Archive for
April 2nd, 2007
Stories
Internet and Philippine elections
Statistics vary on the actual number of internet users in the Philippines. It may range from as low as nine million to a high number of thirty-five million users. This figure is enough to compel politicians to recognize the value of online campaigning. Many candidates who aspire to tap the youth vote are using the internet as a platform for their candidacies.
Inevitable Karma believes internet penetration is not yet that impressive in the Philippines and politicians must still rely on mainstream media. This observation is shared by so many political analysts who insist that internet campaign cannot reach the most number of Filipino voters.
Still, the 2007 midterm election campaign has effectively shown how candidates can increase their chances of winning by maximizing the cyberspace. Candidates have put up their own personal websites, blogs and Friendster accounts (Friendster is the most popular social networking site in the Philippines).
There are various reliable websites and blogs which give updated news and information on candidates, political parties and other election matters. The Pinoy Vote 2007 provides useful links to candidates’ websites. Philippine Eleksiyon 2007 gives a daily report on important election news. Votester asks bloggers to submit election articles; and it conducts an online survey on voters’ preferences. Inquirer offers podcasts of senatorial candidates.
Online campaigning became a necessity for a jailed rebel soldier who is running for Senator. This young soldier has a Friendster blog and his friends have also established an election promotion blog. Check also the blog of his group known as Magdalo.
Tonyo links to an online petition calling for the immediate release of a jailed leftist lawmaker.
Since TV ads are expensive, candidates have begun using You Tube for its affordability and accessibility. Partylist groups representing the marginalized and underrepresented sectors of Philippine society have placed campaign ads in You Tube.
(more…)
China: Persecuting economic crimes
Capitalism is now officially approved at the Party level, but with otherwise law-abiding small-scale sidewalk sellers nation-wide operating in constant fear and in conflict with (photos) the chengguan (more photos), the urban management forces found in every city, has this ideological thaw trickled down to the streets? Not yet, says 50mm photoblogger Bai Xiaoci in his post this past week, Barbecue Stall.
Exploring Ecuador's Cyber-South
Photograph of Loja, Ecuador by Milton Ramirez
Ecuador is a country with low access to the Internet and so most Ecuadorian netizens must save enough money to use an Internet cafe or pay for their own costly connection. The situation is even more interesting if we look at the impoverished southern Ecuadorian provinces of El Oro, el Azuay and Loja. It is in the last of these regions where there's been an advancement in the amount of technologist and professional weblogs. The Technical University of Loja has been instrumental in developing what we've come to call citizen journalism. A recognition of the progress being made at the university has been documented by Ecuadorian journalist and blogger Christian Espinosa [ES] who, mentioning the first blogger meetup organized by Calú [ES], asks Ecuadorean bloggers to become more involved with their southern peers.
There exists a “tipping point” of bloggers in the area, as Professor Espinosa likes to call it. In the city of Loja, Viva el Ecuador [ES] has led several online projects that aim to support local businesses and attract tourism to the region. And the Special Technical University of Loja (UTPL) has its own citizen blog portal.
When you come to visit Ecuador, don't leave without getting to know the bloggers of Loja as well as the city and province.
Translated from Spanish by David Sasaki
Iran: Looking at the Detained British Sailors' Crisis Differently
The Iran-UK maritime crisis, which erupted after the arrest of 15 British sailors by Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf on March 23, has become one of the top stories in the international media. The British and Iraqi governments say that British soldiers were in Iraqi waters doing a routine ship control when they were arrested. The Iranian government, however, insists that the British soldiers trespassed into Iranian waters.
The crisis was given a new dimension when Iranian TV began showing footage of leading sailor Faye Turney wearing a headscarf and reading a letter of apology for illegally trespassing in Iranian waters. The story goes on and so does the crisis. You can follow the development of the crisis in photos here.
Some have drawn cartoons about this standoff, many wrote articles and some were inspired to become really creative. (more…)
Arabisc: Why People Are Different; Women Wear the Hijab and Flickr is Banned!
In today's quick tour of Arabic blogs, we will make three stops. Our first is in Yemen, where we see a blogger's take on why people are born different from an Islamic perspective; the second is in Kuwait, where a blogger is urging a newly appointed female minister not to cave in to pressure and don the Islamic head gear - the Hijab - and the last stop in the UAE, where a blogger has just returned from a trip to Indonesia but is having trouble downloading his pictures online because flickr is banned in his country!
For Yemeni blogger Riyadh Al Ghaili there is a good reason why people are born different. Al Ghaili, who runs a blog of a religious nature, aims to explain the different teachings of Islam in a series of posts. The post I will translate today narrates an imaginary conversation with a friend about why people were created different from each other. (more…)
Kuwait: What Bloggers Think of the New Government?
After a long deliberation, Kuwait announced the formation of a new Government, giving enough material for bloggers to mull on.
Blogger Zaydoun wonders what all the commotion is about. He even urges people to leave the new government alone and mind their own business!
بصراحة لا أفهم مدى اهتمام الجميع بالتشكيل الحكومي الجديد الذي أخذ وقته وزيادة في التمخض، الكل ناطر على نار وكأن الحكومة الجديدة ستأتي بما هو جديد ومفيد… روحوا شوفوا شغلكم أحسن لكم وتركوا عنكم دوخة الحكومة
“Frankly, I do not understand why everyone is so concerned with the formation of the new government which took a very long time to come to light. Everyone is waiting on fire as if the new government is going to come with what is new and useful.. just go and focus on your work and leave the government in disarray,” he notes.
From criticising the government, we move to Forzaq8, who expresses his discomfort at the lack of news about the new formation in the government-owned Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) site.
“It's kinda sad that I wanted to read official news about the new government and I check(ed) the Kuna site. Kuna is Kuwait News Agency and is the official one. I have been trying to check the online site for 30 minutes now (and) it's been giving me errors,” he writes.
Krakatoachecks out the new government and tells us who's with whom in the formation. (more…)
Links for Mon, 2007-04
Tunisian blogger Astrubal writes[Fr]: “Tunisian blogs and sites have been censored, then those of civil society, then those of LEGITIMATE political parties, now the stupidity of Ben Ali's regime is attacking Dailymotion, one rare remaining space of freedom for Tunisians… Yesterday (April 1st), the Ben Ali dictatorship decided to behead Dailymotion in public .” The blogger posts a Dailymotion clip of a 2004 Bush-Ben Ali conference.
Demain le Congo Brazzaville posts [Fr] a complaint lodged in the French accusing of embezzlement African leaders such as Omar Bongo of Gabon, Denis Sassoun Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville and Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso. The complaint acknowledges that a French judge cannot adjudicate on salaries of African dictators but emphasizes the massive amounts of real estate owned by the accused African leaders in France.
Cricketwukup.com rates various aspects of Sunday's Cricket World Cup match between the West Indies and Sri Lanka. The highest marks go to the crowd, for “bravery in the face of the adversity”.
Claudia4Libertad links to a petition requesting that Cuban-American music star Gloria Estefan reconsider having Carlos Santana appear as a guest artist on her tribute to Cuba album “90 Millas” on account of Santana's professed admiration of Ernesto “Che” Guevara.
Guyana-Gyal's mother's hoarse voice - the result of a foreign “taliban flu” - reminds Guyana-Gyal of the voices of the vendors on Water street who “don’t talk to one another. They shout.”
Vietnamese God takes us to a friend's wedding in the Vietnamese countryside.
Stuart Towns comments on the recently announced Internet usage tax in Thailand. “And it only gets worse: “In addition to the bandwidth tax, an extra usage tax of 490 Baht (US$14)will be levied on those using Bittorrents and surfing foreign language internet forums.” Unbelievable!”
update: Thai blogger iteau exposes this is an April fool prank.
Leila Tanayeva reports on a new, ultra-moder construction project for Almaty's Republic Square.
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