Archive for
June 27th, 2009
Stories
Iranian officials ‘crowd-source' protester identities
Iranian protesters appearing in widely disseminated online photos from the ongoing post-election demonstrations in Iran, are now being targeted on a website of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The website is called Gerdab (which means ‘vortex') and belongs to The Information Center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for Investigating Organized Crime. It shows images of 20 people with red circles drawn around their faces claiming without evidence that they have been involved in creating “chaos” in Tehran.
Citizens are invited to call or email if they can identify the people on the photos. Gerdab also claims that two of the people depicted have already been arrested. The site provides no further information about any of the depicted people.
Some Islamist bloggers have republished the photos.
Meanwhile, some supporters of the protest movement have themselves published several photos of Iranian security forces and in particular suspected undercover agents asking citizens to help identify them.
For instance, there is one photo of a suspected agent pulling a gun from his belt on the back of a motorcycle. Several bloggers published the photo of the suspected agent, asking readers to help identify him. A few days later, rumors circulated of his name, his position as a Basij leader, and a supposed multimillion dollar bank debt. Information like this is neither fact-checked nor reliable and can have severe consequences for any one who shares the man's supposed name. Online rumors easily replace facts.
It would not be the first time that a photo has led to trouble or imprisonment in a conflict. However, this is a new development in officially sanctioned stalking and persecution by crowd sourcing information online.
See Global Voices special coverage page on the Iranian Elections 2009.
Honduras: Political Crisis Over Controversial Referendum
Honduras is going through one of its most difficult moments of its political history. Honduran President Manuel Zelaya removed General Romeo Vásquez Velásquez as Chief of the Armed Forces [es] and accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Edmundo Orellana Mercado. The announcement was made after meeting with military leaders of the armed forces to seek protection of the polls for the referendum that has been promoted by the executive branch to be held on Sunday, June 28, 2009. This referendum will decide whether or not a Constituent Assembly is convened in order to write a new Constitution.
General Vázquez Velazquez found himself in a difficult situation, because the request or order of the President as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, contrasted with the conclusion reached by both the National Congress and the Supreme Court, that the referendum is illegal. Soon after the removal of General Vázquez Velazquez, Army Commander General Miguel Garcia Padgett, commander of the Naval Force, Rear Admiral John Paul Rodriguez, and Air Force commander, General Luis Javier Prince Suazo resigned from their posts.
In the streets of cities such as Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, there is prevailing tension and anxiety of not knowing what will happen next, with charges of a coup d'etat and lack of support of democracy in the country, from both supporters and opponents. This is seen most in the capital of Tegucigalpa, where businesses and schools were closed, gas stations and supermarkets full of people looking for supplies, and a military presence on the streets to prevent disturbances.
Hondurans have been using their blogs and social networking sites like Facebook, Blipea and Twitter to give their thoughts on the situation and to inform the country and world about the course of events.
Irina Vanessa Orellana of La Vida es Bella Aunque No Me Creas [es] writes this post to document what is happening:
Escribo este post, principalmente para dejar una huella en la historia que estamos viviendo, esperando dentro de poco tiempo poder leer el mismo, con la satisfacción de que sólo estamos pasando por un mal momento, esperando que lo que se viene, no sea nada parecido a lo que otros latinoamericanos ya tienen en Venezuela o Nicaragua….escribo con el miedo que muchos y muchas hondureñas estamos sintiendo, al ver que este frágil sistema democrático se nos está yendo de las manos. Ojalá que no pase nada peor!
However, there is a great deal of criticism for Zelaya. David Morán of El Catracho [es] writes that the president's actions are not helping the current Constitution:
El irreversible presidente que tenemos arguye que nuestra Constitución ha sido pisoteada por los grupos facticos del país; pero él, en vez de hacer que se respete, pretende, luego del ultraje a que ha sido sometida, darle el tiro de gracia y asesinarla, esto con el fin de instaurar una asamblea constituyente que redacte otra, una que emule el sistema de represión socialista y paternal que existe en Cuba, sumiéndonos en una situación peor a la actual donde todos corremos el riesgo de perder nuestras libertades individuales.
However, there are some supporters of the referendum, like the blogger at Honduras en el Mundo [es] who writes that voting is a way to find out about how much support there is and that people should just vote “No” if they do not agree. He also criticizes the opposition for “campaigns of terror” and the hints of a coup for opposing the change that many people want. In addition, Juan Carlos Rivera of Mirada de Halcon [es] criticizes the media and the press for their role:
En Honduras, como siempre ha ocurrido, la prensa, controlada por grupos conservadores, recurre a las herramientas más burdas para frenar cualquier movimiento que implique un cambio de la estructura política puesto que supone, para ellos, la pérdida de privilegios, comodidades y recursos materiales, obtenidos, en la mayoría de los casos, de manera irregular.
This developing crisis in Honduras is not getting the media exposure that other countries receive like Iran, writes La Gringa's Blogicito.
Olga Iris Mencia B. of Hibueras [es] provides the opinion that the events in Honduras are necessary to wake the country up and wonders about its future:
Lo que está pasando ahora en el país es lo que debe ser. Sin cambiar un ápice, con las renuncias debidas, con las destituciones dadas, con el apoyo de la gente, con las burlas de las oligarquías, con la indiferencia de la inconsciencia, con la movilización armada oficial, con los enojos del legislativo, con la corruptela tradicional del poder judicial, con el presidente y su personalidad. Cada hecho es un paso hacia el fortalecimiento de la soberanía. Cada hecho es un paso más hacía la agudización de la crisis, a ver más claro que la ciencia es ciencia y que la historia es irreversible aunque se juzgue cíclica, Que pasará en Honduras?
La historia se escribe cada día.
What is happening now in the country is what should be happening. Without changing one detail, with the due resignations, with the removals, with the support of the people, with the mockery from the oligarchies, the indifference of unconsciousness, with the mobilization of the armed officials, with the anger of the legislature, with the traditional corruption of the judiciary, the president and his personality. Each event is a step towards the strengthening of sovereignty. Each event is a step towards the exacerbation of the crisis, to see more clearly that science is science, and that history is irreversible event though it is judged to be cyclical. What will happen in Honduras?
History writes itself each day.
Kenya: The plight of gays and lesbians in Kenya
As much as Nairobi is described as one of the more cosmopolitan cities in Africa where a lot of homosexuals find solace, homophobia is widespread.
For example, a Kenyan blogger Pater Nostra has a friend whose pictures were posted and debated on Wananchi Forums. He exclaims:
I am naturally pissed that the audacity of the member of Wananchiforums.com (to post such threatening and victimizing articles) has been entertained and of the administrators to allow such to be posted. Should anything happen to her, both the member and the administrators of the website have to blame. They have made a person vulnerable to attack, abuse, and assault which is morally wrong and goes against her fundamental rights to protection and security. Her life is in danger.
Keguro, an English professor and a blogger reveals the underlying truth about how homosexuals are named and shamed all over the Internet. “The politics of outing” is the title of his post. While most leaders are squirming on their seats over it, others are trying to smoke them out and stamping on their rights.
He blogs about the traumatic ordeal one has to face while still not comfortable with their sexuality:
Within the context of outing, one’s individual wishes and political stance are subsumed by another narrative. One is positioned as a homosexual, hailed as such, and must respond within the structure so created, a structure in which non-response is not possible. One need not respond to one’s accusers, but one responds to those who know one: family, friends, even to the email that offers information and sympathy.
He quotes a gender and sexuality author, Lauren Berlant:
It is this cluster of desires around one that I term “the political,” borrowing from Lauren Berlant’s notion of cruel optimism. To be outed in a country that provides no official spaces or languages for recognizing outing is to become subject to a host of desires, some friendly, some not, some lustful, some not. One becomes marked. Many years ago, when I first came out, my mother composed a grand narrative of my life that, in retrospect, sounds like something from Austin Powers. I was a mad party animal bottom. Her terms, not mine. When I asked how I found time to study as a mad party animal bottom, she replied, quite rationally, that I was a mad party animal bottom from Friday through Sunday. (In truth, I went out Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and was relatively asexual, which I made up for in that glorious year I turned 24. Ahhh, 24!) (A confession, happy now?)
I have written, previously, about the dangers of homophobic discourse within a space that does not have any homosexual discourse. In such a space, outing becomes impossible as an affirmative gesture. Yet, isn’t it precisely in such impossible spaces that we have become possible?
Samuel Delaney writes that “coming out” used to mean coming out into a homosexual community, not as a performance of truth to gazing heterosexuals. I do not use the word community much, and do not trust it. But it can be a powerful thing to imagine, and wonderful to belong.
Such belonging might be one necessary, useful, and pleasurable afterlife.
Two months ago, Keguro blogged about a woman who had her head smashed with a beer bottle in a club because of her sexual orientation:
[A Kenyan lesbian] was leaving Madd House on the said morning with a friend – (anonymous), when, as they were walking through the exit, a woman shouted out behind them “ma lesbians”…. [The Kenyan lesbian] didn’t recognize the woman and they got into a verbal confrontation during which the woman hit her with her bag and went off to go back upstairs. [The Kenyan lesbian] and (anonymous) followed the woman, later identified to them as Constance Sirikwa Rukia, and saw her being hidden in the changing rooms by the bouncers.
[The Kenyan lesbian] went to ask the bouncers why they were hiding the woman when they should be kicking her out for disturbing them. The bouncers held each of [The Kenyan lesbian’s] hands and attempted to throw her out. Upon seeing that [The Kenyan lesbian] was being held by the bouncers, the woman then hit [The Kenyan lesbian] on the head with a bottle that she’d been holding and she fell down, bleeding heavily.
What most bloggers found surprising was how the security guards were willing to sacrifice core principles of citizen protection, making them less safe. An anonymous reader on Nostra's blog says:
These people are bad. What they have done is wrong and they should not be allowed anymore to do this. Why are they doing this? I cant believe that such hate exist unless they do it for the sake of publicity. They have disseminated the article to many fora and I think that is their intention. They want it to be known. Its wrong. Pouline is strong.
MJ Death Reaction in Kuwait
After the passing of Michael Jackson there has been a mixture of reactions from the Kuwaiti blogosphere.
Remembering their childhood, ReadmyBlog writes about when he first heard of MJ's death:
I woke up this morning and the blogosphere was talking about the death of Micheal Jackson. My earliest memory of MJ was seeing my cousin trying to moonwalk
TheJacob is in wonder at the reactions from people around him:
طول عمري احب الفن لكن ما اهتم حق الفنانين نفسهم،، اهتم حق انتاجهم
بس في ناس استغربت منها
الي يقول ويع
والي يقول بجهنم انشالله
والي يقول جلب ومات
والي يقول احسن
والي يقول… والي يقول
بعرف شنو سبب الكراهيه او الحقد هذا؟
غريب امر هالناس تكره الشخص بدون سبب
واذا انا فاهم الموضوع غلط او هو مسوي لكم شي علموني عشان افهم
all my life I love art , but I don't care for artist , I care for what they produce
but there are people who amaze me
some who say yuck
some hope he is in Hell
some who say some dog and died
what is with the hate ?
I don't know why some people just hate him
If I don't understand it or there is a reason please tell me
7anna7inno speaks of her feelings:
.
مايكل جاكسون..كان لي ذكريات وايد مع أغانيه
.
بيلي جين..ثريلر..و جاكيته الأحمر الجلد
.
طيرة بوهتنا فيه و برقصه
.
كل هذا…خلاص
.
و أهم حيثيّه
.
جيلي بدا يتحتحت
I had a lot of memories with Michael Jackson songs
Billie Jean , Thriller and his red jacket
all this over
and the worst part ?
my Generation is starting to go away
Shurouq over at Jabriya Za7ma:
.
.
أعتذر عن عدم التفاعل مع انتخابات إيران وتداعياتها ولا مستوطنات نتنياهو ولا استجواب وزير الداخلية ولا الجنسية لأبناء اللبنانية كما يجب.. وحده مايكل جاكسون استطاع أن يحرك مياه المدونة الراكدة.. شويّة
I'm sorry for not talking about Iran election and after effects or Netanyahu settlements , or the grilling of the interior minister or the nationality for the sons of the Lebanese as it should , only that Michael Jackson was able to move the stagnant waters of the blog
sou is amazed and shocked that so many care:
Now I’m sure Michael Jackson fans might grill me, but I don’t care. Don’t tell me Michael inspired so many of the artists I listen to; had he not been around, neither would have your favorite artists.” These are my favorite artists, and not one of them sounds like Michael Jackson:
Iran: Remembering Omid Reza Mir Sayafi and March 18th
OR318 logo
A few months after the death of blogger and journalist Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, who died in an Iranian prison after allegedly insulting religious leaders, a memorial and activism site called March18.org has been set up to remember him and to hopefully keep this story from repeating itself. Following, the first video created for the March18 movement (OR318), with the motto: Let the first blogger to die in prison be the last.
With the recent events of political unrest in Iran, following the last elections, this message is as important as ever. Taking into consideration that it is through blogger and social media users that information on what is happening in Iran has been relayed to international media outlets, it is only fair to protect them from incarceration, disappearance and possibly death. Global Voices' Hamid Tehrani informed us last week of new cases of Iranian bloggers' arrests.
From the March18.org site:
The irony is that, as more members of both the public and the media praise the ability of bloggers to inform, the more these de facto journalists around the globe become victims in fact. The March 18 Movement aims not only to make sure that Omid Reza is remembered, but also that other persecuted bloggers around the world do not disappear into interrogation rooms and prison cells. The March 18 Movement would like to become a voice for bloggers everywhere who are in risk of being crushed under the heavy machinery of repression.
South Asia: The World Is Poorer Without MJ
Michael Jackson, the king of pop, is truly a legend in many countries of the world which has become more evident after his death. Millions of fans are mourning his sudden demise and remembering how his music was associated with their growth.
South Asian bloggers are also chiming in with their reactions.
Bhutan:
Earth Bound Insight thinks the world is a poorer place without Michael Jackson (MJ):
If there are 6 billion people on this planet, and every single one had decided to blog on Michael Jackson’s death, it wouldn’t matter that I am yet another one of the billions of bloggers.
But I still want to add my piping, squeaking ineloquent voice too, to give accolades, and pay tribute
To the man who was : the King of Pop.
To the Appollo Icon.
To one of the best entertainers in pop music history,regardless of the controversies of his personal life, the man still made great music.
Pakistan:
Hamid Abbasi at Chowrangi writes:
Though he was no more enjoying the lime light as he used to get, his story is one full of determination, struggle and misfortunes. From a black in a society dominated by white, he emerged as the true generation leader, and this remained until his death.
Thanks for touching so many around the world, undoubtedly Michael was larger than life.
Pak Tea House remembers the influence of the king.
For many of us, he was the only face of western music in Pakistan the 1980s. We grew up admiring him, trying to moonwalk like him and trying to scream like him.
Danial Burki, a commenter on the above post recalls what the icon meant for them:
His music really kept hope alive in Pakistan during the 80s.
Bangladesh:
Ishtiaq Rouf writes:
বহু গায়ক আসবেন, অনেক “এন্টারটেইনার” জন্ম নেবেন, কিন্তু দ্বিতীয় জ্যাকসন আসবে না। শত বিতর্ক আর হাস্যকর কার্যকলাপ সত্বেও মাইকেল জ্যাকসন চিরকাল “থ্রিলার” হয়েই রইবেন। ..
একটু পাগলাটে আর খামখেয়ালি না হলে বোধহয় প্রতিভাবানদের মানায় না। একটু তাড়াতাড়ি ফুরিয়ে না গেলেও তাই। তাই বলে এতটাই দ্রুত? মাত্র ৫০ বছর বয়সে?
Being a bit eccentric and out of the ordinary probably suit the talented people. Being exhausted a bit early is probably also not uncommon. But this early? Only 50 years of age?
A commenter on the post writes:
| ভুতুম [অতিথি] | শুক্র, ২০০৯-০৬-২৬ ১০:০৬
নেভারল্যান্ডেও তাহলে বয়স বাড়ে, রোগ হয়, মরে যায় কেউ। মনটা খারাপ হয়ে আছে।
Kowshik writes:
তার প্রকৃতিপ্রদত্ত সৌন্দর্য আমার চোখে বেশী চমকাতো, কি স্পর্ধায় তাকিয়ে থাকতো মায়াবী-রাজপুত্রের কালো চোখ! মাইকেল জ্যাকসনের মৃত্যুকে প্রত্যাখ্যান করলাম। প্রকৃতির এই স্বেচ্ছাচার মানি না।
Sri Lanka:
Diaspora blogger London, Lanka and Drums says:
What became clear over the years to me, as well as several million other people, was that he was a troubled soul, a person looking for something. He had the money, he had the talent, the fame and all the trappings. He just never appeared to have the contentment, the inner peace that so many people who live a “normal” nine to five life have.
His legacy will last and his music will stay. As a musician I can have total respect for the way his contributions to the world of music actually shaped and changed things. Musically he's one of the greats.
But it's Michael Jackson the young kid in the early Jackson Five songs that I feel sad for. It's Michael Jackson the father of three that I mourn for. I hope he finds his peace.
India:
Uber Desi recalls that Michael Jackson toured India in 1996 and did a show in Mumbai.
Jackson is the one Western artiste who is known to even the common man in India.
Kamla Bhatt pays tribute to MJ:
Michael Jackson thank you so much for your music and the countless happy hours of music and memories that you gave so many people.
She noticed that Jackson exerted a huge influence on Bollywood and the Indian film industry. Ennis at Sepia Mutiny posts some videos portraying how MJ influenced the Indian film industry.
Bollywood actor Anupam Kher writes in a blog post:
In my book, Michael Jackson is to entertainment what Gandhi is to peace and humanity.
Aparna Ray at Newsmericks wrote a limerick as a tribute to him.
As a man who lived life off the wall,
Michael Jackson, King of Pop, had it all.
Unmatched voice and that dance,
Held the world in a trance,
But then after the rise, came the fall.
Aditi Nadkarni at Desicritics remembers:
He was my very first introduction to pop music, our generation's pop music. If it weren't for him, our times would not have had any star to show for itself, no Elvis, no Beatle mania. We from the 90s would have passed by without a craze.
I remember hearing the scream, the sounds of shattering glass weaved into his music, the irreverant howl, the vulnerable quiver of his voice and the startling hiccup that punctuated his songs so in contrast to the steady, unbroken, melancholy notes of Indian music.
Slime, a commentator on that post tells that Michael Jackson represents the impossible and wishes:
I salute God for making such people like MJ who conquered. MJ, u will be born again in future years as young people will try to achieve the impossible.
Links for Sat, 2009-06
Sameh Abo Wadih describes the traditional Palestinian style of cooking in an oven dug into the ground, called a zarb [Ar].
The Free Gaza Movement have produced a video showing their attempts to leave Cyprus and sail to Gaza with medical and reconstruction supplies.
Tesfaldet A. Meharenna owner of Asmarino .com received an award in recognition of his outstanding achievement and excellent services at the recent Eritrean Global Solidarity symposium in Washington D.C.
This interruption is brought to you by the department of really, really cute kids from Liberia!
Jeremy discusses the latest trends in the telecoms sector in Nigeria: “The Nigerian telecoms sector has finally hit market forces and the mathematic of where supply and demand cross at a competitive pricing point.”
HIV Kenya discusses the politics of “Mass Male Circumcision“: It seems like a short time since the issue of mass male circumcision (MMC) became a political football and it is not even the latest issue to have that status any more. But articles about it still appear every now and again and there seem to be a handful of genuine projects aiming to roll out MMC in some countries.
FortySouth explains the Daily Nation of Kenya beats the East African Standard: “Yes, they do, within the context of respective online presence, at the very least: Note that it was in June ‘08 that Nation moved their content from www.nationmedia.com (now the host of their corporate brands) to www.nation.co.ke. So why is the Daily Nation (DN) the more popular site?”
Michael Jackson was a resident of Bahrain for a short time - and Mahmood remembers some of the things he got up to: “What will I remember of him? Well, his touring the Seef Mall and being caught in a burka – of all things – shopping in Marina Mall, the lowest class mall in Bahrain.”
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