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Vietnam: Blogger Pham Minh Hoang Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison · Global Voices
Claire Ulrich

On August 10, 2011, Pham Minh Hoang, a math teacher and political blogger, has been sentenced to 3 years in prison and an additional 3 years of house arrest; he was charged with “attempt to overthrow the [vietnamese] goverment”  reports Reporters Without Borders [fr].  Hoang, who  has been in pre-trial detention for a year, holds a dual French and Vietnamese citizenship. The French Foreign office  published a communiqué [fr] askingVietnamese authorities to “reconsider this decision so that Mr Hoang can be released as soon as possible”.

author: Claire Ulrich


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Argentina: Primary Elections and Future Presidential Candidates  · Global Voices
Laura Schneider

On August 14, 2011, primary elections [es] were held in Argentina for the first time. This new way of voting allows the population to choose possible candidates for the positions of President, Member of Parliament and Senator: if candidates gain 400,000 votes (1.5% of the electoral roll), they may run for their respective post in the definitive elections in October 2011.
The official website 2011 Elections [es] explains the methodology which will be applied in Argentina:
On August 14th we will choose between the pre-candidates standing for each political party and alliance, to decide who will be the candidates in the National Elections for the positions of President and Vice-President, National Senators and Members of Parliament.
On October 23rd we will elect our representatives for various national elective posts from those candidates chosen in the Primary Elections.
Following a long electoral campaign, the current president, Cristina Fernández [es] has achieved the highest number of votes and is thus able to run for the presidential elections with a high chance of winning. However, Deborah Mend (@debbiemend) clarifies via Twitter that winning the highest number of votes does not signify winning elections:
No entiendo por que los medios ponen ‘Gano Cristina’ si fueron elecciones primarias y era la única candidata del FpV!! #primarias2011
Nicolas Spolli (@nicolasspolli30), an Argentinian football player who is currently playing for Catania, expresses his happiness at the result on his Twitter account:
Que hermosa paliza le dimos a todos Cristinita querida!  Que feliz me pone la eleccion que hiciste! En 2 meses algunos van a  tirar la toalla?
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Photo: Laura Schneider
There was a high voter turnout throughout the country and the process took place with absolute calm, as Liliana T (@lili_Argentina) testifies:
#asivote Voté en Almagro. Llegué y voté al toque. No falto boletas! Todo normal!. Acompañé a pareja a votar a Ciudadela. Todo impecable!
At 8pm Argentinean time, the current President and presidential candidate for the party Front for Victory [es] for the 2011 elections, published her first comment of the day on Twitter ( @CFKArgentina):
Un video de esta mañana, votando en Río Gallegos y charlando con el periodismo youtube.com/user/CFKArgent…
The other candidates for the presidential race are: Ricardo Alfonsín [es], Eduardo Duhalde [es], Hermes Binner [es] among others.
Since the close of voting, numbers of votes for the current president have climbed, and with 95.5% of polling stations’ votes counted, the results are the following according to the news site Infobae (@Infobae), at the time of writing this post:
#e2011: 95,5% mesas escrutadas, @CFKArgentina 50,07% – @RICALFONSIN 12,19% – @eduardoaduhalde 12,17% – @HermesBinner 10,29% | #Primarias
This large majority as well as the virtual draw between the second and third candidates provoked a wave of reactions both in favour of and against the results. One of the most popular hashtags was ‘AVANTI MOROCHA’ referring to Cristina Fernandez and David (@eltwdedavid), who according to his Twitter profile considers himself to be neither a Kirchner nor a Fernandez supporter, comments:
Somos la mitad mas uno, somos el pueblo, el carnaval! AVANTI MOROCHA!
On the other hand, Guido Escot (@Dementinsane), via the hashtag #chauCFK poses the question:
Todo el que dijo #chauCFK donde están? diganme ni unidos toda la oposición logran un balotaje…. #yovotocfk
And Dina Rezinovsky (@dinarezi) reflects on the results:
Luego  d pensar toda la noche (?) concluyo q en las primarias se juntaron los  “estómagos vacíos” y el “aparato de dar plata a vagos” #E2011
Flag of the Radical Civic Union party in the campaign – photo: Laura Schneider
Starting Monday, August 15, the candidates will begin their campaigns, and on October 23 the new President who will govern Argentina for the next 4 years will be elected. Meanwhile, we can only wait, as Fernando Kohutiak (@fkohutiak) writes:
Mis más sinceras felicitaciones a todos los partidos que lograron validar sus candidatos. Ahora empieza otra historia. #E2011 #Argentina

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Laura Schneider


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Baltics-Sweden: Twenty Years of Independence · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Albatros of Litauen blog reports about [ger] Swedish celebrations of 20 years of independence for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and how Swedish Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, apologised to his Baltic colleagues for recognizing soviet annexation during World War II.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Brazil: Loggers Threaten Government Officials in the Amazon · Global Voices
João Miguel Lima

Police officers and officials from the Brazilian government's agencies dedicated to the environment (Ibama) and indigenous rights (Funai) were surrounded and threatened by a group of about 60 loggers in the Amazon forest on August 12. Journalist Leonardo Sakamoto reports [pt] that the loggers wanted to prevent the seizure of their machinery and equipment for illegal logging.

author: João Miguel Lima


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Bulgaria: Mapping Crime and Electoral Violations · Global Voices
Ruslan Trad

Bulgarian blogger Boyan Yurukov has set up Bulgaria's first Ushahidi-based site, Crime.bg, whose goal is to collect signals of crimes and irregularities, via the site itself as well as through mobile applications, Twitter and Facebook. On his blog, Yurukov explained the reasons [bg] for creating Crime.bg: “1. People's lack of trust in police; and 2. Lack of open public data on crime rates in Bulgaria.” Crime.bg has inspired other activists in Bulgaria to use Ushahidi: e.g., Izboren Kodeks (“Election Code”), a web initiative to track violations in the electoral process.

author: Ruslan Trad


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Chile: Students Seeking Education Reform Meet with Senate Education Committee · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Leaders of the student movement met with the Senate's Education Committee yesterday, August 16, to discuss profit (“lucro” in Spanish) in education. Alicia Sánchez, executive secretary of the ‘Chilean Association of NGOs’ [es], comments on the session –which was broadcasted on TV Senado– at El Quinto Poder [es].

author: Silvia Viñas


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China and Hong Kong: Citizen Arrested for Wearing Political T-Shirt · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Li Keqiang, China's current vice premier and premier-to-be, began a three-day visit to Hong Kong on August 16, 2011. On the first day of his visit, Li tried to show concern for Hong Kong people's livelihoods by visiting a center for the elderly and a residential campus in Lam Tin district.
However, Li's “friendly” gesture turned into a performance of political brutality when a male resident was forcibly dragged away and arrested by a number of “men in black”, because he wrote a political T-shirt with the slogan “Vindicate June 4“:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgjguKkd26I
In a television interview, the man said, “I am not protesting. My wife was playing with our kids downstairs. They saw a big crowd in the campus and called me to come down and join them. When I came down from my apartment, suddenly I was surrounded by a group of men in black. Then someone said, ‘take him away’. They dragged me to the corner without telling me what had happened. I live here in flat 26!”
Political T-shirts are casual wear in Hong Kong; probably every one out of 15-20 Hong Kong citizens has a T-shirt with the slogan “Vindicate June 4″, as the city has been organizing the annual June 4 candlelight vigil to commemorate the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 for 22 years now, with tens of thousands of people attending every year.
Doctor fat posts two sets of T-shirt designs based on June 4 in his blog [zh]:
June 4 T-shirts. Image by Doctor Fat.
One can imagine how the scene of a male resident being “kidnapped” from his own neighborhood because of a political T-shirt has outraged the local community.
To justify the operation, the Hong Kong government quickly issued a press statement [zh] claiming that the male resident was on the police's wanted list due a traffic incident back which took place in 2006.
“River crab” banquet delivered to Hong Kong
Local blogger Kursk is angry with the situation and wrote a post titled “If you don't want to see June 4 T-shirts, go back to Beijing!” [zh]:
這是一件十分嚴重的事件，一定要追究。香港幾時禁止著六四t-shi rt架？果度仲要係私人住宅黎架大佬。特區警察同公安有咩分別呀 ？仲有，抬佢走既人冇表示身份，更加冇表示行使緊乜野法律權力，理論上係非法禁錮，係嚴重侵犯人權既做法。
侵犯人權太誇張？你試諗下，有一日無啦啦有四五個黑西裝大漢冇表明身份夾硬夾你走，佢地可以係黑社會點錯相、擄人勒索，甚至係公安跨省都得，咁你知驚未？
呢班黑衣人究竟係G4定係北京既國安？如果係前者，就係特區政府泛用武力既 問題，一定要投訴去監警會同立法會保安事務委員會；如果係後者， 事態就嚴重百倍－－大陸國安黎香港既私人住宅區向只係著住六四T -shirt既香港人施行武力，呢個唔只係一國兩制不保既問題，而係國 安南下香港鎮壓言論自由。
Upon his arrival, Li Keqiang claimed that he had brought some good news (a set of favorable policies that would enhance Hong Kong economy). Journalist and blogger, Those were the days, describes the “gift set” as “a river-crab banquet” [zh]. The term “river crab” is a slang for “harmonious society“.
昨天，只是李副總理訪港第一天，北京風味的打壓反對者的「河蟹全席」，只上了頭盤，未來幾天香港人還可以慢慢「享用」！
Police's wanted list?
Martinoei explains [zh] the police's strategy in covering up their illegal arrest:
警察為咗掩飾自已膠，就話條友涉及2006年一宗交通事故，通緝緊，所以要拉佢。
首先，差佬點可能一眼睇出條友係通緝犯，但更膠係，你唔記得找你張牛肉乾，都可以係通緝犯。
況且牛肉乾未找而被通緝，好多時你交低罰款就走人。呢位著平反六四T恤人士可以被無條件釋放(唔係保釋)，分分鐘係因為即場掟低三百二十元，咁咪解除通緝。警隊要膠，都咪咁膠，有國安入咗香港警隊，唔該從實招來。
In the discussion thread on Martinoei's post, netizen Newbie said:
感覺上, 中國人普遍非常認同呢種”非法逮捕”, 對果種所謂過程唔合法就應該導致証據無效既思想非常薄弱.
即係合唔合法都好, 先拉人進行大搜查外加嚴刑迫供, 只要最後搵到蛛絲馬跡証明被捕者可能犯咗小小法, 整個過程就馬上變成 “合法合情合理” 了. 當個個人都認同呢種思想時, 我係差佬我都濫權喇!
呢個民族, 根本無決心付出某啲代價去平衡權力, 唔搞到 xx 霸權當道就有鬼喇!
Magiccello said:
香港公安學習能力真高. 強國的手段學會了. 維穩辦主任曾偉雄好快又升官發財了.
The incident has been widely discussed on Facebook, and many users claimed that they would wear political T-shirts and walk around on the street during Li Keqiang's visit in Hong Kong. The University of Hong Kong Centenary Ceremony on August 18, 2011, will probably be another occasion for the display of political T-shirts (see the Facebook Event [zh]).

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: The Xinhai Revolution and Tibet · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

High Peaks Pure Earth translated Tibetan Chinese blogger Woser's recent blog post about the political implication of Xinhai Revolution to Tibet by comparing the fate of Tibetans with Mongolians and Uyghurs.


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China: Wedding bikes · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

DongXia He from China Hush has translated a light hearted story about a wedding in Sichuan. In the wedding, the groom rode the bikes with 18 of his friends to pick up his bride.


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China: Xinjiang Ketchup · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Xinjiang produces more than 70% of all China’s tomatoes and China accounts for a quarter of all global tomato output. As Josh from Xinjiang: Far West China points out next time you squeeze that little packet of ketchup onto your greasy french fry for lunch, think of Xinjiang.


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Costa Rica’s ‘Slut Walk’ · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

José Medrano [es], ‘Conejitos Suicidas’ [es] and Julio Córdoba [es], among others, blogged about the ‘Slut Walk‘ which was held in Costa Rica for the first time on Sunday, August 14.


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Croatia: “Peka Time!” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Zagreb Diaries writes about peka, a Croatian way of slowly baking food “in a cast iron pan that is covered with a cast iron lid, and then covered in hot coals.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Cuba: First Transsexual Marriage Preceded “Gay” Wedding  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Gaspar, El Lugareño [ES] claims that last Saturday's “gay” wedding was actually not Cuba's first, saying the first marriage of a transsexual person happened in the late 80s.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Cuba: Pablo Milanés’ Voice  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Generation Y blogs about the upcoming Pablo Milanés concert in Miami, which some in the diaspora are agitating to boycott: “The troubadour who proposes to sing in Florida in a few days is a man who has grown and matured artistically and civically, conscious, as well, of the need for both shores of our nation to be reunited. Thus, to receive Pablo Milanés with shouts and insults could delay the necessary embrace between Cubans from here and from there… but it will not prevent it.”


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Dominican Republic: Rita Indiana, “Projects Like Mine Owe a Lot to Social Networks and the Internet”  · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

There is simply no way of classifying Rita Indiana. Songwriter, singer, writer, and performer are only some of her many phases and dimensions. Rita Indiana is a master of reinvention and transformation.  We have read her novels “Papi” and “La estrategia de chochueca.” We have seen her in her performances. And we have listened to her in her musical projects, first Miti Miti and now Rita Indiana y los Misterios.
In a collaboration between the alternative music blog  Puerto Rico Indie [es], its editor and and Global Voices author Alfredo Richner, the correspondent in New York City Sire_Damiano [es] (@sire_damiano), Marlo Cruz Pagán (@Arturo_Elises) and Firuzeh Shokooh Valle, we interviewed the Dominican artist after her presentation this past summer as part of the Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC) in New York City.
During the interview*, Rita Indiana speaks about her musical identities, her artistic multidimensionality, her future projects, and her relationship with social media and the Internet, among other topics. Global Voices translator Louella Mahabir translated the video of the interview to English, with the collaboration of Firuzeh Shokooh Valle and Alfredo Richner (to view with English subtitles please press the CC button).

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


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East Timor: Students Arrested While Supporting West Papua · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

On August 17, a demonstration in support of West Papua in Dili ended with the detention of three Timorese students, reports the blog East Timor and Indonesia Action Network. Students were calling for the right of West Papuan to self-determination while condemning human rights violation by the Indonesian military and police against Papuans.

author: Sara Moreira


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Global Voices Partners With Ashoka on Citizen Media Competition · Global Voices
Emma Brewin

From the revolutions of Tunisia and Egypt and the Arab world uprisings in the spring (Bahrain, Yemen, Syria), to the devastating Japan earthquake and the recent British riots, citizen media has not only reported on many of the past year's major news stories, but also been integral to some stories themselves.
Global Voices is proud to be partnering with Ashoka Changemakers this year in its ‘Citizen Media: A Global Innovation Competition‘, which is supported by Google. With prizes including US $5,000 grants for citizen media projects, if making a difference through media is what you're about, we want to hear from you.
Engaging online
It's clear the kind of grassroots power that citizen media is capable of, but many around the world – particularly in developing countries and marginalised communities – do not have access to the technology that makes online participation possible. Censorship too, is threatening peoples’ access to citizen and social media platforms, as governments and other authorities recognise the part that these tools can play in mobilising social movements and activism.
Citizen media in Guinea Bissau. Image by Rising Voices on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
Regardless of these challenges, innovators around the world are still managing to produce citizen media and engage online about the issues that affect them and their communities.
Ashoka is a global organisation that since 1980 has been investing in leading social entrepreneurs – individuals with innovative and practical ideas for solving social problems. Their Changemakers project is a global online community engaged in supporting social change work through community collaboration and mentoring.
The competition is open to people around the world who are transforming the way people communicate or access news and information. Winners can look forward to receiving one of four US $5,000 cash prizes in unrestricted funding to boost their projects, plus you could also be considered for an Ashoka Fellowship, which comes with a three-year living stipend and access to a network of social entrepreneurs.
Be a Changemaker!
Entry is easy – watch this video or see the step-by-step instructions here and get it in before September 14, 2011. Entries can be submitted in the following languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Thai, Indonesian, Mandarin, or Japanese.
You don't have to be using the Internet – the competition is open to ideas that work with any communication or information technologies. Find out more about access to citizen media from Global Voices’ Co-Founder Ethan Zuckerman, in his interview with Changemakers below, or check out our citizen media outreach projects on Rising Voices.

author: Emma Brewin


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Guyana: Chemical Yellow · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“My Irish ‘auntie’ remember.  She been napping that Thursday afternoon, windows open to let in blueness, sky, sea-wind.  Thick chemical choke she dreams.  She pelt out o’ she bed to shut windows”: Guyana-Gyal tries to figure out why all the trees, plants and vegetables look so…yellow.


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Haiti: Bishop Kébreau’s Political Statement · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Wadner Pierre examines whether “Bishop Louis Kébreau, President of the Haitian Episcopal Conference, call[ed] on Haitian President Martelly to be ruthless and dictatorial”, adding: “I am very disturbed by the declaration…but I am not surprised because powerful clerics like him have always fought against a democratic government in Haiti.”


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Hungary: Hate Crimes and Double Standards · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum writes about the Hungarian authorities’ dubious ways of dealing with what by all accounts appear to be hate crimes against the Roma.


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Indonesia: Increased shopping during Ramadan · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

nrg07 explains the seeming paradox of the rise in shopping and the prices of food and clothes during the holy month of Ramadan in Indonesia.

author: Mong Palatino


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Indonesia: ‘Insensitive’ Ramadan video ad? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Unspun blogs about a Ramadan video message of an Indonesian TV station TVOne which has become controversial because of criticism that it used religion to advertise a product.


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Jamaica: Marcus Garvey’s Birthday  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Diaspora litblogger Geoffrey Philp posts a poem to honour the anniversary of Marcus Garvey's birthday.


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Latvia: Uncertain Election Outcome · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Veikko Spolitis of Baltic blog discusses the uncertain political situation in Latvia subsequent to the 23 July referendum resulting in a call for new parliamentary elections on September 17, where a third of the electorate is undecided whom to vote for.


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Lebanon: New Migrant Center Opening in Beirut · Global Voices
Layal Al Khatib

Lebanese blogger and Nasawiya activist Nadine shares some exciting news for the migrant communities in Lebanon: their Migrant Center is in the final stages of opening and it needs your help. Read all about the details in her post.

author: Layal Al Khatib


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Lebanon: Racism in Banks · Global Voices
Layal Al Khatib

The Terrorist Donkey posted a new story[Ar] about racism in Lebanon. This time it happened in a very well known bank where they refused to open an account for a man from Nepal.


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Lebanon: Thousands of Old Photos of Lebanon · Global Voices
Layal Al Khatib

Lebanese blogger Rami at +961 posts about his new finding: Thousands of old photos of Lebanon and the Middle East.


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Nicaragua: A Prediction on the Disappearance of Print Newspapers · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Blogger Emila Persola argues [es] that “by Ortega's reelection in 2016, or to be more optimistic by the 2018 World Cup in Russia, there will be no print newspapers in Nicaragua […] because mobile phones will have supplanted reading and information habits.”


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Online Gaming Hackers, North Korea’s Next Major Income Source. · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Edward Castronova from the Terra Nova commented on allegations that North Korean army of online gaming hackers have breached the servers of popular South Korean online gaming sites to raise badly needed cash.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Pakistan: Killing Of Protesters Enrage People Of Gilgit-Baltistan · Global Voices
Rezwan

Habib R. Sulemani at The Terrorland reports that police indiscriminately fired on the protesters demanding for basic rights in Gilgit-Baltistan. An ex-soldier and his son were killed and many more got injured, which sparked more protests in this northernmost administrative unit of Pakistan.

author: Rezwan


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Pakistan: Youth Gets Justice After Video of Extra-Judicial Killing Emerged · Global Voices
Muhammad Farhan

On June 8, 2011, a 19 year old boy was shot dead at point blank by a Pakistan Rangers personnel in Karachi. Initial reports claimed that the armed youth was about to attack the security personnel and was subsequently killed. However, hours after the incident, Pakistani media flooded television screens with video footage which suggested that the youth was unarmed.
Kalsoom at CHUP blog broke the news:
On Wednesday, news outlets report that a young man was “brutally murdered” in an extrajudicial killing that took place in Benazir Park in Karachi. According to Express, the man was accused to be a “snatcher,” or a robber, and was arrested by police who then handed him over to Ranger personnel who cornered him and then shot him in the stomach, despite the man’s pleas. The man is reported to be a ‘matric’ (Editors Note: Secondary School Examination) student, as well as the brother of a Samaa television reporter, and he died on the spot.
Effigy of a Ranger officer hanging, seen during a protest against the extra judicial killing of Sarfaraz Shah. Image by Ayub Mohammad, copyright Demotix (11/06/2011).
Here's how Dr. Awab Alvi at Teeth Maestro expressed his outrage:
Words fail me, after I watched this video of a Sarfaraz Shah being shot down by our paramilitary law enforcement agency imparting justice in a mere ten seconds. Sarfaraz Shah was apparently brought to the Rangers checkpost positioned inside Benazir Bhutto Park across Boat Basin Karachi accused of holding a family hostage. A heated exchange of words between the two, with the alleged culprit pleading for mercy from the angered soldier requesting him to lower his gun – ends up in the soldier shooting two bullets into the abdomen of the victim, leaving him to bleed and ultimately Sarfaraz succumbs to death probably from excessive bleeding a few hours [?] later.
Ammar Yasir at TeaBreak.pk tweeted his reaction:
Just watched the Samaa footage and I feel like throwing up. This happened in Karachi, imagine the extra-judicial murders in Balauchistan.
In the unfolding of the events, Twitter users started questioning whether the Chief Justice of Pakistan will take measures against this incident which actually happened as eventually he took the suo motu action.
Rangers soldiers beat a motorcyclist during clash with protesters during demonstrations by members of the public over the unavailability of fuel in Karachi, Pakistan. Photo by PPI Images, copyright Demotix (28/02/2011).
Just after 2 months of the incident, the accused rangers official who fired the shots was convicted with death penalty. The remaining officials, who stood by and watched silently, were sentenced to life imprisonment. The blogosphere has expressed mixed reactions on the judgment.
Zainab Imam commended the verdict with these words:
On August 12, history was made. A paramilitary soldier, standing trial in a civilian court, was sentenced to death for extrajudicial murder in Karachi – the city that lives under the watchful eyes of over 10,000 Rangers.
This verdict has not only criminalised an unlawful killing but has also declared that an act of terrorism is just that, even if the perpetrator is a security official. This anti-terrorism court has upheld “the rule of law”.
In a blog post titled “A Tale of Two Murders: Searching for Equal Justice” at NewsLine Blog, Kashif N. Chaudhry draws a comparison of the justice delivered to Sarfraz Shah with the justice delayed for the slain governor Punjab Salman Taseer. Chaudhry questions  the inequality of justice:
These two murders prove the sombre fact that Pakistan’s judiciary will never be free as long as the status quo prevails. The words of Pakistan’s constitution that appear to respect the rights of all its citizens will continue to remain a mere ethereal bubble. The only way Pakistan could have an independent and virtuous judiciary is if more Pakistanis aspire to follow the brave example of Mr Taseer.

author: Muhammad Farhan


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Philippines: Tokay Gecko Hunting Craze · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

In recent months, the hunting of Tokay Geckos or Tuko in the Filipino language has become a craze in the Philippines, because of reports that online traders have been buying these lizards for a large amount of money. The hunting started when it was rumored that geckos can help cure asthma and HIV/AIDS.
The Department of Health has already issued a statement reminding the public that the rumored medicinal value of geckos has no basis:
The folkloric practice of using geckos as cure for AIDS and asthma persists to this day and is of serious concern to the Department of Health (DOH). There is no basis that this practice cures ailments like AIDS or brings relief from symptoms of asthma. Thus, we do not recommend it as cure for any ailment.
Senator Manny Villar is worried that the frenzied gecko hunting could lead to the extinction of the species in the country:
Although geckos are not classified as either critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable, it is now under threat from over collection which can ultimately lead to vulnerability or extinction
From the Flickr page of gaikokujinkun used under CC License Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
Cebu and Davao Journey has friends who have been earnestly looking for geckos:
I first heard about this tuko craze on a radio in Davao a few months ago, where an announcer talked about the hoax of selling this lizard for 100,000 to 200,000 Pesos. I was ought to believe what the announcer said. It was then I eventually learned that it was indeed true. Some friends were telling me about it, that they spend time looking for tuko in hopes of becoming an instant millionaire.
Walking Newspaper, a biologist, rejects the hunting of geckos for cash:
Well then, if only catching one is only as easy and fast as applying and availing and online cash advance, I rather stop schooling and just merely go to the jungle and forever to catch gecko my whole life.  Sad to say, geckos are our friends, as for me – as a biologist, and not for trading businesses.
The Internet facilitates the trading of geckos which has been already exposed as a scam. Tjsdaily notes that many Filipinos are still unaware that the online gecko buyers are scammers:
There are a billion reasons more why this tuko gecko scam is just that—a scam. Unfortunately, most of the Filipino populace are still completely ignorant on how scammers work.
The blogger also shows a screenshot of the website where the unbelievable price offers for live geckos are posted:
Tokay Geckos worth millions of pesos
Our Philippine Trees hopes the ‘exploiters’ would not find the geckos in their hiding places:
Probably the tuko hype will attract a few entrepreneuring Pinoys to trap specimens in the provinces.
I hope the tukos would stay stuck to where they are and give these exploiters a hard time. May the geckos cling on to them till their thick skins get peeled off!
Just my Personal Opinions can’t find a real person who was able to sell a gecko for a high price:
Is this true? I have lots of friends hunting for “tuko”. But none of them can show me some proofs that there are real “millionaire” buyers.. or at least, a common friend who was able to sell one for that price.
For a price of one million pesos for a full-sized single “tuko”, I can't help but think that they're into something bigger than a cure for aids or cancer… if this is true. Or if not, is it possible that someone just started this “fake craze” to divert the attention of many?
My Life in Cebu prefers to stay away from these gecko hunters:
Personally, I would not hunt tuko or buy one for even a 100 pesos. The tuko still scares me and I respect and appreciate its purpose as a mosquito killer.  I would not let people into my house just to hunt for these lizards.  Tuko trading could net someone a lot of cash but I'd rather stay in my job. ;)
Tokek Sabah posts 10 stories about the gecko hunting craze in the Philippines.


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Russia: 20 Years After the Putsch · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Putin Watcher joins in commemorating all the bicentennials of soviet demise coming up this August by writing about the failed coup against Gorbachev in 1991.


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Russia: 20 Years Since the Putsch · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Putin Watcher writes about the Putsch that dealt “the fatal blow to the Soviet Union” 20 years ago.


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Russia: Arresting Political Opposition · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Vladimir Kara-Murza of Spotlight on Russia argues that Putin's Russia is becoming increasingly Kafkaesque as opposition leader Boris Nemtsov again – twice in two days – has been arrested for exercising political rights and freedoms, at the same time as Prime Minister Putin is seemingly becoming all the more detached from realities.


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Russia: Volga German Deportation Turns 70 · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Otto's Random Thoughts commemorates the 70th anniversary of the soviet deportation of Volga Germans during the Second World War.


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Serbia: Dramatic Return of the Chetniks · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Carl Savich of Serbianna writes about the 1942 radio play, Treasury Parade, starring Orson Welles, and how it glorifies the Chetniks’ struggle against Nazi occupation during the Second World War.


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Tunisia: More Protests, More Police Violence · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.
Protesters calling for immediate reforms took to the streets of Tunis on Monday (August 15). Among the demands of the protesters was the formation of an independent judiciary capable of bringing corrupt officials and the killers of the “Revolution Martyrs” to justice.
"Hosni Mubarak asks for a trial in front of Tunisian judiciary". Photo by Nawaat.
Demonstrators were also calling for the immediate release of whistle-blower and former senior official in Tunisia's Interior Ministry Samir Feriani, who has been in custody since May 29, after publishing two letters in a Tunisian newspaper claiming that people holding key positions in the Interior Ministry were responsible for the killing of peaceful protesters during the Tunisian Revolution.
Protesters also chanted “People want the fall of the regime” and “people want the revolution again.”
@MouradMnif tweets:
People are protesting in #Tunisia demanding JUSTICE independence, MEDIA freedom and law-abiding POLICE. #ManifTunis #15aout
On Monday, downtown Tunis witnessed three protests at the same time, but the one that was not lead by the Tunisian Labor Union (UGTT), headed toward the prestigious avenue of Habib Bourguiba, where the building of the Interior Ministry is located ended with clashes between police and protesters.
Blogger Bassem Bouguerra shared a YouTube video comparing the protests:
Police used tear gas to disperse protesters. The Ministry of Interior claimed that one protester started firing tear gas, and the police needed to respond.
@Wessimsara: la fete commence à l'aveniue RT @sameh_b: URGENT : Lacrymo devant le MI ça y est!!! #ManifTunis
@nayzek: Tir de lacremo à partir des minivan et voiture #maniftunis
Protesters responded with rocks. There were also reports that the police threw rocks at protesters.
@ArouaBenSalah: En ce moment: Affrontements entre policiers et manifestants Avenue de Carthage #ManifTunis
@FDTL_OFFICIEL: les jeunes partent et reviennent et la police frappe avec des pierres #ManifTunis #15aout “Source: un militant #Ettakatol sur place “
The following YouTube video shows police dragging and beating a civilian in downtown Tunis, as they were dispersing protesters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojJlTMz1aio&feature=player_embedded
This is not the first time in post-revolution Tunisia that police have violently dispersed protesters. Last month, using batons and tear gas security forces prevented peaceful protesters from gathering at Kasbah square, which is the epicenter of protests in the Tunisian capital Tunis. The only difference is that Monday's protests attracted more demonstrators, and gained more sympathy and support among the public.
Such examples of brutality are a reminder for Tunisians that old habits die hard. Tunisian netizens and bloggers aired their disappointment at the police crackdown. Here are some of their reactions on Twitter:
@eyasliti: Police partout, Justice nulle part !! #maniftunis
@MedAliChebaane: Dans ce pays, il faudrait seulement manifester pour le Gouvernement.Toute autre contestation sera réprimée! Vous nous faites haïr le Pays.
@worldwideyes: La #Tunisie, un pays pris en otage par ses propres policiers #tunismanif
@Wessimsara: Tous Simplement : القمع متواصل وزارة الإرهاب لم تصلها الثورة بعد
The protest movement not only swept the capital, but other demonstrations took place in other provinces in Tunisia. The demands were the same and ranged from calls for an independent judiciary to the resignation of Prime Minister Béji Caid Sebsi.
The following YouTube video features protesters in the province of Béja (North-West of Tunisia) chanting “people want and independent judiciary”, “People revolt on the remains of the Dictator” and “loyal to martyrs’ blood”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6TWds0_KC4&feature=player_embedded
Yesterday (August, 16), a Facebook page called Voix du Peuple (Voice of the People) reported that protesters were banned from gathering at the square of the Tunisan Labor Union (UGTT) by the police:
ليوم البوليس يغلق بطحاء الإتحاد العام التونسي للشغل ممارسات ارهابية قمعية، بإختصار بن علي مازال موجود في تونس.
Police preventing protesters from gathering. Photo by Facebook Page Voix Du Peuple.
This is a story to follow as protesters are not showing any sign of backing down, and more protests are expected in the upcoming days.
This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.

author: Afef Abrougui


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Uganda: Minister Claims Opposition Using Social Media to Prepare for War · Global Voices
Rosebell Kagumire

This page is part of our special coverage Uganda: Walk to Work Protests.
The opposition groups in Uganda staged the famous walk to work protests in April this year, which saw President Yoweri Museveni’s government unleash violence against unarmed protestors. Ten Ugandans lost their lives mostly by bullets in the city protests.
Protests were about the rising fuel and food prices. After months of silence, the current economic situation which has worsened since April is seeing the opposition planning to re-launch walk to work protests.
On Wednesday August 10, 2011, members of the opposition under Activists for Change held a rally in Masaka town where a 2-year-old girl was killed during the last protests. The police were quick to disperse the activists before opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye and other political figures could join the rally.
Ugandan women protesting against fuel and food prices in Kampala, Uganda. Photo courtesy of @vote4africa.
Hours after the protest began in Masaka, Uganda’s Minister for Security Muruli Mukasa told the media that protesters were terrorists and that the Ugandan opposition is using Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to wage a campaign against the security forces and to “psychologically prepare the people, especially young people, for armed insurrection”.
Ugandans were quick to react on Twitter.
@IDEASUG said social media is becoming more dangerous than terrorist groups:
@RosebellK i love liberalization-free mkt econ. Social media is fast becomg more dangerous than terror gps…#Al-socialmedia declared threat
@awetaka noted that the fact that Uganda government officials don’t use social media shows their fears are about something they know nothing about.
@pjkanywa wondered why government was quick to call protesters terrorists yet they have yet to put up a real trial for those who were behind the July 11, 2010 Kampala bombings that killed over 70 people.
@Opiaiya compared the reaction of the UK government after London riots and the claims of Uganda government that ‘terrorist’ are using social media to prepare for war:
Social media worries in #Uganda as former colony #Britain mulls net crackdownhttp://bbc.in/qpMnn1
The opposition in Uganda uses social media better than the government:
No doubt the Uganda opposition uses social media much better than the government. We have seen top opposition leaders updating their facebook and twitter accounts as they are in running battles with the police. But government’s reaction to social media has been slow ad hence they see the opposition having some good advantage in the race to put out information. I remember in April when the protests were on high, the presidential press secretary told the Guardian that they were not bothered about the impact of social media because “farmers in Uganda don’t know what it is.”
Last month, @dispatchug produced a random pick of top 100 Twitter users in Uganda. Most of them are professionals, politicians and citizen journalists who are interested in using the platform to further discussions on the state of the country. President Museveni’s Twitter account has a little over 1,000 followers.
The Democratic Party leader and former presidential candidate Norbert Mao also keeps his tweets flowing most of the day. He has about 900 followers. Other opposition figures like @AnneMugisha from Forum for Democratic Change keep their Twitter and Facebook updates even during their running battles with the police.
The most popular opposition leader @KizzaBesigye has more than 500 followers but has not been active for the last couple of months. His Facebook profile is regularly updated.
Activists for Change group has an active presence on Facebook where many photos showing police brutality during the walk to work protests were posted.
This page is part of our special coverage Uganda: Walk to Work Protests.

author: Rosebell Kagumire


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Ukraine: Closing Window to West · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

LEvko of Foreign Notes writes about increasing western critique against the trials against former Ukrainian Prime Minister, Yulia Timoshenko, and several of her ex-colleagues, and how this – combinded with corruption and bad business climate – is effectively closing the window to integration with the European Union.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Ukraine: Politics, Economy, Euro 2012 and Relations With the West · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

At OpenDemocracy.net, Sergei Zhadan writes in depth on how Ukraine's political and economic situation affects the ongoing preparations for the Euro 2012 football championship, which is less than a year away. Earlier this month, Iryna Solonenko and Peter Rutland wrote about Western policy towards Ukraine.


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Algeria: Not Arab Revolutions  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Algerian-American Kal, from The Moor Next Door, shares some thoughts on the Arab Spring. “This blog does not write about “Arab revolutions”; no such thing has taken place in the Arab countries from a results-oriented stand point. Important and substantive political change came to a number of Arab countries in 2011. But nothing as of yet can be called a revolution, socially, economically, culturally or politically in the Arab region,” he blogs.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Bahrain: The Plight of Unfairly Dismissed Employees  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif sheds light on the plight of Bahrainis “unfairly” dismissed from their jobs due to the current unrest in the country.


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Belize: Breakfast Fare · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Ever wondered what a typical Belizean breakfast is like?  Diaspora blogger Rice and Beans shows us, here.


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Bermuda: BAD Call to Boycott  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Bermudians Against the Draft have launched a campaign to persuade young black men not to cast their ballot in the next general election [because] neither political party supports their position”: Respice Finem disagrees, on the grounds “that disengagement keeps the status quo in place and renders you voiceless.”


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Chile: Indigenous People’s Education and Chilean Law  · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Laura Seelau and Ryan Seelau of Indigenous News write about the “Indigenous peoples’ fight for education in Chile” at I Love Chile: “What many do not know […] is that Chilean law actually makes certain guarantees to indigenous peoples that do not exist for other portions of the population. Many of these guarantees are only beginning to be implemented and indigenous peoples are in the middle of the fight to have them fully realized.”


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Chile: Live Streaming of August 18 March for Education Reform · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

You can follow today's march for education reform through live streaming via Ciudadano Inteligente and Sentidos Comunes. On Twitter netizens are using the hashtags #18deagosto, #marchadelosparaguas, #marchaestudiantil, and others, to tweet about today's protest.


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Cuba: From the Mouths of Las Damas · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Pedazos de La Isla has an account of “physical blows, shoving, threats, deportations, and arrests” against members of the Ladies in White.


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Cuba: The Life of an Exile  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Pablo Pacheco Avila blogs about “swim[ming] in the sad and difficult waters of the Cuban exile.”


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Egypt: A Cultural Revolution  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Ursula Lindsey, from the Arabist, notes the cultural revolution that has taken place in Egypt since Mubarak's ouster.


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Egypt: Assad’s Massacres Continue in Ramadan  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“How many massacres have been committed by El Assad regime so far in Syria since the start of the holy month of Ramadan alone !?” asks Egyptian blogger Zeinobia, in Egyptian Chronicles.


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Egypt: Graffiti War Continues  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Egypt, Suzeeinthecity shares with us the story of how major brands have jumped on the graffiti bandwagon, competing with revolution art on Cairo's walls.


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Golf course in China’s desert strains drinking water supply · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jing Gao from The Ministry of Tofu translates a local news report about the desertification  problem caused by the construction of golf course in Yulin in Shaanxi province.


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Hungary: Economic Crisis · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum posts an update on the state of the Hungarian economy.


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India: Corruption Begins At Home · Global Voices
Rezwan

Amidst all the brouhaha about the recent Anti-corruption campaign in India, Vijay Menon points out that it is the ordinary public who encourage corruption one way or another. Vijay asks: “Aren't WE the real problem?”


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India: Crowd-sourced Filmmaking · Global Voices
Rezwan

Shashwati informs that a significant portion of the budget of the movie “Please Don’t Beat Me, Sir!”, which is having its world premier at the 2011 Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in October, came from individual donations collected over the internet. The movie is about a troupe of young Chhara actors using theater to fight police brutality and the stigma of criminality.


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Iran: A blogger was beaten up in jail · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Human rights activists say [fa] Hossein Maleki Ronaghi, a jailed blogger, was beaten up in prison, after writing a letter to Iran's judicary authorities, by a guard and sent to a hospital. This blogger has been sentenced to 15 years jail.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Jamaica: Harmony with Nature  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Labrish Jamaica refers to the theories of environmentalist Paul Shepard and psychiatrist Carl Jung to support “modern man’s ability to have a right relationship with the earth, even amongst the heaping evidence to the contrary.”


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Kuwait: Fined for Bad Breath  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Kuwait, Mark shares a news item about an Arab motorist who was fined by a policeman for “having bad breath.”
“If they’re issuing tickets for bad breath then my previous joke about how sunglasses should be banned might actually happen,” he blogs.


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Lebanon: Special Tribunal Unseals Indictment · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“The first question that comes to mind is: is this it? After nearly six years of investigation, does the case truly rest solely on telecommunications data? What about witness testimony? Forensics? DNA analysis? Magnifying glasses and trench coats?” asks Qifa Nabki while summarizing the indictment and posting his first reaction to the unsealing of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon indictment of the suspects in the murder of Rafic Hariri.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Libya: Anxiety and Hope as Revolutionaries Edge their Way to Tripoli  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
As Libya's revolutionaries edge their way towards the capital Tripoli, Libyans share their hopes and anxiety on Twitter. Here is part of the conversation being tweeted tonight.
Ghazi Gheblawi tweets:
@Gheblawi: I can't deny that apocalyptic vision of some for #Tripoli gets on my nerve and stresses me out, let's stay positive and hope it ends quickly
Volunteers at Free Libyan Army training camp in Benghazi learn how to use weapons. Image by Tomasz Grzyb, copyright Demotix (27/04/2011).
In a previous tweet, he notes:
@Gheblawi: Called family in #Tripoli few minutes ago, no electricity at their area, on/off since last night, dad is defiant, high spirits #Libya
ChangeInLibya adds:
@ChangeInLibya: @Gheblawi Same here, I was speaking to my mother earlier and she's extremely worried about our family members stuck in Tripoli..rabbi yester (May God have mercy)
And Armchair Arab responds:
@ArmchairArab: @Gheblawi @ChangeInLibya Most my family in Tripoli too, I've been calling them every night, they seem in high spirits.
Libya United joins the conversation with optimism.
@Libya_United: @ChangeInLibya @Gheblawi Non of my close family members left Tripoli. Be positive guys. Chaos r inevitable but I am certain it'll be quick
Nadia Maddox shares similar hopes. She tweets:
@NadiaMaddox: @FromJoanne @Gheblawi Also have parents and other close fam in Tripoli :( hope it ends soon and not too violent.
Meanwhile, Nusaiba shares more anxiety. She tweets:
@QdiyatnaAlhuria (Ar: Our Cause is our Freedom): #Worstfeeling not knowing whats going to happen to your family and friends and not being able to be there #Tripoli #Tajoura
While Mariam Addarrat is upbeat:
@Ummustafa78: @Gheblawi @ChangeInLibya Gaddafi has always been an 11th hour negotiater, I'm hoping he'll leave just as #FF are at Tripoli gates.
And Libya TV concludes:
@libyatv: @Gheblawi it's the uncertainty, but Gaddafi will no longer be in Tripoli. GADDAFI WILL NO LONGER BE IN LIBYA. of course it is positive!!
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.


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Nepal: Kathmandu Metropolitan Traffic Police Has A Facebook Page · Global Voices
Rezwan

Nepali Blogger informs that the Kathmandu Metropolitan police department has launched a facebook page, which aims to provide traffic information, related news and updates on Kathamandu’s traffic.


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Russia: Alcohol Consumption Down · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Russland in der Krise! notes [ger] that alcohol consumption in Russia has decreased from 18 to 15 litres of alcohol, and attributes the decrease to a change in consumer habits and less availability.


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Slovenia: Former PM Andrej Bajuk Dies · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sleeping With Pengovsky writes about Andrej Bajuk, Slovenia's former PM, who died at the age of 67 this past Monday.


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Uruguay: The State’s Role in Financing the National Football Team · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Cristian Pérez Muñoz of Razones y personas: repensando Uruguay [es] (Reasons and people: rethinking Uruguay) discusses the role that the Government should play in financing the national football team. He argues that “the Uruguayan State should not use its money to finance the national football team's activities”.

author: Silvia Viñas


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World: Write a blog post and win up to 3,000 Euros · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Participate in YoBloCo Awards and win up to 3,000 Euros: “The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), in collaboration with FARA, Yam-Pukri, CAFAN, AYF, ANAFE, SPC/PAFPNET is organizing the Youth in Agriculture Blog Competition (YoBloCo Awards).”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Bangladesh, India: Comparison Of The Two Bengals  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Jyoti Rahman attempts to compare the performance of erstwhile East and West Bengal and opines that the physical division of Bengal is not necessarily a bad thing.


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Barbados: New CJ Appointed  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Two different takes on the appointment of Barbados’ new Chief Justice, here and here.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Costa Rica: Slut Walk Reactions, Religion and Women’s Rights · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

This post is part of our special coverage SlutWalks 2011.
Last Sunday 14 August, 2011, the Costa Rican Slut Walk took place in the capital city of San Jose causing both a media and religious backlash due to allegedly violent anti-church chants and performances. The ongoing debate has been covered on both citizen and mass media outlets as people react to the Costa Rican version of this worldwide protest.
Although reactions to the Slut Walk have been varied, it seems that its real success was in getting people to think about gender violence, religion and respect.
"Jesus Loves Sluts" by Julia Ardón, 2011
Last week Global Voices posted an update on the reasons behind the walk:
The walk comes as a response to the statements made by a Catholic Bishop and visiting Cardinal during Costa Rica's Patron Saint ceremony on August 2nd, where they asked women to dress modestly to avoid being dehumanized or objectified, to refrain from doing manly tasks and to keep to their house and home.
According to Pablex, a journalist and blogger who took the time to read through the whole speech the Bishop Ulloa gave on August 2, he never mentioned the phrase that the national newspaper La Nación attributed to him and which caused the outrage that spurred the walk:
Ulloa no es ningún gurú y está lejísimos de ser el clérigo más inteligente del catolicismo tico. Pero en honor a la verdad, de su homilía (hacer clic para leerla completa) en ningún lado se desprende la frase tan publicada por La Nación, pidiendo recato a las mujeres para vestir, algo que en Twitter se podría “taguear” como #peladadelamarchadelasputas.
Pablex goes on to suggest that the possible strength behind the Slut Walk movement was lost due to the women focusing on such a small detail on the face of all the injustices women in Costa Rica face and that it was counterproductive to focus their anger on the church in such a disrespectful way:
Aún si Ulloa hubiese dicho que las mujeres costarricenses “deben vestir con recato”, eso no hubiera justificado jamás los insultos, las burlas, las malacrianzas y la falta de respeto que ese grupo de fanáticos y alborotadores tuvieron esa mañana de domingo frente a la Catedral Metropolitana. La tolerancia que tanto reclaman de la Iglesia les quedó corta, muy corta, tanto o más como sus enaguas putescas.
"We're past the Middle Ages" by Julia Ardón
Rashida Jenny Torres wrote about her perspective as a Muslim in Costa Rica regarding the Slut Walk, and although she isn't of the same faith than the criticized Catholic church, she believes that the walk also showed a lack of respect to Muslim women as herself: some women taking part of the march wore Islamic veils as a synonym of the oppression women face. For Rashida Jenny the walk became an ineffectual simplification of such a complex issue as women's rights.
Yo, como mujer, madre, trabajadora y musulmana portadora del velo por decisión propia, sintiéndome siempre orgullosa de cómo me veo, de lo que soy y represento, siento que este tipo de manifestaciones no representa de forma alguna los derechos de las mujeres o de cualquier ser indefenso a no ser abusado tanto física como sexualmente.
A mí me han faltado el respeto cubierta por completo y en un país como este que no es islámico y en donde todos pueden vestir como quieren.
He sorprendido a varones cuando voy en el autobús hacia el trabajo, tratando de levantar mi falda disimuladamente para tratar de ver por lo menos mi tobillo.
I, as a woman, mother, worker and Muslim who wears the veil by my own choice, feeling always proud of how I look, of what I am and what I represent, feel that this type of manifestations don't represent in any way the rights of women or of any defenseless being to be kept safe from physical as well as sexual abuse.
I've been disrespected even when completely covered and in a country like this one which isn't Islamic and where everyone can dress as they please.
While on the bus on my way to work I've caught men sneakily trying to lift up my skirt to see if they can catch at least a glimpse of my ankle.
Andrea Aguilar Calderón also wrote about the walk, and why she decided not to participate in the slut walk even though she considers herself a slut. In her post “I'm a slut but I didn't walk” she writes about how she would've marched proudly as a slut if the focus had been anger at any of the other dozens of institutions oppressing women, and not necessarily only the easier target of the Catholic Church:
Pero, al mismo tiempo, me parece que quienes nos hacen la vida de cuadritos a las mujeres, hoy por hoy, no son los curas.
Los evangelios que nos rigen hoy son distintos, no se encuentran en la Biblia. Se encuentran en la televisión, donde las mujeres claro que van a clases, porque tienen derecho a educarse, pero usando una faldita a cuadros y dos colitas al mejor estilo RBD. O, mejor aun: se encuentran en cualquier colegio del país, donde se puede ver a docenas de niñas usando esos pantalones tan ajustados que parece que se los untan cada mañana antes de salir, listas para jugar, desde la tierna edad de trece años, a ser “ricas” porque ese es el objetivo primordial de cualquier mujer en la vida. No es la enorme y abrumadora mayoría la que presta atención al sermón del padre desde el púlpito, pero sí lo es la que mira fijamente a las chicas Pilsen bailar desde la barra y que convierte a cualquier hija de vecina de brassier inflado en “modelo”. No es el infierno lo que espanta al vulgo, si no el rechazo social, el ser la gorda, la solterona, la güeisa que no ha tenido sexo en un mes.
But at the same time, I feel like those who make women's lives impossible, at this day and age, aren't priests.
The gospels which reign over us are different and not found in the Bible. They are found in the television, where women of course go to school, because they have a right to get educated, but they go wearing short plaid skirt and pigtails in RDB [Note.- Mexican soap opera for youth]. Or better yet: they are found in any of the high schools in our country, where you can see dozens of girls wearing pants so tight they seem painted on every morning before heading out, ready to play at the tender age of thirteen the game of being “hot” because that is the prime objective of any woman in this life.  It isn't the enormous and overwhelming majority who is paying attention to the priests sermon from the altar, but they are keeping their eyes glued on the Pilsen girls dancing on the bar counters and which make any girl next door with a blown up brassiere into a “model”. It isn't hell which scares the populace, but social rejection: being the fat one, the spinster, the hag who hasn't had sex in a month.
"Don't tell us how to dress, tell them not to rape us" by Julia Ardon
The Catholic Church's Ecumenical Council has declared that the Slut Walk violated the Rule of Law since it incited hate and violence against a specific religion.  The Costa Rican Slut Walk's organizers have sent out a press release available on Facebook where they clarify that in no moment did they incite violence and that as a widely publicized activity which spread through different social networks it attracted a diversity of people with different perspectives and probably one of the only points in common was outrage at the systemic mistreatment of women by Costa Rican society.
In their statement they quote Julia Ardón, who was at the march and whose photographs taken at the SlutWalk are illustrating this post (with her permission):
Cosas distintas que se vieron en la Marcha de las Putas en San José, a diferencia de las de otros países:
1-A la par del llamado al respeto y la dignidad de todas las mujeres, hubo un reclamo por la violencia de parte de la Iglesia Católica que insiste en gobernar el cuerpo femenino, y el vehemente llamado al Estado Laico ya.
2-Lo más interesante: la marcha, convocada por grupos feministas, contó con la participación de gente de todas las edades, y además; más o menos un 50% de hombres, lo que la convirtió en una Marcha bastante especial.
Muy sobrio todo, muy alegre, muy bonito y sobre todo: muy lleno de respeto y coraje. Fui muy feliz de ser parte y de encontrarme allí a tantos amigos y amigas. Hoy me sentí orgullosa de pertenecer a esta comunidad costarricense. Acá hay cosas lindas naciendo. Siento mucha esperanza
Diversity at the Slut Walk in Costa Rica by Julia Ardón
Blogger Bryan Gonzalez also wrote about his support to the Slut Walk and to the artistic performances showing partial nudity and lewd acts representing the Catholic Church:
Respecto al performance que se realizó en la marcha, pues mi aplauso a la actriz y al actor, fueron quienes mejor representaron la violencia del machismo católico. La iglesia se indigna y afirma que dicha actuación atenta contra la moral pública (de un pueblo mojigato). Pero nada más indignante y una verdadera afrenta a la moral pública que la jerarquía de la iglesia católica encubra a acosadores y violadores. ¿Por qué no se pronuncia al respecto la conferencia episcopal? ¿Por qué si se habla de procesos judiciales contra 2 artistas y no contra pedófilos y quienes les encubren? ¿Y los actos de corrupción financiera perpetrados por la conferencia episcopal no atentan contra la moral pública?
The reactions to the mentioned “performance” can be read in the 105 comments which quickly escalated to a flame war under a Facebook picture of the actress, where she's laying with her chest covered in words and chains while biting a rosary, with a disembodied fist held between her naked thighs. While some defended the expression as performance art, others considered that she was just denigrating herself and offending the church while at it.
The Suicidal Bunnies blog also commented on the Slut Walk, where Amorexia writes that although there were many chants that he didn't share, he believes that in general the activity was wonderful, a valid complaint which was restorative more than necessary. He also shares a video of the Slut Walk in Costa Rica, where the chant “No is no, I said no. Which part didn't you understand, the N or the O?” can be heard at the beginning of the video as participants stand in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral:
Although reactions to the Slut Walk have been varied, some positive and some negative, it seems that its real success was in getting people to think about and express their thoughts regarding the meaning and forms of gender violence, rape and respect.
All images used on this post belong to Julia Ardón, Costa Rican photographer and blogger and are used with her permission.
This post is part of our special coverage SlutWalks 2011.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Curaçao: “The re-enslavement of Tula” · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Controversy is brewing over a film about Curaçao's “liberation warrior Tula” – read why, here.


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History of China in 3½ Minutes · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A rap video rounding up history of China from prehistoric times to present day by 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors in Youtube.

author: Oiwan Lam


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India: Should Telangana Be A Separate State? · Global Voices
Rezwan

Tanushree Krishna at Youth Ki Awaaz asks whether Telangana should be made a separate state.


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Jamaica: Technology & Business · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Smartphones have truly revolutionised the way we interact”: Pray, laugh, grow! wonders whether “a BlackBerry pin [is] the new business card.”


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Japan: Web, Social Games, and Mobile · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

Serkan Toto from Asiajin has made available his presentation on The Web, Social Games And Mobile In Japan.

author: Tomomi Sasaki


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Kyrgyzstan: Bloggers Take a Stand Against Manas-pulation · Global Voices
Chris Rickleton

Beyond, I entered a shrine-like museum. In its central painting Manas was conjured as a steel plated prodigy – part wizard, part Arthurian hero – whose hosts gathered behind him in a spectral forest of banners, ascending at last to the pastel clouds of heaven
In the above passage, taken from Shadow of the Silk Road, travel-writer Colin Thubron notes the fantastic qualities of Manas, the nomadic folk-hero of the Kyrgyz people, with typical eloquence.
As the central character in an oral epic – often trumpeted as the longest in the world – Manas is credited as having unified the forty Kyrgyz tribes before inspiring them to score unlikely victories in battles against numerically superior military opponents, including the Chinese and the Uighurs.
Thubron goes on to ponder the historical accuracy of the legend (“Did he even exist or was he a conflation of half-mythic war leaders?”) as he fumbles around the musty corridors of the impressive Manas Ordo complex in Talas, Kyrgyzstan.
Warrior king
Such skepticism would seem justified, given that the warrior-King’s achievements are never blemished with specific dates by the time-weathered Manaschi that chant the epic. Furthermore, no creditable historian has ever produced evidence for the national saviour’s existence.
But as Kyrgyzstan prepares for its 20th anniversary of independence and subsequent presidential elections, Manas is becoming more and more real by the day.
The complete list of tired, asinine schemes dreamed up by candidates for the presidential elections (October 30, 2011, is the tentative date) and government apparatchiks in recent months is too lengthy to post here, but if their ideas share something in common, it is that most of them begin with the letter ‘M’.
Back in April, Neweurasia [en] reported on an initiative to rename Ala-Too square – where over 80 protesters were gunned down by government troops on April 7, 2010 – Manas square. By mid-July, that had morphed into a decision to tear down a monument to freedom standing on the square, and replace it with a statue of “Magnanimous” Manas, as part of the country’s latest effort to re-brand.
Fast forward to August, and, perhaps sensing they had been understated in their adulation of the mythical warrior king, the country’s power-brokers began debating an old idea with new vigour: to name or not to rename the national capital, Bishkek, after You Know Who. (Clue: That's not Lord Voldemort, The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, or Kurmanbek Bakiyev)
Many of the capital’s bloggers, though, don’t share their rulers’ and would-be-rulers’ enthusiasm. In a, brief, ironic post, Isken Sydykov challenges his country’s government to go one step further and re-title everything in the legend’s honour [ru]:
In light of our government’s decision to demolish the Statue of Liberty and replace it with a monument of Manas, and in connection with the initiative of Mrs Umetalieva to rename Bishkek Manas, I came up with the quite brilliant idea of renaming everything Manas. The capital city can be Manas, the president Manas [of the country] Manas, intersections between [two] streets – both called Manas, and hotels called Manas on the shores of Lake Manas
At that stage, the blogger suggests, Kyrgyzstan would be in a good position to do a remake of the film “Being John Malkovich” : “Being Manas the Magnanimous”. The author of this Global Voices post suggests that Mel Gibson could be persuaded to play lead.
Manas mania
This isn’t the first time the country has indulged in Manas mania, of course. A blog by Dennis Keen, known to the World Wide Web as KeenonKyrgyzstan, takes readers around a decaying tourist trap devoted to the Magnanimous one, and provides a sense of the hubris associated with the UNESCO-declared year of Manas, way back in 1995:
The epic is a bedrock of Kyrgyz culture. It is an ancient document, an encyclopedia, they say, of the Kyrgyz way of life. It is at the center of the Kyrgyz soul. So when a world body took the center of their soul and gave it international recognition, the Kyrgyz went a little crazy. Manas classes became required in school, statues of the horseback hero went up everywhere, and in Talas, the guy’s apparent birthplace, a grand complex was built near his mausoleum and the party of the millennium was planned. The world’s first three-story yurt was thrown up in haste; leaders from all over the world were invited […] In the end, hundreds of dancers reenacted the epic in front of thousands of people, and for one day, Talas felt like the center of Kyrgyzstan. For one year, Kyrgyzstan felt like the center of the world
In those heady days, as noted in a recent article on EurasiaNet, Manas was a central component in first President Askar Akayev’s drive to promote cultural diversity, tribal stability and inter-ethnic harmony. It was stressed, for instance, that Manas’ wife Kanikay was of Tajik origin and that his best friend and advisor was Chinese (Akayev was preparing to sell off chunks of sovereign territory to China at the time), while many of his soldiers were not Kyrgyz in the strictest sense of the word.
But as the Kyrgyz body politic lurches haplessly towards proto-fascism, a trend observed in a well written [ru] piece by Ilya Lukashov, Manas has been sucked horse-over-head into the void.
(N.B. As already highlighted on GV, Manas acted as a reference point in some anti-Uzbek “verses” [ru] that surfaced on a right-wing website after the cataclysmic events that shook Osh and Jalal-Abad in June 2010. The site is still in use, although rarely updated).
This apparent change in political direction is not lost on foreign analysts. David Trilling, EurasiaNet’s Editor for Central Asia posts:
Furthering an ideological shift from national liberation to nationalism, authorities in Bishkek have removed a prominent statue called “Freedom” and will soon replace it with a statue of the mythical hero Manas. Manas, of the eponymous Kyrgyz-language epic poem, has enjoyed a renaissance in recent years as Kyrgyzstan struggles to define an identity
He then adds:
That task has taken on renewed urgency since ethnic pogroms against minorities — who make up 30 percent of Kyrgyzstan’s population — last year. But in this multiethnic state, Manas – unlike Freedom – is unmistakably Kyrgyz
Kyrgyzstan’s blogging community, it seems, is not against Manas per se, for the legend itself stands as a wonderful representation of the oral gifts and rich imagination embedded in the country’s traditions. Rather bloggers fear further Manas-pulation, the cynical use of the epic by the eternally ambitious, and populist rhetoric that provokes conflict between ethnic groups, ignores the state’s economic woes, and sacrifices change for tradition.
Colin Thubron began writing Shadow of the Silk Road in 2003. Almost nine years and two coup d’états after he set out on his own epic, lyrical journey, the concluding remarks to his Kyrgyzstan chapter – “The Mountain Passage” – have acquired a striking prescience:
The pilgrims [at the Manas Ordo complex in Talas] kiss the soft walls. If they could read the Kufic, it would not trouble them. A legend can lodge anywhere, and Manas, like the Yellow Emperor, swims in his own stream of time. A nation, as the philosopher Renan said, is bound not by the real past, but by the stories it tells itself; by what it remembers and what it forgets,” he writes.
Photos from the demolition of the “Statue of Liberty” that Manas is slated to replace can be found here, courtesy of Kloop blogger Ilya Karimdzhanov [ru].

author: Chris Rickleton


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Russia: Bloggers Remember 20th Anniversary of August Coup · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

On August 19, 2011, Russians commemorate 20 years since the “August Putsch,” (August Coup) a failed coup d'etat conducted by a number of KGB officers and military units who were opposed to Gorbachev's reform program and decentralisation of power to the Soviet republics. Citizens took to the streets to defend the White House, the then-residence of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation, against the coup.
The Russian blogosphere – divided as usual – has been discussing the 20th anniversary of the Coup, an event which has numerous contesting interpretations. Will bloggers succeed in transferring the hope for democracy and freedom felt by the defenders of the government to the younger generation?
Boris Yeltsin, in front of the White House, Moscow, 19 August 1991. Photo: ITAR-TASS, Wikipedia
Betrayal or democratic victory?
Detailed diaries of the Coup period have been shared online by oleg_kozyrev [ru], yustas [ru] (Sergey Yushenkov, whose father actively defended the White House), babushkinskaya [ru], hasid [ru], Adele Kalinichenko [ru] at ej.ru, and others.
Mikhail Gorbachov, former president of the USSR, gave a detailed interview at Echo.msk.ru [ru].
Boris Akunin, a famous writer, recollected [ru]:
Это один из самых важных моментов в моей жизни. Впервые, в тридцатипятилетнем возрасте, я понял, что живу дома, что это моя страна.
[…]
Августовские события 1991 года – единственное, за что наше поколение может себя уважать.
Больше, увы, пока хвастать нечем.
At the same time, there were also those who supported [ru] the conspirators:
21 августа мне стало ясно, что мою страну захватили враги, в Кремле измена и надо уходить в партизаны. […] казалось, кроме нас троих измену в Кремле и вражескую оккупацию Родины никто не заметил.
Despite supporting the idea of the Coup, conservative user ros_sea_ru wrote [ru] he was proud to be with the people against the KGB, even the people ‘were wrong at that time.’
Blogger Hasid, wrote [ru] that 1991 was probably the only time, when Russia had a national idea:
Россия должна стать частью европейского пространства (не только в географическом, но и культурном, правовом и т.д. смыслах). […] В 1991 году эта идея была, её большинство вслух не могло сформулировать из-за многовековой атрофии голосовых связок, но внутри она жила. Что вот сейчас откроют границы, люстрируют вохру и туземных служителей колониальной фактории. Независимый суд, многопартийная система, ну и прочий базовый набор добродетелей белых людей.
Generation gap – Important threat for the blogosphere
Russian bloggers from different political clusters of the blogosphere reflect on the August 1991 events almost every year, comparing the dramatic events with the contemporary political situation (see Global Voices reports from 2006 and 2007).
The reflections and recollections change from year to year, as does the overall discourse on the event. A survey [ru], conducted by the Levada Center since 1994, indicates that the perception of the Coup has significantly changed from a ‘routine power struggle episode’ (the dominant interpretation in the 1990s) to a historical point ‘that had dramatic consequences for the country and its people’ (see illustration below).
Reactions to August Coup in Russia, 1994-2011. Source: Levada.ru, Illustration: Alexey Sidorenko
At the same time, it is only the educated and more professional minority (7-10 percent of the population) that supports the ‘democratic’ version of the event; interestingly, this percentage was not that different in the 1990s – before the Internet was widely introduced.
The interpretation of the August Coup is also age-dependent. While for those bloggers who personally remember the events (and some of them were among the actual defenders of the White House), the failure of the coup was something to be proud of, it is likely that younger bloggers completely miss its historical importance.
Oleg Kozyrev mocked [ru] the contemporary ‘mythical’ narrative of the August Coup actively pushed by propagandists, like Nikolay Starikov, one of the main ideologists of the pro-Kremlin ‘Nashi’ youth movement (see his interpretation here [ru]):
Заботящиеся о стране патриоты из КГБ хотели спасти ее от развала. […] Именно поэтому в Москву ввели войска […]Но тут вмешались США. Они наняли Ельцина погубить СССР. […]Ельцин окружил Белый дом людьми, которых все три дня путча он постоянно обманывал.А потому путч как-то закончился и Ельцин захватил власть.Демократы тут же все разворовали и страна, буквально купавшаяся в роскоши до 1991 года вмиг опустела и обнищала.
Whatever discourse dominates online, some of the conspirators’ ideas from 1991 are evident in 2011, as Andrey Malgin sadly noted [ru]:
Из Постановления № 1 Государственного комитета по чрезвычайному положению в СССР (19 августа 1991 г.):
4. Приостановить деятельность политических партий, общественных организаций и массовых движений.
[…]
8. Установить контроль над средствами массовой информации…

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Russia: Ex-UK Ambassador’s Diary of 5 Days in August 1991 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

OpenDemocracy.net publishes – here, here and here – excerpts from the August 1991 diary of Rodric Braithwaite, who was the British Ambassador in the Soviet Union back then.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Sri Lanka: The Return Of The Grease Devils · Global Voices
Rezwan

In many rural areas of Sri Lanka the ‘Grease Yaka’ (Grease Devils) panic is spreading fast. According to reports, nighttime assaults on women and thefts/robberies by grease rubbed men are being blamed on this mythical character prompting women to stay indoors and men to arm themselves.
The Sunday Times reports that Grease Yakas have been cited in 24 places in Sri Lanka as attacking women, and people are mob-lynching (the wrong people most of the time).
Padraig Colman narrates:
For the past couple of weeks, there has been much excitement in our Sri Lankan neighbourhood (near Badulla). For some time there have been rumours about women being attacked. Villagers are convinced that there is a serial killer on the rampage. The elderly ladies, Tewanee and Meenaachi,  who work for us  have been telling us that they know for a fact that women have been raped and killed in this vicinity, their breasts bitten off, their hearts torn out. Tewanee’s dogs were killed by having their throats slashed. [..]
The attacks are being blamed on bhuthaya, grease yakas or grease devils. Historically, a “grease devil” was a thief who wore only underwear or went naked and covered his body in grease to make himself difficult to grab if chased. Lately, the “grease devil” has become a night-time prowler who frightens and attacks women. Some of the reported attacks around here have been in daylight.
Image released by Police Headquaters which was saved allegedly in the phone of a 16 year-old who was arrested for a number of robberies in the Uva Province. Image courtesy Groundviews.
According to Indi Samarajiva:
Grease Yakas, grease devils or bhuthaya are (mythical) men that grease themselves up and break into homes and either steal or rape/kill women. The police have said it’s a myth, but the rumor has been blazing around the inter and outer webs like, well, greased lightning. Sri Lankans have been tying suspects to trees, and now there are rumors that two people were killed in Haputale. I think this has gotten out of hand.
Groundviews portrays how the panic is spreading:
The news reports are as bewildering as they are increasing in number, especially from the East. People are being killed, for no apparent reason. ‘Grease devils’ have been arrested, vigilante justice has been meted out (ironically leading to more deaths), curfews imposed, the STF is on the look out, but the mass panic persists. Well-known columnists have flagged these incidents as ‘an unbelievable collapse of confidence in law enforcement‘. Mainstream newspapers last Sunday covered this disturbing story (What the devil is going on?, The Grease Yaka Sightings: Fact Vs. Myth), but there’s generally confusion amongst the public that is fuelling anxiety and fear.
Indi writes in another post:
What the grease yaka signifies is the broader problems that the Sri Lankan justice system doesn’t address, and the mobs that form are people taking ‘justice’ into their own hands. This happens on a daily basis, but now it’s become an acute epidemic, centered around the grease yaka.
People are taking law in their hands and here is an YouTube video uploaded by azeez838 showing mob attack on a suspected grease man in Mahiyawa.
Many Sri Lankan Tweeps are also joining the frenzy:
@RehanRyan: Only male grease yaka???why not female grease yaka?? :)
@hajara_: Grease Yaka’ Only in Sri Lanka ,Be proud, now we have our own identity.. No Super Mans,Spider Mans, Bat mans, its all about ‘Grease Yaka’ :D
HalikAzeez: Off to Pottuvil to investigate the grease yaka. InshaAllah they won't mistake ME for one
HalikAzeez: Spoke to a victim of a grease yaka attack. Visited another's house. The attacks seem real. And well organized. Recon, ambush and getaway
According to police there are opportunists who are using this fear of common people to use the disguise of Grease Yakas to create disturbances in many areas. Recent reports suggest that over 100 persons have been arrested from several areas in Sri Lanka amidst allegations that they are Grease Yakas.
However, there are rumors and conspiracy theories spreading everywhere. A member claimed in Parliament that there is a connection between the government and these incidents. Padraig Colman tells that there is even a rumor that an offering of the blood of 1,000 young women is required for the reign of the president to continue and the Grease Yakas are deployed to complete the mission.
Amidst all the Sri Lankan police had to issue an warning that “any person or personnel spreading false rumors about ‘Grease Yakas’  will be arrested and prosecuted”.

author: Rezwan


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Trinidad & Tobago: Honouring Andre Tanker  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Lisa Allen-Agostini is thrilled “that a group of artists has been drawn together to do a tribute concert to the late, great Andre Tanker,” a musician who “played the soundtrack to [her] life.”


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U.S.V.I.: Saying “No” to Plastic Bags  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Plastic bags too often find their way into the waters of the island and end up wrapped around coral reefs”, says News of St. John, which is why “members of the St. John Rotary are planning to talk with the island's largest grocery stores” about replacing them with a more eco-friendly alternative.


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Uganda: Ugandans Take Fight to Save a Rainforest to Internet · Global Voices
Rosebell Kagumire

Mabira is the word almost every Ugandan on social networking sites has mentioned in the last one week. The Mabira Forest is found in central Uganda near the capital Kampala. It’s one of the few natural rain forests that remain after years of degradation took away many hectares.
Uganda’s forests cover loss is already driven by an increasing population which largely depends on agriculture but the fight this time is against the government and a sugar production company, Sugar Corporation of Uganda Limited (Scoul), which intends to take part of the forest for sugarcane production. In 1990 Uganda had 5 million hectares of forest but by 2005 this was reduced to just 3.5 million. Uganda is one of the ten African countries with the highest net loss of forest.
Fred Senoga Makubuya depiction of Mabira Forest saga. Image courtesy of Fred Makubuya.
Ugandans first took to the streets in 2007 to demonstrate against President Museveni’s government's move to give away parts of the Mabira Forest to Sugar Corporation of Ugandan Limited (Scoul). The move to de-gazette the forest met stiff resistance and saw over 1,000 Ugandans pour in the streets of Kampala. At least three people were killed.
Last week President Museveni announced that he will go ahead and give away part of the forest amidst sugar shortage. And the sentiments haven’t changed. The Mabira Forest is an important catchment area with a lot of biodiversity and this time environmental groups as well opposition parties are planning protest. Members of President Museveni’s governing party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM), also opposed the give-away at meeting they held with the president this week.
On Facebook many groups have been created ranging from Ugandans Against Mabira Forest Give Away to Save Mabira Now.
Lots of discussions are going on at the moment. Ugandan Facebook user Osotto Denis wonders why the president is insisting on giving the forest and questions if the president has personal links to the sugar business:
Why is the President hell bent on giving Mabira to Mehta for some million dollars and more sugar?could it be that the President and Mehta are business partners?An investigation into how much of scoul and other investments Mehta actually owns should be carried out, I have a feeling we will find the answer as to why M7 is hell bent on decimating Mabira.
Patricia Sembuse is thankful for the Buganda Kingdom and the church, which have offered alternative lands to the sugar corporation in a move to save Mabira:
Mubende – Mityana road has a lot of inhabited land, why doesnt SCOUL go there and so many other areas? We thank the Kabaka of Buganda and Mukono Anglican church for the offers!
Scoul is owned by a Ugandan of Indian origin and the forest give-away has resurrected discussions on divides between the Indian and native Ugandans. This is largely because the president says the move to give away the forest is to provide more jobs to locals.
Mary Kelly discusses the salary divides and who occupies most of the top positions in the company:
All section heads and departmental heads are indians, in summary, just at managerial level scoul has a minimum of 36 indians. Apart from de managerial level, some lower positions are also held by indians e.g in factory dept alone, de fuel clerks, cane yard supervisor, are indians. So there's a minimum of 100 indians employed in scoul. Now wen it comes to salary it's a disaster: indian top managers each get atleast 1500 us dollars(salary) which's deposited on their accounts back home so it's not taxed, on top of that they each get atleast ug shs 500k every week. Now for black managers most of whom are assistant managers are paid at most 500 shs.
Ochan Moses thinks the 1000 plus members of the Facebook groups need to do more:
I think we should go beyond protesting mabira give away.This group members should spearhead the reafforestation campaign for the degraded portion.I believe UGANDANS would generously support the restoration of mabira.
Peter Nyanzi believes the renewed Mabira give-away efforts from the President are an attempt to divert Ugandans from paying attention to the current inflation and economic problems:
With Mr Museveni beset from all sides by the economic crisis, the depreciating shilling, a scotching cost of living and the resultant strikes from all and sundry, he wanted something to divert public attention and sap the excess energy…oh how successful the Mabira hoodwink has been!
Many Ugandans on Facebook are sharing this message on their status:
Let all your friends who value this beautiful forest to join the SAVE MABIRA NOW… Let's see if we can collect 1,000 signatures this week. Let's start saving Mabira today.
Fred Senoga, whose political cartoons have quite a following on Facebook, drew a cartoon featuring President Museveni and the owner of the Sugar corporation, Mehta group.
On Twitter, Ugandan tweets are using hashtags are #Mabira and #SaveMabira:
@AndyKristian says cutting down Mabira would be irresponsible on the president’s part:
Dear President @KagutaMuseveni. Please do not cut down #Mabira #Forest. That will be very irresponsible! #Environment #ClimateChange #Uganda
@UgandaTalks indicated that Mehta Group carried a report claiming that the part of the forest they wanted to expand their sugar business was degraded.
On Monday government took journalists to the forest and but they could not locate the degraded part of the forest.
@andsjeff claims that money has already changed hands between the Mehta Group and President Museveni’s government, a claim that has been rife in the country:
@TusiimeSamson its said that #Mabira already belongs to Mehta! was given as deal for the Money Injected in 2006 campaigns!!
@pjkanywa says the Mabira pending give-away has little to do with sugar or economics:
this whole #mabira saga is not about sugar or economics, it's just about a bully trying to remind himself who is boss in the school yard.
It is about control and absolute power:
#Mabira is more about Mzee showing us that he can do what he wants, when he wants… control & absolute power! @TimKalyegira #uganda


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Ukraine: Sergiy Tigipko to Become PM in 2012-14? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Odessablog predicts that Ukraine's Vice PM Sergiy Tigipko “will become Prime Minister of Ukraine sometime between October 2012 and January 2014.  Probably sooner rather than later.”


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Bangladesh: Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior Starts A New Mission · Global Voices
Rezwan

After 52 years of service the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior has been retired and rechristened as Rongdhonu (Rainbow in Bangla), which will serve as an emergency medical ship around the Bangladesh coasts, reports Bangladesh Watchdog.


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Brazil: Construction Starts on Controversial Belo Monte Dam · Global Voices
João Miguel Lima

This page is part of our special coverage Forest Focus: Amazon and Indigenous Rights.
Despite the protesting voices of citizens from many parts of Brazil – particularly the indigenous populations and traditional settlers of Volta Grande do Xingu region, who will be directly affected by the planned Belo Monte power plant dam – the government has not been convinced to forgo the scheme. The construction of Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant began in late June 2011, and is likely to become the world's third largest.
Agência Brasil informed on July 1 [pt] that the construction had been initiated on June 23. A week later, on July 7, members of the non-governmental organisation Xingu Vivo were on the construction site to closely observe the first developments and said on Twitter:
@xinguvivo: São 40 homens trabalhando desde a semana passada e a expectativa p/ a próxima semana é de que serão 400. E + 40 máquinas novas. #BeloMonte
On that same day, they saw ten construction vehicles [pt] conducting earthworks on the designated area to become the accommodation of future employees.
Indigenous communities demonstrate against Belo Monte, June 2011. Photo by Pedro_dm_Ribeiro on Flickr (CC-BY-NC 2.0).
One day before, on June 6, 300 women from across the state of Pará gathered together in the capital city, Belém, for the Congress of Women from the Countryside and the City. Xingu Vivo had one representative at the event, who published on Twitter the words of a woman, the leader of the Kayapó people:
@xinguvivo: Kayapó Tuíra: “só a unidade entre povos contra #BeloMonte poderá nos levar a vitória”. Discurso curto, mas muito denso
On the same day, a citizen from Bahia, Antônio Freitas (@tunynfreitas), tweeted that the dam had made its first impacts on the city of Altamira. Families had left the area due to be flooded and were unable to rent houses in the urban area; those families who had resorted to occupation of empty lots had been repressed by local police. He said:
@tunynfreitas: Construção de Belo Monte está aumentando os preços de aluguel em Altamira, Povo quer ocupar terreno sem uso, Polícia bate em manifestante
Debate has yet to reach media
Demonstrator against Belo Monte in Sao Paulo, June 19. Photo by Pedro_dm_Ribeiro, on Flickr (CC-BY-NC 2.0).
On July 11, Priscila Costa (@PriscilaCosta4) urged on Twitter for awareness:
@PriscilaCosta4: Nós temos o poder de autodestruição, vamos cuidar um pouco que seja do que nos resta, o planeta corre perigo! Diga não a Usina Belo Monte!
On July 2, during a preparatory seminar for the National Meeting of Communication Students (Encontro Nacional de Estudantes de Comunicação – ENECOM), Professor of Economy Eduardo Costa criticized the perception[pt] of the Amazon rainforest as subservient to economic interests:
O governo olha para a Amazônia ainda como uma eterna fornecedora de matéria-prima para o restante do país. Qual o papel o governo está relegando à Amazônia?
He believes the debate on the issue is active within society, but not in the media; as it has not appeared in the country's mainstream media, the issue has not reached the majority of the population.
Students organizing the event turned the discussion on Belo Monte into a goal of this year's National Meeting, which held a demonstration against the power plant in Belém:
@EnecomPA: O Ato do #Enecom2011 terá como tema Belo Monte. Por isso, siga @xinguvivo e leia mais aqui: http://migre.me/5cQL8 ehttp://migre.me/5cQMr
Protesters against Belo Monte, June 2011. Photo by Marisa Meliani, on Flickr (CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0.).
Activists in the cities of Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Belém, Manaus, Porto Alegre and São Paulo – and even London – went to the streets on Sunday, July 17, to protest against Belo Monte power plant and its social and environmental impacts. Some people also expressed their rejection of the new Forestry Code, which was approved by the Chamber of Deputies and is now being analyzed by the Federal Senate.
On July 17, Movement Brazil for Life in the Forests (Movimento Brasil pela Vida nas Florestas) organized a sit-in [pt] on one of São Paulo's busiest crossroads, that of Paulista Avenue and Brigadeiro Luís Antonio Avenue. According to the movement's website, about 500 activists sat down on the crossroads as they held posters, “singing and protesting, for more than 20 minutes, their rejection to Belo Monte and to the changes on the Forestry Code”.
Below you can see a video of the march and see here photos of the sit-in.
Controversy around electricity generation
Global Voices has been tracking the case of the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant since the project was brought back to discussion, in 2010. Telma Monteiro, a specialist in processes of environmental licensing, has published on her blog an analysis [pt] of Brazil's Ten-Year Energy Plan (Plano Decenal de Energia – PDE), which makes the prospect even more critical.
Apart from the plants of Belo Monte, Tapajós, Madeira and Tocantins, the federal government intends to build at least 24 hydroelectric plants in Brazil between 2016 and 2020 – 10 of which are planned for the Amazon. In an interview with IHU – online, Monteiro criticizes the government's policy:
O governo brasileiro pretende lançar mão dos recursos naturais – exportando-os como commodities – para se transformar na quinta maior economia do mundo.
For some time, Ibama (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Natural Renewable Resources) refused to grant a license to the Belo Monte project, which caused internal tensions inside the institution, however the decision changed when current director Curt Trennepohl was appointed.
In mid June 2011, Trennepohl gave an interview to an Australian television station about Belo Monte. A dialogue recorded without his knowledge exposed the way Ibama's director comprehends the environment and the indigenous people of the Amazon. The interview was leaked, and journalist Gustavo Barreto wrote about it on his blog [pt]:
Indagado pela repórter se sua função seria de “cuidar do ambiente”, ele respondeu: “Não, meu trabalho é minimizar os impactos”.
Irritado com o tom recriminatório adotado pela jornalista, Trennepohl rebateu: “Vocês têm os aborígenes lá e não os respeitam”. Ouviu de réplica: “Então vocês vão fazer com os índios a mesma coisa que nós fizemos com os aborígines?”, para em seguida confirmar: “Sim, sim”.
August 20, day of protests
Flyer invites all to engage in a worldwide demonstration against Belo Monte.
In spite of the beginning of the construction, the struggle has not yet been abandoned. On Saturday, August 20, protests are scheduled in 10 Brazilian cities and 16 countries [pt] against Belo Monte power plant and the Forestry Code's new project.
About a month ago, Global Voices author Diego Casaes tweeted:
@diegocasaes: Impossível que não haja uma alternativa à Belo Monte. I mean, seriously? Não tem UMA solução mais sustentável p/ prover energia p/ o Brasil?
And that's exactly the question demonstrators want to ask the government and other fellow Brazilians.
This page is part of our special coverage Forest Focus: Amazon and Indigenous Rights.

author: João Miguel Lima


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Brunei: Promoting Health Consciousness Online · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

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Colombia: Football Federation Rejects ‘Bolillo’ Gómez’s Resignation as Head Coach · Global Voices
Lully

All links lead to Spanish-language sites, unless otherwise specified
Álvaro González, Vice President of the Colombian Football Federation, said the Federation has not accepted the resignation of Hernán Darío Gómez [Eng] (‘Bolillo’) as head coach of the national football team which ‘Bolillo’ presented after hitting a woman outside a bar (‘El Bembé’) in Bogotá. Furthermore, according to press reports, the Federation plan to confirm him as the head coach once the U-20 FIFA World Cup, which is being held in Colombia, is over.
On Twitter there's been all kinds of comments under the hasthags #Bavaria, DT de Colombia, #Bolillo, #Leonel, among others. Radical positions, messages of support and various jokes have been published. Colombian netizens not only speak of the incident, respect for women or the lack of action by football directors like Luis Bedoya, but also of the future head coach, citing Juan Carlos Osorio or Leonel Álvarez as possibilities.
Media, blogs, and websites are still discussing the matter to exert pressure on the Federation and the sponsors. But there is also another sector of the country that supports the permanence of “Bolillo, arguing that his actions were not work related.
Gloria Gómez in the coment in  a post on equinoXio says that she supports ‘Bolillo':
Todos nos podemos equivocar, reconocer y mejorar para que no afecte su vida Ni a la selección.
Journalist Gloria Ortega Gómez (@Bunkerglo) shows her disagreement with the violation of the FIFA [Eng] code of ethics:
Estoy mamada que la sociedad civil no tengamos arte ni parte. El Sr. Hernán D. Gómez #Bolillo VIOLÓ Código de ética FIFA http://ow.ly/64M5o
While Alejandra Vargas (@AlejaVargasC) expresses her support enthusiastically:
Que viva el bolillo!!!!
Mónica Eché (@La eche)  invites her followers to visit a website and vote against ‘Bolillo’ staying as head coach:
Sí soy monotemática: Apoye la causa NO al #Bolillo: http://t.co/nSXU6ZI firme y difunda por favor.
Maritza Sánchez(@ColoresMari), quotes Senator Liliana Rendón to criticize her for supporting ‘Bolillo':
[Las declaraciones de la senadora Liliana Rendón no pudieron ser más estúpidas: “Si mi marido me casca, yo me la gané”] http://t.co/5TqrOf2
Finally, YouTube accounts have several videos about ‘Bolillo’ and his relationship with women. The following video starts with the phrase “Now we understand this commercial” and ends with the words “Good luck Bolillo! The last expected disappointment, hitting a woman”.

author: Lully


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