Global Voices Online » 2006 » January

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Demand Freedom of Expression in Cambodia Campaign

Beth Kanter · 23:02

The Cambodian Government's actions to silence critics of the ruling party rang in the New Year with the arrests Human Rights activists Kem Sokha, Yeng Virak and Pa Nguon Teang. The arrests were prompted by banners displayed on Human Rights Day held on December 10, 2005.

These newly detained activists were thrown into Prey Sar prison with journalist Mam Sonando and teacher's union leader Rong Chhun, who were both arrested 3 months ago for offering critical views on government's actions related to sensitive border issues
between Cambodia and Vietnam.

Licado, a Cambodian human rights NGO, has launched an awareness campaign to call attention to these abuses and garner support from the International community for the detainees by putting the Association for Freedom of Expression in Cambodia yellow ribbon (above) on your blog or website and linking to this page.

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The Week That Was - Bolivian Blogs

Eduardo Avila · 22:28

Este artículo también está disponible en español en Blogs de Bolivia

“Do it yourself! Now you don't have to wait until January 22! End the uncomfortable suspense created by the question, “How will our President-elect dress?” by Joaquin Cuevas, Used by permission from artist.

Is Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales a candidate to be voted best or perhaps, worst dressed on some of those year-end lists? During his worldwide tour to gather support for his upcoming administration, many critics had plenty to say about the unique style of dress for a man, who stands moments away from assuming power in the country of Bolivia. Some have wondered whether Morales’ striped sweater might stick and become his trademark. After all, he was photographed with the same sweater during meetings in Spain, China and South Africa.

Bolivian bloggers have weighed in on this topic, which has become such a topic of conversation in Bolivia and a subject of enormous suspense. Such as, Sergio Asturizaga, who writes in his blog Así como me ves me tienes that Morales’ refusal to wear a coat and tie cannot be attributed to an excuse that Morales never used such style of dress. Asturizaga posts a high school picture of a young-looking Morales in guess what? A coat and tie.

There’s a certain sense of innocence to Morales’ choice of wardrobe, notes Miguel Esquirol. But, as written on El Forastero, he thinks that it creates an unforgettable image, as soon Morales will be highly respected and easily recognizable. Jaime C. Rubin de Celis of JCR’s Place thinks that if Morales really wants to distance himself from the the old political guard and showcase his indigenous roots, then he should ditch the multi-colored sweater in favor of actual traditional indigenous dress. This could play a part in promoting a part of the Bolivian culture, something that leaders from Africa or the Far East often do to display their culture. On the other hand, Javier F. believes that we could soon be seeing Morales a bit more formal. After his visit to China, Morales admitted that he is not really “used to protocol.” In his blog, Debatiendo Bolivia, he posts links to op/ed pieces about this subject and writes that this comment about protocol may signal a change from his typical “look”.

Political cartoonist Joaquin Cuevas does not leave the matter to chance. In his drawing (pictured above) he lets the reader choose Morales’ dress. Cuevas, who draws for the La Paz newspaper La Razon and has his own blog La Vida del Chico Larva, will be one of three Bolivian representatives in the XVI Iberoamerican Art Show organized by the Association of Cutural Representatives from the Diplomatic Missions and Embassies in Washington, DC.

Other issues relating to Morales also were discussed in the Bolivian blogosphere this past week. Gabriel Iriarte Rico, currently living in France, recalls a football match in 2004 in the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia, where his friends invited Morales to participate. In that match, according to Iriarte Rico, Morales displayed a certain sense of simplicity and qualities that might serve the new President well. He writes in Gabriel al Sur de Francia:

I called for him to pass me the ball and he did, he wasn’t selfish, although a little chubby perhaps. Even with his good ball handling skills, he was not a show-off. On that dirt field at the Cala Cala sports complex, I remember seeing him draw a penalty call and his sudden fall, from which he didn't complain. He didn't insist on kicking the penalty, even though the others did insist that he take it. After approaching the ball in a shy manner, he drilled the accurate shot that made the goalkeeper lunge. If Evo retains many of those characteristics as President of Bolivia, that he demonstrated on the field, the entire team will be successful, maybe even we’ll go to the next World Cup.

Speaking of sports, in the blog El Clavo en El Zapato, Fadrique Iglesias Mendizábal, an observer of the world of amateur and professional sports, is hopeful and comments on the possibility of the creation of a Ministry of Sports during Morales' Presidency. In the past, the public servant in charge of sports in the country was only at a Vice-Ministry level. He speculates that some of the names who might become part of the next Cabinent are Bolivian National Team captain, Julio Cesar Baldivieso and Geovana Irusta, one of the few Bolivian Olympians.

Miguel Centellas gave his impressions of Evo Morales in his two-part series on the blog Ciao!

As the world tour winds down and perhaps the end of the line for the infamous sweater, Miguel Buitrago of MABB, summarizes the global visits and wonders what Morales might accomplish with the pledges provided by the world leaders. Alvaro Piaggo’s Blog de Bolivia wonders “whether we (Bolivia) really want to be side by side with Cuba, China and Iran while hoping to be a country that promotes freedom for its people and overall progress for the country and continent?”

Finally, Eduardo Avila of Barrio Flores runs down the ten most interesting stories of 2005. In addition, Nick Buxton posts some of his favorite photographs from Bolivia taken during his time living in La Paz on his web site Open Veins.

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Sticky Songs

David Sasaki · 19:59

Fernando Casale, an Argentine journalist and Editor-in-Chief of USERS, has done music lovers a great favor by putting together a free collection of Creative Commons-licensed songs by independent musicians from the Buenos Aires rock scene. “Sticky Songs” (as in songs that get stuck in your head) is a compilation of ten songs from ten different bands that is meant to promote the independent music scene of the capitol city. I asked Casale what inspired the album and why he chose to use all Create Commons-licensed tracks.

Well, the Creative Commons concept hooked me from its very beginning because it comprises two of my main interests: free culture and technology. I'm the editor-in-chief of a computer related magazine called USERS that has a small sister called GNU/Linux USERS, so I've been writing for years about the free software and open source movements and paying a lot of attention to the evolution of peer to peer software and net-based models of music distribution. So when the Creative Commons idea came up, it was like a match made in heaven for me.

canciones pegajosas Casale certainly is interested in music. Especially in his native port city of Buenos Aires. For the past seven months he's been the brains behind Zona Indie, a Spanish-language blog which highlights local, independent groups. There is also an English-language sister site that tends to cover indie bands from across Latin America. He says he started the blogs “as a way to escape from the seriousness of my daytime job. It's also like an excuse to listen to new music, go out more and enjoy Buenos Aires's alternative nightlife options.”

From time to time I blog about bands that publish their work under CC licenses, so when these licenses were adapted to my country's legislation, I thought it would be a great idea to present a net album with songs from some of the bands that I listen to and blogged about during 2005.

Three of the songs on the compilation are licensed in such a way that they allow for derivative works to be made. But Casale said that getting the groups to adopt Creative Commons licenses wasn't an arduous task at all.

It wasn't that hard because most of the bands already had some (or all) of their music posted on the net, so I just had to arrange small meeting with each of them and tell them what this Creative Commons thing was all about. The main argument was that it was better to have some sort of license when publishing your music on the Internet rather than to just publish the MP3 by themselves, because in that way it wasn't clear for the fans what they could or couldn't do with the tracks. With a CC license that's very clear and you even have a legal text that backs you up in case someone breaks the rules. I think it worked out because some of the bands are publishing all their music under CC, not just the track included in “Canciones Pegajosas”. I hope more independent artists in Latin America will follow their example.

The album leads with a sweeping, melodic track by Hacia Dos Veranos, which has indeed been stuck in my head for the past couple of weeks. The band maintains an English-language version of their blog to keep in touch with fans from non-Spanish-speaking countries. Links to the websites of all the other bands - and downloads of their songs in various formats - can be found on the Canciones Pegajosas page.

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Eid Al Adha unites the Moroccan bloggers and Marock divides them

Farah Kinani · 03:29

This week, Muslims all over the world are celbrating Aid Al Adha to commemorate Abraham's sacrifice.
Moroccan bloggers didn't miss the occasion to wish everybody a Merry celebration.

Eid Mubarak

In a funny note, Mehdi wishes a Happy Eid to his readers and he informs them (French link) that “have u bought the sheep or not yet?” is among the most asked questions in Googles Top 10!!

Bsima too seems very happy to post about the Eid although she makes sure to remind her readers of the essence of the celebration :giving to the needy (French link).

In his serious way, Amazigh hopes that Moroccans will be able to celebrate their Eid without fear of the credit they spend the rest of their life paying for it (French link)…

Marock disturbs..

It was interesting to follow an e-debate about Marock , a Moroccan movie that created the event in The 8th edition of the National Film Festival that was held last month in Tangier .

Casaoui was the first to write about this movie that was assaulted by journalists and even movie directors after its screening in Tangier .

He thinks that the main factor behind what happened to Marock lies in the courage of its Director, who dared to talk about what Casaoui considers to be the biggest Taboo in Morocco (French link) and which is the sex and the religion.

Many Moroccan intellectuals are still living in the past, and they refuse to realise that Morocco has changed and that our youth refuse to believe in fairy tells and pretend to be happy.

Karim in the other hand talks about Marock by analysing a column about the movie written last month by Karim Boukhari (French link) .

Although both Karim and Boukhari focus mainly on the love scene that was the center of the polemic ,they totally disagree when it comes to its interpretation .
And while Boukhari sees the rejection of the love scene as a form of a rising antisemitism in Morocco, Karim thinks that airing such shot wont help changing things any better.

I think that many Moroccans will have a symbolic interpretation of this love scene .
And the same way the popular cake shared in the patio of a cuban hotel in the second part of “The Godfather” symbolized the Cuban nation being exploited by foreign capitalist interest, here the Jewish guy deflorating the Muslim girl will definitely be interpreted as the intrusion of sionists in the Arabs' circles of power and will then cause the opposite of the goal that the producers aimed to achieve.

Karim, author of the Arab observers ends his post asking Marock's director to be more mature while dealing with sensitive matters especially when it concerns a society that cosiders decency to be its main value.

Bluesman considers the assault of the movie a barbaric act although he realises that it's not the only non-democratic reaction that occured lately in Morocco (Arabic link).

The view from Fez and Tangier

Samir author of The view from Fes talks in his post about the appeal that Morocco has for foreign investors .
He also notices that if the “conservation/renovation” ethos is alive amongst a small group , not all investors have an eye for heritage or cultural values.

It has to be asked.What is this doing to the local economies,to the society, to “ordinary Moroccans”?Riads and Dars that housed extended families are being vacated to make way for trendy couples who want part of the “next big thing”.
A riad or Dar that once cost around 30-40 thousands Euros is now likely to bring well over 100,000..

Mehdi7 reports in his latest post about the new wave of demolition that's occuring in Tangier in the process of renovating the city, and he wonders if this won't make Tangier a city of rich since no poor citizen will afford the new prices (French link) of the new renovating places.

Some comments to the post showed a certain fear of a déjà vu situation.
It's about Marrakesh that -according to a comment to Mehdi's post- became unreachable for “ordinary Moroccans” after being renovated.

Rumor has it..

Amina Talhimet posted last week about the rumor that she considers a national sport in Morocco.
She says that no one is safe from the rumor neither the King nor the normal citizen.

We still don't realise that it takes few simple words to destroy families, lives..

Amina considers that the main factor behind the rumor is the hatred, a poison she thinks pollutes Morocco and blocks its development (French link).

In a totally different décor, Leglandeur posts what I see as the sweetest definition of blogging.
He explains how it helps the blogger survive the mediocrity (French link) surrounding him.

I borrow the breath of the bloggers and live their experiences as a privilege and as an elevation which like a poem, sometimes elevates me and sometimes loses me.

Isn'it cute!

Coup de coeur

I'll introduce you this week to a very artistic blog.Label ash shows the interest of its author Amine to the art in general and especially the music. The posts are very interesting and each time you have Amine' opinion about an exhibit or a musical show, with sometimes a kind of journal blogging.
I liked his latest post about François-Marie Banier and found the details very interesting (French link).

Najlae is another blog i want you to discover. The author, Najlae, calls herself “a journalist lost in translation”, and you can feel, reading her posts, how much she misses her friends and the tranquility of home sweet home. In general, she posts short stories, but sometimes she reacts to special political events happening around her. Najlae writes most of the time in French.

That's it for this week. See you next Wednesday, Inshallah;)

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