’s lessons, Kenyatech shows what Kenyans online can use YouTube for:
Some people even look to it for direction in learning or perfecting their techniques in sports, hobbies or art – even javelin gold medallist Julius Yego turned to YouTube for guidance. YouTube plans to garner partnerships with local communities, producers, individuals and companies to foster and support this pattern of “edutainment”, aspiring to not only make videos stream faster, but also provide all of this through a local interface that provides pertinent information for Kenyans
In an unprecedented move, YouTube plans to live stream Olympic content:
Yep, the 2012 Olympics will be streamed live on The International Olympic Committee’s YouTube channel in 64 countries world-wide. NBC, aka the official broadcaster of the Olympics, is teaming up with YouTube to provide a constant stream of Olympic competition. This is the first year that every single Olympic game will be available to viewers, whether they are at the beach, outside drinking sangria or enjoying the summer from the comfort of their own work cubicle! So while some may be opening tabs at bars to watch the Olympics, others…will be opening up their own tabs and charging them straight to YouTube!
This is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.


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Mexico: Tijuana’s Unexpected Cinema Movement · Global Voices
Andrea Arzaba

For a long time, Tijuana, a city in the north-western corner of Mexico, has had an international reputation for being both a dangerous border town and a temptingly thrilling spring break destination. However, it is now in the international spotlight for a whole different reason: its local cinema movement.
Aaron Soto, a film director and guest blogger at San Diego’s KPBS, provides some information on the current artistic scene in this “bizarre border town”:
There is a new breed of genre filmmakers, spreading throughout the provincial cities. Industry rejecters, that could either not afford film school or that could not conform to the system.  Most of them, create stories of horror, fantasy and science fiction, and most of them, come from an unexpected place, the city of Tijuana.
Why the unexpected place? Because Tijuana has been  cut-off from the rest of the country's own culture for years. Despite being  the world's most-visited border city, Tijuana was considered by Mexico City's centric culture as that bizarre border town that did not seem to have it's own identity, but boy were they wrong!
Later in the post, Soto points out that unlike most Mexican filmmakers who have been influenced by their European counterparts, filmmakers from Tijuana look to their northern neighbors for inspiration:
What were the directors’ intentions? I'm not sure, but if you asked about influences, in Mexico's academic system, filmmakers answer with cliches like Federico Fellini and Jean-Luc Godard. If you ask the border town filmmakers, they will answer with names like David Lynch and Lucio Fulci for sure, but why not? The Tijuana border is 15 minutes from California's cinemas. Dozens of newsstands and libraries, plus the local mom-and-pop video stores insured that Mexican Gen-Xers grew up consuming America's pop culture and it's indie roots, including B-movies, sleaze,  horror, and the macabre from publications like “Famous Monsters of Filmland”  and “Gorezone” magazine, and from writers like Tim Lucas and Pete Tombs. With the injection of their own Mexican culture, how many children grew up watching “El Santo vs Las Vampiras” as well as David Cronenberg's “Videodrome” on the same evening?
Soto also writes about the movement started by some directors from the border city:
Directors like Fran Ilich, Giancarlo Ruiz, Omar Ynigo and myself, started what would become known as the DIY movement from the 00's down in Baja. Editing with two VCR's and creating our own stars, like actor Hector Jimenez (“Nacho Libre”) and our own cult short-films like “Omega Shell,” we started to make films about our everyday life,  the contradictory chaos of the city; sex and religion, the comprehensible and the esoteric, the uncivilized and the technology, pleasure and pain, English and Español and most of all, the culture of violence.
Following a line of recent short films that are based in one city, like ‘Paris, Je t'aime’ or ‘New York, I love you’, there is a proposal to make a Tijuanense version called ‘Tijuana, te amo’. The blog Tijuana Innovadora, Tech and Culture [es] explains:
Presentation of film Tijuana, Te amo. Photo by Gabriel Flores Romero (CC BY 2.0)
Tijuana Te Amo es un largometraje colectivo que trata de mostrar la parte positiva de Tijuana. Los panelistas transmitieron un video del detrás de cámaras y cómo los directores se pusieron de acuerdo para filmar cada escena. El largometraje sigue el formato de las producciones Paris Je t’aime y New York I love You. La película va más allá de los esterotipos,de la delincuencia, se intentó plasmar el contraste entre las realidades universales y la belleza dijeron los directores.
In his blog FimBuffalo Produccciones, blogger Rodrigo Alvarez affirms [es] that there is no place like Tijuana when it comes to making movies:
En lo personal, en ninguna parte de las que he estado, o de la gente con la que he convivido he notado el fenómeno “cinematográfico” que ocurre en tijuana, la pasión y ganas que existe en la gente de realizar proyectos es bastante sorprendente (puede ser que influya mucho el que estemos en frontera con uno de los paises de mayor producción cinematográfica.)
Finally, Jose Paredes, another blogger from Tijuana, writes about the day he decided [es] to watch 15 hours of cinema made in Tijuana, non-stop:
El jueves pasado me levante a las 8am y me dormi a las 11pm, y durante esas 15 horas que estuve despierto las dedique a una cosa y una cosa solamente: El Cine local. Comenzando en la Lazaro, siguiendole en la Cerveceria Tijuana, y terminando nuevamente en casa de mi hermano Marco. Acabe exhausto debo admitir, pero valio la pena y me senti sumamente completo.

author: Andrea Arzaba


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Peru: President Humala ‘Reshuffles’ Cabinet · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Bloggings by Boz comments on President Ollanta Humala's “cabinet shuffle”: “Oscar Valdes is out; Juan Jimenez is in as Peru's new prime minister. Humala also named new ministers for Interior, Defense, Health, Agriculture and Justice.” He adds that this cabinet shuffle comes in response to anti-mining protests.

author: Silvia Viñas


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St. Lucia: New Direction for Carnival?  · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

The Choiseul Powerhouse reviews Saint Lucia's 2012 Power Soca Monarch competition: “Suppose I told you before that St. Lucians were fed up with the Trinidadian-invented ‘Rag and Flag’ syndrome which has over the years supersaturated our Soca shows, would I have been vindicated by the outcomes of our just concluded Carnival? Did we see some evidence pointing in that direction?”

author: Matthew Hunte


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Syria: Refuge in Armenia · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

With the situation in Syria deteriorating rapidly, Cilicia comments on the plight of the country's 100,000 strong ethnic Armenian population. The blog says that many are already applying for Armenian citizenship, but more could be done to offer them refuge in Armenia.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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The Bahamas: Comments on the Colorado Shooting · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

There has not been a significant reaction in the Caribbean blogosphere about the Colorado movie theatre shooting – which is being cited as one of the deadliest in recent U.S. history – save for two Bahamian bloggers, for whom the news hit close to home.  As the Caribbean nation located closest to the United States (southeast of Florida), the Bahamas, despite its Commonwealth status, strongly relies on the American economy to keep its tourism and offshore finance industries healthy and is often influenced by U.S. media, culture and policy.
One of the country's newest blogs, Pure Fawkery, suggested that the mainstream media's response to the killings was biased and republished a photo that has been making the rounds on Facebook.  (The photo caption suggests that because of the suspect's skin colour, he was portrayed more favourably by the media):
I saw this photo circulating on Facebook and I knew I had to share it. It so poignantly addresses the overt media bias. It speaks for itself and the silence in response to this message is deafening!
The most pressing issue that the incident raised for Blogworld, though, was the question of gun control.  Referring to a recent article in The New Yorker, which talked about “gun crazy” America, Blogworld's Nicolette Bethel commented:
And here, in the Bahamas, some of us discuss, seriously, that Bahamians should be allowed to carry handguns. We happen to live in that part of the world which was founded on the concept that it is some people’s god-given right to sail across an ocean, map out other people’s lands, eradicate those people, resettle those lands, import other people, and make fortunes out of the process.We are the broken men and women who are struggling to create civilizations out of that history. But we cannot, because we were created out of a philosophy that sees human life not as something sacred, but as something expendable—something that is less important than profit, or than massacre. The genocide and enslavement on which the ‘New’ world was founded have left a legacy in which massacre is enacted again and again, and presented to the world as freedom.
She also questioned the wisdom of thinking in simplistic, absolute terms:
And here in The Bahamas, we believe that nonsense. We believe that true freedom consists of the right to kill other people. We believe that some people are ‘bad’ and others are ‘good’ and the ‘good’ people have the right to arm themselves and eradicate the ‘bad’ people. We ourselves are always the ‘good’ people. Who, then, are ‘bad'?


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United States: Anaheim Rises After Police Kills Unarmed Man · Global Voices
Elizabeth Rivera

After the police shot Manuel Díaz, a 25-year-old unarmed Latino man on Saturday, July 21st during a chase in Anaheim, California, the community reacted with protests against police brutality claiming an increased violence against them. The details of the shooting are still under investigation. On one side, the police claims Díaz was a documented gang member that was behaving suspiciously, on the other, witnesses say Díaz was executed. Some netizens reported on the latter on Twitter, like Anti-Capitalist:
@OccupyAllSt: #Anaheim police kills another man, witnessess claim he was handcuffed.http://rt.com/usa/news/boston-woman-punishment-officer-886/ …
And Buzzsaw, who explained:
@MillCityComic: Let's break it down 4 them real simple.#SFPD & #Anaheim #APD -> When you shoot somebody dead who is in handcuffs, it's an #execution.
This video, uploaded anonymously, alledgely shows Díaz laying on the ground, a man yelling “he's still alive,” and the police trying to control the crowd instead of helping the suspect.
On the same day of the shooting, the residents confronted the police with rocks and bottles and they were harshly repressed. A video showing police firing on women and children quickly went viral and sparked a series of demonstrations against what some see as a pattern of police brutality.
http://youtu.be/VZV3iyMz470
@NewsVortex: Hmmmmmm. The Youtube vids for the Anaheim police assaults are being removed, even from @Ocweekly and @CBSLA
@JGfromOC: Dear @NBCLA, @CBSLA & @ABC7, I understand the dedication to cover thing in Aurora, but y so little coverage of what is happening in Anaheim?
@F22Raptorace: Shoot women & kids? Sick dogs on innocent folks? Is it #Afghanistan #Iraq #Syria. No its the #Anaheim Police Department…

author: Elizabeth Rivera


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Argentina: A Tour Through Rosario and its Architecture · Global Voices
Laura Schneider

Rosario, the third-largest city in Argentina by population, is located 300 kilometers north of Buenos Aires on the Paraná River. Rosario is known as the home of the Argentinian Flag, since it was in this city where it was raised for the first time. It is also the city that saw the birth of great athletes like Lionel Messi, Marcelo Bielsa, Luciana Aymar [es], and the politician and revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara. But beyond its international figures, one of Rosario's most astonishing features is its architecture, reflecting the European immigration of the early 1800's.
Rosario has been given many nicknames; one of them is “the Argentinian Chicago”, since it was the main port for grain and it also hosted a number of Sicilian mobsters, like “Chicho Grande” and “Chicho Chico”, among others. Newspaper La Nación [es] writes about this nickname:
Rosario, la ciudad que a fines del siglo XIX y principios del XX se convirtió en el principal puerto cerealero del país, no sólo albergó el paso de miles de marineros y extranjeros, sino que también cobijó otro tipo de desembarco, el de la prostitución. Fue el trampolín de la mafia en el país y, de allí, el bautismo de “la Chicago argentina”.
Las andanzas de los italianos Juan Galiffi, apodado “el Chicho Grande”, y su rival, Francisco Morrone, “Chicho Chico”, inspiraron el cambio de nombre acorde con los niveles de violencia y corrupción que los envolvían.
Rosario, the city that in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries became the country's main grain port, not only hosted the passage of thousands of sailors and foreigners, but also harbored other type of landings, such as prostitution. It was the springboard of the mafia in the country and, hence, it was baptized as the “the Argentinian Chicago.”
The adventures of the Italian John Galiffi, nicknamed “Chicho Grande”, and his rival Francis Morrone, “Chicho Chico”, inspired the name change due to the levels of violence and corruption present at the time in the city.
After visiting Rosario, journalist Nicolas Pasiecznik writes in his personal blog [es] about the buildings’ domes:
De estilo neoclásico, barroco, con reminiscencias italianas, vanguardistas y hasta en algunos casos eclécticas, estas cúpulas son, además de un patrimonio de calidad excelentemente cuidado y revalorizado, una muestra del poderío económico que la zona tuviera antaño.
Neoclassical, baroque, with Italian reminiscences, vanguardist and even eclectic in some cases, these domes are not only an excellent heritage that is excellently cared for and appreciated, but also a sign of the economic strength that the area once had.
Rosario Stock Exchange building, constructed in year 1929, neoclassical style, emblem of multiple financial transactions. Photo: Ines (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Another piece of architecture that shows Argentina's wealth of agricultural activity is the building “La Agrícola”, built in 1907 and located opposite the Stock Exchange. This corner is known as “the corner of the three domes.”
Building La Agrícola. Photo: pablodf (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Another building declared a Historic National Monument is the Spanish Club [es]. Its website comments about the history of this building's construction:
El edificio se comenzó a construir el 1912, contratando para ello al Arq. Francisco Roca i Simó graduado en 1906 en Barcelona.El edificio  se inaugura  oficialmente el 9 de Julio de 1916, una fecha singular para la historia del país: el Centenario de Independencia.
En la construcción  se reconocen tres partes: la anterior, la central y la posterior, que presentan modos particulares de resolver los espacio. Pero a su vez la organización de las funciones se realiza a partir de un eje longitudinal imaginario que divide la organización de las partes en dos.
The building was built in 1912, by architect Francisco Roca i Simó, who graduated in 1906 in Barcelona. The building was officially inaugurated on July 9, 1916, a date unique to the country's history: the Centennial of its Independence .
In the construction one recognizes three parts: anterior, central and posterior, which present particular ways of solving the space. But in turn the organization of its functions are set up starting from an imaginary center line that divides the organization into two parts.
Spanish Club. Photo: pablodf (CC BY-NC-ND
The page continues with the description of the facade:
La fachada se presenta como un imponente juego de volúmenes quebrando y ahuecando el plano del mismo. A simple vista  se reconocen tres partes en la organización de los elementos ornamentales, un basamento, un desarrollo y un imponente remate donde el comprometido coronamiento del edificio. Se destaca, este último segmento por la idea de colocar el escudo policromo, custodiado por dos imponentes leones, representando de la monarquía española.
The facade is presented as an impressive game of volumes breaking and hollowing the surface. At first glance, viewers recognize three parts in the organization of the ornamental elements, a base, middle, and an impressive finish where the crowning of the building is involved. This last segment stands out due to the placement of the polychrome shield, guarded by two imposing lions, representing the Spanish monarchy.
The blog Noticias de la ciudad de Rosario [es] comments about another emblematic building in the city, the Cabanellas Palace:
El Palacio Cabanellas, en la esquina de Sarmiento y San Luis. Art Nouveau, o Modernisme según los catalanes. El edificio lo diseñó Francesc Roca i Simó, que vino de Mallorca y Barcelona a Rosario a principio del siglo XX, se quedó menos de una década y no paró de planear fastuosos edificios como éste.
The Cabanellas Palace, at the corner of Sarmiento and San Luis. Art Nouveau or Modernisme according to Catalans. The building was designed by Francesc Roca i Simó, who came from Majorca and Barcelona to Rosario in the early twentieth century. He stayed in Rosario less than a decade and never stopped planning lavish buildings like this one.
Cabanellas Palace Dome. Photo: lu6fpj (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The city's architecture is no stranger to the political activity of Rosario. The Municipality is located in the Lions Palace [es] (“Palacio de los Leones” in Spanish), inaugurated in 1898, and located very close to the Flag Monument [es] and the Paraná River. Various stories have been passed on about this building. The best known story is about the ghost Yolanda, who, as the website El Ciudadano Web [es] explains, appears in the building:
Un inspector de tránsito de la Municipalidad, Lucio Montenegro, aseguró haber visto un fantasma en el Palacio de los Leones el pasado 20 de junio. Según contó el protagonista del hecho a Elciudadanoweb.com,  se encontraba trabajando en Santa Fe y Córdoba por el Día de la Bandera, y pidió permiso para entrar al baño de la Municipalidad de Rosario. Montenegro subió al primer piso y ahí fue cuando ocurrió el tenebroso episodio. Un fantasma le tocó el hombro y le dijo: “Soy Yolanda. Decile al sereno que deje la luz prendida”.
A traffic inspector of the Municipality, Lucio Montenegro, said he saw a ghost in the Palace of the Lions on June 20. He told Elciudadanoweb.com he was working in Santa Fe and Cordoba for Flag Day and requested permission to enter the bathroom of the Municipality of Rosario. Montenegro went upstairs, where the scary episode took place. A ghost touched his shoulder and said, “I am Yolanda. Tell the guard to leave the lights on”.
Rosario Municipality – Lions Palace. Photo: maxid (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Finally, on its website Rutas Modernistas en Rosario (Modernist Routes in Rosario), the Municipality of Rosario shares more images for those who want to continue this virtual tour of the city and its architecture.

author: Laura Schneider


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Egypt: Egyptian Woman faces Sexual Harassment, in Washington DC · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

Nancy M is an Egyptian woman who moved from Cairo to Washington DC last month, thinking she has left sexual harassment behind her.”I was still a woman, walking the streets of a city by myself, always open to the possibility that there was a man out there who felt entitled to things he had no right to,” she writes. Continue to read her story here.

author: Tarek Amr


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Ghana: President’s Death Trends on Ghanaian Twittersphere · Global Voices
L. Abena Annan

On July 24, 2012, Ghana experienced something tragic: A sitting President died. And it is an election year. The atmosphere in Parliament, televised by Ghana Television (GTV), was that of shock and sadness as Members of Parliament displayed deeply saddened faces. By 8pm, the Vice President John Dramani Mahama was sworn in as President of the Republic of Ghana.
John Atta Mills is the first Ghanaian head of state to die in office. Image courtesy of National Democratic Congress party of Ghana.
But four hours prior to this, just after the news had broken, Ghanaians took to Twitter to express their shock and sadness. Tweets of the President’s death hit the social media site before many of the media houses officially confirmed it.
Myjoyonline.com revised its abbreviated report published immediately after the death announcement with a much detailed one and a fitting image that symbolized the president’s departure hours later:
President John Evans Atta Mills is dead. He died at the 37 Military Hospital Tuesday afternoon.A statement signed by the Chief of Staff, Henry John Martey Newman confirmed the death.
Parliament is reconvening to swear in Vice-President John Dramani Mahama as the substantive president in accordance with Article 62 of the 1992 Constitution.
It also provided a link to the official statement from the Information Ministry confirming the death.
On Twitter, the president’s death was the trending topic in the Ghanaian Twittersphere.
@MsAbenaAnnan: Sad day for #Ghana – Our president John Evans Atta Mills has died #johnevansattamills
@nii_ayertey: #Ghana Our president John Evans Atta Mills has passed on. The man who died many times before his death. May His soul rest in peace. #fb
As the news developed, more reactions and information began to leak:
Ghanaian new president. Image courtesy of Helen Clark/UNDP
@MsAbenaAnnan: Mobile networks not providing best of services right now in Ghana since prez death announcement -calls keep dropping. #deathofpresidentmills
@MsAbenaAnnan: EXCLUSIVE info from inside sources: #PresidentMills collapsed and was rushed to 37 Military Hospital today. He was dead upon arrival. #ghana
@VickieRemoe: Radio journo says residents of Accra are gathering at the Kwame Nkrumah circle. Some market women have stopped selling #RIPMills #Ghana
@feathersproject: It’s now obvious why Obama visited Ghana and not Nigeria…
@yaw_p: I can sense a new sense of hope in the new president
The day following the swearing in of John Mahama as new President of Ghana, Twitter flooded with more tweets:
@Africatechie: New President of Ghana has thorough ICT experience http://bit.ly/NJ7QYt  via oafrica
@adwoagyimah: Arise Ghana youth for your country. The nation demands your devotion…..
It is quite clear that the smooth political transition has instilled a sense of hope in democracy in the hearts of Ghanaians.

author: L. Abena Annan


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Global Voices Seeks Advocacy Director · Global Voices
Ivan Sigal

Global Voices seeks an Advocacy Director to run its online freedom of expression initiatives. Global Voices Advocacy seeks to build a global anti-censorship network of citizen media and online activists throughout the developing world that is dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and free access to information online.
The goal of the network is to raise awareness of online freedom of speech issues, and to share tools and tactics with activists and citizen media facing censorship and surveillance on different parts of the globe. The network provides support to both the Global Voices advocacy community and to others, produces and promotes educational guides about information technology advocacy, privacy and anonymity, anti-censorship and and anti- surveillance campaigning, and strategies for online organizing. In collaboration with software developers, activists, and citizen media producers, the network also aims to design and promote new and more appropriate tools to protect our rights on the Internet. Finally, the Global Voices Advocacy community focuses on building and supporting the rights of netizens around the world.
Global Voices is a global, virtual organization, supported by the paid and volunteer efforts of people on every continent. The Advocacy Director must possess a wide range of professional and personal skills to help the project reach its potential as the leading international network for the development of successful and effective citizen media projects.
The Global Voices Advocacy Director will have a unique opportunity to help a thriving international network of citizen media activists and producers to define and promote online expression. The director will be responsible for the following:
We seek a candidate with the following qualities:
To work effectively with our community, we would prefer that candidates:
The ideal candidate must have a passionate commitment to the values and goals of Global Voices. He or she will be joining a well established core team who are dedicated to amplifying the voices of world. There is no geographic requirement associated with this position; Global Voices has no office or physical headquarters. Candidates must have access to broadband internet connectivity and be comfortable working in a wholly virtual environment. We strongly welcome candidates from outside North America and Western Europe, and encourage people currently working on the Global Voices project to apply.
The position is full-time, but should be treated as a freelance contract.
Interested candidates should send a CV and letter of interest explaining why you'd be a good candidate for the job to: adminjob AT globalvoicesonline DOT org by no later than August 13.

author: Ivan Sigal


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Hong Kong: Signal Ten Typhoon  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Beijing cream collects some citizen videos that show typhoon Vicente, the strongest typhoon in 13 years, passed through Hong Kong on July 24.


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India: Ethnic Clashes in Assam · Global Voices
Rezwan

Fighting between indigenous Bodo tribes and Muslim settlers in the Indian State of Assam killed at least 32 people and wounded many more. The trouble started on the night of Friday 20 July, 2012, when unidentified men killed four youths in Kokrajhar district, which is dominated by Bodos.
In retaliation, armed Bodos attacked Muslims and burnt their villages, suspecting them to be behind the killings. According to news sources Indian paramilitary forces have opened fire on rioters and a number of people have been killed by them.
About 70,000 villagers of Chirang, Dhubri, Bongaigaon, Udalguri and Sonitpur have fled their homes since the violence started and taken shelter in relief camps. At least 60 villages belonging to both Bodos and Muslims in Kokrajhar and Chirang districts were ransacked or burned.
Around 20,000 passengers were stranded on trains in Assam region as 21 trains had been cancelled because the protesters occupied the tracks and threw stones at the trains.
Homes burn in the Barmanpara village in the Kokrajhar district, about 230 kms from Guwahati, the capital of the state of Assam. Image by Aman. Copyright Demotix (24/7/2012)
The Bodos constitute 5% of the total population of the state while Muslims constitute nearly 33% of the population. Bodos are seeking a separate political identity, which range from autonomy to separate state and even sovereignty.
15.64 per cent of the 20.33 million population in Assam are from tribes including Bodo, Mising, Rabha, Sonowal, Lalung (Tiwa), Deori and Thengal (Mech). Assam has three autonomous councils under the Sixth Schedule and several other groups are demanding their own autonomous councils under the same status.
The opposition BJP party blamed “illegal immigrants” for the violence and termed it communal. However the Assam police chief mentioned that these clashes are more ethnic than communal. According to him the clash is between the Bodo tribe and the non-minority groups, who are mostly Muslims whose ancestors settled in the region 40, 50 or 60 years ago.
Robbie S writes:
Both the government of Assam and of India need to continually acknowledge that this violence is beyond communal identities, it is rooted in the chronic underdevelopment of northeastern India.
Hisham Barbhuiya at Youth Ki Awaaz looks at the myth of “illegal Bangladeshi immigrants” in Assam, who are time and again blamed for any such incident. The blogger writes:
During the British period, Muslims from East Bengal districts of Mymensingh and Rangpur were brought in to cultivate lands in the districts of lower Assam. They were settled in the ‘char’ areas or the riverine districts and the surrounding areas of Dhubri, Barpeta, Goalpara and Nagaoan. Many of them later integrated into the Assamese culture and were called the “new Assamese”.
Villagers flee their homes in the Chirang district, Assam. Image by Aman. Copyright Demotix (24/7/2012)
Arunangshuwrites:
The Bodoland agitations are always violent and the ethnic rivalries are renewed in streams of blood and fire. One wonders why people become so violent and why they remain so much underdeveloped.Its a pity really because the entire Northeast is so beautiful.
Here are some of the Tweet reactions:
@arpitade: Bloodbath, misery and fear on both sides. Who is winning here? Not humanity for sure :-( #Fury #AssamRiots http://t.co/xBUvSURU
@nitinchatterjee: And I can't fathom as to why it's not in the headlines.”@timesofindia: Assam riots toll rises to 32; more than 70,000 flee homes”
@supreetha15: Ask all the media persons you so follow: Why no Assam??? Tag them, pin them down. Show them the Social Power. @janlokpal Let truth prevail.

author: Rezwan


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Japan: Debate over the Preservation of a Dead Tree · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Asia Sentinel reports on a controversy in Rikuzentakata, a city in Iwate, Japan over the public spending of about USD 2 millions for preservation a dead tree and turning it into a symbol of hope.


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Language War in the Hong Kong Book Fair · Global Voices
Andy Yee

A Cantonese-Mandarin language war broke out in a talk given by movie director Pang Ho-cheung for the 2012 Hong Kong Book Fair. To serve the big mainland Chinese market, the organizer arranged the talk to be in Mandarin. This provoked the anger of Hongkongers given they are the majority of the audience, and Pang himself is not fluent in Mandarin.

author: Andy Yee


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Madagascar: Three Soldiers Killed During Uprising in Military Barracks · Global Voices
Rakotomalala

[All links forward to French sources unless otherwise stated. All quotations have been translated from those in the original French post]
Three soldiers were killed and four injured during a confrontation at Ivato barracks, Madagascar on Sunday July 22, 2012. One of the injured was Corporal Koto Mainty, previously bodyguard of ex-Armed Forces Minister Noel Rakotonandrasana. The latest clash took place shortly before a planned meeting between interim leader Andry Rajoeline and the ex-President Marc Ravalomanananana, scheduled for July 24 in the Seychelles.
Edition Special news coverage including video of the confrontation can be viewed here:
An all too familiar pattern
There have been several outbreaks of fighting between soldiers since the 2009 change of power. The confrontations follow a pattern all too familiar to Malgasians, frequently happening shortly before each new attempt at mediation and crisis management. Journalist Rianasoa gave realtime updates on twitter as events unfolded in Ivato. Newsmada posted a photographic account of the revolt.
Fijery blog made the tongue in cheek observation that the scenario was as predictable as any Hollywood film:
When the July 24 Seychelles meeting between President Ravalomanana and Mr Rajeolina was announced, I bet my friend there would be an unusual event in the next few days, which would be used as a pretext to postpone or cancel the Summit. I won my bet, and a good dinner into the bargain: the experiences of the last three years have taught us much, and things are becoming so predictable that they're starting to get boring. With all this messing around, how would it be if the world takes us at face value, and that we end up nothing more than cartoon characters? [..]
We all remember the attack by Viva and the homemade bombs before a planned meeting in Addis Abbaba (July 2009), the shots fired at Rajoelina's car before Maputo III (Dec 2009), and a planned coup uncovered just before a Johannesburg meeting (April 2010) [..]
The stage seems to be set: Scene 1. The discovery of a scandal, just before each attempt at meeting. Scene 2. The Malgasian super-investigators, gendarmes, police and griots in the pay of the High Transitional Authority (HAT), take just a few hours, even minutes or seconds, to find the guilty party: the Ravalomanana camp. Scene 3. HAT announces that they will no longer be participating in the planned meeting.
Reflexiums added that the revolt unfolded according to a well-established process:
Even Malgasian diplomats seem to share this belief in a deliberate set up. Newsmada tweeted about an article in Libération which stated:
A diplomatic source yesterday evoked the possibility of a performance designed to impress the international community and disrupt the meeting between Rajoelina and Ravalomanana. In any case, these troubles show the tense, volatile situation in the Great Island.
A soldier takes aim under the watchful eye of locals. Photo from Twitter via @RyMakao (CC-license-BY)
Who benefits from a crisis stalemate?
The BBC reported on the power the army wields over Madagascar politics in an article [en] on the revolt:
The army plays a major role in Madagascar's society, frequently meddling in politics. It backed Mr Rajoelina's 2009 seizure of power from Marc Ravalomanana. In 2002, the army had also helped Mr Ravalomanana to seize power in similar fashion when he led street protests against the previous Marxist administration.
Michael Rakotoarson underlined that the financial interests of soldiers in the Madagascar army are a significant factor in the crisis stalemate:
Let's return to this story of revolt, now that we have recalled that at root this coup is the work of the army, who will draw a handsome financial reward from it. By definition, a revolt or rebellion is a protest movement against the holder of authority. In this case, the army itself. Therefore these events are, at best, nothing more than a risible story of score settling (make no mistake) between these vile political leaders in cahoots with the army, combined with the worries of common people.
RFI noted that it is difficult to understand the objectives of this uprising:
The rebels haven't issued an official communication to journalists at the scene. They simply made an announcement on Free FM, private radio station of the opposition. They announced the breaking-up of institutions and the set up of a military directorate. An announcement followed up with no concrete measures and no results. It is difficult to qualify this revolt as a real coup given that the methods used are so pathetic. Certain well-informed sources say that the rebels are demanding the resignation of the Armed Forces Minister and the main Head of State. […] The fact is that this revolt took place just before the meeting between Andy Rajoelina and Marc Ravalomanana […] Was the revolt stirred up to put a halt to the meeting?
The fact is that nobody, not even the armed forces, seems to know the precise reasons for this revolt. The Courier International reported:
Armed Forces Minister, André Lucien Rakotoarimasy, said that it was “a revolt stirred up by certain elements” and maintained he “knew nothing about what they wanted”.
Although most Malgasians are pointing the finger at the army over the cause of these confrontations, Randy proposed another reason for this revolt, believing that the camp of ex-president Ravalomanana would prefer a military directorate in the interim.
The Fijery blog proposed instead looking for those who could be damaged by the possible return of Ravalomanana:
The planned Seychelles meeting having run into this setback, it makes sense that those who have a common interest in preventing it are trying to join forces. Whether it be those who want to hold on to unilateral power; those who do not want to speak of their actions in 2009 and after; those who do not want to see their lucrative but not altogether transparent businesses come to an end (racketeering, illegal logging…); those who profit from dirty money from Mauritian property investments; those who present themselves as innocent but shamelessly plunge mining investors into misery; and, in general, those who draw profit from the current atmosphere of anarchy and confusion.
Reflexiums concludes that trying to find out who is to blame for these confrontations is a futile exercise. The Malgasians would be better off asking themselves why they continue to put up with the same scenario again and again:
I said that we are spectators, but I was wrong, because we are the producers of this endlessly repeating third-rate film. By our own apathy, we are allowing these morons to continue their political games, so why on earth complain about it?

author: Rakotomalala


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Malaysia: Selangor State Faces Water Shortage · Global Voices
Jerrenn Lam

A Malaysian state could be facing a water shortage soon. Selangor, the richest state in Malaysia, made national headlines when Syabas, the water concessionaire announced that it wants to begin water rationing, citing that water reserves are below the safe mark. A huge disagreement followed between Syabas and the Selangor state government, with the government stepping in, crying foul as it found that most dams are actually full, while Syabas maintained that the problem is a lack of treated water.
Tony Pua, a politician from the ruling coalition in Selangor, believes that this issue is a national security issue. He also believes that Syabas is taking this action in order to gain approval for the building of another water treatment plant which would be highly profitable for the company:
The entire “water-rationing” threat is a ruse to frighten the people of Selangor into forcing the approval of the Langat 2 project which has nothing to do at all with the alleged low levels of treated water.
It is a fear-mongering tactic used by SYABAS which is 70% owned by Puncak Niaga, firstly to help Barisan Nasional win Selangor in the next general election in order to perpetuate their control over water rights in the state.
B.Joe took a more cautious approach:
Will there be water rationing soon in Malaysia's richest state?
At end of the day, SYABAS may have a strong case and valid concerns and the Selangor State Government may be trying to hide these real concerns in light of the up-coming general elections. We do hear them in the news but we want to see stronger facts and figures from SYABAS before we can agree with them. Selangor State Government’s contention that the claims are not realistic makes sense too – if it is that easy to resolve the so-called water crisis by building a new water treatment plant, then why the strong resistance from the State Government from day 1?
All we ask is for both parties to come to their senses and do things right – we are all ok for rations if situation is indeed critical but have we come to that stage? We may be undergoing some dry spell once in a while in a year but we do live in a country blessed with a good bound of rain. If we have enough raw water, what need to be worked on is on how efficient we can process that raw water to clean fresh water. The fact that almost every household have some kind of water filters in their house speaks a lot of the quality of water we getting these days (just imagine if the filter in my house turns brown on the same day).
Charles Santiago, from the Coalition Against Water Privatisation and a Member of Parliament, wrote in his blog:
The Coalition Against Water Privatisation has secured the services of water professionals and academics to verify the claims made by Syabas. But they cannot rely on dubious data obtained through Syabas to make an informed decision as to whether the water crisis is real and water rationing necessary.
The Selangor government’s proposal to the Federal Government to take over the operations of Syabas was handed over to a special cabinet committee set up just for this issue. However many citizens are doubtful if this committee would be able to remain independent as it was made up of politicians of the Barisan Nasional coalition that does not rule Selangor.
B.Joe is one of the sceptics:
The Selangor State Government had formally submitted their proposal to take over the operations of SYABAS to the Federal Government and it seems that the Federal Government had formed a committee of some kind to response to the proposal. But I don’t think the proposal (or any proposals for that matter) from the State Government on taking over SYABAS will ever succeed at the Federal level (this is not the first time the State Government have to deal with the Federal Government on the same issue – read “Federal Govt Sabotages Selangor“). And why should they?
Just look at the list of politicians heading the committee and you may question their impartiality on the requests (one is actively involved in the Take Back Selangor mission by citing the water issue as well). After all, the more trouble that the State Government is having, the more BN politicians will be able to paint the State Government as more inefficient, self-centred and corrupt.
This sentiment was shared by JI Pat on Twitter:
Asking politician like Noh Omar to the #SYABAS cabinet committee is akin to the appointment of Hanif to head the “independent” panel.
On July 23 2012, the committee on the issue announced that it has tentatively rejected the Selangor government’s proposal, but would not make a final decision until after the attorney-general has done so.
This issue is not a new one-  The possibility of a water shortage happening in Selangor had been raised before, as can be seen in this video where Minister for Energy, Green Technology and Water Peter Chin was interviewed on the issue. However this was only slated to happen in 2014.

author: Jerrenn Lam


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Morocco: Video Explores the Question of Racism · Global Voices
Hisham Almiraat

In Morocco, an ethnically diverse country and one that has seen a recent influx of sub-Saharan African migrants, racism is seldom discussed. A video [Ar] posted by Moroccan YouTube user ch3aldaw (Turn on the light) asks: Are Moroccans racists?

author: Hisham Almiraat


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Paraguay: Citizens Reject Rio Tinto’s Aluminium Smelter Project  · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

The blog Interparaguay [es] shares several videos on a project headed by Río Tinto Alcan to build an aluminium smelter in Paraguay. In the last video, Mercedes Canese, Vice Minister of Mining and Energy during Fernando Lugo's government, answers some questions about the project and its impact on the environment.


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Puerto Rico: It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Aslan! · Global Voices
Alfredo Richner

Enrique “Kike” Arce is known online and on walls as Aslan, one of the most innovative street artists working in Puerto Rico. His online presence has developed into a key instrument for promoting his work while actively engaging with his followers and fans. Aslan's projects mix the more traditional art tools – pencils, ink, paper, acrylics on canvas – with cutting edge social tools like Instagram, blogger platforms, as well as more playful components like toys, t-shirts, vinyl records, and tiles.
Aslan's blog is a virtual gallery of his works and ideas, which reveal a joyful, highly stylized and colorful world filled with wonder and nostalgia, and influenced in large part by American and Japanese popular culture. Enrique recognizes his art as fun for both him and his audience – and it is precisely that preoccupation which brings cohesion to his various projects.
His series of airplane photographs, #parriba [es] (upwards), is perhaps Aslan's most ambitious and engaging project yet. Using his iPhone and the popular photo application Instagram, Enrique documents airplanes flying high above – collecting hundreds of samples in the process. A selection of photographs is then printed and pasted unto tiles which are scattered throughout San Juan's buildings, walls, and streets. People are invited through his blog and Instagram to participate on a “Scavenger Hunt” [es]: the first person to find each tile and take a picture of its location wins his own copy.
Selections from the #parriba series.
The #parriba series is a powerful example of the interactions possible between artists and the public at large online. By blending technology, exploratory elements, and serialization, Aslan has arrived at something that is both rigorous and accessible, art that can be enjoyed far from the galleries that often alienate artists from potential followers – and clients.
Global Voices (GV): How would you describe your work? What do you think are its most distinctive features?
Aslan (A): My work demonstrates the passion I felt as a kid towards japanese Otaku culture and the Pop Culture of the 80's. In a very spontaneous way, I've decided to illustrate these fantastic themes that congregate in my mind, creating characters or creatures from how I see the surreal world.
GV: Do you feel as part of a wider artistic movement?
A: I think that my work has made me part of a group of emergent artists in Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans are known around the world for being helpful, for extending a helping hand to neighbors, friends, co-workers – and that is not an exception in the art world. The support that each of my projects receives is grand, it transcends barriers and turns into friendships. Criticism is constructive and helps us to improve.
GV: Why Instagram?
A: I decided to use the medium as a means of expression towards an artistic goal. I'm an impulsive and hyperactive person that always needs to find something to do and I found the perfect medium – social networks, which have so much happening that they are a perfect match. They represent a new lifestyle where we acquire tons of information. I decided to show my work through them in order to help in educating Puerto Ricans to appreciate art.
GV: How did you arrive at the concept for #parriba and why your fascination with airplanes?
A: If you only knew – I have no fascination with planes. It's more like an obsession with posting (photos). When I first decided to think about what to do with Instagram that was different to how it is normally used for – photos from daily life – I found planes interesting because of their abundance and the monothematic capacity that proved to be a perfect fit with my vision.
I started collecting them at first without a clear motive. It wasn't until I decided to work on the series that I realized that this exploration could lend itself to a different type of artistic creation that would attract attention. Its interesting to see how simple ideas such as looking up (or “p'arriba”) and photographing an airplane are the ones that attract more people.
GV: How many pictures of airplanes do you currently have? How many do you need?
A: Over the past six months – or more – I've been taking more and more pictures. It has become part of me, to the point I've collected over 600 photos. I think for a project like this to take flight you need at least 200 photographs or more. Although it is never enough – I've thought about expanding the project to the whole island and I would need more than a thousand photos. It's something I have been thinking about and will decide sometime. For the time being I keep preparing myself by taking photos each time I can.
Learn more about Aslan and his work by visiting his blog and following him on Twitter.
This interview is edited for length and context. The full interview was published (in Spanish) in PuertoRicoIndie.com and can be read here.

author: Alfredo Richner