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Costa Rica: Thumbs Up or Down to Campaign Ads · Global Voices
Adriana Vargas

Over the past few weeks, Costa Rica has been bombarded with political advertisements due to the proximity of the presidential election, which will be held on Sunday, February 7th, 2010. Because of this, the presidential candidates have been doing everything possible to attract more supporters with the main goal of winning the election. In response to this overload of media, the Costa Rican bloggers have been giving their opinions on the ads from the political parties, some of which have been featured here.
This phenomenon began when candidate Luis Fishman of the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC), also known as “the lesser evil,” released an ad supporting pregnant women and their children The women in the ad insult their husbands who left them alone with their children, and which the candidate responded that he will help them with the pensions that parents should give their children. The announcement was described by ridiculous by some, as well as the blogger from Hell in Costa Rica [es], who published the video of the ad and wrote the following:
Saludos queridas almas: Les dejamos esta parodia del comercial de las embarazadas cantándole al menos malo. Disfrútenlo.
The only female candidate, Laura Chinchilla of the  National Liberation Party (PLN), has released a new advertisement about her trajectory from childhood to today, which seeks to demonstrate her firmness and honesty to Costa Ricans. Cristian Cambronero of the blog Fusil de Chispas [es]  also showed the ad and asked the opinion of his readers, many of whom say the ad is too boring. Cambronero provides his opinion:
Ahora sí, mi opinión: un spot sencillo, más racional que emotivo, formalmente conservador (ha sido el tono a lo largo de toda la campaña). Al igual que en el caso de los del PAC, yo habría esperado algo más “festivo”, pero no le veo nada malo como para destruirlo solo porque sí.
Finally, the candidate Ottón Solis of the Citizens Action Party (PAC) also showed new ad in recent days, inviting the youth to use their identification cards for the first time by voting for him. Solis has been trying to attract the votes of first time young voters and those who voted for him in previous elections so that he does not remain “así” (“like that” –  in other words, not victorious). Once again, Cambronero of the blog Fusil de Chispas [es] published the ads, and asked opinions from his readers. Rodrigo Garnier writes:
Está bien trabajado. Ottón se ve y se siente algo diferente. Sin embargo el peso de lo hecho durante años anteriores y durante la campaña creo que no le alcanzarán, se quedará en “así”.
Although the party candidate Otto Guevara of the Libertarian Movement (ML) showed new ads and showed more progress, according to society, he has seemed calmer than in previous elections. This ad tries to convince Costa Rican families that a positive change in the country means improving health care and education, but always in opposition to the National Liberation Party.
Wednesday, February 3rd was the last day for political advertising and now all candidates can do is wait.

author: Adriana Vargas


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Hungary: Social Media and Politics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Remainder of Budapest writes about the social media aspect of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Hungary.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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India: The Death Of Bo Language · Global Voices
Rezwan

Madhu Baganiar, who belongs to the indigenous Oraon (Kurukh) community comments on the demise of Bo language with the death of Boa senior, the lone survivor of the Bo tribe: “tribal language(s) could be preserved and (could) prosper through known script only, as the pace of alienation of tribal language is more rapid than the preservation and creating literature and infrastructure.”

author: Rezwan


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Macedonia: Online Rebellion Against “Skopje 2014” Plan · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

After years of veiled announcements, media manipulation and bureaucratic dodging of requests for transparency, accountability and citizen participation, the local government of Centar Municipality [MKD] finally came out with a plan – made in coordination with the central government [MKD] – to litter the center of the Macedonian capital Skopje with a number of new monuments and buildings.
Below is the video presentation of the government project:
Viktor Arsovski of IT.com.mk, providing an overview of the reactions to the unveiling of the government's plan, reported [MKD]:
Citizens use social networks, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube to comment, criticize, ridicule, and, to a smaller extent, praise the future look of Skopje in 2014. Makfax posted the video “Visualisation of the Skopje center in 2014″ yesterday, on February 4th. In just one day it attracted over 16,000 views and over 380 comments.
Right-wing blogger Alek Careca expressed a view held by many of his ideological brethren:
Personally, I am impressed and fascinated. Skopje will have one of the most beautiful city centres.
However, Mr. Arsovski rightly notes that most of the reactions express disagreement for aesthetic reasons and/or due to the huge costs of the project, especially since the mayor of Centar Municipality has recently stated [MKD] that “the worst of the economic crisis is over, we have enough money for monuments,” whose total cost is estimated to be at least 17 million euro.
Volan, a blogger with background in economics, could only note that this development is not a joke [MKD], even though it looks like one. Nenad Jovanovic quoted his grandmother [MKD], who used to say:
Son, never underestimate the power of stupidity and kitsch.
The portal Okno published a compilation of comments [MKD], following up on earlier articles dealing with this and the related phenomena, whose authors spoke about the burden of living in such “interesting” times [MKD] and ironically noted [MKD] that in the future Macedonia would be able to compete with Easter Island:
Inspired tourist guides will explain to visitors from world over that this extinct civilization, in the midst of transitions and world crises, spent its meager resources on building monuments and other stoned works in order to leave traces in time that would bear witness of its defiance to the damned neighbors and other foreign clergy-fascist fiends.
Faced with the absurd, tweets (#Skopje2014) and Facebook posts often use humor as an antidote.
For instance, Interpreter published a lucid poem titled “Two Thousand and Fourteen” [MKD], while  FlavrSavr compared the video to the Caesar IV game trailer [MKD], saying that in this version…
…the difference is that journalists and other traitors [referring to smear tactics used by government supporters for all who express criticism] will have to play the role of gladiators.
Twitter users also spread the statement by Ramadan Ramadani [MKD], a representative of the Muslim community, who demands inclusion of a mosque in the plan – or exclusion of the new church:
The main square of the capital of Macedonia belongs to all the citizens and is not a field for playing [FarmVille].
A history buff used Wikipedia to compare the “vision” to make the grand national capital through massive and costly rebuilding to similar failed ambitions from the past.
The author of the blog Psycha… the edge of logic proposed [MKD] that the dome that the government plans to add to the Parliament building should be turned into a planetarium. Macedonia has only one such facility, built in the early 1970s and not renovated since, which suffers from neglect [MKD] due to lack of funds for maintenance.
Members of a grassroots group who got beaten up last spring called for a spontaneous protest against the government's unresponsiveness [MKD] to the citizens’ reactions. The protest is scheduled to take place this coming Saturday, at 2 PM, on the “unoccupied portion of the main square.”

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Macedonia: Protest Against “Skopje 2014” Plan · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Mite Kuzevski (@kuzevski) posted a video clip [MKD] and photos directly from the scene of the protest against the Skopje 2014 Plan. The protest, sparked by the unveiling of the government's “vision” for a massive rebuilding, took place on the main square of Macedonia's capital on Feb. 6.


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Pakistan: Karachi Under Attack · Global Voices
Sana Saleem

Skyline of Karachi. Image from Flickr by Kashiff. Used under a Creative Commons License
On February 5, 2010, two suicidal blasts struck the metropolitan city of Karachi killing 15 people and leaving 70 wounded. The first attack mainly targeted the Shia mourners traveling to join the Muharram processions. The second blast took place outside the emergency department of Jinnah Hospital, where the injured were being shifted. The attacks came 40 days after the Ashura bombing that killed over 40 people. Unfortunately, Karachi has had a history of violences of both ethnic and sectarian nature.
On my own blog I recalled and condemned the return of violence in Karachi:
The aftermath of Monday’s suicide bombing – the widespread rioting and burning – are characteristic of the kind of reaction and vandalism that follow sectarian attacks. Soon after the blast, riots broke out in various parts of the city. It appears that there was absolutely no damage control by security forces at that point. As a result, hundreds of shops were set ablaze, and at some point on late Monday night, it seemed as if the entire business district was at risk. Attacks of such nature have almost always been accompanied by widespread tensions. As riots continue, more questions are being raised on the role of the security personnel and their absence as widespread vandalism continues. It is evident that the attack doesn’t only target a specific sect. It is an attack to terrorise the people of Karachi and embroil them in conflict, thereby damaging the country’s economic hub.
Kalsoom Lakhani at CHUP – Changing Up Pakistan condemned the series of attacks on Shia Muslims, and questioned the law and order situation in the country:
We may not be entirely certain who was responsible for today’s attacks, but it is nevertheless horrific that they could happen at all. If all three cities were placed on red alert yesterday, was there not more that could be done to prevent today’s death? The targeting of Shia pilgrims as well as a hospital is not only tragic, but frankly also sickening. Is nowhere in Pakistan safe or untouched anymore?
In one comprehensive post  earlier on the blog, Kalsoom gave an insight on the history of violence in Karachi. According to Dawn over 34 people lost their lives in ethnic violence in various part of the city in April last year. The public at large is appalled by the widespread violence and the authorities inability to establish control.
Another blogger Farheen Ali, shares her concern over the worsening situation of the city and inaction by the authorities in a post titled ‘Unabated wave of target-killing at Karachi’.
Following the violence, government has imposed section 144 across the Orangi Town. And after imposing the sections Government feels liberated from all the accountability and blame.
Adil Najam at All Things Pakistan demands that Karachi should be made a weapon free zone:
Even as violence of all forms spirals all over the country and even as, in the wake of the recent violence in there, politicians from all parties call for Karachi to be declared a “weapons free” zone (rightly!), it turns out that politicians and parliamentarians from all parties are busy distributing licenses for all forms of prohibited weapons as if these were kids candy.
Considering the recent unrest in Karachi, the government needs to take immediate action in order to put an end to the violence. However, as the news suggests the authorities are busy settling internal conflicts rather than addressing vital issues.

author: Sana Saleem


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Poland: Drainage · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Scatts of Polandian posts “a short guide to Polish drainage” – or a saga on how “approximately five hours of [the blogger's] life last Saturday was devoted to trying to unblock the drain in [his] daughter’s bathroom.”


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Russia: “The Sergei Mironov Episode” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

At Jamestown Foundation Blog, Greg Shtraks explains the recent “Sergei Mironov episode.”


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Russia: Turgenev and the Viardots · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

St Petersblurb writes about the relationship of Ivan Turgenev, Pauline Viardot, and her husband.


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Ukraine: Notes on the Upcoming Election · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Blair Sheridan of Eastern Approaches explains why he doesn't understand the “hysteria” about the last-minute changes to Ukraine's election law. Leigh Turner, UK Ambassador to Ukraine, writes: “Some people I respect are saying there's a fair chance of good quality elections on 7 February.”


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Westerners need self-reflection before criticizing China · Global Voices
Andy Yee

In an afterword to the 2006 edition of The End of History and the Last Man, Francis Fukuyama depicted a possible scenario of world politics: the victory of an authoritarian type of capitalism over liberal democratic capitalist states. While this is not his preferred destination, it is moving in that direction.
The West seems to be annoyed by a series of events: China’s cyber attacks on Western computer networks, disputes with Google, crackdowns on human rights activists, execution of a British citizen, and its unhelpful role ranging from the climate change talks to Iran’s nuclear program. The list goes on. Pundits point to the increasing threats posted by an increasingly self-confident China.
But before going on criticizing China, let’s view the matter from another angle: The West’s response to China’s economic reform and opening. It plays an important part in fuelling China’s self-confidence, one of the key themes discussed in posts by Chinese scholar Zhu Xueqin (朱学勤) on BBC Chinese Web and Lu Di (芦笛) on Bullogger.com.
China’s great gamble
Deng Xiaoping, China’s legendary reformist leader, once said, ‘no matter black or white, it is a good cat as long as it can catch a mouse.’ It is this pragmatism that underlies China’s economic reform in 1978 after the disastrous decade of Cultural Revolution. China’s embrace of capitalism, as Zhu Xueqin likens it, successfully turns itself into a cat that catches many mice, or Western capitalist democratic nations:
小平投注的是猫，猫鼠联姻，被吃的是鼠，不是猫。
Xiaoping placed a bet on the cat. In the marriage between cat and mouse, the one being eaten is the mouse, not the cat.
Even at the most dangerous moment of the gamble, the Tiananmen Incident of 1989, China’s authoritarianism steered itself out of dangers, thanks to Western capitalists:
世纪豪赌最危险的时候，是1989至1991那三年。坦克一上街，所有的老鼠都吓得屁滚尿流，外资大撤退，内资亦不继，GDP直线下降，中国面临崩盘，真可能玩完。小平同志跑到南方画一个圈，说一句“不问姓社姓资”，招商引资，春雷滚滚。
The dangerous moment of the gamble is between 1989 and 1991. With tanks on the streets, all mice were scared. Foreign investments retreated, GDP nosedived, and China faced imminent collapse. Comrade Xiaoping, during his Southern Tour, said ‘I don’t care if it is socialism or capitalism.’ With one strike, he reopened the floodgate for foreign investments again.
亏得小平高瞻远瞩，还能“不争论”，带头招商引资，引无数老鼠竞折腰。让一点市场，撒几把米粒算得了什么？资本家，资本家，我就不信资本家来了，资本家的政府不来！果然，西洋各国寻米而来，争抢中国订单，哪一国总理订单要少了，回去还有受民主舆论的喝斥。经济制裁是这样打破的，政治制裁则不消说，强虏烟飞灰灭，1989政治危机就是这样度过的。
With Deng’s far-sightedness and welcoming of foreign capitals, the mice just could not resist. What tiny cost it is just to open up the market a bit! Capitalists, capitalists, I don’t believe that once capitalists come to China, their governments would not follow! Indeed, Western countries come in one by one for Chinese contracts. What’s more, those governments which secured too few contracts would be criticized by its own constituencies and media. The economic sanction was broken in this way, not to mention political isolation. The crisis of 1989 was resolved.
Capitalism and universal values
Reflecting on Zhu’s article, Lu Di is not so sure whether Western civilization could insist on the universal values of justice and freedom in face of China’s capitalism:
其实列宁早就发现这点了。还在西方文明世界封锁苏俄时，他便断言，甭看帝国主义跟咱们貌似势不两立，贪婪是资本家的本性，因此他们迟早要来和我们做生意，帮助我们把国家弄得强大起来。老邓之所以在中国翅膀未硬前，便敢冒全世界之大不韪血洗北京城，也无非是吃透了西方的道义高调是假的，再“义薄云天”，最后还是得为铜臭弯腰钻狗洞，虽则可能是掩着鼻。
Actually, Lenin discovered this long ago. When Western civilization was boycotting Soviet  Union, he judged that greed was the nature of capitalists. Sooner or later, they would come and do business with Soviet Union. The reason that Deng decided to bloodily suppress the Tiananmen protest of 1989, at a time when China was weak, was that he saw the hypocrisy of the West. No matter how noble or just your cause is, you just could not resist but bend down for coins.
He discussed his views on a number of recent cases:
谷歌与雅虎的区别，说起来也很可怜：雅虎完全接受后面这一条，甚至向中国政府提供异议人士的通信内容，导致师涛被重判，而谷歌本已同意中国政府有权管制资讯，只是实在难以同意中国政府有权窥探公民隐私。区别也就只在这点上而已。就连这最后的底线，谷歌能否最后守住，也还在未定之天。
Talking about Google and Yahoo, it’s sad to note about their difference, which is tiny: Yahoo completely accepted [Chinese government’s intrusion on privacy], and supplied communications information of dissidents, resulting in the heavy imprisonment of Shi Tao. Google had in principle accepted Chinese government’s right to control information, and only did not accept intrusion on privacy. This is the only difference, and it is uncertain whether Google could keep to this bottomline.
不难看出当局为何敢重判刘晓波：第一，他们吃准了鬼子为了钱不敢作声，顶多只是不疼不痒地咋呼两声，但经济制裁之类的凶器是再也没本事亮出来了。第二，他们吃准了“民心所向”，知道大部份或起码是相当大的比例的精英出于自家利益反对“普世价值观”，因此无论他们怎么胡作非为，都不会引起国内舆论民情强烈反弹。
It is not difficult to see why the Chinese government dared to heavily imprison Liu Xiaobo: First, they knew that Westerners, for the sake of commercial interests, would control their reaction, at most mumbling a word or two. Economic sanction is a weapon the West no longer posses. Second, they knew that domestic elites would oppose to so-called ‘universal values’ out of their own interests. Therefore, no matter what the government does, there would not be strong backlashes.
这说明了什么？道义在金钱面前的脆弱。普世价值观再崇高，也抵挡不住银弹攻势。自由世界不怕苏联的核弹，但在我党的糖衣炮弹面前只能乖乖投降。
What do these show? The weakness of justice in front of money. Universal values could not survive the ‘money offensive’, no matter how noble they are. The free world is not afraid of Soviet nuclear bombs, but has no choice but to surrender under China’s sugar-coated bullets.
Goodbye Google
Is the West’s hope that engagement with China economically will lead to political reforms merely wishful thinking? Zhu quoted some philosophical reflections on the relationship between capitalism and authoritarianism:
市场经济与现代宪政并不具有必然因果关系，前者是后者的必要条件，而不是必要充分条件。也就是说，无市场经济必无宪政民主，有市场经济则不一定必有宪政民主，两者之间还要有其它条件。
Market economy and modern constitutionalism do not necessarily have causal relations. The former is a necessary condition for the latter, but by no means a necessary and sufficient condition. In other words, without market economy, there is no modern constitutionalism. But market economy does not imply modern constitutionalism. Other conditions must exist.
Zhu ended his article with a pessimistic note:
中国猫完成了转基因，输血者恰是被食者，自然界多了一种新物种。内鼠也好，外鼠也罢，总有一天都会噬脐莫及。硕鼠硕鼠，适彼乐土，回你的美国老家吧，别了，司徒雷登，别了，谷歌搜索！
The China Cat has transformed its DNA. Those which feed it are also those being eaten. The world now has a new species. Whether the mouse is within or outside it, they will all be eaten. Big mouse, Big mouse, this land does not suit you. Go back to America. Goodbye John Leighton Stuart, goodbye Google!

author: Andy Yee


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Afghanistan: How Karzai outsmarted the diplomats · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nick Fielding reviews a report on President Karzai's re-election in Afghanistan, which notes that the US diplomats underestimated his grip on the political machine in Kabul.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Afghanistan: Why so optimistic? · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust criticizes General McChrystal, a top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, who offered a hint of optimism on the situation in this country by declaring it is no longer “deteriorating”.


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Brazil: Protest Against the Government’s Disregard For Flood · Global Voices
Diego Casaes

Maria Frô calls on bloggers and middle-class population [pt] of São Paulo to join her on February 8th to protest against the disregard of the city's mayor and state government for the flood striking the city. She says “it is a big chance for you to show true solidarity and prove you really love São Paulo.”

author: Diego Casaes


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Kazakhstan: OSCE Chair on a Trip to U.S. · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Vicki reports on a visit of Kazakh Secretary of State and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev to the United States on the wings of Kazakhstan's chairmanship in the OSCE. Some videos of his appearences attached.


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Kyrgyzstan: Podcast about youth and activism · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nuraika talks about advantages and achievements of active youth with Antonio Henriques, one of 20 top-managers in AIESEC who has been visiting Kyrgyzstan lately.


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Oman: Tweeps Meet Shashi Tharoor · Global Voices
Riyadh Al Balushi

Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Dr Shashi Tharoor is to have a meeting with the Twitter community of Oman on February 5.

author: Riyadh Al Balushi


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Opposition Mounts over Tanzania and Zambia Ivory Proposals to CITES · Global Voices
Samuel Maina

Opposition is mounting against Zambia's and Tanzania's proposals to be allowed by CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, to sell their government held ivory stockpiles.
Broken elephant tusk found in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, by Terry Feuerborn
With Kenya being the perennial opposition for any trade in ivory, it is no surprise that most opposition is coming from conservation groups in this country. Additionally, Kenya has renewed their push to have a 20 year moratorium on the sale of ivory after this same proposal resulted in pushing the moratorium for only 9 years after the 2008 one-off ivory auction by four southern Africa states. Kenya's media has picked up the story. NTV Kenya has a video on YouTube titled, Wildlife Worries.
The Baraza blog published the content of the proposals that Zambia and Tanzania have put forward and Kenya's opposing proposal. Maina explains on Baraza
On the one hand is the anti-trade range states consisting of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali and Sierra Leone. On the other hand, each with it’s own proposal is Zambia and Tanzania, who want to be allowed to sell their ivory stockpiles come the March 13-25 Doha  meeting – the 15th CITES  Conference of Parties (CoP15). Both sides have sent their proposals to the CITES secretariat and the secretariat has generously posted the proposals on their website.
In a different blog post on Baraza, Paula writes about the UK's resolve to vote against the two proposals:
The UK has said no to ivory sales. Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said last night: “At the CITES meeting in March, the UK will vote against the proposals from Tanzania and Zambia to sell ivory stocks, and we would urge other countries to vote against such a sale.
Paula writes on Ban Ivory – a new blog at WildlifeDirect dedicated to the campaign against ivory – asking “Are elephants worth more than their teeth“. She asks: “Are elephants just a source of a valuable commodity, ivory? Or do elephants deserve special treatment?”
Paula points out that inspite of all the support that Africans can expect from outside, the battle for the elephant will have to start with Africans. She says:
At the end of the day the protest against the trade in ivory will have to be led by Africans if the rest of the world is to take any notice which makes Kenya’s campaign so powerful. But as long as the Chinese and other Asians markets continue to provide markets for ivory trinkets and refuse to implement domestic enforcement, a renewed ban on trade in ivory will fail and we will continue to lose elephants.
A group known as the Kenya Elephant Forum is leading the Kenyan civil society in the protest against ivory trade resumption and have produced fact sheets on the issue. Harvey Croze, blogging on the Amboseli Trust for Elephants pages says
ATE is against the trade. We have been working with like-minded NGOs and individuals under the aegis of the Kenya Elephant Forum (KEF) to provide strategic information to a body of sympathetic African elephant range states called the African Elephant Coalition (AEC).
In this blog post, Harvey has included links to the KEF Fact Sheets that you may want to read in order to understand the ivory problem and the likely implication of the Tanzania/Zambia proposals.

author: Samuel Maina


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Philippines: Cabinet member sues blogger · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Blogger Ella Ganda is facing a libel lawsuit in connection to a post she wrote last October. Ella alleged that relief goods intended for typhoon victims are being hoarded in a government warehouse owned by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The Philippines was hit by a powerful tropical storm last September which displaced half a million people in Luzon Island alone. The DSWD was the major government agency in charge of coordinating relief efforts throughout the country. Responding to the appeal of the government for more volunteers, Ella went to a DSWD warehouse to help in the repacking of relief goods.
Ella’s expose was picked up by the mainstream media. DSWD officials denied that the agency was hoarding relief goods but they admitted that the agency lacked volunteers. DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral (now the Secretary of the Department of Health) issued this statement in response to the blog report of Ella:
We would like to assure all of you that the relief goods will reach the intended beneficiaries as they become necessary and will be used only to assist them. However, the relief goods don’t all go out at the same time and an empty warehouse is not proof that the goods were used properly just as a full warehouse is not evidence that the goods are being hoarded.
Three months after reporting what she witnessed in the DSWD compound, Ella was charged with libel by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). This was requested by Secretary Cabral who said that her reputation was maligned by Ella. Secretary Cabral and the NBI have been trying to identify the real name of Ella. They want Ella to answer the charges and to take some polygraph tests.
This is not the first time that a blogger was charged with libel in the Philippines. But this is the first time that a Cabinet member, in cooperation with the NBI, has charged an anonymous blogger with a libel suit.
What are the reactions of Filipino bloggers? Most are supportive of Ella.
FOO Law and Economics believes the case is weak
I would volunteer a common-sense opinion.  I believe that Ella’s postings are fully within the definition of “fair commentary” in the jurisprudence on libel.  In the jurisprudence, fair comment is a sufficient defense if the subject matter of the libel case is a matter of public concern.
Resurgence 2.0 warns that the libel suit sends a chilling effect on bloggers
I saw the blog during its height. There’s nothing libelous about it. The blogger stood with nothing to gain — other than the unsolicited fame the blog resulted from. If there was anything Ella was about during that time, she was sincerely bothered by the fact that people were hungry and homeless and without clothes and the government doesn’t seem to care.
This sends a chilling effect on bloggers. Blogging — and social networks — as we now know, is the future of media. It may not be as formal as the print or even TV, but I will argue that it’s the fastest and even more accurate source of information nowadays
Carlo's Think Pieces insists: “It is not libel, it is free speech.”
What I found was a proper blog by a concerned citizen re the relief goods which apparently were not being distributed promptly to the typhoon victims.  Nowhere in that blog post did she say that relief goods were “rotting” – the word she used was “inaalikabok” (which means “gathering dust”). She was decrying the lack of volunteers to do the repacking work, and even suggested that NGOs or the military could help in this work. She in no way accused the Secretary or the DSWD of corruption.
I think that Secretary Cabral is overstepping her authority and being arrogant, by trying to silence Ella and her blog. Her libel suit is totally without merit. Ella’s blog told the truth, and it was done without any malicious intent. It is not libel, it is free speech.
Barrio Siete shares a similar point
First, the blog article in question, as we can find in most blogs, is a matter of opinion. If a person makes a statement that is, as Cabral said, contrary to the facts, it may not necessarily be libelous. On the other hand, a statement can be seen as an expression of fact or opinion depends on whether or not the person making such statement would be in a position to know such facts.
Reacting to the Ella libel case, Technograph urges bloggers to be ready to back up their statements in their blogs, and apologize if proven wrong
Personally, I now find the accusations of “Ella Rose” less credible. If the NBI is to be believed, she never took steps to back up her statements, including requesting “an investigation from the Office of the Ombudsman or any law enforcement agency.” Whether or not “Ella Rose” fights the charges off or not, remember bloggers, be prepared to back up what you say, and to apologize if you’re wrong!
Journalist Jigs Arquiza advises Ella to face the charges.
to all the rest who really don’t get my point and who think that ella is being treated unfairly: it’s your right to side with ella. i am not saying all of you are wrong. all i am saying is that there is always more than one side to a story. ella did not disclose all the facts, did not try to get certain information, did not practice responsible blogging, and is now hiding behind the defense of “freedom of speech”.
a lot of bloggers feel they can say anything in their blogs because they can remain anonymous. and like i said, if ella feels that what she posted was not malicious, then she should come out and face the charges
that is the thing most bloggers don’t understand, that when you make your thoughts public, then these are not personal anymore, rather, these become remarks that cause reactions.
that is what happened. ella posted, cabral got pissed, ella should face the consequences. anyway, it’s up to cabral to prove malice, right? so what is ella afraid of?

author: Mong Palatino


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Russia: St. Petersburg Tourist Tax · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

St Petersblurb writes about the harm that the new tourist tax proposed by St. Petersburg government would do to the city.


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Stalin on Facebook · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Blue, Black and White Alert writes about Joseph Stalin's presence on Facebook.


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Syria: Technology Wars · Global Voices
Yazan Badran

If you are someone who is even slightly interested in Technology, then you must have heard the horns of war being blown between Google and Apple. Over the past year the companies grew apart from allies to fierce competitors climaxing with Google's release of Nexus One, the smart phone that is touted as the only real threat to Apple's iPhone. And the Syrian blogosphere joined in the bloggers war.
A few months ago, Ardroid was launched. Touted as the “first Arabic website” focused on reviews, tips, and tweaks related to Google's new Android OS. The website went into the war of words head on with its reviews of Android phones, and its comparisons to the iPhone and more recently the iPad. Most recently commenting on the latest remarks from Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO and mastermind, about Google:
The response from the Apple community came in quick, with the launch of iPhad – a technology website focused on the iPhone and the newly released iPad. And don't let the striking similarity in design fool you, they also mean business, and just like that in their Statement No. 1, they went on the offense:
And so, the battle begins for the hearts and minds and phones of Syrian and Arab techies.

author: Yazan Badran


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Syria: Youth Rally in Support of Syrian Air · Global Voices
Anas Qtiesh

Syrian Air – Photo courtesy of Fadi Halisso
Starting with the Syria Accountability Act (SAA) of 2004, the U.S. has implemented a series of trade and financial sanctions on Syria. The sanctions are affecting the daily lives of Syrian citizens in several areas including: travel restrictions and a ban on software and IT export, as well as business limitations.
Also, the sanctions have hit hard the national carrier, Syrian Air. With a ban on buying new commercial jets or even spare parts for the existing fleet, the number of operational planes shrunk to three airplanes only.
Realizing the paralyzing blow to the Syrian air travel industry,  a group of Syrian youth started a campaign in support of Syrian Air. They have launched a website and a Facebook group, and have gathered over a thousand supporters in less than a month. The campaign's website states:
We are calling all who are in charge to release the sanctions on  Syrian Air, Syrian Air have the right to buy spare parts and aircrafts..
And the campaigners point out that the sanctions endanger civilian passengers on board those planes:
Syrian Air transport civilian from different nationalities.. safety is  number one in air transportation… Stop the Sanctions NOW!
Syrian blogger Fadi Halisso writes [ar] about the campaign on his blog خربشات (Kharbashat: scribbles):

author: Anas Qtiesh


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Tajikistan: Justice or prosecution of the press · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Alpharabius reports on a lawsuit by three Tajik Supreme Court judges against three independent newspapers, and interviews a judge of the Tajikistan’s Supreme Court on this and other matters.


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Ukraine: Campaign Ads; “Final Rallies” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainiana takes readers on a video tour “through inter-election Kyiv” – and to the “final rallies” of the two presidential candidates, which took place on Feb. 5 “just a block away from each other.”


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Ukraine: Waiting for the Election · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Greetings From Kyiv talks to a local friend on the possible outcome of the Feb. 7 presidential election.


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Announcing the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2010 · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

We're delighted to announce the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2010! Our gathering takes place this year in Santiago, Chile on May 6-7, 2010.
Visit the  Summit web site for background information on the goals of the meeting, the program of events, registration details and information about the vibrant city of Santiago. Among the highlights of the proceedings will be the announcement of the winners of the Breaking Borders award, a new prize created by Google and Global Voices to honor outstanding web projects initiated by individuals or groups demonstrating courage, energy and resourcefulness in using the Internet to promote freedom of expression.
Over the next few days and weeks we'll be fleshing out the program, adding speaker bios, a list of attendees and more — and do keep checking in at the site for blog posts and commentary from Summit participants and others, as well as to join in the conversation.
You can also help spread the word about the Global Voices Summit by flying one of our Summit badges or banners on your blog or web site.
The Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2010 has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the MacArthur Foundation, Google, Open Society Institute, Knight Foundation and Yahoo!.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Armenia: Illegal hunting on YouTube · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

bnamarduk [AM] posts a video on YouTube of what it alleges is illegal hunting in a nature reserve in Armenia. The same environmentalists posted another such video last year which resulted in the dismissal of those involved.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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China: Education, critical thinking and creativity · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

C. Custer from ChinaGeek looks into the China education system and discusses its impact on young people.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Guilty or not guilty, that’s the question · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Xujun Eberlein from Inside-out China explains the reason behind Beijing lawyer Li Zhuang's decision to admit the crime of fabricating evidence in the China court.


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China: Liu Xiaobo’s final statement · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China Law Prof blog posts Prof. David Kelly's translation of Chinese human rights dissident, Liu Xiabo's final statement: I have no enemies in his blog.


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China: Upgrading a four star hotel · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

How to up-grade a four star hotel into a five star one? The answer is blowing it up and it can push up the China GDP as well. Here is the Chinese report. Photos and brief English explanation is in ESWN.


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Czech Republic, Slovakia: Textile Folk Art · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Czech and Slovak textile folk art – at CzechFolks.com.


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Haiti: Heroes · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bagay Dwol Journal is convinced that “Heroes are everywhere in Haiti, including the USNS.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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India: Death of a Prehistoric Language · Global Voices
Simon Maghakyan

This post is part of our special coverage Languages and the Internet.
The last speaker of the ancient Bo language, Boa Senior, has died in her native Andaman Islands (part of India) in February 2010. It's a vivid confirmation of last year's report from UNESCO, warning that 2,500 languages are at risk of disappearing.
Video: Boa Senior singing in her native Bo, via Survival International
In her Minnesota-based True to Words blog devoted “to the exploration of language and writing,” Sara Duane reports the news and adds that some formerly dead languages have recently revived:
In 1992 a prominent US linguist predicted that by the year 2100, 90% of the world's languages would have ceased to exist. One of those languages died last month when 85-year-old Boa Sr. passed away. She was the last speaker of Bo, which at 70,000 years was one of the world's oldest.
[..]
Languages can be brough back from the brink, or even from total extinction, if the will is strong enough and most importantly, if enough of it has been written down.  Hebrew was a dead language at the beginning of the 19th century. It existed as a scholarly written language, but there was no way to know how the words were pronounced. Persistence and will from Israeli Jews brought the language back into everyday use. There has also been a revival of Welsh in the UK and Maori in New Zealand.
Transubstantiation, which described itself as trying to “make sense of the legacy of the Tower of Babel,” suggests documenting dying languages:
If we are able to preserve language life then by all means let us preserve it. However, sometimes this is not possible and then perhaps our most important task as linguists is to analyse, describe and document; set the dying language down so that we can use knowledge about it to further research into the general understanding of the human condition.
Andaman Islands from above by Venkatesh K on Flickr
Madhu Baganiar, who belongs to the indigenous Oraon (Kurukh) community comments on the demise of Bo language with the death of Boa senior:
Every language has its own unique history, culture style, story. When a language dies, a vast store house of  knowledge associated with the language also dies. Today, a living tribal language “Bo” has died. Tomorrow more tribal languages of India are bound to die. There are hundred of reasons which will kill the living tribal language…
Ireland-based blogger The Poor Mouth  mourns the loss of Bo, and says:
Languages come and languages go – we can see the traces of several lost languages in the British Isles (Yola, Norn, Cumbric etc) – but I can’t help feel that when they die something significant is lost from the rich, dark soup that makes up humanity. Boa’s passing diminishes us all.
This post is part of our special coverage Languages and the Internet.

author: Simon Maghakyan


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India: The Twitter Comedian · Global Voices
Rezwan

Patrix at Desipundit introduces to us Sagarika Ghose, the Indian Twitter Comedian.


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Jamaica, Barbados, Haiti: Defending Haitians · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

In response to a statement that the arrival of Haitian refugees in Jamaica could be seen as a threat to public health, Long Bench republishes a Letter to the Editor that he wrote: “Haitian refugees are not criminals, and should not be treated by citizens or represented in the media as such”; Barbados Free Press is also critical of its country's response to helping Haiti: “It didn’t take long to cut through the Bajan veneer of sincerity about Haiti, did it?”


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Maldives: People First Language · Global Voices
Rezwan

Yafaau's blog, which logs the developmental progress of a child with Cerebral Palsy in Maldives, talks about People First Language, “a more respectful and accurate way of communicating” when discussing people with disabilities.


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Nepal: Gun Culture On The Rise · Global Voices
Rezwan

Ujjwal Acharya at The Radiant Star informs – “thanks to the Maoists’ People’s War and the rise of armed groups in Terai along with the lack of impunity, the gunture (gun culture) is on the rise in Nepali society.”


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Russia: Interview With Nina Khrushcheva · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

An interview with Dr. Nina Khrushcheva “on Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, and comments on the driving forces behind Russia's Stalin resurgence” – at Robert Amsterdam's Blog.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Sri Lanka: Tamil Diaspora In India · Global Voices
Rezwan

Indrajit Samarajiva met a Sri Lankan in Bangalore, who happens to be a Tamil diaspora, and writes about him.

author: Rezwan


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St. Lucia, Jamaica, Haiti: Words Can Help  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Want to write in solidarity for Haiti? St. Lucia-based Caribbean Book Blog and Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp have details.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Radio Face-Off · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Underground Trini Artiste thinks that Facebook is the new radio.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Robber Talk  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Just in time for Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, Pleasure interviews one of the festival's traditional characters, the Midnight Robber.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Water Noir  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I find it baffling that, decades later, we have not figured out this whole water issue as yet. Water is, after all, essential for life. And while not strictly speaking relevant, it is certainly ironic that we also live on an island”: Tattoo suggests that “they should make a film noir” about Trinidad and Tobago's Water and Sewerage Authority.


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Tunisia: Censorship Again and Again! · Global Voices
Lina Ben Mhenni

More than ever before, censorship seems to become the rule in Tunisia. The last two weeks in the Tunisian blogosphere witnessed a war launched by Ammar (the nickname given to the Tunisian censorship apparatus), who has been censoring blogs arbitrarily.
Following the censorship of Fatma Arabicca and Sofiene Chourabi's blogs, two other blogs had been censored. One of them is the  Free Jailed Tunisian students , seen in the following screen shot:
The second blog blocked is Nocturnal  Thoughts . The censorship of the latter created  a wave of protests on the Tunisian blogosphere.
Ghodwa Nahrek(Tomorrow I will illegally immigrate) wrote:
Matrka(Hammer) blogged saying:
Samsoum blogged under the title Ammar does not like thoughts and thinkers especially those who blog about their nocturnal thoughts saying:

author: Lina Ben Mhenni


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Uruguay: Internet Spreads Carnival Around the World · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

January 28 marked the opening of the 2010 Carnival in Uruguay with the traditional inaugural parade. Advertised as the longest Carnival in the world—starting late January and ending early March—the event encompasses 40 days of festivities each year. This year, the Internet and social media have allowed people from all over the world to read, hear, and see what the Uruguayan Carnival is all about.
Percussionists play candombe during parade Las Llamadas (The Callings). Picture taken by Flickr user ERBR and used under a Creative Commons license.
Carnival in Uruguay includes parades similar to those seen in Carnivals around the world, with queens, percussionists and colorful costumes taking over the streets, dancing to the beat of national rhythms. One of the most important events of the Uruguayan Carnival is the contest [es], where performers compete in their chosen category representing Uruguay’s distinctive musical and artistic richness: murga, negros y lubolos (playing candombe), parodistas [es], humoristas [es], and revista [es].
Carnival can be a melancholic and nostalgic time for Uruguayans living abroad, but thanks to the blog [es]  and Twitter page [es] Todo el Carnaval, Uruguayans all over the world can download audio and videos of the day’s performances. Todo el Carnaval also provides Carnival music year round; its creator, Yuri, is backing up personal Carnival VHS videos and cassettes going back to the 1970s:
Todo el carnaval, es algo asi como un lugar donde decidi compartir todo el material audio visual que dispongo sobre carnaval. La idea original fue la de hacer un respaldo sobre este material y se convirtió en este blog, para compartirlo con todo el mundo.
Murga ensemble Los Curtidores de Hongos performing at 2009 carnival. Photo taken by Raúl Antoine, Flickr user rantoine2008, and used under a Creative Commons license.
Listening to the Carnival live is also an option. The popular site for Carnival information, Carnaval del Futuro [es], created a radio [es] which tunes listeners live into festivities, and promises 24 hours of streaming coverage.
Video by Eduardo Gamero:
Journalist and blogger Enrique Filguerias [es] explains that this radio will broadcast throughout the year:
Los carnavaleros estarán de fiesta con esta novedad, impulsada por Carnaval del Futuro: Disponer de una emisora a través de la cual poder difundir el Carnaval, en forma continuada y sin interrupciones, durante los doce meses del año […] De abril a diciembre, en la grilla se encontrarán con espacios dedicados a difundir el Carnaval del Interior, con la totalidad del Regional de San José y ya se están gestionando otros certámenes representativos.
También se apostará a una producción de programas originales que combinarán lo periodístico y lo musical, transmisiones de eventos en directo, grabaciones de los espectáculos que se ofrecen en las salas montevideanas y se contará con enviados especiales en las giras que se realicen.
Another online radio broadcasting live during the festivities is Radio Yorugua [es], from  Los Yoruguas [es], a blog for and about Uruguayans living abroad.  Los Yoruguas also offers a multimedia section dedicated to this year’s Carnival with information, videos, and pictures of the festivities.
El Pedregullo [es], also part of Carnaval del Futuro, calls itself “the online community of the Uruguayan Carnival.” This small online community acts like a social network where users can discuss events, post pictures and videos, and create groups:
El sitio está pensado para compartir todo lo referente a nuestro Carnaval. El Pedregullo, el lugar donde se cocina el Concurso. Ingresa y comparte tus fotos, videos, ideas.
Uruguayans can confidently say they have the longest carnival in the world; not only because of its forty days of official festivities, but because the internet and social media are spreading its influence during the remaining 325 days.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Video: Peruvian Cuisine on the Net · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

ceviche picture by scaredy_kat on flickr, used according to CC license
Peruvian food is considered one of the most diverse foods in the world, due in part to the varied geography of the region, the blending of different cultures into iconic dishes and the way in which ancient recipes are still being interpreted and adapted in modern cooking.  In this post, we bring you some online videos which may inspire you to try your hand at some of the most representative dishes of Peruvian cuisine.
On the Seven culinary wonders of Peru site, they have listed the top 7 dishes that represent Peruvian food:  cebiche, lomo saltado, aji de gallina, anticuchos, chupe de camarones, papa a la Huancaina and causa.  However, as with any contest, there are dozens of dishes which weren't included in the winning list which may have been favorites in other regions. Thus, they have expanded their search and are looking for the top seven dishes in each of the provinces of Peru.
First well start with Cebiche, the widely popular Peruvian dish made of fresh fish cooked in lime juice. There are dozens of videos around ceviche (or seviche or sebiche, all correct ways to write it) on the web, some of them showing ways in which to make it, others just showing the pleased expressions when they eat a bite of it. In this next video, you can see the steps required for making a quick and easy cebiche at home. In the video, Chef Cucho La Rosa explains that the best cebiche has only 5 ingredients: absolutely fresh fish, onions, lime juice, Peruvian chili pepper and salt. Once the cebiche is done, you can eat it with a lettuce leaf as garnish, a round of corn on the cob and a slice of sweet potato:
Another recipe is the Aji de Gallina, which can be roughly translated into Hen Chili. This simple spicy dish includes peanuts, chicken and rice, and packs a lot of flavor. This recipe is in English, brought to us by Chef Guillermo:
Not all landmark recipes made it into the list: such is the case with the millenary Andean Pachamanca. The process is quite a step from the 5 ingredient ceviche since it requires more than a day's worth of prep work, and helping hands. In fact, it is reserved for feasts and special occasions, since the lengthy process that starts with marinating the meats, digging a hole and heating up clean river rocks which will become the oven to cook a mixture of beef, pork, chicken, mutton and vegetables such as potatoes, fava beans, sweet potatoes and corn. That's the story RarezaXXX tells in his video, in his case, the process started by not only digging the hole, but actually harvesting the produce which they will eat. Check out the colorful collection of potatoes, at least 5 different varieties:
The Pachamanca has made it all the way to Mexico in this next video, where Chucheman explains and illustrates the process:
Another regional dish that didn't make it into the national list is the Juane, a rice based tamale-like concoction eaten throughout the year but of mandatory consumption during the San Juan (Saint John the Baptist) festivities in the Peruvian Amazon. There are many types of Juane, but the basic shape is respected: it is round, in the shape of St. John's decapitated head which was handed to Salome on a platter in the biblical story. In spite of the not so cheerful story behind the dish, even after diaspora, Peruvians from the amazon make this dish when Saint John's day rolls around, like elmaxin who prepared them in Spain:
What is the local cuisine like where you're from? If you would recommend one local dish that everyone should try, which one would it be? Please share your answers with us through the comments, and maybe even leave some links to videos so we can try our hand in making them!

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Arab World: Should the New York Times Reassign Ethan Bronner? · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Over the past couple of weeks, a much-discussed topic in the broader Arab blogosphere has been a news story that broken by a member of the blogosphere itself.  On January 25, the Electronic Intifada (EI) reported that the son of Ethan Bronner, New York Times‘ Jerusalem bureau chief, had recently been inducted into the Israeli Defense Forces.  Citing the NYT's company policy, EI argued that the paper had a responsibility to disclose the information to readers; the NYT's foreign editor, Susan Chira, responded by email, stating (and effectively disclosing):
Ethan Bronner referred your query to me, the foreign editor. Here is my comment: Mr. Bronner's son is a young adult who makes his own decisions. At The Times, we have found Mr. Bronner's coverage to be scrupulously fair and we are confident that will continue to be the case.
Nearly two weeks later, the NYT's Public Editor, Clark Hoyt, stated in his column that he too believed that Bronner should be reassigned.  Executive editor Bill Keller disagreed.
The Angry Arab, whose prior comments can be found here, here, and here, was unconvinced by Keller's explanation:
If only one reporter for the New York Times would, for purposes of an experiment, announces that he/she has a son who has joined Hamas or Hizbullah forces, we would like then to see if Bill Keller would make the arguments that he has made regarding Ethan Bronner's son. I mean, Mr. Keller. Who are you kidding?
Arab-American blogger Suleika Jaouad sees the case as not being about Bronner, but as part of a larger issue:
This disturbing imbalance in the Times’ reporting on the conflict raises some serious ethical questions about Zionism in the US media. Journalist Philip Weiss, on his blog Mondoweiss, lists a few of them: how deep does it go, and will anyone ever look into it? And on from that, Why are so many of the MSM reporters on Israel/Palestine Jews with intimate ties to Israel? When do [Arab-Americans] get to cover this story?
Palestinian writer Ali Abunimah, who is a co-founder of Electronic Intifada, raises an interesting question to that effect on Twitter:
Abunimah expands on that question on Mondoweiss, then takes it a bit further.  Like Jaouad, he sees the problem as going beyond the case of Ethan Bronner and toward the question of equality.  After clarifying his belief that being Jewish does not pose a conflict of interest in reporting on Israel (“So anyone who says that being Jewish automatically leads to pro-Israel bias is wrong”), he brings up the example of Palestinian Times journalist Taghreed El-Khodary, saying:
Yes, recently they have had Taghreed El-Khodary in Gaza […] But here is a crucial point: El-Khodary is allowed to report only on Palestinians. Neither she nor any other Arab reporter is allowed to report on Israeli Jews. While Jews/Americans may report on Palestinians, the converse is not true. Why is this? It must be — I assume — because there is an inherent, perhaps unacknowledged assumption that an Arab/Palestinian is or will be automatically biased against Israelis/Jews. Whereas, we are supposed to accept that in no case is a Jewish reporter who identifies with Israel biased even when his son has joined an occupation army that is raiding Palestinian refugee camps and communities dozens of times per week. Seriously?
To what can we attribute this double-standard? I am afraid it smacks of racism.

author: Jillian C. York


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Bahamas, Haiti: Birth Control  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Sidney Sweeting at Weblog Bahamas shares his thoughts on birth control.


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Bangladesh: How To Minimize Risk In Stock Trading · Global Voices
Rezwan

Kabir Ahmed at Bangladesh Corporate Blog discusses how to minimize risk in investing in the stock market.


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China: Let Feng Zhenghu come home, to jail time · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Feng Zhenghu‘s 92-day protest in Narita airport has ended and he now has a flight back to Shanghai booked for this Friday, just in time for Chinese New Year, but updates [zh] to his Twitter account over the past weekend suggest that Feng remains unsure over whether he'll be let back into China. This Friday at noon will be his ninth consecutive attempt to return home.
Why hasn't Feng, with his valid passport, been allowed to return to China, a right supposedly afforded to all Chinese citizens? In the absence of an explanation from Beijing, many have looked to Shanghai and see Feng's story as part of a larger trend of local authorities’ growing willingness to violate rule of law with disregard to response from the Central government.
Mainland Chinese media aren't reporting on Feng's current forced exile, and many blog posts and BBS threads on the topic have been harmonized; sentiment within China's virtual (self-imposed) exile community on Twitter stands quite strongly in Feng's favor, but in a case this like what more is there really to say?
A lot it turns out, judging from this archived Anti-CNN thread which dates back to December and runs on for five pages; comments from the first page illustrate a seldom-heard perspective on the larger story behind Feng's situation, that of the plight of figures in China's exiled democracy movement, several of whom have recently begun using sites like Facebook and Twitter to connect with a growing number of mainland netizens:
为你而注册:
冯正虎的事情，我好像叛变了
他还是有点钱的，要说他是美分党很难让人相信。
他没有任何组织，说他是民运，也没人相信。
５５５回不了国。连一个理由都没有。
上海怎么了？
liuyw2009:
你凭什么认为自己了解他？你认识他？
为你而注册:
我不了解他。
就是因为不了解才好奇。究竟什么原因？
难道不需要任何理由，就可以采取这种方式？
这才是让人恐惧的地方。
shangqunsheng:
据了解，冯正虎拥有日本居留签证，日本入国管理局多次劝他入境。（摘自南海网）
日本人吗？仍是中国籍吗？如不是中国人当然可以拒绝入境。
wilkins:
据称，他是三股势力的其中之一。
众人恍然大悟，明白了。
shangqunsheng:
问：因为被中国相关部门拒绝入境，中国公民冯正虎至今仍在日本机场滞留。为什么他作为中国公民却不被允许入境？如果他被允许回到中国，中方将如何处置他？
答：中国有关部门根据相关法律，如《中华人民共和国公民出境入境管理法》来处理。具体情况请你向有关部门去了解。（中国外交部答记者问）
以往是中国人，目前可能不是中国人。只是华裔而已。
woshizx:
[b]中华人民共和国公民出境入境管理法实施细则[/b]
http://www.gov.cn/banshi/2005-08/31/content_27719.htm
第十五条　有下列情形之一的，边防检查站有权阻止出境、入境：
[…]
（二）持用无效护照或者其他无效出境入境证件的；
[…]
第二十二条　中华人民共和国护照和其他出境入境证件的持有人有下列情形之一的，其护照、出境入境证件应予以吊销或者宣布作废：
[…]
（三）从事危害国家安全、荣誉和利益的活动的。
[…]
为你而注册:
（三）从事危害国家安全、荣誉和利益的活动的。
——————————————————-
依据这条？
那就宣布护照吊销就完了。搞得满城风雨。
kachemi:
喜欢美国去美国啊 不要回来装民主的精蝇
woshizx:
依据这条？
那就宣布护照吊销就完了。搞得满城风雨。
…
冯的护照早就过期了，他自己说过中国驻日本大使馆不给他续签。
政府基本上一句话不说应该是想冷处理这种事，这种的事情你一旦回应就被黏上了，到时候什么西媒、什么NGO、什么“不同政见者”甚至这个那个国家的外交部、议会都会卷进来，所以干脆不回应。
他有本事就连续几年在东京成田机场耗着，到时候看到底是中国政府着急还是日本政府着急。
这个人早年反对1989年那起风波里政府的决策，这次美国总统来访又公开呼吁奥巴马在人权问题上要向中国施压。
还有其他，不一而足。
为你而注册:
这件事情我感觉不好处理。这个人和海外民运还是有本质区别，他的所谓反对政府的事情更多的是观点而不是行动。
感觉上海方面把对付海外民运那套滥用了。网络舆情不利于政府的。
木兰歌:
又一标准的送礼出境。
相逢于海上:
即使是民运、轮轮
也应该让他回国，他要回来坐牢，你凭什么不让他坐牢。
为你而注册:
[quote]即使是民运、轮轮
也应该让他回国，他要回来坐牢，你凭什么不让他坐牢。[/quote]
还是有区别的，民运、轮轮这些说实话是真的对中国没有一点积极意义。
这个冯的事情，他是明显的思想上是比较偏右的，但是行动上是比较温和的。也就是说说，然后帮别人维权提供法律帮组。
其实像冯这样的很多。
把他等同于海外民运、轮轮处理。
会导致人人自危。
温和右派有多少人？
算１％吧，也是上千万。
人人自危的结果。不妙！
这件事情的处理感觉很不妥当。
woshizx:
[quote]即使是民运、轮轮
也应该让他回国，他要回来坐牢，你凭什么不让他坐牢。[/quote]
那不正好成就一帮所谓“义士”？
撑死了最多关几年然后放出来，不正好给他们活动资本吗？然后造就一群达赖喇嘛第二？
woshizx:
[quote]还是有区别的，民运、轮轮这些说实话是真的对中国没有一点积极意义。
这个冯的事情，他是明显的思想上是比较偏右的，但是行动上是比较温和的。也就是说说，然后帮别人维权提供法律帮组。
其实像冯这样的很多。[/quote]
也许，这个人做的事情不仅仅是现在媒体上公开的那些那么简单？
类似的例子不是没有，比如沃维汉事件。
wilkins:
社会的改变，哪次不需要血来改变。
就那么轻轻松松想翻了案，哪有那么容易
相逢于海上:
法律本来就是针对行为而不是针对某个主体的
不管你是谁，犯了这个事情，就让你接受法律的处罚，你接受完处罚了，你就是正常的人了，该干嘛干嘛去。
如果没犯这个事，不管你是什么身份，都不得处罚。
坐牢的过程就是把你对社会做的恶都抵消了，抵消完了，就两不亏欠了，坐完牢，又是一条好汉。
就像台湾的施明德，第一次犯事被关了12年，一出来马上又犯事，又关12年
人家有种，愿意坐牢，你总不能为了防止他犯事，在坐完牢，和社会两不亏欠的情况下，把他关起来或者把他移送出境吧。人家和社会两不亏欠，是个正常人，你凭什么这么对待人家？
凡是不以行为定罪，而以主体定罪的，皆是恶法，不值得遵守。
所以，如果中国真的讲法治的话，应该是千方百计让所有的轮轮、民运引渡回国让他们接受法律的审判，审判完了，他们坐完牢了，又可以在中国自由活动了，如果再犯事再抓。顶多是第二次抓按照累犯从重处罚。
如果中国政府不让他们回国，只能说明中国不是法治，而是人治。
再大的罪恶也没有前线军官投敌叛变的罪恶大了，就是说林毅夫。
可是台湾的“国防部”有说不许林毅夫回台湾吗？他们只是说林毅夫如果回台湾，就得接受法律的处罚，并不是一概拒绝他回台湾。
林毅夫如果愿意坐牢，当然可以回去，坐完牢，他又可以在台湾自由活动了。
可是我们呢？民运、轮轮，犯的事比的上林毅夫么？居然说一概不允许回来，人家愿意回来坐牢都不行，这是什么法治？分明是人治。
net2003:
美国可以有叛国罪，为何中国不可有。
为何中国的叛国者，总是可以厚着脸和中国谈人权讲法律，还那么的理直气壮。
woshizx:
[quote]法律本来就是针对行为而不是针对某个主体的
不管你是谁，犯了这个事情，就让你接受法律的处罚，你接受完处罚了，你就是正常的人了，该干嘛干嘛去。
如果没犯这个事，不管你是什么身份，都不得处罚。
坐牢的过程就是 …[/quote]
不准回国也是有法律依据可循的。
想回国？可以，登报声明反省，并且以实际行动证明不再从事危害国家安全活动。
对违法行为的惩治手段并不是只有判刑一种，不准回国也是一种惩治措施。这种措施对于维护法律实施具有更好的效果，那就完全可以采用。
相逢于海上:
[quote]美国可以有叛国罪，为何中国不可有。
为何中国的叛国者，总是可以厚着脸和中国谈人权讲法律，还那么的理直气壮。[/quote]
一个美国人犯了叛国罪逃亡在外
美国政府一定是千方百计把他引渡回来，判处刑罚
假如判处的有期徒刑不是太长，这个人坐完牢了还没死，一定是又放出来，成为一个正常的美国公民。
绝对不是说，犯了事，拒绝你回国，也不给你判刑。
woshizx:
他们和中国谈人权讲法律，就真的是人权卫士护法先锋了？
哪个家伙跟自己的国家为敌的时候，不是搞一堆冠冕堂皇的理由作为挡箭牌的？
net2003:
美国的叛国罪应该是他们最严重的罪了。是可以定死刑的。
相逢于海上:
[quote]不准回国也是有法律依据可循的。
想回国？可以，登报声明反省，并且以实际行动证明不再从事危害国家安全活动。
对违法行为的惩治手段并不是只有判刑一种，不准回国也是一种惩治措施。这种措施对于维护法律实施具 …[/quote]
我暂时无法知道是否有这样的处罚措施
但是假如真的有的话，这样也是十分不人道的
这样会导致他一辈子无法跟家人团聚
除非他家人有本事全都移民出国
woshizx:
[quote]一个美国人犯了叛国罪逃亡在外
美国政府一定是千方百计把他引渡回来，判处刑罚
假如判处的有期徒刑不是太长，这个人坐完牢了还没死，一定是又放出来，成为一个正常的美国公民。
绝对不是说，犯了事，拒绝你回国，也 …[/quote]
美国有美国的现实，中国有中国的国情。
社会基础不一样，当然有不同的政策，包括法律适用的政策。
相逢于海上:
[quote]美国的叛国罪应该是他们最严重的罪了。是可以定死刑的。[/quote]
总之，一定是千方百计把犯了叛国罪的人引渡回来判处刑罚
我们一样可以把冯正虎搞回来判刑
他自己愿意回来坐牢
我们的政府为何要让他逍遥法外，我怀疑政府包庇他，或者政府心虚
woshizx:
[quote]我暂时无法知道是否有这样的处罚措施
但是假如真的有的话，这样也是十分不人道的
这样会导致他一辈子无法跟家人团聚
除非他家人有本事全都移民出国 …[/quote]
最有名的有家不能回的中国人，估计就是达赖喇嘛了。
这个人当年从中印边境出逃的时候，我空军完全有实力把他炸死，实际上当时空军的飞机已经发现他了——但结果是毛泽东亲自决策把他放出去了。
历史证明当时把达赖放出去是完全正确的。
net2003:
既然冯先生选择了那条路，一定是经过深思熟虑的。
至于家庭什么的其它问题，一定是经过考虑了的。用不着我们操心。
我精神上支持他，要鼓起勇气继续走下去。
朝浪无语:
某些人既然喜欢拿美国与中国来对比，但不愿意承认两者之间国情不同。那么我倒想问问：
某人凭什么臆想美国会如何如何？
驱逐出境是不是惩治？禁止入境是不是惩治？美国没有用这几招？何必一厢情愿的给自己圆谎？
相逢于海上:
[quote]某些人既然喜欢拿美国与中国来对比，但不愿意承认两者之间国情不同。那么我倒想问问：
某人凭什么臆想美国会如何如何？
驱逐出境是不是惩治？禁止入境是不是惩治？美国没有用这几招？何必一厢情愿的给自己圆谎？ …[/quote]
我只知道驱逐出境、禁止入境是针对外国人的
还真没听说这个可以用来对付本国公民
朝浪无语:
[quote]
我只知道驱逐出境、禁止入境是针对外国人的
还真没听说这个可以用来对付本国公民[/quote]
我就知道某些人就是凭主观臆想大放厥词，已经习惯了
相逢于海上:
只要他没有加入外国国籍
他就是拥有中国国籍的中国公民

author: John Kennedy


text:
China: #Tanzuoren – to be human · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chinese activist Tan Zuoren was sentenced to 5 year imprisonment and 3 year deprivation of political rights this morning (Feb 9) under the charge of inciting subversion of state power. Tan was involved in the investigation of the relation between bean dregs school buildings and the death of school children in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake by interviewing the parents and compiling a victim list. He was arrested last year and the investigation was stopped accordingly. In his first trial, the evident that the prosecutor presented was mainly about his interviews with overseas media about the earthquake. However, all the proceedings today were linked to June 4th incident. A diary about the June 4th Incident published back in 2007 and email communications with an overseas Chinese dissident Wang Dan through his yahoo.cn email were presented as evidences for the charge. His verdict was read out in less than 10 minutes. (more from AFP)
Although the news about Tan Zuoren has been harmonized / censored in mainland China, many concerned citizens expressed their anger through twitter. Below is a selected translation of the twitter hashtag #tanzouren, and the tweets are arranged according to the time line between 9am – 4pm, Feb 9 2010.
Yahoo.cn sells out Tan Zouren, again?
E-mail providers in China have to follow local regulation and provide Chinese police with its clients’ information even though some investigations are serving political prosecution and it is not the first time Yahoo.cn betrayed its clients in exchange for the China market.
daaitoulaam: No wonder Alibaba said Yahoo US was over the line for supporting Google against Chinese govt. Alibaba's Yahoo.cn sells out #tanzuoren, huh?
ruanji 美国雅虎虽然不直接经营中国雅虎，暂时作为一个投入10亿资金的大股东，也应该受到谴责。 #tanzuoren
secretaryzhang “境外敌对分子王丹利用电子邮件与谭作人主动联系”，谭作人使用的邮箱是雅虎中国 zuoren54@yahoo.com.cn #tanzuoren
Anger
Satantara 眼泪无助，愤怒廉价。愤怒会养出心中的暴力政治。民主政治是没有敌人和仇恨的政治( #tanzuoren 语)。他们自己在颠覆自己，不稀你我动手。不说谎，让更多的人知道事实，真相自有万钧之力，改变终会到来。
hkxforce 為何揭露豆腐渣工程會是煽動顛覆國家政權罪？因為這個政權本身就是豆腐渣政權。 #tanzuoren
szeyan1220 @28481k @LEMONed 高智晟「失踪」，胡佳3年，刘晓波11年，谭作人5年。起到了多大的威吓作用？唤醒了多少人？我只知道，这是一场持久战，而我无论如何不会认输。历史会审判你们。 #tanzuoren
Feng2084 呼唤非暴力不合作抗争,從今天起，我厭惡任何與暴政苟合的活動！ #tanzuoren
No justice no peace
noooo0000 颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆……….我就是想颠覆!!!我极想颠覆!!!我必颠覆!!! 一生的梦想–颠覆你!!! #tanzuoren
dgatterdam Chinese Government, you imprison your Heros, NO JUSTICE NO PEACE! NO JUSTICE NO PEACE NO JUSTICE NO PEACE #tanzuoren
AlChowh I support any measure to change the status quo,peaceful or violent!!!!#Tanzuoren
sanrencn 我们不能被压制而不反抗，我们不能被淹没，而不呐喊。我们微弱的抗议迟早会壮大起来踏平中共的无道 #Tanzuoren
gjlawyer 宣判谭作人之后，这个大地上没有了良知，良知被谭作人带进了牢房；宣判谭作人之后，这个大地上没有了正义，正义是谭作人脚下沉重的铁镣。——恸哭中 via (@cuiweiping) #Tanzuoren
dante1184 中共正在挑战全中国人的心理极限，追求全人类的无耻之最。畜生不如。去死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！ #tanzuoren
Subverting the state with diaries
wglxh They say Tan's diaries may subvert the government. I think they mean the government of, for, and by perverts. #Tanzuoren
mranti A tweet is a mini-diary – if a diary can “subvert” a govt. #Tanzuoren
wdrdog 颠覆国家政权，最高可以判处死刑，你我这些 #Twitter 上的发言，都够这个罪，只要他们这样认为。 我们的小命，就这样和谭作人刘晓波们连在了一起。 #Tanzuoren
To be human
Feng2084 #tanzuoren 當一個個公民面對強權貪腐的垭口失言噤聲，对生命的哀鸿接近麻木的時候，是你站了出來，然而他們今天對你的審判，是卑鄙与无耻对良知与正义的审判，也是对我们的审判，在这一个罪恶的国家里，我们都有罪。
wglxh 所有的老师，都是在以各种方式给孩子们给学生们个说法。今天审判谭作人，是审判所有想给下一代一个说法的人。 #Tanzuoren
horse 今天检查的是我们“作人”的底限在哪里。一起来“作人”吧。 #Tanzuoren


text:
Costa Rica: Laura Chinchilla Elected First Woman President · Global Voices
Luis Diego Molina

On Sunday, February 7, 2010 the people of Costa Rica went to the polls and elected the first woman president in its history, Laura Chinchilla, of the ruling National Liberation Party (PLN, for its initials in Spanish). According to official data provided by the Supreme Court Elections (TSE) won by a wide margin of cast votes. Chinchilla won 46.78% of the votes and defeated her main rival, Ottón Solis of the Citizens Action Party (PAC), who received 25.11%. The elections were conducted without incident, as the blog Elections 2014-2018 [es] (the dates were updated to reflect the next election) who writes:
Las elecciones se celebraron en un ambiente de fiesta, como lo marca la tradición en esta nación centroamericana en los últimos 50 años y que es considerada una de las democracias más sólidas y antiguas de América Latina.
The elections were held in a festive atmosphere, as is tradition in this Central American nation during the past 50 years and is considered to be one of the oldest and most solid democracies in Latin America.
The reactions of bloggers about Chinchilla’s victory did not wait. Some offered their analysis of the facts, others their opinions. An example analysis is provided by Cristian Cambronero in his blog Fusil de Chispas [es], who writes that Chinchilla's party also won the highest number of seats in the Assembly:
Según la proyecciones hasta la media noche del domingo, la próxima Asamblea, compuesta por 57 diputados, quería conformada por PLN 24 diputados del oficialista PLN (centro-derecha), 10 del opositor PAC (centro-izquierda), 10 del derechista Movimiento Libertario, 6 del PUSC (derecha), 4 del PASE, 1 del Frente Amplio (Izquierda), y 2 diputados de partidos de fuerte raíz religiosa-conservadora: 1 de Restauración Nacional y 1 de Renovación Costarricense.
According to the projections up to midnight Sunday, the next Assembly, composed of 57 deputies, would be composed of 24 deputies of the ruling  PLN (center right), 10 from the opposition PAC (center left), 10 of the right  Libertarian Movement, PUSC 6 (right), 4 of PASE, 1 of the Broad Front  (Left) and 2 members of religious parties strong conservative roots: 1 of  National Restoration and 1 of Costa Rican Renovation.
Video by YouTube user manrikecr with scenes from around San Carlos, Costa Rica:
Returning to the election of the president, views are mixed. For some bloggers, the idea of political continuity of National Liberation Party (PLN) is not encouraging, as expressed in the blog Conoche San Jose de Noche [es], who writes:
En mi humilde criterio se vienen cuatro años más de lo mismo de los últimos 25 años, donde el pobre se hace cada vez más pobre y el rico continua llenando sus bolsillos a costa del sudor de sus “colaboradores”, además claro el pueblo con su voto dio permiso a que los diputados sigan paseando en avioneta y escribiendo memorándums de terror para el pueblo.
In my humble view, four more years of the same is on its way and which have been happening over the past 25 years, where the poor are becoming poorer and the rich continue to fill their pockets at the expense of the sweat of his “friends,” of course the people with their vote gave the deputies permission to continue riding in airplane and writing terror memos for the people.
The victory of the PLN is seen as a blow to the leftist supporters, as described by the author of the blog El Mae del Bajo [es] who writes:
Ha llegado la hora para que la izquierda se una, esta elección ha manifestado la necesidad de una gran coalición de partidos de izquierda, solo así se formara un gran frente de lucha en contra de los neoliberales, pero si los mezquinos dirigente de estos partidos se niegan a unirse el único camino que les queda es la disolución, abran los ojos ante esta realidad…
The time has come for the left to unite, this election has shown the necessity of a broad coalition of leftist parties, and only in that manner will a broad front be created to fight against neo-liberals, but if the petty leaders of these parties refuse to join, the only path that remains is to dissolve, they need to open up their eyes to this reality…
Although there are abundant feelings of disappointment over the election in the blogosphere, such as from Julia Ardón, who writes about Chinchilla's victory [es]:
No me siento representada por ella. Es raro. Lloré cuando Michelle llegó a la presidencia en Chile. Pero ahorita, cuando ella dió su discurso de aceptación la escuché con atención y no sentí nada. No sé si eran los jingles que la interrumpían, no sé si era la redacción de su discurso. No sé si es que me siento muy lejos de sus ideas y de quienes la colocaron como candidata. No sé. Pero no me conecté con su corazón. No pude.
However, there are other bloggers calling for respect of the choice of the majority, which is what the blogger known as Wolverine wrote:
Ya es nuestra presidente, démosle oportunidad de demostrar su independencia y probar que ella es bastante capaz como mujer de llevar a cabo y ejercer satisfactoriamente su cargo como Presidenta de Costa Rica y superar las expectativas del pueblo, al fin y al cabo Costa Rica somos todos los ticos, no solo el Presidente y su comitiva
She is now our president, give her a chance to demonstrate her independence and prove that she is quite capable as a woman to go forward and to exercise in a satisfactory manner the office as President of Costa Rica and exceed the expectations of the people, after all, in Costa Rica we are all “ticos” (Costa Ricans), not only the President and her party.

author: Luis Diego Molina


text:
France: International Students in Paris Blog on Cité Babel  · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

The International City of Paris [Fr] is a complex that houses a community of international students living and learning at French universities. The Cité was created at a time in between the two World Wars in a pacific spirit that grew during that time in France. Their founders, based on an humanist ideal, envisioned a place that could bring together students from all over the world who would be studying in Paris and give them a home in which they could interact and learn from each other. As it is stated on their website, La Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris is a “school of human relations for peace”.
The International City of Paris
There is a blog in which many students write about these experiences in this community. This space is called Cité Babel, and is a place in the blogosphere in which thoughts, impressions, and experiences are shared, both in French and also in other variety of different languages.
Three printed publications also are related this blog, and they are all available online. The publications are the work of a team that addresses issues related to identity, interactions, cultural exchanges, languages, translation, ideas, and views of France and the world. Thus Cité Babel is the essence of a journey lived by students and professionals who are experiencing become an international citizen of the world.
To have a little view of how this blog works, here are some pieces of work written by members of the community around different subjects.
In his article “Why Paris sucks (and why I don’t want to leave)” Jake Heller, a Canadian student explores the basic ideas that his peers from the States have of a life in Paris and the shock of the reality of a vibrant and complicated city:
The steep price of my exchange hasn’t in fact been due to the outlandish cost of living here; turns out that rectifying my actual experience with others’ expectations of what it should be has taken the much greater toll (…) When people ask me about Paris…well they usually don’t actually ask me anything. They rather frame statements like “You must be having a great time!” or “Tell me about your French girlfriend!” as questions, or pose their questions with the answer already in mind, as in “How amazing is it there?” Unhappy with their own regular lives, they expect me to be living their dream, so – at the risk of being castrated for being a whiny, unappreciative asshole upon my return – my answers to such “questions” must always include the words “amazing,” “unbelievable,” or “incredibly hot.” The problem is that, like most comparisons between idealised fantasy and reality, the Paris of the North American imagination really doesn’t stack up to the Paris of the real world. (Note: I understand that many North Americans conceptualise “the real world” as a TV show instead of as actual reality, but I think that that only reinforces my point.)
Abdelkader, a French student writes about the views of the French media in the  complex conflict happening in Gaza [Fr]. While he discusses the attention that the conflict has been given by the mainstream media (in this case the primetime of French TV news), Aoufil puts serious questions and statements on the table. As the Gaza bombings arrive to their first anniversary, this student points out how the public opinion chooses to ignore a chapter of the circumstances that for so long have tormented the life of both Palestinians and Israelis:
Apparemment, les tribulations de Berlusconi, et de Johnny Halliday, sont plus importantes que le sort de 1,8 million de palestiniens enfermés dans la ville-ghetto de Gaza (…) même chez les progressistes ou les soutiens du début 2009 à la Palestine, l’apartheid et la ghettoïsation d’un peuple, est moins important qu’une bonne bouffe en famille (…)
Ah  Palestine! Ce soir, la majorité silencieuse te pleure encore, et ses larmes sont gonflées par l’outrecuidance de ces escrocs et de ces hypocrites de médias et de collaborateurs qui veulent nous faire avaler des couleuvres que leurs gorges rejettent pour éviter leur propre étouffement. Ah, j’oubliais… Bonne année 2010 !
Apparently, Berlusconi’s and Johnny Halliday’s tribulations are more important than the 1.8 million of Palestinians trapped in the ghetto-city of Gaza (…) even for the progressive groups that supported Palestine in the early days of 2009, the apartheid, and the “ghettoisation”  of one people is less important than a family meal. (…)
Ah Palestine! This evening, the silent majority cries for you again, and their tears are swollen by the presumptuousness of these crooks and this hypocrites from the media, along with their collaborators, that want to makes us believe naively what they themselves are incapable to accept in order to avoid their own asphyxiation. Ah, I forgot… Happy 2010!
At the same time Chen Miao, from China, discusses the common image of the Chinese people in her post “Are the Chinese shy?” [Fr/Ch]
Un jour, un de mes amis qui habite la Cité Universitaire m’a dit « je pense que les chinois sont timides, réservés et renfermés. » (…) Mon ami n’est pas le seul à penser cela… Bien que cela ne soit pas une critique, il existe quelques malentendus.
D’abord – et nous ne sommes pas les seuls à ressentir cela, beaucoup d’étrangers en France, ont la même impression – on se sent solitaires quand on s’éloigne de son pays natal (…) Les chinois peuvent faire preuve de grandeur d’âme et de largesse d’esprit. Si cela venait d’un pays où habitent des « timides », alors cette timidité serait associée à un charme certain et à une sacrée séduction, basés sur une culture profonde, vigoureuse, saine et puissante ! Les chinois ne sont plus fermés au monde. Nous sommes sortis et nous regardons dans tous les coins de planète, nous possédons des idées innovantes et des ambitions nobles.
One day, one of my friends, living like me in the Cité Universitaire told me: “I think the Chinese are shy, reserved, and withdrawn.” (…) My friend is not the only one with that impression. Even if he didn’t mean to criticize, I think there are some misunderstandings here.
To begin with –and we are not the only ones that feel this way, a lot of foreigners in France feel the same- we feel lonely when were far from our birthplace (…Nevertheless), the Chinese can prove that they have a big spirit and a great soul. If that comes from a country inhabited by “shy” people, then this shyness would be associated to a real and seductive charm based on a deep strong culture, that is at the same time sane and powerful! The Chinese are not closed towards the world anymore. We are out there and we observe all the places of the planet
The subjects and the ideas are wide and very vibrant. This is, indeed, an international community of people aware of the wideness of the world and how, with every day passing, peoples find themselves closer than ever before. With every blog post on Cité Babel, the discussions and observations get to be seen and discussed. No matter the language, the origins or the academic education, the students find in Cité Babel’s blog a space in which they use their voice and show their own vision of an international arena that has been considered as one of the most multicultural, diverse and cosmopolitan of the world: the Paris of the 21st century.

author: Laura Vidal


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India: The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival Blog  · Global Voices
Rezwan

An interesting panel discussion on the delicious variety of ‘Food Writing’ took place at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival in Mumbai, India. Read this and much more in The Kala Ghoda Gazette, the official blog of the festival.


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Iran: “Eight Iranian arrested in Copenhagen Denmark” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Oonvar Donya, Iranian blogger, says [fa] eight Iranian got arrested in Copenhagen, Denmark after they threw green paint at Iranian embassy. Watch the photos here.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Mongolia: “Khoomii doesn’t belong to China” · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

On PetitionSpot, a new petition goes on to ask China officials to stop registering “Khoomii” or Mongolian throat singing in their Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in UNESCO.

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Mozambique: Have African people been ‘Cursed’? · Global Voices
Diego Casaes

Custódio Duma wonders whether Africans have been ‘cursed’, leading to servitude of black people worldwide. He mentions biblical perspectives and says [pt]: “It's from Africa that most resources that keep the capitalism machine working comes from. Yet, Africans almost do not profit from them. […] But who has cursed Africans?”

author: Diego Casaes


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Peru: Cusco Bloggers Cover the Rain Disaster · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

After two weeks of heavy rain and non-stop rainfall and following floods of Cusco, Puno and Apurímac, the citizen media has thoroughly covered the disaster in South Peru, while traditional media is now focusing on other affected zones like North shore [es], the North Jungle [es] and the Central Jungle.
Photo by Alfredo Velarde. Used following a Creative Commons license. Taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/velardemariscal/4316299488/in/set-72157623188793247/
A persistent idea in the Cusco blogosphere is the lack of prevention [es] from the local and regional governments for this type of disaster that seems to happen every year. Frida Ibáñez from Crónicas desde el centro Cusco explained the geography and characteristics of the city, and questioned why there is no planning nor prevention from the authorities [es]:
Ha llovido por cuatro días consecutivos con breves descansos, el cielo parecía no contenerse y caía agua de forma estrepitosa. Los ríos en las calles crecían cada vez más. No recuerdo una lluvia así de fuerte desde mi infancia … El Cusco es una hoyada. No es por gusto que la llaman ombligo… su geografía es particular. … Es en época de secas, entre mayo a setiembre que deberían hacerse la limpieza de los ríos, tal como lo hacían los Incas. Podríamos prevenir las pérdidas ante una eventualidad climática como la última. Nos preguntamos: ¿qué hacen las autoridades con el dinero que Cusco recibe del canon minero? recordemos que hace unos años se devolvió dinero de la Región Cusco a Lima porque no hubo capacidad de gasto y gestión.
Frida also wrote about helping those affected by the rain [es]. CafeHenry from the blog El Placard “H” also commented on the reaction from the government [es] .
Photo by Alfredo Velarde. Used following a Creative Commons license. Taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/velardemariscal/4315585687/in/set-72157623188793247/
Alfredo Velarde was visiting the town of Aguas Calientes, on the foothill of Machu Picchu, when it all started. On his blog, he offered a first-hand testimony of the disaster [es] and impressive photos on his Flickr account:
casi 3000 personas  procedentes de Camino Inca y de la ciudad de Cusco, quedamos varadas en este pueblo, con escáso alimento, una pésima organización contra desastres naturales, autoridades corruptas y el desconcierto persistente, para el martes el caos se apodero del pueblo, debido a la poca ayuda del gobierno y las terribles desigualdades entre los residentes, turistas extranjeros y peruanos que las mismas autoridades genéran. … hoy por la tarde recién pude salir del lugar evacuado en un helicóptero de la Fuerza Aérea Peruana … pero preocupadísimo por los cientos de peruanos que por discriminación están siendo dejados de lado por la autoridades policiales, militares y por los grupos de extranejeros al mando de las actividades de organización para la evacuación.
Citizen media has gathered important information about the impact of the disaster. One of the most comprehensive coverages is the one of Marco Moscoso from El Caminerito, who we addressed in a previous post. He reported through his blog and Twitter account about emergency brigades, donation centers and any related irregularities, and even created a map with information of the affected areas.
Another important example is Prensa Contacto, a project started by two young communicators from Cusco who inform about what happens on their grounds. In a recent post [es] they reported that, until February 4th, in the Cusco Region there were 35,818 affected families and 13,210 dwellings damaged, following the last report from the regional president.
On his personal blog, Luis Figueroa made a virtual tour on Valle Sagrado with information about food and goods [es] in case of disaster. He also narrated and illustrated a mass and a procession to stop the rain [es]:
Desde 1986 el Taytacha no salía a las calles del Cusco fuera de su día principal -Lunes santo-, hoy, sin embargo, se realizó un servicio religioso a las 10:00 horas en el atrio de La Catedral con la intención de elevarle preces para aplacar las fuertes lluvias que caen sobre la región … Sin embargo, luego de concluida la misa, el sacerdote anunció que “para cuidar la imagen” la bendición sería impartida sólo en el atrio, a lo que el pueblo replicó “¡Que haya procesión!”. Minutos después, el Taytacha de los Temblores daba una vuelta por la Plaza de Armas para satisfacción de los fieles.
On the subject of help and solidarity, the Proyect of La Casa de Mayten reported both in text and photos [es] the current actions to help those affected in the town of Huacarpay on the blog Cambiando el Mundo:
Mi meta principal del viaje hoy fue levantar/recopilar informacion sobre la situacion global actual en Huacarpay, identificar sus necesidades urgentes, ver su estado de salud, y identificar los puntos de contacto a traves de los cuales coordinar esfuerzos organizados. … pudimos rapidamente conocer a, y hablar con, los 10 representates de los 10 sectores formados en el cerro en el que se refugian desde el domingo pasado, 315 familias (aprox 1,575 personas) incluyendo al sr. alcalde y a la teniente gobernadora.
Photo by Alfredo Velarde. Used following a Creative Commons license. Taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/velardemariscal/4316294672/in/set-72157623188793247/
More coverage on this situation can be found on the blogs El Caminerito, Urquillos [es], Radio Voz Populi Urubamba [es], Apurímac, Christian David Peña [es], El Trotamundo Tartamudo [es] and  Chikuchape [es].

author: Juan Arellano


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[Podcast] Interview with Fabiano Angelico of Transparência Brasil · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Fabiano Angélico is projects coordinator at Transparência Brasil. His post-graduate research includes “Transparency, Accountability and Fight against Corruption” at the University of Chile. He is currently completing a master's degree in public administration at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas in São Paulo, Brazil.
In this podcast he explains why transparency and accountability projects tend to focus on federal rather than state and local governments and points us to one innovative project in Brazil in which bloggers ‘adopt’ local politicians.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSS

author: David Sasaki


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Russia Wants To Be Twitter Trend · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

A new Russian Internet campaign [RUS] focuses on Twitter and aims to make #Russia one of the ten most discussed hashtags. So far, about 3,000 users joined the  Russian Twitwave [RUS]. The campaign was initiated by a member of the Russian parliament and Internet activist  Konstantin Rykov

author: Gregory Asmolov


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Sri Lanka: Another Blunder · Global Voices
Rezwan

A Voice In Colombo thinks that the victorious Mahinda Rajapaksa's government had “created another chance for opposition to gain public sympathy” by arresting general Sarath Fonseka.


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Sri Lanka: On Fonseka’s Arrest · Global Voices
Rezwan

Libertad blog reacts to the hammering of “the final nail in the coffin of democracy” of Sri Lanka – the arrest of General Sarath Fonseka: “adieu Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka and welcome the Totalitarian State of Sri Lanka for now.”


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Sri Lanka Presidential Elections: Sarath Fonseka arrested · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

General Sarath Fonseka in a press conference. Image from Flickr by Indi.ca – used under a Creative Commons License
News is just coming in that Sarath Fonseka, the opposition candidate who lost to the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the recently concluded 6th Presidential Election in Sri Lanka, has been arrested by the military police. The charges against him are military offences, conspiring to topple the government through a coup, creating divisions within the Sri Lankan army when he was at its helm etc.
Twitter is abuzz with the story and opinions, some of which have been captured below:
@LankaBreaking Gen Sarath Fonseka arrested http://tinyurl.com/yf7tnzc #slbrk
@mayooresan so its official, SF is being arrested… phew!!!! #Lanka #SRiLanka
@imahassen http://bit.ly/b380g9 Sri Lanka opposition leader arrested – physically abused and humiliated. (via @AruSivananthan) #LKA
@nrnikhil Gen Fonseka arrested in Srilanka! Are we seeing a new dictatorship in South Asia? #lanka #srilanka
@amanashraff #topstories Sri Lanka election loser arrested http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8504882.stm #lka #politics #news #bbc
@anooprk07: Opposition leader Sarath Fonseka arrested. Sri Lanka heading towards a Dictatorship??
@suhasinih: Emergency like sit in effect in Sri Lanka- Fonseka arrested say reports. #LKA
@BDUTT what? Fonseka?! Now is Sri lanka turning into Pakistan? Nawab and musharaf style! #LKA
@sardesairajdeep: the arrest of gen fonseca in sri lanka is no surprise. rajapakshe may have won elections, but he is a dictator.
@lpolgreenFonseka has been arrested for his conduct as military chief of staff, not as a candidate, a government spox told me. #SriLanka
@kanchangupta: Defence Spokesman: “Fonseka taken into custody by Army, will “face court martial for military offences committed during his service.”
@Muthukumaran Fonseka arrested and faces conspiracy charges.Life comes a full cycle.It wont be long when Rajapaksa will find himself in a dire state.
@amargovRequest right wing twitterati to hold back all the righteous indignation for Fonseka arrest. Chances are Fonseka was indeed guilty.
The Lanka Libertarian offers a quick reaction to the news of Fonseka's arrest.
nobody is above the law. if retired general sarath fonseka betrayed and endangered ppl including officers who sacrificed and contributed to defeat tamil tiger (ltte) terrorists…if he was planning to undermine democracy …if he was calling for foreign intervention to make him president after his loss in election (he is on record doing so) , he should pay the price. according to law. after a proper trial. no more no less.
Indi Samarajiva at indi.ca offers his opinion about the incident. According to him:
In this case I think the law is being applied as a weapon. People with connections can get away with murder and those without can get framed for anything. It’s a sad day for General Fonseka personally, but it’s sad day for us as well. Fonseka is no saint, but this is not even an issue of law. It’s the law being corrupted to serve a man. Sarath Fonseka’s real crime was opposing Mahinda. For that he’s in jail.
Looks like the post-Presidential-Election political drama in Sri Lanka is reaching a crescendo.

author: Aparna Ray


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Taiwan: Dark Marketing on Facebook · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

Mr. Friday on mmdays.com discusses how some people create fraudulent facebook fan page using photos of beautiful girls or logos of famous companies like MSN and Google(zh). The amount of fans can thus be sold to other businesses for promotion and marketing purpose. Mr. Friday asks Facebook to look into this rampant problem among Traditional Chinese users before these “dark marketing” become a viciou circle that ruins Facebook itself.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Blood Test vs. Breathalyzer  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

KnowTnT.com takes issue with a point in the recent amendment to the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act: “Nowhere does it state that someone accused of being drunk can volunteer to take a blood alcohol test.  When you fail a blood test for alcohol, you're nailed. There's no way out of it. But a breathalyzer? It's an estimate.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago: Kiddies Carnival  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A Caribbean Garden posts an array of photos from 2010 Kiddies Carnival celebrations in Trinidad and Tobago.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Parenting & Carnival  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Yes carnival is here, the greatest show on earth. The music, the [mas], the freedom and…babies at fetes”: Media Callaloo is appalled at the irresponsibility of some of the parents in Trinidad and Tobago.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Working for the Tourist Dollar?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Liming House is incensed by a campaign from Virgin Atlantic designed to “help the Caribbean”: “Both Virgin and the Travel Foundation appear to think that the only opportunities for ‘disadvantaged youth’ in the Caribbean are in ‘craft making, beekeeping and fishing.’ Gosh, development has just passed those backward-but-smiling natives right by!”


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Venezuela: The Interrupted Hunger Strike of Franklin Brito · Global Voices
Iria Puyosa

Franklin Brito, a farmer from the state of Bolívar in southeastern Venezuela had been on a hunger strike since July 2009 outside of the offices of the Organization of American States (OAS) in the capital city of Caracas. In December 2009, the Public Prosecutor's Office requested a court order to place him in a hospital, which was granted. Brito has been in a military hospital since December 10, a decision that he and his family contested. They are demanding that he be treated by a doctor of his choice, but the appeal against the court order was rejected on December 21. (Watch video of the moment in which Franklin Brito was taken from OAS to the Military Hospital )
On January 9, hospital staff told Brito’s daughter, who was visiting him, that he was being taken for therapy. She says that they sedated him before taking him away. His family was not allowed to visit him the following days. Two days later, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called on the Venezuelan government to allow him visits as well as access and treatment from a doctor of his choice [es], or one provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross. That request was not granted by Venezuelan government. A similar request from the Caracas Psychology Bar was also ignored [es].
(Watch video of the press conference conducted by relatives of Brito and human rights organizations calling for his release from the military custody / Spanish )
Brito began his protest in 2006 against a decision by the Insituto Nacional de Tierras (National Land Institute), a national government office, which said that his lands were unproductive, a charge that Brito denied. The Institute ordered the confiscation of his lands. Some believe that the decision was a reprisal for corruption allegations he made against the Mayor of the nearby city of Sucre. His protests since then have included several hunger strikes. Even though the central government eventually returned ownership of the disputed lands and offered him compensation, the authorities failed to evict a group of people who have been occupying his land, leading Brito to begin his most recent hunger strike.
Brito's hunger strike has been a topic of discussion Twitter, under the hashtag #FranklinBrito. An orthodontist, Eloy Bustamante @eloybc, who examined Brito in the military hospital on January 19 tweeted:
Odontológicamente muy comprometido. Sistemicamente esta un poco mejor. Es un señor con mucha entereza. No tiene rastros de enfermedad mental
The Twitter user @radardebarrios also wrote about and took a photograph of the protests outside the hospital where Brito was being attended to:
Hace minutos. Dirigentes d barrios de Caracas protestan frente al Hospital Militar en solidaridad con Franklin Brito! http://tweetphoto.com/9214426
On January 16, Amnesty International issued an Urgent Action for Brito urging the authorities to reveal his whereabouts and to guarantees his safety, as well as to respect his wishes to be attended to by a doctor his choice.
Since then, Brito's wife Elena started her own hunger striker and took part in a demonstration on January 23, while seated in a wheelchair.
Photo of Elena Brito at demonstration courtesy of Brito and Habla Venezuela.
Documents about Brito's case can be found on the blog Prohibido Olvidar [es] (Forbidden to Forget).
In another twist to the story, the Public Prosecutor's Office stated that Brito was mentally ill and unable to make his own decisions. The case is regarded as an application of a popular doctrine among some government supporters, who label those who are strongly critical of the administration of Hugo Chavez, as psychotic (“disociados”) [es].
The matter is openly stated in Colofon [es], a blog written by Rodolfo, a journalist and human rights activist:
Rondaba por allí de vez en cuando  cuando algunos inistían en llamarlos disociados pero con el caso de Franklin Brito que fue capturado de su huelga de hambre y trasladado a un hospital militar para luego ser llevado al área de siquiatría la tendencia se ha confirmado. Ahora el gobierno al que proteste, al que se le oponga lo considera un enfermo mental.

author: Iria Puyosa


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Azerbaijan: Book review · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Scary Azeri in Suburbs comments on Artush and Zaur, a homo-erotic novel telling the love story between an Armenian and Azerbaijani man. The blogger says that while the book is a brave attempt to overcome taboos, she found it more funny than touching in its depiction of various sexual encounters.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bangladesh: Questions For Climate Organizers · Global Voices
Rezwan

Anirvan Chatterjee, a tech geek from San Francisco, has five questions for Bangladeshi climate organizers. Read the answers here.

author: Rezwan


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Belarus: Cartoon on New Internet Regulations · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A cartoon commentary on the newly-introduced Internet regulations in Belarus: “On the Internet, nobody knows you are a dog… unless you live in Belarus.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Bermuda: Not Feeling the Love  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bermudian bloggers weigh in on the island's “Love Festival”.


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Breaking Borders award at the GV Summit 2010 · Global Voices
Ivan Sigal

The Breaking Borders Award is a new prize created by Google and Global Voices and supported by Thomson Reuters to honor outstanding web projects initiated by individuals or groups that demonstrate courage, energy and resourcefulness in using the Internet to promote freedom of expression. Closing date for applications is February 15. Get your nominations in soon!
We're excited to announce that the Breaking Borders winners will be announced at the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2010, in Santiago, Chile on May 6-7, 2010.
Visit the Summit web site for background information on the goals of the meeting, the program of events, and registration details.
Over the next days and weeks we'll be fleshing out the program, adding speaker bios, a list of attendees and more, and do keep checking in at the site for blog posts and commentary from Summit participants and others, as well as to join in the conversation.
You can also help spread the word about the Global Voices Summit and Breaking Borders by flying one of our Summit badges or banners on your blog or web site.
The Breaking Borders Award is open to people of all nationalities. Winners will be selected by a panel of experts in the field of freedom of expression. A cash prize of $10,000 will be awarded in each of three areas:
1. Advocacy, given to an activist or group that has used online tools to promote free expression or encourage political change
2. Technology, given to an individual or group that has created an important tool that enables free expression and expands access to information
3. Policy, given to a policy maker, government official or NGO leader who has made a notable contribution in the field
Nominations for and additional information about the Breaking Borders Award can be submitted at http://breakingborders.net and close on February 15, 2010.
Contact us at nomination@breakingborders.net with any questions.

author: Ivan Sigal


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China: Ai Weiwei on Tan Zuoren · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

C. Custer from ChinaGeeks translated prominent blogger Ai Weiwei's comments on Tan Zuoren's trial and 5 year imprisonment sentence.

author: Oiwan Lam