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April 7th, 2008


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Japan: Major Parties Cooperate to Legislate Regulation of “Harmful” Internet Content 

a small portrait of this author Chris Salzberg · 13:29
lingua → zht · zhs

Japanese bloggers have been making noise the past few days [ja] in reaction to two separate bills, submitted first by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) and next by the leading opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), each aiming, in apparently similar ways, to legislate regulation over Internet content deemed to be “harmful” to minors (users under age 18).

On March 19th, LDP Diet Member Takaichi Sanae submitted a bill to a government panel to legislate the “prevention of browsing on the Internet of information harmful to young people” in an attempt to maintain the “sound upbringing of young people”. Shortly thereafter on April 2nd, Diet Member Takai Miho of the Democratic Party submitted a bill with the aim to create an environment that “makes it possible for children to safely use the Internet”. According to bloggers, the bills go significantly further than earlier legislation introduced late last year, which mandated default filtering on mobile phones for minors. Nonetheless, aside from a single article in Asahi shimbun [ja] on the topic, the two bills appear to have been granted no mainstream media attention.

The bills follow on a recent trend of increasing moves toward regulation of the Internet in Japan, but according to bloggers, this time Diet Members Takaichi and Takai are going significantly further — and advancing legislation significantly faster — than in the case of earlier proposals. Blogger Mishima Sakana at Osakana Blog explains:

18歳未満の人たちがインターネット上の「有害情報」に触れないようにする対策を講じる法律案ってのが、3月の中頃から末頃にかけて、姿を現してきた。朝日新聞の記事では少し紹介されているが、それ以外の大手マスコミには全然出てない。っていうか、ペーパーメディアの人間は全然ヤバさを認識してない。あるいは、分かっててトボけている。この法律案、ものすごくヤバい。

Between mid and late March, a legislative bill has taken shape setting out counter-measures to prevent minors under the age of 18 from coming into contact with “harmful information” on the Internet. An article in Asahi shimbun introduced the topic a bit, but other than that nothing has come out in the mainstream media. Or better to say, people in the paper media are not aware at all of the dangerousness of this bill. Either that or they know, and they are just playing dumb. This bill is horribly dangerous.

He then reviews developments over the past month:

  1. 自民党の高市早苗議員が、『青少年の健全な育成のためのインターネットによる青少年有害情報の閲覧の防止等に関する法律案』という法案を詰めていて、これはかなり完成形になっている。池田信夫氏によれば、ブレーンとして警察官僚がついて条文を固めたらしいし、確かに法案の中にはそれをうかがわせる傍証もある（12条のネットカフェ規制とか）。
  2. 一方民主党の高井美穂議員を事務局等とするプロジェクトチームは、『子供が安全に安心してインターネットを利用できる環境の整備等に関する法律案』というのを取りまとめている（ちなみに先の高市議員と高井議員は、国会議員の電話番号なんかが載っている「国会議員要覧」で見ると、仲良くお隣同士だ）。
  3. これらの法案の目的は、「性に関する価値観の形成に著しく悪影響を及ぼす」とか「著しい心理的外傷を与える恐れがある」とかそういうインターネット上の「有害」な情報について、青少年が見られなくなるよう全部フィルタリングすること。
  4. これらの法案が、今期国会の混乱のドサクサに紛れて提出され、あっさり自民党案が通っちゃい兼ねない空気になっている（と自民党議員は言っている）。
  1. Takaichi Sanae of the Liberal Democratic Party has worked out details of a bill, the “legislative bill regarding prevention of browsing on the Internet of information harmful to young people for sound upbringing of young people” [Global Voices translation], and this is very much in a completed form. According to Ikeda Nobuo, police bureaucrats are apparently the brains that established the provisions, and within the bill there is probably also supporting evidence that indicates this [involvement] (the regulation of Internet Cafes in Article 12).
  2. On the other hand, the project team organized by Diet Member Takai Miho of the Democratic Party has coordinated a “legislative bill regarding the improvement and so on of an environment making it possible for children to safely use the Internet” (and incidentally, if you look at the “Directory of Members of the National Diet”(国会議員要覧) where Diet Members Takaichi and Takai have their phone numbers listed, you will see that they are cozily listed next to each other).
  3. The purpose of these bills is to implement complete filtering to make “harmful” information on the Internet, information that “exerts a harmful influence equivalent to the form of values about sex” or that “risks causing considerable psychological wounds”, impossible for young people to see.
  4. These bills were submitted in the confusion in the Diet this term, and there is an atmosphere that the LDP bill might actually be quickly passed (that is what LDP Diet members are saying).

The main concerns, he explains, are the following:

  1. 内閣府に設置される少人数の青少年健全育成推進委員会（最大数5人）っていう組織が、インターネット上の全てのコンテンツについて、青少年に有害か無害かについての判断基準を作成します。ちなみにその基準への異議申し立ては、多分無理。（法案19条から31条）
  2. 個人も含む全てのウェブサイトの管理者は、上記の有害コンテンツの基準に合致した場合、サイトを丸ごと未成年が入れない会員制にするか、フィルタリングソフトへ自らのサイトをフィルタ対象として申請することなどが、求められます。（3条1項）
  3. 全てのISP、ASP事業者などには、有害コンテンツの削除やサービスの停止が求められ、従わない場合の罰則も設けられます。結果としてウェブコンテンツの削除は行われることになります。（3条）
  4. 全てのPC・携帯電話について、国の基準に基づいたフィルタリングソフトウェアをプレインストール、あるいは、フィルタリングサービスに強制加入することが、PCメーカー（努力義務）及びキャリア（提供義務）に求められます。（5条、8条）
  1. An organization made up of a small number of people, established by the Cabinet Office and called the “Committee on the Promotion of Sound Upbringing of Young People” [Global Voices translation, original Japanese: 青少年健全育成推進委員会/Seishounen Kenzen Ikusei Suishin Iinkai] (at most five people), is drawing up evaluation criteria, for all content on the Internet, defining what is and is not harmful to young people. And incidentally, declarations of objection to this standard are probably impossible. (Articles 19 to 31)
  2. Administrators of all websites, including individuals, will also be required, in cases where the contents of their site meets the above standards for harmful content, to do things such as implement a membership system on the whole site so that minors cannot access it, or apply to have filtering software applied to their own site. (Article 3 Item 1)
  3. All employees of ISPs, ASPs, and so on are required to eliminate all harmful content and suspend all harmful services, and there is a punishment being put in place for cases in which these rules are not followed. As a result, deletion of web content will be carried out. (Article 3)
  4. Compulsory participation in the pre-installation of national standards-based filtering software or filtering services will be imposed on PC makers (obligation to make efforts [努力義務]) as well as carriers (obligation to provide [提供義務]) for all PCs and mobile phones. (Article 5, Article 8)

Blogger Ikeda Nobuo has been another forceful critic of Internet regulation by the government. In an entry posted on March 3rd [ja] (referenced above, see also another post in English), he writes:

まず「青少年有害情報」の定義が広範囲に及び、「〜を誘発するもの」とか「〜おそれがあるもの」というように「青少年健全育成推進委員会」の裁量によってどうにでも解釈できる曖昧な表現が多い。

First of all, the definition of “information harmful to young people” covers a broad range, and there are many vague expressions like “something that causes …” and “something that poses a danger of …” that can be interpreted at the discretion of the “Committee on the Promotion of Sound Upbringing of Young People” [Global Voices translation, see earlier note].

もっとも問題なのは、第9・10条の行政処分と第51条の罰則である。携帯電話では、すでにフィルタリングが業界の自主規制で行なわれており、携帯電話は寡占市場なので、あえて公権力が介入する必要があるとは思われない。逆にインターネットでは、ISPは2000以上あり、そのすべてを監視し、是正命令を出すのは不可能だ。「みせしめ」的に特定のISPが摘発されるおそれが強い。

The greatest problem is in the administrative measures of Articles 9 and 10, and in the penal regulations of Article 51. In the case of mobile phones, filtering is already being carried out through regulation self-imposed by industry, and the mobile phone industry is an oligopoly, so there does not appear to be any need for governmental authorities to intervene. On the contrary, there are more than 2000 ISPs in the Internet, and it is impossible to inspect every everything and issue correction orders. There is a strong danger that specific ISPs will be exposed as a kind of “warning” [to other ISPs].

The articles in the LDP bill to which Ikeda makes reference are the following (taken from the above blog post):

第9条（是正命令）　主務大臣等は、インターネット接続役務提供事業者に対し、是正命令を出すことができる。

Article 9 (correction order): The cabinet minister in charge can issue a correction order to businesses offering Internet connection services [Internet service providers].

第10条（立ち入り検査）　主務大臣等は、インターネット接続役務提供事業者に対し、その営業所に立ち入り、業務の状況又は帳簿、書類その他の物件を検査させることができる。

Article 10 (on-site inspection): The cabinet minister in charge can enter the business offices of businesses offering Internet connection services [Internet service providers] and can inspect the conditions of business, as well as registers, documents and other articles.

第51条（罰則）　第9条又は第13条の規定による命令に違反した者は、6月以下の懲役又は百万円以下の罰金に処する。

Article 51 (punishment): Persons who violate directives issued according to provisions of Article 9 or Article 13 will face a penalty of less than six months of penal servitude or one million yen [about $10,000 USD].

Many other bloggers are also talking about the proposed regulation. Worried about what will happen to “minority” children who depend on the Internet as a place to connect and get help, blogger essa quips that “you can't protect your children unless you properly choose your politicians” [ja]. In a similar vein, blogger ratio - rational - irrational worries about the classification of “same-sex relationships” as “harmful content” [ja]. At Social Web Rambling, blogger namekawa01 asks [ja] if, with the new regulation bill, politics is returning to a “new 1955 system“. Elsewhere, OhmyNews Japan presents a detailed outline of the LDP bill [ja] through the words of Diet Member Takaichi herself, and CNET offers an overview of both LDP and DPJ bills [ja].

4 comments · »»

Sri Lanka: Bomb blasts and an ongoing conflict 

a small portrait of this author Nishadha Silva · 08:21
lingua → hi · zht · zhs

A senior parliamentarian and one of the most important ministers in the present government was assassinated by the LTTE. The bomber is believed to have come disguised as a Marathon runner. DefenseNet gives a brief update of the incident, but the post created some heated debate and in my opinion it gives a glimpse of the average Sri Lankan's mind, who are so used to people getting killed by bomb blasts. Below are some of the comments, read the full post Minister Jeyeraj Fernandopulle killed in Weliweriya Blast

Rover -
“Jeyaraj dead ,Thats that, now lets move on.”

MyShadow -
Yes, i am gone mad…,how many of this country men will get killed, how many will blasts will keep happening in this country,
you say that “We can't dwell on the death of a single guy”
you say that in front of your computer. thousands and thousands are killed. may be you are in a foriegn country in a good position
may be you are a sadist who don't worry about people get killed, boombed
did you die ? someone died, and you say move on…

Other than the minister close to 10 people have died and among them is national marathon champion Mr.Karunasena better known and “Marathon Karu” and National Athletic Coach Mr.Lackshman De Alwis.About Sri Lanka speaks about the other prominent people injured in this post.

Meanwhile, the war continues in Sri Lanka with government claiming to kill many Tiger cadres while LTTE denies them strenuously, what most people don't hear about is the displaced people because of the war, who live in refugee camps, sometimes denied even the basic human needs, although the government speaks highly about the liberation of North not much is mentioned about the displaced persons.

ground views speaks about forgotten IDP's from the North where he mentions the hardships the Muslims and the other in that area had to suffer for more than two decades.

For these Muslims, who once led peaceful and productive lives in the north of the country, their lives were shattered when they were ordered to leave their homes in just two hours – or face dire consequences. Leaving everything they possessed behind them, they fled with their families, hoping no doubt to return when things calmed down.
Little did they know that their lives, which had turned topsy–turvy in the blink of an eye, would remain so and in fact only worsen, for the next two decades.

Although not as unforgiving as ground views transcurrent.com also speaks about the difficulties faced by the IDP's especially about the security concerns faced by them.

Despite the diversity of circumstances, Mr. Kalin identified several key issues affecting all of the IDP and returnee communities with whom he met. The predominant concern among IDPs is physical security. The Representative was struck by a pervasive sense of fear and uncertainty among those he spoke. Sources of insecurity are varied, but include the following: continued incursions and attacks by the LTTE; disappearances, abductions and looting; threats and attacks upon individuals by irregular and armed groups such as the Tamil Makkal Viduthalaip Puligal (TMVP), including infiltration of camps at night; incomplete or delayed mine-clearance; approaches used by security forces in response to security incidents, including roundups, methods to identify suspects, and detention of individuals without proper notification of family members of the reasons for and location of the individual's detention.

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Iraq: A defining moment? 

a small portrait of this author Salam Adil · 05:58
lingua → mg · es

War in Basra… curfews in Baghdad… airstrikes on city centres… then a ceasefire… what on earth happened? As a BBC report said, the Basra operation is an empty vessel - it can be filled with any interpretation you choose. And fill it I will, with interpretations of Iraqi bloggers. Some polarised, some contradictory, but a selection that can fill the gaps that exist in current reports.

But first, if you read no other blog post this week read this

Last of Iraqis gives the definitive guide to the five days of warfare from his view in Baghdad. The post is worth reading in full to get a true understanding of the ferocity of the war. He concludes at the end:

I think AlMaliki and Muqtada had a dispute and they disagreed on something and Muqtada though that he is stronger then AlMaliki wanted to show him that he is the strongest and he is the boss and Muqtada should always obey and fear him…so it's just a show business nothing more, nothing less, and now Muqtada is convinced that Maliki is stronger and AlMaliki also knows that Muqtada can really cause troubles if he wants…it's a children's fight…and now they are back to what they used to be brothers in destroying Iraq and killing Iraqis.

AlMaliki is a joke now…even in the news the presenter was announcing the last news which was about a high ranked Iranian official called AlMaliki “dear and honorable” and she laughed in a sarcastic way.

I'm afraid that the coming days will the worst…I believe there will be so much innocent's blood in the streets.

And on to the analysis…

Nibras Kazimi sees the Basra operation as a glorious victory for the Iraqi government. He writes:

Maliki was a political nobody before he ‘accidentally’ became Prime Minister almost two years ago, but today he is perceived as a statesman commanding a strong and motivated army that can impose law and order on once-powerful forces that have run amuck. If that’s not a benchmark of success, then what is? …

Maliki won, pure and simple. … Maliki’s approach is piece-meal: he’s taken out the intimidation factor that kept much of the Sadrist sway in place and he’s done that by showing them that they are no armed match for a better-disciplined, better-supplied Iraqi Army with plenty of stamina…

Now the Sadrist will have to sway voters their way with words and entreaties, rather than threats and drills. Most of the crime cartels are also on notice that the days of the ‘Wild, Wild South’ are over and there’s a new sheriff in town.

And he spends much of his posts criticising what appears to be every American media outlet for daring to disagree with him. Nibras writes:

It is unfortunate that what little news the American public gets to see and read about Iraq gets so distorted by the neurotic contortions of a handful of maladjusted, misinformed journalists.

However it is not only maladjusted and misinformed journalists that beg to differ with Nibras a number of Iraqi bloggers also disagree.

Neurotic Wife, blogging from inside the Green Zone is incredulous:

Al Maliki, who I cannot Friggin believe just stated today that Last week’s battles IS A SUCCESS!!! Is he pulling an April Fools on us??? Is that possible?

And Abbas Hawazin gives a more detailed discussion. He writes:

I'm surprised that there are people who can still wrinkle out a positive spin from this ; just type Basra or Iraq in Google News and behold pandemonium itself. Of course, one should always take into account the loyalties and the backgrounds of the news sources, but such a depressing pandemonium is unarguable, I myself rooted for the surge itself in its early days as the last hope, but as the haze clears you can't help but call a spade a spade, or a civil war a civil war, or the Iraqi Army the Badr Brigade.

Interestingly, as someone who is from the Sunni community one can notice a certain grudging respect. He writes:

Muqtada is an easy man to make fun of, with his extremely crude speech, the habibi and the repetitive uh grunt, but if you excuse his Fish Market mannerisms, you can find that he's coming from some sort of a tangible idea.

But this “respect” is one thing coming from a somewhat libertarian former rock guitarist but in a later post he also explains that even his sectarian Sunni relatives in Iraq are beginning to show support for Muqtada as a lesser of two evils:

while a great margin of Shi'i folks openly deride Mooks [a nickname for Sadr's militia], the Sunnis in general prefer him waaaay much more than the royal dynasty of the Hakims, my grandmother Ta'iffiya, a rather sectarian individual, commented on his interview last Friday by saying: “The poor sod, he cannot form a single comprehensible sentence. What a shame.”

Al-Ghad looks at the conflict and sees the oil companies behind it…

There is now mounting evidence that Maliki’s “sudden” offensive on Basra was decided during Cheney’s visit to Baghdad. Cheney was present in Baghdad, at a press conference called by Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of the occupying forces in Iraq. Oddly enough Petraeus said that he was speaking on behalf of the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to call on the major Western oil companies to invest in Iraq’s energy sector, as Iraq looks outside to boost oil, gas and power production.

Al-Ghad considers the operation a failure and concludes by quoting Vali Nasr:

President Bush was right that Basra marked a defining moment for Iraq, but not in the way that he intended…. this is the birth of Sadrist power.”

Meanwhile Blog Iraq sees the aims of the forces that want to partition Iraq. Namely the party of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim wants to create an independent region in Southern Iraq a so-called “Southern Federation”. Blog Iraq writes:

f you read the names of the cities and provinces in which the fight is fierce, you can easily link it to another list. The list of the provinces that Al-Hakim wants in his “Southern Federation”. Of course we will have to add Najaf and Karbala. Referring to the Article 115 of the Iraqi constitution:

“One or more provinces shall have the right to organize into a region based on a request to be voted on in a referendum submitted in one of the following two methods:
A. A request by one-third of the council members of each province intending to form a region.
B. A request by one-tenth of the voters in each of the province intending to form a region.”

And since Al-Sadr has many followers in all of these provinces, and the Sadr PMs are highly against this decision, it will be virtually impossible for Al-Hakim and the Shiaa Coalition to impose such a decision without kicking Muqtada and his followers out of the way.

And Finally

Baghdad Connect gives the whole analysis of this crisis an historical perspective. its all Tactique Habibi:

“It’s a tactic, buddy” this was Muqtada’s reply in his latest interview in Al Jazeera when asked about the latest development in Basra, so was Saddam’s reply in Saudi Arabia before he started the war with Iran in 1981

And after giving a historical trail from 1981 to the present day he concludes:

This is how today’s Iraq ushers the Iraq War 2 period, and while the American military regime’s sole dilemma is how to turn Al Maliki-Talibani-Hakim into oligarchy that looks after the invaders interests in Iraq in return for the safety of the formers’ lives, other Iraqi innocent lives are being lost everyday because it is simply a “Tactique Habibi”!!!

(more…)

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Environment: An Interview with Isabel Hilton of ChinaDialogue 

a small portrait of this author Juliana Rotich · 03:44
lingua → jp · es

ChinaDialogue
ChinaDialogue is a fully bi-lingual weblog where environmental matters affecting China are discussed. Isabel Hilton is the editor, and we asked her some questions regarding the environment in China, the Olympics, climate change and lessons that can be learned from China's environmental challenges and solutions. She was kind enough to share her insight with us on our first GV-Enviro interview.

What are some of the main stories/ideas surrounding environmental conservation and preparation for the Beijing Olympics as covered by China Dialogue?

We see that preparation for Olympics has given a big boost to green consciousness in China. The Olympics are so important for the government that it has allowed environmental issues to override economic ones — some that is otherwise hard to do in any government — and stimulated all kinds of necessary action — from moving factories out of Beijing to building public transport infrastructure and greening buses.

We have read about green initiatives such as efforts to clean up the air in time for the olympics. What are your thoughts on such initiatives? Do you see them as short term steps particularly for the Olympics or longer term commitments to good environmental stewardship?

I think these initiatives are long overdue and if it takes the Olympics to make them happen, then fine. The important thing is that they happen and that the world attention on these issues will make the Chinese authorities try very hard to ensure that they really do happen properly, that there is no cheating or faking of the figures and that they don't face any environmental embarrassment. There is also an important aspect of public education: I have just been judging a debate competition involving five Beijing universities and, because of the Olympics, all the students were incredibly well informed and committed on environmental issues. So there are benefits that will last beyond the two week Olympic period. On the other hand, there are some things that won't last - and the Olympics itself inevitably has a heavy footprint. Already some provinces are complaining that they are being starved of water because it is going to Beijing.

Countries around the world will be sending athletes to compete in the Olympics, do they need to carry smog masks to protect the runners from the adverse effects of smog? Do you think the measures to clean up the air will succeed?

We shall see, but if it doesn't succeed, it won't be for want of trying. If necessary China will shut down factories for hundreds of miles around for the Olympic period to avoid losing face. People are trying very hard and they get very hurt when somebody pulls out because of fears about air quality. So there is a lot riding on success and for every body's sake I hope they make it.

What are your thoughts on China's position on climate change; particularly following the Bali talks?

China has come a long way on climate change in the past two years and many of China's domestic policies are aimed at mitigation — improving energy efficiency, big renewable targets etc. ON the other hand, China is, as everybody knows, building coal fired power stations and risks getting locked in to a very damaging technology. Much depends on the future position of the United States. In the last seven years, because of the obstruction of the Bush administration on these issues, there has been little pressure on China to adopt a forward position on climate change. As that changes, we should see further movement in Beijing.

What can other countries learn from the environmental problems currently being faced in China, and its solutions thus far?

China has had an industrial revolution at a difficult time.. it followed the Western path, then ran quickly into the limits of that model. If the Chinese government responds in the right way, China has the potential to become a leader in conservation and clean up. If it doesn't things look pretty bad.

6 comments · »»

Bahrain: Should young girls wear hijab? 

a small portrait of this author Ayesha Saldanha · 03:39
lingua → mk · mg · es · zht · zhs

Bahrain's bloggers have recently looked at topics including the difficulties of being a pedestrian in Bahrain, negative thinking amongst Bahraini youth, the pressure placed on young girls to wear the headscarf – and the need to communicate more with Americans.

Walk - don't walk
We start with Ammaro, who feels sorry for all the visitors currently in Bahrain for the Formula One Grand Prix currently taking place, who imagine they might be able to walk around:

Watching the streets of Bahrain fill up with foreigners, here for the Formula 1 race, gives the country a whole different feel. Driving around Manama I see random nationalities walking on the sidewalks; Americans, Europeans, Chinese, and so on. They're walking because, unlike us, they actually consider walking a reasonable means of getting around. If you've lived in Bahrain for anything longer than a few days, however, you would understand that walking is probably the least pleasant method of moving around. First, there are hardly any decent paths for pedestrians to walk on, making the whole experience a ‘try not to get hit by car as you walk on side of road' exercise. Second, the places most people want to visit are few and far in between, and coupled with very rough walking makes cars a bit of a necessity. Still, I do see the tourists walking from place to place, walking on the edges of the roads, on half built pavement, over uneven surfaces, looking a little frustrated. I don't blame them for being frustrated; we really have made the country very inconvenient for walkers. Public transport is really lacking, so everyone has to have a car. Everyone has to have a car, so more roads are built to accommodate cars, and somehow the pedestrians are forgotten. Fine when everyone in the country is used to not walking. Not fine when you have thousands of people visiting and would like to have a decent walk around town. … So remember, dear Bahrain visitors; our country has a lot to offer, lots of things for you to see, and lots of places for you to go; just make sure you drive there!

No hope?
Not everyone can follow Ammaro's advice, as they do not have a car; Mohammed AlMaskati recently gave a lift to young Bahraini hitchhiker, and was shocked by the pessimistic opinions he heard:

I dropped him to where he stayed and went on with my way, still shocked by the negativity this youngster carried, how could anyone live with such dark views when it comes to the future of their own country? How could one wake up everyday carrying such hate towards everything and anything that resembles Bahrain? At least back in the 90’s youngster in the same age group as he is would probably share more or less the same amount of hate and distress, but at least there was hope back then, there was a saviour in sight. One with a clear vision and objective, a shadowy agenda but that’s a whole different story altogether. While someone like Mr. Hitchhiker here has no faith in anyone, or anything. Has completely lost hope! To the extent that he would just blame anyone and anything for all the problems in the world. I mean…to blame the royal family for inflation? And he is supposed to be educated as well… well, at least he looks it…Such mindsets are the ideal breeding grounds for extremism and even terrorism eventually, but who is to blame really? The guy was raised in a way that he would completely rely for everything he needs to government, be it free schooling, health care and even the daily chores of the house and what have you there is always someone to take care of it for him, it is only natural that he would continue to rely on the government for housing and a proper income, how do you expect him to walk out of university and compete out there when he has simply never done it before? Or maybe it is the government to blame after all, it is easy to throw accusations left and right but boy do we have some depressed souls in this country!

Hijab: choice or obligation?
Butterfly is certainly depressed, but about something in particular. She tells us the story of Fatima:

كل الاطفال في نظري عصافير .. وفاطمة عصفورة لم تتجاوز التاسعة من العمر، زارتنا قبل ايام برفقة والديها وأخوتها وهي تجر خلفها غطاء طويل للرأس يكاد يصل الى أخمص قدميها .. ظننت انها تريد ان تسابق الزمن لتكبر فهكذا يفعل معظم الاطفال في عمرها .. ظننت ان والديها أجبراها على ارتدائه .. ظننت اشياء كثيرة ولكن لم يكن اي من ظنوني هو السبب لحجاب فاطمة المبكر.
عرفت ذلك من تعابير وجه فاطمة التي تغيرت في لحظة منذ ان بدأ الحديث يدور حول غطاء رأسها .. من احتقان عينيها بالدموع .. من اخفاءها لوجهها بوسادة المقعد الذي كانت تجلس عليه .. من تواريها بعد لحظات عن المكان. وتيقنت حينما سردت على والدتها قصتها مع المعلمة .. معلمة الفصل التي أستمرت طيلة العام الماضي في تأنيب فاطمة والسخرية منها على مرأى ومسمع جميع زميلاتها في الفصل لانها لا ترتدي الحجاب. ففاطمة حالة شبه شاذة في مدرستها التي يندر ان تجد فيها تلميذة لا ترتدي غطاء للرأس.
المربية الفاضلة، مربية الاجيال والتي يفصل بينها وبين فاطمة عشرات السنوات الضوئية لم تجد حرج في النزول بمستواها الفكري والعقلي لمستوى طفلة في الثامنة لتشن عليها نوع من الحرب النفسية، تارة بتبويخها وتلقينها دروس في مبادئ الاسلام والاخلاق الحميدة التي لم تتعلم هي أي شئ منها وتارة أخرى في مناصبتها العداء وانتهاز أي فرصة سانحة لاسقاط عقدها النفسية عليها لأنها لم تمتثل لأوامرها وترتدي الحجاب.
والنتيجة ان فاطمة بدأت ترزح تحت مجموعة من الضغوط النفسية، اضطهاد المعلمة لها من جهة وسخرية التلميذات منها من جهة أخرى…
كان ذلك في العام الماضي واليوم ترفض فاطمة الذهاب الى المدرسة دون غطاء الرأس بل انها قد تبكي لو ان أحدا منهم طلب منها ان تنزعه عنها. ليس ايمانا ولا حبا في ارتدائه ففاطمة ما زالت صغيرة جدا على استيعاب مثل هذه الأمور .. انها ترتديه خوفا من اساليب القمع التي تُمارس عليها في مدرسة حكومية في بلد ينادي بالديموقراطية، ووالديها التزما بالصمت لانهما لا يستطيعان نقلها الى مدرسة حكومية أخرى لأن القانون في البحرين يجبر التلميذ او الطالب على الالتحاق بمدرسة المنطقة التي يقطن فيها، ولا يستطيعان الحاقها بمدرسة خاصة لضيق ذات اليد، ولا يستطيعان الشكوى لوزارة التربية والتعليم خوفا من تعرض فاطمة للمزيد من المضايقات التي قد تؤثر سلبا على تحصيلها الدراسي.
حقيقة لم أكن أصدق ان قصص كهذه ما زالت موجودة في مدارسنا .. لست ضد الحجاب ولا المحجبات ولكني ضد القيم التي تُغرس قسرا ..
I used to view children like birds.. and Fatima is a bird who isn't nine yet. She visited us a few days ago, accompanied by her parents and sisters. She dragged behind her a long headscarf, which reached down to her feet. I thought she was competing with time to grow up just like other children do. I thought that her parents had forced her to wear it.. I thought a lot of things but all my guesses were not the reason why Fatima was wearing the Hijab so early. I knew that from the expression on Fatima's face, which changed the minute the conversation turned to the headscarf she was wearing. She eyes welled with tears and she tried covering her face with the cushion on the sofa she was sitting on.. to her eventual departure from her place. And then I knew what happened when her mother told me about her story with her teacher, the teacher who continued for a whole year to ridicule her for not wearing the hijab in front of her classmates. Fatima was a rare case in her school, where almost all the girls donned the headscarf. That honourable teacher, who is separated from Fatima by light years, was not embarrassed to stoop so low and wage mental warfare on a girl who is eight years old. She would sometimes scold her, and at others lecture her on the virtues of Islam, which she herself didn't learn anything from. She would also grasp every opportunity to pour all her complexes on the child, who hadn't followed her orders and wore the hijab. The result was that Fatima started to cave into pressure - her teacher's oppression on the one hand, and her classmates' ridicule on the other. That was all last year but today Fatima refuses to go to school without her head cover and would also cry if someone asked her to remove it. She isn't wearing it because of her belief or love for the headscarf as she is too young to grasp such matters .. She is wearing it out of fear of the repression being exercised on her at a government school in a country which calls for democracy. Her parents remained mum because they couldn't transfer her to another school because the law in Bahrain forces students to be enrolled to the school nearest to their homes and because they cannot afford to send her to a private school. They are also not able to lodge a complaint with the Ministry of Education because they are worried Fatima would then be subjected to further intimidation, which may negatively effect her learning. To say the truth, I can't imagine that such things still happen in our schools. I am not against the Hijab or those who wear it - but I am against values which are instilled by force.

Fries with that?
S as in Saudi, a Swedish woman living in Bahrain, is also frustrated with how the young are treated:

“Please change A’s yoghurt, she likes Al Marai yoghurt. Please also change her cake to chocolate”
That was the note in my two year old daughter's nursery bag the other day. I didn’t know whether to laugh or get pissed off. Chose both. Since when did my daughter know what different brands are? Since when do I give my kids whatever they point at? And since when did it become a norm to eat chocolate cake every bloody day? This is not how I am raising my kids and I don’t even approve of the idiotic idea that they are actually required to bring a piece of cake every day. Is that what they call a snack? Look around you… There are obese kids all over the place and these are the habits they are taught at a the tender age of two? It’s sickening that an institution that is supposed to raise kids and educate them seems to think it is normal to eat crap like this every day. A while back I received a news letter from my sons school. Some of the elementary kids had been on a school trip. Did they go to a museum and learned about the heritage of Bahrain perhaps? No. Did they go anywhere and learned anything of use? No. Where did they go one may ask? They went to bloody Pizza Hut and had the honour of touring the kitchen and put their “favourite” topping on pizzas…

Talk the talk
We end with Mohammad Al-Ubaydli, a Bahraini living in Washington, who wants Arabs to talk more:

As a university student in the 1970s Condoleezza Rice did the smart thing and learned to speak Russian. Today, the smart thing is to study Arabic. In Washington DC, a lot of people are trying to learn the language. One American I know found the experience so difficult that he switched to a diplomatic career in Europe. … And yet more and more Americans attend The Washington DC Arabic Language & Culture Meetup Club to practice their language skills. When I ask them why they are learning, many are uncomfortable. Some, I suspect, are trying to avoid telling an Arab that they want to become spies for the US government. But Americans in particular, and the West in general, must learn how to communicate with Arabs. There is an opportunity here for Arabs. … But the opportunity for Arabs is much larger than a business one: we can help Americans understand our Arab viewpoints, and why we hold these, rather than lamenting misunderstandings and fighting in frustration. An interesting example is from the Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia that allows anyone to improve existing work. … There is, of course, an Arabic language website…written by Arabs for Arabs but still mostly focuses on computing technology, reflecting the interests of its enthusiastic authors. But more of us should be writing more. Because just as Ms. Rice was smart to learn to talk to the Russians, we should be smart and learn to talk to Americans.

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Egypt: A wake up strike This is a Video post

a small portrait of this author Lasto Adri · 02:52
lingua → bn · de · es

Around 500 people were arrested in Egypt Sunday as police quashed a general strike, in protest against the increasing cost of living and calling for better wages.

And just as word about the strike was spread via massive text-messaging, email, and popular social networking platform Facebook, bloggers and online activists kept the world abreast with arrests and developments on the ground minute by minute throughout the day.

The strike, all over Egypt, created a rift in opinions, between those confirming its success and others announcing its abortion and even failure. Many people stayed home, as participants in the event and avoiding the day's sandstorms or simply out of fear from the anticipated violent clashes that might break out on the streets.

Witnesses reported light traffic on the streets, which were dotted with police vehicles and swarming with plainclothes policemen. Throughout the day news continued to pour in via Twitter, Facebook and blogs about arrests being made, against protesters, politicians and citizens, including bloggers.

SA wrote “what happened in the strike today”:

“I am just back from that long day. And I was about to be arrested, the Egyptian security didn’t stop bothering and aggressing the activists .
Since last night they started by arresting many activists and today they continue to arrest a lot .
I was in the Tahrir Square since 11 AM and there were a huge number of soldiers and security in plain cloths, they were bothering everyone and asking for our ids and pushing us to go away.
Three young girls from the American university in Cairo AUC come to protest at the square using breads ,the security guys didn’t like they way those young girls protest with and many soldiers were attacking the girls.
A woman with her two kids tried to save the girls but the police arrested the mother .
The two boys were alone crying because they took their mothers .
They arrested some women at the Tahrir square too and make a siege around them but me and other AUC students, we stayed in front of that siege asking the police to free them and we didn’t move till, they let them go.”

She also added:

“At down town in front of the syndicate of lawyers I was there when people in the street decided to join the people of the demonstration inside the syndicate, we were shouting outin the street “fall down Hosni Mubarak” but tens of soldiers ran after us with sticks and wanted to attack us, I was using my camera to film when an officer arrested me and wanted to take my camera and my mobile phone, thanks God a French friend journalist came and said I am his assistant and after 15 minutes of negotiation I could be out of that.
Till now they arrested more than 100 people ,but anyway a lot of Egyptians particpated in the strike by staying home .
The message of the regime was clear “no freedom, freedom of expression”.
I am wondering where was Mubarak the dictator hiding today ?
The police were very aggressive today but we resist till the end and I am considering today a victory against corruption, abuse, torture, dictatorship.”

Hossam El Hamalawy and Sandmonkey posted regular updates but the star of the day was a new blog (Ar) put up by activists, which invited people to send in their stories, pictures and videos, to document the events of the day. Tadamon Masr also posted regular updates, as they were happening throughout the day. Both blogs are still updating the day's incidents as this report was being compiled.

Ghariba wrote in detail about the events, quoting BBC Arabic, and adding a video of the clashes in El Mahala, where the textile factories and the heart of the strike was, featuring scenes of chaos:

The blogger added:

ونقلت مراسلة بي بي سي عزة محيي الدين عن مصادر امنية قولها إن عدد المعتقلين اليوم بلغ 207 قبض عليهم فى محافظات القاهرة والجيزة والإسكندرية والبحيرة وقنا .ومن بين المعتقلين اعضاء في أحزاب الغد والناصري والتجمع و حركة كفاية ومجدي أحمد حسين الأمين العام لحزب العمل المجمد

The BBC correspondent Azza Muhiydin quoted security forces as saying that the number of those arrested today reached 207, detained in Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Al Buhaira and Qana. Among those detained are members of the Al Ghad, Al Nasseri, Al Tajamua' and Kifaya Movement as well as the secretary general of Labour Party Madji Ahmed Hussain.

In Mahala, things were literally aflame. Unlike the peaceful demonstrations in big cities like Cairo, which were marred by detentions and the occasional stand off with riot police such as that in from of the Lawyers Syndication, Mahala's witnessed violent clashes between citizens and police officers. Witnesses also confirmed the death of two people, including a nine-year-old. Electricity was cut off, a gas station burned and a few shops were broken into.

Zeinobia reports “Mahala on Fire” and says:

“The great Mahla is on fire currently , all the road to the greatest city in the middle East for the textile industries are blocked and closed even the trains going there are shifted to other cities in North Delta.
We began to receive news at about 6 PM that Mahla on fire technically , some one sent an email including the photos in the slide show below described the city as Egyptian Gaza.
The forces used warning blots and tear gases ,along with sticks ,people were badly injured
It reached the point of no return when two persons killed to become the first martyrs of the 6 of April which I always remember , the first one was 20 years old young man and the second was a 9 years old boy “strangely today in Gaza also a young boy was killed !!”, Yes it turned to be correct and true unfortunately.
People there got angry ,more clashes ,unfortunately those who are engaged more in the fight are the youngsters from 11 to 16 years , there are weapons used like the local short swords , there are fires in the streets.
Now the city is under a siege from the security forces.”

Despite the crackdown, a new Facebook Group was up and running last night, inviting people for a new strike on May 4, to coincide with the Egyptian President's Birthday. The group has so far attracted 1,300 members, and following is a quick draft of its initial demands for the upcoming strike:

1-يوم 4 مايو اضراب و مضاهرات سلمية ان شاء الله
2- اول اسبوع من شهر مايو محدش هيشترى فيه لحمه
3- التجمع للمظاهرات يوم 4 مايو فى مكان هيتحدد بعدين و غالبا هيكون سرى
4- التجمع للمظاهرات ان شاء الله هيكون داخل الجوامع و الكنايس انتلاشى ازى الامن المركزى هنتجمع جواها باعداد كبيرة بعدد كده نخرج فى الشوارع و الميادي

ن

1. On May 4, a peaceful strike and demonstrations.
2. No one shall buy meat in the first week of May.
3. Participating in demonstrations will be in certain secret places.
4. Gatherings will be in mosques and churches and we will then march to the big squares and streets.

Though it is quite early to confirm the success of April 6 strike, and its repercussions, it sure hit a nerve, with thousands of people mobilising themselves and freely available online tools to demand their freedom, equality, democracy and an honourable life for themselves and the future generations of Egypt.

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Guatemala: Using Blogs to Support Good Works and Raise Awareness 

a small portrait of this author Renata Avila · 01:40
lingua → es
sample image for this post

Good deeds are beginning to show up online. Private actions become collective actions, inspiration for the digital mass, and the connection of people with common interests are all being made possible in Guatemala through the power and reach of blogs. These are some examples of blogs being used to organize collective actions to do good in Guatemala. Funds have been raised to help a singer in distress, to help build libraries, and even to use puppets as a way of educating.

The Caldo de Piedra Library Project is the amazing action by Kyle and Cassandra Passarelli, who are organizing activities as Job Wuj (rain of books), which they described it on their blog:

Caldo de Piedra is a charity that manages and stocks children's libraries. These libraries are operated by parents and the community in support of local public and private schools to help girls and boys discover that learning is part of their lives. We believe in education in its broadest sense, where books are at the heart of an array of creative and artistic projects that engage children in a love of learning.

In Guatemala there are over 15,000 public schools and 4.3 million children. However, most children attend school for only three years, and about half are in first grade (age six). Despite recent efforts to improve education, Guatemala devotes the fewest resources in Latin America towards this end (only 2.5% of GDP) while Costa Rica and Belize invest double in their children's future. Recent studies have shown that secondary school numeracy and literacy are poor. Parents often do not participate in schoolwork and stay away from the schools. The future of the educational system in Guatemala hinges on the partnering between parents, the community and their local teachers. This is where Stone Soup provides a powerful bridge.

guate.jpg

Photo by Sarah Harper and used under a Creative Commons license

Other interesting project that has just launched is Edulibre,

El proyecto edulibre esta formado por profesionales y estudiantes voluntarios que desean ayudar a la educación del país ayudando a que niños de educación primaria tengan acceso a la tecnología.Cada uno de los miembros da parte de su tiempo libre ayudando en las diversas áreas del proyecto sin ningún fin de lucro.

Edulibre is a project by volunteers, professionals and students wishing to improve the access to technology for elementary school kids. Each of them gives their time by helping in different areas of the non- profit project.

Solidarity was also seen during a campaign for support of a Guatemalan singer who recently had an accident. Many bloggers expressed their concerns like Edgarin [es], who said:

Un artista nacional que tiene muchísimo talento al igual que muchos otros, él es Tavo Bárcenas, lastimosamente sufrió un accidente el pasado domingo 23 de marzo por lo cual él ahora más que nunca necesita del apoyo de todos nosotros, ahora es cuando verdaderamente debemos apoyar al artista nacional.

A gifted national singer, as many others, Tavo Barcenas, sadly suffered a car accident last sunday, so he really needs our support and now is when we should help the national artists

Another blogger, Surizar [es] replicated the message, as did Propositivo [es]. Finally, Peña 2 was a little more ambitious:

Me gustaría es que toda esta gente que se organiza para ayudar a Tavo Barcenas, en vez de solamente ayudarle a él, vieran un poco más allá y organizar algún movimiento para mejorar la situación que causó esta tragedia. ….. Y si hubiera sido solamente un accidente, de igual manera yo creo que un buen paso para Guatemala sería mejorar el IGGSS. Muchos países tienen salud pública que funciona bien y todos felices. Ya me comprenden? No tengo NADA en contra de Tavo Bárcenas, pero me duele que toda la vida los chapines solo nos unimos en situaciones extremas (o con Carlos Peña…) y solo para arreglar el problema existente, sin ver más allá o pensar hacia el futuro.

I would like that all the people who organized to help out Tavo Barcenas, would go a step further and organize some movement to fix the situation that caused the tragedy…. A good way to do so is to improve the social security and health care system. Several countries have public health that works and all the people are happy. I don't have anything against Tavo Barcenas, but it hurts to realize that we Guatemalans only work together in extreme situations (or with Calros Peña..) (Latin American Idol winner) and only to solve an existing problem without looking beyond or thinking about the future.

Other bloggers are also promoting a project to help Guatemalan families in extreme poverty:

Quiero iniciar un proyecto de cultivo autosostenible con este pequeño grupo de familias ( 7 u 8 ) que les permita tener un mejor nivel de vida a ellos y a su familia. Y hago la invitación acá para todos aquellos que quieran formar parte de él. Empezaremos viajando al lugar un fin de semana, el 26 de Abril a repartir víveres entre estas familias y algunas más que podamos encontrar, para poder evaluar su situación y necesidades más básicas, conversar con ellos, ver que estén interesados en un proyecto de cultivos autosostenibles.

I would like to start a project of sustainable development using crops with a small group of families (7 or 8) to allow them to havea better quality of life. And I will like to invite those interested to join. We will visit the place on some weekend to give the families some goods and to evaluate the situation and the priorities according to their needs, talk to them, and evaluate if they are interested in the project.

But sometimes good intentions are not enough, when the number of problems and causes far outnumber one's ability to help. Others choose to address and mobilize around issues that may end in violence. Mi Mundo blogger James Rodriguez wrote an article on the murder of a leader of their community by forces of the State, Mario Caal Bolom. He was 29 years old and belonged to the Educational Commission of the Community Committee for Development. Rodriguez hopes to raise awareness about the reality of the situation.

We are a peasant group which did not organize itself yesterday. Hence, we deeply feel the spilling of blood of our friend and neighbor. We hope the State of Guatemala assumes its responsibility. Our brother Mario left a family; he left children behind; he left a number of responsibilities. Who will look after them now? What will his children do now? What about his wife? Then they added “Here, we are condemned. We find ourselves in an alley without exit. There are no opportunities. On the contrary, opportunities are taken away from us on a daily basis. Oppression continues everyday. In which security force are we to trust if the Police are the same ones who kill us? Only in the time of military dictatorships did things like this occur, like in 1982. Hence, it is very difficult to remember and accept… We are genuinely worried about our welfare and safety. I believe history will judge. Let justice punish. Allow the truth to condemn.

Many of these causes, projects, and issues never make the newspaper, and so blogs are helping to increase awareness and gather support for these attempts to help Guatemala.

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