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Russia: Blogger Warns Of Possible Dam Destruction · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

The Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power plant [EN] in Siberia might not survive the spring, blogger Dmitri Verkhoturov writes [RUS]. He provides pictures of an ice crust spread over the dam barrier. In August 2009, one of the turbines at the plant, the sixth-largest in the world, broke apart [EN], which led to the death of 75 people.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Russia: Muscovites on Moscow mayor · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

GUS News discusses [GER] a recent Levada center opinion poll [RUS] on how Moscow citizens perceive the financial relation between their mayor and his wife – Russia's wealthiest businesswoman.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Russia: Photos of Deserted “Zenith” Business Center · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

IZO links to LJ user sd_group‘s summer 2008 photos (RUS) taken inside the deserted “Zenith” Business Center – “that huge 1990s blue-glass building you see when you come out of Yugo-Zapadnaya metro.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: Thousands Protest in Kaliningrad · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

NewKaliningrad news site published photos and footage [RUS] of the most numerous protest in recent Russian history (from 5,000 to 12,0000 of people participated in the protest) that took place in Kaliningrad [EN]. Protesters demanded the resignation of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the governor of Kaliningrad region Georgy Boos [EN].


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Global Voices Launches RuNet Echo Project · Global Voices
Vadim Isakov

Dear All,
I am excited and honored to start the new year with this introduction of a new project, RuNet Echo, which was launched by Global Voices at the end of 2009. For me, it all started with this exciting post and grew into a rewarding experience of studying and analyzing one of the most complex and often misinterpreted online communities in the world.
When we created this project, we took an ambitious and difficult role of examining and analyzing Russian Internet (also called RuNet).
The project is long overdue. The Russian Internet community exploded in the past few years and has become a platform where millions of people discuss current issues in Russian politics, economic and social life. Russians are the most active users of social networks in the world, according to some measures. There are more than 45 million people in the country with Internet access (a third of the whole population) and around 4 million blogs. There are also 42 million registered users of the most popular Russian social network, Vkontakte.ru.
Those numbers are constantly increasing, making RuNet one of the fastest growing Internet communities in the world.
Blogs seem to be the most popular online communication platform in Russia. A mix of a conventional online diary and complex social networks with friends, readers and different communities, blogs quickly became an interactive form of media where a regular citizens can talk to politicians (including the president of Russia himself), famous actors, prominent journalists, and controversial historians, as well as an array of online communities.
Being largely uncensored and ever-present, blogs in Russia, like in many countries of the world, have begun to compete with the heavily regulated mainstream media. There are some examples of RuNet serving as a platform for breaking news, and beating the conventional forms of media in immediacy and accuracy (a tragic night club fire, for example). Blogs and social networks quickly have grown into a sphere where Russians enjoy the most freedom and get the most information.
Our goal is to draw a large, comprehensive and live map of RuNet for global audiences. We will regularly monitor the most interesting developments in the Russian blogosphere, online media and social networking sites to create a comprehensive and constantly updated source on RuNet. Drawing upon our experience and understanding of Russian society, we hope to provide our readers with exclusive content and analysis of the most important events on RuNet. We plan to interview the most prominent Russian bloggers, along with less-known but nonetheless interesting people who actively contribute to the development of RuNet. The same goes for issues related to RuNet in general. We will certainly pay attention to topics everyone is taking about but we will also cover marginal subjects on the Russian Internet to present the full spectrum of Russian online communities for global audiences.
We are currently working on creating a list of resources on RuNet that will include notable academic works, books and online publications on the topic. Our own rating of the most popular Russian blog posts is also on the way.
Our stories are also translated into Russian by Lingua translators and posted on a Global Voices in Russian. We will soon produce RuNet Echo page on LiveJournal.com (the most popular blogging platform in Russia) and make our posts more readily available to Russian bloggers. We're also sharing them on our Twitter feed. We hope that the wide availability of RuNet Echo stories in different languages and on different platforms will create a productive discussion allowing us to improve our work.
I am honored to work with a wonderful and professional team of editors. They have an enormous experience in reporting, research and analysis and they serve as a great assurance that the project will become a valuable tool in understanding Russian online communities.
Veronica Khokhlova is a GVO regional editor for Central and Eastern Europe. She is doing a tremendous job covering Russia and former Soviet republics and we are lucky to have her in our team of editors.
Alexey Sidorenko worked at the Carnegie Center in Moscow for several years. He is writing his PhD dissertation for Moscow State University and getting a separate Master's Degree at the Warsaw University in Poland.
Gregory Asmolov worked for several prestigious newspapers in Moscow such as “Kommersant” and “Novaya Gazeta.” He has also taught courses on new media and public diplomacy at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and the Open University of Israel.
RuNet Echo is designed as an interactive project. Our team is open to suggestions from our readers. Please feel free to let us know what stories and topics would you like to see on our pages and tell us how we can make our project better.

author: Vadim Isakov


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Taiwan: Prison important for education · Global Voices
David Reid

Brennpunkt Taipeh writes about the changes to the Jingmei Detention Centre over the past one and half years. He argues that the place is important for educating Taiwanese people about their history. The Jingmei site was used to detain political prisoners during the White Terror period in Taiwan.

author: David Reid


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Trinidad & Tobago, Haiti: Tough Questions  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Our conversation begins and ends with Haiti, but digresses down some of the anxious paths my thoughts seem to trace these days”: Nicholas Laughlin has a chat with Scott McLemee.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago: Shiva’s “Fireflies”  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Repeating Islands reports that “the late Shiva Naipaul, younger brother of V. S. Naipaul, has been put on the long list for the lost Man Booker Prize that seeks to honor books published in 1970.”


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A ‘climate of fear’ at the Thai-Burma border · Global Voices
John Liebhardt

By any account, Burma is a beautiful, naturally rich country with a diverse ethnic history. It is also run by one of the most oppressive regimes in the world, the State Peace and Development Council, an 11-member group of military commanders. This junta, in power under different names since 1988,  has been cited for countless human rights abuses. The SPDC (as its commonly known) also oversees a corrupt, inefficient economy. In spite of the country’s natural wealth, social-economic conditions continue to deteriorate, along with Burma’s schools and hospitals.
The end result is between 1.5 and 2 million Burmese of various ethnicities have been forced to scatter into Thailand. Nearly 300,000 people – mostly representatives of the Karen, Karenni and Mon ethnic groups – live in nine temporary displaced persons camps based along the border. Several hundred thousand members of the Shan ethnic group also reside in Thailand, mostly as illegal immigrants because the Thai government does not recognize them as refugees.
Burma’s refugees maintain a tenuous status in Thailand. Their rights and protections are nearly non-existent, mostly because Thailand is not a signatory of the 1951 UN Convention regarding the status of refugees, meaning only those displaced from Burma’s conflict zones are permitted to receive humanitarian aid. Of course, Thailand’s government acknowledges the countless other Burmese refugees, but strictly restricts their movement. A report by Suzanne Belton and Cynthia Maung illustrate the lack of freedom of movement for refugees and migrants: “If a Burmese migrant has a work permit, they may travel and use [Thailand’s] universal health insurance scheme but the climate of fear and uncertainty can stop people travelling. Public transport must pass through many road blocks and checks and if passengers are discovered not to have the correct papers they are deported.”
For the Shans and other illegal immigrants, life can be even more difficult than life in camps. These migrants often lack access to basic needs: clean water, sanitation and shelter, as well as access to education and health care. For girls and young women, human trafficking is especially problematic, especially with an estimated 16 brothels doing business in Mae Sot, the largest border town. One report found  young trafficked girls “face a wide range of abuse including sexual and other physical violence, debt bondage, exposure to HIV/AIDS, forced labour without payment and illegal confinement.”
An often poor, usually traumatized population means reproductive health is a constant issue. However, most people who grow up in Burma have very little sexual or reproductive health education. In fact, a 2007 study of 400 Burmese adolescents who now live in Thailand demonstrated this lack of sexual knowledge.  The study, carried out by a local NGO called the Adolescent Reproductive Health Network in Mae Sot, found:
–	More than one-third of adolescents interviewed have never learned about sex or sexual anatomy;
–	Nearly 25 percent of those surveyed reported being sexually active, usually around the age of 18.  However, ARHN interviewers believe girls may have underreported their sexual activity;
–	More than half of those surveyed reported awareness of basic contraception practices – condoms, the pill, and injections – but were not aware of emergency contraceptive methods;  and,
–	Of those who reported having sex, only 23 percent used a male condom and only 9 percent used birth control regularly.
The report also found fundamental differences between the sexes when it comes to deciding on whether to use birth control. Nearly two-thirds of the women interviewed said they had the right to use birth control regardless of their husband’s opinion. However, only half the men interviewed agreed with that statement. Perhaps making matters worse, 55 percent of males agreed that sometimes a female partner deserves to be beaten. More than 36 percent of females also agreed with this.
After reviewing the ARHN report, Nancy Goldstein points out the importance of peer sexual education on the Thai-Burmese border in a piece  for RH Reality Check.
ARHN owes its ability to connect with young Burmese migrants to its intrepid, fiercely dedicated young peer educators. Inside Burma, any kind of humanitarian work that creates health for people outside of the army is considered political and can get a worker arrested, beaten, or even killed. And Burmese culture itself remains both highly conservative and very private regarding sex and sexuality. Few if any parents in the camps would think it’s cool that their son or daughter works as a peer sex educator, and peer educators have to be cautious about what they teach and where. “Every time ARHN’s peers go out into the community to conduct workshops on sexual safety and health, distribute contraception, or collect survey information, they risk arrest, violence, deportation, and the displeasure of their families,” says Tarjina Hai, ARHN’s current technical advisor.
As one peer educator explained to me, a relatively easy, obstacle-free training session is one that has the blessing of the village leader and religious leader or pastor, and takes place in a church. It involves incredibly expensive travel, but only one or two illegal border crossings, and requires bribing only a handful of authorities. That’s if you’re lucky: if there are too many people around when the educator is stopped at the border, no bribery can take place, meaning that his or her half done and fully paid for trip ends there.
Yet the work must continue. As Leila Darabi has noted, Thailand’s fairly rigorous family planning program is not reaching these young Burmese migrants, who are at significant risk for unplanned pregnancy, sexual assault, and sexually transmitted diseases. Many of these youth are working and living in factories (some legally, most not). They don’t have ready access to contraception, and they’re easy prey for both transactional and coercive sex. Most refugees have scant access to any kind of health care at all, let alone sexual and reproductive health care. Education efforts are stymied by low literacy rates, limited access to television, and virtually no access to the Internet.
Mixing sexually active people without proper reproductive education, abortion often becomes an issue. The UNFPA estimates in Burma that nearly one-third of pregnancies end in abortion. However, by law, abortion can only take place when the mother’s life is at risk. Abortion is not so restricted in Thailand, which also allows it for proven cases of incest and rape. Regardless of the restrictions, however, abortions continue in the refugee community. The Thai health ministry believes the abortion rate for Burmese migrants is nearly two-and-a-half times higher than the rate for the local Thai population. Belton's and Maung's 2002 study of reproductive health outpatient care found:
–	25 percent of women with post-abortion complications underwent self-induced abortions like those common in Burma: drinking ginger and whiskey, vigorous pelvic pummeling and inserting sharp objects into sexual organs;
–	Most of the women with post-abortion complications are married and two-thirds of them already have at least one child;
–	One-third of the women have already had at least five pregnancies.
Here is a discussion regarding how the issue reproductive health for adolescents is intertwined with abortion on the Thai/Burma border with Cari Siestra, who helped edit the AHRN report.
For Burma's refugees, the Mae Tao clinic has helped fill the massive health care gap.  It was launched by Cynthia Maung who left Burma when 10,000 student activists fled across the border in September 1988 after the government violently cracked down on pro-democracy protests. Dr. Cynthia, as she’s called, thought it would only be a matter of weeks before she could return to her small Rangoon medical practice. Instead she became appalled by the lack of care at the makeshift refugee camps, where the refugees pouring across the border were suffering from trauma, from gunshot and landmine injuries, malaria and diarrhea. She opened a clinic in the Huay Kaloke  camp with only her medical textbook and a rice cooker to clean and sterilize instruments.
Today, the Mae Tao clinic counts a staff of 5 physicians, 80 health care workers, 40 trainees and 40 support staff. This staff treats more than 100,000 patients annually. Two students at Westminster College who participated in a service learning project at the clinic provide a good description:
The floors were uneven cement, covered by mud. It is best described as an outdoor walk through clinic; each service had its own room. The waiting area was overly crowded with exhausted displaced Burmese people. When we walked past the pediatric center we saw immobile malnourished children being comforted by their parents.
The clinic provides service in a number of different areas, from baby vaccinations to creating prosthetics for injuries due to landmines. In 2006, doctors at the hospital delivered 1600 children. The clinic also provides trainings on maternal care. Cathy, who works at Mae Sot clinic, explains some of the issues surrounding the reproductive health trainings.
The Clinic runs an active birth control program, but not everyone has had the education. For migrant women (many thousands working in Thailand in the sweatshops, trying to help their family,) life is not easy. Most women need a protector of some sort. With a baby, it is impossible to continue working. Dr. Cynthia and the Karen Women’s Organization run several orphanages. The Karen has enormous charity for each other. I have not a met a more caring people. Generally, the husbands are with their wives as they have their babies and giving birth is a thing of great joy but often on the other side of the building there are women very sick as the result of botched back street abortions.

author: John Liebhardt


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Argentina: The Street Photography Contest · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Buenos Aires Lado B [es] announces the photography contest called “Buenos Aires Today, The Street.“

author: Eduardo Avila


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As Liberia stabilizes, youth begin to talk about sex · Global Voices
John Liebhardt

“I want all other children born in Liberia- and the world- to lead full lives free of pain and filled with the blossoms of love, like mine,” writes Mahmud Johnson at the blog for the youth-oriented HIV/AIDS group Global 40 Forum. He is an 18-year old former co-host of the Liberian youth radio show, “Let’s Talk About Sex”, which deals with issues relating to the spread of HIV/AIDS and pregnancy prevention.
Liberia is gradually transitioning from the nearly 15 years of intermittent civil war that ended in 2003 and moving towards mainstream development. The barriers that remain are great. Nearly 250,000 people were killed during the war, and several hundred thousand were exiled in neighboring countries or in Europe or the United States.
The effects of the war on children are well documented. When the fighting began, different military groups searched for soldiers in the ranks of children. Perhaps as many as 20,000 children, some as young as 6-years-old, were recruited, often forcibly.  “They were forced to kill friends and family members including their parents, rape and be raped, serve as sexual slaves and prostitutes, labor, take drugs, engage in cannibalism, torture and pillage communities,” says the report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia. Women and girls also suffered greatly. Liberia’s TRC received nearly 7,000 reported cases of sexual violence. Girls and women aged 15–19 make a majority of those reported cases.
Despite seven years of peace, bad news can still cascade out of Liberia like a waterfall. Three out of four Liberians live on less than one dollar a day; only half the country's children attend school; Fifty percent of households in the capital Monrovia are classified as food secure. The economic prognosis remains bleak and repatriating young people – some of them former child soldiers – into the economy continues to cause the government problems. This can be especially troubling because half of Liberia’s population is under 20.
On the Ceasefire Liberia blog, a Rising Voices project, Stephen R. Johnson writes:
Liberia’s youth face many challenges in gaining an education that delivers them the right set of skills and knowledge to become productive in today’s labor market. As a result, the transition from school to work is more often than not unsuccessful and youth end up either unemployed or underemployed in the rural, suburban and urban informal sectors.
Yet, the country and its people are determined to put the past behind them. The country’s economy has been growing and the government is modernizing its infrastructure. Groups like the YMCA have been training ex-combatants for employment or to start their own businesses.
However, the continuing economic problems have created a ripple effect in other areas. Poverty has forced many women into making difficult and dangerous decisions regarding their sex life, says Jerry B. Tarbolo Jr, from the Federation of Liberian Youth. He said this combination has helped intensify the HIV/AIDS transmission rate in Liberia’s urban areas. If this continues, the disease will mainly affect the younger generation, he says, which is one of Liberia’s great resources.
The connection between economic survival and sexual violence has a legacy in Liberia. A 2008 UNFPA study of women in Liberia’s Lofa County found that during the war, nine out of ten women had lost their livelihoods, 96 percent had lost shelter and nearly 75 percent had lost a relative. More than half of the women were victims of sexual violence, and of those women, half of them reported providing sex for some form of favors.
Pauline Wleh, a nurse counselor at a Monrovia-based YMCA Youth Centre, says one thing young Liberians today need is education regarding sexual health. She spoke to a writer for Merlin, an international NGO that builds health services in fragile states.
“Years of conflict here disrupted our formal schooling system and broke up health services so that youths today know very little about HIV and AIDS. Because of the lack of knowledge, there is a lot of stigma and misconceptions surrounding AIDS now. Youths are too scared to talk to their parents and there is a lack of accessible information. But they can discretely drop in on me between basketball games or after a trip to the computer lab to ask questions, access services and get advice.”
She says some changes in attitudes have become apparent.
“In the two years since the centre opened, I have seen thousands of young people but only given 291 HIV tests. Although people are keen to talk to me, they are rarely convinced to take an HIV test because they are scared.”
The majority who opt out of the testing, claim they will ‘come back later,’ or more honestly ‘don’t want to know my status, because I don’t want to worry.’
This social avoidance is what programs like “Let’s Talk About Sex” are designed to educate against. The weekly 30-minute show, funded in part by UNFPA, provides listeners with 30 minutes of information and conversation about sex and reproductive health issues, all tailored toward young people. Each program is researched and written by the four young hosts, who control all the programming, including research, writing and performing each episode.
“My work as co-host of the LTAS show gave me a working knowledge on the actual realities faced by my fellow Liberian youth in the fight against HIV,” Mahmud Johnson writes. He says you can’t separate Liberia’s economic problems from issues regarding sexual health.
As the show’s outreach team usually traveled to leeward communities and villages to teach the youth there about HIV, I became aware, first hand, of the economic and traditional issues many people are faced with, and how those issues contribute to the spread of HIV in Liberia. I also became aware of some bizarre myths young people harbor on HIV spread and treatment. A very huge percentage of the youth population in Liberia has practically no knowledge about the transmission and prevention of HIV, and this phenomenon is due in no small part to the country’s spiralling illiteracy rate. Even the youth who go to school have minimal information about HIV, as such reproductive health issues are not taught in Liberian schools. Hence, many myths abound amongst Liberian youth about HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, prominent amongst which is the myth that smoking pot prevents HIV infection. Because of these potentially dangerous myths, the radio show’s team developed a ‘Myths vs. Reality’ segment, in which (in colloquial Liberian language) we addressed several of those myths on a weekly basis.
The show offers a useful medium for young people to learn about the virus. And, of course, talk about sex.
Today, the LTAS radio show is aired all over Liberia, and uses other reinforcement channels such as brochures, dramas, road shows, focus groups discussions, and peer training to spread the message about HIV transmission and pregnancy prevention. The show is so popular that the Liberian populace have even used the show to coin a joke in response to the recent shortage of chicken eggs on the Liberian market: chickens in Liberia now listen to ‘Let’s Talk About Sex!’ and practice safe sex! I am aware of the reality that not every single youth in Liberia will heed the health messages disseminated on the show. But even if one person’s life is changed in the process, that would a phenomenal success for me as a pioneer host on the LTAS show.


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Bosnia: Croats call for secessionist referendum? · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

M. Bozinovich of Serbianna reports on an alleged plan among Bosnian-Croats to have a referendum on secession from Bosnia-Herzegovina.


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China: Race and racial conflicts · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

C. Custer from ChinaGeeks interviewed famous Chinese blogger Hecaitou on race issue in China.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Costa Rica: Online Videos add Humor to Presidential Elections · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Image by thombo2 on flickr used according to CC license
The Costa Rican Presidential elections are this Sunday and through videos, many Costa Ricans are expressing their concerns regarding the candidates and the future of their country through parody and humor.
First,  we have an online video uploaded by El Basureo , where they propose an innovative solution to the age old problem of not knowing whom to vote for.  In this Costa Rican election, out of the 6 candidates running for office, four of them are in the lead: National Liberation's Laura Chinchilla, Libertarian Otto Guevara, Socialdemocrat Otton Solis and Social Christian Luis Fishman. El Basureo proposes a new machine which will mix and match characteristics of the candidates, and the names that come off those mixes are a wink and nod to the Costarican political situation.
Online video holds itself as a way to spread information and audiovisual propaganda that is sometimes pulled from the television after a short airing period. Such is the case with candidate Fishman's campaign ad which included grownups dressed as a babies in diapers dancing and playing the piano , pregnant women and a well recognized tune to the campaign's slogan “Fishman, the lesser evil”. It has obviously spawned parodies, such as this next one. The only thing which was changed was the audio and subtitles, the rest of the ad was kept intact:
LaErre.tv also came out with their own take on the elections: The Presidential Candidate Kit, containing everything you could need to launch yourself on a political career. With the initial lines of : If you are tired of other politician's promises, and of being sent to jail when you steal, why not become a candidate yourself and take care of your problems? It goes on to explain the skills necessary, the buzzwords you'll need and the perks you'll have once you acquire their kit and follow the steps.
Elchamukocr also posts a video making fun of Otton Solis, who during the campaign had to stop and ask for donations to continue doing TV campaigns since his funds had run out. In the video, Otton organizes a Teleotton drive to raise cash:

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Cuba: Identifying with Mandela · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuban diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense reports that “3 Cuban political prisoners this week delivered their congratulations to South African patriarch Nelson Mandela on this month's 20th anniversary of his release from prison”, and notes that they “identify with Mandela's own 27 years in prison, his lifelong struggle against an illegitimate regime and his willingness to forgive in order to build a better, freer society.”


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Czech Republic: “Swine Flu Warrior-in-Chief Caught Swine Flu” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Reference Frame reports that “Dr Michael Vít, the chief of the public health in the Czech Republic, in charge of the mandatory vaccination of the soldiers and other public employees,” appears to have caught swine flu: “A kind of hypocrisy for him not to be vaccinated.”


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Dominican Republic: Mateo Morrison Wins National Literature Prize · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The poet Mateo Morrison was recently awarded the 2010 National Literature Prize [es] in the Dominican Republic writes blogger Pedro Genaro.


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Egypt: We Are The Champions · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

The Egyptian football team beat Ghana in the African Cup of Nations’ final match, and achieved its third consecutive championship. This is also Egypt's seventh championship since the launch of the tournament in the 50's. Bloggers join the rest of the country in celebrating the achievement.
Zeinobia wrote here about the Egyptian victory saying:
The victory wasn't only celebrated here in Egypt. In Qatar, Qatar Living wrote here about the victory, and the expected sleepless night in Doha:
An Egyptian blogger living in USA, Egyptian Wish, wrote a new post here saying:
Also in Palestine, Hamas didn't miss the opportunity, and congratulated the Egyptians on their seventh Championship. Kelmety wrote about it here:
Zeinobia wrote another post here, about the Egyptian president's sons, who went to Angola to support the Egyptian football team:
Another blogger, My Oblivia, had a different point of view here:
And finally, the Egyptian national team usually adds a new star on their jersey every time they win the African Cup of Nations. But Adel Ghaly was wondering here if we have any place left for an extra star:

author: Tarek Amr


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Georgia, Russia, France: First Caucasian · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Media Network blog of Radio Netherlands Worldwide writes about the Georgian-owned, Russian-language First Caucasian TV channel, whose satellite broadcasts have recently been interrupted – here and here. And here's Eternal Remont‘s take on the situation.


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Hungary: Re-Educating the Roma Population · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum writes that “the Roma (Gypsy) situation is the gravest social problem today in Hungary” and in “the whole region,” points out to similar problems in the United States in the 1960s, and describes a successful re-education project for some 60 Roma families living in the town of Monor.


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Japan: For a military base-free Okinawa · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

TenThousandThings from Kurashi blogs about the weekend rally attended by 6000 people demanding a military base-free Okinawa.


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Latin America: Celebrating the Contributions of Afro-Latinos · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Throughout the month of February, Black History Month is celebrated in the United States and Canada, as special events and other commemorative activities often fill the calendar during this time. Several bloggers have started an online project to honor another group of people of Black African ancestry and complement the festivities with additional information.
Anthony Otero, a Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian blogger, who works at Syracuse University, wrote on his blog Inside My Head:
In taking time to really look at this month, we normally focus on African Americans as they should. However, I would like to see that we expand the realm of this exploration to encompass Afro Latinos.
The term Afro-Latinos or Afro-Latin Americans refer to Latin Americans with Black African ancestry, which is estimated to be between 100-150 million across the region. See here for Afro-Latino populations in the Americas. Another term that many self-identifying Afro-Latinos have been using is Latinegro/a. The word “negro” means black in Spanish.
Together with bloggers Bianca Laureano and Prof. Susurro, Otero started the Latinegr@ Tumblr blog. Its mission:
Expanding the inclusively of Black History Month is a goal for several of us, self-identified LatiNeg@s, Afro-Latinos and Afro-Caribeños. As people who recognize and claim the African heritage and history, we have often been excluded from US History, whether it be Black history or Latino history (Septermber 15-October 15). Join us in honoring and recognizing LatiNegr@s this year during Black and Latino History Month. We are Black, Latino and from the Caribbean. We REPRESENT!
Laureano also describes how the project came to life on the blog Vivir Latino:
It all started when I posted a list of LatiNegr@s To Look Out For In 2010.  I began to talk with writer and poet Anthony about how so many of us don’t know our history, how we are omitted, and the need for recognition and representation. We decided to create a virtual project on our own online homes as well as create a communal space for discussion, engagement, and knowledge production.
Photo of Schomburg and used under Wikimedia Commons
She has already helped made a list of Afro-Latinos to watch for in 2010, and others like blogger Efrain Ortiz, Jr. have been sharing information on important Afro-Latinos from their home countries. For example, Ortiz writes about Arturo Alfonso Schomburg , a Puerto Rican historian, writer, and activist, who helped the research regarding important contributions made by other Afro-Latinos in the late 19th and early 20th century.


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Nepal: Gulf Returnees · Global Voices
Rezwan

Migrant Rights Blog writes about the stories of Nepalis who came back home after after a stint working in the Gulf: “for every individual, there is a different story; some are tales of social mobility and achievement, others are tales of exploitation and disappointment.”

author: Rezwan


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On Indo-Bangla Relations · Global Voices
Rezwan

Anirvan Chatterjee, an Indian American, shares his experiences during his visit to Bangladesh and comments on its relationship with India: “Indians don't know what kind of soft power they have–if only they were to stop focusing on governments and think about people-to-people relationships.”


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Pakistan: Economic Performance Between 2001 and 2008 · Global Voices
Rezwan

Corporate Finance and Accounting blog summarizes Pakistan's economic performance between 2001 and 2008.


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Pakistan: How Not To Be Hacked · Global Voices
Rezwan

Faisal K. at Deadpan Thoughts shares from his personal experience how to be prepared for a hacking attack on all your email/social network accounts.


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Paraguay: Footballer Salvador Cabañas Recovering After Shooting · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

In the early morning hours of January 25, Paraguayan footballer Salvador Cabañas was shot in the head during an altercation in a Mexico City bar bathroom. The exact motive for the shooting is still unclear, but Mexican police is currently looking for a suspect.
Cabañas, who plays for the Club América in the Mexican First Division, was out with his wife when the incident occurred. After being rushed to the hospital, he underwent surgery, but doctors were unable to remove the bullet. Cabañas remains in critical conditions, but his condition is improving as he is already moving, eating, and speaking with relatives.
Much of the media coverage has mentioned Cabañas’ desire to return to the playing field for his club team and the Paraguayan national team, which has qualified for the 2010 World Cup to be played starting in June.
Paraguayan blogger Carlos Rodríguez of Rescatar [es] writes, “let's support the man before putting business first.”  He adds that there are too many people passing along sensationalist and irresponsible information:
Es una bendición la fortaleza del jugador que con una bala en el cerebro sorprende por su reacción al tratamiento pero, es preciso que los medios manejen el tema con sensatez. Es cierto, Cabañas vende. Vende camisetas, vente banderas, calendarios, DVDs, vende portadas, noticieros. Es un producto exitoso. Sin embargo cabe reclamar que no se exacerbe el costado mercantil y hagamos fuerzas porque la recuperación de Salvador avance cada día más.
There are much speculation on the motive whether it was a robbery or a fight, the dialogue between the two men, and the testimony provided by witnesses. Blogger José Angel Lopez Barrios writes [es]:
Muchos cabos sueltos….. evidentemente hasta ahora no hay nada claro en la agresión contra Salvador Cabañas…. Y a medida que pasan las horas pareciera que las indagaciones tienden a orientarse en terrenos poco creibles.
However, with news of his improving status, Rodríguez also has questions about the situation in which Cabañas placed himself.
¿Qué hace un futbolista de alta competición en una fiesta a las 5:30 de la mañana? Sobre todo exponiéndose a agresiones como las que hoy tienen a Salvador Cabañas entre la vida y la muerte. Y lamentablemente lo que hacía era precisamente correr un riesgo innecesario, a una hora en que el cansancio y el consumo han menguado la prudencia y la calma.
There have been signs of support for the footballer at the recent Club América's match, back in his native Paraguay [es], and on the internet.


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Peru: La Teta Asustada Nominated for Oscar  · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The blogs Sophimanía [es] and Habla Sonia Luz [es] are extremely proud that for the first time in history, a Peruvian film has been nominated for an Oscar for the Best Foreign Film, when La Teta Asustada received the honor.


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Poland: Winter Survival Tips · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Polandian shares some  winter survival tips.


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Russia: Another Video Blogger Arrested  · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

Grigoriy Chekalin, a former deputy prosecutor of Uhta region, who published [RUS] a YouTube video where he accused local official in falsification of investigation materials regarding a fire in a  local mall, has been arrested [RUS] by the Russian police. Chekalin is being accused of providing false information to investigators.

author: Gregory Asmolov


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Russia: Police Raid Environmental Organization · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Irkutsk [EN] regional portal Babr.ru published [RUS] photos of a police raid [EN] of the Baikal Environmental Wave. The organization is fighting against reopening highly polluting Baikalsk cellulose plant [EN] located on the bank of the Baikal Lake, the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world.


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Russia: Rallies and Arrests · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Opposition activist Oleg Kozlovsky writes about the protests that took place in Russia last week. Photographer Oleg Klimov reports (RUS) on the detention of a photography student Natalya Yeryomina at the Jan. 31 rally in Moscow.


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Russia: Threat to dispose of parliamentary chairman · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

LJ users drugoi and Alymov Aleksandr comment [RUS] on a threat to remove Sergei Mironov, chairman of the Russian parliament's upper chamber, the Federation Council, from office allegedly due to critique against Prime Minister Putin's policies.


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Russia: Vitaly Petrov in Renault F1 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Siberian Light reports that the Renault F1 team has signed Vitaly Petrov – “the first ever Russian to race in F1″ – as the second driver for the 2010 season.


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Sri Lanka: Reason For Rajapaksa’s Landslide Victory · Global Voices
Rezwan

Serendipity comments on the reason for the landslide victory of Mahinda Rajapaksa in the Sri Lankan presidential election – namely gratitude for ending the war against LTTE: “living in fear of the LTTE for so long, left a permanent scar on the psyche of the people, which only the end of the war could erase.”


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St. Lucia, Jamaica: Commonwealth Writers · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The race to win the coveted titles of Best Book and Best First Book in the 2010 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize has begun”: St. Lucia's Caribbean Book Blog reports, while Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp is excited about the 2010 Commonwealth Short Story Competition.


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Syria: A Stroll Around the Blogosphere · Global Voices
Yazan Badran

This week we will take a random walk around different blogs, and different topics in a maze that is little different than the random markets of Aleppo.
Our first stop will be at Hanzala‘s Departure unto God, where he writes about his decision to quit his job:
We leave Hanzala to ponder the derelict state of Syria's public sector and his decision to quit, and we move to a little more joyful topic.
As with every Friday, the blogosphere was blessed with the new installment of Abufares and Mariyah‘s Sea Side collaborative story. In Part 29, you'll read:
Yasmina sat down on the couch behind me. Obviously she had seen way beyond the sexy smile.”Oh, Houssam. Oh god, Houssam.” She couldn’t hold back her tears and as she cried her heart out again, I knew that I couldn’t let her down. I would just have to hope that Youssef would forgive me…someday.
“We’ll go in the morning, Yasmina. I’ll be here early. Ok?” I said as soothingly as I could.
And on the topic of love and Valentines, Untold Damascene Stories, the blog of FW Magazine, publishes a report about the commercialization of Valentine's Day on the streets of Damascus:
For Syrians, who also aren’t safe from the hands of commercialism, the rituals of valentine start a month before Feb the 14th. Guys start calling their friends to ask for money; No “man” wants to be caught penniless in front of their girl friends on Valentine’s. Restaurants start preparations with decorations and special offers “For Families Only,” “No single men allowed.” 50 liras red roses magically gain an extra zero, turning to 500 liras. And finally, cell phone companies start spamming their customers with bulk messages, such as: “Send a message to #### with your partner’s name to join the ‘Lover’s Day competition’ or to ‘test your compatibility.’”
Politics is also a featured staple in any conversation, and Syria Comment brings us the latest updates and analysis from around Syria and the world, with the provocative headline of “Has Washington Decided to Focus on Syrian-Israeli Peace?“:
In short, the return of an ambassador is good, but playing along with a peace process that is long on process and short on peace will be difficult for Syria, which has none of the media savvy that Israel has. Damascus undoubtedly fears that Mitchell will ask Syrians to meet with Netanyahu without conditions. Syria believes this is tantamount to normalizing relations without any Israeli concession.
And finally, we'll sit down with Syrian Foodie in London, and finish our tour with a delicious Damascene treat, Ful Nabit:
Ful Nabit is boiled fava beans served with salt and cumin. The seller cart will have huge pot with the beans slowly simmering. The beans are served in a proper glass or china bowls rather than paper wrap or a plastic plate, which I find adds a nice touch. to the experience. You usually get a glass of the cooking stock and half a lemon to accompany your ful. The cooking stock flavoured with salt, cumin and a squeeze of lemon makes a delicious (but not at all pretty) side drink.

author: Yazan Badran


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Syria: Damascus’ Own Marathon · Global Voices
Yazan Badran

Damascene Jasmin [AR] writes about Syria's first international marathon. Damascus marathon is planned for April 16, to commemorate Syria's independence day (April 17).


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Syria: One More Expat · Global Voices
Yazan Badran

Anas Qtiesh, shares some thoughts about his new life abroad and what homesickness is, among others.


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Taiwan: Studying in a doctoral program · Global Voices
David Reid

Scott Sommers writes about his experience in the first semester of a Ph.D. program at National Taiwan Normal University.


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Talking to Trinidadian journalist and blogger Andre Bagoo · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Journalist, writer, and blogger Andre Bagoo. Photo by Gerard H. Gaskin, used by permission.
Andre Bagoo, 26, is a Trinidadian writer and journalist. Since October 2006 he has been based at the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, one of the country's three daily newspapers, where he is a specialist writer covering politics, with a sideline in arts and culture. He is also a poet and fiction writer, and has been published in journals such as The Caribbean Review of Books and the Boston Review.
Bagoo is best known in Trinidad for his fearless, hard-hitting political reporting, which has sometimes brought him into conflict with members of the current government. In November 2009, the Privileges Committee of the Trinidad and Tobago House of Representatives recommended that he be banned from the media gallery of Parliament after finding him guilty of an offence. The Parliamentary session expired before the full House voted on the recommendation, so the ban never took effect, but the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago denounced the move as “attempted intimidation … of journalists whose reporting may have embarrassed or offended the Government.”
In addition, Bagoo is a blogger. He started his personal blog, TATTOO, in 2007. There he writes about current affairs, the arts, and sundry matters. In October 2009, he launched a new blog, PLEASURE, devoted to covering “art in all its forms”. It amounts to a one-man cultural journal, posting reviews, essays, interviews, and news on visual art, literature, music, theatre, and film in Trinidad and Tobago and elsewhere.
I recently interviewed Bagoo via email about the relationship between his blogging and his newspaper writing, the Trinidad and Tobago mainstream media's attitudes to online channels, and the possible role of blogging in ensuring press freedom.
•••
Nicholas Laughlin: You started your blog TATTOO in May 2007, and for over two years you posted things like book and film reviews there, in addition to personal reflections. Why did you decide to start a second blog, PLEASURE, in 2009? Did you feel the kinds of things you wanted to write about — the kinds of cultural coverage you'd been doing there — needed a fresh start?
Andre Bagoo: I wanted to start over, yes: reculer pour mieux sauter. I had been going to all these different arts events and I wanted to create a vehicle that would better reflect the energy I was seeing all around me; so much is going on. With a blog, I thought I could create a space that straddled formal reportage and some informal banter; that created a forum in which I could experiment and have fun, and hopefully share that with readers.
NL: Do you feel that via PLEASURE you're able to engage in kinds of cultural criticism and commentary that the mainstream media in Trinidad and Tobago otherwise doesn't provide? And if they don't, why is that?
AB: Small media houses can only do so much with limited resources, especially under the kinds of pressures which they are subjected to these days.
The issue I have is with the very idea of reportage. With few exceptions, if you look at a good feature in the local papers and a good feature in a foreign newspaper, you will see certain similarities: a strong start, long sound bites, lots of narration, colour, and analysis weaving the piece together into a flowing, coherent whole. After a while you get the sense that if you've read one good feature or interview, you've read them all; there is a style that works and is adhered to, all over the world. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?
The Internet allows you to break free from all that, to be as irreverent or reverent as you want to be; to be informal and to experiment by doing things that, perhaps, do not “work”.
This is what lies behind certain things on the blog, like the artist interview series. There I aim to answer Foucault‘s question of not “who” but “what is the writer?”, by giving artists free rein to pretty much say what they please, and to communicate directly with readers without authorial intervention. I don't intervene in these interviews, I just let the artists do all the talking. I think in some cases this has really worked well. In the interviews, we've seen sides to people like the poet Vahni Capildeo and writer Lisa Allen-Agostini that I don't think we would have seen had the format not been as free-rein.
NL: Were you inspired or influenced by any previously existing blogs?
AB: A friend introduced me to the website for a punky London publication called The Pix which I quite liked (unfortunately the site has since been taken down and is being redesigned). I also encountered a very simple arts website for the Centre for 3-Dimensional Literature and other arts blogs like Paramaribo SPAN and Town, which really brought home for me the potential of engaging in arts discourse online.
NL: Have you ever got a lead for a story or a piece of key information from a Trinidadian blogger or other citizen journalist?
AB: Most certainly, yes. The Internet (with sites like Facebook and Twitter) forms one of the richest sources of tips and information for the modern reporter. If you're serious, you cannot afford to ignore it.
NL: Very few other professional journalists in Trinidad and Tobago have their own blogs. None of the newspapers has a blog, though one of them uses Twitter to share headlines. Do you think the print media here understand the possibilities and implications of citizen media and online social media in general?
AB: Blogs require time and resources. Even if their potential as gateways to a global audience/market is really understood, I guess it’s really the short-term bottom line that appears to factors in, unfortunately. Which is fair enough if you're struggling to survive amidst an increasingly challenging environment. It's striking, I think, that all three dailies actually have websites in the first place. And I don't think it's going to be too long before things like news blogs happen. For instance, the journalist Afra Raymond has a very insightful blog on current affairs where he does a lot of explanatory reporting.
NL: Is it really so striking that in 2010 the three daily papers in Trinidad and Tobago have websites? What's more striking to me is how little use they make of their web presences, how static the sites are.
AB: Well, yes and no. I guess it's the same as I mentioned above: a question of resources and perceived potential revenue from what is already a relatively small (but growing) online market. In that context, we're lucky there are sites at all! Still it's true, there's a long way to go, and there is a global potential that has not yet been fully tapped into.
NL: As a professional journalist, you've been subject to what many see as an attempt at official suppression. Do you feel the situation in Trinidad and Tobago regarding press freedom, freedom of expression, etc., is tightening? What role might bloggers, Facebook users, Twitter users and others play in this situation?
AB: The situation has been tightening for a while now, and through successive government administrations. At the same time, the media is, on the surface, expanding, and therefore, in theory, becoming more of a threat to the powerful. So that journalists in this country are going to inevitably find themselves under attack.
At the same time bloggers/twitterers et al stand at the gates; they are at the forefront of what is, right now, the ultimate tool for free expression. Look at what happened in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti — the first images we had which really gave us a true idea of the terrifying extent of what had happened and is still happening there spread on Twitter and Facebook. The online community can reach millions. And more importantly, it can escape the machinations of those whose interests are served by silence.
But this is about to change. The next decade will see bloggers’ freedoms come increasingly under fire via tools such as threats of court action. And the Internet itself will become more heavily regulated by the state, and will be further used to increase state-sanctioned invasions of privacy. For now, though, the Internet is the best expression of that semblance of democracy that remains in our societies.

author: Nicholas Laughlin


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Trinidad & Tobago: Common Courtesy · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“If more people stood up for themselves, less people would take advantage of others. And if less people took advantage of others, you'd probably have a lot less crime”: Trinidadian blogger Taran Rampersad thinks it all begins with basic etiquette.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Judge & Jury  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As the government “seeks to do away with juries and have hearings in front of a judge alone”, Jumbie's Watch comments: “The reason I am doubtful that this is a workable solution in Trinidad and Tobago is because of the clear corruption in the judiciary there.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Local Rasputin?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidadian blogger Tattoo shares his thoughts on former Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday: “I’m sure of one thing: [he] will never be able to live down the events of last month. He will never be able to dust-off the fact that he contested the post of leader within his own party and lost.”


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Ukraine: Citizen Activists vs Illegal Construction · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Citizen activists tore down a fence at yet another illegal construction site in downtown Kyiv: 25 photos, as well as earlier updates (UKR) – here and here – atDerybanu.net.


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Ukraine: Crimean Tatar Newspapers Going Offline · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Window on Eurasia writes about the gradual disappearance of the online editions of Crimean Tatar newspapers.


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Ukraine: Presidential Election Roundup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Tetyana Vysotska of What's Up, Ukraine? and Leigh Turner, UK Ambassador to Ukraine, post their “guesstimations” for the outcome of the Feb. 7 presidential election; Tammy Lynch of Jamestown Foundation Blog writes about a raider attack on the printing company “responsible for producing ballots” and the Feb. 1 TV debate with only one of the two candidates present; LEvko of Foreign Notes also comments on the one-person debate.


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Bermuda, Barbados: Indebted · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As Bermuda's debt climbs, Vexed Bermoothes thinks that “government would downsize both its expectations and its size, institute rigorous budgets and controls, and get a grip on its finances”; Barbados Underground, meanwhile, is afraid that “the Barbados economy appears to be headed for the rocks.”


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Brazil: Kiss-in for homosexual and abortion rights · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

São Paulo will stop on Sunday, 7th of February, for an evening of mass kissing. From 17:00, people will meet at the corner of Avenida Paulista and Rua Augusta to kiss each other in protest against resistance to the Brazilian government's recent third edition of the National Program for Human Rights (PNDH-3). Augusto Bazárov [pt], Twitter user @Guttto, explains the event:
Trata-se de um ato público, organizado por tuiteiros que usam o ciberativismo como ferramenta de mudança social. Dele, participam mulheres e homens; homo, hétero e bissexuais, travestis e transexuais. Pessoas preocupadas em defender medidas históricas contempladas no 3º Plano de Direitos Humanos, apresentado pela Secretária Nacional de Direitos Humanos do Governo Federal. Dentre estes direitos estão: a união civil entre pessoas do mesmo sexo, a criminalização da homofobia, a legalização do aborto e a adoção homoparental. Estas propostas foram duramente atacadas, sobretudo por setores da imprensa e por lideranças religiosas católicas (CNBB).
@souminha, from the “Cultivando a Verdade” blog provides another post about the idea of the protest [pt]:
A ideia é mostrar, com muita alegria, que as pessoas são diferentes umas das outras, nascem, vivem, se beijam, amam, se relacionam com quem bem entendem, e independente de um ou outro grupo que torce o nariz, sua vida vai continuar acontecendo no anonimato de suas casas.
Não adianta um padre, um jornalista ou um senador achar que vai impedir os gays de constituir família, as mulheres de dispor de suas vidas ou o mundo de girar.
Isso acontece, e o PNDH, as militâncias e lutas sociais servem para reconhecer essa existência e garantir que o Estado não negligencie nenhum cidadão ou lhe tire o direito à dignidade.
Lourenço Cavalcanti in 23B [pt] is another blogger standing up  for the Beijaço [Kiss-in]. He adds his voice to the conversations:
A razão de ser do beijaço é atrair para nós a atenção da sociedade, e, aos olhos  de todos, reclamar nossos direitos. É assim, de forma afetuosa e amorosa, que os  gays marcam posição. Os grupos conservadores vão cair de pau em cima, dizendo  que essa é mais uma prova do fim dos tempos, e tudo mais, mas deixem eles  gritarem.
The HTML code of the campaign's banner has been published on hundreds of blogs and websites and can be found here:
A Facebook event page has been created to support the “Beijaço” (the Kiss-in) on February 7th.
Many bloggers and Twitter users have been supporting the cause, using the banner or just spreading the date, locations and posting about the Kiss-in protest. The main organizers of the protest are: @souminha | @Guttto | @mariana_parra | @RadomileCarol | @djalepeixoto | @ticamoreno | @umberto_neto | @alineando | @cissablond | @aarles | @Tsavkko

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Colombia: New Human Rights Watch Report · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Plan Colombia and Beyond  recommends the new Human Rights Watch report on Colombia about the ‘rise of emerging paramilitary groups.’


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Dominica: On Censorship  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Dominica Weekly puts forward its take on the issue of censorship, commenting: “Dominican authorities must pay close attention to other lyrics which glorify guns, drugs, violence or deviant behaviour. Calypso, as a art form [has] tremendous influence on the behaviour of youth…and governments have a responsibility to ensure that the values of society are respected and maintained.”


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Dominican Republic: Coop Marena Cooperative Hotel · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The Coop Marena is a typical resort hotel in the Dominican Republic. However, blogger José Rafael Sosa notes that what sets this hotel apart is that it is a cooperative [es], and does not belong to a corporation or single individual.


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Ecuador: Creation of Colambo Yacuri National Park · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The blog Voces Lojanas [es] writes about the creation of the Colambo Yacuri National Park located in the region of Loja, Ecuador.


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Haiti: Tent Cities  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

~/zaboka reports on conditions in the Haitian tent cities, which sprung up as a result of the homelessness caused by the devastating January 12 earthquake: “I was amazed by how clean it was and how they had separated the camp in different sectors and assigned people in charge to make sure that it’s always clean. I have never seen Haiti as peaceful and the people as hopeful.”


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Hungary: Opposition Leader on Facebook · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum reports that Victor Orbán, leader of the opposition party Fidesz, now has a Facebook page – and nearly 8,000 fans: “By the way, I'll bet that as soon as Orbán wins the elections this whole flirtation with the Internet will come to an abrupt end.”


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Indonesia: Support for Facebook · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

An Islamic Boarding School in Bogor, West Java in Indonesia is supporting Facebook despite the statement of a local Islamic organization that the famous social networking site is haram or forbidden.

author: Mong Palatino


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Indonesia: Wedding preparation · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Simon Pitchforth learned a few tips on how to prepare for weddings in Indonesia when he attended the Jakarta Mega Wedding Festival 2010


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Japan: Favorite fruit ranking · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Mari Kanazawa highlights an interesting survey on Japanese favorite fruit ranking.


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Japan: Snow Candle Sparking Hope for Haiti · Global Voices
Sopheap Chak

In a freezing winter at International University of Japan (IUJ), located in Niigata Prefecture of Japan, over 100 students from different countries joined together to build a snow ball in lighting the candle of hope for Haitians who have been suffering from the earthquake devastation since January 12th.
The snow candle event initiated by the IUJ's Global Concerns Forum and the Photography Club is the culmination of the fund raising efforts which targeted approximately 100,000 YEN (US Dollar 1,000) to contribute to Red Cross of Japan for Haiti Relief Effort.
All students representing their own country in IUJ were invited to build a small igloo-type structure using snow balls and provide the candles necessary to light them up in the letter shape of “HAITI.” Regardless of the cold weather at 0 to 1 degree, students collaborated to build the snow ball so that the candle light can be seen at the same time of sunset which makes a perfect moment for a silent prayer.
The video below captures the Snow Candle Lighting event with messages from students representing different countries. The common message of IUJ's students is that: “Haitian people are not alone, the world is praying and supporting you!”
Interestingly, students from a number of countries including Myanmar, Indonesia, Philippines, and China expressed their deep sympathy for Haiti due to the fact that these countries experienced much devastation from natural disasters in recent years. Their message for Haitian victims is emotionally and precisely clear: “During crisis, our countries got help from the world, it is time that we turn our duty to help you.”
At the end of the event, students were holding each others hands surrounding the Haiti Snow Candle showing international solidarity for the common cause: Do not Give Up Haiti!
Snow Ball under sunset
HAITI Solidarity

author: Sopheap Chak


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Malaysia: Anwar Ibrahim on trial again · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is on trial again for sodomy. This is the second time that the former deputy prime minister has been charged with sodomy.


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Palestine: Dissatisfaction With New ADSL Policy By Paltel · Global Voices
Mays Dagher

A few weeks ago, Paltel (the Palestinian Telecommunication Group) launched a new ADSL Service (“Doubled Speed”) for its customers which according to its official site is “for upgrading the speed for free and reducing the prices as well as delivering better quality”. However, the new Paltel ADSL policy has triggered a wave of online demonstrations by internet users in the West Bank and Gaza due to the limitations that are going to be placed on the speed of the internet service.
Mohammad N. Khatib was one of the first Palestinian bloggers to write about the subject, on his blog 3X-W=WWW. In his article “Internet in Palestine – It just keep getting worse!” Khatib says:
“It turned out that the rumors are true! Hadara (Paltel) the Palestinian main Internet Service Provider (ISP) is trying their best to make their internet suck more and more. It's already expensive, slow and now the biggest surprise it is limited!
Yes you now will have a monthly limit on your Downloads! If you have 512KB ADSL connection, you will have 10GB download limitation per month. Once you've exceeded the 10GB, your connection will turn into a 64KB connection till the end of the month! The user then can buy extra up to 6 GB (by a package 2, 4 or 6 GB) for 12NIS (about 3.5$) for each 2GB!“
Ibrahim Jabour in his blog clickontech has published a report about this hot topic in Palestine:
On Facebook, many groups have been created by angry Palestinians users who have started a movement objecting to the new Paltel policy.
All are Facebook groups that represent online campaigns against the Paltel decision; the wall pages of these groups are full of expressions of dissatisfaction written by Palestinian members, and they have lists of signatures against the decision. They also have discussion boards about the subject. In these discussions many people have threatened to launch demonstrations in the streets, and to boycott Paltel services. Some of them even go farther and suggest that Palestinian customers should change their contracts from Paltel to Israeli communication companies.

author: Mays Dagher


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Philippines: First Quarter Storm Library · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The First Quarter Storm Library blog gathers images, articles, music, and other materials on the historic events of 1970 in the Philippines. This period refers to the series of mass actions spearheaded by students against the government.


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Russia: Blogger Addresses Russian President With Environmental Claim · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Blogger tebedam from Norilsk, one of the most polluted cities in the world, wrote a post [RUS] addressing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and demanding the introduction of innovative environmental technologies.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Russia: Bloggers Saved Tourist’s Life · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

A blog campaign saved the life of Alexey Kalabin, a Russian tourist bitten by a snake in Indonesia, Svpressa reported. Desperate to contact a Russian insurance company, Kalabin's daughter Anna asked one of the top RuNet bloggers to spread the word online and that led to a happy ending.


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Russia: Forbes Magazine Publishes List Of Top Government Bloggers · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Forbes magazine published the list of the top-20 official bloggers [RUS]. President Medvedev [RUS] tops the list, followed by an ex-oppositionary Maria Gaidar [RUS] and Perm Governor Oleg Chirkunov [RUS].


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Russia: Liberal Policy Report Provokes Online Debate · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

The Institute Of Contemporary  Development [EN], a think-tank related to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, recently presented a policy report “Russia of XXI  Century: Image of the Desired Tomorrow” [RUS]. Recommending massive reforms of police, electoral system and strategic partnerships with the U.S. and E.U., the report provoked a big discussion [RUS] online.


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South Korea: Citizenship · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ask a Korean! explains the South Korea policy on dual citizenship.


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Spain: Citizen Journalist Award · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The Spanish citizen journalism site Bottup announces its 2nd Citizen Journalist Award. The winner, open to anyone in the world, will receive up to 1,800 euros towards a trip to anywhere in the world where he or she will be a “Special Correspondent” for Bottup.


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Suriname: Tattoo You  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

At Paramaribo SPAN, Christopher Cozier considers the work of a tattoo artist “using skin as another canvas”, which “coincides with the painted decorations on Paramaribo minibuses, reaching out to a larger contemporary public and extending the dialogue about visual production.”


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Taiwan: Photoblogger Featured in Windows7 Theme · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

Photoblogger frogfree's 5 sets of photographs are officially recognized and featured in Windows 7 theme. He hopes it could encourage people around the world using Windows 7  to get to know the beauty of Taiwan(zh).

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Trinidad & Tobago: Cricketer’s House Burgled  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cricket icon Brian Lara's house is burgled and tickets to the upcoming Beyoncé concert stolen, prompting Trinidad and Tobago girls, politics, sports, technology, carnival, and lifestyle to comment: “Brian Lara's company, Lay Management, was controversially awarded the contract to construct the massive stage for the concert, but the question on citizen's lips is what is he doing with 100 tickets in a safe?”


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Trinidad & Tobago: On Carnival  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

TriniGourmet.com “shine[s] a spotlight on Trinidad’s largest cultural festival, Carnival”, while gspottt publishes a list of Carnival safety tips.


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Ukraine: “If Google Were a State-Owned Company…” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

In the text below (UKR; Russian translation by LJ user grosman is here) , Lviv-based LJ user dali_bude mocks Ukrainian state bureaucracy and red tape, describing what it would be like to do a Google search if Google were a Ukrainian state-owned company. There are nearly 60 comments to this post, and most readers find the parody hilarious, albeit a bit scary and a bit sad – because is is so close to truth.
If Google were a state-owned company…
- Search requests would have to be submitted in written form, on a special application, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 to 11 AM, at [the location where you're registered as a resident]. To do this, you'd have to stand in a line of 30 people.
- The written application would include the search request, as well as your date of birth, address at which you are registered, address of your actual place of residence, the number of children, your ID number, your passport data. With your request, you'd have to attach a color photo taken within the past three months (same type as the one on your travel passport). Three original copies of the written request would have to be submitted.
- The following documents would have to be additionally submitted along with your written request:
* a certificate confirming the absence of a criminal record;
* a certificate confirming the absence of debts for communal services [utilities], including a certificate confirming the absence of debts for heating since 2002;
* a certificate from a narcologist and a psychiatrist confirming competency;
* [military service certificate];
* a written consent note from parents […] and adult children, certifying that they are not opposed to your internet search request; if you have underage children, guardian board permission is needed;
* a decision from an expert commission of the Interior Affairs Ministry, certifying that your search would not lead to revealing state secrets (documents are accepted every third Saturday of every odd month from 4 to 4:30 PM);
* a decision of the regional department of the National Commission on the Issues of Morality, certifying that your search does not contain curses and pornography (documents are temporarily not accepted at the place of your registration, due to repairs);
* a certificate from the hospital confirming that you have had all the scheduled vaccinations and no harmful viruses would get into internet via your search;
* a certificate confirming the absence of other search requests that are currently being considered by [state company] “Googl’.”
- The following payments would have to be made before you submit your search request:
* the cost of the search (450 hryvnias) [approx. $56];
* insurance payment (8.50 hryvnias) [approx. $1];
* obligatory voluntary contribution to the Googl’ of the Future Fund (93.11 hryvnias [$11.63], PLEASE HAVE THE EXACT AMOUNT READY, WE DON'T HAVE CHANGE!);
- Search request would be accepted only after you sign an Additional Agreement, by which you ascertain that you will not use other internet search services for three years since the day you sign the agreement. The agreement is signed in the presence of a notary public (the notary public service fee is 150 hryvnias [$18.75]).
- You should come no earlier than in 20 work days to pick up your “Quotation from the Internet” (the official name of the search results), and you'll have to stand in yet another line for that. You'll receive the quotation in printed form (printed on a dot matrix printer). Due to the lack of state budget funding, graphics that show up in the results of the search will not be printed.
- If the results aren't there yet, you should wait 20 work days more, after which you have the right to repeat your search request.
- If you own a website and provide free access to information, then, according to the Law #666-66 from February 38, 2010, due to the need to have state regulation of the information politics on the web, and in order to unify search services and allow more convenient access to information on the web for Ukrainian citizens, you are obliged:
* to urgently pass all the information from your website to the state company “Ukrainian Googl'” on 3.5-inch floppy disks (only disks produced by the private company “Disketa-Googl'” are allowed, the price of a single item is 25 hryvnias [$3.10]);
* once you receive the confirmation, [you have] to delete all the information from your website within five days.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Who writes about ICT4D online? · Global Voices
Ivan Sigal

Over the past months Global Voices has been engaged in researching and writing about ICT for development supported by Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society and Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The challenge was to find out what was being said about ICT4D in global blogs and citizen media. We wanted to see what was being said beyond the halls of science, by practitioners in their own words.
We've collected our findings on a Future of ICT for Development special coverage page.
So what's being said?
After several months of dedicated analysis and writing about how ICT for development is covered on the web, here are some thoughts about the online availability of information about ICT4D – from academic articles, to conversation, commentary, and citizen media reflections on what works, what’s difficult and what is worth sharing.
It has been six years since the IDRC and Harvard held their first groundbreaking forum on ICTs and poverty. Since then there have been a great many zeros and ones spilled about practice and scholarship of ICT4D online. Much of this takes the form of research papers, books, and presentations produced by scholars or practitioners affiliated with institutions and nonprofit organizations.
It is, however, relatively more difficult to find blogs and citizen media content from unaffiliated individuals, and from those who experience the benefits, and sometimes challenges of internet technologies in developing-world contexts. While there are scattered discussions and commentaries, sustained, community-driven dialogue is not easy to find. This is perhaps not surprising, given the often complex and technical nature of the field.
Phone charging station in Uganda, 2008, by Ken Banks – kiwanja.net
There has been tremendous improvements in internet access and  explosive growth of cell phones in developing world, as Matthew Smith outlines in his essay for IDRC/Harvard’s latest conference, Communication and Human Development: The Freedom Connection? in September 2009.
However, GV’s research (led by Aparna Ray and John Liebhardt) has found ambiguous evidence of online discussion of these themes that advances beyond well-worn anecdotes of fishermen with mobile phones. Those discussions surely exist, if not online; a look at the Manthan Awards in South Asia, for example, gives us a window into communities of practitioners in this field, and the focus of their work.
In general, we observed that there are several categories of people writing online about ICT4D:
Broadly speaking, many development experts seem hesitant to learn technical skills and languages. They may want a ICT solutions, but there are numerous obstacles to engagement, including expertise, time, resources, and organizational culture. Hence ICT experts sense that development practitioners are rarely clear about helpful solutions.
Likewise, ICT tool developers may not involve development communities in the need analysis/ development phase, producing many solutions that are top-down, and without user support.
Solutions and strategies:
ICT4D is a vibrant theme, but also quite complex, and with little awareness outside of specialist communities. Our first months of coverage have captured some of the best of existing citizen media writing. A next step would be to fill the gaps in coverage and language that we found. Some approaches:
Continued engagement: Much more can be written, with a focus on clarifying who the audiences are for content.
Popularizing complex ideas: much of the content of the GV posts is news for those who are not in the ICT space; for ICT experts, it has less to offer. How stories are reported is key. Strategies include:

author: Ivan Sigal


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Yakuza and cops have something to teach · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Former Yomiuri Shimbun journalist Jake Adelstein writes of his experience as crime reporter in Japan in two juicy entries titled Everything I Ever Really Needed to Know I learned From The Yakuza or The Cops 1 & 2 [en].

author: Scilla Alecci


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Argentina: The Controversy Over Ex-President Kirchner’s Purchase of Currency · Global Voices
Jorge Gobbi

The recent news in the Argentine press about the purchase of two million dollars by the former President Néstor Kirchner back in October 2008, at a time when the international financial crisis was beginning, has generated a lot of impact in the media, blogs, and social networks. Days after the news was broadcasted, Kirchner explained that the exchange transaction was to be used for the purchase of a hotel and that the transaction was registered and followed the legal limits established for the purchase of dollars.
However, the opposition and some members of the media are wondering whether the financial profit was obtained as a result to access to privileged information, as Kirchner is married to the current Argentine President, Cristina Fernández.  Often those who purchase dollars do so out of concern of local currency devaluation. The issue has also been linked to the political dispute that the government has with the Clarín media company, which released the news.
The government stated that the news about the 2 million dollars is nothing new, as it was stated in the declaration of assets made by Kirchner last year. This statement, at the time, earned him a criminal complaint for illicit enrichment. However, a judge dismissed the case  – even though the judicial ruling was questioned by the opposition. Now there are judicial requests to re-open an investigation into the assets of the Kirchner couple.
Photo of ex-President Nestor Kirchner by Mariano Pernicone and used under a Creative Commons license.
According to Jorge Omar Alonso of the blog La Historia Paralela [es]:
lo grave de esta situación es que supera incluso el delito que se conoce como tráfico de influencias. Es decir utilizar el acceso a una información sensible como la cotización del dólar por el desempeño de un cargo público (…) para beneficio personal.
More criticism can be found at the blog of Germán Angeli, who writes about the Kirchners’ “drama” and about the lack of transparency when it comes to the couple. In addition, Eduardo Castillo Páez of the blog Periodismo y Opinión [es] writes:
En medio de sospechas, acusaciones, explicaciones y los repugnantes obsecuentes de siempre, Cristina Fernández y su esposo siguen evidenciando un desinterés absoluto por la transparencia y ética que deberían guardar en sus conductas. No les importa un rábano de nada, hacen sus inversiones y negocios con la tranquilidad propia solamente de los que están convencidos de su absoluta impunidad.
Abel Baldomero Fernández of El Blog de Abel [es] writes that “personal honesty, unfortunately, is not a valid index of the quality of a ruler.”
On the other hand, Teodoro Boot of the blog Blog del Ingeniero [es], writes that this issue is about “a transaction made in October 2008″, which was stated in his personal income affidavit and was subject to reports to the Justice.
Lástima que se trate de una transacción del mes de octubre del 2008 que el matrimonio Kirchner, sin advertir ni amenazar a nadie, reveló en su declaración de bienes de ese año, y que en su momento provocó las consabidas indignaciones y las correspondientes denuncias por enriquecimiento ilícito, seguidas del oportuno proceso… y la reciente absolución de los acusados, que lograron demostrar que su patrimonio corresponde a la valorización inmobiliaria de las propiedades que adquirieron hace más de veinte años.
More opinions defending the government can be found at La Cosa y La Causa [es] and Banya08 [es]. This last blog points out the rift between the government and Clarin media, and which is a topic addressed by Fernández in her recent press conference where she defended her husband [es] and lamented the fact that all his actions are under such close scrutiny. In addition, at the press conference, Fernández wondered by the Clarín group is not being investigated itself for tax evasion.

author: Jorge Gobbi


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Bangladesh: BRAC In Pakistan · Global Voices
Rezwan

Malik Rashid at BRAC Blog describes how BRAC, the Bangladeshi NGO, is teaching children in the town of Haripur in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan.


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Bangladesh: Slum Children For A Clean City · Global Voices
Rezwan

The students of the Dhaka Project, an organization which provides free education and health-care for slum children of Dhaka, participated in a community program called “lets clean Bangladesh” – reports the project blog.


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Barbados: Dangerous Driving  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Free Press reports on a traffic death charge that took 11 years to reach to trial: “Meanwhile the accused…racked up almost two hundred traffic convictions and up until yesterday was still driving on our roads and endangering our friends and loved ones.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Digital library of Lao manuscripts · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Digital library of Lao manuscripts features 86,000 texts from 800 monasteries in Laos. The web project aims to preserve historic Lao literary texts.


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Haiti: Help from Neighbours  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

CARICOM member states make donations to the Haiti earthquake relief effort: Repeating Islands has the details.


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Haiti: Russian Interpol Officer Blogs About Disaster · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Yuri Firsov
Until recently, the Russian blogosphere didn’t have its own citizen media source in Haiti. There were no direct witnesses of the devastating earthquake among Russian bloggers. But the bloggers suddenly discovered the blog of Yuri Firsov [RUS], an Interpol officer in Haiti.
Firsov is one of eight Russians who serve in the UN criminal police (Interpol) in the country. As an UN officer, he travels from one hot spot to another and occasionally finds time to jot down his impressions on his blog. Firsov arrived to Haiti at the beginning of December 2009 when he cheerfully updated his blog with detailed description of his arrival.
His second post from Haiti appeared on January 14, two days after the first shock. Since then, Firsov was writing blog posts almost on a daily basis providing his Russian-speaking readers with inside look on the horrible tragedy.  Below are the most interesting extracts from his posts:
January 12, 2010 [RUS]
В 16.45 приблизительно… я почувствовал (а я был за рулем) как Ниссан неожидано вышел из-под контроля, ощущение было словно на большой скорости въежаешь на “терку”…. машина пошла юзом в сторону боковой канавы слева….а справа, как во сне, длиннющий, на пару сотен метров, бетонный забор вдруг пошел ленточкой, словно состоял не из бетонныйх блоков, а был из ситца… остановившись, мы обнаружили, что Ниссан все равно трясется…я вышел на дорогу- та плавно ходила под ногами… тут даже дураку бы стало понятно что, что-то происходит… понял и я… точнее все трое мы поняли, что это землятресение… минуту спустя оглядевшись, я увидел дома, более не скрывавшиеся за забором- лишившиеся крыш и покосившиеся в секунду… на дорогу стали выбегать, выползать люди, многие в крови…
Hotel Haiti Destroyed By the Quake, phot by Yuri Firsov
Two days later, Firsov wrote [RUS] that all the chiefs of the UN police force were found dead [EN]. The streets were ruled by chaos and anarchy. From time to time, resuming shocks provoked panic among people. Dead bodies wrapped in cloth were laying right on the city streets and houses looked like pleats. There were rescuers only near few blockages. The UN base had to be turned into a hospital. One could hear screams of the operated and feel the smell of death all around the base.
On January 15, Firsov wrote [RUS] that his colleagues were spending nights at the office because they were afraid to stay at home. People left their clothes, personal belongings and even mattresses at the UN base just not to come back to the houses which might become their graves at any given moment. Dead bodies were burned to prevent epidemic.
Подъежая к нашему госпиталю, мы увидели облако смога, накрывшего практически весь район и почувствовали смрадный запах горящего мяса… еще несколько завернутых в простыни тел валялось на тротуаре невдалеке… дым, взависимости от направления ветра, то накрывал лагерь, то уносился в сторону домов в конце улицы… Да уж… неприятное соседство…
Yuri also described the arrival of a woman with two kids who spent 84 hours under wreckage. A nurse that was taking care of kids had to lull them by herself since the mother was too shocked to do that. Yuri took a picture of a tired and frightened boy hiding under a piece of rag.
Boy hiding under a piece of rag, photo by Yuri Firsov
On January 17, Firsov talked [RUS] about his new habit and the most frightening thing about the earthquake:
После Югославии у меня на долгие годы осталась привычка , выходя из машины не вступать на обочину, тем более на траву и смотреть под ноги везде, где нет твердого покрытия… После Гаити теперь буду долго смотреть на люстры и стаканы с водой… Все же страшен не сам процесс трясения…если конечно не застал он под крышей здания… страшны последствия – хаос,разрушения, боль и жертвы, слом всего устоявшегося уклада..
On January 21, Firsov wrote [RUS] about a patrol to the Cité Soleil, a shanty town, that the community regarded to be the most dangerous area in Haiti. However, the situation turned out to be relatively quiet. There were no shootings or aggression, Firsov said.
В полдесятого мы были в Сити-Солейл… Я был в смятении… мы ехали по узким улочкам Сити-Солейл, в темноте по обоим сторонам теснились домишки , многие разрушенные, люди в основном спали на дороги… поэтому ехали мы очень медленно, объезжая группки расположившихся на ночь людей… кто спал на простынях, у кого были матрасы, кто просто на голом асфальте… В ночи все это выглядело как кадр из фантастического фильма –катастрофы… люди на дороге , полуразрушенные остовы домов, торчащие балки вместо крыш…
…
так мы и лавировали между телами, люди при приближении наших машин поднимали головы,смотрели, но ни вражды, ни агрессии на их лицах не было… А как же те страшилки, что нам рассказывали, про стаи мородеров, орудующие по городу… Слов нет- этот район очень неблагополучный-и кримнинал тут выше чем везде и бедность просто шокирующая, и безработица с безнадегой… Но мы ехали и никто на нас не нападал, не стрелял… и мои же слова про то, что сцда без батальона бразильцев суваться опасно, выглядели очень глупо для меня самого… я попался на удочку предрасудков и чужого непроверенного мнения , раскрученного прессой страшного образа…
On January 23, Firsov wrote [RUS] about constant aftershocks and how the animals reacted to them a couple of hours earlier.
Одиннадцать суток с момента землетрясения… .вчера приехали из Сити Солей в 2 ночи-…неожиданно завыли собаки, начали петухи кукурекать и издавать свои нечленораздельные звуки ослики и ишаки… Утром проснулся от толчков- опять трясло… несколько раз шатнуло здорово, я даже привскочил…Получается собаки воют за несколько часов до толчков? … Отметить хоть какую то закономерность в поведении окружающих животных не получается… они то дружно замолкают , наводя на худшие мысли, то вдруг скопом орут, вызывая желание выбежать на улицу- а результат один и тот же.
Землетрясение вообще как война, только враг невидим и неосязаем… он наносит удар из- под тишка, точнее из-под земли и все… остальное дело ваше- спасайтесь кто как может… Лежа по ночам и покачиваясь на волнах грунтовых колебаний, я подумал – даже в чрезвычайных ситуациях – в Косово, В Боснии, когда стреляли, во время беспорядков в Тиморе, не было этого чувство, какого-то животного страха, страха от того, что от тебя ничего не зависит… когда стреляют- адреналин бьет в голове ключом и думаешь – посмотрим еще кто кого… а тут…


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Jamaica: Athletes of the Decade · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

YardFlex.com reports that Usain Bolt and Veronica Campbell-Brown are “the only Jamaican and Caribbean athletes” who made the prestigious Track and Field News magazine's Athletes of the Decade list.


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Jamaica, Caribbean: Tributes to Rex Nettleford, 1933-2010 · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Rex Nettleford, 1933-2010. Photo courtesy the University of the West Indies
The Jamaican academic, dancer, and choreographer Rex Nettleford — who died on Tuesday 2 February, a day before his 77th birthday — was a cultural and intellectual icon in his home country and across the Caribbean for four decades.
Nettleford died in Washington, DC, where he had travelled on university business. On 27 January, he suffered a major heart attack at his hotel, and was admitted to George Washington University Hospital. He never regained consciousness, and on 2 February, in accordance with his previously expressed wish, he was taken off life support.
Born in 1933 in the small town of Falmouth, on Jamaica's north coast, Ralston Milton Nettleford — best known by his nickname Rex — was a Rhodes Scholar, a founder of the celebrated Jamaica National Dance Theatre Company, a cultural advisor to three Jamaican prime ministers, and a member of faculty at the University of the West Indies, where he rose to the position of vice chancellor. His books included pioneering works in Caribbean cultural studies, notably Caribbean Cultural Identity (1978) and Inward Stretch, Outward Reach: A Voice from the Caribbean (1993).
In a statement made after Nettleford's death, Jamaican prime minister Bruce Golding called him “a quintessential Caribbean man”. The Jamaica Observer remarked in an editorial:
Jamaicans will remember him for his articulation of their craving to be “smady”, or “smaddification” – to be accepted as somebody with worth and character and not mere hewers of wood and carriers of water in the grand scheme of things.
Many Jamaicans online echoed these sentiments. The earliest reactions to news of Nettleford's death appeared on Facebook. Others took to Twitter to share their reactions. The Toronto-based Caribbean writer Nalo Hopkinson (@nalohopkinson) remarked: “R.I.P. Rex Nettleford. Thank you for being the loud, proud, beautiful genius you were.” Journalist Danyell McNish (@DanyellMcNish) asked: “what do you write in a tribute … except that the man was a GENIUS IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD?” Artist Oneika Russell (@oneikarussell) called him “Jamaica's foremost cultural ambassador”. And Annie Paul (@anniepaul) put it simply: “a great heart”.
Later, at her blog Active Voice, Paul wrote:
… the extraordinary thing about T Rex, as i privately thought of him, was that he was both an intellectual and a dancer at once, ingeniously harnessing mind and body.
She posted a long excerpt from an interview with Nettleford first published in 2006, covering his childhood and early education, and his thoughts on the role of the university in the contemporary Caribbean. Commenting on this post, Fragano Ledgister wrote:
He deserves to be remembered not just with our good thoughts, but with the sort of sound, engaged scholarship, cultural criticism, and artistic endeavour that were the work of his life.
At his blog, Miami-based Jamaican writer Geoffrey Philp added:
As a social critic, his insights have had a profound impact on the political and social development of Jamaica, and it should be remembered that Mr. Nettleford was one of the first to recognize the importance and impact of Rastafari in Jamaica and the Caribbean.
The National Gallery of Jamaica also paid tribute at its blog, with an excerpt from an important essay Nettleford wrote for a NGJ catalogue in 1979. And Caribbean Blog International reposted an article by Bahamian diplomat Ronald Sanders, who gave a sense of Nettleford's impact on the wider Caribbean region:
What everyone understands — those who knew him personally and those who didn’t — is that he was a Caribbean champion; a man who fervently believed in the worth of the term, “Caribbean person” and gave it both intellectual meaning and depiction….
Rex Nettleford simply made Caribbean people more assured of themselves; more comfortable in their skins of whatever colour; and more confident that, despite the fact that they are a transplanted people, they had established a unique cultural identity equal to any in the world.
Sanders added:
Nettleford was a dancer and choreographer – two disciplines he personally enjoyed and in which his creativity gave enjoyment to audiences throughout the Caribbean. In these disciplines, he danced to many drums and he was spectacular in his performance. But, it is in the dance to the drums of his Caribbean life that he is a motivating force – Jamaican he was by birth and commitment, but Caribbean he also was by intellectual understanding, cultural recognition, and passionate embrace.


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Jamaica: R.I.P. Huie · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Repeating Islands acknowledges the passing of Jamaican painter Albert Huie.


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Jamaica, U.S.A.: Wisdom of Children  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I learned that children are naturally giving and spontaneous and if we are not willing to accept some of the ‘wild energy’ of our children and if we continue to treat our schools as warehouses, then we should be prepared to accept the death of their imagination”: Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp sharesthe valuable lessons that children have taught him.


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Laos: 450 Year Road · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The 450 Year Road in Laos is now 80 percent complete. The road is built to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Vientiane as capital of the country.


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Laos: Declining number of elephants · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A group warns that domesticated elephants in Laos may disappear in 50 years.


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Pakistan: Beware Of The Nationalist Campaign · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sana Saleem at Mystified Justice comments on ‘Wake Up Pakistan’, a new nationalistic campaign spearheaded by Zaid Hamid targeting the youth: “Pakistan should wake up, but not to a new dawn of racism and bigotry.”


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Pakistan: The Dr. Aafia Siddiqui Verdict · Global Voices
Rezwan

Teeth Maestro comments on the Dr. Aafia Siddiqui Verdict : “I and many Pakistanis may not actually like the overall decision, but we must draw the line. [..] Being a staunch believer in supremacy of judiciary we must accept this verdict, without possibly burning down the American Embassy in sheer rage.”


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Pakistan: Two More Blasts In Karachi · Global Voices
Rezwan

Five Rupees reports that two more suicidal blasts targeting Shia mourners rocked busy streets of Karachi taking scores of lives.


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Russia: “Most Influential Intellectual” Online Vote · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

At OpenDemocracy.net, Lyubov Borusyak writes that “a recent internet vote on the [Russia's] most influential intellectual saw instead postmodern ambiguity emerge victorious.”


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Sri Lanka: On Independence Day · Global Voices
Rezwan

Chanux at Prove that real but not virtual blog misses something on the 62nd Independence day of Sri Lanka.


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Taiwan: Blogger meets with former President · Global Voices
David Reid

Blogger Ben Goren describes his meeting with Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), the former President of Taiwan, in the Tucheng Detention Centre. Chen has been in detention for over a year while on trial for corruption related charges.

author: David Reid


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Ukraine: Changes to Election Law · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes comments on the last minute changes to election law in Ukraine: “It seems to me any attempts to change the rules half way through any competition, even sporting, should be treated with the greatest of suspicion.”


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Ukraine: “The Perfect Pickle” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Irina Leonenko shares the story of “her mother's quest for the perfect pickle” at The Pickle Project.


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Ukraine: Yanukovych Campaign Ad in Crimean Tatar · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user indrih posts a copy of Victor Yanukovych's campaign ad in the Crimean Tatar language and explains (RUS): “Next to Yanukovych's last name are the words ‘light’ and ‘kindness,’ next to Tymoshenko's last name – ‘darkness’ and ‘evil.’ ‘This is the difference between them,’ is written underneath this comparative table.”