Political Critique: Slovak Generation Z Battles Corruption in Politics

Depending on who you ask, between 5,000 and 10,000 people called for the resignation of Slovakia’s interior minister Robert Kaliňák, still enjoys the Prime Minister’s confidence despite serious allegations made against him. Unlike last summer’s protests, which were organized by opposition politicians, the momentum for Tuesday’s anti-corruption protest came from two grammar school students, Karolína Farská and Dávid Straka. Two 18-year-old students decided to organize the protest and invited people via Facebook. No matter who has organized it, corruption could not have inspired more people to take to the streets. The first opposition protest, which took place before the complex Bonaparte, where Prime Minister Fico lives, also numbered around 5,000 participants. [...]

This protest was also supported by the Slovak President, Andrej Kiska, and the mother of Róbert Remiáš, an ex-police officer who was murdered in 1996 during Vladimír Mečiar’s rule. The students received a great deal of support from the media, especially from right-wing newspapers such as the daily Denník N, and the weekly .týždeň (Week). Journalists from these media outlets are staunch opponents of Robert Fico’s government. Famous Slovak anti-Fico actors and writers also joined their ranks. There are even several videos for which these journalists and actors helped the students to formulate their demands and prepare for their first major public appearance. It is difficult to say to what extent this initiative has remained an authentic work of the young Z-generation representatives and how much the formulation of their demands has been affected by the journalists and actors who have used this outpouring of dissatisfaction to serve their own conflicts with politicians. [...]

The radical left in Slovakia still refuses to join this crowd who protest against corruption. The radical left is afraid that its participation would legitimize the prevailing liberal-democratic status-quo. Simply put, any criticism of corruption without a concurrent criticism of capitalism will not lead to meaningful change. Such criticism from the left-wing activists and journalists (especially online, in the form of Facebook statuses and comments) has pointed out that the real problem is that corruption lies at the heart of the way in which capitalism operates. Above all, they argue that it is impossible for liberal democracy, which offers the machinery of the state the space to create this corrupt environment, to function effectively without corruption.

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CityLab: Naked Germany, Straining at the Seams

Depending on an outsider’s personal convictions, FKK adherents can illustrate either that Germans are complete cranks, or that the country is a prudery-free paradise. But it would be a mistake to assume that Germany’s tolerance of public nudity is uncontested. In the past month, a ban on public nudity has been confirmed for a popular bathing lake in the country’s south, and anglers are campaigning to ban naked sunbathing at another lake nearby—a ban that now holds more or less across the region. Last summer saw bathers of both sexes at a clothing-optional lake in western Germany jeered by disapproving men who had apparently come to the area with harassment in mind. The head of the agency that runs Berlin’s swimming pools and numerous bathing lakes has noted that the popularity of naked swimming has plummeted in recent years, and he cites friction with the city’s less naturism-friendly tourists as a possible cause.

That doesn’t mean FKK is dying out. Instead, social and technological change is reshaping habits, and locations for public nudity are being regulated by law. Cameraphones and social media are chipping away at naturists’ sense of their own anonymity, while tourism and Germany’s growing multiculturalism are affecting popular attitudes in complex ways. But before we look at how things are changing, we need to look at how a practice that would seem relatively taboo in contemporary North America became so widely accepted in the first place. [...]

The official beginning of naturism’s modern German revival, however, dates to 1898, when the first naturist association was founded in the city of Essen. Intertwined with 20th-century movements aspiring to promote public health, the idea in an age of heavy clothing and smoky urban air was primarily to help people escape from unhealthy, polluted cities. Their nakedness was a departure from everyday convention, just as their actual bodies broke with routine by leaving built-up areas to discover and bond with nature. [...]

Legally, public nudity is not an offense in Germany, but people can be sanctioned for “harassment of the general public” over complaints or provocations, such as walking down the street naked outside of a special naturist event. This is left up to local authorities’ discretion, but beyond Bavaria, where rules about where nudity is and isn’t permissible were largely thrashed out in 2013, people tend to play it by ear. Germany’s fondness for bylaws clarifying what public spaces should be used for helps avoid conflicts. German parks often have clearly demarcated spaces for different activities. Nudity in an area set aside for sports would be unacceptable, but would be far more tolerated in a designated Liegewiese—a “lying down meadow” that parks often signpost as places for sunbathing.

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Political Critique: Challenges Facing Civil Society in Afghanistan

Illiteracy is one of the most outstanding destructive legacies of the crisis prompted by decades of war. Afghanistani youth are especially affected as they spent their formative years in an environment of war, filled with violence and deprivation. The people of Afghanistan have not only been deprived of their civil rights; they have secured very little understanding of their civil rights, and on civil society discourse itself. Even amongst the literate people, despite their interest in daily political discussions and using concepts such as citizenship, civil rights, civil society etc., they don’t really have a true understanding of the concepts. Therefore, civil society discourse has remained unknown. [...]

Religious individuals and institutions consider civil society harmful to their beliefs and religious affiliations, due to their acceptance of learning ‘absolute truths’ they seek to impose on others. They don’t hesitate to discredit activists and women’s rights groups amongst the religious masses of Afghanistan. They justify discrimination against women through religious arguments, which has been accepted in a society that has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world.  Unfortunately, these issues exist within academic institutions as well. During my undergraduate degree at Kabul University, several times I witnessed professors of Islamic subjects labeling activists as promoters of moral corruption; activists are introduced as idlers wasting their time. To exemplify how effective this representation is, a female university student (S.S.) posted on Facebook stating, “unemployed people are civil activists” and in her next post “as the ratio of unemployment is higher among the ethnic Hazara, most of activists are Hazaras”. [...]

Third, the government violates the freedom of expression through strict censorship of media. According to the Human Rights Watch, Afghanistan’s media can’t cover “sensitive issues – including corruption, land grabbing, violence against women, and human rights abuses.” Journalists must, therefore, resort to self-censorship to minimize the risk to their lives. For instance, the government puts pressure on media not to cover the activities related to the ‘Enlightening Movement’. The movement’s only media is online social media (like Facebook and Twitter). However, most Afghanistan people don’t have access to the Internet, and thus information dissemination becomes an impossibility amongst most people. This demonstrates that not only does the government discourage freedom of expression, it also is a barrier – along with local militia and terrorist groups.

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Al Jazeera: Writers aim to challenge stereotypes about Gaza

Aiming to rectify the mainstream perception of Gaza as merely a place of death and war, the storytelling project We Are Not Numbers was launched two years ago under the umbrella of the nonprofit Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. [...]

"Most of the Palestine-related news stories are about how many were slain, badly injured or turned homeless, but these numbers are impersonal and do not hail Palestinians' steadfastness," Mohaisen told Al Jazeera, noting that the project also offers young writers in Gaza a chance to connect with more experienced, published authors who act as mentors.

The following is an excerpt from a piece by Rana Shubair 

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America Magazine: Politeness, the forgotten virtue

Politeness is rarely the object of ethical analysis. (Interestingly, it is women who have pioneered the field of politeness arbitration: Amy Vanderbilt, Letitia Baldridge, Miss Manners.) Yet much of our daily life revolves around our reaction to polite or impolite behavior. We are irritated by the faculty colleague who continually interrupts us in departmental meetings. We know which nephew sends a thank-you note for a gift and which nephew does not. Shortly before Easter I visited our local DMV office, a place not renowned for courtly manners. I was impressed by the courtesy of the clerk as she processed my papers, explained the fees, suggested an allergy remedy and wished me a happy weekend. On Easter morning I passed by the playing fields of Loyola on my way to the university chapel for Mass. I wished a happy Easter to a woman walking her Chihuahua on the campus. She muttered back, “How would you like my dog to sic you?” So much for Easter joy. [...]

In its mature form politeness is a species of charity. In the contemporary church, we seem to be searching for a deeper spirituality of hospitality. But the very term “hospitality” seems rather pale. What we seek is something more than a cozy loveseat by the hearth. Politeness opens our heart to see and respond to the needs of those in difficulty. A good conversationalist knows how to draw out the silent guest and how to avoid topics that provoke anger (Amy Vanderbilt was right about the danger of diving into partisan politics). The polite person exercises a steely asceticism out of love for the wounded other person. The sick must be visited, the grief-stricken must be comforted and the unexpected guest welcomed. An evening at the cinema or before the computer screen can be readily sacrificed for such quiet goods. The discreet charity of the polite is a major grace.

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Quartz: Portraits show Iran’s hidden minority of Afro-Iranians

German-Iranian photographer Mahdi Ehsaei has spent the last three years documenting a lesser known community in his home country: Iranians of African heritage. His portraits, taken in Iran’s southern province of Hormozgan, document the country’s participation in the Indian Ocean slave trade until the practice was abolished in 1928. The photos appear in his recently published book, Afro-Iran, the Unknown Minority.

Few Iranians are aware of this part of their history or even the presence of Afro-Iranians in their country, according to Ehsaei, who first became interested in the topic after watching a team from Hormozgan play in a football match. He noticed the team’s fan leader was a black Iranian man who led the supporters in a song that struck Ehsaei as more African than Iranian. Ehsaei began researching the topic and eventually raised money online to fund part of the project. [...]

Aside from their color and their concentration in particular locations, Afro-Iranians aren’t any different than other Iranians. They feel Iranian and feel uncomfortable when asked about their origins. Some of them know of their cultural background, some don’t.

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IFLScience: This Is What Happens To Your Dog When You Leave It Alone

“The first 30 minutes after being left alone is usually the most stressful time for the majority of dogs,” they note. “However, for some individuals, this elevated level of stress can last for the whole time that they are left.”

The most common markers of painful isolation are “vocalizations” of protest and “destructive behavior”, but some signs are more subtle. Pacing and excessive salivation are also often markers of acute stress. They likely urinate on the floor as a way of relieving stress.

Dogs, it seems, can never get used to you leaving. After a while, they recognize certain cues of yours – walking towards the front door, looking for your keys, locking the bathroom, and so on – that notify them that you’re about to disappear, and the panic begins to set in earlier rather than later.“Dogs are social animals, so it is difficult to know for sure what they’re thinking when they’re left alone,” the CBWT add. Sadly, as they aren’t great conversationalists, we can’t ask them. It’s just not clear if they think we’ve abandoned them forever, or they’re just incredibly needy creatures. Some may not be fearful but merely bored without you providing them with entertainment. [...]

The idea is that your pet will realize that these specific treats will only come out when you leave the house. Over time, as their confidence grows, you can spend longer away and they’ll hopefully be more of less content with their box of distractions. Closing the curtains, to stop them being distracted by the sight of you leaving, may also help matters.

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CityLab: Singapore, City of Sensors

Today’s Singapore provides free WiFi inside subway stations, and it’s paved the way for its first driverless taxis. With limited access to fresh water, the city-state has also developed technology to catch rain and desalinate some 100 million gallons of seawater a day. Even its fabled fancy bus stops get a dose of high technology. [...]

In short, Singapore is a city—and nation—of sensors, barely noticeable to the average citizen. But they know they’re there. It’s all part of the government’s plan to become the world’s first “Smart Nation,” which was kick-started in 2014 with the rollout of 1,000 sensors. In the grand scheme, Singapore wants to build a network of sensors to collect and connect data from all aspects of urban life—not just traffic and infrastructure but also human movement and behavior. All that information, collected across various departments, will then feed into a central platform, accessible to all governmental agencies. The engineers behind it have dubbed the plan “E3A,” for “Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, All the Time.” [...]

The thing is, Singapore is as exciting for the future of big data and connected technology as it is unsettling for those concerned about the role of privacy in a smart city. It’s been successful in providing public services in part because it can collect vast amounts of data on its citizens without raising much public concern about mass surveillance—something that U.S. cities would find difficult.[...]

Singaporeans have a remarkable amount of faith in public institutions: One survey found that 74 percent of the general population trusts the government. Meanwhile in the U.S., the 2013 leak of National Security Agency documents by Edward Snowden have put Americans on edge, and seemingly harmless initiative like making streetlights smarter often brings up the question of whether the technology could be turned into a surveillance tool. From Oakland, California, to Seattle, to Chicago, cities have faced backlash over smart initiatives to learn from big data collection.

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