Archive for
July 14th, 2008
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Brazil: “Forget adsense, I want a banner from the Senate!”
The little banner at the top right corner of the paraiba.com.br website costs the taxpayers of Brazil US$ 30,084.61 per month. According to the contract, this is for the “Provision of a promotional banner branded by the Senate with a direct link to its web page at www.paraiba.com.br over twelve (12) consecutive months.”
The scoop came from the Contraditorium blog, where Carlos Cardoso published the results of his investigation: the Brazilian Senate pays a monthly fee of US$ 30,084.61 for a 120×60 pixel advertising banner, a generous deal with a not very known website. The site www.paraiba.com.br [pt] is number 208,667 in the Alexa ranking, in which Contraditorium itself is far ahead: 98,637. Cardoso claims that this is not the first year of the agreement:
O contrato atual foi assinado 15/5/2008, mas não é o primeiro. Em 12/4/2007 assinaram um nos mesmos termos, mas custando apenas R$40.000,00 POR MÊS. Pelo visto os custos de manter sites online aumentaram bastante.
The current contract was signed on 15/5/2008, but it was not the first one. On 12/4/2007 a deal under the same terms was made, but costing only R$40.000,00 [US$ 25,039.17] A MONTH. It seems that the cost of maintaining online websites has increased steadily.
The links to the above mentioned contracts, both the first and the second, are available on the Internet. However, they have been modified since the leak on the blogosphere and the Portuguese word for “monthly” has been deleted. The original version of the latest contract as pictured below can still be seen in cache. ‘Monthly' appears in capital letters below the amount of the contract (R$ 48,000.00 Mensal):
Bloggers were quickly following up. Blog de Aluguel [pt] went further with the investigations and discovered a few noteworthy facts about the domain owner (Henrique Cirne, from Era Digital Internet Graphics LTDA, according to Registro.br). Apparently, the group also owns the below domains:
domínio: correspondentejuridico.com.br
domínio: eduardomedeiros.com.br
domínio: efraimmorais.com.br
domínio: efraimorais.com.br
domínio: eradigital.com.br
domínio: falcoesdaserra.com.br
domínio: paraiba.com.br
domínio: ronaldocunhalima.com.br
domínio: william.com.brSim amiguinho, dominio de senador, eleito pelo democratas e tudo mais.
domain: correspondentejuridico.com.br
domain: eduardomedeiros.com.br
domain: efraimmorais.com.br
domain: efraimorais.com.br
domain: eradigital.com.br
domain: falcoesdaserra.com.br
domain: paraiba.com.br
domain: ronaldocunhalima.com.br
domain: william.com.br
Yes dear friend, the domain belongs to a senator, elected by the Democratic [Party] and so on.
At least one of them hosts Efrain Morais' personal webpage [pt]. He is an elected Senator [pt] for the state of Paraíba. Mário Aragão [pt] gives more details about the people mentioned in the domain names:
Quem é Efraim Morais? É um senador do DEMo (Paraíba). O mesmo que articula no Senado a criação de aproximadamente 90 “cargos de confiança” (sem concurso) de R$ 10.000 por mês. Quem é Ronaldo Cunha Lima? É pai do atual governador da Paraíba, Cássio Cunha Lima (ambos do PSDB). Deve ser coincidência!!!
Who is Efraim Morais? He is a DEMo Party (Paraiba) senator. The same one who articulates in the Senate the creation of approximately 90 R$ 10,000 (US$ 6,260.158) a month “positions of trust” (without civil service competitive examinations) . Who is Ronaldo Cunha Lima? He is the father of the current governor of Paraiba, Cássio Cunha Lima (both from the PSDB [Party]). It must be coincidence!
Manoel Netto, from T3cnocracia [pt], pointed out that beyond its astonishing price, the contract may also be illegal because it infringes Law 8,666, also known as the “Public Tender Law”:
Deixando claro, só se pode contratar um serviço sem licitação quando o mesmo for tão específico que não haja competição no mercado. Mesmo que fosse o caso do bannerzinho ser maravilhosamente único, serviços de publicidade são especificamente proibídos de serem tratados como inexigíveis, portanto, esse contrato não deveria ser aprovado, certo?
To make it clear, it is only possible to contract a service without bidding when it is so specific that there is no competition in the market. Even if it was the case that the little banner was so wonderfully unique, advertising services are specifically forbidden from being treated as exempt from bidding, therefore the contract should not be approved, right?
The more bloggers investigate, the more irregularities they find. Cardoso [pt] published an update:
A contratação dos banners ilegais também foi feita com esta empresa e com a Rádio e TV Paraibana.
The illegal banners deal has also been made with this company and with the Paraibana Radio and TV.
The first link above takes to deal for the same type of contract with another not so popular website. Similarly, the second one is a US$ 30,084.61 contract for “promotional banner branded by the Senate with a link address to its webpage (www.senado.gov.br)”. However, Paraibana Radio and TV does not even seem to have a website.
The debate has just started and the mainstream media is still behind. Many bloggers now are “concentrating efforts” and a sense of humour to get a similar deal with the Senators, with many publishing the banner on the left, which reads: “Dear Senators: Advertise on my site”.
MENA: Reactions to the Mediterranean Summit
French President Nicolas Sarkozy joined leaders from more than 40 countries on Sunday for the inauguration of the new Union for the Mediterranean. The union, nicknamed “Club Med,” has the lofty goal of solidifying relations between southern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans, and will be co-chaired by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Sarkozy himself.
Every invited country was represented, with the notable exception of Libya, whose de facto leader Muammar Qaddafi, refused to attend. Libyan blogger Anglo-Libyan expressed frustration:
Yet again the Libyan rulers prove they have no respect for their own people, for many years Libya has been portraying itself to the outside world as Jamahereya, which means something like the nation or land that is ruled by the masses i.e. Libyan people! yet in reality we all know that the country is ruled by one family and its followers.
The blogger explained Libya's absence from the summit and concluded:
Europe might not be perfect but it is for sure a better choice for Libya if life there is to improve for everyone, what can Libya loose from such a union? at the end of the day they can opt out if it is not for them.
I am sure Libyan people are just about sick of all that nonsense they keep hearing about why Libya can not become a part of the developed world.God bless Libya and its people….
The attendance by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, on the other hand, was a pleasant development for many. On Saturday, al-Assad confirmed that Syria and Lebanon intend to establish embassies in each other's capitals, normalizing relations between the neighbor countries. Syrian blogger sasa explained the significance of this development:
Syria said it would open an embassy in Beirut when a friendly government is formed. That happened yesterday, and so Syria has come good on its promise.
But why does all this matter? When Lebanon was carved out of western Syria, and the two countries gained independence, Syria refused to recognise Lebanon as an independent entity. As Hafez Al-Assad said, one country, two governments. Syria retained its territorial claim on Lebanon until Bashar came into power.
Rime Allaf, referring to the French media's treatment of Syria, remarked:
As usual, not only has the subject been totally ignored by Syrian media, government and embassies (what a shock, I know), but most of them aren't even apparently aware that an anti-Syrian campaign is taking place in France. Isn't it time to put a stop to this, and to give Syria equal rights and equal duties to the others? And isn't it time Syria's position was explained by Syrians, and its image drawn by something other than Lebanese, Israeli or American paintbrushes?
Also from Syria, On Olives & Sake acknowledged the significance of the event but wondered what his country's leader was thinking as he headed to Paris:
On the other hand, as beautiful and elegant our First Gentleman and First Lady look together as they walk down that red carpet, I can’t help wondering whether people like Michel Kilo, Anwar al-Bunni or Aref Dalileh even cross their minds as they smile and shake hands. As they walk triumphantly through the streets of Paris, what kind of a country do they think of, that country that they left behind. What do they think of that? The poverty, the corruption, the pollution, the monopolies, and the stagnant social, educational, political and cultural life. What about Seydnaya?
Nearly as significant as President al-Assad's attendance at the summit was the notable absence of King Mohammed VI of Morocco, who sent his brother, Prince Moulay Rachid in his place. Although the King had a prior engagement, the press speculated that the King's aim was to avoid Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Western Sahara Info. believes that the King's decision not to attend is justifiable:
After considerable coaxing, President Bouteflika of Algeria decided to go, while King Mohammed VI of Morocco sent his brother carrying some lame excuse. Some Moroccans are annoyed, but in all frankness, in this case, the Sarkozy government's slobbering over Bouteflika, contrasted with the shrug that accompanied M6's absence, probably had less to do with any preference for Algeria, or even for its gas/oil millions, than with the fact that Morocco has been cooperative all along, whereas Bouteflika threatened to try and undermine the summit by being absent as a point of principle — therefore, he was needed, while the king could send a representative instead, and no one would mind.
the a la menthe doesn't think the summit will have an effect on Algerian-Moroccan relations:
I hardly think warmer relations between Algeria and Morocco are imminent, particularly in light of the parlous state of the Algerian government, but I guess Sarkozy gets points for trying.
General opinion on the summit seemed to vary, though much of the blogosphere found some fault in it. Some bloggers, including Egyptian ramsesthesecond were less than impressed:
In his speech, Mr Mubarak, seemed very optimistic by the idea of the union, its aims and expected results… indeed his speech would be a dream come true if the things he said were done..
Common Projects, investments, progress, development and even cultural co operation, which is a strange idea from the man who refuses to establish normal relationship with Israel after more than 30 years of peace!
The blogger did acknowledge Sarkozy's role in bringing Syria and Israel into the same room, however:
Indeed it is a big victory for the French president to be the first man to get both Syrian president and Israel's prime minister below one roof for a common idea of development…
Tunisian blogger Stupeur!! Un Nouveau Départ!!! [fr] is displeased with the idea:
Alors bénite soit cette union. Union POUR la méditerranée vous avez dit ? Merci, ne vous unissez pas pour moi ni à mon nom. Je vous aurais pourtant prévenu.
Finally, from Tunisia, blogger Kissa-Online قصة اون لاين [fr] disagrees with the union, making a rather poetic point:
Je ne veux pas de votre union car elle est à sens unique :
Liberté totale pour vos capitaux
Les barques de la mort pour mes frères et sœurs.
Total freedom for your capital
The boats of death for my brothers and sisters.
Creative Commons-licensed photo by whodisan215
Western Sahara: Poetry and Spanish - The Permanent Links
For some cultures, it is food, for others it is music, and many cultures show their character in their architecture. For Western Sahara, one of their cultural characteristics is the oral tradition, and poetry is meaningful for Sahrawis. This literature becomes a large part of their lives. According to Atrapadordesueños:
Si de repente se le preguntase a un saharaui de poesía lo más seguro es que a su mente no acudirá ni el título de un libro de versos ni el título de un poema. Sin embargo es muy probable que pueda citar los nombres de los poetas más conocidos e incluso podría recitar varios versos de memoria. Y es que la poesía tradicional saharaui en hassania, lengua de los saharauis, sigue siendo oral, a pesar de que en los últimos años se haya intentado escribir y archivar y así evitar que algún día desaparezca con sus propios autores. Durante el colonialismo España se mantuvo al margen, sin importarle la poesía, y de forma general sin preocuparse por la cultura saharaui. La poesía, ajena a cualquier influencia externa, continuó su viaje en su tradicional vehículo, es decir, de boca en boca y anidando en la prodigiosa memoria de vates, cantores y de los amantes de la poesía.
If you suddenly ask a Sahrawi about poetry, he or she may not be able to tell you the title of a book or the title of a poem. But it is highly possible that he or she can tell you the names of several well-known poets and even recite memorized verses. And it is because traditional poetry in Hassania, the Western Saharan language still remains oral, even with recent attempts to write and document it, in order to avoid its disappearance someday, when their authors pass away. During Spanish colonial rule, it remained marginalized. People were not concerned about Sahrawi poetry or culture. The poetry, isolated from any external influence, kept its traditional way of being passed along by word of mouth through the memory of the poet, singers and lovers of poetry.
Sometimes poetry is combined with music as a family tradition, explains Sahrawi blogger, Aziza Brahim, who is a famous singer. She writes about her connection with her famous grandmother, a Sahrawi poet, living in the refugee camps - Ljadra Mint Mabruk:
Para mí, lo que nunca cambiará, es tomar el té en casa de mi abuela, Ljadra. Siempre compartimos mucho tiempo juntas, desde que era pequeña. Hablamos, le peino, compartimos intimidades, puesto que es mi confidente y mi inspiración. Mi música bebe de la poesía de mi abuela, es natural. Muchas veces empiezo a cantarle, y ella empieza a recitar, y también viceversa.
Ariadna links to seven Sahrawi poets who fuse two languages, since Spanish is the second most important language of the region. However the Cervantes Institute, which is devoted to the study and teaching of the Spanish language has constantly denied support to them [es], as blogger Haz Lo Que Debas [es] points out:
¿No es más urgente el apoyo a un niño sarahaui, que aprende el español en la escuela, con muchas dificultades, que la instalación de sedes del Cervantes en Pekín, San Petersburgo… o la Quinta Avenida de Nueva York?
The blogger continues that this is important because there is also Sahrawi literature in Spanish [es]:
La literatura saharaui en español, incipiente aún, camina sin embargo con paso firme. Una literatura poco atendida por los medios y desconocida por el gran público. También olvidada por las instituciones españolas, caso del Instituto Cervantes o Casa Arabe, que no se interesan por la cultura de este pueblo árabe africano que también se expresa en español, y que un día formó parte de España. Al menos la ayuda de escritores, universidades y asociaciones solidarias con el pueblo saharaui está consiguiendo romper este otro bloqueo contra un pueblo que lucha pacíficamente por su libertad, que “pide la paz y la palabra” para recuperar la tierra que injustamente le arrebataron. Es un libro modesto y sencillo. “No es un bello producto.”
Three years ago, a group of Sahrawi poets and writers got together to establish Generación de la Amistad Saharaui (Generation of the Friends of Sahrawis):
Ocurrió un 9 de julio, muy caluroso, en el centro de Madrid. Un grupo de poetas saharauis venidos de diferentes puntos de la geografía española, apoyados por varios escritores e intelectuales españoles, iniciaban una andadura que empezaba entonces a dar sus primeros frutos y que hoy se apoya en más de una decena de libros publicados. Otros compañeros se unían desde los campamentos de refugiados saharauis al nacimiento de este “humilde sueño” que, tres años después, no ha dejado de ser humilde pero es ya una realidad.
Poetry is a language too, and the Sahrawis are expressing themselves, preserving their history and culture by building bridges in Spanish.
China: Why did China veto sanctions against Zimbabwe?
Earlier this year China sent a boatload of weapons to Zimbabwe just following the country's controversial presidential election. Following accusations of political violence and then the re-election of President Mugabe, China teamed up with Russia at the United Nations Security Council last week to veto sanctions being placed against Mugabe and his supporters. [update below]
Indie blogger Ruan Yifeng has chosen to write about the veto on his blog, beginning with pointing out just how significant this incident has been internationally as evidenced by widespread Western media coverage, how the English-language news reports he was able to find were for the most part critical of China, and how unclear he is of just what it is that's happened, and what kind of place Zimbabwe even is.
Starting from there, he digs up some numbers on current inflation rates there, the cost of living, the economic situation, some background on President Mugabe, and a brief explanation of the reasons for the recent post-election violence, as well as posting a map:
不难判断，津巴布韦是一个很混乱很混乱的国家，事实上已经处在内战边缘了。
[…]
既然这个国家有内战，为什么中国不同意武器禁运呢？事实并不像外交部发言人说的那样简单，实际上，中国在津巴布韦有很深的利益存在。
[…]
Since the country has civil strife, why then would China not agree to ban arms shipments?
It's actually not as simple as the Foreign Ministry spokesperson puts it, because in fact China has very invested interests in Zimbabwe.
And further down:
由此可见，中国已经很深地卷入了津巴布韦内政，完全违背了“不干涉他国内政”的原则。北京在为穆加贝政府出钱、出枪、训练士兵。在这种情况下，否决联合国制裁决议，当然是再正常不过了。
[…]
在这里，我不去猜测，为什么北京会支持穆加贝。我只想引用Peking Duck的一段话，指出这两者之间有天然的吸引力。
[…]
Now, I'm not going to speculate why Beijing supports Mugabe. I'd only like to quote one bit from Peking Duck, which points out the natural mutual attraction these two sides share:
[Ruan's translation into Chinese]
中国越来越被看作，是对全世界民主自由的一种威胁。
Chinese politicians are viewed as attempting to spread the theory of economic success through a strong and autocratic central state, which could convince the leaders of poor states without strong rule of law to reverse fragile democratic laws and cement their rule with the excuse that it would make their economies better.
中国政治家好像正在尝试，散播一种理论，那就是如何在保持专制统治的前提下，取得经济成功。这使得那些穷国的领导人相信，不需要推行民主，并且以仿效中国经济成功为借口，来加强他们的独裁统治。
真的就是这样，独裁者都互相爱惜，专制政权都互相喜爱。我想，在心底里，北京可能更愿意与一个独裁者打交道，而不是与一个民主政府打交道。君不见这次奥运会火炬传递，所有民主国家都发生了抗议，所有专制国家都一切顺利。
更有甚者，北京可以通过扮演“独裁者的朋友”的角色，来与美国谈条件，为自己渔利。北韩核危机就是一个绝佳的例子。
《圣经》里说：“惟愿公平如大水滚滚，使公义如江河滔滔。”（But let justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream! ）中国这个国家，不仅自己国内没有公平和正义，还阻碍他国和世界上广大受压迫人民的公平和正义。我作为一个中国人，真的感到非常遗憾和无奈。
What's more, while Beijing plays the role of “friend to the dictators” in negotiations with the US, it also stands to gain from the spoils. The North Korean nuclear crisis is a perfect example.
It's written in the Bible: “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream!” China, this country, not only does lack fairness and justice domestically, but it even blocks fairness and justice in other countries and widely oppresses their people. As a Chinese, I feel extreme sorrow and helplessness.
Update:
Zhang wanted to see comments from the post translated, so:
Sanzomaldini:
希特勒和苏联还携手瓜分波兰呢……
…and Hitler and the USSR joined hands to carve up Poland.
atlas:
没法子啊，不能向美国或英国那样拿到好的势力范围，只能去津巴布韦这种烂地方了
No, we can't go forming good spheres of influence in places like the US or England, we have to go to a crappy place like Zimbabwe.
welco:
1，既然大家没有对武器禁运达成一致 那为什么中国不能卖武器？世界上第一大武器出口商是哪个国家 （你不会认为他既和平又民主吧），如果津巴布韦有能力购买武器的一方是亲美的，美国会投什么票
2 津巴布韦有自己国家决定自己国家命运的权利，如果没有武器斗争就结束了么，恐怕不会而且说不好还会持续更长的时间来决个胜负 死更多人 让一代人葬送在无畏的斗争里。如果你硬要这个国家按你的意志发展 不正是专制吗
1. Seeing as people weren't in unanimous agreement on banning arms shipments, why should China not be able to sell weapons? And which country is is that's the biggest arms exporter in the world? You don't think that it's peaceful and democratic now, do you? If those Zimbabweans with the ability to buy weapons were pro-American, which way would America vote?
2. Zimbabwe as a nation has the right to make the decisions for the fate of its own country. If there were no weapons, would the fighting then stop? I'm afraid not. This sounds bad, but if that were the case, things would just go on longer before either side won. More people would die and a generation would be lost to fighting. If you insist that this country go and do as you suggest, wouldn't that itself be totalitarian?
我不知道一个社会到底怎么发展是好，我不想讨论意识形态的问题 我压根就不关心 但是如果你真的关心津巴布韦 那你就去多了解一下他去真正做些能帮助他们的事 如果你只是google一下 把它当作一个论据 这并不能增加任何说服力 反而让你的那种知识分子的冷漠彰显无遗 真的意识形态挺没劲的 文化大革命在这上面浪费的时间还不够吗 有了一本圣经就能改变世界么 改革开放20年能有这样的成绩你还有什么不满足的 是吧
Bangladesh: An Expensive Wedding
A wedding is considered the most important event of a Bangladeshi girl's life and an integral part of the local culture. Nirjona describes a typical wedding:
(A) Bangladesh wedding is a huge arrangement. It is all about color, food and family gatherings. Not many years ago people used to invite the whole town to celebrate the wedding for seven days. Now-a-days it has changed. Now wedding is a four days ceremony…
A Bangladeshi bride: Photo: from flickr user www.MonjurulHoque.com used under creative commons license.(The) first day of the ceremony is called the bride’s Gaye Holud. In our culture we believe that turmeric paste makes the skin soft and make bride more beautiful for the wedding day. This is the main reason this day is called Gaye Holud which means “apply body turmeric paste to the skin.” This day everyone wears yellow cloths.
She continues in the next post:
Day 2 - is called the Gaya Holud for the groom. This is the same thing for groom’s side.
Day 3- is the final wedding day. The wedding ceremony is arranged by the bride’s family. The bride and groom are seated separately. […]
Everyone wear very colorful clothes. Bride wear red outfit with heavy gold ornaments. Once the ceremony is completed then the groom takes the bride to his home.
Day- 4 is the last day - we calle it Bouvat. This is kind of a reception party arranged by the groom’s family.
But these celebrations cost a lot of money and usually become a burden for the family. Adhunika Blog discusses the issue:
In today’s high priced market of Bangladesh a wedding is not just finding your daughter or son their life partner, it is also a contest where the two parties tries to spend more than the other trying to portray a wedding scene from one of the popular serials or a Bollywood movie.
This new practice takes its toll over the middle class people of the country who want to provide their offspring a memorable wedding yet struggle with the expenses of it.
Bride covered in gold. Image courtesy Adhunika Blog
The blog provides some detailed statistics of expenses during a typical wedding and summarizes:
So all in all an average wedding today will cost a family a minimum of Tk. 5 lakh-15 lakh, (around US$ 7,150- 21,430), not counting any dowry items, well they don’t call it dowry anymore but the practice of giving the groom furniture, car, apartment or something else as gifts by the brides parents still remain a common practice in Bangladesh.
And finally, the blog reminds that a line must be drawn somewhere and how people can act for the betterment of the society:
While we are spending from US $ 150 to $700 behind things we are to wear at someone else’s wedding only $10 can provide one carton of high energy protein biscuits to support malnourished children for a month. $300 covers a years supply of antirectrovial drugs for one HIV positive child. $17 can immunize a child against the 6 major childhood diseases. Such statistics are immense, and if you are willing there are several organizations in Dhaka today who can advice you on contributing to the betterment of the underprivileged in and around the country with only part of the expenses of you lavish wedding.
Bahrain: The meaning of volunteering
While volunteerism exists in every country, people's motivations for volunteering can vary enormously. A Bahraini blogger currently studying in the UK compares the spirit of volunteering in Bahrain and in Western countries.
Sayed Mahmood Alaali starts by describing what he feels is the basic difference:
He asks whether aspects of this Western tradition of volunteering could be adopted in Bahrain:
النقطة الأساسية التي دائماً ما أتناقش مع الأخوة حولها هي نقطة أن الشخص المتطوع كان بإمكانه الإستفادة من وقته في كسب المال بدلاً من تقديم خدمة العمل التطوعي والذي في مجتمعنا البسيط لا تأتي إلا بالمشاكل والإتهامات التي لا تنتهي. فلو تمكنّا من صرف بدل هذه الساعات و لو كان مبلغاً زهيداً فهو يفيد المتقدم بشكل مادي بسيط و في نفس الوقت يجعله ينظر للعمل من منظور أنه عمل مدفوع لا بد من أدائه بأحسن صورة
He then talks about how to combat negative attitudes:
Finally he mentions the strong tradition of voluntary work in Bahrain's villages, and the decrease in volunteering amongst the younger generation:
Links for Mon, 2008-07
From St Vincent and the Grenadines, Lullabies, Fairy Tales and Other Self Delusions sees Jane Austen through an Indian film director's eyes—that's when he begins to realise he can't resist the attraction of Bollywood movies.
Looking ahead to the Olympics next month, Trinidad's Life from a caffeine hyped point of view says pollution is a sobering reality of these Games. Seeing photos of pollution, she says “makes you almost wish that Beijing was still The Forbidden City, and one cannot help but be saddened by what has taken place in the name of progress.”
Trinidadian blogger Four Fingers and a Thumb 2.0 learns a few things about music, and discovers there's a lot she still doesn't know about her mother.
At A Fistful of Euros, a discussion of the situation with the Roma people in Italy, inspired by this piece from the Guardian's Comment is Free (229 comments).
Myrtus discusses fashion in the Middle East and tells us about Isla Moda (Fashion Island), a new fashion-conscious community in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Carlos Cardoso [pt], from Contraditorium blog, secured a major scoop ahead of any media: according to him, the Brazilian Senate pays US$ 30,084.61 a month for a small advertising banner on the rather obscure website www.paraiba.com.br, which is number 208,667 in the Alexa ranking. See the links to he proves claim with on his blog.
Jamaican blogger Diatribalist uses news clips showing an ugly interaction at a council meeting to illustrate how the media self-censors itself.
Active Voice gives an insightful report on a number of note-worthy academic gatherings, including the conference held in honour of the eminent Jamaican-born sociologist and poet MG Smith.
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