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December 15th, 2008
Stories
China: “08 Charter” Signers Arrested and Questioned by Police
08 Charter, a collective statement drafted by non-official scholars, signed by hundreds of supporters, including famous writers, lawyers, professors and many other dissidents, sketches a blueprint for the democracy prospect in China.
It calls upon Chinese government for more positive response to people’s demand for human rights and political reform. It concerns issues such thw separation of power, better social security system, religious freedom, and election of public positions. Different from many past appeals, it doesn't stop simply at the call for anti-corruption action, but more into a deeper level of a constitutional change. In format, it emulates the anti-Soviet Charter 77 declaration of the Czechoslovak.
Catherine Sampson, writer on Guardian UK, commented the Charter as “one of the boldest calls for change to have emerged since the bloodshed of 1989 all but silenced dissent in China.”
The timing of its release is quite sensitive. 10, Dec is the World Human Rights Day, also the 60th anniversary of the United Nation’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a key human-right pact China as one of its signers. Moreover, 2008 is an uncommon year for China. Except for the glorious Olympics, the year is more gloomy than inspiring that the earthquake and snowstorm wreak havoc; the financial crisis impacts the daily life of Chinese, and along the year, riots, violence and protests frequents the country. The prosperity and stability brought by continual GDP growth and iron-handed ruling is undermined by the uneven distribution of wealth and justice.
Most of the problems point to the controversial political system of China, on which the 08 Charter criticizes in its prelude:
特别是官民对立激化和群体事件激增，正在显示着灾难性的失控趋势，现行体制的落伍已经到了非改不可的地步。
And now the charter, itself, is likely to push the conflict to the culmination.
A high-handed response
Its birth and release to public is more than dramatic.
The Charter was planned to be publicized on exactly 10, Dec, the Human Right Day. 303 signatures have been collected, marking the first phase of the campaign. As soon as it is released, a public signature-collection movement will be launched.
However, on 8, Dec, Liu Xiaobo, one of the most prominent dissident in China, also an initiator of the campaign, was raided and arrested by secret police, along with another scholar, Zhang Zuhua, who was released soon. But their houses were ransacked, computers and other personal items taken away.
Interviewed by Deutsche Welle, Zhang recalled:
大约有20多名警员身着警服闯到我家中，出示了传唤通知书和搜查证，然后把我带到万寿路派出所进行讯问，长达12小时。同时留下11位民警在我家进行了一 个大搜查。把我家里的几台电脑，包括我妻子的电脑，还有我的很多书籍和私人物品–我和我太太的现金、存折、银行卡全部抄走，留下了很厚一沓的扣押物品文 件清单。
Not as lucky as Zhang, Liu Xiaobo has been detained for all the week till now. No sign yet shows that he will be released in short time. Liu was born in 1955. After the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989, he had been imprisoned as a major planner. After being released, he kept writing on to lash out at the anti-democracy deed of the authority, in and out of prison frequently.
On Telegraph UK, a detailed account of what happened is presented. As the article marked, one of the most politically sensitive demands in the Charter is for the western-style separation of powers - the legislature, the executive and the legal system - which has been publicly discussed but ruled out by Communist Party leaders. But more than that, item 18 in the Charter, which proposes China to shift into a federal republic, is what the authority cites the most to charge against the signers, because it is thought be a clear threat to the state regime.
Though signers have claimed they only want a reform within the current political framework, the authority is well unsettled. More questionings, home arrests and confiscations are going. Rumor says every single signer will be “treated” by police.
Independent Chinese Pen Center, an association advocating the freedom of writing and publishing, which Liu-xiao used to preside over, is greatly affected because many of its members have signed the charter. They documented what happened to them in these days on the internet.
Dang Guangsheng, a poet, posted that he got a taste of how efficient the secret police are:
去附近的“步瑞祺电脑城”，正在柜台看耳机时，有人拍了拍我的肩膀。我一看，是个陌生的30多岁的穿着休闲服的人。他问“ 老管吗？”我说“是”。他说“借一步说话。”我有些诧异，又有些想笑，心想：这人还比较文明。我问道“你认识我吗？”他说“你不是管党生吗？”我说“是 ”，他扶着我胳膊说“没有找错”。然后把我带到门口，说“我是市公安局的，想找你了解些事情，请配合一下”，并掏出来“人民警察证”给我看了一下，里面名 字还没有看清楚，他就收了起来。说实话，我当时的第一个念头就是想跑。但是，一方面他强“扶”着我胳膊，一方面感觉跑也没有什么意思，何况以前也有过类似 的事情。
“I am from the city Public Security department”, he said, “I just want to make sure of something, please work with me.”…..honestly, the first idea came to me is to escape. But first, he clutched my shoulder, and second, I don't think running would be of any help. Moreover, this is not unfamiliar to me.
The author was then taken outside the door, and invited to a guest box in a restaurant. A talk, apparently friendly but actually tit-for-tat and strained, followed.
“我们开门见山吧。最近你比较活跃啊。”
“哪些方面？”
“最近签名比较多啊”
沉默……
“零八宪章看过没有？还有那个《营救刘晓波博士告全国人民书》？”
“看过”
“签名了没有？”
“签名了”
“好，谁让你签名的？”
“自己”
“在哪里看见的？”
“网上”
“哪个网？”
“到处都有”
“你知不知道问题很严重？”
“不知道”
“你怎么和刘晓波搞到一起去了？怎么认识他的？”
“我没有和刘晓波搞到一起去，也基本不认识他。”
“那为什么要声援营救他？”
“In what way?”
“Make a lot of signatures.”
I remained silent.
“Have you seen the 08 Charter? And the Letter to People on Rescuing Liu Xiaobo?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Signed them?”
“Yes.”
“Who made you to do so?”
“Myself.”
“When did you find the Charter?”
“On the internet.”
“Which website?”
“Everywhere. “
“Do you know it is a big problem?”
“No.”
“How did you get connected with Liu Xiaobo?”
“I didn’t. I don’t know him a lot.”
“So why support him?”
The author gave a long reply this time,
“因为从80年代起我就喜欢他的文章，还有我认为零八宪章只是表达当代民主政治的基本原则和价值追求，对促进中国民主法治有很大促进作用，代表着很大一部分人的政治理想，为这个抓人是没有道理的。从法律上讲，宪法明确规定保障每个人的言论自由权利”
“你怎么知道抓他是因为零八宪章的？”
“那是因为什么？
“How do you know that Liu was detained for the 08 Charter?”
“Then for what?”
He was silent this time.
Finally, after making sure that the author knew little about who are running the movement and how it was done, the detective let him go. The author commented at the end of the blog entry:
出来以后，我想中国的公安有时工作效率还是比较高的。譬如对“零八宪章”。如果把这效率用在反腐败上多么好。
也许是杞人忧天。为了防止我突然“消失”，我还是把今天的事情写了出来。
现在外面是晴天，还是老话：我坚信乌云遮不住太阳。
Maybe it is a needless worry, but in fear that I suddenly “disappear”, I write down what happened to me today.
It is sunny outside. And it goes as the old saying tells: I believe the cloud can never block out sunlight.
Brazil: Manifesto For The Immediate Release of Graffiti Painter
The 28th Bienal de São Paulo came to a close in the first week of December, but the graffiti painter arrested on October 26 for spraying its pavilion's walls remains in jail. Caroline Pivetta da Mota spent her 24th birthday last Saturday behind Santana Penitentiary's bars, where she shares a cell with another young woman, convicted of armed robbery. She will probably still be there for Christmas and maybe even when the next arts biennial takes place in 2010, as the punishment set by the Environmental Crimes Law for the “destruction of cultural heritage” is of one to three years imprisonment.
A photo taken probably a few moments before Caroline Pivetta da Mota's arrest, which has been published by many bloggers, such as Leandro Ravaglia. Two in a group of about 40 grafitti painters were caught, but only Caroline remains in jail.
Fotoclubef508 [pt] is one of the many blogs to publish the text of a manifesto for the immediate release of Caroline Pivetta da Mota, written by Studium Magazine “on behalf of all humiliated and imprisoned artists in the history of mankind”. It says:
A jovem pichadora é pobre e suburbana. Sem uma família influente, está mofando há mais de 40 dias na cadeia. Pensem o contrário: se fosse um filho das altas classes sociais paulistanas, estaria preso? Provavelmente um escritório de advocacia já teria impetrado e ganho um habeas corpus, ou o garoto nem sequer tivesse sido preso…
A Arte se entristece com esta postura autoritária e policial.
Também não devemos confundir “danificar patrimônio público”, com o que aconteceu: uma coisa é alguém sujar um espaço público de uso coletivo; outra coisa é uma situação como essa, onde havia um espaço público destinado às manifestações artísticas. Podemos até admitir questionar o caráter artístico da manifestação da garota, mas isso é outra história, outra discussão, outro lugar, e a prisão não é a resposta.
The arts are saddened by this authoritarian and policed attitude.
We must not confuse “damaging public property” with what happened there: soiling a public space for collective use is one thing; a situation like this, where there was a public space dedicated to artistic expression, is something else. We can even accept to question the character of the girl's artistic expression, but that is another story, another discussion, another place, and imprisonment is not the answer.
The moment Caroline Pivetta da Mota was arrested, in reproduction from CCTV images
DJ Saddam [pt] says that Caroline has in fact had two habeas corpus denied by the Court of São Paulo because she could not produce proof of address, and agrees that her social background must have played a role in her not succeeding in being released from custody. He wishes the graffiti painter a happy birthday and wonders about the way society has responded to the issue:
Avaliando os comentários a respeito deste fato nos sites dos principais jornais, frequentados pela classe média reacionária, me causou espécie que a maioria vê com aprovação a prisão da jovem - o que não aconteceria se esta fosse filha ou neta desta gente.
Last week, the murder of a 3 year old boy by a police officer went unpunished in Rio de Janeiro. Many bloggers, among them Leandro Ravaglia [pt], are saying there are many faces of justice in Brazil:
Não estou defendendo a moça. Nunca pratiquei e acho uma merda a cidade toda rabiscada, mas deve-se lembrar que a própria curadoria da Bienal convidou os visitantes a “interagir com os espaços vazios do evento”, sem definir até onde tal “interação” podia ir.
Dado isto, fica a dica: Largue da lata e compre um revólver. Pichar dá cadeia.
“Down with dictatorship”, one of the phrases sprayed at the pavilion designed by Oscar Niemayer to host the São Paulo Art Biennials. Photo by flickr user www.johabsilva.com. A day after, the walls were white-washed again.
Billionaire banker Daniel Dantas, while under investigation by federal police on a series of charges including money laundering and fraud, was twice imprisoned and twice released by the Brazilian Supreme Court last July, and altogether spent much less time in jail than Caroline: three days. Despite the fact that Dantas has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for attempting to bribe the police to drop a money laundering investigation against him and ordered to pay a fine of R$1.4 million (around $600,000), he remains free pending his appeal against the ruling. Nice Pinheiro [pt] mentions other similar cases and gets very angry at the whole system, which seems to let the important and rich get off lightly with real crimes, and to punish exaggeratedly the poor and uneducated:
Aqui é assim: roubou um pote de margarina, pichou um muro vazio e reservado a expressões culturais públicas, furtou um pão pra matar a fome, vai em cana. Não tem perdão! Praticar crime contra a administração pública, lesar os contribuintes, fraudar documentos, licitações, desviar dinheiro público e outras cositas mais, são violações irrelevantes, crimes “leves”, transgressões morais e éticas sem importância alguma…Imagina!!!
The Culture Minister Juca Ferreira has campaigned for the girl's freedom and even called up the Governor of São Paulo State José Serra asking for him to intervene on behalf of Caroline Pivetta da Mota - to no avail, as the governor is quoted to have said that Caroline's release is up to the Justice. Paulo D'Auria [pt] comments on Serra's reaction to the request:
Para o ministro da cultura e para este revoltado blogueiro que vos escreve “é um escândalo uma pessoa ficar presa esse tempo todo porque fez uma intervenção gráfica”.
O que o país ou a cidade ganham deixando presa junto com criminosas de verdade (ladras, assassinas) uma pichadora?
Sinto muito aos paulistanos retrógrados e ao governador (que - reza a lenda - já foi jovem e líder do movimento estudantil), mas não estou aqui pra fazer média com vocês:
A prisão de Caroline é uma vergonha para esta cidade!!!
“Set Carol free” - Photo from POIESIS trabalho & cultura blog.
Yúdice Andrade is concerned about the victimization of the graffiti painter, who, nevertheless, committed an act of vandalism. She thinks, however, the girl should be allowed to respond for her crime in freedom:
Não mudei o meu ponto de vista, centenas de vezes sustentado aqui no blog, de que neste país se prende demais e sem necessidade. De que a persecução criminal é muito dura com os desprovidos de acesso aos bens da vida. Enfim, não afirmo que Caroline deva permanecer presa, mesmo sabendo que ela já responde a um outro processo, sob a mesma acusação. Que a soltem, para responder em liberdade. Mas não a tratem como vítima.
POIESIS trabalho & cultura blog [pt] says that not only has the judicial system failed, the whole cultural apparatus is no longer functioning:
O aparato cultural do sistema não continua a arte moderna, mas a amordaça, recuperando-a. Já Carol e seus amigos, que não reivindicam fazer arte, mas contestá-la, justamente desse modo são herdeiros da grande arte moderna e de vanguarda do século 20… herdeiros legítimos, e precisamente porque se recusam a apropriar-se dela. Liberdade para Carol!
“Jail is only for the poor - Freedom for Carol” - Photo from POIESIS trabalho & cultura blog.
Malawi: Murderous Thanksgiving, AIDS Day and crossing the Zimbabwean border
Thanksgiving in Malawi
Mikey McKay has been living in Malawi for a couple of years. He has been very key to the ICT world in Malawi in his own way. Though we almost never covered him on Malawian GV roundups, he is a man who has been in the background encouraging a few ICT pioneers in Malawi. He recently blogged about Thanksgiving which turned out to be an adventure as he had for the first time come face-to-face with a live turkey:
I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do it. But I wanted to do it well - I didn’t want to make the turkey suffer - it should be fast. With my resolve set I went for it - and planned to cut the neck in a few strokes. But it wasn’t easy. My strokes weren’t cutting the red loose neck skin. I had to push harder, and grip the neck tighter. Then I pierced the skin, the blood splurted and I pushed with all my might until the neck snapped and I was left with the turkeys face free from its body, opening and closing its mouth in my hand, while its dismembered body quivered and tried to get up and run. George held the body down - it took what seemed like forever - probably 3 minutes or so - for it to calm itself.
Mikey is leaving Malawi in a few weeks, and we wish him all the the best. Thanks for being an encouragement to the Malawi's blogosphere.
AIDS Fight On
While the international and local communities continue planning strategies for the fight against HIV and AIDS, this year's World AIDS Day was commemorated in a different light.
An Adventist Development Relief Agency in Malawi thought of mobilizing some people in their project areas under this year’s theme Stop AIDS: Keep the promise with the subtitle Leadership: Lead, empower and deliver. The organization, which has been in Malawi for 26 years, blogged about its recent visit to Machinga:
Community mobilization was done through group village heads and a meeting with the people from Traditional Authority Liwonde occurred on 27th November 2008. Rehearsals were done on 29th November.
The communities lead different activities including drama, songs, traditional dances with HIV and AIDS messages, making the event a success. Most of the groups that did well in their performances were mentored by ADRA Malawi through theater for development training that it offered to its youth clubs and facilitators. For example the best drama group was a youth group from Mangamba another site for ADRA in Machinga.
In a related development, Japan-based Malawian blogger Clement Nthambazale wishes the much-talked about end of HIV could be true.
Is there anything good in Zimbabwe?
Zimbabwe is seen to be like hell by many who have been there or follow the news about the country. But for Malawian blogger Boniface Dulani, Zimbabwe was the only place where he found solace during his 36-hour trip from Malawi to South Africa. Though he acknowledges the problems he saw, he blogs about his unique experiences under the heading A 36-Hour Road Trip to Johannesburg:
Things are bad in Zimbabwe, and this is obvious from the numerous road signs and warnings about the need to be extra vigilant about the cholera epidemic there, the constant flow of people from Mozambique and South Africa into Zimbabwe carrying all manner of commodities etc. But, despite all those challenges, there is a positive story to tell from my trip: Zimbabwe is the only country where I didn’t have to pay any bribes to get both an entry and exit visa. The Zimbabwe immigration officers at Nyamapanda and Beitbridge were also among the quickest to process visas so much that there were never any queues at either end of the border- both on my outward and returning trips.
Meanwhile let me wish all bloggers all the best of the festive season.
Bangladesh: Bloggers unearth the fake Taj Mahal scam
If you cannot visit the Taj Mahal at Agra (India) then the Taj Mahal will have to visit you in your home town.
Since the last few days, we have been reading a curious and interesting piece of news from Bangladesh. Apparently it was first reported by AFP and then quickly picked up by the MSM in Bangladesh, India and International markets (links 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 to name a few).
The news is this: a wealthy film producer in Bangladesh has constructed ‘an exact copy' of Agra's legendary Taj Mahal in Sonargaon, a small town 30km outside the capital Dhaka. Apparently the wealthy gentleman Ahsanullah Moni fell in love with the historic monument on his visits to Agra and decided to construct an exact replica of it in his country, to give his fellowmen a taste of the original, without having to make an expensive journey all the way to Agra.
According to what Mr. Moni has reported to the media (played back religiously by the media, in turn), it has taken him just over 5years (the original had taken over 20years to build) to create this life-size replica and that it has been built at a cost of 58mn USD. The MSM also reported that hundreds of workers and designers were used for this project (the original needed about 20,000 people) and as a mark of precise attention to detail, a team had actually gone to Agra and measured the original structure inch by inch. There were reports that in order to recreate the dazzling original, 160kg (353lb) of bronze, marble and granite was imported from Italy and diamonds were flown in from Belgium to be used in its construction.
The lavishness of the description immediately created a buzz among the people and soon the replica drew the attention of the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, who expressed their irritation at having to deal with a ‘fake' Taj created right under their nose. Interestingly, at a time when tension between neighbors is running high, the MSM soon ran hyped up reports about this reaction with strong lines such as ” Tensions between Bangladesh and India have escalated after it emerged a film director is constructing a life-size copy of the Taj Mahal”. There were write-ups about the “diplomatic fracas”, India's “anger” so on and so forth. These articles in turn drew comments from a section of Bangladeshi officialdom who felt that if they indeed did re-create the Taj, India had no right to create a storm as they felt that historic monuments could not be copyrighted.Only a few in the media, later reported that the Indian High Commission, after investigating the incident, had stated that it was unlikely that visitors would mistake one for the other and that the replica was unlikely to detract from the magnificence of the original.
While the MSM was having a field day, people in Bangladesh thronged in hundreds to have a look at this new wonder that had been brought to their door-step. Some Bangla bloggers too visited the site to check out what this brouhaha was all about. It was then that it was discovered that this entire hype was perhaps just a gimmick, a money making scam in the name of the Taj.
Blogger Jhorohaowa writes about his experience [bn]:
মদনপুর বাসস্টান্ড নেমে দেখি টেমপুওয়ালারা ’তাজমহল’ বলে চিল্লাইতেছে। কেউ ভাড়া চাচ্ছে ৩০/- টাকা, কেউ ৪০/- টাকা। আধঘন্টা টেম্পু দিয়ে চলার পর একগ্রামে এসে থামলাম। সামনে বিশাল জ্যাম আর হাজার হাজার মানুষ। সবাই তাজমহল দেখতে আসছে। অপেক্ষা না করে নেমে হাটা দিলাম। প্রায় দুই কিলো হাটার পর তাজমহল কম্পাউন্ডে আসলাম, প্রবেশ মুল্য ৫০/- টাকা। কোন ব্যাপার না, আগ্রা গেলে আরো খরচ হইতো। তাড়াতাড়ি টিকেট কেটে ভিড় ঠেলে ভিতরে প্রবেশ করলাম।তাজমহলের চেহারা দেইখা মুখটা অটোমেটিক হা হয়ে ’শালা’ শব্দটা যে কেমনে বের হয়ে আসলো বুঝবার পারি নাই। আমার ঢাকাইয়া বন্ধুটি মুখ আর আটকাইয়া রাখা গেলো না। সে গাইল শুরু করলো- (গালি)রা টয়লেটের টাইলস লাগাইছে, মালিক পক্ষের সব (গালি)’রা ভাগছে, একটারে ডাইকা আইনা যে পাবলিক গাইলাইবো সেই উপায় নাই, (গালি)রা এই ঈদের দিনে পাবলিকরে ’বাকরা’ টুপি লাগায় দিলো … ইত্যাদি ইত্যাদি।
Jhorohaowa also writes that by inaugurating an incomplete, poorly designed construction with such media hype the promoters of the project clearly betrayed their intention of making a quick buck during the Eid season.
Bibortonbadi , another blogger who visited the site was also very upset at falling prey to yellow journalism; he wrote in his blog [bn]:
কিছুই না দেখবার মত। শুভ্র তাজমহলের সোকলড রেপ্লিকা বানিয়েছে সাদার মাঝে নানা রঙ্গের টাইলস দিয়ে। সংবাদপত্রে কত কিছুই না পড়লাম। খরচ ৪০০ কোটি টাকা, ইতালি থেকে আনা মুল্যবান পাথর ও টাইলস্, বেলজিয়াম থেকে আনা ১৭২ টি হীরক খন্ড, গম্বুজের উপরে চারমন ওজনের ব্রোঞ্জ, কোথায় এসব??? ৪০০ কোটি টাকা কি পান্তা ভাত নাকি! নরমাল ইট-সিমেন্টের একটা স্ট্রাকচারের উপরে দেশী টাইলস্ (আমার বন্ধু বাড়ির কাজকর্ম ভাল বোঝে, তার মতে টাইলস গুলো দেশী) বসানো। এমন কি টাইলসের কাটাও ঠিক মত হয় নাই, আনাড়ি হাতের কাজ। এখনও ফিনিশিং সম্পূর্ণ হয় নাই। ইতালির পাথর যদি পরে বসাবার ইচ্ছাও থাকে তবে কোথায় বসাবে? দর্শনার্থিরা সবাই বিরক্ত এবং নিজেদের প্রতারিত ভাবছেন…প্রায় ১০ মিনিট দেখবার পরেই বুঝতে পারলাম আমাদের জন্য ভেতরে আর কিছুই নেই। বেরিয়ে হাটা ধরলাম। পথে অনান্য দর্শনার্থিদের সাথে কথা হল, সবার একই উত্তর “ভূয়া”।
The blogger posts a video which shows people flocking to see the Taj and uttering their disappointment:
Prothom Bangla reflects the sentiments of the visitors describing Ahsanullah Moni’s effort [bn]:
পাগল হিন্দি সিনেমা নকল করতে করতে, মাথা আওলাইয়া গেছে। দেখছে। ভাল আয় রোজগার। এখন তাজ মহল নির্মান করছে।
পাঁজি যে টাকা খরচ করেচে, সেই টাকা যদি দেশের হত-দরিদ্র মানুষের উন্নয়নে কাজে লাগাত তাহলে হত গরীবের উপকার ।
If he would spend the millions he spent here in poor peoples cause that could bring good for the country.”
Bibortonbadi goes on to question the role of the MSM in aiding this scam with their hyped up reporting. He says [bn]:
অবাক লাগল এই যে দেশের শীর্ষ স্থানীয় পত্রিকা গুলো কিভাবে কোন রকম খোজ খবর ছাড়াই ৪০০ কোটি টাকার বিনিয়োগ, ১৭২ টি হীরক খন্ড, ইতালির টাইলস/পাথরের ভূয়া খবর ছাপালেন। ৪০০ কোটি টাকা কি কম? এত টাকার বিনিয়োগে, একটি বিখ্যাত স্থাপনার রেপ্লিকা তৈরি ব্যাপারে তারা কি সরোজমিনে একবারও ঘুরে দেখে আসবার সময় করতে পারলেননা। ঢাকা থেকে নারায়নগঞ্জের, সোনারগাঁয়ের পেরাবো গ্রামে যেতে বড়জোর এক দেড় ঘন্টাই লাগত!! এই দেশে কি খবরের অভাব আছে? নাকি টাকা দিলেই খবর ছাপানো যায়। খুব বেশী হলে এই স্থাপনাতে ৩/৪ কোটি টাকার মত খরচ হয়েছে।
Blogger Raihan called up the newsdesk of a leading Bangla daily Prothom Alo , who had also published the “Taj” article complete with details of lavishness, and questioned them whether their reporter had physically visited the site before publishing the article and if not, how they could publish an article without first verifying the facts themselves. He says that in response the news desk informed him that they had merely reported the AFP article. After he alerted the person on the line about the facts, he was told that they would surely send a reporter to visit the site and write another article on the same.
With Bangladeshi bloggers uploading their first-hand experience of visiting the site through posts, pictures and videos, it is only now we are getting the real picture of the “fake Taj” story.
Image of the original Taj Mahal in India by Wikipedia, used under a Creative Commons License. Other images were taken by Bibortonbadi and used with permission.
China: Charter 08, to be free and fearless
At the Eve of the sixtieth anniversary of the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Dec 10, 303 prominent intellectuals and human rights activists in China, jointly released Charter 08, demanding more political reform in China. However, the China government decided to celebrate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by repressing the peaceful and rational act. A number of intellectuals, some human rights lawyers and activists were arrested for investigation, among one of them, Liu Xiaobo was still under police detention.
A traitor declaration?
What is the reason for the Chinese government to repress the Charter? Of course there isn't any official explanation except the cliches that Liu Xiaobo has become a threat to the national security. Maybe we can read from the online pro-government opinions to make sense of the rationality. Sima Nan called the Charter a Chinese colour revolution declaration:
“中国颜色革命宣言”后签名的人，不少都是一侧颈椎增生扭脸右转死猪不怕开水烫的老面孔。那位林培瑞先生，大家也并很不陌生。早在1989年，他机智地一手策划了方某人的外逃；长期以来，他慷慨地出钱豢养着一批所谓的“民运”人士。当然，出钱的领钱的心里都明镜一般，无论策划逃人，还是出钱养人，均非林老一己之力所能为之，其后悉有庞大的后援支撑，无非年度计划必须完成，无非请人形象代言。
Wu yu called the Charter 08 a Traitor Charter:
昨天在司马南先生的文章里看到了《零八宪章》的中文全文和英文译文，这个以美国普世价值观做意识形态凝聚力的《零八宪章》就是一个卖国汉奸思想导向。因为意识形态和民族文化是最强大的国家凝聚力，这个《零八宪章》宣扬的是美国的意识形态，就是为了建立美国的国家凝聚力，所以《零八宪章》就是卖国的汉奸宪章。
Even though, the Chinese government keeps repressing dissent voices, many bloggers in China still take the risk to sign the Charter and disseminate the information.
Overcome fear
Liberalist struggled for a few days and finally decided to sign the Charter with his real name:
今天终于签了名，签的真名、真职业，对签名活动来说可能有些晚，但对我来说意义重大。以前顾虑在于，我的职业虽然算自由职业，但时刻处在种种矛盾、旋涡之中，属于每年政府都要注册、年检的那种敏感行业，一个省也不过几千人，当局调查、和谐起来十分方便。
就这样折磨了自己几日，发现自己根本就是庸人自扰。既然内心对一件事深深认同，做与不做又都有可以理解的理由，剩下的就是选择的问题了。“为了正义，哪怕它天崩地裂”是一种选择，不争不鸣、独善其身也是一种选择，两种选择没有高下之分、只有利害之别。说到底，每个人仅对内心负责则矣。而我的权衡结果是：如果不做这件事，将来内心一定会不安。
I have tortured myself for days, getting myself troubled. If I really agree with the issue, whether i do it or not, the reasons are all valid. It is a matter of decision. “For the sake of justice and leave the consequence behind” is a choice, getting myself away from the trouble water is another choice, there is no better choice. The only different is about how risk. Everyone has to be responsible for his or her own heart. And my final decision is: if I don't do it this time, I will be regret in the future.
Ran yunfei, a famous blogger and one of the 303 intellectuals co-signing the Charter, talks about counteracting the politics of fear in under the authoritarian state:
有人说，你就不恐惧吗？我恐惧，和大家一样。但我认为面对恐惧的方式可能有所不同，有人说，你的电话肯定被监听，我说他爱听不听（这不表明我赞赏他来听，我反对他来听，这只是我反对无效时的被动考量，但对他们这种窃听，我一直反对），事涉公众利益，我私下说与公开说的完全一样；有人说，你出来可能有人跟踪，我说我到不了那个级别，即令是有，我也欢迎他一起聊天喝茶，但茶钱你得自己给。官方最高兴的是，你完全按照他威胁性的旨意来生活，生活在恐惧不安中，活得越来越憔悴，生活越来越无趣，它最高兴。它会暗中说，…毋如完全尊重自己的规律与轨迹，这是对制造恐惧者的最大打击。
Tie Liu a 76 year old writer explains why he signed the Charter:
我是个七十有六岁的老人，不顾疲劳戴着老花镜把”零8宪章”反反复复地看了三遍，最后毅然签上了自已的名字，位列57 位。”08宪章”写道：…制造了反右、大跃进、文革、六四、打压民间宗教活动与维权运动等一系列人权灾难，致使数千万人失去生命，国民和国家都付出了极为惨重的代价。”难道这不是事实吗？我是历史老人，各种灾难的见证者。
Protest in Hong Kong, without report
Although Hong Kong enjoys the freedom of speech and press, the mass media has ignored the Charter 08. Yesterday, I joined a protest calling for the release of Liu Xiaobo, but there isn't any local Chinese media, at the same time, the online discussions are very limited. I writes a citizen report at inmediahk.net about the protest and the media conditions:
大部份網上媒體，都是主流的鏡子或回音室，從《零八憲章》的傳播看，論壇和 Blog 的獨立性都成疑，畢竟個人的意識、喜好都跟著主流來轉…；再且，個人或缺乏組織的聚眾，在缺乏資源與意識下，亦無法發揮抗衡的作用。香港的 Bloggers 相對國內的，因為缺乏自主的組織與意識，與國內和台灣相比，顯得隨波逐流，而沒有成為資訊傳播的行動者。
《零八憲章》在香港的傳播是一個警號，當我們的教育強調國民身份認同，而主流媒體（尤其是電視媒體）只談奧運、神七與中央救市，完全屏閉人民作為主體的社會改革力量；另一方面，網上／社會上獨立多元的聲音無法成為抗衡的力量，我們的下一代，只會變成國家搖藍下的娃娃。
我們需要更強、更有意識、更多元自主的獨立媒體運動。
The dissemination of Charter 08 is a warning sign in Hong Kong. The government has been advocating patriotic education, and our mainstream media, especially T.V media, only talk about Olympics, space travel and central government's intervention on the financial crisis while cover up people's effort in promoting social transformation. On the other hand, online independent media has failed to grow strong and become counter propaganda force. Our next generation will become baby in the cradle of the State.
We need stronger, more diverse and autonomous independent media movement here.
Up till now, thousands of Chinese have signed the Charter and there are various online platforms for collecting signature, including: zola's google knol and inmediahk.net or you can send email to: 2008xianzhang@gmail.com or poonkarwai@gmail.com
English version of the Charter 08 can be found here, Japanese version here, and Chinese version here.
photos credit to hegelchong.
Kenya: East African drink fights Coca Cola
In March 2008 the Kenyan corporate giant East African Breweries Limited, who produces the famous Tusker beer label, launched a new non-alcoholic drink called Alvaro. The new malt-based drink was considered a runaway success but which may have come at the expense of local juice manufactures, but more so at Coca Cola who control the local soda market. Since its launch Alvaro has been the subject of discussion by the public, at the Kenyan parliament, in government offices and of couse in the online Kenyan community. We collected a few reactions from Kenyan bloggers.
Shiko-Msa of Wanjiuku Unlimited welcomed the launch of Alvaro:
Make a statement without saying a word - this aptly describes East African Brewery's new kid on the block Alvaro. In its stylish green bottle, it has an outstanding sophisticated look synonymous with the 24-35 age group for whom it’s targeted. Produced in pineapple and pear flavours, Alvaro seems to have hit the market with a bang with sales having already jumped to three times above the projected trends. In pubs and supermarkets the drink is said to be flying off the shelves.
Sayra left a comment on the post about the reaction from Coca-Cola:
For sure coke are in trouble and am seeing one of those interesting corporate fights. This time things might be a bit hard for them to conduct their not so ethical business practices…
Rafiki Kenya, though was less than impressed with Alvaro's branding as a natural product:
Alvaro comes in two flavours: pear and pineapple. Yes indeed, flavours. And that's where the problem lies, since there is nothing natural about flavours. Alvaro: unique, maybe - but natural, surely not.
The marketing blog brandkemistry wrote about the success of Alvaro, who has already sold over 7 million bottles:
… what is Coca Cola going to do to keep in check Alvaro’s rise in this market. So far Coca Cola launched burn - an energy drink and a 50 million shilling promotion but i dont that will counter Alvaro’s growth in this market. Time to watch wait and see but for the very first time EABL [East African Breweries] has gotten the non alcoholic beverage right. As some preacher said recently Christians in this country have been waiting for a long time to partake from EABL’s table, with Alvaro thier wait has be amplty rewarded.
I just wonder how Coca Cola will counter the rise of Alvaro… i guess only time will tell.
prop4g4nd4kali left a comment on the post against Coca Cola:
Coca-Cola’s distribution system is almost criminal. They maintain market share by bullying retailers to stock only their products. No amount of marketing or investment can help a rival. You think you have choice? Or that you drink Coke products because you like them? It’s more likely you do so because it is everywhere and it’s the only thing there
Last July, Alvaro got in trouble when to it was claimed in the Kenyan Parliament that the soft drink contained alcohol which may have contributed to a wave of riots by school children that affected some parts of the country:
Alvaro recently found it’s name in parliament with nominated MP Rachel Shebesh putting the Minister for Industrialization to task to confirm or deny that the drink contains no alcohol. To back her claims, she said that tests carried out on Alvaro in school laboratories proved that it contains traces of alcohol. Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo added that if exposed to sunshine for one hour, it turns alcoholic. Or rather it produces traces of ethanol
A few people reacted to that post:
I would have laughed at the debate in Parliament if it wasn't so sickeningly ridiculous, I wonder why our overpaid MP's cannot use the research facilities provided to them by the taxpayers properly.
when i heard the debate on the news i almost smashed my radio to bits, but seeing as that would have been counter productive i turned it off instead, the gall!
Alvaro is said to be malt base nonalcoholic drink and it is generally known that malt base nonalcoholic beverage has never been without controversy in the other parts of the world
Coca Cola did eventually respond to the competition, and in November 2008 it launched a new drink similar to Alvaro called Novida which Rafiki Kenya said tastes better :
Novida' is Portuguese for ‘new life'. And you can now get that new life in Nairobi for only 25 bob! Novida comes in three flavours: pineapple, apple and tropical.
As far as the taste is concerned, I found my Novida Pineapple to be quite refreshing and very similar to Alvaro Pineapple, maybe just a touch sweeter.
But not impressed by Novida is Larrymads who is an avowed Alvaro fanatic
The Novida pineapple tasted EXACTLY LIKE ALVARO! Only 30ml less than Alvaro that comes in 330ml. So what’s the deal with that?
Novida vs. Alvaro was the subject of a thread at Stockskenya, a discussion forum about shares and investment issues, and opinions were very diverse:
cmk
In order to hit back and avoid further erosion of it market, coca cola is to launch a ‘carbon copy' of alvaro
Ali Baba
You guys have your drinks from EABL and COKE; others like me who don't drink alcohol, don’t drink sodas and soft drinks; I’m still waiting for someone to offer what I drink
Gordon Gekko
I suspect these two brands appeal to an entirely new market - like those who hang out in bars but dont drink alcohol. I cant see my kids switching to Novida from coke,neither can I see the thirsty guy at the kiosk switching as he is driven by value (these drinks are 200 ml less and cost khs 10 more).
Magic
Although I respect EABL- I just think Coca Cola- with their money, experience means that in the soft drink market they will win. However- I predict that with time… Sodas will not be popular- which is why they are spreading out to new products. My take is that in the long term EABL wins
Links for Mon, 2008-12
A roundup of Ukrainiana's December posts: Ukraine and NATO; the math of the Russian-Ukrainian relations; ex-defense minister on “martial economic law”; Ukrainian PM's Chanel necklace and the First Lady's Chanel handbag vs. the president's call “to ‘live without' expensive foreign-made items in times of crisis”; the beating of Baba Paraska - who “represents the Orange Revolution as Joe the Plumber represents the American middle class” - by the president's guards; and other updates.
Some of the Russian/Soviet history December highlights at De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis: Birobidzhan demographics; Cherubina de Gabriak and the duel between Maximilian Voloshin and Nikolay Gumilyov; Vladimir Gilyarovsky; the Soviet war in Afghanistan; and a cookbook by Elena Molokhovets.
Unzipped comments on news that seven prominent opposition member including one former foreign minister and three MPs are due to go on trial in Yerevan later this week charged with attempting to violently overthrow the government after the presidential election held earlier this year. The blog says that all signs are that the international community is keeping a watchful eye on proceedings and that in a country where the independence of the judiciary is questionable to say the least, notes that the opposition have set up their own blog to monitor the trial.
Unique Maldives is a Flickr group dedicated to images of or from Maldives only. So far it has more than 1100 members and more than 17000 photograph entries. Similar groups on Maldives in Flickr are Networld - Connecting Maldives and Simply Maldives.
Jewlicious comments on the new interfaith phenomena of Chrismukkah (a combination of Christmas and Hanukkah) that “is supposed to be a warm event that celebrates tolerance and diversity, but all to often, multi-faith marriages leave the children confused or annoyed and what is meant to inspire diversity ends up inspiring nausea and annoyance. Why? Because kids are smart and they have a low threshold for bullshit. They know that Mommy and Daddy aren’t particularly good practitioners of whatever religion they are”.
American Bedu starts a list of what Saudi women can and can not do.
Zeinobia from the Egyptian Chronicles is equally offended by the Mexican version of Playboy and its decision to publish photos of a nude woman portraying the Virgin Mary.
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