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April 23rd, 2007


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Russia: Reactions to Boris Yeltsin's Death 

a small portrait of this author Veronica Khokhlova · 23:32
lingua → es · fr · zht · zhs

Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first president, died today in Moscow.

There is an avalanche of responses to his death in the Russian blogosphere, ranging from “rest in peace” to “be damned.”

Below is a tiny selection (RUS) from the blog of LJ user dolboeb (Anton Nossik):

aristo_big: Ten years ago, this piece of news would have been joyful to me.

emailya: A PITY. No matter how much he is being denounced, everyone obtained real freedom through his policies.

aristo_big: …and they got “a real successor” who obliterated this freedom :)

[…]

emailya: Yeltsin was funny and didn't care when they were making fun of him. Putin is scared and obliterates laughter and parody. And you can see the result of it…

daunit: Yes, only we got anarchy instead of freedom. No one had to do anything to build anarchy on the ruins of totalitarianism - it built itself. It's not clear how we could mistake one for the other all these years. In the 1990s, we were “free” under bandits, and now we are “free” under bureaucrats and the police. It's a pity [Yeltsin] hadn't been jailed while still alive. Jailed for Berezovsky, Abramovich, and [the financial crisis of] 1998. […]

lapkis: R.I.P.

mr_quietest: R.I.P.

[…]

kashtan123: It'll take this country a long time to fully comprehend what this man has achieved. He buried the empire (the USSR), buried socialism and the socialist camp, buried the CPSU, laid the basis for the new country (Russia), and all this was done with little blood spilled, without civil war. He rid the world of the Cold War. Yes, there were times when he sinned, but there were also times when he was a saint! His brains weren't sterilized, unlike the brains of today's [chekists]. Eternal Memory!

m_darklighter: The gravedigger has set out for his own grave. :)

chelobitnik: With little blood spilled? […] The war in Chechnya is a direct consequence of Yeltsin's rule. The criminal privatization is a direct consequence of Yeltsin's incredible stupidity. And much more. […]

[…]

100rm: For some reason, I feel sorry for him… My attitude to him is contradictory […]. A whole epoch is gone…

LJ user drugoi (Rustem Adagamov) has posted photos of Yeltsin from different years - and has received three pages of comments already. Here are a few of them:

dostacha: Some people would genuinely regret, others are going to spit, but it's impossible to deny that a whole epoch is gone.

[…]

tonya_monya: I feel sort of sorry for Yeltsin, looking at these photos and seeing him as an ordinary person, with family, grandkids… He loved tennis (it was amusing to watch him root [for Russian players]), and his politics got erased from memory somehow in these years.

gordita_rusa: You've forgotten his politics??!!! And what about the guys he sent to war in Chechnya, do you remember it? And how the whole world was laughing when this drunk was conducting an orchestra in Germany over the ashes of the Soviet soldiers? And the country [forced to stand in a humiliating position] has also been erased from your memory? And the hungry pensioners? And [the tanks] firing at the legitimate parliament? And Russia's fiasco in international politics?

[…]

zvetaeva_41: I've been thinking whose monument should replace that of [Felix Dzerzhinsky] on [Lubyanka]. [Yeltsin] deserves it.

prelate: I agree.

voutsen_cv: Oh please, let's not erect monuments… there're enough of them for now.

jenyay: Well, it's okay to have a monument, for history, but not on Lubyanka. Because it'll be as if he took Dzerzhinsky down and got up there himself.

1 comment · »»

Bolivia: Interview With El Alto Blogger Mario Duran 

a small portrait of this author Eduardo Avila · 20:56
lingua → fr
sample image for this post

Airline travel within Bolivia requires one to have a lot of patience. Between flight delays and cancellations, I spent a lot of time on layovers in the El Alto International airport. Fortunately, one of the local bloggers, Mario Duran on two occasions graciously agreed to meet with me over a cup of mate de coca tea at the airport. During those chats, we talked about his interest in blogging, how to increase blogging in under-represented areas, and how he sees the political outlook in Bolivia.

Currently he blogs at Palabras Libres [ES], but also is active in a community site called La Constituyente [ES], which allows Bolivians to participate in the debate regarding the ongoing Constituent Assembly. Duran also contributes to Jacha Marka [ES], which provides news from the city of El Alto and Diarix [ES], which is a literary fiction site.

GV: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

MD: I was born in Corocoro in the province of Pacajas, which is a mining center that is close to being reactivated by Evo Morales. I came to El Alto during the relocation process during the end of the 1980s. I graduated from the Industrial School of Pedro Domingo Murillo with a degree in Chemical Industrial Engineering. I’ve also been a student university leader, and became Executive Secretary of the Bolivian University Confederation. In 2004, I was invited to participate as a candidate for city council of the Municipality of La Paz, but I was disqualified because I did not have my military service booklet. Presently, I am part of one of the 560 neighborhood unions in El Alto and I am a fanatic of web 2.0.

GV: Tell us how you started to use blogs and other internet communication tools.

MD: In Bolivia there are controlling groups for everything and one of them is the media. It was no use in sending stories to the newspapers, so I started to send them to web pages abroad. The newspapers here started to copy my articles that appeared on the website www.rebelion.org. What was interesting is that they thought I was this “grand analyst” and they copied the articles, but I simply am a citizen. With that, I thought about creating my own page, and looking through the web I found the blog phenomenon and the rest is history.

GV: Since you first started publishing your articles online and in the newspapers, how has your life changed or how has your view towards Bolivia changed?

MD: When one first publishes, one assumes a great responsibility with this global conversation. One must measure what one says or gives an opinion. I see my country with its never-ending problems and its politicians worried about becoming rich.

GV: How do you think blogs or citizen participation through the internet can change all of that?

MD: For the fact that it allows any individual citizen, without regard to social class, race, etc. give their opinions freely. For that reason, it is important that the government assumes responsibility to increase the access of ICTs.

GV: Have you talked about the use of Internet technology with your neigborhood group?

MD: Yes, but the problem is with the connection. Where I live, we are lucky to receive cellular phone signal. Connection is very expensive via the phone line, they should reduce the costs.

GV: You have spoken to me in the past about your plans to teach others to use this technology and increase the number of Bolivians that know about blogs. What are your current plans?

MD: I have presented proposals to some rural municipalities to teach young people to use the internet and create blogs, but sometimes to them it sounds like something from another planet, so with my own funds I want to start to give these classes.

GV: Do the municipalities see this as something useful or something as a waste of time? Has there been a municipality that has received you with open arms?

MD: For them, the first order of business to is to learn how to use PCs. The government installs computer centers, sits the farmers down for the photograph and they don’t worry about training.

GV: How do you see the future of blogs in Bolivia in the next five years?

MD: I read many Bolivian blogs and I have noted a growth in the number of people that use it as a form of expression, even though they don’t “maintain” the site on a regular basis, they publish something once a month and then, who knows? But all the youth in Bolivia use MSN and IRC, but they have not discovered blogs as a social tool, but it may be different in the future.

GV: You have also used podcast technology. How did you learn and what do you make of it?

MD: Traditional media doesn’t give space, so one must become creative. If one does not have access to radio, make your own station. If one does not have access to TV, then make your own TV program and that’s what I did. Looking online, I found the program Audacity and learned to use FTP. I now host my podcasts at archive.org. In Bolivia, there are limits on bandwidth and that limits creativity.

GV: What do you think are some of the misconceptions of El Alto

MD: Well you must be referring to the fact that they call El Alto a “combative city”, revolutionary, blockading, etc. Those are prejudices, but El Alto is the 2nd most industrial city in Bolivia.

GV: There does not seem to be too many bloggers in El Alto. Do you feel like an ambassador for your city for others in the country and the rest of the world?

MD: I wouldn’t consider myself a blog ambassador, but through Google many people think that I am one of the few Alteños that has an opinión.

2 comments · »»

China: Blame Canada? 

a small portrait of this author John Kennedy · 15:40

Google seizes up before any results appear in a search for ‘Celil,' ‘Canada' (in Chinese) and ‘2007,' fitting given that a proxified search turns up no Chinese language media reports from websites that can be readily viewed within China. It's a different story, as usual, for a Google search which includes the word blog. The controversy surrounding the identity and fate of Canadian citizen Huseyin Celil, originally from China's largely muslim northwest, was revived this past week when he was sentenced to life in Chinese prison.

Celil's previous stint in Chinese prison ended in 2000 when he broke out and fled West, soon landing in Canada where he went on to gain citizenship. Two questions around which the controversy revolves: does the Canadian government not worry about granting citizenship to Chinese criminals, or is the Chinese government making these charges up?

dsc020722-188x312.jpg
Huseyin Celil

Speaking strictly by percentage, rabid nationalistic discourse tends to dominate online discussion in China, but the reason so little of this is reflected here at Global Voices Online is that one hopes to engage in balanced conversation, but in the Celil incident, this week at least, all the bloggage this blogger was able to find leans heavily in the Chinese government's favor. For example, random comments on blogs found in the first two pages of results in the search described above:

From the military bbs at China.com, netizen Son of the South on April 20:

加拿大政府给一个犯罪分子入籍，本身就是一种犯罪行为，中国政府没有审判加拿大政府已经是很宽大的了。

The Canadian government's giving of citizenship to a criminal is a kind of criminal behavior in itself. Before the Chinese government had even made a ruling, the Canadian government had already started giving.

From the Dragon's Dream Sina blog whose readership jumped to over 1,700 with his post on the affair, netizen East China Sea Scholar on April 21:

汉奸,坚决清除.
不枪毙 感觉国家对他太仁慈了…这样的还留着干吗?!
加拿大 混蛋国家 赖昌星为什么不引渡 .实际还不是为了带去的 600多亿 不给中国 还有脸来说话 …加拿大 应该被中国人鄙视的国家.最好让他闭嘴.

Traitors, we must be steadfast in eliminating them.
If they don't shoot him, it's because the state's being too merciful…and what will be left?!
Canada, bastard country, why don't they extradite Lai Changxing? Even if hadn't taken off with sixty billion RMB they should still give him back…and they still dare speak to us…Canada should be a country Chinese people despise…at best make it shut up.

From the military affairs blog at China.com, which had sixteen pages of comments, netizen Bright Point of the Sun on April 22:

加拿大去死吧!你没什么资格说中国的事,你们的总理就是个垃圾

Canada, go die! You're not qualified to tell China what do to. Your Prime Minister is a piece of trash.

MSN Spaces blogger and Chinese law student WY Aaron, currently studying in the United States, took the time to put more substance behind a somewhat similar argument in his post ‘Utterly Shameless‘:

人可以无耻，但是不可以无耻到这种地步。

One can be shameless, but not to this extent!

夜半惊醒，想起最近在中国和加拿大之间闹得沸沸扬扬的玉山江案（西方称其为Celil，即塞利尔），辗转难眠。凌晨五点（北京时间下午六点）起来，吃了个苹果，上网来查资料。
作为执业律师，我习惯了听有关各方完全不同的说法，不会轻易相信任何一方的陈述。所以，我今天上来，先是温习了一下最初的资料来源，然后全面、认真地了解了中国、加拿大两国政府，特别是被告家人为其设立的网站上（以下简称”塞利尔网站”）的观点资料。看完以后，我可以说是强忍着愤怒，来写这篇日志。

So cold I awoke at midnight, thinking of all the noise being made between China and Canada over the Celil Huseiyn case, tossing and turning. At five in the morning (6pm Beijing time) I got up, ate an apple, and went online to read up on the case.
As a practicing lawyer, I'm used to hearing completely different versions of a story from each side, and am not quick to believe one side's statements over the other. So, when I got up today, first I went over some of the earlier information sources, and then thoroughly familiarized myself with the the stances taken by the two countries' governments, China and Canada, and especially the information put up on the website set up by the accused's family (hereby referred to as “the Celil site”). After having read all this, I can say I'm brimming with fury as I write this blog entry.

综合各方面的消息，尤其是”塞利尔网站”上主动承认的事实，勾勒出本案的梗概：
被告玉山江，英文名Huseyin Celil, 英文名中译侯赛因塞利尔，生于中国新疆，维吾尔族人。自称生于东突厥斯坦，系突厥族人，为东突厥斯坦伊斯兰运动成员。东突厥斯坦伊斯兰运动，即”东突”，为联合国正式认定的恐怖主义组织。”东突”谋求分离新疆，在”塞利尔网站”上毫不掩饰。中国政府称”东突”与”基地”组织有千丝万缕的联系，在新疆和内地制造了众多爆炸事件和流血冲突，故依照中国国内法，对其打击不遗余力。

Summing up all the various information, particularly the facts the Cecil site takes the initiative to admit, a rough outline to this case goes as such:
The accused, Huseyin Celil, was born in Xinjiang, China, and belongs to the Uighur racial minority, but declares himself as having been born in East Turkestan, belonging to the East Turkic people, and as a member of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement. The East Turkestan Islamic Movement, or ETIM, is considered by the United Nations as a terrorist organizaion. The ETIM strives for Xingjiang separation, as the Celil site makes no effort to hide. The Chinese government maintains that the ETIM and Al Qaeda organizations are inextricably connected and have both in Xinjiang and further inland created numerous explosions and bloody conflicts; thus, according to mainland Chinese law, no effort is being spared to strike down the ETIM.

被告曾被中国政府逮捕，2000年越狱。中国政府迅速通过国际刑警组织，发布红色通辑令，全球辑拿。被告在通辑期间，辗转逃至加拿大。加拿大政府于2001年接收其为”难民”，并于2005年接收其入籍。被告入籍加拿大以后，有恃无恐，于2006年3月持加拿大护照赴乌兹别克时，被当地警方以涉嫌恐怖活动为由逮捕，引渡回中国。现本案正在（中国新疆）法院审理中。
加拿大政府以被告为加拿大公民为由，要求为其提供领事保护。中国不承认被告的加拿大国籍，严词拒绝。加拿大政府总理说，他的政府相信，没有明确的证据证明，作为少数民族权利的主张者，被告犯有或参与任何被指控的罪行。（Harper said his government believes there's no clear evidence that Celil, a minority rights activist, has committed any crimes or participated in alleged terrorism.）加拿大政府以中国政府侵害人权等理由，把”人权”、”自由”的口号喊得整天响，在外交层面对中国政府施加种种压力。
现在，加拿大方面最强的理由，就是中国国籍法不承认双重国籍。被告加入加拿大国籍以后，自动放弃中国国籍。因此中国方面，对本案无权管辖。

The accused was once apprehended by the Chinese government, but escaped from prison in 2000. The Chinese government immediately issued a red alert warrant through INTERPOL, effective worldwide. While the accused was listed as wanted, he fled to Canada. In 2001, the Canadian government accepted him as a refugee, granting him citizenship in 2005. After gaining Canadian citizenship, the accused had nothing left to fear, and in March, 2006, while in Uzbekistan on a Canadian passport, was arrested by local police on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities and extradited to China. The case is currently being heard in a court in Xinjiang.
On the grounds of seeing the accused as a Canadian citizen, the Canadian government requested to provide him with consular protection. As China does not recognize dual nationality, the request was sternly rejected. The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his government believes there to be no clear evidence that Celil, a minority rights activist, had committed any crimes or participated in alleged terrorism
The Canadian government, seeing the Chinese government as violating human rights, wailed slogans of ‘human rights' and ‘freedom' until the sky shook, exerting various pressures on the Chinese government at the diplomatic level.
Now, the Canadian side's strongest reasoning is that Chinese nationality law doesn't recognize dual citizenship, that after the accused gained Canadian citizenship he automatically renounced his Chinese citizenship and for this reason, the Chinese side has no jurisdiction in this case.

…

依照中国法律。。对在中国境内犯罪的外国人和无国籍人，可以适用属地管辖。对在中国境外对中国国家和中国公民犯罪的，可以适用保护管辖。对国际公约、条约规定的犯罪，可以适用普遍管辖，即任何国家均可管辖。

In accordance with Chinese law…territorial jurisdiction can be applied to foreigners and stateless persons who break the law within China. For crimes committed outside China against the Chinese state or Chinese citizens, protective jurisdiction can be applied. For crimes committed against international conventions and treaty provisions, universal jurisdiction can be applied, in that any country may have jurisdiction.

…

法律层面的争论，可能太过技术化，暂时放一放。我们换位思考：如果本拉登逃到了中东某个国家，比如伊朗。现在伊朗政府接收其为难民，为其提供政治庇护，并且容许其入籍。然后说，拉登先生现在是我堂堂伊朗国公民了，我们的政府相信没有证据证明他参与了恐怖活动，世界上任何国家不要再妄想碰他！包括加拿大在内的西方世界会如何反应？我看美国拼死也要出兵中东，怕是把伊朗灭掉十次也有余了！加拿大呢，难道会放半个响屁？

The contention at the legal level might be too technical, so let's put that aside for a moment. Let's consider this from a different position: say bin Laden had fled to some country in the middle east, Iran, for example. Now the Iranian government accepts him as a refugee, offers him political asylum, even grants him citizenship. Say then that Mr. Laden is now a full-fledged Iranian citizen and that their government believes there to be no evidence proving his participation in terrorist activities, that no countries on earth should even dream about ever touching him again! How would the Western world, including Canada, respond? I bet you America would dispatch troops like hell, destroying Iran ten times over! And Canada? You think they'd so much as make half a fart about it?

…

加拿大总理说，他的政府”相信”没有证据证明被告犯罪，似乎于是就可以怎样怎样，说什么、做什么都情有可原了。笑话！你既然没有看到证据，凭什么”相信”？话说回来，世贸大厦是本拉登炸的，可有证据？伊拉克有大规模杀伤性武器，可有证据？我敢说，本案被告在中国境内制造恐怖袭击的证据，比指向本拉登和萨达姆的证据加起来还要多！现在全世界都知道纽约世贸大厦是本拉登基地组织干的了，萨达姆也被美国端掉了，加拿大为什么不反对？加拿大为什么不接受他们两个为难民、为公民，然后提供政治庇护，再给他们两个发护照，让他们继续逍遥？
人可以无耻，但是不可以无耻到这种地步！

The Canadian Prime Minister says his government “believes” there to be no evidence proving the accused's guilt, so it seems this makes everything they say and do excusable. What a joke! Since you haven't seen the evidence, what exactly are you “believing”? Putting it another way, the World Trade Centers were blown up by bin Laden, but where's the proof? Iraq has large-scale deadly weapons, but where's the proof? I'm even willing to bet that the evidence of the accused's manufacturing of terrorist cases inside China amounts to more than the evidence implicating bin Laden and Saddam put together! Now the whole world knows that it was bin Laden's Al Qaeda behind the World Trade Center in New York, and Saddam has been done in by America: why didn't Canada object? Why didn't Canada take the two of them in as refugees, as citizens, and then provide them with political asylum, giving them passports, letting them go on spreading rumors? One can be shameless, but not to this extent!

For a balanced overview of the development of the dispute between the Chinese and Canadian governments, journalist-blogger Susanna Ng in Vancouver, Canada has been tracking the story on her Chinese in Vancouver blog, and her most recent post on the subject, dated April 21, ‘Embarrassing Canadian foreign policy,' looks at the Canadian government and particularly its current leader's response to the Celil incident in comparison with that of another Canadian citizen also recently in diplomatic hot water, which reads:

This Egyptian case has so much in common with Celil:

* both are alleged of harming their home countries' security and integrity
* Israel is the Harperites' good friend whom should be supported “unconditionally”; and Harper's China policy might have been dictated by people who lobby for an independent Tibet (ironically, the Dalai Lama has announced that he's not interested in an independent Tibet any more)
* both men say they're innocent and are tortured into confessions; Canada has no way to prove it but jump to hoist the human rights flag
* Arab countries do not like to be criticized in public
* China is more ready to cooperate if talks are behind the scene

13 comments · »»

Morocco: Corruption, politics, and the aftermath of a bombing 

a small portrait of this author Jillian York · 14:36

After the Los Angeles Times published an article about the cost of filming the 2003 action flop Sahara, which highlighted in particular the amount spent on local bribes (”‘Courtesy payments, ‘gratuities' and ‘local bribes' totalling $237,386 were passed out on locations in Morocco to expedite filming”), Moroccan bloggers chimed in with their opinions.


Laila Lalami was saddened by the spending: “Honestly, I started to laugh about all this, until I got to the part where palm trees are being taken out and river improvement projects that benefit Moroccans are halted in order to accommodate films, and then I wanted to cry.”

Liosliath posted highlights of the article in her blog, highlighting “the most pathetic part” as this: “An ‘assistant propman' on Sahara, for example, earned a weekly salary of $233, the equivalent of one day’s pay for a U.S. prop worker.”

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The aftermath of the recent Casablanca bombings and Morocco's safety level were also on the minds of bloggers. Blogger Taamarbuuta said at grains of sand, “Look, the point is, Moroccans are not against America. Perhaps its government (but I can count on one hand my American friends who aren't against the government!), sure, but America or Americans?”

Cat in Rabat's take on the whole thing was slightly humorous - noting that metal detectors have cropped up in the capital. “I have set off the bells & whistles of many of Rabat's security scanners and no one has yet to ask me to step aside in order to search me. So while there is now a guard at Pizza Hut, nobody has actually seen him use his metal-detecting magic wand,” she notes.

Everything Morocco responded to those who've asked “is Morocco safe?” saying, “That's a tough one to answer without a crystal ball and without going into a very long and drawn out explanation…It is much more complicated than saying it is terrorism; religious or anti-American or any other kind.”

In a separate entry which discussed the Virginia Tech massacre as well as the Casablanca incidents, Everything Morocco surmised: “The underlying commonality, in my opinion, was the sense of exclusion and desperation all the perpetrators must have felt before going so far as to kill.”

1 comment · »»

Touring Libyan Blogs: more blogger meet ups, education, proud to be a Libyan and a handwriting contest. 

a small portrait of this author Fozia Mohamed · 14:18
lingua → es

Like-minded bloggers enjoy meeting up and the Libyan bloggers are no exception. This past week it was A_Akak and Mani who spent a great day in Brighton. Their happy smiles says it all.

Aladdin is back in the business of blogging. He has been extremely busy since last month. He also managed to meet up with two other Libyan bloggers namely Khadijateri and Trabilsia.

However, his comeback post is rich with information about Libya's education system .

“Libyan's people educational background is so limited, I was shocked when a university lecturer could not fill an application form by himself, of an MS students who wanna do their PhD in the UK didn't want to make a research proposal or asking me to do it for them!!! and people who wanna study in the UK but they're not sure what they wanna study there. or people who want to take a six month English course with accommodation and their budget is US $1000, including their living expenses, or people who are asking me why don't we offer scholarships and more and more…[…] that's the problem with Libyan lecturers, PhD holders, doctors, engineers, managers…etc they actually don't do nothing in the country, they rely on their “Educational Background” and act like they are the inventors of the subjects they specialized in. [sic]”

Anglo Libyan's blog gets hot again with a new post on the Libyan children victims of AIDS. He asks should we be ashamed to being Libyans? This controversial question, released the pent up emotions of a couple of commentators, between constructive criticism vs negativity. Anglo Libyan has posted several pictures of the affected children to show us their humanity. Would you let your child play with an AIDS patient? Alas, another very tough question.

“[..]people responsible for them have neglected their duties, in fact they are stealing our children's benefits, look at this hospital she said, this place does not look like a hospital, it is dump, there is no television, the children are lying between the beds and in the corridors, the hospital is not healthy and is not suitable. The manager of this hospital, Almahdi Emhabrash, has never visited the patients, we do not like the manager, he has no humanity in him, last night our room flooded with rain water, this hospital used to be a correction centre, it should not be a hospital, we went to Italy and stayed 1 year, we were told that when we come back that we will have a complete specialised hospital, we came back from Italy to find it the exact opposite.”

Finally Lebeeya started a handwriting competition, I'm wondering if we can analyze the personality of Libyan bloggers from their scribblings ?

Here are samples by A_Akak, Maysoon, Damoon and Cofman.

0 comments · »»

Tunisphere and the French elections: 

This author has no photo samsoum · 12:58
lingua → fr

A lot of Tunisian bloggers showed a lot of interest in the French presidential elections. There are a lot of reasons for this interest. Historically, due to the colonization of the country by the French for 75 years, the Tunisians always had a love-hate relationship with this country, but more love than hate. France is the most important economical partner for Tunisia. It is the country that has the most of our expatriates. A lot of bloggers on the Tunisphere hold the French citizenship or live in France.

But in my opinion the main reason for our interest in this election is the thirst we have in debating political ideas, expressing opinions about candidates, criticizing and disagreeing without attracting the censors of the Tunisian government. If we can’t be part of a real democratic election in our country, we can at least participate in the French one.

The lack of freedom in choosing our leaders and our government since the independence made us loose any interest in being part of any staged election in our country. We all know that it is a staged comedy where the numbers are “cooked” in the HQ of the Interior Ministry. During the last presidential election, the candidates were said to be chosen by the president himself and that does not surprise me since any time they got some airtime, they don’t stop thanking him fro all his achievements.

This lack of interest and ignorance about our government members was a subject of a post from “Girl from Mars”

Bref, j'ai remarqué que la plupart d'entre nous connait par coeur la scène politique française, est capable d'énumérer la majorité des membres du gouvernement français, peut énumérer les propositions de chaque candidat, en faire la critique et proposer ses propres modifications..ils nous manquerait plus que la carte d'électeur pour voter:)
Mais combien d'entre nous est capable de donner les noms de nos ministres (moi personnellement même le premier ministre je connais pas son nom!), d'énumérer nos partis politiques, de distinguer le programme de chacun d'entre eux, de citer les dernières mesures gouvernementales…
J'en connais pas beaucoup..
Sommes nous plus français que les français ou moins tunisiens que nous devrions l'être?

Anyway, I noticed that most of us know very well the French political scene, and are capable to name most of the department heads of the French government. We can criticize them, and even propose changes. We’re just missing the voter card :) But how many of us can name our head of departments (I myself don’t even know the Prime Minister's name!) or can name our parties, their agenda or even know the last government actions. I don’t know many who can do that..
Are we more French than the French, or less Tunisian than what we should be?

Mani l’africain, wrote a very nice post presenting the French candidates as if they were Tunisians candidates for the Tunisian presidency. A very elegant and smart post where Nicolas Sarkozy becomes “Si Markouzi”, Segolene Royal becomes “Sihem Malki” and Francois Bayrou is “Firas Bouzagour”. Too bad I can’t translate the whole post, but this the part presenting Mrs Sihem Malki.

أكثر وحدة معارضة للافكار متاع سي مركوزي هي مدام سهام المالكي مرشحة الحزب الاشتراكي. وهاذي سابقة في البلاد اللي ما حكمتهاش مرا من وقت عليسة. كيما الاشتراكيين الكل، مدام مالكي تحكي ياسر عالفقرا والمحتاجين وعلى كونو الدولة يلزمها تعاون الطبقات اللي ما فيحالهاش. هي عندها برشة أفكار وقالت حتى كان لزم نعملو استفتا نبدلو بيه الدستور باش الممارسة السياسية تحيى أكثر والشباب يولي يهتم بالحياة العامة. آما ماو نعرفوهم الجماعة هاذوما، ديما الحديث والصحيح ما فماش. خلي عاد نهارة اللي يشدوا الحكم ما فمة حتى فرق بيناتهم وبين اليمينيين.
The most opposing candidate to Mr Merkouzi ideas is Mrs Sihem Meli, a candidate of the socialist party. She is candidate in the country that was not led by a woman since Queen Dido (Elyssa). Like all socialists, Mrs Malki talks a lot about poor people and that the government needs to support the classes that are in need. She has a lot of ideas and she is even prepared to amend the constitution to revive the political interest in people and incite them to be more interested in public life. But we know that such group (socialists), a lot of talk and no actions. But if they get elected, there won’t be any difference between them and those on the Right.
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Nepal: Bloggers Form Association 

a small portrait of this author Ujjwal Acharya · 12:24
lingua → fr · zht · zhs · es
sample image for this post

Twenty-four bloggers from capital Kathmandu gathered on Saturday April 21 to discuss the formation of Bloggers Association of Nepal (BLOGAN) for the promotion and protection of blogs and blogging in the tiny Himalayan country where blogs are yet to be recognized by the population.

There are less than 300 regular blogs in Nepal, but despite that - the role played by the blogs during the tight censorship of media during King Gyanendra’s direct rule from October 2004 to April 2006 and during the People’s Movement last April that re-established democratic rule have given enough enthusiasm to bloggers to work for expanding the blogosphere further.

By Jitendra Bajracharya
via Jiten World

The enthusiasm is vivid in the entries posted by bloggers. Bloggers are calling the meet a historic one. Mero Sansar posted photos and videos of the gathering under the title ‘Historic Gathering of Nepali Bloggers’ while Deepak’s Diary praises the inclusiveness in the gathering:

The fourth Nepali bloggers' meet that took place today was historic in every sense of the word. There were unprecedented numbers of bloggers (total 24, six of them female; no gender bias ladies!); they ranged from an eighteen-year-old Deelip Khanal to Buddhi Narayan Shrestha, retired Director General of Survey Department of Nepal; Rajendra Biswakarma represented the Dalit community while there was Mohammad Tajim (a Muslim) and Salik Shah who is an ardent flag bearer of Madhesi issues. But, it was the common thread of blogging that brought us all together. Hey, something's happening? Are you watching?

The meet also formed a working committee to move forward and most of the members nominated themselves to the committee. The committee includes Ujjwal Acharya (co-ordinator), KP Dhungana, Ghanshyam Ojha, Deepak Adhikari, Ram Prasad Dahal, Bishnu Dhakal, Rajendra Biswokarma, Avinashi Paudel, Mohd Tajim, Tapas Barsimha Thapa and Umesh Shrestha.

The meeting also decided to publish a book on blogging to create a awareness and promote blogging. NepaliVoices writes:

he other major decision made today include giving kick-start to book publication. KP Dhungana will be co-ordinating the work while all of us agreed to help him by writing what he will ask for. All the bloggers will write their blogging experience (either English or Nepali).

Though all participating bloggers agreed that an association is needed, there were discussions on whether it should be registered with government or not. Dedicated to Daniel Pearl opposes the idea of registering in fear of losing the freedom that the bloggers enjoy:

Do we need to get registered to perform all these tasks? My fear is also that we not only will loose our freedom but will also fall into a list of the NGOs, which are notoriously known for milking money in Nepal. … But my point is why don't we try to remain as bloggers…not any organzation?

Kathmandu Speaks opines for the need of organization. Registered or not, every bloggers agreed that BLOGAN will hold conference and award best blogs annually and it looks like the Nepali blogosphere is gearing up to become a force.

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Myanmar: Helping Hand Blogs 

a small portrait of this author May Hnin Phyu · 10:42
lingua → zht · zhs

People of Myanmar are well known for their gentle nature, kind heart, sincerity, generosity and a great helping hand. In Myanmar, various type of non profitable groups and non governmental organizations are formed to help out physical, educational and well being of the country men especially youth and children.

These days, many such organizations are starting to use blogs to announce and publish their organizations’ activities. Among them:

Open Eyed Society – a charity organization including volunteers and donors to improve life of children.

Open Eyed Society
Donation Activity at a primary school
Image from: Open Eyed Society

# OES is a voluntary group formed by young volunteers.
# OES aims at improving life of children mainly caring their education and health with voluntary services.
# OES education promotion program mainly includes supporting children from poor families giving priority to orphans.
# OES health care program includes giving medical treatment and fees to the children under our care. In fact, donors are invited to give away the charitable things such as clothes and stationery including cash for the sake of improving our children's life.

    Ku Tho Daw Library Project – A young man’s dream to educate his native village youths of Bagan.

    KuThoDaw
    Kids reading books at Ku Tho Daw Library
    Image from: Kuthodaw library - Bagan

    Project or Promise.

    • To distribute the books, journal, news paper
    • To practice and encourage the reading habit.
    • To be a source where public can access easily for learning & knowledge.
    • To make formal educational information more accessible to youth.
    • To organize symposium / conference as much as possible
    • To organize summer class (English speaking class, computer basic and some supplement course for who working in tourist Industry etc)
    • To create a well-informed linkage among youth of different professions.
    • To extend the library with multimedia equipments as soon as we have enough courage
    • To sponsor the education for some orphanage (co-operations with local women affairs association)

    Helping Hand – founded by a group of friends and concentrating on orphanage children educations and well beings.

    Blogger Yan Aung has also set up the “Myanmar Blogger Foundation (MBF)” via his PayPal account for “The Mae Tao Clinic” which was founded by Dr. Cynthia Maung at Mae Sot. He urges all Myanmar bloggers to help donate for the clinic.

    DrCMDear Myanmar Bloggers…

    Please help Dr. Cynthia Maung and her associates for the welfare of Mae Tao Clinic by donating some of your earnings. Your donation will be a great benefit to some poor kids, old and disabled people in the remote areas of Burma, a.k.a, Myanmar.

    You can watch the videos on Dr. Cynthia Maung and information on her clinic here. Some of the services provided by the clinic are as followed:

    The Mae Tao Clinic’s reach extends far beyond its base in Mae Sot. It supports mobile clinics serving Burma’s internally displaced persons (IDP). The Clinic’s community service programs include a home at Umphium Mae refugee camp for unaccompanied children.

    The Clinic also supports schools and boarding houses that serve the families of local migrant workers and our staff. In addition it sponsor women's organizations, health education and community awareness events at refugee camps.

    MaeSot Kids

    It is expected that more of such individuals and organizations will be using blogs to promote their activities. It is also a great pleasure to see Myanmar youths starting to utilize the full potential of blogging(web) medium for multiple purposes.

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    Iranian Women's Movement Beyond Gender and Age This is a Photos post

    a small portrait of this author Hamid Tehrani · 05:36
    lingua → zht · zhs
    sample image for this post

    Iranian female rights activists have launched several initiatives such as the “One Million Signatures Demanding Change to Discriminatory Laws Campaign and they have organized peaceful protest movements against discrimination. Some of these women were arrested and sent to jail for a few weeks or days. Iranian women continue their struggle for justice and freedom.Thanks to Kosoof, a leading photoblogger, we can discover some important moments of this movement in photographs from the last two years. Here are five photos chosen to display that in the struggle there is no question of gender or age. We see old and young men and women taking part in the demonstrations as well as female police repressing women activists.

    iranian womens movement

    iranian womens movement

    iranian womens movement

    iranian womens movement

    kosw5.jpg

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