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Jordan: BigBrother is watching! · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Firas says that the Jordanian security forces have captured a Jordanian – 24 years old – last Sept while he was in a cyber cafe visiting a website for making fireworks. He was admitted to a State Security Court yesterday for the charge of possessing and manufacturing explosives. Firas is in favor of monitoring the internet, Sabbah is not.


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Kenya: Trivia · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

For the “trivia people” Kenyan Pundit points to BBC's 100 things you didnt know this time last year!

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Sokari Ekine


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Kyrgyzstan: Azamat Speaks · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Mountains of Heaven has the first in what could become a series of Kyrgyz wisdom from 65 year old Azamat. His first bit of wisdom covers the inadequacies of Americans.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Mideast: Radio Open Source Invitation · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Check out this post on Sabbah's Blog, which introduces an opportunity for Middle East/North Africa bloggers to be interviewed by Radio Open Source.

author: Haitham Sabbah


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Mongolia: Lunch Trials · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Thomo offers pictorial evidence that the lunch menu in Ulaanbaatar can be a trial for those who don't speak Mongolian.


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Nepal: What Ceasefire? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Samudaya.org questions the whole notion of ceasefire, and points to much violence in this supposed period of ceasefire between the government and Maoists.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Nigeria: Family expectations · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

As Nneka's World – Confessions of the mind  nears her 25th birthday she considers her life  and the conflict in expectations between her and her parents, friends and family – ….Why do we African’s think that to be complete you have to be married or engaged? I really don’t know, or I am selfish looking out for myself, wanting to establish myself and looking for someone who will complement me and not complete me? Wanting to be with someone who will share my dreams and also allow me to share his dreams? Someone who will see me as an equal? Please let me know.
25 let me see what i have accomplished: …..”


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Nigeria: Gay activist banned · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

CyBlug, Nigerian blog reports that the Anglican Church of Nigeria has disowned gay activist,  Davis Mac-Iyalla following last months meeting of gay and lesbian Anglicans in Abuja.


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Nigeria: IP address blocked · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Nigerian blogger, Emmanuel Oluwatosin’s Thought Line.., reports on the blocking of Nigeria's IP address by “Go Daddy Software” …..”The company took this decision based on a survey carried out by its fraud department, which identified Nigeria as a country where there was a high incidence of fraud. The development came to the notice of a domain registrar in Nigeria, Mr. Deji Onigbinde, who buys .com, .net, and .org domain sites here in Nigeria from the United States-based Go Daddy and resells to Nigerians who desire to own their own web pages.”


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Peru: New Blog Aggregator · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Blogofilia (ES) is a new Peruvian aggregator which selects about five posts each day from around the Peruvian blogosphere.

author: David Sasaki


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South Korea: Presidential Hopefuls · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Flying Yangban covers which candidates are emerging as front-runners for the 2007 presidential election in South Korea.

author: Jose Manuel Tesoro


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Thailand, Southeast Asia: Angklung Video · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Thai-blogs.com points to a video clip of a performance in Thailand using the angklung, a musical instrument found throughout Southeast Asia made of bamboo tubes that create sounds like bubbling water.


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The first week of 2006  in the Moroccan blogs · Global Voices
Farah Kinani

2006 is here, so happy  new year from the Moroccan   blogosphere.
After a one month absence , Larbi is back. This blog is definitely the most popular among the Moroccan bloggers and in addition to its critical posts it also offers services to its readers. And I just had to visit Larbi to know the addresses of the Moroccan blogs written in a list regurlarly updated.
In his latest post, Larbi disapproves  (French) the recent declarations of the Moroccan Justice Minister Mohammad Bouzoubaa to set up a follow-up unit in charge of monitoring all press publications. The comments to this post were all surprisingly not surprised of such decision and focused mainly in condemning the Moroccan journalists .
Still in the national events and while I was suspecting a bigger reaction from the Moroccan bloggers to the Tel Quel's sentence, only few blogs mentioned it last week .
One of them, and probably the first one to report the news about the Moroccan Magazine was Bluesman who simply wrote the court punishment in his post while he asked his readers in the comments section to show” fiercer ” support to Tel Quel.
Reactions to Ayman Nour‘s arrest
Meanwhile, Ayman nour's sentence  was more succesful to get the Moroccan bloggers’ attention last week.
Amazigh qualifies the arrest of Nour as  a very bad surprise at the end of 2005 , and he writes in his post intitled “Purelyt Arabica : five-five!” that while Husni Mubarak Has 5 years to govern Egypt, Nour has to spend them in jail.
those dictators don't want to learn the new rules nor want they leave their places to young est and newest mentalities
Amazigh ends his post saying that the only way to have democratic elections in an arab country is to wait for its president to die or to be disgraced by Americans.
Karim has a different opinion concerning the arrest of Ayman Nour, and he says in  The Arab Observers that if Ayman Nour was arrested , it's because the Egyptian government must feel in a position of force that enables it to do this without fearing an internatiol uproar.
In my opinion, this is evidence that Egypt is still being needed as one of Washington's key allies in the war on terror. Thus, in this particular case, we may again conclude that the threat of terrorism has only served to further strengthen a repressive arab regime and western ally, not exactly what the extremists sought.
The Arab observers is one of my favorite blogs and it has the paritcularity to reach a large audience with different interests.The main reason lies behind the different sections that ,Karim and Jallal, authors of the blog offer to their readers.
You have the main page that gives an idea of the recent posts you can reach in one of those sections :Political Islam, Current Events, Moroccan Issues, Miscellaneous Topics and Books.
The post about Ayman Nour is in the Current Events section, and its main subject is actually about Mona El Talhawi  who got herself in trouble after she published a opinion piece in the International Herald Tribune, in which she expressed sharp criticism of the elections in Egypt.
The Arab observers report that Eltahawy was summoned  to a meeting with egyptian officials, during which she was told that her actions are being monitored by the egyptian government.
About Iraq and Palestine
Geronium “screams” in his post intitles “In memory of Fllujan Massacre” his rage against the killing of civilians  that occurred (occurs?) in Fallujah. He says in the introdution of his post:
What can I say ?
Is it hate ? Is it Pain for those persons ? Is it Rage against the americans ? I don't Know. But what am sure about is that there is no words to express this feeling inside my heart. For What ? For Fallujah battle.
I don't want to hate the americans but the truth I say, It's very difficult to love people implicated in mass killing of civilians.
Lili gives the readers of her french blog Etre soi meme a Background to the Israel-Palestine Crisis , and she asks them to read more about this subject since she considers knowing the truth to be a human duty .
Coup de coeur..
I definitely have to visit more Moroccan blogs to come out with a clear vision about the nature of The Moroccan blogging. But, from what I have seen, I can say that 60 per cent of the Moroccan bloggers are more familiar with the journal kind of blogs.
Crucivore is a blog that I  can label as intellectual even if its author doesn't seem to think so ;). Last week, crucivore posted about a book reporting funny real situations. It's called “Laughing just to keep from crying.”
And here's a taste of some of the stories you'll find in the post intitled “real stories.”
A man to his wife:
How come God created you so beautiful and so stupid?
The wife:
God created me beautiful to attract you, and stupid to be attracted by you..
There is also a tendancy to make irony of political or social events the way Anima is doing. Her “serial” about a couple who seems lost while trying to make sens of events around them, has a big audience. And they're right now begging her to keep writing about “Oum al'yal” and “Ab al'yal” since she declared in her latest post that the adventure of the famous couple reached its end….i'm actually begging her too…ahemmm.
That's it for this week. See you next Wednesday, Inshallah.

author: Farah Kinani


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The Week That Was – Bolivian Blogs · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Now the dust has settled following the historic elections of December 18, the Bolivian blogsophere continues with reactions, concerns and hope.  Bolivian bloggers are being asked to add thoughts and commentary to a subject rapidly gaining a worldwide following.   Miguel Centellas of Ciao! and Jim Shultz of Blog from Bolivia recently joined Economist Jeffrey Sachs on Radio Open Source regarding the topic: Latin America's New Socialism.
The election of Evo Morales has attracted many eyes on the country of Bolivia.  Even though he does not formally take office until January 22, the three weeks in January will involve a lot of movement that will have a lot of effect on his administration.   Many are looking ahead at inauguration plans.  Miguel Buitrago of MABB summarizes the three different ceremonies, one official and the other two symbolic, that Morales has planned for January 21-22.  Many regional heads of states, international football stars and well-known singers have confirmed their attendance.
Last Friday marked the beginning of a worldwide tour, starting with a visit to the island nation of Cuba.  President Fidel Castro sent a plane to pick up Morales and approximately 75 members of a delegation to visit.  Jaime Humérez Seleme wrote in his blog Boliviscopio that he hoped that the visit to Cuba woud only “contribute to the strengthening of friendship and cooperation between Bolivia and Cuba, leaving out offensive allusions towards  others” and that   “the cordiality in the meeting between Evo and Fidel not be dominated by inneccesary and inopportune declarations”, referring to frequent statements made by Castro and Morales in open defiance of the United States.  Morales has plans to visit Venezuela, Spain, South Africa and Brazil, among other countries over the next 10 days.
As a result of the meeting with Castro, an agreement has been reached for the complete literacy of Bolivia within 30 months.  Jaime C. Rubin de Celis who writes at JCR’s Place thinks that education in Bolivia needs much more than this ambitious plan.  Morales’ MAS has pledged to eliminate the Education Reform Law.  De Celis would rather see a reform of that law, rather than starting from zero.
Others have looked back at the election and their results.  Oswaldo returns from a two month hiatus to reflect on his blog Pensamiento Indio about the role of the Bolivian media during the elections.  In his entry, “The Racist Journalism in Bolivia“, he states that  all of the journalists in print and on the radio were racist towards el Indio, and were surprised by the election of the indigenous Morales. Joaquin Cuevas, who publishes his cartoons in La Vida de Chico Larva, posted several politics-realted drawings.  This entry demonstrates how newly elected Prefect, Manfred Reyes Villa, finally got rid of his old political party.   The second entry shows 2nd-place finisher Tuto Quiroga and the bitter taste of defeat.
Finally a couple of new blogs, including the anonymous Paisano de Elite who makes frequent appearances in the comments section of another Bolivian blog.  He started a blog of the same name, which serves to publish rebuttals to many of the entries written by Shultz’ Blog from Bolivia.
Edgar's Musicantos blog gives an excellent and personal account of how his election day went.  He ran into MAS’ Vice-Presidential candidate Alvaro Garcia Linera, who voted in the same location in the neighborhood of Sopocachi in La Paz.
Upon exiting, I approached Alvaro, firmly squeezed his hand and with a serious look from someone who changed his consistently invalid vote for a valid one, said with a hopeful threat, “Alvaro, don't let us down.”

author: Eduardo Avila


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Trinidad & Tobago: Zoo Visit · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Karen Walrond visits the zoo in Trinidad and posts some gorgeous photos of a few of the residents.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Turkmenistan: Ukraine Gas Negotiations · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia reports that the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute has changed the nature of Ukraine-Turkmenistan gas negotiations.


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Ukraine: Turkmen Gas Deal · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Ukraine has cut a new deal to buy gas from Turkmenistan. The trick, as foreign notes reports, is in how it gets to Ukraine.


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Vietnam: Contributor Birthday · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Tu Van Cong a.k.a. Vietnamese God, our blogger-author in Hanoi, turned 30 on Dec. 30.  Happy birthday!


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Vietnam: Recalled Translations · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Several books translated into Vietnamese, including The Da Vinci Code, have been recalled by the publisher because of gross translation errors. diacritic and Down And Out in Sài Gòn discuss.


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Zimbabwe; Hope in 2006 · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Hope in Zimbabwe in 2006 is the New Year post by This is Zimbabwe who laments on the closing down of fellow Zimbabwean blogger, Abolish the Mugabe Regime……I have signed all my posts on this blog under the pseudonym ‘Hope’, and I guess the fact that I carry on writing for this blog every now and then means that I do still retain hope. But what does ‘hope’ mean?”


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Zimbabwe in 2005 · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Cry Beloved Zimbabwe reveiws the year in Zimbabwe which he describes as Annus  Horribillis…..Amongst the events that made 2005 unbearable for Zimbabweans was the destruction of homes and livelihoods of 2.7 million people during the still ongoing operation murambatsvina (Shona for drive out filth). The split of the only viable opposition in Zimbabwe MDC. Pro-Senate faction throwing away six years of hard work so that they can be part of Mugabe's gravy train.”


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Azerbaijan: Upbeat on NK · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Oneworld Multimedia says that Azerbaijan's president is sounding upbeat about reaching a Nagorno-Karabakh peace deal.


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Bangladesh: About Hinduism · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Sadiq, a Bangladeshi bloggers rounds up thoughts on Hinduism on various blogs.


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Bangladesh: Justice delayed · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The delay in justice seems like a global phenomenon - from Poland to Bangladesh says Adda.


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Best Literary Weblogs 2005 · Global Voices
Iria Puyosa

The Best Literary Weblogs 2005 written in Spanish were selected by the members of Blogueratura, the most important directory of literary blogs in Spanish. The directory registers 769 blogs from different Latin American countries, as well as Spain.
The award first edition winner was Ánima dispersa, written by Mexican writer, Alberto Chimal. It was an excellent goodbye for this blog, which stopped being updated last December. Chimal opens 2006 with a new blog, Las historias, entirely devoted to short stories.
Second most voted was Enigmatario, which chronicles news from somewhat unusual viewpoints.
El Lamento de Portnoy won the third prize. Don’t miss this excellent Spaniard weblog featuring in-depth reviews and clever critiques of contemporary films and novels.

author: Iria Puyosa


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Caribbean: CARICOM and ICT · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Jacqueline Morris links to a Jamaica Observer article about moves being made by the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) toward greater implementation of ICT in the region. She's especially pleased that CARICOM's plan seems to acknowledge “the efforts of the civil society in the region and expresse[s] support for the multistakeholder appproach that was successfully implemented in the WGIG and moderately successful in the WSIS”.


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Chile: Podcast on Elections, Pension System · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Bicyclemark talks with Chile-based American blogger, Brad of Willing Warrior about the second round of Chile's presidential elections as well as the country's controversial private pension system.


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China: Beijing News · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

More on media crackdowns in China: Letters from China has been following the uproar on the heels of the sacking of the editor of feisty tabloid Beijing News, including ongoing coverage of one possible victim, blogger Michael Anti, who supported the tabloid and who MSN Spaces recently shut down. Rebecca MacKinnon has more details about Microsoft v. Anti.


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China: Livable Cities · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Wondering which cities in China are the most livable? The China Daily has a list.  Chinochano proudly lists them online (ES); the number 1 city is where his significant other hails from.  Sinosplice has his own reaction.


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DRC: referendum untruths · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

15 fun tidbits on the Congolese referendum.… 007 in Africa lists 15 “wholly untrue tid bits from various new sources”….1) Most people have not had enough information on the ConstitutionSource: Colleagues and friends… (2) The Diamond-rich city of Mbuji-Mayi only has one copy of the Constitution Source: Colleagues and friends……….


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Ethiopia: Meles lives in fear · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Ethiopian blog, Satisfy My Soul, writes an extensive piece on the tryanny of Meles Zenawi which is forcing him to live in fear.... going to the bathroom has become a perilous journey; eating has become a task only imaginable in  Fear Factor and when it is time to leave his fortressed office and palace, the road of Addis Ababa become the river of Styx.”


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From the Nigerian Blogosphere · Global Voices
kayode

As we experience the beginning of the new year, 2006, the Nigerian blogosphere's presents itself with new appearances that not only shows an impressive way forward, but also reveals the progressive and continuous awareness which is quiet commendable.
This year presents itself with an old but newly surfaced political blogger with alias Basket Mouth and a blog named “Nigerian Politics“, in his post titledRotational Presidency He expresses his concerns saying:
“I have watched with dismay and distraught the polemics and arcane logic the various political leaders and interest groups have put forth to support their clamor for power (especifically the presidency) to be rotated, and for the presidency to remain in the south after 2007.”
He continues
“This notion is obviously based on the premise that there are gains that will accrue to the region from which the president originates.”
and argues that:
“it reduces the status and import of the presidency and likens it to a regional or fractional one. It presumes, and perhaps even prescribes that the president holds the interests of his or her region above national interests. The presidency in its true essence prescribes that the president holds national interests above all else. That means the president is supposed to be impartial to the various interest groups and stake holders who collectively make up the Nigerian body politic over which he or she presides.”
Meanwhile CyBlug wishes and commends , a very active Nigerian reporter “Omoyele”,  from elendureports.com, as he departs, as he writes:
“We wish him good luck in all his endevours and regardless , collectively all these guys are making a positive impact  on the Nigerian Blogosphere, Internet journalism and  the general consciousness of people both in and outside Nigeria .”
Nnneka at Confessions of the mind clocks 25 and writes:
“ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! IM QUARTER OF A CENTURY OLD AND IM IN WORK!!!!!”.
Black Looks reveals her interest in football as she wishes her readers, a happy new  year. In her post titled “African Football” she discusses the impact the African Cup of Nations has on European football and the tricks managers and players come up with to avoid participation.
Teams try and find ways to either  cut down on the amount of time their players spend training with the national team or prevent them from participating altogether.
She concludes that
“Its a sad day for African football when players who play in Europe do not want to participate in their continents greatest football prize. “
Meanwhile Gbenga Sesan at Oro in his post title “The Humour of Preparation and Opportunities” asks whether it is too late for a new year greeting.  He encourages readers to download and read an article he promised last  to share last December.
“Is it too late to wish you a Happy New Year? My last words last year in this space included a promise to make my December 30 presentation available… Please feel free to download and read Where Are You: Positioning You for Personal Development, Nation Building and Global Competitiveness.”
Henry Ekwuruke's  asks whether Poverty is African? as he ponders:
“Why do we think being poor is an African phenomenon? Six months ago, the overly hyped Live8 concert, the G8 summit in Gleneagles and a euphoric Western media dramatised Africa as the “face of poverty”. Everyone went home with a sense of magnanimity and selflessness. But did they get the full picture? Regina Jere-Malanda looks at the philanthropic stunts of 2005, and scrutinises the pauperisation of Africa. She asks: Is poverty peculiarly African, and what lies beneath it? What does it really mean? Living on a dollar a day? Really?”
Nigerian scammers aka “Yahoo Yahoo” or “419” stories continue to make the rounds and there is now a site dedicated to eliminating the menance called the  Nigerian Anti-Scam Network. Their brief:
Nigerian Anti-Scam Network’ is a movement that is composed of patriotic Nigerians who are concerned about ending the menace that online scam and othe cybercrime has become to our nation. We are not an NGO and we have no list of members.   This is a movement of those who want to do the little that they can to rid society of one of its ills, nothing more. We send our ideas to one of our member sites and reveal information on the evils being perpetrated in our society. We have no mandate to arrest or prosecute anyone; we aim basically to expose the supporters and perpetrators of these crimes on our online messageboards so that people who are desirous of information can have a place where they can do a spot-check and thus avoid being spammed. Many foreigners have anti-scam sites that are little more than anti-Nigeria sites. We are Nigerians and as such we believe that we can give a more balanced opinion.
Orikinla Osinachi of the Nigerian Times posts a rejoineder to an article published in the Miami Hearld titled “Nigerian scam grabs dollars of gullible”.  He concedes that greed is largely responsible  but also blames the CIA, FBI and Interpol for failing to “arrest and investigate the criminals.”
the perpetrators could be traced. They could be traced through their telephones lines and also could be traced to the cyber cafes used by the Nigerian Internet Scammers through their Yahoo or Hotmail accounts. The IP IDs of the computers are not hidden.
He concludes that the scams could be stopped once and for all if Americans and Europeans stop being greedy and the CIA do their job properly.
Literary blogger, Molara Wood posts the Nigerian Writers Choice on the best books of 2005: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Victor Ehikhamenor,  Tade Ipadeola, Uche Nduka, Wole Oguntokun, Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu, Femi Osofisan,

author: kayode


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Guyana: Dressing for the press · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

MediaCritic follows his scathing critique of Guyanese President Bharat's Jagdeo's attire during a recent press briefing with a selection of photos of other world leaders facing the press.  Among those appearing in MediaCritic's photo gallery are Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Cuba's Fidel Castro and Nigerian President Olusegan Obasanjo.


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India: All that affection · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Recently, some couples in a park – merely sitting found themselves being beaten up by the cops. Vikrum compares his experiences of public display of affection in India and Latin America, while Amardeep attempts to draw parallels with American conservatism. Another blogger states that we need to give India more time to grow out of years of a different mindset.


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India: Over bones · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A mostly non-issue between a Communist Member of Parliament and a Godman – over the presence of animal tissue in certain medicines sold by the latter has caught the fancy of the media, and effigy-burners. The Writing Cave on the kinds of of non-issues given preference by the media and society, and how real issues are ignored.


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Kenya: Foucault, Nietzsche etc · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

African Bullets and Honey posts an email conversation with a friend “Some Email Considerations on the African Bush and its European Saviour”... ………”Below are some emails that I exchanged with one of my closest friends (PK) just after reading James Miller's great essay, ‘Carnivals of Atrocity: Foucault, Nietzsche, Cruelty,’ (in Political Theory, Vol. 18, #3, August, 1990.)”


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Kenya: Kyoto Treaty · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

What good is the Kyoto Treaty really? Curious presents the argument that the Kyoto treaty is not the problem.  The problem is how it will be used…”Kyoto treaty will not be the cause of the hindrance to economic growth in poor countries, but it will be the mechanism through which the personal agenda of developed nations will hide behind an emission law when it suits them, a move that will stifle the attempts of poor countries to break away from poverty following an economic development path similar to most western nations.”


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Malaysia: Covering Coverage of Black Metal · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Malaysia's Centre for Independent Journalism has started a blog documenting the local media's coverage of a controversial police raid on a “Black Metal” concert in Kuala Lumpur.  Religious and political authorities have alleged immoral influences and drugs as reasons for the crackdown.


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Mexico: “Ponerle Cuernos” to President Fox · Global Voices
David Sasaki

With glee, AnimalPolitico documents the “putting of the horns” to President Vicente Fox (ES). The quality of the president's penalty kick is also called into question.


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Nepal: Politics and Maoists · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Blogdai reflects on politics in Nepal - the Maoists, the political parties and why Amnesty International is leaving Nepal alone for the moment.


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Nepal: What is the army upto? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday stated that their inspection of two Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) barracks in Kathmandu revealed that the barracks had 14 detainees says Legal News From Nepal.


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Nigeria: Africa is normal · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Teju Cole blogs about his 4 week return to Nigeria… Here he points out that, surprise surprise, Africa is normal……..”The most important thing to know about Africa is that it is normal. But no one who depends on American media for information can come away with this impression.”


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Nigeria: Aviation industry · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Chippla continues his discussion on Nigeria's aviation industry and responds to a commenter who accuses him of “presenting “extremely libelous” information that contained “factual inaccuracies.”


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Nigeria: Death in Jos · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Kid's Doc in Jos writes about the death of the four year old son of his friends in Jos…”Our own questions are mostly unspoken. As the speaker, Dr Danny McCain, said, many of these “why?” questions will never be answered for us, at least not in this life. But, he continued, we do have hope, made a certainty by Christ’s victory over death”


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Panama: Colon City · Global Voices
David Sasaki

After having liveded in Panama City for 8 years, Leon Kadoch headed back to his hometown of Colon and wasn't happy with what he saw.


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Philippines: Talking Head · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

David Byrne of the Talking Heads has written a long, reflective and perceptive portrait of the Philippines.  He recently visited Manila and the birthplaces of the Marcoses on a research trip for his planned musical on Imelda Marcos: “Here Lies Love.”


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Poland: Purges · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

the beatroot reports on the new Polish government's recall of 10 ambassadors as part of a purge of officials with connections to the communist-era security services or the Communist Party.


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Poland: Satan Offensive · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

the beatroot reports on a case in Polish courts in which a television producer is facing charges connected to a 2004 broadcast of a concert by Norwegian metal band Gorgoroth featuring Satanic imagery. The band had also faced the “religious offense” charges, but courts have dropped the case against them.


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Singapore: Kidney Fund Scandal · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Big in the Singapore blogosphere is continuing discussion over the National Kidney Fund, a popular and large local charity that had been plagued by scandal since the middle of last year.  The discussion was reinvigorated by an auditors’ report that recently revealed the NKF had used only an average of 10 cents for every Singapore dollar it received for actual patient subsidies.  There are a lot of posts on the topic.  See Diary of a Lucky Singaporean, Cry Freedom and Yawning Bread for a sample.


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South Africa: Colour bar in local hotel? · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

The Fish Bowl questions South African politician   Patricia de Lille (leader of the Independent Democrats) assertion that racism was behind her refused entry into an international hotel in Cape Town.…..”Call me cynical, but this just seems like another one of De Lille's publicity antics, and I doubt that it will help her party to regain any of its former lustre”.


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Sri Lanka: Disaster Mitigation · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

LIRNEasia has details of a project they are undertaking a project to provide disaster mitigation training and last-mile connectivity to tsunami-affected villages along the coast of Sri Lanka.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Soca Soccer · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

De Cooler : Soca News links to an online flash game called Soca Soccer inspired  by the Soca Warriors, Trinidad & Tobago's football team, who make their debut at the World Cup in Germany this summer.


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Turkmenistan: Coming Out On Top · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Peter at neweurasia says that the onlooker, Turkmenistan, appears to be the winner in the dispute between Ukraine and Russia over gas. He says they apparently have figured out how to sell the same gas to two buyers.


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Ukraine: Winners and Losers · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

foreign notes discusses who won and who lost in the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute.


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Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago: Poet Rafael Cadenas · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Guillermo Juan Parra announces the end of his Antología blog, which contains his translations of various Venezuelan poets. He says the 12 posts will serve as a skeleton for a print anthology of 20th century Venezuelan poetry. This last month features poet Rafael Cadenas while he was living in Trinidad after “having been expeled from Venezuela for his opposition to the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez.”


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Zimbabwe: African leaders criticise Mugabe · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Yebo Gogo comments that finally African leaders are speaking out against Mugabe….”The report (Lonodn Guardian) says “the continuing violations and the deterioration of the human rights situation in Zimbabwe, the lack of respect for the rule of law and the growing culture of impunity.”


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Africa: Aid & NGOs · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Africa Unchained asks what exactly NGOs are trying to achieve? “If the purpose of aid work is to diminish poverty, the past decade looks like a dramatic failure.”


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American Tableaux Manners Egyptian Style · Global Voices
Karim Elsahy

Danial Varisco, Chair of the Anthropology Department at Hofstra University and author of “Tabsir:  Insight on Islam and the Middle East” has a very interesting post on “American Tableaux Manners Egyptian Style”

author: Karim Elsahy


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Argentina: The state of the Argentine blogosphere · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Toutatis attempts to sum up the state of the Argentine blogosphere, which he refers to as “young and not sure where it’s headed.” In an addendum, he adds Hernán Cascieri's blog-novel, Mujer Gorda, which was selected as best weblog in the BOB's.


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Armenia: Scandal Rings in the New Year · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian writes on Armenian politics and the scandal that has rung in the new year.


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Aruba: The funeral as tourist attraction · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Arubagirl finds it “icky” when tourists snap photos of a funeral party outside a local church.


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Azerbaijan: Avian Flu Worries · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Casti of In Pursuit of Nirvana is worried about avian flu in Azerbaijan on the heels of the news of deaths from the disease in Turkey and massive numbers of deaths of farm birds in southern Azerbaijan.


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Bahrain: Anon Blogs · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Anonymity and credibility of blogs seems to be the ‘hot topic of the day‘ around some of the Arab blogsphere blogs.


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Bangladesh: Expat an OBE · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Unheard Voices on Dr Nazia Khanum, an expatriate Bangladeshi, being awarded the OBE recently for her services to community relations and to equal opportunities in Luton.


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Bangladesh: The whole point · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Carrying forward Mezba's post on Hajj, Rezwan on the concept of Hajj given the pre-conditions, and why people insist on going more than just once.


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Bolivia: Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Eduardo Ávila has two photos of posters demanding justice be brought against former president, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada. Jim Shultz wants to know what is behind the New York Times’ spin on Evo Morales visit to Spain.


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Bolivia, Venezuela: “Where is Washington’s Counter-Offer?” · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Adam Isacson compares what the U.S. has offered Evo Morales in aid and assistance compared to the offer of Hugo Chavez's Venezuela and concludes that the United States is making a foreign affairs folly by not embracing Morales’ moderate side.


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Brazil: Alcântara Island · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Andrew of Comings Communiqué recounts his visit to the island of Alcântara, off the the coast of São Luís.


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Bulgaria: No to Gazprom · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

With Bulgaria refusing to pay higher prices to Gazprom, Veronica Khokhlova wonders why no on in Russia is accusing them of lies and thievery..


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Colombia: Binational Relationships · Global Voices
David Sasaki

“WorldCitizen” generates a lively response on the Poor But Happy forums when she voices her problems with common stereotypes of binational relationships between Caucasian men and Colombian women.


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Costa Rica: International Observers Called to Elections · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Costa Rica Blogs says that 110 – 120 international observers will be on hand during the February 5th elections.


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Egypt: Egypt film tackles thorny issues of sex · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

An egyptian movie that shows a man and a veiled woman making out on a bus is causing all kinds of contreversy, the Sandmonkey of egypt said.


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Egypt: The Massacre of the Sudanese Refugees · Global Voices
Mostafa Hussein

Photo by Nora.
The tragic and bloody end of the Sudanese sit-in is still the main discussion topic in the Egyptian blogosphere. It is another brutal police action that I can't keep on saying that it proves to us that Egypt is living in a brainless police state. Egypt is living in a police state and this is yet another tragedy created by the goons in this regime. It is a regime that has no respect for anyone, its own citizens or some powerless refugees.
Nora Younis
Nora's amazing account with pictures is a must read and can not be summarized here. You have to read it fully.
Nora collects several press clippings about the event. And several eye witness reports.
Debunking lies by Egyptian State Media
Mohamed reminds us that every time security forces uses unjustified force and brutality, the national newspapers tries to cover up and twists the facts.
While Ta3zeeb responds to every lie spread in the media and newspapers.
The Egyptian prime minister will not apologize over the incident and he visited the injured police men only. While the Sudanese government thanks Egypt for exercising patience for so long.
Photos
Egyptian Conscience posts a large collection of photos by media and other sources. While here are some photos before the massacre by Elijah and Youssef.
Questions
R asks if the image of Egypt is more important than the lives of the Sudanese refugees ? He asks this after the Muslim Brotherhood MPs insisted on questioning the government over its actions that damaged the image of Egypt internationally.
Outrage
Two demonstrations were organized on the 31 of December in the same place the killings occurred.Yesterday a group of bloggers organized a protest. They want to stand against the incident every Thursday.
Independent media, human rights groups, the opposition, international media and international groups are asking for an independent investigation. Including Sudanese nationals in Washington D.C.
Relief
I am ashamed to say this, but over some blog comments and other few bloggers did express that they were glad that the refugees were moved from such a prominent residential area. However, they didn't approve the killings.
New Cabinet
Elijah reports on the tragedy and the recent cabinet reshuffle.
TortureInEgypt.net
A new blog that monitors and reports incidents of torture in Egypt. It covered the massacre of the refugees in depth. The blog is in Arabic.

author: Mostafa Hussein


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El Salvador: Pirated CD Vendors Protest New Law · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Both Tim and Salvador Canjura blog about the street protests by pirated CD vendors against a new CAFTA-related law, which brings tougher enforcement and punishments against vendors of copyright-infringed products. El Diario de Hoy has photos.


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From the Ethiopian Blogosphere · Global Voices
Andrew Heavens

Ethiopia’s growing band of bloggers continued to pile coals on to the heads of their political leaders as 2005 turned into 2006.
The country has been in the headlines for a number of reasons over the past few weeks with worrying signs of “pre-famine conditions” in its southern Somali region and rumblings of renewed conflict across its northern border with Eritrea. But the story that continues to dominate the Ethiopian blogosphere is the aftermath of the country's controversial May 2005 national elections. Thousands of people were arrested after crowds took to the streets in June and November claiming the poll had been fixed. At least 82 people were killed in clashes with armed police and soldiers. (See past Global Voices entries here and here.) Opposition leaders, journalists and alleged rioters are currently in jail, awaiting trial on charges that include treason and attempted genocide.
Weichegud! ET Politics led the blogging charge with an assault on Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi who, in the past, was seen as one of Africa's more cerebral leaders.
Before I go any further let me say that I hope 2006 will be the year we finally decipher why sycophants such as Jeffrey Sachs have been so smitten by the unsmoldering intellectualism of Prime Minister Meles and his entourage of solecistic courtiers. Let the choir say ‘amen’.
To hear Sachs talk, Ato Meles is nothing short of Aristotle wrapped in Adam Smith, wrapped in the irresistible cute cuddliness of that lisping four-year-old in Jerry Maguire.
I just don’t get it. When finally pushed into a corner, Ato Meles made a complete fool of himself by writing a vay-wee skittish three-part response to the EU-EOM report about the not so free and fair Ethiopian elections. Oh, that response. So giddy and illiterate in ways we cannot start counting.
Other bloggers sharpening their satirical spurs included Redeem Ethiopia, who focused on Zenawi's recent televised claim that Ethiopia “deserved aid”, and EthioPundit who quotes Tony Montana in Scarface at the head of his take on Ethiopian corruption.
AddisFerengi was among the bloggers who took on the news agencies at their own game with a running commentary on the court appearances, clashes and rumours-of-clashes. ET Blogs & Diaries was one of a number of blogs to post photos that appeared to show soldiers rounding up schoolchildren.
Others focused on the daily tension on the streets of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa and the ever-present rumours of further protests and arrests. According to Satisfy My Soul (Ego):
Meles has taken fear to a new level…Attending public gatherings is not an option; the people could be infested with a plague that transmits through eye contact. The amount of solders stationed on his path makes the city look like the buffer zone between Ethiopia  and Eritrea  in times of economic crisis. For his safety, cars get rerouted to unknown destinations and pedestrians get whooshed off the street like flies at GirGiro’s butchery. In Meles’ world children can’t be trusted with flags and flowers.  Those items can easily be used as fatal weapons in the hands of the  right kid.
According to Carpe Diem Ethiopia
A sense of doom pervades in the city—smiles are rare and even the goofy guards at the Hilton have lost their arm-trembling salutes…
I heard the government’s charges against the detained CUDites [CUD is the main opposition coalition – Ed] and others at a café not too far from the Posta Bet area where I had ventured to buy a couple of last minute gifts. The ETV report caught me offguard but it suddenly made sense why all the chairs faced the television set. The hush that settled in the smoky joint after the charges were read spoke volumes of the stress Addis Ababans are under.
Leaving politics to one side, Things We Should Have Written Down discovered the joys of raw meat – “Can’t wait for the blog where you tell us all about ’seeing kosso’,” writes one of his commenters referring to the traditional treatment for the tapeworms that often accompany that particular dish.
And Aqumada, the blog of a diaspora Ethiopian in the US, shared the pain of being an “intellectual negro who goes to a blood-red Republican state in search of a job”. First interview question: So what do you Ethiopians think of us Americans?…

author: Andrew Heavens


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Ghana: Dodgy water company · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

The Trials and Tribulations of  a Freshly Arrived Denzian has a rant over  Accra's water supply and the South African/Dutch  water company brought in to manage Ghana's water supply.


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Guatemala: Mining, the World Bank and Wolfowitz · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Rob Mercatante posts a press release by the Colectivo Ecologista MadreSelva on a meeting between World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz and a delegation of indigenous people affected by the Glamis Gold mine in San Marcos. Mercatante has written previously about the mine.


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Honduras: Conference on Honduras 2006 · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Honduras Daily News covers the Conference on Honduras 2006 to be held at the Copan Ruins. You can find out more about the Archaeological Park at the Copan Ruins Blog.


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Iran: Free Strike Leader! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Paiz (Persian), Nederlands based blogger, ICFTU (international confederation of free trade unions) wrote a letter to Iranian President to protest against the continued detention of the leader of the Syndicate Mansour Osanloo. It has also been reported that 1500 Sherkate Vahed (Tehran's Bus compnay) workers signed a petition for his release.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: More Filtering! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Hoder, Toronto based blogger, filtering Iranian sites and blogs have become more efficient. Hoder's visitors, from Iran, dropped from 40% to 13% of total number of visitors. (Persian)


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Jamaica: Maroon festival · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Caribbean Beat Blog notes that the Accompong Maroon Festival is being celebrated today in Jamaica. The maroons are “the descendants of slaves who were freed by the Spanish and fled to Jamaica's untouched South Coast in the pursuit of freedom, and who live there to this day.”


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Jordan: Arabic blogging revolution: made in Jordan · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Ahmad Humeid says, as the usage of the internet keeps growing in the Arab world, and as a new generation of users who grew up with the net becomes more vocal, blogging and other forms of self expression will continue to grow in importance. And we Jordanians will be there to power it all on our platforms.


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Jordan: Who is dead? · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

I wonder how does one go about prioritizing who gets the #1 headliner spot? Is it based on the most amount of people dead? Or most important death? I know if I die today I won’t be seeing my face on the BBC or CNN website. But if I were important enough then maybe I could get the spot, Nas said.


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Kazakhstan: New National Anthem · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Kazakhstan is getting a new national anthem. It's an old tune with new words supplied by the president. You can listen to the song at neweurasia.


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Kenya: Un-affirmative action · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Bankelele comments on the affirmative action programme that enables rural children to enter schools with lower scores than their urban peers. Parents of urban children are now considering allowing their kids to take their exams in the rural areas thereby ensuring them places at “coveted national schools”


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Kyrgyzstan: Besh Barmak · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

The Golden Road to Samarqand discusses besh barmak (“five fingers”), the Kyrgyz national dish, offering a recipe and detailing customs surrounding the dish.


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Latin America: Public Affection · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Inspired by Somini Sengupta's New York Times article, Is Public Romance a Right?, Vikrum Sequeira compares societal attitudes towards public affection in India and Latin America.


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Mexico: Post-Wilma Weblog · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Steve Bridger has started a new blog, afterwilma.info in order to document the reconstruction process taking place in Cancún and the Riviera Maya. He explains what inspired the blog on the about page.


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Music from SA & Benin · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Music blog, Benn loxo du taccu posts some music from Benin by Gangbé Brass Band and some Elvis imitation from South Africa.


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Nepal: Out-Manouvering · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

While the Maoists have gained considerable ground, Samudaya.org points out two crucial factors that are potentially their weakest links when it comes to recruitment – and how the Maoists can be out-manouvered socialistically.


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Nepal: Transit Treaty · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Legal News from Nepal reports on the extension of the Transit Treaty by three months between India and Nepal, despite the fact that it was up for an automatic renewal.


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Nigeria: census 2006 · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Grandiose Parlour comments on the upcoming Nigerian Census – despite having 4 census over the past 50 years, the population of Nigeria is still a mystery!   “The 2006 census will be an acid test for Nigerians, if we can successfully conduct the census and able to demonstrate agreement between 2006 and 1991 census figures, then Nigeria has come a long way as a nation.”


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Nigeria: Lagos State bans street traders · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Naijablog reports on the banning of street trading by the Lagos State Government which he describes as another “outburst of fantasy politics.” He asks:  “Where are these people supposed to go? How are they supposed to find an alternative means of living? No doubt a certain percentage will be forced to turn to crime, armed robbery etc. in a city which has security issues already”


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No Longer a Bridge to Caracas · Global Voices
Iria Puyosa

This graphic links to a study developed by Cecal-ULA (a research center at the Universidad de Los Andes in Venezuela) on the likelihood of the collapse of Viaduct 1 and how the problem could be solved before the road falls down.
Yesterday at 7 in the morning, the Viaduct 1 collapsed, and the government announced that it would remain closed for the rest of the year.  For nearly 50 years, that road connected Caracas (Venezuela’s capital) to the coastline, the country's main airport, and the second largest port (35% of imported goods enter througt it). Some airlines are shifting their flights to the smaller Valencia airport (a little more than two hours by highway from Caracas), while maritime traffic is going through Puerto Cabello.
Venezuelan bloggers are buzzing about this event, which is seen as an economical catastrophe for the country. The government official statement indicates that the bridge collapsed because rainfall within the last week.  Venezuelans received such a statement with emotional reactions going from relentless laughter to anger, since the disaster had been announced long ago. The first study reporting landslides affecting the viaduct structure was published on 1987, and experts have been advising the building of an alternate route, and the closing of this highway for major maintenance works since at least 2000. Rodolfo Rico highlights the cynicism of vice-President Rangel’s remarking on the government’s unawareness about the risk of the viaduct collapsing, and reports Google search results on the issue.
Bloggers were talking about the eminence of the Viaduct collapse during all 2005. Early on December, Unoconto was crunching numbers on how much it would cost to solve the Caracas-La Guaira highway problem, and RomRod asked the Niño Jesús (Child Jesus Christ) to give him a new Viaduct as Christmas gift.  Sadly, it looks like the Niño Jesús was not reading Venezuelan blogs, neither were government officers.
Houses located in the extremely poor neighborhoods surrounding the Caracas-La Guaira highway are also at risk. Pro-Chávez blog Aporrea reports government announces about relocation options for people living there: either buying a house elsewhere, or moving to a refugee center


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Sierra Leone: refugee band · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

The Refugee All Star Band was formed by Sierra Leone refugees living in a camp in neighbouring Guinea.  SoundRoots reports that the band who toured other refugee camps has now released an album “Living like a refugee”.


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South AFrica: AIDS orphans · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Mzansi Afrika reports on an orphanage in Soweto for children whose parents have died of AIDS.  She challenges the South African and world  community to think beyond the “days of public awareness” such as World AIDS Day…”There seems to be a tendency for people in our community to show their generosity to orphans when it's convenient and then to forget them when they are too busy or it doesn't suit them.”


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Sri Lanka: Children and Education · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Lankabuzz on the state of Education on Sri Lanka and the pressure on school children with long hours and heavy tuition fees.


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Sri Lanka: University Politics · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Tamiliana on “Jaffna University or Yarlpanap Palgalaikkazhagham has become a volatile flashpoint of tension in the on going conflict between security personnel of the state and the younger generation of the district. “


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Tajikistan: Year in Review · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

James of neweurasia reviews 2005 in Tajikistan.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Cronyism · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Cronyism is nothing new, says Taran Rampersad, commenting on the furore surrounding FIFA Vice President and adviser to the Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation Jack Warner's alleged hogging of tickets for matches in the 2006 World Cup.


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Ukraine: Gas Deal Not Bad · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Orange Ukraine says that the new gas deal between Russia and Ukraine is not bad, and breaks down the good and bad in it.


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United Arab Emirates: A new era · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

UAE women are increasingly out, educated and employed, and likewise their most senior figurehead, the Secret Dubai said.


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Venezuela: Caracas La Guaira Highway Closed · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Both Miguel Octavio and Caracas Chronicles cover the closure of Caracas La Guaira highway because of the potential of a viaduct collapsing.


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Zimbabwe: Disgraceful Bishop · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

This is Zimbabwe comments on the corrupt activities of the Bishop of Harare, a supporter of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. “In short, the conduct of this delinquent bishop raises very serious questions for the Anglican Church. Given that the incitement to murder and other charges against Kunonga have now been dropped by the ecclesiastical courts, and without satisfactory explanation, the question is what other steps may be taken in to rein in such a church leader who is clearly abusing his powers shamelessly for his own personal advantage.”


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Zimbabwe & the African Union · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Black Star Journal comments on the African Union finally taking a stance against Mugabe's government…”Last month, the African Commission on Human and People's Rights adopted a resolution denouncing the lamentable human rights’ situation in Zimbabwe.”


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Blogging in Exile · Global Voices
David Sasaki

For some reasons that I don’t pretend to know, a disproportionate amount of the most well-known bloggers are people who have abandoned their nations of origin in search of new horizons.  Venezuelans in New York, Americans in Madrid, Ecuadorians in Mexico, Argentines in Barcelona, Spaniards in Montevideo, just to mention a few.  And although I’ve already said that I don’t claim to know the reasons, this is no obstacle for me—as a good blogger—to propose a few crazy theories to try to pass the time.
If there is a correlation, there are three possible scenarios: exile is the result of blogs, blogs are the result of exile, blogs and exile are results of some other factor.  (Those most knowledgeable about statistics will realize that I have omitted the possibility that there is no correlation at all.  Those people are not able to see the irony inherent in this article or the absolute lack of scientific methodology despite the pseudo formal tone, and we are not going to pay attention to them.)
For many, blogs have become the door to the rest of the world.  In writing a blog, you are inviting other people to know your life, and it is inevitable that this sentiment will be reciprocated.  You ultimately read others’ blogs and discover their lives in other places.  When you write something complaining about the public transportation in your city someone inevitably leaves a comment that could be summarized as “life is better in my city.”  In the end, it becomes impossible for you to ignore the pressure, and you begin to feel curious about the world beyond your street, and without realizing it, some months later you’ll be moving to the other side of the ocean.
Others, however, were already curious before starting their blogs.  Many moved first and then began to write.  In the solitude of a new and strange city, blogs become the virtual connection to old friends, to family, to known places.  Even those who are enjoying their new life find in blogs the perfect tool to maintain relationships with all the people back home.  It’s not necessary to spend hours on the phone explaining to Mom how the new apartment is, only to then do the same with your uncle and later your old friend.  You can simply put it in a blog and enjoy all the time you’ve saved going for beers at the café on the corner.
Maybe there is no causal relationship.  Maybe blogging and exile are both results of some other factor.  Maybe we blog to discover and we travel for the same reason.  Maybe the same mental state that brings us to write about the weather or what we ate for breakfast is to blame for stimulating the enterprising desire to live in another country.
But after so much analysis I’ve arrived at a theory that maybe everyone won’t accept as valid, but if they leave behind their pride and look within themselves they will realize it is true.  I believe that all bloggers living abroad leave in search of new destinations simply to have something to blog about, and because there is no better way to get new links than to make new friends in a new city.  I dare to claim that bloggers immigrate abroad in search of new posts and a better page rank.
Latin Americans Blogging From Abroad:
Iria Puyosa: Venezuela -> U.S.A.
Vicente Ulive-Schnell: Venezuela -> France
Tiempo Conjugado: Peru -> U.S.A.
La Otra Orilla: Panama -> Israel
Marie Aiden: Costa Rica -> Netherlands
José Luis Orihuela: Argentina -> Spain
K-Minos: Venezuela -> Bangladesh
Martin Varsavsky: Argentina -> Spain
Día a día: Colombia + Venezuela -> Bangladesh
Julio Sueco: Mexico + U.S.A -> Sweden
Argenautas: Argentina -> Worldwide
Jonathan Molea: Venezuela -> Nigeria
Chilenos en Alemania: Chile -> Germany
Álvaro Ramírez Ospina: Colombia -> Norway
Afrael: Venezuela -> U.S.A
Juliana Forero: Colombia -> U.S.A.
Gedanken Bilingual: Venezuela -> Germany
Diego Sarraseca: Argentina -> U.S.A.
Rayas y Palabras: Venezuela -> Spain
Strolling Luna: Mexico -> U.S.A.
Almada de Noche: Bolivia -> France
Eduardo Arcos: Ecuador -> Mexico


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Cambodia: New Food Blog · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Cambodia contributor Beth Kanter says: “Oh my god, a Cambodian food blog.”  The tasty-looking blog's name is Phnomenon.


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Cambodia: Reaction to Human Rights Activists’ Arrest · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Seserak, a Cambodian student studying in Japan, adds his voice to those criticizing the New Year's arrest of two local human rights activists by his government. “It is much more worrisome to think that the young democracy in Cambodia is dying; that the Cambodian government has deliberately chosen to walk on the wrong track; and that it prefers the authoritarian political system instead.”


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China: More Reactions to Microsoft’s Censorship · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Bingfeng Teahouse adds his thoughts to Microsoft's shutdown of Michael Anti's blogs in China.  “in my opinion, msn just did what a foreign company should do in a media environment like china's, it was absolutely a correct business decision to remove a-n-t-i's blog, with the price of suspicions of its ethical standards in exchange for eliminating the risk of the whole business operations in china.”


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Cooking up the World! · Global Voices
Melissa De León

How many people that are lactose-intolerant do you know? Well, I have good news for them: “Raw Milk”. Verdant San Francisco tells us his story about how he became vegan trying to find an answer to his problem, and how now, after 10 years without drinking milk, he becomes a big fan of raw dairy products. Very interesting!
Tepin Peppers: a Habanero killer? You probably have never heard of the Tepin pepper, and probably would disagree that these tiny peppers could rival the heat of the Habanero or Scotch Bonnet. If you  want to know more about this little hot devil, take a moment to visit the Hot Sauce Blog and learn from Adam who actually bears a PhD in Artes Picantes. Good for him!
Looking for some neat New Year's resolutions? How good is your “chopstick etiquette“? Cha Xio Bao tell us how to achieve this task. For example, did you know that while it is perfectly appropriate to put food into your mouth with chopsticks; it is flat-out impolite to lick your chopsticks before you use them? Following his simple and intelligent suggestions, you will get to be the queen or king operating those chopsticks, just like the pros!
Striving for perfection? Are you so afraid of not doing things perfectly, that at the end you do nothing? In this almost philosophical post, Zarah Maria from “Food & Thoughts” resuscitates her blog sharing a fantastic recipe to prepare Panna Cotta with Pomegranates. Yum!
Have you ever prepared “Portuguese Egg Tarts”? Are you still having those recurrent nightmares about your puff pastry not puffing up? The girls from the Just Heavenly blog: Swee San, YeeMei & Melisa, share their secrets and recipes with very nice step by step photos, to help you prepare the perfect “Apple Strudel” with a puff pastry made from scratch, and the traditionally delicious “Portuguese Egg Tarts“.
From my Rasoi: A call to all Indian food lovers!, is projected to be one of the most popular food blog events this year. Rasoi is what you call a “kitchen” in Hindi. And Meena, from Hooked on Heat, would really like you to get into your rasoi and get inspired to cook delicious Indian dishes. India is one of the largest countries in the world; there are endless styles of cuisine there. Visit Meena's official announcement to learn about the details of this monthly event, and get going!
Voting begins for the 2005 Food Blog Awards! Head over to Kate's Accidental Hedonist blog and support your favorite food bloggers. This is actually the second time this event takes place, and is well known as a promoter and motivational starting-point for new blogs written by food lovers and professionals from the food industry.
“Of Cookbooks and Recipe Theft” is a very interesting article by Juliette Rossant from the SuperChef blog. It is a particularly interesting story about intellectual property, given our attention recently to the blogging of food images, namely the theft of recipes in cookbooks. While the culinary blogosphere expands, we face the problem of many copyrighted recipes, and stock images being published by food bloggers as theirs in their blogs.
Are you still looking for the perfect recipe to prepare scrumptious pepper jelly? Tania in Canada, from the CandiedQuince blog, shares her story and an incredibly easy recipe to prepare “Sweet Orange Pepper Jelly“. She describes her creation as being “…both a little bit sweet (from the orange) and a little bit tart (from the vinegar), with a lovely orange flavor that complements the red pepper's sweetness. It´s delicious with cream cheese on crackers, but I can only imagine how well it would pair with a sharp cheddar, a crumbly Stilton, or a mellow nutty oka.”
Chika in Japan, the talented girl behind the “She Who Eats” blog, presents a gorgeous way to start the 2006:  “First bake of the year, with a a bit of Japanese touch and accidents“. Which cake would you bake to mark a glorious beginning of the 2006?  Chika chose a Black Pearl Layer Cake, with a twist consisting of ginger and wasabi, her personal touch. The result, well…you´ve got to visit her blog and see it with your own eyes. I promise you won't regret it!
Happy New Year!

author: Melissa De León


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Images from Palestine: School Book · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

“A Palestinian school girl holding here English book” by paella69


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Jamaica: One love or two love? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Nicholas Laughlin links to an article in the Jamaica Observer about a three-day cabinet meeting held at the Couples Sans Souci Resort and Spa. “It's good to know the key members of the J'can government are spending quality time together,” remarks the cheeky Trinidadian, “–at a ‘luxury all-inclusive, boutique-style, couples-only resort. . . . Surely I'm not the only one wondering how they paired off?”


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Japan: Failure of Xbox 360 · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

4 color rebellion, a gamer blog, reacts to articles blaming Japanese for the poor reception of the Xbox360 at its recent launch.  His post starts a long discussion about anti-Americanism, racism and how Japanese react to U.S. products.


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Kiswahili Blogosphere This Week · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Mwandani writes about the plight of African immigrants in the West (in English and Kiswahili).
His post was spotted by Ethan Zuckerman through BlogAfrica aggregator.
Tanzania's leading photoblogger, Issa Michuzi, comes across “World Trade Center” in Marangu, Moshi, Tanzania.   He posts a photo for Tanzanians living abroad of a Dar Es Salaam resident drinking young coconut juice, a popular beverage along the East African coast.
News and discussions about the presidential and parliamentary elections in Tanzania, which took place last month, have dominated Kiswahili Blogosphere.    Miruko and Kasri la Mwanazuo posts names of the new cabinet (in Kiswahili), Kaka Pori posts the new president's maiden speech in Parliament while Fikra Thabiti analyses it.  Fikra Thabiti says that Jakaya Kikwete is the first Tanzanian president to admit that political situation in Zanzibar is getting worse and needs to be addressed.  Kikwete, in his speech, promises to promote Kiswahili in the world.  For a start, he is sending Kiswahili instructors to Libya and Congo DRC.   Harakati does not want voters to forget promises made during the campaign.  He therefore posts the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi election manifesto.
Da Mija  writes about the only female presiential aspirant in the in the 2006 general election in Tanzania, Anna Senkoro.  Anna Senkoro participated in the race on Progressive Party of Tanzania-Maendeleo ticket.   She received 0.17% of  the vote.  Candidate for the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi, Jakaya Kikwete, won the race with over 80% of the vote.   However, Da Mija still congratulates Senkoro for showing an example to other women.
Msangi Mdogo posts a photo of a Member of Parliament , Janet Kahama, sleeping during the first session of the new parliament.
Few Tanzanian bloggers have met face to face. Recently, two Kiswahili bloggers, Boniphace Makene and Jeff Msangi based in the US and Canada, met in Toronto.  And they took this picture.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Old road Caracas-La Guaira · Global Voices
Iria Puyosa

Curucuteando features a series of pictures of the old road Caracas-La Guaira (ES), which is now the best way to go from Venezuela’s capital to the coastline and the airport.


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Thailand: Village Socialism · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Wanderingkhunphu romanticizes Thai village life: “Naudom is a small, limited society and a world where it seems there is no “I” letter.  It seems to me that everyone is there for each other, always ready and willing to help and forget about himself for the sake of the community.  This makes me wonder if I finally did discover some kind of successful form of socialism.”


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Trinidad and Tobago: Carnival Boat · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

An exquisite sculpture by glass artist Dale Chihuly inspires Francomenz to rhapsodize on Trinidad and Tobago's famous Carnival, which is gearing up virtually as this is being written. “It. . . doesn’t matter what forces have conspired to shape the glass,” says Francomenz, “they’re all in the same boat, going in the same direction – perhaps something to keep in mind as T&T struggles with an upsurge in crime and people cut themselves off from one another, building stronger fences and higher walls.”


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Turkey is Typing… · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

The first week of the new year brings with it another death of bird flu to Turkey.  Erkan's Field Diary has reported that cases of bird flu have been found in both rural and urban areas, information that rejects a possible Kurdish connection that Amerikan Turk discusses.
Coming up on the 10th is Eid al-Aida, the Feast of Sacrifice, which has always been an interesting time of year as there are always “problems” that arise from trying to standardize rituals sacrifices in urban settings (animals set for sacrifice breaking loose and roaming the streets), Phanja from The Need to Know discusses some of the regulations that have been introduced to combat these types of situations.
And now from some quick updates:
To start off the new year right Turkish Torque has several recipes posted for making Turkish Delight (this is one food that I love but have never managed to make an edible final product).  He also has information on the Uygurs of China, which are of Turkish decent.
Metroblogging: Istanbul writes about the Toy Museum in Kadikoy, Istanbul.
Erkan's Field Diary posts about the lastest population numbers for Turkey (73 million-wow!) and about the postponement of his mandatory military service.
Talk Turkey discusses the recent mining disaster in West Virginia, USA and talks about similar disasters that have happened in Turkey.

author: Deborah Ann Dilley


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Caribbean: Real estate · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Own a villa in the US Virgin Islands? Then you're in luck, as Frank Barnako is reporting that  the value of of residential properties in St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John is about to skyrocket as a result of a massive property revaluation exercise. The commercial revaluation, completed last spring, resulted in increases of 250 to 300 percent in certain areas of St. John. In other Caribbean real estate news, Caribbean Free Radio deconstructs a news story about Giorgio Armani's new villa in Antigua.


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Bahamas: Junkanoo as metaphor · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Junkanoo just isn't junkanoo without the rhythm drum says Nicolette Bethel, who suggests that the traditional Bahamian street parade could teach Bahamians a few lessons about priorities.


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Development of Information and Communication Technologies in Cambodia · Global Voices
Tharum Bun

Since the computer made its debut in Cambodia, using Khmer-language characters has not been easy.  Although different Khmer language fonts are available such as: Limon, ABC, Khek, Battambang, ABC-Zero-Space and Khek, etc., these non-interchangeable fonts have also undermined communication among khmer users.
Without font uniformity among users, users certainly cannot read e-mail, documentation, or web-pages without the exact matching font installed on their personal computer. Publishing information on to a Web site and weblog in Khmer language is labor-intensive. Seserak, a Cambodian student in Japan, says he has to input text with a word processing program, then convert the text into a graphic file, before posting it accurately on his weblog.
Cambodia Takes on US Software Giants in Battle for Khmer Computer Script, an article published in the Cambodia Daily in 2002:
“A government minister asked the man who established the first e-mail system in Cambodia if he could send e-mail in Khmer to his wife, who didn’t speak English. He was told he couldn’t.
That’s still the answer, more or less, seven years after e-mail came to Cambodia and five years after the arrival of the Internet. The people who designed the early computers didn’t speak Khmer, so the computers don’t speak it either.”
However, after a long-time struggle, Cambodia will soon join the international platform with its own standardized computer script, Khmer Unicode. Khmer Unicode enables computers and computer users worldwide to automatically communicate interchangeably.
Today more and more Khmer-language Web sites have been switched to Khmer Unicode. Khmer Radio Australia also recently converted to Unicode. In the meantime, users are required to have the fonts installed on their computer systems to be able to view text properly. It is believed that the being-developed Khmer-language Linux-based operating system and the new version of Microsoft Windows operating system will integrate Khmer Unicode. So far, the introduction of Khmer Unicode has made some impacts on software development in local language and improved communications.
In about five months, after the launch of its free weblog hosting service, Khmer Software Initiative, a software localization project, attracted 333 users. Every new post of every weblogger chronologically appears in one-page on the site. Some webloggers use this blog tool as an online announcement board, some write about technology issues, while others extract interesting news articles and relate a story of personal interest. The weblog tool, powered by localized-open source content management platform Drupal, is being used by this first ever local weblog service provider.
The Khmer Software Initiative project also unofficially announced the localization of a Linux distribution Derbian, an open source operating system, now in development. The efforts will pave the way for Cambodian non-English speakers to learn and work with computers without learning English. This significant effort provides a cost-free alternative to an expensive commercial propriety software that local residents could not afford.
In Khmer telecommunications, the Cambodia business telephone directory, Yellow Pages,  has long been available on the web in English, but is now being developed in Khmer as well. The Khmer Yellow Pages

author: Tharum Bun


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From the Bangladesh blogosphere · Global Voices
Rezwan

Shuvo Nobobarsho (Happy New Year) everyone. Let us take a look into what the Bangladeshi blogs are saying lately.
1) Tourism:  Rahman tells us what Sundarban, the largest mangrove forest of the World has to offer to the tourists.
Herma talks about the beauty of the Bandarbans and how her family enjoys it.  Here are some Photos of Bandarbans and her impressions about Bangladesh.
2) Awards: ‘Unheard Voices’ reports that Dr Nazia Khanum, an expatriate Bangladeshi, has been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth recently for her services to community relations and to equal opportunities.
3) TV Shows: ‘Close up 1 – Tomakey Kujche Bangladesh (Bangladesh Looks for You)’  is the first ever music talent show in Bangladesh(Bangladesh version of the American Idol). The winner ‘Nolok Babu’ is a 19 year old penniless street singer. ‘The 3rd world view’ has more and Rajputro posts links to some of the songs of the contest to download.
4) Review: Mezba does a review of the Spielberg film ‘Munich’.
5) Hajj: Sadiq tells about the history of Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage. However there have been a lot of discussions going on in other Bangladeshi blogs on the issue of performing Hajj multiple times. The lack of infrastructures to accomodate the growing number of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia is a burning issue in the wake of recent collapse of hotel in Mecca which have killed 78 including 8 Bangladeshi pilgrims.
6) Coffee colored people: Arafat, who is studying in Yale, goes home in Dhaka after a year and surprised by the shock, the realization of difference in the colors of people of the both the countries en-masse.
7) Bangla blogging: Bangla bloggers are growing rapidly in numbers using the the tool ‘Bandh Bhanger Awaj’ and its aggregator. This aggregator is alive and full of interesting Bangla contents .

author: Rezwan


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Guyana: Family heirlooms · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

On throwing away some “family heirlooms”, GuyanaGyal remembers the “grandpoopa” of them all. And during a family storytelling session Monologist learns of a dark episode in Guyanese history commonly referred to as the “Wismar atrocities”.


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Jamaica: Eat jerk and die · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Caribbean Free Radio links to several news stories reporting that Jamaican jerk pork and chicken have been included on a list of “50 things to eat before you die” compiled by chef Ainsley Harriot for a BBC television special.
Also making the grade were kangaroo, Moretown bay bugs, reindeer and durian. Here's the complete list, with explanations.


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A controversy-filled week in Bahrain · Global Voices
Mahmood Al-Yousif

I think that the name Jihad Al-Khazin  has become the most popular name within the Arab blogosphere this past week, as most blogs in the region have concentrated on his controversial article  attacking the very popular Religious Policeman cloaked in the guise of an attack on the credibility of anonymous blogging, making the assumption that only known authors have credibility. Needless to say that some of the responses to this article were for, while others against his assumptions. Some bloggers expressed their sadness at such a supposedly respected journalist employment of what they regard as questionable sources on which Mr. Al-Khazin based the cornerstone of his article, robbing it from whatever authenticity it might have had.
Both Haitham and Mahmood in Bahrain have tackled this subject and have received more than average comments which shows the level of divisiveness this subject garners, and the jury is still out as to what constitutes authenticity in blogs in general.
Another controversy (yes, Bahrain has certainly had its fair share last week!) is the appearance of one of the leaders of women's movement, Ms. Ghada Jamsheer, on an international television interview in which she lambasted the archaic interpretation of various forms of marriages in Islam and didn't even stop short of labeling those methods as wrong! A classification which instantly put the lady on irreligious grounds by extremists, to which she is not unfamiliar as she was called a heretic before by mosque preachers and others. She stood by what she said however which elated Mahmood on the one hand, and got Mohammed Al-Maskati whose excellent blog, emoodZ, to question what Ms. Jamsheer said in that interview, sending him to research whether the subjects raised were truthful. He was – as most people were – surprised and disgusted by his findings.
A third controversy is the tit-for-tat accusations by the chairman of the Accident & Emergency department at Salmaniya Medical Complex, the main hospital in Bahrain, against some of his staff, and vice versa, on mismanagement and glaring malpractice cases in that department going as far as accusing some doctors of smuggling prostitutes into wards during night shifts. Silly Bahraini Girl takes up the story with a humorous twist. On a more serious note however, the chairman of the A&E department and some of the doctors in question have been suspended from duty  yesterday pending a Ministry of Health investigation into this fiasco.
Wait, wait, there is a final controversy! 15 parliamentarians signed a memo demanding an official apology from the embattled Minister of Information who publicly stated during questioning at the Shura Council – the appointed upper house of parliament – that some of those members of the House of Representatives (elected members) who supported him in shutting down alcohol-serving bars during the holy month of Ramadhan do actually drink! Purportedly using this fact to solidify his position on the correctness of closing those businesses during Ramadhan. It doesn't look like that apology will be forthcoming any time soon as some of those signatories have withdrawn their signatures citing political gerrymandering, threats and promises by the minister of information, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that politics is politics, regardless of where it is practiced.
The ongoing saga of the Christmas-day riots at the Bahrain International Airport continues with families and supporters of those apprehended in those riots themselves going on demonstrations demanding their unconditional release as reported and witnessed by Chan'ad Bahraini. Needless to say, there were confrontations by these demonstrators and the police, some of whom have apparently used excessive force to cow demonstrators, as reported by the dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights.
On more mundane news covered by Bahraini bloggers (phew!) Silveroo brings us a news snippet which dealt with a novel identity theft, in which a female University of Bahrain student covered herself up completely from head-to-toe wearing an abaya and a niqab (a “ninja” as she calls them!) and submitting a final notice of withdrawal from the university to the Registrar in another female student's name! Needless to say that when that was discovered, and the perpetrator identified, the guilty woman was expelled forthwith.
Silveroo brings up other issues connected with the misuse of the niqab and blames the Cabinet for passing that particular “retarded” law which allows fully covered women to drive, a decision which gave rise to more misuse; she says that some males have used that dress to mount a crime wave and enter women-only venues all due to the impossibility of knowing who actually is hiding behind that cover.
Two new blogs, exclusively in Arabic, have joined the burgeoning ranks of the Bahraini blogosphere: Ali7, a university student, whose first action is to send a letter to the most popular Arabic newspaper in Bahrain, Al-Wasat, attacking the Ministry of Information for basically, well, their incompetence in technological knowledge, less than effective coordination with the main ISP on the island and their priorities. The ministry has decided to block 15 pornographic sites which they claim to emanate from Bahrain, however Ali derides the ministry for not doing enough, as closing just those 15 sites is minuscule compared to the millions of other easily accessable pornographic sites from Bahrain, and alludes that all that the ministry is doing is in reality blocking political dissension sites disguising their operation which they describe as “guarding the Bahraini culture and norms.”
The other new blog, again in Arabic, is by Tawfeeq Al-Rayyash who is a political activist and running for election to the Steering Committee's Board of Directors of the largest political society in Bahrain, Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society. Tawfeeq also runs Montadayat Al-Bahrain (Bahrain Fora), one of the most popular news and fora sites on the island. His blog primarily concentrates on local and international political issues of the day.
The Joker provides us with relief from politics however, in listing what he believes are very underrated music bands mostly from the 80s. While Strav comments on the recent moves by Google to take Microsoft head-on in what promises to be a good fist-fight!
As the Muslim world will be celebrating Eid Al-Ad'ha tomorrow, which marks the culmination of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, .

author: Mahmood Al-Yousif


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African Women Blogging This Week · Global Voices
Nish Matenjwa

Heri ya Mwaka Mpya (Happy New Year in Kiswahili).
The recent the jailing of a 56-year old English man in the UK for the sexual abuse of children in Africa is a good thing, Black Looks writes. She is however, concerned that the arrest of this vile individual remains an isolated case in Africa because ’millions of children are being abused in this way whilst the number of prosecutions is relatively small’.
In coming to terms with her addiction which is reading books and business magazines, kamundulio has come to the realisation that this addiction is based on the need for information. She writes about how she will ensure she buys a book no  ‘matter how expensive the book is’ and is seeking help with her addiction.
Free or cheap contraceptives are available for many Kenyans and yet some women and men continue to put themselves in harms way with regard to sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy, writes au lait in a frank and plain speaking article entitled No Glove, No Love.
One African Woman writes about the pressure on black women who have risen to positions of prominence to be successful because they have been made
’representative of all women, carrying the fate of every woman in their hands’.  If they fail, they are ‘letting down all women’ and ‘bringing shame on all women’ thus robbing these women ‘right to be wrong sometimes’ and ‘the right not to be perfect’.
Mama JunkYard writes a cautionary tale about how the e-mail address containing her domain name has been spoofed and details in frustration the steps she has taken to deal with e-mail spoofing – a phenomenon she says is ’is baffling business everywhere’ .
Mama Wangari who has recently gone back to work after having a baby, writes about the difficulties that have arisen between her partner and herself in an article entitled Motherhood's a Breeze.
In a New Year resolution, Wambui, who at 16 is the youngest member of the Kenyan Blogs Webring, has decided to ’publicly get involved in the fight against poverty and AIDS’. Well done, Wambui and best of luck.

author: Nish Matenjwa


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Argentina: Estación Central · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Robert Wright takes a look at the plans for a central transit station in Buenos Aires, which would consist of “deep train tunnels, an underground highway, enormous amounts of parking, new subway stops, & recovered green space.” He still needs some convincing.

author: David Sasaki


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Armenia: Yerevan’s Homeless · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian reports that Yerevan's homeless are freezing as the government takes its time renovating a shelter for them.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Azerbaijan: Eid Al-Adha · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Carpetblogger discusses some Azeri Eid Al-Adha traditions.


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Bahamas: Hegemony · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Nicolette Bethel decides against using the word “hegemony” in the title of her thoughtful essay on the notion of hegemony and the way it plays out in the Bahamas.


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Bermuda: Commonalities · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Alvin Williams asks, “As a black Bermudian, what do I really have in common with my fellow white Bermudian which will allow us to live in harmony?” The Limey responds.


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Burkina Faso · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Missionary aid worker Keith of Under the Acacias writes about his return to Burkina Faso – survival, work, faith, national debt and radio.

author: Sokari Ekine


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Cambodia: Year in Review · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

At Khmer440.com, Lord Playboy wraps up 2005 in Cambodia, including the millions of dollars of foreign aid pledged to prosecute Khmer Rouge in special tribunals (and not to development) and the fate of opponents to the government.

author: Jose Manuel Tesoro


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Central Asia: Moves to South Asia · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Registan.net comments on the State Department's decision to move Central Asia to its South Asian Affairs Bureau.


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China: Biggest Cases in 2005 · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Chinese Law Prof Blog posts China Youth Daily‘s list of China's 10 biggest legal cases in 2005.


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China, Korea, Japan: Bad Start · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

The Asia Pages observes that 2006 is starting off poorly for China-South Korea-Japan relations.


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Covering DRC & Darfur · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

My Hearts in Accra comments on the lack of coverage of the DRC and Darfur and provides a few links on both.


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East Africa: famine · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Yebo Gogo writes that there is a famine in East Africa…”A drought is plaguing East Africa and people are starving. The government of Zanzibar is rationing water. The Kenyan press has dubbed it the “Christmas Famine,” and Nairobi recently announced it would buy all available stocks of corn to distribute.”


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Egypt:  Al Qaeda vs. the MB · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

What's the difference between Zawahiri (Al Qaeda second man) and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood MB's?  According to Sandmonkey, the MB's don't use guns anymore, they left it to Zawahiri and those like him. Members that Muslim Brotherhood recruited and trained and now claim have defected.

author: Haitham Sabbah


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Ethiopia: EPRDF · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Ethiopian blog, Weichegud!ET Politics has a new year rant asking “what the hell is wrong with EPRDF” and hopes that this will be the year when “sycophants such as Jeffrey Sachs have been so smitten by the unsmoldering intellectualism of Prime Minister Meles and his entourage of solecistic courtiers. Let the choir say ‘amen’.”


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Ethiopia: Newspaper review · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Meskel Square is back in Addis Ababa and gives a review of the local English language newspapers.


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Haiti: Monday protest strike · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Yon ayisien posts photos and a short report (FR) on a strike taking place in Haiti today, and doesn't miss the opportunity to take a swipe at MINUSTAH, the UN Security Force. The strike, he says, is “to protest the kidnappings and the overall lack of security and non-punishment of wrongdoers. The streets were deserted this morning. At sites occupied by MINUSTAH, tanks and soldiers (or police officers) of the United Nations mission were actually present for a change. I've never understood what they're supposed to be doing. Counting the passing cars, perhaps?”

author: Georgia Popplewell


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India: Fighting terrorism · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Each country deal with the threat of terrorism in its own way. Paranoia, increased security and lots of currency in some countries. In India – however – they have their own way says Dateline Bombay.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India: Looking for the missing girls · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The BBC had an article on a report in the Lancet Journal about India which stated that prenatal selection and selective abortion was causing the loss of 500,000 girls a year. We've always known that preference for a male child has meant that girls do not get as good an education, diet or opportunity as their male siblings, however the sheer number of sex-selective abortions is staggering. While India is the country in question, the problem extends to the rest of South Asia as well.
Sepia Mutiny links to the article and there is an excellent discussion via comments on the post. What is interesting is that somewhere the discussion turns to the Pro-Choice argument, and a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy as it seems to clash with the ban on sex-selective abortions. Uma at IndianWriting adds more information to the discussion by linking to some statistics on the sex ratios around the world.
Pickled Politics has an excellent post on the issue.
It’s worth noting that many hospitals in the UK, America and Canada (amongst others) have opted to deny prospective parents information about the sex of their baby. Of course, living in the West it isn’t hard to find someone who will carry out a test. Several of the UK and Canadian centres have specifically mentioned Asian communities as the reason for their decisions to stop screening for sex.
Meanwhile, an active discussion is also ongoing at the LiveJournal Feminist Community on the same issue with emphasis on the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life aspects. As a generous plug, I have a post on this issue as well at Within / Without. There's quite a lot of discussion at the celebrity IntentBlog.
What is sad is that education actually increased the abortion rate… Is this linked to more access to ultrasounds? Probably so. The report mentions socio-economic factors, but notes religion didnt make a difference.


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Iran: AirPlane Crash! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to BBC several Revloutionary Guards leaders lost their lives in an airplane crash. (Persian)


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Jordan: Literature prize · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Nas won the ‘brilliancy prize‘ for his poem “This Thing Called Palestine” from the Andulasia Prize for Literature.


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Jordan: Prisoners in jail without trial · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Last week, the Jordanian human rights body reported that a third of all prisoners in Jordan have been jailed without formal charges or facing a trial, Sabbah said.


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Kazakhstan: Crude Dreams · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia reports that Kazakhstan's oil reserves are once again the subject of wild speculation.


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Kazakhstan: Menim Kazakstanym · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

KZ Blog talks about the recent changes to Kazakhstan's national anthem..


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Kenya: bloggers meetup · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Nicholas Gichu reports on the latest Kenyan blogger meetup in Nairobi attended by: Gishungwa, Guess, Shiroh, Milo, Thinker, and Blue Poet, MentalAcrobatics, Kenyan Pundit and Daud el Raud.


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Lake Victoria: falling water levels · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

African Water Journalists Blog points to a report in the Ugandan daily – the Monitor – on the falling water level in Lake Victoria.  The result is less fish, less domestic water and an increase in water borne  diseases like bilharzia.


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Nigeria: Exposing TV miracles · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

NaijaritaNews reports on a “Divine Plot to Block TV Miracles” in Nigeria.  “Anointed Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy has exposed a plot by the Almighty God and his angels to put a stop to the broadcasting of miracles on Nigerian television. During the shocking exposé, he narrated how all efforts to get his miracles verified have been mysteriously frustrated”


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Pakistan: Islamic Sorority in the US · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

pakistani perspective links to an article on the first Islamic sorority in the US – Gamma Gamma Chi.


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Pakistan: Why so much sex? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Shirazi at Light Within loves blogs but cannot come to terms with some of the sexual details on them.


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Palestine: Slingshot Hip Hop · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

umkahli writes; SlingShot Hip Hop is a documentary film that focuses on the daily life of Palestinian rappers living in Gaza, the West Bank and inside Israel. It aims to spotlight alternative voices of resistance within the Palestinian struggle and explore the role their music plays within their social, political and personal lives.


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Poland: Halal Butchers · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

the beatroot reports that the UK, facing a shortage of halal butchers, is seeking them through advertising to Poland's small Muslim community.


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Puerto Rico: Honoring Roberto Clemente · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Gil the Jenius is seeking support for the retiring of the #21 worn by Puerto Rican baseball great Roberto Clemente.


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Sri Lanka: Visa Blues · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Getting an Indian Visa is a tough job. Especially if you have a Canadian passport in Sri Lanka says Indi.ca.


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Syria: Resistance against Syrian regime · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Ammer says that Khaddam’s call for popular resistance against the Assad regime, reiterated in several interviews he gave over the last few days, are serving to make some people question the wisdom behind calling for work stoppage at this stage. For most people at this stage might think that such a call came in response to Khaddam’s own.


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Taiwan: One China Revisited · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

the leaky pen explains his doubts about the U.S.'s one-China policy. “As support for the one-China policy, many pro-China folks in Taiwan and abroad like to use the argument that “since the rest of the world says that Taiwan is not a country, it isn't. Therefore, Taiwanese demands for recognition are outrageous.” By way of analogy, this is a bit like saying that “Palestine isn't a [recognized] country, so it's plain wrong for the Palestinians to insist on their sovereignty/nationhood.”


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Tajikistan: Tragedy · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia posts on the tragic death of 13 children at an orphanage in Tajikistan. The president is furious with how the situation has been handled.


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Trinidad and Tobago: Paper carnival · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Richard Bolai posts photos of the results of Trinidadian Carnival artist Marlon Griffith's work at the Mino Paper Village Artist Residency in Japan. Griffith created carnival costumes and other objects out of washi, a variety of handmade paper.


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Tunisia: Oil Prices · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Tunisians are luckier than others because the government subsidizes a percentage of the fuel price to keep it lower for us, but the country won't be able to go on doing that forever, as prices soar even higher and demand continues to grow, Subzero Blue said.


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Turkey: Bird Flu · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

After all that talk about maintaining the unity of the State against outside influences, if there were any moment for the state to exhibit its stately-ness it is now, Litmus said.


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United Arab Emirates: No Water Day · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Desertblog says that recently, residents of the Lakes, Meadows and Springs in Dubai could not receive water from their taps at home due to a DEWA fault. So, dwellers of the aquatic sounding, greenery filled developments were without water for a day, while sandy ‘old Dubai’ had no problems?


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Venezuela: Belafonte hearts Chavez · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

CaribPundit is disgusted that Jamaican-American performing legend and human rights campaigner Harry Belafonte supports Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. “Fer cryin’ out loud, Harry,” says CaribPundit in a post entitled “Just shut up and sing Day-O” (referring to the song for which Belafonte is best known),  “ask Germany, Italy, France, the U.K., Sweden and the Nordics, Russia, China, the early American Pilgrims. Read some history, man, socialist programs NEVER work. Okay, ‘kay, Mussolini got the trains to run on time. . .  or was that Hitler?”


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Vietnam: False and True · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

diacritic points us to a site that helps one tell fake from real stamps from French Indochina.


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Zimbabwe:women’s coop · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Timbuktu Chronicles reports on a women's cooperative in Zimbabwe…”who have been able to improve their families’ quality of living by making peanut butter…they produce peanut butter that is as good, if not better, than mainstream producers yet sells for 15% less in the local stores and two supermarkets”


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· Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

007 in Africa writes about the problems of having drugs delivered to the DRC….no addresses to speak of, almost impossible to get photos taken, too few staff and a scanner? “are you kidding, no electricity.


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Armenia: Homophobia · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

At Cilicia, Alex writes that if Armenians’ aspirations to join the West are to be realized, regressive attitudes must be overcome.


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Bangladesh: Eid and Animals · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Rezwan wishes his readers a happy Eid and ponders on the piety-factor in the slaughter of animals on the occassion. In the same vein, Mac explore the economics of slaughter on the day and urges that the skins be donated.