Caminho até o fugitivo mais procurado [En]

Como idealizador da maior rede de contrabando jamais existente, cuja empresa totaliza 10 bilhões de dólares, Lai Changxing [En] é um criminoso legendário, assim como uma figura pública controversa da China. Antes de fugir para o Canadá, quando o governo central estava determinado a acabar pela raíz com o seu reino, tornou-se, sem sombra de dúvida, o homem mais poderoso em Xiamen, uma rica cidade litorânea. Contrabandeou para lá inúmeros carros de luxo e cargas de petróleo equivalentes a muitos tanques. Em 1997, num único ano, 10% do petróleo consumido em toda a China foi importado através de sua empresa. Além do petróleo, também cigarros, óleo de cozinha, televisões, e muitos outros itens, estão em sua lista de contrabando.
Embora tenha obtido somente o diploma do primeiro grau, ele intimidou, corrompeu e controlou quase todos os burocratas locais, em particular o sistema alfandegário.
É raro na China que o poder de um homem de negócios possa ser maior do que àquele do governo, mas o Senhor Lai parece ser uma exceção. A espantosa riqueza e sua “generosidade” são o segredo. Ele costumava declarar que “Não temo os funcionários do governo, o que temo é que eles não possuam desejos.” Desde que um homem possua desejos, para Lai, este homem está sujeito à manipulação.
Ele é proprietário de um prédio misterioso denominado “aposentos vermelhos”, que é, na verdade, um clube de luxo onde ele faz os funcionários se sentirem como se estivessem no paraíso. Em poucos anos, Lai conseguiu tecer uma rede protetora tão forte ao seu redor que na investigação descobriu-se que 700 funcionários, dentre eles Li Jizhou, o Ministro para Segurança Pública em Beijing, e Lan Pu, o vice-prefeito de Xiamen, foram subornados por Lai. Se não fosse uma chamada telefônica de um de seus amigos da Segurança Pública e Lai teria sido capturado e sentenciado à morte, ao invés de se tornar um fugitivo, agora no Canadá.
Desde então, é todo o tempo ameaçado de extradição, Sua estada no Canadá tornou-se um ponto sensível da relação entre a China e o Canadá. Tendo perdido a aura original, como é sua vida hoje em dia?
TIME o entrevistou [En] e mostra sua vida, já sem deslumbre algum, num país estrangeiro desconhecido; entretanto, mais recentemente, parece que ele mesmo está se preparando para contar suas versões das histórias. Ele começou a blogar.

Lai? Blogando?

No KDNET, um painel popular de discussão, uma postagem denominada “Lai está blogando, o que ele está tentando dizer?” [Zh] apareceu no dia 3 de março, e logo chamou muita atenção.
O nome Lai Changxing, em si, já é suficiente como manchete. Em 1999, histórias sobre ele quase preenchiam todas as páginas dos jornais diariamente. Ao retratá-lo como pecador imperdoável, no entanto, o lado duvidoso do burocrata chinês parece vir, impiedosamente, à luz .
Na postagem, o link direciona as pessoas para um site social em rede, como o facebook, denominado That'sMetro. Com o nome de Fat-Xing, a primeira postagem [Zh] do blogueiro é sobre sua vida na infância, a qual apresenta uma total semelhança com a infância de Lai.
Sua segunda postagem é agora mais conhecida, como se fosse uma apologia, também uma denúncia sobre a corrupção e injustiça em maior escala que ocorre na China atual.

Ele fala sobre contrabando

Let me talk about smuggling. My understanding is that smuggling is just to bring the good things from abroad to China. Nobody wants bad things. About a decade or two ago, all that is smuggled are of high quality. Mr. Liu (boss of Lenovo, the largest computer company in China), isn't your company also founded on smuggling? If there is no trade barrier in the world, would there still be smuggling? That's the loophole of our system.
In western countries, mostly smugglers are simply fined, because they doesn't hurt anyone's fundamental rights. It doesn't threaten people's life. At most it is a redistribution of wealth….

Talking about depriving people of their life, I have to mention one person. His name is Niu Gensheng, the boss of Meng Niu Dairy. His business is wholly for depriving people of their life. He doesn't let go anyone, whether the old, the young, or babies.

Aqui, refere-se à recente crise da melamina [En] que matou várias crianças devido à adição ilegal de materiais químicos ao leite infantil. Além disso, Meng Niu foi acusado de usar MOP, um outro produto químico que é tido como potencial causador de cancer.

Um contrabandista imperdoável, ou um homem de negócios nascido fora de seu tempo?
A autenticidade do blogue ainda não está evidente. Há alegações de que o website não é confiável, pois quando o assassinato por decapitação ocorreu na Virgina [sic] Tech, [En] o blogue do assassino também, aparentemente, foi encontrado lá. Assim sendo, as pessoas têm dúvidas quanto a se o blogue é uma farça usada só para fazer propaganda do website.

No entanto, são os comentários alí deixados que acabam sendo interessantes. O pecador imperdoável em 1999, depois de 10 anos de uma vida como fugitivo, parece ter mudado a impressão que exerce sobre a mente do público, tornando-se mais e mais afável. Um punhado de comentários expressam uma compaixão profunda por Lai.

有隆奶大 diz: [Zh]

Xing, I come here just to support you. Hope you can have a good time abroad, no longer threatened by any prosecution.

牛逼党主席 [Zh] diz,

I heard your name everyday before. Now I finally have a chance to respond to you.
Waking up from dream, I found I have been fooled so much and so long before. So are many of my countrymen. Keep blogging, we now stand with your freedom.

快乐大灰狼 [Zh]

I happened to be in Xiamen in 2000. I passed by the Red Chamber everyday, hearing all about your legend and anecdotes. I have also heard that 90% Xiamen citizens think you did good to them.

Uma das razões para que Lai, um criminoso que deveria supostamente ser desprezado pelo país mas que, ainda assim, é favorecido pela opinião pública, é o baixo preço do petróleo que ele costumava ocasionar.
Um diálogo que um blogueiro, 百草止水, anotou em seu blogue [Zh] reflete o porquê de um taxista acreditar que Lai contribuiu para um preço de petróleo mais viável para o bolso do consumidor, ao competir com os monopólios CNPC e CPCC, controlados pelo Estado.

The oil price just started to climb up at the time. I was in a taxi chatting with the driver.

Blogger: The oil price is surging. You must spend a lot on the petroleum?
Driver: Yes, exactly. The money we labor to earn mostly go to the oil companies.
Blogger: But actually they don't earn much either, don't they? The crude oil is getting more expensive too, so not much profit can they actually gain.
Driver: No, you don't know the fact. They raise the price of product oil as soon as the international price goes up, but they fall far behind when the international price slumps. They control everything and we people can say nothing.

Ao ouvir isso, o blogueiro, curioso, fez referência às duas principais companhias petroleiras, CNPC e CPCC, e de como sempre protestaram que a diferença entre os preços doméstico e internacional fazem-nas sofrer de um déficit profundo. De acordo com a reclamação, eles compram o petróleo caro no mercado global, refinam-o e depois vendem os produtos para o povo chinês dentro de uma margem restrita de preço baixo. O motorista deixou transparecer sua descrença com um ronco.

Driver: Think about that, if the domestic oil price is really lower than that in abroad, would smuggling be any bit profitable? Only when the domestic price is much higher, would people risk death to smuggle. Lai Changxing earned billions. Where is that from? It is exactly from the gap by which the domestic price exceeds the international price.

Daí o motorista concluiu,

So, we drivers like Lai very much. If there were ten Lai Changxing, the oil price would have fall down dramatically.

Lai's smuggled oil will break through the barrier set by the monopolies, and will force the oil price down. People can hence benefit

O artigo do blogueiro One-point-five [Zh] faz eco ao argumento, decretando as líderes do petróleo como vergonhosas:

Last year, CPCC, regardless of its 39.6-billion net profit, asked for 10 billion compensation from the government, claiming that it bought crude oil in high price while sell low in product oil.

A lógica por traz da falcatrua é que, se Lai pode contrabandear de fora e ganhar uma fortuna, não há razão para o preço doméstico do petróleo ser mais baixo.
É por isso que na internet uma postagem que circulou amplamente tem o nome corajoso de:

Missing Lai Changxing, missing the days with 1-Yuan oil. [Zh]

A Corte Criminal Internacional (CCI) [En] expediu um mandato de prisão [En] contra o presidente sudanês Omar al-Bashir, na quarta-feira [04/03/2009] tornando-o o primeiro chefe de estado em atividade a ser acusado por crimes de guerra e crimes contra a humanidade. As denúncias têm como base o conflito em Darfur. Nesta postagem, damos uma olhada nas opiniões e pensamentos de blogueiros sudaneses. Alguns blogueiros adotam a postura de “esperar para ver” enquanto que outros argumentam que as experiências passadas mostram que nada de fato irá acontecer. “Você dança e fala alto… só fala e fala…,” escreve Ras Babi. Um blogueiro avisa que Omar al-Bashir não será aprisionado de maneira forçada pelos governos do Ocidente e portanto, desde que “ele fique em casa” estará a salvo. Um outro torce para que o “entretenimento” inicie.

Mimz pede às pessoas que vivem no Sudão [En] para parar com o pânico porque “o cenário mais provável em, minha opinião, é que nada aconteça!” e “o Egito não precisa de ainda mais gente se aglomerando por lá.”

Either the country is turned upside down, or all our problems are dissolved (hiiiiighly unlikely) or, the most likely scenario in my opinion, nothing happens!
So please, Sudanese citizens, those of you living in Sudan… stop panicking! And stop packing your bags! I know so many people who are actually gone by now because they are afraid of what might happen if the warrant is issued. I'm telling you, Egypt doesn't need any more people crowding it!
Nothing is going to happen, and no I am not in denial, I am just thinking of the most reasonable sequence of events. You will not be attacked in your own home, you will not lose all your valuable posessions and you will not find a loved one dead outside your house. Don't be so overdramatic!

O Sudanese Thinker inicia um “open thread”  para discutir a decisão da CCI.[En] Termina sua postagem dizendo, “Que deem início ao entretenimento”:

Dear fellow Sudanese bloggers, drop a link to your own blog post on the matter in the comments section so that it will get noticed by the media. I’ve got a number of journalists emailing me, and they’re all interested in hearing what we Sudanese bloggers have to say about this.
Everyone else, share your thoughts, if any. This is potentially history in the making. Meanwhile, I’m gonna go find me some pop-corn.
Let the “entertainment” begin!

O Sudanese Optimist diz, simplesmente, [En] “Imagino.. por que o John Garang teve que morrer?”

Dying In the Dust inicia sua postagem [En] imaginando se isto poderia ser o começo do fim. O blogueiro acha que al-Bashir estará seguro “desde que permaneça dentro de casa”:

Could this be the beginning of the end? Today, the International Criminal Court at the Hague issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for a five-year campaign of violence in Darfur. This is the first time a sitting head of state is charged for war crimes under this international tribunal.

It will be very interesting to see how this plays out in the world, in Sudan and especially, in the villages of Darfur. Here are two initial questions I have:
*Will it be enough? It’s only a warrant for an arrest and Sudan is not likely to simply hand over their head of state. No Western government will support going in an forcibly removing Bashir – so as long as he stays home, he is probably safe. However, will the international pressure and bad publicity drive Bashir to reform his ways? I want to say yes for the sake of my friends and their families who are suffering, but history doesn’t support hope in this case.
*Will Darfur get a backlash? How will Bashir and tribes loyal to him respond? I know they will lash out against the ICC and Western “colonial” powers – but I worry that there will also be retaliation against the men, women and children of Darfur in the form of even greater violence and suffering. The UN is already warning its people to be extra careful in the next few days. Can the AU troops protect the millions of refugees?

Ras Babis dá voz a seus pensamentos num poema [En] no qual diz que não acredita em leis internacionais e que “…quando se trata de um homem como al-Bashir/você dança e fala alto/sem ação/sem justiça/somente conversa e mais conversa/pelo sudanês…” Começa seu poema com uma citação de al-Bashir mandando a CCI engolir o mandato de prisão contra ele:

Omar alBashir says
ICC can eat his arrest warrant
he smiled and danced
thousands of his supporters with him
he said the warrant does not
worth the ink it was written with
………
Do you remember Sudan…
how your generals with support of al-Turabi
hanged a great master in your land?
Mohmoud Mohamed Taha was a master
Oh Sudan
Oh my beautiful Sudan
thousands of differences are there between
a master and a killer
….
in this world we live in and on of contraditions and injustice
it is easy to judge a simple man
a real hero
or anyone of us
the laws are made to control the masses
and protect the powerful ones
I became a no believer
I do not believe in your international laws
….
who killed Che Guevara?
who killed Lumumba?
and who killed Taha?
it was you international law
that is why
when it comes to a man like alBashir
you dance and loudly talk
no action
no justice
just talk and talk
for the Sudanese….

Kizzie, que escreveu sua postagem antes do anúncio feito pela CCI, revela que o partido de Bashir encontra-se dividido a respeito da questão: [En]

Some Sudan “experts” forsee a bigger Sudanese crises, the disintegration of the Sudanese state. Andrew Natsios, former US envoy to Sudan is worried about a Somali-like situation with an Afghanistan-like intervention.
African and Arab leaders are standing together against the ICC's decision. When the arrest warrant is issued, they are going to be very silent. Bashir's party is already divided. Most of his advisors asked him to step down. He wouldn't.
Let's see what's going to happen

"A Cactus Flower for Capt. Suresh", por http://www.flickr.com/photos/kkoshy/

Comemora-se o Dia Internacional das Mulheres [En] desde os primórdios dos anos 1900: no princípio, como um lembrete dos erros cometidos contra o gênero feminino e a longa e árdua batalha necessária para se alcançar igualdade e lutar pelos direitos das mulheres. Entretanto, nos últimos anos, muitos dos pontos originais do conflito foram resolvidos e na atualidade o dia é usado para comemorar as melhorias positivas no lugar de ser um lembrete dos episódios ruins. E através de poesia, passeatas e canções, veremos como as pessoas ao redor do mundo realizam exatamente isto.

O Ministério do Planejamento chileno [Sp]  aventura-se no uso da internet online para fazer sua Campanha pelo Dia das Mulheres, e para o dia de hoje, nos traz um poema lido por várias mulheres. O poema é o Ode à Lavadeira, de Pablo Neruda, que nos pinta a imagem de uma mulher que lava roupa à noite para ganhar a vida, tendo uma vela acesa e a lua como companheira:

La nocturna
lavandera
a veces
levantaba
la cabeza
y ardían en su pelo
las estrellas
porque
la sombra
confundía
su cabeza
y era la noche, el cielo
de la noche
la cabellera
de la lavandera,
y su vela
un astro
diminuto
que encendía
sus manos
que alzaban
y movían
la ropa,
subiendo
descendiendo,
enarbolando
el aire, el agua,
el jabón vivo,
la magnética espuma.

No Perú, mulheres membros da Colective Canto a la Vida [Cooperativa Canto à Vida] marcharam em Lima, exigindo o respeito aos direitos das mulheres assim como aos direitos sexuais e reprodutivos: o direito a abortos terapêuticos, contra as esterelizações forçadas e pelo acesso à Pílula do Dia Seguinte.

As mulheres peruanas não são as únicas a marchar. Neplanews.com, um canal nepalês de notícias online também nos conta sobre uma caminhada organizada por mulheres na capital, Kathmandu:

E por último, mas não menos importante, o cantor bielorrusso, Dmitry Koldum, um concorrente do Eurovision 2007, colocou na rede um vídeo de si próprio cantanto uma canção para “todas as garotas do mundo”, no seu dia especial:

A todas as mulheres do mundo, feliz Dia das Mulheres!

Ao longo dos últimos anos, desde que seu primeiro livro, uma coleção de contos entrelaçados entitulados Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits [Esperança e Outras Atividades Perigosas], havia sido publicado, Laila Lalami surge como um dos autores mais conhecidos do Marrocos. Como poucos trabalhos de escritores marroquinos são traduzidos para o inglês, e ainda menos trabalhos de mulheres escritoras, os livros de Lalami - escritos em inglês - preenchem um vazio que existe na ligação entre a literatura marroquina e o ocidente.

Lalami é também uma blogueira que é frequentemente citada pelo Global Voices. Numa postagem recente, deu voz a sua empolgação [En] pela publicação de seu novo livro, Secret Son [Filho Secreto], e compartilhou uma imagem da capa:

As the publishing date for Secret Son comes closer, I find myself struggling to keep up with everything that is happening in the background: tour events, promotional trailer, advance reviews, foreign editions, and so on. Here, for instance, is the final cover for the novel, with bigger fonts and a more streamlined look:

the a la menthe, um blogueiro americano cujo foco principal é o Marrocos, também fez menção à publicação do livro de Lalami e compartilhou este trailer sobre o livro: [En]

O livro estará disponível no mercado norte-americano a partir de 21 de abril de 2009.

Hoje [03/03] pela manhã uma dúzia de pistoleiros  atacou o time de críquete do Sri Lanka [en] antes de uma partida contra o time do Paquistão, em Lahore. Esta matança sangrenta deixou mortas sete pessoas, incluindo cinco policiais, e seis jogadores cingaleses dentre os feridos. Os terroristas estavam munidos com as mais modernas armas, incluindo granadas de mão, lança-granadas-foguete, rifles, etc. Por sorte não houve perdas entre os jogadores cingaleses e eles estão no caminho de volta para seu país.

Estava em  aula quando ouvimos as estrondosas pancadas dos tiros. Ficamos curiosos e começamos a fazer especulações sobre o que poderia estar ocorrendo e um de meus amigos até mesmo contou uma piada enquanto continuávamos nossas atividades. Mas continuava com a sensação de que algo estava de fato errado e de que algo terrível estava acontecendo. Depois de apenas cinco minutos, recebi um SMS de um amigo e vim a saber sobre o ataque.

Todos, incluindo nosso professor, ficamos assustados e ele foi generoso em nos liberar da aula. Minha universidade fica bem perto do local onde se deu o ataque, o Liberty Chowk. Já podíamos ver o engarrafamento no trânsito e uma situação de pânico na rua do lado de fora da universidade. Chegavam rumores de todos os cantos de que teria havido um grande número de vítimas nesse ataque, alguns disseram que cingaleses estavam também entre elas.

Imediatamente, corri para o laboratório de Internet com a esperança de assistir na TV, ao vivo,  tomadas de cena sobre o que realmente teria ocorrido. Fiquei chocado ao ver a luta sangrenta entre os terroristas e a Polícia, à medida que a TV SAMAA colocava no ar sequências do ataque. Fiquei aliviado em saber que os cingaleses estão seguros, mas ao mesmo tempo, fiquei triste em ouvir sobre as baixas entre os policiais locais.

Para maiores detalhes sobre meus relatos pessoais, favor acessar o meu blogue. [en]

A AlJazeeraEnglish colocou [en] o seguinte vídeo no YouTube, incluindo cenas do ataque:

Naeem Sidhu dá a notícia de primeira mão [en] com as seguintes palavras:

On Tuesday morning, our revered Cricketing friends from Sri Lanka were attacked in Lahore, leaving the whole nation embarrassed, shocked and with our heads shaken in disbelief. With the approval of the Colombo Government, SL team decided to tour Pakistan despite security fears and they courageously defied the advice by other Cricketing nations. India was more vocal against the tour by SL team. Due to our security lapse, Tuesday shooting has helped in vindication of their stance and has resulted in  closing doors of International Cricket in Pakistan for many years to come – the worst set back to game in its history.

Yasir Imran tenta acordar [ur] o atual governo com as seguintes  palavras:

“This is an extremely sad incident, that can certainly be proved as quite bad for Pakistani cricket. But the current government's attention can lower this danger. Pakistan Peoples Party should think beyond their own benefit, to spare some time for the nation because after the rein of Bhutto's Rule, none of the Peoples Party governments have been proved good for the country. In all of their governments, inflation and corruption has increased”

O blogue Pakistani Housewife [Dona de Casa Paquistanesa] dá voz a [en] sua frustração:

What has happened to the world we live in? Is there an end to this madness? The situation in the world in general and in Pakistan in particular is getting worse everyday. These are the streets we walk in, the roads we drive on with our kids but nothing seems to be the same. I think these terror attacks kill a few people but terrorize the minds of hundreds and thousands of us. They make us numb, takes away the desire to live and the hope for a happy future is missing from our lives, in these terrible times.

Teeth Maestro diz: [en]

It is now certain that this tragic event marks the end of Cricket in Pakistan for sometime, the blame game with India is already nearing a frenzy, analysts like Kamran Khan on Geo and Hamid Gul have pointed fingers towards India already. One must note that the attack looks erringly too similar to the Mumbai attack but logically one must understand that this could very well be a cover up to instigate a war of words between India and Pakistan. Our politicians, intelligence agencies and media were blood thirsty looking for an excuse to kick back at India for the Mumbai assault and todays events in Lahore might serve them with an opportunity.

Kamran Abbasi no cricinfo [en] resume:

The least of the consequences of this disaster is that those who have advocated the continuation of international cricket in Pakistan - including me - have been proved wrong. No international team will now visit Pakistan, and the Pakistan Cricket Board should voluntarily arrange all future tours at neutral venues for the next year, may be longer. This the darkest day in the history of Pakistan cricket and it occurred in a pleasant suburb of Lahore, a once great city of gardens and tranquility,

Em sua primeira semana de atuação, o Presidente dos Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, suspendeu uma medida política conhecida, popularmente,  como  “Regra Global da Mordaça.” [en] A mudança está sendo aplaudida por grupos ligados aos direitos das mulheres e à saúde pública, pois restabelecerá, globalmente, a ajuda financeira aos programas internacionais de planejamento familiar.

A medida, também conhecida como a “Política da Cidade do México”, proibe que fundos do governo americano sejam encaminhados a equipes e clínicas de  planejamento familiar fora dos EUA que realizam ou promovem abortos ou que fazem lobby para sua legalização. Obama suspendeu a proibição um dia depois do 36º aniversário do Roe contra Wade, o caso que levou à legalização do aborto nos EUA. A norma foi criada em 1984 e, desde então, foi várias vezes revogada e aprovada pelos presidentes que se seguiram. Uma postagem no blog South-South explica [en]:

“The Global Gag Rule [also known as the “Mexico City Policy” or specifically, The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151b(f)(1))] denied United States family planning funds to foreign NGOs that use their own private, non-U.S. dollars to counsel women, make referrals for abortion, or perform abortions. It even denied U.S. funds to NGOs that expressed support for laws to make abortion safe and legal. The Global Gag Rule was in effect from 1985 until 1993, when it was rescinded by President Clinton. President George W. Bush reinstated the policy in 2001, where it was in effect until Friday, 23 January 2009.”

Críticos apelidaram a proibição de “Regra Global da Mordaça” pela maneira como ela restringe as equipes lá fora de participar da discussão sobre o aborto em seus países. Texas in Africa, aponta para o fato [en] de que um outro problema com a medida é que suas restrições são amplas demais.

“The Global Gag Rule doesn't take a country's policies on abortion into account. Instead, it blocks funding from any organization that supports abortion rights anywhere in the world. That means if Planned Parenthood operates a clinic in rural Uganda that gives advice on family planning and provides prenatal screening, it loses funding when the Global Gag Rule is in effect because of its pro-choice stance on policies in the U.S. This happens regardless of the fact that abortion is illegal in Uganda unless it involves preserving the mother's life or health.
When the Bush administration reinstated the Global Gag Rule in 2001, clinics all over Africa lost all of their funding. In many places, especially in Kenya and Ghana, it meant that tens of thousands of people lost their only access to health care. Period.”

Frente a esses fatos, muitos blogueiros estão elogiando a decisão de Obama e o impacto em potencial que terá nas questões de saúde reprodutiva e planejamento familiar pelo mundo afora. Danie, Danie, Danie acredita [en] que deveríamos agradecer Obama, enquanto que Arash Kardan bloga [en]:

“Desperately poor women with high risk pregnancies won’t have to die because their doctor can’t tell them about termination options. Many will have more access to safe abortion care, and won’t die or face permanent injury due to risky do-it-yourself procedures. Women won’t have to get pregnant because their local birth control clinic had to choose between no funding or substandard, dishonest care, and subsequently closed down…This is what change can mean. Thousands of women’s lives saved. And after the past 8 years of this deadly policy, it’s about time.”

No entanto, muitos grupos contra o aborto condenaram a mudança, com o argumento, por exemplo, de que os dólares de impostos pagos pelos americanos não deveriam ser gastos em apoio ao aborto e que isto abre a porta para um número crescente de abortos mundo afora. O Vaticano posicionou-se [en] contra a decisão de Obama e a mudança causou medos em alguns países que vivenciaram o impacto deste financiamento. O blogue Mike in Manila debate [en] a reação nas Filipinas:

“There are fears that now US funds will be released here in Asia as well to fund programs towards a global legalization of abortion. Some pro-Abortion groups have lobbied to tie in US Aid to legalization of abortion in the developing world.
A move that greatly concerns members of the CBCP [Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines] in the country who have called on Philippine-Americans of all faiths to signify their voices against the new executive order as well as for a campaign by them to elected members of the house and senate to be emailed and called by Catholics all over to world to ensure that the ‘pro-death and pro-abortion' stance of the extreme left of American politics is not pushing to impose abortion supportive or legalization policies to the rest of the world.”

Entretanto, Nicholas, blogando no Staying Left, Living and Driving in South Africa, chama a atenção [en] para o fato de que a escolha por fazer um aborto não fica sempre clara nos países que necessitam desse financiamento:

“When thinking about abortions, especially in developing countries, the arguments seem quite compelling. In sections of the KwaZulu Natal region of South Africa, up to 50% of pregnant women are HIV+. If my work were successful, we could reduce transmission of HIV from mother to baby into the single digits, instead of 30+% in most parts of the country. However, that means we'd have carefully execute a number of steps in a process without faltering. Given the fragility of the health system, the likelihood of passing HIV to the baby is quite high, and if I were the pregnant one, its not a roulette game I'd want to be playing.”

Imagem do The Abortion Debate [O Debate sobre o Aborto] de Better in the Basement no Flickr.

Da mesma forma que todos os outros países, o Japão, um dos mais fortes aliados dos Estados Unidos na Ásia, acompanhou com atenção a eleição do Presidente Obama. Seu discurso (o qual, em conjunto com outros de seus discursos de campanha, é tão popular que se tornou um campeão de vendas e é usado como livro-texto no ensino de língua inglesa [en]) tem sido transmitido, traduzido [jp] e comentado [jp] em todos os tipos de veículos pela mídia japonesa e em programas televisivos locais. Sendo assim, é natural que muitos blogueiros tenham traçado comparações entre o presidente americano e o primeiro ministro japonês, Taro Aso.
Não que a impopularidade do primeiro ministro japonês [en] ainda cause surpresa, uma vez que as pesquisas [en] têm, ao longo de meses, colocado esse fato em evidência. Mas foi nestes últimos dias, depois que milhões de pessoas se aglomeraram em praças, bares e salas de estar para ouvir as palavras do presidente recém eleito que, uma vez mais, a falta de carisma de Aso (e, em geral, também a falta de carisma de outros políticos japoneses) tornou-se assustadoramente evidente.
Ao analisar as expressões usadas em seus discursos o blogueiro Masablog [jp] assinalou as diferenças gritantes que existem entre esses dois políticos:

The change of a president is, for Americans, a very special event that changes everything (I guess).
On the other hand, in Japan, Prime Minister Aso’s impact has already become weak.
The first difference between Obama and Aso is [the use of] “We” instead of “I”. Obama’s speeches start with “We”, as in, “We have to do this…We can”. On the other hand, PM Aso’s [speeches] start with “I”. Also the speech pronounced when he became Prime Minister was something like “I, Taro Aso…..I…” or “I have the right to dissolve [the Diet] …”. In these areas the difference is fairly clear.

id: kiku18-rak [jp] analisa as duas figuras políticas a partir de vários pontos de vista. Os lados político e humano de Aso acabam sendo um tanto quanto superficiais.

What I will write below is just my personal opinion and it is based only on what I could see on TV, but what I'd like to do is to jot down a few differences between Obama and Aso, as I see them.

1 The popular one among the people (Obama) and the enemy of the people (Aso)
2 A politician [who works] for the people and a politician [who works] for one group of influential people
3 One who is respected everywhere in the world and one who is not even respected in his own country
4 A person who is capable of being sympathetic with the people and a person who mocks the people
5 A person who can communicate what he thinks and a person whose thoughts are a mystery to many
6 A person of character and a person whose character is not well definable

Writing this I myself feel very pitiful as Japanese.
If on the one hand there is a lion, on the other there is a fly.
At any rate, though, America has been reunited under President Obama, and if he begins to move in the right direction, it will be a positive step for the whole world.
Japan should also change their leadership, but the spoiled child won't leave the chair he is clinging to.

Como acontece com frequência. as comparações também estimulam aqueles que estão sendo comparados a refletir sobre seus próprios problemas e as maneiras de lidar com eles. Neste caso, na realidade, ao comparar o Japão com os Estados Unidos, alguns blogueiros perceberam que, também para o Japão, o momento de mudança chegou e que as próximas eleições gerais [en] podem vir a ser um ponto inicial.

Hidenori Kusakari [jp], por exemplo, escreveu:

Obama declared that he would bring the voice of the people to the White House. On the other hand, Aso ignores the voice of the people and continues [to propose] new things by force.
The future of Japan and U.S.A. is moving in two opposite directions.
The U.S., where many different races live together, and Japan, with only one people.
With the Liberal Democratic Party's life drawing to a close, where is Japan heading?
At what level will we be influenced in the future by Obama?
It is no exaggeration to say that, with the next general elections this year, Japan’s future will be decided.

De maneira semelhante, ki2naru [jp] expressa sua crença na necessidade de uma mudança radical para o bem do país.

In Japan, when Aso became Prime Minister after Fukuda, everybody had great expectations, feeling that he, who likes Akihabara so much, was a bit different. However, when everything actually began there they were: LPD’s confusion, blank politics and economic measures.
Politicians, bureaucrats and the powers of the industry, they are all acting together in order to not cause problems to each other.
I believe that a bold structural revolution is needed to bring some good to this country.
It's not an internal treatment, but a surgical operation that is needed, no?

Si un mort israélien vaut plusieurs morts palestiniens, combien faut-il de cadavres congolais pour un linceul gazaoui?

Por que os conflitos na África recebem tão pouca atenção [en] da mídia, e especialmente os horrores que se desenrolam em Kivu, é uma questão antiga (tão persistente quanto a questão do motivo pelo qual a mídia internacional, quando chega a cobrir a África, cobre unicamente os conflitos).

Elia Varela Serra escreveu neste website [en] sobre este mesmo tema, poucos dias atrás, traduzindo parte de um artigo [fr] no Rue89 do jornalista Hughes Serraf. O tratamento dado por Serraf a essas questões gerou polêmica entre muitos leitores de língua francesa, ambos congoleses e muçulmanos.

Alguns leitores do Rue89 concordam com o sentimento de Serraf.

Rafa explica o porquê da mídia na França prestar muito mais atenção à Palestina do que ao Congo:

L’hyper-sensibilité de la société francaise au conflit israelo-palestinien vient du fait de la présence des 2 communautés en france, qui rejoue ici ce qui se passe la bas. D’autre part je pense que Israel étant un pays « occidental » dans le sens ou israel fait partie du « monde libre » (dixit Livni), les francais peuvent s’identifier aux israeliens, et le fait qu’un pays soi disant civilisé, une démocratie comme la notre, avec des gens qui on le meme mode de vie que nous, le meme genre de société, puisse se conduire d’une maniere si barbare, heurte certainement les esprits des gens. En comparaison le conflit au congo fait figure d’énieme drame sur un continent maudit, auquel les gens ne font meme plus attention tant ces drames sont fréquents.

Um outro leitor do Rue89, Pierre Haski:

Le mois dernier, j’ai même assisté place de la République à une manif de Congolais à propos du conflit dans leur pays. Ils étaient quelques dizaines, coincés entre les cordons de CRS, dans l’indifférence des passants. Samedi, j’ai assisté au démarrage de la manif Palestine, caméras de télé au rendez-vous.

Mas houve muitos que deploraram a ignorância do autor em relação ao continente. Serraf, em seu artigo, disse:

Moi, je suis comme vous. Je ne ne sais pas grand chose du Congo et de cette Armée de résistance du Seigneur…Surtout qu’il en y a deux, des Congo! Et puis l’Afrique, c’est extraordinairement compliqué. Entre les catastrophes naturelles, les épidémies, les chefs de guerre en Land Cruiser à tourelle, tout ça… Comment savoir qui sont les méchants et les gentils?

O mesmo leitor também escreve que o conflito entre Israel e Palestina pode ser muito mais bem coberto na França pois, pelo menos da perspectiva do público, é muito mais fácil diferenciar entre o “bom” e o “diabólico”.

O blogueiro Alex Engwete [fr], que vem cobrindo o conflito em Kivu com atualizações diárias em seu blogue, levanta-se, num comentário, contra a ignorância auto-assumida de Serraf:

J’avais commencé par me tisser une affinité avec votre indignation sur le silence autour de la catastrophe congolaise avant que je ne découvre dans les trois derniers paragraphes où vous vouliez en venir. J’allais même partager avec vous ce que m’avait confié à Nairobi l’un de mes amis pigiste pour la BBC à qui ce noble réseau de diffusion et de répercussion des nouvelles avait demandé de cesser d’envoyer des dépêches sur le Congo si le nombre de morts se chiffrait au-dessous de 50 ! C’étaient des noirs et le cœur des ténèbres, après tout, où la norme, c’est « l’horreur ! L’horreur ! » — depuis Joseph Conrad… Mais je me rends compte avec désillusion que le Congo n’est qu’une balise (prétexte sensationnel) menant vers la chute de votre rhétorique tordue ! Si vous ne connaissez rien du Congo, laissez ses morts tranquilles !

Famílias se abrigam num prédio destruído depois de serem forçadas a fugir de suas casas devido à intensificação do conflito na província de Kivu do Norte. (Foto de UNHCR/S.Schulman)

Djé, que escreve no case en construction [fr], relata:

La surmédiatisation des horreurs commises actuellement à Gaza ont tendance à détourner le regard des médias (et par extension du grand public) de celles toujours en cours au Kivu. Certains journalistes peu scrupuleux en profitent même pour instrumentaliser, à des fins de propagande pro-israélienne, la faible couverture médiatique de la guerre à l'est du Congo.

Djé refere-se ao artigo de Serraf como “uma tentativa grosseira de desinformação” e clama para que se considere, ao invés, um artigo escrito sobre o mesmo tema no kongotimes.info [fr] o qual defende que “As duas guerras carregam os mesmos medos, com quase os mesmos riscos de desestabilizar a região.”

Usuários do forum islamie.com [fr] ficaram, da mesma forma, desencorajados com a comparação feita por Serraf e a sensacionalização, pela mídia, em geral, dos ataques à Gaza. Abdullah indaga, sarcasticamente, “Quantos corpos afgãos para uma mortalha de funeral em Gaza?”: [fr]

Face à l'engouement actuel pour Gaza, je suis très mal à l'aise depuis que j'ai lu une phrase d'Abou Ghazi disant que des massacres il y en a tout le temps notamment en Afghanistan et que personne ou presque ne s'en émeut. Non que je me sente plus concerné qu'un autre ni même moins. Mais une telle phrase, ça révèle (au sens premier du terme) beaucoup de choses.

Quelle misère dans laquelle nous sommes ! Nous nous laissons bercer, berner, balader par les médias.

J'ai sincèrement la nausée.

Jounaïda:

La phrase d’Abou Ghazi renvoie simplement à notre médiocrité. Elle révèle aussi une chose : celle que nous sommes vraiment les pantins des médias, assoiffés toujours de sensationnel.

Des actions concrètes pour nos frères et sœurs opprimés, il en faut et en faudra toujours, du moins tant que ce n'est pas la parole de Dieu qui règnera sur terre.

Homens palestinos enterram o corpo de Lama Hamdan, de 4 anos de idade, no cemitério em Beit Hanoun, na região norte da Faixa de Gaza, 30 de dezembro de 2008. Lama e sua irmã estavam, de acordo com relatos, passeando numa charrete puxada por um burro na terça-feira perto de um local de lançamento de mísseis que era alvo de Israel (Foto de Amir Farshad Ebrahimi) [en].

Souleymene:

…cette reflexion je me la suis posée plusieurs fois depuis ces derniers jours.Mais j'dirais plus, la mobilisation que l'on est en train de vivre n'est qu'un épiphénomene.Quand toute cette affaire va se tasser ( wal 3ilmou liLeh pour son issue) car un moment donné ca va rentrer dans “l‘ordre “, vu les houkams que l'ont a, y'a aucun risque d'embrasement.Les candidats au djihad que l'on a vu dans les télés au Yemen et en Jordanie entres autres n'iront nul part qu' ALLAH les retribue pour leur intentions.Les musulmans retourneront à leur préoccupations mondaines, la Palestine sera oubliée et le sang versé à Gaza avec.

Se fica difícil para você visitar o Taj Mahal em Agra (India), então o Taj Mahal terá que ir visitá-lo em sua cidade.

Nesses últimos dias fomos pegos de surpresa por uma matéria interessante e curiosa vinda de Bangladesh. Parece que esta matéria foi publicada pela AFP [Agence France-Presse] [en] e então rapidamente foi pinçada pela MSM [Mainstream Media] em Bangladesh, Índia e mercados Internationais (links 1[en] , 2[en] , 3[en] , 4[bn], 5[en] , 6[bn] para citar somente alguns).

A notícia foi a seguinte: um rico produtor de cinema de Bangladesh construiu ‘uma réplica exata' do legendário Taj Mahal de Agra, em Sonargaon, uma pequena cidade a 30km da capital, Daca. Aparentemente, o rico cavalheiro, Ahsanullah Moni, encheu-se de amores pelo monumento histórico em suas visitas a Agra e decidiu construir uma réplica exata em seu próprio país, para proporcionar a seus conterrâneos um gostinho do original, sem que tenham que realizar uma viagem dispendiosa até a distante Agra.

De acordo com o que Mr. Moni declarou à imprensa (reproduzido de forma religiosa pela mídia, por sua vez), é que levou um pouco mais de 5 anos (o original levou mais de 20 anos de construção) para que essa réplica fosse construida em tamanho real a um custo de 58 milhões de dólares. A MSM relatou também que centenas de trabalhadores e projetistas foram convocados para esse projeto (o original necessitou por volta de 20.000 pessoas) e, como marca de uma atenção precisa aos detalhes, uma equipe foi, de fato, a Agra e tirou as medidas da estrutura original, polegada a polegada. Há relatos de que a fim de recriar o deslumbrante original, 160kg (353lb) de bronze, mármore e granito foram importados da Itália e diamantes foram trazidos de avião, da Bélgica, para serem usados na construção.

A suntuosidade da descrição provocou, de imediato, rumores e logo a réplica chamou a atenção do Alto Comissariado Indiano em Daca, que expressou irritação [en] por ter que lidar com um ‘falso' Taj criado bem em baixo de seu nariz. O interessante é que, neste momento em que a tensão entre os vizinhos está alta, a MSM logo difundiu relatórios enganosos sobre essa reação com frases fortes [en] como “Tensão entre Bangladesh e Índia aumentou depois que veio à tona que um diretor de cinema está construindo uma cópia tamanho real do Taj Mahal”. Houve narrativas sobre os “fracassos diplomáticos”, a “revolta” da Índia e assim por diante. Tais artigos, por sua vez, provocaram comentários de um setor do funcionalismo de Bangladesh que sentiu que, se eles haviam de fato re-criado o Taj, a Índia não tinha o direito de criar uma tempestade já que eles eram da opinião de que monumentos históricos não podiam ser protegidos por direitos autorais. Somente uns poucos na mídia, mais tarde relataram que o Alto Comissariado Indiano, depois de investigar o incidente, havia declarado que era improvável que os visitantes tomassem um pelo outro e que era improvável que a réplica viesse a depreciar [en] o esplendor do original.

Enquanto a MSM tirava proveito da situação, a população de Bangladesh se amontoava às centenas para dar uma olhada nesta nova maravilha trazida à soleira de sua porta. Alguns blogueiros bengaleses também visitaram o local para verificar o motivo dessa bagunça. Foi então que se descobriu que todo este exagero não era, talvez, mais do que uma propaganda, uma maneira enganosa de ganhar dinheiro com o nome do Taj.

O blogueiro Jhorohaowa [bn] escreve sobre sua experiência:

মদনপুর বাসস্টান্ড নেমে দেখি টেমপুওয়ালারা ’তাজমহল’ বলে চিল্লাইতেছে। কেউ ভাড়া চাচ্ছে ৩০/- টাকা, কেউ ৪০/- টাকা। আধঘন্টা টেম্পু দিয়ে চলার পর একগ্রামে এসে থামলাম। সামনে বিশাল জ্যাম আর হাজার হাজার মানুষ। সবাই তাজমহল দেখতে আসছে। অপেক্ষা না করে নেমে হাটা দিলাম। প্রায় দুই কিলো হাটার পর তাজমহল কম্পাউন্ডে আসলাম, প্রবেশ মুল্য ৫০/- টাকা। কোন ব্যাপার না, আগ্রা গেলে আরো খরচ হইতো। তাড়াতাড়ি টিকেট কেটে ভিড় ঠেলে ভিতরে প্রবেশ করলাম।তাজমহলের চেহারা দেইখা মুখটা অটোমেটিক হা হয়ে ’শালা’ শব্দটা যে কেমনে বের হয়ে আসলো বুঝবার পারি নাই। আমার ঢাকাইয়া বন্ধুটি মুখ আর আটকাইয়া রাখা গেলো না। সে গাইল শুরু করলো- (গালি)রা টয়লেটের টাইলস লাগাইছে, মালিক পক্ষের সব (গালি)’রা ভাগছে, একটারে ডাইকা আইনা যে পাবলিক গাইলাইবো সেই উপায় নাই, (গালি)রা এই ঈদের দিনে পাবলিকরে ’বাকরা’ টুপি লাগায় দিলো … ইত্যাদি ইত্যাদি।

Jhorohaowa também escreve que ao inaugurar uma construção incompleta e mal projetada com tal nível de divulgação fantasiosa na mídia os empreendedores do projeto deixaram claro seu objetivo de conseguir uma grana fácil durante o feriado do Eid.

Bibortonbadi [bn] , outro blogueiro que visitou o local, também estava muito perturbado por ter caído na armadilha de um jornalismo sensacionalista; ele anotou em seu blogue:

কিছুই না দেখবার মত। শুভ্র তাজমহলের সোকলড রেপ্লিকা বানিয়েছে সাদার মাঝে নানা রঙ্গের টাইলস দিয়ে। সংবাদপত্রে কত কিছুই না পড়লাম। খরচ ৪০০ কোটি টাকা, ইতালি থেকে আনা মুল্যবান পাথর ও টাইলস্‌, বেলজিয়াম থেকে আনা ১৭২ টি হীরক খন্ড, গম্বুজের উপরে চারমন ওজনের ব্রোঞ্জ, কোথায় এসব??? ৪০০ কোটি টাকা কি পান্তা ভাত নাকি! নরমাল ইট-সিমেন্টের একটা স্ট্রাকচারের উপরে দেশী টাইলস্‌ (আমার বন্ধু বাড়ির কাজকর্ম ভাল বোঝে, তার মতে টাইলস গুলো দেশী) বসানো। এমন কি টাইলসের কাটাও ঠিক মত হয় নাই, আনাড়ি হাতের কাজ। এখনও ফিনিশিং সম্পূর্ণ হয় নাই। ইতালির পাথর যদি পরে বসাবার ইচ্ছাও থাকে তবে কোথায় বসাবে? দর্শনার্থিরা সবাই বিরক্ত এবং নিজেদের প্রতারিত ভাবছেন…প্রায় ১০ মিনিট দেখবার পরেই বুঝতে পারলাম আমাদের জন্য ভেতরে আর কিছুই নেই। বেরিয়ে হাটা ধরলাম। পথে অনান্য দর্শনার্থিদের সাথে কথা হল, সবার একই উত্তর “ভূয়া”।

O blogueiro coloca um vídeo na internet que mostra as pessoas se aglomerando para ver o Taj e expressando sua decepção:

Prothom Bangla [bn] faz uma reflexão sobre os sentimentos dos visitantes que descrevem a empreitada de Ahsanullah Moni:

পাগল হিন্দি সিনেমা নকল করতে করতে, মাথা আওলাইয়া গেছে। দেখছে। ভাল আয় রোজগার। এখন তাজ মহল নির্মান করছে।
পাঁজি যে টাকা খরচ করেচে, সেই টাকা যদি দেশের হত-দরিদ্র মানুষের উন্নয়নে কাজে লাগাত তাহলে হত গরীবের উপকার ।

Bibortonbadi vai em frente e questiona o papel da MSM no estímulo que deu a esta fraude com seu relato exagerado. Ele diz [bn]:

অবাক লাগল এই যে দেশের শীর্ষ স্থানীয় পত্রিকা গুলো কিভাবে কোন রকম খোজ খবর ছাড়াই ৪০০ কোটি টাকার বিনিয়োগ, ১৭২ টি হীরক খন্ড, ইতালির টাইলস/পাথরের ভূয়া খবর ছাপালেন। ৪০০ কোটি টাকা কি কম? এত টাকার বিনিয়োগে, একটি বিখ্যাত স্থাপনার রেপ্লিকা তৈরি ব্যাপারে তারা কি সরোজমিনে একবারও ঘুরে দেখে আসবার সময় করতে পারলেননা। ঢাকা থেকে নারায়নগঞ্জের, সোনারগাঁয়ের পেরাবো গ্রামে যেতে বড়জোর এক দেড় ঘন্টাই লাগত!! এই দেশে কি খবরের অভাব আছে? নাকি টাকা দিলেই খবর ছাপানো যায়। খুব বেশী হলে এই স্থাপনাতে ৩/৪ কোটি টাকার মত খরচ হয়েছে।

O blogueiro Raihan [bn] telefonou para a sala de imprensa de um dos principais jornais diários bengalês, o Prothom Alo [bn], que havia também publicado o artigo sobre o “Taj” completo com detalhes da suntuosidade, e perguntou se o repóter deles havia estado no local, pessoalmente, antes de publicar o artigo e, em caso negativo, como poderiam ter publicado um artigo sem primeiro se certificar dos fatos com seus próprios olhos. Ele diz que, como resposta, a sala de imprensa informou que haviam, simplesmente, divulgado o artigo da AFP. Depois de alertar a pessoa do outro lado da linha sobre os fatos, foi informado que mandariam, sem dúvida, um repórter visitar o local e escrever um outros artigo sobre o mesmo.

Com os blogueiros bangaleses enviando sua experiência, em primeira-mão, de visita ao local por meio de postagens, fotos e vídeos, só agora estamos tendo uma noção real da história do “falso Taj”.

A imagem do Taj Mahal original, na Índia, é da Wikipedia, usada sob Licença de Bens Criativos [Creative Commons Licence, em Inglês]. As outras imagens são de Bibortonbadi [bn] e foram usadas sob permissão.

Hoje [10/12] é o Dia Internacional dos Direitos Humanos [en] e, com o lema “Todo o ser humano tem direitos” [en], este é o ano que marca o 60º aniversário da Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos. É também o último dia da campanha anual de “16 dias de ativismo contra violência de gênero”[en]. Em muitas partes do mundo, entretanto, a situação dos direitos humanos está longe de ser a ideal e a violência de gênero é uma ameaça diária. Um desses lugares é a província de Kivu do Norte na República Democrática do Congo, como pode ser constatado por este apanhado de blogues escritos por trabalhadores humanitários na região.

Como introdução, um lembrete [en] do jornalista Michael Kavanagh:

I’ve been reporting on DRC for five years now, and there’s nothing that frustrates me more than the dismissive comments I often get about how conflict in Africa is endemic.

Violence is rarely irrational — it almost always has root causes that can be addressed. We’re often just too busy or lazy to learn enough about a situation to figure out how.

Alguns dias atrás, Rebecca Wynn, uma funcionária de comunicação para a Oxfam, escreveu sobre os desalojados (IDPs) na região do Kibati [en], região ao norte de Goma:

The children I am meeting here in Kibati in the Democratic Republic of Congo are at school, but they get no education. The school is where they sleep. It’s their home. Ever since they fled from the violence in their villages, it’s where they have slept, with leaves as their mattresses and their bodies snuggled close.

[…] There are 21 villages of Kanyaruchinya, which surround the Kibati camps. Four of these villages are completely empty and the rest are full of thousands of people who have been forced to run from their homes. The population here was just under 19,000 people before the recent troubles, but an estimated 50,000 people have arrived in the camps and villages here over the last month. Of the families here, 65 percent are hosting displaced people. But many people are living in public spaces such as schools, churches, and orphanages.

Gina Bramucci do Comitê Internacional de Resgate e Salvamento (IRC) também escreve sobre o acampamento IDP de Kibati [en], onde cerca de 5.000 pessoas estão vivendo em “abrigos frágeis” - estruturas feitas com galhos de árvores,  lonas plásticas no lugar de telhados, folhas secas de bananeira para preencher os vãos e servir de quebra-vento”:

Firewood distribution in Kibati is important on several levels right now […] In conflict areas trips outside of the population center or camp in search of firewood and water expose civilians to a higher potential of violent attacks. In Congo, men and boys can be beaten, intimidated or forced into labour by armed groups. But the chore of collecting firewood falls to women and girls, and for them, the stakes are even higher.

O perigo ao qual ela se refere é, logicamente, o de estupro. Elizabeth Roesch, uma especialista em questões de gênero e de defesa que trabalha para a CARE, cita uma menina num acampamento para refugiados [en]:

The other day, I asked a young girl who fled the most recent fighting, when she would go back home, and she replied: “As long as there is war, we won't go back - how can we go back and risk being raped? When we go for water, when we go to the fields, we are afraid.” Other women nodded in agreement, and suddenly I understood how effective rape is at terrorizing communities.

Stop the war in North Kivu, um blogue escrito por um trabalhador humanitário anônimo, de Goma, mostra um pequeno vídeo [en] de tais acampamentos IDP:

Stop the war in North Kivu também escreve sobre os “impostos” ilegais [en] que o CNDP (o grupo rebelde liderado por Nkunda) impõe à população civil dentro da área que eles controlam:

-Long truck: 2000 U$ to get through.
-Fuso truck (small size): 500 U$ to get through.
-Toll for every vehicle: 50 U$.
-If you carry just a bag with some items that could be sold in the market: 5 U$
It is said around here that CNDP is a disciplined force in the sense that they don´t loot the population. Now I understand that they simply don´t need to do it. With this kind of tax procedure, looting becomes completely innecessary.
Meanwhile, the price in Goma of first need commodities like beans has tripled in the last two months.

Emily Meehan, a gerente de comunicação para a IRC em Goma, escreve sobre sua chegada recente a Kivu do Norte:[en]

[earlier this year] I was reading about the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly North Kivu, and wondering why we didn’t hear more about the ongoing humanitarian crisis there. I thought about the women and girls who have been raped and tortured by armed groups. I imagined Goma, North Kivu’s capital, to be a town under daily siege, with mortars blasting, windows shattering and machine gun fire crackling always in the distance. I imagined civilians running in hordes from clashes in the streets, screaming, moaning, and falling. My imagination was far from reality.
I arrived here in Goma last month […] and I quickly saw that this tragedy is not so obvious – people have been living with war for too long in Congo. It is not sensational. They carry on, their “everyday switch” set on emergency.

Iker Zirion, que trabalha para o Veterinarios sin Fronteras (VSF) em Butembo, escreve [es] uma parábola que ilustra a complexidade do conflito armado em Kivu do Norte, no qual ele se refere às “três causas para um mesmo resultado”:[es]

Un soldado de las Fuerzas Armadas de la RDC que huye del frente entra en casa de Vital Kagheni buscando algo de comida. Le golpea. Aprovecha para robarle el dinero y el móvil. Más tarde, vuelve con otros dos soldados. Quieren algo más que dinero. Quieren a su mujer.
Al otro lado de ese frente del que huyen, el CNDP toma varias localidades. En la escuela de una de ellas, encuentran a Bertrand Kitambala. Tiene 13 años. En algunos países, hay personas que creen que esa edad es suficiente para empuñar un arma. Desgraciadamente, la RDC es uno de esos países.
Un miembro de las FDLR está escondido en el bosque. Lleva ahí mucho tiempo. Está cansado y tiene hambre. Hacia él se acerca, sin saberlo, Kakule Lukumbuka. Lleva una cabra atada con una cuerda. Cuando llega a su altura, el FDLR sale de su escondite y le dispara. Pero no antes de arrebatarle la cuerda de las manos. No tiene ganas de correr y no quiere que el disparo haga huir a la cabra.

Numa outra postagem, Iker Zirion escreve sobre começar tudo de novo:[es]

“¡Buenas tardes! El día ha pasado sin incidencias, pero en un ambiente de tristeza para casi todo el mundo. Nada se ha salvado. Hay que empezar nuevamente de cero”, nos dice vía sms APRONUT, oenegé de desarrollo congoleña y una de nuestras contrapartes en Kirumba.
No es la primera vez. La población de la zona ha tenido que comenzar de cero varias veces desde la década de los noventa hasta hoy. ¿Qué se puede responder a un sms como ese? Yo, desde luego, no lo sé. Afortunadamente, otra persona del equipo tuvo más capacidad de reacción: “¡Animo! Empezaremos de nuevo todos juntos”.

As duas fotos foram tiradas por Iker Zirion

Já faz um bom tempo desde a última vez que demos uma olhada na blogosfera marroquina…sendo assim, é chegada a hora! Como faz pouco tempo que terminou a celebração Eid al-Adha, os blogueiros ainda estão trocando votos de felicidade entre si e partilhando histórias que ocorreram durante o feriado.

The View From Fez relata [En] que o Rei Mohammed VI perdoou 502 prisioneiros durante o feriado. Os detalhes:

His Majesty, King Mohammed VI, has pardoned 502 prisoners for the Islamic Festival of Sacrifice or Eid al-Adha, being celebrated this week. According to a Justice Ministry press release, total pardon was granted to 15 inmates over their remaining prison term or seclusion, reduction of imprisonment term or seclusion to 299, commutating of life imprisonment to time term to 3, total pardon over the prison term or its remaining time to 29.

A royal pardon was granted to 15 inmates over their remaining prison term, while a reduced prison term was granted to 299 inmates, said the Moroccan Justice Ministry in a statement.

Asmaa Mouhib deseja a seus leitores um feliz Eid [Fr]:

Demain, c’est la fête de Aïd Al-Adha. Mes meilleurs vœux de bonheur et de santé à tous les musulmans du monde en cette occasion !

Agharass também deseja sucesso para os leitores [Fr]:

Salamo aalaykom, chères agharassiennes, chers agharassiens. Je vous souhaite,à toutes et à tous, de passer un bon aid el ahdha avec joie et satisfaction d’avoir accompli notre devoir spirituel envers Allah. Mes meilleurs vœux à toutes et à tous.

Maryam of My Marrakesh agradece de uma forma diferente…para as ovelhas que são sacrificadas para a festa de Eid al-Adha. Numa postagem denominada “Um Shoukran [thank you, obrigada, em inglês] para a Ovelha,” ela diz [En]:

So many of you have given your lives today.
On this holy day, this holy day of Aid.

Please know….

Your symbolism has not gone lost.
Your sacrifice has not gone forgotten

Including to those tender hearted.

O YouTube está orquestrando um novo projeto colaborativo instigante: convida músicos de todo o mundo a fazer teste de audição online para a primeira orquestra sinfônica virtual do mundo. [En] Amadores, assim como profissionais, têm até o dia 28 de janeiro de 2009 para fazer o download de partituras e o upload de suas execuções musicais em vídeo.

Neste video-propaganda [En] da orquestra, o compositor chinês Tan Dun [En] (Lembra-se do filme “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” [O Tigre e o Dragão, em Inglês]?) e vários outros músicos acenam para o público: “Junte-se a nós!”. O convite encontra-se disponível em mais de uma dúzia de línguas.

Play your part in music history and join the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. You just need to upload two videos: your contribution to the Tan Dun piece and a general audition video.
Good luck!

Veja [En] como funciona:

1. Prepare - Select your instrument to access the sheet music and rehearse with the conductor
2. Submit - Upload your performances and submit them to join the YouTube Symphony Orchestra
3. Entries - Browse videos to get ideas and check out the competition.

Músicos profissionais irão fazer uma primeira pré-seleção, antes do voto do público do You Tube que ocorrerá em fevereiro de 2009. O objetivo é uma apresentação ao vivo, a ocorrer no Carnegie Hall, em Nova York, no dia 15 de abril de 2009, sob a regência de Michael Tilson Thomas, diretor musical da Orquestra de São Francisco.

Agora, a postos com seus instrumentos e está dada a partida!

Este post faz parte de uma cobertura especial do Global Voices [En] sobre os terríveis ataques em Mumbai, Índia, de 26 de novembro de 2008.

Nada expressa melhor o coração do que um poema. Às vezes a composição complexa de um poema simplifica as questões complexas da vida, às vezes, ajuda você a compreender o seu entorno. Os poetas da Índia estão entristecidos pelos terríveis ataques que ocorreram recentemente em Mumbai. Você descobrirá que eles fazem perguntas em seus poemas e às vezes eles até as respondem para nós. Aqui estão alguns poucos fragmentos de suas manifestações.

Glory: Imagem feita por usuário da Flickr, 50mm, usada sob uma Creative Commons License [En]

Uma menina de 12 anos, de Bangalore, atiça sua imaginação. Logo após a divulgação das notícias trágicas sobre a morte dos reféns de Nariman House, Lavanya trancou-se em seu quarto por cerca de 15 minutos e mais tarde entregou a seu pai Anand Krishna um poema intitulado ‘The city that never slept, slept’ [En] [A cidade que nunca dormia, dormiu, em Inglês].

[…]More lives are lost,
More battles fought.
The war was raging on,
The guns just fire everywhere,
Victory goes to no one.
The terrorists may be killed,
But the void of the lost loved one is never filled.
The roads are empty, there is no sound.
Mumbai, the city that never slept,
Slept long, deep and sound.[.]

Vivek Sharma em Desicritics fez uso de metáforas retiradas de épicos Indianos para descrever o terror de Mumbai em seu poema, “Mumbai burns” [En] [Mumbai arde em fogo, em Inglês]:

[.]Did you see the sobbing reporter describe how the Taj of Mumbai burns?
How many will Asuras (devils) cause to die before O Vishnu as avataar returns?

The fanatic bullet hunts gazelles everywhere that nostalgia mourns.
Where is the machine crafted that chokes our unfinished yearns? […]

Teal intitula seu poema ‘Battle without a cause’ [En] [Batalha sem uma causa, em Inglês] em ~ Spero ergo sum ~. Tudo que ela deseja, no final das contas, é a paz. Mas suas indagações, sem fim, são nebulosas:

[…]Has the power at center gone completely callous

focused on nothing, but creating chaos, raucous?

How many more to die, how many more to lose

Until they get the backbone to act, and set loose

The act of retribution, against these evil minions

Who, despite education and well bringing, act heinous

How dare you take away something that god has given?

How can you walk on, like nothing ever happened?[…]

Sandhya Ramachandran não consegue mais sorrir em paz. Não consegue encontrar um lugar onde possa ir e se esconder do terror em seu poema, “Why can’t I smile in peace?” [En] [Por que não posso sorrir em paz?, em Inglês]

[…]I seem to have no streets
to run and play and fall!
There is no place to cycle
no place to hide and crawl

I am a little kid of seven
with her book and toys and doll
Why can't I smile in peace
It is my world too, after all![.]

Ashq, um engenheiro de 28 anos de idade de Rajasthan deseja saber quando tudo isto irá terminar. Ele intitula seu poema em Hindi, “Aakhir kab tak?” [H & En](Untill when?) [Até quando?, em Inglês].

ये सपने नहीं जानते ,
किसी हिन्दू को न मुस्लमान को ,
न ये जानतें है हिंदुस्तान को , न पाकिस्तान को ,
फिर क्यों उन्हें ही चुकाना पड़ता है हर बार इस क़र्ज़ को ,
क्यों भूल जाते है वो ‘कायर’ मानवता के अपने फ़र्ज़ को ,
क्यों आतंक को हमेशा जेहाद कहा जाता है ,
क्यों धरम को इस तरह नंगा नचाया जाता है I

They don’t care about dreams
If you are Hindu or Muslim
Nor do they care
If India or Pakistan
Why then do they always pay the debt?
Why do those cowards (terrorists) forget their duty towards humanity?
And name terror as jihad
(Where) Karma is made to dance naked

Shreya Tiwari de Mumbai convida todos os Indianos a se unir e dar as mãos contra o terror em seu Untitled Hindi poem [H & En] [poema em Hindi, Sem Título, em Inglês].

आगे आओ मिलकर हाथ मिलायेंगे ,
भारत को फिर से आजाद कराएँगे ।
समझो बस इस धरती को अपनी माता ,
समझो सबको अपना ही भाई - भ्राता ।
नही ज़रूरत मुझको तख्तो ताजों की ,
नही ज़रूरत स्वागत की और बाजों की ।
मुझे ज़रूरत सबकी देश सुरक्षा में ,
मै मांगू बलिदान देश की रक्षा में ।
बोलो क्या मै ऐसे ही चिल्लाऊंगा ,
दो ज़बाब क्या ऐसे ही मै गाऊंगा ।
इंतज़ार है मुझको देश के पुत्तर का ,
इंतज़ार है मुझको सबके उत्तर का ।

Come ahead and we’ll join our hands.
Try to free our country from terror
This land is our mother
And every Indian is our brother
I don’t need any crowns neither do I want to rule
I don’t need you to welcome me
We need to unite to protect this country
I need your blood for this nation
Tell me would I remain screaming?
Tell me would I remain sing like this?
I am waiting for this country’s child
And I am waiting for your replies.

Se você deseja partilhar um poema favor adicioná-lo na seção dos comentários.

Mulheres: Deveriam elas ficar em casa e criar filhos ou trabalhar e dar sua contribuição? Uma dúvida polêmica que Fantasia's World tentou responder em seu blog: Você está fazendo com que seu país fique ainda mais pobre? [en]

Fantasia dedica seu blog a

all the bitter, ever-complaining, dissatisfied housewives.. who were once my school buddies, university comrades, and work colleagues, but have chosen to stay at home after marriage.

Fantasia descreve a natureza de seu relacionamento com as amigas citadas acima, ao dizer:

Sorry, all. You have always found me to be your comforting pillow.. always an attentive listener, with whom you can split your pains, and someone you can always count on for relief. You've always found me to have a great ability to sympathize, or even empathize.
I've always understood your weaknesses, and swallowed your follies.. being careful not to criticize you or blame you until you are totally in the right mood for thinking and re-evaluating your acts. I was extra gentle with matters of the heart.. less with life-defining decisions.. yet constantly focusing on absorbing your pain and frustration. I am still the same.

E agora vem a parte que atiçou a fogueira:

Only one thing is too many for me.. and that is when you complain that you are stuck in a bad marriage, having to stick to a tight budget (complaining about the high cost of living), and that you can't help transferring your anger unto your kids! Now, that's way too much. I can't absorb that.. and you'd better be ready to find your emotional sponge turn rock-solid.
I seriously don't get it! You said that your family needs all your time, so that's why you don't need a job.. then you complain of loneliness and the huge spare time you are never able to fill! You said that your husband has got a handsome income that would make your slim salary seem ridiculous, that's why you're better off without your work.. then you complain that prices are rising and that your budget is getting tighter! You said that work for women is not primary.. then you envy your ex-colleagues whenever one of them gets promoted or whenever you see one of'em on TV! You just turned into one of those horrible women you once hated and criticized. You are searching for the faults in others to prove that nobody is perfect, as if this will calm you deep inside, instead of trying to improve your life or make it a happier one.

Depois disso, se aprofunda em explicar como as mulheres que ficam em casa tornam o Egito mais pobre:

Belonging to the third world is not like being a member in a club. A country earns its place in the so-called third world because it belongs there.. it is poor, has a slow development rate, and does not contribute much (if any) to global economy or development (for example, in scientific research). Hence, if a country does what you do.. that is, become dependent on other productive countries.. it fits into the third world. And as long as half the population in those countries think the way you do, then those countries have got zero chance in improvement.
To be able to imagine how weak our production rate is, I'll just give a couple of examples.. The average productivity of an Egyptian citizen is estimated to be around 1000$ a year.. and it tends to be fixed around this figure through many years.. while in Israel for example, a citizen produces the equivalent of 15000$/year.. And in a country which used to belong to the third world only a few years ago like Singapore, this amount reaches 45000$ per capita.. meaning that the productivity of the Singaporean citizen is 45 times as much as that of his Egyptian counterpart!! Now, where can this get us for God's sake?
It is as simple as this.. there are 78 million Egyptians.. half of them are brought up to think that their primary role in life is to reproduce and serve their households. Then the whole population is dependent on the other half to feed them and satisfy their basic needs.. How lovely!

Sugere, sem papas na língua, que

By sitting at home, you are just turning into a huge burden on economy. You keep adding to this burden when you keep getting more children to keep yourself occupied at home. The end result is more poverty and misery for thousands. Urban women are the worst of the lot.. they are not productive at all. A rural woman bakes her own bread, plants her vegetables, raises chicken, sews clothes…etc. While all what urban women do is consume, consume, consume. Not only do they consume goods.. but also endless hours on the phone and in front of TV to keep themselves entertained. They consume energy.. which (in case you don't know) is becoming rarer and rarer, and is expected to be the number one reason behind endless wars to come.
So, back to urban women.. What do they produce? What is their share in the national income? Zero.

Fazendo uma ligação com o papel do governo,

The government has contributed to this crisis when it failed to provide adequate daycare service to help their female employees stay in the workforce; hence, making it easier for the private sector to get away without having any obligation towards female workers. Why on earth would a company owner bother to provide a service that the government itself does not require or care to provide?
The ridiculous alternative of the 2 years maternal leave (in the public sector) only means that those women do not actually work, or else how would 2 years of absence be OK with them? Those women then return (if they ever do) to resume their work in the same position they occupied before their leave, falling back behind their colleagues who got their promotions on time. The private sector is even worse.. it gives a maternal leave of 3 months, after which you can bid your job goodbye. Most probably what a woman pays for daycare and transportation to be able to carry on this daily tour (home-daycare-work-daycare-home) will be enough to swallow her full income. Thus, she finds herself compelled to stay at home with her baby.

Levando-nos das ciências sociais para a matemática básica, Fantasia nos ajuda a descobrir porque o Egito continua a ser uma nação pobre:

1- With the gender gap in favor of males in literacy rates, we have to confront the fact that only 59.4% of females could read and write, 93% of which complete the primary stage, while only 67% attend secondary school.
2- Only 23% of women join the labor force.. they make 22% of the total labor force in Egypt.
3- Of those women in the labor force (23%), only 22.6% hold a university degree, (which means that only 5% of Egyptian women are highly educated working citizens! Freakish!) 16% of those are in administrative posts, and 28% hold professional and technical posts.
Aside from those horrifying figures, one might think that a crisis of this magnitude must be a top priority while designing reform programs.. yet, unfortunately, we can not count on that.

Citando a Professora Mahassen Mostafa Hassanin em seu livro: “Egypt: A Poverty Profile” [Egito: Um Perfil da Pobreza]:

Reform programs tend to work to the benefit of men than to the benefit of women. Macroeconomic policies concentrate on the reallocation of resources to achieve both stability and growth rather than on microeconomic issues and gender differentiation. Development programs usually address males while neglecting females.

Not only so, but the pop culture is another huge obstacle, acting as a strong barrier, preventing girls from aspiring to play an active role in society. And I quote again from the same source:
Equality and equity among males and females represents the cornerstone of this new development paradigm which concentrates on sustainability of the development process and this requires changing the prevailing social paradigm, and re-educating men and women on how to work together to create a more humanitarian world order.

On why Egyptian women would ever consider having a job , Professor Hassanin says:
The pattern of women in the development process is controversial. Women devote nearly all their income to the welfare of their family and still have to comply with the constraints of their gender role in the society. This makes the cost of their participation in the development process rather excessive.
And that is so true.. Women are rather pushed into the workforce than deciding to join it out of a personal will.. They lack empowerment, ambition and a sound environment which might inspire them to be productive citizens.

Para uma maior elaboração desse tópico, cito o trabalho de Ms. Sahar Nasr intitulado: “Women and Poverty” [Mulheres e Pobreza] que fez parte do Joint Report of the National Council for Women and the World Bank [Relatório Conjunto do Conselho Nacional para Mulheres e o Banco Mundial] (2003):

In her research on women headed households, Nasr has found that most of those women are widowed. Which means that as long as there is a man at home, poor women would never consider having a job.
Poverty has Higher Price for Women and Girls. While poverty per se is not a gender concern, women, along with their children, tend to be more vulnerable to poverty than men.
Poor women often face a triple disadvantage:
• Heavy reproductive burden and their non-market contributions are often not recognized—undervaluing a significant part of their economic contributions.
• Social concerns may also limited women’s access to labor market and the type of jobs from which they can choose.
• Finally, women generally have lower educational achievements, reducing their earnings ability.

Em sua conclusão, pergunta a seus amigos e a todas às mulheres improdutivas

Do you realize now that you can not just sit there and complain? Your country needs you, because you are one of the very few young, healthy, well-educated women who expected to be productive, and any development would simply not happen as long as you insist on throwing all your education and personal skills against the wall and sitting there doing nothing.
BE RESPONSIBLE.. ACT RESPONSIBLE.. DO SOMETHING FOR THE FUTURE OF YOUR KIDS.. STOP MAKING YOUR COUNTRY POORER

De acordo com estimativas iniciais, há 100.000 passageiros detidos [en] na Tailândia depois que manifestações anti-governo lideradas pelo People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) [en] [Aliança do Povo pela Democracia] [en] forçaram o fechamento dos dois principais aeroportos de Bangkok. Os manifestantes negaram-se a evacuar o aeroporto; exigem, primeiro, que o Primeiro Ministro da Tailândia entregue o cargo.
Os manifestantes tomaram conta de dois aeroportos essa semana: o Aeroporto de Suvarnabhumi (o novo aeroporto da Tailândia) e o Aeroporto Internacional de Don Mueang.
A indústria do turismo é a principal vítima. Esta é a alta estação e a Tailândia é um dos principais pontos de conexão na Ásia. Os planos de viagem de centenas de milhares de turistas do mundo todo foram afetados.
A maioria dos passageiros detidos não se encontra retida dentro [en] dos aeroportos; provavelmente estão hospedados em hotéis no centro de Bangkok. Muitos hotéis estão oferecendo acomodação gratuita [en] para turistas que permanecem mais tempo. Quanto aqueles permanecem dentro dos aeroportos, a situação não é boa. Andrew Wood, do Chaophya Park Hotel & Resort de Bangok, revela [en]:

Bangkok based tour operators visiting the airport since early this morning report that the hygiene situation at the airport is quickly deteriorating with limited toilets and washrooms. Food outlets also are struggling to keep up with demand with food supplies dwindling. This is likely to become critical if PAD supporters block supply routes.

Quais são as opiniões de alguns dos passageiros presos nos aeroportos, de residentes de Bangkok e de manifestantes, agora mundialmente mal vistos?

Richard Hosier [en] que esteve na Tailânida com sua família está muito furioso:

I am stuck here in Thailand with my wife and children after choosing to holiday here. We can't get home so I like to say thank you to the kind people of Thailand who try to help us and thanks to the PAD who show once again that their actions are designed to hold hostage the Kingdom of Thailand in order to achieve their un-democratic demands.

Kenny [en] não está assim tão bravo com as manifestações de protesto:

I am safe and the protests are quite localized around the airports in Bangkok. While many tourists are starting to scramble and are a bit peeved about the airport delays, most people seem more discouraged about the unseasonal rain at the beaches.

Go East Young Woman desencoraja [en] os amigos que queiram visitar a Tailândia no momento:

It’s not so much dangerous right now as potentially dangerous, but it’s very inconvenient to be a tourist in Thailand right now. Both Bangkok airports are closed. Many people are stranded there. The PAD doesn’t seem to be taking hostages or anything like that, but a situation like that could easily turn volatile. I wouldn’t risk my safety there unless I had to. The mob keeps protesting in new areas all the time, so even if the airports are cleared and opened again, until the situation is resolved, who knows what they will decide to block next?
“No one seems to be targeting foreigners or tourists for violence, but there is still a risk of being caught in the crossfire of a violent situation between Thais if things go bad.
“Personally, I am trying to avoid public areas with a lot of people at the moment, especially government areas.

Tuesdaynight fugirá [en] da Tailândia por trajetos alternativos:

We are currently on the island of Lanta and having a great time, all things considered. We were supposed to leave for home tonight, but Bangkok’s airport has not reopened and there are no signs it will do so for a while.
We are going to make our way to Singapore by way of Langkawi and then KL. Hopefully, we’ll he home by the 1st.

Devido ao fato de que muitas companhias aéreas usam a Tailândia como local para conexões, passageiros de países vizinhos estão também retidos. Por exemplo, uma família prorrogou sua estadia em Cambódia [en] porque seus vôos haviam sido cancelados. Alguns americanos perderam as celebrações do Dia de Ação de Graças nos Estados Unidos.

Brunei Lifestyle cita o caso dos peregrinos haj [en] que ficaram retidos na Tailândia:

I was touched when I read that Thai haj pilgrims are now stranded at the Bangkok’s international airport. The report said that hundreds of Thai Muslims are now spending their third nights, fourth if tonight they are still there.
The rest of the haj pilgrims have chosen to stay at the airport but they have to make it to Mecca by next week, 2 December which is the cut-off date for the haj this season. What touches me was when they said that the pilgrimage is a test of faith but the airport chaos is already the test.
Some of them have saved all their lives for this once in a lifetime pilgrimage. Many of those stranded are elderly and frail but still hoping to be able to perform the haj this year. I wish they would all be able to make it to the holy land and have a safe journey.

O governo da Malásia enviou aviões militares [en] para salvar seus cidadãos. O Daily Brunei Resources cancelou uma viagem de família [en] para Bangkok que aconteceria na semana que vem. Friends [en] of Ranoadidas de Brunei também não puderam viajara para a Tailândia.
Tweets

Via Twitter, Kofty [en] viu alguns passageiros que estão retidos:

Meanwhile, I get my new shirts, 5 double French cuff, 5 button down. I see a few stranded tourists on Silom, but nothing else. All quiet.

Novamente do Twitter, ChrisSanderson [en] ouviu dizer que os passageiros retidos recebiam alguma compensação:

Apparently the government is giving Bangkok stranded tourist 2000 baht a day each to help out, present ticket at airport to collect cash.

Aeroporto azarento

My Thai Friend observa que o novo aeroporto encontrou problemas [en] ainda durante sua construção. Aparentementes, uma das razões citadas pelos golpitas de 2006 foi a má qualidade da construção do novo aeroporto:

There were lots of problems involving the construction, budget and Thai superstition. In fact back in September 2005 a total of 99 Buddhist monks were dispatched to the airport to help rid it of evil spirits following the “sighting” of ghosts by the construction workers.
“Problems with the runway and taxiways were discovered which eventually led to major reconstruction work. This combined with the airports inability to handle increasing traffic flow also led to the re-opening of Don Mueang for some domestic flights.

Carta do PAD

Muito já foi escrito sobre as agruras dos passageiros retidos; mas o que dizer sobre a situação dos manifestantes que vêm ocupando os aeroportos já há vários dias. Chuck Kuhn [en] escreve:

Despite the rising tensions, during the day, the main terminal building had an air of festivity about it. Many parents brought their children, stalls have been set up selling bright yellow alliance banners, flags and rattles, and all the food is free, much of it donated by wealthy supporters among Bangkok's business community. One stall was even giving fresh clothes to those who have been there for the duration.
“People give to us because they believe in our cause,” said Pluem Rodkaew, 33, who was handing out toiletries. “We have enough food and water to stay here for months.”

Uma carta dos manifestantes foi distribuida para os passageiros para deixar clara a sua missão [en]. Trechos da carta:

I’d like to stress here that the PAD’s policy is to use ONLY peaceful means and we have proved our intention by using only reason for the last six months.
“The aim of the PAD is to rebuild a country based on integrity, honesty, freedom from corruption and fairness for all Thais.
“We are not being paid to be here to use violence to get our way. We are not here to support a handful of corrupt politicians serving only one man who wants to divide our country. But we are here by choice, we are here to share an ideal, we are here to realize our goal which is to rebuild our country into a better place for the 60-odd million citizens. It’s actually not a question of “winning or losing” — it’s the reality of achieving what is good and right for our country — Thailand.

Alexisthetiny não quer aceitar um pedido de desculpas [en] do PAD:

I don’t care that you now have a big ole sign at Suvarnabhumi Airport saying that you’re sorry for all inconvenience caused but you only want the current PM to step down. You haven’t just inconvenienced everyone, you’ve acted like absolute CHILDREN and have disrupted everyone’s plans. You’ve pretty much put a big fat dent in your country’s economy, but I’m guessing you could care less. Let’s just say, you haven’t very much in the way of global sympathy any more. Take your bloody protest somewhere else and let the rest of the world get on with their lives. I mean, seriously, NO ONE, absolutely NO ONE is amused. Apology NOT accepted.

Enquanto nos aeroportos a tensão continua, no centro de Bangkok tudo parece calmo por esses dias. Aaron Escobar [en] observa:

Oddly enough, life seems to be going on entirely as normal here in the city. The streets are calmer than usual - less traffic, less people out and about - but that’s about it. We continue to go to school and work every day, ride the BTS, and enjoy living downtown. It’s a strange feeling, knowing that something critical to the county’s future is happening just on the outskirts of the city, but having absolutely no effect on our daily life.
“I wonder when all this is going to end? Technically, I suppose I’m stranded in Bangkok, but if Bangkok is home, does that really count as stranded?

Urban Pilgrim acrescenta [en]:

Despite the turmoil though, life in Bangkok continues as usual. There are no yellow-clad PAD demonstrators on the streets. Nor are there groups of red-shirted pro-government demonstrators. One unaware of the crisis would not find evidence of it in daily life.

Sovereign Myth conclui [en] que os objetivos do PAD irão enfraquecer a democracia na Tailândia:

Sections of the PAD leadership effectively wish to replace the imperfect but majoritarian electoral democracy currently in place with one that returns Thailand to the “semi-democracy” of the 1980s, although one reconfigured as more virtuous and wise. This is the only solution some elitist liberals and conservatives can envisage in the face of the electoral strength of the pro-Thaksin forces.

Projetado para acomodar 5.500 estudantes em tempo integral e 1.500 docentes e funcionários da administração, o campus novo da Universidade Americana no Cairo, de 260 acres e um custo de $400 milhões, é avançado em tecnologia e ecologicamente consciente. Os estudantes dizem que foi uma mudança prematura, pois têm sofrido assédio sexual e pagam caro pela alimentação, entre muitas outras questões.

O Chronicling Cairo [en] mostrou sua tristeza numa mensagem no blog [en]:

Since we moved to Heliopolis we've been dealing with an incredible amount of sexual harassment. Keep in mind that the entire time we've been living in the hotel so far has been during the month of Ramadan, the holiest month of the year for Muslims and the time in which all Muslims make extra effort to worship God and live in a pure and holy way.

As such, all sexual thoughts and acts during the fasting hours are technically forbidden. However, we cannot walk down the street in Heliopolis (in daylight or after sundown) without catcalls, honking cars, constant hissing, and what i'm sure are likely extremely lewd expressions in colloquial Egyptian being tossed our way. I was warned to expect the harassment, I can take the verbal abuse.

What I have difficulty accepting, however, is the physical component of the problem. Two weeks ago this sequence of events happened:

The fact that we're foreigners has no bearing on the level of harassment we're receiving–our Egyptian and Arab dorm-mates are harassed at an equal level. Surveys conducted of Egyptian women indicate that veiled women experience only 10% less harassment than unveiled women. My Palestinian suitemate told me that it will get even worse once Ramadan ends.

By deciding to house us in a completely isolated area full of military compounds that is hostile to outsiders in general, AUC put their female students in a terrible situation where there is absolutely nothing we can do to stop men from touching us inappropriately. And that makes me angry.

Scene and heard [en] publicou a seguinte carta de uma estudante estrangeira da AUC [Universidade Americana no Cairo]:

Dear S&H,

I am currently doing a semester abroad here at AUC at the new campus and am unfortunately really disappointed. My friends recommended the program after spending a summer studying Arabic at the downtown AUC campus and told me how amazing it was to be right smack dab in the middle of the city and cultural festivities. I had heard about the new campus but was told it wasn't “that far” from downtown and figured I had nothing to lose. I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when I arrived at the new campus and realized I was in the middle of a number of developing upscale communities surrounded by desert…not exactly the cultural experience I was looking for. I have to take a bus or Cairo Cab downtown to be able to experience the streets and true culture of Cairo. I wish I was able to walk down the streets near Tahrir square and eat koshari and falafel sandwiches between my gaps like my friends had told me about…and although Cilantro's not bad, that's not exactly what I flew thousands of miles to experience.

I recently read an article in the Daily News that really hit home and I thought that this was the best place to voice my opinion and maybe open a discussion forum. In the article, the reporter recommended: “For the sake of its foreign students, AUC’s Arabic Language Institute should seriously consider returning to the university’s old location in the heart of downtown Cairo.”

YES PLEASE.

Will Ward publicou um post com o título AUC: Batalha por comida no novo campus. [en]

On my first day at the AUC new campus I waited in line over half an hour to buy a cardboardy bagel from one of the three chain food outlets that were up and running.

This was because the university had sold a concession to Delicious Inc, a company that operates chain franchises like Cinnabon, McDonalds, Cilantro, etc, to be the sole foodservice provider on campus. A cup of coffee at one of these places runs 12-15 pounds, and a sandwich or salad would set you back at least 20.

For Ramadan this was not a huge deal because most people weren’t eating on campus anyway, but after Eid all hell broke loose. With fasting over, no one was prepared to wait forever in a line to overpay for meh food.

After a few days, something fantastic happened. Instead of complaining (my default response), a group of students set up small stands around campus and began selling snacks, apples and little packages of homemade pasta with roasted veggies. These were cheaper and more delicious than Delicious Inc’s products, so naturally, the company tried to shut them down.

I am told that, after being closed initially, the students appealed the decision to the AUC president and were given permission to continue operating. But then yesterday I noticed that Delicious had set up their own kiosk and had dispatched two Cilantro employees to hand out cookies to the passersby.

Getting warmer….but I’m not sold yet. When they start delivering free double macchiatos to my office, then we’ll talk. That may even earn them a coveted Friday in Cairo endorsement.

But in the end, even the student food is priced head and shoulders above the cheap filling lunch you can get for a few pounds at the downtown places. The real scandal is that, with November almost here, there is no sign of fuul, tamiyya or koshary on the new campus as promised.

Meanwhile, I continue to spend a great deal of time at the old campus. The wireless internet is still up and running, the cheaper, better coffee shop is still open, the bank is open with no lines. There are trees, birds chirping, no desert rats, you get the picture.

Estudantes furiosos conseguiram um pedido de desculpas [en] do reitor da AUC:

The head of The American University in Cairo apologized to attendees at a raucous and at times angry student forum today meant to address concerns about the new campus, which continued even as a blackout hit the university.

Flanked by two armed bodyguards, President David Arnold asked for the audience’s understanding and forgiveness for the problems the university has experienced this semester.

“I want to express my deep personal apology about the problems and suffering that we have encountered at the past two months,” he said.

The forum was hastily organized in response to a sit-in held by dozens of student protesters last week outside the administration building.

The group organizing the protest asked the school provide the details of its contract with food consortium Delicious Inc. and publicize all of its financial records, provide cheaper food alternatives, guarantee the campus is finished by spring, a reimbursement of four weeks of tuition, and a cap on tuition hikes.

During his address at the Motaz El Alfy Hall in the newly opened section of campus, Arnold acknowledged student frustration with the problems AUC has experienced in the move to Kattameya.

Arnold defended the move as the “right decision,” though he was immediately heckled for the comment.

He did not give a definitive answer about when the campus would be fully completed, but said he expected student housing would be ready for tenants at the end of the semester. An updated construction schedule is expected next week, AUC said in a statement.

To address student concerns about food on campus, the university has created a Food Services Committee, and will provide a summary of its agreement with Delicious Inc, the university said.

At the forum, Arnold announced that students would also receive a food coupon worth 200 LE.

He also agreed with the concerns that staff and students have raised about the bus service provided by Family Transport. Drivers for the Heliopolis-based firm have been in at least two accidents since the beginning of the semester.

“Bus service was not that good for the first two weeks of this semester, as many problems were taking place, such as the bus was sometimes full or it wasn’t on time,” Arnold said.

The bus services rebate will be worth 500 LE to each student, a third of the value of the bus pass.

But he said he was not entertaining a tuition refund of any kind. In its release, the university stated tuition covers 70 percent of education costs, the remainder covered by donations and AUC’s endowment funds.

“We have made a commitment towards offering higher education programs for you, so a reduction of tuition is unnecessary,” Arnold said.

In previous remarks to the Caravan, university officials said AUC has suffered a decline of almost $100 million in the market value of its securities investments, which were largely made with endowment funds.

No Facebook, diversos grupos foram criados pelos estudantes dando voz as suas frustrações: Petição para retornar para o antigo campus, [en] Odiamos o novo campus,[en] e Não venda o campus velho.[en]

Pela segunda vez, este mês, o governo militar de Fiji ameaçou mandar para a cadeia o dono de um jornal e seu editor por terem publicado uma carta ao editor em suposto desacato à lei.

Em meados de outubro, o Fiji Times e o Fiji Daily Post veicularam a carta de um certo Vili Navukitu de Queensland, Austrália, reclamando sobre um decreto recente emitido pelo Supremo Tribunal de Justiça que legitima as ações do presidente daquele país que dissolveu o Parlamento e o governo eleito de Laisenia Qarase, logo após o golpe militar, em dezembro de 2006, que colocou no poder o Capitão da Marinha Frank Bainamairama. [en]

A carta (que foi reimpressa neste blog [en]) chamava a atenção para o fato de que Bainimarama exercia influência sem precedente sobre os jurados, pois havia, anteriormente, derrubado o presidente do tribunal.

Uma vez que a carta havia sido publicada, o Procurador Geral da Justiça de Fiji, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, acusou o Fiji Times de desacato às leis de Fiji por levantar dúvidas a respeito da integridade e independência das cortes de justiça. O Fiji Times publicou um pedido de desculpa  [en] na primeira página do jornal admitindo desobediência e oferecendo pagar todos os custos processuais.

O Procurador Geral, insensível ao pedido de desculpas, convocou o tribunal a prender o proprietário e o editor do jornal e aplicar multas altas ao jornal. O caso está suspenso até dezembro. O proprietário e o editor do Fiji Daily Post, onde a carta também foi veiculada, podem vir a enfrentar o mesmo destino, declarou [en] o Procurador Geral esta semana. Ambos os jornais foram intimados a fornecer os detalhes completos sobre o autor da carta.

O escândalo surge logo depois da divulgação de que o grupo pela liberdade de imprensa, Reporters Without Borders (Repórteres Sem Fronteiras) classificou [en] Fiji em 79º lugar no quesito ‘liberdade de imprensa' de um total de 173 países, um grande salto em relação ao ano anterior, quando ficou em 107º lugar.

Os blogueiros de Fiji expressaram amplamente sua indignação com o caso de perseguição aos dois jornais.

O blog Soli Vakasama [en] protestou contra o fato de que o Fiji Daily Post pediu desculpas também ao judiciário, algo que nenhum jornal deveria jamais ter que fazer:

[T]oday the Fiji Daily Post dedicated its entired editorial towards apologising to the judiciary and therefore caving into the illegal interim government and that arse of an AG’s demands. While they maybe in a tight spot, the question we may ask is when will the so called “Fourth Estate” be man enough to draw a line in the sand and say it as it is instead of complying to the selfish demands of these illegal bunch of thieves who stole power through the barrel of a gun?

If the media are not game enough to do it we will say it at Solivakasama that there are certain members of the judiciary who are a bunch of low down selfish self serving scums…

No entanto, nem todas as pessoas concordam com aqueles sentimentos. Um comentarista, Budhau adverte [en]:

This ain’t about Aiyaz and what he says. The issue is contempt of court and regardless of who is in power or who the judges are - the letter, and the publishing of the letter was contempt.

Now the newspaper folks should have done a better job of going through the letters before the print it - not because of the content, but to deal with issues like contempt of court, libel etc.

Mark Manning [en] alega que:

There was no contempt of court as the case had already been heard and dealt with. It’s only contempt if the case about to be heard or is in the process of being heard . It’s actually freedom of the press and it’s a Journalists job to report these matters , but not while the case is before the courts .

“AS REAÇÕES JUDICIAIS DE FIJI ao desacato de dois jornais locais são cada vez mais tolas,” relata o jornalista neo-zelandês David Robie em seu blog Cafe Pacific [en]:

The contempt laws for scandalising the court were never meant to stifle vigorous debate about court rulings. Citizens Constitutional Forum chief executive Rev Akuila Yabaki says the draconian prosecutions “stifle free speech in an oppressive manner“. The paranoid climate around the judiciary following last month's controversial High Court judgment declaring the post-coup regime to be legitimate is deteriorating.

Discombobulated Bubu [en], que republicou a carta (juntamente com uma outra, igualmente crítica) diz que essas opiniões estão na boca de muita gente:

These letters to the Editor of the Fiji Times reflects the mood of the country right now. Our people are sad, angry and struggling to make ends meet. As one who is involved with charity work on a daily basis, it is no exaggeration to compare Fiji to Zimbabwe. We are truly at the beginning of Zimbabwe's slide into self-destruction…
When the taxpayer can see that there hard earned money is being spent on trivial things such as new uniforms for Teletubby and his band of marching boys, thousands of dollars a day to an expatriate FIRCA consultant, thousands of other dollars for useless and unnecessary overseas trips for Baini, Mary and accompanying entourage, a Charter process costing millions that is failing big time, thousands of dolllars for a Charter consultant to produce a Class 8 essay, and useless court judgements costing thousands to legalise murder and coups, prolonged and vindictive false prosecutions against “enemies of the State” , something has got to give.
Our Fiji was never given to us to be run by bullies with guns. Be warned , the military regime in Fiji is living on borrowed time.

O jornal Raw Fiji News [en] olha para a frente, para dezembro, quando o governo irá divulgar uma nova lei para regular os meios de comunicação.

And to stifle the media even more, Frank’s gestapo regime is going to impose their media law in December. And we say, bring it on! The truth is this - in this new day and age, information reaches people the way they want to receive it. And guess what, more breaking and detailed news can be found outside of the mainstream media with a touch of a button and people already know that and are accessing it online all the time. Sounds familiar? Yep, that’s us the new i-peoples of this world who don’t rely on the media to tell us waz up and waz down!

Depois que os eleitores da Califórnia aprovaram a emenda que bane os casamentos gay no estado, os direitos dos homossexuais e transexuais está de volta nas manchetes dos jornais nos Estados Unidos. Enquanto lá os debates continuam vigorosos, Nepal - um país distante, muito menor e, com freqüência, ignorado no plano mundial está, agora, sendo admirado como exemplo de como lidar com as questões dos direitos dos homossexuais e transexuais.

No dia 17 de Novembro, a Suprema Corte do Nepal emitiu um decreto histórico [en] que garante proteção à comunidade de gays, lésbicas e transsexuais no país. Abre, também, as portas para os direitos aos casamento gay e acaba com todas as leis discriminatórias.

No Towleroad [en] os comentaristas expressaram seu apoio à decisão do Nepal. John, na California, chama a atenção para o decreto da Suprema Corte do país e, também, para as mudanças que acontecem na Ásia no que diz respeito aos direitos das minorias sexuais e dos transexuais.

“I don't think we'll see much momentum on gay issues in the Middle East and Africa beyond what has already happened in Israel and South Africa…… I think the gay rights movement of the 21st century will be fought in these two areas of the world. Aside from this great ruling in Nepal, we've seen some encouraging signs Asians are finally willing to talk about sexuality.”

Os esforços de um grupo nepalês dos direitos homossexuais está sendo discutido também pelos blogueiros, principalmente o fato de que o fundador do grupo-Blue Diamond Society, Sunil Pant, é o único membro declaradamente homossexual da Assembléia Constituinte do Nepal. PinkNews UK [en] cita a fala de Mr. Pant em resposta ao decreto

“Reading this decision my eyes were filled with tears and I felt we are the most proud LGBTI citizens of Nepal in the world.”

Os esforços do Nepal estão tendo influência também sobre os países vizinhos, especialmente a Índia. Transgender rights activists [en] [Os Ativistas pelos direitos dos transexuais] na cidade de Bangalore (agora denominada Bengaluru) observam as mudanças no Nepal e esperam que a campanha da polícia municipal contra as minorias sexuais acabe logo.

“Police from Banashakari Police Station (Bengaluru City) verbally abused and assaulted (physically and sexually) 40 plus human rights defenders and sexual minorities when they questioned the illegal detention of 5 hijras (transgenders) by Girinagar Police station on 20th October, 2008.”

O interessante é que a questão religiosa não tem tido um impacto sobre o debate dos direitos dos homossexuais no Nepal. O país é constituído, em sua maioria, de Hindus, com os Muçulmanos, Budistas, Cristãos e a população indígena perfazendo cerca de 10% da população. Algumas pessoas atribuem esse fato à falta de uma hierarquia rígida [en] ou de uma estrutura de liderança no Hinduismo.

“In 2004, Hinduism Today reporter Rajiv Malik asked several Hindu swamis (teachers) their opinion of same-sex marriage. The swamis expressed a range of opinions, positive and negative. They felt free to differ with each other…..made possible by the fact that Hinduism has no one hierarchy or leader. As Mahant Ram Puri remarked, “We do not have a rule book in Hinduism. We have a hundred million authorities.”

Os textos antigos do Hinduismo [en] como o Mahabharta exibe personagens transexuais que não tiveram que enfrentar discriminação por parte da sociedade e mesmo o deus Krishna tinha uma predileção por se vestir como mulher para agradar sua amante.