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Israel: Going Green with Gore · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Former Vice President Al Gore added his name to the list of political luminaries visiting Israel in recent months. Gore joined the Board of Governors celebrations at Tel Aviv University this week to accept the $1 million Dan David Prize for environmental activism.
Gore was chosen for the prize for his efforts as a “a tireless advocate for the environment throughout his career,” including:
Eloquently sound[ing] the alarm on the importance of the threat to the global ecosystem posed by the world's current and increasing reliance on carbon dioxide emitting fossil fuels as its primary energy source…
The 2008 Dan David Prize honors Al Gore in the field of Social Responsibility with Particular Emphasis on the Environment for his multiple contributions in raising the conscience of the world to the challenge posed to the continuing sustainable function of the global environment and life support system.
Among the David Prize's other 2008 recipients were:
Stephanie of Israelity, who attended the award celebration, reports on the attendees and other prize recipients:
[Israeli President] Shimon [Peres] spoke eloquently, as is his habit.
Al [Gore] looked good. He’s lost some weight. He announced that the ceremony coincided with his & Tipper’s 38th wedding anniversary. He’s donating his $1 mill to climate research.
Amos Oz didn’t wear a tie – he’s a kibbutznik, after all.
Tom Stoppard described the arts as a spiritual form come to life. He said the arts are a raison d’etre. (YEAH!)
[Israeli Ambassador to the US] Itamar Rabinovitch thanked Al Gore for progress in peace negotations made during the Clinton administration.
During the ceremony the AP [Associated Press] reporter seated beside me remarked “This is like the Oscars!”
Well sorta. Yeah. Okay.
While in Israel to accept the David Prize, Gore also headlined Tel Aviv University's Renewable Energy and Beyond Conference as a keynote speaker, where he called on Israel to be a leader in promoting renewable energy:
“The people of Israel stand in my moral imagination as guardians of the proposition that we as human beings are answerable to moral duties, that there are ethical laws that should guide our decisions and choices. At this moment in history, when, for the first time, all the people of this earth have to make a clear, seemingly difficult but simple moral judgment about our future, the people of Israel can lead the way to renewable energy.”
Jonathan Shapira of Cleantech Investing in Israel remarks on the changes that will come from the conference:
Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, Israel's Minister of National Infrastructures, announced his intention to commit Israel to construct an additional solar power station in the Negev every year for the next 20 years, and to construct a 300MW wind power station by 2011. Ben-Eliezer also revealed that in the coming weeks he will introduce a government resolution designating all of the Negev Desert and southern Israel as a national preference zone for renewable energy.
Tali Aben of Israel VC on Sand Hill Road was also in attendance when Gore gave his now famous Oscar-winning presentation. She reflects on how our energy consumption habits could effect the environment:
Al Gore’s presentation has so much data, delivering a truly powerful message. As in the TED presentation [see videos], he emphasized the importance of behavior change (get rid of the SUV, install energy efficient lighting, etc.), but more significantly, changing regulation.
What would happen if SUV’s were taxed 3X of what they are today, while hybrids tax reduced to 10% (like the proposed tax for Project Better Place’s battery-powered cars)?  What would happen if individuals and corporations had a carbon tax?  What would happen if installation of PV on my rooftop would be subsidized, with an attractive feed-in tariff already in place?  You don’t have to be a genius to figure it out.
Several Knesset [parliament] members were in attendance.  I wonder if they got the message…
Ms. Aben's question about the influence of celebrity speakers, like Mr. Gore, on big time politicos and issues of national consciousness, as the environment has become, is one that Jesse Fox contemplates as well.
Fox of Green Prophet challenges his own notions on the environmental movement and how Israeli perceptions of environmental issues have taken a more prominent role in recent years:
Does Al Gore really need more money or recognition, especially when there are so many committed, homegrown environmentalists in Israel, many of whom are so under-appreciated? Wasn’t his movie just a glorified Power Point, containing no significant new insights? And even if Gore is a relentless activist today, where was his sense of commitment when he was working from the White House?
However, after pondering it over a little, it became clear to me just what an enormous impact Al Gore has had on environmental awareness in Israel…
What brought about this radical change in perception? Was it the dedicated work of the green movement in Israel, which (though often underfunded and overstressed) has invested so much in raising awareness over the past decade? Was it the familiar effect of American cultural trends seeping into Israeli culture, with the usual delayed timing? Or perhaps Israelis had noticed the strange weather patterns over the past few years, with the winter cold setting in well after Hanukkah and the rains seeming to fall less than they used to?
The answer is probably all of the above. However, for many people, the tipping point apparently came after watching “An Inconvenient Truth.” The film was screened extensively in Israel, exposing audiences in various sectors of the population to the message that climate change is real and happening now. For this alone, Al Gore deserves the award.
The lesson for the Israeli green movement is clear – inviting big-name celebrities like Al Gore to Israel to speak about the environment is an incredibly effective strategy for raising environmental awareness in Israel.
With recent Israel visits by former US President Jimmy Carter, President George Bush, and presidential candidate Senator John McCain, Mr. Fox's question about the impact of international figureheads on national thought is an important one. Would they be here in the Middle East taking a stand if they didn't think their presence would have an impact?
If key global figures can significantly influence our thinking, who would you like to hear speak? Whose ideas are most important to your nation and its consciousness? What are the most important issues affecting your culture, country, and region today?
About Al Gore–
Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2007 in partnership with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. His book-made-movie “An Inconvenient Truth” was the 2007 Academy Award winner for best documentary. As well as serving as a US Representative, Senator, and Vice President from 1977– 2001 (including an unfulfilled bid for President), Gore is also the author of Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit.  You can learn more about Al Gore and how to promote climate change on his website.

author: Maya Norton


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Israel: Religious Communities Object to “Sex” in Advertising · Global Voices
Maya Norton

“[Blank] in the City?” An Israeli media company is protesting advertising promoting the release of the new “Sex and the City” movie, claiming the word “sex” is offensive and should be removed. “You really don’t know whether to get angry or just laugh at the ridiculousness of this whole thing,” OneJerusalem writes. “Once again we are confronted with the absurd reality where the interests of the secular population in mixed cities are not taken into account.”

source: news-globalvoices

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


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Israel: Tel Aviv Transport Goes Hybrid · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Green cabs are coming to Tel Aviv, says Isrealli, who writes that “the Tel Aviv Municipality and the Israeli Taxi Drivers Association have agreed on a plan to transition much of the city’s taxi fleet to hybrid cars.”


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Israel: We Have No iPhones Today · Global Voices
Maya Norton

“Apple finally sells the iPhone in the Middle East but not in Israel. Who cares?” asks Ouriel Ohayon. “On average [every] 1/3 person I meet has an iPhone here… Well done Steve Jobs!”


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Libya: Double Standards  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Libya, Abaalhasan [Ar] objects to the police's inaction against a group of gays who were standing outside a bar and disturbing passers-by and asks: why does the government crackdown on any voice of opposition but not on those who go against the norms of society? It is not clear from the context of the blog post where this incident took place.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Nigeria/South Africa: Nigeria vs South Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Nanja Boy writes examines the fate of Nigerians in the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa: “Lest we have forgotten, Nigerians economy now harbors the best of their businesses. For goodness sake, the lists of Nigerian-based multinational companies wholly owed or controlled by South Africa people or government is far greater than the hundreds of Nigeria migrants residing in that country. Nigerians are not destroying any of MTN’s installation even when their services are poor and genuine reasons to rampage are evident.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Palestine: Mass Exodus from Gaza?  · Global Voices
Maya Norton

“50,000 Arabs have left Gaza since last June,” writes Carl in Jerusalem. “In April, I reported that some 80% of Gaza residents want to leave, but this is the first time that the ‘Palestinian Authority’ admits it.” Bethlehem Conference organizer Hassan Abu Libdeh commented: “There is a Palestinian brain drain caused by the difficulties of living here.”


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Peru: Lima Plays Host to Regional Summit · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Recently the 5th Latin American – European Union Summit (ALC-UE for its initials in Spanish) [es]  was held in Lima, Peru. The gathering brings together heads of state from the different countries in those regions and is held in May every two years.  Based on the strategic and bi-regional association outlined in the Declaration and Plan of Action adopted during the first summit held in Río de Janeiro in June 1999. This meeting evaluates the progess in the fields of economic integration, poverty reduction, equality, and social justice in Latin America.  Lima will also be the site of another international summit: the Asian-Pacific Economic Forum.
Bloggers are obviously writing about the topic, such as Laura Arroyo of Menosacanas [es] who writes about the advantages and disadvantages of holding such a summit in Peru.
Un buen porcentaje de la ciudadanía se encuentra indiferente frente a estos acontecimientos, otro grupo (significativo también) se siente algo enojado pues además del hecho de percibir que el desarrollo de estas cumbres nada tiene que ver con ellos, encima crean caos y desorden; finalmente, hay algunos pocos que se identifican con ambas y las ven como algo positivo.
Creo que debemos ver las cumbres como una oportunidad. Las cumbres causan impacto pese a que muchos sientan que no hacen la diferencia y se trata de eventos protocolares que se quedan justamente en eso: el protocolo. Es preciso no simplificar el asunto. El hecho de que el Perú sea sede implica, justamente, que los ojos del mundo estén prestando atención a nuestro país. Por otro lado, la cantidad de jefes de estado que vendrá al país, ha fomentado que muchos hoteles se adecuen a estos inusuales e importantes huéspedes.
A large percentage of the citizens are indifferent to these types of events, another group (also significant in numbers) feel rather angry because in addition to the perception that these summits have nothing to do with them, they also create chaos and disorder; finally, there are some that feel the same, but see it as something positive.
We must look at these summits as an opportunity.  The summits cause an impact even though many feel that they do not make a difference and they are just protocol events in nature.  One must not simplify things.  The fact that Peru is the site of the summit justly implies that the eyes of the world are focused on our country.  On the other hand, with the number of heads of states that come to our country, many hotels must adapt to these unusual and important guests.
But not everyone has a favorable opinion, for example, Carlos Mejia of El Gran Combo Club [es] is a bit skepitcal about the summit and about how much work can actually be accomplished in such a short time:
¿Puede alguien sostener que en tres días los presidentes de tantos países pueden alcanzar algún acuerdo realmente significativo? Una hipótesis: los poderes fácticos, aquellos que definen las políticas que afectan realmente a los ciudadanos no se reúnen en estas cumbres de prensa internacional y alfombras rojas. Los presidentes o mandatarios que aún detentan un poder soberano son precisamente los que menos vienen a negociar o deliberar a estas Cumbres. Están para el show y nada más (…)  En ese sentido, uno no puede esperar cambios o giros en espacios como esta Cumbre.
Can anyone say that in three days that the presidents of so many countries can actually reach a significant agreement? A hypothesis: the current powers, those that define policies that really affect people, do not gather in these summits with the presence of the international press and red carpets. The presidents or leaders that still hold soverign power are those that are least likely to come to negotiate or deliberate at these summits.  They are here for show and nothing more. (…) In this way, one cannot expect for changes or grand changes in direction in these summits.
Juan Sheput of Mate Pastor [es] summarizes the criticisms of President Alan Garcia's opening speech, and also collects some of the criticisms regarding the organization of the summit.
El País, el principal diario de España, indica respecto a la V Cumbre ALC-UE lo siguiente: “Un clima devaluado por importantes ausencias europeas, como la del francés Nicolas Sarkozy, el británico Gordon Brown y el italiano Silvio Berlusconi. Y muy enrarecido tras los reiterados ataques personales del presidente venezolano, Hugo Chávez, contra la canciller alemana, Angela Merkel, y la entrada en la escena del boliviano Evo Morales, que ha lanzando duras acusaciones contra Colombia y Perú, el anfitrión de la cumbre, por su política internacional.” La noticia completa la pueden leer haciendo click aquí. En tanto Clarín de Argentina da cuenta de la protesta de Greenpeace en Machu Picchu.
El País, the most important newspaper in Spain, writes the following about the V Summit ALC-UE: “A devalued climate due to the important absences of European leaders, such as Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Gordon Brown of Britain and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy. And very unsupportable for the repeated personal attacks from Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, against the German foreign minister, Angela Merkel and entrance into the stage by Evo Morales of Bolivia, who had launched harsh accusations against Colombia and Peru, the host of the summit, for their international policies.” The entire note can be read here [es].  The Argentine newspaper Clarín also writes about the Greenpeace protest in Machu Picchu [es].
José Talavera of Bloguiarquía [es] posts his opinion and about his experience as a volunteer during the summit.
Cuestión aparte es lo que tuvieron que pasar varios voluntarios (entre ellos yo), que más que ser parte de la desorganización, la sufrieron: algunos sin acreditaciones hasta el día miércoles, otros sin uniforme, o uniformes no hechos a la medida. En plena cumbre, la duplicidad de funciones, el desperdicio de horas-hombre, horarios inhumanos (vg. 13 horas parados en la entrada de un hotel), sin siquiera un pequeño refrigerio: muchos tuvieron que poner de su propio dinero para comer, y las zonas aledañas a los hoteles y al Museo de la Nación no se caracterizan precisamente por ser baratos. En conclusión, muchos voluntarios que fueron con ganas de ayudar se sintieron simplemente defraudados.
This is what some volunteers (including myself) had to go through: in addition to the disorganziation, others did not receive their accreditation until Wednesday, others were left without uniforms, or uniforms that did not fit. In the middle of the summit, there was the duplication of tasks, a waste of time, inhumane hours (for example 13 hours standing at the entrance of the hotel), without even a small snack: many had to spend their own money in order to eat, and the area around the hotels and the National Museum is not known for being inexpensive.  In conclusion, many volunteers that went with the desire to help came away simply disappointed.
Finally, Giovanni Lamarca of the blog Natua [es] compiles what the different media and blogs have been publishing about the summit.  It is worth mentioning that while the summit of leaders has been taking place, there has been a 3rd Summit of the People ALC-UE or Anti-Summit. Luis Orihuela of Pedro Vilcapaza [es] posts the final declaration of the summit:
Exigimos a los gobiernos atender efectivamente las demandas de los pueblos por construir otro tipo de relaciones entre las regiones, basadas en la superación del modelo de mercado. Hacemos un llamado a la población a no dejarse engañar más por gobiernos autoritarios que pretenden criminalizar la justa protesta civil. Instamos a los habitantes de América Latina, el Caribe y Europa a sumarse a la fuerza cada vez mayor de organizaciones que buscan un mundo mejor para todos, y así estar a la altura de los desafíos que hoy enfrenta la humanidad.
We call on the governments to effectively attend to the demands of the people by constucting another type of relations within the regions, based on the the superation of the market model.  We make a call to the population to not allow themselves to be fooled by authoritarian governments that attempt to criminalize the just civil protest. We call on the residents of Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe to join growing forces of organizations that look for a better world for all, and to rise to the challenges that humanity currently faces.

author: Juan Arellano


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South Africa: Mapping xenophobia · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

United for Africa maps xenophobia incidents in South Africa: “The Ushahidi engine is being used to map xenophobic attacks in South Africa at the “United For Africa” website.”


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South Africa: What is the meaning of “makwerekwere”? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Khanya traces the origin of the word “makwerekwere,” a slang for foreigners in South Africa: ” A couple of bloggers with an interest in language have asked about the the origin and meaning of the word “makwerekwere”. It is a slang word for foreigners, and especially illegal immigrants, which I used in a post about the anti-immigrant violence that has been taking place over the last couple of months


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Taiwan: Tibet Issued Manipulated in Taiwan Election · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Kwang Yin from interlocals.net explained how Tibet March riot had been manipulated in Taiwan during the presidential election period.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Voices that consent to xenophobia · Global Voices
Paula Góes

“The prominent South African political folk who have enjoyed the protection of the Mozambican people and are today entrepreneurs or leaders, why don't they raise their voices strongly to protect the Mozambican against xenophobia and stop their patricians?”, asks Bosse Hammarström [pt].

author: Paula Góes


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Afghanistan: Memorial Day Review · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust reflects on the victims among American and Coalition soldiers who gave their lives in the fight for a free and stable Afghanistan, as well as on the victims among Afghans themselves.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Armenia: Nasty Politics · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

The first president of the Republic of Armenia depicted as a Jew, supporters of the newly elected president labelled as “Turks” while he is depicted in visual propaganda as a Nazi or female genitalia? Blogian says it's all run of the mill in what is fast becoming a mutually hostile battle between the government and opposition in Armenia. More alarmingly, the blog concludes, it also reflects deep prejudices and hatred in society which can only frustrate the country's democratic development.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Australia: Ethnic Macedonian Protest · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

S.M. of Macedonia: Cradle of Culture, Land of Nature posted photos and videos from the recent protest of over 30,000 ethnic Macedonians in Australia, who demanded that their government stop using derogatory prefixes when referring to the Republic of Macedonia and ethnic Macedonians.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Bangladesh: On Devolution · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Mukti on the benefits of adopting devolution in Bangladesh.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Bermuda: Debate Shut-Down · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As the Bermudian Premier shuts down a Parliamentary debate because of accusations of dishonesty by the Opposition, Vexed Bermoothes says: “By shouting down every question or request for accountability as an accusation of racism or unfairness, the PLP is proving just how immature Bermuda’s democracy is.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Cayman Islands: Not Here?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cayblogger responds to a mainstream media editorial by examining the Cayman Islands’ attitude towards homosexuality and crime: “There have been, what… five murders in Cayman this year to only one ‘gay kiss?’ Which means that we, as a society, are less tolerant of a gay kiss than of a murder.”


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Chile: Spanish Photographer Injured While Covering Protests · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

A Spanish photographer was injured after being hit by a Chilean policeman, while covering protests in the city of Valparaíso.  Fernando Meza of Periodismo Globa [es] has the full story.

author: Eduardo Avila


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China: Earthquake Video · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michael Zhao made a 9 mins video on the 512 Wenchuan Earthquake with English subtitles.


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China: Foreign Rescue Teams  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

There are criticisms that the Chinese Government should have allowed foreign rescue teams to help the relief works earlier, black and white cat pointed out that foreign rescue teams might not be very useful in earthquake relief work.


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China: International Anthopology Congress Called-off · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Angry Chinese Blogger reports on the calling off of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences Congress at Yunnan University, Kunming City, from 15 July to 23 July.


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China: Shenzhen Garbalogy · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Maryannodonnell points out that the history of garbage can tell a lot about a city.


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China: Three Minutes Silence Reflected in Search Stats · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jacky Peng blogs the search traffic stats of Google China on May 19 which showed the three minutes silence (mourning for earthquake victims) effect.


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Colombia: Paramilitary Leaders Extradited to the United States · Global Voices
Carlos Raúl van der Weyden Velásquez

The last two or three weeks have been quite intense in Colombian politics. After a new scandal for alleged bribery while the presidential re-election was voted on in the Congress on May 13, came some interesting news.  In a surprising move, 14 demobilized paramilitary bosses were extradited to the United States, where they will face drug-trafficking charges. This happened a few weeks after the President Álvaro Uribe's cousin was jailed for alleged links to the paramilitary militias (some 30 Congresspeople have been jailed so far, and another 30 are being investigated).
Carlos Cuentero [es] angrily criticizes the Colombian government's decision of extradition:
No creo, como dicen hoy muchos columnistas, que haya fracasado la ley de Justicia y Paz. Más bien, creo que fue todo un éxito. Porque eso fue lo que negociaron en Ralito: una farsa de verdad, un teatro de justicia y nada de reparación. Eso fue lo que pactaron a puerta cerrada, a espaldas de un país que aún desconoce sus alcances.
I don't think, as many columnists are saying today, that the Justice and Peace Law has failed. Rather, I think it was a huge success. Because that's what they negotiated in Ralito: a real farce, an illusion of justice and nothing about reparation. That's what they pacted behind closed doors, behind the back of a country which still is not aware of their reach.
On the contrary,  Jaime Restrepo of Atrabilioso [es] applauds the decision and says the justice, peace, and reparation process will not be affected:
But this is an emotional ingredient: the paramilitary bosses will not stay in summer houses (as some government critics described the Itagüí maximum security prison), nor will they serve just eight years in prison (one of the things they most criticized of the Justice and Peace law), because the most useful cooperation for the American justice is the tip-off from the bosses, and the truth is that the extradited are the top and not the bottom of the narco-paramilitarism hierarchical pyramid. They can build their hopes, but they will actually have to serve more than 8 years in prison. Things being so, if they will indeed serve a sentence in maximum security prisons, what is the difference if it is a Colombian or an American prison in favour of the criminals? None. But it is evident that many of the victims see the peace process with the paramilitary as a bitter revenge against their victimizers -something understandable- which does not allow them to see that extradition is not a prize but an even stronger punishment for the criminals. In any case they will not have the privileges or the benefits they could get in Colombia, and that makes the punishment they will get in the United States stronger.
Restrepo also slams the opposition parties on their contradictions:
At the time the opposition hit the ceiling by pointing out that Uribe wanted to give benefits to his “partners” by no extraditing them and they claimed that threat could not be removed from the table. Now, when the Uribe administration decides to extradite them, then it is useless for them, and they find it inconvenient in order to achieve the truth, justice, and reparation. Nevertheless, that is an incoherent position if we take into account that they were (the opposition) who did not wanted to shut the door to the extradition and put so much pressure that they ended leaving open the possibility which is a reality today. They should not be losing sleep over that now, because the Alternative Democratic Pole and the Colombian Liberal Party have fathered the extradition of the paramilitary chiefs, the same which today they find hideous and inconvenient.
But Marsares, at equinoXio digital magazine, after slamming the Justice and Peace “joke”, believes the so-called parapolitics scandal may be over and that the second re-election of Uribe is ahead:
The government alleges that the extradited chiefs broke the Justice and Peace Law by not telling all the truth, not hand all their assets over for repairing the victims, and continue committing crimes from prison. That is true. They were delivering the “truths” little by little to the judicial authorities, containing veiled threats or simply they did not say a word claiming cynical amnesias. Nevertheless, the tip-off of their political allies and the revelation of the location of the common graves where their victims are buried are an evident gain. As for the delivering of their assets, the joke was obvious. Very few of them, if not devalued or in others’ hands. So scarce that, after doing the math, each victim would receive COP7,000 (US$4 or €2.50).
(…)
A last play is the perfect finale of the game for the Government: if the paramilitary leaders had broken the Justice and Peace Law why were not they left in hands of the Colombian ordinary justice in order to be prosecuted as any other criminal? The high sentences would have meant that the government did wished to defeat impunity. But it was not done so, perhaps because they wish to avoid new revelations. Though there is the promise that the paramilitary chiefs can continue to telling the truths in the United States, the preparation of the trial can take one year, enough time to stop the damaged caused by the parapolitical scandal, and devote firmly and with a big heart to the second re-election, safe from any danger or threat, with an ad hoc Congress.
Adam Isacson, from Plan Colombia and Beyond, also posted on the issue:
Now that they have little to lose – and probably feel that they owe nothing to Colombia’s political and economic elites –  the paramilitary leadership may be more willing than before to talk about who helped them over the years, what their financial and logistical networks looked like, and perhaps what happened to their victims. From a jail cell in Miami with little hope of leniency, they have little incentive to stay quiet and protect those who helped them. The question is whether those who wish to share such information will be able to do so. President Uribe and his government must be held to the statement above. Colombian investigators must have the access to the paramilitary leaders necessary to fully and aggressively comply with the “quest for the truth.”
To Isacson, if the investigators have that access, it will be a victory for the victims. If they do not, it will become a “tragic victory for the politicians, economically powerful individuals and military officers who made paramilitarism possible in Colombia.”
The political blog Colombia Hoy [es] also added its two cents [es]:
Lo que ocurre es que una vez ante los fiscales gringos podrán negociar todo. En realidad en Colombia no les esperaban penas muy altas, por lo que en el país del norte la situación no será muy diferente, aunque es posible que allí consigan algún tipo de amparo frente a la Corte Penal Internacional. Es un buen plus. Más impunidad frente a los delitos de lesa humanidad. Más legalización de las fortunas. Más residencia legal y cambio de identidad. No suena mal.
What happens is that once [they face] the American attorneys they will be able to negotiate everything. Actually in Colombia they would not face high sentences, therefore in the northern country their situation will not be very different, though they would likely get some kind of protection from the International Criminal Court. It's a good advantage. More impunity towards their crimes against humanity. More legalization of their fortunes. More legal residence and change of identity. It does not sound bad.
Days later the extradition, it was learnt that some of the personal computers and SIM cards of the extradited paramilitary bosses were not properly seized [es] by the Colombian authorities, with some of their relatives having access to the hardware [es]. Tienen huevo [es] and Ricardo Buitrago Consuegra [es] refer to the issue.

author: Carlos Raúl van der Weyden Velásquez


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Dominica: Banana Spat  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Steve's Dominica reports on “the ongoing spat between various banana organisations.”


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Ecuador: Internet Access Lacking in Countryside · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Christian Espinosa of Cobertura Digital [es] cites figures regarding internet access in Ecuador and notes that more than 60% of the toal internet users are based in Quito.  He writes, “the challenge is in the rural areas,” in reference to the alarming statistic that between 1-4% of residents in the rural parts of the country have online access.


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El Salvador:  A Computer in Ecuador Stirs Up Salvadoran Presidential Campaign · Global Voices
Tim Muth

A computer file purportedly discovered on a laptop computer at a guerrilla camp in Ecuador, has bloggers in El Salvador wondering what impact it will have and what impact it should have on the upcoming elections in their country scheduled for March 2009.  The laptop computer was taken in the Colombian army's raid on the camp of FARC guerrillas in Ecuador.  In that raid the number two man of the FARC, Raul Reyes, was killed, and his computer seized.
The furor in El Salvador started when the Spanish newspaper El Pais disclosed[es]  that one document on the computer referred to a Salvadoran making an introduction in 2007 from the FARC to Australian arms dealers.  The Salvadoran named was Luis Merino, a senior official of the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) and member of the Central American parliament.  The conservative press in El Salvador played up the story with prominent pictures showing Merino beside the FMLN's presidential candidate Mauricio Funes.
Photo by Fixem and used under a Creative Commons license.
Bloggers in El Salvador have been writing about how this story could impact the presidential campaign of Funes.  Blogger Hunnapuh wrote a post [es]   which put the issue in the context of the campaign strategy of the ruling right-wing ARENA party.  According to Hunnapuh, ARENA is trying to convince the “swing” voter.   This is the person who is currently inclined to vote for the FMLN and Mauricio Funes, but is not a party militant and would not vote for the FMLN if convinced that “FMLN = [Venezualan president Hugo] Chavez.”  But the strategy is shifting with the disclosure of the FARC computer files:
Por lo que se vé, la estrategia la han cambiado un poco dados los acontecimientos, ahora la tesis me imagino que es FMLN = FARC, pero como lo expuse anteriormente, nuestro pueblo tiene una memoria  coyuntural y toda esta publicidad y cobertura mediática actuales sera pronto olvidada.
Si en realidad hay algo de verdad en todas las acusaciones, se deben ejecutar las acciones legales pertinentes de parte de los paises que se consideren ofendidos e iniciar los juicios legales que correspondan, pero si solo se queda en la pura propaganda, se demostrará que símplemente se trata de estrategias electorales.
The writer at the blog  Salvadorans in the World [es] sees the repetition of the regular themes of Salvadoran politics in this story:
Y es aquí dónde las principales fuerzas políticas salvadoreñas se enfrentaran en una guerra de acusaciones e insultos. El FMLN dirá que todo esto es un montaje, un show, una estrategia más de la derecha para mantenerse en el poder. Por otro lado, ARENA volverá a repetir la misma historia, que el FMLN tiene nexos con grupos que no benefician en ningún modo al país, bla bla bla, etc. En la guerra de acusaciones e insultos, las propuestas para sacar al país adelante quedarán relegadas a un tercer o cuarto plano.
En este escenario adverso, Mauricio Funes debería dar señales inequívocas que tiene criterios propios, y más importante, que tiene suficiente independencia de los comandantes en el FMLN para pedir que se investigue a fondo las acusaciones.
Ernesto Rivas-Gallont did not believe [es] that presidential candidate Funes had done well in his initial response to the story.  In Funes’ initial statement after the El Pais story, Rivas-Gallont saw an unconditional defense of Merino, the FMLN leader, with Funes acting almost as an apologist for the FARC.
Con esa actitud, Mauricio ha desilusionado a aquellos que creímos en su independencia, porque estamos convencidos que un gobierno de Funes sería controlado por los mismos que hoy controlan el partido y parecen controlar al candidato.
With this attitude, Mauricio has disappointed those who believed in his independence, because we are convinced that a government controlled by Funes would be controlled by the same ones who today control the party and seem to control candidate.
El-Visitador [es] referred to the links to the FARC to support his conclusion that the FMLN was a “very dangerous entity.”
Reflecting the polarization of El Salvador's politics and parts of its blogosphere,  the view of El Visitador is counter-balanced by Chichicaste [es], who has a lengthy post[es] challenging the media coverage of the FARC computers and looking at the links between El Pais, its ownership and the owners of powerful media in San Salvador.   For Chichicaste, the nonstop coverage in Salvadoran newspapers and television is an sign of the fear that foreign multi-national corporations have over the prospect of a Mauricio Funes’ victory.

author: Tim Muth


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China: Environmental Fallout After Sichuan Earthquake · Global Voices
Kelly Proctor

A week after China's deadly earthquake killed nearly 56,000 people, environmental and other costs of the 8.0 magnitude earthquake are becoming clearer. On this post we examine posts related to the environmental fallout of the earthquake, and also the plight of animals in the earthquake area.
Plans for a proposed petrochemical plant that brought out NIMBY protesters earlier this month may be shelved after the earthquake. Six people were detained for the protest, called a “stroll” to get around applying for a protest permit. Charlie McElwee at China Environmental Law blog says:
I would hope that those arrested and detained are treated leniently. It appears they had valid points to make, and they wouldn’t have had to make them in an unorthodox fashion if the public participation regulations applicable to construction projects had been complied with.
Julian Wong at Green Leap Forward blogs about the long-term energy implications of the earthquake. He notes that the operations of China's largest steam turbine producer were evidently decimated, while the impact on Chengdu's dams and hydropower are potentially even more serious,. Julian expresses hope that long term considerations will come into play after normalcy is restored, saying
It is hard to imagine that amidst the chaotic frenzy to restore a sense of normalcy across the region, that such far sighted considerations will be given much weight over the immediate needs of those affected. When the dust settles, however, there will be an opportunity to consider, and not without international cooperation, what it means to rebuild a more sustainable set of infrastructure.
Several bloggers are highlighting stories about animals. Richard Heisler spotlights the plight of the Wolong Pandas and the efforts of Panda International organization.
In the aftermath of the earthquake earlier this week the situation is very desperate in Wolong. Both the animals of the Wolong Giant Panda Preserve and the caretakers need all the possible support they can gather to assist with the incredibly difficult task of caring for the bears, the cubs and the people of the town of Wolong. Pandas International is assisting Wolong directly with the help of the Red Cross in China to get medicine, food and supplies flown in to the completely isolated town to aid the doctors, veterinarians, pandas and people.
The IFAW Animal Rescue blog writes about the plight of Animals stating
By now, there have been more than 300 smaller aftershocks in the region. The torrential rain has been unrelenting, causing mud slides. Huge boulders are coming down the mountains, blocking the already treacherous roads and making any rescue attempt difficult. Wolong Nature Reserve, the synonym for China’s Giant Panda is at the epicenter and is still not accessible.
I am not so concerned about wild animals. They often have the ability to sense the abnormalities in nature and thus get away, like those elephants and monkeys that sensed the Indian Ocean Tsunami and scurried away from the beach to higher ground. It is the animals that are in confined environments that will likely become victims, millions of livestock on farms, companion animals in people’s homes and even pandas that are kept in captivity.
Danwei reports that the Yunnan White-Handed Gibbon of southwest China has been declared extinct.
Andrew Field at Shanghai Journal blogs about the damage of eating shark fin soup, a popular dish in China. He notes that the damage is caused by mass killings of sharks, which causes an imbalance in the ocean ecology. adding…
While many countries are waking up to this disaster, most people here in China are completely in the dark as to what the mass killing of sharks is doing to the ecology of the oceans. Many fancy restaurants in Shanghai and in other cities serve shark fin soup and some restaurants (such as Yu Xin on Weihai Road, where I ate last Sunday) have prominent displays of shark fin cartilage in glass cases. Shark fin soup is especially popular for high-status events such as weddings or official banquets.
As of the writing of this post on May 25th, China Digital Times reports that powerful after shocks hit China. More about that developing story on their blog.

author: Kelly Proctor


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Europe: Liveblogging Eurovision · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belatedly, a link to a what was a Eurovision liveblog on Saturday – at Greetings from Kyiv.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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India: On Mobocracy · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Shashwati's Blog on mobocracy – where mobs hand out punishment in India.


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Indonesia: Coping with rising cost of living · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

dua mata saya gives creative and funny tips on how to survive the rising cost of living in Indonesia

author: Mong Palatino


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Indonesia: Peaceful fuel hike protest · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Rangga Praduwiratna suggests some peaceful actions to express disagreement over the decision of the Indonesian government to raise fuel prices.


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Jamaica: Literary Feud · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Blogging from Jamaica's Calabash Literary Festival, Annie Paul talks about Derek Walcott's poem The Mongoose, “written specifically with V.S. Naipaul in mind”: “Down here at Treasure Beach we give thanks for sunny skies and prickly poets. Willing conscripts in the enactment of a first-class literary feud we await the unfolding of Day 3 at Calabash with some relish. A mongoose will never just be a mongoose again.”


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Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: Calypso Music · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica's Abeng News Magazine gives a lesson in the roots of calypso music.


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Japan: The Secret of Mizuki Shigeru · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

At age 86, Mizuki Shigeru (水木しげる) is one of the most well-known manga artists in Japan thanks to work that stretches over more than four decades, including among them some of the most popular Japanese manga and anime TV series. His work is celebrated in particular for expressing stories of “yōkai” (妖怪), creatures in Japanese folkore which Mizuki first became interested in as a child. GeGeGe no Kitarō, a manga series he created in 1959, is Mizuki's most famous, featuring an orphaned yōkai named Kitaro, born in a cemetary and missing his left eye, who fights for peace between humans and yōkai. (“GeGeGe” refers to the sound of insects and vermin that follow Kitaro around.) Adapted for TV several times, the manga is credited with popularizing the idea of yōkai throughout Japan.
Mizuki's GeGeGe no Kitaro recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, as popular in Japan it as ever was. In a post that asks the question “Why has GeGeGe no Kitaro remained popular for this long?”, blogger ta26 proposes the following explanation for the manga's longevity:
今尚進化する鬼太郎
日本のアニメやドラマで息の長い作品の代表格はと言えば、『サザエさん』であり、『水戸黄門』ということになりそうだが、すでにその域に達したと言ってよい作品に、水木しげる氏の『ゲゲゲの鬼太郎』がある。この『ゲゲゲの鬼太郎』の原型とも言える『墓場の鬼太郎』が貸し本として登場したのが1960年、少年マガジンに初めて掲載されたのが1965年、『ゲゲゲの鬼太郎』としてアニメ化されたのが1968年というから、アニメ化されてから数えても、すでに 40年目ということになる。
鬼太郎がすごいのは、今まだ完全な現役であるだけでなく、『進化』していることだ。この2008年にも『ゲゲゲの鬼太郎千年呪い歌』*1として7月12日より劇場公開される予定だし、原型である『墓場の鬼太郎』*2のほうも2008年1月よりフジテレビ系の深夜アニメ枠「ノイタミナ」で放映され、13日深夜に放送された第10話の視聴率が5.8％（関東地区、ビデオリサーチ調べ）を獲得し、 07年1月放送の「のだめカンタービレ」（第2話）の5.5％を抜き、同枠の新記録となった*3。また、水木しげる氏の故郷である、鳥取県境港市では、境港駅から繁華街のアーケード通りまで『水木しげるロード』*4として多くのオブジェを配して町おこしに成功し、今や観光地としても多くの来客を迎えるようになった。
成功の秘密は？
『妖怪物』というような特異な分野が、一時期のブームでは終わらずに、定番として半世紀の間人気を保ち、なおかつ、今尚進化している。この秘密はいったいどこにあるのだろう。一過性で終わってしまうものと、これだけ長く受け入れられるものの違い、それは何なのか。
一つには、水木しげる氏の徹底ぶりがあると思う。水木氏は、幼少時代から怪異なもの、不思議なものに対する憧れが強く、子供のころは彼が『のんのんばあ』と呼ぶ不思議なおばあさんに様々な伝承や怪異な物語を聞き、境港という土地に根付く妖怪たちと共に成長する。そして、長じて戦時中には、徴兵されて南方戦線に送られ、悲惨な戦争を体験するだけでなく、自ら九死に一生を得て片腕を失って帰還する。まさに生と死の狭間である幽界を自ら彷徨った体験を持つ。そして、戦後は妖怪漫画を書く傍ら、古い文献にある妖怪伝承や、古い絵巻や絵本、そして、柳田國男氏らの民間の妖怪伝承等を積極的に塊集した。のみならず妖怪伝承を収集するため、自ら旅に出て、それは遠く海外にまで及ぶ。塊集家としても研究家としても間違いなく第一人者である。
One thing I think is that there is a thoroughness to Mizuki Shigeru. From his childhood days, Mizuki was strongly attracted to strange and mysterious things, and when he was a child he heard about various traditions and strange tales from a mysterious old lady who went by the name of “Nononba”. In this way, he grew to adulthood together with the ghosts rooted in the land called Sakaiminato. Growing up during the war, he was conscripted and sent to the southern front, where not only did he experience the misery of war, but he also narrowly escaped from death, returning with with one arm lost. This experience was nothing less than that of wandering in the realm of the dead, in the interval between life and death. Then after the war, while writing yokai manga, he began to actively mix together yokai traditions from ancient literature and ancient scrolls and picturebooks, as well as from elements such as the yokai folklore of Yanagida Kunio. Not only that, but in order to gather together such yokei folklore, he left his family and even went all the way overseas. Whether as a  compiler [塊集家, see note] or as a researcher, there is no mistake that [Mizuki Shigeru] is a leading figure.
[Note: If anybody can help in translating the term “塊集家”, please let me know.]
そしてその研究を元に、そのつかみ所のない怪異な存在に、形と色を与えて行く。その成果が、『妖怪事典』*5シリーズや『妖怪画談』*6シリーズとして、結実している。『妖怪画談』のあとがきで、水木氏は、『柳田國男*7のあたりのものは愛嬌もあり大いに面白いが、形がないので全部ぼくが作った』と言っている。『妖怪画談』はもちろん怪異なもの達に溢れているのだが、いつの間にか日本の原風景の持つ郷愁にいざなわれ、葛飾北斎の浮世絵に見る美しさを感じてしまう。 500年くらい後の研究者には、柳田や北斎等と同列に水木氏が扱われているのではないだろうか。
その土地の風景にやどりながらけして姿をあらわすことがなかった妖怪は、水木氏によって次々とその姿を我々の前に現すことになる。日本人の心の古層とも言うべきレイヤー（層）に今も死に絶えることなく、妖怪、怪異なものが住んでおり、それを眼前にした我々ははっと驚きながらも、強く魅了されてしまうのではないだろうか。この古層にある原型を掘り出したものは、商業的な成功はもちろん、地域のコミュニティーの強烈な求心力を手にするのではないかと思う。そして、その実例が、鬼太郎TV番組の高視聴率や映画の成功であったり、境港の活性化なのだろう。
For more on Mizuki Shigeru in Japanese, see information collected [ja] by blogger Yoshida Ami, who blogs about Mizuki in many of her posts (most recently here [ja] and here [ja]). See also this fan site [ja].
Update: Notes (all link to Japanese pages)
Thanks to Taku Nakajima  for the suggestion to translate this blog post.

author: Chris Salzberg


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Kazakhstan: Diplomacy of Stars · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Publicist reports on the “Diplomacy of Stars” Festival that has taken place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and provides photos of the post-Soviet classic music celebrities [ru].


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Kazakhstan: Nature of Kazakhstan · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

MissLuckyAndCrazy posts some magnificent pictures of the diverse and wild nature of Kazakhstan.


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Kazakhstan: Scandal Royale · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Adam reports that today several British tabloids simultaneously published a breathtaking story featuring their two sexiest topics at once — royal family and eastern moguls who buy out England. This time it's about Prince Andrew's sale of his residence to the Kazakhstan businessman.


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Kazakhstan: Top Boxer Played a Trick on Borat · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

KZBlog says that Wladimir Klitschko, the world champion in boxing, who was born in Kazakhstan although he now lives in the Ukraine, spotted Sacha Baron Cohen at the LA restaurant and decided to have a little fun.


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Laos: Eco Tourism · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Not a book describes Laos as “a Country of Eco Tourism, and Organic Laos!” The tourist notes that “Everywhere we go all trips are promoted as eco friendly and that the money are going to local people for their support.”


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Malaysia: Fuel prices remain stable · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Rocky's bru is grateful that Malaysia will not increase fuel prices. In neighboring Indonesia, fuel prices have gone up already.


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Mexico: Responsible Disposal of Batteries and Cell Phones · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Chilanga Banda [es] posts information about the campaign launched by the government of Mexico City regarding the reponsible disposal of batteries and mobile phones.


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Myanmar: Beyond Rangoon Project on Flickr · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Latest pictures of relief operations in cyclone ravaged Myanmar can be accessed at Beyond Rangoon Project.


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Myanmar: Open and close borders · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Siam Sentinel sums up the inconsistency of Myanmar's attitude in accepting aid: “Burma opens its borders. Burma closes its borders. Burma agrees to allow foreign aid workers to enter its borders. Burma closes those borders again.”


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Nepal: Chindia · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The complications of being surrounded by India and China. More at Nepali Netbook.


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Pakistan: Food and the Government · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Whisk on the disconnect in Pakistan between the looming food crisis and the actions of the government.


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Pakistan: On Security · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Changing Up Pakistan! interviews an expert from Rand Corporation to get some insight on the security situation.


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Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica: Chanderpaul’s Heroics · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

West Indies Cricket Blog quotes cricket commentator Tony Cozier on Shivnarine Chanderpaul's “heroics” vs. Australia, adding: “The energy from Sabina Park was unbelievable. Really bummed I wasn’t there.”


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Uganda: Book Club arrives · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Book Club arrives in Kampala, Uganda: “The long awaited book club arrives. The onus is on me to pick the location, I guess, and I was thinking Iguana, but that's so not central. So I have to fall back on the default Mateo's.”


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Ukraine: News Roundup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

An update on oil, inflation and other Ukrainian issues – at Orange Ukraine.


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Ukraine: Pre-Election Kyiv · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Five installments of pre-election Kyiv photos, video and commentary – at Ukrainiana: here, here, here, here, and here.


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Ukraine: Tymoshenko’s Politics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes writes about PM Yulia Tymoshenko's defeat in the Kyiv election, her meeting with PM Vladimir Putin, and the future of her cabinet.


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Vietnam: Miss Universe 2008 · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Vietnam Extremes is happy to report that Vietnam will host this year's Miss Universe beauty pageant


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Zimbabwe/South Africa: Stand Up for Zimbabwe  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Photos from a protest march for Zimbabwe in Pretoria, South Africa: “These images were taken at a protest march in Pretoria yesterday. The signs say it all.”


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Africa: Learning by Ear · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A new multimedia distance learning programme for Africa in English, Kiswahili, French, Hausa, Portuguese and Amharic: ‘The Learning by Ear program examines the challenges that young Africans face and engages listeners in an informative and entertaining way. The programming is a lively mix of in-depth reports, radio dramas and feature stories that will provide listeners with an opportunity to get the necessary skills to succeed in Africa today and to discover a whole new world of knowledge. The target audience is girls and boys from 12 to 20 years of age.’


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Bahamas: Heterogeneous World · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bahamian Nicolette Bethel says: “Bahamians appear to imagine that the world is monocultural.  More specifically, we tend to associate specific nations with specific ‘races’.  But the world is a multicultural world, and, colonial mythology aside, it is not divided into clumps of people who fit specific moulds.”


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Barbados, U.S.A.: Taking It Back  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

On the heels of Hillary Clinton's comment about Bobby Kennedy, Barbadian blogger Jdid comments: “You're just playing the spoiler now. It almost looks like you are trying to muddy the waters for your fellow democrat.  All I can say is both you and Bill showed a wicked and dirty side this election so we're taking back our first black president moniker.”


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Brunei student in London University · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

My Passion mentions some of the “mini experience” of the only Bruneian student in London University.


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Chile: How To Read Smog Map · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Chileno provides an in-depth look at the Chilean government's smog map and what it says about the levels of contamination in the capital city of Santiago.


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China: An Earthquake Reporter’s Self-Mockery · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A Beijing reporter wrote a self-mockery confession on his trip to Wenchuan earthquake center [zh].


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China: Earthquake Relief Posters · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Red Cross (China) together with other media companies launched a campaign, Together we are, and called for submission of earthquake relief posters for expressing solidarity with the earthquake victims. A list of posters can be found here.


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China: Relief tents embezzled, while stoppers got arrested · Global Voices
Bob Chen

“Disaster relief” is the mark stamped on these tents. But weirdly, they did not show up at any refugee camp, where thousands of homeless were still tortured by disturbing rains and wind, thirsty for a tent. Instead, the tents appeared in up-scale communities in uptown Chengdu.
On 21st, aftershock alert was officially released, which drove hordes of residents out of their houses to sleep on streets. In the city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, streets were filled up with various tents, while among them the camps exclusively for relief use were detected.
According to regulations, such tents should not be used by anyone other than refugees and at any place other than relief sites.
They showed up at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and by no means accommodated any refugees, at a time when the whole country is struggling to house roughly more than 3 million homeless, who were yearning for these shelters and also a good sleep after facing so much death and suffering.
That's how the refugees live.
While the tent from Kuwait was found in……somewhere unsuited
The mark on tent
Chengdu as a rescue-and–relief pivot has huge relief material passed on through every day.
Indignant citizens could no longer sit calm and therefore questioned against the potential embezzlement. However, this finally led to a conflict between police and crowd on the night of 21st, May.
The beginning—– An all-out search by cyber-activists
It started on 10am, 21st, with a post named <Live: all-search ghost-hunting, who are living in relief tents?>The posters kept updating the thread, with pictures adding on. As the original post has been deleted, you may also see it here.
Its prologue stated:
近日，论坛里不断出现救灾专用篷的身影，不过，它们出现的地点不是灾区，不是救援站，而是在各大小区。希望有关部门严查并给大家一个解释，现在伊藤一个双 人帐篷能卖到700，最近灾区连连降雨，灾民严重需要帐篷，为什么在这种情况下，救灾专用帐篷还会出现在小区里？难道这些安安稳稳住在小区里的人比灾民们 更加需要吗？
Recently, in this forum, numerous pictures of relief tents were found. However, neither disaster areas nor aid sites were where they were spotted, but in residential communities instead. We hope any official agency could give an explanation. Now a single Yiteng tent sells for 700RMB; and also, it was raining ceaselessly at the quake-rocked areas, leaving refugees craving for tents. Why did these relief tents still show up here? Do the residents there need it more than those refugees?
After calling upon all netizens to unite for the “ghost-hunting”, the thread went on:
上午11点，成都全搜索特别行动组，马上前往这些地方，现场去抓这些最丑陋的人，希望大家各个群转发，关注我们的行动！！！我们将与110联系，一起把这批救灾帐篷的来源追查到底，向网友公开！！！
11am, we’ll start out to these places (where relief tents were found) and catch these ugliest people. Hope every one of you could spread it by QQ groups and take a heed of out action!!! We’ll get to the bottom of the matter, report to the police and make it open on the internet!!
Their first battlefield was a community called Shang-dong Sunshine.
上午11点50分，最新消息：我们的第一记者已经来到了上东阳光小区，正准备进入采访，抓拍下这些”坏人”的嘴脸。根据网友线报，这次捉鬼行动，由于 有人通风报信，小区内已经有一顶抗震救灾专用帐篷撤离了，而另外一顶还在！(但是主人却不在)全搜索捉鬼行动组，帐篷到底哪里来的，是买的，还是挪用的救灾物资？
11:50 am, latest news: our first reporters have been in the community, ready to work, taking pictures of these “bad men”. According to the clue from netizens, someone has blown the gab so that one tent has disappeared, while another remained… (The owner was not found). Where are they from? Bought? Embezzled?
12点48分,这个时候，许多小区内愤怒的业主站了出来，大家围住这个帐篷，在物管方的配合下，对这个救灾专用帐篷进行了拆除，并立即将其交到红十字会，送往灾 区第一线！为上东阳光的业主叫好，你们是好样的！！！
12:48 am, presently, many furious residents have stood out surrounding the camp. With the help of community managers, the for-relief tent was dismantled, and delivered to the Red-Cross and the frontline!  Acclaim for the residents of Shangdong Sunshine!! You are so great!!!
During the action in Shangdong Sunshine, the activists noticed that the tent seemed to be used.
Their 2nd battlefield, Vanke City Garden community
Again there, no owner of the tent has been found.
然后去了万科城市花园，我们去万科城市花园的时候，已经看不到那顶”救灾帐篷”，据小区里热心人讲，在20日晚帐篷主人把帐篷搭起来的时候，周围人看 着就很愤怒，觉得救灾用的帐篷怎么能拿来私用呢，还有热心的住户拍了照片，现在上传的部分万科城花的照片就是业主所拍。可能是邻居的”鄙视”让他们受不了 了，所以当晚他们就把这顶帐篷拆除了。
When we arrived at the community, the tent has gone. According to a witness there, on the last night the tent has been propped up. But the surrounding people were provoked. How could the relief tents be of private use? Some people even took the pictures.(see below). Maybe the contempt of the crowd overwhelmed the owner, so that they removed it at the night.
Tent in Vanke community
Later, report from another community, Gingko Forest was uploaded.
“救灾”帐篷就搭在小区头，我们去的时候看到有一个年轻女子和一中年妇女正在帐篷中，但当我们问及”救灾帐篷”一事的 时候，这二位都说不是主人，当我们试图问到帐篷来源的时候，这二位都闭口不言，后来回来的一个小姑娘对我们的问题也基本上不做正面的回复。不过照片是拍到 了，大家可以看哈（因为图片中一小姑娘是未成年人，所以对其图片做了模糊处理）。
The tent was erected at the side of the community. We saw a young girl with another middle-aged woman inside. But the two denied them as the owners when we questioned the source of the tent, keeping silent. Later another girl returned, while gave no response either. We took the picture, but as she was under age, the picture was blurred.
And finally, they reported that in a few shops the relief tents were found on sale, 1300RMB/ each. Furthermore, they have reported to the rescue-relief headquarter at the district. The officials had promised to take action.
This post gained it pages of replies, particularly after that it was copied to the more influential tianya.cn. The embezzlement hurt not only volunteers but all warm-hearted people as well, who found their donation and goodness stained.
Some other pictures.
A wanted poster
Beautiful background, inopportune tents
The conflict at night
With the all-search group’s appeal, it could be reckoned that a lot of touched netizens indeed took action, which indirectly led to what happened at the night of 21st.
The following report was from Southern Metropolis Daily, which featured the incident on 25th.
Its description, in my personal opinion, is relatively objective among the mainstream paper media.
引发争执的帐篷搭建于20日傍晚，地点位于成都青羊区贝森南路和贝双街交叉口一角。帐篷的搭建者为附近兴苑小区一魏姓居民。一位邻居称，帐篷刚搭成，很多街坊就劝说魏姓居民将其撤掉，遭到拒绝。
The controversial tent was propped up on the evenfall of 20th, at the Bason Road. The owner was a resident of the nearby community, who surnamed Wei. A neighbor said though as soon as the tent was erected people came to urge him not, Wei refused.
On 21st, probably inspired by the thread aforementioned, some people acted, though their deed not recorded on the post.
有市民称，21日下午，一个中年男子和几位女子在帐篷里打麻将，有市民进去问帐篷哪里来的，男子回答“有关系弄到的”。当地居民称，曾有数名学生质问帐篷哪里来的，一女子回答：“市长问我我就说。”
Some citizens said, on 21st, afternoon, a middle-aged man played Mahjong with several women inside, when someone questioned where the tent was from. The man stated, he “took the tent because of connection”. Also, answering the questions of a few students, the woman alleged, “I’ll only tell if the mayor came to ask.”
The tent stood for the entire day.At night, when more and more furious citizens came around, denouncing the owner’s deed, they burst into a conflict with the coming police.
The newspaper then quoted the official police report of the conflict.
21日下午，东坡派出所一副所, 长带队，检查辖区内是否有人使用“抗震救灾”帐篷。在街头发现该帐篷后，民警要求帐篷搭建者魏某将其拆除。当地街道办事处的工作人员试图拆除帐篷时，围观的100多人不让，要求交出搭帐篷的人并通知媒体。
(According to the official report) On the afternoon of 21st, an officer took his team to check whether any one was using disaster-relief tents. Soon Wei’s tent was found, and he was required to have it dismantled. When the crew of the street office was trying to implement, the 100 people around refused, requiring the police to hand over the owner and inform the media.
A female police was a focus.
随后，10名防暴警察和派出所的其他增援民警赶到。警方称，东坡派出所一陈姓女警赶到后，群众针对她进行攻击。警方材料称，当时有人称帐篷是该女 警搭建的，下午她在帐篷内喝酒、打麻将。民警试图将该女警护离现场时，遭到了围攻。
Later 10 riot police and reinforcement hurried to the spot. The police said a policewoman surnamed Chen was besieged, under attack of the crowd. Some claimed it was exactly Chen that propped up the tent, and drank and played Mahjong in the afternoon. When the police tried to escort Chen out, they were under siege again.
In fear of being spotted, the mark was blotted.
当晚11时，围聚在该处的群众已达500余人。11时30分，警方再次调集60余名警察，将被困的民警解救
At 11pm, over 500 people have crowded at there. 11:30, another 60 police were dispatched, to rescue the surrounded out.
Later the policewoman denied she has anything to do with the tent.
Now let’s witness the incident in the point of view of a netizen, an account appeared at Tianya.cn, which was later deleted. But this site has copied the article.
事情开始是由于贝森路出现救灾帐篷,群众愤怒.然后其中一位群众质问在旁边的警察,警号为006677 的女警说:”关你们屁事!” 并打手打了情绪激动的问话者.后来这个女警被其3个穿警服,3个便衣的保护下想离开现场,但是被几百名群众围住,群众高喊:”道歉!道歉!”
It started when on Bason Road people furiously found a relief tent. One of the crowd questioned a policewoman with police No.006677, who rebuked “what the hell has it to do with you!”. She also hit the stirred questioner.
Later three uniformed and three plainclothesmen tried to protect her out. But hundreds of people blocked them in, exclaiming “apologize, apologize!”
在几名警察被愤怒的老百姓围住期间,有个别群众情绪激动,动手抓扯
During the process, a few angry people grappled with the police.
此事件女主角从开始到后来一直被身边的男警察保护着,但是她一直不说话,低头不敢看任何愤 怒的群众.她一直企图用手袋遮住胸前的警号,但是为了看到她的警号,群众情绪相当激动.中途有一队大概6个人的警察赶来查看情况,当他们一走进来马上就无法再走出去.其间,和群众发生了比较明显的打斗,然而,在面对数百倍于自己的群众们,这几个警察以其中一个被打晕而收场
The policewoman was always protected by her companies. But she remained silent, head low. She was always trying to cover up her police code. The crowd was rather provoked, trying hard  to see her code. A 6-men team rushed here to check what was happening, but as soon as they came in, they found no way out.
During the course, there was obvious melee. But facing the crowd hundreds of times larger than them, one of the police was hit unconscious.
Later she witness recorded the police released tear gas.
我明显感觉到鼻子的不适和眼睛不停的被刺激的气味弄的泪 流满面
I can evidently feel my nose and eyes uncomfortable, tears over all the face.
The witness then told his girlfriend a crackdown was coming.
30-40个警察集结…警察们冲进人群,开始疯狂的殴打群众,其手段之残忍,5,6个人打躺一个以后还对伤者头部猛踹猛踢,见人就打,其中也不少妇女被打.
30-40 police were concentrated…..they rushed into the crowd, hit the crowd brutally. 5,6 police against one, kicking at the heads. Some of women were struck too.
The night of tumult and uproar finally ended in a dispersal and crackdown. Pictures and video clip on this incident seemed to have been uploaded to some websites later.
Next morning, the punishment result came out.
7人被刑事拘留30天、1人治安拘留15天、3人被给予治安警告，1人监视居住。
7 got criminal internment of 30 days, 1 security internment 15 days, 3 warned, 1 residential surveillance.
it's notable that one of the 7 who got 30-day internment was due to his uploading the video to the internet. He is accused of slander.

author: Bob Chen


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Cuba: Incipient Crackdown? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Both Uncommon Sense and Ninety miles away…in another country blog about an incident in which “police and thugs from a ‘rapid response brigade’ swarmed about two dozen people as they marched toward a local cemetery to present a floral wreath honoring the memory of the iconic political prisoner Pedro Luis Boitel.”


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Cuba: Media Manipulation?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As Fidel Castro comments on the US presidential campaign, Child of the Revolution calls him “the consummate manipulator”.


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D.R. of Congo: Bemba’s arrest is selective justic · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Siasa Duni comments on the arrest of Congolese opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba: “As long as you commit atrocities as part of the government army, they do not qualify for war crimes, seems to be the message. There is the risk of another signal Bemba’s arrest might send to Africa: Don’t stop fighting or accept defeat in elections because they’ll drag you to The Hague.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Ethiopia: The life of Kedir Mohammed · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Enset writes about the life of Ethiopian soldier, Kedir Mohammed: “Even as a refugee, Kedir never ended his activism and the struggle for justice, human rights and equality of citizens of his country. He joined a budding organization that was cultivated by the Ethiopian students’ movement that culminated in the formation of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP).”


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Fire at Myanmar embassy in Thailand · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A fire broke out at Myanmar’s embassy in Thailand. Because of the fire, aid workers were not able to secure visas. Absolutely Bangkok comments: “What a coincidence that the fire ravaged that part of the embassy where those visas should have been issued?”


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First Brunei Climbathon · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Ranoadidas blogs about the first Brunei Climbathon held last weekend


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Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: Caribbean Nostalgia  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Haitian blogger kiskeácity links to an interview with Nicholas Laughlin, who is at the Calabash International Literary Festival in Jamaica talking about “Caribbean literature, imaginary roads, creoleness…”it all makes you a bit nostalgic…


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India: Homosexuality and the Law · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Law and Other Things reflects on the litigation strategy in a case that could have an impact on the legal perspective of homosexuality in India.


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India: Mango festival · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Photographs from a Mango Festival in India at the cooks cottage.


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Iran: Chris de Burgh and Aryan Band · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Chris de Burgh,famous Irish singer, has performed a song with Aryan band from Iran.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:No Permission for 100 books to get published · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Khabgard,an Iranian blogger, says[Fa] that according to a publisher there are more than 100 books waiting for long time to get Iranian government's permission to get published.The blogger calls it a new record for Iranian State!


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Israel: Crop Graffiti Celebrates Israel’s 60th Birthday  · Global Voices
Maya Norton

“I am a man of the land and deeply connected to this country. The field is my canvas, and my tools are the paintbrush,” says Israeli farmer Peter Viner, who grew his fields to read “Israel at 60″ in honor of the country's 60th anniversary. “Apparently, no-one’s ever done this kind of stuff before,” Nicky at Israelity writes. “Well, apart from aliens who have been decorating our fields with rather attractive mathematical patterns for some years now.”

author: Maya Norton


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Israel: Diplomatic Relations Don’t Extend to Soccer Field · Global Voices
Maya Norton

“I guess the Egyptians would rather quit than fight,” remarks Israel Matzav's Carl in Jerusalem. “An Egyptian soccer team which included diplomats from the country who are stationed in Rome decided to boycott a soccer tournament after a lottery determined that they would play an Israeli soccer team consisting of Israeli diplomats and embassy personnel stationed in Rome.”


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Israel: Holy Land Rehab? Amy Winehouse Rumor Debunked · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Rumors that Jewish English singer Amy Winehouse, famous for her song, “Rehab,” will be attending a second bout of drug rehabilitation in Israel have been denied by her handlers. Simply Jews, IsraelityBites, and Jewlicious have the story.


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Israel: How Well Do You Know Jerusalem?  · Global Voices
Maya Norton

How well do you know your Jerusalem trivia? Jacob Richman of Good News from Israel puts your knowledge to the test in preparation for Jerusalem Day, which will be celebrated this year on June 2nd.


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Israel: Making Peace from the Ground Up · Global Voices
Maya Norton

“They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,” says the Bible. Prof. Alon Tal of Ben-Gurion University and Dr. Muhammad Said Al-Hmaida of Bir Zeit University have taken matters into their own hands, proposing the creation of a joint Israeli-Palestinian committee to monitor transboundary environmental issues, such as air and water. Learn more at the Green Prophet.


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Israel: Shekels Friendly to the Blind  · Global Voices
Maya Norton

“Israeli currency has been accessible to the blind since 1975,” reflects Josh of Blogs of Zion, responding to a US federal court cases arguing that American money discriminates against the blind. Unlike US dollars, Israeli paper money has raised vertical and horizontal lines that help blind people differentiate between bills.


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Jamaica: American Standard · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Litblogger Geoffrey Philp is not in Jamaica for the Calabash International Literary Festival, but he's keeping track of what's going on, including Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott's criticism of the American standard.


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Jamaica: Gays and Golding · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Kadene Porter at Jamaica's Abeng News Magazine analyzes the Prime Minister's controversial BBC interview in which he said that there would be no gays in his Cabinet: “It is rather strange that this single issue has come to define the morals of a people, considering the heinous nature of crimes and degrees of moral turpitude that no longer assault the nation’s conscience.”


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Jordan: Choosing between two jobs  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian Salam writes the dilemma of choosing between two jobs. Read her post to see what she decides to do.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Jordan: On Top of the World! · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

According to Al-Ghad newspaper, Jordanain Mustafa Salameh became the first Jordanian to plant the Jordanian flag on top of Mount Everest, reports Jordanian blogger Hareega.


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Jordan: Shy of Bras  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

An exhibition with a difference is being held in Jordan – that of bras – and the media is shy from covering it, writes Ahmed Humeid.


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Jordan: Talent Show Star Returns  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian Naseem Tarawnah describes what happened when an aspiring pop star returned home from a talent reality show – and has a video to document his findings.


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Jordan: Where did you sit in class? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Where did you sit in class?” asks Jordanian blogger Roba, who provides us with an illustrated diagram showing how where students sat reflected their attitude towards the class.


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Lebanon: A deal is reached in Doha · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“Beirut – Lebanon is where the action will be after a deal was reached yesterday to end the political crises in Lebanon. Finally Lebanon this week will have a president and the tent city will disappear … hurray …what a break …The Lebanese will never forget Qatar,” reports tearsforlebanon in a post with updates.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Lebanon: An Eyewitness Report  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese journalist and blogger Lelia Mezher was one of several Lebanese bloggers who worked round the clock to keep the world informed about the crisis which rocked her country when different factions clashed in Beirut. Global Voices Online caught up with Mezher, who is involved with News Lab, in this quick interview.
* Who is Lelia Mezher? Occupation? Experience? Interests? Fears? Hopes?
I'm a Lebanese journalist at L'Orient Le Jour, a Lebanese daily newspaper, written in French. Actually it's the only French daily newspaper in Lebanon. I studied law and specialised in Internet Law and then did political science. I studied law in Lebanon then moved to Paris for my Internet Law (Paris I – La Sorbonne ) diploma and my Political Science diploma (Paris 2 -Assas).
After numerous internships in Paris between 2003 and 2006 (legal department at the Ministry of Economy, eGovernment agency affiliated to the Prime Minister bureau and an internship at Clifford Chance Law Firm), I didn't find a job their so I applied for an internship at L'Orient Le Jour. I started in July 2006, a few days before the Hezbollah-Israeli war. I got the job in August 2006.
My worst nightmare right now is the lack of freedom. With the Hezbollah imposing itself more and more, I'm afraid press freedom will dramatically drop, as well as women's freedom.  I really hope Lebanese will get to a point where they learn from their mistakes and stop repeating them every once in a while. No religious community can win over the other – Lebanon is a country of diversity. On a more personal level, I hope I can evolve in my career and one day be proud of my country, and stop feeling that the government is never there to look after you.
* What is  Newslab about?
NewsLab was a Canal France International – Anna Lindt foundation initiative. It’s my editor-in-chief Nagib Aoun who told me about it. A 10-day reunion in Alexandria to create a blog. When we met, 20 different women from 10 different countries, its was not easy to get along. But today I can say that we succeeded and we know what the blog is for. It allows u to remain free, especially in the Arab world. In Lebanon, we are free to write or say whatever we want, unlike in Egypt or Syria. So for me this blog had to be first and foremost for the Arab women. But not all of them write. Some completely abandoned the blog.
* What contribution have Lebanese bloggers had on voicing the concerns and fears of citizens on the ground during this current crisis?
In Lebanon, bloggers allow us to have an independent point of view of the situation since every political party has its own media here. There's no independent TV or newspaper except maybe L’Orient le Jour. Blogs were first considered as a threat to newspapers. Today they complete each other and blogs have become part of the sources of information on which you can rely.
* How has the Lebanese media dealt with covering the current crisis and how different was that coverage from what citizen journalists wrote on their blogs?
Strangely enough, not all the media was biased this time while covering the events. Journalists in many cases were indeed the voice of the people. One same impression of disappointment and sadness was everywhere. A big number of journalists managed to express the people’s feeling, unlike before. Maybe it’s the fear of a new civil war who created this reaction among the journalists.


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Lebanon: Clashes and Babies  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Diana, who lives in Dubai and is expecting a baby in two months, is glad to have returned to Lebanon. She explains: “I cried my eyes out when I saw the fierce clashes in Lebanon and thought that I will never manage to come back and that I will be all alone when it's time to deliver my baby. I was emotionally prepared that when that time comes, I will be in Lebanon, with family and most importantly with my mother. The mere thought that I will have to think of other options drove me crazy.”


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Malawi’s Ex-President Under House Arrest · Global Voices
Victor Kaonga

Following recent reports of alleged coup plotters, police yesterday picked up and put Malawi's former president Bakili Muluzi under house arrest. Lilongwe-based Journalist Bright Sonani gives eyewitness accounts as events unfolded at Kamuzu International Aiport in Lilongwe where Muluzi was picked as he arrived from a trip from the UK:
After the dramatic arrest right inside the Kamuzu International Aiport grounds at around 2.45 pm, the UDF Chairman was 30 minutes later whisked into a waiting Malawi Armed Forces Military Plane the 16 Seater Dornier which flew him straight to Blantyre.
Muluzi’s son Atupele confirmed that his father has been charged with treason.
However, government yesterday declined to immediately comment on the arrest which drew tension inside the city of Lilongwe with running battles between the police and UDF supporters who, angered, with the development closed roads especially those leading to KIA…..
“They have arrested the former President apparently on treason charges. They don’t have a warrant, they refused him to leave the airport, they want to take him in a military aircraft to an undisclosed location,” said Atupele, who was the only top UDF politician and Muluzi’s closest ally allowed into the airport grounds, soon after the arrest.
Soon after the arrest Police also instantly moved in to disarm the former head of state’s government security personnel.
The arrest of Muluzi has followed eight senior security and opposition political figures who have since been granted bail.
Meanwhile Malawi's president Bingu wa Mutharika is in Japan for a meeting of African leaders.
There are mixed reactions to the recent arrests. While all this is happening, one Malawian blogger is running a poll on how Malawians look at the recent arrests.

author: Victor Kaonga


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Malaysia: Blogs and websites under investigation · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Nobody and The Bolehland reported that 22 websites and blogs have been investigated by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission “for airing false, pornographic and baseless allegations.”


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Morocco: Campaign to Support the Unemployed · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Moroccan Bloggers Association has launched a campaign [Ar] draw attention to the atrocities and harsh treatment jobless Moroccan graduates with higher degrees are being subjected to when they protest for jobs.


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Morocco: Calculators are to Blame  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Moroccan blogger Essam Aissam [Ar] writes about the educational systems and grades students get in Morocco and Egypt. He concludes that graduates from his country could fare worse than their Egyptian counterparts, who failed miserably in entry exams for jobs in a casino. Aissam blames calculators for the inability of graduates to complete simple mathematics equations.


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Nepal: Women in Politics · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Anbika's DiGi Home on the increase in the number of women in politics in Nepal.


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Philippines: Human rights blog · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A group blog, Slaughter of Innocents, was launched to document extrajudicial killings in the Philippines


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Saudi Arabia: Pyschiatric Help for Teachers  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Saudi blogger Thamood [Ar] suggests increasing the salaries of teachers because of the harassment they are subjected to from students, who ask repetitive questions.  He says the money would go towards paying of psychiatric help the teachers would need.


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South Africa: Who is to blame for xenophobia? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

David blames the South African government for the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa: “No one hates foreigners like South Africans do. South Africa is said to be officially the most xenophobic nation in the world. So much for being xenophobic and all that but why go to the criminal extent of murdering about 50 immigrants? South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki was reported to have described the saga as “disgraceful” but I say it is far more than disgraceful. It is outrightly criminal and those behind the attacks must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law!”


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South Korea: Disrespect for Police · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Korea Beat translates a local newspapers article which explains the phenomenon of disrespect for the police in South Korea.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Sri Lanka: Bomb for a Bomb · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

groundviews on the disturbing trend of attacks on civilians in Sri Lanka.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Sudan: Stranded Palestinians  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Sudanese blogger Yahya Jaser Mohammed [Ar] sheds light at the plight of Palestinians stranded in Sudan – and who cannot return to their homes.


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Syria: Stalling Reform  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Syrian blogger Jassas [Ar] blames Syria's ruling elite of stalling development and reform in his country.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Ah Have ah Tabanca · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“You know if this was a relationship with a man, you wouldn’t still be here.  You would never stick around and take this abuse.  Stay for what?  Because this is where you were born?  This is what you know?  This is the only place that understands you?”: Trinidad and Tobago is doing its level best to disillusion Attillah Springer.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago: Got Mail?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

KnowProSE.com reports that the mail strike in Trinidad and Tobago is still on.


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UAE: Googling what? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

UAE blogger Fahad looks at what internet surfers in the United Arab Emirates are Googling and shares his findings in this post.


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Uruguay: Upcoming Performances of La Yunta Trío de Tango · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

La Yunta Trío de Tango is a Uruguayan tango group, which recently recorded its first album.  Café Montevideo [es] writes a little more background information and provides dates of upcoming performances.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Venezuela: The Poet Who Enjoyed the Simple Things in Life · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

This week was the birthday of the late Venezuelan poet Aquiles Nazoa , but unlike other years in which there many festivities,  the cultural life in Caracas was kind of silent. A couple of years ago around these dates, there were presentations full of humor and anecdotes remembering the poet, who used to write about the simple things of life.
Nazoa had always led a simple life. His poetry illustrated the beauties of daily life and the humorous soul of all Venezuelans. He was also one of the most furious advocates of Human Rights during the 1960s in Venezuela and this reflected his love for his people through his poetry. His work covered images of folkloric heritage, children’s games, colors, and dreams without putting aside political problems, freedom of speech and criticism of the bourgeois of the time. All of this was covered with a sharp and delicate, and at the same time, very authentic Venezuelan sense of humor.  And as Dulceambar [es]  writes, his works bring laughter to many. Nazoa is remembered by many, and Poética del Empedrao [es] writes that his greatest accomplishment is the eternal acknowledgement of his people.
According to Kalafia [es], it was on April 25th,  which marked 25 years of his death.  He describes Nozoa as:
Un verdadero maestro, ese que pone el alma en las manos de sus alumnos. Lo conocimos en la Escuela de Letras de la UCV y allì nos enseñò la vida secreta de las muñecas y los àngeles, el misterio del vuelo erràtil de los caballitos del diablo sobre las aguas de los rìos. Hoy queremos rendirle homenaje, al llamado jocosamente “ruiseñor de Catuche” porque es el poeta que supo captar y expresar el màs puro sentir venezolano, eso que llaman “la conciencia nacional”. Y por ser tan venezolano era tan poeta, y tan humorista y tan polifacètico.
Nazoa was a real teacher, the one that puts his soul on the hands of his pupils. We met him at the Faculty of Arts (UCV) and there he taught us the secret life of dolls and angels, the mystery of the flight of the dragonflies on river waters. We would like to pay him homage today to the poet humorously called “Cantuche’s nightingale” since he was the poet that best knew how to capture and express the purest feelings of Venezuelans, something we like to call “the national conscience”. Being so Venezuelan was the reason for him to be such a poet, so humorous, so versatile.
The blog Ilustres [es] gives some details of his life. Here we have the last activities, of great transcendence:
Durante la década de los 70, además de preparar libros como La vida privada de las muñecas de trapo, Raúl Santana con un pueblo en el bolsillo y Leoncio Martínez, genial e ingenioso(publicado después de su muerte), dicta charlas y conferencias, mantiene un programa de televisión titulado Las cosas más sencillas y proyecta la formación de un grupo actoral que pusiera en práctica el «Teatro para leer». Muere en un accidente de tránsito (…). En su memoria se creó por proposición de Pedro León Zapata, la cátedra libre de humorismo «Aquiles Nazoa», inaugurada el 11 de marzo de 1980.
During the 1970s besides preparing books like (The private life of rag dolls, Raul Santana with a town in his pocket, and Leoncio Martínez wonderful and ingenious) he gives speeches and conferences, he presents a program called Simple things and helps with the training of a theatrical group the “theater to read”. He died in a car accident. In his memory, and through Pedro León Zapata’s proposal it was created the chair at the university “Aquiles Nazoa”, which started on March 11, 1980.
Among his works there were an important number of humorous pieces written in verse for theater, with new versions of classics like Hernani and Cinderella, among others that made fun of marital life and “high class” ladies with their “new money” as a criticism to the new bourgeoisie. Here, a part of his Cinderella on YouTube [es].
Aquiles Nazoa was truly a wonderful soul to the Venezuelan body. Many literary prizes and elementary schools have been given his name. He adored children, people, pigs and dogs. He had a special devotion to people’s education and struggle for justice. And since without an example of his works this post would be incomplete, let’s do an effort in literary translation to bring to this space a little piece from the poet:
Verbos irregulares:
Estos son unos verbos que, a paso de tortuga,
Yo conjugo,
Tú conugas,
Él conjuga…
Como sin garantías todo el mundo se inhibe
Yo no escribo,
Tú no escribes
Él no escribe
Pues de escribir las cosas que uno tiene en el seso
Yo voy preso,
Tú vas preso
Él va preso
These are some verbs that, slow like a turtle
I conjugate
You conjugate
He conjugates
And since everyone is afraid with the lack of constitutional rights
I don’t write
You don’t write
He doesn’t write
For if one writes all the thoughts under the veil
I go to jail
You go to jail
He goes to jail
His biography here, and more of his poems (in Spanish) can be seen here.
Finally, some bloggers have fond memories of childhood alongside Nazoa's verses. Plomo al Arpa [es] writes:
Estudié toda la primaria y el bachillerato en el “Instituto Parroquial San Juan Bautista de La Salle”, frente a la plaza Capuchinos y al lado de la Escuela “19 de Abril” (Antigua Escuela Zamora) (…)Así me fui impregnando de San Juan, creciendo entre su gente y familiarizándome con su arquitectura, jugando en la plaza entre sus hermosas columnas de ladrillo rematadas por vigas de madera, sus palomas y sus borrachos, representando en actos estudiantiles las obras de un famosísimo libro llamado “Humor y amor”. Sentía particularmente cercano este libro porque lo que leía en él lo olía, lo veía, lo sentía en el camino al colegio, en mis juegos en terrenos abandonados, en mis paseos entre casas antiguas para hacer un “mandado”. Un día me conseguí con un poema que hablaba del palomar de la plaza Capuchinos y me pareció todo un detalle que un poeta le dedicara unas líneas a ese testigo de mis juegos y mis escapes de clase, después sabría que ese poeta había recorrido esas calles y estudiado al lado de donde yo lo hacía y que había hecho todo un universo con las cosas más sencillas que había percibido, muchas de las cuales forman parte de mi infancia. (…)  el poeta de las cosas más sencillas, ese que me reenamoró de mi ciudad y de mi San Juan tan querido. Feliz cumpleaños Aquiles!!!
I studied all my life in San Juan Bautista de La Salle (a High School) in front of Capuchinos Square and next to the old Zamora School. (…) Thus, I grew up among that people and getting familiar with the architecture, playing at the square, with its beautiful columns made of brick and finished in wood, its pigeons and drunk men, representing little plays from a very famous book called Humor y amor (Humour and love). I felt particularly close to this book, since all I read and smelled the things that I felt it on my way to school, and in my childish games in abandoned fields, and in my walks through all the antique houses when they sent me to run an errand. One day, I came across a poem about the Capuchinos Square's pigeon house and I thought it was a wonderful detail that a poet could dedicate some lines to my games and when I escaped from school. Afterwards, I would know that this poet had run in the same streets and studied next to where I did and that he made a whole universe with the most simplest things that he had seen, and most of them, were also a part of my childhood. (…) The poet of simple things, the one that made me fall in love again with my city and my beloved San Juan. Happy birthday Aquiles!

author: Laura Vidal


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Zimbabwe: MDC activists arrested
 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Action Alert from Sokwanele in Zimbabwe: “3 MDC activists are at Bindura law and order and need lawyer today. Their names are Zivai Chimombe, Adimere Mudavanhu, Farink Mudavanhu”


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Afghanistan: View from a grain of sand · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Afghan PenLog tells about a documentary film about women in Afghanistan in the past thirty years of the country's history through the lives of three women.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Algeria: Third World Countries  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Algerian Nouri shares his thoughts on Third World countries in this post.


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Argentina: 400 New Courses to Be Offered at Cultural Centers · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The Argentine Ministry of Culture has announced that 400 additional new courses, such as drama, tango and photography will be offered at neighborhood cultural centers in Buenos Aires, wries Argentina Travel Guide.


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Armenia: Historic Football Match · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped says that a football match staged in Armenia between the country's Under-19 football team and one from Turkey was a historic occasion. Although neighbors, Armenia and Turkey have not established diplomatic relations.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Armenia: Public Chamber · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

The Armenian Observer reports on plans to create a public chamber of NGOs, businessmen and public figures to help facilitate dialogue between the authorities and society. However, with most of Armenia's many thousands of NGOs inactive and interested only in hunting grants, the blog has its doubts about the effectiveness of such a body.


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Bahrain: A Tourist at Home  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini Khalid shares his experience as a tourist in his own country – when college friends from abroad came for a one-day visit.


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Bahrain: Ban on Bangladeshis · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Following a tragic incident a few days ago, when a Bahraini was killed after he refused to pay a Bangladeshi mechanic the 500 fils (1.3 USD) extra he was demanding for a job, Bahrain has now stopped issuing work permits to Bangladeshi nationals. A group of MPs are planning to submit a proposal to parliament to expel all Bangladeshi workers, who might be as many as 90,000, from the country because allegedly they commit more ‘shocking and gruesome crimes‘ than any other community.
Mahmood is not impressed by this knee-jerk reaction, and he says:
There are a few things that suggest that our society is in a desperate state. The indicators are probably best exemplified by the exclusionary standards our parliamentarians and their electorate take. Both are quick to condemn whole peoples, nations and even civilizations due to isolated incidents without taking one second to reflect on our own shortcomings and our non-exclusive ownership of basic human values. … If you talk to Bahrainis fortunate enough to have lived in the 70s and before, they will categorically tell you that they have never experienced anything like this, they will confirm that they didn’t give their neighbour’s race or religion much importance. They will further tell you that they habitually interacted with each other in various ways; they visited, conducted business and even fought the British occupation together by forming and maintaining a cohesive multi-cultural front that crossed confessional divides. The common denominator was their Bahraininess which surpassed every other consideration. They celebrated their differences, rather than diligently work at finding the chinks to exploit in each others’ armor. The stark contrast between that era and now could not be more evident. What we now have is an acutely insular society with impenetrable walls propped up by suspicion and hatred of the other. This “us and them” atmosphere is condoned by the government – regardless of how many denials we hear from their higher echelons – evidenced by the selective employment policies, the conditional awards of constitutionally guaranteed citizen benefits and the disparity in economic circumstance. … Let us remind them that their role is to ameliorate differences and protect the national unity, and not diligently and wantonly work at exacerbating them. The demand to expel and ban Bangladeshis because of the unfortunate result of a single person’s moment of anger is tantamount to our agreement to the entrenchment and even encoding xenophobia as our main Bahraini trait.
Reeshiez comments on the post:
This is the most ridiculous thing that I’ve heard and is blatant racial discrimination. I can’t believe our government did this and that many people support this law. You can’t punish an entire nation for isolated incidents by their citizens. How would bahrainis feel if all arabs were banned from coming to the US because a random Bahraini killed an American citizen? I am completely disgusted.

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Bahrain: Hating Facebook · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif says he hates Facebook – or more specifically its applications.


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Bahrain: Sectarian and Xenophobic  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“It seems that Bahrain (as in government and MPs) are just not content with being called sectarian but are now adding a new adjective to their resume-
xenophobic,” writes Bahraini blogger Yagoob, after MPs called for banning Bangladeshis from working in Bahrain.


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Bahrain: Shia Shrines  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bint Battuta in Bahrain visits two Shia shrines and posts pictures here.


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Bahrain: The Ideal Woman  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Bahrain, The Girl with No Face says she will go through a surgical procedure to help her reduce weight and adds: “I’ve given up that one day someone will love me for me. I have to mold into the ideal woman. The ‘ideal’ woman that has no fat on her body and has no hips.”


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Bahrain: When sect determines your spouse · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Coolred38 is an American Muslim living in Bahrain, and she often finds herself frustrated at examples of what she sees as bad and even harmful behaviour being justified by religion. She recently posted about a ‘scandal’ in the family of a friend of hers:
Long story short…Sunni girl and Shiite boy have loved each other for 5 years…secretly. Both were terrified to tell family members knowing exactly what the reaction would be… …Fear gave way to a determination to either get married with everyone's blessing…or get married and go it alone…which is basically what it boiled down to. His family are refusing to talk to him…many of her family have abandoned her. All of this hate and anger for what…cause he is Shiite and she is Sunni…aren't they both Muslim though? … I am constantly amazed at this lifelong animosity felt between these two sects of Islam…so much anger and resentment and claims that the other is not living Islam the proper way…far as I can see…the moment each became a “sect” each was not living Islam properly. Islam was meant to unite Muslims…to unite the community into a common understanding and belief. To make Muslims feel safe among each other at least if not among non Muslims. God gave us the Quran as a source of guidance to bring us together and live peacefully with each other…justice always in our thoughts and actions…and yet most Muslims spend all their lives tearing Muslims apart….but they do it with culture. It is culturally not acceptable for Sunnis to marry Shiites and vice versa…God does not forbid Muslims from marrying each other…hell if we can marry Ahal al Kitab (people of the Book) then we can damn sure marry fellow Muslims…and yet Muslims themselves have made “laws” that forbid Muslims from marrying Muslims…the ego of man knows no limits. … The one man who the girl's family assumed would go ballistic and do something apparently violent to her (or maybe the boy) turned out to be the most level headed and genuine Muslim of the whole lot….both families included. When her mother approached him (as her husband is dead so the uncle is the guardian) with this “devastating” news…shaking with certainty that this tragic news would cause fire to explode from his eyes and some sort of mini Jihad of death to automatically take over his thinking skills…he said something quite astounding to everyone who heard it. He quietly commented that if his niece loved this boy…who was he to deny her choice of a husband? … I am in awe of this Muslim man that, while professing his identity as a Muslim with his tongue…also professed it with his actions. Something few Muslims are prepared or willing to do. … I wish these two newly weds much success in life and may they have a happy and long love filled marriage that many Sunni/Sunni or Shiite/Shiite marriages do not…may God bless their marriage…even if their fellow Muslims do not.
Gardens of Sand commented on the post that she knows of many such examples:
Sad to say this animosity still goes on. While I consider myself Muslim, my father is Shi'i and my mum is Sunni. … My best friend was beat with a shoe by her mum when she professed her love for a Shi'i. … Another Sunni friend said that a cousin was old & so desperate to marry she married a Shi'i man. I could go on and on and on… Really what can you tell to people who perpetuate sectarianism all the while condemning it and/or professing innocence and claiming it's the others to blame??


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Bangladesh: A cartoonist and the state · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

E-Bangladesh has an interview with Arif ,the condemned cartoonist who was charged by the state of profanity and sedition.