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November 12th, 2009

   

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Paraguay: Indigenous Group Sprayed Aerially with Pesticides

In eastern Paraguay, 217 members of the Ava Guaraní indigenous community recently came down with health symptoms that include nausea and headaches. It is believed that these individuals became sick as a result of intentional aerial spraying with pesticide, after they refused to vacate their ancestral lands.

Governmental officials confirm that parts of the indigenous group's land located in the Itakyry district in the Department of Alto Paraná had been sprayed where no crops are present [es]. Many of the signs point to Brazilian soy growers as those responsible for the spraying, in part because the indigenous community's land is valuable for the crop and that they had been in a dispute with the Ava Guaraní over the ownership of approximately 3,000 hectares [es], according to the blog Interparaguay [es].

José Ángel López Barrios of Bienvenidos! [es] describes the isolated community where the incident took place:

Itakyry es uno de los distritos del Departamento de Alto Paraná, distante a unos 450 kilómetros de Asunción, capital de la Republica, se llega a el por caminos no pavimentados, su época de esplendor se dio en la época de las explotaciones yerbateras. Que termino al cabo de 100 años abriendo paso a la explotación de la soja en estos últimos tiempos……

Itakyry is one of the districts of the Department of Alto Paraná, located 450 kilometers from the capital city of Asunción. One arrives by unpaved roads, its heyday was during the yerba maté cultivation. This ended after 100 years, making way for the soy cultivation during recent times……

It is demand for soybeans, and the rising prices, which makes land suitable for this crop at such a high premium. Some of this land is located on ancestral lands of indigenous communities, such as the Guaraní. Blogger Carlos Rodríguez of Rescatar [es] does not think that the spraying incident against the indigenous group is an isolated incident, and calls the act “genocide”:

Hubo un tiempo en que en Paraguay los aborígenes no eran considerados seres humanos. Eran cazados como animales y sus crías rescatadas como trofeos.

(…)

Otros fueron apropiándose a bala y sangre de sus tierras y como los indígenas no hacían gestiones ante las instituciones encargadas de titular las tierras que siempre les pertenecieron, el hombre blanco si lo hizo y se plantea el contrasentido de que los legítimos dueños de estas tierras, hoy son “los invasores”.

Y siguen siendo tratados como animales. Sólo así se puede entender que los productores de soja les envíen aviones fumigadores para lanzarles venenos encima, tal como lo ha comprobado el Ministerio de Salud que socorre en estos momentos a los indígenas intoxicados por plaguicidas para soja.

There was a time in Paraguay when the aboriginals were not considered human beings. They were hunted like animals and their offspring collected like trophies.

(…)

Some of their land was appropriated with bullets and blood, and as the indigenous did not go to the institutions in charge of of providing titles to the lands that always belonged to them, the white man did go to these institutions, it makes no sense that the rightful owners of these lands are now the “invaders.”

They continue to be treated like animals. It is only this way that one can understand how the soy producers can send fumigation planes to spray poison on top of them, which was proven by the Ministry of Health, which is now helping the indigenous poisoned by pesticides.

López Barrios is also ashamed of the history of mistreatment of indigenous communities in Paraguay [es]. As a descendant of emigrants to the country, he writes that the incident “makes him feel like returning to Europe ….but really … prefers that the exploiters leave.”

Ensañarse con un pueblo indígena que tiene más de 38 siglos de existencia en sus propios y verdaderos territorios, no me parece apropiado…. Si no respetamos a nuestros mayores nuestros días se acortaran sobre la tierra y si anteponemos la avaricia a cualquier otra virtud caeremos sin remedio…..

To resent an indigenous group with more than 38 centuries in existence on their own and true territory, does not seem appropriate to me…. If we do not respect our elders, our days on earth will be shortened, and if greed is placed ahead of any other virtue, we will fall hopelessly…..

Algeria-Egypt: Online Feud Over Football MatchPhotos postVideo post

Tension is building between Egyptian and Algerian football fans ahead of a decisive match due to take place in Cairo on November 14. The encounter will determine which of both teams will qualify to next year's FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Egypt needs at least a two-goal win to force a playoff on a neutral ground while Algeria, which has failed to qualify to the World Cup since 1986, will  battle to keep its current leading position in the qualifiers group. Ahead of the Saturday showdown, rival fans have been gearing up offline, as well as in heated online exchanges, escalating into a bitter “cyber-war” of intimidation.

Algerian blogger Adel [Fr], sums up the chain of events that led to the row. He writes:

Ce n’est pas sur le carré vert que le match a commencé à se jouer mais sur la toile. En attendant l’entrée des 22 joueurs sur la pelouse du fameux Cairo Stadium, la rencontre a débuté de manière assez peu banale entre les «Facebookeurs» (membres du réseau Facebook) algériens et égyptiens. Tout a commencé par de simples discussions dans les forums avant que cela ne prenne de l’ampleur. Voulant montrer leur savoir-faire dans la retouche d’image, les Egyptiens ont été les premiers à ouvrir les hostilités en publiant des photos «anti-algérien».

Les Egyptiens voulaient expliquer à travers un tel acte que leurs joueurs sont «très forts» et qu’ils sont en mesure d’écraser l’équipe nationale algérienne. Cela donna le top à une guerre d’un genre particulier. La guerre des images et des parodies.

It seems that the match already started online, away from the football pitch. Well before the 22 players entered the famous Cairo Stadium, a bitter showdown began between Algerian and Egyptian Facebookers. It all started with friendly discussions in forums, before things got out of proportion. Wanting to show their expertise in image editing, the Egyptians were the first to open hostilities by publishing “anti-Algerian” photographs.The Egyptians wanted to show that their players were the “strongest” and that they are able to crush the Algerian national team. This gave the go-ahead to a war of a peculiar kind. A war of images and parody.

Videos, dubbing scenes taken from famous Hollywood blockbusters, flooded YouTube, placing the face-off at a Homeric level.

In the following video [Ar], posted by hakemvoip [Fr], Mel Gibson is Rabah Wallace (Braveheart), an Algerian war leader who tries to galvanize his troops ahead of the much expected confrontation:

In this other video, Egyptian ulyesis welcomes Algerian fans to what he calls “hell” in Cairo:

Blogger GEMYHOoOD [Ar] posts pictures of thousands of Egyptian fans who queued up in different parts of Cairo, hoping to get tickets for the match. He publishes pictures of the gatherings:

Egyptian Fans
Egyptian Fans

GEMYHOoOD also posts some eyewitness accounts:

انا خدت اجازة اليوم ونزلت من الصبح لنادي الصيد الساعة 8 الصبح وللاسف لقيت موت ناس وزحمة وطابور فيه حوالي 3000 واحد ودفع وشتيمة والناس كل شوية بتزيد ومش عارف اقف من الزق والعرق بجد مهزلة

I took the day off to come to the club at 8 AM [to get tickets]. Sadly I found a huge crowd and a large queue of about 3000, with people pushing and swearing. I couldn't move. I was stuck. I thought, this is a disgrace.

The official bus of the Algerian football team, which arrived in Cairo on November 12, was allegedly assaulted by local fans, as the following video, posted on YouTube by Vidéos Mouloudia Club d'Oran, seems to be showing:

The world football governing body FIFA, felt it necessary to issue a warning to the football associations of Algeria and Egypt, reminding both that “the preliminary competition for the 2010 World Cup should end as it began, in the spirit of fair play with the necessary cooperation of all the parties.”

One People, One Language One Goal

A website, Algerie Egypte Match [Ar, Fr], dedicated to the event and monitoring all kind of news related to the match, was created by Algerian fans.

Within this climate of bitter rivalry, some people created a group on the social networking website Facebook, pleading for more tempered feelings. Laama Bouchema posts a message on the group's Wall saying:

[A]s much as i am angry for what happend to the algerian team, i do not judge a whole nation for what some idiots did! it is stupid what angry fans are doing! for god's sake it wont matter who gets in the [Wold Cup].

Egyptian blogger Lasto Adri [Ar], deplores how what was supposed to be a sporting event, degenerated into a nasty confrontation. She writes:

مندهشة من التعصب وتدنى مستوى لغة الحوار بين مشجعى منتجب مصر ومنتخب الجزائر والظاهر بوضوح فى التعليقات على المواقع الإخبارية أو الرياضية… ومندهشة أكثر بتغذية هذه المأساه إعلاميا بتعليقات من بعض المذيعين (من كلا الجانبين)…
المشجعون الجزائريون أخطؤوا فى المبارة السابقة.. لكن هل الرد يكون هكذا؟.. هل الرد يكون بطلب البعض تسميم اللعيبة ولا إقلاقهم فى منامهم ولا توليع الإستاد وقت الماتش من التشجيع؟..

ونرفزتنى التعليقات على أغلب المواقع.. وإفتكرت لما الجزائر -بزعامة الرئيس الجزائري هواري بومدين- كانت أكتر دولة ساندت مصر فى حرب 1973، رغم فقرها الشديد..
حزينة ان انتهاء علاقة مابين شعبين تكون بشقاق على كورة…

I'm surprised by the level of intolerance and the mean language used by fans of the Egyptian and Algerian teams, which appears in most comments on news and sport websites… I'm also bewildered by the way some anchors and journalists (from both sides), are fueling this tragedy through their fiery comments…
Algerian fans misbehaved in the previous game .. but is the Egyptian reaction right? .. Should the answer be (as some suggested) the poisoning of Algerian players? Harassing and depriving them from sleep? Setting the stadium ablaze the day of the match?
I am upset by the comments on most sites .. I remembered when Algeria - led by President Houari Boumedienne - despite its extreme poverty, came to the support of Egypt in the 1973 war..
I'm saddened by the fact that such a relationship between two peoples might break up over a foot ball…

Sri Lanka: The General Resigns

General Sarath Fonseka, Image courtesy Wikipedia

General Sarath Fonseka Image courtesy Wikipedia

The most talked about person in Sri Lanka now is the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka. The former military chief, who spearheaded the total annihilation of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) and the Tamil liberation struggle, has come into spotlight after a newly formed opposition alliance nominated him as their candidate for the next presidential election in Sri Lanka.

Bailaman reports that to counter the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa's immense popularity after defeating the Tamil Tigers, “the main opposition party in Sri Lanka (UNP) has formed an alliance to contest at the presidential elections. Led by UNP the new alliance will contest as the United National Front.”

There is a twist in this candidature as per Bailaman:

Interestingly Ranil Wickremasinghe has pledged to abolish Executive Presidency in Sri Lanka if his party wins. With his new set of conditions which requires Fonseka to agree to Ranil Wickremasinghe as PM, Fonseka's role in the governance of Sri Lanka will be minimal.

However Dzone reports quoting the Sunday Leader that:

Reliable sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said Fonseka has categorically stated that he will not abolish the Executive Presidency. Abolishing Executive Presidency is a vital component of the campaign spearheaded by the United National Alliance.

Although the presidential election is not due within 2 years, rumors are that Mahinda Rajapaksa may hold them as early as possible, predictably in early 2010 to take advantage of his current public support. Speculations are high in the Sri Lankan blogosphere and Dheshapaluwa lists 7 reasons why Gen. Sarath Fonseka will run for President of Sri Lanka. To contest at the election Fonseka had to resign from his post in the Sri Lankan military immediately as the government is likely to announce election dates on Sunday, November 15, 2009.

And the expected happened today. Suranimala reports:

It is reliably learnt that Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka has handed over his letter of resignation from the post of CDS to the President Office today. It is also reported that Gen. Fonseka has mentioned 16 reasons on his letter of resignation as to why he decided to resign.

Another fact may have induced Fonseka to resign. Sudha Ramachandran at Asia Times tells how Sri Lanka was split over war honors as Rajapaksa's allies downplayed Fonsekas contribution in defeating the LTTE and even had launched a campaign projecting Rajapaksa as “Sri Lanka's savior”:

Fonseka was a big part of the offensive, leading crucial military offensives. He was army commander from December 2005 to July this year, leading the planning of the final phases of the “Eelam War IV”, which culminated in the final defeat of the LTTE.

The Rajapaksa government has tried to downplay his contribution. “It was President Rajapaksa and his brother, Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who steered the forces to victory against the LTTE,” Labor Minister Mervyn Silva said at a public rally recently, calling on Fonseka and others not to take “personal credit” for the victory.

Fonseka, an US Green Card holder, also was subjected to controversy recently as the US Home Security Department attempted to “interview him over allegations on war crimes in the last phase of the war”, reports Lanka Polity. Sri Lankan government objected mentioning that “he has no authority to share any information relating to national security with third parties.”

Bloggers are also weighing in on Foneska's probable candidacy. Lanka Libertarian thinks that this is a game of the opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe (UNP):

Ranil does not expect Fonseka to win if he is the opposition presidential candidate.

He is just fighting for his own political survival as unp leader in case of elections. He wants to revive the unp grassroots for parliamentary elections to prevent another dismal showing, and then hope to remain in control of unp after fonseka loses (or if there is no presidential election).

Indrajit Samarajiva at Indi.ca shows the irony of the situation:

The UNP traditionally includes minorities (though the riots were under a UNP government). They would now give northern Tamils the choice between the guy who bombed them and they guy who ordered the bombing. But stranger things have happened.

Lionel Bopage at Groundviews is apprehensive about another military chief turned democratic leader and poses some questions:

Under the circumstances, what guarantee is there whatever bourgeois democratic characteristics that remain in Sri Lanka will not be brought to an end by an army general elected as President of the country? Would not one want to remain President for life once elected? What are the safeguards that could be applied in such circumstances?

A Quest to Unite Religious Communities: The Charter for Compassion

In a world of fragmentation and religious division, a unique and much anticipated document will be released to the world on November 12, after months of collaborative work online and offline by diverse religious leaders and great thinkers.

In February 2008, Karen Armstrong, a former Roman Catholic nun who refers to herself as a “freelance monotheist”, won the TED prize, which is awarded annually to three exceptional individuals who each receive $100,000, and more importantly, the granting of “One Wish to Change the World”.

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design and started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become even broader.

logoKaren Armstrong who is considered as one of the most provocative, original thinkers on the role of religion in the modern world, said her wish was to create a Charter for Compassion, a document about the core shared value of every world religion and moral code: the “Golden Rule”. This is how she described it to the TED community:

“I wish that you would help with the creation, launch and propagation of a Charter for Compassion, crafted by a group of leading inspirational thinkers from the three Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and based on the fundamental principles of universal justice and respect.”

A collaborative process

Global participation in an open writing process was the critical starting point for the creation of the Charter for Compassion. The submissions shared began a conversation that continues as the Charter is finalized and launched at http://www.charterforcompassion.org. People from all over the world have contributed to this Charter; it transcends religious, ideological and national difference; it has been composed by leading thinkers from many traditions with passion, insight, intellectual conviction and hope.

The Council of Sages for the Charter for Compassion includes notable thinkers and faith representatives such as Sheikh Ali Gomaa (the Grand Mufti of Egypt), Rabbi David Saperstein (Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism), Sadhvi Chaitanya (spiritual leader of the Arsh Vijnaya Mandiram ashram), and Archbishop Desmond Tutu (retired Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa).


Charter for Compassion Trailer from TED Prize on Vimeo.

Among the Charter’s partners around the world include TED, Tanenbaum Center, World Council of Religious Leaders, the Al-Ghazzali Center, The Institute of Religion, Culture and Peace among others.

Across the world more than 170 events are planned to help launch the Charter for Compassion (You can host your own too). The unveiling of Charter has already sparked lots of enthusiastic support followed by conversations across the global blogosphere.

Perspectives on the Charter for Compassion

Malaysian Journalist Niki Cheong wrote in his blog, “Malaysians were invited to stop by a studio to record what compassion means to them to create a viral video to promote Nov 12 – today – when The Charter of Compassion will be unveiled.”

Aizat Faiz blogged about his experience of participating in the filming of the Malaysian Chapter of the Charter for Compassion. Rantings by MMs reported that in Malaysia ‘the launching of the charter will be officiated by YAB Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. In the afternoon there will be a youth panel followed by an interfaith panel.'

Jewish and interfaith Tikkun Daily in the United States urged, “all should take the opportunity to remind those around you of the power of compassion and to think of ways to use compassion to transform and heal the world.”

Sujato's blog about Buddhism wrote: ‘We all need to do our bit to use religion to respond creatively and constructively to our environment, making it a force for helping rather than hurting, fostering love and inclusiveness, not alienation and ignorance.'

360 Digital Influence, a blog of the Ogilvy Public Relations firm, explores the question, ‘if Compassion is “viral”?'

Brian Carnell in the United States wrote some counter arguments about the Golden Rule at the center of the Charter, calling it “wishy washy feel good nonsense” that doesn't help solve “real moral dilemmas”.

The 5th Chinese blogger conference: micro power and a broader world

The 5th Chinese blogger conference took place last weekend in a rural county Lianzhou in northern part of Guangdong province. Despite the inconvenient traffic, there were around 150 participants from China and overseas attended the conference.

The conference slogan this year is “Micro power and a boarder world”, the organizing committee explained:

今年年会的口号是“微动力,广天地”,旨在展望越来越微观的信息分享手段和管道,促进社会进步与协作,并带来直接效应的生活方式。一段媒母,一张照片,或者一枚明信片,都可能带来积极的社会改变,更不用说有千千万万的可能性正在孕育中,带给我们一篇广阔的思想天地。

This year the slogan of the annual conference is “Micro power and a broader world”. We want to look into various tools and channels of micro information sharing and its implication towards social progress, cooperation and people's life. No matter whether it is a meme, a photo or a postcard, they have the potential in changing our society. Not to mention the fact that the space generated by the tools opens up millions of possibilities open up our horizon.

hu yong

Hu Yong, the keynote speaker of this year's conference, further elaborated the idea of “micro power” in his talk:

每个人承担责任,不是别的,就是微动力。微,就是每一个普通的中国公民,我在上面称之为“大人物”的人。动力,指的不是别的,而是说,不论言语有前条万条,改变世界的其实还是行动。

Every single person has to bear one's responsibility and such sense of responsibility is micro power. The meaning of micro refers to every single Chinese citizen, I have called them “big people” in the previous section. The meaning of power refers to action that brings change to the world.

微, 也可以指日常化的微观政治。政治可以分为宏观政治和微观政治,宏观政治是结构性的,微观政治是日常化的。匈牙利作家康诺德1982年写过一本书叫做《反政 治》,其中包含了许多被后来的人们追踪的议题。哈维尔经常用的概念有“反政治的政治”和“无权者的权力”、“公民的首创精神”等。既然极权的权力是无所不 在、无所不能的,它全面扑灭来自生活的任何自发性和自主性,是对于广大丰富的生活领域的全面攻击和扼杀,那么,从生活的任何一个面向、起点、领域开始,都 可能造成对于极权制度的抵制和反抗。哈维尔的翻译者崔卫平老师认为,“反政治的政治”不去追逐政治权力,不制定一种纲领反对另外一种纲领,不试图以政治手 段(更替领导人乃至改朝换代)解决问题。相反,“反政治”提倡在日常生活的领域中随时随地展开工作。其实,这也说的就是如何从身边的治理做起。所以,在以 上我说到的互联网激发的中国民众的公共精神之中,我们必须大力强调“公民的首创精神”,即任何人可以从任何地方开始。这就是我所理解的微动力。

The word micro can also refer to daily micro politics. We have macro and micro politics. Macro is structural while micro is daily politics. Hungarian writer Gyorgy Konrad wrote a book titled as “Antipolitics” in 1982. The book has many ideas that elaborated by others. Ideas such as “politics of anti-politics”, “power of the powerless”, “originality of citizen” are Václav Havel's favorite terms. When the power of authoritarianism is omnipresent, its termination has to come from the realization of people's autonomy and initiation in daily life. When the authoritarian system invades people's living domain, people's daily act can also resist against such control. Cui Weiping, the Chinese translator of Vaclav Havel's writings, pointed out that “the politics of antipolitics” is not to struggle for political power, it is not to produce a set of agenda to replace another set of agenda, and it does not attempt to solve the problem via political means (replacing leaders or power bloc). On the other hand, “antipolitics” operates in the level of daily life. In other words, the self-governance of an individual. That's why, when we address the issue of the development of Internet public sphere, we have to emphasize the “originality of citizen”. Every individual can take initiation where ever they want. This is how I understand micro power.

微 动力为什么重要?在过去,少数几个动力十足的人和几乎没有动力的大众一起行动,通常导致令人沮丧的结果。那些激情四射的人不明白为什么大众没有更多的关 心,大众则不明白这些痴迷者为什么不能闭嘴。而今天,有高度积极性的那些人应致力于降低行动的门槛,让那些只介意一点的人能参与一点,而所有的努力汇总起 来则将十分有力。比如,一封小小的明信片,也能汇成强大的呐喊。

Why micro power is so important? In the past, whenever a few action oriented people acted with the passive masses, the results were depressing. The passionate activists could not understand why the masses did not show enough concern and enthusiasm while the masses could not understand why the fanatic activists could not just shut up. Today, activists should facilitate action and allow people who are not deeply involved in campaign and movement to participate. Their acts will be very powerful once they are aggregated together. For example, a piece of postcard can turn into a powerful scream when hundreds and thousands of them are mailed to the same destination.

Blogger Guangyao, reflected upon Hu Yong's talk and pointed out that the precondition to the practice of micro power is the ability to think independently:

然而微动力之前必需是独立思考,因为在这个社会哺育了畸形的价值观。在这个国家对成功的普遍定义是你是否成为一个能比别人赚更多钱的财主,这个社会不断容 忍对于社会良知和道德的底线,当然最畸形的是太多人对于独立思考的不自知。这个国家无疑比60年前有更大物质自由又更高的学历,然而这个国家在60年前后 一样没有独立思考精神。50年或者100年的未来赋予了今天重要的社会及历史的责任,作为每个具体的个体,应当以微动力之势前行。用艾未未的一句话,“每 个人承担责任,可能是这个社会将来变化的一个最基本的可能。如果没有这种可能,这个社会不会发生变化。”

It requires independent thinking for realizing micro power. This society has distorted our value. In this country, the definition of being success is to get as much money as possible and become wealthy. As a result, the society has kept lowering its baseline of social conscience and morality. Too many people are unaware of the need to think independently. Of course, our material well being and education are much better when compared to 60 years ago, but our ability to think independently remains more or less the same. Hence, our responsibility to our society and history in the future 50 or 100 years is to act as an individual and create a trend by practicing our micro power. Here I would like to quote Ai Weiwei's words: “The possibility for this world to change relies on every individual's commitment to undertake their responsibility, or else the world will never be changed.”

Media studies student from Let's blog together interviewed Isaac Mao during the Asia blogfest and associated the concept of micro power with “cloud intelligence”:

“微动力,广天地”体现的思想,与毛向辉的“Cloud Intelligence”理论一脉相承。
在网络时代,人们有更多的机会随时随地分享。当人们在不断分享自己、分享自己认同的别人的观点时,慢慢地形成了一种现象,毛向辉称之为“Cloud Intelligence”。

The idea of “Micro power and a boarder world” is similar to Isaac Mao's theory.
In the Internet era, people have more opportunities to share whenever they want. “Cloud Intelligence” happens when people continuously share their ideas and opinions that they agree with.

一个人分享了一个观点,其他人看到之后又分享了这个观点,更多人看到之后继续分享给其他人。通过这样不断地分享,就可以实现一群人做决定。这跟水滴 聚集形成云的过程相似——毛向辉把个体比作水滴,而当个体因为认同某个观点而不断分享时,他们就聚集起来,形成一股力量,一股甚至可以改变国家政策、社会 秩序的力量。

When a person shares an idea with others, other people will pick that up and continue to forward that idea to others, so on and so forth. Such kind of continuous sharing would eventually realize the will of these people. The process is like water drops coming together to form cloud. Isaac Mao compares individual to a drop of water and when individual keeps sharing the ideas that they agree with, these people would come together and turn into a power that can change government policy and social order.

今年6月,厦门网友郭宝锋因传播严晓玲案被福州警方扣留,网友发动一人一张明信片的行动,给狱中的郭宝锋寄明信片,写着:“妈妈喊你回家吃饭。”从全国各地蜂拥而至的明信片,最后真的促进了郭的释放。

In June this year, netizen Guo Baofeng was detained by Fuzhou police because he spread information regarding Yan Xiaoling's unnatural death. Other netizens took action by sending postcards to the detention center where Guo Baofeng was held. Each postcard was marked with a sentence: “mother is calling you home for dinner”. These postcards were sent from all across the country and eventually Guo was released.

小小的明信片能把人从看守所解救出来,体现了“微动力”所创造的“天地”,这就是“Cloud Intelligence”的力量。

A piece of postcard has eventually led to the release of Guo from the detention center. It is an example of “micro-power” creating a new “world”. It also manifests the power of “cloud intelligence”.

Blogger Kissfree spelled out explicitly that “micro power” is to call upon citizen's awareness:

促进社会改变不一定要刀枪,微动力的力量不可忽视,我觉得微动力的本质就是呼唤公民意识,让人们多了一份责任,不再茫然然过日子。微动力通过汇集众人力量 来促进社会进步,虽然公民社会在天朝起步不易,但人心所向,不是一两个人物或是某个集团能阻止的,相反“他们”应当顺应潮流甚至加入我们,微动力–人民的 力量!

We don't need swords and guns to transform our society. We should not under estimate micro power. The essence of micro power is to call upon citizen's awareness so that they would take up their responsibility and fill up their lives with meaning. Through aggregation of people's will, micro power can bring progress to the society. Although there is a lot of obstacles for the development of civil society in China, when people's will is pointing towards the same direction, neither the power bloc nor powerful individuals could stop the momentum. On the contrary, they have to follow the trend and join us. Micro power is people's power!

USA: Fort Hood massacre puts spotlight on Muslims in ArmyVideo post

A shooting rampage carried out by US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan that killed 13 and injured 31 in Fort hood, Texas has once again put Muslims in America under the spotlight - especially those serving in the army.

Moments after Major Hasan was announced as the suspected shooter, there was clear discomfort among newscasters and commentators regarding his religious and ethnic background. It's also been widely reported that Muslim service members have sometimes faced attacks from fellow services members.

Howard M. Friedman, Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Toledo, says in his blog ReligionClause:

“The military has been actively recruiting Muslims with the linguistic skills and cultural understanding needed to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However Muslims in the service face suspicion by some of their officers. “

Whatever suspicions of Muslim service members existed before the shootings, one can only fear that they may have been heightened by the mass murder in Fort Hood. Questions are still being raised as to whether Major Hasan was an extremist who carried out the attack based on religious ideology or he was simply mentally ill.

In Canada, writer Gwynne Dyer, at Vancouver weekly free paper Straight.com, argues that pointing out the murderer's religion overlooks some very serious issues:

“After a few days while the commentariat hesitated before competing narratives, the media are settling on the explanation that it was ethnic/racial/religious abuse that drove Nidal crazy. Bad people doing un-American things were ultimately responsible for the tragedy, and there’s an end to it.

The one explanation that is excluded is that America’s wars in Muslim lands overseas are radicalizing Muslims at home. Never mind that the homegrown Muslim terrorists who attacked the London transport system in 2005, and the various Muslim plotters who have been caught in other Western countries before their plans came to fruition, have almost all blamed the Western invasions of Muslim countries for radicalizing them. Never mind, above all, that what really radicalized them was the fact that those invasions made no sense in terms of Western security.”

Fox News, often criticized for its bias on issues related to immigration and conservative politics, is reportedly calling for the “screening of Muslims” in the army. At the Veterans Today website, a retired officer of the United States Coast Guard, Tom Barnes, says the news channel is playing up the stereotype to create “us versus them” tensions:

“… the news channel is being very “unhelpful” to say the least if this initially reasonable question soon turns into another Fox Channel crusade against “them”. This stuff is not only getting old, it is dangerous. The story is here.

As I have previously pointed out, this kind of thing has happened before in the U.S. Armed Forces. I am getting tired of Fox News telling me who my enemies are. All the time. Non stop. I had no idea there were so many “thems” out there!”

A number of newspapers are now examining how Major Hasan's actions will affect Muslims serving the in US army, and Muslim residents around Fort Hood.

Here is a video report by euroamericannews on YouTube about how some Fort Hood Muslims view the events.

As the investigation of the massacre continues, the spotlight on Muslims serving in the army will likely continue.