text:
International Blog Day is almost here! · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

A very exciting thing is the vast array of languages in which people are blogging about Blog Day. It will be a day in which we celebrate our right to express ourselves online, and help each other to be heard above the din of spin and bad news… and in some places, help people to be heard despite efforts by governments, politicians or companies to silence independent speech online.  Thanks to Israeli blogger Nir Ofir who conceived and organized Blog Day. I repeat a recent quote from about why we should all participate:
On these days, of war in the middle east, I would like to remind you all that BlogDay is a celebration of people and for people. It is a celebration of the ability to visit blogs that are different from our own culture, point of view and attitude and it is a celebration of free content written by people like you and me. Wars, in the other hand, are being foughtby governments. Let us not let governments to stop the celebration of Internet, Blogging and democracy.
Here are Nir's instructions for participating:
In one long moment In August 31st, bloggers from all over the world will post a recommendation of 5 new Blogs, Preferably, Blogs different from their own culture, point of view and attitude. On this day, blog surfers will find themselves leaping and discovering new, unknown Blogs, celebrating the discovery of new people and new bloggers.
BlogDay posting instructions:
1. Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting
2. Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending on them on BlogDay 2005
3. Write a short description of the Blogs and place a a link to the recommended Blogs
4. Post the BlogDay Post (on August 31st) and
5. Add the BlogDay tag using this link: http://technorati.com/tag/BlogDay2006 and a link to BlogDay web site at http://www.blogday.org
If you are interested, Global Voices invites you to help fellow bloggers living in other parts of the world get to know you better. We're finding that people in different countries blog for different reasons, and that blogospheres in different places have developed different kinds of relationships with the rest of their culture, politics, and mainstream media. We'd like to help people understand you and your region's blogosphere better. So if you have the time, please help us do this by writing a post any time between now and Thursday (or several if you like), answering some or all of the following questions:
When you're done, please trackback to this post, or leave a link to your post in the comments section of this post. If you don't have a blog but would like to share your views about the state of blogs and blogging in your country, please feel free to leave a comment on this post. On Blog Day, we'll do a post or two summarizing, quoting, and linking to what you said.

author: Rebecca MacKinnon


text:
Jamaica: Intuitives · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

“The term “intuitives”, used to describe those artists without formal training and often inspired by religious movements like Rastafarianism or Revivalism, has decisively entered the art history lexicon of the Caribbean, even as some critics debate the political, historical, and even economic consequences of the label,” writes Nicholas Laughlin, linking to an article on the Intuitives III exhibition now on in Jamaica.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Georgia Popplewell


text:
Jamaica: Singles · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Mikaila discusses the ins and outs of dating in Jamaica: “I have stories that could be episodes of Sex and the City. There are so many more women here than men. Dating anywhere is difficult. Last week I watched a special Dateline on AIDS in African American communities and was shocked and saddened by what I learnt.”


text:
Japan and South Korea: Ohmynews · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ohmynews Japan was launched yesterday with 1,000 citizen reporters in position. Korean Ohmynews Citizen reporter, Ronda Hauben, has a follow up report today, stressing the “‘political and ideological neutrality” of Japanese Ohmynews.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Kazakhstan: US Relations · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Sean Roberts details the tensions and issues in US-Kazakhstan relations.

author: Nathan Hamm


text:
Kenya: Corruption a way of life · Global Voices
Andrew Heavens

“In Kenya corruption is such a way of life” writes Girl in the Meadow as she describes an encounter with a bribe-taking policeman.

author: Andrew Heavens


text:
Kenya: “I am African” Aids campaign criticised · Global Voices
Andrew Heavens

Mshairi had a dig at a new HIV/Aids fundraising campaign that uses posters of celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow wearing face paint and beads next to the slogan “I am African”. “If she is African, I am Plutonian,” she commented.


text:
Kenya: Praise piles up for Obama visit · Global Voices
Andrew Heavens

Whispering Inn joined other Kenyan bloggers welcoming the visit of Barack Obama, the USA's only black senator, to the country. “[Obama has been] chewing out president Kibaki for State-sanctioned corruption, encouraging folks to fight AIDS by getting tested, advocating media freedom at the Standard Newspapers, touring Kibera, and giving a lecture on good governance at the University of Nairobi,” he summarised.


text:
Kyrgyzstan: Bishkek’s Beauty · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

JJ discovers the beauties of Bishkek, “a beautiful, safe, comfortable, green, modern and very pleasant place to live.” For the employed, anyway…


text:
Kyrgyzstan: Fear of the Police · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Tolkun Umaraliev writes about the low reputation and public fear of the police in Kyrgyzstan, and he solicits comments from readers about their opinions on the police.


text:
Malaysia: Mahatir’s Lament · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Ktemoc covers the latest attempt by former Malaysian prime minister Mahatir to claim back the centrestage in Malaysian politics.  Mahatir was one of the longest serving leaders in the world.  He retired from active politics after handing over the power to Ahmad Badawi [AAB] couple of years back.  Recently,  Mahatir became actively campaigning against Badawi after Badawi canceled one of Mahatir's pet projects.

author: Preetam Rai


text:
Mexico: Electoral Tribunal Rejects Acusations of Fraud · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Erwin Cifuentes, Ricardo Carreón, Ceci Connolly, and Eduardo Arcos (ES) on the electoral tribunal's rejection of complaints made by presidential runner-up Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

author: David Sasaki


text:
Montenegro: Sveti Stefan · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Novala, Europa posts pictures from one of the most popular tourist destinations in Montenegro: the semi-island of Sveti Stefan.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


text:
Nepal: Festivals and Politics · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! on how festivals for women reinvent themselves to be more socially and politically relevant.

author: Neha Viswanathan


text:
Nigeria: Economy “repressed” claims report · Global Voices
Andrew Heavens

Grandiose Parlor highlighted the 2006 Index of Economic Freedom report which claimed Nigeria's economy remained “repressed”. “The various economic programs and policies of President Obasanjo's administration seem to have not made any meaningful impact,” he said.


text:
Pakistan: Blog Block Back? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Is the blog block in Pakistan back? All Things Pakistan on the latest developments with a couple of theories on why this probably happened.


text:
Poland: Tukkers in Auschwitz · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Jo and Ants The Tukkers of Tuk to the Road travel from Lviv to Krakow to Auschwitz – and arrive in Prague.


text:
Reunion: Tamul Celebrations · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Reunion Passion posts pictures (Fr) of the Malbar firewalking celebration of the Tamul Indian community which constitutes 30% of Reunion's population. The celebrations usually take place in January.

author: Alice Backer


text:
Russian-Language Blogs: Miscellanea (3) · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Israeli blogger pilka writes (RUS) about a surreal experience of eating next to three clowns at a hospital in the wartime Haifa:
[…] I had breakfast with clowns today. I work at the children's department, okay? So strange, a clown on the right, a clown on the left, a vegetable salad in front of me, and next to it, a clown again. Scary. They eat in their noses and suspenders, just like that. It feels especially weird when one of them begins to complain that his wife took their little son away to Eilat, a few hours by car from here, and he hasn't seen him in two weeks already. And the other is whining that he is sick and tired of sharing a protected room with five other people, mother-in-law, father-in-law and two children. And I used to think that clowns are funny… […]
***
LJ user auseklitis posts one of the campaign ads of the Latvian political alliance Harmony Center (Saskanas Centrs in Latvian, Tsentr Soglasiya in Russian), which can be seen in the Latvian capital, Riga:
According to auseklitis (RUS), the slogan, translated from Latvian, reads: “We are for the Jews.”
[…] Of course, when you're crossing the Deglava Bridge for the first time and see the “We are for the Jews” slogan, you flinch and think that someone has decided to clearly express [his/her] position on the conflict between Israel and Hizbullah in Lebanon.
But then you notice other slogans – “We are for the Russians,” “We are for the Latvians,” “We are for everyone” – with pictures, and realize that this is a pre-election thing. […]
The “Russian face” on the Harmony Center's ad is Yuri Gagarin, the first human to travel to space. LJ user chilandra, in the comment, is wondering about the choice, and auseklitis offers an explanation from the Soviet past:
Because there used to be this poem:
Good that our Gagarin
Is neither a Jew, nor a Tatar,
Neither a Tajik, nor an Uzbek,
But a Soviet person!
To which chilandra responds:
)))
Haven't heard it before.
In any case, who else but Gagarin?
[Aleksandr Pushkin] is, of course, our everything – but his national origin is unclear.
[Leo Tolstoy] is great but he looks like [Krisjanis Barons] – what if they mistake one for another.
All those Lenins, Stalins, Putins are out of question.
While Gagarin is such a positive hero. And he's wearing a space suit, which makes him recognizable.
Latvia's general election is scheduled to be held on October 7, 2006.
***
In another entry, auseklitis posts a photograph of the two-page, handwritten message left by Yevgeny Yevtushenko, a Russian poet, in the visitors’ feedback book of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia. auseklitis writes (RUS):
I have been to the Occupation Museum again. It was being shown to the great Russian poet Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko. And I was just humbly present there.
The poet ended up being dissatisfied with the exhibition. There was nothing there about the Congress of the People's Deputies of the USSR, in which he participated, or about [Aleksandr Yakovlev]'s commission, or about [Andrei Sakharov], or about the Russian democratic intelligentsia's support for the Latvian people's struggle for independence.
There were only bad things about the Russians.
Which is not really surprising, as the museum is run by representatives of the Latvian emigration. [It's like asking] why there's no monument to Lenin! Who gave Latvians independence in 1918. […]
Yevtushenko, who visited the museum on July 21, 2006, spent a long time writing his impressions, according to auseklitis. Among other things, he wrote (RUS) that to ensure strong ties between Russia and Europe,
…our grandchildren should not be held responsible for the crimes and mistakes of their ancestors. This is, for example, the basis on which economic and cultural relations of the new Russian generation and the new generation of the Germans are built.
***
LJ user old_fox is marathon-blogging about the 1943 uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto. One of the entries (RUS), for example, is about underground production of explosives similar to Molotov cocktails, complete with a recipe. In the comment section, old_fox explains his reasons for this history blogging and writes about plans for the future:
In Russia, nothing normal – except for a few not bad though outdated overview works – has been translated. Moreover, they haven't been writing anything themselves. Very little documented specifics.
Of course, I am going to publish it, but in a year and a half or two. At first, everything has to be generalized and put in order. There are three parts here – information, the chronicles (I haven't started posting them yet) and portraits. Until October, the Uprising will be the main theme of this blog, in one way or another. Read it, and then, at the end of the year, I'll make additions, based on comments in this blog, too, and will decide which chapters to expand and how the book's skeleton will look.
In two years or so, it'll be time for it. The blog is a wonderful proving ground.
A reader – LJ user metaloleg – offers a suggestion:
And if the book happens, then I hope its content will be determined by the posts in this journal. More stories from the streets of the Polish capital, less general politics between London, Warsaw and Moscow – enough has been written about it.


text:
Rwanda: Public Transportation Problems in Kigali · Global Voices
Alice Backer

From Rwanda, expat blogger Guillaume is worried about the state of public transportation in Kigali now that motorcycles are scarce (Fr): “To my great surprise (I only thought it partially possible), there are no more motos downtown nor on any of the main highways of Kigali since last monday. Secondary roads are still authorized but who cares, neither my home nor my office are on the path of the surviving motos.  So in short, traffic is becoming harder and  my transportation budget is blowing up especially since car taxis have now raised their prices.”


text:
Senegal: Commemorating the Senegalese Riflemen of WWII · Global Voices
Alice Backer

While Senegal commemorated the Senegalese riflemen who assisted the French in WWII, Senegalese blogger Semett remembered (Fr) their forced labor, involuntary conscription and drew comparisons with the triangular slave trade. He seemed unconvinced with President Wade's sincerity in facing the realities of the riflemen but also that of the youth of today who perish in the Atlantic in their quest for a better life.


text:
Senegal, France: Senegal Cheri · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Seckasysteme posts (Fr) an audio excerpt of Baaba Maal's Senegal-Cheri.


text:
Serbia: Tito’s Mausoleum · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Mat Savelli of Roma Roma writes about the highlight of his visit to Belgrade: Tito's Mausoleum at the House of Flowers.


text:
Singapore:  A Teacher Reflects · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Via Tomorrow.sg comes a post where a teacher in Singapore is talking about what makes her hate her job as a teacher.


text:
South Africa: Apartheid feet-washing apology dismissed · Global Voices
Andrew Heavens

A notorious South African Apartheid-era security minister hit the headlines after he washed the feet of an anti-Apartheid campaigner in an act of contrition. South Africa Logue dismissed the gesture saying:  “[Adriaan] Vlok’s act – which strikes Your Correspondent as deeply offensive to many a South African’s sense of justice – has been roundly lambasted and scorned“.


text:
South Africa: Computer gamers get to compete · Global Voices
Andrew Heavens

“The Amateur Gamers Association of South Africa (AGASA) has created the first official online national gamers’ league,” reports Tectonic.


text:
Sudan: Rape still a weapon · Global Voices
Andrew Heavens

The Concoction reports that Darfur women are still being raped three months after a key peace deal in Sudan. “Fetching fire wood or water often ends up in the women being raped. Just imagine running to the grocery store to get a gallon of milk and there is a very high possibility of you being raped.“


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: Santa Rosa Festival · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Maximilian C. Forte offers a substanial analysis of the 220th anniversary celebrations of the Santa Rosa Carib community in Arima, Trinidad, complete with audio files from the live radio broadcast.


text:
USA, Mexico: Hurricane Recovery · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Andres Bianciotto has the score at USA 0 – Mexico 1 (ES) when comparing the United States’ federal disaster recovery following Hurricane Katrina with Cancun's post-Wilma recovery. Steve Bridger seems to agree with, at least, the latter.


text:
Vietnam: Trip to Halong Bay · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Vietnamese God vists Halong bay – one of the popular tourist destinations in Vietnam. The bloggers posts some pictures and reflects “It was so quiet, nothing much happening around, just the boat engine going sometimes on and off. Sitting on the top of the boat in that peaceful atmosphere made me feel life is so nice and I just forget about the busy stress of normal life.”


text:
Zimbabwe: Mugabe’s security expenses slammed · Global Voices
Andrew Heavens

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has been on a spending spree, bulking out his motorcade with brand new outrider motorcycles and Mercedes saloons. “Now, in a country where there is no war, no threat to his life as he has such a tight control over everything, is it necessary to travel in such a fashion,” wonders The Bearded Man.


text:
Argentina: Drag Shows · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Dan Perlman on drag shows in Buenos Aires: “Unfortunately, Buenos Aires’ gay scene, entertainment-wise, seems trapped in the late ’70s/early ’80s, at least from a New York perspective. Drag shows are the thing, and often, the exact same drag show, week in and week out.” Read on to discover the exception.


text:
Argentina: History of Utility (Companies) · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Robert Wright has a fascinating reflection on the history of utility companies in Buenos Aires: “Wouldn’t it be great to see 3-D city maps (á la Google Earth) based on each particular utility? Eliminate everything but electric lines & take a look. Or just see gas lines. Or only water conduits. We regularly see topographic maps, so why not infrastructure maps?”


text:
Bahamas: Flat-earth policies · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Riffing off of Thomas Friedman's bestseller, The Earth is Flat, Larry Smith discusses the Bahamas’ unpreparedness for participation in the current and future world order.


text:
Bahamas: The future in health · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Sidney flashes forward to 2012, after the Bahamas’ government has implemented the National Health Plan towards which they are “proceeding with undue haste.”


text:
Bangladesh: Bangla Canadian bloggers · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Mezba has a list of Bangladeshi bloggers in the Greater Toronto Area. “I thought it would be a nice time to introduce some of the blog talent that I know of. Here, in no particular order, are a few Bengali-Canadian blogs. A few I know personally, others through their blogs.”


text:
Belize: Travel tips · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

A pair of travellers responds to the Belize Jungle Dome Adventure Travel and Vacation blog's request for travel tips.


text:
Bermuda: Education & sustainable development · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Christian S. Dunleavy congratulates an old schoolfriend on his decision to repay the scholarship funds granted him a decade ago; and questions the Bermuda government's decision to pave over a piece of parkland to create a location for a hospital.


text:
Brunei:  Stray Dogs · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The blogger at Our Local Style looks at the problem of stray dogs in Brunei and suggest a solution. “It’s also unfair to punish the animals for what I perceive to be our own crimes. These strays didn’t just pop out of thin air. Where did they come from? Abandoned pets perhaps? Owners who would not (or perhaps could not for a want of proper facilities) spay their pets?”


text:
Burkina Faso: Gorom-Gorom Food Distribution · Global Voices
Musa Aliyu

Recently, floods unleashed havoc in northern Burkina Faso, rendering thousands of people homeless in Gorom-Gorom. A missionary blogger, Keith Smith who’s been working for over a decade among Fulanis in the arid region, quickly mobilised support for the victims. He now gives an update of the effort that was to successfully forestall humanitarian disaster and says, “our first food aid distribution was completed on Friday, and was a success, thanks to the hard work, forethought, and effectiveness of our team on the ground.”

author: Musa Aliyu


text:
Chile: Campaign for Bandwidth · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Rosario Lizana and Atina Chile (ES) won't let readers forget about the Campaign for Broadband, which hopes to convince internet service providers to be more honest about the speed of their connection rates and what actually constitutes “broadband.”


text:
China: Foxconn’s PR strategy · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joel Martinsen in DANWEI gathers some different (sympathetic) views  on Foxconn's court case against mainland journalists.
ESWN analyses the case from a PR war point of view.  Imaginethief writes a very long post explaining Foxconn's rationality, and how its failure in PR has risk its relation with foreign customers.


text:
Cuba: Between the lines · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Cuban news daily Granma reports that a Syrian ministerial delegation has been received in Cuba by Raul Castro — and Luis M. Garcia (and, presumably, other watchers of the Castro regime) try to figure out what it means: “We are a sad, pathetic bunch, I know … A bit like those old Kremlinologists of the recent past. . . . They would minutely inspect every statement and photograph emanating from the once impenetrable Soviet propaganda machine hunting for clues about what was really going on behind the Kremlin walls. Most were so busy reading between the lines they almost missed the spectacular collapse of the entire edifice.“


text:
Dog attack opens up a can of worms · Global Voices
Maurina H

AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD boy, mauled by a pack of stray dogs, told of the attack in an exclusive interview yesterday and demanded that strays be cleared off the streets.
- Brunei Times, 30th August, 2006
Will the Government policy makers succumb to the wishes of this little boy? It seems  quite draconian should we kill off these strays one by one. Perhaps even cruel.
These dogs are helpless and homeless, they are strays, loved by no one, hated by the society. In other countries, they will populate animal shelters but in Brunei, none are to be found. Setting up an animal shelter, which will definitely be filled with stray dogs, goes, first and foremost, against the principles of Islam for it is haram.
A second reason why there are no animal shelter is that, there is no one, no high up bureaucratic figure, no specific member of the royal family will be impressed by it. As far as the Government is concerned, it is a waste of money with no benefits.
LSM, in his post today, driven by the dog attacks, had said,
The current inaction after the attack betrays the truth: we lack any credible solution and all we can do is “monitor the situation”. Now more than ever we need a candidate to act as a buffer, something that will help stay the problem even momentarilly and thereby act as a hinderance to those who would call for a quick fix, cruel or otherwise. The boy’s attack has not gone unnoticed by the public whose insistence leaves no room for misinterpretation: something needs to be done immediately for the safety of our children. This demand for urgency and expedience may influence those in charge to disregard their humanity in search for a solution. The public wants a solution now but should we once again offer a cruel one? Wouldn’t the safety of our own children warrant that any means be employed?
His fears are not unfounded. In a society where dogs are seen as taboo objects, confused parents all over the country are willing to risk ethical treatment of animals to the safety of their children.

author: Maurina H


text:
Guatemala: Attempt to Silence Guatemalan Radio Journalist · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Patrick of the Guatemala Solidarity Network gives more context to the reported shooting of Radio 10 host Vinicio Aguilar Mancilla.


text:
Hong Kong: Jimmy Wales · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chiao blogs his eat-eat-talk-talk conversation with Jimmy Wales and briefly discusses about future development of the very young wiki community in Hong Kong.


text:
India: Linux and Coke · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Nanopolitan on the recent move in Kerala on promoting open source and Linux in public institutions and how the issue is being fused with a rather disconnected one of the ban on Coke and Pepsi in the state.


text:
India: Tourists in the UK · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

30 in 2005 on the phenomenon of more Indian tourists in the UK. “And these are not just salwar kameez and saree aunties who have come to look after their children/ grand-children. These are bona fide tourists. Backpacks, cameras and sneakers. All the way from India.”


text:
Indonesia: Patient vs. Pharma  · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Indonesia anonymus relates a co-worker's experience on a visit to a doctor. The post talks about certain doctors favouring pharmaceutical companies sometimes at the expense of the patients.


text:
Iran: Broken Promises & Satellite Dishes · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Aknoun says that one year ago, the cultural advisor to the Iranian President said everybody is free to have a satellite dish and government will reduce pressure on people [Fa]. The blogger says that now we shall see how government cracks down on satellite dishes.

author: Fred Petrossian


text:
Iran: Rising housing prices & confused authorities · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Lahzeh says rising housing prices is a hot topic in Iran and everybody has an opinion about it. The blogger says that according to the Iranian President, the price rose between 20 and 30 percent, while the Head of Social Commission in Parliament talks about 25 percent and the head of a private construction association says 40 percent. The blogger says the Minister of Housing called all of these figures  lies and said the percentage is actually 13.7 percent, and if somebody has another figure, that person should prove his/her claim! The blogger adds  that this confusion is due to the absence of a reliable statistics institution in the country [Fa].


text:
Iran: Student activist arrested · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Kuy, another student activist, Jamal ZaherPour was arrested a couple of days ago [Fa]. ZaherPour had been a leading student in Islamic Association of  Khajeh Nasir University where he graduated as an engineer. The blogger adds that recently, several student activists have been arrested.


text:
Iranian Women’s campaign demands changes to discriminatory laws · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iranian women continue their struggle for equal rights beyond all governmental obstacles. A few days ago, a group of tireless Iranian women activists launched another campaign against discrimination entitled “One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws.”
This demonstration was backed by personalities such as Nasser Zaarafshan, writer and human right activist, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi and several others. Iranian men were also present to support the women's campaign, which was aimed at abolishing discriminatory laws in Iran. Activist women wanted to launch their first day campaign by organizing a seminar at a charity Institute, but government refused them permission and left them behind closed doors. Several Iranian bloggers, both male and female, were present at this gathering and shared their thoughts, photos and feelings.
Arash Ashourinia, a leading photoblogger and journalist, showed us what happened through his photos and words. His blog, Kosoof, features several photos of this gathering, in the street behind closed doors.
Ashourinia says that authorities did not let women came together at the Rad charity Institute. The blogger adds that Iranian women’s rights activists are initiating a wide-ranging campaign demanding an end to legal discrimination against women in Iranian law:
Campaign, “One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws,” which aims to collect one million signatures to demand changes to discriminatory laws against women, is a follow-up effort to the peaceful protest with the same aim which took place on June 12, 2006 in Haft-e Tir Square in Tehran. Preparation activities in support of this campaign commenced 0n June of 2006 and the campaign will be officially launched on August 27, during a seminar entitled: “The Impact of Laws on Women’s Lives.”
But the authorities did not let them to hold their seminar and claimed that they should get permission from the ministry. According to the current law of Iran, holding seminars & peaceful demonstrations do not require legal permission.
It seems that the lack of a venue for this gathering did not discourage participants, who, according to the blogger, mingled  in the street and some of the speakers had chatted with the people present.
Blogger Soheil Asefi adds:
Asefi also noted the presence of personalities such as Shirin Ebadi and said the act of closing the doors to participants was illegal [Fa].
Aroosak Kooki said, with some irony, that in Iran it would soon require legal permission just to breathe air [Fa]. Aroosak Kooki noted that because of threats the Institute had closed its doors to the activists, who were nevertheless willing to take signatures and register volunteers. Aroosak Kooki took this as a sign of the activists’ determination to continue and refusal to become discouraged.
Sooratak says that 200 men and women had already signed the campaign and that they would continue until they had gathered the one million signatures and until the discriminatory laws were changed [Fa].
Tadai azad writes  that a good thing had happened for her that day, and that she had seen that, to be a good citizen in Iran, you needed to become blind [Fa]. Iran, writes Tadai, is a country where all doors are closed to you the moment you speak the truth.
Harfayi Baraye Nagoftan cites a statement by Nasser Zarafshan, who said that this movement and these ideas should move from up (intellectuals) to down (ordinary people), and that if this movement did not find its way into masses it would stagnate and become ineffective [Fa].


text:
Jamaica: In-house terrorist · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

A Jamaica-born Muslim cleric who has been convicted in the UK for incitement to murder is about to be deported back to his homeland. “As if our gun-toting criminals aren't enough, now we have to worry about terrorist threats because we'll have our own soon to arrive, fresh from England, in-house terrorist,” says Gela.


text:
Japan: sexless marriage · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lee in Tokyo Times shows the statistic of sex life in Asia countries and reconfirms the social phenomena of sexless marriage in Japan.


text:
Kenya: Man Gives Deadly Gift To Lover  · Global Voices
Musa Aliyu

For two hearts in love no price is too much to pay and no gift is too expensive to give. Perhaps, this could be taken to the extreme, where roses are swapped for crawling creatures, all in the name of love. You Missed This EXTRA captures a Romeo’s mood as he handed a gift of  poisonous snake to his unsuspecting Juliet, “His parting remarks were even more bizarre. Without revealing what the gift was he asked her to come back for a “red one” if she was not satisfied with quality of the “black one” inside the box.”


text:
Kurdistance… · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

The most horrible of things has just happened to me….my RSS feed for the Kurdish blogs, well for lack of a better term..hiccupped…and all of my feeds are gone. So in dealing with this crisis, today's post probably will leave a few people out. Thankfully all of my work is not going to be a complete waste as all of the links in my RSS feed are can be found on my blogsite Kurdistan Blog Count.
So, let's begin the fun shall we? Vladimir on From Holland to Kurdistan has been compiling some wonderful media links for the Kurdish cause from a moving pictoral exhibit of Kurdish refugees being treated by Doctors Without Borders to a documentary on the Kurdish riots in Diyarbakir. Additionally, information on Saddam Hussein's Anfal Campaign against Iraqi Kurds can be found and an excellent interview with Kurdish blogger Hiwa from Hiwa Hopes about his childhood and growing up in refugee schools.
Hiwa has been writing about the lack of media attention to bothSaddam Hussein's trial for the Anfal Campaign and how Kurdish politicians in Southern Kurdistan have been commenting on the increased fracturing of Iraq.
Continuing on with the media theme, Pearls of Iraq writes about the recent confiscation of Kurdish books sent from Sweden to Northern Kurdistan (Southeast Turkey), the books are scheduled to be destroyed by the Turkish government. Save Roj TV writes about a daily Kurdish newspaper being harassed by the Turkish government for trying to distribute their newspaper in Northern Kurdistan. In addition Roj TV itself is still fighting against their struggle with the Turkish government who is trying to shut the Denmark based television station down. The-kurdistani also weighs in on what they perceive as a biased media in Turkey in regards to the Kurdish Question. And dear Rasti-bini shows us the side of the Kurdish media and their responses to recent Turkish aggression against the Kurdish peoples in the name of fighting the PKK.

author: Deborah Ann Dilley


text:
Kyrgyzstan: Chess · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Go Kyrgyz! writes about how chess came to Kyrgyzstan and the enthusiasm for the game today.


text:
Kyrgyzstan: Handling Terrorism · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Yulia translates a Russian post on how Kyrgyzstan is dealing with terror threats.


text:
Malaysia: National Day Wish · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Malaysian politician Lim Kit Siang talks about pressing issues that Malaysia is facing this National Day(31 August).


text:
Mexico: “From tent city to shadow government” · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Boz's analysis of what he calls Lopez Obrador's “shadow government”.


text:
Mexico: Gunshots in Oaxaca · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Mark in Mexico, awoken by gunshots this morning in Oaxaca, has an update on the standoff, including a link to an interesting satellite map by Reforma.


text:
Moldova, Romania: Music · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Peter Myers of Adventures in Moldova writes about themes in Moldovan folk music. WorkingDefinition writes about the “inescapable” music in Romania.


text:
Nigeria: Catch a fire….naija style · Global Voices
Musa Aliyu

Looking for something unique to wear this mid week up to the weekend? Bella Naija offers something to make you stand out in any crowd. She’s always wanted to be different and her high sense of imagination brings this to your blogstep. She has this to say as she proudly pats herself on the back, “I luv to feature budding designers who are fab but not necessarily well-known by most Nigerians and other African…Here’s another budding designer that adds to your fashion repertoire.”


text:
Pakistan: Bugti and the Nation · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Perspectives on the current domestic crisis in Pakistan at Metroblogging Lahore. “While I mourn Bugti's death as a Pakistani, I do believe Bugti was a misguided man. He allowed himself to be used by nefarious foreign elements as a pawn against the good of this nation. “


text:
Pakistan: Internet governance · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Tee Emm's Window to Pakistan on internet governance in the country.


text:
Philippines’ worst marine disaster · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The beautiful island of Guimaras, located in central Philippines, is under state of calamity. More than 26,000 people who depend on fishing suddenly lost their livelihood after tanker MT Solar 1, chartered by Petron, sank in 3,000 ft of water with some two million liters of industrial fuel.
Some 50,000 gallons of oil leaked from the tanker which still lies 900 meters underwater. This has already polluted 20 barangays covering 220 km of coastline and destroyed 454 hectares of mangroves and 58 hectares of seaweed farms in Guimaras.
Iloilo City Boy explains why the incident must be referred as Petron Oil Spill:
“By naming the incident ‘Guimaras Oil Spill,’ we will be unfairly “stigmatizing” their province and the image of the oil spill will forever stick in the minds of people long after the sludge has been removed. …On the other hand, Petron owned the oil and may have some liability in the catastrophe. Let the oil spill “stigmatize” their company. “
The maritime tragedy also threatens rare shrimp species in the province. View some pictures on the damage done by the oil spill.
A fisherfolk alliance warns of revolt after Petron issued a statement to a stock exchange in Manila that it has no obligation to shoulder the cost of cleaning up the massive oil slick:
“This environmental tragedy perpetrated by Petron in collaboration with the national government will literally and politically speaking launch a thousand ships carrying protesters and angry fishermen and residents…They better accomplish their assignments or face a Visayas wide fisherfolk revolt.”
Touched by an angel writes about the drive to collect human hair to be used in cleaning up the oil spill. baratillo @ cubao recommends two institutions to give scientific reports on the incident.
Greenpeace activists went to the affected coastal communities and documented their findings. Janet was saddened by what she saw:
“I saw whole swathes of mangroves with their root systems covered in the black tar. A clean up of such a tangled mass of roots would be impossible; the oils will remain trapped within the roots for years.”
Matthew narrated the difficulty of cleaning the oil pollution:
“It took two hours to clean the oil from the inflatables this afternoon. Lots of soap and muscle… The brown slick it was everywhere: On the beach, on the outriggers, on the locals’ feet and hands, in their back yards…The locals are testing their own oil booms made from rice straw, bamboo and Hessian sacks.”
A twelve-year old schoolboy wishes the oil to go away quickly.

author: Mong Palatino


text:
Poland: A Competition in Populism · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Poland is having local elections soon, and the populists are becoming more audible, reports Warsaw Station.


text:
Poland: On Migrant Labor, Again · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot writes about “free movement of labour” and responds to a “deranged” commenter who, among other things, is “favorably comparing the Nazi invasion and the Holocaust to the influx of a few hundred thousand Poles and others to the UK.”


text:
Poland: Suing the Homophobes · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot writes that Polish gay rights activists are taking the wrong cases to court: “But going to courts over the two pieces of infantile nonsense […] is not the right way to go about challenging officially sponsored homophobia in Poland.”


text:
Russia: Madonna’s Concert Promotion · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Konstantin Dlutskiy of Russian Marketing Blog writes about the needless promotion of Madonna's upcoming Moscow concert.


text:
Russia, Ukraine: “Managed Oligarchy,” Lazarenko Case · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Moscow has more billionaires than NYC, but in Putin's era, they are no longer “oligarchs” but “mere tycoons,” writes Vilhelm Konnander. In another post, he discusses the trial and the verdict of Ukraine's Pavlo Lazarenko.


text:
Serbia: Beer Festival · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belgrade Blog reports on the 4th Belgrade Beer Festival, which featured 30 types of beer, a treasure hunt and a Miss Wet T-Shirt competition.


text:
Serbia: Criticism of the Flag and Anthem · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dictionary of the Serbian Mess explains the coat of arms that appears on the Serbian flag and compares Serbian anthem to that of Slovenia.


text:
Serbia: Nightlife Under Threat · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belgrade Blog writes about the threat to the capital's nightlife.


text:
Serbia: Unemployment and Low Salaries · Global Voices
Ljubisa Bojic

While Serbian citizens are preoccupied with bare survival, the country's media and politicians focus on the need to extradite individuals wanted by the Hague tribunal. A few days ago, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica announced he would not put up with people like Mladic, who is accused of committing atrocities in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the civil war in the nineties. Kostunica said: “Nobody will be above Serbian interests, even if his name is Ratko Mladic.”
It gets even worse as light entertainment is widely offered throughout the mass media. Brainless questions aimed at “intriguing” the minds of society members are offered, for example, by a Serbian daily newspaper Blic: the paper is choosing a fantasy Women Government by letting readers vote via their mobile phones. Blic writes that 29,583 individuals have taken part in the vote. They interviewed each lucky lady winner of the 21 elected to lead various government ministries. Bombarded by trivial issues, Serbs are forced to watch politicians acting as entertainment stars in prime time TV shows, talking about serious topics and answering diary-type questions.
In his B92 blog, Dejan Bizinger writes (SER) about the vital statistics depicting Serbian economic suffering:
There are around one million unemployed people in Serbia. The country’s average salary is just 240 euro per month. More than 90 percent of its citizens have never flown an airplane and there is a huge percentage of those who've never crossed a border. A great number of people who do work are not officially registered, so they often don’t get health and social insurance. They are all left to mercy of their boss: the so-called “Serbian entrepreneur.” Pay is often barely enough for basic needs including food and bills. There is absolutely no way for them to get a mortgage from a bank to buy a car. Let alone affording a flat. Of course, the other Serbia exists as well. Some members of high class live better than many rich people in the West.
At the Profinovinari discussion board, user Vanillasky presents the worries of ordinary Serbian people – people like Dragan Pavlovic:
[…] He was laid off in 2002 from a car factory in a predominantly working-class city of Kragujevac. The massive layoff affected a few thousand workers in a government effort to find a strategic partner and recover the Serbian auto industry. As he is packing up to give his unemployment center a visit, Dragan says:
“Until then nothing changed. Management stayed more or less the same, trying to find mechanisms to raise their salaries. They traveled everywhere around the world to find strategic investor but I believe they were not trying hard enough, knowing that if a private owner comes in, their positions may come at risk.”
In the meantime, Romanian car factory Dacia started producing Renault vehicles. The French wanted to have a low-price car, targeting undeveloped markets of Europe and North Africa.
Vanillasky continues:
At the unemployment center counter, Milica is waiting to sign another two-year contract providing her with pension benefits and a small monthly pay.
“They made at least ten announcements, saying contract-signing with foreign corporation is coming closer. However, the only thing they did is a deal to produce old model of Fiat’s punto. Of course I could not get employment then. I am a 50-year-old engineer holding a university degree and the only place I can find a job is at a fast food restaurant. Think how humiliated I would feel after 30 years of work at the office to start flipping burgers at some local shop.”
The national economy is brought down by the government's tactics to implement a strong national currency policy. Says Drakulic, owner of the “Jug Point” company, one of Serbia's biggest exporters:
“Everybody sees that the country’s export-trade deficit will be more than seven billion dollars! This government has to find mechanisms to stimulate exporters. On the contrary, what they do is stimulate import. I think this is a forced measure because ministry of finance is trying to prove it can keep one-digit inflation this year. It is better to have higher inflation if it helps the economy growth overall.”
Mark Pullen, a British expatriate in Serbia, blogs out his view of Serbian workers:
So, Serbian people are idle, unmotivated workers who are quick to quit their jobs and slow to bother seeking a new one that doesn’t come directly from a friend or family member, and doesn’t come with assurances of long coffee breaks and little professional responsibility. But, then again, who can blame them for being lazy? Would you commit your heart and soul (and coffee-drinking time) to a company for 200 euros a month, when grandma’s death will bring you a flat that you can rent out for 300 euros a month without lifting a finger? Or Would you work 9-5 six days a week in a private firm for a nasty boss for 250 euros a month when you could ‘work’ (pick you nose) from 10-4ish (depending on packing away time) in an easygoing (unviable but kept artificially afloat to keep voters happy) state firm for 180 euros a month?
In the UK we say: “If you pay peanuts, you’ll get monkeys.” In Serbia we could say: “If you pay peanuts, even the monkeys will quit.”
The irony is that Serbian people are crying out to be able to get mortgages and loans that will allow them to move out of their parents’ houses before they turn 40, and by that same token they are crying out for the kind of financial responsibility that will see them become voluntary slaves to their companies; living in fear of losing their jobs.
Misha replies to this entry by observing the labor compensation issue:
Just the other day, a friend of mine complained of not being able to attract skilled and dedicated workforce for his Belgrade office. When asked how much he offered to pay, we came to this wonderful and true wisdom on monkeys and peanuts. Would be wonderful to find out what makes employers believe the workers would flock to their offices and eventually die there working uncompensated? As in any other trade, market laws apply – you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. To get a lion or a tiger, one would have to serve some tastier fare.
Mark Pullen answers him with a concern about the quality of the country's high-ranking officials:
I just worry how high up the food chain the monkeys are operating. How well paid are the country's ministerial officials, police and judges? Are they being paid peanuts and, if so, are they all monkeys?

author: Ljubisa Bojic


text:
Singapore:  Nation Wide Wi-Fi · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Ketsugi is excited about the upcoming nationwide wireless internet service in Singapore.


text:
South Africa: Cape Town’s Somali Genocide · Global Voices
Musa Aliyu

Mike Golby, a South African blogger, struggles to understand the situation in Cape Town, where, as cosmopolitan as it seems, refugees find it difficult if not entirely impossible to integrate fully. For the Somali refugees, as he particularly notes, it’s hell on earth. “That they might be, but it seems we offer them no refuge. Accorded refugee status if not deported to the charnel houses they’ve fled, they’re not allowed South African citizenship. Children born to refugees remain refugees,” he laments.


text:
South Africa: Is the microwave mega dangerous? · Global Voices
Musa Aliyu

How often do you use microwave? Is it very often, sometimes or hardly? If you hardly do and think it’s harmful, then you need to read Sotho’s piece. His family members avoid it because they feel it’s capable of contaminating food. But he is unconvinced and he writes, “Since the waves that hit the chicken are instantly converted to heat energy inside the chicken, there can be no question of radioactive contamination. In other words, when you switch your oven off and remove your chicken, it has absolutely no radiation on it.”


text:
South Korea: media worker union · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Cho Jun Sang, president of the labour union of the South Korean newspaper ‘Hankyoreh’ talks about the background and concern of South Korea media workers union in Asia Media Forum.


text:
The Week that Was – Bolivian Blogs · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Mundo Al Revés’ three hosts: Sebastian Molina, Carolina Bessolo, and Sergio Mier (Photo courtesy: M.A.R.)
Blogs have taken off in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, Bolivia due to no small part to the efforts of the individuals behind the website Mundo Al Revés (Upside Down World).  What started as a portal for articles, news and opinions, made a push to encourage local friends and family to begin writing blogs.  Now, the site has expanded to various formats and boasts a weekly one-hour television program on national television, which has made promotion of blogs a large part of its focus.
The program, aptly named Mundo al Revés, mixes comedy sketches, personal interviews and urban tourism and is shown every Saturday evening at 18:00 and a repeat on Sunday at the same time on the station PAT, which is transmitted nationwide. What is billed as the first website to have its own television show, computer literacy plays a prominent role introducing sites such as Wikipedia to its audience.  Each show also devotes time in each show to the promotion of the use of blogs.  In conjunction with the show and website, a campaign called “Loco por los blogs” (Crazy for blogs) works with local schools and universities teaching students about the concept and use of blogs.  The campaign is led by Claudia Vaca and the campaign’s accomplishments are documented on blog.mundoalreves.com.  As new blogs are created after the seminars given at 12 schools and 2 universities, they are added to the site’s blogroll.  Using tools such as Technorati, the wide reach of this campaign is demonstrated on air by tracking how many sites have joined the campaign.
The relationship with blogs and the television program do not end with this campaign.  Naturally, the show has its own  TV blog to interact with its audience, receive comments and preview upcoming shows.  The three hosts, Sebastian Molina (Plan B), Sergio Mier (Bloglivia) and Carolina Bessolo (Sol Girasol) each write regularly on their own personal blogs.  Even one of the production engineers, Edson Hurtado, will not be left out of the blogging fun and will soon have a blog of his own.
Hurtado also hosts is a radio show in Santa Cruz called “Nuestra Noche” (Our Night) and every Monday from 9:30 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. on Santa Cruz FM 92.3, the Mundo Al Revés team takes to the airwaves to spread their blogging message.  What might be next in store for this ambitious and successful team from Mundo Al Revés?  Perhaps a feature length movie about blogging?

author: Eduardo Avila


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: Appetite for self-destruction · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Is Trinidad and Tobago's opposition party trying to self-destruct? Jeremy Taylor thinks so.


text:
Turkmenistan: Islam & Diplomacy · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Peter of neweurasia discusses the start of construction on the enormous new Saudi embassy in Turkmenistan. Many Turkmen officials were on hand for the laying of foundation stone, and Peter argues that this enthusiasm likely has to do with Turkmenistan concluding that the international legitimacy it seeks will most likely come from Islamic states.


text:
Venezuela: Expropriation of Golf Courses · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Miguel Octavio, Daniel Duquenal, Feathers McGraw, Katy, and Publius Pundit on the expropriation of two Caracas golf courses by Mayor Juan Barreto. EGG says (ES), “while at least I never liked golf,” though he remembers that Che Guevara did.


text:
Albania: Euro 2008 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Our Man In Tirana writes about Albania's upcoming football battles.


text:
Bangladesh: Diaspora Group Blogs · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Rezwan highlights diaspora blogs from South Asia on the occassion of Blog Day 2006.


text:
Bolivia: in the Tube and on the Tube · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Having already presented the Bolivian presence on YouTube, Miguel Buitrago now describes the transmission of Bolivian television online: “The whole package is supposed to cost US$ 9.95, and is mainly aimed at the around 1 million Bolivians living outside Bolivia, mainly in Madrid, Buenos Aires and the Washington DC metro area.”


text:
China: data searching · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lyn Jeffery from Virtual China introduces a new website for searching data in China: soshoo.com.  The website bills itself as the first free Chinese vertical search engine focusing on statistics and survey data.


text:
China: Foxconn court case con’t · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Bingfeng updates that Shenzhen court has unfreezed the personal assets of the journalists, foxconn now sues BOTH the newspaper AND the two journalists and seeks only 1 RMB instead of 3 million RMB in damages.
Roland continues his media analysis and for the first time describes his life as an activist journalist.
Foxconn has in fact adopted the suggestion made by imagethief in PR strategy, imagethief makes a clarification that: I am not Apple's PR man.
Rebecca also describes the case as a successful joint force between chinese bloggers and journalists.


text:
China: more on Foxconn · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Bingfeng is now translating comments from present and ex-foxconn workers on the working conditions in Foxconn from the two First Financial Daily workers’ blog. According to Bingfeng, the newspapers company has a meeting last night to collect evidences to prepare for the libel case.


text:
China: sexist and racist blog in Shanghai · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Shang pei-jin from Shanghaiist has a detailed sum up on Chinabounder (Shanghai foreign sex blogger) issue.


text:
Colombia: Putumayo’s White Elephant · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Adam Isacson on the strange and revealing scene at a high-profiled animal-food concentrates processing plant in the town of Orito.


text:
Cuba: Raúl Castro’s first appointment · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Raúl Castro appears to have made his first official appointment, writes Luis M. Garcia: “analysts and Cuban watchers will have a field day over the next few hours with these latest news from Havana. Does it mean Raul is really in charge?“


text:
Egypt: 300 Egyptians who seek asylum in the Czech Republic · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Ibn ad Dunya writes about the 300 Egyptians who seek asylum in the Czech Republic. He said: “Who can blame them for wanting to go to Europe, to leave Egypt is a dream for many young Egyptians, and only to achieve the goal of getting a visa to America, Canada, Australia or the EU is tough post 9/11 and with Europe showing it’s nicest smile towards any potential refugee seeker, before sending him back with the first available flight if possible.”

author: Haitham Sabbah


text:
Ethiopia: 16 Days · Global Voices
Musa Aliyu

Ato G may not be corrupt. But he lives in a society ruined by corruption. He may be honest and hardworking. Yet the law will always make an enemy of people like him. ET Wonqette powerfully plays on words, satirising Ethiopia, which he says, “is ruinously, unrelentingly peaceful. Better days are coming because there are so many others doing their '16 days’.”


text:
Ethiopia: Ethiopian Politician hospitalised · Global Voices
Musa Aliyu

Tale of corruption and official high-handedness is re-echoed by Ethio-Zagol, who seems rather pleased that Bereket Simon, “one of the most detested EPRDF politicians” in Ethiopia, is defraying the cost, via divine punishment, having been rushed to hospital in Israel. Even in a close shave with death their kleptomaniac fingers remain busy doing business as usual, “On the morning of the same day, Bereket's aides were spotted taking hard currency from the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia.”


text:
Guyana: Face of the nation · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

By analysing the facial expressions of Guyana's incumbent president Bharrat Jagdeo, Andy is “100% confident that he is the new president-elect of Guyana“.

author: Georgia Popplewell


text:
Guyana: Ministerial reconstruction · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Guyana's “ministries [of government] and their portfolios are outmoded, irrelevant and obscure,” says MediaCritic three days after the country's general election, as he reconstructs government and puts forward his own ministerial wish list.


text:
Haiti: Evaluating Kevin Sites Visit · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Of Kevin Sites’ recent Hot Zones coverage of Haiti, Yon Ayisyen writes (Fr): “His visit helped me realize how narrow and even possibly twisted  an image he portrays of the places he visits. He did not go farther than the well established cliches of this country.”


text:
Haiti: Haitian Photo Sites · Global Voices
Alice Backer

From Haiti, Yon Ayisyen points to (Fr) sites of pictures of Haiti taken by Haitians.


text:
Happy Blog Day!!! · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

Happy Blog Day!!!
Today we celebrate the wonders of the growing and very global online conversation. Blog Day founder Nir Ofir suggests we celebrate by recommending five new blogs.  But I really want to take this opportunity to give thanks to our tremendously hard-working Global Voices editors – bloggers living around the world who work every day to aggregate and curate conversations coming from the blogs in their regions.
It's amazing to think that one year ago, Global Voices in its current form was only just getting started. A huge hug of thanks (in no particular order) to:
Georgia Popplewell, Regional Editor, Caribbean; Podcast Editor. Her blog is Caribbean Free Radio.
Nathan Hamm, Regional Editor, Central Asia. His blog is Registan.
Veronica Khokhlova, Regional Editor, Eastern & Central Europe; Language Editor, Russian & Ukrainian. Her blog is Neeka's Backlog.
David Sasaki, Regional Editor, Latin America; Language Editor, Spanish. He blogs at Oso, Moreno, Abogado.
Haitham Sabbah, Regional Editor, Middle East & North Africa; Language Editor, Arabic. His blog is Sabbah's Blog.
Oiwan Lam, Regional Editor, Northeast Asia. She blogs at Interlocals.
Preetam Rai, Regional Editor, Southeast Asia. His blog is Betterdays.
Neha Viswanathan, Regional Editor, South Asia. Her blog is Within-Without.
Alice Backer, Language Editor, Francophonia. Her blog is kiskeyAcity.
John Kennedy, Language Editor, Chinese. His blog is Feng37.
Farid Pouya, Language Editor, Persian. His blog is Webgardian.
Jose Murilo Junior, Language Editor, Portugese. His blog is Ecologia Digital.
Sokari Ekine, former Regional Editor, Sub Saharan Africa. Her blog is Black Looks.
Thanks also to all of our fabulous volunteer contributors, listed along the right hand column of the Global Voices front page.  We couldn't have done this with out everybody's hard work, links, and passionate belief in the value and importance of calling attention to citizens who are speaking out online all over the world.

author: Rebecca MacKinnon


text:
Honduras: Panamax 2006 Military Exercises · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Honduras News-Daily says that Honduras will be participating today in the controversial Panamax 2006 military exercises.


text:
India: Is The World Really Flat? It looks like. · Global Voices
Kamla Bhatt

In this roundup we celebrate an eclectic mix of blog posts on India. In this patchwork quilt of Indian blogs with a global flavor (is the world flat or what?) we have posts about  motorbikes, travel, traffic (Bangalore traffic to be precise), comics,and those three great Indian passion: festival, food and films or the three F's.
But, first if you have not read about this here it is: Infosys, India's top IT company finally got a blog with a suitable name Think Flat.  If the company”s  name sounds familiar that is because Tom Friedman's idea  for "The World is Flat" book originated in his conversations with Nandan Nilekani the head of Infosys.
Chris Kaufman's blog chronicles the Two-Wheeled Asian Invasion, the motorcycle, and in this post he talks about motorbikes (and scooters) in Bangalore. Another American Kevin from Bozeman, Montana is in Bangalore and in this post he describes his meeting with Bangalore's top bureaucrat. Read what he has to say about the meeting. Jayan Sree Rangan of Motorcycle Diaries has a post about their Himalayan trip, on what else but motorbikes. He does a great job of describing parts of Ladakh that very few will ever get to go. Have you heard of salted tea? Read the post to find out what else is interesting about this region of the world.
John Kirby has a post about Indian hospitality in Bombay and a well-known eating joint called Bademiya, which is located in a narrow lane in downtown Mumbai/Bombay. Checkout his post and read what it is like to be a guest in an Indian home and his thoughts about reading Indian newspapers. I privately like to think that you cannot beat the creative headlines that you see in Indian newspapers.
Ajay's post called Smile Specialist gives a run down of the new radio station in Bangalore and is all praise for one particular RJ,or Radio Jockey as radio show hosts are known in India. Vasu has an interesting article about Bangalore's traffic and pictures and some of his thoughts are similar to the stream of thoughts that pop in my mind when I am navigating Bangalore's traffic.
Virgin Comics launched its first comic in India titled Sadhu and Gautam Ghosh has a review of the comic. Comic-lovers might want to take a look at the review and see if they want to get their hands on this new comic.
Bollywood: Blogs devoted to films appear to be on a upward swing, and there appears to be a couple of new ones every week. MovieWatchers is a collab blog by VSAT and Bloomiboy and here is their review of Omkara, a Bollywood movie fashioned after the famous Bard's story: Othello. Here is another new blog called The Watussi by Ryan in California, and this one seems to be different in that he has video clips from that great repository YouTube. Go watch the first few that he has up on his site. T-Hype is a Bollywood fan located in Southern USA and the tag line for her blog is Belief, Blackness and Bollywood.  I have been reading this blog for a few months now, and she has a hilarious post with a YouTube clip titled Shake What Yo Mama Gave Ya! With a title like that how can you not click on that link and read the post for yourself?
Food blogs on India cuisine appear to be proliferating. When I checked this time last year there were a handful, but now there are so many all over the map that it is hard to keep track of them. Browsing through cooking blogs is a delightful experience and you never know what you will end up learning about food history, or dishes that are long forgotten. This is espcially true of Indian food blog when there is a festival to celebrate like Ganesh Chaturthi. Ganesh, Ganesha Ganapathi, Vinayak, Vinayaka, or Vinayagar (the word avatar did originate in India you know) is the elephant-headed god who brings you good luck. But, first lets us look at a modern  Ganesha, or a modern avatar of the god that is complete with headphones and computer mouse from Puja's blog post. We switch gears and pop over to neighboring Malaysia, where The Vadai Has Landed has a wonderful post about how Ganesh Chaturthi or Vinayagar Chathruthi. The visuals describe how the festival is celebrated in Malaysia that has a sizebale Indian community.  A Mad Tea Party has a really nice post on celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi with traditional Kashmiri offering to the god. She also has a bunch of other interesting recipes. Go check it out. Ashwini of Food For Thought has a nice post about Nevryo, a dish that her grandma used to make for Ganesh Chathurthi. This is an unusual recipe for a turnover from the Konkan region …you might want to try making them. Indian Food Rocks celebrates her first Ganesh Chaturthi in Louisville and has a step-by-step recipe for one of her favorite dishes: chavde, yet another traditional dish.  Spiced For Life celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi in the southern city of Atlanta, and has an easy to cook recipe for Kozhakatta or modaks, which  looks like a Japanese/Chinese dumpling (shumai), except they have a really nice sweet concoction as a filling.  See Cooking Medley's  home-made clay images of Ganesha made by a young Indian IT professional working in a small town USA.

author: Kamla Bhatt


text:
India: Limca Book of Blog Records · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A blog to collect facts on blogging records in India at Limca Book of (Blog) Records.


text:
Internet in Chile: Creating New Political Actors? · Global Voices
Rosario Lizana

Co-authored by Mary Joyce and Rosario Lizana
Why has Chile, a country of only 16 million people where only 10% have internet in their homes, become a hotbed of cyberactivism? We know that the answer is not related to the tool, it is related to what is done with the tool and with the social consequences produced. This article is a mixture of the opinions of Chileans involved in activism, examples related to the fields of technology and education, cases of cyber-activism and some history of Chilean technology.
In the past few months, Chile has witnessed several instances of citizens using the internet, particularly blogs, to affect social change.  These actions are different from other forms of internet activism, like Amnesty International's Irrepressible campaign or MoveOn.org ‘s efforts to influence the senatorial campaign in Connecticut.  These actions were realized by large organizations.  However, events in Chile mark a new type of internet activism in which individual citizens who use the internet as a low-cost mechanism to publicize a message, attract allies, and collaboratively plan and execute actions.
The most noteworthy example of this individual-led internet activism is that of the thousands of Chilean students who went on strike around the country and staged rallies demanding the removal of fees for college entrance exams. Many high schools set up photoblogs to show their affiliation with the campaign and to disseminate information, such as the times and locations of rallies.  The work of individual webmasters was key in spreading information in this decentralized campaign, which resulted in the government raising the education budget by $200 million.
When a homeless poet in Chile's capital, Santiago, was taken to a mental hospital against his will, the people in his neighborhood campaigned for his release by starting a blog (ES) which informed the public about the case, called for meetings and was used to organize a protest in front of the mental hospital where the man was being held. Supporters also used Flickr.com, a photo-sharing site, to post photos of the man, who calls himself “the Antichristo.” Two days later, the man was freed.
Chile is also the home of Atina Chile (ES) , a unique web-based organization that uses the internet as a tool for active citizenship. The site has 30,000 members, many with blogs hosted on the site. Atina Chile provides a home for citizen-led projects and also offers the expert advice to social entrepreneurs.
Do these instances of internet activism in Chile amount to a significant social movement?  Not yet.  Currently, these activists represent only a vanguard, the early adopters of the internet as the individual's tool for social change.  According to a recent report released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), 28% of Chileans are frequent internet users and among young people in their teens and early twenties, the percentage is closer to 85%.  However, these users are not going online to change society.  They are going online to chat, send e-mail, find news, do school work, and download music.  Nevertheless, these habits could change soon.  Although most Chilean internet surfers do not use the internet for political activism, they do see the political possibilities of the internet.  According to the same UNDP survey, 39% of frequent users think the internet can increase the ability of public campaigns to influence decision-makers.  How long before this mass perception will lead to an increase in political action?
There is another connection between internet use and internet activism: the latter cannot exist without the former.  If you do not know how to use a blog, you will be unable to use a blog to create social change.  However, if you have already mastered the blog's traditional uses as an online diary or a self-published op-ed column, you are in the position to innovate by creating new blog uses.  In a questionnaire sent out to bloggers involved in the student protests, almost all had a blog or photoblog before they began blogging about the student movements.  According to one blogger:
“I [already] had my own blog and photoblog, but when the movements began they invited me to create a blog about the student movements, dedicated to informing the students in my school.”
Internet expertise is the necessary foundation for internet activism.
What factors have made Chile a fertile environment for internet activism?  The history of the internet in Chile is fairly short.  Introduced in 1992 by Florencio Utrera, a mathematician at the University of Chile (ES), the internet spread quickly due to a healthy mixture of the free market and government intervention. Deregulation of the telecommunications market removed barriers to the creation of digital networks and encouraged companies to compete over prices and service.  However, the government did not just stand by and watch.  In 1996 the Subministery Telecommunications cut the cost of dial-up in half by mandating that a minute of the internet cost only 50% of a regular voice minute over the telephone.   Around the same time, the government put a limited number of internet-connected computers in every school in the country through the Enlaces (ES)program and government entities, like the Library of Congress, began offering internet training to NGO's, government officials, and businesses.
Towards the end of the nineties the internet was a popular source of information and communication, but a new medium was about to arrive on the scene that would further expand the internet's uses.  That tool was the weblog.  According to Leo Prieto (ES) , ” Chilean blogging really exploded between 1999 and 2000.  Although teen photobloggers make up a large percentage of the total, blogging in Chile is not limited to a particular age, class, or geographic area.  This is partially due to the efforts of Atina Chile, which has held dozens of blogging workshops around the country to teach people how to use the internet to express themselves.
However, “self expression” does not fully capture the importance of blogging in the history of internet activism.  Previous forms of self-expression, like e-mail and instant messaging have allowed people to use the internet as a communication network.   Suddenly the internet was not just a communication network or source of information, it was a platform for personal creation and public self-definition.
Blogging is necessarily an active and entrepreneurial enterprise, so it is no surprise that the first grassroots internet campaign in Chile came out of the blogging community.  That campaign was “Mi Primer PC, pero de verdad! ” (ES) (My first computer, but for real!), which was launched in 2005.  It was a reaction to a public-private initiative, Mi Primer PC, which was backed by President Lagos and aimed to provide low-priced computers to poor Chileans.  However, bloggers objected to the use of proprietary software (as opposed to open source), which increased the cost of the computers by 20%, as well as the limited functionality of the systems.  What began as a discussion among bloggers became an active campaign to change the Mi Primer PC program, including an online petition with over 11,000 signatures, an official website, blog badges, and in-person lobbying with government officials in charge of the program.
With regard to its stated goal, the campaign was only a partial success.  It succeeded in killing the original Mi Primer PC program, but was unable to replace it with anything better.  However, as a milestone in grassroots internet activism in Chile the campaign was extremely significant.  The campaign, which was covered extensively in the mainstream media, demonstrated that the internet could act as a launchpad for real-world social change.  The Mi Primer PC protest campaign increased the public's perception of capacities of the internet. Whether consciously or not, Mi Primer PC affected the decision of the students to use the internet as a tool in their campaign for higher quality education.  Their consciousness of the internet had changed.  It was not only a source of entertainment and a way to chat with friends.  It was also a way to change their world. For an isolated country as Chile, internet also allows to have more world net participations and internal connectivity.
The internet is increasing the power of the individual.  In the past you needed a rebel army to change the status quo.  Then you needed a pre-existing network with man-power and resources.  We are arriving at a time when any individual will be able to use the internet to bring attention to her concern, gather allies, and collaboratively plan and execute actions.  A world of individuals each with the tools necessary to change the world.

author: Rosario Lizana


text:
Iran: Jahanbegloo free on bail · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Shahram Kholdi, UK based blogger & academic reports that Ramin Jahanbegloo, researcher & philosopher, was  released on bail. According to the blogger, Ramin Jahanbegloo visited ISNA's (Iranian Students National Agency) office immediately after he was released. The source said he looked much thinner than the last time he had seen him. The source also has said that Ramin said the  prison was a bit hard, interrogators were nice and polite and prison situation has not been very bad.


text:
Iran: Playing Pink Panther with Azeri instruments · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Amin Rasooli has played Pink Panther cartoon's music with Azeri instruments. You can listen to that in Rasooli's blog.


text:
Jamaica: White martyrs, Black savages · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Having watched the trailer for a newly released film set in Uganda, Jamaican novelist Marlon James announces that he's sick and tired of “stories of a white man trapped in black (and sometimes yellow) hell where in the midst of all this inhumanity he discovers what it means to be human.”


text:
Kenya: Blogger says he suspects intelligence people hacked into his site · Global Voices
Musa Aliyu

You Missed This draws attention to the threat of censorship, where those who are unhappy with what bloggers are doing may choose to ruin their site by hacking into it. “One blogger reveals that he has already been targeted before and somebody even hacked into his site,” he reveals.


text:
Mexico: EZLN: “We Are Preparing Our Next Steps” · Global Voices
David Sasaki

The Narco News Bulletin has translated the most recent address by Zapatista figurehead Subcomandante Marcos at the Second Indigenous Gathering of the Yucatan Peninsula.


text:
Morocco:  Moroccan pilots’ wives fund terror cell · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Morocco has stepped up security at its airports after discovering that the wives of two pilots at national airline Royal Air Maroc (RAM) had been funding a radical Islamist cell, Samir said.


text:
Nepal: Get rid of Democracy · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Blogdai scans the political horizon and suggets we get rid of democracy.


text:
Nepal: Politics and Beauty Queens · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! on a conversation with contestants for Miss Teen Nepal 2006. “The beauties looked confused and Arpana came up with the answer once again. “If you ask me I can easily say what should have been done but can’t say what exactly needs to be done.” An answer very much depicting the political awareness among teenagers.”


text:
Nigeria: Brain Gain · Global Voices
Musa Aliyu

Unlike many countries, Nigeria is richly endowed with human and natural resources. But it’s lagging behind, in terms of development. Many emerging rich countries, Nkem Ifejika argues, are taking advantage of the little they have to transform their economies. Some even rely solely on human resources, where expert experiences gained from other societies are brought and put into use at home. “Nigeria has the cumulative knowledge of the world at its disposal, it has to use it,” he submits.


text:
Nigeria: Survivor Africa · Global Voices
Musa Aliyu

From Big Brother Africa to Survivor Africa young men and women across the continent are making their way up, ascending the ladder of fame. And this time out as many as twelve were called. But only one will be chosen, to take home the star prize of US$100, 000. Courtesy of Bella Naija, “Here’s a look at the survivors.”


text:
Nigeria: The Long Grass · Global Voices
Musa Aliyu

For anyone that passed through the boarding school system, Nkem Ifejika’s story, bizarre as it sounds, is not in any way strange. What may, however, seem strange is that anyone could be convicted for violating immigration rules and sentenced to gardening. Yet life at Nkem’s school might have been much worse, with bullies always on the rampage. “Imagine being given a matchbox and being asked to cut grass to the exact dimensions of the box, and not with a razor blade, but with our huge machetes,” He wonders.


text:
Pakistan: Blog-o-day · Global Voices
Omer Alvie

I don't quite know what the appropriate salutation would be for this auspicious cyber day, so I'll just go with a very happy World Blog Day to all fellow bloggers and readers of GV! Hope the power of blogs and citizen journalism grow ten fold and beat the daylights out of propagandist mainstream institutions, such as Fox News Network, which is already suffering from a swollen black eye of a massive ratings drop, and big hurray to that.
As part of celebration of this special day, I would like to take this opportunity (as suggested by GV) to reveal a little bit more about myself so fellow bloggers can get to know me better.
Why did I start blogging?
Basically to save me the expense of seeing a therapist, I opted instead to vent my frustrations through the medium of a free web log. Very cathartic and highly economical!
What do I blog about mainly?
I mainly rant about the actions and foreign policies of the geniuses residing in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and 10 Downing Street.
What motivates me to keep blogging?
Primarily, to annoy as many Fox News watchers as I can with my posts. Seriously, it has to do with sharing my opinion on global events with other bloggers.
Have blogs started to have an impact on politics in my country?
The blogging community in Pakistan is considerably small in comparison to other countries, but it is large enough to annoy the government authorities who have started taking notice of dissenting and critical blogging voices and as a result Pakistan has suffered from unfair specific and blanket bans on blogs. I am happy to say the blockade of blogs in Pakistan has had the opposite reaction from bloggers who have become even more tenacious in continuing their blogging activities and the Pakistani blogging community continues to grow larger everyday.
Allow me to return to the main reason for this post, which is to highlight the latest and most interesting opinion pieces from the Pakistani blog community.
Hypocricy Thy Name discusses the Ralph Peters article and the Operation in Balochistan;
Fountainhead pens another impeccable piece on the Neocons; Teeth Maestro highlights an interesting opinion about the media; All Things Pakistan discusses the no confidence motion against the PM; PWC-ing writes about Bugti and the Baloch insurgency; PAKCAST presents Ambreen Ali's (podcast) report on Earthquake relief efforts; and finally, I rant about the real terror of airline travel.
Well that is it for this week, I shall return soon (depending on my work commitments and my uncontrollable procrastination level) with another collection Pakistani blog wares.

author: Omer Alvie


text:
Peru: Mining Conflict · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Living in Peru on a recent conflict between settlers from Combayo and the neighboring Yanacocha gold mine and its potential effect on foreign investment.

author: David Sasaki


text:
Peru: Peruvian Cuisine in California · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Alejandro is inspired to start blogging again after a visit to the Peruvian restaurant, Los Balcones del Peru in Hollywood, Calornia.


text:
Russia: Deportation of Volga Germans · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

J. Otto Pohl translates a decree that ordered deportation of the Volga Germans to Kazakhstan and Siberia in 1941.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


text:
Russia: End of War Anniversary · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

David McDuff of A Step At A Time translates an article on the tenth anniversary of the end of the First Chechen War.


text:
Russia: The Sopranos Promotion · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Konstantin Dlutskiy of Russian Marketing Blog writes about guerilla promotion of The Sopranos.


text:
Serbia: Attack on Israeli · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Eric Gordy of East Ethnia writes about a recent attack on an Israeli in Belgrade and the hype it caused.


text:
Serbia: Collective Guilt · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Srdjan Cvijic of The TransAtlantic Assembly a translates an article by a renowned Serbian political analyst on Kosovo, the West and the feeling of collective guilt.


text:
South Africa: Which South African Bank is the best? · Global Voices
Musa Aliyu

Joel Basson’s experience with banks in South Africa had made him lose confidence in them. He felt they were only out to rip people off. Soon the opportunity to prove him wrong came and right at his doorstep, his own bank forced him to a rethink. He now thinks differently. “So, to every student out there that is paying bank charges in excess of R13.50, visit your nearest FNB branch and change banks,” he preached.


text:
South Korea: ILO Pusan · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jamie from Two Koreas tells us how the International Labour Organization's meeting is going on in Busan now.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
South Korea: relation with U.S · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Robert Koehler in Marmot's Hole has two posts on Korea-U.S relation regarding the withdrawal of U.S troop or the flexible military strategy in South Korea. The first one is a comment on an opinion piece written in Chosun Ilbo.  The second one is a summary of varous reactions towards the agreement.


text:
Sri Lanka: A National Government · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A Land like no Other on the possibilities of National Government in Sri Lanka. “Party politics has spoiled this country to a level where after your race and religion, supported political party is the next most common factor of distinguishing people into groups.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


text:
Syria: Peaceful Change Forum · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Ammar is calling to hold a closed forum of well-known intellectuals and dissidents with the purpose of coming up with a draft for a Syrian national pact or charter where all issues related to peaceful change in the country. Then, he will demand that Syrian opposition groups sign on to it. Those who do will be invited to attend a general conference where elections will be held to form a government-in-exile consisting of a parliament, a PM and a small cabinet.


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: Independence Day · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

“Does anyone really ‘celebrate’ our Independence as a nation?” wonders Elspeth Duncan, as Trinidad and Tobago observes the 44th anniversary of its independence from Great Britain.


text:
United Arab Emirates: Tips to navigate through Dubai Traffic Jams · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Well, schools are opening, people are back from vacations, and traffic jams are all around Dubai roads and linking Emirates. If you want to get to work on time, you will have to subtract another half hour from your departure time from home. Some easy ways of navigation help to navigate through traffic and should help you squeeze your way to work in time are presented by Farrukh Ahmed.


text:
Venezuela: Barreto vs. Barreto · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Miguel Octavio has translated an Op-Ed by Teodoro Petkoff as the Venezuelan government tells Caracas Mayor Juan Barreto that he was wrong in expropriating two golf courses.


text:
Venezuela, Syria: Chavez’s New Friends · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Steven Taylor astounded by Chavez's newly declared solidarity with Syria. Erwin Cifuentes does the media roundup.


text:
Argentina: Creative Commons · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Ariel Vercelli (ES) says that El Clarín (ES) has translated an article about iSummit in Rio de Janeiro, which was originally published by the New York Times.


text:
Armenia: Nessuna · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian notes the disappearance of another Armenian blog written by Nessuna, who often shone a light on issues not covered by other bloggers.

author: Nathan Hamm


text:
Bahamas: The milk stand · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

A slice of Bahamian history is encapsulated in a milk stand in Nassau that was recently bulldozed to create a traffic lane. Nicolette Bethel tells the story.


text:
Bangladesh: Discussing Islam · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Drishtipat Group Blog on encouraging discussions on Islam in Bangladesh. “What one poet/ author says, what question he/she asks should not be able to put a dent on people’s belief in Islam. The threats of fundamentalists to gag forcibly or kill everyone who tries to question some decree of Islam, only demean the power of Islam as a religion.”


text:
Bangladesh: Tablighi Movement · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

imperfect world 2006 on a book discussing the Tablighi movement. “The above book actually starts off with his stint in the Tablighi movement – where he ends up running away with a young (white) girl and takes her home to his parents! Now, Sardar has new light to shed on the Tablighi movement.”


text:
Barbados: Eat local · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Linda Thompkins encourages visitors to Barbados — “the only place in the world where MacDonald's failed” — to eat local. [Editor's note: McDonald's also eventually pulled out of Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica, though they operated considerably longer in those countries than in Barbados, where they apparently lasted only six months!].


text:
Barbados: Financial test case · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Barbados is the venue for a court case testing a new law permitting minority shareholders in a corporation the power to have a court review of the company's activities, reports Barbados Free Press.


text:
Belarus: News Roundup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Most recent topics covered by TOL's Belarus Blog include: short-wave radio and “independent information” in Belarus; a proposed linguistic “upgrade” and other threats to the Belarusian language; scandals surrounding scholarship programs for persecuted students; Russian criticism of the Belarusian election law.


text:
Bermuda: Bermuda Maps · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Bermuda has released Bermuda Maps, its “own version of Google maps.” The Limey has a few criticisms, but in general he's pretty pleased with it.


text:
Bolivia: MIR & MBL Political Parties Out · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Miguel Centallas gives more background information on the decision by the National Electoral Court to rescind legal status of several national & regional parties.


text:
Botswana: Blogging in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS · Global Voices
Lulu Kitololo

Blogswana addresses HIV/AIDS stigma, promoting the internet as a tool for peer education and understanding to reduce stigma and encourage testing, treatment and disclosure.

author: Lulu Kitololo


text:
Brazil: The future of the Amazon? · Global Voices
David Sasaki

David of A Ride for the Climate is now in the Brazilian Amazon, where he visited the Instituto National de Pesquisas da Amazonia (INPA) to give a presentation and better understand what threatens the sustainability of the Amazon region. Also, a sort of table of contents from the South American portion of his trip.


text:
China: Lists · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Blogger's block, we all get it sometimes. Ruthless readers, our editors, don't have time for excuses. So what's a blogger to do? Lists! Here are few from the last few days of the Chinese blogsphere, ordered with a certain amount of thematic continuity:
遗传学的重大突破
我证明，胡子和痣也都是可以遗传的。不信请看：
这是鲁迅的孙子，他把鲁迅的胡子原封不动地地遗传了下来。
再请看：
这是老毛的外孙女，她把老毛下巴上的那颗痣也遗传了下来。因为她是女的，根据男左女右的古训，她下巴上的痣也移到了右边。
From genetic makeup to corporate framework, a post from IT blogger Keso: [zh]
从上面这张图，可以很清楚地看出：
互联网正在成为巨头之间的游戏；
单打独斗的历史已经终结，合作是竞争的必需；
搜索和广告成为合作关系得以建立的重要纽带和关键优势；
在主要业务上，Google与Yahoo!和微软之间，只有竞争，没有合作；
Google拥有更多的合作伙伴；
eBay可以同时与Yahoo!、Google合作，说明竞争的威胁远不如合作带来的利益重要；
今后一段时间内，搜索和广告将继续推进互联网公司之间的合作，而这些合作将由Google、Yahoo!和微软分别主导。
One huge story from the Chinese blogsphere this week has been that of a lawsuit filed against two Shanghai-based reporters by Shenzhen-based Taiwanese company FoxConn following the pair's exposé of working conditions in the company's factories. Amidst the resulting discussion was questioning of the Shenzhen court's motivations, a city known for its lawlessness, in a country where relationships between court officials and government bodies are often quite snug.
The compensation sought in the lawsuit has since been reduced from thirty million RMB to just one RMB, signalling a victory for the largely web-based backlash, and Guangdong-based blogger/Yangcheng Evening News [zh] web editor Wen Yunchao has some particular insight [zh] into why that might have been:
关于富士康的小道消息一则
中国时报说，富士康一改先前强硬姿态，主要是目前大陆政治气氛十分诡谲，广东方面不想让上海误以为广东在     落井下石，故求偿案经大陆媒体渲染开后，省委书记张德@江下令派出大批国安人员深入调查富士康所有的底细，最终让富士康转向。
An ‘e gao‘ of iPod supplier FoxConn from MindMeters blogger Fang Jun: [zh]
To keep the Southern China theme flowing smoothly, here's a post from Guangzhou-based blogger/South China Morning Post reporter Ivan Zhai in which he lists his most hardcore media worker friends’ blogs:
毕生死磕 It's A Hard Knock Life
僧面佛面 Monk Face/Buddha Face
媒体评论 Media Criticism
Universal traveller
爱上女主播 In Love With a Female Broadcaster [Mu Zimei]
世界中心 Center of the World
在路上的记录者 Notetaker On The Road
世界眼中的我们 In The World's Eyes’ Us
Neverland
茶余饭后 After Dinner, and Following Tea
飘 Drift
恬静 Tranquil
二房 #2 Woman
Ivan recently moved his blog from MSN Spaces to Netease [zh], the design of whose not-yet-released blogs look not-so-subtly familiar.
More from the South, a few days ago, Director General of the Guangdong Province Public Security Department Liang Guoju was quoted in the media claiming the provincial capitol Guangzhou to be one of the safest cities in the country. Guangzhou residents scoffed at the thought and A-list Chinese blogger Wang Xiaofeng, visiting the Southern China metropolis this week, asked in a post [zh], “if Guangzhou is safe, are there still dangerous places left on this planet?” In the same post he lists some comments netizens left in response to news portal Sina.com coverage:
——在广州、巴格达、贝鲁特三城市之中，广州是最安全的。
——标题应为：《歹徒一致认为：广州是最安全的城市之一》。特此更正，谢谢！
——最危险的地方就是最安全的地方。这个局长一定是古龙小说读多了。
——强烈支持梁国聚厅长!他说的是在广东省的省会城市中,广州市的治安是最好的.难道他说错了吗？？？
——厅长大人被评为2006年娱乐中国个人突出贡献奖。
——如果广州是最安全的城市，那全国的治安可见有多差了！
——厅长本人所处的地方肯定是最安全的。但老百姓呢？
——哈哈哈,这个笑话真好笑,这么有幽默感的官员第一次见。
——厅长说的没有错 我在省委附近住好几年了 没有一起案件。
——我宁可相信中国男子足球队夺得了世界杯冠军！
——全国其他省市的公安厅局长们，你们要想广州好好学习呀。广州都搞成最安全的了。
Whether Guangzhou deserves its reputation as wildest (or safest) place in China is a discussion which divides most residents, but the city definitely does provide its bloggers with lots of juicy blogworthy stories. Here's one, in listed detail [zh], from Guangzhou-based blogger/advertising professional Bu Chong [“Supplement”]:
1、我居住的小区门口贴有一张有公安印鉴的通缉令，悬赏6万元，追捕一个杀人抢劫嫌疑人，该嫌疑身上背有6条命案。
2、我老婆中学时代的好友小A，她的男朋友是广州天河区的警察。最近小A晚间出来与同学聚会，警察男友异常紧张，未到23点，就频频电话催促女友回家。询问原因，是夜间极度不安全，警方正在全市追捕另一个有更多命案的凶徒。他不肯透露更多的消息……警察为家属紧张成这样，教我如何不信他？
3、以体验派报道著称的《新快报》记者，在公共汽车上被迷药麻翻，手机被当众拿走……此报道很多人认为是假新闻……但闹得满城风雨，风声鹤唳。
4、广州治安良好，为什么要增加16万个摄像头？
Expanding on the state surveillance mentioned in that last point brings us to Zeng Jinyan, whose blog long ago became a guide to coping with life under state oppression. She has just posted a list of survival tips for China's politically-involved, prefaced by:
欧阳小戎失踪了，据说一起失踪的人还有小乔。失踪已经有好些天了。
我从未见过欧阳小戎，在网上读过他纯真又充满激情的诗。文如其人，是不会错的。春天时，他曾经也失踪。他回来后我们通过网络联系。
最近总能听见有人失踪的消息，或许需要一个人长久地列一个名单：谁什么时候失踪了，什么时候回来了，什么时候又失踪了。因为一个人一旦开始了第一次失踪，很容易有再一次失踪。
远离首都的公民、住在北京不知名胡同的市民、尚未结婚的年轻人、并非维权人士/知名人士只是凭良心说了几句话的人，要失踪多少天，才被别人发现？
Zeng's suggestions for safer social activism:
在健康和清醒的时候，写下遗嘱，并给身边亲密的几个人保存。
写下家人、友人的紧急联系方式，交给一起生活、经常见面的人。
对联系最密切的朋友说：如果X天联系不上我，请马上联系M人，并公布我失踪的信息。
养成独自冥想的习惯，以免被单独关押时精神失常。
培养温和、宽容的心态，就是对方打骂折磨，精神上也不受刺激。
不到不得已，不要以身体作为反抗的武器，千方百计保持身体的安康。
与其和“兵”讲道理，不如安静地蓄精养锐。
沉默是被关押时最好的选择，否则你不以为意地说的话，都会成为陷害你以及你的亲友的工具。如：问——你2006年8月1日干什么了？答——我没干什么违法的事，只是和我的好朋友S吃晚饭、讨论Y的诗歌。那么，至少你的朋友S和Y的诗歌，会受牵连，被骚扰甚至陷害。
尽人事听天命。
In some Zeng-related news, Xu Zhiyong—the lawyer of Chen Guangcheng, a friend of Zeng who is frequently mentioned on her blog and was sentenced to four years in prison last week—has just had his blog shut down.

author: John Kennedy


text:
Cuba: Ricardo Pau-Llosa · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Geoffrey Philp kicks off his series of “Five Questions” interviews with Caribbean writers by talking to Cuban-American author Ricardo Pau-Llosa.


text:
D.R. of Congo: In the Shadows of Leopold · Global Voices
Lulu Kitololo

To intervene or not to intervene? The Black Star Journal explores contradicting views on the role of foreign interventions in Africa with particular reference to the Democratic Republic of Congo.


text:
El Salvador: Cases of Corruption · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Qué Joder has a link to a powerpoint presentation of cases of corruption (ES) during the presidency (1999 – 2004) of Francisco Flores.