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Election and Censorship Dialectics in the Brazilian Blogosphere · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

The first Brazilian electoral process witnessed by an active blogosphere is starting to show its unique role. As campaigns intensify throughout the country in the last month before election day, cases involving blog censorship have emerged. It seems that politicians are having a hard time understanding why they can't control information as they did previously. In a country where the historical alliance between media ownership and political influence has always managed to shape the narratives, blogs are starting to experience some success in giving visibility to alternative views.
As reported here during the week, the picture of a painting on a wall in Macapá city, Amapá state, was enough to bring down the blog of Alcilene Cavalcante. The senate candidate José Sarney (a former Brazilian president) won in the Electoral Court on his first attempt against Alcilene.  Her blog was brought down by its ISP [uol.com.br] even after complying and removing the picture. After accepting Sarney's lawyers first complaint against Alcilene's blog, the Electoral Court has denied a series of petitions aimed at putting down posts from Alcilene's sister Alcineia in her own blog which has been narrating the struggle. The whole story is putting the Brazilian blogosphere on fire, and is probably driving Sarney's lawyers crazy.
A coligação de Sarney já entrou com nove representações contra o blog de Alcinéa. Nas últimas, frisou: “É inaceitável que indivíduos que se dizem jornalistas armem uma longa teia de comunicação na internet para a prática de crimes”. A coligação acusa a rede de blogueiros de estar “organizada em prol de atingir a boa imagem do candidato”. Segundo a representação, os jornalistas “convocam eleitores e mais jornalistas e internautas a comporem esse bando, inclusive de outros países”. “É inaceitável que a disputa eleitoral seja maculada com tão abjeta nódoa.”
Blogs fazem campanha “xô Sarney” – Folha Online
Na sessão plenária desta terça-feira, o Plenário do Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE) firmou entendimento de que a aplicação da Lei Eleitoral (Lei 9.504/97) não pode inibir princípios constitucionais como a liberdade de imprensa e a livre expressão do pensamento.
Linha direta com o Amapá – Recanto do Velhinho-Rabugento
Many bloggers started to follow the case and all the activity attracted the attention of Marcelo Tas, a TV journalist who writes a column-like blog in UOL's portal. Although managing to show his support to Alcinéia and amplifying the anti-censorship movement, he (conveniently) did not even mention that it was her sister Alcilene's blog that had been taken down by the same UOL, thus starting the whole issue. In a comment to Marcelo's blog Alcilene tried to call attention to the issue, but maybe he had already reached the limits imposed on a professional blogger. Nevertheless, the movement has already succeeded.
Marcelo, meu blog Repiquete no Meio do Mundo continua fora do ar. Olha que a UOl me informa: Após realizadas as verificações necessárias, informamos que não será possível a reativação do Blog http://alcilene.zip.net, pois sua remoção foi solicitada pelo Departamento Jurídico do provedor UOL.
Comentário de Alcilene Cavalcante , in Voto Declarado – Blog do Tas
Além de dar publicidade nacional ao que só os macapenses que passavam em frente ao muro viram, as tentativas de censura de José Sarney à foto do muro transformaram a pichação na moda do momento. Já existe camiseta e adesivos para carro com o “Xô Sarney!”. E, não bastasse, a candidata ao senado pelo PSB, Cristina Almeida, estreante na política e desconhecida do eleitorado do Estado, já se aproxima de 30% das intenções de voto, cavalgando a onda de indignação que Sarney vem despertando.
Campanha Xô Sarney já circula por mais de cem blogs no país – Jornal Pequeno
Another Brazilian electoral scene is being significantly influenced by the web's free flow of information. In a spectacular turn of events in Brasilia, Brazil's national capital, a candidate for a deputy seat in Congress named Eri Varela divulged a recorded telephone call between himself and the city's former governor and now senate candidate Joaquim Roriz. In the 2 minute conversation, the powerful politician calls his ally and favorite gubernatorial candidate José Roberto Arruda,  false, a vagabond and a liar. The recording was presented to more than 500 people and many journalists at the inauguration of Eri Varela's campaign committee, but Roriz reacted quickly and won a temporary injunction from the Electoral Court preventing media outlets from publishing a word about the case. The A-list blogger Ricardo Noblat was the one who planted the issue and the recording in the blogosphere.
O que leva jornais, em plena capital da República, a ignorarem um fato político relevante como esse? Ou não é relevante um ex-governador, em meio a uma campanha, aliado até outro dia de um candidato à sua sucessão, dizer o que Roriz disse sobre Arruda? (Veja aqui nota publicada abaixo.)…Temos uma imprensa atreladada a poderosos grupos políticos e econômicos e que a eles presta vassalagem em primeiro lugar. São eles que a sustentam – não os leitores. É por isso que esse tipo de imprensa pode se dar ao luxo de vender tão poucos exemplares. Ela atrai mais anúncios pelo que deixa de publicar do que pelo que publica.
Ganhando com o que ignora – Blog do Noblat
A liminar atingiu os jornais O Estado de S. Paulo, Folha de S. Paulo, O Globo, Correio Braziliense, as grandes redes de televisão e rádio e até a Rádio Verde-Oliva, que pertence ao Exército, toca apenas música e não se mete em política. A mesma censura atingiu a Rádio MEC, do Ministério da Educação, e a Rádio Justiça, do Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF).
TRE-DF veta divulgação de conversa de Joaquim Roriz  – A Tarde Online
Here in Brasilia nowadays, those plugged into the blogosphere are already having access to information which is not available through traditional channels. Watching the electoral propaganda on TV while simultaneously surfing the blogosphere can easily evoke the awareness of two very different campaign realities. The blogosphere is informed but the TV audience is not. So it doesn't seem that the recording has made much impact in voters yet. The media silence on the case has been effective in suppressing the network's viral effect. Noblat was constrained by his host's legal department and had to back off from publishing the audio file.
Today, there are several video versions of the ‘famous’ recording already published in Youtube and freely available. But we never now what kind of restrictions will come next. What is clear is that the independent and amateur bloggers are the ones who have the ability and desire to genuinely support net native freedom of speech. Professional bloggers, especially those who were trained as journalists and are sponsored by mainstream media corporations still have to play by the rules. Noblat seems to be very uncomfortable with the censorship of what he sees as ‘a right to information':
É a primeira vez em quase três anos que este blog foi censurado. Espero que a Justiça revogue a decisão que agride a liberdade de imprensa e o direito de vocês à informação.  A mídia está proibida de divulgar o conteúdo da fita por decisão da Justiça que atendeu a um pedido de Roriz. Este blog divulgou o conteúdo da fita no último sábado à noite e novamente no domingo e na segunda-feira dado que não foi notificado até o presente momento para não fazê-lo. Ocorre que a empresa O Estado de S. Paulo foi notificada. E o blog está hospedado no portal do Estadão. Por orientação, pois, do Departamento Jurídico do jornal, vou tirar do ar a degravação da fita e o link dado para que vocês pudessem ouvir a conversa de 1 minuto e 54 segundos travada por Varela, advogado há mais de 20 anos de Roriz, com o próprio Roriz. Tentarei deixar no ar os comentários postados às notas.
Sairá do ar a fita onde Roriz fala mal de Arruda – Blog do Noblat
A Justiça Eleitoral proibiu os jornais e sites de divulgarem a conversa telefonônica entre o ex-governador do DF, Joaquim Roriz, com o ex-presidente da Terracap e candidato a deputado federal Eri Varela. Só que tudo poder ser ouvido no site do YouTube, no endereço (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=carlosbsbdf). Lá também pode ser encontrado o programa do PT em que se rememora o caso da violação do Painel Eletrônico do Senado, que levou o então senador José Roberto Arruda à renúncia. Com todo respeito a Justiça Eleitoral, a internet virou um território livre.
Caiu na rede – CarlosHonorato.com.br
The emerging truth that can be harvested by those who closely follow these events is that the political environment now has a new playing field. Meaningful variables of popular participation have emerged and must be included in the already complex equations politicians deal with at election time. These are just the first signs of a bigger and growing phenomenon. At this early point, Brazilian bloggers are still surprised by the power that can be exercised from their personal pulpits in the free digital environment.
For how long and to what degree will the web remain free? As the forces of light and dark, and of progress and order push against each other there will be a constant  need to balance opposing interests and  produce acceptable levels of security and predictability for all.  We can expect to see new regulations and technologies limiting the completely free flow of information.  The ‘geotargeted’ block recently implemented by the New York Times to prevent UK British public from reading a news article detailing the investigation into the recent alleged airline terror plot is a good example.
It will be natural for institutions to seek to maintain the controls they learned in the analog reality of past generations.  Now that the digital generation is coming of age, great will be the opportunity for networked citizens to peer-review the bugs of the collective reality served to us by the mainstream media. Never was there a more urgent need for a vigilant and active blogosphere.
URGENT UPDATE:  WE JUST RECEIVED NEWS FROM BLOGGER ALTINO MACHADO SAYING THAT UOL.COM.BR TOOK DOWN ALCINEIA'S BLOG. SHE HAS MOVED TO: http://alcinea.blig.ig.com.br/
UPDATE 2: As IG is a Brazilian blogging service, in order to avoid risks of being censored again Alcineia decided to move to http://alcineacavalcante.blogspot.com/.

author: Jose Murilo


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French Antilles: Arrival of ADSL Technology? · Global Voices
Alice Backer

InternetRapide.com wonders (Fr) whether a recent sign read in a French Guiana telecom store predicts the imminent arrival of ADSL TV in the French Overseas Departments of the Caribbean.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Alice Backer


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Guadeloupe: Demanding  a Fiscal Revolution · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Convention pour une Guadeloupe Nouvelle, the blog of a political organization by the same name, deplores (Fr) that a recent law mandating that duty-free zones be created in Guadeloupe has not been implemented. The blog adds: “Guadeloupe needs an in-depth fiscal reform in order to ensure its economic growth, create jobs and ensure its economic and social autonomy. We must fight to jump start this fiscal revolution.”


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India: Blogging in other languages · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Guest author at DesiPundit on Indic blogs and what makes them stick. “I am fortunate that I just happened to be there, at the moment when Hindi blogging triggered-off. I was fortunate to be part of a group of like-minded people who were frenzied enough to bring Hindi to foray and do something new. Blogging was the common passion; this is what made it sticky.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India: The Silly Photo Meme · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A Silly-Photograph meme has caught the fascination of quite a few bloggers in India.


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Indonesian Blogger Confronts US Media View on Indonesian Muslims · Global Voices
A. Fatih Syuhud

Here is a stark example on how people from different cultures see the same thing differently.  And how bias and pre-occupied notion on certain issue and on certain people or community can lead you to see thing only from the negative side of the picture.
Rasyad A. Parinduri at Sarapan Ekonomi – Indonesia's Economy criticises strongly the editorial view of Washington Times (WT) on the result of  LSI survey where. WT said (emphasis is mine):
More than two-thirds of Indonesians favor the country's current secular system of law, according to a privately funded nationwide survey by the Indonesian Survey Circle, a pollster. If that seems like good news, read it this way: This means there are “only” about 82 million Indonesians who favor Shariah. Approximately 216 million out of Indonesia's approximately 246 million inhabitants, or nearly nine-tenths of the population, are Muslims. And while Indonesia's religious and cultural climate is justifiably regarded as moderate in comparison to much of the rest of the Muslim world — and its government is a very useful ally against terrorism — the numbers still leave plenty of room for concern.
… When the aggregate numbers of people are factored in, the study looks considerably more disturbing. If one-quarter of Indonesians favor cutting off the hands of thieves, it suggests that upwards of 60 million Indonesians favor the practice. If roughly 164 million Indonesians oppose stoning adulterers, it means that more than 80 million favor doing so.
Parinduri thinks that such kind of logic–making good thing from “others” look ugly and bad thing uglier– is misleading and by no means it would help people across cultural boundaries getting closer understanding. He asks the WT editor to think at the same token for themselves:
I guess, by similar token, since about 45 millions Americans (15 percent)1 do not think that “democracy is better than any other form of government”, the future of democracy in US is, really, considerably worrisome.
This kind of analysis — it's just beautiful, isn't it?
He explains further trying to put thing in right perspective:
LSI reports that 69.6 percent of Indonesians favor Pancasila, 11.5 percent favor Islamic country like those in the the Middle East, 3.5 percent favor Western style system of law, and the rest, about 15 percent of them, do not respond or do not have any preference.
The Times's editor should have written that “there are about 28 millions Indonesians (out of 246 millions) who favor Shariah”.
By the way, the survey's finding that “more than two-thirds of Indonesians favor the country's current secular system of law” does not mean that “there are ‘only’ about 82 million Indonesians who favor Shariah”. The Washington Times editors are simply wrong.
He advises the WT's editor to write his op-ed in more prudent way in the future for the benefit of peaceful co-existence and greater understanding:
The Times's editor should have written that “there are about 28 millions Indonesians (out of 246 millions) who favor Shariah”.
Commenting on the above post, Calson said:
And even among those 28 million who favor Sharia a considerable number of people will not be in favor of the harsh Saudi interpretation.
I guess. I hope.
Even Indcoup, a British expat in Indonesia, whose opinions in his blog tend to highlight Indonesian Muslims in the bad light agrees that “the WT editorial is poor,” but adding that:
The point is, I guess, that ALTHOUGH a small percentage of Indonesians favor Sharia law there IS an impact.
Look at Indonesian society and you can see that extremists, though small in number can, have an effect.
ie: Sharia laws in Padang & Aceh, the idea to ban gossip shows, SMS, segregation of male and female students in some parts of Indonesia, the anti-porno law that would make the kebaya illegal, etc etc.
In which Parinduri responds back:
That's true, IndCoup. But, why don't they just say so? (This also applies to people at IndoMatters).
There is no need to distort the survey results, or to bend the analysis, just to suit one's opinion.
Why don't people provide more balanced analysis. When the survey in 1999 was published that 12 or more percent of Americans “do not support Democracy”, I don't think they would write that “the aggregate numbers of people are factored in, the study looks considerably more disturbing”.
Why is it when it's about Indonesian muslims, suddently it matters? This kind of analysis is just unbelieveable.
And why do people, it seems, expect too much from Indonesia's democracy? It's been only a few years old, for God's sake. Or do they think that democracy is always perfect?
Btw, I don't think NU calls for any gov't laws banning gossip shows as you seem to suggest. But, it's another story.
My point is this: Indonesian muslims have problems, all right. (Others may have problems too, btw). There's no need to paint a picture that make us look much worse. Distorting the picture just to make us uglier is insulting, to say the least.
And you know what, people should not distort the picture of Indonesian muslims if they really want to engange us muslims. They will definitely failed. Unless of course enganging us is not what they want.
(I mean, go ahead, paint an uglier picture of us if they just want us to look uglier. But, one thing for sure, they are not helping moderate and liberal muslims. But again, it doesn't matter if they are not really care).
Mud Disaster and Letter to the Indonesian President
Onceuponaweblog, in the meantime, wrote that she has sent a letter to the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), to handle mud disaster that takes place in Sidoarjo, East Java, as soon as possible to avoid the disaster get deteriorated further:
I have today sent a letter via email to SBY. My main intent is for the president to prioritize on efforts to put a stop to the mud disaster in Sidoarjo, which has drowned four villages to date and the figure is still counting.

author: A. Fatih Syuhud


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Iran: A blind electronic music composer · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Ankabout presents us Aboozar, his blind electronic music composer  from Iran. You can download some samples of his music or but them .

author: Fred Petrossian


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Kazakhstan: Lines · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Narcogen gives a thorough treatment to the particulars of waiting in lines in Kazakhstan.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Kazakhstan: Monarchy · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Sean Roberts notes that the son-in-law of Kazakhstan's president thinks Kazakhstan would be well-served by a constitutional monarchy.


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Kenya: Imagining the Nation · Global Voices
Lulu Kitololo

MMK posts a newspaper article that assesses the sometimes farcical, often autocratic  imagination of a nation  from above, and questions where the people’s own agency lies. Death of the Kenya Dream has ramifications for third world people everywhere and calls for African intellectuals to reclaim the management of perceptions of Africa.

author: Lulu Kitololo


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Mexico: Skypecast of Bloggers Reunion · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Iván Mejía informs Eduardo Arcos that you too can join the September 1 bloggers meetup in Xalapa, Veracruz (ES) by using Skype.

author: David Sasaki


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Mexico: “State of Blogging in Mexico after the 2006 Election” · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Ricardo Carreón gives a personalized account of Mexico's blogging history: “For me it is clear that the Election was the killer application for Mexican blogs.  However, I think that those independent and authoritative voices will continue to play a role on shaping the future of my country.  Many of them actually continue to do so.”


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Nepal: Asking the King · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Nepali Netbook on Rayamajhi Commission and the King. “Will Nepalis finally get to see their citizen king in full public view, perhaps even live on national radio and television, offering answers the commission couldn’t get from ex-ministers and officials? Or will the “interrogation” consist of a questionnaire the monarch could fill out at leisure?”


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Nigeria: Dirty Politics · Global Voices
Lulu Kitololo

Adaure observes politician killings in light of the coming 2007 Nigerian elections and includes a list an “allegedly” official list of looters of the Nigerian national cake.


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Peru: III Concourse of Folkloric Street Dance · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Juan Arellano celebrated the International Day of Folklore by checking out the third National Concourse of Folkloric Street Dance (III Concurso Nacional de Pasacalle Folklórico) (ES). Included are links to nearly 100 photographs of the parade and a Wikipedia page explaining traditional Peruvian dance (ES).


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Reunion: More on Volcano Eruption · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Of the latest eruption of the Piton de la Fournaise, Reunion's volcano, Dijoux.re writes (Fr): “This eruption is a surprise because it was not predicted by specialists who only recorded the first quakes an hour and a half before the lava flow. (…) According to the observatory, this sudden eruption should not last but our volcano is capricious enough that we may have the time to admire it.” The blogger also posts multiple numbered images.


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Reunion: Volcano Eruption · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Reunion Passion announces (Fr) that Reunion's local volcano is erupting once again. She also posts pictures.


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Russia: Beslan Anniversary; Day of Knowledge · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

For LJ user yume_yami, a 14-year-old high school student from St. Petersburg, September 1 is, above all, the first day of classes; she posts a picture of herself at today's Day of Knowledge ceremony at her school and writes (RUS):
Tada-datam) It's happened) I did survive it.
Everything went as usual, we sung the anthem, we remembered Beslan, and despite small troubles such as tight shoes, it didn't cause much disgust. My tights got ripped, though, bastards, at the same time and at the same spot as Victoria's. We made a wish)
A couple of newbies didn't get her Majesty's attention, as they had nothing interesting about them. I was told that I looked like an angel. Cuttttie)
[photo omitted]
***
For 41-year-old Rimma Polyak – LJ user rimona, Moscow – September 1 will never be the same again, after what happened in Beslan two years ago (RUS):
[…] Two years ago, at one wonderful forum (which no longer exists) one wonderful person proposed this: each of us should write a post for September 1. I liked the idea and wrote this text, which fit my mood then.
—
[…] September 1 isn't just one day of the calendar, it's a special date, it's the day on which the new school year begins. And if the real New Year is a holiday night, a joyful anticipation of the [New Year's] eve, a hope for pleasant changes – the school year's first day is the morning that is followed by a long row of work days, it's the end of the vacation carelessness and the beginning of the responsible and orderly labor.
It's been nearly 20 years since I [last] felt like this about September 1. Only once, before the second grade, I spent my whole summer break waiting impatiently for the first school day. I so wanted to put on my school uniform again, to hold my textbooks, to see my teacher and classmates again. But by the third grade, I began to think of the return to school with sorrow, like everyone else, and I dreamed for the summer to last longer.
And here I am, at last, with school years behind me. With the high school diploma, I acquired the long-awaited freedom from the rhythm imposed by September 1. From now on, it's just one of the 365 days of the year. What a pleasant feeling it was to remember about this every time I saw school children with their flowers, in a hurry, and the concerned teachers, and college students and professors – all those who continued to measure life in school years. For me, the year began on the night of January 1, just like in the carefree early childhood.
But time went by, and suddenly my daughter was starting school. And again the study/vacation rhythm was forced onto my life. And again September 1 became the dividing line at the end of each summer, reminding me of the need to mobilize and, after the relaxing rest, to devote myself for the whole year to school problems, early risings, homeworks, nightly reminders that it's time for bed, meetings with teachers – and all that for a long, long time…
And then there'll be grandchildren, and again September 1 will become the calendar's main day. And I'll be waking the new girl up in the morning, take her to school, live through all her problems and concerns, and look forward to vacation time together with her…
(August 31, 2004)
—
And in the morning, September 1 happened in Beslan. And my elegiac text began to look bitterly ironic to me, an unnecessary and absurd detail next to the Beslan tragedy.
Why am I writing this now? To be honest, I don't know. Perhaps because September 1 is forever tainted with blood for me now, a little bit? Or because this day will never be carefree and happy for me anymore?
But maybe it'll all change with time and carelessness will reappear?
I'd love it to be this way.
I'd love not to be afraid for the children, for the loved ones, for myself.
God willing, this will not happen again.
All those who died in Beslan will be dearly remembered! And may those who lost their loved ones there be granted strength and courage!..
***
LJ user abstract2001 – Marina Litvinovich, founder of PravdaBeslana.ru (Truth of Beslan) website – was in Beslan on September 1 (RUS):
Came back from the School. The women's howling doesn't stop inside the gym.
Heartbreaking.
The sun is burning, 37 degrees [Celcius].
Everything is melting.
Tough.
A few days earlier, abstract2001 cited Beslan casualty figures (RUS) and causes of death, drawing on the newly-published study by Yuri Savelyev, member of an official parliamentary commission and an explosives specialist:
The mournful count.
112-116 dead people – were carried out of the gym burned. They burned to death because of the fire that started from the first shot from the outside and because the HQ's order to extinguish the fire came 2 hours and 20 minutes later.
106-110 dead people – the overall number of people who turned into hostages for the second time and died in the south wing, in the dining hall and classrooms in the additional building. Most died as a result of coming under fire from weapons of random destruction (RPO-A [flamethrowers], RShG, RPG, etc.) and tanks.
Total: 218-226 hostages
Terrorists did kill (or finished up):
18 people – men who were killed on Sept. 1, 2004.
12 people – servicemen from Alpha, Vympel and the [Ministry of Emergency Situations].
Total: 30 people
Overall total of the dead: 331 people, of whom 12 were servicemen.
A question: who is to blame for the death of the majority of the hostages?[…]
And here is part of abstract2001‘s exchange with one of the many fellow-bloggers who bothered to comment on the post:
revoltp: It's easy to answer such a question. The blame is on the terrorists. But if you pose the question like this: who besides the terrorists is to blame for the hostages’ death? – the answer will be more complex. But the best question is how to prevent this from happening again. What can be improved. Who did well and who did badly.
abstract2001: Right. Only to answer [these questions], it's necessary to find out who did [what], how and why. And if the officials don't have a desire to find out – then there won't be an understanding of what is to be done. […]

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: Caran d’Ache · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Snowsquare.com writes about the Swiss pencil-maker with a Russian-sounding name: Caran d'Ache.


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Russia: Casualties and Cruelty in Chechnya · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog writes about the Russian army's “lack of transparency in casualty figures” and quotes from a New York Times piece on the “allegations of state-sponsored” cruelty in Chechnya: “It seems that Kadyrov’s Chechnya is turning out to be no different than the late Shamil Basaev’s would have been.”


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Russia: Deripaska and Pichugin · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Charlie Ganske of Russia Blog writes about Oleg Deripaska and the world's largest aluminum producer, and about the case of Aleksei Pichugin, former chief of security for Yukos.


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Russia: September 1 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Snowsquare.com provides a brief explanation of what September 1 is in Russia.


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Senegal, Brazil, India: South Meets South · Global Voices
Lulu Kitololo

In the interest of regenerating the rural economy and reducing oil imports, the Biopact blog reports that Senegal is launching a biofuels program with Brazilian and Indian support as part of the Global South’s alliance that strives towards independence from Western powers.


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Sri Lanka: Peace and Technology · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

ICT for Peacebuilding on technology being neutral. “I would argue, perhaps controversially, that technology does not have to be neutral to engender trust. Particularly in a peace processes and conflict transformation, tags such as neutrality have no meaning, but impartiality does. Impartiality facilitates constructive relationships, progressive dialogue amongst antagonists and engenders trust.”


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Thailand: Reaction to Bombing · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Bangkok Pundit reviews media reports on the bombing in Southern Thailand. The bombs were left at banks and ATMS and set off by timer.

author: Preetam Rai


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The state of the argentinean blogosphere: Entre Rios · Global Voices
Jorge Gobbi

Fourth delivery of entries dedicated to argentinean provinces blogosphere. This time it's turn of Entre Rios, a neighbor of Buenos Aires province. One of the topics we board the most in these reports is knowing if there is a perception of “community” among bloggers that are located within a determined geographic space. Such impression doesn't seem to be too present in the
Another interesting example is Blogsfera, developed by Javier and which focuses in topics more related to technology. Javier is quite prolific and keeps other sites, such as Maten a mi suegra (“kill my moher in law”), more freestyle and humoristic, and Periodista Ciudadano (“citizen journalist”). Another blog linked to technology topics is FX Designs, mostly oriented to Internet issues.
Australia no Aparece is, on the other side, a blog of music we usually don't find in the radio. There are short reviews of albums and many references to new artists and trends.
Diego Efe's La Puñalada takes a wide variety of topics: music, technology, literature, among others. And Another Blog in the Wall is a blog of girls photos, usually from Argentina, and published in magazines.
To build this entry, I used the public register of blogs by provinces available at wiki de Blog Argentinos and in the Argenblogs directory.

author: Jorge Gobbi


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Trinidad & Tobago: Independence · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

As Trinidad and Tobago observes the 44th anniversary of its independence on August 31, Jeremy Taylor wonders if “Independence as an event is becoming ancient history,” and whether Carifesta, the upcoming regional arts festival, will provide “a platform for something truly exciting and challenging. And that depends, not on organisers or funds or recognition, but on having something to say, and saying it loud enough for people to hear and take notice.“

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Turkmenistan: Desert League · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Joanne Schirm reports on a historic moment in sports in Turkmenistan — the first baseball game played between teams from different provinces. The Dashoghuz Devils emerged victorious over the Mary Sharks.


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Uzbekistan: Bread · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Nick of neweurasia sings the praises of Uzbek bread.


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Zimbabwe: A Blog with a View · Global Voices
Lulu Kitololo

The Bearded Man collates daily bulletins of news from Zimbabwe  with sprinklings of his own two cents, chronicling the land issue, the introduction of new currency and government claims in the face of criticism.


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Iran: Khavaran Cemetary · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Aroosak Kooki has published several photos of Khavaran Cemetery where some of the victims of summer 1988 mass executions in Iran, mostly from leftist political leanings are buried.


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Bangladesh blog buzz · Global Voices
Rezwan

The latest opinions and views from the Bangladeshi blogs:
* Refugees: Drishtipat discusses the plight of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh as the International community is not taking notice. Rohingyas are Barmese Muslims from Arakan fled to Bangladesh to escape military persecution in Myanmar.
* Gender Equity: Sonia discusses a flaw in the Bangladesh constitution which deters a Bangladeshi women to transmit her nationality to her spouse or children.
* Energy: The recent Asia Energy coal mining controversy in Phulbari, Bangladesh and the people's uprising leaves a lot to ponder.
Conversations with an Optimist argues that people's power is not always right as it may lead to disastrous consequences for the country.
Drishtipat urges everybody to talk less politics and more science reagrding this issue.
* Human rights: Journalist Tasneem Khalil discusses the human rights abuses of Bangladesh's elite force commando RAB, which overshadows the country's security forces’ laudable performance in the UN peace keeping missions. More ironical is that some RAB members are being selected for UN peace keeping missions.
* Censoring: Tasneem Khalil informs that the Curators of a British museum are role playing as bigot mullahs,  as they have censored a documentary work made in Bangladesh by Syra Miah — Bangladeshi-British photographer from the museum’s Art and Islam exhibition on the charge that it contained an image of a semi-naked woman.
* Politics: Nazim Farhan Chowdhury of Conversations With An Optimist blog predicts the decrease in support  of the ruling BNP among the Bangladeshis because of their failures. Salaam Dhaka confirms that analogy from a diaspora viewpoint.
* International relations: Razib Rashedin of Me, Myself and Bangladesh criticizes certain Indian politician's propaganda that places in Bangladesh should be attacked where the terrorist centers against India are operating. He claims that these accusations are false and there are many insurgencies in north-eastern India that feed on local discontent due to the neglect of the federal government to their needs and from pure separatist impulses.  Therefore, it does not require a neighbouring country to instigate troubles in India.
* Culture: The corruption in Bangladesh is becoming ubiquitous. However Salam Dhaka realizes that sometimes bribes can also do good to the society.
* Review: Deshcalling posts a review of an insightful book titled ‘The India Doctrine’ published by the Bangladesh Research Forum and edited by Barrister MBI Munshi. The book is a collection of articles by writers from Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka providing insight into controversial issues in this region and the role of India.
* Paintings: Artist Sumaiya Mehreen shares her paintings in her digital portfolio blog.
* Cyber society: Somewherein Dhaka is an increasingly popular user-friendly, informative and interactive events site from Bangladesh. It lets the users know all about the art, culture, sports and lifestyle events happening in Dhaka (what, when and where) and let the users to comment on or review the items. This is turning out to be an useful social networking tool.

author: Rezwan


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Cambodia: Personal Information Technology aka Weblog Workshop · Global Voices
Tharum Bun

More and more Cambodians are getting introduced to blogging through organized workshops at universities in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia.
The Cambodian blogopshere is probably as not big as any others in the region as the number of Internet users is one of the lowest in Southeast Asia. But after blogging took off last year, it has been growing remarkably. Back in July 2005, the first blogging training in some provinces took place. As young people are at the forefront to embrace digital technology trend, a group of few local evangelists began to introduce them to ‘blogging’. The story of blogging in Cambodia began.
Named ‘Personal Information Technology,’ the group led by the blogger evangelist Mean Lux continues his community work with several other friends to spread out the word. In August this year, they conducted the workshop at International University, a Phnom Penh-based higher education institution. A workshop's presenter wrote “It was a great experience for me to be one of the presenters during that workshop.” For full coverage (with pictures) of the workshop, please click here and here.
In the second series of the event, approximately 400 participants attended the workshop which was organized at another university in association with City Link, one of the country's Internet Service Provider. Workshop presenter Kalyan concluded after the session:
Yesterday our workshop on Personal Information Technology was held at PUC [Pannasastra University of Cambodia], and beyond our expectation there were about more than 400 participants including the Deans and the lecturers. I was very nervous but I could manage to do well as PUC provides great hospitality and facilities for the event. In addition, we received City Link's material support.Since there were too many students at the lab registering to create a blog account, then the network became really slow. Thus, City Link increased the speed to make it easier.
About 400 people attended the second weblog workshop at Pannasastra University of Cambodia. Photo: originally uploaded by Kalyan.
And her teammate added:
This is a great day of our life history, probably. We gave apresentation to more than 400 students and academic staff at PUC andAlso in English and Chantra also made some funnies about his secondlanguage. It is a great success. Sadly for Viirak, if he were here, the workshop would be more joyful!
An upcoming workshop is to be organized at Newton Tilay University. “Well, sound unlike the previous one, this time it’s becoming more better and bigger la… So sorry that i cannot join it this time. Hopefully the next comming one, which will be on September 16 at Newton Tilay University (NTU). See you there!”
Back in Japan, after reading a book about Khmer Rouge regime, LA RÉPUBLIQUE KHMÈRE, Cambodian student Dara wrote a review, expressing his emotion and describing his very personal thoughts. The 23-year-old Cambodian native in Nagano is also curious about the accuracy of written book.
…The population of this city was 650.000 in 1970 had grown to 3.000.000 in 1975. From time to time all transportation means had been cutted. Everything became more expensive then the day before. Even though the salary for public servants has been risen to 300% but people still found it hard to survive. From August, 1972 to April, 1974 the price for necessary goods are 400% up. For ordinary families they had only rice with fried vegetable with no meat. Starting from the end of 1974, everyday rockets had been droped at various targets in the city. Everyday people wounded and die. Finally, April, 17th 1975 arrived. People were happy because they thought that their suffering was over. They could live in peace and prosperity again but that was just a beginning to a greater suffering …

author: Tharum Bun


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China: What’s up with the web · Global Voices
John Kennedy

The newly-born portal for progressive bloggers Bullog was booted from its host server in Inner Mongolia late last month, and relocating to Beijing hasn't seemed to help as the site—as well as its backup home at niubo.org—has been unaccesible for the last few days. None of this has slowed down any of the bloggers it brought together, Yangcheng Evening News web editor Wen Yunchao for example, who publishes a weekly bulletin of internet affairs on his MSN Spaces blog. Here is his August 30 edition:
广东处罚垃圾邮件发送者
日前，广东省通信管理局首次对发送垃圾电子邮件的公司给予了行政处罚，责令其停止发送垃圾邮件，并罚款5000元。深圳市合生智慧企业管理咨询有限公司从2006年1月起通过软件从互联网上收集电子邮件地址，在未经接收者同意的前提下，大量群发包含商业广告内容的电子邮件。相信这一依据《互联网电子邮件服务管理办法》进行的处罚，将对网络上泛滥成灾的垃圾邮件发送行为起到威摄作用。
名片网引发质疑
连日来，一个名为“名片网”的网站引起媒体与社会的关注，该网站通过上传一张名片资料即可下载两张的机制，在开通不足4个月后，就积累了200多万张名片，月点击率在500万次左右。登录名片网，可以查到世界500强等企业的管理层及员工名片，在首页上就有微软、西门子、用友、华为等国内外知名企业的管理层的名单，总裁职位的有45万多张。其中收集量最多的是微软公司，从总经理到前台共有2000多张。有律师认为，名片网在未经本人同意的情况下便将他人手机等个人信息在网上公布是侵犯了《民法》中规定的个人隐私权。在利益面前，一些网络业者在不断地试图突破人们的心理底线。
马云誓与周鸿祎绝交
8月17日，雅虎中国前总裁、奇虎现任董事长周鸿祎称已将雅虎中国告上法庭，要求其道歉并赔偿损失360万元。目前，北京市第二中级人民法院正式受理此案。马云任CEO的阿里巴巴也发表声明称，将正式起诉周鸿祎个人；同时，阿里巴巴旗下所有子公司及业务部门即日起永远不与周鸿祎投资及有关联的公司发生任何业务往来。这次爆发的直接导火索是奇虎刚刚推出的清理所谓流氓软件的“安全卫士360软件”。由于该软件可以直接将雅虎中国最赚钱的“雅虎助手”软件从浏览器中彻底清除，因此引发了雅虎的强烈反弹。
雅虎回归门户
8月15日，雅虎中国宣布正式启用搜索引擎独立域名yahoo.cn，以满足个人化搜索的需求。同时雅虎中国首页Yahoo.com.cn也全面改版，增加了资讯中心、产经中心、个人助理、知识堂、社区等诸多内容。雅虎中国在放弃门户大举转向搜索之后，一年后又回到了起点。易观国际日前公布的《2006年第2季度搜索引擎市场监测》报告显示，第二季度中国搜索引擎广告整体市场雅虎中国已降至第三(15.7%)，位于Google(16.2%)之后。内忧外困的雅虎中国，重新调整战略被视为扭转劣势的一大出路。
广东要开“网上运动会”
广东省总工会和广东省电信主办的“广东省首届互联星空网上技能运动会”即将举行，比赛项目有“打字速度比赛”、“搜索比赛”、中国象棋、升级、都地主、连连看等。预计参赛人数将达到20万人以上，在十月底决出广东地区的“打字王”，“网络搜索之星”等，所有比赛项目的冠军，都将获得万元大奖。而本次网运会打字速递比较冠军将被授予广东省“打字王”称号，并按程序申报“广东省五一劳动奖章”。本次比赛均在网上游戏平台进行，比赛是否带有商业利益的成份颇受网友质疑。

author: John Kennedy


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Cuba: The latest arrest of dissident Dr. Darsi Ferrer Ramírez · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Up to 10:30am (EST) this morning I could find no mention in the online versions of mainstream media outlets of the detention of Dr. Dariel “Darsi” Ferrer Ramírez and the attempted gassing of his young son by Cuban authorities on September 1, 2006. The incident has been reported, however, on independent news resources like Net for Cuba and Payolibre.com, as well as on several blogs.
According to Texas-based blogger Marc Masferrer, Ferrer, a Cuban dissident and head of the Centre for Health and Human Rights “Juan Bruno Zayas” in Havana, “has a considerable public profile, in part because of his use of e-mail access provided by the U.S. Interests Section to transmit the work of dissident journalists, and his own writings” (Internet access in Cuba is reported to be restricted to a privileged few). Ferrer's writings are distributed via e-mail as well as published on portals like cubamatinal.com, which lists Ferrer as a columnist.  Ferrer also appears on this list of indepedent journalists in Cuba.
Masferrer links to a perhaps slightly histrionic Wall Street Journal profile from March 2006, which describes Ferrer as “an Afro-Cuban medical professional who, noting the country's abysmal state of health care, established an independent health and human rights clinic. . . . a faceless soul behind the Tropical Iron Curtain, with a family to care for and living on practically nothing. . . .” whose “race also works against him. Independent thinking is heresy for any Cuban but Afro-Cubans are taught to be especially grateful for — and obedient to — the Revolution. They are supposed to signal to the world that though they may appear poor, malnourished and oppressed, they are actually living contentedly on Master Fidel's plantation. . . .” The article also says that while Ferrer “has been regularly harassed and terrorized by the government's infamous ‘repudiation squads,’ organized mob violence unleashed against non-conformers,” a raid by uniformed Cuban police on November 29, 2005 “was the first time the regime sent uniformed agents to his home.”
The main source of information on Dr. Ferrer's latest encounter with the Cuban authorities seems to be a message from his wife Yusnaimy Jorge Soca which has been widely republished, paraphrased and quoted in the blogosphere. Cubamatinal.com (ES) appended a disclaimer to the message saying that attempts had been made to contact Ferrer's wife and other Cuban activists to verify the message's authenticity. An editorial note (ES) appended to Jorge Soca's message at news portal payolibre.com, however, states that the information had been corroborated by both the president and public relations secretary of the Cuban Liberal Movement, both of whom were reportedly with Ferrer at the time of his arrest. Dr. Eloy González, a Cuban doctor based in Fort Worth, Texas, writes on his blog that he received Jorge Sosa's message via email, and offers this  translation:
Yesterday in the early hours, 2.30 am, Dr. Darsi Ferrer Ramirez, was arrested arbitrarily by about 50 members of the Political Police, dressed as policemen, without shields, in 12 police cars.
With guns drawn, they loudly knocked on the door. He was immediately handcuffed and takes, without pants, shoes or a shirt, who knows where. They left our 5-year-old son alone in the house, because I was with my mother, who was feeling ill, at her house
Darsi told them that our son was alone and asked that he be allowed to take him (son) with them. They paid no attention to him. But, before leaving, they turned on the gas and closed the door. Thanks to the help of some neighbors, who quickly went to find me, we were able to break a window, enter, and rescue the child still alive.
The whereabouts of Darsi were unknown until 6:11am, when an official from the Ministry of Interior arrive to tell me where (in which unit) he was detained. At approximately 8 am he was released.
At this moment, around 1:00 pm,Dr.Darsi Ferrer Ramirez was arbitrarily arrested again on the corner of the Interests Office, which he was about to enter. Giving no explanation, he was taken away again. I am now going to look for him and hope to find him in a unit and not in another place. I’m sending this message to inform you that I, Yusnaimy Jorge Sosa, hold responsible and accuse the government, the National Security and everyone who was involved in this attempt to murder my son, Dariel Ferrer Jorge, who is only 5 years old, and my husband, Darsi Ferrer Ramirez.
Jorge Soca's message was republished as well at the prominent anti-Castrol blog Babalú and also mentioned at Publius Pundit, which links to a statement (ES) from Pedro Leonel Ordoñez, president of the Cuban Liberal Movement elaborating on the reported attempt by the authorities to gas Ferrer's young son and on Ferrer's seizure by agents in front of the U.S. Interests Section (Ordoñez was with Ferrer at the time of the arrest).
Marc Masferrer, who says he has been receiving Ferrer's e-mails since “earlier this summer”, offers his own theories as to why this latest incident may have taken place:
— Ferrer has a considerable public profile, in part because of his use of e-mail access provided by the U.S. Interests Section to transmit the work of dissident journalists, and his own writings.
— In his latest message, which I received last month, Ferrer demanded the government hold a plebiscite on whether Raúl Castro should succeed his brother as dictator.
“The hereditary succession to another old, sick military man to govern the destiny of Cuba is considered by many to perpetuate an unnatural, undemocratic and irrational dynasty,” Ferrer wrote.
— Finally, Raúl Castro this week named Ramiro Valdes — an old rival of Raúl's, but with a reputation as a secret policeman only a dictator could love — minister of communications and information.
And thus, in charge of silencing critics like Darsi Ferrer.
This morning, Masferrer posted information for those who wish to help bring about Ferrer's release.


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Global Food Blog Report #30 · Global Voices
Melissa De León

#1: From Navarra, Spain, Garbancita (ES) shows off with a delectable "Mermelada de Cebolla" (Onion Marmalade). According to the creator, it is amazingly easy to prepare and it is delicious served with foie. She prepared it two months ago and brought it along with the biggest foie she found, as a gift for her friends David and Cindy in Donosti. The verdict was just one word: outstanding! Head over to her blog and get the recipe now!
#2: From Italy, Pia & Co: Serenading Mamma and Limoncello. The poignant eulogy from her mother's memorial service and a very unique recipe to prepare this well loved spirit.
#3: From Stockholm, Sweden, A Cat in the Kitchen reveals a scrumptious recipe to prepare Cappuccino Ice Cream Cake:
Cappuccino Ice Cream Cake is the perfect frozen cake to have in your freezer when a friend pops by or when you need a cold delicious treat.
It’s super easy to make and you don’t even need an ice cream maker. If you’re planning a 3 course dinner this may be the perfect ending,
especially as you can prepare it long before the dinner. I’ve made this ice cream cake a few times and it’s always popular. Continue reading and get the recipe now!
#4: From Denmark, Food and Thoughts writes "Comfort Me with Cake" which includes a recipe to prepare Cream Cheese Pound Cake.
A rich, decadent cake that I'm sure would do very well with some fresh berries. But I had it with a big mug of tea while the rain pounded on my windows and I was feeling sorry for myself. It worked like that also, and very well. Yes, sometimes, things are as simple as a piece of cake.
I used Boyajian lemon oil in place of the lemon extract and you can most definitely taste it. I might even go as far to say you taste the lemon too much. I'll cut it down to about half next time.
#5:  From Canada,  Wasabi Cowgirl explains how to prepare  Pineapple Buns (Bor Lor Bao)
Lately, I have had a mad craving for Hong Kong Pineapple Buns, aka Bor Lor Bao. Instead of heading down to Chinatown to buy some, I decided to try my hand at making this treat from scratch. Bor Lor Bao are basically sweet yeast-leavened buns with a buttery, sugary "cap." They're called "pineapple buns" because of the criss-cross pattern on top, which looks like the surface of a pineapple. Ready to cook? get the recipe now…
#6:  From  the U.K. and India, Lulu Loves London reveals her recipe to prepare Yellow Squash Kootu / Curry:
It's a very simple recipe but the chana daal takes a while to cook in the pressure cooker and you need a hand blender to whiz up the cooked dal. Also, the squash can end up being a bit bitter so cook well till it gets soft and a bit mushy.  Read more…
#7: From Yamagata, Japan, Foodie Confidential prepares a recipe that I am sure will help many of you: Kid's Favorite Sweet Corn Soup!
It was one of those days. All my two year old wanted was chocolate milk. No rice. No dal. No vegetables. No fruit.
As a last ditch try I threw in all vegetables I had at home into one bit pot, and voila, a soup she actually liked. She had 4 helpings. Wow…so this recipe is a keeper. Almost 4 cups of chopped vegetables, all of it sauteed, some of it pureed, no artificial additives unless you wish to add soup-cubes to boost the flavour. How much healthier can it get!  Get cooking…
#8: From Colombia, PandaSpace: Tales from their year in Colombia, including a visit to  Salento, which is the gateway to the Valle de Cocora. Do not miss the photo galleries and the local specialty: deboned-fried fresh trout with a giant "patacon."
The ways to cook "patacones" or "tostones" vary from one Latin American country to another. Basically they are sliced-fried green plantain, or green plantain rounds fried twice (this is how we prepare them in Panama).
#9: From Uruguay: Diarios de Cocina (ES) tickles our love for South American food by sharing many scrumptious recipes, including: Dulce de Leche Soufflé, Empanadas Salteñas, and Flan.
#10: From Turkey and Panama, Coolinary Spot on "Food in Panama," and "Turkish Food: One of the World's Great Cuisines"
Have a tasty week!

author: Melissa De León


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Pana-Blogs Report · Global Voices
Melissa De León

#1: ob la di ob la da reports on how one of the most important ecological areas of the country is  being destroyed "Red Frog Beach, Bocas del Toro: Paradise in Panama?"
For how long will we have to fight our own stupidity? Well, in case you haven't heard, looks like the whole Republic of Panama is being sold. And a tiny corner of it, Red Frog Beach in Bastimentos Island (part of the province of Bocas del Toro), is being devoured by bulldozers and chain saws as part of a shady mega-project that wants to replace indigenous communities and modest local homes with condos and swimming pools. This is not cheap fiction, my friends.
Those of us opposing the approval and development of the project (whichever happens first, corruption trickles down to even the tiniest of places) don't have a lot of money or power to step in and immediately make a difference, but we do have information, we do have a very strong will and consciences that cannot be bought. We also have contacts. I mean you, reading from the comfort of your home or looking over your shoulder at your office so no one catches you checking out a blog from some girl in Panama. You with e-mail addresses of people from around the world, you writing blogs, sharing links…Read More!
#2: Martin's Panama Weblog visits El Valle de Anton:
This weekend I had my last *snief* trip in Panamá. I went with the bus in the beautiful valley called El Valle de Anton. The valley is an extinct volcano which broke out last millions of years ago with such a force, that it blew off the top. What remained was a crater with a diameter of approximately 5 km which contains now a small village. They have lots of sights there, thermal springs, a mountain shaped liked a sleeping indian women, a zoo, fine food, waterfalls, jungle treks and much more. Read the complete post…
#3: Rob Rivera.com on "Love Motels":
Wow, that sounds dirty… the “love motel.” These establishments have been in Panama for as far back as the 60’s, primarily for american soldiers who wanted a place to take their catch of the night without having to go to their barracks. Nowadays they’re some of the most lucrative businesses in Panama, yet they have a rather shitty reputation for some people. I’ve heard people say, and I’m paraphrasing here, that push buttons are places “only for dirty old men to take their mistresses so they can cheat on their wives.” To this, I wholeheartedly disagree. Read More…
#4: Chiriqui Chatter reports on the "Rio San Felix & Playa Las Lajas Disaster"
Below you will find an email I have received with information on the status of impending disaster for the residents in the Playa Las Lajas area. This is not a good recommendation for those thinking of investing their lives and their futures in Panama. This is a follow up to my entry requesting help.
Linda’s email is a Panamanian example of Nero fiddling while Rome burns. Any investor that looks at what is going on and has been going on for some time now in Playa Las Lajas, would have to conclude that there is a serious problem with the lack of action displayed at all levels of the Panamanian Bureaucracy. Continue reading…
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#5: Heidibella in the Tropics shares her recipe for a perfect Sunday: The Stack
Perfect Sunday breakfast: THE STACK. Very simple to make, yet very easy to mess up.
Three very important tips:
#6: Asi es la Vida en Panama (ES) writes up a real-life-parody on the often delayed police response in certain areas of Panama City: "Como llamar a la Policia," or how to call the police in case you are a victim of a robbery in your house, or other crimes.
#7: CaDs Online (ES) reviews a cultural phenomenon in Panama: Taxis en Panama (Taxis in Panama).
"In any way we describe them, we wouldn't be far from reality. Although this is a generalization and being the fact that I have taken taxis and the drivers were quite qualified, it is true that most of the  drivers in Panama City drive like crazy, always stressed and in a hurry. Who knows why.
The case is that those characters ignore traffic rules and traffic lights do not exist for them. They seem to be immunized before the law, because they never pay indemnification to the owners of the cars they crash or to the people they hurt." Read more…
#8: Panama FAQ and  The Great Panamanian Gin Shootout
On our recent trip to Chiriqui I stumbled over Gin Holandesa and Gin Kondor which I haven’t seen before. Intrigued I decided that in the interest of science I needed to do a taste test of Holandesa vs. the tried and true Gin Caballito. I wanted to do a test of Kondor, but my wife warned me that I might wake up without a stomach. Judging by the price $2.35 for a 70cl bottle (about $1 less than the others) I decided to skip it. Although I know feel that was a mistake.
Let’s examine the contenders…Get the complete story now!
#9: Pana-Jane explains her first encounter with a Nurse-Shark "The True Tale of the Sapa Fish"
So we hollered at the launch guy and he came to pick us up in the launch and as I clambered up into the boat I scratched my shin and it instantly started bleeding and yet I couldn't stop from going on and on about how I had SEEN A SHARK! And that is when the launch guy said, "Ah, but they don't do no harm; he just be a sapa. They no harm you unless you grab it's tail. He just waiting for lobsters or crabs to come by." and I laughed nervously, but I saw it. Sapa or no sapa.
That didn't stop me from snorkeling the next day and almost swimming straight into three jellyfish.
#10: GonzaloHorna.com (ES) is the blog written by Panamanian song writer, guitar player and singer Gonzalo Horna. With a dynamic design and colors full of life, this blog is the stop #1 for all his fans. Head over there and listen to his songs and learn about future presentations.


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Argentina: Education Blogs · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Two new education weblogs based in Buenos Aires: Red de Escuelas Medias (ES) (“Network of Middle Schools”) is part of the new government-run Blogs de la Ciudad while Educación (ES) by Aurora Kochi and Jorge Apel was just started by Clarín.


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Armenia: Love for Humanity · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Zarchka reports on Onnik Krikorian's photo exhibition for Habitat for Humanity of Armenia. Examples of his stellar photography for Habitat for Humanity can be found at his blog.


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Bangladesh: Good bribes and Bad bribes · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Salam Dhaka has a curious idea about bribes – the good ones and the bad ones. The ones that keep the money as part of a better economic cycle and the ones that just make the money disappear.


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Bangladesh: In the Middle East · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Given the large number of Bangladeshis in the Middle East, imperfect world 2006 scans the mainstream media to get a sense of what issues are connected with Bangladeshis there.


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Belarus: Blogosphere Digest · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

TOL's Belarus Blog reports on the recent discussions taking place in the Belarusian blogosphere.


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Bolivia and Peru: BlogHer BlogDay · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Celebrating Blog Day 2006, Liz Henry has a wonderful collection of links from
Bolivia and Peru.


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Srebrenica Perpetrators · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Srebrenica Genocide Blog begins to repost “a list of over 800 Bosnian Serbs who allegedly participated in the Srebrenica massacre in July 1995, and are still believed to be in positions of power.”


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: War Story · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Novala, Europa closes the virtual Balkan journey with a Sarajevo war story: “There are millions of them, and this is just another story of war.”


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Brazil: Musical Nostalgia in the Broadband Age · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

Daniela Thompson remembers us that “Brazilians are the most notorious music pirates in the world, and that the age of broadband makes it possible for almost everyone to indulge in musical nostalgia at no cost”. Check out the various links and detailed description about the audio files reservoirs hosting “from sublime classics and little-known jewels to curiosity items and discs with special-interest appeal”.  Here are other links related to online discographies and webradios. Precious references for Brazilian Music lovers.


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Bulgaria: Headscarves in Plovdiv’s Medical Academy · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

BalkanCities writes that Plovdiv, the second-largest Bulgarian city, “may (or may not) become a destination for young Turkish females desiring to escape the ban on headscarves in educational institutions” in Turkey.


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China: AIDS activist · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

In respond to a comment, Hu Jia writes a very detailed post reporting what the AIDS activists have been doing in China and how they have been harassed by national security polices (zh).

author: Oiwan Lam


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China and Hong Kong: Ching Cheong Verdict · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translates the whole text of Ching Cheong Verdict into English. The Chinese Verdict is published by Singtaonet.com as an exclusive document.


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China and Taiwan: lonely planet · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

fiLi's world reports that some tourists travelling in China with the latest Lonely Planet book were asked to hand in their very expensive book at the border-crossing because the colour of China and Taiwan are different, and therefore political.


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China: education · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Recently a vice president of Peking University said that university should train blue collar workers, Xueyong elaborates such debatable proposal in his blog by showing the contraditions in the inmagination of university education and the position of China as a world factory (zh).


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China: foreign journalist notes · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Laowiseass puts up a foreign journalist notes on his interview with Panyu government official regarding Taishi village: “They refused to let me use the restroom in privacy saying they were concerned I might fall into the toilet hole or slip and break something”.


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China: Foxconn and First Financial Daily’s collective statement · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Yesterday, FoxConn and the First Financial Daily News released a joint statement: FoxConn would drop the charge while both sides made apologies and expressed multual respects towards each other in order to build a “harmonious society”.
Many bloggers who have been blogging about the case and defending for the journalists felt very frustrated about such outcome:
Mindmeters who was the first to bring the issue to the blogsphere criticizes 1st Financial Daily:
不专业，没志气，最讨厌的两种特质，你都有了，所以滚一边去。
你就不要自称是有影响力的财经商业报纸了，如果这样的报纸有影响力，中国也太悲哀了。
Li Tian Lun calls the statement “The Ugly joint statement”:
我不知道，一个血汗工厂、一个践踏劳动法的企业，有什么值得尊敬的。……他们应该向血汗劳工表示忏悔，该向声援他们的人表示忏悔。
Bingfeng teahouse, who has been translating workers’ testimony on FoxConn's working conditions,  writes his headline with a sense of irony: The show is over, FoxConn and CBN say “We love each other”.
Wang Xiao Feng, characterizes the ending as “Hollywood movie”, which is dramatic and ridicuous:
如果说和解了，那么，那篇报道的真实性呢？如果真实，那么，又该如何处理富士康？如果不属实，富士康干嘛跟人家和解？
Why do the bloggers so frustrated about such “harmonous ending”? Keso gives us some explanation in “Who are the losers in FoxConn and 1st Financial Daily Case?”
在这个渴望富裕起来的国家，政治、经济、法律等各种资源，全都向富士康这样的大企业倾斜，连媒体也只能扮演化妆师的角色，谁来替那些渴望更多加班机会的工人说话？谁来替被漠视、被践踏的普通人主张权利？
媒体可以很和谐地与资本媾和，但这种媾和，是以法律的尊严、媒体的信任和社会的进步为代价的。我相信，绝大多数blogger，并不会按指定的和谐社会路线图行走。就算什么都输掉了，至少社会的良心还在。
Forest wind in interlocals.net translates a post from inmediahk.net connecting the outcome of FoxConn case with the 5 years sentence of Ching Cheong (a journalist originally from Hong Kong) .


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China: Purging Mao from Chinese textbooks  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Richard from Peking Duck points out that purging Mao from Chinese textooks is a Maoist thing.


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China: Shaolin business · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

One Man Bandwidth reports that Shaolin KungFu is becoming a big business in China.


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Cuba: Chavez visits again · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Cuban television has broadcast more video of ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro being visited by his friend and ally, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, reports Luis M. Garcia, who gleans two key messages from the footage.


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Estonia: Peter the Great Monument · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa writes about the opposition to construction of a monument to Peter the Great in Estonia.


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Ghana: Whither Gay Rights? · Global Voices
Lulu Kitololo

Adam sees the Ghanaian government’s decision to ban a gay and lesbian community conference as understandable yet paradoxical in a country that is otherwise usually progressive.


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Haiti: Cell towers and perceptions · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Nightshift reports on his visit to Haiti, where he notices an abundance of cellular service antennas and where family members tell him to “tell my family members in the states that Haiti is not as nightmarish. . .  as they think.”


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Hong Kong: Ching Cheong · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

T-Salon has put up a summary of local mainstream reports and blogs post on Ching Cheong's 5 years Verdict.


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India: Celebrating Ganesha · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Indicast has a podcast on the festival of Ganesha Chaturthi. “eople from all age groups participate in programmes to exhibit their talent on millions of different stages across the country. India is immune to blaring loudspeakers at 12:30 in the night during these 10 days!”


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Iran: Bloggers want to debate with Ahmadinejad · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Irane Emrouz invites Ahmadinejad  to debate with five bloggers in Iran rather than hoping to debate with American President. The blogger says in Ahmadinejad's eyes everything is either white or black. According to the blogger, in Ahmadinejad's letters to Bush or others, people have no place and he just invites other powers to join him! [Fa].


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Israel: Shades of the British Mandate! · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Israeli kids were once raised on the legends of the Zionist pioneers who braved the evil British Mandate and risked their lives to establish the early kibbutzim and moshavot! Those same kids are now the “establishment” and somehow absurdly are repeating history but from the other side. They are trying to destroy Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel, Batya said.

author: Haitham Sabbah


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Jamaica: Helping deportees · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

A newspaper report about a group devoted to helping convicted criminals who are deported back to Jamaica inspires Francis Wade to try and get involved.


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Jordan: Rami’s Revolution · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Rami wonders: “Why do we always surrender to the notion that we are too small to change the world, if you and I did not change the world then who will? It is a simple equation, when you don't like the world you live in, then change it, all those who did before were no more than humanbeings like you and I,” he said.


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Kenya: A Vote of Confidence? · Global Voices
Lulu Kitololo

Mentalacrobatics experiences the good, the bad and the ugly of the voter’s registration process in Kenya and questions regulations which may discourage the political participation of many.


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Kenya: Year in Review · Global Voices
Lulu Kitololo

The Girl in the Meadow gives a citizen’s account of the state of the nation covering crime, employment, investment opportunities and micro-finance enterprise including her personal “jua kali” (informal) tips on stock trading.


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Kuwait: Kuwait to limit Internet freedoms · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Amer reports that the Kuwaiti government didn't exactly embrace the idea of thousands of people dismissing “controlled” newspapers by flocking directly to raw, uncensored, blunt political analysis and footage concerning corruption and the fight for constitutional freedoms on sites such as “Safat Square,” among many other excellent websites. Therefore, they have decided to “regulate” the internet by imposing even more restrictions on free speech by discussing ways and means in which the “Press and Publications Law” can include clauses that will limit internet freedoms.


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Lesotho: Vehicles of Corruption · Global Voices
Lulu Kitololo

In  adventures in international development, P’s rants about corruption in Lesotho’s ruling LCD party and wonders whether  “there is no act of corruption too blatant to get away with”.


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Mexico: Presidential Address Blocked by Protesters · Global Voices
David Sasaki

It seems that Mexican politics have gotten beyond comical. To capture the tension of outgoing President Vicente Fox's state of the nation address, Ceci Connolly recommends a cartoon by Luis Carreño and Ricardo Carreón recommends the work of cartoonist, Paco Calderon. Eduardo Arcos liveblogged the address. Boz considers the conflict “as a positive development for ending the current round of protests.” Finally, Ana Maria Salaza on the “Constitutional Basis for an ‘Alternative Government’.”


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Mexico, USA: Review of “Quinceañera’” · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Puerto Rican blogger Fausta Wertz reviews the Sony Classics film “Quinceañera”, which is set in a Mexican community in Los Angeles.


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Moldova: Upcoming Vote in Transdniestria · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Edward Lucas, the Central and East European correspondent of The Economist, writes about a “non-vote” that is taking place in a “non-country” – Transdniestria – on Sept. 17.


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Mongolia: Wealth Disparity · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Alexa looks at wealth disparities in Mongolia.


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Nepal: Women and Festivals · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Say Na Something on being a woman and celebrating Tij. What it means to have a society's expectations burden you to look and behave a certain way – especially if you are married.


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Pakistan: Education · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Education in Pakistan needs far more involved intervention. All Things Pakistan on a high school with one student. “Little wonder that the evident failure of formal school system is giving way to the proliferation of madrassahs. Southern Punjab has turned into a hotbed of sectarianism.”


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Palestine: Arts and Crafts Village · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Culture in Palestine is the legacy that makes up a large portion of the cultural identity that interacts with all the classes of the Palestinian society. It conveys an image that reflects the suffering and oppression of the people caused by the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The Municipality of Gaza in particular worked on consolidating and promoting Palestinian culture. It made the construction of cultural centres a priority as it supported the Arts and Crafts Village, the Children’s Welfare Garden, the public library, the Holst Cultural Centre and the Rashad Ash-Shawwa Centre, Iman said.


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Palestine: The Weather Report · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

The “summer rains” that began falling on Gaza over two months ago are continuing. On 2 September the Northerly winds of the Israeli Occupation Forces swept through the town of Beit Hanoun unleashing its full might killing a father and son and injuring his two daughters. It appears that these low lying clouds have moved on to other parts of the country over this period of time. It seems the storms which were solely supposed to be headed for Gaza have shifted a bit and begun heading towards the West Bank where many folks have been stranded at checkpoints, oftentimes pregnant women trying to get to hospitals, Christopher Brown said.


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Peru: Coca Cultivation · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Steven Taylor describes his visit to the Amazon where he observed the cultivation of coca: “Some coca cultivation is legal in Peru and other Andean nations. Indeed, everywhere I stayedd in Peru had coca leaf tea–which tasted no different than a standard green tea and provided less punch than a weak cup of coffee.”


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Russia: “Internet Against Cancer” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Laurence Jarvik has found a story by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti on “how weblogs are helping to save lives in Russia”: “Internet against cancer.”


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Rwanda: Remembering Genocide · Global Voices
Lulu Kitololo

Enanga’s pov reviews the book Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust, a survivor’s personal account of the genocide. Holding the sustained memory of the Jewish holocaust as a point of comparison, blogger Rosemary states that despite the many books written about Rwanda, there will never be enough.


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Serbia: Ahtisaari and the Future of Kosovo & Metohia · Global Voices
Ljubisa Bojic

Serbian forum dwellers are confused and terrified by the statements made by the UN representative Martti Ahtisaari, who is authorized to tackle international negotiations to determine the final status of Kosovo and Metohia (K&M in further text). During the set of negotiations held in Vienna on August 8, Ahtisaari announced that Serbs would have to pay for Milosevic's politics implemented in the province of K&M during his rule.
At SerbianCafe.com forum (SRP), Magare refers to a previous set of negotiations that put an end to NATO's bombing of Serbia in 1999. Ahtisaari's mediation then led to an agreement signed in the Macedonian border town of Kumanovo, which resulted in Serbian forces withdrawing from K&M and hundreds of thousands of Serbian refugees fleeing the territory. It came as a surprise to see such a biased diplomat involved again:
Is Martti Ahtisaari the same person who showed Milosevic a table panel and told him – if you don't sign the Kumanovo agreement, Belgrade will be flat as this table?! […]
It's like this: say, I am negotiating with someone intending to rob my house. Since I am outnumbered, as I live with my wife and granddaughter only and there are at least thirty criminals waiting outside by my door, it comes down to calling the balancing person Martti Ahtisaari to level things out, as he should be fair and square. […]
T_I adds:
[…] He is completely unaware of the fact that our nation paid that price a long time ago by losing a huge chunk of the Serbian motherland and having it ethnically cleansed of Serbs. It resulted in more than one million people moving away from the land inhabited by their ancestors for ages. I think evildoers like Ahtisaari have the aim of encouraging antagonism and uncertain relations between both Albanian and Serbian people. […] What Serbs need is the implementation of UN resolution 1244. I am talking about the part of it which approves of the return of Serbian security forces to occupied parts of the country. If that is not possible, the government should make an official announcement of occupation. […]
After a spree of criticism on the account of the person appointed by the UN to help resolve the conflict, bloggers argue about possible solutions for the K&M status problem.
Croatian bloggers at index.hr, analyze (HRV) letters of the late Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic to Vladimir Putin, Tony Blair and George W. Bush, in which he was addressing the issue of K&M. Just before he was assassinated in 2002, Djindjic warned that the province was gliding towards independence. He was pleading for talks on the problems that the province was facing to start as soon as possible. He proposed that Kosovo needed to be divided in two parts. Here's an excerpt (SRP) from these letters:
I assume that the moment has come after three years of KFOR presence to think thoroughly about a long-term solution to this problem.
De facto, [K&M] will not become formally independent. Pressure towards Belgrade and Pristina is expected to form some kind of confederation. This may look like an elegant solution, but it is actually like a bomb awaiting explosion.
First, the fact that Serbia does not currently have formal influence in its province will be perceived as defeat by the Serbian public, and therefore defeat of its democratic, reform-oriented government.
Second, keeping that kind of fictive union of [K&M] with Serbia will keep our country from achieving further integration with Europe because our efforts to join the EU will depend on market harmonization with the southern province, which would be impossible. These two scenarios will bust extremism and weaken Europe-oriented elements with a long-spree of negative consequences in Serbia and the whole region. This may even lead to possible events which may follow in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Macedonia.
Backstreet agrees with the late Zoran Djindjic, noting that K&M has always been an undeveloped region:
K&M is a Serbian hole without a bottom in financial as well as any other aspect. Our future is much lighter without two million Albanians inhabiting part of our territory. It is true that Serbian myth-mania has significant influence in the issue dating as far back as the great battle against the Ottoman empire in 1389. On the other hand, nobody can achieve independence easily. If Albanians really want their own state, they would have to pay Serbia. So far, justice is on our side, as China and Russia announced that they would veto eventual independence of K&M in the UN Security Council if both Pristina and Belgrade don’t agree.
Agron from Croatia doubts Russia would react in case K&M sovereignty is forced:
I read some articles online stating that Serbia is ready to give away K&M for a few billion dollars. In my opinion, I believe your politicians will gamble on that account. Russia is a great ally of Serbia? As I recall, Moscow didn’t halt the NATO bombing of your country. Russia has its burning troubles with a hundred different minorities, which means they may not be powerful enough to take care of the Serbian well-being.
Vlastimir warns about the rights Albanian population would get if K&M remains part of Serbia, meaning that Albanian high birth rate would be financed by Serbs:
The greatest degree of autonomy would include Albanian members of parliament and government ministers, as well as free flow of people and capital. For example, think of Albanians buying property in the south Morava region or, say, a peasant from Banat paying taxes to finance “sixth-child allowance” for an Albanian woman from Djakovica.
Shogun79 compares Serbian matters with the situation in Spain and, contrary to Vlastimir, favors the greatest degree of autonomy:
Is Catalonia, a county with its majority non-Spanish population, a main architect of progress in the modern Spanish nation today? Yes it is! I have spent a year there and that is my impression. The problem is pretty similar to the one in K&M. If Serbia offers the greatest degree of autonomy for K&M, it would become a fruitful base of return for over three hundred thousand Serbian refugees forced to run away in 1999, as well as other expatriates of the last sixty years or so. By the way, I would not mind seeing Albanians sitting in the Serbian parliament, as long as they all recognize Serbia as their own country. Of course, they would have all the rights as any citizen would, but they would also have to abide by the law.
Back at SerbianCafe.com forum (SRP), concerned members of the internet community write about what might happen if Kosovo gets sovereignty.
Serbianac gets emotional as he writes:
Don't leave us Europe, America and Russia, as we are part of the same civilization and democratic world. We are on the verge of having our soul and body amputated, K&M taken from us!
Bezier  continues:
We need patience to resolve this complex issue. Of course, it is important not to put a signature on any document. Even if some crazy politician does sign anything like K&M independence, the Serbian parliament has to ignore it!
Rudnicki Soko thinks Albanians came out just:
Why don't you face the reality? K&M has been a graveyard for our nation for centuries now. Since I have known about it, Serbs were selling their estates and fleeing out of the land. To be honest, Albanians did pay all of them with a fair amount of convertible currency.
Revolted by Rudnicki Soko’s opinion, Olja states:
You say that Serbs sold their property in K&M. You may be right. What would you do if there is daily fret about your child possibly being killed, raped or burned alive? For example, my late father did not sell any piece of his property. But then, someone came to his estate robbing and destroying my home. So who do we turn to? The government, America or the European Union?
Another related topic opens up with new information coming in apparently from a journalist nicknamed TOSHIBA:
During an event held in Kragujevac, Ljubinko Todorovic, deputy ombudsman for K&M, said that Serbs in the province couldn’t get to see a doctor, let alone meet with the ombudsman. What kind of “good neighbor relations” and human rights are we talking about then?
I got another interesting avowal miraculously refused to be published by any Serbian media I work for.
Marko Novicki, former K&M ombudsman, stated that the number of incidents in the county significantly increased after Ahtisaari’s statement.

author: Ljubisa Bojic


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South Africa: World Cup 2010 · Global Voices
Lulu Kitololo

A blog dedicated to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa discusses the impact the event is set to have on the infrastructure of South African cities.


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South Korea: information about north Korea · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joshua in Korea Liberator tells people how to break the blockade and access to alternative information to North Korea.


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South Korea: protest against Roh government · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

GI Korea blogs about the protest organized by the conservatives against Roh government on September 2. They urged the government to postpone the transfer of wartime operational control and revision of the private school law. The blogger thinks ” it was a real shock to many that America would be willing to pack up and leave so readily and this massive protest is a response to that. “


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Spain, Ecuador: World Cup of Basketball · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Juan Luis describes this year's World Cup of basketball, won by Spain, as the most exciting sporting event he had seen in quite a while (ES). Ecuadorean blogger Christian Espinosa would seem to agree (ES).


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Sudan: Security Catch-22 · Global Voices
Lulu Kitololo

In light of the UN Security council’s approval of a peacekeeping force in Darfur, observing increasing insecurity and fearing that the greater region is in danger of a destabilization of Congolese proportions, the Head Heeb discusses a  nation in a Catch-22.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Youth, alcohol, cigarettes · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Manicou applauds a new Drug Abuse Prevention policy proposed by the Trinidad & Tobago Ministry of Education aimed at making all schools smoke and drug free, but wonders what effect this could have on the fundraising parties held on the premises of certain schools


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Ukraine: Russian-Germans During WWII · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

J. Otto Pohl writes about the 1941 mobilization of the Russian-German men aged 16-60 in Ukraine into construction battalions.


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Uzbekistan: Murray & Western Policy · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Sean Roberts discusses former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray's role in debates over Western foreign policies towards Uzbekistan, arguing his point of view is an important addition.


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Armenia: Desert Nights · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Blogger Ara Manoogian helped make a documentary on the trafficking of Armenian women to the UAE for prostitution. After hosting the video on YouTube, he reports that the popular video site is now blocked in the UAE for some users. He provides an alternate link for the documentary.


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Bahamas: Extradition and the ugly American · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Bahamian Sir Arthur Foulkes discusses the “widely-circulated – and up to now not denied — report” of irregularities in cabinet's handling of the extradition of a Bahamian wanted in the US on drug-related charges, and dismisses one “ugly American's” views on the matter.


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Bangladesh: Second International Conference on Islamic Spirituality · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Inspirations and Creative Thoughts blogs about his experiences at the Second International Conference on Islamic Spirituality, and lists some of the speakers that impressed him.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Bermuda: Labour Day speech · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Limey applauds statements made by Bermuda's opposition leader during the latter's Labour Day speech.


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Bermuda: Sandcastle competition · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Marcus Cooper has a photoset featuring creations from this year's edition of Bermuda's annual Sandcastle Competition.


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BlogDay 2006 in Latin America · Global Voices
David Sasaki

On August 31 bloggers around the world tried to make the planet a tad smaller, a wee bit more familiar, by introducing five new blogs to their readers. Here is a look at how some Latin American bloggers chose to celebrate the day.
Let's start in Mexico where Ricardo Carréon, General Manager of Latin America for Intel, has an eclectic mix of recommendations including the popular citizen journalism blog, EBRMx (ES) and Ellen Fields’ Mexico-in-English (ES), which regularly highlights websites and blogs about Mexico written in English. On Blog Day, however, Fields chose to step outside of Mexico's blogosphere and find “five English-language blogs from other countries where Spanish is the spoken language.” One of those five bloggers is Panamanian food blogger Melissa de León:
Here's a tasty blog from Panama: Cooking Diva. This woman, Melissa de Leon, is originally from Panama. She is full of energy…my goodness! Her blog is chock full of recipes, reports of events in Panama and even videos! Just writing her blog seems to me like it would be a full-time job, but on top of that she offers a Pre-prepared Dinners of the Week program in Panama, a Corporate Culinary team building program, gives cooking classes and does food product development. I'm impressed. Again, her blog presents a maze of information that any foodie will enjoying getting lost in.
You can find out more about Melissa de León by checking out her own Blog Day post where she answers questions put forth by Rebecca MacKinnon. Alejandro, a Peruvian-Californian food blogger was inspired by Melissa and answered the same questions.
Also from Panama, Antonio Touriño of Stranger with Candy is a day late and three blogs short, but still takes the time to introduce his readers to Ze Frank's The Show and Rantings of a Sandmonkey from Cairo, Egypt. Touriño wasn't the only Latin American to link to an Arab blogger. Venezuelan Iria Puyosa of Rulemanes para Telémaco also used the occasion to construct a digital bridge between the Middle East and the Spanish-speaking blogosphere (ES):
Una joven mujer de clase media alta ha venido relatando el día a día de Bagdad, desde el inicio de la ocupación en 2003. Las notas de Baghdad Burning han sido editadas como libro y le valieron a su autora, Riverbend, el premio Samuel Johnson 2006 al mejor libro de no-ficción que otorga BBC Four. Desde septiembre 2004, un grupo de bitacoristas españoles ha venido traduciendo las notas de Riverbend en Bagdad en llamas.
Se me ocurrió que una buena opción de navegación para este día es acercarnos a la bitosfera iraquí. Global Voices es un buen lugar para iniciar esa exploración. El puente hacia la bitosfera iraquí es trabajo de Salam Adil (quien en verdad no se llama Salam Adil), un hombre de negocios de origen iraquí residenciado en Londres, desde donde escribe Asterism. Salam Adil también participa en el equipo de Iraq Blog Count. GV ofrece enlaces especialmente valiosos para quienes se interesan en un sector de Irak siempre marginado: los kurdos. Deborah Ann Dilley reporta sobre lo que ocurre en la bitosfera kurda y es una de las promotoras del proyecto Kurdistan Blog Count. Para los panas que sólo leen en español, una buena opción para información alternativa sobre Irak es Kuro-Shang, una bitácora de información política internacional (progre) escrita desde Chile.
Speaking of Chile, Claurio Ruiz of Quemar Las Naves celebrated Blogday 2006 despite himself:
Siguiendo la tradición (?), y a pesar que lo encuentro bastante mamón y rosa, este año también destacaré nuevos blogs sólo porque tengo la necesidad de compartir espectaculares blogs que descubrí este año.
Those blogs include the always formidable La Petite Claudine (ES) from Spain, the law geek blog Saber leyes no es saber derecho (ES) (“To know the legal code is not to know law”), and one of my own favorites, the anti-blog Gente Rubia que bebe martinis en la piscina (ES) (“Blonde people that drink martinis in the swimming pool”).
Across the border to Argentina, where Mariano Amartino reminds readers (ES) that the purpose of Blogday is to introduce five new weblogs and then, overwhelmed by blog-love, links to nine. Of Un Argentino en japón (ES), Amartino writes, “a BRILLIANT blog to discover things that no one tells us about the culture of Japan.” Fellow Buenos Aires resident, Robert Wright offers his own worldly and eclectic mix of recommendations. Among them:
World news • Leaps ahead of any news agency, Global Voices has managed to put a local face on every important world event since their inception. Using bloggers as a resource, they manage to compile an amazing directory of local opinions on global issues. Bored? Pick a country & read what the real current issues are… not what CNN decides to tell you.
Oops, was that boasting? Time to move on …
Colombian gastronome Diva suggests (ES), among others:
El Blog de Santiago Roncagliolo; el autor más jóven que haya sido galardonado con el premio Alfaguara (y es peruano) por su libro Abril rojo, nos muestra su día a día, sus viajes, aventuras y desventuras en este blog que se vuelve realmente, adictivo. Además, es lindo… muy lindo el chico. jejeje
Bridge-blogger, translator, and BlogHer contributor Liz Henry chose to celebrate Blogday by “looking for blogs in Latin American countries I haven't blogged about before. Bolivia, Nicaragua, Paraguay. I also want to find and highlight some blogs written in indigenous languages in Latin American countries.” Unfortunately, she comes to the oft-verified conclusion that the first blogger whose native tongue is either Quechua, Aymara, or Guaraní has yet to arrive. She does, however, make special mention of Habla Quechua (ES, QUH) by lawyer and linguist Noemi Vizcardo Rojas of Lima.
It was in Peru, in fact, where the most noticeable celebration of BlogDay (ES) took place. On Thursday, August 31, a group of Peruvian bloggers met at Instituto San Ignacio de Loyola to discuss a variety of issues. It's out of the context of this post to summarize the interesting conversations and debates inspired by the presentations, but here's a look at the agenda (ES) thanks to Cesar Soplin Sánchez:


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Brazil: Blog Condemned for Anonymous Comment · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

“Biscoito Fino e a Massa” details the case of ‘Imprensa Marrom‘, a blog sued for an anonymous comment made in a six month old post. The strange case is getting attention and frightening Brazilian bloggers who are disabling their comments area . Bloggers consider this decision a dangerous precedent in a moment when blog censorship is an issue of great concern in the country.

author: Jose Murilo


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Brunei: About Vietnam · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The blogger at Daily Brunei Resources takes a break from commentary on Brunei and talks about neighbouring Vietnam. “Bruneians have the conception that Vietnam is a backward country. In some sense that is true especially in the rural areas. But looking at Vietnam's overall macroeconomic performance, the country itself has done remarkably well.”


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Central Asia: Borders · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Ben Paarmann has his fifth and final post on the determination of national borders in Central Asia.


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Chile: Dealing with Trolls · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Regarding those vexing agents of the internet underworld, Roberto Arancibia writes in “What to do with the trolls?” (ES): “This is my blog. My world. My space. My house. And I write what I want, when I want, and how I want. If someone, sometime, finds a word or two here that serves them, then OK. If they don't like it, there are more than 50 million blogs on the planet. If I want to have a blog with “red lettering” then I do it with a click. If I want to erase my entire blog, I do it with a click. And if I want to erase comments from trolls, I do it with a click. It's that plain and simple.”


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China and Hong Kong: foreign blogger · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Richard in Peking Duck raises a question concerning the suspected Sex and Shanghai hoax: Are the BBS forums in China really erupting in flames over the dastardly foreigner, or is this a false image that somehow got reported as gospel, and then got blown up out of all proportion by the naive and ignorant lapdog bloggers (like myself)?
The question leads to an extremely long list of comments on role of foreign blogger, in particular ESWN who is now in Beijing.


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China and Hong Kong: Water pollution · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Sunfai comments on the T.V news feature on water pollution in Dongjiang (Guangdong province), the river is the source of Hong Kong fresh water. The blogger says that there is a repeated formular in environmental news in Hong Kong: blaming China for everything. However, as a city with 7 millions people, its natural resources are all from China, why so unreflective? (zh)


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China: How i lost my home · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ai Wei Wei talks about Beijing renovation in preparation for the Olympic, his beautiful traditional courtyard will turn into an artificial theatre, and so will the whole old Beijing city and its people: within one night, all the old courtyard in the district were painted by a gigantic hand with cement, history, memories and traces were all wiped away.(zh).


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China: how to buy an apartment in Beijing · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

WangXianfeng puts up several proposals on how to buy an apartment in Beijing, it turns out none of those are realistic (zh).


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China: Mao and textbook · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Picking up the discussion from Peking Duck on the purging Mao from history book, Frog in a Well explains that the history book revision project is to change the historical perspective from a leader-oriented perspective to people-oriented perspective. And the revised edition is just in Shanghai.


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Cuba: Darsi Ferrer released · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Misceláneas de Cuba publishes statements made by Cuban dissident Dr. Darsi Ferrer Ramírez, who was detained by Cuban police over the weekend. Ferrer was released on Saturday.


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East Timor:  Yet Another UN Effort · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Dili-gence looks at the latest version of UN representation in East Timor. “As of last week, yet another UN gravy train is about to hit TL. The UN acronym department has come up with UNMIT this time. This replaces UNOTIL (UN Office in Timor-Leste) which replaced UNMISET (UN Mission of Support in East Timor) which replaced UNTAET (UN Transitional Administration in East Timor) which replaced Interfet (International Force East Timor) which replaced …”


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Egypt: Another train crash in Egypt · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Another train accident in less than two weeks from the previous one. Zeinobia says that some of the reasons are the condition of the train drivers, which obtain small salaries that barely meets the high requirement of living conditions in Egypt and the very hard work conditions with trains that are very old.