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Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome · Global Voices
Salam Adil

Today's report is dedicated to the women of Iraq. Women have suffered greatly in the new Iraq and on top of everything have to cope with the prejudice of some western journalists too. Again a mixed selection of blogs but you must read to the end for more cute animals!
First, my heartfelt condolences go to our blogging family that lost an uncle to the violence in Iraq. They relate in their own blogs how they came to terms with the tragedy.
Mama of the Emotions blog describes her feelings:
I can't bear more anxiety, fear, and sadness. Counting our losses every day. Yesterday we lost our dear family senior; he is my father's uncle. He was shot to death by the American soldiers in his parent's in-law neighborhood …
I couldn't sleep last night, neither my parent's, my husband nor my father in law. I wonder if the soldier who shot him and left him in his car ,asked himself about that old man , did he wondered if he was alive or died immediately?.. Did he sleep as a lamb?! Probably he forgot all about it, and had nice dreams….….The soldiers left him dead in his car after they shot him BY MISTAKE
And she wants answers: “We need help to stop the violence, and the disrespect of the humanity. I am giving some of the details about my relative's accident to seek for help, and investigation.” because “Such accidents… had been repeated to [such] a large extent that turned the appreciation of the Iraqis toward the American liberation from Saddams’ regime to hate or violence or at least suspicious about the intentions of the American. I doubt, there is any Iraqi still trust the Americans … , even the most peaceful optimistic..”
Truth teller reminds us that what happened to his uncle nearly happened to him. And he related the stories of others who died in a similar way. He writes that at the postmortem: “the American officer there told him ‘we are sorry.’ It is as simple as this, they are sorry and every thing is settled, no problems, as far as the victim is an Iraqi.”
Rose Baghdad speaks for all her family when she writes: ” Sorry will not be enough. I have nothing to say… I'm so angry now and in need for an explination.”
Sunshine posts more information on her weblog with details of the ongoing investigation.
A great big congratulations goes to Iraq's own Riverbend for winning the Bloggie for the best Middle Eastern weblog!
Truth About Iraqis and Fayrouz bite back at a book by Washington Post reporter Jackie Spinner who among other things said that Iraqis consider a woman who looks into a man's eyes to be a whore. Fayrouz writes: “I lived in Iraq the first 28 years of my life. Never during these years I heard someone telling me NOT to look directly into a man's eyes.” Truth About Iraqis is equally outraged:
Iraqi women are mothers who have sacrificed their sons to endless wars. They are sisters who have seen their brothers killed. They are daughters who missed their fathers buried by years of war, oppression and occupation.
But they are also students, teachers, scientists, politicians, artists, dancers, singers, novelists, athletes, philosophers, doctors, nurses, soldiers and a valuable fabric of Iraqi society. … And … they are also winning bloggers.
Take that, Jackie.
Sooni posts “my brother was in a press conference held by the Organization of Woman Freedom in Iraq where they showed some drawings condemning the terrorism and the woman abuse in jail in the name of the law and I thought you would like to see some of those pictures. The drawings were made by the prisoners themselves inside the women prison in Iraq.” Visit his blog to see the pictures.
And Hala s speaks up for women:
Does it really require men to pull Iraq out of this mess? Whatever they said so far is gibberish; all they wrote was only waffle. Look how stubborn and single-minded they have been. Is it that hard to compromise? Is it that complicated to reach an understanding? Their false pride and greed for power weighs more than the Iraqi blood on the scale. …
It is time for Iraqi men politicians to retire and have a long rest. I am all for women.
Can't agree more!
Sleepless in Baghdad:
Insomnia has been gripping two bloggers. Attawi has been spending her nights awake thinking about her application for a masters degree, and muses about sleeplessness: “Sleepless nights are the best for writing poems. I sometime neglect the thoughts and try to sleep and say tomorrow I'll write them down. Tomorrow comes and I have no idea about what I wanted to write.” And Shaggy is staying up waiting for the power to go off: “And the power should go out just about now… uhh any second now… Still not gone. It's 4 AM.” Worse, he has an exam in 5 hours time…
What is happening to Iraqi Education:
HNK's, Sunshine's and Aunt Najma's School is hit by a mortar (yes, all three blogger go to the same school!). Sunshine puts a brave face on it: “I don't like to exaggerate and don't admire those who wrote about what happened to my school with faking facts!!! , but I assure you that everything is ok now , no big losses at all , except some broken windows.”
Morbid Smile is posting her diaries from January and gives a shocking fact: “Education is about to vanish!!!… Thousands of students apply for the higher studies every year, but only few students can be accepted. The reason behind this is the lack of supervising staff.. Many university professors were either killed or they fled the country after the war for the sake of their own security.” and out of these students: “only five… would be accepted to study for their Master or Doctoral degrees! Only five among over 200 students!! The reason, again, is the lack of professors”.
Faiza gets a letter asking for outside help for the cultural institutions in Iraq. Because there is no restoration of anything except a Childrens Centre. Why? “the minister of culture now is a policeman not from the culture carriers . most of the cultures establishments general directors ar not specialised in any culture fields.”
Free Iraqi reports that sectarian violence is even entering into children's games: “Both sides are definitely responsible for feeding hatred and distrust to their kids. The only difference is that Shiite now control most of the media.. Sunnis certainly did a similarly bad job when Saddam was in power but it shouldn't be pay back time or else we'll never make it to a real democracy.”
The week in Politics:
Hammorabi is incensed at the political situation. He makes several posts on the same theme. “The weak and hypocritical politicians .. are not less than warlords or gang leaders seeking power even if it is on the mass skulls of the people.”, terrorists are harassing the Shia population to provoke a civil war and “The situation is very dangerous especially with the biased interference of Zalmi Khalel Zada the US ambassador towards those who support the terrorism.” Iraq Rising, in response, suggests to Hammorabi two ‘simple’ steps to resolve the crisis: “1- find someone other than Mr. Jafari… 2- That the ministries of interior and defence be run by individuals who have no connection with militia groups.”
Iraq the Model continues its reports on the minutae of the political wheelings and dealings this week. But he has little hope for elected politicians to get anywhere because “most of them are not qualified to handle the responsibilities they're entitled to”. Although he blames the Iraqi people more for voting for them. Iraqi Pundit comments on a story about the improving state of the Shia in the Gulf. Which he takes with bittersweet emotions as an Iraqi because of the foreign Jihadis fomenting sectarian strife in his country. While Asterism oddly agrees with George Bush. Salam says that the refusal of the American government to allow Dubai to control its ports is proof that the US never intended Iraq to be a partner in the region.
Raed has been busy traveling from Iraq to America to South Africa and back. He helped with the reconstruction of Iraq and now helps with the reconstruction of New Orleans. It seems he is applying his theory of “reconstructing both the built environment and the civil society” wherever he goes.
My honarary Iraqi for this week (and I know he will be horrified to hear this) is David T of Harry's Place. He copies from a report on an important issue. The intolerance of the religious parties and militias to Gays and anyone else who partakes in alleged ‘immoral behaviour’. “In particular, the Badr Corps, which is the armed wing of SCIRI, has instituted a witch-hunt including violent beatings, kidnappings and assassinations… Males who are unmarried by the age of 30 or 35 are placed under surveillance on suspicion of being gay, as are effeminate men. They will be investigated and warned to get married.” While much has been made of the violence in the streets of Iraq, little is being said of the changes that affect people even in the privacy of their own homes.
And finally:
Cat blogging has reached its highest point. After being reported on NPR, Baghdad Girl's cat blog has been voted the ‘The Best Blog in the World’ by the Committee to Protect Bloggers.
“All blogs, deep within, are trying to become Bagdad Girl. You will know paradise has arrived when all blogs have become Bagdad Girl.”
Quite. And Baghdad Girl has inspired one young Iraqi to start a similar blog: “My name is Ayman Murrani I'm 15 Years old … i live with my family i love dogs alot .. i have 3 dogs and 2 cats …”. Ayman's blog is called Safe Iraq and it is filled with … cute puppies! And judging from the pictures – Raghda's kitty's have something to be worried about.

author: Salam Adil


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Nigeria: Impact of slavery · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Nigerian blogger, Eseme Udoekong's Africa writes on “the impact of slavery on Akwa Ibom State and the Diaspora. “In all walks of life we are enslaved, not enfranchised. Independence without freedom is what we are given. Duping and robbery, smuggling and looting are impacts of slavery too”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Sokari Ekine


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Nigeria: Middle class comfort · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Kazey's Journal discusses the middle classes, becoming rich and moaning about not being comfortable when you have loads of money.” Comfort is a condition. You can only be comfortable when you have no immediate challenges in life that gives you discomfort.I understand wealth quite well and the need to get money”


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North Korea: American defector in Japan · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

OhmyNews! runs an in-depth interview with U.S. Army deserter Charles Jenkins, now living on Sado Island after spending four decades in North Korea. “My life is not worth five cents, I know that,” he tells reporter David McNeill. “I don't think they have the nerve to come and get me, but they could assassinate me with a bullet through the head from a distance. But if it happens, everything I have written will come out.”

author: Luisetta Mudie


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Pakistan: The future · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Pickled Politics on the future of Pakistan, Musharraf and South Asia.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Philippines: Red Spectre · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

caffeine sparks criticizes the Philippine government's “resurrection” of Communism as a threat to national stability. She recounts meeting a real Communist and not being very scared or impressed. “I don’t remember the details of what he said, but I remember thinking he didn’t say anything I didn’t already know and could’ve done a much better job lecturing. If we had waited with bated breath, we would have asphyxiated waiting for enlightenment.”

author: Jose Manuel Tesoro


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Serbia & Montenegro: Eurovision Conflict · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ed at Balkan Baby writes that Serbia and Montenegro seriously disagree on who should represent their country at this year's Eurovision Song Contest: No Name, a Montenegrin boy-band, or a Serbian band called Flamingoes? “Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic said that this music competition had caused ‘much more excitement last night than the death of Slobodan Milosevic’. […] And just to fully draw the battle lines, the Eurovision song contest final will be held the day after the referendum which will probably see Montenegro vote for independence from Serbia.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Singapore: Suicide Watch · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Singapore Election Watch discusses the disturbing trend of Singapore's suicide rate. In the famously safe country, it's now one of the top three causes of death.


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Slovenia: Civil Servants’ Salaries · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Michael at The Glory of Carniola reports on how much Slovenian civil servants were earning in 2005.


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Slovenia: Zlatorog · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Isoglossia shares all he knows about Slovenia's Zlatorog, or the Golden Horn: “the goat, the myth, the beverage, the soap.”


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South Korea: Shamrocks and kimchi  · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

The Asia Pages, who identifies herself as Korean-Irish-American in honor of St. Patrick's Day, makes a striking case for similarities between Irish and Korean men, particularly the inhabitants of Busan. “They'll both make a bee-line for the alcohol, swear their heads off, all the while talking in loud, obnoxious voices. Undoubtedbly each would be singing themselves silly before the night is over,” she writes.


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Sri Lanka: NGOs · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Hell's Dire Agent on NGOs in the aftermath of the Tsunami, the role they play in the civil society and the legitimacy required. “NGOs need to be examined as entities that are serious political actors alongside political parties, politicians and the institutional organs of the State.”


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Thailand: Love of Sports · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Steve Suphan at thai-blogs.com discusses the Thai love of sports!


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The Balkans: “Finally, the Post-Milosevic Era” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Slobodan Milosevic, former Yugoslav leader and a war-crimes defendant, died of a heart attack in his prison cell in the Hague on March 11. After much debate, it was decided to bury him privately in his hometown of Pozarevac, 80 km of Serbia's capital Belgrade, on March 18. Until then, following the government's controversial decision, his coffin has been placed on display in Belgrade's Museum of the Revolution.
Below are some bloggers’ reactions to Milosevic's death, his upcoming funeral, and the future of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
“Finally, the Post-Milosevic Era,” writes Eric Gordy of East Ethnia:
The news is probably good news for Serbia, which will be hostage to one person fewer. […]
It is bad news for ICTY […]
[…] the Tribunal will complete its activity without having completed its most important trial. The decisions which led to a frequently interrupted trial lasting years will be questioned far into the future, and will probably be used as a negative example for future tribunals.
[…] while anybody's death is a cause for regret, what is to be regretted most about Milosevic is that during his life, he was able to take so many other people down with him.
srdjankosutic.com notes, too, that, hopefully, a new era has begun for Serbia:
[…] His death ends a whole era of modern Serbian history, and as someone who participated in the silent 5th October revolution when we overthrow him in 2000 I just wish to let the past behind, and move forward. […]
Henry Shepherd of Thayer and Charlesfield offers a compilation of responses from a number of Balkan bloggers, including this one from Seesaw of Balkan-Scissors and Sarajevo Photoblog:
[…] Personally I can say I did not follow his trial – I was a living witness of his political career and saw enough with my own eyes. I did never think well of his ideas…
To me Milosevic was nationalist and populist, and the politician who played the main role in dissolution of Yugoslavia.
I must add I spent the war in Sarajevo (1992-1995) and saw so much suffering… I am not Moslem but visited Srebrenica and could not believe my eyes…
But I also saw many graves in Republic Srpska of Serb soldiers, and for a decade now I have been witnessing the poverty of people from former Yugoslavia – Serbia particularly – all that being – mostly – the result of ambitious, nationalist and populist policy of Slobodan Milosevic.
But as you could notice on my blog I am not willing “to join the company” so to say and prefer to keep my mind focused on other things. After all Milosevic does not deserve so much publicity, never did, and always had it.
Other bloggers who contributed their opinions to Henry Shepherd are Rachel Long of Pustolovina: Adventure in Serbian, Sasa Nikolovski of Bečej – Óbecse: My town, my river, my people, Zeljka Grzinic of green-mind.com, Ed Alexander of Balkan Baby, and Aleksandar Macasev.
An American in Belgrade reports from the scene in Belgrade one day after Milosevic's death:
[…] It looks like, so far, international news agencies are having to really scratch around to find any visible signs of public reaction. […]
Viktor of Belgrade Blog makes a similar observation four days later:
Although some world media report as if the whole Serbia is sad because dictators departure, the truth is somewhat diferent: only one thousand people gathered in front of the museum to give their last respect to the dictator. Now i know that this is about one thousand people too much, but in a country of more than 8 milion people, one can say that this is really an unsignificant support.
Viktor also posts a March 14 letter announcing the “‘anti burial’ event planned to coincide with Mr Milosevic's burial in Belgrade,” before it was clear that the funeral would take place elsewhere:
[…] the guiding idea has been born for a symbolic staging of an ‘Anti Burial’, the motive being to show the rest of Serbia, the Balkans and the world one last time that Milosevic was never really representing the free thinking, democratically oriented citizens of Serbia and therefore the Serbian government should not allow for Mr Milosevic's burial to take place in Belgrade or his family members to return to Serbia while still being issued with the Interpol arrest warrant.
And, Viktor's advice to those who happen to be in Serbia's capital at the same time Milosevic's body is there:
[…] Anyway, if you are this close like i am, you better prepare some garlic, holy water and other protection, just in case.
Rachel of Pustolovina: Adventure in Serbian also notes the undesirable proximity to the body – and finds it hard to believe that there existed a place Milosevic could have escaped to, Moscow:
slobodan means freedom, how ironic
I just sat with coworkers drinking beer watching Slobo's coffin being taken off the airplane in Belgrade. It felt very much like watching the State of the Union and cursing my dumb president. So he's being buried here [most likely – anything can change.] with a service this saturday a few blocks from my house. I might wander by, but I don't want to see anyone there. I would love for there to be a service and have no one show up. . . very unlikely.
[…]
As someone quoted in the article said, “from there, he is not likely to return. . .” It is where his wife, brother, etc. live. I would dismiss the story, but it was in the NY Times. It seems too strange to be believed, but so did last year's Ukrainian dioxin poisoning. What is it about this place that makes everything seem like a badly written thriller plot? […]
Estavisti – who calls Milosevic “the last of the unholy trio” – anticipates “Serb-bashing” in the Western media:
The last of the unholy trio has died. I’m pretty indifferent about that, but I’m not looking forward to the Serb-bashing about to flood the obituries. The BBC got off to a good start there, repeating the claim (shown to be false by a Bosniak/Bosnian Muslim before you attack me) that 200,000 people died in BiH during the war. On the other hand, news of his trial will stop smara-ing me at every turn and one more link to the past has been severed. Contrary to what a lot of Westerners seem to think, his death will have absolutely no effect on Serbia and Serbian politics, apart from allowing the SPS to further distance themselves from him and continue on the road to relative political normalcy. […]
“Place your bets on how long it will take for the Serb Orthodox Church to give him a sainthood,” writes Ed Alexander of Balkan Baby:
[…]  over the coming years his memory will fade, and no, that won't be straight away, but nonetheless, it will diminish over the decades, especially outside the Balkans. This man should have died with the tag ‘War Criminal’ officially given to him, not just known by us all so that his memory is forever tainted by the murders, rapes and sickening crimes he instigated. Most importantly, this one single death, the death of an evil man who has the blood of thousands of others on his hands, must not be used by warped supporters of other criminals to in any way diminish the power of the International Criminal Court. […]
Ed also discusses Milosevic's political opponents: Franjo Tudjman, former president of Croatia, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, former president of Kosova, and Carla Del Ponte, chief prosecutor of the UN war crimes tribunal.
Balkan Ghost of Finding Karadzic looks at Milosevic's death in the context of the ongoing trials of the former Yugoslav war criminals and the attempts to capture those who still remain at large:
[…] Slobo's death, though, is a good thing for the Karadzic hunt. The world will re-live the Yugoslav wars for the next month and focus on its leaders. This renewed attention will bring heat on war criminals much as the 10th Srebrenica anniversary did last summer.
Moreover, Slobo's drawnout trial was a drain on the resources and mission focus of the ICTY. With the Milosevic headache effectively over, they can focus on what is most important: finding and arresting Karadzic and Mladic. And once Karadzic and Mladic are arrested, ICTY prosecutors should have learned enough lessons from Slobo to bring the trials to a quick and decisive conclusion.
And with increased publicity for the ICTY, even more lessons would likely be drawn:
[…] Slobo's death has brought perhaps more attention on the ICTY than ever before. By its mistakes, it seems to have already secured its legacy and changed the way the world views the best ways to handle transitional justice and post-conflict reconciliation. For example, the ICC (International Criminal Court) in Rome has had lots of its momentum in response to the clunkiness and expense of the ICTY's model as a country-specific, treaty-based method of resolving atrocities through a limited criminal process. In Iraq, the ICTY's tactical blunder of combining Milosevic's charges for Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo is credited as the principal reason why Saddam's prosecutors started with the straightforward but relatively minor Duleil charges. […]
Wu wei reports a minor distortion in a BBC report and continues with a story of a memorable interview with Milosevic's widow, also on BBC:
Interesting how news reporting distorts or perhaps it is just me.
Carla del Ponte was asked whether he had committed suicide or been poisoned. BBC reports that she dismissed this as just rumours, but actually she said (as anyone might have said) “lets wait till the result of the autopsy”, not wanting to say anything.
[…]
There was a scary Hard Talk interview with Mira and Tim Sebastian a few years ago, after he was taken to the Hague. […] The answers she gave showed she clearly did not have her world view challenged very often, and it was scary. Clearly she was a major influence over her husband, but that doesn't make him any less to blame.
YakimaGulagLiteraryGazett has a comprehensive and regularly updated compilation of links, news stories and personal observations on Milosevic and his death.
The AP's Belgrade correspondent William J. Kole writes a  blog on Milosevic funeral.
Related media stories can also be found at BALKAN UPDATE and KOSOVAREPORT.
Finally, here are two almost indentical reactions from bloggers covering Belarus, the land of “Europe's last dictator” Aleksandr Lukashenko:
br23 blog…
“Found dead in his cell”
I hope someday we’ll read in the newspapers that “Alexander Lukashenka was found dead in his prison cell in Minsk.” I realize the chances of that are very slim, though I think he committed enough crimes to earn a life sentence. First of all it’s the murder of several opposition activists which Lukashenka ordered (at least four counts: Hanchar, Krasouski, Zachranka, Zavadzki; and maybe Karpienka). Second, it’s the illegal imprisonment of many political opponents for many years which Lukashenka undoubtedly also ordered (Lavonau, Klimau, Marynich, Skrabiec to name just a few).
And, yes, whatever the cause of death was, I am glad to know that Slobodan Milosevic who organized mass-genocide in former Yugoslavia is no longer with us.
litota‘s (BEL) LiveJournal…
[…] I turned on the news on STV and went to the bathroom. When I came back, there was Lukashenko's picture on the screen, and the host was saying: “A prominent political leader has passed away…” Well, I was about to run to get some champagne, but it turned out to be nothing but a quote from a condolences letter sent by our president on the occasion of Slobodan Milosevic's death. […]


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Venzuela: Gente del Petroleo · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Oil Wars won't be offering spare change to the ‘Gente del Petroleo’ any time soon.

author: David Sasaki


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Vietnam: Home Design · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Antidote to Burnout is an architect from San Francisco who now works in construction in Vietnam. He's started a series evaluating the small design touches on Vietnamese homes he sees in Saigon.


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Who Won the Elections in El Salvador? · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Who won the elections in El Salvador? Almost two million of Salvadorans went to the electoral booths this past Sunday March 12th to elect the Deputies and the Municipal Councils. It could be said that this number represents roughly fifty per cent of the electorate. A lower number than what the polls predicted, claiming more than 60% electoral participation.
Although it can’t be said that there was great absenteeism, it wasn’t a massive turnout either. Rather, the general and historic tendency of more or less half the population voting in El Salvador was maintained.
At the time of writing this commentary the final count, which will determine the official results, hadn’t begun. Thanks to the quick vote count that the TSE implemented (and which finally worked) we can have an idea of the results to be able to present to you the first commentary.
I wish to clear up that we do not have definitive results, and when such a short time has passed since the electoral event, it is likely that some elements will not be exact. Besides, even if we wish to be objective, in the first days we still walk around with a “hot head” regarding what just happened. Please take into account these two elements which no political analyst can avoid, much less this considerate and trusty servant.
Both ARENA and FMLN felt victorious last night. Both parties kept announcing they had won the elections and both celebrated their triumph in the El Salvador Mayor’s office. But in truth, who really won the elections?
If we look at the electoral results, both main parties are virtually tied, the difference between them shall not be too great. Up until now, both have been arguing and affirming they have one or two more deputies than the opponent. San Salvador's mayoral race is the best example of this “technical tie”. It is still unknown who will emerge triumphant. Both continued to claim their victory over the other, to such degree that the TSE decided to speed up the final count in this municipality to finally be able to establish the difference.
I could almost bet (as Lorenzana and Rank, in a TV program), that the difference between winner and loser will be less than two hundred votes. So whoever wins will be by a nose, and it won’t be a Great Victory for either of the parties.
On the other hand, the FMLN basically snatched out of ARENA’s hands important mayoralties such as San Martin and Cuscatancingo (in the department of San Salvador), but have lost important mayoral districts of important regions such as Santa Ana, Cojutepeque, Zacatecoluca and Usulután. In the municipality of Santa Ana they were dropped to the third place even though they where in coalition with Cambio Democrático. They lost the same way in Cojutepeque where they had the same coalition.
ARENA cannot declare itself victorious either. Although they used State resources intensively, utilized fear, and had the full time participation of the President of the Republic for their electoral campaign, they did not succeed to gain the majority of deputies that they needed to ensure that the President would be able to do as he pleased.
In almost every emblematic place where Tony Saca arrived with a great deployment of media resources to ask the people to vote for his mayors, they lost. I’m specifically talking about the Santa Ana cases where the PDC won, Acajutla where the CD won, San Miguel where the PCN won and Soyapango where the FMLN won. They were not able to regain a single one of these strategic mayoralties.
Furthermore, this happened after all the unlimited presidential support given to the candidate to the mayoralty of San Salvador, who is now between electoral life and death, and in case of victory, it’ll be for just a few votes.
Thus we ask again: who really won the elections this past Sunday?
In truth, the political polarization won. The two opposing parties who confronted each other to excess, who generated violence, who were hardly proactive but who spent millions in campaigning are the ones with the best results.
But this polarization signals two situations: That the rightwing group has obtained a better result, and that the country risks paralysis in the strategic sense. Let’s look at this situation carefully.
El Salvador has been historically polarized, both in politics as in the social and economical aspect. This polarization has been promoted through history by the right wing, since they know that it is the way to always win. By polarizing the economic spheres, the right wing gains money: they have sent millions of Salvadorans into poverty, but they have obtained juicy gains. The social debt in El Salvador is immense, we have no social policies in the basic areas such as health, education and housing, for example. In the political electoral field they also promote polarization.
Throughout Tony Saca’s campaign, he accused the FMLN of being anti-establishment, of being the party you can’t negotiate with, they exploited the fear of communism, etc. Their objective was to show that there’s a common enemy. They know that with this strategy they’ll cover a great part of the voters and then the remaining voters are left to the other two right wing parties, PCN and PDC.
The FMLN falls into the trap of polarization and counteracts with unreal proposals such as affirming that by going back to the colon, the prices of products would go back to what they were three years ago. They request by media campaigns for 43 deputies (half plus one of the Legislative Assembly) to be able to go through with their plans. The result is that they brought together the vote, but the right wing gets more deputies as a group.
As a consequence, ARENA will get from 32 to 34 deputies, the PCN will get 10 or 11 deputies and the PDC 5 or 6 deputies. As a group, the right wing has the majority of the Parliament (more than 43 deputies). The FMLN has 32 to 34 deputies, the CD will have between 2 or 3. With this correlation ARENA will control the Parliament. All the secondary legislation will be easily approved by the right wing.
The FMLN will once again have the “right of the pig”: to scream while it’s being led to the slaughterhouse. It’s only resort will be to control the necessary third needed to approve the credits. This will be enough as long as they don’t split once again, as it has happened in practically all the previous legislatures.
The problem is that with this, the only thing they can do is generate legislative veto to the credits and other issues of some importance, which could result in the paralysis of the country and in the long run could generate more wear and tear than advantages.
Although it stings, we have to recognize that the right wing is more intelligent in using polarization in the electoral field. ARENA knows how to distribute the extra votes among the PCN and PDC, who with relatively few votes get many deputies with these remainders. On the other hand, the FMLN ends up concentrating the vote and leaves the CD almost to the edge of its extinction with just two or three deputies.
Once again, the example of San Salvador is crystal clear. The FMLN was cocksure and thought they would win on their own easily, they forgot that the mayoralty had been won since 1997 in coalition or hand in hand with the current CD (formerly CDU). This time around they didn’t want to reach agreements with their friends of the democratic left wing.
They forgot that the Mayoral Candidate in San Salvador had always been a moderate leftist (Hector Silva and Rivas Zamora), who garnered greater trust among the electors. Now the CD achieved a 6% of the votes, which is not enough to win, but which would have been a key to the victory of FMLN.
If the FMLN had accepted the alliance proposal made in private by CD, Violeta Menjivar would currently be in her house, relaxed, enjoying the taste of victory, instead of having to be in a rally demanding for her “stolen” triumph.
We still have a lot to learn.
Ayutuxtepeque, Tuesday March 14th 2006
Written by JJmar, Translated by Juliana Rincón Parra

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Buen Provecho! · Global Voices
Melissa De León

Greetings from Panama! This week's food blog round-up is extremely scrumptious. Please do not read if you are hungry!
#1: From Greece, Wanderlust Sha
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce you to Ms. Sha, the empanada queen! Oh,…just take a look at those photos. Just be prepared with some drool cleaning agents for your computer, after seen this post, it will be all over the place. Promise.
#2: From Vietnam, Noodle Pie
Tip off: Is this the best sandwich in Saigon? He received this in the comments section of his blog two moths ago. If you read further you will learn about the what, who and when of this finger lickin’ story!
"Another sarnie tip-off. A woman sets up (after 5:30pm) a "banh mi thit nuong" stand. The thit nuong are like little grilled sausages. Plus, she throws on some bbq sauce. Best sandwiches I've had in Saigon. A real gem of a find."
Upon reading the suggestion I grabbed a camera, snatched the nearest notebook, powered out of fortress pie, hailed a passing chariot and headed out in search of this "gem". A mere 64 days later I alight at this pavement stall at 37 Nguyen Trai street in District 1. I'm hungry, but zen. I've arrived. I grab the plushest, fur lined, plastic stool I can find and order.
If you are still hungry,this is the link for you then!
#3: From Canada, The Domestic  Goddess
An excerpt from How much better can ice cream be?
Then the car will roll to a stop on a gravel driveway and us kids would begin to stir. From under blankets, pillows and “barf bags” we would emerge, blinking at the sunlight. My parents would get out and stretch their legs, urging us to get out of the car and do the same. No, we hadn't arrived at our destination – rather we had simply arrived. Bobcaygeon was only about 30 minutes from the cottage and it was there that we would stop, take pee breaks and indulge in the definitive ingredient of the entire trip: Kawartha Dairy Ice Cream.
“Made the old fashioned way with fresh milk and fresh cream. These are the first two ingredients in our ingredient list – compare this to other ice creams…No butter or imported butter oil. Only the freshest of milk and cream” With flavors ranging from ‘Vanilla’, ‘Chocolate’ and ‘Strawberry’ to ‘Sugar Shack Maple, ‘Chocolate Peanut Butter’ and ‘Death by Chocolate’, this is truly the best, most delicious ice cream that Ontario has to offer.
#4: From The Kitchen Parade
The Veggie Evangelist cooks up an international round up of recipes using the pretty, broccoli rabe aka rapini. In case you're wondering, it's pronounced "rob," as in the orange-breasted robin.
A kitchen parade indeed, that will help you prepare these leafy greens and scattered clusters of broccoli-like florets:
Pasta with Broccoli Rabe & Sausage Sweetnicks’ Little Nick loves this!
Shell Pasta with Sausage & Greens Simply Recipes
Guy Card-Saving Pizza Something in Season
Linguini with Rapini The Garden of Eatin’
Sausage & Broccoli Rabe with Orecchiette Mona's Apple
#5:  From Pease Porridge
Scones (to put honey on) is one of those handwritten recipes found on lined paper; maybe credited to a relative or a friend, some of whom we only vaguely remember, a few of them we have never met.
My mom's scone recipe is very simple and plain.  It looks like either she copied it in a hurry, or she copied it from someone else who copied it in a hurry.  But it works.  In a world of a million-million scone recipes, these are dependable, tried and true.  Make them and you'll understand why they've lasted so long, and why I'll pass them on to my own kids someday.
Go ahead, click on the link, you would not regret it!
#6: From Australia, Tomatom
Do not stall. Do oysters talks about the best and the worst oysters in Australia. If you have plenty, just follow some of his food fascist recommendations:
Head over to his blog to get the complete list of tips and learn about oysters.
#7: From World on a Plate
Erin Go Blah No More! is a tribute to the Irish ‘modern’ cuisine. It has come a long way from the long held stereotypes of heavy, bland and boiled dinners and other unsophisticated fare.
Modern Irish cuisine combines Irish simplicity with French training, with one of the basics of great cooking–the use of the freshest and more often than not local ingredients, which is all adds up to a culinary renaissance taking place in the Emerald Isle.
Fare includes distinctly Irish offerings such as river oysters, grass-fed lamb, cows and pigs as and fresh or smoked salmon. This fish is prized for its creamy flesh that ranges from pink to orange to deep red. A traditional Irish appetizer marries thin slices of smoked salmon atop brown bread. Unfortunately, due to over fishing and pollution, true wild Atlantic salmon is growing scarce and the  the wild salmon season is but a two month window, so farmed salmon is commonly available these days.
See you soon!

author: Melissa De León


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The Week That Was in Bahrain · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Culture and arts took the forefront at the Bahraini blogger scene this week, despite the action taking part at the Bahrain International Circuit, where the kingdom hosted the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 12.
While Mahmood Al Yousif opted to buy 10 concert tickets for the price of one Grand Prix ticket, Silly Bahraini Girl woke up at 6am to catch the action from the comfort of her living room, in Ontario, Canada.
And while Mahmood & Co. were enjoying their Jazz and music nights, SBG treated herself to a performance of Lord of the Dance!Meanwhile, Ali Al Saeed is keeping us posted with developments on a new project he has been working on. Models of Success will be released in Bahrain on March 19.  Even our Bahraini  in Alaska is dancing to the latest tunes of his son's school band!
Away from arts, both Haitham Sabbah and Silly Bahraini Girl tackled the country reports on human rights, published by the US Department of State, from different perspectives. While Sabbah questioned the US human rights’ policies, SBG highlighted some of the abuses recorded in Bahrain as outlined by the report.
Sabbah also sheds light on news about blocking the much acclaimed and awaited Rachel's Words and highlights recent incidents in Palestine, calling for further action to stop the blood shed.
In other matters, Sabbah draws our attention to increasing Islamophobia  which is taking the West by storm. If this is not all, fundamentalists are also being scared off by homosexuals in The Netherlands a bid to them away from their lands!
Back to Bahrain and another Bahraini blogger, Dr Abdul Hadi Khalaf, who writes from Sweden about local issues back home. Here he posts a commentary on reforms in the Kingdom, published by the Arab Reform Bulletin.
Last but not least versatile American blooger Tooners, who is married to a Bahraini, narrates to us her touching experience meeting an Iraqi woman at the gym – reminding us once again how unhealthy hatred is!

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Belarus: 15,000 People Gather in Minsk to Support Opposition · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user lipski reports (RUS) from Minsk where some 15,000 people have gathered to support the opposition: “The rally's taking place on the steps outside the Trade Unions Palace. Milinkevich is speaking, but what he's saying isn't audible. There're no sound amplifiers and they're using megaphones. People stand and actively support the speakers, but further plans can neither be heard, nor understood. Kazulin and Lebedko are also there. Kalyakin reports that, according to independent exit polls, less than 50% have given their votes for Lukashenko. People in the crowd are joking about the heavy snow: that's snow cannons :-))”


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Belarus: Non-Stop Blogging of Election News · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Andrei Khrapavitski (ENG) and LJ user Wolni (BEL, RUS) intend to do non-stop blogging of the news from today's presidential election in Belarus. Another blog to follow is br23 blog – in English and in Belarusian.


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Belarus: Protesters Are Leaving the Square · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user lipski reports (RUS): “People are leaving the square en masse. The reasons: audibility is poor (people do not understand why they are standing there, what is being said and what is to be done afterwards), and it's cold. In 1-1 1/2 hours, there'll probably be 1-2 thousand people left.”


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Buying In, Selling Out or Scraping By: Francophone African Bloggers on Social Mobility and Education · Global Voices
Alice Backer

School on Hold While Mom Scrapes By
Carine. Courtesy Tony Katombe.
Le Blog du Congolais shares  (FR) the touching story of Carine, a 22 year-old from the DRC with an infectious smile who sells omelettes and doughnuts during school hours:
Today I don't feel like eating Carine's omelettes. I can't fathom why a rather pretty young woman is selling omelettes and doughnuts all day instead of seeking a brighter future. She wants to know why I'm not having anything and I want to know why she isn't in school.  “Because of hard times, she explains, this year Mom decided to send my sister who is in 12th grade and my younger brother and sister … to school. Next year, if Mom can afford it, my brother and I will go.”
And if Mom can't afford school next year? Well, the brother will go and Carine will wait again. She'll then be 23, the age to be graduating college, but instead she'll attend 8th grade.
Carine's mom explains to blogger Tony Katombe that her employer, a Congolese airline, hasn't paid her in several months. She likens her solution to delestage a term used to describe the government's rationing of electricity by delivering it to different neighborhoods every night.  Apparently,  Congolese families  going through tough times practice delestage when it comes to food rationing as well: boys eat on even days while girls eat on uneven days.
Buying In Yet Stuck Between Two Worlds
Le Pangolin reflects  (FR) on  Ferdinand Oyono's novel Le Negre et la Medaille  [The Man and the Medallion] about an African who donates land to colonial authorities, is rewarded with a medallion and then looses touch with reality:
[Kocumbo] no longer has “his feet on the ground”… [H]e's lost touch with reality.  He's lost control of his being and of his body by giving up the gravity that attached him to the earth.  Gravity is necessary to his equilibrium because the soil he distances himself from is the native land, that of his ancestors.
He is deprived of his traditional garb,  but modern attire doesn't suit him any better.  He is cut from his world but his new world doesn't fully embrace him either.  Ill-adjusted and ill-adapted,  Kocumbo floats between … two incompatible worlds: the traditional and the modern.  His disease and his despair come principally from these two forces pulling him in antithetical directions.
Selling out, that “Centrafrican Syndrome”
Le Pangolin also explores (FR) the issues in Professor Abel Goumba's Le Role des Elites Africaines (ou le Mal Centrafricain) [The Role of African Elites (or the Centrafrican Syndrome)], a text he dedicates and recommends to Ivoirians, Gabonians, and Congolese-Zairians:
A look at the itinerary of young cadres’ government careers from entry-level to the presidency sheds light on the origin and cause of the “Centrafrican Syndrome”.  The young cadre proudly brings his local or foreign diploma to government recruiters hoping it will serve as a key that opens doors … Motivated by ambition, he slowly abandons his own ideology that he adopted and fine-tuned at university and still harbors in his entry-level government job and instead takes on the ideology and practices of the ruling party.
Through turf wars, short lived self-interested  alliances, corruption and other tricks, he ends up at the helm of the party or in another influential position with the ultimate goal of being appointed minister in a future government , the sought-after job that brings him security and social status.”
School of Life
But amidst the identity crisis, hope comes  in the form of a  new website, Contes et Legendes d'Afrique [Fairy Tales of Africa], that targets African children as well as those grownups looking for their inner African child.  In the words of blogger  Supermale a.k.a. Morad Ouasti (FR):
Contes et Legendes d'Afrique is about the will to fight against the withering of African identity,  an identity otherwise drowned by the quasi-monopoly of American and Asian cultures on children's television programming. It's a return to our roots and a school of life for kids and grownups alike. With its talking animals, traditional African villages and fantasy-filled tales laced with moral maxims, Contes et Legendes d'Afrique paints an original cultural landscape.  … [T]hrough this site Africa rises up to sing it soul.
Cartoons can be viewed directly on the site but are also available in VHS, DVD, VCD, audio cassette and print, Ouasti explains.

author: Alice Backer


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Iran: Ganji is Free! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kosoof, photo blogger & journalist, shares with us Akbar Ganji's photos with his family & friends after he came out prison. Ganji, writer & journalist, had been in jail for 6 years. He went on hunger strike several times.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Panel on DRC Civil Society held in Belgium · Global Voices
Alice Backer

At UDPS Liege, Damien Twambilangana  questions (FR) Patient Bagenda's mobilization of his NGO Anti-Bwaki  in favor of the DRC's new constitution.  (The constitution was voted in by referendum last December. ) Twambilangana who is a member of Debout pour le Congo [Stand Up for Congo]confronted Bagenda with his questions at a panel “Will Civil Society save the DRC?”  held March 16 by a Belgian NGO.  During the panel, Bagenda argued that civil society erred when it  took on a managerial role during the transition period instead of  mobilizing and educating the population on key issues.


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This week on the Lebanese Blogosphere: Mom, Dad and God. · Global Voices
Mustapha

While the squabbling in the National Dialogue continues, the English side of the Lebanese Blogosphere went on about the various intricacies involved. Ur Shalim observed the similarity between the Lebanese Civil war and the nascent Iraqi one, while Across The Bay and Beirut To the Beltway delved into the various details.
This week however, we’re giving politics a break; thanks to Eve in Mysterious Eve, I’m going to translate some excerpts from the Arabic side of the Lebanese Blogosphere, which usually covers more personal stuff than its English counterpart.
Eve, in her trademark contemplative and poetic style, imagines a scenario where God and an angel are assigning the destinies of newborn children in this world.
Eve gives another example, then moves to her own life:
Other bloggers were busy writing about their parents. Sasmen writes a touching poem to his mother on Mothers’ Day, which occurs on March 21st in Lebanon.
Hilal from  Nostalgia wrote a piece about a father who can’t let go of his daughter, only to inspire Rat to write a letter to her father who passed away last year. Rat’s experience is unfortunately very common in our part of the world. Here’s an excerpt:
Of course, not all Lebanese entries in Arabic are personal. Some are still writing about, you guessed it, the National Dialogue.

author: Mustapha


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· Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Francis Wade writes a thoughtful post on Jamaica's “greatest export” — the country's “creative class”.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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African women blogging this week · Global Voices
Nish Matenjwa

As usual, African women have been blogging about a variety issues.
Black Looks has recorded a moving audio post honouring the brilliant African-American science fiction writer who recently passed away, Octavia E. Butler. Black Looks has also posted information regarding the The Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship which is aimed at enabling writers of colour to attend a Clarion writing workshop where Octavia got her start.
Kenyan Pundit writes about Kenyans’ political amnesia which shows how Kenyans easily forget the crimes and misdemeanours of government. She also highlights how easy it is to complain and yet do nothing and says ‘we’ll spend another five years complaining about how nothing has changed’.
Discarding the argument that is often used to attempt to show that Africans do not need computers as their needs are more focused on bread and butter issues which she says is a fallacy,  Afromusing has written and posted an image of the solar powered solo computer and states that solar power offers a reliable power solution.
Rombo has written what appears to be a tongue-in-cheek on the surface but what in fact is an absolutely vital and necessary guide to people who she says want their ‘wealth to make the world a better place for folk less fortunate (term used loosely) than yourself’. She begins by asking these people to do things such as ’let the ‘less fortunate’ speak’, ‘listen’, ‘really listen’ and other nuggets of information.
Pilgrimage to Self’s  latest post carries a list of ’25 things a sista should never apologise for’. My personal favourite is number 25: ‘Never apologise for being you’.
The Mad Kenyan Woman writes a heartfelt post on Kenyans and homosexuality and how gay men and women are unable to talk openly their sexuality because of the stigma. ‘Your sisters, your brothers, your friends, your colleagues, your cousins, your nephews, your nieces, even your parents, are trapped in a prison more violent and restrictive than any physical restraint’, she writes.
Ore writes about BAWo (Blogs for African Women), a project for African women whose objectives include encouraging African women who want to start blogging and support those who recently started blogging and to encourage African women to report their own stories as an alternative to mainstream media. The project is currently seeking mentors and Ore has provided contact information for people wishing to get involved.
‘I've just listened to truly the best speech since Barrack Oboma's keynote speech at the Democratic Convention’, Strawberries writes after listening to Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s recent speech to the American Congress which was interrupted several times by standing ovations.  ’I have goose bums and am so proud’, Strawberries says and concludes ‘to all the doubting Thomases, yes a woman can. A woman will’.
There are two Nigerian writers on the long list of Million Writers Award of the best online stories of 2005, writesMolara Wood.  The list will be cut down to 10 stories on April 1 and then the public vote for the top places will begin.
Adefunke writes amusingly about an all too familiar situation in Africa where one does not know whether they will have electricity from one day to the next. ‘Lord let the power situation on my street be sorted’ she prays and this time, her prayer is answered although her wallet is just that little lighter.

author: Nish Matenjwa


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Argentina: Mate · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Santiago explains the etymology, social etiquette, and history of that most famous Argentine infusion, mate.


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Aruba: Status aparte and frightening food · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

ArubaGirl salutes her home country on the occasion of its 30th anniversary of Status Aparte status vis-à-vis the Netherlands. She also eats some frightening food.


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Bangladesh: Forced Marriages · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

imperfect world 2006 brings to light a case study on forced marriages in the context of UK. – “The UK government is currently injecting some energy in bringing to light these human rights abuses through their Forced Marriage Unit.”


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Barbados: Indigenous claims · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

A claim made by indigenous people from Dominica and Guyana on Barbados’ Culpepper Island leaves Titilayo puzzled.


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Barbados, USA: Historical ties · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

A note from an English subscriber inspires Linda to write about the ties between Colonial Barbados and America before and during the American Revolution.


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Belarus: March 19 Photos · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belarusans living abroad rallied on Sunday, March 19, demanding fair and democratic election in their country. br23 posts links to his pictures from the protest in Prague. Andrei Khrapavitski posts pictures from the NYC protest taken by LJ user wolny – who in his turn (BEL) links to some more NYC photos as well as those from the evening rally in Minsk.


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Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (1) · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user lipski reports (RUS) from Oktyabrskaya Sq. in Minsk for the second night in a row: weather's good; the square's not blocked; politically active young people decided not to set up a ‘tent city’ because officials have allegedly confiscated 1,500 tents, but there are plans to put up their own tents, tomorrow or the day after; many flags, including Ukrainian and the EU; many journalists; cars are honking in solidarity; sound is good today – lipski stands across the square from the stage and hears everything; 6,000-7,000 people and this is probably it; tried to put up a tent, but two cops came up and took it away.


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Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (2) · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

According to LJ user l_u_f_t  (RUS), people from the regions are beginning to arrive and five tents have been set up at Oktyabrskaya Sq. already. LJ user samuel-smith writes (RUS) that “there's a ring around the tents. People surround them so that the police couldn't take them away. From time to time, plainclothes officers approach the people and tell them something. […] Cups with hot coffee are being distributed.” He's also posted a picture of the tents. LJ user lipski wrote half an hour ago (RUS) that there were now Georgian flags at the square, in addition to Ukrainian, and that people were coming and going, and there are approximately 5,000-6,000 there now.


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Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (3) · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user samuel_smith reports (RUS): people are leaving because it's cold; a Ukrainian LJ user advises to put something underneath the tents to make them warmer – on the photos, the tents appear to be on the bare ground; a bell is ringing; speakers at the rally include a head of Norwegian Liberal Party and an observer from Russia who was detained by the KGB and almost thrown out of the country.


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Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (4) · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Opposition leaders have declared the March 19 election a coup and are demanding to cancel the results, reported lipski (RUS) a while ago. Also, Milinkevich has asked everyone to stay at the square overnight and all day tomorrow.


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Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (5) · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user lipski reports (RUS) that the riot police demand to turn off the music playing at the square at 11 p.m.; opposition leaders have agreed. People are still encouraged to spend the night at the square. A representative from Mogilyov said that regional delegations are expected to arrive in Minsk. The protesters have asked Minsk residents to bring warm clothes, food and hot tea and coffee to the ‘tent city.’


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Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (6) · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user maty reports (BEL): “Milinkevich has had negotiations with the police. The police has allowed people to stay at the square. People are chanting “Police With the People” and are setting up tents. Maidan begins.”


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Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (7) · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user maty has posted (RUS) March 20 photos from Oktyabrskaya Sq. More to be posted soon.


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Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (8) · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

br23 blog reports hundreds of riot police units stationed in the backyards of the buildings adjacent to Oktyabrskaya Sq. The protesters, however, are determined to stay “until the new election date is set, in July.” LJ user samuel_smith writes (RUS) that cars with drinking water and food for the protesters are kept from parking at the square by the police. LJ user agafon_bel writes (RUS) that Aleksandr Milinkevich's two sons were detained by police and almost charged with petty hooliganism, but when the police colonel learned who they were, he not just let them go but gave them a ride to the square.


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Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (9) · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user lipski writes (RUS) that two groups of around 1,000 people total remain on the square: one group guards the electricity generator and audio equipment, another is by the tents. People who are leaving the square individually, not in groups, are said to be arrested outside the square.


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Bolivia: One Night in Cochabamba and Carnival in La Paz · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Jim Shultz hands over Blog from Bolivia to guest author Christina Haglund who describes a night out in Cochabamba. The post has generated a lot of critical comments regarding Haglund's description of eating chewing coca leaf. Nick Buxton, meanwhile, invites his flatmate, Juliette to post about Carnival in La Paz.


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Brazil: Bïa · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Aquarelas was introduced to the polyglot Brazilian singer, Bïa by a nifty radio device on the weblog of Michele Aurelio.


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Cayman Islands: Expat bashing · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Cayblogger takes a politician to task for implying that expatriate managers are preventing the advancement of locals.


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China: A new word for innovation · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Danwei picks up on an article in the English-language China Daily newspaper, which begins: “China has launched a national campaign to enhance its capability for innovation. But experts advise that does not mean China always has to be the original inventor.” Also, the paper is looking for editorial staff, notes Jeremy Goldkorn.


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China: Animating domestic talent · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Angry Chinese Blogger writes a long analysis of China’s fledgling animation industry, noting a new initiative to stimulate domestic talent in a market that is largely dominated by foreign imports.


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China: Hu Jia still ‘missing’ · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Thirty-one days after her AIDS activist husband Hu Jia goes missing, presumed detained, his wife Zeng Jinyan uses her blog as a platform to appeal to everyone to keep asking the question: “Where is Hu Jia?”. She writes a letter to her National People's Congress municipal delegate for Beijing, Wu Qing, and  (ZH) wakes up to find that both telephone lines in the couple's home have been cut off, temporarily, it seems.


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China: Plagiarism under pressure · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Chinese Law Prof highlights a reader's comment on the subject of academic plagiarism in Chinese universities, which cites a recent analysis by Prof. Gong Renren of the Beijing University Law School. Much of the problem hinges around the fact that pay and benefits packages are linked to the number of articles published, with little regard for their quality.


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China: Privacy issues · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Xiao Qiang, on China Digital Times, flags an article by Thomas Crampton in the International Herald Tribune on how a new Internet technology, IPv6, will make life even easier for the Chinese government to monitor what its citizens are doing on-line. Crampton is also a guest-blogger on Joi It’s blog.


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Cuba: The Bicitaxi · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Zenia pays tribute (ES) to a great Cuban invention: the “bicitaxi”. “A ride in a bicitaxi can be very folkloric, as en route the passenger can get the latest news on black market prices, the quality of electrical goods. . . .”


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Diaspora: race and immigration · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Curious continues his series of posts on racism and immigration in Europe and America.  The latest is a short piece on what “governments do to integrate immigrant communities” in the Netherlands, US and Britian….


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Ecuador: Public Schools · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Pigeontoes is disheartened by a trip to a public elementary school in Quito, Ecuador.


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Egypt: First human death from the H5N1 · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Amal the poor Egyptian peasant from Kalyoubia was the first human victim in Egypt to be infected by H5N1 and die from the deadly virus , something that must put the whole country whether the people or the government in an alert state. This diseaster opens 1000 doors of chambers of problems in Egypt from Economics to health to socail to…, Zeinobia said.

author: Haitham Sabbah


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Ethiopia: realities of economic growth · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Ethiopundit comments on a recent Reuters report  that  Ethiopia   could end extreme poverty if it continued it's 7% economic growth of the past three years. .”The Ethiopian government's style of 7% growth would have to be sustained for several centuries of ‘decades’ to pull off that trick. Too bad none of this makes sense except as a bit of what can only be understood as an altogether successful cooperative propaganda effort.”


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Ethiopia: The fantasy of Meles · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Mehedeya also commenting  on an Ethiopia related report this time from the Economist which finally turns the heat on Meles.... “It is hard, for instance, to find any educated Ethiopian, even in the government, who really believes opposition leaders were plotting “genocide” against the ethnic Tgreans, the group from which Mr. Meles comes.”


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Free Hao Wu! · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

On March 22nd it will be one month since filmmaker and Global Voices Northeast Asia Editor Hao Wu was detained without charge. We appeal to the Chinese government for Hao Wu's immediate release!
What happened to Hao?
Hao Wu (Chinese name: 吴皓), a Chinese documentary filmmaker who lived in the U.S. between 1992 and 2004, was detained by the Beijing division of China’s State Security Bureau on the afternoon of Wednesday, Febuary 22, 2006. On that afternoon, Hao had met in Beijing with a congregation of a Christian church not recognized by the Chinese government, as part of the filming of his next documentary.
Hao had also been in phone contact with Gao Zhisheng, a lawyer specializing in human rights cases. Gao confirmed to one of Hao’s friends that the two had been in phone contact and planned to meet on Feb. 22, but that their meeting never took place after Gao advised against it. On Friday, Feb. 24, Hao’s editing equipment and several videotapes were removed from the apartment where he had been staying. Hao has been in touch his family since Feb. 22, but judging from the tone of the conversations, he wasn’t able to speak freely. One of Hao’s friends has been interrogated twice since his detention. Beijing's Public Security Bureau (the police) has confirmed that Hao has been detained, but have declined to specify the charges against him.
The reason for Hao’s detention is unknown. One of the possibilities is that the authorities who detained Hao want to use him and his video footage to prosecute members of China’s underground Churches. Hao is an extremely principled individual, who his friends and family believe will resist such a plan. Therefore, we are very concerned about his mental and physical well-being.
More about Hao: From Scientist to Computer Guy to Filmmaker.
Hao began his filmmaking career in 2004, when he gave up his job as a senior product manager at Atlanta-based Earthlink Inc. and returned to China to film Beijing or Bust, a collage of interviews with U.S.-born ethnic Chinese who now live in China's capital city. Before working for Earthlink, Hao worked as a product manager for Internet portal Excite from 2000 to 2001 in Redwood City, CA Before that, Hao had also worked as a strategic planning and product development director for Merchant Internet Group, an intern for American Express Co. and a molecular biologist with UCB Research Inc.
Hao earned an MBA degree from University of Michigan Business School in May 2000 and a Master of Science in molecular and cell biology in July, 1995 from Brandeis University, where he was awarded a full merit-based scholarship. Before studying in the U.S., Hao earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the China University of Science and Technology in Hefei, Anhui province in June, 1992.
Hao the Blogger.
Hao has also been an active blogger, writing as "Beijing Loafer" on his personal blog, Beijing or Bust, named after his film. Due to Chinese government internet blocking of his blog hosting service Blogger.com, he also has a mirror version of the site on MSN Spaces. In early February Hao began contributing as Northast Asia Editor to Global Voices Online, an international bloggers’ network hosted at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society. Writing under the pen name Tian Yi, Hao's contributions aimed to bring citizens’ online voices from China and the rest of North East Asia to readers in the English-speaking world.
Why didn't we speak out about his detention earlier?
Hao’s family and friends in China have deflected questions about his detention for the past month, as authorities in contact with people close to Hao have urged them not to publicize the case. There had been hope that his detention was only for a short period of time, in which case publicity would not have been helpful.
For more information…
Hao's family and friends inside China do not want to be interviewed directly by the media at this time, and thus we will not provide journalists with their contact information. We have set up a website dedicated to Hao's release at: www.freehaowu.org. It will be updated regularly with new information that emerges about Hao's situation.
All further queries can be e-mailed to: freehaowu@gmail.com.

author: Rebecca MacKinnon


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Grenada: Cricket World Cup readiness · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Will Grenada be ready to host six matches during the cricket World Cup in 2007? YingYang offers her views, with photos.


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Guatemala: Searching for Uranium · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Chapinadas weighs the pros and cons of three Canadian Mining companies looking for uranium near Chiquimula, Guatemala.


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Haiti: Pros and Cons on Resurrecting the Army · Global Voices
Alice Backer

While President Preval wishes to dissolve the Haitian army for good, a recent commission would like to resurrect it.  AyitiCherieConnexion weighs in (FR) with an analysis of the Haitian army's historical role as a repressive tool for presidents. AyitiCherie concludes however that since Haiti's neighbor the Dominican Rep. has an army of 44,000, Haiti would be irresponsible to prioritize other needs while neglecting national security.  Except, that is, if   “[t]he D.R. disarms too!!!”


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Hong Kong, China: Tank man · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

ESWN rounds up and translates a post from Hong Kong schoolteacher Miss Lee in Summer, who took a photo of the Tiananmen tank hero to class, only to discover that most of her students thought it was taken in Iraq.


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India: Infrastructure Blues · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Even as India's presence on the IT map gets stronger, Bangalore's infrastructure gets worse. Scenes from the street from India's IT capital.


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India: The high profile protest · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

What kind of protests end up grabbing the media's attention? Vikrum on the visibility of some high-profile protets.


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Iraq:  The third anniversary…sacrifice, fear and hope · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

It has been three years since ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ began and for three years we debated whether the decision was right or wrong and until this moment we have different feelings and opinions about where this operation brought us and where its aftermaths are going to lead us.
… The change began then, at that moment where reason mixed with sentiments; were we free…or, were we lost? Mohammed asked.


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Japan: National archives · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Japundit shows off its list of Japan-related Web links, including one for the National Archives, and discovers a somewhat less serious approach to Japanese culture, at Ask A Ninja.


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Jordan: Advertising in Jordan · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

The problem in Jordan that there are a few corporations can afford to spend on Advertising, such as telecommunications companies. And it’s the only corporations who move the Advertising in Jordan and make the competition stronger and open the door for agencies to show and develop their work.
Even though the advertising in Middle East is still young and still growing year by year, the advertising agencies in Jordan proved that they can be part of this growing  and compete with others, Ibrahim Owais said.


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Kenya: Armenian mercenaries · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Video Journalist and You Missed This both report on the Armenian mercenary story that is making news in Kenya.


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Liberia: extradite Charles Tayor · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Black Star Journal reports on Liberia's formal request to Nigeria to extradite Charles Taylor so he can stand trial in Liberia


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Malaysia: Fund for Public Transportation · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

A Worm's Perspectives… praises the Malaysian government's decision to use some of the money saved from slashing the fuel subsidy to set up a fund to develop public transportation.


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Nigeria: Commonwealth Games · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

African Shirts posts on the progress of Nigeria's atheletes  particiapating in the Commonwealth Games.…”I nominate Segun Moses Toriola for president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He's at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, representing Nigeria in table tennis, where he's defending the singles title he won in 2002″


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Nigeria: Oduduwa – Yoruba · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

In Odu to da Iwa,  Jangbalajugbu-Homeland Stories introduces readers to Oduduwa..”Oduduwa is regarded as the progrenitor of the Yoruba race. In one of the stories of creation, Oduduwa is said to have descended from the heavens via a chain let down to Ile Ife, Odùduwà brought with him a chicken, some soil in a snail shell and a calabash.”


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Oman: Today I saw you, Tomorrow you marry me · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

God, I hate this whole way of marriage here in Oman. Or the Gulf. Or the ME. Wherever its practiced.
HOW can somebody just decide they want to marry someone by only looking at them and hearing a few good things about them? HOW can these girls actually believe that someone really loves them and wants them just from THAT? Samyah wonders.


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Pakistan: Blogging and after · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Shirazi responds to a questionnaire on blogging in Pakistan, and provides answers to questions on the Pakistani blogosphere, the future for Pakistani bloggers and a comparison with blogs from elsewhere.


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Philippines: Historic Highway · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Howie's Sidetrip talks about old pictures of Epifanio de Los Santos Avenue, or EDSA, a major Manila urban artery on which the country's 1986 People Power Revolution was played out. Not that long ago, EDSA skirted rural rice fields. Now it passes by malls and skyscrapers.


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Rwanda: shooting dogs · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Shooting Dogs comes under scrutiney by Molara Wood - “Part-funded by the BBC, the film places the broadcasting corporation's journalists in the centre of the action and in the words of some, portrays them as the heros. But those who were there at the time remember things differently, and that's just the beginning of it.”


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Singapore: Bear Arrested · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

bobafett81 has pictures of the arrest in Singapore of an animal-rights activist dressed as a bear during Queen Elizabeth's visit to the city-state. The activist had been protesting the ceremonial use of bearskin hats by Buckingham Palace guards. Mr. Wang guesses what charges the bear might expect.


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South Africa: blog awards + · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Cherryflava goes to the South African blog awards and comes away with an assortment of blogs posts that speak for themselves.


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Sri Lanka: Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

SriPost has a roundup of what Sri Lankan bloggers have been talking about for the past week.


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Thailand: BlogconThai 2006 · Global Voices
Enda Nasution

BlogCon Thailand 2006, the first blogger meeting that discuss Weblogs, Online Information and Collaboration Thailand was successfully held on Sunday, 19 March 2006 with about 25 participants that came not only from Bangkok, but also from Phuket, Chiang Mai  and even Bali.
Took place at Thammasat University Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication in Bangkok, the event will not be as successful without the kind support of the university and faculty that lend us the place (and provided refreshments!), but the highest credit has to go to Paola Di Maio that initiated the WOICT Groups that planned and organized the meeting with the generous help from two outstanding Thai bloggers, Jim Puntasen and Chinarut Ruangchotvit.
Several discussion and interesting information came up from speakers at the conference.
Don Sambandaraksa, the Bangkok Post IT columnist point to The Media Slut, a an anonymous collaborative blog among IT Journalists in South East Asia that has been posting Thailand anti-government rally photos from Bangkok since at the start of movement.
Ric Shreves, who now lives in Bali, another Bangkok Post IT Columnist, mentioned his blog Post DB Open Source Project that carries Bangkok Post logo, which might be the only blog in Thailand associated with mainstream media.
Other discussion range from blog as social tools that brought up by Michael Bauwens the founder of P2P Foundation to more pragmatic issues at hand such as Thai Education and Technology Development for Poor Rural Area and how blogs can help create awareness about these issues also discussed.
Interesting data shared by Derek Brown, who is the Marketing Director of Microsoft Thailand, that there are 990,000 MSN Space users (MSN Blogging application) in Thailand. He estimated that majority of this users, who is also MSN IM users, use the tools to share media online such as pictures, music and videos.
We also introduced to Thailand's brewed blog application, GotoKnow.org (The Gateway of Thailand's Online Knowledge Management) owned and maintained The Knowledge Management Institute (KMI) Thailand, an organization that works towards driving Thai society to become knowledge-based society in government, private enterprise and in particular civil society.
Freely available, the site GotoKnow.org home page work as an aggregator of newest postings on the site with list of blogrolls on the left column identified some of popular bloggers as Superstar or Star blogger.
After four hours of discussion, the meeting end at 5pm with closing remarks, and cheerfully agreed by everybody, that the meeting has been very interesting and a useful learning experience.
For the time being the discussion will move to the online group, however second meeting of Thai Bloggers already been discuss and plan to have in 6 months time in Chiang Mai.
Individuals or Bloggers that interested in the event are suggested to join the group or watch or new information posted on the BlogCon Thailand blog or this wiki.
Blogcon Thailand 2006 MP3's are available to download on this site.
For pictures of the event go here.
Until next time. :)

author: Enda Nasution


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Thailand: Covering the Protests · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Bangkok Pundit has some thoughts on the international media's coverage of the protests in Thailand against PM Thaksin Shinawatra.


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The Caribbean blogosphere does Phagwah · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

In the Caribbean, the Hindu spring festival of Holi is more commonly known by its Bhojpuri name of Phagwah. This past week, Hindus in the Caribbean celebrated Phagwah, with non-Hindus like Caribbean Free Radio also taking part in the festivities. Complementing CFR's rather secular take on the colorful scenes in one part of Trinidad are Flickr photos from Nicholas Laughlin  and Tillahwillah.
Lee Ann, visiting Guyana from Canada, rhapsodizes about the celebrations in Guyana's capital city of Georgetown, and New York Friend  posts a report with photos on the festivities in the heavily West Indian district of Richmond Hill, in Queens, New York, where temperatures were considerably lower. KDunk and arZan posted reports and photos from Richmond Hill as well.


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This week in Israel: elections, a prison siege and bird flu · Global Voices
Lisa N. Goldman

Israel’s national elections are just over a week away and Israeli bloggers are finally (finally!) showing some interest in the subject – sort of. The thing is, though, that most are just writing about why they are unable to muster enthusiasm for any of the parties and why they are totally burned out by politics in general.
Shai Tsur of Shaister, a confessed politics junkie, has been the most prolific elections blogger.
In this post, he summarizes the ad campaigns of each of the major parties and offers a brief analysis of each. He explains that “According to Israeli law, political parties cannot just buy ad time willy nilly. Instead, the three broadcast stations are required to air a daily block (usually 45 minutes long) of political ads during prime time. The parties are awarded broadcast time based on the number of Knesset seats they have, with space reserved for parties that are not currently in the Knesset.”
Shai and I were also asked to write a series of posts for the Guardian’s newsblog. In his first post, The Promise of Kadima, Shai explains why he, a former Labor supporter, plans to vote for Kadima.
“I come from a long-time Labor family. During the '90s I supported the Oslo accords and the peace process with the Palestinians. Then came September 2000 and the second intifada. Like many Israelis who once identified with the left, I became disillusioned with Oslo. My politics shifted rightward with every Palestinian suicide bombing. But I have never been an advocate of the Greater Land of Israel approach. I favour a two-state solution, but one that ensures Israel's security.
In short, I am the classic Kadima voter.”
In his second post for the Guardian, called “The invisible election,”  Shai offers an explanation as to why Israelis are so unenthusiastic about the elections.
“Personally, I think the problem is an overdose of history. In the past 10 years, and even more so in the past five, we have become accustomed to one earth-shaking local or regional events after another: everything from suicide bombings, at the rate of three a week, to economic woes, to territorial pull-outs.
After a while you lose the capacity to fully deal with each crisis, so you just shrug your shoulders and move on. In other words, we're dealing with a case of national post-traumatic stress disorder.”
In my first post for the Guardian, Stitching together Israeli identities, I profile two Israelis who will not be voting Kadima – Dmitri Doubov, who immigrated from Tashkent 12 years ago, and Fayrouz Shaqrawi, a Palestinian Israeli who recently started blogging at The Land of Sad Oranges.
more
Allison Kaplan Sommer of An Unsealed Room explains why she cannot decide between Meretz, a leftwing Zionist party, and Kadima, with its mostly mainstream, slightly right-of-centre message – and why she completely skips over Labour, which rightfully falls between Meretz and Kadima in the left-right political spectrum.
“If I vote Meretz I will be voting my personal social agenda — religious pluralism, racial equality, gender equality. Meretz is the only party who bothers to actually promote it. Labor pays lip service and does nothing. I voted for them in the last election and was less than impressed.
….
If I vote Kadima I will be rewarding the Sharon legacy for the Gaza disengagement and supporting the policy of ‘try to negotiate, but if that fails, disengage unilaterally.’ With Hamas around for the next four years, disengagement is my preferred response instead of sitting around and doing nothing, since they are obviously so not interested in talking peace.”
One Jerusalem has been covering the elections from a much less serious angle. Here is a post about Ale Yarok (pronounced Ah-LEY Ya-ROK), the Green Leaf party that has a platform of “personal freedom, quality of life and legalization of the cannabis plant and all its applications.” Yup, there's a political party in Israel that wants to make pot smoking legal. They also have a super-liberal social agenda, including the legalization of same-sex marriage. See their hilarious ad campaign, featuring a “traditional” Jewish wedding with two brides (and no groom) here.
Back to serious stuff: last week the Israeli army laid siege to a prison in Jericho, which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority. The stated reason for the siege was to arrest six Palestinians who had been involved in attacks on Israelis; originally the Israeli government and the P.A. had agreed that the captured men would be jailed under Palestinian supervision, but Hamas, which recently won the Palestinian national elections, sent the message that it would not keep the men imprisoned as per the agreement.  Israeli reactions to the prison siege were mixed.
Shai thinks it was a good, clean operation.
Allison thinks it was stupid.
And She of SomethingSomething thinks it was shameful.
Okay, one last bit of not-so-good news. Allison reports that bird flu has reached Israel, and it looks as though it may have penetrated the human population.
Since I always feel utterly compelled to end with something funny, how about this: Harry reports that Paris Hilton may be coming to Israel for a model shoot. “This,” intones Harry, “is not hot.”

author: Lisa N. Goldman


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Uyghurs: Tarim River · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

The Opposite End of China notes a recent report from the official Xinhua news agency about the resettlement of around 700 families in the environs of the Tarim River, whose water levels are falling dramatically.

author: Luisetta Mudie


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Vietnam: Catching Up · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

R. Streitmatter-Tran comments on how the IMF thinks it will take two centuries for Vietnam to catch up with Singapore.


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Voices from Zimbabwe and the Great Lakes · Global Voices
Zimpundit

This is Zimbabwe celebrated their first annivesary Sunday.  Ironically, the blog's birthday is clouded by the government's omnous intentions to fast track a bill will allow them to monitor people's online expression and activities.
Are laws like these a threat to the writing of a blog like ours? Well, consider this: on Tuesday last week the press carried stories that a legislator for the Movement of Democratic Change had been arrested for ‘insulting the president’, a crime that can carry a prison sentence.
Days before scheduled start of the  congress for “anti-senate” faction of MDC last weekend the Zimbabwean government arrested several members from the MDC on charges of conspiring to assasinate president Robert Mugabe.  After evidence to substantiate the charges failed emerge, the chief suspect Brian James was released but gagged.  The Bearded Man complains
If he's no longer under suspicion or investigation, why should he be gagged – unless there was something in the authorities style of questioning that they don't want to make public… I mean, most people in Zimbabwe know of the beatings that suspected persons receive, and those that don't know of it, suspect it. The authorities don't do themselves any favours by preventing James from talking. Ironic, that whilst in custody, the investigators want him to tlk, and once released, they gag him…
New blog Accoustic Motorbike is pleasantly surprised to find a Harare sports club alive with activity.  This causes her check her own pessimism;
Seeing the sports club made me question my own rigidity. In a country with an uncertain future, collapsing economy and pervasive sense of despair, are things like sports clubs, or HIFA, essential avenues to boost morale, release tension and build a sort of hope and confidence? Or are they pretences at normalcy, perpetuating the apathy by preserving a certain order, or belief that everything is alright. Would taking away these outlets, or denying them support, hasten the change of government that Zimbabwe needs? Or are they crucial in maintaining strength for the tedious years of struggle yet to come?
RW blogging at Agathon Rwasa complains of the Tanzanian government's facilitation of the FNL leader's grandstaging.  RW also is unimpressed that major world press organizations portray Agathon Rwasa not for the war crimes criminal he is but as just another political leader. Read more here.
Ingrid of Congowatch reports that Thomas Lubanga a militia leader in the DRC is set face in the Hague for the killing of several UN troops.  “Thomas Lubanga was arrested a year ago after nine Bangladeshi United Nations peacekeepers were killed in the volatile north-eastern Ituri region.”
007 in Africa travelled to Dekese  a remote village where she endures “fresh fruit and disappointments.”
Sahara Sarah contemplates making a Congolese version of the board game monopoly.
In Monopoly I used to go for the Railroads. This would be an interesting property in the Congolese version. You could buy Lubumbashi, Kindu, Ubundu and Kisangani. But would you make any money? Let's use problems currently facing the SNCC (Congolese Rail Company – owned by the state). I'll be an NGO player who lands on your space (shall I be the boot? The little dog? How about a miniature land cruiser?).
First, you charge me for the wagons I need to rent from you ($27,000 for eight wagons). Not bad for you. Then I must compete with the military (represented by the cannon), who's also landed on your space, and wants to ship rations. The military takes priority but the general then uses the wagons to ship his own building materials to his home town. Then you keep my money and tell me that the wagons aren't available. I stay on the space for a couple of weeks and I do get four wagons, three of which get stuck along the way when the engine breaks down. Six weeks later I am still on your space, you still have my money, and my personal bank is diminishing because I'm paying a hotel rent all the while. Meanwhile, your space has also been visited by many small vendors (represented by the top hat) who start protesting since their merchandise has been in your warehouses for six months and they are going out of business. You have already spent the rent that they paid without delivering their items.

author: Zimpundit


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What Salvadoran bloggers are saying — post-election edition · Global Voices
Tim Muth

El Salvador held elections on Sunday, March 12, and almost every Salvadoran blogger has had something to say about the process.  The elections saw ARENA make gains in the national legislature while the FMLN held its own.  ARENA also made gains in controlling the mayor's office in many cities.  But the highest profile race was for mayor of San Salvador, which FMLN candidate Violeta Menjivar won by only 44 votes.  Both Menjivar and ARENA candidate Rodrigo Samayoa initially “self-proclaimed” themselves winners, and FMLN demonstrators clashed with police around the hotel where ballots were being scrutinized.
Jjmar at the Hunnapuh blog, as translated on Global Voices, offered post-election analysis.  There were positives and negatives for both of the major parties, but on balance ARENA showed itself best able to play the politics of polarization.  The FMLN finds itself a minority party in the legislature again, with only the “right of the pig,” to scream as it is being lead to the slaughter house.  Its power will be limited to attempting to block government requests for borrowing authority.
Author Rafael Menjivar Ochoa, who recently wrote a book on the turbulent years 1979-1981 in El Salvador, reflects in his blog on what the close election in San Salvador means for the FMLN.  He finds that this election can only be seen as a bad sign for the FMLN, and this is due mostly to that party's own failings.  He points to the fact that Violeta Menjivar was a political protege of Schafik Handal and that in previous elections, the FMLN received its lowest vote totals when it was farthest to the ideological left represented by Handal.  The party's expulsion of more moderate members and its insistence on far left orthodoxy weakened its appeal to the populace. He notes that the demonstrations of the FMLN as votes were slowly reviewed in San Salvador were misplaced, since a careful review of votes is necessary in any democratic country where an election is so close.
The blog Salvadorans Around the World treats the election results as a rejection of FMLN proposals to return to the colón and repeal the free trade agreement with the US.
Conservative Pulgarcito at Mi Pais wants to know why FMLN supporters cannot demonstrate peacefully and must burn tires and block traffic.  Pulgarcito congratulates the new mayor of San Salvador and will respect her victory, but refuses to admire her.
Soy Salvadoreño abstained from voting, and the protracted process of vote counting did not improve his view of the process.  He refuses to congratulate the new  mayor of San Salvador for her tiny margin of victory, especially after she tried to downplay the violence of the demonstrations by her supporters.
Blogger aldebarán at Enfrentamientos noted as he went to the polls on election day that the poll watchers from each party would turn hostile and suspicious or friendly and helpful depending on the color of the shirt of an approaching voter.
Oscar Miguel performed a cost-benefit analysis on the political campaign for his blog.  He estimated that ARENA had spent $25 million on the legislative assembly race, or a cost of $740,000 for each of the deputies it elected.  On the other hand, if the FMLN spent $1 million, then its total cost per deputy was only $31,250 dollars.  (Not certain of his source of the campaign spending figures).
The blogger at Zoonpolitikom I calls for reforms in El Salvador's electoral authority, the TSE.  Without reform and transparency, there is a fear that the fledgling authentic democracy in El Salvador will lose its legitimacy.

author: Tim Muth


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African women bloggers · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

AfroMusing posts on a radio interview by two African women bloggers – via Kenya Unlimited.

author: Sokari Ekine


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Argentina: Buenos Aires Blogging Moms · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Liz Henry has an introduction to Buenos Aires’ mom bloggers who will be meeting up this Thursday. Judging by the comments on Turca's blog post, it should be a good turnout.

author: David Sasaki


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Armenia: National Geographic Award · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Onnik Krikorian, whose blog Oneworld features many of his photos, has been nominated for the prestigious National Geographic All Road's photography award.

author: Ben Paarmann


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Aruba: The value of Lent · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Though not a Catholic, ArubaGirl still appreciates the value of Lent as a period of rest and reflection after the frenzy of Carnival. Among her compatriots, however, she notes an increasing indifference towards observing the season.


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Bahamas: The great land rush · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

As “the biggest sell-off of Bahamian land in history” takes place, Sir Arthur Foulkes recalls some earlier efforts at land development and speculation by both Bahamians and foreigners.


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Barbados: A Caribbean education · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Barbados Free Press links to an article which states that British children of Caribbean heritage are being sent back to Barbados to be educated.


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Belarus: Blog Report Updates · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ivan Lenin of Rush-Mush monitors and translates updates on the situation in Minsk on Belarusian blogs. Report on how the night on Oktyabrskaya Sq. went for the protesters is here.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Belarus: Coverage of Belarus by the Western Media · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

br23 blog reports on the coverage of the events in Minsk by the Western media: CNN is doing a good job, but the Russian-language EuroNews’ coverage is full of distortions, as usual. Also, the German foreign minister says “there should be a dialog with Alexander Lukashenka (!)”


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Belarus: Opposition Leaders Break Up · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ivan Lenin of Rush-Mush comments on the recent breakup between the two opposition leaders, Milinkevich and Kozulin: “Milinkevich has got a wonderful opportunity to create a change, thanks to the courage of the thousands Belarusians who braved the very real threats from Luka and the cold; the tens of thousands of people who overcame fear, despair, and cynicism. It will be a shame if he and his team blow this opportunity, by disgracing himself the way Kozulin just did.” Andrei Khrapavitski criticizes Kozulin, too.
Update – Lenin has pulled the post referenced above and added a correction: “UPDATE: a good comment by anonimous re: my post about opposition split: there is no split, kozulin's supporters are on the square. [respect! – IL]”


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Belarus: Plans to Invite U2 to Minsk Maidan · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

19. People's Blog on the Presidential Election reports (RUS) that Lyavon Volski, a Belarusian rock musician whose band NRM is often not allowed by the regime to play in Belarus, intends to invite U2 to sing at Minsk's Oktyabrskaya Sq. in support of democracy in Belarus.


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Belarus: Students Face Expulsion · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user lipski reports (RUS) that photos from the Oktyabrskaya Sq. protests have reached the dean's office of Belarus State University's history department: two students from the department are on these pictures, and faculty members are now considering expelling these students. Also, dean's office of the geography department demands lists of all those absent today.


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Belarus: ‘Tent City’ Photos · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user litota posts March 20-21 photos from the ‘tent city’ at Oktyabrskaya Sq. in Minsk: Kozulin negotiating with the police; warming up with hot tea; greeting passangers inside public buses; delivering the tents and running away from the police; WC in a tent set up over a sewer hole; people with the banned Belarusian flags on the skating rink.


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Caribbean/Latin America: Two architectures · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Jon at Posthegemony posts two architectural analyses: one on “an architecture designed to repel nomads”, also known as forts, and another on architecture designed to attract them, in this particular case, the Internationalist-style Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico.


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Cayman Islands: Grammar · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Fed up with the quality of the writing in his comment thread, Cayblogger urges the people of the Cayman Islands “to unite in your indignation of all things grammatically incorrect, and stand up against the scourge of poor grammar”.


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Central Asia: Happy Nawruz! · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Ataman Rakin wishes “Happy Nawruz” and gives some background information on the festivities that are celebrated in all Central Asian states.


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Central Asian hegemon · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

James of neweurasia posts about a rapprochement between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Central Asia's largest and most populous countries respectively.


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Chilean Art through Blogs · Global Voices
Rosario Lizana

Víctor Castillo s art work
Chilean artists are discovering blogs as a way to introduce their work in Chile and in new markets.  Bitacora del Artista (ES), is a blog that has a selection of Chilean modern artists. All fields of art are included. Tropicaltoxic posts about illustrations, Sergio Lay (ES) gives updates of the art scene throughout Chile and Victor Castillo (ES) shows his last exposition in Chile (he lives in Barcelona). This genre also has blogs of smaller groups such as La Perrera (ES). “La Perrera” was a dog pound that is now used for expositions of all types of art expressions. It is located in the center of the capital, Santiago. A collective of emerging artists post their work and their social opinion in La Nueva Gráfica Chilena (ES). News of the art scene, expositions, photos and opinion on social issues from the artists’ perspective are posted on this blog.
Other independent artists have started weblogs. Sebastián Garretón, Carlos Osorio and Carmen Valle regularly post their work and artistic concerns.

author: Rosario Lizana


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China: Desert highway · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

The Opposite End of China comments on a recent report from the official Chinese news agency Xinhua, announcing another highway to be built across the formidable Taklamakan Desert.


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China: Down on the gold farm · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

AsiaPundit showcases a video clip of Chinese rural communities engaged in “gold-farming”, where players work their way through the lower levels of online games on behalf of others, in return for virtual currency. These “gold farmers” work every day, in 12-hour shifts, playing computer games to harvest gold coins and other virtual goods that can be transformed into real cash, according to We Make Money Not Art.