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Russia, Belarus: “Gazilla” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

There's a distinct sense of deja vu this New Year's Eve: Gazprom, Russia's largest (and state-controlled) company and the world's biggest extractor of natural gas, is in the spotlight again, both locally (due to an ambitious and controversial construction project in St. Petersburg) and internationally (due to a dispute over prices and control of a pipeline in Belarus, very similar to the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute exactly a year ago).
Quite a few Russian bloggers have posted this banner on their blogs, linking to a flash game that was created by St. Petersburg branch of the Yabloko Party:
The monster hulking over St. Petersburg's Smolny Cathedral isn't Godzilla. It is Gazilla, and it represents Gazprom, and its name, allegedly, was coined by LJ user alexvert a year ago (according to LJ user aneta_spb (RUS)).
Gazilla/Gazprom is planning to build a 300-meter-tall glass tower (dubbed “the corn on the cob”), which would change its color up to 10 times per day, depending on the position of the sun, and soar a few times higher than any of St. Petersburg's famous landmarks (including the Smolny Cathedral, located right across the Neva River from the proposed construction site). Gazprom City is the skyscraper project's official name (gazoskryob – “gas-scraper” – instead of neboskryob, as one Russian newspaper jokingly misnamed it (RUS)). It is expected to be finished by 2016.
Obviously, many consider the project a threat to the historic landscape. The latest protest rally took place Dec. 28 at Malaya Sadovaya St. in St. Petersburg: the protesters brought canned corn with them and constructed a mock tower; LJ user consultantphoto has a few photos from the rally.
As for the Gazilla flash game, one is supposed to throw apples at the creature, and this isn't a surprising choice of the weapon, since Yabloko, the name of the party that has made the game, translates as “apple.” Here's one blogger's comment on it (LJ user oleg-kozyrev, RUS):
I can't help but support this
St. Pete's Yabloko folks have created a fun thing. I like it when people choose a creative approach. Everyone must've heard by now about the Gazprom-monster that they want to erect [in St. Petersburg] and thus turn the culture capital into the capital of culturelessness. So I'm making my micro-contribution into the noble cause of preserving St. Pete [by promoting the Gazilla game]. Moscow that's been killed is more than enough for us. Hopefully, they'll leave St. Pete alone.
[…]
***
Just like Ukraine a year ago, Belarus is preparing for a New Year's Day gas supply cutoff: so far, there seems to be no sign of resolution in the dispute that, among other things, threatens the delivery of gas to Europe.
Up until now, Belarus paid $47 per 1,000 cubic meters; if this close ally of Russia gives in to the price hike demanded by Gazprom, it will be paying $105 per 1,000 cubic meters.
Aleksandr Lukashenko, considered by many “Europe's last dictator,” is reported to have accused Gazprom of blackmail.
Opposition leader and former presidential candidate Aleksandr Milinkevich, on the other hand, said in an interview with the Gazprom-owned Radio Echo of Moscow that he “understood [Gazprom's] position and considered it normal” (RUS).
LJ user sadovnikov has called Milinkevich “a traitor” (RUS).
LJ user aneta_spb – a Belarus native living in St. Petersburg – weighs in (RUS) on what appear to be rather desperate political somersaults performed by Belarusian politicians as they find themselves face to face with Gazilla:
I hope my fellow-countrymen Belarusians would forgive me, but I don't like how many oppositioners are close to depicting Gazilla white and fluffy, as they are accusing [Aleksandr Lukashenko] of having failed to negotiate with Gazprom.
For the first time in my life, I almost agree with [Lukashenko].
He's a jerk, of course. But this inflated monster Gazprom is now just trying to grab as much as it can while it is still able to. Gas supplies are coming to an end. New fields haven't been explored. Equipment is worn down. Soon, they'll be transporting abroad all that remains of the gas, and there'll be a little bit for [Moscow] and whatever remains from that  – for St. Petersburg.
They are already “investing in real estate” – and want to build their phallos [Gazprom City] using St. Pete money (my money, too, that is).
What would the Russian countryside do? Nothing. They'll have to live without gas. Well, as most of them live already.
[…]


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Saddam at the Iraqi Blogodrome… · Global Voices
Salam Adil

… for the last time.
Today I post without comment on blogger reactions to Saddam's execution. I'll be posting more updates as the blogs develops.
From my honorary Iraqi of the week. A cartoon by Latuff that sums up the mood of many:
Like a gathering storm, realization that the execution was imminent became apparent hours before the event. Neurotic Wife an Iraqi woman who works inside Baghdad's Green Zone gets a tip-off:
Yesterday just before everyone left Z, an Iraqi colleague, came to me and whispered in my ears, Please be careful. I looked suspiciously at him, why Z? There are rumours that Saddam is going to be hung before Sunday. Be careful Neurotica theyre gonna be bombing you relentlessly, tell your HUBBY NOT TO LEAVE the GZ please. Please tell him.
Her opinion is summed up in the title.. “Doomed if you do, doomed if you don't”. She writes:
Saddam's death will definitely not help the situation in Iraq. If the Govt thinks that his death will bring peace, then I think they should think again. …
Saddam's farewell letter just makes things even worse. He writes as a martyr who is going to meet his God in peace. Please spare me the BS. Saddam as well as the new govt are as bad as each other. The people who are now controlling the ministires are nothing but murderers. Especially the Defense and Interior ministries. The new govt are but a replica of Saddam. But instead of one person there are now hundreds. What a joke. The same people you see cheering for his death, are the same people that gave him the power.
She also gives the surprising reaction of a Shia colleague at work:
[M said,] “You know, I think I will be the first person to cheer Saddam's comeback.” That just stung me. How can you say that M? Did you forget what he has done? Did you forget the fear you guys lived in? M smiled, He said nothing compares to our fear now. NOTHING. Saddam is the only person who can get rid of those rogues. He is the only one who knows how to deal with them.
Hammorabi, a supporter of political Shi'ism, writes:
Iraq is now closing one of the most important chapters which is the fear and terror that Saddam created. He is going to have what he deserves for his crimes in the next few hours. Iraq will then enter a new era without the terror, tyranny and mass-graves
Ishtar gives her opinion of the many people she has interviewed:
All the Iraqis now are expecting something very bad with the execution of Saddam Hussein even shiite because they know that this issue would kill the last hope they have in reconciliation and living together peacefully again.
I have talked with so many Sunni during the trial and asked them what do they think of it especailly those whom their relatives have executed by Saddam Hussein regime for plotting against him or for other reasons, they said that they do not watch the trail because they feel it is an insult for them and that all the Sunni in Iraq are in the cage where Saddam put by the shiite and Kurds and if Saddam will be executed they will feel that it is an execution to all the Sunnis in Iraq and nothing would be left for them only to fight for their wounded dignity.
It is true that the shiite in Iraq whom their sons executed by Saddam regime would be happy if Saddam executed but this speech you would hear it immediatly after the invasion not now after all these cars bombs, IEDs, suicied bombers, assassinations … the only thing the Iraqi indvidual thinks of now is how to finish his day safely and not kicked out of his house by militias.
… If Saddam Hussein is a hateful man for the shiite, Saddam is a great hero for most of the Arab people because he was the only Arab ruler who broke the routine rules of the Arab rulers and attacked Israel with more than 42 rocket, though this thing is something absured for the western world but it is highly appreciated by the Arab people who had enough disappointment of their rulers’ policy and US policy towards the Arab world together.
Riverbend:
Who gains if they hang Saddam? Iran, naturally, but who else? There is a real fear that this execution will be the final blow that will shatter Iraq. Some Sunni and Shia tribes have threatened to arm their members against the Americans if Saddam is executed. Iraqis in general are watching closely to see what happens next, and quietly preparing for the worst.
This is because now, Saddam no longer represents himself or his regime. Through the constant insistence of American war propaganda, Saddam is now representative of all Sunni Arabs (never mind most of his government were Shia). The Americans, through their speeches and news articles and Iraqi Puppets, have made it very clear that they consider him to personify Sunni Arab resistance to the occupation. Basically, with this execution, what the Americans are saying is “Look- Sunni Arabs- this is your man, we all know this. We're hanging him- he symbolizes you.” And make no mistake about it, this trial and verdict and execution are 100% American. Some of the actors were Iraqi enough, but the production, direction and montage was pure Hollywood (though low-budget, if you ask me).
That is, of course, why Talbani doesn't want to sign his death penalty- not because the mob man suddenly grew a conscience, but because he doesn't want to be the one who does the hanging- he won't be able to travel far away enough if he does that.
Maliki's government couldn't contain their glee.
Raed Jarrar reviews the political situation around the execution:
Iraqis don't miss Saddam, but they miss their national government that was inherited by the Baath regime and was destroyed under this occupation.
Saddam's life or death is irrelevant to the current Iraqi situation. Iraqis are fighting to hold their country together and get it back from the foreign occupiers. Saddam's recent trial and imminent execution are nothing more than evidence of how foreign interventions to change political regimes will destroy entire countries and split entire nations. The current situation in Iraq is a good indicator for how Iran and Syria, or other countries, would look if the U.S. administration went ahead and interfered and changed their political regimes.
Nibras Kazimi:
On December 14, 2003, a Kalashnikov blew up in my face; I don’t know that much about firearms but wanted to celebrate Saddam's capture that day the Iraqi way: celebratory gunfire. By some minor miracle, nothing happened to me. I remember all those who came by my office to congratulate ourselves on that happy day; some of them since killed by insurgents.
My memories of them are with me always.
To all those who worked for this day and didn’t get a chance to witness it, To all those who hoped for this day and didn’t get a chance to share it, To all the victims of this horrible tyrant and his terrible thugs—may they face judgment too, To all the good people of the world who understand the evil that was the Saddam regime and wish the Iraqi people well today, You are all in my thoughts as I await the news of Saddam’s hanging.
From the thread of comments by Iraqi bloggers at the Iraqi Blogodrome Google Group…
Chikitita – I'm still against the death sentence whether against Saddam or any other person. If I had the chance to decide his fate, I'd let him locked in cramped cell, and work hard on making Iraq a better place, then I'd give him a telly to watch and weep.
13 – i dont think any iraqi at the moment will benefit or lose if they executed Saddam, the killing fields of iraq will still be open for business … thing is, the ONLY thing i hope to come out of this whole fiasco, is a lesson. a lesson to our current “Saddams”.
Khalid Jarrar – as much as i hate saddam, i know he is far better than the one judgin him and execcuting him. its just sad.
And the last word goes to Neurotic Wife:
Today marks the end of an evil era, the end of an evil era and the beginning of an even worse one…The Doomed Era…Iraq's Doomed Era…

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Salam Adil


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The Iranian Blogestan on Saddam Hussein’s death · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Several Iranian bloggers talked about Saddam Hussein's death and remembered the Iran-Iraq war.
Alpar says this year can be considered one of the worst for dictators, adding that Monday's newspapers could carry the following headline: “Four less dictators for 2007″. Alpar writes that Iranian people will celebrate this event, even though the Iranian government will forget it soon, and reminds readers about the victims of the Iran-Iraq war, the war refugees and so on [Fa]. He also asks the following questions: Will Saddam’s death be a lesson for our dictators? What do people in Iraq think about today's events? Did Saddam himself think that one day he would die in these humilating conditions?
Haji Washington titles his post “Death of a Monster”. The blogger observes that on USA TV channels, we're shown Saddam with Arab leaders, but never with Donald Rumsfeld, former US Defense Secretary, when he visited Iraq during Iran-Iraq war [Fa].
Shabnameh says Saddam always wanted to become a hero and that in his imagination he died as one, though in fact he just joined the dark pages of history, adding that killing a dictator is not the solution: dictators die, but dictatorship goes on. Shabnameh expresses the hope that maybe today, some of those who were oppressed by Saddam will be happy [Fa].
Mattati says that “a person who symbolised Satan died, a person who had killed several members of our dear friends or family members”. Will dictators learn a lesson? [Fa], asks Mattati.
Rozmaregiha says Saddam is gone and dead, and that we should hope to bury what remains of his way of thinking, after 30 years of dictatorship. “Now it is the turn of the Iraqi people to write white pages of their history,” says Rozmaregiha [Fa].

author: Fred Petrossian


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Trinidad & Tobago: Smeltdown · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Trinidad and Tobago government's decision to re-locate a controversial aluminium smelter project prompts Jeremy Taylor to raise numerous questions about some key development decisions taken by the current administration: “Would we really need a rapid-rail system costing TT$15 billion if a bit more common sense was applied to the roads? Should we really be throwing up skyscrapers when we have hardly begun to solve the problems of crime and poverty, drugs, crumbling infrastructure, health and education systems that are not delivering what the country needs? How come so many people are getting so stinking rich during this oil/gas bonanza, while so many others are finding it harder and harder to stay afloat at all?”

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Bombs in Bangkok · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

It was not a good start to the new year in Bangkok as a series of bombs exploded in the city killing two people and injuring several others.
From 2Bangkok's Youtube page
The lost boy has pictures from one of the explosion sites
At 6.45 p.m. today, less than 300 meters from my apartment at Victory Monument in Bangkok, a bomb exploded killing one and injuring four. The incident occurred at the bus station next to Center One mall. I arrived around 7.30 p.m. and the scene was a mixture of shock and curiosity. An area around 400 square meters had been cordoned off and there was a large crowd of military personnel, policemen, forensics experts, and onlookers.
People in Bangkok are trying to figure out who was behind the attacks. Almost immidiately after any terrorist incidents like this, the southern Thai islamic insurgents are blamed. But this time some of the official statements are pointing towards ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin's supporters or the opponents of current Thai regime. Lost boy says
I assume the question on the tip of everybody’s tongue is “Whodunnit?” At this point speculation is rife as to whether it was insurgents from the south, people acting on the current political climate, or a different group altogether. Whoever it was, they must have had a fairly high level of organisation; what that adds up to is mere guesswork. There have been simultaneous bombings in the south already this year (in October 23 banks were bombed in Yala) but the violence has yet to migrate to Kraung Thep.
[Krung Thep is another name for Bangkok]
Mai me arai comments
I don’t find the assertion that the bombs are the work of Thaksin supporters rather than southern insurgents very convincing, personally.
One of the comments on this post says “Wow. Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, really. It was never going to end in the south.” . Bangkok was pretty much spared by the violence in the South until now.
Mike commenting on a post about the blasts at MetroBlogging Bangkok says
I think this will mean the dictatorial regime is on its last legs. With the embarrassing stock market blunder and now the worst terrorist attack in Bangkok, what is their legitimacy. This all happened on their watch, and there were warnings. They don't know how to run a country and they aren't protecting it.
Another comment reflects the thinking of most tourists and foreign residents who love Bangkok.
I'm incredibly shocked and saddened to think that strife and hate still brews beneath the surface of one of Asia's most beautiful cities. I hope something good turns out from all these; the Thais do not deserve this.
Bangkok Pundit and Gnarlykitty were liveblogging the incident through the night.

author: Preetam Rai


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Iran:A Happy New Year? · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, reformist politician and blogger, says probably situation in Iran and many other parts of the world, in 2007 won't be better than previous year. He adds, but there are events in the world that you can never predict.The blogger writes,we live in hope, happy new year to all humanity [Fa].


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The Saudi Blogosphere this Past Week · Global Voices
Global Voices MENA

Sleeping blogs, zombie computers, Saudi driving culture, Saddam Hussein's hanging, Arabic MTV, Saudi lesbian bloggers, Christmas, and more in this week's roundup. Let's get this started…
Relating to the demise of the blogging trend, mentioned in last week's roundup, Ahmad published a very interesting post about Saudi “sleeping blogs.” The number of Saudi blogs saw a sudden rise this past summer; many of these newly-born blogs have not been updated for more than two months so far. In a lighthearted manner, Saleh asks those reading his blog: “Is your computer a zombie?” He introduces a Wikipedia article titled “Zombie Computer” to his fellow Arabic readers. This past week in the Saudi blogosphere has also seen the emergence of two blogs published by Saudi girls that celebrate the lesbian lifestyle. “Saudi Ballerina” belongs to a 19-year-old single Saudi girl in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “Two Dykes and a Closet,” however, belongs to a lesbian couple that is also from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
When it comes to Christmas, and celebrating it in Saudi, Saudi blogs are divided in their opinions. Al-Failasouf posted (in Arabic) against the availability of Christmas decorations and sweets in many Saudi stores. He said: “In simple words, we are not responsible for bringing them happiness on their holy occasion, while our brothers everywhere are dying because of Christians like them.” Ahmed (a.k.a. Saudi Jeans) strongly opposes this view in a post of his. His rebuttal was: “This is what makes people like Debbie Schlussel object to Barack Obama's nomination for presidency because his father was a Muslim.” Now, if you want to hear it from someone who converted from Christianity to Islam and happens to be living in Saudi Arabia, you should read Nzingha's post about the celebration of Christmas.
On the Saudi driving culture, Margrave complains about young Saudi “weavers,” the one thing he refuses to get used to, and wonders: “Why do you [Saudi] guys have two or three different names for every main road?!” Crossroads Arabia has recently linked to a renewed US travel warning for Saudi Arabia:
Due to concerns about the possibility of additional terrorist activity directed against American citizens and interests, the Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to Saudi Arabia. The United States Mission in Saudi Arabia remains an unaccompanied post as a result of continued security concerns.
In other news, Dotsson posted about the recent countdown for Saddam Hussein's death sentence. Suprisingly, the countdown seems to be already over; this is all while the US “frees 18 ex-Guantanamo detainees,” according to the article posted by Crossroads Arabia.
Now, to wrap up…
Ahmed (a.k.a. Saudi Jeans) posted about the founding of a new Arabic MTV, Muneeb posted an interesting article about how YouTube “helped Canadian police find a man they believe responsible for a murder,” Al-Failasouf posted (in Arabic) some observations of his on the severe gender segregation in Saudi Arabia, and, finally, Prometheus posted an article about the Commission‘s most recent breach of individual rights and abuse of a Saudi mother and her daughter. Saudi human rights lawyer Abdulrahman Al-Lahem is taking the case of the mother and her daughter to court and says “he had been waiting years for a case like this.”

author: Global Voices MENA


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Argentina: 30 Creative Commons-Licensed Albums · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Creative Commons evangelist Ariel Vercelli reminds his readers that Fernando Casale has been collecting albums of Argentine musicians released under a Creative Commons license. Casale has already mentioned over 30 albums, nearly all of which can be downloaded for free.

author: David Sasaki


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Asia: 2006 Asia events · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The Asia Page had a summary of events that shaped Asia in 2006.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Bahamas: Junkanoo review · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Nicolette Bethel posts a detailed review of this year's Junkanoo festival in the Bahamas.


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Brazil: Marta Vieira da Silva, Football Superstar · Global Voices
David Sasaki

The Global Game has pieced together an incredible and inspirational biography of the 5'3″ Brazilian 20-year-old prodigy Marta Vieira da Silva. Here's just a glimpse: “Marta’s background [is complex]: the perennially water-challenged “backlands” area, more than 1,000 miles northeast of the country’s political and tourist centers, that provides her cultural backing and character; the ever cycling narrative of displacement and reunion; and the negotiations with identity required by excelling as a woman at a male-dominated sport, accentuated by knowing that soccer for women in Brazil was banned until 1979—seven years before Marta’s birth.”


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Brazil: Vigilante Militias Take Over Rio de Janeiro Slums · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

Marginal Revolutions reports about the vigilante militias that allegedly have taken over Rio de Janeiro slums, ruling as feudal lords and imposing taxes, as a result of the collapse of legal policing in these areas.

author: Jose Murilo


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Caribbean: Can the West Indies win the World Cup? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

James Fuller is a little dismayed at the lack of faith shown by a group of Trinidadians in the West Indies cricket team and their chances of winning the upcoming Cricket World Cup.


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China: seniors removed from Beijing city streets? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joel Marinsen in DANWEI translates a parody re-posted from Zhang Rui's blog about banning old and middle-aged from driving in the street starting on 1 January 2007.


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China: years in Spoofs · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Southern Metropolis Weekly devotes the final Life issue of 2006 to spoofing this year's major news stories – DANWEI has translated the table of content and collected relevant resources.


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Costa Rica Bridging the digital divide and CAFTA · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Andres Guadamuz – who usually focuses on issues involving tech and law – recently returned to his native Costa Rica where he commented on Bridging the Costa Rican digital divide and two posts about the ever-controversial Central American Free Trade Agreement.


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Costa Rica, Chile, Cuba: Castro and Pinochet · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Both Randy Paul and Boz applaud Costa Rican President Oscar Arias’ commentary on the similarities between Fidel Castro and Augusto Pinochet. Meanwhile, Venezuelan blogger Afrael comments on the celebrity look-alikes (including Winston Churchill!) of Fidel according to the site MyHeritage.


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Jamaica: Reading, writing & Absurdistan · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

“Writers who do not read have no right to write,” states Jamaican novelist Marlon James, in his meditation on reading and writing-cum-review of the novel Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart.


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Japan: Dog business · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lee blogs about the business concerning dogs (as pet) in Japan.


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Japan: new rules for foreign nationals · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Alexpappas from Japundit explains the latest policy that made mandatory for foreign nationals to report their employment status to authorities.


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Libya blogs: The Last Week of 2006  · Global Voices
Fozia Mohamed

The main themes dominating the Libyan blogs during this last week were, New Year, Christmas and Eid greetings, whith Khadijateri posting about the Eid Al Adha celebration and using photos for illustration.
Libyan bloggers were also concerned with  new pets, such as AngLibyan who brought  a tame budgie home.
Meanwhile , On Tripoli  continued to review the interesting places for eating out in Tripoli. His recent post covers the fast food outlet “pizza pizza”.
However, like their colleages in the Arab world , Saddam Hussein's demise insinuated itself into the moslty mundane  blogging  topics. of the Libyans. For example, Highlander , Safia Speaks , Lebeeya says and Braveheart  were all disgusted and shocked at the poor taste in picking the date of Saddam's death, and firmly believing there is some purpose and symbolising to the choice of executing Saddam in such a hurry and on one of the  most special occasions in the Islamic calendar.
Happy New Year and Eid Mubarak !

author: Fozia Mohamed


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Mexico: Legitimate Government of Mexico · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Holding his tongue, León Felipe Sánchez shows a screenshot from the website “Legitimate Government of Mexico,” the so-called parallel government by runner-up candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.


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Peru: Year in Review – Free Culture · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Cultura Libre – the Peruvian chapter of FreeCulture.org has an English-language year in review of what they have accomplished and what they hope to accomplish in 2007.


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Poland’s Pulse: “This year was…” · Global Voices
Jordan & Maria Seidel

Polish bloggers are having a holiday break. Stuck between family and tons of food (both are obligatory parts of Christmas celebrations here), some only posted best wishes, and many didn't even bother to do even that.
Among these who managed to update after all, a great number seems to have been struck by the “recapitulation plague.” This disease, a type of melancholy, is particularly rampant around the end of the year. Its main symptom among the blogging community members seema to be a need to summarize and somehow evaluate the past twelve months.
Almost every post started with “This year was…”
The bloggers of Salon 24 (more about this initiative at a later date) seem to compete in summarizing. Its host, Igor Janke, in his Janke Post, proclaimed 2006 to be the lost year (PL):
This was a year of disappointments in the public arena. After the last elections I, like millions of Poles, expected a great renaissance. I counted on Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Donald Tusk and their parties. Both have wasted their chances. PiS maybe wasn't doing as bad as many were predicting. They did introduce some reforms. But they also introduced (populist) Giertych into the government. They introduced minister Jasinski, who's blocking privatization. They introduced minister Fotyga, who's not doing a thing. They make deal, split and make deal again with Lepper and his pathetic band. The levels of political discord have reached previously unknown heights. Although the economy is, thankfully, doing fine, I'm disappointed. From the politicians that were supposed to make a breakthrough I'd expected much, much more.
One of his guests – Adam Pietrasiewicz in Widziane z pozycji siedzacej was forced to confess: “I'm not dissapointed in 2006″ (PL):
Mr. Igor Janke is complaining that he's disappointed again. From what he writes, he's been also disappointed before. Even by those who haven't done anything – precisely because they haven't done anything. I don't understand how can you say: “but they promised that it's going to get better…” EVERYBODY always promises that, 'cause this is democracy – you make promises in order to get elected. Then the representative does whatever is needed by the people he's dependent upon. And these are not the voters, not in the Polish system anyway. I used to live in a system where you voted for a specified candidate. It also was a corrupted system, but still better than ours. During the vote, I always put in a slip with ONE name on it, and by the end of my stay, it was usually a name of somebody I knew PERSONALLY. Who in our system can say, not that he knows his representative, but that he knows what his name is? NO ONE. Simply no one. Our voting system is bad. I concluded that much after returning to Poland, and I don't participate. I don't vote, because it makes no sense. This way I don't get disappointed, like Mr. Janke.
Fragles this time opened his site to a fellow blogger Matka Kurka, to quote his rant published previously on one of the forums:
This year was an exceptional one, we haven't had one like it in 17 years. For the first time in 17 years a motion has been made to the speaker of the parliament to proclaim Jesus Christ a king of Poland. You can order pizza or a taxi at a police station. Everything started with a campaign by a party jokingly called Law and Justice, gracefully titled “We keep our word.”
Seventeen years is a reference to the latest statement of Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Puchatek has more:
Mr. Prime Minister revealed to us that the last year was the best of the last 17, Poland grows in strength, people grow in wealth, foreign policy is a success and in general, everything is super. Puchatek would like to add that we have especially beautiful holidays this year, fresh snow covered half of the country, kids are riding sledges outside and the squirrels are singing carols from the treetops. And the marmot's wrapping, of course.
Elenoir (Moje sluszne poglady na wszystko) complains about this flood of commentaries, rankings and summaries that prompt her to add her own:
It's hard to find any particular positives in politics or economy in the passing year. Some good memories relate to sports (volleyball) and that's all. Things “in minus ” I could list 'till morning. Calling this year the best one since the beginning of the transformation seems silly. It's hard to make any predictions, but, as you know, certainties are taxes (growing), death, and I could add stability of the current coalition – since even the tape scandal did not damage it…
Jah gives his own forecasts for 2007 (PL):
Saddam has been hung, which won't bring normalcy to Iraq, not at all. It will be rough in Afghanistan as well. After the New Year, Polish soldiers will have a rough time there; the Taliban – no one denies that anymore – are getting stronger.
Finally, Galba competes with mayor Polish magazines by offering internauts his own poll for the Man of the Year. His nominees are:
The results should be known in the first days of the new year.
That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time – Do widzenia i powodzenia!

author: Jordan & Maria Seidel


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South Korea: Blogger fired for blogging about Dokdo · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Gerry-Bevers from Occidentalism was informed by the university for ending his contract because of his active blogging about Dokdo's history and Korea and Japan territorial debate. The letter said: “I think there is little doubt that the school made this decision because of the Dokdo problem.”


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South Korea: Freedom of expression · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michael Hurt complained about the freedom of expression in South Korea, especially towards foreigners.


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South Korea: Ruling party breaks up · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Andy Jackson from Marmot's Hole presented some background about the breaks up of Uri (the ruling party) in South Korea.


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Taiwan: DPP PK China Times · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN puts together reports concerning Yu Shyi-kun, the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan, order that all DPP central members shall not answer questions from the newspaper China Times anymore.
Michael Turton in the View from Taiwan disagrees with ESWN's presentation by pointing that China Times is a pro-Blue paper.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Assessments and predictions  · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Trinidad blogger Jeremy Taylor assesses 2006 and makes a few predictions for 2007, among them, that “electioneering will start in the US even earlier than usual,” the death of Fidel Castro and a win for Australia in the Cricket World Cup.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Trying doubles at home · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Chennette's mother prepares doubles, a popular Trinidadian street food, and Chennette posts the recipe and link to the Flickr photoset documenting the process.


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UN Sanctions Against Iran · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

The United Nations Security Council  has unanimously voted to impose sanctions against Iran over its failure to halt uranium enrichment. The Iranian government announced that it will continue its nuclear policy. Here's what bloggers had to say as they shared their thoughts and feelings about the sanctions, the government’s reaction and the consequences.
Nasime Dasht says that it is a very important organization that approved sanctions against Iran, and all members are obliged to follow its decision.The blogger adds that , while the authorities say that nothing happened, many things in fact did happen, and the authorities have forgotten the national interest [Fa]. Nasime Dasht writes
sanctions will create more difficult conditions for investment and investors will run away. World banks will refuse to give Iranians credit and USA will try to enlarge the specter of sanctions.
The blogger also says that the radical and baseless slogans of Iranian leader Ahmadinejad helped USA to push its agenda in United Nations, and advises that incapable authorities leave the scene to others for the benefit of the country and to preserve national interest.
Jomhour says it is Iranian government propaganda that the Security Council already regrets its decision, designed only to manipulate public opinion in Iran. Jomhour adds that political forces who are critics of the current government policy should provide evidence to negotiate with International Community[Fa].
Ali Mazroi, a former deputy in Parliament and reformist politician, refers to the Iranian government's policy regarding the nuclear crisis and says:
The blogger adds that absolutists (meaning Ahmadnejad and followers) who criticised the reformist government for its negotiations, did not tolerate any other voice than theirs in media about the nuclear question and did not let the world hear any voice other than theirs: nuclear technology is our absolute right.
The blogger writes that even now that UN has approved sanctions against Iran, the authorities still say it is not important and just a piece of paper [Fa]. He adds:
They had forgotten that the same UN has approved 598 resolutions and put an end to the Iran-Iraq war. . . . when these sanctions get applied our economy will face very tough day. . . it is interesting that, with respect to the UN resolution, only the authorities reacted and took a position. People are wandering what happened.
Nedaye emrouz says  the source of optimism is that ordinary people have not been targeted by the resolution [Fa], only the bank accounts of people who have been involved with the nuclear project will be blocked and selling missiles and nuclear related technology will be forbidden to Iran.
Hoder writes that: “It's the ultimate hypocrisy of the West to punish Iran for a crime Iran has not commited. When no one has found the tiniest evidence of Iran breaking the non-proliferation treaty that it has signed, what international law justifies the UN security council's sanctions on Iran?“
Mahjad says sanctions have an impact on the country, despite what authorities pretend. Banks will cut their relations with Iran; Iran  will be obliged to move its dollars to south Asian countries and pay much more for western goods [Fa].


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Africa: Ethiopia’s James Brown · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ben Loxo writes about James Brown's influence in Africa, “Benn loxo listener, Henri, sent me this Sekouba Diabaté track to post as a tribute. I’ll also post a track by “Ethiopia’s James Brown”, Alemayehu Eshete, to show how far his influence spread.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Argentina: Cromagnon, 2 years · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Jeff Barry attended the remembrance this past weekend held at Plaza de Mayo for the 194 people killed in the República Cromagnon nightclub fire two years ago. Speaking of the plaza, VivirLatino notes the loss of Nelva Mendez de Falcone, one of the founding members of the protesting “Madres of la Plaza de Mayo.”


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Armenia: Independence Viewed Through Sports · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Levon writes about how the state of Armenian competition in international sporting events can be seen as a smaller version of Armenia's post-independence experience.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Armenia: Traffic Reactions · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian surveys Armenian bloggers’ thoughts on making Yerevan's roads safer for pedestrians.


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Bangladesh: Politics of terror · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The 3rd World View on a booklet called Fang of Fanatics. “Bangladesh was battered by religious (Islamic) terrorists, who with their politics inside the mosques tried to establish a reign of terror with gruesome killings, and bombings in public gatherings.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Bloggers warn of insurgency after Ethio-Somali war · Global Voices
Andrew Heavens

Ethiopian and Somali government troops drove Islamist forces out of their last stronghold in Somalia yesterday, just eight days after the start of a major military offensive.
The apparently easy victory, however, did little to appease the region's bloggers, many of whom have been against the confrontation since the start.
What has [Ethiopian] Prime Minister Meles Zenawi gotten the soldiers of the Ethiopian defence forces into with his irresponsible and aggressive foray in Somalia? Are they going to be facing an insurgency similar to the type in Iraq as some Somali pundits are suggesting?
worried Zenobia of Ewenet Means Truth in Ethiopia in her post Ethiopian Soldiers in Somalia.
The Head Heeb fleshed out the fears in The apocalypse begins. He was writing a few days earlier when the Ethiopian-backed forces of Somalia's Transitional Government were forcing troops loyal to the Union of Islamic Courts back into Somalia's capital Mogadishu:
Somalia is an easy country to overrun but a hard one to occupy, and the Ethiopian intervention will turn into a counterinsurgency very quickly. It's pure fantasy to believe that the foreign fighters will simply leave or that the people will accept an Ethiopian-installed transitional government, and if Addis Ababa really intends to crush the SICC [Somalia Islamic Courts Council] as a fighting force, it will face a long, brutal asymmetric conflict. The likely humanitarian cost of such a regional war is incalculable. The Ethiopian air strikes have already made thousands of people into refugees, and a continued war would disrupt regional food security and send still more thousands to the uncertain shelter of neighboring countries.
Others said that the easiness of the victory undermined Ethiopia's whole reason for going to war in the first place. Ethiopia's prime minister claimed he had been forced on to the offensive because his country was threatened by the Islamic Court forces:
The fact that they seem to be able to conquer two important cities in two days only proves that the Militia of the Union of Islamic Courts never were a serious threat to Ethiopia. So because of this useless brutality thousands of Somali are without aid because the World Food Program of the United Nations had to withdraw from the battle fields. The fact that they are dependent on aid has everything to do with the behavior of the warlords that now call themselves the legitimate Transitional Federal Government of Somalia.
wrote Urael in Ethiopia proves the uselessness of the Somali war.
Enset was equally critical in A Reckless War Borne of Bad Choices:
This time around Ethiopians are told by Meles Zenawi that the nation's “defence forces were forced to enter into war to protect the sovereignty of the nation and to blunt repeated attacks by Islamic courts terrorists and anti-Ethiopian elements they are supporting.” This is hogwash!
The truth of the matter is that Ethiopia was not forced to enter this war; rather, it is the bad policy choices that the Meles regime has made with regard to Somalia and domestically combined with the reckless decision of the lunatic Eritrean regime to engage in a proxy war with Ethiopia that has made this war inevitable.
[It is widely believed that Ethiopia's old enemy Eritrea has been stoking the conflict by sending troops and weapons to the Somali Islamists.]
One of the bloggers’ major gripes was the lack of reliable news filtering back from the front through the region's state-controlled newspapers and radio stations:
I was just thinking spoke for many in Angry at the war and at the media:
A newspaper vendor at Arat Kilo that I was talking to this morning was telling me that how his customers are disappointed and annoyed at the papers that are available now which are full of propaganda, diabolizing ‘the fundamentalist group comprising elements that have hidden agenda.’
For middle-class Adissers who could afford satellite dishes and Internet, update about the war come into their living rooms. (The BBC TV is doing wonderful job with its constant update, apparently convinced that this has a potential to turn into crises). For the majority that is not the case. They have to depend on the information they get from their transistor radio and state TV that is full of puffery.
The few ‘private’ papers that are in the market never offend the government and sound as if they are enlisted in what the government calls in ‘the battle for development’. Information remains a government monopoly.

author: Andrew Heavens


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Bolivia: And the winner is … · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Mundo al Reves announces [ES] that Crónicas Urbandinas [ES], written by Estido from La Paz, received the most votes as the best Bolivian blog. The three runners-up are also listed.


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Turbofolk and Xenophobia · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Neretva River writes that “a series of fights at Disco clubs across Bosnia along with the growing popularity of Turbofolk illicited a very racist [anti-Serbian] response” from one Bosnian actor and politician.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Brazil: New iCommons Chairman · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Heather Ford of iCommons announces that Brazilian lawyer Ronaldo Lemos will take over Joi Ito's role as Chairman. The next iCommons Summit will be held in Dubrovnik, Croatia from June 15 – 17.


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Bulgaria, Romania: New EU Members · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Europhobia writes about Europe's muted reaction to the arrival of the EU's two new members on Jan. 1: “Personally, I reckon the lack of coverage and debate is thanks to a profound sense of embarrassment. It’s hard, after all, to feel much enthusiasm about the addition of those particular bastions of economic might, and it’s far too late now to pipe up with ‘erm.. hang on a minute, chaps – are you SURE we want to let those two in to the club?'”


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Cameroon: justice with a human face · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Dibussi Tande writes about Cameroon's new criminal procedure code: Can Cameroon’s New Criminal Procedure Code Deliver “Justice with a Human Face”?


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China: Teacher strike · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Teachers in Huadu, an outlying suburb of Southern China metropolis Guangzhou went on strike yesterday in front of the local district government building yesterday, calling for higher wages.
A thorough look through Google search results for “Huadu” “teacher” and “protest” suggests a media blackout, which the teachers seem to have expected, as the story has been reported on closely at the 21Teacher internet forum, at least until comments were turned off early this afternoon. Of net news sites, GoldenGoat Net, Sina and Netease have run stories, some of which have since been deleted, along with other bbs forum and blog posts. Posts at 21Teacher estimate that between seven hundred to a thousand teachers appeared on the Huadu Plaza steps at nine this morning, and four hundred patrol and riot police—who some spectators say got violent with at least one teacher—being surrounded by spectators reportedly numbering between two to ten thousand, many of which it was speculated were also teachers. One statement not being refuted online is that the teachers have remained peaceful, breaking their “silent sit-in” only to sing The Internationale.
Chances are the PLA would be sent in to ‘negotiate’ if China's state unions went and tried to organize activities on behalf of their members, so what, asks forum member lhghk123, might have instigated this? An misinterpreted signal from the top, it seems, from someone who probably meant every word he said:
不知道此次事件会如何发展，但我听到了很多教师的谈论，他们担心受到政府的不明不白的处理，受到迫害。作为花都区的一名普通居民，也是考虑到我的孩子将来还有老师来教导他
…
前天，即2006年12月31日，中共中央总书记、国家主席、中央军委主席胡锦涛来到国家扶贫开发工作重点县–河北省承德市围场满族蒙古族自治县考察经济社会发展情况，看望慰问基层干部群众。在御道口寄宿制小学，胡锦涛对老师说：”我向你们表示深深的敬意。”同时，他要求各级党委和政府热情关心工作在农村特别是贫困地区农村的老师们，为他们创造更好的工作、学习、生活条件。
There's no union to better articulate the demands but according to forum poster hdjs, they are for education officials to:
重视教师待遇，籍创建教育强区之机增加工资收入和医保等福利待遇。
Didn't take long for the cops to show up, and 21Teacher user tys123 was there to take some photos:
Commenter Huadu Watch (花都关注):
请注意保护我们的同行,最好不要发那些能看得清楚教师真面目的图吧!上网要有点意识!虽然说你不发,拍得人有很多,但是请注意一下吧!
Commenter May All Your Wishes Come True (心想事成):
近几年的区人大会议，我们的教师代表所提出的改善教师待遇问题都没有得到妥善的解决，迫于政府的权威，没有人敢代表教师去跟政府领导谈判，因为怕事后报复，如此以来，有谁能告诉我们还有更合法的方式来解决吗？
According to another post from Huadu Watch, a peaceful sit-in protest is fully within their rights according to point nine of article seventy-six of the sixth chapter of the most recent update to Mandatory Education Law, implemented on September 7, 2006, which reads:
当政府不能按时足额发工资待遇时， 有权集体到同级政府门口静坐示威，督促同级政府尽快支付工资待遇。20天后还不能支付时，有权集体到上一级政府门口静坐示威，直到解决问题为止。
To which user ‘student’ says:
《中华人民共和国集会游行示威法》第二十八条的规定：未经许可的集会、游行、示威，由公安机关给予负责人和直接责任人员警告或者15日以下拘留，有犯罪行为的依照刑法追究刑事责任。
Shortly before 21Teacher stopped allowing new posts and comments and information from teachers and those at the scene from sharing the latest updates, user 20070101 wrote:
最新消息!今天下午3点各学校派教师代表去区委开会.大家看看区里的意图再说.先冷静别冲动 ,是大家的事,不能只考虑自己.别把事情弄僵了.
But 21Teacher wasn't the only website censoring news of the event, according to poster ‘orange'; just the nicest:
从昨天晚上到今天一早就在关注这个事件,很多网站论坛都有关于这事件的转述.但是 ,很快就随即被某些人关闭了~~~~掩耳盗铃的现代版
Blackout imposed on media means citizen reporting of the event has limits. User ‘teacher’ posts some financial details regarding Huadu from one news website dating back to the first financial quarter of 2006:
今年1月—4月，花都区的财政一般预算收入累计达 6.0233亿元，同比增长103.03%，其增长速度在广州市属十二个区县中名列第一。在财税收入增加的情况下，今年花都的公关财政开支也将增大，其中包括拿出4000万元为该区教师加薪…
Confirming that, some bloggers pointed out that teachers in Huadu saw salaries raised last year by 300 yuan, or USD 38 per month, but was it enough? Other bloggers have mentioned vast disparities exist between salaries for teachers in Huadu and those in other districts, although no figures have yet been given on 21Teacher.
Not all the commenters agree with the striking teachers, like one anonymouse user who posted ‘Several Reasons Not To Give Teachers A Pay Raise’:
不给教师涨工资的几条理由:
1.中国的教育制度本不平等,国家的教育经费原本不多,若教师再涨工资,想必只有从学生身上收取,对于经济并不发达的地区的学生家里,无疑给他们增加了负担.
2.在许多贫困地区,仍有很多的孩子上不起学,读不起书,教师少拿一些,把这些钱给孩子读书,中国有少一些文盲,何乐而不为.
3.教师这职业本身就有奉献精神,既然选择了这行业,就应有这情操.
4.当今,有许多教师在家开办课堂收学生,一节课收费不等,初中20~30元,高中40~70元,大学导师更加贵.
5.在城市里,老师开着车上班,住着商品房,在一些所谓的名校中是极为普遍的事,难道,这还要涨工资吗?
若真要涨工资,应给山村教师涨,因为他们是最无私的.
If raises are really needed, it should be given to teachers in the hills and villages, because they are the most selfless.
Many more photos from the sit-in here and here.

author: John Kennedy


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Croatia: Rahim Ademi · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Neretva River writes about the upcoming trial in Croatia of Kosovar Albanian war criminal Rahim Ademi – here and here.


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Croatia: Srdan Vrcan’s Obit · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

East Ethnia posts an obituary for Srdan Vrcan, a renowned Croation sociology professor who passed away at the very end of 2006.


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El Salvador: Top Stories of 2006 · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Tim Muth has put together an incredibly useful roundup of the top El Salvador stories of 2006.


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Ethiopia: activist flees the country · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ethiopian Life, Politics, Culture and Arts reports that Ashenafi Kebede, Ethiopia's journalist and activist, has fled the country. His life was in danger after distributing Dr. Berhanu Nega's book, The Dawn of Freedom, and civil disobedience calendar.


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Guatemala: Digitizing Police Records · Global Voices
David Sasaki

The Guatemala Solidarity Network has a fascinating post about the digitization of the Guatemalan police archives: “The archive workers are racing against time. In March the Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman is up for reelection. The project must take full advantage of the current Ombudsman's unconditional support while he is in charge.”


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Guyana: New year lessons from toast · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

As she learns a few lessons from toast, Guyana-Gyal thinks she may not be quite ready to start the new year.


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Hong Kong and China: Days without internet and the world is not flat · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Because of the earthquake in southern sea of Taiwan on 26 of December, 2006, two major internet cables in the Pacific Ocean have been broken (details see Andrew Lih). Hong Kong is a major affected areas and many bloggers and internet users are forced to live through a few days without internet at year end.
However, the issue at stake is much more than not able to go online, there are more reflections from bloggers concerning our modern life and internet business and governance.
Mo's notebook points out the reason why Hong Kong had suffered more than many other areas (including mainland China) is related with the monopoly of telecommunication business:
查實這次大癱瘓的教訓是什麼？那就是一家獨大會累死香港。
大家數一數手指，到底香港還剩什麼外資ISP？就算NTT，主力也是企業客，沒有送給PCCW的住家客，就只有日本籍顧客，以及少數使用static IP的客。對中小企，根本只有很少的外資ISP可以選，有都比較貴。
而本土ISP，光纖一窩蜂聚在東北亞，外資ISP尚會平均一些，結果除左鍾意用慢線的i-Cable，其餘攬住一齊死，真係玩死人。
不要將所有雞蛋放在同一籃子裡，才是公平競爭法的真義。
As for local ISP, their lines all go through northeast Asia, foreign ISP are more evenly distributed. In the end, only I-Cable, the slowest line is working now, all other lines are dead, and all the customers are fooled.
Don't put all the eggs into a basket, this is the truth of fair competition.
Yin also releases how passive the internet users are in this digital world:
我們剛在本月中被《時代雜誌》選為本年度的風雲人物，何等諷刺。人們常慶幸自己生於資訊年代，享受前所未有的通訊便利，甚至發揮個人前所未有的影響力。
然而，我們－－本年度的風雲人物－－是很被動的。我們依賴的，是海底的光纖電纜、電腦、電力……這一切，其實不全然在我們掌握之中。
However, we–the person of the year–are so passive. We are depending on the internet lines under the sea, the computer, the electricity… all these are not under our control.
While Duke aka expresses how internet has dominated one's life Charles Mok finds the disruption as a great opportunity for ordinary netizens to take a leave from the computer.
Duke aka:
斷纜令人討厭死了，對我的工作和生活做成的麻煩也夠大了。遊戲玩樂的且不說，我身邊的最清醒最悶蛋最勤勞的朋友、同事也一樣叫苦連天，而且不斷嘗試登上 MSN。我收不到客戶的電郵，我發給客戶的電郵他們也收不到，我要改用IDD打長途電話發傳真，既花錢又麻煩。周未想約一個飯局，要花的功夫也增加了。現在呀，就是學生做家課也要上網。
Charles Mok:
「幸好」今天只是聖誕與新年之間三個工作天之第一日，很多人都在放假期間，但對在這段時間仍必須倚賴網絡通訊甚至傳送實時指令的公司及企業，這些日子，真不易過；對一般的網民而言，這也許是個機會，被「逼」去找別的玩意。
While in Mainland China Keso has some revelations from the incident that the world is not as flat as it seems to be.
天灾也好，人祸也罢，无非再次证明，世界从来没像一些人想象的那么平。
一个变平的世界听上去当然不错，想想土地可以大面积机械化耕种和收割，想想公路铁路不用修那么多涵洞和桥梁，想想可能的巨大经济效益，的确很美。但是，在涨价等问题上高叫“与世界接轨”的同时，有时候我们确实需要一个坑坑洼洼的硌涩世界，来掩护自己，这种硌涩，官方说法叫“中国特色”。
本来，大家都以为，最平的地方就是互联网。网线一连，世界在我指尖。但后来就慢慢发现，越是搞互联网的人，越是希望互联网不那么平，不平甚至成了一种独一无二的竞争力。那些认真地以为世界很平的跨国公司，在输了一轮又一轮之后，误以为把服务器搬到中国就可以让世界最终变平。这种想法的天真程度，并不在“世界是平的”之下。他们输都不知道输在什么地方。
断掉的海缆，只是断开了我们跟部分世界的物理连接，这种断开，在时间上是有限的，在损失上也是可计算的。但以为有了1.23亿网民，就可以坦然地将中国互联网孤岛化，就可以永久性断开与世界的联系，则是一种更大的危险。
A flattened world sounds good, when we imagined that the flat land could be cultivated by machine, when we imagined that roads and rails we didn't need to build so many bridges and tunnels, when we imagined the grand economic utility, such world was really beautiful. However, when we chant “connecting with the world” regarding issue like inflation, we sometimes also want an uneven and bumpy world to cover up ourselves, such bumpiness, in official term is “Chinese character”.
At first, people thought that the flattest land is the internet. The whole world is connected through fingers via the net. Slowly we find out that, those who are more into internet, they wish the internet land not to be as flat. Being uneven becomes a distinctive competitiveness. Those transnational corporates which seriously believe that the world is flat have lost one round after another round. They think by moving the server to China can flatten the world. Such thought is more naive than the belief that “the world is flat”. They don't even know why they have lost.
The broken sea line only cut off the physical connection with other part of the world. Such cut off is temporary and the damage can be measured. However, the belief that, with 123 millions netizens, China internet would become an isolated island and cut off permanently from the world, is far more danger.


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India: Hajj Reports · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Live reports from the Hajj at Indian Muslims. From the post on Day 1 – “Large crowds of pilgrims converged upon Islam’s holy city as the ‘Day of Standing’ on the plain of Arafah, which falls on Friday, drew close. Makkah resembled a global village on Wednesday with people of all nationalities as diverse as the Bosnian & Ethnic Chinese Muslims”


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India: Indians in Kenya · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Sepia Mutiny on Indians in Kenya, culture, identities and the economy. “The aloofness question comes down to whether or not Indians are perceived to have a stake in the future of the country and are not a foreign population siphoning wealth and keeping it for themselves.”


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Indonesia: Airplane Crash  · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Indcoup looks at the average age of the planes used by Indonesian airlines and remarks that the new year day crash of an private airline was a disaster waiting to happen.


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Iran:A new law wants to force bloggers to get registered · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kamangir writes about the new law in Iran which wants to force all blogs and sites owners get registered.They have to provide a lot of personal datas such as telephone number. He says  the new mandatory law literally forces all bloggers and website owners to register. The new law gives a two month period, after which the unregistered sites will be called to have “unknown identity“. What the consequences of having such a site will be, no one knows, yet.


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Jamaica: Earning a quick dollar in the ghetto makeover · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Ria Bacon photographed these young women in December 2006 on Barbican Road in Kingston, Jamaica. As she explains on her blog:
In the week before Christmas, many of the poorer areas of Kingston get a quick makeover, as hundreds of local residents hack at overgrown pavements and daub the kerbs with whitewash. They are motivated not by a spontaneous burst of civic pride, but rather by the promise of a day’s work, usually paid for by the local politician. For some, it will be one of a few rare days of paid employment each year. It is noticeable, but not surprising, that most of the workers are women.
Although J$1,000 per day is surely welcome at this time of year, it does little to break the culture of clientelism and certainly falls short of providing long-term benefit to the individuals or the community.
As the Jamaican-Chinese proverb says:
Ah man! Jus’ give ‘er de damn brush, y’hear?!
Parliamentary elections in Jamaica are due by October 2007.


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Jamaica, Trinidad: Soca downloads? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Francis Wade has been listening to the latest soca tunes being released out of Trinidad for the Carnival season, but regrets that a way of legally downloading them as mp3s is yet to exist.


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Japan: immigrant child labour · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Matt from Debito.org comments on the local news concerning two temporary job placement agencies hiring 12 Brazilian children labour in Japan.


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Kazakhstan: Aid to Kyrgyzstan · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Registan.net posts about Kazakhstan supplying aid for victims of the recent earthquake in Kyrgyzstan, highlighting the shrewd political component of the decision.


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Kyrgyzstan: New Year & New Constitution · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Yulia writes on Kyrgyzstan's new constitutional amendments — ones which reverse very recent changes that weakened the power of the president. She says that faced with abandoning their principles or possibly losing their seats in new elections, parliamentarians eagerly chose the former.


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Kyrgyzstan: Real & Metaphorical Earthquakes · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Yulia rounds up reactions in the Kyrgyz blogosphere to political and actual earthquakes that have hit Kyrgyzstan in recent weeks.


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Lebanon: Saddam Hussein and Lebanese Politics · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

The last week in 2006 wasn't just about the celebration of the holidays. There's also the anti-government protest, the hanging of the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, and politics in the Middle East. Let’s start with the non political posts.
The environment was the concern of Dove’s Eyes View who comments on the Bush’s administration most significant concessions to date on the dangers of global warming as it proposes protecting the polar bears. This, she wrote, marks a reversal by the administration from its reluctance to acknowledge the consequences of climate change.
And Layal voices the concern of a Lebanese youth who refuses to leave Lebanon despite the current political conditions and even though all of her high school and university friends are traveling abroad.
The hanging of Saddam Hussein brought many bloggers back from their holiday-break. The following is just a sample of the opinions and comments on the subject.
Pierre Tristam wrote about the hanging of Saddam Hussein in a very strongly worded critique about the invasion of Iraq in what is known as Operation Iraqi Freedom and about the policies of the US administration in the Middle East:
There was, at dawn on Saturday, no “justice” meted out in the assassination of Saddam. It couldn't even have that Mussolini feel about it: a popular execution in broad daylight, unafraid and unquestioning, because in this case the executioners themselves have too little to distinguish them from the executed. It isn’t just their faces that are masked, but their motives and future plans. Meanwhile the hanging has been merely the enactment of a scene written in American stage directives almost two years ago, to fulfill another one of those sensational benchmarks the Bush administration invented as substitutes for real strategy, for policies that could make a workable difference for Iraq.
Sophia also had this to say about the hanging of Saddam:
Saddam's hanging will always be remembered not for his crimes and his tyranny on his own people but it will be remembered for the US's dirty politics in the Midlle East…
Saddam's trial and hanging were not meant to return dignity and justice to Iraqis but were meant as terrifying examples for other Middle East head of states of what might happen to them of they don't comply…
Dr. Victorino sees that to understand the implication of Saddam’s execution one has to listen to the statements from the Israeli officials.
Marxist from Lebanon also joins in criticizing the timing and the manner of the execution of Saddam.
The local issues of the Lebanese political arena as well as the politics of the Middle East were also topics for posts in some of the blogs.
The anti government protest in Beirut is the subject for a photo essay by [ j i m m y ] who states that:
It’s the protest of the modest and the forgotten… I was impressed by the number of small discussion forums which were taking place all over the place, all at the same time. Every party had been organizing a discussion or a debate over the subjects related to the protests and most events were taking place on a day-long basis.
Next to the very large protests going on, a small protest, by about ten young independent Lebanese took place in Beirut to call for the improvement of the conditions of the youth of Lebanon and was posted about by Bashir.
Lazarus wrote about a long-term strategy for the deconfessionalisation of the Lebanese confessional (sectarian) system that will ensure potential benefits and avoid destructive blowbacks.
Here is one of a long list of questions that Bech considers when he thinks of politics in the Middle East:
Why is the “Left” the biggest loser in the Middle East? What can we learn from this defeat? To what extent are ‘Islamic’ parties an expression of ‘leftist’ concerns and demands? Should we revise our whole understanding of Leftism as too Eurocentric?
Finally, Abu Kais comments on the call for the assassination of the Syrian president and on the execution of Saddam:
It’s a messed up region, and Lebanon is no exception. This year, the new dictators club will try to spread their reign and leave their marks everywhere in the region and the world. In Lebanon, March 14 will find itself forced to fight the battle with weapons of comparable strength, or die. As Jumblatt probably knows, in the Middle East, taking away the soul takes away the freedom. And freedom is worth many souls, on both sides.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Meet The New Urban Cambodian Woman And Blogger: Keo Kalyan · Global Voices
Tharum Bun

In a country where long-time respected traditions dominate the way of life of the people, the role of women in education, social work and general lifestyle is still limited compared to men. “Women are supposed to stay at home, and always behave quietly and sweetly,” stated the Women’s Code of Conduct (Chbab Srey in Khmer) – a rhyming poem from 1848 that instructed women how to behave in their married life, within their family, and in the community.
In Cambodia, for every three boys, only one girl attends secondary school. In most parent's minds, for some reasons, this discrepancy in thinking exists because families consider education of a boy to be more economically rewarding. They think that over-education of a girl can be a handicap to her marriage prospects, and that the liability of a girl getting abducted while commuting to secondary school is great. Many cannot afford to keep their daughters in school, and as cultural gender biases favor the education of boys over girls, many young girls in Cambodia drop out of school after grade 6.
“Nowadays, younger generations have access to a better lifestyle. There are more opportunities for them in areas such as education as more scholarships are being offered. However, I can see only a few of them realise this and are trying hard to grab these opportunities,” said young graduate Keo Kalyan.
However, with the success of more women, in particular many graduates from abroad, a turning point is about to happen. They are not going to change the old tradition, but to shape it for this new millennium.
At age 22, Keo Kalyan is a trend-setter. Born in Kandal, a province that shares border with Phnom Penh, she moved to the Cambodian capital city with her parents, where she was raised and schooled. Kalyan now lives a more fashionable life than those living in rural areas. Like the vast majority of Cambodians, Kalyan is friendly and wears a smile – not something one would expect from citizens of a country recovering from decades of war and conflict.
A new generation of Cambodia: Keo Kalyan
Unilke most young women of her age  who are at home doing housework, Kalyan, both studies and works hard to fill her hunger of knowledge and experience. She holds two Bachelor degrees, one in Business Administration from National University of Management, and the other in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) from Institute of Foreign in Language. Currently, the determined graduate works as a teacher of English at a private language school, and is actively involved in several social work projects, one of which is advocating young people to realize open communication using the available basic digital technology: blogging. The need of dialogues between people is vital to the  development of the nation although debate is still something new to this country.
“By having this blog, I can share my daily activities and thoughts with my friends and with other people around the world.”
As an admirer of Angelina Jolie, an American film actress and a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency, Kalyan, also known by her nick name Vanilla, knows what she can contribute to her home country that was torn apart by several decades of armed conflict. Believing that her home country should be more active in diplomatic relations on the international stage, she is thrilled to be part of the early stage of rebuilding.
Having recently passed a preliminary test for the Fulbright scholarship, Kalyan hopes to set off for the United States to major in a public administration masters degree.
I talked to Kalyan, asked her some questions to get more insights about her life, her Fulbright scholarship as well as her views on young people.
ThaRum: Would you please tell me more about yourself?
Kalyan: I was born in Ta Khmao, Kandal province; but I grew up and started school in Phnom Penh. My father works at the Ministry of Education, Youths and Sports and my mother is a seller. I am the only daughter and also the youngest one in the family as I have two elder brothers.
I finished high school in 2001, and at the same year I passed a scholarship to study BBA, majoring in Accounting, at the National University of Management (NUM). In 2002, I started another degree, B.Ed, majoring in TEFL, at Institute of Foreign Languages (IFL). In 2004, I was selected as one of the four Cambodian fellows to join the SIF-ASEAN Students Fellowship in Singapore for 20 weeks. During that time, I was also taking some Accounting courses at Singapore Management University (SMU). Two weeks upon my return from Singapore, I flew to Australia for an exchange study under the Peace Scholarship Trust, initiated by IDP Australia. I spent 2 semesters studying at University of Tasmania (UTAS) in Hobart, Tasmania. Recently, I have just graduated from IFL and NUM.
Beside academic study, I have also been very active in participating in a number of extracurricular activities, community services and voluntary work. I am one of the founders of the Volunteers Without Borders (VWB), established by the Cambodian Alumni of the Fellowship in Singapore. I am also a member of the Australian Alumni Association (AAA) in Cambodia. Currently, I am also a teacher at New World Institute (NWI).
ThaRum: Recently you have passed Fulbright scholarship’s preliminary exam, what have you done to prepare yourself for this?
Kalyan: To get a scholarship, it is important that your academic background, particularly your study records, must be outstanding. I have always been one of the top students since primary school. When I was little, I would always have an ambition to pass the scholarship to study abroad – the US, the UK or Australia. Thus, I told myself to study hard and paved my own way to get to my ambition. I knew that the first step was to enhance my English proficiency and accuracy. Then, beside strong academic background and English, I also had to broaden my general knowledge and being active in participating in any extra-curricular activities in schools and in any community services or voluntary work in the community. And finally and foremostly is to improve my personalities and communicational skills. To get the scholarship you need to be interviewed and during the interview, personality is one of the crucial criteria in judgment.
ThaRum: Any thoughts and advices for younger Cambodians to prepare for such a significant advancement?
Kalyan: As mentioned in the previous question, academic background is very important because they will ask for a submission of your transcripts. Thus, if you aim to get a scholarship, as I have already mentioned, you need to study hard and be an outstanding student. Also, it is important to start early! I mean shape your path to your aim very early. You need to know what you want and then try to find ways how to achieve what you want. Draw a milestone for your future.
Beside strong academic background, you need to be very active in helping the community by participating any extra-curricular activities or voluntary work in the community. This also helps build your communicational skills and personality, especially in teamwork.
One more thing is that you need to be knowledgeable in various issues in the world. Being an outstanding student, it doesn’t mean that you should only focus on one issue that is your major or specialization without caring to know other issues associated with or even not associated with. It is important to broaden your general knowledge, especially about the outside world and more importantly widen your network.
ThaRum: What is your opinion about the younger generation of Cambodia?
Kalyan: Nowadays, young generation can access to better lifestyles, in particular there are more opportunities for them such as better education and more scholarships being offered. However, I can see only a few of them realise are trying hard to grab these opportunities. On the other hand, most of them are being too much entertained by the pop cultures and pay less attention to school work. I have observed so far that the quality of education among the young generation has significantly decreased. However, I am still optimistic that the future is not going to be worse. I believe that those young people are very bright, creative and enthusiastic. They have more access to new technologies, better health care and resources. I hope that one day they will change their attitudes and realise the opportunities they can grab for their future.
ThaRum: Coming to blogging, you started to blog back in March 2005, why did you start having your own weblog?
Kalyan: At first I was introduced to weblog by my friends in Singapore, and that was back in 2004. However, at the time I was not very interested in blogging as I was at the time also designing my own website using frontpage and flash media with the help from my senior in Singapore. Besides, I was busy with the fellowship program. However, when I was in Australia, I was getting a bit bored, so I usually went online and browsed through this and that. I came across a few nice blogs of Cambodian students overseas, so I got interested and also my website was not hosted yet as I couldn’t find any free web hosting for my website. By finding out that blog is just like a website and it’s very easy to post and upload pic, so I decided to give it a try. Since then, I forget bout my website and I have developed my blog and it’s been very popular. ;-)
By having this blog, I can share my daily activities and thoughts with my friends and with other people around the world.

author: Tharum Bun


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Nepal: International Elephant Race · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Wagle Street Journal on the International Elephant Race in Nepal. “The public concern about the illegal poaching of Rhinos in Chitwan National Part overshadowed the international elephant race. People were carrying placards, like these students, demanding life for Rhinos.”


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Nigeria: enough is enough · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

2007 is the right time for Nigerians to claim their country, writes Oro: Enough is enough! The rise of apathy and inaction of the good people of Nigeria who ought to participate in the electoral process has become a source of worry and concern.


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Romania: Singing Carols · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“Memories from Romania: On the last day I spent in [Onesti] many of the students came to the Cancelarie (staff room) to sing carols for the teachers. I had absolutely no idea they had prepared this, an absolutely delightful memory to take away :)” – by L-plate big cheese
Romania and Bulgaria became the EU's newest members Jan. 1, 2007.
Here's what Flickr user L-plate big cheese writes about Romania in the introduction to her Romania photo set:
This is a land which seems to have everything. And much of this everything seems to have been overshadowed by the developments of this and the last century. Now, it does not necessarily mean that Romania has been ruined, on the contrary. Her landscapes are a story of recent past and ancient past, all defused along one horizon.


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Russia: Holidays in St. Pete · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Lex Libertas writes about holiday decorations in St. Petersburg: “If you grew up in a Slavic country, you'll walk around and think “Oh, the New Year's decorations are up.” And if you grew up in the West, you'll notice the “Christmas” decorations.”


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Singapore: The politics of Singapore’s new media in 2006 · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Gerald Giam (via theory.isthereason.com) looks at 2006's highlights in new media and citizen journalism in Singapore. “The government’s “light touch” approach to regulating the Internet was probably one of the factors that emboldened many Singaporeans to step up and push the political boundaries through their blogs, podcasts (online sound clips) and vodcasts (online video clips).”


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South Africa: podcasting new media and the law · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Chilibean announces the launching of a South African podcast, Legally Content, which deals with the intersection of new media and the law.


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South Korea: women’s health · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Asiapages blogs about her experience of health check in South Korea which presumes unmarried women as sexually not active and therefore ineligible for body check up.


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Sri Lanka: The Moped Diaries · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

aljuhara on beginning the Moped diaries and commute in Sri Lanka. “A truly expert bus driving tease will then not bring it to a complete halt but continue to drag it temptingly about twenty feet more so that the bright little crowd has to run following it.”


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The Balkans, Russia: Energy Ties · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Neretva River reports on the treatment of Russian energy companies in the Balkans.


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Turkmenistan: Moscow Reaches Out · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

At neweurasia, Peter reports on Russia's overtures to Turkmenistan, which he says should come as a relief to acting President Berdymuhammedov and signal Russia's commitment to the political direction taking form in Turkmenistan.


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Afghan Whispers: Kabul Express, 5 More Years, and Lack of Legitimacy · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Dialogue 3 talks about an Indian film, Kabul Express, which has created a lot of noise in Afghanistan without being shown on Afghanistan. The blogger says according to what is heard in the movie, very negative comments are made about the Hazara ethnic group such as that these people are as violent as Taliban or that all of them are killers[Fa]. He says this film hurts national unity in Afghanistan.
Afghan Warrior writes that the international community should pledge to support Afghanistan for five more years. The blogger says ,
We don't want to be a charity case. Afghans are proud people who want to make their own way in the world but at the moment we need the support of the free world. We need more emphasis on training the Afghan army so that Afghans can take over the fighting. We need enough support to defeat the Taliban. We don't have a shortage of brave Afghans – we have brave people and we can defeat the Taliban with the support of the free world. The Taliban are not strong enough to create any civil war at the moment. Therefore they carry out terrorist attacks which mainly kill innocent civilians, and if we have the support of the free world we can defeat the enemies soon. But if the world community abandons us, Afghanistan will go back to civil war. We don't want to be part of the 3rd world. We need the support of the world community at least for 5 more years.
Askar Gu Raiz talks about the fragile legitimacy of Afghan government. The blogger writes,
at a time when the public is becoming increasingly disillusioned with the state…parliamentarians spend the day which marks their first anniversary as a house not with their constituencies or the general public, but reporting to ‘donor countries and their representatives’… While I understand it is vital to have the donors on board, and less in Afghanistan is possible without them, the satisfaction of donor community with parliament’s performance need not be confused with what the motives of having a parliament in place are for either side; the Afghan state as a whole, and the countries involved in Afghanistan.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Africa: new African website · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Proudly African writes about Africanpath.com, “The thrust of this blog post is to introduce to you a new website that is poised to aggregate news and blogs from Africa.”


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Anguilla: First ever escalator! · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Bob Green's Anguilla News posts a photo of Anguilla's first ever escalator, along with the caption: “After it had been in operation for a short time, a sign appeared on the new escalator: “This is not an amusement ride.”

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Argentina: Buenos Aires Blog Roundup · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Alan Patrick has put together yet another comprehensive Buenos Aires Blog Roundup, this time to close out 2006.


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Armenia: New Year · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Nareg writes about celebrating the new year — both of them — in Armenia.


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Bangladesh: Pluralism in Islam · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Sadiq M. Alam on instances of pluralism in Islam. “As explained by Muslim historian of the eleventh century, Al Biruni, the Sabians were believed to have been remnants of the Jewish captivity who chose to remain behind in Babylon and practiced a combined religion of Judaism and Zoroastrianism, and claimed descent from Enoch.”


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Barbados: Piggies at the Trough winner announced! · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Barbados Free Press announces the winner of the Piggies at the Trough awards, and tells the nominator of the winner that the US$1,000 prize money was “dropped off earlier tonight and it is waiting there for you right now.”


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Belarus: Small Business Endangered · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A new law is likely to wipe out some of Belarus’ small businesses, reports TOL's Belarus Blog: “Beginning at January 1st, 2008, individual entrepreneurs will be able to hire only family members and close relatives. It can end up closing half of small businesses in the country.”


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Bermuda: Callling BLP bloggers · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Limey laments the lack of Bermudian blogs are supportive of the ruling party: “This decentralised model of debate cannot work. . .  unless there are blogs offering all perspectives. That’s what’s missing in Bermuda today.”


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Chile: Night Before New Years Eve · Global Voices
David Sasaki

“After a cravenly noisy Friday night, Saturday night was strangely quiet. It was as if all the neighbors, and all Chile was preserving its chi for the following day, the explosion of 2007.” And so began Chileno's foray into 2007.


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Chilean Opinion 2006 · Global Voices
Rosario Lizana

Chilean bloggers have summed up the good and bad of 2006.
El observatorio politico [ES] described six of the main general issues that are still not going the right way: corruption in the leftist party, the failure in the fight against delinquency, a deep crisis in our education system, low economic growth even with the best conditions, a slow justice system, and the deterioration of the institutions regulating Codelco Copper.
The “deep crisis” refers to the student protests held in Santiago last May and June and organized using online tools.
Regarding the lifestyle of Chileans, Manuel Rodriguez (ES)  wrote of the “other summary of the 2006” in which he explains that one of every four working class Chileans are “suffering” because they got into debt.
La angustia que provoca una deuda pendiente es relevante si se toma en cuenta que el 80% de los trabajadores realizan compras a crédito y, según la Superintendencia de Bancos e Instituciones Financieras (SBIF), cada chileno debe en promedio 7,5 meses de sueldo sólo en créditos de consumo.”
Senator Fernando Flores linked to a BBC article looking back at the strong economic growth of all of Latin America and the Caribbean. Tech blog FayerWayer looked to Google for the most-searched-for keywords of 2006, concluding that it truly was a year of social networking and online collaboration. And for those of you looking for a more personal farewell to 2006, Marcelo Aliaga has put together a useful collection of links to summaries, audits, and predictions from fellow Chilean bloggers.

author: Rosario Lizana


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China: 10 missing things · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Positive solution blogs about 10 things that he missed about internet because of the internet cable disruption after earthquake.


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China: citizen rights · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Wang xiao feng writes about the need to cultivate the understanding of citizen rights by commenting on recent news about 10 prohibition phrases in a Nanjing district judiciary department and Li yin he’s recent debate about right to different kind of sexual practice. (zh)


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China: increase in tax income · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Kai comments on the recently release data about the 22% increase of tax income in China in 2006. The increase is 12% higher than GDP. There are three possible scenarios: 1. the revenue department managed to collect tax from unpaid sectors; 2. most of the economic growth fell into the hand of the rich, and they were subject to higher tax; 3. there was a structural adjustment of the country’s economy (zh).


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China: proxy to get around broken cable · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

William long introduces some free proxy servers via Japan and South Korea to get around the broken internet cable in order to reach the other end of the Pacific Ocean.


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China: virtual currency · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lyn Jeffery from Virtual China summarizes a recent court case against Tecent, the parent company of QQ.com of of instigating Q coin robbery schemes.


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East Timor: Traffic Lights in Dili · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Dili-Gence comments on the newly installed traffic lights in Dili, the capital of East Timor. “You can drive across Dili in 15 minutes and apart from the odd traffic snarl due to either an accident, breakdown or sudden road closure, I can not recall ever thinking that traffic was a genuine problem.”

author: Preetam Rai


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Fiji: Rigged Elections · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

FijiBuzz posts a video released by the military that features a representative of the winning party and an Australian financial backer of another party that seemingly points to the rigging of elections held in 2006.


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Haiti: Haitian journalist is spokesperson for new UN Sec’y · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Nightshift Chronicler notes the appointment of Haitian journalist Michele Montas, widow of the pioneering journalist and broadcaster Jean Dominique (who was assassinated in Haiti in 2000) as spokesperson to the new UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.


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Haitian “Netizenry” Speaks Up on Insecurity · Global Voices
Alice Backer

After showcasing the phenomenon of online citizenship in the USA and France, Haiti-based Haitian blogger Roody Edme relates (Fr) an example of Haitian “netizenry” (Fr): “In Haiti too … recently our email accounts were flooded with a protest note by “citizens concerned” by insecurity, a new way to proselytize on the net.”

author: Alice Backer


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Honduras: In the market for a jet? · Global Voices
David Sasaki

It's not what you'd find in most lost-and-founds, but “La Gringa” says the Honduran government is finally getting ready to auction off a private jet after failing to locate its owner.

author: David Sasaki


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Hong Kong: new book on why we blog · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Blogclues points out to the readers that sina.com has published a book on “Why we blog?” The book is a introduction to blog and a collection of local blog posts.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Hungary: 2007 Politics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pestcentric posts a preview of Hungarian politics in 2007.


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Hungary: Balaton Vacation · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar spends winter holidays at Lake Balaton: “But, most of all, what I really found attractive was the complete and utter silence round most of the place. No screaming children, no fireworks, no teenies half-cut on their first glass of pezsgo, no brainless TV presenters twittering on in the background, no tuneless mass-renditions of the national anthem at midnight….”


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India: On Saddam and America · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Bodhi's Hop on Saddam's execution. “News channels (most of the English ones being either American or British) are tireless in showing file pictures of Saddam's statues being pulled down and people celebrating with fire from AK47s, while quietly forgetting the anger and resentment evident in daily bomb attacks by armed Iraqi militias.”


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India: Photographs from the Mylapore Festival · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Velachery Balu has photographs from the Mylapore Festival in a flickr set.


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India: Safer Roads · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Even as roads are built and infrastructure is improved, the hazards on the roads sometimes get worse as Metroblogging Chennai points out. “Ongoing traffic moves on an average speed of 40 KMPH with some times no cops to facilitate the traffic, people who want to cross the road take charge and create great difficulty for the ongoing traffic”


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Iran:Ahmadinejad predicts the destruction of the western world · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Jomhour, Ahmadinejad in a speech in Ahvaz,in Khouzestan province, predicts that western countries will be destroyed [Fa].The blogger adds Ahmadinejad says after talking with ” scientists” who attended Holocaust conference in Tehran, he found out that there is no freedom of expression in the western countries.


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Malawi: wonders of a local mechanic · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“Meet George. He repaired our punctured tyre in less than 20 minutes without hydraulic tools, and hand pumped it to exactly the right pressure with no guage,” writes Extra Extra.


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Nepal: Quarreling and Mistrust · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! on the quarrels between political sides in Nepal. “All the wrangling, quarrellings and mistrust between the Maoists and Nepal government strongly indicate that the election of constituent assembly will not be held on time i.e. by Mid July 2007.”


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Panama: Good news to close 2006 · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Panamanian blogger Jorge Arango has some good news to close 2006.


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Poland: Corruption · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Traveling Life writes about corruption among Polish post-Communists.


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Poland: Politics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot explains how Polish politics works: “Polish PM Jaroslaw Kaczynski is not a central European version of Margaret Thatcher. If they met he would call her an economic ‘liberalizer’ (a dirty word in Polish government circles) while she would give him a sharp whack over the head with her handbag and accuse him of being a bit of a [whisper it] ‘socialist’.”


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President Wade’s “Gift” to Senegal · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Says Blog Politique du Senegal (Fr): “Looks like the PDS congratulated  President Wade for his gift of 7 billion to Senegal. It's very nice of him to return Senegal's money that Taiwan gave the country for social projects and that somehow lost its way into a private account! The only remaining problem is that the money is still not in Senegal since it's stuck in a Cyprus bank. Oh well, it's the thought that counts…”


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Romania: “Crumbs” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Csikszereda Musings writes about the two-day New Year's partying ordeal: “Crumbs is this: The next day after a party, in the afternoon, you all go back to the house of the party to have lunch, and basically reminisce about the night before. Lunch, of course, being all the leftovers from the party. That's basically it.”


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Romania: Welcome to Europe! Photos · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Csikszereda Musings posts some hilarious local EU-entry-related pictures.


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Russia: Moscow Photos · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Snowsquare posts a whole bunch of Moscow photos: of Holiday Moscow Streets, and of St. Basil's Cathedral, and of Red Square New Year's Preparations, and of Manezh Square, Hotel Moscow and Stolichnaya, and, finally, of Last-Minute New Year's Shopping (one, two, three, and four).


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Russia: Sorry State of North Caucasus Journalism · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Timur Aliev – LJ user timur_aliev, editor-in-chief of the print/online weekly Chechen Society (Chechenskoye Obshchestvo) and the Chechnya editor of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) – is involved in a journalism education project that takes him to various parts of the Caucasus, where he conducts seminars to local media professionals. After a recent visit to the capital of Karachay-Cherkess Republic, he concluded (RUS) that “in the North Caucasus, journalism is practically nonexistent.” Here's why:
Have returned from Cherkessk – we did a seminar there. Almost got in trouble as we were leaving – all of the city's center was blocked today, but it's good that we lived at the outskirts and managed to drive to the bus station via backyards. The guys, though, were stopped at this very bus station – taken to the cops’ room and ordered to write an explanation of what they were doing in Cherkessk. My […] press card saved me from having to help the cop pretend that he was being alert – for some reason, I doubt that he really was looking for criminals. Anyway, we got out and reached home okay.
The seminar turned out to be rather exhausting. There were only two of us to conduct it, and it turned out to be quite a laborious task.
During the round table that we did prior to the seminar, I suggested that we discuss which form of journalism was the most popular in the North Caucasus – [interactive] civic journalism, informational (traditional), post-Soviet or some other form. And I suggested that we talk on whether this form of journalism suits our needs, and if not, then what does.
But everyone ended up sharing their “pain” – lack of access to information, censorship, etc. A discussion didn't work out. We only determined that because of the information access problems, it's difficult to do informational journalism, and because society is passive, feedback is almost never received. That's why we decided that, with some exceptions, journalism everywhere in the North Caucasus is Soviet [in style]. And when we talked about future prospects, one [participant] suggested that we should start [hiding the meaning] between the lines [as they often did in the Soviet times]. Wonderful.
All in all, we've realized that North Caucasian journalism doesn't exist.
[…]
***
morozov_ilya_s: “with some exceptions, journalism everywhere in the North Caucasus is Soviet [in style].” I'm sorry, Timur, but what (or who) are these “exceptions”?
timur_aliev: Journalists who were there were speaking mainly for their own publications. And from their stories it became clear, for example, that the work of the Daghestani Free Republic newspaper is based on feedback. They put an emphasis on this from the very start – every section editor lists his phone number and email address in the newspaper, so that readers could send in the news or at least complain.
And I stopped being a trainer for a while and told them that initially I saw the Chechen Society as a newspaper working in the genre common to British papers – news analysis, features, commentary and that's it.
In both of these cases, there are some achievements.
And the rest of them were saying that [their editors] demand that it's crucial to have a thought and their own opinion, even in straight news items.
Here's another thought (RUS) on the freedom of speech and journalism in the North Caucasus:
Newspapers in national languages have more freedom
Another conclusion that our Cherkessk round table participants have reached: newspapers in national languages have more freedom.
First, not many people control them – because they are not widely read – because not many controllers understand what's written in them. It gets funny sometimes – they are asking the newspapermen themselves to summarize what's written.
Second, there is always someone who's ready to provide or leak information on certain topics, in order to help the newspaper in their native language – as opposed to newspapers in other national tongues.
Both statements refer both to the [Karachay-Cherkess Republic] and the [Kabardino-Balkar Republic].
***
sorex: And Internet journals have even more freedom.
timur_aliev: Tha't true…


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Russia: Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Photos · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

White Sun of the Desert posts pictures of Yuzhno-Sakhalinks following a severe snowstorm – as well as pictures of the New Year's ice carvings.


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Slovenia: Roman Candles · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Glory of Carniola re-learns to use Roman Candles.


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South Asia: 2006 in review · Global Voices
Rezwan

Let us take a look at how the South Asian bloggers reflected on the year 2006:
Bangladesh:
Drishtipat reports that a total of 3,239 people were killed in Bangladesh, with law enforcement authorities killing 300 of them, from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30, 2006, an average of 9.69 persons per day, according to the survey report of the Bangladesh Human Rights Commission. Bangladesh Talk reports that 329 Muslim families from north Arakan state of Myanmar fled to neighboring Bangladesh in 2006, marking a greater exodus than 2005.
The 3rd world view writes that the year 2006 was a successful year for Bangladesh Cricket. The other remarkable event for Bangladesh was Dr. Muhammad Yunus getting the Nobel peace prize. Tanvir of Journal of a Disturbed Mind retrospect on the various events in Bangladesh in 2006. Ershad Ahmed posts some pictures of Bangladesh that represent the event and day-to-day life of Bangladeshis.
India:
Offstumped looks back on the fames and shames of Indian politics and Media in 2006. The bloggers had some role to play in it. The Middle Stage categorically short lists from the Indian books published in 2006. Readers were also encouraged to mention their books of the year. A Point of View reviews mostly Indian classical music that reigned in the year 2006.
Amodini's Movies lists top 10 Indian movies of the year. Indicast picks the best and the worst stories of the year in their year end podcast episode.
Nepal:
United We Blog retrospect on the politics of Nepal in 2006.
Pakistan:
All Things Pakistan puts up a poll to find which events and trends from 2006 are most likely to leave a lasting impact on Pakistan politics and society. See the results to find out the winners. Shirazi of The Light Within lists top ten posts of the Pakistan blogosphere.
Sri Lanka:
London, Lanka and Drums hosts the Sri Lankan intensive 2006 blogging awards. Many interesting voices from Sri Lanka can be found from here. TV and Radio Sri Lanka looks back at an eventful 2006 in Sri Lanka on the television and radio media front. Sri Lanka Politics names 2006 as a blood-spattered year for Sri Lanka because of the ongoing war between Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE rebels.

author: Rezwan


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Sri Lanka: Discrimination and Tamil Students · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Moju points to a possible case of discrimination against Tamil students. “Tamil students who were denied admission to Law College staged a token hunger strike in Colombo outside the Law College on Wednesday morning at 10:00am protesting against discrimination in admission process.” There is an interesting discussion in the comments space.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Bernard Kerik · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Keith Francis does some background research on Bernard Kerik, the former New York police commissioner who has been invited to Trinidad and Tobago by the country's opposition party to consult on solutions to the crime situation.


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Ukraine: 7th Kilometer; the Bandurists · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Petro visits Odesa's 7th Kilometer open-air market – and attends a performance of Ukraine's two top Bandurists.


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Ukraine: Politics in 2007 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Political predictions for 2007 in Ukraine – from Foreign Notes.


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Ukraine: The President and the Rest of Them · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

According to Ukraine's president, he, the parliament and the government “are close to a mutual understanding,” Foreign Notes reports.


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Venezuela: El 2006 bloguero · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Qtpd.com has an incredible  look back at 2006 [ES] in the world of Venezuelan blogs.