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Trinidad & Tobago: Spiraling Murder Rate  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The excuses ring hollower than ever, and no longer do we buy any of them…the Government has failed us!  The Prime Minister would rather have this country citizens sink hundreds at a time into 6 feet holes of earth than admit failure”: Trinidad and Tobago girls, politics, sports, technology, carnival, and lifestyle is astonished that the country's murder rate has already exceeded 400 for the year.


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Taiwan: Typhoon Jangmi strikes · Global Voices
David Reid

JD on EP and Michael Turton did live blogging of Typhoon Jangmi as it struck Taiwan.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: David Reid


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Arabeyes: Snapshots of Eid  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

It's Eid today, or tomorrow. Eid Al Fitr is a celebration which marks the end of the Muslim month of Ramadhan, and here are a few reactions on the occasion from around the Arab world.
Jordanian blogger Qwaider isn't impressed with the split, calling the start of Eid on two different days as ridiculous:
While almost half the Arab world celebrates Eid on Tuesday, the rest is going to have it on Wednesday! AGAIN!
(Of course this is beyond ridiculous)
It's EID in Qatar, Saudi, UAE, Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon, Palestine and believe it or not, Libya (who claim it's based on Astronomical calculations) [The list is growing (Arabic)]
While the Fiqh Council (FCNA) of Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) have presumptively declared Wednesday as the first day of Eid
Which means, the mosques, cities, states and neighborhoods are going to be divided… Yet again!
Qwaider even draws up a chart showing when Eid is being celebrated where.
Meanwhile, here's a snap shot of celebrations where Eid fell today:
Moroccan High Atlas Mountains News describes the occasion as follows:
For life in the Moroccan High Atlas villages, it will be a day of spending time with your family, before embarking on the start of the walnut harvest. Last year was a good year for walnuts and early indications are that this year will be good as well.
Lower down the olives are being harvested and brought to the olive press.
Sanabis (Bahrain) Daily Photo posts a picture of the mosque where he performed the Eid prayers at 6am.
And from Kuwait, Zuech.ing urges Kuwaiti abroad to make the most out of the event:
Wish all of you guys have a blast and really good time, Specially those abroad don’t waste a second cuz you are coming back to hell !! And for those who are staying in town “try” to enjoy it as I’m trying :P
Writing in Mideast Youth, Iranian Elinor hopes for peace in the region on this occasion. She draws our attention to Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which is also celebrated today:
It seems like happy events in Muslim and Jewish calendars are considering a joint statement: “Make Peace and serve your creator”. Well that is how it comes to my mind. Muslims in ME and all over the world have had one month of fasting and praying, being G-d’s guest while breakfasting, this is how they feel by the sunset. Now it is time for them to celebrate the end of Ramadan and the Jewish people in ME and around the world, they are all around the tables celebrating their New Hebrew year: 5769, praising their Lord and keeping the tradition as families and friends come together to start a new year. As a Middle Eastern I would like to wish the followers of both religions a spiritual and happy time. May peace overflow and embrace the entire region soon.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Bahrain: The Frappaccino Karma  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Don't mess about with Starbucks’ Frappuccino. Bahraini Hassan Hujairi explains why in this post.


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Bangladesh: Significance of Eid ul Fitr · Global Voices
Rezwan

Depending on geographic location, muslims around the world will be celebrating the Eid ul Fitr Festival either on Tuesday (30th September) or Wednesday (1st October). Inspirations and Creative Thoughts discusses the significance of the Eid day which follows the month of Ramadan.

author: Rezwan


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Belarus: Greens fight for gay rights · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

LJ user palitekanom reports on [RUS] actions by the Belarus Green Party to defend the rights of the LGBT-community in the country and a proposal to impose sanctionary measures against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Belarus: Parliamentary elections no way to reforms · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

A Fistful Of Euros writes about Sunday's parliamentary elections in Belarus, where all seats were won by the Lukashenko regime, and sees little hope for change in comparison with other countries that have undergone transition.


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Belarus: The Election · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pre- and post-election insight from Belarus – at Andrei Khrapavitski's Belarusan American Blog, here and here: “Both the govt and the opposition elite cared more about the exterior, much less about the substance.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Bermuda, U.S.A.: Political Slander · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Vexed Bermoothes is “glad that the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers is taking an active role in lobbying in the United States to slow down the political slander facing Bermuda.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Brazil: Bloggers’ magazine on democracy · Global Voices
Paula Góes

The latest issue of blogger magazine Feed-se: Democracia, available in PDF for free download (in Portuguese), is a special edition on democracy, by Brazilian bloggers Nospheratt, Alex,  Lu Monte and Lúcia Freitas.

author: Paula Góes


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Brazil: The Brazilian behind the new twitter design · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Did you know that the designer behind the new Twitter interface is Brazilian? Futuro.vc [pt] brings an exclusive interview with Vitor Lourenço. “One of the goals was to make the application more elegant and functional. We've made very small changes, which together makes the difference.”


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Cape Verde: Fuel prices on the rise – why? · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Cape Verdean blogger Neu Lopes [pt] wonders why fuel prices in Cape Verde keep on rising. The most recent adjustments in the country saw an increase of 21% for oil, 15% for petrol, 10% for diesel, and 5% for gas, and the population now expects a domino effect on the price of all other goods, considering that increases have also been announced for transport, energy and water. All this at a time when the price of crude oil is plunging:
Segundo a ARE (Agência de Regulação Económica), “o lote importado que serve de base a esta tabela de preços foi adquirido quando os valores estavam ainda em alta”. Pergunto agora: se os valores estivessem baixos quando foi adquirido o referido lote, qual a garantia que os preços não ficariam mais elevados caso o contexto internacional fosse o contrário do actual? De qualquer forma os bolsos dos cabo-verdianos é que pagam tudo isso.
Ludgerocv [pt] has even more questions:
Perco as estribeiras quando a ARE, em vez de fixar PREÇOS MÁXIMOS, apresenta preços obrigatórios. Onde diabo estamos nós? A ARE deu agora para patrocinar a formação de CARTEL? As duas petrolíferas compram os combustíveis ao mesmo preço, na mesma ocasião, os lotes chegam na mesma altura, têm as mesmas despesas, etc.? Como é que diante de uma importação de uma das petrolíferas, se obtêm dados para fixar preços de venda ao público válidos para ambas?
On publishing a piece of news about protests that will happen in Portugal against the increase in the cost of living, Redy Wilson Lima [pt] says that it is high time the Cape Verdean population started to stand up against these price rises:
Não chegou a hora de passarmos à acção também em Cabo Verde invés de muitos bla, bla, bla? É que se continuarmos conformados, o Estado nunca parará de nos kasu bodiar.
Nos Praia [pt], at the beginning of the month, called the Government's attention to a long-term solution: Cape Verde needs to find ways to minimize oil dependency:
Vivemos num país extremamente pobre e que depende em larga escala da conjuntua externa pasa o se sustento. A nossa produção é “caseira” e tudo que comemos e bebemos vem de fora. Portanto, caros governantes, não obstante a especificidade do país e da economia mundial, é necessário criar alternativas à dependencia do petróleo. Não precisamos inventar a roda. Existem exemplos espalhados pelo mundo e basta sermos perspicazes para resolvermos os problemas desta terra.


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China: Imprison for Faking Tiger · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Do you still remember the South China Tigergate issue? The farmer, who claimed to have taken the photo is now facing criminal charge and may be put into prison because of that. ESWN has collected and translated local news on the case.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: PR-ing Poisonous Milk · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

David Bandurski from China media project wrote a detailed article about Sanlu's public relation strategy in creating the high-quality image of its milk products and showed how the media is conspired in relaying the lie.


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Cuba: Independent Journalists · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“There is no better way to learn about journalism than from another journalist”: Uncommon Sense is pleased to report that independent journalism is growing in Cuba.


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Czech Republic: EU Presidency · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dr. Sean's Diary writes about the Czech Republic’s forthcoming Presidency of the EU.


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Dominica, U.S.A.: Financial Crunch  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Dominica Weekly thinks that the current U.S. financial crisis “will seriously affect financial markets around the worldwide and there will almost certainly be a trickle down effect on the already weak Dominican economy and throughout the Caribbean.”


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Georgia: Frontline Photos · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Popular Photography's blog features photos and an account of the war between Georgia and Russia by New York-based photojournalist Jonathan Alpayrie.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Guyana: Power Hungry · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana-Gyal is on a steady diet of power cuts and “thick, charcoal-dark bitter carbon…”


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India: Plagiarism continues in MSM · Global Voices
Rezwan

Travel Tales from India informs of yet another case of plagiarism of a blogger´s content by an Indian popular news daily. Sudipta thinks that Bloggers should wake up and react.


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India: The Kolu  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Blokesablogin writes in Desicritics about the Kolu: “While the Bengalis begin their Pujo, many of us in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, set up ‘steps’ and have a dolls exhibition, many of them themed after stories from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Shrimad Bhagavatham.”


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Iran: Mr. Ahmadinejad in New York · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

While Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinjad, addressed the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday declaring that “the American empire” and “Zionist regime” [Israel] are nearing collapse, pro-democracy Iranians and 3,000 people mobilized by a coalition of mostly Jewish groups, protested against Ahmadinejad's threats toward Israel and Iran's human rights record.
Protesters erected these statues in front of the UN to protest against Ahmadinejad. Photo by David Shankbone.
Iranian bloggers, diverse as usual, published several posts about Ahmadinejad's visit to New York and his interviews with American media, such as CNN and Los Angles Times where he denied that there are any political prisoners in Iran, and conveyed message of peace to the USA.
Mojtaba Saminejad, a former jailed blogger who had been in prison for more than 20 months because of his writings, says [fa] the Iranian president, as usual, denied the facts and reality in his interviews, especially when he says there is no political prisoners in Iran.
This blogger writes:
Maybe Ahmadinejad is talking about another country… The President says that there are no political prisoners in Iran, but that there are many political prisoners in the USA. Denying this reality of all these political prisoners in Iran can only be a sign that the Islamic Republic knows it is violating human rights. If not, there is no need to talk about the USA when questions are being asked about Iran.
NikAhnag, a Canada-based Iranian cartoonist and blogger, has published  a cartoon to show his feelings about Ahmadinejad's claim that, “there is absolute freedom in Iran.” In this cartoon while Ahmadinejad stands in front of cameras, a guy hanging over the edge of a cliff says, “[freedom just for dying].”
Latidan says [fa] that once again Ahmadinejad has attacked Israel condemning it in support of Palestinians but the question is where were the Muslims and Palestinians when he was in New York? The blogger writes that the irony is that the only group that demonstrated to support the Iranian president, were some anti-Zionist fervently Orthodox Jews.
The blogger asks where are our Palestinians brothers and sisters that we pay this cost for?
Sharokh writes [fa]:
I was excited when I learned that Larry King from CNN would interview Ahmadinejad and I hoped he would challenge him. But I was disappointed when I watched the interview. Larry King not only did not challenge Ahmadinejad, but by asking very ordinary questions, let him to use the program as a platform to talk about the destruction of Israel and preach about freedom… Larry King showed that he does not know Iran.
Haji Washington says [fa]:
Larry King was not ready for this interview, and Ahmadinejad showed he has made a lot of progress in answering questions. It does not mean that I agree with whatever he said, but the way that he replied was more rational… Ahmadinejad's position among Muslims and Arabs became more strong after this interview.
Amir Hosein, an Islamist blogger in Iran writes [fa] that he wishes that Ayatollah Khomeini was alive to see how Ahmadinejad in the USA shouted that America is on the edge of collapse.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iraq: Erbil Visit · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Baghdad Bacon & Eggs, from Iraq, has been to Erbil. Check out what he was doing there in this post.


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Jamaica: Power Struggle · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Portia Simpson-Miller…represents to the elite and middle class in Jamaica what Obama represents to white, bible-thumping, gun-toting mainstream America. Which is worse I wonder: To be black (socially speaking) in a black country or to be black in a white country?”  Annie Paul provides thoughtful commentary on the recent opposition People’s National Party power struggle.


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Japan: Internship at Hatena · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

University student and blogger id:suztomo describes (with many photos) their experience in September doing an internship [ja] at Hatena in Kyoto, Japan. The blogger had two objectives with the internship: to learn how to set up a server that can withstand many users, and to learn about how web services are developed at Hatena. id:suztomo explains that each person working at Hatena has skills in a different area, and hopes in the future to have their own specialization.

author: Chris Salzberg


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Jordan: Hypocrisy, Freedom or Disrespect?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Jordan, Ahmed Humeid shares his thoughts on Ramadhan, hypocrisy, freedom and disrespect after the closure of a popular cafe for serving alcohol in Ramadhan in this post. Find out why when you click on the link.


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Kuwait: Benefiting from the Meltdown  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Kuwait, Don Veto explains how he actually made money in the US market meltdown.


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Lebanon: Hommus and Tabbouli  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese blog Hommus & Tabbouli provides a list of mouth watering cuisine from Lebanon and beyond.


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Lebanon: Lyrical Internet Usage Map · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A Diamond's Eye View of the World, an American who lives/lived in Lebanon, draws our attention to Lumeta’s Internet mapping project, which “includes this lyrical (okay, slightly alien-looking) map of Internet usage in the Middle East.”


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Libya: Diaspora and Difficult Times · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Two young Algerian sisters were killed in the UK. Anglo-Libyan explains how families in the diaspora come together at such difficult times.


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Montenegro: Independence, 2 1/2 Years On · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Fistful of Euros re-visits the issue of Montenegrin independence: “But, you know: it’s not an economic basket case. Independence was not a disaster.”


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Pakistan: Incursion and sovereignty issues · Global Voices
Rezwan

Five Rupees blog has posted a deep analysis on sovereignty, US incursions into Pakistan and other burning issues of contemporary Pakistan.


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Palestine: Why Arabs Performed Badly at the Olympics  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian Rantings of an Arab Chick links to an op-ed on why Arabs performed badly at the Olympics – and at other things.


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Qatar: Children and Ramadhan  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“My kids go to bed at 7:30 PM but it seems that nothing for kids starts until after 8 during Ramadan! We're bored!” asked American Expat, at Qatar Living. For answers, click here.


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Qatar: Time to Break Fast · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Qatar, Bahraini blogger Ammar Talk [ar] posts pictures of children around cannons, fired to signal the time to break one's fast in Ramadhan.


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Russia: A demand for 19th century art · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Just A Mon comments on soaring international prices on Russian 19th and early 20th century art – especially that of landscape painter Aivazovsky.


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Saudi Arabia: New Friends  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Saudi Arabia, Stilettos in the Sand has made new friends. Click on the link to see their pictures.


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Saudi Arabia: No to Fashionable Abayas · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Mosan Mosan, from Kuwait, writes about a crackdown by Saudi authorities on fashionable Abayas (black cloaks worn by women) ahead of Eid – a celebration which marks the end of the Holy Muslim month of Ramadhan.


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Serbia: Fake Obits of Javier Solana · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Central Europe Activ cites an item from “an award-winning Hungarian language blog of Serbian expats” on the fake Javier Solana obits that appeared “on Kosovo Street and around the Serbian parliament in downtown Belgrade.”


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Slovakia: Hungarian Minority · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Central Europe Activ writes about political views of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia.


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Slovenia: Election Results · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dr. Sean's Diary writes about the results of the election in Slovenia.


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Sri Lanka: On Tamils · Global Voices
Rezwan

Dr. Mala Amarasinghe at Lanka Journal writes about his perception of the Tamil population in Sri Lanka.


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Taiwan: Run The Rainbow Way · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Despite the Typhoon, the LGBT community had their annual rally in Taipei city. peopo.org has put up a video on the event with coolloud.org.tw‘s citizen report.


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Ukraine: How Russian is the Crimea? · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

The 8th Circle discusses the Crimea and Ukrainian fears of a Russian secessionist movement, arguing that the peninsula could be compared to other European regions, which today could not be imagined seceding. He also refers to a new book on this theme by Ukrainian writer Taras Kuzio.


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Armenia: Intrigues and Scandal · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped comments on the latest intrigues and recent scandal to hit Armenia. They include allegations from a senior member of Armenian Public TV that the bodyguards of a prominent government parliamentarian were responsible for an attack on a cafe which left one dead, and speculation that a regional energy project might yet bring about a solution to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh.


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Azerbaijan: Presidential Election Concerns · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Following disputed presidential elections in Georgia and Armenia earlier this year, as well as state of emergencies declared in Tbilisi and Yerevan, all eyes are now on Azerbaijan as it prepares to go to the polls. Few expect anything but a second term in office for the incumbent, Ilham Aliyev, in the 15 October presidential election and bloggers seem to agree.
Thoughts on the Road, for example, says that the vote is not so much a contest, but merely a formality.
The election season has begun here – with posters […] plastered on walls around the city. The posters remind me of those that I saw in Russia before the election there, depicting “ordinary citizens” who are apparently going to exercise their civic duty and go vote.
The president also has some posters up, just a photo of himself and a short phrase that identifies himself as candidate. I haven't seen posters for any other candidates.
[…]
The last issue of Zerkalo carried on page two an article that depicts the contrasting situations for the the New Azerbaijan Party (the ruling party) and its opponents. YAP, as it is known from its Azerbaijani initials, held its meeting in a stadium. Attending the meeting thousands of government workers, who were essentially required to attend.
The opponents of the governments, however, were only able to get permission to meet at a remote location.
The View from Baku, however, reports that the situation is somewhat better in the broadcast media with presidential debates being aired each night on TV. Nevertheless, the blog notes, that is not to say the situation is to be welcomed, especially when the incumbent is represented by a stand-in and there is no discussion.
The Central Election Commission here in Baku mandated that candidates be given three hours of debate time on television and, on alternating days, three hours on radio.  That’s six hours a week, every week, until Election Day, October 15th!  But to call it a “debate” is a disservice to the word. […]
Each gets exactly 8 minutes and 35 seconds to speak his, or in the case of the surrogate for the incumbent president, her mind.  […]
With the main opposition parties boycotting the vote, a new blog established especially for the election, Azerbaijan's Presidential Election, explains why there are concerns about the state of democracy in the country.
It is easy to say in the last election when Ilham Aliyev was elected president, there was widespread fraud. When Haydar Aliyev was elected president, he put his own family members into governmental positions. So it was not surprised that after Haydar past away, his son Ilham took power. Much of the public was not okay with this because it was known that he was into gambling and drinking, rather than running a country.
Fraud was noticed right for when citizens went to place their vote.
[…]
When the results were released, a war or coup did not occur, but rather rallies so violent that there was physical brutality, arrests, and death. […]
Quirk Global Strategies, the blog of a former head of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Azerbaijan, apologizes to its readers for not posting more about the election. However, it notes, there is probably little point. The blog blames geopolitical interests in the region for the situation.
[…] I really should be posting on the Azerbaijan Presidential election because there are few people there who were there in 2005 (just as there were few there in 2005 who lived through 2003) and who can interpret the spin that will emerge from both the USG and GovAZ. On the other hand, the election matters not one bit and what anyone has to say about it matters even less. There are forces at work in that country greater than any of us.
Citing the failure of the West to prevent a short but devastating war between Georgia and Russia, the blog concludes that unless the international community changes its approach, trouble looms on the horizon. The blog speculates that this might even include renewed fighting between Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh.
I’m sure the “obsevers” in town for the “election” will put together a thorough report that demonstrates how much better this election was than the last one (that was our strategic objective in 2005, as well).  Everyone will point out how weak the opposition is and that Aliyev would have won anyway and that he’s the best bet for regional stability. Then, when Aliyev does something insane (a la Saakashvili, and it doesn’t take much imagination to come up with insane moves he might consider), or is overthrown by a gang of competing kleptocrats, because U.S. “democracy support” programs in the Caucusus favor personalities over institutions, everyone will panic.
In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how the Azerbaijani blogosphere responds to the election. With blogging coming of age in Armenia after its presidential election and in Georgia after its war with Russia, the same might also be true for Azerbaijan.
Writing on his Window on Eurasia blog, citing Global Voices Online posts on the situation with blogs in the region, and specifically an interview with one Azerbaijani new media specialist, analyst Paul Goble agrees.
Emin Huseynzade, a blogger activist from Azerbaijan, described an analogous situation in his homeland, where there are more than 8,000 bloggers. Initially, most wrote in Russian but now 80 percent do so in Azerbaijani, a shift in language that has gained them a larger audience […].
[…]
If Huseynzade is right that the number of blogs in Azerbaijan will double or triple over the next two years, then blogs will come into their own, playing a political role in that country as they do in Georgia, Armenia and elsewhere and possibly becoming a target of expanded attention by others who want to control or exploit this new medium.
As was the case in Armenia where blogs became the new samizdat — time will tell soon enough if the same happens in Azerbaijan.


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Bahrain: The other side of Eid · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Bahraini blogger Cookie hates Eid, for one because it gives family members a chance to catch you and settle old scores; she says, “Prepare your speech of revenge with your clothes.”

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Bangladesh: Unreasonable demand · Global Voices
Rezwan

Syed ABM Ashrafuzzaman slams Bangladeshi politicians who demand withdrawal of “cases” against the political leaders and comments: “Let our leaders like Shekh Hasina and Khaleda Zia set personal examples by fighting the cases filed against them in the court of law.”


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Barbados: Integrity Act  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Underground gives an update on the drafting of “the long awaited Integrity and Freedom of Information Act”.


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Bermuda: Party or Government?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As a major announcement to the public is made from the governing party's website rather than “through official channels”, Vexed Bermoothes says: “In most democratic countries, strict separations between Party and Government exist as a control to ensure that Public power is not applied to Political ends. Blurring those lines leaves room for abuse, and also breeds the nasty environment of suspicion that pervades Bermuda.”


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Brazil: Do deforestation and elections mix? · Global Voices
Deborah Goldemberg

Pará – Brazil, 2007. Photo by Deborah Icamiaba.
The Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) has disclosed the news of a huge increase in deforestation in the past few months, particularly in the States of Pará and Mato Grosso. In some States, the rates are three times higher than they were in August 2007.
The Minister for the Environment, Carlos Minc, interpreted this as due to the election period. According to him, “No mayor wants to be obstructive at such times. No governor wants to be obstructive either. The IBAMA (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) staff do their job, but they need the support of the local police.” Minc has also disclosed a list of the top 100 agents of deforestation, which puts the government agency for colonization and agrarian reform (INCRA) as the top deforestation agent of the Amazon.
Brazilian bloggers have been slow to react to the news, but Greenpeace [pt] points out it had been indicating increasing deforestation rates in the past few months, thus the INPE data has come as no surprise to them. Amazon Greenpeace Campaign Director Paulo Adario says:
“Lamentavelmente não é nenhuma novidade. Há meses, o Greenpeace vem alertando para a tendência de aumento do desmatamento na Amazônia, confirmada novamente pelos dados do Inpe divulgados nesta segunda-feira”
Also, regarding the presence of INCRA at the top of the list, Greenpeace had published a report called Paper Land Reform Settlements [pt] denouncing the way in which in some parts of the Amazon INCRA staff have been “partnering” small peasants and illegal loggers to create “fake” land reform settlements which serve to cover up illegal logging activity under the gloss of land reform and social justice. The set up helps INCRA to meet their land reform targets, earn their local agents’ monetary rewards and makes way for what is still the main economic activity in numerous Amazonian municipalities: illegal logging.
Candido Cunha [pt], a blogger from Santarém, Pará, was quick to expose some of the political interests behind the recent news. According to him, there is disagreement between Minister Carlos Minc and Pará’s Governor Ana Julia who was not happy to see Pará at the top of the deforestation list. Candido suggests she had been able to keep Pará out of the notorious deforestation limelight during Marina Silva’s period of office (she is Minc’s predecessor), whose focus was to attack Governor Blairo Maggi from Mato Grosso State, whilst keeping herself free to “partner” deforestation agents, particularly those linked to large mining and logging projects.
A mistura explosiva dos aliados petistas no Pará, madeireiras e mineradoras parece ser o combustível perfeito para a derrubada e queima da floresta amazônica. Para isso, não há “simpatia” que dê jeito!
They being all PT (Workers’ Party) politicians, this is indicative of inner schisms in the party. In Candido's view, Minc’s strategy to reveal the links between local politics and deforestation rates is intended to help him gain the support needed to set up a Federal Military Force to support IBAMA’s fiscalization proceedings.
Pará – Brazil, 2007. Photo by Deborah Icamiaba.
In Mércio Pereira Gomes’ blog [pt], we see the view of an anthropologist (and ex-president of FUNAI, Brazilian National Indian Foundation, during Lula’s office) who has witnessed the threat of having INCRA's land reform settlements near indigenous reserves, particularly in Mato Grosso.
Parece que houve um acirramento do desmatamento no mês de agosto. O ministro Carlos Minc culpou as eleições por isso. O Pará está tomando o lugar do Mato Grosso como campeão do desmatamento. A governadora do Pará desmentiu que as eleições provocaram esse aumento, que não há correlação entre uma coisa e outra.
He seems to support Ana Julia's refutation that there is any link between elections and deforestation and argues that the deforestation battle is being lost due to Minc’s strategies being too “mediatic” (seeking to draw attention to himself, primarily) and not consistent enough on the ground. He does not believe Minc will last in the Ministry. Is he perhaps an ally to Ana Julia?
According to Globo’s site [pt] on the Amazon, Carlos Mincs’ idea is to partner the General Advocacy of the Union and the Public Ministry to sue the top 100 deforestation agents in Brazil.
Os dados do Ibama apontaram situação grave, segundo Minc. Pelo levantamento, além de áreas de assentamentos, houve desmatamento também em reservas indígenas e parques de preservação ambiental. “Todos aqueles mencionados (na lista) terão de responder na Justiça sobre o que aconteceu. O mais importante é mudar a atitude e recuperar as áreas devastadas”, afirmou o ministro.
Finally, the blog Pense [Think, pt], run by the couple Adriana and Henrique, indeed makes us think about the issue of who will sue the top 100 deforestation agents, particularly INCRA, which is itself a Federal Government Agency.
Quem será processado pelo ministro? O Incra? As famílias assentadas?
Mediatic or not, the fact is that deforestation rates are on the increase and as difficult as it is to disentangle the network of interests which converge to maintain such high rates of deforestation in the Amazon, Carlos Minc is using the tools that he has in order to tackle the problem. Drawing attention to the increase in deforestation rates and listing top deforestation agents, as well as following this up with legal proceeds against them, are strategic tools to combat deforestation.
However, as he himself has been saying in the media recently, closing down illegal logging activities does not resolve the problem, because “you don’t create sustainable jobs as quickly as you close down illegal sawmills.” Perhaps the conflict between himself and the Governor of Pará is that his duty is to denounce and close down the illegal deforestation related activities, whilst hers (and that of all the local mayors about to be elected) is to create all those sustainable jobs.
View from a plane, north of Mato Grosso – Brazil, 2007. Photo by Deborah Icamiaba.

author: Deborah Goldemberg


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Caribbean: Celebrating Eid  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Eid Mubarak!  Muslims across the world are today celebrating Eid ul-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting – and the Caribbean is no exception.  A few bloggers were at their computers bright and early to mark the occasion…
Lily, from Trinidad and Tobago, was excited at the sighting of the moon, while Chennette is celebrating Eid in neighbouring Guyana:
It’s officially ‘Id ul Fitr, the end of Ramadan and one of the 2 Eids/celebrations for Muslims. Eid Mubarak everyone!
Simply Trini Cooking is glad for another public holiday to “stay home and relax” – the irony is, he's busy in the kitchen, whipping up some Sawine, which he describes as “not a drink yet we slurp it down in cups, but then it's not even porridge because it has vermicelli in it. Confusing as it may seem, this is one sweet delicacy I look forward to every Eid.”  For anyone who wants to try it, he posts a helpful recipe.
Fellow blogger Coffeewallah notes that in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society like Trinidad and Tobago, holidays like this are the norm, but she is saddened by the circumstances surrounding her family's celebration of the occasion:
Given that I am of mixed heritage, today actually constitutes a religious holiday for my mother's family, so I get to go “home” and make nice with the relatives.  My granny is probably slaving away over a hot stove while I write; this prior to heading off to the mosque where she'll meet up with her fellow survivors, she's 84, her friends are dying off, before heading back home for another round of quick kitchen activity.  Since my mother is dead and she has no more daughters…I'm it. Her company while she cooks, reluctant sous chef, because I cannot do it the way she wants, my cooking style is very different. I'm not resentful, just too tired. My female cousins are notably absent, and this is hard for her to take, she who is used to large families and lots of people, whose family gatherings have now shrunk…
We, those of us left, will briefly congregate in the kitchen, to eat together before jumping up to go where ever else. I feel sad for her, this is not what she envisaged. Where are the eight children that she raised, where are the grandchildren and where are her great grandchildren? No childish voices raised, nobody running underfoot, no hive of activity, instead we have scattered all over, been visited by death and divorce. Today she will have a heading to middle aged, unmarried childless granddaughter, itching to get back home to catch a few z's before work tomorrow; phone calls from my uncle, brothers and cousin living abroad, her friends who didn't make it out and her surviving sisters. And she will be happy, even for this.
So for her, may I wish all of you, Eid Murabak, take the time out to enjoy your life, enjoy your family, be happy.


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China: Selling out patient privacy to the milk industry · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated a local report from Mirror about milk industry's promotion strategy – by buying pregnant woman's personal data from hospital.


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China: Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales meets China’s censors · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Rebecca Mackinnon from Rconversation blogs about Jimmy Wales recent meeting with Cai Mingzhao, Vice Director of China's State Council Information Office – the government body whose “Internet Management Division” is in charge of censoring online content.


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Cuba: To Catch a Thief · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“With Gustav and Ike, Cuba’s proven civil defense system once again demonstrated how well Cubans can organize. Despite the hurricanes’ enormous destruction, only seven people died.  However, the storms have greatly magnified the shortcomings in the island’s economy…”  Circles Robinson thinks that one of those shortcomings is workplace theft.


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Habemus Guatemalan Cinema! Gasolina, Best Latin American Movie · Global Voices
Renata Avila

You can read a lot about many "first places" on rankings by Guatemala: corruption, poverty, low literacy rates and violence against women. That is why bloggers and the artist community were thrilled when we finally had great news. We won the Best Latin American Movie award at the San Sebastian Festival in Spain. Actually we did not. Guatemalan young film producer, Julio Hernandez did, with his film "Gasolina".
Everyone under thirty-five is thrilled! Smiles and nice comments everywhere!
The most interesting detail is that recently awarded films do not portray Guatemala as a Paradise, as a perfect, happy place, but rather show different realities. It was the second film in the year to be awarded.  The first to recently report that a Guatemalan movie had received an award at the San Sebastian film festival was one of crew member's relatives, Blogger Jacri :
Son las 8:00 de la mañana hora de Guatemala y entra una llamada yo en ese momento todavía estaba durmiendo y mi mama contesta el teléfono luego solo escucho que ella empieza a llorar de la emoción al recibir la noticia desde España diciéndole de que habían ganado a la categoría en la que estaban nominados Horizontes Latinos
Charakotel , a rural Guatemalan blogger living in Denmark,congratulated Julio from his distant location, and briefly described the plot:
Haber logrado realizarla en Guatemala supone ya un triunfo, por la escasa -o nula- presencia institucional en el apoyo al arte, los obstáculos financieros, los cangrejos, etcétera, etcétera. El galardón es, entonces, doblemente merecido.
Also from Brasil, Guatemalan poet spending his year as artist in Residence in San Pablo was the second to report it, and dedicated a space on his blog, with a meaningful tittle: Little Faith: Latin American Horizons  :
Este merecido premio le dará la resonancia que merece a la película de nuestro querido Julio, al mismo tiempo que podrá poner en los ojos y oídos de muchos las imágenes y sonidos de la tan cacareada Guatemala de posguerra, con sus juventudes perdidas e incendiarias. Desde ya me pongo a ver cómo traemos ese largometraje para el Brasil, donde de seguro disfrutarán tan particular historia y la espléndida forma en que Julio la cuenta.
This much deserved award will give a voice to the film of our beloved Julio, and at the same time it will present before many eyes and ears the images and sounds of the  troubled postwar Guatemala, with its youth lost, incendiary. From now on I will lind the way to bring the film to Brasil, where people will enjoy for sure the singular story and the splendid way that Julio recreated it.
Thanks to the honest effort of a bunch of young Guatemalans (the actors where almost all teenage amateur actors) and a great Director, WE will share our city, our stories, our reality, with many others in the world. It is not a perfect place, but it is a place that still has some corners left where dreams can become realities. Hopefully you will see Gasolina in your city! Habemus Guatemalan Cinema!

author: Renata Avila


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India: History blogging carnival · Global Voices
Rezwan

Varnam posts the ‘Ninth Indian History Carnival’ which contains links to seven great blog posts on Indian history.


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India: Ready for software as a service? · Global Voices
Rezwan

Shyam of Venture Woods asks whether India is ready for software as a service.


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Iran hit by Sandstorms  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

In recent weeks several Iranian cities in the south and southeast of country faced sandstorms. Several bloggers say that Iranian media did not cover these events, but they provided films and photos in their blogs themselves.
Vatanema has filmed a sandstrom in the southern city Ahwaz in the oil rich Khuzestan province. The blogger says [fa]:
I imitated Americans who name everything, calling their hurricane Gustav. I am calling this storm Jasem. It seems that between four and eight people perished in this storm, just like what happened in Gustav.
Here is the video:
Badahwazi also took and published photos from the sandstorm in Ahwaz.
You can find more photos of the storm in Zirsigari‘s photoblog.
Meanwhile, Mohmmad Darvish, a leading environmentalist, talks [fa] about sandstorms in the Sistan and Balouchestan province.
He says:
Iranian media all talked about Gustav but ignored the sand storms in the Sistan and Baluchistan province particularly in Zabol .It seems the oppressed of this world should remain oppressed on all levels. Just compare the number of films that Iranian national TV broadcast about Gustav, to the number of films about sand storms in the Zabol or Khuzestan provinces.


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Iran: Iran minister admits holding fake degree · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to news sites and Iranian blogs such as Tavazo [fa], after several weeks of protest and investigations, finally Iran's Interior Minister Ali Kordan has admitted to holding a fake Oxford University degree.Read more here.


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Jamaica: Poetry Rubric  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A rubric for assessing poetry? Jamaican Geoffrey Philp is working out the parameters.


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Japan: Being a Geisha in the blog age · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

One of the most ancient professions in Japan, geisha are masters of all kinds of skills, from music to poetry, and from traditional dance to conversation. But today's geishas do more than this. Just as geisha in ancient times noted down everyday life happenings and thoughts in their diaries, modern maiko (apprentice geisha) and geisha artists today write diaries as well. Nowadays, however, they are also able to share them with their clients and fans, by posting them online at their blogs.
“Geisha wanted” (芸者さん募集中) is the title of an announcement posted at the geisha house Chikada's blog (芸者置屋　千佳田のブログ) a few months ago:
芸者さんになるには、どうしたらいいですか？
芸者さんになる道は、普通あまり知られていないので、これはとてもよく聞かれる質問です。
じつは、芸者さんになるには“資格”は必要ありません。年齢についても、さしたる制限はありません。
芸者さんになるために必要になってくるのは＂人としてのマナー”と＂おもてなしの心”です。
マナーは後からいくらでも身につきますが、芸者さんにとって最低限のマナーというのは一般の方のそれとはレベルが違います。
芸者さんになるための基本的な面接を通過した後、マナーについては徹底的に訓練して身に付けていくことになるでしょう。先輩や男性の立て方、返事の仕方、話し方から広範囲にわたって基礎を身に付けていただくことになります。おもてなしの心とは、日本人の美意識とも言えるもので、これは生まれ持ったし才能やセンスが大きく影響しています。
人気の舞妓さんも登場＝芦原温泉で奉納の踊り posted by (C)ふるさと福井ビデオレター
Making use of the potential of the Internet, geisha are able to preserve their traditions by letting other people (their customers and fans, and other net surfers) know about them online, bringing alive an artistic profession that many people, especially in foreign countries, believe belongs to the past or to a “postcard-like” Japan, or even mistakenly consider the same as prostitution.
To clear up this confusion about the role of the geisha, here is how Sakukazu (さく一), at the blog of the geisha house Kita Shinchi(北新地) to which she belongs, describes the job of the geisha, and what a “teahouse” is:
仕事
私達芸者は　名前の通り　お座敷などで踊りを踊ったり・三味線を弾いたりもしますが・・・
お席で　お客様とお話をしたり　お席を盛り上げたり　またその場の雰囲気をみて　お座敷を進めるのも私達芸者の仕事なんです。
The profession
As you can guess from the name [gei: art, sha: person], we geisha dance or play the shamisen [traditional stringed instrument] at private parties, but we also converse with the clients and create an atmosphere to entertain them. Basically, making the show go on is the geisha's job.
お茶屋
お茶屋と言っても　お茶を売ったりしているお店じゃありませんよ。
お茶屋と言うのは･･･　説明するのが難しいんですが
お茶屋で　お客様が　芸者を呼んでお酒を飲まれり　お座敷遊びをされり･･･
又　お客様から　宴会やイベントなどに　芸者を呼んで欲しいと　連絡を頂いたら　手配をしたり･･･
The teahouse
Although we call it a “teahouse”, it is not a shop that sells tea.
It is a bit complicated to explain what exactly it is, but at the “teahouse” clients come to be in geisha's company and enjoy the party…
Or we may be asked by the clients themselves to arrange parties and events for them and call other geisha to join.
Sakura (さく良), of the same geisha house as Sakukazu above, explains to us how reading the blog of another geisha was the start of her career in that world:
私、高校の時から舞妓さんに憧れていたのです。ですが、舞妓さんは１５～およそ２０歳までの限定。私がなりたいと思ったのは１７歳の時で、親も「高校は卒業して」の一点張り。
京都の置屋さんや組合に問い合わせてみましたが「無理」か「芸妓さんからなら」との返事でした。
一度は諦めて普通のお仕事をしていたのですが・・・やはり諦められないものですねぇ。
なんとかならないか、と色々探していたところ・・・とあるブログを発見
それが、今私を引いて下さったお姉さんのブログだったのです
高級クラブ街だと思っていた北の新地に芸妓さんがいるのかーっ、と目から鱗。
そして、素敵なお着物姿のお写真に・・・一目ぼれ
早速連絡させて頂いて、お会いして頂いて（あまりにお姉さんがお綺麗なので、「私のような小娘がココにいていいのかーっ」恐縮　笑）、見習いさんさせて頂いて（素敵なお茶屋さんに感動 ）、芸妓：さく良となったのです。
Another geisha, Naosuzu (尚鈴), describes in the typical Kyoto dialect the tricks of the trade, in the pages of her official site:
舞妓さんの髪は地毛で結います。
1週間、2週間と結ったままになるので、
寝るのも函枕ですし、お休みの日も髪の毛はそのままです。
でも芸妓の日本髪は鬘ですから随分違います。
芸妓に比べ、舞妓のほうが有名で
華やかなイメージかもしれませんが、
花街の主役はやっぱり芸妓、お客様を愉しませたり、
場を盛り上げたり…　そんなことも要求されますし、
もちろん舞妓時代よりも舞や鳴り物(楽器)、
唄などすべて上を求められます。
難しいことではありますが、
特別大変というわけではなくて、
毎日のお稽古とお座敷の中で
徐々に培われていくものだと思っています。
[…]
舞妓さんは年齢制限がありますが、
芸妓は一生続けていける仕事です。
今は女性でも「手に職」なんて言いますけど、
芸妓はその先駆け、女性ならではの部分を生かしながら、
一生働ける、ホンモノのキャリアウーマンだと思います。
Ichimame (市まめ) a popular maiko, whose blog has been wrongly quoted as the first of the genre by several foreign newspapers because it is written also in English, used to write about her job and her private life. Unfortunately, last year she decided not to continue her blog. Some of her posts, however, still remain online:
I have at least two days of vacation every month.
However, on my days off, I sometimes voluntarily visit local parties, so I mostly keep my hair dressed in Maiko style even on those days.
When my hair is dressed on my day off, I go out in the kimono that I wear for lessons.
Sometimes, when I let down my hair, I go out in Western clothes.
I rarely wear Western clothes on my days off, so I usually spend my days off with my friends, shopping, or talking about many things while eating our favorite sweets.
As a proof that blogs have become part of the job for many geisha from the beginning to the very end of their career, Onsen Geisha (温泉芸者), announcing her retirement at her blog Onsen Geisha no Kokoro no Hikidashi (温泉芸者のココロのひきだし), summed up a few months ago what being a geiko meant to her:
突然ですが今回芸妓を引退することになり、そのためこのブログも更新を停止することにしました。
20歳という芸妓としては遅がけの出発から16年、ブログを始めて4年弱…
一言では語りきれないほど色々な事がありましたが、人の縁に恵まれたことが今、私の最大の財産になっていると思います。
芸妓をやってきて一番良かったと思うことは人として成長出来た事、これは置屋のお母さん、お姐さん達、そして何より今まで出会った沢山のお客様に感謝しております。
I'm sorry for the unexpected announcement, but I am going to retire, so I decided to stop updating this blog.
I had a late start as a geiko at the age of 20, and since then 16 years have passed, less than 4 years since I started this blog…
I have plenty of things to say and that cannot be expressed in a few words, but my biggest treasure is the bonds that link me to the people I met.
The thing that makes me the most happy about having been a geiko is that I was able to grow as human being, and I am grateful to the mistress and the other colleagues of the geisha house I belonged to for this. But, above all, I am grateful to the many clients that I have met so far.
Thanks to Ayesha for suggesting to us this topic.

author: Scilla Alecci


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Japan: Key issues of general election · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Niphonese translated a blog post from Economist-blogger Kazuhide Uekusa on three key issues of the forthcoming general election.


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Japan: Part-time University Teachers among Working Poor · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

At A Prisoner in the Cave, id:eirene describes a documentary on Tokyo Television exploring the situation of working poor among part-time teachers in Japanese universities [ja]. The documentary introduces the lives of two PhD-holding part-time university teaching staff living on a salary of 100,000 yen/month [around 1000 USD], highlighting differences in social status between part-time and full-time teachers. The full movie is viewable in Japanese here [ja], and a research survey titled “The Voices and the Realities”, put out by the association of Part-Time Teachers, is available here (in Japanese and English). (Via mojix.org)


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Japan: Photos of Shizuoka’s Secluded Omori Station · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

At The Wonderful World of Stations, blogger naka_premium showcases photos [ja] of Omori Station in Kawanehon, Shizuoka Prefecture (Japan). The blogger explains that people used to come to Omori Station to do construction work nearby, but that work has ended and the station, which has no houses or roads nearby, is hardly ever used anymore. The attendant who sold naka_premium the ticket to Omori gave the blogger a strange look, remarking to him, “You know, there's nothing out there!”


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Korea: From Hero to Eccentric Man · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

In 2004 a student, Kang Ui-seok, was expelled from Daegwang High School for disobeying an order to attend chapel service at the school. He filed a petition with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea and went on a hunger strike that lasted 36 days to urge the school to give its students the freedom of religion.
After a long battle, he could return to the school and the school agreed not to force chapel service on non-Christian students. He received much attention in public and his courage was complimented.
However, since that time, he has received continual media attention (intentionally or non-intentionally) with his noticeable activities – short career as a boxer, taxi driver, women-serving-man, documentary director (‘Military Service?’)[kr]– and has turned from a young and brave boy to an eccentric man. Another performance of his in public on the 30th of September touched one of the most sensitive issues, protest against military service, and has led to many comments from netizens.
Many netizens analyze a series of his actions.
돈키호테가 되고 싶은 강의석
용기있는 학생이었다.
물론 그때도 돌 얻어맞을 모난 정으로 보는 사람도 있었고 어린 녀석이 까졌다고 생각하는 사람도 있었지만, 나 역시 반강제적으로 학교 종교행사에 참여해야 했던 미션스쿨을 다녔던 경험탓인지, 아닌 건 아니라고 당당하게 말하는 그 학생을 보면서 저거 너무 튀는거 아냐?라는 생각보다 베짱 좋네, 용기있네. 라는 생각이 더 강했던 것 같다.
강의석군에서 강의석씨가 된 그 학생.
참 재미있는 사람이다.
국군의 날을 하루 앞둔 30일 강남 테헤란로에 빨간 강의석이 나타났다. 군대를 없애야 한다며 퍼포먼스를 벌인 그 모습이 인터넷 뉴스등을 통해 알려지면서 강의석에게 군대가 필요한 이유에 대해 열변을 토하는 이도 있고 못마땅한 심기를 고스란히 드러내는 이들, 인신공격을 퍼부으면서 강의석을 어쩌지 못해 안달난 사람들도 꽤 보인다. “모두가 총을 놓으면 세계 평화가 가능하다”는 강의석의 주장에는 나 역시 공감하는 바이다. 다만 나와 강의석의 차이라면 나는 그것이 현실적으로 실현 불가능하지만 그렇게 되도록 노력해야 하는 이상이라고 생각한다는 것이고 강의석은 그것을 이상으로만 생각하는 사람들을 이상하게 본다는 것이랄까? 세계평화를 위해 다같이 총을 놓고 군대를 없애야 하는데 왜 그렇게 하지 않느나며 사람들에게 변화를 요구하는 강의석. 사람들이 모두가 똑 같은 생각을 할 수는 없는거니까, 이렇게도 생각하고 저렇게도 생각할 수 있는 것이니까. 그가 어떻게 생각하든 “아, 그렇게 생각할 수도 있겠네”라고 대수롭지 않게 넘겨버리면 그뿐이지만. 부디 그 ‘요구’가 ‘강요’가 되는 불편함은 없어야 할텐데.
[…]
굳이 강의석씨에게 군대가 필요한 이유에 대해 ‘가르쳐주고’ 싶은 생각은 없다. 그에게 애국심을 ‘강요’하고 싶지도 않다. 그저, 어떻게 생각하든 그것은 그의 자유일 테니까.
특별히 하는 일이 없었던
에스파냐의 시골 귀족, 아론소 기하노는 밤낮으로 기사도 이야기를 탐독한 나머지 정신이 이상해져서 소설과 현실을 구분하지 못하게 되고 세상의 부정과 비리를 도려내고 학대 당하는 사람들을 돕고자 ‘돈키호테 테라만차’라고 자칭하고, 갑옷을 입고 로시난테라는 앙상한 말을 타고 스스로 기사가 되어 길을 떠난다. 스스로의 망상으로 둘시네아라는 공주를 만들고 그 공주를 위해 모험을 하는, 공주를 떠올리며  스스로 산속에서 고행을 하는가 하면, 양떼를 군대라 여기고 전투를 하거나 지나가는 사람을 거인이라며 시비를 붙이는 등 기행을 일삼으며 사람들에게 미친놈이라 손가락질 받고 계속해서 현실과 충돌함에도 조금도 꺽이지 않았던 돈키호테.
강의석을 보며 이상, 아니 망상에 사로잡힌 돈키호테가 떠올랐다. 종교의 자유를 외치며 1인 시위를 벌였던 학생 강의석군의 행동은 학생들에게 수업외의 종교행위를 강요하지 않도록 교칙을 수정하는 변화를 가져오게 했었고 옳지 못한 것을 바로 잡은 한 학생의 용기를 지금도 기억하고 있다. 그러나 거기까지였다. 자신의 뜻이 적힌 피켓을 들고 묵묵히 서있던 그 학생은 온 몸에 시뻘건 칠을 한 기이한 모습으로 뛰쳐나왔다. 그의 행동이 더 이상 변화를 바라는 마음, 요구로만 보이지는 않는다. 그저 반대를 위한 반대, 불신과 불만 불평.
그가 주장하는 세계평화를 위한 변화의 요구가 아닌, 그저 “나 군대가기 싫어요”라는 앙탈로만 보인다. 사실 강의석씨의 행동이 나 사는데 크게 지장있는 것도 아니고, 그가 세상을 발칵 뒤집을 만한 영향력을 가진 사람도 아니니, 그가 무슨 생각을 하든, 어떤 행동을 하든 (보기 껄끄럽고 못마땅 하긴 하지만) 그것이 공적인 영역으로 들어와 나에게까지 영향을 끼치지 않는 이상 그의 생각과 행동은 온전히 그의 자유로 맡겨두고 싶지만. 그의 넘치는 에너지가, 그의 개성이 보다 발전적이고 긍정적인 에너지로 축적되지 못함이 안타까울 뿐이다.
He was a brave student.
Of course, at that time there were people who harshly criticized him and thought him sly. In my case, I also had an experience that I forcefully had to attend religious activities at the mission school I had been. Observing him talking about his opinion with dignity, I thought that he was brave and had guts rather than that he tried to be noticeable.
He became Mr. Kang Ui-seok from student Kang Ui-seok.
He is an interesting person.
On the 30th of September which is a day before the Soldiers’ Day, red Kang Ui-seok appeared at Teheran-ro, Kangnam (one of the most crowded areas in Seoul-editor). He had a performance against military service. His performance was introduced to internet news services and there were opinions that some people explained why the army is necessary, some were not happy about his performance, and others even poured personal attacks against him. Kang Ui-seok said, “If everyone gives up guns, world peace is possible.” I agree with him. But the difference that I have from him is that we have make efforts to make such a world even though it is impossible in reality. Kan Ui-seok doesn’t agree with people like me who think it impossible. He demands a change to people that in order to have world peace we have to give up guns and get rid of armies. People can’t have the same thoughts and opinions. Therefore, we can take his idea as another idea “Right, some people can think that way.” However, I wish that his ‘demand’ doesn’t turn to ‘force.’
[…]
I don’t want to ‘teach’ him why the army is necessary. I don’t want to ‘force’ him to be patriotic. How he thinks is his freedom.
Alonso Quixano, a retired country gentleman in Spain, was obsessed with books of chivalry day and night. Due to his obsession, he couldn’t distinguish novels and reality. He called himself ‘Don Quixote’ in order to punish corruption and injustice and to help the abused and started travel with a skimpy horse, Rocinante. With a wild fancy, he makes a neighboring farm girl as his princess-love, Dulcinea. Dreaming of her, he practices asceticism in a mountain, has combats with crowds of sheeps, and treats passers as giants. His eccentricities contribute to him being regarded as a psycho. Regardless of the reality and conflicts, he doesn’t give up himself.
Looking at Kang Ui-seok, I thought about Don Quixote. I remember a student’s courage when he had a hunger strike by himself for freedom of religion, he led changes that students don’t have to forcefully take religious classes or activities and schools regulations changed. But it was appropriate at that time. A student who hung a picket on his neck at that time ran out on the street with a strange look with a whole red body. His behavior doesn’t look like a demand that looks for changes. It seems like objections for objections, distrust, dissatisfaction, and discontent. What he insists for world peace just looks like a fuss, “I don’t want to go through military service.” Of course, his actions don’t influence my life and he is not a person who can change the world with his action. As long as his actions and thought will not influence people in public, it is his freedom how he thinks and what he does. But I feel sorry that his vigorous energy and personality are not used in more progressive and positive ways.
He has fans for his courage to express what he thinks in public.
강의석군과 나는 동갑이다. 고등학교 시절, 그가 종교자유를 외치며 단식투쟁을 했다는 소식을 들었을때 나는 강의석군이 정말 존경스러웠고 동시에 나는 지금 뭐하고 있나라는 사춘기적 반항심을 태우기도 했었다. 난 강의석군만큼 실행력이 강하지 못하다. 아니, 솔직히 그런 생각도 못했다. 단식 투쟁, 일인 시위… 단지 변명밖에 되지 않겠지만 폭력적이고 강압적인 아버지 아래서 나는 그저 묵묵히 학교를 다니는 것 외에는 답이 없었을 뿐이었다. 어쨌든 이번엔 그가 군대문제에 대해 얘기하고 있다. 대한민국에서 군대에 대해 얘기를 꺼내기는 정말 어렵다. 특히 군대의 무용을 말할 때에는 더 그렇다. 나는 그런점에서 개인적으로 강의석군의 이번 행동을 높이 산다. 나 또한 강의석군의 생각과 100% 같다! 군대는 없어져야 한다. 군대를 대체하고 세계 질서를 유지할 만한 대안은 얼마든지 있다. 북한이나 지리적 요건 따위 변명에 지나지 않는다. 우리들은 군대를 폐지하고 사람들에게 두려움과 공포를 주는 대신 평화와 희망을 줄 수 있다. 나는 이런 문제로 사람들과 토론하는걸 좋아하지 않는다. 보통은 이런 주제로 대화를 하면 상대방이 흥분해버리기 때문이다. 그들은 저 멀리 거슬러 올라가면 세계의 부를 모두 차지하고 있는 그 누군가가 사람들을 이기적인 테두리안에 가두어놓아 부려먹기 쉽게하기 위해 만든 이념인 민족주의나 애국심같은 감정적인 두뇌를 사용한다. 그러나 이성과 감정, 이 둘은 모두 사람을 피폐하게 만든다. 강의석군 또래들은 대부분 군대문제에 대해 고민을 할 나이이다. 따라서 강의석군이 하필 지금 군대에 태클을 거냐고 말해도 어쩔 수 없는 것이다. 이것은 마치 중고등학교 학생들에게 왜 두발자유를 외치냐고 따지는 것과 마찬가지다. 그리고 이 모든 것은 “자유”로 일치된다. 나에게 군대를 가라고 강요하는 것은 엄청난 폭력이다. 사람들은 이것을 잘 모른다. 폭력에 익숙해졌기 때문이다. 공포를 이용한 대중 세뇌작전은 완벽히 먹혀들었다. 억지로 학교에 보내고, 머리를 마음대로 못기르게 하며 특정 종교의 예배를 받게 하는 것도 폭력이다. 기본적으로 나 자신을 한 사람의 인간으로 취급하지 않는 행위인 것이다. 강의석군은 고등학교 때부터 지금까지 이러한 폭력에 맞서 사회에 외치고 있다. 그의 주장에는 일관성이 있고, 동시에 행동력이 있다. 그런 점에서 난 그를 존경한다. 자유에는 책임이 따른다. 사람들이 좋아하는 말이다. 나도 동감한다. 하지만 동시에 사람들은 이 말을 오용하는 것도 좋아한다. 그들은 보통 “책임”을 더 강조한다. 기본적으로 모든 사람들에게는 자유가 보장되어야 한다. 자유가 먼저이다. 그리고 그 자유로 일어나는 일은 개인의 책임이다. 그러나 군대는 완전히 반대이다. 자유는 묶어두고 책임만을 강요한다. 그런데도 군대폐지를 외치는 사람에게 무슨 책임이 있어야 한단 말인가? 아무튼 이런 문제에 대해 생각하고 말하는 것만해도 힘이든데, 이렇게 엄청난 행동력을 보여준 강의석군은 나의 모델이다. 내일 그가 무슨일을 할지는 모르겠지만 그의 행동 하나하나가 대중의 무지함을 일깨워줄 수 있기를 기대한다.
His continual noticeable activities in public make him regarded as a serious exhibitionist among some of his classmates [kr] at Seoul National University and others.
[…]솔직히 말해서 제가 이렇게 강의석 씨를 속된 말로 ‘까대 봤자’ 이미 사회 유명인사에 이름을 올렸고 뭘 해도 성공할 겁니다. 또한 강의석 씨는 추후 정계 진출까지 고려하고 있다는데, 이미 전국적으로 이름을 날린 시점에서 홍정욱 씨 Season 2가 안되리라는 보장은 없다고 봅니다. 솔직히 저는 제가 백날 이런 글을 올려봤자 소용이 없으리라고 생각합니다. 하지만 최소한 대한민국 사회의 한 구성원으로써, 이런 극단적으로 이기적이며 기회주의적인 사람이 존재하며, 매우 불행히도 한국 사회 내에서 ‘성공’ 을 쟁취했고 우리가 반드시 경계해야 한다는 점을 알리고 싶습니다.
Realfactory shares his opinion of why his behavior is negatively shown to public.
많은 사람들이 강의석을 주목한다. 그리고 더 많은 사람들이 강의석을 깐다. 마지막으로 그보다 더 많은 사람들이 강의석을 싫어한다. 대체 어째서 한 때 그 강한 기성 종교의 희생양이었던 소년이, 한 사람의 순수한 투사로 여겨졌던 그가 이렇게까지 되어 버린 것일까? 답은 간단하다.
깝쳐서.
한국 사회에서의 미덕은 ‘겸손'이다. 묵묵히 자기 역할을 다 하는 사람이야 어디서든 사랑받지만 한국에서는 튀는 것, 축에서 빠지는 것이 매우 금기시되는 행동으로 여겨진다. 물론 유쾌하게 튀는 사람들도 있지만 그것은 상당한 기교가 필요한 일이고 그런 재능을 가지고 있지 않은 사람은 왠만한 상황에서는 적당히 따라가는 게 좋은 곳이 한국 사회이다.
강의석은 튀기는 좋아하나 그것을 포장하는 기교가 전혀 없는 전형적인 스타일이다. 더군다나 언제나 말이 앞선다. 물론 부상이 있을 수도 있지만 세계 챔피언이 된다고 너무 쉽게 이야기하다가 단 한 경기도 출전하지 못하고 물러남이 좋게 보일 리는 없다. 그 때까지만 해도 별로 주목받지 못하는 잊혀진 인사라 별 반응이 없었지만 이번에 군대와 관련해 박태환에게 편지 형식의 글을 쓴 이후 엄청난 주목과 까임을 받게 되었다.[…] 여자에게 공개 고백, 한 달간의 택시 기사, 일주일간의 호스트, 권투 선수에의 도전과 포기. 덤으로 이번에 박태환과 군대를 엮은 글까지. 나는 강의석의 진정성이 어떤 것인지는 모르겠지만 그것이 사회에 미치는 영향을 생각하지 않고 그저 떠들어대고 살짝 부딪히고 빠지는 행위를 ‘객기’ 이상으로 판단하지 않는다. 그는 미디어의 속성을 이미 충분히 깨달았을 것임에도 절대 그것을 염두하지 않는다. 그저 자기 하고 싶은 일 하고 무책임하게 방관하며 변명은 않는다. 그리고 사태는 더 나빠진다. 자신뿐 아니라 사회에도 그러하다. 그런데 이게 별로 좋아 보이지는 않지만 역으로 굳이 나쁘게 볼 이유가 있는지도 의문이다. 이러쿵저러쿵 해도 강의석은 20대 초반이다. 객기 좀 부리고 살 법한 나이고 그걸 친구들과 술안주 삼는 게 전혀 어색한 나이가 아니다. 그런데 이걸 그렇게까지 씹어야 할까? 난 이번 일들을 보며 강의석보다 기존 언론이 참 한심해 보인다. 그들이 소재의 선정성을 버리고 진정 중요한 이슈에 주목할 것까지는 바라지도 않는다.[…]사실 강의석과 기존 언론은 놀랍도록 닮아 있다. 뒷 일 생각 안 하고 튀려고 한다는 점이나 근거가 약한데도 주장은 강하다는 점에서 아주 똑같다. 단 그 영향력이 기존 언론이 더 강하고 그들은 경험치가 꽤나 축적되어 있어 어떻게든 자신들은 욕 먹지 않으려는 면피의 자세가 되어 있다는 차이는 있겠지만. 뭐, 이러한 기사를 바라고 있는 우리들도 이들 언론의 주요한 스폰서일지도 모르겠다. 어쨌든 나는 정말이지, 강의석이 불쌍하다. 얘가 싫기는 하지만 그래도 불쌍하다.
He behaves frivolously.
Virtue in Korean society is being ‘modest.’ The people who do what they do in silence are loved, but being noticeable and being out of norms are regarded as very prohibitive behaviors. Of course there are people who are pleasantly noticeable, but those have techniques. People who don’t have those skills would be better to appropriately follow what other people do. Kang Ui-seok is a person who likes to be noticeable, but who doesn’t know how to decorate himself well. In addition, his talk is faster than his action. He said that he will start boxing and will be the world champion, but he didn’t even fight one match and gave up. It didn’t look good. At that time, there was no big response because he was getting forgotten. This time he talked about Park Tae Hwan (gold medalist at the Beijing Olympics) regarding military service on his blog. He got so much attention and was criticized a lot. […] proposal to a girl to ask to be his girl friend in public, being a taxi driver for a month, being a serving man for a week, the challenge to be a boxer and giving-in, and a letter to Park Tae Hwan about military service. I don’t know how sincere he is and don’t take his acting that doesn’t think about social influence and his easy talk seriously. He already learned what media means, but he still doesn’t care. He does what he wants to do and irresponsibly looks on it without any excuse. And it gets worse for society as well as for himself. While what he does doesn’t look good, I also question why we don’t have to look at it as so bad. Anyway, he is still in his early twenties. He is at the age that he can be carried away by ill-advised bravery and talks about what he does with his friends. Do we have to bite him so hard? I am rather disappointed with media. I even don’t wish the media to focus on more important issues rather than this kind sensational news anymore.[…] As a matter of fact, Kang Ui-seok and media resemble each other. Both of them don’t think about aftermaths and just want to be noticeable. They have the strong arguments based on little evidence. However, the influence of the media is stronger and they have experiences. They know how they have to deal with issues without receiving blames. Maybe we ourselves might be important sponsors to wait for sensational issues from media. I feel sorry for Kang Ui-seok. Even though I don’t like him, I feel sorry for him.

author: Hyejin Kim


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Nicaragua: Bands without legal documents receiving sponsorships · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Nicaraguan blogger Ingrid Bergman denounces several bands for apparently not having any legal conformation documents and having no problem in spite of this to snag juicy sponsorships. In the blog Sweet Orchid , the author points out local bands such as Milly Majuc , Carga Cerrada and División Urbana are receiving international sponsor's money in what he calls "money laundering".

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Pakistan: Classification of beggers · Global Voices
Rezwan

Asim Kh at Lahore Met Blogs classifies beggers of Lahore and lists them.


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Palestine: About Sunnis and Shias  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah discusses the Islamic Sunni and Shia sects in this post.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Palestine: Fatah and Hamas take their fight into schools · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

August 24 should have seen the start of classes for pupils in Gaza’s government schools, but instead it was the beginning of a week-long strike called by the Fatah-led teachers’ union protesting the interference of Hamas in education. In this post, one blogger, a school pupil himself, gives us his perspective on the political fight getting in the way of his education.
In the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, the Palestine Teachers’ Union is one of the few remaining strongholds of Fatah, and is supported by Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah. It called a strike during the first week of the school year to protest the transfer of dozens of teachers, transfers which it claimed were made so that Hamas could install its supporters in key positions. Teachers were stuck in the middle of the conflict between Hamas, which controls the administration of Gaza, and the PA in Ramallah, which pays their salaries. They were threatened with having their salaries cut or being fired if they broke the strike, or if they accepted a promotion (indicating loyalty to Hamas); yet if they did strike then they risked being sacked by Hamas. While Hamas denied they were replacing staff, as soon as the strike started it brought in hundreds of new teachers; Hamas’ Education Minister estimated that 2,000 of the 9,000 government school teachers had been replaced.
Mutasharrid (‘homeless person’ or ‘vagrant’) is a pupil in Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, and explains what happened during the first week of the school year:
Status: No communication.
Where do we come in all of this?!
At the time of writing some teachers are still on strike.


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Palestine: Frequent Words  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah shows his readers the words he frequently uses on his blog.


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Running Away from Marriage: A Story From Syria · Global Voices
Mohammad Azraq

American Fulbright scholar in Damascus Orientalista brings up the story of her Syrian friend Manar, a 22-year old female from the Druze minority in the country, who ran away from her house to escape a forced marriage.
In the four-post series, Orientalista lays out her friend's story detailing her own personal involvement in the matter. In the post titled “Manar Escapes,” she writes:
A week earlier Manar had been sitting on my balcony with me, overlooking the square. “I'm thinking about running away,” she said after complaining about her family. She had been telling me about meeting with the latest arees (groom). She showed me his love poetry texts to her mobile. He was about 30, had a good job and seemed nice. She doesn't want to get married. She's 22. There had been earlier meetings with prospective grooms. We'd be hanging out, I'd ask what she was up to tomorrow. “Oh, meeting a groom.” They came to her house, sat with her and her parents, and she refused them. She didn't seem too concerned about the latest Romeo, though she thought the poetry was kinda sweet.
A week later she was in my house and I was stuffing her plastic bags into my suitcase to hide them away. It's not like I hadn't expected her to follow through, but I hadn't expected it so soon.
She refused the guy and her parents got pissed. You're going to have to get married anyway, they said, so why not this one? He's got all the credentials, including the most important one, being Druze. They set Monday for his parents to come and formally do the engagement with her parents. She refused and they told her she couldn't leave the house. She'd have to agree to some one eventually. She missed work Thursday. Her father took her ID and hid it somewhere. Friday she waited until her father left and her mother went down for a pack of smokes. She got the ID and ran.
At my house, we tried to think through the options. She had 6000 lira cash ($120) and stolen her brother's fancy mobile, which she could sell for maybe another 5-6 thousand. Foulan, who was at my house when she came and has loved her forever despite her insistance that nothing will ever happen between them, said we should start looking for a place to live. Outside of Jeramana.
She continues in “The Law is With Us” :
The next couple of days Foulan and I looked unsuccessfully for a place outside of Jeramana. The search was complicated by Ramadan. Real Estate offices don't open until after 10am, close again while the owner goes to the mosque to pray (during Ramadan, a lot of people pray who don't outside of it, while many others who pray regularly make the trip to a mosque instead of just praying at their office). Before 6, all offices close for Iftar, breaking of the fast, and a few reopen again after 9 for maybe an hour or so.
So I had to find a place for her quickly. I got an American girl I know to put her up for the night. The next day, Sunday, I was able to contact a woman I know who works on gender issues including violence, who gave me the hotline number to a safe house for women, run by nuns.
This woman told me to tell Manar that the law is with her. She's 22, not a minor, and by Syrian law does not need for father's permission for anything. She's an adult. None of us are doing anything illegal.
Then, in “Back to Jeremana” she writes :
The next day I left Manar with strict instructions. Obviously, no leaving the apartment. TV and music should be quiet. Keep the shades drawn.
That night I was watching a movie with Manar, Foulan, my roommate and my boyfriend when Foulan's mother called. Um Foulan was upset. Foulan told her he was at my house. She told him to come now, he said no, he was in the middle of a movie. After the call finished, he told us that sometimes she gets like this when she fights with her daughter. My boyfriend was more worried, saying it probably had something to do with Manar.
A few minutes later Um Foulan was at the door and Manar was hiding in my room under my bed. She said eight men showed up at her shop and demanded to know if she knew where Manar was. Manar ran away she told us. We acted properly surprised and asked the details. When? Why? Foulan told her he hadn't seen Manar in months. She said the family was threatening to get the police involved.
My boyfriend said Manar's family probably followed Um Foulan, and were probably outside. She can't leave now. Within a couple of minutes her father and uncle were outside my door. I walked into the hallway with my boyfriend, leaving the door open behind me. “Why is HE at your house at this hour!” they asked (it was 11). We were watching a movie, I said.
They left, Manar cried and apologized for getting me into this. I asked if they really would kill her, with her mother crying like that. She told me the story of a Druze girl from Sweida who ran away. Six months later she missed her family and wrote to her father, begging for forgiveness because she wanted to see them again. Manar told me the father had always loved his daughter dearly and he wrote back, forgiving her. They picked her up and drove her to their village. They stopped at what used to be gallows a long time ago. Her brother slit her throat and her mother dipped her hands in the blood, raised them to the sky and trilled.
In “No Solution“, she ends the story describing how Manar's family found out she was hiding in her apartment and then went there trying to force their daughter to go home with them, and how she refused to leave unless her American friend went with her!
Finally Manar's brother got her to come out. She collasped on the floor (there was no air in the cupboard and she was all sweat) in Um Foulan's arms, who wiped her face with water and gave her some to drink and we all bawled. Manar's mother came, shot me a dirty look and was clearly hurt by Um Foulan taking her maternal place. She shifted Manar to her, crying.
Manar went to lay down on my bed and her uncle gave her a pill to “calm her down.” I demanded to know what it is. He tried to open her mouth and put it in and I yelled “She's not a cat!” but she sat up a bit and took it. Manar didn't want to go. I apologized and told her I wouldn't leave her side. I told her I wouldn't let anything happen to her.
She refused to go home. She refused to go to the doctor. She agreed to go to her uncle's house, but only if I went with her. I grabbed my toothbrush and we all left together, Manar and I holding hands and her mother pissed that Manar didn't want to hold her hand or sit next to her in the car.

author: Mohammad Azraq


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Sierra Leone: One year and counting… · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

It has been one year now since last year’s elections in Sierra Leone. Nasratha tries to assess the differences between the new and the old regime.


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South Korea: Counter Armed Forces Day parade · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Today (October 1) civic organizations in Seoul will hold a counter armed forces day parade, Seoulidarity has translated some background information about the action.


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Syria: Celebrating Bach  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Prometheus, [Ar] from Syria, introduces his readers to his favourite composer – Johann Sebastian Bach.


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The Balkans: Against “Balkanization” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hudin thinks it's time to stop using the word “Balkanization”: “Of course we don't say USSRization, Czechoslovakization, British Empirization, or even Austro-Hungarization. No, we say Balkanization and we say it too much.”


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Ukraine: Ship Seized by “Pirates” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The 8th Circle comments on the pirate attack on the Ukrainian ship: “How do you sail a ship with 30 tanks on board PLUS other military materiel without enough protection to repel a pirate attack? According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s Web site, there were 21 people aboard, including 17 Ukrainians, three Russians and a Latvian.”


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Azerbaijan: OSCE/ODIHR Presidential Election Observer Blog · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

The Continuing Adventures of Super Steve is on its way to Azerbaijan to observe the 15 October presidential election in the country. The blog provides its readers with information on Azerbaijan and how the OSCE/ODIHR international election observation mission works.


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Bahamas: Black or White   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“They know that I’m not white, but my skin-color places me in a liminal space. I’m not white, but to their minds I’m not black enough.  This color line is tricky.  The Bahamian black/white line is a fluid boundary that varies…” Mental Slavery is grappling with his identity.


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Bangladesh: Impediments for election · Global Voices
Rezwan

Although the recent declaration of general election had eased the political tensions in Bangladesh, a renewed complexity is developing over the mandatory registration requirement of the political parties. An Ordinary Citizen has details.

author: Rezwan


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Barbados, U.S.A.: Moderating the Debate  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I said to myself, ‘That sounds like a Bajan name!”:  Keltruth Corp discovers that the moderator of tonight's US Vice-Presidential debate has Barbadian roots, while Barbados Underground notes: “There are some who are trying to muddy the pristine reputation of Gwen Ifill, the Black PBS moderator of the upcoming debate. The fact that she will be under the microscope to protect her good reputation as a journalist should make her a good moderator.”


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Brazil: “Abortion is a Right, not a Wrong” · Global Voices
Daniel Duende

Sapataria [Pt], a Brazilian blog about LGBT and women's rights, posts pictures of a recent protest promoted by gender-issues-related groups against the legal views on abortion in Brazil, and shares their two-cents on the issue: “In many countries, the criminalization of abortion afects directly the poor women, most of them with black skin, who have almost no access to health services and contraceptive methods. […] It's an attempt against the dignity and autonomy of these women, most of them poor, with no access to juridical or psychological suport.”

author: Daniel Duende


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Brazil: Remembering the anniversary of Carandiru massacre · Global Voices
Paula Góes

The Hub has an interview with a witness and survivor the massacre of at least 111 inmates in the Carandiru Prison Complex – São Paulo, Brazil. “Sixteen years later, he recounts his experience in a conversation with Raquel Quintino – a human rights activist from the Universidade de Comunicação Livre.”


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Cuba: Food Prices  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

In an effort to counter rising food prices resulting from hurricane-related shortages, the Cuban government has frozen food prices.  Cuban diaspora bloggers La Primera Generacion and Black Sheep of Exile respond.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Russia: Eid ul-Fitr in Moscow · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Over 30,000 Muslims reportedly came to the Moscow Cathedral Mosque for a communal prayer on Sept. 30, the first day of Eid ul-Fitr, a Muslim holiday known in Russia as Uraza Bayram, which marks the end of the month of Ramadan. A fair number of non-Muslim Russian bloggers, however, seemed concerned about the presence of so many Muslims in the Russian capital – despite the fact that Russia is home to some 20 million Muslims and Moscow's population is over 12 million people.
Some of these bloggers re-posted an uncredited Sept. 30 photo of the people crowding around the Moscow Cathedral Mosque compound, located right next to the Olympiysky Sports Complex.
Commenting on the picture, LJ user khramov-s wondered (RUS) “why it [wasn't] okay for Russian Orthodox Christians to be Russian nationalists” whereas Muslims could convene freely in great numbers the way they did on Sept. 30.
LJ user tor85 wrote (RUS) that Uraza Bayram wasn't “our holiday” and called to ethnic Russians to join the ultra-nationalist Russian March on Nov. 4 (more on the 2006 event is here).
LJ user krylov wrote (RUS) about what in his view was a tendency of the municipal and federal authorities to demonize Russian nationalists and to nurture Muslims; this post has generated over 170 comments, many of them pretty savage.
LJ user allan999 wrote (RUS) that “millions of Muslims [were] blocking the streets of Moscow” – and LJ user antas commented that he couldn't believe the picture hadn't been photoshopped: “[…] Though, if it's true, it's definitely [a horror],” he added.
LJ user teaser_girl, who used to work in the Moscow Cathedral Mosque neighborhood, wrote (RUS) that she was scared.
LJ user nezabudu complained (RUS) in a comment to LJ user dark_lawyer‘s picture post that those who worked in the area couldn't “even go out for a cigarette” on Sept. 30, nor could they “enter or exit the metro, or walk through an underground pass: THEY are everywhere, it's impossible to squeeze past them, and these crowds are worse than the mass gatherings of [football] fans – I'm telling you, there are as many of them.”
LJ user aoutien also happened to be around at the time of the Sept. 30 mosque event – but her observations (RUS) were quite different from those translated above:
In the morning, it felt as if all the [gastarbeiters] of Moscow gathered at Prospekt Mira [metro station]. The first impression from such a number of Muslim men in a hurry was as if somewhere behind the buildings a foundation pit for an [enormous construction project] had already been dug out. And they were all so energetic, a bit tense, as if their working day was about to begin.
The closer to the metro, the denser the flow, and by the doors there was already something of a crowd. The police restricted entry, and in various parts of the crowd they began to sing. Solemnly. Beautifully.
The feeling is a bit uncozy, but totally safe, both among these dark-haired people in leather jackets and in the police zone. “We have something like your Easter today,” one young man explained to an alarmed-looking woman in the metro car.
“Uraza Bayram,” says the internet. And it also tells me about [the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah], and about [the Orthodox Christian holiday commemorating Vera (Faith), Nadezhda (Hope), Lyubov (Love) and Sophia].
Happy holiday, dear comrades! Whichever one you prefer… [All three holidays fell on the same day this year.]
LJ user _kutuzov composed (RUS) this caption to the Sept. 30 mosque photo: “Uraza Bayram. Moscow. Or Moskvabad?” LJ user eriklobakh argued in a comment that the congregation of this mosque has historically been made up of Tatars “who have been living in Moscow and Moscow region since the 16th century,” and that making jokes about “Moskvabad” was inappropriate. In a separate entry (RUS) – posted both on his blog and in the ru_politics LJ community – LJ user eriklobakh, who is an Orthodox Christian with Tatar roots, expounded on his view of the matter:
[…] I repeat for the illiterate ones – those who haven't bothered to figure it out for themselves. This particular mosque in Moscow has always been predominantly Tatar – the so-called [Mishers] who've lived in and around Moscow since the 16th century.
Almost no [Uzbeks, Tajiks, Azeris] ever visit this mosque. Everyone speaks Tatar there, the mullahs are Tatar, etc.
In this context, we can't be talking of any influx of migrants, etc. There are some 800,000 Tatars in Moscow (not all Tatars are Muslim, of course, but still) – and there are only three mosques.
Naturally, it gets jam-packed there every holiday. More than during the all-night services at Moscow's Orthodox temples for Easter and Christmas – because, I repeat, there are only three mosques in Moscow.
For such a huge city, it's just terribly not enough. […] and instead of buying [seats in the government], Moscow Tatars should better worry about building new mosques – at least for their own community. […]
LJ user svetonius posted this relaxing comment (RUS) on LJ user eriklobakh‘s blog:
First of all, I totally agree with your arguments about the number of mosques. Second, this one is the main mosque of Moscow. Third, Uraza Bayram is the main spiritual Muslim holiday, which can be compared to the Orthodox Christian Easter. So why be surprised by the crowds?
A religious Jew would not be surprised by the fact that the area around the [Cathedral of Christ the Savior] is jam-packed during the all-night Easter service, right? And a religious Muslim would see no harm in it, either.
And I'll share a secret with you – they sell wonderful lamb and horse meat at this mosque's store.
LJ user zubkoff shared a Soviet-time memory (RUS) of his Tatar friends and the feast in the land of defitsit that their holiday normally implied:
Uraza Bayram
I don't remember the correct name of it in Arabic. I remember what my Tatar classmates called it (there were still many of them in [Moscow's Zamoskvorechye district] then). The Tatars knew that in honor of Uraza Bayram their grandmothers would definitely bake something tasty in the evening. And there was also the Tatar Culinary [store] at [Yakimanka] – at the exact spot where Eldorado [store] is now. And even under the Soviets, they used to supply [this store] with all kinds of delicacies for the holiday – above all, lamb meat! You can imagine [the kind of agitation] that reigned there then…
LJ user planka-forever, an ethnic Tatar vocalist with a Moscow-based music band Planka, greeted her family and friends – and wrote about the holiday culinary wonders she'd be missing:
Today my family, like many Muslim families, celebrates a big and happy holiday marking the end of the month of Ramadan – Uraza Bayram!!! Today they'll bake something tasty, that's the indispensable condition: pancakes, belish, triangles, and perhaps chak-chak )) [recipes of these and other Tatar dishes are here]
Yum-yum, I'm with you in my thoughts!
My friends! Peace be upon you and your houses!

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Georgia: Economic Cost of War · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Social Science in the Caucasus posts the comments of a consultant which questions newspaper reports estimating the economic costs of the war with Russia. However, the blog notes, the country will undoubtedly suffer in terms of investor confidence.


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Georgia: Russian Boycott · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Despite believing war with Russia was a huge mistake, Dv0rsky [GE/EN] says that he will still boycott Russian goods sold in Georgia in order not to invest in bombs that might be used against him later.


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Hong Kong: Banned Halloween Ads · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Every year, the Ocean Park in Hong Kong would organize Halloween party for attracting visitors. However, its advertisements faced a lot of complaints from the public. This year, some of its clips were banned. But one of the the banned clip is now circulated via youtube and has attracted a lot of attention in local blogs and forums.
The video is about haunted lift in which a kid tormented by the education system asks a big sister for his school grading report. The genre copied the scary Japanese ghost-eyes. Don't click the video below if you have a weak-heart :)
Charlize doesn't find the video horrible at all and wonders why the government bans it. However, Ryan finds the video really scary:
一看開頭，真的好驚啊！場景是地道的香港公屋場景，大部份香港人都很熟悉的地方，也是成長過程中聽過的鬼故事的發生地點。越熟悉的地方，發生的恐佈事才越怕，因為身同感受。
Missque finds the advertisement very successful even though it is banned:
雖然禁播，但放在網上做宣傳仲底，
還有(禁播版)的卓頭，連我咁驚既的都要睇，你又點會唔睇，拍左又點會浪費。
However, the circulation of the banned video may fall into the trap of local censorship law. The government's Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority can give warning to online service providers or submit the suspected “indecent” or “obscene” online articles to the Obscene Articles Tribunal for classification. The circulation of “indecent” material to public audience is a criminal offense and is subject to a fine of HK$400,000 and 12 months imprisonment for first conviction and HK$800,000 and 12 months imprisonment for subsequent conviction.
Will TELA give warning to the Ocean Park and youtube? Probably not as Ocean Park is an iconic local business and such practice will kill the internet freedom. However, how should the TELA deal with the double standard in handling internet censorship? Like this case?
The government has decided to review the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance last year and it will likely present the public consultation this month. Let's wait and see how it deals with the Internet censorship in the draft.

author: Oiwan Lam


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India: Air-traffic congestions in Mumbai · Global Voices
Rezwan

Rajesh Jain at Emergic complains about air traffic in Mumbai, India: “Circling (of a flight) over Mumbai for 30-60 minutes has become commonplace thanks to the air traffic congestion.”


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India: Terrorism and the Muslim population · Global Voices
Rezwan

M. J. Akbar ponders whether the renewed rise of despair amongst the Muslim population, due to some negligence and discrimination by the government, has a link to the recent terrorist attacks in India.


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Jamaica: A Nation Mourns · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica was an elated nation a month and a half ago as it celebrated the victories of its Olympic heroes.  This week, a stunned nation is in mourning as the headless body of a little girl believed to be 11-year-old Ananda Dean was discovered weeks after her abduction.
This harrowing end to the search for Dean is made even more disturbing by the fact that more than fifty children have been murdered in Jamaica since the start of the year, among them Aakim Scott, whose dismembered body was found stuffed into a bag.  A teenager has since been charged with his gruesome murder.
Jamaican bloggers are as shocked as the rest of the population, and are making their voices heard in an effort to examine how such brutal acts against minors have become so widespread.  Even before Dean's body was reportedly discovered, Kadene Porter at Abeng News Magazine was keeping a close eye on developments:
September 25 is day eight since eleven year-old Ananda “Passion” Dean went missing in her Kingston, Jamaica community. The feverish hunt for her continues, days after a concerned passer-by found her brand new schoolbooks dumped on a busy Pembroke Hall avenue in the nation's capital. Understandably, her parents are facing an anguish no parent should ever have to face, but which is becoming all too familiar across the length and breadth of Jamaica when children do not return home from school after a reasonable hour.  Ananda’s disappearance has occured on the heels of a most disturbing and gruesome find in the sleepy little district of Sandside, St Mary, where the dismembered body of another 11 year old was recovered from a garbage bag.
Problem is, the children are fast running out of trusted adults.  Many of the island’s nearly three million citizens are agonizing over the acts of depravity which are so frequently reported in their daily newspapers. They are frightened, not knowing when the blood-lust will be directed at them, and are also angry at the growing realization that the state is powerless, or unwilling some say, to protect them. Concealed weapons of every description have become staples in the survival kit of adult and child, whether from the tough inner-city streets or the dwellings along the nation’s rural dirt-tracks, the grim determination of citizens forced to claim justice for themselves.
Once the body (believed to be Dean's) was found, Porter wrote a follow-up post:
News reports in the island’s major dailies detail the gruesome discovery and the reaction of family and witnesses, along with reports of the taunting telephone calls received by the parents by pranksters demanding ransom or providing clues that led nowhere. Although fifty children have been murdered since the start of the year, the child’s father was told when he reported her as missing, that the police would need to wait for a 24 hour period before she could be officially listed as missing and any action taken. With the current murder trends, this lack of prompt action shows remarkable insensitivity on the part of the police, for by the next day, the trail of her abductors had grown cold.
Untold grief will hover over Ananda’s family for months to come, but sadly, for a population that has over time learned how to steel itself against the effects of horror, in a matter of days it will be back to business as usual, until the next collective gasp in the wake of yet another unspeakable atrocity.
Yawd From Abroad was overcome with emotion on hearing the news:
Tears filled my eyes as I saw the picture of 11 year-old Ananda Dean’s mother, Nordia Campbell, in such anguish. She’d just possibly seen the remains of her daughter’s body pulled from a precipice and was inconsolable. Who wouldn’t be? I’ll never forget that picture, that pain.
It seems that there is no end in sight for the level of viciousness that we as human beings will take against another. To snuff out the life on an innocent child in exchange for phone card credits? My God! It’s beyond deplorable and sad. It’s incidents such as these that should make government stand up and not only take attention but corporal action. What has to happen before serious changes are made?
Stunner could barely get his mind around the horrific circumstances surrounding the child's death when he got wind of another sad piece of news:
The nation would not get a chance to breathe again before another shock…a NINE (9) MONTH OLD child…was molested and slain. Just the though of an infant that young suffering such a horrible act send shivers down my spine, and makes me blaze with anger! Such acts aught not to happen! How could this happen in our society? How could people allow such an act to be carried out under their roof?
The death toll now stands at 57 children and the year has not ended…based on this trend we can brace ourselves for more of these heartless acts. It seems nothing is being done to stop this carnage. Or is it that nothing can be done to stop it?
He continues:
Parents need to more vigilant where their children are concerned, they need to be protective and to teach their children to be wary of strangers from an early age.  But parents can't be with their children all the time and all the preparation and teaching a parent does is not a guarantee that the child will be safe.  The police have to play a part, the school has to play a part, the government has to make the necessary legislative changes and enforce the law, and society has to also look out for our children.  It may not stop these incidents, but maybe it can reduce the frequency of the carnage on our youths.


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Jamaica: Save our children · Global Voices
Bianca Welds

Jamaicans of all ranks are mourning the plight of the nation's children. The figures show that nearly 60 children have been killed since the start of January 2008. A recent spate of child slayings has raised this issue to the forefront of the nation's awareness.
The community anguish that arose at last week's discovery of the body of a missing eleven year old, Ananda Dean, echoed throughout the country as parents were reminded of the level of vigilance needed to keep their children safe. However, as Jamaican blogger Stunner points out, it will require the contribution of all sectors of society to protect the children. He says,
But parents can't be with their children all the time and all the preparation an teaching a parent does is not a guarantee that the child will be safe. The police have to play a part, the school has to play a part, the government has to make the necessary legislative changes and enforce through the law, and society has to also look out for our children.
Kadene Porter of Caribbean news site, Abeng News, remarked that it would be a matter of days before Jamaica returned to normal until, as she put it, the nation's
[…]next collective gasp in the wake of yet another unspeakable atrocity.
Unfortunately, that gasp came sooner than expected when news broke of the kind of crime no society dreams could be committed by one of their own. Jamaicans awoke on Wednesday morning, jarred out of their perrenial slumber by the story of a nine-month old infant perishing after being molested and sodomized by a family member while it's mother was in jail.
The shame and outrage at the savagery and heartlessness now rampant in Jamaican society is being decried at all levels. Ordinary citizens, politicians and organizations dealing with children's rights are calling out for something to be done.
The biggest concern, besides the actual victims of these horrendous crimes, is the effect of this environment on those children who have to stand by and watch as their safety and peace of mind is eroded before they even reach puberty. As another Abeng News article put it,
When children witness adults engaging in vigilante justice where thieves are hanged in the streets, hacked to pieces and torched, what innocence is expected to remain with them? When reprisal killings become the norm, how are the young expected to resolve differences, as adults in the community commend each other when murder settles a conflict, and threats are issued for the next round to ensure the cycle of violence never ends? And where should these juveniles — who oftentimes become parents in their early teens — learn parenting skills when at least one parent, the father in most cases, is missing from their lives?
Jamaica is searching for solutions to stem the bloodletting before it corrupts their society irreparably. With it's shame brought to light, Jamaicans may have found a common goal even as they prepare to celebrate some of their athletes’ recent accomplishments in the Beijing Olympics.

author: Bianca Welds


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Jamaica, U.S.A.: Economic Fallout?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Jamaica's dollar is valued much lower then the American dollar, which of course makes it a ‘ripe’ market for the black market.”:  A Fe Me Page Dis Iyah wonders how the current U.S. economic crisis will affect Jamaica.


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Jamaica: Workplace Diversity  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The term ‘difference’ is a fairly new one to the Caribbean workplace and it generally applies to obvious aspects such as race, gender, age, religion, physical ability, etc. However, our international reputation is largely being tainted by our strident relationship to gays and homosexuality”: Francis Wade blogs about “the not-so-diverse” Jamaican workplace.


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Japan: Cirque du Soleil ZED · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Blogger sky2525 posts photos of her night out [ja] at Cirque du Soleil ZED in Tokyo on Oct. 1st, as well as some pictures of cats doing a few circus tricks of their own.


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Japan: HubMedia · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Blogger smashmedia introduces a Japanese online publishing site [ja] called HubMedia [ja] (ハブメディア), a project to showcase quality edited contents on the web, with revenue coming from advertisements and small-lot publication sales. HubMedia will focus on niche markets with high-quality contents and on realizing continuous communication between writers and readers. A presentation (in Japanese) on “What is Hubmedia” has also been uploaded to SlideShare.


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Japan: Major papers agree on mutual consignment deal · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Hiroyuki Fujishiro [藤代裕之] at Gatonews comments on reports [ja] that Japan's two largest dailies, the Yomiuri shimbun and the Asahi shimbun, have agreed on a mutual consignment deal that, by  2012, will consolidate the printing end of the news production process. The two papers will also assist in printing the country's major business paper, the Nikkei Keizai shimbun, in cases of sudden disasters such as earthquakes. Fujishiro writes that the move, which comes less than a year after the creation of shared news portal Aratanisu, signals a sense of impending crisis in Japan's newspaper industry.


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Japan: Who can you call about Google Street View? · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Blogger Hiromitsu Takagi [高木浩光] takes up the story [ja] of Google vice president Kent Walker's Q&A at a press conference in Tokyo on Sept. 29th, highlighting statements [ja] by Google Japan director Kōichirō Tsujino [辻野晃一郎] claiming that people who would like images from the company's Street View service to be taken down can contact their regional administrative offices or consumer centers. Takagi has his doubts and calls Google directly, then calls his local consumer center, and in the end confirms that no provisions are in place for takedown requests. Listen to his phone conversation with Google (in Japanese). (Thanks to Gen Kanai for the link.)
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