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

Este artículo también está disponible en español en el sitio Blogs de Bolivia
Unofficial results from last Sunday’s election in Bolivia provide a glimpse at how the Constituent Assembly and calls for departmental autonomy may shape up for the rest of the year.  Bolivians took to the polls to elect 255 representatives to write the country’s new Constitution, which will convene in early August, as well as determine whether the nine departments (state-like units of government) will receive more autonomy. Unofficial results from a scan of the Bolivian blogosphere also reveals that this election was one of the most blogged about events in recent months.
On a national level, the autonomy question failed, with approximately 53% of the population voting “No.”  This figure paralleled the amount of vote that the Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS) received in the December elections.  However, in four of the nine departments, the “Yes” side emerged victorious, some in resounding fashion.  This constrast reinforces the position that the country still remains sharply divided.  This map, provided by Briegel Busch and his blog Bolivia Eclipse [ES], shows a sharp division between Orient and Occident. Martin P. Gutierrez, living in Buenos Aires, states in his blog Vitrina de Realidad Boliviana [ES] that Bolivia loses once again.  The contrast of regions indicates such a divide and that it is unfortunate, that its own President divides the country even more with his statements and rhetoric.  Carlos Hugo Quintanilla, who writes at El Quintacho [ES] thinks this division is personally a bit troubling,
“Nationwide, the NO vote won and it seems to me that a NO to a united Bolivia, and now I see my country divided into two and I don’t like it.  I am still here in my corner dreaming of a nation where all of us see ourselves and feel equal.”
One blogger, Ergoth’s Isabella Fuente, was surprised by the vote and was especially disappointed in the result in the department of Cochabamba, which she thought would vote in favor of increased autonomy.  Many bloggers like Isabella publically announced their vote of a “Yes”, as well as Gustavo Siles at Almada de Noche [ES] and Evonomics’[ES] Antonio Saravia, however, all currently live outside the country, as there was no mechanism for ex-pats to vote.  In his blog Ágora [ES], Carlos Hugo Molina, ex-Prefect ( regional governor) of Santa Cruz, also stated that he would vote for “Yes”.   Questions still remain whether the fact that the question passed in four of the departments will make the referendum binding in those regions, regardless that it failed on a national level.  Jaime Humérez Seleme of Boliviscopio [ES] reviews the language contained in the convocation law.
President Evo Morales’ MAS party hoped to receive 2/3 of the 255 seats at the table to rewrite the Constitution.  Such a result would guarantee that all of that party would control the Assembly, as it takes 2/3 majority to alter the Constitution.  Now, as Miguel Esquirol at El Forastero [ES] writes, that this result means that “there needs to be negotiations with the other representatives to write the Constitution” and many think that this is a good thing.
Unofficially MAS received 55% of the seats, while the second strongest force, PODEMOS led by former President Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga logged approximately 24% of the seats.  These two parties accounted for the majority of representatives, with the next party, MNR, only will count on approximately 7% of the seats.  Miguel Centellas summarizes the seat breakdown by department and party in his blog Ciao! The remaining representatives come from a variety of “minor parties”, which will also play a role in the consensus building and negotiations.  Centellas also highlights many of these “minor parties”, including a look at the major actor, past electoral participation and likely alliances.
Election day is a very special time where one’s finger is marked with a colored dye indicating one’s completed civic duty.  Javier Rodríguez, a Cochabambino (from the valley city of Cochabamba) reviews how he spent his election day from voting early in the morning with members of his family to scanning the Electoral Court’s website for in-depth results in the early morning hours of the following Monday.  His blog is called Diario de un Demente Frustrado [ES]. During the election, Business and Politics in Bolivia's Jonathan Olguin reported that the Bolivian News Agency controlled by the government violated Article 120 of the Electoral Code, whch prohibits the release of any exit polls prior to 6 pm.
Another election in the books and Rolando Lopez of Rocko Weblog feels a bit optimistic even though the future is unknown.  “No one knows what comes next and very few dare to predict, this is the highest point of a nation’s path of democratic change.  We are witnessing the birth of a new Bolivia.  Soon it will be 25 years since the return to democracy yet it is only the beginning.  We must look to the future with hope and with the assurance that we are following the right path.”

author: Eduardo Avila


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: Conversations about home · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

“Kamla”, a Trinidadian resident in London, joins the conversation taking place between Trinidad-based Jeremy Taylor and his US friend “Roger”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Georgia Popplewell


text:
Uganda: LRA public relations · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

We have become accustomed to seeing the government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) as equally to blame for the continuing violence in Uganda, says Ngomrom, going on to paint a a picture more from the LRA's less-reported point of view.

author: Luisetta Mudie


text:
Ukraine: Politics and Reality · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukraine has been without a new government since the March 26 election. A coalition between Victor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko's Bloc and the Socialist Party was finally formed at the end of June, but it didn't last past yesterday, when Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz unexpectedly joined forces with the Communists and Victor Yanukovych's Party of the Regions and received their votes to become the speaker. On Tuesday, the country is likely to get its new prime minister, though much isn't clear yet, and Ukraine-watchers may be in for another surprise or two.
Below are some bloggers’ (emotional) reactions to what's now a certainty: the Orange Coalition has collapsed and Oleksandr Moroz is the speaker.
Adrian J. Erlinger of Leopolis calls what's going on in Ukrainian politics “uninterrupted hysteria.” Here's his summary:
Fast forward to yet another election. 3 months after that – no goverment, no constitutional court. Yu, Yulka, and Moroz refuse to speedily form a coalition. Eventually, a virtual orange coalition is formed, but then Yanukovich in snakeskin boots with sovok CPU allies also refuse to work. Like PORA activists, they begin a hunger strike and block the Rada. PR nominates former head of tax Mykola Azarov as speaker of the Rada, even though he cannot speak the state language. Moroz is elected speaker of the Rada by his opponents and former enemies. PR, CPU and SPU form an “anticrisis” coalition.
No end in sight for dramapolytyka in Ukraine.
Petro of Petro's Jotter feels “unclean” after watching the “speaker chapter” of the post-election “drama”:
I am very glad I didn't waste time following the whole agonizing formation of the so-called “Orange Coalition”, only to see it lay dying a week later.
Abdymok jots down the developments leading up to the speaker vote – “the un-coalition,” he calls it:
(17:09) moroz takes podium . . . explaining his decision to leave the coalition with our ukraine and tymoshenko bloc. . . . says there is no way ukraine can be governed by people like poroshenko and tymoshenko . . . etc. blech.
Also, he criticizes the slow response of the English-language media:
it’s amazing how SLOW english-language media have been to cover this mess. there is NOTHING on the kyiv post site. i look at their issue for this week and get SICK.
such incompetence!
Stefan of Dykun tries to analyze the situation and assign blame, despite feeling “dumbfounded, flabbergasted”:
I once again blame the incredible stubbornness of Our Ukraine that has resulted in a) its failure to accept its defeat at the polls and b) its continual support for people like Poroshenko for much of what happened today.
And of course, Moroz's cunning is also to blame. . .he is indeed a major political risk-taker and is very, very cunning; will this risk work?
He gives up eventually, however:
I don't know what to think about Ukrainian politics in Kyiv anymore. I think I will, from now on, keep completely to the grassroots, as I mostly do on this blog, anyway. . .
And as Ukrainian politics is getting more and more confusing, the gap between political discourse and ordinary people's lives is growing wider. Here, for example, is an entry (UKR) on how much the state pays Kyiv kindergarten employees (posted in the LJ community kiev-child, by LJ user mg-g):
Does anyone wish to work in a kindergarten?
We are sending our kid to daycare. They, however, lack teachers, don't have a nurse at all, et cetera.
This is how it is.
And here's more detailed info – maybe someone will find it useful!
Preschool Educational Institution #463
24-A Dobrokhotova St., metro station “Akademmistechko”
(phone number: 424-00-62)
Vacancies for Sept. 1, 2006:
Teacher – 4 vacancies, pedagogical education (490 hryvnias [monthly salary, $98])
Nurse – 2 vacancies (400 hryvnias [monthly salary, $80])
Music Teacher – 1 vacancy, special education (490 hryvnias [monthly salary, $98])
Teacher's Assistant – 4 vacancies, secondary education (430 hryvnias [monthly salary, $86])
Cleaner – 1 vacancy, secondary education (390 hryvnias [monthly salary, $78])
Nanny-Nurse – 1 vacancy, secondary education (390 hryvnias [monthly salary, $78])
***
libellule_fun: A teacher costs only 100 hryvnias [$20] more than a cleaner. And a nurse is 10 hryvnias more ($2). Amazing…
mg_g: :) The director hesitated for a long time before giving me these salary figures – like, they'll see it and decide not to call…
libellule_fun: But how is it possible to live on this money and not to collect additional fees from parents?
aksonova: They work two shifts. In our kindergarten there is one teacher, not two, and that's why she's making more. And they aren't asking any money from the parents. Well, maybe only for repairs.
libellule_fun: But working two shifts isn't adding up to $200, either. Horror-horror. They work with children. These professions are some of the most important…
aksonova: In our kindergarten, there's also a lack of teachers. They are inviting me to work there and I've learned about the conditions, little by little. God, how much they are demanding from them for this money! But I really admire our teachers who love kids so much and work there. […]

author: Veronica Khokhlova


text:
Voices from Kazakhstan · Global Voices
Leila Tanayeva

Welcome to our first roundup of blog posts and online discussions that took place in the Kazakh blogosphere recently.
On a World Refugee Day, 20 June, I overviewed the situation with the refugees in Kazakhstan on Neweurasia. Using the data of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Kazakhstan and media reports, I state that there is no good example of handling the refugees in the region, and the countries tend to cooperate when they see the refugees as a threat to their security. This is the case with Uighurs from China and Uzbeks who fled their country after Andijan.
Adam Kesher was critical about draft media law, which, since then, has been adopted  by the Kazakh senate and is currently awaiting the President’ approval. Adam says there is a conflict between Dariga Nazarbayeva, the President's daughter and the initiator of the draft law Ertysbaev, which is also a conflict within the Family. Even the broadcasting of the World Cup was an issue in the conflict, according to Adam. He offers a hypothesis that the law was rushed through in order to manage before autumn, when the President visits the US, or before the start of trial of James Giffen, a US citizen who was a former adviser of Nazarbayev and stands accused of bribing Kazakhstani officials.
In what seems to be an answer to Adam's criticism, Dmitry points out  (RUS) the advantage of media law - making media outlets provide the true information about their curculation. Statistics, in Dmitry's opinion, is important for investors and advertisers. He concludes saying that freedom of speech is sometimes abused by journalists in Kazakhstan, and this law would be a necessary limit on it. An English translation of the article – here.
Another post related to media in Kazakhstan is featured by ab77 , who writes for the Dumaem.ru, analytical online project. In his “Information Desert – Are We Interesting to our Neighbors?” post in the KZ_Politica Livejournal community, the author says that since Kazakhstan has so many Russian TV channels, people tend to know a lot about Russia. 75%  of Kazakhstanis use the sites in .ru domain, and only 25% regularly visit local sites in .kz zone. The situation is not proportionate though – many people in Russia know about Kazakhstan as much as they know about any provincial city behind Ural. Kazakhstan, according to him, does not have positive image in the eyes of Russian businessmen. The 10 most popular words Russians associate with Kazakhstan: Baikonur, Nazarbayev, oil, steppe, drugs, Alma-Ata, Astana, Caspian sea, virgin lands, Semipalatinsk. Neweurasia now features the full article here (RUS).
LJ user tropical_rat posts some excellent photos from the celebration of the 10th anniversary of Astana in Astana's online community, that included wrestling on horses; Baitadar, a mock battle in traditional nomad outfits, kokpar, kyz kuu, and other traditional sport activities.
Tour de France 2006  reports that Vinokurov and his Astana Würth team were cleared of suspicions of doping made by Spanish media.
On the Russian version of Neweurasia Kazakhstan, I discussed  an article about Almaty featured in the New York Times, in which Ilan Greenberg writes about oil industry development, contruction boom ,and change of lifestyle in Kazakhstan. I add that this has an effect on culture – growing materialism which translates to expensive houses and luxurious cars and creates a backlash amongst youth as can be seen in this anti-glamour LiveJournal community that organizes parties  in anti-glamour style. On the English language Neweurasia Kazakhstan blog,  Ben  Paarmann discussed the topic too, looking at it from the economic point of view. Almaty and Astana may be booming, and oil accounts for 16-17% of GDP, says Ben, but the rest of the country is still struggling with poverty and high uneployment rate.
Residents of Astana discuss  (RUS) the aftermath of the fire in a government building. Apparently, all the smoking places were closed in the Ministry of Finance, and the presence of fire extinguishes was checked on the central market.
In Almaty, ryba_barrakuda reports (RUS) to the Almaty community that a monument to Beatles will be built by artist Kazaryan.
At Neweurasia, we review  (RUS) the English-language blogs that mention Kazakhstan. It's all about Kazakh modern art , media law, toxic waste spill in Caspian sea, and relations between Kazakhstan and Georgia after Russia's allegedly political ban on Georgian wines.

author: Leila Tanayeva


text:
Iran: Economy & Football · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

In Eghtesad Baraye Hameh we read that Iranian TV has all rights to broadcast football (soccer) matches and clubs get no money
from that (Persian). Most clubs  depend on government subsidies to survive and because they are not sure about government's financial help,  any long term planning becomes impossible.

author: Fred Petrossian


text:
Iran: Top poetess support hunger strike · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

In Trebon we read that Mrs. Simin Behbahani, the most famous poetess in Iran, supported Akbar Ganji's, dissident journalist, hunger strike call to attract world-wide attention on Iranian political prisoners. According to the blog, Behbahani said we should do what we can to see all these innocent political prisoners out of jail (Persian).


text:
Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome · Global Voices
Salam Adil

Writing this post is not getting any easier, and this week is especially hard. I can even notice that I have been subconsciously avoiding it. The stories that Iraqi bloggers are telling this week are of sadness, horror, disappointment and general depression. If you are looking cheerful uplifting stories, don't read any further, skip to the ‘And Finally’ section at the end. I think I am beginning to sound like Lemony Snicket.
Condolences
First, my heartfelt condolences goes out to Truth About Iraqis who lost a relative recently to masked gunmen in Iraq. He writes:
Armed men stepped out of the car and apprehended Aziz and his brothers. They searched the car, searched the men and asked for IDs. After checking the names, the armed men singled Aziz out. They separated him from his brothers. They told him they had orders to execute him.
Aziz pleaded with the men. His brothers pleaded. It was no use.
Aziz crumbled to the floor, lifeless, a bullet to the head. A flash of gunfire and his life was snuffed out. Gone. The father of two, husband, friend, brother .. gone …
And with grief comes anger at his blog commentors:
I am not surprised at all to see that many of those who frequently post comments on my blog could not even offer a single word of condolence. They pretend they care but in actuality, they do not.
Those who masquerade themselves from one blog to the next saying they care about humanity are the ones who are gloating right now. Gloat all you want, like I always say, your real intentions for Iraq and my people are evident in your words and actions.
On top of his grief TAI lost his blog to cyber-squatters. His blog address is now truth-about-iraqis2.blogspot.com.
Condolences again to the family of Zappy's close friend. Zappy writes a farewell letter::
Dear Othman,
Its been a while since we have had a time to joke about what is happening around us,
I always like to buy from your shop and we being both sarcastic just for the fun of it, although its painful for both of us but we keep joking anyway, we did discuss that you may be kidnapped or killed if you don't close down the shop for a while, you always said that our ages are within the hands of God, you were true.
I hope your three kids are o.k. though I wouldn't believe that they ever will be again.
I'm sorry to hear the news of your Assassination by those cold blooded murderers three days ago, I just got the news this morning. …
I also heard that “they” will not allow your family to set a funeral?
Salam to you, may God soothe your wife and children's Hearts.
1971-2006 R.I.P
If you read no other posts this week, read these
Have you ever needed a word to describe how super powers can flip flop in their allegiances over time yet it is always the ordinary people who suffer just the same? Well that word is “Karagoz” Baghdad Connect explains:
As once said there is no new wave but only the sea. And that goes for the super powers and their seasonal séance trance and theatrical performances. Whether the USSR invaded Afghanistan or the USA invaded Iraq. Whether Bin Laden is a freedom fighter in 1985 or a world terrorist in 2001, whether there is a tyrant Shah or a tyrant Mulla; whether Algeria, Libya and Saudi Arabia are good Muslim countries and Sudan, Palestine and Syria are not; whether Kyrgyzstan is an independent democracy and Lebanon is not, in the end it’s all part of the same Karagoz.
End of year exams are stressful at the best of times, and getting questions on subjects that were not even in the school books does not help. But this was the least of Sunshine's worries. To begin with:
I had 40 days to study , and about 3 weeks examinations , it was awful , hot weather 46 C. , no electricity , no fuel for the generator, studying in hell would be better !!!
But even that was mild compared to what happened during the exam weeks:
On Tuesday, I had an asthma attack. And stayed-up till 1 am, on the respiratory-machine, I woke up in the next day a little bit dizzy, and tired but even though I went to school , and answered well.
Wednesday at noon, I was not capable of breathing, the doctor gave me many many medicaments, that made my hands shaken and my heart beat so fast. I woke up on Thursday feeling much worst, I used the respiratory-machine all day long, my heart was like the drums , I couldn't study , I couldn't see through the respirator mask … my mom had to give me hydrocortisone shot .I thought I'll be ok…But I was totally wrong!
And she had to risk the night-time curfew to go to hospital. But, at hospital, she was one of the lucky ones.
I saw the most horrible things, a woman who had a heart attack, her two daughters were running here and there trying to find a doctor for her, the old woman was in pain , and no doctor came !! …There was only one nurse running her and there helping people in the emergency room …
Among the most horrible cases I saw, and I will never forget it. A couple of worried parents caring their daughter , she was in my age , they put her in a bed beside mine , the dad was shouting ” her heart stopped , she stopped breathing too “.
No , the doctors didn't come running , the nurse did , ” we need oxygen here , bring one ” he said. There were only two oxygen bottles…
I was looking at her crying mom , I just can't imagine her fears and feelings , I randomly took-off my mask , and gave it to her , after a sec , the nurse said ” no , we should put her on the DC . ” it was very scary , mama and dad , kept saying ” do not look , look at the other side ” but I couldn't, the girl returned to life , then a doctor came , “toooooooooooooooooo late mister!”
After all that how well do you think she did?
I am expecting a full mark in math , and from 90-100 in the rest of the exams , except physics , and Arabic , I'll get my results in the middle of July , I am a bit nervous , but excited in the same time .
And Sunshine keeps shining.
Helpless and suffocated…
Miraj thought she would take some time off work and relax by reading through some Iraqi blogs. But she got as far as Olivebranch and stopped. “I don't feel to read more blogs better stick to my work instead of feeling helpless and suffocated…..”, she writes.
And here is a selection of what she missed:
Aunt Najma emerged from her final exams and reported on the “Hollywood-like” adventures of her relatives:
Imagine sleeping in your bed when parts of the ceiling above fall on you.. This is what happened to my uncle when the neighborhood was attacked with mortars! My uncle sent us an SMS saying that “A mortar exploded on our roof, financial losses only, thank God”.
But that was nothing compared to what happened to my friend, and relative Z's house.
It was minutes after she came back home from the Arabic exam when a very loud explosion was heard, this time it was much more than financial losses, her two sisters and her dad had multiple injuries in their heads and had to be rushed to the hospital, and her grandma had some minor injuries…. Their house is barely a house now, but they can't be more grateful to be all alive.
Only one death was reported thankfully, a female student on her way home.
Zappy catalogues a long list of what is wrong in Iraq: “the Ministry of Oil has increased the Benzene prices to 350 ID from 250 ID… Queues are Quadruple in length, and people are dying rapidly, electricity has been off for 5 days and heat is nearly 50 Centigrade… People whom their beloved ones have been Assassinated can't get their bodies out of the Baghdad Morgue due to Terrorists Waiting for them over there to kill them too….Eight Mortar Shells fall on Al Adhamiyah. Now the City is Virtually Hell.”
For the past few weeks 24 Steps to Liberty has been telling some of the stories of the crimes of Saddam's regime collected by the The Iraq Memory Foundation. This week he tells the the story of Hussein Yousif Rabiya who survived to recount the revenge killings of people who rose up against Saddam in 1991 after the end of the first  Gulf War. But only to be assassinated in June 2005. 24 Steps writes: “He lived the last 40 years to witness one of Iraq’s darkest eras in history, but wasn’t meant to live after giving his testimony. … Rabiya wasn’t killed by Saddam Hussein. He was killed by the deterioration in the security situation after the dictator was toppled!”
Konfused Kid was nearly assassinated by a gang on his way to a funeral for four friends. He was dressed all in black and was nearly killed for looking like a Mehdi militia man. He changed into something else. But after the funeral a friend pulled him over to one side:
‘Are you crazy? How could you dare to wear a blue shirt, that's the sign of the FPS police, they could kill you second.'…
They didn't understand why I was laughing, you can't dress black, can't dress blue, can't even dress the collegeboy's white after the recent killings….well, that's Iraq for you.
The final word goes to AnaRki13:
so many things happened during those months in which i did not write.. Horrific things, Good things, Sadness, Happiness… you smile, but your eyes are full of tears, and your heart is rent in two.
but, no matter what is thrown at you, life has proven without any doubt, that it goes on.
Iraq is worse than ever before, and we still HAVEN'T hit rock bottom.
enough of politics, i cant take any more bad theatre.
More Bad Theatre (or The Week in Politics)
The big story last week was the announcement by the Iraqi government of its plan for security and reconciliation. None of the blogger are saying that it is going well.
Raed had been a supporter of the proposed plan and was uncharacteristically optimistic for the future. But he is now feeling disappointment, because, under US pressure, four key points were removed from the final announcement. He writes
“Sadly, again, the U.S. intervention turned the strong 28 point plan into a weak 24 plan that does not include any requests for a withdrawal timetable. In addition, the very solid amnesty proposal turned into a vague and useless one after an extreme amount of U.S. intervention. This latest wave of US interference included a number of Congressional bills informing the Iraqi government that granting amnesty to Iraqis who have killed Americans is not acceptable. … Consistent U.S. interference in Iraq, and the misuse of the Iraq war for gaining advantages in the U.S. domestic sphere, eliminates any hope for Iraqis to get their country back through diplomacy and democracy, and it is pushing more Iraqis to adopt violence as a means in building a better future for Iraq’s next generations.”
Omar of Iraq the Model worries that “This reconciliation plan continues to face serious challenges and the worst of which is today's [July 1] barbaric attack that killed and wounded dozens in Baghdad, in Sadr city…. this attack will provoke followers of al-Sadr whose response will almost certainly be a violent one and will probably lead to a series of exchanged violence that will threaten the reconciliation initiative in its first steps.” And, as predicted, the reaction came, as Omar reports in the following post of a large attack against the Baghdad district of Adhamiya by al-Sadr's militia.
At least there are bloggers convinced by the personalities in the government. IraqPundit is mildly encouraging: “Nouri Al Maliki's government appears to be serious about its security plan” and Sami is gushing with praise after attending an open meeting with the Prime Minister and other senior ministers:
“I don't want to divulge to much information apart from the fact, he has a presence and he is a great man though I am secular and he is not, though he is a Shiite and I am not I believe that he is the right man for the job if people don't interfere in his way.”
But then what hope is there for a government that, as Mohammed opines, has members with “one foot in the cabinet and the other in the insurgents’ trench”. Or where party leaders make corrupt land purchases at 1% of the market price?
And Finally
Neurotic Wife is seriously pissed with her husband. And the best way to get over it is to have a serious rant on her blog. As far as I am concerned this is what the internet was invented for. And, boy, what a rant..
HUBBY is being really difficult…My patience and believe me I do have patience when it comes to him, is gonna run out pretty soon…He was in the States for 2 weeks after Iraq, then he came here…to supposedly settle down and look for a job…No one forced him to come here, certainly I didnt…I made sure after knowing that we are leaving Iraq to ask him and discuss the future plans…I even offered him, if he wanted, I would compromise and move back to the States if thats what he really wants to do…”No” He said…”I dont wanna go back to the States…I dont want a 9-5 job anymore” Hmm you sure HUBBY??? Are you 100% sure??? I mean I really am willing to go if thats where you want to be…”Yes honey, Im sure”
Two months later and all he talks about is “What a mistake this has been”…”What a boring life this is”…”Id rather be in the States”… “I cant live here”….”We have to either go back to Iraq or to the States” Hmm…pretty nice comments that I get everyday….Oh but fortunately I get these comments in the 3 or 4 hours that he is actually awake in…All he has been doing is eating and sleeping…oh…and complaining..
…
When I ask him “Why are you sleeping all the time???” He answers with “Im jet lagged” or “Theres nothing else to do” OMG!!! Nothing else to do??? What about exerting abit of energy and sending CV's out….I dont get it…I really dont…He is acting as if its my fault he left Iraq…That its my fault he doesnt have a job and its my fault that he aint in his back garden in the States…I mean the minute he arrived here, he started talkin about going back to Iraq…He said “We should go back” WE??? Nope…Sorry…not me….Yes I would love to go back, definitely…But not now…I wanna give this place a chance…
After venting her rage she ends in a conciliatory tone…
maybe its just a small hiccup…Maybe he doesnt think he stands a chance..I know he does and I believe in him and in his ability…I really do…If only he puts his mind to it…
Im still gonna try to be the good wife…Lets see where that leads to…
We will be there to read all about it.

author: Salam Adil


text:
What Salvadoran bloggers are saying — UES shooting · Global Voices
Tim Muth

On Wednesday, July 5, protesters amassed outside of the University of El Salvador (UES) in San Salvador. The demonstrators were voicing opposition to an increase in the cost of bus fares and in electricity, just approved by the government in response to rising world oil prices.  Street demonstrations against government policies and rising prices are common in El Salvador, especially around the UES, but this time the events turned deadly violent.
Although the order of events is not clear, some elements of the protesters (referred to by the media as “supposed students”) went beyond marching to vandalism, and tire burning.  Riot police approached, and chaos erupted.  The extensive media coverage of the chaos caught clear images of a masked man with helpers firing an M-16 at police, and another using a home-made weapon.  The police used rubber bullets and tear gas as helicopters flew overhead.  A shot went through a university office and struck a university employee in the chest.  Two policemen were shot and killed and others wounded.  Chuck Stewart has links to some of the media coverage on his blog.
The Salvadoran blogosphere was united in its grave concern over the violence.  The events outside the UES left Ligia remembering(es) the events and  fears and dangers of the years of the civil war.  Soy Salvadoreño laments the deaths(es) of the police officers and laments the actions of president Tony Saca who immediately reacted to the events at the UES as a political partisan, blaming the FMLN for being a “party of assassins and dangerous people.”  But Soy Salvadoreño's strongest words are for the leadership of the FMLN.   He lambasts the official press release of the FMLN(es), which denounced the government for repression of a peaceful protest march and never denounced the slaying of two police officers.  He asserts that the FMLN's rhetoric and inability to control its membership adds to the current crisis.
In a post titled “Never a Return to the Past,”(es)  JNelsonS at the Hunnapuh blog praises the Salvadoran police as defenders of democratic values, who with great courage protect the population against the forces of disorder.   JNelsonS condemns “ideological terrorists” who would use violence against those who do not conform to the proper socialist ideology.
Ixquic decided to go to the National Assembly to hear the arguments about the anti-terrorism law(es) which the Saca administration wanted to push through in the face of the week's events.  She found the arguments partisan and stupid, other than the words of an officer from the National Police who spoke against approving a law in the passion of the moment, and urged instead the creation of a commission to study what had happened.
Jjmar, also writing at Hunnapuh, notes with concern subsequent events(es) in which the police obtained a judicial order allowing them to take control of the grounds of the UES in order to search for evidence relating to the shootings.  This police takeover of the grounds has troubling echoes of the period of the Salvadoran civil war when the government shut the UES down as a breeding ground for subversives and guerrillas.  Rafael Menjivar Ochoa is prompted to write a long post(es) about his long memories of the UES and the occupation during the war years — his father was the rector of the University when the army closed it down.  Rocío wants everyone to know(es) that UES, her alma mater, is not responsible for the violence, instead it is the victim of those who would use “the struggle” as a pretext for violent acts.
The violence at the UES is being viewed in El Salvador in connection with another killing which evokes memories of the civil war years.  El Trompudo(es) and Hunnapuh(es) both speak out about the lack of coverage in the mass media of the double-slaying of Don Francisco Antonio Manzanares, age 77, and his wife, Doña Juana Monjarás de Manzanares, age 75.  They are the parents of “Mariposa” Manzanares who was an announcer on Radio Venceremos, the covert radio station of the FMLN during the civil war in El Salvador.  The double murder was particularly gruesome, and has the hallmarks of a death squad killing.  Hunnapuh denounces the slayings and the appearance that “recalcitrant elements of the far right” are returning to the “roots of ARENA”  and resuscitating death squads against those who criticize the policies of the government.
Finally, Hunnapuh has a simple post(es) on his blog with pictures of the Manzanares funeral and the funerals of the police officers killed outside the UES. The images of grieving relatives are the same.  Hunnapuh reminds us that the victims of this violence are never those in the halls of power, but the humble people who join the lower ranks of the police or who march in protest.  The deceased were:
humble souls from the authentic people, who died at the hands of those who say they struggle “in the name of the people”, or at the hands of those who, in the name of “a government with human feeling,” say they work for the people.

author: Tim Muth


text:
China: internet registration · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

William Long reports that the chongqing provincial government recently demanded that individual going online at home should set up a file at the police station or else the online service would be suspended for six months (zh). The blogger comments that such policy is like boiling frogs with warm water.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
China: Rising sun in internet game · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translates a local report about the angry reaction of Chinese game players when they found out the graphic of “rising sun” appeared in Netease game “The Fantasy of the Journey West”.  “To raise a ‘Rising Sun flag’ in a Great Tang government office is obviously a challenge and an insult!” said local game player .
Later ESWN finds out that the Rising Sun flag incident was in fact hyped up by The Alliance To Resist Japan.


text:
China: the special ticket to Tibet · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

HanSong, a science story writer in China posts an excrept of his fiction “the special ticket to Tibet” (zh). Joel Martinsen in Danwei has an introduction and translation.


text:
China: yellow earth plateau · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Raymond zhou translates a post from China Daily on the environment and livelihood in Yellow Earth Plateau – one of the poorest area in China, Gansu Province.


text:
Global Food Blog Report #24 · Global Voices
Melissa De León

#1: From Thailand, B'Tonian in Siam : Thai Food & the Market
I’ve heard so many people say they love Thai food, but few can name more than a handful of Thai dishes. In actuality, there are thousands of Thai dishes and most Thais eat hundreds of different dishes yearly. I’ve been to restaurants with menus that are like books – some 30-40 pages. I’ve even heard of the legendary Royal Recipe Book that is full of ancient food dishes, to which commoners have no knowledge and never tasted. For me, a renowned fussy eater, I do not particularly like real Thai food – the food consumed on a daily basis in villages. Much of my fussiness is due to decades of my lingering vegetarianism and an aversion since childhood of pork and most beef products. My father loved fishing and eating fish and I tried, but I never could develop a taste for fish. The Thai cuisine, however, is quite dependent on pork, fish, and seafood with not many options for a vegetarian diet. Even some of the vegetable dishes take an acquired taste. In the south, they eat many types of bush and tree leaves and many types of pods, roots, and plant leaves; some are very bitter or too robust for me to eat casually like a carrot. Continue reading…
#2: From Soul Cocina: Persian Gazpacho! So refreshing and delicious—perfect for the warm weather. Enjoy!
We found some Persian cucumbers at Berkeley Bowl on a hot day, so we decided to use them in a chilled soup. I was inspired by Chef Sean's bright green cucumber soup with mint at Citizen Cake last week. Get the recipe now!
#3:  From Philippines: In Our Kitchen on the traditionally delicious Pichi-Pichi, a dessert made with grated cassava and coconut…Yum!
#4: From Pakistan: The best Pakistani food outside Pakistan:
As a Pakistani in America, the first thought that comes to my mind when I think of Chicago, is Devon Avenue; or ‘Dewan Street’ to us desi types. How can you not be intrigued by a street one part of which is called Mohammed Ali Jinnah Way, another is called Gandhi Marg, and yet another is known as Golda Meier Boulevard! Notwithstanding the sociological and political nuances of the multi-ethnic immigrant community that lives and works in and around Devon Avenue, for me the real significance of Devon Street is the food. Good food. Some would say great food. Continue reading…!
#5: From Venezuela, La Guayaba Verde tells the tale of such an enigmatic edible flower: Flor de Jamaica (ES), Hibiscus Sabdarifa, or Saril for some of us! Sometime ago I wrote about the same plant: Cooking with Saril = Jamaica = Roselle (English)…Now you do not have an excuse! Head over to either blog and learn about this marvelous flower!
#6: From Japan, IACP's Global News Blog:  Kyoto's Nishiki Market
Nishiki Market is in the heart of the historical city of Kyoto. It is open to the public and you will find most of Kyoto`s famous food products here from yuba (soy milk skin) to tsukemono (pickles) to ocha (tea). The Aritsugu knife shop offers more than a huge selection of knives but also a variety of kitchen tools. A new addition to the market is a standing bar where you can have fresh oysters and wine. Do not miss the Photo Tour and Yukari's list of favorite shops.
#7: On the Trail from Penang to Kuala Lumpur:
How did I become so blessed?
On a recent journey to Malaysia, a country named by the Malaysian Tourist Board as "the Real Asia", I was afforded the opportunity and luxury of exploring this diverse and culinary rich culture under the tutelage of a true pro. She is renowned for her talents, both through cook book writing and television appearances and still it is her warm and generous spirit of sharing the memories and knowledge of the Malaccan Nyonya (Straits Chinese) family cooking that has left an indelible impression in my heart and on my palate. Everywhere we were together, she is recognized and admired, by young and old and forever humble in their presence. The great chefs of Malaysia treat her like a goddess, endearingly and with admiration. recipe Continue reading this interesting post on "Florence Tan" and get a delicious formula to prepare Peanut Sauce, also from her book, Secrets of Nyonya Cooking, used in her delicious Chicken Satay recipe:…
#8:    From France: La Tartine Gourmande on "Cigarettes á la feta et á la menthe – Feta and Mint Cigarettes".
A fantastic story from her childhood memoirs, combined with the world cup football fever and taken to the last consequences by the urge to prepare "cigar-shaped" treats…like in the old good days! Simply delicious :-)
#9: From Argentina: La Majuluta writes about "Cayote y Cabellos de Angel,"  (ES) a traditional European recipe to prepare "abóbora chila" preserves…So sweet and angelical like the old Portuguese and Spaniards Convent's recipes lost in time…
#10: From Greece: Kalyn's Kitchen on Greek Frittata:
A frittata is a kind of omlette which is not folded over, but instead finished by putting it under the broiler to brown the top. It's absolutely essential to drain the tomatoes very well when you make this one, or the finished dish will be too watery, so don't rush that step. If you're lucky enough to live where it's still summer, by all means substitute fresh herbs and diced fresh tomatoes which have been drained in a colander for a few minutes. Continue reading and get the yummy recipe now!
Have a tasty week!

author: Melissa De León


text:
Japan: expressing love · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lee in Tokyo times blogs about a gang of Japanese middle age men organized themselves to express their love towards their wife. The organizer explains: “overseas, Japan tends to be seen as a chauvinistic country. We want to improve the image of Japanese men overall by carrying out public displays of affection for our wives.”


text:
South Korea: a brief history of resistance to North Korean regime · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joshua in the Korea Liberator posts a chronology from 1981-2006 of North Korean's efforts in resisting the authoritarian regime.


text:
South Korea: Anti-Amercian movie? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The USFK bashing Korean movie, “The Host” is about to begin screening in Korea; GI Korea Blog comments that the movie is too anti-American. However, Michael Hurt from Scribblings of the Metropolitician disagrees and suggests other to “go see the film – Americans might bristle uncomfortably for a few minutes, but once you see what the film is doing, you'll forget all about it and fall right into the place where this very smart director wants you. “


text:
South Korea: photos 1906 · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joshua blogs some precious photos of Korea in 1906 in the Korea Liberator.


text:
The Syrian Blogsphere, Away from Politics · Global Voices
Yazan Badran

This week, we'll keep dirty Middle East politics away for a change. And focus more social side of the Syrian blogsphere.
To start off with artsy Soraya, talking about the Jazz Festival that was held in the old city of Damascus this month, with live bands performing in the newly restored Citadel of Damascus, and deep inside the alleys of Old Damascus.
the Swiss Syrian Jazz orchestra is considered to be the only one in the Middle east And its music is wrote and composed by many well known composers all over the world Like Frank Kalberg (Finland) Amadis Duncal and Oliver Verdle (Switzerland), and Allen Johnson (US). The Jazz Orchestra( The big band) consists of 42 musicians divided between Syrians and Swiss members.
Abu Kareem has a good review of one of the most important books on Syrian History, Steel and Silk…
Sami Moubayed's 623 page opus is subtitled: Men and women who shaped Syria 1900-2000. This book contains short biographies of 341 Syrians whom Moubayed feels have had the largest impact -good or bad- on the history of the nation. He profiles personalities from all facets of public life including politicians, military officers, administrators, educators, and literary figures.
Abu Fares, shares a beautiful one hour journey from his hometown in Tartous to al-Sawda, with magnificent scenery.
If I had one free hour on my hand and if the weather was suitable to ride, a possible itinerary is to leave Tartous from the north and head toward Al-Sawda, 12 km to the northeast. I ride by the Free Zone and continue straight on the old Tartous-Lattakia road. 3 km out, I reach a railroad crossing and a bridge over Nahr Al-Hsein (نهر الحصين).
On to a more serious issue, Brian Anthony, speaks of how Israel fights Terror with Terror, from a British living in Damascus point of view…
“Don't go anywhere near Yarmouk,” my colleague warned, shaking her finger.
“Why?” I asked, wondering what was going on in the Palestinian refugee camp outside town. I had heard there were demonstrations there a couple days ago.
Finally, we'll close off with Omar‘s interesting pour of thoughts, namely, Deconstructed Thoughts…
there should be a rule against people who suddenly develop interest in international politics.. you shouldn't be allwoed to discuss current affairs until you watch at least 180 hours of international news.. (i.e. don't watch new breaks in between two episodes of “law and order” and “CSI Miami” and then come talk about the threat of international terrorism.

author: Yazan Badran


text:
Afghan Whispers: Insecurity & Racism · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

A few Afghan bloggers talked about insecurity in country and recent bomb explosions. We look at a few of them.
Insecurity
Afghan Lord talks about daily violence in Afghanistan. The blogger gives us the details about three consecutive days of violenc. He writes,
On 3rd of July, a time bomb killed one student girl and wounding six other girls in Herat University in western Afghanistan. Lately extremists have attacked primary school in southern Afghanistan occasionally to prevent students, especially girl students. On 4th of July, six persons were injured while a mine exploded near the ministry of justice just 200 meter away from the presidential palace. On 5th of July, a suicide attack targeted a guest house in Kandahar province left one person dead and wounded six others.
Dialogue 3 says in these days everybody starts conversation by saying there is no security in Kabul and Taliban are present here. The blogger adds of course western part of Kabul is in much insecure situation (Persian).
For several bloggers violence and bombs are not the only reasons to make them feel insecure. These bloggers talk about racism and discrimination from France to Iran.
Racism
Guftego talks about racism in Europe and France. The blogger writes Afghanistan is suffering from many problems such as high rate of illiteracy but what is about France in Europe (Persian). Why because of racism many children of immigrant are jobless. The blogger says
Second generation afghan should understand racism in France is worse than ethnic problems in Afghanistan. The blogger adds every where we are we should think about our cultural growth. If one day we come back to Afghanistan we should come as an Afghan.
Habib Peyman says 90 percent of Afghans who live in Iran have been humiliated by Iranians. The blogger says Afghan became refugees in Iran because of common language and religion (Persian).


text:
Argentina: Subway Then and Now · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Robert Wright begins what will hopefully be a long-lasting series of posts comparing old and new photographs of Buenos Aires. For the first installment: subway signs.

author: David Sasaki


text:
Armenia: Hetq Online Threatened · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian reports on threats against Hetq Online, the publication for which he works in Armenia.

author: Nathan Hamm


text:
Armenia: World Cup Fever · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Raffi K. of Life in Armenia says that central Yerevan was a World Cup watching zone, with people watching games on the streets and in restaurants.


text:
Bangladesh: The immigrant parent · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Drishtipat has a post on a Bangladeshi parent in the US grappling with all the medical advice being given to him before he goes to Bangladesh with his children.

author: Neha Viswanathan


text:
Barbados: Concerns about regional police team · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Barbados Free Press sees the usefulness of the regional police team that is being formed among Caricom nations to provide security for the Cricket World Cup and will become a permanent fixture in the region thereafter,  but cautions against the potential misuse of the force by Caricom countries less “stable” than Barbados, especially in the absence of an effective legal framework protecting citizens’ privacy.


text:
Barbados: Senator launches web site · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Both Barbados Free Press and the Barbados Labour Party blog report on the launch of Senator Lynette Eastmond's web site.


text:
Bolivia: Final Election Tally · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Miguel Centallas writes that the official numbers from Bolivia's Sunday elections are now available. Morir antes que esclavos vivir says the narrow voting on the autonomy referendum reveals a divided country.


text:
Brazil: Education Quotas · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Melo Bichuetti describes the nexus of Brazil's indigenous population, legal system, and Ministry of Education.


text:
Brazil: Regional Politics and Lula’s Re-election · Global Voices
David Sasaki

An interesting conversation has sparked up between Boz, A.M. Mora y Leon, Boli-Nica, and Randy Paul on the extent to which Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales might politically damage Brazil's Lula da Silva as the presidential election approaches.


text:
Canada, Caribbean: Carifiesta photos · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Caribb has a Flickr photoset devoted to the 32nd annual Carifiesta, Montreal's Caribbean street festival, which took place on July 8.


text:
Children in crises and the role of reporters – tell the media what you think · Global Voices
Rachel Rawlins

Where is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child? This is the question asked in a poll by AlertNet, the early warning network for humanitarian organisations, to highlight some of the world's forgotten crises.
The results will be featured in a debate about the responsibility of the media to cover “forgotten crises” and how best to do it. Why do some emergencies receive more coverage than others? And do children in risky situations get fair representation in the mainstream media?
Global Voices readers and writers are all invited to take part too, as members of the new media landscape of citizen journalism as well as critical consumers of the mainstream media.
The speakers will be in London but anyone with an internet connection can take part too. The debate will be streamed on live audio here, and all those interested can contribute to the discussion via IRC (internet relay chat) using the instructions on the live event internet page.
Both our South Asia editor, Neha Viswanathan and I shall be at the debate putting questions and contributions from the Global Voices community to the panel. The debate is due to start at 1400 UCT/GMT.
This is the first event in a new AlertNet initiative, its Media Bridge which is aimed at improving media coverage of humanitarian crises.
So how would you answer the question “where is the most dangerous place to be a child?”
These are the factors which AlertNet asked the journalists and humanitarian professionals taking their poll to take into account which they consider can make a place dangerous, or risky, for children:
armed conflict (including the risk that children may be enlisted as combatants)
physical violence of any kind (outside or within the family)
mental violence
displacement
sexual abuse and trafficking
early marriage
child labour
a lack of formal identity, including birth registration
the absence of parental care
detention without sufficient cause
a lack of freedom of expression
discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity or disability
poverty
HIV/AIDS and other diseases
a lack of vital services (including education and healthcare)
hunger
More than 40 countries, including the United States, were among those suggested. Find out what the results were at the debate.

author: Rachel Rawlins


text:
Chile: Creative Commons Presentation · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Creative Commons Chile has linked to the English-language presentation given by Claudio Ruiz at iSummit.


text:
Costa Rica: Tico Food · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Uri Ridelman has launched Tico Food, a food blog with recipes and news on Costa Rican cuisine.


text:
Ecuador: Women in the Ecuadorian blogosphere · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Liz Henry has a great introduction to women in the Ecuadorian blogosphere.


text:
Egypt: Death Threats · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Hossam el-Hamalawy post some troubling news that Youth for Change detainee Mohamed el-Sharqawi has been subject to death threats in Tora prison, where he’s currently detained.

author: Haitham Sabbah


text:
Ghana: Zidane reaction · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Ghana-based David Ajao presents a round-up of blogger reaction to the sending off of French soccer captain Zinedine Zidane in the final of the 2006 World Cup in Berlin after he headbutted an Italian player.


text:
India: Foreign Policy and the blogosphere · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Nitin writes for DesiPundit on how issues of Foreign Policy are covered in the Indian blogosphere.


text:
Indonesia: Foreign Correspondents in Asia · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Unspun in Jakarta is talking about large US papers cutting back on foreign bureau. The blogger wonders if  this would mean more opportunities  for local freelancers.  Unspun also posts the views of a foreign correspondent who thinks otherwise.

author: Preetam Rai


text:
Indonesia: Indonesian Jimi Hendrix · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The blogger at When in Doubt, Blame the Traffic introduces the Indonesian Jimi Hendrix. “A lifelong disciple of Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn, Gugun's setlist consists primarily of note for note versions of Jimi and SRV tunes, together with a vocal performance that is on par with the originals. An SRV-style hat and sunglasses completes the image, but this Indonesian guitarist is not a soul-less copycat trundling out benign covers of the original artists. Gugun is the real deal – a virtuoso showman who plays his ass off and never misses a beat, aided by the rest of his trio, who are also very accomplished in their respective support roles.”


text:
Iran: History & Ideology · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Farzaneh Ebrahimzadeh, who has studied history for about twenty years, talks about recent Abbas Salimi Namin's, head of Iranian Studies department in Tehran, interview with Sarmayeh newspaper. Salimi Namin says Persepolis, the ancient ceremonial capital of the second Iranian dynasty, was not constructed by Iranians and Persepolis was an unfinished construction of Russian tribes ! The blogger says according to all sources Persepolis was constructed by Iranians and all Iranian & non Iranian history academics agree on this fact (Persian). The blogger adds Salimi Namin had denied Holocaust a few months ago.


text:
Kenya: Mobile micro-banking · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

White African talks to talented young developers and mobile phone experts.
“We talked at length about the need for a mobile/web payment system that could be used by non-techies and those with little internet access. Basically a mobile/web bank that supplies micro-credit to applicants.”


text:
Lebanon: Thorny Internal Political, Social & Economic Issues and Gaza · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Bloggers of the Lebanese blogosphere touched upon a wide range of topics this past week. Please bear patience and read on and I assure you that your journey will be rewarding. It is difficult to encompass all that was discussed. But among the posts are topics that dealt with:
Now please allow me to start with Amal’s depiction of the splits and discords that burdens the Lebanese. Instead of having just one Cedar in the center of the national flag she “plants” many others with different sizes and directions.
Lebanon.profile  blitzed the blogosphere with lengthy, daily and interesting posts on his blog and on the other blog (mentioned below) where he is also a contributor. Among these posts is one that brings up the dilemma faced by young Lebanese who have to leave their country despite their love for it.
Lebanon offers an incredible amount in terms of culture and relaxation. One could not imagine a nicer place to vacation and have an absolutely, incredibly fun time. […]
However, this is a place where it's nearly impossible to enjoy life at the age of 24. It's nearly impossible to enjoy a permanent Lebanese life without a villa, wasta, and enough money to travel frequently. It's impossible to escape the oppression of Lebanese politics and society. […]
In another location Lebanon.profile discusses how Gen. Aoun is taking advantage of the failures of others, especially the Hariri Camp, to advance his cause. In a third post, he lists the reasons for the successes of the Free Patriotic Movement of Gen. Aoun:
Aoun is maneuvering brilliantly in the current political climate. His campaign is successful for four main reasons, that were most likely not conscious efforts:
1. Capitalizing on government failures
2. Appealing to Lebanese Christian culture
3. Using attack dogs to bully the government, but remaining distant from them
4. Appealing to Lebanese abroad
Raja addresses the leaders who he thinks are busy with their squabbles while leaving issues like the high death toll due to road accidents unattended.
More Lebanese die and suffer severe injury on roads than anywhere else. And since life precedes even material concerns, you would think that the number-one issue on the Lebanese political agenda would be road safety. But it isn't.
Politically, the most prominent issues on the average Lebanese's plate are: 1) Lebanon's “strategic alignment” in the region, 2) Protecting or Confiscating Hizballah's weapons 3) Relations with Syria, 4) and all the other mumbo jumbo that we watch on TV and read on the newspapers every day of our brief existence on this planet. […]
Dear Head Honchos:
Every sovereign country needs to figure out where it stands with regards to its immediate and not so immediate neighbors. But managing the affairs of a State goes beyond foreign policy. We need your attention. We need Representatives; not thieves, or a parliament filled with wannabe foreign ministers. Today, we're not dieing because of your immediate decisions, but we're dieing nonetheless. We are dieing because of your incompetence!
Humble Citizen
Abu Kais analyzes, in length, what he sees as the reasons behind the current verbal feuds within some sects and among other sects, especially the recent attacks on prominent religious figures of the Maronite church by leaders of the Maronite community. This he believes has its roots in the Syrian intervention in Lebanese politics.
I am with everyone who complains about the sectarian system in Lebanon, the near absence of government in Lebanon, and failure of the 14 March political leaders. Successfully tapping into this failure, which has roots in the long Assad colonial rule in the country (yes, colonial), are Bashar’s lackeys, who are slowly engineering the country’s return to being a “Syrian” satellite state. The Shia community is tucked safely in Bashar’s pocket, and the Sunnis have been weakened after Hariri’s assassination. Michel Aoun was co-opted by (possibly) promising him a future presidency. The stumbling block, however, has been one Maronite Patriarch, who never hid his opposition to the regime in Damascus.
Anarchistian ridicules the campaign of the Lebanese organization, ATTAC, against the WTO as irrelevant, inefficient and sees it as more of a support for WTO than a campaign against.
Some leftist pseudo-leftist activists have been unable to conceal their excitement about a new campaign on (well, supposedly against) WTO initiated by ATTAC. The latest development on this topic is a release/statement that outlines the goals of a campaign titled “Lebanon is not for sale”. First of all, there is something unsettling in the title; the statement basically insists on the national/istic character of the campaign as opposed to its broader class nature. Second, the actual contents of the statement – I will go through this point by point to show that this campaign and ATTAC in general, is really irrelevant when it comes to the struggle against WTO.
In one of his multi-topics posts Prof As’ad Abu Khalil touches on how some Arabic media’s effort to be “fair and balanced” is leading them to show less and less of the plight of the Palestinians.
Al-Arabiyya TV today was busy covering Bush's birthday; it was much more important than Israeli killing of Palestinian civilians. Al-Hayat newspaper–its editor-in-chief sat near me on the plane to London–had a headline about “Israeli military operation.” That is the “fair and balanced” terminology now. Do you realize how I am increasingly drawn to conspiracy theories in analyzing Arab media? Israeli guests on Al-Arabiyya are now treated less rudely than Hamas officials. […]
Sometimes I don't know why I write–anything. You see news of murderous Israeli occupation bombing the hell out of Gaza, and you say, does anything matter? Was that what Adorno meant when he said “No poetry after Auschwitz”? But how can you kill poetry? I would not. Not for any reason.
In the same post, Prof As’ad discloses this about the investigations on the assassination of PM Rafic Hariri.
Ashraf Rifi–the director-general (and Hariri man) of the Lebanese Security Forces–has an interesting theory about the Hariri assassination: he “reportedly” believes that neither Rustum Ghazalah nor the “four generals” were involved. He “reportedly” believes that the Syrian government dispatched a special team from Damascus to perpetrate the assassination without even alerting their men in Lebanon at the time. One of the four generals, Jamil As-Sayyid, may be released soon. He is the only one of the four who not only is not linked, according to the UN investigating team, to the assassination, but is also not implicated in the “tampering”-with-the-scene-of-the-crime allegation.
Prof Abu Khalil also tackles the subject of maltreatment and discrimination against foreign maids in Lebanon here:
Sri Lankan maids: banned from the swimming pools of Lebanon. It is official: I have had that confirmed yesterday; I have heard about that “unwritten” law before, but I can now confirm to you that all, ALL, swimming pools in Lebanon ban Sri Lankan maids from the pools. In fact, if one maid is seen dipping even her feet in the water, the lifeguard is notified. There were cases were kids ran away when a maid “dared” to feel the water.
And here:
Yesterday, Carole Mansour, the director of the documentary Maid in Lebanon (about Sri Lankan maids in Lebanon) invited me to watch the documentary. She put me in a dark room by myself to watch. It was powerful. I shall write a longer review upon my return. I strongly urged her to expand the documentary, and she shot more footage, both in Sri Lanka and in Lebanon.
Finally, Amal, inspired by the extensive decoration of Lebanese balconies, homes and cars with flags of teams playing in the World Cup, decorated the Cedar as shown. Brazil, the most popular team for Lebanese, had already lost when this was done.

author: Moussa Bashir


text:
Mexico: Election Update and Audience Expectations · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Ceci Connolly and Ana Maria Salazar both have thorough updates on Mexico's election that refuses to end. Meanwhile, Juan Luis Hortelano wonders (ES) how many regular readers of ALT1040 and Isopixel are tired of the recent political focus and would prefer a return to the weblogs’ “normal content.” Mariano Amartino asks (ES), “has the moment arrived in which we “must” respond to an audience and their expectations?”


text:
Moldova: Explosion in Transnistria · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Vilhelm Konnander reports on last Thursday's blast in Tiraspol, the capital of the breakaway region of Transnistria: a territory which is “an ignored and absurd anachronism in contemporary Europe.”


text:
Mongolia: Naadam Preparations · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Tom Terry has photos of Naadam preparations in Mongolia. Naadam is centuries old festival during which participants compete in the “three manly games” — archery, wrestling, and horse racing — in cities throughout Mongolia.


text:
Nepal: Ailing premier · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Nepali Netbook on an iling premier and the politics of inertia. “Nepalis, for their part, are still trying to figure out why a premier with an unspecified ailment relating to the lungs returns from Bangkok after undergoing laser surgery of the prostate.”


text:
Nepal: Army politics · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Is the Nepali army accountable to the people of Nepal? United We Blog! on how the army runs like a parallel government in the country.


text:
Nigeria: Code Unread · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Musings of a Naijaman meets London mayor Ken Livingstone at an anti-racism festival and comments on the banning of the movie The Da Vinci Code in Nigeria.


text:
Senegal: Migrant workers · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Black Looks posts a poem about the lives of African migrants looking for work and a better life, and Nigeria, What's New? picks it up with a link to a photo-essay on the same subject.


text:
Nigeria: What’s wrong? · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Musing over a copy of Blaine Harden's book Africa:  Dispatches From a Fragile Continent, Yebo Gogo asks what went wrong with Nigeria.


text:
Russia: Flickr Payment Trouble · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Flickr user Anaderi – who lives and works in Moscow – reports a problem many people in certain countries (e.g. Russia, Ukraine) face when they attempt to upgrade their Flickr accounts to Pro status: their payments are not accepted. Anaderi is beginning to have doubts about Flickr: “I'm a bit confused now whether or not consider Flickr as the best photo sharing service?”


text:
Russia: Moscow Stiletto Run · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Snowsquare.com writes about a “stiletto run” that took place in Moscow this past Saturday. To participate, one's heels had to be 9 cm or over. Two more similar races are being planned by Glamour magazine, a sponsor: in St Petersburg on July 22 and in Novosibirsk on July 23 .


text:
Russia: Putin and Sex · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog quotes Vladimir Putin's response to an Internet user's question about sex: “‘I can't remember exactly when I did it for the first time,’ a laughing Putin said. ‘But I certainly remember when I did it the last time, to the exact minute.'”


text:
Russia: Shamil Basayev Dead · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), announced Monday that Shamil Basayev had been killed shortly after midnight in a truck explosion outside a village in Ingushetia.
Timur Aliev (LJ user timur_aliev), editor-in-chief of the print/online weekly Chechen Society (Chechenskoye Obshchestvo), happened to be in Nazran (the capital of Ingushetia until 2000) last night, and below is the translation of his account (RUS) on how he learned about Basayev's death. Although FSB claims that Russia's most wanted man died as the result of a special operation, some people (and bloggers) doubt it.
[…]
I was spending the night in Nazran tonight and heard a powerful explosion around midnight, and some 15 minutes later, a few shots – singular, automatic.
In the morning, it turns out there are blockposts on many roads in Nazran – traffic police and some others, unidentifiable, wearing masks – and IDs are being checked. I ask what's going on – they tell me a car with rebels and explosives blew up in Ekazhevo. And around the same time I start getting phone calls from various journalist acquaintances from Moscow – hasn't Basayev been killed? I call my friends from ITAR-TASS in Ingushetia – what have been heard in this regard? Not known yet, they say, two rebels of the four killed cannot be identified yet. All this I tell to my Moscow colleagues. But to myself I think: I'll stay in Ingushetia till the evening and see how the situation develops.
Then I get a call from our newsroom in Grozny – they say the FSB people stopped by, were checking us in relation to something (irrelevant to this post), and one of them said that Basayev had been killed in Ingushetia. He was identified by a missing leg (without a prosthesis, by the way), and it looks like a DNA analysis showed a match. Though it's not clear how is it possible to do such an analysis in a couple hours.
But since we've already got burned on this topic once [Basayev had been reported dead a few times before], I decided to wait until the release of official confirmation. And here it is – Patrushev reports on a successful operation.
upd. Patrushev is talking about a successful operation, but it appears that the whole operation was about identifying a one-legged corpse. Moreover, it turns out that Basayev has been driving around next to the federal highway, just like that – and if it hadn't been for an accidental truck blast, he would have continued to.
***
goldyz: They [the Kremlin] are trying to score a few points on the eve of the [G8] summit. IMHO.
timur_aliev: Yes, of course…
realavatar: […] They were reports recently that Basayev was somewhere in the former Soviet republics…
timur_aliev: Most likely, he transplanted his DNA to someone else and left… :)
vozrozdenie: […] How popular was Basayev […] with the Chechens?
timur_aliev: I'd say that with time he was becoming less and less popular. But he definitely did have admirers: radicals always attract young people other radicals…
***
English-language Russia bloggers are also reacting to the news.
TaliaXianne of Something In The Way She Moves waited for the Chechen sources outside Russia to confirm Basayev's death:
is, allegedly, dead… again.
However, as I just told a friend, ‘maybe I am in denial, but I do not buy it’. But I told myself earlier, when I first heard the rumours, that I would only believe it when Kavkaz and Zakayev said that it was true. And now they both have. […]
David McDuff of A Step At A Time is also relying on extraneous sources (and translates some, too):
[…] Update: Now Kavkaz Center has also confirmed the death, following the view that it was the result of a military accident, and not of a “successful special operation” by Russian or Russian-backed forces. […]
Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog reviews and links to various reports on Basayev's death and its possible causes, notes that this has been “a great week” for Putin – and offers a brief glance at the discussion to come:
Be sure that over the next day or so analysts and commentators will deal with the obvious question: Does Basayev’s death signal the end to the Chechen resistance and the Chechen War?
Vilhelm Konnander cites Nikolai Patrushev on Basayev's plans to disrupt the upcoming G8 Summit:
[…] Basayev was killed while preparing a terrorist attack in Ingusheti capital of Nazran on occasion of the St. Petersburg G8 Summit this week.
He is pessimistic about the effect Basayev's departure is going to have on the future of Chechnya:
Basayev's death will most likely mean little for the conflict. With Moscow-backed Ramzan Kadyrov as leader of Chechnya, criminality as a form of government has been institutionalised. When Kadyrov turns 30 in October, he will most likely succeed puppet president Alkhanov to rule Chechnya without much restraint from Moscow.
Charlie Ganske of Russia Blog recalls Basayev's most horrendous act of terror – the 2004 school siege in Beslan – by posting photos of the victims – and cheers the FSB:
Russia Blog congratulates the Russian security forces for a job well done. We know that Basayev's death is small comfort to the families of his victims, but it is a huge step towards peace and prosperity in the Caucuses and another stinging defeat for the global jihad.


text:
Singapore: Cosplay festival · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Tedfox has pictures from the latest Cosplay (or Costume Play) festival in Singapore.


text:
Somalia: Students of the Taliban · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Chippla comments on the application of Islamic law by the new regime in Somalia. “Why should 21st century African societies be subject to 7th century Arabic laws?” he writes.


text:
Sri Lanka: Tamil for the president · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Thanesh poses a question on the nature of the Sri Lankan constitution. “Ok I heard from a friend that according to the constitution of Sri Lanka, a Sri Lankan Tamil or any other non-Buddhist for that matter will NOT be able to run for Office of the President.” The discussion in the comments is rather heated.


text:
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Vincy Carnival · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Abeni reports briefly, but not uncritcally, on some of St. Vincent's Carnival activities.

author: Georgia Popplewell


text:
Tajikistan: Hot! · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Vadim of neweurasia reports on the stifling heat in Dushanbe and discusses some of the ways to deal with the heat.


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: Baptising a window · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Trinidadian artist/activist Elspeth Duncan “baptises” one of her artworks in the ocean, with interesting results.


text:
Ukraine: The Crisis and Its Causes · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LEvko of Foreign Notes writes about president Yushchenko's numerous mistakes and other factors, which have resulted in the current crisis.


text:
Zambia: Open Source  · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Robert at CodeZed reports the arrival of Open Source Zambia, a new forum for open source software.

author: Luisetta Mudie


text:
· Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Missionary blogger Under the Acacias explains the apparent popularity of Osama bin Laden in Burkina Faso…


text:
Argentina: “Buenos Aires for export” · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Last month alone Buenos Aires greeted 122,000 foreign tourists, says Shopping Urbano in a post that interviews four tourists about their visit and how much they spend on average per day (ES).


text:
Armenia: Vochinch Mentality · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Notes From Hareinik discusses the news that the mayor of the town of Garni has done nothing with the municipal budget. The author says that sooner or later, silence and indifference, “vochinch,” towards such corruption will have to end.


text:
Armenia: Water · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Zarchka says that water is going to waste in Armenia and that people there fail to understand that water is money.


text:
Barbados: PM backs Venezuela’s UN bid · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Linda Thompkins quotes a RadioJamaica.com report stating that Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur has decided to support Venezuela's campaign for the vacant UN Security Council Seat over Guatemala's. Among the reasons quoted: “He says it would be unethical for Barbados to side with a country that has fiercely opposed the concept of special and differential treatment for small developing states. He also says Guatemala has outstanding territorial issues with Belize, and the region must take a position that will protect the territorial integrity of its members.”


text:
Belize: Work ethic · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Karen expresses admiration for the Belizean work ethic.


text:
Bermuda: Stop the violence · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Sean encourages readers to participate in a letter-writing campaign protesting the brutal beating of a Portuguese national outside a bar in Bermuda. Christian Dunleavy congratulates a local Portuguese activist for holding the government to account.


text:
Brunei: Jalan Sultan · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The blogger at bruneiresources blogs about a Sunday afternoon he spent at a newly renovated street in the Brunei's capital city. “The other product is our famous ‘sotong tutuk’ literally hammered squid. My first knowledge of sotong tutuk was many years ago in Pantai Muara. Whenever you go to the beach, you always get sotong tutuk. An old man drying an already dried sotong and hammering it to make it softer and chewy and you eat that with some sambal sauce. Oooh. It's heavenly.”


text:
Cambodia: Neighbourhood Fire · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Teenage blogger DeeDee in Cambodia does a bit of citizen's reporting of a fire in her neighbourhood.


text:
Canada, Caribbean: West Indian restaurants · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Barbadian blogger Jdid writes at length, and with great humour, about his experiences of West Indian restaurants in Toronto.


text:
China: Survival tips for female activists: how to get the cops off your tail · Global Voices
John Kennedy

When veteran AIDS activist Hu Jia (胡佳) was kidnapped by Chinese police in February this year, his wife, Zeng Jinyan (曾金燕), found closed police station doors at every turn. No answers, explanations or even an admission that her husband was in police custody, Zeng set up a blog [zh] documenting her efforts to get her husband back. Forty-one days later he was dropped off in the outskirts of Beijing. Emaciated and suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, he walked over an hour to get home.
The incident seems to have been Zeng's entry point into the dangerous world of Chinese AIDS victim and female reproductive rights activism. While recent posts mention fundraising for impoverished AIDS orphans with little hope of finishing high school and a call for volunteers to help design one AIDS NGO's monthly publication, the prime focus on Zeng's blog of late has been on the case of Chen Guangcheng (陈光诚), a blind activist abducted by Chinese police earlier this year after launching a lawsuit on behalf of women in his native Shandong province who were forcibly sterilized.
Acting on behalf of Chen's wife Yuan Weijing (袁伟静) in posting information on developments in Chen's case on her blog, Zeng, age 22, soon found herself being followed by state secret police. Below are several of Zeng's recent posts. Of particular note are the posts from late June, in which Zeng writes of successfully standing up to her followers.
June 4
下雨，是云哭了
如果生命可以重来，我情愿做一只小小鸟，自由地在天空飞翔，直到衰老死亡；如果生命可以选择，我情愿做一棵小小草，和着风笑，伴着雨跳，到了秋天便枯黄；如果生命可以支配，我情愿做一个天真的小小孩，永远不长大。
为了逃避今天——每个人从自己的角度，都希望没有今天这个日子——我几乎是逼着胡佳跟我一起离开北京，希望能太太平平地度过今天，不让他的肝硬化病情恶化，把命保住。离开北京的日子，尽管有人跟踪，还算是相安无事。每天在高耀洁老师家里，帮助处理各种各样的艾滋病工作：邮寄艾滋病教育资料、接待来访、修改稿件、挑选图片……
凤凰卫视的工作人员给志愿者电话，说今天下午来家采访高耀洁老师，谈一谈艾滋病问题。午饭前后，分别来了两个感染者家庭，A 家的男孩2004年在北京某著名的口腔医院做腭裂修补手术，输血感染了艾滋病；B 家的母亲生孩子时剖腹产输血感染了艾滋病，还母婴传播感染了两个女儿，其中一个女儿已经死了。男孩10岁，女孩明天生日满5 岁，两个孩子都聪明伶俐，进门礼貌地叫奶奶，叫人没法不喜欢。
屋子里人多热闹，大家仿佛回到自己的家，吃馍、洗水果、包扎邮寄书籍、看小孩、谈话……下午3点多，凤凰卫视的主持人曾子墨先到高老师家，一老一少聊开了。不久凤凰卫视的其他工作人员，打来电话说马上到小区门口。门突然被敲响，开门看见一名女警和一个便装的女人。
女警自我介绍是片警，姓马，来做民意测验，进门却马上要求我们每一个人出示身份证。
哪条法律规定了做入户民意测验需要房子里每一个人出示身份证？我们要求对方出示证件，出示入户文件。对方出示了胸卡，说没有入户文件，说如果要看文件，干脆大家一起去派出所。我们当然不同意，经历过各种”险情”的曾子墨，有她的周全考虑，出示了身份证。既然是民意测验，我有权拒绝出示身份证， B家两口子也没有出示。高老师起身，拉着片警，简单介绍屋子里每一个人的情况，说曾子墨是来看望她的。
我很气愤，也觉得委屈。不知道过了多久，听见马警察说：”如果有外籍人士来，超过三天，一定要和我们联系登记。”正准备把片警送出大门，马警察指着电视旁放的DV 机（迷你型摄像机），要求看一看内容。那DV机本来是志愿者在高老师家拍摄高老师的生活起居的，片警敲门进来，DV 机就放在电视旁的桌子上，没有关机，因此虽然没有正面的图像，却录下了所有人来来往往的身影和声音。马警察要求删除她进屋以后所有的内容。几番争执，志愿者不得不同意覆盖这一段录像。
此两位宣称进行”民意测验”的警察，看见录相内容已经被覆盖，扬长而去。志愿者曾经质疑”既然是民意测验，对门的人家你去不去？我帮你敲邻居的门？”警察很慌张，现在看来，仅仅是针对高耀洁老师做”民意测验”啊！
我马上给律师打电话，详细讲了发生的情况。律师朋友实事求是地说，这种情况没有办法进入司法程序，只能向警务督察反映，投诉此片警滥用职权。片警以”民意测验”的借口进入私宅，既然是民意测验，屋主和客人可以拒绝片警的任何要求。至于 DV录像，片警可以要求删除涉及她的片段，但因为是在私宅而不是派出所或警察局录像，删或不删，决定权在屋主和DV机主人手中。
我们多少也明白一些法律的规定，可是又能怎么样呢！法律是写出来给人看的，而不是用来保护需要保护的个体。如果我们坚持拒绝片警入户，如果我们坚持拒绝删除DV 录像，如果……最晚晚上 10点，屋子里这些志愿者、感染者、记者，全部离开高老师的家回自己的家了，回到外地的家了。留下高老太太一个人，叫她怎么在这样如狼似虎的环境下活下去？我哀叹，一个名人尚且被如此对待，一般的老百姓怎么办！
整个事件的过程，曾子墨一直很冷静，让我好佩服。曾子墨刚回到宾馆，接到通知，”这里”找到电视台，要求凤凰卫视不拍高耀洁老师，要求曾子墨和她的同事今晚”必须” 离开郑州。她们马上要离开郑州了。这一次，我总算真正明白了什么叫”防火防盗防记者”。大陆的不那么如临大敌地防，是因为大陆的媒体更加在他们的指掌中。
鞋子也没脱，高老师侧身倒在床上睡着了。高老师心里很明白，有些人不愿意她再一次强调血液感染艾滋病的问题。今天来高老师家的两个家庭感染艾滋病，根本原因是输血。4 个人（其中 3个是孩子）感染了艾滋病，死了1 个小女孩。高耀洁老师不否认性途径和吸毒传播艾滋病，但是为什么不谈论血液问题呢！为什么到了 2004年、2005 年，仍然那么多人在医院输血感染艾滋病呢？为什么小孩、老人、血友病患者以及那些做过手术的人们，突然发现自己感染了艾滋病呢？为什么？这几天在高老师家整理输血感染艾滋病的感染者来信和调查稿件，我会陆续把文章发给大家。
June 11
宣告陈光诚的罪名
晚上十点左右，有朋友打来电话说，陈光诚的妻子袁伟静找我，很着急。
我马上给袁伟静电话，这是我和袁伟静之间第一次直接通话，我敬称她为”嫂子”。
袁伟静告诉我，由于光诚失踪以及村里其他村民被捕等事件，压力很大，一直没法好好睡觉，头疼。多次争取要求去医院看病，今天终于获得批准去医院看病。但是就在被”护送看病”的途中，车子被公安局的人拦下来，带回家。公安局给袁伟静陈光诚刑事拘留的通知书，陈光诚”犯”的罪是”故意损坏财物罪”和”聚众扰乱交通罪”，通知书上说是从昨天即2006年6月10日起拘捕陈光诚的。袁伟静不同意，2006年3月11日她亲眼看见丈夫被警察带走，那么3月11日——6月10日之间，他们把陈光诚弄到哪里去了？公安局的工作人员没有回答袁伟静的问题，反而威胁她，说袁伟静的态度直接决定他们对光诚的做法，要求袁伟静签署刑事拘留的通知书；并且警告袁伟静已经涉嫌犯罪，因为她生了孩子。
袁伟静拒绝签收刑事拘留通知书，因为签了通知就意味着承认陈光诚是昨天被警察带走的。这不是明摆着睁眼说瞎话吗？荒唐！袁伟静说，她已经没有人身自由了，如果不是因为家中有怀抱中的婴儿和年老的母亲，她早已被警察逮捕。但是袁伟静迫切地希望，律师可以直接介入此案。
我很担心，非法监视居住一个盲人将近两百天、又非法拘禁这个盲人将近一百天同时软禁其妻子的公安部门，现在给这个盲人定罪为”故意损坏财物罪”和”聚众扰乱交通罪”、还恬不知耻地说是昨天把盲人带走的政府部门，会让律师介入此案吗？会不会像纽约时报的赵岩案件一样，把法律当成玩弄全世界人民的手段？
我问袁伟静，能为陈光诚做什么，电话断了。再打电话，说几句又断了。第三次通话，嫂子说手机信号屏蔽仪就在邻居家，又断了。接下来电话再也打不通。
当局给陈光诚定罪了，这意味着什么？
June 16
今天为救援陈光诚创办了一个博客”光诚快回家”。接下来的日子，光诚的朋友会持续把相关资料上传到该博客。
佛祖保佑，光诚快回到你的家人身边。
June 18
在生命的第22个年头，结婚的第一个夏天，获知自己被美国二十一世纪中国基金会（ Foundation for China in the 21 st Century）授予本年度的”受难者家人奖”，我心不安，深觉有愧。在没有任何罪名和指控的情况下，我的先生胡佳遭受来自公安局系统的暴力、失踪、软禁、孤立和压制。最近的一次，胡佳失踪 41天。 2006年 3月28日 ，他从公安机关的绑架者手里回到我的身边，形销骨立、夜夜噩梦、肝硬化、情绪不稳定……他还活着回来，我感恩上天的厚爱，我珍惜和他在一起的分分秒秒，我觉得幸福。但是，我知道磨难没有结束，我必须时刻准备迎接下一轮考验的到来。我也知道，在我们热爱的土地上，还生活着许多和我一样命运的女性。她们正直有良知的家人，仍然被关押在监狱，仍然莫名其妙地失踪，仍然被软禁、压制，或者正蒙受不白之冤被推向深渊。
…snip…
我的丈夫胡佳选择做一个正直有良心的人，选择维护人类尊严的事业，也就选择了承受随之而来的磨难。我理解并尊重他的选择。婚礼上交换誓言时，我承诺了一辈子与爱人相伴相随。面对磨难，我要好好地学习，学习更加睿智、更加快乐地生活。面对强大对手的恐吓、阴暗、丑恶与仇恨，我没有武器，只有爱和宽容。将来的日子里，我也要用爱，一步一步逼退对手，保护我的丈夫不再一次一次受伤害。恨只会加深仇恨，爱，才能让行恶者直视自己羞耻的心，让他们停止仇恨与压迫，让他们开始爱自己的家人，也爱别人的家人！到那一天，没有人愿意行恶了，也就没有了行恶的机构和政府。我们的家人，才能平安地生活在我们热爱的国土上。
如果没有国内外媒体、驻华大使馆和国际组织等机构，没有环境保护、艾滋病工作、公民维权等领域的众多人士，以及中国政府中个别有良知人士的持续关注与支持，很可能胡佳仍然被关押在不知名的地方，家人仍然承受没有任何胡佳信息的压力，而我很可能早已恐惧慌乱而倒下。借着美国二十一世纪中国基金会颁奖的机会，胡佳与我深深地给诸位鞠躬致谢。
June 19
今天所有和新闻发布会有关的人被限制人身自由，包括我和胡佳被软禁在家。刚才陈光诚的母亲和孩子被不明身份的十几位便衣从北京朋友家强制带走。带走的车子没有牌照，小区保安和楼下监视的警察全部不作为，并配合绑架车辆/人员的行动。
情况紧急，请大家相互传递消息并想方设法营救陈光诚的母亲和3岁的孩子
June 20
陈光诚的母亲和3岁孩子找到了
今天上午，陈光诚的母亲和孩子被当地公安局送到山东临沂市沂南县县城里，被禁止回到袁伟静所在的村庄。用对方的话来说，是不能再和袁伟静接触，袁伟静是孩子的母亲，老人的儿媳妇。目前老人和孩子暂时居住在陈光诚县城的哥哥家里
June 20
第一次被3辆车12个人跟踪
下班回到家，困惑。我一边做饭炒菜，一边想：究竟什么原因，使得我昨天被非法软禁在家，今天一整天被2-3辆小车、 8-12人跟踪？
我是谁？我一边洗菜一边想。我是一个新婚的家庭主妇，今年22岁，身高不足 160 厘米，体重不足45 公斤，外表不美不丑，脸色苍白憔悴。喜欢孩子，因此想方设法在艾滋病村协助志愿者助养了两百来名的孤儿；钟情文字，因此天天在 Blog上敲自己的心情，直到丈夫失踪，束手无策只好开始写事实而非情绪；体弱多病，脑膜炎后遗症让我常常忘记遇见的人和事，因此不得不依赖手头的纸和笔；思想简单、脾气执拗，见不得大鱼吃小鱼、人欺负人，无能为力哭鼻子也常有。
我做了什么？我每天到公司上班挣饭碗，我每天为艾滋病组织做志愿工作，我每天写博客抒发心情，我奔波流泪找回失踪的丈夫，我18 号被公布获得”受难者家人奖”，我听见陈光诚妻子在电话里传来的声音和消息，忍不住偷偷地掉眼泪。
昨天早上六点多胡佳离开家，计划上午去医院复诊拿药，下午去”盲人陈光诚事件”的记者见面会现场。结果七点我给他电话，发现他还在楼下的院子里，与十几个壮汉争执。我下楼才发现原来是北京国保总队和通州区国保支队的便衣警察，其中多为上次 41天绑架胡佳的参与者，还有负责小区的派出所警察，以及根本不认识的面孔。这些秘密警察把胡佳围住，并把楼外院子的铁门关起来。不仅粗暴得阻拦胡佳出去，也禁止我出去。邻居们清晨听到大声的争执，纷纷远远地围观。其中一个国保说：”无论如何，今天你们不能出去。”这是什么道理！没有法律文件、没有出示证件，单凭一句话”你们不能出去”就剥夺了我们的自由吗？以前即使是胡佳被软禁、失踪，我也从来没有被软禁过。为什么！我质问。国保打马虎眼，说着不着边际的话。我给朋友们电话，都说与”盲人陈光诚事件”的记者见面会有关的律师、朋友将近二十人全部处于没有行动自由的状况，记者见面会被迫取消。但是胡佳的药没有了，医生嘱咐必须去医院复检然后取药。力争了两个多小时，我们僵持在小区院子里，邻居们远远地看着听着议论着。国保见我们不肯屈服，几经电话请示上级，最终不得不同意胡佳去医院复诊取药，条件是我必须留在家里，胡佳必须乘坐国保支队的警车，另外国保几队人、数辆车贴身跟随胡佳，而且复查取药之后马上回家，不得与外界联系。
我太愚笨了，竟不明白对方话中有话。往常害怕胡佳反抗非法限制人身自由，国保在可能的情况下，都极力让我跟着胡佳去医院，他们贴身”保护”。他们的意思，有我这个”人质”，就不怕胡佳”逃跑”或”激烈反抗”。而昨天我竟然没有明白过来为什么国保不让我陪同胡佳去医院，也没有明白国保说的话”你今天必须待在家里”、”你的能量太大了，把我们害得够惨”真正的含义。
今天早上我下楼上班，发现两辆车紧紧地跟着我，一直到办公室。无论我到哪里，都有戴着耳机的人窥视。中午我外出办事，竟然发现跟踪的车增加了一辆，换句话说，12 个人 3辆车跟踪我。这12个人有男有女，个个比我高比我壮也比我年长。一辆白色现代车车前牌照”京 FB8233″，车后无牌照；一辆灰色马自达，车前牌照”京FE6034 “，车后牌照不明；一辆深灰色日产蓝鸟车前牌照”京 FC9288″，车后牌照”京EO9288 “。我给朋友电话，他问我害怕不害怕，我说我不害怕但是很担忧。
晚上回到家给”盲人陈光诚事件”的记者见面会相关的朋友打电话，都说昨天晚上已经撤除软禁和监视了。我的丈夫胡佳，傍晚和晚上外出，也没有发现类似以往的贴身跟踪。
我感到一阵阵寒颤。我和陈光诚的妻子袁伟静通电话，得知袁伟静和陈光诚所遭遇的软禁、绑架、孤立，我没有词语，残忍、太残忍了……是的，我和北京十几位法律援助律师协助了”盲人陈光诚事件”记者见面会的筹备。一切工作公开透明，并且明确说明是为了告诉大家陈光诚及其家属的近况。记者见面会被阻挠了，没有关系，不让大家开记者见面会，那我们就变换方式，目的只有一个，和社会各界保持沟通。律师们法律援助的工作亦如期进行。昨天晚上，原本被限制自由的律师、朋友，也自由了。大家谁也不会想到，就在昨天晚上，北京政法大学讲师滕彪的住宅楼下，在北京警察和小区保安的眼皮底下，陈光诚七十岁的母亲和三岁的孩子被一伙山东口音的彪形大汉劫持绑架到一辆无牌照车辆上，绝尘而去。今天早上老人和孩子被山东临沂的警察遣送到陈光诚家乡沂南县，被软禁在县城党校陈光诚四哥的家里，被告知不许回到乡村与陈光诚的妻子团聚。袁伟静可是老人的儿媳妇、孩子的母亲啊！她和怀抱中不满一岁的婴儿相依为命，家人的支持是多么重要！
坐在电脑前，深深呼吸，平静自己。他们害怕什么？为什么如此害怕一个手无缚鸡之力的女子？最近多么反常！我的丈夫被警察绑架41 天至今无人为此负责；堂堂山东一个大省，竟然害怕一个盲人，还害怕盲人手无寸铁的妻子，软禁、绑架、殴打他们，拖着刚成为母亲的弱女子擦地而过，到如今竟然捏造罪名欲陷害这个盲人于牢狱。更反常的是，堂堂北京一国之都，竟然因害怕讲述一个盲人的遭遇而草木皆兵，在全城制造非法限制人身自由的事件，讽刺的是，被软禁的朋友中，一半是京城优秀的律师，其中不乏法学博士，那谁还能捍卫法律的尊严！更荒唐的是，被非法限制人身自由的朋友们重新获得自由的时候，在北京东部不起眼的地方，十二个人三辆车紧紧跟踪一个年轻的弱女子。难道他们脆弱恐惧到害怕一个不满 23岁的女人吗？
2004年以来，我的丈夫胡佳，被跟踪、软禁、殴打、绑架的情形经历过无数次。而今天第一次针对我的限制和跟踪，让我感觉很恶心。恶心是一个女性在这样的情况下的本能反应。试想想，无论我在哪里，都有脑满肠肥的男人戴着耳机凑近偷听，拿着相机和摄像机偷拍，用鬼鬼祟祟的眼光监视并打电话汇报。甚至我在公共场所去洗手间，他们都朝洗手间的方向探头探脑看我”搞什么阴谋”。当我回到家，他们把车停在我的阳台下，如果不拉布帘，我的一举一动落在他们眼里，这又是多么恶心的事情。
他们这种行为，让我感到深深的羞耻。我每个月辛辛苦苦挣一点点钱，不到2000元的净收入，还要给国家上缴所得税。却用税金养活一批人高马大的家伙，来跟踪、监视弱小如我者的一举一动。 12个人的工资是多少呢？24小时不间断的监视加班费是多少呢？ 3 辆车的油钱是多少呢？更何况天热为了开空调他们警车的发动机一刻不停地运转要耗费多少能源呢？偷拍用的照相机、摄像机、窃听器、手机和通讯费是多少呢？我不敢往下想，我为我的国家感到羞耻；我也悲哀自己，用税金养活国家机器中的零件来监控弱者。
明天会发生什么事情，我不知道。许多朋友询问我为什么打不开我的博客，我无话可说，我也经常打不开自己的博客。我的丈夫胡佳苦笑，说那些警察不跟踪我了，反而跟踪你，什么意思？我年轻不经世，不知道为什么，跟踪者也不会给我答案，只好请朋友们帮我思考思考。
June 21
欺侮妇女，可耻
我首先声明，今天发生的事情，是我的个人行为，是一个被无故欺压者的本能反抗。
早上外出上班，我抱着侥幸的心理：今天他们该走了吧，不跟踪我了吧，我该放松了吧！可是下楼希望就破灭了，便衣警察的车子正对着我家所在院子的大门，我开车离开家，两辆车一灰一白跟上来。走到北关环岛附近堵车堵得厉害，我下车走到紧贴着我的车子跟前，看每一辆车的车牌确定是否和昨天的一样。车子里的人很慌张，把遮阳板放下来，不让我看他们的脸。
中午吃完午饭我拿着背包从办公室下来，那帮便衣警察没有意识到我这么快又下楼，直到我走到车子跟前，才惊慌失措地遮掩，可笑的是，副驾驶位置上的便衣，手里举着扇形的扑克牌，想必当时他们正在玩扑克。
下午我做了泡沫塑胶的牌子，上面写着”欺侮妇女，可耻（Shame, to insult a woman）”。如果便衣警察再如此步步紧逼跟着我，我必然反抗。
国保的便衣警察还是紧紧地跟着我，我没有办法，下午见了朋友，一起吃完晚饭走出餐厅，看见车子停在门口，我拿出牌子，什么话也没有说，站在车前让对方看见牌子上写的字。司机启动车缓缓地一次又一次冲撞我，我站不稳了，可是竟然一点也没有害怕，依旧默默地站在，让他们看见我写在牌子上的心中的想法”欺侮妇女，可耻”。
我觉得一切莫名其妙，不知道为什么。我报警吗？报警可以让跟踪者远离我吗？没有人可以替我解决问题，除了我自己。我的丈夫帮我拍了照片，我只是不平则鸣，我不知道有没有更好的办法，驱逐这叮着肥肉的苍蝇一般的跟踪者。
晚上袁伟静给我电话，告诉我她焦急无法入眠。因为陈光诚的妈妈今天开始腹痛、呕吐，看守软禁她的便衣，就是不让陈光诚的母亲到医院就诊，推脱要向上级领导请示，说明天可以带老人去医院。刚才再通电话，依旧腹疼、呕吐，老人说心脏也开始不舒服，可是还是她还是被禁止去医院就医。这是什么世界？我的眼泪掉下来。
June 22
庶民的不服从
昨天在餐馆前举着纸牌抗议国保的便衣警察”欺侮妇女，可耻”后，我把纸牌放在车上能被车外的人看见的地方，和胡佳开车回家。国保的两辆车仍然紧紧地跟在我们的车后，中间偶尔插进来别的车，副驾驶位置上的人探着脑袋看我们车上纸牌的字。
早上据说监视的车仍然停在院子里，今天在家办公忙了一会儿，11点才下楼外出。发现平时跟踪的车不见了。简直不敢相信，我们把车开出老远，都没有看见跟踪的车辆，我才肯定地告诉关心的朋友：跟踪的车辆和彪形大汉不见了！
今天好多位我认识的或不认识的朋友和我联系，其中一个朋友说当他看到我举着纸板的照片，”笑得眼泪都流出来了”，这是大家都可以做到的事情。便衣警察们今天消失了，我很高兴，为我们的国家高兴，觉得我们的国家也还有一点点羞耻心。可以说，昨天我表达不满情绪的方式，起作用了。监视我的”工作”肯定还在进行，但至少是在我肉眼看不见的情况下。下午阿姨到我家，说楼下有男人问她是不是住在四楼（目前四楼仅有我们一户入住），不知那问话者是不是便衣警察。
在我所知的情况中，有几百个人被国保/国安骚扰过，最轻的是被找去”谈话配合”，严重的要么被警告威胁、要么被限制人身自由或软禁、要么被失踪，最严重的是被国保 /国安陷害失去生命或长期的自由。成功拒绝国保/国安骚扰的案例，少之又少。最典型的是彭大侠。便衣警察找他”谈话”，他曾经晓之以理动之以情，结果对方得寸进尺。彭大侠彻底失望，终于在被便衣警察贴身跟踪的某天，举着菜刀狂追便衣警察，以致把便衣警察吓破胆，再也不敢明目张胆。从此以后凡是警察找他谈话要求配合，他拿出”双掉政策”——两条腿的砍掉、四个轮子的砸掉，肉眼能区分男女，刀子从不认男女。然后在小区里贴《纪念刘和珍君》，某日徒步去某地，为的就是纪念。当然不是特意为了干什么，而是作为普通的有历史记忆的公民，应该干什么就干什么，还邀请警察一起干，把警察吓得半死。彭大侠是那种气宇轩昂、一身正气却又怪招百出的亦勇亦谋之士，有先秦剑客之风，我佩服得不得了。但是他的方式，是学不来的。
听说许多优秀人士的妻子都被国安/国保找去谈话，希望通过妻子给他们的丈夫施压，达到与当局配合的目的。他们单独找我正式”谈话”只有我念大学时唯一的一次，党委书记受国安”委托”与我”做思想工作”，要我远离胡佳。胡佳经常出事，我很担忧，在多次与国保打交道的过程中，我渐渐地彻底不对他们抱任何幻想。我认为任何屈服与所谓的”合作”，只能带来一个结果：对方更加得寸进尺地压制你，对你予取予求。当然，激烈地对抗，也会带来非常糟糕的结果，两败俱伤。所以我选择了和平地表达自己的方式，告诉对方，我为你们对我所做的一切感到不满和耻辱。陈光诚曾经说：”人们常常会把抱怨世道的不公、世道的黑暗，很少想想自己都为改变这些不公和黑暗都作了些什么？一个爱憎分明的眼光，一句公道的语言，都会是改变这些不良现象的力量源泉。”是的，非暴力的不示弱、不服从，保护自己的权利，捍卫自己的尊严。如果我们自己不放弃捍卫，任何人都无法真正欺侮我们。如果每个人都力所能及地用各种方式表达对压制的不服从，那么社会上不公正和黑暗的事件就会少许多。在指责批评黑暗不公之前，我们先站在镜子前，看一看自己是否是那黑暗不公事件另一股暗流。我不是个勇敢的人，可是我努力做到大声地说出我看到的事实，本能地对所受的欺压做出反抗。
下午三点半陈光诚的律师李劲松被山东警察带去，到现在还没有自由。第二批去山东的律师，今天一到临沂，就被不明身份的人殴打受伤，律师拨打110 ，却被变相羁留在派出所到现在，一整天无法开展工作。看守陈光诚妻子袁伟静的警察和便衣，整个村庄已经多达 80人，邻近也散布了妇联等组织的”工作人员”，据看守的人说，目的只有一个，就是不顾一切阻止袁伟静与外界接触。我竟然一点都不慌张，我觉得这是黎明前的黑暗，是山东警方最后的挣扎。因为他们试图用”涉嫌扰乱正常生活”的罪名来拘捕李劲松律师，这不是最新版的《拍案惊奇》吗？当我写到这里，收到律师团的消息：”张立辉律师：公安局来了几十个人，公然抢了律师的照相机摔了，即使能回也回不来，请大力关注！”（ 2006年6月22日 星期四晚22：49 手机短消息。）哎，事情竟然到了如此疯狂的地步。北京的律师说，我们已经做好了挨打的准备，我们会一批一批地把最优秀的律师送到山东为陈光诚提供法律援助。这一群知识分子和专业律师，分散了是普通弱小的公民，他们用最温和的方式，甚至以准备好了挨打的姿态，忠于自己的职业，默默地表达了对压制和迫害的不服从。
As suggested by this poem written by Zeng, whose name translates to Golden Sparrow, police intimidation has made enough impact that now she's even being tailed in her dreams.
June 30
梦中
我生活在连绵起伏的大山里
三个国保坐在我的车里，等着要限制我的自由
我开始爬山，国保在山下追赶
我爬到山顶，张开双臂
往下坠落
飞翔的感觉
国保还在身后追赶
我又爬到一个山头，张开双臂
飞翔
国保还在身后追赶，我跑到悬崖
张开双臂
飞翔
国保还在身后追赶
两只可爱的小白鼠，连在一起成了比汗血马还快的飞鼠
载着我
飞翔
国保仍然在我身后追赶
我醒了
不知道第几次做这样的梦
自由落体的感觉
金燕
沉重的金
自由的燕

author: John Kennedy


text:
China: Wu Hao released · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Following nearly five months in prison, blogger, documentary maker and American permanent resident Wu Hao has been released, as noted in a July 11 post on his sister Nina's blog:
刚刚得到家里电话, 被告知皓子出来了.谢谢大家的关心,但他需要清静一阵子.
如果还有什么消息,将更新在这个BLOG.
Set up soon after her little brother's arrest by Chinese authorities, Nina's blog has served as the centerpoint in the campaign to have Hao released. English translations of each of her posts recounted the hostility Nina received in repeated unsuccesful attempts to gain any information on her brother's whereabouts. Frustrated and fearing how the news would affect her parents’ health, in late May she wrote that her brother had been denied access to a lawyer.
Support was strong across the blogsphere, with hundreds of fellow bloggers posting on Nina and Hao's story, as well as putting up Free Hao Wu tags. Support was there from some mainstream media, with the Wall Street Journal chipping in just a week ago, and a piece written in The Washington Post by Global Voices Online co-founder Rebecca MacKinnon coinciding with Chinese president Hu Jintao's visit to America:
“Hao turned 34 this week. He personifies a generation of urban Chinese who have flourished thanks to the Communist Party's embrace of market-style capitalism and greater cultural openness. He got his MBA from the University of Michigan and worked for EarthLink before returning to China to pursue his dream of becoming a documentary filmmaker. He and his sister, Nina Wu, who works in finance and lives a comfortable middle-class life in Shanghai, have enjoyed freedoms of expression, travel, lifestyle and career choice that their parents could never have dreamed of. They are proof of how U.S. economic engagement with China has been overwhelmingly good for many Chinese.”
Several members of the U.S. Congress wrote letters of concern on Hao's behalf. We are also grateful for some diplomacy – both quiet and open – conducted elsewhere.  Late last week free speech group Reporters Without Borders announced a successful lobbying attempt aimed at the European Parliament, which ratified a resolution on freedom of expression on the internet. Included in the resolution is a list of nine imprisoned bloggers and cyberdissidents, one of which is Hao.


text:
DRC: Journalist Shot · Global Voices
Alice Backer

According to (Fr) Le Blog du Congolais: “Bapuwa Mwamba, a noteworthy journalist at “Le Phare”(…) was recently grabbed from his family's affections as well as from freedom fighters in the night of the 7 to the 8th of July by a commando that shot him at close range. (…) Either we let [those who have decided to lead the Congo] soil the country and we let them live or we fight for our freedom, our dignity and our sovereignty and we get killed.”

author: Alice Backer


text:
Egypt: The Happy Ending for Journalism Law · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Zeinobia sarcastically describe the latest news about the Egyptian president intervention to stop a law that was approved by majority of MBs (who were all members of the same party lead by the president).
The controversial law was against the freedom of press. The more stranger is the changing attitude of the NDP members, a change by 180′ degrees, yesterday all those haters to the Journalism and bad journalists and today all those lovers and cheer leaders for the daring supportive decision of the President, Zeinobia said.


text:
Emerging markets: Africa or bust · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Curious finds sympathizers with his argument that African countries will be the next to witness major inflows of foreign direct investment, because they are the only true emerging markets left now.


text:
Guyana: Zidane’s head-butt, in Creolese · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Guyana-Gyal posts what is very likely the first written analysis of Zinedine Zidane's head-butt in Creolese, Guyana's “nation language“: “‘You saw that?!?’ I ask in my best ready-to-gossip voice. Right off, Indeera know what I talking ‘bout…that goat-butt the French guy give the Italian. Pow in he chest..“


text:
India: Bloggers react to the bomb blasts in Mumbai · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Mumbai was hit by serial blasts today. Commuters in trains on one of the railway lines (Western Railway) were killed by bombs that went off in seven different trains. The blasts occured around 1825 hrs, which is the peak hour for commute in Mumbai, as office goers leave South Mumbai to go back home to the suburbs. Estimates suggest that the body count is around 180 as of now.
Within minutes, the Mumbai Help blog came alive with messages, comments and offers to help. The blog started last year to cope with the floods, and started to fill the information and communiation gap. This particular post asks readers to provide phone numbers of people they want to check on, or inform.  Metroblogging Mumbai has been doing updates on the issue. This is an open thread on the blog.
Amit at India Uncut has a post with frequent updates as the situation changes. With the mainstream media reporting with the trademark cluelessness, More on Mumbai by Jayesh. Blogpourri comments on the smugness of a particular mainstream media news channel. NowPublic features images taken by a citizen journalist, Dharmesh Thakkar. Pajamas Media collates links from mainsteam media and blogs. At Indian Writing there is this dedication to the particular intimacy that can be formed on public transport:
To “train friendship”. To every kind of friendship. To remember those whom the city has lost, and to honour their memories by holding together and never letting the violence win.
Gaurav Sabnis grieves for the city and its people.
It's been a tough day for the city, and the tragedy has a slightly personal note for me too. I am fortunate that neither me nor any of my acquaintances were victims today. But Western Line is “my” line. I have regularly travelled on those very tracks. The idea that almost 200 people were killed along the very familiar landscape which is a part of my life chills me, angers me and saddens me.
Contrapuntal asks why Bombay? and looks forward, hoping that there is no backlash.
Why Bombay? Why always Bombay? Because it's big and successful, so if you can make a splash there you're sure to hit the big time. (Why does anyone go to Bombay?) Please please let there not be a backlash. I'm incoherent. I'm not trying to write an article ok? The trains, soft spot, so horrifyingly easy. It's a miracle it hadn't happened before. And now what? How do you screen every single person who gets into a Bombay train?
Waking up twice on the assumptions that are made in times like these. Ultrabrown has notes on the terror attack and screenshots of the coverage. The Renegade of Junk on right-wing bloggers in the US indulging in their standard fare.
Many right wing bloggers in the US are somehow trying to link these bomb blasts with their own domestic selfish pro-Bush agenda, as bongopondit pointed out in the comments. The rest are engaging in highly clueless analysis of the events. For example Captain Ed of Captain's Quarters.
Scout on being outside India at a time like this and watching the news on television.
People here feel sad about us Indians. They can't imagine a life where bombs go undetected and terrorism is something they talk about in political science classes. But for us, it is a part of life – inevitable. But being away from India puts things into sharp perspective for me, I see it both ways and it hurts that much more.
Dhoomketu on the blasts and what he learnt today. On the Ganga Mail reflects on the city.
That's the thing about Bombay: you don't have to go to the city to see it. Those into Hindi movies have grown up in it without even setting foot on it. That's why it hurts even a Bihari or a Bengali when tragedy strikes far-off Bombay. It is the surrogate hometown of every Hindi movie-watcher.
Dilip goes to one of the stations which was hit, and writes about a car that is forced to take in passengers. A flickr set called Black Bombay has been created to collect images from the blast sites.
Lame politicians as usual and please, no one talk about God. Suketu Mehta discusses the blasts in the city online at the Washington Post.


text:
Indonesia: In defence of Zidane · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Oskar Syahbana calls French footballer Zidane a perfect role model.


text:
Iran: Lorestan & Aids · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Lorblog read in  Bamdad, a Lorestan based magazine that 10 percent of  country's Aids cases  are in Lorestan province (Persian).

author: Fred Petrossian


text:
Iran: Syndicates & Socialist Revolution · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Several Shargh newspaper journalists have launched Zangeh Tafrih, a collective blog  to write about economic issues. In Zange Tafrih they explain why Marx prophecy about Socialist Revolution in industrial countries such as England failed. According to Zangeh Tafrih strong presence of workers unions/syndicates was main reason to save England from Socialist Revolution (Persian). Syndicates at first step choose to negotiate for their requests and negotiation calms down tensions.


text:
Iraq: Good News! · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

LadyBird, has two good news. According to her, “for the first time an Iraqi official accuses the US and Israel, on creating the chaos in Iraq.” The second good news is that “Iraq will ask the United Nations to end immunity from local law for U.S. troops.”


text:
Israel: Healthy Parliamentarians · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Contestants from Israel's version of “The Biggest Loser” visited the Knesset last week in a feeble attempt to educate the Israeli government in the ways of healthy eating. Not surprising in the least, the “parliamentarians” showed absolutely no interest in the meeting, Harry said.


text:
Kyrgyzstan: Diplomats Expelled · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Registan.net discusses the push and shove between Kyrgyzstan and the United States regarding negotiations over the price for US use of an airbase in the country and how it is the likely explanation for the expulsion of two US diplomats for “improper” contacts with the heads of NGOs.


text:
Laos: Foreign Investors · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Who are the top foreign investors in Laos? Samakomlao blog has a list of the top 15 investors in Laotian economy.