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Rising Voices in Sierra Leone and Bangladesh

Rezwan · 23:19

lingua → pt · es

Originally posted on Rising Voices.

Sierra Leone:

The Think Build Change Salone (TBCS) initiative seeks to help rebuild post-civil war Sierra Leone by providing ICT training to young people placed at paid internship positions with local non-profit organizations so that they may gain work experience and contribute to development projects.

In September Vickie Remoe-Doherty, of the Think Build Change Salone, described the challenges she was facing when seeking out young, capable and passionate interns from the capital city, Freetown.

Vickie was finally able to find 14 young leaders to advance the TBCS initiative and you can view their profiles here. They are being placed at various non-profit organizations around Sierra Leone. When they become comfortable with the new media tools, they will start documenting their experiences in those organizations.

The first experience was logged by Kadi Yata Kandeh (26), a third year student of Nutrition & Dietetics at Fourah Bay College with excellent academic records. Last month she posted the profile of her intern organization ‘Mano River Women’s Peace Network (MARWOPNET)’. This month she writes about her experience in the Training of Trainers Workshop at Bo titled “Engendering Conflict Early Warning and Response”. The training advocates women to participate actively and contribute substantially to peace consolidation not only in Sierra Leone but throughout the Mano River Sub-region.

She shares:

“The Workshop was a challenge for me because it was my first workshop on residential (where I had to stay over night), and on Peace Building. I was one of the reporters, so I had to be attentive to all speakers for valuable contributions.”

Korea: Samsung Scandal

Hyejin Kim · 13:25

lingua → es · zhs · zht

Samsung lobbying scandal – the creation of a slush fund, the bribery of prosecutors and government officials, and an effort by the chairman, Lee Kun Hee, and his aide to illegally help his son take over control of Samsung – recently has shaken Korean society and seems to affect the coming presidential election. Three presidential candidates agreed to seek a special prosecutor to investigate alledged bribery and other wrongdoings involving Samsung. The conservative Grand National Party (GNP) wants to look into the money Samsung allegedly gave in 2002 to “congratulate” the current president Roh Moo-hyun’s victory in the presidential election.

Netizens try to guess how much power Samsung really has.

연일 삼성의 뇌물 수수와 비자금 문제로 시끌벅적 하다….삼성이 아니었다면? 진작에 회장 불려가고 난리 났을 거다.

삼성돈 받아 먹은 검사들은 그게 뇌물도 아니라고 생각했을 지도 모른다. 댓가성이 없잖아~ 하면서 말이다. 다들 주는 돈, 안 받으면 뭔가 인정을 못 받은거 같고, 정히 현찰이 부담스러우면 뭐 받을 거 많지 않은가.. 백화점 상품권도 있고 고급 와인도 있고, 마눌님 가져다 드릴 명품도 있고.. 하지만 기자들이 받아 먹던 촌지가 사라지는데, 그 작은 악습 하나 없애는데 이 사회에서 걸린 시간을 본다면 삼성의 거대한 검은 돈은 사라지는데 얼마나 걸릴지 모른다. 아니 어쩌면 안 사라질 수도 있다.

삼성의 돈은 이미 삼권분립으로 상징되는 국가 권력을 능가한지 오래이기 때문이다.

문제는 저 삼성이 노무현의 참여정부와 어떤 관계가 있으며, 그 관계가 어느정도 알려지고, 어떤 효력을 발휘할 것인가 하는 점이다. 삼성은 당연히 청와대를 관리했다. 어떤 관리가 있었는가가 문제이긴 하지만 검찰청 검사들 관리하는 것 보다야 훨씬 더 “잘” 관리했을 것은 불문가지이다….외적으로 알려지고 언론에 보도된 거 말고도 삼성은 청와대에 다방면으로 개입하고 있다.청와대에서 무슨 테크니컬한 미팅이 있을 때, 삼성연구소의 지원으로 대부분 이루어진 것은 청와대 관계자들 사이에서는 잘 알려진 얘기이다…초기에 서슬 퍼렇던 시절의 노무현의 정책들 중에서 재벌관련 정책이 시간이 흘러가면서 무척이나 무디어 진 이유에도 관심이 간다….청와대는 이미 삼성에 의해 알게 모르게 관리되어 온 것이다…절대적으로 확실한 것은 삼성은 절대 침몰하지 않는다는 것이다. 정권은 유한하지만 돈은 무한한 것이라는 재벌들의 속담이 다시금 화려하게 입증될 것이 뻔하다…

It’s noisy because of Samsung’s bribery scandal. If it wasn’t Samsung? I am sure that the chairman of the company was already summoned and it became chaotic.

Prosecutors who got the bribes from Samsung might think that it’s not the bribes, giving the excuse that there was no recompensation. They seemed to think that not taking the money means not to be recognized and there are others things to receive without cash. Department vouchers, high quality wine, and products of famous brands for wives…
But getting rid of bad customs such as bribes toward journalists took so much time in this society. In terms of gigantic Samsung’s black money, nobody knows how long it will take. Or maybe not forever.

Samsung’s money has surpassed the national authority long time ago. The problem is what relations Samsung and Roh Moo-hyun have, how much their relations will be publicized, and what kind of influence they will have. Samsung controlled the Blue House. We don’t know how it has been controlled, but I’m sure that it was controlled ‘better’ than those prosecutors… besides we know in public, Samsung has intervened in the Blue House in various ways. Whenever the Blue House had some technical meetings, it is already know that they have been organized by the support of the Samsung Economic Research Institute… Even though Roh Moo-hyun’s policy toward chaebol was strict, it has been blunt…. The Blue House has been unconsciously controlled by Samsung…What I can clearly say is that Samsung is not going to be submerged. What chaebol’s saying, the political power is finite, but the money is infinite, is proved.

Ethics becomes a big issue related to this scandal.

삼성을 왜 싫어 해야 하는지 모르겠다는 후배가 있어요, 한술 더 떠서 삼성 정도면 그만한 로비는 해야 하는 것 아니냐고도 하고요. 반도체와 휴대폰을 만들어 글로벌 시장에서 인정 받는 기업이니 어느 기업이나 하는 로비를 가지고 회사 무너 뜨릴 마냥 덤비는 건 대중영합주의라고도 합니다.

삼성에 대해 싫어하고 좋아하는 취미가 아니지요, 사람들은 좋고 싫음과 옳고 그름을 종종 헛갈리는 데요. 삼성의 행위가 옳고 그름에 대한 판단이지요. 좋고 싫음이 아닙니다. 김용철 변호사로 부터 불거진 삼성 비자금 의혹의 본질은 이건희, 이재용 일가가 사적 자본의 이익을 위해 불법적으로 기업지배구조를 재편했고 이를 무마하기 위해 오래도록 비자금을 조성하여 국가 기관을 매수한 것이지요. 그러니까 물음은 여기서 시작해야 합니다. 이런 행위가 옳은지 그른지 물어 보는 겁니다. …

글로벌 시장에서 삼성을 인정하는 것이 있다면 제품 경쟁력이나 마케팅 능력이겠지요. 하지만 글로벌 초일류 기업이 오직 제품 경쟁력과 마케팅 능력만으로 척도되지는 않겠습니다. 세계에 모범이 되는 기업이라면 기업의 이익창출도 중요하지만 사회적 윤리, 노동복지, 경영자 마인드도 빼놓을 수 없는 것입니다….

군사 독재시대에는 민주주의를 이루기 위한 민중의 저항이 있었다면, 오늘날은 거대 자본과 시장 지배체제에 대한 민중의 저항이 절실한 시기 입니다. …김용철 변호사가요? 그 분은 배신자도 아니고 하물며 영웅도 아닙니다. 엄밀히 말하면 그는 뒤늦게 양심의 소리를 경청한 측은한 한 인간에 불과 합니다. 그도 말했지만 그는 이 사건을 통해 처벌 받아야 되는 사람 중에 하나 입니다. 그를 이 사회적 처벌에서 구원할 수는 없습니다. 그래서도 안되지요. 다만 그가 처벌 받기 전에 이 사회가 지켜줘야 하는 것은 그가 아니라 그의 양심입니다. 그가 홀로 고민했을 때는 개인의 양심이겠지만, 이렇게 된 이상 이것은 사회적 양심이 되어야 합니다. …

My friend said that she (or he) doesn’t know why we have to hate Samsung. Being recognized in the global markets through cellularphones and semiconductors, a big company like Samsung needs that kind of lobbying, he (or she) said. And the criticisms toward Samsung now are like massive opportunism.

It is not about whether we like Samsung or not. People are often confused what they like or dislike and what is right or not. This scandal is about what Samsung did right or not, not about what we like or dislike Samsung. The principle of this scandal which was begun from the lawyer Kim Yong-chul is that the Lee Kun Hee and Lee Chae Yong family organized the company illegaly in order to accumulate benefits of private capitals and, in order to hide it, they bribed government organizations. Therefore, the question should start here, whether this action is right or not….

What we can acknowledge Samsung in the global markets is the competitive power of their products and marketing ability. However, super enterprises in the global markets are not just measured by the competitive power of their products and marketing ability. If it is the model of companies in the world, profits from the companies are important, and social ethnics, labor welfare, and managing mind are also significant as well….

In the military dictatorship period, there were people’s protests in order to accomplish democracy. In these days, there are people’s protests against massive capital and market leader system….the lawyer Kim Yong Chul? He’s not a traitor and even not a hero. Strictly speaking, he is a human who listened to consciouness later. As he said, he is also the one who has to be punished through his disclosure. He can’t be saved from this social punishment. He shouldn’t be. But before he is punished, what this society should keep is not him, but his consciousness. When he was in agnony by himself, it would be the individual consciousness, but now it is the social consciousness….

Individuals or citizen organizations actively try to get support from citizens through signature campaigns or voting campaigns. And others analyze how media reacts.

오늘 올라온 기사는 총 107개이다. 노컷뉴스가 포함되었다면 총수는 더 증가했겠지만 구글 리더 의 문제로 노컷뉴스는 제외됐다. 기사의 수는 조선일보가 가장 많고 그 다음이 한국일보이지만 조선일보와 한국일보는 이데일리와 연합뉴스의 기사가 많이 포함되어 있으므로 역시 가장 비중있게 이 문제를 다루는 신문사는 한겨레신문으로 보인다. 중앙일보 1건을 빼면 대부분의 언론사에서 골고루 다루고 있다.
언론사별 삼성 비자금 뉴스
경향신문 (7) 국민일보 (3) 동아일보 (12) 머니투데이 (9)
서울경제 (4) 세계일보 (6) 오마이뉴스 (9) 조선일보 (20)
중앙일보 (1) 프레시안 (5) 한겨레신문 (14) 한국일보 (17)
오늘 삼성 비자금 뉴스에서 단연 눈에 뛰는 부분은 그 동안 삼성에 대한 종의 본능으로 일관하던 검찰이 독립적인 수사를 위해 특별수사본부를 만든다 는 내용이다. 그러나 검찰이 지금까지 보여준 종의 본능을 보면 과연 특별수사본부를 만든다고 해서 공정한 수사가 이루어질지는 의문이다. 시민단체에 그 동안 계속 요구한 특수부 를 특검이 가시화되자 만든 것을 보면 체면차리기용 뒷북이 아닌가 싶다. 물론 특수부를 어떻게 꾸리는지 조금 더 두고봐야겠지만 그 나물에 그 밥이 아닌가 싶다.
두번째는 여전히 충성의 기술을 보이고 있는 청와대에 대한 기사이다. 청와대는 15일 대통합민주신당과 민주노동당, 창조한국당이 국회에 제출한 삼성 비자금 특검법안에 대해 거부권을 행사하지 않겠다는 입장 이지만 작금의 상황을 보면 청와대 역시 삼성이 장악한 것 으로 보인다. 물론 청와대는 이런 주장을 근거없는 억지라고 주장 하고 있다.
세번째는 이미 예견된 일이지만 김용철 변호사의 도덕성을 흡집내기위한 기사가 올라왔다. 바로 부천에 김용철 변호사 명의의 노래방에서 불법 영업을 하다 적발됐다는 기사 이다.

There are 108 news articles about Samsung. Including Nocut News, the number will increase more. The Chosun Newspaper got the highest number and Hankook Newspaper, but they included E-daily and Yonhap news. Hankyoreh Newspaper used the biggest space for it. Except one article from the Joonang Newspaper, all newspapers are similar.
Kyunghyang Newspaper (7) Kookmin Daily (3) Dong-a Daily (12) Moneytoday (9)
Seoul Economy (4) Segye Daily (6) Ohmynews (9) Chosun Daily (20)
JoongAng Daily (1) Pressian (5) Hankyoreh Newspaper (14) Hankook Daily (17)

The most noticeable part from today’s news was that the police on the side of Samsung will make a special investigation bureau for independent investigation. But as far as we know about how the police was for Samsung, I doubt that they will implement the fair investigation.

Second is about the Blue House, which still shows loyalty to Samsung. Even though the Blue House said that they will not object to the bill that three parties suggested to the National Assembly, how they behave shows the Blue House has been already controlled by Samsung. Of course, the Blue House denies it.

Third is about criticizing the morality of the lawyer Kim Yong-chul.

Many netizens criticize how Samsung itself treats this scandal.

이 사건의 본질은 그동안 재벌이 얼마나 지능적으로 법망을 피해다녔는지를 내부고발자에 의해 그 실체가 드러나 본격적으로 그 수사의 막을 올리려고 하는 순간인데 수사 착수도 하기전에 벌써부터 국내 경제에 타격을 입힐수도 있다고 협박아닌 협박을 하고 있으니 삼성 관계자들의 머리속에 도대체 뭐가 들어있는지 알 수가 없네요
수사가 본격적으로 시작되면 최고 의사결정권자들의 손발이 묶이게 되고 그러다 보면 삼성내부의 사업구조 개편, 수천억원에서 수조원대 투자와 연구.개발프로젝트의 의사결정이 지연되면서 글로벌 경쟁에서 뒤처질 수도 있다는 우려를 하고 있습니다.
매번 우리나라 재벌기업들 사건 터질때마다 이런 논리로 법위에 군림하였지요. 글로벌 시장에서 재벌기업의 역할을 강조하면서 선처를 바라는 모습들은 이제 너무나 뻔한 행동들입니다. 그러다 보니 재벌기업들의 탈법행위는 근절되지 않는 것이지요.

It is the moment to expose the reality of how chaebols have evaded the boundaries of regulations through the internal accuser and to begin the investigation. But before the investigation, they already threaten that it will affect internal economy. I don’t know what things Samsung men have in their minds.
They are worried if the investigation starts, decision makers can’t work, and reorganization of internal structures, investment and research of several million and billion won, and decisions of development projects will be delayed, and, therefore, it will be behind global competition.
Everytime chaebol scandals are exposed, they reign over the law with this logic. Emphasizing roles of chaebol in global markets, they ask lenient treatments. Therefore, the evasion of the law from chaebol doesn’t stop.

On the other hand, there are opinions to focus on how Samsung generates positive influence.

종사자수 약 50만 될라나
식구수로 따지면 약 200만

하청까지 따지면
엄청난 숫자가 삼성때문에
먹고산다

대한민국의 보물이다
삼성 등 대기업들은..

People who are involved in Samsung are about 500,000? Estimating family numbers about 2 milion?

Including subcontractors, an enormous number is leaning on Samsung.

It’s the treasure of Korea. Big enterprises like Samsung…

So, what is the main point?

삼성 자체가 아니라…
님 말처럼 휼륭한 기업을 썩어 문드러지게하는
썩은경영인을 욕하는 것임…
경영자가 곧 삼성은 아니죠…
삼성의 일부분 중에 경영자가 있는 것이지..

사과에 썩은 부분 도려내지 않으면
사과 전체가 썩어 내버려야 하는 것

We’re not talking about Samsung itself… we’re criticizing managers who make a good enterprise rotten. The managers don’t mean Samsung… A part of Samsung is managers.

If you don’t take a rotten part of an apple out, it means that you leave the whole apple to rot.

3 comments · »»

Bahrain: Kitting Out An Islamic Car

Ayesha Saldanha · 10:30

lingua → es

This week in Bahrain we have a thoughtful post about the nature of God, a story of a sex education class, visitors’ varying experiences of both Bahrain and Spain, and a complaint about public toilets. There is also an intriguing examination of the specifications an Islamic car should have…

We start with a treat for bird lovers, with a photo from Bahrain Observations.

The nature of God
Ali Abdulemam continues a series about the ‘manufacture’ of certain concepts within Bahraini society, and in this post he turns to God:

الله في وطني صورة من صور الرعب لا الحب، صورة من صور الخوف لا الأمن، تعيش طول عمرك خائفا من هذا “الله” لأنه وصل إليك بهذه الطريقة ، تعيش غير مطمئن أبد عمرك (…) لكن لا أحد يستطيع أن يفهم هل هذه هي صورة الله الحقيقية، أم هي الصورة التي حملة الرسالة ومبلغيها إيصال “الله” عليها ، لماذا أصبح الله سيفا علينا بدلا من أن يكون رحمة بنا

In this country God’s image is one of terror and not of love, of fear and not security. You live your whole life afraid of this God because this is the way God is presented to you. You are forever living without peace. (…) But no one is able to grasp whether this is correct image of God, or rather an attack of the Message and those who convey it in presenting God to us. Why did God become a sword over us, instead of having compassion for us?

Teaching good values…
Al Kaseef tells us about a class for sex education and moral values:

كان هذا الفصل ثقافة جنسية راقية ولكن أي مراهق يفهم أو يتفهم هذا الشيء، وأي مراهق في هذه السن يمكنه الصمود بدون أن يتنشي إلى أبعد درجة ممكنة ؟
الأستاذ في هذه الحصة كان يجتهد في شرح المسائل العويصة الخاصة بالأعضاء التناسلية للذكر والأنثى، ومع الأسف كل ما تحدث عنه ورسمه من فظائع على السبورة كان معروفاً لدى الجميع تقريباً. المهم بعدما فرغ الأستاذ من الشرح تلفت إلى الطلاب / الأنعام حتى يجيب على أية استفسارات. وهنا مد أحدهم أطنابه وكان أنفه فاحشاً، ولذلك سماه عترته ” بو خشم “.
بوخشم قدم مداخلة نوعية قال فيها : استاد أنا ما فهمت شي، ليش ما في تجربة عملية؟ طلب ناري أليس كذلك ؟ الأستاذ التفت إلى بوخشم وقال له: أمش معاي المختبر باراويك التجارب؟ وهنا تحطمت أسطورة الأخلاق الرفيعة ومكارمها بجرة استهبال من بهيمة يشبه أنفها الكيك بونص روبية.

The sex education class was sophisticated, but which teenager can understand or try to understand this subject, and which teenager at this age can be patient without becoming extremely high-spirited? The teacher in this lesson was trying to explain difficult issues concerning the male and female reproductive organs, and unfortunately everything he talked about and drew of these horrors on the board was already known by just about everyone. Anyway, after the teacher finished explaining he turned to the pupils / the sheep in order to answer any questions. So one of them raised his hoof – his nose was monstrous so we called him ‘Bu Khashm’, father of the nose.
Bu Khashm made a special sort of intervention, in which he asked, ‘Sir, I didn’t understand something. Why don’t we do practical work?’ Scorching question, wasn’t it?
The teacher turned to Bu Khashm and said, ‘Come with me to the laboratory, I’ll show you practical work!’
This is when the myth of lofty morals and noble qualities was shattered by an act of stupidity by a beast whose nose looks like a 50 fils cake.

Two different Bahrains…
Mohammed AlMaskati writes about the indignation of a local newspaper editor, who objected to some recent articles in British newspapers about the political situation in Bahrain:

Yes my friends, both the British Times and the Independent have officially “lost a lot of their credibility” after publishing articles talking about sectarian discrimination, and a “futile democratic reform” around Bahrain. This must be in part in a campaign led by the British Press to defame our beloved country and most probably Islamic countries as a whole.
Or how would you justify articles that note such unthinkable and despicable issues that has no place in our country, after spending an entire hour with them supported by a fleet of other local journalist and even a British citizen explaining the prosperity of the country and the comfortable and rich life lived by the good people of Bahrain, with speedy access to governmental housing, and a total unemployment rate under 1%, inflation at an all time low, and constituencies blindly based on the total number of citizens living in that particular area and of no sectarian incentives behind planning them at all. After explaining all of this to them they would STILL go back home and end up writing an article noting the negative side of Bahrain! […] Without any appreciation to our hospitality they still talked about sectarian discrimination, in an act nothing short of total distortion of facts not only to the British people, but to her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the second, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown. And how would anybody even bring up such nonsense about Bahrain the country whose appointed governmental ministers are equal in numbers for both sects, and is probably the only country its Military is open without any restrictions to members of both Muslim Sects.

Ammar certainly believes that people should try to see the ‘real' Bahrain:

A famous musician superstar and his brother are in the country, and have been here for a good few weeks now. So far, their host has been taking them out to the top end restaurants, the 5-star hotels and resorts, the modern shopping malls, and so on. Being here even for a few weeks, this is pretty much the only side of Bahrain that they've seen; a modern, upscale country, full of rich people, high class hangouts, and luxury cars.

I meet up with them once every now and then, and so far they've seemed to enjoy the country. After all, it's not every day you stay in a country full of lavishness where everyone (apparently) seems well-off, and everywhere you go is modern.

I caught a sort of yearning for something though, through one of their conversations. Although a great life, something about it felt fake; all the restaurants, the cars, the opulent life was nice, but there was no real substance behind it. Something was missing.

The conversation drifted off to the fact that not everyone in Bahrain lived like that, and actually far from it. A good percentage of the Bahraini population haven't even visited some of these restaurants they go to every day, as they cost way beyond what they can afford. Some don't live in lavish buildings and drive fancy cars. No, there was another reality behind what appears to be a land full of prosperity and affluence. They didn't believe it at first, until I promised to take them for a tour around the real Bahrain.

To find out what that tour involved, see here.

… and two different Spains
Bahraini Rants has had a holiday in Spain:

Ibiza and the Balearics:
Take away all the industrialized nightclubs and insane posters, the hippies, the clubbers, the DJs, the bullshit and the hype, and you’re left with something incredible, a place with real magic, beautiful beaches, great food, lovely country side, and a laid back vibe that you just can’t beat. With the season wrapping itself up, I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed Ibiza if I had been during the shmack dab middle of hectic season, everyone was just so happy that things had calmed down and we enjoyed a nicer holiday because of it … However; in true European fashion, the nude sunbathing did catch us off guard. Walking along the beach searching for a spot, we were continuously surprised by the image of naked privates. Let’s setup there. Shit no, 7 naked Germans sunbathing and having a BBQ on the beach, let’s just find another spot. I’m just curious, aren’t they worried about flying sparks? Crazy naked Germans and the burning bush.

Mohammed AlMaskati also made trip to Spain a while back, but feels he didn’t make the most of what the country has to offer:

It wasn’t till the last bloggers meetup that the thought that I haven’t really seen the “cultural side” of Spain had hit me. Those two weeks I was there were spent either chilling on some beach, eating at some restaurant, or just wandering around with the car looking for some attraction, a zoo, a go-kart track, a paintball field and a miniature golf was all there is to it. […] What’s worse is during my return trip I decided to spend a couple of nights in London, and being the typical Arab tourist that I am have again wasted the opportunity not at museums and theaters, but exhausting my credit card limits on an endless shopping spree. And the fact that I didn’t have company didn’t help much either.

Toilet trouble
Yagoob is having difficulty finding a decent public toilet in Bahrain:

I hate going to the toilet in Seef Mall..
Why does everyone think that wet is ‘clean’?! Once you walk into a toilet the floor is wet and covered in dust mud and the seat is also drowned with water and God knows whatever liquids, even when you use some loo roll just to rinse off the water.. Surprise Surprise! The toilet roll is soaking wet!
And to top off all this, even the door and its handle are soaking wet and because people keep on doing this the wood of the door starts to rot and starts to look like a bloody shipwreck under the sea!

Top gear
Ammar reports on the announcement of a new ‘Islamic car’ – and has some suggestions as to what that should mean:

Now, Proton decide to create a car, put a compass in it pointing to Mecca, and a compartment for your praying mats, quran, and so on. Okay, all very well, but to me that just sounds like a regular car with a $10 compass installed. I personally think a car needs more substance to actually get the label “islamic”, and so i've come up with a list of new ‘options' for the car to actually deserve being labelled that:

- The radiator can only be topped up with a 50/50 mix of coolant and zamzam water

- If you are a girl, the car will not let you ride with another man, unless you have a relative with you (ie, your brother, father, etc)

- The car can be filled up with gas any time of the day during the year, except in Ramadan, where you can only fill up the car after the sun sets

- If you are a man, you may buy up to four of these islamic cars. If you are a woman, however, you may only buy one

- No seatbelts, because if God is willing (In Shaa'Allah) that an accident will happen and you're going to get injured, a seatbelt really isn't going to stop it

- The car goes to auto-pilot mode and drives to the nearest mosque as soon as the athaan (call to prayer) is heard

- The car stereo is automatically set to all the quran and islamic radio stations, and nothing else.

- The car greets you with “Al salam alaikum” every time you switch it on

Russia: To Vote, or Not To Vote?

Veronica Khokhlova · 00:03

lingua → de · es

To vote - or not to vote? To “vote with your feet” - or to follow Mikhail Khodorkovsky's advice (RUS, translated here) and vote for one of the smaller parties that you don't “despise”? To boycott the election - or to spoil the ballot? To be proper and check one of the ballot's squares - or to get mischievous and write a swear word across the page?

These are the questions that quite a few Russian bloggers seem to be considering right now.

Half a month ago, LJ user tvoron saw a handmade poster at a bus stop in Moscow, which, in a rather crude language, urged voters to write a three-letter Russian obscenity on the ballots, in order to protest, among other things, the elimination of the “against all” option and the minimum voter turnout requirement.

Below is an exchange (RUS) between two of tvoron's readers:

odalizka:

You know, I totally agree with the authors of this creation. I myself am going to do something similar, if I go there at all. […]

jarud_bra0n:

Do you realize that the more ballots get spoiled, the more seats go to the [pro-Kremlin United Russia]?

odalizka:

What's that, some new law that we've got? Interesting.

But even if it is so, what do you suggest? To go and vote for [Grigory Yavlinsky's Yabloko]? Honestly, I'm not going to vote at all - let this farce - whose results are known in advance - is taking place without me. And the United Russia will get what it needs anyway.

jarud_bra0n:

Yes, this is the law. Whoever hasn't showed up, or spoiled the ballot, or cast a vote for a non-winning party - this person has given his/her vote to the leader as a gift (in our case, to the United Russia).

I suggest to vote for any other party that's likely to get past the [7-percent eligibility threshold], preferably for the one that'll come in second or third. They are all bad. But the only way to protest is to vote for them.

I guess I'll vote for the vegetables - [the Communist Party of the Russian Federation]. Even though a few years ago I would've given myself a beating for this. […]

odalizka:

[…] Well, thank you, young man, but I wasn't reading [samizdat copies] of [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn] and [Joseph Brodsky] throughout the night as a kid to vote for the Communists when I'm 37. No way.