Archive for
May 1st, 2007
Stories
Blogs and social participation: the coverage of the Neuquen conflict in Argentina
· 22:25
In the last few weeks, a series of protests by teacher unions from the Argentinean Patagonian provinces has been all over the news. In particular, this attention was even bigger after the murder of Carlos Fuentealba, a teacher that participated in a protest on one of the routes. The one responsible for the crime was a member of Neuquen's police department, who was in that location because of governor Jorge Sobich's order to dislodge the route and repress everyone on it. The seriousness of the events not only mobilized the traditional media, but also many blogs started to cover the events. An outstanding blog in this coverage is Pensamientos Despeinados [ES], a collective blog maintained by Ezequiel Apesteguia, Nicolás Malpede and Seba Espiño. Apesteguia answered our questions about the coverage. You'll find some links to the Pensamientos Despeinados entries related to the Neuquen conflict at the end of the text.
What led you to cover the Neuquen conflict?
Ezequiel Apesteguia: There were three things. First, the event itself, the murder of Carlos Fuentealba, which was not the first one in this province due to police repression in popular protests. Second, the need of non-filtered information of everything that was happening in our city, because even though national coverage was huge, we felt that there lacked the local view that big media can't supply. Third, the practice and experience for us, as journalism students and the possibility to experience different narrative forms that blogs, in this sense, provide.
What means did you use for this coverage?
EA: We got up early, took the bus and kept walking around, watching and snooping around everywhere. We took a digital camera, a recorder, pen and paper.
Did you get help from readers or spontaneous collaborations?
EA: We always try to encourage collaboration in the blog and we enjoy it. In fact, the first post [ES] about what happened came from a friend, el Chino, who sent us an email with the post for us to publish. Anyways, the biggest participation came after the publication of pictures and videos: they started leaving comments, sending mails with opinions, suggestions and everyday stories.
Did other blogs or sites cover the facts as you did?
EA: One of the problems we have in the region is that there are few blogs -just check Argenblogs to get an idea- and, therefore, we do not have as many possibilities to provide evenly distributed or collaborative coverage. Anyways, many of the blogs mentioned the story, even when they were not there. I think the best coverage of the events, at a digital level, was 8300 [ES]. In fact, 8300′ s site was closed for modifications and they placed it back online just to inform what was going on. I thought it was great they did that.
How did you find the local or national media coverage?
EA: The unfolding of the national media was amazing, with their anchormen and satellite antennas invading everything. They did a complete job, transmitting 24 hours, but they lacked the local view to contextualize the information, which is something they always lack. Locally, the problem is that the media are too centralized in political power, which undoubtedly becomes an obstacle when it comes to informing. I think the best information came from alternative media such as the radio de la Universidad [ES]and the 8300 [ES] site. On paper, the best coverage was the Rio Negro newspaper [ES], which crudely showed the information. The rest of the media, and mainly local tv, stayed a step behind in the analysis and were way too cautious in the most critical moment of the situation. They didn't contribute at all.
In the future, do you think this kind of news coverage will become more common?
EA: Something that grabbed our attention was that our small coverage was transformed into a novelty -not to say news- in itself, leaving behind what really matters: the information. In the world we live in, that three journalism students from the country's provinces would do something like this for “the sake of art” seems strange. Therefore all the attention is on us, the interviews like this, the references and notes on our work in the big media. For us it's an acknowledgment and a personal satisfaction, but I think it shouldn't go past that (that's why in the blog we don't talk or leave links about these issues). We have to think of these kinds of citizen coverage as something more common, that is not so isolated. The blogosphere in general is doing so, and also the citizen media. These kinds of news coverage will not only become more common, but will also improve. And it's not only about competing with the media, but about participating actively, as citizens, in the construction of reality.
What do these coverage have that the traditional media doesn't?
EA: Unlike the traditional media, we were there, first, as citizens supporting the mobilization and it's cause, and second, as journalists. I think this gives the information a value that goes beyond the commercial, a social value that is priceless.
Links at Pensamientos Despeinados about the conflict in Neuquen:
¿Lo que opina la gente en Neuquén? [ES]
Mi Argentina llora por Carlos Fuentealba [ES]
Movilización, dolor y repudio en Neuquén [ES]
Siguen las marchas en Neuquén [ES]
En memoria de Carlos Fuentealba [ES]
Así vivieron la semana los diarios regionales [ES]
La mañana, momento a momento [ES]
La historia se vuelve a repetir para mal [ES]
Internet Use Shaping Cambodia
· 19:24
With more than 50% of the population of almost 15 million people younger than 25, the future of Cambodia's internet as well as the youth lifestyle looks vibrant.
Thousands of people - Internet users, IT professionals, computer enthusiasts and bloggers will gather at an event taking place at Raffles Hotel Le Royal, the premier hotel in the Cambodian capital on 19th and 20th May. In cooperation with Mobile Phone Magazine, Internet solution provider Manich Enterprise expects to host about 5000 attendees for an exhibition on all things Information Technology. The exhibition is called ‘Internet Party and this is the second time the event is being organised. The organizers are offering participants some exciting and entertaining sessions including an Internet Queen contest. Like previous year, vibrant Phnom Penhers are hoping to enjoy the social networking event.
In schools, talking about the latest mobile phone, fashion, or even car is a now a trend. The excitement is not because they are catching up with the rest of the world but they are glad to embrace and use what they can afford. Many Phnom Penh residents know too well that they were left behind some other nations in the region in terms of living a trendy life. However, after the rapid change in last couple of years, globalization and the nation's free market has made its effect felt, particularly among those who are living in the urban areas.
Some years earlier, doing business in IT sector was a challenge due to small consumer market and low demand etc. In 1997 when the Internet just arrived in Cambodia, sending a message cost $0.15 per kilobyte(about 150 characters of text). It cost a news reporter US$160 to receive an email with a 400K graphic file attachment from his friend at that time.
In early 2003, the Asia Foundation partnered with USAID and Microsoft and established a network of Community Information Centers in 22 provinces and municipalities across Cambodia. The Internet-enabled Information Centers across the country provided greater access to news and information for provincial citizens. And that led to the first-ever blogging training in some provinces of this small South East Asian nation.
A practice session after an Introduction to Blogging workshop at a computer lab of Pannasastra University of Cambodia. Image from Chantra's Flickr.
Following the first large-scale effort to bridge the digital divide through the establishment of Community Information Centres, on April 24, GTZ (the German Technical Cooperation) working in collaboration with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the German software firm net-Com AG and the Royal Government of Cambodia launched two Khmer-language web sites. The sites provide business information on Siem Reap, the country's most popular tourist destination and Battambang, the second-largest city of Cambodia. The sites also hope to offer local citizens useful information on the work and organisation of the district administration. Other offering is the One Window Service Office that includes services like fees, processing times, downloadable forms, etc. The site also serve as a source of information for local and foreign visitors and investors. Local businessmen can advertise on the site to increase visibility and to develop new clients.
Several key players are creating new markets with the support of government agencies. In April, Phnom Penh hosted the Digital & Electronics World Expo 2007. This event was supported by the Office of the Council of Ministers, Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication, Ministry of Commerce Phnom Penh, Municipality of Phnom Penh, and Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of Cambodia. The three-day event saw resellers, distributors, and dealers of big-names brads promoting their products to a large number of potential users.
Last year the country also saw the arrival of WiMAX, a broadband wireless service. Media Ring, a Singapore-based VoIP company, officially launched its Angkor Net ISP in Cambodia. Angkor Net is the first ISP in the country to offer WiMAX wireless broadband services. WIMAX allows the new-startup Internet Service Provider to offer broadband internet speeds without installing telecoms infrastructure.
In many Phnom Penh Internet cafés one can find foreign tourists behind flat screen monitors and sitting next to them are Cambodian university students spending half a dollar for an hour for the net access. The next big thing for many Phnom Penhers is probably accessing internet at home.
As part of its Information and Communication Technologies policy, the Cambodian government hopes to embrace and exploit ICTs to increase the quality of peoples' lives and also to fight poverty, disease and illiteracy in the country.
6 comments · »»Korea: On Parents' Love, Power and Money
· 17:14
One Korean chaebol (head of a conglomerate) apparently watches too many Hong Kong and Korean gangster films. The CEO of Hanwha, one of the ten biggest companies in South Korea, was questioned recently by police about an alleged revenge attack for injuries inflicted upon his son, who studies in the U.S. and had returned to Korea for a while. The CEO, Kim Seung-youn, must have been upset to see his son injured to the point of requiring 11 stitches, as any parent would be. In seeking retribution, however, he may have gone too far. Kim Seung-youn hired gangsters in order to seek revenge on the people who beat his son. The businessman is also suspected of having participated directly in the attack, although he denies it. His status as a wealthy and powerful man, as a father who dotes on his son and the role of the intensely competitive media have raised several issues for ordinary Koreans.
Blogger Baram8 criticizes the media and tries to understand Kim Seung-youn as a father:
제 생각에는 김승연 회장이 재벌이란 이유로 너무 지나친 비난을 받고 있다고 생각합니다.
사실 문제의 원인은 김승연 회장의 아들을 폭행한 그 종업원들에게 있지 않나요?
그들은 말이 종업원이지 북창동 깡패 내지는 조폭이라고 생각합니다.
사람을 8명이서 패서 10바늘 꿰메게 만들고, 억울하면 북창동으로 찾아오라고 명함을 줬다는데…힘없는 서민이 그런 일 당했으면 어디 겁나서 찾아가거나 경찰에 신고나 했겠습니까?
그나마 힘있는 사람이니 그렇게라도 아들 복수를 해준거지요. (물론 그게 옳은 행동은 아니었지만,)
경찰에 고발 조치를 했어야 옳았다고 생각하지만, 한편으로 저는 속 시원하게 복수했다고 생각합니다.그리고 언론은 그 종업원 8명이 처음에 김승연 아들을 폭행한 것은 거의 다루지도 않더군요.
오직 김승연 회장이 직접 때렸나 안때렸나에만 초점이 잡힌 듯 합니다.
기자들은 건수하나 제대로 잡은 듯이 이슈화에 혈안이군요.여러분들은 어떻게 생각하세요?
Bloggers like Coolcat are discussing how a simple fight turned into a big deal over time:
재벌 폭행 사건 처음 듣고 어느 그룹인지 졸라 궁금해 함..
다음날 출근하자 인터넷 뒤져보고 한화 임을 알게 됨.. 김승연 회장이라는 말에 고개가 끄덕여짐.
아들이 맞고 온거 가서 복수해준, 동네에서도 흔히 있는 일이라서 재밌다고만 생각 함.
북창동 건너편에서 근무 했던바 북창동을 아는데 거기 종업원이 재벌 2세들 노는 룸살롱에서 같이 술먹는 거 보고 놀랐음.
내용이 심각 하게 돌아감.
카더라 통신에 북창동 종업원이 조폭이라는 설이 나돌음. 이제야 말이 된다고 생각.. 업소 관리 하던 조폭이 청담동 갔다가 싸가지 없는 재벌 2세 폭행 한 것으로 생각 함.
갑자기 김승연 회장 동정론으로 급선회… 나도 내자식이 맞고 왔으면 때린놈 가서 두들겨 주고 싶음. 단지 난 힘이 없어서 깨갱 할꺼고 김승연 회장은 힘이 있어 사용 한것으로 생각. 게다가 남들 괴롭히는 조폭들이라고 하니 칭찬해 주고 싶음. 추가적으로 아들은 예일대 다니는 개망나니는 아닌것으로 알려짐.
혹시나 했는데 김회장이 산에 끌고 가서 가죽점퍼 입고 쇠파이프로 때렸다고 함. 영화보다도 더함. 아마 조폭 영화를 너무 많이 본 것 같음.
평범한 서민들만 대리 만족 느낌….. 조폭 쪼가리 한테 대리 복수해준 김회장 한테 박수를… 무소불위 재벌 회장을 폭행죄로 감옥 보내줄 북창동 쪼가리 한테 박수를…
The next day, I got to know it was Hanwha through the internet… It was easy to understand who did it.
I thought ‘the revenge for the son' can happen anywhere easily. I just thought it is an interesting story.
I know about that area, Buk-chang-dong, where his son was beaten because I have been working there. I was surprised that the employees there drink with second generation chaebol kids in the bar.
Suddenly, a simple story turned serious.
Rumor has it that the employees are gansters. Now the story is completely comprehensible. It seems that the gangster in charge of the bar beat the arrogant rich kid.
A sudden increase in comiseration for Kim Seung-youn… I would get revenge on a group of people who beat my son. But I can't do that because I don't have power, but Kim had power. So he used it. In addition, he beat a gangster who harrasses common citizens. I rather compliment Kim. Adding one more thing, his son is not rowdy, but a student at Yale.
As expected, Kim dragged those gansters to the mountain and the thugs he hired beat them with iron pipes. It was said that Kim was wearing a leather jacket. More than in movies. He might have watched way too many gangster movies.
Common citizens felt vicarious satisfaction. Applause to Kim Seung-youn who got revenge on gangsters… Applause to gangsters who will send the omnipotent chaebol to prison.
On the other hand, Kim's action has been interpreted as the ugly face of the capitalism, as in this post from Gsong's Blog:
언론이 좋아하는 소재들을 모두 갖춘 영양식입니다.
돈
폭력
어긋난 부정
음모와 비리
이보다 더 재밌는 소재가 어디 있겠습니까?김승연 회장은 내노라하는 부자임에도 불구하고, 사회의 기본 원칙들을 무시한 죄가 있습니다. 자기를 그렇게 부자로 만들어 준 것이 이 사회일 텐데 일말의 존중은 커녕 법 위에 군림하는 듯한 태도가 문제였지요.
김승연 회장의 둘째 아들 녀석도 참 웃기네요. 예일대를 다니는 것 같았는데, 그 좋은 대학을 갔으면 열심히 공부나 할 것이지 뭐 한다고 다시 교환학생으로 서울대를 온 건지 모르겠습니다. 교환학생이라는 제도의 취지가 유학간 한국학생들의 향수병을 달래주고자 하는 것은 아니지 않나요? 그 녀석을 받아준 서울대 동양사학과도 참 우습군요.
아무튼 오늘 잠깐 뉴스를 보니 김회장은 어제 출두해서 하루종일 자기는 모른다고 잡아떼다 나온 듯 합니다. 조만간 크든 작든 처벌이 내려질 테고, 그와 동시에 김회장의 몸상태는 급속히 악화되어 전에 없던 당뇨라든지 각종 성인병이 발병해서 병원으로 후송되겠지요. 그리고 몇달 뒤면 아무 일 없었던 듯 다시 회장노릇을 할 겝니다.
Bangladesh: Terror attacks from new Al-Qaeda group raise questions
· 15:52
A series of bombs went off at Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong railway stations Tuesday morning from 6:45 AM to 9:30 AM (BDNews24). Only one person was injured in the attack but it created panic in the country. Bangladeshi bloggers are covering this extensively.
Jadid Al-Qaeda, an unknown group believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network has claimed the responsibility with Aluminum plates inscribed with militant slogans found in a crime scene. Journalist Ahmede Hussain has pictures and roundups in his blog Black and Grey. More blogger round ups can be found in “The 3rd world view“, International media reactions in “My dear Bangladesh“.
Shadakalo explains:
Jadid means “New.” The last prominent group of “Jadids” existed in the late 1880 in the Russian empire and were known as reformers. Whatever these Jadids are, they are singing the old song of death to NGOs and Quadianis slogans. Large flat metal disks carried these warnings in Bangla: “If Hazrat Mohammad is not declared the superman of the world by May 10, all non-governmental organizations will be blown up.”
Rajputro on why they have picked the May Day for the attack:
Many Bangladeshis were traveling out of Dhaka taking advantage of a two-day public holiday for May Day and a Buddhist religious festival on Wednesday.
However there was only one injury and no casualty. It seems the aim of militants was to make a statement rather than killing a lot of people.
Shadakalo raises some questions:
1) The plates were signed in English –”The Al-Qaeda Network”. Why just this bit in English? Someone specifically trying to draw the attention of the foreign press?
2) Did someone think its time to scare the country a bit and pave the path towards martial law?
Drishtipat Blog reports that the news came very slowly to Bangladeshis because this was a holiday, and people were not checking the news. The Blog asks some pertinent questions:
What Kind of terrorist unit inscribes message on aluminum plate? Did they do it at home, or in a shop? If in a shop, isn’t there high chance of discovery? My theory, once again Bangladesh being used as a chess board for puppet masters. Who benefits?
Dhaka blog has chronological updates and warns:
Before we blame “foreign interests”, it's much more productive to look ourselves in the mirror and ask: what are we doing wrong? These blasts are at best gimmicks. A sort of publicity stunt for a very dangerous message.
Expat Blogger Gabrielle comments:
Unfortunately these kind of incidents are not that uncommon in this part of the world and life moves on as usual.
‘My thoughts and Ideas' asserts:
1 comment · »»The Caretaker Government of Bangladesh cannot afford to ignore this alarming and most serious crisis. They must take concrete actions against the militancy. We need a “Zero Tolerance- No Excuse Policy” against militancy.
Zimbabwe: more arrests, regional neglect, and Western duplicity
· 12:44
Zimbabwe's bloggers have a wealth of information on the week that was in the troubled southern African country. There are reports of more arrests and torture, an emergency monetary policy statement, and an indepth look at the myopic bigotry of some in the West with regard to Mugabe. First, a look at how South Africa's increasingly complicit role in Zimbabwe's crisis came back under the spotlight last week. This is Zimbabwe explains that it emerged that South Africa's national broadcaster SABC, is preventing its employees from accessing the web site of the independent Zimbabwean radio station SW Radio Africa:
Remember Snuki Zakalala, the Managing Director of SABC News and Current Affairs? The guy who has a problem with voices critical of Mugabe and Zanu PF policies..? Snuki Zakalala is the man who implemented an informal policy at the SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) to blacklist several highly credible commentators on the crisis in Zimbabwe, including Archbishop Pius Ncube, Moeletsi Mbeki, Trevor Ncube and Elinor Sisulu. This was an action that would have resulted in South Africans being deprived of full coverage of events in our country.
Well, this same man announced last week that the SABC would be opening a bureau in Zimbabwe. He commented, “We felt that it is important to have a presence here so that we cover the true Zimbabwean story”. Note the inclusion of the word ‘true‘, which in itself implies that the news currently coming out of Zimbabwe is a lie.
SW Radio Africa's transmission into Zimbabwe are currently being interfered with by the Zimbabwean government. Apparently, progressive South Africa deems it fit to follow in the repressive footsteps of their neighbors to the north. So much for press freedom in South Africa.
Power to the people protest
The famous Women of Zimbabwe Arize (WOZA) held an unannounced “Power to the people” sit in protest at the local offices of power utility Zimbabwe Electric Supply Authority (ZESA):
WOZA members assembled at eight different ZESA offices - Pumula, Mpopoma, Entumbane, Tshabalala, Magwegwe, Nkulumane, Nketa 6 and Luveve – holding simultaneous ‘tough love’ protests. Over 500 members from 16 different areas of Bulawayo took part in the community-level protests.
The protests at Magwegwe, Entumbane, Nketa 6 and Mpopoma took place without incident and the participants were able to disperse before police arrived. At Pumula, approximately 70 members as they were dispersing (the police station is next door to the ZESA office.) They were taken to Pumula Police Station before being transferred to Bulawayo Central Station.
At Luveve, members had protested and were beginning to disperse when police arrested people some distance away from the ZESA office, as they were catching transport back to their homes. Approximately 20 people are being held at Luveve Police Station.
At Nkulumane, nine people were arrested at the ZESA offices and are being held at Tshabalala Police station. Lawyers have been called and are trying to get access to those arrested.
The protests signify the launch of the ‘power to the people’ by March 2008 campaign. Today’s protests began with members queuing up as the offices made to open. They then marched in and handed over protest notes and either sat or stood inside and outside the offices until addressed.
In Luveve and Entumbane, officials attempted to divert the protesters by saying someone was coming to address them whilst making hasty calls to the police station. In Nkulumane, nine members were loaded into a cream Nissan pick-up, registration 846-101 Z by plain-clothed officers.
Those who were arrested, some of them with babies, were tortured and denied access to their lawyers while in police custody:
Three of the 56 members arrested in Harare on Monday have been hospitalised following the beatings they received in custody by Law and Order officers in Harare Central Police Station. Almost all of the 56 required medical treatment. The baby received medical attention but was not hospitalised. It also appears that some injuries were received when one of officers involved walked all over the members as they were lying face down on the floor.
Don't come back to Zimbabwe, traveling on a “chicken bus”
Taurai Maduna at Kubatana relates the pressure that Zimbabwean young professionals face to leave the country:
I’ve just received a reply to an email I sent to a friend informing them that I had been offered a fellowship to study at the prestigious Radio Netherlands Training Centre (RNTC).
All he said was good luck in your studies and don’t come back until there is CHANGE. He added ‘find something else to do there to kill time’.
I just laughed off his suggestion and I wondered how do you kill time in Amsterdam after you have over stayed?
In June last year, I spent a week in Amsterdam where I was taking part in a seminar called Expression Under Repression organised by Hivos. Before my return home, I took a stroll in the city famous for it’s ‘red light district’. I met a guy from Sierra Leone, at first I thought he wanted to con me, but then I realised he was just trying to be friendly.
He told me about his wife and three kids and how he was struggling to get his asylum papers in order. He said his main challenge was the Dutch language as he was supposed to be fluent if he was to pass the integration test. This guy had been there for over four years.
My ‘guide’ then asked me if I was planning to return to Zimbabwe. I told him yes, I’m going back. He was dejected probably wondering how stupid I was not to stay.
Meanwhile Natasha, who took an urgent trip on a “chicken bus”, describes the experience:
From the back of the bus a loud, desperate voice started singing something that sounded gospel. The voice belonged to a disheveled blind woman being led by a similar looking girl most certainly less than 10 years old. The two were struggling to make their way to the front of the bus, begging each passenger for money.
When the pair got to me, I heard the young girl whisper to her mother, “apa pane murungu, ndotaura sei?”- translated loosely - “here is a white person, how do I communicate with her?” I got offended not at being called white, but at her failure to realize I was just a light skinned person who is one of them. While I’m better dressed, the fact that I was also in this bus that’s cheap indicates that I’m also struggling, just like them.
Slowly I began to subconsciously direct my anger elsewhere: towards the forces that have reduced most of our people to dirty beggars; towards the egotistical few that have enriched themselves and destroyed our economy making sure everyone else lives below the poverty datum line. I looked around the bus and thought - these are the real Zimbabweans, and among them were the real freedom fighters who ought to be the ones crying out - “We fought for this country!” Yet they are the very ones who occupy the bottom rung of society.
Threats by Western Universities under scrutiny
In “Mugabe, the West, and 'servile' Zimbabweans,” Zimpundit scrutinizes the integrity of threats by western universities to rescind Mugabe's honorary degrees:
6 comments · »»What doesn't make sense is for people, you know who you are, who now claim to have always seen through Mugabe's facade yet they said nothing when he was celebrated as Africa's greatest statesman through the 80's and 90's, to now want to distance themselves from any indication that they too, where once enamored by him.
It will always remain a mystery to me exactly what grounds these pseudo-critics of Mugabe base their attacks on him, and even worse on people like myself who are only exercising our prerogative when we say this: Fact; the quality of life of many of my countrymen improved drastically immediately after independence in 1980. Besides if they were really about democracy and freedom of expression, who are they to deny the opinion held my many Zimbabweans? Isn't that what democracy is all about; “E Pluribus Unum.”
Japan: Bloggers cry foul over plans for Henoko Bay
· 11:17
Okinawa, Japan's southernmost prefecture, consists of some 160 islands in an archipelago stretching from Kyuushuu to Taiwan. Historically part of a distinct nation called the Ryuukyuu Kingdom, Okinawa only became a Japanese prefecture in 1879. Its people, the poorest in Japan, have struggled over the years to find a place for themselves in their new country, facing persistent discrimination from their post-war American occupiers as well as from their mainland Japanese countrypeople.
For many decades, Okinawa has borne the brunt of the post-war military burden, having been seized and occupied by American forces immediately following the end of World War Two and only finally (nominally) returned to Japanese rule in 1972. Following the Battle of Okinawa, in which 200,000 soldiers and civilians — including one quarter of the prefecture's total population — lost their lives, Okinawa was turned into an extended military complex for American forces and made to house numerous bases, espionage centres, and estates for American families. While taking up only 0.6% of the area of the entire country, Okinawa hosts 75% of all American military bases in Japan (occupying 20% of the prefecture's entire territory), a lasting testament — given widespread opposition to such bases across Japan — to the continuing marginalization of the Okinawan people.
The latest chapter in the ongoing tale of America's military presence in Okinawa involves a plan to construct a new military airport in Henoko Bay, a plan which has been opposed fiercely by local residents and environmentalist groups. Last week, officials gave the go-ahead for a preliminary survey, a move which angered many people in the area, notably bloggers actively involved in nonviolent protests and sit-ins.
Blogger nesupa writes:
久しぶりに県への抗議行動に参加した。
辺野古基地新設に伴う海域調査を防衛施設庁が強行してきた。そもそもこのような調査は環境アセスメント法によって行なわねばならない。それなのに事前調査と称して調査を行なおうとしている。順序が逆だ。言葉は事前調査をしてそのデータをアセスで使うと件の土木部長が発言しているが、アセスはそれらのデータを求める為にどのような調査をするのか、という段階から始めなければならない。順所が逆だ。
The Defence Facilities Administration has forced through an investigation of the waters at Henoko Bay to accompany the construction of a new military base. From the start, this type of investigation requires by law an environmental assessment before it can proceed. Despite this, under the name of a preliminary survey, they are trying to go ahead with this investigation. The procedure is the wrong way around. The head of the civil engineering division involved in the matter is declaring that they will use the data from what they are calling a preliminary survey in the [environmental] assessment. In fact, however, the first step should be for the assessment to specify what kind of investigation should be carried out to collect this data. The procedure is the other way around.
国は着工を急ぎたいが為に事前調査と如何にもよい事をしているかのごとく振る舞っているが、法の趣旨に反している。このようなことは新石垣空港でも行なわれている、だから問題をより大きくするのだ。法に則って行政を進めなければ問題が起きて泥沼になるのは過去の例から見て必至である。
国は強権で突破でき、県民世論は捻じ伏せられると考えているだろうが、力で押さえられないものもあるのだ。成田空港を見てみろ、もう40年を越えるのに未だに建設の第一歩のボタンの掛け違いが尾を引いている。その時はどうにか辻褄を合わせてもシコリは何時までも残り事を複雑にするだけだ。 甘く見てはイケマセン。
原発を見て御覧なさい。建設するための公聴会は機動隊に守られてアリバイ作り的に行なわれた、それも反対派を締め出して。近頃ボロボロ出てくる事故隠しはそういう状況で住民無視して建設を強行したことの結果なのだ。
アンゼンだ、事故は起こらないと強弁した結果、事故が起きてもアリマセンとしか言えないのだ。言い訳はありえないミス・事故でした、でしかない。100％アリマセンなんて事はあり得ない、せめてコンマ1%程度はあります、と説明してその際はこういう措置をとるので大丈夫ですと言うべきだった。
政府による今回の辺野古のアセス無視の行動は、近い将来何らかの不都合を生じる原因になるだろう。
The actions of the government in ignoring at this time the assessment for Henoko Bay will probably result in problems in the near future.
私は反対運動に参加している、役割はアタマ数の一人と思っている。その他大勢の部類だが交渉で交わされる発言を聞いていて、県は国の言いなりになるな、もっと主体性を持って政府に当たれと思う。
法律を捻じ曲げてまで基地新設を急ぐな、そんなに金が欲しければ金とリンクした基地新設だが金の持ち逃げ、国から金だけを取って基地を造らない方策を考えなさい。オレオレ詐欺のようにフリをせよ、と言いたい。
Don't manipulate the law to hurry the construction process. It's true that there is a lot of money tied to this construction project. But if you want money that badly, then think about ways to get away with the money, in other words take the money for construction from the national government but never actually build the base. What I'm saying is, trick them the way that telephone scam operators trick old people.
騙されたフリをして騙そうよ、クニを。(笑)
Another blogger at Kichi Kensetsu Soshi (Stop construction of the base) gives more detail on actions against government forces, comments on Prime Minister Abe's involvement, and wonders about the mindset of the divers carrying out the investigations:
4/25夜までの情報です。今日も現況調査が繰り返されました。堂々としたアセス法違反です。阻止行動はカヌー8艇、船2隻、ダイバー3人で行ないました。施設局側が出して来た船も人数もあまりに多いため、1ヶ所については作業を阻止しました。何隻ものゴムボートで一艇のカヌーを取り囲んだり、動きを封鎖したりされたようですが、平和のための行動を止めることは出来ません。
今回の大量動員は作業着手というアリバイがどうしても欲しい施設局の焦りだと考えます。安倍さんの訪米に合わせての手みやげ程度の思いなのでしょう。腹立たしい限りです。またあちこちで憲法改「正」に意欲的なところを見せていて、手続きも進めて行く意志を露にしています。小泉さんを遥かに凌駕する暴君ぶりです。
昨日も今日施設局に雇われて、作業で潜ったダイバーたちはこの海が埋め立ての危機に瀕していることをどう考えているのでしょうか。目を見張るほどの綺麗な海に潜って、海に関わる仕事をしているダイバーとして、１人の人間としてどう思っているのでしょうか。是非聞いてみたいものです。それともお金のためならば何でも有りなのでしょうか。明日も作業は続くと思われます。とにかく集まって傍若無人な日本の真実の姿を目撃し、阻止行動に加わってください。カヌーが漕げなくても、船から写真やビデオを撮るだけでも目撃者としての役割を果たせます。是非集まってください。
昨日の全国メディアのニュースはこぞって情けない取り上げ方しか出来ていませんでした。どんな圧力が加えられているのでしょうか。マスコミや各方面に脅しで圧力をかけて政策を推し進めるという国が、本当に自由で美しいといえるのでしょうか。本当に情けないです。辺野古の海を、沖縄の海をこれ以上絶対に汚さないことが本当の意味で「美しい国」と言えるのではないでしょうか。
Blogger Youko writes about the failure of mainstream media to cover the Henoko Bay issue and describes her own eyewitness experience of government hostility at protests and sit-ins:
今回の調査強行を批判する力が、県内二紙をはじめとする沖縄のメディアには明らかに欠けていると思う。
大きなメディアがあてにならないときには、自分たちで小さなメディアを作って発信していくしかないのだ。
At times like this, when major media is not reliable, we have no choice but to set up our own small-scale media and start broadcasting the message ourselves.
辺野古、という空間に、なんら共同性を持たない人々が集い、座りこむという非暴力・直接行動で権力に抵抗し、基地の建設を阻み続けている。
その行為が、「反対派による阻止行動」という言葉だけでくくられてしまっていいはずがない、と思う。
むしろ、非暴力で座り込む市民を「警戒」し、機動隊を動員し、威嚇し続け、はては逮捕までやってのけた権力の側が厳しく問われるべきではないのか。
On the contrary, serious questions should be directed to the government over its use of state power, which it has used to send “warnings”, to mobilize riot police, to continuously intimidate and even go as far as arresting the local citizens participating in non-violent sit-ins.
出来事の参加者、目撃者となることは、その出来事を誰かに手渡す可能性を生み出すことだ。
そして、中立を装いながら体制に与するメディアに抵抗することだ。
Turkey is Typing….Is Turkey Heading for Another Coup?
· 07:55
Increased tensions over the Turkish presidential elections result in more protests and even statements from the military alluding to a possible coup if the current Presidential candidate Abdullah Gul becomes elected. What is a country to do? As many of the Turkish bloggers point out, sit by their televisions and watch. Watch the elections proceedings, watch the film footage of the protests in Istanbul, watch for the signs of the change to come. This week's Turkey is Typing focuses on the waiting of the Turkish people; waiting for the future.
The Elections
Erkan's Field Diary talks about the media coverage of the Turkish presidential elections:
An unlikely time for high ratings but it is an extraordinary moment. After the last night's media event, that is BJK-FB derby, here comes another media event: People in the middle of a Friday stuck to their TV sets and watch the live coverage of presidential election sessions in the Turkish Parliament.
According to what I hear from the concerned parties 367 vs. 184 struggle is a lost one from the outset legal-technical-wise. Main opposition party (CHP) claims that there must be at least 367 MPs to start the session but the governing party insists on 184. They base their arguments on some constitutional articles but according what I understand the latter is right.
In Turkey, the President is not elected by the people but by the Parliament. And the current ruling party has been known to have Islamic leanings in their government style which does not fit too well with political parties with a more secular approach. One way to boycott the choice of Presidential candidate was for members of Parliament to simply not show up for the first round of elections so that the legality of the election could be contested. Mavi Boncuk gives information on just how long the legal process could take on contesting the elections:
Constitutional Court President Tülay Tuğcu earlier said if an application to call off the presidential election was made to the court it would take only a couple of days to issue a ruling. However Deputy President Haşim Kılıç stated in a recent declaration that the court might need more time in order to give its members and rapporteurs the opportunity to examine the situation in detail.
Kılıç said according to the law their rapporteurs had the right to request up to a month to examine parliamentary bylaws and related constitutional provisions to decide whether the number of deputies who participated in the voting session was adequate.
Talk Turkey illuminates us on the process of the elections and gives an excellent example of the what the elections in Turkey are like in comparison.
Imagine a vacancy occurs in the Supreme Court. Also imagine it is a few months before the Presidential elections. Imagine that the ‘lame duck' President nominates a replacement justice. Then imagine the opposition party threatens to boycott the nomination process and asks for the presidential race to be moved up. The reason: the political leaning of the country may have changed since the last election to favor the opposition. Therefore, any appointment should be considered based on the new election's outcome and the thereby the will of the people.
In reality, Senators are elected every six years, Representatives every two years, And Presidents every four years. It's called checks and balances. Those are the rules of the game and they're not changed if the outcome doesn't look good for the home team during mathematical oddities.
The ‘imagine' scenario above is playing out in Turkey right now. The general elections are a few months away. Although highly unlikely, a large numbers of seats may shift between the governing and opposition parties. The last general election was five years ago. But the current president's seven-year term ends on May 16. (The president is elected by the Congress.) And accordingly, a replacement candidate has been introduced by the current majority party.
The Protests
Lacking the ability to directly comment on the Presidential elections, the Turkish people took to the streets. Many bloggers gave accounts of the protests, from Me and Others describing the people watching to Istanbul Street Style covering the fashion choices of the participants. Idil who writes for Ignore Me If You Can and Metroblogging:Istanbul gave the most complete coverage of the protests, describing the day as “the most powerful event of my life”. If you get a chance I highly recommend looking at her Metroblogging:Istanbul post, it has a nice narrative of the protest march and an unusual editor's note:
I realize some might feel the need to comment negatively regarding the actual rally/protest. This isn't the medium for it. What you find here is an account of the day. My day. I tried to explain what happened the best I could because it was a historical day for Turkey, it was the biggest rally in the history of this republic and is a day to remember.
If you're going to go all political and negative on me, please do not bother. Thank you for your attention :)
The Coup?
In the course of Turkey's history, the Military has intervened in cases where it has felt that the government has not gone the way “it should”, Talk Turkey described the military generals as the “the protectors of 'secularism”. Regardless of what your view of Turkish history is, there is a real danger of the Turkish military intervening in the Turkish Presidential elections as Mavi Boncuk illustrates:
The military issued a memorandum-like statement saying that Islamic reactionary activities were expanding in scope and vowing that it would fulfill its “lawful duties” to protect the state. The statement came on Friday night, hours after Parliament held the first round of the presidential election. In a statement released late on Friday night, the General Staff says it is following with ‘concern' the debate over secular system in the presidential elections and would ‘openly display its position and attitudes when it becomes necessary'
In a statement posted on its Web site, the General Staff said it was following with “concern” the debate over Turkey's secular system in the presidential elections and would “openly display its position and attitudes when it becomes necessary.”
What does this mean for Democracy?
Athanasia's Daily while stating that it is the democratic thing to do for the protests in Istanbul to happen, cautions that the situation in Turkey could take a “dangerous” turn:
So no one knows what will happen. But it is obvious that a large amount of people is definitely do not want to see a president whose wife's wears turban and who has anti-secularist tendencies whereas AKP argues that it is their democratic right to elect the president. Tomorrow there will be another meeting in Çağlayan, Istanbul to protest AKP and their insisting policies on presidential elections.
It seems like Turkey is about to divide into two as secularists and Islamists. Do I need to say that I dont like this and think that it is dangerous?
Erkan's Field Diary had an interesting interpretation of the results of the protests in Istanbul:
Militarist-Secularist-Leftists to rally in Istanbul, said JTW news and at the level of organizers, I would certainly agree with this observation. At the level of lay participants, I tend to think that this is a progressive act towards democratizations. Most of those 1 million attendants desired a military coup and in this sense they have nothing to do with the progress of democratic rights in this country. But most of them so far relied on state institutions and had never thought of taking to streets and acting instances of direct democracy.
And Talk Turkey weighs in on the lack of democratic ideals in a military coup:
According to this morning's reports, the main opposition leader ‘Mr. Baykal' says the country will be going down a dangerous path if the Constitutional Court does not cancel the Presidential election and force early general elections. I wonder what the opposite would lead to. I wonder if Turkey is not going down a dangerous path already. And I also wonder if thousands of people will sit by silently if the court and the generals ‘elect' to cancel democracy. By the way, isn't Baykal suggesting or ‘influencing' the court by his ‘vicious' statements. I mean isn't he the one responsible for this mess in a way anyway? What has he been doing the past five years? Waiting for this opportunity I guess.
What is in store for Turkey? Your guess is as good as mine, and feel free to comment here as to what you think will happen. As for me….I think that I will be like the majority of Turks and take a wait and see attitude.
3 comments · »»Labouring in Qatar
· 07:10
Like many of the Gulf States, Qatar is heavily dependent of foreign expatriate workforce to help fuels its growth. Demographically, Qataris make up less than 25% of the 800,000 people living in the country, with the remaining 600,000 or so people being expats or children. With a reported per capita income of $62,914 in Qatar, the country is clearly doing very well. Skilled expatriates usually negotiate healthy tax free salaries while many unskilled labourers come out with enough to send back to their families. Unfortunately, large numbers of foreign labourers are still having a tough time. From non-payment to abandonment, the plight and rights of these labourers is a topic that has been making the rounds in the Qatari Blogosphere.
Marjorie previously blogged about the sponsorship system that governs expats when visiting a safe house for stranded workers:
Stranded workers are workers whose sponsors (i.e., employers) have abandoned them in one way or another. For those of us who are expatriate workers in Qatar, our employers have a much larger role in our lives than they would in the States. Your employer isn't just the person who hires you and pays you; they also provide your housing and possibly your food and, most importantly, they are your gateway to government services. When you first arrive in Qatar, it is your sponsor who gets you a valid visa and residency permit; when you leave, it is your sponsor who gets you an exit visa and a plane ticket home. So workers who have been abandoned by their employers are not just unemployed; they also become illegal immigrants. They can't legally get new jobs, and technically shouldn't still be in the country. Yet, even if they want to leave, they can't get an exit visa, let alone afford to fly home!
This week she was elated when blogging about a recent Migrant Workers Symposium that is being held in the Gulf since
…the issue of sponsorship was raised, with one Kuwaiti arguing that the government, rather than companies or individuals, ought to sponsor migrant workers. I think that the current sponsorship system is responsible for much of the injustice against migrant workers in Qatar, so that was exciting to hear.
Meanwhile, Cornellian, a medical student in Qatar, shared her first hand experience at a Medical Camp that was held to provide basic check-ups and health education to foreign labourers. She called it a “reality check” as she had never dealt the manual labourers in Qatar:
I went to my booth and waited for people to approach so I can start explaining stuff. Slowly people started approaching and my first thought was “Oh God!”. I know it was cruel of me, but I mean after being in Qatar for this long, you tend to avoid low-class workers. But I had to face them if I wanted to be a proper doctor, my mission was to help people regardless of who they were. And so I did.
As I started talking to more people, they started telling me about their pains, asking for advice, talking about Qatar, their life here, family, and slowly I started learning more about them. And then it hit me…
They weren't just workers. They were dads, sons, and brothers. They face problems everyday, they face a life that I could never imagine living. They face abuse and poverty, that I could never bare. More importantly, they wanted to learn. I felt like they were clinging on to my words, listening intentively, asking questions, wanting to now more. I was amazed.
Next time you walk down the street and see a bunch of workers, or drive by and see a bus full of them. Don't just look at them as a bunch of workers but see them as individuals who have been through so much and who fight for their survival everyday. These people are much braver than I'll ever be.
Vicente from Camels and Roundabouts tells the story of having to hire domestic help. He covers a few important issues. Firstly, the continual rejection of his wife's application since the system is not set up to deal with women as being a “sponsor” (as opposed to her husband). He contrasts this with his wife's male colleagues who had no problem at all in doing the exact same thing.
Second, he explains why getting domestic help is not just helpful for the family - but for the person they are trying to since :
3 comments · »»…most importantly, we needed Donna’s help for Donna’s sake herself. She is actually Carol’s first cousin. Ten years ago, when Donna was in her third year of BS Therapy at FEU, her father working at Saudi Arabia was intentionally run over by a speeding car. He was crossing a street and signalled at an approaching car to slow down. According to witnesses, the driver must have misinterpreted the hand signal as a bad sign and so deliberately bumped him. At first, only the side mirror hit Donna’s father. He could have survived. But, the car came back and ran over him killing him instantly. The rich driver went scotch free because nobody was willing to testify. The murder shattered Donna’s dream of ever finishing her education. Then, early last year, her mother also died after a long bout with breast cancer. Since the death of his father, Donna had stopped studying and had been trying to help the family by doing odd jobs everywhere. Before coming here she was working in a pharmacy at Pampanga from 7AM to 7 PM, six days a week, with a monthly salary of US$50.
…
[now] Donna herself is doing fine. Her monthly US$600 salary is net savings for her. She can now plan for the future.
Morocco: Naming laws, springtime quiet and Sufi music
· 07:04
The Moroccan blogosphere was suspiciously quiet this week as temperatures rose and sandals came out of hiding. Everything Morocco explained the spring phenomenon in Fez, describing its wonderful seasonal foods:
There are a lot of reasons to love Spring in Fez. Fava beans - Moroccan cooks make a special couscous when fava beans are fresh and abundant. The couscous grain is larger and darker than the standard couscous and the dish has a rich, subtle flavor with just a bit of meat added to it. Beqola - this ‘weed' salad may be an acquired taste, but I think it falls in the category of soul food. It's the kind of food you crave when it's not around anymore.
Springtime in Morocco also brings tourists. Maryam of My Marrakesh discusses springtime fashion in Morocco, meanwhile giving good advice to tourists on how to dress. She mentions the Moroccan djellaba, describing it as “the long Moroccan hooded robe reminiscent of Star Wars. (Ahem, the film stole its stylistic inspiration from Morocco and not the other way around.)” Her advice to foreigners (”Short shorts and short skirts really are not appropriate daywear”) sparked a bit of debate from Moroccan blogger Amine of Label Ash:
Is the “to the knee” rule not too… excessive? :-)
Whether in Marrakesh, Casablanca, Rabat, you find girls and ladies walking in the street wearing shorts, and they are not necessary on their way to the beach or the swimming pool…
That's the heterogeneity of Morocco: you can find women with scarves (… grrr) but also very pretty girls wearing clothes and you would see them in any Western Country…
Even more as a tip for foreigners, I trust Moroccans tolerate more the “Western style” without any prejudice…
Am I wrong?
Taamarbuuta of The Morocco Report wrote a short commentary on an article entitled “Netherlands: Moroccan babies get only names approved by Morocco” from the Islam in Europe blog which stated that Dutch municipalities give new Moroccan parents a list of names approved by the Moroccan government when they want to register a birth.
Francophone blogger Ibn Kafka responded in the comments of the post that there are loopholes to the naming process:
For the sake of example, you may perfectly give your child Dutch names when registering him with Dutch authorities, and Arab names when registering him/her with the Moroccan consulate. Even better, you might give him/her dual names, i.e. a Moroccan name and a Dutch name - while the Dutch authorities would register both, the Moroccan authorities would be perfectly content to register the child under his Moroccan name.
BO18 countered, stating that “the consulate in Amsterdam won’t register your child until you have registered it at your local Dutch city-council. And they won’t register your child if the Dutch certificate doesn’t state a “Muslim” name. It's therefore almost impossible for Moroccan parents to register their child in both countries with a non-Muslim name.”
The last noteworthy piece this week is a post from The View From Fez chronicling the opening night of the Sufi Festival of Fez in photographs. The View's Samir lauds the festival, saying “All the extraordinary contradictions that one expects in Fez were there - musicians in suits, tinkling fountains, a robed man dispensing orange-flower water on the hands of the guests and everything working like clockwork!”
2 comments · »»Vietnam Bloggers Crash the Linguistic Divide
· 03:05
Ironically bloggers like Joe's Blog and Vietnamese God put the lie to the idea of a single blogosphere, a unified world of blogs that spans the globe. Yes, blogs have become a global phenomenon, but studies show increasingly that there are multiple blogospheres defined by culture, language and different technologies. Far too often these worlds are distinct solitudes operating in parallel.
Such is certainly the case with the Vietnamese blogospheres - there are least two: the expatriate and the Vietnamese. These two worlds would probably be completely unaware of each other's existence even if they were being written from the same internet cafes. A typical Vietnam blogroll makes this more than clear.
The Vietnam expat blogs have their stars - their Noodlepies, Antidote to Burnouts and its OMIHs. These blogs come and go as do the expats that write them. (I was one too!)
Then there are Vietnamese-language blogs. Unfortunately I could not give a competent blogroll for predictable linguistic reasons. The non-Vietnamese speaker has little access to this world. Occasionally it is possible to catch glimpses of it. For instance, last November a story appeared in English-language news sources about how the old Saigon-Hanoi rivalry erupted into a blog war when a Saigonese blogger slagged the capital in her blog. Clearly Vietnamese bloggers are alive and well.
The obvious reason the Vietnamese-language blogosphere is off the radar for most expats is language. Technology probably also plays a role. Vietnamese bloggers tend to use Yahoo 360 rather than platforms like Blogger or Typepad. And Vietnamese Yahoo 360 blogs do not generally get crawled by directories like Technorati.
Despite the distinctness of these blogospheres some bloggers, such as Joe Ruelle and Vietnamese God, are able to reach across the linguistic and technological divide.
Vietnamese God is one of the more prominent Vietnamese bloggers writing in English for an expat and foreign audience. Tu Van Cong is originally from Nha Trang but relocated to Ha Noi. He writes a good deal about food (he's in the hospitality business after all) but he also covers a mixed bag of other topics, everything from urban developments to nightlife to local customs. (On occasion he has written for Global Voices too.)
If it's rare to find Vietnamese blogging in English, it's even rarer to find expats writing in Vietnamese. Joe Ruelle's blog is very likely the only blog of its kind, and the novelty of it has made him something of a celebrity in Vietnam. In fact he has been called one of the “best known bloggers in Vietnam”, and most of his entries receive several hundred comments each. One entry even hit the high water mark of 8000+ comments. Apparently it is partly his use of local slang and other colloquialisms that have made him a big hit. And what does he write about? In a recent interview in the Canadian Embassy's newsletter he describes his blog as “a potpourri of whimsical observations”. “I do put a lot of effort into choosing topics that only a person in my position could write about, and I think that appeals to people’s curiosity.”
Duong Lam Anh is another blogger who breaks the mold since his blog alternates between English and Vietnamese entries. Lam Anh is a bridge blogger in the true sense. His hometown is Hue, Vietnam but he has also lived and studied in the United States and seeks to interpret his Vietnam for a Western audience, while interpreting American culture for his Vietnamese readers.
Bloggers like these help break down the barriers between the linguistic and culture divides that separate the various blogospheres in Vietnam. If the immense popularity of Ruelle's blog is any indication, it would seem there is an appetite for the perspective of those who can bridge the gaps between expatriats and local Vietnamese.
2 comments · »»
Links for Roundups
South Asia
The Indian Economy Blog on why Micro Finance Institutions are successful despite high rates of interest. “So, even with these kind of rates, why do people still go to MFI’s? One, because the alternative, the village money lender typically charges a much larger interest rate. Second, the MFI is a more friendly “social” institution. It is a place that your friends- those who you know on a daily basis - are part of too.”
South Asia
Kafila on fake encounters and people as trophies. “People who had a faint glimmer of hope about Kausar Bi’s whereabouts finally know that she is no more. As the counsel for the Gujarat government himself admitted before the Supreme Court, she was killed, burnt and her ashes were thrown in some field. But it does not throw light on the fact that who killed her ?”
South Asia
Mumbai Magic on a community after seeing it as part of a street name. “I was hanging around, saying goodbye to my guest, when I spotted this road sign - Bhandari Street. I knew that the Bhandaris were among the earliest settlers in Mumbai. Raja Bhimdev, who ruled this area in the 13th century, created a capital city at Mahim (Mahikawati). With him came the Bhandaris. The Bhandaris in Raja Bhimdev's employ were originally toddy tappers. “
South Asia
Visit Bhutan on the Dochula Pass. “Dochula Pass which is the most known pass in the Bhutan is just 30 odd Km drive from the Capital City Thimphu on the way towards central Bhutan. Dochula pass is around 3150 meter from sea level and it's mostly covered with white clouds, where on a clear day you can see spectacular view of the mighty Himalayas mountain ranges.”
South Asia
Transcurrents.com on the alleged funding by two Australia based Tamils. “Two Tamils of Sri Lankan origin currently residing in Australia were arrested and produced in courts on May 1st for allegedly funding the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Two Melbourne residents were produced in courts charged with providing material support and funding to Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers. “
Eastern & Central Europe
On April 26, the 21st anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophy, MoldovAnn talked to Serhiy Mirnyi - “a writer, scientist, and commander of radiation reconnaissance platoon in Chornobyl in 1986.”
East Asia
Fifty Viss is making his readers hungry with a picture laden post on finding Burmese food in the US.
Eastern & Central Europe
MoldovAnn again writes about filming of the Ukrainian-Russian movie she's in: “…I learned that my “husband” now has a name, Jack Brown, and he’s a tanned man in glasses, with a gold Rolex. I also read that Donna (i.e., me) is big, clumsy, with a lot of hair in a braid, with a purse with a peace dove symbol on it, and she looks like an aging hippie. I guess she did pretty well for herself - a fat, hairy, aging hippie who married a guy with a gold Rolex. Only in the movies, eh?”
Eastern & Central Europe
Scraps of Moscow posts a selection of black-and-whites that he submitted to a literary jouranal - many of them are from the former Soviet Union.
Eastern & Central Europe
Scraps of Moscow writes about his first impressions of Transdniestria, recommends a French documentary on arms trafficking by the Transdniestrian de facto government, reports on a recent Transdniestria conflict resolution conference held at Georgetown University - and posts photos of Tiraspol.
Eastern & Central Europe
Darkness at Noon spends May 1 attending various Moscow rallies - and posts a ton of great pictures - here and here: “Having spent the day with the Communists, the nationalists, more nationalists, and even more nationalists, I figured McDonald's would make a sufficiently ironic end to my story. Needless to say, I'm Lovin' It!”
Eastern & Central Europe
Darkness at Noon said good-bye to Boris Yeltsin last week and wrote: “The most touching image of the day was Naina Yeltsina, his wife, gently caressing his hair and kissing his face before saying goodbye at the cemetery. It was a powerful reminder that he was, first of all, a human being.”