Global Voices Online

Today's Blogger of the Week may not be known by her blog, but she is widely known by her labour at Global Voices Online in French. Until recently, she has been the only translator for that Lingua site, which owes its existence much to Claire Ulrich's drive and desire to see the project on track. Juan Arellano catches up with Claire in this interview, who kindly shares with us her views on a number of issues.

How did you get involved with GVO?

I first got involved with citizen media through Ohmynews, the South Korean veteran citizen reporting website, where I covered French news (in English) as an experiment in global citizen reporting. As a professional journalist, I wanted to explore new forms of media. During the 2006 Ohmynews international conference in Seoul, I first heard about Global Voices from its co-founder, Ethan Zuckerman, who attended the conference. This led to a profile written for the weekend supplement of Le Monde (sorry, no website). While checking information, I met (via email) Alice Backer, who was in charge of the then new Lingua project. Global Voices in French was about to be launched and needed a volunteer to help out with translations. It was supposed to be temporary. I am still around.

How did you become interested in new forms of media?

I have advocated citizen media since 2004 as much needed new blood in the realm of news. After 20 years in traditional media, I felt tired and disillusioned by the elitism and short sightedness of news. The Web and citizen media was a wonderful and refreshing discovery.

Why Lingua, then, which is “only” translating posts ?

I write professionally, so I don't feel the urge to contribute as an author. Translation is a personal pleasure, since I pick up posts that I find interesting, or important for our local readers. Within the last couple of years, the issue of localizing websites has gained a lot of momentum in the industry (corporate, news) and the experience accumulated by Lingua sites is, according to me, extremely valuable. The multilingual web is just around the corner. In that light, the Lingua project is a fascinating experimenting ground, and a very sophisticated one. I am also amazed at the vitality of Lingua. GVO is probably the only news outlet in the world to boast a Macedonian and Albanian edition!

In all the time you have been collaborating with GVO, what is your most memorable experience?

My defining moment was the Burma (Myanmar) uprising, in both good and bad. Good because it was urgent and important to translate the trickle of citizen news in French as fast as they were published on the GVO main site. They were the only news coming out of this country. And bad because the risks and consequences on Burmese citizen reporters in the following repression were terrible. Can we congratulate ourselves on breaking news to audiences all over the world if citizens with no official accreditation and protection, and their family, suffer from it ?

How do you see the future of citizen reporters?

As a collaboration with “traditional” journalists when bridges between the two universes will finally be established. I believe in teams mixing professionals and bloggers.

You discussed your relationship with Lingua. How is the French site of GVO doing?

It maintains a presence for GVO in the vast Francophile web (Africa, Canada, Europe) but it's slow burning. There is, as always with localization, an image problem. GVO tends to be categorized as a human rights advocacy site by French audiences and not as a news site because it is extremely Anglo-Saxon in its “philosophical” positioning and feels “foreign” to a French eye. Above all, French readers have difficulties understanding the concept, sorting out who is the original post author, the GVO author role, who is translating what from which languages, for whom and why. Let's admit it ! It's difficult to grasp a work flow where a Palestinian blogger reviews blogs in Arabic about something happening in London or New York, writes about them in English, and then someone else pick ups his post to translate it in, say, Malagasy or Bangla. People can get dizzy!

What are you doing, in GVO French, to change this?

Bridging cultural gaps is an issue every website in the world has to face when facing local audiences. Right now, I listen/read to conversations between GVO authors, translators, Lingua sites in preparation for the Global Voice Summit in Budapest, next June. How GV-Lingua sites could evolve has to be a collective decision because it is important, and tricky.

Tell us a little bit about your experiences as a journalist apart from GVO?

I worked as a staff writer for French news weeklies for 10 years, then as a TV reporter for eight years (yes, I am old). I now work for off line and on line publications as a freelancer and I localize English websites for the French market. There is still a lot of defiance from French journalists towards bloggers. I try to be the go-between and introduce them to each others.

Are there many people doing what you do among the French media?

Very few… Newspapers now all have websites and Web 2.0 widgets but the mentality is still very far from the web 2.0 spirit.

There aren't many French journalists in the local French blogging community. What do the main French bloggers think about this?

French journalists now have blogs on their newspaper websites, as part of a general Web 2.0 effort. But they do not consider bloggers as colleagues or comrades. French bloggers, on the other side, spend quite a lot of time criticizing “regular” journalists. We are still in the midst of “What is journalism?” and “Is blogging a form of journalism?” debate.

What can you tell us about your personal experience as a blogger here?

For professional reasons, I do not blog about news or my personal opinions. I have opinions, but I feel that blogging about them under my name (I don't want to use a false name) would create a conflict of interest with my professional writting. I have fun blogs : a photo blog and a tech blog.

How do you prefer to spend your free time? Any hobbies?

The Web is my favorite sandbox. With my cat sitting beside the desktop screen.

So.. what are your favourite blogs?

I like nothing more than surfing and discovering by chance personal blogs about anything and everything, cattle raising or children litterature. I remember spending hours browsing Indian matrimonial websites that I stumbled upon by chance. It was absolutely fascinating, and a lesson in contemporary India.

Last but not least, tell us about your cat?

Her name is Pioum. White cat. Green eyes. Lovely soul. I've a met of lot of cat lovers in the GVO community (we exchange photos of our cats !). Which made me wonder why cats are the totem pets of bloggers around the world. Probably because bloggers spend a lot of time at their desktop. Only cats can stay silent, focused and beautiful for hours on end around a computer ! I discovered that Pioum loves YouTube. Select a few YouTube videos featuring lab mices, rabbits, birds, play them for your cat, and you'll see what I mean !

The Tunisian blogosphere was buzzing last week with responses to Nicholas Sarkozy's official visit.

Cos-maux-polis has several posts about the trip criticizing certain statements made by Sarkozy as racist:

Décidément les déclarations de Nicolas Sarkozy sur le sol africain ont de quoi interroger. Voici qu'à l'occasion de son voyage officiel en Tunisie, le Président de la République a laissé percevoir sa conception du partenariat Nord-Sud : « Vous avez une main d'œuvre qui ne demande qu'à être formée, nous avons beaucoup d'intelligence et beaucoup de formation (…) ».

Clearly the statements of Nicolas Sarkozy on African soil are worth questioning. On the occasion of his official visit to Tunisia, the President of the Republic revealed his concept of a North-South partnership: “You have a workforce who do waiting to be trained, we have a lot intelligence and a lot of training (…).”

She also reported statements from Bakchich :

lors du voyage officiel en Tunisie, Nicolas Sarkozy aurait déclaré en off : « à chaque fois que je viens (en Tunisie), il y a une grève de la faim. Chaque fois que je pars, la grève s'arrête. Je le constate, c'est tout ». Il aurait ajouté: « bien sûr qu'il n'y a pas de démocratie en Tunisie. Mais on n'y a pas les mêmes critères qu'en France ».

during the official visit to Tunisia, Nicolas Sarkozy declared, off the record: “whenever I come (in Tunisia), there is a hunger strike. Whenever I go, the strike ends. I'm just saying, that's what I see.” He reportedly added: “Of course there is no democracy in Tunisia. But the criteria here are not the same as in France “.

Tunisian blogger Zizou from Djerba writes about the fall of the Tunisian opposition, which coincided with Sarkozy's visit, and insisted on the need for change while Sarkozy demonstrated his pragmatism:

Comme tout le monde l'a constate, le president francais a choisi son camps et l'a montre clairement. Sarkozy a choisi de jouer la carte du gouvernement alors que la partie visible de l'opposition , gonflee a bloc apres les evenements de Redeyef l'attendait comme un messie. Une enieme greve de la faim a ete organise et les contacts ont ete pris bien a l'avance avec des journalistes qui connaissent deja le pitch….Les propos du president Francais avaient le merite d'etre clairs et sa position est tout a fait comprehensible et limite previsible.

As everyone has noted, the French president chose his camp and showed it clearly. Sarkozy has chosen to play the government's card while the visible part of the opposition bloc, which has swelled since the [food protests] in Redeyef, received him like a messiah. For the umpteenth time, a hunger strike was organized and journalists, who already know the drill, were contacted well in advance…. The remarks of the French president had the merit of being clear and his position is entirely understandable and unsurprisingly limited.

Global Voices Advocacy Director Sami Ben Gharbia writes with irony about this visit in a post titled “Sarkozy has voted Ben Ali” (”Sarkozy a voté Ben Ali”), even embedding a video of famous French muppets ‘”les guignols de l'info”:

He writes:

Au deuxième jour de sa deuxième visite d'Etat en Tunisie, Nicolas Sarkozy est resté fidèle à la diplomatie des contrats, que certains veulent qualifier de “Realpolitik”, et nous apporte la bonne nouvelle : “l'espace des libertés progresse en Tunisie”. Enfin ! Ben Ali a eu droit aux louanges de la part de quelqu'un qui ne veut pas s'ériger “en donneur de leçons” sur les droits de l'Homme.

On the second day of his second state visit to Tunisia, Nicolas Sarkozy has remained faithful to the diplomacy of contracts, which some people want to characterize as “realpolitik”; he brings us some good news: “the space for freedoms progresses in Tunisia”. Finally! Ben Ali has been entitled to praise from someone who does not want to “lecture” others on human rights.

In a recent opinion letter to one of Cambodia's newspapers, Chak Sopeap, 23, voices her concern over a commercial television advertisement, which she believes affect the nation's culture.

Sopheap praises the government for the improved press rights and freedom of expression, but wants Ministry of Culture as well as Ministry of Information to ensure that all commercial TV ads should be properly monitored before going on air.

It's not the first time for the young human rights activist expressing her opinion through Op-Ed. But it was until last year when she joined Cambodia blogger community that all her letters (one of which is about Khmer Rouge tribunal), published in English-language daily newspaper The Cambodia Daily, can also be found on her personal Weblog.

In the controversial ads, it appears that several Cambodian sexy women in attractive clothes embracing promotional motorbike Suzuki Viva 2009.

I noticed a recent advertisement for Susuki Viva 2009 is problematic. This advertisement appears to target on sexy girls rather than on the Motor; its content is not consistent and affect the Khmer Culture and disvalue the woman.

Offending or not, Thomas Wanhoff, a German national commented on Sopheap's expressed opinion that:

If Cambodia wants to be part of the global markets, its has to accept one of the oldest rules in advertising: sex sells. But not only that: The whole pop culture in Cambodia is just a copy of what we now from Thailand. Where is the real culture? Look how especially girls are dressed up. Why are a lot of karaoke bars, casinos, night bars, named it. The reality is far from what you decribed not consistent.

This debatable point also appeared in a Cambodia related discussion board, and that a long-time American resident wrote an email saying that

I might suggest you try to get a picture of the offending ad - it doesn't have to be the worst part, or a good picture but it will support your argument. (I wonder if it is on YouTube?) Also, what station is running it?

Not surprisingly, Cambodia has introduced a number regulations and bans in attempt to improve social order as well as morality. Early this year, a song titled “I’m asking for one part of your heart” was requested not to be replayed on TV by the country's First Lady.

In 2006, fear of widespread of pornography among cellphone users, Cambodia blocked some features of sending digital video on 3G network service.

A year later, based on a request from National Election Committee, mobile phone text messaging was blocked during a weekend of 2007 local elections to avoid political unrest. ‘Details are Sketchy,' a blog about all things Cambodia, has a response to the news article:

For starters, Khmer fonts for the average telephone are virtually unheard of. But, really, that’s besides the point. The fact is, an overwhelming majority of the Cambodian population is illiterate. And poor. So in practice such a ban would only effect registered voters who also own a telephone and can read English. That’s a pretty small group. Significantly less than 1% of the population. It is, however, exactly the kind of people that vote for Sam Rainsy. Still, it hardly seems worth the effort.

A week has passed since Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar. The situation on the ground continues to deteriorate: food rationing is inadequate, medical supplies are running out and hundreds of thousands are still without shelter.

Burma Cyclone provides general updates of the situation in Myanmar. Bangkok Parlour fears there will be more casualties due to cholera and other diseases:

“The prognosis is bad. 65,000 dead, possibly in excess of 100,000. More than 1 million homeless, battling to stave off hunger and disease whilst living amidst debris and bloated bodies. Cholera may yet kill more than the cyclone.”

Bangkok Dazed received another email from a friend in Yangon:

“I’m fine but so many others, so many, are homeless or dead or without shelter. I really did not take much notice of the cyclone warnings from the state media although they did say it would be serious. Now I am careful of batteries in my laptop, but thank god I can send emails. I hope this gets to you. I have no power but everything is alright. Writing this by torch and candlelight. It was a very scary 13 hours from before midnight of the 2nd to afternoon of next day. Had a slight accident with my car, front grill/lights ripped out. I am unhurt but rattled. So many trees are down … Yangon looks wounded.”

Fear from Freedom feels sad after reading a Burmese blog:

“These are the educated youth of Myanmar with no hope for their future inside the country. He said that he did not want to live in this country when he is 30 in 2010. He wrote about the cyclone in his blog and today he and his friends are trying their best to help the victims.

“According to his news, the cyclone victims are desperate, hungry and grab whatever they can from any office or donors. Cholera is spreading, no clean water, no security, transport is bad, everything in chaos.

“Is there anyone that can calm the situation and promise help to these victims?”

Myat Thura gets an update from his family:

“After the cyclone, the prices of commodities rose to 50% of that before the cyclone; but now they have stabilized to around 20% above the pre-cyclone level. Petrol price is now 5,000 kyats a gallon (around 4 US dollars).

“Most of the main roads have been cleared of the debris and fallen trees. Electricity is coming back in a few areas but most places are still without electricity. Municipal water is coming back.”

The Junta has partially allowed the entry of some foreign aid teams. Perhaps international pressure has worked. Golden Colour Revolution posts a letter which is a sample of the sentiments expressed by Burmese living overseas:

“We, Burmese medical professionals and Burmese civic organizations all over the world have been following the news of cyclone Nargis victims with deep sympathy and concerns. Cyclone victims have been without effective help for 6 days now and we are very much concerned about unnecessary human suffering and deaths. The situation is extremely dire with many people barely surviving.”

Rule of Lords gathers stories on relief operations. He notes that

“doctors are using their own money to buy medicines and townspeople are organizing to feed the refugees and victims of the storm being treated at the hospital.”

Even local relief groups are prevented from giving aid to victims:

“Private citizens and domestic social welfare groups within Burma trying to give assistance have encountered problems with authorities. According to VOA, residents have complained of harassment and questioning when they have taken whatever supplies of food, clothing and other items to badly affected persons.”

Residents are now complaining of the little assistance they are receiving form local councils:

“Yoma 3 says that people in Rangoon are getting angrier about their predicament and the small amounts of assistance given by local councils. According to one resident of ward no. 8 in Shwepyithar,

“We heard that they would distribute food and went to find that it was only one pyi (about a quarter litre) of rice grain and one hseithar (about 160gm) of potato per household, and even then it just went to the people close to the USDA and Women’s Affairs, which led them to argue with the other people.”

“In some other areas victims of the cyclone have been getting pathetic amounts of assistance and they have been forced to boil the rice grain as a thin soup because there is not enough of it to cook as normal.”

Burma Partnership gives an update:

“Malaria and cholera cases and death in delta around worse-hit areas of Laputta, Bogalay and Pyapon Townships and around 600 villages are still under water. The current situation is quite overwhelmed and many heartbreaking stories emerge as some local residents and aid workers are able to reach to areas like Laputta, Bogalay, Pyapon, and Hinegyi Island. On Thursday (8/5/08), the regime turned back one relief flight with the reason that it carried search and rescue team plus media without permission.”

Moe Gyo provides a narrative of how volunteers are distributing aid inside Myanmar:

10 May 2008 (Saturday)

07:55 hr - Left Yangon (through Hlaing Thar Yar)
08:45 hr - Reached Ayeyarwaddy Division
10:20 hr - Passed through MaUBin (from junction to MaUBin - bad road condition) - fair destruction along the road
10:40 hr - Passed through KyaitLatt (MuB - KyL: fair road condition) - severe (buildings/trees) destruction along the road and in KyaitLatt town
11:30 hr - Reached Phyar Bon (KyL - PhB: fair road and poor bridge condition) - severe destruction in Phyar Bon (some relief camps there - don't know the number)

12:30 hr - Arrived Bogalay Township - Flat tire, helped by locals, who shared their experience: received warning in the morning at around 7 on ward by speakers (they know only for the Bogalay town, but not sure about the villages around/across the river, near sea), no evacuation plan, many people didn't pay much attention as they didn't expect much danger based on the past Tsunami experience in Delta (little damage), they started noticing of heavy winds around 6 p.m. and became stronger, the sky were totally red, wind blew from different direction, then many people in town took shelter in neighbors' houses (with brick-wall/strong roofs), debris everywhere, one person said it could have been worse (more casualties) in town if happened during the day time as many people were on the road (20 deaths in Bogalay town - figure not confirmed), water went up to about 3 feet in town and reached up to 20 feet in surrounding villages, where thousands died. Those who helped us said that they will never forget the experience and they lost their houses (saw in person), but they seemed to have high-spirit waiting for help to rebuild their houses (now they got help from their neighbors for shelter and rice from relief camps). But, under the condition, they shouldn't wait any minutes. Distributed a few bags of milo, ovaltine, some food etc. to them and gave a tent-sheet (bought from BKK) to an elderly who still lived under a house with no roof (experienced some rain). The conditions in surrounded areas of Bogalay are very bad as the authority had to issue Martial Law in some areas (some looting and killing for food). Those who survived (7-8 only in some villages) left their villages.

14:00 hr - Went to the river bank (similar to Tsumani affected area to some extent - based on what we saw in Phuket area). Talked to some locals: situation is still very chaotic, they saw 4-5 bodies in the river, we saw one, nobody seemed to care about that even we saw some people around and they were trying to save an engine from the river). Saw some victim family/refugees in a monastery, but couldn't talk to them due to time constraint. One thing that surprised me was that we didn't hear anyone crying for help or asking desperately for food/shelter. I'm sure that will be a very different story in severely affected areas that can be reached by boats. Some aid workers and volunteers have already arranged with some boats to reach there to deliver supplies.
15:00 hr - Left Bogalay (after fixing the spare-tire. Note: everyone must take a spare-tire as the roads were full of debris in some areas)
16:45 hr - Passed through Kawt Mhuu (fair road, bad destruction along the road) - heavy rain

Conclusion, based on this experience, it's very feasible to reach to the affected areas in Delta very quickly. Road conditions in some areas are bad, but manageable: with normal speed (40-50 km/h), even Bogalay can be reached within 4-5 hours. Since some bridges are not strong enough, heavy supplies (such as rice) wouldn't be practical. There were some normal checkpoints (asked questions: where to go? driver's name?) One must avoid any argument with the authorities at the checkpoints as it might just delay achieving your main objectives.

Golden Colour Revolution shares the complaint of a relief group operating in Myanmar:

“You have seen and heard about the situation in here. Yesterday, we distributed the food and shelter to the cyclone affected area within our project area. It's totally 800 household and as our project is the food security project we need to support them in this situation.

“But today we received the letter from the authorities to stop that without the permission. Now, all the NGOs are trying to support and go to the effected area, and but we cannot go immediately as gov don't want to permit it. They ask us to give support through them.

“So you can think and imagine of the people in delta region. U know, this is not the politic, it's really humanity matter. We are now sitting many meetings in the office all the time and busy with storing the materials.

“All the Burmese people outside of Myanmar should do something for that. Pls pray for all the refugees. “

Ur's sister.

KyiMayKaung ponders on the recent tragedy:

“Nargis is a beautiful word and means “narcissus” in Urdu. It was also the name of a famous Bollywood actress who was achingly beautiful, with a pale oval face, black arched eyebrows and plump arms. In one of the novels of Salman Rushdie, the woman who cooks, but cooks with rancor, turns out nargissi kofta, or deep fried meat balls encasing hard boiled eggs, otherwise known as Scotch eggs.

“Something so beautifully named has caused a lot of death and destruction. We are only now starting to hear excruciating survivor stories.”

Related articles: The perfect storm, Unprecedented cyclone disaster, Slow relief work

The post below is a full translation of Ricardo Jordão Magalhaes' live updates from PangeaDay in his BIZREVOLUTION blog. Despite having to look after his 5 month old soon, the Brazilian blogger managed to capture the emotion and poignancy of the event in a very comprehensive wrap up.

Pangea day was broadcast this Saturday, May 10 2008, and the world watched together a selection of films intercalated with live broadcast in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro. The full program is now available.

Lindo! Lindo! Lindo! Vou tentar escrever o que puder por aqui enquanto assisto. Não é mole com o Alexandre de 5 meses no colo querendo brincar. Vamos lá.

O evento começou com um discurso show de bola de uma líder de projetos da NASA onde ela mostrou pela primeira vez uma foto da Terra visto de Saturno no momento de um eclipse total do Sol.

Sábado: 15:15 hs, Na foto nós podemos ver a Terra flutuando em um raio de Sol. Linda!

Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful! I will try to write whatever I can here while I watch [PangeaDay]. It is not easy considering that 5 month old Alexandre is in my lap and wants to play. Let's go.
It started with a spectacular speech from one of a NASA project manager who for the first time showed a picture of the Earth viewed from Saturn at the time of a total eclipse of the sun.
Saturday: 15:15 (Brazilian time), in the picture we can see the Earth floating in a light ray. Pretty!

Em seguida rolou um filme rápido narrado pelo fantástico texto de Carl Sagan.

Next there was a quick film, a narration of a fantastic piece of writing by Carl Sagan.

“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every 'superstar,' every 'supreme leader,' every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.” Carl Sagan

Depois de Carl Sagan, rolou um filme sobre a criatividade das crianças de Mocambique em criar uma bola de futebol a partir de uma camisinha. LINDO!!!

After Carl Sagan, there was a film about the Mozambican children creativity to turn a condom in a football. Beautiful!

Sábado, 15:25 h, depois rolou um filme sobre aquela vontade que todos nós temos de falar com uma pessoa que não conhecemos mas encontramos no meio da rua. SHOWW (Espero que todos os filmes estejam disponíveis no site depois do evento).

Saturday 15:25, after that there was a film about the desire that we all have to talk to someone we don't know but we met in the middle of the street. Fantastic! (I hope all films will be available on the website later)

Sábado, 15:36 h, fantástico filme sobre o que é ESPERANÇA para dezenas de sociedades do terceiro mundo no planeta.

Sábado, 15:42, o antropólogo Donald Brown mostra que não importa onde tenhamos nascido ou quem sejam os nossos pais, todos os seres humanos são iguais, tem os mesmos atributos, sensações e tudo mais. Pangea, para quem não sabe é o nome do continente original do planeta, antes que tudo se separasse.

Saturday 15:36 - A fantastic filme about what HOPE is for dozens of societies in the underdeveloped parts of the planet.
Saturday 15:42 - Anthropologist Donald Brown shows that it doesn't matter were we were born or who our parents where, all human beings are equal, have the same characteristics, feelings and everything else. Pangea, for those who don't know, is the name of the planet's original continent, before it got separated apart.

Sábado, 15:48, um curta francês, meio comédia, meio triste, super real sobre o mundo cruel que vivemos onde as pessoas zoam com a cara das outras mesmo sobre os assuntos mais profundos, como o amor. SHOW! Um cara entra no mêtro e começa a dizer que está procurando por uma esposa ou namorada. Ele parece super sincero, super real, super profundo, mas…

Saturday 15:48 - A French short film, a bit of a comedy, a little sad, very real about the cruel world we live, where people take the piss out of each other about serious issues, like love. A good show! This guys comes into the tube and starts to say he is looking for a wife or a girlfriend. He looks very honest, very deep, but…

“A subway in Lyon: “Ladies and Gentlemen, ever so sorry to bother you. Don’t worry, I’m not here to beg for money. Let me introduce myself. My name’s Antoine. I’m 29. I recently read in a magazine that there are about 5 million single women in France. Where are they? I’m looking for a lady aged between 18 and 55 who‘s also had trouble meeting someone in a conventional way and who wouldn’t mind giving a honest relationship with someone a shot…”

Sábado, 15:35 h, o evento é rápido, o Alexandre chora, a Bibi chegou de volta de festinha para as mamães na escola, agora a coisa vai complicar para acompanhar. O filme que está passando é sobre relacionamento conjugal, um depoimento sincero sobre o que é o casamento para um casal marroquino.

Saturday, 15:35, the event is fast, Alexandre cries, Bibi comes back from the mothers' party in the school, now it will be complicated to keep track. The film which is going on now is about marital relationship, a sincere testimony about what marriage is like for a Moroccan couple.

Sábado, 15:56, já mudou o filme, agora sobre refugiados em Serra Leone, “Vivendo como refugiados”, um regaee muito legal cantado pelos refugiados. O filme mostra um refugiado, o seu braço foi amputado pelos rebeldes em alguma forma de tortura. O mundo tem hoje 50 milhões de refugiados no mundo. Além dos tradicionais refugiados de guerras, hoje existem os refugiados do clima, especialmente na Ásia.

Saturday, 15:56, the film has now changed, it is about refugees in Sierra Leone, “Living as refugees,” a very cool reggae sung by refugees. The film shows a refugee whose arm was amputee by rebels in some form of torture. There are 50 million refugees in the world. Besides the traditional refugees from wars, nowadays there are environmental refugees, especially in Asia.

Sábado, 16:02, durante as quatro horas do evento vão rolar 24 filmes escolhidos entre 2.500 filmes.

Por que Pangea é importante para mim ou BIZREVOLUTION?

TODO MUNDO quer ser feliz. TODO MUNDO quer ter um trabalho digno. TODO MUNDO quer LIBERDADE para escolher que tipo de vida quer viver. TODO MUNDO que está assistindo ou fzendo esse dia QUER UMA VIDA igual a minha ou a sua.

O crescimento do mundo está ligado ao crescimento de todos nós.

TODO movimento que procura AUMENTAR A RIQUEZA DO PLANETA é um movimento BIZREVOLUTION.

Sábado, 16:05, filme “A Rainha do Baile”, filme de 2 minutos feitos com a câmera de um celular. SImples, delicado, não vou contar o final, ASSISTA.

Saturday, 16:02 -During the four hour event there will be 24 films selected from among 2,500 movies.
Why is Pangea important for me or for BIZREVOLUTION?
Every one in WORLD wants to be happy. ALL WORLD want decent work. ALL WORLD want FREEDOM to choose what kind of life they want to live. EVERYBODY who is watching this day or making it possible wants A LIFE like mine or yours.
The world growth is linked to our own growth.
ALL movements that seek ENHANCEMENT of the PLANET's WEALTH is a BIZREVOLUTION movement.
Saturday, 16:05, “Dancing Queen”, a 2 minute movie made with a camera phone. Simple, delicate, I will not tell you the end, WATCH it.

Sábado, 16:08, filme curto mostra o depoimento as pesosas sobre os seus sonhos. Todos, da Tanzânia a Europa, todos querem coisas simples, que eu tenho, você tem.

Agora o filme é “More”, uma animação daqueles com massinhas, SHOW!! GET HAPPY!!! Trilha sonora do New Order, nada melhor. Animação sobre um operário que vive uma vida massacrante, e derrepente descobre que dentro dele existe luz e um mundo novo colorido e bonito. LINDO! SUPER CABEÇA!!! O cara consegue sair da mesmice, cria algo novo, mas no final, volta a ser pior do que era, MARAVILHOSO!!! ASSISTA ASSISTA ASSISTA!!! O MAIS LEGAL E REVOLUTION ATÉ AGORA!!!

Saturday, 16:08, a short film shows people telling us about their dreams. Everyone, from Tanzania to Europe, people want simple things, things that I have, and you have.
The film now is called “More”, a VERY COOL stop-motion animation! GET HAPPY! The soundtrack is by New Order, it couldn't be better. It is an animation about a worker who lives a terrible life, and suddenly discovers that within himself there is light and color and a beautiful new world. BEAUTIFUL! THOUGHTFUL! The guy manages to go away from the usual stuff and makes something new, but in the end, it goes back to be worse than what it was, wonderful! WATCH it! The most cooler and revolutionary up to now!

MORE NA CABEÇA!!!

Sábado, 16:14, Estamos em Cuba, Havana, na Cuba dos malucos, CUBA LIBRE SE FAZ COM COCA-COLA!!! (recebi trocentos emails de esquerdistas descontentes com o meu texto).

O filme mostra um cubano que foi viver nos EUA para ganhar dinheiro e volta para Havana. O cara volta bem apessoado, a famiília continua pobre, vivendo em um apartamento caindo aos pedaços.

A famiília se reune para comemorar a volta do filho. Na mesa do jantar o irmão cubano que ficou começa um debate sobre capitalismo versus comunismo. A típica conversa de pobre de esquerda despeitado com o sucesso de quem trabalha INDIVIDUALMENTE. Dureza, show de filme, tudo a ver, ilustra perfeitamente o debate sobre SER DONO DO SEU PRÓPRIO NARIZ ou depender do governos corruptos e estruturas arcaicas para viver.

Saturday, 16:14 - We are in Havana, in crazy Cuba, CUBA LIBRE IS MADE WITH COCA-COLA! (I got thousand of emails from leftists unhappy with my text).
The film shows a Cuban guy who was living in the U.S. to earn money and go back to Havana. The guy comes quite handsome, his family is still poor, living in a falling to pieces flat.
The family gathers together to celebrate its kid's return. At the dinner table, the Cuban brother who stayed began a debate on capitalism versus communism. The typical left wing conversation from a poor, jealous guy envying the success of those working individually. This was hard, a wonderful film, spot on, which perfectly illustrates the debate on doing something on your own account or depending on corrupt governments and archaic structures to live.

A verdade é CHEGA DE RELIGIÃO, CHEGA DE IDEOLOGIA, CHEGA DE TEORIA, CHEGA DE PAÍSES, viva o INDIVÍDUO, NINGUÉM DEVE VIVER O SONHO DE OUTRAS PESSOAS, NINGUÉM DEVE SE SUJEITAR AS MALUQUICES DE ALGUÉM QUE VIVEM UMA TORRE DE MÁRMORE!

Sábado, 16:22, filme americano mostra uma partida de vôlei de praia usando o muro que separa os EUA e o México como rede. SHOW!!

The truth is, it is enough of religion, of ideology, theory, countries. Long life to the individual, nobody should live other people's dreams, nobody should be subjected to the madness of those who live in a marble tower!
Saturday, 16:22, an American film shows a volleyball match using the wall that separates the U.S. and Mexico as the net. SHOW!

Sábado, 16:24, agora é a vez do Brasil, Gilberto Gil ao vivo direto do Rio de Janeiro. Gil canta em FRANCÊS!!! É isso aí!!! FORA COM TODO TIPO DE BAIRRISMO!!! VIVA O PLANETA FORA OS BAIRROS!!! (Com certeza algum bairrista ignorante deve ter achado o Gil esnobe por saber cantar em francês. ERA POBREZA CEREBRAL!)

Saturday, 16:24, it is now Brazil's turn, Gilberto Gil is live directly from Rio de Janeiro. Gil sings in French! That's it! Out with any kind of localism! Cheers to all of the planet's neighborhood! (Certainly some ignorant must have found that Gil was snobbish for singing in French. Cerebral poverty era!)

Sábado, 16:30, primeiro filme da Ámerica do Sul, do Paraguai, uma animação. É a história de Fred, que mostra a nós que é possível mudar o mundo como nós quisermos. LINDO!!! (Eu sei que eu tô falando várias vezes as palavras lindos e maravilhosos mas é isso mesmo).

Saturday, 16:30, the first South American film, an animation from Paraguay. It is the story of Fred, that shows us that it is possible to change the world if we want to. Beautiful! (I know what I'm overusing the words beautiful and wonderful but that is it).

Sábado, 16:33, um curta mostra pessoas do mundo inteiro falando sobre “chorar”. Entra agora um filme sobre um Líbano que não existe mais. A mensagem é linda, mostra filmes caseiros de pessoas que desapareceram, e afirma “Se você tivesse conhecido essas pessoas, vocês nunca teriam tido coragem de nos atacar”. QUEBRA TUDO!

Saturday, 16:33, a short film shows people around the world talking about “crying”. There is now a film about a Lebanon that no longer exists. The message is beautiful, it shows home movies of people who have disappeared, and says “If you had known these people, you would never have had the courage to attack us.” Heartbreaking!

PangeaDay é sobre INSPIRAÇÃO! Nessa primeira hora e meia o meu reservatório de TESÃO TRIPLICOU.

Sábado, 16:41, Christiane Amanpour entrevista dois ex-soldados libaneses que contam como eles mudaram a maneira de encarar os inimigos. Eles estão falando sobre a jornada do ódio fundamentalista contra o inimigo até a sua redenção e pedido de perdão para as famílias daqueles que eles mataram durante a guerra.

Sába, 16:43, filme inglês, “Música no Elevador”, mostra que os verdadeiros líderes são aqueles que sabem usar com humanidade o poder que tem. SIMPLESMENTE FANTÁSTICO!!! IMPERDÍVEL!!! SHOW!!!

PangeaDay is about inspiration! In this first and half hours my excitement has tripled.
Saturday, 16:41, Christiane Amanpour interviews two ex-Lebanese soldiers who tell us how they changed the way they face the enemies. They are talking about the fundamentalist hatred journey against the enemy until redemption and they beg forgiveness to the families of those they killed during the war.
Saturday, 16:43, an English film, “Elevator Music” shows that true leaders are those who know how to use humanely the power they have. Simply fantastic! Unmissable! Spetacular!

Sábado, 16:47, os filmes que estão rolando no Pangea são uma espécie de comerciais de televisão, mas, o legal é que no final não aparecem pastas de dente, latas de cerveja ou carros a gasolina. Os filmes terminam com sorrisos, abraços, e uma super ultra mensagem de otimismo.

Saturday, 16:47, the films that are being broadcast in Pangea are a kind of TV adds, but the cool thing is that in the end there isn't a tooth paste, cans of beer or petrol cars. The films end with smiles, hugs, and a super ultra message of optimism.

Sábado, 16:49, psicólogo Robert Kurzban explica que hoje nós sabemos que o ser humano pode mudar, todo ser humano pode mudar, e que somos os grandes responsáveis pelas decisões que tomamos.

Um pequeno aperitivo para o próximo filme.

Saturday, 16:49, psychologist Robert Kurzban explains that today we know that human beings can change, every human being can change, and that we are the major responsible for the decisions we take.
A small appetizer for the next film.

O filme agora é alemão, “Telephone Game”, SIMPLESMENTE SHOW, e mostra durante uma brincadeira de criança que uma pessoa PODE, SE QUISER, mudar tudo. Realmente muito lindo, fantástica idéia.

The film now is German, “Telephone Game”, simply cool, and shows in a children play that a person can, if they want, change everything. Really very beautiful, a fantastic idea.

Agora o filme é sobre a guerra do iraque. Simplesmente o mais triste de todos os filmes até a gora. Um acidente no Iraque, morte de um cidadão, ódio que vai crescer, história que vai se espalhar boca-a-boca, sobre o mundo ocidental, no Iraque. Dureza…

The film now is about the war in Iraq. Simply, the saddest of all the films up to now. An accident in Iraq, the death of a citizen, a growing hatred, a word-of-mouth spread story about the western world, in Iraq. Hard.

Para fechar o assunto das diferenças entre americanos e iranianos, entra a Hypernova, uma banda de rock do IRÃ!!!! Antes que algum cabecinha chame os caras de “colonizados” ou qualquer classificação estúpida que cria bairros, os caras da Hypernova SIMPLESMENTE gostam de rock, e não interessa se nasceram no Irã, eles tocam ROCK, falam INGLÊS, vestem JEANS. Eles são cidadãos do mundo e não habiantes de um lugar chamado Irã.

Somente nos mapas políticos existem as divisões entre os países. As divisões não existem na natureza.

To finish off the subject of differences between Americans and Iranians, there is Hypernova, an Iranian rock band! Before some clever one call the guys “colonized” or any stupid classification that creates localism, the Hypernova guys simply like rock, and no matter whether they were born in Iran, they play rock, speak English, wear jeans. They are citizens of the world and not habitants a place called Iran.
Only in the political maps there are the divisions between the countries. The divisions do not exist naturally.

Sábado, 17:00 hs, final da segunda parte do PangeaDay, estamos na metade do evento. Avaliação até o momento, de 1 a 10 = 10!!!!

Imagino que os melhor ainda está por vir… emoções a flor da pele.

REVOLUTIONS IN THE AIR!!

Saturday, 17:00, it is the end of Pangea Day second part, we are in the middle of the event. Evaluation so far, ranging from 1 to 10 = 10!
I imagine that the best is still to come … emotions are under the skin.
Revolution is in the air!

Sábado, 17:05, o filme agora é iraniano…. Muito bom!!! Se você não conversar diretamente com uma pessoa, você nunca saberá o que ela sabe de verdade. PENSAR NÃO ADIANTE, FALE!

Saturday, 17:05, the film now is Iranian …. Very good! If you do not talk directly to someone, you will never know what she trully knows. Thinking doesn't help, talk!

Sábado, 17:10, Jonathan Harris mostra We Feel Fine, UM WEB SITE FANTÁSTICO sobre as emoções humanas. SIMPLESMENTE FANTÁSTICO!!! O site reune os pensamentos emocionais de 20 milhões de blogs, coletados segundo a segundo, de todo o planeta. LINDO, uma super exposição do que é o ser humano. Visite agora, WeFeelFine, a interface do web site é super inovadora, LINDO!

Saturday, 17:10, Jonathan Harris shows We Feel Fine, a fantastic website about human emotions. Simply fantastic! The site gathers the emotional thoughts of 20 million blogs, collected every second from the entire planet. Beautiful, an over-exposure of what the human being is. Visit it now, WeFeelFine, the website interface is super innovative, nice!

Sábado, 17:13, primeiro filme brasileiro do PangeaDay, “Meninos”. O filme fala sobre o medo que temos quando crianças de ser aceitos pela “galera”. Medo, um dos piores sentimentos que podemos ter nas nossas vidas.

Saturday, 17:13, the first Brazilian film in PangeaDay, “Boys”. The film talks about the fear that we have when we are children of not being accepted by “peers”. Fear, one of the worst feelings we can have in our lives.

Sábado, 17:19, crianças são tiradas da escola para lutar contra alguém que não conhecem. Filme mostra o treinamento insano de crianças para morrer. A ONU estima que existam 250 mil meninos soldados em todo o mundo.

No palco agora Ismael Beah, um ex-menino soldado, que foi forçado a lutar aos 13 anos de idade. Ele lutou por 2 anos. Ele fala sobre como uma criança pode perder todas as suas emoções quando sujeita a uma guerra. Ele conta que depois da guerra ele teve que passar 8 meses em uma organização da ONU para poder voltar a sentir algum tipo de emoção. Ele está sendo aplaudido de pé.

Saturday, 17:19, children are taken from school to fight someone who they do not know. The movie shows the silliness of training children to die. The UN estimates that there are 250 thousand child soldiers around the world.

On stage now is Ishmael Beah, a former child soldier, who was forced to fight when we was 13 years old. He fought for 2 years. He speaks about how a child can lose all their emotions when subjected to a war. He said that after the war he had to spend 8 months in an UN organization in order to have again any kind of emotion. He is met with loud applaud.

Sábado, 17:23, a apresentadora avisa que o filme a seguir tem momentos intensos.

Vamos ver…

Caramba… forte… o filme é sul-africano, chama-se “Inja” (Cachorro), fala sobre sacrifício, amizade, liderança, submissão. SIMPLESMENTE MARAVILHOSO!! É dando que se recebe. Toda ação terá uma reação. QUE FILME!!! QUE FINAL!!!
Os apresentadores acabam de anunciar que todos os filmes já estão disponíveis no site do PangeaDay. Confira!!

Saturday, 17:23, the presenter warns that the next film has intense moments. Let's see…
Wow … Strong … it is a South African film called “Inja (Dog), about sacrifice, friendship, leadership, submission. Simply wonderful! We get what we give. Every action has a reaction. What a movie! What an end!
The presenters have just announced that all movies are already available on the PangeaDay website. Check it out!

Sábado, 17:42, Jean Paul Samputu, vítima do genocídio de Ruanda que matou 1 milhão de pessoas a pauladas e facadas, fala como ele sofreu durante 8 anos com o ódio dentro de si por aqueles que mataram seus pais e irmãos. Ele fala que somente ao perdoar aqueles que mataram sua família ele conseguiu sair da zona de ódio que tomou conta do seu coração.

Saturday, 17:42, Jean Paul Samputu, a victim of the Rwanda genocide that killed 1 million people, beaten up dead, tell us how he suffered for 8 years with the hatred within himself of those who killed his parents and siblings. He says that only by forgiving those who killed his family he was able to leave the hatred zone that had dominated his heart.

Sábado, 17:45, filme mostra o preconceito em Nova Iorque contra os muçulmanos. O fantástico é a sutileza do filme, e como a linguagem, as palavras e o jeito que falamos pode ferir uma pessoa. MÁGICO! Quanto de nós “acha” que uma pessoa é de um jeito apenas pelas roupas que elas usam ou suas origens? ASSISTA!

“Se você não sabe quem eu sou, e se eu não sei quem você é, nós vamos acabar imaginando que somos o que os outros pensam que somos.”

Saturday, 17:45, the movie shows New York prejudice against Muslims. Its subtlety is fantastic, and how language, words and the way we talk can hurt a person. Magic! How many of us “think” what someone is like only judging by the clothes they wear or their origins? Whatch it!
“If you do not know who I am and if I do not know who you are, we will end up imagining that we are what others think we are.”

Sábado, 17:48, um filme não pode mudar o mundo, MAS QUEM ASSISTE PODE! Todos os filmes até o momento são inspiradores, cheios de energia, emoção, para incentivar as pessoas a mudarem seus pontos de vista sobre o mundo.

O filme agora é sobre bom humor. “O homem não deve rir, o riso é o domínio dos deuses.” Platão. “Aqueles que riem sabem de algo que não sabemos. Eles pensam que sorrindo podem melhorar suas vidas. Eles pensam que são as pessoas mais saudáveis do mundo. Nós somos parte do Clube do Riso. Existem milhares de clubes do riso na Índia. O negócio deles é sorrir. O presidente do Clube do Riso indiano tem a meta de abrir 1 milhão de clubes do riso em o todo o planeta.

Saturday, 17:48, a film can not change the world, but those who watch it can! All films so far are inspiring, full of energy, emotion, to encourage people to change their views on the world.
The film now is about good sense of humour. “Men shall not laugh for laughter is the domain of the gods”, Plato. “These know something we don't. They believe laughter can change their lives. We are the happiest persons in the world. We are the healthiest persons of the world. We are Laughter Club members”. Today there are thousands Laughter Club throughout India. Their business is laughing. The Laughter Club of India president has a global mission of creating 1 million Laughter Clubs in the whole planet.

Sábado, 17:57, três horas de PangeaDay. Parece que começou 10 minutos atrás. MUITO BOM!

Entramos na hora final do evento. Emoções a flor da pele…

Saturday, 17:57, three hours of PangeaDay. It seems that it started 10 minutes ago. VERY GOOD!
We enter the final hour of the event. Emotions blossom…

Sábado, 18:06, Jehane Noujaim, idealizadora do evento sobe ao palco. Pangea Day surgiu na TED, aquele evento show de bola que eu falo o tempo todo. Foi na TED que a turma levantou a verba e os organizadores necessários para fazer a coisa toda acontecer.

Saturday, 18:06, Jehane Noujaim, the event creator goes on stage. Pangea Day derived from the TED prize, that very cool event that I speak about all the time. It was on TED that the guys raised the necessary money and organizers for the whole thing to happen.

O filme mostra agora como a morte das filhas em atentados terroristas, aproximou pais palestinos e israelenses no Oriente Médio. No palco, agora, familiares de palestinos e judeus que tiveram seus parentes mortos em conflitos no oriente médio. “O meu filho não queria lutar, ele fazia parte dos oficiais que se negavam a combater os palestinos. Ele não queria por nada lutar contra ninguém”, David, o filho, foi morto por uma causa que não era a dele.

“Eu perdi o meu irmão, vivi a vida inteira em campos de refugiados, desisti de grande maioria dos meus sonhos, mas eu não perdi a minha mente. O judeus não são os meus inimigos. O seu inimigo é o seu medo. O material consegue derrubar o material, mas o material por mais forte que seja não consegue derrubar o Ser Humano.”

The film now shows how the death of children in terrorist attacks, brought together Israelis and Palestinians parents in the Middle East. On stage now there are relatives of Palestinians and Jews who have lost their family in the Middle East conflicts. “My son did not want to fight, he was part of the officers who were were against fighting the Palestinians. He did not want to fight anybody for anything,” David, the son, was killed by a cause that was not his.”
I lost my brother, I lived all my life in refugee camps, I gave up the vast majority of my dreams, but I have not lost my mind. The Jews are not my enemies. Your enemy is your fear. Material can overthrow material, but that stuff is stronger that can not overthrow the Human Being. “

Sábado, 18:26, o filme agora é sobre soldados que resolveram lutar contra a guerra no oriente médio e fundam o “Combatentes pela Paz”. O filme conta histórias de soldados que desitiram de lutar quando perceberam que estavam lutando contra civis, e não contra algum tipo de mal. A entidade “Combatentes pela Paz” reune ex-combatentes de ambos os lados, palestinos e israelitas. Eles decidiram lutar pela paz, ao invés de lutar pela causa de um dos lados. “Temos que aprender a usar a nossa dor pela paz. Temos que acabar com essa guerra. Temos uma parceria pela paz. Precisamos viver em paz, a grande maioria que a paz, uma pequena minoria quer a guerra.”

Saturday, 18:26, the film now is about soldiers who decided fight against the war in the Middle East and founded the “Combatants for Peace.” The film tells us stories of soldiers who gave up fighting when they realized they were fighting against civilians, and not against any kind of evil. The “Combatants for Peace” organization gathers ex-combatants from both sides, Palestinians and Israelis. They decided to fight for peace rather than fight for the cause of one of the sides. “We have to learn to use our pain for peace. We must put an end to this war. We have a partnership for peace. We need to live in peace, the vast majority wants peace, a small minority wants war.”

Sábado, 18:37, Deve Stewart, fundador do Eurythmics, comanda um musical sobre paz, ódio e guerra. Ele canta America, que fez com Bono.

Saturday, 18:37, Dave Stewart, Eurythmics founder, commands a musical about peace, hatred and war. He sings America, which he did with Bono.

Sábado, 18:45, todo momento que eu faço um reload nesse post eu dou de cara com a foto da Terra dentro do raio de Sol vista de Saturno. Que coisa linda, minúscula, frágil. Quando eu olho isso eu penso, “Temos que fazer e acontecer, crescer, arrebentar. Somos um micro ponto super corajoso que contra tudo e todos decidiu viver. VAMOS ARREBENTAR!

Saturday, 18:45, every time I reload this post I face the picture of the Earth within the sun rays view of Saturn. What beautiful thing, tiny, fragile. When I look at that I think, “We have to do something, to grow to make it. We are a courageous little point who decided to live against everything and everyone. Let's do it!

Sábado, 18:46, “A missão do ser humano é criar uma comunidade global. Todos nós temos que nos engajar nisso. Temos que nos engajar na regra de ouro, válida para todas as religiões: Não faça aos outros o que você não gostaria que fizessem a você. Na china antiga já diziam, “Você precisa se preocupar com TODOS”. Não importa a sua fé ou ausência de fé, reflita sobre a sua experiência de vida, preocupe-se com os outros, é sério, preocupe-se com os outros.” Karen Armstrong

Saturday, 18:46, “The human mission is to build a global community. All of us have to engage in it. We have to engage in the golden rule which applies to all religions: Do not do to others what you would not like to them to do to you. In ancient china they already said, “you must have real concerned for everybody.” No matter there are faith or lack of faith, reflect on your experience of life, worry about the others, it is serious, worry about the other.” Karen Armstrong

Sábado, 18:50, os apresentadores avisam que a diálogo sobre o PangeaDay continua na web, todos os filmes mostrados, e mais 25 outros que quase entraram na lista estão disponíveis na web para todos assistirem e comentarem. O evento está chegando ao final.

Mensagem final: “Faça algo, envolva-se em alguma CAUSA que muda o mundo.

O evento vai terminar com um super clip de IMAGINE de John Lennon, cantava por crianças do mundo inteiro que fazem parte da Anistia Internacional.

“Eu espero que a minha geração seja formada por jovens ativistas envolvidos em melhorar o mundo. Eu espero que a minha geração tenha a oportunidade por conhecer todas as civilizações do planeta. Eu espero que a minha geração mude o mundo.” Palavras finais de uma jovem chinesa.

CARA, se você chegou até aqui lendo o meu post, SE LIGA, FAZ ALGUMA COISA, SE MEXE, AJUDE AS PESSOAS, AJUDE O MUNDO A SAIR DA MISÉRIA DA POBREZA DA INDIFERENÇA dos medíocres que vivem nesse micro planeta flutuante desse imenso universo.

FAÇA ALGUMA COISA!! FAÇA HOJE FAÇA AGORA!!!

EU NÃO QUERO SABER DE IDÉIAS, EU QUERO SABER DE FATOS, DADOS, REALIZAÇÕES!!

TIRE A BUNDA DO CONFORTO DA SUA SALA E VÁ CONHECER QUEM VOCÊ NÃO CONHECE!!!

SE LIGA!!

VAMOS QUEBRAR TUDO!!! Foi para isso que eu vim! E Você?

E Você?

E Você?

E Você?

E Você?

Saturday, 18:50, the presenters tell is that the debate about PangeaDay continues on the web, all films shown and 25 more others who nearly entered the list are available on the web for all to watch and comment. The event is drawing to an end.
Final Message: “Do something, get involved in a cause that changes the world.
The event will end with the super-clip of John Lennon's song IMAGINE, sung by children worldwide who are part of Amnesty International.
“I hope that my generation is formed by young activists involved in improving the world. I hope that my generation has the opportunity to know all civilizations on the planet. I hope that my generation changes the world.” Final Words of a young Chinese lady.
Man, if you read my post all the way through, do your bit, band together, help people, help to put an end to the world's poverty, the indifference of those mediocre ones who live in this micro planet that floats on this immense universe.”
Do something. Do something now.
I don't want to know ideals, I want to see facts, now, data, realizations.
Shake your ass from the comfort of your sofa and go to meet those you don't know.
Watch out!
Let's do it now. That is why I'm here. And you? And You? And you?

Arguably the most active country in the South Caucasus when it comes to blogging, the content and relevance of blogs on Armenia was at first nothing really worth writing home about. Most posts by foreigners living in the capital almost entirely focused on how good their lives were while others were simply copy and paste exercises reproducing articles without comment. Perhaps the only time when bloggers started to write original posts was whenever the Armenian Genocide came into the focus of the international media.

Even so, the situation slowly started to change in the run-up to last year’s parliamentary election as the political climate intensified in preparation for the inevitable transfer of power which occurred during this year’s presidential election. Under the constitution, the president is prohibited from holding office for two consecutive terms and as the then incumbent head of state was coming to the end of his second, Armenia would elect a new leader.

Of course, this being the former Soviet Union where vote-rigging and vote-buying are as much part of the election process as physically casting a vote, it was make or break time for the extra-parliamentary radical opposition in the country. And with the broadcast media controlled by the government, it was only natural that the Internet would be seen as a natural medium to disseminate alternative information.

Nevertheless, with a few exceptions, most blogs still consisted of regurgitated articles from Armenia’s low circulation, highly polarized, and largely discredited print media. There was little unique material, but there was at least the start of some discussion.

[…] Armenian blogs are extremely politicized these days. However, that politicization is not an artificial phenomenon, but a reflection of our daily reality “offline.” Indeed, it has almost become a pattern for blogs to actively respond to significant political events, which are also headline news in the traditional local media, such as the recent presidential election in neighboring Georgia, the publication of Levon Ter-Petrossian’s electoral platform, and the following press conference.

The campaign team and supporters of the first and former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, were quick to harness the power of the Internet — especially blogs — as the government-controlled media either ignored their candidate or engaged in black propaganda. Naturally, pro-government bloggers responded, and supporters of both Ter-Petrossian and then prime minister, Serge Sargsyan, soon opened up new blogs on free weblog hosting services, but particularly on LiveJournal.

Writing for Global Voices Online, Artur Papyan described the situation perfectly.

For the past few weeks, a number of anonymous blogs have been launched which are directed towards throwing mud at various presidential candidates. Bloggers that had traditionally taken a more moderate approach, also became “infected” with unrestrained politics. As a result, those taking their first steps in the Armenian blogosphere felt as if they had instead materialized in a psychiatric hospital.

Indeed, much of what was being posted soon became either skillfully crafted propaganda or little more than mutually hostile attacks by both sides on anyone that dared to disagree with them. Local blogger and political analyst Samvel Martirosyan noted the phenomenon on E-Channel.

A number of other similar “military” blogs could be mentioned. They have several common features. These blogs have been launched in the course of the past month. Their contents have unequivocally negative character: here you will not find any positive information in favor of any candidate. Sometimes the authors write about other issues as well, so that the purposes of the blogs do not become very obvious. However, those postings are brief, have no purposes, mainly referring to other bloggers’ postings.

Basically, political blogging intensified. Some lone voices such as Christina at Mi Or [AM] lamented the situation which was reflected in nearly every sphere of life in the country. However, online voices such as hers were in the minority.

I don’t know, really don’t know… hatred and evil are clashing like waves in this little piece of land, and their rage is acquiring the force of a tempest. Hatred closes you eyes, puts your target in front of you and all your creative talents are wasted on efforts to destroy it. Spare those efforts…

In a sense, the local blogosphere precisely mirrored the actual election campaign itself as well as an increasingly polarized media which, rather than remain objective, soon became extensions of the campaign teams of both Ter-Petrossian and Sargsyan. But, following the latter’s predictable election as president, all of that was about to change despite the Council of Europe declaring the vote as “largely in line with international standards.”

YouTube became full of videos depicting electoral irregularities and illegalities such as ballot box stuffing and actual violence in polling stations. Bloggers either embedded them in their entries or posted their own photographs from the daily opposition rallies which soon defined the immediate aftermath of Sargsyan’s controversial and disputed election. The Armenian Blogosphere had never seen so much activity.

The moment when blogging really came of age, however, was on 2 March 2008 – less than two weeks after the election and a day after the dispersal of an opposition camp set up in a central Yerevan Square led to clashes between radical opposition supporters and the authorities which left at least ten people dead and hundreds injured. A 20-day state of emergency had been declared in the capital and all media outlets were restricted to only reporting news based on official government information.

Only blogs remained to disseminate uncensored news, and while some news sites and YouTube were blocked, no action was taken against bloggers.

Hetq Online, a pro-opposition online weekly, was one of those affected by the state of emergency restrictions and last week published an article recognizing the importance of blogs during this period. Although one media lawyer had determined that blogs could be legally interpreted as media outlets, neither pro-opposition nor pro-government bloggers adhered to the new government emergency regulations. As there was no unofficial information coming out of Armenia, bloggers both at home and abroad moved in to fill the gap.

[…] The blogosphere, which already had heated up before this, continued the political debate with even more energy. […]

Tigran Kocharyan (aka Pigh) states that, “What resulted was that my ideas, let’s say, essentially dovetailed with those of the regime. I came out and declared that I wouldn’t abide with the restrictions and I continued to publish the blog, like before.”

The opposition was just as active. For example “bekaisa” not only circulated the announcements from Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s headquarters or interviews given by Ter-Petrosyan and his supporters, but also followed what the foreign press had to say about all of this, publishing and often translating these articles as well.

And even if YouTube had been blocked in Armenia, ways to circumvent the restriction such as using anonymous proxy servers became the norm for those fortunate enough to have access to fast Internet connections. A1 Plus, a pro-opposition TV station deprived of its broadcasting frequency in April 2002 used the online video sharing service to disseminate clips while Ter-Petrossian activists continued to produce and upload materials in his support.

The A1 Plus channel soon became one of the most popular on YouTube.

Writing again for E-Channel, Samuel Martirosyan recognized how adept the opposition were at utilizing the Internet to get their message across. In part, forgetting the media vacuum that also exists in Armenia, this was because many of their most active supporters were young, progressive, educated and with experience of living abroad or working for international organizations. Even so, with Internet penetration in Armenia around 6 percent, the reach of such new mediums for political communication was limited.

[…] net videos are being actively used. Particularly, Levon Ter-Petrossian’s team has given up televisio