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Barbados: Mercury Alert · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Free Press is all for saving electricity – but believes that consumers should be educated about the potential risks of using Compact Florescent Lamps: “The problem is mercury – a toxic element with a long history of causing death, insanity and incurable health problems.  Where will the mercury-laced CFLs be disposed of in Barbados?”


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Bhutan: The Wangchuks and the future · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

For A Democracy on why the Wangchuks will find the future harder than they imagined. “In the sponsorship of wangchuks, a survey had said Bhutanese are the happiest of all Asians and now the survey by government body itself, created by inventor of GNH for Jigme’s sake, has revealed that only 60 people out of 100 are happy. Ironically, the mock survey asked 350 people in mass of 700,000.”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Bolivia: Frustration at the Bank · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Mario Duran of Palabras Libres [ES] expresses his frustration at having to wait for a very long time in order to be attended to at a local bank.  In an attempt to document this long wait, he was denied the chance to photograph the ticket and the time at which he was actually served by the security guard.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Cambodia: Not Getting Caught in Thailand’s Blame Game · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Details are Sketchy is asking Cambodia to ignore Thailand's allegation that the casinos in Cambodia near the Thai border help launder money and support drug trade. “he claims are, of course, ludicrous. The problem with Thailand is that it’s ruled by an illegitimate and increasingly paranoid military dictatorship. And as the Thai people become more dissatisfied, the junta is forced to make evermore desperate claims to try and absolve itself from responsibility for the country’s downfall.”

author: Preetam Rai


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China: Agree to disagree · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Positive solution points to a mainstream report from China Daily on “Public given more leeway to disagree with gov't”. The blogger comments that: Oh well. I guess we can agree to disagree – which, happily, is now legal.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Passport Detained · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Zeng jinying writes in her blog that her passport was detained in the emigration office while she was departing from Beijing to Geneva for a human right workshop (zh). Since May 18, Zeng has been under the charge of “suspected violation of national security”.


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Colombia: Misery Porn · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Juliana Rincon of Medea Material [ES] introduces the concept of Pornomiseria (Misery Porn), which is a term to describe film that exploits poverty and human misery to make money.  In Colombia, “in certain manner we always wait to hear that in Colombia there is a lot of narcotrafficking, drugs, violence, insecurity, jewels, and more drugs. And Gabo (Gabriel Garcia Marquez).  Ah, and very beautiful girls.”  She adds that other Latin American countries suffer through similar stereotypes.


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Egypt: Doomsday Book  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“22% of the Egyptian People are infected with Hepatitis C Virus or virus “C” as it is common between us in Egypt according to the WHO.
Egypt is the 3rd country in the world to have the highest rate of cancer between Children and it will achieve a higher position soon insh Allah for the adults soon.
One third of the Egyptian population is suffering from depression with its different kinds and degrees and most of them don’t know they got depression.
Is it me or Egypt is in danger as its people are in a great danger of extinction,” writes Zeinobia from Egypt.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Grenada: Underwater Sculpture Gallery · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Thomas K is thrilled to discover an underwater sculpture garden off the coast of Grenada.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Guatemala: Corpus Christi Festivities · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Rob Mercatante was woken by the sounds of firecrackers that were used in the feast of Corpus Christi.  He writes about the details of the celebration in Guatemala on his bog El Canche.


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Guyana: Religious Tolerance · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Most people in Guyana are very tolerant of the religious beliefs of others. Which is why this whole thing is so hard to swallow.”  Stella Ramsaroop tries to get her head around the alleged involvement of Guyanese nationals in the JFK terror plot.


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GV’s Advocacy Director at AI-Observer-Irrepressible.info’s June 6 meeting · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

On June 6, 2007, Global Voices’ Advocacy Director Sami Ben Gharbia appeared at an event in London marking the one-year anniversary of the Amnesty International-Observer-Irrepressible.info campaign. The video above is of Sami's address. Global Voices’ co-founder Ethan Zuckerman also participated remotely — a video and transcript of Ethan's contribution are available at this page.The webcast of the full proceedings is archived here, and Kevin Anderson offers an overview of the event at the Corante weblog.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Haiti: Haitian Film  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Haitian Eclectic links to the trailer of a Haitian film that “follows two gang leaders who took over a slum in Haiti right before Aristide's 2004 forced exit.”


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Hong Kong: Degrading Technology · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Hong Kong government is undergoing restructuring in its policy departments. The Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau will change into Business and Economic Development Bureau. Charles Mok points out that the government is degrading the significance of technology in Hong Kong (zh).


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India: On Orkut · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Desidabba on Orkut, and why it keeps getting into trouble.  “It is difficult to curb sites like orkut which has such huge following. What can be done about those who form groups with wrong intention is to report the site as bogus. This is an option which orkut provides. If a certain number of users report it as bogus, the group will be removed. One other thing that can be done is, to set a lower cap on the number of users who can join a group. If a group can boast of 500 members, then it can be made public. Else it shouldn’t be.”


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India: On Sholay · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Kerala Articles on the the movie Sholay. “The movie was later declared a superhit and went on to become the highest grossing film in Indian movie history. Some claim that it still is when you consider inflation and other factors. It created history when it ran in Bombay’s Minerva theatre continuously for 5 years. In its wake several films were released that tried to cash in on the trend of multi-starrers and male bonding. But none of them were able to recapture the magic of Sholay.”


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Iran:Free Mahmoud Salehi,a Labour Activist · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

In Kdmahmoudsalehi we read[Fa] that Mahmoud Salehi, a labour activist got arrested two months ago.Mahmoud Salehi was last arrested on April 9, 2007 and transferred to a prison in the city of Sanandaj. The Kurdistan Province Appeal Court has sentenced Mahmoud to one year imprisonment and also a three year suspended prison sentence, and the verdict was carried out immediately without prior notice to Mahmoud, his family or his lawyer.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Hand Shaking with Women,Former President and You Tube  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Conservative journals in Iran criticized the former president,Mohammad Khatami,for having shaken hands with several women in Italy.There is a video film on YouTube that shows he is shaking hands with a few ladies.The film was visited about 17000 times.Khatami's office talks about conspiracy against him and said he did not shake hands with women. Many clerics and religious people in Iran do not shake hands with a non-Mahram lady because it is considered a sin.A man is Mahram to his wife, daughter, sister, mother, and a few other relatives.Khatami's vice president,Mohmmad Ali Abtahi [Fa]writes in his blog that Khatami did not even shake hands with Mrs.Merkel when she was an opposition leader a few years ago.


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Iran:The Blood of Flowers · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Homeyra writes about a new book:The Blood of Flowers written by Anita Amirrezvani.The blogger writes a young girl comes of age as a carpetmaker’s apprentice in 17th century Iran: “Everything about Iran-born, former Northern California dance critic Anita Amirrezvani’s first novel is meticulously designed: its nine-year creation; its hypnotic cadence and considered approach to plot and characters inspired by Iranian tales and its immaculately researched historical detail, down to its unnamed narrator.


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Iraqi Blogger Immigrating to Canada  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“I thank my friends who expressed concern about my fate. Well, my life and that of my family is in a state of great upheaval and flux at the moment. I have at last succumbed to a life long temptation that I have resisted for many, many years. At last I had to give in, mainly for the sake of my children and their future. I leave more than just property and belongings in Baghdad. I leave memories, not all bad, and above all I leave with a bitter feeling for a great opportunity missed, that could have worked. However, I am by no means despondent of all possibility of change for the better. It is just that I and my family need some respite,” writes Iraqi blogger Ala, who is immigrating to Canada.


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Israel: Hamas-Fateh Deathfest Continues  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“The Hamas-Fatah deathfest continues in Gaza and elsewhere, with 17 people being killed since Monday morning. Today's tally so far: 3 dead, 14 wounded. Things are happening at a bloodcurdling pace, and it is very hard sometimes to keep track of all the terrorist vs terrorist goings on. Thus as a special service for Israellycool readers, I have summarized today's events in an easy-to-follow manner. No thanks needed, I'm a giver,” writes Aussie Dave from Israel.


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Israeli Demockracy · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Tomorrow is 83 (almost 84) year old Shimon Peres's great day. He may finally win an election. That is if party discipline holds strong in the democratic secret ballot for Israel's President. Now, “party discipline holds strong in the democratic secret ballot.” Wow! That's an oxymoron in the lexicon of political science,” writes Batya from Israel.


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Jordan: Adults Should Grow Up! · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Ola Eleiwat, from Jordan, is enraged at the extend of child abuse.
“As adults, sometimes we forget what it feels like to be a kid. Worse yet, somewhere in the back of our minds, we think that we have the right to take it out on them whenever we feel like it. Be it anger, frustration, worry, you name it. Sometimes we even recruit them in our battles against other adults. They become a scapegoat for something they have nothing, absolutely nothing to do with. Why? Because we can, and they have to be “good” kids and obey,” she writes.


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Kenya: Nairobi bomb explosion: God blinked · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“If there is a god then the speck of dust on his eye that is Nairobi must have gotten too big. This morning he blinked.
A product of the nineties, my fondest memories of my childhood include sneaking out of home to watch Bruce Lee and Jean-Claude van Damme movies at the neighbors. We were enchanted by violence.
Today, as news of this morning's bombing in the central business district unravels, though alarmingly inaccurate, I find I no longer have a stomach for violence. I feel like I’ve been trying to drink the sea. It is simply too much,” KenyaImagine writing about yesterday's bomb explosion in Nairobi.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Libya: Wedding Bells  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Libyan blogger Khadija Teri attended a wedding and gives us a sneak preview of what was on offer here. “I survived the wedding.. it was actually kind of nice because my friend asked that the music not be so loud and for the most part you could actually have a conversation. One of my most favourite ex-students was there and I enjoyed catching up on her life. Also saw lots of friends that I haven't seen in ages. The food was wonderful and way too much to ever finish no matter how hard anyone tried – and of course the aroosa (bride) was beautiful, masha'allah!” she notes.


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Malaysia: Self-Censorship in Media · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Malaysian politician Lim Kit Siang says Media self-censorship under the current prime minister Abdullah is as bad or even worse than under the former prime minister Mahathir. “The latest example is the blackout in the local media of a survey by the Singapore American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) released on Friday that executives of United States companies in Southeast Asia say corruption is a “major impediment” to doing business in five countries in the region, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Singapore was the only country in the survey where corruption was not considered a major issue.”


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Oman: Sad About Gonu  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Sad About Gonu is a new blog in town – which aims to aggregate information about the deadly tropical cyclone Gonu, which hit the shores of Oman.
“It is very unfortunate that large international media organisations such as CNN and the BBC (!) have failed to provide the public with decent coverage of such a catastrophic event, except for detailed analysis on how their oil supplies might be affected. It appears that their priorities are to serve the idiotic masses who are more interested in knowing what happens to a false celebrity and her imminent charges for drunk driving,” writes the anonymous blogger.


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Pakistan: A planned emergency · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Pakistani Spectator on a ‘planned emergency’. “If we take a look upon proceedings of post 9th March scenario, and analyze the situation deeply the question blinks in mind ‘Are we being headed towards a planned and engineered state of emergency’. In past eras, emergency in any country was declared due to agitation by the general public. This may be the first time the emergency (if declared) will be imposed to extract some favourable and desired results.”


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Peru: Culinary Adventures in Lima · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Alejandro of Peru Food chronicles the first three days of his culinary adventures to various restaurants in Lima, which includes details of his customary tradition of visiting Café Haiti for his first meal after arriving in Peru.  Here he always orders the dish Lomo Saltado.


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Peru: Overworked Champions · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Around the world it is estimated that 22% of the labor force works excessively long hours.  Gran Combo Club [ES] found that Peru is the “champion” of working past a normal 40 hour a week job and believes that more often than not it is a result of abuse on the employer's part.


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Qatar: Israeli Troops Attack Hebron Family  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Abdulrahman from Qatar posts a video showing Israeli troops shooting at a Hebron family here. WARNING: The material may not be suitable for all viewers.


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Russia: Childbearing Costs · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Russian Spy reports on why Russian women aren't too eager to have kids: “Delivering a baby in a hospital that provides services on commercial principles usually costs a minimum of 25,000 rubles (about $1,000). The amount of a monthly child benefit paid for 18 months has now increased more than twice, up to 1,500 rubles (about $40) – a sum big enough for buying two packages of good-quality throwaway diapers for a baby. The state would cough up a bit more for you to buy 4 packages a month in case you are willing to have a second child.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: CoffeeMania · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Two-Zero writes about his favorite Moscow coffee house: CoffeeMania on Bolshaya Nikitskaya.


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Russia: Knockoff Fashion · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Darkness at Noon writes about knockoff fashion in Moscow.


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Russia: One More Dissenters’ March · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog is not impressed with the LA Times’ vision of this past Monday's Dissenters’ March in Moscow: “Kasparov addressed the crowd with his usual ‘we need a different Russia’ message. The crowd of 2000 chanted their usual slogans–‘Russia without Putin!’ Yawn.”


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Russia: Quick Links · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“There are so many blogs out there churning out good stories that sometimes I just can’t keep up,” writes Siberian Light and posts a few quick links to his current favorites.


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Saudi Arabia: Dotsson’s Rant · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“I can't stand girls with low self esteem.
I can't stand shallow people who need to constantly be complimented.
I can't stand people who play with others’ feelings to make themselves feel better.
I can't stand weak people.
I can't stand LIARS!!!
I can't stand fakes.
I can't stand people who think they are fooling everyone.
I can't stand people who can't stand up for themselves.
I can't stand people who think they own the world,” rants Dotsson from Saudi Arabia.


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Senegal: In Memory of Ousmane Sembene · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Togolese writer Kangi Alem has a short tribute [Fr] to famed Senegalese filmmaker and novelist Ousmane Sembene who passed away this weekend in Dakar. “I used to read the greats of African literature in my literature textbook in the 1980s, and I imagined all these authors were dead.  What it shock it was to see the man with the pipe [Sembene Ousmane] in a classroom in Lytoko.  It's all come full circle.  Life later made me a writer, and I think of Sembene each time that I come across students who tell me, “we didn't know that we could meet you Mr. Alem.”  May the smoke of his pipe precede him to the paradise of believers!”

author: Jennifer Brea


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Senegal: Ousmane Sembéne is no more · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Alexcia announces the death of Ousmane Sembéne: “Known to kenyan as the author of “God's Bits of Wood, London : Heinemann, 1995.” Senegal's Ousmane Sembéne has died at the age of 84.”


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Singapore: Carrying More Cash · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Singapore's widely used electronic payment vendor has decided to raise the service charge. Mr. Brown is not too pleased with the decision. “But I'm still going to go back to cash. Cash is better anyway. You spend less, you are more aware of the money you have in your wallet (doncha just hate breaking a $50 note?) and you are less prone to impulse buys.”


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Singapore: Improving Notations in Maths · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

squareCircleZ gives examples of situations where students struggle with the way maths is written. The blogger proposes an alternative notation for the way parentheses are used in some functions.


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Sri Lanka: On being terrorized · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

indi.ca on what being terrorized means “Sri Lanka is fundamentally different from the LTTE in that we do have systems and freedoms to enable a moral or at least decent state. The danger is that the spectre of the LTTE causes us to lower our own moral standards, until being better than terrorists is all we aspire to. It is not, and it should not be. Sri Lanka is better than that.”


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Sudan: Eyes on Darfur · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Eyes on Darfur via AfroSphere: “In June 2007, Amnesty International launched a human rights project and accompanying web site called Eyes On Darfur, which uses high resolution commercial satellite images of villages in the Darfur region. It features before and after satellite images of destroyed villages and villages at risk, as well as documented reports and personal accounts from the victims of the genocide and ethnic cleansing.”


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Tahiti: Traditional Healing or Charlatanry? · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Parlons Tahiti writes charlatans who sell alternative or traditional remedies [Fr] for exorbitant prices and claim to cure everything from leprosy to AIDS.


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Tajikistan: Melting Glaciers · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Vadim reports on Tajikistan's melting glaciers.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Tajikistan: The Problem with Corruption · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Andrea Dall'Olio explains what's wrong with bribes even when it becomes a widely accepted way of doing business using Tajikistan as an illustrative example.


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Touring Libyan Blogs: Is the Arabic Language Dead?  · Global Voices
Fozia Mohamed

Usually Libyan bloggers talk about varied and different topics – whether they are mundane or not. A recent supposedly anodyne post by Lebeeya in  in which she was describing how her colleagues loved her chocolate cookies and congratulated her by touching wood to ward off the ‘evil eye’  sparked a debate about the so called ‘death’ of the Arabic language.
It all started when Lebeeya said: ” SAY ” Mashallah” people…. STOP saying “TOUCH WOOD”, say mashallah.” (The Arabic phrase ma sha`a allah indicates acceptance of what God has ordained in terms of good or ill fortune that may befall a believer). This prompted blogger Suliman to comment that :
“I think your coworker used “Knock on wood” instead of “Mashallah” because of the prevalence of American pop culture throughout the world, including Islamic countries like Oman, Saudi Arabia, Libya, etc. My observation is that young people like yourself do not find what they need in the dead tongues of Arabic, Berber or Swahili. Those languages are rooted in cultures that do not promote individuality and self expression, and as a result, it is not uncommon that young bloggers, even in Arabic countries, freely express themselves in English. It works better for them, as it does here for you.”
Mani  took the initiative to further elaborate  on his own blog and defend the “life” of Arabic and other languages.
“Free choice is all about the freedom of the individual to choose.. by being free, we mean that the person uses their own head to think, observe, reason their way through life and choose a course of action accordingly..”
Here again the comment section became pretty lively.
The ball rolled and was picked up on Ghazi's blog Imtidad .
“Recently I've been preparing a study on Libyan Blogs on the Internet. Until now I managed to count 76 blogs written by either Libyans in or outside Libya, or expatriates living in Libya and writing about it, and one of the main results is that the majority of blogs use English only or in conjunction with Arabic or Libyan dialect as the main language to write in their blogs. 55 blogs write in English only, 11 blogs use both English and Arabic, and only 10 blogs use Arabic only.
My question to bloggers is:
From your opinion why are you using English or Arabic Language only?
And why the majority of Libyan blogs use English Language?”
The debate at times became very heated and bitter by detractors who were out to prove that Arabic is the language of terrorism and others who assert the validity of this language as that of the Quran. If you have the courage I recommend you wade through all the comments as it makes for an interesting read guaranteed to make you think more deeply about your language.
What is the conclusion then? Has globalization succeeded in killing Arabic? Is it the language of  terrorism as opposed to English being synonymous with freedom?

author: Fozia Mohamed


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Trinidad & Tobago: Journalism 101 · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

This Beach Called Life writes tongue-in-cheek about why he wants to be a journalist: “Journalists are quite unique and have the power to save the world in one column, but only after editing.”


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Uruguay: Great Things About Living in Uruguay · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Gabriel Lopez caught some slack for writing about the ten things he hates about living in Uruguay on his blog From Uruguay.  He then decided to look at it from the other viewpoint, which produced the post “Ten Things I Love About Living in Uruguay” that includes family, food and easy traffic, but in the end, “it's a place in the world were you can enjoy life in relative safety, make friends without much problem, raise a family, make a difference, be recognized and loved. Well, isn't that pretty much what life is about?”


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Vietnam: Design Ideas of Vietnamese Architects · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The blogger at Antidote to Burnout is impressed by the “the modernist tradition practiced by Vietnamese architects in urban houses” but wonders why the architects are not able to scale up their design skills to big buildings.


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Zimbabwe: Zimbabwean blog finalist in Blogpower Awards · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sokwanele in Blogpower Awards: “We are finalists in the Blogpower Awards. Thanks to The Pub Philosopher for initially nominating us.”


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Afghanistan: Poppy Prescription · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

My State Failure Blog offers up some policy prescriptions for combating opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.


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Albania: Bush’s Watch · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Voice of Europe links to an extremely popular YouTube video that shows “the crowd of cheering Albanians in the village of Fushe Kruja” stripping George W. Bush of his watch. The video has been viewed 1,020,279 times already.


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Argentina: National Day Against Child Labor · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Seba Lorenzo recalls the steps that were taken to declare June 12 as National Day Against Child Labor.  He writes in Grito Argentino [ES] that it took two years to convince the Senate to make that a reality.  It also helped that his mother was a representative in Congress.


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Armenia: Traffic Accidents · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Nazarian says that since Armenian traffic police started using mobile patrols, the number of reported traffic accidents has increased. He is quick to remind that corelation is not causation.


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Bahamas: Crime & Tourism   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Earth to the Caribbean … why would anyone want to visit if one does not feel safe!”  Scared Monkeys is concerned about the Bahamas’ rising crime rates in tourist areas.


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Bahamas: OTEC Facility in the Offing?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Could the Bahamas be the ideal location for an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion facility?  Bahama Pundit explores the possibilities.


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Bahrain: Internet Costs Down · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The prices of internet packages for businesses are going down, thanks to competition in Bahrain's telecoms market, writes a happ(ier) Mahmood Al Yousif.


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Bahrain: Omar Al Khayam  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahrain's Bint Battuta  gives us some poetry  – the famous Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam – and their various translations to digest.


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“Beat the Censors!”, a gift of freedom for Thai Internet users · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

(Photo Credit – sivanelle: Anti-censorship protestors gathered outside Pantip Plaza, a popular IT mall. June 9th, 2007 )
To date, Thailand’s ICT Minister, Dr Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom, has not kept his promise to unblock the popular video-sharing site, YouTube. YouTube, which is owned by Google, was blocked by the Thai government in April 2007, following the appearance on the site of material critical of the country's king. Last month, Sitthichai declared to the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SAPA) “When they decide to withdraw the clip, we will withdraw the ban.” Despite the removal of the video that mocks King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the ban on Google's YouTube website is yet to be lifted. The Minister is requesting the removal of a single video frame which, according to him, still remains on YouTube. “That's not enough. We want the picture removed, too, before we unblock it,” Sitthichai said. And in a recent interview with the International Herald Tribune Sitthichai declared that “YouTube is not a very essential Web site“.
But another Google-owned website has been reported to have been blocked by number of Thai ISPs: the popular blogging platform Blogger. According to an email from Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT), this ban was “due to a single blog critical of Thailand's military coup, Saturday Voice.” Now Blogger “seems to be accessible using True ISP but not Telephone Organization Thailand TOT Public Company Limited,” FACT adds.
In addition to censoring websites, Thailand’s military government is introducing legislation that will criminalize the use of circumvention tools (see a draft of the Cybercrime Bill) like circumvention software and anonymous proxies, to access blocked websites. The legislation, which has been approved by the National Legislative Assembly and will become law after it receives approval from the King, also carries a penalty of up to five years in prison “and/or a fine of up to 100,000 baht (US$2,700)” for disseminating “improper” content over the Internet. “The new cybercrime law, waiting for Royal assent will, 30 days following, come into effect.  If the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) has been as sneaky as we suspect, the law can be applied to anyone using circumvention software, anonymous proxies or any other method which conceals one's real IP,” said FACT coordinator CJ Hinke in an email exchange.
Since the coup d’état of 19 September 2006 against the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra – whose many supporters’ website have also been blocked since last May due to “security concerns” – “the Internet censorship has risen 500%, up now to more than 45,000 websites are blocked by several government agencies,” said Hinke. A blocklist from the MICT (secret May 28, blocklist) available from FACT includes 11,329 websites that have been banned in the past four months a total of 17,793 in total. According to FACT, “this is an increase of 90 political websites blocked in April alone.”
“MICT’s blocklist shows a frightening increase in thought control and abrogation of civil liberties and human rights in Thailand (…) the new military government of Thailand has taken all of us to a new dimension of repression. 2007 may well be the 21st century’s 1984 in Thailand,,” writes FACT, comparing the Thai situation to that described in the famous novel by British writer George Orwell, which popularized the phrase, “Big Brother is watching.”
According to the Open Net Initiative, “the current official approach toward filtering is in flux”. However, and while Thailand’s military-backed government is undermining online freedom of speech by blocking critical websites and censoring Web discussion boards, FACT activists are doing a brilliant job fighting back and increasing public awareness of the issue. FACT is maintaining a very active and constantly updated [blog] campaign, reporting on censorship, running petitions, providing circumvention tools and guides (in Thai and English) for anonymous blogging and bypassing censorship. FACT publishes the government's secret block lists with detailed analyses and has mobilized a street demonstration at the country's premier computer venue described as “nonviolent civil disobedience”. In a demonstration held on June 9, 2007, at Pantip Plaza, FACT activists distributed “a gift of freedom” to Thai Internet users, ”T-shirts! buttons! stickers! and…thousands of copies of a free CD-ROM, “Beat the Censors–Unblock ICT!”
The “Beat the Censors–Unblock ICT!” CD “features 41 software applications to circumvent Website-blocking by Thai censors, anonymous proxy servers and MICT’s secret blocklists, in both English & Thai. Many international websites and NGO’s are offering to host the CD on their servers for download. FACT activists have also made “Beat the Censors” available on BitTorrent peer-to-peer networks with cross-platform versions (Windows, Linux and Macintosh).
FACT likes to call the CD its first “weapon of mass instruction”. “In fact, the disk is applicable for use in any censored country. Only the Thai-specific information needs to be deleted and the English needs to be translated into a local language.  Unblock the world!” said Ajarn CJ in our email exchange.
I spoke with CJ Hinke, FACT founder and coordinator, about the FACT campaign, the filtering situation in Thailand and its implications and consequences as a result of the new cybercrime law:
Sami: On Bangkok Pundit I learned that number of Thai ISPs have blocked the entire blogspot.com subdomain. Can you tell me more about this new development?
CJ Hinke: Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) activists are quite certain the entire
They have not yet blocked WordPress, where FACT is located, although we've been getting clear warning signals. They are especially upset that FACT posts their secret blocklists along with access to circumvention software and anonymous proxies
However, FACT is making sure the whole world is watching.
Sami: Can you provide us with a brief overview of  the Freedom Against Censorship Thailand campaign? Is the site of the campaign blocked? And what about the Thai blogsphere, are the Thai bloggers highly politicized? Are they using blogs to contest the military government?
CJ Hinke: FACT was formed in November 2006 as a campaign to petition the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand against Internet censorship. The NHRC has not yet handed down its ruling but this will have no force in law; it is merely a recommendation.
FACT has also petitioned the Official Information Commission to attempt some transparency and accountability in government.
The censorship climate has deteriorated greatly since Sept 19's coup. Internet censorship has risen 500%, up now to more than 45,000 websites blocked by several government agencies. The previous government had plans to block 800,000 websites and this number is surfacing again here.
Yes, Thai bloggers are very political, focusing, exposing and fighting many different aspects of Thai politics.
Sami: Can you tell us more about the consequences for freedom of expression of the new ‘Internet’ law and the filtering situation in the country? It seems that the bill will outlaw any attempt to get around government censorship to access blocked websites deemed amoral or offending the country's monarchy. How can you describe that and what are the reactions of the Thai blogsphere in particular and the Internet users in general vis-à-vis the new Law?
CJ Hinke: The new cybercrime law, formally the Computer-Related Crimes Act, was proposed by the “Official Censor of the Military Coup” before the military-appointed National Legislative Assembly. Its original draft included the death penalty and life imprisonment for some computer crimes.
The bill sat in committee for five months composed of senior police, old judges and long-term bureaucrats, mostly digital dinosaurs.  (It is typical in the Thai government for officials and employees to not even do email.) There were scant few open-minded and forward-looking members, but the law made some progress in revision–only 20 years maximum.
Internet censorship is not legal in Thailand and is specifically unconstitutional. Thailand's principal law drafters and interpreters, the Council of State, decreed ‘net censorship illegal as did the Administrative Court in the ruling against the blocking of Midnight University.
Government has been waiting for the right climate for this law since 1997, when I first opposed censorship here. Curiously, however, the new law made no mention or attempt at censorship. Most of us were considerably relieved by this. However, some of the law's provisions are being interpreted in order to criminalize a computer user for simply viewing a Web page with unspecified questionable content, even if it has not been blocked. It further criminalizes ISPs by making them responsible for any such content transiting their servers, however briefly. Turning ISPs into cybercops is a big incentive for them to censor indiscriminately, just in case. Furthermore, all IP log data must be retained by ISPs for at least 90 days; government now knows where you've been and what you've been doing. Concealing one's IP address is also now illegal as is access to anonymous proxies. In addition, it appears that circumvention software is now in the same class of “illegal instructions” as worms and viruses.
The very fact that the law was passed by overwhelming assent, 119-1, has given the censors, already out of control with their own power, huge confidence. When Thailand has a Constitution again and when the first ‘cybercrime’ case goes to court, these issues may be better defined.
For an excellent analysis of the situation, look for Article XIX's recommendations and, in another context, read EPIC's comments on the Council of Europe's Convention on Cybercrime; none of these recommendations were considered or adopted.
Sami: Have any bloggers or online writers in your country been jailed for their activities? Are you witnessing a crackdown on cyber activists? Are you collaborating with other cyber activists from neighboring countries facing similar situations?
CJ Hinke: No, at present, we have no imprisoned citizen journalists nor an obvious “crackdown”. However, with the rise of voices decrying the violent situation in Thailand's Muslim South and blaming the coup government for our democratic vacuum, I think it will be only a matter of time before some government bureaucrat with an itchy trigger finger will want to try to flex the muscle of the new law. FACT may well become the prime target because we post the government’s secret blocklists as well as links to circumvention software and anonymous proxies. The government recently changed blocking methods. Until recently, the blocklist was circulated to Thailand's 54 ISPs and FACT posted it regularly. Government switched to blocking directly at Thailand's four ‘net gateways and… FACT still publishes the blocklist!
FACT is hoping to make use of circumvention software and anonymous proxies so common throughout every strata of Thai computer life that it will be difficult to call it civil disobedience. Nevertheless, such criminal activity can get one two-four years in prison.
FACT is largely alone out here, though we have sought the vocal support of many major international human rights, civil liberties and good governance organizations, largely without success. We currently have more than 600 signers and a core group of activist coordinators, spokespersons, and tech team. Living under martial law and emergency decree with a military government and no Constitution make FACT's situation challenging.

author: sami ben gharbia


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Bolivia: The Plight of Dogs · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Ana Elizabeth von Bergen Barber is angry at the treatment of stray dogs in the city of Warnes in the department of Santa Cruz and dedicates a post in her blog A Little Bit of Anna [ES] She is especially angry at dogowners that neglect their responsibilities and allow their pets to roam the streets freely.  She is also especially angry with the authorities that shoot the dogs as a way to curb the problem.


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China: Child labour debate · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Si tai from 1510 commented on the recent scandal of child labour in factories that produced Olympic soveniors (zh). The writer told his experience in encountering with teenage workers and s/he wonders if a simple ban of child labour would solve their problems or we should improve their working conditions instead.
In the comment section, some responses pointed out that even if they were back to rural area, they had to cultivate the land, which would be much harder than factory work…(zh)


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China: The waltz arrives in Beijing schools · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI reports on the debate about waltz class in Beijing schools. One of the issue is about mixed sex dancing.


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China: “Won’t Sell Even If It Kills Me” · Global Voices
John Kennedy

If 2007 is the year that China's masses rose up in stock market frenzy,  then last week's eight percent dip came as a bucket of ice cold water. Or a sign of things to come, like the guy whose broadband wasn't working that day and went berserk when he couldn't handle not being able to check his portfolio.
Much more common, however, are the creative ways with which the craze is being dealt, like the remix of the song ‘Die And I'll Still Love You’ (死了都要爱) from the Taiwanese rock group Shin, resung here in a stock market version as ‘Won't Sell Even If It Kills Me’, subtitled using the excellent subtitling tools at dotSUB (please feel free to translate the video into other languages!):

author: John Kennedy


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Cuba: Human Rights  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Both Uncommon Sense and Child of the Revolution blog about the latest report to the United Nations on the human rights situation in Cuba.


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D.R. of Congo: Rhumba stars of today and yesterday · Global Voices
Fred

As Francois recently observed in Du Cabiau à Kinshasa [Fr], “Music and dance probably share the podium with Jesus among the top reasons for living for a majority of the Congolese people.” For a hint of the obsessive enthusiasm with which Congolese music fans trade gossip about the star musicians and debate their merits, you only have to visit forums such as AfroMix, AfricaAmbience and CongoPage [Fr]. However, despite the massive popularity of Congolese music all over Africa, the blogosphere remains relatively quiet on the subject.
One of the exceptions to that rule is Fally ‘diCaprio’ Ipupa, who began his own blog early last year to help promote his first solo album, Droit Chemin. The album has been hugely successful, but the blog (which is in French and English) sadly hasn't been updated since April’s announcement of a European summer tour. A look through the plentiful comments reveals that the singer is trying to sort out a problem of ‘information piracy’ – perhaps other sites cashing in on the RSS feed? In the meantime, you can see a clip of Fally dancing and singing with Ferre Gola (a singer originally with Werrason, briefly hired by Kofi Olomide, and now leading his own band) via Congo Music Connect [Fr].
Le Congo c’est là introduces readers to Joe Kizi, “a young talent of contemporary Congolese music who is from Lubumbashi. He steers between Soukous, rhumba and RnB”, and links to an interview with the singer on Radio Okapi [Fr] (the nationwide radio station sponsored by the UN and Fondation Hirondelle).
If you prefer the rhumba guitar classics of ‘la belle epoque’, top African mp3 blog Benn loxo du taccu has just featured a beautifully lilting track by African Orchestra Fiesta from an album called The Sound of Kinshasa. (Benn loxo author Matt describes it as “gentle, dreamy… and almost Hawaiian”. That’ll be Docteur Nico’s Hawaiian slide guitar, which adorns quite a few Orchestra Fiesta numbers, many of them originally released on the Ngoma label, as celebrated by Excavated Shellac, a music blog specialising in 78rpm nostalgia.)
Finally, bringing us back to the present and shifting to the visual arts, South African ‘blogazine’ Represent has the scoop on Kin-Be-Jozi, “a global intercultural art project” in which “5 artists from Jozi [Johannesberg, South Africa], Bern (Switzerland) and Kinshasa [DR Congo] have collaborated over the last year in exploring different facets of our urban environments.”

author: Fred


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Egypt: Live from Jerusalem · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Arabist announces the birth of a new blog – Charles Levinson is now blogging live from Jerusalem.


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Egypt: Politically Neutral Names  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“When our children were born, Diaa and I wanted them to have Arabic names that could be spelled, pronounced, and not Anglicised. One of our first choices for our son was Yusuf, the name of my husband's grandfather on his mother's side, but when our OB said “Ah, Joseph. Nice name.” that was the end of Yusuf. It took three days to find a name for our son that fit our criteria, and in the end it has remained, thankfully, a politically neutral name,” explains  Maryanne Stroud Gabbani, who lives in Egypt. Gabbani  links to this article to illustrate how picking the wrong name could be damaging to a child.


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Egypt: US Threatens to Cut Back Aid  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The US is threatening to cut military aid to Egypt by $200m, but blogger Issandr El Amrani thinks it is unlikely. “I was in Washington a few weeks ago and interviewed several Egypt-watchers there — including administration officials — who did not think this would happen,” he notes.


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El Salvador: Crime Pays · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

A recent report by the United Nations Development Programme found that only 4% of all homicides resulted in punishment, which led to a dispute by Minister of Security, René Figueroa .  Tim Muth writes in Tim's El Salvador Blog that “Figueroa can complain about the study, but the facts are there to be verified. If you are a criminal in El Salvador, the fear of being caught and punished is not a fear which will prevent you from committing a murder. 96% of the time, you won't be caught and punished.”


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Fiji: Attending Dalai Lama’s Talk · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Babasiga blog has highlights from a talk given by Dalai Lama in Australia. The blogger asks “Some of the things he said this trip certainly sounded like universal principles that could well apply to a small nation like Fiji. Are there Buddhists in Fiji?”


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Former Soviet Union: Victims of Communism Memorial · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

As the Victims of Communism Memorial opens Washington, D.C., J. Otto Pohl lists “the nationalities deported in their virtual entirety by the Soviet government from their homelands to distant areas of the USSR”: “In total they numbered nearly 2,000,000 people. Over 500,000 of them or more than one in four perished from the harsh conditions of the deportation and exile.”


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Guyana: International Image · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Living Guyana quotes an Associated Press report to make a point about how Guyana is being perceived by the international community following the foiled JFK terror plot.


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Honduras: Celebrating a Mighty Win · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Boby's Blog [ES] is riding sky high after his country's national team defeating regional power, Mexico, in the Copa Oro football tournament.  However, he knows that this tournament does not mean much in the long run, but “hopefully we play against them like that during the (World Cup) qualifiers.”


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Hong Kong: Citizen VS Developer · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chui Lu-wei reports on my 1510 about the aution of a piece of land in West Kowloon seaside. A local citizen applied for judicial review against the construction of screen buildings in the area as that piece of land provide the only channel for sea wind to enter old district at inner city (zh).


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Hong Kong: Queen’s Pier Preservation Action Elevated · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Yesterday, a ritualistic demonstration took place at the Queen's pier to show people's determination in preserving the pier via civil disobedient act. Chong from interlocals.net translated the statement by preservation activists.
A Chinese version can be found at inmediahk.net.


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India: Mumbai and Monsoon · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Even as the government doesn't do much about its promises to make Mumbai more monsoon-safe, To Each Its Own recalls the floods in the city in 2005 and wonders if the city is going to be in trouble once again.


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India: The Shah Bano legacy · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Social Blog reviews the legacy of an act, which ironically does the opposite of what it is called. “The Rajiv Gandhi-led Government in power, passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, to appease the outraged sentiments. The Act, quite ironically, curtailed the rights of Muslim women rather than protecting them.”


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Iran:A Logo to Remind Samarra’s Golden Mosque · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Muslim Bloggers Association has created a logo[Fa] to remind Samarra's Golden Mosque that was damaged after an explosion today in Iraq.


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Iran:Diggeh.com · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Diggeh is a user-contributed bookmarking site like digg.com and del.icio.us, but for IRANIAN/PERSIAN oriented content.All are in English.


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Iran:Jailed Students Under Pressure · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to[Fa] TjDaily,eight AmirKabir University students who are in prison are under pressure to confess what the authorities would like to hear.These student activists are accused of publishing anti governmental articles.These students deny this accusation.


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Iraq: Battered Women  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The plight of Iraqi women comes to life in this link provided by Salam Adil  in the Iraq Blog Count.


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Iraq: Mounting Refugee Crisis  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

What brings Iraqis to Syria, asks Alive in Baghdad, which highlights the Iraqi refugee crisis. “There are at least 4.2 million Iraqis displaced from their homes, with 2.2 million now believed to be outside Iraq. The UN has now warned the number should be expected to rise to 5 million displaced Iraqis in the near future.”


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Israel: Election Results  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Desert Peace from Israel gives us his two cents  on the results of the Israeli elections. “Also Israel has, since an hour ago, a new President. Shimon Peres, a man who never was elected to any government position in his 50 year old political career was finally elected to a redundant position,” he notes.


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Israel: Gazans Call for Help · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Israeli blogger Yael K  notes that Gazans are seeking refuge from Israel to escape the in fighting between Hamas and Fatah in Palestine.


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Jamaica: Blog Novel   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican Geoffrey Philp has just finished a novel inspired by the blogosphere – and his agent thinks its “the first of its kind in fiction”.


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Japan: New Prime Minister? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ampontan bets that the present Foreign Minister Taro Aso will likely be the next new prime minister based on the blogger's reading of his book: Totetsumonai Nihon (meaning Japan the Tremendous).


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Japan: The Disappearing Pension Accounts · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

As the ruling party of the government of the second largest economic superpower of the world, faced with an upcoming election and already suffering record-low approval ratings, what do you do when it is uncovered that more than fifty million public pension accounts, in a country with a national population of 130 million people, have mysteriously become “unidentifiable”? What if, further, despite claims to the contrary, it emerges that your party was aware of the problem as far back as four decades ago, but did nothing about it?
If you are the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP), you do what any 5-year-old would do: you point the finger at the next guy. Except in this case, you do it in a big way.
Originally dug up by the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the pension fund fiasco, as it has been called, first appeared in the news a few weeks ago, but has significantly picked up steam over the past ten days as people desperately crowded consultation booths last weekend to check if their account information had been lost. Responding to this situation, the LDP earlier this month initiated a campaign involving the distribution of flyers laying the blame for the fiasco on former DPJ leader Kan Naoto, who was Health Minister in 1996, at the time when a plan to computerize account records was approved. (The LDP has since said that they will produce a new leaflet which does not explicitly mention Kan's name; in the current version, Kan's name appears multiple times in red ink.)
The problems in the public pension fund system originally stem from the fact that, prior to 1997, individuals often held multiple pension numbers, one for each of the three major pension programs; in 1997, these were unified under a single identification number, resulting — it is claimed — in the lost account numbers. It is important to note that these over 50 million ownerless pension fund accounts almost certainly do not belong to relatively well-off salarymen, nor do they likely belong to government officials. Rather, as blogger shisaku points out,
The retirement money that may be out of reach due to the needless multiplication of account numbers belong to those of persons employed in the non-lifetime employment sector, or persons who changed jobs and employers often–i.e., the persons MOST IN NEED of the government's special attention and care.
Japanese bloggers have predictably reacted in large numbers to the pension fund fiasco. What follows is one among many: a detailed entry on the topic posted by blogger luxemburg at A Tree at Ease on June 5th which attracted multiple trackbacks and comments. The post is titled “A ‘Beautiful Country': A country in which pension accounts are swept away beautifully” (「美しい国」とは払った年金がきれいになくなる国のこと), and begins:
自民党が「年金基礎番号導入を決定したときの厚生大臣は菅直人」と主張しているという話はあったが、まさか本当にビラを10万枚刷るとは思わなかった。
Although there has been a lot of talk about how the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been stressing that “the Minister of Health and Welfare when the decision was made to introduce basic pension numbers was Kan Naoto”, I never thought that they would actually print 100,000 flyers.
オツムは大丈夫なのか、自民党。これで菅直人が悪かったことにできると本気で思っているのか。年金基礎番号導入はデータの統合のためにむしろ必要なものであり、これは下手すれば”ほめ言葉”である。そして、もし問題にするとすれば、実際の入力過程ということになるが、その時代は小泉厚生大臣だったというオチまでついている。
Have the LDP members lost their minds? Do they seriously think that they can pretend that Kan Naoto is the one to be blamed for everything? In fact, introducing basic pension numbers to unify data is a necessary thing, and in this sense to say that he did this is a “compliment”. If you want to put this action into question, then ultimately the blame lies with Koizumi, who was Health Minister at the time at which the process of inputting data took place.
これがネガティブキャンペーンにすらならないことが判断できない低レベル、これが日本の政権与党のレベルである。
ただ、そもそもがこういう問題ではない。紙の記録の時代に、ずさんに管理が行われ、照合も行われないまま何十年も放置されてきたのであって、別に菅直人や小泉純一郎など一人や二人の責任でも何でもない。
Japan's ruling party is at such a low level that they do not realize that what they are doing will not succeed even as a negative campaign.
Actually, the root of the problem is not the one that [the LDP] is indicating. The fact that [these records] were processed, during the age of paper records, without any care to detail, and then neglected for several dozen years without having been verified, means that this is not the exclusive responsibility of Kan Naoto or Koizumi Junichiro; it is the responsibility of more than just one or two people.
[…]
長い年月をかけたこの蓄積があってすでに誰の記録かわからなくなっていたのであり、基礎年金番号を付けたことなどはこの問題と何の関係もない。
Things had already piling up over a long period of time, and registration had already been lost; therefore, this problem does not have anything to do with introducing basic pension numbers.
自民党が目前の選挙に勝つために手段を選ばないのはわかる。多少汚くても卑怯でも、追いつめられればこの程度だろう。たとえば幼児が幼い頭脳と知能を動員して何とか嘘をついてごまかそうとすることはある。親は、半分は怒りながら、半分は「こんなことをいえるようになったのか、頭がよくなった」と、ごまかす姿のかわいらしさもあって、苦笑する。しかし、それは相手が自分の子供で、しかも幼児だから許されるのであり、いい大人がこのレベルとなると、腹が立つより悲しくなる。本当のアホではないか、と。
I understand that the LDP will do anything to win the immediate election. Although it is dirty and cowardly, this is probably the best they can do when they are driven into a corner. For example, young children may use all the brains and intelligence they have and try to hide things with lies. The parents, while half-angry, are find it endearing, half-thinking: “They have grown up and became so smart that they are able to talk about such things”, and give a wry smile. However, in this case, the parent is talking to their own child, and since they are speaking to their child, they allow them [to do this kind of thing]; an adult descending to this level is more than just offensive, it is sad. These people are just really stupid.
昔、アメリカ軍の将校が、日本の兵士が勇敢で命知らずである一方で、指揮官は本当のバカであると感じたという話を聞いたことがあるが、日本の頭はカラッポである。
A long time ago, I heard that some American military officer thought that while Japanese soldiers were brave and death-defying, the commanders were real idiots. The Japanese head is all empty.
腹が立つという問題ではない、というのはこういうことだ。
バスに乗っていて、明らかに薬か何かをやっている運転手が、正常な判断力を失い、焦点の定まらない目をしてよだれを垂らしながら運転していたら、怒るどころか、そのまえにまず止めなければ、と思うのではないか。自民党のレベルはそれに達している。
It is in this sense that this is not only a problem of something being offensive.
Suppose you are riding in the bus, and you clearly notice the bus driver taking drugs or something like that, that they have lost their normal sense of judgement, that their eyes are wandering, and they are drooling as they are driving the bus. If this happened, before getting angry, you would first try to stop the bus, right? This is the level that the LDP has reached.
なお、このビラについては党内からも批判があるそうだ。現在の執行部がここまでアホだとは思わなかった、となかばあきれている人もいるのだろう。
By the way, I heard that there are even criticisms about the recent flyer coming from within the LDP itself. It appears that there are also people who are quite amazed, not having thought that the current leadership would reach this level of stupidity.
A pension account book
The rest of the entry is divided into three sections, dealing first with the disappearance of the pension accounts:
◆　年金は消えている
照合がすんでないだけだというのであれば、そもそもたいした話ではない。しかし、先ほどのサイトにあるこういう報道を見る限りでは、記録がないというものがあるのだ。照合がすんでないだけならこれほどの問題にならない。何万人もの人が社会保険事務所に詰めかけて、自分は払っているはずだと主張しても、認められた人は0.1パーセントもないのだ。99.9％は今後も認められないだろう。これを消えたといわないのか、ふざけるのもいい加減にしてほしい。
The pension funds are gone
If this is only about the verification never having been completed, then, from the beginning, it was never really a big deal. However, just looking at the report posted on the site mentioned earlier, it is clear that some of the records do not even exist. Had the records simply not been verified, then there would not have been any further problems beyond this. Many thousands of people crowded the social insurance office, insisting that they had paid [their pension fees], but only 0.1 percent of them were okayed. It appears that 99.9% of them will not be acknowledged. They won't admit that these records have disappeared. I want them to stop screwing around.
ご安心ください、というが、国民が安心できるのは自民党が崩壊したときだけだ。
実際にはこんなものではないだろう。もっと恐ろしい崩壊、つまり、年金の積立金として今あるとされている150兆円ほどがほとんど不良債権化しているのではないかという疑惑が本格的に問題にされたとき、年金は国家的オレオレ詐欺だったことが白日の下にさらされるだろう。
They say that they want us to set our minds at ease, but the citizens will only be able to set their minds at ease when the LDP is destroyed.
This is the honest truth of the situation. It may even turn out that when serious questions are put [to the government] raising concerns that the accumulated pension funds, currently valued at more than 150 trillion yen, have simply become bad debt — when there is this more terrible collapse — it will be revealed that the pension funds were actually an “it's me” fraud committed by the state.
[“It's me” fraud: telephone fraud in which scam artists trick elderly people by pretending to be someone the elderly person knows but cannot remember.]
「オレだよ、オレ。国家。信用できるだろ？美しい国だからな。振り込んだ金がきれいさっぱりなくなるという意味で美しいんじゃないぜ」
“It's me, me! The government. You can trust me, right? Because this is a beautiful country. The money that was transferred has been cleanly, and completely, lost — isn't this, after all, the meaning of ‘beautiful'?”
The next section criticizes the practice the government is using, in which frustration directed at employees of the Social Insurance Agency over their better working conditions is used to divert attention away from the government's responsibility:
◆　ねたみ根性を利用するのは悪質
菅直人や民主党のことはまあおくとして、問題は職員に対するねたみ根性を利用したキャンペーンである。確かに労使の慣行で、データの入力に関しても、一日にこれだけとか、ノルマはない、とか民間からみれば天国、というような事態はあるだろう。しかし、こういう組織というものは「上から腐る」のである。社会保険庁の長官が天下りで渡り歩き2億9000万円ものカネをかすめとっていく職場で、まともに働くということは可能だろうか。
Using the power of envy is heinous
Putting aside the issues to do with Kan Naoto and the Democratic Party of Japan [DPJ], the problem is the campaign [waged by the LDP] which uses jealousy directed at employees [of the Social Insurance Agency]. Certainly, it seems that the situation is that, in regards to a customary practice of labour and management — one that also applies to data entry — there are no absolute requirements on how much work has to be done in one day, no output quotas. From the point of view of the average citizen, these conditions are like heaven. However, this kind of organization is one which usually goes “rotten from the top”. Is it really possible for anyone to do proper work in a work place in which the director-general of the Social Insurance Agency, in his cushy job [amakudari], goes here and there and skims profits of 290 million yen?
「ケッ、面白くねえ。何かワシらだって甘い汁を吸えないか」と思うのは、当然だとまでは思わないが、気持ちとして全くわからないわけではない。
一方、民間では正社員はサービス残業、非正規は低賃金で過労死直前まで働かされて、地獄のような目に遭っている、そう考えると、ねたみたくなる気持ちもわかるけれども、社会保険庁の職員をいくらねたんでみても、我々の労働条件はよくならない。
“Pfft, this is so stupid. Why can't we have some of this good life as well?” — I wouldn't go as far as to say that this kind of thinking is unsurprising, but, as a feeling, it is to a certain extent understandable.
Meanwhile, among the general population, full-time employees are doing off-the-clock work, while non-fulltime employees, earning very low wages, are being worked nealy to death from overwork, suffering in hell-like conditions. If you think about this, then it is understandable why such people feel jealousy, but however much jealousy one might feel, our work conditions are not going to get any better.
ぎりぎりまで働かせるような法制度を作っているのは社会保険庁の職員ではなく、自民党である。にもかかわらず「人権メタボ」などと称して、人権を少しでも削り取ろうとねらっている。贅沢は敵だと言いながら、さんざんピンハネしてきた人たちの跡取りなんだから当然といえば当然だが。
少しでも職場の待遇がよい人たちを妬んで、どんどん労働組合をつぶしていくに従って、我々の生活はどんどん悪くなっている。向こうの思うつぼなのである。
The legal system which forces us to work to these extreme limits was not designed by the employees of the Social Insurance Agency, it was designed by the Liberal Democratic Party. Despite this, under the guise of what has been called the “metabolism of human rights“, they are attempting to chip away at our human rights as much as they can. These people took the place of predecessors who themselves, while claiming indulgent spending to be the enemy, had been stealing money we had invested, so this is all not very surprising.
Jealous of people with good workplace conditions, and as moves are steadily made to destroy labour unions, our life will become worse and worse. This is exactly what these people want.
And, finally, in the last section, Japan's public broadcaster NHK is taken to task for its mediocre coverage of the pension accounts scandal:
◆　大本営化したＮＨＫ
年金問題でのＮＨＫニュースを見ていたら、なんと宣伝カーに乗ってマイクを握る安倍の遊説のシーンを延々と流している。年金は大丈夫だ、一年以内に解決する、と選挙向けの宣伝を、全国ネットで流してやっている。
確かに年金について政府の責任者は、責任ある回答をすべきである。それについて報道する義務もマスコミにはあると思う。ところが政府の回答として、選挙のための遊説を垂れ流しするのが報道なのか。
NHK, the new imperial headquarters
When I was watching news about the pension problem on NHK news, what I found was hours upon hours of scenes with [Prime Minister] Abe riding in a sound truck, grasping a microphone, campaigning [on the pension fund issue]. They are airing election advertisements on the national television network claiming that pension funds are okay, that within one year this will be resolved.
Certainly the people responsible for pension funds within the government should give responsible answers to questions put to them. I think that the mass media also has a duty to report about this. And yet, can we really call airing election campaign advertisements, issued by the government as a response [to questioning], to be reporting?
選挙向けの政党の演説は、自分の選挙に都合のいいことだけ、党利党略で並べる。国会や記者会見でつっこまれることもない。それはそれで党の宣伝活動なんだから、かまわない。しかし、それを国民に対する説明としてＮＨＫが報道するとなると話は別である。
ＮＨＫは恥を知らないのか。今必要なのは、我々の疑問に政府の責任者として答えることであって、自民党の選挙宣伝の言葉をそのまま流すことではないはずだ。ここまで露骨な情報操作の先兵に成り下がったのか。
Since election speeches by political parties are arranged to win an election campaign, they only display what is in the party's interest. They are not questioned in detail the way that they are in the National Diet or in press conferences. That itself is okay, because it's an advertising campaign for the party. However, it is a different story when NHK broadcasts these [campaign advertisements] as an explanation to the Japanese people.
Does NHK have no shame? What is needed right now is for our questions to be answered by parties responsible within the government; this is not the same as simply airing the words of LDP election advertisements. Has [the NHK] been degraded to the level of a puppet that manipulates information this blatantly?

author: Chris Salzberg


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Kazakhstan: Cultural Festival · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Özgecan reports on the recent Kazakh cultural festival in Munich.


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Kazakhstan: Party Mergers · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Adam says that with early parliamentary elections seeming more and more likely, Kazakhstan's opposition parties are uniting.


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Kuwait: Would You Eat Off the Floor?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Kuwait blogger Fonzy  posts the following question: Would you eat off the floor? Contrary to popular belief, he says a study shows that bacteria only attacks food a minute after it drops to the ground.


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Lebanon: Blogger’s Close Encounter with Explosion · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Blogger Charles Malik was only 50 meters away from the explosion that targeted a Lebanese MP killing and injuring more than 20 civilians today. He recounts his experience: “We were in a cafe next to Luna Park enjoying the late afternoon next to the sea after an intense day. Children were playing on the equipment under the setting sun. Mothers were holding their babies. Old men were smoking argile (hooka). BOOM!!!”

author: Moussa Bashir


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Lebanon: Bomb Explosion Targets MP · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“A powerful blast ripped through Beirut’s seaside, between the Long Beach and Sporting Club swimming facilities in Beirut's Manara district. Five dead so far and ten injured,” reports Moussa Bashir, from Beirut. “Nothing, nothing at all, justifies such acts of terror…Lord have mercy…. we in Lebanon are in dire need for it today …”


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Lebanon: Four Categories of People  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

There are four categories of individuals in this world. There are those who are of type Sheep A, the second category are Sheep B, the third is Sheep C and the last type is Wolf, explains Lebanese blogger Liliane.


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Moldova: Chisinau · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Music and Life – Everywhere! writes about Moldova's capital Chisinau.


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Morocco: Hajj or Vodka  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Moroccan Laila Lalami  posts  a clipping of a news article on a Hajj lottery, placed next to a Vodka ad. Muslims are prohibited from drinking alcohol.


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Nepal: Durbar Square in motion · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

An American blogger in Nepal working to promote and protect Dalit rights, has a photograph that captures the energy of a street when a banda (strike) is not in place.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Nepal: Women and the State · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Kathmandu Speaks asks why women commit suicide in Nepal, and points to the perceived lack of support for women.


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Oman: Gonu Relief Blog · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Gonu Relief Blog is another blog put by Omani bloggers to follow up on relief efforts, following the tropical cyclone Gonu, which hit Omani shores recently.


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Pakistan: India and the IT-BPO Sector · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Pakistani Spectator has a conversation with a friend about India's IT-BPO sector, and points to India's secular years and investment in education as the factors that helped the success.


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Personal loan companies of suspicious repute  · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

Since entertainers who appeared in advertisements for personal loan companies of suspicious repute were blamed in public and some of them canceled the advertisement in order to keep their image or apologized in public, a famous actor appeared even with his wife, and said that he is not ashamed. Bloggers are not satisfied. [ko]

author: Hyejin Kim


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Russia: Landslide in the Valley of Geysers · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A detailed report, in Russian AND in English, with photos, on the June 3 landslide that damaged much of Kamchatka's Valley of Geysers – by LJ user spanishflyer (Andrei Leonov).


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Russia: Peter Tatchell Interview · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Gist‘s Michelangelo Signorile posts a link to his interview with British activist Peter Tatchell, who “was severely beaten at an attempted Moscow Gay Pride event on Sunday, May 27.”


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Serbia: Kosovo Independence · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

TOL's Steady State discusses different aspects of the Kosovo independence situation.


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Singapore: Singaporeans First · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Bart JP at Perpectives Unlimited argues why he is skeptical about the “Put Singaporeans First” talk. Singapore is home a large number of foreigners who live, work and study in the city state.

author: Preetam Rai


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Singapore: YouTube and Beyond · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The Habitatnews blog announces a talk titled “Youtube and beyond: What you want to know but never knew who to ask” to be held at a public library in Singapore.  “Youtubers, Videobloggers, Video podcasters, or anyone who wants to get started with sharing videos online, this is perfect for you!”


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Thailand: Magazine Publishing in Thailand · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The Bangkok Bugle compares the dynamics of magazine cover story publishing in his native UK and his current home Thailand.


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The Great Walls  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Walls are continuing to spring up around the world, writes guest blogger Sokari  on Sabbah's Blog, who discusses new and old walls which separate Iran from Pakistan, India from Pakistan, Palestine from Israel, Morocco from the Polisario front, the Spanish enclaves from the rest of Morocco and certain neighbourhoods of Baghdad.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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The proportion of Christians in Korea · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

The proportion of Christians in Korea is quite different by province. A blogger researched this issue and shows his findings through graphs. [ko]


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Transgenders and Children · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

A transgendered person who is a famous entertainer and her partner in Korea were rejected in their application to adopt a child after their marriage. Don’t they have the right to have a family? Or are they not an “ordinary” family? There are two opinions. [ko]


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Trinidad & Tobago: Indigenous People – Political Mileage?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The CAC Review can tell that it is election season in Trinidad and Tobago: “It is at times like these the indigenous people are often fondly called to mind…”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago: Road Carnage · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Now is Wow reprints a Letter to the Editor that she wrote out of concern about irresponsible driving practices on Trinidad and Tobago's roads, while Trinidad and Tobago News Blog agrees that the carnage on the streets is not normal.


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Turkmenistan: Cellular Boom · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia reports on signs of looming rapid growth of mobile communications in Turkmenistan.


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Two Girls · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

People commemorate two girls who were killed by an American army vehicle on the way to their friends’ birthday party five years ago. Many bloggers recall their deaths.[ko]


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Ukraine: Victor Yushchenko Interview · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Mark MacKinnon posts the full transcript of his recent interview with Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko.


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Vietnam: Food Recommendation in Hue · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Vietnamese God is traveling in Hue, the old capital city of Vietnam. The blogger has some pictures of local food and restaurant recommendations.


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A blog community bridging Korean speaking and English speaking netizens · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

A blog community bridging Korean speaking and English speaking netizens. They can talk about all matters, such as Korean politics and entertainment.


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Argentina: Waste of Time · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

eBlog [ES] thinks the recent debate of Buenos Aires mayoral candidates was a waste of time because “almost no one cares about their proposals.”

author: Eduardo Avila


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Bahamas: Where are we Going?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

In the face of several troubling developments, Sidney Sweeting at WeblogBahamas.com asks the question, “Quo Vadis Bahamas?”


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Bahrain: Education Reforms · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif attended the official launch of the “Implementation of the national Education Reform Initiatives” and gives us his take on it here.


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Bahrain: Lebanese Appeal  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

An appeal has gone out for Bahrainis to dig deep in their pockets to help Palestinian refugees caught up in the crossfire in Lebanon, reports Haitham Sabbah, who is based in Bahrain.


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Bahrain: US Human Trafficking Blacklist  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Silly Bahraini Girl links to a news article which puts Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar on the US human trafficking blacklist for failing to halt what it called the scourge of “modern-day slavery.”


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Bangladesh: To the Caretaker Government · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Journal of a Disturbed Mind has a word of advice for the caretaker government in Bangladesh.


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Bermuda: Putting Education First  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As teachers in Bermuda go on a work-to-rule for pay increases, IMHO.bm wonders “when exactly are we going to start putting our children first?”


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: “A Girl Who Could Not Speak Properly” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Bosnia Blog posts a sketch of a Sarajevo family that survived the war.


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Sevdah Now and Then · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Mirza Basic of London Sevdah Blog writes about Amira Medunjanin's recent concert – and about his mother performing all those years ago: “Bosnia's historical records have been largely destroyed during the war and outfit which my mum is wearing in this picture has been largely forgotten about, or people deem it as tacky and old-fashioned. It is exactly this stuff that London Sevdah is trying to bring back to life and showcase to the world as Bosnia's biggest asset, its identity and its real value.”


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Central African Republic: MSF volunteer shot dead by rebels · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

The United Nations has suspended aid [Fr] to northwestern  Central African Republic following the shooting death [Fr] of a 27 year-old Doctors Without Borders volunteer, Alliance Pour La Democratie et Le Progres reports.


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China: Outside a hospital’s doors · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lyn Jeffery from Virtual China translated a citizen report on the queue outside the door of Beijing Children Hospital because they want to save RMB20 cost of staying in the hospital at night.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Slavery · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Peijin Chen from Shanghaiist summarized reports and discussions on the recent rescue of 31 slaves from a brickworks factory in Shanxi province last week. There is an estimated one thousand children still trapped in the mountains of Shanxi, working as slave in factories and mines.  400 Chinese fathers sent out a cry for help on the internet, hoping for information that would help them recover their kidnapped sons.


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Colombia: A Self-Interview · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The Colombia Blog Herald writes about a paramilitary leader's “self-interview,” which was a paid advertisement where he calls himself a “peace businessman.”


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Cuba: Bloggers Speculate on Castro  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Biologically, has Fidel Castro's time expired?” asks Uncommon Sense, while Babalu Blog wonders if the presence of top foreign leaders in Cuba signifies “a last goodbye perhaps?”


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Egypt: Another Blogger Arrested · Global Voices
Freedom For Egyptians

The Egyptian blogosphere scene is still witnessing more clampdowns on bloggers by State Security for different reasons. This week’s most recent incident is the arrest of Egyptian blogger Omar El Sharkawy.
El-Sharkawy was arrested on June 11 while covering Egypt’s Shura Council elections or Upper House of parliament in his constituency in Talkha in North Egypt. Manfe reported that the arrest process was humiliating. El-Sharkawy himself managed to give a phone call from the police station to his friends to report his arrest.
Blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah wrote that State Security kidnapped El-Sharkawy and there were no legal procedures to charge him. He also said many lawyers were trying to reach the police station in his town where he is supposed to be detained but they were hampered by the security. Finally, some succeeded, however the police is denying he is in prison and that’s why Alaa believes he was kidnapped.
Tahyyes is reporting there is a difficulty finding his ID information which is making friends, bloggers and lawyers’ mission difficult to report to officials his disappearance after the detention. According to Tahyyes, El-Sharkawy has no one but his friends as his parents had passed away long time ago. You can be Omar’s friend and sign your name here in solidarity with him.
Monem-press (English),  Atralnada, egyptwatchman, egymasr, and Ana Ikwan are showing support and expressing surprise at the treatment Omar received when he tried to cover the elections in his town in one of Egypt’s governorates!
On June 2, Blogger Mahmoud Abdel Monem was released from prison after being detained for more than 45 days.
On February 22, Egyptian Blogger Abdel kareem Nabil Soliman Amer was sentenced to four years in prison for his writings. He is spending three years in jail for his writings on the Sunni Al-Azhar Institution and one year for writing about the President of Egypt.

author: Freedom For Egyptians


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Egypt: Blogger Arrested · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Egyptian blogger Omar el Sharqawi was detained last tuesday by Mubarak's police, he managed to make a phone call and inform his friends that he was being held in Talkha police station in Mansoura. yet when human rights lawyers inquired about him the Talkha sherif denied Omar was ever arrested.
“So they kidnapped Omar and would not reveal his whereabouts nor even admit he is in custody, needless to say the arrest is illegal, he was probably never charged with anything and is now in some dark state security dungeon, Omar needs your support,” writes Egyptian blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah.


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Egypt: Elections Rigging Videos, US Aid Cuts and A New Blog by Talented Movie Director · Global Voices
Freedom For Egyptians

In this week’s round up from Egypt, bloggers write about domestic issues as well as Egypt-US relations and I am also introducing new interesting blogs about movies, photography and liberal youth!
Election Rigging Videos: On June 11, polling stations were opened for the Shura Council elections’ voters or Egypt’s Upper House of Parliament elections.  Wael Abbass posted on his blog 10 videos that were sent to him from several sources coming from different Egyptian governorates showing manipulations in the electoral process of the Shura Council.
US cuts Aid to Egypt: Zeinobia comments on the approved US legislation aimed at pressuring Egypt to improve its human rights record by withholding 200 million dollars in military funds until progress is made. She says “this is a big slap for the new elected member of Human Rights Council in the United Nations aka Egypt.”
Egypt is the second recipient for US aid in the Middle East after Israel. Egypt was made eligible for this aid after signing a peace agreement with Israel in the 70s.
Popular Movie Director Blogs: I am proud to introduce a blog owned by a very talented Egyptian who decided to blog his life and history, giving us a golden opportunity to delve into his life and an era in Egypt’s history. Egyptian movie director and writer Mohamed Khan, who was born in 1942, joined the blogosphere with a blog named after one of his movies. Klephty (Arabic) is Khan’s blog. In his most recent blog posts “Is it Destiny!” , he thinks his blog is the place where he drafts his history, memories and thoughts and  that blogging sometimes forces him to remember things he did not really want to think about. He believes that it is mind-boggling how ideas are born without knowing that they will be when you start writing. It is interesting to learn that although Khan was born in Cairo, his parents are immigrants. He was born to a Pakistani father and an Italian mother. His blog is full of very interesting photos and stories about his life and work that do not only tell us about Khan but about Egypt’s history. Welcome Klephty to the Blogosphere – it is a real enrichment to Egyptian blogs!
Blogotography: Maryanne Stroud Gabbani reports from Cairo and Giza in photos on her blog. Maryanne who currently lives in Cairo, lived in Canada before and she has an eye for photos. Check them out on her new blog!
Egyptian Union of Liberal Youth on Blogger:  A group of youth has a started a union for liberal youth who believe in freedom, justice and equality. The idea was born in view of Egypt’s constitutional amendments, presidential and parliamentarian elections. They say they have started their union to represent a group of young Egyptians who believe that liberalism is the way to development and progress. They use blogger to write about their ideas, activities, liberal writers, conferences, and their union’s board elections, among other topics.
That's all from me today. See you next week!


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Egypt: Save Iraqi Mosques  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“I don't know what kind of a terrorist group is that that claims to be a defender of Islam and the savior of the Sunni in Iraq and at the same it destroys mosques and shrines !!” exclaims Egyptian blogger Zeinobia.


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Former Yugoslavia: Auschwitz Pavilion · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

East Ethnia visits the Yugoslavia pavilion at Auschwitz and writes: “Since the country that designed the exhibit no longer exists, and since the museum site does not have extra barracks for the countries that have come about in the meantime, the Yugoslav pavilion will probably remain a fascinating relic of Communist historiography for some time.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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G8 Summit: Is the world a better place yet? · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

The G8 (+5) met in Heiligendamm, Germany last week. The world's richest countries came to agreements on climate change and poverty in Africa that are unlikely to satisfy most critics of global capitalism.
Global Voices has linked to comments from India, Russia, and Africa in the past week. And people from as far away as Peru and Japan have participated in protests against the meeting.
Jewels in the Jungle in Germany has kept track of some of the best articles and blogging on the G8 around the web (especially from Africa), and says:
I’m not as disappointed and pessimistic about the outcome of these talks as some people seem to be but at the same time you have to wonder, are the G8 Summits relevant anymore? Were they ever useful in helping to solve the world’s problems?
It has all become such a circus for the politicians and every group under the sun to voice their outrage and anger about all kinds of causes that have little or nothing to do with the summit agendas that one has to ask, why bother?
Francisco Xerinda on the excellent AfricaVox2007 blog of nine African journalists is more positive:
The last four days here in Germany have been dominated by the anti-globalisation protests. The roads are constantly blocked and the police keep telling us to take a different route.
But for me the practical irritation is worth it; such protests really do matter to me. I saw the impact they had two years ago when pressure from civil society at Gleneagles led to debt relief for my country, Mozambique.
Patricia Daniels, on openDemocracy's openSummit blog reported on the G8 Summit and Alternative Summit from the perspective of women's rights. She advises readers not to bother reading the G8-Summit declarations. “They mainly contain bland statements which commit the G8 to nothing,” she says.
Predictably, millions of YouTube viewers were more interested in whether newly-elected French president Nicolas Sarkozy was drunk at his G8 summit press conference…

author: Solana Larsen


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Guatemala: Earthquake Felt in Blogosphere · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Blog de Mi Guatemala [ES] writes about the earthquake that shook the country, and other blogs mentioned the same.


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Guatemala: Pollo Campero in China · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Guatemala Empresarial [ES] celebrates that regional favorite, Pollo Campero recently opened its first restaurant in China.


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Guyana: Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana-Gyal identifies with a beloved comic strip character in beating “the glooms”.


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Hong Kong: 18 Housing right activists arrested · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

18 housing right activists demonstrated in the Legislative council against the abolition of law that control the ratio of public housing rent to 10% of family income median. The meeting was disrupted for 5 mins. Protesters were arrested and detained until 2:30am. Plato from inmediahk.net has a citizen report on the Legco debate and arrest (zh).


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India: Carnival of HR · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Gautam Ghosh hosts the Carnival of HR, bringing posts from all over the world on issues relating to Human Resources.


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Iran: Ortega in Tehran and Temporary Marriage Promoted · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

A few days ago, Daniel Ortega, the President of Nicaragua, went on a two day trip to Tehran to meet with Iranian leaders. According to media reports, Ortega said his country and Iran had agreed to “support each other to help Nicaragua” end its poverty. Several Iranian bloggers discussed this trip in their blogs. You can see photos of Oretga's visit in Kamangir‘s blog.
Any Common Interest?
Otopia asks[Fa] whether there is any commonality between the Islamic Revolution and people like Ortega, Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro. The blogger says with irony that the Iranian president would rather show off as a guerrilla to the developing world than think of a way to solve his country’s problems.
Amator wonders [Fa] what Ortega’s trip will mean for Iran and Nicargua. The blogger writes that although Nicaragua has debts to Iran that it cannot pay back, the Iranian president will not allow it to affect their relations. The blogger says Syria also takes advantage of Iran's isolation in the international community and does not pay its debts back either. Do the Iranian people deserve to know if more money will be paid to Nicaragua? The blogger concludes the Iranian government thinks not.
Hypocrites!
City Boy reminds us that many left wing revolutionary movements have been crushed in Iran since 1979 and their leaders hanged. The blogger adds:
Through out these years Islamic Republic leaders and presidents have also been shaking hands with South American lefty leaders all the way from Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro to the Socialist icon Hugo Chavez, and now with Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, because they all have a thing or two in common: They believe that they are standing up to the imperialists!
International relations has not been the only hot topic in Iranian blogs. Many bloggers also discussed the Iranian government's announcment to promote temproray marriage as a solution to the country's social problems.Shia Islam allows a man and woman to marry for a fixed period of time, ranging from an hour to a century.
Bad idea
Cheez  does not agree with government’s initiative regarding the temporary marriage. The blogger says if the government really cared about helping along sexual relationships between boys and girls, then security forces should stop bothering them when they walk together in street.The blogger writes that pre-marital relationships are not really a problem for Iranian youth. He suspects it is a government strategy to win public support.
Worse than prostitution
Iran Paparrazi is against the idea of temporary marriage and says he has much more respect for prostitutes than people who want a religious stamp on their actions. He says prostitutes play a fair game, while people for temporary marriage say they consider prostitution a bad thing but actually propagate it.
Not such a bad thing
Mahjad says [Fa] we are used to opposing what the government proposes. The blogger supports the idea of temporary marriage. The blogger writes that the government wants to use it as an instrument to overcome religious people’s taboos of sex before marriage. The blogger thinks Iranian society will experience a sexual revolution in a few years. If religious people remain isolated they can become more radical.
Families in danger
Dobareh says[Fa] temporary marriage is against humanity. The blogger reports that for many reasons including economic difficulties, getting married has become a problem for Iranian youth. The blogger says the number of divorced couples will rise with temporary marriage and nobody will get married anymore.
Elnaz says[Fa] that the losers in temporary marriage will be lower middle class women and prostitutes. The blogger says government has justified its policy of repression against women by claiming that women who do not adhere to strict Islamic code disrupt the traditional family. The blogger says we should ask the government and its Minister of the Interior whether or not they think temporary marriage will hurt families more.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:57 Economists Warned Ahmadinejad · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Tiroj reports[Fa] that 57 economists wrote a letter to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,Iranian president,to warn him about country's economic situation.The blogger says it is the fourth letter that Iranian economists wrote to Ahmadinejad to explain him that his policies are going wrong.The blogger adds Ahmadinejad does not listen to them because he believes economy is what he says it is and economists do not understand that.


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Israel: Celebrating Father’s Day · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Thousands of American families will celebrate Father's Day this Sunday without Father. He is either in Iraq risking his life for Chevron or is in his grave in a military cemetery,” writes Desert Peace from Israel.


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Israel: Quality Time  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

David Bogner from Israel writes about quality time he spent with his son one morning.


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Israel: Who Next?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“(N)ow that they’ve finished slaughtering their Fatah foes, who do you think they will turn them on next?” writes Yael from Israel.


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Jamaica: No More Homophobic Lyrics  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican View reports that “three of the world’s top reggae and dancehall singers have renounced homophobia and condemned violence against lesbians and gay men.”


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Japan: Death of a Pop Star · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Blogger shisaku has a great post about the death of Sakai Izumi, singer and songwriter for the group ZARD and “the Voice of the Lost Decade” in Japan.


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Jordan: Palestinian Conflict Update · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“The coming news from Gaza is disturbing to say the least. Gaza is almost and for the first time under complete control of Hamas forces,” writes Shifaa from Jordan.