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Russia: Ethnic Uzbek in Moscow

Veronica Khokhlova · 19:24 · Eastern & Central Europe

Moscow-based LJ user gr_s (Grigoriy Sapov) hitched a cab and ended up having a conversation with the driver, an ethnic Uzbek (RUS):

An Uzbek Driver

Yesterday. The driver is elderly, respectable, speaks without an accent:

***

The conversation began when we were getting out to the embankment through Neopalimovskie Lanes.

- Take these garbage containers. Recently, in Grokholskiy, in the backyard, I found a Singer sewing machine standing next to a container like this. Someone put it out there and, interestingly, attached a hand-written note: “In working order.” I loaded it into the car - my personal car has seats that can be lowered, so it fit. Took it to my son - my middle son runs a small metal repairs shop, and one more son has chosen our ancestors' way - he sews footwear, bags, and works with leather in general. So they cleaned it, installed an electric engine. It works well, sews through leather alright. And it says on it that it was made in 1928, by the way.

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Public Schools students coordinate Strike by fotoblogs

Rosario Lizana · 17:07 · Americas

More than 40,000 public school students (and now some private (ES) as well) have participated in mobilizations all over Chile in the last weeks. They are asking for free public transportation, free entrance exams, a revision of full time school classes, and the detraction of the Organic Law of Education. The entrance exams/a> (ES) cost US $40 per student (the minimum wage is US $240 a month). In some public schools there is not sufficient infrastructure to have dining halls for a full time classes and the Organic Law of Education (ES) is from 1980. They goverment has made changes to this law in 1990, but the general vision hasn’t changed that much.

They participate through marches, protests, and by occupying public schools, colleges and universities. They are also holding conversation workshops and coordinating with the mayor of each area. And also … by web sites, blogs and fotoblogs. It’s amazing that while authorities were asking how to coordinate nationally, they forgot to check the web. The pro-active student group has more or less 6.000 people and is located in the capital, Santiago.

One of the most traditional public schools, “Instituto Nacional” - more than 12 presidents of Chile have studied over there, last one was Ricardo Lagos- has its website . Another is José Victorino Las Tarrias' fotoblog (ES). , Liceo 1 Javiera Carrera (ES), Liceo de Aplicación's blog and fotoblog (ES), Barros Borgoño (ES) . Most use nicknames to refer to the name of the school such as “Carmelianas” (ES) , for example.

They post about the last information, convocation of strike, meeting and events, and also…a competition with all of the public schools fotoblogs in the list to vote for the best one. New leaders are emerging in this groups that in other situations, would probably be weighed down by bureaucracy, and blogs have become a window to make leaders grow and others students participate, sending photos, comments, voting and also emails.

Now, the major plan of the students is to hold a national strike on May 30th. They will not march, the idea is to have peaceful meetings among students. The right wing has taken advantage of this situation to criticize Michelle Bachelet's governance. The Education Minister is working now with parliaments from the left and right wing to agree on the best solution to resolve the demands of the students.

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Arabisc: Arabic Bloggers Ken

Haitham Sabbah · 16:03 · Middle East & North Africa

From Egypt… Malek who was scheduled to be free few days ago is now officially free. He just made his first post, titled: Free Morning. Malek writes:

الحمدلله

تم الافراج عني اليوم في حوالي الساعه الرابعه والنصف من قسم ترحيلات الخليفه

لحد دلؤتي مقريتش حاجه اتكتبت عني بس بجد شكرا جدا لكل واحد كتب عني حاجه او وقف معايا في اللي انا كنت فيه

حرجع اكتب بالتفصيل قريب

Thank God!

I was released today at around four thirty

Until now, I haven't read anything written about me, but seriously, thanks very much to all who wrote or stood by my side

I'll continue writing soon

Speaking of Egyptian bloggers and the recent reaction of mainstream media, Al Jazeera Network yesterday aired a documentary program about bloggers in the Arab world and focused on Egyptian bloggers. Malek, Alaa and many other bloggers stories were covered. Viewers of the documentary said it was great and will be aired again twice tomorrow.

Bent Mesreya asked her parents to watch the documentary. She wrote about their reaction. She said:

مش عارفة اوصف احساسى بمشاعرهم.. هما مبسوطين ان فى شباب كده.. ومع ذلك عايزينى افضل بعيدة بردو.. “زيزي انتى لأ”.. “زيزي مين، هو انا اطول اعمل حاجة زيهم.. هو حظى كده.. لو كنت عايشة فى مصر.. ولو كنت بشتغل فى مصر زى الاول”.. طول الحلقة على كده..

I can't describe how they feel.. they are happy to see young people like them.. in spite of that, they want me to stay away… “Zeze (her name), not you”.. “oh me, I wish I can do something like them.. it's my bad luck.. only if I live in Cairo.. or work there like I used to”..

Along the same line of support for the detained bloggers, few Egyptian bloggers are organizing a live music concert; “Sing, Baheya”:

غنى يا بهية.. من أجل زملائنا المعتقلين

غنّى يا بهية.. حفل ينظمه عدد من المدونين المصريين

تضامنا مع زملائنا المدونين المعتقلين وتكريما لمن تم فك سراحهم

غنّى يا بهية.. حفل موسيقى، مسرحى سيقام فى نقابة الصحفيين

نعلن الآن.. عن مرحلة التنظيم للحفل.. شاركونا فى الإعداد.. على من يرغب فى المشاركة لتنظيم الحفل مراسلتنا على

eheaam@gmail.com

فى موعد أقصاه 10 مساءا - الجمعة 26 مايو 2006

Sing, Baheya… For fellow detainees
Sing, Baheya… Ceremony organized by a number of Egyptians Bloggers
In solidarity with our colleague’s bloggers and to honor those arrested and the released ones
Sing, Baheya… Live music concert and theatre play will be held at the Press Syndicate
Those wishing to participate in organizing the ceremony please contact us:
Eheaam@gmail.com
No later than 10 pm - Friday 26, May 2006

The Ghanne Ya Baheya (Sing, Baheya), bloggers (organizers) are welcoming any help. Among these bloggers are, 30 February, Taranim, Seeking Freedom, Ayoub El Masry, Bent Masreya, Tagreba and Shaimaa.

In Kuwait… Following last couple of weeks parliamentary unrest and (more…)

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East Timor: More Violence

Preetam Rai · 14:06 · East Asia

Factions continue to fight with each other in East Timor . The blogger at Diligence, in his post titled Another Bad Day, mentions this incident that took place on Thursday, 25th May

The UN released details of the casualties from an encounter between FDTL soldiers and the police after army soldiers attacked the police headquarters :

“As the unarmed police were being escorted out, army soldiers opened fire on them killing nine and wounding 27 others, including two UN police advisers,” Dujarric said.

This is just after the UN police attached to the local police had brokered a deal to lay down weapons and leave the building.

The wounded police were taken to the UN compound where blogger Tumbleweed was helping out

In the clinic, there was no time to feel fear or sadness. We just tried to see how we could help, with instructions from the (thankfully) many doctors working in the UN system. I put on gloves and tried to clean some wounds, bandage some, and comfort others - holding their hands and talking to them, trying to reassure them. I don't think I was ‘feeling' anything at that moment. NONE of us did, we just did what was necessary.

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DRC: Coup Attempts and More Questions on the Upcoming Elections

Jennifer Brea · 09:05 · Sub-Saharan Africa

Free and Fair Elections?

Joseph Kabila, the founder of the PPRD (the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy), has overseen an interim administration established by the 2002 peace agreement. The Democratic Republic of the Congo's first post-conflict presidential elections are set to be held on July 30th after months of postponements. A number of opposition bloggers are voicing concerns about the integrity of these elections, citing what they see as the systematic surveillance and detention of certain members of the opposition parties, the subversion of election law, and interference in the election by foreign governments, namely Belgium.

Surveillance and Arrest of Opposition Candidates.

In his blog, Le Blog du Congolais, Anthony Katombe writes that several candidates for president are being surveilled and their homes surrounded by police, a practice described as (Fr) “Stalinist.” Valentin Mubake, president of the national council of the UDPS, has been placed under house arrest with his wife and children, and refused the right to attend mass.

Katombe, writing for the Prince du Fleuve de Congo, reports on the (Fr) “kidnapping” of Kutino Fernando, pastor of the Army of Victory Church and founder of “Save the Congo” by the police. Katombe doubts the veracity of claims made by Kimbembe Mazunga, governor of Kinshasa, that Kutino's sermons incited hatred and violence and that military equipment and weapons were found at Kurtino's church. Katombe notes that Kimbembe (Fr) “specified neither the type of arms [found] nor their quantity.”

Alleged Coup Attempt

32 foreign “mercenaries” working for Omega, a private security agency contracted by Doctor Oscar Kashala, a wealthy, US-based “self-made man” and candidate for president (Salon), were arrested in Kinshasa for allegedly plotting to overthrow Joseph Kabila's government. Those arrested - 12 South Africans, 10 Nigerias and 3 Americans - were said to be armed and recently arrived from Iraq.

Congo Girl reporting on the same story quotes a Roman Catholic priest as saying:

A Roman Catholic priest thinks the charge is laughable in a country that has over 16,000 UN troops, which will, incidentally, be augmented with another 1500 from the European Union. But some think that employment of 16 of these people…by a security company in Matadi and several others as interpreters for a mining company [was a] cover for their real objective

Katombe suggests that the alleged coup attempt, whose mission the government claims was to (Fr) “overthrow the country's political institutions and destablize the electoral process…for the benefit of a presidential candidate,” is being used by the government to justify its surveillance of opposition candidates.

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The garments industry riots in Bangladesh

Rezwan · 07:40 · South Asia

The readymade Garments Industry is the key export earning sector for Bangladesh, which brings to this developing country $6 billion yearly revenue. The industry has over 4,000 export oriented factories and thousands more small scale sub-contractors which employ nearly three million workers most of whom are women (80%).

All hell broke loose last weekend as a riot broke out in and around the capital Dhaka city when a garments worker was shot in Savar, an industrial zone 30km away from Dhaka as police was trying to control the angry protesters. The death sparked more violence as thousands of garments workers took to the streets in Savar, creating chaos and huge traffic deadlocks around the capital. A section of 800-1000 violent protesters with sticks lead by motorcycle processions resorted to widespread damage of vehicles, attacked about 300 garments factories, and torched many of them. Widespread lootings were also reported and finally extra security forces were deployed to prevent this from going further.

From the Washington post: “One thing I can say that we love our machines because they feed us and protect us from starvation. How can one with a sane heart destroy them?” - female worker Masuda Begum.

The Bangladeshi bloggers had different opinions on this issue. (more…)

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