Archive for
July 8th, 2008
Stories
Argentina: Students chain themselves demanding a better school
In the province of Rio Negro near the city of General Roca in Argentina, the students of the CEM 106 are asking the government to follow through with their promises of solving the problems their school has. Videos of the open sewage drains in front of the school, of the 3 classrooms for more than 240 students and the septic tank which overflows in the backyard provide visible proof of their needs. In spite of the governments promises back in June to solve this issues, nothing has changed, and this has caused the students to chain themselves outside the regional office for Rural Education.
The description and the streaming captions on the video [es] uploaded by emilioris from CorteDirecto website, tell the same story: students and parents of the 106 High School, located in the rural area of General Roca have chained themselves instants ago to the regional office of the Provincial Educational Council Delegation. We should remember that since June 11th the educational community resolved the buildings occupation under the agreement that the CPE would follow through their promises made in the last years and begin the expansion of their buildings, since currently they only have 3 rooms for 240 students.
Students also walked around the campus shooting this video [es]: You can see the mud on the road, the open sewage, students having classes in the hallways, the tiny kitchen where milk is prepared for the students, bare rooms, and in the back, the area where they take physical education, which every once in a while gets flooded by the full septic tanks.
The following video [es] is of the students decision to occupy the school as a way to show their displeasure with the way the regional administration is ignoring their plight. In one part of the film, the interviewer asks a student if the occupation of the school won't interrupt lessons to which the student answers that they've already lost many classes due to heaters breaking down, to lights not working, to flooding and lack of enough classrooms.
Japan: Comment about abductions sparks harsh reactions
Liberal Democratic Party member and former Chief Secretary Koichi Kato has sparked harsh reactions from bloggers [ja] and on 2channel [ja] with a comment he made on July 7th. In his comment, Kato connected the stagnation of Japanese-Korea negotiations with the government decision in 2002 not to return 5 Japanese abductees to North Korea after they had been delivered to Japan by North Korea for what was expected to be only a short time. The abductees were among a group of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea in the late 1970s and early 1980s, most of whom remain missing to this day.
According to the wire report [ja] quoted in blogs and forums, on the decision in 2002 not to return the visiting abductees to Pyongyang, Kato commented that: “(It was said that) if they were returned once, Pyongyang would kill them, but this is what distinguishes my political stance (from those of politicians like Abe [Shinzo]). There is no reason to believe that they would have been able to do that.”
Blogger jieeku at rare metal responds:
私はこの記事を読んで、憤っています。
どの様なことを言われても、拉致は犯罪行為のなにものでもないのですよ。
Whatever may be said, abduction is nothing less than a criminal act.
拉致被害者の家族の方がｵｯｼｬｯﾃいます。
「拉致問題は簡単なことなんです。犯罪だから」っと。
国民の大多数の人々が、拉致は犯罪だと考えています。
お国の政治家さんらは、被害者の方々を政治の道具としてしか、お考えになっていませんか？
日本国民を未だに犯罪から救い出すこともしないで、加藤さん、何をｵｯｼｬﾃおられるのですか。
“The abduction issue is simple. It's a crime.”
The great majority of citizens consider abduction a crime.
Do Japanese politicians think of the [abduction] victims as nothing else but a political tool?
Still now, you haven't even tried to rescue these Japanese citizens from the crime [of abduction], so what are you talking about Kato?
Blogger kisaragiyayoi852 asks:
人として恥かしくないのか？
政治家って国益のためならば個人を見殺しにしてもいいという考えしかないのか？
Will politicians do anything, even stand by and watch someone die, if it is in the national interest?
Some were much more succinct in their message. Blogger yoshikazu53toyoshima reacts to the news with two lines:
黙れ、売国奴！
日本から立ち去れ！
At Cthulhu in the Water, another blogger offers this perspective, drawing a comparison with the hijacking of Japan Airlines Flight 351:
加藤紘一（敬称を付ける気にもならない）は、拉致被害者やその家族に面と向かって同じ台詞を言うことができるのか。もしも、北朝鮮との交渉に生け贄が必要だというのなら、なぜ、自分の家族を差し出すと言えないのか。かつて、よど号ハイジャック事件が起きたとき、山村新治郎運輸政務次官は人質の身代わりとなって男を上げた。同じように、加藤紘一が自分の家族を差し出せば、政治家として株を上げることができただろう。自分は安全な場所にいて、無力な拉致被害者を生け贄にしようなど、卑劣きわまりない。
“No Car Day” in Southwestern Chinese City
Last year, Kunming, China took part in “No Car Day” (无车日). Now, the southwestern Chinese city has gone above and beyond by instituting a “No Car Day” every month.
Kunming, home to many environmental NGOs, has Car Free Days on the last Saturday of every month. China's Green Beat gives us the skinny:
The policy has its limitations, of course. Rather than fully banning cars throughout the entire city, only private cars are forbidden to enter the first ring road. Taxis, buses, bikes, scooters, and special purpose vehicles (or vehicles with greater than 17 seats that are more than 50% full) are allowed to travel anywhere in the city.
They go on to say:
The policy seems to have mixed results. On September 22, the Kunming Environmental Bureau reported much better air quality due to the limitation of private cars…On the same day, the BBC reported Beijing drivers as having all but ignored the call for No Car Day, where the event was voluntary and not enforced as in Kunming.
China's Green Beat “Green Sisters” Ouyang and Jenny give a report about the day.
Video: No Car Day in Kunming
China plans to hold a car-free day in 108 cities this Sept. 22, as part of the world's No Car Day. China's No Car Day should cut 3,000 tons of emissions and save 33 million liters of gasoline.
In addition to the ‘No Car Day' initiative, Beijing is planning major traffic restrictions around this year's Olympics in Eastern China.
Malawi: Radio Host seeks Help in Blog
An 18 month-old radio program that attracted a faithful following in Malawi is in danger of ceasing, thanks to expensive phone rates and limited bandwidth. The program's host, Malawian blogger Victor Kaonga, has made an appeal for the program to find sponsorship and be saved.
Victor in the studio
Malawian blogger Victor Kaonga, a broadcast journalist as well as a Global Voices author for Malawi, has issued an appeal for sponsorship to save his TransWorld Radio program where he interviews Malawians living outside Malawi in the Chichewa language. It is titled A Malawi Kunja kwa Malawi (Malawians outside Malawi). It has been running weekly since January, 2007.
Victor writes in his blog that the program is threatened with closure due to prohibitive costs of international calling rates and low Internet bandwidth in Malawi. He was able to meet the costs of running the program from his living allowances whilst in Sweden, where he was studying for his masters' degree in global journalism. Victor successfully defended his thesis and returned to Malawi in June, where he has continued the TransWorld Radio broadcasts.
In reminiscing about the program, Victor writes:
It has been a wonderful 18 (plus) months of programming with A Malawi Kunja Kwa Malawi. ‘Wonderful' in the sense that my understanding of the global role of Malawians has increased while at the same time imagining the impact of the absence of such Malawians at home.
Malawians are said to be an itinerant people, found in parts of the world both well known and obscure, a fact easily noticed in the geographies of the places where Victor has found Malawians to interview.
Victor gives a glimpse of the composition of the 76 Malawians he has hitherto interviewed, noting that they have represented various parts of the globe, including Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, the Americas, the Pacific and the Caribbean.
Malawians outside Malawi frequently discuss the role of the Malawian diaspora in Malawian affairs, and Victor touches on this sentiment when he lists the four ways in which the program is unique:
# This is the first radio programme in Malawi featuring Malawians abroad on a regular basis.
# It is a programme that helps link on air the locals with their relatives near and far.
# The programme also helps extend the influence and ministry of radio in Malawi.
# It is a programme that is in tune with the modern times in this ever-growing global village.
Victor expresses the hope that he will find the sponsorship needed to enable the program to continue, and one response to his post has already provided suggestions. Clement Nthambazale, another Malawian blogger currently studying for a PhD in Japan, has commented on Victor's post, launching with the hope that the program will be saved:
This programme MUST NOT die. I hope that you will be able to find some some sponsors who will help with production costs especially with the increasing number of listeners.
Secondly, I would like to let you know that you can phone at very cheap rates from Malawi to other countries.Sometime last year,I attended a Voice over IP Workshop which was organized by MACRA. After the workshop, I wrote a blog post highlighting the proceedings of the Workshop and my concerns on Malawi's delay in setting up a VoIP policy. Through this post, I got connected to Havar Bauck,who works for Vyke, a Norwegian company in the callshop and callback market…
Armenia: LGBT Blogs
With blogs fast becoming synonymous with heated online political debate of late, there is the danger that the much larger potential for blogging in Armenia is missed. That is, while most political blogs simply duplicate the views of an already polarized media, the voices of those stuck in between, denied access to the airwaves, or who are simply misrepresented, are often ignored.
However, in the area of specialist subject matters such as education, the situation might be slowly changing. This is also true when it comes to an emerging and active LGBT blogging scene. Ironically, bloggers were first used by the media to perpetuate the homophobia prevalent in society, as Unzipped: Gay Armenia reported in January.
What on earth homosexuals have to do with an article on blogging in Armenia, one may wonder. The answer is simple. Journalist Tatev Harutyunyan probably worried that her article on blogging would not attract much attention, so she had to sensationalise it, to spice things up. What else could be more attention grabbing than gay-related headline or homophobic rhetoric? Nothing, apparently.
[…]
I was not surprised in relation to Aravot newspaper’s periodic ‘masterpieces’. Last spring it published an ill-informed and blatantly homophobic article on gay people in Armenia, ironically rightly stating that gay life is pretty much hidden in our country without even realising (?) that it’s partly because of media attitudes like theirs, that gay men and women prefer remaining ‘in closet’ (“hidden”).
Since then, however, the number of LGBT blogs from Armenia and the Diaspora has mushroomed. In part, this is probably because of the important precedent set by Unzipped: Gay Armenia. The blogger from Armenia now resident in England truly did cover sensitive issues such as gender, homosexuality and homophobia in what still remains a largely male-dominated patriarchal society with little regard for sexual minorities or women's rights.
According to UNICEF report released today, 1 in 4 surveyed women in Armenia (22%) believe that under certain circumstances, husband has the right to beat his wife. The situation is even worse in Georgia – 30%. (in Ukraine - 5%; and in Uzbekistan - 70%!)
Survey was conducted among women 15-49 yrs old.
[…]
Sadly, not a shocking news…
In a country where many issues are only covered only in a localized rather than regional context, Unzipped: Gay Armenia also took upon itself to cover neighboring Azerbaijan and Georgia without resorting to nationalist rhetoric, bias or prejudice given that many territorial disputes and frozen conflicts linger on in the region.
This is especially true in the case of Babi Badalov, a gay Azerbaijani artist seeking asylum in the United Kingdom. Although Armenia and Azerbaijan are still effectively at war over the unresolved conflict of Nagorno Karabakh, Unzipped: Gay Armenia continues to cover his case in a way that most local journalists probably wouldn't.
Babakhan Badalov, (Babi) is an openly gay, internationally renowned radical artist and poet from Azerbaijan. His art and poetry have been explicitly critical of the government and present/past presidents. These factors have led Babi to become a target of repression and persecution over many years. These factors have led Babi to become a target of repression and persecution over many years. He has recently been described by the government and prominent public figures as being a traitor to Azerbaijan.
Since Unzipped: Gay Armenia, other blogs by members of the LGBT community in the Diaspora have sprung up. These include An Armenian Lesbian Blog, The Thoughts of a Californian Garmo in Europe, Queering Yerevan, AGLA NY, and Hye Trent. More importantly, perhaps, a new Armenian LGBT organization is using its blog to effectively report on matters that the local media usually does not. What makes PINK Armenia unique is that it is actually located in Armenia.
Given that blogs can serve as a medium through which unrepresented groups or voices can communicate their ideas, thoughts and concerns, LGBT/Gender blogs arguably illustrate the potential blogging has in countries such Armenia and neighbors such as Iran. Other key groups which blogs could also empower — especially if they were to utilize social networking sites, online video and podcasts as well — include youth, ethnic minorities and environmentalists.
Nicaragua: Protesters Pay Visit to Former President
The hunger strike by Dora Maria Tellez to stop the Supreme Electoral Court from banning the Sandinista Renovation Party for this year's municipal elections lasted 13 days. However, it did not stop the banning of the political party. Since then, there have been new protests and meetings to oppose the political and economical measures of the goverment.
Within this context, all sort of political movements have been caught up in the confusion. Liberal candidates march together with members of the former Sandinista Front Party, while the goverment works on a pact with the largest opposition party, the Constitutional Liberal Party.
Just this last Saturday, after a rally in central Managua, two groups formed to go “visit” political personalities. One group visited the Assembly's president Rene Nuñez, and the second group found former president Arnoldo Alemán dining at a local restaurant. Alemán had been convicted for corruption charges that took place during his presidency.
The group stood outside the restaurant singing and shouting against this tried and convictedpolitical figure. The funny side of this is that Alemán had been proven guilty of corruption, but has permission to visit anyone he wants inside Nicaragua.
Jorge Mejía Peralta [es] was present and documented the event on his blog [es]:
Unos cuantos entraron, y ya adentro comenzaron a gritarle a Alemán corrupto, que no es ninguna ofensa porque está mas que demostrado que ha sido ladrón. Con condena judicial firme.
Hubo forcejeos y los escoltas del ladron y corrupto hicieron que expulsara del restaurante a los jóvenes. posteriormente pasaron alrededor de una hora, con megáfonos, banderas de Nicaragua y letreros de precaución por corrupto cerca, increpando a Alemán y a toda su familia.
Más de 20 efectivos de la Policía Nacional de Seguridad Personal, mas escoltas, cuidaban al reo Alemán. Cuando iba a salir del restaurante, los policias, si, los policias que pagamos con nuestros impuestos empujaron y golpearon a algunas de las muchachas que estaban ahi, incluso desplazando las camionetas de lujo sin precaución, poniendo en peligro la vida de dos jovenes y de uno que otro policía.
(…)
Hoy sale vociferando el señor Leonel Teller diciendo que una turba trató de asesinar (Con que señor teller? con la bandera de Nicaragua???) al ex presidente y a toda su familia.
A few entered, and inside they starting shouting “Corrupt Alemán”, which is not offensive because it has been demostrated that he is a thief. With a strong judicial sentence.
There were struggles and the bodyguards of the corrupt thief forced the protesters to leave the restaurant. Then later, for about an hour, the protestors used speakers, flags and signs that read “Beware, Corrupt Person Inside”, and continued shouting at Alemán and his family.
More than 20 officers from the National Police, plus the bodyguards, guarded Alemán. When he planned to leave the restaurant the National Police, paid with our taxes, pushed and hit some of the protesters, even moving vehicles without any care, putting lives in danger.
(…)
Today, spokesman Leonel Teller said that a mob tried to kill Arnoldo Alemán and his family (with what? with the national flag?)
In addition, Mejia's Flickr page has pictures of the restaurant “visit.”
Arnoldo Alemán running away from the restaurant. Photo by Jorge Mejia and used under a Creative Commons license.
These groups also organize online and they recently visited the home of National Assembly president Rene Nuñez.
Protestor with sign outside of Nuñez' home reading “Danger! Corrupt Man 20 Meters Away.” Photo by Jorge Mejia and used under a Creative Commons license.
Protestor with sign outside of Nuñez' home reading “Contaminated Area.” Photo by Jorge Mejia and used under a Creative Commons license.
Another online Facebook group was created to support the hunger strike of Dora Maria Tellez, and is now working on a apolitical AntiPact independent movement. Recently The Miami Herald published a report on this group. The group has 1500 members as of now, even though not all of them attend the protests.
Links for Tue, 2008-07
A Fistful of Euros announces: “Serbia has a new government! […] It took just 57 days, which by Serbian standards is pretty quick.” East Ethnia labels the new government as “unstable, short-lived.”
Borut Peterlin posts a portrait of Slovenian archaeologist Borut Križ and writes about his work.
A discussion of corruption and the state of the media in Ukraine - at Nash Holos.
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