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Nigeria: BattaBox Bakes Stories Through Online Videos · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

Nigeria is inflicted with the sores of a ‘single’ story. The stereotypical canticles of corruption, internet fraud, terrorism and gross ineptitude. However, this image is at variance with the real Nigeria and Nigerians whose gusto for life is unparalleled.
BattaBox – a Nigerian Conversation – is an online television that captures the genuine rendition of the country and shares with global netizens.
“BattaBox is everything Nigerian – music, film, street-life, news, comedy, cooking and much, much more. ‘For Nigerians, by Nigerians’ – YOU upload your videos, photos, shout-outs, as well as discussing anything in our real-time video chat-room – and we’ll make sure your voice is heard.”
Christian Purefoy
Christian Purefoy (CP), a director in BattaBox gave us a glimpse of this evolving online television. CP has worked in Nigeria for over seven years as a freelance journalist and CNN’s West Africa correspondent.
Nwachukwu Egbunike (NE): What is BattaBox TV?
CP: BattaBox is ‘a Nigerian conversation’ – music, film, street-life, news, comedy and much, much more. BattaBox is a video platform that allows anyone to upload videos to share an emotional moment, discuss a hot topic and promote an idea. If you want to make your voice heard, you have a video or photo you want to share, you need a big break for your music video, or you have a great show idea…
NE: Going by the clips on your site, they show an array of mundane but surprisingly, momentous stories of everyday Nigerian life. What and who motivated this idea of video communication?
CP: Nigeria is such a vibrant place that even the most mundane is crackling with energy. We hope the BattaBox platform will enable Nigerians to harness that energy with the huge potential of the internet. With the explosion of mobile phones (and their video cameras!) and the coming of the internet – there are now the tools in the hands of every Nigerian to explore, share and make their voice heard. We hope this will not only bring entertainment but positive change to peoples lives, not just in Nigeria but the diaspora in the rest of the world.
NE: Why Lagos, Nigeria? You could have as well focused on any other part of the globe?
CP: This is a Nigerian company so there's no place like home! No other place on earth has such a vibrant character, everyone has something to say, every street corner has a story to tell – we hope BattaBox will provide the platform to promote and share that energy. And, of course, we believe there is enormous business potential in Nigeria – so there's no where else we'd rather be!
NE: Any plans to get more videos from other parts of the country?
CP:  BattaBox is a Nigeria-wide community, but so far many of our videos are from Lagos. This is simply a technical issue: the internet in Nigeria is concentrated in the big cities for the time-being. It is costly and very slow for anyone in the rural areas to upload videos. We believe this will change rapidly over the next few years and so you will see more videos from outside of the major urban areas. However, we do have plenty of people coming back home ‘from the village’ with videos that we're uploading and would love your readers to send in more!
NE: You seem to rely on citizen reporters to make and upload videos. What are the criteria for selecting/accepting videos that are finally hoisted on your website?
CP:  We accept all and any videos – as long as they are not inflammatory. If there are problems (maybe with the video or sound quality) then we try to get in touch with the person and help one-on-one to get it uploaded. This is a new platform in Nigeria so we are happy to help anyone who has an idea but maybe have a few questions ( for example, if they have a series of cooking class videos, etc )
NE: What has been your audience reaction? Bearing in mind that you currently rely on the social media platform.
CP:  Audience reaction has been amazing! Our viewing figures better than we'd hoped, comments and feedback on the videos are great – everyone seems to enjoy any of the videos they watch! – and people stop me when they see me around town to say they love the site. So yes it's a social media platform but people are talking about it in the real world!
NE:  What is your business model? And what is your strategy for being financially sustainable?
CP:  Our business model is advertising – we are relying on our own personal investments and want to grow this business independently and organically. We have not rolled out any advertising yet as we continue to establish ourselves but once we start to make money you can be sure we will be investing straight back into BattaBox and Nigeria!
NE: In your opinion, what is the future of web based citizen media sites in Africa?
CP:  In many ways, the future is already here in Africa. Everyone with a mobile phone able to access and share on citizen media sites allowing them to bypass the traditional state broadcasters – it's already possible. What is needed now is cheaper costs and easier accessibility, and like the explosion of mobile phones we believe this is inevitable and simply a matter of time.
However, security remains a serious issue for any citizen media sites in Africa. Their voices may be online, but people still live in the real world and any government or other intimidation of journalists (online or traditional) must be stopped.
NE:  What is your take about the power of videos for social change in Africa?
CP:  Video, I believe, is the most powerful communication medium. Through video – both recorded but increasingly real-time – people will be able to tell their story themselves, and not rely on a ‘third-party’ journalist. This will have a profound effect on empowering social change, not just in Africa but the world. I can't give away all our secrets but hopefully soon start seeing this happening in Nigeria.
NE:  The radio remains the most potent developmental tool, followed by the television. The reason being the spread it has among the rural poor in the continent. Consequently, do you think that the social media can ever match up to these two?
CP:   Don't underestimate the power of the minority who can currently access and afford the internet in Nigeria – the burgeoning middle-class. In Egypt recently, it was this ‘urban middle-class’ that used the internet to bring change.
But yes, the internet in Nigeria is still a few years away from having the reach of the radio or television – the infrastructure and costs remain a huge issue. We do however believe social media will surpass the traditional media in both spread and potential to bring change.
NE:  Can we peer into the future of BattaBox?
CP:  We are so excited at the unexpected ways in which BattaBox is being used and growing that we're almost unsure how it will look in the future ourselves! But we hope you will see more people wanting to put up their own shows, voices, jokes, fashion ideas and more. We have lots of ideas and potential in the pipeline – but hope you don't mind if we keep them ‘under our hat’ for the moment! But one thing I can tell you is that we'll soon be unrolling our Google+ Pidgin Hangouts!
NE:  Last words…
CP:   Thank you to everyone who is getting involved in BattaBox! We all gather round and watch everytime we get a new video – there's nothing we'd rather be doing.

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


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Pakistan: Partition Era Writer Saadat Hasan Manto Lives On · Global Voices
Kumail Ahmed

Saadat Hasan Manto (1912-1955) was a short-story writer, a dramatist and also a translator from Punjab. Today the people of the sub-continent are celebrating his 100th birth anniversary highlighting his significance in the India-Pakistan partition era. Art councils in Pakistan, press clubs, and literary clubs are organizing festivals to remember his legacy and his importance in today's society.
Manto's basic contribution to Urdu literature (with respect to partition) is that he considered the killing of thousands of Hindus and Muslims during migration as a massacre of humanity rather than of any single religion. He said:
Don't say that a hundred thousand Hindus or a hundred thousand Muslims have been massacred. Say two hundred thousand human being have been slaughtered.
Saadat Hasan Manto. From twitter: @siddharth426
This was Manto's message at the time when religious division was at its peak. People were divided – rather isolated – on religious differences and did not consider killing a major crime against humanity. In such times, Manto rose as a messenger of humanism in the subcontinental literature.  He wrote dramas like ‘Toba Tek Singh’ (name of a village in Pakistani Punjab), in which he highlighted the miseries of partition.
But is Manto relevant today? Yes! He definitely is relevant. His criticism on the hypocritical societal values, his attitude towards social taboos and ethos [ur], and his whimsical remarked towards United States makes him a living legend. Manto, as Zahida Hina rightly says, was a visionary.
Manto's writing can today help Pakistan to come out from the abyss of fundamentalism and extremism which is increasing day by day. The cultural and political crises which Pakistan is facing today were seen years ago by Manto in his article ‘Allah ka bara fazl ha’ (God's benevolence is infinite).
Social media was flooded with comments regarding Manto's life and his work.
B. P. Singh praises Manto with the following words:
Perspicacious man, a real human being, I have acted in one of his plays in India, and truly I follow some of his writing religiously. If the mankind seriously follows his writing spirit, the world really will become a heaven! True homage and salute to a nice person ‘Manto’.
Some tweets:
@navedjaved: Remembering a prolific writer and a genius of his times, Saadat Hasan Manto on his birthday- RIP Legend!
@manish0891: Its 100th birth anni.of Saadat Hasan #Manto, one of the best short story writer of the Urdu language.
@osamamotiwala: Saadat Hasan Manto, although you are just a memory, but some memories last forever. Shine on you crazy diamond.
Manto was never frightened from expressing his thoughts. He had to go to court for his writings. But, Manto only wrote what he saw.  Nazir Ahmed Minto comments:
Manto only wrote what he SAW,…… and which those people did not want too see !
Naveeda Valentina tweets:
@NaveedaV: Janam din mubarak (Happy Birthday) Saadat Hasan Manto! A man who pulled no punches indeed. *jaam chalkaoing*
Manto is being given overwhelming coverage in Pakistani media (for English see: DAWN, THE NEWS). This fact is praise-worthy enough to be quoted. Although fanaticism has risen in the soicety, but Manto's voice still lives on.
Ahmed Shakeel tweets:
@Ahmed_Shakeel: It is heartening to see birth centenary of short story writer in Urdu Saadat Hasan Manto finds wide coverage especially in non Urdu media.
Manto died on 18th January 1955 at the age of 43. His thoughts will always be with us. Vivek Martolia  comments:
manto sahab amar rahenge hamesha ke liye , he is alive in his stories.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Kumail Ahmed


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Saudi Arabia: May 7 Marked as Saudi Liberalism Day · Global Voices
Salah Almhamdi

On May 7 Saudi liberal activists gathered online to celebrate Saudi Liberalism Day, an initiative to acquire recognition and acceptance for liberal ideas. The gathering had to be online because it is forbidden to organize public meetings in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi liberals have been stigmatized for a long time for their progressive views and calls for human rights and democracy in a society that defines itself by its conservatism. They have been heavily attacked by the religiously-dominated ruling class. The group Saudi Liberalism aims in the long term to develop into a political organization.
7 May, 1st Saudi Liberalism Day. Image posted by Twitter user @mr_nejo.
Leading Saudi liberal activist, Souad Al Shammary, who is secretary-general of the group Saudi Liberalism, wrote:
Secular university student Mohammad tweeted:
Prominent liberal activist Wael Alqasm tweeted:
Other people, however, criticized Saudi Liberalism Day as well as the idea of liberalism itself. Law graduate Jawahir Al Subaie commented:
@TheJawahir: I don't understand the purpose of Liberalism Day in #Saudi #7مايو
Badr Al Rashed criticized Saudi liberals saying:
Abdullah Mohemed Al Dawood quoted [ar] Al Jazeera talk show host Faisal Al Qassem who apparently said: “I laugh very much when I see a secular man, who hasn't even convinced his family about his ideas, attacking the Islamists who control the streets everywhere.”
Abullrahman Al Kanhal criticized liberals in a blog post:

author: Salah Almhamdi


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Spain: “Neighbor, Wake Up, Evictions at Your Doorstep!” · Global Voices
Elena Arrontes

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.
In these times of severe crisis and government cuts, banks are being watched by citizens. This week's announcement of a bailout of 10 billion Euros for the Spanish bank Bankia has provoked many reactions on the web. The blog Platform for the nationalization of saving houses [es] has taken on the news:
La nueva inyección, que puede alcanzar los 10.000 millones de euros —mientras se recortan miles de millones en la Sanidad y la Educación públicas— en bonos contingentes convertibles en el Banco Financiero y de Ahorros volverá a ser insuficiente. (…)La propuesta de una banca pública bajo control democrático y gestionada con transparencia, creada mediante la nacionalización de las cajas de ahorro, no es una de las opciones posibles para resolver la actual crisis. Es la única solución porque es imposible la movilización de fondos privados en la cuantía necesaria para recapitalizar las entidades financieras españolas.
The new cash injection can reach 10 billion Euros in bonds convertible at the Financial and Savings Bank – while thousands are cut from Health and Public Education – will be  insufficient  (…) The proposal of a public bank under democratic control and managed with transparency, created by the nationalization of the saving houses, is not one of the possible options to solve the current crisis. It is the only solution because it is impossible to move private funds of that quantity to recapitalize Spanish financial entities.
Also, banks are responsible of a great number of foreclosures and evictions throughout Spain which reached a record in 2011. In the downtown neighborhood of Lavapiés, in Madrid, another eviction took place recently after Banesto bank and the judicial commission denied the owners the alternative of negotiating the payment or social leasing of the property. Two families from Bangladesh who bought the apartment in Fray Ceferino Street nº12 were affected after the interest rate of their loan increased and their economic and working situation worsened.
That is how the blog CIERRABANESTO [es] explains the situation in the post titled “Manual to kick out a bank out of a neighborhood”:
Como sabéis, Banesto pretende dejar a Uddin, Hafiz, sus señoras esposas y sus cuatro niñxs en la calle el próximo 9 de mayo. Sí, será la segunda confrontación entre la dignidad y la barbarie, después de que el pasado 28 de marzo Lavapiés ganase el primer encuentro. Nuestrxs vecinxs como tantxs otrxs aquí, en Españistán, escucharon el canto de las sirenas bancarias que gobiernan y se creyeron que debían y podrían tener una casa propia. Ahora están a punto de ser expulsados de esa casa con una deuda pendiente casi tan grande como el crédito original.
As you know, Banesto wants to leave Uddin, Hafiz and their wives and four kids on the streets on May 9th. Yes, it will be the second confrontation between dignity and barbarism after Lavapiés won its first round on March 28th. Our neighbors, as many other around here in Spain, heard the governing banks siren song and believed that they should and could own a house. Now, they are about to get expelled from that house with a pending debt almost as big as the original credit.
An evicted person from Lavapiés takes out the last furniture from his apartment. Photo by Elena Arrontes.
Last March 28, thanks to the support of approximately 80 people, the eviction was postponed to May 9, but an excessive police deployment has blocked the access to the street so the protest couldn't prevent Banesto from taking over the apartment. Even though the police and anti-riot forces (including a helicopter flying around the area) blocked the street, there were manifestations of solidarity from several support groups against the eviction.
From both sides of the street people were chanting: “What a coincidence, poverty raises as well as police expenses!”, “I would be ashamed of throwing out a family!”, “Neighbor, wake up, foreclosures at your doorstep!”, “Today it's you, tomorrow it'll be me”…
Arrival of the eviction victim with his lawyer. Photo by Elena Arrontes.
A group composed by about 20 people went to Uddin and Hafiz's apartment the night before just in case the bank and realtor decided to do the eviction in advance to the scheduled hour (8am). The solidary group had to abandon the building at 9:30 when Uddin and Hafiz, together with a lawyer from the Victims of Mortgage Platform (PAH) met with a the judicial commission to sign the eviction.
Citizens on strike, students, committed neighbors and neighbor assemblies act several times a week in cases like this and make calls to protest using social media. The PAH has made a call on its website to stop evictions in Madrid and Barcelona. Unfortunately, Uddín and Hafiz were not lucky enough and the eviction became effective, but other cases have been successful due to citizen pressure.
This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.

author: Elena Arrontes


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Spain: Arts Also Blossom in the Global Spring · Global Voices
Elena Arrontes

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.
From May 12 (12M) to May 15 (15M) [es], Spain has experienced a social movement in the streets to protest the control of the banks and demand a system that is more democratic, participatory, and fair. With the expansion of demonstrations and general discontent, the 15M movement achieved its goal of growing and remaining in the street.
Citizen collectives continue to act through popular assemblies, commissions, and work groups that allow for debate on topics that affect the people and carry out acts of cooperation. Many countries have been inspired by the “indignant” Spaniards, and protests continued to demonstrate their global character on October 15 of last year, with demonstrations in over 900 cities and 82 countries. On May 12, 2012, demonstrations were organized once again throughout all of Spain and on a global level.
The arts have also blossomed with the 15M. Blog Voces con Futura [es] (Voices with a Future) publishes a large portion of the anonymous posters that have filled the plazas during the protests. The author of the blog is a Spanish designer residing abroad that wants to maintain her anonymity and dedicates her attention to the creative talent that has risen as a result of the indignant movement.
To commemorate the 15M's first anniversary, the 12M–15M events, and to invite everyone to take to the streets again, the blog # Acampadasol [es] has published a series of amazing posters that reveal many of the reasons for the protests. Here we share some of the beautiful and creative posters:
"Another world is possible"
"We remain in the squares"
"If you steal, do not govern"
"We don't want reforms…We want a different system"
All images were published under the CC BY 3.0 License.
This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.


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Venezuela: Street Art on the Internet · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

Street artists and musicians broaden their public when they come into contact with citizen media. In Venezuela, where music and theater are parts of daily life, traffic, and buses, a number of citizen journalists share their experiences when they meet with artists that bring color to urban life.
Similarly, these very artists prepare short videos and documentaries in which they show performances of various street musicians.
In this video, recorded by the artists themselves for the festival of street singers, you can see musicians that come together in various cities throughout the country:
Meanwhile, Cinetica13 shares a very popular street musician's performance in the city of Mérida.
Theater also has its place in the Venezuelan street art world.  On his YouTube account, Perucho Morales shares performances by the “Comediantes” group, also in Mérida.

author: Laura Vidal


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Yemen: The #NoDrones Campaign · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

Yemenis have launched a campaign on Twitter to express their condemnation of the United States’ drone war in Yemen. They are tweeting under the hashtag #NoDrones, and have asked non-Yemenis to speak out and join them in their campaign.
Mai Saleh in Yemen tweeted:
@A4Mai: Take a moment and shout with us: No to the jungle law, No to the extrajudicial killings, No to the killing of innocent civilians #NoDrones
Stop drone attacks, protest sign. Image by meeshypants on Flickr (CC BY 2.0).
Talal, a British-Yemeni activist in London, urged:
@25FebFreedom: #US killing innocent civilians in #Yemen in the name of “war on terror ” #StopDrones #NoDrones for God sake in #Yemen
The campaign started on May 13, the same day that President Obama's counterterrorism adviser, John O. Brennan, met with Yemen's president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and a day after a stepped-up campaign of American airstrikes reportedly killed 11 militants.
British journalist Tom Finn, who is based in Yemen, tweeted:
@tomfinn2: Yemenis launch a #NoDrones campaign on twitter as US counterterrorism czar John Brennan arrives in Sana'a… #Yemen
Mai Saleh addressed some tweets to Brennan:
@A4Mai: Urgent message to the visiting Mr. #Brennan: Take your hands off #Yemen & take your drones off our skies for good. Yemeni Citizen #NoDrones
@A4Mai: Dear Mr. Brennan, Your policy has proved a failure in #Pakistan, why try it in #Yemen? It is obviously doomed to fail, sincerely #NoDrones
Yemenis condemn terrorism, and they believe the use of US drones only fuels it, as blogger Atiaf Alwazir pointed out:
@WomanfromYemen:B/c I'm against #terrorism & #extremism, i'm also against #drones. It's counter-productive & fuels more extremism. #NoDrones #yemen #US
@womanfromYemen: We are saying #NoDrones, b/c we don't want militants in #Yemen. Drones do not eradicate militants they intensify their presence.
French journalist Benjamin Wiacek, who is based in Yemen, tweeted
@Nefermaat: #US drones and air strikes create more extremism and resentment than improving the situation: SAY NO to DRONES !! #NoDrones
He also tweeted a link about drone strikes and the civilan casualties in Yemen which are seldom reported.
Atiaf Alwazir added:
@WomanfromYemen: For every headline you read regarding “militants” killed by drones in #Yemen, think of the civilians killed that are not reported. #NoDrones
A Yemeni journalist and poet who goes by the name Sana2 Al-Yemen tweeted her contempt:
@Sanasiino: It is a disgusting thought to know US officials across the globe are playing a video game with our people in #Yemen. #NoDrones
@Sanasiino: Decreasing #AQAP support and power would need to start with a #NoDrones policy in #Yemen
And finally, Shams in Yemen tweeted a hope many Yemenis share, that the new governemnt will put an end to US drone attacks:
@shamsalshomos: I hope #Hadi does what #Saleh never did speak and act on behalf of the welfare of his people #NoDrones in #yemen
To learn more about the campaign follow the hashtag #NoDrones and read this Storify.

author: Noon Arabia


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Africa: Development or Democracy, Which Comes First? · Global Voices
Endalkachew Chala

The 22nd World Economic Forum (WEF) which took place in Addis Ababa from 9 to 11 May is over, but the fact that the forum chose Africa’s fast economic growth the theme of the meeting is still the subject of much  discussion online.
At WEF Panel on African Leadership, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi lauded his government’s economic achievement and dismissed claims that there is a relationship between economic growth and democracy. He said:
There is no direct relationship between economic growth and democracy, historically or theoretically. I don’t believe in bedtime stories, contrived arguments linking economic growth with democracy. Democracy is necessary to keep diverse African nations united.
Despite Meles Zenawi's claims, critics claimed that fast economic growth brought about at the expense of democracy are ephemeral and superficial. Ermias Kassaye, a critical commentator based in Cape Town, does not think so. Reacting to Endalk's observation on Facebook, he wrote:
The dull mind always enjoys by the suppression of the free. Of course he struggled to fill his big stomach, never had a single freedom thought in his mind. The reason for growth is democracy and free thinker society, but if growth flourishes on the grave of democracy, one day is enough to demolish the whole material being.
Writing on the World Bank blog, Justin Yifu Lin, World Bank’s chief economist, argued:
I disagree with those who assert Ethiopia and other African nations of similar income level s are too burdened with governance, poverty, and poor investment climates to exit the poverty trap.  China and Taiwan, China – where I am from – as well as many other newly industrialized economies were just as poor a few decades ago and equally saddled with corruption and other obstacles. Many of them still rank low in various governance and business environment indicators today. I was involved in China’s transformation away from agriculture and I’m confident a similar evolution can happen in Africa
He further noted that:
What’s required is what I call ‘Development Thinking 3.0,’ an approach based on identifying what the country has (that is, its endowments) and what it can do well (that is, comparative advantage). As part of this, the government should play an active role in helping the private sector scale up what the country can do well now.
Development economics in the past often focused on what developing countries did not have and could not do well.  One example of this was the attempt to prop up heavy industries using an import-substitution strategy based on what I call the old structuralism, or ‘Development Thinking 1.0’. This was followed by a focus on governance issues as epitomized by the neoliberal Washington Consensus – what I call ‘Development Thinking 2.0’. The fruits of Development 1.0 and 2.0 were generally disappointing.
Development Thinking 3.0 proposes a change in mindset — we need to stop telling Africans and other low-income countries what is wrong and what needs fixing and instead work with them to identify their strengths based on what they have now. These strengths can then be turned into competiveness in the domestic and international markets.
But many netzines have wondered whether his choice for development over democracy is an applicable thought in the context of Ethiopia. One anonymous commentator on World Bank blog asked:
As an Ethiopian I find it hard to swallow what you wrote about the country. Ethiopia's growth mantra is much of hype than facts on the ground would depict. Imagine, Ethiopia is a country that gets 3 billion dollar of aid money every year. The regime has been in power for the last 20 years, the country's GDP per capita stands where it was 20 years ago. 20 years ago, even during the time of the dictatorial military regime, the people were able to eat at least two times per day, now after 20 years of WB's aid, the people are unable to eat once in a day. In Christian Ethiopia theft is an abomination, now corruption has turned to be a national culture. You may see skyscrapers in Addis Ababa, but they are owned by the ruling elites, army officers and their affiliates. 7 million Ethiopia's are yet under safety net program, which is largely funded by the WB, and 4 million people need urgent food aid. Ethiopia in Addis Ababa and Ethiopia outside of Addis Ababa are different. The government beautifies Addis Ababa to dupe the foreigners that the country is growing, but 100 kms outside the capital everything is different. Ethiopia is a country where human rights violation is so rampant, and I don't blame you if you down grade the value of freedom and democracy for development as you were born and raised in China, but for the sake of comparison imagine Libya before Ghadafi. It was a rich and well built country, but the country turned to ruins in just a year. China's fate won't be different from Libya's and Ethiopia's will be worse. We Ethiopians need to have a stable government first before we think of any kind of development. Once we establish our government based on free election, it won't be difficult to change the country for good. The World Bank needs to hear the cry of Ethiopians; freedom first .Freedom bakes bread not the other way.
The World Bank has reported that online consultations have started regarding the Bank’s Partnership Strategy with Ethiopia. Ethiopian netizens can participate online by suggesting priorities for Ethiopia’s development.
African Confidential, a fortnightly newsletter covering politics and economics of Africa has, reported that though Ethiopia ranked as one of the fastest growing economies, its political strategy and regional role is a questionable one:
Food, housing and water are deemed more important than democracy and trade unions. ‘We’re a fairly tough regime, no one denies that,’ says an official in Addis, privately. He makes Ethiopia’s world view clear: Eritrea is a menace; Somalia is not a cosy neighbor; the Oromo Liberation Front makes threatening noises but is in complete disarray. Foreign NGOs such as Human Rights Watch have difficulty entering the affected areas and horror stories emerge from the refugee camps about periodic political crackdowns.
In addition, a report by The Economist titled ‘A new fund attests to the country’s allure—and to the value of connections’ shows that Ethiopia’s door for investment is opened preferentially based on connections.
Ethiopia, the second most populated Sub-Saharan African country, is accused continuously for using Chinese made monitoring and surveillance technologies to supress voices of dissent in the country.
*Thumbail: Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Courtesy of WEF Flickr page (CC BY-SA 2.0)

author: Endalkachew Chala


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Bangladesh: Economic of Marriage payments · Global Voices
Rezwan

“There are two kinds of marriage payments — dowry and brideprice, with significant differences among their prevalences in time and across societies,” – informs J. Rahman at Mukti.

author: Rezwan


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Bermuda: Austerity Reasons · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Two Bermudian blogs discuss government austerity measures, here and here.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Brazil: ‘Hands That Cure, Words That Heal’ · Global Voices
Paula Góes

[All links lead to Portuguese language pages except when otherwise noted]
With their herbs, gestures, prayers and comforting words, the “doctors of the people” are an important element of Brazilian popular culture and religious syncretism. Folk healers are found throughout the country, but play a special role in remote areas, where medical professionals are scarce and allopathic medicine is inaccessible.
In a post called ‘Hands that cure, words that heal’, Ricardo Câmara recalls the history of faith healing and highlights the work of benzedeiras (women who pray for and bless the ill), usually a free and voluntary activity that has spread throughout Brazil as an alternative to traditional medicine since the sixteenth century:
Terço e folhas nas mãos, oração na ponta da língua e muita fé em Deus. As benzedeiras e benzedores que surgiram no Brasil com a chegada dos Jesuítas, no século XVI, são figuras presentes na cultura popular até os dias de hoje.
A benzeção, como várias outras práticas religiosas e médicas populares, aflorou-se com intensidade no período Colonial Brasileiro e os fatores que propiciaram o desenvolvimento da prática da benzeção, com certeza, remetem à precariedade da vida material, destacada pela raridade de médicos, de cirurgiões, de produtos farmacêuticos, e ao sincretismo dos povos em geral, que também contribuíram, e muito, para que a prática da benzeção se propagasse ainda mais.
Blessing woman Dona Izabel. Photo by Fredox Carvalho, for Agência de Notícias Cavaleiro de Jorge (used with permission).
The training of folk healers, individuals who according to Maria Luiza Benitez are usually “predestined and born with a special gift of power, talent or knowledge”, requires great dedication:
O estudo do curandeiro difere grandemente dos estudos e práticas da medicina convencional. Não há livros de medicina, nem notas de aprovação. Mas é preciso vencer todos os testes e provações. E é exclusivamente por meio da dor, do sofrimento, da doença e da própria morte que o curador adquire acesso ao universo das realidades extraordinárias. O mundo do além é o terreno onde se pode obter o conhecimento, a experiência, as qualificações e o poder para auxiliar os demais.
O chamado costuma vir em sonhos ou por intermédio de um acidente, doença, injúria sofrida, ameaça de morte eminente, da morte e mesmo morte clínica temporária.
Shaman in a Pataxó indigenous tribe in Bahia. Photo by Flickr user Mario Niveo (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Teacher Glauco Ricciele Ribeiro reveals how women become folk healers:
Benzedeiras senhoras de coração puro, servem ao próximo sem interesses ou cobiça. O dom adquirido por elas são passados de geração a geração. Mas em nosso mundo atual, tal prática cada vez mais desaparece e junto dela a fé popular perde suas características. […]
Mas poucos sabem como uma benzedeira inicia seu “sacerdócio”. Tradicionalmente a Sexta-feira Santa é a única data onde se ordena o Dom de ser Benzedeira a uma mulher de bom coração e sem impedimentos. Esta pessoal deve ajudar através das rezas todo tipo de necessitado sem distinção de classe ou credo.
The Blessing Culture. Photo from the Etnia Brasil website by Livia Zaruty (CC BY-NC-ND).
Journalism student Angélica Weise disagrees that the art of healing is disappearing:
Elas fazem parte da cultura popular. A maioria é de uma generosidade incrível. Por mais antiga que seja a tradição, as benzedeiras se encontram mais vivas do que nunca. Basta ter vocação e força de vontade. Mesmo com a medicina avançada, muitas pessoas recorrem a elas para os diversos tipos de cura. […]
Para encontrá-las não há endereço. Basta perguntar nas ruas que logo alguém conhece ou já ouviu falar delas. Na maioria são velhas e simples. É olhando para o rosto e contando suas rugas que encontramos a idade delas. Quem acredita em benzedeira, jura que elas fazem milagres.
Conventional doctors are not so convinced of the miraculous power of spiritual healing and are concerned about the practice, considering that “the scientific safety should not be set aside”.
Meanwhile, traditional healers of two cities in the Brazilian state of Paraná, Rebouças and São João do Triunfo, have seen their activity recently recognized by pioneering municipal laws in Brazil. This resulted in a project of Social Mapping of Folk Healers, whose unprecedented legislation was celebrated as a victory by the local network of traditional communities and peoples:
Num processo de continua luta e organização social das benzedeiras articuladas no Movimento Aprendizes da Sabedoria (MASA) em 22/02/2012 o Presidente da Câmara Municipal de São João do Triunfo promulgou a lei municipal nº 1.370/11, a qual reconhece a identidade coletiva das benzedeiras de Triunfo, regulariza o livre acesso as plantas medicinais por parte dos detentores de ofícios tradicionais de cura e propõe a construção de política municipal especifica de acolhimento das práticas tradicionais de cura nos sistema formal de saúde.
City ordinance recognises the work of folk healers of Triunfo. Photo by Rede Puxirão de Povos e Comunidades Tradicionais published by Flickr user Cultura Viva (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Regardless of whether the cures are a reality or the result of a placebo effect, the act of healing through non-traditional means is considered an intangible heritage of Brazilian culture by the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) [en], which belongs to the federal government of Brazil as part of the Ministry of Culture.
In addition to bringing spiritual comfort, folk healers inspire artists, like the writer Sinval Santos da Silveira, who tells us the story and secret of a woman who lived in a very humble house, with no electricity or running water:
Mulher de idade avançada, magrinha, mal alimentada,
e de um coração cheio de bondade…
Sobre uma pequena mesa, a imagem da Santa, em
quem deposita sua fé e a sua vida.
Benze, em nome da Santinha, curando torcicolo, arca
caida, dor de dente, dor nas costas, dor de olhos, de
garganta, de cabeça, mal olhado, inveja, etc.
Seus pacientes ou clientes, pelo trabalho milagroso,
nada pagam, nada devem.
O prazer de poder ajudar alguém, que lhe procura,
está acima de qualquer outro valor.
Só agora entendo, que o poder de cura daquela mulher,
sempre residiu numa única coisa, que tinha em excesso,
em sua humilde casinha: muito amor…

author: Paula Góes


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Caribbean: Supporting Our Mothers · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Mother's Day, celebrated this past weekend all across the Caribbean, was a hot topic of discussion with regional bloggers – or rather, mothers were.  From posts of admiration and thanks to accounts of how women regularly defy oppression, it was a mixed bag, but one that mothers everywhere would have been happy to sample from…
To mark the occasion, TALLAWAH “rang up a few Jamaican celeb moms to get responses to the day’s most pressing query: Is having a child the best thing you’ve ever done?”  The responses are worth a read.
Compatriot Nadine, Unscripted referred to her mother as “the epitome of self-sacrifice”:
We’ve had our share of ups and downs, and butted heads on some occasions. Yet, at the forefront of my mind, despite all that we’ve been through, I always remember everything she has given to us, simply because she cares.
She also took time to acknowledge “all the mothers, mothers-to-be, grandmothers and greats, the fathers who have a double role as mothers, and the mothers whose children grew in their hearts instead of their wombs”:
Wherever you are on this planet, I give thanks for you and your bright legacy. Know that you are blessed, honoured, loved.
Guyanese-born Tastes Like Home echoed her sentiments:
Thank you for loving me.
Thank you for caring about me.
Thank you for listening to my rants.
Thank you for supporting me.
Thank you for encouraging me.
Parenting is such a huge responsibility and I admire the grace with which you balance your life, work and everything else in-between. I join in the chorus of applause and salute you on this your very special day.
Over at My big, fat, Cuban family, the blogger's kids apparently logged in and shared some of the most meaningful things their mom has taught them over the years – from “[having] great adventures” to “[being] fearless.”  Cuban bloggers were by far the most vocal about the sacrifices mothers – and women on the whole – have to make.  Havana Times published an account of “a Cuban mother's drive”…
When you have a child who looks up at you in desperation and says: ‘Mommy, I’m hungry,’ and you know full well that two salaries aren’t enough to satisfy that basic request…then you’ll know where my strength comes from.
…but balanced the perspective in another post that explains why motherhood is so rewarding:
Most of all there are the kisses, the kisses and hearing ‘I love you, mommy.’ Those are the things that make me remember that being a mother is no sacrifice. Motherhood is simply a blessing.
So why aren't Cubans having more babies?  This post offered some insight.  Pedazos de la Isla uploaded a video tribute to Cuban women, explaining:
On Mother’s Day 2012, a number of Cuban mothers- most of them members of the Ladies in White- have been arrested and beaten by the Cuban political police, and yet they continue carrying out their activities and RESISTING against the repression.
These face harassment, acts of repudiation, beatings, and arrests for demanding the rights of an entire nation.  Regardless, they still find time to protect and educate their children and families.  They are examples of courage and inspiration.
Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter reported on a march in honour of the memory of Laura Pollan:
Despite threats, harassment, and scores of women detained by State Security 68 Ladies in White following mass walked through Fifth Avenue in the west of Havana. They marched and chanted ‘Viva Laura Pollán!’ and ‘Freedom for the political prisoners!’
The blogger (along with others) went on to describe several cases of women being detained and threatened, adding:
It is also important to remember that Cuban mothers are spending Mothers Day in prison for defending the human rights of the Cuban people.
Haiti Chery, meanwhile, spared a thought for Trayvon Martin‘s mom, explaining:
Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Matin, released a public service announcement…timed for Mother’s Day this [past] weekend, asking viewers to ‘call the governor of your state’ and encourage them to reconsider ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws like the one cited by the man who killed her son.
Trinidadian diaspora bloggers also marked the occasion, albeit in different ways.  Fashion blogger Afrobella gave a few suggestions for the best Mother's Day gifts (hint: stay away from the irons!) and wished “anyone who's motherly” a wonderful day:
Whether you’re a mother with your own kids, or you’ve adopted a family, or if you’re a loving sister or aunt or grandma who really plays a motherly role in the lives of little ones, I wish you a very happy Mother’s Day. Thank you for all you have done to shape a child’s life! It ALL counts. Thank you for being part of someone’s village. You’re more appreciated than you may know.
Photoblogger chookooloonks meanwhile, confessed that:
I always feel just a tiny bit strange accepting gifts on Mother's Day…I don't ‘mother’ so that I can get gifts once a year for my efforts.  I mother for a lot of selfish reasons:  because I wanted to be a mom. Because I get a hell of a lot out of my relationship with my kid.  Because that's what I'm wired to do.
But you know what would be nice?
If we moms could use Mother's Day as a day of focus to help support each other.  It seems to me so strange that an experience that is so universal — raising a child — can also at times feel so solitary.  And, frankly, so guilt-ridden:  we get messages daily, from the media, from corporate culture, from our communities and even from other mothers saying you're doing it wrong.  Judgments on issues like how you should become a parent — ‘natural’ or C-section or adoption or surrogacy.  Whether you should work outside of your home.  Or not.  Or breastfeed. Or Not. Or how long you should breastfeed. Or what to feed you kid. Or how to dress your kid. Or what organizations you should get your kid involved in. Or when you should send your kid to school. Or where. Or homeschool.  Or … or … or ….
AAAAUUUUGGH.
So this year, here's an idea:  in addition to the moms in our families, let's take a moment out of our day to send a message to peers — moms who are neither our mothers nor our partners — and just say, ‘good job.’  Send an email to someone (even someone you only know online) just to say, ‘You have great kids,’ or ‘you're an inspiring parent,’ or ‘your children are lucky to have you.’  An unexpected note of encouragement letting a mother know to keep on keeping on.


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China: Propaganda Against U.S. Ambassador Backfires · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Since the escape of blind civic rights activist Chen Guangcheng into the U.S embassy, the U.S Ambassador Gary Locke has become the major target for media attack in Bejing. However, so far each piece of political propaganda has resulted in a backfire.
A number of state-controlled newspapers are involved in the propaganda campaign but Beijing Daily is the most high sounding one. On May 4, 2012 it published an editorial, “Reading the Measly Performance of U.S. Politicians through the Chen Guangcheng Affair” and openly criticized Gary Locke for playing “little tricks” (via China Media Project):
. . . It must be said that for some time, the American Embassy in China and the new U.S ambassador to China, Gary Locke, have used various means that are incommensurate with their roles and responsibilities — their “little tricks” have continued unabated. This causes people to ask, is it the role of this ambassador to do his utmost to advance the U.S.-China relationship, bridge gaps and eliminate misunderstandings, or is it to hatch schemes and bound out into Chinese society to make trouble, manufacturing new and greater fissures between China and the United States.
Many netizens were outraged by such propaganda and attacked the newspapers for losing their consciences. By 8 p.m on May 4, the term “Beijing Daily” (北京日報） had become unsearchable [zh]. The political spoof below, a imitation of political prosecution during the Cultural Revolution, reflects the popular sentiment towards the Chinese propaganda machine's attack on Gary Locke (via China Media Project). The photo's caption read: “The only way out for Ambassador Locke is to be whole-hearted corrupt!”:
Gary Locke's little trick. Via China Media Project
The latest round of attack by Beijing Daily came through its official Sina Weibo account on May 14 demanding that Gary Locke disclose his personal assets. China Media Project has translated some of the immediate responses from Sina Weibo:
@Liu Yadong [zh]: No matter whether its praise or criticism your dishing out, it must be based on a deep understanding of the other side. Seen from a many sides, Beijing Daily‘s demand that Gary Locke disclose his personal finances is a basic error. It shows a basic lack of understanding of American society: how can that country’s top politicians possibly keep their personal assets secret! To openly make such a childish demand perhaps also reveals the closed-up nature of this newspaper, its lack of international perspective. This is a lesson!
@Zhao Chu [zh]: Beijing Daily is a joke. For them to make a joke like this just shows they’re a bunch of stupid pigs at the top.
In early morning the next day, the newspapers removed its comment and re-post the same comment by adding a re-post in front of the message [deleted]. It continued to attract a lot of criticism. The China Media Project has captured and translated some from the comment thread:
@半拉北京人: His assets were disclosed back in 2010. Why doesn’t he teach Chinese official how to disclose [their assets]?
@辣笔小飞: Beijing Daily, are you really dumb, or just playing dumb? You think that just by having this title “Beijing” to back you up you can lead public opinion astray?
@无梦的八戒: Of course Gary Locke’s personal assets have been disclosed. And what about the assets of those imperial officials [of ours]?
@天恩0120: Oh, editors and comrades of Beijing Daily, how are you? How tough things are for you. It’s just that the residence of the Ambassador and the cars he rides in are about the image of America. No matter how we try to refine the idea of whether or not Gary Locke is corrupt, there’s the looming issue of our leaders living in Zhongnanhai. And how much more resplendent are those official residences? Why don’t you have a look.
@老男人的小日子: “What about that post asking Locke to disclose his assets? How was that deleted? How humiliating for the Party!
In less than an hour or so, the post was removed again. However, it couldn't stop netizens from laughing about its self-humiliating move:
wh_w：严重怀疑北京日报脑残或被收买了.洛有无目的另说，麻烦別拿家丑和人家的优势对比。有些方面祖国是相当落后的
buckforland：北京日报挺幽默的，一巴掌打过去竟打回自己的脸上了。
lpcysy：纽约时报：我们美国多民主，可以公开要求骆家辉公布财产 北京日报：我们中国也民主，可以公开要求骆家辉公布财产
haistone1：感谢北京日报的良苦用心，引起了全社会对官员财产公开的高度关注。

author: Oiwan Lam


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Colombia: 5 Dead, 19 Injured After Bomb Blast in Bogotá  · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Netizens are reacting to the explosion of a bomb on a bus on Caracas Avenue and 74th street in Bogotá, Colombia's capital. The attack was allegedly directed at former Interior Minister Fernando Londoño. The latest reports [es] list 5 dead and 19 people injured. Related words and phrases like “74 con Caracas“, “Fernando Londoño“, “#noalterrorismo” (“no to terrorism), and “Bogotá” are currently trending on Twitter in Colombia.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Costa Rica: Blogger Interviews President Laura Chinchilla · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Blogger Cristian Cambronero from the blog Fusil de Chispas interviewed [es] Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla. The interview was in part filmed by the production team Sürrealista [es], and two photographers (Priscilla Mora [es] and Diego Barracuda [es]) captured the meeting between Cristian and the President through photographs. You can read the 45-minute interview in the blog Fusil de Chispas.


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Costa Rica: The Circus that Saves Children’s Lives · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

To the south of Costa Rica lies the town of Perez Zeledon, home to the Fantazztico Circus that is giving children and youth in the region a chance to stay out of drugs and trouble while opening doors to international travel.
In a video documentary, the story of this 12 year old project by the New Life Asociation (Asociacion Vida Nueva) takes shape. In an interview, a mother explains how young people are left to their own devices, and they end up getting in trouble or addicted to drugs due to lack of opportunities to study or work. The circus gives them a chance to learn skills, discipline and become part of a group where they become valued. It is also the story of Josue, who drifted away from the circus, and almost died from a drug overdose. As he says, he returned to the circus where he knew he'd find the support to go on, and now he tries to steer clear from peer pressure.
The Circo Fantazztico has had the opportunity to travel overseas to Europe, presenting their show and work to audiences while also discovering new cultures and places.
The Sula Batsú Cooperative of Costa Rica which works in training and skill building for cooperatives and other non-government organizations shared through their facebook page a link to the promotional video with the comment:
El viernes pasado nos visitó la agrupación Circo FantazzTico, en este proyecto social se usa la pedagogía circense como medio del trabajo preventivo con niños, niñas y jóvenes en riesgo social. La idea del proyecto es crear un lugar seguro para los niños, niñas y jóvenes que están en una situación social difícil, y que puedan aprender habilidades corporales al igual que adquirir competencias sociales…
The Circus is also well received nationally: the following video shows their presentation in the National Stadium of Costa Rica in the capital city of San Jose, to an audience of 10 000 people. The presentation included aerobatics of people twisting on ropes, fabric and tumbling as well as floor exercises and pyramids.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Cuba: Dissident Ferrer Garcia Re-Released  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Havana Times reports that dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia was released by authorities late last week “after being held for more than 24 hours without his whereabouts being made known.”


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Guyana: Creator of “Cuffie” Statue Dies  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Demerara Waves acknowledges the passing of “internationally acclaimed artist and sculptor, Philip Moore”, who was perhaps best known for sculpting the 1763 Monument, a tribute to Cuffy, a former slave who is recognised as a national hero in Guyana.


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India: Cricket Or Wife · Global Voices
Rezwan

Jaspreet discusses how some Indian men have to balance between their love for cricket and obviously for their wife.


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Iran: A blogger was arrested  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iranian cyber police (Fata) announced [fa] a blogger in the northern city of Rasht was arrested. The blogger was accused of writing in his blog against Rasht's authorities and trying to “disturb public opinion”.
Iranian police did not mention the blogger's name.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: Successful campaign against lashes for cartoonist · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

An online campaign against lashes for Iranian cartoonist turned to be successful. Mahmoud Shokrayeh was sentenced to 25 lashes for a caricature of a local MP, Ahmad Lotfi. Iranian cartoonists launched a campaign on Facebook and cyberspace to draw Mr. Lotfi's cartoons in condemning this verdict. You can see some of this cartoons here. Eventually the MP announced that he is withdrawing his complaint.

author: Hadi Nili


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Kyrgyzstan: Can a Blogger be the Fourth Branch of Government? · Global Voices
Chris Rickleton

Ilya Karimdjanov is a pest. Armed with a camera, a question and the most popular blog on Kyrgyzstan's most popular blogging platform, Kloop.kg, he is a one-man citizen media machine, the nemesis of rule-breaking cops, corrupt university teachers and the Kyrgyz monetary system. Well, someone has to keep them all in check, don't they?
Kyrgyzstan's weakened executive, unruly legislature and compromised judiciary are not renowned for enforcing their own rules and regulations. Indeed, state officials’ disregard for due process is a feature of life in the country that can charm or frustrate foreign visitors to the country in equal measure. For citizens of the country, it is simply the daily minefield  they must negotiate in order to get from home to work and back again.
Commissar Karimdjanov, as he has been referred to in the past, has made a habit of exposing these routine violations of law and protocol both on his blog and on the main news portal at Kloop.kg, where he works as a journalist. A recent example saw him “police” a female police officer who appeared to be drinking while in uniform at lunch time:
Karimdjanov: Look, she is drinking beer. Shall we go?
Colleague: Sure
Karimdjanov [to policewoman]: I hope you are not against us making a video. Why are you drinking beer in uniform? It is interesting for us, why is a police official drinking beer?
Policewoman: I have a praznik [celebratory day]
Karimdjanov: But you are on duty…
Policewoman: I understand that it is banned on duty but for one thing it is non-alcoholic…
Karimdjanov: It is not non-alcoholic, we asked the waitress….
Policewoman: It is non-alcoholic you can ask again, and secondly tomorrow is a praznik and [today is] my birthday. May I?
In the Facebook plugin beneath the posted video, Almaz Rakhimdinov noted [ru]:
Not for nothing Ilya Karimdjanov has the title of agent provocateur!
While Cholponbai Borubaeva said [ru]:
Interested to know what will happen to her – a warning or a sacking?
Rinat Shamstudinov argued:
The guys from Kloop [Karimdjanov and colleague, Zarema Sultanbekova] did good. But you should have taken a copy of the receipt because staff [of the police] may do anything possible to turn that Siberian Crown [alcoholic beer] into a Baltika ‘0’ [non-alcoholic].
This isn't the first time Karimdjanov's activities have earned him attention. Another recent video exposed on his blog posed the question [ru] “Tiyini – Money No-one Needs?”
On that occasion Karimdjanov went around Bishkek with co-author Begimai Bolotbekova trying to spend tiyini, the much-loathed Kyrgyz equivalent of cents, pence and other smaller-than-small currency denominations. Refused by shopkeepers, stallholders and parking inspectors, he successfully exposed another law that doesn't work – that all denominations belonging to the national currency be accepted in cash transactions.*
Ilya's day-to-day blogging sees him defend the constitution [ru] (particularly article 33, allowing access to free information), expose corrupt university lecturers [ru] and make appeals [ru] for greater press responsibility. In this sense, he is like an onlime ombudsman, performing the functions the government, either through indifference or incompetence, doesn't.
But why does he bother? In response to a criticism by one commenter of his handling of the police-beer scandal, Karimdjanov replied [ru]:
I also thought to dismiss it at first. Just get up and leave, but my conscience would not allow me to. I know that nothing has fundamentally changed and it is unlikely to even be punished, but I have every right to approach such employees and to show them that they themselves are doing wrong.
All of us like to chew the fat and say that it is because of low salaries and all that. But fundamentally you don't even desire to do something useful. This is my country, the place my children will live ! And I will do everything possible so that before they arrive, I will make at least a few people, through examples like these, change the way they think about things and do what is correct! To sit back and criticize – is the easiest thing to do. But I respect your opinion, because my task was to convey information to you. I did this as a journalist, and how you perceive it – is up to you
* Fifty tiyin pieces, the eqivalent of 1 US cent, are accepted in the Kyrgyz supermarket chain ‘Narodni’, an organization that fares pretty badly during coups in the country. Tourists in Bishkek may be forgiven for thinking that Narodni are entirely responsible for the circulation of this meloch, or small change, since only they seeem to dispense them, and only they seem to accept them….
Links to videos: 1, 2

author: Chris Rickleton


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Latin America: Art from the Colonial Period in 2.0 · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

All links lead to Spanish-language websites, unless otherwise noted.
The long colonial period that resulted in what we know today as Latin America, has left its traces in the colonial art still preserved throughout the continent. Citizen media attests to this. Many online spaces are dedicated to the sharing of photographs, video, texts, specific works and other examples of artistic expression from this period, at the same time explaining how these images today make up part of the landscape and identity of the countries they belong to. As one would anticipate, the images from each region show an enormous diversity in response to the inspiration that arrived from Europe.
We present here a sample of the many 2.0 websites dedicated to this colonial art, that serves as the common denominator adopted by indigenous cultures across most of the continent, before being adapted by each as its own.
The Portal de Arte (Art Gateway) from Colombia, provides us with a context for the definition of what is understood by the term Colonial Art:
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Reproduced under the Creative Commons licence
Este arte se caracteriza por la fusión de cosmovisiones y técnicas de conquistadores y aborígenes […] En cada pieza escultórica, catedral y pintura, los motivos religiosos son los gobernantes, así como los parámetros de representación europeos; pero éstos fueron sutil y subterráneamente “digeridos” por los aborígenes americanos, quienes colocaron en cada obra elementos propios de sus culturas (símbolos religiosos y espirituales, figuras antropomorficas, zoomorficas y fitomorfas) de modo tal que se entremezclaban con los imágenes católicas importadas, manteniendo de este modo, la voluntad de forma de la producción artística indígena subsitiendo [sic] por debajo del arte europeo impuesto a la fuerza.
In Ecuador, Iván Petroff shares some of his work, done for his studies in artistic expression, pointing us to some characteristic features of the colonial plastic arts:
La plástica colonial, al comienzo fue repetitiva, o mejor, recreativa de los modelos europeos, sin embargo, pese al control español, el artista indígena introdujo pequeños elementos de su arte y religión, especialmente en los rasgos físicos de los santos provincianos y en la carga cultural no europea de los retablos y algunos motivos ornamentales de capiteles y frisos.
In the same way, Iván uses his blog to open access to a musical piece from the epoch, placed on YouTube by denesago. The song was composed by the Spaniard Juan de Araujo, who was confirmed as one of the most important musicians of the colonial epoch in what is now Bolivia. The video images show something of baroque architecture and painting from Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru:
http://youtu.be/HvbNy6fZbHo
In Venezuela, Janeth Rodríguez manages a blog dedicated entirely to colonial art in Venezuela and its different expressive modes. The sources of her posts are various academic pieces, the principal motivation being to gather, celebrate and bring to people's attention the preservation of these pieces:
Este blog nace con varios objetivos: difundir nuestro patrimonio artístico de los siglos XVI al XVIII con la intención de promover su preservación; servir de vehículo para promocionar la investigación que los estudiantes de la Escuela de Artes de la Universidad Central de Venezuela producen en torno a este tema; y lograr una comunicación más efectiva entre todos los interesados en el mundo colonial.Nuestra meta es presentar a los visitantes una breve historia de diversas obras de arte venezolanas, e incluso de algunas extranjeras que llegaron a nuestro territorio durante ese período.
Meanwhile, the blog Romanticismo, launched by students of Spanish and Literature in the Colombian capital Bogotá, shares examples of the characteristic forms of literature from the colonial epoch:
La literatura en lengua española durante la colonia comenzó a desenvolverse en Nueva España desde un principio. La literatura de la conquista son mayormente coplas y romances, burlas hacia los gobernadores, ayudantes, etc. mientras que la de colonia son textos que incitan a la libertad y revolución.
Then there is Optimusomnium, which shows several examples of Peruvian painting of the colonial period in a video:
Finally, user LordArchibaldHartley gathers a number of artistic and cultural images that have served as the inspiration for much of the art made in Mexico today.
These are just a few of the many examples of sites offering information on colonial period art in Latin America in 2.0. If you'd like more information and to investigate other similar sources in the Spanish language, visit the Wikipedia article Arte colonial latinoamericano.


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Macedonia: Blogging in Estonian about Skopje Marathon/Half-Marathon · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Sandra Jürs blogged in Estonian about her participation in the Skopje Marathon/Half-Marathon [mk, en] on May 6, 2012.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Malawi: Kondwani Munthali: Malawi’s Blogger of the Year · Global Voices
Victor Kaonga

For the first time in media history in Malawi, blogging has been recognized as a practice playing an important role journalism. This follows the awarding of blogger and journalist Kondwani Munthali with a Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Blogging Award of the year. The recognition was part of the World Press Freedom Day celebrations on 3 May in Lilongwe.
Having started blogging in 2007, his blog now has about 5,000 visits each day. In this interview, Victor Kaonga sought to hear more from Munthali about his blogging life and the MISA award.
Victor Kaonga (VK): Did you expect to be Blogger of the Year noting this was first time in Malawi that MISA had this category?
Kondwani Munthali (KM): Many people told me so. I rarely enter competitions and this one too did not require me to submit anything. It was done through voting. I felt honored that my peers thought I was doing a good job. But as I said, there are excellent bloggers whom I felt deserved the award, but Journalists in Malawi  thought I was better and that is a humbling experience.
VK: Why did you start blogging?
KM: There were two Malawian bloggers, Dr. Steve Sharra and Victor Kaonga whom I followed much when I was on a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University in 2007. They did not write much about news, but a reflection of issues that affected Malawi. I thought the blogs represented a freedom to share your opinion to a larger audience. But being a news person, over the years I do write less about my opinions and more news. It is a news blog now.
VK: Who have been your main readers?
KM: It is interesting that with time my blog has grown in terms of audience since I started linking my updates with my Facebook page and Twitter account. My blog visitors are mainly from Malawi which is very impressive. This is followed by the United States of America and for some reasons, I also have people in Romania who make part of the top 10 countries visiting the site. Individually, I am sure decision makers, diplomats, politicians and many ordinary Malawi read my blog. I get calls all the time or reminders that I have not updated the blog from various people. I feel honored to have many of these people visit my blog and pay attention to what I have to say.
VK: Do you ever feel scared because of blogging?
KM: Yes, Malawi went through political turmoil in the last 2 years. Even my company – Nation Publications Limited which has been very supportive at times thought some of us were being targeted by authorities because of blogging. The challenge is that people do not differentiate between opinion and facts. Very few people would accept that I have a right to express my opinion on any matter especially politics. I could get nasty reactions, comments or simply insults. I improved my security but thank God, nothing happened and now I am free to write what I want again!
VK: Would you share one or two highlights of the posts you written so far?
KM: The first one is an account of July 20. After Police beat us up alongside Civil Society leaders at Lilongwe CCAP, after seeing them chase and beat my camera man, that minute all I thought was running to survive. But later in the evening it dawned on me that we could have died and the situation did not look fine the following day. I started writing my account of events minute by minute. It has since been used as part of record of events of that day across the world.
The second is the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika and the suspense that engulfed the delay to announce his death. On Friday evening of 6th April after listening to speeches by then Cabinet Ministers claiming that then Vice President Joyce Banda could not take over, I wrote a piece around midnight appealing to those that had power that night to choose the constitutional way. I got a record number of telephone calls, some threatening but a majority thought I had written sense on the question of transition. When President Joyce Banda called for a Press Briefing that morning, I knew my country had evaded the worst. I would consider these two as my best pieces.
VK: Advice to bloggers especially in Southern Africa.
KM: The secret to writing is to keep writing, even when you don't understand what you write. The blog opens you up to a wider world. It helps us document our countries and region in our own words. We connect to the whole world and influence perception people have on our region. This is the time to keep blogging, until our story is told everywhere!
Global Voices Online and especially bloggers in Southern Africa wish to congratulate Munthali on this great award.
*Thumbnail: Kondwani Munthali receiving his award. Photo source: Munthali's Blog

author: Victor Kaonga


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Mozambique: “Who wants to give birth here?” · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

Knight International Journalism Fellow Mercedes Sayagues published a video (with versions in English and Portuguese) which takes viewers on a sad tour of maternity clinics in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. The province has the highest maternal mortality rate in Mozambique.

author: Janet Gunter


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Norway: Discussing Latin America at the Oslo Freedom Forum · Global Voices
Robert Valencia

Last week, the fourth gathering of the Oslo Freedom Forum took place, organized by the Human Rights Foundation in the Norwegian capital. Under the slogan “From darkness to light,” the forum brought together world figures that aim to tackle humanitarian crises and exchange ideas to mitigate their effects. Rebecca MacKinnon, co-founder of Global Voices Online, was one of the main speakers during a session entitled “Voices in the dark.”
Among the topics that generated major interest throughout the forum was the current crisis in Syria and the political repression that some activists live with under Vladimir Putin's new government in Russia, as well as a review of the first year of the “Arab Spring.”  Nevertheless, the event covered a series of topics that involved other world regions, among which was Latin America.
Humberto Prado, from Venezuela, was the first Latin American to speak before the forum about the reality of prisons in his country. Using horrific images of prisoners shooting into the air, which contrast one of a group of convicts playing in a symphony orchestra, Prado unveiled a terrifying statistic:  5,066 convicts have died since 1999, while 14,460 have been injured. He also asked the European Union to pay attention to Venezuelan penitentiaries.
Nicolás Perez, Director of Ecuadorian daily El Universo, exposed the iron fist of Rafael Correa's government, which left the newspaper with a million-dollar fine for publishing a letter to the editor where Correa's actions were criticized for allegedly ordering the army to open fire against a hospital during a police brawl, which led to a massive international condemnation against the lack of freedom of expression in the country.
Meanwhile, Mauricio Rodas, also from Ecuador and the founder of the Ethos Foundation, announced an innovative index that measures the poverty level in Latin America and has generated criticisms of Correa's government as well.
Lastly, Ethan Nadelmann, founder of the Drug Policy Alliance, highlighted the problem of drug consumption prohibition, which points to indiscriminate imprisonment of minorities in the United States — primarily the Hispanic population.
In Oslo, we had the opportunity to sit down with Venezuelan native Marcel Granier, General Director of Radio Caracas Television, whose signal was removed from open transmission in his country in 2007. Granier, who also participated in the second meeting of said forum on assault against the Venezuelan press, highlighted the importance of bringing up human rights issues in Latin America at European events due to the “connection that exists between Latin Americans and European countries like Spain and Portugal.”
With regards to the forum, Granier affirmed that “every day there is a greater sense of consciousness” about the current situation in Venezuela, which “increases [incidentally] the level of consciousness on a global level,” and brought attention to the fact that respecting human rights in his country will be fundamental to guaranteeing the well-being of all Venezuelans, in addition to securing diaspora's return to their land.
On Twitter, some Oslo Freedom Forum participants, like Oslo Scholars Program (@OsloScholars), emphasized certain excerpts of the Latin American speeches:
There is no dignity in prison: what exists is social cleansing” – Humberto Prado. Such a powerful speech on prison conditions in Venezuela.
Likewise, Runrunes (@RunRunesWeb) [es] pointed out that Humberto Prado's speech was quite powerful:
#Runrunes ALTO:De alto impacto ponencia de Humberto Prado (Observatorio Vzlano de Prisiones) en el Oslo Freedom Forum- http://ow.ly/aOfcW
Venezuela journalist Nelson Bocaranda (@Desconvocara) [es] highlighted an important declaration from Mauricio Rodas during the event:
Mauricio Rodas,miembro de la Fundacion Ethos que hizo radiografía de pobreza latinoamericana anuncio en Oslo q buscara Presidencia Ecuador
The following are images from the Latin American presentations at the Oslo Freedom Forum, courtesy of MarieBW and the author of this post.
Oslo Freedom Forum banners hanging around Oslo, Norway. All Rights Reserved, Flickr/MarieBW
Ethan Nadelmann, Director of the Drug Policy Alliance. All Rights Reserved, Flickr/MarieBW
Nicolás Pérez from El Universo in Ecuador. All Rights Reserved, Flickr/MarieBW
Nicolás Pérez (second from the right) at a press conference. All Rights Reserved, Flickr/MarieBW
Humberto Prado, quoting Nelson Mandela during his presentation. All Rights Reserved, Flickr/MarieBW
Humberto Prado shares "the hell" that prisoners live through in Venezuela.  All Rights Reserved, Flickr/MarieBW
Humberto Prado exposes the cruel reality of penitentiaries in Venezuela.  All Rights Reserved, Flickr/MarieBW
Presentation by Mauricio Rodas, founder of The Ethos Foundation. All Rights Reserved, Flickr/MarieBW
Reception at Oslo's City Hall.
Participants share ideas in the intermission between speeches.
The forum closed with the awarding of the Vaclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissidence.

author: Robert Valencia


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Russia: Duma Deputy Wants Criminal Liability for Extremist Tweets · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Yesterday, on May 14, Aleksandr Khinshtein [en], a Duma deputy and member of United Russia (‘the party of power’), wrote a letter to Yuri Chaika [en], the Prosecutor General of Russia. In that letter, Khinshtein noted the “recent sharp rise in the number of calls for acts of violence against state officials and police officers” appearing in online social networks. Twitter and Facebook, he argued, “have effectively transformed into an instrument to coordinate the actions of extremists, becoming a channel for the dissemination of detailed instructions to their supporters.” The letter begins [ru]:
Прошу Вас принять меры к владельцам и пользователи аккаунтов в различных социальных интернет-сетях (русскоязычные сегменты Twitter и Facebook), активно содействовавшим в организации массовых беспорядков 6 мая 2012 года в г. Москве.
Khinshtein added that bloggers are also using these services to advocate violence against “the legally elected President” and Russia's “constitutional order.” (Twitter user Lucius Aevus, for instance, wrote [ru] on April 24, “Buy weapons, stockpile food, join up, and kill Putin.”) Khinshtein called specifically for (1) the prevention of the further spread of such illegal, extremist online appeals, (2) the criminal prosecution of individuals who use social networks to disseminate extremism, and (3) any other measures legally necessary.
Screenshot of Khinshtein's official Duma webpage, 15 May 2012.
Hours after news of this petition caused a stir in the media, Khinshtein responded by publishing the full text of his letter to Chaika, claiming [ru] that his initiative is not a plea for political censorship. Khinshtein did not, however, publish the supplementary materials he attached to the letter, where he cataloged dozens of examples of bloggers advocating illegal activity. The list, to which online newspaper Gazeta.ru has access and has graciously summarized [ru], focuses on nationalist and liberal democratic oppositionists — some anonymous and others well-known.
First on the list is self-described “ultra-right” anonymous blogger odinzavseh (“one for all”), whom Khinshtein links to soccer hooligans, like the ones infamous for inciting a small ethnic riot in Moscow in December 2010. On Twitter, odinzavseh has called on protesters to beat up Putin-supporters and public figures Sergei Minaev and Konstantin Rykov. He also allegedly encouraged oppositionists to attack government buildings with Molotov cocktails on the night of May 8. Both these tweets were later deleted, though evidence of the former can still be found [ru] on Yandex. In what seems particularly outrageous to many bloggers, Khinshtein has claimed, as well, that retweeting (reposting another user's message) also carries criminal liability. Odinzavseh, for instance, retweeted user LailaMooore's call [ru] on protesters to slash the tires of police vans and bring weapons to protests.
Not one to exclude Russia's homegrown social networks, Khinshtein also cited “The Moscow Front,” a nationalist group based [ru] on VKontakte that advocated attacks on government buildings near Chistye Prudy on May 7. As soon as these allegations went public, the group published its thanks to Khinshtein for the “free publicity.” Several members immediately posted anti-Semitic comments, complaining, for example [ru], “You know, Khinshtein's Jewish snout pisses me off.”
Also gracing the list is Mikhail Svetov, Twitter user msvetov, a Russian student living in Japan, who has been an active virtual participant in the opposition protests. During the May 6 “Million Man March” at Bolonatia Square, Svetov tweeted:
Не выбрасывайте омоновские шлемы в реку, надевайте их на себя. Это броня, она вас защитит от полицейских дубинок.
and:
Отнимайте у ОМОНа щиты, каски, дубинки, это уравнивает ваши шансы. Не нападайте на них, но отнимайте амуницию.
Khinshtein also accused oppositionists Vitaly Shushkevich and Artem Chapaev of online extremism. On May 7, Chapaev tweeted:
Думаю, частью стратегии должна стать дальнейшая радикализация масс, чтобы перейти к тактике ощутимой городской герильи.
That same day, Shushkevich used his Twitter account to encourage [ru] protesters to bring coins to Chistye Prudy and throw them at police and “Nashists” (members of the pro-Kremlin youth). He also reposted several unsavory messages from Twitter users gruppa_voina, ponny1, papumaria, and moskless, including calls to spread the fear that “Moscow is out of control.”
The always irreverent artist collective Gruppa Voina [en] responded in typical fashion, quipping [ru] that its followers would soon be confronted by Khinshtein himself:
Друзья, вы все шутки шутите – но не забывайте – за КАЖДЫЙ РЕТВИТ с вас спросит @khinshtein в комнате допросов ближайшей к вашему дому тюрьмы
Petr Verzilov, husband of Pussy Riot's imprisoned Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and a Voina member, sarcastically welcomed [ru] Khinshtein's efforts, saying that criminalizing retweets could become the “next step in the development of civil society and legal consciousness in our country.”
Aleksei Navalny is also on Khinshtein's list — included for a May 3 tweet [ru] that joked about burning down the Mayor's office. Navalny quoted the text of a Sergei Udaltsov tweet, altering the final line into a mock appeal for arson:
Чиновники из мэрии вышли на связь, обещают в течение часа согласовать марш. Если обманут – сожжем мэрию.
In reality, Udaltsov had written [ru]: “If they're lying, we'll make an announcement through the orgkomitet.”
Some RuNet voices have insisted that Khinshtein is asking the Prosecutor General to do something fundamentally beyond its legal authority, and is only causing a stir to grab a moment's publicity. In a series of identical tweets addressed to prominent RuNet bloggers, Yuri Suetin posted the scan [ru] of a letter from May 2011, where the FSB informs a certain Dmitri Goriugin that Russian law enforcement agencies are incapable of deleting or banning posts from Twitter. (Goriugin had apparently complained about personal insults directed at him, published online by pro-Kremlin blogger fritzmorgen — an account that ironically Twitter has since suspended.) Other users, however, were quick to point out that Khinshtein is citing anti-extremism laws that carry far more extensive police powers than Criminal Code 130 (to which Goriugin appealed).
Russian politician, Yuri Chaika, 8 December 2009, photo by Russian Presidential Press and Information Office, CC BY-SA 3.0; Wikimedia Commons.
Khinshtein's appeal to Chaika coincides with a draft project [ru] introduced to the Duma yesterday by United Russia deputies. The project denounces protesters who attacked police at Bolotnaia Square on May 6, and advocates criminal prosecution of those “responsible.”
The state's response to Khinshtein's letter will be an interesting test of the lengths to which the Kremlin is prepared to pressure oppositionists in their use of online social media. Services like Twitter and Facebook are widely credited with energizing the protest movement — indeed, the feasibility of recent mass demonstrations seems to have required these instruments. Likewise, heightened public scrutiny on the extremist content of oppositionists’ blog posts and tweets will test the maturity and accountability of a space that until now has hosted language often violent and legally dubious according to Russian legislation.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Russia: Website Appears Publishing Civil Servants’ Incomes  · Global Voices
Teplitsa

The project “Public Profit” [ru] was established so that anyone interested could access information about the salaries of civil servants and state deputies. The information is compiled using public records and disclosed in accordance with Russian law.
In addition to general information about incomes, other interesting statistics can be found on the site, such as reports on individual government departments, as well as data about which civil servants own the biggest apartments.
Several of the facts revealed are nothing short of amazing.
Screen shot of Public Profit's website, 15 May 2012.
For example, Alexander V. Gilderman [ru], Deputy of the Administrative Department of Regional Sustainment, owns a house with land covering 4,433 square meters (1.1 acres).
However, the champion of real estate holdings is Igor I. Shuvalov [ru], whose total income exceeds 14,652,000 rubles (approximately 505,240 U.S. dollars), which only makes up less than 4% of his total family income.
The gap between spouses’ earnings is a separate reason to reconsider the traditional family paradigm; Igor Suvalov's wife earns almost 25 times more than him, and Mrs. Sukhenko earns 60 times more than her husband, although their income is more modest by far.
The champion of all Russia's civil servants is Yuri Trutnev, who has earned a record-breaking 114 million rubles (3.7 million U.S. dollars) and change (and, in his case, there is more than a little change). Unfortunately, his income fell in 2010, but let's hope things will be okay. For now, his wife and four children (judging by their income declarations) can get away with not working for now.
Apart from that, we can only be happy for these people!
See the original article here [ru].

author: Teplitsa


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South Korea: Monks Caught in Gambling, Smoking and Drinking Scandal · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

In South Korea, six leaders of the nation's biggest Buddhist order were caught playing high-stakes poker, along with drinking and smoking. The case was disclosed through leaked video footage that shows high-profile monks gambling at a luxury lakeside hotel just days before a national holiday celebrating the birth of Buddha.
The stakes of the monk's gambling reportedly exceeded $US 875,000 (10 million Korean Won) and the gambling continued overnight for 13 hours straight. In South Korea, it is illegal to gamble outside designated casinos and horse racing spots and such an act by religious leaders is more than being frowned upon – it is unimaginable. South Korean online space erupted with various responses from sarcastic comments, harsh criticisms and bitter lament for the corrupted religion.
Twitter user @uxost01 tweeted [ko]:
어머니가 조계종 억대 도박 뉴스를 아시고서 충격과 비탄에 빠지셨다.
Twitter user @Arirang5886 pointed out [ko] that the money the monks staked was religions donations made by people:
조계종간부들의 도박, 음주, 흡연행위는 자정의 한계를 넘은 것입니다. 신도들은 피땀어린 시주하면서 절에 다니고, 승려는 그것으로 스릴있게 도 닦는 형국입니다. 부처는 신도의 마음에 있지 절간에 있는 것이 아니라는 것을 잘 나타내고 있는 사건입니다.
Another Twitter user @Nabiwahighhill compared those monks [ko] to corrupted nobles:
2007 년 명지스님이 100억원 사찰재정을공개하며“수행자는 수행에전념하고,재정은 재가자에맡기자”했다.조계종 승려들이 시줏돈으로 밤샘 도박사건은 승가사회가 타락했음을보여준다.MB정권에서 종교인과 정치인 언론사주가 앙사앙레짐의 2%타락한 귀족이돼간다.
Image of monks going down to their rooms after evening worship at Haeinsa temple which is one of the foremost Chogye Buddhist temples in South Korea (not necessarily related to the gambling case mentioned in the article) Image: joonghijung, Creative Commons License (CC BY 2.0)
Jogye order has more than 10 million followers which comprises about a fifth of the entire South Korean population. The head of Jogye order made a public apology right after the gambling case made national headlines, vowing “self-repentance”. Although there were media speculations [ko] that the video leakage was carefully planned out by rival powers within the order, no reason or excuse was strong enough to calm disappointed Korean people.
Park Tae-su (@sjts200) tweeted [ko]:
조계종 자승 중은 도박사태 책임지고 사퇴하라.참회만으로 덮을려고?어림없는 소리[…]
Yun Hee-sung (@yunheesung) tweeted [ko]:
불교 조계종 도박파문이 조계종 내부간의 갈등 때문에 일어난 거라 억울하신가요? 그건 당신들 끼리의 다툼이고, 국민은 억대판돈을 놓고 도박하고 술. 담배를 먹고 피워도 되냐를 묻는 겁니다. 아직도 문제가 뭔지 모르세요?
South Korea used to be a highly religions country but as so many scandals broke out both in Christian and Buddhist communities [ko], frustrated, more and more Koreans are turning away from religions. Twitter user @tinypencil tweeted [ko]:
이제 불교에서도 개신교와 매를 같이 맞아주기로 한건가. 요즘 이미지 참 좋아지던 와중에 승려들의 불법도박이라니.
and added [ko]:
조계종 승려들의 밤샘도박. 종교가 세상을.치유하는건지 세상이 종교의 뒤에 숨은 저런자들을 먹여살리는건지.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Angola: Angola’s Sweet Success · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Mark and Jana blogs about Angola's sweet success: “Around 70% of Biocom’s sugar cane is turned into sugar. The remaining 30% is used for ethanol and the production of electricity. Electric power is produced by burning sugar cane waste. The vapour released during the process is channelled into a high-pressure turbine. The energy that is generated as a result can light up a city of up to 400,000 people, Biocom says.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Argentina: Transforming a Neighborhood Through a Cultural Shed · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

The Piedrabuenarte Cultural Shed in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina is transforming the neighborhood through culture, arts and citizen media. Formerly a warehouse for discarded scenery and sets for the Colon Theater, the space was transformed by artists in the community into a center for arts. Through their YouTube channel they are telling the world about it.
Eddie Avila, on a Rising Voices article from 2011, included this note before a  video interview with the founders:
There are plans to work more closely with the youth in the neighborhood, showing them how they can use the cameras on their mobile phones to contribute to the YouTube channel. This would allow for additional perspectives on the diverse Piedrabuena neighborhood. In the following video, two of the founding members of the Shed, Juan “Pepi” Garachico and Lucian Garramuño, talk about what the Shed means to the residents and how they use citizen media to tell the stories of Piedrabuena.
So what have they been up to? On their YouTube channel, Piedrabuenartv is an artistic show that gives us images of daily activities in the Cultural Shed as well as being an artistic outlet for the community to express themselves through video. The next video shows the transformation of an empty lot into a cultural city, where relocated playground equipment found a new home, and an open air theater stage is being built, all of this surrounded by the high rise apartment blocks where much of the community lives.
Other episodes of the show feature neighbors talking about their expectations regarding the cultural transformation of the neighborhood, or like this next one, a look back to when they first opened the bricked up windows after 30 years.


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Armenia: Fears After Nationalist Firebombers Released on Bail · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Following the 8 May firebombing of D.I.Y., a gay-friendly bar in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, events have taken an unexpected turn with the release of the suspected arsonists, Iranian-Armenian brothers Hampig and Mgrdich (Arame) Khapazyan. Believed part of a local Neo-Nazi group and caught on camera, one was released on bail of 1 million Armenian Drams (less than $2,600) and the other on guarantee that he will not leave the country.
Of concern to some observers, however, was that bail was posted by Artsvik Minasyan and Hrayr Karapetyan, two MPs from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D). Moreover, fuelling worries about the rise of nationalism in the country, Minasyan was quoted by the local media as saying that the two brothers were “normal people,” had acted “in the right way in the context of societal & national ideology,” and that one of the bar owners, Tsomak Oganesova, “destroys Armenian society.”
@unzippedblog: One of the arsonists in #neonazi attack towards DIY bar was bailed out by… Dashnak MPs… #Yerevan #Armenia #hatecrime
@unzippedblog: Re bailing out #neonazi attacker on DIY bar: #Armenia Dashnak party must explain what's going on or else I conclude they support terrorism
@Lara_Aha: Tashnak MP Ardzvik Minasyan who just bailed out the 2 suspects in #hate crime and said”people like tsomak(gay) destroying #Armenia” #armLGBT
@KevorkO: A ‘national ideology’ that deems thuggery and terrorism more ‘normal’ than homosexuality is nothing less than degenerate. #Armenia #DIY
D.I.Y. Bar, Yerevan, Armenia © Onnik Krikorian
Unzipped: Gay Armenia was shocked:
Basically, Armenian MP of ARF Dashnaktsutyun party Artsvik Minasyan supports and encourages terrorism in Armenia. With such statement, he acted as a pure criminal. ARF Dashnaktsutyun party must explain what's going on or else I'll conclude they support terrorism too.
[…]
If ARF Dashnaktsutyun won't make clear statements distancing itself from its own MP, then truly this is a death of ARF Dashnaktsutyun as a political party and its transformation into a neo-nazi group that supports and encourages terrorism in Armenia. Needless to say, utterly homophobic too.
[…]
If ARF-affiliated groups and party members worldwide care about the reputation of their party, and – more importantly – the future of Armenia, they should speak up against homophobia. They should demand that ARF makes statement clearly disassociated from their MP’s statement. They should demand that disgraced MP Artsvik Minasyan resign.
The blog also notes that a second attack occurred on 15 May and quotes one of its Facebook contacts.
Hate crime, no public condemnation by authorities, more encouragement by an MP and now repetition of hate crime, do you see the cycle?
Nazi swastika graffiti over D.I.Y. anarchy symbol, from gayarmenia.blogspot.com
Le Retour in 3 Parts is also concerned.
For the first time since moving to Armenia, I am afraid. Queer women are in the spotlight — an unfamiliar and not at all good place to be in. We perhaps have become used to being invisible here: we can hold hands in public and generally be more affectionate than men without experiencing stares and suspicious glances from passers-by. But now more than ever, it seems, we elicit the same contempt that has traditionally been reserved for gay men.
[…]
And, I hate myself for thinking this, but at times like these I can’t help but wonder why some of the more outspoken LGBT activists and queer allies had to raise their voices, draw attention to themselves/ourselves, wishing now that they lay low and not provoke other possible acts of violence. And I know I’m not the only one thinking this. Because now we’re in the spotlight and the wayward glances I get every day any way have taken on a whole new meaning.
Ianyan updates its readers, examining motives:
DIY, which bills itself as a bar for alternative thinkers, was frequented by many in Armenia’s gay community, a place considered a safe haven, free of judgment or discrimination. The violent act, which caused around $4,000 of damage according to well-informed sources, is being said to have been motivated by nationalistic and fascist ideology – the bar’s gay-friendly atmosphere as well as owner Tsomak Oganesova’s attendance at Istanbul’s Gay Pride Parade in neighboring Turkey have been cited as two key factors that have categorized the attack as a hate crime.
[…]
Nationalistic sentiments are common in the South Caucasus country, which is almost mono-ethnic and still reeling from the psychological effects of genocide and war. Its isolation, where borders with both Turkey and Azerbaijan are closed and distrust of much of what falls outside the realm of the status quo have been discussed as underlying reasons as to the rise of hate groups whose violent actions have left many fearful.
Following the attack on D.I.Y. as well as on a local activist engaged in peace building initiatives in the region, others are disturbed by recent events as well. Some NGOs, for example, have released a statement [en, ar].
Meanwhile, in response to the firebombing, online civil society news site Civil.Net posts an open discussion on nationalism, xenophobia and human rights violations in Armenia. In Armenian with English subtitles, Ianyan summarized and quoted parts:
Fascism has reached our door and is now saying I’m here,” [Lala] Aslikyan said in Armenian. She regretfully emphasized that the stifling of freedom of expression in the country is growing, while [Karen] Hakobyan pointed out that the groups, mostly consisting of young men in their late teens and early 20s define their “Armenian-ness” by spreading hate towards groups that perceive as threats to national interest. […].

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bangladesh: Bloggers March for Murdered Journalist Couple · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

Three months have passed since the murder of the journalist couple Sagar Sarwar and his wife Meherun Runi. Till date, the police have been unsuccessful in discovering any clues or leads that would help them to solve the case. In the early hours of 11 February, 2012, the couple was found brutally murdered in their West Rajabajar apartment in Dhaka.
The Bangladesh High Court has expressed dissatisfaction with the progress (or lack of it) of the Detective Branch (DB) of police investigating the murder. The case has since then been transferred to the anti-crime and anti-terrorism unit – Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). The bodies have already been exhumed for a repeat postmortem. However, till date, there has been little progress in the investigation.
Bloggers have once again taken to the street, demanding justice for the murdered couple. On 11 May, they organized a protest in front of the public library in Shahbagh, Dhaka. This was their fourth protest gathering. In the video below, bloggers can be seen singing a protest song:
Another video shows bloggers holding a candle light protest, demanding justice in the Sagar-Runi murder case:
In the beginning, the police tried to prevent the protest rally by bloggers by parking their vehicles at the protest site and not giving permission for electricity connection at the venue. Later the bloggers conducted the protest by singing without the use of microphones. Sohel Mahmood informs us [bn] about the day's programme:
নানা বাধা ডিঙিয়ে হয়ে গেলো বাংলাভাষার ব্লগারদের প্রতিবাদী সংগীতের আয়োজন। পুলিশের “কমিশনারের অনুমতি লাগবে” টাইপের বক্তব্য, বিদ্যুতের লাইন টানায় বাধা আর সন্ধ্যার কিছু ভাগে “হঠাৎ বৃষ্টি”। তবে, সব বাধা ডিঙিয়ে প্রতিবাদী এই সংগীতে যোগ দেন ব্লগার, সাংবাদিক, ছাত্র-ছাত্রী আর সাধারণ মানুষ।
Demanding the immediate arrest of the murderers of Sagar and Runi, journalist associations announced a gherao program to be held at the Home Ministry premises on 15th May. Bloggers too joined this protest programme. The police cracked down on the protesters. Quite a few photographs of police preventing the protesters from approaching the Home Ministry premises have been uploaded on the We Demand Justice for Sagar-Runi Facebook Page. At the end of the day's event, the next steps and upcoming protest programmes were announced. Among the future protests being planned by journalists and bloggers are the following:
১. ২০ মে থেকে ১৫ জুন পর্যন্ত সবগুলো মিডিয়া হাউসে সভা-সমাবেশ।
২. ৫ জুন জাতীয় সংসদে গিয়ে স্পিকারের কাছে সাগর-রুনি হত্যাকারীদের গ্রেফতার ও বিচার দাবিতে স্মারকলিপি প্রদান।
৩.  ২৬ জুন প্রধানমন্ত্রীর কার্যালয় অভিমুখে পদযাত্রা।
৪. এরপরও সাগর-রুনির হত্যাকারীদের গ্রেফতার ও বিচার না করা হলেও দেশের সব সাংবাদিক কর্মবিরতি কর্মসূচি পালন।

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)


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Cameroon: An Overview of Cameroon Prison Literature · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This is an overview of 10 of the most popular prison literature books from Cameroon: “In the last six months, three former high-ranking government officials currently in jail for a variety of financial crimes have published books about their prison experience.”


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China: Motor-Powered Breakfast Crepes · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

The Presurfer shares a video where we can see how the Beijing Jianbing is made. This large breakfast crepe is made possible thanks to a very steady hand and a motorized wheel that allows a really large and thin crepe to be evenly cooked.