Archive for
September 18th, 2006
Stories
U.N. reform: when you talk, will they listen?
When you talk, will this man listen? Let's find out on Tuesday.
What is your opinion of the United Nations? What kind of impact has it had on your country and people? How should it be reformed? Who should lead it?
Global Voices is hoping to share your views in a conversation with the U.N.'s largest private donor, media mogul Ted Turner- a.k.a. “The Mouth of the South.”
HOW TO JOIN US ONLINE: On Tuesday September 19th at 4pm New York time, 19:00 20:00 GMT (please note corrected time!), Ted Turner will sit down with Reuters journalist Paul Holmes and conduct a conversation which will be webcast live online around the world. Click here to watch the webcast and read more about the event.
HOW TO SHARE YOUR QUESTIONS AND VIEWS: As you watch or listen, you can join the discussion by clicking here and participating in a live online chat. I will be in the room, along with Caribbean editor Georgia Popplewell Alice Backer, and Kamla Bhatt. The four of us will be raising our hands aggressively to ask questions on your behalf.
HAVE MORE IMPACT BY BLOGGING: A great way to help influence the conversation is by blogging your views on the subject before the event even starts. Please tell us what questions Paul Holmes ought to be asking Ted Turner, and what you think the conversation should focus on. When you write your blog post, please be sure to tag it with “gv-un” in Technorati and/or del.icio.us. Or share the link with us as trackback to this post, or paste it in the comments section of this post.
Here is the text of the Reuters blurb announcing the event:
As the United Nations General Assembly convenes in New York this September, Reuters invites you to glean insight into the United Nations. This Reuters Newsmaker features A Conversation with Ted Turner. Nearly a decade ago, Turner pledged to donate $1 billion through the UN Foundation for United Nations programs over a ten-year period. As that anniversary approaches, Paul Holmes, Reuters Political and General News Editor, will sit down with Turner to discuss his investment, his views of the current state of the United Nations, and what’s next for the often controversial organization. The audience will participate in the conversation through an open microphone session followed by a reception.
Note that Turner has some fairly strong criticisms of big U.S. media. He has said that if he was still running CNN, he would do some things differently and focus more on international news.
Global Food Blog Report #32
#1: From Sri Lanka, Moju meditations on Hitler and Vegetarianism: "Hitler was a vegetarian"
As you can see below from the quotes of Hitler…he was a vegetarian and a teetotaler! How is it possible that a vegetarian and a teetotaler could kill millions of people? The reason I ask is because every full moon day we see monks on TV telling us the virtues of being a vegetarian and how meat eaters are more prone to violence than
vegetarians! Could some kind person out there, please give me an answer? Read the complete post…
#2: From Tanzania, MiRecipe shares a well kept secret recipe: Kashata.
There are quite a few sweet recipes from Tanzania, this is one of many. The only problem is that, I can not tell you how and when kashata
was introduced in Tanzania. We can just guess it is a Persian influence just like many other recipes. Not to forget, Tanzania has many varieties of Kashata. This is very simple, and taste better with strong black coffee without sugar. Get the recipe now!
#3: From Mexico, Saveurs Mexicaines (FR) reveals her recipe to prepare "Sincronizadas," a quick and delicious solution for breakfast, a light lunch or afternoon snack. It is made with flour tortillas, ham and cheese. I am guessing that you have all that in your fridge, right? So, head over THERE and get the step by step recipe now!
#4: From Guatemala, Guate360 writes about a traditionally tasty recipe to prepare Rompope (Eggnog).
#5: From India, FoodMall.org cooks up a tasty "Okra Chicken"
Okra in India is loved when gooey and with its gooe-goodness it can jazz-up almost any food ingredient. I would go for chicken and okra for my Saturday Night Dinner. Pay Esther a visit and start cooking now!
Knight-Batten Awards: And the winner is…..
It was appropriate that, for an award given for innovations in journalism, overseen by J-Lab (the Institute of Interactive Journalism at the University of Maryland), the news came from my colleague Georgia Popplewell at the ceremony in Washington DC via instant message to London and from there out to the Global Voices community across the world via e-mail.
Global Voices Online is the winner of the Grand Prize at the 2006 Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism. These awards:
spotlight news and information that is more than multimedia journalism. They reward novel efforts to involve citizens actively in public issues, to invite their participation and create entry points that stir their imagination and engagement. Honored are pioneering approaches to journalism that spur non-traditional interactions and that have an impact on a community.
In the case of Global Voices I think it's fair to say that the project is the community.
The judges said Global Voices is “an extraordinary site that allows for both editorial gatekeeping and wide access to news and information from underreported parts of the world“, and they also credited the writers with helping to elevate standards in the blogosphere.
This is a huge tribute to every single person involved in the Global Voices project.
Congratulations!
We were represented at the ceremony by the “GV-3″ - (from left to right) Rebecca MacKinnon, Georgia Popplewell and Alice Backer.
For further information:
- Georgia liveblogged from the ceremony for as long as the internet connection held out.
- Extensive details of the award, our application and selection as a finalist are in this earlier post announcing our gaining a place in the final selection.
- There is a press release from the Berkman Centre for Internet and Society.
- And here is the press release from J-Lab announcing the award.
Philippines: Most controversial military general
Army Major General Jovito Palparan is implicated in more than a hundred cases of human rights violations. He retired last week from active military service but the government vowed to appoint him soon to continue his anti-communist crusade.
Activists accused him of being a “butcher” but President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo praised him many times and even acknowledged his controversial tactics in defeating the ‘enemies of the state’.
Gen. Palparan neither confirmed nor denied his involvement in the notorious ‘death squads’ which claimed the lives of more than 700 political dissenters since 2001. He insists that he only ‘inspired’ the triggerman.
Piercing Pens blogs about “a problem like Palparan.”
Fullman suggests how to ‘neutralize the menace’ without resorting to violence:
“Since he’s based in remote rural areas, where the only creatures that are active at night are truly nocturnal, the only way to keep him up until the wee hours of the morning is to invite him every night to judge your ubiquitous gay beauty pageants. This is the only strategy that does not violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights…If you are from Bulacan, Nueve Ecija or Pampanga, then do an act of patriotism and invite Palparan to judge your gay beauty contests. Believe me, that would, ehem, neutralize the menace.”
The Professional Heckler also has a humorous commentary on the day of Palparan’s retirement.
Hillblogger explains the consequences if Palparan is given a new job in government:
“A seat on the National Security Council is virtual immunity for Palparan; the seat ensures that he can snub summons by the legislature…he doesn’t have to answer any questions surrounding accusations of extra-judicial killings during his time as a military commander and most of all, he is vested with official powers to put down opposition to (President) Arroyo by simply branding all oppositionists ‘red’.”
Our thoughts are free writes about the real legacy of Palparan in all the areas where he was assigned: a trail of blood and child victims. Torn and Frayed in Manila provides the details of Palparan’s violent record. He also compares Palparan to other infamous individuals:
“Palparan comes from a long and undistinguished line that includes King Leopold II, Butcher of the Congo; Idi Amin, Butcher of Uganda; Ariel Sharon, Butcher of Sabra and Chatilla; and Butcher Cumberland, the victor at Culloden. And now the Philippines has its own butcher.”
Achieving happiness on how activists view Palparan:
“Yes yes yes. Palparan is a serial killer in uniform. If psychiatrists made a profile of how his brain works and how his id and ego are, they'd most likely discover that he's no different from the likes of Jack the Ripper and Hiter. Completely demented, killing calmly and coldly.”
Kalovski Itim Online probes the media spin to give Palparan a ‘soft side.’
Stop the killings website is essential to understand the human rights situation in the Philippine under the present government.
Red star images posted a picture of Palparan.
Pope, American Embassy and Others
This week was an extremely busy week for all Syrian bloggers, notably Political Blogs had to make a number of updates, since the political atmosphere in syria was swirling with possibilities and different analysis of the aftermath of the latest attack on the US Embassy in Damascus, and the successful defusion of the attack by Syrian ant-terrorism forces.
But before we talk about the Embassy Attack, Initiated by Fares, The Syrian Blogsphere had a new statement this week, A joint statement by a number of Syrian Blogs calling for the immediate release of all intellectuals, and political prisoners in Syria…
The updated high profile Syrian prisoners list include Mahmoud Issa, Michel Kilo, Khalil Hasan, Anwar el Bunni, Suleiman al-Shamar, Ali Abdallah, Mohammed Ali Abdallah, Kamal Labwani, Fateh Jamous, Habib Saleh and Aref Dalila.
It is easy to become complacent and resign oneself to the fact it all seems hopeless. But, at least, in honor of those few who believed that it is NOT hopeless, that this country has a better future beyond corruption and dogma.
We owe it to these prisoners of conscience and we owe it to the future of our country to keep pushing for their release.
Joshua Landis was quick to gather a roundout about the attack with his answer to “Conspiracy theorists who suggest that the attack on the Embassy was a Syrian government inspired job”… (more…)
Poland's Pulse in the Blogosphere
The 16th century town of Kazimierz Dolny in Poland - by Gustav (Warsaw Station)
The Polish Farmer and the Dell? From bovinechips to microchips, Polish Matters reports on the largest single US investment in Poland from computer-maker Dell. The plant is slated for construction next year in Lodz and will employ 2,000 people. That's very good news for an economy already suffering from a serious brain drain pointed West.
While microchips are very small and shiny, and cowchips, well, are not, the Real Warsaw waxes on about the sizeable chips on Polish clerk shoulders. Why is it that there are more scowls than smiles in the shops? An answer:
The mainstream theory is it goes back to the communist days when shop assistants did not need to be polite. There were less goods than customers and the shop assistant was god, allocating the goods at a whim to the pour souls in the queue.
Links for Mon, 2006-09
Nik Nazmi in Malaysia asks whether the speech made by pope was really an attempt at dialogue. “While, yes, the Pope has now apologised, what is glaring is the fact that when he quoted Manuel II, there was no hint of qualification and seemingly tacit approval.”
The South Pacific Travel Blog has the latest from Solomon Islands where the Australian high commissioner was forced to leave country after he was declared a persona non grata.
The Samakomlao blog posts pictures of a Laotian pop duo in concert in Japan. Laos is one of the least visited countries in Asia and only recently rest of Asia is getting interested in Lao's pop-culture and travel destinations.
Mythical Dude is missing Cambodia and he is staying in touch by reading blogs from Cambodia.
African Painters on the late Ugandan artist, Henry Lutalo Lumu, “Henry Lutalo Lumu is credited by many of Uganda's artists as being one of the country's brightest and most widely influential talents of modern Ugandan art from as early as the 1950s until his death in 1989.”
Cora has news and photos from the 8th Lagos Book and Art Festival (September 15 -17, 2006).
So the President of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete, can play the African drum! He was the guest of honor at the opening ceremony of the 25th Bagamoyo Arts Festival, which took place on September 11th - 16th, 2006 in the coastal town of Bagamoyo at the Bagamoyo College of Arts.
Kumekucha has an idea about what the President of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki and his closest aides think of younger generation leaders, “My firm conviction is that the younger generation in this nation will confound critics and rise to the occasion, at this, the nation’s hour of need. It does not matter what newspaper surveys say about how ignorant they are.”
Death and funeral announcement is a poem written in support of the Global Day for Darfur:
Here lies eighty thousand souls
names and identities- unknown
passions and pains- unknown
feelings and fears- unknown
Origin and nationality- Western Sudan Darfur region
Now buried in a mass grave known as Darfur Crisis….
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