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Tajikistan: Development is the top priority · Global Voices
Vadim Sadonshoev

The recent price increases mentioned in the roundup of Asel take place not only Kyrgyzstan but also in Tajikistan. The government is trying to regulate the prices but there are still no positive changes. According to official reports, the increase of prices for agricultural products is an artificial phenomenon which is made on purpose by the owners of the local markets or it happens due to inefficient management. The mayor of Dushanbe gave an order to dismiss the heads of the major local markets from their positions, but this decision will not solve the problem.
Probably, Andrea Dall'Olio gives the best explanation about what is happening in the private sector now and what the problems are. He reports on business environment in Tajikistan and particularly on the recent IFC report Business Environment in Tajikistan as Seen by Small and Medium Enterprises, 2006. Andrea says that according to the IFC report, doing business in Tajikistan is very complicated. The representatives of SMEs are facing unrealistic challenges caused by taxation, permit system and foreign trade procedures. He hopes that some positive changes will be seen soon.
International donors have a great impact on the development of Tajikistan. However, the resources that they allocate for the development of the country are very often improperly used and in result the goals are not achieved. Anna Nadgrodkiewicz on the CIPE Development blog gives general recommendations for the donors. She points to three important things which donors should have in mind in their relations with local NGOs or other organizations which are responsible for the implementation of development projects:
Efficiently used resources give birth to such excellent projects as the one Mervyn Fletcher from UNICEF tells us about. Firdavsi Project, implemented in Dushanbe by the Child Rights Center, a UK-based non-governmental organization, provides a community-sentencing alternative for young offenders and prevents them from committing crimes in future.
Ian at Beyond the River links to several articles and posts about Tajik-Afghan border issues – mostly the drug-trafficking issue which has become one of the major problems both for Tajikistan and Afghanistan. He points to the fact that the Afghanistan drug policy on the part of NATO and America is not effective.
Vino links to an article of Henry about the religious reforms in Tajikistan. Though he thinks that the law will restrict religious freedoms in Tajikistan, he argues that the legislation did not come out of a blue and it arose as a result of recent Tajik history where political Islam had a strong impact. He thinks that by enforcing the new legislation on religion the government will curtail political Islam.
Another important event: Steveie Wonder links to an article about the closure of the UNTOP office in Tajikistan. United Nations Tajikistan Office of Peace Building (UNTOP) completed its mission after a 15 years presence in Tajikistan as one of the main contributors to peace building.
Finally, I reported on the new type of transportation in Tajikistan recently (RUS). Chinese minivans are everywhere in Tajikistan. There are many Chinese companies which produce these small vans but people in Dushanbe have found a general name for all of them – Tangem. Tangem is a name of a nurse from Chinese soap opera, which was extremely popular in Tajikistan.
In China this van costs 3,000 USD, and when it is transported to Dushanbe the price rises to 5,000 USD. While the fee for trolleybus equals 30 dirams (10 cents), for bus 40 dirams (14 cents), and for marshrutka 60 dirams (20 cents) in the city of Dushanbe, then for Tangem the passengers pay 1 somoni (35 cents).

author: Vadim Sadonshoev


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Trinidad & Tobago: Cricket Records  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

West Indies Cricket Blog is excited about finding “an awesome landing page for international cricket records”.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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

Now is Wow attends a Muhtadi Drum Festival in Tobago.


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Ukraine: Chernobyl Panoramas · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Photographer Michael Forster Rothbart and web designer Dave Menninger have created a site of Chernobyl panoramas. Here's why.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Ukraine: Chess Champion and Border Control · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

uaMuzik writes about a Ukrainian chess champion who, like everyone else, had to wait in line at Kyiv's Boryspil airport on his way out of the country.


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Ukraine: Election Lists · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes writes about a difficult process: Ukrainian politicians selecting candidates that the Ukrainian public is expected to vote for on Sept. 30.


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Ukraine: Lutsenko’s Business Ties · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainiana writes about a former Maidan leader, ex-minister of the interior Yuri Lutsenko, currently #2 in the pro-presidential bloc, and his family's alleged involvement in what appears to be a corruption scandal.


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Ukraine: Maidan Vendors · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

uaMuzik writes about Kyiv mayor's attempts to get the street vendors out of Maidan.


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Ukraine: Marushchenko; RA Gallery · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Olechko writes about a Ukrainian veteran photographer, his students, and a Kyiv photo gallery trying to survive financially.


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Ukraine: Party Conferences · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes reports: “The main political players held their party conferences last weekend. They were all very stage-managed, glitzy affairs, clearly revealing serious involvement of Western spin-doctors.”


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Ukraine: “Seeking the Past” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Taras Kuzio writes about his father's recent trip to Germany: a Ukrainian, he was taken there “as a Nazi slave labourer in 1942 and never to return home again until exactly 50 years later in 1992.”


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Afghanistan: Hazaras · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Is the success of the Hazara community in Afghanistan due to the international community “building it up” or actually due to the group's adaptability to change? Ronin has some thoughts.

author: Ben Paarmann


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Afghanistan: Security contractors · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Sanjar is unhappy about the amount of money spent on security contractors protecting foreign NGO staff in Afghanistan.


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Algeria: On Islamophobia · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Algerian Nouri discusses his ideas on Islamophobia in this post.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Amid Controversy, YouTube Launches in Japan · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Late last week, Google announced that it was teaming up with six Japanese firms, including SkyPerfecTV and Mixi [Ja], creator of Japan's most popular social networking software, to link content [Ja] to a new YouTube website exclusively in Japanese in order to boost the company's presence in Japan. Much to the frustration of organizations fighting for the rights of authors, composers, and composers, as well as companies and copyright organizations, Google plans to continue with its plans for the use of video “fingerprinting” technology. The fingerprinting technology, which would identify copyrighted material and allow the copyright holder to search for illegal copies on the web, has been criticized as being insufficient to answer concerns over copyright violation.
Blogger Nobuyuki Hayashi, who blogs at nobilog and also at a less frequently updated English version, was at the meeting where the merger announcement was made. In his entry of August 4th, he posted pictures taken at the meeting, and linked to articles in Japanese at ascii.jp, Broadband Watch, CNET Japan, and IT Media News. He also outlined his thoughts on the new direction of YouTube in Japan, translated below.
私が、この説明会を感じたことが２つある。
１つは、YouTubeの波を利用して、マイナーなメディアとメジャーなメディアの逆転現象が起きたらおもしろい、ということ。
これらの記事でもわかるように、この日はパートナーによるスピーチもあったが、実は私が一番注目したのが東京MX TV。東京ローカルのUHFチャンネルだ。
実は同局では以前からBlog TVなど、一部のコンテンツをYouTubeに掲載している。
One of them is that it would be very interesting if, using the YouTube wave [of popularity], an inversion phenomenon occurred between the minor media and major media.
As the other articles above also make clear, while there were speeches by the major partners [in the deal], what caught my attention the most was actually TokyoMX TV, a local Tokyo UHF channel.
In fact, the same channel has for some time been posting a part of its content, from Blog TV, etc., to YouTube.
先日、そのBlog TVに出ているFumiさんと「YouTubeに掲載されている動画を見て、海外の人は「東京MX」が「BBC」などと並ぶ、メジャーテレビ局だと思っているかも知れない」という話をしていた。
何せ局の名前が「東京メトロポリタンテレビジョン」だ。なんとも国際的な感じではないか。
おまけにそこの番組が、日本のIT業界の最先端の情報を伝えている。さすが最先端を行く東京のテレビ、という感じがするではないか。
YouTubeで東京MXの動画を見ている海外の人々は、東京MXは知っていても、NHKやいわゆる民放キー局は知らない可能性もある。
The other day, Fumi-san, who appears on Blog TV, was talking about how: “When people from other countries see videos posted at YouTube, they probably think that Tokyo MX is a major television station like the BBC.”
This station has the name “Tokyo Metropolitan Television”. What an international feel it has.
What is more, programs on this station are transmitting information about the pioneers in Japan's IT industry. It gives you the feeling that this television station is from Tokyo, the city on the cutting edge.
There is the the possibility that people from other countries who see Tokyo MX videos on YouTube and thus know of Tokyo MX may not even know about NHK [Japan's national broadcaster] or the so-called key commercial TV stations.
そうしたことを考えながら見ていると、事業説明会での東京MX取締役技術局長の田沼純氏の話がおもしろく聞こえてきた。
田沼氏は「インディーズ・アーティストの作品を映像の契約がクリアになっているものから順次YouTubeにアップしていく」というスライドを掲げていたが、それに加えて「YouTubeにも動画を出してくれるのなら、ぜひ東京MXに出たい」と言って声をかけてくるアーティストも今後、増えてくるかも知れない、と言っていた。
東京MXに行けば、ちゃんとしたテレビ用の機材で取材してくれるのに加え、そうしてできあがった番組を首都圏だけでなく、世界に向けて発信してくれるわけだ。
日本語人口（１億2600万人）と英語人口（９億人規模）の違いは今更、比較するまでもないが、YouTubeにしても日本は世界で２番目に利用者が多いかも知れないが、それ以外の国から利用している人の合計はもっと多い。
よく海外にはGoogleのAdSenseでものすごい収入を得ているという人の話を聞く。実際、私のブログも、こちらの日本語のブログよりも英語のブログ（nobilog）の方が更新していないにも関わらず売り上げが大きかった。
しかし、それは別に海外のGoogle AdSenseのワンクリックあたりの売り上げが大きいわけではなく、英語で書いた記事の方が、単純に読む人（毎回読みに来る人や、他のブログからのリンクで読みに来る人、そして検索で読みに来る人）の合計数が圧倒的に多いだけのことだ（ちなみに、その後、AdSenseの配置を最適化したことで、現在ではnobilog2の広告収入の方が上回っている）。
事業説明会を見て、もう１つ思ったのは、
もしかしたらJASRACら著作権団体は、ゴネ続けることによって、自らの首を絞めたかも知れない、ということ。
YouTubeは、今後、著作権管理のための指紋技術を開発し利用していく、と言う。
この指紋技術が、今後、洗練されていき実用レベルになったら。つまり、アップロードされた動画や音声の中に、著作権に違反して再利用しているコンテンツを自動的に認識してくれるようなエンジンが完成したとしよう。
このエンジンは最初のうちはYouTubeでしか使われないが、将来、YouTube以外のWebサイトに違法コンテンツがないかを検索する、海賊版検索エンジンに発展させることだってできるかも知れない。
そうなったとき、果たして世の中に著作権管理団体が必要なのだろうか、というのが私の考えだ。
結局のところ、著作権管理団体が必要になったのは、コンテンツ事業者１社１社が、違法コピーのコンテンツを探して回る余力がなかったから。しかし、指紋技術で、この作業の手間が大幅に軽減されれば、そうした管理団体は「中抜き」して、コンテンツ提供会社の側で独自に著作権を管理することも可能になるかも知れない（もちろん、ライブハウスやカラオケ店の違反を検索できるようになるのは、さらに先のことになるかも知れないが…）
この技術革新の先にあるのは、Creative Commonsでも目指しているコンテンツの中への著作権情報の組み込みだろう。
一切、引用ができないコンテンツには「All rights reserved」を、プロモーション目的で、どんどん引用して欲しい情報には、そうした著作権情報を、特定の国や地域でしか再生してはいけないコンテンツには、そうした情報を、といった具合になっていけば、コンテンツの流通を活性化しつつ、著作権もこれまで以上に守られる世の中に向かっての大きな前進になるかも知れない。

author: Chris Salzberg


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Argentina: New Tram Service in Buenos Aires · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Line of Sight wonders whether the new Buenos Aires tram service was worth the cost for such a short journey.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Argentina: Stories Told by Schoolchildren · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Voces Que Cuentan [ES] is a blog that pulls together stories, images, drawings, and poems that children from public schools in Buenos Aires made, wrote or told during their winter break.


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Armenia: Dance concert · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

The Armenian Patchwork posts Vahan Stepanyan's breathtaking photos of a recent dance concert taking place in Yerevan.


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Armenia: World Bank and Corruption  · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Onnik Krikorian still has not heard back from the Armenian office of the World Bank concerning the allegations of corruption brought against the institution by a British national.


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Bahrain: Shia Triple-Play · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Mahmood Al Yousif tackles the issue of the Sunni-Shia divide in Bahrain in this post.


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Bangladesh: Narrative through photographs · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Ihtisham Kabir, author of the blog Back to Bangladesh has wonderful photographs that present a narrative of life in Bangladesh.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Belarus to increase its control of the Internet · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

President Alexandre Lukashenko is planning to increase the control of the Internet. “If we read what is posted there, we will see that it serves as a platform not only for the opposition, but for voices and nations that are hostile to us,” Lukashenko said, urging his government to “put an end to the anarchy on the Internet“.
According to the OpenNet Initiative report on internet filtering  in Belarus, most cybercafés’ Administrators require identification of Internet users and keep the logs of their online activity.

author: sami ben gharbia


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Bhutan: Golden Langur · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Visit Bhutan on the endangered Golden Langur, an Old World Monkey.


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Bolivia: Peaceful Parades in Santa Cruz · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

José Andrés Sánchez of El pais de las maravillas [ES] was moved to see the absence of any confrontation between residents of Santa Cruz and members of indigenous groups that marched in the military parade.  This was contrary to the predictions of conflict during Bolivian Independence Day festivities.


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: “Enjoy Life” Video Campaign · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“Do a simple search on Google and Youtube, and you will come up with either genocide, extremist, war,” writes Bosnia Blog about negative portrayal that prevails online. But “nicer things” do exist and to show them is the goal of the “Enjoy Life” video campaign.


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Republika Srpska PM’s Absense · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Balkanizer reports that the alleged “sickness” of Republika Srpska's prime minister Milorad Dodik “has strangely coincided with the arrival of the new High Representative, Miroslav Lajcak.”


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Brazil: The philosopher, the media, and the blogs · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

The influence of the Internet in Brazil is gathering momentum. In a country where open TV networks owned by politicians widely ruled the media environment for the last 30 years, some new polls on web access are revealing pronounced leaps in the number of Internet users. From the raw number of 50 million users above 16 years old verified in the last Datafolha survey, some bloggers estimate that the inclusion of the kids would give us around 74 million users, or almost 50% of the people connected. Such numbers could better explain the impact recently felt over the balance between politics, traditional media, and the so called public opinion.
Since Lula's victory on the last presidential elections, many local media theorists are mentioning the evident change in the way the Brazilian audience reacts to the news. The recent airplane crash in São Paulo has set the stage for another battle on the web, where the many versions and explanations about possible causes or responsibilities bounced back and forth over media portals and blogs. In the middle of the over-heated exchange, Brazil's best known philosopher Marilena Chauí was interviewed by a blogger about the media coverage on the disaster, and her words sparked an interesting debate throughout the local blogosphere.
Era o fim da tarde. Estava num hotel-fazenda com meus netos e resolvemos ver jogos do PAN-2007. Liguei a televisão e “caí” num canal que exibia um incêndio de imensas proporções enquanto a voz de um locutor dizia: “o governo matou 200 pessoas!”. Fiquei estarrecida e minha primeira reação foi típica de sul-americana dos anos 1960: “Meu Deus! É como o La Moneda e Allende! Lula deve estar cercado no Palácio do Planalto, há um golpe de Estado e já houve 200 mortes! Que vamos fazer?”. Mas enquanto meu pensamento tomava essa direção, a imagem na tela mudou. Apareceu um locutor que bradava: “Mais um crime do apagão aéreo! O avião da TAM não tinha condições para pousar em Congonhas porque a pista não está pronta e porque não há espaço para manobra! Mais um crime do governo!”. Só então compreendi que se tratava de um acidente aéreo e que o locutor responsabilizava o governo pelo acontecimento. Fiquei ainda mais perplexa: como o locutor sabia qual a causa do acidente, se esta só é conhecida depois da abertura da caixa preta do avião? Enquanto me fazia esta pergunta e angustiada desejava saber o que havia ocorrido, pensando no desespero dos passageiros e de suas famílias, o locutor, por algum motivo, mudou a locução: surgiram expressões como “parece que”, “pode ser que”, “quando se souber o que aconteceu”. E eu me disse: mas se é assim, como ele pôde dizer, há alguns segundos, que o governo cometeu o crime de assassinar 200 pessoas? Mudei de canal. E a situação se repetia em todos os canais: primeiro, a afirmação peremptória de que se tratava de mais um episódio da crise do apagão aéreo; a seguir, que se tratava de mais uma calamidade produzida pelo governo Lula; em seguida, que não se sabia se a causa do acidente havia sido a pista molhada ou uma falha do avião. Pessoas eram entrevistadas para dizer (of course) o que sentiam. Autoridades de todo tipo eram trazidas à tela para explicar porque Lula era responsável pelo acidente. ETC.
Marilena Chauí: A Invenção da Crise – Conversa Afiada
The thread started by the philosopher's angry interview caught huge attention in the blogosphere, as the media behavior on the coverage of the disaster was already being criticized by many commenters. The widely exhibited scene of a government's official caught on video inside his cabinet through zoom lens managed to add extra spice to the war between those attacking and those defending the government. An evidence of mechanical failure to undermine the media's narrative on the possible causes of the accident was everything Lula needed to escape from the corner and reverse the game, but the display of one of his closest advisors celebrating the news broadcast that reported the possible problem on the airplane has somehow zeroed the score. Bloggers posted a lot about the whole media spectacle.
É curioso esse padrão jornalístico de hoje da chamada grande imprensa. Historicamente, o mercado sempre manteve divisões claras entre o jornalismo de opinião (entendido aí, veículos formadores de opinião) e jornalismo de variedades (da imprensa sensacionalista ao jornalismo de fofocas). O segundo tem mais audiência, o primeiro, mais prestígio. Nos últimos anos, no Brasil, essas barreiras foram derrubadas em muitas publicações. É um crescendo de busca da espetacularização da notícia que vem dos anos 90 e amplia-se absurdamente nos últimos anos… Não se pode falar em tendência irreversível de um suposto novo jornalismo. Se fosse tendência geral, a grande imprensa mundial americana e londrina – na qual a mídia brasileira sempre se espelhou – há muito teria aberto mão das qualidades intrínsecas do produto jornalismo: credibilidade, objetividade, criatividade. O que se vê são grandes jornais mundiais expulsando jornalistas, quando descobrem que manipularam informações… Provavelmente, o conceito de jornalismo de opinião será revisto: de um lado, o padrão Murdoch; de outro, o padrão “The Guardian”. Mas muitas das atuais publicações consideradas da grande mídia (entendido como veículos centrais na formação de opinião) perderão esse status. Serão apenas grandes veículos de entretenimento.
O jornalismo fácil e o efeito Simpson – Luis Nassif Online
O desastre com o Airbus da TAM no aeroporto de Congonhas é um exemplo extremo de como a notícia se tornou algo complexo, cuja compreensão passa a exigir cada vez mais tempo e paciência do leitor, ouvinte, espectador ou internauta. Ela deixou de ser um produto acima de qualquer suspeita. Um mesmo acontecimento está envolvendo uma batalha político-partidária entre governo e oposição, problemas trabalhistas dos controladores de vôo, questionamentos à eficiência de órgãos controladores como a ANAC, a soberania das instituições militares, o desejo da TAM de preservar sua imagem corporativa e sua clientela, a luta de jornais, revistas e redes de TV por audiência, preocupações financeiras das seguradoras que terão que desembolsar milhões de reais em indenizações e as empresas de transporte que procuram mais espaços no quebra-cabeças da malha aérea nacional. Cada um desses protagonistas tem interesses e conseqüentemente faz o possível para “torcer” a informação em seu benefício. O resultado é uma verdadeira Babel informativa, cuja maior conseqüência acaba sendo o ceticismo generalizado. Os principais envolvidos no processo perderam a noção do evento principal e passam a ter reações típicas de torcedores de futebol, como mostra o episódio dos gestos obscenos do assessor presidencial Marco Aurélio Garcia… Quem desejasse imunizar-se contra o tiroteio informativo das partes interessadas teria que gastar horas preciosas numa biblioteca especializada para entender o que está em discussão. Como quase ninguém tem este tempo, sobrou para o leitor médio a desagradável sensação de que está sendo manipulado e usado no debate. Mesmo aqueles que tomaram uma posição sabem que são movidos por preocupações que nada têm a ver com a tragédia do vôo 3054. O desastre de Congonhas é uma amostra do que os leitores podem esperar no futuro cada vez que acontecer um evento envolvendo uma grande soma de interesses. A multiplicação dos canais de transmissão de noticias dá aos interessados a possibilidade de “jogar” com dados e informações.
A tragédia de Congonhas e a Babel informativa contemporânea – Código Aberto
From the numerous posts on the subject I've selected one from a launching blog, where the author dedicates his first post to respond to the philosopher's rant, and also to manifest his confidence on the Brazilian society's established democratic values.
É triste ver que uma filósofa de peso como Chauí, não consegue manter qualquer distanciamento ao intervir a respeito de questões “quentes” da nossa realidade… A abordagem da mídia é lamentável em relação a muitos temas e acontecimentos. Para mim isso se deve a um baixo nível geral da televisão e do telejornalismo brasileiro. Além disso, lembrando de uma colocação astuta de uma colega, recuso-me a acreditar na existência dessa entidade coesa, única, chamada MÍDIA. Será que, de fato, existe no Brasil uma única orientação por trás de todo o trabalho da mídia, orientação esta coligada com os interesses das elites brasileiras? Não acredito… O clima atual, a meu ver, não é nada estranho em se tratando de uma democracia: vozes dissonantes, atores com interesses contrastantes tentando vender a sua versão da história, parlamentares interessados em sucesso eleitoral e dispostos a transigir com o governo, grupos econômicos temendo verem reduzidas suas taxas de lucros, veículos de comunicação dedicados a expor, bem ou mal os fatos (e aqueles exclusivamente interessados em audiência) e cidadãos, grupos de cidadãos, sempre mais ou menos informados a respeito do que se passa no mundo da política. Está ruim, queremos mais, lutemos por mais… Mas, com todos os seus defeitos, eu ainda quero ter um Legislativo e não quero ter um presidente que se remeta diretamente ao povo, toda noite, em horário nobre.
Resposta a Marilena Chauí – Qualquer coisa
The results of a recent Universal / MacCann survey [not available online] reported by many local media vehicles and blogs has raised some eyebrows. According to the report, Brazil holds in global terms the third place in absolute number of blogs and fifth in blog reading. Brazilians are also fourth in photos upload, third in online video watching, and third in podcast downloads. It's good to remember that we should not blindly rely on this survey, as the methods and raw numbers are not fully disclosed. But it offers a much better explanation to the real change in the Brazilian media ecology being driven by the individual participation through the so called social media tools.

author: Jose Murilo


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Bulgaria: Corrupted, But Not Toxic  · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Balkan Yankee argues with a reader on what Bulgaria is and what it isn't.


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Cayman Islands: Eau de Toilette  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Mighty Afroditee has some amusing thoughts on bathroom ettiquette.


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China: Google and Baidu Spoof War · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

William Long posted some spoofing videos produced by Google and Baidu, in which, Google called Baidu “hundred poisons” and Baidu mocked google as a foreign / alien company (zh). Spoof has become a popular genre for advertisement in China.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Library Project · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Dawei from China Dreamblogue has given us an update on the library project. The latest development is building a partnership with Aston English School.


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China: Middle Class Debate · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fons from China Herald blogs about the different opinions among opinion leaders on the China middle class consumer market.


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China: Silent Working Class in Shenzhen · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Maryannodonnell writes a reflective piece on the historical forms of silencing or glossing over the question of working class politics in Shenzhen.


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Egypt: Leonardo da Vinci an Arab? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Issandr El Amrani links to an article which claims that Leonardo da Vinci may have been Arab.


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Egypt: Price of Bread to be Doubled · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Arabist links to an article which says that the price of bread will be doubled in Egypt.


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Hooters in Dubai  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Hooters Dubai plans are not deflated after all, writes Nadia Gergis from Arabisto.


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India: Names and Lahori Caps · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

At Kafila, a request from a man for a Lahori Topi (cap), leads the author to reflecting on Muslims living with Hindu names.


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Iran:Six students are out of jail · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to [Fa]Varesh,several student activists are out of jail now.The blogger reminds us that there are still,at least, two student activists in jail.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:The Journalist Day · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Hanif,journalist and blogger, shares[Fa] his feeling about “the Journalist Day” in Iran. The blogger says “it is my day.It is your day,my colleague.Today we are sad because we do not have freedom and we miss the paper of journals.”


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Jamaica: 45 Years Later… · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica has just celebrated 45 years of independence.  Dennis Jones reflects on the nation's progress.


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Jamaica: Rastafari  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican Geoffrey Philp credits the influence of Rastafari and Reggae in his development as a writer and is interested to see “how the temporal and geographical isolation of Rastafari as a memeplex will manifest itself in the upcoming years.”


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Japan: Death Penalty Killings · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

The Asia Death Penalty blog has a post about an appeal from Amnesty International to stop the death penalty killings of three men in Japan scheduled for tomorrow (August 9th). As mentioned in the post, there are suspicions that the timing of the killings was scheduled to line up with the 62nd anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in World War 2.


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Japan: Street Artist in Tokyo · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Hasan at hasanhujairi[dot]com writes about a street artist who draws calligraphy on the sidewalk in Harajuku, Tokyo. Hasan writes: “I couldn’t help but take in the site of him with an after-taste of envy; something about being a street artist always seemed radically magical to me.”


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Kannada: Telling Stories is a Good Deed! · Global Voices
Sanket Patil

Some movie makers capture the imagination of serious movie watchers all over: Kurosawa, Ray and Bergman, for example. And when someone of that stature dies, you are bound to get great responses, poignant, nostalgic, and meditative. Abhay Simha, who is a professional director himself, a graduate from the FTII, writes a humble tribute to Ingmar Bergman. He says, true to his own metaphor of a knight playing chess with the personification of death (in the movie The Seventh Seal), the magician has finished playing the game of chess and left. Abhay takes us through different facets and anecdotes of Bergman’s life, with quotes from Bergman’s autobiography – The Magic Lantern: his fear towards his father, who was a religious leader of protestants and a martinet, his early inquisitiveness towards death and God, his love of the theatre during his Stockholm days, where he was a student of literature and art history, his jailing due to alleged tax misappropriation, which was later shown to be false, and so on. Abhay also introduces us to the behind the scene facts of several of his movies.
Anivaasi watches Bergman’s Winter Light after learning about his death. He writes:
A pastor of a small village, who has lost his wife four years ago; his school teacher girlfriend, who bothers him with her woos; a soldier vexed with the dingy happenings of the world, and his pregnant wife; a hunchbacked, insomniac sexton, who tries to forget his back pain through pain killers; the happy go lucky pianist. This is all there is to the world of Winter Light. [Translated]
Winter Light is a movie of great existential dilemmas and insurmountable angst. Towards the end, the sexton is seen to trivialise Christ’s pain when he was crucified in comparison with his own back pain. But the pain of Christ’s (at least momentary) realisation of the failure of his God must be at least as great as the pain of his own dilemma about God – the sexton imagines.
Moving on to less (or more) existential movies, Keshav reflects on the timeless battle between the “mass” vs “class” movie makers/watchers. He chooses two movies, both successful in their own ways, and lays down his argument: mungAru maLe (that continues to create a rage in the box office) and dweepa (an offbeat movie by the renowned Girish Kasaravalli). He calls the whole argument unnecessary: each one has its place. Someone who makes a successful mungAru maLe cannot make a successful Dweepa and vice versa. For example, Govind Nihalani, who made a great movie like Ardha Satya, tried his hand making a commercial movie (Takshak) and failed miserably. Arun Hegde, on a similar note, is not too keen about the opposition to successful movies in other languages remade in Kannada. All he wants is to watch good movies. He finds 73, Shanti Nivasa, a remake of the Hindi movie Bawarchi, enjoyable. Ismail is not impressed with T.N. Seetharam on the big screen. T. N. Seetharam has achieved an unprecedented success through his Kannada tele-serials. However, his recent movie Meera Madhava Raghava was not well received. Jeevishivu gives a detailed analysis of the phenomenal success of mungAru maLe. Perhaps the simple plot, without any “moral urgency” or the need to give out a “message”, a familiar but ordinary looking hero, and the lack of expectations that entailed, the freshness in music and choreography, the free form dialogue, good cinematography, contributed in different measures to the success of the movie.
Ismail also writes an excellent personal tribute to his father, who showed him the stars. He describes how his father drove his kids on his bicycle and introduced them to different constellations like the Saptarshi Mandala, the beLLi chukki or the Venus, and the celebrated Dhruva Nakshtara. The next stage was books on astronomy, a compass and a home made device to measure angles (probably serving as a sextant), using which father and the kids spent nights together exploring stars! How many times have I read a great personal essay like this and wondered how they just fall short of being a great short story!
Here is another. Rasheed talks about the joy of walking in Shillong.
Shillong is a beauty for people who love walking. There are “foot ways”, there are “step ways”, you can leave behind several new paths as you walk. If you start your walk as soon as a lash of rain stops, you can watch water percolating, shining grass blades, nodding petals, the sunny rain clouds running towards you … all this, before the start of a new lash of rain. [Translated]
Dr. U. R. Ananthamurthy writes about the reasons due to which he finds Gandhi more relevant today than any other leader – Marx, Lenin, Mao, Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt et al. Gandhi said his message is his life. This cannot be said of anyone else. Ananthamurthy chides the so called “intellectual freedom” that we have attained that seems to let us get away doing whatever, as long as we say the right thing. He also argues that Gandhi has always been a challenge to most intellectuals since they could not understand him through any of their predefined frameworks logic and philosophy. Everything was an experiment for Gandhi. So, he even went to the extent of finding solid evidence to his celibacy by spending nights naked with a girl. He realised the his mistake in doing so only when Kripalani pointed it to him, says Ananthamurthy. He also mentions the differences between Gandhi and Tagore. Incidentally, Tagore called Gandhi Mahatma, and Gandhi called Tagore Gurudeva.
Odu janamEjaya is a blog dedicated to Kannada book reviews. Vivek Hanbhag writes his experiences with renowned short story writer and novelist Yashawant Chittal’s short stories. He says there are three important aspects to his story telling: The first one is that Chittal firmly believes that “story telling is a good deed”. A story is something that is designed and is suitable to reach others. This belief has created the overall form of his story writing technique. The second aspect is the (fictional) hanEhaLLi. There is no world in his stories that does not contain hanEhaLLi. It is always there as a part of the ethos that he captures. Even when it is not there directly, hanEhaLLi is present as a conscience, a value system, a measure. And the third is his attempt to establish a relation with an unknown world. He is constantly concerned about going beyond the boundary of human experiences, extrapolating the experiences to involve the unknown, the inexpressible.
Among the etcetera we have Rajesh Nayka who visits tourist places around Bagalakote in North Karnataka, and writes a series of posts with photos [Bagalakote, Aihole, Pattadakallu, Badami-1, 2, 3]. Parameshwar Gundkal reproduces a poem by Vikas Negiloni, a cinema journalist. A very nice rain poem. Sushruta is irritated with his (self-proclaimed) mediocre blog posts and decides to throw away his pen till he learns to write quality posts like some in the blogging community. He later consoles himself due to the realisation that he has to but sing in his own tune, dance to his own rhythm. Navilagari has nice romantic poetry. In one, the poet starts by addressing the clouds: you are midgets compared to my eyes/ you haven’t rained as much as tears flown out of my eyes [Translated]

author: Sanket Patil


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Kazakhstan: Journalists are popular traffic victims · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Bonnie Boyd adds another name to the sad list of journalists getting killed in traffic accidents in Kazakhstan.


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Kyrgyzstan: Korean missionaries · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

In the light of the current hostage crisis in Afghanistan, Azamat writes that Korean missionaries are also actively proselytising in Kyrgyzstan.


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Kyrgyzstan: LJ blogosphere · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Mirsulzhan Namazaliev offers a glimpse into the Kyrgyz Russian-speaking Livejournal scene: The buzz is about the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek and a former Primer Minister's fall in popularity.


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Libya: The Psychological Price of the Iraq War  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Libyan Tasnim tallies up the psychological price of the war in Iraq in this post.


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Malaysia: Looking Forward to Olympics Games and English Spellings · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Journal of the Whills is humored by spelling and grammar on Chinese products and is looking forward for more enjoyment at the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games.

author: Preetam Rai


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Morad and the Crashing ATM machines · Global Voices
Mohamed Nanabhay

Morad keeps on crashing ATM machines in Qatar every time he puts in his debit card. To his surprise, the ATM machines are running on Windows XP Professional.

author: Mohamed Nanabhay


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Nicaragua: Media Draws Attention to Trivial Agreement · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Bloggings by Boz does not see what is the fuss over a recent agricultural products-for-tractors agreement between Nicaragua and Iran.


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Pakistan: Miss Bikini Universe · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Metroblogging Islamabad on Pakistan's representative at the Miss Bikini Universe pageant.


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Philippines: Active Blogging Scene · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Caffeine Sparks comments on the serious blogging scene in the Philippines. “The other thing I like about the Pinoy blogosphere is how it is completely democratic. It doesn't matter who or what bloggers are, it doesn't matter their age. It doesn't even matter where they are! All that matters are their words and ideas. And we're all doing this (mostly) for free!”


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Serbia: Belgrade & Its Airport · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Wu Wei writes about a trip to Belgrade and lists the good and the bad things about Belgrade airport.


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Serbia: Maja Stojanovic · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Srebrenica Genocide Blog asks readers “to send their words of encouragement” to a Serbian human rights activist facing a ten-day imprisonment: “'It is unacceptable that Maja Stojanovic should end up behind bars for a publicly stated view that Mladic must be sent to The Hague and for reminding the public of the Srebrenica genocide,’ said Andrej Nosov, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights president.”


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Sri Lanka: The Tsunami and the Conflict · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

groundviews has the account of a woman, who has suffered at the hands of the Tsunami and the ethnic conflict, and the lack of assistance in the process of rehabilitation.


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Syria: Change in Syria · Global Voices
Yazan Badran

This month's topic on Creative Syria‘s Blogger Forum was titled, “If you had the choice what would you change in Syria?”…
The views ranged from those that advocated the political reform as base, to those that saw that social reform should be the kickstart.
Abu Kareem, gave a very interesting multiple leveled analysis of where he sees Syria now, and what should be done:
If there seems to be unanimity in Syria about the need for reform, there are great differences about what to reform, how much to reform and how fast. The unprecedented regional instability is being used effectively by the entrenched authoritarian government as an excuse to pushback against calls for political reform. There is also reluctance among the people, for different reasons, for rapid, radical political change. The source of this reluctance, beyond Syrians’ penchant for caution, is clear. If independent opinion polls cannot tell us what Syrians want, we can safely surmise what they don’t want: any change that will cause the type of implosion that is currently occurring next door in Iraq.
Wassim simply wants Justice. In his articulative way, he explains what that means, and why Justice has been missing in our country for so long…
My tendencies are for a typical Chekovian style of justice where all would end up dead and justice served to its fullest, yet the weakness of the flesh and the wants of the individual sometimes render such solutions as impossible for all. Still, we can make changes individually and dare I say it on a government level without throwing the baby with the bathwater. As Muslims would say, “God does not change what is in a people until they change what is within themselves” a saying I am particularly fond of and which applies for many Syrians. When was the last time you actively inquired about somebody who was poor in Syria and needed something, did you help them? There are Iraqi refugees who haven’t got enough food to eat, after the media hype died down did you ask about them, buy a bag of groceries and visit them every week. If you are a rich ‘mas2ool’ (official) how much does it cost you to run a soup kitchen every week, or to buy domestic goods instead of spending your money on frivolous consumer items imported at great cost to Syria from the very countries which are trying to subjugate everything you are? Do you really need all those cars? Do you care what people think of you if you don’t wear designer clothes?
Yazan, feels that the identity crisis within Syrian youth is the most important place to start with.
I would say, among all the fundamental issues that our country (Syria, in the tightest geographical sense that is) is suffering from at the moment, whether it is a failing economy, a rising sense of consumerism, the issues of democracy and human rights and the constant retreat of secularism against conservatism, among many. The disintegration of our sense of Identity strikes as the most alarming. (The space is too limited to go into the clear signs of this disintegration.)
Ford Perfect, says he would change, Nothing.
So what would I change in Syria if I had a choice? Nothing – especially if the drivers for change are born to solve problems in the West. When healthy and strong political and economic institutions finally emerge in Syria, organic change and a smooth cutover will occur naturally. Meanwhile, support is all what the Syrians want, not change. They are changing already.
And finally, Bridget Palmer, wants Syria to stop making changes.
If you had told me two years ago that there would be a KFC in Damascus by now, I wouldn’t have believed you. Sure, we had Hesburger (jokingly called “Hezbollah Burger” by us and our friends…probably in bad taste) out in the Dummar suburb. It was never clear to us why this Finnish burger chain was allowed in the country and all the American varieties weren’t. The Hesburger manager’s explanation was that any company with Jewish investors was not allowed to set up shop in Syria. Whether his explanation is accurate, I’ve never been able to find out. In any case, that’s certainly not the reason I think these businesses should continue to be blocked from entering the country.

author: Yazan Badran


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Syria: Dead Cities · Global Voices
Yazan Badran

Hovic takes us on a photo tour in Surkania, one of the Dead Cities in the Syrian desert between Damascus, Aleppo and Hama.


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Tajikistan: Rising prices · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Vadim looks at possible reasons behind the recent price hikes for basic foodstuff. In the comments Tajik Boy says that the problem might be due to macroeconomic imbalances.


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Traffic Points System for Qatar · Global Voices
Mohamed Nanabhay

Paul R writes that a new traffic law has been introduced in Qatar. Every time you disobey a traffic law, you lose a few points which could lead to your license being suspended or revoked. He speculates that if the system is implemented  “the roads of Qatar will be traffic free very soon !”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Copping Out?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Not only did he…utter this racial diatribe about people from Lavantille moving into Central Trinidad, people from the COP appear to be not too bothered by it.”  Manicou shares his thoughts about Trinidad and Tobago's latest political faux pas.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Technology Trap?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

KnowProSE.com has many questions about the impact of technology on our lives, but says, “one thing should be readily apparent.  We can only do one thing at a time.”


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YouTube launched in Japan · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Andreas at Chosaq writes about the launch of YouTube in Japan and hostile reactions from Japanese television, music and film companies.


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Afghanistan: Security premium · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Reconstruction in Afghanistan's volatile areas is much more expensive and unproductive than elsewhere. Safrang agrees with a columnist that the international community should take another approach.


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Armenia: World Bank responds · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Confronted with allegations of corruption, the World Bank has now written a formal reply to Armenian blogger Onnik Krikorian. Onnik, however, thinks the Bank should launch an official and open investigation into the cause if it does not have anything to hide.


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Bahrain: Illegitimate Children  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Lizardo is on an on-the-job training stint – which he has to complete to earn his university degree. In this translation, he tells us some of the hard lessons in life he had to learn as an added bonus.


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Bangladesh: Floods and havoc · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The floods in South Asia are still causing havoc. imperfect world 2007 takes aerial photographs of the area around the Dhaka airport, showing large areas still under flood water.


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Bangladesh: Novel, nation and modernity · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Addafication on the novel, the nation and modernity, reflecting on the genre of autobiography.


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Barbados: Climate Change  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“If we believe that man-made changes are causing the bulk of the climatic changes we need to make sure that our small voices start to be heard much more.” Living in Barbados addresses the question of global warming.


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Central Asia: Cultural intelligence · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Nathan Hamm shares his thoughts on a New York Times article which argues that while knowledge of the nomadic social legacies of the Central Asian countries is important, an overemphasis on “cultural intelligence” can lead to misguided and stereotypical policy analysis of the region.


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Chile: Santiago in 100 Words · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

En Tu Ciudad [ES] writes about the annual writing contest called Santiago en 100 palabras (Santiago in 100 words).  First prize is a trip to the Olympic games in Beijing.


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China: History of sex and culture · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Kenneth Tan from Shanghaiist blogs about the up coming Sexpo in Shanghai and a talk by Liu Dalin on the history of sex and culture in ancient China.


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China: Olympic PR · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Imagethief said China has failed in the Olympic PR test by detaining journalists in a protest event.


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China: One Olympics, One Voice? · Global Voices
John Kennedy

European and American fighters for press freedom have infiltrated the capital, Canadian-Tibetan activists have gone underground and blogged from around the country about what's been called the Darfur Olympics, the Gas Mask Olympics even the Coming Out Olympics, so basically now the Pick Your White Elephant Olympics.
But when one factors in language, the Great Firewall and over two billion USD in pride, is any of this resonating with actual Chinese citizens themselves?
Sina Blogs, the largest of China's blog portal websites for example, devoted its front and center coverage of the one year countdown party exclusively to what celebrities, mostly those who were up on stage in Tiananmen square singing the theme song We Are Ready (not to be confused with the rehearsal promo We Are Ready And Ready And Ready And Ready And Ready).
And how to evaluate Chinese popular opinion when some of the biggest names among China's progressive public intellectuals—several of whom blog—independently come up with their own demands for what kind of Olympics they want to see go down next summer? Or is it mainstream or public conscience when Bullog—a smaller blog portal part The Huffington Post, part Daily Kos in that it brings liberal mainstream media journalists and editors together with widely-read political bloggers from across the Chinese-speaking world—has a Beijing 2008 blog that starts off with a firm stance against supporting next year's summer games?
The as-yet unidentified blogger behind it poses an interesting question, put forth with no mention of the foreign protests held in Beijing this past week: why aren't people talking about opposing the Olympics?
北京奥运需要”不支持”者
2001年9月13日，北京申奥成功的那个晚上，我正和一帮荤男素女驾车赶夜路，心中向往着南戴河的海滩和螃蟹。经过一个大的集镇的时候，突然有几只微型礼花升空，四下里还有劈劈啪啪的声音。在革命电影里，此种场景通常意味着遭遇信号弹并伴随一场伏击。处于惊讶中的我们，纷纷接到北京朋友的电话，大意是申奥成功啦，北京high啦，时隔12年又出现街头狂欢的盛况啦。
我们没有折返回北京加入沸腾的人群，对于我们来说，海滩和螃蟹比群情激越更像真实的生活。如果说申奥成功对我们有什么影响，就是那天晚宴大家多碰了几次杯。
那段时间，北京奥申委曾委托世界上知名的盖洛普（中国）咨询有限公司进行调查，显示北京民众的奥运支持率为94·9％，为有史以来最高（先别怀疑这个比例，国际奥委会委托欧洲一家公司搞的独立调查，北京的数据高达96％）。我看不清形势，态度暧昧，不知道是否也被算进那94.9%里面了。不过我得承认，看到绝大多数中国民众难得地拥有一个如此酣畅的夜晚，我的情绪也受到感染，虚荣心略有满足。那时候，偶尔可以看到一些不赞成北京奥运的言论，我也抱有一点忧虑，但不很强烈。
此后的差不多六年里，一些事情逐渐让我不安起来，这个今天就不一一赘言了。我只想说，在诸多不安中最强烈的一点，就是很难再听到对北京奥运的公开的质疑与反对意见。原来的那个5.1%是归零了，还是增减了？是被要求收声了，还是被忽略不计了？
从一些便于掌握宣传口径的媒体人那里了解到，那些不利于北京奥运会光辉形象的东西，一律要过滤掉。甚至与光辉形象有关的，比如那些恢弘的体育场馆，也被禁止予以关注。
我真的不知道有关方面到底怕什么，又何以怕到这个程度？连我们的党和政府，也一贯表示愿意接受群众监督，北京奥运怎么就拥有了无上的特权？
现代人类社会，应该是一个构成复杂的异质社会，一个包容各种价值观的多元社会。常识告诉我们，钱多总比钱少好，“多元”也肯定好过“一元”。多元没什么好担忧的，大家都秉持宽容之道，自然各得其所。也只有这样的生存环境，才更接近真正的和谐社会。
今天是八月八日，奥运倒计时一周年，《人民日报》的当日文章指出，“这是在党中央、国务院领导下，全国人民齐心协力，共圆民族梦想，共践世界承诺的６年。”
对于这类宏大叙事，我是比较惧怕的，如果是我，愿意这么描述北京奥运：一些民工修了一些体育场馆和路桥，一些人来比赛，一些人来围观，一些人赚了钱。
总觉得这才接近事实和本质。
而全民参与，举国欢腾，不是理性国家应有的作为。一个社会，假如到了万众一心的地步，下一步是不是就可以做到同仇敌忾了？
在过去的六年里，我没再看到关于北京奥运支持率的权威统计。只是在一家BBS上，看到有人谨慎地做了一个调查，分为强烈支持、支持、无所谓、反对、强烈反对五个级别，分别以12345代替，只许选数字，不许评论。结果173人表达了意见，选1和5的最多，各为21.97%和34.68%。
我不认为这种网络调查可以科学地集纳民意，但至少说明，“我不支持”还是一个客观存在的态度，而且并非凤毛麟角。
我们不是很渴望获得世界的了解和认同么，那么，让外界知道中国并不只有一种声音，对树立中国形象绝对是一个加分因素而非相反。
今天，我未经牛博网管理人员允许，擅自开了这个博客，叫做“北京奥运，我不支持”。
不支持，一种态度而已，没什么大不了。北京奥运会不可能因为哪个人的不支持而停办。
开这个博客，当然不是仅仅举起一块标语，我希望它包含一些思考和建设性。
如果说“我不支持”还是一种不得已而为之的暧昧态度，那么我也愿意明确地反对一些东西：
反对奥运会的过度政治化；
反对锦标主义；
反对个人利益为之做出牺牲；
反对对反对声音的限制。
And the comments:
[匿名] qian [222.70.190.*] @ 2007-8-9 1:27:56
奥你妈的运
[匿名] 实习记者 [122.4.178.*] @ 2007-8-9 1:51:39
反对对反对声音的限制
支持你的不支持！
皮皮狼 [218.56.106.*] @ 2007-8-9 8:05:36
我很早就是这个观点：锻炼身体，远离奥运。
[匿名] 我本善良 [220.160.193.*] @ 2007-8-9 8:13:21
我支持奥运，我身边绝大多数人也支持。其实很多反对者反对的并不是中国举报奥运，而是在中国办奥运过程种一些不合理的现象。我们不能因噎废食，如果因为反对而反对，如果因为其他一些政治因素而反对，那就是真正意的粪青了。对于那些不合理的现象，需要的是揭露和监督，而不是因为这些去简单的反对奥运。
[匿名] 王子政 [61.173.234.*] @ 2007-8-9 8:23:42
神泣的土地
[匿名] 不扯淡了 [210.13.96.*] @ 2007-8-9 8:30:47
奥你妈的运◎！！
healsperm_ [60.210.143.*] @ 2007-8-9 8:42:41
支持你的理性态度
rexgocfa [221.217.187.*] @ 2007-8-9 8:46:28
支持——你！
奥你妈的运！
[匿名] alfantor [222.191.247.*] @ 2007-8-9 9:07:00
我反对奥运期间北京限制外来人口进城。靠。
[匿名] niaocu [125.77.181.*] @ 2007-8-9 9:09:57
统计学的角度，网络调查是一种“自愿回应样本（voluntary response error）”，会造成有偏。因为持反对意见的人比其他人特别容易站出来表示意见。
[匿名] 奥运，压垮骆驼的最后一根稻草。 [221.222.123.*] @ 2007-8-9 9:12:10
奥运，压垮骆驼的最后一根稻草。
[匿名] daisy [58.60.221.*] @ 2007-8-9 9:23:59
顶，我是打心眼无所谓．奥运对我的唯一影响大概就是：蒙牛牛奶开始大规模促削，打折送杯子送娃娃，我买了一堆．
[匿名] 小朱 [219.143.82.*] @ 2007-8-9 9:43:34
我也反对，这么多年我还以为就我一个人反对呢，原来这么多，踏实了。
[匿名] abc [202.96.19.*] @ 2007-8-9 10:51:21
1， 奥运是中国经济发展勃起的一粒伟哥，待明年高潮过后，走势拭目以待。。。本人并没有小人心态，而是觉得泛奥运经济论如果过头，早晚自己要买单！
2，作为北京人，我家楼下确实被强制绿化了，我不得不说这很好，几十年雷打不动的脏乱差被铲除了，虽然干活的还是当年怠工的那老几位。。。但对我更大的影响是房价翻了2倍！！如未再05年前买房，仅又遇拆迁，那么幸福生活等于一下回到解放前。。。
3，奥运振奋民族士气不可否认，但如此夸张宣传，总觉得政府另有他意
4，过度沉迷办个奥运的兴奋，是不是反倒体现了民族深度自卑？！？
[匿名] 小路 [222.129.117.*] @ 2007-8-9 10:54:34
我反对奥运！打着奥运名义，北京的胡同遭遇了建国以来规模最大的一次集中拆迁！前门外已经一片狼藉了！奥你妈的运！
[匿名] 就事论事 [210.72.234.*] @ 2007-8-9 11:14:26
奥运对提高民族凝聚力是好事。
但反感的是不合理的劳命伤财，一场盛事不知成就多少腐败！
奥运会期间对出行、交通还有诸多管制，肯定会给生活造成诸多不便。
最看不惯的一点是，什么都拿奥运说事，房价一定会在奥运之前一直涨，股市在奥运之前肯定不会大跌。奥运不过是一场体育盛事，干嘛什么都往上面靠阿！
对奥运本身，我是支持的，但对于中国将在2008年举办奥运会，我很担心。制度性的恶将在奥运事件中展示得一览无余。
[匿名] 吴妈好友 [125.34.162.*] @ 2007-8-9 13:27:24
不支持,不反对,不关我事.看来明年要出逃北京一段时间.
ProState in Flames blogger moogee reposted the open question on her blog, and received the following comments:
[匿名] 不平不谈 [218.247.244.*] @ 2007-8-8 19:42:30
我支持不支持奥运
[匿名] mybob [202.127.20.*] @ 2007-8-8 20:10:29
我支持，但是希望更透明的办，更从一个重视民生的政府的立场来办
[…a series of expletives…]
[匿名] 钱去了哪里 [61.158.136.*] @ 2007-8-9 0:21:49
盖体育馆的钱都是中国的开车人给凑的。
交强险的钱全被拿来用做盖场馆了。
[匿名] 狗脸岁月 [125.33.43.*] @ 2007-8-9 0:43:28
JC叔叔来我们小区逮大狗的时候，
也说是为了办好奥运会来着。
申奥宣传片里那只和小女孩亲嘴儿的大麦町估计也逮了杀了。
Later in the afternoon the author of the new Beijing Olympic blog on Bullog whose piece can be seen at the top of this post pasted a feature one interning Beijing journalist did recently which features the conversations the reporter had with fifty-seven imported laborers working on future Beijing Olympic venues, workers who many are speculating will be forced to leave the capital before the athletes and audience arrive. The post quickly brought in a few dozen comments, and here are some:
[匿名] xuxing [218.79.145.*] @ 2007-8-8 17:03:59
好！这工作应该多些人做！可惜，不是记者一走近，就被赶走，根本不让接触。
[匿名] 深蓝 [221.221.21.*] @ 2007-8-8 17:38:41
行了，
别撇了，
你难道到今天才知道中国是一个上下断裂的社会吗。
一直都是。
[匿名] rock [59.49.19.*] @ 2007-8-8 22:52:54
做这种调查的记者比较让人尊重。
这才是关注民生嘛！
[匿名] 磊落青衫 [210.21.234.*] @ 2007-8-8 23:19:09
心酸的真实。
这个要发出去，一定会被和谐了的
laozious [219.132.235.*] @ 2007-8-9 0:54:20
奥运会就是老大中国在水里的那个倒影。自恋还可以，但是一触即溃。
[匿名] 圣人末尊 [124.114.180.*] @ 2007-8-9 2:30:56
奥你妈的运.
Also yesterday, moogee at ProState reposted the open letter mentioned above, receiving these comments:
[匿名] 2nd [61.48.43.*] @ 2007-8-8 19:49:18
顶!
[匿名] asdf [124.116.187.*] @ 2007-8-8 20:12:29
签名的都是敏感词
[匿名] 老碗 [219.153.130.*] @ 2007-8-8 20:23:53
很有勇气，但是实在不好意思，而且也很不希望说，没有任何用处。至少我个人对那些什么＊＊＊先生已经不抱任何信心了。
[匿名] 。。。 [58.83.196.*] @ 2007-8-8 20:29:52
名单上的各位保重啊
[匿名] 大SB [121.10.148.*] @ 2007-8-8 20:48:18
真是一群大SB!广东人说:鸡同鸭讲。
有用吗？奥你妈的运！
[匿名] rock [59.49.19.*] @ 2007-8-8 21:05:48
[匿名] 老碗 [219.153.130.*] @ 2007-8-8 20:23:53
很有勇气，但是实在不好意思，而且也很不希望说，没有任何用处。至少我个人对那些什么＊＊＊先生已经不抱任何信心了。
************
如果你认为没有用的话，那正好成全了官家。
肯定有用的，做和不做，显然是不同的。
践行量变，期待质变。
[匿名] 支持 [210.72.218.*] @ 2007-8-8 21:10:08
终于在奥运中听到了人话，感受到还活在人间
什么都是要实际行动才能争取的，只停留在想和骂才是真的傻，和懦
[匿名] js [60.187.235.*] @ 2007-8-8 22:02:21
开奥运会给共党脸上贴金。
[匿名] 二哥 [121.204.49.*] @ 2007-8-9 2:32:25
操你妈B，罗永浩，连岳为什么没签？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？
[匿名] iamlifeiamlife [218.58.62.*] @ 2007-8-9 10:29:43
来人啊，坦克伺候！
[匿名] 圣人本尊 [211.101.49.*] @ 2007-8-9 10:43:21
如果找我签名，我绝对不签
我从来不参与这种活动，因为我从来就不对共匪抱任何幻想！
要想获得平等、自由和民主，
你不能靠共匪的怜悯
你只有日翻共匪才行，只有把他们这群劣质统治者赶下台才行
骂了个比的共匪

author: John Kennedy


text:
China: Speaking for the Rich and Working for the Poor? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Xueyong has recently terminated his working relation with Southern Metropolitan News because the newspapers has censored his criticism of Mao Yushi who argued that intellectuals should be “speaking for the rich and working for the poor”. Xueyong criticized Mao's argument and such intellectual positioning (zh).


text:
Colombia: Moncayo’s Walk for Hostage Release · Global Voices
Carlos Raúl van der Weyden Velásquez

Pablo Emilio Moncayo was 18 years old when FARC guerrillas kidnapped him in December of 1997. He's was a corporal in the Colombian Army. His father, schoolteacher Gustavo Moncayo, decided to walk with his daughter from his town, Sandoná (Nariño, southwestern Colombia), to Bogotá to seek a “humanitarian exchange”, or a prisoner swap for the freedom of around 50 kidnapped politicians, policemen and military, including his son. After 46 days and more than 1,000 kilometers walked, along with a huge media coverage (including a blog established by Medellín conservative newspaper El Colombiano) and popular support, Moncayo entered Bogotá on Wednesday, August 1. Around 16:00 he reached Bogotá's central square, Plaza de Bolívar, where he decided to remain until the prisoner swap took place. President Alvaro Uribe, who was resting at his estate, agreed to meet Moncayo on Thursday morning.
After the Uribe-Moncayo meeting in the tent in Plaza de Bolívar, where the latter is remaining, Colombian president decided to speak in front of the approximately 1,000 people who went to support Moncayo. It became another of his usual “town hall meetings”. As Uribe faced the insults of some of the attendees, who started to call him “paramilitary,” “fascist,” and “liar” (he even invited a shouting young political science student to the stage), he said if FARC releases their hostages, the Colombian government would create a safe-haven for 90 days for peace talks. But Mr. Moncayo was skeptical, telling Uribe he didn't “own the lives” of the hostages and also claiming that Uribe and the FARC were playing politics with them [the hostages’ relatives] in the middle of that game. The unusual debate was broadcast live, during the midday newscasts on the main television networks. While the quarrel between Uribe and the crown continued, Moncayo “leaned on his wife and wiped away tears, then limped away on his cane.”
The whole country started to debate the issue, showing a huge division between the ones seeking for a prisoner swap (a point where most agree) with or without a safe-haven (a condition which divides Colombians). The Colombian blogosphere reflects that polarization, which became more evident since Uribe took office 5 years ago.
Giovanny Acuña praises President Uribe [ES]:
Nuestro Presidente es un verdadero PATRIOTA, él lo única que desea es salvar nuestra nación y lo va logrando poco a poco, prueba de ello es la seguridad que tenemos hoy en día al viajar por nuestro país y a toda la inversión extranjera, que algunos confunden con la venta de nuestras empresas a otros países como lo hizo la señorita que intervino ayer en el debate.
El profesor Moncayo ha sido un verdadero héroe en estos 46 días y espero siga defendiendo esos nobles ideales, porqué ayer por encontrarse desesperado me dío lástima a pesar de su buen gesto de paz, al no aprovechar ese momento histórico que tuvo para estar del lado del Gobierno y no ponerse a cuestionar a la política profesada por nuestro Sr.Presidente Álvaro Uribe, persona digna de admiración y respeto. No comparto para nada el irrespeto de una parte de los manifestantes que se encontraban en la plaza y entiendo que todo fue por la rabia que algunos llevan dentro por la inoperancia de otros gobiernos, ya que debieron presentar alternativas y escuchar las propuestas que se estaban presentando.
Our President is a true PATRIOT, he only wants to save our nation and he's achieving it gradually. Proof of that is the security we have today when we travel around our country and with all the foreign investment, which some people confuse with the sale of our companies to other countries, such as the lady who took part in the debate.
Professor Moncayo has been a true hero during these 46 days and I hope he keeps defending those noble ideals, because yesterday, when he appeared desperate, I felt sorry for him despite his nice peace gesture, because he didn't seize the historical moment, when he had the chance to be close to the government side, where he did not question  the policy carried by our Mr. President Álvaro Uribe, a person worthy of admiration and respect. I don't endorse the lack of respect by one side of the demonstrators who were in the square and I understand everything was caused by the anger at the ineffectiveness of the former administrations.  They should show alternatives and listen the proposals being presented.
Valentina, from Realidades Colombianas [ES], has her own point of view about “the political event of the year” and the “healthy politics” Moncayo taught:
El debate verbal del jefe de la nación y el profesor y padre de familia, fue la confrontación del discurso hueco y autoritario, respaldado por centenares de guardaespaldas armados hasta los dientes y el discurrir humanitario y sencillo con al respaldo de gritos del populacho reunido en el lugar. La presión popular volvió a tener valor real y práctico.
Los comentaristas políticos coincidieron en asegurar que sucedieron cosas que nadie se habría imaginado. Que el presidente bajó, gracias a la popularidad que despertó Moncayo entre el pueblo colombiano, de su séptimo cielo a las lozas de un parque en Bogotá. Que el presidente Uribe tuvo que esperar al educador y caminante, con sus ministros y guardaespaldas, casi una hora, porque Moncayo estaba en Misa. Primero Dios y luego el presidente. Luego de unas horas y en un debate sesgado, Moncayo se fue antes de que terminara Uribe sus múltiples y agresivas intervenciones, porque estaba muy cansado y quería reposar.
[…]
La entonación conciliatoria y didáctica del educador contrastó con los rugidos intimidatorios del presidente. Como los colombianos somos muy dados a establecer ganadores y perdedores, dan como el franco ganador al Caminante y educador Gustavo Moncayo. Uribe aceptó lo que parecía imposible, está dispuesto a autorizar una zona de encuentro para negociar la paz. Vuelve y se demuestra que el pueblo es y sigue siendo suprior a sus dirigentes, como decía Gaitán.
The verbal debate between the chief of the nation and the professor and father was a confrontation between the hollow and authoritarian discourse, backed by hundreds of armed to the teeth bodyguards, and the humanitarian, and simple, who had the support of the shouting populace gathered at the place. Again, popular pressure had a real and practical value.
Political commentators agreed that things that no one would have ever imagined happened. The president backed down, thanks to the popularity Moncayo earned among Colombian people, from his seventh heaven to the crockery of a park in Bogotá. President Uribe had to wait for the walking educator, with his Cabinet and bodyguards, almost one hour, because Moncayo was attending a Mass. First God, then the President. After a few hours and in a biased debate,
Moncayo left before Uribe finished his multiple and aggressive interventions, because he was too tired and wanted to rest.
[…]
The teacher's reconciling and didactic intonation contrasted with the president's intimidating roars. As Colombians tend to set winners and losers, they concede the victory to the walker and teacher Gustavo Moncayo. Uribe accepted what it seemed impossible, he's willing to authorize a meeting zone to negotiate peace. It's proven again that the people are and continue to be superior to its leading class, as [Jorge Eliécer] Gaitán used to say.
But Hi6uera, on the contrary, praises Uribe's charisma [ES] (and Moncayo's courage and bravery):
Es gracioso observar un discurso presidencial como el de hoy. Escuchar a tantos fanáticos desgarrándose sus cuerdas vocales para gritar insultos o elogios al mandatario parece difícil de creer. Cuando veo gente descalificando al presidente de frente pienso: ¿Acaso esta gente es miope, o tal vez un poco lunática? No darse cuenta que cuando se le grita al presidente en la plaza pública lo que se está haciendo es abriéndole caminos para que él brille, para que se luzca con sus contraataques y con su plástico y eficaz discurso político; es estar ciego.
It's funny to watch a presidential speech as one today. Listening to so many fanatics with their vocal chords torn by the insults or with praises to the Colombian leader makes it hard to believe. When I see people discrediting the president to his face, I think: Are these people short-sighted or maybe a little lunatic? Not to realize that when the president is yelled at on the public square opens the way for him to shine, to show off with his counterattacks and with his plastic and efficient political discourse, this is to be blind.
On Náufrago en la sombra [ES], El Hombre del Viento wants us to listen Moncayo:
Mientras el citadino ve en la televisión a un Moncayo como la forma criolla de Gandhi, el campesino ve en él su propio retrato de dolor. Mientras que el citadino comenta sobre el profe en una cena en el parque de la 93 diciendo que eso no va a servir de nada y que le parece el colmo que invada la Plaza de Bolivar, mientras traga como cerdo platos de 50 dolares per cápita, el hombre del campo ve en él a alguien que se identifica y conmisera con las noches de zozobra de pillaje de uno y otro bando. Con las madres de muchachos que deben ir a los frentes de una batalla que nunca eligieron abanderar. Con los hijos huerfanos de facto ante la ausencia prolongada del secuestro. Con los sueños truncados de familias nacientes…
As the urban citizen sees on the TV a Moncayo as the local version of Gandhi, the peasant sees in him the portrait of his own pain. As the urban citizen comments on the ‘profe’ as s/he dinners at the 93rd Street Park saying that will be useless and that his “invasion” of the Plaza de Bolívar is the last straw, the rural man sees in him someone who identifies and feels compassion with the uneasy nights of looting by both bands. With the mothers of the boys who must go to the fronts of a battle they never chose to lead. With the de facto orphans because of the extended absence of the kidnapping. With the shattered dreams of new families…
Finally, equinoXio [ES] became the scenario of an interesting debate. In his post, Marsares slams Uribe and the FARC, and defends Moncayo, who according to him got caught between arrogance and cynicism.
[E]n un irrespeto a la comunidad internacional, al país y a los familiares de los secuestrados, lanza una propuesta imposible de realizar. Una “zona de encuentro” con duración de 90 días, lugar y tiempo durante el cual se pactará la paz con las FARC. Es decir, medio siglo de conflicto se resolverá en tres meses de diálogo. Lo irrazonable de la propuesta es un indicativo de la nula intención de diálogo que le asiste al Presidente. Y para rematar le dijo a Moncayo que podía ir a Cuba a hablar con Granda, el llamado “canciller de las FARC”, pese a que el grupo guerrillero ha dicho que no los representa.
[…]Entre la soberbia y el cinismo no hay espacio para la paz. La mentira es el nombre del juego y los secuestrados… apenas una carta de la baraja, descartable, por cierto.
In a disrespectful attitude toward international community, this country, and the kidnapped's relatives, [Uribe] throws a proposal impossible to fulfill. A 90-day “meeting zone”, time and place to reach a peace agreement with the FARC. That is, a half-century conflict will be resolved in a 3-month dialogue. The insensitive proposal indicates the president has no intention to dialogue. And in order to round off it, he told Moncayo he could go to Cuba to talk with [Rodrigo] Granda, the so-called “FARC foreign minister”, even though the guerrilla group has said that he's not their representative.
[…]
Between the arrogance and cynicism there's no room for peace. Lying is the name of the game and the hostages… are only a card in the pack, a disposable one, by the way.
gerente [ES] says:
esa tristeza de Moncayo es un gran triunfo de las farc y de sus alcahuetes, porque la imagen que quedó es la de el Culebrero de palacio destruyendo con sus palabras las ilusiones del profe y de los familiares de los secuestrados.
Moncayo's sadness is a great victory for the FARC and its puppets, because the picture that remains was the Palace ‘culebrero’ shattering with his words the illusions of the teacher and the hostages’ relatives.
Dragón Negro [ES] defends Moncayo:
“…el presidente no es el DIOS de la vida…” esa frase…lo dijo todo.
En efecto eramos muchos los colombianos que estabamos esperando decir : “por fin” pero se ahogo en el fango de las lagrimas de estos esposos de Sandoná la ilusión . El llanto de las demás victimas jamás sera callado.
El profe tiene una caracteristica, es autentico, no lleva un libreto como el que utilizó para humillar el majestuoso.
“…the president is not the GOD of life…”, that sentence… said it all.
Indeed there were so many Colombians hoping to say “at last”, but the illusion got drowned in the tears and mud of the Sandoná spouses. The cry of the other victims will never be  silenced.
The ‘profe’ has a characteristic, he's authentic, he doesn't carry a script as the one used by his majesty to humiliate him.
But DieGoth slams Marsares [ES]:
Todos sabemos y no podemos autoengañarnos, que Uribe aceptó la propuesta de Europa. Las FARC NO LA ACEPTARON. Recordamos también que es mucho más lo que ha cedido Uribe que lo que han cedido las FARC hasta ahora desde el primer día en que se habló del asunto. ¿Por qué es a Uribe a quien le tienen que exigir que “empiece a ceder”?
Entonces sólo queda ceder ante la propuesta de las FARC. Ahí es donde viene lo grave de la actitud de Moncayo: desprecia la propuesta de Uribe. Hace caso omiso a la propuesta de los europeos, y en cambio le exige a Uribe que ceda… ¿a qué? Pues ni más ni menos que a la propuesta de las FARC. Es decir, que Moncayo dijo algo así como “Uribe, no haga propuestas y limítese en cambio a ceder a lo que las FARC exigen”.
Por eso la mayoría de la gente, para guayabo de Marsares, se desencantó con Moncayo ayer.
We all know, and we can't deceive ourselves, that Uribe accepted the European [French, Swiss, Spanish] proposal. THE FARC DIDN'T ACCEPT IT. We also remember that's a lot more that Uribe has given than FARC since the first day this issue is discussed about. Why do they have to demand Uribe that “starts to give in”?
Then we have no choice but give in to the FARC's proposal. That's the serious thing about Moncayo's attitude: he despises Uribe's proposal. He ignores the European proposal, and he demands Uribe to give in instead… to what? None other than the FARC's proposal. That is, Moncayo said something like “Uribe, don't make any proposals and just give in what the FARC is demanding instead”.
Pirata Subterráneo asks for a sacrifice [ES]:
El profe Moncayo pertenece a la sociedad civil que a fin de cuentas somos nosotros, los colombianos que no cargamos armas ni promocionamos a que otros la carguen. Ni la guerrilla ni los paracos nos representan. En el caso del profesor Moncayo y los secuestrados, antes que Uribe, el enemigo son las farc, por cinicos, sofistas, indolentes, mentirosos, acomodados.
‘Profe’ Moncayo belongs to the civil society, which in the end means all of us, Colombians who don't carry guns nor encourage others to carry them. Neither guerrilla nor paramilitaries represent us. As for Moncayo and the hostages, before Uribe, the enemy is the FARC, because they're cynical, sophists, indolent, liars, and comfortable.
Was Moncayo's trek a wasted chance to achieve, if not peace, at least the freedom of the people kidnapped by FARC terrorists [including the three Americans]? Is that illusion, which should have united Colombians moved by the love of a father, fading out because Moncayo mixed ideology and pro- and anti-Uribe feelings? Will FARC say no to the little responde Uribe gave to Moncayo's plea? The debate continues, but these questions likely won't have answers quite soon.

author: Carlos Raúl van der Weyden Velásquez


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Cuba: Taking Off the Boxing Gloves? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Both Babalu Blog and Child of the Revolution focus on the latest developments with the Cuban boxers who tried to defect at the recently-concluded Pan Am Games.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Dominica, Haiti: Earthbag Homes  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Living Dominica is impressed by a project in Haiti that provides homes for street children.


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El Salvador: Possible Sister Relationships Between Washington, DC and San Salvador · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

At the blog Hunnapuh [ES], Tepezcuintly is pleased with the recent meeting with San Salvador mayor Violeta Menjivar and Washington, DC City Councilmember Jim Graham, which could lead to a sister relationship between the two cities.


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Georgia: Winter Olympics repercussions · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

The Black Sea resort Sochi will be hosting the Winter Olympics in 2014, and the near breakaway Georgian province of Abkhazia can expect huge investments from Russia. Scraps of Moscow is left to believe that this might considerably delay the peacebuilding process.


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India: Micro Entrepreneurship · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Zoo Station on the hype surrounding micro-finance, and exploring why micro-entrepreneurs don't have the same advantage as other entrepreneurs.


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India: Taslima Nasrin attacked · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Taslima Nasrin, the Bangladeshi writer in exile was attacked by a mob which included 3 members of the state legislative assembly belonging to Majlis Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen party in Hyderabad. IndieQuill has more.


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Iran:More worker activists arrested · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kaargar says [Fa] that several members of Tehran Bus Drivers Union were arrested today in Tehran.They were planning to hold a protest outside the house of Mansour Osanlu,their jailed leader.They asked  for the release of Mansur Osanlu and another jailed union activist, Mahmud Salehi.Security forces surrounded Osanlou's house, preventing anyone from entering.


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Jamaica: Nomination Day  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Yesterday was nomination day, the day when candidates officially registered their votes. This is one of the big landmarks in the election trail, and everyone was watching closely to see what the level of violence would be like.”  ComPromise reports from Jamaica.


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Japan: Tanabata Festival · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Shari at My So-Called Japanese Life has posted an article with many photos about the Tanabata Festival which just finished in Asagaya, Tokyo.


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Japan: The words that changed my life · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

In her article this week at Magazine 9, Amamiya Karin talks about the words that changed her life [Ja], through the experiences of poet and former hikikomori (shut-in) Tsukino Koji, writer Misawa Chiren, and activist Takato Nahoko (famous for her work on Iraq issues).


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Jordan: An Encounter with Prince Charming  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian Tololy met Prince Charming on her way from the US to Canada.


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Jordan: Peace with Wardam  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian Hareega makes peace with Batir Wardam, another blogger from Jordan.


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Jordan: Wadi Rum Concert · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Ibrahim Owais from Jordan is still excited about a concert he attended two weeks ago.


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Kenya: Stifling the media · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kenyan parliament passes a controversial media bill: “Richard Mbuthia opines on the passing of the controversial Media Bill in Kenya.
The whole of the Bill seems pretty dark but certain clauses in it come out nakedly in attack of our fundamental freedoms. A clause in the Media Bill forces journalists to divulge their source of information in the event that their stories ‘stir a court case’.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Kuwait: Pajamas in Fashion  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bored Kuwaiti doesn't understand why some people leave their homes in their pajamas.


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Kyrgyzstan: SCO summit · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

The heads of states will land at the capital Bishkek's Manas airport. The road into town is the scene of some hectic beautification work, which LJ user morrire documents in pictures:
In fact, the whole town is undergoing some crazy last-minute construction frenzy. Azamat comments:
The Mayor of Bishkek, as the main implementer, has done “incredible” things: whitewashing trees and facades of buildings on the road from the Manas Airport to Bishkek and the main streets in Bishkek. As with buildings’ being painted only on frontal sides, so are the trees, as you can see from the morrire's picture […]. If only these changes were regular and less superficial, we would be living in another country.
Mirsulzhan digged into the Kyrgyzstani Russian LJ community to see what the bloggers were saying about this summit preparation.
Zigeunerin is amazed (RUS) that the whole circus could be completed in such short time:
The construction work will be completed within record time – just 157 days! The builders worked both at day and at night.
All residents of a house with windows facing the Philharmonic, where the SCO summit will take place, will be forbidden to open their windows and balcony doors from August 14 until the end of the summit. LJ user lena writes (RUS):
“It’s for your own safety,” representatives of the police reassured the tenants, “because everyone who appears in the window will be at risk of beeing shot. There will be Russian snipers around”
Bishkek is also plastered with large banners carrying slogans of Kyrgyz President Bakiev. antipodean_world wonders (RUS) whether one of these slogans has not been borrowed from Confucius – and that perhaps the visiting Chinese delegation could raise some intellectual property rights issues with the hosts.
Ahead of the SCO summit, the member states are convening a joint military exercise in both Xinjiang (Western China) and Chelyabinsk (Russia). While Uzbekistan only sent observers to “Peace 2007″ (so the name of the exercise), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are set to learn something from their more powerful neighbours. Bonnie Boyd comments:
Learning security cooperation might not help craft better political policies for border regulation between these three states, but it will help ensure that security forces have a basis for cooperation–once border coordination is allowed politically.
Bonnie Boyd also links to a video clip of CCTV9's coverage:
Fourth World War thinks that Western media coverage of these military exercises is not reflecting the real importance of the event:
To recap, Russia and China are wargaming together, and through the SCO, Mongolia, Iran, India, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are all involved in some capacity with the war games, and the expansion of solidifying of military and security ties amongst the SCO member and observer nations. [Editor's note: Turkmenistan, Armenia and Belarus are no SCO members while Mongolia, Iran, India and Pakistan have observer status only.]
It's a remarkable and historic event, worthy of more than the minimal attention it has recieved in the Western media, so far.

author: Ben Paarmann


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Kyrgyzstan: Website attacked · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Bektour Iskender talks to neweurasia about his citizen media website, Kloop.kg, being attacked by hackers.


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Morocco: Censorship Makes Headlines Yet Again · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Morocco has made headlines all too often this past year for free speech issues.  In December, there was the banning of Morocco's only darija (Moroccan dialect) magazine, Nichane,  Aboubakr Jamai was practically forced out of the country to save his magazine, Le Journal, from a hefty fine, May saw Morocco named to CPJ's Backsliders list of countries where press freedom has most deteriorated in recent years, and now, to top it all off, a new story unfolds.
Eatbees has written an extremely comprehensive post detailing the recent events, which followed King Mohammed VI's address to the nation on July 30, Throne Day:
Following the speech, journalist Ahmed Reda Benchemsi wrote a provocative response that was printed in Nichane. The offending issue was confiscated by the authorities as soon as it reached the stands, but not before a few people got hold of copies. Nichane’s French-language sister publication TelQuel was also seized, before it had even left the presses. No one seems to know whether TelQuel contained a French translation of the same piece (I think this is likely) or something just as offensive to the sensitivities of the Moroccan state.
The story, also found at Reuters, was commented upon by author Laila Lalami in her blog as well:
It's really disheartening to have to write yet another post, about yet another problem in the Moroccan press, but it seems the wheels of censorship never stop.
Francophone blogger Larbi (fr) had a lot to say about the situation as well:
Entendons-nous, ces journaux , ces journalistes et ces personnalités sont dans leur droit de louer et bénir le Souverain. En démocratie il faut accepter les idées des autres . J'irais même jusqu'à exprimer l'idée que tout n'est pas faux dans ce florilège des éloges. Mais que fait-on dans le Maroc d'aujourd'hui quand on est pas convaincu par le discours du Souverain ou quand on est pas d'accord avec ses propos ? Soyons honnêtes: Il n'existe pas un seul dirigeant politique au Monde, pas un seul chef d'Etat pas un seul être humain qui requiert l'unanimité des avis favorables. Ça serait dans l'ordre du miracle et du surhumain! A fortiori quand il s'agit d'un Chef d'Etat on peut ne pas être d'accord avec ses discours. C'est ce qui fait la différence entre un régime autoritaire et un autre en transition…
Adel of Netdur's Public Log, who shared a scan of the offending article, had this to say:
King respect!? actually such as crap makes me respect me king less and more angry… here page scanned, small but still readable… enjoy it
Lastly, GHASBOUBA summed up his feelings well, saying:
For Many moroccan this is a shame. What was in the magazines that deserves seizure. What did Nichane say. why Nichane? Well it is probably the only magazine of its kind that can be read and understood by many Moroccans. At least those who can read Arabic.. many city dwellers. From different social classes. Other Magazines in French, Classical Arabic , German, Spanish etc are foreign to the majority of Moroccans and “ we do not know how to read those”. They also are expensive. And you do not want to give half of your daily salary for a magazine.
Moroccans still remember the hot days of USFP, and the long glowing hot speeches of Fath Alla Oualalou criticizing the government and crossing the red lines. Now he is sitting in an air-conditioning big office with the other guys giving orders about and shutting down people. very disappointing to many of us who would like to see a morocco where issues of freedom of speech in the folds of the past.

author: Jillian C. York


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Nigeria: Black Superpower? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Is Nigeria a Black Superpower?: “It is well known that Nigeria has the largest population in Africa, and the largest economy in West Africa; it is fairly well known that Nigeria's military has been intervening in hot spots in the region; it is perhaps even less known that Nigerian movies are now, all over Africa, what bollywood movies were in Nigeria when I was growing up in the 80s. Add all these together you get a Black Superpower.”


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Oman: Education a “Waste of Time” · Global Voices
Riyadh Al Balushi

The qualification system of high school students to university in Oman has never been considered by the locals as a fair system for so many different reasons. The previous ‘Thanawiyah Ammah’ system of education used to be criticised for being one that encourages learning by memorising and was never one that taught the students how to actually learn. Entry requirements for the various higher education establishments exclusively depended on the final mark you got, rare were the places that considered personality or interviewed students as part of the acceptance procedure. However, a few years ago, the government adopted a new system similar to GCSE and A-Level by giving the students the choice to study whatever subjects they desired in high school and then the universities will only consider the grades of relevant subjects and not the average of the total grade. A change welcomed by many, but as we are still undergoing a transitional period, it is natural for bloopers and critical mistakes to take place. This year was not a good one for Oman, the government board exam period had to be rescheduled because of Gonu's attack, and only a very small recovery time was given because of the deadline for applying to universities abroad. The grades and fates of so many Omani students will be uncovered today, when the Higher Education Admission Centre announces its results.
Blogger Amjad was very disappointed by the Ministry of Education, but he thinks that the Ministry of Higher Education is doing a great job. I quote him:
Yesterday the Ministry of Higher Education announced that they've made changes in the admission grades required for SQU programs and other programs, due to the very low marks the students got this semester. The ministry understands that the marks this semester are much lower than the first semester, and so they had to reduce the grades required for joining SQU and other programs. Before the results being out, the requirements were already set but now they're changed because of how most of the marks are messed up this semester.
Blogger ti3gib on the other hand wrote a post fueled by anger as he believes that his 12 years of school were years spent in prison:
For most of the past 12 years, I've been a student studying under the educational system orchestrated by the Ministry of Education. After I've completely finished with it, I took time to digest the value of my time and effort there. Wasted. The people in charge made sure it went that way. This, non-arguably, left me deeply frustrated, which intersects to only one of two paths. Depression and surrender, or Anger. I've chosen the latter, and that my friends, is the factor that bred the anger you see today.
Moving to other topics, blogger Al Maawali thinks that Gonu was only one aspect of the strange environmental changes happening to the climate of Oman, the painful summer heat was missed for a month or so and the autumn season of the south of Oman was late as well, and that does makes us wonder what is happening:
Let's not look far and see how this has affected our own country. We have noticed since the end of last year that winter was delayed. And when winter started, it stayed longer than usual bringing unexpected rain and very strong winds. Summer started very suddenly after that by June which was very late also. And now we hear complaints from people in Salalah about the delay in the khareef (fall) season.
I will leave you with this photograph of the weirdest accident in Oman. Yeah, truck driving is a job that got Omanized.

author: Riyadh Al Balushi


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Pakistan: Not an Emergency! · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

With the whole country discussing the possibility of an emergency being imposed in Pakistan, All Things Pakistan hopes that it's just a rumour. Later today, it was confirmed that the government was not contemplating an emergency.


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Palestine: Rights Activisits form Human Shields  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian Haitham Sabbah links to a video showing how international human rights activists are forming human shields to stop Israeli tanks from entering Nablus.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Paraguay: Internet Availability and Prices · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Internet en Paraguay [ES} summarizes the velocity and price for the various internet connections in Paraguay.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Part One: Defending online free speech and environmental rights in Bulgaria  · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

The June 29, 2007 decision of the Bulgarian Administrative Court (VAS) to remove the protected status of the National Park Strandzha, has evoked a strong reaction from the Bulgarian blogsphere and also from the country's vibrant environmental movement. The two groups have united to defend the country's largest protected area, which is located on the South Black Sea coast, with its unique eco-systems, biodiversity, cultural and historical heritage.
The Supreme Court’s ruling stems from an appeal by the mayor of the Tsarevo municipality and the investor (Crash 2000) in the Zlatna Perla Golden Pearl holiday village, near the town of Varvara. Construction on the vacation complex was suspended because of Strandzha National Park's status as a protected area. The court's decision to strip Strandzha of its protected status has been perceived as an “illustration of the state’s inability to protect public interest, nature, and to enforce its own legislation under pressures of private business powers.”
The response of the Bulgarian environmental stakeholders to this threat against the natural ecosystem of Strandzha Mountain was quick and well-coordinated. Utilizing every method from blog posts to street blockades to SMS to flash mobs, the web-led movement has succeeded in stimulating significant offline activity. “All information was disseminated mainly through mailing lists, SMS-s and on-line,” said BlueLink Information Network executive director Milena Bokova, whom I spoke with about the issue. With its smart use of the Internet and new media appplications such as online petitions (more than 13.900 signatures addressed to Bulgarian Administrative Court were collected – see the petition in English), blogs, and video- and photo-sharing sites, the Bulgarian environmental movement mobilized a substantial demonstration for the protection of the Strandzha Park, and won sympathy for its case.
(Source: nabludatel.blogspot.com)
And it is largely thanks to the Bulgarian Blogsphere and to the e-movement that the attention of the national mainstream media was captured. “The dissemination of information about the Strandja and other environmental cases in Bulgaria via video and photo sharing sites helped a lot in attracting the attention of the Bulgarian mainstream media,” said Milena Bokova. (See the interview with blogger Michel Bozgounov broadcasted on the Bulgarian National TV -Youtube: part1 | part2).
As a result of the attention, Bulgarian police issued a call to bloggers, pressuring them “to stop writing about the recent wave of environmental protests that has swept across the country in the recent weeks.” One blogger summoned by the General Directorate for Combat against Organized Crime was Michel Bozgounov, BlueLink's web designer, who reported the incident on his blog:
Last week I received summons to visit the Sofia Metropolitan Police Department and absolutely not aware what is this about […] There they asked me about my website (my blog) and about the Strandja protests. I had to write some explications and also signed a warning protocol, saying that I should not write in my blog anything that could call to disorderly conduct (like unofficial protests) and so on. I saw a line in the police documents, saying “the website www.optimiced.com must be investigated (watched constantly)”. I read on the top of the documents in front of me the name of the National Service for Combat against the Organized Crime, which indeed puzzled me. […] Also there were printed sheets of paper from another blog of a guy, who wrote as well about the Strandja case, and he is also a journalist. On the stairs one of the police officers told me “in private” that I should be more careful what I am writing about in future, because journalists have a better defense against possible prosecution and I am just an ordinary person, an independent blogger.
The Bluelink network reacted to the intimidation of Michel Bozgounov and other bloggers by launching the Freenet Campaign. “We unconditionally support the actions of each engaged citizen, who have the right to express his or her position on actions (or lack thereof) of Bulgarian institutions through writing or other communication forms;  We support and will defend the unconditional right of every Bulgarian citizen to peaceful and non-violent protests and for information dissemination of such protests,” Bluelink said in a statement announcing the launch of Freenet.
The outpouring of support from the Bulgarian blogsphere for fellow blogger Michel Bozgounov was also overwhelming. A group of bloggers sent a letter of protest to the European Commissioner of Human Rights, urging him “to take all necessary measures […] for preventing the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior Affairs and The Bulgarian Government in stepping up to this extremely dangerous path on combating free speech.”
“One of the deep reasons for defending internet freedom is its increasing importance for environmentalism (given legal recognition in the Aarhus convention, which grants the public rights regarding access to information and public participation and access to justice in environmental matters),” says Dr. Dan McQuillan, the current web manager at Amnesty International, who warned against ignoring the threats posed to the Online Free Speech. McQuillan adds that “It’s very worrying that most ecampaigners are ignoring these threats to the environment that they depend on. Of course, they’re all busy doing online campaigns for the core mission of their organizations, whether it’s environmental, human rights or whatever. But key techniques like blogging, social networking and global campaigning are already being impacted by reductions in internet freedoms.”
In Part Two of this article, I speak to Milena Bokova, who talks about the intimidation against her colleague, blogger Michel Bozgounov, the threats to the freedom of online expression in her country, and the Bluelink Freenet Campaign.

author: sami ben gharbia


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Philippines: Tourists Could Stay in Philippines for Two Years · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

TravelPhilippines has good news for people planning on exploring Philippines. Seems Philippines is thinking of allowing tourists to stay in the country for upto 24 months irrespective of their nationality.


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Qatar: Social Bookmarking · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Mohamed Nanabhay, who is based in Qatar, gives us a quick lesson in social bookmarking here.