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Jamaica: Death Penalty  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“An issue which seems to be troubling the government over their decision to reinstate the death penalty, is the worry that foreign governments will stop making aid contributions”: Jamaica Salt explains.


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Japan: 2008 Politics · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Neojaponisme has a roundup on 2008 Japan Politics, in particular concerning the dynamics within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Oiwan Lam


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Japan: Digital mech art · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Edo from Pink Tentacle has a collection on digital illustrations of mechs, droids and borgs.


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Keep the world talking—donate to Global Voices! · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

We've just launched our online donations page, and we're hoping you'll consider supporting Global Voices with a financial gift. For while our sponsors have helped us get this far, we need the additional support of individual donors in order to remain independent, free and sustainable, especially during these difficult times.
This month marks four years since a group of bloggers from around the world gathered at Harvard University to talk about how blogs and other then nascent technologies could enhance online global dialogue and political advocacy, resulting in the formation of Global Voices. Today, we're a vibrant global community of more than 150 active volunteer authors and translators and more than 20 freelance part-time regional and language editors, and a leading participatory media news room for voices from the developing world.
Your donation will help sustain the efforts of our authors and translators who work around the clock to bring you updates from conflict areas, natural disasters, and from the frontline of battles for freedom of expression.
Even a small contribution will help pay for server expenses, monthly fees for editors, and a small team of staff.
Additional funding will help us keep actively translating our content into more than 15 languages, and add new languages to the mix, ensuring that individuals and media professionals around the world have access to the diverse voices coming from citizen media at a time when coverage of international news is under serious threat.
Donate now to Global Voices, and declare your commitment to helping amplify stories, images and videos from ordinary people across the globe who use the internet to communicate with their fellow world citizens.
Thank you!

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Malaysia: Cycling for change · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

After two weeks of journey through the states of Malaysia, cyclists who joined the “Cycling For Change” campaign entered the Parliament complex yesterday to bring forward their demands to the representatives.

author: Mong Palatino


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Malaysia: To Live By The Slopes · Global Voices
Daniel Chandranayagam

Within the period of two days, two landslides caused much damage and death in Kuala Lumpur. This perhaps might not have made such major headlines had it not occurred just a few days to the 15th anniversary of the Highland Towers tragedy, which caused the deaths of 48 people. Terry wrote on the Highland Towers:
On Saturday, December 11, 1993, at about 1.30 pm, after 10 days of continuous rainfall, a landslide was triggered. Mud slipped into the basements of Block 1 and hence shifting the entire base of the building, hence the entire block collapsed, trapping residents inside. When the rescue operation was called off after days of searching, 48 people were recorded dead. Many countries like Japan and the US sent professionals to help the rescuers here to get trapped victims out from the collapsed rubble. The nation (Malaysia) declared this incident a national tragedy.
Immediately after the collapse of Block 1 the residents of Blocks 2 and 3 were prevented from entering their apartments by the local authority having jurisdiction of the area, the Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ), for fear of the instability of these two buildings. A couple of days later, these occupants were allowed in, in restricted numbers, but only to collect their personal valuables. At that time, even with the presence of the security forces, the apartments were looted. With the eventual passing of time especially when security was reduced and subsequently withdrawn altogether, vandalism became more intense. By 1998, when this court visited the site, every apartment in Blocks 2 and 3 was completely stripped of contents, including fittings leaving only the naked structure.
Image of recent landslide courtesy of www.syahrinaziz.com
The first of the recent landslides occurred at a commercial area where buildings were perched on a hillslope. Jeff, an eyewitness, wrote on his blog:
It happen when I was going through the issues log, suddenly there is a loud noise and the whole building is shaking.
Since I have already noticed the cracks on the road few days ago, I knew in an instance that the road must have collapsed after the heavy rain in the afternoon. *Lucky it didn't fell earlier when I was running by from car park in the heavy rain (else it might scare the hell out of me)*
As usual, everyone is running out from the building to see what have happen, I did the same except I grab along my Ricoh GRDII…
…and that is what I saw…
Image of recent landslide courtesy of Kokstang
Disaster struck again two days later at Bukit Antarabangsa, in the vicinity of the Highland Towers Tragedy, in a residential area. This time, the landslide killed at least four people, with seven missing on the first day, 15 injured, 14 bungalows destroyed and 4,000 people evacuated from the area.
Image of recent landslide courtesy of www.syahrinaziz.com
The Lifeballade blog had this post:
Do they learn what had happened in 1993?? Highland Tower collapsed and many [sic] died [sic] when this collapsed, children, adults, old people.
What have the developers had done for all these years?? With this accident, don’t they still choose not to believe this is our earth calling for help?
My heart shrunk when I saw the piece of news where the husband uses his bare hands to dig the earth to find his wife. The wife managed to save all her children, but she was not able to get out from it, and was buried alive.
Why were developers built those houses near the hill?
Why were those hill cutting projects approved?
Why none of these people understand the greenery is important to our earth?
Image of recent landslide courtesy of Edreenchenart
State assemblywoman, Elizabeth Wong, wrote on her blog:
One of the earliest policy decision made by the new Selangor state govt of Pakatan Rakyat was to throw out any housing and building applications on Class 3 and Class 4 hillslopes, in order to preserve environmentally sensitive areas and prevent the recurrence of landslides. This was decided on April 2, 2008 Executive Council meeting.
Selangor became the first and only state in the Federation to have complied with the Federal Town and Country Planning Department’s “Total Planning Guidelines” 1997 (2nd edition, 2001) which states that no housing development should be allowed on 25 degrees and above gradient slopes.
Developers thought it was a late April Fool’s joke. Since our ban, they have used all means – the media, blogs, lobbying of ADUNs and MPs etc. to change of our minds. We were labelled and villified as “anti-business” and “anti-development”. I have even had some of our Pakatan MPs asking us to make exceptions for Class 3.
And every couple of months, we have to repeat our policy decision again. Even as recent as last month, developers were insisting that they had the right to develop hillslopes and some had told a couple of ExCo members that they were planning to sue us. One of them said we would have to compensate them RM 330 million (25% of our state budget) of possible loss of profits. Imagine the pressure of a lobby group whose combined income and assets dwarfs the state government.
Saturday’s tragedy proves the correctness of the decision of the state government. But vindication which comes after loss of 4 lives and more homes is unspeakably bitter. There are some 5,000 residents living within the vicinity of the landslide who face uncertainty and possibly have to vacate their houses.
Image of recent landslide courtesy of Kokstang
In response to this, Johnny Ong wrote on his blog:
Lobby? Who are this group of lobbyists? Even Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak quoted the same word. He mentioned this – “calls on developers not to lobby or pressure the Government for any building permits for hillside development.”
Anyway, both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister were cohesive on this – government will not be issuing any more permits for hillside developments.
However, the Prime Minister said something that was half correct – “But Malaysians never want to learn from past experiences, they want a good view (scenery) while developers only seek to profit but no one takes safety and soil stability into consideration.”
Malaysians who purchased properties had expected the property developers to have gotten proper licences and approvals, after having submitted the development plans / soil studies / drainage and irrigation planning, from the relevant federal and state government agencies. You can't say that the purchasers are partly to be blamed for willing to buy up the properties.
Image of recent landslide courtesy of www.syahrinaziz.com
Meanwhile, SC Watch comments on the recent tragedies:
First, it happened in Ulu Yam, just on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur killing two young girls. Then it happened in the city, right between the buildings occupied by our foremost investment bank, CIMB (fortunately no casualties). And the latest taking place at the suburb called Bukit Antarabangsa or International Heights (todate 4 dead).
The latest trajedy at Bukit Antarabangsa is not very far from the more infamous one at Highland Towers, where just under 50 lives were lost in 1993.  I remember a few years later, then PM Mahathir noticed blatant clearing of hill-side areas whilst travelling in a helicopter over the same Bukit Antarabangsa area and ordering a stop to those clearing ……. but the development still carried on subsequently …. after taking “certain precautionary measures” on the part of the developers.
It is so ironic that only when lives are lost, properties damaged, thousands of people displaced that the government decides that enough is enough.
Image of recent landslide courtesy of Kokstang
Gan Vin Tsen adds:
So now Bukit Antarabangsa and the surrounding area have been classified as the “dangerous belt”, for real this time. Oh, so it's only seriously declared as the “danger zone” after the 3rd bloody time something severe like this happened.
The Highland Tower tragedy that killed 40 odd innocent lives weren't enough to make this place the “danger zone”? Landslides after landslides for the past few years still weren't enough for the government to take action?
I've just found out that this area was being labelled as one of the hazardous area near town by researchers, years ago may I add. But it was ignored, no actions were taken, development still carried on like nobody's business.
Highways, condominiums, bungalows etc. Nothing can slow down, moreover stop these life-threatening development around Bukit Antarabangsa. Nobody cared about the “researches”. Not the developer, nor the government.
Image of recent landslide courtesy of www.syahrinaziz.com
But not everyone blames the developers or the government. The Paddle Planet Pedal comments:
Many people hold the view that Malaysia should have a large population to create a critical mass of consumers to energize the economy. This puts pressure on many sectors such as crime rates, rising prices, demand for housing, the destruction to the environment and the rapid if not rabid urban sprawl.
This has a direct meaning on the landslide incident. Population and housing pressure pushes developers to look for new sites to build more dwellings. One victim is land which was previously trees and hills. They are cut down and terraced to be turned into housing estates.
Although, it must be said that it is not clear if this commentary is in all seriousness or tongue-in-cheek.
The developers’ names have not been highlighted, and mainstream press have not highlighted any press announcements made by the developer(s) in question. Zorro Unmasked proposes:
Let the onus of proof on safety of hillside development be fully with the developer. Let town planners not compromise on any development to fatten the profits of developers
Image of recent landslide courtesy of Kokstang
Bloggers also are disillusioned by the authorities assurances on future hillside developments. The Malaysian writes:
As a people, Malaysians must be sick and tired of the government's assurances every time such a tragedy occurs. After a short period of mourning it is back to business as usual – The MBs keep enriching themselves by influencing the doling out of permits and the local authority bigwigs keep filling their private coffers by allowing development wherever the developer wants, as long as they pay the considerable bribes. One feels such a sense of helplessness amidst all the corruption and unwillingness of the government to at least do something about it. Terrible
Furthermore, bloggers are questioning current hillside development. Tathsing writes:
Nearer home in the District of Penampang, we have seen a number of hillside development. Are these slopes stable and sustainable unlike the slope in Bukit Antarabangsa?
I pray that we don’t have to sacrifice some lives back home here before the local authority and government sit up and notice properly these approved developments.
Meanwhile, power has been restored to the area, and the SPCA and volunteers have searched for missing or abandoned pets. The death toll reported is four, with one missing. Many people are still trapped in their homes in the affected area.
Image of recent landslide courtesy of www.syahrinaziz.com
A geotechnical engineer was reported to have said that an abandoned development of double-storey houses might have caused the landslide. The report stated that as the site was not completed, and with there being no maintenance of the site, the slopes might have caused the buildings to collapse, causing the landslide.
The Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi, has issued a stop-work order on all current hillside development projects. While state governments in three other Malaysian states have frozen highland projects.

author: Daniel Chandranayagam


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Myanmar: Killing of elephants for trade · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

According to BurmaNet News, an increasing number of elephants in northern Myanmar are being killed for its ivory and skin for over a decade. Myanmar has the largest elephant population in Southeast Asia.


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Nepal: Darkness in Nepal · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bibek Paudel discusses about the constant power outages in Nepal which are disrupting the daily lives of the Nepalis.

author: Rezwan


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Pakistan: Letting The Children Watch The Slaughtering of Animal · Global Voices
Rezwan

Achelois: a retired goddess comments on the animal sacrifice in Islam and the tradition of letting children watch the slaughtering: “I believe that there is no need or reason for us to show animals being killed to young children.”


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Philippines: Iligan City Mall Bombings · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Two bomb explosions followed one after the other, rocking two malls packed with Christmas shoppers in the southern Philippine City of Iligan yesterday afternoon. The Mindanao Examiner blog reports: “The first bomb exploded at around 1.25 p.m. inside the Unicity Commercial Center in Iligan City and this was followed by another blast 20 minutes later at the Jerry Supermart in downtown Iligan City, said Army Lt. Steffani Cacho, a spokeswoman for the Western Mindanao Command.” Two were reported killed and more than forty were wounded in the blast.
Authorities were quick to blame the blasts as the work of “terrorists.” Iliganons were just as quick to react on the bombings in their blogs. The incident took locals by surprise. The blogger of Joys in Life exclaims:
I haven’t heard any threats in the past days.  Or we here in school adminstration did heard of one.  So this happening is really unexpected.  It’s Christmas and everyone was festive especially that today is the last day of classes before vacation starts.  Tomorrow is Muslim holiday so it’s kind of we will be having long long vacation.
It was not the first bombing incident in the city this year but many, like WHAM Wannabe, are alarmed because of its proximity to the Christmas celebrations. The bombing had LinGZ worried over attending her school's Christmas swimming pool outing. Mae prays for her neighbors – vendors near the affected stores who were injured during the blast. PreMEDitated took a peek at the hospital:
Had my companions and I decided to go to the College a little later, we would have been victims of the recent bombing in Iligan City. All excitement for the upcoming events in the Colelge melted away as we heard the story. Two were already confirmed dead. An unconfirmed number were wounded.
We heard the bodies were placed in the hospital just at the back of the College, and we decided to have a look at them. A crowd had already gathered around the place when we came. The scene would have just looked like an ordinary gathering except for a scream that effectively revealed to us the reality of the event.
Guardianspress shares his close brush with death:
We were then plying the Quezon Avenue en route to the reported place and since we can not directly proceed due to the heavy traffic, however, we maneuvered our way and entered the route which is supposedly a one way traffic only passing the nearby Jerry’s Bargain Center which is more or less around 30 to 40 meters away from the Uni city where the first blast occur. I was then supposed to park my motorcycle in front of the said establishment when as if something pushed me to go nearer at the site where the first blast happened, thus, instead of having my motorcycle park at Jerry’s Bargain Center, I had it park in the opposite side of the road fronting the PLDT Office. Subsequently, around 30 seconds had just lapse after which I had my motorcycle park – when suddenly another blast erupted again and this time it was at the baggage counter of Jerry’s Bargain Center, the place where I supposed to have been park earlier. I was really speechless because had it not been for something that made me move forward then probably, we were among of those being hospitalized or being put into wake by now.

author: Karlo Mongaya


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Republic of Congo: BarCamp Congo · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The first BarCamp in Central Africa will take place in Brazzaville on December 23, 2008: “BarCamp Congo is organized by the Committee for the Promotion of Information Technology in Congo (COPTIC), of which I am a member. The committee comprises officials and enterprises of the ICT sector.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Rwanda: Military leader convicted of genocide  · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

UN Dispatch reports that Col. Theoneste Bagosora, and two accomplices, Maj. Aloys Ntabakuze and Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva were sentenced to life imprisonment for “genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes” by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda today.

author: Elia Varela Serra


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Singapore: Discrimination against construction workers · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

After four months of staying in Singapore, electricstars observes: “The Bangladeshi and/or Indonesian construction workers are some of the most shunned and disfavoured people on this island.”


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Singapore’s universities among the world’s best · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Blowin’ In the Wind blogs about the quality of higher education in Singapore.


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Murderer Sentenced  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As the Vincentian courts hand down judgment on Stacy Wilson‘s murderer, Abeni says: “Death by hanging usually makes me squeamish and uncomfortable but in Sean Samuel's case it was welcomed with something akin to joy.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Thailand: Academic calls for rule of law · Global Voices
David Reid

Bangkok Pundit has posted a statement from Thongchai Winichakul calling for rule of law in Thailand as a means to end conflict. Bangkok Pundit also criticises the National Human Rights Commission.

author: David Reid


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Trinidad & Tobago: Eating Blue  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Onika Henry at Discover TnT Blog recounts her experience at this year's Tobago Blue Food Festival.


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Ukraine: Chernobyl Panoramas; Welsh Sheep and Radiation · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Chernobyl and Eastern Europe writes about the effect of Chernobyl on sheep breeding in Wales, and posts links to panoramic photos from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone – here and here.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Adgator: Africa’s First Advertising Network for Bloggers · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Adgator is the first ad network for African bloggers created by Afrigator, a social media search engine and blog directory. The network is currently being tested in South Africa. Plans are underway to launch the network in Kenya and Nigeria next year.
Why an ad network for bloggers? Lester Hein explains on Afrigator's blog:
Why would we want to create an ad network I hear you ask? Well, it’s simple. We know that for many bloggers, writing is a passion and an outlet. But we also know that it takes up many long hours and that sometimes is gets difficult to keep going with no real reward (other than the satisfaction of your content being read and interacted with by others). So we’ve built a system that allows bloggers to earn some money from their blogs.
Since it’s still early days for the system, we’ve invited a small group of bloggers to try out the system and be the first to start making some money from their blogs. If you would like to join us, have a look at www.adgator.co.za for more info.
Justin Hartman notes that Adgator links bloggers to advertisers “in a way that Google Adsense and other forms of online marketing simply can't do.”
He continues:
The more I’ve been watching the collective growth of our network the more I’ve come to realise just how powerful blogs are in relation to other traditional websites. As an example, the top 100 blogs in South Africa (as measured by Afrigator) account for more than 1.7 million unique users and serves over 5.6 million page views each month.
This makes the network as powerful in terms of audience reach to South Africa’s #1 local website, News24, which also serves around 1.7 million uniques each month ~ (Nielsen Netratings – Q2 June 2008).
The scary part for me is that more than 1,200 blogs registered on Afrigator haven’t implemented our tracking code so they can’t be added to these figures and if you had to add them to the mix I have little doubt the network would look a whole lot different.
So, with a total network cap of 3.2 million unique users and 7.9 million page views I’ve often wondered how we can use this network to all of our advantage and I believe Adgator is the answer to this pondering.
How does one join Adgator?:
The concept of Adgator is simple. Sign up as a blogger, insert a piece of code into your blog theme and we’ll go out and find advertisers who are willing to spend money. Each time a blogger sees one of our ads on their website they know that they’ve made money. Initially we’ll be sticking to a CPM model because that’s what advertisers understand and we will share 50% of the revenue with bloggers.
This model means that a blog serving as little as 2,500 page views a month can make R300 for doing nothing and if you’re lucky enough to be a high-traffic blog your earnings could be as high as six figures. Our aim with Adgator is to be as transparent as possible and all blog owners will have their own access to our system so they can track their earnings in real time. In our reporting we break down cost, revenue share and total income so the blogger knows exactly who’s getting what.
Bloggers Reaction
Bloggers have reacted positively to the creation of an advertising network focusing on African advertisers.
“Adgator takes on Adsense in Africa,” declares Appfrica:
The South African social media aggregator Afrigator is taking on Google’s Adsense by offering a platform for Advertisers and bloggers interesting serving their local audience. Afrigator has a reach of 1.7 million African bloggers. Platforms like Adsense often fail in foreign markets because of their size; a significant portion of the ads they place aren’t relevant to local audiences at all. By focusing on South Africa specifically, Adgator can make sure that the ROI for advertisers remains pretty high.
Afrigator has money and credibility to run an ad network:
Afrigator recently had a sizeable stake acquired by MIH Print Africa, a division of Naspers Limited. This gives them more money to work with, and more credibility. This also means that they have a sizable sales team at their disposal, which is one of the biggest issues when doing an ad network.
Before you run off to Adgator and sign up, here are a couple things you should know:
It’s a 50% revenue split with Adgator.
You get paid on a CPM basis, so you had better have a good deal of traffic to make money.
A piece of advice from South African blogger Rafiq:
Want to deliver targeted ads across South Africa’s top blogs? Reaching over 1,770,000+ unique people each month. Give AdGator a go.
Chris M has a list of things he would love to see on Adgator:
•	Cookie setting to avoid logging in each time
•	Firefox widget to see daily earnings
•	A daily average statistic in the dashboard
•	A blogger referral affiliate system
◦	Ability to see how many referred
◦	Ability to see how much revenue earned
•	A way to see all advertisers currently serving Ads to my site
◦	Ability to block them
◦	Ability to maximize impressions from them
◦	Ability to minimize impressions from them
◦	An understanding of whether they’re paying for local only traffic
•	A way to choose the pay-out threshold
•	A leaderboard, showing top 20 earning bloggers per month
No doubt, I’ll come across more and as I go, I’ll keep adding them to this list.
Greenman is excited about “The chance for local advertisers to advertise locally, and for local bloggers to earn locally, without an American company taking a cut and subsidising BushObama…”
It is about creating a fairer world:
Circulating money as locally as possible is one the most important prerequiites for a fairer world, and one of great potentials of the internet.
The giant vacuum cleaner effect of large US/European companies earning effortless revenue from everywhere in the world is one of the most insidious effects of this otherwise highly beneficial burgeoning global community. Credit card companies, Paypal, Skype – the money goes in one direction only. Google actually send some back the other way, but slice a large chunk off on the way. It happens in so many spheres – telecoms, where two Nigerians communicating with each other one building apart have their call routed via Europe, earning money for European telecoms providers. Or in food, where raw cacao is picked, sent to Europe, processed into chocolate bars, and sent back to Africa. Or computers… or just about anything.
The internet breaks this vicious cycle in the easiest way. While producing something like computers may require large investment and equipment, the barrier to entry in the virtual world is much smaller. Primarily, it requires skills, while at the same time the internet is the best means to ensure access to the knowledge required for developing these skills.
Adgator potentially breaks the loop in the online advertising sphere, and does so in a way that on the surface seems to be a great deal for local bloggers – a 50-50 share between Adgator and the blogger.
However, Adgator design has irritated Shaun:
The single most irritating thing about South Africans, the interwebs, and web 2.0 is that nobody can dream up a single original idea and build it. (Except for, I’m hoping, this guy). We copy muti from digg, amatomu and afrigator from technorati, Synthasite from [choose-your-lame-site-builder], Blueworld “social network” (ahem!) from myspace, AmaGama/iBlog from WordPress.com/Blogger, Zoopy/YouTube, the list goes on, and then we slap some really stupid justification like “we are localising it for a South African audience“.
Yeah, localising it for what South African audience? The one that uses the *other* internet that we have in SA, not the *real* Internet? Come on.
Yes, you all suck on originality, copycats, and that pisses me off.
But there’s a new one. And oh, how the mighty have fallen!
After bitching and whining and moaning and circle-jerking in a great hoohaa about how Regator kinda sorta maybe looks a bit like Afrigator, yes I’m looking at you Mike, and Stii, and Justin, and co, you have the nerve to launch Adgator on the site design of Text Link Ads. That’s pretty low. And Lame. You couldn’t even change all the text…
Did you honestly think nobody would notice? Or was I surfing on that *real* Internet that doesn’t have an audience in SA and this is a better more “localized” version?
Justin Hartman of Afrigator responds:
Hi Shaun
I’ll copy the same response I left on Chris’ blog when this came up.
Geez you guys are sharp and on the ball – there’s no getting away with anything!!!
Text Link Ads was my inspiration due to the simplicity of the layout and design and I’d be lying if I said we didn’t copy the code.
To be honest we didn’t really expect the site to be going live so quickly and we needed something up and running ASAP. With Mark Forrester on leave (planning his wedding) I was left at the web design helm and this is what you get when you let a business/operations guy to do the design!


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Armenia: LGBT News · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped: Gay Armenia is pleased to inform its readers that following the recent UN statement in support of LGBT rights, World Focus has quoted the blog in its report on the move which Armenia endorsed. In related news, the same blog also details the contents of a new issue of a Georgia-based LGBT magazine which includes a report on the homophobic propaganda tactics of Russian online activists during the recent war over South Ossetia.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Brazil: Against Illegal Abortion or Against Women? · Global Voices
Daniel Duende

Abortion is a very complex issue in Brazil [1, 2], just as almost everywhere else in Latin America. It is considered a crime in the country, not punished only in proven cases of pregnancy caused by sexual abuse or that put the mother's live at risk. There is an effort by parliamentary representatives to change the law so that abortion can be accepted in a broader spectrum of cases [Pt], but it doesn't seem likely to happen anytime soon due to the political power of the pro-life groups in Brazil.
Despite the law, it is believed that over 1,000,000 clandestine abortions take place in Brazil, and over 70,000 women die [Pt] of complications from clandestine abortion attempts, each year. In some states, like Bahia, female mortality rates are 5 times higher than the limit accepted by the World Health Organization, most are deaths caused by complications resulting from illegal abortions [Pt].
Crucified Woman, by Eric Drooker. Used under permission. All Rights Reserved.
Bury the dead. Prosecute the survivors.
Last November, more than 1,500 women faced charges [Pt] and in the Brazilian city of Campo Grande, 30 of them were indicted for the crime of abortion on the same day. Ironically, there is a rumor that some of these women will be sentenced to doing community work at childcare institutions. It is either this or going to jail. Elyana, from Rosa e Radical [Pt], vented her outrage in her blog [Pt]:
“Fizeram as contas? Em cerca de 4 horas e meia o juiz condenou 4 mulheres e acusou mais 1.070.
Nunca antes nessa minha vida vi a justiça trabalhar tão rápido.
As acusadas entraram com habeas-corpus, mas todos eles foram negados.”
In another post, Elyana quotes an interview [Pt] with Health Minister José G. Temporão for a popular science magazine about the issue. Temporão says that abortion is a public health issue and points out that opposition to its legalization is connected to gender issues. Below, are some of the words quoted by Elyana:
“[…] como as classes de menor renda não têm acesso à informação e aos métodos anticoncepcionais, são as mulheres pobres que realizam aborto em condições inseguras. Para as mulheres ricas, o aborto é uma questão que não se coloca. Elas fazem. Em condições seguras. Pagam R$ 2 000, R$ 5 000. As mulheres pobres não. Existe também uma questão de gênero. Eu pergunto: se os homens engravidassem, será que essa questão já teria sido resolvida? Como é que alguns setores têm coragem de dizer que essa é uma questão que não pode ser discutida? Não vamos discutir que as pessoas estão morrendo? A realidade está batendo na nossa cara.”
Mothers of the World, by Eric Drooker. Used under permission. All Rights Reserved.
An Inquiry into Illegal Women… I mean… into Abortion
The Minister's point of view, however, doesn't seem to be shared by many people in the Brazilian Government and blogosphere. On December 8th, Arlindo Chinaglia, president of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, approved the creation of a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry [Pt] on Illegal Abortion in Brazil.
The Commission of Inquiry was petitioned by a large group of pro-life deputies lead by Luiz Bassuma, who collected more than 220 signatures of fellow congressmen to support its creation. Bassuma is a member of the Worker's Party (PT), the same party of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and was elected Federal Deputy by people of the state of Bahia. The Worker's Party, which decided in its last convention to take a pro-choice stand on abortion, is now threatening to expel Bassuma due to his condoning the Parliamentary Commission on Illegal Abortion.
Many self proclaimed pro-life bloggers welcomed Chinaglia's initiative.
Jorge Ferraz , from the Christian blog Deus Lo Vult [Pt], congratulates Arlindo Chinaglia for the installation of the Commission of Inquiry into Illegal Abortion in his newest post:
“Já não era sem tempo; desde fevereiro que se fala nisso. Rezemos para que o crime seja combatido, e o assassinato de crianças inocentes não seja tratado pela sociedade com indiferença e impunidade.”
Hermes Rodrigues Nery, Executive Officer at the National Movement for Brazil Without Abortion, blogs at O Possível e o Extraordinário [Pt] about the “perverse international interests in abortion in Latin America” [Pt]:
“Há décadas querem impor e generalizar a prática do aborto nos países da América Latina, torná-lo inclusive um direito humano, o direito da mulher torturar e matar um ser humano inocente e indefeso dentro de seu próprio ventre […] A questão do aborto está inserida no contexto do controle demográfico. Os especialistas que fundaram o Conselho Populacional da ONU (em 1952), entre eles, Warren Thompson, já indicavam o aborto como estratégia pragmática para conter e até diminuir as populações pobres do mundo. […] Como vemos, a “conjura contra a vida” é um processo de um poderoso sistema (cultural, político e econômico) que age sem que muitos não se dêem conta de estarem sendo vítimas de alienação e manipulação. Agora, temos a oportunidade – com a CPI do Aborto – recém-criada no Congresso Nacional – de apresentar documentos, relatórios e depoimentos para expor e erradicar essa “chaga social”, com isso, trabalhando na defesa do direito à vida dos milhões de excluídos, barbaramente torturados e assassinados, para atender a lógica perversa dos poderosos, que agem contrariando o princípio universal de que a plenitude da vida é um direito de todos e um bem para todos.”
Many bloggers disagree, and think that the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on Abortion will only expose and intimidate women, and prey even more on woman's rights.
Alessandra from Blog Terribili [Pt] thinks Bassuma has something against women, and that the Commission of Inquiry is a religious move within the traditionally secular Brazilian State:
““CPI do Aborto” parece brincadeira de mau gosto. Vem do Bassuma, aquele deputado que é contra as mulheres, que parece que elege as mulheres como inimigas número um. Ele quer vê-las na cadeia, como criminosas, por terem cometido o terrível equívoco de tomar para si as rédeas de seu corpo e de sua vida. Ele se esquece de que o Estado é laico, que as pessoas têm direito de ter ou de não ter crenças e de que ele não pode impor sua fé religiosa sobre todos e todas.”
Jandira Queiroz, a blogger and woman's rights activist who writes on the blog Sapataria-DF [Pt], thinks that the CPI on Illegal Abortion is a way to persecute women and prey on their rights [Pt]:
“Como sabem, no ano de comemoração dos 60 anos da Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos e às vésperas da realização da 11ª Conferência de Direitos Humanos, vivemos a intensificação da perseguição e criminalização das mulheres […] Mais do que nunca, precisamos denunciar a violação explícita aos direitos humanos das mulheres […] Os direitos das mulheres são direitos humanos!”
“This Hypocrisy Causes Hemorrhage. Legalize Abortion. Give us rights over our bodies. Global Women's March”. Picture of a banner at the WSF in Porto Alegre, Brazil, by Gabby de Cicco, used under a Creative Commons license.
Pedro Cross, on his Multi-Eu [Pt] blog, tells us a little bit more about the opposition of many Brazilian congresswomen to the Commission of Inquiry:
“A exposição da vida privada das mulheres é o principal argumento que a bancada feminina na Câmara dos Deputados apresenta para se posicionar contrária a instalação da CPI do Aborto. […] A deputadas se queixam de não terem sido ouvidas em um assunto que é de interesse da bancada e vão questionar o Presidente da Casa sobre o fato da CPI do Aborto ter sido instalada antes da CPI do Trabalho Infantil, que estava na frente na lista das comissões a serem instaladas.”
A very complex issue
Some bloggers are very worried about the pro-choice movement in Brazil, which they see as an anti-life and homicidal crusade against the rights of the unborn children. Not only do they support the CPI on Illegal Abortion, but one of them also points out that our people “might die out just like the Russian population” if the Brazilian Government doesn't fight illegal abortion in Brazil, or, worse still, if the Government legalize it. Marcelo, from the blog Quadro Conservador [“Conservative Picture”, in Portuguese] says:
“A Rússia é o paraíso dos abortistas. Como todo país comunista, o aborto é totalmente liberado e publicamente custeado. Como o ateísmo também foi incentivado durante o século em que era comunista, barreiras morais também não existem por lá. O resultado é este: um país desesperado diante do declínio de sua população. Os russos entrarão em extinção? Como havia dito, uma política cuja conseqüência é o declínio da população humana é má por natureza.”
Whether the Russian population are actually facing extinction, or if the Russian laws on abortion are the cause of such a decrease in numbers, is a matter of debate.
Helder Moraes, from Doa A Quem Doer [Pt], states that abortion is a crime usually committed by people “who lack moral, responsability and control over their sexual desires”, but supports abortion in cases of sexual violence:
”Sou CONTRA o aborto. Só sou a favor de aborto em caso de gravidez de RISCO e em caso de ESTUPRO, pois a mulher não pode ser obrigada a gerar um filho que ela NÃO DESEJOU, ainda mais vindo de um ato HEDIONDO desse. Do contrário, excluindo essas duas possibilidades, o aborto deve ser PROIBIDO SIM !!! Em vez de abortar, tem que se fazer a campanha:  “FECHEM AS PERNAS MULHERES”. O que falta é muita vergonha na cara. Falta MORAl, falta RESPONSABILIDADE, falta EDUCAÇÃO, falta tudo !!! Por isso, fazem filho de penca, a torto e a direito e depois ficam aí… lamentando e procurando clínicas clandestinas de aborto !!!”
Later in the post, Helder tells us what solution he believes would solve the problem:
“Sou a favor da esterilização OBRGATÓRIA de pessoas POBRES que tenham de 3 a mais filhos, e a favor de aborto somente em casos de gravidez de risco e de estupro.”
Many other bloggers and Orkut users agree with Helder's ideas, either by openly blogging and posting similar comments around the blogosphere, or by simply agreeing with and congratulating those who do so.
On the other hand, women's rights groups, such as Front for the Right of Abortion [Pt], state that abortion is a feminine right in the context of choices about their own bodies and lives. Márcia Silva, from the Marcia e suas leituras [Pt] blog, posts the Front's manifesto, partially quoted below:
“A criminalização das mulheres e de todas as lutas libertárias é mais uma expressão do contexto reacionário, criado e sustentado pelo patriarcado capitalista globalizado em associação com setores religiosos fundamentalistas. Querem retirar direitos conquistados e manter o controle sobre as pessoas, especialmente sobre os corpos e a sexualidade das mulheres. […] A maternidade deve ser uma decisão livre e desejada e não uma obrigação das mulheres. Deve ser compreendida como função social e, portanto, o Estado deve prover todas as condições para que as mulheres decidam soberanamente se querem ou não ser mães, e quando querem. Para aquelas que desejam ser mães devem ser asseguradas condições econômicas e sociais, através de políticas públicas universais que garantam assistência à gestação, parto e puerpério, assim como os cuidados necessários ao desenvolvimento pleno de uma criança: creche, escola, lazer, saúde. […] Nenhuma mulher deve ser presa, maltratada ou humilhada por ter feito aborto!
Dignidade, autonomia, cidadania para as mulheres!
Pelo fim da criminalização das mulheres e pela legalização do aborto!
“Abortion should not be a crime”. Image by the Front for the Right of Abortion.
As we have seen above, abortion is a very complex issue in Brazil, mixing religious and secular morals, human rights, political infighting and gender issues. There is not much agreement even among those who fight for the right of choice or for the rights of the unborn. It's hard not to take sides in the ongoing, daily growing, discussion in Brazil. Outspoken pro-life and pro-choice bloggers and activists exchange bitter words, and some self-proclaimed pro-life activists go as far as to say on pro-life Orkut communities that every abortionist should die in a terrible way. Contradictory statements apart, we'll keep listening to the voices that speak about Human — women's or unborn fetuses's — Rights in Brazil, and hope for the best.

author: Daniel Duende


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Cuba: Best Books of 2008 · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Penúltimos Días [es] provides a list of the best Cuban books of 2008.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Egypt: Gamal Eid detained and deported from Jordan · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

The Jordanian intelligence prevents Gamal Eid, the General Manager of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), from entering Jordan because of his criticism of freedom of expression in Jordan two years ago,The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, The Skeptic reports the details.

author: Marwa Rakha


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Egyptian Spinsters · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

The outcasts of the Egyptian society – the spinsters – are raising their voices in an attempt to change how society views them.
Khokha – the anonymous author of The daily diaries of a sinister spinister - says:
Abeer Soliman, an Egyptian writer and the author of The Journal of a Spinster, wrote:
Hence, we are not suitable for our men; we are all very opinionated women with a history of strife and achievements. Having said that, it only makes sense that after the attraction, the fascination, the day dreaming, and the sandcastles, those men decide that we are totally unfit for being wives and mothers leaving us to face our destiny as spinsters.
Ethat ElKatatney of Muslimah Media Watch wrote an elaborate post on the issue confessing that she is a 21-year-old spinster.
Yes, a spinster at 21. In my country, although many many Egyptian women are delaying getting married until they’re in their mid-to-late twenties, society still looks at them with a critical, disapproving gaze.
“Men and women were made for one another. You are a sinister spinster.”
“Better a man’s shadow than that of a wall.”
Both are Arabic proverbs reiterated by mothers, aunties, grandmothers and even friends, the former meaning that women who don’t marry are labeled “spinsters,” and the latter meaning that any man is better than being single.
I hate the word spinster, as I’m sure any woman does. It’s definitely no female equivalent of bachelor. Wikipedia tells us spinsters have a reputation for:
Sexual and emotional frigidity, lesbianism, ugliness, frumpiness, depression, astringent moral virtue, and overly-pious religious devotion.
Nice. And in Egypt, where according to the latest statistics there are approximately 9-10 million spinsters over the age of 30, unmarried women are (alternatively) rejected, stigmatized, mocked, gossiped about, pitied and constantly reminded of what they’re missing out on.
Which is why 27-year-old Yomna Mokhtar’s facebook group Spinsters*/ Old Maids for Change is such a breath of fresh air. Mokhtar is a journalist at Al Yom al-Sabe’, a weekly Arabic newspaper, and she set up the group in May ‘08. True, I don’t know how successful a Facebook group of 600 (and counting) trying to change the Egyptian mentality of “spinsters” is going to be, but at least it’s an effort. The group has a media spokesperson, a social advisor, a religious advisor, and a psychologist. Impressive.
Discussion topics on the group include When spinsterhood is a choice, We won’t wear hijab or pray taraweeh [supplementary] prayers for the groom, Latest list of the groom’s demands, etc.
Ethar, a journalist herself, tracked down the media responses to Yomna Mokhtar's group
The first articles about the group were written in October within days of each other at Al-Lawha Online and at Al-Arabiya (the latter with hundreds of fascinating comments that offer great insight into Egyptian psyche and an interesting choice of picture. Though I disliked Mokhtar saying she is against semi-arranged marriages, which she says turn women into “cheap commodities.”)
A couple of days later, an Egyptian forum posted a Q & A with Mokhtar. She told them:
My goal is to change the image of the spinster in our society, encouraging the woman not to isolate herself from it, and ingraining [in her] the idea that making the world a better place is not only through marriage and producing babies, but in improving your community through the abilities God gave you.
Unfortunately, the Q & A wasn’t exactly the best I’ve ever read. The reporter (who happens to be a man) asked her: “Why do you have such a negative idea about spinsters?” (duh, it’s not her, it’s Egypt), “Why did you use the words ‘for change,’ which are used by political movements?” (conspiracy theory much?), “Does your movement rebel against the the idea of marriage?” and most infuriating of all:
Why don’t you try changing the image of the spinster by trying to fix the behavior of some women who have helped give spinsters a bad name?
Thankfully, she pwnd him:
Your question encapsulates exactly the view of society towards women whose marriage date was delayed, who look at her as the girl with a bad reputation, and this is the viewpoint we are fighting against. Especially since a lot of [unmarried] women […] hold the highest educational degrees and the highest positions. But no, society begrudges them their success and considers it a way of compensating for delaying marriage.
A couple of days later, The Daily News Egypt picked up on the story from the Arabic media. In the article, Mokhtar said she used the label ‘Spinsters’ in the group title though she’s against it, because “it is the term people use.”
I also believe that using a different label for unmarried women would just be ignoring the reality of the term. By using it, they’re trying, in some small way to “take it back.”
Two weeks after that article came out, the story made the Los Angeles Times, where the author interviewed Mokhtar and brought up two great points. One, that men are also joining the Facebook group, and two, that this is not the first time an Egyptian woman discussing the issues surrounding marriage does so online, with the first woman being the author behind the satirical blog wanna-be-a-bride.
[And I”m being kind of catty here, but this article's translation of the group's mission statement needs some serious work].
Then two days ago, The Agence France-Presse wrote about the group, finally snowballing it onto the global sphere. (English version and French version).
The article was pretty inclusive, and I particularly liked the fact it mentioned that marriage is an obligation for all Egyptians—Christians and Muslims alike. The author also interviewed a well-known sociologist, which gives Mokhtar’s opinions added weight, and stops anyone from brushing off her comments as the rantings of a bitter spinster. The author also pointed out that the group isn’t asking for the right to be single or crossing any of society’s “red lines.”
(Though I’m sure the fact that Mokhtar is veiled was very important to mention—you know, to prove that she’s not one of those morally decadent spinsters. As was adding that mass Islamic weddings are held with the aim of preventing “deviant” behavior (a.k.a., homosexuality and premarital sex), and not simply with the aim of helping those without funds get married).
Another French interview with Mokhtar was also published on the same day at Lepetitjournal with the title Spinster Girls: Objects of Mockery. My French is a little rusty, but as a journalist I loved the lead:
O la la! The poor girl! She’s still not married? But why? When will she start a family? She risks living the rest of her life alone, the poor girl!
And the comment: “Not getting married is an unforgivable mistake; refusing to marry a punishable crime!”
It was also a Q & A interview, and Mokhtar explained that Facebook is not enough for what the group wants to accomplish. In the future, they will be holding seminars to raise awareness and meetings where spinsters can talk about their experiences to their family in the presence of a psychologist.
ElKatatney messaged Mokhtar on Facebook and asked her what she though of the media coverage thus far. She said:
I liked the western coverage more than the Arabic coverage, which I only dealt with superficially. [There's been] other coverage in other print newspapers like Al-Masa’ and Rose al-Youssef. One reporter asked me if the role of the movement was to improve the behavior of unmarried women who don’t get married because of their bad behavior. I think the problem is not about the media outlet as much as it is the journalist. A good journalist, whether western or eastern, produces a good article.
The 21 year old spinster concluded her post saying:
I am feeling so inspired now. My new title = empowered spinster. Hmm, not really working for me. Bachelorette?
*The Arabic word used, ‘Anis, has several meanings in Arabic but is socially understood to mean spinster/ old maid.


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Former Tunisian Diplomat Sentenced To 8 Years By French Court · Global Voices
Suzanne Lehn

Khaled Ben Said, an ex-vice-consul in Strasbourg, was convicted of having ordered acts of torture and barbary upon fellow countrywoman Zulaikha Gharbi when a police superintendent in the Tunisian city of Jendouba 12 years ago, and sentenced to 8 years imprisonment by a criminal court in this same Strasbourg, by the way the seat of the European Court of Human Rights.
The Tunisian diplomat was tried in absence, since he fled from France in 2001, after hearing that a complaint had been lodged against him by Ms. Gharbi, whose husband is a political refugee in France as a member of Tunisian banned islamic party Ennahda.  The trial went on account of universal competence, a mechanism allowing legal proceedings against the authors of alleged serious crimes, whatever place they were committed and whatever authors’ or victims’ nationality. This procedure stems from a 1984 UN convention against torture which was introduced into French legislation in 1994.
It is the second time in France that a sentence has been delivered on these grounds. In 2005, a Mauritanian  serviceman was sentenced to 10 years for acts of torture perpetrated in his own country.
Tunisiawatch a blog “censored in Tunisia” taking up mainstream medias articles,explains :
[…] En l'absence de l'accusé, le procès auquel la Ligue française des droits de l'homme et la Fédération internationale des droits de l'homme (FIDH) s'étaient constituée parties civiles a aussi été celui du système mis en place par le président Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, au pouvoir depuis vingt et un ans. Plusieurs témoins ont dressé un portrait au vitriol du régime tunisien où, selon eux, la torture est érigée en “pratique d'Etat”.
These testimonies eventually gained the court's conviction, although the French state's representative had called for acquittal, stressing the utter lack of evidence in the record.
“This is a further advance in the fight against torturers’ impunity and a strong signal to Tunisian authorities ; torturers, if safe in Tunisia, are no longer so in other countries”, commented the Human Rights Organizations’ lawyer.
In a further post, Tunisia Watch adds :
Khaled ben Saïd qui fait l'objet d'un mandat d'arrêt international depuis 2002 n'a pas la possibilité de faire appel puisque l'audience s'est déroulée sans lui. Toutefois s'il est arrêté, il sera rejugé. Au-delà de la peine prononcée soit 8 ans de RC, c'est-à-dire en décembre 2016, il y aura prescription.
Earlier in the day, the Tunisian authorities had denounced the trial as a “complete fabrication” and further said that “claiming torture would be a tolerated practice in Tunisia pertains to dishonesty and
disinformation”.
Nawaat.org portal is a tad bit skeptical while wondering whether the taboo about torture in Tunisia is on the way to being lifted. The blog quotes CNRS researcher Vincent Geissler, who told during the hearings :
“En Tunisie, sous Ben Ali, on torture au nom des droits de l’homme et on viole les femmes en invoquant le droit des femmes”, a également expliqué devant la cour Vincent Geissier. Cette pratique “est destinée à humilier et à diffuser la peur”. Avant d’ajouter : le recours à la torture, “c’est un mode de contrôle de la société”.
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Readers voiced their various opinions (Fr.) in the comments section of the local website of newspaper Libération and at leJDD.fr.
One (optimistic) pick :
Rédigé par: GDP : Comme quoi, n'en déplaise à Sarkozy, la justice progresse davantage en France que les droits de l'homme en Tunisie.

author: Suzanne Lehn


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Iran: A blogger was sentenced to five months in prison · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and several iran based blogs Esmail Jafari, an Iranian blogger and journalist based in the southwestern city of Bushehr, was sentenced to five months in prison on 6 December on charges of “anti-government publicity” and “disseminating information abroad.” He is still free pending the outcome of an appeal.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Israel: Celebrating Hanukkah with YouTube · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Every year at this time, Jews look forward to Hanukkah, the festival of lights. Jacob Richman posts a list of 70 Hanukkah videos on YouTube, among them is an old favorite: Adam Sandler's “Hanukkah Song.”

author: Maya Norton


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Israel: Decking the Halls in the Holy Land · Global Voices
Maya Norton

“We ended up doing the ultimate Christmas thing in the Holy Land,” muses Anglosaxy.  “Eating felafel, made by Israeli Arabs, sat next to a hungry pack of street cats…the kids enjoyed themselves anyway!”


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Israel: Kibbutz Features Argentinean Murals · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Israeli Mom describes her visit to Kibbutz Or HaNer, which is special for its large scale murals created by Argentinean artists Daniela Almeida and Jose Kura. “During 2007, Kura and Almeida were invited to the kibbutz (founded by Jewish immigrants from Argentina), to create a collection of murals that will describe various facets in the life of the kibbutz,” Israeli Mom explains.


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Israel: LivniBoy Gives ObamaGirl a Run For Her Money · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Check out LivniBoy, Israel's answer to ObamaGirl. His YouTube video, “Love Song to Tzipi Livni,” has received over 6,350 views this week alone. Tzipi Livni is the Kadima Party candidate for prime minister in the upcoming winter elections. You'll be able to enjoy the feel of the video even if you don't speak Hebrew, including the chorus, “I will be your man, rak tagidi li ken (just tell me yes).”


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Israel/Palestine: Violence Hurts Both Peoples · Global Voices
Maya Norton

“The region has been slowly but surely moving back into instability. With Qassam rockets and mortars being targeting Israeli communities and Israeli helicopters and tanks targeting Palestinian locations. Several Palestinians have been killed. Several Israelis injured, All people in the region are in fear of further escalation,” observes Hope Man, the Israeli writer of the jointly authored Israeli/Palestinian blog Life Must Go On in Gaza and Sderot.


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Japan, Brazil: A centenary of Japanese Immigration to Brazil. · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

In June 1908, the Japanese ship Kasato Maru (笠戸丸 ) [jp] docked in the Port of Santos (São Paulo) after a 52-day voyage, bringing the first Japanese families to Brazil. The journey had started on the 28th April of the same year, when 781 Japanese farmers left the port of Kobe after deciding to move to the other side of the world in search of better living conditions.
Since then, the Japanese community in Brazil has grown year by year, particularly during the war years. However, not only was the integration process of the Japanese immigrants into the native Brazilian community very long and difficult, the relations within the same Japanese community were also very complex, due to the different reactions that their distance from the homeland roused in the individuals as well as their willingness and ability to adapt to the new country.
id: Parupalo Oyaji (パルパロおやじ) at Paruparo Weblog analyzes some historical events that well describe the complexity of the situation within the Japanese community in Brazil during the war.
１９４１年に開戦した日米間の戦争、太平洋戦争ではブラジルに移民した日本人たちにとっても深刻な問題を引き起こしました。ブラジルが連合国側についたため、現地にいた日本人は敵性外国人になってしまったのです。ただ、不幸中の幸いは、米国やペルー在住の日本人たちのように強制収容所には収監されずに済んだことです。それでも、敵性外国語である日本語の使用は禁止され、日本語で書かれた新聞・雑誌の配布が禁止されました。
In 1945, Japan surrendered to the United States and World War II was over. But for 80% of the Japanese community in Brazil, Japan had won the war. Parupalo Oyaji carries on explaining a dark piece of history:
戦争の結果について、日系人社会が二分されてしまったのです。一つは「敵国からの情報を信じてどうする？日本が負けるわけはない」という「勝ち組」。他方は、冷静に事実を受け止めて日本の敗戦を認識していた（ポルトガル語がわかる人たちで日本が不利な状況であるという途中経過についても認識していた）という「負け組」でした。
「勝ち組」のなかでも特に過激だったのが「臣道聯盟」という国粋主義的団体で、ついには「負け組」のメンバーを「国賊」として処罰するという武力行使に及んだのでした。この抗争は次第に激化し、翌年ブラジル軍事警察によって「臣道聯盟」が壊滅されるまで、２３名もの死者を出してしまったのです。外国の地で、本来は助け合わなければならない日本人同士が「殺し合い」をするという大変悲しい事件が起きてしまいました。
これだけの騒動を起こしてしまったのですから、当然のこと「日本人移民の受け入れ」は禁止されましたが、１９５２年から再び解禁となり、その後も１９７０年頃まで移民が続けられました。
日本から移民した総数は２５万人、今でも６万人を少し下回る数の一世（日本人）がブラジルに暮らしています。
また、ブラジルのいわゆる日系人と言われる人たちは、２世から５世まで含めて１５０万人という海外日系社会最大規模を誇っています。
Japan-Brazil Exchange Year
As agreed in 2004 by former Primer Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Brazilian President Lula da Silva, 2008 was elected as Japan-Brazil Exchange Year and during this period all sorts of cultural events have been promoted to celebrate the centenary of the Japanese immigration to Brazil.
Takanori Kurokawa,  a Japanese blogger who lives and studies Portuguese in Recife (in the northwest of Brazil), describes a Japanese festival  organized to celebrate Japan-Brazil Friendship Year.
11月最後の日曜日でした。
毎年この日にはレシーフェのフェイラ・ジャポネーザ（日本語では日本市になります）というが開催されるのですが、今年も盛大に開かれました。
今年は日系移民100周年ということでレシーフェの日本人会や日本人、日系人が関わる団体、会社など力を入れていたようです。
レシーフェに住む日系人の数はサンパウロ、パラナーに比べれば圧倒的に少ないので、このお祭りもたいしたことないんじゃないかと思っていたんですが、これが結構すごかったんですよ！
会場となった旧市街地の一角は所狭しと屋台が並び、入り口には大きな鳥居が。
日本文化を紹介するコーナー、食べ物のコーナー、手芸品やお土産のコーナーの3つに分かれていました。
[…]あとすごかったのはアニメのコーナーです。日本のサブカルチャーとして大人気のアニメですが、当日はマンガを売る屋台や、コスプレグッズの屋台、ゲームの屋台もありました。
僕の知っているマンガのコスプレ、知らないマンガのコスプレをしたブラジル人でいっぱいでした。
Brazilian Immigration to Japan
While in the first decades of the 20th century many Japanese emigrated to Brazil in search of work, the immigration tendency [en, pdf] changed in the 90s and many Japanese-Brazilians began to immigrate from Brazil to Japan, coming to represent the category of dekasegi (出稼ぎ, lit. “the one who leaves his house in search of an income”). In the late 80s, in fact, when Japan had already become one of the world's wealthiest countries, the Japanese Ministry of Labor began to facilitate the entry of ethnic Japanese workers, granting them labor visas in order to supply the shortage of workers in the so called “dirty, dangerous & demeaning professions”.
Nowadays, there are 300,000 Japanese-Brazilians (日系人, Nikkei-jin) living in Japan and most of them work in car factories [en] often as temporary employees under precarious working conditions.
At  Raten Nikkei Ryugakusei (ラテン日系留学生), a blog that collects the voices of some Japanese-Latin Americans, Patricia Yano (矢野パトリシア) writes her reflections on her identity as a Japanese-Brazilian.
私は日系2世です。小さい頃から日系人社会とブラジル人社会の両方を経験しています。日本人の祖父母からいろいろ学んで、日系人であることを誇りに思っています。
[…]ブラジルでは日系人コミュニティは2%を超えませんが、日系人コミュニティをポジティブな少数派として認められている。しかし、日本にいるブラ ジル人は、ネガティブな少数派の特集を抱えている。この両面的な特徴を抱えている日系ブラジル人のアイデンティティはどうなるであろう。
自分自身は、日本とブラジルの文化を自分のアイデンティティに統合しました。しかし、両アイデンティティを統合するプロセスは簡単なものではありませ ん。ブラジルにいると「日本人」と呼ばれます。日本に来ると「ガイジン」と呼ばれます。つまり、ポジティブな少数派からネガティブな少数派に変わります。
留学生として来日する日系ブラジル人は、もしかしたら、このアイデンティティの変化を特に感じないかも知れません。しかし、デカセギとして来日する日系 ブラジル人はもっと感じる傾向があります。[…]
ブラジルに移住した日本人は、ブラジルで努力をして、ブラジルの社会でポジティブなイメージを形成しました。それで、日本に住んでいる日系ブラジル人は、どのように日本でポジティブなイメージを形成できるであろう。それで私は感じました。日系人は様々なアイデンティティを持っており、多様性のあるグループだと思います。 […]
日本人移民の百周年記念の今年に、教育を通じて、様々なことを学ぶべきだと思います。例えば、日本人の子どもに移住の歴史を教えることは重要です。[…]
On the same blog, Neide Ayumi Kuzuo (葛尾　あゆみ　ネイデ), presenting her last illustrated book titled “Me, EU” (ぼく・ＥＵ), whose protagonist is a sansei [3rd generation] boy who interrogates himself about his identity, writes about her memories as a child of Japanese immigrants.
三年間愛知県でブラジル人語学相談員をした時に、主に小学校と中学校合わせて４０校以上を訪問しました。入学式から卒業式まで参加しました。
[…]
外国籍の子どもたちの相談に接していると、私自身の、子どものころの出来事が思い出されます。父が、「ブラジル人はすぐ嘘をつく。理由なしに仕事を休んで は、次の日にわかりきった嘘をつく。借金が多くあっても平気だ。一年かけてためたお金をカーニバルの一週間で全部使ってしまう。借金までして遊びに行くな んて、信じられん。」とか、「手が早いのには参ったよ。置いてある物は全てもらっていいものだとおもっている。懸命に植えたものを平気で盗んでいく。文句 を言いに行ったら、『食べ物や果物は全て神の物であり、神の物は誰の物でもない、皆の物である』という。神だと、何を言っているのだ。俺が植えたんだ！｣ とカッカして帰ってきたのを今でも忘れられません。
このように、父がブラジルのことを悪く言うたびに、心の中で、その都度、
「ではなぜブラジルにいるの？何でブラジルに来たのよ?」
「私も日本人の顔や形をしているのだから、日本で生まれたかったよ。日本の小学校に通いたかったよ」
「『目を開けろよ、日本人！』なんて目の形のことで知らない人から歩道でからかわれたりしないですむのに・・・」
とずっと思っていましたが、一度もこの気持ちを打ち明けたことがありません。
又、学校でも「アクセントがおかしいよ。こう言うのよ。直しましょうね。と先生にいつも注意されるのいやだよ」「音読が一番きらいだよ」「学校で、年に一 回の祭り、参加したいよ」とも一度も訴えたことはありませんでした。[…]
もう一方では、ブラジルの文化や習慣などに触れることも多くありました。特に家族愛というような、愛情の表現のしかたが一番好きでした。それに、全てに臨機応変で、心で動き、感情豊かで、陽気さの中で育ちました。

author: Scilla Alecci


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Korea: Teenage Rape and Parents’ Responsibility  · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

A teenager who has suffered from attention deficit disorder raped a seven year old girl. Having a previous record, the 18 year old was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the court. An interesting decision that the court made this time was to make his parents responsible for not educating him properly.[EN]
Regarding this decision, netizens’ reactions are below.  A netizen describes it as victory for justice and others share their opinions.
[…] 가해 성 범죄자가 13세부터 인터넷 포르노물 등에 중독되어 왔던 점, 또한 지난 과거에도 비슷한 문제를 일으켰었던 점, 이에 수수방관만 해왔던 부모들에게 그 책임을 단단히 물은 것입니다. 통쾌합니다. […] 한국의 성 범죄에 대한 단죄는 너무나 가볍습니다. 또한 뭐가 뭔지 이 사건, 저 사건에내려지는 판결이 도저히 한 나라에서 내려지는 거라 보기 힘들 때가 있네요.[…] 하여간 이번 판결 의미가 큽니다. 어른들 돈벌이와 무관심에 강간 살해자가 되어가는 아이들, 역시 아이들은 어른을 보고 배우는 겁니다. 그리고 덧붙입니다, 이제 강간 피해에서 남성도 자유롭지 않습니다. 결국 여성의 복장이나 태도와 상관없이 일어나는 게 강간이라는 것이 증명되는 겁니다.
Others respond.
처벌도 좋지만 지발 부탁인데 처벌+성교육좀 합시다. 저놈들 또 나오면 또 성범죄 저지릅니다. 왜 그걸 모릅니까? 처벌만능주의가 우선이 아닌 처벌+올바른 성교육이 필요한 시대입니다.
개인적으론 부모에게 책임은 좀 과하다는 생각이 듭니다. 분명 잘못이 없는것은 아니지만 그것은 도의적인 책임일뿐 직접적으로 해선 안된다고 생각합니다. 그렇다면 국가는 뭐했냐?라고 따지면서 국가에게 손해청구를 해도 국가에서도 보상을 해줘야 해주던지요..
당연히 자식교육잘못시킨 부모에게 책임을 물어야 한다.. 그리고 한가지 더하자면 미성년자 술이나 담배 구입도 구입한사람과 판매한사람 둘다 책임을 물려야 한다. 속이는사람은 죄가없고 속은 사람에게만 벌금을 물리는 경우가 어디 있는가…
자녀의 참된 교육이 1순위 입니다.
Some netizens ask about other problems rather than parents’ education.
부모가 맞벌이 하면서 애들 가정교육 정말 힘든다,새벽에 나가서 애들 잘때 들어오는 부모가 애들 감시를 어떻게 하나? 부모가 애들에게 나쁜길을 가라가 가르치는 부모가 어디 있겠나?혼자 집에서 성인사이트나 뒤지고 하는일이 없으니 그렇게 된다, 범죄는 정말 없어 져야 한다.그러나 부모에게 책임을 물으면 서민은 죽으라 말인가?
서민들 자녀 방과후 갈곳부터 마련해라. 맞벌이 부모가 애들 깨어나기전 (새벽)에 출근해서 애들이 잠든후 들어온다. 아무리 가난해도 애들이 비뚤어 지라고 바라는 부모는 없다.시간이 있어야 애들과 대화도 하고 감시도 한다, 이건 정부의 정책 부재가 만든 결과다, 미성년자 범죄를 예방하려면 애들 방과후 갈곳을 만들어 주어라 정부야.
Increasing pornographic sites became an issue after this event.
음란물이 성범죄 원인의 모든것은 아니지만 많은 비율을 차지한다고 생각합니다. 특히 나이어린 미성년자의 성범죄의 경우 말이죠. 음란물 노출 확율이 100년전 수준이라고 생각 해보세요. 고등학생 이하 미성년자들이 그렇게 대담한 성범죄를 저지르는것이 가능했을까요? 몰라서라도 못할 겁니다. 또한 야동의 진정한 위험성은 자발적으로 나서서 범죄를 저지르게 만드는 것이 아닌 상황과 여건이 조성되었을때 범행을 저지르게 만드는 촉매역할을 한다는 것에 있습니다. 성에대한 양심을 무뎌지게 만들어 ‘뭐 한번 이럴수도 있는거지'하게 만든다는 것이죠.

author: Hyejin Kim


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Looking at Egypt’s  First Female Mayor · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

Eva Habil, a 53 year-old Christian lawyer, became Egypt’s first female mayor on December 14, representing Komboha, a rural town in conservative Upper Egypt with a Coptic majority community.
Yusra of Muslimah Media Watch wrote:
Habil, whose father was mayor of Komboha, beat out five male candidates, including her younger brother. Why mention she’s Christian? Well, because in this same story, a niqabi who came out to congratulate Habil was asked if she’d ever pursue politics. She didn’t even have time to answer before her husband said he wouldn’t let her.
While it is true that Egyptian women, regardless of their religion, struggle to break into politics, Muslim women have an added burden: that of jahiliyah. If Komboha were a small, traditional Muslim town in Egypt, the fellaheen would never allow a woman to accept a leadership role in politics. It would be socially unjustifiable and she’d be pressured to step down. This is a difference in religious culture. Habil not only could accept the position, but she could talk to the locals wearing jeans and a snug sweater. Imagine the outrage that would follow if a woman in a traditional Muslim town, such as Siwa, 50 km from Libya’s border, left the house without covering up from head to toe. However, does this mean that Muslim women in Egyptian villages view Habil’s election differently than Christian women in Egyptian villages? I doubt it, and the niqabi woman mentioned in the article is proof that Habil’s victory is a victory for women, both Christian and Muslim.
Habil’s leadership position is a boost of empowerment for women in Komboha and in a country where only nine female lawmakers serve in the 454-seat parliament, but it does very little to question deeply entrenched attitudes about women throughout the country. Still, it does remind us that regardless of their difference in religion, Egyptian women share the same struggle when it comes to paving political careers.
True to her Egyptian nationalism, Habil says religion should not serve to divide communities. “We must, first and foremost, proclaim ourselves Egyptians.”
Habil is my mom’s age. She went to Ain Shams University in Cairo, at the same time my mom attended teaching college in Tripoli, Libya, They both grew up wearing mini skirts and travelling alone. By the 1980s, they both saw their societies become more and more conservative. Blame it on the1979 Iranian Revolution or the empowered Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt or the policies of Muammar al Qaddafi, but in the 1980s, Islamic conservatism swept the Middle East and the mini skirt was replaced by the headscarf and galabiyah. To compete, Egypt’s Christians openly displayed their faith as well. Habil says the women in her town wore huge crosses to set themselves apart. Habil and the other 10 percent of Copts in her generation lived through the same political, social and cultural changes. They are united in that change, even if it does not manifest itself in exactly the same way.
On the same event, from a political stance, Zeinobia wrote:
Overall from outside it is a huge victory to the feminist movement in Egypt but if you look inside you think that in the end it is not a real change.
Eva Habil is from the young stars who impressed President Mubarak in the NDP this year with their new thinking. Yes she is a NDPian and heads the women's committee in her governorate and you know what I mean when I say that she is a NDPian. Already I do not consider her young for she is 53 years old !! Well they consider Gamal Mubarak a young man up till now !!
Eva Habil is the daughter of the last mayor who already inherited from his father so it runs in the family.
She was appointed by the Ministry of Interior. Yes there were 5 other men running for the same position but she was chosen and I think it  was because of her position in the NDP at the first place.
I see it with all my respect as another form of political inheritance.
I would have considered Eva Habil as a real rule-breaker in Upper Egypt if she were not a member in the NDP, from a regular family that is not related to the Mayor from near or far. I would have considered her as an icon in the history of Egypt if she were elected just like in all the civilized the countries not appointed and not appointed by the Ministry of Interior.
Here is the AFP report about her and I do not like the fact they inserted the religion into the topic, of course the reporter missed her NDP connection.


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Madagascar: France responds to alleged censorship of “47” play  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Pierre Maury reports that French authorities have responded to the accusation of censorhip of “47” a historic independence play created by Jean-Luc Raharimanana and Thierry Bedard. Victoire Bidegain Di Rosa, advisor to the French ministry of Culture explains that the subject of the play is not necessarily of interest to the other countries of the region and that each cultural center is free to to showcase the play provided that each center finds independent funding for the expenses (fr).

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Pakistan: A beauty queen’s slip · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

In a recent CNN interview, the 24 year old Natasha Paracha, Miss Pakistan World, was heard saying “…as Pakistanis we have to stand up and condone what has happened in the country of India and through these Mumbai attacks” . What she probably meant to say was “condemn”. Five Rupees feels that she should have done her homework more thoroughly so that such a gaffe could have been avoided.

author: Aparna Ray


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Serbia: Sveti Nikola · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Yankee-in-Belgrade writes about celebration of St. Nicholas Day in Serbia.


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South Africa: World’s First Locative Documentary for Mobile · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

World's first locative documentary for mobile phones is about youth culture in Soweto: “Today is a big day on the Grid – we’ve just launched a 25-episode documentary about youth culture in Soweto, the famous South African township. The documentary, called Mobikasi, is the first to be delivered exclusively by a locative mobile social network like the Grid.”


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Video: Costa Rican Artist takes on the Fine Art Classics · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Francisco Munguía, a Costa Rican cartoonist and artist has interpreted the Fine Arts classics and is currently doing a show in the Costa Rican Children's Museum. However, you don´t need to travel to Costa Rica to see his work: it is uploaded on YouTube in a gallery style presentation.  On the MunguíaDJPULP channel, he has uploaded many of his animations as well as the promotional clip for the Museum presentation:
Munguía has gained a reputation as a muralist in Costa Rica: his artwork “the carnival of the letters and numbers” is currently the largest mural in Costa Rican land, and his artwork also graces walls in the most depressed areas of the city of San José. In the following videos in his other channel, MunguiaVillalta, he records the process in painting the murals where you can see the community involvement in illustrating the walls of their neighborhood with messages advocating responsible animal husbandry for pets, done with support of the Costa Rican Animal Protection Society (ANPA). He has worked with the ANPA for quite a bit, making illustrations for T-shirts, calendars and other goods the Association sells to raise money for the animal shelters they maintain. The following video is of a mural in the Los Guido area:
The following mural was painted in Los Cuadros:
He also has stop motion and animation videos on his channel, for example, this last one about dogs, made in stop motion animation out of dog food kibble.
Francisco Munguía is part of the artist collective La Casa de la Palmera (Palm Tree House), and you can learn more about their work on their blog.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Afghanistan: Taliban Has Two Groupings, a Leaked Document Says · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Azar Balkhi posts a document, allegedly leaked out from the Afghanistani secret services; it reads that Mullah Mohammad Omar leads one gruop of the Taliban that is secretly allied with president Karzai.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Cape Verde: Success Stories From Peace Corps Volunteers · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Christopher writes about a Peace Corps Volunteer who is working with community members in Cape Verde to start a sustainable internet cafe business.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Honduras: Christmas Spirit in San Pedro Sula · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The Christmas atmosphere is alive and well in San Pedro Sula, Honduras writes Santos Galvez of El Sam Pedrano [es].


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Kazakhstan: Nuclear Cooperation with India · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust reports that Kazakhstan will supply uranium for India’s nuclear power plants. The deal, which involves export of so-called “yellow cake” uranium to India, will be discussed during Kazakh President Nazarbayev’s upcoming visit to India.


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Madagascar, Kenya question wisdom of foreign land deals · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Following national and international outrage, the land deal that would have let South Korean firm Daewoo Logistics lease a large swath of Madagascar's arable land, was finally rejected.  The number of reported land deals between wealthy countries and developing nations, struck in an effort to prevent food shortages, continues to grow.  Similar agreements are also allegedly in the works between United Arab Emirates and Sudan.
Photo of a site on the Tamatave-Tananarive road by foko_madagascar
The most recent putative deal reported in the Guardian and the Daily Nation has Kenya leasing out 40,000 hectares (about 100,000 acres) to Qatar. In exchange for the land, Qatar would fund construction of a new Sh2.4 billion port on Lamu island.
The deal drew the ire of Opalo, Kenyan blogger at Opalo's blog, who fears a new kind of colonialism is taking shape:
So what happens after we’ve parceled off most of Kenya to Qatar, China, India, UAE, the Saudis and just about anyone willing to pay the goons that we’ve entrusted with our political leadership? Are we gonna become squatters again? Are we gonna start being called “boy” again?
He adds:
“And where exactly are the Kenyan millionaires? Can’t they afford to invest in such ventures? What are they waiting for?”
Malagasy bloggers are still reeling from the Korean deal that almost was. SEFAFI,  a Malagasy diaspora association in France, organized a think-tank to discuss best practice policies with respect to land management in Madagascar. On a Yahoo forum about Madagascar, SEFAFI  posts an essay that revisits the failed deal and what can be learned from it (fr):
Les démentis officiels n’ont cependant pas levé toutes les
appréhensions. Vraies ou fausses informations, des leçons doivent être
tirées de l’affaire Daewoo. La première leçon à en tirer est, une fois
de plus, le manque de transparence pour des opérations qui engagent les
ressources naturelles du pays. La prétendue gratuité du bail de 99 ans
ou même une éventuelle contrepartie sous forme d’infrastructures ne fait
qu’aviver les soupçons d’existence de contreparties secrètes au profit
d’intérêts particuliers et au détriment de la collectivité nationale.
SEFAFI sees a problem that is beyond economics or means of production. SEFAFI points out that the 70% of the population in Madagascar live in the rural area. Because farmers are fiercely attached to their way of life, they are reluctant to utilize mass means of production and such blockbuster deals neglect to take into consideration the true interests of the farmers. The article advocates for a progressive reform (fr):
Si l’objectif est bien de donner à l’ensemble du monde rural les moyens de gérer son propre avenir, les opérations ponctuelles de fermes pilotes ou d’élevages modèles, gérées par des groupes étrangers soucieux des paysans malgaches et donc respectueux d’une véritable démarche sociétale, seront les bienvenues. Sans empiéter sur les terres des paysans ni aliéner le patrimoine national, elles pourraient devenir un facteur d’entraînement et préfigurer ainsi l’agriculture malgache de demain
On the same yahoo forum, Gazety Nosintsika quotes an article from the newspaper Le Monde that cites a report by Olivier De Schutter, Special Investigator to the UN for the Rights to Food, on globalization, trade and its impact on the food shortage. The report points out that the current situation is quite precarious for  agriculture in the developing world because the dependence on exports is gradually increasing (fr):
On leur a promis qu'avec les devises ainsi engrangées, ils pourraient importer de quoi nourrir leur population pour un prix inférieur à ce qu'ils auraient pu produire eux-mêmes. Problème : on a engendré leur dépendance par rapport à des indices boursiers de plus en plus volatils. Après une baisse des cours de leurs produits, ils ne peuvent plus payer leurs importations, dont la valeur a, elle, été parfois multipliée par cinq ou six.
Finally, Taru Taylor reacting from South Korea to the Daewoo Deal has a unique take on the land deal:
Although not contemporaries like Jefferson and Hamilton, Choe Cheu and Park Chung-hee are the grand interlocutors of Korean destiny. Tonghak is one portal; imperialism is the other. The “Republic of Korea” and “Imperial Korea” are the terms of the debate between the agrarian hero and the capitalist dictator. The beef protests argue for Choe Cheu; for Tonghak; for Korea as Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight. But the Madagascar deal argues for Park Chung-hee; for Imperial Korea; for Korea as Anakin Skywalker nee Sith Lord Darth Vader.


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Malawi: A decade of internet · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Bennett Kankuzi reviews the history of internet in Malawi and the current accessibility challenges in the country.

author: Elia Varela Serra


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Russia: Protest Update · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog writes about today's protests in Russia: “The barrage of mass protest fired in Russia’s far east ten days ago echoed with a whimper as opponents of the import car tax hike staged actions across Russia. Today’s protests lacked the manpower of the previous ones, and in Vladivostok, the epicenter of the movement, OMON easily dispersed a crowd of around a 500 people. […] To Solidarity’s and other Russian liberals’ chagrin, the domestic upheaval they’ve all been wishing and waiting for didn’t happen.  And if recent polls are any indication, they won’t happen anytime soon. […]”


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Russia: The Crisis and The Potential For Unrest · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

In mid-October, Global Voices published a roundup of Anglophone bloggers’ views on the financial crisis in Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Serbia and Ukraine. Below is another installment on the effects and the likely consequences of the crisis in Russia.
Edward Hugh of Eastern Europe Economy Watch examines the figures and concludes that “Russia's macro data starts to confirm the severity of the downturn”:
[…] So the ruble is falling and the reserves are flowing out at a rather fast rate, but this is not producing inflation in Russia – in fact quite the contrary, disinflation is very strong in Russia right now, and indeed if things continue at this rate (especially given the sharp contraction in internal demand) deflation and not inflation is going to be the big headache.
[…]
Unemployment is also rising, as are overdue wages, which were up 93% over the previous month. The unemployment rate rate rose to 6.6 percent in November, which is the highest since April, but still comparatively low by historic standards, although experts suggest we could easily see this number rise towards 10% to 11% in 2009.
[…]
So an incredible trifecta – a unilateral decision to recognise Georgia's two separatist regions, a 66 percent fall in oil prices and the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression – has been whisked up, and has lead to a sharp spike in investor unease such that around $211 billion has been withdrawn from Russia (estimate by analysts at PNB Paribas) since that fateful day in August when the tanks went though roaring through the Roki tunnel. We now await to see just how sharp “sharp” means when we are talking about the slowdown in Russian GDP in 2009, although the real questions which must be in everyone's minds concern the future beyond 2009. If the ruble devaluation produces – as seems likely – a rise in corporate and household defaults on forex loans, just how long will it take Russian consumption and Russia's banking system to recover from the blow that this will represent? And when oil prices do eventually recover (in 2010?) just what will the Russian central bank and those responsible for economic management have learnt from this most unfortunate “boom-bust” episode.
The Economist‘s Edward Lucas writes that the Russian “economy is looking wobbly”:
[…] Russia has been hit by a double blow. One is a collapse in the oil price. Urals crude is trading around $44 a barrel, whereas Russia’s budget had pencilled in an oil price of $70. The other is the credit crunch which means an end to cheap loans for an economy that had become used to a flood of petroroubles.
[…]
Public discontent is beginning to simmer. The problem is less the tiny self-proclaimed opposition, but spontaneous protests by citizens fed up with incompetent and arbitrary behaviour. A protest by drivers in the Russian far east brought a nervy response from official Kremlin media. […]
Oleg Kozlovsky, one of the activists of what Edward Lucas calls “the tiny self-proclaimed opposition,” writes this about the crisis:
[…] By the way, the crisis is already beginning to affect the people. Andrei Illarionov (a prominent Russian economist, former Putin’s advisor on economics) publishes the official figures of industrial recession that he calls “disastrous”. Industrial output fell by 6.7% in November alone, which makes 13% in last five months. This is the worst monthly decrease since the beginning of the devastating World War II. It is even worse than in early 1990s (that are considered to be a synonym for nightmare in modern Russia) or during the 1998 crisis.
The gold rivers are dry for the first time since Vladimir Putin came to power and his government doesn’t seem to be prepared. Salaries and pensions are not paid in time anymore. In some regions elderly people only got half of their pension two weeks later and they don’t know when they receive the rest. The government tries to get more money from the people and raises tariffs, taxes and duties. This begins to cause discontent among the citizens. In Vladivostok, several thousands car drivers blocked all the main roads protesting a significant increase of customs duty for foreign cars. They demanded cancellation of the proposed reform and resignation of Vladimir Putin. Their next protest is scheduled for this Sunday.
Streetwise Professor argues that the pace of the Russian rouble devaluation is too slow, which is bad for the economy, and that the reason Russia is “boiling the frog by slowly turning up the temperature gradually, rather than allowing the currency float to a level that reflects the dismal fundamentals now facing the country” is “almost certainly domestic politics”:
[…] The most recent–and most serious–protests occurred in Vladivostok in response to the government’s attempt to protect the imploding domestic car industry (misery loves company) by restricting imports of used cars.
As Russia has experienced numerous times in its history–think 1905, 1917, 1991–protests of this sort can snowball.
[…]
The car tariff decision reeks of desperation in the Kremlin–and the White House (on the Moskva).  An ad hoc response taken in haste to defuse one problem creates another.  Putin has few good options.  With the entire economy imploding, everybody is hurting, and moves to help one sector will only aggravate the suffering in others.  Such clumsy moves will quickly undermine the aura of competence surrounding Putin–an aura created by luck (skyrocketing prices for raw materials and a predictable recovery from an inherited economic disaster) rather than by any real economic policy acumen.  Once this aura disappears, the potential for protests and disenchantment grows.  He has only made the ultimate reckoning worse by his failure to level with the Russian people about the seriousness of the situation.  How will Putin likely respond?  I think we all know (and dread) the answer–the answer implicit in the strengthening of the MVD. […]
In another post, Streetwise Professor cites a number of media stories “that openly discuss the potential for unrest in Russia, and the government’s likely response to it” – and concludes:
[…] Discontent is rising, albeit slowly, and the authorities are very, very nervous.  What is remarkable is that the full economic impact of the crisis has not been felt.  The layoffs are just beginning. […]
Sean's Russia Blog has more on the drivers’ protest in Vladivostok:
[…] While most international reporting has focused on the arrests of some 90 demonstrators at the sparsely attended the Dissenters’ March in Moscow, on the other side of the country thousands of people paralyzed the city of Vladivostok for five hours in a protest against taxes on the purchase of foreign cars.  The increase set to take effect on January 11, 2009 will increase the price of an imported car by 10 to 20 percent.
The action pits the Russian government and citizen against each other in the form of a classic tax revolt.  Ironically, the government’s attempt to protect the fledgling Russian auto industry from foreign competition has found its greatest foe among the very people Russia’s economic boom has benefited: those Russians who now have enough disposable income to buy a new car.
[…]
The protesters can say that their action was a success.  They may have been dismissed by the national television media, but they got the attention of their intended target: local and national leaders. Today, deputies from Primorya voted unanimously to appeal to Medvedev, Putin and the State Duma to reverse the planned tariffs on foreign cars.  The Federal Council has already promised to help the protesters. […]
IZO links to LJ user matroskin-cat‘s photos from the Vladivostok protest (RUS).
Window on Eurasia provides translation of some of the slogans that were seen in Vladivostok:
[…] But perhaps more worrisome to the authorities both locally and in Moscow were some of the slogans that the protesters carried. Many cars featured printed signs saying “Separate Moscow from Russia,” and at least a few had posters saying “Give Vladivostok and the Kuriles to Japan” […].
RFE/RL's Russia blog – The Power Vertical – writes this about the crisis-related protests in Russia:
[…] But bread-and-butter issues have greater resonance (and not just in Russia, of course). And there are indications that the number of bread-and-butter issues — inflation, unemployment, utility-rates hikes, officers released from service because of military reform, etc. — that Russians might become peeved about is on the rise as the economic crisis unfolds.
[…]
But the Kremlin is sure to recognize the danger of giving in to the demands of this small protest (about 5,000 people in Vladivostok). In a country with mounting social tensions and economic problems, with a stage-managed political system and a tongue-tied media, the last thing the authorities will want to do is send the signal that the “feedback mechanism” of mass unrest is a good way of getting a message to Moscow. […]
At Robert Amsterdam's blog, there is “an exclusive translation from RBK Daily on the preparations being made by the Russian security forces to handle an uprising or unrest over the economic crisis.”
Also at Robert Amsterdam's blog, there is a translation of a “handy glossary of politically correct journalistic vocabulary in times of crisis” – and below is a sampling:
“Crisis” – ought to write – “world crisis”
“Threat of devaluation” – financial crisis in the USA
[…]
“No job openings” – the personnel shortage in Russia has been overcome
“Oil has gotten cheaper by two” – prices for gasoline have fallen by 0.37%!
[…]
“I've been laid off” – I've gone freelance
“Dollar” – the falling-in-the-long-term American currency
This post at Notes on Moscow shows that the Russian media may indeed be using the euphemisms quoted above, in one way or another:
[…] The financial crisis here is entirely blamed on America and excesses of the West by the media, where the press is allowed to speak only of a global financial crisis to which Russia has fallen victim, not that Russia has in any way contributed to its economic issues. […]


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The San bushmen of Southern Africa · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Saharan Vibe writes about the San, a term that refers to a diverse group of hunter-gatherers living in Southern Africa who share historical and linguistic connections, including several photos.


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Turkmenistan: Parliamentary Election Took Place · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Patrick Frost analyzes the Turkmenistan's 4th Mejlis (parliamentary) elections, which was deemed a great success and ‘historic event’, as for the first time more than 1 candidate was running for each seat, although all of them were from the only one registered, pro-governmental party.


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“Why I blog about Africa” (Part 2) · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

A couple of weeks ago, we collected some posts from a meme that was doing the rounds in the Francophone blogosphere answering the question of why to blog about Africa. Started by Téophile Kouamouo [Fr] from Côte d'Ivoire, it inspired many bloggers to open themselves to their readers, with honest, passionate and personal answers as diverse as the continent itself. After we collected a few of those reactions in French (while Kouamouo was doing the same thing at Rue 89), the meme spread into the English blogosphere, of which we bring now a second selection.
For Zambian Economist the short answer is:
… because if we don't blog about Africa for ourselves, others would do it for us.
And he also has a long answer very worth reading, involving learning, influencing and sharing experiences.
Simunza S. Muyangana, from Zambia, enjoys sharing good news:
While I am not in denial of our need as continent to address the numerous social injustices that set us back, I do fervently believe that it would be a tragedy if we didn't acknowledge our successes or celebrate the unique circumstances that make Mother Africa the gracious benevolent lady that she is.
Mulumba of Mweshi, another blogger based in Zambia, also wants to share positive stories about Africa:
Africa is my home and a land of immense beauty, great food, fantastic sights, captivating music, and amazing people. We have our problems, but I believe we have many more success stories than failures and I remain overly optimistic about the future. […]
I blog about Africa because I want to share some of the amazing experiences I’ve had and continue to in living and working on the continent. This is a continent steeped in rich history with an equally prosperous future ahead.
Sci-Cultura, from Kenya, emphasizes the cultural diversity of Africa :
We are young nations that make up Africa and I strongly feel that we need to define Africa for ourselves.
[…] I blog about Africa to observe and scrutinise the past in order to understand the present, as well as the dawning future. To explore the Africa of here and now. To explore the links that Africa makes with the rest of the world. To challenge and dispel the untruths of what this mythical singular place called Africa is. To showcase the diversity and depth that Africa has to offer; both on the continent and around the globe, by people who call themselves Africans and those of African ancestry either in recent memory or distant past.
For Juliana of Afromusing, also from Kenya, it's all about the music:
…because it is fascinating, fantastically diverse culturally, beautiful and cool […] I am fascinated by the different types of music from Cameroon (Zangalewa!! eh eh eh – Kibe Zangalewa!), the chilled romantic grooves of Madagascar, Tabu Ley of the country then known as Zaire, Jolie Detta of Congo -even though I thought that was only music for my parents, to my current obsession with Kizomba music from Angola.
What an African woman thinks offers a very poetic explanation:
Africa is under my skin. Africa is the voices in my head. Africa is the itch on my back that I can’t quite reach.
[…] She’s beautiful and she’s strong and she’s got so much to give, she inspires me and I love her truly madly deeply.
She’s battered and bruised and sometimes broken and I love her even more.
She’s always on my mind and in my heart.
It’s not so much, then, that I choose to blog about Africa. It’s that I can’t not.
I really wish the world would see in her all that I see in her.
That’s another reason why I blog about Africa: To make this wish come true.
Dulce Camer, from Cameroon, writes in a similar vein:
I am an African first before anything else!
“Africa” is like the blood that runs through my veins, the thoughts that fills out my brain, the medecine that keeps me sane.
Sokari of Black Looks, from Nigeria, Africa “is like a contrary but charming friend“:
… she makes me angry and frustrated, lets me down, goes on walkabouts and is influenced by some pretty horrible characters many from distant lands. But I cant help loving her deeply – she is alive, she is real and wise with so many wonderful meaningful stories of humanity and life. She is rich in stature and spirit. I love the way she moves, her facial expressions, the taste of her food and the smell and colours of the earth but most of all I write about her because I so much want her to be OK to be right to prosper and to be in control of herself and to be confident enough to love herself!
For Osize of Mootbox, from Nigeria, it's simply therapy:
There is no grand reason behind me blogging about Africa. I do not blog for hungry kids or to broker peace between warring factions. My blog does not influence which African child will receive an OLPC and one that will not. Blogging about Africa is therapy for me.
For Rafiq Phillips of Web AddiCT(s), from South Africa, it's about the innovation :
The fact that we are finding solutions to our own difficulties that those outside do not report on in most cases even those on the African continent choose to ignore. The various perspectives intrigue me. The patterns, fractals, huge divide between the haves and have-nots inspire me. The feeling of knowing that with a bit of tweaking of tech, education, design and some progressive partnerships that the divide in our society can be shrunk.
For Bill Zimmerman of 27 months, an American expat in Cameroon, it's the African tech Renaissance:
… because I’m intrigued by the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship I see here in Cameroon and the continent as a whole. I’m passionate about technology, and I truly believe we’re on the verge of witnessing a Renaissance that will largely be fueled by ICT and led by pioneering young Africans. It’s an exciting place to be, and blog about, for this reason alone.
Mwangi of The displaced African, wants to be part of the solution:
My reason is not as glamarous. Nor popular. Nor poetic. I started blogging about Africa because one day I looked in the mirror and realized that of all the socioeconomic, spiritual, physical, wordly or “insert way of categorizing people here” groups I belonged to, the one which was weakest was the African side.
[…] Now the list of things that are wrong with African people is endless. The theories are endless: we are the cursed sons of Noah meant to be hewers of wood and drawers of water. We are simply cursed for the sins of our ancestors and so on and so on.
I didn’t want to be a part of that conversation anymore.
[…] I wanted to be a part of the solution. All my heart and soul knew was it wanted to be a part of the solution.
Sci-Cultura concluded her post with a music video of Salif Keita's Africa, and so do we:


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Armenia-Azerbaijan: LGBT Cultural Icons · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped: Gay Armenia writes that most Armenians are not aware of the sexuality of two of the nation's greatest cultural icons, Sergei Parajanov and Yeghishe Charents. Meanwhile, as the Azerbaijani parliament votes to lift the restriction on the number of terms a president can be elected for, IN MUTATIONE FORTITUDO notes that this news has been overshadowed by the mutual recriminations between two of the country's People's Artists about their sexual orientation.


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Armenia-Azerbaijan: Muntazer al-Zaidy Reaction · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

The Armenian Observer rounds up reaction to Muntazer al-Zaidy's attack on outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush in Iraq. Meanwhile, IN MUTATIONE FORTITUDO asks whether such an incident could have happened under Saddam Hussein.


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Armenia-Turkey: Apology Row · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Talk Turkey is unimpressed by various online petitions established to apologize or not apologize for the massacre and deportation of Armenians living in the then Ottoman Empire. Known to most as the Armenian Genocide, the blog says it instead favors a joint Armenian-Turkish commission to investigate the circumstances of the tragic events of 1915-17.