Archive for
May 7th, 2009
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Poland: Hitler and Abortion
This poster appeared at the end of April in several public places in Zielona Gora, as Gazeta.pl reports. The poster contains photo of Adolf Hitler and text: “Hitler was first to introduce legal abortion in Poland. - The right to choose is not freedom, but extermination of the innocent. For feminists killed children are stats, for us a tragedy.” There is also a photo of a fetus and another slogan, “Abortion is a murder,” in red letters, with Falanga website URL at the bottom.
Action was initiated by Falanga neo-Nazi organization originally to protest against abortion, however representatives of Falanga organization do not deny the posters serve propaganda purposes and hope to help recruit new members.
First reactions, just on the same site's forum, are quite strong. Adkalin remarks [PL]:
When will we finally get rid of this shit?
Junkier agrees with the content of the flyer [PL]:
Every form of fight with abortion, which is nothing else than murder, and with feminism, sick left-wing ideology of decay of society, luckily in Poland pushed back to the margins, deserves warm welcome.
Forum users discuss facts about Hitler's political views, but when it comes to the poster itself, gosc:boso oraz kaczo states [PL]:
‘those posters do not promote Nazi movement, nor Hitler'
Instead they only promote organization of clearly fascist views…
I still hope that there is no place for trash like them (Falanga followers, I mean) in Poland
Matt's point on this one in more general [PL]:
EVERY portrait of Hitler is Nazi propaganda. Not everyone will read and understand the text below it.
Commentators of the action question the facts mentioned on the poster, both here, as well as in other on-line venues. Katolik posts on forum of another daily, Dziennik.pl [PL]:
It's worth reminding that Hitler followers banned abortion related to their race, which they claimed to be superior, but supported abortion of other races, perceived as inferior ones. As a Catholic, I keep a neutral view on this topic, even though Catholic Church strictly bans abortion and calls it murder. As for Falanga, I have seen their deeds. It's a bunch of youngsters who in groups of three can attack a single man. They do not shine with their intellect, courage, nor with moral values.
On the forum of local magazine Gazeta Lubuska, ~nn~ expresses his opinion about the action [PL]:
This is actually quite funny, because I associate those bold boys with followers of the sir on the picture… As for the content, it is at least harming - what about the theory of state of protection, what about dreams of a house with a garden for each German - at least in Ukraine… There you go… one-sided and narrow-minded. Take care Adi, history will appreciate you once…
China: Isaac Mao #twinterviews Hu Yong
Those faithfully following the #China Twitter stream late on the working day on Thursday were treated to a surprise when Isaac Mao began twinterviewing Peking University associate professor of new media Hu Yong, author of several books related to Internet theory and culture.
From Mao's blog, Isaac 2.0, here is the transcript:
#1 作為中國最早感知互聯網浪潮的一撮人，當時和現在有什么差別？
当时是亚当和夏娃的简单乐园，现在“失乐园”了，成了丛林。盛行丛林法则。
A1: At the time it was Adam and Eve and a simple garden; now, “Paradise Lost” has become a jungle. The law of the jungle prevails.
#2 可是《數字化生存》并沒有考慮到那么多復雜情況，是否還是過于理想？
《数字化生存》的最大价值，是指出了未来社会的基本建构成分是比特而不是原子。这可以解释为什么今日众多产业面临绝境，也可以解释为什么中国政府花费那么大的人力物力修墙。当然，我那时和尼葛洛庞帝一样，是个乐观主义者，相信“闪闪发亮的比特”
A2: The main point in “Being Digital” was to point out that the society of the future would be constructed of bits, and not atoms. This can explain why so many industries today are in such dire straits, and can also explain why the Chinese government spends such vast human and material resources in patching up the wall. Of course, at that time, I was just as much an optimist as Negroponte, still believing in “shiny, happy bits”.
#3 可是我還是有疑問，尤其對中國，比特對傳統的思維催生變化了嗎？
传统思维的变化不是一日之功。比特开启了众声喧哗的进程：我们原来鸦雀无声，一旦有些机会说话，谁都不会好好说话，只会聒噪。但不要小看说话的作用：它是心理疗伤，疗中国千年专制之伤。
A3: Changing traditional thinking won't happen overnight. Bits have launched a process of rising cacophony: once we were completely silent, but with the first opportunity to speak, nobody is just talking, they're shouting. But we can't undervalue the role of speaking: it's the cure for a psychological wound, curing the wound inflicted on China by a thousand years of autocracy.
#4 正要問《眾聲喧嘩》這本書，大家是喧嘩了，可是獲取手段多的人似乎更焦慮，那么沒有信息的人似乎反倒很安逸，這是真諦嗎？
好问题！这就是为什么那些获取了更多信息的人要致力于发起更多的对话和讨论。有时候我们用新技术武装至死：我们如此陷入技术的拥抱之中，忘记了社会的基本面。今天中国需要的是对一系列社会的基本问题进行讨论：一个拒绝讨论重大问题的文明，不是导向极权主义，就是通向死亡。
A4: Good question! Which is, why are those with more information the ones having the most dialogue and discussion. Sometimes, we arm ourselves to death with new technology; caught up in the embrace of technology as such, we forget about the fundamentals of society. China today needs to discuss a series of fundamental problems within society; a civilization which refuses to discuss major problems, if it doesn't lead to totalitarianism, then it leads itself to death.
#5 你的電視媒體實踐也產生了很多影響，例如CCTV-2的變化（我叫#CCAV)，是否更有相互比較的意味
我反对有人主张的对央视的新闻、宣传节目与网络都采取“不看、不上、不听、不说”的“四不”政策，因为每一寸阵地都值得去争取
A5: I object to any stance which advocates not watching, visiting, listening to or talking about CCTV news, propaganda programs or websites, because every inch of territory is worth fighting for.
#6 在《草根不盡》報告導讀中，講了媒體和權力的關系，新媒體似乎更激進地改變這種關系，但是也被有效地鉗制在一定強度內，縱觀媒體史，會亘古不破嗎？
福柯尝言：“权力得以稳固，为人们所接受，其原因非常简单，那就是它不只是作为说‘不’的强权施加压力，它贯穿于事物，产生事物，引发乐趣，生成知识，引起话语。”新媒体就是要既反抗“不”的高压，又反抗“是”的贯穿；既牢记奥威尔，更不忘赫胥黎
A6: Foucault once said that, “[w]hat makes power hold good, what makes it accepted, is simply the fact that is doesn't only weigh on us as a force that says no; it also traverses and produces things, it induces pleasure, forms knowledge, produces discourse.” New media, however, revolts against the high-handedness of “no”, but also revolts against the traversal of “yes”; which is why we must remember Orwell, and definitely mustn't forget Huxley.
#7 在美國，傳統媒體產業已經惶惶不可終日，四處尋找出路，這種先發焦慮是不是更有利于中國媒體軟轉型？
报刊和书籍更容易转型，因为它们的市场化较高；电视很难，因为中国电视有着畸形化的结构，且有意识形态和垄断的双重挡箭牌。无论如何，450亿元的外宣投资不会鼓励转型。
A7: The transition will be much easier for periodicals and books, because they are more highly market-oriented; television will find it more difficult, because of now abnormally television is structured in China, burdened by both ideology and monopoly. Regardless, an investment of forty-five billion RMB for external propaganda will not encourage transformation.
#8 这个外宣媒体让我很困惑的，是不是会解决很多外国人就业的问题？
南加州大学传媒系尼古拉斯•卡尔教授有个精辟之见，他把中国政府通过报纸、电视和文化交流作出的一系列努力称作是“通过对外宣传的对内宣传”。换言之，对中国政府来说，让中国人看到他们在向全世界宣传中国文化更为重要。很多人在质疑外宣的效果，这是树错了靶子
A8: Journalism professor at the University of Southern California Nicholas Cull put it very precisely. He said that the Chinese government has relied on newspapers, television and cultural exchanges in a series of attempts at what is called “internal propaganda through external propaganda”. Put another way, the way the Chinese government sees it, letting the Chinese people see that Chinese culture is being promoted to the entire world is the most important. Many people doubt the effects of propaganda, seeing it as barking up the wrong tree.
#9 那么中国教授呢？在教室里，是否也需要時常自我審查？尺度是什么？
尺度？跟媒体的情形一样吧，存在于边界的试探之中。当年关于淫秽物品的界定在美国有个笑话：淫秽物品？它从来不能成功地用浅显易懂的语言界定，但是当我看到它时，我就知道它是。在中国，言论的非法与失当，也是如此吧。
A9: Yardstick? No different than that for media, it extends as far as people are willing to probe. Back in the day, there was a joke in America about the definition of obscene material: ‘Obscene material? I know it when I see it.‘ In China, whether speech is inappropriate or illegal, goes about the same.
#10 如果倒退回20年，有互联网，是不是社会看上去比今天更乐观一些？
呵呵，回到未来……80年代是中国60年最好的时光，那时，至少有“两个重大”——重大事情让人民知道，重大问题经人民讨论……想想看，用互联网实现两个重大，是不是更乐观一些？
A10: Haha, back to the future…..the eighties were the best years of China over the past sixty years. Back then, we at least had the “Two Majors”, the ‘Major Affairs The People Need To Know' and ‘Major Affairs The People Need To Discuss'…if you think about it, using the Internet fulfills both the Two Majors, isn't that a bit more optimistic?
USA: Opening Conversations on Sexual and Reproductive Health
Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organization that provides free or inexpensive sexual health services to young men and women in the United States and abroad, has launched a YouTube campaign. The organization is encouraging people to share their thoughts and experiences around getting tested for sexually transmitted diseases, educating their kids about sex, and discussing reproductive rights issues.
Even in the United States, where abortion is legal (albeit under attack), these are difficult topics for people to confront openly. So perhaps not surprisingly, there have not been many video responses from viewers sharing their own stories. Nonetheless, a search on YouTube will turn up a few videos from ordinary people sharing experiences about getting an HIV test, including one from Keisha770.
In online videos, Planned Parenthood shares helpful tips on how to talk to your children about sex and sexuality, including a simulated parent-child conversation between two adults. Below, mother and daughter Haydeé and Marcella Morales discuss how they have put some of these lessons into practice in their own family.
And here, in another video by Planned Parenthood, individual Americans discuss the importance of affordable birth control.
In this video, by an organization called Sex Etc., which helps teenagers to inform other teens about sexual health, a young man named Josh goes for his first HIV test in New York.
Citizen media can be an important tool for people to share sexual health advice, especially considering how a lack of accurate information can lead to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted teenage pregnancies, and unsafe abortion methods, as well as prevent women from taking control of their own sexual and reproductive rights. This is particularly true for women of color in the U.S., who have the highest abortion and unintended pregnancy rates. Sadly, there is also an enormous amount of misinformation in the same space, so sources should be vetted carefully.
Brazil: The Character Assassination of a Presidential Candidate
Her name has already been put forward by Brazilian President Lula da Silva as his preferred Workers' Party (PT) candidate for the 2010 presidential election. Since gaining Lula's support, Dilma Roussef has received overwhelming attention from the Brazilian press. It seems, however, that the mainstream media have set aside good journalistic standards when it comes to news stories about Roussef.
This is a fact that has not been missed by Brazilian bloggers, who have questioned the true intentions behind a series of recent false media reports.
An economist, Dilma Roussef worked as Secretary of Energy in the state of Rio Grande do Sul before joining the federal government in 2003 as the Energy Minister. In 2005, she was appointed Chief of Staff of the Presidency. In her youth, Dilma Roussef was a member of the resistance movement against the military dictatorship that staged a coup d'état in 1964.
Recalling the maybe-candidate's life during the dictatorship, the biggest Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo (with a daily circulation of more than 300,000) published a front page news story on 5 April using a spam email as their main source, while alleging that the information was found in the Public Archives of São Paulo State (DEOPS). They published an image of a fake criminal record for Roussef that has been circulating on the Internet for more than a year. It does not exist in the public archives. The story was about Roussef's alleged role in an event 40 years ago that never actually happened, namely the kidnapping of then Finance Minister, Delfim Netto.
Was it just a lack of investigation? A naïve error? Was the paper's motivation the intention of creating sensationalism and selling more copies?
For blogger Rodrigo Vianna [pt], there is no doubt that there were political motivations:
O selo “capturado” não era comum em fichas desse tipo no DOPS. Documento pode ter sido forjado por sites de “extrema-direita”. A “Folha”, pelo visto, mantem as velhas parcerias…
Estava já evidente que a tal “reportagem” fora feita sob encomenda para ser usada no programa politico de 2010. O uso de uma falsa ficha do DOPS seria apenas um passo a mais na caminhada da “Folha” rumo ao esgoto.
It was already obvious that such a “report” was tailor-made to be used in the 2010 political campaign. The use of a fake DOPS file by the “newspaper” is just another step towards the bottom of the drain.
Screenshot of the newspaper story from Paulo Henrique Amorim's blog
Roussef sent a letter to Folha de São Paulo asking for clarification on the material that was published without evidence - based on an event that did not happen - but the paper neglected to publish it.
Luis Nassif's blog brought this to light [pt] by publishing a copy of her letter. She wrote:
“Apesar da minha negativa durante a entrevista telefônica de 30/03 sobre minha participação ou meu conhecimento do suposto seqüestro de Delfim Neto, a matéria publicada tinha como título de capa “Grupo de Dilma planejou seqüestro do Delfim”. O título, que não levou em consideração a minha veemente negativa, tem características de “factóide”, uma vez que o fato, que teria se dado há 40 anos, simplesmente não ocorreu. Tal procedimento não parece ser o padrão da Folha de São Paulo.
(…)
“Por último, cabe deixar claro que a ficha falsa foi divulgada em vários sites de extrema direita, como: a) Ternuma (Terrorismo Nunca Mais), blog de apoio ao Cel. Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra, ficha falsa postada em 30 de novembro de 2008; b) Coturno Noturno – Blog do Coronel: ficha falsa postada em 27 de março de 2009 (a ficha está “atualizada” apresentando uma foto atual) (http://coturnonoturno.blogspot.com/2009/04/desta-parte-dilma-lembra-tudo.html). A partir daí, outros sites na internet também divulgaram a ficha: a) http://fórum.hardmob.com.Br/showthread.php; b) http:/www.viomundo.com.Br/blog/dilma-terrorista/
(…)
“Additionally, it is worth clarifying that the fake file has been published by many extreme right-wing websites, such as : a) Ternuma (Terrorismo Nunca Mais), a blog that supports Col. Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra - the fake file was posted on the 30 November 2008; b) Coturno Noturno o Blog do Coronel - the fake file was posted on the 27 March 2009 (the file has been “updated” to feature a recent picture). Since then, other sites have also distributed the file.
Fake files like this one have made rounds on the internet for over a year. Bloggers noted that Roussef's picture has been updated
Coturno Noturno o Blog do Coronel - which can be translated as “Night Combat Boot, the Colonel's Blog” has military-camouflage design, and has mocked the Roussef's past, when she was arrested and tortured for fighting against the dictatorship in the early 1970s. The blogger [pt] threatens that this is only the beginning:
No dia 27 de março, o Blog publicou um post mostrando uma ficha da ministra Dilma Rousseff, que descrevia os seus velhos tempos que tanto a orgulham quando convém, com uma mudança bem humorada: a foto foi atualizada para mostrar a nova fisionomia embotacada e repuxada da candidata.
“Diga pra velha que eu volto! Diga pra ela se tratar!” E volto não tão crazy como antes, com o beneplácito dos leitores e pelo voto direto, mas com a minha melhor qualidade: a capacidade ilimitada de irritar petralhas até dos mais altos escalões. Candidata, a gente nem começou.
“Tell the old lady that I'll be back! Tell her to look after herself!” And I'll be back not as crazy as before, with readers' approval and in favor of the right to vote, but with my best characteristic: unlimited capacity to irritate “petralhas” [a fusion between the word ‘petista' – a supporter of the Brazilian Workers' Party and “irmãos metralhas”, the Brazilian translation for the cartoon characters the Beagle Boys] even those of the highest rank. Candidate, we haven't even begun.
The only retraction by Folha de São Paulo of its false report was published on 25 April, twenty days after the fake file made the paper's front page. This time, the story was not considered front page material; nor did it observe rules of the equal proportion when a newspaper publishes a second piece of information in order to correct a previous one. After reading the content of the paper's retraction, Blog do Melo [pt] reaches two conclusions and posts a copy of an article [pt] entitled “When the “we made an error” aims to veil a fraud” - written by journalist and professor of Fluminense Federal University Sylvia Moretzsohn:
Quando publicou a reporcagem sobre o tal sequestro de Delfim Netto (que nunca houve), a Folha queria atingir dois objetivos: mostrar que Dilma era uma “terrorista” (você entregaria o governo na mão de uma?) e fustigar os que combateram a ditadura, que para a Folha e Pinochet (veja vídeo acima) foi ditabranda. A jornalista Sylvia Moretzsohn (…) escreveu o seguinte artigo, publicado no Observatório da Imprensa [pt], onde mostra que o erramos da Folha significa fraudamos:
“(…) No entanto, errou, também, duplamente: primeiro, ao dizer que o jornal havia reconhecido ser “falsa” a tal ficha; segundo, e mais importante, ao tratar como “erro” algo que é evidentemente uma fraude. Delimitar com clareza a distinção entre uma coisa e outra é fundamental para uma crítica justa, dadas as implicações – jurídicas, inclusive – que cada uma dessas práticas importa.'”
“(…) Nevertheless, they made a double-mistake: first, when they claimed that the newspaper would have acknowledged such a file as a “fake”; secondly, and more importantly, they deemed as an “error” something that is evidently a fraud. Delimiting with clarity between one thing and the other is fundamental for just criticism, given the consequences – including legal ones – that any of these actions may have”.
We can find further critiques of the way that the newspaper made its mea culpa in Rodrigo Vianna's blog [pt]. He mentions another fake file for São Paulo's Governor José Serra on which the politician is described as Nosferatu, a terrorist and a vampire, and his past as a militant student activist is also mentioned (Dilma and Serra both fought against the dictatorship, as did many other current Brazilian political figures):
Mais de 20 dias depois, a “Folha” publica neste sábado (sem chamada de capa, ressalte-se) um texto estranhíssimo, sob o título: “Autenticidade de ficha de Dilma não é provada”.
Não é provada por quem? A quem caberia provar, se não ao próprio jornal que estampou o material em sua primeira página? Ora, até para manipular e fazer campanha antecipada é preciso um pouco mais de cuidado. Mas a “Folha” dá mostras de caminhar rapidamente rumo ao esgoto.
O pessoal da policia paulista que não gosta muito do Serra fez circular pela internet uma “ficha” do Serra. A autenticidade “não pode ser assegurada - bem como não pode ser descartada”. Foi essa a frase da “Folha” para definir a “ficha” da Dilma. Será que a “Folha” publicaria a “ficha” do Serra?
Personnel of the police of São Paulo state who don't really like Serra - he is one of the potential opposition candidates - released a Serra “file” on the Internet. They said its authenticity “cannot be proved - just as it cannot be denied”. This was also Folha's definition of Dilma's file. Will Folha publish Serra's file too?
The fake file of São Paulo governor José Serra
After having been the target of Folha de São Paulo's shallow, sensationalist article about her political-militant past, Dilma Roussef was again the focus of the media soon after. This time because of a health treatment. Last week, she had an operation to remove a linphoma and will undergo chemotherapy for three months. Again, Rouseff's name appeared everywhere in the blogosphere, and again mainstream media behaviour fed the blog fervour.
The journalist and blogger Paulo Henrique Amorim, who coined the term Partido da Imprensa Golpista (PIG) – an acronym of Portuguese words meaning Party of the Coup-plotting Mass Media – analyses the media reaction in a few of his posts. In the first, before the news was made public [pt] he said Folha published on its front page, off the record, false news about Dilma Rousseff’s cancer:
Isso não é notícia que se dê em off. (…)
Segundo o que dizem os médicos de um hospital que deixa vazar uma informação dessa gravidade, a candidata do presidente Lula à presidência da República tem, hoje, depois de totalmente extirpado o câncer, tanta chance de ter outro câncer quanto qualquer pessoa.
A edição de hoje da Folha deve ser conservada em formol, porque se trata de uma antologia do jornalismo em decomposição que se pratica nesta subdemocracia.
According to whichever doctors from the hospital who leaked this serious information, Lula's candidate for the presidency has, today, after having her tumour completely removed, the same chance of having cancer again as any other citizen.
Today's issue of Folha has to be kept in formalin, because it presents an anthology of journalism in decomposition, as is practised in this sub-democracy.
In a second post, the day after [pt] he explains how the media is plotting against the possible candidate. According to Amorim, the media is “assassinating” [pt] the candidate:
A manchete do Globo é: “Câncer e tratamento longo abalam candidatura de Dilma“. Na edição online: “Dilma anuncia tratamento contra câncer”.
Dilma Rousseff não tem câncer.
Teve.
O câncer na fase 1A foi TOTALMENTE extirpado.
Ela faz agora quimioterapia preventiva.
Dilma Rousseff does not have cancer.
Had.
The phase 1A cancer was TOTALLY removed.
She is now undergoing preventive chemotherapy.
Some blogs, like Alerta Total [pt] consider the cancer is likely to be used as a political strategy by the government during the presidential elections:
O anúncio oficial da doença seguiu o ritual de mais uma operação de propaganda política do Palácio do Planalto. Dilma chegou ao hospital acompanhada do ministro Franklin Martins, o bolcheviquepropagandaminister de Lula
More than a year in advance, it seems that the presidential battle in Brazil has already begun. As always, low tactics and the intensely veiled participation of media vehicles that are scarcely impartial or neutral will be present through the whole process. It is, therefore, highly recommended to take all media information with a large pinch of salt.
Southeast Asia: Twitter reactions on H1N1 virus
In the previous post, I featured the reactions of Southeast Asian bloggers on the H1N1 virus. This time, I will highlight the twitter reactions from twitterers in the region. Twitter posts are alternative sources of information and news updates about the virus scare. They also help us figure out the sentiments and knowledge of ordinary citizens about the H1N1. Here is a sample of the tweets in the region:
Singapore:
andrewong2024: Swine flu will now be called H1N1… The pigs are innocent. I'm having pork chop for lunch later!
tealeafs: Bad mood. Burning throat. Troubled mind. Unsettled feeling. Kinda broke. Swine flu, melting ice-caps, falling economy … pizz off. Gdnite
maxteo: SG Army banning their personnel from going to HK, Macau just because HK is under the affected list now with 1 confirmed with swine flu.
feministmentor: RT @gssq “90 people get the swine flu and everyone wants to wear a mask. Millions get HIV, and no one wants to wear a condom”
lemonadediets: just discover a way to fight the swine flu using the traditional chinese herbs.. a chinese experienced doc just shared it wif me.
Malaysia:
ranbutan93: Staying at home.Afraid that swine flu finally hitting home.Helping sister doing history.Anybody know bout the LoN?
Almahera: I don't know anyone who calls it H1N1. It's still swine flu to most of us. Doesn't make any difference anyways. Like changing ITM to UITM.
mikefoong: if I am perspiring. It's a good thing means no swine flu. When I am sneezing you better run. I can sneeze quite loud. :P
nocturnale: If I were a swine flu virus, I would only infect my dishonest, lying, duplicitous nemesis.
syooq: just got a scare that the westerners-imported SWINE FLU (or SELSEMA BABI we Malaysians called it) has find its way into Asia…yikessss!!!
Indonesia:
aulia: A maid who arrived in Surabaya from Taiwan is the 1st suspected Indonesian swine flu carrier according to #metrotv (via @wolwol)
fujitasenpai: RT @BrandingComm: Rebranding Idea: instead of “Swine Flu” how about “Hamdemic”, “Aporkalypse” or “Snoutbreak”?
antonnyliem: Dimsum@ taipan. Yummy! Unfortunately because of the swine flu all pork has been replaced with beef. Poor porky.
cindywombywomby: @tear96 haha xD my friend thought swine flu means swan flu lol
jovitwiggy: I could go another 10 years without hearing the words “swine flu” again. Seriously people, there's better news. What's Britney doing?
Philippines:
lindtdale: It's crazy to travel nowadays. impossible for you not to get harassed at the airport because of the swine flu. FAIL.
keanoidd: Obesity is the real swine flu.
eybiay: wishes that the suspected swine flu case in Cebu is not true. :(
acieissobloggin: im afraid of pork right now but im much terrified that swine flu is going to hit the country anytime. and hey,we're not in any way prepared
danni_cj: I hate it when I turn on the news and find people being paranoid about this swine flu and realize that they remind me so MUCH of myself.
Thailand:
ktardwut: When i told my roommate i was sick she nearly ran from the room while asking me if i had swine flu. Lmfao. Paranoid much
aardvarksilver: Swine flu….still? At least it takes our minds off the economy for a while.LOL
stickmanbkk: Hope I dont get the Swine Flu. I got wasted in the naughty Bangkok bars last night. Woke up this morning to find a pig sleeping next to me.
zen_global: is “swine flu” the latest in global population control?
Peru: Indigenous Communities Continue Protests
For quite some time, the indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon have been mobilized due to attempts by the current government to infringe upon the rights to their ancestral lands. These lands are thought to be good for mining and oil exploration, and some say that is where the real intentions lie. Recently these protests have restarted throughout different parts of the Amazon region, Tarapoto, Yurimaguas, the Napo Rivers, and other regions.
Few Peruvians bloggers have reported on the news, although some external websites, such as Servindi [es] and Indigenous Press [es], which are dedicated to collecting news related to indigenous issues have published about the protests.
In the blog RIDEI [es] (International Network of Intercultural Studies), Marco Huaco writes about what these protests mean for the protestors themselves:
Desde el 09 de abril se ha declarado por segunda vez en el Perú una protesta de los pueblos indígenas amazónicos de significativa envergadura. Es muy probable que no percibamos el fuerte significado e intensidad de esta protesta -ni la firmeza de su resolución- porque no conocemos el enorme esfuerzo y sacrificio que reporta a los indígenas amazónicos el movilizarse en defensa de sus derechos: a diferencia de las protestas urbanas en los que sus participantes se movilizan y luego van a casa, la movilización amazónica puede suponer el traslado de amplios contingentes humanos que se transportan por ríos y que luego emprenden larguísimas caminatas de horas a fin de llegar a centros poblados desde los cuales hacer sentir su presencia y voz de protesta.
Eso les cuesta alejarse drásticamente de sus comunidades, dormir en calles y plazas, alimentarse con sus propios recursos o con apoyo solidario de la población citadina y gastar mucho dinero -que no les sobra- en este empeño, todo ello bajo una sólida organización y disciplina colectivas. Todo este sacrificio no se hace en vano. El experimentar esta realidad motiva sus divertidas risas, burlas y sarcasmos cuando escuchan que el Gobierno y sus periodistas sirvientes difunden que han sido organizados, financiados y manipulados por ONG…
Since April 09, for the second time a protest of significant magnitude was declared by the Amazonian indigenous communities. It is very likely that we do not perceive the strong meaning and intensity of the protest, nor the strength of their decision because we do not know the enormous effort and sacrifice that brings to the Amazonian indigenous to mobilize to defend their rights, unlike the urban protests in which participants mobilize and then go home, the Amazon mobilization may involve transfer of large human contingents that are transported by rivers and then take part in long hours of hiking to reach population centers from where they show their presence and voice of protest.
It is difficult for them to stay away drastically from their communities, sleep in the streets and plazas, feed themselves from their own resources or with support and solidarity from the townspeople and spend a lot of money - which they do not have - during this endeavor, all of this under a solid organization and collective discipline. All this sacrifice is not in vain. To experience this reality motivates their laughter, mockery and sarcasm when they hear that the Government and its servant journalists say that the protestors have been organized, financed and manipulated by NGOs …
From De La Selva Su Web On [es] writes about a piece of news that appeared on the website of Radio La Voz de la Selva 93.9 fm about a naval ship that attacked the Napo indigenous community:
espero que respeten los derechos humanos, después cuando se les va la mano dicen que ellos no lo hicieron y que la justicia es injusta . A la hora de meter la fuerza con los débiles ahí son buenos, pero haber a la hora de defender las fronteras, toda la vida pierden, encima están metidos en lios de corrupción robo y malas prácticas de todo. Por el otro lado, si los indígenas están protestando es porque están cansados de tanta indiferencia e injusticias que nosotros los supuestos civilizados les ocacionamos. Más bien que las autoridades reflexionen y que los iquiteños apoyemos la lucha indígena.
One can find news about recent events in the protests in the Amazon Web Radio Voice of the Jungle [es]. Another blogger from the jungle region, Carlos Ramirez Sanchez writes in his post David against Goliath [es]:
La gota que rebalsó el pate de masato fue la promulgación del DL 1090, que modifica aspectos importantes de la Ley Forestal. Así, excluidos de toda decisión, con un gobierno central que hace oídos sordos a sus reclamos, privilegiando las inversiones privadas a los derechos de quienes son los posesionarios milenarios, las cosas han llegado a un límite peligroso.
But the blog Gran Combo Club [es] writes extensively about the subject:
El gobierno peruano a comienzos de abril firmó varios contratos con diversas empresas 1, entre ellas Talisman, aquí, sin consenso alguno con los ciudadanos que viven en los territorios afectados por esos contratos, que están amparados por diversas leyes, sin ningún esquema de consulta o compensación. Esta actitud del gobierno motiva la gran protesta que se vive actualmente en buena parte del territorio nacional. Se estima que el 70% de la Amazonía peruana ya está concesionada por un Perú caracterizado por el crecimiento contaminador al estilo de China
And the Gran Combo Club [es] also discusses the new leadership from popular leaders who may have been inspired by US President Barack Obama:
En los últimos años en el país ha habido movilizaciones importantes a todo nivel. Serían movilizaciones que no crean líderes, espontáneas, de “pobladores”, de “nativos”, etc. sin cabezas visibles que expresen un discurso claro sobre qué se quiere para el país. ¿Es esto así? No lo creo. Más parece haber una desatención de parte de los medios a lo que viene fermentando el país. Sólo le prestan atención cuando quienes tienen algún tipo de poder ajustan cuentas entre sí. Veamos nomás la protesta amazónica y la indiferencia gubernamental, mediática e intelectual que se le ha prestado. El moqueguazo, en cambio, no fue desaprovechado por los detractores mediáticos de Del Castillo. Las protestas no reciben cobertura en sí mismas, sino cuando hay algún interés de por medio en la cumbre. El lío social acaba siendo un “lío de blancos”. Cómo se organizó, se formó el consenso y quiénes lo hicieron quedan fuera del enfoque mediático. Lo que se ve es la protesta terminada, presentada en general como algo violento y amenazador, es decir, en su versión más sensacionalista. En todo el Perú, no obstante, puede haber surgido una nueva generación de dirigentes, muy activos en hacer sus reclamos, que queda invisibilizada y a la que no se le sigue el proceso. Una gran omisión.
Another post on indigenous rebellions can be read at Amazilia [es].
Links for Thu, 2009-05
“Six cool inventions you didn’t know were Polish” - at Polandian: bulletproof vest, mine detector, walkie-talkie and a few more.
24-hour car wash in the Christ the Savior Cathedral's compound - at Pictures of Moscow.
Writing for the Frontline Club blog, Global Voices Online's Caucasus editor rounds up some of the latest developments in this month's crucial municipal election in Yerevan. In particular, the entry singles out two incidents involving police and opposition supporters as well as an aborted assault on a local journalist.
Saudi blogger Aysha Alkusayer describes how her hopes were dashed after being turned away from an audition, which was supposedly open to both sexes, in Riyadh. “Today I hoped and this was wrong. It is probably best to believe that discrimination against, race, gender or faith would never change,” she writes.
Algerian linguist Lameen Souag asks: “The key issue in Algerian linguistic politics - substantially overshadowing the question of the role of Berber - is what should be the language of bureaucracy and education: Standard Arabic (the official language, and the primary pre-colonial language of literacy for all Algeria) or French (the colonial language, and hence ironically
the language which most of the few educated Algerians at independence had studied in.)”
The Maghreb Politics Review reports: “After the recent hostage release by the southern/Saharan wing of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, there has been much political and military movement in Algeria, Mali and the surrounding countries. According to numerous press rumors, a major joint operation in the border areas is about to go into action any day now.”
Saudi blogger Mashi Sa7 [Ar] wonders whether his lack of interest in blogging stems from the fact that his country is one of the worst 10 countries to be a blogger in, according to a recent report published by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Srinivasan Ramani at A New Praxis in a changed world comments: “the Indian ambassador's moves to pressurize the Nepali polity to retain Katuwal was a blatant expression of interference in Nepali affairs. Any self respecting Nepali, let alone a Maoist or any other leftist politician would have bristled at this interference, which however is part of a long legacy of intrusion in Nepali affairs.”
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