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Egypt: Royal Wedding Bells  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia  reports  a new union in Egypt. “I think I didn't post the merry news concerning the Royal sorry the republic marriage of Gamal Mubarak and Khadija El-Gamal. Well the merry news was that the marriage will be held in Sharm El-Shekih presidential palace ..on the 4th of May 2007. That will be in the same day of President's Mubarak 80th and something Birthday!! I don't know which one they will celebrate first the wedding or the birthday!!” she writes. Opposition movement Kefaya  is planning to hold nation-wide protests to celebrate the occasion(s).


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Egypt: Worldwide Free Kareem Rallies  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

World-wide rallies to pressure the Egyptian government to free jailed Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabeel Sulaiman  are being planned on April 27, announces Free Kareem. “While we appreciate the support provided by organizations worldwide, everyone is participating first and foremost as a civilian, not necessarily as a member of a particular organization,” note organisers. Sulaiman was sentenced to four years in prison for insulting both Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on his Arabic-language blog.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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El Salvador: Poet of the Revolution, Roque Dalton · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Tim Muth of Tim's El Salvador Blog introduces us to Salvadoran poet, Roque Dalton, who devoted his life to the overthrow of the ruling oligarchy. In addition to links to essays about this literary intellectual, Muth's article summarizes the events that led to his eventual death at the hands of leftist rivals.  He also closes with an example of Dalton's work titled, “Como tú ” (Like you).

author: Eduardo Avila


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Guyana: Life in the Fast Lane · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana-Gyal likens herself to “a drunk man lolling on grass parapet” after a fast-paced weekend gets the better of her.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Hong Kong: Internet Article 23 · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A group of netizens have organized a new BBS forum: article23.net. The organizers compared the proposal in the government digital copyright consultation as the notorious article 23 in Basic Law which led to half a milion people demonstration in 2003. The BBS forum is to share information concerning digital copyright issue and possible mobilization against the copyright legislation.

author: Oiwan Lam


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India: Life, kids and drudgery · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Mad Momma on tailoring life to suit the kids. “Someday they will hear some other mother say that she was bored at home with her children and that it was drudgery.. and my children might wonder if I felt the same about them. I know I would hate to be told that I bored my mother to death or that she thought life with me was drudgery.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India, Pakistan, Bangladesh: 1857 · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

chapati mystery on the 1857 Mutiny (or the First War for Independence) and how historians choose to interpret it. “Colonial historiography on the Rebellion quickly cemented around John Kaye’s immense three volume A History of the Sepoy War in India, 1857-1858 (1868) which portrayed the Rebellion as the mutiny of natives who were inherently incapable of civilizing themselves.”


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Iranian Women’s Movement Beyond Gender and Age  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iranian female rights activists have launched several initiatives such as the “One Million Signatures Demanding Change to Discriminatory Laws Campaign and they have organized peaceful protest movements against discrimination. Some of these women were arrested and sent to jail for a few weeks or days. Iranian women continue their struggle for justice and freedom.Thanks to Kosoof, a leading photoblogger, we can discover some important moments of this movement in photographs from the last two years. Here are five photos chosen to display that in the struggle there is no question of gender or age. We see old and young men and women taking part in the demonstrations as well as female police repressing women activists.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iraq: End the War · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Mohammed  asks: What did the last wave of terror attacks and the many crimes committed against our people all this time reveal? As for the media, he writes: “When shall they realize, if ever, that we are dealing with brutal crimes against humanity, a genocide against the people of Iraq? Why don't people talk about the cruelty of the crimes and expose the obvious goals of the terrorists behind the crimes?.. Where are the media when terrorists use chlorine poisonous gas, acids, and ball bearings to kill and hurt more and more civilians in utter disregard to all written and unwritten laws, ethics and values?”


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Israel: Kill Ahmadinejad  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Israeli paper Yediot Ahronot published a commentary which says that Israel should not shy away from threatening to kill Iran’s Ahmadinejad, reports Egyptian-based blogger Issandr El Amrani. “I feel that way about a lot of politicians. Perhaps the entire region should resolve its conflicts through assassinations. It would save a lot of lives. I guess the Israelis are learning from the Syrians here,” he explains.


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Jamaica: Caribbean Film wins Outstanding Feature  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican Geoffrey Philp takes note of Caribbean filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon's A Winter Tale, which was honoured as Outstanding Canadian Feature at the 7th annual ReelWorld Film Festival.


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Jordan: Al Jazeera Interview Confiscated  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Lady Bird claims that Jordanian authorities confiscated a tape containing an interview with Jordan's Prince Hassan  from Al Jazeera‘s offices because of worries of the comments he made regarding his country's relations with Jordan. “This is one of the reasons that Al-Jazeera is special, other Arab media shall just give up, Al-jazeera they just don’t care. Although the Aljazeera tapes of the interview with Prince Hassan were confiscates by the Jordanian police but Aljazeera broadcast a special program talking about what was said in the interview. Prince Hassan is well known Arab intellectual, thinker and an Arab nationalist that is why the US prevented him from succeeding his brother King Hussein,” she explains.


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Kyrgyzstan: Pandora’s Box · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Beau Gordinier reports on the government's dispersal of protesters demanding the president's resignation in Kyrgyzstan, and discusses what comes next in Kyrgyz politics.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Malaysia: Taiwanese Girls · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Cheeserland is visiting Taiwan with her friends and she can't stop admiring Taiwanese girls. “But really, I can’t help but admire Taiwanese girl’s fashion sense. They put on the right amount of make-up, wear the “big eye” lenses, have their lashes extended and their hair styled to a flawless perfection. Every one of them! I wonder how long it takes them to apply and remove make up every day. For me to dress like one of them, i need to waste at least 3 hours a day. Where got so free!”

author: Preetam Rai


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Mexico: What’s the Reason for the Stable Exchange Rate? · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Boz notices that the currency exchange of Mexico peso to the US dollar has remained stable during the past two years at a rate of 11 to 1.  He wonders whether this is an unofficial policy set by the Central bank or if there is some other explanation.


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Morocco: Corruption, politics, and the aftermath of a bombing · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

After the Los Angeles Times published an article about the cost of filming the 2003 action flop Sahara, which highlighted in particular the amount spent on local bribes (“‘Courtesy payments, ‘gratuities’ and ‘local bribes’ totalling $237,386 were passed out on locations in Morocco to expedite filming”), Moroccan bloggers chimed in with their opinions.
Laila Lalami was saddened by the spending: “Honestly, I started to laugh about all this, until I got to the part where palm trees are being taken out and river improvement projects that benefit Moroccans are halted in order to accommodate films, and then I wanted to cry.”
Liosliath posted highlights of the article in her blog, highlighting “the most pathetic part” as this: “An ‘assistant propman’ on Sahara, for example, earned a weekly salary of $233, the equivalent of one day’s pay for a U.S. prop worker.”
The aftermath of the recent Casablanca bombings and Morocco's safety level were also on the minds of bloggers.  Blogger Taamarbuuta said at grains of sand, “Look, the point is, Moroccans are not against America. Perhaps its government (but I can count on one hand my American friends who aren't against the government!), sure, but America or Americans?”
Cat in Rabat‘s take on the whole thing was slightly humorous – noting that metal detectors have cropped up in the capital. “I have set off the bells & whistles of many of Rabat's security scanners and no one has yet to ask me to step aside in order to search me. So while there is now a guard at Pizza Hut, nobody has actually seen him use his metal-detecting magic wand,” she notes.
Everything Morocco responded to those who've asked “is Morocco safe?” saying, “That's a tough one to answer without a crystal ball and without going into a very long and drawn out explanation…It is much more complicated than saying it is terrorism; religious or anti-American or any other kind.”
In a separate entry which discussed the Virginia Tech massacre as well as the Casablanca incidents, Everything Morocco surmised: “The underlying commonality, in my opinion, was the sense of exclusion and desperation all the perpetrators must have felt before going so far as to kill.”

author: Jillian C. York


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Muslim Brotherhood: America At Crossroads · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Documentary America at Crossroads caught the attention of another blogger writing in Arab affairs. Writing at The Arabist , Ursula Lindsey says: ‘Flipping channels, I happened on a segment of the PBS series “America at a Crossroads” called “The Brotherhood.” It’s interesting but I can’t help finding parts of it a bit tendentious and alarmist–the show’s main question (”Does the Brotherhood support terrorism?”) seems to be largely rhetorical. One problem is that when Brotherhood members express support for Hamas and Hezbullah, this is taken as evidence that the organization may be “terrorist.”’


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Myanmar: Famous Witchcraft Region “Yaw” · Global Voices
May Hnin Phyu

Myat Thu Ya writes about his visit to Yaw region – famous for witchcraft, and finds out it was just a myth. “Many Burmese believe that people in Yaw region are masters of witchcraft very well, and they are afraid of the Yaw people. However, I believe these are all false rumors, or rural myth.”

author: May Hnin Phyu


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Myanmar: Helping Hand Blogs · Global Voices
May Hnin Phyu

People of Myanmar are well known for their gentle nature, kind heart, sincerity, generosity and a great helping hand. In Myanmar, various type of non profitable groups and non governmental organizations are formed to help out physical, educational and well being of the country men especially youth and children.
These days, many such organizations are starting to use blogs to announce and publish their organizations’ activities. Among them:
Open Eyed Society – a charity organization including volunteers and donors to improve life of children.
Donation Activity at a primary school
Image from: Open Eyed Society
# OES is a voluntary group formed by young volunteers.
# OES aims at improving life of children mainly caring their education and health with voluntary services.
# OES education promotion program mainly includes supporting children from poor families giving priority to orphans.
# OES health care program includes giving medical treatment and fees to the children under our care. In fact, donors are invited to give away the charitable things such as clothes and stationery including cash for the sake of improving our children's life.
Ku Tho Daw Library Project – A young man’s dream to educate his native village youths of Bagan.
Kids reading books at Ku Tho Daw Library
Image from: Kuthodaw library – Bagan
Project or Promise.
Helping Hand – founded by a group of friends and concentrating on orphanage children educations and well beings.
Blogger Yan Aung has also set up the “Myanmar Blogger Foundation (MBF)” via his PayPal account for “The Mae Tao Clinic” which was founded by Dr. Cynthia Maung at Mae Sot. He urges all Myanmar bloggers to help donate for the clinic.
Please help Dr. Cynthia Maung and her associates for the welfare of Mae Tao Clinic by donating some of your earnings. Your donation will be a great benefit to some poor kids, old and disabled people in the remote areas of Burma, a.k.a, Myanmar.
You can watch the videos on Dr. Cynthia Maung and information on her clinic here. Some of the services provided by the clinic are as followed:
The Mae Tao Clinic’s reach extends far beyond its base in Mae Sot. It supports mobile clinics serving Burma’s internally displaced persons (IDP).  The Clinic’s community service programs include a home at Umphium Mae refugee camp for unaccompanied children.
The Clinic also supports schools and boarding houses that serve the families of local migrant workers and our staff. In addition it sponsor women's organizations, health education and community awareness events at refugee camps.
It is expected that more of such individuals and organizations will be using blogs to promote their activities. It is also a great pleasure to see Myanmar youths starting to utilize the full potential of blogging(web) medium for multiple purposes.


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Myanmar: Letter of Support for Suu Kyi · Global Voices
May Hnin Phyu

Writer and Analyst Kyi May Kaung writes a letter to Irrawaddy Magazine to show her love and support for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. “I hope you will publish this letter, so that people inside Burma and hopefully even Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, will know that she still has our love and support.”


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Myanmar: New Photo Blogs · Global Voices
May Hnin Phyu

Blogger MgHla introduces 5 new bloggers where three are outstanding photo blogs (Uhteik, Stevenalexand, MgBaOo) with sceneries from Myanmar.


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Nepal: Bloggers Form Association · Global Voices
Ujjwal Acharya

Twenty-four bloggers from capital Kathmandu gathered on Saturday April 21 to discuss the formation of Bloggers Association of Nepal (BLOGAN) for the promotion and protection of blogs and blogging in the tiny Himalayan country where blogs are yet to be recognized by the population.
There are less than 300 regular blogs in Nepal, but despite that – the role played by the blogs during the tight censorship of media during King Gyanendra’s direct rule from October 2004 to April 2006 and during the People’s Movement last April that re-established democratic rule have given enough enthusiasm to bloggers to work for expanding the blogosphere further.
via Jiten World
The enthusiasm is vivid in the entries posted by bloggers. Bloggers are calling the meet a historic one. Mero Sansar posted photos and videos of the gathering under the title ‘Historic Gathering of Nepali Bloggers’ while Deepak’s Diary praises the inclusiveness in the gathering:
The fourth Nepali bloggers’ meet that took place today was historic in every sense of the word. There were unprecedented numbers of bloggers (total 24, six of them female; no gender bias ladies!); they ranged from an eighteen-year-old Deelip Khanal to Buddhi Narayan Shrestha, retired Director General of Survey Department of Nepal; Rajendra Biswakarma represented the Dalit community while there was Mohammad Tajim (a Muslim) and Salik Shah who is an ardent flag bearer of Madhesi issues. But, it was the common thread of blogging that brought us all together. Hey, something's happening? Are you watching?
The meet also formed a working committee to move forward and most of the members nominated themselves to the committee. The committee includes Ujjwal Acharya (co-ordinator), KP Dhungana, Ghanshyam Ojha, Deepak Adhikari, Ram Prasad Dahal, Bishnu Dhakal, Rajendra Biswokarma, Avinashi Paudel, Mohd Tajim, Tapas Barsimha Thapa and Umesh Shrestha.
The meeting also decided to publish a book on blogging to create a awareness and promote blogging. NepaliVoices writes:
he other major decision made today include giving kick-start to book publication. KP Dhungana will be co-ordinating the work while all of us agreed to help him by writing what he will ask for. All the bloggers will write their blogging experience (either English or Nepali).
Though all participating bloggers agreed that an association is needed, there were discussions on whether it should be registered with government or not. Dedicated to Daniel Pearl opposes the idea of registering in fear of losing the freedom that the bloggers enjoy:
Do we need to get registered to perform all these tasks? My fear is also that we not only will loose our freedom but will also fall into a list of the NGOs, which are notoriously known for milking money in Nepal. … But my point is why don't we try to remain as bloggers…not any organzation?
Kathmandu Speaks opines for the need of organization. Registered or not, every bloggers agreed that BLOGAN will hold conference and award best blogs annually and it looks like the Nepali blogosphere is gearing up to become a force.

author: Ujjwal Acharya


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Nepal: On Bloggers and Citizen Journalism · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Kathmandu Speaks on BLOGBAN. “But questions do arise about the real motif behind the formation of any formal association. Although I’m also on the favour of a formal organization, Ghanshyamji (Ojha) had very legitimate concerns about the future of BLOGAN’s working committee members. Yes, I agree that when money comes, it takes away the high-held values.” and on a new citizen journalism initiative.


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Nigeria: Umar Musa Yar’ Adua wins presidency · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The World According to Adaure breaking news: “Nigerians now have a new president in the person of Umar Musa Yar’ Adua. He garnered over 24 million votes in the April 21st presidential election. Mohammed Buhari came in second with 6 million votes, while Atiku Abubakar got over 2.6 million votes…The final results of the presidential poll were announced by INEC Chairman, Professor MAURICE IWU who is also the Chief Returning Officer.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Pakistan: Panjpeer Rockies · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

An Islooite's day out at Metroblogging Islamabad. “I was surprised this Sunday to find one of the best kept secrets of Islooite outback. I have never seen such rock formations and hills made of of huge sandstone boulders stretching for miles. And I named them the “Panjpeer Rockies””


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Panama: Effects on Food from Free-Trade Agreement · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The Boquete Guide does not think that the major consequence of the new Free-Trade Agreement with the US will be lower safety standards from import food, but rather the higher food costs for Panamanians and increased unemployment of local farmers.


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Peru: Peruvian Student Killed in VT Massacre · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Peruvian bloggers have been mourning the loss of Daniel Pérez Cueva, a Peruvian student who was killed in the Virginia Tech shooting. The party blog of the Popular American Revolutionary Alliance blog says that Perez Cueva studied International Relations [ES] and links to an audio interview with the victim's mother. Wolfy Becker has more in English.

author: David Sasaki


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Russia: Reactions to Boris Yeltsin’s Death · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first president, died today in Moscow.
There is an avalanche of responses to his death in the Russian blogosphere, ranging from “rest in peace” to “be damned.”
Below is a tiny selection (RUS) from the blog of LJ user dolboeb (Anton Nossik):
aristo_big: Ten years ago, this piece of news would have been joyful to me.
emailya: A PITY. No matter how much he is being denounced, everyone obtained real freedom through his policies.
aristo_big: …and they got “a real successor” who obliterated this freedom :)
[…]
emailya: Yeltsin was funny and didn't care when they were making fun of him. Putin is scared and obliterates laughter and parody. And you can see the result of it…
daunit: Yes, only we got anarchy instead of freedom. No one had to do anything to build anarchy on the ruins of totalitarianism – it built itself. It's not clear how we could mistake one for the other all these years. In the 1990s, we were “free” under bandits, and now we are “free” under bureaucrats and the police. It's a pity [Yeltsin] hadn't been jailed while still alive. Jailed for Berezovsky, Abramovich, and [the financial crisis of] 1998. […]
lapkis: R.I.P.
mr_quietest: R.I.P.
[…]
kashtan123: It'll take this country a long time to fully comprehend what this man has achieved. He buried the empire (the USSR), buried socialism and the socialist camp, buried the CPSU, laid the basis for the new country (Russia), and all this was done with little blood spilled, without civil war. He rid the world of the Cold War. Yes, there were times when he sinned, but there were also times when he was a saint! His brains weren't sterilized, unlike the brains of today's [chekists]. Eternal Memory!
m_darklighter: The gravedigger has set out for his own grave. :)
chelobitnik: With little blood spilled? […] The war in Chechnya is a direct consequence of Yeltsin's rule. The criminal privatization is a direct consequence of Yeltsin's incredible stupidity. And much more. […]
[…]
100rm: For some reason, I feel sorry for him… My attitude to him is contradictory […]. A whole epoch is gone…
LJ user drugoi (Rustem Adagamov) has posted photos of Yeltsin from different years – and has received three pages of comments already. Here are a few of them:
dostacha: Some people would genuinely regret, others are going to spit, but it's impossible to deny that a whole epoch is gone.
[…]
tonya_monya: I feel sort of sorry for Yeltsin, looking at these photos and seeing him as an ordinary person, with family, grandkids… He loved tennis (it was amusing to watch him root [for Russian players]), and his politics got erased from memory somehow in these years.
gordita_rusa: You've forgotten his politics??!!! And what about the guys he sent to war in Chechnya, do you remember it? And how the whole world was laughing when this drunk was conducting an orchestra in Germany over the ashes of the Soviet soldiers? And the country [forced to stand in a humiliating position] has also been erased from your memory? And the hungry pensioners? And [the tanks] firing at the legitimate parliament? And Russia's fiasco in international politics?
[…]
zvetaeva_41: I've been thinking whose monument should replace that of [Felix Dzerzhinsky] on [Lubyanka]. [Yeltsin] deserves it.
prelate: I agree.
voutsen_cv: Oh please, let's not erect monuments… there're enough of them for now.
jenyay: Well, it's okay to have a monument, for history, but not on Lubyanka. Because it'll be as if he took Dzerzhinsky down and got up there himself.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Afghanistan: Taliban Electioneering in France · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Safrang reports on the Taliban's efforts to influence the outcome of France's presidential election.


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Touring Libyan  Blogs: more blogger meet ups, education, proud to be a Libyan and a handwriting contest. · Global Voices
Fozia Mohamed

Like-minded bloggers enjoy meeting up and the Libyan bloggers are no exception. This past week it was A_Akak and Mani who spent a great day in Brighton. Their happy smiles says it all.
Aladdin is back in the business of blogging. He has been extremely busy since last month.  He also managed to meet up with  two other Libyan bloggers namely Khadijateri and Trabilsia.
However, his comeback post is rich with information about Libya's education system .
“Libyan's people educational background is so limited, I was shocked when a university lecturer could not fill an application form by himself, of an MS students who wanna do their PhD in the UK didn't want to make a research proposal or asking me to do it for them!!! and people who wanna study in the UK but they're not sure what they wanna study there. or people who want to take a six month English course with accommodation and their budget is US $1000, including their living expenses, or people who are asking me why don't we offer scholarships and more and more…[…] that's the problem with Libyan lecturers, PhD holders, doctors, engineers, managers…etc they actually don't do nothing in the country, they rely on their “Educational Background” and act like they are the inventors of the subjects they specialized in. [sic]”
Anglo Libyan's blog gets hot again with a new post on the Libyan children victims of AIDS. He asks should we be ashamed to being Libyans? This controversial question, released the pent up emotions of a couple of commentators, between constructive criticism vs negativity. Anglo Libyan has posted several pictures of the affected children to show us their humanity. Would you let your child play with an AIDS patient? Alas, another very tough question.
“[..]people responsible for them have neglected their duties, in fact they are stealing our children's benefits, look at this hospital she said, this place does not look like a hospital, it is dump, there is no television, the children are lying between the beds and in the corridors, the hospital is not healthy and is not suitable. The manager of this hospital, Almahdi Emhabrash, has never visited the patients, we do not like the manager, he has no humanity in him, last night our room flooded with rain water, this hospital used to be a correction centre, it should not be a hospital, we went to Italy and stayed 1 year, we were told that when we come back that we will have a complete specialised hospital, we came back from Italy to find it the exact opposite.”
Finally Lebeeya started a handwriting competition, I'm wondering if we can analyze the personality of Libyan bloggers from their scribblings ?
Here are samples by A_Akak, Maysoon, Damoon   and Cofman.

author: Fozia Mohamed


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Trinidad & Tobago: Naipaul’s Reading  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Posting from Trinidad, where Sir Vidia Naipaul is making several appearances in honour of his 75th birthday year, Caribbean Free Radio reports from one of the author's readings: “Naipaul’s reading style isn’t particularly good, in the classic sense, but his stilted, slightly quaint delivery is oddly effective, and easy on the ear…When the reading was over, Lady Naipaul leapt to the front of the stage and assumed command of the procedings. ‘The book signing begins now!’ she announced. ‘Form a queue. And only new books will be signed. That is the form.'”  What form was this? we wondered.


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Tunisphere and the French elections: · Global Voices
samsoum

A lot of Tunisian bloggers showed a lot of interest in the French presidential elections. There are a lot of reasons for this interest. Historically, due to the colonization of the country by the French for 75 years, the Tunisians always had a love-hate relationship with this country, but more love than hate. France is the most important economical partner for Tunisia. It is the country that has the most of our expatriates. A lot of bloggers on the Tunisphere hold the French citizenship or live in France.
But in my opinion the main reason for our interest in this election is the thirst we have in debating political ideas, expressing opinions about candidates, criticizing and disagreeing without attracting the censors of the Tunisian government. If we can’t be part of a real democratic election in our country, we can at least participate in the French one.
The lack of freedom in choosing our leaders and our government since the independence made us loose any interest in being part of any staged election in our country. We all know that it is a staged comedy where the numbers are “cooked” in the HQ of the Interior Ministry. During the last presidential election, the candidates were said to be chosen by the president himself and that does not surprise me since any time they got some airtime, they don’t stop thanking him fro all his achievements.
This lack of interest and ignorance about our government members was a subject of a post from “Girl from Mars”
Bref, j'ai remarqué que la plupart d'entre nous connait par coeur la scène politique française, est capable d'énumérer la majorité des membres du gouvernement français, peut énumérer les propositions de chaque candidat, en faire la critique et proposer ses propres modifications..ils nous manquerait plus que la carte d'électeur pour voter:)
Mais combien d'entre nous est capable de donner les noms de nos ministres (moi personnellement même le premier ministre je connais pas son nom!), d'énumérer nos partis politiques, de distinguer le programme de chacun d'entre eux, de citer les dernières mesures gouvernementales…
J'en connais pas beaucoup..
Sommes nous plus français que les français ou moins tunisiens que nous devrions l'être?
Mani l’africain, wrote a very nice post presenting the French candidates as if they were Tunisians candidates for the Tunisian presidency. A very elegant and smart post where Nicolas Sarkozy becomes “Si Markouzi”, Segolene Royal becomes “Sihem Malki” and Francois Bayrou is “Firas Bouzagour”.  Too bad I can’t translate the whole post, but this the part presenting Mrs Sihem Malki.

author: samsoum


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A week goes by in Kuwait · Global Voices
Abdullatif AlOmar

The unpredictable weather, shoddy telecom services and the rapid surge in the stock market are just some of the topics keeping Kuwaiti bloggers entertained this week.
Ana Filibini, which translates to I am a Filipino, describes the weather in Kuwait in the past week.
“Kuwait has been wet and wild this past week. Raging thunderstorms, lightnings, typhoon like muddy rains and the best show of big chunks of hail,” writes the expatriate.
Qaiss, over at io81,  asks a simple loaded question about why their local telecom company isn'y providing a Push To Talk (PTT) service, in which people with cell phones use their phones like walkie talkies and chat to each other for free if they are within the same vicinity.
“Why is MTC (a telecom company) not providing such a service, aren't these guys one of the top players in the region now, or are they concentrated with opening 2 branches in the African continent?”
Another loaded question comes from Frankom.
What's the difference between the appearance of the Korean perpetrator of the Virginia Tech massacre in a recording and justifying him as mentally ill and the appearance of Bin Laden or Al Dhawahri and calling them terrorists and America's most wanted?
Amer, from Hilaliya, has already decided what the Quote of the Year is. It is:
“The problem is with you, not the Constitution.”
H.H. The Emir, Sheik Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah
(Speaking to members of the Ruling Family during an unprecedented meeting).
Meanwhile, Q discusses what happened at the Kuwait stock market on Wednesday, when trading reach a record high from dealings in the shares of only one company!
“Everyone was hooked with whatever was happening with the stock market today, and the rumour mill started and hasn’t stopped since …,” he exclaims.
Ziyad , at q80economics, meanwhile turns a serious topic into humour to lighten it up.
“Scientists now agree that global warming is real and if we don’t act now the consequences will be devastating. So what will happen to our local environment in Kuwait and how will we cope if the world reduces its reliance on oil? What can we do within our means to act against global warming? Even though the issue is dead serious, I will offer some foolish answers,” he cautions.
Amer AlZuhair, the Kuwaiti film director who filmed the last election in two movies and got banned by the Minstry of Information from screening them, posted an article he sent to one of the daily papers in Kuwait, asking this simple question.
“Will the folks at the Ministry of Information ever aspire to His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad's tolerance and lift the ban they've imposed on my films?” he asks.
zdistrict covers a local event, where a car dealer introduces a new car model, in a major event in which even a main road was closed for a while.
“This was the IMSA laucnh of the IMSA Lamborghini, it was supposed to be something special but I wasn’t sure of how the event was supposed to go. It seemed that BMW and Porsche had their vehicles there as well as people who brought their super cars and there were some interesting vehicles there. Lots of people showed up and after unveiling of the vehicle,” he explains.

author: Abdullatif AlOmar


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Afghanistan: Finally a Census · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Safrang is happy that a census will finally be conducted in Afghanistan and says that it should have been done a while ago.


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Algeria: From Armenia to Islam  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Algerian blogger Nouri provides links which discuss why the Armenian genocide should not be called a genocide and who is a moderate Muslim.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Americas: MySpace for Latin Americans · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Christian Espinoza of Tiempos de Blogs [ES] links to the two newest versions of the MySpace social networking site: MySpace Latinoamérica and MySpace En Español.  Think Multicultural  hears the message loud and clear with these two additions , “Just the metrics that they will release (e.g. “10 million people registered at latino.myspace.com!”) will continue to show advertisers and marketers that there are Latinos online that they need to reach.”

author: Eduardo Avila


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Angry Arab: Conspiring Against Al Jazeera  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

‘Call me conspiratorial (please do), but Aljazeera.net (Arabic) has this headline: “Olmert shows flexibility toward the Arab peace initiative.” Tomorrow on Aljazeera.net: news about Bush's promotion of freedoms in the Middle East,’ writes blogger Khalil Abu Assad in his Angry Arab News Service.


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Arabeyes: What Makes a Good Blog and a Good Doctor?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

What makes a good blog and how do you assess blogs in your region?
Tunisian blogger Mouelhizied has  attempts to answer this question and has a lot to say about his country's bloggers.
Although there are 361 Tunisian blogs according to the latest count, only 10 to 20 per cent of them are active and have daily posts, says Mouelhizied.
From the different types of bloggers and blogs, we move on to learning how to spot the different types of doctors.
Egyptian blogger Ana Masri describes the different types of doctors out there.
In Palestine, blogger Majeed Al Barghouti  links to a story I have seen before on Palestinian blogs, but which still seems to erk Palestinian bloggers. It is that which shows the Israeli army using Palestinian children as human shields, to protect them from the wrath of Palestinian stone-throwers.
Meanwhile in Kuwait, blogger Kila Matgoog apologises to his readers for not being able to reply to their comments because he is in Hong Kong, where he has to pay for his Internet use!


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Armenia: Accessible Elections · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Oneworld Multimedia reports on efforts to make Armenian election ballots more accessible to the blind.


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Armenia: Commemorating the Genocide · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

At Life in Armenia, Raffi K. tells how he commemorated the anniversary of the Armenian genocide.


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Armenia: Youth Service · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Posts from Armenia reports on Global Youth Service Day activities involving school children doing city beautification projects.


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Asia: Asian VS. Western Media · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Imagethief comments on an article at the Boao Forum for Asia, published in Xinhua. In the article, Liu Jiang, deputy editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency, commented that “Developed contrives, which have one seventh of the world population, have dominated two thirds of the total information flow”.
Imagethief's insightful response is: Asian commercial media is a desperate wasteland that teeters perpetually on the precarious knife-edge of irredeemability…I blame government. Governments, by and large, should not involve themselves in media. But Asia's governments cannot, for the life of them, keep their grubby mitts off the media.


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Bahrain: On Poverty  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Blogger Chanad Bahraini discusses poverty in Bahrain, saying: “Statements from the prime minister that “new steps are being taken to help needy families in Bahrain” are a dime a dozen. We read about them every few weeks, as the local press always makes sure to give it front page coverage. It’s been like this for as long as I can remember, but those statements are just words, as the underprivileged sections of society continue to be denied this country’s wealth.”


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Bahrain: Violence Begets Violence  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Violence in Bahrain and clashes between demonstrators and riot police were the focus of a television programme which Bahraini blogger emoodz watched for an hour before realising it didn't satisfy his quest for learning the reasons behind this escalating stand off. “Needless to say, I had to sit along a one sided conversation praising the way the security forces have dealt with the issue, showing clips of fire blazes and destruction around streets and living neighborhoods. Clips of hooded youngsters as they set tires and gas cylinders on fire were aired and repeated as well dressed cleanly shaved government officials calling them everything from ‘saboteurs’ to ‘gangsters’,” he explains.


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Bangladesh: Fighting the Army · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The breathless pace of developments in Bangladeshi politics explained by Mash. “The drama over the weekend unfolded on three continents. The first crack in the military’s plan occurred when the Bangladesh High Court responded to a Habeas Corpus petition filed on behalf of Khaleda Zia protesting the military government’s action restricting her to her house without charge. The High Court has ordered the military government to explain in writing within five days why the court should not order the government to produce Khaleda Zia in court to prove that she is not under house arrest. “


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Bangladesh: The guys who made Bangla Blogging easy · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Tanvir meets people at Somewhere.in, the guys who made blogging in Bangla that much easier. “Hasin bhai is one of the genius programmer currently working for Somewhere In. He also developed Bangla interface of wordpress, as I heard from Mr. Arild. Mr. Arild is the Coordination Head of Somewhere In. Somewhere In is a representative IT firm in Bangladesh of a Norwegian company named ESCENIC. “


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Bangladesh: The Politics of Exile · Global Voices
Rezwan

The Bangladeshi blogosphere heated up reacting to the drama of the process of exiling the two powerful lady politicians of Bangladesh.
Sheikh Hasina Wazed and Begum Khaleda Zia crowned the center stage in Bangladesh politics in the past few decades. They spearhead two different ideologies in Bangladesh, which instead of providing the nation a headway, divided the nation. The rivalry between the major two parties Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Awami League (AL) have made the politics more confrontational and put the nation in chaos in recent times. This has resulted in declaring a state of Emergency on January 11th this year and the emergence of a military backed caretaker Government. The Government has taken control of the situation by putting many corrupted politicians behind the bar and suspending all political activities.
Now it seems they want to settle the score with the tradition of dynasty politics in Bangladesh by sending Hasina and Khaleda in exile.
The 3rd world view has details how Sheikh Hasina is being barred from entering Bangladesh. Rumi has details on the deportation attempts of Khaleda Zia.
The Bangladesh poet of Impropriety has the latest on the political situation of Bangladesh. Voice of Bangladeshi Bloggers summarizes a few international press reactions.
Asif at Drishtipat blog opines:
A group of 10 unelected people (.00000000001% of the electorate)has just decided that the lady, whose party won 22 million votes, (40%) of the total electorate in the last election and who is a citizen of Bangladesh, can not enter Bangladesh because she is percieved by them as a threat to the society. They also decided that leader of the other party that got the vote of the other 40% will also need to be exported outside. .00000001% has spoken for the whole country.
However Addafication sees this as an option to bring an end to legacy of politics these two leaders were thriving:
There’s a view that’s out there that says that because these politicians committed crimes, they have to be tried. I am not so sure that given the circumstances, exile is really such a bad option. It’s a low-cost option. On the one hand it avoids bloodshed. On the other, the uncertainties of a trial whose results could not be anything but political.
Rehan of Drishtipat Blog is apprehensive about the political vacuum that will create after the exile of these two leaders.
However there is also widespread support for this government so far and not all supports are without apprehensions. Ahsan thinks Bangladesh is now at a cross road:
The caretaker government, who was given the responsibility to conduct a fair election, seems to be taking steps that no one was willing to take in the past. Can the current caretaker government create an atmosphere where not only the old corrupt leaders are forever removed from the political scene; but also new leaders emerge to guide the nation?
Deshi Blog thinks that inexperience in politics would harm the Caretaker Govt.
Sending both Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina to exile would certainly create more chaos in Bangladesh.  How can democracy be established by taking away the fundamental rights of political leaders?  The way the exile drama is being handled hints abuse of the power, rather than judiciousness.

author: Rezwan


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Barbados: A World of Orchids · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Chenette posts a Flickr photoset of shots from Orchid World in Barbados.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bermuda: Measuring Tourism · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I'm sure tourism numbers are up. And I'm glad that we seem to be making some gains. But…the question is ‘by how much?'”.  Politics.bm has some suggestions for measuring tourist arrivals in Bermuda.


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Central Asia: Old Photographs · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Sue Sypko discusses how photographs taken by Russian Imperial and Soviet photographers communicate different meanings.


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China: How Sand Storm Makes a Difference · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michael, from the Opposite End of China blogs two pictures, one is before the sand storm, the second is taken after 11 minutes. The reader can see how sand storm makes a difference to the environment.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Localization of Google Adsense · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

William Long comments on the localization of google adsense: Will the localization lead to the intervention of local governmental monitoring bodies? Especially from the revenue department? If the monitoring bodies intervene, can Google protect their customers’ privacy? (zh)


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China: Photo Comic Blog · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jason Li from Virtual China introduced a Photo Comic Blog, Very Real People, Very Entertaining. Humor is very difficult to translate, and Jason tried to capture the sense of Chinese Humor in his post.


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China: The Most “Second” Internet Company · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fang Jun from Mindmeter started the chain blogging on “the most ‘er’ (literally means ‘second’, extended meaning: ‘inferior’ and ‘er’) internet company” in China. His choice are: Sina (stops photo sharing), Focusmedia (too much ads), Google (failure in pinyin typing entry), Myspace China and Baidu Japan (zh).
Wang Xiaofeng's choice are: Sina, Sohu, Yahoo (cn), 3721 and blogcn (zh).


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Colombian blogosthing reacts to the new concept of BlogTV · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

The Medellín blogosphere experienced a communal “what the ?” about 3 weeks ago, when we discovered that a new TV show about blogging would premiere.  My information source was Pablo from No eres tu soy yo [ES] (it´s not you, it´s me), a popular Colombian podcast on everything and nothing at the same time, who mentioned he was asked to be on a show to be produced by TeleAntioquia [ES], a regional network. Investigation ensued.
It was a bizarre affair… even after quite a bit of searching, there were no google hits, no Colombian blogs mentioned the show, no technorati tags.  On the Medallo Bloguero [ES] meeting we speculated on the show. How would they handle hyperlinks? What would they talk about? Were the hosts bloggers, if so, who were they? Who would watch a blog show on TV?  But the biggest question, and maybe so because it hit our Antioquia blogger status pride was: How come none of us knew about it? Why had no one posted about it? How were the producers expecting a TV show about bloggers to work out… when there was no blogger buzz? Maybe we weren´t the core audience… just the subject matter.
A few days before airing, newspaper ads came out advertising the new show, and teleantioquia posted information on its site [ES]. It´s name would be “Los Bloggers”. It was touted to be a “the first truly interactive magazine in Teleantioquia, bringing different media together”. A program designed for a young audience, it would bring computers and internet to the television screen.
Victor Solano who was interviewed for the show, got to meet the hosts and get an insider view. This is what he wrote before it aired [ES]:
Felicitaciones a Grisales y su combo; felicitaciones a Teleantioquia por apostarle a una propuesta novedosa que como todas las que van en vivo podría tener pequeños errores pero por encima de todo es un acierto que se realice una televisión para los jóvenes hecha por jóvenes y felicitaciones para los antioqueños que recibirán una nueva propuesta ética y estética de un canal regional que tiene mucho para enseñarle a los nacionales que en su arrogancia y sus pasos milimétricos en camino a los peoplemeters de Ibope le cortan las alas a la imaginación y a la espontaneidad. Este mundo de los blogs conquista un nuevo espacio y me alegra haber estado allí, unas horas antes de este parto.
The hosts and producers all commented on this entry, thanking Victor for the interview and information. Expectations grew. We waited… Then we finally got to see the show.
Los Bloggers [ES] is a magazine-style live show where there´s a daily topic and interaction with the audience that can take place through cell phone text messages displayed on screen, phone calls, and comments on their website. They use pre-recorded videos and interviews, flash animations, and also invite guests to their live show.
I had a hard time digesting that first episode. Maybe it was when one of the hosts, Diego Peña, admitted that he doesn't like blogs [ES]:
La verdad, a mí no me gustan los blogs, he intentado leer lo que escriben los autores de sus respectivos diarios virtuales y no he encontrado nada interesante en ellos.
Ouch.
Maybe it was when I saw the word “blog” written on screen  twice during a “trivia” session.
Maybe it was because the rhythm was too slow. I got bored at times. It was somewhat obvious that blogging is a brand spanking new topic for these hosts, and when they started explaining about some key concept, got confused, and mixed up, it was even embarrassing.
But I sat through it. And I've watched the new episodes and I've seen it get better bit by bit. They are experimenting with this idea. As Victor mentioned on his post, they are betting on this show without knowing if it'll work out. They are following a hunch that this is the way to do television: realtime with audience feedback. And they, perhaps, are experiencing a bit of stagefright.  Their blog gets feedback, people are calling the show, text messages scroll in the bottom of the screen… there does seem to be an interest in the show, and 315 users have already registered at their website. And my experience wasn´t unique.
Jorge wrote in La Fabrica de Cosas [ES]: I saw Los Bloggers and still don´t get it
Básicamente, Los Bloggers es un programa de televisión con presencia online. Presentan un sitio web  donde incluyen los blogs de los presentadores (1  , 2  y 3  ) y la opción de registrarse para hacer comentarios. Me registré y pude ver que ya estaba registrado Patton [ES]  , un conocido comentarista de blogs y blogger bogotano, así como Merks de Pirated Network, un blog que vengo siguiendo hace un tiempo, o sea que la convocatoria en la blogocosa colombiana ya atrajo a algunos de sus más fieles respaldos. El sitio es agradable, tiene una interfaz visual limpia y de fácil manejo, pero hasta ahora no presta más servicios que permitir comentar en sus blogs, claro está, que se encuentra en versión beta, lo que nos mantendrá a la espera de lo nuevo que se esté ideando el equipo.
Velvet from Piso Tr3s (Third Floor) writes in MedalloBloguero as a reply to both Victor's and Jorge's posts.
Ya había escrito Jorge en Fábrica de Cosas que no entendía muy bien a «Los Bloggers». Bueno Jorge tal vez te anime saber que no estás sólo… yo tampoco lo entiendo muy bien. O para decirlo con más precisión no entiendo muy bien qué tiene que ver todo el cuento de los blogs con el contenido del programa. Para ilustrarlo, aunque ahora escribí que en la primera emisión intentaron explicar lo que es un blog, pues parece muy evidente que ni ellos mismos lo sabían con mucha claridad. Es más uno de los presentadores dijo con sinceridad —algo que se le abona— que a el no le gustaban los blogs (!). Desde ese momento me desencante del programa. Es que lo que pensaba yo y creo también que era lo que esperaban los demás bloguers del país, por lo que puede uno inferir de los comentarios en este poste del profesor Víctor Solano, era que «Los Bloggers» iba a ser un programa sobre blogs o que al menos iba a girar en torno a ellos algo que según se ha hecho evidente en esta primera semana no va a ser así. Tampoco nos imaginábamos como iban a lograr semejante portento, (¡¿un programa sobre blogs en TV?! WTF?) pero ahí estaba precisamente nuestra curiosidad y expectativa.
However, something all three quoted posts have in common is that they end in a positive note towards the show, a perspective similar to what Patton adds in the comments to Velvet's post:
Pero me gusta que tienen la actitud de aprender, están abiertos (y hasta se les nota desorientados) al cambio, a las sugerencias y con ganas de posicionar el programa, de consolidarlo.
He also suggests ways in which to improve the show by adding more blogging content: perhaps by adding daily blogging tips such as “for decency's sake, please credit the sources from which you get your pictures for your posts” for example or to write a recap of each episode as a blog post with links to the different host's blogs and perspectives. They could also add content such as interviews and notes, memes, and material taken from other blogs to shine the spotlight a bit on local and international blogs.
And it seems those who work on the program are REALLY listening. The TeleAntioquia webmaster answered Velvet's post [ES] and all previous comments, giving us feedback on what the show's intentions are:
Es decir, Teleantioquia le está apuntando a la convergencia, la tecnológica de la que todos hemos oido hablar ,y además, está traduciendo ese concepto de convergencia a sus contenidos, allí pensamos que hay innovación en la forma de hacer televisión.
Con todo el respeto por los bloggeros de trayectoria queremos aplicar la dinámica del blog a la televisión: un contenido es puesto en discusión y como un espiral va creciendo con los comentarios de sus “post” para desde allí crear nuevos contenidos que hayan sido construidos entre tod@s. Esto además de poner a disposición en internet otras herramientas clásicas del medio.
Por último, tal y como lo comenté en el blog de Victor Solano, quiero invitarlos a hacer efectiva la versión BETA de Los Bloggers para que logremos construir un espacio que de verdad sea inclusivo y agradable para todos. Ojalá mi comentario sea un estimulo para que sigamos leyendo sus críticas y sugerencias sobre Los Bloggers. No dejen de seguir Los Bloggers y tampoco dejen de comentarlo.
We won't. And if you want to, you can check it out as well here from Monday to Thursday at 6:15 pm, UTC-05.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Dubai: Ministries Hindering Development  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Dubai-based Keefieboy agrees with Dubai strongman Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoom that the Ministries of Education, Justice and Labour “are hindering the development of the UAE rather than helping it and they need a wholesale re-evaluation of what their roles should be and how they should go about doing them.”


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Egypt: On French Elections  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian-based blogger Sandmonkey gives us his take on the French elections here.


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Egypt: Rare Visit  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger egYptianist posts a rare find in  an Egyptian newspaper, dating back to 1913, which reads: “Egyptian Delta Railways Ltd. Helwan Line. Visit to the Israelite Cemetery. We are honored to announce to the public that concerning the visit to the Israelite Cemetery in Bassatine on Friday, October 13, 1913, it has been decided that special trains will leave Bab El Louk heading directly to Bassatine. These trains will not stop at the Torah Station. They are only to be used by passengers going from Bab el Louk directly to Bassatine, non-stop.”


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India: On Corporate “Greed” · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

My Himachal on corporate play in the state. “Hydro-electric power projects of private firms in Himachal Pradesh are being pushed by local officers who have made it clear to the people that they have vested interest in these projects. Officers of the state government have tried to influence local activists to support projects that would destroy the livelihoods of local villagers.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India: The Left and History · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Jaffna takes a close look at how the Left has dominated the interpretation of history in India all these years. “One could disagree. The importance of the Gupta period did not lie in its political hold over the Indo-Gangetic plain from the Hindu Kush to  Assam and its links with the Vakatakas that controlled the Deccan. Its significance instead lay in the crystallization of Indic classicism that entailed the incorporation of regional, tribal and folk motifs in a broader civilizational rubric.”


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Iraq: Adhamiya Wall to Go Ahead · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Lady Bird says the building of the Adhamiya Wall, which circles a sunni enclave in Iraq, will go ahead. “Maliki’s chief of Baghdad security “Al-Assadi” said that the work on the wall will continues. CNN reported that all Iraqis Sunnis and Shiites expressed their anger  about the occupiers decision,” she explains.


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Iraq: Oil Law Threats  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraq's new oil law threatens to tear apart the war-torn country even further, writes Raed Jarrar. “The law threatens Iraq unity through decentralizing the major authorities related to petroleum operations. Many Iraqis view the law as an “Iraq separation fund”. Many observers this that a number of Iraqi separatist leaders, Sunnis and Shias and Kurds, are using this law to implement their separatist agenda. They want to split Iraq into three or more sectarian/ethnic regions. Iraqi nationalist leaders are fighting against the law because they think this is the most dangerous thing that could happen. Iraqi nationalist, Sunnis and Shias and Kurds, believe in a unified Iraq with a central government that controls natural resources,” he explains.


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Israel: 59th Anniversary · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese blogger Assad Abu Khalil quotes Israeli paper Haartez as saying: “An atmosphere of disappointment, despondency and anxiety prevails in Israel in its 59th year. There is no point in trying to dull the power of these feeling when we mark Memorial Day and Independence Day,” as Israel marks its 59th anniversary.


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Israel: New Proposal for Israel  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“As a Torah-observant, patriotic Jew in Eretz Yisrael I long for the day on which I will be able to live in a Jewish polity which operates according to halacha, Jewish law. I sorrowfully see a secular state which is in a desperate race against time to commit suicide before there is a Torah-observant majority ruling it. We must get off the wagon called Medinat Yisrael because it is on the way to self-destruction,” notes Israeli blogger  Goyisherebbe as Israel celebrates its 59th anniversary.


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Japan: Greenpeace’s Anti Whaling Video · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

James from Japan Probe criticizes Greenpeace's anti Whaling Video as anti-Japanese and inappropriate.


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Jordan: Yacoubian Building  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian blogger Natasha Tynes, who lives in the US, had the chance to watch Egyptian movie Yacoubian Building and gives us her thoughts on it here. “The person introducing the movie at the festival said two things of interest. One: The actual residents of the building are suing the author and moviemaker, as the story is so close to their real lives. Two: This was the most expensive Egyptian movie ever made. Now, I can't help but wonder: Are we witnessing a revival of the Egyptian cinema?” she writes.


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Kazakhstan: Military Reform Dance · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Bonnie Boyd reports on how Kazakhstan is carefully navigating domestic and international interests to reform its military.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Kyrgyzstan: Protest’s Final Day · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Mirsulzhan Namazaliev reports from the scene on the final day of Kyrgyzstan's protests. In the wake of the dispersal of protesters, the government has been harassing opposition members and opposition publications. Azamat reacts with a call for President Bakiev to leave the opposition alone and get back to work.


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Lebanon: Anti-Semitism, Fist-Fights, etc · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Check out the following topics freshly picked from the Lebanese blogosphere this week. Enjoy:
A Case of Anti–Semitism?
An intense argument erupted between Prof Marcy Newman, who lectures at the American University of Beirut, and one of her colleagues after she sent out a flyer to AUB faculty announcing that the Lebanese Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid (LCEIA) would be screening two films as part of their campaign. Prof Newman posted her statements and the responses she got from the colleague. It is an interesting debate, considering that it is taking place in the political science department of one of Beirut’s prominent universities:
So apparently I'm a self hating Jew. Maybe I can be the poster child for this. I was called that yesterday by a colleague in the political science department at AUB. I was also called an anti-Semite, which I suppose is the same as self-hating since I am a Semite.
Questions for the Non–Secular
With Lebanon falling rapidly towards sectarian polarization, NightS poses these questions to the “non–secular”:
Questioning your god/faith shouldn't be a pissing off subject!!
Think about it:
-All the prophets/messengers lived on this earth weren't born with the faith they spread later.
-They had to think, wonder, analyze and “question” the existing faith to reach the new one.
-If they didn't “question” anything, they wouldn't have been what they are to us now.
-People followed them after they were convinced, convincing needed some “thinking” (both sides).
okay so far?!
Barricades and Graffiti
The police sets up barricades on the major streets of Beirut every evening. Some are in the neighbourhood of a diamond in sunlight. “These aren’t concrete barricades,” she states, “but metal fence barriers set in the street in such a way that they make a slalom course for passing cars.” And she also posts a photo of a graffiti showing metal fence barriers with figures of people bending the bars and trying to pass through them. About this she says:
I like to interpret this graffiti as showing the capacity of the Lebanese to find lucid possibilities in even the most constraining of circumstances.
Fist Fights
Jamal reports on how short-tempered Lebanese are when driving. Luckily, for us, he mentions that these fights begins suddenly and ends abruptly. And as most of Jamal’s post, there is always some political implication involved.
The Lebanese on average have a shorter fuse than other great civilizations; but put a Lebanese dude or dudette behind the wheel and the whole concept of a fuse instantaneously combusts. I witness road ragers go at it on a daily basis. Most of the time I watch amused from afar wishing I had a camera on me to capture these priceless moments; when drivers burst out of their running cars and punches are exchanged for a couple of minutes until traffic moves again and everyone rushes back to their cars and order is restored. The sudden start and abrupt end to the fight always fascinates me. Sure, the insults hurled by the drivers resonate long after they driven away, but it does end and never escalates beyond the initial round.
Virginia Tech
Some posts were about the Virginia Tech shooting incident that took the lives of 33 students in the USA this week, especially since two of the victims were Lebanese. Blacksmith Jade posts the photos of Rima Samaha and Ross Alameddine, the two Lebanese students who died in the incident. While Mazen call on bloggers to join the One Day Blog Silence campaign for the victims of Virginia Tech.
Politics and Marriage
Finally, this analogy, comparing Lebanese politics with marriage from MacDara:
Lebanese politics, something like marriage:
Imagine a situation where someone wanted something but refused to tell you what it is they want. Exactly how are you meant to figure out how to help them?
Well the answer is that you must blindly accept that they can get what they want before you know what it is that they want. Only after you agree that they get will they tell you?
It of course sounds as if I am discussing a marriage but actually, I am discussing the Lebanese Political situation.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Lesotho: election dispute update · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Fade Out blogs about election dispute in Lesotho over Proportional Representation (PR) system: “The Public Eye has a second story here, which says absolutely nothing… However it seems that all sides are firm in their commitment to resolve this issue peacefully.”


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Madagascar’s E-Library · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

The Madagascar Electronic Library, now in its sixth month of existence, is home to over twenty free ebooks that have been downloaded over 6,000 times, writes  (Fr) Actualité culturelle malgache.

author: Jennifer Brea


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Mongolia: Important Bird Areas · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Birding Mongolia discusses initiatives to protect important bird habitats in Mongolia.


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Myanmar: New Web Portal · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Myatthura introduces a new web portal from Myanmar. “Still in beta stage, the web portal has some important features such as Myanmar news, International News, Forum, Books, entertainment, etc.”

author: Preetam Rai


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Namibia: memories of apartheid Namibia · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

iScatterlings’ It’s a Namibian Thing VII: “A lot has been said about apartheid but not too much was mentioned about the white on white apartheid. I suppose it was inevitable in a town like ours to have two distinct factions created. English and Afrikaans. Us kids pepetuated the divide and I cannot believe that as I type I am recalling one or two huge events in our gang warfare. Yes it was puny and innocent stuff compared to what happens these days between gangs but back then as little boys, it was seriously sad that the only time we united was on the sports fileds against a common foe. It’s a Namibian thing.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Nigeria: stop criticizing the government from the Diaspora · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Pause to Ponder defends his opinion about the state of Nigerian democracy: “The above topic was inspired by my last post, which has earned me bashing from 2 fellow bloggers, I bet a lot more are still coming. Their vituperations are long awaited though, because of my own perspectives of weighing Nigeria scenarios differs in a long way with lots of bloggers on the net. Having said this, when and for how long would the intellects of our country continue to rule this country from far away, all by being among the elites that criticise the government, believing that nothing comes out of the government of the day.”


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Pakistan: The Hypocrisy · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

the olive ream sums up global politics. ““I before E except after C” is a mnemonic device that helps me remember the rule for spelling certain words in the English language, such as deceive and siege when I’m describing the actions of the Bush Administration. There’s also a less known memory aid which I qualify as “I before SY when preceded by a ‘Hypo’ “. This writing standard helps formulate the word hypocrisy, which describes the current global, rather repugnant, political status quo.”


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Peru: What Didn’t Fit in Print · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Freelance reporter C. J. Schexnayder paddled deep into the heart of the Peruvian rain forest to profile indigenous rights activist Julio Cusurichi for the San Francisco Chronicle.  In his Klephblog, he writes that, “there is a lot more to this story than what I was able to fit in the confines of one newspaper article.” Here, he provides supplementary quotes and additional background information on the plight of the three nomadic tribes that live in the 3,000 square mile reserve in the Madre de Dios region.


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Russia: More Reactions to Yeltsin’s Death · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

While the previous post reflected some of what Russian bloggers’ thought of Boris Yeltsin's life and death, this one deals with the reactions of predominantly non-Russian observers, blogging in English.
Moscow-based Rubashov of Darkness at Noon writes about his Russian host family's grief:
[…] The mood is heavy in my apartment right now – as I've noted before, my host parents are among the dedicated faithful that remain of the old democrats. They were with him at the White House in August 1991 and despite his many flaws, believed in him to the end. We just toasted to Yeltsin's memory, but it's obvious that the shot of vodka does little to dull the pain. It's interesting, of course, since few Russians would ever hold Yeltsin in such high regard. […]
Rubashov also posts an Ode to Yeltsin, emphasizing the ambiguous nature of the ex-president's legacy:
In August 1991, you showed them that the State should answer to the People, that it could be defeated. You showed them that democracy was worth fighting for because it could be won.
In October 1993 you showed them that sometimes it was OK to use the iron fist to save “democracy.” But what would that teach your successors who have their own ideologies (and power) to save?
In July 1996 you showed them that it was possible to win an election at any cost, even if it caused that election to fall short of the democratic ideal for which you had once fought. Because the alternative – a return to communism – was too horrifying to contemplate. And so, in the name of democracy, democracy was undermined. […]
Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog lists things Yeltsin will be remembered for. Here's one:
[…] Yeltsin will be remembered for introducing the world of Vladimir Putin. A virtually unknown figure in 1999 when he became Prime Minister, Putin was originally viewed in Russian oligarchic circles as a manageable bureaucrat who would rule in their name.  He wasn’t and what Russia looks like today is very much a result of Putin’s efforts to tame the oligarchy. In this sense, present day Russia is also in part laid in Yeltsin’s lap. […]
In a comment to Sean's post, Heribert Schindler Rossijskaja Federazija offers a German perspective on Yeltsin's legacy:
[…] In Germany he will be remembered the most for one particular fact, the withdrawal of the “Western Group of Forces”, the Russian forces remaining in Germany after WW II.
The withdrawal of the troops was one of the largest troop transfers to times of peace in military history. Despite the difficulties, which resulted from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the same period, the departure was carried out according to plan and punctually until August 1994. […]
Estonia-based Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa praises Yeltsin for putting an end to the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states:
[…] But above all, he was smart to recognize and correct Stalin's mistake of occupying the Baltics in 1940 and to withdraw the Russian army from countries that didn't and still do not pose any threat to Russia. He may have been a bumbling drunk, but, in terms of the Baltics, he didn't let nationalist pride get in the way of making the right decisions that have been ultimately beneficial for Russia.
According to the beatroot, many Poles will likely have positive memories of Yeltsin, too, and here's why:
[…] Yeltsin, the first ever elected president, retired on New Year’s Eve, 1999, without any support at all. The average Russian hated and despised him. Internationally, he was seen as a joke – staggering, drunkenly around the globe, failing to turn up often for meetings with heads of state, because he had drank just one too many (bottles of) vodkas.
Talk to Poles, though, and most look back with nostalgia to the Yeltsin years. He ended communism, after all. And they probably quite liked the fact that Russia became weaker and weaker, and so less of a threat to the new ex-communist Poland. […]
The Ruminator of Ruminations on Russia writes, among other things, about Moscow at the beginning of Yeltsin's second term:
[…] If you can remember post-election Moscow in 1997, you weren't here. […]
Copydude writes on how Yeltsin's era played out for the “Russian Bride industry”:
[…] He not only presided over capital flight but also female flight. The late nineties saw the heyday of the Russian Bride exodus when numbers doubled almost year on year. Well, if all the money in Russia had been laundered abroad, there wasn’t much to keep the girls at home. […]
Nosemonkey/Europhobia posts two videos of Yeltsin having fun and writes:
[…] Yep – Yeltsin was the perfect leader for Russia: drunk, a bit stupid, highly unpredictable, almost certainly extremely dangerous, and practically impossible to work out. Just like Russia itself. […]
To Robert Mayer of Publius Pundit, Yeltsin's death “seems pretty irrelevant” – but he writes about the man anyway:
[…] Truthfully, one can only guess to what people will remember of him. I suppose the first thing I think of is vodka, but that's because he didn't affect me much. […]
Near|Abroad posts a comprehensive roundup of media and blog responses; Robert Amsterdam sums up “obituaries and reflections that various newspaper editors had stored in their top drawers;” and Eternal Remont quotes three “emails sent into CNN today.”


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Sex Education in Brunei, a No No · Global Voices
Maurina H

Sex education is an extremely taboo issue in the very Islam-conscious nation of Brunei. However a recent  Borneo Bulletin headline “Teen mums worrying trend” (mirror), had kicked off some interest in the blogging circles. The bloggers feel that maybe it is  high time for schools to start incorporating sex education into the curriculum.
Pre-marital sex (zina) is against the tenets of Islam and committing such an act would be enormously sinful. Therefore, many still believe that zina does not happen in the country, or at least not to a significant level. The commonplace idea is that, those who are not married typically abstain from having sexual relations.
However, that is not necessarily so. Jack from the Old Man's blog pointed out that we are “deluding” our naive selves if we believe that  no one in Brunei practices pre-marital sex.
I find it sad that in Brunei, we still delude ourselves in thinking that Bruneians don't do these things. That only married couples have sex. We find it hard to accept that sex among teenagers are commonplace.
Jack argues that instead of just being blind to this fact, we should act upon it by educating the teenagers and  equipping them with enough knowledge so that they could hopefully make real educated decisions about their own sex life rather than acting upon their instincts and curiosities without knowing of the consequences of their actions.
Of course, it is difficult to actually carry out sex education in schools because the Ministry, as fellow Muslims, they would not want to be seen endorsing and encouraging teens to experiment with sex. However, on the other hand, they are very concerned of the steep rise in babies born outside of marriage, which is also closely linked to another social problem – unwanted babies found in random thrash cans.
Allydee presented the argument eloquently in her blog:
On one hand, we're in a Muslim country and talking abt sex is a bit taboo. On the other hand, we can't ignore it given the fact that pre-marital sex is an ongoing issue in Brunei which leads to teen pregnancies which may lead to abortion or abandoned babies – it's a cause-and-effect. So in order to reduce the effects (teen pregnancies, abortion, abandoned babies) we need to address the cause (pre-marital sex).
LSM from Our Local Style understands the dilemma associated with this,
On one side you’ve got champions of morality and religious fervour who believe that sex education should not include information on contraceptives because such talk will only tempt youths into trying things for themselves. On the other extreme are those who push for better availability and understanding of contraceptives, as short-term a solution it may be, because it is far more desirable than seeing unwanted babies born.
However, the blogger proposed an alternative solution to this problem:
I propose that Brunei bloggers start championing sex education. I know a number of you guys are teachers (or teachers-to-be) and what better way to affect a change in the local education system than by answering a call for public opinion? Blog about sex education, tell us your story, post facts and myths about contraceptives, whatever.
So I kicked off the first post in answer to LSM's proposal and received positive comments regarding the issue. The discussion ranged from enforcement of abstinence by religious instructions to making students wear pregnant suits to teach them about responsibility and the risk of contracting ever rampant STDs.
It is not in our interests as bloggers to introduce sex ed posts to encourage teens to have sex. On the contrary, it is our humble hope that we can help to illustrate the huge responsibility that comes with having pre-marital sex, and also to point out the reality of some of the consequences that they might experience: STDs, teen pregnancies and in the worst case scenario- poor helpless abandoned babies.
Other posts related to this:

author: Maurina H


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South Africa: South African blogosphere exploiding into life · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Rafiq posts a link to an article about South African bloggers in the Mail & Guardian, “An article in the business section of Mail & Guardian: SA Blogging Bonanza.”


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Cyber Crimes  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Abeni is impressed by the swift action of the St. Vincent Police Force in dealing with cyber-culprits who have allegedly been doctoring photos of young Vincentian girls and sending pornographic material out over the Internet.


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Syrian-American Relations  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Syrian-American relations come under the spotlight in this article posted by Joshua Landis on his blog Syria Comment.


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Trinidad & Tobago: R.I.P. Boscoe Holder · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Both Caribbean Beat Blog and Thebookmann acknowledge the passing of Trinidadian artist Boscoe Holder.


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Ukraine: “Maidan 2.2” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Taras of Ukrainiana got soaked in the rain last Friday on his way to “Maidan 2.2″ and didn't really expect many opposition supporters to show up at the rally at Kyiv's European Square. But – “not only did the sun come shining brightly, but so did the Orange crowd. I wasn’t the only one with the will to carry on.” Read Taras’ impressions and see photos here.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Ukraine: Yulia Tymoshenko’s Article · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Taras Kuzio discusses Yulia Tymoshenko's lengthy Foreign Affairs piece – and her allegedly good command of English: “In Tymoshenko’s case we can thank her growing knowledge of English on my home region of Yorkshire which produced her rock n’roll son-in-law.”


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US Virgin Islands: Heavy Rains · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

St. John has been experiencing some nasty weather – Frank Barnako posts an update, along with a photo of “exactly what many folks on island are worried about – tremendous runoff from the land and construction sites, filing in the bays, and choking the coral.”


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Afghanistan: Pre-Taliban Anarchy? · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Afghanistanica argues that the idea that anarchy prevailed in pre-Taliban Afgahnistan is a myth.


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An Abandoned Clinic in Guadeloupe · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Breves de Guadeloupe posts photos of an abandoned clinic.


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Armenia: Rally Video · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Armenia Blog posts video from the rally held outside the Turkish consulate in Los Angeles to mark the anniversary of the Armenian genocide.


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Armenia: US Election Assistance · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Oneworld Multimedia highlights some US technical assistance for Armenia's upcoming parliamentary election.


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Bahrain: Elevator Politics  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mo, who is an intern in a hospital, discusses elevator politics at his hospital. “Do you just enjoy being in elevators? Have you no understanding that you're delaying those going down and crowding them for no reason whatsoever?” he asks those using lifts.


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Bahrain: Flickr Problems? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif raises the alarm that something may be amiss with flickr services in Bahrain.


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Barbados: Analysing 2007 CWC · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Adrian Loveridge, guest authoring at Barbados Free Press, believes that “as the 2007 Cricket World Cup (CWC) event draws to a close, with the hosting of the final in Barbados on 28th April, it is perhaps now time to analyse in-depth, exactly what economic benefits it has brought to the nine hosting countries.”


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Barbados: Media Responsibility · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

What crazy looks like is unhappy about the Barbados media's treatment of the issue of domestic violence following the murders of two women on the island: “Domestic violence is not just a women's issue, it's not just feminists who should be outraged.”


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Bermuda: The state of the blogosphere · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bermuda's governing Progressive Labour Party has a new blog, prompting BravoZulu.bm to write, “While I applaud the idea of yet another Bermuda blog, suddenly blogging just became less cool. Like when your parents suddenly liked the same music that you did. When the cool suddenly becomes mainstream, it’s awkward. Macarena, anyone? No?”


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Bhutan: Feeling unlucky? Get a dog. · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Visit Bhutan compiles an interesting list of popular Bhutanese beliefs! “Keeping dogs as pet is advisable as they act as a recipient of all the bad luck and curse of the family. In effect, the family is spared of the suffering of curses and bad luck in the house.Comments : Everyone Get yourself a dog as pet now !!)”


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Blogs and the Nigerian Elections: Will We Stop Talking About Our Cats And Shoes For One Day? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Nigeria has one of the most vibrant and dynamic blogospheres in Africa. It is no wonder that the Nigerian state and presidential elections were heavily blogged by Nigerians at home and abroad.
New information and communication tools such as wikis, blogs, podcasts, and social networking sites have the potential to transform election reporting, campaigning, monitoring, and political discussions all over the world. In the case of Nigeria 2007 elections, blogs were used by Nigerian citizens as a tool for debates and discussions about the future of their country and a platform for sharing election news and information. Local Nigerian bloggers published regular accounts in the form of text, audio, photos, and videos of what was taking place on the ground during the campaigns and on the election day.
While most election reports from the mainstream media were written by journalists reporting as passive observers, bloggers were writing about their personal experiences as voters in authentic voices of active and concerned citizens. Considering the number of election related posts and comments in the Nigerian blogosphere, it is safe to say that Nigerian blogs added new voices and perspectives in election coverage in Africa.
In the absence of RSS feeds from the local media in Nigeria and a lack of in-depth coverage from the mainstream media, people like Bill of Jewel in the Jungle had to visit Nigerian blogs to know what was happening:
I cannot think of any one group of people from an African nation that have been more influential and active in the growth of the blogosphere over the past 3-4 years than the Nigerian blog authors and their readers worldwide. When I want to learn the latest news about what’s happening down in Nigeria I automatically check with high-profile bloggers Imnakoya of Grandiose Parlor, Chippla Vandu of Chippla’s Blog, and Sokari Erkine of Black Looks. There are many, many more good online authors who hail from Nigeria and/or write extensively about Nigeria but these three people are my first GoTo bloggers for information about the country.
In his post titled,  Nigerian Elections 2007: What's hot and what's not in the media coverage, Jewel in the Jungle wonders why CNN did not provide an in-depth coverage of Nigeria's elections:
I’m surprised that CNNI’s Africa correspondent Jeff Koinange and Inside Africa program host Femi Oke have not been reporting daily from Nigeria about the elections since the hotly debated coverage of the Niger Delta militia story last February and I am surprised that CNN has chosen not to devote more resources and reporters to cover these critical elections in Africa’s most populous and arguably most important nation. One out of every five Africans hails from Nigeria and what happens there is important. Inside Africa is sure to cover the Nigerian elections this weekend as the program’s host Femi Oke is a British born-and-bred Nigerian-European.
According to Grandiose Parlor, the majority of Nigerian mainstream news media have not made their content available via RSS feeds:
It remains a mystery why the majority of the Nigerian mainstream news media with significant real estates on the Internet have not taken steps to overhaul their various domains to reflect one of the most basic Internet trends of the new world – making their subscriptions available via RSS feeds (RSS: Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary).
He adds:
Yet, most Nigerians are news junkies, particularly those of us in the Diaspora; the consumption of news about the homeland has become a daily addiction.
Bloggers As Voters: I Finally Got to Vote!
Apart from providing socio-political context and writing critical commentaries and analysis, local bloggers in Nigeria shared their experiences and stories as voters.
Olawunmi had this to say about Funmi Iyanda's personal account of her participation in the elections:
Funmi Iyanda observed the elections personally, and her account left a sour taste in my mouth. where is democracy?
Christy Aikhorin voted in Lagos:
I finally got to vote for my Lagos state gubernatorial candidate, but it was not funny, and I guess it would be same for most Lagosians, and perhaps most Nigerians. I decided to take a walk to the polling station, which meant walking for 45 minutes—driving during the election was restricted to essential services. I didn't mind though, since the polling station was in Ikoyi (the same part of Lagos where I happen to live) and I at least had my iPod to keep my company.
Ugo Daniels leaves a comment on this post underscoring the importance of an eye-witness account:
An eye-witness account like this is indeed worthwhile, I hope the contributor would be writing a lot more on this blog.
Ore writes “Voting in Progress“:
The family went out to vote this morning. We saw a crowd of people at the Tantalizers near our place and pulled in there. Once there, we found out that there were different polling booths and that we were not all registered to vote in the same place. After returning home to get separate cars, we went back out again. I returned to the Tantalizers as that was my place to vote. And then the long wait began. I chided myself for not getting there earlier, but I heard from people who had been there at 8AM, as instructed, that the INEC officials had not yet arrived at that time.
Funmi Iyanda writes “Power from the People“:
So l sit here this morning pensive, it took all of 3 minutes for me to
cast my vote on Saturday, 3 minutes. The week before l had stood in line in the sun for two hours, hat and sunglasses firmly on, large bottle of water in hand as resolutely determined as most of my fellow country men to cast my vote. This weekend, the polling booth was a ghost town, my people had lost hope, l voted and left, because l had an access car, l had observed proceeding from the Alimosho area, through Agege, Ikeja, to Maryland and the apathy was palpable. The streets were empty as boys took to the highway playing football. Close monitoring of news reports (galaxy TV was commendable) all day showed that this was the situation nationwide along with late or non arrival of ballot material and the usual ballot snatching/ stuffing, harassment and intimidation.
Global Voices author, David Ajao, wrote a great overview of election reports and views shared by Nigerian bloggers before, during and after gubernatorial election, Blogging the historic election (Part 1).
Will We Stop Talking About Our Cats And Shoes For One Day?
Recognizing the importance of blogs as a tool for citizen journalism in Nigeria, Omodudu wrote, Calling Nigerian Bloggers:
Can blogging do for Nigeria what blogging did for the American elections? Will bloggers use their blogs as a tool for on-the-ground citizen journalism. Will bloggers post, up-to-the minute reports as the elections unfold? Will bloggers at least attempt to thwart the efforts of the individuals who have planned to rig the gubernatorial elections? Will bloggers take pictures and make videos of the pluses and minuses during the elections? Will we stop talking about our cats and shoes for one day, and focus on an issue that will determine how we live our lives in the next for years?
Snap a picture, make a video, write a comment. God bless you all.
Tobias focused his attention to blogging and civil society. He wrote a “Blueprint for a Nigerian Civil Society Election Blog,” arguing that the blog might help to prevent abuses:
One way to perhaps help to prevent widescale abuses might be to make this solidarity more readily visible on the Internet through a Nigerian Civil Society Election Blog. I did an Internet search and while there are some bloggers (like this and this and this) discussing the election and Global Voices and Pambazuka News have been covering the elections, I did not see any clear effort to use blogging specifically to prevent violence during the election.
Even if such a coordinated effort does not take off, I’d like to encourage everyone that knows anything at all about what is going on in Nigeria these days to blog actively about it and to tag blog postings at Technorati, Del.icio.us and other social networking sites. The election must be carried out as much as possible in public view, and Nigeria must know the world is watching. If you are concerned for your own safety, you can always blog under a pseudonym at WordPress.com or one of the many other free blogging sites out there.
Responding to comments from readers, Tobias pointed out:
I’ve started tagging stuff I find at del.icio.us using the (oh so imaginative) tags “nigeria” and “election” – would be interesting to see the picture that emerges at http://del.icio.us/tag/nigeria+election
At the beginning of this year, Stakeholder Democracy Network started a group election blog, Greenlight Nigeria. One of the aims of Greenlight Nigeria is to utilize social networking tools:
Use social networking tools and the power of the web to get people talking and thinking about the elections and democracy in Nigeria
Greenlight Nigeria publishes audio, video and text contributions from their contributors on the ground. They have also used Evoca to allow readers to leave audio comments:
If your computer has a microphone, you can click here and leave a message.
In 36 hours from now (after 5 pm on Wednesday) I’ll check into the Evoca account, select from any messages and edit them together for an audio feed.
I expect we’ll all feel a little goofy at first talking into a microphone to no one, but I am so impressed by the audio that election monitors have been sending up, I really want to give this a try. We just need to break the ice.
Tobias finds Greenlight Nigeria blog very inspiring:
I don’t know yet how the SMS experiment worked out, but the greenlightnigeria.org blog has been very inspiring to monitor, with audio and video testimony posted just about daily for the last two weeks.
Nigeria Election Hotline is a new citizen journalism site, which publishes Nigeria election news. It is funded by Open Society Institute and moderated by Africa Confidential:
Nigeria Election Hotline is a news website that aims to publish stories on the 2007 vote that might not otherwise reach the reading public. Despite a vibrant tradition of independent journalism, many Nigerian journalists are concerned at the level of interference in the media by political interests who are seeking to control the flow of information in the press. Nigeria Election Hotline is an effort to make sure that Nigerian voters have access to the information they need to make an informed choice at the polls.
Content from Nigeria Election Hotline appears on allAfrica.com, the largest online distributor of African news and information worldwide.
Should Mobile Blogging Be Explored?
While radio is the main source of information in Nigeria, as is the case in other parts of Africa, mobile phones continue to be the most pervasive tool of communication. According to the International Telecommunication Union, there are about 5,000,000 Internet users in Nigeria. The Network of Mobile Election Monitors of Nigeria (NMEM) puts the figure of mobile phone users to 30 million. In a country where cultural and social relationships allow for mobile phones to be used communally, the figure might be even higher. It is estimated that by the end of 2007 Nigeria will be the largest mobile phone market in Africa.
It is for this reason that The Network of Mobile Election Monitors of Nigeria (NMEM), a non-partisan non-profit project, decided to use SMS to monitor the presidential polls.
Tobias Eigen wrote about mobile election monitors in “Are you in Nigeria? Text your election observations to 0808-4032739″:
This is terrific news and I am very pleased to see that election monitors are making use of Ken Banks’s Frontline SMS tool to make this possible. These examples of SMS use for defending democracy are extremely important and can be applied everywhere in Africa.
The concept mobile blogging has not been thoroughly explored and utilized in Africa. Recently, Malawian blogger, Soyapi Mumba, argued that in Africa where Internet access is limited, mobile applications such as Twitter can be used in many ways including in political campaigns and news :
So the launching of Twitter provides a good alternative considering that the use of mobile phones is much higher than that of computers. In Malawi for example, there are about 50,000 Internet users against about 700,000 mobile phone users out of a population of about 12 million. Twitter allows users to post a small update via SMS, instant messaging client and the web.
Note: Our research has not shown any examples of Twitter being used in the Nigerian elections. We would be glad to receive such information.
Candidates’ Blogs
As part of his online communication strategy, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko started a blog, Vote Mimiko. Mimiko was running for governorship in Ondo State. The blog contains a campaign video, campaign photos, and election reports. Dr. Mimiko lost to the incumbent, Gov. Olusegun Agagu. He is challenging  the results at the election petition tribunal.
Before he pulled out of Peoples’ Democratic Party presidential primaries, Donald Duke started a website, Donaldduke4president.org, and a blog. However, the blog allows invited readers only.
None of the main presidential contenders, Atiku Abubakar, Umar Yar'Adua, and Muhammad Buhari, had blogs.
So What?
The Nigeria 2007 elections were marred by massive irregularities, violence, and disorganization. Grandiose Parlor used one word to describe the situation: d-i-s-e-n-f-r-a-n-c-h-i-s-e-m-e-n-t!
Did blogs made any difference? What we know for sure is that blogs made it easier for Nigerians in the Diaspora and other news seekers to follow what was happening on the ground. But did blogs ensure transparency? Did they prevent rigging? Did they transform political media landscape? What value did they add in the Nigeria's quest for a democratic society?
Further Resources:
Blogs that were covering the Nigerian elections:
1. African Shirts
2. Grandiose Parlor
3. Black Looks
4. Yomi Says
5. Ore Notes
6. Trae Days
7. Chxta
8. Naija Blog
9. The World According to Adaure
10. Oluniyi David Ajao
11. Pause to Ponder
12. Nigerian Curiosity
13. Nigerian Village Square
14. Akin
15. Chipla
*This list is obviously not exhaustive. You may visit the Nigerian blogs aggregator, BlogAfrica, and Afrigator for more blogs.


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Brazil: ‘Reverse Globalization’ · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

In an act of “reverse globalization”, a North American in Brazil reports on the ‘Amazonia’ soap opera, the Santo Daime religion, the legacy of Chico Mendes and current efforts to protect of the Amazon forest. Lou Gold reports about ‘Amazonia, Acre and Earth Day‘ at VisionShare.

author: Jose Murilo