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From Nasser to Mubarak and On, the State of Modern Egypt. · Global Voices
D B Shobrawy

The face of Egypt has changed greatly after the revolution that brought independence from foreign occupiers. From the Egypt created by Gamal Abdel Nasser to the Egypt to be inherited by Gamal Mubarak, the Egyptian Blogosphere is recalling their personal experiences, objections, predictions and experiences with blogger imprisonment.
When Nasser became president, shortly after the Egyptian revolution, life changed for many Egyptians and a massive exodus to all corners of the globe followed for those affected, as recounted by Maryanne Stroud Gabbani…
The period of Nasser's socialisation of Egypt was horrific for many Egyptians of European and Jewish backgrounds and also for many Egyptians who simply had been too successful in their enterprises in Egypt. The young state of Israel had high hopes that some of the Egyptian Jews would head there from Egypt and were happy to stir the pot to encourage emigration. Unfortunately, Tel Aviv simply was no match for Cairo (and probably still isn't), so the emigrants were far more likely to go to Paris, London, Geneva, New York, or Montreal. Canada is full of Egyptians who left Egypt during the 50's and 60's and I often get emails from their offspring who are now intensely curious about the fascinating country their parents left behind.
Since those days the role of government has not changed much, Egyptian laws regarding women certainly haven't with few exceptions as documented by Canadian educated, Egyptian lawyer, Forsoothsayer…
…the Egyptian constitution states: “The State undertakes to provide equality of opportunity for all citizens”. A tough requirement – it’s left over socialist stuff. Luckily the constitution goes by the wayside more often than not. Also, I should state at the outset that Egypt applies shariah quite narrowly and, it is held by mainstream scholars, incorrectly. For example, shariah does not attempt equality between men and women in the area of family law; few legal systems have succeeded in doing so. The man is heavily disadvantaged, if shariah were to be correctly applied, notwithstanding appearances. However, not all of the rights and obligations of both the husband and wife have made their way into Egyptian law..
The most recent years in the presidency of Hosni Mubarak have been some of the most domestically controversial since the Egyptian Revolution, thanks mostly to the clash of Government and opposition voices on Egyptian Blogs. The largest casualty of war in this clash is Egyptian Blogger Kareem Amer who was sentenced to four years in jail for comments written on his blog. FreeKareem.org tells of school children raising money and protesting on Kareem's behalf…
Julia said the campaign was about shutting down repression and rebooting human rights. This year’s theme was internet repression and working to end the restriction of freedom of expression on the internet. She said it was based on Kareem Amer, who was imprisoned for blogging his thoughts on the government…
Many fear for the future of Egypt and what will change, possibly for the worse. As John F. Kennedy once said, “Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” So what changes does the future hold for Egypt?  Zeinobia gives us her prediction…
It seems that very soon we are going to have very important political changes in Egypt , these expected political changes are predicted to be the big last moves in the inheritance process from the father to the son , of course here I mean father Hosni Mubarak to the Son Gamal Mubarak , this is what expected by all political analysts .
There are two changes that are going to happen very soon, the first change is the Nazif Cabinet  and the second change is the elections of the leadership in the NDP.
The opposition by Egyptian bloggers against the government is progressive and will only grow as we move closer to an imminent transition, whether that be to Gamal Mubarak or a government controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood. In any event the Egyptian Blogosphere only promises to get more interesting, so check in with me for next weeks round up and see what they're saying.

author: D B Shobrawy


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Hossein Derakhshan’s blog is suspended · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

The blog of the Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan (aka Hoder) has been suspended by the U.S. based hosting company, Hosting Matters, after a complaint filed by lawyers representing Mehdi Khalaji, Next Generation fellow at The Washington Institute. The complaint -not filed to the court- centered on allegedly defamatory content published on Derakhshan's blogs. Hosting Matters requested that Hossein remove a specific post related to Mehdi Khalaji:
regarding the material and commentary you have posted, we have found that the material and commentary fall into a grey area regarding the allegations made  by the complainant. The most prudent course of action, whether the allegations  of defamation are valid or not in this instance, is to remove the material  from the site
(…)
While we do not agree with the assessment as it  relates to the latest post you have made, we do not have the time, interest,  or resources to invest in continually dealing with his complaints and to  review your site. Please remove that post and refrain from mentioning this  person in any form on the site you host within this network.
“This is incredibly disturbing,” wrote Sepideh Saremi, “the host recognized that Khalaji/Khalaji’s lawyers were wrong but still allowed Khalaji’s bullying to force their hand.”
After removing the post in question, the hosting company made a new request, this time asking Hossein to remove anything he has written mentioning Mehdi Khalaji “in any language in which it is posted” and “to refrain from mentioning this person in any form on the site.”
In an email sent to friends, and posted later on his temporary blog, alerting them about what he described as a “new blow to online free speech”, Hossein Derakhshan wrote:
Last Friday, I was kicked out of my hosting company (Florida-based Hosting  Matters), as a result of a legal notice sent by Mehdi Khalaji, an Iranian  fellow at a neo-conservative think-tank (Washington Institute for the Near  East Policy with Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz and James Woolsey on its  advisory board).
Mhedi Khalaji's lawyer has sent a notice to my hosting company and also my  domain registrar, Go Daddy, asking them to a) remove any ‘defamatory’ material  about him, b) make me publish an apology, and c) pay $10,000 for the claimed  damages. (…) Then last Friday, I noticed that the hosting company had  actually removed, from my web serve and even my blogging software's database,  any post where Mehdi Khalaji was named in English. After threatening me not to  disclose what the hosting company did, and after a few email exchanges, they  terminated my account.
Mehdi Khalaji's lawyers were also requesting that the hosting company provide them “with any information in their possession” that indicates the Internel protocol addresses (IP) of the visitors of Derakhshan's web sites since their creation. “I feel that this presents a grave privacy concern,” noted Nart Villeneuve, technical research director at CitizenLab. “Handing over the IP addresses of the visitors to Hossein’s blog? I fail to see how that is related to the alleged defamatory claims.” Villeneuve warned that “the legal notice that resulted in the deletion of some of Hossein Derakhshan’s blog posts by his hosting company and lead to the termination of his blog’s hosting service should raise red flags within the Anti-Censorship community.” In another post “Censored in Iran, Deleted in USA“, Villeneuve, who is also documenting Internet content filtering and surveillance practices worldwide with the OpenNet Initiative (ONI) noticed that “Threatening ISP’s with “take down” requests is one of the most undocumented methods of censoring Internet content.”
Nima Milaninia, the editor of the blog Iranian Truth, submitted numerous legal arguments contesting Hosting Matters’ decision to suspend Hossein Derakhshan blogs:
Section 230 of the Communications  Decency Act (CDA) says that “No provider or user of an interactive  computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any  information provided by another information content provider.” This federal  law preempts any state laws to the contrary: “[n]o cause of action may be  brought and no liability may be imposed under any State or local law that is  inconsistent with this section.” Adding that “Shutting down a blog and seeking  to control its contents, even though it is legally permissible, is not an  action ANY service provider should be committing. Its enough that all bloggers  and activists take notice and petition against their action.”
And while some Iranian bloggers are trying to find the right solution to the Derakhshan/ Khalaji dispute, Jahanshah Javid, who knows “Hossein and Mehdi personally and have enjoyed their company” thinks that:
Hossein has not been found guilty in a court of law. He has fallen victim to  an aggressive lawyer and an internet hosting company that's trying to cover  its ass. If Hossein had a lawyer and there was a trial, I am sure the court  would not have ordered his site be shut down. And it would not have forced him  to remove ALL references to Mehdi Khalaji in his blog either.
“What Next” asked Iranian Woman:
In a democracy you don't selectively give voice to one group of people and  shut others down because they don’t speak to your liking. It is disturbing to  see that some so called Iranian human rights, women rights, and god knows what  rights activists actually are happy and cheerful for Hossein Derakhshan’s blog  being off the map! I don’t think there was another blogger who questioned  Derakhshan’s motives and wrote her opinion of him before anyone else as much  as I have but I stand for his right. This is despite the fact that we stand on  two opposite poles! Derakhshan has the right to express his opinion, and to  write.
Aside from the political and ideological issues that can legally be addressed and discussed by those for and against Hossein Derakhshan's rights to express himself on his blog, the most important questions raised by this case are relevant to all of us: Are our personal blogs safe with commercial hosting companies, especially when our writing may be deemed controversial? What if hosting companies edit our posts, deleting whatever they want? Given how easily content was forced off the internet in Derakhshan's case, by claims of defamation untested in a court of law, maybe the answer is to find alternative hosting companies and ISPs which do not cave in to lawyers’ intimidation or remove content in response to unproven claims.
In his speech at the annual awards dinner (2007) held by the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA), Amnesty International's campaigns director, Tim Hancock, called on internet service providers (ISPs) to protect online freedom of expression:
Web users and service providers alike have a responsibility to keep alive the  things that have made the internet great — its democracy, its freedom and the  way it gives people access to knowledge and the opportunity to participate and  be heard, in a way that was unthinkable 45 years ago.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: sami ben gharbia


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India: An old town and development · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

My Himachal on a 400 year old town – Nahan, and the government's lack of focus on development.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India, Pakistan: 1947, Independence and Partition · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Ruined by Reading reviews Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire, a book by Alex Von Tunzelmann.


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India, Pakistan: Macaulay, Education and Colonialism · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

varnam is doing a fascinating series on Thomas Macaulay and his policies on education in colonial India.


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Iran:The Embassy of Afghanistan protests against Iranian TV · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Yek Pezeshk says [Fa] that the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tehran protested against a TV series,Chahrkhaneh, where,it seems, Afghans were insulted.Afghan officials say the producers of this series presented an unreal image of Afghan young people and it will have a negative effect on Iran-Afghanistan relations.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:The Revolutionary Guards a Terrorist Group? · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Serendip says ,according to news,the United States has decided to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country's 125,000-strong elite military branch, as a “specially designated global terrorist,” according to U.S. officials, a move that allows Washington to target the group's business operations and finances.The blogger says the Arabic Part of the IRGC's logo (the picture on the right) is a verse from quoran (koran). It means “Be prepared to fight with the enemy in everyway you can” (financially, militarily, economically).


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Jamaica: Bridges to Memory  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The poems…are rooted in the crucible of the Caribbean/African American Diaspora”: Geoffrey Philp's Blog Spot features Jamaican author Marva McClean as she discusses her new book of poetry.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Jamaica: Interesting Elections? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“For the first time in Jamaica’s political history has it been so exciting…it will be a tight race to Jamaica House.”  Jamaican Lifestyle thinks the island's upcoming elections are going to be interesting…


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Japan: Contraception  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Neomarxisme blogs about the use of contraception in Japan: Japan is the one of the only countries on Earth where condom use declined in the 1990s and 70% of Japanese women would never even consider trying oral contraceptives.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Japan: Living With the Heat · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

As Japan suffers through what likely will become its hottest summer on record, with temperatures in some places topping 40 degrees and humidity at all-time highs, and even as business owners happily celebrate skyrocketing sales of air conditioners, fans, and ice cream [Ja], worries of an energy crisis loom on the horizon. And while the Cool Biz campaign initiated by the Koizumi administration has gone some way to reducing the demand for artificial cooling and dehumidification, active participation in the campaign nationwide remains relatively low [Ja]. Add to this that inventions such as the recently released USB necktie allow salarymen to stay cool and keep their suits on, and the future of energy conservation in Japan looks less than promising.
One Japanese blogger, however, has taken matters into his own hands and done the unthinkable. Blogger Kenchan writes in his post of August 10th, entitled “The ultimate environmental measure, carried out in the middle of a scorching heat wave” (究極の環境対策。猛暑の中で実践中):
うちはエアコンを猛暑にかけません。車もそうです。毎日大汗かいています。とても暑い思いはしますが、新陳代謝が盛んになるので、体の調子は良くなりました。ダイエットにもなりますし。
[…]
うちは事務所の窓を全開にしています。朝晩は植木に水をやります。涼しくなります。ゴーヤも大きくなればもっと日陰効果も出るというものです。たまに スーツ姿のセールスの人が来ますが、「暑いですね」と言われてすぐに退散します。客商売でないのでそれでいいのでは・・。パソコンも喘いでいるのｲで、時 々消します。
暑いと言いつつエアコンをかけているのは人間だけ。蝉もトンボもカエルも犬も猫もエアコンの中にはいません。
涼しい早朝に活動し、お昼はほんのすこし昼寝を昼休みにします。就寝は板の間で寝ます。夏場はお陰で体脂肪が減ります。暑い中ではビールも飲めませんね。よけいに大汗かきますから。
よさこいと高校野球が終われもれば、しのぎやすくはなります。それまでの我慢くらべが続いています。世間様がお盆休みの間も会社は休みなし。少し効率を落として暑さをやり過ごすしかありませんね。
とにかくビルのなかでエアコンに浸りながら環境問題を語るのは偽者。屋外へ出て猛暑の中で考えてみるべき。指導者はそうあるべきですね。

author: Chris Salzberg


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Jordan: 7iber’s New Look · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordan's citizen journalism digital project 7iber is wearing a new dress, reports The Black Iris.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Jordan: E-Cheating · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian Palestinian Shaden Abdul Rahman discusses e-cheating in this post.


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Kazakhstan: Crisis and Elections · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Elections
Elections are scheduled for August 18 and the campaign is drawing to its end this week. Megakhuimyak comments (RUS) on the constitutional novelty according to which almost 10% of the parliament's lower chamber is elected (de-facto appointed) by the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan, a consultative body subordinate to the president. The novelty is meant to ensure representation of ethnic minorities. The blogger says that the principle of formation of the Assembly's list is non-transparent and controversial:
Why they put a Kazakh there is unclear. Why they chose Balkars (North Caucasus ethnicity) among all other small nations is also hardly understandable. Others are totally unknown people. Either the presidential administration is working badly, or it is their politics to stuff up the Majilis with dull deputies?
Adam of neweurasia also provides (RUS) an overview of media coverage surrounding the Assemly's nomination.
Adam also reports on the legalization of property and money that the opposition regards as an officially approved money-laundering campaign, in which higher state officials (that form the core of the ruling “Nur-Otan's” party list) and their relatives have benefited the most (ENG).
This opinion is shared (RUS) by Irene of cj.kz:
All official media are very praiseful about legalization. I'm sorry, maybe I don't understand something, but is it true that we are lauding the fact that people effectively used the chance to confirm their rights for luckily stolen property and money, simultaneously escaping trials and jails?
Meanwhile milis-kz believes (RUS) that the Kazakh opposition today “is not a bunch of small factions any more; they are now a real political force, judging by the platform of the All-National Social Democratic Party”. However, he admits: “Most likely, neither debates nor the vote itself play any role, as the “proper” figures are already getting prepared on the top.” Probably, this is one of the reasons why the youth in Kazakhstan is apolitical, as Vitaliy Mantrov writes (RUS) on neweurasia.
Financial crisis?
America's mortgage crisis, the downfall of stock markets, the raise of the dollar in Kazakhstan (which many believe to be a consequence of the abovementioned legalization – and the subsequent flight of capital abroad) and longstanding rumors of a banking system collapse (based on excessive external borrowings of the Kazakhstani banks, which they spend by giving away consumer credits) made bloggers think:
Count-asylum says (RUS) that “crisis in the banking sphere is becoming the main issue in the blogosphere, pushing the parliamentary elections off the radar, partly also because their results are quite predictable”.
Megakhuimyak was radical enough to declare the start of crisis after an article (RUS) got published in the Russian major daily “Kommersant”:
Stock prices of Kazakh Alliance Bank and Kazkommertzbank decreased in London, other banks’ stocks fell at the Kazakhstani stock exchange. If you say this is not a crisis, then what is it?
Gorisvet says (RUS) that all top Kazakh banks dramatically increased the amount of initial installments for credits and mortgages, while two of them totally suspended giving away credits until September. Ehot wonders (RUS) which bank will be the first to fall next Monday.
Meanwhile, most financial experts, governmental officials and banks’ top managers say that the crisis is not a precise word for the situation. They say that the economy on the whole and the banking sector in particular will not collapse because of sizeable stabilization instruments (gold-and-currency fund and the National Fund, which is aggregating petrodollars) and stable world prices for oil.
In this respect, Steve LeVine on his personal blog oilandglory comments on the Kazakh government's decision to press harder for broader control over the country's oil wealth.
Besides
Saken Tauzhanov, an independent journalist, blogger on KUB and a critic of the regime, was hit by a truck and died in Almaty.
Wondernews says (RUS):
It is necessary to investigate whether this was an accident or not, although there is no reason to trust the official investigations. The country goes down the hill.
Weathercock agrees (RUS):
A journalist, who dared to publicly and critically evaluate the reality perished. I have no doubts that this was murder. Every time an opposition journalist or politician dies, I can hardly escape the feeling of disgust towards the country of Kazakhstan.
Georgian comments (RUS) on the so-called “Aliyev Affair“, in which the Kazakhstani authorities are trying to prosecute former presidential son-in-law and diplomat Rakhat Aliev for alleged affiliation with mafia and kidnappings.
The court in Vienna refused to extradite him, saying that he can't get fair trial in Kazakhstan. Georgian alludes to the long-rumored suspicion that Aliyev's plans was to inherit the president's post after Nazarbayev and says:
It seems like “Papa [president Nazarbayev] had promised sweet candy to Rakhat, but later ate it himself. Now Aliyev feels offended and complains about Papa to other relatives.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Kazakhstan: Exhibition · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

The blogging artists of Artpologist have successfully opened their exhibition about the changing face of Kazakhstan's southern capital Almaty. Daniel has some thoughts on how it all went (photos here). Not bad at all, according to the first press reviews coming in.

author: Ben Paarmann


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Kuwaiti Magicians in Las Vegas · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Kuwaiti magicians are leaving their mark on Las Vegas, reports Mark.


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Kyrgyzstan: Let the show begin · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Mirsulzhan Namazaliev provides a comprehensive summary of Livejournal coverage of the opening of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan, including links to many first-hand photo reports.


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Liberia: Iron Ladies of Liberia – a documentary · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A documentary about Liberia, Iron Ladies of Liberia, has made into the Toronto Film Festival: “Did you hear that the film “Iron Ladies of Liberia” made it into the Toronto Film Festival? Heard there is a big screening at the opening of the UN General Counsel this fall as well…will be good PR for Liberia and Ellen.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Myanmar: Fuel Price Hike · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Dawn gives a Burmese middle class person's view of the fuel price hike in Myanmar and wonders how the daily wage earners will come with the hike.

author: Preetam Rai


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Medellín, Colombia: The Recipe · Global Voices
David Sasaki

In the last podcast introducing the HiperBarrio project in Medellín, Colombia, Jorge Montoya [ES] described the workshop he gave to young people in the working class neighborhood of La Loma San Javier as part of Medellín's 16th annual Seminario de Comunicación Juvenil [ES], or “Youth Communication Seminar.” The goal of the week-long seminar, according to its website, is to “continue reflection of diversity and its manifestation as a form of inclusion of the persons that make up the city.” Jorge led the workshop on new media and at the end of the week each young participant had his or her own weblog. They also collaborated on a group weblog [ES]. And, most impressive, they produced the incredibly creative video clip above about their experience in the workshop.
The clip of the young participants – produced using Microsoft's Windows Movie Maker – shows them explaining the ‘recipe’ of how to improve city-wide communication using participatory tools like blogs. At the end of the clip we are shown screenshots of the participants’ weblogs (linked to at the right-hand side of the workshop website).
I asked Jorge to describe the process of making the video clip.
Cuando estuvo planeado el asunto, ellos se dieron a la tarea de hacer una ambientación mínimamente de acuerdo con un programa de cocina, grabamos en cuestión de una hora y luego nos dimos a la tarea de editar entre todos con Movie maker, agregándole algunas de las fotos y cerrando con la invitación a que leyeran cada uno de los blogs nuevos.
Todos disfrutamos mucho la experiencia, nos reímos bastante y creo que lo fundamental fue la reflexión sobre la importancia de informar e informarnos, lo que era nuestro objetivo antes que pretender mostrar detalles técnicos sobre la apertura de blogs pues sobre eso ya hay bastante info.  Se quiso realizar algo más fresco, más del lenguaje de todos, con cierto sentido de invitación y para generar inquietudes.
We all enjoyed the experience. We laughed a lot and I believe that the fundamental thing was the reflection of the importance of informing and of being informed, which was our main objective before trying to teach the technical details of how to open a blog. There is already plenty of info about how to do that. We wanted to make something more fresh, in a language more easily understood by everyone, with a certain sense of welcome, and to generate interest.
Although all the posts are written in Spanish, many of the HiperBarrio participants included photographs of their city. Some examples include:
Like all of us, I am sure that these new bloggers would appreciate comments of encouragement and even just simple greetings from around the world.
Using dotSUB, you can also help make their video clip available in more languages by translating the brief transcript. Simply register for an account and choose the language you wish to translate the clip to on the far right of the video page. I have made a brief screencast describing how to translate and subtitle video on dotSUB.

author: David Sasaki


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Moldova: Migrant Workers & Economy · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

According to TOL's Moldova Matters, “Moldova is ranked second in the world after Togo, in the list of countries with economies that depend on money sent from abroad” by Moldovan migrant workers.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Morocco: Another Confounded blogger · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Ghasbouba is also confounded over the recent suicide attack in Meknes.

author: Jillian C. York


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Morocco: Journalist Jailed · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A Moroccan court yesterday sentenced Mustapha Hormat Allah, a journalist for Al-Watan al-An to eight months in prison for reporting on leaked documents explaining the “state of alert” in Morocco, reports  Elijah Zarwan.


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Nepal: Press Freedom · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

UWB! has updates on Press Freedom in Nepal, with the Maoists backing off.


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Nigeria: Blogger’s opinion about the Superblog · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The debate about the new Nigerian blog aggregator, the SuperBlog, continues: “The purpose of Naija Alive is to create a unified voice for Nigeria, a unified voice that contains many voices. Such deserves praise and support. But, I never said that my blog was a Nigerian blog. Sometimes I write on gender issues and poetry. I would not be happy if my blog was suddenly listed as a gay blog. Nor is it a political blog. Rather insensitively, my blog has been re-named to suit the needs of Naija Alive in their hurry to get as much going as quickly as possible.”


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Pakistan: Talibanization · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

KO presents a timeline of Talibanization of Pakistan. “It didn't just creep up and hit an entire country on the head yesterday, it was a long time cooking.”


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Peru: Earthquake Hits Lima · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Juan Arellano of Globalizado [ES] writes about the breaking news of a strong earthquake that hit the country.  In addition, while President Alan Garcia addresses the nation, a tsunami warning is also issued.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Peru: Latest from the Earthquake in Peru · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

GV Author, Juan Arellano has collected additional information regarding the recent earthquake in Peru [ES], where the death toll has risen to more than 300.


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Russia, Finland: Sale of Karelia · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Vilhelm Konnander writes on how Boris Yeltsin had nearly sold Karelia to Finland.


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Saudi Arabia: Women’s Support Society · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia are hoping to establish an independent society which aims to support women, reports Saudi Jeans.


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Sierra Leone: Election update · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sierra Leone election update: “If you don't know by now let me be the first to say that THERE WILL BE A RUN OFF….No political party will be able to get 55% of the votes in this first round. Also there are many of my friends in the diaspora who believed the APC PROPAGANDA MACHINE and have been circulated a preliminary result form printed in AWOKO Newspaper….those results are not valid and do not represent the current picture.”


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Singapore: Hungry Ghost Festival · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Culture Shiok writes about the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival “14th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is when the gates of hell open and the dead will again walk among the living.” The blogger describe how the relatives of the departed people try to appease the souls.


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Singapore: Meeting Mohammed Yunus · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Singapore's foreign affairs minister describes his meeting with Mohammed Yunus, the Nobel laureate Bangladeshi banker. The minister also points to a micro-credit initiatives in Singapore.


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Syria: Occupied Golan Heights Campaign · Global Voices
Yazan Badran

Golaniya posts a link to a new campaign for solidarity with Syrian prisoners in Israeli jails. With links to a complete list of known prisoners and their photos.

author: Yazan Badran


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Tanzania: Tanzania’s model philanthropist · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Meet a model philanthropist from Tanzania; “The Shah's employ workers who make crafts like; handbags, wallets, briefcases, belts, hats, and chairs for the regions thriving tourism industry. Unlike most companies in Africa, they hire the handicapped and the disabled.”


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Thailand: Tallest Peak in South East Asia · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

BISEAN publishes pictures and heights of the top ten highest mountain peaks in order to dispel the myth created by  travel agents that Mount Kinabalu in Sabah is the tallest peak in South East Asia.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Caroni Bird Sanctuary  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Haveworld posts some pictures from Trinidad's Caroni Bird Sanctuary.


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Turkmenistan: Reaching out · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Bonnie Boyd notes that Turkmenistan's isolation on the world stage seems to decrease under new president Berdymukhamedov. Meanwhile, Turkmen national Merdjen is having bad flashbacks of totalitarian rule in her current home Bishkek, where the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit is held at highest security levels.


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Ukraine: Olga Pylnyk · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Olechko posts a note on Olga Pylnyk, an artist from Lviv.


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Ukraine: Politicians’ Living Conditions · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes writes about the living conditions of Ukraine's major politicians.


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Vietnam: Linux Group Meeting · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

SaigonNezumi informs of the first meeting of the Vietnam Professional Linux User Group.


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Zimbabwe: Mugabe blacklists Global Voices Online · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The government of Zimbabwe blacklists Global Voices Online: “Evidently, Global Voices is one of the sources of “‘virulent propaganda’ to delegitimise ‘our just struggle against Anglo-Saxons’.” We’re one of 41 websites blacklisted by the ZANU-PF government, a list that includes the Washington Post and CNN, as well as the personal blog of our Zimbabwe correspondent, Zimpundit.”


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Anguilla: Anti-Referendum  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Can I be blamed for suspecting that the people who propose a formal referendum on Anguilla’s new Constitution have a hidden agenda?” asks Corruption-free Anguilla, as he makes a case for not holding a referendum.


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Argentina: Carpooling Match Site · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Blog Pasa en Buenos Aires [ES] writes about a new site called Comparte Coche [ES], which is a way for commuters into the city of Buenos Aires to find carpooling matches, which will help to reduce transportation costs and be a little easier on the environment.


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Bahrain: Poetry Slammed! · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

This week Bahraini bloggers express their concerns about the country's electronic identity cards. With the school year about to begin, education is a hot topic. Be careful what you write when you send a job application – you might unwittingly become one of the new superheroes, The Employables! We finish with some strong opinions regarding the literary scene in Bahrain.
Too smart, or not so smart?
The Smart Card (an electronic identity card) is being phased in in Bahrain, but a number of bloggers have expressed their reservations about the scheme. Ammar thinks the project is doomed for failure:
So we started this Smart Card concept and we're full blast trying to get everyone to carry one. FOR WHAT?! No one has a reader yet, and the card is useless to anyone NOT carrying one; there's no address or anything on the front, and even the driving license part of it is not acknowledged by the traffic police. WTF?! Second of all, the process to actually get it is SO GODDAMN ANNOYING, AND the people working there are total IDIOTS! No, i'm not exaggerating; TOTAL FRICKIN’ IDIOTS! And finally, can we really trust THESE PEOPLE with our data?! Keeping it private and safe? We are seriously screwed guys. And shouldn't we be thinking of fixing the other parts of the country still left in the dark ages before trying to advance? Go into the Ministry of Health and you'll see people still writing things down on pieces of paper. WHERE IS THE BLOODY TECHNOLOGY?! I wouldn't mind a 1985 IBM system at least, but NO! They don't even have that! WORK ON FIXING YOUR BLOODY PROBLEMS BEFORE TRYING TO ADVANCE; you can't run before you crawl, and shit, we're still on the verge of crawling. This is going to end up as such a HUGE disaster, I can feel it!
Mahmood is worried about the use of the Smart Card for political purposes, to further sectarian aims:
How is all of this going to affect us in Bahrain is anyone’s guess. My private guess is that it is going to be detrimental to our freedom – at best. Not because the card itself is a bad idea, not at all, things are moving in that direction the world over anyway. Its failure in Bahrain is the almost complete absence of its supporters simply because of the people who have been assigned to oversee it, and the clandestine organisation that is pushing it.
No project can succeed if it lacks the basic necessity of trust. This one, for all the potential good that it can otherwise bring, is destined to doom. Bahrainis simply lack the necessary trust to make it successful. Oh they will go and get that card issued, to be sure, because as we have seen with the CPR card that preceded it, no earthly transaction could be completed in this country without it.
What’s left to do but tell those who care to simply “brace brace brace” as this thing will come crashing down, or at least will never reach its full potential.
Unless of course full transparency is adopted and those who have hijacked this project for nefarious deeds are removed.
Education matters
With the new school year soon to start, education is on people's minds. Ammar wants change:
We have smart people in Bahrain; most of them just go brain-dead under our current system, we need our people to be challenged, strengthened, given the tools to promote and advance. We need that to get rid of the corruption, the unemployment, the shortages, the ignorance…
Please… Fix our educational system…
Yagoob is happy to be a teacher:
Teaching is one of the hardest jobs on Earth, we’ve all at some point in our lives have seen a teacher reaching the brink of insanity (or turning insane) in his/her quest to restore order in the class and feed you with information that you will either forget and never use in your whole life or the kind of stuff that will stick with you like a لزقة جونسون (a Johnson and Johnson’s band aid) for the rest of your life.
[…]
I’m a teacher trainer by day and a computer teacher at various institutes by afternoon and night, although I might add that I have had no studies in education other than a single ’train the trainers’ course I took earlier this year.
Working in these areas, the majority of the people you come across are there because they want to learn, the teachers fill in the appropriate forms and get them signed and switch around their timetables just to get to the training, whilst in institutes, putting it bluntly, they pay for it!
[…]
Luckily for me, whenever I mess up a lesson (and this happens a lot when you use technology and bloody Windows keeps crashing or the Internet is not connecting or even worse really slow) I can always rectify it with the next group I teach and once I get it right, I feel this soothing sense of satisfaction quite similar to the way you feel after drinking a cold glass of water in a month like this one.
Ebtihal Salman is dreading the start of the new school year:
New superheroes
Looking for a job? Think carefully what you put in your application. Sairafi is amazed at some of the CVs he has received recently:
Work has been taking too much of my time, but to actually make more time for myself i’ve started a mission this week, beyond ordinary…to create the next set of superheroes, also known as: The Employables
The Employables, in my mind are just like any superhero posse hanging out, with extra hip, extra cool abilities that are matched by no other! They’re here to save my company, to save this market, to save the country, and finally, to save the universe!
If i weren’t so objective about my unusual hiring process, i’d probably trash just about every CV that comes my way, i didn’t realize that a tiny ad in the GDN would get me all sort of potential superheros that by far leave Spidey and Batyboy look like cheesy amateurs living in a cookie jar. i’m pretty sure everyone has their CV story, i’m really not looking to outdo anyone, but i’ve managed to combine these talented individuals to create a group of superheros that would make the X-MEN look like sissies.
Lady AutoFire, don’t let her simple relaxed and feminine beauty fool you, this lady can pack a punch, sending her cv a good number of times to statistically guarantee a chance to be reviewed! unloading CV’s uncontrollably to by far drown her employer!
The Preacher, I had nothing good to say about him initially, but geared with ONLY his religious lecturing experience won me over, he will preach the rest of staff to success, and pray the company will be the next Google.
Ultimatum, no, he’s not Bourne, but he sure got me by setting an ultimatum for my response! By the end of his cover letter, I thought I was applying to his company!
Ms. Blaine, probably married to the illusionist David Blaine, she has the super-ability to make her CV disappear from my mailbox, I searched for a good five minutes till I realized her CV wasn’t attached.
Needy Many, Many, asked me to do “the needful” when it came to her application, I was a bit confused as to what “the needful” really was though? I suddenly “needed” her.
Poetry slammed
In these roundups I don’t normally quote from my own blog, bint battuta in bahrain, but this week I will, because I am amongst the bloggers who have written about poetry in Bahrain. My post described a discussion about the translation of an erotic poem:
I’ve discovered that it’s not such a great idea to discuss translations of poems in a public space. When I translate poetry, I always talk to the poet about the images and underlying concepts of the work. Until now, without it being a deliberate plan, I have always met the poets concerned in relatively quiet, private environments – their offices or homes. But last night I had a meeting arranged with a certain gentleman poet in a café, and I knew from the outset that our conversation was going to be difficult.
[…]
I was sitting with the gentleman whom I know, but not that well, in a very public environment. I like his work, and I respect him, and he always behaves very respectfully with me, but I had to wonder what anyone listening to us last night must have thought (and believe me, it was very easy to listen in). The poem we were discussing described, in an oblique way, the sexual act, so his explanation was littered with ‘members’ and ‘sperm’ and ‘climaxing’ and goodness knows what else.
[…]
The conversation was in Arabic, which I suppose gave it some distance for me, but of course made it all the more interesting to those sitting at neighbouring tables in the café. And this gentleman didn’t seem concerned at all. In fact not only did he speak loudly, but he happily threw my name into every sentence.
Butterfly attended a poetry recital a while back, and it left her unimpressed with poetry in Bahrain today:
وان قرأت قصيدة مماثلة واتحفظ هنا على كلمة قصيدة وأضع تحتها ألف خط لشاعرة بحرينية تتحدث فيها عن تجربتها مع صرصار فاجأها ليلاً
في كل الحالات فهناك خلل ما .. أما انها فعلا فنتازيا شعرية أو ان المشكلة تكمن فيني لأنني لا أستطيع تذوق الشعر البحريني المعاصر
Storm-swept seems to have a similar opinion about Bahraini poetry, and parodies it:
تفاحةٌ حمراء …
تفاحةٌ حمراء …
و بانكة مترامية الاطراف …
يا اخي ويش جاب تفاحة حمراء الى بانكة ؟
ويش هالوصاخة … معذور اكيد قاعد يكتب قصيدته في الحر …
A red apple…
A red apple…
And a widespread fan…
My brother, what has the apple got to do with the fan?
What is this rubbish? He must have an excuse as he surely was writing his poem in the heat.
More debates and discussions from Bahrain next week!

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Bangla blogs: It’s all about Taslima · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

On August 9th, the firebrand Bangladeshi author-in-exile Taslima Nasrin was attacked by a group of MIM (Taslima under Section 153-A (inciting enmity between different groups) of the Indian Penal Code.
Bangla author Taslima Nasrin being protected from hecklers at the Press Club in Hyderabad. Photograph:Noah Seelam/ AFP
On the other hand, the attack has been strongly denounced by the media and public and the government has been criticised for its soft approach towards the attackers. The incident is quickly taking on a political dimension. With local elections round the corner, experts say that the MIM is likely to use it as a tool to mobilise Muslim votes.
The attack has created ripples in the Bangla blog world as well. The Hidden God strongly denounces the attack on the author. He says:
“তসলিমা লেখালেখির মাধ্যমে নিজের মত প্রকাশ করেছেন তাই কেউ যদি তার প্রতিবাদ করতে চায় তবে তাও লেখালেখির মাধ্যমেই করা উচিত । এভাবে অসামাজিক কাজকর্ম করে নয় “
Taslima has expressed her views in writing so anyone wanting to protest against her views should also do so through writing and not through anti-social acts such as this attack on her.
Kazi Alim Zamal too has strong words for the attackers. Also, he feels that the Indian government should grant Taslima her request for citizenship.
Other bloggers like Arif feel that the ban on Taslima should be lifted in Bangladesh and she should be allowed to return to her country of birth. In the comments section of the same post, various bloggers like Bhaskar, Balai etc., have agreed with Arif's point of view and also added that adequate security should be provided to Taslima, who has a fatwa on her life issued by Islamic fundamentalists.

author: Aparna Ray


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Bangladesh: Stories of Corruption · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Bangladesh Corruption Stories attempts to encourage readers to mail in their experiences with corruption in the country anonymously.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Barbados, Jamaica: Dean Moves On · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cheese-on-Bread gives a Hurricane Dean update from Barbados: “When I heard on the news…that the all clear had been given I was surprised, 'cause in St. Michael the wind was howling and the rain beating down”, while Jamaican Veiw says that “Hurricane Dean could be in Jamaica’s territorial waters by Sunday”…


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Barbados, St. Vincent: Sloppy Service from LIAT · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Free Press reports that even the St. Vincent Prime Minister is concerned about the “sloppy service” of LIAT, a main regional carrier, while Notes from the Margin says: “In an environment of soaring air fares a Trinidadian entrepeneur has taken up the challenge of providing affordable inter island transport.”


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Bermuda: TiVo is Back · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Both BravoZulu.com and Politics.bm are thrilled that TiVo is back in Bermuda.


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Bolivia: Worrisome Levels of Alarm at Constituent Assembly · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Miguel Buitrago of MABB reports that the Constituent Assembly has now reached the “Elmo level of alarm.“


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Caribbean: Bracing for Hurricane Dean  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Caribbean blogosphere is abuzz over the impending arrival of Hurricane Dean, the first official hurricane of the season:
Steve's Dominica reports:
“Dean will be passing over us around 6am on Friday. We'll start to feel the winds from midnight tonight…”
Steve manages to venture out, however and posts a photo of how the storm is shaping up, adding:
“You could see people were taking Hurricane Dean seriously, boarding up windows.  Up at the top of the hill, the gusts of wind hinted at what is to come.”
As the storm moves closer, Living Dominica says:
“I know that I am going to have to sit through hours of howling hurricane winds tomorrow, and the thought brings tears to my eyes. I feel like a small child abandoned and unprotected at the thought of this storm.”
Cheese-on-Bread, blogging from Barbados, takes a more practical approach and posts some helpful  hurricane preparation tips, urging everyone to “stay safe”:
“The weather has definitely changed from the sunny skies we had earlier today…”
Living in Barbados offers some useful information on the storm's projected path and estimated wind speed, as well as how Bajans are preparing for the possible hit:
“At home, all of our shutters are down and windows closed, movable objects are indoors, and we hope that neighbours have done something similar. The airport closes at 9pm tonight and should reopen at 9am tomorrow; flights by the US airlines had already been cancelled from earlier in the day. Lots of business closed in mid-afternoon and road works were suspended and warning signs removed, in case they became missiles in the expected high winds. Reports indicated that people were rushing to hardware and grocery stores to stock up on essential provisions. Category 1 shelters were advised to open.”
My Barbados Blog posts a comprehensive list of the varying storm watch levels in the different islands, while Notes from the Margin writes:
“Join me in saying a prayer tonight for our friends in St. Lucia, Martinique and Dominica who are really looking down the business end of this storm.”
As expected, the weather was fairly subdued on Barbados this morning, according to Pull! Push!. His most recent update says:
“It's just after 7:30 in the morning. The skies are still overcast, it's raining and strong breezes and sudden gusts of wind, are both putting in an appearance. I have heard that the ALL CLEAR has been given.”
Mighty Afroditee, who has lived through the havoc Hurricane Ivan wreaked on the Cayman Islands, blogs about the whims of Mother Nature and hard lessons learned:
“An air of expectation hangs over the island, as worry furrows the brows of those bent on preparation. Ivan (the “Rat Bastard”) has left his mark. Madame decided to humble me with the threat of Dean. She has dispatched another one of her Enforcers to remind me of her far reaching capabilities, especially since my kind have abused and neglected her in so many ways. She is now bent on vengeance.
Yet, as I track each breath of movement from this probable usurper…I know that I am not alone. Dean and his whereabouts dominate the topic of all conversation, as we all get ourselves into a state of preparedness. Supermarkets are packed; cars are moved to higher ground; information is being disseminated like wildfire; plywood and shutters are being off loaded and inspected at individual residences…and it all gives me a strange sense of detached pride for my island and its peoples. Ivan was a hard lesson learned but, we learned our lesson. No one wants to be caught off guard again.”
And Pwoje Espwa, blogging from Haiti, says:
“If Hurricane Dean keeps coming as predicted we will be in a heck of a lot of trouble. We are doing what we can to get ready. Saturday and Sunday look to be miserable days. Keep us in your prayers, please.”
Belize-y-Livin’ has a bit more time to prepare, but it does not do much to allay  her fears:
“Dean is supposed to pick up force and hit here as a category 4 hurricane on Tuesday morning, which means there is plenty of time to change path, as it often does. Yet I am still nervous. Some people say this is going to be the worst hurricane documented in Belize while others claim it will change course. I'm not sure what to think.”
West Indies Cricket Blog wants Dean to go home, while both Barbados Free Press and Barbados Underground have turned down requests from international media to be interviewed about how their fellow islanders have been preparing for Dean's arrival:
“Message For CNN’s Mark Garrison…
Mark, we’d love to give you a live on the air blogger’s broadcast from Barbados Free Press as you asked, but unfortunately that would be the end of my real job, my wife’s job and the bank would probably call the mortgage too. You see, Barbados Free Press is a blog dedicated to exposing corruption in our government and we have to remain anonymous or our families will be made to pay.”
Living in Barbados acknowledges the reasons for the two blogs declining CNN‘s request, saying:
“It will be interesting to see how the North America news develops its view of a ‘crisis’ on the island…Hurricane seasons comes around every year, but each time it's a different roller coaster ride.”


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China: Cyber-dissident jailed for four years. · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

A Chinese court in the southeastern province of Zhejiang jailed Chen Shuqing, an online author and a founding member of the banned China Democracy Party, for four years on charges of “inciting to subvert state power”. “It's totally wrong to convict him … He was only expressing his political views. He should enjoy free speech.” his lawyer Li Jianqiang told Reuters.
“We reiterate our appeal for the release of Chen and the 50 other cyber-dissidents and Internet users held in China,” Reporters Without Borders said.

author: sami ben gharbia


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Cuba: Donation Drive?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Neither Babalu Blog nor Child of the Revolution is impressed by the latest Cuban campaign.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Egypt: Blood Money for Israel · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Issandr El Amrani, from Egypt, describes US aid to Israel as ‘blood money’. He also asks: “Egyptians, you can ask yourself why your government has not told you that the Camp David agreement was amended.”


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Estonia: Gay Pride in Tallinn · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

All About Latvia shares his thoughts on Tallinn and the Gay Pride Parade there.


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Guyana: Thunder and Lightning  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I wonder if is true, that when you want to know how far away the storm is, count the seconds between the thundah and lightening?” Guyana-Gyal thinks she's caught in the eye of the storm.


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Haiti: Preparing for the Storm  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As Haiti continues to prepare for Hurricane Dean's arrival, The Livesay Haiti Weblog reports: “The newest projections are saying ‘Dean’ will hit Southern Haiti sometime Saturday afternoon. It has not strengthened that we see, we're just expecting rain and wind”, while Pwoje Espwa says: “It's a busy time for us as we try and prepare for the worst that Hurricane Dean could bring our way.  The next time you hear from me will be after the storm. Keep us in your prayers.”


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Hong Kong: Business Sector Wants To Keep Functional Constituency · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Charles Mok blogs about the discussion in a seminar organized by the business sector on the consultation of future election system in Hong Kong. The business sector expressed their wishes to keep the functional constituency in Legislation Council. Charles commented that Hong Kong people are ready for universal suffrage, and the business sector shouldn't turn themselves into an obstacle (zh).

author: Oiwan Lam


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Hong Kong: Yahoo Hong Kong, Please Explain! · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Flickr lover from inmediahk.net picked up the story on Yahoo Hong Kong's direct involvement in Shi Tao's case and commented that the company had violated the “One country Two system” principle as Hong Kong registered company should follow local law and protect its users accordingly (zh). He demanded the company to explain the case to the public openly.


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How to Help Needy Iraqis · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi Khalid Jarrar writes about ways in which people can help needy Iraqis in this post.


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India: In Ladakh · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Feringhee: The India Diaries finds herself in Leh, Ladakh, and writes a post full of random observations.


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Iraq: Abu Ghraib Attack · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Ladybird from Iraq posts a video of Iraqi ‘resistance’ forces attacking the infamous Abu Ghraib prison. She also reports that US forces killed two women and two children in Mada'in city.


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Iraq: Journalist Murder Mystery · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Alive in Baghdad narrates how an Iraqi journalist — Suhad Shakir — was shot dead in her car while driving and how her murder still remains a mystery.


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Israel: Coverage Praised · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Liza from Israelity commends journalist and blogger Lisa Goldman for her coverage, marking the first anniversary of the Second Lebanon War.


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Israel: Strange Democracy · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Batya from Israel reports that Olmert enjoys five per cent support. “Strange kind of democracy we have here in Israel,” notes the blogger.


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Jamaica: Musical Island  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Jamaica is a country of music” – and it fascinates Francis Wade.


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Japan: New Labour Contract Law · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Japan Law Blog summarized the new labour contract law, which was called “A ‘Contract Law’ that Enslaves Japanese Working People” by Japan Focus.


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Jordan: Sex Tape Spreads · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Observer from Jordan writes  about a young couple, caught having sex on a phone camera which was later distributed, in a conservative society which shuns pre-marital sex.


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Jordan: Shawarma Ban · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Black Iris from Jordan discusses the shawarma ban in his country.


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Jordan: Where’s the Applause? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Natasha Tynes from Jordan writes that her country will be accepting 50,000 Iraqi children in schools and wonders: “Where's the applause?”


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Jordan: Why are Arabs Copying the West? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Why is our ARAB society trying so hard to become just like the west? Living life with no barriers, as if everything is permitted. It’s horrible, and it’s only getting worse,” asks Deemco from Jordan.


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Kuwait: Dirty Toilets · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Caleb Bardeforte from Kuwait isn't happy with the hygiene – or rather lack of it – in the toilets of a Kuwaiti mall.


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Kuwait: Micheal Moore in Kuwait · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Mark fishes a video featuring Micheal Moore in Kuwait in 1994.


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Latvia: Demography · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Latvia Economy Watch writes about the demographic situation in Latvia. Latvian Abroad writes about Latvians in the UK and Ireland – here and here.


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Lebanon: Why Hezbollah Does Not Want an Islamic State  · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Remarkz analyzes how the confessional system in Lebanon was a major factor behind Hezbollah's evolution into giving up their initial goal of establishing an Islamic state.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Libya: Driving Stories · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iranian Mr Behi amuses us with tales about driving in Tripoli, Libya, in this post.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Malagasy bloggers rally for Madagascar’s children · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

The Malagasy blogosphere was quite active on humanitarian efforts these past two weeks.
It all started when Jogany at the purplecorner.com invited the Malagasy blogosphere to get involved in a virtual fund raiser: a  blog-a-thon where participants would write 1 post every 30 min, 24h non-stop  to raise fund for orphans in the villages of Vontovorona, Mangarano and Anstirabe.
The theme?  Fairy tales.  Storytelling is an important aspect of Malagasy culture, especially tales from our ancestors.  Many of those traditional Malagasy stories are at risk of being forgotten, so such efforts are important for keeping them in the general public’s mind.
Another humanitarian effort for helping the children in Madagascar will take place in Paris on September 15th.  Pokanel is organizing a cultural rally where participants will be divided in groups named after Malagasy ethnic groups. Each group will compete in a cross between trivial pursuit and a treasure hunt in the middle of the beautiful monuments of Paris.
Pokanel has gained some notoriety thanks to creative writing, a deadpan humor and “outside-the-box” ideas such as posting a Paris Hilton photo as a banner for their “help the Malagasy Children” project.
The decision to arbitrarily assign groups a tribal name is also an interesting way of diffusing from the start any ethnic issues. Ethnic tensions are a recurrent problem in the Malagasy blogopshere.
On a related note, a generous initative outside of Madagascar caught the attention of Malagasy blogger Harinjaka.
After hearing about the windmill engineered by Malawian teenager William Kamkwamba, a group of TED members have volunteered to support William and his family in a constructive manner.   Harinjaka wrote:
“William, if you read this entry, just know that you are such an inspiration for many of us in here in Madagascar!”

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Missing Jordan  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Secratea from Jordan missed seeing her family over the summer, thanks to school work.


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Pakistan: 60 years of film · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Metroblogging Lahore on the sixty years of Pakistan's film industry, based in Lahore.


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Peru: Online Earthquake Coverage · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Photo of cracked highway taken by Alberto Arévalo and used under Creative Commons license.
The death toll for the earthquake in Peru has now ascended to 337 in Ica.  The number of wounded stands at 827.  This number had not yet been published in the Lima newspaper, El Comercio or RPP, at the time of this article.  However, with the assistance of the blog World Wide Help, the number has been confirmed.  They received internal reports from Indeci and UNDAC/OCHA (a United Nations agency).  An earlier report from WWH said, “Peru Quake: Update – 37 dead, 300 injured“.
The Los Angeles Times reports an approximate count: 330 dead as 7.9 quake rocks Peru.
A magnitude 7.9 earthquake shook southern Peru on Wednesday, killing at least 330 people and injuring more than 1,000 others in the cities of Ica and Pisco and sparking tsunami warnings for the Pacific coast of South America and the distant Hawaiian Islands
Wikipedia already has an article about the event: 2007 Peru Earthquake, as well as WikiNews, which has information about the quake: Several earthquakes strike Peru; Tsunami warnings issued.
The site Now Public has also been reporting the news: Massive 7.9 Earthquake : Lima, Peru, in which some of the comments are some translations from the blog of the newspaper El Comercio from eyewitness accounts . The newspaper La República published an online special that complied news about the earthquake.
Blogs have also played an important part in informing about details and diverse experiences about the event.
Some recount their experiences precisely when the earthquake struck. Estalla Mi Alma [ES] posts some of the video that she took of the traffic chaos caused by the earthquake.  Niña Goya [ES] was quite shaken:
Estaba con un amigo tomando frapuccino en Starbucks, de pronto empezo a temblar todo, pense que el local se caía, todos salieron corriendo, olvide mi cartera, deje mi postre a la mitad, los postes se tambaleaban, se fue la luz y regreso al toque, todo se mecía, todo se volvió un caos (es que todos chaparon sus cañas, no saben q es mejor no manejar cuando pasa algo asi!!!!!!!!!), empezo a temblarme las rodillas y las manos, por un momento quise llorar (es que solo pensaba en mis bebes)….que tal susto el que pasó medio Peru esta noche.
I was with a friend drinking a frapuccino in Starbucks, when all of a sudden everything began to shake.  I thought the store would fall on top of us, and everyone left running.  I forgot my purse, left my dessert halfway eaten, the posts trembled, and the lights went out.  They came back on shortly after, everything was in chaos (everyone was scared and they don't know that it is best not to drive when something like this happens!!!).  My knees and hands began to shake, and I almost wanted to cry (when I thought about my babies)…what a scare that half of Peru went through that night.
MiGeo [ES] is a blog written by Miguel A. Vera León, a geology student in Lima.  He warns his readers to take internet warnings with a grain of salt.
Recomiendo tener cuidado con avisos a través de correo electrónico o servicios de mensajería afirmando que ocurrirán réplicas iguales al sismo. Esto es falso. Si bien es cierto que pueden ocurrir réplicas, es muy raro que tengan la misma magnitud que el sismo original. Cabe señalar además que no es posible predecir un sismo, por lo que quien quiera que esté inventando estas supuestas noticias sólo está tratando de alarmar sin sentido alguno.
I recommend that you are careful with warnings that arrive in email or SMS saying that aftershocks with the same magnitude of the earthquake will happen.  This is false.  It is true that aftershocks can take place, but it s rare that they are of the same magnitude of the original earthquake. It is also important to note that it is not possible to predice an earthquake, and the people who are making this news up is only trying to alarm the people needlessly.
In addition,  El Blog de Morsa [ES] provides information on ways to help those most affected in the city of Ica by providing websites, telephone numbers and email addresses for those interested.  Pospost [ES] writes about the destruction in the city of Pisco, and includes videos from television coverage.  In addition, X-Blog [ES] writes about the reaction of President Alan Garcia and his comment regarding the crash of the telephone system.
Images have also found its way onto Flickr in the account of Alberto Arevalo and Christian Vinces.  Videos from television coverage can be found at Daily Motion and YouTube.  However, a user-taken video by jesus862 shows worried individuals running out from stores and affirming that it was in fact, an earthquake.
For more links to posts about the Peruvian earthquake, visit Globalizado and the article, “Earthquake in Peru: 337 Dead and 827 Injured.”
Eduardo Avila also contributed to this article.

author: Juan Arellano


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Peru: Where To Help Victims of Earthquake · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Desde El Tercer Piso [ES] and BlogsPeru [ES] provide information on how to help those affected by the earthquake.


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Russia: Racism · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Mark MacKinnon writes about violence against non-Russians in Russia and the Kremlin's “strategy” of making Putin look like “a least-bad option” by not discouraging more radical political views: “…the monsters it created are now out of even the Kremlin's control.”


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Russia: Russian Politics Syllabus · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

J. Otto Pohl is teaching in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, now, and has posted his Russian Politics Syllabus.


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South Asia: Slaving in the Middle East · Global Voices
Rezwan

South Asian migrant workers (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal) have a notable contribution in the developments of Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf region. But the abuse and exploitation of these workers is shocking and serious issue. Migrant workers fuel the engine of the economy but they are exploited, abused, discriminated against, and rarely receive government protection.
There are numerous stories of human rights abuses. Just to give some examples:
Thousands of labors sell their belongings to go to Gulf countries for their dream job. Drishtipat reports how they are being exploited and come back with a broken heart.
Hundreds of Nepali workers in Qatar have been driven from the country for demanding better pay from their employers. United We Blog posts a shocking firsthand experience of a young Nepali student returning from America. He describes the inhuman treatment he received in Bahrain International airport because he protested the mistreatment of the deported Nepalis by the Gulf Airlines staffers.
In Kuwait, almost 60% of its 3 million population are migrant workers. Expositions of Arabia Blog chats with an Indian worker in Kuwait who claims he is underpaid.
In United Arab Emirates guest workers make up 85% of its population (reports IHT). Here people from the subcontinent earns about $1 an hour working in scorching 43 degrees heat. Their contracts are critiqued as servitude. While there are hotel rooms that rent for $1000 a night for the prosperous people, these migrant workers rise before dawn in guarded camps like an army base, work for six days a week at guarded sites. There are thousands of heat exhaustion cases of workers each month in one medical facility alone. The Government is under pressure to improve the working conditions and crack downs on Employers who does not pay them.
Human rights watch also has a report on abuse of workers in UAE titled “Building Towers, Cheating Workers“.
Non-Saudis make up 35 percent of Saudi Arabia's labor force. An estimated 2 million workers are from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Human rights Watch publishes a 135 page report “Bad Dreams: Exploitation and Abuse of Migrant Workers in Saudi Arabia“, which depicts how many of the immigrant workers are abused and treated as slaves.
Some of the frightening and troubling findings of the reports are:
* Sexual abuse and rape of women migrant workers, both in the workplace and in Saudi prisons by Saudi male employers.
* Migrant workers from Bangladesh, India and Phillipines were forced to work ten to eighteen hours a day, and sometimes throughout the night without overtime pay.
* The pay is very meager (e.g. $133 for a month and 16 hours of work daily)
* Hundreds of low-paid Asian women who cleaned hospitals in Jeddah worked twelve-hour days, without food or a break, and were confined to locked dormitories during their time off.
* Migrant workers experienced shocking treatment in Saudi Arabia's criminal justice system.
Abdol Moghset Bani Kamal writes in Countercurrents that Migrant Workers are the slaves of the Twenty-First Century. He highlights on the plight of Pakistani workers in the Middle East region especially Saudi Arabia.
Unheard Voices: Drishtipat Blog asks:
What we, the average citizens, can do about this? The issue of the migrant workers has been unaddressed for a long time. Documentaries have been made, HRW reports have been published but nothing much has changed.
The Human rights blog suggests ways to protect Bangladeshi migrant workers.
What are the locals of the Gulf region are thinking about this issue? Bahraini Blogger Esra'a raises some questions in a post in Mid East Youth:
What baffles me the most is that we simply don’t really understand that if it wasn’t for these migrant workers, we will be … well, nothing, right? Who else do we expect to do our work for us? Who else is constructing? Who else is cleaning our toilets? Who else do we take our anger on when we’re feeling miserable? Who do we laugh at and ridicule? They are extremely hard working, and if anything we should only feel thankful towards them. Instead we abuse them, discriminate against them, imprison them, and to top it all off we make infamous jokes where the words “Sri Lankan” and “Indian” are synonymous with “stupid” and “valueless.”

author: Rezwan


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South Korea: Aug 15 · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

K. M. Lawson from frog in a well have written a few posts on how South Korean celebrated their independence day from Japanese colonialism in 1945: outdoor sport in City Hall; exhibition in Independence Hall; political leaflets; comfort woman protest outside Japanese embassy; opening day of Seodaemun prison where Korean political prisoners were tortured during the colonial period; and anti-China placards.


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South Korea: History of Landscape 1999 to 2006 · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Antti Leppänen from Hunjang posted pictures of a district, Nan'gok, in southern Seoul, which show the history of development and landscape from 1999 to 2006.


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South Korea: Pop Arts in Korean painting · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Antti Leppänen from Hunjang posted a painting of pop arts, robot cop, in traditional Korean painting style.


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Sri Lanka: Watching the world go by · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

London, Lanka and Drums on life in Sri Lanka – watching the world go by. “It's a reflection of the many ways in which Sri Lankans take a laid back and calm approach to life, a comparison with the way that there can be wonderful tolerance and acceptance of some stuff.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Is Sugar Dead?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Can Cook, Must Cook laments the state of the Caribbean sugar industry.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Oxymoronic?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Why does the glass have to be half empty or half full? wonders if the term “corporate responsibility” is an oxymoron.


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Trinidad & Tobago: What Ails the Windies… · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Vaneisa Baksh thinks that the West Indies Cricket Board would do well to listen to Captain Ramnaresh Sarwan's take on what ails West Indies cricket.


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Turkey blocks popular blogging platform WordPress.com · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

The popular, and free, blogging platform WordPress.com has been blocked in Turkey and those who are trying to visit it are seeing this message: “Access to this site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2007/195 of T.C. Fatih 2.Civil Court of First Instance.”
“I didn’t realize Turkey had a great firewall like China. This is really unfortunate because we have a really passionate Turkish community that gets about 12 million pageviews a month,” the founding developer of WordPress, Matthew Mullenweg, said.


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Ukraine: Another Election Campaign · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Mark MacKinnon writes about yet another election campaign in Ukraine – yet “another farce.”


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Zimbabwe: Rigging Zimbabwe’s 2008 elections · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Mugabe has started rigging next year's elections: “Even though they plan to rig the election as usual, they want to give the result a semblance legitimacy by polling the largest number of votes. Some of the stages of the plans have already been implemented, the events in the past 3 years have seemed random but believe you me they were neither random nor unplanned but part of a sophisticated plan to skew the result of the forthcoming elections in their favour.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Afghanistan: Misinformation or Taliban divisions? · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Afghanistanica has serious doubts on the authenticity of an alleged Taliban pamphlet distributed in Afghanistan's Helmand province this July. Was it written by the Americans instead?

author: Ben Paarmann


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Africa: Web 2.0 and African civil society · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Gathering stories about web 2.0 in African civil society: “As part of this, I wanted to get an update from Kabissa members and others in African civil society about their use of blogging and other social networking tools – remarkably, there are not that many case studies available despite the clearly active use of these nifty new tools and the massive potential dangling out there.”


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Armenia: Genocide notes · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

The quest for the acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide might prevent seeking an explanation for why it happened. Join Onnik Krikorian for several interesting thoughts on the issue of the Armenian genocide.


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Azerbaijan: Islam on the rise? · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Asking Tough Questions in Tough Places discusses whether the eclipse of political opposition to the current Azeri government is promoting a surge of radical Islam.


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China: Blogs deleted, barred and officially backed · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Aspiring citizen reporter and veteran blogger Wen Yunchao continues his NetNews This Week blog column following his first week as the new Blog Editor at Chinese web portal Netease, beginning with mention that the Beijing 2008 Olympics blog started by Chinese Sports Illustrated reporter Sohu and Sina blogger Guan Jun (aka Gua Erjia) has been shut down.
网事一周20070816：开与关
博客“北京奥运，我不支持”被删
牛博网编辑罗永浩8月16日发文称，牛博网把瓜尔加刚开设的名为“北京奥运，我不支持”的博客删除了。罗永浩在文章里说：“不要老是公开问原因，都是中国人装什么外宾？”瓜尔加试图通过这个博客“让外界知道中国并不只有一种声音。”
《清廉战士》草草收场
8 月14日上午，《清廉战士》官方网站“中国廉政文化游戏网”突然发布公告：“接有关部门通知，本网站将关闭，相关内容转移到其他网站。”但站方并未公布关站原因。《清廉战士》是由宁波市海曙区纪委、海曙区西门街道党工委等部门联手推出反腐题材网络游戏，在开放注册后，因玩家反映该游戏制作粗糙而沦为网络笑柄，该游戏仅公测一周便早早收场。有网友评论说，网络不是搞政绩工程的地方。
博易澄清关站传闻
8月14日，博易网发布了最新的公告，澄清网站关闭传闻。公告称，“博易现由于个别站点内容违反相关法律法规，按上级部门要求进行全面的内容审查，在此期间暂停对外服务。”，并且博易“寻求通过第三方服务商接手的方式来尽快恢复服务，同时也在努力争取博易本身直接恢复服务”。而在8月9日，博易网的创始人张静君在自己的博客上发布消息称，博易由于内容方面的原因博易被取消运营博客服务的资质。已经创办多年博客服务提供商博易在一个月前中止服务，业界对博易的关闭原因有诸多猜测。
“老虎庙”开展“草根报道之旅”
8 月10日，博客写手“老虎庙”骑车从北京奥运“鸟巢”出发，开始了他的4省“草根报道之旅”。他将骑车到达山西、内蒙古、陕北、宁夏，以田野调查的方式，考察乡土民情，并通过博客第一时间记录见闻。“老虎庙”表示，他将把行程中的所见所闻用文字、图片和DV视频等方式发布在博客上，并采用手机绑定博客功能，滚动发送消息。但据网友披露，国家宣传主管部门16日发文要求各新闻媒体不要报道此事，对此类行为的报道也不能冠以“公民记者”、“平民记者”等称谓。
人民日报发文要求官员直面网络时代
8月14日，人民日报发表文章《党政官员要直面网络时代开门纳言》，报道引述中央党校教授沈宝祥的观点，报道认为，面对网络时代的挑战，党政官员迫切需要更新观念，直面民意，创新工作方式。从非典到松花江水污染，再到“黑砖窑”事件，政府对于“危机事件”的处理让人们看到，简单的封、盖、堵越来越失去效力，甚至会适得其反，及时公开信息、引导舆论，才能争取工作的主动。
“史上最贵博客”
北京一家文化发展公司的老板袁智勇计划花500万来推广自己的博客。他将全国分成六个区域，把北京、上海、天津等五十一座大中城市网吧的电脑桌面设置成写有他博客地址的照片，并将浏览器的首页设置为其博客地址。目前，他手中已经有两千多份与各家合作网站和网吧签订的合同，合作金额从数千元到十几万元不等。有网友戏称其博客是“史上最贵博客”。不过看过他博客的网友却认为内容乏善可陈，为这个博客花上500万只能“极为怀疑他的神志是否清醒”。
中国反恶意软件诉讼首次胜诉
8 月15日，即奇虎网起诉北京阿里巴巴公司不正当竞争案宣判，法院认为，阿里巴巴旗下的雅虎助手干扰奇虎360的正常运行和安装，并且在用户选择“不删除” 的情况下，违背用户指令强行删除360软件，构成了不正当竞争，为非法行为。法院判令阿里巴巴赔偿原告八万元，并且连续七天在官方网站上向奇虎公司致歉。有媒体称这是中国首个反恶意软件的胜诉案，由于国内相关法律缺失，导致此前几个类似的官司均以失败告终。

author: John Kennedy


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Ecuador: Reporting Internet Campaign Expenses · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Christian Espinoza of Cobertura Digital [ES] links to an article that discusses the fact that internet advertisement for the upcoming Constituent elections is not regulated, but should be reported as a campaign expense.


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Egypt: To Blog or Not to Blog · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Big Pharaoh from Egypt is torn between whether to blog or to stop.


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Ethiopia: the next big thing · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The next big thing in Ethiopia: “So what is the next big thing? The next big thing is all about trusting each other, working together and building grass root movements in every locality of Ethiopia. I will repeat my creed of the past. OLF, UEDF, CUDP, SEPC and the many other parties exist in the context of each other, therefore, accepting and exploring the rich context of individual differences does not imply defeat or loss. Nor does it mean surrendering your own intellectual, aesthetic, or moral perspective. It simply means that you gain a deeper, broader understanding of where your own views fit in with society. Evidently, Ethiopia has a huge amount of complex social and economic problems; however, the remedy for Ethiopia’s problems does not warrant the existence of such a countless political parties and ethnic liberation fronts (LFs).”


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Georgia: IDPs · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Steady State says that in Georgia, Internally Displaced People from the Abkhazia war are now being evicted from their temporary shelters. At the same time, the Caucasian country spends record sums on its military.


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Ghana: educating new generation of leaders · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sanaga posts a video from TEDGlobal: “I've already mentioned Ashesi University on this blog. The latest speech of Patrick Awuah at TED Global is now available and I couldn't pass on the opportunity to share it here.”


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Ghana: energy crisis · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Odzagba writes about energy crisis in Ghana: “The lights finally went off this evening after nearly a week of constant electricity… except for some 10 minute blackouts now and then. :) According to the energy minister, the water level in the Akosombo dam has “risen marginally” and some 50 megawatts of additional power has been added to our national energy supply grid so we may be in for more of these blackout-free experiences.”


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Fighting the desert in Burkina Faso · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Vive la francophonie posts an article about the Koom la viim association's efforts to fight desertification (Fr) in Burkina Faso by planting 3,500 plants. “This initiative deserves to be known…even if it only concerns a small portion of land, these efforts contribute to cleaning and reoxygenating our planet…if thousands of projects like these are started, the earth will be made more beautiful.”

author: Jennifer Brea


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Honduras: Number of Cases of Dengue Increases · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

La Gringa's Blogocito writes about the increase in the cases of dengue in Honduras in 2007.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Iran: Government celebrates Journalist Day · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

The Iranian government celebrated Journalist Day on August 8, in spite of having arrested several journalists and banned many newspapers in recent months. The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said: “The work of journalists is of the same essence of that of the prophets: informing.”
According to Reporters without Borders at least nine of these “prophets” are in jail and many of them are in very bad physical condition and have no access to lawyers.
Several bloggers and journalists shared their feelings about Journalist Day and the difficult working conditions faced by journalists.
Empty places
Heidar Rezai published a photo of an almost empty auditorium where Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was supposed to deliver a speech to journalists. The blogger says [Fa], the president canceled his speech, and says some believe it was because of the empty place. The blogger suggests the timing of the speech was not ideal because many journalists were at work.
Covering neck and legs
Khabarnagar No  (means New Reporter in Persian) describes how journalists work in Iran, and how much they must worry about everything. The blogger says [Fa]:
I want to write, but I fear whatever I write can be considered as an offense in the eyes of a responsible or a Ministry. I say I am not writing about politics and I do not write about Orange or Velvet revolutions, I just write about technology and science. They (the authorities) say to be careful not to criticize privatization of Iranian telecoms, filtering of mobile phones, or science education. Just write everything is OK. When I choose a title for my article I should be careful that the title does not make the authorities angry. If I want to publish a photo, then I should cover the neck of foreign women in the photo, and create trousers or a skirt to cover her legs… When we interview somebody, we should ask about the interviewee’s personal life to ascertain that she/he has not gone to disco or drunk champagne… For these reasons a journalist’s life is very difficult in Iran. You can not plan anything for your life, and when your journal gets shut down you cannot pay rent. You should be careful not to go to conferences abroad because you can be accused of spying.
Double Standards
Akbar Montakhabi, who worked at the recently banned Ham Mihan, is upset about Journalist Day, and says [Fa]:
Why do you send an SMS to congratulate us? Maybe because most of independent journalists of this country are jobless? Why is it the moment independent journals make the slightest mistake, they are accused of the worst things? I think we should omit Journalist Day from our agenda because journalists are not at all respected.
The blogger, who worked for 25 different journals in his lifetime, says there is a double standard in Iranian justice since mistakes in government journals are considered “errors” while the same mistakes in reformist journals would be considered an attempt to overthrow political power.
Just sweet words
Mojadleh, who says the priority of his blog is to inform people of the value of Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic and martyrs, criticized [Fa] a recent get together between Ahmadinejad and some journalists. The blogger says all the journalists present were just praising the Iranian president, his works, and his trips. Mojadeleh adds that not a single one of Ahmadinejad’s critics in the media were invited to this meeting.
Revolutionary Guards, terrorism and the CIA
Several Iranian bloggers talked about the recent news that the USA is preparing to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guards force as a “foreign terrorist unit”. Some of these bloggers point out that double standards exist in international relations too.
Cyrus Online reports [Fa] that one of the officials of the IRCG said to Jame Jam journal that the USA is fighting against the Islamic establishment and that Americans had already tried several plans but the IRCG makes progress and defends the Islamic Establishment.
Iranian Truth writes:
I have no complaints against listing the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization. My complaints are based upon the hypocrisies behind our foreign policy. If we’re going to condemn military agencies as terrorist organizations for their support of terrorism, then for the sake of credibility look beyond the borders of the Middle East. Because this certainly doesn’t create a standard for the US itself can meet. If financing and helping terrorism around the world is sufficient to classify oneself as a terrorist organization despite that organization being an agent of a sovereign entity, then it seems also appropriate to classify Mossad and the CIA as terrorist organizations.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iraq: Shame on Britain! · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“I have a few words for the govt of Britain. Shame on you Britain for abandoning the only people that believed in helping you. Shame on you for refusing them entry to your country. Shame on you. I shake my head with disgust,” writes Neurotic Iraqi Wife in this post.


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Japan: The Hunt for Otaku · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Matt Alt at Alt Japan reports on the latest case of “otaku gari”, the practice of hunting down otaku (nerds) and robbing them of their money and fancy toys. In this case, the hunters were a brother and sister, who after being caught explained that “otaku are weak and they’ve got money, so we went after them.”

author: Chris Salzberg


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Kazakhstan: Elections · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Sean Roberts analyses the importance of today's parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan, and finds that the real results of the poll will only be clear over the course of the next year.


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Kyrgyzstan: Meet the summit press · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Joshua Kucera was one of 500 journalists who covered the SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek. The Kyrgyz hosts provided the journalists with all they could wish for, except one, rather important thing: information.


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Libya: First Woman Rally Driver · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Highlander from Libya writes about the first Libyan female rally driver here.


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Martinique braces for Hurricane Dean · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

le blog de [moi] writes a post bracing for Hurricane Dean (Fr), which has just hit Martinique: “the light's hazy, the birds are quiet, the ocean's [dark] like oil, there is no wind. The calm before the storm.”


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Mongolia: Media and journalism · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Tom Terry, Managing Director of independent station Eagle TV, dissects a UNESCO report on media and journalism in Mongolia, and finds little reason to disagree.


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Palestine: Life in Gaza · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian Leila Al Haddad discusses life in Gaza in this post.


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Peru: Destruction in Huancavelica · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

el útero de marita [ES] implores readers to not forget about the destruction in Huancavelica, in which nearly one-third of the housing was destroyed by the recent earthquake.


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Peru: Providing Help for Quake Victims · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Juan Arellano, who has been providing coverage of the recent Peruvian earthquake, publishes his latest bilingual update regarding the different needs of those affected by the disaster.


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Russia: Neo-Nazi Execution Video · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

One of the most discussed topics in the Russian blogosphere last week was a graphic video of what appeared to be the execution of two ethnically non-Russian men by masked figures claiming to be members of a Russian neo-Nazi group.
A detailed description of the video can be found in this New York Times’ piece by C. J. Chivers (four paragraphs roughly in the middle of the story).
Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog posted an overview of the media and bloggers’ reactions and, among other things, wrote this:
[…] Granted, I have not watched it, nor do I intend to. But to me this video’s political resonance says something more about spectacle of violence that inhabits our modern lives rather than anything specific about nationalism or fascism in Russia. As far as I’m concerned the members of “National Socialism/White Power” are merely reproducing what has already become a staple in our media diet. From the “real” videos of Chechens beheading Russian soldiers, Beslan, Daniel Pearl, Abu Ghraib, suicide bombings, and school and workplace shootings (and the media’s obsession over them) to the “fake” torture scenes of shows like 24 and other films, hasn’t the gap between the real and the fake long collapsed, making their distinction merely academic. What is important is the connection between politics and extreme violence, or really the use of extreme violence as political spectacle. […]
Mark MacKinnon wrote about an Ethiopian student he had once interviewed for a story on “what it was like living as a foreigner – a black foreigner – in a time of rising Russian racism and xenophobia.” The blame for the current situation, according to MacKinnon, is on the Kremlin:
[…] For too long, the Kremlin tolerated and manipulated the ultranationalist crowd, allowing people like Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Dmitry Rogozin to spew hatred because it suited their political aims. If the West was truly worried that a Zhirinovsky or a Rogozin might come to power, it would let up in its calls for more openness and democracy and perhaps come to see someone like Vladimir Putin as a least-bad option.
The strategy worked like a charm from a political point of view, but the monsters it created are now out of even the Kremlin's control. […]
W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile quoted Anton Nossik, a representative of the company that oversees LiveJournal's Russian segment, on why “no action [has been taken] against the blogger who first posted the video” (RFL/RL story):
“Preliminary censorship is, of course, impossible on the Internet,” Nosik says. “People post what they feel must be posted, and write what they feel must be written. There is a list of things that LiveJournal users agree not to do, but posting pictures of an execution is not on the list. There is a clause forbidding comments that incite ethnic hatred, but whether it applies to this particular video is an open question.”
On his blog, Anton Nossik (LJ user dolboeb) wrote this (RUS) on Aug. 16 about the violent video and the authorities’ irrational reaction to it:
[…] [Russian security services] are still more concerned about the fact of the video's publication than about the murder itself. Why? Well, first of all, there's already [a person who has confessed to having posted the video] – so it's now possible to report on the successful completion of the investigation of the crime. As for the murder, it is still not clear who killed who, where, when, why and how to investigate all this. Second, if no one had posted the video, it would have been possible to pretend for a long time that there had been no murder at all. For example, when [Artur Ryno confessed to 37 ethnically-motivated murders], it turned out that most of these crimes were not being investigated. And if [Artur] had held his tongue, no investigation would've begun… Our law enforcement officials are sending a very smart message to the murderers: until you confess to all your crimes like idiots, no one's even going to look for you, let alone punish you.
It's time to call things by their name: we are witnessing the restoration of [Leonid Brezhnev]'s order.
“Let's draw the curtains and shake the car, and then announce that the train is moving.”
In such a paradigm, what's considered a crime is, of course, not the murder, but a report of the murder.
And they'll be trying to catch not the murderers, but those who made their crime public. They'll be catching them and prosecuting, until the topic is banned altogether.
This, according to the logic of Brezhnev times, is the main victory over any kind of trouble – be it catastrophes, epidemics, crime or infant mortality.
But there was no Internet in Brezhnev times. […]

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Uganda:Let us live in peace · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Black Looks posts a press release from Sexual Minorities Uganda: “n a landmark case, we, Ugandan lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people assembled at the High Court of Uganda two months ago to reinforce our right to privacy, dignity, and property. There were no charges against us. We had done nothing wrong. It is the government who had to answer for illegal behaviour of its agents by discriminating against homosexual and transgender people.”


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Vietnam: Web Censorship · Global Voices
Caroline Finlay

When I began considering posting on Global Voices from Vietnam, the first thought that came to mind was what exactly was I allowed to post?  What topics could I cover, and which ones should I avoid?
The media in communist Vietnam is state controlled, and although the internet isn’t as heavily monitored as the ‘net in China, a ministry exists that’s responsible for making sure web content is in line with the Party’s ideals.
There is a legal basis for censorship in Vietnam’s 1992 Constitution , but it’s not without contradiction.  Article 69 states, “The citizens shall enjoy freedom of opinion and speech…in accordance with the provision of the law.”  The “provision of the law” is defined by Article 33, stating, “The State shall strictly ban all activities in the fields of culture and information that are detrimental to national interests, and destructive of the personality, morals, and the fine lifestyle of the Vietnamese.”  Enforcement of this portion of the law falls onto the recently formed Ministry of Information (MoI), formerly the Ministry of Information and Culture.
The MoI is aided by Vietnam’s Center for Internet Security (CIS), which also produces antivirus software.  The CIS is located in Hanoi’s Technical University, Vietnam’s top university.  In a recent interview, director Nguyen Tu Quang stated that the CIS is fully prepared to provide technical support to internet monitors to aid in their “battle” to cut down “dark” websites.  He further states that, (translated from Vietnamese)
Dark blogs have a lot in common with dark web pages, but if we don’t keep blogs in check, they could have a much greater influence on society…The problem of monitoring less-than-wholesome websites has been a difficult one….I think blogs and web sites need to be based on a partnership between technology and monitoring so that we can censor and restrict negative content and uphold our strength.”
Regarding his CIS’s role in internet monitoring, Quang feels that,
Now a lot of people are worried that it’s too difficult to find and deal with the owners of illegal blogs.  But I’m positive that we can use technology to track down the home addresses of dark weblogs… Our goal isn’t to take down thousands of illegal blogs, but to find a way to prevent them from going up in the first place.  If we take measures to punish and admonish bloggers, then the next time someone thinks about putting a picture or article up on the web, he or she will think very carefully.
Blogger Nguyen Tien Trung of Ho Chi Minh City has learned exactly what he can and can’t post.  He wrote an open letter to the Ministry of Education reprimanding their political science education in Vietnam, and now web searches for his name from Vietnam lead to some blocked pages, but his Yahoo! 360° blog is accessible.
I can understand why the internet monitors may be a little antsy about Trung;  In the August 10th entry he actually uses Ho Chi Minh’s quotes to support of his progressive political views. (Translated from Vietnamese)
Why stage a revolution?  Uncle Ho said, ‘peace, independence, unity, democracy and prosperity.’ but perhaps few people understand his far-reaching implication.  The first three goals he mentions are peace, independence and unity, then we must continue, without delay, onto democracy and prosperity.  Uncle Ho was very wise to put democracy before prosperity.  If we don’t have democracy then we can never have true prosperity and development.
In a May, 2007 entry on censorship Trung says,
Master Ho Chi Minh said, ‘the purpose of democracy is to allow the people to open their mouths and speak.  Article 69 of the constitution also says that ‘the citizens shall enjoy freedom of speech.’  But in reality that’s not true…
It seems that even those who’ve gained the attention of the MoI can continue to post controversial material, but it’s a dangerous game to play.  Trung has mentioned having a government officer constantly parked outside of his house.
The expat blog scene focuses mostly on food or travel, but the best known expat blogger turned actor, Joe Ruelle, recently touched on censorship and in a humorous entry to his Vietnamese language Yahoo! 360° blog.
Everyone knows that blogging in Vietnam has its difficulties.  But when I heard that Yahoo and Microsoft joined hands to monitor blogs with software to change ‘sensitive’ words into the names of Vietnamese dishes, I had to wonder…. Blog monitoring methods must be compatible with the internet community and flexible – not like this free range duck that Yahoo! Vietnam put into use yesterday morning.  So angry!  Tell the directors of Yahoo to get rid of their sautéed pumpkin green software immediately.  If not, then I’m going to go to their office and take a rice cake and then go from restaurant to restaurant until all those boiled snails admit their fried rice mistake and Vietnamese pancake out a method that’s more fish sauce.
I have a pretty good idea of where the blog censorship line is, and I won’t even toe it like Trung.  I may, however, to take a lesson from Joe and mention a few bowls of rice-noodle soup on my blog every now and then.

author: Caroline Finlay


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Bolivia: Interview with Joaquin Cuevas · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Blogs de Bolivia [ES] interviews comic blogger Joaquin Cuevas, where he explains that he began publishing to the web due to censorship at the newspaper where he was previously employed.