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January 11th, 2008
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Morocco: Happy (Islamic) New Year!
· 20:59
After celebrating the advent of 2008, Moroccan bloggers now have something else to get excited about…the beginning of 1429 in the Hijra calendar.
The View From Fez wishes all of its readers a happy new year:
Moroccans celebrated the Islamic New Year (1429 anno hegirae) today and we would like to wish all our readers HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Braveheart-does-the-Maghreb shares traditions of new year celebrations in other cultures:
Moroccans will celebrate the Islamic New Year (1429 anno hegirae) Thursday, January 10, a communiqué of the Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs announced on Wednesday.
The Islamic New Year begins with the first day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar. This day is celebrated to pay homage to Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) emigration from Makkah to Madinah. Since the Islamic lunar calendar, introduced in 634 A.D., is 11-12 days shorter than the solar calendar, the date of the holiday changes each year.
Agharass, les délires de mes écrits (fr) sends wishes even to extraterrestrials:
Bonne Année Hijri 1429 pour toute la Blogoma, c’est l’occasion de vous souhaiter mes sincères souhaits de bonheur, une vie pleins de joie ; partage et amour pour mes lectrices et lecteurs de toute cette planète et pourquoi pas les marciens s’il arrivent a me lire
Finally, citoyenhmida sends a simple message to readers:
A l’ocaasion de la nouvelle année de l’Hégire,
je présente mes voeux les plus sincères de bonheur, de santé et de prospérité
à tous nos compatriotes, d’ici et d’ailleurs!
Creative Commons-licensed photo of the Mohammad al Amin Mosque, Beirut by Muslima 2006
1 comment · »»Voces Bolivianas: Leaping forward to the next round
· 16:15
Originally posted on Rising Voices.
In November 2007 David Sasaki described the pilot phase of the Voces Bolivianas citizen media project in El Alto and its future plans. The pilot program took place at a cyber-cafe in the city of El Alto between September 22 and November 10. It helped teach the tools and techniques of citizen media to 23 members of underrepresented groups in Bolivia who have already emerged as bloggers-cum-citizen journalists.
Project Co-Director Eduardo Ávila recently informed us that Voces Bolivianas was recently featured in the magazine OH! which accompanies the Sunday edition of the Los Tiempos newspaper in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Read the article about Voces Bolivianas here.
Mario Duran announces in his blog Palabras Libres (”Free Words”) [ES]:
The project Voces Bolivianas has arranged a closing ceremony where awards to the participants of the first blogging workshop in the city of El Alto will be given. The event will take place at a local Café at on January 10, 2008 at 18:00 hours.
The winner will receive a digital camera. This event also will inaugurate the second round of workshops for female participants.
From the participants' blogs:
David Rodriguez of Bolivia Imagen writes [es] about the internal migration that is putting pressure on existing infrastructures like water, electricity, and sewage in cities like Cochabamba, Santa Cruz and La Paz.
He suggests that planned integration of the outer communities of those cities could accommodate the growing population and ease the situation, and that the government should respond to this.
Ruben Hilary notices [ES] that during the holidays many of his classmates will be working to generate some income for their families and help improve their economic hardship. Others will be taking extra classes so that they can assimilate in the next year of schooling more easily. He concludes:
All this gives us the impression that the holiday is an opportunity for further development.
Cesar Duran, in the post “Educacion De La Tecnologia De La computacion” discusses the recycling of computers. He points out that in some Latin American countries such as Colombia, Chile and Venezuela, school and universities have practical laboratories which use parts from scrapped computers to teach computer assembly and that some also use them in assembling robots. He thinks more such projects should be implemented in Bolivia to build things like electrically-powered wheelchairs (and other things according to students’ imagination) from recycled computer parts.
Meanwhile Cristina Quisbert of ‘Bolivia Indígena', whom David Sasaki interviewed last month, continued with her powerful writings. She continues to write about issues relating to Bolivian indigenous communities such as threats of dispossession and their struggles for native land.
She reports that, although only not long ago natives were forbidden to enter the legislative palace, this is the first time a new constitution is being prepared to take such injustices into account.
Image: delegations from many indigenous groups dressed in traditional outfits marched towards the palace in appreciation of the new constitution.
She also wrote about beautiful places in Bolivia, namely Pariti Island near Lake Titicaca and the Eternal City (Wiñay Marka).
Alberto Medrano of El Alto Noticias writes of a tradition of buying cakes and dolls on Christmas eve.
Omar Ali Villca of Rock Boliviano posts some cool Latin contemporary rock tracks for downloading.
Tips: You can read more from these participants blogs in English (or in other selective languages) using Google Translate.
In a fetaured post of the project's English translation blog Teodora Romero tells us that, from ner experience in a local school, the students do not like to read much.
Participants photos:
Sales of pirated CD in El Alto: a common scene.
Glimpses of poverty in El Alto.
More photos at Flickr
The next round:
The next citizen’s media workshop will begin this Saturday, January 12, 2008 in El Alto. The project has been titled El Alto II and its goal is to have a greater number of female participants than the pilot project. You can find the list of the participants being constantly updated in the Rising Voices Wiki.
Eduardo Ávila also reports that:
Voces Bolivianas has also decided to expand to Santa Cruz, where the two groups of new bloggers will have a chance to interact with one another and hopefully tear down existing stereotypes about these two supposed ‘different' groups of people that are also supposed to dislike each other.
For the expansion project, a workshop is scheduled for January 19th in Santa Cruz and a local blogger, Jessica Olivares has been named the Voces Bolivianas coordinator in Santa Cruz.
We will be updating you as these new projects continue to progress.
0 comments · »»China 2007: Part2
· 15:10
Here goes on a personal roundup of what marked mainland China's 2007, a year of controversy, change, desperation but also hopes.
“Dark brick kilns” 黑砖窑
May
Inside scores of dark kilns, about 400 workers were forced to toil in a condition on par with slavery. They were swindled to these brick kilns, overseen by hired thugs and had to work 20 hours a day. They lacked food and carried the red-hot bricks directly on the back, suffering from occasional beating-up. They were the “modern salves” found in Hongdong (洪洞) county, Shanxi province, who had long suffered from the mental and physical traumas in a place out of law.
What is more thrilling is the malfeasance of the local government that should have eliminated the “black kilns”. Nevertheless, it ignored, and even became a ring of the wicked interest chain. In some way the local government connived and shared this crime. Through the investigation, a kiln owner was found exactly the son of a village governor. Up till now, over 30 criminals have been tried and over 90 officials got punished, but the public opinion suggested many inner-party penalties, rather than the jural, didn’t hit the point
Tai Lake pollution 太湖水污染
May
Tai, a beautiful lake and the water source of millions of citizens, was suddenly occupied by thick blue algae in May, 2007, the whole water area stinking. The smelly running water supplied to the city Wuxi(无锡) came to be almost undrinkable and therefore triggered a panic buying of purified water. The apple of discord is the thousands of lake-side factories, which produced GDP while at the same time pouring pollution into the lake. The author of The End of South-Su Mode(苏南模式的终结), Doctor Xinwang, suggested the water crisis told the method of development by the cost of the environment was about to bankrupt. After the crisis the government has scheduled to shut down nearly 3000 high-pollution factories such as print and chemical works.
Fenghuang bridge collapse 凤凰塌桥
August
“The company strictly followed the national regulations to carry out the construction, and in pursuit of high-quality. No accident has ever happened and no corruption report has been received……” This is a piece of news issued a few days before the bridge collapse that claimed 64 people. The construction had been planned as a “gift” for the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Xiangxi State and was hasted to catch the celebration. Ridiculously, an alleged high-quality construction nonetheless made one of the most serious accidents in 2007. Not many reinforced steel bars could be found among the ruin, a fact that poked the eyewash and proved the malfeasance. It once again stroke people’s faith on the so-called “face construction”, or “political-achieve construction”. 24 people, including some officials, were sued.
Huawei mass resignation 华为辞职门
September
7000 employees were urged by the Huawei Technologies to resign so that the company could avoid signing open-ended contracts with them. According to the new Employment Contract Law, the new contract, which should be signed with employees that have worked over ten years, had no fixed term so the workers would serve just like permanent staff. To shun the future personnel cost, Huawei determinedly persuaded the mass resignation even though it had to pay the $1.34 billion compensation. Later, the workers had to compete to regain the jobs. The action incurred Huawei a bad fame among the public because it was thought to be an ignorance of social duty. But many companies also grumbled about that the new law that focuses on labor right would hurt much of their competence. What effect it might bring to Chinese economy is yet uncertain.
Pengyu case 南京彭宇案
September
In 2007, the most well-known lawsuit resulted from a ridiculous judgment, as most netizens thought. Pengyu, a young man in Nanjing, told that he sent an old woman who got bumped down on the road to hospital because of a warm heart. However, he was sued by the woman, because she accused Peng was actually the wrongdoer. The fact was yet unknown, but the judge’s sentence based on reasoning rather than evidence pushed the public to the other side. As the judge “deduced”, if Pneg had not slammed into and hurt the woman, he would not have helped her. The public was puzzled whether it was a joke or a real sentence. But there is one thing for sure; in the eyes of the judge, there is no more Samaritan in China.
Chang’e 1 lunar probe 嫦娥升空
October
In 2007, Chang'e 1 blasted off on a Long March 3A carrier rocket, marking the first stage of China's 10-year lunar exploration program. On 26th, November, it sent back its first picture of the moon landscape. Reaching the moon has been a dream of Chinese for thousands of years, and today we are so close to it.
17th CPC National Congress 十七大召开
October
In 2007, the biggest political event of China is surely the 17th CPC National Congress. The congress reaffirmed the path of opening and reform, and gave further focus on the “scientific outlook on development”（科学发展观）, “Socialism with Chinese characteristics”（中国特色的社会主义） and a determination to build a harmonious society（和谐社会）. The lineup of the top leaders went through a slight reshuffle with 4 new persons ushered into the 9-member Political Bureau's Standing Committee. By the change, Hujingtao consolidated his power. The coming 5 years would be a key time to examine whether the new leading agency was able to solve the existent social problems. The public expect that CPC could fulfill its promises and led us to go better.
Bankruptcy of Yilishen 蚂蚁门 (information blocked on mainland)
November
Yilishen, a well-known company that sold health-care ant products closed in November. A huge amount of investment by many ant farmers vaporized along with the bankruptcy. Furious farmers gathered in Shengyang to ask for compensation, some of them accusing the government of conniving the company’s Ponzi scheme and illegal fund-raising. The information on the topic was soon blocked on mainland China while Global Voice remained a report on the event.
“May golden week” canceled 五一黄金周取消
December
The term “golden week” has been tied with people-packed stations and airports, busy, crowded tour sites, and the bonanza grabbed by businessmen. Born in 1999, the Golden Week has gradually melted into people’s life, while today its mission of stimulating economy is surpassed by the negative effect. This year, one of the three golden weeks was canceled after a public discussion and the break time was allocated to three more traditional festivals. The change also demonstrated the country’s determination to protect the fading Chinese traditions.
An assault on the overheated real estate 房地产攻坚战
2007
The surging real estate price staggered many Chinese in 2006, while 2007 witnessed the macroeconomic control of the industry. Firstly, the new Property Law was passed in March, an action that restricted the “enclosure movement” of the developers. Later in April, 8 central departments collaborated to check the illegal methods used by developers and agents to bid up the price. On 1, August, the central government issued the 24th Resolution that emphasized on building low-price economy residential to provide over 10 million families with affordable housing. Also, the interest rate has been increased for 6 times this year and the down payment of property mortgage also leveled up. The series of measures worked. The heated Shenzhen market, whose average price rose by 50% in the first 7 months, faced a dwindling volume of trade and several other cities in China also confronted a cold snap on the industry.
Price going up 物价上升
2007
Pork, instant noodle, oil and so forth, —- the prices of various goods rose so quickly that people could feel their daily life considerably affected.
2007 is the pig year in Chinese traditional calendar and the pork price echoed. Up till June, the price has increased by 71% compared to last year. In Dong Guan, the pork valued 40 RMB ($5.4)/ Kg. The rise made the prime minister Wen Jiabao said, “We are taking measures to help you afford pork.” Also, instant noodle was getting dearer. Several food companies united to drive up the price this year. The oil followed closely. In Chongqing, to catch the chance to buy discounted edible oil, 3 people were dead of trample by packed, seething crowd. The growth rate of CPI in 2007 was estimated to be 4.7%.
Kenya: Bloggers seek to heal a wounded nation
· 14:27
After a week of killings, looting and the political madness witnessed in Kenya after last month’s general elections, Kenyan Bloggers are at the forefront of reconciliation, urging people to reach out, regardless of their ethnic background.
Kenyan Pundit chronicles the feelings of all Kenyan and how they were affected by the violence. In the post; Diary 12 - Reach Out, she urges people to make deliberate efforts to reach out to others:
“However, if there is a silver lining from this, at least from a
personal perspective, it is that I will make deliberate effort to
reach out to people from more different communities and my hope is
that if we all did a little of reaching out, those preconceived
notions and stereotypes will be dispelled and may be, just may be,
we’ll know better next time some politician tries to exploit our
diversity. That’s not to say that the authorities don’t need to
address the underlying socio-economic issues.”
Kenya imagine looks into tribal issues and wonders whether we are our brothers’ keeper:
Our strength as Kenya and our united future lies in our setting aside those tribal passions and working together to make Kenya what we dream it could be. This will require forgiveness, empathy, compromise and humility. There is no other way and a perpetuation of what we have witnessed in the last 10 days is not an option……
To this group the political class plays master puppeteer with the consequences visible in the tears and the ashes around us. It is this that our challenge presents itself. The solution to Kenya's troubles lie in a quiet and distinct revolution in the minds of the middle class who may not control the wealth but are most certainly the only real buffer this country has to true and bloody revolution. So beyond the bonds of tribe, am I my brother's keeper? Yes. Yes I am. I must be.
Kenya Hapa gives the history of Kenyan politics and predicts that Kalonzo’s miracle is yet to come:
When the new cabinet was announced, there was a new vice president in town.
The vice president elect- Kalonzo Musyoka, was third in the presidential elections and was fond of telling people to expect miracles.
Kenya Imagine predicts the future…:
Here is what will pan out over the next five years, as the images in my crystal ball now relay to me.
Kalonzo Musyoka will continue as Vice President but with an increasing tension between him, Kalonzo, Uhuru Kenyatta and George Saitoti as the Kibaki succession battle warms up. The former Vice President will soon fall by the way side, however.
A view from the diaspora by Project sunshine:
Being so removed from the country, it was hard to gauge the severity of the situation. Were those numbers real? Was there something that even the ubiquitous observers had missed? With Safaricom jammed on new years’ day, I went to the net…
My write-up comes a little late in the game, but I hope that we can learn from our neighbors conflict and find peace. The real problem is how to remove this cancer called counter-democracy, when the politicians decide that what they want is to stay in power at all costs. Today, I heard that Kibaki went to see the humanitarian areas. The date is the ninth of January; we are only just getting back to some sanity. Thanks for stopping by, you are days and days late.
What about our passion? An African woman gives her thoughts:
However passionate we might be, one way or the other, if we have committed ourselves to a one man one vote system, then we must respect its fair result, even if that fair result is not according to our preference.
So when our candidates of choice loose, we expect them to accept such loss with dignity in the public space, retreat to the private place to lick their wounds, and begin to come to terms with what happened, and why it happened. See Uhuru Kenyatta 2002 for further informationWe cannot afford to indulge the haughty clique that mocked us and disrespected us by hijacking the ballot box. We cannot afford to tolerate those who have ridiculed this symbol of our nationhood. What they have attempted to steal from us is something fundamental to our self-understanding as a Kenyan people in the early 21st century.
The Cellar Group, a professional network, developed a framework to be used by Kenyan politicians:
6 comments · »»It is hoped that the framework would be widely discussed and guide the path to reconciliation and healing from the present circumstances. We remain positive and hopeful that Kenya has the wherewithal to competently manage the present crisis and emerge a stronger nation.
China: Citizen reporter killed—by who?
· 13:13
What began as a protest against a planned urban trash dump encroaching on a residential area held by the villagers there in Tianmen, Hubei province became a murder story after the city management officers moved from beating the residents to attacking passerby Wei Wenhua, the would-be citizen journalist filming the violence from his car with his cellphone, who they then quickly killed.
Chengguang operations are most often limited to cracking down on unlicensed business operations in urban areas, most visibly in chasing away streetside vendors and smashing or confiscating their goods, but as netizens have noted in their outrage at Wei's death, chengguan abuse of authority has escalated in recent years. Qin Liwen, writing at the widely-read media industry blog MindMeters, was one of many to see the specter of Sun Zhigang in Wei's death, which is already looking to be one of the bigger stories of 2008.
Cat898 blogger ‘Same stuff, different name' makes the connection to the Rodney King beating in ‘Say Wei Wenhua had been beaten to death by American chengguan':
湖北省天门市城管人员因星期一与村民发生冲突，将恰好路过并录像的魏文华群殴致死。
这使我想起来，美国洛杉矶市黑人被4名警察殴打被录像的事件，事发后刑事法庭判定殴打者无罪，几十万洛杉矶人发生了暴乱，打砸商店，烧汽车等等。
This makes me think of the incident in Los Angeles, America, when the beating of a black person by four cops was caught on film; following the incident, a court ruled the attackers innocent, and then tens of thousands of L.A. residents rioted, smashing up shops, torching cars, etc.
[…]
于是，这短短83秒钟的录象，此后不仅成为美国最轰动的新闻录象之一，而且多次出现在全世界的电视机屏幕上。
在这场短短几十小时的洛杉矶暴乱中，死亡人数超过50名，受伤人数超过2000名，超过1000幢大小建筑物被焚毁，经济损失在十亿美元左右。
后来黑人在民事法庭获得赔偿一千多万美元。
美国没有城管，假如美国也设个城管，打死了“魏文华”， 大家是否也站在他的一边呢？
In the few short hours in which L.A. rioted, over 50 people died, more than 2,000 people were injured and more than 1,000 buildings were burnt down, resulting in economic losses of around 1 billion US dollars in damages.
Later in civil court, the black person was awarded more than 1 million dollars in compensation.
America doesn't have chengguan, but if it did, and it killed a “Wei Wenhua”, would people stand on his side, or not?
From Liu Kejun at Rednet, which boasts spicy hot opinion:
“管管城管”的声音早已响彻坊间，遗憾的是，我们始终没有看到卓有成效的举措以及城管自身形象的改观。这一次，“打”出士气、“打”出权力的湖北城管，开始了一种更为野蛮的权力实践——他们开始“灭口”了。
不知道噩梦是从什么时候开始的，我们的小商小贩、社区居民开始把城管视为“恐怖分子”，并且闻城管而色变。这些城管，最初只是开着大卡车，操着高音喇叭，把来自社会底层的小商小贩们追赶得落荒而逃；后来，他们开始风卷残云般没收“违规占道、有碍市容”的商品、货物；再后来，他们是围追堵截、踢、抢、砸、拿，把瓜农的西瓜摔烂，桃农的桃子踢翻……再后来，他们开始打人，城管过后，小商小贩们哭声一片；到如今，他们不但动辄在光天化日之下对小商小贩们施暴，还不允许过路的人说话旁观。这不，用手机拍摄了几张“罪证”，就被他们活活打死了。
Liu goes on to call for the dissolution of the chengguan as a body. One reader of his post, writing from Changsha in Hunan province, where just last month another man was beaten to death by a group of chengguan after he started arguing back, defends the chengguan as necessary to ensure cities are not flooded with small-scale unlicensed vendors:
zwc (来自于湖南省长沙市)
引用 2008-1-9 22:07:00
关于城管的问题，是一个大家经常谈论的话题．对城管我们不能只看一个方面，而应全面地去看待，要一分为二的看问题．像湖北天门市竟陵镇湾坝村发生的这种情况，确实令人气愤，也让人不可理解，我个人认为，这只是个别现象[。。。]试想想，如果没有城管，小商小贩们到处摆摊设点，特别是在城市中，那谁敢保证城市的管理就会比现在好？我相信，只要我们的政府加强对城管队伍人员的管理，建立健全相应的管理制度，城管队伍定受到人民群众欢迎的！
红网网友 (来自于江苏省南通市)
引用 2008-1-9 21:07:00
城管来自底层次,素质相当底,个人看发是地皮社会渣子,因国家法律不建全,他们是在钻法律的空子.建议公安机关集中培训.国家建全法规
红网网友 (来自于湖南省岳阳市)
引用 2008-1-9 20:33:00
大家都说：城管如土匪。我则认为天门城管不如土匪！因为土匪还是人，而他们连禽兽都不如就更谈不上是人了，悲哀……..
红网网友 (来自于湖南省怀化市)
引用 2008-1-9 19:58:00
不能再沉默,我们要大声问,到底是谁给了这些城管妄为的权力.
Several readers, responding to Wang Gongquan's memorial post to Wei on the Tianya platform, have had a lot to say, but not many are asking many questions:
评论人：tzs333666888 | 评论日期：2008-1-10 13:16
当今中国的体制下，还有什么是公平公正，我觉得人民的出路在于自己，考自己的双手保护自己，很希望像美国一样每个公民都有保护自己的权利，这虽然是一种迫不得已但我认为很有必要，每个人都有持有枪支的权力，只有这样弱者才能保护自己，为什么我们就不能合法的拥有枪支来保护自己，免得这个社会的所有执法者都那么傲气，也叫他们尝尝私闯美国农民的家园或威胁他人生命时，那种挨抢中弹死亡的滋味。
评论人：非常和谐 | 评论日期：2008-1-10 15:29
我日，我昨天发了一片到搜狐博客上，骂了几句，今天居然把我那篇文章给封了！！
评论人：wingofdark | 评论日期：2008-1-10 17:06
彭宇，魏文华从两个方面证明了在中国不能做好人
评论人：plittle | 评论日期：2008-1-10 21:56
强身健体，保护自己与家人
评论人：ywjsammy | 评论日期：2008-1-10 23:47
看来生活在中国需要炼武.或买把枪什么的.
On a lighter note, well-known blogger pundit and humorist Song Shinan suggests new warning notices for both on-the-job chengguan officers to wear and electronics shops to affix upon camera-capable cellphones they sell:
当心机械伤人； 当心裂变物质；
Caution，mechanical injury Caution，fission-matter
2、所有在市面上销售的手机，如有照相功能，应在显著位置贴上如下标志：
必须戴安全帽； 必须穿防护服；
Must wear safety helmet Must wear protective clothes
Bokee blogger Dail89 looks at unlicensed street vendors from an economic perspective, listing all the benefits their existence brings, but sticks mostly to the title of his/her frightening post, ‘Chengguan must be deprived of their weapons':
一个政权要维持社会秩序，必须借助于一定程度的暴力，以惩治危害社会的犯罪分子。在各法治国家，可以合法行使暴力的机构主要有两个，其一是军队，其二是警察。前者对外，后者对内。而我国目前可以对平民合法行使暴力的机构，除了警察，还有检察院、法院、武警，暴力已有泛滥之势，如今各地又以各种形式变相武装城管，使城管演变为另一支可以行使暴力的机构。据报道，一些地方的城管不仅配备棍棒，而且开始配备PDA终端、防刺背心、头盔、防割手套、辣椒水……武备越来越重，暴力趋势越来越明显。
Well-known journalist-blogger Zhao Mu has simply posted a series of photos others were able to take of the violence and destruction chengguan regulary incur; here are a few:
Japan: A new car? No thanks.
· 11:50
Word on the street is that the Japanese economy isn't doing too well, with sluggish car sales apparently causing a major drag. Who is to blame? Some say the kids, who have apparently lost their urge to buy material things.
Bloggers writing about the reports of shrinking car sales this week, in any case, didn't seem terribly surprised by the news. One blogger explained:
国内の軽自動車を除く新車販売台数が４年連続で減少したそうです。その原因としては人口の減少（高齢化）、ガソリンの高騰、若者の車離れなどが影響しているようです。
確かに高齢化社会になると実際に車を運転する人も減るでしょうし、また今の若者たちには自動車という物はそんなに魅力的な物ではないのかも知れませんね。フリーターや派遣社員などでは車を買ったり、それを維持したりするなんて金銭的に難しいでしょうし・・・。
地方に住んでいる皆さんにとっては車は必需品で生活の足となっていますが、都内に住んでいる私にとっては正直なところ、「無いと絶対困る！」という程の物ではありません。我が家の場合は小さな子供がいますので、確かにあると便利ですけど・・・。
我が家の場合を例にすると、交通に関しては最寄駅まで歩いて１０分程度で行けますし、バス停でしたら３分程度のところにあります。日常生活について考えてみましても、駅前には大型スーパーもありますし、我が家から歩いて３０秒程度のところにも小型のスーパーがあります。コンビニも歩いて３分のところに２軒ありますし、病院も歩いて行ける範囲に結構有ります。
私が車を運転するのは休みの日だけで、家族で買い物へ行ったり、旅行やレジャーで利用する程度です。妻も免許は持っていますが、我が家の駐車場へ駐車する場合には特殊技能？が必要なので運転しておりません。年間の走行距離は４～５千キロ程度ですから、維持費などを考えますと車が必要なときにタクシーやレンタカーを利用した方が安いのではないかと思います。そんなことを考えますと都内で車を持つということは、ある意味「贅沢」なのです。
Blogger sado-mujina, meanwhile, likes their old car fine:
新車の販売台数が少なくなってきたというのは、都市部など車の所有が全く要らないという理由だけではなく、10年ほど前から自動車性能が良くなり中古車でも十分に走ってしまうためでもあるかと思います。
３年前に、16万円で入手した12年落ちのクレスタなんて、外見はポンコツで古く見えますが、エンジンやボディは問題なくまだまだ走ります。新車も確かに魅力的でありますが、30万円程度で入手し５年所有するのと、200万円で入手し10年所有するのとでは…導入費だけでも大きく左右されます。
俺は新車よりも「こだわった車をいかに安く、長持ちする中古車」をヤフオクで探す楽しみがあるため、今現在、発売されている新車には関心は無いかと思います。
しかしながら、中級クラスの後輪駆動車（例えばマークＸ、スカイラインなど）のハイブリッド車かディーゼルエンジン搭載した画期的な車が出るとなれば…話は違います。
A used car lot next to Route 4 in northern Mizusawa. (photo by IwateBuddy)
Once a car enthusiast, blogger ego-brewer explains that they have lost their interest in cars:
僕自身、物心ついた頃から大のくるま好きで、小さい頃は、助手席で飽きもせずすれ違う車の車種を言い続けていました。大きくなってからも車雑誌を読みあさり、車自体の情報はもちろん、中古車の相場まで熟知していたものです。当然、自分の車にもこだわってきました。
ところが、ここのところ、急激に車への興味を失いました。車雑誌さえ三年くらい全く買っていません。なんか、欲しい車がなくなったのです。（若いふりをしている訳ではありません。）
技術開発が進むところまで進み、消費者のニーズにできるだけ応えようと各メーカーが努力した結果、同じような車ばっかりになっちゃった気がします。もちろん、性能的に不満とかはないのですが、だからこそ、今の車で十分で、買い替える意欲もわきません。快適装備や、安全性能を重視するが故に、重量も増え、大きく重い車ばかりです。（僕は、小さくて軽い車が大好きです。）
Finally, blogger iza-koza takes a whole different angle and argues that the decrease in car sales is a very good thing:
日本にこれだけ普及した自動車
これ以上増やしてどうしますか？
若者の車離れ
実は至極自然なこと
Why do we need more?
Young people's loss of interest in cars
is actually a very natural thing
我々は車離れ阻止を
阻止しなくてはなりません
stopping [people from] losing interest in cars
環境問題の最大の解決策は人口の減少であると思われます
日本の少子高齢化も実はごく自然なこと
絶対数が減少することに困惑してはなりません
それは我々を救うことになるでしょう
The truth is that Japan's dwindling birthrate and aging population are natural things.
You should not be bothered by the decrease in the absolute number.
This will be what saves all of us.
Links
Eastern & Central Europe
De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis writes about the White Guard general Yakov Slashchov: “Many years later, he became the prototype of general Khludov in the novel Flight (Beg in Russian) by M.Bulgakov — the brave but demoralized general who knew only one tool to restore discipline, the death penalty. Slashchov's reputation is still defined by this nickname. He sentenced hundreds of people to death. However, the largest part of his victims were not bolsheviks or their spies and saboteurs, but the officers of the White Guard accused of robbery, marauding, desertion or cowardice.”
Eastern & Central Europe
A few Balkan jokes, at Beyond Bosnia Blog.
Sub-Saharan Africa
“When everything indicated that the crisis in Kenya was heading towards a peaceful solution, the ‘elected' president Mwai Kibabi adds insult to injury appointing his closest allies for most of a new cabinet”, comments Mozambican blogger Manuel de Araujo [pt].
Western Europe
Viriato Porto [pt] reminds us about the 6th anniversary of Guantanamo Bay and joins an Amnesty campaign calling for the camp to be shut. “A sad anniversary which is important to be recalled to denounce around the world hundreds of people's illegal arrests without charge, torture, ill-treatment and the humiliating way inmates are treated by the officers and soldiers serving the government of the United States of America”.
South Asia
Known Turf explores why people are afraid of the idea of “conversion” - moving from one faith to the other.
South Asia
Lightning Strikes Everyday sums up the controversy surrounding a recent cricket test match between Australia and India. “I think Indian media, bloggers and arbitrary people have gone about being stupid in the right order”.
South Asia
The game of cricket continues to provide much fodder for controversy in India. More at Jairam's Jives.
South Asia
All Things Pakistan on the alarming increase in the price of food.
Sub-Saharan Africa
No Longer at Ease discusses “Disney World for Slavery“: An early contender for the most bizarre news story of the year is that of American expats Ron and Carla Bluntschli who are, at this very moment, trying to raise enough money to create Memory Village - the first ever ‘Slavery Theme Park'.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Blog South Africa asks, what the hell is going on in South Africa?: “Nel gets arrested by the police, by all reports by actively going from prosecutor to prosecutor in order to get the warrant. Selebi asking the Pretoria high court for an interdict preventing the NPA from proceeding with the criminal prosecution.”
Sub-Saharan Africa
Bev Clark discusses the move to ban Zimbabwe cricket national team: “David Miliband, Britain’s Foreign Secretary has joined Flash Gordon in stating that Zimbabwe must not be allowed to tour England in the summer of 2009…Now what if we substituted Zimbabwe for Pakistan in this argument?”
Sub-Saharan Africa
Carlos Serra [pt] is optimistic about the report by the WHO that by 2025 the life span in Mozambique and other African countries will be of 60 years, the lowest in the world. “It seems to be a negative fact, perhaps we can have a more optimistic view if we consider that in our country, the life expectancy at birth is 42.3 years for both sexes”.
Americas
Leonardo Sakamoto [pt] criticizes the way that the biggest Brazilian TV network reported the released of two prisoners by Colombian guerillas. “First, it classified the Farc as narcoguerrilheiros. Abour six times. Then, it announced that the most important opinion on the subject was the spokesperson for … Uribe? Chavez? Who but Bush!”
Central Asia & Caucasus
TOL Georgia comments on the apparent about face from international observers regarding the conduct of the 5 January presidential election in Georgia. A day after the vote, international observers declared the election “broadly democratic,” but now — less than a week later — they say “there was crass, negligent and deliberate falsification during the vote counting.”
Americas
Jamaican Francis Wade is a lover, not a fighter…
Americas
“Dictators, Peace Corps Volunteers, governments, activists, non profits, for profits, companies all talk about development - but can we agree on what it is?” asks Bryan at Haiti Innovation, as he blogs about a hydroelectricity project on the island.
Americas
“Apparently Hugo Chavez announced today that construction will begin soon on the oil refinery here”: Living Dominica wonders if she's missed something.
East Asia
Some scholars suggested that China should raise university school fee as the poor only constitutes 10% of the university population, government subsidy is sponsoring the rich. Wei Yinjie from my1510 points out that at present the wealth redistribution mechanism is not functioning and the income disparity political, not caused by market mechanism (zh).
East Asia
Pingmag has a report on citizens' attempt to change the urban landscape by guerrilla flowerpots.
East Asia
Nings blog picks up top ten “Very Yellow, Very Violent” websites, some are official news and information websites, such as sina and xinhua. ESWN has the translation.
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