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Nigeria: Super Eagles: What went wrong? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Nigerian Football Fan blog on Super Eagles loss to Cameroon: “Someone said this on the forum. 1.Based on the Eagles performance in this match, I honestly do not see a difference between the Eguavoen and the Vogts era. Any contrary opinion? 2.What went wrong against Ivory coast? 3.Solutions? Common, lets debate. Be informative and no Bias”


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Peru: The Feast of the Three Kings in Ollantaytambo · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Ollantaytambo, Peru, located near the city of Cuzco, recently celebrated the “Fiesta de Reyes” (Feast of the Three Kings).  The Quechua and Spanish bilingual blog Habla Quechua [qu/es] has pictures and a description of the event.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Eduardo Avila


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Poland, Bulgaria: eDeclarations; AntiCorruption.bg · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Information Policy reports on the introduction of electronic tax declarations in Poland and the launch of an “anti-corruption portal” in Bulgaria.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Poland: More on Healthcare · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot visits a state-run and a private clinic in Warsaw to get a sick note and a medicine – and ends up writing about disadvantages of each option.


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Russia: Kasyanov and Zyuganov Out of the Race? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Siberian Light reports that it is likely that former PM Mikhail Kasyanov will not be able to run for president of Russia. Vilhelm Konnander reports that it is also likely that Communist leader Gennadiy Zyuganov will withdraw from the race.


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Russia: St. Pete Tailors · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Megan Case writes about affordable tailors in St. Petersburg.


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Serbia: The Presidential Election · Global Voices
Sinisa Boljanovic

The presidential election in Serbia was held on Jan. 20. The Republic's Electoral Commission (RIK) confirmed that the Serb Radical Party's candidate Tomislav Nikolic beat the other nine candidates. He received 39.4 percent of the votes, followed by Boris Tadic, the current Serbian president and leader of the Democratic Party, who got 35.42 percent.
These two politicians will proceed to the Feb. 3 second round. As for the other candidates who got 5 percent of the votes, they rank as follows: Velimir Ilic (New Serbia) – 7.6 percent, Milutin Mrkonjic (Socialist Party of Serbia) – 5.6 percent, Cedomir Jovanovic (Liberal-Democratic Party) – 5.4 percent.
According to the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CESID), the Feb. 3 second round will be a tight and extremely interesting race. CESID executive director Zoran Lucic said that Serbia could expect “another referendum” on Feb. 3:
We expect Mrkonjic's votes to go, for the most part, to Nikolic. LDP (Jovanovic) supporters are expected to back Tadic. The big question is who Velimir Ilic's votes will go to. Our research shows that Nikolic will get one for every three Tadic receives. It will be interesting to see what the voters who did not participate in the first round will do – how many will participate and who they will support. The outcome of the election will depend on them.
Serbian bloggers did not miss an opportunity to analyze and comment on this topic. Here is what a couple of them have written.
Belgrade Daily Blic wrote this on Jan. 22:
If the actual Serbian President Boris Tadic wants to get the presidential mandate as per the new Constitution of Serbia, he shall have to negotiate with the [DSS] leader and also the actual Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica who until now has not issued an ‘invoice’ for the support to the [DS] leader in the run-off…
Dusan Maljkovic (B92 blog, Jan 21) offers a tragicomic analysis:
(1)
Cedomir Jovanovic doesn't support Boris Tadic (because Tadic's party is the coalition partner of the Democratic Party of Serbia in the Serbian government).
Those who don't support Tadic, automatically support Nikolic. Thus, Cedomir Jovanovic supports Tomislav Nikolic.
(2)
Velimir Ilic doesn't support Boris Tadic (he has announced that Tadic is to lose the elections).
Those who don't support Tadic, automatically support Nikolic. Thus, Velimir Ilic supports Tomislav Nikolic.
(3)
Milutin Mrkonjic doesn't support Boris Tadic (because Tadic underestimates the Socialist Party of Serbia).
Those who don't support Tadic, automatically support Nikolic. Thus, Milutin Mrkonjic supports Tomislav Nikolic.
(4)
Boris Tadic supports [Marija Serifovic, a Eurovision Song Contest winner].
Marija Serifovic supports Tomislav Nikolic.
Thus, Boris Tadic supports Tomislav Nikolic […]

author: Sinisa Boljanovic


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Singapore: Young Women Fighting Cancer · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Molly Meek writes about how she found out that she had Ovarian cancer.

author: Preetam Rai


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Slovenia: EU Presidency Update · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Marko Bucik writes about Slovenia's “overshadowed” EU presidency: “Then comes Kosovo. This will be perhaps the only headline news for the Slovenian Presidency – be it good or bad news.”


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Syria: Bloggers React to Gaza Blockade · Global Voices
Yazan Badran

This picture is dedicated for a Gaza in darkness. As Israel continues its blockade on the strip, humanitarian conditions dip lower and lower. And while the Middle East shivers under the exceptional weather conditions, Gazans find themselves without fuel for heat or electricity.
Here are some reactions from the Syrian blogsphere:
Ayman, from The Damascene Blog, simply posted a Nizar Kabbani poem entitled “The Angry Ones” [AR]:
يا تلاميذ غزة
نحن أهل الحساب والجمع والطرح
فخوضوا حروبكم واتركونا
نحن موتى لا يملكون ضريحاً
ويتامى لا يملكون عيونا
قد لزمنا جحورنا
وطلبنا منكم أن تقاتلوا التنّينا
قد صغرنا أمامكم ألف قرن
وكبرتم خلال شهر قرونا
Oh, pupils of Gaza,
We are the people of calculus, addition, and subtraction,
Fight your wars and leave us,
We are dead, who have no caskets,
We are orphans, who have no eyes,
We stayed in our dug holes,
And asked you to fight the dragon,
In your eyes, we have become a thousand centuries smaller,
In, a month, you've grown centuries’ worth.
Rime, from Mosaic, echoes that sentiment of frustration towards the response of the international community and international media:
You really do have to read other media or to watch other news to know that once again, Israel’s inhumane treatment of Palestinians will stop at nothing, and that after the systematic murder of dozens of Palestinians over the past few weeks, the barbaric siege of the world’s biggest, most desperate ghetto goes on.
Abu Fares, says in the comments section, reflecting an opinion shared by many Syrians:
Those babies who make it through this ordeal will one day come of age and face their oppressors, and possibly those who rewrite the truth according to their own twisted sense of morality.
They would be called “terrorists” by the Israelis and the prevalent media because:
1. They didn't die in their incubators when they were given the chance to prove that they are good babies.
2. Because they will stand by their rights and fight… again and again!
Annie, a Belgian who lived in Syria for years, and who blogs at Vivre en Syrie, publishes a joint statement by 40 international, Israeli and Palestinian development and human rights agencies:
We, the undersigned international, Palestinian and Israeli development and human rights organisations urgently call for an end to the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, an end to the international isolation, and dialogue and reconciliation between Palestinian parties. We also call for an end to 40 years of Israeli occupation in the interests of peace and justice for all.
‘We are living in fear of the devastation of our society. The siege of the Gaza Strip is a terrible crime. I want to tell the world: don't say that you didn't know.’
More on that from fellow GlobalVoices Authors…
Palestine: Gaza Under Seige
Egypt: Gaza In the Headlines
Pitch Black Gaza: Jordanian Bloggers React!
Israel: Israeli Bloggers Respond to Crisis in Palestine

author: Yazan Badran


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Syria: Dark Memories of 1982 · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A television drama takes Syrian Brit back to the horrors of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. More on this here.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Tajikistan: The ice age. Now · Global Voices
Vadim Sadonshoev

Despite the fact that the long-awaited hydropower station Sangtuda-1 in Tajikistan has been launched, the population still does not feel the changes. It is worth of mentioning that only the first (out of four) turbines was launched and the other three will be on till the end of this year. Despite the promises of local meteorologist, who forecasted that the cold weather will leave Tajikistan in several days, the temperature is still 16-20 degrees below the zero (Celsius).
More than that, the energy crisis is still here and gets even worse day after day, says kellyinthemountains. Apartments, schools, offices are still cold and dark. Low temperatures have forced people to wear outer clothing inside their offices and homes:
Temperatures in Tajikistan and elsewhere in Central Asia have dropped below -20 Celsius in some areas. Heavy snowfalls and avalanches have disrupted public transport in many cities and villages. Some bus drivers who are brave enough to go on the icy roads have been charging passengers twice the price for tickets.
Additionally, absence of central heating the cities and poor supply of electricity makes almost impossible to have classes in secondary schools  — they were cut down from 45 to 30 minutes. Teachers and students are sitting in the classrooms in coats and scarves.
As winter does not seem to get milder, the situation does not get better, neweurasia reports:
In addition to current energy crisis, prices for the scarce electricity was increased by 20 percent and for the gas almost by 50 percent. It is happening during the winter time when the population is experiencing a great shortage of energy to heat houses and cook food. The announcement about the sharp rise in prices of electricity and gas was recently made by the local monopolist energy companies TojikGaz (natural gas) and Barqi Tojik (electricity).
Although it is legislatively prohibited to cut-off electricity at such places as hospitals, this law is violated everyday and has tragic consequences. Recently, six newly-born children died in the hospitals of Dushanbe. Local media outlets report that the main reason of these deaths were electricity cut-offs in maternity hospitals.
The electricity generated in the country is not enough even for street lights. Khurshed says that dark streets make drivers get into car accidents more often [ru].
Street lights in Dushanbe are off almost for almost a week and the number of traffic accidents has noticeably increased.
Today, Tajik news agencies reported that the government ordered to close down all plants, factories and other enterprises till the end of January in order to save energy. Yesterday, the head of major energy company “Barki Tojik” (electricity) reported that the level of water in Nurek reservoir is rapidly becoming less. This reservoir provides water for the major hydropower station Nurek, which generates more than 80 per cent of electricity in the country. “Barki Tojik” says that if the use of electricity is not going to decrease, the water in the reservoir will be not enough till mid-February to generate electricity.

author: Vadim Sadonshoev


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Thailand: Gen. Surayud’s Report · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Siam Sentinel looks at the reign of Gen. Surayud Chulanont, the prime minister appointed by the military junta after they overthrew the government of Thaksin.


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Trinidad & Tobago: The Merry Monarch  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Discover TnT Blog has the latest Soca Monarch updates from Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival celebrations.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago: World Social Forum  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Blogging from Trinidad and Tobago, Ramblings and Reason thinks World Social Forum “enables discussion of critical social issues that impact us”, but The Liming House is not convinced: “Yes, another world is possible, and another T&T is possible. But we have to come better than this.”


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Turkey again blocks access to YouTube · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

Again, a Turkish court has blocked access to the popular video-sharing site YouTube over a video clip allegedly insulting the country's founding father,  Kemal Atatürk.

author: sami ben gharbia


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Uganda: Blogging for architecture · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Citizen Uganda writes about a blogger who focuses on architecture in Kampala: “If you have never been to Kampala let me spare you the suspense; it is a poorly planned city and there is little to see in the way of architecture. The good news though is that there is a blogger who is trying to do something about this.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Ukraine: Anthrax Housing · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainiana reports that Kyiv authorities have decided to go ahead with the plan to build a house at the site of a 19th-centruy anthrax cemetery.


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Ukraine: Crimean Tatars Protest · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Orange Ukraine writes, among other things, about Crimean Tatars’ protests in Simferopol over the long-delayed construction of a mosque.


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Uzbekistan: No Refuge from the Cold · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nathan reports that Uzbeks are suffering from severe shortages of heat and natural gas. Winter gas shortages have been par for the course in Uzbekistan in recent years, but with this winter being particularly cold, they’re having a much greater impact this year.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Venezuela: Blogger Picks Political “Oops” Moments · Global Voices
Luis Carlos Diaz

The blogger More Baker in the blog Siglo Veinte Cambalach [es] compiled the best moments of the show that is national politics. In a list of phrases from public figures that defined the agenda of news, jokes and laughs from Venezuela in 2007.
Of course, with a president like Hugo Chávez some might say that the potential to be amazed grows with each new controversy.  More Baker writes, “In our hearts and in our minds, these words, acts and gestures remained etched in our mind, left our mouths wide open, made us laugh and angered us.”
Here are her choices for the top 12 “oops” moments in Venezuela, with some background information and explanations for each:
12. “You feel offended because you want me to say what you want me to say and I don't go for that.” Answer from an interviewee to the journalist Carla Angola when she tried to conduct a subjective and unbalanced interview in favor of the opposition.
11. “Of those surveyed, 77.8% have knowledge of and have had access to the Constitutional Reform and 55.4% of those surveyed supported the Constitutional Reform without needing any information,” said the president of the National Assembly (parliament) even though a month later Hugo Chávez would ask for a referendum about socialism and his indefinite reelection.
10.  “We did not come to the National Assembly to play politics,”  said by Yon Goicoechea, the leader of the opposition student movement, when they spoke at the National Parliament on was covered by all of the radio and television channels, and before leaving so as to not have a debate with the pro-government students.
9. “By not registering the United Socialist Party (PSUV for its initials in Spanish) with the National Electoral Council for the elections of mayors and governors for the next year, it is inevitable that the V Republican Movement would be exhumed,” even though the Socialist Party was not created, President Chávez sent Deputy Francisco Ameliach to the Disciplinary Tribunal after asking that he use the old party because the new one did not exist. Not having a political party had an effect during the Chávez defeat.
8. “Damn coward, liar!!!” were the shouts from the deputy, Iris Varela, while she hit the journalist Gustavo Azócar on his television program because he published a story about the death of her newborn son and the effect that it had on the explosive personality of the deputy.
7. “The Reform Project is a labor of love of president Chávez,” a phrase from one of the many passionate supporters of the president and used during the campaign in support of the proposal to change the Constitution so that Chávez could remain more time in power. This sentimentality is part of political debates.
6. “On my knees, I ask you, President: return RCTV to us. I symbolize the people,” phrase from actor Franklin Virgüez, while kneeling to ask that the private channel's signal to be renewed.
5. “Sir, what do you have in the suitcase?”  “Oh, books.  Only books … and some pamphlets of San Joaquín.”  The joke that arose from the scandal between Venezuela, Argentina and the United States after a Venezuelan citizen arrived in Argentina with a suitcase containing $800,000 that was not declared in customs. There still are no answers regarding this case of corruption.
4.  “We thank Hugo Chávez because by using the word “mierda” (shit), it accomplished the same as when Uslar Pietri used the word “pendejo.”  The former minister of Communications and Information, William Lara attempted to clarify the President's public insult when the President said that the opposition's victory was a “victory of shit,” which bothered many people.  The minister equated Chavez with a Venezuelan literary figure and later with the Colombian Gabriel García Marque, who had used the word “mierda” in his works.  During his tenure, the public official appeared to be Chavez’ minister of propaganda.
3. “Um, but, um, um, um,” just as Looney Tunes’ Porky the Pig would stutter, the minister Pedro Carreño would do the same, when a journalist asked him why he talked about bringing socialism to Venezuela, if he used Luis Vuitton ties and Gucci shoes.
2. “Why don't you shut up?” phrase from Juan Carlos de Borbón, King of Spain to President Chávez during an event in Chile.  It made the world go around.
1.  “If they kill me, and I die…” a denunciation made by opposition leader Manuel Rosales, known for his clumsy words, who was trying to give himself political importance.

author: Luis Carlos Diaz


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Afghanistan: Death Sentence for Distributing Blog Article · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

The Afghan Association Blog Writers (Afghan Penlog), a community established by a group of Afghan activist bloggers, has expressed deep concern for a young journalist Sayed Parwiz Kambakhsh who was condemned to death by a local court.
He has been a reporter for Jahan-e Naw (New World) weekly and a student of journalism at Balkh University.
According to Afghan Penlog and international media, Parwez Kambakhsh was detained by the authorities on October 27, 2007 for downloading and distributing an article that he found on an Iranian weblog to friends. It spoke of women's rights, the Quran and the Prophet Mohammed. A local court in northern Afghanistan in Mazar-e Sharif has convicted him to death for the alleged blasphemy.
Global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders say the trial was “carried out in haste and without any concern for the law or for free expression, which is protected by the constitution.”
Index on Censorship says :
Deeply conservative Afghan clerics, most of whom have never used a computer or the Internet, believe Kambakhsh himself wrote the article and therefore found him guilty of blasphemy. Because there is no clear punishment for downloading “un-Islamic” articles from the Internet, the primary court of appeal asked clerics to comment. The conservative clerics, who had not investigated the case, demanded the death penalty.
Journalist's brother may have been target
According to CNN, many believe that Kambakhsh was actually arrested for articles his brother wrote that criticized provincial authorities. The brother, Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, has written numerous stories that detail human rights.
Afghan PenLog issued a statement yesterday that accused Afghan authorities of attempting to escape from the issue: “… the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture has released a letter this afternoon that says Parwiz Kambakh was not a journalist and his case has nothing to do with the media.” Afghan Penlog is deeply concerned, and demands the immediate release of Parwiz Kambakhsh.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Afghanistan: Holbrooke on Bush’s “ineffective” counter-narcotics plan · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Bipasha Ray reports that former UN Ambassador Richard Holbrooke tackles the issue of the Bush administration’s counter-narcotics policy in Afghanistan calling the billion-dollar-per-year plan the “single most ineffective program in the history of American foreign policy”.


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Africa: AfriGadget get a new look · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

AfriGadget has a new look: “We’re proud to announce a brand new design for AfriGadget! The old design was rather old and ugly, so thanks for putting up with it for the last 20 months. Actually, I think the reason that there are so many more RSS”


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Africa: Homosexuality debate · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Andrew Heavens writes about homosexuality in Africa: “Amazing. The debate about homosexuality in Africa that started on Meskel Square almost three years ago is still going strong.”


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Africa: Mathematics in African architecture · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Afropolitan posts a video of Ron Eglash talking about mathematics in African architecture: “Mathmetician Ron Eglash traveled to Africa to do research on fractals. What he found was amazing, but not surprising to those of us who appreciate the ingenuity and creativeness in Africa.”


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Albania: Eda Zari · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Albanian Blogger writes about Eda Zari, an Albanian singer who has recently given up her Albanian citizenship.


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Argentina: Rapid Trains to Rosario and Córdoba · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

TBA Me Mata [es] provides an opinion on the rapid trains from Buenos Aires to the Argentine cities of Rosario and Córdoba, including that it will be too expensive for ordinary citizens, who will continue to use alternative forms of transport.


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Bahamas: Fixing Crime  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“With all the shock-horror at our skyrocketing crime rate, you would never believe that the causes and progress of the country's social breakdown have been fully documented over the past 20-odd years”: Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit recommends a “back to your roots” approach to deal with crime.


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Bahrain: Conditions of Migrant Workers · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Esra'a from Bahrain links to a media interview conducted with her about the conditions of migrant workers in the Gulf.


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Bahrain: Letter to King  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini political activist Abduljalil Al Singace reposts an open letter sent to Bahrain's King Hamad from Frontline, who express their deep concern following an attack on women during a demonstration at the Prosecutor's Office on 25 December 2007.


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Bahrain: New Beginnings  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Bahrain, Abdulla Al Mannai opens his heart to his friends and invites them to embark on a new journey with him.


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Bahrain: State Acts as Religious Policeman · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini Mahmood Al Yousif brings us the story of Maya, whose marriage in India and conversion into Hinduism led the Bahraini authorities to confiscate her passport.


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Bahrain: What a Neighbourhood! · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Cookie, from Bahrain, describes her neighbourhood in this post. “People park their cars everywhere like they own the street. Women have fights almost every two weeks or less OUTSIDE!” she writes.


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Barbados: Opposition Leader Sworn In · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cheese-on-bread! says: “Mottley created history since she is the first female Opposition Leader in Barbados”.


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Bermuda: Congestion Tax  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Blogging from Bermuda, 21 Square is all for the introduction of a congestion tax.


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Bolivia: Preparations for Carnaval · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Sandro Choque of the Cultural Center Sartañani Wasuru Qhanampi in Oruro, Bolivia writes about the preparations for this year's Carnaval, including rehearsals for the different groups that will present on February 2.


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Brazil: A “drinkshop” for bloggers · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Instead of a workshop,  a few Brazilian bloggers met in a more relaxed “drinkshop” to talk about the blogosphere, nonsense and have fun. “All, absolutely all informal meetings with bloggers I have attended were excellent”, reports Carlos Cardoso [pt].

author: Paula Góes


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Brazil: Brazilian Landless Workers Movement turns 24 · Global Voices
Paula Góes

The Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST) celebrates today its 24 years. João Valente Aguiar [pt] publishes a beautiful black and white picture and describes it as a “movement which consists of activist people committed to the fight for another kind of society. A movement that because of its tenacity and root class has been the target of killings, arrests and torture.”


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Brazil: Update on the censorship in Pernambuco · Global Voices
Paula Góes

PE Body Count [pt] has an update on the case of media censorship that has been going on in Recife, Brazil, following an interview on TV in which the authorities guarantee the population that there is no censorship in place. Diogo Menezes uncovers the lies in their discourse and concludes: “That's it: if the press doesn't go to the murder places and doesn't show the violence cases to people, it may be easier to achieve the goal of reducing murder rates by 12% in the state of Pernambuco.”


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Brazilian Football Star Remembered on 25th Death Anniversary · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

It is through video online that many Brazilians and football fans from around the world have found a way to pay homage to one of the best dribblers in football history, Manuel Francisco dos Santos, best known as Garrincha.
Brian in runofplay  has a video tribute linked on his post. His introduction:
In case your memory needs refreshing, then, this is Garrincha, the angel with the crooked legs, the joy of the people, a player whose absolute lucidity on the pitch (he is probably the best dribbler in football, despite being born with a curved spine and legs of different lengths) was matched by his absolute disarray off it.
He played between 1953-1965 with the football team Botafogo and is still remembered fondly: he was known in Brazil as the Joy of the People or as the “Angel with bent legs”, due to his physical birth defects.
On lavidaendomingo.es, Sergio Cortina quotes Eduardo Galeano on Garrincha [es]:
Alguno de sus muchos hermanos lo bautizó Garrincha, que es el nombre de un pajarito inútil y feo. Cuando empezó a jugar al futbol, los médicos le hicieron la cruz, diagnosticaron que nunca llegará a ser un deportista este anormal, este pobre resto del hambre y de la poliomelitis, burro y cojo, con un cerebro infantil, una columna vertebral hecha una S y las dos piernas torcidas para el mismo lado.Nunca hubo un puntero derecho como él.
One of his many siblings nicknamed him Garrincha, which is the name for a useless and ugly bird. When he began to play football, doctors counted him out, they diagnosed that this abnormal person would never become an athlete, this poor leftover from hunger and polio, dumb and with a limp, with a childlike brain, his spine and S and both his legs twisted to the same side. There has never been a right winter like him.
We can hear about his game, but it is through the many video tributes fans have uploaded that anyone born after his times or who doesn´t usually follow football, can discover what an incredible player he truly was, and see the masterful moves that earned him his international fame.
Mauro Maciel writes in enlasbotas[es]:
Muchos de los amantes del fútbol que no superamos los 45 o 50 años de edad es lógico que sólo sepamos de sus hazañas y sus virtudes de tanto haber sentido nombrar tantas veces su nombre artístico: Garrincha. Compartió el elenco estelar del Brasil campeón en Suecia 58, junto a Vavá, Didí, Mario Zagallo y Pelé.
Es cierto que por aquél entonces el juego se desarrollaba a otra velocidad y se apreciaba más la técnica por sobre la condición física, pero al ver las imágenes de Garrincha y su dominio del balón, parecería que se trata de un niño que ejerce el control absoluto del video juego. El que lo sabe todo, y va por el campo sobrado. Vaya desde aquí un homenaje!
For many of the football fans who aren´t over 45 or 50 years old it is only logical that we only know about his deeds and virtues from hearing him named so many times with his artistic name: Garrincha. He was part of the stellar cast of Brazil´s championship Sweden 58 team, along with Vavá, Didí, Mario Zagallo and Pelé.It is true that back then the game was played at a different speed and technique was appreciated over physical condition, but when we see the images of Garrincha and his control over the ball, he seems like a little kid with complete control of the videogame. The one that knows it all and goes onto the field completely confident. So from here, let´s pay him homage!
From Bolivia futbol club,  Jorge González Cordero writes:
“Fue un pequeño mortal que ayudó un país entero a disimular sus tristezas. Lo peor es que las tristezas vuelven y no hay otro Garrincha disponible. Necesitamos uno nuevo que nos alimente el sueño”.
Así escribió a respecto de Garrincha, el mayor poeta brasileño: Carlos Drummond de Andrade.
¿Nunca vieron a Garrincha jugar?
Deléitense:
“He was a slight mortal who helped a whole country  conceal their woes. The sad thing is that these woes return and there isn´t another Garrincha available. We need a new one to feed our dreams.”This is what the greatest Brazilian poet: Carlos Drummond de Andrade had to say about Garrincha.
You never saw Garrincha play?
Well, then enjoy:
This is the video he selected, uploaded by menezesdan:
Also, journalist and blogger Diego Valor writes a first hand account of the time he met Garrincha [es], having to chase him down to talk, and once he got him to talk, Garrincha refused to speak about anything other than his football playing. Nothing personal, historical or romantical. Just football.
And it´s just football what the tribute videos posted to Mané Garrincha´s honor, show. Videoclips and pictures of his best moves, his playful and tricky stops and turns, moves that for the greater part of his carreeer were limited to those who got to see him playing in person, and for many just imagined as the football commentators exitedly commented on his plays over the radio. It´s been 25 years since Garrincha passed away, poor, forgotten and alone, on January 20th, 1983, but these days, it seems he still lives strong in the memory of both new and old football fans.
Following, the final episode of the 3 part tribute user Dayhan posted named  Garrincha – A Sad Story Of Some Happiness:

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Brunei: Signing International Agreements · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The Daily Brunei Resources explains the process that takes place in the background when two countries sign an international agreement.


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Cambodia: High Dynamic Range images of Phnom Penh · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Phnom Penh based blogger Mythical Dude shares some High Dynamic Range images of the city of the city on his Flickr page.


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Cameroon: Documentary on the Bakweri-German Wars · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A new documentary on the history of the Bakweri people of Cameroon has been released: “…“Kuva Likenye” is a 30 minute documentary that profiles the heroic exploits of a mountain King called Kuva Likenye who mobilised an ill-trained ragtag army to stand up in arms against German exploitation of the Bakweri people culminating in the Bakweri-German wars of 1891 and 1894.”


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Chile: Hunger Strike by Mapuche Activist · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The Latin Americanist writes about a Chilean Mapuche activist that has been on a 100-day fast protesting her ten-year jail sentence.


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Colombia: Disparity Between the Number of Male and Female Bloggers · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Juliana Rincón provides some hypotheses as to why there are more male bloggers, than female bloggers in Colombia [es].


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Cuba: Yes or No?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Post-Cuban elections, Child of the Revolution wonders whether or not Fidel Castro will remain as head of the Council of State.


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D.R. of Congo: Peace in DR Congo? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Is this the beginning of lasting peace in D.R of Congo?: “It is too early to speculate if this will bring about an end to the conflict because there have been previous talks but no peace for the country.”


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Egypt: Ashamed of Being Egyptian · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Right now I’m once more feeling ashamed, ashamed of Egypt’s complicity with the Israelis, ashamed because I know that everytime a human being dies in Gaza, an Egyptian has had a hand in his/her death,” writes Egyptian blogger Eman.


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Egypt: Gazans Burst into Egypt  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Gazans have the nerve to bust out of the cage that Egypt and Israel keep them locked up in. They'll need to be severely punished for such rudeness…” writes Tom Gara, from Cairo, Egypt.


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El Salvador: Private Citizen’s Data · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

A recent newspaper article stated that the private data of all citizens of El Salvador is contained in a database belonging to a Guatemalan company.  Hunnapuh [es] provides some tips, some extreme, to hide in a clandestine fashion, including, “10) In the end, declare yourself deceased.  Remember in these postmodern times, what matters is one civil existence, not one's real existence.”


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Environment: Global roundup of Enviroblogs. · Global Voices
Juliana Rotich

Environmental blogs around the world are addressing a myriad issues specific to their region, but of global concern. In DRC the Gorilla Protection blog is pondering what a peace deal would mean for Gorillas. From China Dialogue, a look at what is next after the Bali climate change conference, and from South Africa, we have reactions to the recent power shortages and an eco-car competition.
Starting in the DRC, the Gorilla Protection blog writes about the peace deal that could end years of war and conflict in DRC. The post includes snippets of Virunga wildlife preserve ranger's opinions and thoughts on the practical implications of the deal on gorilla protection efforts.
There are Rangers who, after 2 decades of conflict, view the situation with skepticism, and say that peace on the terms proposed will simply not last. When I ask them if this is all going to work, I hear “Je ne crois pas” very often. That is “I don’t think so“.
And there are many, who are tired, very tired. They want to move on. They want to work. They want to go home. And so they hope it will stick.
On the blog China Dialogue, Feng Gao writes of his optimism about conditions around ‘the road ahead from Bali'; saying:
The details of the two-year negotiation process are unclear, and there is much that needs to be discussed and confirmed. It is too early to predict the outcome of the negotiations, but the positive start we wanted to see is surely here. From this hopeful beginning, the world can enter a new era of global action on climate change.
Please note that some background information is available from last month's Global Voices coverage of the Climate Change conference in Bali.
Energy and environment are closely linked, as is shown by the Gorilla Potection blog, writing about how its rangers were beaten up when they stopped a truck carrying illegal charcoal. Charcoal is used as fuel for cooking by many in rural Africa and the problem of energy is persistent in most rural areas. The post includes photos of the trucks, the injured rangers and more details on what happened.
In South Africa, there have been power shortages and reports of cable cars in ski resorts being stuck. The blogger/cartoonist Jeremy Nell hilariously illustrates the situation, and the blog The ACDP Insider wonders who is to blame for the power shortages; saying:
Power shortages are indeed a hot topic in South Africa. I think most of us are somewhat at a loss for words on the matter. There's an unspoken question of: how can we be short of something so basic and so intrinsic to our lives? Electricity is so ingrained into our way of living that it comes as something of a shock to the system when you stumble cluelessly around the house at night wondering what to do with yourself.
While on the topic of energy and blackouts in South Africa, Ray Hartley of the blog Thought Leader writes that it would be an opportune moment for proponents of nuclear energy to make their case:
As the entire country experiences waves of “load-shedding”, the public is less choosy than ever about where the electricity comes from, so long as the stove stays on while supper is being cooked.
There is a danger that this climate could lead to the uncritical adoption of Eskom’s planned nuclear generators.
Communities need to be vigilant about where these facilities will be located and how waste will be disposed of once they are active.
Beggars can still be choosers.
Ian Gilfillan of Neverness looks at the alternatives to nuclear power, stating…
Besides all of its other problems, nuclear power has a long lead-time. Waiting for nuclear power to save us is like waiting for the tooth fairy. We need to do something before that. Reducing demand by rolling out solar powered traffic lights, and solar-powered water heaters, is a good start, and the only unfortunate thing is that it takes a crisis to implement something so obviously sensible.
Also from South Africa, the blog Greencars announces a fun competition from PlanetThoughts; a $500 Eco-car photo contest that is confirmed to be open to South Africans. More information on how it works is available on the blog post.
We end this roundup with a picture from DRC of a baby Gorilla, courtesy of the Gorilla Protection blog.

author: Juliana Rotich


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Eritrea: Listen to Eritrean Music · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Listen to Eritrean music: “This is the last day of Eritrea Week. I don’t know enough about much of the music I’ve collected this week to write full posts so I decided to make you a mixtape instead.”


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Ghana: African Cup of Nations photos · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

David Ajao posts photos from the Africa Cup of Nations 2008: “You can click on the photos on this page to link to the rest of the photos or click on the link below to go to my Ghana 2008 Photo Gallery.”


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Guatemala: New Year, Reason to Hope · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Julio Serrano of Blog de mi Guatemala [es] writes that there are reasons to hope with the beginning of the new year and the start of a new presidential administration.


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Guatemala: Potential Teacher Strike · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The Union of Education Workers in Guatemala has announced a teacher's strike for January 31 if the administration of the new president Álvaro Colom does not attend to their demands.  Luis Figueroa of Carpe Diem [es] states that the union is sizing Colom up and may determine how the next four years of Colom's tenure might be.


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Hong Kong: Pro-establishment to Prepare for Universal Suffrage · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Tsang Yok-shing writes in his blog and advises pro-establishment comrades that they should be prepared for universal suffrage on 2017 and try not to presume the central government will prevent that from happening (zh).

author: Oiwan Lam


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Hungary: “Is Budapest Scarier than LA?” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pestiside.hu responds to an LA reader who is afraid of going to Budapest.


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India: Sex and 40 · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

head start reacts to a post that seems to assume that women in India don't have a sex life after the age of 40.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Iraq: $720m a Day  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Raed Jarrar posts a video which shows what could be done with the money going towards the war in Iraq – a staggering $720 million a day.


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Iraq: Blogging Battle  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Sunshine from Iraq shares her story with a fellow blogger, she accuses of plagiarism.


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Iraq: While I was Away  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Neurotic Iraq Wife is back to blogging and updates us on what we missed during her hiatus. She also comments on the Iraqi flag change towards the end of her post.


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Kenyan Bloggers back to “almost” normal life · Global Voices
Rebecca Wanjiku

After many days of agony and political uncertainty, Kenyan bloggers have gone back to “almost normal” life. Bloggers can even afford to make witty comparison between Kenya and other countries.
Rants, Raves and reviews compares Kenya to South Korea:
So… why the above info? Well, it turns out that President Lee of S.Korea plans to cut down the ministries from 18 to 13 to “slimline” his government. And our “brilliant” maybe he is(not) prez-in-residence, the Hon. Mwai Kibaki, has named 50% of his cabinet. This 50% amounts to 17 posts. So there are another 17 posts waiting to be filled.
Even with the political leaders pushing and shoving, many people blamed international media for the grim pictures circulated
Kenya Imagine has done a media round up of most international commentators and their views about post-election violence:
In his column, Richard Prince, opines on the concept of tribes. “If It's Africa, It Must Be a Tribe.” He argues, citing international media houses, that “ethnic” describes the Kikuyu, Luo and Kalenjin best.
In her op-ed in the Washington Post, Anne Applebaum compares Kenya, not to “the rest of Africa”, but to South Korea and Ukraine, where she makes a case for Kenya's political turmoil and not ethnic hatred. Another comparison is drawn by Uzi Silber here: In Kenya Spare Iraq .
Huffington Post's John Ridley on why Kenya matters: he cites Kenya's political and economic stabilty.
Ali Mazrui suggests solutions to Kenya's post election crisis, while a Nigerian commentator, Ladipo Adamolekun, finds lessons for Nigeria in Kenya's crisis.
Edward M. Gomez wonders about Kenya's future should Kofi Annan fail to resolve the country's crisis.
Despite its social upheaval, breathtaking Kenya needs tourists , says Mary Ann Anderson from the  McClatchy-Tribune News Service.
In technology, White African writes about the redesign of Afrigadget:
I’m proud to announce a brand new design for AfriGadget!
The old design was rather… old and ugly. I mocked up some ideas, and one of my friends was kind enough to take my amateur work and put a truly professional touch on it. (thanks Jared)
One blogger is certainly tired of political discussions and wants to talk about the economy:
I’m trying to move away from these political discussions, but people here don’t seem to want to do that. I suppose I’ve just come to the conclusion that Kibaki is not going to resign, they will be no coalition government (can anyone honestly see Kibaki and Raila working together?) and Raila is just going to have to fight it out in parliament. ( I understand politics does affect the economy and the two are inter-connected, but at this point, I think the private sector in Kenya is just going to have to find a way to ignore these politicians and try to sort out their own problems). The only good thing here is that Kibaki does not interfere with the private sector ala Moi. If he did, it would really create a disaster.
And guess what? Neither Kibaki nor Raila has to work (they are both indepenedently wealthy and maybe people should start ignoring both of these men). The blogger coldtusker had a nice summary on the economic problems that the country may face in the coming five years, but I want to open up this space to you (especially if you are based in Kenya).
Eyes on Kenya discusses the economic implications of the sanctions the donor community threatened to impose on Kenya:
With a review of the post-election situation and the loss of revenue that Kenya has undergone and is continuing to undergo, a retardation and even decline of economic growth, one can see an eventuality of a total collapse of the budget. Point five above would even bite more if the sanctions threatened by the EU are carried out. The government is heavily reliant on the world bank and its projects/ programmes. We do not know how far the World Bank would go to carry out these sanctions in review of their seeming tolerance of the government.
The fear that China would fill the gap without preliminary conditions is in our view over-rated. China’s interest in Africa so far has been hunger for natural resources. Looking again into the CIA Fact Book Kenya’s lack of natural resources stand out. And the little that Kenya has, seems to be already under China’s control: In what the East African called cynically a “an unprecedented act of generosity”, the government of Kenya gave the state-owned National Oil Corporation of China – CNOOC – exclusive rights to its hotly contested areas where oil might be found.
If a co-ordinated freeze aid to Kenya campaign is carried out by all donors in the face of the turmoil and violence, I believe the government and opposition will shape up and sit with the mediators to bring an end to the stale-mate that has cost many a Kenyan lives. It is the most effective way and we urge a consideration of this.
Despite the political crisis in the country, Nairobi theatres are busy. Bomseh blogs about the latest in Kenyan theatres:
Heartstrings Kenya opens 2008 theater calendar with an extremely outrageous blockbuster comedy “IDENTICAL TWINS” that is set to inject some joy at this low time of our country.
This will be with the efforts of the cast and the theater gurus Samwel Mwangi and Victor Ber directing it.
Hilariously, we will realize that you can get an African out of Africa but you cannot get Africa out of an African.
When: Friday 31st Jan., Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd Feb.
Times: 6.30pm weekday, 3.00pm & 6.30pm weekend
Venue: Alliance Française auditorium;
Tickets: 300/-

author: Rebecca Wanjiku


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Armenia: Political Blogging Intensifies · Global Voices
Artur Papyan

The past week was eventful, and while the traditional media in Armenia were pondering their adequate response so as to avoid “unnecessary complications”, the Armenian Internet community were discussing the comings and goings of the current political scene at full speed.
The start of the week was marked by yet another scandal surrounding the Constitutional Right Union (CRU) party[AM] with its chairman, Hrant Khachatryan, slapping the deputy chairman, Haik Babukhanyan, in public for the second time in a year after the latter invaded the party headquarters with a group of supporters backed by police.
Another picturesque moment came as the head of People's Party Tigran Karapetyan visited Gyumri [AM] and lit special candles, painted in the tricolors of the Armenian flag.
According to many bloggers, although they were hardly serious about this, burning the candles was the equivalent of burning the Armenian flag — something very offensive for the state. On the other hand, some noted, if the red colour stripe burned down, the remaining part of the candle would resemble the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag.
The Kornelij Glas blog is surprised with the stance of the opposition Heritage party [RUS]. After their leader was denied registration as a presidential candidate, the party sent out questionnaires to other opposition forces in order to determine which candidate they would support instead.
Now, the party announces that they won't support anyone unless at least two opposition candidates join forces. The blogger wonders for how much longer the party will linger with their decision: “Till April perhaps?”.
Dildoyan has many questions for government candidate Serzh Sargsyan [RUS] about the infamous Armenicum drug which was supposed to be a cure for HIV/AIDS in the late 90s and which would have made the country rich, the terrorist act in the Armenian parliament on 27 October 1999 when Sargsyan was the minister of State Security, and also the surrender of strategic industrial complexes to Russia.
The blogger also has some suggestions to improve the speeches of the opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrossian, saying that he should include the following in his texts:
To the Authorities: Let My People Vote!
You are putting my people under constant pressure – offering bribes in exchange for their vote, intimidating them, using your proxies to bully them, blackmailing them, threatening them with the loss of their jobs and livelihoods. Your pundits are bombarding the air with their phony prognoses of the win in the first round. Leave my people alone! Let my people vote! Move out of their way! Remember – you will not get away with your machinations, not this time. I will not let you.
To the voters: You've gotta fight for the right to party!
People, be vigilant. Do not trade in your vote, and with it your integrity and dignity, for the money they have stolen from you in the first place. Get out to the voting stations and vote! For me or against me – not important. Cast your vote, do not let the crooks steal it or stuff those boxes with their fakes. Wake up! Stand up! You will remember the day for years to come and feel proud. I am with you. We are in this together.
With one paragraph, A1plus blog sums up the start of the official pre-election campaign(AM):
The campaign begins with Artashes Geghamyan's formula of bringing people into the mainstream and the presentation of his “Program of Genesis”, Vazgen Manukyan's meeting with youth and motto of taking charge of the country, Levon Ter-Petrossian's announcement about “sacrificing his head to save the country during his trip to the provinces, Vahan Hovhannisyan's festive singing and dancing with “his friends”, and Rule of Law speculations on divisions in government as a clear sign of a possible second round where the opposition can also join forces…
Regardless, the former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, remains the most discussed person in the Blogosphere with the F5 blog joining the electorate of this candidate [AM] and urging everyone to “Help each other destroy this corrupt pyramid weighing on our future and the future of our children”.
On the other hand, Gazan2008 explains why he hates Ter-Petrossian so much [AM].
“I hate him because of all those numerous brilliant young people, who made me proud not so long ago. For those, who were “sksela”, “alternative”, “rock” and who smelled of freedom and freshness. I hate him, because his appearance broke that mind-set and sprit once again, turning a large crowd of free young people into puppets of his insatiable arrogance”.
Following the Armenian elections from the UK via satellite TV, Unzipped notes some balanced media coverage on the first of official presidential election campaign, contrasting it with the pre-official campaign period:
“In December on the Armenian air the negative references to the first RA President Levon Ter-Petrosian continue to dominate. In other words, during the last month of 2007 the unprecedented phenomenon, recorded in November, continued when the share of neutral editorial coverage of an Armenian politician quantitatively fell behind that of negative: 103 negative references to Levon Ter-Petrosian versus 100 neutral ones and 4 positive ones. At the same time the share of negative ones in the total number of references has somewhat gone down in December – 49.8% versus 58.7% – in November. “
[…]
Anyway, today was a different story – Armenian media behaved as it should have behaved always. If it only continues this trend over the whole election period and beyond… Media monitoring by international and local agencies played important role in putting pressure on government and Public TV via mainly European/US influential bodies, and is as vital as ever to ensure continuous fair coverage of presidential campaign.
Civilized discussions finished on this. Following the publication of the list of presidential candidate websites on The Armenian Observer blog, an outburst of interest towards those sites by the Armenian Internet community followed. Reporter_arm found a section of personal photos [AM] on the website of the prime minister, presidential candidate Serzh Sargsyan's website, which became the dominant topic of blog discussions for the rest of the week.
Viewing the childhood photos of the prime minister made Samvel Martirosyan finally realise that Sargsyan is also human [AM]. However, photos of the prime minister playing chess, with a book entitled “Napoleon” specifically brought to foreground, and a number of other photos in the unofficial photo series brought about a highly sarcastic response.
The choice of symbolisms picked by the prime minister made bloggers comment, and usually comment with humor.
The mockery of Prime Minister's photos further strengthened after the unofficial website in support of opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrossian posted a sideshow where with appalling negligence of all ethical norms and morality the photos taken from Serzh Sargsyan's website were edited and commented out in a way as to present the government presidential candidate as a “mafia” boss, gambler and a devilish personality.
To balance it out, the Nothing Else Matters… blog posted Ter-Petrossian's photo which, according to the blogger, is so scary that there is no need to further edit it.
The week concluded with the appearance of the Levonator and Serzhadevil (see photos posted at the start of this article) which completely frustrated some of the more balanced Bloggers. Ogostos was one of them and called for bloggers to stop making fun of the photos of candidates and to return to a more acceptable level of debate.

author: Artur Papyan


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Libya: Tripoli Buildings · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Libya, Khadija Teri posts pictures of buildings in the capital, Tripoli.


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Lithuania: Vytautas Sriubikis; the Hill of Crosses · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Viola in Vilnius writes about Lithuanian flautist Vytautas Sriubikis – and briefly mentions the Hill of Crosses, quite an extraordinary place near the town of Siauliai, which “not surprisingly is a hill covered in crosses, and a bit of a place of pilgrimage.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Morocco: Censorship Update · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

2006 was a rough year for Moroccan internet freedoms, with several sites being blocked; 2007 wasn't much better with sites that were previously open becoming only sporadically accessible.
Moi, dans tous mes états (fr) summarized freedom of internet (as well as other forms of media) in a recent post:
A l’heure des podcasts et autres émissions sur le réseau internet, la régulation est un leurre.
« Et nous sommes arrivés à la même conclusion : la bataille de la régulation sur Internet est perdue d'avance » dixit Ahmed Ghazali. Le choix de plus en plus multiples d’émissions et de chaînes impose aux opérateurs marocains plus d’audace dans la concrétisation de ce projet.
In the age of podcasts and other internet shows, regulation is a decoy.
“And we've arrived at the same conclusion: the internet regulation battle is already lost,” said Ahmed Ghazali. The choice of more and more shows and channels necessitates greater audacity on the part of Moroccan [producers of media] in the realization of this project.”
Censorship of opposition voices from the Western Sahara also remains an issue, with many blogs from that region being blocked in the rest of Morocco. Freedom Writer quoted a recent MAP (Maghreb Arab Presse) article, while asvdh commented upon a Human Rights Watch article regarding freedom of expression in Western Sahara.
Although an article by AFP suggests that Moroccan bloggers have more freedom than those in other Arab and Muslim countries, the fact that Livejournal is still frequently inaccessible proves that there's still a ways to go. According to MoTIC, who keeps a tab at the top of his site, Google Maps and Google Earth remain blocked as well. A post by Matthew Helmke mentions other blocked sites such as OpenDNS, anonymizer.com, multiproxy.org, “and on occasion You Tube.”
Translation by Lydia Beyoud

author: Jillian C. York


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Nepal: Beyond the fuel crisis · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Nepal Monitor on why it's important to look beyond the issue of price hike of fuels, and think about the actual reasons for the crisis.


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Nicaragua: One Year of Daniel Ortega · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

At Barricada [es], Francisco Javier Amaya reflects on the one year since Daniel Ortega assumed the presidency of Nicaragua.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Pakistan: MSM on Blogging · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Blogging in Pakistan is getting more attention. A breakfast news show on Dawn News interviews bloggers. [Link to Google Video]


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Pakistan: On Manto · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Pak Tea House on Saadat Hasan Manto – a landmark Urdu writer whose work finds strong resonance to this day.


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Paraguay: Guaraní in State Documents · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Elyacare [es] writes about the campaign in Paraguay to include the indigenous language of Guaraní into the official state documents like identification cards and passports.


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Peru: Free Trade Agreement Mentioned in Democratic Debate · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Carlos Quiroz of Carlos @ DC points out how the Free Trade Agreement between the US and Peru was a topic of discussion in a recent debate among Democratic candidates in the United States.


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Peru: Introduction to Bloggers from Iquitos · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

I know many people will ask themselves, why do the blogs from Iquitos need an introduction? OK, there are probably more blogs and bloggers in larger cities like Trujillo and Chiclayo, while in Lima there are more bloggers than one can humanly cover, etc., etc., etc. I know. But Iquitos is a very special city to me, I lived there for many years, and it has given me, and continues to give me, so much. It was in Iquitos in 2001 that I discovered blogs; soon after, I started my own first blog, and and it was from that city I encouraged the few Peruvian bloggers at the time to join our efforts and start BlogsPerú [es], the first blog directory in our country. Please allow me to try to give back to this city, and to those that live there, some of the affection they have given me through this maybe incomplete but fervent collection of articles by Iquitos’ bloggers.
First off, I should say there are few blogs from Loreto that have been around for longer than a year, and you aren't mistaken if by this you deduce that the Iquitos or Loreto blogsphere is comprised mostly by young people, with some notable exceptions of course. On the otherhand, similar to what happens in real life, having been born or not in the region is not considered a requirement to be labeled a ‘charapa’ bloggers [Locals of the Amazon region of Peru are called charapas]. Not to mention those who, due to the vicissitudes of modern life don't live in Iquitos, but carry the city in their hearts. If we didn't consider them, we wouldn't be able to take into account the best known Iquitos blogger in the Peruvian blogosphere: Paco Bardales.
Paco, who recently published a book of essays about his city, IQT (remixes), writes the popular blog, Diario de IQT [es], where he publishes articles especially written for the blog, or published first in different media, such as the article titled IQT, 2007, in which he comments on various events that, in his opinion, marked milestones in the relationship between Iquitos, Peru, and the world, always from what can be called his extensive cultural viewpoint, not extensive due to excess of erudition but by his desire to cover both formal as well as informal culture, as you can see by what he says about the musical group, Grupo Kaliente, now famous throughout Peru:
Kaliente, caliente. Una canción bastó para desatar la locura. Y todos quedaron embrujados con el movimiento, con el énfasis en la cadencia, con la locura de los tiempos musicales. Y un ritmo de esencia norteña, irónicamente, fue suficiente motor para que el grupo iquiteño Kaliente diera el gran salto fuera de la Amazonía peruana y para que abandonara las noches medianamente tibias y se dejara embriagar por las giras frenéticas alrededor del país. Y tanto en las discotecas más fashion de Larcomar como en los senderos que transportan hacia Acobamba, El Embrujo ha sido declarado, tanto por los pies como los corazones desatados del gran pueblo, como la melodía del 2007.
Kaliente, caliente (Hot, hot). With one song, the craziness was unleashed. And everyone was bewitched by the movement, with the emphasis on the cadence, with the craziness of musical times. And, ironically, a rhythm in essence from the north of Peru, was enough of a impetus so that Iquitos’ Grupo Kaliente made the great leap out of the Peruvian Amazonian region, where they left behind the warm nights to be seduced by frenzied tours around the country. And from the most fashionable discotheques in Larcomar to the paths that go to Acobamba, [their song] El Embrujo has been declared, both by the feet as well as the hearts of the people, the song of 2007.
De la Selva su WEB ON [es] is a blog by Isaac Ocampo who, along with other friends, tends to deal with current events and problems in Iquitos, which has turned it into a fairly well-known blog in the local scene and is now beginning to be mentioned outside the region. Let's read what they say about the problem of the motorcycle taxis and their noise in the post S.O.S: A serious noise problem in Iquitos:
de acuerdo a algunas estimaciones en Iquitos existirían unos 40 mil mototaxis, ello también nos dice que dos tercios de la familias iquiteñas tienen ingresos a partir de este vehículo. Cada mototaxi en cualquiera de las condiciones que se encuentre genera más ruido de que los seres humanos podemos soportar. Por ello es que el ruido se ha convertido desde hace varios años en uno de los problemas más graves de nuestra ciudad.
according to some estimates, in Iquitos there are 40 thousand motorcycle taxis. They also tell us that two-thirds of the families in Iquitos earn their incomes due to those vehicles. Every motorcycle taxi, in whatever conditions it may find itself, generates more noise than human beings can stand. This is why in the past few years, noise has become one of the most serious problems in our city.
Ramiro Celis is a young blogger also interested in, among other things, current events in Loreto, as we can see in his post The Fever of Recalling Politicians is just beginning in our city:
La fiebre de la revocatoria de autoridades recién empieza en Iquitos y en la región en general. Se han comprado 24 Kits para empezar el proceso que busca quitar a las actuales autoridades del cargo por incapaces e incompetentes. Entre los nominados a ser revocados en nuestra ciudad, tenemos a Salomón Abensur, alcalde de la MPM, quien de una parte a otra se ha ganado una enemistad tremenda con la gente de Iquitos por los múltiples errores que comete en la gestión producto del mal asesoramiento, además de darse unos viajecitos cada vez que los regidores se lo permiten, o sea siempre.
The fever of recalling politicians is just beginning in Iquitos and the region in general. Twenty-four kits have been purchased to begin the process which seeks to strip current political authorities of their positions due to their inabilities and incompetence. Among those nominated to be recalled in our city is Salomón Abensur, mayor of Provincial Municipality of Maynas, who from one day to the next has gained the people of Iquitos’ enmity as a result of the many errors he makes in his leadership due to poor advice, and also for taking trips every time the politicians allow him, which is always.
Miguel Checa, a blogger with the makeup of a politician, writes the blog Desde la Amazonía Loretana. Ensayos y Comentarios [es], where he puts forth his ideas for the development of the region, in addition to other items, such as sharing with us something of the old desire for independence by the inhabitants of these lands in the post: A Brief Historical Account: Colonel Seminario and Aramburu's Decision:
El Gobernador sabía que lo que había escuchado era totalmente cierto. Que la entrega indígena a una causa era imparable e imprevisible. Recordó por un momento lo que había leído acerca de los pueblos de la Amazonía Peruana: nunca pudieron ser invadidos ni sometidos por los Incas, en el llamado Antisuyo; ni doblegados por los españoles ni los bandeirantes. “Solo fue posible entrar aquí”, pensó, “por el arduo y exitoso trabajo colonizador y evangelizador en la mente de los nativos, desplegado por los misioneros de toda orden. Decían que servían solo a Dios”. Ocurría, pues, que lo acontecido en Iquitos el 2 de mayo de 1896; es decir, la instauración del Gobierno del Estado Federal de Loreto, había golpeado y remecido al gobierno del presidente peruano Nicolás de Piérola. Para evitar mayores repercusiones, y que esta acción pudiera ser imitada por el resto de un país que tenía fresca una horrorosa derrota militar y la cesión de territorios; Piérola dispuso el envío inmediato de fuerzas armadas leales en tres expediciones que debían encaminarse hacia Iquitos por mar y por tierra, para recuperar parte del poder perdido; así como recuperarse de la vergüenza que le fuera infligida por esta histórica decisión de los nativos y mestizos amazónicos loretanos.
The Governor knew what he had heard was completely true: that the indigenous commitment to a cause was unstoppable and unforeseeable. For a moment, he remembered what he had read about the peoples of the Peruvian Amazon: they were never able to be invaded or conquered by the Incas in the so-called Antisuyo; nor were they submitted by the Spanish or the bandeirantes [Brazilian colonial scouts]. “It was only possible to come here,” he thought, “due to the arduous and successful colonizing and evangelizing work upon the minds of the natives, spread by missionaries of all orders. They said they only served God”. What happened in Iquitos on May 2, 1896, that is, the installation of the Federal State Government of Loreto, had pummeled and shaken the government of the Peruvian president, Nicolás de Piérola. To avoid greater repercussions, and to avoid this action being imitated in the rest of the country (which still had fresh a horrible military loss and ceding of territory) Piérola ordered the immediate deployment of loyal armed forces in three expeditions to head to Iquitos by sea and land and recover part of the lost power, as well as recover from the shame inflicted upon him by the historic decision of the natives and mixed-blood inhabitants of Loreto's Amazon region.
Lary is a young student and blogger who in Bastet [es], her personal space, usually deals with women's issues. For example, in a post titled From Iquitos, its beauties… she discusses the stereotype many people, especially those from Lima, have about the women of Loreto:
A través de los años, la gente ha interpretado mal la calidez de nuestras chicas risueñas, confunden la amabilidad y la espontaneidad que tienen con “la facilidad” que puedan tener de aceptar ciertas insinuaciones, tampoco estoy salvando a aquellas que si tienen esa facilidad pero creo que eso pasa en todas partes, no es cuestión del lugar… Una vez un amigo (de otra ciudad) me comentaba que en su universidad estudiaba una chica “iquiteña” y que a diferencia de las chicas lugareñas, ella tenía la facilidad de interactuar con los demás (hombres o mujeres) y que por cierto enterados de donde ella venia las insinuaciones no se hacian faltar y mi amigo me decía, es cuando comprendí que “el hecho que sea espontánea y cálida no la hace fácil, a diferencia de las demás chicas que se hacían las crudas y fácil subían a mi carro”
Over the years, people have misinterpreted the warmth of our smiling women, confusing their kindness and spontaneity with an “ease” at accepting certain insinuations (we're not defending those who do have that ease) but I think that happens everywhere, it's not about a specific place… Once, a friend (from another city) told me there was a girl from Iquitos studying at his university, and unlike the local girls, she easily interacted with other people, both men and women,but when it was discovered where she was from there were insinuations about her. My friend told me that was when he realized that “the fact that she was warm and spontaneous did not make her easy, unlike other girls who acted straight-laced but then easily got into my car.”
Spontaneity is what Darketta transmits, one of the three bloggers at Ikitozz City [es], which deals with diverse issues in
a fresh, fun, and funny way. Read what they have to say about the sexuality of young people nowadays, in their post, A little about sex:
Cuando fui de visita a la casa de Ursula que es una compañera de estudio, su abuela (que es muy chocha) me pregunto sin rodeos si yo me cuidaba cuando tenia relaciones, yo le dije que me cuido, me cuido de no meterme con ningun estúpido. La mamá de mi compañera que escuchaba se escandalizo por que como se le ocurria preguntar algo así, a mi la verdad me encanto la pregunta, por que ya no somos unas chiquillas. Me di cuenta que aquella mamá aun piensa que su hija a su edad aun es virgen, me recordó tanto a la mia que me puse a reir descontrolada. … Mientras escuchaba a esa linda viejecita narrar sus historias de amor y sexo juvenil, no paraba de extasiarme (la mamá de Ursula casi le da un patatus al escucharla narrar cosas que hizo y que no eran con su padre), me declare hincha de la abuelita.
When I went to visit my schoolmate's Ursula's house, her grandmother (who's very batty) asked me directly if I took care of myself when I had sex. I told her I took care of myself by making care I didn't get involved with someone stupid. My friend's mom overheard us and was shocked the grandma had asked me something like that. Truthfully, I loved the question, because we're not little girls anymore. I realized that mom still thought her daughter, at her age, was still a virgin. She reminded me so much of my own mother, I started to laugh uncontrollably. … While I listened to that wonderful old lady tell me her stories of love and sex in her youth, I couldn't stop being awestruck (Ursula's mom almost had an attack listening to her own mother tell of things she did with a man who wasn't her father). I became a fan of that grandma.
Nicole, another young student and blogger, usually posts about issues related to promoting awareness of the most varying things, although once in a while she also posts about her daily life or involving experiences lived, such as what she tells us in her post Celebrating New Year's Eve in Iquitos:
decidí adornarme y salir a revisar las calles de Iquitos, minutos previos antes de despedirnos del año viejo, 2007. Fuera de lo convencional, encontraba a mi paso aquellos simpáticos muñecos de trapo conocidos como “Pilatos“, de quienes colgaban unos coloridos y humorísticos mensajes referentes al año que estamos prontos a dejar en el pasado. Así pues, visualicé muchos anuncios, algunos con la picardía innata de los Loretanos, y otros, quizá eran simplemente algo que robaba una sonrisa fingida. Llevando una botella en la mano, una marioneta grita a los cuatro vientos: “Adiós año viejo y adiós a los hombres infieles“. Instantáneamente se puede pensar que fue hecho por una damisela, pero en estos tiempos, es mejor no sacar conclusiones apresuradas. Los pilatos representan, por lo general, toda la carga negativa acarreada los meses, semanas, días, horas, minutos y segundos antes del primer día de cada año nuevo.
I decided to get dressed up and check out the streets of Iquitos just a few minutes before saying good-bye to 2007. Out of the ordinary, I found along my route those cute cloth dolls known as Pontius Pilates, from which were hanging colorful and humorous messages having to do with the year we were ready to leave behind. I saw many notes, some with the innate colorful sense of humor of the people of Loreto, and others which simply brought about a fake smile. With a bottle in one hand, there was a marionette yelling out, “Goodbye old year, and good bye to cheating men.” Instantly, you might think it was done by a lady, but in these times, it's best not jump to conclusions. Generally, the Pontius Pilates represent all of the negative energy accumulated during the months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds before the first day of each new year.
Gloriux is a blogger who lives in Iquitos and tends to post about general interest subjects, and now and again about issues dealing with Iquitos; for example, he writes about certain culinary delicacies in the post Suri in Iquitos:
Hasta el momento no pruebo estos gusanitos llamados “Suri”, tengo que tener mas agallas y sentirme capaz de disfrutarlos como lo hacen los demás. Me explicaron que el árbol del aguaje es tumbado y se espera unas semanas para que puedan observarse estos gusanos en el centro del tallo; se abre el tallo y se selecciona los mas gorditos y sabrosos. Se fríe con su misma grasa y se degusta con pan, el suri también es colocado en un palito cual anticucho atravesado se coloca a la parrilla. Por ahora solo miro y me da mucha curiosidad y a la vez un poco de “asco” :) a ese paso no se cuando los probare…
Up to now, I haven't tasted those grubs called ‘suri’. I have to have more guts and feel able to enjoy them like other people do. They tell me the tree of the aguaje is felled, and you wait a few weeks until you can see these grubs in the center of the log. You open up the log and pick out the fattest and most flavorful ones. You fry them up in their own grease and eat them with bread. Suri is also skewered and cooked on a grill. For now, I just look. I'm curious nut also get a little quesy. At this rate, I don't know when I'll try them.
And although the selection of blogs is very long, and I find myself obliged to leave some bloggers by the wayside, to whom I apologize for the omission, I can't finish this collection without mentioning our friend Grinder, a designer and artist, who from Lima posts in his blog Manguaré delirious and dark writings, as well as memoirs of his life in the land where he was born, such as this real event he shares with his readers in the post Endemic Eden (Outro):
me acerqué quedamente, casi hasta poder alcanzar su aroma de musa ilusoria, simplemente se rió al darse cuenta de mi proximidad y me extendió la mano, tome las suyas entre las mias y senti el calor de juventudes inexploradas, a pesar de casi haberme ahogado hacia momentos atras, y a pesar de tener a su guardian amical tan cerca, que podia sentir su respiracion rabiosa sobre mi cabeza, pero no importaba nada, estaba hipnotizado cual mozalbete por anacondas reptantes, olor a juventud, salud a prueba de balas, belleza amazonica inmaculada, simplemente era como un edén que jamás habria de conocer. Soltó mis manos y se fue corriendo, dejandome su sonrisa tan limpia como un cielo chuya chuya, se alejó corriendo por entre la espesa selva, dejando rastos a su paso de caminos que se cerraban entre si, esto debe ser el cielo – pense -, o aquellos ojos deben ser el embrujo del que tanto escuche, el agua de sachachorro que siempre nos contaron los viejos curiosos, o el hueso de tanrrilla que siempre jovenes inexpertos buscabamos. Esto debe ser el cielo – me aleje pensando – , mientras todos correteaban a la carretera que habia acunado a una moto echa trizas contra el gracil cuerpo de aquella muchacha, hecha un ovillo a unos cuantos metros, hecha diosa a un par de centimetros del abismo, hecha ese edén que nunca llegué a conocer.
I approached slowly, almost reaching the aroma of the illusory muse, who simply laughed upon noticing my proximity and reached out her hand, I took hers in mine and I felt the heat of unexplored youth despite almost having drowned a few moments before, and despite having such a friendly caretaker so near; I could feel her rabid breath over my head, but nothing mattered, I was hypnotized like a boy before an anaconda, the smell of youth, health under fire, an immaculate Amazonian beauty, it was simply like an Eden I could never know. She let my hands loose and left running, leaving me with a smile so clean as the clear blue sky, she went away running through the thick jungle, leaving traces along her path which closed up behind her, this must be Heaven I thought, or those eyes must be the spell I had heard so much about, the water of the spells the curious old ones told us about, or the egg of the tanrrilla bird we inexperienced youth searched for. This must be Heaven I left thinking, while everyone ran to the road where a motorcycle had fallen in the ditch and shredded against the graceful body of that girl, curled up like a ball a few meters away, made into a goddess a few centimeters from the abyss, made into that Heaven I never got to see.
Translated from spanish by Alejandro García.

author: Juan Arellano


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Philippines: Becoming An American Citizen · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

About A Nurse talks her American Citizenship Oath Taking Ceremony and reflects on her life in America and Australia.

author: Preetam Rai


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Philippines: Dengue In Philippines · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Parallel Universes looks at Dengue in Philippines and highlights possible causes for the spread of disease.


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Philippines: Heath Ledger’s Death · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Blogs like Cyberpunk's So Called Life are commenting on hollywood actor Heath Ledger's death.


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Poland, Ukraine: The Border · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Our Man in Gdansk writes about Poland's eastern border, the non-Schengen, closely guarded one: “A lorry driver died in the 20-mile queue at the Ukrainian-Polish border crossing at Dorohusk. Warsaw sat up and noticed: Poland has an eastern border.”


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Portugal: Getting ready for critical mass bike day · Global Voices
Paula Góes

This Friday, there will be a Critical Mass bike gathering in many parts of the world, showing how easy and enjoyable traveling in a sustainable way can be. Pimenta Negra [pt] has the local ride info for Portugal.


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Russia: Decossackization · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis writes about the history of Decossackization in Russia and recommends a book on the subject, written by Gregory Tschebotarioff, a former Cossack officer, now a professor at Princeton University.


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Russia: Hajj Quotas · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Window on Eurasia writes about hajj quotas and how it relates to Russia's Muslims.


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Serbia: Support for Vladimir Vukčević · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Alan Jakšić of Balkan Anarchist declares his support for Serbia's war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukčević, who has recently “received a death threat from fellow Serbs in the diaspora.”


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Serbia, UK: Fascism and the Left · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Greater Surbiton writes on leftist interpretations of fascism – and of Serbian politics.


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South Africa: Cape Town on the World Monopoly Board · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Cape Town Rocks would like to see Cape Town on the World Monopoly Board: “Cape Town is one of the Cities that you can vote for to become a city on the World Monopoly Board.”


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South Africa: Good start for Bafana? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

South Africa Rocks writes about the South African national team at the Africa Cup of Nations: “Not a bad start in the Group Of Death (GOD – strange that). All the teams in the group now sit on a single point and at least we are not bringing up the rear in the group.”


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South Korea: New President to Close the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jamie from Two Koreas blogs about women organizations’ petition against the newly elected president Lee Myung Bak's plan to close the ministry of Gender Equality and Family.


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South Korea: Youtube Enters · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michael from Scribblings of the Metropolitician has been asked to make a welcome video for Youtube Korea. The slogan is YT Korea – fighting.


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Sri Lanka: Blogging at the GLF · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Ephemeral Ruminations rounds up reactions from the Sri Lankan blogosphere to the Galle Literary Festival – a lot of reactions considering a panel at the festival discussed how seriously bloggers could be taken.


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Sri Lanka: Indian Labour · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Transcurrents.com reacts to a historian's claim that the Indian labour, shipped to Sri Lanka to work on the estates are now a burden in Sri Lanka.


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Syria: Palestinian Rights · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Syria, Golaniya argues for the right of Palestinians to exist as a people, with a nation. She further reacts to the developments in Gaza: “So the siege is strictly practiced for political reasons and not for security reasons.”

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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The Balkans: “Jestdej” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sleeping with Pengovsky posts a copy of the Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ – spelled phonetically by Croatian musicians: “… For all of you native speakers out there – if you ever wondered how English sounds to people from the Balkans – take a look at the above picture. It just doesn’t get any better than this.”


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Touring Libyan Blogs: broken hearts country · Global Voices
Fozia Mohamed

If I were superstitious, I would have said that the evil eye has hit the Libyan bloggers. A month before Valentine's Day, a larger than usual number has caught the heartbreak bug, and the bigger than life problems’ caravan.  It's a bullet train sweeping everything in its path, men and women being equally affected.
Let's start by Romana, a lively young woman. Now when you click on her link this is the message that greats you ” this blog is open to invited readers only”. This to me means that she is in the process of waiting before taking the drastic action of deleting her blog.
Next on the list is A. Adam from Flying Birds, who too has been missing in action after a series of poems about love and broken hearts.
A.Akak, is asking ‘how much does pain really hurt?”.
Libyan Violet has started a story called “Love is hard“, in which she seems to struggle with betrayal :
” Then she let out a primeval wail, breaking the dams in her heart, her eyes overflowed and she thought she would die from the pain that racked her in waves. Her whole body started shaking and she was immediately drenched in sweat. She wanted to crawl under a rock to die, but she died inside one more time” .
PH, from My Personal Space, has a mysterious title   “open your heart”. Here are excerpts from the lyrics of the song he is sharing:
“Am I happy today,
Am I lonely tomorrow
Everything depends on you
And Ive been waitin
For the angels to knock on my door
Ive been hopin
That everything could be like before
Open your heart
And tell me whats wrong”
Although he starts his post with  a joke about Libyan  employees, it looks more like a  deterring strategy that does not succeed in hiding the overwhelming sadness of the message.
Safia Speaks has gone suddenly silent as a black and blue colour theme with the sentence “there will be no more blogging” ( indicative of a very serious issue) has replaced her bright green wallpaper.
The Libyan blogosphere has lost a lot, and we wish her good luck and hope she and the others will come back soon.
Lastly, Highlander latest post called “desperation” is very worrying especially when she asks whether “death is the only exit”.
” You pray and dream that you have died everynight you go to bed only to wake up to the same reality: that of the thorns that started to encircle your heart and the ice that is creeping in..”
Indeed the atmosphere is quite sad.
Libyan bloggers please cheer up – tomorrow is another day!

author: Fozia Mohamed


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Turkmenistan: Common Sense and Enlightened Absolutism · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Maciula wonders about the real meanning of the last steps of the President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov’s mean for Turkmenistan: beginning of democratization or return to normality dictated by common sense.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Ukraine: A Porous Border · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

On Tuesday, Ukrainian news site Korrespondent.net posted a translation of Mark Franchetti's recent Sunday Times story on Ukraine's porous borders and illegal migration.
“Britain is target in Ukraine’s people smuggling bonanza,” the article's headline declared. “With most border controls in Eastern Europe now gone, people smuggling has become easy business in the Ukraine.”
The English-language original has received 16 reader comments so far, the Russian translation – 88 comments.
While many readers admitted that the problem of illegal migration existed in Ukraine and that corruption among border guards and other officials contributed greatly to it, most did not seem too happy about Franchetti's piece. Quite a few were offended by the lead sentence, which described  an anonymous Ukrainian people smuggler, who was “chewing slices of pork fat at his house less than two miles from the border with Slovakia,” his “grin studded with gold teeth.”
Here's one comment, which pretty much sums up other readers’ initial reaction:
inn
[…] As for [salo, pork fat] and gold teeth – this is how they imagine us [Ukrainians]. If the article were about the Russo-Finnish border, there'd be [valenki, felt boots] and [balalaika, a musical instrument] in it. […]
The very first comment, which appeared less than ten minutes after the translation was posted, expressed exasperation with president Victor Yushchenko's pro-Western stance:
Yushchenka na kol:
In Europe, they perceive us as savages, and we continue to faithfully lick their [behinds]. Keep it up, [orangeoids].
Another reader was wondering about Yushchenko's efforts to curb labor migration from Ukraine:
:):
Has Yushchenko accomplished anything with creating jobs at home? I remember there was some talk about it  during the 2004 elections…
While some displeased readers automatically concluded that the British journalist had been bribed into writing this article, others were more reasonable:
oleg:
I don't think this article is planted – who would need that? Europe doesn't need us, they don't care about us anyway. Though perhaps the point is to get Europeans to feel hostile towards Ukraine and to make border control tougher. […]
Naturally, at least one exchange did occur between a reader suffering from Soviet nostalgia and a sort of a realist:
Kievlyanin:
Shame… There was nothing like this in the USSR, and there was no reason to drag yourself to the West when the Iron Curtain was in place, there used to be at least some prosperity, before the collapse under Gorbachev. And now people are prepared to give their last money to Ukrainian officials in order to be able to work as dishwashers at a McDonald's in Poland.
ahimas:
In the USSR, they'd shoot you at the border without much thought, that's why there weren't too many people willing to cross (though some desperate ones did exist). Don't take [this article] too seriously: [the journalist] wouldn't be able to tell a Pole from a Ukrainian, and there are plenty of those over there. Slavs, just as Arabs, aren't too welcome there, even [Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich] is unable to [create positive publicity]…
A number of readers pointed out that Ukraine cannot be held solely responsible for the massive illegal labor migration:
maks:
That Ukraine is the main supplier of immigrants to Britain is nonsense. Where is Ukraine and where is Britain? And how do they [non-Ukrainian illegal migrants] get here from Moscow? Maybe it's Moscow that's the main supplier of immigrants? And what about the rest of the countries through which immigrants make their way to reach Britain – are they not responsible? […]
***
newsash:
Border guards will understand all the complexity of it when the money for deportation will be taken from their budget – and this is when the boom will quickly stop. In its turn, the EU also has a sufficiently good motivation for border control. So this story has been written to scare the British mommies… P.S. What's needed is border regulations with Russia, this is where the true HOLE is. One doesn't even have to arrange things there, you are free to run back and forth as much as you want.
Here's another suggestion on what should be done to relieve the grave situation along Ukraine's border – and a note that inspires some optimism, pointing out that ignoring illegal migration may soon become unprofitable for Ukrainian officials:
Aleksandr:
They should be firing officials and everyone who gets caught in people smuggling and other dirty business – and give them long-term jail sentences. But we would need the rule of law in this country – something that isn't there. And won't appear anytime soon.
***
):
[…] Now that Ukraine has signed a readmission agreement with the EU, it is responsible for covering all the costs incurred by the stay and extradition of all those who entered the EU illegally from Ukraine. To put it differently, if half of China enter the EU through Ukraine, Ukraine will be obliged to pay all the extradition-related expenses. […]
Finally, a few comments from two readers who seem to have a firsthand knowledge of the people smuggling business in Ukraine:
Sasha Uzhgorod:
[…] I stopped doing this business four years ago […] Let's start with the prices. All the calculations used to be in dollars, and now they are in euros. I won't name the specific prices, but [the ones mentioned in the piece] definitely do not correspond to what we charge. The guides were mainly border guards themselves, but also rangers and hunters (they are cheaper) – but not small kids [“boys,” as the Sunday Times article states]. It's true that there are plenty of deaths at the border, especially in wintertime. As for who controls this business, it's not criminal gangs but cops together with SBU [Security Service of Ukraine]. I left when they took control of the business. As for the hack who wrote this piece, he must have talked to some drunk at a bar, someone who had heard some bits and pieces, but who is not a real guide. […]
***
111:
[…] A few times, my work has brought me into contact with people involved in [people smuggling] to Europe. There were no underaged there – the greens [border guards] serve as guides, as well as rangers and hunters, Sasha is absolutely right here. And only the local ones, draftee soldiers are scared to get involved. […] People from the East [of Ukraine] and Kyiv dominate the business, the locals get involved only because they know the border area. This business is controlled by the police and SBU – it's a big business, after all. […]


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Ukraine, Russia: Monopoly · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

MoldovAnn asks readers to vote “for Kyiv to become one of the 22 cities of the world to be included in the new Monopoly World Edition game board.” Robert Amsterdam writes about real-life Monopoly being played in Russia by the Kremlin.


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Uzbekistan: Perpetuum Mobile? · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Ibragim says that a teenager from the academic school in Samarqand, Uzbekistan, allegedly invented a “perpetual” car engine powered by a very unusual kind of fuel – air.


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Afghanisan: Dangers of Poppy Eradication  · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Barnett R. Rubin continues to keep a close eye on the heated discussions concerning the prospects and possible results of opium poppy crop eradication in Afghanistan.


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Afghanisan: Rifts within the Taliban · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Bipasha Ray reports on some striking news in the development of the Taliban insurgency, which could point to increasing internal rifts.


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Afghanistan: Returned Refugees, Police Fatigue and Freezing Children · Global Voices
Joshua Foust

There has been a series of articles on the plight of Afghanistan's police. Bipasha Ray notes one of the many problems facing the creation of a police force from scratch:
[There are] overworked and grossly underpaid and under-equipped policemen on the verge of mutinying, in charge of enormous swaths of land.
He also notices a report about returning refugees from Iran and Pakistan:
It finds that these young men and women find a degree of strength from the fact that they are now in their watan (homeland) even though they know very little about Afghanistan. But they are open to leaving Afghanistan if they face severe material or emotional misery – i.e. they don’t have a strong sense of attachment to Afghanistan.
Péter Marton focuses on some specific provinces and finds the following:
It seems to me that the media is reinforcing a perception that pouring resources into an institution like the ANP is a waste, given how it will never function normally. It's not going to, in their culture, some suggest, at times explicitly, at times implicitly. But this may be a self-fulfilling view of the situation.
Of course, concerns of justice stretch beyond the problems of police. Mohammed Fahim relates the tale of Commander Kaftar:
Police of Baghlan province ordered Commander Kaftar arrestment for murdering of a local commander. Kafter is the only Afghanistani woman who has fought the Taliban, the Russians and many a local rival in the mountains of Narin district, which is dotted with the wrecks of old Soviet and Taliban tanks.
Commander Kafter presently 50 years old woman was one of the powerful members of Jamiyat-i-Islami later known as Northern Alliance with 150 men under her command.
Baghlan city police announced that Kafter had killed a Jihads commander moreover her men wanted for robberies.
But it's not just wayward warlords. Sanjar reports on the looming case of Parvez Kambaskhsh:
Parviz a 23 years old journalist was detained three months ago. The allegations are downloading an article written by an Iranian scholar that allegedly contains Anti Islamic sentiments. the accused was sentenced to death by hanging by primary court of Balkh. Neither the accused have been given the chance nor has the advocate been appointed to exercise his/her rights to defence…
Parviz is a victim of the politics game. Media has a voice in the Afghan society, media feeds values into the power system. This game is about whose voices are heard and whose voices are marginalised. media has made a lot of noise after the Taliban, far more than mullahs and Karzai government don’t want the power to go out of the classical circles into the hands of ordinary people. Mullahs and religion is a good tool to sanction unwanted groups which are perceived banal and dangerous.
Safrang met a young boy, Farshid, at a fish stall in Kabul. The tale he relates is as depressing as it is revealing:
This boy tells me: “Farshid has been told to come home tonight with a hundred Afghanis” –two dollars. How much has Farshid worked so far? “30 Afghanis.” It is 6:00pm now –already dark. And did I say it was cold?
Indeed. And what of security? Bipasha Ray relates one more story about changes the European Council on Foreign Relations suggest:
The report urges European governments to send more troops to Afghanistan, eliminate or reduce the national caveats on their troops, and reverse their “underperformance” by increasing reconstruction aid. On the flip side, the report pushes the U.S. to shift its combat strategy to a more political one and abandon its counter-narcotics plans of aerial spraying or buying up opium crops. It recommends the U.S. shift the onus of the problem onto traffickers and concentrate on arresting and prosecuting drug lords and their governmental supporters.

author: Joshua Foust


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Australia: Top Blogs · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The Blogger at Dipping into the Blogpond has compiled a list of top 100 Australian blogs based on the blogs Alexa and Technorati rankings. (via Endverse)


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Bahamas: Prosperity Theology  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Dan Schweissing blogs about prosperity theology in the Bahamas: “Telling someone that they are poor…because they don't have enough faith in God is the religious equivalent of telling a single mother with three kids and a full-time minimum wage job that she is poor because she's lazy and doesn't work hard enough.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bahrain: A Walk in Town · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

To avoid getting stuck in traffic, Bahraini blogger Ammar walks to a nearby meeting with his camera in hand.


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Bahrain: Save the Patients  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A doctor by profession, Bahraini in Alaska is appalled with the inhumane manner in which certain patients are dealt with at the main government hospital in Bahrain.
Here is his story:


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Bhutan: Travel and Noodles · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

just a little something writes about a trip to Bhutan. Immigration, instant noodles and breathtaking scenes.


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Bolivia: Television Station Logo Knockoff · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Rodrigo Serrate of La TeVelisión [es] notes the obvious similarities in the new logo of the Bolivian channel Gigavision and the Argentine station Telefe.


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Srebrenica Child Victims · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Srebrenica Genocide Blog republishes a list of child victims of the Srebrenica massacre issued by Bosnia & Herzegovina's Federal Commission for Missing Persons.


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Brazil: Corrupted sports media · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Paulinho, a Brazilian journalist, has compiled facts and provided comprehensive evidence of a criminal scheme in the sports media in São Paulo. He has investigated Futebol Interior website, which promotes clubs, managers and players who pay bribes to them, while destroying those who refuse to do so. Other bloggers are picking up the story from Blog do Paulinho [pt].

author: Paula Góes


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Brazil: How the USA backed the dictatorship · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Luiz Carlos Azenha [pt] has started a series of posts in which he intends to translate all the official documents about the American support to the 1964 coup in Brazil, currently kept by George Washington University's National Security Archives. In this second post, he deciphers a “message from the then ambassador to Brazil, Lincoln Gordon, to his superiors in Washington”.


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Brazil: São Paulo’s 454th anniversary in Second Life · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Andre Lemos [pt] reports that, to celebrate the anniversary of 454 years of São Paulo, Second Life has inaugurated its main avenue in the virtual world at the New Island Brazil (183, 182, 41). “At least 20 thousand users are expected to take part of the celebration to launch the new island”.