NNS Spotlight: ‘God is not through with me’: Willie Brisco and his continued fight for social justice | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
November 26, 2019
The Rev. Willie Brisco talks about his journey to activism in his home in the Bradley Estates neighborhood on the Northwest Side. “Everything that I have lived is God’s divine plan for creating in me the activist that I am,” he says “And along the way, he has shown me what I was supposed to do.” (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Editor’s note: This story is part of an  occasional series  that highlights groups and people worth knowing in Milwaukee. To nominate a person or a group, email<EMAIL_ADDRESS>and put “Spotlight” in the subject line.
The Rev. Willie Brisco is all about justice. Especially for his African American community.
For more than 36 years, Brisco has dedicated his life to fighting racism.
He has pursued his passion for justice through the Milwaukee Inner-City Congregations Allied for Hope, or MICAH, and WISDOM, the statewide social justice organization. As president of both organizations he has won significant improvements for the community.
And despite being slowed down by a stroke in July 2017, Brisco is still fighting the good fight.
“I realize that God is not through with me,” said Brisco, who is 66. “He’s using me in different ways.”
Through WISDOM and Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing, also known as EXPO, Brisco is working with Gov. Tony Evers and others to reform the correctional system.
The Rev. Willie Brisco, then-president of WISDOM and MICAH, and Dr. Anne Bonds, UWM professor of geography and urban studies, speak on a panel about race in November 2016. (File photo by Naomi Waxman)
A champion for equity
Among the issues Brisco has taken on are inequalities in transportation, employment and housing. When Westlawn, the federal public housing development, was initially being rebuilt, he was the one who saw the injustices in construction employment that were happening there, said the Rev. Joe Ellwanger, a longtime civil right activist. The $300-million project was bringing in companies from Illinois and all over the state to do the work and not hiring people who lived in Westlawn and Milwaukee, he said.
Under Brisco’s leadership, what started with prayer vigils ended with a Department of Housing and Urban Development investigation in 2013 that found the city Housing Authority had failed to meet federal regulations for hiring low-income workers. Since then, things have turned around to the point where city housing officials meet on a regular basis with MICAH.
“Willie is really good at articulating and speaking truth, but he’s also smart in organizing and recognizing that if we expect change, we’ve got to work for it,” Ellwanger said.
Former Sheriff Lev Baldwin, one of Brisco’s mentors and a predecessor as assistant superintendent at the House of Correction, said Brisco “is a very intelligent guy, knowledgeable about the law and an excellent human being.”
Brisco worked for 25 years at the Milwaukee County House of Correction.
Richard Cox, a former superintendent at the House of Correction, said Brisco was a role model for the inmates.
“You can tell people they can succeed, but if they don’t see anyone like them succeeding, it’s just dead words. It means nothing,” Cox said.
Born in the small town of Sardis, Mississippi, Brisco, along with his younger brother and sister moved with their mother to Detroit in the early 1960s and a year later to Milwaukee, where they had relatives.
They first lived near 16 Street and McKinley Avenue and then near Teutonia Avenue and Wright Street. He attended Wells Junior High School and what is now Roosevelt Middle School of the Arts before graduating from North Division High School in 1972.
Brisco is the father of two sons, two daughters, two stepdaughters and has 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild
“Everything that I have lived is God’s divine plan for creating in me the activist that I am,” he said. “And along the way, he has shown me what I was supposed to do.”


Africa: Design Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ugo points readers to Design Africa: “Design Africa’s mission is twofold: to help today’s distinctive African design emerge, and to accelerate the economic development of the communities and countries involved through the positive impact of exports.”


Common Ground to Wesley Edens: $30 Million for our city | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Common Ground
April 1, 2015
Common Ground leaders gathered in the lobby of City Hall to encourage and pray for bold leadership from Mayor Barrett and Common Council President Michael Murphy as they prepare for their 2 pm meeting with Nationstar Mortgage which is majority owned by Bucks Owner Wesley Edens.. Over 75 Common Ground delegates held hands and bowed their heads at City Hall as Pastor Rob Ater sent their encouragement and prayers to the two most powerful elected leaders in the city of Milwaukee. “We are pleased to see that Mayor Barrett and President Murphy will be meeting with Nationstar to negotiate around the next wave of the foreclosure crisis in the City of Milwaukee. We are confident they will represent the interest of our whole city”, said Mia Price, Common Ground leader.
Since 2008 Common Ground has been at the forefront of the foreclosure crisis. In 2011, Common Ground was able to negotiate $33.8 million from the world’s largest banks to rehabilitate and resell over 55 homes in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park Neighborhood. Since 2008 the City of Milwaukee has lost billions of dollars in the tax base. Due to tighter federal regulations on the large banks, banks have transferred many of their mortgages to non-bank mortgage servicing entities like Nationstar, Ocwen and Green Tree. “These non-bank entities are not well-regulated and we see that the next wave of Foreclosures in our city will be caused by companies like Nationstar,” stated Randy Jones, Common Ground Leader.
In the city of Milwaukee, Nationstar is the 2nd largest mortgage holder. They service 3101 mortgages in our city. Currently, they have 298 of these houses that are foreclosed or vacant. The second wave of foreclosures could come because 1624 of the mortgages serviced by Nationstar are delinquent, underwater, or delinquent and underwater. Mayor Barrett and President Murphy will be meeting with Nationstar representatives to negotiate a solution to avert this crisis. Representation from Nationstar includes, Executive Vice President Dana Dillard, Senior Vice President James McDermott and their local hired attorney, Ed Heiser of Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C.
Common Ground Leader Jennifer O’Hear is resolute in the belief that, “ Our mayor and Common Council President won’t sign some token agreement with Nationstar. We know they love this city as much as we do. We’ve got a major problem here and we believe our Mayor and Common Council President understand this. We know Mayor Barrett and President Murphy will demand a financial response commensurate with the magnitude of the problem.”
Although the Foreclosure crisis is daunting, President Murphy and Mayor Barrett will be negotiating from a position of strength. The chair of the board of Nationstar Mortgage is Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wesley Edens. Common Ground Leaders believe that Alderman Murphy and Mayor Barrett will demand that Wesley Edens and Nationstar make right by the City of Milwaukee before our city considers giving Mr. Edens a public subsidy to build a new arena for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Here are the requests of Nationstar that Mayor Barrett, Common Council President Michael Murphy and Common Council members should be putting forward to Nationstar:
1) Nationstar donate $25 million to the City of Milwaukee Challenge Fund to foster the rehabilitation of foreclosed properties.
2) Nationstar donate $5 million over five years to fund 5-10 housing counselors to go door to door to work with the 1624 families on the delinquent and underwater loans which Nationstar services. The intention would be to prevent further mortgage foreclosures.
3) Nationstar assign a full-time person on the Nationstar staff to work with Milwaukee housing counselors to restructure mortgages.
“If a little community group like Common Ground can get five international banks to give $33.8 million to address the foreclosure crisis in Milwaukee, surely the two most powerful leaders in Milwaukee, Mayor Barrett and President Murphy, can get $30 million from Nationstar. We are praying for you.” Jennifer O’Hear, Common Ground Leader
Common Ground has invited Mayor Barrett and Common Council President Murphy to report their progress with Nationstar at our Common Ground Spring Assembly on April 29at 7pm at Mt. Mary University.


Georgia: Democracy in Crisis · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

TOL Georgia reports that democracy is in crisis in Georgia and says that it is obvious that Saakashvili will do anything in order to avoid the fate of his predecessor who he was responsible for removing from power in 2003.


Kenya: voting dilemma · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

My Voting Dilemma – A poem by Kenyanpoet:
This paradox of how a piece of paper
With X and ticks marks like an exam paper
To examine my literacy and disarm my prayers
Malcolm X and Nike labels
Tick no and X or cancel yes
No I don’t want yes
My answer is no
And so I will cancel


Old video of Indo-US joint military exercise shared as 'Live encounter in Kashmir' - Alt News
Arjun Sidharth
5th August 2019 / 1:50 pm / Last updated: 7th September 2019
Live encounter in Kashmir pic.twitter.com/UMsfE7V0AW
— Akash RSS (@Satynistha) August 4, 2019
The video shows security personnel conducting a combing and sanitising operation inside households. This is followed by the sound of gunshots and a chase sequence, before a soldier is seen frisking the body of what appears to be a slain terrorist lying on the ground. In the video, a DD News reporter can also be seen ‘reporting’ the scene of the incident. The video has a logo of DD News on the top left corner.
The same video is viral in Malayalam with a similar claim, which says, “This is how when people with spine rule. When you’re hiding Terrorists in homes and when the army come for checking, they’re preventing the army by chanting ‘Bolo Takbir’. But the army is swatting them aside and terminating the terrorists on the spot.” (translated)
നട്ടെല്ലുള്ളവർ രാജ്യം ഭരിച്ചാൽ ഇങ്ങനെ ഇരിക്കും,
കശ്മീരിൽ വീടുകളിൽ തീവ്ര വാദികളെ ഒളിപ്പിച്ചു വച്ചിട്ട്, വീടുകൾ പരിശോധിക്കാൻ പട്ടാളം എത്തിയപ്പോൾ അവർ ബോലോ തക്ബീർ വിളിച്ചു പട്ടാളത്തെ തടയാൻ ശ്രമിക്കുന്നു.അവരെ തള്ളി മാറ്റി.വീടുകളിൽ ഒളിച്ചിരുന്ന തീവ്രവാദികളെ സ്പോട്ടിൽ തീർക്കുന്നു. pic.twitter.com/wrvp2ughRA
— സജീഷ് സതീശൻ (@sajeesh251) August 3, 2019
The Video is currently viral on Facebook in English and in Malayalam.
On the basis of the DD News logo seen in the video, Alt News searched the DD News channel on YouTube and found a video published on October 25, 2016 with the title, “Know how Indian Army carries out search operations in Kashmir valley”. The video is posted below.
The video was a special report by DD News showing how the Indian army conducts combing operations whenever there is intelligence input of terrorists hiding in a particular village or locality. For further information, Alt News searched for the details of the reporter covering the incident, Nandita Dagar. Alt News found a tweet from September 25, 2016 which had a photograph of the reporter wearing the same dress as seen in the video. According to the tweet, the photograph was from a Indo-US joint military exercise Yudh Abhyas.
Capt Stephen Petraeus s/o Gen Petraeus w DD Defence reporter Nandita Dagar during Indo-US #YudhAbhyas2016 pic.twitter.com/RWi7yIdXG4
— Sandeep (@SandeepUnnithan) September 25, 2016
Yudh Abhyas was started in the year 2004 under the US Army Pacific Partnership Programme. Yudh Abhyas 2016 commenced on September 15, 2016 with a focus on counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism operations. It was conducted in Chaubattia Military Station at Ranikhet in Uttarakhand.
It may be reiterated that the video circulating on social media as a live encounter in Kashmir, is actually a Indo-US joint training video of September 2016.
Arjun Sidharth is a writer with Alt News. He has previously worked in the television news industry, where he managed news bulletins and breaking news scenarios, apart from scripting numerous prime time television stories. He has also been actively involved with various freelance projects. Sidharth has studied economics, political science, international relations and journalism. He has a keen interest in books, movies, music, sports, politics, foreign policy, history and economics. His hobbies include reading, watching movies and indoor gaming.
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GRAND: FIFA agrees massive $1.5bn covid-19 relief plan - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Iliya Auta
June 26, 2020
The World football governing body FIFA has agreed a 1.5 billion dollars assistance plan to help deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global game.
FIFA’s plan means world football’s governing body will provide national federations with a number of grants and interest-free loans to cope with budget hits.
World football governing had already provided the immediate release of all funds from its “Forward’’ projects and given the green light for such grants to be used for COVID-19 relief plans.
FIFA President, Gianni Infantino  said both grants and loans can be directed by member-associations to the wider football community in their respective territories, including clubs, players, leagues, or others that have been affected by COVID-19. He added that there would be strict controls on the use of funds, audit requirements, as well as clear loan repayment conditions.
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FRSC Partners Nigeria Police On Traffic Control, Security In Enugu - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
August 27, 2021
The Sector Commander of the FRSC, Enugu State Command, Joseph Udoabba made the call while receiving the new Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Lawal Abubakar, who paid him a familiarisation visit in Enugu.
Udoabba noted that the partnership and collaboration became necessary due to the overlapping function of the corps and the police.
According to him, the both commands needed to work together as partners, saying “No single organization or security agency can provide adequate security all alone.”
The sector commander specifically mentioned the issue of traffic control as well as using the National Vehicle Identification Scheme, domicile in the corps, to check vehicle theft in the state.
Earlier, Abubakar said that the command wanted to reach out and see how best it will work with the FRSC command to ensure free flow of traffic within all roads in the state.


No, an elderly man in Meerut did not stop Yogi Adityanath from entering his lane - Alt News
Priyanka Jha
20th May 2021 / 6:13 pm
A video of an elderly man interacting with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is doing the rounds on social media. State President of West UP Youth Congress Omveer Yadav tweeted the video and claimed, “In Bijauli village of Meerut district, an old man stopped Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from entering his lane and put a cot to block his way. The old man did not make way for the Chief Minister even after the latter urged him to let him enter and Yogiji had to go back”.
Adityanath can be heard saying in the video, “Take care, wear a mask”, while a crowd raises slogans in his support. We later see Adityanath walking away from the spot. At the time of writing this article, the video garnered over 4,000 retweets.
ब्रेकिंग न्यूज़-
बस करो अब हमें आपकी ज़रूरत नहीं है-
जनपद मेरठ के बिजौली गांव में एक बुजुर्ग ने मुख्यमंत्री योगी आदित्यनाथ को अपनी एक गली में खाट खड़ी कर जाने से रोक दिया मुख्यमंत्री जी के लाख कहने पर भी बुजुर्ग ने रास्ता नहीं खोला और योगी जी को वापस जाना पड़ा !! pic.twitter.com/PRTWFPTanF
— Omveer Yadav (@OmveerYadavINC) May 16, 2021
The same video has been shared by the Facebook page of Youth Congress Central UP.
Congress leader Nagma Morarji also tweeted the video with the same claim. Her tweet has garnered close to 450 retweets so far.
Meerut Police responded to Omveer Yadav’s tweet and dubbed his claim as false. The police wrote that his post is completely baseless and misleading and comes under the category of rumour-mongering. Furthermore, it is informed that the CM was inquiring about the health status of a member of a COVID-infected family in a containment zone in Meerut district’s Bijauli village. A cot has been placed at the entrance of the containment zone to block entry.
pic.twitter.com/CQUoF0Uuw3
— MEERUT POLICE (@meerutpolice) May 17, 2021
A few others responded to Yadav’s tweet and informed him that local news outlets have reported that Adityanath enquired about the health status of the old man and appealed him to wear a mask.
Dainik Jagran reported on May 17 that Adityanath had spotted the elderly man, Tara Chandra Sharma, when the CM was returning after meeting Nitin. He folded his hands and appealed to the man to wear a mask. Sharma put on a mask on the CM’s request and also chanted a slogan in his support.
BJP worker Nitin Tyagi had posted about Adityanath’s visit. He had come along with MP Rajendra Agarwal, and MLA Satyaveer Tyagi to meet Tyagi at his residence in Bijauli and inquire about his health.
Local media reported that after holding a meeting in the COVID control room at Meerut Collectorate and inspecting the same, Adityanath reached Bijauli village where he saw Tara Chandra Sharma without a mask.
Therefore, a video of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister meeting an old man infected with COVID in a containment zone in the Meerut district was shared with the false claim that his visit was protested.
She specializes in information verification, examining mis/disinformation, social media monitoring and platform accountability. Her aim is to make the internet a safer place and enable people to become informed social media users. She has been a part of Alt News since 2018.
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Scott Sommers writes about why he chose the Ph.D. program at National Taiwan Normal University. The article makes some interesting comparisons between graduate programs in the East and West.


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Lesley Téllez from The Mija Chronicles  interviewed Fany Gerson, author of My Sweet Mexico, “a new cookbook of authentic Mexican desserts, beverages and breads.”


Iran:Filtering in Iran in One Web Day in Oxford · Global Voices
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Brazil: The loss of a pioneer digital activist · Global Voices
Diego Casaes

Daniel Pádua was a well-known digital activist in Brazil. Photo brought by Cátia Kitahara in WordPress-BR.
Brazil lost today one of its pioneers digital activists. Daniel Pádua [pt] (also known as @dpadua on Twitter) had been recently diagnosed with cancer and lost the battle this morning, in Brasília. Always present in open source software and free culture events in Brazil, he was a strong reference for many bloggers in posts about ciberactivism and freedom of speech on the Internet.
On the WordPress-Br blog, Cátia Kitahara wrote [pt]:
Hoje perdemos um amigo queridíssimo, aqui da comunidade, o Daniel Pádua. Sentiremos muito sua falta, não só pelo grande talento e inteligência que ele possuia, mas principalmente pelo seu caráter. Queremos manifestar nosso carinho para sua família e amigos.
As the news spreads all over the web, Twitter users who known his work and commitment are honoring him and saying a last goodbye:
This is Global Voices tribute to Daniel Pádua. Rest in peace.


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Melody reports that candidates have been nominated for the Belize local elections, which local observers see as “a litmus test that could well set the stage for the outcome of the General Elections.”


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Viral Video: Claim that President of India was mistreated at an IAS officer's daughter's wedding is false - Alt News
Alt News Desk
10th November 2017 / 3:42 pm
“An IAS officer in PMO’s office at Delhi Mr. Somanathan’s daughter’s wedding. Keep an eye on the President of India. Please see what kind of treatment President of India is getting.” A video is currently viral with the aforementioned text. PM Modi was in Chennai on November 5th, 2017, to attend the 75 years celebration of the Tamil Newspaper ‘Daily Thanthi’. After this event, PM attended the wedding of daughter of IAS officer TV Somanathan who is posted in the PMO currently.
PM Modi is on his way to attend wedding of daughter of IAS officer TV Somanathan in PMO at Mayor Ramanathan hall shortly @NewIndianXpress
— T Muruganandham (@muruga_TNIE) November 6, 2017
A video of PM Modi attending this marriage is now viral on social media. In this video, PM can be seen wishing the couple and then accepting a gift and posing for some photographs. Another guest is also seen alongside PM Modi in the same video, posing for photographs and wishing the couple. It is now being claimed that this other guest is the President of India Ram Nath Kovind and that he was mistreated.
The video can be seen below:
In the grainy video above, the other guest who is seen along with PM Modi has been mistaken to be the President of India. The other guest is actually Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit. The TN Governor had welcomed PM Modi on his arrival at Chennai and later accompanied him to various events that PM Modi attended.
Prince of Arcot, Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali, receiving the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, at the INS…
Posted by Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali on Thursday, November 9, 2017
One must always be careful when sharing low resolution videos and images. Since this is the election season, the rumour mills across various political parties are over active and one must be extra careful before circulating unverified claims.
Follow @free_thinker
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Why space is the next frontier in mining - 360
Alex Gilbert
Published on September 22, 2023
Private companies and governments are reaching for the stars in an effort to ease Earth-bound shortages.
In August, India made history by conducting the first soft landing near the south pole of the Moon. This low-cost mission —  its budget was well under USD$100 million —  heralds a new era of space exploration and deep space commerce.
Among other objectives, the mission confirmed the presence of water in lunar regolith, the local dirt. The findings, building on recent scientific discoveries,  underscore an emerging paradigm.
A global resource rush is starting to find and extract the first accessible natural resource in outer space: lunar water.
This resource rush, enabled by space-sector innovations, has led to many new players in the space energy sector, with solar power a leading option for development. Emerging economies like India and the United Arab Emirates are joining existing space powers and dozens of private commercial firms in this race.
The United States and China are developing competing international collaborations to access these resources: the Artemis Accords and International Lunar Research Station respectively. Access to and development of space resources can bring significant economic benefits to Earth.
Space resources are now feasible because technological innovation has made lunar missions cheaper, from single digit billions to double digit millions, with promises for further cost reduction.
Falling launch costs, particularly due to reusable rocketry and commercial innovation, are one of the two economic factors accelerating the commercialisation of space and the lunar resource rush.
The other is the decreasing costs of spacecraft design, enabled by the digital revolution.
Two American companies, SpaceX and Blue Origin, are developing super heavy lift launch vehicles that can put 75-100 tonnes into low-Earth orbit. Many other reusable vehicles are in the pipeline globally.
There are two primary space resource types — lunar volatiles, which include water, and regolith — to provide local and export materials.
Water is cheap on Earth but costs USD$10,000 or more for each kilogram delivered to space. Water is the oil of outer space, making the Moon the Saudi Arabia of the solar system. Although dry by Earth standards, the lunar south pole contains significant water deposits.
The Moon has lower gravity, so it is easier to extract and transport this water to orbital locations than send it from Earth. Water’s two components, hydrogen and oxygen, can be split to produce rocket fuel.
Existing satellites contribute hundreds of billions in telecommunications and other services for global economies. But they are not refuelled. This limits their life and number of useful missions.
Spacecraft fuel produced from lunar water can supercharge the orbital economy, support defence activities in Earth orbit, and even lay the foundation for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
Beyond water, the regolith on the Moon, Mars and asteroids contains useful materials to build habitats, bases and mines on planetary surfaces. They can provide food, water, air and other goods for future astronauts.
NASA’s recent MOXIE experiment on the Perseverance rover produced oxygen from Mars’ carbon dioxide atmosphere, the first demonstration of space resources production.
Mass is a primary economic barrier to expanded space activities. By allowing future explorers to ‘live off the land’, space resources could provide mass multipliers that enable lunar and Martian settlement.
Regolith can also produce useful metals and other goods to return to Earth. The clean-energy transition on Earth is metal-hungry for bulk metals like nickel and cobalt and more exotic metals like rare earths.
Prices are soaring while new mines bring environmental and social consequences. Exotic sources like deep sea mining or asteroid mining are being considered.
Some asteroids, and even parts of the Moon, contain especially high concentrations of the elements that could support terrestrial economies.
Recent missions such as by Japan’s Hayabusa spacecraft, brought back asteroid materials to Earth but only in small amounts. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is expected to bring more than a hundred grams of samples from the asteroid Bennu.
Advanced technologies in the 2030s and 2040s could increase payloads to kilograms or even tonnes, potentially justifying high costs of extraction.
There are three primary elements that shape the environmental sustainability of space mining. These consequences must be better understood to ensure space mining benefits rather than harms the global environment.
First, launching hundreds or even thousands of rockets to kickstart a space economy would have a significant effect on the atmosphere. Pollution from high-altitude rocket burns is poorly understood and previous studies suggest potential impacts on climate and the ozone layer.
Similarly, returning materials to Earth requires atmospheric re-entry, which can cause high nitrous oxide formation and potentially affect the climate.
Second, sending metals back to Earth could greatly reduce the environmental impact of terrestrial extractive industries. Current metal mining on the planet is tremendously disruptive, threatening local land, air and water quality, as well as communities.
The few alternatives, like deep-sea mining, threaten biodiversity damage, engendering political opposition. Producing platinum, cobalt, nickel or rare earths in space could limit damage to the biosphere.
Third, and poorly understood, space mining can affect the space environment.
While that environment is already deadly from radiation, microgravity, extreme temperatures and other factors, it is also extraordinarily fragile.
Landing a spacecraft on the Moon shoots out a dust cloud that can damage other spacecraft and pose a threat to astronaut health.
The study of lunar, Martian and asteroid sustainability has barely begun, but requires development to ensure long-term productive use of our collective space resources.
Alex Gilbert is a fellow at the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines and is a PhD student in its Space Resources program.


Help us continue to showcase the beautiful people of Milwaukee | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ron Smith
December 31, 2019
We were at Washington Park Wednesdays over the summer, and we are here for you every day. Now we need you to come through for us. Donate! (Photo by Sue Vliet)
See these pretty people?
You wouldn’t if we stopped publishing.
That’s why we need your financial support.
Each day, we intentionally celebrate the ordinary people who do extraordinary things in our community.
You get this news free of charge. But like you, we have bills to pay!
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service is a nonprofit news organization. In order to survive, we rely on donations. Consider making a donation to our NewsMatch campaign, which ends Tuesday, Dec. 31. When you donate, NewsMatch will match your donation up to $1,000. Click here to donate.
Picture a world without NNS.
Now do your part to ensure this does not happen.
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NNS in the news: Our editor speaks about NNS and its mission.


Puerto Rico: Charly García Turns 60 · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Chemi González remembers the rock legend from Argentina, Charly García [es], on his 60th birthday.


Iran Closes Down Hardline Newspaper After Anti Nuclear Deal Coverage · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

Iranian media run the words “shut down” across a cover page of 9 Dey newspaper. Image publish for reuse on banifilm.ir.
Iran's Press Supervisory have closed down 9 Dey, a hardline newspaper that has published dissenting views to the nuclear deal signed between Iran and the P5+1 countries, signed in Vienna on July 13.
Iran shuts down hardline conservative weekly for criticising the nuclear deal pic.twitter.com/dMKJKKAcuK
— Mehrzad Kohanrouz (@MehrzadBBC) August 3, 2015
The closure comes some weeks after the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance issued Iranian journalists with censorship guidelines on how to cover the deal. In a report for IranWire, Mansoureh Farahani described the directive as such:
In the directive, journalists are forbidden from publishing any articles that suggest rifts among “high-ranking authorities in Iran” — referring to President Rouhani’s administration and the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and his closest allies. In addition, journalists have been told to not report on anything that “indoctrinates” the public into believing that the nuclear deal goes “against the nation, Islam, or revolutionary values and ideals;” they have also been instructed not to report anything that might “polarize society”.
The directive suggested that publications that defied the orders could face up to two months of closure. Reports suggest that other hardline newspapers such as Kayhan have also been given warnings.
#Iran media supervisory board suspends hardline weekly over #IranDeal criticism,gives warning to influential Kayhan daily&hardline website.
— Golnaz Esfandiari (@GEsfandiari) August 3, 2015
Iran's Press Supervisory board is composed of seven members, including the Iranian judiciary, the parliament, the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, a seminary in Qom and the Ministries of Culture and Science. The board had previously banned 9 Dey in April 2014 for publishing what was deemed ‘slanderous’ articles against the president and the nuclear negotiations.
9 Dey is a radical right-wing publications in Iran, owned by Hamid Rasaei, a principalist cleric and member of parliament from Tehran.
9 Dey is the Persian date for December 30th, an anniversary that marks when pro-government supporters marched on the streets in 2009 in opposition to Green Movement protesters.


Prominent Kenyan Writer Binyavanga Wainaina Comes Out as Gay · Global Voices
Haute Haiku

Binyavanga Wainaina at the 2009 Brooklyn Book Festival. Photo released by Wikipedia user Binyavanga Wainaina at the 2009 Brooklyn Book Festival. CC BY 3.0
Kenyan novelist and short story writer Binyavanga Wainaina has released a chapter that was left out from his 2011 memoir “One Day I Will Write About This Place” titled “I am homosexual, mum“. Wainaina, who is the founding editor of the East African leading literary magazine Kwani?, is an award-winning author whose memoir made the reading list of Oprah's book club in 2011.
Wainaina recounts events prior to his mother's death and his struggle to reveal his sexual orientation to the people he cares about. In what he calls a lost chapter from “One Day I Will Write About This Place”, he revealed:
I, Binyavanga Wainaina, quite honestly swear I have known I am a homosexual since I was five. I have never touched a man sexually. I have slept with three women in my life. One woman, successfully. Only once with her. It was amazing. But the next day, I was not able to.
It will take me five years after my mother’s death to find a man who will give me a massage and some brief, paid-for love. In Earl’s Court, London. And I will be freed, and tell my best friend, who will surprise me by understanding, without understanding. I will tell him what I did, but not tell him I am gay. I cannot say the word gay until I am thirty nine, four years after that brief massage encounter. Today, it is 18 January 2013, and I am forty three.
The revelation came shortly after Uganda's parliament passed legislation that would jail homosexuals and President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria approved a new law that criminalises homosexual relationships and imposes prison terms of up of to 14 years.
Wainaina is quoted by Kenyan newspaper The Star saying that the anti-gay law in Nigeria was one of the things that made him decide to come out.
He has also released a six-part YouTube video titled “We Must Free Our Imagination” discussing his decision to come out, homosexuality in Africa, the church and anti-sodomy laws on the continent. Below is the first part of his video series:
Following his public declaration of his sexual orientation, Cal Advocacy blog asked, “Where are the voices of African lesbians?”:
Can lesbian women publicly and proudly raise their voices without fear of reprisals from conservative, patriarchal systems of silencing and oppression? And if we can- then why aren’t we? What systems of oppression still keep us muffled and quiet? When homosexuality is spoken about in Africa, the voice, rhetoric and overall emphasis on either affirming or disputing the rights of non-heteronormative people is more often than not the voice of gay men. Binyavanga is a gay man and he has ‘come out’ and publicly said so. But what does this mean for bisexual, trans and lesbian women? Does Binyavanga’s coming out also give us a voice and a space to claim our rights to exist in spaces that are hostile to our otherness? Can a lesbian woman in Africa copy-paste and edit his letter as a telling of her own story? Has he, in essence, spoken for us all? Women’s sexuality as a whole is a completely side-lined and unacknowledged part of womanhood, where societies, cultures, traditions and religions refuse to recognize women’s sexual rights and bodily autonomy. In this light, lesbian women struggle for legitimacy in a phallocentric world, where the absence of the penis means the absence of sex and sexuality. It can even be argued that colonial laws never took lesbian relationships to account because the very thought that two women, or women alone, could have sexually gratifying relationships was seen as ludicrous, and therefore unaffected by any kind of laws.
The post continued by praising the writer and pointing the way forward for African lesbians:
Binyavanga has helped push an already happening conversation into a public, heterosexual space. The energy around unapologetically and honestly stating our sexuality should not lose momentum. And the voice he uses in planting, firmly, his homosexual identity, is admirable. He makes no apologies, and offers no explanations. And neither should we. We need more lesbian voices, and the voices of gender non-conforming women, asserting ourselves and owning our place on the continent. It doesn’t have to be a coming out story, and you don’t have to be a literary giant. It just has to be your truth as a lesbian, bisexual or transgendered woman, but it has to be spoken out loud, because like Audre Lorde said-your silence will not save you.
On Twitter, many people praised his courage, while a few voices condemned him for his choice:
I think people should cease seeing #BinyavangaWainaina as the face of Africa. He chose his way now choose yours.
— Lord Chancellor (@Bonyton_) January 25, 2014
#Kenyan author #BinyavangaWainaina comes out as gay making him one of the most high profile kenyans to do so. A win for #LGBT in #Africa
— Niamh Ni Ruairc (@NiamhNiRuairc) January 22, 2014
#BinyavangaWAINAINA What's the hullabaloo about his being gay? It's a personal choice & private affair. Unfortunately, now in public domain
— wanja gathu (@wgathu) January 22, 2014
i need to tell those of us who think that @BinyavangaWainaina was brave that its sinful to be gay. Read Leviticus 18:22.
— Mark Bosire (@mbosire6) January 27, 2014


The Spanish Meteorological Agency has not confessed that Spain is being sprayed with chemtrails from planes - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 12, 2024
A post featuring a screenshot of a news report is being shared on social media claiming that ‘the Spanish Meteorological Department has confessed that Spain is being sprayed with Lead dioxide, silver iodide, and diatomite to manipulate the weather conditions.’ Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: The Spanish Meteorological Department has confessed that Spain is being sprayed with Lead dioxide, silver iodide, and diatomite to manipulate weather conditions.
Fact: This news has been in circulation since 2021. There is no evidence that Spanish authorities have confirmed that Spain is being sprayed with chemtrails. In 2015, the European Parliament clarified that there was no evidence supporting the allegations of a military geoengineering scheme to alter the climate in Spain. Besides, the commission clarified that neither existing nor proposed EU legislation includes any programs, policies, or activities that promote geoengineering by stratospheric aerosol or other forms of aerial aerosol spraying. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Upon conducting a relevant keyword search, it was found that this article has been in circulation since 2021. The article mentions that “on 19 May 2015, Member of the European Parliament Ramon Tremosa i Balcells (ALDE) announced in the European Parliament that four workers from the State Meteorological Agency had confessed that Spain was being sprayed with lead dioxide, silver iodide, and diatomite from airplanes to manipulate weather conditions for tourism and agricultural interests. He alleged adverse effects on regions like Murcia, the Valencian Community, and Almería, causing prolonged droughts, intense cold drops, and respiratory issues.” However, no credible reports indicating that Spanish authorities have made such statements were found in our research.
In subsequent research, it was found on the European Parliament website in 2015, a Spanish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) raised a question, stating, “Four employees of Spain’s Meteorological Agency have confessed that Spain is being sprayed nationwide by aircraft that are spreading lead dioxide, silver iodide, and diatomite through the atmosphere. What is the Commission’s view of this situation?” The European Commission responded, “Having investigated the matter with the Spanish authorities, the Commission found no evidence supporting the allegations of a military geoengineering scheme to alter the climate in Spain.”
Besides, the commission also answered the question raised in 2014 by confirming that neither existing nor proposed EU legislation includes any programs, policies, or activities that promote geoengineering by stratospheric aerosol or other forms of aerial aerosol spraying. A representative from Spain’s state meteorological agency informed the Spanish fact-checker Newtral that no meteorologist affiliated with their agency had confirmed the conspiracy theory regarding ‘chemtrails.’
The post also claims that many believe that condensation trails left by high-altitude aeroplanes are “chemtrails,” and that these contain undisclosed chemical or biological agents which cause climate modification. Contrary to this, these trails, also known as contrails, are created when the hot water vapour emitted by a jet engine after combustion cools and condenses in Earth’s atmosphere.
To sum up, the Spanish Meteorological Agency has not confessed that Spain is being sprayed with chemtrails from planes.


Puerto Rico: Impunity Island · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Blogger Ed Morales comments on recently released American Civil Liberty Union's (ACLU) report (PDF) on police brutality in Puerto Rico: “The report echoes a previous, scathing one on police brutality and abuse of civil rights in Puerto Rico released last September (PDF) by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which put the island commonwealth’s police department on notice, providing some hope that the situation might change. But that couldn’t be further from reality. The new report goes on to say that the use of excessive or lethal force is routine, and civil and human rights violations are rampant.”


Syria: Coup Plot Crushed  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Joshua Landis links to reports about a coup plot against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that was quietly crushed without the world noticing in Syria Comment.


Multiple Salaries: Zamfara Government To Arraign 108 Workers - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (F.BA)
December 30, 2019
The Zamfara State government has dragged about 108 civilservants to court for allegedly receiving double salary in differentMinistries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs in the State.
The State’s Commissioner for Finance, Rabi’u Garba, who madethis known at a news briefing in Gusau, said the affected workers werediscovered during the on-going investigation of workers’ salary issues by thestate’s Ministry of Finance.
He explained that the exercise, under the leadership ofGovernor Bello Matawalle, is not to witch-hunt anybody, but to ensure sanity inthe civil service payroll in the State.
Garba said the 108 workers discovered to be collectingdouble salary would be handed over to the state’s Ministry of Justice forprosecution. He urged the workers in the State to be patient with governmentover any inconvenience which the verification exercise might have caused.


Philippines: Hunger and poverty · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Filipino journalist Joe Torres writes about hunger and poverty in the Philippines and Asia.


Post from Community: Zilber Family Foundation commits $3 Million in funding to support COVID-19 response | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Zilber Family Foundation
April 16, 2020
Editor’s note: Our Posts from the Community feature is a platform for community announcements and event postings. If you have a post to be considered, send it to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>or submit it directly.
Zilber Family Foundation Board of Directors recently announced the allocation of $3 million in emergency funding to address the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds will support organizations in Milwaukee, where the Foundation invests the majority of its resources, as well as in Hawaii, where it makes more targeted grants.
The new grants will support general operating expenses for the Foundation’s current grantees and immediate response efforts to meet the urgent needs of those adversely affected by COVID-19. Funding will be awarded on a rolling basis and allocated across three categories:
“Many of our nonprofit partners serve on the front lines of the pandemic and need a quick infusion of funding to help meet an increase in demand for services and programs, and to maintain financial stability during this crisis. We want to ensure that nonprofits and the communities they serve are able to respond to this crisis and thrive in the future,” said Gina Stilp, executive director. The Foundation is inspired by our community coming together at this unprecedented time, and we will continue to contribute critical and targeted resources as the situation evolves.”
Interested organizations can find the application, including eligibility and funding requirements, at zilberfamilyfoundation.org.
In addition to the COVID-19 funding, Zilber Family Foundation recently awarded grants totaling $1.5 million to 19 nonprofit organizations. The grants support organizations that address affordable housing and community economic development in the Zilber Neighborhood Initiative’s three targeted Milwaukee neighborhoods of Lindsay Heights, Clarke Square, and Layton Boulevard West. Additional grants support organizations focused on youth development and basic human needs in Milwaukee and Hawaii.
About the Zilber Family Foundation
Formed in 1961 by Joseph J. Zilber, the Zilber Family Foundation is a private independent grantmaking institution dedicated to enhancing the well-being of individuals, families, and neighborhoods by supporting nonprofits to address basic needs and personal safety, increase access to social and economic opportunity, and improve the quality of life in neighborhoods. For more information, please visit: www.zilberfamilyfoundation.org.
###


Albania: Posters & Banners · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Our Man in Tirana offers a selection of posters and banners from Albania.


Foreign Policy’s Venezuela “Global Scorecard” map wrongly lumps Caribbean nations with Russia and China · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Foreign Policy has published an infographic that purports to depict global allegiances in the Venezuela crisis. The infographic, curiously, singles out three CARICOM nations—St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica and Suriname— and mentions them in a table in the accompanying story, placing them in the “Backs Nicolás Maduro” camp alongside powers such as Russia, China, Iran and Turkey.
Here's how the world is split on Maduro vs. Guaido, in Venezuela's political crisis: https://t.co/hm1N7Gx6fH pic.twitter.com/mdkx7l2FbZ
— Robbie Gramer (@RobbieGramer) February 6, 2019
This might be flattering geopolitically, but it doesn't reflect the reality. Twelve out of the 15 CARICOM states have jointly expressed their position on Venezuela, so Foreign Policy's list is missing nine CARICOM nations, plus the two others—Haiti and the Bahamas—who have voiced support of Guaidó.
CARICOM's position is also one of non-intervention and non-interference. This may amount, as some have pointed out, to tacit support for Maduro, but the spirit of the CARICOM statement is essentially the same as Mexico's and Uruguay's, both of whom Foreign Policy have placed in the “On the fence” or “taking neutral position, offered to mediate” camp.
CARICOM did also offer to mediate, and is in fact meeting today (February 7) with Uruguay, Mexico and other “neutral” states in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Caribbean nations determined to have a say on Venezuela
Netizen Report: How Venezuela’s political crisis is playing out online
Divided they stand: Caribbean nations take sides on Venezuela
Reports of internet blocks and media censorship as power struggle tensions escalate in Venezuela
Caribbean nations hesitate to recognise Venezuela's Guaidó
“Nobody knows what will come next”: Venezuelans rally in strongest challenge to Maduro yet


Zimbabwe/South Africa: South Africa is a disgrace · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Izzy Mutanhaurwa is utterly disgusted, “I am disgusted, completely utterly sickened by the attitude of South Africa. I do not know why they are against regime change in Zimbabwe? The latest ploy by South African ambassador to the UN is nauseating , its garbage diplomacy that should be laughed at rather than taken serious, if the incompetent United Nations does not refer the issue of Zimbabwe to the security council this time it will have failed then it will confirm the obvious that its not fit for purpose.”


India: Remembering The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sidhusaaheb at I, Me, Myself remembers the Operation Blue Star and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, India. The riots  were triggered by the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards (in retaliation for Operation Bluestar). The article in three parts can be found here, here and here.


Peru: Day Without Shadow in Arequipa · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

At 11:29:51 am on Thursday, November 7, 2013, while the 6th Latin American Congress of Photobiology and Photomedicine in the Peruvian city of Arequipa was taking place, locals stopped their activities to contemplate the day without shadow [es].
This event happens twice a year in cities located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, that is, between Northern Mexico and Northern Argentina (in America). The next day without shadow for Arequipa will be on February 3, 2014.
On Twitter, Paula Gonzalez warned:
Arequipa: Alta radiación ultravioleta por el Día Sin Sombra http://t.co/cSru3r6CLK
— paula gonzalez (@pgpaulagonzalez) November 7, 2013
Arequipa: High ultraviolet radiation on the Day Without Shadow.
Meanwhile, Renzo Vargas explained it with 140 characters:
El dia sin sombra, solo sucede 2 veces al año por unos minutos, ya que el sol se coloca en un angulo de 90°. #quelocura
— Renzo Vargas (@renzovargas) November 7, 2013
The day without shadow only happens twice a year for some minutes, as the sun puts itself in a 90° angle. #quelocura [this is crazy]
With the sun on a perpendicular position, ultraviolet radiation in Arequipa on Thursday, November 7, reached up to 16 units, considered extremely high.


SMEDAN DG Says MSME'S Contributes 46 Per Cent To National GDP - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Editor 4
November 17, 2022
Fasanya revealed this, in Calabar, at the graduation ceremony of the 90 persons trained under the National Business Skills Development Initiative NBSDI.
According to him, the MSMEs is contributing about 46.3 percent to the nation’s GDP through a total number of 37 million MSMEs in the country.
Represented by Assistant Director, Enterprise Development and Promotion, SMEDAN, Fasanya also said that MSMEs provide about 63 million employment to Nigerians while it accounts for about 6.2 per cent of exports.
He explained that NBSDI is a programme designed to provide entrepreneurship skills, vocational skills and provision of empowerment materials to fill the capacity gap of the youths.


Iran: More protests planned on “Quds Day” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

The protest movement in Iran continues to defy the Islamic Regime in different ways, from shouting ‘Allaho Akbar’ (God is Great) from rooftops at night (a common cheer at protests) to demonstrating on Quds (Jerusalem) Day.
The Quds Day, referring to the Arabic word for Jerusalem — takes place on September 18 this year. The Islamic Republic's authorities use this day to denounce Israel and show support for the Palestinians
But this year, the Iranian protest movement (Green Movement) who still dispute the election results that declared incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner in June, have decided to mark the occasion by defying the Iranian authorities and marching in the streets of Tehran and other cities once more.
Here is a video that showing a photo of Mir Hussein Mousavi, the reformist leader and main opposition candidate, attached to a bridge on Nyayesh Highway in Tehran, bearing this slogan: “Quds Day, Green Day”.
Several designs and photos announcing this event have appeared in Iranian online citizen media. Slogans and designs display the protest mood in country.
“Neither Lebaonon, Nor Gaza, my life is ready to be sacrificed for Iran”
“Quds Day, glorious green Iranian nation”
“Green is growing everywhere”
“All in Quds Day”
Iranian blogger NiaclNsight writes:
“The 30th anniversary of the International Day of Quds will be Green this year, according to reformist websites in Iran.Opposition leaders Karroubi, Khatami, and Mousavi have all confirmed their participation in this important ceremony, which is traditionally held in every city of Iran.”
Mehrshad writes [fa] “…if you want to protest to the current situation, be green on Quds Day.”


Haiti: Teens’ perspectives on the earthquake · Global Voices
Fabienne Flessel

Although the coverage of the aftermath of the 7.3 earthquake which has left Haiti's capital partly devastated, has been massive, one group of Haitian bloggers has been overlooked – teenagers.  Here is a look at what young people have to say about this catastrophe, which foreshadows a new era in their lives.
You might not wanna know what happened to me. You might only be interested to what happened to you aunt or your grandpa that are in haiti and that you can’t reach by phone. I can’t blame you for that, though you can’t blame me for wanting to write all this, since there’s no one else but my blog that can sit and listen to it.
These are the first words of female blogger Krizkadiak in her January 15th post entitled “From 16 year old eyes” and they reveal her need to speak, to be heard and to have her pain acknowledged. This echoes a post by Frantz Duval [Fr] published by Espas Ayisien, entitled “On oublie que les enfants aussi ont mal” (We are oblivious that children suffer too), in which testimonies of Haitian teenagers are compiled.
Both posts inform us about the first signs of the massive earthquake.  In the words of Krizkadiak:
We felt the ground shaking, but we didn’t pay attention, because none of us had experienced that before, so we continued walking. but then it started shaking a lot more and we could hear the PE teacher screaming for us to lay on the ground.
This experience is echoed by 15 year-old Nathalie quoted in Espas Ayisien‘s post [Fr]:
Nous étions en cours de danse chez Joëlle Donatien Belot, dans la salle du bas quand nous avons ressentis une forte vibration. Personne ne s'en est inquiété. […] Le temps pour nous de sortir, il y a une nouvelle secousse.
Both girls’ testimonies highlight the lack of preparedness for an earthquake of this magnitude, but they also share a common theme, which is the need to connect with family – especially their fathers. Krizkadiak says:
Then everyone got up and ran to go get their phones and try to call their parents… I tried to call my dad; the only thing i could hear was the « beep beep » it does when it’s busy. and disconnected.. i got extremely worried about him. worried.
While Nathalie adds [Fr]:
J'ai arrêté d'avoir peur quand mon père est venu me chercher.
Words of wisdom are shared by these teenagers who acknowledge that they have been lucky. Here is Nathalie's statement [Fr]:
Aujourd'hui, quand je pense à tout cela, à mon école, l’ Institution du Sacré-Coeur qui s'est effondrée, je me dis que nous avons eu de la chance.
In the same post, after witnessing scenes of horror on her way back home, she continues:
I saw my school fall in front of me.
I saw people running covered in dust, hearing that their houses fell… sometimes with people in them.
I saw a refugee camp, as they are on tv… people praying, people alive but not really…
I saw a baby half dead, covered in bandaids…
I saw almost 150 people in three little tents… and thousands on the ground outside.
I saw a friend at the cemetery burying his little cousin.
I saw the oldest and prettiest houses of jacmel reduced to nothing.
I saw pickup truck filled with corpses…
I saw my teacher walking to the cemetery behind the car where his wife’s dead body was…
I saw kids from my school, people i KNOW, at the refugee camp….
Krizkadiak concludes:
When we got back to the beach, my neighbor’s hotel had huge crack all over it, the sea was still not at it’s place, my house didnt have much damage, there were broken bottles and glasses on the floor, but nothing very important…
However, these testimonies cannot hide the fact that other teenagers have also been affected by the earthquake. In Espas Ayisien‘s post, we learn about 16 year-old Fanorah who did not experience the tremors herself, but saw her life turning into a nightmare on the following day [Fr]:
[…] je ne comprenais rien à cette affaire de tremblement de terre car Pétion-Ville et le haut de Delmas ne sont pas très affectés. Tout au plus, cela avait provoqué un grand embouteillage et gâché ma soirée, raconte-t-elle.
L'horreur, elle ne la découvre que 24 heures plus tard, quand le décompte des morts commence. Sa marraine, et trois de ses amies sont mortes et aussi plein de gens qu'elle connaisse. « Je ne comprends pas, je ne comprends toujours pas ce qui s'est passé », répond-t-elle à chaque fois qu'on lui pose une question sur le tremblement de terre du 12 janvier.
She only discovered the horror of the situation, the next day, when the casualty toll begins. Her godmother, three of her friends and many people she knew, died. “I don't understand it, I still don't understand what happened” is her answer every time she is asked a question concerning Jan. 12th earthquake.
In her following post entitled “it’s not a dream… face it: it’s real“, Krizkadiak explains how this horrible event has altered their perspective about everyday teenaged concerns, which now seem so superficial:
… it’s good cause then you realize, none of all these stupidities everyone here wants, really mattered. partying never mattered, fancy clothes, making a big deal about how your hair is done, huge & expensive armored cars, summers at the beach in Miami, having a beautiful body, nice hair… you realize all this was BULLSHIT; that all this was going nowhere, a big nasty pile of POINTLESS time-wasting crap! Now you have to open up your eyes and face reality with all it’s details and find a way to compress years of growing up into these 35 seconds, that changed everything
She also talks about cherishing family and the gift of being alive:
You can’t think the same way you used to, you’re not allowed to have the same priorities as you did before… Now you know what really counts in life… loving your brother more than anything, having the people you care about close to you… or simply being alive, being able to eat, sleep,… nothing else.
These awareness and sensiblity make new fears and doubts even more tangible for a 16 year-old:
to have doubts on how tomorrow’s gonna be, to feel the ground shaking at anytime (the shaking even woke you up once.), to hear about dead people everyday,… banks that are closed, schools also… This is driving you crazy right?! You’re becoming paranoïd, you can’t go in the dark alone, you cry for no reasons.
The more time passes, the more i have to deal with the fact that this reality won’t go away… yup. it’s not a dream
Comments on Krizkadiak's posts show the great impact her testimonies have had on readers outside of Haiti, in countries like Italy, Ghana and the Caribbean, to name a few. Here are some of the most telling:
34 GreyOne
janvier 18, 2010 à 3:45
Your words are important. You are a voice for many who cannot speak at present.
The things you have seen and endured are more than most will ever have to know.
Let it give you strength , let your strength give comfort and voice to your fellow citizens.
Thank you for helping us to understand what has happened, as if it were our sister telling us about it.
37 Michele (Italy)
janvier 18, 2010 à 6:26
You go on this way.
You Speak. You Tell. You Make the History.
You Reconstruct. You Keep on living.
Ciao Yael
44 Kate
janvier 22, 2010 à 7:10
Your words say it all so much more eloquently than all the journalists in all the world have tried for over a week to say it.
Bless you and your family, Yael. My prayers are with you and with Haiti.
If you want to know more about the Haitian people's day-to-day reality through 16 year-old eyes, you can also follow blogger Krizkadiak  on Twitter @yatalley.
Global Voices’ Special Coverage Page on the earthquake in Haiti is here.


Bangladesh: Yunus And After · Global Voices
Rezwan

After the removal of Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus from the post of Managing Director of Grameen Bank, the Bangladesh government faces a challenge to run the bank smoothly with the new appointees. An Ordinary Citizen opines that  Grameen Bank may be a political liability for the government in future if it is not managed well.


It’s Not the Name That Matters, but Love and Respect | Balkan Diskurs
Armin Halilović
January 11th, 2021
Olga and Zijad will celebrate 40 years of happy marriage this year. Despite being born in Banja Luka, their wedded bliss and commitment to bringing up two daughters have not been broken by ethnic and religious divisions; not even by the war that raged in Bosnia and Herzegovina for almost four years. The key to the success of their marriage is, as they say, love, respect and compromise, above all.
The first dance
They met in the 1970s at a college disco.
“He asked to dance and that’s how it started. I wanted to teach him to dance professionally, because that’s what I do, but it didn’t work out,” says Olga with a smile.
She says that her husband is reliable, protective, determined and honest – those things are the most important to her. Zijad jokingly adds that he is also a nervous person, but his wife is “honest, fair, virtuous and hardworking. Everything a woman should be.”
“She’s beautiful as well,” he says while looking at Olga.
At the time they met, being in a “mixed” relationship or marriage in Banja Luka (or anywhere in Bosnia and Herzegovina) was not unusual, not to their friends or family either.
“Nobody cared about those things. Believe me, it was nothing. When I joined the army at the age of 18, I declared myself a Bosnian. Colleagues I was with at the age of 15 are still my friends today. It’s just how real friendships work. I don’t distinguish my friends by religion. My sister is married to a Catholic. Nobody said anything to them or judged them,” explains Zijad.
Olga adds that in the city, people did not pay attention to one’s religion. “My sister is married to a Muslim. And my brother married a Catholic woman and one of our sisters was married to a Serb,” she says.
Six hundred ethnically-mixed marriages in BiH in 2019
Today, the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is very different. In 2018, the Prime Communication Agency published a survey on BiH citizens’ views of mixed marriages. According to that survey, a total of 38.7 percent of citizens oppose this type of marital union.
According to data from the entity statistical institutes of the Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH, there were more than 18,000 marriages in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2019. Of that number, only about 600 are ethnically mixed marriages.
Social perceptions of ethnically mixed marriages have changed significantly. Now few choose to start such a relationship. There is fear of condemnation by family, neighbors, and society as a whole. In addition to that, the difficult war legacy, including transgenerational traumas, often affect one’s choice of life partner.
They say that it was not easy for them during the war in Banja Luka. “There were awkward situations. Everyone had them, not just us. After all, it was a war,” says Olga.
“How Serbs felt in Sarajevo, we felt in Banja Luka. They are all nationalists, they are all in cahoots and filled with hatred,” Zijad added.
The absence of civic values in (children’s) upbringing and education
Olga and Zijad believe that there are few people who promote peace, coexistence, tolerance and compromise in Bosnian society because these values do not suit local leaders. But they have always tried to promote those values in their family. They raised two daughters, 37-year-old Maja and 28-year-old Melanie, on these values.
But not everything was as easy as it seemed on paper. Problems faced by most “mixed” families after the war were also present while Olga and Zijad raised their family. Their daughters were not raised to belong to any of the ethnic or religious groups.
“Melanie attended religious courses at school because she wanted a better GPA, and Maja never did. Maja was the only one in the class who did not attend those classes,” says Zijad.
“Melanie once came home and said, ‘Mom there was a chimney sweep at school and Dad has to sign this so I can attend this religious course.’ And I wondered what kind of chimney sweeps are connected to religious classes, and then I realized she’s talking about hodža [a muslim schoolmaster],” Olga recalls with a laugh.
They believe that teaching civic values is the most important thing when raising kids, but they add that those values are almost non-existent here in BiH.
“In all civilized societies, civic values come first, but in nationally-oriented societies, they take a backseat. Wherever religion comes first, there is no progress. Africa, Brazil, Uruguay, South America, all those religious countries, it’s all like ours, so there is no progress. Before, people valued one’s personality, morals, promises, honor,” says Zijad.
“Everything that is normal elsewhere is not normal here. All this that we are talking about here is never mentioned at all in Germany, for example. My brother is in America and when he applied for his first job, he said he was from Bosnia. To that, his employer replied, ‘What does it matter? I’m from Boston.’ Foreigners do not perceive ethnicity as we do in Bosnia,” says Zijad.
Everyone has the right to their own beliefs
Although they say that they are atheists, all religious and other holidays are celebrated in their house. They believe that religion is a totally private matter. Everyone should decide how they will treat religion and faith. It should not be imposed on anyone.
“Everyone has their own beliefs, and they have the right to do so. We have friends who celebrate their slavas. I never told them, ‘don’t do that,’ nor did they tell me that I should. It’s a private matter, so if you don’t impose that on me, I won’t impose anything on you,” explains Zijad.
“I even have an aversion to religion, especially nowadays. It has become a business today. Nobody does that from the bottom of their hearts anymore,” he added.
When Ziyad’s mother died, Olga said that Eid would be celebrated in their house. And everyone was always welcomed. “I’m not doing it for [Zijad]. I’m doing it for myself because I said that people can come to us on Eid. I even made baklava during the war.”
For Easter, they paint eggs and gather again as a family, only the closest family members, without much fanfare.
“Before the war, I did it for Catholic Easter, so that nobody could tell me I did it just for my Orthodox Easter, but for Catholic. Then I started celebrating everything,” Olga recalls.
Once their daughters, today a granddaughter receives gifts from Olga for Saint Nicholas Day and from Zijad for the New Year.
A society of backwards values
For almost fifty years Zijad and Olga have lived in the same neighborhood, where nothing has changed. The neighborhood has remained the same since the 1970s. They help each other, but they don’t visit one another too much.
“Things are different in urban areas. We don’t have the habit of drinking coffee with neighbors at one person’s house and then in someone else’s tomorrow. Everyone has their own things to do. My mom, for example, always went to her neighbor and she to her. That older generation took care of those relationships and visits were frequent, but back then there was more time for that,” says Zijad.
They can’t even compare times before and after the war. Everything has changed – the value system, the way of life.
“It cannot be compared to now. Before the war it was a normal society, now it is different. Our society is now a septic tank,” says Zijad.
The reason for this, he believes, is that everyone is selfish now. Normal values that existed before have been forgotten. The fact that a small number of people got rich in dubious ways, and most of the others remained poor, adds to that feeling.
“Property has changed people. It’s all about personal interests today. What suits whom. I had a Mercedes before the war…I know people who didn’t have a bicycle then and now have half of Banja Luka, and we have nothing. That is the root of the problem. Same as in Sarajevo and elsewhere. The problem is that one could finish college within two months with some strings pulled, and someone studies for five years and nothing. And it happens every day and we know it, but we do nothing about it,” says Zijad.
A life filled with happiness
That day, after the first morning coffee before our arrival, they were making a toy for their granddaughter because it was her birthday. “Then he fixed some of his machines and I helped him when he needed help with holding something and so on. Then we had lunch and that’s it. That’s how our days generally go by,” says Olga.
In today’s Banja Luka, where the demographic picture has completely changed after the war, in a society that looks at a family like theirs with prejudice, Olga and Zijad, regardless of the challenges and obstacles which life has brought them, fight through everything together. From making a toy for their granddaughter, or fixing a car, to the great task of raising daughters, their love, mutual respect, and understanding, on which they base forty years of their marriage, make their lives filled with everlasting joy.
______________________________________________________________________
Text editing: Balkan Diskurs team; Photography: Mitar Simikić; Photo Editor: Dr. Paul Lowe.
______________________________________________________________________
This story is part of the “Love Tales” project implemented by the Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC) with a group of Balkan Diskurs youth correspondents. The project is implemented with financial support from the VII Academy, the BOLD program of the US Embassy in BiH, and PCRC’s core grants, with the aim of challenging the common narrative that real connections between Bosnia’s different ethnic groups are unattainable by documenting stories of successful interethnic relationships across the country.


Argentina: Buenos Aires: “The City That Never Was” · Global Voices
David Sasaki

“Like any metropolis, Buenos Aires has been subject to the whim of urban planners for its entire history. Imagine 426 years of change since its foundation in 1580. Mix in the chaos of political & economic crises (no shortage there), & it’s surprising that Buenos Aires is even here at all.” So begins Robert Wright's intriguing two part look at the past and future of Buenos Aires’ urban planning.


Libyan Kids Have Been Out of School for Months, so One Woman Is Bringing the Classroom to Them · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

Children in Tripoli in August 2011. Photo by MITSUYOSHI IWASHIGE. Copyright Demotix
This article and radio report by Shirin Jaafari for The World originally appeared on PRI.org on February 26, 2015, and is republished as part of a content-sharing agreement.
As Libya was torn apart by a revolution in 2011, Haifa El-Zahawi left the country for the United States.
Now a dentist, she's looking for jobs. But she's also devoting herself to a different project: Teaching kids back in Libya.
The volatile security situation there has kept kids out of school since October. So if kids can't get to their classrooms, El-Zahawi thought, why not bring the classroom to them? The Benghazi Skype School was born.
“We started with a personal account and a Skype,” says El-Zahawi from New York. She posted about her project on social media, asking Libyans if they were able to help. Within a week, she was receiving “a really huge and positive response.” She even heard from an IT company in Libya that wanted to sponsor her project.
Of course, Internet classrooms have their own problems. Patchy Internet connections are a major hurdle, as are the frequent power outages that Libyans face. “We try and make [the classes] live as much as we can, but due to the problems … we try to record the lessons and post them online,” El-Zahawi says.
But despite the challenges, the Benghazi Skype School has been a success so far. “Families send us pictures of the students doing their homework,” El-Zahawi says. “They're even wearing their school uniforms.”
The bigger idea behind the school, El-Zahawi says, is to bring hope to the families and kids who “really need it.” She's worried about news like the recent beheading of a group of men in Libya at the hands of ISIS, and she hopes that educating Libyan children will help stop the spread of radicalization.
“We have to educate our kids,” she says, “Only by learning, we can fight.”


Trinidad & Tobago: Che Lovelace Exhibition  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Thebookmann reviews artist Che Lovelace's Amateur Poster Series exhibition.


Africa: Competition for radio broadcasters · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Afromusing writes about a scriptwriting competition for radio broadcasters in Sub-saharan Africa organised by the Developing Countries Farm Radio Network (DCFRN) and the Technical Centre for Agriculture: “If you know people in Radio, this would be an opportunity to pass along to them.”


US and Venezuelan politicians accuse Maduro of instigating violence during BLM protests · Global Voices
Gabriela Mesones Rojo

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Photo credit: Flickr/Eneas De Troya (CC BY 2.0).
This story is part of our special coverage on Black Lives Matter and anti-black racism.
During the first half of June, as thousands marched to support the Black Lives Matter movement in major US cities, people started sharing photos and videos of demonstrators waving socialist slogans or Venezuelan flags in the United States.
Some demonstrators wore hats with the colors of the Venezuelan flag, others had bags and t-shirts portraying late Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez or Che Guevara, leading to rumors — going all the way up to the Trump Administration — that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was connected to the protests.
Demonstrations began after the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and quickly spread across all 50 states. Anti-racist protests have slowly diminished in size but continue to spread around the world, leading to calls to defund police departments and to take down historical statues connected with slavery or colonialism.
The rumors that Maduro was somehow behind violent acts reached the Trump administration, as reported by the Miami Herald. A senior Trump administration official, who preferred to stay anonymous, told the newspaper:
We are aware of efforts by individuals linked to America’s adversaries, including the illegitimate regime of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, to instigate conflict, help incite violence, and divide Americans by exploiting peaceful protests.
US Republican Senator Rick Scott also highlighted similar theories and stated that the US government would investigate any operatives tied to Latin American dictators who instigate conflict in Miami as part of the protests.
Reports that the Maduro regime and other LatAm dictators are supporting violent instigators at protests in the Miami area.
We will NOT allow it. Anyone with ties to these regimes that incites violence will suffer the legal consequences of their actions! https://t.co/xY6PHVOJ1x
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) June 3, 2020
Scott did not offer evidence for the allegations about Latin American socialist leaders’ role in the violence, lootings, and acts of vandalism during the US protests. During a press conference, he quoted a right-wing Diario Las Américas news report. The White House, for its part, declined to discuss “non-open source information” that had led to this assessment.
Meanwhile, Julio Borges, a leader of Venezuela's parallel government who took on the role of Presidential Commissioner for Foreign Relations of Venezuela, also tweeted a similar statement.
De nuevo el régimen aparece como promotor de la desestabilización, ahora en EEUU.
La dictadura utiliza medios de comunicación y grupos vandálicos para promover la violencia. Maduro es una amenaza para la democracia del continente, por eso debemos centrarnos en sacarlo del poder. https://t.co/kMzkCDy8DS
— Julio Borges (@JulioBorges) May 30, 2020
“Again the regime appears to be a promoter of destabilization, now in the United States. The dictatorship uses the media and vandalism groups to promote violence. Maduro is a threat to democracy on the continent, so we must focus on removing him from power.”
The tweet came after well-known Grayzone journalist Max Blumenthal, often seen as a propagandist for chavismo — Hugo Chávez's brand of socialism — was photographed wearing a Chávez t-shirt at the protests in Washington DC.
I’ve seen a lot of people talking about this photo of someone wearing a Chavez T-Shirt at the protests in Washington DC last nigh.
It’s Max Blumenthal from Greyzone wearing the shirt while he was recording the protests.#Venezuela pic.twitter.com/bTkwf863MD
— CNW (@ConflictsW) May 30, 2020
Dolar Today, one of the biggest tabloid media platforms in Venezuela with 3.7M followers, repeated Borges’ sentiment.
¡FUE PLANEADO! ¿Foro de Sao Paulo detrás de los disturbios en Washington D.C.? https://t.co/oaLmUJi7b6
— DolarToday® (@DolarToday) May 30, 2020
IT WAS PLANNED! Is the Sao Paulo Forum behind the disturbances in Washington D.C.?
Foro de São Paulo, or the São Paulo Forum in English, is a conference of socialist political parties and other organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean. It was created in 1990 with the goal of becoming a counterweight to neoliberal policies.
Blaming foreign socialist governments for protests has further polarized politics in Venezuela. The editor-in-chief of right-leaning media Panam Post, Orlando Avendaño, criticized Juan Guaidó, whose claim to the Venezuelan presidency is recognized by the US and other countries, for not openly showing support for the US government during the Black Lives Matter protests. In 2019, Guaidó made a claim to the presidency which is recognized by more than 50 countries.
Panam Post opposes Maduro, but also criticizes Venezuela's largest opposition bloc led by Guaidó, as it would not vocalize enough support for the United States.
La existencia del interinato está condicionada a la permanencia de Trump en la Casa Blanca. EEUU es, sin duda, nuestro mayor aliado. Trump lleva dos semanas con el país ardiendo, con manifestantes tratando de tumbarlo, y Guaidó no ha dado el primer gesto de apoyo. Inaceptable. pic.twitter.com/9XCPlStjDZ
— Orlando Avendaño (@OrlvndoA) June 9, 2020
“The existence of the interim opposition government is conditioned by Trump's stay in the White House. The United States is, without a doubt, our greatest ally. Trump has been with the country bursting with protests for the last two weeks, with protesters trying to topple him, and Guaidó has not given the first gesture of support. Unacceptable”.
However, statements about foreign meddling during civil uprisings are nothing new. When protests were sparked in Chile after the rise of public transport prices in the capital Santiago de Chile, President Sebastian Piñera and the local media reported a high presence of Venezuelan protestors. Yet, this would not be atypical as there are now about 500,000 Venezuelan migrants in Chile. Journalist John Bartlett compares both historic movements’ coverage in the press:
Same model, same scapegoat pic.twitter.com/MVaTez8K3l
— John Bartlett (@jwbartlett92) June 10, 2020


China Government’s Growing Weibo Footprint · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The number of Chinese government Weibo accounts has soared over the past few years and will continue to be so. Via China Digital Times:
The survey by the Chinese Academy of Governance found that by December 20, 2012, a total of 176,700 Weibo accounts had been opened by government organs and officials on the four major domestic Weibo service providers.


IPOB: Dss Fails To Produce Nnamdi Kanu In Court, Judge Adjourns Trial Till October - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (A.M)
July 26, 2021
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has adjourned the trial of
Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Justice Binta Nyako adjourned the trial on Monday at the resumption of
proceedings at the court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The trial suffered a setback after the Department of State Services (DSS)
failed to produce Kanu in court.
Justice Nyako faulted the action of the security outfit, noting that she
had stayed back in her chambers waiting for the defendant to be in court.
She asked the prosecution to be diligent with dates whenever she gives
one, stressing that it was important for Kanu to be present at his trial.
In his response, the prosecution, Mohammed Abubakar, informed the
judge that the defendant was not in court due to logistics reasons.
Kanu’s lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, on his part, decried that the DSS has
denied them access to the defendant for the past eight days.
As a result, he urged Justice Nyako to grant the request of his client
seeking to be transferred from the DSS custody to the Kuje Correctional
Centre in Abuja.


MATC program helps children of incarcerated parents finish high school | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
April 7, 2016
jsonline.com


Haryana CM Khattar targets Rahul Gandhi using "52 children a year" clipped video - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
30th April 2019 / 4:15 pm
On April 28, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar addressed an election rally in Ratia in the state. During his speech, the CM spoke about a purported video of Rahul Gandhi which was “too difficult to even talk about”. Khattar alleged that the Congress president “insulted the honour of our mothers and sisters”. He cited a video where he claimed Gandhi said that women in Uttar Pradesh can give birth to one child a week or 52 children a year.
Given below is the verbatim of Khattar’s speech –
“अभी तीन दिन पहले एक ऐसी वीडियो देखी मैंने, मैं हैरान भी हुआ, दुख भी हुआ। कभी लगता है मुझे अपने मुँह से वो बोलना नहीं चाहिए। उदाहरण देना भी बड़ा कष्टदायक लग रहा है, हमारी माताओ और बहनों की उसमे इज़्ज़त बेइज़्ज़ती का सवाल भी है। उत्तर प्रदेश में जा करके भाषण दिया राहुल गाँधी ने। हो सकता है सोशल मीडिया के ऊपर हमारे कुछ मित्रों ने देखा भी होगा। बावन वाला किस किस ने देखा है? इतने सारे लोगो ने देखा है। शर्म आनी चाहिए उसको ऐसा वक्तव देते हुए। कहता है उत्तर प्रदेश की महिलाओँ में बड़ा पराक्रम है, बड़ी ताकतवर है, बड़ी रिकॉर्ड बनाने वाली महिलाएं है। और कहता है यहाँ हर महिला हफ्ते में एक एक बच्चे को जन्म दे सकती है, साल में बावन बच्चों को जन्म दे सकती है। ये बेहूदा वक्तव है हमारे देश का, जिसको कांग्रेस पार्टी अपने प्रधानमंत्री का नेता कहती है? (Just three days ago, I saw a video which shocked me and also made me very upset. Sometimes I think I shouldn’t utter those words from my mouth. Even giving this as an example is painful because it insults the reputation of our mothers and sisters. Rahul Gandhi went to Uttar Pradesh to give a speech. Maybe some of our friends on social media have already seen it. How many of you have watched the ’52’ video? So many people have seen it. He should feel shameful for giving such a statement. He said women in Uttar Pradesh have a lot of strength, they are powerful, record-breaking women. He said women here can give birth to one child a week or 52 children in a year. This man who gave such a disgusting statement is being pitched by the Congress party as the prime minister?)”
The video referred to by Manohar Lal Khattar was recently debunked by Alt News when BJP MP RK Sinha shared it on Twitter. A 7-year-old speech of Rahul Gandhi in UP’s Phulpur was lifted, clipped and circulated on social media.
In the original speech, Rahul Gandhi talks about Janani Suraksha Yojna under the National Rural Health Mission, where pregnant women get an incentive of Rs 1,400 for institutional delivery. In that context, the Congress president claimed that according to an RTI response, women with the same name were getting incentives every week due to corruption in the scheme. He can be heard making the statement at 5:25 minutes in the video posted below.
His exact words were – “हमने RTI मंगा, RTI में जो हमे रिपोर्ट मिली, यूपी में ऐसी महिलाएं है जो हर सप्ता एक बच्चा पैदा कर सकती है। ऐसी महिलाएं है जो साल में ५२ बच्चे दे रही है। एक ही नाम, १४०० रुपये हर सप्ताह उसके जेब में। और एक ही एक महिला नहीं, हज़ारो महिलाएं है। (We filed an RTI, according to the RTI response, UP has such women who are giving birth to a child every week, there are such women who are giving birth to 52 children per year, all have one name, 1400 rupees in their pocket every week, and there are thousands of such women.)
The part where Gandhi mentioned the RTI reply was conveniently clipped from the original video to circulate it with a false narrative.
A piece of misinformation, despite being debunked in the past, found a place in an incumbent chief minister’s election speech.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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Cambodia: Banned Things · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The blogger at Details Are Sketchy has a list of “mindless things” that are banned in Cambodia.


· Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese Abu Kais links videos showing the thousdands of people who attended assassinated Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel's funeral in Beirut today.


Ethiopia: Hi-tec war against bloggers · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Ethiopian Life comments on Ethiopia's crackdown against bloggers at home and in the Diaspora….”An office is being opened at the old airport area in Addis Ababa to conduct this warfare. Blocking and hacking opposition internet websites, sending spam and viruses, wire-tapping and telephone tapping, tracking money transfers are some of the activities of the office.”


Another Indonesian Minister Blog and a Mourning Week · Global Voices
A. Fatih Syuhud

As I wrote here, Indonesian Housing Minister Yusuf Asy'ari becomes the second Minister to start blogging after Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono went blogging a few months back. His blog post is written bilingually in English and Bahasa Indonesia.
Harry Sufehmi, one of Indonesian blogger, is fortunate enough to be invited by the Minister to his office for “consultation” on anything to do with blogging world.
Harry utilises the rare  opportunity–imagine, a blogger in a Ministerial office for blogtalk!–to also sort of interview the Housing Minister about the motivation behind his interest to blog. For example whether the President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) himself who ask the Minister to blog. In which he said: No. The President only asked his ministers to be more close to their people, to be more care to and interact with them and to know directly their grievances. And blogging is how Mr. Asy'ari thinks as one step to that direction.
Harry Sufehmi who had been in England and worked for e-Government project of Birmingham Municipality during his stay there also advised the Minister to make use of blog as an interactive tool between the ministry office and the people.
The Indonesian blogger-Minister meeting has got much warm welcome comment from other bloggers; congratulating Harry and appreciating the down-to-earth Minister.
Mourning Week
The sudden death of Bunda Zidan (mother of Zidan) known more as Inong, a mother of two kids, aged 32, has sparked an overwhelmed condolences from Indonesian bloggers. Inong who stays in Singapore with her husband and two kids was among the darling of Indonesian bloggers. She's nice, friendly, energetic and humble and that's why many bloggers feel so attached to her even those who never met her personally. See one post from one of her closest friend which I quoted here.
From Technorati, I found out there are 1,053 posts dedicated to her till date alone. And mind you it's still counting. Just confirming how lovable woman, mother and friend she was. May the Almighty God gives her soul an everlasting peace in Heaven. Amen.


Costa Rica: New Traffic Law Takes Effect · Global Voices
Adriana Vargas

In recent weeks, the Costa Rican blogosphere has continued to discuss, comment, and criticize the new Traffic Law, which went into effect the first week of March. Many have expressed their dissatisfaction with some of the items proposed in the new law.
Many do not agree with the stiffer financial penalties for those committing infraction of the new law. In addition, there were also not many reductions in penalties, as had been hoped. The increased fines will mean more money for the Ministry of Revenue, politicians, as well as for the traffic police. Nacho of Media Blog [es] writes:
Algunas de estas leyes son buenas. Pero la mayoría son puras estupideces que sirven para que los tráficos sean más corruptos y cobren para no hacer partes, y lo que cobran es plata para que los diputados anden en lujosos carros a cuestas de los pobres y no para los CALLEJONES que tenemos por calles.
Photo by Carlos Luna and used under a Creative Commons license.
In addition, many drivers do not see how traffic cops can enforce the law, when they themselves violate traffic laws. The blogger at Conejitos Suicidas [es] published a video made by YouTube user Carlossave, who recorded himself following a police officer traveling at a high rate of speed.
Another area of concern with the new Traffic Law is that it has allowed an increased level of blood alcohol for drivers. Because now a drunk driver, who is first-timer, would not go to jail in the event that there are no injuries or property damage. Haroldo Rivas of Harol's Blog [es] writes:
Ayer los señores diputados (después de agarrarse a gritos como los más corrientes del mundo) acordaron que el conductor borracho que sea primerizo no verá nunca la cárcel por más macabros que sean los resultados de sus acciones, además de aumentar el límite de alcohol permitido en la sangre, porque como todos nosotros sabemos, lo hacen para protegerse ellos mismos que son algunos protagonistas de este mismo escenario. ¿Cuándo será que empezarán a trabajar con la seguridad del pueblo en mente y no con su comodidad o dinero? Shame on you…
Due to this uncertainty, the main questions from Costa Ricans are whether this law will work property in the country and whether its results will be a benefit for its citizens. Mae Moto of the blog Caballeros de la Luz [es] writes:
Pero la pregunta es, sirve realmente todo lo anterior (refiriéndose al artículo completo escrito en su blog sobre la nueva Ley de Transito: para mejorar la situación en nuestras saturadas carreteras?  En mi humilde opinión esta reforma a la Ley de Tránsito es completamente una farsa, y una forma de sacarle el dinero a la clase media que siempre será el peor enemigo de la clase rica
This confirms the insecurity and distrust that Costa Ricans have of the new laws created in our country, in this case the Traffic Law. As it has been the main topic of discussion of the various blogs of Costa Rica, it been good for people to have this space to express what they feel and want to say about the decisions that affect the citizens.


Macedonia: Upcoming Presidential Election · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Blogging Balkanistan writes about the upcoming presidential election in Macedonia.


10 Best African Food Blogs · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

MyWeku compiles a list of 10 best African food blogs for 2013: “There are seemingly a million food blogs out there, but only a handful showcase African food. Even so it has still been a struggle to pick 10 of our favourites for this year (2013).”


HSR Inefficiency: 60-Foot-Buses on Stoney Creek Local at Night Instead of King – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

December 2, 2016
This was originally pushed on The Public Record’s microblog on December 2, 2016. We’ve wrapped up that blog and are reposting here.
Every weeknight, the HSR runs double-length articulated buses from Eastgate Square to Downtown Stoney Creek, Stoney Creek Municipal Centre, and Stoney Creek’s Levi Loop.
The passenger loads on all three routes combined wouldn’t fill one regular sized HSR bus. Meanwhile, the HSR is operating 1-King buses with 40′ buses which have to pass people because they are carrying full standing loads.
Here’s a photo of TWO articulated buses on Stoney Creek and a 40′ King bus I boarded a few weeks ago. The bus had to pass people at Wentworth and Wellington. Meanwhile, those articulated buses were running mostly empty in Stoney Creek.
Why is this?
The Stoney Creek buses interline with the 10-B-Line prior to 6 p.m. each day, and the HSR doesn’t switch buses while in service.
How hard is the fix?
Not hard, after 6 p.m. at the Eastgate Terminal, articulated Stoney Creek buses can pull into the 1-King bus stop, the 1-King can pull into the Stoney Creek stop, the drivers switch buses, and that’s it. Nothing complicated.
The only complication is that fixing this problem would require the HSR’s $125,000 per year senior Manager of Customer Service and Scheduling to add a note to the driver schedules to make the switch.
It also requires operations to monitor, and adjust in circumstances such as a traffic collision delaying either route. (This is fairly simple, cancel the switch that evening or await the next opportunity with both buses at Eastgate Terminal.)


Cameroon: Hope for Youth Network Seminar · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Lum reports about a youth and information seminar that was organized by Hope for Youth Network (HOYONet) in Mankon-Bamenda, in the North-Western region of Cameroon.


Trinidad & Tobago, Dominica: Position on Gender Equity · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Globewriter on the UN Joint Statement on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: “The English Caribbean (including T&T which continues to betray its alleged commitment to human rights)  was notably absent except for Dominica.  I can only surmise that the normally homophobic Dominica either had a coup or someone pushed the wrong button.”


Old images of Assam, Bihar & UP floods are shared as images of recent floods - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 23, 2020
Images claiming to be of recent Assam, Bihar and UP floods are doing rounds on social media platforms. Through this article lets fact-check the claim.
Images of recent flood in Assam, UP, Bihar.
Fact: Though floods occurred in Assam, Bihar & UP in recent times, not all images shown in the post belongs to recent floods, some of them date back to 2017 and 2019 floods. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Image 1:
When we ran a reverse image search with this image on google, we found that the image is from the floods which occurred in August 2017 in Bihar. The news article which published this image can be seen here.
Image 2:
Through google reverse image search of this photo, we found that the image is from the recent floods which occurred in Bihar. The news article which published this image can be seen here.
Image 3:
On reverse image search, we found that this image is from the floods in Assam which occurred in August 2019. The newspaper article in which this photo was published can be seen here.
Image 4:
We found that this image is from the recent floods of Uttar Pradesh when we ran a reverse image search on google. The news article which published this image can be seen here.
To sum it up, though the images belong to Assam, UP & Bihar floods some of them are old, which are also being claimed as images of recent floods.
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