China : renewed calls for a Jasmine Revolution

China : renewed calls for a Jasmine Revolution

Police were deployed en mass to major cities across China on Sunday to quash any signs of protests, like we see here in Beijing. Inspired by the protest movement across in the Arab world, “Jasmine” rallies are being organized each week via the Internet to demand more government transparency and political freedom.

The authorities are visibly concerned and have arrested numerous human rights activists over the past few weeks. Chinese cyber activists are wondering what will become of the lawyer Teng Biao, who has been held since the 19th of February.

Despite this repression, a new call has already been launched online to encourage people to attend rallies across the country this coming Sunday. And as was the case for the past two weeks, participants are not asked to take any overt protest action; instead they are encouraged to subtly stroll around designated locations, as if they were simple passersby.

And web users have proved themselves to be very creative in finding ways to bypass online censorship and make mention of this protest movement. Their latest brainwave is this footage from 2006 where President Hu Jintao sings a traditional song, called the Jasmine, with students studying Chinese in Nairobi, Kenya. It is indeed difficult to censor a video of the head of state on an official visit…

The Prime Minister Wen Jiabao meanwhile, tried to allay people’s concerns during a chat with web users. The main themes approached during this questions and answer session were inflation, housing, and also corruption.

Web users mock Gaddafi

Despite the particularly violent events currently taking place in Libya, some web users are devoting their time to openly mock the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi. A huge number of parodies have been circulating on sharing sites since the start of the crisis poking fun at the self-proclaimed Leader of the Revolution…

Web users can now use Gaddafi to let off steam, and make him pay for the violence used against protesters, by playing this online game. The aim is to hit the Libyan leader with an old sandal hard enough to make him fall into a crowd of protesters who are waiting to beat him up.

Others have decided to compare him to cartoon characters. Here the famous “Looney Tunes” credits have been edited to show the dictators face. And in this other creation, Gaddafi is depicted as deranged, and ready to shoot his opponents.

And satirical music videos are also multiplying on sharing sites, and are making fun of Gaddafi’s recent televised appearances in particular, like in this clip which is proving highly popular on YouTube. The Libyan Colonel’s hateful words have been mixed to a highly rhythmic track.

And some have been greatly inspired by the Libyan head of state’s recent heated tirades, and in particularly his remarks on the role he thinks Al Qaida has played in the protest movement. One Twitter user is pretending to be Osama Bin Laden and apologizing for his recent absence on social networks, saying he has been too busy supplying drugs to the youth of Libya.

Collectibles auction for Christchurch quake victims

Special effects house Weta, founded by the New Zealand director Peter Jackson is hoping to help victims of the earthquake that devastated the city of Christchurch. The company is putting three collector items up for auction on EBay, including this miniature reconstruction of Bilbo Baggins’ house used to film “The Lord of the Rings’. All proceeds will go to the local Red Cross.

Photo opportunities

Swiss photographer Corinne Vionnet worked on the assumption that we all take the same photos in the same tourist spots, and searched online for photos taken by tourists of the world’s most famous landscapes and monuments. The artist collected between 200 and 300 shots for each scene, and then superimposed them, in this collection called “Photo Opportunities” The results are astonishing and somewhere between drawing and photography.

Video of the day

With this photo montage and this woman acting as their guide, web users can take a virtual trip across Mexico on foot and discover its gorgeous landscapes … Over 1 900 photos were used for this project.