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A Dying Putin Shakes Up Russia’s Defense Ministry to Promote An Heir? · Global Voices
Lev Podelko

In early November, as Americans prepared to re-elect President Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin fired his long-time ally Anatoly Serdyukov, the man who's served as Russia's Defense Minister since 2007. Sergei Shoigu, the Governor of the Moscow Oblast and the former head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations (the MChS), was appointed in his place.
There is wide speculation about what prompted Serdyukov's ouster. Most noticeably, he recently came under investigation for selling off military property for personal gain. The ongoing case served as the official reason for replacing Serdyukov with Shoigu, though other theories abound, as Russia's military is deeply mired in corruption, despite years of anti-graft campaigns.
Journalist and blogger Oleg Kashin submits [ru] that Putin is grooming Shoigu as an heir, just as Yeltsin nurtured the rapid rise of Putin himself in the late 1990s. Kashin argues that the promotion is meant to boost Shoigu's stature, so that Putin can at last retire:
За Сергея Шойгу как за «будущего президента России» в МЧС поднимали тосты еще при президенте Ельцине. Сейчас по этому поводу если и можно спорить, то только о способе прихода к власти: либо Путин назначит его преемником, либо Шойгу назначит себя сам.
In the MChS, they toasted Sergei Shoigu as the “future President of Russia” as far back as Yeltsin's days. The only question now is how he'll come to power: either Putin will appoint him as his ‘successor,’ or Shoigu will appoint himself.
USACE teammate welcomes Russian Minister of Defense Serdyukov (right) to Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, Virginia, United States. 16 September 2010, photo by US Army Corps of Engineers, CC 2.0.
Indeed, Vladimir Putin is not getting any younger, and, in recent years, Russia observers have increasingly noted a rising demand for better democratic institutions. The country's lack of elite turnover also seems to produce more popular anger today than at any earlier point in Putin's dominance of Russian politics. Putin's “tandem partner” and one-time boss Dmitri Medvedev lacks the power and charisma to be a successful leader without Putin. Shoigu, on the other hand, is independently quite popular. In a poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Center, Shoigu's 78% approval rating made him the most popular minister in the federal government by far. (The runner-up trailed by more than twenty points!)
Many in the political opposition detected an element of desperation in the cadres reshuffle. Opposition activist Sergei Udaltsov was particularly ominous [ru]:
Шойгу то на Московскую область был брошен, теперь на Министерство обороны. Это очень тревожный сигнал, говорит о том, что кадровый запас просто скудный до невозможности у властей.
Shoigu was sent to the Moscow Oblast, and now to the Ministry of Defense. This is a red flag; it says that that the authorities’ cadre reserves are running thin.
In a Facebook post [ru] on November 16, Solidarnost activist Pavel Shelkov [ru] spread a rumor that Putin is dying of spinal cancer and is indeed preparing Shoigu to replace him as president. Shelkov, who is not a doctor, claims that Putin has just three months to live. “The Virgin Mother has granted the girls’ prayer,” he declared, referring to Pussy Riot's now infamous plea from the altar of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior that Mary “banish Putin.”

author: Lev Podelko


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Bangladesh: Money Doesn’t Build A School · Global Voices
Rezwan

Shawn Ahmed of Uncultured.com explains in a video blog that donations only doesn't help building a school. Watch the video to see what he means:

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Rezwan


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Bolivia, Do You Have Internet?  · Global Voices
Pablo Andres Rivero

Bolivia’s National Census of Population and Housing 2012 will be held on November 21. The previous national census took place more than a decade ago, in December 2001.
Led by the National Institute of Statistics (INE in Spanish), the national 2012 census aims [es] to provide “updated information on demographic, social, economic and housing conditions in the country, allowing to adjust, define and evaluate plans, programmes, public policies and strategies for sustainable human, economic and social development at the national, departmental and municipal levels”.
Targeting primarily demographic and housing issues, the census questionnaire [es] has sparked a debate on social media platforms regarding question 17: “Does this household have Internet service?”
Researchers, analysts, and activists expected more inquiry and information coming out of the 2012 census. Nevertheless, the sole question regarding Internet access inquires only about the service, disregarding type of connection, quality, uses, digital divide, and so on, missing an opportunity to collect in-depth information on this matter.
Nayeli and Carla by Safe the Children (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
It is estimated [es] that about 30% of the population and 9% of households have Internet access in Bolivia. The number is not high; however, the quality shows even a worse scenario: only 0.7 of every 100 have broadband connections.
Mario Durán, a blogger and activist based in El Alto, argues on his blog [es] that question 17 should be answered “no” if the access to the Internet is via mobile broadband stick or mobile phone.
After sharing his position on social media platforms, a number of replies came in favor and against his argument.
Eliana Quiroz, a well-known digital activist, commented on an open discussion [es] at the campaigning Facebook page “Más ancho de banda para Bolivia” (More Broadband for Bolivia):
Añadir más preguntas es caro y como no consideran que la conexión a Internet sea estratégica, pues no incluyeron nada. La pregunta está como está y asi nomás hay que responderla. Para el siguiente censo espero que haya una bateria de preguntas acerca de Internet. Habra que hacer lobby y activismo cuando corresponda.
Adding more questions is expensive and (the government) does not consider the Internet to be strategic, so it did not include anything else. The question is as it is and so we just need to answer it. For the next census I hope there is a set of questions about the Internet. Lobbying and advocacy must be done at the right time.
In spite of the gaps in the census questions, Grover Yapura (@GroverYapura) [es] states via his Twitter account:
@GroverYapura: #Censo2012, solo hay una opcion el 21: Ser contado y ayudar a contar #Bolivia
@GroverYapura: #Censo2012 There is only one option on the 21st: Being counted and help to count #Bolivia
Mainstream and citizen media are actively reporting on Bolivia’s National Census via the hashtags #Censo2012 [es] and #CensoBo [es].

author: Pablo Andres Rivero


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Chileans Protest in Support of Gaza · Global Voices
Felipe Cordero

Despite the fact that Chile is located more than 8,000 miles away from the Palestinian Territories and Israel, many Chileans have not been oblivious to the continued exchange of makeshift rockets and missiles between the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Hamas militants in the Gaza-Israel border.
On Thursday November 15, netizens started circulating a call to attend a march that began in Santiago's Palestinian Stadium and ended at the Israeli Stadium:
@Karina_Aravena_: @DonDatos: En minutos: Comienza la CAMINATA X GAZA desde el Club Palestino (21:00 hrs) #PalestinaLibre RT
@Karina_Aravena_: @DonDatos: In minutes: The WALK FOR GAZA is starting from the Palestinian Club (21:00 hrs) #FreePalestine RT
Call to protest in support of Gaza, shared via Twitter and Facebook.
The march had a small turn out and did not get enough attention from the media. Hence, another protest was called for Saturday, November 17.
The protest was organized by the “Comité Chileno de Solidaridad con Palestina” or Chilean Committee of Solidarity with Palestine (@conpalestina) [es]. On that day, according to CNN Chile (@cnnchile) [es], hundreds of people took to the streets in front of the Israeli Embassy in Santiago, Chile's capital, to protest Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip [es].
Chile's EMOL newspaper reported that only around seven hundred people attended the march [es]. The Israeli ambassador in Chile, David Dadonn, reacted by saying:
Viene gente a manifestarse en contra de la víctima. El hecho de que Israel se defiende en legítima defensa de un hecho de provocación de Hamas para asegurar la vida de los ciudadanos no está siendo tomando en consideración. La mayoría de las personas en esta manifestación no conoce la situación real, en el terreno. A los organizadores de esa manifestación, no se les verá nunca frente a la embajada de Siria aunque la represión del Gobierno sirio llegó a 39 mil muertos civiles y de oposición según el conteo oficial de la ONU, pero ellos sí vienen inmediatamente a la de Israel después de 14 muertos palestinos por razón de la provocación de Hamas.
People here come to protest against the victim. That fact that Israel is acting in legitimate defense in reaction to a provocation by Hamas in order to protect the lives of [its] citizens is not being considered. Most of these people in the protest do not know the real situation in the field. One will never see the organizers of this protest in front of the Syrian Embassy, though repression by the Syrian government left 39 thousand civilians and opposition members dead, according to the official count of the UN, but they do come to the Israeli Embassy after 14 palestinians are dead because of the provocation by Hamas.
He prompted many reactions from citizens in social media when he referred to the organizers of the protest in the following terms [es]:
Son enemigos profesionales de Israel que esperan cualquier oportunidad para venir a manifestar su odio al estado de Israel, no importa las circunstancias.
They are professional enemies of Israel that await for any opportunity to come and profess their hatred towards the Israeli state, no matter the circumstances.
During the day, Chileans had been discussing the issue through social media. The Twitter account for Difamadores (@Difamadores) [es], a satirical group of TV presenters who demand political reform, tweeted:
@Difamadores: Te pasaste!! Embajador israelí en Chile por manifestación pro Palestina: “Son enemigos profesionales de Israel”http://www.emol.com/noticias/nacional…
@Difamadores: You crossed the line!! Israeli Ambassador in Chile on pro Palestinian protest: “They are professional enemies of Israel.”http://www.emol.com/noticias/nacional…
Pablo Lira (@pablolirar) [es], a political scientist from Chile's Catholic University, said:
@pablolirar: Ojalá algún día haya ‘paz’ entre Israel y Palestina!
@pablolirar: I hope that one day there will be “peace” between Israel and Palestine!
Cristian Mauricio (@negromartínez) [es] asked people to keep Palestinian children in their thoughts:
@negromartínez: Buenas noches para tod@s y antes de dormir ojalá recordemos a todos los niños que sufren en #Gaza la violencia de Israel, paz para Palestina
@negromartínez: Good night everyone. Before going to bed, I hope we keep all the children suffering in #Gaza from Israel's violence in our thoughts. Peace for Palestine.
Marcelo Hilsenrad (@mhilsenrad) [es] took a more critical view of Hamas:
@mhilsenrad: Mientras el mundo siga apoyando a los terroristas de Hamas, pierde Palestina, Abbas, Israel y todo el planeta
@mhilsenrad: As long as the world continues to support Hamas terrorists, Palestine, Abbas, Israel and the whole planet will loose.
Chilean Senator Francisco Chahuán (@chahuan) [es], a center-right politician and a Palestinian descendant himself, said:
@chahuan: La paz en Palestina e Israel implica que nedie tiene derecho a atacar descaradamente a poblacion civil. Reconocer que hay q agotar dialogo
@chahuan: Peace in Palestine and Israel means that no one has the right to shamelessly attack the civilian population. Recognize that we must exhaust dialogue.
In a similar light, far-right politician Ivan Moreira (@ivanmoreirab) [es] had been using Twitter to express his dissatisfaction with the current government's reaction to the crisis in Gaza. He complained:
@ivanmoreirab: Declaración Cancilleria x ataques y muerte d Israel a Palestina,lamentablemente Teoría Empate,tibia no me parece.Tan corta bastaba 1 Twitter
@ivanmoreirab: Statement by the Foreign Ministry for attacks and deaths [brought upon] Palestine by Israel. Sadly a draw's theory, lukewarm, I don't like it. It was enough with one tweet.
He received many responses. Alvaro Sandoval (@asandovalu) [es] said:
@asandovalu: @ivanmoreirab toda la razon… tipico de pais timorato… #fuerzapalestina
@asandovalu: @ivanmoreirab you are absolutely right… typical of a shy country… #strengthpalestine
Rolando Loi (@RolandoLoi) [es] responded:
@RolandoLoi: @ivanmoreirab ¿Que quiere que haga Israel? Hamas no quiere “2 estados para 2 pueblos” quieren 1 estado Islámico EN VEZ de Israel.
@RolandoLoi: @ivanmoreirab What do you want Israel to do? Hamas does not want “2 states for 2 peoples”. They want 1 Islamic state INSTEAD of Israel.
Moreira, the politician, replied:
@ivanmoreirab: @RolandoLoi Yo Proclamo La Paz,de dos Estados que coexistan con delimitación de Fronteras,sin muros,sin ocupación,Palestina Libre!!!
@ivanmoreirab: @RolandoLoi I proclaim Peace between two states that coexist with demarcated frontiers, without walls, without occupation, a Free Palestine!!!
Chile, despite being so far away from Israel and Palestine, is home to around 350,000 ethnic Palestinians, which makes it the country with the largest group of ethnic Palestinians living outside of the Arab World [es]. Chile's Palestinian community in Chile is mostly comprised of Christians and is the result of a century of immigration. Today, they are present in all spheres of Chilean society.
The first waves of Palestinian immigration to Chile occurred early in the 20th century. Because Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire, most Palestinian immigrants arrived with Turkish papers, which led to Chileans mistakenly calling them “turcos” (turks in Spanish). In 2008, under a United Nations agreement, the Chilean Government of Michelle Bachelet received a group of Palestinian refugees that had been living in Syria.

author: Felipe Cordero


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Coming out of the Water Closet: Haiti on World Toilet Day  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Today is World Toilet Day.  Of a global population of 7 billion, a staggering 2.5 billion people have no access to clean toilet facilities – that's about 1 in 3 people.  Some of them live in the Caribbean; many of these live in Haiti – and the lack of this fundamental human right to sanitation continues to cause unnecessary disease and death.  World Toilet Day aims to break the taboo around toilets and hygiene, and draw attention to the existing global sanitation challenge.  To support the effort (kind of like what we did here) and rally around the campaign's “I give a shit, do you?” theme, this post revisits some of the ways in which the absence of what many of us take for granted – a private place to do your business – has made an impact on life in Haiti.
The island nation has, of course, had more than its share of challenges: natural disasters, the most devastating of which in recent times was the 2010 earthquake and its resulting water woes, reports of financial impropriety in charitable aid organisations, questionable “relief” donations that threatened to wipe out the country's struggling agricultural sector, coupled with hurricane damage and a massive cholera outbreak on the heels of the earthquake that added to the already steep death toll.  Just over a year ago, Dying in Haiti marked the one year anniversary of the outbreak:
In October 2010 cholera started started infecting and killing Haitians.
It has been one year now and conservative numbers say that cholera has infected 500,000 Haitians and killed 6,500 of them. This is more than any place in the world. Including India, Africa, Anywhere….
Dirty water is to blame. And Haiti's water was deplorable long before the earthquake in 2010. It was deemed worst in the world in 2002….
That is one of the reasons I named this blog Dying in Haiti six years ago. Dirty water….
The post quoted a mainstream media article that explained:
Cholera is caused by a bacteria found in contaminated water or food. It spreads quickly in unhygienic environments and can quickly kill people through complete dehydration, but is easily treatable if caught in time.
Haiti has long suffered from improper sanitation because of its poverty but sanitation conditions in the capital and other urban areas became much worse after last year's earthquake forced thousands of people to set up makeshift shelters in public plazas, soccer fields and other open areas.
Out of 12,000 latrines needed, only about a third were reported to be working in August, down from more than 5,800 the month before, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. Meanwhile, the number of nonfunctional latrines more than doubled, from about 1,300 in July to about 2,600 in August.
Also, more than 1,000 latrines have been abandoned, leading to outdoor defecation, which heightens the risk of contamination for people living in the camps.
Haiti's cholera epidemic was not just a health issue.  It affected the country's elections and began to have an impact on international relations, as the tide turned against the United Nations presence in the country.  (The cause of the cholera outbreak was traced to UN forces in the island.)  This November 2010 Global Voices post examined the situation:
The outbreak has turned into an epidemic, with the death toll rising every day. Haiti, already poorly equipped to deal with this level of public health threat, has been grappling more than usual to contain its spread in the aftermath of the January 12 earthquake – nearly a year later, people are still living in tent cities.
Adding insult to injury – or, in this case, anger to anguish – have been reports claiming that the epidemic was caused by “excrement from Nepalese peacekeepers.” It is no secret that the occupying UN forces, known as MINUSTAH, have a troubled history in Haiti; bloggers have been quite outspoken on the subject, asking whether stabilization is actually a euphemism for subordination.
Against this backdrop, the mere possibility that the cause of the cholera outbreak could be traced back to MINUSTAH (a claim which the UN denies) is proving to be the final straw. As the disease spread to the capital, Port-au-Prince, so have the anti-UN protests.
Haiti Grassroots Watch explained:
Cholera is a disease of the poor, of the disenfranchised. Poor people in poor countries. Cholera thrives where there is no clean water, where there is inadequate sanitation, where there are poor health systems.
While it’s now clear that UN soldiers likely brought Vibrio cholera to Haiti, and while it is also clear that good health care, access to a clean water and sanitation, good hygiene practices  and a vaccine can keep it at bay, it’s not clear how to achieve all of that before many thousands more die.
And even if cholera is beaten, dozens of other waterborne diseases threaten Haiti. According to the World Health organization, every year 1.4 million people die from waterborne diseases – about four per minute – most as a result of unsafe and inadequate water and sanitation.
Haiti Grassroots Watch decided to dig into the why and the how of Haiti’s ‘ravaged’ and ‘striken’ situation and asked
•    Why has cholera taken hold so easily?
•    Why don’t Haitians have access to clean water and adequate sanitation?
•    And if all $164 million the UN is seeking is rounded up and cholera eradicated, what will keep another water-borne disease from sweeping ghrough the country?
This post couldn't answer those questions, but it did try to help spread life-saving information by profiling doctor/blogger Jan Gurley, who visited Haiti twice since the January 12, 2010 earthquake to volunteer her services, and created an instructional video on oral rehydration therapy (ORT) that she could leave with her Haitian colleagues and patients:
So where does World Toilet Day fit in?  It hopes to raise awareness, inspire action, and make sanitation and hygiene for all a reality in the 21st century.   You can get involved by sharing key messages about safe toilets, advocating for better sanitation by hosting an event and registering activities on an interactive World Toilet Day map, and telling the world why You Give A Shit on Facebook and Twitter.  And lest you think that someone else's toilet troubles don't affect you, remember that diseases caused by ineffective sanitation can spread – even into areas that aren't toilet-challenged.  Sign the petition, here.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Confessions of Paid Political Trolls in South Korea · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

One of the open secrets of South Korea's political landscape is that people are hired to hijack the comment sections of online posts. These hired commenters, or political “trolls,” copy-and-paste slanderous messages that have been created by their team leaders and post them on major online platforms; more skilled trolls conjure up original vicious comments all by themselves. Both have one political purpose: to warp the public discussion in favor of the party.
Trolling since 2004
The initial revelation of professional commenters was made by bloggers who tracked down several Internet trolls [ko] who often posted the exact same comments praising one party while trashing others. It turned out all these comments, even though written by different IDs, shared the same IP address, an address assigned to the ruling Grand National Party (now Saenuri Party) building in Yeido, Seoul.
That was back in 2004, now this has evolved into a much more sophisticated system. But few whistle-blowers warn the public of the political powerhouse manipulation by confessing details of the paid-commenter system.
Although almost all major political parties and corporations are believe to hire commenters, the latest confessions were mostly made by former trolls from the ruling conservative Saenuri Party, a party notorious for numerous allegations and bribery cases. Below is a translation of one of the most widely-shared confession posts.
The confession
A user ID: HELP, who introduced himself as a 26-year-old male in Seoul struggling to find a job, allegedly wrote this post [ko]. Although the original link was extremely hard to locate, the screen capture image of his post can be found easily around the web, in same form. He said he worked as a part-time commenter for the Saeunir Party for several months:
Image by Flickr user marsmet501 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
제가 이 글을 올리는 이유는 여러분은 지금 여론 선동에 놀아나고 계신다는 걸 알려드리기 위해서입니다 […] 처음 3개월간은 수습으로 뜁니다. 수습 알리미는 시급 2500원이죠.. 물론 피시방 값은 대주지만 하루 종일 해 봤자 밥 시켜먹고, 담배값 하고 이러다 보면 교통비 밖에 안나옵니다. 3개월 지나면 정식으로 채용되는데 그러면 시급 3700원은 받습니다 점차 지나면서 월급이 늘어나구요. 특히 선거철 같은 때는 보너스 수당도 줍니다. 나름 짭짤하죠. 원래 처음에는 한나라당 당사에서 하는데 옛날에 ip 걸려서 요새는 피시방에서 유동 아이피 써가면서 주기적으로 옮겨서 하거든요 여의도 주변 피시방 돌면서 하는데 […]
The reason why I am posting this is to let you know that you are being manipulated […] The first three months is the probation period. Our hourly rate starts at 2,500 Korean Won (USD 2.3). They (the party) would pay for (computer and Internet use at) the PC room [note: Korean gaming cafe], but since we spend our money on buying meals and cigarettes, even after working a full-day, we barely covered our commuter expense. But once you complete the probation period and are officially hired, then they pay you more; 3700 Korean won (3.4 USD) per hour and this keeps increasing. And you will get bonuses during the election season. It is not a bad salary (for a part-time work). Initially, we used to work at the party building at Yeido, but after our IP address was revealed, we now use PC rooms around the area, using temporary IP addresses, regularly shifting locations[…]
보통 다음이나 네이버 이런 포털 사이트 뉴스에 댓글 일정 정도를 할당해 줍니다 뉴스 사이트에 글 올리는 조도 있구요 […] 무조건 노빠 빨갱이 절라치 이런식으로 몰아붙이라고 조장이 가르쳐주더군요 여럿이서 퍼부어대면 염증 느끼고 도망가거나 제풀에 포기한다고[…]
Some of us will be dispatched to Daum news, others Naver's news page [note: Daum and Naver are two of the biggest portal sites in South Korea] and there are teams sent to specific news sites. Our team leader told us to put down the opposition by name-calling them the (former President) Roh’s suckers or Jeolla-chi [note: an offensive new way of calling people living in Jeolla Province. The province is known for being loyal supporters of the Democratic party for decades]. They told me that when you bombard people with these offensive terms, people will feel disgusted and leave the page and are discouraged to comment any more. […]
The net user who uploaded the screen capture image of this confession has done some digging into this whistle-blower's web records and confirmed [ko], by attaching images, that there have been several thousand posts this whistle-blower posted in one active forum site for past five months, all ridden with defamatory comments on the deceased former President Roh while lauding the current ruling party.
Last year, right after Seoul's Mayoral by-election, a commenter ID: xodu**** came out clean and apologized [ko] to a liberal candidate, now new mayor of Seoul for slandering him, often as an enemy-loving, pro-North Korea socialist.
The trolling business
A recent report even reveals [ko] that the monthly payment of the commenters, when working full-time, can be as much 1 million Korean Won (a little less than USD 920), which each comment costing about 200 Korean Won (about a cent). The report added most of them are groups desperately seeking part-time jobs, including college students, recent-graduates battered by the harsh job market, and stay-at-home moms seeking to make extra money while staying at home.
Recent Twitter comments show the trend of public trust rapidly evaporating as almost all major online public forums have been tainted by these hired commenters. @yahoo3333's commented [ko].
정치 관련 기사에 댓글들은 알바가 쓴거 같아서 믿어야 할지 믿지 말아야 할지 고민되네.
Every comment made under political news seems like it is written by a hired commenter. I cannot make up my mind whether to trust them.
Some Twitterers, such as @rlawoci, even mockingly thanked [ko] the Saenuri party for reportedly hiring part-time commenters and thereby creating new jobs and lowering the young unemployment rate.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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DR of Congo: M23 Rebels Threaten to Take Goma  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Radio Okapi reports that M23 rebels launched a massive attack on Sunday around the town of Goma against the Congolese army [fr].  UN helicopters shot at M23 rebels to counter the offensive.
Fighting between Congolese Army and M23 rebels around the city of Goma- photo on Fotopedia CC-license-BY

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Ibero-America: Free Software Assessment Report 2012 · Global Voices
Pablo Andrés Rivero

The recently released Free Software Assessment Report 2012 shows the opinion, assessment and preferences of more than 5,000 people from Spain and Latin America. The study published in its fourth edition is promoted by PortalProgramas and supported by a number of experts and collaborators [es]. The report aims to contribute to a better understanding, use and dissemination of free software in Latin America. The summary of the study can be accessed online [es] and more information can be found on the report's conclusions for 2012 [es].

author: Pablo Andrés Rivero


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Nicaraguan Blog Contest Focuses on Human Rights · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Hagamos Democracia (“Let's make democracy”) invites netizens to participate in the “Let's make a blog” contest, which aims [es] to,
encourage in Nicaragua the creation of communication spaces that inform and express citizens’ views about human rights.
Participants are invited [es] to present blogs created between January 1 and November 25, 2012, that focus on any issue related to human rights. You can follow the contest on Facebook [es] and Twitter [es].

author: Silvia Viñas


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On World Toilet Day, Introducing the Crap Map Project   · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

With both big technology players and local partners in Ghana, we’ll be hacking together our “crap map” using existing open source tools and software paired with meaningful offline facilitation around behavior change in sanitation.
Molly Norris of Ideo.org explains the objective of the Crap Map project: “to stimulate collective action to improve community-wide behavior and pressure the public sector and others to make investments in improved sanitation solutions.” On World Toilet Day, it's worth noting that in West Africa, only 37 percent of inhabitants can access a clean toilet, posing important issues of public health and human dignity. The WHO/UNICEF joint monitoring program (JMP) estimates that Eritrea and Niger have the highest ratio of population forced to defecate in the open.


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Outrage as Facebook Post Leads to Arrests in India · Global Voices
Rezwan

The city of Mumbai's reaction to the death of Balasaheb Keshav Thackeray, founder of the Hindu right-wing Shiv Sena party in India, has raised concern in India (see Global Voices report). Shops, cinemas, public transport and other businesses in Mumbai were quickly closed either as a show of respect, or in fear of mob violence by Shiv Sena supporters. On Sunday, the funeral of Mr. Thackeray was held in Mumbai and an estimated one million mourners filled the streets of the city bringing it to a halt.
In Palghar, police reportedly detained 21-year-old Shaheen Dhada after she posted this status update on her Facebook:
People like Thackeray are born and die daily and one should not observe a bandh (total shutdown) for that.
Her friend Renu Srinivas, who ‘liked’ the update, was also arrested. The police took action after a complaint was made at the Palghar police station by Bhushan Sanke, a local Sena leader.
However, journalist Sreenivasan Jain reported in Twitter:
Punjab Chief of Shiv Sena, Mr. Sukhdev Sandhu, along with the other members pay tribute to Bal Thackeray. Amritsar, India. 18th November 2012. Image by Gauravjeet Singh Chhina. Copyright Demotix.
@SreenivasanJain @Viv2511 Acc. to police, girl not arrested. Someone made a complaint, they are looking into it.
Prasanto K Roy added:
@prasanto @SreenivasanJain Reportedly girls not arrested but detained under supervision in police station, charged under section 66A, IT Act @Viv2511
Section 66-A of the Indian IT act deals with messages sent via computer or communication devices which may be “grossly offensive,” have a “menacing character,” or even cause “annoyance or inconvenience”.
The Lighthouse reports:
The girls were arrested today afternoon but have been granted bail after initially being sent to judicial custody.
After effects: The girl apologized for her mistake but then it was not enough to the more than 2000 (the number seems to be exaggerated also) Shiv Sena supporters who later on attacked and ransacked her uncle’s orthopedic clinic at Palghar taluka of Thane district.
The Times of India confirmed the incident:
They (Shiv Sainik) were upset over a comment on Bal Thackeray posted on a social networking site by young Shaheen Dhada, the niece of the owner of the hospital. The sainiks, armed with iron rods and sticks, charged into the Dhada orthopedic hospital at around 9.30pm. They broke expensive hospital equipment and furniture besides vandalizing the operation theatre.
NDTV reports that some of the Shiv Sainiks who were involved in the attack were arrested. The Press Council of India has demanded “immediate” action against police personnel for arresting the girls.
Netizens were outraged. On Twitter:
@drsarosh: @indexcensorship @bdutt @dilipthecherian shaheen questioned the logic of the bandh. by arresting her is the police endorsing the bandh?
@DebSiddharth: “@harikunzru: India's latest free speech #fail. Two girls arrested for fb posts about Bal Thackeray http://t.co/1jkrBLL9” “satyameva Jayate”
@abhisekhberiwal: RT @IndexCensorship: Two women in Mumbai have been arrested for a Facebook post, why are #India's politicians afraid of social media? http://t.co/tx4mwwu5
@DarshanSays: In #India better stop using facebook and twitter.. don't know when you will be jailed.
@dotcompals: Attention Mumbai Police : I endorse Shaheen Dhada's Facebook comments . Please arrest me !
@mesushovan: Henceforth I'll only tweet …………………………. and …………………….. to avoid an arrest. Following the IT act of #India
Mr. Katju, a former judge in India’s Supreme Court, wrote an open letter to the Chief Minister of Maharastra in his blog:
To my mind it is absurd to say that protesting against a bandh hurts religious sentiments. Under Article 19(1)(a) of our Constitution freedom of speech is a guaranteed fundamental right . We are living in a democracy, not a fascist dictatorship.


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Renaming Villages, Streets in Tajikistan · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

This is just another attempt to rewrite history and build a myth that since the ancient period, the territory of contemporary Tajikistan has been settled by ethnic Tajiks and there were no other ethnic groups here.
Blogger Harsavor shares [ru] his thoughts on why the authorities in Tajikistan have been so eager to rename villages and streets.

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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“The Needle” Threads Another Story of Puerto Rican Trans Community · Global Voices
Luis Trelles

Most nights, the sidewalks on the main avenues of San Juan’s donwtown sector of Santurce feature members from Puerto Rico’s trans community working the street corners. Dressed up in larger than life wigs and high heels, some of their stories have been told in local novels, films and photo series that have followed them as they patrol the night.  “The Needle”, a new documentary directed by local filmmaker Carmen Oquendo-Villar, focuses less on the cruising that goes on in the streets; opting instead for a behind the scenes look at the underground beauty business on which these street workers rely.
Oquendo-Villar and her co-director José Correa Vigier train their camera on José Quiñones, who runs a
Cosmetics expert José Quiñones is the main subject of the documentary “The Needle”. Used with permission.
cramped cosmetic clinic out of his Santurce residence.  Armed with his hypodermic needles full of collagen and hormones he becomes the gatekeeper to the ideal of femenine beauty that his transgendered and transsexual clientele aspires to.
“I met him while I was working in Puerto Rico,” says Oquendo-Villar, who divides her time between the island and New York City.  “I was making a series of video portraits of people in the trans community, and then my co-director led me to him.”
Quiñones is more than just the man with the needle.  His clinic turns into a gathering place where clients congregate before heading to the streets, exchanging make-up tips, gossiping, or simply enjoying a laugh.
“He’s like a spirtiual advisor,” says Oquendo-Villar, who spent a month taping him before spending the next three years editing the vast amount of material she had generated.  “When you go to his place he sits down and talks to you. His clients go there and he helps them with their troubles.”
http://vimeo.com/48602201
Puerto Rico Queer Film Festival
The 40 minute film just had the first of it’s back to back premieres in New York this past Thursday (November 15) in DOC NYC, a non fiction film festival that plays in Manhattan’s IFC Center.  The documentary then went on to it’s second opening on Sunday in the Puerto Rico Queer Film Festival, which focuses on international films with LGBTT themes and issues.
“We wanted to have our Puerto Rico opening in the Queer Film Fest because of the story,” says Oquendo-Villar.  “We wanted a space where Quiñones would feel secure, where there would be a receptive audience,” she adds of her film, which touches on a marginalized community in the island.
The Puerto Rico Queer Film Fest, which continues on through November 21, is on it’s fourth year.  The Festival’s creators -Víctor González, Rebeca Fraticelli and Jaime Santiago- have programmed over 15 movies from over ten countries for the current  edition.  Local filmmakers are also in the BoriQueer sidebar, which is dedicated to Puerto Rican shorts.
The Festival has become a meeting place for the LGBTT community and cinephiles of all stripes in Puerto Rico, fostering debate and an ongoing dialogue about issues raised by the films it presents.  “The Needle”, with it’s powerful subject matter and local cast of characters provides an important new perspective on that conversation.
*You can read a more extensive review of the film I wrote in Spanish here.

author: Luis Trelles


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Thousands March Against Repression in Costa Rica · Global Voices
Jenny Cascante Gonzalez

This past Thursday, November 15, 2012, thousands of citizens participated in a march [es] organized in response to the confrontations which occurred during the November 8 demonstration [es].
In addition to renewing their protest in defense of the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social (the Costa Rican Social Security Organization), the protesters added other causes to the event, including the non-criminalization of social protest, rejection of political repression, and their objection to the Cybercrime Law (a recent legal reform that opponents contest has severely restricted online freedom and freedom of speech within the country).
At 9 a.m., a group of protesters left from the University of Costa Rica in San Pedro and another group departed from the Parque La Merced in San José. The groups met in front of the Costa Rican Social Security building, where they submitted a document with petitions for the organization's leaders.
Protest November 15, 2012. Photo: Guillermo Barquero, used with permission.
In the days before the march, various people expressed their opinion about the diverse motivations that arise from participation in public demonstrations, with the goal of promoting cohesion and solidarity with the movement. This was the case with Cristian Cambronero, who wrote on his blog Fusil de Chispas [es]:
Asumir que quien critica, o quien manifiesta inconformidades, es –así tal cual- un vago, es llanamente una tontería.  Irónicamente aquellos, los buenos, los que en lugar de criticar, bretean [Costarriqueñismo para “trabajan”], y en lugar de manifestarse, bretean, también disfrutan día con día de las garantías sociales, de la institucionalidad, de los servicios, y de los derechos de los que gozamos todos los costarricenses, muchos de ellos conquistados a partir de intensas luchas sociales y de profundos movimientos de cambio que un día nacieron en la forma de una idea disidente, o de una crítica fundada al status quo.
To assume that anyone who criticizes, or demonstrates disapproval, is – just like that – lazy, is simply ridiculous. Ironically, those, the good ones, those who instead of criticizing, work, and instead of protesting, work, also enjoy on a daily basis the social guarantees of the institutions, of the services and of the rights that all we Costa Ricans enjoy, many of them won through intense social battles and profound movements of change that were born one day in the form of a dissenting idea, or from a criticism founded against the status quo.
There was also a call for sanity, for order and above all for peace in order to avoid violent situations that could put the safety of the persons involved at risk. Francisco Guerrero published a relevant post on his blog [TXOMA] [es] :
Costa Rica no puede seguir enfrentándose así en las calles. Hoy estamos más unidos que la semana pasada pero aún necesitamos unirnos más. Ese juego se gana en los medios. La marcha del jueves debería ser solo un primer paso de una Costa Rica unida. Demostremos que, como ciudadanos nos manifestamos pacíficamente, demostrémosle al país por qué estamos marchando.
Costa Rica cannot continue confronting itself this way in the streets. Today we are more united than last week but we still must unite more. This game will be won through the media. Thursday's march must be only the first step of a united Costa Rica. We will show that, as citizens, we protest peacefully, showing the country why we are marching.
Protest November 15, 2012. Photo: Simón Avilés, used with permission.
On Twitter, various impressions of the event spread quickly.
Some, like Jota Pe Zeta (@barvak) [es], doubted the honesty of the demonstrators and did not support the march:
@barvak: El “efecto” de las marchas son como los gritos de los niños. Ningún niño hace berrinche en la casa, siempre lo hace en público
@barvak: The “effect” of the marches is like children crying. No child has a tantrum at home, they always do it in public
Andrés Obando (@Ando3119) [es] wrote:
@Ando3119: Luchar por Costa Rica no solo se logra yendo a una marcha!! #OJOALDATO
@Ando3119: One doesn't only fight for Costa Rica by having a march! #OJOALDATO (hashtag translates as “Look at the facts”)
Nor was there a lack of jokes. For example, Javier Rodríguez (@Rolly__) [es], tweeted:
@Rolly__: Soy un despichin [rebelde]…fumo mecha [marihuana]..soy chancletudo [hippie]..voy a las marchas..tengo camisa del Che..y me gusta el “arte” soy totalmente IN
@Rolly__: I'm a rebel… I smoke marijuana..I'm a hippie..I go to marches..I have a Che t-shirt..and I like “art” I'm totally IN
A few also wrote concerned tweets, like this one from @moboza [es]:
@moboza: Ojalá no se metan maleantes que no tengan nada que ver en la #MarchaCR seria una lástima volver a presenciar los mismos disturbios de antes
@moboza: I hope troublemakers don't get involved at all in the #MarchaCR it would be a shame to witnessing the same disturbances as before
According to observers and participants, there were no violent incidents during the march and the event had a festive and dynamic feeling. Some attendees took advantage of the opportunity to report with photos and Twitter commentary.
Raquel Mora (@Raql06) [es] tweeted:
@Raql06: Hoy se demostró que no hay mordaza que atrofie cerebros!! El pueblo se hizo sentir!!!#marchacr #leymordaza
@Raql06: Today we showed that there is no gag that weakens brains!! We made them feel the people!!!#marchacr #leymordaza (“gag law”)
Roberto Sánchez (@BrokenIllusion1) [es] shared a photo:
“‘Las cosas, no se cambian desde tu sillón’ – En la CCSS #1CR #MarchaCR.” (“Things don't change from your chair – At the CCSS #1CR #MarchaCR”) Photo shared on Twitter by @BrokenIllusion1
Alicia Coto Guzmán (@piladetrastos) [es] took a photo of two female police officers who received flowers from a demonstrator:
“Hace un rato en Los Yoses, una chica le dio flores blancas a las policías #1CR” (“A little while ago in Los Yoses, a girl gave white flowers to the police #1CR”) Photo shared on Twitter by @piladetrastos
President Laura Chinchilla (@Laura_Ch) [es] is in Spain and has been significantly criticized for her absence from the country during the protests. She tweeted this about the demonstration:
@Laura_Ch: Manifestantes desfilaron con orden y respeto, policía custodió como es su deber, autoridades de la CCSS escucharon. Así debe ser!! #marchacr
@Laura_Ch: Demonstrations happened with order and respect, police did their duty as guards, authorities of the CCSS [Costa Rican Social Security] listened. As it should be!! #marchacr
The march's organizers planned more demonstrations for Friday, November 16th, Saturday the 17th and Sunday the 18th in various parts of the country as part of what they have called the “National Day of Action.”
You can follow tweets on the march through the hashtags #1CR [es], #MarchaCR [es] and #ProtestaCR [es].

author: Jenny Cascante Gonzalez


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Turkmenistan’s Omnipresent Leader · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Imagine if every poster on the wall, every advertisement on the side of a bus, hanging in the center of every wall in an office, and even overlooking little children playing in kindergarten, was the face of one man.
In Turkmenistan, it is impossible to forget who the leader of the country is. As NewEurasia.net's Annasoltan shows through screen captures of Turkmenistani state TV, his posters are literally everywhere.


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Brazilian Court Suspends Eviction Order of Indigenous Guarani-Kaiowá · Global Voices
Emmanuelle Leroy Cerqueira

This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.
A letter released at the beginning of October 2012 by the indigenous community Guarani-Kaiowá Kue / Mbarakay, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), led to an enormous mobilization in Brazil and overseas. On the internet, many citizens followed the struggle waged by this community in the municipality of Iguatemi, under threat of eviction from their lands, and people signed various online petitions.
This mobilization was such a success that the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd region, in São Paulo, suspended the operation to expel the Guaraní-Kaiowá from their encampment, answering the request of the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI).
Maria do Rosário, National Secretary of Human Rights in the Presidency of the Republic, announced on October 30 on Twitter [pt]:
@_mariadorosario: Acabamos de receber decisão judicial que suspende reintegração de posse do território dos Guarani-Kaiowá. Recurso do Gov.Federal foi acatado!
@_mariadorosario: We have just received the judicial decision that suspends the eviction of the Guaraní-Kaiowá. The appeal of the Federal Gov. has complied!
Guarani Kaiowa children. Expedition to Pyelito Kue village, Mato Grosso do Sul, November 2012. Photo by Percurso da Cultura on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).
The 50 men, 50 women and 70 children of the tribe Guaraní-Kaiowá will be able to stay on the Cambará Ranch in Iguatemi-MS, where they have been confined to an area of 2 hectares (equivalent to two football fields). The decision should stand until the identification and demarcation of the final indigenous territory by FUNAI.
The solution is precarious, as relations with the owner continue to be tense and dangerous. On Wednesday October 24, an indigenous woman from Pyelito Keu was sexually assaulted [pt] by eight men on a ranch, according to allegations by indigenous people. The Ministry of Justice send a new contingent of national forces to maintain order in the region.
For Attorney General Marco Antonio Delfino de Almeida [pt] the mobilization on social networks was a success:
a mobilização das redes sociais foi definitiva para alcançar esse resultado. Provocou uma reação raramente vista por parte do governo quando se trata de direitos indígenas.
The mobilization by social networks was definitive to achieve this result. It provoked a reaction rarely seen by the Government on indigenous rights.
Meeting of Guaraní-Kaiowá teachers and leaders, November 2012. Photo by percursodacultura on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Guarani-Kaiowá leaders, denouncing the genocide perpetrated on the ethnic group, commemorated the announcements, but concluded that only the demarcation of land will cease the conflict between Indians and rural producers of the region. They sought to increase the solidarity network for the Guaraní-Kaiowá. The struggle is not only against eviction, but for the definitive demarcation of indigenous lands.
Ladio Veron, Guaraní-Kaiowá leader, explains the difficulties to site Carta Maior, in an interview [pt] published on October 28:
In the state of Mato Grosso do Sol, 43,000 Guaraní-Kaiowá demand the return of their original lands that they call “tekoha”. They want to leave the reservation and put up encampments, that are mostly legal. There are more than 30 Guaraní-Kaiowá encampments confined to roadsides or within ranches in areas that Indians have occupied. Add this to more than 20 areas that were taken back and regularized after strong pressure by the indigenous who lost a number of community leaders in the struggle. However, all of these areas are very limited.
Ypoi village. Photo by Percurso da Cultura on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
A technical note [pt, pdf] published by FUNAI in March 2012 concluded that the territory reclaimed by the indigenous in Pyelito Kue and Mbarakay has been occupied since ancestral times by the ethnic groups Guaraní and Kaiowá. Since 1915, when the first Indigenous Land was instituted, and principally from the 70s and 80s, the expulsion of indians in favor of land owners of agricultural lands has increased (principally to increase sugar cane and soy production), in addition to the confinement and regrouping of different ethnic groups, resulting in insecurity and social and cultural uprooting.
The site of the International Committee of Solidarity with the Guaraní and Kaiowá refers [pt] to the economic weight of sugarcane production in this region:
“A cana que hoje está sendo plantada lá e colhida como etanol já é misturada com sangue indígena Guarani Kaiowá”, disse o cacique. O peso do agronegócio na região teve uma guinada após acordo do ex-presidente brasileiro Lula com ex-presidente dos Estados Unidos George Bush sobre a produção de biocombustíveis.
“The sugarcane that today is being planted there and harvested as ethanol is already mixed with the blood of the indigenous Guaraní-Kaiowá,” said the chief. The weight of agrobusiness in the region took a turn after the agreement of ex-President Lula with the ex-President of the US George Bush on biofuels production.
An article by Larissa Ramina, International Law professor at the Federal University of Paraná and at UniBrasil, explained the forewarned tragedy on the site Carta Maior [pt]:
A situação dos Guarani-Kaiowá, segundo grupo mais numeroso do país, é considerada a mais grave. Confinados em reservas como a de Dourados, encontram-se em situação de catástrofe humanitária: além da desnutrição infantil e do alcoolismo, os índices de homicídio são maiores que em zonas em guerra, como o Iraque.
The situation of the Guaraní-Kaiowá, the second largest group of the country, is considered to be the most grave. Confined in reservations like those at Dourados, they find themselves in a situation of humanitarian catastrophe: beyond child malnourishment and alcoholism, homicide rates are greater than those in a war zone, like Iraq.
A diplomatic cable from 2009, leaked by Wikileaks, shows the disdain by authorities in Mato Grosso do Sul before the demands of the Guaraní-Kaiowá for the land planted by producers for decades.
The Federal Public Ministry [pt], institution intended to represent the interests of citizens and communities in criminal cases (the “fourth” branch of power in Brazil) said:
Afastar a discussão da ocupação tradicional da área em litígio equivale a perpetuar flagrante injustiça cometida contra os indígenas em três fases distintas e sucessivas no tempo. Uma quando se lhes usurpam as terras; outra quando o Estado não providencia, ou demora fazê-lo, ou faz de forma deficiente a revisão dos limites de sua área e quando o Estado-Juiz lhes impede de invocar e demonstrar seu direito ancestral sobre as terras, valendo-se justamente da inércia do próprio Estado.
Moving the discussion away from the traditional occupation of the area in litigation is tantamount to perpetuating the flagrant injustices committed against the indigenous in three distinct and successive phases over time. One when their lands are usurped; another when the State does not provide, or delays in providing, or carries out flawed reviews of the borders of their area and when the State-Judge prevents them from invoking or demonstrating their ancestral rights over the lands, taking advantage as such of the State's own inertia.
State deputy Pedro Kemp, leader of the Worker's Party (PT), affirmed [pt] in the Mato Grosso do Sul Legislative Assembly on October 31 that:
Desenvolvimento não é só produção de boi, milho e soja, mas também respeito ao povo, direito a cidadania. O desenvolvimento deve ser econômico e social, com diretos a todos.
Development is not just the production of cattle, corn and soy, but also respect for the people, rights and citizenship. Development should be economic and social, with rights for all.
Ypoi village. Photo by Percurso da Cultura on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The indians sent thanks through a Facebook group [fr] created in solidarity in French:
Nós, Guarani Kaiowá e os sobreviventes que realmente querem sobreviver, desejamos com esta mensagem simples expressar publicamente nossa imensa gratidão a todas e todos que acrescentaram Guarani-Kaiowá a seus nomes. Como todos sabem, os Guarani e Kaiowá, sozinhos, podem ser exterminados, mas estamos confiantes de que, com a real solidariedade humana e o apoio de todos vocês, podemos ser salvos de várias formas de violência contra nossas vidas e, especialmente, evitar a extinção do nosso povo. Graças a esse seu gesto de amor pela nossa vida, sentimos um pouco de paz e esperança em uma verdadeira justiça. Entendemos que há cidadãs e cidadãos movidos por um genuíno amor ao próximo, que têm sede de justiça e exigem esta justiça. Não temos palavras para agradecer a todos. Só dizemos JAVY'A PORÃ, a paz esteja em seus corações. Muito obrigados.
We, Guaraní-Kaiowá and the survivors that really want to survive, wish with this simple message to publicly express our immense gratitude to all those who added Guaraní-Kaiowá to their names [on Facebook]. As you know, the Guaraní and the Kaiowá, alone, can be exterminated, but we are confident that, with the real human solidarity and support of you all, we can be saved from various kinds of violence against our lives and, especially, avoid the extinction of our people. Thanks to this gesture of love for our lives, we feel a little more peace and hope for real justice. We understand that there are citizens moved by genuine love for their neighbor, that thirst for justice and demand this justice. We do not have words to thank all. We will just say JAVY'A PORÃ, peace be in your hearts. Thank you very much.
This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.

author: Emmanuelle Leroy Cerqueira


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Canadian Awaits Death Penalty in Iran Since 2008 · Global Voices
Yusur Al-Bahrani

While visiting his mother in Iran in May 2008, Canadian citizen Hamid Ghassemi disappeared. Later it was discovered that Hamid and his brother, Alborz Ghassemi, had both been arrested. They were charged with espionage, allegedly due to an email exchange, and were sentenced to death. Alborz died in custody under suspicious circumstances. Hamid remains in prison under the threat of execution with no legal defense. Antonella Mega, Hamid’s wife in Toronto, has been campaigning for his return.
The online campaign to free Hamid is at Freehamid.org. Antonella has a moving blog there, but the most current online activity is on a Facebook page called Hamid Ghassemi-Shall Traveling Scrapbook. On October 12, Hamid's supporters in Canada posted happy birthday messages. In September, Canada cut all diplomatic ties with Iran, dashing hopes that the Canadian government could intervene.
Hamid's neighbours in Toronto have also made an online video to help draw attention to his cause
Please Watch from Visuav on Vimeo.
A student named Hailey Benedict created this video to support him.
On November 30, over 1,200 cities around the world participating in “Cities for Life” will be taking a stand against the death penalty. Activists of Amnesty International in Toronto have chosen to mark the occasion by inviting Antonella Mega to speak at their event on the day.

author: Yusur Al-Bahrani


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Chinese Consumers Break Online Sales Record on Bachelors’ Day  · Global Voices
Sophia

November 11 is Bachelor's Day in mainland China. How do people celebrate this special day? Apparently by spending money online – this year in a record breaking manner.
On November 11, 2012, China's top electronic commerce company Taobao reported sales of 19.1 billion yuan (3.06 billion US dollars) in its 24-hour Double Eleven online shopping festival [zh], which is more than twice of America's entire Cyber Monday sales of USD 1.25 billion in 2011.
Bachelors’ Day Sales
Taobao fan ‘Poet with tears’ (诗人泪xp) shared [zh] his Bachelor's Day's schedule on the Sina Weibo forum:
零点－两点之间淘宝，两点－十点之间睡觉，十点－十二点起床洗漱＋吃饭，十二点－两点睡觉，两点－四点打游戏，四点－六点调戏光棍，六点－零点狂欢…. //@镇江校园：你们大学的女生光棍节都忙着干啥呢？织围脖？还是淘宝？还是淘宝？还是淘宝呢？
诗人泪xp：00:00 – 2:00 am shopped at Taobao. 2:00 – 10:00 slept. 10:00 to 12:00 got up, washed face and brush teeth. 12:00 to 14:00 slept again. 14:00 to 16:00 video games. 16:00 to 18:00 joked around with bachelors. 18:00 to 00:00 reveling… //@镇江校园: What do you college girls do on Bachelor's Day? Weibo? Taobao, Taobao, and Taobao?
Taobao's Double Eleven Sales started last year and consumers now know that the company will release big discount items at midnight, that's why users like Poet with tears will get up at midnight to shop. But college girls, who are mostly super Taobao fans, usually shop at Taobao all day long. That's why Poet with tears’ question is amusing.
Screen capture of a frozen screen in Taobao Tmall at around midnight.
Poet with tears could be one of 10 million people who rushed into Tmall [zh], the retail arm of Taobao, in the first minute of the event. In only half an hour, sales had hit USD 100 million.
The unexpected amount of transactions overloaded the payment system and people found their screens froze. They then got very anxious when they had to keep refreshing the frozen screens, as discussed in a thread [zh] from a Xiaoshan local forum:
90后辣妈：关键时间掉链子就有点让你苦逼了。
荣二十佑三：页面都刷不出，十分钟就两亿五千万的成交额，真不是一般的强。
哭泣的依恋：偶再也不相信什么双11活动了“`
@90后辣妈: The crashing is really annoying at this moment.
@荣二十佑三: I can not even get to my page. 250 million yuan (USD 40 million) in ten minutes, that's awesome.
@哭泣的依恋: I don't believe in Double Eleven anymore…
Not only consumers are affected, sellers were under network traffic pressure, too. One seller, Mo Zi Kun (墨子坤), said [zh] on Sina Weibo:
…从昨晚凌晨的秒杀开始，就状况频发，先是支付宝堵塞，后是淘宝系统崩溃，然后准备的450件的秒杀，最后被拍了600件衣服！我以为只要大家高兴就好，没想到却被很多朋友骂的很惨，还去淘宝投诉了我们2次。
…things started to get wrong since the midnight seckilling [see below] event. Alipay [zh] [Chinese version of Paypal] was jammed then Taobao crashed. The 450 advertised seckilling items received 600 orders! I just wanted to make people happy but was harshly critized. They reported two complaints to Taobao
As a result of the payment system's downtime, Mo Zi Kun did not have enough stock to satisfy customers’ need and had to refund their payment. If he received too many complaints, he would lose his trust credit and it may result in the suspension of his seller account by the online platform.
Online retail tactics
Seckilling is a term from video games, while in the online shopping world it vividly describes fighting among buyers: you win or lose all in a matter of seconds. One click and the deals are gone. Sellers advertise seckilling to attract page views and visits.
For example one Taobao seller came up with the idea of asking her 72-year-old grandfather to model ladies’ dresses in her store. It quickly became a hit. Some found it hilarious, some a little weird.
Sina blogger Yunke Jia (贾运可) believed [zh] the recording breaking sales in the Bachelor's Day is related to the “Diaosi culture”, a culture similar to the Japanese’ “Otaku“:
我们可以将之称为“中国式嘻哈”，或者将这位老人的行为视为时下正火的“屌丝文化”的一个具体个例。笔者不知道这种文化会盛行多久，因为整体上“屌丝”这个词的内涵还处于一个不断丰富扩大的过程当中…..主流式样刻板固化的宣传模式也越来越为大众所反感。笔者以为，正是在这种情形之下，“屌丝文化”才能在如此短的时间之内风靡神州大陆
Probably we can call it “Chinese hip hop”, or an example of the popular “Diaosi culture” [zh] right now. I am not sure how long the culture will last. Because basically the term “Diaosi” is still developing….. People are more and more tired of the mainstream propaganda. I think it is in this situation that the “Diaosi culture” is sweeping the country.
Diaosi are a group of people who deprecate themselves as “poor, incompetent and ugly” in comparison to the “tall, rich and handsome”. They believe that they will remain singles and the Bachelor's Day is their festival. There is a strong sense of self-irony in the identification, in particular under the context of China, the young rich is usually inherited from their family and hence being a “Daosi” can be cool and honorable. That's why Jia believes that Diaosi culture and Bachelor's Day are different sides of the same coin and that Chinese merchants have been smart enough to convert their frustration with the reality into business success.

author: Sophia


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Global Support for Jailed Vietnamese Bloggers · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The case of Nguyen Hoang Vi, a Vietnamese blogger who was imprisoned for writing critical commentaries about the government, is among the issues raised by human rights groups as the world celebrates International Day to End Impunity on 23 November.
Nguyen Hoang Vi, a Vietnamese blogger who was imprisoned for writing critical commentaries about the government

author: Mong Palatino


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Hardinge Bridge Over A Dried-up River Bed · Global Voices
Rezwan

View of Hardinge Bridge. Image courtesy Lonely Traveler blog.
Lonely Traveler posts photos of the century old 1.8 kilometer long Hardinge bridge over the Padma river in Pabna, Bangladesh. The upper-riparian country India erected barrage on the Ganges river at Farakka in Murshidabad to withdraw all the water in dry season, which results in the almost dried-up river bed at the Hardinge bridge.


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Iran’s Power Shakedown Before the Presidential Election · Global Voices
Hooman Askary

This post is part of our International Relations & Security coverage.
Head of the Judiciary Sadegh Larijani and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Via Baztab.net (used with permission)
On October 22, 2012 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrote an unprecedented open letter to Iran's judiciary accusing them of unconstitutional conduct for barring him from visiting the infamous Evin Prison in Tehran where his media adviser Ali Akbar Javanfekr  is currently jailed.
In the letter, Ahamdinejad sugguests that there was a “top secret” communique dispatched by the head of the judiciary, Sadegh Larijani that said the president's request to visit Evin was not in the best interests of the country. Ahmadinejad claims he wishes to investigate the conditions of prisoners.
This climate of intense factional conflict has sparked a number of debates with Iran’s Netizens and civil society.Several opposition sites and journalists, for example, consider that Ahmadienjad’s letter has nothing to do with justice or human rights, but is a sign of his weakened position ahead of the next presidential elections in 2013.
Iran Green Voice argues [fa] that it is merely a conflict between different factions of the regime before the election. Ahmadinejad's former allies have now become his enemies, and are increasing the pressure on him.
Nooshabe Amiri, a Europe-based journalist, says on Roozonline [fa] that it is “a war between wolves” and that Ahmadinejad himself is a symbol of the violated rights of Iranians.
Azarak thinks Ahmadienajd is a lame duck president [fa] who his grasping for sympathy and support in his final months of presidency while his rivals within the regime, such as Larijani, refuse to give him a break. The blogger outlines the following analysis about what his happening:
1- The authorities do not want to give him any opportunity in the final months of his presidency to use sensitive issues, such as the treatment of political prisoners, to ingratiate himself with the people.
2- The situation in the prisons are so bad that even the regime’s president should not know them and use them as a winning card against his opponents.
3- Ahmadinejad wants to show to his supporters that their fate is important to him, but that the judiciary does not want to give him this opportunity.
4- It is a game where the regime tries to create a sense of internal opposition, to give people the choice between bad and worse in the future. The regime’s intelligence services and think tanks are working on such a scenario.
Arman writes [fa]:
Ahmadinejad’s letter to Larijani, the head of the judiciary, is a declaration of war against the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. The head of the judiciary does not drink a glass of water without first seeking the permission of Ayatollah Khamenei, he is really submissive to Khamenei’s will.
Without a doubt, the reason Larijani’s letter to Ahamdinjead was dispatched as “a top secret communiqué” was to let Ahmadinejad know Khamenei’s opinion.
But Ahmadinejad did not take this into consideration and criticized the letter with harsh words.
In a cartoon published on Mardomak and in Iranian social media, Mana Neyestani, shows Ahmadinejad hiding in a bush calling his press adviser, saying “Hey Javanfekr, are you alright? It's me, Mahmoud.”
Cartoon by Mana Neyestani on Mardomak (used with permission)
Moeni, a blogger based in Iran who makes frequent use of metaphors when discussing politics, says [fa] Ahmadnejad’s letter is strange and bad… “even if we do not question Ahmadinejad's honesty, who only now thought about visiting the prison a few months before the end of his term, such a letter is only for “excitement” and overshadows the “horizon” [the overall political situation].”
This post and its translations to Spanish, Arabic and French were commissioned by the International Security Network (ISN) as part of a partnership to seek out citizen voices on international relations and security issues worldwide. This post was first published on the ISN blog, see similar stories here.

author: Hooman Askary


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Is a Hamas/Israel Ceasefire on the Table?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

News is spreading like wildfire online that a Gaza ceasefire will be signed between Hamas and Israel in Cairo tonight [Nov 20, 2012], following a week of violence.
From Gaza, Ismaeil Mohaisen reports:
@IsmaeilFadel: BREAKING: Hamas and Islamic jihad leaders will hold a press conference tonight in Cairo to announce a ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt.
Nigâr Hacızade adds:
@nhacizade:  Israeli Channel 10 and Al Jazeera Arabic both report a ceasefire (starting midnight, tonight) is to be announced soon #Gaza
And BBC Gaza and West Bank Correspondent Jon Donnison tweets:
@JonDonnison: Ayman Taha Hamas spokesman in Cairo tells BBC there will be a ceasefire coming into effect tonight.
Meanwhile, on Twitter reports continue of more shelling.
In the last half hour, Abigail Hauslohner, Washington Post Cairo Bureau Chief who is currently in Gaza, tweeted:
@ahauslohner: Here we go. 4 strikes in the north in past few minutes. #Gaza
Sabiha Mahmoud wryly notes:
@SabihaMahmoud: Apparently a ceasfire will be called tonight at 9pm…in the meantime Israel is given free reign to complete it's genocide #Gaza #Heal_Gaza
Andy Carvin offers an explanation:
@acarvin: One of the hard truths about cease-fires: the violence often escalates right before implementation to solidify position on the ground. #gaza
And Max Blumenthal asks:
@MaxBlumenthal: Will the journos parachuting into Gaza stick around after ceasefire to inform audiences about life under Israeli siege? CC: @andersoncooper

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Philippines: How “I’m a Liar?” Became #amalayer Hashtag · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

“So you're telling me I'm a liar? I'm a liar? I'm a liar? Answer me!
College student Paula Jamie Salvosa berated a lady guard at a Manila train station and accused the latter of being rude during a security inspection. Unknown to her, Gregory Paulo Llamoso took a video of her outburst and uploaded it on the internet.
Filipino netizens who saw the video accused the student of being arrogant and disrespectful. They used the hashtag #amalayer in reference to the student’s pronunciation of ‘I'm a liar’. The hashtag trended in the Philippines and worldwide.
The issue generated an intense discussion about privacy, ethics, and bullying in the social media. On Facebook, Miles Aguilar laments the strong public reaction about the incident without hearing the side of the student:
Its saddening how people react to such issues… without having any skepticism on what really happened, it could be possible that the lady guard shouted at her aggravatingly and she reacted just like most of us.
Mel Sta Maria thinks the Facebook user who posted the video committed a mistake:
A wrong cannot be corrected by another wrong. The one who posted the video may claim some “justifiable” motive for his actions, but the sincerity, truthfulness and repercussions of his deed must more importantly be judged by the most elementary tenets of decency, prudence, fairness and respect for the rights of others.
Posting the video was hugely unfair to the girl. And this unfairness could cause and probably might have caused her already enormous anguish and a degree of shame beyond the acceptable.
Joseph Solis Alcayde asks the people to remember the lessons of the incident:
The lesson of that incident was that we need to keep our temper from exploding that could cause your destruction of reputation in front of many people especially if there is someone taking a video then uploading it on the internet and to the persons who want to take videos during incidents like what happened at the LRT Santolan station should be careful and conscious enough that he/she cannot destroys person’s reputation who may have a potential for redemption.
We behaved like the #amalayer girl at one point of our lives, according to living the life:
It may sound that I am defending Ms. Amalayer, but actually I am not because I agree that what she did was wrong,was kinda funny, but this post is to remind everyone (including myself) that “hey aren’t we like her in some point of our lives? Except that we weren’t caught in a video? It is easy to say that if we were Ms. AMALAYER we would not do the same thing, but hey my friend you’ll never know!”
roxyisferox appeals to security guards to be more considerate:
Back to the guards. They don’t need to be too humble or too polite, but they don’t need to go so far as grabbing your arm or your stuff, or raising their voices when they see something ‘anomalous’. They should be the mediator between the establishment and the people, not being the Nazi one.
The #amalayer student has supporters and critics on twitter:
@glennachristina The #Amalayer video simply teaches us that wherever we are, always act with class. Even if you think you're right, you never make a scene.
@PnoyBookOfLove Speaking English in public doesn't make you educated & being educated doesn't give you the right to be rude. #AMALAYER

@jedseverino My prayers go to the lady guard and to the student. May this cruel world learn to forgive. #AMALAYER
@tjdimacali Public outrage over #AMALAYER reflects our culture of smallness, a false sense of righteousness vs a scapegoat so easily caught and vilified
@evilkyumond Good in English but poor in humanity. #AMALAYER
Inday Varona reflects on the ‘battles’ we wage in the social media:
No matter how addictive social media can be, most people reflect their own personalities on the Web, whether they post their true names and faces or some exotic avatar. The anger that people feel are rooted in very real experiences. We can shout all we want for a gentle, cyber media world — but the final shaping of this space will depend on how we deal with each other on the ground.
There, in the trenches where people bleed and die, and hunger, and nurse obvious and unseen wounds — that is where our social battles will be resolved.


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Reflections After Argentina’s #8N Protests · Global Voices
Laura Schneider

Argentines have been analyzing the present and the future of the country after the massive anti-government protests held on November 8, 2012.
One common theme present in many reflections is the polarization of opinion and the division in society between those who favor the government and those who are against it. Sebastián Waisbrot in his blog Catdevmind [es] writes:
La división en Argentina es difícil de explicar. Puedo afirmar, sin duda alguna, que hay muchísimo más fanatismo político de lo que jamás vi en mi vida. También la sociedad está bastante dicotómica: gente a favor o en contra del gobierno actual, con pocas divisiones dentro de esos grupos, o por lo menos poca discusión.
Como ejemplo de este fanatismo, es la primera vez que entiendo por qué en la mesa no se discute de política. Grupos de amigos dividido, gente que se deja de ver, momentos incómodos. ¡Gente que se borra de Facebook!
Division in Argentina is difficult to explain. I can affirm, without a doubt, that there is much more political fanaticism than I've ever seen in my life. It is also quite a dichotomous society: people in favor or against the current government, with few divisions within these groups, or at least little discussion between them. As an example of this fanaticism, it is the first time that I understand why people don't discuss politics at the kitchen table. Groups of friends are divided, people have stopped seeing each other, awkward moments. People are even blocking friends on Facebook!
In his post “Divided”, Matias Gonzalo [es] deplores the hatred that exists in society:
El odio hacia el prójimo nos moviliza, y eso es lo que nos hace perder la humanidad. El desprecio simplemente divide más y más, y hoy no somos más que una población de necios, disfrazados de Nación. Ciegos y sordos consecuencia de un fanatismo insoportable, ya sea por el fanatismo de que todo está bien, como el fanatismo de que todo está mal.
Hatred directed at another person is what moves us, and that's what makes us lose humanity. Contempt simply divides us more and more, and today we are but a population of fools, a disguised Nation. Blind and deaf, an unbearable consequence of fanaticism, both the fanaticism of “all is well”, and the fanaticism of “everything is bad”.
Matias concludes:
Hoy somos extremos, somos gorilas [anti-peronistas], somos peronistas, somos K [a favor de Kirchner], somos anti-K, somos 8N, somos 7D [7 de diciembre, día en que arranca la nueva Ley de medios]. Somos todo, menos una sociedad.
Today we are extremes, we are gorilas [anti-Peronists] [es], we are peronistas [Peronists], we are K [in favor of Kirchner], we are anti-K, we are 8N, we are 7D [December 7, the day a new media law will come into effect]. We are everything, except a society.
8N Protest, Photo: Martin E Iglesias on Flickr, under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Citizens of other countries are also analyzing this confrontation and division, like Colombian blogger Jenny Manrique [es] in Americas Quarterly:
La polarización se exacerbó en estos dos años en modo y forma complejos, a tal punto que los interlocutores se han convertido en enemigos y los discursos están llenos de odio.
The polarization has exacerbated in these two years in a complex way, to such a point that both parts have become enemies and speeches are full of hate.
She also analyzes both sides of the political spectrum in the #8N [es] protests:
Algunos cargaban pancartas con términos desobligantes: “Fuera Cristina”, “Andate Yegüa”, “Abajo la dictadura de Argenzuela”. Términos que tienen una cargada connotación si se tiene en cuenta que este país vivió una de las dictaduras más cruentas en América Latina.
Y al otro lado el oficialismo que considera las demandas una expresión del “corporativismo mediático” que no se agrupa alrededor de una idea coherente y que no reconoce que tiene detrás una “mano negra política” como el macrismo (de Mauricio Macri, intendente de Buenos Aires, gran opositor de los Kirchner y cuyo modelo es de derecha.)
Some carried banners with disparaging terms: “Out Cristina”, “Go away bi…”, “Down with Argenzuela [a combination of Argentina and Venezuela] dictatorship”. Terms that have a loaded connotation if you consider that this country lived through one of the bloodiest dictatorships in Latin America.
And on the other side, the government considers these demands as an expression of “media corporatism”, which is not united around a coherent idea and which does not recognize that behind it there is a “black political hand” like macrism (from Mauricio Macri, Mayor of Buenos Aires and a big Kirchner opponent, and whose [political] model is from the Right.)
In the blog Cuadernos de la Ira [es], Chilean blogger Jorge Muzam writes:
Los bandos en conflicto son feroces para embestirse y desacreditarse. Por un lado, están los que apoyan al actual gobierno de Cristina Fernández, y por otro lado todo el resto, que son en esencia una variopinta barriada cultural de pensamiento derechista
The warring factions are fierce to discredit each other. On one side, there are those who favor the current government of Cristina Fernández, and on the other side there are all the rest, who are in essence a cultural motley of right-wing thinking
Kirchnerist groups accompanying President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner during Flag Day celebration. photo: Laura Schneider.
Twitter is also a network that Argentines use to share opinions. On November 9, after the 8N demonstrations, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (@CFKArgentina) [es] wrote:
@CFKArgentina: En esta semana han ocurrido dos hechos importantísimos: uno es la elección del Presidente de USA, primera potencia del mundo.
@CFKArgentina [es]: this week two important events took place: one is the reelection of the President of the USA, the leading power in the world.
And Ramiro Castañeda (@ramiroski_) [es] responded:
@ramiroski_:  @CFKArgentina hubo un hecho muy importante, el pueblo argentino demostró tener carácter y valentía para exigirle a sus ineptos gobernantes.
@ramiroski_: @CFKArgentina There was a very important event, the Argentine people have shown character and courage to demand [action from] their inept rulers.
Horacio Elsinger [es], in his post “Is everything the same after 8N?” [es], concludes:
El gobierno conserva toda su fortaleza, pero no debe dormirse en los laureles. La mejor manera de defender y consolidar el terreno ganado es seguir avanzando en la transformación del país.
The government retains all its strength, but it should not rest on its laurels. The best way to defend and consolidate the gains is to continue advancing in the transformation of the country.

author: Laura Schneider


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Social Pressure Halts Evictions Temporarily in Spain · Global Voices
Diana Moreno

This article is part of our special news coverage Europe in Crisis.
Associations and platforms that formed in protest against home evictions have succeeded in getting the Asociación Española de Banca (Spanish Banking Association) to bring evictions to a halt after years of trying. The moratorium was declared for two years, and it will specifically apply to families with small children, people with disabilities and the long term unemployed. On November 12, the group of banks that forms the association announced the suspension of evictions for the next two years “for humanitarian reasons” and in cases of “extreme necessity”.
Although the announcement was celebrated as a victory of citizen action, many criticisms and suspicions have arisen. Ada Colau, spokeswoman for the community organization Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH) [es] (Platform for those Affected by Mortgages), assured [es] that the measure will make it so that “people will compete to see who is sicker and who is more unfortunate.” On its webpage, the organization laments [es] that the new law decree is:
[…] una artimañana basada supuestamente en criterios económicos y de vulnerabilidad, con el único fin de contentar a la banca y excluir por segunda vez a la mayoría de gente que está sufriendo este drama […]
[…] a trick supposedly based on economic criteria and vulnerability, with the sole purpose of appeasing the bank and excluding yet again the majority of people who are suffering this drama […]
Currently there are over 500 evictions a day in Spain, and there have been 400,000 from the start of the crisis in 2008. To all of this absurdity we should add that two million homes are empty, and, also, that the bailouts of public money go to the same groups that handle the evictions as well as to citizens that cannot pay an increasing mortgage.  In such an unjust climate that has already led to great social discontent, camping out at bank headquarters, and even various suicides of people who were going to be evicted from their homes [es], the two largest parties PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) and PP (Popular Party), have come together to negotiate alternatives.
Some of those affected by the evictions camping out in the Plaza de Celenque.  Photo by Diana Moreno.
Action, Protest and Camping Out
However, as some point out, it is evident that political groups did not do this on their own. Rather, it has been the result of great social pressure. Since 2009, associations like stopdesahucios [es] (stopevictions), the 15M or the Platform for those Affected by Mortgages [es], have been stopping evictions and proposing three points to make the “right to adequate housing” effective: the suspension of evictions (with demonstrations of activism and resistance), social rent, and “dación en pago” (which “allows a borrower to legally hand back the keys and in exchange a lender fully discharges the borrower of the debt”). This last measure would be an alternative to the situation of many families who continue to pay for the housing they have been evicted from.
Furthermore, other initiatives such as the massive collection of signatures for reform of the mortgage law in the form of ILP (Popular Legislative Initiative) [es] or the recent camp-out of those affected in the Plaza de Celenque in Madrid have convened people, not simply those who are affected, to throw themselves into an issue that was previously unknown or considered a minor drama. On the other side, parliamentary leftists groups in Congress have presented many proposals against the evictions, in this legislature as well as the previous one, which have all been rejected [es] by PP and PSOE.
Poster for Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (Platform for those Affected by Mortgages).
Banks and Parties, Looked at with Suspicion
Both the announcement of the Spanish Banking Association as well as the recent awareness of politicians can be seen as a success of citizen pressure, as can other good news, like the fact that there are police offers who refuse to take part in the evictions [es]. But the reality is that few are confident about the intentions of the Goverment: PAH does not see the logic in having decisions about the matter made by people who hindered its solution for so long. In a press release, PAH expressed their distrust for two reasons: first, that it was PP and PSOE that provoked the situation (“mercantilizando la vivienda, sobreendeudando a la población, permitiendo que la Banca estafe a la población”) (commercializing housing, putting the people into massive debt, permitting the Bank to swindle people) and, secondly, they did nothing once the drama began, and have prevented the adoption and success of measure to resolve this problem. A person affected by the evictions says:
Nos hubiera gustado que hubiera intervenido un compañero de la plataforma, el defensor del pueblo o alguien de los juzgados en la reunión del PSOE y el PP, para que fuera imparcial.
A supporter of the platform, a public defender or anyone from the courts would have liked us to intervene at the meeting between PSOE and PP, so it could have been fair.
The affected person added that the solution is not a moratorium but rather a law that contains the three points that PAH has emphasized. Another spokesperson showed their distrust  in the executive:
El Gobierno quiere hacer un lavado de imagen junto al PSOE. Queremos que se negocie la solución. Que cambien la ley como pide el pueblo. Hay que despertar conciencias, que el pueblo no se crea esta ley de paso.
The Government wants to whitewash their image as well as PSOE's. We want them to negotiate a solution. To change the law like the people are asking. We need to awaken consciences, that the people did not make this law pass.
Hugo Martínez Abarca, in his column [es], gave his opinion about the real reason for the meeting:
(…)Para los bancos es muy mal negocio asociar su marca concreta con la violación de derechos de los más débiles.
Los desahucios han comenzado a ser un drama también para los bancos, y ahí es donde entran PP y PSOE negando la palabra a los desahuciados y escenificando una honda preocupación por el problema.
(…)For the banks its bad business to associate their particular brand with the violation of rights of the most weak.
The evictions have became a drama for the banks as well, and that's where PP and PSOE enter denying those who have been evicted the floor and staging a deep concern for the issue.
Many opinions concerning the issue have emerged on Twitter as well:
@albertopradilla: Gobierno y PSOE no se “han puesto de acuerdo” para evitar los desahucios. Siempre lo han estado, antes permitiéndolos y ahora disfrazándolos
@albertopradilla: The Government and PSOE have not “come to an agreement” to avoid evictions.  They always have been, before they were allowing them and now they are disguising them.
This article is part of our special news coverage Europe in Crisis.

author: Diana Moreno


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Two Tunisian Graffiti Artists to Face Trial  · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

On 3 November 2012, police caught graffiti artists, Oussama Bouagila and Chahine Berriche drawing graffiti in Gabes, in the South East of Tunisia. Bouagila and Berriche are members of Zwewla [ar] [ “the poor” in Tunisian dialect], a street art community famous for its graffiti in support of the poor and marginalized groups in Tunisia.
Bouagila and Berriche face charges of “writing, without permission, on public property”, “breaching the state of emergency” and “publishing fake news that could disturb public order”. The two young graffiti artists have remained free pending their trial, scheduled on December 5.
Another graffiti by Zwewla in Sousse, central East Tunisia: “The employed and the unemployed are against injustice and exploitation”
Oussama Bouajila told Nawaat.org that when police caught him and Berriche, they were inscribing a graffiti that says “the people want the poor's rights.”
Slateafrique's Tawa fi Tunis blog quoted [fr] Bouajila saying:
Nous avons fait ce mouvement de graffiti parce que personne ne parle de nous, de nos problèmes de chômage, de pauvreté et de marginalisation. Nous avons donc décidé de parler par nous-mêmes. Pourquoi le graffiti? Parce que le graffiti est plus accessible au tunisien qui n’a pas Facebook par exemple.
We created this graffiti movement because no one speaks about us and the problems of unemployment, poverty and marginalization that we face. So, we have decided to speak for ourselves. Why graffiti? Graffiti is more accessible for the Tunisian [citizen] who does not have access to Facebook, for instance.
“They buried the poor alive”, graffiti by Zwewla. Photo by Hamideddine Bouali
On the other hand, Berriche complained [fr] about Tunisian legislation which he “says does not guarantee freedom of expression”:
Le problème, ce n’est pas la police qui a essayé de nous arrêter ou qui nous a confisqué notre matériel. Le vrai problème, c’est la loi qui s’applique pour les uns et pas pour les autres. Et la loi en elle-même ne garantie par la liberté d’expression et continuer de réprimer avec les mêmes méthodes des anciens dictateurs, les activistes et militants
The problem here, is not the police which tried to arrest us or confiscate our equipment. The real problem is that law is applied to certain persons but not others. Besides, this law in itself does not guarantee freedom of expression, and still oppresses along with the old dictators’ methods, activists.

author: Afef Abrougui


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University of Cyprus Campaign – ‘Buy Cypriot Products’ · Global Voices
Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni

Using the slogan “Agorazo Kypriaka” [Buy Cypriot products], the University of Cyprus website hosts an announcement by Rector Constantinos Christofides himself. Amidst the general economic crisis, University of Cyprus supports initiatives against unemployment and actively contributes to the cause, initiating a promotion campaign to encourage people to buy local Cypriot products while shopping.

author: Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni


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2012 Census is Undergoing in Bolivia · Global Voices
Pablo Andrés Rivero

Bolivia holds today, November 21, the National Census of Population and Housing 2012. Citizens are restricted from leaving their homes until 23.59 hrs local time. Media, bloggers and netizens are commenting and reporting via Twitter using #Censo2012 and #CensoBo.


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Brazil: Northeastern audience moved by musical biopic · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

After much anticipation, Brazilian film “Gonzaga: De Pai Para Filho” about legendary musician Luiz Gonzaga has been moving audiences, and nowhere more than in the country's northeast where forró music is a part of life. Brazilian film blogger Chico Fireman shares his personal experience [pt] watching the film.

author: Janet Gunter


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Brazilian Guarani Community Denounces ‘Poisoned’ River · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Footage of ‘poisoned’ river by Aty Guasu on Youtube.
A video showing the contamination of the Ypo'i river, near the settlement of an indigenous Guarani community, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, has been circulating on the web. The Guarani, struggling for their land, “believe it was deliberate and ‘not an accident’”, Survival International reports.

author: Sara Moreira


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Bus Explodes in Central Tel Aviv Hours Before Ceasefire  · Global Voices
Gilad Lotan

Hours before a truce was declared between Israel and Hamas, a bus exploded in central Tel Aviv around noon today, injuring some 17 people. Hamas took responsibility for the blast, which many said would put a dent on talks of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, who have been clashing for a week.
The blast is different from those Israelis were so used to in the late 90's. There was no suicide bomber who got on a bus, but rather a medium sized explosive was placed next to the bus by someone, most likely in a passing car.
On Twitter, Gidi Kleiman says:
@Gidikleiman: #TelAvivBlast, reports of witnesses who saw a man leave bomb on the bus. According to emergency services all wounded taken to hospital.
Ahuvah Berger Burcat shares a photograph of the bombed bus, and notes:
@ahoova: a picture of the exploded bus … no graphic images RT @yoelisaak pic.twitter.com/YUIZWMM1
A photograph of the bombed bus shared on Twitter by @yoelisaak
Debbie Randle tweets from the scene of the bus bomb, where there's evidence that a man climbed onto the bus and threw a bomb on board:
@DebsR: At scene of bus bomb in #TelAviv #israel Witnesses say man climbed on bus and threw bomb on board lockerz.com/s/263124301
Joseph Dana reinforces what Israeli TV and Police are saying:
@ibnezra: Let me state this again: The target of this Tel Aviv bus bombing was Israeli civilians. There is no doubt.
Paul Danahar, BBC Middle East Bureau Chief is in Gaza, and describes the response in Gaza:
@pdanahar: celebratory gunfire going off in Gaza after bus reports of bus attack in Tel Aviv
He continues:
@pdanahar: Mosque loud speakers in #Gaza described Tel Aviv bus bomb as a ‘victory from God’ #Israel
While Howard Kirsh jumps to conclusions about the difference between Gazans and Israelis:
@HKirsh1: Israel avoids the death of Gaza civilians; Gazans celebrate the death of Israeli civilians. And that is the difference in cultures.
Others try to add perspective. Ayelet writes:
האנשים שצועקים כל שניה “לשטח את עזה” הם גם אלו שהכי מתפלאים וכועסים כשהחמאס מחלק סוכריות אחרי פיגועים. הסתכלתם לאחרונה במראה?
@a_Daydreamer:  The people (in Israel) who shout “flatten Gaza” every second are those that are the most angry when Hamas distributes candy after (successful) terror attacks. Have you looked in the mirror lately?
As more terrorists are suspected to be in Tel Aviv, Shira Abel tweets recommendations:
@shiraabel: Terrorist in TLV: look out for ppl in esp warm clothes on warm day. Look at ppls eyes. Avoid buses: 10, 25, 5, 66. Stay away from windows

author: Gilad Lotan


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Celebratory Gunfire marks Israel and Gaza Ceasefire · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A truce has been reached between Israel and Hamas, ending a week of fighting which cost the lives of at least 155 Palestinians and five Israelis.
The violence between Israel and Gaza flared after Israeli drones targeted and killed a Hamas military chief on November 14, marking the start of cross-border exchange of fire. Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel, which bombarded Gaza from land, air and sea.
According to the ceasefire, brokered by Egypt, Israel will stop all hostilities against Gaza, which will end “rocket attacks and all attacks along the border.” If this truce holds for the next 24 hours, Israel would have to start procedures to end the Gaza blockade by opening border crossings and allowing the movement of people and goods.
Online, anticipation has been building up for the declaration of a ceasefire.
Andy Carvin notes:
@acarvin: Apart from new year's, I don't think I've ever seen so many people tweet what time it is. #gaza #ceasefire
While Iyad El_Baghdadi remarks:
@iyad_elbaghdadi: 9:08 local time, explosions still being heard in #Gaza, sirens still being sounded in #Israel.
Soon, the sound of celebratory gunfire filled the air in Gaza.
Boys race through Gaza City celebrating the ceasefire. Photograph shared by @ChrisMcGreal on Twitter
On Audioboo, BBC Middle East Bureau Chief Paul Danahar, who is in Gaza, shares a sound track:
Nayef describes the scene:
@TheNElectric: Gaza streets are full of celebrations. Satisfaction, pride & glory are drawn all over Gazans faces
While Majed Abusalama notes:
@MajedAbusalama: We do not trust #Israel but we can enjoy this moment of #Peace. in #Gaza people are so strong, I really #love them. #resistance
Who won?
Egyptian Mostafa Hussein jokes:
@moftasa: Congratulations Bibi. You made Khamas stronger.
Shadi Hamid tweets:
@shadihamid: So Hamas got: greater regional legitimacy, spike in popularity, end of assassinations, easing flow of goods into Gaza & a weaker PA to boot.
He continues:
@shadihamid: In asymmetric battles such as this one, it's very hard for a group like Hamas to ever actually “lose,” as long as it survives.
Israeli Elizabeth Tsurkov says:
@Elizabeth: Bibi kept talking about weakening Hamas and removing them from power for years, and this agreement solidifies their rule
Lauren E. Bohn, who is in Jerusalem, adds:
@LaurenBohn: Talking to handful of #Israel analysts who all say #Hamas came out of this a winner: more international recognition + credibility #Gaza
And journalist Gregg Carlstrom tweets:
@glcarlstrom: My Twitter feed variously informs me that the real winners today are Israel, Hamas, Egypt, the US and Iran. (but everyone agrees Abbas lost)
Praise for Egypt
On Twitter, Palestinians heaped praise on Egypt, for its role in mediating a ceasefire.
Yaser Alzaatreh writes [ar]:
مصر رئيسا وحكومة وشعبا كانت معنا. وقفت دون تردد. صرخ الصهاينة ألما من وقفتها. عادت مصر إلينا وعدنا إليها، فهي قائدة العرب وعنوان عزتهم.
@YZaatreh: Egypt, its President and people, were with us. They did not hesitate in supporting us. Their stance hurt the Zionists. Egypt has returned to us and we have returned to it. Egypt is the leader of Arabs and the sign of their pride.
And, from Gaza, Ola Anan adds:
من كل قلبي .. شكرا مصر :)
@olanan: From the bottom of my heart, thank you Egypt!!
What next?
For many, the ceasefire is a welcome relief.
Karen Knox, from Tel Aviv, tweets:
@KarenAbroad: So thankful for #ceasefire tonight as I tuck my little girl into bed here in #TelAviv.
But many are left wondering how long the peace between Gaza and Israel will last for.
Palestinian Hasan Karajah says:
البعض سيذهبون لشرب نخب الانتصار بعد تعبهم في كتابة التغريدات و رجال المقاومة يكونوا في اجتماع الان لوضع خطة الضرب القادمة #المقاومة_مستمرة
@hasankarajah: Some will go to drink to victory after they got exhausted from writing tweets but the men of the resistance movement will be meeting now to draw up a plan for the next strike. The resistance continues.
And, from Israel, Tsurkov adds:
@Elizrael: In 20min the post on Bibi's official fb page on the cease-fire got 1,344 responses. Overwhelming majority is negative http://on.fb.me/TcsAc1


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China: Five Street Children Suffocated to Death in Dumpster · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Last week, on Friday November 16, five young children were found dead in a dumpster, due to carbon monoxide poisoning in Guizhou province. Anthony Tao from Beijing Cream reported on the sad story.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China’s Most Expensive Business School · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ministry of Tofu translated an info graphic showing the background of the students of the China's most expensive business school, the Cheung Kong Graduate Business School.


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D.R. of Congo: Artists Sing Against War  · Global Voices
Julie Owono

As war is resuming in the Eastern part of Congo, with the takeover of Goma by M23 rebels, several Congolese artists decided to unite and sing against the war. The video was posted on popular singer Koffi Olomide‘s Youtube page:
http://youtu.be/kQAgKodnGHU

author: Julie Owono