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Colombia: Sabaneta Municipality Outraged Due to Electoral Anomalies · Global Voices
Lully

Despite the security logistics President Juan Manuel Santos defended at the time [es] for the regional elections last October 30, 2011, diverse irregularities have been reported in different parts of Colombia. The inhabitants of the smallest municipality in the country, Sabaneta, Antioquia, are peacefully opposing the mayoral election results and have called for an investigation into electoral anomalies.
Citizens of Sabaneta are demonstrating through sit-ins, peaceful marches, Twitter (#sabanetaindignada) [es], Facebook [es], blogs [es], digital media [es], YouTube [es] and letters to traditional media expressing their outrage.
In this letter, [es] also published on Facebook, citizens name several irregularities, including transfer voting – voters from other municipalities voting in Sabaneta- and the influence of outgoing Mayor Guillermo León Montoya in favor of Luz Estela Giraldo. They also report a power outage in the school Rafael J. Mejía at 6:15 PM, just when Iván Montoya and Gloria Díaz were leading the polls above Luz Estela Giraldo, who after this event got ahead with just 77 votes [es].
Peaceful march in Sabaneta, photo by Lully
Anonymous Colombia supported the citizens’ cause by blocking the official website of the municipality, as they announced [es] on Facebook:
Se a dado down a la pagina de la Alcaldía de Sabaneta por fraude en elecciones durante tres periodos seguidos
Ana María (@ana_serna), like other netizens, published photos [es] on Twitter that prove that some votes were ripped [es] and others burned. She also refers [es] to the death  of FARC top leader Alfonso Cano as a distraction for the media to evade the issue of #SabanetaIndignado (#Sabanetaoutraged):
Con lo de Alfonso Cano Ahora si que menos será importante lo del #FraudeElectoral en el país #SabanetaIndignado
Manu Valencia (@ValeFeerica), shows his indignation [es] and encourages ending corruption:
#SabanetaIndignado Es momento de organizarnos y hacer escuchar nuestra voz en defensa de la democracia. Basta ya de corrupción.
Kleper (@kleper) and @internautismo agree [es] that elections should be repeated, while Maritza Rendon (@Maritzaren) links to an article [es] by  Caracol Radio [es] and asks to take into account the votes that were found in the trash:
Reanudan conteo votos #sabanetaindignado Persisten plantones – http://bit.ly/tZBqyY Que cuenten los de la basura.
José Iglesias (@joseiglesiasb) complains [es] that traditional media are not paying attention to this issue because the claims from Sabaneta are peaceful
Ni medios locales se han pronunciado con #SabanetaIndignado. Necesitan asonadas, registradurías quemadas y muertos para liderar en el rating
Diego Ángulo (@diegoanguloinez), refers to [es] a pronouncement made by the OAS (Organization of American States) [es], warning that in these elections there was the possibility of facilitating fraud:
Estas elecciones han sido las más corruptas de la historia, sin firma, ni huella un jurado podía hacer lo que quería
The flowing video shows one of the peaceful marches accompanied by the militarization of the municipality; also, a witness recounts his experience at the school Rafael J. Mejia.

author: Lully


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Cuba: “Antunez” Under Investigation · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuban bloggers report on the re-arrest of the dissident “Antunez”, here and here.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Cuba: Frustrating Pay Day  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Yesterday was payday for retired people and active workers who collect their pay by debit card”: Rebeca Monzo blogs about the “craziness” that ensued.


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Cuba: On the Pope’s Potential Visit  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

On hearing news that the Pope may visit Cuba next year, diaspora blogger babalu says: “If the Pope does indeed visit Cuba and the Castro regime is still in power, there can only be two possible outcomes: either the visit will be ‘apolitical,'…or the Pope will stand up and vehemently defend his repressed and enslaved Cuban flock…there is no in between.”


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India: Love Marriage And Arranged Marriage · Global Voices
Rezwan

Anjali Garg discusses why Indian families are reluctant to accept love marriages and they tend to get their daughters married early as a consequence.

author: Rezwan


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India: The Real Story Behind The Cancellation Of Metallica Concert · Global Voices
Rezwan

Ujjwal Gaurav Raaj Sen shares the behind the scene events that led to the last minute cancellation of the concert of the band Metallica at Gurgaon, near the Indian capital.


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Latin America: New Online Learning Platform Oja.la · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

The Next Web highlights new online leaning platform Oja.la [es], which plans to offer IT courses in Spanish starting with “How to find investors for an online project” with entrepreneur Wenceslao Casares. However, as TNW explains, students have to pre-register through Facebook because Oja.la wants to “makes sure enough people are interested in an online class before organizing it”.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Peru: Protests Against ‘Conga’ Mining Project in Cajamarca · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Citizens of Cajamarca, in northern Peru, protested against the ‘Conga’ mining project on November 9. Juan Arellano put together a Storify post [es] with background information on this conflict, and citizen reactions and reports shared on Twitter.


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Poland: Open Government Data Camp 2011 and the Future of Open Data · Global Voices
Jakub Górnicki

On November 4, 2011, Anna Kuliberda of NetSquared posted a summary of the Open Government Data Camp 2011, which took place in Warsaw, Poland, on October 21-22:
On 21-22 of October the capital of Poland hosted the biggest Open Government Data (OGD) event in the world this year. It was organized by the Open Knowledge Foundation with the cooperation of Centrum Cyfrowe Projekt Polska (link Polish only). There were more than 250 people from 41 countries. You could talk to techies, members of transparency-oriented NGOs, journalists, social activists, government officials, EU Commission representatives and so on. During two days of the main conference and almost a week of satellite events, there was a lot of time to review different approaches to open government data, especially in terms of new trends and the future of the movement. […]
Open Government Data Camp venue: 'Panorama of the former M25 underground electronica club in Warsaw industrial area, during the OGD Camp. Funky cyberpunk feeling.' (Photo by Flickr user RealIvanSanchez; CC BY-SA 2.0).
The previous Open Government Data Camp event was held in London last year, and, as Ramine Tinati pointed out:
The beginning of the day started with a certain level of surrealism. The location and setting of the conference building was different, very different. It was once a factory, but now transformed into a nightclub. Dark and cold was the order of the morning, with a kick off time of 9:45 (ish). Rufus Pollock opened Open Government Data Camp 2011 with a great keynote, giving a quick introduction into the progress of Open Data, then delivered a few key points which seemed to trend throughout the day:
•	Data is useless without communities and tools
•	Tools need to be open source
•	The Open Data communities need to grow
David Eaves, in his blog post “The State of Open Data 2011,” named the successes of the past year:
[…] One of the things that has been amazing to witness in 2011 is the veritable explosion of Open Data portals around the world. Today there are well over 50 government data catalogs with more and more being added. The most notable of these was probably the Kenyan Open Data catalog which shows how far, and wide, the open data movement has grown. […]
He also wrote about the current state and challenges of the open data movement:
[…] I'm impressed by the hundreds and hundreds of people here at the Open Data Camp in Warsaw. It is fun to be able to recognize so many of the faces here, the problem is that I can recognize too many of them. We need to grow this movement. There is a risk that we will become complacent, that we'll enjoy the movement we've created and, more importantly, our roles within it. If that happens we are in trouble. Despite our successes we are far from reaching critical mass. […]
Open Knowledge Foundation published a series of videos from the event on Vimeo.com.
More coverage can be found here and on Twitter.

author: Jakub Górnicki


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South Africa: Malema is Out, What’s Next? · Global Voices
Muhammad Karim

South Africa's most controversial character and politician  Julius Malema has been suspended from the ANC for five years.  Julius Malema is the former president of the African National Congress Youth League.
Last year, Malema led students in singing an old anti-Apartheid struggle song called ‘Kill the Boer’ and a South African judge found him guilty of hate speech because of comments he made about a woman who accused President Jacob Zuma of rape.
In May 2010, Malema was forced into making an apology to the nation and attend anger management classes. He then changed the song ‘Kill the Boer’ to ‘Kiss the Boer‘.
Malema is regarded by his supporters as the genuine voice of the poor in South Africa particularly with his call for nationalisation of South African mines.
Fr Stephen's Blog writes about his suspension:
Former President of the ANC Youth League. Photo released under Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) by Gary van der Merwe.
Julius Malema is to be removed as leader of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) after being suspended from the organisation for five years.
Malema is barred from involving himself in any activities of the ANCYL and the ANC for the duration of his suspension, which came into immediate effect today after Derek Hanekom,the ANC’s national disciplinary committee (NDC) chairman, announced the findings of a disciplinary process against Malema and the league’s top brass in Joburg today.
Malema was not present at the announcement at Luthuli House for the announcement. He was reported to be in Limpopo writing an exam.
The committee found Malema guilty on two main charges. One related to a statement he made on July 31 – that the ANC was no longer dealing with issues affecting the interests of Africa.
….
Malema was also ordered to vacate his position as league president with immediate effect.
He has 14 days to appeal…
Hardspear's post on Malema [af] is a simple expression of fear for the future:
Julius Malema… Ek sidder om te dink watse kak gaan hy nou aanjaag…
Looking at events leading up to this point, we have to take a look at the recent “Economic Freedom March” led by Malema. Leaboy's Domain gives us a fitting introduction to this by highlighting Zapiro's cartoon on the event in his post titled, “Zapiro has a dig at Malema's ‘Economic Freedom March”.
The biggest argument in the South African blogosphere about this march was the inherent hypocrisy of Julius Malema who highlights the plight of South Africa's poor while he lives in luxury.  One Long Minute gives us his point of view in his post titled, “What are you walking for?”:
First the March for Economic Freedom, well that was lead by Julius Malema, when he wasn't too tired and taking a break in his chauffeur driven beamer [BMW car]. There is just so much irony in that I'm headed for sensory overload. Lazy bastard still letting the masses do all the work for him but taking all the limelight for himself.
Vuilblog takes a satirical approach against Malema's followers with a picture of Malema, which has the following text:
You don't have running water, you live in a shack, you ride in a taxi. I buy expensive cars, I buy expensive houses, I only drink Johnnie Walker. You still like me.
Thank you for being a $%^&ing idiot
Other posts discuss the image and character which Julius Malema portrays. Covering what Malema thinks of himself with a hint of sarcasm is 2OceansVibe:
In his recent address at Walter Sisulu University in Mthatha, Malema said it was the job of the youth to introduce radical ideas, but bemoaned the fact that these days, one is hauled before a disciplinary committee for “telling the truth”.
This from the man who was in the media again this morning for a using a racial slur against Indians. Poor Juju. He really just feels misunderstood and unsupported.
Bibliopolit compares Malema to Lady Gaga:
Of course, here in South Africa, we have the equivalent of Lady Gaga in Julius Malema! Just in the political scene. Should we call him Julius Gaga, or Lady Malema? If it were not for Malema’s outrageous statements and claims, he would not have had a fraction of the attention that he is getting currently. For Malema, if it isn’t going to be controversial, it is not worth saying anything about it, according to how Lady Malema thinks.
Malema thrives on attention, and in my opinion, he falls in the same category as Lady Gaga. Although he is physically an adult, he has not matured mentally or sociologically to becoming an adult, and continues to crave attention like a 10-year old girl. And, the only way he can get the attention he so desperately desires, he acts and says things that are controversial.
The Fire in My Eyes gets straight to the point:
Julius Malema has the makings of a dictator.
He encourages the black population of South Africa to procreate and seems to dream of a country where white people are erased.
The way he speaks makes on think of reverse Apartheid and he constantly speaks of white people as the enemy.
He has a huge youth following in South Africa even though he is facing allegations of corruption.
The bad press he has received seems to fuel the fire of his followers and he's become something of a ‘saviour’ figure for many.
The Property Mag summarises the current state of South African politics in light of recent events:
“The dismissal of two cabinet ministers, the firing of the police chief, the enquiry into the arms deal and the fact that whatever the outcome, Julius Malema has had to go on trial, have all sent out a positive message that South Africa will not be allowed to drift into a chaotic Third World state. These moves by the President along with the financial minister's new mini-budget, have very definitely restored confidence in a leadership which appeared to be losing control.
So we know where we are now, we still have yet to see what the future holds for Malema and South Africa.

author: Muhammad Karim


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Spain: Conversation with Ignasi Labastida on Intellectual Property  · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

During the final part of the Free Culture Congress [es] in Quito, Ecuador, Ignasi Labastida [es] spoke about “Intellectual property in the IT era” (some tweets with excerpts from his speech here [PDF] [es]). Ignasi, a physicist by profession, is a member of Creative Commons Spain, and therefore an expert on the issues of copyright and intellectual property.
In this 2008 interview [es], for example, he explains Creative Commons and Copyright:
El Copyright es el marco legal en las jurisdicciones anglosajonas mientras que en las continentales europeas hablaríamos de derechos de autor. Más o menos el Copyright es una parte de los derechos de autor, los llamados derechos de explotación. En estos derechos se incluye el de reproducción, distribución, comunicación pública y transformación. El autor es quien decide cómo ejercer estos derechos y si quiere ceder su titularidad a otra persona o entidad.
El Copyleft nace como una alternativa al llamado Copyright tradicional o restrictivo; es decir, al de ‘todos los derechos reservados’. El Copyleft utiliza el Copyright para crear un sistema de cesión menos restrictivo: se permite cualquier uso de las obras siempre que se cite al autor, y que cuando se transforme la obra original en una nueva obra, ésta también se distribuya con la misma licencia.
Actualmente la palabra Copyleft se utiliza para designar todos los sistemas de licencias alternativos al clásico de todos los derechos reservados. Creative Commons (CC) es una organización americana que ofrece un sistema de licencias, entre las cuales hay una puramente Copyleft. Creative Commons no ofrece una única licencia sino que ha desarrollado unos grados de restricción que van desde sólo pedir que se reconozca la autoría hasta la limitación de hacer usos comerciales e incluso no permitir la transformación para crear nuevas obras.
Copyright is a legal concept in Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions, while on European platforms, we would refer to author's rights. More or less, copyright is a part of author's rights, the so-called exploitation or licensing rights. These rights include reproduction, distribution, public communication and conversion. The author decides how to exercise these rights and whether he or she wants to cede his or her ownership to another person or entity.
Copyleft came about as an alternative to the traditional or restrictive copyright; or rather, the “all rights reserved” one. Copyleft uses copyright to create a less restrictive system of cession: it allows any use of the works so long as the author is cited, and that when the original work is converted to a new work, the new work be distributed with the same license.
Currently, the word copyleft is used to designate all of the licensing systems that are alternative to the classic one of all rights reserved. Creative Commons (CC) is an American organization that offers a licensing system that is purely copyleft.  Creative Commons does not offer one single license, but rather has developed grades of restriction that go from only asking for author recognition to limiting commercial use and even not permitting conversion to create new works.
Given that following the event, I had the opportunity to briefly chat with Ignasi, I took the opportunity to bring up certain doubts about these issues:
Ignasi has also written various articles, one of which is about [es] how Creative Commons licenses appeared, were adopted, and spread throughout the Spanish state. In this article, he concludes:
Quizá el aspecto más importante de la implantación de las licencias de Creative Commons en el Estado Español es la reflexión que está suscitando sobre los derechos de autor o el acceso a la cultura. Los modelos de negocio actuales están quedando obsoletos con los avances de la tecnología. Hay que optar por buscar nuevos modelos y no pretender mantener los actuales que restringen el acceso a las obras. A veces la sobreprotección de los derechos se realiza por los intermediarios en nombre de los autores, cuando éstos quisieran más flexibilidad u optar por fórmulas más novedosas para difundir sus creaciones.
Nevertheless, this philosophy does not seem to have completely permeated through all institutions in the Spanish state. For example, in a recent case, the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) told Uruguayan journalist Ricardo Soca, through editorial house Planeta, to remove web content that was considered RAE property such as links to the RAE homepage.  Ignasi Labastida also shared his opinion about this case:
During his speech at the Free Culture Congress, Ignasi commented on the need of making as many people as possible aware of intellectual property and the licenses, which ultimately affect us all.  This sparked a conversation about the 15-M movement in his country, Spain.
More interviews with Ignasi Labastida can be found online.  One of the most widely spread is this part [es] from the documentary ¡Copiad, malditos! [es].  This one [es] about OpenCourseWare is also quite interesting.  If you understand Catalan, you can follow him at @ignasi on Twitter.

author: Juan Arellano


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Trinidad & Tobago: Mauby Drink  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Interested in making mauby?  TriniGourmet.com posts her recipe, along with a few facts about mauby bark that you may not have known.


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Tunisia: Army Critic Sentenced to Two Months in Prison  · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.
On November 9, 2011, Nabil Hajlaoui, an agronomist from Sidi Bouzid, was sentenced to two months in prison following his criticism of the Tunisian military institution. According to Houssem Hajlaoui, an author for the collective blog Nawaat, Nabil Hajlaoui was arrested after writing an article, in which he blamed the army for the recent riots and acts of vandalism which took place in Sidi Bouzid following the elections.
Houssem Hajlaoui writes [ar]:
He adds:
Post-election riots in Sidi Bouzid. Photo by SBZone
Following the announcement of the preliminary election results on the night of October 27, demonstrators took to the streets of Sidi Bouzid to protest against a decision made by the independent commission for the election, which disqualified a number of seats previously attributed to an independent list called ”the Popular Petition,” over ”campaign finance violations.”
The ”Popular Petition” won the majority of the votes in Sidi Bouzid, where the protests movement which overthrew ousted President Zeine El Abidine Ben Ali kicked off. It is worth mentioning that on November 8 the Administrative Court issued a verdict, by which the ”Popular Petition” regained seven seats at the assembly.
Nabil Hajlaoui, a Tunisian civilian, stood trial in front a military court, in Sfax (South of Tunisia).
Nadia A.  tweets [fr]:
En pratique comment empêcher des cas Hajlaoui? Qui a les prérogatives nécessaires pour interdire le jugement de civils par les militaires?
"Family of Nabil Hajlaoui cries out: Release our son…He is innocent"
This is not the first time in post-revolution Tunisia that someone has been arrested for speaking out and practicing the right of freedom of expression. On May 29, whistleblower Samir Feriani was arrested after criticising the Interior Ministry. He was released four months later.
Samira Abed tweets:
Before #Hajlaoui becomes a #Feriani can some 1 post his article? I want to know if what he wrote is worth arresting him for! #sidiBouzid
The Family of Nabil Hajlaoui, along with a number of activists, organized a protest calling for his immediate release. Among the charges directed at him is ”spreading chaos.” His family says he was arrested for criticising the Tunisian military institution.
This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.

author: Afef Abrougui


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U.S.Virgin Islands: High Electricity Rates  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

News of St. John reports that “the high cost of electricity on [the island] generated a protest demonstration in Cruz Bay.”


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Brazil: Is State-Funded Evangelical ‘Gospel Park’ Unconstitutional? · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

The governor of the Brazilian state of Acre, Tião Viana, a member of the ruling Workers Party (PT), caused controversy early in October 2011 by announcing his personal support – and state support with public money – of the construction of the country's first ‘Gospel Park’.
The main reason for the negative reactions of many bloggers, journalists and Twitter users is the use of public funds to build a park that would only benefit members of the Pentecostal evangelical religion, something forbidden by the Constitution. The use of public funds is prohibited from sponsoring and financing works, monuments and places used for religious proselytizing.
Journalist and blogger from the state of Acre, Altino Machado, explains [pt]:
The Federal Constitution of 1988 is bigger than the bible. Image created by Eli Vieira, under CC.
O Parque Gospel, que ocupará uma área de 6 hectares, terá ginásio,  campo de futebol, quadras polivalentes, centro de formação, restaurante,  piscina e trilhas para caminhada na floresta.
Idealizado pelo deputado Henrique Afonso (PV-AC) [Partido dos Verdes no estado do Acre], o primeiro Parque  Gospel brasileiro será construído dentro de uma área que foi  desapropriada pelo governo estadual para construção de 10 mil casas  populares para famílias com renda mensal de até três salários mínimos.
The Gospel Park, which occupies an area of 6 hectares, will have a gym, soccer field, multipurpose sports field, training center, restaurant, pool and walking trails in the forest.
Designed by Congressman Henrique Afonso (PV-AC) [Green Party in the state of Acre], the first Brazilian Gospel Park will be built within an area that was expropriated by the state government to build 10,000 housing units for families with a monthly income of up to three minimum wages.
The construction of the planned gym will cost between 15 and 20 million reais, and about 5 million reais per year will be given by amendments from the Union Budget to keep the park running. The sole cost of the park, according [pt] to journalist Paul Lopes, will be 7 million reais, of this 4.5 million will be paid by the state.
The right to a secular state
Blogger Conceição Oliveira (Maria Frô) questions [pt] the creation of an evangelical park:
Minha  pergunta é, vai ter parque de terreiro de Candomblé, Umbanda,  Espiritismo? Parque budista,  hinduista? Parque católico, parque judeu,  parque muçulmano?
Journalist Paulo Lopes remembers [pt] that Brazil is a secular state:
Pelo fato de o Estado brasileiro ser laico, o governo do Acre não   poderia financiar uma obra que atende aos interesses de líderes   evangélicos. Apesar disso, não tem havido nenhuma resistência à   construção do Parque Gospel.
Marcelo Gerald, at the blog Eleições Hoje, repudiating [pt] Governor Viana's decision, writes:
O Estado Laico existe justamente para garantir a todos os cidadãos a liberdade de  fé e crença.
O  Estado erra quando deixa de cumprir seu papel, que é garantir as  liberdades e garantias fundamentais de todos os cidadãos, para atender  um grupo religioso.
The state makes an error by failing to fulfill its role – which is to ensure the freedoms and fundamental rights of all citizens – in order to participate in a religious group.
"State/Religion". Image under CC by marchaestadolaico.wordpress.com
He adds that the governor participated a few days earlier in a “March Against Heterophobia” [pt] sponsored by evangelical religious groups, supporting his claim that “human rights were and still are disrespected in all countries where state and religion are mixed.”
The President of the Acre PT, Leonardo Brito, on Twitter, in response to some angry comments, argued [pt] that the construction of the Gospel Park “does not compromise the secular state,” and that “the state cannot shut itself (…) to the social work that several religious denominations do with efficiency”:
@leodopt: @MarkosOliveira @wrighini (…) visto que seus fins estão adstritos aos fins do Estado, como o fomento ao esporte, à cultura e ações sociais.
Lawyer Thiago Fiago questions [pt] the Workers Party:
É  de causar, no mínimo, indignação que num Estado onde certamente há muitos problemas a ser resolvidos (educação, segurança,  saúde, habitação, saneamento básico etc.) o governo de um histórico petista  (cadê os princípios do partido? Por que a vista grossa dos dirigentes  petistas?) se proponha a encampar tal projeto.
Religious celebration in the state of Acre – Celebration of  São Sebastião in Xapuri. Photo of the Acre News Agency on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
He adds, commenting on the limits imposed by the Constitution:
É verdade que “ações e políticas [estatais] devem atender aos interesses de todos os grupos sociais, étnicos, religiosos e políticos”, mas na exata medida dos limites que a Constituição impõe: no tocante às religiões, o Estado pode, no máximo, travar uma colaboração de interesse público (como a assistência religiosa em presídios, da qual discordo, mas não vem ao caso analisar).
Journalist and lawyer Rachel Moreira (who also works as the communication secretary of the state of Acre) has a different point of view [pt]:
Quer queiram ou não, quase 50% da população de Rio Branco é  evangélica, segundo pesquisa OFICIAL, feita pela Secretaria de Segurança  Pública, e tudo indica que ainda vamos crescer ainda mais nos próximos  anos. Portanto, as políticas públicas também são para esse público; o  dinheiro do Estado, arrecadado com impostos de todos, deve também nos  beneficiar.Estou cansada de “intelectualóides”, que não reconhecem Jesus Cristo  como filho de Deus, dizem reconhecê-lo como um grande líder e pensador,  mas que em suas disciplinas científicas de Sociologia e Filosofia sequer  o estudam como tal. Sabe por quê? Puro preconceito.
Reactions on the Twittersphere
Federal Deputy Sibá Machado, from the Acre PT,when questioned, defended the construction of the park with public money:
@Sibamachado13: @minerobrazao Do lado religioso, um templo de orações; do lado turístico, muitos visitantes. É auto sustentado.
A hashtag #ParqueGospelNao (#NogospelPark) has been created and many jokes related to the issue have circulated [pt], with suggestions of toys for the park and music that should be played there. Many have criticized the use of public funds, such as Professor Tulio Vianna, who also questioned [pt] the situation of hospitals in the state, and the student Jurdy Junior.
The psychologist Alessandra Nane, in a series of tweets, left a few questions, among them:
@Ale_sandra_: [Porque] não construir o bendito parque pra atividades sociais e esportivas e  contemplar a população [toda]? [Porque] tem que por palco pra pastor?
Francisco Aragão, the Chico Capeta, commented on the idea of an ecumenical park:
@chcapet: Quer testar pra ver quem é intolerante? Sugiram um Parque Ecumênico no  lugar de Gospel no Acre e me contem a reação dos pastores depois
Caio Cezar, an evangelical, positioned himself against the park:
@caiope: sou evangelico mas sou contra parque gospel no acre. o dinheiro publico é pra ser investido em recursos para a população #parquegospelnao
Professor Idelber Avelar posted the link of the Facebook page of the Public Ministry (Prosecutors) of Acre, for the citizens to denounce the violation of Article 19 of the Federal Constitution through the building of the Park.
On October 25, journalist Altoino Machado informed [pt] that federal prosecutors opened an investigation about the use of public funds in the promotion of religious proselityzing.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Caribbean: Remembering the Veterans  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Several diaspora bloggers write posts about Veterans Day.


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Colombia: Students Gather in Bogotá’s Bolívar Square · Global Voices
Cati Restrepo

On November 10, students from public universities organized marches throughout all of the cities in the country and gathered in Bogotá's Bolívar Square, the country's principal administrative center. The event aimed to pressure the government to definitively repeal Law 30 for higher education reform.
It is worth highlighting that the reform has caused close to 22 of the country's public universities to remain on strike and that following the president's announcement to repeal it, the students returned to class but maintained the decision to march and continue the strike.
The blog Indígnate co [es], posted an explanation for the march:
They also expressed their opinion relating the student's demonstrations to events like the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street [es]:
Del análisis de los diversos movimientos que se han gestado en el último  año (la primavera árabe, el movimiento M15 de los Indignados en España,  el Ocupen Wall Street, etc) nos hemos dado cuenta que uno de los  factores que facilita la difusión de los acontecimientos ocurridos  durante las protestas y la  visibilización de las mismas ha sido la  conectividad en los lugares de desarrollo de las mismas. En estos casos  la conexión ha permitido transmisiones vía streaming de los sucesos en  tiempo real, seguimiento vía Twitter y otras redes sociales, registro de  las actividades en blogs, además de contribuir a generar la solidaridad  de otros grupos y personas que se conectan a través de internet sin  importar las distancias, los tiempos y los idiomas. Por estas razones,  pensando en una forma de contribuir de forma efectiva al movimiento de  estudiantes colombianos, hemos contactado a colectivos amigos y estamos  buscando la manera de generar y ofrecer conectividad en la plaza de  Bolivar para el 10 de Noviembre.
On Twitter, opinions were posted throughout the day under the following hashtags: #TomaBogota, #ParoBogota, #PlazaBolivar, #Quevivanlosestudiantes, and #Ley30.
A sign in Bolívar Square. Photo by Artessano on Flickr under the CC by 2.0 license.
Among the reactions posted primarily in the morning, Nathalie Plata (@Naticap2) reiterates that which the students are doing, arguing that education is the State's duty:
Porque la educación es un deber del Estado y un derecho del ciudadano #noley30
Edmundo Árias (@MundoMind) expressed his skepticism towards this day:
No creo que ni la mitad de la gente que se “#tomabogota” entienda por qué ni para qué lo hace, un pretexto para no ir a clase y parchar
Carlos García (@carloscuentero) pointed out that the college students would be joined by educators and high school students:
Docentes y estudiantes de secundaria también apoyarán la #TomaBogotá en defensa de la educación en Colombia
Jario García (@MRsoad) invited others to march:
Yo me voy a marchar y tu (?) No te quedes en casa esta es la lucha de todos #QueVivanLosEstudiantes #ParoNacional #TomaBogotá @indignateco
Students put their posters on the metal structure of the 'Holiday tree' that is placed in Bolivar Square every year.  Photo on Flickr by Artessano under the CC by 2.0 license.
As the morning progressed, Wiki Communication (@wikiperiodismo) informed everyone that:
Miles de estudiantes caminan en protesta pacífica  #Ley30 por la Av Primero de Mayo  hacia la Plaza de Bolívar – en Bogotá.
Edison Burbano (@elpayanes) wrote:
La Revolucion en Colombia no sera transmitida en la tv!! #QueVivanLosEstudiantes
Geral Dine (@Parazitilla) tweeted the following:
Los héroes en Colombia si existen! Nos llamamos estudiantes.
AnonymousIRC (@anonymousIRC) keeps up the relationship with the public:
Meanwhile in #Colombia: Students 1 – Government 0 bit.ly/tMVTlC
A live registry of the events was captured by @IndignateCo through LiveStream.
On the other hand, an extremely emotional video of the day [es] was posted on the Facebook Group “Help Fede (Santos’ nephew) study and get a job.” Razón Pública (@RazonPublica) shared it via Twitter and said:
‘Capuchos’ y policías se abrazan durante la marcha de hoy en Medellín. La gente al final dice “Sí se puede, sí se…
And finally, Telesur [es] posted the students’ reactions following the event. For those who marched, the day was a success:
Los estudiantes colombianos calificaron  como un éxito “La toma de Bogotá”, actividad realizada este jueves con  la participación de 150 mil personas de la comunidad universitaria y  diversos sectores de la sociedad civil en la capital del país.
En declaraciones a teleSUR, el líder del  movimiento estudiantil, Adrián Carrión, aseguró que la movilización  tiene el objetivo claro de decirle al Gobierno que los estudiantes “no  trabajamos condicionados”, por lo que levantarán el paro sólo cuando  haya sido retirado oficialmente el protecto de reforma a la Ley 30 de  Educación de la Cámara de Representantes colombiana.
Colombian students deemed the “Occupation of Bogotá,” an activity that took place this Thursday with 150,000 people participating from the college community as well as other diverse sectors of civil society in the country's capital, a success.
In commentary for teleSUR, the leader of the student movement, Adrián Carrión, assured viewers that the mobilization has a clear objective of telling the government that students “do not work conditionally,” and will lift the strike only when the Colombian House of Representative's protectorate for the Law 30 reform has been repealed.
Initially, the students were going to remain camped out in Bolívar Square, but in the end they came to an agreement with the government [es] and will camp out in a university.

author: Cati Restrepo


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Cuba: “Antunez” Reportedly Critical  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Pedazos de La Isla reports that “Yris Tamara Aguilera, wife of Jorge Luis Garcia ‘Antunez’ and active resistance member herself, has made declarations in regards to the health of her husband who was jailed two days ago during a non-violent sit-in.”


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Cuba: Athlete Forgotten  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The [glorification of] the standing of our athletes in the medal count and categoris[ing] this ‘as an achievement of the revolution’” gets Ricardo Medina thinking about “Rauler Castellanos Moreno, a black youth from Pinar del Rio who, despite his victory [in the 2007 Special Olympics] now lives in inhuman conditions.”


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Cuba: The Democracy of Twitter  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Generation Y is shocked at the “arrogance” with which Mariela Castro responded to a question she posed on Twitter, but still believes that “verbal attack is a habit that can be cured. The voice can be trained, tolerance acquired, the ear opened to listening to others. Twitter is a magnificent therapy to achieve this.”


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Gabon: Bongo Indulges With Football Match Against Brazil · Global Voices
Julie Owono

This post is part of our special coverage page Gabon Unrest 2011.
1,000,000 BRL ($570,000 USD): that is the price paid by the president of Gabon, Ali Bongo [pt] to gift himself a football tie against the Seleçao [national football team] of Brazil according to the Brazilian news site Folha.
Excessive spending is nothing new for the Bongo family. The satirical French newspaper ‘Le Canard Enchaîné’ revealed [fr] on November 8, 2011, that Omar Bongo, the former president of Gabon went on a purchasing binge for suits worth 344,000 EUR in Paris in 2007. His son, Ali Bongo,  the current president also spent 88,000 EUR in 2010 for the same type of purchase. These expenses are in stark contrast with the harsh reality of the everyday lives of the Gabonese population.
Ali Bongo, President of Gabon by the World Economic Forum on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
A large proportion of the population remains poor
According to the CIA Factbook, “Gabon enjoys a per capita income four times that of most Sub-Saharan African nations, but because of high income inequality, a large proportion of the population remains poor.”
It is this large proportion of impoverished citizens that the Brazilian national football team witnessed during its stay which began on November 7 upon their arrival in Libreville.
On the online platform Le Post, Gabonese activist and blogger Jean-Pierre Rougou describes the visit as follows [fr]:
Alors que l'équipe brésilienne foulait le sol gabonais pour le match amical à se tenir le 10 novembre sur le terrain inachevé et en mauvais état du stade de l'amitié que la Chine a fait don au Gabon, les joueurs ont pu observer à travers les vitres de leur autobus, le spectacle dévastateur des destructions de quartiers du gouvernement de Ali Bongo
The stadium was built by a Chinese company in exchange for lucrative mineral exploitation contracts.
To illustrate his comment, Rougou shared a YouTube video posted by user VeioRJ  on November 8. It was shot from the inside of the Seleçao's bus while they traveled in the streets of Libreville:
The video caused strong reactions among many Gabonese netizens. On a Facebook group named  ‘Infos Kinguélé‘ many shared their point of view on the video and on the Brazilian team's visit:
Citoyen libre Gabon writes [fr]:
Les Brésiliens n'ont fait que réagir comme tout être humain normal ferait en se rendant dans un pays supposé être riche de pétrole, manganèse, bois, etc., avec seulement 1,5 million d'habts!
Ningmultimedia Ningworld adds [fr]:
ces brésiliens viennent prendre leur agent au Gabon et par la suite ils continuent de se moquer de notre sale vie
Brazil vs Gabon: A complete flop?
Brazilian sports news site ‘Globo Esporte’ reports that the stadium built by Chinese contractors  where the game is scheduled is in poor condition [pt]:
De longe, lembra o Engenhão, no Rio de Janeiro. Porém, de perto, a história muda de figura. (…)  Além disso, a pista de atletismo, no entorno do gramado, ainda está sendo finalizada.
The defense player of the Brazilian team, Luisao, shared with the AFP about the contrast he witnessed during his visit:
“On sait qu'ici le gens ont leurs problèmes et arriver ici et voir les gens sourire au passage de la Seleçao, la joie dans le stade, c'est une fierté.” Le défenseur du Benfica commente aussi la pauvreté aperçue et les dizaines de maisons détruites par les autorités lors d'une opération de lutte contre les constructions anarchiques le long de la voie menant au stade.
According to this article on Folha.com, the journalist explains that the 1,000,000 BRL paid by Ali Bongo was initially intended for a special practice match played by members of the Brazilian national team in front of thousands of selected Gabonese VIP officials:
O número certo de “amigos do presidente” –como um alto executivo do governo chama o grupo– no evento é uma incógnita. Militares afirmam que Ali Bongo convidou de mil a até 15 mil aliados.
However, when the managers of the seleçao saw the poor condition of the Stadium, they refused to let their players practice at the ‘Friendship Stadium’. The journalist adds that the Technical Committee of the Brazilian team (CBT) ignored that the practice match was organised by Ali Bongo himself.
The match against the Gabonese national team nevertheless took place on November 10, 2011. The beginning of the game was delayed because of an electricity outage. ‘Brasil x Gabao’ (Brazil vs Gabon) was even trending worldwide on Twitter:
Brazilian netizens shared their views on the event. Lucas ironically writes [pt]:
@Sou1nerd: Brasil x gabão = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
And Jairo Costa adds [pt]:
@Jairo_Costa: R$1.000.000,00 de suborno n eh suborno,eh Brasil x Gabao…um absurdo!!
Gabonese blogger Rougou conludes his post by saying [fr]:
Le match amical du Gabon contre l'équipe B du Brésil est une occasion pour Ali Bongo de tenter d'endormir le peuple en essayant de lui faire oublier ses problèmes de vie quotidiens. Mais que le gouvernement de l'incompétence et de l'improvisation se révise, le peuple n'est pas dupe!
This post is part of our special coverage page Gabon Unrest 2011.

author: Julie Owono


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Haiti: “Abandoned Population”  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Dying in Haiti republishes the desperate pleas of a Catholic priest in Robillard, who says that “several of the family members of the cholera inpatients of [the area] have TB symptoms.  The situation of Robilllard is definitely becoming chaotic. We cannot expose an entire population to some TB people.”


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India: 11/11/11 · Global Voices
Rezwan

Soumyadip celebrates 11/11/11 with an incredible snapshot of his digital watches.


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India: The Plights Of The Citizens Of Bhopal · Global Voices
Rezwan

Proloy Bagchi, a retired government official from Bhopal, writes about the citizens of Bhopal who are suffering from the degradation of environment due to massive construction works and cutting down of trees in the city.


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Iran: Greens vs. Greens · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Jaras, an Iranian Green site, was criticized by several bloggers over quoting unidentified sources in Tehran saying: “Since October 22, Mehdi Karroubi [a Green Movement leader] has no spokesperson outside the country.” Meanwhile, Saham News, the website of Mehdi Karroubi's National Trust Party, rejected the report published by Jaras. Farshad Mohammadi says [fa] Jaras continues publishing lies.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Lebanon: Jeita Grotto… To Vote or Not to Vote · Global Voices
Layal Al Khatib

A few hours are left to vote for the New7Wonders of Nature today (11.11.2011). And since the famous Lebanese Jeita Grotto is a finalist,  online and offline campaigns (check this clip and two ads) are flooding the country encouraging people to vote for the Grotto.
However, some Lebanese are calling upon people “not” to vote and an online debate emerged now on whether it's a national duty to vote for the Grotto or not. Below are some of the reactions of Lebanese netizens.
Many netizens voted and urged people to vote continuously through Twitter:
@BeirutTalks: Today is one of the last chances to vote for our one and only solution against lebanese stereotypes. Make it real! Jeita to 1070(0.1$/vote)
@MJGharios: Voted 160times for Jeita now !!!
@KarimAbiSaleh: you gotto love the “vote for Jeita” movement. I just hope that Lebanese can feel patriotic for important issues as well… #Lebanon #Posers
Jeita Grotto, Lebanon. Image by Flickr user Hibr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
Even Prime Minister Najib Mikati and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri voted and asked people to vote through their Twitter accounts:
@Najib_Mikati: Hopefully, #Jeita #Grotto will become 1 of the #New7Wonders of nature. Keep voting: results are expected tomorrow 11.11.2011 (#Lebanon)
@HaririSaad: Everyone please vote for jeita, I did already but I want everyone to do their best good night everyone
Many others were skeptical and some even urged people “not to vote”:
@Plus961:You just need to google “new 7 wonders scam” to see the wonders
@saraHsh:I really am so sick of this whole Jeita mania! ياريت بتعرفوا تصوّتوا لممثلين الكن بمجلس النواب احسن من هالبهايم يلي مبسوطين فيهن!
@arzleb:lets say Jeita won… what next? Lebanon's debt is paid? we get our salaries doubled? our future is secured? watermalons grows on trees?
@LebaneseVoices:I'm sick of every radio host, tv host, figure, cat, and sticker that tells me to vote for #Jieta! #Lebanon #Fail
Bloggers against voting shared many reasons. Gino said that the competition is a scam and that Lebanon should get itself out of it immediately and listed his reasons:
Why Is It a Scam?
Multiple Votes
[…]
Voting Since 2009
[…]
UNESCO does NOT Support It
[…]
The Maldives Have Withdrawn Their Entry Because N7w Wanted HUGE Sums of Money
Racha declared that she won't vote in her post and said that all of this effort made by the people and the government should be wasted on more useful things:
Jeita Grotto’s revenue won’t save our crumbling economy, however some hard work and less wasting money on useless sms-ing would! Of course, some government care, laws and actually work would be savior as well, but who are we kidding!
The Lebanese obsession with world records has got to come to an end!
Mustapha actually thinks that this whole energy and attention to the competition serves the dormant government:
Actually, that’s precisely why everyone is in such a lather over Jeita. Politicians love Jeita because it creates an illusion that they’re working on something. The Lebanese people love Jeita because it creates an illusion that their vote matters, and the media loves Jeita for the same reason they love reality TV shows where the viewers vote: Everyone wants to tune in to see if they won.
Khodor also said he won't vote and asked his readers not to vote as well. He stated his reasons in his post [ar]:
لن أصوّت لجعيتا، لأن رسم الدخول اليها يقارب العشرين ألف ليرة،يضاف اليها كلفة الوصول اليها التي تقارب تنكة بنزين واحدة تفوق الثلاثين ألف ليرة، ما يجعل كلفة الزيارة تقارب الخمسة بالمئة من دخل اللبناني العاديّ جداً، ولن أصوّت لجعيتا، لأن حكومات الطائف الحريرية الممضية بخط يد المعارضة أيضاً، سلمتها لشركة خاصة بقوانين مبتكرة تخالف نص القوانين اللبنانية، يستنفع منها أزلام النظام. [….]
صّوتوا يا أصدقائي لكهرباء لبنان المقطوعة الغالية على قلبكم، عجيبة، ولاتصالات لبنان الغالية على جيبكم، عجيبة، صوّتوا لمعارضة تقبّل الموالاة في صفقات الفساد، عجيبة، ولرؤساء ثلاث، يخرجون في فوضى المنطقة والمنعطفات التاريخية التي نمر فيها، والحالات المأساوية المعيشية، والغلاء العارم، والفوضى الأمنية، يخرج رؤسائنا الثلاثة مع موظفيهم ليعلنوا موقفاً تاريخياً واحداً: صوّتوا لجعيتا.
I won't vote for Jeita because its entrance fee is about 20,000LL, adding to it the fuel cost which exceeds 30,000LL for one gallon, making the visit fee cost almost 5 per cent of the average Lebanese citizen's income. And I won't vote for Jeita because the government and the opposition as well handed the resort to a private company with made up laws against the Lebanese ones so the regime people are the only ones with benefits.
Vote my friends to the dear non-existent electricity in Lebanon for this is a wonder. Vote for your dear and expensive telecom system, this is a wonder. Vote for your opposition which becomes friends with the government when it comes to corruption, this is a wonder. Vote for your presidents who come out ignoring the chaos, horrible living conditions, security problems just to tell you “Vote for Jeita”.
Seif, on the other hand,  said the competition will  eventually bring the country tourists and revenue. He visualized it in his post “Dear Lebanon, Grow Up“:
So I have something to say. Who cares if it’s $20 to enter Jeita?  Most of you have been to Jeita, just like me, twice in your life – 4 times MAXIMUM, so complaining about this is just RIDICULOUS. It’s owned by a private company someone tweeted. Big deal. I think there is something that people are forgetting, whoever owns it or not – it is still Lebanese. Bringing recognition to Jeita, brings recognition to Lebanon, which in turn would bring tourists and revenue to the country. I will show you how.
Elie as well voted and stated to his readers “13 Reasons to Vote for Jeita” in his blog. He also disagreed that the competition is a scam and gave his proof in this post in response to Gino's post.
People are criticizing the whole “Vote for Jeita” campaign, with about 3 weeks left on the vote. They can’t even accept that the competition is NOT scam.
“Jeita doesn’t deserve to be a wonder,” is one of the things I’ve heard. “Why charge for the SMS to vote?” is another. “If the government wants Jeita to win, why don’t they vote?”
All of us need to want Jeita to win. Not the government. Not anyone else. We, as a people, should be proud that our country has something that has gained enough international recognition from international panels that judged Jeita as being worthy of being one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.
Everyone today, -against or with the competition- is waiting for the results. Will the Jeita Grotto win a place among the new seven wonders of nature? And if it does win, will the country's economy get better? You can follow the hashtag #Jeita for live updates on Twitter.

author: Layal Al Khatib


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Macedonia: Interior Ministry Responds to Invitation for Debate · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

This post is part of our special coverage Macedonia Protests 2011.
The response of the Ministry of the Interior to an invitation for public debate on ways to bring about positive social change through civic activism and reform in Macedonia, organized by the Movement Against Police Brutality, has caused an outrage in the Macedonian social media.
The activists of the grassroots Movement Against Police Brutality organized [mk] a public debate on November 9, 2011, in Skopje,
…to analyze and publicly discuss the recent events, positive and negative aspects leading to the first more serious civic protests, demanding reform of the Macedonian police and increased respect for human rights. The way youth expressed their revolt and demands for changes in the system, are part of the issues at hand. The concept of the debate includes participation of various stakeholders and relevant experts.
Moreover, the latest European Commission Progress Report on Macedonia [.pdf] refers to the case of the murder of Martin Neshkovski, and states the following:
As regards the prevention of torture and ill-treatment and the fight against impunity, legislative provisions in this area are yet to be translated into a consistent and comprehensive practice. Systemic deficiencies remain with regard to combating impunity within the law enforcement agencies… […] The effectiveness of prosecutors and judges in taking appropriate action when there are indications of ill-treatment by the police remains a concern…
The debate was supposed to gather at one place the activists, human rights experts, representatives of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Macedonia, the Macedonian Helsinki Committee, and the Minister of the Interior, Ms. Gordana Jankulovska. The latter did not show up for the debate – according to an Alfa TV news item [mk], she chose to attend a film premiere instead.
Public debate on ways to bring about positive social change through civic activism and reform, organized by the Movement Against Police Brutality – Skopje, Nov. 9. Photo by Filip Stojanovski (CC-BY).
Before the event, the organizers published the official response [mk] to their invitation from the Sector for Public Relations and Information of Public Character of the Ministry of the Interior:
A scanned version of the response by the Ministry of the Interior
Respected sirs/madams,
We would like to understand your letter as a retraction of the previous protests and untruthful accusations, insults and slander; because we doubt that anyone would like to sit at the same table with “murderers” or “executioners.” Still, the true retraction from the demeaning and unfounded qualifications should come at least in the form of a public apology and gratitude to all [members of the special police units] “Tigers” or “Alphas” who sacrificed themselves during “Mountain Storm” [a Nov. 2007 operation without police casualties, info in mk, en, sr], or were killed near the Faculty of Natural Sciences, and who participated in countless actions to protect our security.
The Ministry of the Interior Affairs saw the public call by [the opposition leader] Branko Crvenkovski for mobilization of all nongovernmental organizations and “independent” intellectuals against the democratically expressed will of the citizens, who for the sixth time in a row gave their support for the [political] option that is offering a better future, according to their reckoning. We are aware that the lack of ideas and the previous catastrophic results can lead to even greater despair, but this does not give us the right to become part of anyone’s scenarios.
The Ministry of the Interior Affairs will remain open and will continue to work in the service of the citizens. Within the framework of the devotion for transparency and accountability in its work, as you know, we organized for the first time an open day enabling all citizens to become informed and to provide their suggestions and opinions on the police work. We thank you for your interest regarding the “Open Day” Project, and all your suggestions and opinions will be taken into serious consideration.
Activist Martin Nanik displaying the response of the police at the public debate. Photo by Vanco Dzambaski (CC BY-NC-SA)
Twitter users used the established hashtag #protestiram (“I protest”) to simultaneously link to and comment on the police officials’ response.
Irena Cvetkovik wrote [mk]:
I protest because a state institution funded by my money also, shamelessly insults and ignores me.
Jovana Tozija also expressed [mk] outrage:
I protest because announcements of state institutions are typed in a political party headquarters!!!
Natalija asked this [mk], referring to the traditional concept of life after death:
Where will your soul go, Ministry of the Interior?
Vnukot blogged [mk] that the capitalist concept of “the customer is always right” has not penetrated into the Macedonian state institutions:
By analogy, the mistakes have to be admitted and the responsible persons have to answer for them. By analogy, the citizens, who are the chief consumers of the state, should always be right, when they are right. Sadly, it seems that the import of these analogies to Macedonia will have to wait for a long time.
Linking to this post, Jovana Tozija added [mk]:
True! The state is always right, not the citizen. And when the citizen is right, he should apologize for that…
This post is part of our special coverage Macedonia Protests 2011.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Mexico: Netizens React to Death of Interior Secretary · Global Voices
Andrea Arzaba

Fernando Blake Mora, Mexico’s Interior Secretary, died today -November 11- in a helicopter crash. He was the second Interior Secretary to die this way in Felipe Calderon’s period as President. Three years ago Juan Camilo Mouriño, his predecessor, died in a plane crash.
Blake Mora traveled with seven other people, including Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Human Rights Felipe Zamora, the ministry's spokesman Alfredo Garcia, and the ministry's technical secretary Miriam Aiton. There were no survivors.
Twitter users immediately began discussing the accident, and in a few hours #BlakeMora and ‘Secretario de Gobernación’ became worldwide trending topics.
These are some of the most representative reactions:
Pamela Rice (@PamelaRc25) says this tragedy should have nothing to do with political parties:
Duele mucho ver a los opositores al Gobierno celebrar la muerte de #BlakeMora como si fuese un triunfo político. ¡Dejó una familia, idiotas!
Francisco Blake Mora, image by Flickr user Gobierno Federal, under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) license
Juan Garcia (@juagarci) invites netizens to reflect on the whole situation:
El helicopterazo debería unir a partidos políticos y sociedad en general en apostar por un fin común: seguridad nacional. #BlakeMora
Ginis Quintana (@henessy_benz) regrets today's situation and the same episode that occurred three years ago with Mouriño:
y como dice @carlospuig es la segunda vez que muere un secretario de gobernación en accidente aereo en el MISMO SEXENIO #blakemora
A tweet that shocked twitter users was written yesterday by @morf0 who some claim predicted the accident hours before it happened:
After the commotion caused by his tweet, CNN México [es] reports that @morf0 clarified his tweet was just a “terrible coincidence”.
In Blake Mora’s last tweet he remembered the death of his predecessor, Juan Camilo Mouriño:
Hoy recordamos a Juan Camilo Mouriño a tres años de su partida, un ser humano que trabajo en la construcción de un México mejor.

author: Andrea Arzaba


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Peru: Farmers’ Strike in Andahuaylas · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Tuesday, November 8, marked six days of a farmers’ strike protesting mining activity in the area in Andahuaylas, in the Apurímac region of Peru. On Thursday, November 3, the Water Junta de Usuarios (“Users’ Council”) of the Andahuaylas and Chincheros provinces announced [es] the beginning of an indefinite strike, demanding the removal of two copper processing plants in Huaraccopata and Tocctopata, and that emergency be declared for the basins, watersheds, springs and wetlands contaminated by mining activities.
Negotiation meetings between representatives of the Users’ Council (JUDRA) and the regional Apurímac government were held on Friday, November 4, regarding the issuance and enforcement of a resolution by the Regional Government, but there were no satisfactory results. Twitter user Angel Ccorisapra (@angelitucha) provides some details:
Angelitucha: Los representantes de JUDRA estan en pleno dialogo sobre el caso de la minería.
Angelitucha: Suspenden todo tipo de minería en la Provincia de Andahuaylas segun una resolucion del gobierno regional.
Angelitucha: Los representates de JUDRA continuan con la huelga, solicitan la modificación de la resolucion emitida por el gobierno regional.
On Saturday, November 5, the road Andahuaylas – Abancay remained blocked [es] at kilometer 12, in an area called Ramal a Pacucha of the  Champaccocha community in the San Jerónimo district, keeping vehicles going to and coming from Cusco and Abancay from reaching their destination. Twitter user Yesenia (@yegris21) shares with concern a friend's message regarding some of the problems that emerged between the protesters and the transportation workers as a consequence of the strike:
@zezzzar EN SAN JERONIMO, ANDAHUAYLAS , LOS HUELGUISTAS ESTAN BAJANDO A LA GENTE  DE LOS BUSES QUE VAN A LIMA, PARA GOLPEARLOS Y MI HERMANA
Fair in Andahuaylas. Image by Flickr user Anabelle Handdoek, under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) license
On Sunday, November 6, commercial activities in the Sunday Fair were suspended [es] as a security measure and because the main roads remained blocked,  preventing the arrival of goods to the fair. There were also problems  in downtown Andahuaylas.
Fernando Zuzunaga (@ratchus) shared some  messages of concern that he received from that city:
@ratchus: En Andahuaylas han incendiado un Bus de pasajeros, han tomado las calles, no hay negocios, el mercado hoy casi fue saqueado.
@ratchus:  La población rural de  Andahuaylas ha tomado el centro de la ciudad,  están protestando contra  los estragos que está causando la minería.
@ratchus: Un mototaxista que estaba trabajando fue detenido y lo agarraron a latigazos, hay violencia en Andahuaylas.
@ratchus:  Hace dos días las  autoridades intentaron negociar el cese de las  protestas en Andahuaylas,  solo consiguieron q se radicalicen las  acciones.
While @Apu _Rimak expressed his thoughts about the strike:
@Apu_Rimak:  No creo q a la prensa le  interese q hoy domingo cuarto día de paro en  Andahuaylas,  la feria  dominical no se haya llevado a cabo.
@Apu_Rimak:  Esperemos que la sangre  no llegue al río mañana entre el JUDRA y los  “mineros artesanales” de  Huancabamba – Andahuaylas – Apurímac
On Monday, November 7, the situation remained the same, with reports [es] (video) that there were over 5 thousand merchants affected by the  measure and that members of the Trade Union of Education Workers  (SUTE) had also joined the protest, as well as other sectors [es] that managed to incorporate in the platform of demands the removal  of big mining companies which had to suspend their explorations, like  ARES SAC and Apurímac Ferrum, among others.
An additional consequence of the strike [es] has been the suspension of school classes, according to reports [es], to “protect the physical and psychological integrity of children and  adolescents in the region.” Moreover, the strike and road blockade have  started to affect [es] the markets from Abancay, where housewives began noticing shortages of basic goods.
Strikers have requested [es] the immediate presence of a High Level Commission to address  the issue of water and mining within its jurisdiction, since as  previously mentioned, they are not satisfied with the regional government's resolution [es]. In this regard, it has been reported [es] that the Minister of Agriculture will meet with the National Farmers Association to discuss the issue.
Alejandro, from the blog Inquietud Chanka, publishes a post called “The countryside's awareness”  [es], where he states that the farmers’ struggle is a struggle for  everyone, because “the issue of environmental pollution is not a  countryman's problem, it is a general problem.”
Desde hace cuatro días, campesinos de diferentes puntos  de la provincia  ocuparon la ciudad de Andahuaylas con el único  propósito de hacer valer  sus derechos, derechos que en verdad, también  es de la zona urbana, pero  la gente de la ciudad, llamémoslo por  conveniencia o cobardía no son  participes de esta lucha.
Yo estoy de acuerdo con una minera formal, que la explotación sea de   manera más razonable y pensada, ¿pero quienes están capacitados para   desarrollar este tipo de minería? Piensen. Solamente las   transnacionales. Es decir, las empresas extranjeras. Las leyes nuestras   en torno a la minería están hechas a la medida de ellos. ¿Y qué hay con   los artesanos, con estos que llamamos informales?, pues, hacen lo que   pueden, con tal de sacar ventaja individual, no les interesa ni  siquiera  el prójimo, mucho menos el medio ambiente. Pero tampoco la  vida del  peruano interesa al foráneo.
Los campesinos piden que el gobierno regional solucione sus  petitorios,  entre ellos el retiro de los mineros que solo dejan  contaminación del  agua y aire. Pero yo digo que el problema no es del  gobierno regional,  es del gobierno nacional. Es el ejecutivo que debe  empezar a tomar las  medidas a favor de la población.
For four days, farmers from different parts of the province occupied the city of Andahuaylas with the sole purpose of asserting their rights, rights that in reality, are also the rights of the urban area, but the people of the city, for convenience or cowardice, are not participants in this struggle.
I agree with formal mining, that mining operations be carried out in a more reasonable and thoughtful manner, but who are trained to develop this type of mining? Think. Only the multinationals. That is, foreign companies. The laws around mining are tailored to them. What about the artisans, those we call informal?, well, they do what they can, to take individual advantage, they are not interested in others, let alone the environment. But the outsider is not interested in the life of the Peruvian either.
Farmers ask the regional government to solve their petitions, including the withdrawal of miners that are leaving only water and air pollution. But I say that this is not the regional government's problem, it is the national government's problem. It is the executive who must begin to take measures in favor of the people.
There's fear [es] that the absence of a quick solution to this problem in the coming days will further radicalize the strike. For a government that has spoken extensively about social inclusion and favoring minorities, this is a kind of test. However it is not its only test: other cases related to mining and environmental pollution, such as the Conga mining project in Cajamarca, are also close to reaching a dangerous boiling point, increasing the geographic scope of the country's social conflicts. We will keep you informed.


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Peru: Over 30 People Injured in Farmer’s Strike in Andahuaylas  · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

A farmers’ strike [es] against mining activities in Andahuaylas, in the Apurímac region, turned violent on November 10, leaving damages and 38 people injured, according to the latest reports by El Comercio [es]. Juan Arellano gathers citizen reactions and reports via Storify [es].


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Peru: The First 100 Days of Ollanta Humala’s Government · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Saturday November 5, 2011, marked the first hundred days of the government of Ollanta Humala. Beyond his accomplishments and mistakes, that can be easily spotted, the comparison to be made is the change in presidential style, from a president like Alan García – fully media-oriented and with an almost permanent presence on newspapers and television – to Ollanta Humana who's hardly prone to declare anything on the media.
Several outlets have aired special reports of these first hundred days. The newspaper El Comercio has published several pieces [es] on the matter, ranging from an infographic [es] showing the highs and lows to a small analysis [es] of the behavior of the closest circle to the presidency.
The journal La Republica also has articles in their special edition [es] that analyze [es] the transformation of Ollanta Humala in the past 100 days and features an interview [es] with political analyst Nelson Manrique, where he asks himself what happened to all the people that said they'd leave the country if Humala won.
President Ollanta Humala in the traditional clothing of the people of Calacoa. Image by Flickr user Presidencia Peru, under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) licence.
On Twitter, the hashtag #100diashumala was created, and even though the issue hasn't raised much enthusiasm on blogs, other than republishing articles and opinion columns of traditional media, some interesting posts can be found. On the blog La Escena Contemporanea (Contemporary Scene), blogger, Eduardo Jimenez, points out one of the most relevant developments of the electoral campaign when he tries to [es] sum up what's happened:
Para la evaluación se puede tomar como parámetros de referencia lo que prometió en campaña o lo declarado en el plan de gobierno, a fin de contrastar lo dicho con lo que está haciendo, lo que falta por hacer o los necesarios cambios en el camino. El primer inconveniente es qué plan de gobierno contrastamos, si “la gran trasformación”, furibundamente estatista, o la más flexible “hoja de ruta”, aparecida cuando el candidato Humala pasa a la segunda vuelta. Evidentemente que es la hoja de ruta el instrumento eje que delimita actualmente la política del gobierno.
For the evaluation anyone can take as reference parameters everything which was promised on the campaign or declared as the government plan so we can contrast what was said to what is being done, what is missing, and the necessary shifts to be made. The first drawback is which government plan we should contrast, if “the great transformation”, fiercely statist, or the more flexible “route sheet”, axis instrument that sets the tone of the current government policies.
Journalist Jaime del Castillo doesn't hide his disappointment on the politics shown by the government and expressed [es] his views on his blog:
Consideramos que el presente gobierno de turno encaja exactamente en lo que negó y rechazó y recusó el pueblo mayoritariamente electoral el 05 de junio: Continuismo
¿Es o no es continuismo (y de la peor laya) habernos estafado con tanto avivato e impresentable y delincuente y deshonesto y un largo etcétera en negativo y en hediondo en cuanto a Parlamentarios de ‘Gana Perú’?, ¿’Honestidad para el Gran Cambio’? …
¿Es o no es continuismo: Dejar hacer y dejar pasar al más puro estilo liberal de todos los siglos con respecto a Grupos de poder económico-financiero que dominan al Perúhace décadas: Mineras, Telefónica del Perú, etc., etc.?
¿Es o no es continuismo: Que la PRENSA GRANDE haga lo que se le dé la gana embruteciendo al pueblo peruano y marcando su agenda comercial, política y económica antes que el interés público o de las grandes mayorías que pidieron y exigieron CAMBIO el 05 de junio del 2011?
We consider that the current government is doing exactly what it denied and rejected and challenged the people who voted as a majority on June 5th: Continuity.
Is it or is it not continuity (and of the worse sort) being cheated with lively discourses; unpresentable, criminal and dishonest and a long list of negative and stinky etceteras regarding ‘Gana Peru’ congressmen? Honesty for the Big Change?
Is it or is it not continuity to let do and let pass, at the purest liberal style of all centuries, all the economic-financial power groups that dominate Peru since decades ago: mining companies, Telefonica Peru, etc., etc.?
Is it or is it not continuity that BIG MEDIA does what it wants numbing the entire Peruvian people and sticking with their commercial, political and economic agenda putting it before the public interest or that of the great majorities who voted and demanded a CHANGE on June 5, 2011?
On the other hand, in the blog Societas Consultora (Consulting Society), Gerardo Castillo Guzman marked [es] some points of his own political balance about the economic-political issue, highlighting three measures:
Primero, el logro de un aumento sustancial de la contribución de las empresas mineras a través de un acuerdo de consenso que permite no romper los marcos legales de estabilidad tributaria y límites de competitividad, sobre todo en comparación con nuestro vecino Chile. Aunque algunos sectores de la izquierda cuestionan el monto y la forma, el ingreso de recursos directos para el gobierno central para emprender proyectos mayores de infraestructura –importantes no solo para cerrar las brechas del país sino también para incentivar la economía en momentos de crisis— es importante.
Segundo, aunque con muchas más complicaciones, se han avanzado en las negociaciones para dedicar de manera exclusiva las reservas de gas del proyecto Camisea al mercado interno peruano. Ello es importante no solo por ser una promesa electoral central y por el ahorro que supondría para la nación abastecerse con un gas barato […]. Ante todo es clave por que podría suponer la puesta en marcha de ambiciosos planes de desarrollo gasífero –incluyendo plantas petroquímicas y de fertilizantes— para el sur andino, la región con mayores índices de pobreza y el enclave electoral de Ollanta Humala.
Tercero, la captación de mayores recursos para el gobierno central es justificada por la necesidad de potenciar y redirigir los programas sociales con el fin de reducir dramáticamente la pobreza, especialmente en las áreas rurales. La pronta creación del Ministerio de Desarrollo e Inclusión Social, cuyo función es la de centralizar los programas y tornarlos más eficientes evitando los serios problemas de duplicidad y filtración existentes, es señal de la prioridad dada al tema.
First, the achievement of a substantial raise in the taxes the mining companies pay thanks to an agreement that allows to break the legal frames of tax stability and the limits of competition, most of all in comparison with our neighbor, Chile. Even though some sectors of the left-wing questioned the amount and the form, the direct income for the central government to start new major infrastructure projects – important not only to close the gaps in the country but also to boost the economy in these times of crisis – is significant.
Second, even with a lot more implications, there had been advances in the negotiations to exclusively direct the gas reserves of project Camisea to the internal Peruvian market. This is important, not only because it was an electoral promise, but because the nation would save if its supplied by cheap gas […] Mostly, it is key because it could mean the kick off of ambitious plans of gas development – including petrochemisty and fertilizer factories – for the Andes south, the region with the highest poverty index and electoral cornerstone for Ollanta Humala.
Third, raising more resources for the central government is justified with the need of empowering and redirecting social programs aimed to dramatically reduce poverty, especially in rural areas. The swift creation of the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion, with the objective of centralizing the programs and make them efficient avoiding existing serious duplicity and leaking problems, is a sign of the priority this issue has taken.
In the blog La caja de Daysi (Daysi's box) they point out [es] three adverse moments, one of which happened even before the beginning of the 100-day period:
…mucho antes que Humala juramente, su hermano menor, Alex Humala ya se había adelantado, viajando a Rusia y reuniéndose con el ministro del Exterior Serguei Lavrov para discutir posibles formas de cooperación en proyectos de gas a través de Alianzas Estratégicas. El caso se solucionó cuando el partido de Gana Perú tomo las medidas respectivas por aquella acción adelantada que hizo el hermano menor del presidente.
La designación de Ricardo Soberón al frente de Devida [Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo y Vida sin Drogas], también fue uno de las gestiones más cuestionadas porque este había sido el asesor de la congresista Nancy Obregón. Enseguida dispuso la suspensión temporal de la erradicación de cocales en el VRAE [Valle del Río Apurímac y Ene].
Humala también tuvo una exitosa gira en Latinoamérica y fue muy bien recibido por el marco de la Asamblea de la ONU. Sin embargo lo que le hizo temblar fue cuando un periodista de la Univisión le preguntó sobre una posible reelección, a lo que el mandatario muy soberbio en su respuesta atinó a no responder.
…long before Humala took oath, his younger brother, Alex Humala, anticipated himself by travelling to Russia to meet the Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov to discuss possible ways of cooperation in gas projects through strategic alliances. The case was solved when the Gana Peru party took the respective measures for that advanced action made by the president's younger brother.
The designation of Ricardo Soberon to lead Devida [National Comision for Development and Life without Drugs] was also a much questioned move because he is the former adviser to Congresswoman Nancy Obregon. Immediately he ordered the temporary suspension of the coca-plantation cleaning in VRAE [Apurimac and Ene Rivers Valley]
Humala also had a successful tour in Latin America and was well received by the General Assembly in the UN. Nonetheless, he was shaken when a journalist of Univision network asked him about a possible reelection. The arrogant leader managed to avoid an answer.
From the opinions expressed above, we can summarize that the government of Humala hasn't been as (bad or good) as expected, both for the rightists and the leftists; meaning Peru has not transformed into a Chavez’ influenced country, like many feared, or become a clear government for the majority of the people. And maybe this is a good sign, if the government manages to find its own path and include all Peruvians, rich and poor, white, ‘cholos’, Asian and blacks. Only time will tell.


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Slovakia: Checking Politicians’ Facts With Demagog.sk · Global Voices
Jakub Górnicki

Demagog.sk is a Slovakian web project that aims to analyze politicians’ claims based on facts and ensure they are correct and used in the right context.
Inspiration for the initiative came from a Slovak press watch blog (spw.blog.sme.sk) [sk] on which there were occasional posts about the country's Sunday debates and the factually inaccurate numbers/arguments that people had used in them. Projects such as PolitiFact and FactCheck in the United States fulfil the same function, where people analyse political claims and rate them as true/untrue/misleading/ etc.
Here, I spoke with Matej Hruska, the student founder of Demagog.sk.
Demagog.sk
Global Voices (GV): How much time did it take to launch the project before it went live? What were people's first reactions?
Matej Hruska (MH): We had a three months period of testing of what we would be capable of in terms of how much time is needed to analyse one television debate etc. We used the WordPress platform for the site, so to set it up was not very time consuming. First reactions were (and still are, when someone new comes to the site) that it is great to have someone who watches those political ramblings every Sunday. We launched the site couple of months before the elections so the attention was kind of logical.
GV: Has the idea changed since the start? What are your users saying and how are you adapting to their needs?
(MH): The idea is still the same, we use the same methodology, but we have upgraded the website and now we use a CMS made specifically for our needs (with statistics for every politician, etc).
Usually our users dont say much, or at least they don't say anything to us. The basic feedback we get is when someone is not satisfied with our analysis or conclusion.
GV: What are your plans for near and further future?
(MH): The plan is to cover debates on public radio as well, and to monitor politicians’ claims continually during the week, e.g. at major press conferences, events etc. Another goal is to spread the concept to other countries.
GV: What is/was your main obstacle while developing and running your project?
(MH): As with any similar project, the main obstacle is lack of time and money. In the beginning we ran the whole thing as a voluntary project in our free time; since September [2011] we have been getting some funding and other volunteers from a Slovak NGO, SGI. But we still have to find a way how to make the whole thing sustainable.
GV: How do you attract more people to interact?
(MH): The basic idea is that we want people to dispute our conclusion (sort of “crowdsourcing” the fact checking) – we do not think we are absolutely right in every case. However, people often react in an angry way, which rules out any rational discussion. Given that our main field is to fact check statements, we dont have any other special feature which would give people more space to get engaged.
GV: Have politicians ever contacted you to “straighten something out”? Or do you contact them?
(MH): Sometimes we try to contact them – in cases when they are talking about some report or governmental analysis which is not (yet) online – but they usually do not react.
In a few cases, some of them have contacted us, by commenting under the articles or by email, to add something to their claims, or to prove their opponent had been wrong. We analyse such additional information and if it makes some sense, we add them to the original conclusion, with the byline that they are from such and such person.
GV: How do you collect materials? Do you work as a media monitoring service or do you cooperate with one?
(MH): We have transcripts of debates from Newton Media (a media analysis firm); any other material we look up on Google. That is our main source and tool.
GV: How do you promote your analysis? Do you paste links to some comments below articles on mainstream media?
(MH): We have several opportunities to publish our findings (in fact, too many at the current time, and we don't have time to use them all) in the national media or online. The thing is that we are the first one who are doing something like this here [in Slovakia], so we have been able to attract some media attention.
We also do a kind of “realtime fact check”- we analyse some of the claims during the debates on Sunday using the coveritlive platform. Two slovak news server use the embed code of the coveritlive on their websites.
Thanks for taking the time to answer above questions. Good luck.


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Yemen: Taiz is Bleeding while the UN Envoy is in Sanaa · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.
Yesterday's arrival of the UN envoy Bin Omar to Sanaa didn't seem to deter president Ali Abdullah Saleh or his forces from defiantly committing more violence and atrocities in Taiz. The continuous and random shelling by Saleh forces on Taiz's residential areas has  caused many deaths and injuries to civilians and destruction of many homes.
An 11-year-old boy was killed in Taiz yesterday and 10 were injured. The city was under overnight shelling and another victim was brutally killed as a shell landed in the living area of his home at dawn.
This [WARNING] graphic video, uploaded by FreeDomTaiz on YouTube, shows his family's grief and bitterness towards President's Saleh continued crimes.
Ironically today's Friday in Yemen was called “Friday of no Amnesty to the Murderers.” Hundreds of thousands went to the streets across Yemen to reject the GCC initiative granting President Saleh any immunity. (Video posted by FreeDomTaiz)
A shell landed near a group of women during Friday prayers in Taiz's Freedom Square as this posted video shows (also by: FreeDomTaiz)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ByjgzNkubf0
Three women were killed and five were injured as a result. A girl shown in this video [WARNING: GRAPHIC] expresses her mixed emotions, happiness for her mother's martyrdom and grief for her loss and prays to God to condemn President Saleh.
Even Al Rawdha Hospital where all the injured and dead bodies were taken to was shelled as these two video show. This video shows  damage to the outside of the hospital (video posted by: FreeDomTaiz)
And this video documents damage inside it. (Video posted by: ebnalbalad522)
Saleh's forces shelling Taiz residential areas has killed men, women and children. [WARNING: Graphic video] This extremely graphic video shows a little girl crying: I don't want to die. (Video posted by: FreeDomTaiz)
Clearly nobody was spared from the ongoing violence on the city, not even the innocent children. This [WARNING: Graphic video] graphic video shows 8-year-old Amal Abdel Wahid, who was killed during the attacks on Taiz. (Video posted by: almobdieen)
In an earlier count, 13 people were reported killed, among them three children, three women and seven men. About 40 people were injured.
Yemeni journalist KhaledHammadi reports the updated figures:
Death toll in #Taiz #Yemen rises to 15 & dozens injured as #Saleh forces shelled many residential areas & protest square at Friday prayers
Meanwhile, Yemenis in Yemen and abroad continue to reject the GCC initiative and the immunity it grants President Saleh, whom many consider a cold-blooded murderer who should be referred to the International Court of Justice, where he should stand trial for the crimes he has committed towards his people.
@almuraisy tweets:
How dare any f* person or initiative talks about immunity to #Saleh after this GRAPHIC CRIME (vid +18) bit.ly/srXp3t ? #Yemen
@BaraaShiban adds:
If #Saleh is crazy for shelling people, the International Community are more crazy for willing to give him immunity #Yemen #SupportYemen
And @TawfiqYemen appeals to the international community to pay attention to the atrocities being committed in Yemen:
@hrw @amnesty Where R U? #Taiz ppl slaughtered everywhere, even in Friday prayer sq, and still @UN negotiates immunity to #Saleh! #Yemen
Today was a heart breaking and bloody day in Taiz but it was also a powerful and clear message to the world that Saleh is a criminal who should not be spared from trial because the Yemeni people will never allow that to happen.
This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.

author: Noon Arabia


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Zambia: Using Social Media to Mobilize Mobile Phone Service Boycott · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

Whether or not the campaign by mobile phone service provider Airtel Zambia customers to boycott the company's services on Wednesday, November 9 succeeded, a new era of expressing dissatisfaction with poor service delivery has arrived.
Airtel customers had in the week before November 9 used social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and alternative media websites to mobilize the boycott of the mobile phone network for allegedly poor service delivery and equally shoddy customer service.
Airtel is one of the three mobile phone service providers in Zambia, the other two are CellZ and MTN.
Say no to Airtel for nine hours every wednesday. Image courtesy of Boycott Airtel for 9 hours on Wednesday Facebook group.
One netizen reported on Facebook how the mainstream media picked up the boycott campaign:
The Airtel boycott hits the media – Muvi TV! FB power! Let's do it again next wednseday until these capitalists improve their services!
BOYCOTT AIRTEL FOR 9 HOURS ON WEDNESDAY group on Facebook, which has attracted more than 16,000 members states:
Every Wednesday from 08hrs to 17hrs, let us not send an sms, or make any phone calls from any airtel number for nine hours to send a signal to Airtel that they need to improve their services and reduce their charges. Invite your friend to this event.
1. Customer care must be professional and be there to solve clients problems not to defent Airtel's incompetences
2. Airtel must revert to K2 for the magic number
3. Airtel must be faithful to the loyalty program promises and give out cards
4. Airtel must deliver 3G internet and allow users to utilise proper internet speeds
5. Airtel must reduce the cost of bundles as their current charge is too high
These among other issues that you as a customer may be facing. Remember we customers are the one keeping Airtel in business. If the[y] do not do as we say, we can put them out of business.
There is also a page on Facebook called Boycott Wednesday:
Thumbs down to Airtel. Image courtesy of Boycott Wednesday page on Facebook.
This page is for people who are tired of poor services and want to do something about it. From Mobile phone services, to water, electricity, and police services, we are here to raise the standard.
The administrator of the page posted the following message on Wednesday November 9, 2011:
The “BOYCOTT AIRTEL FOR 9 HOURS ON WEDNESDAY” event went well. The success is unprecedented. However, it appears Airtel has remained defiant claiming that business went on as usual. Well, I guess they are testing the resolve of the Zambia people. and so we continue. Invite you friends and let do this.
The administrator of the Facebook group Zambian Peoples Pact, Tina Banda, tried to discourage members from posting Airtel boycott messages on the page. She received over 500 reactions, most in disagreement with the administrator (*The post has been since been removed):
Kindly avoid Airtel Posts on this page!Let's continue being Factual in our arguments,we can do such posts on our respective profiles but not the ZPP page !
In disagreement, one member responded:
no Tina if we are the people's pact then we must be people's pact thru and thru and not for removing mmd only.The people's pact shud help the people in all areas if we are to be relevant to zambia.Tina give reasons why we shud nt be part to fighting exploitation by man to man.we are the peoples pact by the way.
An interesting dialogue took place on Twitter when two tweeps argued about the effects of the boycott call:
@GaryKwietstorm noted:
@Deejaylbc I dont think so, you know why? This boycott is being pushed highly on social media…Imagine how many people are not on it?
@Deejaylbc wrote:
@GaryKwietstorm this morning the #Airtelboycott face book page had pulled in 14,000 people..its a
growing movement against yo brand.
One tweep, @lwangamwilu, calls the boycott a “consumer fightback”:
RT @Consumerdiaries: @lwangamwilu consumers fight back,this is awesome! #Airtelboycott
On LinkedIn, one of the organisers, Brian Matambo reported:
The boycott went on as planned. We were successful. But we are not stopping here until we get a world class service. http://t.co/U2Ir5nEu

author: Gershom Ndhlovu


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Bahrain: Are Police Cars Running Over Protesters on Purpose?  · Global Voices
Mona Kareem

On the unforgettable night of January 28, 2011, a car ran over protesters near the US Embassy in Cairo. Main stream media kept replaying the video of this incident over and over, shocking audiences around the world. In Bahrain though, police cars running over people has become one of the ‘anti-riot techniques’ that security forces use against protesters of different ages and in many areas of the small kingdom. As Bahrainis did well documenting many of the atrocities their regime committed against them since they started protesting last February, here are some of the videos available on YouTube that show how police cars run over protesters in Bahrain.
We start with this video is from Al-Eker village from the 16th of August, 2011:
The next video shows the running over of protesters who were marching in the funeral of 16-year-old martyr Ahmed Al-Qattan on the 7th of October,  2011:
During the February protests, this video of a woman suddenly running over protesters, created a stir:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dISoCca21Ng
And most recently, here is a video of showing the running over of protesters after the funeral of martyr Ali Al-Daihi on the 4th of November, 2011:
The Bahrain Ministry of Interior commented on this particular incident, denying it had happened altogether, even after the videos were spread across social networks. On its website, the ministry said:
The General Director completely denied announcement made by Matar Matar to a news agency that police patrols tried after the funeral to run over protesters, while highlighting that such allegation wasn't true, as the rule of the police is to protect the safety of citizens and residents and properties.
This denial made netizens dig up other videos, like those which follow. This next video is from Samaheej village, from the 17th of August, 2011:
And this one is from Sitra village from the 19th of September, 2011:
The next video shows police cars chasing after children – the place and time are not specified – but the police cars are Bahraini:
And following is a famous video of police cars trying to run over protesters in Bahrain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DputgPA641I
Although not clear, this video suggests that in Salmabad village, police cars ran over a man called Younes Mahmoud, as the video description reads on the 1st of October, 2011. The video description also suggests that policemen beat up Younes's mother and then arrested him:
In this video, a group of teenagers jump over the fence to avoid getting crushed by a police car in Bilad Al-Qadim area on the 7th of July, 2011:
And the next video, shot in Al-Diraz village, is taken by two different cameras sto how how police cars were speeding after a group of men inside the neighborhood on the 25th of October, 2011:
After the funeral of martyr Jafar Hassan on the 21st of September, 2011, in Dimistan village, police cars were clearly trying to run over people as captured by this video
And on these last two videos, you can watch different running over incidents put together:
It is not known how many protesters have been injured in these incidents.

author: Mona Kareem


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East Timor: Cries for justice 20 years after massacre · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

On the 20th anniversary of the infamous Santa Cruz massacre by the Indonesian military in Dili, East Timor, long-time activist Charles Scheiner reflects. Founding member of the East Timor Action Network and NGO La'o Hamutuk, he writes “if we want justice, we have to demand it – it will not come by itself”.

author: Janet Gunter


text:
Egypt: Feminist Publishes Nude Photograph to “Express her Freedom”  · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

It was late in the night, when Ahmed Awadalla, who works in the field of human rights, health, sexuality and gender posted the following tweet:
@3awadalla: A feminist #Jan25 revolutionary posted her nude photo on the internet to express her freedom. I'm totally taken back by her bravery!
At the time, he wasn't sure whether revealing her identity was a good or bad move, however he wanted to know people's reactions to the news. He asked:
@3awadalla: Ok, everybody wants to know who the girl is, but what do you really think of what she did? #NudePhotoRevolutionary
And as he expected, different reactions started to pour:
@abraralshammari: @3awadalla I think she really is brave. Nudity is natural and she's sending a message: abandon past notions of nudity being shameful.
@ReemElmeleegy: @3awadalla Bravery that will be misunderstood n taken for other intentions n maybe her cause will be tarnished too.
@ReemAwad: @3awadalla مش شايفاها شجاعة.. دي اسمها قلة حياء :)
@Elna7as_Pasha: @ReemAwad @3awadalla قلة ادب ، جهل في معنى الحريه ، ولو نزلت الشارع كده يبقى تعدت على حريتي بمنظرها كده
@SandraYacoub: @3awadalla I wouldn't do it & I can't help but think there r other ways 2 express freedom. Having said that, its her body..who r we 2 judge?
Awadalla then summed up people's reactions as some saw the posting the photograph as progressive and brave, while others said it was unaccepted and against religion. A third group was afraid that it might effect the revolutionaries image [Ar]. He also added:
“I know many are against what #NudePhotoRevolutionary did, but also so many dying to see the photo! :D”
Later on, the so called “Nude Photo Revolutionary” revealed her own identity.
@aliaaelmahdy: My name is Aliaa Elmahdy. I post under my real name #NudePhotoRevolutionary
According to her Twitter biography, Aliaa identifies herself as “Secular, Liberal, Feminist, Vegetarian and Individualist Egyptian”. She also wrote on her Facebook page that she was “echoing screams against the society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment and hypocrisy”. It also emerged that she was the one  who started the “Men Should Wear the Veil” event as an opposition to the women's head veil.
Her nude photo was published in her blog along with other nude photos of other people, and a cat! The blog can only be accessed if you agree to view adult content.

author: Tarek Amr


text:
India: Aishwarya Rai’s Baby and Media Madness · Global Voices
Rezwan

Some Indian media have long been accused of using sensationalism while reporting about celebrities. The latest hype in the media is the pregnant Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her impending child birth.
Rumors were abound that Aishwarya will undergo a Caesarian-Section in order to have her first child on the auspicious date of 11/11/11.  According to a bookmaker over 1.5 billion Indian Rupees were riding on whether Aishwarya Rai will deliver the child on 11/11/11. The Broadcast Editors Association has finally issued guidelines to restrict TV channels from aggressively covering the birth of baby Bachchan.
Aishwarya's father-in-law, Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, tweeted:
SrBachchan: T 555 -Getting congratulatory messages on Aishwarya delivering a boy !!! Guess they know more than even she does !! False and incorrect news
Aishwarya Rai in a poster. Image by Flickr user Melanie M. Used under a CC BY License.
Here are some tweets on the media madness:
cricketwallah: State of The Nation: India on tenterhooks at the impending birth of Aishwarya Rai's first baby and Sachin Tendulkar's hundredth century
@comicology: Satish Acharya's cartoon page shares it hilarious take on the Mass Media Attention towards Aishwarya Rai's Labour!… http://fb.me/IEvNy482
@nandukarekar: are TV, Internet, Print etc etc media claiming their fatherhood stake for Aishwarya’ baby. Have sent offer to family for news exclusivity?
@jhunjhunwala: Time has come for Aishwarya Rai to file a restraining order against India TV.Those guys will cover that baby's birth like Jesus's birth.
@Terracedrinking: why media is acting like pregnant..world will know when aishwarya would deliver a baby.
@JiGoswami: Is Aishwarya Rai child is of national interest, there r so many coming everyday, Why the hype is there. Wake up India look for better…
Bangladeshi exile writer Taslima Nasrin was drawn into controversy when she tweeted that she wished that Aishwarya would give birth to a girl child:
@taslimanasreen: I love Aishwarya Rai. But when I said ‘I wish she would give birth to a baby girl’, people asked me, ‘Why do you hate Aishwarya?’
@taslimanasreen: Some people are unfollowing me because I want a baby girl for Aishwarya. Twitter version of female foeticide!
The reactions against her showed clear bias over boy child against girls. The odds were high in the bookie rates for boy child:
@vaidehisachin: The rate was set at Rs 8,500 against Rs 1,000 if Aishwarya gives birth to a girl and Rs 1,200 against Rs 1,000 if she gives birth to a boy.
Even the media has further fuelled the controversy:
kausikdatta22: W loaded phrases, @ZeeNews engaging in manufactroversy over @TaslimaNasreen's comment wishing baby girl for Aish! http://t.co/RCiYHH57 #FAIL
Twitter users were quick to join in the debate:
Nanha_kabootar: if #aish baby is a boy , taslima nasreen will accuse the bachan's of being anti femnist and supporting male dominanace
@Srehari4u: How does it matter if Aishwarya delivers or not deliver a baby. It is yet another baby. so much of hype for no benefit.. .
@amitjain123: Why is Taslima Nasreen commenting so much in other people's lives.. esp the glamour world? she seems star struck.
@anjanpmandal: @taslimanasreen I am a #Aishwarya fan and want a baby girl for her.. Only a girl can carry forward the grace nd sensuality of her genes. :-)
In an interview Taslima explained why she wished for a baby girl for Aishwarya – “having a daughter can encourage millions of couples not to kill their unborn female babies”.

author: Rezwan