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Brazil: Women's Petition for a ‘Right to Respond'

Foto:Yann Vadaru

In order to fulfill Global Voices' mission regarding neglected media visibility of specific groups we will focus today on a Brazilian contingent which now complains of having had — along with local big media's complicity — it's own annual moment of expression and manifestation snatched by the recent visit of the US president to Brazil. George W. Bush's choice of March 8 as the start of what became known as the ‘ethanol visit‘ to Brazil ended up scrambled with the time when Brazilian Women's Movements expect to have their voices heard by the society as a whole. The target now is the media itself, the one which is now-a-days earning many different adjectives like ‘big', ‘traditional', ‘1.0′, etc., or the guys formerly known as ‘opinion builders'. Feminist organizations are starting a legal ‘right to respond' campaign in order to guarantee prime time audiences to the broadcast of their vision of themselves.

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Bolivia: Taking the Coca out of Coca-Cola and Onto the Seal

Eduardo Avila · 17:14 · Americas

Photo created by Andres Pucci and depicts a sample seal should it only contain symbols important to specific regions of Bolivia.

Some weeks ago, some Bolivian bloggers became increasingly concerned whether the red, yellow and green of the Bolivian flag might be replaced with the rainbow-checkered flag called with the whipala. This flag is symbolic of the indigenous population in Bolivia and the Andes, and where President Evo Morales receives a large portion of his popular support. Another group that has backed Morales through thick and thin is the coca-growers. The crop, which they cultivate especially in the Chapare and Yungas regions of the country, has become more prominent in the news over the past week and may figure more prominently on the national seal.

Many of these debates regarding the coca leaf are taking place within the context of the Constituent Assembly, which has been given the charge of rewriting the Constitution. Since August 2006, the delegates have been meeting, but little progress has been made. When news does emerge, it is often about topics such as adding the coca leaf to the national seal. Martin Gutierrez, who blogs at Vitrina de Realidad Boliviana [ES] from Buenos Aires, wrote:

Entre tantas necesidades y prioridades que tiene el país, en el medio de temas tan complejos e importantes aparecen estupideces convertidas en temas relevantes que deben ser tratados a nivel de interés nacional. No se cae en este artículo en fomentar la publicidad de ese pedido, sino más bien, mostrar a los lectores el grado de relevancia que se pretende dar a una idea absurda.

Among the many needs and priorities for the country, in the midst of many complicated and important topics, stupid topics appear that become of national concern. This article does not fall into giving more attention to this proposal, but rather to show the readers how much relevance this absurd topic is trying to attract.

He acknowledges that the coca is an important cultural symbol for many Bolivians, but it should not be what guides what is included on the national seal. If that were the case, then other symbols important to many Bolivians, such as the diablada folkloric dance or the latest Miss Santa Cruz, should be included on the seal.

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Egypt: Arrested Bloggers Released Following Constitutional Amendment Clashes

Amira Al Hussaini · 16:47 · Middle East & North Africa

lingua → zht · zhs

~~Two~~ Three Egyptian bloggers arrested for taking part in a rally to protest constitutional amendments in Cairo have been released , along with other protesters who have been detained for their involvement in the gathering.

“The 21 Kefaya detainees were finally released around 6:30pm today, after police agents at El-Dhaher Station stalled the process,” writes Egyptian blogger and journalist Hossam El Hamalawy.
“The detainees should have been released in the early morning, but the station’s agents kept delaying, saying they were “waiting for orders from State Security,” according to rights lawyers who were trying to process the activists’ release. At some point, the police wanted to delay the release by deciding to transfer two Upper Egyptian detainees back to their hometowns’ police stations. To our good fortunes, that did not happen, thanks to the lobbying of the present lawyers. A number of activists also assembled in front of the station, staging a sit-in to add to the pressure.
“The detainees on their part went on a hunger strike protesting their continued imprisonment, and only ended it with their release.
“I spoke with socialist activist and friend Khaled Abdel Hamid around 6:50pm. He was very cheerful, and said the police did not dare messing with them in custody because of the outside attention the rights activists, bloggers and the media were giving to them.”

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South Asia: Cricket Victories and Upsets

Neha Viswanathan · 15:18 · South Asia

lingua → bn

The Cricket World Cup 2007 appeared to have thrown quite a few surprises up for grabs over the weekend. Ireland won the match against Pakistan, and Bangladesh won the match against India. These outcomes were rather unexpected, especially the former one. The blogosphere has been buzzing with commentary and reflection on the wins and losses. Rezwan comments on the perception of the Bangladeshi team in India.

So what can you say about the above instances? Simple arrogance and looking down on others has caused India this disgrace. As a saying goes “none are more unjust in their judgments of others than those who have a high opinion of themselves”. India has took their eyes off Bangladesh who progressed a lot in 2006. Their techniques got better and they are getting used to winning albeit most of the opponents were not from the super eight of Cricket.

A wonderful collection of individual reactions at Unheard Voices who ask their readers to post

Where were you last night when Musfique hit the winning four and how did you celebrate. Share with us the story and also send one picture with the location where it was taken and we will put it up.

Meanwhile, Pakistan had a double loss. They lost to Ireland, and the team coach, Bob Woolmer died in Jamaica the next morning. NepalCricket.com Fan Club remembers (more…)

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Arabisc: A Pictorial Tour of the Middle East

Amira Al Hussaini · 14:13 · Middle East & North Africa

lingua → fr

When I first saw these pictures. I thought to myself sheep = New Zealand.

How wrong was I! A closer look will show you that the donkey was familiar, the grass not that green and palm trees in the background. It was closer to home than I thought.

We kick off our pictorial tour of the Middle East with a trip to the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, during which Saudi-based blogger SaudiCacher and his cousins introduce us to some of the scenery, traditions and flora and fauna of the desert and valleys they cover.

“At around 8:30 we drove along the wadi. Ash Shawki is one of the main wadis that flows in the Tenhat at the base of the Dhana dunes. The trip was unforgettable as we pass by hundreds of sheep and camels grazing through the fertile valley. Occasionally we make stops to examine the landscape or check out some exotic plant. AbuTalal was keen to locate naturally grown mushroom or faga (Arabic word for mushroom), known to grow sporadically after the rainy season but cousin Hamad and I were eager to locate good hiding place for a cache,” he writes.

In addition to collecting mushrooms, the adventurers were also in for a treat, before the start of one of their drives.

“We stopped to take some pictures while my cousin AbuTalal collected some flowers of which he will later make herbal tea. We then continued to Wadi Ash Shawki and spent the night on its bank. Dinner was served around the camp fire at around 9:30 p.m. We woke up before sunset and prepared our breakfast .. Arabic coffee and dates. Herbal tea was prepared by AbuTalal from the flowers he collected earlier,” explains the blogger.

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Senegal Army: Face of Luxury, Back of Misery

Alice Backer · 12:12 · Sub-Saharan Africa

In its usual deadpan humor, Blog Politique du Senegal highlights an architectural anecdote about the military headquarters of Senegal to make a wider point about the army's budget and priorities:

Military headquarters entrance. Courtesy Blog Politique du Senegal.

Je ne sais pas si vous connaissez l'intendance militaire, en bas de l'avenue Lamine Gueye. Depuis quelques semaines on y fait des travaux.
Entre autres on y a changé les portails et les portes sur la facade principale. Les anciennes n'étaient pas pourries, à voir comme ça. Mais tout a quand même été changé pour être remplacé par des portails style nouveau riche, genre Louis XV revu et corrigé par un décorateur saoudien.

Do you know the military headquarters, on Avenue Lamine Gueye? Works have been taking place there for the past couple of weeks. The doors and gates on the main entrance have been changed, for example. The old ones hadn't actually rotten. But everything was nevertheless replaced by nouveau riche gates, Louis XV style and corrected by a Saudi decorator.

Je sais pas si vous connaissez les réalisations des décorateurs saoudiens, c'est ringard et de mauvais goût mais ça fait riche… Bref l'armée échange des portails en bon état pour des portails villas-nouveaux-riches-qu'on-sait-pas-comment-ils-ont-faits. A croire que l'armée est trop riche et ne sait pas quoi faire de son argent.

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