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Russia: ‘Orthodoxy or Death’ to Degenerate Art? · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Photo by Sakharov Museum
On 12 July, the Moscow Tagansky court found art curators Yuri Samodurov and Andrei Yerofeev guilty of “inciting ethnic and religious strife” by their exhibition “Forbidden art – 2006” — in a case brought against them by the Russian right-wing organization Narodny Sobor — and sentenced them to pay fines of 200,000 (6,500 USD) and 150,000 (4,900 USD) roubles respectively.
The verdict was a disappointment for both reactionaries — hoping for a three-year jail sentence — and liberals — wanting an acquittal. Once again, concerns are raised where the limits on freedom of expression in Russia really are heading. Thus, yet another Russian case is likely to end up in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
So, is this all there is to it? Perhaps, but it may also serve as an example of how not only freedom of speech lies in the balance, but also how that balance itself becomes an art “happening” by treading the thin line between art and society — as the debate surrounding “Forbidden art – 2006” illustrates.
The saying “A picture says more than a thousand words” is truer to Russia than to most other countries. Take a tormented Jesus with the head of Mickey Mouse or Christ with the face of Lenin, and then wait for reactions. The limits of art are constantly pushed further afield. The dictum of the century-old Russian futurist manifesto “A slap in the face of public taste” maintains as much a prominent role in Russian arts and culture today as it did in the early 1900s. But in our day and age, slaps are not always what they seem.
So, what is then the basic story behind it all? Well, back in March 2007 art curators Yuri Samodurov and Andrei Yerofeev organized an exhibition of artworks that had been rejected from mainstream Moscow museums and galleries during 2006 — thus the title “Forbidden art – 2006.” The purpose of the art show was to shed light upon self-imposed censorship quelling the Russian arts scene, turning the tide towards more traditional displays of art. The exhibition had a meagre total of 1,020 visitors. Still, it attracted the attention of a small reactionary religious movement, which took Samodurov and Yerofeev to court for offending their religious feelings. Thus, the show was on the road, ending with the very verdict against the art curators, that now has brought so much attention to the case both in the Russian and international media.
LJ user don_beaver indignantly summarizes [RUS] the case thus:
Not long ago, some artists organized an exhibition in a private gallery. People who were not even at this gallery declared that their religious feelings had been hurt by the exhibition and went to court. The judge agreed with them and fined exhibition organizers heavily. The only good [thing] about it was that they were not put in jail.
What was then the drama that turned the media's attention towards the case — beside its freedom of expression aspects? As the verdict was read out last week, a small crowd of bearded men in black uniforms had gathered outside Tagansky court, wearing T-shirts with the text “Orthodoxy or death.” Behind these lines lies more than what meets the naked eye. “Orthodoxy or death” (gr. ορθοδοξία ή θάνατος) was originally a motto of the famous monastery of Esphigmenou on Mount Athos, Greece, in its struggle against the Patriarchy of Constantinople, but since the 1990s it has become a token of intolerance and extremism also in the Orthodox countries like Serbia and Russia. This photo-op was what caught the eyes of the media present outside the court, resulting in vivid pictures of crackpot nationalists setting the Russian civil liberties’ agenda in newspaper articles throughout the world. The symbolic effect was so great, that rumours about an upcoming church-initiated proposal to addend the Criminal Code with the crime of “heresy” reached respectable newspapers such as Argumenty i Fakty. However, according to LJ user tristen2e [RUS], this was all a hoax:
Besides, everyone believed the sensational news, even though they sounded words, ascribed to father Vsevolod, about heresy “as any form of opposition to Orthodoxy.” Obviously, such an unlearned expression in itself could hardly be uttered by such a skilled church diplomat and rhetoric as archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin [spokesman of the Russian Orthodox church]. However, as is often the case with a summer languishing with heat, journalist colleagues could have mixed it up — everybody thought — and thus the news started to travel the web.
For the liberal supporters of Samodurov and Yerofeev, the “Orthodoxy or death” emblem, obviously, was like raising a red rag, reminding them of battles fought during dissident days of the soviet past. This is perhaps also an important aspect that has largely been left out of reporting on the case. In fact, the art curator, Yuri Samodurov, springs from the same soviet dissident movement as Nobel Peace laureate Andrei Sakharov during the 1970-80s, and became one of the founding members of Memorial human rights organization.
However, Samodurov regarded opposition to soviet power not as a political but a cultural act. This, arguably, not only set him apart from the mainstream dissident movement, but also enabled him to remain relevant in Russian debate as society at large increasingly deemed dissidentism obsolete. As director of the Sakharov museum, Samodurov, in February 2006, became an active participant in the debate over the Danish Muhammad cartoons controversy, by heralding a Moscow exhibition of these pictures. So, Samodurov's artistic career has been straddled with the constant co-optation of society as art and art as society. It would thus seem that Samodurov and his actions have become a work of postmodern art personified, in blurring boundaries between art and society.
What are then the effects of the “Forbidden art” case on societal debate? LJ user and poet Vitaly Kaplan, critically, tries to draw the larger picture [RUS] of how art has come to divulge greater tendencies of societal developments in present Russia:
To begin with, there is the “dry residue” that then moistens a multitude of flavours. Thus, the exhibition “Forbidden art – 2006″ is really a mockery with the feelings of believers. Does it need society's condemnation? Yes, it does. Was it necessary to go to court? That is where I have my doubts. What do I think about the verdict? I am happy that they did not put Yerofeev and Samodurov in jail. What do I think about the polemics on the Internet? I would say it is a battle of banners with red dogs.
And now for the details. First concerning the mockery with religious sentiments. The problem is that most disputers, regardless of their positions, do not at all understand what it is all about. So, Yerofeev's and Samodurov's defenders indignantly sigh: Oh, these Orthodox people! Everything offends them! If they were to decide — then every man would be forced to grow a beard, and the women wear scarves, they would raze the “McDonald's” and burn mosques and synagogues alike. Because everything that does not coincide with their Orthodox ideals hurts their delicate religious feelings. And the opponents of Yerofeev and Samodurov shed tears because the pictures of an exhibition offend the Russian people and contradict national traditions, due to their terrible testimony of lost ideals, as such normative decay prevents the revival of Greater Russia…
Consequently, the effect of the “Forbidden art” case is not only pitting perceptions of postmodern and medieval icons against each other, but also serves as a token of differences between imagery and reality of current Russian society. The original grievance of Orthodox believers was — in religious terms — that the “Forbidden art” pictures constituted a desecration of icons as carriers of divine messages, in accordance with an Orthodox tradition arguing that the words of God cannot be reduced to text, but must be represented in symbols. What lies at the heart of the matter is then the exhibition's iconization of images portraying a metamorphosis of the divine with the profane. Icons are turned into idolatry of symbols with a mixed message representing the complexities of current society.
What impact has then the conviction of Samodurov and Yerofeev had on perceptions of Russian society, and can it serve as an indicator of where freedom of expression is heading in the country? As much as easy answers would be welcome, reality probably has more in store for the greater picture. Possibly, by seizing the agenda with a question that transcends the borders of art and society, the core of the issue becomes obscured — whether one of art or freedom of expression, of both or neither. However, society — in the image of the state — chooses to take a stand for or against freedom of expression in terms of art forms whose purpose may actually be to exploit the interaction such a stand unavoidably involves.
Still, at the end of the day, the question must be raised about the ramifications of that stand for the development of freedom of speech and expression in the Russian society. Here, under the headline “Forbidden art gets more expensive,” LJ user timur_nechaev77 offers an assessment [RUS]:
The sentence passed against the organizers of the exhibition “Forbidden art – 2006″ shows that during the last few years, the price of criticizing the state ideology – Orthodoxy – has risen nearly twice. In 2005, Yuri Samodurov was fined 100 thousand roubles for the exhibition “Beware of religion” which provoked a pogrom from religious extremists of the Russian Orthodox Church. Now they sentenced Samodurov to pay 200 thousand, and Andrei Yerofeev 150 thousand roubles. Of course, the verdict will be appealed as high as Strasbourg, and if the European Court will stand on the side of the pogromists and religious fanatics from the Russian Orthodox Church, then of course, Yerofeev and Samodurov will have to pay the fines.
As is often so poorly realized by contemporary society, art may cut to the core problems and developments of our times. The role of an artist increasingly becomes one of pushing the right button to ignite societal debate on issues that may actually be more profound than art itself. Art then merely becomes the symbol of greater tendencies, and thereby recreates itself sui generis by mechanisms greater than the specific work of art and its originator. In the “forbidden art” case, the verdict may serve as a conveyor — a sign of premonition of either desirable or undesirable developments — of what is ceasing the normative middle ground in Russian society. Is it right or wrong? Right or wrong is perhaps both not the issue here and still the issue in itself, as everything becomes part of the spectacle, a happening, or the (in)famous fifteen minutes of fame.
As the Romans used to say, “There is no accounting for taste,” and art is well beyond the domain of things society may hold people accountable for. That is a matter of taste, and that taste is for each and all to decide on individually — including the right to support or protest against the views and beliefs that agree or conflict with one's own — without State interference. For who is to deem what is degenerate art?


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Russia: Putting a foreigner on Russia’s throne · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

LJ user kanalya78 proposes [RUS] that, judging from historical experience, one should try to import a foreigner to rule Russia, as they arguably have done better for the country than native rulers.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Russia: Roadtrip to Caucasus · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Popular bloggers tema [RUS], nl [RUS] and others [RUS] (9 bloggers in 3 cars) post pictures and short notes from the roadtrip to Caucasus, that started on July 15th, 2010. So far, they travelled through the North Caucasus republics and are planning to go to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Russia-US-EU: Great game revisited · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Katinka Barysch at openDemocracy publishes an extensive analysis of relations between Russia and the West in former soviet space, in a Great Game revisited.


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Serbia: Artistic zebra crossings · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

A Yankee in Belgrade posts a sequel to a previous story on street art in Belgrade, where zebra crossings have been turned into works of art.


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Slovakia: Hungarian School Trips · Global Voices
Tibor Blazko

In a time of economic problems, the Italian prime minister is asking Italians to spend holidays in their homeland. In a similar situation, the Hungarian parliament takes a different approach (SLO):
The Hungarian governing party Fidesz introduces a draft law to parliament that will provide financing of school trips to parts of the neighboring countries that in the past belonged to Hungary. As one of the draft's submitters, chief of parliament committee for education Zoltán Pokorni, said, excursions are to take place at the time of the June 1920 [Treaty of Trianon] anniversary, which “deprived Hungarians of these areas.” The program is also to facilitate exchange visits between Hungarian schools abroad and in Hungary. According to Pokorni, excursions have to acquaint students with the present life of Hungarians in these “former” areas.
Below are some opinions of the Slovak netizens about this latest Hungarian step. Please note that the numbers mentioned are unverified. Also, note that in the Slovak language there is a difference between former Hungary (Uhorsko), a multi-ethnic state where Hungarians comprised about half of the population (see map at Hungarian Spectrum), and the area of today's Hungarian Republic (Maďarsko). What's also interesting is that Pokorni’ family name has no special meaning in Hungary, but in Slovak “pokorní” means “humble” – which points at his probable Slavic, if not directly Slovak, background.
Souvenirs in Szentendre, Hungary by Cindy Dam
Henrich22:
That plan is completely ill. Hungary [Uhorsko] was a multi-ethnic state where Hungarians alone did not have 50%. Ancient Hungary, that prison of nations, fell to pieces in 1918 and Trianon just enclosed its history by defining borders. Hungary still dreams about the expansion of its area and “reconstruction of old Hungary,” which is complete nonsense. At that they want to bring Hungarian children to Slovakia or Romania and show them – so this was Hungary before. This will not lead to decreasing but to increasing of the tensions in the region. And they even want state support for this.
***
eutyphrodilema:
Surely, school trips will support the [Slovak] economy greatly, for sure they will find accommodation in five-star hotels
***
The1stSaint:
But you could imagine (what you remember from your middle-school times) how much such average students will drink? Such gains for shops selling alcoholic drinks!
***
bjuty smis:
at least, there'll be some tourists
***
besny borsuk – motor:
I consider this an unnecessary provocation. Fidesz without such nonsense would have no real program. It is the same nonsense as if [Ján Slota] decided to make a proposal of state-supported visits of Slovak students to Blatenske lake (some name it [Balaton]), which once belonged to the [Nitra principality] or Great Moravia.
***
BTW:
1. If I lived in HU [Hungary], then I'd be angry with the stupid prime minister
2. Because I live in SK [Slovakia], I'm glad that the government of the neighboring state will be mandatory selling us tourists. […]
***
Satyr:
It is necessary to support the Turks in the reconstruction of the [Ottoman Empire] and let them make trips to Hungary – their former land.
gulovar:
Also Turks should think about trips to Budapest, have a look at the Ottoman Empire. Only that Turks have more sanity than Hungarians.
Taibi:
Nowadays, they [the Turks] prefer going to Germany.
***
bRANOxxx:
Just let them come and it would be best if they came with families. Tourism is a great thing. I would sell them also (and pretty expensively) “artifacts” of Greater Hungary (such map in A0 format for €50 would be a bestseller).
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lord1977:
For the past five years, Hungary has been stagnating economically – the worst in central and eastern Europe. The debt rate that they have is the highest in central and eastern Europe (about 78% of GDP). Really important laws they have in the program :-)
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halface:
With a name like Zoltan Pokorni, they'd better make excursions about [assimilation] of non-Hungarian nations by Hungarians in the last years of Greater Hungary.
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HelmutHilfe:
I vote for school trips to former Hungary to be organized in all countries in this area. It is our common history and recalling of shared values should win over highlighting of the differences.
***
Teddy:
[PM Orban‘s] biggest problem is this: Hungarian citizens were accepting loans for house, car or whatever in Euros or Swiss franks. In next few years, he must devalue the Forint […] to manage reforms. And this is the problem – who borrowed in foreign currency must return double value […]. That's why Orban is searching themes to cover future debts and the Forint devaluation. School trips: that is just a smoke cloud for voters.

author: Tibor Blazko


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South Africa: Courting Justice · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Africa is a Country blogs about Courting Justice, a film is about the experiences of female, especially black female judges, in South Africa’s highest courts.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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South Korea:Lawmaker Under Fire For His Sexist Remarks · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korea's 480 news announcers are preparing for a gigantic lawsuit against a ruling party's lawmaker on his sexist remarks. Grand National Party's lawmaker, Kang Yong-seok said to a female announcer aspirant in a dinner meeting with college students that she will have to give her ‘everything’ for the job, strongly insinuating bartering sex for an anchor position, Korea Herald reported.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Sri Lanka: Hiring People · Global Voices
Rezwan

Netpreneur at Entrepreneur Musings talks about the challenges of hiring people for a new startup in Sri Lanka.

author: Rezwan


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Tanzania: Support Movement Against Serengeti Highway · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Say no to plans by the Tanzanian government to build a highway cutting through a protected wilderness area of the Serengeti National Park: @TEDxDar strtd a hme-grown grp of organizers to solicit support against serengeti highway. Join the mailing list: save.serengeti.tz@gmail     1:26 AM Jul 19th  via web


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Vietnam: Cat Cafe · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Ailu Coffee Cat is a cafe shop in Hanoi intended for cat lovers. The young owner of the cafe promotes the shop through facebook.

author: Mong Palatino


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Vietnam: Music performance using traditional instruments · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A video was uploaded in youtube featuring four performances on traditional instruments at the Vietnam Institute of Musicology in Hanoi


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Vietnam: Power and water woes · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

SaigonNezumi is hoping that the monsoon rains would arrive soon to ease the power and water shortages in Vietnam. He notes that many buildings in Hanoi and Saigon now have gas powered generators.


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Zambia: Meet Zambian Citizen Broadcasters · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

The media in Zambia, a country which for a long time has only known the Zambia Daily Mail, Times of Zambia and the Post for stable, corporate-style newspapers and the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation and newer private TV and radio stations, is being turned on its head as bloggers as well as citizen broadcasters enter the media space.
Independent news websites and blogs by Zambians are springing up all the time. On the heels of these is the conversations taking place on social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter and other forums on Google groups. Membership of these groups ranges from as little as four to thousands of members. These non-traditional media platforms carry contents of all manner which would not normally be carried by traditional media in Zambia.
Also coming up are internet-based radio stations called BlogTalkRadio (BTR). There are three stations run by Zambian citizen broadcasters: Brain Drain run by James Mwape, Zambia Blog Talk Radio, and Lespetty Media. All these three blogtalk radio stations are hosted in the United States of America. Brain Drain and ZBTR are talk show stations on which various national matters are broadcast once a week while the latter is primarily a music station. Occasionally, it broadcasts interviews of Zambians discussing various issues about the country.
Brain-drain host, James Mwape, recently wrote in response to a questionnaire to all three stations that setting up a basic blogtalkradio is easy, free and fast and open to anyone anywhere in the world. There are however, costs associated with phone calls. In short, blogtalkradio is a web-based platform that allows callers to host a live call-in broadcast on the Internet using a computer and a phone.
Mwape disclosed that the station’s listeners who have a Skype account can call-in their shows for free, adding that without this feature, a BTR operator is only allowed about 6 lines, a costly budget for listeners calling from outside the US.
BlogTalkRadio, according to Mwape, has a counter that counts the aggregate number of: live listeners, callers, and archived shows at the end of each show. Listenership of more than 27,000 is not uncommon and he estimates that more than 30,000 people listen to their shows assuming that more than one person is listening from a computer.
Mwape, however, disclosed that he has personally financed the operations of his station for the last two years of its existence and has not, thus far not received any financial support from anyone.
Mwape informs subscribers to his radio station through a weekly newsletter about upcoming shows. He also uses Facebook, Zaningi, a Zambian social website, and the radio’s website to publicize shows. He also tweets every live show.
Zambia Blog Talk Radio (ZBTR)’s Nathan Nkhama reiterated that starting or setting up a show on Blog Talk Radio is “free and one needs only to ‘sign up’ like we do for most e-mails or online blog accounts.”
However, he added that budget still determines the operative activities in terms of advertising and phone calls, depending on target audiences and guests respectively.
Writes Nkhama:
For us at ZBTR majority of our guests are connected from Zambia and Europe. We also have a weekly e-mail we sent out using Constant Contact (an email advertising tool) with a mailing list of more than a thousand. This requires a monthly subscription, in spite of the cost it is necessary for us since our show (ZBTR) is done weekly (Saturday- 9am EST New York, 1400hrs GMT or 1500hrs Zambia ). We also have a website which also requires an annual subscription.
Nkhama states that at the end of each show, a statistical report indicates participation by live calls and actual computers logged into a show.
He also disclosed that their operation costs are supported by themselves and from donations of friends who believed in their cause/work. ZBTR has accounts both on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
Nkhama says:
Facebook … helps to announce/inform friends of the show about guests coming to the show, whilst listeners can follow on Twitter by contributing to the discussions and even ask questions. As for traditional media, The Post has once reported on one of our shows, Daily Mail and Times follow our shows and have promised to report some topics of interest. We’ve been in discussion with Radio Phoenix, Radio Icengelo, etc for them to start airing some of our shows either live or recorded.
Lespetty’s Kalinda Shachinda effectively summarized the essence of Blog Talk radio as a unique technology and seamless integration with leading social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Ning empowering citizen broadcasters to create and share their original content, their voices and their opinions in a public worldwide forum:
Today, BlogTalkRadio is the largest and fastest-growing social radio network on the Internet. A truly democratized medium, BlogTalkRadio has tens of thousands of hosts and millions of listeners tuning in and joining the conversation each month. Many businesses also utilize the platform as a tool to extend their brands and join the conversation on the social web.
Shachinda said Lespetty Media initially embraced the technology and ran with it but once traffic to the site increased, they moved to more advanced software for which she and co-founder Peter M’tanda are paying for an initial investment of about $30,000 which will allow them to broadcast 24/7.
She stated that Lespetty Media radio is an online Zambian-American radio whose main objective is to promote Zambian music, artists, actors to Zambian citizens mostly.
Kalinda stated that audience numbers are determined by the feedback they get on their contact page and traffic which is in the thousands monitored by their web page. She also stated that their operations are borne solely by the founders and but that they have recently been receiving advertising revenue including voluntary donations from their listeners.
Like the two other blogtalk radio stations, Lespetty relies on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to draw people to their shows. Lespetty has also of late received free air time on radio stations in Zambia like Radio Phoenix, Qfm and others through media interviews.
On whether Lespetty Media pays royalties for the music it plays, Shachinda indicated that for now most of the music is provided by the musicians themselves who have allowed them to use it for promotional purposes after featuring them on their shows.
With these developments in citizen broadcasting, it is the Zambian government which has a bigger fight on its hands in its attempts to control journalists through statutory regulation. With fast moving development in new media technologies, citizen publishers or broadcasters need not need be Zambian-based, they can easily do it from anywhere on earth.

author: Gershom Ndhlovu


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Accessing Facebook in Vietnam · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Vietnam Reform Party has uploaded a document giving instructions to internet users on how to access Facebook in Vietnam. There have been many instances when some websites, including Facebook, are blocked in Vietnam.


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Armenia-Azerbaijan: There is only humanity… · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Ianyan makes a guest post on Armenia-Azerbaijan relations in the context of the still unresolved conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh as part of a series of entries using new and social media to bring the two sides closer together. The blogger says that these new tools have opened up the world to her and says that they especially represent the need to believe in humanity over nationalism.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bangldesh: What Youth Think About Mobile Phones · Global Voices
Rezwan

Mobile Youth went to Bangladesh and produced a video where local youth “talked about their preferences for handsets and operators, which packages worked for them and which brands did they recommend to friends.”


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Benin: Interior Ministry Repudiates Wolosso Dance Before His Dismissal  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Wilfried Léandre Houngbedji reports that the Interior Ministry Armand Zinzindohoué ordered that   night clubs in Cotonou curbed down the excessive practice of a dance called Wolosso [fr].  Unrelated to the previous matter,  Zinzindohoué was dismissed and arrested later in the week for fraud.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Bermuda: municipalities takeover · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Vexed Bermoothes opposes the Bermuda government’s plan to take over the operations and services of the country’s municipalities, including those of the capital, Hamilton.

author: Nicholas Laughlin


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Botswana: Court denies Bushmen access to water  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“There was outrage today as Botswana’s High Court denied the Kalahari Bushmen access to water,” Survival International reports.


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Could Nigeria become a one-party state?  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Could Nigeria turn into a one-party states?” “There is nothing more dangerous for a developing democracy than for it's citizens to have no idea of when the next elections will be. For some reason, in this, the 21st century, that is indeed the case for Nigeria.”


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Egypt: Television’s 50th Anniversary · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

Today is the Egyptian television's 50th anniversary, and Zeinobia wrote a post in her blog on this occasion.

author: Tarek Amr


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Guyana: Party or Country? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The fastest route for Guyana to get to the point of being a prosperous country is to find a leader who rejects disunity in all its forms…and embraces the diversity of this beautiful country”: The Guyana Groove wants to know whether people are loyal to party or country.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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India: Sexual Assault Prevention Tips · Global Voices
Rezwan

Indian Homemaker compiles a list of sexual assault prevention tips guaranteed to work.


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Information Bridging on the Case of Tibetan Environmentalist Karma Samdrup · Global Voices
Dechen Pemba

Karma Samdrup (r) and his wife Dolkar Tso (l)
The case of well-known Tibetan environmentalist, businessman and philanthropist Karma Samdrup, sentenced to 15 years in prison on June 24, 2010, by a court in Xinjiang, has been highly unusual in that those monitoring the case were able to see events unfolding almost in real time, thanks to the blog and Twitter output of Karma Samdrup's wife, Dolkar Tso, and Karma Samdrup's lawyer, the reknowned Chinese civil rights lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang.
The trial of Karma Samdrup that started on June 22 ended with his  heavy sentencing on June 24 on charges of “grave-robbing”, charges that had actually been dropped 12 years earlier by the authorities. Throughout those few days of the trial, Pu Zhiqiang was using Twitter to document the case as it unfolded. The verdict of 15 years was made known to Pu Zhiqiang's followers, over 10.000 of them, just hours after it was announced. Below is a screenshot of Pu Zhiqiang's Tweet announcing the verdict:
At the same time, Karma Samdrup's wife, Dolkar Tso, also present in the courtroom in Xinjiang for the duration of the trial, was also documenting events and writing about her thoughts and feelings on her blog, hosted on the popular Chinese blog portal Sohu.com. Below is a screenshot of one of Dolkar Tso's early blogs:
Screenshot of Dolkar Tso's blog on Sohu.com
Dolkar Tso persistently continued to use Sohu as her blog-hosting site despite her blog being closed down several times. Dolkar Tso's blogging activities were monitored and reported by Tibetan writer, poet and blogger Woeser on her blog. Woeser was often quick to re-post articles from both Dolkar Tso and Pu Zhiqiang's blogs before the posts were removed.
According to Woeser's blogposts, Dolkar Tso opened several blogs one after the other starting on June 2 with http://drolkartso.blog.sohu.com, the day when it was suddenly announced that the date of Karma Samdrup's trial was to be postponed. This blog was shut down after just one day.
The second blog, http://drolkar.blog.sohu.com/ was started on June 21 but was closed down after 5 days, shortly after Karma Samdrup's sentence was announced. The post that Dolkar Tso wrote on her second blog, expressing her worries for her husband titled “Praying” was translated into English by High Peaks Pure Earth and subsequently quoted in an article in TIME magazine:
“The account we heard … exceeded our worst imaginations,” his wife  Dolkar Tso wrote in a blog post that was translated by High Peaks Pure  Earth, a website that monitors Tibetan source material. “We heard about  hundreds of different cruel torture methods, maltreatment around the  clock, hitherto unheard of torture instruments and drugs, hard and soft  tactics, and even of fellow prisoners being grouped together to extract a  confession.”
The third blog http://drolkar3.blog.sohu.com/, started on June 27 was closed down after 6 days on July 3.
The fourth blog http://drolkar4.blog.sohu.com/ was started on July 3, the day that Karma Samdrup's brother, environmentalist Rinchen Samdrup, was sentenced to 5 years in prison in a separate case taking place in Chamdo, Tibet. The blog was closed down after 3 days.
The fifth blog http://drolkar5.blog.sohu.com/ was started on July 6 and appears to still be online at the time of writing, below is a screenshot of the blog:
Screenshot of Dolkar Tso's Fifth Blog
Underneath her photograph on her blog is this passage:
“Regardless of nationality,  regardless of geography, seek only mercy and justice. No lies, no  flattery, only perseverance and calm. What good comes of deleting this  post or this blog?”
Dolkar Tso (l) and Pu Zhiqiang (centre) in Xinjiang
Lawyer Pu Zhiqiang's personal blog survived the duration of the trial and crucially he was even able to photograph and upload all 10 pages of Karma Samdrup's sentencing documents on the evening of the sentencing. The documents were re-posted almost immediately on Woeser's blog.
However, on July 15, the blog was closed down, below is the error message that appears when trying to access http://puzhiqianglawyer.blog.sohu.com/
Since then, Pu Zhiqiang has been blogging on a new blog but still hosted on Sohu: http://lawyerpuzhiqiang.blog.sohu.com/ As he notes in the top bar of the blog, it is his 13th blog. A few days ago, ChinaGeeks reported that lawyer and blogger Liu Xiaoyuan had his Sohu blog closed down on July 12, 2010.
Whilst an unprecedented amount of information was reaching the internet  and the wider world throughout this case, what is also demonstrated here is the sheer persistence  and determination required by civil society activists in the PRC to be heard using social media, as  well as the importance of online networks of support to re-post articles and to spread the word on shuttered  blogs that may have moved or reincarnated elsewhere.

author: Dechen Pemba


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Israel: Conviction of “rape by deceit” · Global Voices
Katharine Ganly

An Arab resident of Jerusalem has been convicted of rape after posing as a Jew to seduce a woman.
According to media reports, Sabbar Kashur introduced himself to a Jewish woman as a Jewish bachelor seeking a serious relationship. The couple then went to a nearby building and had consensual sexual intercourse, after which Kashur left the building.
When the woman realised Kashur was an Arab, she filed a complaint against him.
While the judge conceded it was not a “classic act of rape”, it was nevertheless stated  that “the Court must protect the public interest against sophisticated criminals with a smooth tongue and sweet talking, who can lead astray innocent victims at the unbearable price of the sanctity of their bodies and souls.”
And added “If she hadn't thought the accused was a Jewish bachelor interested in a serious romantic relationship, she would not have cooperated” (full details can be seen here [HE] and here [EN])
Sabar Kashur was sentenced to 18 months in prison under charges of rape by deception.
The judge's decision has caused a stir amongst the region's blogosphere. Many are outraged by the conviction.
An Israeli-American blogger at Hybrid States writes:
Did he force himself on his “victim”? No.
Was she incapacitated through substance abuse and he took advantage of her? No.
Was she underage, a minor who was taken advantage of by someone of greater size/age/authority? No.
Did the girl want to have sex with him? Yes.
Did she get so horrified when she learned that she just had consensual sex with an Arab that she decided to charge him with rape? Yes.
Was an Arab convicted for the crime of pretending he was a Jew? Yes.
Unbelievable! I cannot even believe I have to write this.
And others on Twitter echo this sentiment:
Some are even cynical as to the woman's claim she was in search of a relationship:
While at xymphora the sentiment is the following:
The ‘victim’ thought she was having sex with a human being, but she was really having sex with an Arab. There is no possible way to make rational sense of this decision without understanding that the court, and thus Israeli society, is profoundly racist.
Others echo this feeling of racism as can be seen here:
and in the title of Promised Land blog‘s post regarding the matter:
Apartheid justice: Brown man impersonates white overlord in name of romance, gets convicted of rape.
A commenter on Promsied Land’s above post states:
If the law were being applied equally to all persons, you could sort of make the case that lying for the purpose of obtaining “sexual favors” is a criminal offense.
However, knowing what the dating scene in Israel was like a decade and a bit ago, I don’t think you could make that case.
Also, and this has been bugging me since I first read the article: how exactly will the man’s “rehabilitation” be measurable? The only answer I see (no more sex with Jewish women) is almost the worst part of this whole story.
While the post itself concludes:
Many men lie to get sex. Now we know which lies are forbidden in Israel.
However, there are some that argue the conviction is merited. A guest commenter at Palestinian Pundit  states:
Zarathustra, I don't care if the guy is Hindu, Atheist, Sufi or Brazilian. Sabbar Kashur sounds like one hell of a jerk.
Not defending the woman, but this Kashar needs a good kick in the butt. Just imagine if that woman were your/our sister
While Elizabeth, commenting at Promised Land  clarifies that the judges were merely applying the legal principle:
ALL lies to women to get sex are illegal in Israel. Please look at Israel’s Criminal Code Paragraph 345(a)(2) that defines rape:
הבועל אשה –
בהסכמת האשה, שהושגה במרמה לגבי מיהות העושה או מהות המעשה;
(My translation): “A male who has sex with a woman with her consent, which was elicited with deceit about the essence of the perpetrator or essence of the act”.
And Noam W, commenting on the same post brings up some interesting points, that are certainly food for thought:
This is a bit more complex. I agree that there are of course disgusting racial undertones, but the prohibition against rape in Israel (and in many other places) includes getting a woman to have sex by deceit.
So, for me, this is what you might call a hard case.
I don’t know if half the men in Israel lie to have sex. I don’t what lies they tell and either way I don’t know if that is alright. What I am worried about is the development of discourse regarding rape similar to the discourse regarding sexual harassment – remember “everybody does it”
and “now we won’t be able to say anything without worrying about offending somebody”.
I don’t want to be come out all moralist on this, but I want to think about the criminal prohibition – lying in order to achieve sex – and see if it is so off-putting that this man should not have been found guilty even if there were no racial overtones.
In light of the above comments, is the issue more complicated than it originally appears? What are your thoughts on the matter? Make them heard here!

author: Katharine Ganly


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Jamaica: Abuse of Power?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica Salt thinks that the recent detainment of dancehall artist Vybez Kartel “does not look good any way you look at it.  In terms of the justice system, human rights, detention powers, use or mis-use of emergency powers.”


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Jamaica: Reggae Time  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“It’s July and Reggae Sumfest is fast upon us”: The Phoenix in a Gas House reports.


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Kazakhstan: Bloggers see China’s “weaponless invasion” · Global Voices
Askhat Yerkimbay

Image by Flickr user guccio (CC-usage).
Posts about China-related topics are quite frequent in the Kazakh language blogs. Here are some of them, the most recent ones. Some time ago, Akzere published a post titled “China – place of grooms” [KAZ].  The post tells the interesting story of Chinese men eager to  have a family. A girl who is a university student posted an  advertisement hoping to meet a young man.  However, she didn’t expect to  see almost 2000 men in front of her dormitory!  One of her readers, Meirzhan, remarks,
“The quantitative inequality between men and women in  modern China has turned into one of the most important problems of our  time that nobody dares to discuss.”
Meirzhan discusses the difficulties of obtaining citizenship for Kazakhs who want to return from China in his post on Neweurasia [KAZ].  He posted another article on the same topic in his own blog, called “Kazakhstan does not need Kazakhs from abroad” [KAZ]:
“If you come closer to the city or regional office  responsible for the visas and registration of foreigners, you will see  our brothers from China, thronging there, not able to get a visa to  their motherland (Kazakhstan). And look at this: Chinese and Uighurs,  who need the same document, give their red passports and get the  necessary stamp and blue paper with Kazakh symbols without any trouble.  But Kazakhs don’t have this privilege, it is restricted for Kazakhs;  they are told ‘to wait’.”
Revolted by the situation, Meirzhan also quotes the following opinion of a close friend:
“The Kazakhs who live abroad think that to gather Kazakhs  scattered all over the world is the number one problem to be solved.  The notion that Kazakhstan does not need them has never crossed their  mind.”
The fact that our brothers from China face language problems (they  don’t speak Russian) and cultural challenges when coming back to  Kazakhstan is widely discussed across the Kaznet.  Fortunately, there  exist people who can help them.  For example, a recent post by blogger Bahtgul65 (who lives in Ustkamenogorsk), entitled “I wish you success, Nurzhan” [KAZ], is about a 22-year-old student who came from China:
“… I was working.  A group of youngsters were eating at  the café. When they were leaving, one of them approached me and asked:  ‘Auntie, do you have any vacancies? My sister is looking for a job.’ I  wrote his name and phone number down, intending to call, in case I  needed somebody. We started talking.
It turned out that Nurzhan was a 22-year-old student who had moved  from China. He said that he would love to open a café like mine, but  that he was bad at documents and did not know Russian.  ‘Even Kazakhs  speak Russian here,’ he remarked.
Nurzhan’s parents passed away when they came back to Kazakhstan. He has two younger sisters to take care of.”
Blogger Ertai, who lives and studies in China, writes very interesting posts on social and political issues there.  In his post. “Military competition” [KAZ], he writes about how the Chinese’ military wants to outperform  the Americans.  He also gives the following extract from the book Chinese Dream, written by a Chinese colonel:
“In the next 10-20 years China will not escape from any  war. Because China is surrounded by enemy countries that have  connections with the US, Washington might ’set on fire’ the back gates  of China. In this case China can set on fire the backyard of the US, as  well.”
Ertai’s next post [KAZ], entitled, “China’s weaponless invasion,” is about Chinese cultural expansion.  He writes:
“In recent years, the number of young people from Central  Asia who have come to learn the Chinese language and culture has  remarkably increased. According to information by the regional  Department of Education, the number of foreign students is about 3.2  thousand. Currently in the states of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and  Turkmenistan, new Confucian institutes, Chinese language courses, and  special centers are being opened.”
The author also notes that in the last year Chinese and Kazahstani  officials have met five times.  So, the more Kazakhstan’s relations with  China intensify, the more China’s influence on Kazakh society will  become visible in the Kaznet.  Everybody should stay tuned.
Also posted on neweurasia.

author: Askhat Yerkimbay


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Kenya: The Kenyan driving experience · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kaboro blogs about the challenges of driving in Kenya: “When I think of some of the pointless things I’ve done in life, I’m tempted to think driving school is one of them. Why? No one in Kenya follows the rules.”


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Latvia: Flexibility of falling finances · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Morten Hansen of A Fistful of Euros scrutinizes the Latvian economic meltdown and is amazed by the country's financial flexibility. Eliana Marino at Baltic Economy Watch discusses the social impacts of crisis.


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Mauritania: Sketching in Mauritania · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sketching in Mauritania is a blog by Isabel Fiadeiro, a painter based in Nouakchott, Mauritania.


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Mauritius: Wooden sculptures at Caudan · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Photos of beautiful wooden sculptures at Caudan in Mauritius: “Somehow, each time I go to Caudan, I need to go near those guys sculpting those wonderful crafts.”


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Moldova: Shutting out the world · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Morning in Moldova argues that Moldovans only look east to Russia and west to the European Union, in the process mentally shutting out the rest of the world.


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Morocco: A Young Blogger Greets the World · Global Voices
Hisham Almiraat

When Salma first started keeping a blog [Ar] in 2008, she was just 6 years old, probably the youngest Moroccan blogger. She greeted the world back then with these words:
مرحبا يا أصدقاء بكم في مدونتي
أنا اسمي سلمى
عمري ست سنوات ونصف
أدرس بالقسم الأول بمدرسة الجاحظ
أنشأ لي أبي مدونة هنا
لأكتب فيها اسمي والعنوان وأعرفكم بعمري
وأعرفكم باسم معلمي
وإذا كتبت كتابة ورسمت رسما
سوف أعملهم في المدونة
Salma is not a regular blogger though but every now and then, and under the supervision of her parents, she would post short stories and pictures of her school and teachers:
Salma receiving a prize at school
After a long interruption Salma finds inspiration again (back in April) and shares with her readers her daily hassles in the classroom. She writes:
زميلتي التي تجلس إلى جانبي في قسم اللغة العربية تحب نفسها كثيرا وتظن أنني ضعيفة وهي قوية لقد أصبحت أكره قسم اللغة العربية بسبب مضايقتها لي وهي تدفعني عند قراءة النص وتلدغني بأظافرها فلا أركز مع أستاذي الذي لايهتم بمشكلتي فأنا أشتكي له وهولا يعاقبها ولم ينقلها من قربي ولهذا قررت إذا لدغتني ألدغها و إذا دفعتني أدفعها ولن أسمح لها بمضايقتي مرة أخرى.
It is not clear how many children bloggers are there in the Moroccan blogosphere and some might wonder how old should a child be before he/she can keep a blog, but something is for sure: Salma's sincere and straightforward writings makes her blog a unique and interesting read. She deserves to be encouraged and followed.

author: Hisham Almiraat


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Myanmar: Martyr’s Day celebration 2010 · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

An opposition booklet poem was distributed by dissident groups inside Myanmar to mark the annual celebration of the Martyr's Day. The event commemorates the 1947 assassination of independence leaders.


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Nepal: Madesh Parties Boycott Elections · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bhola B Rana reports in Nepal today that the election of Nepalese Prime Minister is due today and four Madesh parties are boycotting the election.


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Poland: Confusing conspiracies · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Polandian sighs at all rumours and confusing conspiracy theories drifting about in Polish society, following the tragic planecrash that took the life of the country's president and a large chunk of its political élite earlier this year.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Poland: From accord to discord · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Raf Uzar discusses how Poland's national unity following the death of the country's president earlier this year now has evaporated, as politics return to old conflicts and fault lines.


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Puerto Rico: the CAC games begin · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

The Central American and Caribbean Games are under way in Puerto Rico. Gil the Jenius criticises the organisers for “mismanagement” and “incompetence”, and reports on the controversial use of hidden cameras for surveillance of protesters by the police.


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Maldives: Romance with Democracy at Stake · Global Voices
Saffah Faroog

Mohamed Nasheed, President of Maldives. Image courtesy Presidency of Maldives Photostream, CC BY
On June 29, 2010, the whole Cabinet of the government of the Maldives submitted their resignation to President Mohamed Nasheed, on the grounds that their work was severely restricted by an opposition-led Parliament, which the cabinet members accused of encroaching on the powers of the Executive. The ex-ministers claimed recent Bills passed by the parliament were anti-constitutional and restricted them from delivering essential public services. The opposition members of parliament defended their actions as holding the Executive accountable and preventing abuse of Executive powers. Thus began a highly politicized drama in the Maldives; one that threatens the country’s romance with democracy, and poses serious questions about the political stability of the island nation in the coming days.
Shortly after the Cabinet resigned, two high profile opposition MPs were arrested by the police, on suspicion of bribing MPs. Meanwhile, audio clips, believed to be mobile phone conversations between four opposition MPs, were anonymously leaked to the media. The audio clips suggest bribery of MPs and undue influence exerted on the Maldives’ Anti-Corruption Commission by politicians, while the leak has created a debate over the legality of the government spying on citizens through wiretapping.
As the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the largest party in the ruling coalition, tried to mobilize its supporters on to the streets in what it described as an anti-corruption campaign, the opposition parties accused the government of conducting a witch-hunt to eliminate political opposition. Shortly after the Supreme Court ruled that the detained MPs should be released, the judiciary became a target of the anti-corruption drive, with accusations leveled against judges of accepting bribes. While the judiciary had been previously criticized by the civil society for failure to deliver justice and of lacking independence, harassment of judges has been a hallmark of recent demonstrations organized by political parties. The demonstrations have led to violence and destruction of private property, causing fears that the peaceful democratic transition the country was experiencing may backtrack. The resigned Cabinet members have been sworn in again; however, they have to be approved by the parliament, which refuses to continue sessions because an opposition leader is being detained by the security forces without a court warrant.
As the three powers of the government – the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary – undergo confrontations, Bloggers react to the largest political crisis facing the Maldives since its first democratic election of November 2008.
Ibra, a former MP, argues in his blog that the Parliamentary Committee for Independent Commissions should investigate allegations that Anti-Corruption Commission is unduly being influenced by politicians:
It is most untoward that an Independent Commission may be intimidated in this fashion to subvert the course of governance and justice to further the political ambitions of any person.
Further, members of the Anti-Corruption Commission should also be summoned to the Majlis and required to reveal all that they know of these matters, and any possible such matters in the past. If they are being intimidated and threatened in any way, they should be accorded the full protection of the State so that they may discharge their duties in accordance with the Constitution and the Law.
The hearings of the Committee with regard to these matters should be open to the public and the media. These are important events in a defining period of our nation, and all citizens have a right to know the truth regarding these matters.
Mhilmyh muses about the current situation of the Maldives:
Mahatma Gandhi said that seven things will destroy a society. (Link)
1)Wealth without work
2)Pleasure without conscience
3)Knowledge without character
4)Commerce (business) without morality (ethics)
5)Science without humanity
6)Religion without sacrifice
7)Politics without principle
All of these conditions are evident in the social and political fabric of our society today.
Now we have freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. We have the separation of powers and we have independent institutions, still in the early stages of the democratic process. With the new found freedoms our society is on the brink of anarchy.
Maldivianism draws parallels between the anti-corruption campaign in the Maldives and George W Bush’s claim that Weapons of Mass Destruction existed in Iraq:
I remember the beginning of the gradual demise of George W.’s Presidency as the people of the United States realized their president based invasion of a middle east country on flawed intelligence.
ARE WE FOLLOWING A SIMILAR PATH?
Instead of WMDs we have WMCs – Weapons of Mass Corruption inside the Parliament.
I remember the government released audio tapes of key parliamentarians plotting cash for votes and buying party loyalty.
I remember parliamentarians being taken to court charged with attempt to topple a government.
I remember the court concurring there was insufficient proof to hold parliamentarians under house arrest.
I remember the government retaliating with protests, riots leading to aggression and disturbance of peace.
Hassan Ziyau writes about the implications of the leaked audio clips:
The leaked audio clips also has broken the trust that the Maldivian had for the ‘security forces’ and service providers as many Maldivians believe that the recording phone conversation could be done only by ‘security forces’ or the service providers. Telecommunication authority admitted that they have given permission to ‘security forces’ to record phone calls.
Ziyau also has some advice for the various institutions and pillars of the state:
Of course the democracy is yet still a new thing in the Maldives, and such drama might be expected. Even though we all know that the pillars of the democracy are all independent, that however does not mean one has the power to do whatever they want. They are not to act as small governments within the government. Each pillar has a purpose and a set of limits. Various political parties need to stop promoting their individual agendas and make the system easier for the people. Let each pillar do its work without much hindrance from the other.
As the political crisis in the Maldives deepens, it remains to be seen if politicians will listen to Bloggers such as Ziyau.

author: Saffah Faroog


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Russia: Kremlin tweets go English · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Dmitry Petrovsky of Russia Blog reports that the Kremlin has set up a mirroring Twitter account in English to its popular Russian counterpart.


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Russia: Nemtsov – no way! · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

The Kremlin Stooge criticizes opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, marvels at his following, and wonders what solutions he has to offer Russia but negativism and critique.


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Russia: Rumours of foreign policy west-turn exaggerated · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Edward Lozansky at Russia Blog discusses whether Russian foreign policy is actually turning westwards but finds little evidence of this.


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Russia: Staying power of penalism · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Streetwise Professor discusses how the Russian dedovshchina – penalism during military service – tradition has changed into an ever greater system of anarchy and arbitrariness.


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Somaliland ready to join international community · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“Successful Presidential election means the country is now in a position to move forward and join the other independent states of the world,” reads a press release from Somaliland Forum.


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South Korea: A National Mourning on A Vietnamese Bride’s Death · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korean bloggers grieve for a Vietnam bride who was killed by her Korean husband a week after she landed Korea. Thach Thi Hoang Ngoc (age 20) was stabbed and beaten to death by her husband Jang Du Hyo (age 47) who had a mental illness. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak passed his condolence to the victim's family via Korean ambassador in Vietnam. Korean bloggers, while expressing their grievances to the murdered bride, urged the government and the police to clamp down the unwarranted marriage agencies who often lead marriages into tragedies by hiding the husband's mental history, characters and status.
A screen shot image of a portal site after entering a search word: Vietnam brides.
When you enter a search word ‘Vietnam brides’ in the Naver.com, Korea's most widely used portal site, almost nine out of ten are the marriage broker sites, alluring young Korean guys that they can get a Vietnam or other foreign bride in a reasonable price.
The murdered young bride, Ngoc was the one on the market. She arrived in Korea on July 1, got married and found as a cold body on 8. She could not speak Korean and knew nothing about her husband and about his mental instability. The husband later told the local police that he was instructed by a ghost to kill his wife.
Many Koreans were appalled by the news, most of them calling the incident as a national shame.
A lawyer blogger Springlaw commented  in a posting that starts with a sentence ‘I am posting it, hoping such incident never happens again’ that the marriage was wrong from the start and it got ‘festered’ by the miscommunication, ignorance and late response.
신부를 거의 구매하다 싶이하고 서로 말이 통하지 않는 상태에서 폭력과 폭언으로 얼룩진 한국의 결혼생활 그 동안 많은 문제로 곪다 곪다 이제는 터져 버린거 같네요. 이제는 한 가정의 문제가 아닌 국가와 국가의 일로 커질거 같아 정말 걱정인 국제 결혼…이러한 잘못된 결혼 행태는 이미 전부터 사기결혼이라고 불릴만한 결혼들이 성행했었고, 그로 인해 가슴에 상처를 입은 해외 여성들이 많이 생겨났습니다. 이러한 문제를 이미 방송과 같은 언론에서 지적을 했지만 안일한 대처를 지속하던 국가와 국민들에게 베트남 신부의 피살이라는 부끄러운 일이 벌어졌습니다.
The international marriage is on a sharp rise in Korea. Around 11 percent (35 thousand cases) of the whole marriage are international, according to Korea Statistics Office. But many suspect it as a conditional marriage between an unmarriable Korean guy and a young foreign bride whom sold at around 7 to 10 thousand dollars. Almost every case the couples do not speak each other’s language, and the dysfunctional marriage ends up as the husbands beat the wives and the wives ran away. When the situation is bearable, the wives send money to their parents back in their homeland. The money young brides sent often transforms into a huge sum of money due to the currency margin.
A Korean blogger Trustme77 living in Vietnam coalesced Vietnamese comments to a news report on the story. Some shared their heartbreaking stories and others did not hold back their raging anger toward the marriage brokers and the government.
슬프다. 많은 베트남 여성들이 돈 때문에 그들 스스로의 존엄성을 상관하지 않는다. 더 슬픈 것은 베트남 법이 너무 느슨하다는 것이다. (Bui Tan Man)
도박같은 삶. 젊은 여성들은 외국 생활을 이해하지 못한다. 대부분 천국일 것이라고 생각한다. 그것은 순진한 여성들이 실수일 뿐이다. (Ta Duc Thong)
당신이 깨달았을 때 행복은 없다. 나는 한국 남성과 결혼하여 한국에서 살고 있다. 나는 브로커를 통해서 결혼했고 수백명의 여성들 사이에서 선택되었을 때 울었다…몇 달 간의 서류 절차를 거처 한국에 갔을 때 나의 꿈은 완전히 무너졌다. 그는 직업이 없었고 간질병 환자였다. 속았다는 것을 알았을 때 고향을 그리워하며 많이 울었다. (Nguyen Thi Hong)
국제 결혼 브로커들은 처벌되야 한다. 왜 당국은 나서지 않는가? (Anh Minh)
Korean society’s apathy is not helping the situation, commented a blogger Danbee 928,  urging Koreans to remember their humble times in the 1960s and 70s, when many Korean went to war zone or Western countries to earn money to home.
우리에게도 과거 가난을 탈출하겠다고 서독 광부로, 간호사로, 그리고 월남전으로 떠난 일이 있습니다. 낯설고 물설은 이역만리에서 가난을 이겨 나가겠다고 그리고 되물림 하지 않겠다고 얼마나 힘들게 지냈는지. 왜 개구리 올챙이적 생각을 하지 못할까요?
The South Korean Police promised to conduct a nationwide full-out investigation on marriage brokerage firms, whether they are registered or unregistered. Bloggers are hoping it be thorough and conclusive enough to erase a stain off the nation’s name.


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South Korea: Dog Meat Debate · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ask a Korean! translated a local food columnist posts on dog meat.

author: Oiwan Lam


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South Korea: Modernizing Traditional Korean Clothes · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

James Turnbull from the Grand Narratives blogs about the recent fashion trend in modernizing traditional Korean clothes.


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Sri Lanka: A Militarized State · Global Voices
Rezwan

Indrajit Samarajiva at Indi.ca comments: “Sri Lanka is a militarized state and a generation is growing up thinking that this is normal.”


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St. Vincent and the Grenadines: happy birthday, Mandela · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

“When I was ten years old, I like the rest of the world watched Nelson Mandela walk to freedom,” writes Abeni, sharing her thoughts on the 92nd birthday of the South African hero.


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Taiwan: Driftwood in Tsengwen Reservoir · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

After almost one year since typhoon Morokot, Tsengwen Reservoir is still seriously blocked by driftwood and silt. Citizen journalist Sadapeopo documented the situation in a video report, interviewed the boss of local yacht-tour company and several travelers when visiting the dam, and gave his own observation(zht). “Two-thirds of the wood and mud flushed from the mountains during typhoon Morokot is still at the bank. If we don't preserve the mountains, this reservoir will never recover”, said the boss in the video.

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Trinidad and Tobago: recycled jeans · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Trinidadian artist and designer Richard Rawlins posts images of his “Bag Project”, turning discarded pairs of jeans into one-of-a-kind bags. Jeans are “the great unifier”, he writes.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Colourful  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The rich and various colours of our people are one of the things I like about this place. We are not homogenous”: Lisa Allen-Agostini is colour conscious.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Housing Policy  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Afra Raymond goes more in depth into his ideas “for a more effective and equitable national housing policy.”


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USA Internet Governance Forum Meets Today · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

The second Internet Governance  Forum USA (IGF-USA) is taking place today July 21, 2010 in Washington, DC. The one-day event offers expert panels and workshops on important global Internet governance issues, as well as a plenary session on the continuation of the United Nations Internet Governance  Forum (via ISOC-NY).

author: Solana Larsen


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Vietnam: Proposed human rights agenda · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Vietnam Reform Party has advised U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who will visit Vietnam this week, to raise human rights issues with the Vietnam government. The group also highlighted the need to combat web censorship.


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Africa: Brain drain and African governance · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Gregory Simpkins argues that African governments spend an average of US$4 billion a year to hire about 100,000 Western experts to handle functions, which could have been performed by the African professionals in the Diaspora.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Africa: Maker Faire Africa 2010 T-Shirt Design Competition · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“In celebrating African creativity; Maker Faire Africa 2010 and African Digital Art network are partnering up to encourage designers throughout Africa to showcase their talent through a T-Shirt Design Competition,” writes Ghanaian blogger Mac-Jordan.


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Armenia-Azerbaijan: Bloggers build dialogue  · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

This post is part of our special coverage Caucasus Conflict Voices.
Although a recent conference held earlier this month at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington D.C. highlighted some of the shortcomings and dangers of using new and social media in conflict resolution, there is no doubt that online tools have moved in to fill a gap left vacant by a usually politically polarized and propagandist media in the South Caucasus.
This is particularly true for Armenia and Azerbaijan, two countries locked into deadlock in continuing negotiations to find a lasting solution to conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh over 16 years after a  ceasefire agreement was signed in 1994. The war claimed over 25,000 lives, forced a million to flee from their homes, and there are fears that hostilities might break out again, especially after the albeit short war between Russia and Georgia in late 2008.
However, even if most online activity in this area arguably seeks only to acerbate the situation, blogs do allow alternative voices the chance to be heard. Such an opportunity was made evidently clear this week when EurasiaNet, an online news site dealing with the Caucasus and Central Asia, republished two guest entries by an Armenian and Azerbaijani blogger.
These two blog posts by Scary Azeri and Global Chaos were originally published as part of a series for an online project giving space to alternative voices on the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh. […] The project is managed by […] the Yerevan-based Caucasus editor for Global Voices Online.
In the first, originally posted on The Caucasian Knot as part of a larger project using new and social media to overcome negative stereotypes in the region, popular Azerbaijani blogger Scary Azeri offers her own personal reflections on the conflict and how online activity has opened up new avenues for communication.
In my class at school, half of us were Azeris. The rest were other nationalities. I did not even register the fact that some of my classmates were Armenian until people started to leave. Did I suddenly start hating them just because they had an Armenian name? Of course not. Does my mother hate her university friend who had to flee from Baku, but then, years after, having found my mum on Facebook, got in touch? I watched them talk on Skype, laughing, sharing their memories. Nothing had changed between them. Nothing ever could.
[…]
[…] Our mentality, cultures and backgrounds are interlinked and the similarities come through in our music, food and customs. The internet opened the doors in the virtual world that have been shut by the war in the real life.
But, in the real life, how far does this conflict stretch across the borders? What happens abroad, far away from the conflict zone?
Well, I would argue that it fades away.
[…]
And that is what it feels like to someone living outside the conflict zone. Of course I remember what happened. But I also remember the good parts of the past. Every war eventually comes to an end. And I sincerely hope there is going to be peace in the region sometime soon. Sometime in my lifetime.
A second guest entry by the Armenian Global Chaos echoed the same message and particularly focused on the need to think in regional, not national terms.
[…]  it is much easier to apply the “nation” label (i.e. straightjacket) and manipulate the minds: the lack of a better alternative and the diverted focus of attention might, after all, fuel sufficient “courage and dedication” for a conflict…
Why not realize that over centuries – before we were even aware of our “nationhood” as such (since the latter is, quite surprisingly, a very modern concept) – we have evolved as a region, sharing land and culture? Why not admit that we are not that different, after all, and that we truly can get over the endless and pointless political debate and continue the process that was so abruptly interrupted with the creation of the mostly artificial borders?
Why not focus all that energy and effort toward sharing, rather than dividing and alienating? Why not realize that we are human beings – first and foremost – before we are assigned a “national” label?
Writing in the blog section of the newly launched Caucasus Edition, Veronika Agajanyan, says that attitudes shaped might simply be determined by an accident of birth.
Our birth does not depend on our will. We are never free to choose where and when to be born. […]
[…]
In 1988, I could not imagine that the first two facts were actually about to be incompatible. And it was not me to decide that at the age of one I would have to leave the city, where my life had started, without a right to ever go back. Anyway, it had to happen and it happened.
[…]
Well, our birth indeed does not depend on our will. However, it is always us who decides how to live further. We are always free to make a choice between war and peace, hate and love, destruction and creation, death and life. Taking into account the facts of my life one can notice that I was actually too close to devote myself to the negative feelings. But my parents as well as Armenian and Azerbaijani friends did not allow it to happen. And I am most grateful to all of them for that.
The young Armenian refugee from Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, also takes the time to recount her own experience after being inspired by another guest post by ethnic Azeri refugee Zamira Abbasova who also fled her home in Armenia during the war. Global Voices has put the two in touch.
Finally, in another guest entry on The Caucasian Knot, popular Armenian blogger Ianyan also notes the importance of using new and social media in opening up lines of communication, overcoming stereotypes and placing human values over national ones.
The more I wrote, the more it was evident that all of us – Armenians, Turks, Azeris – shared more than we were led to believe. In the simplest of terms, we became humans – a notion we had forgotten for way too long. The most rewarding element of this entire incredible experience was realizing that we had all become agents of change right in front of our eyes.
“There are no nations,” said Isaac Asimov. “There is only humanity. And if we don’t come to understand that soon there will be no nations because there will be no humanity.”
And while the change will come gradually and slowly and we will still be exposed to those who prefer to spread intolerance and misunderstanding, the tides are turning and the momentum is big. Taking a step to understand a fellow human being beyond the politics, territorial lines and propaganda isn’t hard at all – you just have to take the time to try.
This post is part of our special coverage Caucasus Conflict Voices.


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Azerbaijan: Amnesty International campaign for convicted bloggers · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Having already recently marked the first anniversary of their initial detention, Amnesty International urges supporters worldwide to lobby the government in Azerbaijan to ensure that imprisoned video blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli receive a fair appeal hearing in the coming months.


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Bahamas: Forward poet · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Geoffrey Philp shares the news that Bahamian poet Christian Campbell has been shortlisted for a Forward Prize, and the Caribbean Review of Books blog links to one of Campbell’s poems.


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Bahamas: on “race” · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

“Please. Don’t call me white.” Nicolette Bethel writes about the intricacies of race, history and politics in the Bahamas. “The ‘race’ that has historical significance and the ‘race’ that we appear to practice today are two very different animals.”


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Barbados: missing butterflies · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

My Rustic Bajan Garden wonders if a decline in numbers of butterflies is a worrying sign for Barbados. “The absence of these creatures is a strong indicator that all is not well in our environment.”


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Blog Carnival: Colombia, Women and the Web – A Summary · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

There seems to be a concern among Colombian women about defending their rights and about increasing the number of women who can use the Internet and new media to express themselves and take advantage of the benefits this medium offers, like other women do in other countries. This is evident after going over 21 posts submitted for the first blog carnival organized by Global Voices in Spanish: Blog Carnival: Colombia, women on the net [es].
What is a blog carnival? It is a virtual event where a host, Global Voices in Spanish in this case, calls on other blogs to write about a specific topic. The carnival tends to last for a determined length of time, and once it is over, a post summarizing the participation is published.
Young women participating in a digital inclusion workshop in Medellín, Colombia.
Let's begin the journey through these blogs with Kathy Gámez who, from Santa Marta, publishes the blog Lo que no voy a callar (What I Won’t be Silent About), and presents the post, Y tu mujer?? como usas el internet?? [es], (And You Woman?? How Are Do You Use the Internet?) where she gives us her personal view on  Colombian women and the Internet. She points out a few advantages and disadvantages about the use of the Internet, but also mentions that women are now “taken into account, so let’s give ourselves the opportunity to offer something else, something many will remember, this is an invitation to make good use of the Internet, in my network, in your network, in our network..” she also says:
… internet en nuestras vidas juega un papel muy importante sobre todo para las mujeres que trabajamos y que no podemos dejar nuestras obligaciones laborales para ejecutar determinada actividad, hoy en dia nuestras vidas se ven resueltas y pueden girar en torno al sin numero de aplicaciones web de diferentes entidades que nos permiten movernos en este mundo virtual sin necesidad de dejar tirado lo que estamos haciendo en nuestro mundo real, podemos pagar nuestras cuentas, enviar cartas, comunicados, actualizar informacion, enviar hojas de vida, asistir a conferencias e incluso vigilar lo que sucede en nuestras casas mientras no estamos presentes. Lastimosamente y por el poco apoyo de las entidades gubernamentales de algunos paises, por escaces de recursos o por la poca formacion o sensibilizacion acerca del adecuado uso que podemos darle a esta herramienta solo algunas tenemos la posibilidad de acceder a este mundo 2.0.
In the blog Opinopongo, Mrs. Colombia, from a place “close to the city of the wind” in The United States, participates with the post Bloggueras con impedimentos [es] (Women Bloggers with Impediments) where she compares the Colombian Internet with other realities in other places, and despite the differences points out that “there is no valid motive for Colombian women to not contribute more posts on the web.” Nevertheless, she is aware of reality:
Colombia: un país en el que el treinta y ocho por ciento de la población tiene acceso a internet, el tercer lugar en penetración en América Latina después de Brasil y Argentina. Nada mal para un país que lucha diariamente con problemas mucho más graves que darle acceso a la red a todos sus habitantes. Sin embargo, la mayoría de las mujeres colombianas aún no han logrado adoptar este medio como una forma de expresarse a sí mismas o de luchar por sus derechos y sus ideales. … Colombia es un país, en el cual no sólo es el acceso físico a la red, sino más que todo la sociedad la que regula lo que escribes, cómo escribes y para quien escribes. Especialmente en el caso de las bloggueras, la sociedad es un impedimento real para decir a calzón quitao lo que se piensa de un tema en particular.
Self-enforced impediments, among other things, is what the young Lina Marcías talks about in her blog Angelesituango's blog, from the small city of Ituango. She published the post La mujer en la red [es] (Women on the Net) where she says:
(las) mujeres aceptan y son testigos del avance tecnológico, pero se inhiben a participar de él, poniendo como escusa su edad, diciendo que la internet y otros adelantos son hechos para los jóvenes. Pero “como todos no pensamos igual”, son muchas otras las mujeres que se atreven a hacer parte del desarrollo tecnológico, sin importar su edad, descubren las infinitas posibilidades que la red ofrece: saber de sus viejos amigos, investigar, jugar… otras se proponen cambiar los estereotipos que hay de la mujer, hacer respetar sus derechos, reclamar por sus violaciones, formando en la red una comunidad de apoyo hacia la mujer, causa a la que muchos hombres se le unen.
And speaking of men, a gentleman from Bogotá, Luis Angel Pérez, through his post Mujeres conectadas [es] (Connnected Women) from his blog El blog de Luis gives us the names of various women who presently lead in the fields of Free Software, and Free Culture in Colombia, and not only that, also [talks about] their growing presence in the expression of various opinions through blogs and Twitter. This is what he says:
Tomo como base lo que al principio fué el FISOL (Festival de Instalación de Software Libre), cuando asistí a este evento por primera vez en 2003 todos eran hombres, en la logística y como instaladores. Hoy la situación es muy distinta. Las mujeres han liderado en los últimos años el capítulo del FLISOL (Festival Latinoamericano de Instalación de Software Libre) en Colombia un evento internacional desde el aspecto organizacional y también en la creación de proyectos y productos relacionados al software libre. Desmintiendo con hechos el mito de que la informática era un campo exclusivo para los hombres nerd.
Acting as a testimony to this, madame web from the blog La lógica de mi papa (My Father’s Logic), from Pasto, asks ¿La Mujer y la Red? [es] (Women and the Web?) where she considers her recent experience at Campus Party and poders:
Este año asistieron mas mujeres que en versiones anteriores, pero ¿a que se debe que no haya una igualdad en la asistencia? acaso las conferencias, talleres y concursos que se desarrollan en Corferias durante estos días no son lo suficientemente atractivos para las mujeres?. Seria muy atrevido generalizar y decir que todas las mujeres tienen acceso a un computador, mas aun cuando yo trabajo en un proyecto de Inclusión Digital en la zona rural y se que no es así. Si, Internet te acerca a todo, pero también te aleja de la realidad.
Reality is something that Maria Eugenia Alonso, from Bogotá but living in Cali, takes into consideration in her blog La Mariposa (The Butterfly) and asks ¿Por qué creé un blog? [es] (Why did I Create a Blog?). This introspection leads her to remember some criticism she got for blogging, in the sense that she was doing it because she had nothing better to do, to which she answers enumerating all of her domestic duties as a woman, wife and mother, and also adds:
ahh… fuera de eso me queda tiempo para tomar fotos, encontrar gente que hace 40 años no veo y hacer dibujos en computador para un proyecto. Dios si eso es no tener qué hacer y es tanta mi depresión que tengo que llenar mis vacíos con el blog y estar 24 horas frente al pc sin ningún objetivo, entonces sí es pérdida de tiempo, pero si me sirve para salir de mi supuesta depresión y ayudo a mi vejez porque no tengo que tomar ativan, ni bon sleep, ni valeriana para conciliar el sueño, ayudo con mis sugerencias y comentarios… Entonces NO es pérdida de tiempo.
Citizen Journalism workshop, Medellín.
And Entre nosotras… ¿para qué sirve la red? [es] (Between us…What is the Web Good For?) is the question with a double meaning that Sonia.Ro asks in her blog Hazlo poco pero bueno (Do it a little bit but do it well). She not only takes on the Internet, but also talks about society to reveal the “supposed advances” of women in modern times. But despite the criticism she has towards the position of women in society, she thinks the Internet is good for something that is very important to women: communicate.
Contándonos historias tejemos nuevas redes, de confidencias, de afectos, de ayudas, de intercambios, de generosidades. Y entre las historias que nos contamos, vemos que vivimos lo mismo, en nuestros hogares, nuestras escuelas, nuestro barrio, nuestras ciudades. Y que los problemas que tenemos no son sólo de nuestra comunidad, no es el profesor del colegio, o el pastor de nuestra iglesia, o el alcalde de nuestra ciudad. Porque del otro lado del mundo sucede igual, y nos llegan las mismas historias. Y si sucede igual allá, entonces el problema debe ser más grande, su raíz más profunda… Por eso creo en la red que conecta.
Andrea Juliana Enciso who blogs in Anotaciones para solitarios profesionales :escritos (Annotations for lonely professionals: writings) is also critical in her post with a long title, No me compres una olla a presión cuando sea grande: los susurros femeninos en los blogs en la democracia del simulacro de internet [es], (Don’t Buy Me a Pressure Cooker When I’m Older: the Feminine Whispers in Blogs in the Democracy of the Simulation of the Internet) she thinks about female readers, as well as writers, wondering what has changed and whether new technologies are being used to stall progress, but at the end shows some hope:
No me quejo de internet, creo que la mayor parte de mi tiempo estoy conectada, pero creo que el asunto no es solo el espacio abierto de lo otro, es también, pensar como esos otros que no están en la vitrina de la buena simulación, son válidos como lecturas posibles más allá de lo freak o lo especial, en que irónicamente lo común- los trece kilos de sobrepeso, el hombre que no supera los 1.70, la mujer que pelea todos los días con su armario- puede ser un lugar seductor en estás épocas de tantos disfraces y exceso de representación.
Representations and stereotypes is precisely what Johanna writes about on her blog Licuc in the post La princesa rosada que olía a fresas [es] (The Pink Princess that Smelled like Strawberries) where she appeals to sarcasm to describe a certain type of woman that, “accesses technology because it’s fashionable, not because of necessity”:
No le interesa tener un blog, ni cuenta en Twitter. El tiempo que gastaría averiguándolo preferiría invertirlo depilándose o en cualquier otro tratamiento de belleza. En su mundo la etiqueta multitarea se aplica a leer una revista de farándula mientras le arreglan las uñas, no a recibir correos electrónicos al tiempo que habla por teléfono.
In this similar mood we find the post Reinas como hormigas [es] (Queens like Ants) that Maria Paz Ruiz published on her blog Compota de historias (Story Composte) and that she submitted for the blog carnival. Overall, the subject of gender has been a popular focus for the carnival. For example Juliana Rincón fron the blog MedeaMaterial offers the post Mujer en la Red: ¿género? [es] (Woman on the Web: Gender?) where she tells us how gender is something that can’t be ignored on the web, but that it is not the only thing that defines us as a person:
Porque de la misma manera como nos define ser mujer, también nos define nuestra edad, dónde vivimos, cómo nos vemos, cómo nos expresamos, el vocabulario que usamos, nuestros referentes culturales. Ésas son las cosas que van armando el avatar que nos representa en la red, esa idea nebulosa que quienes me leen se hacen a través de la distancia, de donde agarran pedacitos de cada post o de frases y arman una imagen de cómo debo ser según lo que escribo.
Catalina Urquijo from Medellín provides a similar approach to the issue, and from her blog $ujetate (Unknown II) [es] publishes the post Mujeres en la red ¿Un espejo de nuestra realidad? [es] (Women on the Web: A Mirror of our Reality?) where, among other things, she tells us:
esta red no es más que un pequeño reflejo de las muchas cosas que ocurren en nuestra realidad, acá también hay machismo, prostitución,anorexia, bulimia… Pero, afortunadamente, esto es solo una parte de la realidad, pues en esta red colombiana existen muchas mujeres que con un buen uso de estas herramientas ayudan a eliminar muchos estereotipos, y ejemplos de ellas (que) hay por todos lados … nos permiten afirmar sin temor a equivocarnos que esta red, desde el lado del prisma en que se le mire/use, ha permitido mostrar también esa otra cara de la realidad, esa dónde la mujer también busca sus oportunidades, un mejor futuro, igualdad, defender sus derechos, eliminar estereotipos ó simplemente interactuar y compartir con otros sus ideas, como el ser pensante que es.
Cristina Parra Lozano also shows optimism and hope in the post MUJER COLOMBIANA: La red es nuestra [es] (COLOMBIAN WOMAN: The Web is Ours) from her blog Pensando sin Efectos Secundarios (Thinking Without Side Effects). She explains what being a Colombian woman on the web should mean, but above all she thinks that:
No es simplemente el que participemos mayor número de mujeres en muchos espacios. Es que legitimemos el estar en estos espacios nombrándonos y autoreconociéndonos en nuestras diferencias. Vá más allá de espacios dedicados a nosotras,o exclusivos para hablar de temas femeninos. Reconocernos pasa por saber cómo nos estamos involucrando en los procesos y qué tanta visibilidad le estamos dando a los temas donde somos las mujeres las más vulneradas como en el caso de las víctimas de la guerra, o donde somos las mujeres quienes damos ejemplo, o quienes mostramos nuevas formas de colaborar, de ayudar, de trabajar… de construir.
During a workshop for young women in Medellín.
Inspired on an advertisement she heard on the radio, Cristina Mazo makes a short but interesting reflection on how women are being represented on the web in the post La mujer y sus dos caras en la web [es] (Women and Their Two Sides on the Web) in her blog Pensando el Mundo (Thinking the World)
Las mujeres en la red son una ambivalencia, quienes sólo buscan lo superficial de ellas o las que sólo quieren mostrar su lado meramente sexual tienen su espacio y para aquellos y aquellas quienes se quieren instruir, conocer y vivir experiencias únicas donde sólo las mujeres son la principal fuente del conocimiento, la mayor inspiración para tan bellos poemas, cuadros y demás maravillas que se hacen en honor a la mujer, para todos ellos y ellas que buscan en la mujer la mayor fuente de deseo está la WEB.
And Darío Gómez also explores the subject of ambivalence and of multiple functions with the poem Mujer, ¿Cuál es tu red? [es] (Woman, What is Your Web?) in his blog Con la pata al suelo (With the Foot on the Ground) from which we select this small part:
Exhuberante mujer vestida con prenda de malla para atraer
Tímida mujer con el pelo recogido en redecilla para llorar
Mujer, ¿Cuál es tu red?
From multiple functions to multiple personalities there could only be one step. Manuela Londoño Hurtado, also known as “MALHU -y su parche” (MALHU –and her friends) offers a humurous post for the carnival, Monólogo a cuatro manos (no es que seamos mancas, es que solo tecleamos con una [es]) (Monologue by four hands (not because we are one-armed, it’s just that we type with one [hand]) where she says:
Que no tenemos que saber de ingeniería avanzada para manejar un blog
Que somos tan buenas (y mas) manejando estos aparatos tecleados
que no consideramos esto una pérdida de tiempo
Que escribimos mejor de lo que cocinamos
And now moving on to more specific cases of women on the web, we have the parcicipation of Astrid Uribe who on the post La mujer y su conexión con el mundo a través de la web [es] (Women and Their Connexion to the World Through the Web) from her blog astriduribe, sees libraries as important promoters of access to new technologies:
vemos que aún hay muchas personas, entre ellas, una considerable cantidad de mujeres que no tienen conocimiento frente a estas herramientas y se están perdiendo de grandes oportunidades que allí se ofrecen; y aunque hayan en el momento grandes esfuerzos por parte de algunas organizaciones, colectivos de mujeres, redes de personas, entidades gubernamentales, entre otras, para mejorar esta situación, se debe pensar en un trabajo más elaborado si bien por todas estas organizaciones, redes, entidades y demás, con las instituciones educativas, más específicamente con las bibliotecas.
Yesenia Corrales in her blog Yeskenia shares the post Mujer rural: “Desafìo del herramientas de campo, un hecho que marca la historia en la tecnologìa” [es] (Rural Women “The Challenge of Tools of the Countryside, a Fact that Marks the History of Technology”) where she tells us about Susana’s experience, from the “vereda ‘San José de la Montaña'” from the township of San Cristóbal (Medellín, Colombia), an active member of the Women’s group “Siempre vivas” (Always Alive):
La vida campesina cambia y el rol de la mujer en éstos escenarios se vuelve importante porque hay toma de decisiones propias … se vuelven negociadoras pues el choque de las actividades del campo, con la dinámica de ciudad exige que aprendan y que tengan conocimientos básicos en la áreas de: emprendimiento, administraciòn y contabilidad. Cuando la mujer rural enfrenta estos cambios, enfrenta también una realidad que es inherente a los ojos: “La tecnología”, ¿còmo entra la tecnologìa en la dinámica de ruralidad?
But we also received first-hand testimonies, like one from Johanna Reyes from Red Mujeres Ciudadanas (Network of Citizen Women) and WiKiCiudadanía, who on the post Mujeres hiperconectadas y visibles [es] (Hyper-connected and Visible Women) summarizes the projects she works on:
Durante 2008 y 2009 creamos dos proyectos importantes en la Web que visibilizan el rol y los proyectos liderados por mujeres, aprovechando el potencial de las redes sociales, creando recursos, aportando ideas y opiniones, haciendo valer el ingenio y creatividad en temas sobre comunicación participativa, e-democracia, periodismo digital y uso de la tecnología para la transparencia de lo público: 1. La iniciativa -Yo Cuido mi Voto- y 2. WIkiCiudanía, el proyecto bandera de la Red Mujeres Ciudadanas.
We could call the blog Mi Bypass Gástrico (My Gastric Bypass) by  María Fernanda Quintero a personal crusade, where she tells “my story, of a person with morbid obisity in Colombia, to make it simpler, it is the story of a human being rejected by society because of her weight. I know it sounds dramatic, but only those who have gone through these trials with excesive weight know what I’m talking about.” For our carnival, María Fernanda wrote the post Un testimonio, un beneficio para todos [es] (A testimony, a benefit for everyone):
En dos años y medio de compartir este espacio, no solo se han abierto lazos de amistad, sino que he logrado interactuar con pacientes que ya cuentan con mas de 5 años de experiencia … me he dado cuenta que el 85 % de mis lectores son mujeres, que encuentran en el blog la manera mas sencilla de expresar sus temores y complejos … No tengo el numero exacto de a cuantas personas o de a cuantas mujeres les ha sido nfo la nformación del blog, las estadísticas solo sirven para medir el trafico, no para medir el impacto de mi testimonio en la comunidad … de las mujeres colombianas que gracias a este humilde espacio tomaron la decisión de seguir adelante en su lucha por una vida digna llena de sueños.
I will finish the journey through these blogs with the post G [es] from the blog loquera. It is about a man and technology isn’t mentioned, but it is a daughter writing about her father in a blog. Reading what she says and the way she says it touched me. It is an excellent example of how a woman can express herself on the web.
Young women in a digital photography workshop in Medellín.
The images from this post come from Flickr account Mujeres e Inclusión Digital [es] (Women and Digital Inclusion), as part of a project [es] with the same name that our GV author, Cati Restrepo [es], is working on in Medellín, Colombia, with the support from the Mayor's office from that city. Cati won the competition Mujer Talento [es] (Women and Talent) last year, and she has been a great help with this blog carnival.
And finally, we are very thankful to all those who participated, maybe taking time off from other activities to do so; also to those who supported us in spreading the carnival, of whom I especially remember Equinoxio [es], CCeN [es] and La Verdadera Vida de Un Gerente [es] and the Twitter users who re-Tweeted [es] our call. Thank you all! But I also thank in advance all those who have the time to read this post and enjoy a series of very diverse but high-quality blogs.  I encourage a trip through all of them, a great sample of the Colombian blogosphere that might be going unnoticed by many. See you in the next carnival in August!

author: Juan Arellano


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Brunei: Great Tasty Tour goes East Asia · Global Voices
Senor Pablo

Two Spanish Foodie Bloggers, Inaki and Esther, are currently on a gastronomy tour in East Asia for some ten months.  They left their jobs and much of their belongings behind due to their strong interest to learn more about Asia, its people, culture and history via food.  They are currently in the Republic of Korea and intends to return to Spain in October 2010, where they hope to produce a series of videos about their adventure.  Blogging in Spanish, The Great Tasty Tour documents their journey to the many countries in the region. What amazes me about the Spanish couple was their passion for food and getting to understand the local culture.  I personally caught up with the couple during their Brunei leg of journey last December 2009.  Read about them on Brunei Times but it was my affiliation with  Geek in White, who informed me on the Great Tasty Tour's intention to meet local foodie bloggers. Together with Cookie Monzters, we took them to various foodie joints in the capital, including the infamous Gadong Night Market.
Another local blogger, Arabfamilies invited the two Spanish foodie bloggers to his restaurant and blogged about their visit.
I asked Inaki and Esther a couple of questions about the whole idea of the foodie trip.
1. What is your background story for the Great Tasty Tour?
We have always had a dream, to know the East Asian cuisine. Firstly, because when we visited some countries in this part of Asia almost four years ago, we fell in love with its food and its people. We wanted to investigate what people in these countries eat, also where they eat and why. It was our great dream and is becoming a reality.
2. What is the inspiration to tour Asia and try the food?
Our inspiration came from the trip we did in 2007. We visited French Polynesia, New Zealand, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, China and Japan. The truth is that we fell in love with the flavors of Brunei, Padang food and Chinese. We had the need to further develop the theme and give it to meet the people.
3. How has the trip changed you, especially your perceptions of Asian Food and people? Do you miss home?
Life changes because we have had the opportunity to meet so many different cultures, we see all life more simple and the material thing loses value, feelings will be with us forever. We have discovered the true kindness in the people of many East Asian countries, especially in Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and China. Maybe is because in those countries, people love their food and love sharing it with us. Also in these countries, it has been easier to record our documentary because they understood our passion.
We do not miss our house because we are doing what we love, in fact we miss countries where we would have liked to spend more time eating and enjoying their meals and spend time watching quietly. (You know we would like spend more time in Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, they have been the big discovery for us.)
Inaki and Esther in Bruneian traditional costume.  Photos reproduced with permission from Hyperclicks
4. What have you learned in Brunei?
In 2007 we were in Brunei for five days. In 2010 we were in Brunei for 14 days, and we learned many things. A country that is different from the rest of the world and better. When we visited for the first time we feel very good, there was something special in people, and we felt happy there. We savored the unimaginable, but the best of the food in Brunei is not the taste, or cheap price, it is that people love it. What we have learned from Brunei is the love of food, any food, more or less simple, more or less special, they love the food, and then the food is good. It was also very easy with the help of the people of Brunei (you know).
Brunei is a different country where foreigners feel at home. We don´t know why, but that is the truth.
5. Food from which country interest you the most?
We have investigated the cuisine of eleven countries in East Asia, and all are interesting because the food of a country is its culture. But we have been surprised and entertained are those of the Malay cultural world (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia), Cambodia and China. But where we would have liked to stay longer is in Indonesia, we were sad when left it, is a vast country full of friendly people and great food.
6. Upon your return, what will you do with all the videos and photos?
We have different projects. The most important is the broadcasting of the television documentary, but with all the collected information and photos we want to write some books and also participate in specialized publications, such as travel and food magazines.
8.What is your advice to others thinking of embarking this similar kind of journey?
Our advice is that travelers must go to countries without travel guides (Lonely Planet for example), with a map is enough. Living culture not only visiting famous places, is necessary lost in towns and cities, seeing as time goes by, without haste. We must breathe deeply in each country, to observe and live. Of course, eat, eat anywhere, because the food brings people together. Although we record a documentary, we do everything ourselves and with a limited budget like travelers, we feel travelers and think that the best is have enough time, time to discover.
You can follow Inaki and Esther on their food journey here.

author: Senor Pablo