Archive for
May 14th, 2009
Stories
MENA: Does Swine Flu Spread from Touching Pigs?
More than 14 centuries after Islam prohibited the consumption of pork, pigs are once again making headlines across the Arab world - this time in the form of tweets.
Roba Al Assi from Jordan is shocked with people's reactions towards the disease:
OpusP remarks on Egypt's decision to cull swine saying:
aaalana, from Aleppo, Syria, is excited the disease has not been detected in that country:
Meanwhile, Lebanese habibh sees the disease as a blessing in disguise, hoping it would curb some traditions, like the exchange of kisses when greeting people:
Still in Lebanon, QifaNabki brushes off swine flu as a smaller concern, noting:
And this post will not be complete, if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not dragged into the matter. NewsatEleven jokes:
Arab World Reacts to Jordan's Twittering Queen Rania
After her debut on YouTube, Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan is now courting microblogging service Twitter, allowing the world to catch up with the 140-character messages of the self-described mum and wife “with a real cool day job.”
One of Queen Rania's Tweets
Not only is she giving us a sneak preview of her private life as a Queen and mother with messages like this and this [see image above], but has also agreed to conduct her first Twitter interview, according to the World Economic Forum Blog:
On the occasion of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East held at the Dead Sea in Jordan from 15 - 17 May 2009 Her Majesty has agreed to answer five questions from the general public via her Twitter account. Since she will not be able to answer all questions we put the questions to a public vote and Her Majesty will reply to the top five questions. Vote on the questions below to be put to Queen Rania here.
With 41,217 followers so far (she is only following 31), reactions from around the region on the Twittering Queen's adventure pour in.
Observations of a Jordanian praised the move, saying:
I have a LOT to complain about when it comes to how our country is run, but one thing I love is how the Royal Family are humble and try to stay connected with the people, especially technologically speaking. First a YouTuber, now Queen Rania has moved on to the next popular internet craze, Twitter […] It's the real deal, in case you're wondering, her account has been confirmed by the Royal Court.
The Arab Observer is evidently ecstatic and writes:
Isn't Queen Rania the coolest Queen ever?
First she establishes herself as a stylish elegant highly regarded Queen among the world leaders, then she creates a youtube channel to address the stereotypes against Arabs in the west and try to open a dialogue among the two sides, then she APPEARS on Oprah and gives a great interview and impressions about Jordan, and now she seizes the change of the Pope's visit of to Jordan to start her twitter account that instantly became an industry news that would give a bigger volume to the visit and to Jordan as a country.
We can listen now to 140 character wisdom messages from our Queen. A great tool for the leaders of the 21th century to use and build on. Well done Queen Rania, we are so proud of you, really so so proud :)
And ArabCrunch, also from Jordan, follows suit:
It seems the Queen is personally who is tweeting, since we are seeing personal tweets like this one, she is also using twitpic where she posted a pic of her and her son.
Moving over to neighbouring Syria, Sasa, from the Syria News Wire, takes the opportunity to draw a comparison between the Queen and Syria's first lady Asma Al Assad:
Queen Rania is on Twitter (@queenrania). She’s been flying around in her husband’s helicopter, meeting the Pope, talking about changing the world. But Syria isn’t far behind.
First Lady Asma Al-Assad may not be on Twitter, but she’s on Facebook. While her southern counterpart has been having fun doing acrobatics in helicopters and calling her husband a “real life action hero” (tell him to put the Playstation down then), Asma has been doing charity work.
She’s just launched the Massar-E project, which helps disadvantaged children learn about technology.
We know which of the two can be seen wondering around their city without hundreds of bodyguards.
I know Rania has just signed up for Twitter so maybe it’s not a fair comparison - but if numbers mean anything, Asma has 9000 fans, Rania has 4000.
And US-based Lebanese Dr Asa'ad Abu Khalil, at the Angry Arab News Service, is just that … angry. He rants:
“Thank u 4 followin! Looking 4ward to hearin ur thoughts and ideas on using social media 4 social change.” Oh, you want ideas for social change? I want to use social media (whatever you mean by that) in order to overthrow the Jordanian government and send you and the Hashemite royal family to exile in some remote European city. You may then chat with exiled survivers of the Egyptian or Iraqi royal families. And please use twitter in exile to amuse me. And somebody on your staff who writes your twitter and youtube texts for you need to tell you how uninteresting and uninspiring you are. Somebody needs to tell you that they only like you in the West because Israel approves of your PlayStation husband.
Egyptian activist and blogger 3arabawy shares similar sentiments, and here are messages (click on image below) he Twittered to the Queen:
Tweets by Egyptian blogger 3arabawy
And that is not all. A controversy is also brewing in the background regarding a fan page created by an Egyptian blogger for Queen Rania on Facebook.
TripleM claims that he has been kicked out as an admin of the page he has created for the Queen. He says:
I was surprised to find out that I’m no longer the admin of the Queen Rania’s fan page on Facebook. The fan page “Queen Rania” is the largest fan page for the beautiful Rania Al Abdullah the Queen of Jordan. The page I created two month ago, attracted more than 17 thousand fans and it has one of highest hit rates among Fb fan pages…
…Anyways, I was a bit shocked to find out that I’m no longer able to edit or share information on that page, that’s when I decided to tweet about it. By the time I tweeted everyone I know was talking about how successful the page is and that they didn’t know that I was the mastermind behind the page.
Jillian at American-Palestinian group blog KABOBfest picks up the story saying:
Queen Rania of Jordan (or as I tend to call her, Queen YouTube) seems to be taking the social media world by storm…and by force. Shortly after joining Twitter, the Jordanian royal hopped on Facebook, having the admin rights of the user who created her fan page taken away.
She also quips:
I guess it's only a matter of time before Qaddafi finds the fan page I made for him and takes over…
And, at Kermit the Blog 2.0, Kamel Al Asmar notes:
After 14 months on YouTube, I was wondering if Queen Rania wants to discover the power of social media and networking tools on the web one after the other when I saw her on Twitter a week ago (now with more than 40,000 followers). Apparently I was mistaken, Queen Rania is working on her online presence using more than one social media at once.
Al Asmar adds:
When I checked HM’s page on Facebook, I figured out that I was missing something that’s happening on the background. A page with more than 21,000 fans who are increasing rapidly. In addition to adding her twitter updates on the page’s status, Queen Rania is starting discussion topics there, mentioning on of them: “How can we build and broadcast cross-cultural dialogue?”. She also uploaded and still uploading some collections of photos on that page.
The interactivity factor on the Facebook page is impressive, and I’m regretting the couple of days I missed without being there. But the question that I and the people around me are asking; who is updating those media tools?! Is she Queen Rania personally who’s doing so or there is a team that is taking care of it, I’m really curious about it and I hope to have the answer one day.
On a different note; today I realized that the Queen’s page on Facebook was owned by my cyber friend, Mohammad Mansour AKA TripleM and one day he found that he’s no longer the admin of that page. Basically Queen Rania stole her page as it’s supposed to be her property
Indonesia: Central Bank Chief, the next VP?
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) is set to announce the Central Bank chief Boediono as his running mate in a couple of days.
Indonesians are divided with the candidacy of Boediono. Some cheered at the decision, but the president's decision is unpopular among some parties who priorly bid coalition with Yudhoyono's Democratic Party (Partai Demokrat - PD [id]).
Ahead of the presidential election, four parties, namely the National Mandate Party (PAN), Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), United Development Party (PPP), and the National Awakening Party (PKB) are preparing to have coalition with PD. The plan is now in jeapordy, as parties' officials threatened to pull out from the coalition if SBY goes ahead confirming Boediono's candidacy.
Speaking to local English newspaper the Jakarta Post, PD deputy chairman Andi Mallarangeng said that since the begining, coalition parties had agreed to practice his executive right to choose his VP.
Former Chief Presidential Spokesman Wimar Witoelar, on his Perspektif blog said that Boediono's candidacy could be a sign that the country is actually reforming its political system.
The choice of Boediono as vice presidential candidate on the SBY ticket could awaken middle-class moderates to the fact that they are a real factor in the direction of the nation. […] The results of the parliamentary elections allay fears of fundamentalism as the secular parties outnumber the sectarian by a wide margin.
[…]
The nice thing about political predictions is that you do not have to argue against them. If you don’t like pessimistic outlooks, just make sure they do not come true. Otherwise they become self-fulfilling prophecies.
[…]
Although Indonesian voters time and again vote for secular parties, the PKS keeps inching forward while Golkar and PDIP keep receding. My own thoughts are more optimistic..The choice of Boediono as vice presidential candidate may be seen as a signal that SBY is closing ranks with the secularists. Remember that while SBY-JK has been weak against the anti-pornography bill and other pet issues of the Islamist right, PDIP has been strong and consistent in defense of pluralism and secularism.
[…]
The choice of a non-party clean person will help strengthen the true base against sectarianism, the middle class moderates.
Arya, wrote a posting on Politikana, one of Indonesian political platforms, saying that as non-partisan, Boediono has a strategic meaning to PD. He elaborates [id]:
Status Boediono sebagai orang non-partai politik (setidaknya saat ini) memiliki arti strategis bagi PD. Karena nantinya, tidak akan ada satu pun partai yang bisa mengklaim kinerja pemerintah periode 2009-2014 sebagai hasil kerja mereka.
Seperti kita tahu, posisi seorang incumbent sangat berpengaruh ketika seseorang atau sebuah partai mengikuti pemilu berikutnya. Dengan segenap keuntungannya, seorang incumbent sudah satu atau dua langkah di depan dibanding rival yang berasal dari ‘luar'.
Coba bayangkan kalau misalnya Wapres SBY adalah Hidayat Nur Wahid atau Hatta Rajasa? Pasti nanti PKS dan PAN akan dengan mudah mengklaim hasil kerja SBY seolah-olah jadi hasil kerja mereka dan hal itu bakal jadi jualan utama di Pilpres 2014.
Malah bisa jadi, di tengah jalan Boediono yang non-partisan itu bakal disuruh ‘pindah agama' menjadi seorang kader PD. Hnah!
As we all know, an incumbent's position has a big influence when someone or a party submit itself to the next election. With all this benefits, an incumbent is already one or two steps ahead of his “outsider” (party member) rivals.
Can you imagine if the new SBY's VP is either Nur Wahid or Hatta Rajasa? What would happen is that PKS and PAN will easily claim SBY's work as if it was their own and this could be their strong points in selling their agendas for the 2014 presidential election.
What we can expect to happen in the future, (is that) the non-partisan Boediono, could convert into PD party member. Voila!
Blogger Fawwaz Akmal feels that SBY and PD's fear is absurd. Fawwaz argues that in 2014 SBY can't be re-elected for the third time, and he's also sure that the global economic downturn is the main reason why Boediono was chosen to be the running mate. Fawwaz says:
Setahuku, Boediono adalah ahli ekonomi makro yang tidak mengerti masalah ekonomi real di masyarakat. Padahal, berulang kali para pakar ekonomi Indonesia maupun dunia mengatakan bahwa untuk membentengi krisis global, sebuah negara mesti memperkuat ekonomi realnya, mikro.
Facebooker Andy Armansyah wonders who fit to be the people's president and vice president, he says:
Indonesia holds multi-party system. In 2004, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono became Indonesia's first directly elected president. Yudhoyono, the retired singing General has managed to improve the country's economic growth.
Kazakhstan: Turmoil Royale
Rakhat Aliev, former son-in-law of the Kazakhstani president, former ambassador in Austria and former Kazakh oligarch, sentenced to 40 years in jail for abduction of the people, leadership of the mafia-type organization and attempt of the coup, keeps on creating a “democrat's” image by leaking discrediting materials against top officials.
Earlier this week his book “The Godfather-in-Law” has been issued. It's first edition was published in Germany, in German language. As Aliev himself says, [ru]
Europe still has little knowledge of what is happening in Kazakhstan. This fact allows EU politicians to put a blind eye on repressions and righs violations.
There are few comments to this post. Some of them are glad about the publication. heil-jonny says he'll definitely buy a book, while mimi7777777 offers translation services.
yeresim is skeptical [ru]:
I could have regarded this book differently, if the author were a consistent fighter against the regime. But you - you have become what you are thanks to your fother-in-law. And now you try to present yourself as a democrat, using discrediting materials against this man. Are you so naive to think that the Kazakh people will be happy to see you again, ever? I don't think so. And this is your traged.
thousand_pa tries to clarify [ru]:
Does this book tell the reader how a man on public service managed to get large enterprises in private property, to own Nurbank [commercial bank], media and advertising holdings, shreholdings in a number of Kazakhstani and foreign companies?
Besides, the checking of users who leave positive comments Aliev's blog shows that most of them are fake accounts with no entries and a couple of comments in personal history.
Also posted on neweurasia.
Cambodia: Activist Parliamentarian May Drop Lawsuit Against Prime Minister
Mu Sochua is an internationally recognized activist and Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) member of the Cambodian National Assembly. She recently filed a lawsuit against the country's prime minister, Hun Sen, for defamatory comments he made in April 2009. Subsequently, Hun Sen filed a countersuit against Mu Sochua, also for defamation.
KI Media posted an article from the Phnom Penh Post detailing Hun Sen's countersuit:
[G]overnment lawyer Ky Tech, representing Hun Sen, filed a countersuit. Ky Tech claims he might seek as much as 10 million riels (US$2,427) in damages from Mu Sochua and other, unspecified involved persons for the defamation of his client in the press conference last Thursday.
In contrast, Mu Sochua seeks 500 riels in her lawsuit.
Cambodian Bright Future posted a letter in which Mu Sochua writes:
Within days my parliamentary immunity will be lifted so the court can “investigate” my case. This is normal procedure for politicians from the opposition party or human rights activists or the poor who cannot bribe court officials. I will be detained in the notorious prison of “Prey Sar” for as long as the courts wish to take…Is the world still watching in silence while Cambodia is now ruled by one man?
Details are Sketchy echoes Mu Sochua's thoughts:
Considering that Prime Minister Hun Sen owns the courts, [a defamation suit] seems unlikely. But good luck. It would make for an interesting two seconds — about how long the court is likely to take before it throws the case out.
Mu Sochua was recently a guest on VOA Khmer, where she announced that she would consider dropping her lawsuit.
“To protect the country, if both sides agree to withdraw the complaints, I agree,” Mu Sochua said.
Human Rights Watch supports Mu Sochua and is calling for more support worldwide.
Mu Sochua was recently interviewed by Equitycam.tv on the status of women in politics in Cambodia. Her interview is second, following an interview with fellow female lawmaker Men Sam On.
Fiji: Convicted soldiers freed on supervision plan
Fiji’s government admitted that eight soldiers and one policeman who had been found guilty of manslaughter have been released from prison, two months into their four-year sentences.
A government spokesman said the Minister of Justice ordered their release under a compulsory supervision order, which allows certain criminals to serve the remainder of their sentences outside of prison. Fiji Law states the Minister of Justice may have a prisoner released on compulsory supervision granted the prisoner has (1) not been imprisoned twice before; and, (2) is serving a sentence longer than three years.
In January 2007, the eight soldiers and one policeman suspected that Sakiusa Rabaka and three other youths were trying to purchase marijuana. They took the young men to a nearby military camp, told them to strip to their underwear and subjected them to difficult physical exercises. When the men started to stumble, they were beaten and kicked. In court, the young men later testified Rabaka was groaning in pain, but the group continued to torture him. Rabaka eventually passed out; members of the military group forced two of his friends to perform oral sex on the unconscious Rabaka.
After the young men were released, Rabaka continued to have medical problems, complaining of headaches and a swollen head. His mother testified her son had “visible straight marks and boot marks” on his back. Two weeks after the incident, Rabaka was admitted to the hospital in Nadi, Fiji, where doctors operated on him. The pain continued after leaving the hospital. A week later Rabaka collapsed in front of friends at his home. He died shortly thereafter. He was 19-years-old.
The incident took place a few weeks after military commander Frank Bainimarama dissolved Parliament and deposed the government of Lasenia Qarase, which he said was corrupt and racist.
A High Court judge convicted the nine men in March 2009 and sentenced them to four-year prison sentences.
From the blog at Soli Vakasama Worldwide site
We feel the utmost disgust that the guilty men are allowed to walk free while the families of the young man killed and the other men tortured are left to suffer in silence and despair.
Our heart breaks at the suffering of the Rabaka Family and the men that were tortured. We hope the healing process is swift and we wish them peace and goodwill forever.It is so hard to believe that the stories we read of killings and tortures that happen overseas are actually happening in Fiji and has only occurred since the hijacking and rape of this Nation Fiji on 5.12.06. One wonders what type of upbringing these guilty but illegally freed so called soldiers and police personnel had and just how the Fiji military has gone from a respected institution to the most appalling example of the vilest disgusting atrocities that another man can heap upon another.
No Right Turn in New Zealand.
And so the Fijian military protects its own. It's not the first time - Bainiramarama himself ordered the release of his son-in-law, Francy Kean, after he had been convicted of manslaughter for beating someone to death at a wedding. But the precedent it sets is astounding. Thanks to the coup, Fiji's military thugs are now above the law, able to beat, rape, torture and kill with impunity.
Fiji Today agrees.
This follows the pattern of any criminal associated with the military having special privilages as the Commander shows the rank and file soldier that they above the law and are protected in all their actions
The use of the yellow ribbon program and CSO to override the decisions of the court is corruption plain and simple.
Fiji Today argues this could be a long-term problem for Fiji’s government, which is still searching for judges to fill its High Court more than a month after the country’s president annulled the constitution, fired the entire judiciary and appointed the government of Frank Bainimarama to a five-year mandate.
One of the reasons the dictatorship is having problems finding senior judges to appoint because of the decree allowing no legal challenges to any decrees of the President.
The judges are scared they would be seen as puppets of the regime as they realise that the courts would be neutralised with any contraversial cases having a decree issued before the case came to court.
The release of the soldiers was widely expected after the abrogation of the consitution, argues Coup And A Half.
Ironically, one of the reasons given by Frank Bainimarama for carrying out a military coup and toppling Laisenia Qarase’s Multi-Party government was that the administration was allegedly abusing the criminal justice system and interfering in the judiciary, with the then Attorney-General Qoriniasi Bale liberating high profile chiefs Tui Cakau Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu and former Vice-President, Ratu Jose Seniloli from prison under the Compulsory Supervison Order (CSO).
The two were jailed for their roles in George Speight’s coup against Mahendra Chaudhry’s government in May 2000.
Qarase was also accused of approving Seniloli’s salary while he was in prison.
In another case similar to Bainimarama’s accusation of Qarase, Bainimarama’s brother-in-law Francis Kean jailed in 2008 for bashing to death a guest at a wedding in December 2006. He was out of prison after an year, serving the required two-thirds of his jail term.
Victor Lal, writing in Raw Fiji News, offered a dark reason for the early release.
The murderers have been released to appease the military and to warn critics that if they open their mouths, they will be murdered by the military goons with impunity.
Fiji: The Way it Was, Is and Can Be argues the group’s release “raises serious doubts about the sincerity of the Fiji Government, and does nothing for its credibility.” The blogger called on Fiji’s Attorney General to “correct this wrong.”
No government purportedly intent on justice can condone the unecessary, brutally prolonged and cowardly assault on 19-year old Sakuisa Rabaka, in January 2007 (yes, it took that long to come to court). But the early release of his assailants does just that. The assault may be “written off” as a one-off abuse of power by nine over-zealous or sadistic individuals; their release — uncorrected — can only be attributed to one huge misuse of power by the State.
Links for Thu, 2009-05
G. Kuganesan at Voices In Exile sheds a light into the background of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka: “The Tamil conflict has deep roots, distant ties that date well beyond the mere formation of a violent LTTE (Tamil Tigers) movement, a history buried in discrimination, segregation, and specific ethnic biases based on the ‘indifference of man'…The Tamils do not fight for ‘an independent state' out of greed. They fight for an independent state for ‘Freedom', for safety.”
Abdullah Waheed lists some points showing voter preferences and their vision of the future role of the Majlis (parliament) which have emerged through the preliminary results of the parliamentary elections in Maldives.
Reactions to controversial comments made about Test Cricket by West Indies captain Chris Gayle, from Guyanese blogger Imran Khan and Barbados-based Trinidadian B.C. Pires.
As St. Lucian Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott withdraws from the race for Oxford Professor of Poetry, Repeating Islands posts an update: “The nearly unanimous response…from newspaper reporters, commentators, and bloggers has been one of regret and of condemnation of the tactics that pushed him to that decision.”
“It matters not how many skyscrapers, malls, American chain restaurants or chemical plants a country has…if [it] possesses at least five or more of these signs of underdevelopment and tyranny, then it is still a third world country at the very core”: Alien in the Caribbean sees many of those signs in Trinidad and Tobago.
Havana Times reports that “Cuba has been re-elected for a second three-year period as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council” in a move that Cuba Journal calls “a rebuff to the policies of the United States” by UN members.
As Taiwan takes Grenada to court over the non-payment of a loan, Blah Bloh Blog comments: “Cynical Grenadians like myself are wondering if we can’t offer up former Prime Minister Keith ‘Is me damn money' Mitchell as a form of restitution…”
Let's Put Da deconstructs the election symbols of the Indian political parties to find out what to expect from them.
This site is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
Please read our attribution policy.
Jennifer Brea386 posts 
Michael Kan2 posts 
Jorge Gobbi36 posts 
Sadiq Alam2 posts 
Belen Bogado6 posts 
Lova Rakotomalala88 posts 
Hisham33 posts 
Faisal Kapadia7 posts 
Keta Haluha3 posts 
Marina Noordin1 posts 
Fabienne Flessel49 posts 
Bernardo Parrella10 posts