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Kenya: is Kenya prepared? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Life, Universe, and Everything writes about the preparations for the World Social Forum in Kenya,
“Apparently, they don't want to put up the attendees in hostels, since they want a certain minimum level of comfort for them. However, should these beds not be identified, then they will have to resort to hostels. A final solution should the hostels not be enough is to host them in tents. As Majonzi asks, where were the Kenyan authorities during all this time they knew the event would be here that they did not to go into action and make early preperations? It certainly boggles the mind.”


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Malaysia: Taking Over Malaysian Slogan from Porn Sites · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Malayu Boleh is a popular slogan often used in Malaysia. The phrase is meant to encourage the malay people and it means “Malays Can”. People widely search for this phrase online. Several porn sites have optimised their sites in such a way that the search results for this phrase leads the searcher to their sites. Ah ok lah links to an effort by a Malaysian netpreneur to claim the slogan back from porn sites.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Preetam Rai


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Missing in Cambodia: Eddie Gibson · Global Voices
Tharum Bun

It was in October 2004, when 19-year-old Eddie Gibson traveled to Cambodia from Thailand and went missing. Until today nobody knows the whereabouts of the English backpacker. The parents are now in Cambodia and they have offered a reward for information on Eddie Gibson.
His last email to his mother, Jo, on 24 October mentioned that he was looking forward to returning home in East Sussex. Eddie Gibson did not appear when his family went to meet him off the plane, which left Bangkok on 1 November.
After 2 years his mother is still desperate for news of her beloved son. “I think the answer lies with the Cambodians, and I still believe that somebody in that country knows what has happended to Eddie,” she wroted and post all relevant information on a web site dedicated to the mystery of the missing of the former Leeds University student.
His parents, Mike and Jo, have setup the site, Eddie Gibson Missing in Cambodia, to provide necessary information as part of their efforts in the search that involves local authorities, a private investigator, and UK police.
Posters of the missing UK national Eddie Gibson distributed in many parts of Cambodia. Picture originally posted by: Sopheak
Cambodian blogger Sopheak, who usually writes in Khmer, amplified the news:
Guy De Launey, BBC News correspondentwrote: Cambodia is becoming increasingly popular as a holiday destination for backpackers and gap-year students who are interested in the low cost of living that makes for a cheap long-term stay. Although Cambodia has been at peace for seven years, there are still hazards for visitors.
However, Saha, Cambodian-born blogger in the United States commented on the news of the mysterious disappearence of the young English fellow:
It is obvious the son fled  his parents on his own free will.  However, there might be some foul play, as Eddie was apparently involve in gambling.  He may have owed someone lots of money.  Even so, his parents are well off, and he had enough connections to escape.  This leads me to believe that he “chose” to flee his parents.  For whatever reason, he does not want to be discover.  I feel sorry for his parents because it is difficult when your child disappear without a good reason.

author: Tharum Bun


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Moldova: Short History · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Mihai Moscovici writes about the history of Moldova as viewed by the country's embassy in the United States.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Nepal: Eyes on Nepal · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

International eyes on developments in Nepal. More at Nepal Monitor. “The newly-appointed UN General Secretary BAN KI-MOON proposes a 12-month UN Mission in Nepal to monitor the peace process and the Constituent Assembly elections. The UNSC is expected to ratify his report soon.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Nepal: Wireless in Nepal · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Wagle Street Journal celebrates wireless in Nepal. “Laptop owners lined up since yesterday in front of the Nepal Telecom stall as the Kathmandu Post had carried news about the card on front page.”


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Romania: Best of Everything · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Csikszereda Musings presents the Best of Romania Awards 2007.


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Russia, Belarus: “Friendship” Pipeline?.. · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar thinks that it's time for the Druzhba (“Friendship”) pipeline to be renamed.


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Russia: “The Hounds of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

White Sun of the Desert writes about Yuzhno-Sakhalinks dogs – and posts a photo of a pack of strays living in his backyard.


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Serbia: Boring CNN Ads · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Serbia's promo ads appear on CNN, and Belgrade 2.0 posts a review: “Honestly, it looks pretty boring and unimaginative. Lots of static pictures, not enough life and it doesn’t really strike you as something to remember. Hopefully we’ll get some odd naive tourist that falls for this kind of advertisement.”


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Slovenia: “We Don’t Want Your Money” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

In a country that has just switched to a different currency – Slovenia – money seems to have become a really relative notion, writes The L Files.


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Tajikistan: Mother’s Best Friend · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Candide describes the gahvora, the cradle used in Tajikistan and other parts of Asia, which, the author says, is the mother's best friend because it has “everything the baby needs for a good, safe sleep.”

author: Nathan Hamm


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Tanzania: a Panther in Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

My Africa Today writes about Pete O'Neal, one of the last American exiles, “O’Neal fled the country, and has lived in Tanzania for over 30 years. He is one of the last American exiles from an era when activists considered themselves at war with the US government.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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The Balkans: Popularity in Centimeters · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Novala, Europa measures the Balkan states’ popularity in centimeters.


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Ukraine: Accordion Music · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukraine List writes about Ukrainian accordion musicians.


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Ukraine: Lugansk and Other Problems · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes reports on the tariffs war fallout in Lugansk and other problems clogging Ukrainian politics.


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Ukraine: “Unreal Estate” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Orange Ukraine writes on the situation with land and real estate in Kyiv and the rest of the country.


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Armenia: Landmark Ruling · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian says that the decision by the European Court of Human Rights to rule in favor of an opposition activist in Armenia is a landmark ruling that he hopes will encourage Armenians to stand up for their rights. He also notes that the English-language Diasporan blogging community largely ignores stories such as this.


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Armenia: New Year’s Recovery Advice · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Zarchka offers helpful advice for overcoming the aftermath of the days of feasting following New Year's in Armenia.


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Bahamas: Governor General’s Youth Award · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Larry Smith outlines the history of the Governor General's Youth Award scheme, which teaches young people “skills outside of the classroom such as leadership, self-confidence and teamwork.”

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Bangla blogs debate: Saddam or Bush – who is more guilty?  · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

The year 2006 ended with the big news of Saddam Hussein’s execution in Iraq. Footage of his hanging was leaked on the Internet leaving many aghast at the manhandling he was subjected to in his dying hours. The blog world has been abuzz with outpourings of feelings towards the event and the rumble was felt in the Bangla blog world. In Bangladesh, the initial reaction among a section of bloggers was that of outrage, especially given that the execution was carried out on the first day of Eid, a day of great religious significance for Muslims. The video footage added fuel to this anger. Despite the fact that the execution was carried out by the Iraqi government, bloggers have had heated arguments regarding the role of the US in the entire scheme of things. This perception led to bloggers condemning the hanging itself.
While commenting on the video, Ali pointed out the anger that was spilling onto the streets of Iraq. In his post he also commented on Bush's failed policy in Iraq and the innumerable deaths that have mounted as a result if it.
Anrinya and Abu Saleh felt that Saddam’s hanging was less of an execution resulting from fair trial and more of a murder. Saleh also felt that the date of the hanging was dictated by the US as a warning and to Muslims in general. In his post he denounced the US aggression in Iraq and called for the Muslims to unite against such oppression and insult.
Fajle Ilahi also voiced his suspicions of a conspiracy with regards to the date chosen for Saddam’s hanging. He then used the occasion to ruminate on the current turmoil in post-Saddam Iraq. He blamed the allied forces of US and Britain, who, according to him, are working to appease the Jewish (and anti-Muslim) lobby in bringing ruin to an Islamic country. If Saddam deserved death for killing 148 people, he asked, what punishment ought to be meted to Bush and Blair for the far larger number of deaths and the chaos that they have brought to Iraq? Like Saleh above, Ilahi also called for Muslim unity to fight the aggression of the West.
Some other bloggers, while admitting Saddam’s atrocities, felt a surge of pity at his execution, especially after seeing the video footage of him getting heckled. In a way, the video and the inopportune date worked in tandem to create the image of Saddam as being more sinned against than sinner. As the discussions grew, some even went to the extent of calling him a martyr. At this point, Alvi called for introspection, saying that in the process of vilifying Bush, people ought not to beatify Saddam, a cruel dictator.
Interestingly, the death video also sparked a debate on the larger issue of death penalty itself. Citing some other cases where death penalty was awarded in India, Trivial Bytes wondered if capital punishment was an effective deterrent or whether it should be reviewed.

author: Aparna Ray


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Bermuda: Bloggers featured in local paper · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Bermudian Christian Dunleavy links to a Royal Gazette article entitled “Have you joined Bermuda's blogosphere,” which features four of the island's most popular bloggers (himself included). Philip Wells, one of the bloggers, posts the photo which accompanies the article on his blog and runs a caption competition. “Go on, make fun of us,” he says. “You know you want to.”


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Bolivia: “Walking the Battle Zone” · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Jim Shultz, Miguel Buitrago, and Boz on the escalating violence in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Bolivia Rising translates a note seeking an end to the conflict from the MAS website.

author: David Sasaki


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Brunei: Meet the bloggers · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Emmagoodegg posts a photo gallery of bloggers in Brunei.


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Cambodia: Child Pornography · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Vutha is concerned about the spread of child pornography in Cambodia. “Presently, porn VCDs have been selling on the market and spreading throughout the country even to small distant remote village. So that, the government have obligation to take strong action against the sales and import of porn VCDs and should not allow playing pornographic VCDs at café.”


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Cambodia: Selling and Buying Sex · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Mungkol and a friend are having a discussion on selling and buying sex. The blogger has a mini-survey for his readers to find out some of the moral and ethical issues involved.


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Cameroon: meaningful elections? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Blogging at the sub-Saharan Africa Roundtable, Evan Weinberger wonders whether Cameroon is about to have free and fair elections,  “After two more seriously flawed presidential elections, the last in 2004, Cameroon is getting set for parliamentary elections later this year. Civic groups, led by the Catholic Church, have pushed for significant electoral reforms, including an independent electoral commission to replace the presidential-appointed National Elections Observatory.”


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Chile: Pork Sandwiches, Rising Rates, and Political Scandal · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Beginning with a description of “the best real food I have eaten in Santiago de Chile in my three years here” and ending with the varied political obstacles facing President Bachelet and her corruption-plagued ruling party coalition, la Concertación, Tomás Dinges has put together a beautifully comprehensive look at Chile at the beginning of 2007 and how it got there.


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China: digital consumers · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Frank Yu has a post in one millions users about the habit and culture of middle class digital consumers in China.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: forced closure of migrant school · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chen Peijin in Shanghaiist has summaried local reports on the forced closure of migrant school in Shanghai:  In January 5th, 300 policemen closed down. One report from the Chinese media says that the school was “unsafe” and that was the reason why it was closed.


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China: job discrimination · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Brian Black from China Challenge quotes from a survey: About 85% of more than 3,400 respondents from 10 big cities in China said that job discrimination was a ‘way of life in jobs.’


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China: support for human rights activist · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Celia in China activist weekly calls for reader's support to human rights activist Guo Feixiong, who has been hunger-striking for 25 days in prison to protest against his torture by prison guards who want to extract a confession from him.


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Cicarelli Case: Censorship and Boycott Dialectics in the Brazilian Blogosphere · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

Almost everybody with an Internet connection in Brazil has already seen Daniela Cicarelli's steamy video on the web since it first appeared four months ago and got linked on the first page of the main news portals. Funny as it is, the recent blocking of YouTube to many internauts in the country was the response of two large fixed-line telephone operators to a judicial order meant to prevent Brazilians from seeing what they had already seen — scenes of the supermodel, MTV hostess, and ex-wive of football star Ronaldo having intimate exchanges with her boyfriend Tato Malzoni in a beach near the Spanish city of Cadiz.
As a result the case has made headlines worldwide during the last weekend, which in combination with the blogosphere reverb effect has set the video audience into an exponential growth. The censored video piece is now hosted in a slew of other video services all over the web, which is totally against the [alleged] purpose of the YouTube blocking in Brazil, and very much confirms the Net's capability of naturally working around obstacles to it's free flow of information. Brazilian bloggers are not happy with the censorship and, as expected, Daniela earned her own personal boycott campaign website:
…parabenizamos a senhora Daniela Cicarelli pelos esforços em legitimar todos os estereótipos de modelos-e-apresentadoras como pessoas frívolas e imbecis. Senão, vejamos: primeiro, casa com o pobre Ronaldo em um palácio chamado Chantilly e separa-se apenas 86 dias depois, supostamente recebendo R$ 15 milhões de indenização — o que daria R$ 7.267 por hora. Depois, transa em uma praia da Espanha à vista de todo mundo, inclusive de um paparazzo, e fica irritada quando o vídeo é publicado. Em vez de ficar quieta e deixar o assunto morrer, resolve entrar na Justiça e causar um bloqueio do YouTube para os clientes da BrT. De quebra, incorre na ira dos internautas e consegue, praticamente sozinha, colocar o Brasil na companhia de países inimigos da Internet como Cuba, China e Irã.
Parabéns, Cicarelli – Martelada
Não me venham com papos sobre direito de imagem e o escambáu. Conheço os argumentos de cor e salteado, e o fato é o seguinte: pessoa pública tem um direito à imagem deste tamanhozinho quando se trata do que faz em lugar público (Chico Buarque sofreu as conseqüências disso recentemente, só pra citar um exemplo). Quer privacidade? Vá para um motel. Se um paparazzo invadir o quarto, ou se uma câmera escondida gravar imagens, aí cabe processo e o diabo. Agora, na praia? Faça-me o favor. Aceite o risco pelo seu comportamento, Daniella, colha os louros do destaque que isso lhe rendeu e feche a boca.
Cicarelli, censura e a estupidez da Justiça brasileira –  Dia de Folga
Este blog foi criado para defender um Brasil sem censura, onde os interesses de um não prejudique o interesse de todos!…  Se a ex do Ronaldo Gordo acha que tem o direito de trepar num lugar público freqüentado por famílias com crianças e depois fica chateada de um cara qualquer filmar e colocar na web, isso é um problema dela. O que não é direito, é prejudicar todos os Brasileiros que utilizam o youtube porque os dois não agüentaram o suficiente para fazerem safadezas para um quarto de motel!…Por isso, vamos acabar com o mal pela raiz! Vamos boicotar a Cicarelli até que ela desista de suas intenções! Se ela se sente prejudicada pelo vídeo, então que processe o youtube, mas que não prejudique os milhões de Brasileiros que o utilizam nem abra precedentes obscuros!
Uma breve explicação sobre este blog – Boicote a Cicarelli
The explosive reaction of the internauts was somehow fueled by the extensive coverage of the YouTube blocking by TV news. So it was not by chance that Cicarelli entered the circuit by giving an interview to ‘Jornal da Globo’ — one of the main Brazilian news show — where she declared that her boyfriend, Brazilian banker Renato [Tato] Malzoni, was the one who filed the legal case which resulted in YouTube being shut off until Tuesday. Bloggers were quick to find out that her story presented some inconsistencies, and that her interview could be part of a strategy to save her image — or maybe to save MTV from the boycott.
O CicaGate (qualquer cacofonia é puramente acidental) sofreu uma reviravolta depois que a injustiçada Ex-Ronaldinha Daniella Cicarelli foi pra TV chorar suas lágrimas de Heloisa Helena dizendo-se injustiçada, pois não tinha NADA a ver com o processo que fechou o YouTube. Não é assim que a banda toca. Vejamos então uma análise sob o ponto de vista jurídico, feita pelo Zictor, primeiro caso de autor auto-convidado da história do Contraditorium: “Naquela entrevistazinha falsa para o Jornal da Globo (Que está no Youtube, eheheh), ela quer passar a imagem de que não tem nada a ver com a história, de que nem vai ganhar indenização. MENTIRA. Ela é parte na ação principal, aquela que pede uma indenização. O pedido “isolado” de Tato foi feito dentro do âmbito da MESMA AÇÃO, baseado numa decisão anterior dentro da MESMA AÇÃO.
CicaGate: Uma visão legal do imbroglio – Contraditorium
…não foi por iniciativa própria que a modelo veio a público (deu até entrevista ao “Jornal da Globo”) afirmar que o responsável pelo processo foi Tato Malzoni (o objetivo era que o vídeo em que ela aparece em cenas picantes com Tato na praia saísse do ar). Foi a direção da MTV que pressionou Cicarelli a se virar para livrar a barra da emissora, caso contrário poderia até perder o emprego. Os fãs do You Tube ficaram revoltados e fizeram protesto para boicotar a MTV. A emissora diz que ela entrou com a ação, depois desistiu, e que o namorado de Cicarelli decidiu dar continuidade ao processo. Um protesto de fãs do You Tube para pedir a demissão da modelo está marcado para amanhã, às 13h, na porta da MTV, em SP.
Daniela é ameaçada de demissão na MTV – Zapping / Ilustrada
From what we observe in this case, good old strategies that used to work well in similar situations some years ago are backfiring one after the other.
“Embora revestidos de legitimidade a maioria desses protestos no fundo compartilha dos mesmos desvalores que quer atacar pois fomenta a censura a um canal de televisão. Além disso nos parece que há muitas outras questões carentes de protestos no Brasil e a MTV sempre se prontificou a debatê-las.” Essa pérola aí de cima, foi destacada da nota oficial da MTV sobre o caso Cicarelli… a MTV devia ter ficado na dela!
Nota Oficial da MTV – Blog do CeJunior
Uma “empresa que sempre lutou pela liberdade de expressão” não deveria confundir boicote com censura… quem pode censurar pessoas e canais de TV e bloquear sites é o Estado. Se o cidadão discordar do Estado tem como instrumento fundamental para a mudança o voto. Boicote é o instrumento que o consumidor tem para influenciar as decisões das empresas privadas…. Ou seja, o consumidor vota com o bolso.
MTV defende Cicarelli e confunde boicote com censura… spin cara dura – br.br101.org
… depois de acusar os milhares de indignados de “autoritários”, pela iniciativa de boicote a marca MTV, e ainda assim se dizer adepta da liberdade de expressão, a MTV mais uma vez foi flagrada em uma atitude repugnante. Jabá, hipocrisia e imoralidade, é isso a espinha dorsal da emissora.
MTV mente para defender Cicarelli e bloqueio do Youtube – Smoking Cobra
Brazilian judges who produced the order which resulted in YouTube's blocking were also caught in the wave of protests around the case. The appeals court judge who wrote the sentence soon found out that some strategy should be put in practice in order to revert the explosion of criticism from the blogosphere. Although seeing a positive side in YouTube's temporary blocking, as an indication that global Internet companies must adhere to local legislation, judge Ênio Santarelli Zuliani was fast in reverting the judicial order's result by explaining that the block should affect only the disputed video piece and not the whole site. Legal specialists are seeing the case as an opportunity to develop concepts that will help dealing with similar situations in the future.
E o dotô Desembargadô continua firme e forte no “sinal do YouTube”:
“5. O relator agradece o empenho com que as operadoras agiram quando receberam os ofícios do Juízo de Primeiro Grau, para que fosse cumprida a decisão. Acredita-se que o fechamento completo do sinal de acesso ocorreu por dificuldades técnicas de ser criado o filtro que impeça o acesso ao vídeo do casal. Mas, não foi essa a determinação, pois o que se ordenou foi o emprego de mecanismo que bloqueasse o acesso a endereços eletrônicos que divulgam o vídeo, cuja proibição foi determinada por decisão judicial. Não há, inclusive, referência para corte do sinal na hipótese de ser inviável a providência determinada.
6. Para que ocorra execução sem equívocos, determina o relator que se expeça ofício ao digno Juízo para que mande restabelecer o sinal do site Youtube, solicitando que as operadoras restabeleçam o acesso e informem ao Tribunal as razões técnicas da suposta impossibilidade de serem bloqueados os endereços eletrônicos.”
Sem Tato – O Hermeneuta
Como fazer quando um vídeo gravado na Espanha é colocado em um portal dos Estados Unidos por um cidadão qualquer, afetando um cidadão de outro país? Em minha opinião, é a Justiça nacional que tem a obrigação de zelar pelos direitos individuais dos seus cidadãos… É apenas um início de discussão, mas que se torna cada vez mais premente. Esse conflito de jurisdição entre o nacional e o global se fará cada vez mais presente, à medida em que a Internet ampliar seu espaço. E é bobagem tentar caracterizar a atitude do Juiz como censura. Ele está cumprindo suas atribuições, em um campo em que praticamente não existe ainda jurisprudência adequada.
O Caso YouTube – Luis Nassif Online
A dificuldade de se cumprir a ordem da Justiça — suspensão da veiculação de um específico vídeo num site — deve-se a questões técnicas, ou seja, à conformação do software empregado na disponibilização do material na rede mundial de computadores. Se houvesse um filtro capaz de “obedecer” à determinação dos juízes, o YouTube não poderia alegar dificuldades em atender à ordem de suspensão. Este filtro deveria ser capaz de automaticamente impedir que qualquer internauta pudesse postar novamente o vídeo da Cicarelli, depois de ele ser removido. Mas o filtro não existe e sua implementação tende a ser custosa. Na estruturação do Código do YouTube (do software), ele era plenamente dispensável em vista dos objetivos do site e do jovial culto à liberdade de manifestação, que inspira sua proposta. Se a modelo e seu namorado não tivessem se excedido nas libidinosas carícias ou se não tivessem ido aos tribunais procurar barrar a divulgação do vídeo, as discussões em torno da tese sobre a regência das ações no cyberspace pelo software (e não pelo ordenamento jurídico) não teriam ainda um fato real tão significativo e mundialmente difundido para tomar por referência. Quem diria. Cicarelli ainda nos faz filosofar.
Cicarelli faz filosofar – Consultor Jurídico
One interesting thing about the Brazilian cyberspace is its quickness in creatively responding to the issues gathering noticeable amount of attention. Cicarelli's case is not different, and the reply this time comes in the form of a health campaign sponsored by the state of Rio Grande Sul which is now the big hit in the Brazilian youtubesphere. We hope that Google's filters are good enough to distinguish the parody from the original…
Enquanto a briga Google versus Cicarelli fica mais acirrada, a Secretaria da Saúde do Rio Grande do Sul fez uma bela paródia do vídeo proibido da ex-esposa de Ronaldo para uma campanha de alerta contra o mosquito da dengue que, como se sabe, se reproduz na água.
Mosquito no vídeo da Daniella Cicarelli –  Reporter Net
À Folha, a modelo comentou ainda a campanha da Secretaria de Saúde do Rio Grande do Sul, que fez uma sátira com dois atores fantasiados de mosquitos da dengue em uma praia para mostrar que o inseto “se reproduz em qualquer lugar”. “Achei uma grande falta de respeito. Um órgão de saúde fazendo isso! Uma falta de respeito descomunal”, comentou.
Cicarelli comenta o caso YouTube para a imprensa – Nilton Tio Sam
We will keep following the issue in order to bring relevant updates to the interested readers.

author: Jose Murilo


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Cochabamba in Mourning – Bolivian Bloggers React · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Paz (Peace)Photo used with permission by Flickr user Miskifotitos.
“Pueblo vs. Pueblo” (People vs. People) is how the blogger at Voz Boliviana [ES] described the clash between citizens in Cochabamba, Bolivia’s fourth-largest city and left many lamenting and angry at the course of events, which left 2 dead and close to 200 injured.  It started with a protest in the city’s main plaza, 14 de septiembre, demanding for the resignation of the department’s prefect or governor, Manfred Reyes Villa, who stands in opposition to the national government.  The prefect wished to call for a department-wide referendum on autonomy, as he argued that the departmental governments should have more economic and political autonomy.  In mid-2006, the department had voted “No” on the nationwide referendum on this very subject, which passed in 4 of the 9 departments.  Many in the government’s social-movement base, including members of the coca-growers federation saw this call as an act of provocation.
The coca-growers originate from the rural part of the department called the Chapare, and they descended to the departmental capital, Cochabamba, whose central precincts incidentally voted “Yes” for autonomy.  In the plaza, the group clashed with police, as there are arguments as to who provoked who, and as a result the governmental building was burned.  In addition, blockades began to materialize at various strategic points across the city that did not allow for free transit or goods to enter the city.  There were reports that some of these social movements ordered the shut down of water flow to the city.  As these actions continued to pile up, a group calling themselves “Juventud por la Democracia” (Youth for Democracy) announced a peaceful march, but it soon became one of confrontation.  They resolved that if the groups occupying the city’s main plaza did not leave, that they would be removed by force.  Late afternoon on Thursday, the two groups met along various points in the city main promenade El Prado, where two Bolivians were found dead, one killed by a bullet wound and the other macheted and strangled.
This course of event set off a multitude of reactions by the Bolivian blogosphere.  Many had their own versions and interpretation of the course of events.  Questions arose over who provoked who and who was at fault.  Alvaro Ruiz Navajas returned to blogging at Off-Topic with his own version of Frequently Asked Questions.
As the blogger continues on in Voz Boliviana he/she firmly states that the conflict was a clash between the middle/upper class and the poor.
Lo de ayer en Cochabamaba ya no es cuestión de tendencias políticas o ideologicas. La gente que se enfrento ayer fue la clase media – alta y los pobres. Para estos ultimos jugarse la vida en bloqueos, paros y marchas no tienen nada de nuevo… sus vidas miserables por la precaria situación económica, los lleva a que arriesguen todo y sin temor a perder nada.
Para la clase media – alta la situación es similar. Sienten que se estan jugando el todo por el todo, desde que el gobierno ha asumido el poder. Decir que la clase media – alta es derechista solo por el hecho de apoyar a la oposición es un analisis flojo. La clase media – alta critica en la misma medida que lo hacen los izquierdistas a este sistema, pero se apega a aquellos que le prometen cierta seguridad y estabilidad, y lamentablemente eso lo ha hecho inteligentemente la derecha.
What happened yesterday in Cochabamba is no longer a question of political leanings or ideologies.  The people that clashes yesterday were the middle to upper class and the poor.  For the latter, participating in blockades, strikes and marches is nothing new..their sad lives due to the economic situation leads them to risk everything with nothing to lose.
For the middle to upper class, their situation is similar.  They feel like they are gambling it all ever since this government took power.  To say that the middle to upper class is right-wing only because they support the opposition is a lazy analysis.  The middle to upper class mimicks what the left does to this system, but they stick to those that promise certain amount of security and stability and unfortunately, that is what the right smartly has done.
Overwhelmingly, the Bolivian bloggers hoped that the situation would settle down and many lived the day firsthand.  Gabriel Iriarte summarized a phone call he received that day that demonstrates the levels of high emotions that ran that afternoon.
Hoy a las de las 16:45 ¡ una llamada a mi celular, tengo el número registrado es el 70741740. Un chico me dio su nombre, apellidaba Coronel. Y me dijo “Gabo, vamos a la marcha por la democracia a pegar campesinos”. No sé cómo este sujeto tenía mi celular, ni cómo sabía mi nombre. Yo en mi asombro no supe qué responder y sólo le dije que no conocía a nadie con su nombre, luego cortó. Supongo que se equivocó de Gabo, pero ese no es el punto. Automóviles recorrían la zona norte de la ciudad con altavoces convocando a la gente a sumarse a esta marcha. Y ahí comenzó la debacle que dejó cerca de 100 heridos y 2 muertos. El prefecto es un sinvergüenza manipulador a quien no le importa enviar a la población civil y decirle que expulsen a campesinos de la ciudad (ellos son habitantes del departamento y tienen derecho de protestar en la capital)
Today at 16:45, I received a call on my cell phone, I still have the number registered – 70741740.  A male told me his name, last name Coronel.  He said, “Gabo, let’s go the march for democracy and let’s go hit campesinos.”  I don’t know how this guy had my cell phone number or how he knew my  name.  During the surprise, I didn’t know how to respond and I said that I didn’t know anyone by his name, then I hung up.  I suppose he confused with another Gabo, but that’s not the point.  Cars drove up and down the North part of the city with speakers calling people to join the march.  That’s where the entire debacle started that left close to 100 injured and 2 dead.  The prefect is a shameless manipulator that does not care about sending civilians to expulse the famers from the city (they are residents of the department and have the right to protest in the capital).
Flickr User Jorge aka miskifotos was on the ground in Cochabamba taking pictures and providing descriptions.  This photo is of the group called Youth for Democracy marching down the Liberator Bolivar avenue.  Youtube user Araoza also filmed short clips from the battle scene.
This aggression towards each other did leave one from each side dead: Nicomedes Gutiérrez (34) y Christian Urresti Ferrel (17). Andres Pucci published an  letter, which was from an unconfirmed source from a former classmate of the killed youth. The anonymous blogger Morir Antes Esclavos Vivir writes a tribute to young Christian.
Many bloggers drew the connection between the fact that many on the pro-government side were coca-growers, whose maximum leader is President Evo Morales.  The current Bolivian president rose through the political ranks as leader of these groups, and was reelected even after obtaining the country’s highest office.  Hugo Miranda aka Angel Caido [ES] faults the president for the conflict, as he could have easily ordered his base to retreat and things would not have had occurred the way that it did.
The blame placed on the President continues, but also some hoped that he could be one of the few that could actually cease the violence.  Upon his return from Nicaragua where he attended the inauguration of Daniel Ortega, he participated in a press conference.  Many hoped that he would say just the right things. Sebastian Molina of Plan B [ES] summarized what Morales did say and what he did not say.  Molina believed that the speech seemed to leave out a lot of mention of the deaths, injured, attacks on journalists or that peace should return. Others found it ironic that on dates that violence would erupt in Bolivia, that Morales would be nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.  Willy Andres didn’t think the Morales has done enough to “promote peace.”
Some bloggers are trying to do their small part in standing in solidarity with peace.  Estido of Cronicas Urbandinas [ES]  created a solidarity logo for others to place on their blogs. Sergio Asturizaga of Así como me ves me tienes [ES] admits that the President is losing some support, “The government thinks that it still has 54% of the votes, but it forgets that it was not just the rural population that voted for them.  There were others that voted for a political change for a change in the people.”
Photo used with permission by Flickr user Miskifotitos.
Some bloggers found themselves supporting Reyes Villa without regard whether one supports him, but because he was elected democratically.  Isabella Fuente of Ergoth [ES] said:
Manfred Reyes es elegido democráticamente. Más allá de que me guste o no me guste, él es el Prefecto. Como diría Jose Gramunt “Y no es que aquí se pidan simpatías por el Prefecto, pero nadie le podrá discutir que fue elegido en comicios limpios”. No está bien desconocerlo, ni intentar sacarlo por cualquier medio porque no piensa igual, menos quemar la Prefectura, destrozar las calles y destruir la ciudad porque no me gusta su bigote.
Manfred Reyes is elected democratically, regardless if I like or dislike him, he is the Prefect.  As Jose Gramunt said, “It is not like we ask for sympathy for the Prefect, but no one can argue that he was elected in fair elections.”  It is not okay to not recognize his legitimacy, nor try to get rid of thim by whatever means necessary because he doesn’t think the same, less to burn the Prefecture building, destroy the streets and destroy the city because I don’t like his moustache.”
However, the blogger Ciudadano K [ES] calls for Reyes Villa to resign, which elicited many comments that disagreed with this point of view.
Regardless of who was to blame, there was one that placed a lot of the blame on himself.
Carlos Hugo Molina, the former Prefect of Santa Cruz, write in his blog Ágora [ES] that he feels responsible for this mess.  He writes this, not as a former Prefect, but as a Christian.
Por no haber sido más firme en hacer valer mi calidad de ciudadano amante de la Paz.
Por haber sido condescendiente con la estupidez vestida de razones oficiales.
Por no haber pedido que guarde silencio quien sostenía que la salida violenta es la única alternativa politica.
Por no haber reaccionado cuando escuché que había llegado la hora del “desempate catastrófico”
Por no haberme dado cuenta que el discurso y las actitudes intolerantes de las cúpulas indigenistas, están generando odio racial.  Igual al que sembramos los que nos creíamos blancos.
Por no haber hecho lo suficiente para que la derecha irresponsable siga con un discurso y una actitud soberbía y prepotente
Por no haber desterrado de mis palabras y actitudes las frases “indio de mierda”, “colla maldito”, “camba hijo de puta.”
Por no haberle pedido más firmemente a los ligeros de palabra que dejen de sembrar el odio y la confrontación.
Porque si hubiera hecho algo más de todo esto,  Nicomedes Gutiérrez (34) y Christian Urresti Ferrel (17), seguramente hoy estarían con nosotros.
Pido perdón.
For not standing more firm as a citizen who loves peace.
For being condescending with stupidity disguised by official reasons
For not telling to be quiet those that said that violence was the only political alternative
For not reacting when I heard that we have come to the “tiebreaking catastrophe”
For not realizing that the rhetoric and intolerance by some indigenist groups were creating racial hatred, the same goes for those that think of ourselves as white.
For not doing enough so that the irresponsible right does not continue with proud and arrogant rhetoric
For not banishing my words and attitudes of the phrases “Indian full of shit”, “damn colla”, “camba son of a bitch”
For not asking more firmly those who use words lightly that they should stop encouraging hate and confrontation.
If I did a little more than this, Nicomedes Gutiérrez (34) y Christian Urresti Ferrel (17), surely would be here with us today.
I ask for forgiveness.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Costa Rica: Talk of crime · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Noting the big increase in expat talk about crime in Costa Rica My Dos Colones links to some recent (and depressing) stories about just that.


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Croatia: Human Rights Watch Report · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Neretva River discusses the 2007 Human Rights Watch report on Croatia: “Interestingly (or troublingly) the report completely ignored the status of Roma and other more recent (and more rapidly growing) minority groups settling in Croatia, for example immigrants from China, who like Croatian Serbs, have found themselves the targets of xenophobic attacks.”


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Cuba: Chino-Cubano · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Following on a post in which she wondered about the existence of an authentic Caribbean-Chinese cuisine, TriniFood learns of the existence of “Chino-Cubano” (Chinese-Cuban) cuisine.


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Cuba: Mother of Guantánamo prisoner · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Zenia, in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, posts a photograph of a woman holding a postage stamp-sized photo of a man, with the caption (ES): “Zhora Zewawi, mother of a prisoner in the United State's illegal prison of in Guantánamo, denounced the tragedy of his son Omar Deghayes.” A demonstration was held yesterday at the Guantánamo Naval Base demanding the closure of the facility's prison, where nearly 400 men are being held on suspicion of terrorism.


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Estonia: Soviet Monument · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Itching for Eestimaa writes about the ongoing controversy around a monument to the Soviet soldiers in Tallinn: “Every Russian person that finds themselves the victim of Russophobia and Western mistrust today owes a great deal of their position to Mr. Djugashvili. His government killed millions, and yet very few of the war criminals in it were ever held accountable for their crimes. And so, 60 years after it was erected, some Estonians find accountability in an old bronze statue.”


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Fiji: Fiji’s Council of Chiefs And the New Government · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Stuck in the Mud of Fiji says that Fiji's Great Council of Chiefs that had initially refused to endorse the new government set up by coup leader General Frank Bainimarama has now decided to support it. Despite the support, the blogger wants to see how they resolve their difference with the army on  key issues facing Fiji.


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Guadeloupe, Montserrat: Soufriere Hills  Volcano Eruption · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Guadeloupe Attitude writes (Fr): “Mrs. Deborah Jones, Governor of the British island of Montserrat, ordered yesterday the evacuation of the volcano's North West zone. About 50 households are involved. La Soufriere Hills began erupting about a week ago. Monday, smoke columns over 7 kilometers high seeped out of it and the volcano spat out numerous volcanic rocks, an imminent danger to neighbors. We … in Guadeloupe hold our Montserrat brothers affectionately in our thoughts.”

author: Alice Backer


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Guadeloupe: No Correlation Between Earthquake and Smooth Abolition of Slavery · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Guadeloupe Attitude reposts an article by Claude Thiebaut concluding that (Fr) contrary to a prior theory, an 1843 earthquake in Guadeloupe did not contribute (through what was thought to be newfound solidarity in the face of the disaster) to the relatively smooth abolition of slavery in 1848.


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Guatemala: New Micro-Hydroelectric Project · Global Voices
David Sasaki

The Guatemala Solidarity Network details a new micro-hydroelectric Project in El Palmar built by the non-profit-backed renewable energy company, XelaTeco.


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Guinea-Bissau: Former PM seeks asylum after accusing the nation’s president of murder · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

Assata Speaks reports that Guinea-Bissau's interior minister had issued an arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr. earlier Wednesday. The arrest order followed allegations by Gomes that President Joao Bernardo Vieira was behind the assassination of an ex-military commander last week. Gomes sought asylum at the local U.N. office.


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Haiti: Commemorating Novelist Jaques Roumain · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Reacting to news that this year will be the 100th anniversary of novelist Jacques Roumain‘s birth, Collectif Haiti de Provence asks (Fr): “Will Haitians do the comemoration of the author of Gouverneurs de la Rosee [Masters of the Dew] justice?”


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Haiti: Petion-Ville Market Burnt Down · Global Voices
Alice Backer

On Jan.9, HaitiXchange wrote (Fr): “The market in Pétionville went up in flames this morning. It was in horror that we watched all of our merchandise go up in smoke. The merchants complained, since their means of making a living, and their very survival, the education of their 10 and 20 year old children, and their hard work turned into dust… While waiting for repairs to be made to the Petionville market and the eventual return of security to Haiti, we will remain trustful that the established authorities will shed some light on this drama.” The site posts photos.


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Honduras: Hondutel Scares Away Competition · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Honduras Daily News has put together a bilingual post (Spanish) which accuses former state-owned telecommunications monopoly Hondutel of breaking “into TTI (Tropico Telephone and Internet) offices, in the center of downtown La Ceiba, with an army of M16’s, multiple trucks and an RPG for good measure.” There's one way of knocking down the competition.


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Hungary: Budapest’s “Broadway” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Hungary Years writes about the reconstruction of the “Hungarian Broadway.”


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Iran:A Boxing Match Between USA and Iran · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Digital Klechinkof says the best way to impersonate the situation with Iran’s nuclear affairs is to consider a box-ring[Fa].Then, Iran and America will be two boxers (obviously with different gestures and weights!) who are the main actors of the story. Other players of the Iranian nuclear equation, namely, Russia, China, and Europe, can be imagined as referees or the guys in the background.You can read the rest of this post in English in Kamangir Blog.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:My blog was about movies and it was filtered · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Amir Ezati,movie director and blogger says his blog was just about cinema and movies, but it got filtered. The blogger says he lost 90 percent of its visitors[Fa].


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Iran:News in country and outside country · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Mohammad Ali Abtahi,reformist politician says outside country,news about Iran are on the first page of newspapers.News talks about sanctions againts Iranian banks and UN resolution about Iran.The blogger adds inside country there is no such news in media. He adds in information age, it is not possible to stop people to get informed[Fa].


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Jamaica: 30 years on, critique still holds water · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The latest installment in Geoffrey Philp's “In My Own Words” series, which focuses on Caribbean writers, is a critique of the Caribbean's failure to give recognition to the arts written 30 years ago by Jamaican poet/playwright/screenwriter/journalist Olivier Stephenson. Geoffrey kicks off the comments with the words: “Although it’s sad that something you had written over thirty years ago is still timely, thank you for your contribution. . . “


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Japan: Gross National Cool · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Neomarxisme blogs about his experience in Japanese popular culture in terms of Gross National Cool: the idea is that this kind of pop cultural influence will translate into a “soft power” for Japan in international relations.


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Kazakhstan: Reshuffling the Government · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

A government reshuffle took place in Kazakhstan this week and – this time being no exception – occasions like this are a great chance to get a rare glimpse behind the scenes of intra-elite power-brokering Kazakh style.
According to Kazakhstan specialist Daniel Kimmage of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, real Kazakh politics takes place in the shadow – i.e. competing interest groups rather than clans or kinship networks are vying for control, and President Nursultan Nazarbayev tries to hold everything together by carefully balancing at-times conflicting interests.
8 January 2007 saw the resignation of prime minister Daniyel Akhmetov. In turn, the entire government stepped down, an act customary in Kazakhstani politics. KZBlog reported on Tuesday that the rumour had been around for a while and usually surfaced around each December of Akhmetov's more than three year long tenure.
Trying to make sense of this far-reaching political event, the press interpreted the move as towards accomodating Western investors’ interest in the region. Daniyel Akhmetov's name was often brought into connection with business legislation allegedly disadvantageous to foreign investors.
The English-language blogosphere, however, adds some wider context to the story. KZBlog, which followed the events in Astana right from the start, reported on the speculation that marked the period between the resignation and the announcement that Karim Masimov would from now on hold the reins as the new prime minister.
Sean Roberts, Georgetown Fellow of Central Asian studies and blogger on his Roberts Report, suggested early on that Timur Kulibayev, the President's son-in-law and head of one of the major four main interest groups, is set to benefit from the new prime minister:
Masimov, on the other hand, is seen as a progressive young reformer and allegedly as a client of President Nazarbayev’s son-in-law Timur Kulibayev. Furthermore, he is rumored to be an ethnic Uyghur despite being registered in his passport as a Kazakh. Thus, he would be the first Prime Minister of Kazakhstan to be neither Kazakh nor Russian and the first non-Kazakh since the early 1990s.
All in all, Roberts notes, the new government, whose composition was being announced yesterday, seems to resemble a careful balancing act between all competing interest groups:
All in all, Nazarbayev has succeeded in forming yet another balance of power groups – with people known to be close to Timur Kulibayev, Dariga Nazarbayev and Rakhat Aliyev, and Alexander Mashkevich all in high positions.

author: Ben Paarmann


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Kazakhstan: The New Government · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

At neweurasia, Leila translates a post that gives a rundown of who's who in the new Kazakh government and how power balances between different interest groups.


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Kazakhstan: Wikipedia Sanitation · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Ben Paarmann reports that the Wikipedia entries for the heads of a Kazakhstan-based, UK-incorporated mining company linked to a potential 2007 IPO in London are being sanitized.


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Lithuania, Latvia: The Barricades Remembered · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Marginalia remembers the events of 16 years ago that took place in Lithuania and Latvia: “In Riga, between half a million and seven hundred thousand people (out of a total population of just over two and a half million in Latvia, Soviet military personnel and colonists included) gathered on the right bank of the Daugava whilst timber and heavy machinery were brought into the city for the construction of the Barricades. Latvians, and they counted among their number not a few people from Latvia's ethnic minorities, rose to the defense of the Republic despite the bloodshed in Vilnius.”


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Malaysia: Thoughts on Censored Article · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Lucia Lai wonders why two articles from a recent issue of Economist were censored. She has posted links to online archive of the articles. “so i highly recommend you to go read the articles and judge for yourself how interesting the articles are and wonder what in the world made our stupid gomen censored them!!”


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Mexico: News Summary · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Ana Maria Salazar has a useful roundup of the day's news in Mexico to send us into the weekend including a note on a private meeting between Eduardo Medina Mora, the Mexican Attorney General and his U.S. counterpart, Alberto Gonzales.


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Nigeria: debating census results · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Akin joins the debate about the Nigerian 2006 census, “The Nigerian blog boards have been rife with disputing about the validity of the 2006 census as many are derisively rejecting the returns as both a waste of money and a fantasy of figures.”


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Nigeria: what politicians really mean · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ijebu Man plans to writes a series of posts on the 2007 Nigerian elections. Here is the first one: “Its Election time in Naija in a couple of weeks and our politicians are in overdrive. Naijas must be suffering from an overload of political bullshit as the politicians try to manipulate and convince anyone who will listen that they will work for the country's interest (rather than their own).
Listening to their crap you start to notice that they use the same words all the time. Here are a few popular statements and what they really mean…”


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Russia: Indigenous Peoples of the North · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Den’ Olenevoda (Reindeer-Breeder's Day), celebrated in March 2006, in Kazym (Ugra, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug) – a photo set by Flickr user ugraland/Irina Kazanskaya
While Moscow is braving an atypically snowless and warm winter, and St. Petersburg is about to drown in its 302nd flood, the rest of Russia continues to exist the way it always does.
One way to begin learning about life in the world's biggest country is by looking through the rest of ugraland‘s informative photos from Khanty-Mansi Autonomus Okrug (aka Yugra, or Ugra). Next thing you know, you'll be booking a flight to Beloyarsky (via Moscow) for March, to attend the local “bear games“: ugraland – a “travel expert” – provides a link, in her profile, to the organization that arranges tours of the nomadic camps. Don't forget to dress warm.
But, before you set out, a doze of reality won't hurt.
LJ user kunstkamera has posted two sets of striking photos from another indigenous location of the Russian North – the village of Nes’, populated by the Nenets people: here and here. (Warning: bandwidth intensive – but really, really worth it.)
She wrote (RUS):
The village feels depressing and hopeful at once. It's like a small-town market – the people aren't too friendly, say bad things about each other, told us a story of drunk Nenets guys who had a fight with an ethnic Russian policeman and ended up cutting off his head…
Still, in Nes’ – unlike in the neighboring [Arkhangelsk region], which is much more traditional, meaningful, but still on the verge of dying out – there is the feeling of life: half-nomadic, not making any sense, without the past and without the future, but life nevertheless. There are many “Burans” hurrying back and forth, many children, and the church doesn't stand empty. A temporary life that has turned into permanent home.
As you know, the Soviet regime aimed at limiting the independence of small-numbered peoples – and for this reason, it was doing all it could to make most of the Nenets and [Komi] people resemble the rank-and-file Soviet citizens. From age 7, the nomads’ children were taken away to boarding school, and right after that, to the army, after which they returned as completely different people – as a rule, they drank heavily, were obedient and could hardly speak their native language. The village of Nes’, an administrative center, was fitted for such “cultured” Nenets people. About 1,200 people live in it now – there are Nenets, Komi and Russians among them. For the Nenets, unlike for the Komi, there exist many benefits that are supposed to help save their heritage. But, unfortunately, this money, for the most part, is spent on alcohol that the Mongoloid Nenets don't need much of. The deer-breeders’ children still attend boarding school, though the rules of their stay there have softened somewhat: as their parents are passing by with their herds, they are allowed to take the children along with them for the weekends and vacations.
[32 photos from the village and the boarding school]


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Slovenia: Public Holidays · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Glory of Carniola rejoices: “…Slovenian workers will hit the jackpot in 2007: All public holidays this year fall on weekdays.”


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South Africa: $40m leadership academy · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Idland has a response to the Financial Post Passport critique of Oprah Winfrey's $40M Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, “So next time you see someone with a Master's degree puffing out his chest and asking, “Aren't there better ways to spend 40 million dollars?”, take a step back and ask yourself, “Why are there only 40 million dollars, and why is it all coming from one person, and what does that tell us?” But if you ask those things out loud, don't puff out your chest, because there are too many people doing that as well.”


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South Korea: Samsung response to iPhone · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Dram_man in Marmot's Hole blogs about Samsung's response to iPhone: Although we are waiting to see how U.S. consumers will react, we are not impressed by its features.


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Ukraine: Information Society Law · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Information Policy reports on a new law adopted by the Ukrainian parliament: the Law On Fundamental Principles of Development of Information Society in Ukraine in 2006-2016.


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USA: Dinged for accepting Pesos? · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Ricardo Carreón and Greg of Two Weeks Notice come to the defense of a Texan pizza chain under fire for accepting Mexican pesos.


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Vietnam: Visiting Dalat · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The final word in Saigon visits the hill station of Dalat and posts some pictures of the town and the surrounding nature.


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Bangladesh: Separation of judiciary · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Rezwan comments that separation of judiciary is a prime requirement in Bangladesh. “From the latest whirlwind dismantling of the status quo in Bangladesh politics, one this has become certain that there is an international pressure and no one is ready to accept any illegitimate government taking power.”


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Bangladesh: The Political Turmoil · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Amardeep Singh sums up the issues in Bangladesh. “The central issue seems to be the accuracy of the country's voter rolls, which has on it the names of 13 million people who shouldn't be there — out of a total population of 150 million.


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India: The CookBook Project · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Feed A Hungry Child Campaign on the CookBook project. “The purpose of this project is two pronged; that of documenting disappearing recipes along with practical hands-on cooking advice as well the larger goal of raising funds from the sale of the book for the FAHC (feed a hungry child) campaign.”


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Malaysia: Second wave hit Southern Malaysia · Global Voices
SK Thew

A few days after Malaysia kicked off the Visit Malaysia Year 2007, Southern state of Malaysia Johor is being hit with continuous heavy rains which leads to the second wave of flooding.
Youtube user debbieseraphina’ captures the flooding from her coach window
Up to date, one of the Malaysia's major daily The Star‘s SMS alert reported that the number of flood victims in Johor has more than doubled overnight to 50,172 in 208 relief centres.   Areas around the state capital Johor Baru were among the worst hit, with more than 20,000 people evacuated.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi assured that the Government would do all it could do to provide flood victims assistance, promised an extra RM500 (USD142.245) aid to each affected family. A foster village programme was launched to assist flood victims too and Malaysians are called upon to contribute generously.
Blogger xpyre was stuck at one of the worst affected area Kota Tinggi before authority cleared one of the exit to allow traffic to pass through. Blogger Linken Lim who was stuck at one of the affected area, did a round-up on the recurring situation and also publised a request for public donation from another blogger Marina Mahathir.
Mom's Daily was saddened by the flood and explained why many NGOs and groups likes to promote breastfeeding to ensure the survival of babies even in the midst of worst tragedy like this. Even the usually humourous Rojaks Daily paid tribute to kukujiao.com for his devotion in helping flood victims through real action. Malaysia need more good samaritan like him!
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Red Cresent Society (MCRS) is appealing to general public including private sectors, corporate, organisations for generous contributions towards the Malaysian Red Crescent Relief Fund set up to provide financial and relief assistance to people affected by the recent flood.
All cash contributions are tax-exempted and are to be made payable to:
"Malaysian Red Crescent Society" or Maybank A/C No – 5144 2210 3788 or call  Tel: +603 – 4257 8726, Fax: +603 – 4257 3537 (Operations Room) for details.

author: SK Thew


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Myanmar:China and Russia Veto UN Resolution on Myanmar · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Fifty Viss is disappointed at Russia and China vetoing a US backed draft resolution calling for a stop to human rights abuses in Myanmar. “Obviously, both Russia and China have military and economic interests in Burma. China in particular is fond of having an undemocratic regime it shares borders with (also prosititutes, drugs, gambling and AIDS, for that matter) and wants water access to the Bay of Bengal through Burma, rather than through China’s east coastline. Russia, itself increasingly undemocratic, would contradict its own domestic problems, which include lack of freedom of expression.”


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Nepal: Dialogue and Peace · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Democracy For Nepal on why dialogue is crucial for Nepal. “These breakaway Maoist factions are seeking political space, and we have to give it to them. Dialogue should be considered a very happy price to pay for peace.”


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Pakistan: In Istanbul · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Light Within on a day in Istanbul. Filled with a lot of sights and food. “Walking down the tram line from Sultanahmet to Aksaray, there are burial sites on both sides of the street. Caliphs, Pashas and other important dignitaries rest here. Sultans also, but their tombs are within separate building which were of course closed at the time we were there.”


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China: Return of the Wang · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Or King, according to the title of Wang Xiaofeng‘s January 10 post which brings with it the news that the eighties and nineties badboy of Chinese literature and one-time “spiritual pollutant” Wang Shuo will be on the cover of the next issue of Life Week magazine, for which Wang (Xiaofeng) works.
So if Wang Shuo's back, what's he up to? Wang Xiaofeng‘s not telling, not even in his follow-up post today, in which he may or may not have interviewed eight hours and thirteen thousand characters worth of Wang Shuo's cohorts from his heyday almost a decade ago.
According to Wang Shuo's Wikipedia entry, he's written five screenplays since his last novel was published in 2000, and not much else. Wang Shuo was mentioned on journalist-blogger Zhao Mu's Bullog space late last month, with the news that the writer has plans to open a pay-per-view blog, making him the first mainstream blogger to do so. Wang Shuo had a Sina celebrity blog, but hasn't updated it since March last year. He currently has a blog of sorts at Flower Village, where he posts only his latest works piece-by-piece. Open since November 17 last year, it's currently free for the reading.
A few interviews with Wang Shuo can be found at Chinese video sharing site 6Rooms, and collections of his previous works can be found at XYS (blocked in China) and Wensou.
Back to Zhao Mu's post, dated December 28, 2006:
December 28
昨天见到顽主王朔。尚无博客的王朔说，他将在徐静蕾的”鲜花村 >> 村”开博，不过是那种付费阅读的。他还说道，将来他的小说会考虑不由传统的出版社出版，而是直接上传到博客里,而且还可以根据用户的需要印制成书。因为少了传统出版发行的所有中间环节，所以他认为书的价格会比传统的出版物便宜很多。
猜一下：
1、博客的付费式阅读将来是否会成为一种趋势？你会阅读收费博客吗？
2、王朔所描述的这种出版模式（现在已经有了），将来会不会严重冲击传统的出版，甚至取而代之，成为主流模式？
（注：新闻出版管理机构，又有事干了）
Reader comments
过客
很好，会有人付费进去看，然后再把他的文章复制下来代为流传，随后王爷的博客读者群就固定了，说白了也就是没几个人看，但一定不会没人看．
rock
呵呵 那王朔的付费博客肯定有一大堆盗版 何必呢！
小黑
操，王朔这老头还真实吊，他自我感觉还真好，以为没有他这个茅坑我们就不能拉屎了，对这种人只想说两个字：我操！
Little black
罗纷纷
我是不会阅读收费博客的，网上那么多牛逼博客，凭什么花钱读他的啊，三表老师的博客这么牛逼我还没读完呢。
而且，我是学传媒的，我觉得王朔的这种模式根本不可能成功
Luo Fenfen
mayday
如果对钱无所谓的话那就无所谓成不成功
mayday
liushu
挺好。
然后有人做一个王朔免费博克镜像，更新的比收费博克还勤快。
Liushu
二公主
难道就是传说中的长尾理论。。。果然长得长啊。
付费的话就不去。
丫只是想吸引固定观众？
比传统出版物便宜很多这件事一直表示怀疑。毕竟批量印刷跟定制印刷的成本计算的话，差很多吧。丫肯定还是要依附于某个商业实体。丫不可能自己在家捣鼓台打印机就开印了。
Second Princess
mona
只看economist的付费文章
王锁是谁
mona
alva
现在很多的站点不就是在做这个事情吗？在论坛里面写文章，然后读者付费阅读，比如起点站，启明中文，只不过写手的名气还没有那么大而已！没有采用博客的形式！虽然盗版比较多，但人家生意还不错！
alva
fishabc0
道理上没错，但是操作上不现实。网络文字，互相ctrlV一下就都出来了，谁也不愿意做花钱的，网络上产权意识和法规都还没那么强。再说别人都在免费也不乏各种牛人，他一个特立独行收费会遭来人们本能反感，虽然理论上做的没错，但是比较之后人们还是不会买账
fishabco0
狷
2、王朔所描述的这种出版模式（现在已经有了），将来会不会严重冲击传统的出版，甚至取而代之，成为主流模式？
人家会告你非法出版的。
Caution
mjollnir
我是学传媒的，我觉得王朔的这种模式根本不可能成功
这么说话很傻逼
mjollnir
ashang
王朔如果真的开收费博客，我是心甘情愿掏钱的，惦记丫多少年了，有好东西看，钱算什么。网上博客虽多，有几人能够上老王的档次啊。
ashang
安静
就是，盗版太容易了。
付费博客我不看。因为不敢保证质量。
觉得根本不可行。
Silence

author: John Kennedy


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French Speaking Blogs of the Caribbean, Africa and Oceania in 2006 · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Logo of the Madagascar Blogger's Meeting that took place January 5-6, 2007 in Antananarivo.
By and large French speaking blogs and bloggers of the world have reason to envy English, Spanish and Brazilian speaking counterparts in volume and in interaction with each other. Very few bloggers  (Madagascar and Reunion being notable exceptions) are actually talking to each other, even when they come from the same country. However 2006 saw some interesting developments in certain parts of the French speaking world.
Until the election of interim President Joseph Kabila, the DRC-based blogs were quite active and vigorously in opposition of him. Most of the bloggers were journalists who turned to blogs to speak with diaspora or western audiences.   GlobalVoices featured an interview of the most prolific DRC-based blogger, Tony Katombe of Le Blog du Congolais. We brought you blurbs from counterparts such as Prince du Fleuve du Congo Phillipe Liondjo and Etienne Ngandu. UDPS Liege, the blog of opposition party UDPS did its best to lead the blogging opposition to Kabila from Liege, Belgium. UDPS leader Etienne Tshisekedi never actually ran in the race so UDPS Liege spent much time justifying his choice.
Immediately after Kabila's election late November, activity dropped off for a while in the DRC-based blogs.
(Note that English speaking diaspora blogs such as The Salon have been doing a great job as well and generally brought a refreshing if moderate counterpoint to the staunchly anti-Kabila perspective of its French speaking DRC-based counterparts.)
Blogs in Senegal had been relatively sleepy with spotty updates until Blog Politique du Senegal came along halfway through the year.  Much like the blogs of the DRC, the blog is obsessed with their incumbent President  (Wade) and has spent much time unveiling perceived excesses and failures of his administration. Humor is always present in these parts and posts were short and concise.
Much of the exciting news in Haitian blogs has been in English: 3rdworldgirl, for example or even AyitiToma who unfortunately posted just once. But what a post that “Open Letter To Haiti” was! Roody Edme, however spotty, started a very promising blog Ailleurs Vu d'Ici on which he bombarded us with well written and well informed posts on New Year's Eve. It seems the blogger was saving his best goodies for last. And best yet his commentary is not just limited to Haitian affairs but spans the planet! Call this blogger anything but ill-informed.
By far the most consistent current affairs blog was Collectif Haiti de Provence, the France-based blog of a collective of Haiti and France-based organizations.Though the blog started the year by posting news stories, two individual voices, Deky Lakyel and JoJo began commenting each story, firing daily at the current president, his interim predecessor and the UN Mission (MINUSTAH). Their main preoccupation: “Insecurity” a literal  translation of the French “Insecurite” which has taken the form of kidnappings first aimed at political figures and now at random civilians, increasingly children. But the bloggers also balked at poor governance and incompetence on the part of elected or appointed officials, one issue most agree is a major weakness of Haitian government.
Yon Ayisyen rarely made it online to grace us with his smart take on things once Preval got elected, probably because, as he explained to GlobalVoices in an interview, he did not have an internet connection at home.  That is too bad because until the election, he made sure to dissect and demystify many a newsworthy phenomenon, including authorities’ many claims leading up to the election that they had actually done something about  the many kidnappings that were plaguing the capital. Yon Ayisyen also watched the elections closely and uncovered shameful irregularities that took place under international observers’ noses.
Towards the end of the year, India-based Natif Natal started a blog on musings about Indian society from the perspective of an outsider.
Some dialogue started among certain English speaking Haitian diaspora bloggers (Reveiled, Karlito's Blog, kiskeyAcity) who attempted A Skypecast for Haiti which had to be postponed but whose later incarnation might discuss an aggregator.  Those same bloggers all networked with each other on MyBlogLog, along with Haiti-based Marcel Salnave  Jr. who started a blog this year, Parlons Peu,  of his father's journalistic works from the 40s and 50s.
French Overseas Departments and Territories
While the blogospheres of French speaking Oceania (Tahiti, French Polynesia and New Caledonia) and of Guyane in South America are still dominated by and large by expats from France, locals actually took to blogging in Martinique, Guadeloupe and especially in La Reunion, the rare French speaking blogosphere that speaks to the local reader.
Martinique's highlights are daring and often controversial lesbian blogger Le Blog de [Moi] whose favorite topics are coming out (or not), sexuality and pop culture  (her logo is a creolized Rosie The Riveter) and tech blogger InternetRapide.com who devoted himself to following the expansion into Caribbean markets of local Telecom giant Digicel, among other tech-related developments.
Guadeloupe blogs focused more on local politics and issues of nationhood. Toto M'a Tuer‘s pet issue was  what he described as corrupt local governance while Convention pour une Nouvelle Guadeloupe  (the blog of a political party of the same name) highlighted all dates relevant to the formation of the blog's preoccupation: a Guadeloupean nation and national identity distinct from the French. Rotarian Jean-Claude Halley from  Guadeloupe Attitude spent more energy on local high art, including the chronicling of the life, music and newfound popularity in France, Guadeloupe and Cuba of historical Guadeloupean figure Chevalier de St-Georges.
La Reunion's very self-aware blogosphere (complete with an aggregator and a local audience) were the topic of Global Voices article Reunion: Actively Blogging. Indeed, prolific local blogger Pierrot Dupuy explained to GV that this French overseas department has more computers per capita than continental France.
Madagascar
Indian Ocean water must contain a special tech mineral. Madagascar though lacking La Reunion's aggregator and French ressources, managed to pull together a very cohesive and active blogosphere with a collective blog Malagasy Miray, over a dozen active bloggers (this does not include their growing crop of English and Malagasy speaking bloggers), a blogger's meet January 5th, “Malagasyscopy”, a “communal post” on Malagasy identity abroad to which over 20 Malagasy bloggers contributed their 2 cents. One wonders whether this incredible momentum is not owed to the government's recent efforts to refurbish the country's image but active, enthusiastic diasporans probably deserve credit too.
Diasporans
Some of the best Francophone bloggers are actually based in the West where they cast an overarching eye on not just their homelands but issues of whole continents. Sanaga Peregrinations, a blogger of Cameroonian origin comes to mind whose blog goes back and forth between  French and English and whose topics span  technology, current affairs and who took a close look at the DRC elections. Togolese origined, France-based Kangni Alem is another. The blogger loves to wax poetic on African literary issues but also weighs in on general African politics. His blog received over two dozen comments a post, a testament to its appeal and reach.
A 2007 to Look Forward To
As critics predict that 2007 will be the stage to a web 2.0 explosion, there is every reason to believe that Francophone blogs will only get more numerous and better connected. The Blog Africa 2.0  has made it a point to chronicle each step the African internet takes in that direction and will no doubt continue doing so. Plus,  Global Voices is preparing to launch Project Lingua which should bring Global Voices content in French to French speaking bloggers, a step which if successful, will only enlarge their cross-pollination and exposure to other more active linguistic communities on the web.
Most links above are to Global Voices translations of the blogs. You can find direct links to individual blogs in the translations.


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Argentina’s King Fish, Panama’s Year, and Easy Kerala Parotta · Global Voices
Melissa De León

#1: Jeremy Shapiro, the Chef behind Stir the Pots, narrates his adventures during his trip to the Ecuadorean Andes:
The array of  colors and smell was inspiring as a chef.All  I  needed
were my knives, a stove and a kitchen!What surprised me about such a humble town was the cleanliness of the market and the real pride and
friendly faces I met. My brother-inlaw a one time "Rey de bolon"(bolon typical dish of plantain) in Guayaquil, described to me the different
fruits and vegetables. With each picture of the women in the stalls he showed them the instant images of themselves as they giggled, probably musing about the silly guy taking pictures! Read the complete post…
#2: La Majuluta from Argentina writes about "El Pejerrey," a fish available in the cold waters of South America. Read the post in Español. Read the post in English…
Odontesthes bonaeriensis, the "king fish", is a native freshwater species. With its delicate and tender white meat it's highly apreciated around here. It was the only fish that I used to eat as I was a child. My mother always prepared it for me with head and tail, "dressed" in breadcrumbs and in the oven. More than a year ago I did it this way. Now I wanted to repeat with some little changes.
Full belly, happy heart we use to say here.
#3: From Panama, the CookingDiva explains why 2007 is Panama's year!
Panamá is an easy country to fall in love with. The tropical bounty, gifted by our location and climate offer a spectacular opportunity to experience some of the most exotic and unique produce that mother and father nature have to offer, ranging from the complex herbs and seasoning of the tropical forest used by the indigenous tribes to the organic farms of vegetables and edible lowers. Read more…
#4: Morsels & Musings visits Le Kilimanjaro, a  restaurant serving East African food in Sydney, Australia.
This is not the first time I’ve visited Le Kilimanjaro, an East African
restaurant on the main street of bohemian Newtown. Food here is extremely interesting in a suburb where pub grub, Indian and Thai reign supreme.
I love this tiny space and the owners, dressed in their traditional Senegalese clothes – long white gowns for the men and bright, flourishing colours for the women. Read the complete review…
#5: From Spain, ManáManá shares a delicious recipe to prepare Chicken Rolls with Leek and Roquefort:
The original recipe is made with ham instead of leek and soft cheese instead or roquefort, and is served sliced and cold. You can make multiple combinations, for instance adding spanish “jamón serrano”, emmental cheese, onions, garlic, etc. Get the recipe now…
#6: From Make My Sushi, learn how to choose a good fish, the kind that would NOT make you sick!
But we are talking about fish now. And if it's fish we are talking about, then this will be the best time to mention that sushi is commonly made with raw fish. yes. raw fish. For that reason, it is very important to verify the freshness of the fish. The first thing you should do before buying a fish is to ask the fishmanger not "is this fish fresh?" but rather "since when do you have it ?". The not-completely-honest-yet-most-common answer will be, ofcourse, "I got it this morning!".  Continue reading…
#7: From Peru: Mangos! , an explanation of the two meanings the expression "que rico mango," (EN: what a delicious mango) has in that Latin American country.
It can refer to how delicious the Peruvian mango you're eating tastes; or, it can mean that someone who catches your eye appears as delicious as a mango. Read the complete post…
#8: From Almost  Turkish Recipes,  a scrumptious looking recipe to prepare  Buthanese Red Rice (Kırmızı Pirinçli Butan Pilavı)
Red rice with its nutty flavor has secured a good place in my heart, and as a result in my kitchen, in the last year. I usually cook it alaturka; however, this time I wanted to try a Bhutanese recipe since red rice is from Bhutan. Get cooking!
#9: Malabar Spices cooks up some "Easy Kerala Parotta"
The Kerala Porotta is a flaky pastry like multilayered flat bread, a speciality of Kerala. It is made from maida, (enriched wheat flour) by a long labor and time intensive process. The flour is mixed with water, oil and egg to make a soft dough, and allowed to rise for 5-6 hrs. It is stretched and flattened by hand in order to save the air pockets which arise from the stretching and then cooked on a griddle. Read more...

author: Melissa De León


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Global Voices is hiring an advocacy director · Global Voices
Ethan Zuckerman

Global Voices (globalvoicesonline.org) is seeking a part-time Advocacy Director. The advocacy director will coordinate Global Voices's efforts in supporting online freedom of expression. This will include responsibility for building online relationships between national anti-censorship and anti-net filtering movements, interacting with international press freedom organizations, producing educational guides to anti-censorship tools and reporting on the movement for the Global Voices website.
Suitable candidates will have a strong understanding of the international blogosphere, technical understanding of the mechanisms of internet filtering and circumvention (proxies, Tor, anonymizing techniques), and journalism or technical writing experience. Active involvement in developing world anticensorship efforts is a strong plus, as is active involvement in the Global Voices community.
Global Voices expects that the Advocacy Director will focus 20-25 hours per week on the position, with a great deal of schedule flexibility. Some international travel is required as part of the position, including attendance at the Global Voices annual meeting (travel funding will be provided.) The Advocacy director reports to the acting managing director of Global Voices, and later to the managing director – the advocacy director will be expected to participate in the Global Voices editorial process, serving alongside regional editors, translation editors and our human rights video editor, and to contribute advocacy-related posts to the Global Voices website.
Several people have asked if this job requires relocation. It does not. All Global Voices jobs are virtual – people work from their home countries and connect with other Global Voices staff via the Internet. This job is open to residents of any nation.
We are able to offer an annual salary of $25-30,000 USD for this position, based on experience. To apply, please send a letter of interest along with CV or resume to ethan@globalvoicesonline.org

author: Ethan Zuckerman


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Iran:Iranian bloggers as pollsters · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Jordan shares in Sounds Iranian blog, the idea that it is possible to use bloggers as pollsters. The blogger says I think the idea behind this sort of ‘on-the-street’ methodology is to use the blogosphere to provide a more accurate sampling of the (urban) Iranian population as a whole, rather than to procure a sample derived only from a very narrow blog-reading demographic.


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New Caledonia: Lagoon as Potential World Heritage Site · Global Voices
Alice Backer

5 Minutes en Nouvelle Caledonie writes (Fr): “France will present on January 31 at Unesco, a request that the Caledonian lagoon be made into a world heritage site. A joy for Caledonia which has been lobbying for this for a while … Final verdict June 2008. “


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Tunisia: Olive Oil · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Mouwaten Tounsi writes (Fr): “Tunisia is the 4th producer of olive oil in the world and the 2d exporter in 2006 after the EU… In the Sahel region, many olive farms suffer from an excess in density and from parceling in very small scattered properties. This is bad for profitability.”


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Albania: Coffee in Tirana · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Our Man in Tirana writes about the situation with coffee in Albania's capital.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Argentina: Chacarita Cemetery · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Robert Wright saunters to the 70-block Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires – “the capital of cool” – and finds an architectural surprise.


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Bahamas: Junkanoo and music · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Nicolette Bethel presents a thoughtful essay deconstructing of some of the changes taking place on the musical front of in the Bahamas’ Junkanoo festival.


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Bangladesh: Cross Culture Marriages · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

a Bengali in TO on cross culture marriages and racism. “I am not going to debate whether marrying outside your ethnic group is right or wrong. That's like debating whether liquid soap is better than a bar of soap. There is no right answer.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Bangladesh: Political Crisis  · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying on the political crisis in Bangladesh. “Bangladesh has, by a quirk in its Constitution, been legally transformed into a dictatorship. A democracy of 125 million people is now at the mercy of a handful of unelected rulers and the military.”


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Bangladesh: State of emergency, bloggers as information source · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bangladesh witnessed some dramatic changes recently. Last Thursday night president Iajuddin Ahmed declared a state of emergency  and resigned as the chief of the caretaker government, the prime demand of the opposition grand alliance. He also postponed the January 22nd election, the process of which was alleged as being engineered. Drishtipat Blog has a quick summary of the events that culminated into the state of emergency.
Military took over the streets and curfew was imposed from 11PM to 5AM at night. Moreover News broadcasting was banned in more than 10 private TV channels of Bangladesh and the presses were advised not to publish anything criticizing the Government actions. A vacuum of news updates was created as in Bangladesh internet penetration is less than 1%. People were trying to fathom what exactly was going on in Bangladesh.
Bangladeshi bloggers, however, took to the task of gathering information and voicing their opinions as the events progressed gradually. According to a report of the Guardian News Blog, Bangladeshi bloggers provided light to the dramatic political night to many in the world via internet.
On the next day the press embargo and the curfew were lifted and the controversial person who initiated the embargo was removed. The Government cracked down on suspected corrupt politicians and businessmen which was praised by the common people.
Although some questioned otherwise the state of emergency has been more or less welcomed by the Bangladeshis as it could give them respite from the continuous strikes and blockades crippling the country. The main worry the country faces now is the enactment of the emergency ordinance which curbs all the basic rights and puts the administrators above law. Under this act among other things the government can control or disrupt or block any message or news through postal service, radio, telegram, telex, fax, internet and telephone. Any person criticizing the government can face sever charges upto capital punishment.
Some bloggers joked whether they should start writing about their sex life or just about what they ate instead of talking politics only to avoid trouble. However in reality they did not refrain themselves from writing their opinions keeping the regulation in mind.
Sid of Serious Golmal asks:
“So is it democracy that has failed in Bangladesh or is it the politicians who have failed Bangladesh’s democracy?”
Meanwhile a new Chief of caretaker government and five advisors were appointed, who were endorsed by the opposition and the general public. Now people can expect to have a credible and free and fare election soon.
There are debates going on whether the state of emergency is a martial law in disguise and the president do not have full control of the army. Even if this is true, like the recent blood-less coup-d'etat in Thailand the Bangladeshis are not against the army in this situation. This may be their only chance of restoring the functional democracy following the election.

author: Rezwan


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Barbados: New commercial for B’dos tourism · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

After receiving information suggesting that a new Barbados tourism promo appearing on US television may be sending confusing  messages, Barbados Free Press posts a YouTube link to the TV spot and invites comments.


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Blogs and Mafalda: The Story of a Commemorative Plaque · Global Voices
Jorge Gobbi

On october 30th of 2005, Dario Gallo, chief editor of Noticias magazine, published an entry [ES] with a picture of the entrance door to Quino building near Mafalda‘s home, at Chile 371, in San Telmo, Buenos Aires. Gallo wrote:
The funny thing is that neither the City's Government nor its Secretary of Culture had put a commemorative plaque. More than one tourist would stop to take his picture at that door that's been all over the world. Besides, they could have made a small historic circuit, from Mafaldas's home, through Don Manolo's store, to Quino's house. What were the impediments to make such a simple and enjoyable thing for big and small people?
Soon afterwards, Gallo and Pablo Mancini, who also writes in Noticias magazine, created a blog called La casa de Mafalda, which demanded that the city's authorities put a conmemorative plaque on the building on Chile street that signaled the place where Mafalda lived.
A city's legislator, Norberto Laporta, who belongs to the Socialist Party, presented the legal proposal which was finally approved on the last day of 2006 by the Legislatura de la Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires. The plaque to be placed at 371 Chile St will simply say “Mafalda sat here”. You cand read more about this at Pablo Mancini's blog, where the complete approved law also appears.
Other blogs that covered this topic:
El triunfo BLOGER; La Casa donde Mafalda se… (La nuez)
Una ley que nació en un blog (ALT1040)
Mafalda tendrá su placa (La brújula verde)
Más Mafalda (Carpe Diem)
… y Mafalda tendrá su placa (Diario de Gestión)

author: Jorge Gobbi


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Cambodia: Journalists in Blackmail Incident · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Vutha in Cambodia talks about two journalists who were arrested after they allegedly tried to blackmail an actress claiming that they had proof that the actress appeared in a pornographic movie.

author: Preetam Rai


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Caribbean: The WI’s chances in the Cricket World Cup · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Ryan Patrick posts of the West Indies Cricket blog posts an audio interview in which he describes the West Indies’ chances of winning the 2007 Cricket World Cup as “slim to none”.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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China: Ice and politics in Curse of the Golden Flower · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translates some comments on the movie: Curse of the Golden Flower.


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Cuba: New TV channel · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Cuba Travel Guide blog announces ACN, a new Cuban television channel, designed to “bring press material and messages from Cuba to Cuban collaborators abroad, mainly in Bolivia and Venezuela.”


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Guyana: Fear of a pen · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

GuyanaGyal's pen raises suspicions in a supermarket, which causes her to wonder about the source of the fear people in her community seem to have of pens and writing.


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Hungary: Dog Poop · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pestcentric writes about dog poop in Budapest.


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Hungary: Irish Criminal Allowed to Escape · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Irishman Ciaran Tobin, the killer of two Hungarian kids – Marton (5) and Petra Zoltai (2) – has gone unpunished, because he had to attend a wedding back home. Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar examines the issue.


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India: Kite flying on Makara Sankranti · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A Time To Reflect captures the festive spirit of Makara Sankranti with photographs of kite flying.


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Indian Ocean: New Web 2.0 Cultural Site · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Collective Malagasy blog Malagasy Miray announces (Fr): “Culture-océanindien [ www.culture-oceanindien.info ] is a space for cultural and islandness expression based on the web 2.0 principle. It was born out of the will to promote and support culture in general and more specifically that of the Indian Ocean. Many aspects of Indian Ocean culture remain buried to this day.”


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Iran:There is money for Lebanese People not for Iranians · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Ghomar Asheghaneh criticised Iranian government financial's support regarding Lebanese publishers.He says Lebanese publishers got a lot of financial support to participate in International Book Fair in Iran but Iranian editors and publishers got nothing[Fa]. The blogger adds publishers are in a very bad situation in Iran but government does not pay any attention to them.


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Japan: Foreign Minister’s cultural diplomacy · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Adamu from Mutantfrog blogs an interesting photo of Japan Foreign minister Taro Aso: If Foreign Minister Taro Aso can keep wonderful photo opportunities like this up, I would support him for prime minister no matter who he might want to nuke…


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Japan: white collar exemption · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Adamu in Mutant frog has a nice article discussing the recent debate on white collar exemption, which means office workers who earn 4 million yen or more annually could no longer be eligible for overtime.


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Latin America: Comprehensive LGBT News Wrapup · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Andres Duque has three incredibly comprehensive posts of LGBT news from around Latin America including a Historic meeting between gay leaders and religious leaders in Chile, the Mexican state of Coahuila's approval of same-sex partners, and the vicious murder of a transgendered woman in Eastern Colombia.

author: David Sasaki


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Latvia: Auseklis Bauskenieksone · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Marginalia writes about Auseklis Bauskenieksone, one of Latvia's leading avant-garde painter who Jan. 13 at the age of 96.


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Macau: Guia Lighthouse to be blocked · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A report put together by me at interlocals.net about an UNESCO cultural heritage, Guia lighthouse, to be blocked from viewing, with the construction of a set of 300 meter long highrise buildings. One of the building will be the Beijing liasion office in Macau, with its height taller than the Guia hill and lighthouse.
More information can be found in a campaign blog for protesting against the construction plan.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Madagascar: Vintage Wooden Figurines · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Mad de Madagascar posts (Fr) a series of wooden malagasy figurines from the 30s-50s: market scene, baby sleeping on working mother's back, rice planting woman, among others.


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Malaysia: Distasteful Bank Advertisement · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Rocky's Bru is offended by an advert brought out by a bank in Malaysia. The advert is anouncing a lucky draw and features bank notes being hung to dry on a clothesline. The ad reminds the blogger of floods in Southern Malaysia where people are trying to dry their belongings. The blogger is urging the advertiser to “Be more sensitive to the sufferings of the flood victims. Most of whom don't have wet notes to hang dry.”


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Mexico: 30% of Latin American Spam · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Eduaro Arcos, citing,Juan Pablo Castro of Trend Micro, says that 30% of spam in Latin America originates from Mexico [ES].


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Mexico: Music: Las Ultrasonicas · Global Voices
David Sasaki

“If you want to digress into Mexico City punk rock videos then check out some Ultrasonicas stuff on YouTube.” Liz Henry of BlogHer has all the  necessary links.


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Mexico, Puerto Rico, Panama: Rosca de los Reyes · Global Voices
David Sasaki

We're about a week late, but Melissa de León has a delicious Rosca de Reyes al Café recipe to put an inventive twist on the traditional bread for Three Kings Day (January 6).


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Moldova: An Emigrant’s Letter · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Adventures in Moldova posts a reader's letter, in which a 20-year-old Moldovan currently living in the States compares the two countries: “What I love about America is that it pardons mistakes and [applauds] successes. American children are always encouraged to succeed and to do their best. In Moldova, more energy is geared towards punishing failures than towards rewarding successes.”


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Nepal: Film festivals · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Wagle Street Journal on the sudden spurt in film festivals. “I was talking about the waves of foreign film festivals in Nepal. I recently attended French film festival and, before that, Spanish film festival. Kathmandu also sees Chinese film festival.”


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Nepal: Maoists in the Parliament · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! on the Maoists inside the parliament. “Putting behind their weapons in UN monitored cantonment sites (the process has started today) Maoists in Nepal have entered inside the parliament building in Kathmandu to attend the first meeting of the interim legislature.”


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Puerto Rico: Religion? None · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Eugenio Martínez Rodríguez gives a nurse at a Puerto Rican medical centre pause (ES) when he reveals that his religion is “none”: “On the other hand, I'm almost sure that the nurse's reaction would have been similar if I had answered that I was Spiritist, Muslim or Buddhist.”


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Puerto Rico: Writers who blog · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Eugenio Martínez Rodríguez is pleased (ES) to see that at least one Puerto Rican writer has a blog (or two), which doesn't prevent him from offering the writer a bit of advice. In an update, Eugenio reports that the writer has responded to his critiques on his own blog.


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Russia: Milhail Prokhorov Arrested and Released · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Siberian Light reports on the recent arrest of Russia’s eighth richest man was arrested in Courchevel in a pimping case – but then let go without charge.


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Serbia, Croatia: Australian Open Fight · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Serbian and Croatian fans have started a rather big fight at Australian Open, reports Belgrade 2.0.


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Serbia: Election Forecast · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“In anticipation of the parliamentary elections in Serbia a week from today, an assessment and some hesitant predictions” – from East Ethnia.


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South Korea: Chomsky’s solidarity  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chomsky recently signed a statement of solidarity with Pypeongtaek farmers against U.S military base construction in Daechuri.


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South Korea: conflict of rights · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michael Hurt from Scribblings of the Metropolitician looks into the South Korea constitution's articles on  “right to happiness” and “right to privacy” and discusses their legal implications / confusions for taking snapshots with his own experience.


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South Korea: intra-Korean summit in 2007? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Robert Koehler from Marmot's Hole reports on a local breaking news concerning intra-Korean summit in 2007. The story was denied but the discussion shows local political dynamics.


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South Korea: new history textbook  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Owen from Korean history group blog has a round up on history textook debate in South Korea: Han Hong-gu of Sungkonghoe University (bastion of all things progressive) commented that the textbook was no different from those currently being promoted by the Japanese far right.


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St. Kitts: A virtual airport landing · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Travel consultant Simone Champagnie reports on her blog that she and a partner company in St. Kitts and Nevis have begun to use YouTube to share “virtual site inspection” videos. Emedded in the post is one of the videos, a passenger's-eye-view of the landing at the St. Kitts airport.


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Thailand: Media asked not to cover Thaksin · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Metroblogging Bangkok reports that CNN has been blocked in Thailand because they featured an interview with the deposed Thai prime minister Thaksin was banned in Thailand. “The Council for National Security (CNS) has demanded that all domestic broadcasters, both television and radio, stop giving coverage to anything related to Thaksin.”


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Ukraine: Braidless Tymoshenko · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Yulia Tymoshenko got rid of her famous braid and made a few controversial political steps. More on Foreign Notes.