An old video of a bridge collapse in Jammu is falsely shared linking it to Gujarat- Maharashtra - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 28, 2022
In the context of severe floods in Maharashtra, a video through a Facebook post is being shared widely on social media. The video shows a portion of a bridge collapsing into an overflowing stream. The post claims, “अक्कलकुवा   ते   अंकलेश्वर   पूल तुटला  “ (English translation: “ Akkalkuwa to Ankleshwar bridge brokedown”). Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Visuals of a collapsed bridge that connects Akkalkuwa (town in Maharashtra) to Ankleshwar (city in Gujarat).
Fact: This incident took place in Jammu’s Gadigarh area on 26 August 2020. Due to heavy rainfall in the region, the water level in the stream increased leading to the collapse of a large portion of the bridge. According to a local resident, the bridge is called Bablian bridge. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING
Reverse image search of the screenshots from the video led us to a 2020 Facebook post with the same video, but the description says, “A bridge in Dharap village on Jammu city’s outskirts collapses due to flash flood triggered by heavy rainfall.” Taking a cue from this, we searched the internet with relevant keywords and found several media agencies reporting the incident”. These reports can be seen here, here and here
#WATCH Jammu and Kashmir: A portion of a bridge in Jammu's Gadigarh area collapses, following heavy rainfall in the region. pic.twitter.com/MPwTGefF8D
According to these reports, A portion of a bridge in Jammu’s Gadigarh area collapsed, following heavy rainfall in the region. As per the visuals, the bridge is located on a stream. Due to heavy rainfall in the area, the water level in the stream increased leading to the collapse of a large portion of the bridge on 26 August 2020. According to a local resident, the bridge is called Bablian bridge.
To sum it up, 2020 visuals of a bridge collapse in Jammu & Kashmir is shared as a bridge that connects Maharashtra and Gujarat.


The tourists who visit Ukraine’s warzones - 360
Philipp Wassler
Published on February 23, 2023
War attracts a certain type of tourist as Ukraine has discovered. Apart from safety issues, the legal and ethical ramifications are complex.
The posts are from many different people but usually begin the same way: “I am looking to volunteer in Ukraine …”  The queries are from medical professionals, former soldiers, truck drivers, college students and countless others. Some have weapons; many don’t. All have the same goal: to get to Ukraine and join the war.
One video on the “volunteers for Ukraine” subreddit forum is of a school janitor from Montana now helping evacuate women and children from battle zones. Another is a mother-of-two and nurse from Los Angeles helping the wounded on the frontlines. One older woman dropped everything in the US and now helps save animals caught up in the chaos.
The idea of visiting a warzone may seem crazy but since Russia invaded Ukraine 12 months ago, there has emerged a group determined to get firsthand experience of the battlefields.
Tourism to Ukraine was just starting to recover from the devastation of COVID-19 when Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion. The bulk of the fighting has taken place in the country’s east. Farther west, despite regular missile attacks on the capital Kyiv and other cities, tourism is still encouraged, despite the risks.
Tourists who have recently visited Ukraine speak of Kyiv as being surprisingly similar to peacetime (albeit with more poverty on the streets and less-crowded public transport). Favourable exchange rates make services cheap and most banks, hospitals, pharmacies, shops and restaurants operate as normal. There is a downside, though — the risk of being shot, blown up, wounded, poisoned, infected or trapped.
Despite the risks, the flow of foreigners to Ukraine has not let up, although reliable statistics are scarce. The Ukrainian government established a foreign legion just days after the invasion. Thousands responded. One military commentator labelled these foreigners fighting in Ukraine as a “legion of the damned”, an army of “misfits, veterans and war tourists”.
Some of these war tourists pay the ultimate price. Australian man Sage O’Donnell was killed just before Christmas. The ex-soldier was helping train Ukrainian volunteers when he died. He’s the fourth Australian to be killed. Overall, more than 112 foreigners have perished while many others have been captured by the Russians.
War tourism is not a new phenomenon, as historical sources cite the presence of onlookers at historical battles such as the battle of Waterloo and the American Civil War’s Battle of Bull Run.
Shortly after the start of the Russian invasion, the subreddit “volunteers for Ukraine” was created and had 50,000 members within a month. Text processing of more than 10,000 posts showed the main topics for discussion within the forum.
Combat volunteers asked information on issues such as “equipment and resources”, “language skills”, “basic training”, “military background” and need for “prior service”. Non-combat volunteers shared information on “medical experience”, “medical training”, “medical supplies” and “combat zone experience”.
Other forum members said they would not travel to the combat zone directly, but try to support Ukraine through financial donations, online information sharing and dismantling fake news.
Usually war sites are only visited once conflict has subsided, but recent studies suggest the practice of travelling to active areas of conflict is growing, a phenomenon which is referred to as “hot” war tourism. Although mostly not explicitly stated, from their posts it can be inferred they were interested in watching, a voyeuristic view on a spectacle as real as it gets.
These potential war tourists were concerned with “logistics and barriers”, “how to cross the border” and “how to acquire a plane ticket”. “Cold weather gear”, “sleeping bags” and “language skills” were other issues of interest among them.
Travel to conflict zones as a volunteer or paid foreign fighter is illegal in many countries, but this seldom applies to visit active war zones as an onlooker. Governments around the world are mostly unequivocal: do not travel to Ukraine.
In the case of Ukraine, studies have suggested war tourists often end up as active participants in the conflict. Westerners have also entered Ukraine to fight for the Russian side.
Whether it is ethical to visit an active warzone for whatever reason is up for debate. And whether tourists arrive with the intention to be actively involved in the conflict is not clear and reliable data is not available.
What is clear is the lack of understanding, control and legal frameworks to regulate war tourism and its related dangers.
Philipp Wassler is an Italian academic and author specialising in travel and tourism, with a passion for controversial and ethically challenging facets of the industry. He enjoys travelling to unconventional destinations, among which a trip to North Korea was a highlight.
Editors Note: In the story “Ukraine one year on” sent at: 24/02/2023 16:21.
This is a corrected repeat.


Eritrea: Put Eritrea back on the map · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Put Eritrea back on the map, please!: “In the April 29 Travel section (European edition), the article titled “Lots to sample in South Africa” was accompanied by a map of Africa that is closely accurate — except for one flaw: It fails to depict Eritrea.”


Catching up on Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake: Three things you need to know about Wisconsin’s troubled youth prisons | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Allison Dikanovic
July 3, 2019
A new report this week says there have been major improvements at Lincoln Hills. (Photo courtesy of the state Department of Corrections)
A lot has happened in the last few days affecting the future of Milwaukee’s youths in the justice system.
As local and state leaders get closer to figuring out what will replace the state’s troubled youth prisons, Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake, these are the three things you need to know right now:
On Friday, Gov. Tony Evers signed a follow-up bill to Act 185, the law that would close the youth prisons and replace them with smaller regional facilities run by individual counties and the state. If you want more background information on Act 185, check out this explainer piece.
Rep. Evan Goyke (D-Milwaukee), a co-sponsor on the new bill, said the point is to clarify parts of the original act. It does not make substantial changes to the plan itself, other than the timeline.
The new law gives the state Juvenile Corrections Grant Committee until Oct. 1, 2019, to make recommendations on what county projects should be funded.
In addition to the delayed timeline, the budget has changed with the new Evers administration. The grant committee now has $80 million to work with to fund counties’ proposals for regional facilities, which doubled from the original $40 million in Act 185.
The budget also allocates $43.9 million to the Department of Health Services to significantly expand Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center, a mental health institution that is also a high security correctional placement for youths.
The Joint Committee on Finance did not approve funding for new state-run facilities for youths with the most serious offenses. It is yet to be decided what these facilities will be and how they will be funded.
The report said there was significant improvement in youth and staff wellness, as well as in the conditions of the facility itself, but it still found that rooms were not “suicide resistant.”
The report is the third to come from a monitor required by the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin and the Juvenile Law Center on behalf of youths who experienced abuse at the prison.
The July report stated there has been “significant progress made in improving the quality of life for youth and staff” since the last report in April, noting positive staff and youth relationships and increased recreation.
It found that pepper spray and mechanical restraints were still being used in the facility, and youths were being punitively confined in their rooms, but at a much lower rate.
This overall positive review stands in contrast to past reports. It comes in light of the state recently reaching an almost $5 million settlement with three former youths who alleged they had been abused at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake.
On Monday, Milwaukee County submitted a new $41.8 million proposal to the state for its local piece of the plans to replace the youth prisons.
It submitted an earlier version in March, but this plan is significantly different. Namely, it doesn’t include building any new facilities but rather suggests renovations and new programs.
County leaders and local advocates have consistently been critical of the state’s plans to replace Lincoln Hills. They say the suggested smaller regional facilities are too similar to the youth prison model that has proven to be ineffective, yielding high recidivism rates of more than 70% and costing more than $144,000 a year to incarcerate one young person in Wisconsin.
“It wouldn’t be a wise use of our resources or taxes or an effective means of getting good outcomes by sticking with just building a building,” said Mary Jo Meyers, director of the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services.
The new proposal includes a renovation to the Vel R. Phillips Youth Detention Center and a collaboration with and renovation of existing residential facilities in the county through partnerships with “community partners” that haven’t been identified yet.
The rest of the requested funding would be dedicated to investing in personnel and staff training, as well as creating more programs to serve as alternatives to incarceration, such as mentoring programs.
Meyers said the reason for changing the proposal from building a new facility is to give greater flexibility to tailor the programming to changing needs, especially as the youth arrest rate continues to decline.
Milwaukee’s requests fall out of the original parameters of Act 185, so it’s still unknown if it will receive state funding.


Ukraine: Court Orders Yulia Tymoshenko’s Arrest · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

According to media reports, the court has ordered the arrest of Ukraine's ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko (@YuliaTymoshenko [uk]). Olga Sulyma (@OlenyatkoS) addresses [en] Ukraine's President Victor Yanukovych on Twitter: “Dear Mr.President,by arresting #Tymoshenko you are one step away from handcuffing #Ukraine.”


Peru: Environmental Journalist Detained in Cajamarca  · Global Voices
Silvia Vinas

Juan Arellano reports [es] in his blog that the “environmental journalist Jorge Chávez Ortiz, known on Twitter as @chavezwar [es], has reportedly been detained a few hours ago in Cajamarca. The young journalist from Cajamarca is also responsible for the blog Mi mina corrupta (“My corrupt mine”) [es], where he shows his opposition to the Conga mining project.”


Latin America: Public Affection · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Inspired by Somini Sengupta's New York Times article, Is Public Romance a Right?, Vikrum Sequeira compares societal attitudes towards public affection in India and Latin America.


Ghana: What is the link between rain and roadworks? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Why do rains force roadworks in Accra, Ghana?: “To tell you the truth, it is generally hard to establish a logical link between rain and roadworks in this country.”


Zambia: Meet a Blogger Who Tackles Health Issues · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

One Zambian blogger tackles an issue other Zambian bloggers don’t touch — health. Meluse Kapatamoyo has written about dementia and fibroids as well as malaria eradication and the use of beads for family planning among other health conditions.
It was Kapatamoyo’s blog post on dementia which she wrote from her own personal experience of seeing her mother suffer from it that caught my attention. She wrote:
She loved me and I knew it! But all that changed in just one morning.
Zambian health blogger – Meluse Kapatamoyo. Photo source: pokeyourmind.blogspot.co.uk/
I had spent the whole day with her, laughing and reminiscing about my late dad. I insisted on giving her a manicure and pedicure and although I managed to convince her to allow me paint her nails, she said dad would not have approved. It was the first and only time that my mother ever had her nails painted. As I left that evening, I felt blessed to have her.
However, that was my last beautiful memory of the two of us together. The next morning, my sister and I woke up to a call that mum was acting strange and had been taken to hospital. When I got there, I found her sleeping but as soon as she opened her eyes, I immediately knew that something was seriously wrong.
There was no glow in her eyes and she did not look at me as she always did. In fact, she looked at me like some stranger, someone she had never seen before.
On fibroids, Kapatamoyo wrote:
A visitor to my blog recently requested that I do some research on fibroids. Here is an interview I had with Dr Mulindi Mwanahamuntu, a gynaecology consultant at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka.
Fibroids, also called Leomyoma, are new overgrowths of the fibrous muscles of the uterus. Although they are essentially one and the same type of tumour, they are given different names according to the part of the uterus they occupy. Intramural fibroids are located in between the uterine muscle while the ones that push into the uterine cavity are called sub-mucous and those on the surface of the uterus are known as Sub-Serosa fibroids. The sub-serosa fibrods can even be in a suspended position from the uterus surface like fruits hanging from a branch, these are referred to as Pedunculated fibroids. All these are seen in equal measure at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) but they present with different severity of problems (symptoms).
On the use of beads for family planning, she wrote:
CycleBeads, a colour –coded string of beads, are fast becoming a popular family planning method as the battle to ensure that women worldwide (especially those living in developing countries) have access to family planning methods besides injectables and pills.
The beads represent days of a woman’s cycle and help her use a natural family planning method called the Standard Days method, which is based on reproductive physiology. A woman’s “fertile window” (the days in the menstrual cycle when she can get pregnant) begins approximately five days prior to ovulation and lasts up to 24 hours after ovulation.
On malaria eradication, Kapatamoyo reported:
Color-coded family planning beads. Image source: pokeyourmind.blogspot.co.uk/
Zambia is among African countries that have entered into a partnership with the United States of America to combat malaria incidence in women and children, a new report has announced.
A comment on the malaria blog by Stephen Kapambwe reads:
I think this business of depending on cooperating partners to deal with our problems, in this case the disease burden, is not very helpful. I say this because I travelled to Nakambala Sugar estates one day where I discovered that malaria prevalence in the Nakambala community has been brought down to less than one per cent. Zambia Sugar Corporate Affairs Manager Lovemore Sievu was on hand to explain that they the local community on the estates has recorded zero malaria cases in a long time as a result of frequent spraying, distribution of mosquito nets and information campaigns on how to deal with malaria.
I also discovered that that effort does not in any way involve the council in Mazabuka, or any Government department. What does that mean, you might ask? It means that our leaders rarely get interested in using local means and methods to deal with problems no matter how effective they can be, because the leaders do not gain any money.
—
So I appreciate what the US initiative. But we will do ourselves service if could galvanize local effort in and resources in dealing with local problems which have proved successful in Mazabuka.
In an e-mail response on why she blogs about health issues, she said:
My blog www.pokeyourmind.blogspot.com as the name suggests seeks to highlight and stimulate debate on issues exclusively relating to health. My intention is to give Zambian people a platform where they can not only obtain information, but also share and discuss openly matters relating to health, including those which may be considered embarrassing to some.
In the short time that I have seriously devoted myself to the blog, I have come to realise that while there is a lot of information to do with health on the internet, people still prefer personal ‘contact.’ And because there is a lot of stigma surrounding many diseases, people are only able to share information if they know that there is someone out there who has been through it or is going through the same thing. Others want the knowledge but feel ashamed to ask.


Bahrain: Khaleejis in Melbourne  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini Naz, who studies in Melbourne, Australia, asks: How would you spot a Khaleeji (Arab Gulf) guy in Melbourne?


Messages offering 25 lakh rupees lottery prize from KBC are fraudulent - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 11, 2022
Update (11 July 2022):
Another similar message promising 25 lakh lottery prize money to WhatsApp users is also being widely shared. In order to avail the prize money, the message insists on communicating only through WhatsApp.
However, WhatsApp has not announced any such lottery and the viral is nothing but a fraudulent scam. The Delhi Police’s Cyber Crime Unit, back in December 2021, ruled it as a fraudulent message, wherein scammers cheat the users by demanding an initial deposit to claim the lottery amount.
‘Once the victim deposits that money, they start demanding for more on one pretext or another. The fraudsters insist on communicating only through WhatsApp. They induce the victim to deposit money in various bank accounts and the entire fraud goes on for several weeks and even months for as long as they can keep inducing the victim to deposit money. After some time, they start telling the victim that the lottery amount has been increased further to Rs. 45 lakhs, then to Rs. 75 lakhs, so on and so forth so as to keep the victim engaged and interested. Finally, when the victim starts insisting on getting the money or refuses to pay more, they stop calling him/her and discontinue the WhatsApp numbers that were being used in the fraud’, added the Delhi police.
Delhi police have also unearthed a similar scam, wherein hackers try to take control of the users WhatsApp account and blackmail them.
Published (27 December 2021):
A message is being widely circulating on social media claiming that the Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) management is organising a lottery and is rewarding 25,00,000 rupees as the lottery cash prize. A similar audio call recording was sent to our WhatsApp Tipline (+91 92470 52470) where a man proclaiming himself as a customer office personnel from KBC was greeting a person for winning 25 lakh rupees lottery from KBC.  All these messages are sharing different contact numbers for receiving the prize money. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: KBC is organising a lucky draw and rewarding 25 Lakh rupees as the lottery cash prize.
Fact: KBC is neither conducting any such lucky draw nor is rewarding 25 lakh rupees as a lottery prize. Several reports were found online where such KBC scams have been reported for several years. Delhi Police had created a dedicated webpage explaining the KBC Lottery Frauds. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched for information regarding these audio recordings being circulated in the name of the KBC lottery, we found a tweet made by Tahir Ashraf, a police officer from Jammu and Kashmir. Tahir Ashraf shared a similar audio recording of a woman greeting a person for winning the lottery prize of 25,00,000 rupees from KBC. Tahir Ashraf alerted people that it is a fraud call, luring people in the name of the KBC lottery. Tahir Ashraf warned people not to fall prey to such fraud calls and lose out money to scamsters.
Fake KBC lottery calls: Listen in to avoid falling prey and losing out money to scamsters. pic.twitter.com/TvY8MK2b5c
When we searched for more information regarding these KBC lottery messages circulating on social media, it is found out that the Delhi Police website had created a dedicated webpage for explaining the KBC Lottery Frauds.  A statement in this dedicated webpage of Delhi Police website states, “Any message informing that you have won a lottery or a prize, is, in all likelihood, a fraud”. Recently, a housewife in Mumbai was lured into paying 3.85 lakh on the pretext that she won a KBC lottery. Several such reports were found online where such KBC scams have been reported for several years.
The PIB Fact-Check had also issued a clarification regarding these KBC lottery messages circulating on social media. PIB clarified that messages circulating in the name of the KBC lottery are fake and alerted people not to share their personal information on such e-mails, calls, and messages. Several news websites across the country have published articles alerting the public regarding these fraudulent messages circulating in the name of the KBC lottery. They can be seen here and here. Earlier, when a similar message went viral with a claim that the KBC-Jio department jointly organised a lottery for 25 Lakh rupees, FACTLY published a fact-check article debunking that claim.
To sum it up, messages offering 25 lakh rupees lottery prize from KBC are fraudulent.


The Hilarious Mystery Surrounding Items Forgotten on Japanese Trains · Global Voices
N'Donna Russell

Personal belongings are sometimes left on Japanese trains for mysterious reasons. Photo by Nevin Thompson.
For the countless riders of Japan’s numerous commuter railway lines, accidentally forgetting an item is an everyday occurrence.
But a new trend that has gone viral on Japan’s social media features images of items that are more interesting than the average, run-of-the-mill lost article.
電車の中にトマトがある…？ 忘れ物？ pic.twitter.com/iwakVcwyLS
— 友希♡ライブ命 (@yukihyoudo) September 23, 2013
There's a tomato on the train?!
User 三頭赤sun (Santo Aka Sun) on curation site Matome Naver compiled a list of head-scratching items that Twitter users have found inside of train cars. The objects that appear can be unexpectedly hilarious and at times quite perplexing.
The thread has over 820,000 views and has been favorited over 300 times.
About the forgotten items, Santo Aka Sun said:
何が起こるかわからない電車内。忘れ物もその例外ではありません。
Unexpected things will happen inside of trains. Forgotten items are no exception.
Some items featured in Santo Aka Sun's Matome Naver thread are truly deserving of the title “mysterious”.
Users pondered how such ideas ended up forgotten on a train:
電車に傘の忘れ物があるんだけど、ちょっと予想外だったわ。 pic.twitter.com/FPHEBUSn0r
— 虎助遥人@三日目東C60a (@kosuke_haruhito) June 21, 2013
Part of an umbrella was left on the train… I wonder how that could have happened.
Other items have users wondering the whys and hows:
そういえば先日、電車内にこんなものが…忘れ物？？でもくっついてるよ…なんだったんだ(´△｀) pic.twitter.com/BlbLPo7tG1
— 方波見 桃羽 (@k_momoha) December 24, 2014
Now that you mention it, the other day somebody must have… forgotten this inside the train…? But it's not like something you could just forget! What’s up with that? (´△｀)
It's pretty normal for women to apply makeup on the train, and personal belongings will get left on the train as a result:
電車につけまつげ落ちてます(￣▽￣) 誰か忘れ物してますよ〜 pic.twitter.com/H1PzGCUs6o
— Kayano♡└|∵|┐ (@global_rabbit) January 10, 2015
Looks like a false eyelash fell down on on the train. Somebody lost this…
電車の中の忘れ物。これはお化粧用？
A photo posted by Akira Takagi (@akiratakagi) on
Isn't this for doing make-up?
Sometimes the items left on trains can be quite noticeable:
電車に盆栽の忘れ物が……www 奇妙すぎてみんな近づいかない笑 pic.twitter.com/gjmM554uRP
— てつろー (@refereeTetsuro_) January 1, 2015
Somebody left an actual bonsai plant on the train, hahaha… It looks so strange that no one wants to sit anywhere near it.
終点品川での忘れ物。 見回りの駅員さんがリアルに「えええぇぇぇぇ！」って声をあげてたw pic.twitter.com/NHPxKYGyCF
— 拝郷メイコ (@meikohaigou) January 12, 2015
We're in Shinagawa and it's the end of the line. The train conductor seemed genuinely freaked out, saying “Whaaaa?”
謎が謎を呼ぶ電車内の忘れ物。誰が？何のために？ pic.twitter.com/HH6bgBGlmx
— 高倉仮面 (@Masked_Takakura) November 3, 2014
Somebody has created a genuine mystery by leaving this [brass tea kettle] on the train. Who, and why?
Twitter users posted about finding prized possessions and turning them in to be reconnected with their owners:
朝から電車内でiPhoneの忘れ物二つに出会ってしまった。いい子なので駅員に届ける pic.twitter.com/NtZRH1poAk
— ワヘイヘイ (@waheyhey) December 26, 2014
This morning, I found these two items forgotten on the train. Because I’m a good kid, I turned them into the station attendant.
Finally, other users offered advice on what to do should one leave an item behind:
電車から降りてすぐに落し物・忘れ物に気がついたら、乗った電車の時刻・号車、そしてできれば電車の最後部にある電車番号（３〜４桁の数字とアルファベットで表示される）を控えましょう
When you forget an item on the train: If you realize that you’ve forgotten an item, (re)board the train immediately. Once inside the train car, if you can, make note of the train number (3-4 numbers and letters) located at the very end of the car.


The Balkans: Yet Some More on ICJ Verdict · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Bosnia Vault analyzes the ICJ verdict's “trends, consequences, and more.”


FSU: Soviet Toys · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Photos of Soviet children's toys – at LJ user varjag_2007‘s blog (RUS).


Four decades of strife and resistance: A deep dive into what’s happening in West Papua · Global Voices
New Bloom

Indonesian military forces during a parade in 2019. Image via Wikimedia Commons. CC0 1.0 DEED.
The original version of this post was written by Girard Lopez and published in New Bloom on April 16, 2023. The following edited version is published on Global Voices under a content partnership agreement.
In early March 2024, the Indonesian internet and its online periphery would be rocked by a shocking video: A Papuan native seemingly detained in a bucket of water and being punched excessively by what appears to be Indonesian military forces. Then, another soldier is seen mercilessly slashing the Papuan’s back with a bayonet as the victim could do nothing but writhe in pain. By then, most may have closed the horrifying video and clamored online that the very stewards that promised to protect and uphold Pancasila, the founding philosophy of the 275.2 million ethnically diverse archipelago, would be capable of such violence.
The military made an unprecedented apology and detained 13 soldiers from the West Javan battalion that had tortured the Papuan native in Gome, Central Papua. However, such an apology would be for naught as the tortured man later died. The man would only be one of dozens of civilian victims of military brutality in the central Papuan highlands as the Indonesian military intensified their raids against the West Papua National Liberation Army last February, as reported by Human Rights Monitor.
To West Papuans, however, this video comes as no surprise at all. Military violence has always been the status quo in the region ever since their battle for self-determination began in the 1960s as they were handed from one colonizer to another. Right after the Dutch left Western New Guinea in 1962, the Indonesian government forcibly took control of the resource-abundant region.
By 1969, the Indonesian military handpicked just over a thousand Papuans to participate in a controversial vote to determine their people's future. Naturally, as in any military-controlled election, a unanimous vote was made approving of Indonesian control. Some Papuans who rejected such blatant disrespect of the will of their people were driven to take up arms and fight for their independence, leading to the ongoing Free Papua Movement. Such is the root of the perennial violence that takes place until this day between Indonesian forces and Papuan independence fighters. Consequently, Papuans regularly face discrimination from “pribumi” Indonesians and violence from authorities.
“Until today, there is a stigma against Papuans who have curly hair and black skin. They have a mindset that we are dangerous. They do this military approach to repress our psychology so we don’t think about being free from Indonesia. These 60 years of racism come from people who have important positions in government,” Ambrosius, a Papuan human rights defender and former head of the Association of Papuan Central Highlands Students in Indonesia, remarked.
As Indonesia is set to inaugurate a new president in October, Prabowo Subianto, known for his controversial human rights record during the Suharto regime, Papuans are cautious and bracing for even further violence from the military.
“We saw him talking about Papua. It’s as though he doesn’t see Papuans at all, but only sees lands,” Defe, a Papuan human rights activist, says in an online interview talking about president-elect Prabowo, “He said that during the debate and told others that the Papuan problem is a military problem. So we are concerned that he will continue to use the military to oppress Papuans.”
Ambros and Defe said that back in the 1990s when Prabowo was still a military general, torture of Papuan natives was widespread as the Suharto dictatorship launched various military operations against the West Papua liberation movement. Defe says that the recent viral video was reminiscent of such days, even though it is not as common as before. During the 1998 riots that spread throughout Indonesia, targeting ethnic Chinese in light of the Asian Financial Crisis, it is widely believed that Prabowo also played a role in instigating such riots to divert public attention from Suharto. Prabowo himself admitted to Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview that he was part of such operations, saying he had been following orders and that the kidnappings of activists were legal at the time.
“Every time candidates talk about Papuans, it’s always about land, investment, factories, plantations. It’s obvious they see the whole island as a commodity. They don’t care about the people living there nor ask the people if they agree with the project. They just command that they will bring this here and there. This is part of the national policy: the National Strategic Project,” Defe added.
When President Joko Widodo took power in 2014, many Papuans were optimistic, with the vast majority voting for him. Joko Widodo had promised that they would be listened to by the Indonesian government. In 2016, Human Rights Watch quoted Widodo saying, “I want to listen to the people’s voices, and I’m willing to open dialogue for a better Papua. The people of Papua don’t only need health care, education, the construction of roads and bridges, but they also need to be listened to.”
But such idealistic promises were, in fact, too good to be true as systemic abuse remained the status quo. In 2019, Papuans took to the streets as they became angered over police abuse against ethnic Papuan students who were accused of desecrating the Indonesian flag. The students denied such allegations, but this did not stop authorities from throwing tear gas into Papuan students’ dorm rooms and subjecting them to racial abuse. On top of this, thousands of Papuans were forcefully evacuated as the Indonesian military bombed their domiciles in an attempt to root out Papuan independence fighters.
The West Papuan Flag. Photo by Lussqueitt on Flickr. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
In West Papua, even waving the West Papua Independence Morning Star flag can land you in trouble with authorities. Ambrosius was jailed for six months in 2019 for treason because he painted his body in the design of the Morning Star flag. There have also been alleged cases of people sporting the Cuban flag who have been prosecuted as they were mistaken for West Papuan independence activists.
“There are still lots of [other] cases, but they are not recorded or viral because access of information towards Papua is guarded by the government. There is no litigation option. Even though we already report all cases to the Human Rights Commission in Indonesia, the government doesn’t acknowledge such cases,” Ambrosius said.
Despite the collective trauma Papuans have faced in the last six decades, Prabowo still won the majority in West Papua. Beyond the power of AI, Tiktok, and the whitewashing campaign launched by Prabowo’s camp that helped sanitize Probowo's image, Defe says a lot of Papuans thought that Prabowo’s promise to “continue Jokowi’s course” would be a good thing. The president-elect reportedly used Joko Widodo’s previous message and promises of “development” in West Papua to win support in the region.
Human rights organizations have consistently made calls and recommendations to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) and the Indonesian government to help improve the human rights situation in West Papua. Ambrosius recalled that the UNHCR made 269 recommendations to the Indonesian government regarding human rights in the country, with 65 of such specific to West Papua only. The Indonesian government acknowledged only a handful of these recommendations. Furthermore, some activists hope to bring the Indonesian government to the International Court of Justice to prosecute authorities for their long-standing human rights violations and abusive practices in West Papua.


Iran:Calls to Execute the Father of Animation in Iran  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Azarmehr, Baseej pressure groups have called for the 70 year old Nooredin Zarrin-kelk , the father of animation in Iran, to be executed.
Zarrin-kelk is accused of having ridiculed a female student's chador, the head to toe Islamic cover, after she drew an angel with no hair. The incident led to organised protests by state backed fundamentalist Baseej students, who once again exploited the situation in favour of their recent demand for a second “cultural revolution”.


Georgia: Reforms · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Vasili Rukhadze details the  fight for governmental reforms and against corruption of the Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.


Zimbabwe: Women’s Lib Online and Unplugged · Global Voices
Madalitso Mwando

This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.
In a country largely described as conservative, where women are generally reminded of their place by being told what they can openly discuss and what they cannot, a society many see as being still steeped in that African time-warp, the Internet has offered a priceless platform to discuss issues that otherwise remain taboos. After all, this is Zimbabwe where the president is world-renowned for his strong views against issues such homosexuality.
Women bloggers and Facebook users especially have taken up these platforms to discuss issues relating to their sexuality and everything else that no doubt would make President Mugabe blush. They have created on these platforms everything from their own cyber-based “agony aunts” to unpacking women's role in politics and the economy.
The Internet has offered a priceless platform to discuss issues that are usually considered taboo. Photo source: Makhox Women's League Facebok page.
Blogger Delta Ndou describes her blog as “the musings of a feminist,” and this being Zimbabwe, that's a bold statement. Ndou has become somewhat of an e-celebrity with her blog where she writes about anything from pap smears, marriage, sex, women picking themselves up from cheating husbands. In a blog post titled “The Hilary example,” she discusses the future US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and how she dealt with husband Bill and the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Ndou writes in one of her blog posts about pap-smears:
I mean if women can sit through a 5 hour hair-braiding session; and the time we sacrifice towards looking good in salons – we can actually spare a few hours for our cervixes to get inspected. For the record, having done the pap-smear; I am not expected to show up for another one until after 2 years so the convenience and peace of mind was worth the experience. Do yourself a favor… if it means wearing a disguise, traveling to another city where no one knows you or whatever – get a pap-smear.
It is stuff that has made her blog popular. She continues:
You need it and it’s free. While issues like male circumcision have enjoyed much prominence in media coverage; the need for pap-smear testing remains a very obscured but pressing health care issue. So this article is a modest contribution to address this oversight. Men go and get circumcised. Women go and get a pap-smear.
She is not alone in speaking her mind online. Blogger Fungai Machirori takes the “feminist discourse” a notch higher. She writes about vaginas and everything else that would “shock and awe” the average person in Zimbabwe, and it is writing that defines the essence of blogging: free expression.
In one of her posts, Machirori asks in that “in your face” cool, “What does a vagina look like?”:
What does a ‘normal’ vagina look like?
This might be a startling question for you, but when you really think about it, it is quite valid.
They come in all shapes and colours, but we never dare investigate…
Unlike men who know about average inches and centimetres for their appendages, we women don’t really know much about our sexual organs…
We women rarely look at our own vaginas, let alone anyone else’s – so how should we know?! Unlike men who have to interact with their penises each time they urinate or change their underwear, we women hardly ever pay attention to our vaginas. Besides, it’s not like it’s easy to get them in full view anyway. Mirrors and strange positions are required and this just adds to the awkwardness of trying to become knowledgebale about your own body.
And sadly, the only time many young women become aware about the appearance of the vagina is when they are forced to alter it from its own natural state.
Blogger Shonavixen has just began a 30-day blogging challenge no doubt in what will be considered prodigious output by her netizen buddies.
Facebook has not gone unnoticed by women who have created their own group called Makhox Women's League.
Posts are generally written in the local SiNdebele language, a pointer perhaps that the use of local languages to give voice and space to all is gaining ground in cyberspace. It here where women switch roles as “agony aunts” and the “agonisers,” and the exchanges are priceless. The group is an attempt to utilise this space through personal expression tha ttraditional media has failed to fill in, and or by the nature of the exchanges among members, would never see the light of day “in a family newspaper.”
The latest topic on their page  reads:
What are the disadvantages of being a stepmom or are there any advantages or something you've seen either good or bad…. Let's share makhosikazi. RM.
Facebook has indeed become a place where Zimbabwean women confront “taboo” subjects.  In one of her blog posts, Machirori discusses women dating much younger men, and some women taking this discourse to what has veritably become the world's social networking behemoth, Facebook.  Machirori asks, “If Zimbabwean women on Facebook are saying they don’t mind a younger man, could the times be a-changing?”
This is particularly interesting because it is a topic which traditional Zimbabwean society would not openly discuss, but of course men are expected to marry much younger women! Perhaps these feminist bloggers are exposing the inconsistencies through the only outlet they have: the blogosphere and Facebook.
The times they are a-changing for real as Dylan strummed back then. And it is thanks to the Internet and the growing presence of Zimbabwean women online.
This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.


Guyana: Melancholy and migration · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

After her brother returns to England, Guyana-Gyal muses on personal melancholy and the more general issue of migration: “I don’t think people here recover yet from the splintering of families, from massive migration. We tear away from old lands to here, from here to new lands, and them tears still burning.”


Hungary: Escalator, Monarch, and Microwave Food · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pestcentric writes about Europe's longest escalator, yet another foreign monarch for Hungary, and Marhapörkölt Tarhonyával, a frozen meal.


Central Asia: Union · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Nurzhan writes on economic union in Central Asia at neweurasia.


Mexico: Discriminatory Tendencies of Mexico City Youth · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The recent National Youth Poll found that many youth in Mexico City would not accept having a homosexual as a neighborhoor or live with someone with HIV/AIDS.  Vivir Mexico [ES] takes a look at these findings and writes “we have a lot of work to do.”


D.R of Congo: Knowing the password will keep you alive · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

According to Stood in the Congo, the situation is getting worse in the D.R of Congo: “Yes, I am sorry Mother, but that does mean that I am now back in Rumangabo. Where each man must know the secret password if he wants to wake up the next morning. Just so that you know, last night the password was fish, with the response being clean.”


Post from Community: People’s Maps Commission seeks public comment | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
People’s Maps Commission
February 18, 2021
The People’s Maps Commission will hold a virtual public hearing at 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Thurs., Feb. 25, 2021, to seek public input on the upcoming redistricting of legislative maps from constituents of Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District.  Although the Feb. 25 hearing will focus on the 6th Congressional District, all Wisconsin residents are encouraged to watch and participate. Anyone wishing to testify at the hearing must register in advance by visiting the People’s Maps Commission website HERE.
The hearing is the Commission’s seventh in a series of at least eight meetings, one for each one of Wisconsin’s eight congressional districts. The virtual public hearing will include testimony from subject matter experts and also provide Wisconsinites the opportunity to express how they have been affected by legislative redistricting and share their ideas for how Wisconsin can work together to achieve fair maps.
The deadline for registering to comment during this hearing is 5:00 p.m. Tues., Feb. 23rd, 2021. Each speaker will have three minutes to speak. Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis, with priority to residents of Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District.
For anyone unable to join the virtual hearing, written comments are strongly encouraged. Written comments can be submitted at any time using the feedback form available on the People’s Maps Commission website HERE. Written comments will be reviewed by the commissioners and are public record.
Selected by a three judge panel, the Commission is a nine-member nonpartisan redistricting commission charged with drawing fair, impartial maps for the state of Wisconsin. More information about the Commission, its members and its activities is available HERE.
Every 10 years, each state redraws their legislative and congressional districts using data from the decennial census. In addition to the data from the 2020 U.S. Census, the Commission will use information gathered during the public hearing process to prepare new maps. It will then be up to the Legislature to take up and approve the maps created by the Commission.
Due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the People’s Maps Commission will host virtual public hearings for each of Wisconsin’s eight congressional districts. Agendas and additional details will be announced in advance of future meeting dates. The hearing dates are as follows:
The hearing dates are as follows:
Individuals interested in watching previous hearings can find the recordings HERE.


2020 video captured during an eviction drive in Manipur’s Moreh town linked to the ongoing violence in Manipur - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 3, 2023
A video is being shared on social media claiming it is the recent visuals of women from the Meitei community engaging in a fight with the police in Manipur. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Recent video showing Meitei community women clashing with the police in Manipur.
Fact: The post shared a two-year-old video captured during an eviction drive in Moreh town in Manipur. Protesting the eviction drive along the ICP bypass road in Moreh, women volunteers of Moreh ICP Bypass Road Structure and Land Committee engaged in a confrontation with the police. The video shared in the post is old and has nothing to do with the ongoing violence in Manipur. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
On reverse image search of the screenshots of the video, we could not find any reliable sources related to the video. When we searched with relevant keywords on the internet, a video with similar visuals was found recently shared by a user with the same claim on Twitter. This Twitter user in the comment section mentioned that the video was originally uploaded by Roland Kipgen. On searching for further details, we found the same video published on the Facebook page of Roland Kipgen on 12 November 2020. Roland Kipgen posted the video with the title, “Moreh: police vs women fight. GOOSEBUMPS guaranteed”.
A few other users also shared the same video in November 2020, asserting that the video was captured near ICP Bypass Road in Moreh town in Manipur. When we searched for further sources using relevant keywords, a video showing similar visuals was found published by ‘The Morning Bell’ news site on 13 November 2020.  This news site published the video with the description, “Police clash with public near Bypass Road ICP Gate, Moreh following an eviction of constructions and buildings at Moreh Bypass Road.” ‘The Morning Bell’ published a detailed Facebook post reporting about this clash that took near the ICP Bypass Road in Moreh.
As per the reports, a group of women protestors confronted a government eviction force during an anti-encroachment drive along the Moreh ICP Bypass Road on 12 November 2020. The women volunteers of Moreh ICP Bypass Road Structure and Land Committee and female police personnel engaged in an intense standoff that escalated into a physical altercation. Subsequently, the security personnel employed tear gas shells and smoke bombs to disperse the protesting crowd and later, carried out the eviction drive. Several other news websites have also published articles reporting about this eviction drive along the Moreh ICP Bypass Road in November 2020. Those articles can be seen here and here.
Lately, there have been news reports about women protestors engaging in a clash with police in Manipur. A few of those news reports can be seen here and here. But the video shared in the post is old and has nothing to do with the ongoing violence in Manipur.
To sum it up, a 2020 video captured during an eviction drive in Moreh town was falsely linked to the ongoing violence in Manipur.


Bandits release abducted students of Bethel Baptist School | EduCeleb
25th July 2021
The abducted students of Bethel Baptist High School, Damishi, Kaduna have been released after 20 days in captivity.
Joseph Hayab, Kaduna state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigerian (CAN), confirmed their release to TheCable on Sunday.
A total of 121 students were abducted from their hostels by bandits on July 5.
Hayab could not immediately confirm the number of students that were released.
EduCeleb.com had on July 12 reported that Abraham Aniya, one of the students, was rescued by security operatives alongside two other victims who were kidnapped by bandits some days ago along Kaduna-Kachia road.
“On July 12, at about 1540hrs, operatives of the command, alongside Civilian JTF on routine rescue patrol around the forest of Tsohon Gaya village, Chikun LGA of Kaduna State, stumbled on three kidnapped victims roaming the bush, extremely exhausted and weak,” Mohammed Jalige, public relations officer of Kaduna police command, had said.
Two other students escaped on July 20 when they were tasked to go and fetch firewood from a nearby forest.
Confirming the development to TheCable, Jalige had said the two students were sighted around the Rijanna area along the Kaduna-Abuja highway.
“Yes, two of the students were rescued this evening along Kaduna-Abuja highway and they are undergoing medical examination,” he told TheCable.
Israel Akanji, president of the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), had earlier said no ransom will be paid for the release of the students.


Wikipedia: The Peruvian Faces Behind the Project · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Juan Arellano – There seems to be very few Peruvian contributors to Wikipedia, do you agree?
Alejandro Sal y Rosas – I would agree that we are very few.  I think that there should be more who contribute, as there are many specific areas that the current contributors have very little knowledge about.  It would be good to get more people involved.
Arístides Herrera – Peru, along with Chile and Argentina, has a large amount of contributors, some of which are more active than others.  Of the 60 most active contributors to Wikipedia in Spanish, there are four Peruvians: Manuel González Olaechea y Franco, 10th; Huhsunqu (Guillermo Romero Guerra), 33rd; Chalisimo5 (Gonzalo Aguilar) 38th; and Arístides Herrera Cuntti, 59th.  There are 24 registered contributors who are Peruvian-born or currently reside in Peru.
Augusto Maguiña – I think so, we should encourage this activity in the schools or universities.
J.A. – Wikipedia is divided according to languages.  Could it also be divided according to country?  Is there a special page devoted to Peru?
A.S. – Yes, there is a page devoted to Peruvian topics.
A.H. – For the sake of communication, the different editions of Wikipedia are organized according to language, and within each language it is organized according to country.  However, that is not the only form of organization, as it is also organized according to interest. Each Wikipedian may be registered and involved with different fields of interest.  For example, I write about archeology, gastronomy and history.
Guillermo Romero – Divisions according to language help with the accessibility. Divisions according to topic don’t seem to be very viable, because all of the topics are related somehow.  Portals have been recently implemented, which are pages containing specific topics within Wikipedia. Another way to find articles about Peru is to use the [[Category: Peru]] option.  The category pages list articles related to a particular subject.
A.M. – I think one can find topics using the [[Category: Peru]] option and see all of the topics listed that deal with Peru or other countries.
J.A. – Do you work collaboratively in respect to a particular topic?
A.S. – We try to work collaboratively with some topics.  Some topics are written by experts, and there really is no need to work in collaboration.  However, with other pages we try to work as a team.
A.H. – There are other ways to work together, and not necessarily with individuals from the same nationality, but with others those who are interested in a common subject.  For example, the article about the War of the Pacific is a project in which Bolivians, Chileans and others from the United States have contributed.  Other topics such as Pisco, Pisco Sour and Anticucho also receive contributions from others from different countries.  With Pisco, there is some dispute over the origin of the name.  There is a tendency that some Chileans want to take credit for the Pisco Sour.  The Peruvian team tries to defend Peruvian interests.  In each of the articles, especially in the discussion pages, we try to coordinate our arguments so that we appear to be a unified front and reinforce our nationalistic positions.
G.R. – Even though individual participation is the most common means of participation, it is also common that two or more Wikipedians – which is what we call the registered users – with common interests get together to work collaboratively.  One of the most complex projects is Wikiprojects, which are specific tasks with one principal page of coordination.  For example, we have a project about “The War of the Pacific” where Chilean and Peruvian users work to add their knowledge in order to put forth a neutral and objective article about this historical event.
A.M. – We coordinate when we can, however it is not always necessary.  Since the articles are online, they can be edited without previous coordination, which ends up being the same concept of working in team.
J.A. – Jimbo, Wiki’s creator will be in Brazil from September 20-23.  Is there a possibility that he would come to Peru sometime in the future?  Is there some event here that would interest him?
A.S. – Well, Ari and I have the idea of organizing an event for Peruvian Wikipedians.  The meeting will be held in Lima, although we do not have a date finalized.  It would be very interesting to host a significant event to give attention to Wikipedia, especially for the Peruvian section.
A.H. Regarding Wiki’s creator Jimbo, it could be possible for him to come to Peru in the future.  The Peruvian Wikipedians have still been unable to meet in person.  The First Meeting for Peruvian Wikipedians scheduled for the end of July 2005 fell through due to external factors out of our control.  We should first figure out all of the logistical matters and then see about bringing invited guests.  We have met with some Peruvian Wikipedians separately.  For example, Alejandro Sal Y Rosas and his wife were guests in my home a few weeks ago.  We hope to do the same with all of them, but due to work commitments many are scattered all across the country.
J.A. – Why do you spend your free time with Wikipedia, which does not give public recognition or provide a tangible benefit?
A.S. – For a researcher, being able to count on a reliable tool like Wikipedia is very valuable.  To be able to ponder and discuss topics that interest you is very beneficial.  In addition, as Peruvians we feel honored to contribute towards informing the world about the positive aspects of our country.
A.H. – All the Peruvians that contribute to Wikipedia are professionals with stable jobs; the other group is college students that have been studying for the past 16 years, such as Guillermo Romero Guerra, who is very capable, studious and speaks various languages. He produces very good articles (especially his article about Quechua, which was very noteworthy) and I expect great things from him if he continues with this.  It’s evident that the motivation is not financial and perhaps it is just the “love of writing”.  However, personally, I try my best to use of my free time without neglecting my familial obligations and because I love to write.  I have authored many books. It’s also an interesting way to become known; I’ll tell you a story.  My niece is getting married in December, she is the daughter of my younger brother and when her in-laws went to ask for her hand over lunch, they asked my brother all of his last names and he responded “Férgan Herrera Cuntti”, and with that, the father-in-law answered: “are you, Aristides Herrera Cuntti, the internet writer?”  One feels as if one is teaching and at the same time learns; I feel that over the past year working with Wikipedia, I have learned so much.
G.R. – For me, it’s more than a service that I do for Wikipedia.  Many people have big things to contribute even without be a professional.  In the book “The Republican History of Peru” by Jorge Basadre, he cited Wikipedia as one of his sources.  We are always aware of the possibilities with this project. Maybe it is as simple as that.
A.M. – For me it is a responsibility to share with the world, I speak 8 languages and I have a wide range of cultural knowledge and for me it is a public service.  If we can contribute towards a better world, why not?


#YoViajoPara: Why do Latin Americans Travel? · Global Voices
Andrea Arzaba

Latin Americans love to travel. They might travel for fun, for work, or even for love -the reasons are endless.
There are many intrepid travelers in the region, many of them brave enough to explore any terrain or climate.
With the hashtag #YoViajoPara (“I travel to”, or “I travel for”), travelers started an online discussion, sharing the most common reasons why they are passionate about traveling.
Travelers in Oaxaca. Picture by Andrea Arzaba.
Maria Boa (@_mariaboa) [es] from Mexico expressed her passion about learning when going abroad:
#YoViajoPara vivir, soñar, sentir y descubrir mundos, cada viaje es una aventura y con ella una nueva responsabilidad, conocimientos #feliz
— Maria Boa (@_mariaboa) August 5, 2013
I travel to live, dream, feel and discover different worlds, every trip is an adventure and with it a new responsibility, knowledge #happy
Honduran user Queenmarielos (@queenmarielos) [es] wrote that her favourite thing about travelling is discovering different food and drink:
#YoViajoPara comer distintos platillos y beber bebidas locales de distintas ciudades y países — queenmarielos (@queenmarielos) August 5, 2013
I travel to eat different dishes and to drink local beverages from every city and country
Global Voices contributor Julián Ortega Martínez (@julian_ortegam_) [es] from Colombia confessed that he travels to see his loved one:
#Yoviajopara cumplir el sueño de verte a ti — J. O. M. (@julian_ortegam_) August 5, 2013
I travel to fulfill the dream of seeing you
Elizabeth Rivera (@elimaguire) [es], also a Global Voices contributor, wrote about her interest in moving around to discover new places:
#YoViajoPara conectarme con el mundo. Este planeta es demasiado interesante para estar siempre en el mismo lugar.
— Dudette (@elimaguire) August 5, 2013
I travel to connect with the world. This planet is too interesting to stay always in the same place.
Francisco Diaz (@Frank_FDP) [es] from Mexico described his passion for traveling as a unique way to find out how people from other cultures understand the world:
#ViajoPara tratar de entender cómo piensa el mundo.
— Francisco Díaz (@Frank_FDP) August 5, 2013
I travel to try to understand how the world thinks
Brazilian Twitter user Transeunte (@transeunte_bsb) [pt] tweeted about his desire to get out of his comfort zone:
#YoViajoPara cambiar el contexto!
— Transeunte (@transeunte_bsb) August 8, 2013
I travel to change the context!
Mariana (@MEspinozaE) [es] from Mexico said that traveling is the best way to spend her time:
@Lolawm me ha ayudado a expandir mis horizontes, y tirar la caja de pensamiento.. la mejor inversión de tiempo en mi vida #Yoviajopara
— Mariana Espinosa (@M_EspinosaE) August 8, 2013
@Lolawm it has helped me to expand my horizons, and think outside the box.. the best way to spend my time
Chef and Global Voices contributor Melissa DeLeon (@cookingdiva) [es] from Panama wrote that she travels for work, but also to enjoy local food:
desde muy pequeña viajo, ahora #YoViajoPara trabajo y siempre encuentro oportunidad para el placer de conocer la cultura y gastronomía local
— Chef Melissa DeLeon (@cookingdiva) August 5, 2013
I've been traveling since I was very young, today I travel for work but I always find a chance to enjoy leaning about the culture and the local gastronomy
Why do you travel? Share your stories, reasons or thoughts with the hashtag #YoViajoPara.


Boko Haram: Aid Worker Abducted, Killed In Borno State - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Editor 2
September 25, 2019
BokoHaram aligned to the Islamic State group have executed one of six aid workersabducted in July in northeast Nigeria, charity group Action Against Hunger saidWednesday.
Thecharity said it was “extremely concerned and is fully mobilised to ensure thatthe remaining hostages can be quickly and safely reunited with their families”.
Thesix Nigerian aid workers — one woman and five men — were seized by jihadistsaffiliated to the Islamic State group during an ambush on their convoy close tothe border with Niger on July 18.
TheIslamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) group released a video following theabduction of the female ACF staff member pleading for the release of thehostages with her five male colleagues behind her.
Thekidnapping was the latest to target aid workers in the conflict-hit regionafter the abduction and killing of two female staff for the InternationalCommittee of the Red Cross last year.
ISWAPis a splinter faction of jihadist group Boko Haram that swore allegiance in2016 to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.


Russia: Anniversary of Karachay Return From Deportation · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Window on Eurasia writes about an anniversary of the Karachay people's return from deportation.


Bosnia as the European Avant-garde | Balkan Diskurs
Filip Balunovic
September 28th, 2014
Despite the fact that it went through the most brutal armed conflict in Europe since World War II, Bosnia-Herzegovina’s multiculturalism —albeit now tinged with horrific war memories — is at least three levels above Western multiculturalism.
During one of my stays in Oslo, I concluded that Balkan people do not hold a monopoly on recent international and interethnic frictions. While conversing with a Swede, I was quite taken by his answer to my question as to what he was doing in Norway. He told me that it was primarily due to better wages and that, despite the fact that Norway was economically better off, he knew that Sweden could “once again conquer the Norwegian barbarians in no time.” On another occasion, I experienced a similar example of intolerance in the European capital of Brussels. I was curious about the relationship between the Flemish and the French, to which a Walloon — in a very moderate, yet pert manner — replied that there was no such thing as the Flemish language and that it was but a dialect of Dutch. I nodded at first, pretending to understand completely, and said that, mindful of the region I came from, the discourse was all too familiar. However, once it had become clear that my comparison was referring to the Balkan context, my interlocutors were offended and rushed to explain that the phenomenon occurring in both cases could not be compared, as the Balkans was a completely different thing. Despite the fact that every one of these societies was beset with identity conflicts, nobody was at ease to hear that the conflicts did not escalate simply because of economic welfare — and that they were only one big economic crisis away from a large-scale conflict. Bearing in mind the cyclical nature of the historic process of capitalism, as well as the ever-shorter intervals between the two stagnating trends of the accumulation of capital and the overall production, it is very likely that identity friction in the civilized world will be put to the test sooner than we had imagined.
I cannot say whether I felt either relief or satisfaction after that experience which caused me to be disgusted by the all-encompassing phenomenon of autoracism. On the other hand, I am sure that, since then, I have started to develop a new perspective from which I no longer regard multiculturalism as the number one feature of Western democracy — something that I had always valued and never necessarily disputed. My view is now, to a larger extent, concurrent with that of Slavoj Žižek who criticizes Western multiculturalism because of its tolerance-based definition. As Žižek states, tolerance is not something that should be placed in the center of co-existence of two, conditionally speaking, different groups, for the simple reason that the application of its principles do not go much beyond allowing the other group to exist, without a great [or any] desire that the co-existence should permeate the everyday life of either of the groups. Just like the principles of neoclassical economic liberalism, the only laws applying to diversity are those of the market. It is superfluous to refer to any sentimentality, bonding, or enjoying the diversity.
The Memory of Yugoslavia is also Fading
However, there is a place where Žižek — as an occasional realist — does not go. Boris Buden, on the other hand, frequently goes there, namely apostrophizing Yugoslav multiculturalism as an example of a non-market relationship between two or more ethnic, national, or religious groups. Little is left of Yugoslavia today; it is a memory for the most part. Yet, there is a tendency towards erasing even the memory.
However, a model can still be found that represents “Yugoslavia in a nutshell” — Bosnia-Herzegovina. Despite the fact that it had gone through the most brutal armed conflict in Europe since World War II, the country’s multiculturalism — albeit now tinged with horrific war memories — is at least three levels above Western multiculturalism. I believe that when John Stuart Mill said that representative, Westminster-type democracies could not function in multicultural political communities, he was actually referring to the multiculturalism that was reared in socialist Yugoslavia, rather than that which Western Europe is now [falsely] taking pride in. Were it different, someone would by now have stepped forward with the claim that Mill was wrong, as multiculturalism was nominally functioning “perfectly” in representative democracies across Western Europe. Of course, that tolerance upon which everything is grounded begins and ends with the desire to disallow the diversity of the “other” to jeopardize our private sphere. Unlike that model, diversity in real socialism not only enters the private sphere of the “other” and vice versa, but it is also celebrated as the most sacred thing of all.
What seems to be symptomatic, from an analytical point of view, is the fact that the memories of war in Bosnia did not take the place of the memory of brotherhood and unity. It may be said, rather, that the former had merged with the latter. The fear of a new war does not exclude the awareness of mutual “belonging.” I say this for a reason, cognizant that, among one portion of the population in Bosnia, a feeling of belonging to the state as the Great Other is absent. However, that void is frequently occupied by mutual cooperation and co-existence, independent from the bureaucratic and legal framework. Somebody might say that this sounds like a Fata Morgana, appearing occasionally so that the Bosnian society might once again retreat into its own identity bunker inside the boundaries of the ethnopolis of its own canton or entity. This may be true, but it is notable that, as is the case in downward trends of capitalist cycles, the time intervals between those “Fata Morganas” are becoming shorter and shorter and it is only a matter of time when a hundred-times repeated Fata Morgana will become reality. I do not wish to imply that Fata Morganas are lies (I am referring to the saying that “a hundred-times repeated lie becomes the truth”). I am saying that they stand half-way between reality and dreams, and that they represent, as Žižek stated in the title of one of his books, “the signs of the future.”
Hiding in Federal Plenums
Let us consider the latest of these “instances,” epitomized by protests occurring across the Federation of Bosnia. In spite of never quite spreading across to the other entity of the state, the grievances of the protestors are, in their essence, common to all constituent people of Bosnia. Many people from Banja Luka attended plenums across the Federation, as the reign of terror in their entity — embodied by RS President Milorad Dodik — had been dealing with its citizens much more repressively (and pre-emptively for that matter) in order to avoid the same sort of scenario currently taking place in the other entity. That, however, does not mean that protests remained colored by “Bosniak” or “un-Serb” nuances; on the contrary, for the first time after the war, the protests have instrumentalized the abundance of diversity that suddenly turned against, and threatened to defeat, the dominant ethno-political discourse of the present. This multiethnic population has once again assigned a task to people all over Europe and the Balkans. They succeeded in the attempt of political self-objectification and thus, after the political elites had refused to give the people what was rightfully theirs, they decided to take it by force—just as it had previously been taken from them. The state’s dysfunction, and the inability of political elites to reach an agreement, lost all significance as the dominant state of affairs when the avant-garde portion of the population implied that the removal of four cantonal ministers from office was just a warning. Everyone who thinks that that was just another visit to a parallel (sur)reality is mistaken, as such a unanimous revolt has managed to produce an irreversible impression that the people can communicate their views of their own accord.
Finally, for the first time in Bosnia, a different interpretation of the war could be heard. Possibly the best illustration of the beginning of the end of the liberal-nationalist ideology — which ranges from pathetic moralizing to proto-fascist glorification of war criminals—was a workshop held in Sarajevo at which participants discussed facing the past and started examining political economy.
Returning to the topic of multiculturalism, wouldn’t it be logical to ask the following question: is it possible nowadays for a country to be considered multicultural in the same way Bosnia has been multicultural for centuries, without looking back with pride at such differences rather than with some kind of tolerance? When I say “nowadays,” I am implying the current dominance of the neo-liberal paradigm in economic relations, which, as in any other case, inevitably defines social relations as well. Was it not the very interference of economic relations in the social sphere that caused all that we are going through today? If this wasn’t so, Karl Polanyi would not have spoken many years ago about neo-liberal society as a product of neo-liberal economy. Does it not appear that, guided by the avant-garde in the region (after the recent protests, this is more than evident), it is high time we brought back the only political-economic context that can function without fake liberal politeness and tolerance, while celebrating diversity and our unity in it? Does it not seem necessary, now more than ever, for us to idealize what was not ideal, so as to be given an opportunity to change what was not good while, at the same time, giving the imposed symbiosis of political elites and the international community a kick in the ass?
This is how it all appears to me, and yet, it could all be just another Fata Morgana…


Saudi Arabia: New Friends  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Saudi Arabia, Stilettos in the Sand has made new friends. Click on the link to see their pictures.


Will we ever cure dementia? - 360
V. Srikanth
Published on November 24, 2021
By V. Srikanth, Monash University
If there is one dreaded word uttered by doctors to rival cancer, it’s dementia. Patients the world over fear its impacts: the lack of independence; the higher likelihood of ending up in a nursing home. As with cancer, there is currently no “cure” for dementia.
But the prognosis is not entirely bleak. It’s now becoming more apparent we may be able to prevent or delay the onset of dementia symptoms by living more healthily in our earlier years.
An often forgotten and more pressing need is how do we care for people living with dementia? Doing so will require investment both now and into the future.
Meanwhile, a large section of the scientific community is squarely focused on the search for effective treatments. Millions of dollars have been invested over the last three decades in search of a “holy grail”.
This despite the reality that dementia is a complex condition, an enigma to researchers.
For two important reasons, dementia cannot be “fixed” quickly and with great effectiveness – like a heart attack or angina is with a stent, or like some cancers can be with surgery. First, it’s a cumulative condition with multiple causes that impact on the brain at various times during a person’s life span. Second, dementia creeps up on a person with changes in the brain beginning decades before a person actually starts to show symptoms.
For most people, there is not a single cause behind their dementia symptoms, at least for the commonly seen progressive loss of memory and other functions in older age. In fact, some of the most comprehensive autopsy studies conducted in large populations find the majority of people dying with dementia show a variety of different types of brain changes probably occurring over a few decades.
Not only is there a build-up of proteins in the brain called amyloid and tau that are traditionally regarded as markers of Alzheimer’s disease, but also changes seen in other conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, and importantly, evidence of damage from poor cardiovascular health such as strokes.
People are more likely to show symptoms of dementia during life if they have a combination of these brain changes rather than just one of them, suggesting that a little of each may add up over time.
Many of these brain changes occur silently and at various times during a person’s lifespan, and at varying rates in different people. There comes a point when the brain’s ability to function well becomes compromised, and this is when the first symptoms occur.
This is why there is no one “thing” we can blame for causing dementia, and why it’s so hard to find that silver bullet to stop dementia  – particularly at older ages.
Even benefits of the handful of medications developed for dementia are, at best, very small and debatable. They’re also not easily available for a large section of the global community.
The prescription of the newest, and most hotly contested medication for people with early dementia requires a highly specialised brain scan not available to the majority of people in high-income countries, let alone for those in middle and low-income countries.
A logical question that follows is, what can be done about reducing the burden of dementia?
The answer is in fact, quite a lot.
There are several things people and governments can do to drive down symptoms of dementia and “flatten the curve” of dementia in whole populations.
For the general public, this means promotion of healthy diets and physical activity. For people with risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart rhythm abnormalities, and high cholesterol, good management of cardiovascular health is required.
In high-income populations there is evidence of a reducing incidence of new cases, most likely due to the benefits of improvements in lifestyle and cardiovascular health over the past three decades.
The challenge is translating this to middle and low-income countries with larger, more diverse populations where the burden of dementia is fast increasing. Education and health literacy is a key element of protection against dementia, a measure that requires investment.
But the elephant in the room is the serious lack of investment to support people already living with dementia. Removing the stigma related to dementia and improving environments, access to care, connectedness to communities, and health services should be supported by investment, research effort and actions equal to, if not greater than the resources directed towards the finding of a magic cure.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™
Prof V. Srikanth is a clinical specialist in Geriatric Medicine and a research expert in health related to ageing. He is the Director of the National Centre for Healthy Ageing.  His primary expertise are in the fields of dementia, cerebrovascular disease, falls and frailty.
Prof Srikanth declared no conflicts of interest in relation to this article.


Russia: Coalmine Disaster Victims’ Families vs Thugs? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Vadim Nikitin comments on “this week’s unprecedented measure to provide each widow of the [May 9] mine explosion victims with police protection to ward off attacks from organised criminals after their compensation payouts.”


Albania: Flags and Skyscrapers · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Our Man in Tirana writes about Albania's Flag Day and the capital's amazing new skyscraper.


Russia: Blogger Calls For Open Technical Standards · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

LJ user bablaw wrote an open letter [Google translation – ENG] to the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev calling him to veto amendments to the Civil Code that would make technical standards [ENG] closed to the general public.


Press freedom in Singapore and Sri Lanka · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

ICT for Peacebuilding compares media freedom (or the lack of it) in Singapore and Sri Lanka


COVID-19: Nigeria Records 576 New Cases Of As Vaccine Hopes Soar - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Editor 4
July 22, 2020
Nigeria on Tuesday recorded 576 new cases of the novel coronavirus as hopes of a vaccine soared after a Chinese-made vaccine entered the final stage of testing in Brazil.
In a tweet via its verified handle, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control put the country’s total virus load at 37,801 with 15,677 discharged cases and 805 deaths.
Lagos, the country’s virus epicentre, reported the highest number of new cases with 88, Kwara second with 87, and the FCT third with 82. Other states with new cases include Plateau (62), Ondo (39), Enugu (28), Oyo (26), Taraba (24), Kaduna (20), Ebonyi (20), Edo (17), Cross River (16), Kano (14), Rivers (11), Ogun (10), Delta (9), Nasarawa (8), Osun (8), Katsina (3), Imo (2), Kebbi (1), and Borno


Morocco: 50,000 Strong for Gaza · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

The View from Fez reports that a crowd of nearly 50,000 gathered in Rabat on Sunday to protest against Israel's attacks on Gaza.


Tunisia: General Strike in Thala  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

On Twitter, Tounsia Hourra (Free Tunisian) says [ar] there is a general strike in Thala, in the province of Kasserine, today [October 8, 2012]. The protest is against rising unemployment and neglecting the maintenance of the city.
@tounisiahourra: اضراب عام في تالة ( ولاية القصرين ) اليوم احتجاجا على ارتفاع معدلات البطالة واهمال صيانة المدينة
@tounisiahourra:A general strike in Thala (province of Kasserine) today in protest against the rising rate of unemployment and neglecting the maintenance of the city.


Hamilton City Council for April 22, 2015 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

April 22, 2015
Hamilton City Council meets to debate and ratify the standing committee work of the past two weeks, debate a partnership with the public school board to build new joint schools/community centres in rural Flamborough, and a motion from Ward 4 Councillor Sam Merulla to protect against the merger of Horizon Utilities.
Live video starts after 5pm.
Due to restrictions imposed by City Clerks, I’m banned from arriving prior to the start of meetings. The restrictions are based upon Council’s 13-2 endorsement of Integrity Commissioner Earl Basse’s report which falsely claim I was eavesdropping by standing in the public lobby outside of Council Chambers when a member of City Council used physical force against me.


Haiti: Wyclef’s Plans  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Dessalines’ Children re-posts a video in which Wyclef Jean outlines “the main issues facing Haiti…how his presidential bid was inspired by Nelson Mandela and anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, and why his lack of political experience might work to his advantage in office.”


Saudi Arabia: Why No Cinemas? · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Why No Cinemas? Some people in Saudi Arabia love to bane things for no reason. The majority of Saudi people here showing that they want a solution for this issue, as it became something reactionary to keep it banned without any rational reason, Ibrahim Owais said.


Panama: Strange Sights on the Highways  · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Every once in awhile, driving along the roads of Panama one sees the strangest sights.  CaDs [ES] happened to have a camera handy and captured the image of a man sleeping in a hammock on the back of a moving truck.


Two North Division students compete for ‘fan favorite’ in national app competition | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Rebecca Carballo
June 22, 2016
Tatiana Loyd and Qiaira Mathews pose with their app displayed on tablets. (Photo by Rebecca Carballo)
North Division High school students Tatiana Loyd and Qiaira Mathews, who designed a mobile app to comfort children who suffer from serious diseases, currently hold second place in a national app-making contest. They are trying to rally enough support to win the Fan Favorite competition before voting closes on July 19.
Their app is one of six finalists in the NAF and Lenovo Scholars Network National Mobile Apps contest.
Mathews, a junior, got the idea for the app, “Emoji Encouragement,” from her aunt who works at a hospital and often needs to comfort patients. Loyd, a senior, said she liked the concept because she was frequently in and out of the hospital as a child.
“When she came to me with the idea I was in love with it,” Loyd said. “If I would have had this it would have been helpful because the nurses couldn’t be with me every minute of the day.”
The app provides words of encouragement, accompanied by an original emoji designed by Tatiana Loyd and Qiaira Mathews. (Photo courtesy of Melissa DeFalco Menge)
The two teamed up in a computer science class and began to develop the app.
Users rate their mood on a scale of 1-10, and the app provides an encouraging phrase accompanied by an emoji the girls designed themselves. “Apple doesn’t have these emojis but they’re going to want them,” Mathews said with a smile.
The teens have a light-hearted demeanor, but they worked tirelessly. At one point they had to start over after an incident where all their work was erased. Loyd said the months spent on “Emoji Encouragement” was worth it because the app was personal to them. “We put ourselves in the app just as much as we put in time,” Loyd said.
Matthews said they worked on the app from November 2015 until April. During this time they created 15-20 phrases of encouragement for each mood, such as “broken-hearted” or “joyful.”
One of the phrases for “broken-hearted” is “I know you can handle this.” If a child chooses “joyful,” one he or she may hear,“You are beautiful in every single way.”
The students’ unwavering effort did not go unnoticed. Melissa DeFalco Menge, their computer science teacher was impressed by their work ethic.
“These girls are dedicated,” DeFalco Menge said. “Not everyone was positive about them winning, but they took the hits and they kept going.”
“Even though it was time consuming, mind wrecking, frustrating — it was overall a real fun experience,” Loyd said. “I like doing it because it helps bring your ideas to life.”
The girls received a great deal of support from other schools in the state. Students at Washington High School of Information Technology, which won last year, advocated for Loyd and Matthews. Support extended all the way to Baraboo High School where a student developed an app for users to vote for Loyd and Matthews.
DeFalco Menge raved about “Emoji Encouragement.” She said she has shown the app to multiple people and they all had positive reactions. “Once you start to show the app to people they start to smile,” DeFalco Menge added.
The app also received good reviews on Google Play, where it is rated 4.8 stars.
Loyd and Matthews have been spreading the word through social media and word of mouth. They are looking into visiting Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin to have some of the patients try the app.
“The one thing I want is to work with the kids this app is made for,” Loyd said. “After that I don’t even care if we win fan favorite. I just want to see if the app can do what it’s actually supposed to do.”


El Salvador: Citizens of Mejicanos Protest Construction of Walmart Store · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Voices from El Salvador reports: “This past Thursday civil society organizations, international solidarity groups, students, and community associations came together to protest the construction of a mega Walmart store in Mejicanos, a municipality in northern San Salvador.” In a stament, organizers say that communities must be consulted about these projects.


Incarceration without conviction must stop | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Mark Rice
December 12, 2016
From left: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist James Causey; Clayborn Benson, executive director, Wisconsin Black Historical Society (obscured); EXPO of Milwaukee leaders Sharyl McFarland, Carl Fields and James Watkins participate at an EXPO of Milwaukee community forum at the Wisconsin Black Historical Society in June.
Mark Rice, a Wisconsin statewide EXPO organizer, writes about a new Health Impact Assessment that documents the human and financial impact of incarcerating people for violating supervision rules.
According to a groundbreaking Health Impact Assessment, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) incarcerated nearly 3,000 people on probation, parole or extended supervision in 2015 who were not convicted of crimes. The DOC sent these people back to prison solely for violating rules of supervision. It is time for Wisconsin policymakers to stop this unjust practice.
Human Impact Partners, WISDOM, and EXPO (EX-Prisoners Organizing) conducted the assessment, which examines how incarcerating people without conviction affects the health of individuals, families and communities. Findings include:
On Nov. 22, WISDOM and EXPO released a book of stories entitled “Incarcerated Without Conviction: The Abuse of Revocation in Wisconsin.” The book includes the stories of several African-American men and women and several people with mental illnesses who have been incarcerated for minor infractions that did not involve new crimes.
Numerous stories demonstrate how incarceration without conviction can devastate black lives. The DOC forced EXPO leader Frank Davis to spend almost three years in prison for simply owning a computer and a cell phone. The DOC imprisoned EXPO of Milwaukee leader Wayne Murphy for 32 months for passing out drunk in public. Wisconsin officials incarcerated EXPO of Milwaukee leader Troy Hawkins for 18 months because he used alcohol and drugs and had sex without prior agent approval.
Wisconsin administrators sent EXPO of Milwaukee leader Ventae Parrow back to prison without conviction on three separate occasions. Parrow said, “It’s frustrating when you’re out here working a job, going to college, having a place to lay your head and helping your family out and then whenever they feel like it they snatch the rug from under your feet and they place you in prison even though you have not committed any crime.”
The DOC forced Louis Taylor to spend months in the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility (MSDF) for several unsubstantiated allegations that his ex-girlfriend made after they broke up. Taylor’s experience with the revocation process in Wisconsin prompted him to say, “Black lives will never matter in Wisconsin.”
My story demonstrates how incarceration without conviction can harm people living with mental illness. A psychiatrist diagnosed me with paranoid schizophrenia in 1999. The state of Wisconsin convicted me of several offenses that were related to this disabling mental condition.
During the summer of 2007, Milwaukee police officers arrested me for disorderly conduct while I was experiencing symptoms of my mental illness. I was still on probation for a crime I was convicted of in 2000 so the officers took me to jail.
The officers arrested me a few days before I was going to start my second year of graduate school at UW-Milwaukee. During the 2006-2007 school year, I worked as a project assistant at the university and received a full-tuition scholarship.
I went to court after spending a few days in the Milwaukee County Jail. The judge, the prosecutor, and the public defender all agreed that my behavior did not fit with the definition of disorderly conduct. The judge dismissed the case, but I did not get to go home.
My probation officer, who had no specialized training in mental health issues, decided to move forward with the revocation process. My former probation officer, a mental health specialist in Madison, thought that an alternative to revocation treatment program would have been a better option.
The DOC forced me to spend nearly six months in MSDF while I fought the revocation. An administrative law judge eventually revoked my probation. I went back in front of the sentencing judge a few weeks later. I faced a maximum of 12 years in prison but, fortunately for me, the sentencing judge decided to let me go home.
I lost my job, my scholarship and my apartment because of the revocation. I also lost my Supplemental Security Income, health insurance and FoodShare benefits. I had to re-apply for all of these benefits after I got released.
I returned to UW-Milwaukee after my release. However, I never got my job and scholarship back. I earned a master’s degree from the university in 2009.
It is time for the DOC to eliminate incarceration as a response to non-criminal violations of the rules of parole, probation and extended supervision.


China: Nude Protest · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chinese netizens post their nude pictures on the internet after Beijing police started investigating dissident-artist Ai Weiwei for spreading pornography online. (Via Shanghaiist)


Equatorial Guinea: A Story Idea for Journalists Covering the Africa Cup of Nations · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Shelby Grossman shares a story idea for journalists covering the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea: ” There is a fear among those who have been in the country for a while that after the tournament the government will conduct raids and crack down on illegal immigration.  The harassment of foreign West Africans is already awful.”


HSR Looking at Fare Assistance Program, But Will End Automatic Free Transit for Mobility Device Users – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

May 9, 2023
Hamilton’s public transit agency is looking at decreasing single ride fares by 30 percent for low-income Hamiltonians with a new “Fare Assist” program that will replace free (“Voluntary”) fares for riders with mobility devices and the “Affordable Transit Pass” program that gives a 50 percent discount on monthly passes to low-income riders.
HSR managers expect approximately 88,000 Hamiltonians will qualify for the program based upon 2021 census figures.
“This program is expected to provide greater opportunity for access than the suspended programs and represents a more equitable product offering,” Director of Transit Maureen Cosyn Heath told Council in April.
Riders with mobility devices such as walkers, scooters, and wheelchairs presently ride the HSR at no charge. Additionally, Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) cardholders ride free.
“This program is all particularly operationally problematic and provides greater benefits to persons with visible disabilities over those who may have invisible disabilities,” Cosyn Heath stated as a reason for the change.
The new program will not provide a free fare option for these users.
Adult fares on programmed PRESTO cards will be $1.89 per trip.
The City lists the following income cut-offs for the program, using the Low-Income Measurement After-Tax.
FAMILY SIZE HOUSEHOLD INCOME (AFTER TAXES)
1 $26,570
2 $37,576
3 $46,021
4 $53,140
5 $59,412
6 $65,083
7 $70,298
8 $75,151
9 $79,710
10 $84,022
An online public survey is open until May 26 on the City’s engagement website.
Council will vote on this plan at a later date.


Brunei: “Rainart” on Twitter · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

It's been raining hard in Brunei in the past few days. Maurina gathers the “rainart” twitter pictures uploaded by her friends.


Palestine/Israel: Imagine 2018  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Imagine 2018 “is a multiplatform campaign that depicts visions by Israelis and Palestinians of 2018 if a peace agreement is signed versus maintaining the status quo or worse,” launched by OneVoice Movement.


China: What’s Wrong with Wiki? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

KJ found out that many netizens couldn't access overseas wiki websites such as wikia and wowwiki [zh].


Honduras: Victims and Witnesses of Crime · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Crime continues to be a topic in Honduras, as a couple of local bloggers were a victim of a mugging and a witness to a extreme robbery.  Aaron Ortiz of Pensieve [es] had his wallet and laptop stolen on one of the safest parts on his daily route to his house.  Fabo Balsech of Diario de un Joven en Medio de la Nada [es] was caught off guard when he saw men with machine guns rob a woman in her car in front of the local university.