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Swahili Blogosphere: Debating race and national identity · Global Voices
J. Nambiza Tungaraza

“It’s sad that people have raised such an issue. I don’t see why they should, because I am not the only Asian born in this Country. In fact both my parents were born here in Tanzania. My mother in Pemba and my father in Morogoro. I was born here in Dar and grew up in Mwanza so what does that make me? Definitely not an American nor a British not even an Indian. I am proudly Tanzanian and I know no other country but Tanzania. May be I am Afro Indian (Indo-African) but I am still a born Tanzanian.”
Those are the words of Richa Adhia in an interview with Bongo Celebrity blog soon after she was crowned as the Vodacom Miss Tanzania 2007.
Richa's victory has attracted criticism from some members of public and has ignited a national identity debate in the Swahili blogosphere. Those who embrace Tanzania's cultural and racial diversity have endorsed Richa wholeheartedly.  And on the other hand those who perceive ‘blackness’ as the crucial ingredient of Tanzanian national image, are questioning if a Tanzanian of Asian background can really represent Tanzania or whether she qualifies to become a symbol of Tanzanian beauty.
When Muhidin Michuzi broke the news of Richa's victory a barrage of harsh comments followed:
Sio siri sijafurahia ushindi wa huyu Dada, asili yake ndio sababu.
Mimi nilijua kama huyu dada alikuwa na nafasi kubwa ya kushinda, kwasababu tunatabia ya kubabaikia watu weupe, sasa huku kwenye Miss World akisema kutoka Tanzania ,watatushaanga sana. Tulikuwa na kila sababu za kumuacha huyu na kumchukua mweusi akawamshindi, ilitujivunie rangi yetu. Nimechukia sanaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
It is not a secret, I am not happy with her victory and her race is the reason. I knew she had a great chance to win, because we always stoop before white people, now at the Miss world pageant when they say she is from Tanzania, they won't understand us. We had all the reasons to leave this one (Richa) and choose a black girl, so that we can be proud of our colour. I am veeeeeeeeery angry.
Tusidanganyane jamani mhindi mhindi tu mbona basi hawakubali kuolewa na waswahili na wakifanya hivyo wanatengwa, mbona hatuwaoni wakijichanganya na waswahili kama kweli ni Watanzania, … India kuna waswahili mlaikini hata siku moja hutachaguliwa kuwa waziri au mbunge hata kuingia kwenye hao mia bora sahau. Imefika wakati tukubali tusikubali Utanzania kwanza wala si ubaguzi kama watu wanavyofikiria ila ni Identity yetu sisi kama waafrika.Wingereza wanawatu wa mataifa yote lakini muingereza halisi anahaki zaidi … Watanzania muamke sasa mtaliwa mpaka mkome
Let us stop lying to ourselves, an Indian is an Indian, why can't they intermarry with Wa-Swahili (Black Africans), we can't even see them mingle with Waswahili … There are Waswahili (black people) in India but they can never become cabinet ministers or members of parliament, they cannot even be amongst the best 100 (pageant qualifiers). Forget it. The time has come whether we like it or not, Tanzanians should have priority and it is not a matter of racism but it is an issue of identity as Africans. England has people from all over the world but an Englishman has more rights in England… Wake up Tanzanians…
When asked about the issue of racial backgrounds of contestants, the organiser of the pageant Mr. Lundenga, had no problem, as quoted in Haki's blog:
Unajua kila kitu kizuri kitakuwa na kukosolewa, kila kitu kizuri hakikosi lawama, sasa sisi tunasema kama Kamati ya Miss Tanzania, msichana yeyote mwenye sifa na ni Mtanzania hata awe mzungu, madam ni Mtanzania ana nafasi ya kushiriki.
You know every good thing must be criticised, now we, as the Miss Tanzania pageant Committee say, any girl who qualifies and is a Tanzanian, even if she is a caucasian, but a Tanzanian, she has chance to participate”
Again many more took the position of Mr. Lundenga in Michuzi's blog:
Hivi mbona hatulalamiki kuwa na wabunge wahindi na waarabu???Mohamed Daewji,Rostam na Arfi wa Mpanda ni wabunge waliochaguliwa na wananchi kwa kuwaona wanafaa.Baba wa taifa Mwalimu Nyerere aliwachagua Jamal,Derek Bryson na Alnoor Kassam.Hao ni wahidni na mzungu waliokuwa kwenye baraza la mawaziri.Bryson alikuwa kipenzi cha watu wa kinondoni na watu hawakuangalia rangi yake.Leo hii tumeanza kuwabagua ndugu zetu kwa kusema ni wahindi au wazungu.La msingi ni kwamba mtu akiwa mtanzania ana haki zote bila kujali rangi yake.Leo tukianza na wandi kesho tutabaguana kwamba wewe ni mkurya au msukuma au mhaya…,/blockquote>
Why don’t we complain about members of parliament of Asian and Arabic origins??? Mohamed Dewji, Rostam and Arfi from Mpanda, people elected them after seeing that they are fit to lead. Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Nyerere gave important posts to Jamal, Dereck Byceson and Al Noor Kassam. Those are Indians and a European who served in the cabinet. People of Kinondoni constituency loved Bryceson and they did not see his colour. Now we are starting to discriminate people, saying: he is an Indian, she is a caucasian … What matters is that if a person is a Tanzanian, he/she has all the rights regardless of his colour. If we start with Asians today, tomorrow we will start discrimination against ourselves – saying you are a Kurya, a Sukuma or Mhaya…
Writing from India, Ndabagoye analyses the issue of racism and the shock he had after reading comments in the Bongo Celebrity blog. He cautions his fellow Tanzania's against racist tendencies. He quotes Apache Indian words he heard the night before the contest at a concert in New Delhi:
“…Racism is still rampart and is not a trivial issue, anybody who has actually not seen it can cannot comment on it….”
And then he justifies his position:
Napinga ubaguzi wa rangi maana najua machungu ya kubaguliwa kama alivyosema Apache,mwanzoni wakati wa vuguvugu za Afrika kusini akina Steve Biko sikuwalewa vizuri walipokuwa wakipinga kwa nguvu ubaguzi na sikujua machungu ya kubaguliwa kwa rangi yako.Unaweza kuingia kwenye treni watu wakainuka kwenye siti woote kisa hawataki kukaa na kaluu.Noma sana hii.
Sasa hii imeanza na nyumbani… Tunajenga jamii gani watanzania wenzangu? Dunia hii tambarale sio duara tena kuna muingiliano mkubwa wa kijamii. Kuwa mtanzania lazima uwe mweusi?
I am against racism because I know how it feels to be discriminated against as Apache said, early on during the struggle in South Africa I did not fully understand people like Steve Biko because I had never experienced the pain of racism. You can board a train and people will just wake from their seats because they just don't want to sit with a Kaluu (Kaluu is same as the word Nigger in India). It is not a good feeling at all.
Now this has started way back home… what kind of society are we  building ? The world is flat and there is a great deal of social interactions. Is blackness a prerequisite of being a Tanzanian?

author: J. Nambiza Tungaraza


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Thailand: Cost of Living in Phuket · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The Lost Boy blogs about his daily costs living in Phuket – a popular tourist destination in the South of Thailand.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Preetam Rai


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Thailand: Cyber Crimes Law · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Bangkok Pundit translates and describes the new cyber-crimes Law in Thailand.


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Trinidad & Tobago: New Art Space  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

On the heels of the recent closing of Trinidad's contemporary art centre CCA7, The Caribbean Beat Blog is pleased that an alternative space for “the Anglophone Caribbean's most energetic and eclectic art scene” is emerging.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago: Remembering September 11 · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“A few months after the events in New York City thebookmann had an usual dream where he was part of the World Trade Center Memorial project”: Thebookmann shares his personal memorial for the victims of September 11, 2001.


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Ukraine: Party of the Regions Miscellanea · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainiana writes about Party of the Regions’ attempt to cheat a site meter, and about Soviet-style children's poetry inspired by Victor Yanukovych.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Ukraine: Pre-Election Roundup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Orange Ukraine posts a pre-election news roundup.


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Ukraine: Tymoshenko’s Presentation · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Petro of Petro's Jotter writes about Yulia Tymoshenko's “Contract With Investors” presentation: “I really dug the results oriented approach in everything she spoke about. Tangible project steps were outlined and timelines were stated. Like all good politicians she outlined broadsweeping reforms in a wide variety of sectors. Her answers to questions from the audience were concrete, thorough and intelligent. She seemed on top of the issues.”


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Ukraine: Yanukovych and the “Illegal Election” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes writes about Party of the Regions’ dilemma: “Will PoR be prepared to go into opposition as a result of elections its leadership consider illegal, if results are not it their favour? Will PoR be prepared to form a coalition with the party of a president who dismissed parliament and forced these ‘illegal’ elections…?”


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US: Remembering 9/11 · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Blogpourri remembers 9/11, six years after, and on how the cities and our ways of looking at the world have changed irreversibly.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Video-blogging from battlefield in Afghanistan · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Vaughan Smith, founder of the Frontline Club for journalists in London, is video-blogging from Afghanistan on Frontline's blog. On September 1, 2007 he reported on a battle between British and Afghan soldiers against the Taliban.
Vaughan said:
The Green Zone is the area on either side of the Helmand River, which runs vertically through Helmand province in Southern Afghanistan. After a difficult walk we arrived at the start point of the operation and began what the military call an “advance to contact”. By 10am the Taliban obliged. The fighting went off and on all day as the British and Afghan soldiers moved from compound to compound. The Taliban would fire at us and normally run before soldiers were able to get there. The Taliban had prepared escape routes and most of the time they manage to carry their wounded and dead away.
Herat is not our Paris
Herat Blog says [Fa] many in Afghanistan believe that Herat, the third largest city in Afghanistan, is being reconstructed as government officials say. However, locals are saying that nothing is happening compared to a few years ago. The blogger quotes Naghib Arvin, a local journalist who argues:
Many think that Herat is Afghanistan's Paris and they want to stop the reconstruction project. Such an idea is no more than a joke. We should not stop reconstruction in Herat.
According to this journalist, two reasons that reconstruction may have stopped is lack of investment and support for local producers.
Do not make fun of people's accents!
Mohmmad Kazem Kazemi says [Fa] that he sent a letter to JameJam, the official magazine of Iranian TV, to protest against the television series Charkhaneh. He criticized producers of Charkhaneh, for making fun of Afghan people's accents and the way they speak Persian/Farsi. He says Afghans are hurt and offended by it. The blogger adds that in reality nobody in Afghanistan speaks as the characters do in the series.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Vietnam: Real Estate Prices Out of Control · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Preya has some ideas to help cool the overheating property market in Vietnamese capital city Hanoi.


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Africa: Cyber-activism and its legal implications · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Arthur Chatora reports about a lecture on cyber-activism and legal lessons presented at the Digital Citizen Indaba: “The example of the South African “male prostitute” who anonymously blogged and claimed “he” had sex with 50 so-called clients is an interesting case study of cyber-activism and its legal implications.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Africa: The challenge of non-profit incubation · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ethan writes about the Kamusi Project: “Evidently, Kamusi has had a conflict with Yale, which hosted the project. According to the Kamusi website, the project “has been ordered to remove all links to the sites that the project has relied on to raise revenue for project maintenance and improvement.”


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Argentina: A Country of Taxi Drivers · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Taxis in Argentina are relatively inexpensive and safe, but some drivers have their own claim to fame. Crónicas Argentinas [ES] begins a new series about these drivers and asks, “are taxi drivers born that way or are they made?”

author: Eduardo Avila


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Bahamas: Cannabis Conundrum · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I believe that far too many young Bahamians go through life with a criminal record for smoking marijuana when the Police could expend their energy solving more serious crime.”  Rick Lowe at WeblogBahamas.com posts video of a British television debate to stimulate discussion on whether marijuana should be legalised in the Bahamas.


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Bahrain: An Encounter with an Iraqi Girl in Syria · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger One in a Million (Ar) was in Syria recently, where she met an Iraqi girl, who gave her a lot of food for thought on the conditions of Iraqi refugees and the heartbreak the war on Iraq has brought them.
One in a Million was visiting the shrine of Sayeda Zeinab, grand daughter of Prophet Mohammed and daughter of Imam Ali, in Damascus – a sacred shrine for Shia Muslims.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Bloggers on the Ethiopian Millennium · Global Voices
Arefaynie

On September 11 2007, or 1 Meskerem 2000, Ethiopia entered in its third millennium in accordance with the Ethiopian calendar, which is about seven years behind the Gregorian calendar. Ethiopian bloggers have devoted a great deal of attention to the event.
Ferenge Addis Blog offers quick explanation for new readers:
Ethiopia follows the Julian Calendar. It's the end of 1999 right now. The new year (2000) is on Wednesday, which makes our Sept 11 New Year's Eve of the Millennium. Got that?
He also writes about a Millenium giftfrom Ethiopian Telecommunication Corp.:
A millennium gift from ETC? Last night on my drive home my phone did the SMS chirp. Huh? I grabbed it and saw the following message:
Wish you happy Ethiopian Millennium!!! On the occasion of the Ethiopian Millennium SMS service will be launched shortly. Amare Amsalu, CEO, ETC.
With the calendar of events changing and security concerns in the capital reaching fever pitch, cancellation of events has become a cause for concern for some bloggers. Ethio-Zagol was particularly critical of the cancellation of the Ethiopian Great Run:
This event has in the past two years been one of the few opportunities for the stifled Addis Ababans to express their opposition towards the government. It is therefore no surprise that, with several parachute journalists who have little idea about what is going on in Ethiopia. (This report in Time magazine is a typical example) flocking to Addis to report about  the millennium celebrations, the government cancelled what would potentially be an embarrassing event. But the great run isn't the only public event that is cancelled in the wake of the millennium. Here are the three that are on top of my head:
-Tewodros Kassahun's(Teddy Afro) concert at the Ghion hotel
-A millenium day music festival organized by TAAAF at the Meskel Square
-Ethiopian Women National Olympic Football Team's game against South Africa
Other bloggers frowns at what the government of Ethiopia is doing to the homeless and prostitutes in relation to the millennium. Addis journal writes:
Every journey across the city entails the inevitable encounter with these ‘anthropologically distinct people’ to borrow a certain writer’s description. Distinct through their wasted figure, bony faces and shabby clothes. Beggars of every description line up in the streets, traffic lights, church gates, and bus stations, some rolling up their sleeves to show their amputation and others delivering slogans and lengthy speeches, that seems to be taken from the radio.It is this scene that the apprehensive officials have decided to hide from the visitors view, at least till the end of the main festival and have started a sporadic sweeping campaigns targeting the homeless and the like. As inhuman as the measure are, they are done at night to evade scrutiny. The scraps of details about it that have emerged so far make up an incomplete picture. Police patrols, which are increasingly seen in abundance in the city, are busy rounding them up. Those who sleep in main parts of the city like the Ambassador Theatre, National Theater and Tikur Anbessa are easy targets. Where they are taking them isn’t clear but rumors abound that temporary shelters are set in the outskirts of the city. One unconfirmed story has it that they might be moved to Jan Meda where a tent would be built and food would be provided.
Yekolo Temari in his post, “Can you go away and be poor far from here?” took a sarcastic stance:
The last thing we want to see in the middle of our millennium celebration is poor people roaming through the streets of our beautiful capital city. Thankfully, the ever thoughtful government of ours has come up with a brilliant plan to deport those it believes are the poorest of the poor and do not deserve to be part of the celebration.
The same brilliant guys have also come up with the idea to postpone the Great Ethiopian Run.
For some the real business of the occasion is the dance.  Abiy has something thing to say about one of the US-based local singer who is going to perform in the newly constructed concert hall:
Tewodros Taddesse, the renowned and the most charismatic Ethiopian musician, will be here to present concerts and to tour regional cities, it was learnt from Sol Advertising and promotion, organizer of the event. He will be back after 16 years of stay in America. He will also release a new song. Billboard on Bole Street having a picture of Tewodros with a phrase “I’m coming” is hyping up his home-coming.
Tewodros Taddesse is regarded as a role model by famous musicians of the time, including Tewodros Kassahun (Teddy Afro). His music has won him wide acclaim and acceptance, especially his last album, “Zimta” (silence) made with a modern musical composition by Abegazu Kibrework.

author: Arefaynie


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Bolivia: Five Year Blog Anniversary · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Bolivian blogger Miguel Centellas celebrates five years of blogging over the course of two blogs Ciao! and Pronto*.


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China: CCTV Reporter Assaulted By Security Guards · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translated a blog post which described how a CCTV reporter, Liu Yuchen, was assaulted by the security guards in the Xi'an International Studies University when he was gathering informations for a positive news story.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: River Crab With Three Watches · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Rebecca explains the political meaning of “river crab with three watches” in China in RConversation.


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China: Survey On Foreign Magazine · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fons Tuinstra from China Herald discussed a survey by Interfax China on attitude towards foreign invested magazines  in China in which 83% of respondents believed that foreign invested magazines are better. However, how many local Chinese can lay their hands on a foreign magazine?  The blogger provided very good background for us to have a sense of Chinese media industry.


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Dubai: Adventure in the Desert  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Black Feline, from Dubai, writes about her trip to the desert. “If you are visiting Dubai for the very first time, it is a MUST to do the desert safari on a 4WD. Fun, fun, fun…all the way,” she explains.


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Ecuador: President Correa Unveils His Blog · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The curiosity behind President Rafael Correa's preview of the creation of his personal blog finally subsided, when the head of state unveiled his new means of communication with the people of Ecuador.  The introduction of his personal blog [ES] was made through a video uploaded on YouTube (with English sub-titles)  Standing in front of a virtual background, Correa invited the people to become actively involved in the construction of the Constituent Assembly through the social networking. However, as Christian Espinosa of Cobertura Digital [ES] writes that Correa created the blog to counteract, in his own words, “the perverse manipulations of the traditional media.”
English sub-titles from Correa video:
Dear cyber-friends, Rafael Correa, President of the Republic of Ecuador greets you. You use the Internet as source and media for information and communication.  And you have found in the web 2.0 a democratic instrument to express yourselves without the normal restrictions and perverse manipulations that traditional mass media tends to apply.  To all of you, digital citizens that are in the same path with this citizenship project for a new, mass democratic and fairer country, I invite you to actively participate in the process of creating the new Constitution using the networks you have created. It's time to collaborate to join our minds, our capacities, let's use the complete range of technologies that Internet offers us to meet us and discuss the goals and the objectives that all the Ecuadorians have set for this historical and critical moment of our Country!
Ecuadorian bloggers react to the news with a bit of humor, skepticism, and optimism.
Gabby Corsalas wonders whether the subject matter will match other bloggers.  She writes that “Rafico now has his own blog” at De Todo Un Poco [ES]:
Leí esta mañana que el Presidente Rafael Correa ya tiene su blog, es decir ya pertenece a los nuestros, pero me pregunto ¿qué tanto de blog tendrá? Nos contará que soñó anoche, que hizo al levantarse por la mañana, si se sintió frustrado al no ir al Beers & Blog o por lo contrario, nos compartirá la “ira” de no poder ejecutar sus ofrecimientos de campaña, y/o/u, será un ventana a la calle en el que nos contará “de todo un poco”…
I read this morning that President Rafael Correa now has his blog, which means that he now belongs to us, but I ask myself, “how much of a blog will it be?”  Will he tell us what he dreamt about last night, what he did when he woke up, that he felt frustrated to not have attended Beers and Blog or will it be the opposite, and share the “frustration” of not being to implement his campaign promises, and/or will it be a window out to the street where he will talk about “a little bit of everything”…
However, some think that it will hardly be a blog written by Correa himself.  Cronicacero [ES] has his own doubts about the blog's actual author and writes:
Con tanto viaje, con tanta reunión, con tanto problema y líos que resolver… ¿tendrá tiempo para un blog? Lo siento… sí, lo sé, siempre yo perverso, siempre dudando. Pero deben permitirme esa licencia. Aplaudo si la intensión es honesta y nace precisamente del mismo señor presidente Rafael Correa. Dudo mucho que él vaya a ser quien suscriba lo que en su blog allí se escribe. Pero es oficial, aparentemente el presidente Correa tiene su espacio en la blogosfera. Insisto, permitirme dudar.
With so much traveling, with so many meetings, with so many problems to solve…. will he have time for a blog?   I'm sorry…yes, I know I am always cynical and always doubting.  But you should permit me that.  I am applaud it if the intention is honest and arises from the same President Rafael Correa.  I doubt very much that he will be the one that writes in the blog.  However, it is official, apparently President Correa has his own space in the blogosphere.  I insist, allow me to doubt.
The blogger at Saturn Attacks [ES] also holds doubts, but also questions the real motives behind this leap into the blogosphere.
¿Este blog se convertirá solo en un medio de propaganda por estas elecciones? ¿El Ciudadano Presidente Rafael Correa es quien en verdad escribirá en este blog? ¿Y será el mismo quien responda? ¿Es esta una puerta abierta para la comunicación mandatario – mandantes?
Will this blog become a means of propaganda for these elections?  Will the Citizen President Rafael Correa be the one who actually write in this blog?  Will he be the one that actually responds? Will this be an open door for communication between the President and his constituents?
Pablo Pérez Cahuenas of iPab [ES] is hopeful that the internet can be a tool for change.
Pero bueno Mr. Raphael esta haciendo el blog para construir una asamblea mejor, opinar sobre este gran proyecto que hablabamos mucho antes, como él mismo dice nosotros los Cyber-Amigos(porque no somos Cyber-Compañeros?), tenemos que usar el internet para poder crear un país mejor.
Mr. Raphael is writing on the blog to create a better assembly, provide his opinion about this large project that we had been talking about, and as he calls us his Cyber-Friends (how come not Cyber-Companions?), we must use the internet to create a better country.
Finally at El blog de Palulo [ES], there is wonder what comes next and is looking forward to the information presented on Correa's blog.
También el presidente de los ecuatorianos ha sacado su blog no tan personal, en donde incentiva a la blogósfera a unirse al cambio. Luego de darse a conocer en hi5 y en toda red social existente (¿ya llegaría a Facebook?) también pasa a ser un Ciudadano 2.0. Como siempre estaremos pendientes de las propuestas virtuales y reales.
The President of Ecuador published his not-so-personal blog, where he challenges the blogosphere to unite for change.  After making himself known in a Hi5 account and to the entire existing social network (is Facebook next?) he also becomes a Citizen 2.0. We are always on the lookout for the virtual and real proposals.
Special thanks to Christian Espinosa for help with the links.


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Egypt: Corruption Stories · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Whisper of Madness shares with us horror stories about corruption in Egypt's Interior Ministry hospitals in this post.


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Egypt: Why Arabs Support Bin Laden? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Bin Laden’s support eminates from the fact that the US wants his ass so much. Ask any Arab would you like Bin Laden to rule your country? And the answer will most probably be no. Ask him whether he wants the US to capture him or not. The answer will surely be no. No one wants the US to capture Bin Laden even though many disapprove his actions,” writes the Big Pharaoh from Egypt.


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Grenada: Remembering the Coup  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“This time in the island's history is still not openly discussed or taught in schools”: Free Spirit laments the fact that the only public memorial to the Grenadian coup seems to be a wall of graffiti.


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Honduras: After Hurricane Felix · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

David Moran of El Catracho [ES] writes that after Hurricane Felix, that Hondurans “should not lower their arms during these times, I think that the season for countries in development to be at mercy of Hurricanes do not end here.”


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Hong Kong: Stop Writing Blog · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

MK noticed that there were less and less blogpost these days and he wondered why. One of his explanation was that bloggers were moving to twitter and facebook, where they could write less but keep in touch with a circle of friends. Probably the number of blog will still continue to grow rapidly, however the number of dying blogs may also be growing (zh).


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India: Homosexuality and Crime · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

To Each Its Own on homosexuality in India, its legal perception and the issue of criminality.


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Indonesia: Quake Hits Indonesia, Felt in Singapore and Bangkok · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

An earthquake measuring 7.9 struck near Sumatra Island in Indonesia. Officials in Malaysia, Indonesia and India have issued tsunami warnings. South East Asians are already blogging about the tremors they felt.
Sunny writes from Bangkok
The effect was felt in some high rises in Bangkok, people in Silom
rushed out of their office buildings. Some even felt the water rising
in Saen Saeb Canal.I felt nothing about the quake, but I heard some friends saying there is heavy traffic on Silom road.
XXing feels his apartment shake in Singapore
just experienced the whole block of my flat shaking 30 minutes ago!
Around 7.14pm, and last for around 2 minutes? This time, the shake is
more fierce than last time! Wonder which country is having such a
tremor earthquake?
Mr. Miyagi in Singapore writes
This just in. Naomi thought the cat was under the sofa rocking it,
causing her to feel a little dizzy. Then we found the cat on his perch,
and so she asked me to sit on the sofa to feel it swaying a bit.
“Why ah?”, she asked. Being the professional bullshitter that I am, I said, “I think the seat of the sofa sits on the base in an unstable way.”
I sat on the other sofa, which didn’t “sit on a base in an unstable way”, and said, “No, this one don’t have”, and then, “eh? Got”.
For confirmation, we stared at a glass of water on the coffee table, and saw ripples.
Thirty pounces, also in Singapore, was on his computer when the tremors terrified him
was sitting in front of my computer when I thought I was feeling dizzy.
Then I realised the room was moving – an inch to either side, a gentle
but rapid swaying. And then I was running out the door and downstairs
as fast as I could.7.9 scale quake in Indonesia. I couldn't
feel it when I got downstairs, but at the 17th floor, the swaying was
enough to terrify me.
Also blogging about the quake 5Xmom in Penang, Malaysia and OngWeeWee


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Iraq: Accident on the Way · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

HNK, from Iraq, updates us on life in Iraq, passing exams, holidays in Syria and an accident they met with on their way back to Iraq.


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Israel: Sderot’s Invisible Wounds · Global Voices
Gilad Lotan

How long does it take before the remote feels closer, and how can invisible wounds draw more attention? Both remoteness and invisibility take a lead role in the story of this Israeli city, Sderot, located at a distance of one km from the Gaza strip. It is far enough from the central Israeli metropolis to be forgotten, yet due to recent campaigns, has been coming up in local news more and more frequently. Since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in October 2000, the city has been frequently attacked by Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants using homemade rockets known as “Qassam rockets”. Hundreds of Qassam rockets have been launched from the Gaza Strip since Israel's disengagement from Gaza in September 2005. Half the children in Sderot are clinically traumatized, as a majority of the rockets hit in the mornings, when they are on their way to school.
Sderot is an industrial city with a majority of its 24,000 inhabitants in the low-income range. The general impression in Israel is that Sderot is a little city, tucked far away in the south, even though it is only an hour drive from Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. In May 2007, a significant increase in Qassam rockets landing in the city let to the semi-evacuation of thousands of residents.
On a summer morning, the hubbub and bustle of the central market place in Sderot is interrupted by the wailing of sirens and the urgent voice of a woman repeating “Tzeva Adom” (Red Alert) over the public address system. Another Kassam rocket has been launched by Palestinian militants in Gaza and is heading towards the town. Residents of Sderot are only too well aware that the warning gives them a maximum of 15 seconds to take cover. Some shoppers respond instantly, scurrying for the freestanding steel-and-concrete shelters, known as “life shields,” dotted around public places. Others panic, running in one direction then another, spilling fruit and vegetables from their shopping bags.
Sderot is a town of 24,000, a little more than a mile away from the Palestinian city of Beit Hanoun. In the past five years, more than 2,000 rockets have struck homes, schools, offices, factories and a local synagogue. Eight people have been killed (three of them small children) and dozens more wounded. At Sderot's center for the treatment of shock victims, Dr. Adriana Katz talks about the invisible wounds inflicted on the hundreds of patients in her care by the relentless barrages. She says the Palestinian rockets “have largely destroyed the normal fabric of life in the town. Everyone exists in a state of permanent alert, which is physically and psychologically very destructive….We do our best to prevent people lapsing into full-blown post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).”
The most tragic victims of the rockets are Sderot's children, one in three of whom suffers from PTSD, according to a survey published last year. Like their parents, they spend much of their lives “on alert,” dreading the next attack, unable to concentrate at school or enjoy the normal pleasures of childhood at home.
source
SderotMedia.com is an independent website that claims to bring the human stories of Sderot, behind the headlines. Noam Bedein of the center claims:
“Israel is not doing anything, and it’s very easy not to do anything, because there’s no blood, and when there’s no blood it doesn’t bring the media down here, it’s not a big story — rockets, no harm done, and on to the weather report. There’s no reference to the human crisis over here, to the trauma, to the fear, what people have to go through every single day. This is what we’re dealing with. This is the Israeli government. This is Israel, 2007. . . . The ground is shaking here.”
more from the Sderot Media blog:
An Israeli would think things are back to ‘normal’ in Sderot. Sderot isn’t in the head-lines today. Though this past Monday, August 6, a kassam rocket fell two meters from a kindergarten, no damage was caused and no injuries were reported. Though multiple kassam rockets fall daily, there is not enough ‘blood’ in Sderot for notice to be taken.
Activists have used creative methods to bring this city's struggle out from the periphery and into the daily lives of Israelis. Rothschild Boulevard is a long boulevard in central Tel Aviv. Built in 1910, it crosses the city and holds a variety of cafés, restaurants, kiosks, and different styles of architecture, making it one of the most popular and famous streets in Tel Aviv and in Israel. Even Israel's Declaration of Independence was signed at the Independence Hall, which is situated on the boulevard.
Sderot in Hebrew means boulevard, and for several weeks over the summer an exhibit called Sderot in the Sderot was placed in this central location of Tel Aviv. Qassam rockets which hit Sderot were brought up to be staged in reenacted scenes. Real rockets, real furniture in real scenes from the Sderot bombings. There was something truly powerful about recreating these scenes, specifically as they were placed outside of their regular context – a faroff city in the south. Their location in central Tel Aviv had a powerful impact on Tel-Avivians.
Photos taken by Israeli blogger Ran M.
The folowing text is taken from Sorer's blog:
I do not live in Sderot, but feel strong empathy every time I read about the destruction and fear that fills the hearts of men, women, children and the elderly who live there and the harm caused to their souls, bodies and property. While Tel Aviv is the recreational city that never stops, Sderot is becoming the bombed city that never stops. But instead of recreation, layers of deterioration cover it. Instead of breathing fresh air, its people breath smoke and dust. Their spine is weakening and nobody is offering a helping hand. I am sad to discover that when the state cabinet is in a situation where a leg of their comfortable chairs are staggering their burning hot obsession to stabilize their own situation is obvious. They act immediately because their position is weakened by the chair's rocking movement, ready to do anything for the chair to return to its strong and stable position. However, when other people's mental stability is crushed, they are satisfied with merely vocalizing words and sayings which dissipate as fast as they appear.

author: Gilad Lotan


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Jamaica: Election Court?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Moving Back to Jamaica asks: “What happens if the PNP is successful in its attempts to have 2 elected candidates disqualified because they are U.S. citizens?  The situation…cries out for a peaceful and amicable solution.”


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Jamaica: Reverse Colonisation  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Marlon James blogs about what he calls his “colonisation in reverse”, and why he felt he needed to leave Jamaica:  “I love my country but I’ve never missed it, perhaps because I have never forgotten the reasons I left.”


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Japan: Prime Minister Abe Resigns · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

DeOrio at Trans-Pacific Radio has been one of the first bloggers to write about the breaking news that Japanese Prime Minster Abe Shinzo has decided to resign. On the news that Abe may be replaced by his colleague Aso Taro, DeOrio writes: “If Abe is followed by Aso, more competent, probably, but a complete asshole, it would be an out and out downer.”

author: Chris Salzberg


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Japan: Protecting the Kyoto Cityscape · Global Voices
Hanako Tokita

While many countries around the world are struggling to tackle Kyoto at home, the city the environmental accord was named after is caught up in its own struggle. The capital of Japan for over 1,000 years (794-1868), Kyoto was once a picturesque ancient city surrounded by mountains. Today it is a major tourist destination, attracting about 47 million visitors every year, with a set of historic locations listed as World Heritage sites. At the same time, Kyoto is one of the major economic centers in the west of Japan. The economic boom in the 1980s and 1990s accelerated modern development in Kyoto, which turned the city into a big jumble of tall concrete buildings, glaring neon signs and rooftop advertisements. To clean up its negative image, the city of Kyoto recently passed a bill to introduce an ordinance protecting its cityscape and views. As the bylaw came into effect on September 1, raising some controversy, bloggers from Kyoto and elsewhere expressed various concerns and opinions.
One blogger writes:
と言うわけで、新景観条例には大いに賛同します。是非協力したいと思います。大体京都は観光客の多い町ですし、町が綺麗になれば、観光客が増える。つまり、「町を綺麗にすれば金が儲かる」わけです。極論すれば「町の美化＝金儲け」なんです、こんな図式が成り立つのは京都だけですよ。
On the other hand, this blogger writes:
観光都市の京都なら仕方ないと思いますが、これがどこの街でも制定されるような状況になったら都市の発展が止まると思うのですが..。
変化を嫌う地方都市住民には歓迎されそうで不安です。
Fuji-chan Film is sceptical about the new bylaw.
規制するには遅過ぎると思う一方で、現状の景観の悪さはネオンや看板や電線だけではなく、京都駅や京都タワーや四条界隈のパチンコ屋等々複合的な要因が絡み合って構成されていますので、一部の景観規制をしてもどうしようもないような気がします。
そもそも観光客がイメージする所謂「京都」が残存している地域は、元々極一部なので、寺や歴史的建築物などをスポット的に保護するというのが現実的ではないでしょうか!?
京都の街並は日本のどこにでもあるような昭和を髣髴とさせる建物が大部分なので、結果的にそういったものを保護することになる景観政策には無駄が多いように思えます。
This blogger shares his/her experience and view.
京都市の景観条例。
建物の高さ制限や屋上広告の制限。
写真を撮るときどうしても屋上看板や高いビルが入ってしまうと、
地方の友人を京都案内した時いつも言っていた。
確かに歴史ある建造物や景色に無機質な物体が写っていれば、
何となく興ざめしてしまうだろう。
日本が誇る歴史的観光地として、
ひとつくらいは世界の歴史都市の真似をしてもいいと思う。
「ベランダから大文字焼きが見えるんです。」
高層マンションの住人が得意気に言う。
その高層マンションのために何人の人が、
大文字焼きを見ることが出来なくなったのだろうか。
Whenever I show my friends around Kyoto, they always say that rooftop signs and tall buildings are in the way when they try to take pictures.
Indeed, I can imagine that it could be a turnoff to see drab objects in pictures of historical buildings and landscapes.
As a historical tourist city that Japan boasts about, I think it should mimic at least one thing that other historic cities in the world do.
“I can see the Daimonjiyaki from my veranda,”
residents of high-rise condominiums boast.
As a result of these high-rise condos, how many people have lost the view of the Daimonjiyaki?

author: Hanako Tokita


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Jordan: A Journey in Blogs · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Naseem Tarawnah from Jordan talks a walk down the memory lane of citizen journalism in Jordan in this post.


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Jordan: The Power of Blogs  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Those whose only reaction in life is cynicism and negativism can scoff all they want at blogs and the power of electronic media. But one thing is certain: blogging and other forms of electronic, people powered media can change something,” writes Ahmad Humeid from Jordan.


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Korea:Debating the Adultery Law · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

What do you think about ‘adultery’? Is it a world used to justify marriage and maintain the marriage system in society? In Korea, adultery is illegal. Debates are now raging over whether the law should be repealed.
A blogger (non-Korean) summarizes the appeal against the adultery law and the real situation behind this law.
In yet another attempt to try and overturn the “adultery law” in Korea, a Judge has filed an appeal to the top court saying that it can be seen as a violation of the constitution. He cites human nature and the right to choose sex partners.
He is quoted as saying: “The right to pursue happiness guaranteed by the Constitution includes the right to decide whether to engage in sexual intercourse and with whom, where and when to do so. Transforming adultery into a criminal offense is against the Constitution.”
I personally agree that individuals should have the freedom to pursue happiness as they perceive it. Sex is a natural human desire and it is baseless to restrict it by law.
Moreover, the current law doesn’t consider a love affair to be an offense if there is no sexual intercourse.”
It may interest you to know in Korea, one can be sentenced to a maximum of two-years behind bars for having sex outside marriage. However, I don't think it has made much impact on the sex life of Koreans.
As this news report informs you, according to Time magazine, about 65 percent of Korean married men had dated other women after they married and 41 percent of women had dated other men.
In a survey on 3,857 adults nationwide on adultery issues by a local weekly magazine, 42 percent of married men said that they had dated other women and 20 percent of women had dated other men. Also, nearly 68 percent of men and 12 percent of women said they had sex out of marriage.
The court had rejected three previous appeals against the adultery law made in 1990, 1993 and 2000. So this is the fourth attempt…lets see whether it works!
Meanwhile, if you are a subscriber, this article in The Economist, will give you more info on sex in Korea.
There are aggressive opinions against keeping the adultery law.
하나만 물을께. 이거 조만간 없어질꺼다.
이번에 없어질꺼야. 아님 기회봐서 담번에 없어지던지..
세계 주요선진국들은 말할것도 없고 일본, 대만, 중국, 하다못해 북한까지도
간통죄라는 형사처벌은 없다. 내가 알기로는 우간다에도 없다.
아프리카 몇몇 부족국가나 이슬람국가에 혹시 있을지도 모르겠구나.
바람피우고 배우자를 속이는 행위는 분명 도덕적으로 잘못되었고
그에 따른 정신적 손해배상과 더불어 양육권박탈 등의 제재조치로
해결함이 합리적이고 문명적이라는거다. 바람피웠다고 감옥에 보내는것이
지은 죄에 비해서 야만적이라는 뜻으로도 해석할수있을거다.
Committing adultery and deceiving one’s partner are morally wrong. In order to restrain it, it is reasonable and cultivated to solve these problems to let them pay compensation and take child custody. It could be interpreted that sending someone to prison because of an affair could be more barbarian…
Not a few bloggers question the meaning of the adultery law.
법이 무서워 간통하지 않는 세상은 이미 아닌 것 같다.
그만큼 죄책감을 느끼지 않는 사람들이 많아지고 있는거겠지.
간통죄로 형을 받는 사람은 전체 소송건의 6퍼센트 밖에 되지 않는다고 한다.
외도 사실을 확실히 잡아 낼 순 있지만 증거를 잡아내는 것은 (이불 속 사진)
현실적으로 거의 불가능한 일이기 때문일 것이다.
간통죄의 존재만으로도 가정을 지키는데 효과는 분명 있다고 생각한다.
하지만 간통죄가 허울좋은 껍데기 뿐인 법이라는 것을 알고
그 틈을 타 조금의 죄책감도 느끼지 않은채
불륜을 행하는 사람들이 많아지고 있는 것은 어떻게 할 수 있을까..
설사 간통죄로 고소하려고 하더라도 한 때 사랑했던 사람이 타인과 관계하는 장면을
집요하게 적발해내려는 것 자체가 너무 비굴하게 느껴진다.
상대에게 복수하기 위해 시작한 일로 인해 본인의 상처가 더 커지진 않을까?…
간통죄가 가정을 지켜주는 최후의 통첩이라 단정짓고
그것 아니면 모두가 외도를 일삼을 것 처럼 말하기 전에
그 법이 있으므로 인해 생겨날 수 있는 다양한 문제들도 함께 고민하면 참 좋겠다..
세상이 변하고 사람이 변하고 있는데
동거, 섹스, 연애, 결혼, 이혼 등을 바라보는 면에 있어서 만큼은
아직도 오래전의 틀에서 벗어나질 못하는 것 같다.
자식이 생긴다면 성교육 부터 제대로 해야겠다.
이렇게 하면 아기가 태어나요-식의 수박 겉핥기식 교육이 아니라
사랑과 섹스와 결혼이 무엇인지 제대로 알려주는 것이 필요할 것 같다.
그러기 위해서 나부터 모범을 보여야 할텐데 말이지..
I think that the existence of adultery affects keeping the family. But there are so many people who know that adultery is merely a law and commit adultery, seizing the opportunity without any guilty. How about that?
Even though they would like to sue their partners for adultery, it seems that it is pathetic that they stubbornly disclose the scene of intercourse of the partner that they had loved before. Would this make more pain to themselves?…
Before saying that adultery is the ultimatum in order to keep the family and, without it, everyone will have affairs, we should think over whether the law will cause more various problems.
The world is changing and people are changing, but we still have not gotten rid of old perspectives toward cohabitation, sex, dating, marriage, and divorce.
If I have children later, I should teach sex education first. Not like the superficial education –how the baby is born, it is necessary to let them know what love, sex, and marriage are. For that, I should be the model first…
Other bloggers attempt to link the preservance of the law to traditional sex morality and compare other countries’ cases.
…즉, 간통을 형벌로서 처벌하는 것은,
가. 일부일처, 부부친자 중심의 가족제도의 보호
나. 순수한 혈통의 보전
다. 우리나라의 전통적 성도덕 내지 성적 성실의무 즉, 정절 내지 정조의 보호를 목적으로 한다.
하지만, 과연 간통죄가 그러한 역할을 훌륭하게 수행하고 있을까에 관한 문제에서는 의문을 갖지 않을 수 없다…
우리의 전통적 성도덕이라는 것이 건전한 가족제도의 유지와 동일하다고 본다면, 앞서 본 바와 같이 간통죄를 처벌하는 것은 전혀 도움이 되지 않을 수 있다. 전통적인 성도덕이 부부간 1인과의 성생활의 확고한 유지라고 한다면, 아직 미혼인 자의 성도덕에 대해 침묵하고 있는 형법은 그 형평성이 맞지 않다. 전통적 성도덕은 미혼자의 순결 역시 기혼자의 순결에 못지 않게 중요시 하고 있기 때문이다.
여성에 대해서는 엄격한 성도덕을 중시하는 우리나라 전통적인 사상과 달리 남자에 대해서는 축첩, 정실과 후실 등 그다지 엄격하지 아니한 성도덕적 관점이 존재한다는 면에서는 전통적 성도덕의 보호라는 간통죄 유지 이론은 설득력이 없다고 할 것이다…
나쁜 짓은 여전히 나쁜 짓으로서 비난을 받을 것이며 이로 인하여 간통죄가 증가하지는 않는다. 이는 간통죄를 폐지한 다른 나라에서도 정설로서 받아들여지고 있고, 현실적으로 그렇게 진행되고 있다.
오히려 이를 주장하는 사람이야말로 간통죄가 죄가 아닌 것으로 된다면 바로 간통을 하기 위해 팬티를 벗어버릴 사람들이다.  간통이 나쁜 짓이라는 것을 아는 사람이라면 간통죄의 존치 여부와는 관계없이 간통을 저지르지 않는다. 이것이 우리의 건전한 성도덕이다.
일본의 경우 1947년에 이미 간통죄를 폐지했고, 대부분의 공산주의 국가는 공산정권의 수립시에 이미 간통죄를 폐지하였다고 한다. 미국의 경우에도 연방 형법전에서는 간통을 찾아볼 수 없고 일부 주에서 이를 처벌하고 ㅇㅆ으나, 미국의 간통관련 처벌을 보면, 상대 배우자의 거주지에서 간통을 하는 경우 상대 배우자가 전혀 그 출입을 허용하지 않거나 허용하지 않을 것이라는 확신 하에 주거침입의 일종으로 처벌하고 있다.
아직 우리에겐 간통을 처벌하는 것이 옳으며 이를 처벌하는 것은 시기적으로 이르기 때문에 더 기다려야 한다는 주장도 있다. 이에 대해 일본의 1947년 폐지 당시 한 일본 학자의 주장은 우리에게 시사하는 바가 크다.
“법은 항상 일반화된 대중의 법감정에 충실해야만 하는 것은 아니다. 필요에 따라서는 일반 대중의 범감정과 상식을 앞서 선도할 의무도 법은 가지고 있다.”
If our traditional sex morality is to keep the family system, to punish adultery doesn’t help at all. If traditional sex morality means to keep the sex life between wife and husband, it isn’t fair because we don’t mention the sex morality of non-married people legally. Traditional sex morality includes the purity of non-married people as well as married people. While we emphasize strict sex morality toward women, men don’t keep the same perspective, such as having first and second wives. Therefore to keep adultery based on traditional sex morality doesn’t make sense at all….
Wrong behavior will be criticized as wrong behavior. Getting rid of the law will not result in an increase in adultery. It is true to observe other countries that abolished adultery laws. People who insist on keeping this law would tend to take their underpants off as soon as adultery is not going to be a crime. If people think it is wrong behavior, they don’t commit it no matter it is a crime or not. It is healthy sex morality.
In the case of Japan, they abolished it in 1947. Most Communist countries abolished it when they established a Communist government. In the case of U.S.A., there is no law of adultery and some states have it. But looking into the regulations, if the person has an affair in the partner’s residence, it is punished as housebreaking under the condition that the partner would not allow the activity.
There are arguments that it is too early to abolish the law and we should wait a little bit longer. About these arguments, I would like to quote a Japanese scholar who agreed with abolishing the adultery law in 1947.
“Law doesn’t have to follow what mass public think. If it is necessary, the law has the duty to lead the mass public beyond their sense toward the law.”
There are also cynical male bloggers who comment on this issue as men vs women.
내가 제일 웃기게 본게 바로 여성단체들의 입장 변화… 간통죄폐지를 결사반대한 애들이 이번에는 입장을 바꾸어서 찬성쪽으로 목소리를 내는게 꽤 보이거든. 왜 그럴거 같애? 사회가 바뀌면 법도 바뀐다. 20년전의 법으로 지금을 다스릴 수는 없다. 지금 간통죄로 고소당하는 사람들 중 남녀의 과실 비율이 얼마일거 같은가. 51:49라네. 반반이라 말이삼. 5년전만해도 8:2였다네…
How about this evolutionary theory?
특이하고 재미있는 사실이 있습니다. 예전에 한 TV프로그램에서 본 적이 있는데요. 아이를 낳았을 때.. 아내, 아내의 가족들은 남편에게 하나같이 ‘아이가 아버지를 닮았다'는 말을 많이 한다고 합니다. (제가 지켜본 봐로도 신기할 정도로 정말 그렇습니다. 진짜 놀라울 정도) 그런데 남편의 가족들은 딱히 어느 한쪽을 닮았는지 표현하는게 정해지지 않는다고 합니다. 이는 아내의 가족의 입장에서는 남편이 자신의 자식에 대한 헌신외에 다른 생각을 하지 않도록, 새로 태어난 아이와 아버지와의 연관성을 지어주려 한다는 해석이 가능합니다. 우리가 진화론에 대해서 아무런 생각을 하지 않고 있지만, 은연중에 영향을 받는 다는 한 증거로 볼 수 있지 않을까요?

author: Hyejin Kim


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Introducing Global Voices in Malagasy · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

A song from the legendary Malagasy group Mahaleo was posted on serasera.org:
“Aoka aho,
Mba ho tompon-tsafidy,
Mba tsy havela hihidy,
Ty vavako miteny” rahafahafahana, Mahaleo. (Mg)
As illustrated in this verse, the Malagasy language always had a strong tradition of oral expression. Kabary (lengthy speeches) are often given before any important familial or social events. However, as the economic pressure to employ more prominent languages at the global level (English and French) increases, it is important that the Malagasy language remains at the core of Madagascar's identity. The threat that the younger generations lose interest in speaking Malagasy properly is a frequent topic of discussion among sociologists. Malagasy writer Michèle Rakotoson notes:
Je me demande s’il n’y a pas rupture entre nous et cette fameuse « deuxième génération ». Ils sont plus dans Internet, les soirées festives et dansantes ou les sports. Par rapport à la langue malgache « tenindrazana », celle-ci est littéralement « langue des aïeux » et n’est même pas celle des parents ni des enfants. (Fr)
The Malagasy language is spoken by 17 million people. As such, Malagasy is only the 55th most spoken languages in the world but it is still one of the 69 macrolanguages. The reason for protecting and promoting less-spoken languages is not as much because of the number of native speakers as it is in the history they carry with them. The Malagasy language is one of the main signs of unity for the sometimes racially divided Malagasy nation. As much as any other aspects of the Malagasy culture, it symbolizes the diverse origins of the Malagasy population. Indeed, the Malagasy language belongs to the Malayso-Polynesian family but it was enriched by influences from Bantu, Swahili, Arabic, French and English.
The Malagasy language also played an important role in Malagasy history when Madagascar sought true independence from France. One of the first rulings from the government was to impose Malagasy as the language of choice in the educational system.
Therefore, it is in the hope of both reaching towards previously “unheard” voices and promoting exchange between cultures that may have had little interaction that the Global Voices amin’ny teny Malagasy project was created. As the description of the Lingua Global Voices Translation Project states:
“ It will open lines of communication with non-English speaking bloggers and readers of GV. [..] Mostly, Lingua translators are helping bridge worlds and amplify voices”.
We believe it is also very much in the spirit of the Global Voices outreach program Rising Voices, which
“aims to help bring new voices from new communities and speaking new languages to the conversational web”.
Indeed,reading Global Voices in Malagasy may encourage Malagasy speakers to share their own stories.
The Global Voices amin’ny teny Malagasy project was born out of discussions between GV author Mialy and GV Translation Manager Alice Baker and its importance was not lost on Malagasy bloggers who promptly volunteer to contribute: Jentilisa, Hery, Harinjaka, Joan and others who may join soon. We are also reaching out to national newspapers in Madagascar to augment exposure for the project.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Mumbai police to monitor cyber-cafes · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

In its war against terrorism, Mumbai’s police is planning to install keystroke loggers in Mumbai’s cyber cafes. This new monitoring software, CARMS (Cyber Access Remote Monitoring System), that Mumbai’s police are requiring the city’s 500 Internet cafes to install, “will capture every keystroke by users and turn that information over to the government — nearly in realtime by the sound of it,” said the Indian journalist Amit Varma.

author: sami ben gharbia


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Nepal: Internal goodwill · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Nepal Monitor on how internal goodwill is needed in the country and how it could be generated.


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Niger: The Yellowcake Conspiracy · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The Yellowcake Conspiracy is an African spy thriller for 11 to 14 year-old boys: “The Yellowcake Conspiracy is about a group of malcontent Tuareg fighters mounting a ‘second rebellion’ in Niger under the leadership of a man known only as ‘the Teacher’ (the first rebellion ended back in 1995).”


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Pakistan: National Art Gallery · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Metroblogging Islamabad on a visit to the National Art Gallery, and the surprises within, including portrayal of homosexuality and nudity.


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Paraguay: Forest Fires as a Result of Climate Change? · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

R.E.S.C.A.T.A.R [ES] writes about uncontrollable forest fires in Paraguay and whether climate change is responsible for this disaster.


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Philippines: Best Dive Sites · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The letsgophilippines blog features the top dive sites in the Philippines.


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Philippines: Communist Insurgency in Philippines · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Since 1968, the Communist Party of Philippines is fighting to create a Maoist society in Philippines. Mong Palatino blogs about this longest running insurgency in South East Asia.


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Russia, Germany: Schroeder’s Memoir · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Eternal Remont comments on Gerhard Schroeder’s memoir – published in Russia by Gazprom.


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Russia: High-Ranking Officials and Reckless Driving · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Russia Blog writes about a deadly car accident caused by the motorcade of the head of Russia’s Supreme Court: “And as always when we hear about another preventable death on Russia's highways, we ask the question: is all of this insane driving by Russian officials justified, or is it just a “power trip” show for others who occupy a lower social strata?”


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Russia: Russian Orphanage Graduates · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Window on Eurasia writes on the tragic fate of nearly 90 percent of the Russian state orphanage graduates.


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Russia, Saudi Arabia: Hajj Quota · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

This year, more Muslims from Russia are willing to go on the hajj to Mecca than there are slots allotted by the Saudi authorities. Window on Eurasia writes about the problems inherent in this situation.


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Russia: Surprise Nomination of Victor Zubkov · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

President Vladimir Putin accepted the resignation of Russia’s prime minister Mikhail Fradkov today and perplexed Russia-watchers by nominating Victor Zubkov, the little-known head of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service, for the premier's post.
Andy of Siberian Light writes:
[…] The move seems to have wrong-footed most analysts, and the new, updated consensus seems to that there is a big unresolved power struggle between rival Kremlin clans, and that Zubkov got the job because he’s inoffensive (see, for example, the BBC).  But, if that’s the case, why did Fradkov resign as Prime Minister in the first place?
Personally, I think it’s because Putin’s got a wicked sense of humour, and enjoys nothing better than spending his days winding up Kremlinologists.
Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow bids farewell to Fradkov, writes more on the “Kremlinological tea-leaf-reading” – and concludes, in response to a commenter:
[…] Russia is often prediction-proof, which is one of the reasons we so love watching it.
Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog reviews news reports on the reshuffle for Pajamas Media and suggests that today's nomination of an obscure politician is nothing but logical:
Nor is the move all that strange by Russian political standards. Putin is simply repeating what his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, did in 1999. Some will remember that on 9 August 1999, Yeltsin suddenly fired then Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin. Yeltsin appointed the then virtually unknown Vladimir Putin in Stepashin’s place. At the time, Yeltsin’s move was also to “ensure the continuity” of his political course. […] Putin’s appointment paved the way for his becoming President, a position that gave him the power to smash Yeltsin’s clan and drive the oligarchs that ran it into exile. Could Zubkov’s appointment be the harbinger of something similar to come?
W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile isn't surprised, either:
However, I had been pointing out in other forums for weeks now that if Putin plans a return to the presidency in 2012, it would serve his purposes to nominate someone less powerful and entrenched than either Ivanov or Medvedev. After all, why would either one of those candidates step aside for Putin 2012? And wouldn't a successful 4 years in office by either Ivanov or Medvedev create a greater potential for a political split or division in Russia?
[…] I had been thinking his choice would be someone such as Valentina Matviyenko, mayor of St. Petersburg. Putin might still do something of that nature, nominate a different candidate for the presidency. The more divisions he creates in Kremlin power, the easier it will be for him to sweep into office in 2012.


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Russia: “The Chechen Card” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Window on Eurasia writes that there is more than one way in which “the Chechen card” could be played in the 2008 presidential election.


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Sierra Leone: Preliminary results of presidential election · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sandra writes about preliminary results of the run-off election in Sierra Leone and how the run-off election works.


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Singapore: How Singaporeans Got Quake News · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Leafmonkey blogs about how the news of earthquake in neighbouring Indonesia spread in Singapore – a country with very good internet infrastructure.


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South Africa: Amatomu wins Highway Africa Award · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Amatomu, the South African blog aggregator, has won the Highway Africa New Media Award in the Corporate category.


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South Africa: Columnists are “dinosaur bloggers” · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Rebecca Wanjiku writes about columnists vs. bloggers debate at the Highway Africa conference: The discussion was spiced up by the presence of Freddy Khumalo, a columnist who thinks bloggers are not necessarily journalists/columnists and Vincent Maher, who is of the opinion that newspaper columnists are “dinosaur bloggers.”


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Sri Lanka: Service and Excellence · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Cerno on the excellent service in Sri Lanka in the unexpected and “unglamorous” places.


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St. Kitts & Nevis: Volcano Hike  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Mt Liamuiga is St Kitts tallest mountain at 3,792ft, and a ‘potentially active’ stratovolcano with a very well defined crater…”  Steve's Dominica goes hiking.


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Book Launch · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Here in St Vincent, unlike the larger islands there is not a huge amount of printed material put out by our citizens.”  Abeni attends a book launch in honour of a late local author.


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Trinidad & Tobago: New Police Logo · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The new logo…is ‘To Protect and Serve with Pride’. Is the problem…really due to a lack of pride or is there way too much of it? How about serving with humility instead?”  Manicou has a few issues with the new logo of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Porterfield Passes On  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Soca Warriors Supporters Club acknowledges the passing of Ian Porterfield, former coach of the Trinidad and Tobago football team.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Traffic Woes · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“This gridlock and this standstill is a daily symbol of where this country will go if it continues on its current path.  i.e. Nowhere.”  Elspeth at Now is Wow is fed-up of Trinidad's traffic situation.


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UAE: Economic Freedom · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Gulf News draws our attention to the latest rankings of 141 countries based upon economic freedom. The UAE ranks 15th worldwide. Saudi Arabia is among the countries not included in 141 examined in Economic Freedom of the World: Annual Report 2007 by the Fraser Institute, a Canadian economic thinktank,” writes John Chilton of the Emirates Economist.


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Ukraine: Cost of Living · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes reports on an opinion poll whose results show that many Ukrainians worry about the cost of living.


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Yemen: Locust Invasion · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Hadhramout in Yemen is being invaded by swarms of locust, writes Omar Bursawad. “For the last few weeks I have been hearing of how swarms of locusts have descended here and I have seen too – the great, unbelievable damage done to the crops and fields around,” he explains. Click the link to read more about his encounter with the swarm.


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Afghanistan: Remembering September 11, 2001 · Global Voices
Joshua Foust

Six years ago (ironically enough, a Tuesday then as well), fifteen hijackers took over four civilian airliners—two hit the World Trade Center, which eventually collapsed in flames killing almost 3,000 people; one hit the Pentagon, killing several of my family's friends; and one was crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after a battle for control was lost by the 93 passengers. It is an iconic event in American history, compared by many to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, in that it awakened many Americans to events outside their borders, initiated a years-long war, and generated a fundamental shift in foreign policy.
Reading the American perspective of the event, however, is no longer very revealing considering the many layers of political disputes that have grown up around post-9/11 policies (though New Yorker in DC certainly offers a kind, positive message). But what of the first object of American attention—Afghanistan, recently described by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as a “big success“? Nasim Fekrat has a moving post about what it's meant for him:
If September 11 wouldn’t happened today Afghanistan was in control of wildest and brutal regime of Taliban. Almost 90% percent of the country was under their control. Today many Afghan says God bless Osama Bin Landin who attacked the twin tower and drove the world to look at our country which was in burning and also they say God bless America that saved our live and brought democracy, freedom and security. I am not talking about how the NATOtroops and international forces fulfilled their tasks and how much they are successful. I am talking about the importance of September 11 for Afghanistan and its people. Many Afghans says it is not important for us how many people have been killed in September 11 in twin tower in New York and Pentagon outside Washington but it is important that US saved our live and released our country.
To get an idea of what he might mean, Fahim Khairy places the 9/11 attacks in the context of a year of terror, at the hands of the Taliban:
Another terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, which demolished the Buddha of Bamyan, which were carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley of central Afghanistan. They were built during the 6th century. The statues represented the classic blended style of Greco-Buddhist art.
Another terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, which demolished the Buddha of Bamyan, which were carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley of central Afghanistan. They were built during the 6th century. The statues represented the classic blended style of Greco-Buddhist art.
Two Arabs who claimed to be Belgians originally from Morocco killed Ahmad Shah Massoud the First Leader of Anti Terror and the Head of Northern Alliance by a suicide attack. However their passports turned out to be stolen and their nationality Tunisian. The assassins claimed to want to interview Massoud and set off a bomb either in their video camera or in a belt worn by the cameraman while asking Massoud questions. Massoud fought against Soviet and Al-Qaeda Taliban. He lived all his life in a loam house with his wife and four children.
Ahh, Ahmed Shah Massoud—the Lion of Panjshir, the scourge of the Soviets, the last man standing against the Taliban (except for Ismail Khan, of course). I recently recounted a remembrance of the man:
In reality, Massoud’s history is far more complicated than his leadership of the Northern Alliance, his antipathy toward the U.S. in the 1980s, or the massacres he oversaw in Kabul in the early 1990s, or the large opium smuggling operation he ran out of Feyzabad. He has been elevated to something of a saint-like individual mostly out of a deep need for national heroes, even if they are slain, rather than anything substantive he did for the country. Nevertheless, Massoud deserves our respect, if nothing else for his superior fighting skills and strategery.
Forgive the flippant writing, as I do believe Massoud is worthy of commemoration (if nothing else to help foster a civil society). But things are not all fairy dust and unicorns in Afghanistan.  At the Comment is Free blog, Conor Foley relates some harrowing stories from one of his Afghani friends:
“Things are getting worse,” he told me. “The insurgents now control half the country and without western support President Karzai's government would collapse. In many areas even where the Afghan National Army and coalition troops patrol during the day, the Taliban patrol at night. They visit the mosques and the village elders and tell them that they are the only effective force and that if people have problems they should come to them.
“Everyone talks about the Taliban, but the insurgency is bigger than that. In many places it is Hezbi Islami (led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar) that is leading things. They have a broader base of support than the Taliban, both geographically and ethnically, and that is why attacks are taking place in the north and the west. The other political factions are also treating Hekmatyar as a potential ally for the future. He is covered by the amnesty law that the parliament is supporting and which would shield the country's war lords for the crimes that they have committed.
“Jamiat-e-Islami, which used to back government are now the opposition. They were the dominant force in the Northern Alliance, which toppled the Taliban, and President Karzai is taking a great risk in alienating them. At the same time their former fighters are involved in much of the crime that is taking place including the kidnapping of international aid workers. The problem is that Karzai does not have an independent base of support and his own tribal areas are now controlled by the Taliban.
It's not just the warlords and Taliban making things bad—perhaps most brazenly, they shut down schools, ruining the future of the country, on International Literacy Day no less.
September 9 is the international literacy day, in ‘s insurgency-hit southern provinces; there are concerns that hundreds of schools will remain closed due to insecurity.
“At least 300 schools in Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces will not open because of insecurity,” Siddiq Patman, deputy minister of education, in addition to this another 180 schools has been torched down by the rebels.
Over six million students, 38 percent of them female, have been registered at schools throughout the country, up to 40 percent of them in the warmer south, the Ministry of Education (MoE) said. In spite of  high enrollment rate in the south, there are less students in the upper classes due to high drop out rate. Only a quarter of children make it to the 9 grade in the south. More than half of school age girls in the south are not enrolled in schools.
Owing to insurgency-related violence and other problems, over 350 schools were closed down in the southern provinces in 2006.
All of which is really too bad. But small victories in the original 9/11 battleground are not impossible to come by: Abu Muqawama relates one positive story of how the Westerners are slowly but surely getting it right. There are others to be sure. And, despite the unfortunate (and, sadly, typical) bombast of Donald Rumsfeld, Afghanistan is still improving in places, at times.
Unfortunately, so long as Iraq continues to grind on, Afghanistan will remain a back-burner issue for the United States. Which is unfortunate, as it seems that is where the original, and the current, and quite probably even future, battle over extremism and terrorism will be fought.

author: Joshua Foust


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Bahamas: Climate Change  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit blogs about “the economics of pollution”.


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Barbados: Net Neutrality  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Notes From The Margin is concerned about the issue of Net Neutrality and how it affects the Caribbean: “For those of us on the outside of the US we could find ourselves as permanent second class citizens of the web.”


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Bolivia: Ties With Iran · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

FREE-K-SEE [ES] is leery at the announcement that Bolivia will establish ties with Iran. “Why do we need to establish diplomatic ties with a country with which we do not have commercial or cultural ties, or a country that not even Cochabambinos emigrate to?”


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China: A Censored Lung Cancer Story · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Minjian released an exclusive investigative story (as it has been censored by the Propaganda Department) about 4 mysterious deaths from lung cancer (zh). The 4 victims were workers in a pharmacy factory in Chongqin. One of the victims, Zheng, suspected that the cancer was related to chemical leaking as all of them were working in the same room. Before his death, he demanded a thorough investigation. In March 2007, although the Hygiene department suspended the factory ward and fined the company for not having enough protection for workers’ safety, the factory and the authorities refused to admit the direct responsibility for the workers’ death.


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China: Zhujian Delta Worker Band · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Tang Wei Shan introduces a worker band, Green Band, in Zhujian Delta. The band was started 4 years ago in Shenzhen when two of the members were playing guitars in an open space. Their wish is to have singing tour around Zhujian Delta industrial zone. Their most recent performance was in Dong-guan in Sept 8 (zh).


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Cuba, Jamaica: Diplomatic Relations  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuba Journal links to a Jamaican news story that confirms the island's newly elected government will continue to foster diplomatic relations with Cuba.


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Haiti: Flour Prices Go Up · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The phrase ‘give us this day our daily bread’ suddenly takes on a whole new meaning,” writes Theo at  Pwoje Espwa as he talks about the sudden increase in the price of flour in Haiti.


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Iran: Dogs arrested · Global Voices
Juliana Rotich

The blogger Dastan reports on the arrest of dogs by Iranian police on September 9th, to rid the country of ‘western influences’ and ‘immodesty’. The dog owners are shocked at the arrests and are worried about the fate of their pets. Furthermore, dastan notes that the dogs are neither fed nor given water. The following pictures show some of the dogs that were arrested and the conditions they are being kept in.
The blogger kamangir posts pictures of the dogs and notes
Clearly, these dogs are not meant to live in the conditions they are being kept, but, anyways, they do not treat human beings anything better.
Within kamangir’s post is a comment explaining one of the reasons for the dogs are being arrested, stating
In Islam dogs are impure, so anybody who keeps dogs has, for example, wash his or her hands after petting dogs. I think that he/she has to clean carpet if the dog’s been there 7 times before praying on it, and so forth. That’s why IRI is so against keeping the dogs at home, they think that if somebody has a dog this person is not a good muslim.
A pity, dogs are such a nice pets.
Another commenter tedders asks some pertinent questions, including
“Do “good” Muslims have any pets? Or does it depend on which branch of Islam or what mullah one decides to follow?”
There have also been reports by other media outlets that a young man was arrested for putting up signs around his neighborhood looking for his lost dog.
A young Iranian who was searching for his lost puppy in a Tehran neighborhood has been arrested and ordered to stand trial for ‘moral corruption’.
According to the Tehran daily, Etemad Melli, the young man was caught while putting up a notice in which he was promising a reward to anyone who found his dog.

author: Juliana Rotich


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Jamaica: Blogs on the Rise · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Silicon Caribe says although “the blog as media is fledgling in the Caribbean…we’re excited to watch where it goes.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Japan: Abe down, otaku up? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Roy Berman from Mutant frog comments on the resignation of Japan Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and lists out a colorful history of the potential candidate Aso Taro.


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Japan: Abe’s Resignation · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Japan Observer was surprised by Abe's resignation and wrote down his first thoughts: The LDP is in trouble, but Mr. Abe's unexpectedly hasty exit gives the party a chance to select someone who can communicate with the public, earn the trust of the Japanese people, and move an agenda forward in cooperation with the DPJ. Indeed, the DPJ might be the biggest loser from Mr. Abe's early departure…


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Japan: Prime Minister Abe Steps Down · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

After less than a year in office, with approval ratings dropping to record lows after a recent humiliating upper house election defeat, and facing increasingly vocal opposition even from within his own party, Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo finally took the step many had been demanding on Wednesday and declared his intention to resign. Only days earlier, Abe had promised to step down if he did not receive support for legislation to extend Japanese anti-terrorism operations in Afghanistan [Ja], a promise which never ended up being put to the test. The abruptness of the decision, which appears to have been news to everybody but Abe's closest supporters, brought the beleaguered prime minister yet more criticism [Ja], and for the most part his move doesn't seem to have gone down very well with bloggers either. Meanwhile, the mystery of the resignation has already deepened with news of Abe's subsequent hospitalization and rumors that he may have quit in advance of yet another scandal.
The timing of Abe's resignation was a surprise to fellow LDP member and blogger Yamauchi Koichi, who argues that:
辞めるなら参院選直後がよかっただろうし、
国会開会直後に辞められると総裁選も落ち着いてできません。
密室で後継総裁を決めることは何としても避けなくてはいけません。
党員投票も含めたオープンな総裁選が望ましいのですが、
国会開会中だとそれも難しい状況です。
Former Diet member and Ambassador to Lebanon Amaki Naoto, a vocal opponent of the Abe administration, wrote in his blog on the day of the resignation:
Up until I heard Prime Minister Abe's press briefing, I was worrying about him. To quit at a time like this is really not normal. I was thinking that he must have been driven nearly to the point of committing suicide, that he might not even be able to show up to the press briefing, things like that.
But then when I saw a smiling Prime Minister Abe come out and repeat his cryptic words, I thought, this is really an incompetent person who can't be saved. Even at this final stage, he ran away from answering questions. There is no sympathy for him any more. All of the responsibility rests with Prime Minister Abe.
[Note: for reasons of copyright, the original Japanese text is not included but can be found here.]
Frustration about Abe leaving before he could face questioning was felt by many. Blogger A.K.I. writes:
なんとも間の悪い。WEで新しい大臣が再度墓穴を掘ったと思ったら畳み掛けるように総理が辞意を表明とは。
結局彼には覚悟がなかったように思う。間違ってても明確なビジョンを背負い戦う覚悟が。美しい国という言葉はあいまいで、確かに彼は何かをその言葉に託していたとは思うのだが、それはビジョンと呼ぶにはあまりに漠然としていた。小泉の演出に馴れた国民の目に、それはあまりにぼけたものに映ってしまった。
しかし職を賭けると啖呵を切った直後に職を捨てるというのは聞いたことがない。覚悟の無いおぼっちゃまらしい幕切れではあるが、そこに「美しさ」はあったのか。せめて自分の選んだキャッチコピーにくらいは殉じてほしかった。
戦後レジームからの脱却というのも散々口にしていたように思う。具体的に何を指しているのかいまいち伝わらなかった。戦後レジームとは何で、何故脱却が必要なのか結局わからないままだ。
However to lay everything on the line and ditch his job right after getting stinging criticisms hurled at him, I've never heard of anything like this. The curtains have fallen for this unprepared young man from a well-to-do family, but was there any “beauty” in it? I was hoping at least that he would die for the catch copy [*] that he himself had chosen.
Departure from the post-war regime was a topic that he spoke about a lot, it seems. But he never properly transmitted in concrete terms what was he aiming at. What is the post-war regime and why do we have to depart from it, in the end I still don't understand.
[catch copy: in copywriting, large text that appears in ads or brochures to catch the reader's attention]
Many bloggers felt that they didn't understand what Abe had been trying to do. One blogger responded this way:
決断が遅すぎる。
辞めるためのタイミングを計っていたのかわからないが。
しかし結局安部さんは、何がしたかったんだろう。
The decision was too late.
I'm not sure if he planned the timing of his resignation, but…
In the end, what was Abe trying to do anyway?
Blogger Gucchi shared this feeling, drawing a comparison with former Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro:
小泉さんは良くも悪くも、自分の信念を通した人でしたので、見ている方としては分かりやすさがありましたが、安倍さんは最後まで何をやりたいのかよく分かりませんでした。
Interestingly, however, this feeling was not shared universally. Hakushi No Hitorigoto, a popular Japanese blogger, writes that:
安倍総理の在任期間は1年間に満たず、その終止符は猪突に打たれた。だが、結果的に、この青年宰相は良識に勇気を与え、ある意味で、悪党との対比によって、特定国の汚らしい反日策動を背景としたドロドロの構図を我々国民に見せてくれた。実に短期間ではあったが、多数の法案採決の実績ともに、意識ある国民がそこで学んだ教訓もまた大きい。
今後の国作りにおいて、良識は何に留意し、何と闘うべきか。また、どのような国作りを目指すべきか、その方向性のあらましを、青年宰相は示してくれたのである。彗星のように現れ、そして消える宰相だが、亡くなったわけではない。政治家として捲土重来を期し、良識の希望と力になってくれる日の来たらんことを。ご健勝を願う。
Blogger untitle agreed:
色々批判はあるのだろうが，健康状態も悪かったと言う話もある．安部総理にお疲れ様と言いたい．
Finally, Abe's promise about anti-terror legislation in Afghanistan sparked some bloggers to ask about his sense of responsibility. Blogger Maeda Kouichi writes about Abe's declaration at the APEC summit in Sydney, echoing the thoughts of many:
安部総理が「インド洋上でのアメリカ艦船に給油できないなら総理大臣を辞める」と発言した。年金問題に決着がつかなかったら責任をとって辞めるというのならわかる。任命した大臣の不正がどんどん発覚しても、責任をとろうなんて考えがまったくないのに、アメリカ軍に燃料補給できないなら責任をとって辞めるというのだ。安部が日本国民に責任をとる総理ではなく、アメリカ軍に対して責任をとる総理であることがはっきりした。


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Kazakhstan: Energy Twists and Media Tricks · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Kazakhstani bloggers discuss the controversy over the giant oil field Kashagan in Kazakhstan, currently developed by an ENI-led consortium, which postponed the start of production (now until 2010) and announced an increase of the project’s costs (2.5 times up to $136 billion) – for the second time already. The Kazakh government, dissatisfied with the delay, has come out with several sharp-shaped statements and orchestrated a number of aggressive checks from the state agencies.
Megakhuimyak, whose work is connected to the extractive industries in Kazakhstan, reports that the ministry reviews all projects concerning the Kashagan oilfield starting from 1999 and prepares official rebukes on them: “Agip is being raped in every way… All projects – more than 200 of them – are already approved and most of the planned works have been already implemented”. (RUS)
Former WSJ reporter and prominent oil blogger Steve LeVine reflects on the Russia’s role in the regional energy issues: “It starved Georgia of natural gas, cut off Turkmenistan's access to foreign export markets and did the same in Kazakhstan, reducing the value of its giant fields — Karachaganak, one of the world's ten largest natural gas fields, is absurdly reduced to exploitation as an oil field.”
Itsuken has heard that ENI faced problems in Kazakhstan because Russian Lukoil wants to take over Kashagan. Astana has repeatedly made serious concessions to the Kremlin over the past years in the oil sector — e.g. when it agreed to build a joint venture refinery for Kazakh oil in Russia, not in Kazakhstan, or when it was not too insistent about the division of disputable off-shore oil fields.
The government acts in such a unison with ministries, tax agency and even fire services only when the decision is made at the very top. If Lukoil comes to Kashagan we should pray for that everything will turn out all right. They never think too much about environmental security.
Meanwhile, Adam of neweurasia reports on the Kazakh state-owned company’s first large foreign acquisition: KazMunaiGas bought Rompetrol in a deal whose price is not disclosed (RUS).
Another highly debated topic is the state of the Kazakh media. CTC, a Russian media holding, is buying a 20 per cent stake in the Kazakh Channel 31. Channel 31 – although being controlled by presidential office chief Bulat Utemuratov – is known in the country as the only source of unofficial television news. It’s not known yet whether the news service is going to survive or not, because CTC produces exclusively entertaining TV product. By the way, it also buys an Uzbek media holding, controlled by President Karimov’s daughter.
Izumcheg from Astana has a theory that Utemuratov could, in his turn, acquire a stake in CTC and plans to continue exerting influence on the channel’s policy, while the Kazakh officials would have no chance to control the Russian media venture. “Perhaps, some redistribution of power is coming, and Utemuratov is getting ready to use his kompromat [discrediting materials]”, he suggests (RUS).
Almaty-based journalist a-strekoza views the deal from her perspective: “The segmentation of the media market in Kazakhstan is under way. The niche of having a glamorous TV channel is empty. Baitasov (president of Channel 31) is a smart guy: he realizes that glamour can bring more money than political talk-shows, especially taking into account that there is no real politics in Kazakhstan” (RUS).
Besides, it has become known lately that it will be prohibited to take photographs and shoot videos in the new mono-party parliament. Pycm from Karaganda is sarcastic: “This is the right decision. It is much better to send the journos to the construction sites, grain elevators, factories and schools. Members of parliament will vote properly without cameras – according to the Party’s will!” (RUS)
Undoubtedly, both of the issues – oil and free speech – cannot go without mentioning politics. KZBlog is reviewing new appointments in the government, made by President Nazarbayev. “What is odd is that the president’s constitutional reforms required that parliament approves ministers. However, appointments were made the day before the new parliament sworn in”.
Another interesting move is the dismissal of Timur Kulibayev, the president’s son-in-law, as deputy chairman of Samruk, the national holding company that oversees KazMunaiGaz and other major state enterprises. “No reason was given, but most people feel it was meant to counterbalance the annihilation of R. Aliyev as a political force. Or it may be a feint, to ensure that Kulibayev’s future career is not tainted with rumors of preference and nepotism”, KZBlog writes.
Dorovskih, a Kazakhstani living in the United States, compares basic social indices in the States and in Kazakhstan. “In the States you can buy a house for $3,000 (a trailer), for 60,000 (average suburbia), for 140,000 (fine house) or 350,000 (a great one). In Kazakhstan it goes with $50,000 for a trailer, 90,000 for a 1-room apartment on the city outskirt, 300,000 for a 2-bedroom flat, 700,000 for a 200 sq.m. house”. The same depressing comparison follows for cars prices, minimal living standards, education costs and pensions.
Xxrock digs deeper into salary issues by reviewing the top professional salaries in America, as listed by the U.S. Department of Labor. Apparently, doctors are leading the chart with a surgeon earning $181,850 and other medical professionals having $100,000+ annual salaries. In Kazakhstan, a close friend of mine, a surgeon and a professor hardly earns more than $450 per month, working both in a clinic and lecturing at the university.
“Please, correct me if I’m wrong, but the general picture shows that we are a banana republic. It is very bitter”, dorovskih says. Tuganbaev responds with a bitter joke: “- Hi, how are things? – Why are you asking? We live in one country, ain’t we?”

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Mexico: Coahuila Explosion · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Ocho Cuartos [ES] posts a video to put the recent explosion in Coahuila into perspective, in which a truck with 25 tons of Ammonium Nitrate was detonated.


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Mexico: Ice Rink in the Zocalo · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Ice in Mexico City?  Blog.com.mx [ES] writes about plans to build an ice rink in the Zocalo of Mexico's capital city.


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Nicaragua: Photos of Post-Hurricane Felix · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Musings on Society posts photographs of the destruction left behind by Hurricane Felix in Nicaragua.


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Panama: Expansion of Panama Canal · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Tatiana attended the ceremony that marked the beginning of the expansion of the Panama Canal [ES], which included a speech by former US president Jimmy Carter (in Spanish).  She also posts photos of the canal.


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Russia: “All Day Soviet Breakfast” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

According to Copydude, “the number of operating hypermarkets in [Russia] does not exceed 150 for a population of 144 million.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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South East Asia: Origin of the Names of South East Asian Capitals · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

BISEAN is today looking at the origin of the names of South East Asian capital cities.

author: Preetam Rai


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Taiwan: Losheng 911 · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Yesterday, Taiwan police forced into Losheng Sanatorium and evicted student and preservation activists. A video, Losheng 911, recording the history of Losheng struggle and the protest and eviction scenes has been put up in dailymotion. Coolloud had a citizen reporter account on the eviction (zh).


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Trinidad & Tobago: Crime Statement  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Manicou Report is not impressed with a Trinidadian Independent Senator's statement on a crime-related issue.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Film Festival 2007 · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Both Studio Film Club and IZATRINI.com blog about the upcoming Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival.


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Ukraine: Anniversary of Gongadze’s Disappearance · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

IIU guestblogs at Orange Ukraine about the seventh anniversary of Georgy Gongadze's disappearance.


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Ukraine: Another Rigged Election? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Mark MacKinnon is astonished at “how quickly Ukraine appears to be tumbling back into the same trap” – towards a rigged election.


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Ukraine: Election Turnout · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes writes about the expected turnout for the Sept. 30 election.


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Africa: I came, I saw, I conquered. Then lied about it! · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“Colonial history, seen from the side of the colonists, can be summarised as follows: I came, I saw, I conquered. Then I lied about it,” writes R. E. Ekosso.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Bahamas: School Privatization · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Rick Lowe at WeblogBahamas.com links to a study that supports his views on school privatization.


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Bahrain: 1980 Yearbook  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Silveroo posts pictures from a 1980 yearbook for the Al Hedaya Al Khalifiya School in Bahrain.


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Bangladesh: Technology and Harassment · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Unheard Voices on the need for stricter laws to deal with technology abuse and the invasion of privacy.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Bhudda Safe in Egypt · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Big Pharaoh from Egypt jokingly claims that Bhudda is safer in Egypt than it is in Pakistan – after the opening of a second Bhudda Bar lounge in his country.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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China: A Free Speech Court Case · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Liu Xiao Yuan, a lawyer, blogs about his lawsuit against a blog hosting company, sohu.com, for deleting his posts. The court dismissed his lawsuit on Sept 12 and he called up several local mainstream media for news briefing, but none of the newspapers released the news (zh).


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Colombia: Experience With Hiperbarrio · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Palabras Vagas [ES] and Muestra Artistica [ES], participants in the Hiperbarrio project express gratitude for the creation of the project.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Costa Rica: Tourism and the Free Trade Agreement · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Julia Ardón believes that if Costa Rica rejects the Free Trade Agreement in the upcoming Referendum, that it will not negatively affect tourism to the country [ES], as some are predicting.


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Cricket: Bangladesh’s Twenty20 win against West Indies · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

Those who condescendingly refer to the Bangladesh Cricket team as ‘minnows’ may already be eating their hats. As Bangladesh storms into the second round of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup tournament with an impressive six-wicket win against the West Indies, the Bangla blogosphere is exhilarated and furiously blogging their jubilation.
Blogger Ershad Baadshah and many many others are thrilled that the home team has created history by beating the Carribeans. Pagla Babu congratulates the Bangladesh team for moving into the ‘Super Eight’.
Mostafa Monir is all praises for the Aftab-Ashraful pairing. He feels that finally these two cricketers are displaying their true potential. Lutfur Rahman reminds us of an earlier comment made by Brian Lara. In 2004, Lara had said that if the West Indies team lost to Bangladesh, then he would quit cricket. Rahman wonders if Lara had read the writing on the wall and imagined that one day his team would indeed bow to the little tigers.
Blogger Ninduk points out another reason for Bangladesh to celebrate. The record for the quickest 50 (in 20 balls) in an International Twenty20 match is now held by Ashraful of the Bangladesh team.

author: Aparna Ray


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Does anything good ever happen in Africa? · Global Voices
SudaneseDrima

That was the provocative question Sudanese blogger, Kizzie received from someone quite recently:
We were in America and a famous Jewish-American human rights activist/writer/professor invited us for lunch. We talked and talked about the middle east/Islam/immigration/human rights issues and when my professor suggested they ask me something about Africa because I'm from there and I know alot about my beloved continent. This is what she told me ” Does anything good ever happen there?”. I can't describe how I felt at the time because its too complicated. I'm not sure if I felt angry or sad. I think I felt both. I also felt her Afro-pessimism rub on me. I felt it clinging to my skin and as I tried reminding myself of the good things in my continent .I still couldn't recover to my old-self.
… Africa is not darfur,rwanda, dictatorships,underdevelopment or even AIDS.
Speaking of Darfur, Black Kush blogged about another round of peace talks aimed at halting the tragic conflict:
What had exactly been agreed in the meetings remain to be seen. Which of the rebel movements are attending? How about SLM leader Abdel Wahid el Nur?
He also posted the following cartoon:
Little.Miss.Dalu, a Sudanese in America, wrote two interesting posts, the first about racism among Sudanese, and the second about her identity as a Sudanese American.
On the issue of racism:
I'm going to be absolutely honest here, even though it's not going to be fun to hear. Or rather read. But, generally speaking, Sudanese folks are very ethnocentric
… I had some Arab Sudanese friends and we clashed a lot when it came to religion and race, which in retrospective is really ridiculous because we were just kids! Now I know our clashes and the shit we said to each other were things handed down to us from our parents. I once beat the hell out of a kid because he used the term abeed/abid [slave] on me, and another time slapped a girl, who I was friends with by the way, because she said my skin color was like zift (tar).
… We are ALL SUDANESE DAMMIT.
On the issue of her identity as a Sudanese American:
… I consider myself Sudanese foremost, but to my relatives home, who I don't even know but force myself to speak to occasionally, I am all American. To Americans here, I'm that Sudanese girl. For me it's both and sometimes neither (that's where the whole citizen of the world hippie shit comes in).
Drima, of The Sudanese Thinker authored a revealing article entitled “Khartoum, a City of Sharp Contrasts” about the alcohol and drug-fueled, wild parties that happen behind closed doors in the capital of Sudan.
SudaneseReturnee is happy, yet nervous to be returning home to Juba.
And from Juba itself, Doctor Konyokonyo has a post about AIDS in South Sudan:
The down side is always that apathy sets in and many young people just shrag it off as just another disease too. But is it? Long time ago in the mid 80s, it is considered a disease of Congolese in Sudan, mainly prostitutes etc. Only those who visit these places get it. It is a sad fact which is still the case in South Sudan.
The Abstinence is impossible in the young, the Being faithful hard for the married, and the Condom? It is not always available! Well, there are those who think it takes the “sweetness” out of the sex!
Zoulcolm X is angry at the mistreatment of Sudanese in Egypt:
The news about egyptian soldiers shooting sudanese refugees while trying to cross the borders to Israel really pissed me off. cuz during the last year hundereds of egyptians arrived to work in Khartoum, they took over small jobs like construction and resturants services..those workers are not put in ghettoes, they are treted well, in simple words, they are having a good life.
… sudanese immigrants in Cairo streets suffer something more than getting shot to death at the borders, or kicked by egyptian police force, or facing stupid egyptians racism. they are also killing each other yub, blieve it or not, sudanese immigrants started forming their own gangs in the streets of Cairo.
… but why is that happenin? why we don't have egyptian gangstaz here in Khartoum? is it because they're not black? they came here and took our jobs and they having a good time, but my people go to egypt and be treated like shit and die for nothing.
Path2Hope on the other hand is feeling sad due to the loss of a person she knew who died as a result of the incompetence of the medical profession in Sudan:
The extortionist, sorry I meant doctor examines her after she has paid the required fee for his “services.”
… the genius comes to a conclusion, “she has suffered a stroke”.
… They arrived a few days later in Jordan, where the doctors proceeded to give them one shock after the other. The good news was that she never had a stroke but the effect of the medication on her aging body had done measurable damage but there was hope – there always is. After all, she only had a lack in calcium.
… It’s been almost a month since she passed away, her body couldn’t handle the effects of the wrong medicine. Ina lil-lah wa ina ilehi raje’oun (we belong to Allah and to HIM we shall return).
There is however something cheering Path2Hope up :
Walking around the neighborhood I detect the strong scent of “hilu-mur’ (Sudanese juice) and every house I enter people are hanging out their “shermoot” to dry (meat that is later dried and grinded to add to food) all these are tiny reminders that Ramadan is just around the corner. I’ve always loved Ramadan, there is something truly magical about this month especially if you happen to find yourself in a Muslim country.

author: SudaneseDrima