Archive for
March 8th, 2009
Stories
Syria: Anti-LGBT Campaign Sparks Heated Debate
This weekend the Syrian blogosphere warmed up for a new confrontation. A group of bloggers launched a campaign against the spread of blogs advancing LGBT rights, and the response came quick. LGBT is controversial everywhere, but within a society that is conservative in its majority, the topic gets much more sensitive and hotly-debated.
The campaign has not officially begun yet, and all the responses were to the mere declaration of such campaign. It was first published on Mohammed's blog with the following objectives:
- توضيح أن المثليين هو شذوذ جنسي يخالف الفطرة التي فطرنا الله عليها و بانه مرض ينبغي استئصاله.
- الرد على الأفكار التي يتم تداولها بين أوساط المثليين من المدونين العرب بأن انتقاد هؤلاء أو الحديث عنهم كمرضى هو أمر منافي لحقوق الإنسان و عنصري في حين أن الرد عليه هو واجب على كل إنسان خُلق على الفطرة و تربى على الأخلاق.
- مجابهتهم فكرياً و الرد على أفكارهم بأفكارنا.
- توضيح رأي الدين في المثليين جنسياً.
- توضيح الأمراض الجسدية و النفسية الناتجة عن ممارسة الشذوذ الجنسي.
- Make clear the fact that homosexuality is a sexual abnormality that is contrary to the instinct God has given us and is a disease that must be eradicated.
- Respond to the ideas that are circulating among LGBT Arab bloggers that criticizing them or referring to them as ill people is somewhat racist and contrary to human rights, while such a response is the duty of every human who is raised morally.
- Debate them intellectually and respond to their ideals with ours.
- To clarify the religious view on homosexuality.
- To clarify the physical and mental diseases resulting from the practices of homosexuality.
While a number of bloggers have stated their support for the campaign and their intention to share their ideas about the issue when the campaign starts next week, the initiative has also prompted a series of harsh responses from other bloggers.
Abu Fares responded quickly to what he called the “latest bigoted outcry” by saying “Live and Let Live“:
What are they to do with all these non-conformists? Leave it to these religious tartuffes and they are likely to replace us with a bunch of brainwashed zealots, ardent celibates, devout cretins, faithful crusaders, pious robots and godly agitators who will teach those who are left of us how to live. What to do and what not to say. How to look down and how not to laugh. Why we die and why we should lead austere lives all the way to the grave.
Thanks but no thanks. The fanatics, the fomenters, the hypocrites, the bigots, the knaves gave me no choice but to defend a Syria of multiplicity and to protect my own freedom of choice.
Mr. Blonde in his blog also criticized the language of the statement and the declared objectives of the campaign:
On the other side, Jabs from Arabian Camel gives his own views on why this is a “necessary debate”:
Religion regulates our lives, it reminds us of what is right and what is wrong and what is healthy in a society and what will corrupt society therefore religion maintains the integrity of a society. In most religions, especially in Islam, the society as a whole is always more important than the individual but that does not take away the rights of the individual. When an individual is seen to be practicing something that will lead to a corruption of society they are punished, and the punishment varies today from one Islamic country to another, from being fined to capital punishment as is the case in Iran. However in Islam and the Islamic law, the Sharia’ah, a person accusing someone of homosexuality (or any other crime punishable under Sharia’ah) is not something easy to go on about. In order for a person to be accused of homosexuality there needs to be four witnesses that can bear witness that the person accused has committed sodomy, in the case that one fails to be a legitimate witness all four witnesses are punished.
And finally, Dubai Jazz, mentions a study about a pair of “gay” penguins, and provides us with his own analysis, in a rather witty way:
Roy and Silo are gay bastards. They are having a same-sex affair without our consent. We should probably seek to either destroy them or straighten up their behaviour. I am not sure how do we do that though? as homo-sapiens we are capable of inflicting our desires on our fellow humans. But it's ironic, isn't it? I mean the leaders of Moral Legions would always cite animals as the ultimate proof of the deviatory essence of homosexuality, they'd say “if it's natural, then why animals don't do it?”. I am not sure how would they react to findings of such study as above, they'd probably write it off as a Zionist/Crusaders conspiracy, or they'd call it a test from the higher powers to see whose faith would wither at the sight of fornicating birds, and whose faith will hold. Or maybe they'd brand it as optical illusion.
We will keep you updated as the campaign kicks off next week, stay tuned!
Brazil: Introducing the Web, a “Digital Baptism”
A “Digital Baptism” brought digital inclusion to Belo Horizonte, the capital of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The event this Saturday, organized in a partnership between local Government, Public Ministry and the Lan House Association, had the goal of promoting digital inclusion and on-line entrepreneurship. This was the first time the Digital Baptism took place in Belo Horizonte, although the event had already happened sporadically in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro since 2005.
Under a big tent in one of the capital's squares, there were 50 computers connected to the web and during the whole day 100 facilitators helped people of all ages and backgrounds on the online ladder. There were two main types of workshops: the Digital Baptism 1.0, for those who had never had the chance to operate a computer to learn the basics and surf the Internet for the first time, and the Digital Baptism 2.0, for more advanced users who wanted to delve deeper into the world wide web and investigate new tools. Fábio Santos reports on Twitter:
Twitter user @fabiosan also tells us the story of the 67 year old lady who had never used a computer before and decided to attend the Digital Baptism so that she could learn new ways of communicating with her already connected sisters, who live in another state:
This post from the event's blog contrasts new “baptised” users by age. The top picture is by Flickr user pvilla:
Todas as idades passam por aqui!
This one introduces the new Twitter users from Belo Horizonte:
Com auxílio do Rosalves, os novos agentes aprenderam a Usar o Twitter!
Below is a video of the event posted by equipeteiamg. Some more videos can be accessed via the event's aggregator.
The event was lived blogged and streamed through a website that collected all reactions on Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and blogs, among others, tagged with the hashtag #bdigitalmg.
MENA: Clinton Does the Middle East
Hillary Clinton wrapped up her first visit to the Middle East as US Secretary of State, with stopovers in Sharm El Sheikh, Israel, the West Bank and Turkey.
In Egypt, she attended an aid conference for the reconstruction of Gaza, where she also met with Arab leaders. In the West Bank, she expressed support for Palestinian Authority president Mahmood Abbas, lashed out at Iran for “promoting terrorism” and Israel for its “unhelpful” demolition plans of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem. And in Israel, she reassured Israelis they have no greater ally than the US. She also courted Syria by sending two envoys there and has also visited Turkey.
Bloggers from the region discuss Clinton's visit in this post.
Writing at Looking for Change, Kalash doesn't mince his words when describing Clinton's visit:
If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: Barack Obama could not have picked anyone worse than Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State. In her first official trip to the Middle East, Bill's wife showed her true colors when speaking about Gaza and Hamas. Like her boss, she continued to spew Bush-era talking points without shame. She spoke to reporters Monday after a Gaza “reconstruction” conference in Sharm El Sheikh. Her demeanor was unpleasant as usual.
The blogger further adds:
Hillary Clinton has long been a ‘friend' of Israel so nobody should be expecting any surprises from her. If Obama plans to make things better (he doesn't) he'll fire her (he won't). Sadly, there is little hope for improvement with Hill-dog in charge of diplomacy. She will make every effort to stifle any meaningful negotiations by ensuring Israeli interests are never compromised.
While Obama at least pretends to be reaching out to Iran, his Secretary of State is already signaling that such efforts will be in vain. Surprisingly, she managed to shake hands with Syrian FM Walid Muallem… it's too bad he didn't twist her arm.
TurkeyTalk discusses Clinton's visit to Turkey saying:
As part of her trip to the Middle East, followed by Brussels and NATO, the new Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will make a stop in Turkey. Most likely to assure the nervous Turkish government that the U.S. will continue its policy towards Turkey, of treating Turkey with kid gloves.
I am sure she will tell Turkey what it needs to hear; that Turkey is still strategically relevant, that it needs to be a part of the EU, and that it is a great Islamic democracy for others in the region to emulate.
All great sound bytes. And possibly with great intentions. But not because the U.S. (government) actually endorses them for the reasons that Turkey thinks it does. All with the sincerity of a predator seen toying with its captured prey waiting for the right time to act on its inevitable instincts.
The U.S. government still doesn't want to deal with a Turkey not ready for a reality check. But nor is the U.S. ready to demand it.
Will, over at KABOBfest, takes issue with singling out Iran for its interference in Palestine. The Palestinian American blogger notes:
Both U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and PA head honcho Mahmoud Abbas echoed each other's sentiments: Iran should stop interfering in Palestinian affairs. This came after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for
“resistance” against Israel.I do not seem to recall Abu Mazen telling the United States or Israel to stay out of Palestinian affairs — perhaps because their interventions always benefited him and kept his ailing political project afloat, even as Israel postured as his enemy.
This is not to say that Palestine is a rightful Iranian issue or that it really seeks to defend Palestinian rights. Palestinians are more often used as a strategic token by the region's powers, including the United States. To say Israel uses them as such is an understatement. The Palestinians are Israel's existential pacemaker.
Meanwhile in Israel, Yisrael Medad takes note of Clinton's new buzz words for the Arab-Israeli conflict. He writes:
Well, is “vigorous” Hillary Clinton's key word/buzz word for the Arab-Israel conflict?
Or is it “engaged”?
With Condi, it was “robust”.
And Yael is pleased that a proposal is on the table at the US congress to link the $900 million pledged to Gaza in exchange for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped three years ago. She writes:
I send a personal heartfelt thank you to Rep. Shelley Berkley of Nevada who drafted a petition to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which demanded that the financial aid be delayed for as long as the rocket fire continues and Gilad remains in captivity.
It should not be the case that we are the only ones placing pressure on Hamas. It should not be the case that the world is willing to simply look the other way while rockets fall daily, many times daily, on our civilians and Shalit is held in captivity and reward a terrorist region and allow them to act with impunity.
And finally James Buck points that not all the money will go towards Gaza:
Turns out that while ‘$900 million is aid to Gaza’ is the figure/phrase that is tossed about, only $300 is actually headed for Gaza; $600 goes to the West Bank.
Egypt: Blogger Mohamed Adel Released
Egyptian blogger Mohammad Adel who runs the blog Maeit (already dead!) and who has been detained since November 21, 2008, has been released.
Ahmed Abdel Fattah announced here and Arabawy announced on his blog that Maeit will be released.
Karim Beheiry wrote:
مدونة عمال مصر تتقدم ببالغ الفرحة والتهنئة لاسرة عادل واصدقائة وتتمنى له الاخلاء الفعلى خلال وقت بسيط
More on Mohamed Adel's arrest could be found here, here, and on this facebook group.
Korea: Layoff
A cold story. People are laid off due to economic downturn. Netizens share their experiences of being laid off or their fears. A blogger put a post on why companies reconstruct organizations and choose layoffs of their employees and what kinds of people are laid off.
구조 조정의 시즌이 도래했습니다. 직장을 다니시는 분들은 모두 현재 불안감을 동반자로 여기고 계실 겁니다.
1. 정리해고는: 비용 축소? (X) 투자 축소(O)
단기 유동성 문제에 봉착한 특히나 소규모 기업의 경우는 당장 비용을 줄이기 위해서 정리 해고를 단행하긴 합니다. 하지만, 경기 하락으로 수익은 줄어들기는 하나 회사 유동성과 자본에 여유가 있는 대부분의 경우, 특히나 관리/영업/연구직에 대한 인원 조정은 기업의 투자 축소입니다.두가지 염두에 두어야 할 점은
- 구조조정,정리해고 자체에도 비용이 들어갑니다.
- 추후 인원 충원 및 신규 인원 교육, 적응에도 비용이 들어갑니다.
따라서, 기업의 입장에서 정리해고를 단행한다는 것은 단순히 비용을 줄인다는 개념이 아니라, 투자를 축소한다라는 것이며, 기업 규모를 줄인다라는 것입니다.그런데, 기업의 투자 축소는 이런 것을 의미합니다.
- 장기 전망이 나쁨
- 중기까지 투자 확대 계획 없음2. 개인의 능력, 자질이 동아줄이 될 수는 없다.
관계를 중시하는 동양사회에서는 좀 다르지만, 작년 거래하던 모 글로벌 업체에서 이런 일이 벌어졌습니다.
“스미스, 같이 진행하던 A 프로젝트 말이야. 왜 이리 진전이 없어?”
“크리스, 미안해. 나 지금 짐싸고 있어. 회사 구조조정으로 사업부 전체가 날라갔어. 350명 전원 퇴직통보 받았어. 남은 처리는 다른 사업부에 이관될거야.”
‘그냥'입니다. 당신이나 내가 잘못한 것이 아니라 말입니다. 그런데, 이런 경우는 오히려 공평합니다.3. 정의는 실현이 희박하기에 갈구되는 것이다.
정리해고의 칼바람에서 살아남게 되는 경우는, 평소의 그 사람의 업무 성과, 능력 등보다는 정치적인 입장, 인맥에 의해 좌우되는 경우가 허다합니다. 회사의 공로 분배나 진급에 있어 불평등, 불만 요인으로 작용하던 것이 이 때에도 적용됩니다.
“저 사람 잘리면, 그 돈으로 직원 몇명이나 고용할 수 있는데…”
“저 인간 없으면 회사가 훨씬 잘돌아갈텐데…”
그러나, 그 사람은 살아남고 일 잘하는 영업부 김대리, 자금팀 미스리가 잘리는 경우가 다반사입니다.4. 누가 잘리는 것이 합리적인가?: 급여 높은 사람? 낮은 사람?
급여 많은 사람을 해고하면 더 많은 사람을 살릴 수 있을 거라 간단히 생각들 하실겁니다. 그런데, 회사 입장에서는 좀 틀립니다. 그 사람에게 급여를 많이 주는 것은, 그 사람이 그만큼의 일을 하기 때문이라 생각합니다. 그래서, 아래 사람들의 바램과는 달리… 급여가 낮은 사람이 먼저 잘립니다.
1. layoff: decreasing expenses (X) for decreasing investment (O)
In case of small enterprises that have problems of short term mobility, they conduct layoffs in order to decrease expenses. However, profits of companies due to economic downturn would decrease, but in the case of companies that can afford capital and fluidity, reorganization especially in management/administration/research is to decrease investment.
Two parts we should acknowledge is
-reorganization and conducting layoffs also cost money.
-supplementing more members later and educating new employees also cost money.
Therefore, conducting layoffs mean not only decreasing costs, but also decreasing investment and company scale. Decreasing investment means
-long term prospect is not good
-no plan for enlarging investment in the mid-term.
2. Individual’s capability and talents can’t be a guarantee anymore
Maybe Asian companies, which take networks seriously, are a little bit different. This is a story from a global company last year.
“Smith, why isn’t there more progress of project A, whichwe worked together?”
“Chris, sorry about that. But I’m packing my stuff now. Due to reorganization, whole department is gone. All 350 employees received layoffs. An other department will take care of the rest of the project.”
What I’m saying is it ‘just’ happens. It’s not that you did something wrong or I did. Actually, this case is not that bad.
3. Justice is rare in reality.
How to survive in such a cold time depends on your political behavior and network rather than on your working achievements or abilities. Regarding bonus and promotion, inequality and complaints are also applied to this situation.
“If that person is fired, we can hire several more employes with his or her salary…”
“If we don’t have that person, the company will be better…”
However, as usual, that person survives and other people are mostly fired.
4. Who should be fired for the company’s sake? high salary employee? low salary employee?
We simply think that if the high salary person is fired, more people can survive. However, companies don’t think like that. The reason why they give high salary to the person is because he or she works better than anyone else. Therefore, compared to others’ wishes, lower salary people are fired first.
정리합니다.
- 비용이 작지만 축소 시 바로 비용절하로 연결되는 시급직, 비정규직 해고가 아니라… 정규직에 대한 대단위 정리를 감행하는 것은: 기업이 시장과 사업전망을 어떻게 보는지에 대해 알려줍니다.
정리 해고 된다는 것은: 자질이나 능력 문제가 아니라… 재수가 없는겁니다. 그냥 세상이 그런겁니다. 나무 자책하지 마십시오.
- Large-scale layoffs of full-time employees in bige rather than part-time employees are to show how companies look at markets and business prospects.
Being laid off means nothing about abilities and capabilities. You’re just not lucky. That is the world. Don’t blame yourself too much.
A response:
구조조정에 대해 정답을 제시하셨군요. ^^ 기업 입장에서 사람 내보내는건 향후 2년간은 몸집을 키우기 힘들다는 얘기고 그건 중기 사업 전망이 좋지 못하단 얘기죠. xrith님 말씀대로 사원의 재교육에는 상당한 비용이 들어갑니다. 그만큼 중기적인 전망이 안보이니 일단은 있는 인원으로 때우던지 하는겁니다. 아니면 위의 글로벌 기업 사례처럼 사업부, 부서 하나를 통째로 날리는 일은 아예 그 사업이 돈 안된다고 생각하는 겁니다. 노키아같은 경우도 통으로 날리는 경우가 비일비재하더군요
Here is a different story from a blogger who witnessed layoffs of many employees.
[…]참 재밌는 것은 (또 다행스러운 일은) 그 세명중 한명은 정리해고된지 2주가 채 되지 않아 다른 그룹의 같은 포지션으로 새롭게 채용되어 우리 팀과 같이 일하는 관계가 되었구요. 저희와 농담을 주고 받던 위의 팀원은 한동안 일자리를 찾으며 고생한다고 들었는데 (경력이 비교적 짧은 Junior 맴버였습니다) 오늘 회사에서 마주쳤는데 이 팀원 역시 다른 팀에 채용되어 오늘부터 다시 일하기 시작한다고 하는게 아니겠습니까. 더군다나 이 친구는 저희 팀에서는 Junior 급이였는데 부서도 틀려지고 Junior 급에서 벗어나 오히려 승진을 한 케이스 입니다. 게다가 그 친구가 옮긴 부서는 제가 준비후 옮기려고 계획했던 부서인지라 겉으로는 많이 축하해주었지만 속으로는 솔직히 조금 부러웠습니다. 또한 원래 정리해고 된 직원이 다시 돌아올 경우 Severance Package 는 회사에 돌려주어야 하는데 이것 역시 그냥 봐주기로 했다고 합니다. 결과적으로 두어달 쉬면서 그 몇배에 해당하는 보너스를 받고 더 좋은 자리로 승진하며 컴백한 것과 다름이 없습니다. […] 이래서 세상일은 참 모르는 일인가 봅니다. 정리해고 된지 두어달만에 팀원들이 다른 부서일지언정 같은 회사로 다시 돌아오고, 그중에 어떤 이는 승진 케이스로 돌아오기까지 하는걸 직접 눈으로 보면서 정말 재밌는 세상이구나, 또 이렇게 공석이 많이 있었다면 애시당초 왜 그렇게 수많은 사람들을 해고시켜야만 했는지 회사의 결단 그리고 그 실행방법에 의문을 갖지 않을 수 없습니다.[…]
Video: Celebrating Women on their International Day
A Cactus Flower for Capt. Suresh by http://www.flickr.com/photos/kkoshy/
International Women's Day has been celebrated since the early 1900s: at first as a reminder of all the wrongs done to womankind and the long hard row necessary to achieve equality and fight for women's rights. However, for the past few years, many of the original points of dissention have been resolved and right now the day is used to celebrate the positive improvements instead of a reminder of the bad events. And through poetry marches and songs, we'll see how people around the world do just that.
The Chilean Planning Ministry is venturing online for their Women's Day Campaign, and for today, they bring us a poem read by several women. The poem is Ode to the Washerwoman by Pablo Neruda, which paints us the image of a woman washing laundry for a living at night, with a lit candle and the moon as company:
La nocturna
lavandera
a veces
levantaba
la cabeza
y ardían en su pelo
las estrellas
porque
la sombra
confundía
su cabeza
y era la noche, el cielo
de la noche
la cabellera
de la lavandera,
y su vela
un astro
diminuto
que encendía
sus manos
que alzaban
y movían
la ropa,
subiendo
descendiendo,
enarbolando
el aire, el agua,
el jabón vivo,
la magnética espuma.
washerwoman
sometimes
raised
her head
and blazed in her hair
the stars
because
the shadow
mixed up
her head
and it was night, the sky
of night
the hair
of the washerwoman,
and her candle
a minuscule
star
that lit
her hands
which raised
and moved
the clothes,
climbing
descending,
brandishing
the air, the water
the living soap,
the magnetic foam.
In Peru, women members of the Colective Canto a la Vida marched in Lima, demanding the respect of women's rights as well as sexual and reproductive rights: the right to therapeutic abortions, against forced sterilizations and for access to the Day After Pill.
Peruvian women are not the only ones marching. Nepalnews.com an online Nepali news channel also tells us about a walkathon organized by women in the capital city of Kathmandu:
And last but not least, Bielorussian singer Dmitry Koldum, an Eurovision contestant for 2007, uploaded a video of himself singing a song for “all the girls in the world”, on their day:
To all women in the world, happy Women's Day!
Links for Sun, 2009-03
Posts from the group blog Moments of Gaza are part of a new book: “Maximilien Le Roy [Fr] from France, showed his kind support to Gaza and its victims through art. He recently made a book [Fr] that includes quotes from this blog and drawings inspired by the events on the ground.”
Gazan blogger Lina Hesham, writing at 360 km2 of Chaos, praises a series of documentaries by Al Jazeera English about life in the Gaza Strip.
Gazan blogger and photojournalist Sameh Habeeb is on his way to London to start a speaking tour: “I'll be speaking at the parliament, touring at colleges and universities to bring more awareness about Palestine and the last war launched against Gaza.”
Ruba Anabtawi writes about life in the Palestinian refugee camp of Shuafat - which is within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem [Ar].
Lameen Souag reports at Jabal al-Lughat that a valuable online resource will soon close, possibly for political reasons: “Tawalt is a nine-year-old Libya-focused Amazigh/Berber website with a remarkable collection of audio recordings and resources for some of the least well documented Berber languages - those of Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt…If you have any interest in Berber linguistics, I suggest looking around now before it disappears…“
Louisa Waugh, writing at the New Internationalist's Gaza Blog, describes a visit to Gaza's only Turkish bath-house.
Mash at Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying reports that “Bangladesh has blocked YouTube and some other file sharing websites after audio of a meeting between the Prime Minister and a large gathering of army senior officers was leaked and posted on YouTube.” Quoting news sources the blogger confirms that a government official defended blocking of YouTube and eSnips.
Ammar Talk [Ar], in Doha, Qatar, interviews the brother of Iraqi Monthadar Al Zeidi, who threw his shoes at former US President George W Bush during a Press conference in Iraq late last year.
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