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India: Losing Goa and the Scarlett Keeling homicide case · Global Voices
JJ Rajendran

My heart cries out that Goa the land of Sex, Drugs, Music, the once land of the hippies and lost Gods, had to be brought under the crime radar as a threat. Although I am partial in judging Goa, the land I spent my childhood and almost every other summer, it was not until the Scarlett murder, the conspiracy within and that odd feeling of lost sense of security in a familiar land, not only for foreigners but for the ‘other’ Indians alike has awakened the reality in this matter, losing ‘this once paradise’.
Colrama blogs about why ‘It is time to wake up’ at Citizens Alliance, giving sketches about the Scarlett murder.
The latest incident of Scarlett Keeling, a British teenager whose body was found on the beach in Goa has been added to the list of tragic incidents that have marred the tourist circuit in India. The sad fact is that the Goa police who claim  “Improving police – community relations is another thrust area…..This can happen only if we are able to perform not only on the law & order and crime front, but also in our public dealings by our helpful and sympathetic behavior towards people who come to us in their moment of distress. ……..Cases where women, children and the elderly are victims of crime should always receive our prompt attention” did not respond appropriately in the Scarlett Keeling case.
The actions of the local police to brush under the carpet what was obviously a homicide have not helped. Insistence by the mother of the victim who claimed her daughter was raped and murdered and demanded a second autopsy was casually brushed aside by the local police.
Colrama goes on to add why Goa seems to be losing its lustre and is no more a pristine tourist paradise it once was. In a recent post he has quotes from the Goan Chief Minister, Kamat, blaming Scarlett’s mother for the murder and thus trying to evade responsibility.
Kamat held Scarlett’s mother, Fiona equally responsible for her daughter’s death. “How can a mother, let her minor daughter go out so late in the night?” said Kamat.
“Tourists should take care of themselves.” he added.
Laz has taken this situation to another level; she is questioning God.
My co-worker’s revelation was met with the sadness and bile that gorge up upon hearing of tragedies like these. One of our numbers astutely pointed out that there are “sick people everywhere” and not so astutely proclaimed that this is further proof that God does not exist.
Yes, he knows that God does not exist because if there was a God he would have stopped this injustice.
What I do know is that the irrationality that such inanities betray is as much an indicator of fallen humanity’s depravity as the things that were done to this girl.
‘The Ying has settled on Goa’s Yang’ say the Happy Shiny Bloggers,
Goa, the Hippie Mecca in the late 1960's and early 1970's, gave rise to a musical culture that embedded with the spiritual culture of India to give us Goa trance.
…But if this is what you know Goa for, she houses dancers no more; Goa has been case of a 15-year old Scarlett Keeling. For those who do not know, Scarlett's body was washed upon the shore of Anjuna Beach, the place which is coincidentally the epicenter of the peace and love culture, and its night-long parties.
The Happy Shiny Bloggers are questioning why Goa has become the hide-out for the Russian Mafia. They go on to question the happy state of the locals.
Where is Goa now? With the Russian mafia using it as their hideout to launder billions of dollars, do arms deals, run prostitution rackets, real estate deals and things we may not possibly incur in our day-to-day life. Pedophiles seem to be everywhere with poor families from neighboring states selling their children to tourists, ominous signs in hotel lobbies warn clients not to take children up to their rooms…
..are the Goans happy with the last draft regional plan announced more than a year ago proposing to open 80% of agricultural and forest land for commercial exploitation. Apparently not, the current scenarios have given birth to websites like Save Goa. Fueling the Goans fury is that the police and politicians that are frequently accused of abetting crime and receiving money.
Oh wake up Goa, wake up, from being the creator of spirituality for lost souls around the world, to become the taker of souls, who would have seen. With corruption and greed fueling your streets and murdered bodies lying on your beach.
A Russian drug-dealer, Anjuna Atala explains the corruption in the Goan police system, in this YouTube clip.
Meldreth from the United Kingdom, is asking the question out loud, is the world safe? In his blog post “Asking for Trouble”.
In the UK, common sense and logic has it that you just don't accept a ride in a private vehicle from a stranger. At times, this may seem like an over the top piece of parental advice, but is usually regarded as a sound tactic. Overseas, however, we lose this common sense for some reason.
Case in point: Scarlet Keeling, a Devon teenager living in India with her family, accepted a lift home from a stranger and wound up dead on a beach. Goa, India, where Keeling lived with her mother and siblings, is no London or Liverpool, but as a city of 1.5 million, similar precautions should be taken there as you might expect in the UK. However, as I can attest to, exotic countries can nullify one's sense of judgment. For example, when I was living in Nanjing, China, I thought nothing of flagging down a black cab. Well not nothing. I thought they were a cheaper alternative to licensed taxis. Granted I am a 16 year old male and Keeling was a 15 year old female, but the start of the sequence was the same. Whilst I usually traveled with several of my equally male friends, none of us were experts on the local road map and so could easily have been led into uncomfortable situations. Nothing untoward ever happened, but looking back, I was probably a bit foolish.
Ujj from Munity.in and Freedbird have more, here and here.

author: JJ Rajendran


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Jamaica, Haiti: Felix Morisseau-Leroy · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Although the controversy still rages in Jamaica about English vs patwa or ‘nation language'…from as early as 1958, Felix Morisseau-Leroy was writing plays and poems in Kreyol”: Jamaican Geoffrey Philp pays tribute to the Haitian writer.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Jamaica: Rudeness & Productivity  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Chronicles from a Caribbean Cubicle links to an article that proves “that the Jamaican worker is right — rudeness has been found to be correlated with productivity.”


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Japan: Expired Lunch Boxes  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Martin comments on the news about 15 million food items with expired dates sold on Japan's Shinkansen trains.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Japan: Mythical Body Worm · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Edo from Pink Tentacle introduces a 16th Century medical book which explains body diseases with body worms and describes how to fight them with acupuncture and herbal remedies.


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Jordan: Christian Deportations  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordan continues with its Christian deportations, reports Mental Mayhem.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Jordan: Reaching East · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian Reflect Upon shares with us a lesson in this post. Did you know that if you continued going West, you would reach East?


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Kazakhstan: Mittal Forced to Separate Kazakh Oil Assets · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Zhanna Zhukova tells about yet more new problems the Mittal’s business is starting to face in Kazakhstan, now in the oil-and-gas sector.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Kuwait: Towers Mark 29th Birthday · Global Voices
Abdullatif AlOmar

The Kuwait Towers, the country's major landmark, marked their 29th birthday without much fanfare. But one blogger did not forget the occasion.
IntlXpatr notes it with one entry. He writes:
In today’s Kuwait Times is a notice that today, the Towers turn 29 years old
Meanwhile, Forzaq8 follows up on the case of an internet news publisher, who is getting a big boost in a case in court. He writes:
they haven’t published the final report , but it would mean that online publishing does not fall under the publishing law YET
Forzaq8 also writes about a Kuwaiti bloggers meeting, held today. He says:
Well as always , it seem only the useal come to the blogger meeting ( why too many complain we don’t meet yet when we meet we don’t see anyone )
attending this meeting
* TaTtheddon
* Mr Chocolate
* exzombie
* ducatiq8i
some sample of topic that were discussed
* Current affairs of Kuwait bloggers
* Female Kuwaiti bloggers , whats the problem with them ?
* Did the US economy enter recession stage or not and is bernanke to blame
* Sectarian strife among Kuwaiti bloggers
* future of Safat , more idea for improving
and there was many more
i hope we get more attendance next meeting
Outlawq8 complains about films being screened in cinemas, the high costs of cinema tickets and food in this post. He writes:
the movies are mostly late and show old movies that some times been over a year since the movie is released in the US, and pick the silliest movies ever i don't know why! and they'll give you a movie discount,,, i know you're wondering how's that?! if the movie's runtime is 120 minute you can see it in 60 minute only in Kuwait :D now how about that? no other country can serve that kind of offers to the viewers :P
lately they've increased the price of the tickets from 2.5 KD to 3 KD, and in Monday's 1.5 KD i guess they knew there's going to be salary increasing BUT WHY THE HELL WOULD THEY SELL A CHOCOLATE FOR 500 FILS?! i mean com on : a pack of Maltesers for 500 fils? the prices are getting ridiculously high and someone gotta stop this
Babbler too is unhappy – and can't seem to find the olives she likes in the market. She explains:
I think that there is a serious olive crisis in Kuwait. I always thought that Kuwaiti super-markets have good reserves of nice olives. This notion remained there, albeit it was getting increasingly difficult to find the same quality olives everywhere. With the current increase in products prices, good olives seem to have disappeared completely.
A couple of days ago, I was completely disgusted when my significant-other pointed out that the olives he purchased, though were fine to eat, were preserved in cooking oil! I got so turned off that I binned them the next day.
And last but not least, Chillnite writes about a photo shoot contest in Kuwait.
Areas of competition:
* Photography of Kuwait
* Journalistic photography
* Interpolated pictures

author: Abdullatif AlOmar


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Kyrgyzstan: LGBT and Allies Reactions to Russian Orthodox Church homophobic statements · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

GenderStan posts an announcement of and a link to videocast responding to the homophobic and insulting statements presented by Russian Orthodox Church against LGBT. The videocast has been watched 409 times within the first 15 hours of being up.


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Lebanon: The Story of Gaza · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Domination, enslavement, besiegement, starvation, terror, slaughter. This is daily life for the Palestinians of Gaza. The malicious, detestable, vicious, repulsive, contemptible world looks on. The cowardly, unscrupulous, gutless, deceitful, devious, disingenuous, snide Arab governments look away,” writes Ibn Bint Jbeil, from Lebanon.


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Libya: Lots of Kittens  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“We've been having kittens. Anbah had three kittens and then disappeared. We're not sure what happened to her and we hope she comes back,” writes Khadija Teri, from Libya.


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Nepal: One Country · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Kathmandu Speaks on why Nepal shouldn't split into independent states.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Pakistan: On being attacked · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

As civilians are attacked in Pakistan by various terrorists, The Pakistani Spectator asks why citizens are attacked for no fault of their own.


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Postal Services in Kuwait  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Tata Botata writes about postal services in Kuwait.


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Republic of Congo: Campaign for health rights · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Campaigning for health rights in the Republic of Congo: “Indigenous people in all areas of Congo Brazzaville live in precarious conditions and are subjected to discrimination and marginalisation, which prevents them from benefiting from all the rights recognised by international human rights instruments, particularly the right to health care and other interdependent rights.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Russia: Relations With Germany; Arms Sales · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Siberian Light writes about the future of the Russian-German relationship – and about an apparent competition between Russia and the United States in the arms supply market.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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South Africa: Suggestions for Muti · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Mike blogs about Muti: “On Muti one can also vote items down if one disapproves of the content. This is my only concern with Muti. It means that people can club together to vote content down the organic hierarchy resulting in what is being perceived as an elitist ‘clique’ owning the prime property on Muti.”


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Sri Lanka: Blog Marathon! · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Sinhala Bloggers Union [Sri Lanka] presents the Sinhala Blog Marathon – where participants have to blog every 15 minutes over 24 hours!


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Sri Lanka: Detained journalists · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Transcurrents.com on six people affiliated a news website who have been detained by the Terrorist Investigation Division of the Sri Lankan police force in Colombo since last week.


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Sudan: The definition of a blogger and an open letter to the president · Global Voices
SudaneseDrima

Since this is another round-up of Sudanese blogs, it is only appropriate that we begin with a proposed definition of what a blogger is, one expressed with a picture.
The Definition of a Blogger… or to be more specific, a political blogger, especially in our super democratic part of the world.
Speaking of blogging, Sudanese Returnee has finally returned to it after his three months long absence. He talks about an interesting experience he had centered on killing positive ideas:
… I was dumbfounded to listen all that negativity! Maybe the new returnee was even more shocked than I was. He did not say much after that. The rest just went on with listing all classic excuses of the impossible, killing this new returnee’s positive ideas in the process.
When I sat in a bar some hours later downing some cold Henieken, I discussed with another older returnee and I came to believe that I was like that new returnee not too long ago. In Juba, or Sudan in general, you see things that you know can be improved. Most of the time you know how to improve the situation because you have seen it somewhere else. You’d want to help every begger in the street, ask every kid in the street why they are not going to school, give a lift to every sick person dragging themselve to the hospital, buy medicine for that mother who can not avoid and so on. Life can be very complicated!
In Juba, some people would think you are mad if you keep sharing positive ideas.
I still have to meet and talk to the new returnee and share notes. I will do want I can to help this sister, but I have also come to learn that there are those who want to be helped, and others who have given up.
Sudanese Returnee also shared his observations on Juba just as Drima, The Sudanese Thinker expressed his on calls by the president of Sudan to boycott anything Danish in response to the republication of the Muhammad cartoons.
Amjad, a Sudanese studying in Texas, was amused by a phone call he received from Obama urging him to vote even though he is not a US citizen:
I have never thought that I would really one day blog about the American presidential elections, until last  Tuesday when I got that call from Barack Obama. After that call, I started listening to his speeches on his YouTube channel, and the video above is the speech he gave the other day at Texas primaries, here in San Antonio, TX. I don't know but I just started admiring him…
I heard that he was supposed to come here to my city but for some reason he didn't. I guess the only cities in Texas he was recently at are Houston, San Antonio, Beaumont and Dallas. (not sure about the latter). A few weeks ago we had Bill Clinton here, though. If Barack Obama ever came here I would love to take a picture with him…
Meanwhile Kizzie took time to write a passionate open letter to Sudan's president Omar Hassan al-Bashir:
Dear Mr. President.
I really can't tolerate your government any longer. It's a criminal regime in every single way.
For the last 19 years, you've tortured, killed, looted, traumatized and you've failed to stabilize the country.
… We don't trust you Mr. President. You've failed us too many times. You've dishonored too many “peace” agreements.
I don't feel safe in my own country anymore.
Millions are living like refugees in their own country.
If we complain, you prosecute us.
We've been silent for 19 years.
Now, it is time to speak. It's time for you and the world to hear our voices.
… We don't like your violent ways. Remember what you did in Nuba mountains, remember the Jihad in the South, remember Darfur, remember the ghost houses in Khartoum, remember the soldiers buried alive in 1990- no, they were not planning a coup, remember the mothers complaining about their 15 year old sons being forced to fight a war they don't believe in.
A war we never understood.
You've had your cake, you've licked the plate and you've broke the plate…now keep your shattered plate, we are buying a new one.
Jah Guide, also known as ras babi babiker, like previously, posted a short political poem about the Sudanese regime:
blood in their hands
For Darfur
blood in their hands and money in their pockets
they are selling our future
the mark of devil is on their heads
this is my black list
brothers and sisters
vote for it.

author: SudaneseDrima


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Syria: No More Blogging · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Syria, Golaniya has given up on blogging.


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Taiwan: Five Things That Never Happened · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michael followed the China history blog post and listed out five things that never happened in Taiwan.


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Tajikistan: Hunger to Replace Cold and Darkness · Global Voices
Vadim Sadonshoev

Tajikistan is a small country with big problems. The nation, particularly the rural population, is still suffering from energy crisis, but yet another crisis is going to embrace it very soon. This time it's about food.
Neweurasia reports that Barki Tojik – the country's electricity monopolist – promises to solve the problem with energy by the end of this month. However, the problem with electricity is being solved naturally – a warmer season has come and now there is enough water to move the turbines and generate electricity on hydropower stations.
However, this does not ease the social stress, because the food crisis seems to be harder to overcome. Neweurasia links  to a report by The Christian Science Monitor, saying that this spring's expected humanitarian crisis may spark unrest in this volatile region:
About 260,000 Tajiks are in need of immediate food assistance, and up to 2 million face starvation by winter’s end if they don’t receive swift help, according to the UN. The country urgently needs supplies of portable generators, kerosene stoves, food, blankets and warm clothes.
Obviously this crisis has not come out all of a sudden. According to UN figures, about two-thirds of Tajikistan’s people have to subsist on less than $2 per day, while 41 per cent lack regular access to clean drinking water.
At the same time, Tajikistan is not the only one to have shortage of food products, reports GreenIcebergs. It is one of many to feel the impact of food and fuel crisis through the globe. Recently the United Nations World Food Program reported that it would need half a billion dollars more this year to fulfill its projects i 2008:
The countries it identified as being directly impacted were Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Haiti, Djibouti and Gambia, Tajikistan, Togo, Chad, Benin, Myanmar, Cameroon, Niger, Senegal, Yemen and Cuba.
This year's severe winter is one of the main causes of the upcoming food crisis, as extreme weather has affected spring crops and losses are expected to affect important export crops making the situation even more devastating for Tajikistan.
Neweurasia also reports that this time the winter was so unexpectedly cold that the farmers could barely save their harvest:
Farmers cannot save what they reaped last year, so they try to sell it for giveaway prices as quickly as possible. These products – mostly fruits and vegetables – were supposed to be sold in spring. Cold winter killed most of the crops planted last fall, including grape and other fruit gardens that could not survive in this abnormal cold. Also, according to the official statistics, Tajikistan lost more than 700 hectares of potato fields. Beating in mind that more than 93 percent of the territory of Tajikistan is covered by mountains, this is a really substantial area.
Intellibrifs  reviews an IWPR article, also raising the issue of food deficit in the country:
Representatives of the World Food Program and the World Health Organization have cautioned that livestock and poultry have suffered severely during the winter, estimating that production of milk and eggs could experience a 50 percent drop-off. In addition, many Tajiks are grappling with the initial stage of hunger, in which they are spending more than ever on food, but eating less, with many eating only once a day.
Feoline opines on the BBC report saying that Tajikistan is already facing the catastrophe:
It's not just the rural population that's being affected, but people in the cities too … and we only expect the food situation to deteriorate. This is already a real emergency.
The Tajik government has always something or someone to blame for its failure to act adequately and avoid crises. We all can blame the cold winter, the governments of the neighboring countries or the opposition, but things do not get better if we do so…

author: Vadim Sadonshoev


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Trinidad & Tobago: Poetic Video · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidadian blogger Now is Wow posts a video poem.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Social Networking  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Blogging from Trinidad, KnowProSE.com says social networking is nothing new.


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Tunisia: 50 Richest Arabs  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Tunisia, Subzero Blue  (Ar) shares with us the list of the 50 richest Arabs – led by Al Waleed bin Talal from Saudi Arabia.


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Turkmenistan: Breakthrough in Turkmen-Azerbaijani talks · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Maciula reports on the Azerbaijani-Turkmen deal signed in Baku that ends a very long dispute between the two countries and is a important step forward towards building the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline.


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Uzbekistan: Opposition Welcomes Rapprochement with West. Or Not? · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nathan reviews a number of news reports on reaction of the Uzbekistan's opposition and human rights activists to closer ties between the Uzbek government and the West, and says that it is hard to find any one report that provides a representative sample of the opinions, although the fractured community does not speak with one voice.


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Video HUB: Protecting women activists’ rights around the world · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Witness’ The HUB Beta brings us three videos recorded at the “Human Rights for Women; Human Rights for All” event, where 3 strong women who defend other women´s rights speak about the International Campaign on Women Human Rights Defenders.
From the campaign's contextualization website:
The International Campaign on Women Human Rights Defenders is an international initiative for the recognition and protection of women who are activists advocating for the realization of all human rights for all. The campaign asserts that women fighting for human rights and particularly focusing on women's human rights face specific violations in the course of their work because of their sex and gender. In addition, the Campaign focuses on the situation of human rights activists defending women’s rights and in particular calls attention to the violations experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other rights activists on grounds of their sex and gender identities. The identities of these actors as well as the nature of the rights they strive to uphold are both factors that make them the focus of the Campaign.
There are currently 3 videos on The Hub, and they have been chosen as the Editor´s picks: Sunila Abeyesekera of INFORM in Sri Lanka talking about the campaign and how the implementation of gender specific strategies for human rights work is necessary,Lydia Alpizar from AWID who talks about why what she calls “unsexy” topics such as financing are vital for gender equality matters:  “without resources there is no implementation of hard-won political commitment to uphold women's human rights” and Aisha Shaheed from the Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning,  explaining why crimes against women based on tradition or religion should be stopped.
Following, the 3 videos on strong women who are striving to protect the rights of other women, as uploaded by Violeta Krasnic.
So what is the Hub? It´s a website where anyone can post videos related to human rights, so that they get a wider audience that is interested in the subject, instead of having to dig through regular video uploading websites to find the content they want. It´s a way to get human rights content directly to those who are interested in seeing it.
The next is a 60 promotional video explaining what the Hub does, and how to participate.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Zambia: A single visa for SADCC? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Cho discusses comments from Zambia's Tourism Deputy Minister about a single visa for the SADC region: “The Univisa proposal should make the SADC region more attractive to tourists , relative to other regions, as it expands the choice available to them. The extent of these benefits will depend on the extent to which air travel in SADC can be further liberalised to allow tourists to move much more easily across countries.”


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Zimbabwe: Landlord’s rules · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

These are landlord's rules in Zimbabwe: “Rule number 6 reads, “Never do laundry in the tub. Use the outside sink. Hang clothes with pegs, never without. Use the line near the mango tree.” The rules also stipulate that the tenant uses tissue paper only and not newspapers. In addition to the rent and observing the rules, the tenant is also expected to bring 375ml floor polish, scouring powder, a pack of toilet paper, a bulb and toilet cleaner every month. In these hard economic conditions, I tell you it is hard to keep up with landlords’ rules.”


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A New Palestine  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

excen-tarik, at Kabobfest, says  he has found his Palestine – a barren desert in the stretches off the Pacific Ocean, a neglected, between San Francisco and Hawaii, named “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP).


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Anonymous Blogging guide now available in Chinese · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Thanks to one very gracious individual who unfortunately insists on remaining anonymous, Global Voices Online co-founder Ethan Zuckerman‘s guide Anonymous Blogging with WordPress and Tor is now available in Chinese, bringing years of experience in combining technology with activism not only to yet another part of the world but also, at just under 5MB, in a handy package designed specifically to be shared.
Coming later this month will be the translation of Blog for a Cause!, the Global Voices Guide of Blog Advocacy, a perfect next step for those soon to be—and those who already are—equipped with the basics of what it takes to keep safe while doing certain kinds of work online. As with Anonymous Blogging, Adobe Acrobat Reader might be needed to view it and can be downloaded for free here.
And back to Ethan for the last word:
If you don’t really need to be anonymous, don’t be. If your name is associated with your words, people are likely to take your words seriously. But some people are going to need to be anonymous, and that’s why this guide exists. Just please don’t use these techniques unless you really need to.
Please certainly do feel free to help build this project by translating either Blog for a Cause! or Anonymous Blogging into your own language.
For further information please contact me at: chinese [ at ] globalvoicesonline[ dot ] org, or Global Voices Advocacy Coordinator Sami Ben Gharbia at: advocacy [ at ] globalvoicesonline [ dot ] org

author: John Kennedy


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Bangladesh: In Jeddah · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Unheard Voices on the plight of Bangladeshi migrants in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia).


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Brazil: User-customized Football Media · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

A new arena is gathering steam and significance in the Brazilian Internet space: the football blogs. It should be no surprise given how natives are impassioned for the game, and how the latest results of the many championships become part of the casual chit-chat everywhere. Day by day, fervent fans are finding out that blogs and other media possibilities — podcasts, webcasts, foruns and chats — are invaluable tools to display, promote and exchange opinions about the many games, and also to express their passion for their favorite football club teams.
The most evident feature brought by the wave of new entrants in the sports chronicle on the web is the customized report and commentary produced by teams’ fans. Since TV transmissions of football games started in Brazil, referees are not the only ones to be sujected to biased scrutiny of the fans. The obligatory account of the games by speakers and commentators from major TV networks, regular owners of exclusive broadcasting rights, also suffer the sharp analysis — and fiery reactions — from the opinionated crowd of the many clubs’ supporters.
…a torcida do Palmeiras se encheu. Aliás, há muito tempo. Só que a onda da internet finalmente atingiu um ponto onde quebrou-se monopólio dos meios de comunicação dos grandes grupos. Em seus primórdios, há cerca de dez anos, o HTML puro fazia da internet um canal de uma via só. Hoje, qualquer manezinho pode fazer um blog, como este que você está lendo, e a comunicação, democratizada, não precisa ser disfarçada. Não é preciso simular imparcialidade, já que na Internet, há espaço para todos e todo mundo vai atrás do que quer. Hoje, existem sites de palmeirenses para palmeirenses. Cheios de paixão, falando a mesma língua. Elogiando com o entusiasmo que vem junto com a paixão, e quando vem a crítica, ela vem para melhorar, não para achincalhar. É tudo o que um torcedor cuja inteligência vem sendo afrontada quer.
A mídia palestrina – Parmerista!
The opportunity to express the full passion for their teams in a public sphere, free from the politically correct  ‘impartiality’ and ‘fairness’ of the big media narratives of the games is also a feature for the enthusiasts.
Nada é mais importante que o livre direito de poder esculachar um rival derrotado! Nada. Nem o jogo dentro das quatro linhas, perguntarão os leitores? Nem o jogo! Que graça tem um clássico se a gente ficar preso a detalhes do tipo “o time jogou com duas linhas de quatro”… Futebol, minha gente, não é apenas um jogo. Sei que parece óbvio, escrito dessa forma. Mas a reação de muita gente ao gesto do Souza me deixa na obrigação de lembrar isso. Quer falar apenas de jogo, “de linhas de quatro” (não agüento mais ouvir essa expressão)? Então acesse um blog de gamão ou de xadrez (e olha que sou bom nisso…). O futebol só é futebol porque tem um motor chamado “rivalidade”. Chega de caretice. Não deixem o esculacho morrer!
Não deixem o esculacho morrer! (André Rizek) – Flamengo Eternamente
Nothing is more important than the freedom to crush a defeated rival! Nothing. Some readers will ask if it is even more important than the game itself, and I say: Yes! What is the joy of a classic duel of traditional rivals if we get stuck into details such as “the team played with two lines of four…” Football, my friends, is not just a game. I know it seems obvious written this way, but the reaction of the people to Souza's gestures obliges me to say this. Do you want to talk just about the game, about the “lines of four” (I can't stand this expression anymore)? So go to a blog about backgammon or chess (by the way, games that I also master…). Football is football because of a potency called ‘rivalry’. Enough of straight laced football media. Don't let the rival-crushing die!
Don't let the rival-crushing die! (André Rizek) – Flamengo Eternamente
Amidst the hot exchange between rivals, the ‘impartiality’ and ‘fairness’ of the mainstream media sports coverage is also a disputed issue. A recent survey has showed that the carioca club [from Rio de Janeiro] Flamengo, with 32.6 million followers, has the biggest club fan base in the world. In this context, the predictable trend of the media to please the majority of the audience has generated its proper counter reaction in the blogosphere.
[full disclosure: I am honored to be part of this intelligent and valuable crowd that follow and support the world's most cherished football club, Flamengo]
Não é novidade pra ninguém que acompanha o futebol carioca que a imprensa tem uma predileção pelo Flamengo. Pelo fato de ter a maior torcida e conseqüentemente o maior potencial de consumo, jornais, revistas, emissoras de rádio e televisão e sites da Internet têm a tendência de maximizar os feitos do Urubu para agradar à grande massa e minimizar os fracassos para não espantar a freguesia. Se fossem vendedores de bananas, isso não faria mal algum, já que faria parte do negócio. Mas, como vendedores de informação e formadores de opinião, esses meios deveriam ser imparciais e retratar a realidade, fosse ela boa ou ruim, sem maquiagem. Infelizmente, porém, não é isso o que acontece. Por isso, aproveitamos esse espaço para completar e denunciar as lacunas intencionalmente deixadas pela imprensa em nome de seus lucros.
Flapress – SecaFla.com
Apart from the steamed up aficionado debate,  blogs and forums are accomplishing clever hacks to customize their own media experience of the games.  As illegal as it can be, the use of web video streaming services that offers video/chat interfaces to relay the [copyrighted] games’ images has been a hit among supporters of Sport [a club from Recife].
Torcedores do Sport estão transmitindo ao vivo pelo site www.justin.tv os jogos do Leão para rubro-negros que moram fora de Pernambuco. Exibições, que começaram com webcam, agora estão com mais qualidade já que são feitas com placas de captação de TV… “Comecei a fazer isso só pelo prazer de ajudar as pessoas de fora do Recife, que não conseguiam ver o Sport. Não ganho nada, é uma ação 100% amadora. Tudo o que conseguimos até agora foi com muita troca de informações entre os usuários do fórum”, disse T.A. Ele recebeu instruções sobre o assunto com um amigo que mora em Portugal, também apaixonado pelo Sport e que é um dos principais beneficiados pela transmissão paralela. Além de Portugal, a ‘audiência’ é formada, em sua maioria, por torcedores que moram na Inglaterra, Canadá, e nos estados do Pará e Goiás. Ah, alguns desses usuários se prontificaram a ajudar numa ‘cotinha’ para a compra da placa de captação.
Comentário de André Ferreira em Vote nos Brazucas – Fundamental Vídeo-Conteúdo
Although a relatively recent phenomenon, the growing intensity of the networked exchange among like-minded football club's fan bases is bringing a new dynamic to the game. The shouted opinions that used to come from the anonymous crowds in stadiums can now reach new audiences, and start making a difference in the now enlarged sports chronicle's market of opinions. Players must now be responsive to a much larger group of loquacious coaches.
Jogamos mal e porcamente, principalmente por causa dos vacilos mentais do Toró e do Léo Moura. Aliás, Toró, espero que a tragédia que seu descontrole engendrou te sirva de lição para o resto da vida. Sabe aonde que você começou a dar mole, menino Toró? Foi antes da bola rolar, na hora em que os abnegados torcedores do Mengão lhe saudavam e você, ao contrário do que sempre fez, não saudou a arquibancada... A primeira obrigação de quem veste o Manto Sagrado em partidas oficiais é saudar a torcida que lhe homenageia com sua presença e aplausos. Nem você, Toró e nem o Souza fizeram isso antes do jogo começar. E TODO O TIME SE ESQUECEU DE AGRADECER A TORCIDA AO FIM DO JOGO. Um tremendo desrespeito com quem não mede esforços para apoiar o Mengão Fuderosão Pentacampeão. Que essa palhaçada não se repita jamais, em campo algum.
Homem que é homem não chora por Arthur Muhlenberg – FlamengoNET
As already reported here at GVO, Brazilian alternative sports media is also focusing on corruption involving club and league managers, player agents, politicians and sports promotion companies, as well as the big sports media outlets. Surely a good sign of what we can expect from the nation's blogosphere, given the fact that the 2014 World Cup is coming to Brazil.

author: Jose Murilo


text:
Cambodia: Angkor Sinking? · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Are the famous temples of Angkor sinking?

author: Preetam Rai


text:
China: Fire on the streets of Lhasa, Tibet · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Tuesday update:
Zuola the former pioneering citizen reporter has made a monstrous effort in aggregating links to Chinese-language coverage and discussion of the ongoing situation in Tibet.
From Tibetan writer Woeser‘s blog, one reader writes at 00:17 on March 18:
作为藏人， 决不能就此放弃
让汉人在西藏和奥运之间做出选择吧
Looking through Twifan for reports of unrest having spread to the provinces surrounding Tibet comes news from the Tibetan quarter in Chengdu, Sichuan‘s Wuhou district:
7:21 pm Monday, Fanfou user Qianlan:
晕，看来真要打仗了。洗面桥街和武侯祠横街都被封锁了。
7:55 pm Monday, Fanfou user o8o8o8:
刚刚在群里收到的最新消息! 成都军区已经一级戒备了，正在往西藏调兵。 武侯祠横街南北两个方向路口完全交通管制，车辆不得进入；洗面桥横街东西两个方向完全交通管制，车辆不得进入；蜀汉街和另外一条小街直接就路上横了两辆警车把路堵死了。大概估算了一哈，有超过200名警察，超过100辆警车，包括各种警牌的和川OA，还有大概50辆左右的警用摩托，三个一组的编队在不间断巡逻，在武侯祠横街南北两个路口，各有一辆消防车。 武侯祠横街和洗面桥横街已经完全变成步行街了，没有任何地方车辆。走到街上全部是警灯的闪烁。这段时间不要到人多的地方去打堆堆,西藏运来的好多吨炸药运到成都来已经不见了，消失了 警报日前接内部消息：一{BANNED}分子潜入成都，妄图从事恐怖活动。 此人在国外学习爆破多年，技术出众，手段残忍。 成都各区已抽调得力干警
and:
超过500人组成专案工作组开展紧急排查工作，目前此人尚未抓获。 奉劝各位这几天尽量减少外出，避免发生意外。 从昨日起成都警方以及军区已经对城区部分地区实施封闭检查 不要往人多的地方去活动 , 没事请呆家里!
And from MSN Live Spaces user XK83 at 9:21 am:
反恐第一线(一)
两会期间，拉萨发生骚乱。官方说达赖集团煽动闹事。死亡13人（截至3月17日），伤多人。
公元2008年，3月17日，西藏驻成都办事处，康定酒店，成都西藏人聚集地——武侯祠横街实行交通管制，武警配枪上街巡逻。
而这条街的一号，就是我单位的所在地。我租的房子，也在这条街。
虽然我在外面出差，但是妈妈还在成都的家里，单位还在那条街上。经过电话联系询问，整理的信息如下：
17号开始这条成都藏民最多的街实行戒严，不准车辆通行，10多辆汽车上下来许多穿迷彩服的武警士兵，配枪巡逻。
我单位作为这条街上最重要的国有单位，门口已换成武警把守，进出单位需要工作证和身份证，并在单位保安的确认下才可进入，院内不时会有武警进来巡逻 ，
单位上班开始不计迟到，晚上所有人不许加班，早点回家。
我家对面的康定酒店（西藏人开的3星级酒店），据谣传，已经关了一些重要人物，而且发生了流血事件(未经证实，大家口头相传)
有从西藏传来一说，10吨炸药带入成都，消失~~~有同学的同学在西藏告知，少去广场、火车站人多地方。
慎重使用公共交通工具。
…
后续报道会即时更新
Lianghui is on, riots in Lhasa. The official statement is that Dalai Groups are inciting riots. 13 dead (as of 03/17), many injured.
March 17, Tibetan Affairs Office to Chengdu, Kangding Hotel, gathering place for Tibetans in Chengdu–traffic controls on Wuhouci St., PAP armed and doing street patrols.
And at #1 on this street just happens to be where I work. The apartment I rent? Also on this street.
Though I'm off on business, mom is still at home in Chengdu, and my office is there, so through regular phone calls back I've gathered the following information:
Beginning on the 17th, this part of Chengdu, which is where the most number of ethnic Tibetans live, has been under lockdown; no cars allowed to enter, and many camouflage-wearing PAP who came in on over 10 vehicles are armed and doing patrols.
The office has stopped counting if people show up late, and nobody is allowed to do overtime at night, and people are going home early.
Kangding hotel right across from my home (a 3-star hotel opened by a Tibetan), according to rumors, has already had some of its higher-ups arrested, and there've been incidents of bloodshed (unconfirmed, this is just what everyone is saying)
There's word out of Tibet too, that ten tons of explosives were brought into Chengdu and then disappeared……a friend of a friend in Tibet told him that. Stay away from plazas, the train station, or places with lots of people.
Use public transportation with caution.
…
More updates coming soon.
From Sunday, independent blogger Mr. Jun aims for a more rounded perspective in his post ‘The Lhasa Riots–How are we to look at them?’
常常认为，从不同的角度看一样东西，会有不同的景色。从正面去看一个人，有可能会觉得他有点面目可憎，可是如果从旁边看，他或许是个心地善良的人也说不定。就像是拉萨暴乱事件一样，从那方面看，就有不同的结论。
如果以….
中国的方面来看这个拉萨暴乱事件
– 拉萨暴乱是有阴谋的。
– 达赖图谋藏独。
– 拉萨暴乱的另外意义是阻止奥运的进行。
国外的方面呢？
– 阻碍奥运是错误的，根据过去的经验显示，杯葛奥运是一定会失败的。
– 没有任何一个国家会接受西藏是个独立的国度。
拉萨与西藏的看法又如何呢？
– 以暴力阻止暴力，是很没有说服力。
If…
..looking at this from this Chinese side:
-there's a conspiracy behind the Lhasa rioting.
-it's the Dalai Lama's plot for Tibetan independence.
-another purpose to the Lhasa riots is to prevent the Olympics from being held.
…and from overseas?
-interfering with the Olympics is a mistake; past experience shows that boycotting the Olympics is guaranteed to fail.
-there isn't a single country which would accept Tibet as an independent nation.
And Lhasa and Tibet's views?
-Stopping violence with violence, there's nothing persuasive about it.
[…]
和平是很难维持的，因为那是双方面的。如果有单方面和平的破坏，双方也不会就次罢休的。不少喇嘛被囚禁了，这就是单方面的和平破坏的开始点。暴乱事件就是另一方对于喇嘛被囚禁的不满而做出的抵抗。双方面没有得到共识是错误的起源，因为不了解而分裂，那是历史很清楚地告诉我们的。而奥运又要利用这事件来表达，奥运本身就是如此地神圣不可侵，没有人该推翻它！
人民醒觉运动，我个人认为人民应该拥有权利，不把所有的权利都给于一个领导人。就以古中国来说，皇帝的决定是绝对的，包括战争。人民的反对票无法达到皇帝的认同，因为人民没有选择权。可这不表示人民应该拥有所有的权力，所以权力的分配必须达到平衡。
最后回到‘从那方面看？’这话题。如果是中国的新闻来看，那可能会有点夸大其言，毕竟现在以武力镇压拉萨的是中国，中国是其事件的起端者，所以中国的话还是别全信比较好。西藏与拉萨方面，他们是其事件的起端者之一，可是同时也是受害者。他们有可能会夸大其言，但他们是受害者，所以可信度比较高。
A people's awakening movement, as I see it, is a right a people ought to have, and that not all powers should be given to a leader. In ancient China, the emperor's decisions were absolute, including going to war. People's opposition votes weren't recognized by the emperor, because the people had no right to choose. But this doesn't suggest that the people should have all the power, and this is why division of power must be balanced.
Back to the topic of ‘which side?’. If one looks at Chinese media, well, there might be some exaggeration, especially now with China suppressing Tibet with military power, and China being the source of these incidents, which is why it's better to not completely trust what China has to say on this. For Tibet and Lhasa, they are one of the sources of these incidents, but at the same time they are the victims. They might also be exaggerating, but as they are the victims, their degree of reliability is still much higher.
Ken at Kadfly, one of the last few foreigners to enter Tibet before the violence broke out and the area shut down, has added to his earlier collection of tourist photos of the unrest and destruction with an update Monday that the Tibetan violence had generally stopped:
Today people returned to the streets of Lhasa in droves. There are tons of Chinese police and army in the city but they are letting people wander without too much difficulty. Schools were also open today – hopefully all this means that there will not be any further escalation of the situation. Since the 14th things have quieted down dramatically – aside from a few booms and bangs we haven't been able to hear much from where we are. We have heard, however, that the authorities have been conducting night-time arrests in other parts of the city, but this is not confirmed.
Original post:
Protests in Lhasa set to coincide with the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan people's unsuccessful uprising against PRC occupation of the former theocracy which began on March 10, the day on which what was being called the worldwide Tibetan people's uprising was stopped at the Indian border, turned violent on March 13 and may now be spreading to neighboring Gansu province.
As mainstream media struggle to bring out the latest developments, bloggers on the ground in Lhasa have been able to provide ongoing updates on the situation. Earlier in the week, the Time China blog linked to one European tourist's writing, photos and video from Lhasa just as the rioting had begun.
QQ blogger 24K Pure Love at 2:58 pm Friday:
拉萨暴乱
今天是2008年3月14，白色情人节“也是我到拉萨的第25天。  可今天的拉萨并不太平，外面到处是暴乱份子，以前在内地从来没见过这种场面。 用恐怖也来形容也不为过。
杀人，放火，仍石头““  外面一片黑暗。 到处冒烟。
武警都出动了“  大街上面空无一人，店面全部关门了`  马路上都是暴乱份子扔的石头“`
QQ blogger ‘I Love Blue Sky’, who appears to be involved in the travel industry, 4:01 pm Friday:
拉萨的动荡３月
昨天开会了，说是几个寺庙不让去了，
珠峰也不可以去，
哎，那这旅游还咋做啊　，
那游客来拉萨还有什么好看的呢
今天，听说大昭寺那边又有动乱了，
很恐怖的，朋友们都打电话来，
让我不要到处乱走，
真是的，你说安定团结那里不好，
非要搞点事出来，
客人来了拉萨，还不让乱走，你说这旅游还咋做吗
Today, I heard there's been another disturbance at Jokhang Temple,
It's terrifying. Friends keep calling,
Telling me not to go wandering around,
Please, what's so bad about Stability and Unity?
Do you have to go making trouble?
The clients are here in Lhasa, but they're not allowed to go wandering around, what am I going to do for this tour?
现在是搞的人心惶惶的，
组团社那边，问出了什么事，
拉萨这边又让说是维修寺庙
世上那有不透风的墙呢？
Another QQ blog, Friday, 6:01 pm::
拉萨是个好地方
拉萨暴动…学校禁校…生日泡汤…  市里面打的那叫一个猛!军车一辆一辆的，手榴弹一颗一颗的扔，大昭寺周围被炸开花了，步行街被武警封了，温州商贸诚也被封了，石油公司貌似炸毁了…  长这么大没见过这世面…达lai真ta妈牛b!真希望赶紧把我们学校炸了!我转到人大去我!
From another QQ blog at 6:25 pm:
圣地的暴政【拉萨】
今天的拉萨没有莪想的那么圣洁了,在拉萨一直被人尊敬的拉萨成了暴政的源头,今天呆在岛里真的很郁闷,拉萨市好几家服装店被烧毁,全岛的居民都不准出岛,喇嘛扪跟警察打起来了,死伤现在还不知道,说实话长这么大莪真实是见过那么多的装甲车,还有那么多的坦克和大部队,莪想不明白眼前的这一切是为什么? 还说把莪扪汉人杀了`?全岛和拉萨市里的店都关门大吉了,因为都是莪扪汉人开的店…
中国政府每年对西藏拨款发展,到现在得到的是什么?这样的国内暴政会让中国更会发展吗?来到拉萨的时候感觉这朴实,是个适合自己发展的地方,也是赚钱的殿堂…因为这商机大机会也多,比如这两年开采矿物质,也给西藏带来了财富,青藏线的开通就跟不是新闻了.
Also on QQ, ‘Ice Dragon’ at 6:26 pm:
08年3月14日拉萨喇嘛造反
今天下午武警，交警，特警全部出动于布达拉宫广场与拉萨百货大楼交界处
坦克，装甲车，消防车全部出动在布达拉宫前
到目前`特警伤几十人死几人
消防车被炸一辆
轿车被炸N辆，商店被烧几十家
四川人士死伤上百
大昭寺和小昭寺已经被烧毁！
朋友刚才来电说：现在拉萨各大小医院已经住满了病人！
（昨晚，在大昭寺几百名四川人士被打，13名当场死亡，80多人重伤）
This afternoon, PAP, traffic police and riot police all marched into Potala Palace Square to the Lhasa Department Store tower junction
Tanks, armored vehicles and firetrucks all moved into the front of Potala Palace
At present, dozens of riot police have been injured and several killed
One fire truck has been blown up
Countless civilian cars have been blown up, and dozens of shops have been torched
Over a hundred Sichuanese have been killed
Jokhang Temple and Ramoche Temple have both already been burnt down!
A friend just called to say: all small and large hospitals in Lhasa are already full with patients!
(last night, several hundred Sichuanese got beaten in front of Jokhang Temple, 13 died at the scene, and 80 more were seriously hurt)
Another QQ blogger's post from 6:56 pm:
关于发生在今天的拉萨暴乱
经常在新闻中看到伊拉克战争，或是哪里又发生袭击事件，当时我就在里面感慨，还是做中国人幸福，至少是和平的，至少不会会有战争，至少人们不用生活在对战争的恐惧中！但今天发生在西藏的暴乱事件，却让我深深的感觉到，原来也有些人不想让我们中国平静、和平！不知道以后别的国家的人在看到我们中国的战争新闻时，是不是和我当初看伊拉克战争时的心情与感慨一样！
当今天那些疯狂的达赖教众在街上围堵殴打过往的汉族人时，当他们用打火机点燃一处又一处商铺时，当他们将火苗扔向停靠在路边的汽车时，我真的感觉到很害怕且不可思议。你们在毁坏的可是你们自己的家园，你们不是信仰活佛吗？难道这些是你们的活佛指示你们做的？是活佛指示你们尽情毁坏你们的家园的吗？我想这些大部分人都是没有想过的，大部分人都是被某些想分裂祖国的人的言辞所欺骗！但你们可以想想，是谁让西藏发展成今天的模样，是谁架起了西藏与全世界人民的桥梁，又是谁每年从内地调派各类人才到西藏来教与西藏孩子知识与文化，更是谁每年从祖国的各个发达城市播款来援藏！这些我想你们都已经忘记……
At 9:18 pm on Zoer's QQ Space:
拉萨暴乱了！刷机失败了！
3.14拉萨的喇嘛终于又“起义”了
砸车、放火、还干了点别的什么我不得而知
即使是我的体形
都不能轻易穿越武警和陆军人墙的间隙
更不想成为装甲车履带下的炮灰
哎~喇嘛，你怎么就不能像人家和尚那么安分点儿呢？
谁都知到你丫的做不了个啥
楞老在那起哄
学芙蓉JJ搏出位？代价也忒大了点儿！
Sunday update 2:
Davesgonechina at Tenement Palm continues his translation roundups of microblog posts on the situation in Tibet which people continue to put onto sites like Fanfou and Jiwai; on the latest batch he has now written:
Special Note: This is the perfect opportunity for Tibet internet activists like Oxblood Ruffin and concerned netizens everywhere to engage Chinese people on the Internet in discussions about what is going on. As I previously outlined in a primer to engage Chinese people, these are channels where one can register a free account and launch dialogues with Chinese individuals about Tibet. Many of the people I've included below are neither kneejerk nationalists or xenophobes, and some of them know some English too. It wouldn't hurt to try. You can respond by clicking on the username link at the beginning of each tweet, sign up, and talk back.
**One reader has written in asking to know why there are no apparent Tibetan voices in this post. This of course is not a deliberate omission but a problem of not being able to find them. Any such related links if left in the comments or sent to chinese [at] globalvoicesonline [dot] org will be translated swiftly and everyone's help is most welcome in this.
Update: Sunday, March 16:
QQ blogger ‘Zuoer’ had a post of a series of apparently civilian photos taken at 2pm Sunday afternoon which have since been deleted but can be seen here (scroll halfway down).
As of Saturday, YouTube has been blocked in China. Little information seems to be coming out of Lhasa now, although micro-channels remain open. Phayul.com has cellphone video of a large number of monks demonstrating in the early afternoon of March 15 around Labrang Monastery in neighboring Gansu province.
Also on Saturday, EconThink MSN Spaces blogger Robert posted a notice from the local law authorities calling on those responsible for the “smashing, looting, burning and killing” to turn themselves in before March 17, saying that those who do may be exempt from punishment, and those who don't will be severely punished, the same for those who are found to be covering up for or harboring criminals. Protection is being offered for those who turn “criminals” in.
Further 03/16 update: Roland Soong at EastSouthWestNorth provides further translations, including one detailed eyewitness account of the extent of the violence that has been reposted on many Chinese blogs.


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China: Nansha Oil Refinery Campus · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Buchong visited the planned construction site of an giant oil refinery campus at Nansha, a river mouth peninsular at Zhujiang delta [zh]. The villagers are looking forwarded for the construction, however, the project would result in serious air and water pollution affecting nearby districts, in particular residents in Macau, Hong Kong and Guangzhou province.


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China: SARFT’s Insanity · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Wang Xiaofeng tries to explain SARFT’ insanity by looking into its unrestricted administrative power and the history of censorship against cultural workers.


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Cuba: A Blog About Internet Censorship · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Potro Salvaje [es] (Wild Colt) is a blog about the use of internet in Cuba. “We'll talk about censorship, fliters, blocked pages, proxys, and all of the limitations that we Cubans have…”

author: Eduardo Avila


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Cuba: No Restrictions?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Child of the Revolution is hesitant to regard the news that “Cubans will be able to buy a range of electronic consumer goods without restrictions” as a sign of political development.


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Ecuador: Google Maps and Flood Zones · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Christian Espinosa of Cobertura Digital [es] provides an update on the project of using Google Maps to show and provide more information of the areas affected by the heavy flooding in Ecuador.


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Feeling for the Gays of Iran · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“My heart aches for the gay and lesbian Iranians trying to flee persecution but are being turned away. After all, if there are no gays in Iran, surely this means they need homes elsewhere?” writes Ladyteacher.


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Fiji: Kidatalk VOIP · Global Voices
May Hnin Phyu

I AM A WIP attends the launch of the new VOIP service, “Kidatalk“, which is one of the very first companies to set up in Fiji.

author: May Hnin Phyu


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Guyana: Threads that Bind  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Sometimes we life is one unending seam, same colour, same strand, same stitch, not varying in size. Then suddenly the thread snap and…”: Guyana-Gyal discovers a “delightful variation” from her daily routine.


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India: Tibetan protesters arrested · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

My Himachal on Tibetan protesters being arrested in India.


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Iranian Bloggers on international women’s day · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Women's rights have been severely restricted in the last two years in Iran. Some women activists have been jailed, and Zanan Magazine, a leading women's magazine was banned. Many others have been victims of security forces violence for the way they dress.
The Iranian government does not recognise March 8 as International Women's Day and there is no official public celebration.
Despite very difficult circumstances, Iranian women continue their progress in many areas and activists have supported the jailed women activists.
A few months ago, Kosoof, a leading photo blogger,  published some photos showing a solidarity action of women for two arrested activists. Several bloggers, women and men, remembered this day and share their thoughts and feelings about women in Iranian society.
Asieh Amini, an activist for women’s equal rights, says[Fa] March 8 is a day of protest against any gender discrimination.
Freekeyboard  says March 8 makes him compares [Fa] his dreams to reality. He says:
It is not my March 8. In my March 8 people would be happy and I would dance in the streets. On March 8 there would be no difference between man or woman, all people are equal because all are human beings. In the March 8 that I like, there are no cops to repress. Men and women are happy and dancing. No woman shouts we want equal rights… this March 8 is not here, but only in my mind, and in my dream.
The blogger adds that in his March 8, women aren't sent to jail because they ask people to sign a petition for equal rights between men and women.
The Association of Iranian bloggers,  Penlog, says [Fa] in a statement, that Iranian women are considered as second class citizens by the Islamic Republic’s laws. Despite all pressures and discrimination, Iranian women continue their presence in all professional fields.
Z8un has published several photos of working women.
Maryam Majd, blogger and photographer, has also published several photos showing Iranian women involved in different sports. She showed Iranian women's activities and problems in another set of photos here.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Isfahan Bird’s Garden · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Negha, a photo blogger, has published several photos of birds from “Isfahan bird's garden” in Iran. There are 5000 birds in this garden.


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Iran:Islamist bloggers condemned violence in Gaza · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Hamed Talebi in his Khabarnegar Mosalman (means Muslim reporter) blog has published several links to islamist bloggers who condemned Israel military interventions in Gaza.


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Iran:”Victory in Tehran” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Sedayeh Sevom (means third voice) says[Fa] that if today, reformist candidates,in parliamentary election in Iran,get highest scores in Tehran, it means a victory for them.


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Israel: Killed over Parking Spot · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

‘An indication of an increase in violence in Israel was clearly demonstrated Tuesday when a Holon man, Yosef Bavli, parked his van in a space that was claimed by a neighbor of his, Yaron Kabaz. Kabaz, who didn’t even own a car, was so perturbed by this that he let the air out of Bavli tires. When Bavli came back later with a friend to pick up the car, an intense argument broke out, which ended with Bavli being stabbed to death by the parking space “owner”,’ reports One Jerusalem.


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Kazakhstan: Pictures from the West · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Mikhail is on the road again with his photo-camera, offering a breath-taking set of pictures from Mangyshlak, a mountaneous peninsula on the Caspian Sea, Western Kazakhstan.


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Lebanon: Getting Ready for Another War? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The comments section is heating up at AK‘s post on whether there will be a another war in Lebanon soon.


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Lebanon: Murr for President? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

If rumors are to be believed, then General Michel Sleiman is Metn MP Michel Murr's choice for the next President of Lebanon, reports Charles Malik from Lebanon.


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Nepal: A Free Press · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Kathmandu Speaks on foreign interference and the press in Nepal.


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Pakistan: What’s to celebrate? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Pak Tea House comments on the situation of women in Pakistan, and asks if there's anything to celebrate on Women's Day.


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South Korea: Migrant Worker Film Festival · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The 2nd Migrant worker film festival has been announced. The program can be found here.


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Syria: Silence Over the “Bigger Holocaust” · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

On February 29th, Israel's Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai warned of “a bigger Holocaust” for the Palestinians. Syrian blogger Ayman, from the Damascene Blog, compares between the world's silence to that comment and the fuss made over Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's alleged call to “wipe Israel off the map.”
Ayman (Ar) explains:
تقوم الدنيا ولا تقعد عندما يتحدث أحمدي نجاد عن إفناء إسرائيل. يعلّق على الموضوع رؤساء الدول والصحف والمجلات بل حتى الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة، ويستدعى سفراء إيران في عواصم العالم لتبليغهم الاحتجاجات. أما عندما يهدد مسؤول في الحكومة الإسرائيلية بإقامة هولوكوست جديدة في غزة، يتم تجاهل الموضوع كأن شيئاً لم يكن.
حكومة تدعي أنها تمثل الشعب الذي عانى ويلات الهولوكوست تهدد شعباً آخر بـ”هولوكوست أكبر”، كما جاء في تصريح الوزير الإسرائيلي، والأمر -مع ذلك- لا يستحق الشجب أو الإدانة أو التعليق، حتى عندما تشرع إسرائيل بتنفيذ التهديد.
ما تعرض له الفلسطينيون من تطهير عرقي وجرائم حرب (بدءاً بالمذابح والترحيل الجماعي في 1948) وما يتعرضون له اليوم من حصار وعقوبات جماعية وقتل للمدنيين، يشبه -بلا شك- ما تعرض له اليهود خلال الحرب العالمية الثانية. وقد جرت العادة على أن يتعرض كل من يرسم هذه المقارنة للاتهام بمعاداة السامية.
The world stands and doesn't sit, when Ahmadinejad talks about wiping Israel off the map. All the heads of states, newspapers, magazines and even the head of the United Nations comment on it and the Iranian Ambassadors in all capitals are called to hear protests. However, when an official in the Israeli government threatens of a new Holocaust in Gaza, the issue is ignored as if it were nothing.
A government which claims it represents the people who suffered the agonies of the Holocaust is now threatening another nation of a “Bigger Holocaust” – as announced by an Israeli minister. Despite that, it is an issue which doesn't raise a condemnation, or even a reaction, even when Israel moves on to implement its threats.
What the Palestinians are being subjected to is ethnic cleansing and war crimes, starting with the massacres and group exiles of 1948. What they are being subjected to today in terms of border closures, sanctions and the killing of civilians, is without doubt, similar to what the Jews suffered during the Second World War. And it has become usual for anyone drawing that comparison to be referred to as anti-Semitic.


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Taiwan: Go Taiwan Baseball Team, Toward Beijing Olympic Games! · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

Mach 7, 2008 is a special day for Taiwan. It's not for the coming presidential election, but for 2008 IBAF Final Olympic Qualification Tournament(zh) The tournament is being played in Mid-Taiwan!
While soccer is the national sports of most countries in the world, baseball is the pride of Taiwan. Once the international baseball games held, Taiwanese could lay aside their works, even their family and lovers, just in order to cheer our pride in the field or at the television. If you think it's exaggerated, why not take a look at the game on Monday evening?
Taiwan baseball team met Canada on March 10. The massive fans watched the live broadcast, and relayed the progress on  Twitter and PTT BBS (the largest campus internet service in Taiwan), to those who couldn't watch the cast, like me. As the situation was getting more and more intense, the fans were all nervous. When Kuo-Hui Lo(zh)hit a 3-run HR that helped Taiwan take the lead in the bottom of sixth inning, not only sportscasters and fans in the field went crazy, but also fans on the internet due to our loud shouts, “Go Taiwan Baseball Team, Toward Beijing Olympic Games!”
As the game came into the end,the catcher of Taiwan team, CHUN-CHANG YEH, was collided by Canada player in order to prevent Taiwan from being scored. I really doubted if any Taiwanese not patriots then. Chensumi(zh) said:
誰看到葉君璋以小號無敵鐵金剛之軀，護住本壘版的畫面，倘若不激動落淚的，那你就真得不是台灣球迷。那時的小葉，巨大如同一片天，替我們頂下那一分，多麼剛猛啊！
If you saw the scene that CHUN-CHANG YEH defended the plate with his body but not excited, then you must not be a fan of Taiwan. YEH was as giant as the sky. How brave he is!
或許，部份球迷不像我們知道，太過於衝動會被沒收比賽，但是在那個當下，如果還能冷靜，還要控制EQ，我想，棒球就不可能叫台灣的國球了。就好像你看到你 的親人或好友被外人侵犯，當然是先力挺再說，怎麼可能還考慮太多呢？這是台灣球迷與中華隊密不可分的感情所致，這也是加拿大等外隊永遠不能理解的事情。雖 然，我們都知道不該丟瓶罐等進場。
Maybe some fans do not know like us that games will be called off if chaotic situations happen. At that moment, however, if people can still calm down or handle their emotions, baseball would never be the national sports of Taiwan. This is something that Canadian or other teams never understand, although we all know it is inappropriate to throw bottles and cans into the field.
The dramatic turn-over squeezed hearts of all Taiwan baseball fans. People yelled out and prayed and collect “Qi”(supernatural power…if existed), hoping that the Chinese Taipei can reverse the inferiority at the end the game. At this point, a cat was also a good object to ask for favor:
比賽一路打到延長，我忍不住把ＣＴ貓（是的，是毛咪）抱出去，跟她交換條件：每打一隻安打，就給妳一條魷魚絲～毛咪在王子揮出安打時順利地吃到了，於是我繼續跟她交換條件：如果全壘打，我整包都餵妳！
The game extended to extra innings, and I couldn't stand any longer. I carried Chinese Taipei cat(yes, that is my Maomi's new name) out and negotiate with her:you can have a  strand of shredded squid for each hit. Maomi had her first strand while Prince(nickname of player Chang Tai-Shan) brought out a hit. Therefore, the negotiation continued: just one home run, you can have the whole pack!
Chyng's cat, Maomi.
但此時毛咪似乎被我因泰山安打的雀躍驚到，一直想落跑，正當我想去拿整包魷魚絲來安撫她而跳下椅子時，就，雙殺了。不誇張，我真的整隻趴倒在電視前然後被媽媽罵神經病，嗚嗚嗚～～
But Maomi seemed frightened by my joyful leap for Chang Tai-Shan's hit, and tried to runaway. At the very moment I decided to comfort her with the whole pack of shredded squid and jump down the chair…came a double play. No exaggeration: I really fell prone down on the floor in front of the TV set and then hence got scolded by my mom as nuts….(cry~~)
The words above are from dedicated journalist Chyng who covers social movement and environmental issues. The style in the quotes above are far different from her rigid news reports. She was not alone as a crazy fan. On the micro-blogging platform twitter, started by Benjamin who lives in New Zealand, the “Change your head to Chinese Taipei(Taiwan) Icon” had flooded the whole twitter page with red and blue. It looks spectacular when we were “all together”. Even though Chinese Taipei(Taiwan) lost the game for one point, they had won our hearts.
Just like Annpo put, the team that fought till the end lights the glory of Taiwan again, and unites Taiwanese.
奮戰進入了延長賽，依然不放棄，到了最後，雖然輸，也輸得漂亮。這是一個不畏強敵，穩穩地迎戰的比賽。每一局，都是經典的典範。很慶幸，我們都沒錯過這樣的一幕，在那一刻，一起哭，一起笑，一起祈禱，一起罵髒話，一起說：「中華隊加油！」我們是一起的，我們在同個島上，同個天空下，同個旗幟前，同個目標的起點，我們要一起說：「中華隊，加油！」
We fought to the extra-inning and didn't give up. Thought we lost at the end, we were still proud of it. It's a glorious loss. It's a game that we were not afraid of the enemy and fought bravely.
Every inning is an ideal. We fortunately didn't miss that moment at which we cried, laughed, prayed, damned, and said “GO! Taiwan Baseball Team!” together. We are united. We are on the same island, under the same sky, in front of the same flags, and at the same starting point for the same goal. We'd like to say, “Go! Chinese Taipei!” together.
Klairelee, who was working in Hong Kong on that day, also tied with people in Taiwan closely through web-casting. He said that we're so lucky to have Rock and Roll and Baseball.
Let me live, and make a brand new start！
這不也就是中華隊跟我們這些球迷的心情嗎？每次遇到人生的低潮時期，我總會很慶幸，還好我們有搖滾樂！
這次的《八搶三資格賽》來得正是時候，不管亞錦賽讓我們有多麼挫折，也不管這大環境讓太多人感到侷促不安，我們都該很慶幸地說：「還好我們有棒球！」，我們可以在這個時候放下彼此的成見，用共同的信念來替中華隊加油！這是多麼熱血的一件事啊！
Isn't that just heartfelt wishes of fans like us and Chinese Taipei? Every time I'm caught in low tide in my life, I'm always grateful that we still have Rock and Roll.
This tournament is just at the time. Whatever frustration Asia Baseball Championship brought to us, and however squirmed the environment made us feel, we should gratefully say, “We still Have baseball!” We could lay aside all the prejudices to cheer for Taiwan with common faith. How hot-blooded it is!
Yes, we still have Baseball.
Go Taiwan Baseball Team, Toward Beijing Olympic Games!

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Turkmenistan: Presidential Orders Neglected? · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Abdulgamid reports on the Turkmen president’s problems getting  Head of the Ministry for National Security (Secret Service) to carry out orders.


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Turkmenistan: The Meeting of Two Khans · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Maciula analyzes the reasons for and the outcomes of the Turkmen president's visit to the neighboring Uzbekistan, which was arranged with great ceremony although tangible results of the visit were very scarce.


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UAE: Egyptian English · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From the UAE, BuJassem  shares with us an Egyptian joke.


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Ukraine: A Hacker’s Party · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Orange Ukraine links to the Washington Post's Security Fix blog for its coverage of a new Ukrainian party founded by a hacker: the Internet Party of Ukraine.


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Ukraine: Minister of Transport’s Transportation · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainiana reports on the coverage of “the transportation habits of Yosyp Vinsky, a former member of the Socialist Party and current Minister of Transport.”


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Vietnam: Hamsters as Pets · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Vietnam bans hamsters as pets.


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Dubai: Media Freedoms and Human Rights · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Secret Dubai discusses Dubai's media freedoms and human rights.


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Education in Palestine · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah links to videos documenting education in Palestine.


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Geospatial Technology and Human Rights · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Varena at PingMag interviews Lars Bromley, director of the Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Project of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), who talks about how his group uses geospatial technology to digitally capture atrocities against civilians in Darfur, Zimbabwe, North Korea, the Gaza Strip and Burma.

author: Chris Salzberg


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Iran:Protest Travel Ban on Parvin Ardalan · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Human Rights First protest travel on Iranian women's rights activist Parvin Ardalan.


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Jordan: Accountable Blogging · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian Naseem Al Tarawnah talks about accountable blogging in Jordan and the Arab world.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Jordan: No to Mama’s Boy · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Tololy from Jordan writes an eye-opening post on how some men still let their mothers chose their brides for them.


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Korea: Part-time Lecturers and Suicide · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

A series of suicides of part-time college lecturers has been covered in Korean newspapers.
지난달 11일 서울대 불문과 강사 박모씨(43•여)가 학교에서 스스로 목숨을 끊었다. 2003년 노문과 백모 박사, 2006년 독문과의 권모 박사의 자살에 이어 서울대 인문대학에서만 세번째다. 학교 측은 “우울증으로 인한 자살”이라는 입장이지만 주변에서 전하는 원인은 달랐다.
한 시간강사는 “노문과 백 박사 자살 때도 학교 측은 우울증이라고만 하고 넘어갔다”며 “이들을 죽음으로 이끈 것은 단순 우울증이 아니라 시간강사들이 처한 열악한 현실”이라고 주장했다. 숨진 박씨는 오랫동안 대학 시간강사로 일하며 학업을 계속했으나 교수 임용까지는 갈 길이 멀었다. 서울대뿐 아니라 다른 학교에서도 강의를 했으나 강의료는 턱없이 적었고, 이런 상황에서 최근 병으로 수술까지 하는 등 악재가 겹쳤다. 박씨는 결국 설연휴 직후 학교에서 목을 매 숨진 채 발견됐다.
‘캠퍼스 비정규직’ 시간강사들의 자살이 잇따르고 있다. 지난달 27일에는 지방의 한 사립대학에서 시간강사를 하던 한모씨가 자신이 학위를 딴 미국에 가서 목숨을 끊는 사건까지 발생했다. 한씨는 유서에서 “보이지 않는 장애물을 넘으려고 발버둥치며 4년을 보냈다…경제적 뒷받침이 없는 상태에서 다년간 시간강사로 버티기는 불가능하다”고 시간강사의 부당한 처우와 설움을 고발했다.
우리나라 전체 대학 강의 중 시간강사들은 40%대. 그러나 강사들의 처우는 비정규직 중에서도 가장 열악하다. 다른 비정규직은 정규직 임금의 50~55%를 받지만 시간강사는 교수 임금의 3분의 1도 안된다.
시간강사들의 강의료는 국•공립대는 시간당 4만원, 사립대는 시간당 3만원 수준이다. 서울대 서양사학과에서 시간강사로 일하는 박모씨는 “지난해 2학기 주당 3시간 강의하고 월 42만원을 받았다”고 말했다.
고용 자체도 지극히 불안정하다. 사립대의 한 시간강사는 “신학기에 학교에서 전화가 오면 강의하는 거고 안 오면 계약 해지”라며 “그나마 조교가 전화해서 통보하는 식”이라고 불만을 터뜨렸다. 시간강사들의 모임인 비정규교수노조를 이끌고 있는 김동애씨(61•여)는 “강의료가 정해진 날짜에 안 나와서 경리과에 전화하면 ‘그거 몇 푼이나 된다고 귀찮게 하느냐’는 식”이라며 “이런 부당한 ”대우를 당해도 어디 하소연할 데가 없다”고 말했다.
현재 국회 교육위원회에는 대학강사 처우 개선을 골자로 하는 고등교육법 개정안이 계류 중이다. […]
A part-time lecturer said, “When those two lecturers killed themselves, the school laid the cause of death as depression and didn’t care. But what led them to suicide is not just simple depression, but the cruel reality that they face.” The lecturer who died this time had been working as a part-time lecturer for a while, but being a professor is a path that seemed to take forever. She worked as a lecturer at other schools, but the salary was low. In addition, she had another disaster as she went through a medical operation. She was found dangling by her neck at the school right after the Chinese New Year.
There are a series of suicides of part-time lecturers, ‘non-regular employees on campus.’ On the 27th of December last year, a lecturer at a college went back to the U.S. where he obtained his degree, and committed suicide there. In his will, he criticized unequal treatment toward lecturers and expressed sadness, “I spent 4 years in order to jump off an invisible barrier… Without any economic support, it’s impossible to remain as a part-time lecturer for several years.”
Part-time lecturers teach 40 percent of all college classes in Korea. But their treatment is the worst of irregular jobs. Other part-time job employees receive 50-55 percent of the salary of the same regular jobs, but part-time lecturers receive less than 1/3.
The lecture fee of the part-time lecturers at national and state universities is about 40,000 won (US 40 dollars) per hour. A lecturer who teaches western art at Seoul National University said, “last semester, I taught a three hour class and received 420,000 won (US 420 dollars) per month.”
Employment is extremely unstable. A part-time lecturer at a private college said, “In the new semester, if the school calls me, then I can teach. Otherwise my contract is done. A research assistant informs us by phone.” Kim Dong Ae (62) who leads a part-time lecturer labor union said, “if the salary doesn’t come on time and I call the administration, they answer why we bug them with such tiny money. We have to put up with this unequal treatment, but nowhere can we complain about it.”
At present, the Education Committee of the National Assembly is pending a revised bill to improve the treatment of part-time lecturers.[…]
Shadow shares his experience.
요새 어떤 시간강사께서 미국에가서 자살을 햇다고 한다. 참 안된일이다… 미국까지 가서 어렵게 박사 따왔는데, 교수되기는 힘들고해서…여차저차해서… Naive한 걸까? 정말 몰랐던 건가? 내 친척중엔 U of Michigan에서 박사하시고도 아직도 시간강사 하시는분 있다. (이냥반 15년도 넘은거 같은데) 나 KAIST박사다…
교수되는거 … 10번정도 츄라이하다 현재는 소강상태… 지원 안하고 있다. 실력으로는 교수가 될수없다! 가 맞는지 확인 해봣더니… 맞았다… 그래서 포기 물론 그동안 외국인 회사 다니면서 호구지책은 있었고… 배우 해리슨포드가 생각난다… 배우 오디션 보러다닐 당시 해리슨포드의 직업은 목수였다. 목수란 직업이 있었기에 그는 당당히 배우가 될수 있었다.
교수가 되기위해 시간강사를 한다는건… 필요조건도 충분조건도 될수 없다… 내 생각이다… 서울소재 모 사립대학 교수채용에서 Final에서 탈락한 경험이 있는 샤도우 씀
Was he naïve? Or didn’t he really know? One of my relatives got a Ph.D. at University of Michigan, but he still works as a part-time lecturer (for more than 15 years). Me? I’m a Ph.D. from KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology).
To be a professor…. I tried ten times.. but now I stopped… I’m not applying anymore. It’s impossible to be a professor with your capability. I tried whether it is true or not. It was true. So for a means of livelihood, I gave up and worked at a foreign company. I thought about the actor, Harrison Ford. While he tried auditions on and on, his job was a carpenter. Because he had a job as a carpenter, he could be an actor.
To be a part-time lecturer in order to be a professor… it’s neither a necessary condition nor a sufficient condition…it’s my thought.
Shadow who has failed to be a professor at a final process of a private college in Seoul.
Harsh criticisms against universities in Korea are not a few.
시간강사분이 또 자살을 했습니다. 안타까운 현실입니다.  이런생각을 해봤습니다.  과연 우린 언제부터 부정부패와 비리에 대해 저항을 하지 않고 그게 세상돌아가는 이치라는 것을 배울까요?   전 고등학교때가 시작이었습니다. 스승의날때 50대먹은 담임이 통장을 반장에게 던져주면서 알아서 넣어놓아~~ 라고 말했던 것이 기억나네요. 반장이 그 사실을 우리반 아이들에게 다 말했거든요. 그리고 대학을 갔구  대학이야 말로 비리와 부정의 온상이더군요. 후배녀석 하나는 나에게 살짝 말하더군요. 자긴 토목공하과 어떤 교수의 빽으로 들어왔다구요. 뭐 그런게 한둘이겠습니까.  대학이란 공간은 비리백화점이자 한국사회의 축소판입니다. 온갖비리들이 대학에서 터져나오고  몰상식한 일들이 많이 일어나는게  배움의 장인 대학에서 일어나다니 한숨만 나옵니다. 대학엔 시간강사들이 많습니다.  저 또한 시간강사에게 배운적이 많습니다. 여러분들은 어떠실지 모르겠지만 저는 시간강사들이 가르치는 강의가 훨씬 듣기도 편하고 학생들과 교감하면서 수업을 진행해 아주 좋더군요.  물론 수업의 질도 좋구요.  교수들이 가르치는 전공과목들은 졸음의 연속에다가  학생들이 자던말던 자기 수업을 묵묵히 하시더군요.
뭐 그래도 월급은 나오니 그냥 진행하는듯 하기도 하구요. 그런데 시간강사는 한 강의당 4만원남짓 받습니다. 그나마 한학교에서 강의를 하면 좋겠지만 그렇지 못한 강사들은  지방과 서울을 오가면서 강의를 합니다.  점심은 버스안에서 햄버거로 해결하기도 하더군요.  교통비빼고 해서 한달에 버는돈이 1백만원남짓된다고 하니  대우는 최악인것입니다.
그래도  대학생들을 가르치는 분이신데.  이들의 신분은 비정규직입니다. 4대보험이요? 그런게 있을수 있겠습니까.  언제 짤리지도 모르는 신세인데요.
오히려 시간강사들이 가르치는 과목이 더 많은 학과도 있습니다.  한마디로 부모들은 탱자탱자 놀고 유모들이 아이(대학생)를 키우는 모습이죠.  그런 박봉에 무슨 연구를 하며   강사들이 외국학술자료를 뒤적일수가 있을까요.  최소한의 생계유지를 시켜줘야 할텐데요. 이런 고급인재들이 이런식으로 생활비도 못벌어서 자살하는 풍경은 국가적인 손해입니다….
They might have not cared because they get salary anyway. But part-time lecturers get 40,000 won per a class. It would be good for those part-time lecturers to have lectures in one school, but they have to move around in Seoul or other countryside. They sometimes have a hamburger for a lunch in bus. Except transportation fee, the money they earn for a month is about 1 million won (USD 1,000 dollars). The treatment is the worst. They’re people who teach college students, but their status is equal to non-regular workers. Four basic insurances? Do you think they will have those? They even don’t know when they will be kicked out.  In some departments of colleges, part-time lecturers teach more classes than regular ones. It’s like parents are playing around and maids are teaching their children. With such tiny money, when can they research and when can they search for academic materials? We should let them be bread-earner at least. Such high qualified human resources can’t earn their living expenses and give up their lives. This is national damage.
But some netizens approach this news in other perspectives and it shows how academic jobs can be sometimes viewed.
대학 시간강사가 자살하는 일이 종종 있다.이번에도 한명이 목숨을 끊고 나니 이래저래 말이 많다. 그런데 대학 시간강사를 비정규직과 연관짓는 언론의 관행적 기사가 너무 재미없다. 시간강사가 비정규직의 설움을 받는 것이야 거짓이 아니겠으나 그래도 그들은 교수가 되기 위해 그 동네에 발을 들인 것 아닌가. 시간강사들은 충분히 정규직이 될 수 있는 학력을 가진 사람들이다. 성공을 위해 스스로 비정규직을 택한 자들이 자신들을 비정규직 문제에 얽어 이득을 취하려는 것에 반감이 든다. 이것은 마치 고시생을 백수로 분류하는 것 같다.
그들 나름대로의 고충을 무시하려는 것이 아니다. 그러나 시간강사를 할 수 있는 여건이 된다는 것 자체가 어마어마한 혜택이다. 누가 하고 싶은 일을 준비하며 시간강사 하는 것을 싫어하겠는가. 허나 보통은 먹고 살아야 해서 직장생활을 안 할 수가 없다. 시간강사가 겪는 고충은 전임교원이 되기 위한 기회비용이다. 그리고 기회비용도 명백한 비용이다. 좋은 자리에 가기 위해 스스로 겪는 고충을 스스로 비판한다는 건 옳지 않다고 본다. 대학 사회가 더럽고 어지럽다는 건 이미 다들 알고 있는 일 아닌가. 자신의 영달을 위해 모든 것을 알면서 스스로 발을 들인 길인데 그 비난을 사회로 돌리는 것은 옳지 않다.
대학과 교수 사회가 바람직하지 못해 바로잡아야 한다고 주장한다면 그 자체는 얼마든지 동의하고 편들어 줄 수 있다. 그러나 이것을 비정규직 문제와 연관지어 이득을 얻고자 한다면 나는 대놓고 욕을 해줄 수 밖에 없을 것 같다. 대학 시간 강사는 시급이 3~4만원이다. 3~4만원이면 어떤 동네에서는 정규직 노동자보다 많은 급여다. 강의를 많지 하지 못하니 급여가 적은 것이지 비정규직이라 어려운 것이 아니다. 그들은 자신들이 더럽다고 떠들어 대는 대학 사회의 교수가 되기 위해 스스로 비정규직 시간강사를 택한 사람 아닌가. 교수가 되면 다른 정규직보다 더 많은 돈을 벌게될 것이고 교수가 되지 못해 쪼들리고 산다면 그건 본인이 능력도 없으면서 허영에 가득차 진로를 잘못 정한 게다. 그러니 강의가 적어 월수입이 적다면 당연히 부업을 해야 하는 것 아닌가. 이건 너무 당연한거다. 왜 보습학원 정규직 강사가 3~4만원 받는 것은 괜찮고 대학 시간강사가 3~4만원 받는것은 비정규직 인권 논란이 일어야 하는가. 그럼 고시생이 낙시하고 폐인이 되는 것은 국가고시의 제도 미비인가? 인권 침해인가? 보상을 해줘야 하는가? 난 성공을 위한 위험은 본인 스스로가 책임져야 한다고 생각한다.
난 비정규직 문제를 폄하하려는 것이 아니다. 대학 시간강사와 비정규직 문제는 그 성격이 완전히 다르기 때문에 그런 문제는 언급하지 않았으면 좋겠다는 의미이다. 진짜 비정규직 문제는 자기도 비정규직이고 싶지 않은데 못 배우고 힘 없어 어쩔 수 없이 힘든 인생을 사는 사람을 위해 만들어진 논의이다. 자기가 잘 살겠다고 달려든 길인데 힘드니까 언론에 은근슬쩍 묻어 이득을 취하라고 만들어 낸 문제는 아니라고 본다…우리나라에는 정규직인데도 비정규직 시간강사보다 더 힘들게 사는 사람이 훨씬 많다. 세상엔 공부가 좋고 가르치는게 좋고 성공하고 싶지만 먹고 살려고 그냥 직장생활 하는 사람이 수백배나 더 많다.
시간강사의 처우가 잘못됐다는 것. 얼마든지 주장할 수 있고 개선을 촉구할 수도 있다. 그러나 비정규직 문제와 얽으려 하는 것은 진심으로 정말 과히 보기에 안좋다.
I’m not trying to disregard the hardship that they go through. But the condition that they can be part-time lecturers is itself a big benefit. Who will dislike to prepare what they would like to be and work as part-time lecturers? But ordinary people have to be concerned about their living expenses and therefore they can’t help but to have regular company lives. The difficulty that the part-time lecturers go through is the opportunity cost in order to be regular professors. The opportunity cost is also the cost. It’s not right to criticize their own difficulties in order to obtain better positions. Doesn’t everyone know that college society is messy? For their own sakes, those people chose that path. Therefore it’s not right to turn the criticism to society.
If they would like to correct academic society, I can support them. But if they would like to obtain benefits by categorizing themselves as regular part-time employees, I can’t help but to criticize them. Part-time lecturers earn 3-40,000 won (USD 30-40) per hour. It is much more than regular laborers. The reason why they have low salary is due to a few lectures, not due to part-time employment. They know the problems and corruption of college. Didn’t they choose to be part-time lecturers by themselves? If they become professors, they will get much more money than any other full-time jobs. If they can’t be professors and have hard time to make living, that’s their faults to choose the wrong path even though they’re not capable. It’s so obvious. Why is the fact that full-time job lecturers at private institutes receive 3-40,000 won (USD 30-40) normal? But why is the fact that part-time job lecturers at universities receive 3-40,000 won (USD 30-40) regarded against human rights? Is the fact that the people who prepare the High Civil Service Examination fail the exam and become losers due to the inadequacy of the system of the national examinations or the infringement of human rights? Do we have to compensate them? I think that the risk in order to succeed is the responsibility of that person who chose the path.
I’m not trying to look down on the problems of part-time employment. The problems of part-time lecturers at college and the general part-time employment are different issues. So I hope that they’re not mentioned together in that way. The problem of part-time employment means for people who don’t want to be part-time employment, but don’t have any choices because of the lack of learning and power. It’s not for people who decide to go through that path for their own sake and try to get some benefits using media power… There are so many full-time job employees who live tougher than part-time lecturers. There are so many people who like to study, like to learn, and like to succeed, but give up and have to be full-time job employees in companies.
Maltreatment of part-time lecturers! They can voice and ask for better treatment. But they shouldn’t really include their problems in general part-time job employment problems.

author: Hyejin Kim


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Kuwait: Copying the West in Everything  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Kuwaiti blogger Frankom (Ar) urges his readers to stop copying the West in everything – from reality television shows, to movies and even when speaking to friends.
أحببت أن أحصي عدد الاشياء التي نقوم بها نحن .. هل أقول الكويتيون أم الخليجيون أم العرب ؟ (عليكم الاختيار) التي نقوم بتقليدها أو أكتسابها من عادات أجنبية وأكتشفت انها كثيرة كثيرة كثيرة ، هل أبدأ من البرامج التلفزيونية المقلدة ؟ أم أبدأ بقصات الشعر الغربية ؟ أم ربما سأبدأ بالافلام المصرية (كونها هوليوود العرب) بانتاج افلام من قصص أجنبية ؟ لا أدري فأصبحنا كجهاز سكانر أو طابعة لاحياة لها
I wanted to count the things that we do .. do I say Kuwaitis, or Gulf nationals or Arabs? (You are free to select here) that we copy from the West and discovered that they are a lot. Do I start with the copied television shows? Or the weird haircuts? Or the Egyptian movies (since that is our version of Hollywood) which are copies of foreign movies? I don't know whether we have become a scanner or a lifeless photocopy machine.
Frankom admits to understanding English – but it isn't a language he is ready to blog in. He says:
أواجه صعوبة كبيرة في فهم وتعلم اللغة الانجليزية لهذا لا أستخدمها كثيرا في الكتابة أو نادرا جدا ما أستخدمها وان استخدمتها فهي منقولة من مصادر أخرى ، طلب مني أحد الاصدقاء أن أبدأ بالكتابة باللغة الانجليزية (مهمة مستحيلة!) ولكن هذا لا يمنع من أنني أفهم اللغة وأعرف مفرداتها وكلماتها واذا ماطلب مني أن أتحدث مع أحدهم سأتحدث .. عشت قصة طويلة جدا وغريبة حتى تعلمت ماتعلمته الان
هذا لايعني أنني سأهجر اللغة الام وهي العربية ولن أتخلى عنها في كتاباتي … أووه لماذا أكتب كل هذه الاسطر الفارغة ؟
I find it extremely difficult to understand and learn English and this is why I don't use it a lot in writing. In fact, I use it rarely or link from other sources. A friend asked me to blog in English but that will be mission impossible! This doesn't mean that I don't understand the language and its words and if asked to speak in English, I would. I have loved a weird and long story to learn what I know so far. But this doesn't mean that I will abandon my mother tongue, which is Arabic, in my writings. Why am I even writing those empty words?
Following this introduction, Frankom comes face to face with an incident outside a restaurant in Kuwait. He sets the scene as follows:
بعد تناول وجبة العشاء في أحد المطاعم الامريكية المطلة على شارع الخليج واذ بخروجي من المطعم أصادف ثلاثة أشخاص يجلسون على طاولة واحدة ويتحدثون بصوت أقرب الى العالي أحدهم (متين وعايش الدور انه يعرف انجليزي) كل ثلاث كلمات كويتية أو عربية يقول (****) وبعدين يعيد الكلمة لحوالي أكثر من أربع الى ست مرات متتالية … أحد الاشخاص الثلاثة يطلب من الحبيب اللي توه متعلم الكلمة ربما من أحد الافلام أو المسلسلات أو يمكن واحد ثاني قالها له أن يسكت ويقّصر حسّه
المهم في هذا الموضوع … يا أخي انته كويتي أو عربي ماينفع تقول (كلب – حيوان – تيس – بقرة – خرتيت – خنزير … الخ الخ ) ياخي لاتسب مو أحسن ؟؟ لازم تكون ماشي على الموضة وتقول كلمات أعتقد أنك ماتعرف اصلا شنو معنى تلك الكلمات ؟
أعيد وأقول … قمنا بتقليد الكثير الكثير من الاشياء والله يستر من القادم
After having dinner at one of the American restaurants overlooking the Gulf Road, I came across three people sitting on a table outside, talking to each other loudly. One of them was fat and living the role that he understands English. After every three Kuwaiti or Arabic words, he would say (F***) and then repeat the word about four to six times. One of the three people asked him (he who seems to have just picked up the word from a movie, television show or someone else) to lower his voice.
What concerns me here is that this Kuwaiti or Arab could have substituted the word with another derogatory word (like dog, animal, goat, cow, hippopotamus or pig) or he could have sworn in Arabic?? Did he really have to walk in the footsteps of fashion and use words I am sure he didn't understand their meanings.
I repeat and say, that we are copying a lot .. and may God have mercy on us from what is coming next.


text:
Lebanon: Arab Summit in Syria · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Jeha's Nail shares his sarcasm about Syria's invitation for Lebanon to attend the Arab Summit.

author: Moussa Bashir


text:
Lebanon: Khiam Prison · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Bech writes about the torture and daily activities of a Lebanese ex-prisoner who spent five years in the Israeli controlled Khiam prison during Israel's occupation of South Lebanon.


text:
Lebanon: March 14, Three Years Later · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“Just when you thought our political gasbags had run out of hot air, there’s more,” says JoseyWales about the “Very Important Document” expected to be announced by “the Cedar Revolution” on March 14.


text:
Palestine: “I’m Afraid of “Taaakh” and Shiver When I See it” · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

In a promotion for one of Al Jazeera’s documentaries about the Israeli occupation of Palestine, a young Palestinian girl describes her living. With her little words, she captures the hearts of almost everybody who watches this video… and still, her words say nothing of what I can feel whenever I see her on TV.
Palestinian blogger Shaltaf (Ar) transcribes her words in Arabic.

author: Eman AbdElRahman


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Russia: Football in Grozny · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Siberian Light writes about the return of “top-flight Russian football” to Chechnya's capital Grozny.


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Russia: Newspaper Piece on Russia Blogs · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog links to a piece on Russia blogging that appeared in a Moscow English-language paper.


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Russia, Serbia: Zlobin on Kosovo · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Scraps of Moscow discusses an article by a Russian analyst on Kosovo's independence.


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Serbia: Five Years Since Zoran Djindjic’s Death · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belgrade 2.0 writes about the fifth anniversary of Zoran Djindjic's death: “Unfortunatelly, a Serb with the greatest qualities has been assasinated by people who could not understand the modernity, and were too dumb for arguments.”


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Slovenia: Radovljica · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Adventures in Wheelville writes about things to enjoy in Radovljica, Slovenia.


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UAE: Are Israelis Brainwashed? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

BuJassem from the UAE asks: “Are the Israelis brainwashed?”


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Ukraine: More on the Ukrainian Investment Summit · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Moscow Rules blogs about the final day of the Ukrainian Investment Summit in London.


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Americas: Poll Numbers from the D.R. and Paraguay · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Bloggings by Boz has the latest presidential election poll numbers from the Dominican Republic and Paraguay.


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Blogger of the Week: Renata Avila Pinto · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A lawyer by profession, Renata Avila Pinto brings us the voices of bloggers from Guatemala on Global Voices Online.
As a lawyer, Renata specialises in Human Rights, International Criminal, International Private, and Copyright laws.  The Creative Commons Project Lead in Guatemala, she also completed research last year for the Open Net Initiative, covering some Latin American countries.
In this interview, the lawyer-cum-blogger opens her heart to us, speaking about her voyage with blogging, what issues matter to her the most, her likes and dislikes and her hopes for the future.
How long have you been blogging?
I have been blogging for almost three years. I started when I was studying in Italy, when a friend from Egypt told me on the first week that blogging was a great way to stay in touch with friends, family and to share my experiences with others. He helped me to fix my blog, and  he started a blog with all the details of our experience in a classroom full of people from different countries, while I was blogging about my daily life, my discoveries and
experiences in a city of Italy that is far from the guidebooks, or the stories about pizza, pasta and Romeos.
Also, one of my classmates, Ale, was a famous blogger, recognized by the street art movement in Milano, and blogs were one of the topics discussed when I took copyright, as part of my studies for my Masters in International Intellectual Property.
For me, my blog is a window…
It is a different experience when you write in a notebook, and it remains in your closet or hidden somewhere. You let a window open to your life and then you can have all kinds of visitors. A fly, fresh breeze, smoke, sunshine, rain, music. All the visitors to your blog leave a different atmosphere on the blogair. You just have to open a window. To start a blog. And there, inside, you can share with them your space, a space inside your deepest thoughts and concerns, your views, the unique part of knowledge, experiences and even mood swings that can only be viewed with your eyes.
Which language do you blog in?
Mostly Spanish, sometimes I post in English or share some things in French. Soon, will start blogging (or try to) simple phrases in each language of Guatemala.
How many languages do you speak?
Spanish, English, and some German and Italian. Shame on me that I cannot speak any native language, but I am trying to learn some Cakchiquel. For example, kí means sweet, Juyú´means mountain.
Can you tell about your educational background?
Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Intellectual Property, some studies in Digital Rights, antitrust law, Human Rights and International Private Law. Currently, I am  studying Internet Governance.
How long have you been a member of GVO and why?
For more than a year. Why I am a member? Is a difficult question, honestly, I think I was really lucky to be accepted as part of the GVO team. Perhaps it is because of my shared views with GVO purposes, being part of such amazing work of putting together the views of different cultures and sharing it, finding different answers to daily life questions, such as how do they look like, their real practices, their views of the world and other, and how they deal with conflicts and complicated situations. The others is a subject that obsessed me recently, discovering new worlds in my daily life, seeing the invisible people, the people here, in a small country of 12 million people, and everywhere. Diversity, the treasure inside each and every human being, the learning experience.
What are the main issues effecting your blogospheres?
Politics, economics, technology, sports, arts and literature but often bloggers are likely to blog what interests them the most: themselves. However, some smart blogers facilitate the dialogue. So, sometimes a blogger community is more active on the “conversation” than the creation of stories.
What is your most memorable blogging experience?
It was when I first saw my translated posts in different languages, thanks to the Lingua
Project. I was amazed! Chinese!!!!! Oriental characters with Guatemalan views!  Might add also that even the Vice Minister of foreign affairs commented on one of my posts. And also, I have a fresh memory, that I will like to share with the GV community: Recently a teacher, Guillermo,  working with indigenous children in one of the communities more damaged by the armed conflict, was under threat. Someone shot at his door – six bullets were found. I had to react and ask for support for him and his family.  And blogs were my best way to bring attention to the incident. I remembered that he has a blog for the school he directs, and also several members of the community are bloggers as well. So, even when the village is isolated, and he is not a famous leader, I was able to send the links featuring his podcast, the blog of his organization and many blogs of the communities and the massacres. It is more efficient to increase the awareness of people who work on it, to sympathize with a cause, to say something about it. To give people like him visibility.
Your likes?
Staring at the sky, smiling back to strangers, airports, postcards, girl talks, coffee, watch people from everywhere, read books, and travel as much as I can. Well, to read a book is like taking a trip. Discovering best kept secrets in the corners. Old pictures. Creative Commons. Literature and philosophy. Robert Capa. Metissage. Imagination.
Your dislikes?
Attitudes that harm others, lack of authenticity, lack of content. Wilful ignorance. Fake smiles. Fake tears. Yellow press. Attitudes in my country in dividing people by ethnicity, class, color, etc, instead of learning from the differences. Secrets.  My hair. And his girlfriend. To dance.
And your wishes?
Don't miss the moment. One of my favorite books is Momo, by Michael Ende. And Momo, the main character said that there are certain junctions, unique moments when everyone and everything combine to bring about something that could not have happened before and will never happen again. She said that you should take advantage of it, because if you do so, great things will happen in the world. I believe Momo. I am a believer that I will not miss the moment. I really hope so.


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Guatemala: What the State is Like · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

“The State of Guatemala has become an uncontrolable force, associated with violence, with impuntiy, and with abuse,” writes Renata Avila at Nothing is Permanent [es] as an answer to the question, “What does one think of when one says ‘State of Guatemala'?”


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Japan: Obama gets support from Japanese city · Global Voices
Hanako Tokita

(This is article is crossposted on Voices without Votes)
Excitement is growing in a sleepy fishing town on the coast of the Japan Sea. The city of Obama, whose name means “little beach” in Japanese, is receiving unusual attention for its coincidental resemblance to the name of a certain US presidential candidate.
Obama merchandise, from T-shirts to manju to chopsticks with Obama's face printed on them, is sold at local shops and posters are put up at every corner of the city. On Super Tuesday, a volunteer group that supports Obama organized a “public viewing” event, attended by about 300 residents wearing their Obama T-shirts and  headbands. Adding to the excitement,  the mayor of Obama received a letter from the Senator expressing appreciation for their support.
A blogger  [Ja] shares the city's excitement:
It is quite a surprise that a letter addressed to the city arrived from [Senator] Obama.
Even though it was for the support that came from a place that has no influence [on the election].
It shows Mr. Obama's greatness as a person.
I think it marks a huge difference [between him] and another person who is competing using her husband's achievements and name value.
On the other hand, many bloggers have expressed critical views and pointed out that the candidate's policy does not seem to matter to the Japanese Obama “campaign” and  it lacks political sensitivity.
stoyachi writes:
とはいえ、オバマ氏の政治手腕は未知数。日本に対してどのような政策を実行するのかもわかりませんね。
One of the users of a news BBS commented expressing their critical opinion:
この選挙に対する選挙権もないわけで、ただのお祭り騒ぎと傍観していてもよいかもしれません。
しかし、小浜市民の全員がオバマ氏を支持しているわけでもないだろうし、ましてや税金使って応援グッズを贈ったり、「市長」自らが「健闘を祈りたい」ということには、違和感を覚えます。
However, I don't think all the people of Obama City support Mr. Obama, and not only that, spending tax money on sending merchandise, and the mayor himself wishing [Obama] good luck — I think there's something wrong about this.
オバマ氏は、米国の将来を決める大統領になるため、自らの信念を掲げて立候補しているわけで。
米国民の生活がかかっているわけですよね。責任重大です。
なのに、日本のある行政機関が、そのオバマ氏の主張や主義を認めて応援するのではなく、単に「音」が一緒だから応援するというのは、ヘンじゃないでしょうか？
Although not entirely critical, this blogger  provides a cynical view:
ポリシーなど何もなく、節操がない様な気もするが、これはこれで良いのでは。オバマ氏が大統領になったとしても、小浜市を訪れることはないと思うけど、地方都市が(ヤケッパチ(?)でも)元気を出しているのは今どき悪いことではない。小浜市には小浜さんという名字の方もたくさん居るのだろう。一方、日本には「くりんとん市」は無い。「ヒラリーの涙」と名付けたワインが出回ることもないだろう。名前を聞いただけで「超辛口」で飲む気がしない。

author: Hanako Tokita