text:
Global Voices Podcast: 3rd Arab Bloggers Meeting – Part 1 · Global Voices
Jamillah Knowles

Hello world!
In an addition to our usual monthly podcast, we have some special audio for you from the newly concluded 3rd Arab Bloggers Meeting in Tunisia.
Nearly 100 bloggers from Arab countries gathered in Tunis from October 3-6, 2011 in a meeting hosted by Global Voices, Nawaat and the Heinrich Böll Foundation to discuss citizen media, safety online, post-revolutionary ideas, and of course to meet each other face to face – some for the first time. In the 12 interviews in these two podcasts (check out Part 2) you will hear about online anonymity using Tor, revolution in a historical context, forthcoming elections in Arab countries, filmmaking, blogging and hope. And much, much more.
Global Voices Podcast: 3rd Arab Bloggers Summit (Part 1) by globalvoices
Naturally the topic of Arab uprisings was a big part of the conversation. The role of the citizen journalist has been very important in describing events to a wider audience. I chatted with Egyptian blogger and Global Voices author Lilian Wagdy, about why the benefits outweigh the challenges of this difficult work.
Online activists and bloggers travelled from near and far to come to the meeting. Yazan Badran is a Syrian blogger and Global Voices author currently based in Japan. He told us what motivated him to travel the distance to be at the meeting.
Though the past uprisings are a constant topic of conversation, the Arab Bloggers meeting this year was a forum for pushing things onward. Nasser Weddady, a blogger from Mauritania, is also the Civil Rights Outreach Director for the American Islamic Congress based in Boston, USA. We talked about the main issues of the day.
A number of talks and presentations during the meeting shed light on current events as well as providing training and new ideas. Marek Tuszynski, co-founder and co-director of Tactical Technology Collective gave a presentation about clear visualisation for online activists.
Many participants attended previous Arab Bloggers Meetings. With Jillian C. York, Director of International Freedom of Expression Electronic Frontier Foundation in the United States (as well as Global Voices author and board member), we talked about her experience and why the EFF takes an interest in international freedom of expression.
In the conversation with Jillian, we talked about how Palestinian bloggers were denied visas by the Tunisian government to attend the meeting. Aternative methods were used to contact these bloggers and include them in the meeting. One blogger of Palestinian origin was there. I spoke to Saed Karzoun about the visa debacle, and what he hoped to bring to the event.
The location of the Arab Bloggers meeting in Tunis was highly relevant to the main topics discussed. Tunisia has seen a revolution and inspired many other movements in the region. Malek Khadraoui is the co-administrator of Tunisian website Naawat, an independent group blog. We chatted about how the network of bloggers across Arab nations offers both hope and valuable practical advice.
There were so many experienced, entertaining, knowledgeable and wonderful people at the Arab Bloggers Meeting, I could not fit them all into one edition of the Global Voices podcast. You can hear more of these great interviews in Part 2.
Thanks to everyone who took time to talk to me, to the organisers for creating such a fantastic forum, and to Mark Cotton who adapted our Global Voices theme tunes for this particular episode.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSS

author: Jamillah Knowles


text:
Global Voices Podcast: 3rd Arab Bloggers Meeting – Part 2 · Global Voices
Jamillah Knowles

Hello world!
In an addition to our usual monthly podcast, we have some special audio for you from the newly concluded 3rd Arab Bloggers Meeting in Tunisia.
Nearly 100 bloggers from Arab countries gathered in Tunis from October 3-6, 2011 in a meeting hosted by Global Voices, Nawaat and the Heinrich Böll Foundation to discuss citizen media, safety online, post-revolutionary ideas, and of course to meet each other face to face – some for the first time. In the 12 interviews in these two podcasts (check out Part 1) you will hear about online anonymity using Tor, revolution in a historical context, forthcoming elections in Arab countries, filmmaking, blogging and hope. And much, much more.
Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain and many other countries have citizens living through a time of change and upheaval. Our online information these days is fast and furious when it comes to the minute by minute events, but how should we find context in a time of revolution?
Zeynep Tufekci is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard. She presented a wonderful talk at the conference about the importance of putting revolutions into a historical context.
Part of telling the story of revolutionary times in a digital age requires video. Clips on YouTube offer powerful snapshots, but it is also important to follow a narrative to gain a greater understanding. Alexandra Sandels is a Swedish journalist and co-director and producer of a documentary called Zero Silence about young people using the Internet for change. It was screened on the first day of the Arab Bloggers Meeting.
Bloggers from nearly all Arab countries attended the meeting to learn from one another about citizen media and activism. Hayder Hamzoz is a blogger from Baghdad, Iraq. We chatted about his activities online and how the website Iraqi Streets shows an alternative Iraq to the one shown in mainstream news headlines.
The dangers of being identified and apprehended for protest and online activity are numerous and in some cases horrifying. There are methods for staying safer that people can enact, and there is also software that can help. Roger Dingledine works on an anonymity or privacy or circumvention tool called Tor. We talked about how it works.
That's all we have for the special edition of the Global Voices podcast at the 3rd Arab Bloggers Meeting!
Group photo, Arab Bloggers Meeting, Tunis 2011 by Ibtihel Zaatouri (CC-BY)
Thanks to everyone who took time to talk to me, to the organisers for creating such a fantastic forum, and to Mark Cotton who adapted our Global Voices theme tunes for this particular episode.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSS

source: news-globalvoices

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


text:
Guinea: Another Bloody and Violent September 28 · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

[All links in French unless otherwise stated]
Another September 28 and yet again another day of violence against the unarmed civilian population of Conakry. This date [en] is feared by all Guineans whether they live in their country or elsewhere.
This year the factions of the opposition, combined within the Collective of the Political Parties for the Finalisation of the Transition, called its activists to a peaceful demonstration on 27 September to denounce the government's unilateral acts.  But suppression was once again fierce.
September 28 anniversary in Guinea via Guinée58 Facebook page  (with their permission)
Reports of violence
The blog amdys.over-blog.com, released a statement from the Collective denouncing the violence which was aiming to:
… create a climate of terror in the neighbourhoods of Hamdallye, Bambeto, Cosa and Wanindara.  According to this statement, the forces of order in league with private militia, called “donzo” (traditional hunters), are beating, injuring and arresting some residents of these areas.
The demonstrations which began on 27 September continued until 29 September. The blog barkere.net  released an audio and written statement from Amnesty International, saying:
One protestor told Amnesty International he had witnessed police killing  another demonstrator: “The security forces chased us and began beating  some of us with their truncheons. We ran away and one of us fell down. A  member of the security forces leant over him and stabbed him to death.”
Another eyewitness who spoke to Amnesty International reported that security forces had entered private compounds and looted some of the houses.
According to the site gbassikolo.com, the prosecutor, Mohamed Said Haidara, made a statement on the state media, with this assessment:
Following these events, the security services took 178 suspects including 7 minors and 4 women to the police station for questioning, and 144 suspects including 4 women, according to the police station. In total, that's 322 suspects.
In a statement issued on guineenews.org, the government rejects the comments by Amnesty International and advises that:
all the minors of 13 years of age who were arrested have been freed and those between 15 and 17 years have also been freed.
A comment from guineeconakry.info on the announcement by the government about the beginning of dialogue:
Although it is particularly regrettable that the government and the opposition accepted this solution through dialogue only after Guineans had been killed and/or wounded and only after extensive material damage had occurred, we must nevertheless hope this new round is nothing but an attempt to impress.
Demonstrations took place in several cities around the world to denounce the violence and expose the fact that those responsible for the events of 28 September, 2009, have not been brought to justice (read a soldier's testimony here [en]).  According to a statement from the NGO Human Rights Watch, two years after these events not one of the accused has been judged:
No one has yet been called to account two years after Guinean security forces shot and killed unarmed demonstrators during an opposition rally in the capital, Conakry, Human Rights Watch said today.  According to Human Rights Watch, the Guinean government must do more to make sure that justice is done for the victims of the massacre of 28 September 2009.
Human Rights Watch has also expressed its concern that some positions of responsibility have been maintained by key figures denounced for the violence of 28 September, 2009, like Lt. Colonel Claude Pivi, minister in charge of presidential security, and Lt. Colonel Moussa Tiégboro Camara, director of the national agency in charge of the fight against drugs, organised crime and terrorism.
International protests
In New York, in front of the Guinean embassy and the headquarters of the United Nations in Manhattan, protestors were supported by eminent American personalities including the former New York Mayor, Mr David Dinkins, and the Senator for the state of New York, Mr Eric Adams, as well as international human rights organisations.
In The Hague, other members of the Guinean diaspora organised a demonstration in front of the seat of the International Criminal Court.
In Boston, there was a conference organised with the participation of Mr Bah Oury on the occasion of the Guinean independence celebrations of 2 October, 2011.
In Paris, the demonstration took place on 1 October, for which purpose the organisers issued a message on the blog guinee58.com:
Ethnic and communitarian tensions stirred up by Alpha Condé and his party, the Rassemblement du Peuple de Guinée (RPG), are leading to hatred and abhorrence of the other  …  Journalists are intimidated, threatened, and the State media are put into the service of the government.
This denunciation of the President as a factor in the social divisions is confirmed by a publication on the site crisisgroup.org of the International Crisis Group:
The recent experience of violent politicization of ethnicities and the lack of confidence of political players in the electoral process are a cause for concern. President Condé has unilaterally encouraged an overhaul of the electoral system, but he is arousing all the more suspicion because of the uncertain prospects of the presidential party for the legislative elections. He has given little attention, very late, to reconciliation and dialogue with his highly mobilised opposition.
The suppression had several effects. The first and most serious for the future of the country is the widening of the social divide on an ethnic basis, as shown by an exchange of violent remarks on the Internet and the distribution of tracts in Conakry, according to the blog guinee50.blogspot.com:
tracts originating in certain movements of support for the government are circulating in the neighbourhoods of Conakry.  These youth movements which support the government are calling their members to come out and attack demonstrators … Guinea's enemies will be fought somehow and thrown on the new Democracy train…
The second is the reorganisation at the political level with the announcement of the beginnings of dialogue between the government and the opposition.
Finally, a third consequence is that the group of six parties of the Alliance for Democracy and Progress (ADP), which formed part of the presidential camp in the second round of presidential elections and the Collective of the Political Parties for the Finalisation of the Transition, have decided “to combine their strengths and act jointly in the fight for free and transparent elections”. Thus, four former prime ministers are among the candidates.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


text:
Honduras: Police Close Special Unit for Femicide Investigations · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

“Honduras is now second only to Guatemala in femicides (for Central America) and, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the country with the highest homicide rate in the world (only since the coup). Despite the high level of femicides, the police have closed the Special Unit for Investigation the Death of Women.” Adrienne Pine reports.

author: Silvia Viñas


text:
India: Torture By Teachers · Global Voices
Rezwan

Kenney Jacob posts a first hand report from a student of an engineering college in central Kerala which tells about torture by teachers in that institution leading to a female student being hospitalized.

author: Rezwan


text:
Jamaica, U.S.A.: #OccupyTogether Going Global  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Diaspora blogger Labrish Jamaica says of the global spread of the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon: “BRILLIANT! May this be the beginning of the end of the immoral, rapacious greed and criminality that has overrun democracy in favor of the 1% plutocratic overlords…”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Kenya: Open Letter to Wangari Maathai · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Makafui's Open Letter to Wangari Maathai: “Professor Maathai,
It was during my second year in college when I first heard of your name. It was probably the answer to a trivia question. “Who was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize?” I didn't know the answer, but it meant that I had to do more research for myself when the response was finally revealed.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


text:
Kenya: What is next for Kenyan football? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

What is next for Kenyan football?: “Unless you were truly optimistic, Kenya's non-qualification to the 2012 Africa of Nations did not come as a suprise. Even after last minute efforts by local football enthusiasts and political leaders offering  this and that package, Harambee Stars couldn't push themselves to the final dash. So what next?”


text:
Myanmar: Did Thai Prime Minister Snub Aung San Suu Kyi? · Global Voices
Chan Myae Khine

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra visited Myanmar last week, intriguing some netizens because she only visited Nay Pyi Taw where Myanmar officials are residing and not Yangon, Myanmar's former capital.
Wai Myo Chit left a comment on the facebook Page of The Irrawaddy (Burmese Version) [my]:
I think she is coming to negotiate the current rice export policy of the Myanmar government. She promised Thai farmers to increase the price of rice – double the current market value – during the election. Maybe to confirm that Myanmar government's rice export policy won't disturb her plan, she offers an ‘exchange policy’ to entertain our blind military heroes. Anyway, whether her plan will be successful or not, the price of rice will go up in Myanmar ! I am sorry for the poor people who have to pay the higher price for rice because of this impact! But maybe it seems unavoidable because our country has a lot of great businessmen and policy makers.
Yingluck Shinawatra during a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand. Image by Alexander Widding, copyright Demotix (27/06/2011).
Some are puzzled why Yingluck didn't show any interest to visit Aung San Suu Kyi, the global democracy icon from Myanmar. Nainglwin discussed [my] it in the Eleven Media website.
why did she fail to meet Aung San Suu Kyi? Is our people's leader not important to her? She needs to respect our leader.
Yingluck also visited Mr. Zaw Zaw who is the President of Myanmar Football Federation. An anonymous commenter expressed [my] disappointment over this visit in the Irrawaddy News Blog [my].
Global democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi
On the other hand, some Myanmar citizens welcomed her visit to Myanmar. Oonayoo gave [my] his opinion on a news saying “Yingluck Shinawatra will visit Myanmar” on Eleven Media [my] and some readers agreed with him.
It's okay. Don't meet with Aunty Suu [Aung San Suu Kyi]. I do not wish to see her busy/involving in every matters without adequate authority. Nevertheless, I'm listening and clapping the new steps by the President these days.
icecoolcandy@gmail.com also expressed his/her feeling on Yingluck's visit there.

author: Chan Myae Khine


text:
Pakistan: Music Improves Relations · Global Voices
Rezwan

Habib R. Sulemani thinks that Pashtu music can improve Afghan-US-Pakistani relations.


text:
Portugal: Lisbon Hosts Citizenship 2.0 Event · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

On October 13, Lisbon is going to host an event about new platforms that promote dialogue in society, aiming to stimulate the discussion between the Portuguese government, public administration, NGOs and citizens – Cidadania 2.0 (Citizenship 2.0). Some sessions are going to be livestreamed [pt], and the hashtag #cid20 is already being used on Twitter (@cidadania20).

author: Sara Moreira


text:
Puerto Rico: 40 Days for You · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

The feminist coalition Movimiento Amplio de Mujeres [es] and an array of feminist organizations has launched the website “40 días por ti: una jornada por el derecho a decidir” [es] (40 days for you, an event in favor of your right to decide) where they are publishing every day during 40 days a post regarding reproductive rights.

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


text:
Puerto Rico: Henry Cole on the Drums · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Mariángel González interviews Puerto Rican drummer Henry Cole for El Punto Es [es].


text:
Puerto Rico: “Santurce es Ley” in Photos · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

The website C787studios [es] has posted a wonderful collection of videos and photos of the event Santurce es Ley [es], organized by a collective artistic movement dedicated to revitalizing and connecting the Santurce community, a sector in San Juan, Puerto Rico.


text:
Recipes for ‘World Dulce de Leche Day’ · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

October 11 is ‘World Dulce de Leche Day‘. To celebrate, a group of bloggers have come together to share recipes -in Spanish and English- and invite others to “make a recipe with dulce de leche, blog about it on October 11, with a link to this blog.”


text:
South Africa: 4 Convicted for the Murder of Zoliswa Nkonyana  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The case of the murder of South African lesbian has come to an end: “Finally after five years of postponements 4 men were convicted of the murder of Zoliswa Nkonyana. 3 others were acquitted of the original 9 arrested. This is the first case in South Africa to recognise sexual orientation and lesbians as a motive for murder and violent crimes.”


text:
Sri Lanka: The Right to Bear Arms · Global Voices
Rezwan

Considering the recent political violence in Sr Lanka, Dhammikad opines that the right to bear arms should be restricted in Sri Lanka.


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: What Would Steve Jobs Do?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Mark Lyndersay talks about why Steve Jobs mattered so much to the world of technology.


text:
Ukraine: New Documentary Highlights the Klitschko Brothers’ Lives and Careers · Global Voices
Donna Welles

Popularly dubbed “The Klitschko Brothers”, Ukrainians Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko have dominated the heavyweight boxing division since Lennox Lewis retired in 2004. However, their production of an autobiographical documentary film entitled Klitschko (watch the trailer here), as well as the political ambitions of the elder brother, Vitali, demonstrate that these men are more than athletes.
On June 21 of this year, Nothing But The Doc Blog announced that Klitschko would be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival. It also alluded to a famous boxing figure in cinema history, Rocky Balboa's Soviet nemesis, Ivan Drago:
The official Klitschko movie poster
[…] Corinth Releasing has announced a theatrical release date for Tribeca Film Festival premiere “Klitschko.” It will open at NYC’s Cinema Village on October 21 with an LA opening later in the month. Directed by Sebastian Dehnhardt, the doc tells the story of Ukrainian boxers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, best known for being the first brothers to hold world titles in the sport at the same time. The press release makes it sound like these guys are real life versions of Dolph Lundgren’s character in “Rocky IV.” And like Lundgren, the Klitschkos are smarter than you’d expect, both brothers have a PhD. […]
Moviefone Blog included Klitschko in their list of “31 Reasons to Buy a Movie Ticket in October”:
[…] Hey remember that sport heavyweight boxing? It still exists! And there is even a current boxing champion — one Wladmir Klitscko. Well, him and his brother, Vitali (who is also a boxer), are getting their own documentary, ingeniously titled, ‘Klitschko.’ It will help you rediscover your inner Rocky (or, for that matter, inner Ivan Drago).
Although the Klitschko brothers virtually never fight in the United States, they utilize the U.S. media outlets to promote their film, which will debut in New York on Oct. 21, 2011. Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko Blog posted a video of the brothers talking about the documentary on NBC:
Heavyweight champions Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko were recently on NBC promoting their new documentary, and each discuss parts of the documentary and some things about themselves such as their language ability and political activism etc.
The interview, which was conducted in English, mentioned that both Vitali and Wladimir have Ph.D.'s in Sports Science and that they both speak several languages. They discussed, along with Vitali's political ambitions, their parents and how they promised their mother that they would never fight each other. Without prompting, the brothers made the connection between the Chernobyl disaster and the problem Japan currently faces combating radiation. The film is said to illustrate how the 1986 nuclear accident in Chernobyl claimed the life of their father.
Colin Linneweber described on his blog on FanNation.com the death of the Klitschko father in July 2011:
Former Soviet Union air force colonel Wladimir Rodionovich Klitschko, the proud father of legendary heavyweight champions Vitali and Wladimir, succumbed to a long battle with lymph node cancer last week at 65 in Kiev, Ukraine.
The decorated patriarch of the Klitschko clan was stationed near Chernobyl during the 1986 nuclear disaster and helped cleanup the reactor's meltdown. […]
In May 2008, Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko Blog discussed Vitali's failed mayoral race before reminding the audience that Vitali intended to stay in the public spotlight through his boxing career:
With exit poll results, Vitali Klitschko did not win the 2008 Kiev mayoral election. The exit polls show that he came in 3rd with about 19 percent of the vote. The winner was incumbent Leonid Chernovetsky with about 30 percent of the vote. Official results will not be expected before Monday.
It would have been nice for Vitali to win this election. It would have also been nice for a mayor of a major city to fight for the WBC title. But, with the election out of the way and not as many obligations outside of boxing, we should expect to see Vitali at his best come the end of the year for his fight for the WBC championship.
So, condolences to Vitali on his loss in the election, but good luck and an early congratulations to Vitali on his WBC championship fight!
The Klitschko Brothers have also utilized both Twitter and Facebook to promote the film.
On their Twitter account, Klitschko News, they again mention the NBC interview:
Vitali and Wladimir talking about the “Klitschko” movie on NBC California fb.me/Z7JneiSB
On October 7, Twitter's Klitschko News linked to their new Facebook Fan Page.
Welcome to all new Klitschko fans on our official Facebook fanpage! A few pages have been united. Here you will [get the latest information about the brothers!] fb.me/125v0LPjj
The Klitschko Fan Page on Facebook includes dozens of comments pertaining to the documentary, the vast majority of which are positive. Many are surprised at the humanity the boxers display. The Facebook comments also reflect the strong sense of internationalism the film emits.
Here are some of them:
Anjeli Jana: I loved seeing this on my local morning news – I just wanted to give Wlad a great big hug when I saw his face when he starts talking about losing his father
David Klimov: I watched this movie in German, with Polish subtitles…even though I don't speak German nor Polish, the film was awesome! Cool documentary! They should have it released here, in USA! And when is the sequel coming out?
Akos Szegedi: That movie is very usefull for the next boxer generation…also to my little sons.Thanx fot it. Greatings from Hungary.
William Perrigo: The movie was great! But you can't expect it to be like James Bond. It's a documentary!
It seems that the release of Klitschko is another example of the brothers pursuing different avenues in order to expand their influence. As a tribute to how far they have risen,a commenter on BoxingScene.com portal observed:
Klitschko brothers have got to be two of the most statistically improbable people on the planet.

author: Donna Welles


text:
USA: Documenting Alabama’s Immigration Law · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

People can submit their reports on the impacts of the Alabama anti-immigration law HB 56 to this crowdsourced and open digital map.


text:
Yemen: Saleh Stepping Down? Unlikely! · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.
After months of protests against his 33-year rule, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh said in a speech on Saturday, October 8, in front of the House of Representatives and Shura (consultative) Council aired on state television, that he will step down in the next few days. He said “I reject power and I will continue to reject it, and I will be leaving power in the coming days.”
Many however, saw it a as new maneuvering, a step anticipating the report of United Nations’ envoy to Yemen, Mr Jamal Ben Omar, who will hand it to the UN Security Council on Tuesday.
A Carlos Lattuf cartoon
Saleh has said he will step down and sign the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative more than once, the latter of which as a matter of fact many Yemeni reject. He has lost credibility, and not just among Yemenis.
A very popular video conveying what many Yemeni think of Saleh, was posted back in May, tweeted after his speech by a freelance journalist based in Sanaa @adammbaron:
in light of recent speeches, its probably worth resurrecting this gem… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klxvHEKzqQM #katyperry #saleh #yemen
Here are more reactions from Twitter.
@samwaddah: In his speech, #Saleh sounded stupid, liar, hypocrite, ignorant & deceptive. In other words, he was just being himself! #Yemen #SalehBlaBla
@Yemen4Change: I honestly don't even know what the “next coming days” means anymore! #Saleh #Yemen
@KhaledHammadi, a Yemeni journalist, tweeted about the speech:
#Yemen protesters never pay attention to pres #Saleh speech, who pledge to leave power within days, cz they believe it is just new maneuver
And @SummerNasser said:
FYI: #Saleh promised he would “step down” three times before yesterdays speech. Once a liar always a liar. #Yemen #Supportyemen
Egyptian journalist @RawyaRageh added:
It's surreal how many times Ali Abdullah #Saleh has promised to step down. Seriously. #Yemen
Many netizens said that Saleh's speech and the specific choice of words saying that he “will be leaving power in the coming days”  was a pathetic attempt to steal the limelight and media coverage that Yemen's Noble Peace Prize Laureate Tawakkol Karman was rightfully  enjoying.
@Dima_Khatib  a well known journalist and big supporter of the Arab Spring and Yemen tweeted:
When a dictator gets jealous from a 32-year-old courageous honourable mother-of-3 revolutionary… Expect anything ! #YallaSaleh #YEMEN
@tota770 tweeted:
I don't believe #Saleh, he is a liar, he just want to get attention because he felt jealous yesterday from #Tawakul who won #Nobel price :P
Ms Karman's reaction to his speech which reflected what protesters felt was tweeted by @NasserMaweri:
#TawakulKarman : I want to tell #Saleh, this revolution is winning and will win, Yemen will always be free like it always have. #Yemen
This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.

author: Noon Arabia


text:
Bermuda: Noise Pollution  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

BeachLime laments that complaints about noise pollution are “doomed to go in one ear and out the other.”


text:
Bulgaria: #OccupyBulgaria on Oct. 15 · Global Voices
Ruslan Trad

Bulgarian activists announced that they would join in the global #Ocuppy action on Oct. 15. There is a Facebook event and a group call for action, real democracy and #OccupyBulgaria. The activists have been inspired by the protests in Greece, the United States and Spain.

author: Ruslan Trad


text:
Cambodia: State of the National Museum  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Vutha Tim writes about the situation today of the Cambodia’s National Museum and urges immediate action to repair and modernize the institution

author: Mong Palatino


text:
Chile: Education Reform Triumphs in Unofficial Plebiscite · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

After five months of protests and school takeovers, Chile’s student movement continues to mobilize for an overhaul of the country’s education system.
Last week negotiation talks between students and the government failed, but despite this recent setback, over the weekend an overwhelming majority of Chileans voted in favor of education reform in an unofficial plebiscite.
According to results released today, October 12, 2011, by the Colegio de Profesores [es] – the teacher's union that promoted the symbolic plebiscite –  if results for all questions are averaged, 87.75%  voted “Yes”,  and 11.2% voted “No”. A detailed report of the responses to each of the plebiscite's  four questions can be found on the Colegio de Profesores website [es].
English news site I Love Chile translated the plebiscite’s questions:
“Would you agree with a free public education of quality at all levels guaranteed by the state?”
“Would you agree to the de-municipalization of schools and colleges from the ‘Ministerio de Educación’ [to make the system more] participatory and autonomous?”
“Would you agree that it should be prohibited in all levels of education in Chile to gain profit from public funds?”
“Would you agree with the need to incorporate a ‘Plebiscito vinculante’ called by the citizens, to solve the fundamental problems of national character?”
"National Plebiscite for Education" poster
On Twitter netizens commented on the plebiscite with the hashtags #Plebiscitoporlaeducacion or #PlebiscitoporEducación (both meaning “plebiscite for education”).
On October 7, Paula Mendoza (@PaulaMendoza) shared a picture and reported:
En primeros 20 minutos ya han votado 19 personas en Pza Ñuñoa #plebiscitoporlaeducación
Some users, like @Michi_kito and Giuseppe Leita (@geppe21), wondered why the plebiscite didn't include a question about teacher evaluations. The latter wrote:
¿Por qué en el #PlebiscitoPorLaEducación no pusieron sobre la evaluación docente si eso tiene que ver DIRECTAMENTE?
User @elgustavolutz said:
Las prrguntas del #plebiscitoporeducacionson tan obvias que es imposible votar no, todos quieren que mejore la educacion.
Danae Prado (@danaepc) responded to the criticism:
Esta claro q es + facil eludir el  ejercicio de civilidad q fue el #Plebiscitoporlaeducacion y obviar lo de fondo:la gente quiere opinar
However, Mauricio Saavedra (@maurosaavedra) raised an important concern:
Los que votaron mas de 1 vez en el #plebiscitoporlaeducacion demuestran su falta de educación cívica e irresponsabilidad ante el tema
Enzo Abbagliati, in his blog Cadaunadas [es], says he received reports that some polling stations didn't ask voters  for an ID card, and that stations that asked for documentation did not have  an online database to verify that people were not voting more than once.
Enzo, who voted through votociudadano.cl [es], points out that voting multiple times online was not possible, but he mentions another problem with online voting:
Hace unos meses, la ciudadanía reaccionó indignada cuando se supo del  monitoreo de las redes sociales por parte del Gobierno. Entre los  argumentos que se utilizaron en aquel momento, uno de los principales  fue que la legislación chilena impide la construcción de bases de datos  de opiniones políticas, en las que se pueda ligar una opinión a una  persona determinada. Sin embargo, eso está ocurriendo ahora, sin que  nadie se pregunte por el uso que las organizaciones convocantes harán de  esa información. ¿Qué tipo de análisis harán con las opciones que saben  que yo marqué en cada una de las cuatro preguntas?
One of Enzo's conclusions is that, like the government:
La sociedad civil organizada refleja en este caso (por lo menos los grupos que convocaron el Plebiscito) que tampoco tiene una noción clara de cómo usar y aprovechar para sus propios fines las herramientas digitales.
Jaime Gajardo, president of the Colegio de Profesores, celebrated the results and defended [es] the plebiscite's legitimacy:
This activity is completely legitimate. All necessary technical measures were taken to carry it out in the best way. We will take all the records, region by region, compile them at the Colegio de Profesores and the results will be available for anyone who wants to review and analyze the results.
He added:
We will also take this information to the registry office for verification of all [ID card numbers] so that results are not subject to interpretation, so that nobody can doubt the legitimacy of this process which has been carried out with first-class professional advice.


text:
China: Bean-Dregs Boat · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

One of the poorest city in western China, Lanzhou city, spent RMB 17 million on building a luxury boat which sank on its launch day in the Yellow River. (ChinaSMACK has translated the story and netizens’ reactions)

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
China: Fundraising for Documentary on Kidnapped Children · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Living with Dead Hearts is a documentary film about the search for China's kidnapped children. The director is now trying to raise money to finish up the film. The trailer is available here.


text:
China: Knockoff World Architecture · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Annie Lee from China Hush translated a local feature story about a village along Yangtze River. The rich village has recreated some of the most famous architectures for tourist amusement.


text:
Colombia: Outrage at Conservative Politician over Remarks about Rape and Abortion · Global Voices
Julián Ortega Martínez

On Tuesday October 11, Conservative politician Enrique Gómez Hurtado [es] surprised a lot of Colombians when he expressed his controversial stance on abortion during an interview on La W, an influential morning radio show broadcast nationally on W Radio. Gómez, 84, is the youngest son of former President Laureano Gómez (tenure 1950-1953) and brother of long-time presidential hopeful Álvaro Gómez Hurtado (murdered in 1995).
In the half-hour radio interview [es], Gómez expressed his support for a project to pass a legislative act [es] which seeks to reform Article 11 of the 1991 Constitution, related to the right to live, in order to outlaw abortion under any circumstance. In 2006, a Constitutional Court ruling (Spanish-language version) partially decriminalized abortion in three cases: rape or incest, threat to the mother's life, and malformations in the fetus.
The outrage began when Gómez, in order to explain his position, said [es] such things as “there's no way to know if a woman was raped,” “we can't really know when a [fetal] malformation starts,” or that such malformation could be “prevented” because in many cases it is hereditary. Twitter burst with outrage.
Paula Vejarano (@Asmodeo_) from Bogotá writes:
Increible que haya gente como Enrique Gomez Hurtado que duda de la  violación como delito porque eso es una irresponsabilidad de las mujeres
Donald Trumphetero (@DonPornocracia) tweets mockingly:
Enrique Gómez Hu[]rtado: -Señora, usted debió exigir a su violador el uso de un condón. Usted porqué no tenía puesta su T de cobre?
While Angie Cruz (@AngieCruzP) argues that:
#debateaborto Si los hombres pudieran embarazarse, los conservadores serían los primeros en aprobar el aborto // Enrique Gómez Hurtado
Twitter user Lanark (@donAlvar) jokes about the politician's chances of becoming a conservative presidential candidate:
Enrique Gómez Hurtado no cree en la existencia objetiva de la violación. Lo veo presidenciable. #juventudesconservadoras
Orlando (@DanielitoBang) connects Gómez's statements with a claim from October 2008 by former President Uribe to refer to the victims in the “false positives” scandal:
“Cualquier persona puede decir que fue violada” suena parecido a “seguramente no estaban recogiendo café”. Sigan votando así.
Lucas Peña (@lucaspe) reacts to Gómez's stance on malformations, paraphrasing one of his arguments:
“Yo me siento malformado porque soy feo y no me hubiera gustado ser abortado”, ridiculiza el argumento Enrique Gómez Hurtado.
Some defended Gómez, like Carlos Florez (@CarlosFlorezS):
Apoyo a Enrique Gomez Hurtado, El Derecho a la vida esta por encima de cualquier otro derecho, por vanidad de una mujer no se puede asesinar
On October 11, the same day that Gómez spoke about abortion on the radio, Colombia's national football team played against Bolivia for the 2014 FIFA World Cup South American qualifiers. Diana Melo Espejo (@Dianadaista) writes:
Enrique Gómez Hurtado debe estar feliz porque hoy a las 3:00 p.m., cuando juegue Colombia, a todo el mundo se le va a olvidar su babosada.
Finally, user @2000dePan asks:
Quien va a organizar la marcha para hacer farandula en contra de Enrique Gomez Hurtado en la plaza de bolivar a la hora del almuerzo?
Hours after the interview, the Senate's First Commission (Constitutional Affairs) debated [es] the project. The debate was broadcast [es] on the Congress’ cable channel and the state-run Canal Institucional, and was widely followed on Twitter. We will publish a separate post on the reactions to that debate.

author: Julián Ortega Martínez


text:
Cuba: Graffiti Artist Detained  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Babalu reports that “Cuban graffiti artist “El Sexto”…was sequestered by Cuban State Security yesterday in Havana and is being held without charges.”


text:
Egypt: Mourning the Heros of Maspero’s Battle · Global Voices
Nermeen Edrees

This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.
Egyptians are pulling together after a bout of violence at the state television building Maspero, engineered to pit Muslim against Christian and vice versa. The clashes between protesters and the military police during a Coptic protest to demand answers over the burning of churches in Sohag and Aswan resulted in around 25 deaths and 200 injuries.
What was schemed as sectarian vandalism and a plot against the unity of Egyptians, has turned out to be a unifying force and a concrete wall  to prove that what happened on the night of Black Sunday in Egypt is a Governor versus People clash rather than Christian versus Muslim one.
Despite the fact that there are people who still favor sectarianism and believe the army is sacred and can do no wrong, many netizens agreed that what had happened at Maspero was a massacre and an attack on all Egyptians.
Egyptian blogger Mahmoud Salem tweets:
@Sandmonkey: I should be the first to say it, don't say the army killed Christians. Say the army killed Egyptians. No more subgroups. #maspero
As per Lobna Darwish's firsthand account of the protest [ar], the demonstration was peaceful, with many Muslims present in solidarity:
The march reached its destination after struggling with clashes midway, and was turning to a sit-in as reported by Adam Makary:
@adamakary: 1000s” of #Copts reportedly holding a sit-in @ #Maspero until those who burnt disputed churches in #Sohag and #Aswan are brought to justice
Then chaos broke out; the peaceful chanting scene turned red:
Image from blog.notesfromtheunderground.net
The scene of the armored vehicles attacking civilians in the street brought to the Egyptian minds the infamous scene of diplomatic plated vehicles running people over on January 28, at the beginning of the Egyptian revolution.
Ahmed Mounir, an eye witness, confirms [ar]:
On YouTube, Mounir posts the following video which shows armoured carriers trying to run over protesters:
To add fuel to fire, Egyptian state television played a shameful part in igniting anger by accusing Copts of attacking the army.
Mahmood Salem exposes the scam. He tweets:
@Sandmonkey: The infamous Rasha Maged video where she lies and incites the public against the christians http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7m08JJdxao #maspero #egypt
The aftermath of the bloody night of horror was a bleeding mournful country, 20 plus dead and over 200 injured.
On Monday morning, lawyer Khalid Ali  won a tiring different battle in the general prosecutor office to obtain autopsy permissions to ensure the blood spilled would not go in vain.
The result did not come as a shock.
@MHassan: Out of the 17 autopsies; 10 were crushed under vehicle. one had a sword cut, and the rest  were killed by severe gunshots
Bullets were shown by relatives of the victims of the October 9 massacre. Photo taken from Arabist Blogpost.
While the autopsy was being conducted, people packed up inside and outside the Abbaseya Cathedral in preparation for the funeral procession to honor the souls of the martyrs.  The funeral proved that Egyptians both Muslims and Christians were aware of the plot to create a sectarian rift between them. Amidst the prayers, the cathedral broke into blunt and strong chants against the military reign.
Following the procession, a march headed from the cathedral to Tahrir Square to pay tribute to activist Mina Daniel who has requested in the ambulance before he passed away that his funeral goes out from Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the Egyptian revolution.
Khaled Ali [ar] saw Mina's mom talking to herself and her deceased son:
This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.
Egypt: Deadly Crackdown on Coptic Protests  by Greek blogger and Global Voices Online author Asteris Masouras.

author: Nermeen Edrees


text:
El Salvador Hit by Heavy Rains, Flooding and Landslides · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Tim's El Salvador Blog reports that “Heavy rains, caused by a tropical depression off the Pacific coast have caused flooding and landslides in various parts of El Salvador. School has been suspended in 8 of the country's 14 departments. The weather system has left 18 people dead across Central America, including two women in El Salvador who died in separate landslides.”


text:
Iran: Two environment watchers sentenced to death · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Animal and several other Iranian bloggers express [fa] their deep concern about two environment watchers who are condemned to death penalty. These two environment watchers killed without premeditation the poachers.

author: Fred Petrossian


text:
Is North Korean Media No Longer Sealed Off?  · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Martyn Williams from North Korea Tech blog commented on Reporters Without Borders’ recent report on the North Korean media landscape. The report claims that the hermit kingdom is no longer as sealed off from the outside world as it used to be.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


text:
Israel: News of Gilad Shalit’s Release Welcomed  · Global Voices
Elizabeth Tsurkov

On October 11, 2011, the Israeli government and top Hamas officials confirmed that a deal has been struck between Israel and Hamas that would lead to the release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.
Since Shalit's kidnapping in 2006, his parents, Israeli media outlets and celebrities have campaigned for his release. The news about the deal were welcomed by most Israelis, but not all. As Noam Sheizaf and Noa Yachot described on +972 Mag:
Spontaneous celebrations took place at the Shalit family’s protest tent in Jerusalem. Counter-protesters demonstrated outside the tent against the release of Palestinian prisoners “with blood on their hands” – a term denoting those charged with deaths of Israelis.
Thousands have marched in the streets of Jerusalem calling for the release of the soldier Gilad Shalit. Image by Yitzy Russek, copyright Demotix (08/07/2010).
Israeli tweeps also commented about the identities of some of the Palestinian prisoners set to be released who were convicted of carrying out terror attacks that resulted in the death of Israelis:
Other tweeps discussed the results of this release of prisoners:
The deal passed the vote in the Israeli government, with only three ministers voting against it. Dahlia Scheindlin explained on +972 Mag the results of the vote:
In my assessment, the government vote is a pretty good indicator of how the public feels at this moment: 10% against the deal, and the rest – 90% for it.
The public mobilization for Shalit has been massive. There has hardly been a single major public forum that has not been leveraged to call for Shalit’s release.
Due to the public support for the deal, it is seen in Israel as a victory for Prime Minister Netanyahu, who used the opportunity to send a celebratory tweet:
@IsraeliPM: I am bringing #Gilad #Shalit home !
The Israeli twittersphere, however, was not impressed.
Many tweeps saw the Gilat Shalit deal as a ploy to increase Netanyahu's popularity, after it had suffered a significant hit as a result of the #j14 social justice protest movement during the summer.
In a twittersphere known for its cynicism and dark sense of humor, a few Israelis used the news as an opportunity to crack jokes:
Others used the prisoner swap deal to criticize the Israeli government's policies with regards to the Palestinians:
Eyal Niv wrote a critical post on his Blog, Truth from the Land of Israel [he] about Israel's policy with regards to Gaza:
רק דבר אחד לא ניסו. לעצור לרגע ולחשוב, למה בכלל מחזיקים אלפי אסירים פלסטינים בישראל, אם רובם אינם טרוריסטים, וכמה זה עולה למשלם המיסים, והאם זה לא מזמין אלימות בתביעה לצדק. …
ועכשיו שישוחרר, בשעה טובה, יש להוסיף ולשאול עוד – מה הלאה: האם עכשיו יוסרו ההגבלות? יפסיקו את הפגיעה בכלואים הפלסטינים בישראל? המצור? הבידוד מהגדה? הגבלות השיט? החקלאות? הייצוא והייבוא? היתרים לנסוע לחו”ל? לטיפול רפואי? ללימודים? הלוא שליט היה העילה כביכול. אולי צריך לחשוב מחדש: את מי משרת המצור – אותנו או את חמאס?
Only one thing they didn't try. To stop for a minute and think, why are we holding thousands of Palestinians prisoners in Israel, if most of them aren't terrorists, and how much this costs the taxpayers, and does it invite violence [kidnappings] in a demand for justice [release of prisoners]. …
And now that he'll be released, finally, we must also ask – what's next? Will now the restrictions [on Gaza] be lifted? Will now they stop punishing the Palestinians incarcerated in Israel? The siege [of Gaza]? The isolation [of Gaza] from the West Bank? The fishing limitations? The agriculture? The export and import? The permission to travel abroad? [The permission] to get medical treatment? [The permission] to study [abroad]? Shalit, after, was the excuse for this. Maybe we need to rethink, whom does the siege serve -us or Hamas?

author: Elizabeth Tsurkov


text:
Italy: “Wiretapping Bill” could drastically limit freedom of information · Global Voices
Bernardo Parrella

The Italian Parliament is about to vote on a very stringent “wiretapping Bill” [it] aimed at drastically limiting judicial investigations and journalism inquiries, thus blocking free speech about new scandals exposing top-level politicians, as many of such cases keep emerging. After a recent “strike” by Wikipedia Italy [it] and a pouring of protests, a provision requesting all websites and blogs to immediately rectify any content that anybody deems “detrimental to his/her own image”, has been removed.

author: Bernardo Parrella


text:
Latin American Social Movements and #OccupyWallStreet · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Benjamin Dangl in Upside Down World writes a report that “connects tactics and philosophies surrounding the Occupy Wall Street movement with similar movements in Latin America, from the popular assemblies and occupation of factories during Argentina’s economic crisis in 2001-2002, to grassroots struggles for land in Brazil.”

author: Silvia Viñas


text:
Lebanon: Gender Discrimination while Buying a Car · Global Voices
Layal Al Khatib

Lebanese blogger Rita Chemaly was shocked to be discriminated against by another saleswoman while buying a car with her boyfriend. She shared her story in this post.

author: Layal Al Khatib


text:
Lebanon: New Blog about Football · Global Voices
Layal Al Khatib

Disappointed to discover that there were very few, if any, English-language websites or blogs dedicated to soccer in the land of the cedar tree, Fitzroy Morrissey hopes to rectify this situation through this new blog, Football In Lebanon.


text:
Lebanon: The Ridiculous Increase in Wages  · Global Voices
Layal Al Khatib

Lebanese blogger Rami thinks the increase which the cabinet agreed to issue to the wages in Lebanon is ridiculous and unfair. He explains why in his latest post.


text:
Macedonia: Comparing Steve Jobs to Tito · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

“Comrade Apple died” – the anonymous Taen bloger (= Secret Blogger) used the language imitating the original 1980 TV announcement [sr] of the death of the beloved Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito to comment [mk] on the reactions following the death of Steve Jobs.

author: Filip Stojanovski


text:
Malawi: Death of a Student Activist and a Campaign of Terror · Global Voices
Steve Sharra

Early on the morning of Saturday September 24, 2011, a University of Malawi Polytechnic student was found lying stiff on a paved surface, next to a pool of blood, on the university campus. His name was Robert Chasowa, and he was dead. Early whispers suggested suicide, including a question posted on an unlisted google forum for Malawian journalists:
Is it true a male student has committed suicide by throwing themselves off from an upper floor?
Chasowa was said to have had a cut on the back of his head, and not everyone was buying the suicide suggestion. In the evening of that Saturday the police announced they were going to issue a statement. It came late afternoon the following day, Sunday, September 25. In the statement, National Police Headquarters spokesperson, Mr Willie Mwaluka, announced what he said were postmortem results from Malawi's leading pathologist, Dr. Charles Dzamalala. Based on the postmortem results, and a note the deceased was said to have left for his parents, Mr Mwaluka announced that Robert Chasowa had apparently committed suicide.
Malawian student activist Robert Chasowa. Image source: RIP Robert Chasowa Facebook page.
Chasowa was buried on Monday September 26, two days after his death, but then on and offline, the questions were only beginning: Why were the police in such a rush to conclude that Chasowa had committed suicide? Why was there a cut at the back of his head? Where was campus security when all this happened? What was going on with Malawi?
Chasowa's death came after a spate of arson attacks on two vehicles belonging to a radio station claimed by the president to be hostile to the government, and more arson cases involving houses and offices of human rights activists. In September three markets in the cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe suffered extensive fire damage, also suspected to be arson. Another activist, Lawrence Bisika, was reportedly beaten up in a bar in the city of Zomba on September 21st by people believed to be using a vehicle from Ministry of Lands. There have been death threats to journalists, columnists and individuals seen as critics of the government. The  [dead link] announced on the same day Chasowa was buried it was going to open an investigation into the death of the student activist.
On Saturday, October 1, a weekend paper,  [dead link], published on its front page a story in which Dr. Dzamalala denied ever releasing to the police a postmortem report on Chasowa's death. He said he had indeed performed a postmortem on Chasowa, but had not yet released the results as some tests were yet to be concluded. Another story in the paper said Dr Dzamalala had been surprised by the number of police officers who were present during the postmortem, and by the several police visits to his house later, asking him for the postmortem report. On Tuesday, October 4, Dr. Dzamalala was interviewed on Capital Radio Malawi's Straightalk programme, and announced that the results of the postmortem would be out the following day. On Wednesday October 5th both Malawi's dailies The Nation and  [dead link] carried banner headlines on their front pages, quoting the postmortem report, proclaiming that Robert Chasowa had not committed suicide; he had been murdered.
On Thursday, September 29, blogger Bright Mhango Baghaya published on his blog an article titled “The document that killed Chasowa“. Baghaya prefaced the article with a statement saying he was publishing the article, verbatim, and did not intent to infringe anybody's copyright, creating the impression that the article had been authored by Robert Chasowa:
Black Moses is answering sedition charges because of this here publication, Robert Chasowa was being sought and killed [my verdict] because of this here document. I have just taken the whole bit, verbatim… I do not intend to infringe any copyrights. its strictly journalistic. This is the sixth edition, it came out on Monday, Moses was arrested on Tuesday, Robert was killed on Saturday.
Chasowa's mum bids farewell. Image courtesy of malawivoice.com
Written in point format, the document lists 12 questions, asking President wa Mutharika to explain various aspects of governance, including allegations of corruption and foreign bank accounts where Malawi's wealth is allegedly being siphoned off to:
1. We need an explanation- why the presidential jet was impounded in America
2. Mr. President-explain to us why should the Secretary for Treasury extort K16 Million from investors on behalf of DPP and you, your Excellency?
11. Mr President-why should Paladin Africa a company which is mining uranium at Kayerekera be banking U$100,000 every month to your personal account in Australia-when Malawi is experiencing a cute shortage of forex
On Wednesday October 5th blogger Mabvuto Jobani published on his blog an article, reporting that two police officers had visited the blogger, saying they knew who killed Chasowa. They asked for anonymity, telling Jobani:
But we definitely know the guys who killed him…there are the same guys who torched Rafiq Hajat’s offices in Blantyre and Rev Sembereka’s house in Balaka but the trouble is that we cant arrest them because they are being protected.
News of the suspicious death was spreading like wildfire and was being hotly debated on social networking websites, discussion forums and in the comments’ sections of online newspapers. On Thursday October 6 Jobani posted an article announcing that the European Union was going to issue a statement on Robert Chasowa's death. The statement appeared on Friday, October 7.
On Thursday, October 6, President wa Mutharika was a special guest on the BBC's current events programme Africa Have Your Say, in which Malawians were expected to call in to ask the president questions. Chasowa's death was the subject of the very first question. The president responded by saying he had instituted a commission of inquiry to look into the political violence being reported. Much of the hour-long programme went with the host, Alex Jakana, and the president discussing the president's new book The African Dream: From Poverty to Prosperity. There were very few questions from callers, and very little probing of the security atmosphere in the country.
On Saturday, October 8, Malawi's two weekend papers,  Weekend Nation and Malawi News both carried investigative reports that probed deep into Chasowa's death. The revelations have been nothing short of a bombshell. Accounts by both papers quote people involved in student groups that Chasowa belonged to, and top police officers who worked with Chasowa, describing events leading to his death. Chasowa is reported to have worked with the police and politicians to try and stop demonstrations that civil society organizations had planned for Wednesday, August 17, following the expiry of a deadline given to President wa Mutharika to address concerns delivered to him in a petition on July 20. That was the day when the first demonstrations took place in Malawi's major cities and 20 civilians were killed.
The published reports say Chasowa and his colleagues were given money and equipment to carry out operations aimed at stopping the August 17 demonstrations. They were promised K10 million (aprox. US$60,000) upon successful completion of the operation. The demonstrations were postponed to September 21, later changed to a mass stayaway, but the police refused to pay the K10 million, claiming the postponement was not a result of the students’ work. The reports say Chasowa persistently called the senior police officers and senior politicians in the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and threatened to reveal government secrets if the money was not paid.
Online newspapers and blogs have gone even further, giving blow by blow accounts of the events leading up to Chasowa's death, including phone numbers of the Inspector General of Police, the President's brother and current Minister of Foreign Affairs, and others involved in dealings with the students:
Chasowa lost very little blood (not more than a litre) showing that he was not killed by a fall, loss of blood and most importantly that the blood came out via rigor mortis (if the heart was still pumping, there would be a lake of blood) this shows that he was dead before he bled.
Chasowas had dust on his knees, showing that he had knelt….what this the time he was being forced to write the suicide notes?
Chasowa was found lying face down, but the face had no dents to show that he had fallen, his shoulders and all parts of his body had no fracture to show that he had fallen.
The revelations continue to cause shock and dismay across and beyond Malawi, as expressed on discussion forums and social networking sites. One tweep asked:
Its alleged Robert #Chasowa kept a diary – Is it true? Who has it? Whats in it? #malawi
Meanwhile, the print edition of The Nation of Wednesday October 12 carries two new developments. It quotes John Kapito, chairperson of the MHRC as asking the Inspector General of Police, Peter Mukhito, to go on holiday so as to enable the MHRC's inquest into the death of Chasowa. The paper also carries a story on deaths threats being made through phone calls to Phillip Pemba, the reporter who wrote the Weekend Nation story that mentioned names of the Inspector General and Southern Region Commissioner of Police Rodney Jose as having met and funded Chasowa and his colleagues.
A new blog called DPP Stormtrooopers is asking Malawians to reveal names of ruling party DPP “thugs” involved in “political thuggery” by submitting names and details of attacks. The blog's description reads:
Violent political thuggery in Malawi is growing. Let us expose the vile cowards who do this. Submit the name and address of any DPP thug you know.
The blog promises to do two things:
i) List the culprits responsible for cowardly attacks on our brothers and sisters who are trying their best to serve the country constructively and take us forward. These cowards live in our very own communities!! Lets know them, keep an eye on them, pressure them, and protect our activists from them. From there, justice will find its own path.
ii) Record any attacks on dissidents and activists.
Its just a small start, but we have to do something and stand up for each other. We are many, have smart people among us so lets find ways ways to make it impossible for these clowns to move freely and kill people with impunity in our communities.

author: Steve Sharra


text:
Myanmar: Release of Several Political Prisoners  · Global Voices
Chan Myae Khine

Eleven Media reported that several political prisoners in Myanmar like Ko Thu Ya (Famous Comedian), Ko Ko Gyi (San Chaung), Monks from 2007 Saffron Revolution and members of opposition party NLD have been released this morning.

author: Chan Myae Khine


text:
Puerto Rico: Legal Action Against Medical School?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“On October 3rd, a school of medicine in Puerto Rico, the San Juan Bautista School of Medicine, was punished for its negligence and incompetence by becoming the first U.S.-based institution to completely lose its accreditation”: Gil the Jenius has taken the closure personally (his wife was in her final year of medical school at the facility), saying that the school is “guilty of criminal negligence and incompetence. Period.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Puerto Rico: Mima at the University · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

The music blog Puerto Rico Indie [es] has posted a collection of photos of the concert [es] that indie singer Mima [es] offered last October 5 at the theater of the University of Puerto Rico to present her latest album, “El Pozo.”

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


text:
Puerto Rico: “Teatro Breve” on the Net · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

The group of actors and comedians “Teatro Breve” (literally, Brief Theater) has a new house [es] on the net where fans can find videos, photos, and news of their presentations.


text:
Puerto Rico: The Occupy Movement is Here · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Puerto Rico has joined the “Occupy Movement” [es] that has been spreading in many cities around the world, and they will start their occupation this Saturday, October 15, when a worldwide protest is planned to take place.


text:
Russia: LiveJournal Loses 23 Percent of the Audience in 2011 · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Vedomosti analyses [ru] serious drop (23-25 percent in 2011) in LiveJournal traffic. While most analytics agree that the decrease is connected to DDoS attacks on the RuNet's main political platform as well as interface improvements in Facebook and Google+, LiveJournal representative explain the negative dynamics with ‘summer seasonal prevalence.’

author: Alexey Sidorenko


text:
Slovenia: Notes on the Dec. 4 Early Elections · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dr. Filomena writes that Janez Janša, “the man considered most likely to form Slovenia’s next government,” has blocked her as well as a few journalists on Twitter, but hopes that Janša's SDS party wins in the Dec. 4 early parliamentary elections: “[…] For three years, these people have spared no insult, no insinuation, have not missed any opportunity to question the credibility and even legitimacy of the team that governed Slovenia during the worst period of the world economic crisis. It is time for them to show they can do better.” Sleeping With Pengovsky also comments on the upcoming elections, here and here.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


text:
Slovenia: #OccupyLjubljana on Oct. 15 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

PIRAN CAFÉ posts photos from Ljubljana's recently renovated Congress Square and writes that this is where the #OccupyLjubljana gathering is expected to take place on Oct. 15 – “one of dozens, if not hundreds planned around the globe that day.”


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: 5 Fave Foods · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

If it's true that women can cook five things really well, what would the Top 5 dishes be for Caribbean women?  Can Cook, Must Cook finds out.


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: Understanding Social Media Terminology  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A message for mainstream media: not everyone who posts information on the Internet is a blogger.  Gerard Best says that “if we’re going to be reporting on the electronic media, we should try to get the lingo right.”


text:
Tunisia: A Message to Morocco’s February 20 Movement  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Moroccan blogger Hisham Almiraat shares a video with a message to the February 20 Movement. Watch how bloggers from around the world tell them – Mamfakinch, which means don't give up the fight, in the Moroccan dialect. The video was shot during the Third Arab Bloggers meeting, which ended in Tunisia recently.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


text:
Ukraine: Reactions to Yulia Tymoshenko’s Sentencing · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

BlogActiv.eu, Foreign Notes (here and here), OdessaBlog and OpenDemocracy.com comment, among other issues, on the implications of the Oct. 11 sentencing of ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko for the EU-Ukraine relations. Ukrainiana and Ukraine's Orange Blues post photos and video taken near the Kyiv Pechersky Court on the day of the verdict. Watcher.com.ua reports [uk] that #Tymoshenko was trending worldwide on Twitter on Oct. 11.


text:
Uruguay Celebrates its Bicentennial · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Uruguay declared 2011 the year it would commemorate the bicentennial of its “emancipation process” which began in 1811, although independence was not declared until August 25, 1825. Through an official website and accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr, organizers have been spreading the word about the numerous events scheduled to take place throughout the year.
The bicentennial celebrations officially kicked off in February, but on Monday October 10 Uruguayans commemorated the appointment of José Artigas —Uruguay's national hero—as “Chief of the Orientales“, with a massive celebration featuring simultaneous artistic performances on four different stages in downtown Montevideo. According to El Observador [es], more than 300,000 people attended the events.
Guitar quartet Rica Cosa performing on February 27, 2011. Image by Pablo Castro (CC BY-NC 2.0)
The hashtag #bi100uy was widely used by Uruguayans to react with both praise [es] and criticism [es] to the live performances, the organization of the event and other matters that arose as the day went by. Meanwhile, bloggers reflected on various aspects of the events and on the Bicentennial celebration in general.
Mauricio Milano from Montevideo Blogger [es] confessed that he hoped to feel more excited about the bicentennial, and added:
Y honestamente no creo que el increible esfuerzo no solo económico sino humano que se está realizando para el Bicentenario (hay que reconocerlo, no sería posible sin el talento de muchas personas) se vea reflejado en más nacionalismo o una “reflexión histórica” más profunda en la gente. Al menos en mi caso, un gol de Forlán me hace sentir más uruguayo que el carnaval que se está preparando para esta noche, y lo que pienso sobre la historia de mi país no va a cambiar por ir a un concierto.
Chrisitan Libonatti [es] created a slideshow comprising the October 11 front pages of major Uruguayan newspapers. He noted that all of them included a spot with news about Monday's celebrations, but only two dedicated the entire front page to the previous day's events.
Esto es apenas un análisis para demostrar que habiendo miles de uruguayos caminando por las calles apenas dos medios le dedicaron su título principal. Un conflicto gremial, la inseguridad o cualquier otra cosa son más importantes que una fiesta popular.
Ni critico ni alabo ésto, sólo está bueno observarlo.
This is just an analysis to show that with thousands of Uruguayans walking the streets only two newspapers dedicated their main headline to [the event]. A union conflict, lack of security or anything else were more important than a national festival.
I neither praise nor criticize this, it's just interesting to watch.
Finally, considering what Uruguay and other countries in the region commemorate during these Bicentennial celebrations, blogger Anna Donner Rybak [es] goes back to the indigenous peoples who inhabited the continent before the arrival of European colonizers. She points out that most Uruguayans are of European descent, but she asks:
¿Y quién es entonces “bien” uruguayo? me pregunto. Y me respondo que los más cercanos son los descendientes de nuestros indios.
[…] me pregunto porqué se honra la  memoria de quienes han venido a exterminar a los verdaderos argentinos,  uruguayos, peruanos, bolivianos.
Who are “really” Uruguayan? I wonder. And I answer that those closest to that are the descendants of our indigenous peoples
[…] I wonder, why do we honor the memory of those who came to exterminate the real Argentinians, Uruguayans, Peruvians, Bolivians?


text:
West Papua: ‘Biggest Threat’ to Pacific Media Freedom · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Pacific Journalism Review reports that Indonesia-occupied West Papua has the most serious violations of press freedom in the Pacific area.

author: Mong Palatino


text:
African Bloggers Review the French Primary Elections · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Mengue M'Eyaà review the proposals [fr] outlined by the French presidential candidates towards the African continent during the primary elections. She notes that all the proposals centered around how France can exit the Françafrique paradigm and that the candidates have a more nuanced understanding of several African issues such as the transition towards an effective democracy, foreign aid and accountability in governance.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


text:
Behold Singapore’s ‘Onternaut’ Netizens · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Singapore’s young netizens have been called ‘Onternauts’ by Tan Tarn How, a senior research fellow of the Institute of Policy Studies. Onternaut comes from a combination of the words “online”, “alternative” and “astronauts”.
The researcher used the word to describe a segment of the youth population who are actively using the Internet to monitor news, share information, and engage in politics. According to the survey which the researcher’s team conducted, the Onternauts comprise about 12.6 percent of the young population.
The purpose of the survey is to determine the role of the internet in Singapore media and politics:
Little is also known about the use of the Internet for political purposes. Among the questions that need to be answered are: How much do people use the Internet and traditional media for political information, and what is their trust of and assessment of the importance of different media as a source of political information?
What are some of the qualities of the Onternauts?
They are politically more knowledgeable, interested and liberal. They also tend to be more politically engaged online and off- line, be it posting a comment on a blog or speaking to politicians.
…The study also found that 30 per cent of Singaporeans are political cynics, defined by their distrust of politicians.
…These cynics are more likely to use online alternative media and foreign websites. They also prefer to use interpersonal channels like face-to-face meetings to discuss politics, the survey found.
From the blog of Yawning Bread
But blogger Everything Also Complain is not happy over the Onternaut term:
‘Onternaut’ is a hastily assembled portmanteau that sounds to me more like a dinosaur Decepticon from Transformers than someone politically active in social media. We used to call people who trawl the web for information ‘surfers’, people with personal websites ‘web hosts’, later converted to ‘bloggers’ and subsequently ‘netizens’, implying a community of people with common ideologies who simply spend more time online chatting and posting information rather than sit around discussing politics.  Apparently you don’t ‘surf’ online anymore, either you float around helplessly in a vacuum like astronauts do, or embark on a flight plan around ‘cyberspace’ in a metaphorical rocket ship. As a ‘blogger’ myself, I don’t find anything ‘naut-y’ about what I do online.
Today, getting online and navigating it is as mundane as the air you breathe and there’s nothing about the experience that resembles the soaring, desolate majesty of conquering the final frontier.
Yawning Bread reminds the public, especially politicians, not to blame alternative websites for the political activities of the youth:
They are exposed to mainstream media as much as they are exposed to alternative websites, and yet their political traits are distinct. That being the case, one cannot say that alternative media changed them. It might be more correct to say they were different first, and then found a way to voice their different outlook through the internet.
For anyone, including the People’s Action Party (author’s note: Singapore’s ruling party), to accuse alternative socio-political websites of “radicalising” Singaporeans, is to misunderstand the dynamics.
Anonymous says he read alternative websites because of the strong bias of mainstream media:
I belong to the 12.6%. I find myself being forced to read alternative socio-political websites as I find the mainstream media too biased in reporting local politics.
Ravi Philemon thinks the survey proves that those who read alternative websites also consume news from mainstream sources:
This comment by Mr Tan actually debunks the widespread belief especially among those from the establishment, that the internet has been the instrument of ‘self-radicalisation’. The fear being those that get their news from the alternative websites, will not get to see the views as expressed in mainstream sources.
The survey actually proves that those who consume news from the alternative websites, also consume the mainstream ones. And so in that sense, there is little to worry that Singaporeans who consume news from alternative sources are ‘ghettoising’ themselves.


text:
Cambodia: Music Magazine · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Students of the Royal University of Phnom Penh are behind the launching the magazine Dontrey which features the musical traditions of Cambodia


text:
Cameroon: Diaspora Fail to Participate in Elections · Global Voices
Julie Owono

This post is part of our special coverage Cameroon Elections 2011
Seven million Cameroonian voters were called to elect their next president on October 9, 2011. However, the question of the abstention seems to be the great winner of this ballot, in particular that of Cameroonians living abroad.
This year's election was significant for the reason that since August 8, 2011, [fr] Cameroonian citizens in the diaspora were allowed to vote for the first time.
Cameroonian Voters in Dakar. Image by George Esunge Fominyen on www.gefominyen.com (CC).
The Cameroonian population living abroad is estimated at between 2.5 million [fr] and 4 million people [fr]. According to an article published on allafrica.com [fr], this number varies because of administrative reasons:
Dans une récente interview, le Minitre des relations extérieures, Henri Eyebe Ayissi, expliquait que « d'une part, la carte consulaire du Cameroun ne couvre pas tous les pays d'émigration. D'autre part, même dans les pays pourvus de postes consulaires, la situation est très contrastée. D'une manière générale, nos compatriotes de la diaspora ne se font pas systématiquement enregistrer auprès des services consulaires. Outre une certaine indifférence, l'explication réside, soit dans l'ignorance de cette formalité, soit dans le fait que ceux qui se trouvent en situation irrégulière hésitent à sortir de l'anonymat.»
The decision to allow Cameroonians from the Diaspora to vote might be related to economic reasons. According to a 2011 World Bank report, Diaspora For Development in Africa, the potential savings of Cameroonian migrants within Cameroon is equivalent to 3.8 % of the GDP. Moreover, bank and other informal money  transfers are estimated between 9 and 24 % of the GDP.
A financial manna perceived by every Cameroonians. Hotmongo ironically commented on this subject on Twitter :
La participation de la diaspora a l'économie c'est western union. LOL
According to the Cameroonian Electoral Commission (ELECAM), 25,578 Cameroonians abroad registered on the voter list. At the time of the adoption of the voting decree, website Bonaberi.com [fr] published an article in which the author already doubted ELECAM's ability to register the estimated 2.5 million voters abroad :
Une opération dont on doute de sa réalisabilité, à deux mois de la date de l’élection présidentielle.
In fact, the presidential decree was signed on August, 8, 2011, and the deadline for voter registration was on August 31, 2011. Short delays added to a call from diaspora to boycott the election might have led to this result.
The CODE (an association gathering democratic and patriotic organisations of the Cameroonian diaspora – Collectif des Organisations Démocratiques et Patriotiques de la Diaspora Camerounaise) led the boycott movement. On its blog [fr], the organisation explains:
- [Nous] Réaffirmons notre farouche opposition à la mascarade électorale qui se déroule
actuellement au Cameroun et en diaspora ;
– Dénonçons par conséquent la poursuite d’un processus électoral mafieux, totalement
illégitime, et qui n’a pour but que de maintenir Paul Biya au pouvoir pour le grand
malheur du peuple camerounais.
In the following video posted on YouTube by Seumoprisma on October 8, members of the CODE in Belgium demonstrate to reminded Cameroonians in the diaspora that they must not vote on October 9 and instead call for Paul Biya to step down:
According to an article by the daily newspaper Le Jour, published on 237online [fr], among the 40,000 Cameroonians counted in France, only 900 went to vote. Paul Biya, the outgoing president, got 64.97% of the popular vote.
Ebot Tabi comments on Twitter:
If you look at the number registered and compared to the number of voters, you see that only the Biya people did vote
This post is part of our special coverage Cameroon Elections 2011

author: Julie Owono


text:
Chile: Calls for Government Action One Year Since Rescue of ‘the 33’ · Global Voices
Katie Manning

Thousands flocked to the city center of Copiapó, Chile today. They gathered to remember the incredible rescue one year ago of 33 miners trapped underground for 69 days. Many more typed their respects using online media. Twitter users are calling upon the government to reignite the spirit of that coordination effort. They say politicians need to unite once again to fix problems plaguing Chile.
Harking back to the national feeling of togetherness from October 13 of last year, Chile’s President Sebastian Piñera (@sebastianpinera) tweeted:
Los 33 mineros nos enseñaron una gran lección: en los momentos difíciles la unidad y la solidaridad son claves para superar la adversidad.
In August 2010, 33 flags were placed in the San Esteban mine in Atacama to support the 33 trapped miners. Image by Alex Fuentes on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Gonzalo Maza (@tengochicle) wrote that the government should do just that to work with Chile’s protesting students. Their progress is creeping forward considering the speedy government action during the rescue according to Maza. He tweeted:
Hace un año, el gobierno hacía esfuerzos extraordinarios por rescatar mineros. Hoy no es capaz de moverse un centímetro por los estudiantes.
Twitter user Don Gato (@rhon2008) thinks that attention should be focused on mining disaster stories sans photogenic happy ending. He tweeted:
27 mineros han muerto este año en accidentes,desgracia de 33,solo fue utilizada publicitariamente por el gobierno nunguna ley de proteccion.
Jorge Añez (@Jorge_Anez) remains less than impressed with the government’s efforts to improve working conditions. He tweeted:
Espectacular rescate, pero no provoco el cambio esperado en las condiciones laborales #mineros #chilenos
But the national solidarity Chile felt for its 33 fellow countrymen, forced to overcome the unthinkable, hasn’t evaporated on Facebook. The “Fuerzas Hermanos Mineros de la Mina San Jose, de Copiapo” (“Be strong miners of the San Jose Mine of Copiapo”) Facebook page still boasts 52,429 fans. “Yo tambien apoyo a los 33 mineros Chileons atrapados” (“I also support the 33 trapped Chilean miners”) survived this year's Facebook spring cleaning. It still has 87,695 “likes.”
While politicians and visitors laid down the first rocks of a new memorial reservoir today, social media users pitched in their two-cents about where, how and why the government needs to construct new policies.

author: Katie Manning


text:
Chile/New York: Similarities Between Occupy Wall Street and the Student Movement · Global Voices
Evan Fleischer

This post is part of our special coverage #Occupy Worldwide.
Photo by mar i sea Y on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Despite  81 million unemployed youth in the world, “Only 4.4 percent of global  income is spent on education and a fraction of that on youth  unemployment,” Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown writes in an article  called, “Give The Kids Jobs!”
This  can serve as good a tip-off as any as to why Chile is Chile. It spends 4.4% of its GDP on education, below what the UN suggests for  developed countries (7%), and why – as the President of the American  Federation of Teachers pointed out in a previous interview with the  writer – Chile’s results “have not been impressive — at least as  measured by PISA,” a form of international testing that puts them second from the bottom of 56 countries, cushioned only by Peru.
For the past five months, Chilean students have been actively responding to this, which Global Voices has documented (see: October 12th, August 10th, and more.)  As American media outlets begin to come to terms with Occupy Wall  Street (who are barrelling forward at a rapid clip), they can look at  the texture of what’s happening in a country where — unlike Egypt and  Tunisia — there is neither a Dictator nor an infrastructure gap, but  inequality, inequality, inequality.
In a blog post for the Harvard Business Review published during the first week of Occupy Wall Street, James Allworth postulated that the real choice at hand was a choice between capitalism and democracy and how the friction between the two would be resolved.
That friction — and that issue (Chile’s wealth distribution ranks among the world’s worst)  — is manifesting itself within the call for free education. As of  2009, only 27% of Chilean students who could be enrolled in educational  institutions were enrolled. No new public universities have been built  since Pinochet. Schools are funded locally, which means the quality of  the school depends on the monetary quality of the area. More Chileans  are going to Argentina for school because it’s cheaper.
Photo by rafa2010 on Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
The  end game for the middle class can either follow one of two routes: stay healthy and fine and avoid the idea of an end game  altogether, or follow what Elizabeth Warren has been tracking, most notably in The Two-Income Trap.
Though income-wages have been stagnant for the past forty years in the United States, income volatility has occurred with a ninety percent frequency for a family with two children between 1970 and 2003.
A few things constitute income volatility — and it can be found across borders.
In Chile, blogger Ricardo Acuña writes that one can pay for their groceries on their credit card in  installments. In 2009, the median income was listed at 735,503  pesos/1,570 dollars per month.
La Polar — the fourth largest retail company in Chile — had  unilaterally renegotiated credit card arrangements with 418,000 Chileans  for six years. The New York Times reports that “annual interest charges can top 220 percent and consumers cannot seek bankruptcy protection.”
The Times continues:
…  consumer debt rose by 254 percent, to roughly $34 million, between 2001  and 2008, the debt-to-income level topped 70 percent at the end of  2010, according to the Central Bank.
And  since there is no bankruptcy protection, Chileans have to worry about  falling on the Dicom, something which is — essentially — a credit  agency for people: if you have bad credit, you’ll be blacklisted from a  job and find it harder to get a loan.
The economic health of a middle class family matters. Eliminate  economic malfeasance and it is safer for the family and safer for the  country in which they reside. As Paul Krugman has noted, anything that  inflates income inequality — meaning: anything that shrinks the middle  class by widening the gap between the rich and the poor — could  seriously provoke — and be an indicator of – a financial crisis. Attack inequality and you attack risk.
Anyone familiar with the #OWS #needsoftheoccupiers hashtags will see an instant rapport when Shalini Adnani walked to the University of Chile:
A  sign at the entrance urged for help: “We Need (education): Sheets,  toilet paper, liquid soap, soap dish soap, brooms, paper towels,  deodorant, cardboard, any games, and love.”
Adnani continues:
But  as I walked inside students welcomed me with the creativity that  defined the student movement. A man dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow with  a Jolly Roger flag hanging from his belt holds my chin with the tip of  his cutlass humorously asking for identification.
…
Students  continue to educate classmates and other Chileans asking trivia  questions about Chilean history on a microphone … Enthusiastic  schoolgirls sat in a circle in a ‘literature of the dictatorship’  workshop where students partaking in strikes and occupation of schools  continued to learn and explore their interests despite the suspension of  classes … The zeal students shared for knowledge was ever-present.  Flyers for different kinds of workshops — film, environmental policy,  theater, and education itself — were topics students themselves studied  and taught each other.
In the “Acuerdo Social por la Educación Chilena,” a “Social Agreement for Chilean Education,” which was written by the students, one paragraph reads:
Esto  implica entender la educación como una inversión social y no meramente  individual, necesaria para la batalla contra la desigualdad y el alcance  de la libertad y la justicia social.
This past Sunday, October 8, The New York Times wrote:
At  this point, protest is the message: income inequality is grinding down  that middle class, increasing the ranks of the poor, and threatening to  create a permanent underclass of able, willing but jobless people. On  one level, the protesters, most of them young, are giving voice to a  generation of lost opportunity.
In an interview with Harald Beyer,  leader of the student movement Camila Vallejo — explaining why the students were protesting — said,  simply,
“La democracia no se ejerce necesariamente una vez cada cuatro  años en una urna.”
Photo by Peter Woodbridge on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
This post is part of our special coverage #Occupy Worldwide.

author: Evan Fleischer


text:
China: Reflecting on 100 Years Since the Xinhai Revolution · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The Arab Spring has travelled to other parts of the world and inspired the Wall Street Occupation but China has nipped its Jasmine Revolution in the bud by cracking down on civil rights activists since February 2011.
However, China does indeed have its own revolutionary traditions. The successful Wuchang Uprising on October 10, 1911, marked the beginning of the Xinhai Revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) and established the Republic of China. This year marks the one hundredth anniversary of the Wuchang Uprising and and the Revolution.
100th anniversary of Wuchang Uprising
Against the background of the global revolutionary climate and Internet-faciltated social unrest, needless to say, modern interpretation of Xinhai Revolution is highly sensitive and political.
The China Media Project looks into the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) representation of the Xinhai Revolution through the mainstream reports on October 10, 2011:
The front page of the People's Daily on October 10, 2011
We can see the basic Party treatment best by looking at the front page of the Party’s official People’s Daily, where a photo of the standing committee + 1 (former President Jiang Zemin), with Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin right smack in the middle, accompanies a dry report on the commemoration and the full official text of Hu Jintao’s “important speech.”
The Chinese President Hu Jintao's speech on the Xinhai Revolution contains nothing out of the ordinary, but the discussion in the Weibo online forum is more contentious and interesting.
Online discussions
Reporter Wang Wen from Global Times, another party controlled media outlet, talks about the Revolution in a celebratory mood [zh] and foresees that that it will take another 100 years to accomplish its goals:
辛亥革命今日正好100年。有三大目标已实现：一是恢复中华；二是推翻千年帝制；三是器物崛起，包括孙中山曾设想的三峡大坝青藏铁路等。有三大目标未实现：一是封建意识未断根；二是统一未成；三是宪政艰难。后三者恐怕还需100年。所以，今日仍要讲：“革命尚未成功，同志务须努力”。
On the other hand, Chinese historian Lei Yi believes that Chinese people should not hold on to the China model and argues [zh] that the Xinhai Revolution signifies the bankruptcy of a political system with Chinese characteristics:
今天是辛亥百年纪念。几千年的帝制被推翻，几千年皇权神授观念终于破灭。这是几千年中国政治制度最强的传统、最大的特色，认为是神圣不可改变的。当这种几千年的神圣制度、传统、特色都可被推翻，制度层面还有什么特色是必须坚持的呢？我以为，辛亥革命最大的意义就是制度层面中国特色论的破产。
Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the leader of the Republican Revolution and Father of the Chinese Nation. Image from sustainableview.blogspot.com, available in public domain.
However, not everyone is in a celebratory mood. Current affairs commentator, Chen Jieren comments in his Weibo [zh]:
大家都在讨论辛亥革命的意义，似乎达成了一个共识：辛亥革命最大的功绩就是推翻了封建专制。可事实真的如此吗？在我看来，辛亥革命不过是把名义上的皇帝赶下了龙椅，而直到今天，我们依然生活在封建制度中。别说那世袭的高官和毫无民主可言的假选举，光说那既得利益集团的各霸一块，不是封建是什么？
Xiao Gongqin, another historian, argues that the Xinhai Revolution has only brought chaos to China in an interview with Caijing.com [zh] and his commentary has also been widely circulated in Weibo [zh]:
辛亥革命的意义没那么大，辛亥革命也不像我们想象的那么美好，它恰恰是二十世纪大混乱的开端。如果没有辛亥革命，如果当时按照预备立宪大纲加快改革，在皇权不受挑战的情况下，社会还能够有序地前进。
The conclusion of Xiao's argument can be very conservative, as the CCP has been compared to imperial power among netizens. Nevertheless Editor of Southern Metropolis, Ximen, picks up his “what if” argument and concludes that [zh] all the bloody revolutions of the past 100 years were results of missed opportunities for peaceful transformation:
辛亥革命，错过了君主立宪；民国时期，错过了民主宪政；重庆谈判，错过了两党制；政治协商，错过了多党制；百年历史，没错过的是一次次的流血革命。
Guangdong-based historian Yuan Weishi sums up [zh] the lesson we can learn from the history in a blogpost:
至于教训，最主要的一条，是一定要有很多人坚忍不拔，致力于普及现代文明的知识。非常痛心，灾难来自于整个国家的思想文化水平不高，社会精英思想水平不高，他们对现代社会缺乏应有的认识。以孙文来说，就仍然受“朕即国家”的旧思想支配。
他说：革命“必须在唯一领袖之下，绝对服从。”“我是推翻专制，建立共和，首倡而实行之者。如离开我而讲共和、讲民主，则是南辕而北其辙。”
面对这些瞩目惊心的事实，拜托关怀国运的诸君子，千万不要再用“传统”或“国性”为藉口，构筑抵御现代文明在中国落实的思想堡垒！兴之所至，你们高兴玩《尚书》、《周易》、《论语》……就尽情玩吧。但请不要忽悠中国人，说这里有计算机和最好的宪政！

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Colombia: Could Miss Universe be Colombian? · Global Voices
Cati Restrepo

A Mexican newspaper published that Miss Universe is Colombian, and that her documents were forged [es] so that she could represent Angola. Territorio Chocoano adds that Leila Lopes’ place of birth would be Nóvita, in the Chocó department [es] (the department with the largest population with African-descent). A Colombian magazine published Miss Universe's response denying the report [es], while on Twitter netizens commented on the rumor.

author: Cati Restrepo


text:
Colombia: Students Protest Higher Education Reform · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Mike shares pictures of the October 12 student protests in Bogota: “Striking university students have got classes suspended at many of the public universities and vow to stay on strike until the government gives up on a proposed university reform, called Law 30, which would permit private investment in public universities.” Read more about the reform in this post by Lully Posada.

author: Silvia Viñas


text:
Colombia: You Can Copy This Creative Commons Film Festival · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

The Creative Commons Audiovisual Festival will be taking place in Barranquilla and Medellin later this month. You can still experience it even if you aren't in Colombia by requesting to Copy the Festival, and getting a full package to replicate the festival, including films, talks and contact information for directors and panelists.
Poster for the Creative Commons Audiovisual Festival
But if you just want to see what they're up to, the organizers are also streaming live video from the speaker panels and other activities.
Primer Festival Audiovisual Creative Commons from Festival Audiovisual CC on Vimeo.
Creative Commons (CC) are a series of rights for authors and creators which are more flexible than copyright. They allow the authors to determine which uses can be given to their work, allowing for a greater flexibility at the moment of spreading the content. Thanks to these licenses, new models for production and distribution of audiovisual material have appeared, where author and audiences are connected much closer together, leaving the middlemen to the side.
In Barranquilla the festival is currently in full swing and through twitter updates and a Facebook page they are keeping people informed of the activities and the highlights of the different talks and screenings. On Friday, they'll have a selection of screenings for all Colombian Creative Commons films.
Posted earlier on Twitter by @FestiCCBquilla:
Aburrid@? Sin plan? Sin dinero? Apuntate al mejor evento de estos dias @festiccbquilla es totalmente gratuito.
Promo Festival Audiovisual Creative Commons Barranquilla y Medellín 2011 from Festival Audiovisual CC on Vimeo.
Next week it'll be the turn of Medellin, which from October 18th to the 22nd will host the festival in different locations throughout the city such as the Pilot Public Library, restaurants and coffee shops as well as the Medellin Museum of Modern Art.
Promo Primer Festival Audiovisual Creative Commons Medellín from Festival Audiovisual CC on Vimeo.
You can follow them on twitter  and on Facebook to keep updated on activities and panels. Speakers at the festival will discuss experiences in filmmaking and sharing, how to raise money using crowdfunding platforms, how to promote films through CC, and how to get mass media involved in alternative licensing among other topics.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


text:
Cuba: News about El Sexto  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

babalu has an update on the arrest of graffiti artist El Sexto, while Translating Cuba calls for his release and publishes several examples of his artwork.


text:
El Salvador: Communities Severely Affected by Flooding · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Voices from El Salvador is  reporting on the consequences of severe weather in El Salvador: “Over  4000 people have been evacuated from their homes in San Salvador, La  Paz, San Vicente, Sonsonate, and Usulután, and the risk of more flooding  and landslides remains high.” They are also posting pictures on Facebook.


text:
Ethiopia: Netizens Take Campaign for Shweya Mullah Online · Global Voices
Endalkachew Chala

A social media campaign for justice is raging amongst Ethiopians online after a CNN journalist, Dan Rivers,  revealed the horrifying abuse of Shweya Mullah who was brutally injured after the wife of Gaddafi’s son Hannibal, poured boiled water on her whole body for allegedly failing to keep a crying child quiet. Shweye was working for the family as a nanny.
Gaddafi's son wife burnt the face of Shweyga Mullah. Image courtesy of www.shweyga.ethioscholars.com
On Friday September 2, 2011, Ethiopian netizens created a virtual discussion page on  Facebook: ‘2nd Discussion on seeking justice for Sheweyga Mullah in Libya‘. The timeframe allotted for the discussion is from Friday, September 2 at 4:00pm to October 31 at 7:00pm.
Another group has created a petition to gather signatures from the Ethiopian online community. The group has also created a Facebook app. The petition reads:
The recent inhumane treatment of Shweyga Mullah by Alaine Skaf, Gaddafi’s daughter-in-law, brought to light the unimaginable ordeal that our sisters in different countries around the world are going through. Luckily for her, despite the physical and psychological damage she sustained, this act of cruelty became a high profile case as it was first reported by CNN and linked to Gaddafi. Consequently CNN managed to organize fund raising and securing special treatment. However, countless other Shweygas are still suffering undiscovered, not to mention thousands more planning to cross the border only to possibly end up like Shweyga.
Another group with over 8,000 members is called ‘Stop the abuse of Ethiopian women in Middle East‘. Meanwhile, ‘Justice for Shweyga Mullah tortured and enslaved by Aline Gaddafi Skaf‘ is a Facebook page and ‘LET US PREVENT FUTURE SHWEYGA MULLAHS’ is a Facebook group with over 1,000 members.
Below is a video of Shweya Mullah under treatment:
Immediately after it was reported that the Ethiopian government will assist her in getting due compensation, netizens started sharing the link of the news on their Facebook pages looking for comments and opinions. Some accused the government of Meles Zenawi of everything from propaganda to lack of opportunity for citizens like Shweya in the country.
A prominent commentator on Ethiopian issues on Facebook, Abebe Kebede said:
There is information that the government of Ethiopia may participate in securing compensation. On the public side there must be outrage on this issue, and of course use the opportunity to bring to the attention of the media the plight of Ethiopians in middle eastern countries.
Endalk summarises the state of the debate online:
In some of the groups in fact, after a while, Shweye was practically forgotten – the debate now centered on ‘anti-government vs. pro-government’, ‘justice vs. Partiality’, the ‘elite vs. the poor’, and the need for revolution

author: Endalkachew Chala