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Ethiopia’s bloggers remember two prisoners · Global Voices
Andrew Heavens

Tributes to two imprisoned men stood out from Ethiopia's blogosphere over the past fortnight.
ET Wonqette of the blog Weichegud ET Politics came up with a heart-rending portrait of Ato G [Ato = Mr.], an elderly man employed by her and a group of friends to look after a small charity in Ethiopia. Ato G agreed to send the funders regular updates on the progress of the organisation:
Every three months or so we get a letter from Ato G, an elderly Ethiopian man who lives a few hundred kilometers from Addis Abeba [Ethiopia's capital]. Ato G’s letters have become events. We pass them around eagerly.
Ato G's handwriting is brittle and it carves mercilessly into the flimsy, bumpy sheet of paper. He uses the same color pen -bluish purple- that leaves a crater of ink spots every time he rounds the letters “de” and “m.”
His letters are agonizingly no nonsense. He doesn’t use any magniloquent greetings Ethiopians usually preface a simple letter. (“Ke semai kokeb yebeza nafqote …” Loosely translated… “My yearning transcends the number of stars in the sky…”) Instead, each word is obviously penned after much thought, none wasted on himself. He takes time to list all our names, with all the women prefixed with a respectful “Weizero” (Mrs.) and the men with Ato (Mr.). No sycophant titles; not a trace of overwrought flattery or flowery phrases.
But then… then he calls us “Lijoche” (my children). And the way he writes it, Lijoche… something about it tugs at me every time.
Then his letters stopped arriving. After some investigation, they found out why. Local officials who had heard of the money flowing into this new charity had come to his house and asked for a bribe. When he refused “the bureaucrat pencil-pushers thought a few days in jail would straighten out the old man”. So they locked him up for 16 days.
When ET Wonqette phoned Ato G after his release, he consoled her by saying “‘Mechase mn yderegal? Dehna qen eiskimeTa.’ (What can you do? Until better days dawn.’)” You should read the full transcript in the post 16 days. She concluded:
That’s the thing about Ethiopia. What breaks your heart also manages to mend it.
I wish people knew how much kindness there is in Ethiopia. Even through this seemingly chronic state of misery and brutality, there is kindness that breaks your heart into a million and one pieces. Ethiopia, we often forget, is so much more than a government determined to asphyxiate the spirit of people already savaged.
And perhaps the universe is waiting for us to find our spirits before it dawns better days for us. But the minute I loved what Ato G had done more than I hated the people who had robbed him out of 16 days, I knew I had arrived.
It is ruinously, unrelentingly peaceful. Better days are coming because there are so many others doing their “16 days.”
Ethio-Zagol of the blog ethiopian life, politics, culture and arts wrote about another elderly Ethiopian man – one who is still in jail.
He wrote about Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, a prominent figure in Ethiopian political and cultural life who founded the Ethiopian Human Rights Council and more recently the opposition Rainbow Ethiopia: Movement for Democracy and Social Justice. Late last year, after violence broke out following disputed national elections, he was detained alongside other key opposition figures on a range of charges including treason.
Ethio-Zagol summed up his feelings on the title of the post – To Mesfin Woldemariam: the single most important Ethiopian academic and intellectual of our time. He went on to remember happier days when the Professor used to hold court in Addis Ababa's best coffee house Tomoka:
Tomoka has an intriguing feel of a 19th century Viennesian coffeehouse. Its tables are as much a platform for ideas as coffee. It is where brilliant youth with precocious talents for analytical thinking and reasoning grapple with philosophy, politics and economics.
Professor Mesfin Woldemariam used to have a routine morning walk to Tomoka where he would be surrounded by the smart and fiercely combative young intellectuals, who weren't even born when his seminal works on famine and food security were published, and argue about everything on earth, from post-modernism and Derrida to Tomism . The spirit of Tomoka is Homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto ; nothing human is alien to me. No debate, however, is without an Ethiopian reference.
Like ET Wonqette before him, Ethio-Zagol ended on a determinedly upbeat note:
The influence of great dissenters will be felt when their ideas and views sip through the layers of time and reach the subsequent generations. Professor Mesfin has among other things saved the principles of non-violent struggle and the defence of individual rights from extinction in Ethiopia with an exemplary, frank and patient devotion. The youth in Tomoka and elsewhere are making it mainstream. Idea lives beyond the incarceration and death of its holder.

author: Andrew Heavens


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Georgia: What’s Not to Love? · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Carpetblogger, who recently gave a bad review to the city of Batumi, sings the praises of Georgia.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Nathan Hamm


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Guyana: Activist journalists · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Guyana's MediaCritic adds his two cents’ to the discussion — started by a Trinidadadian journalist — on whether a journalist can be an activist.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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India: Once upon a Ghetto · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Indian Muslims recalls how the celebration of certain festivals was a more integrated affair and how other the years, the city of Mumbai has become ghettoized, much like the nation.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India: Renting to Singles · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Getting an apartment on rent as a single person is a tough job. Rashmi Bansal comments on why landlords hesitate to rent out to single people and why people in certain industries aren't favoured.


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India: Served on a leaf · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Shruthi writes of the experience of eating on a banana (plantain) leaf. “Any celebration in South India is incomplete without a sumptuous lunch served on a Banana Leaf. In fact, I admit shamelessly that there are a number of functions to which I go more for the lunch than for the event itself.”


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Interview with Mr. Behi, Iranian blogger · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Mr. Behi is an Iran-based blogger from Tehran writing in English under a pseudonym. His blog has been mentioned several times in Global Voices and other media. He is a very busy young professional and found time to answer some of our questions between two trips.
1- Please present yourself and your blog and tell us why you chose to write in English?
I am a 28 year old individual who was born, grew up and lived in Tehran all my life. I believe I earned myself a very satisfying life that helps me to grow and enable me to have a free mind to look around myself and interpret the surroundings. My blog, Adventures of Mr.Behi is, to me, the memoir of a world citizen. I write this electronic diary to preserve my experiences from the corrosion of my short memory. I started it to be able to record my thoughts and ideas and the fact that on the blog I could see other people's reactions to my point of view was an interesting incentive. I have always been passionate about learning languages. I had the opportunity to train myself well enough in English communication and I have lately discovered that communication is a bridge to extend your mental boundaries by interacting with other people. Adventures of Mr.Behi had to be recorded in an international language to achieve my goal of being a world citizen. Despite the initial goal of being just a personal diary, the fact that I always think about politics and society dragged the posts towards domestic/world issues and soon I realized that there are people who try to look at Iran through my words – which is an extra advantage of the ability to engage in dialogue via your own personal space.
2-Do you think when Iranian bloggers write in English, they try to say things to please English speaking audience?
That is an interesting question. I have actually never looked at Iranian English blogs like that to be able to present a straight answer but if we look at the way Iran is being presented to the world through all the negative news, it can be considered a reaction to show that Iranian people are not well presented. I am not sure if you mean if I think my blog is behaving like that… I try not to write for my audience… sometimes I add things as background information for non-Iranians but my initial intention was to have a personal diary.
3-What has been the reacion of western media and the public to your blog?
The reaction has been so positive and encouraging overall. To be honest I never felt that the little things about Iran and some personal ideas about the world could make anyone interested. I have made so many friends via the blog and I always love the difference in perspectives when people comment. I never filter or remove comments and always enjoy even aggressive ones because that shows how differently some people think from the way I do, and that is cool.
4-How do Iranian bloggers cope with filtering?
It looks very hard. Sometimes I read some bogs that their writers say they write via e-mail forwarding and could not see their own blog for a while which is very sad. I guess for an English-language blog, the attention is not high because the number of internal readers is not high (I have no clue). The problem of filtering is not just for bloggers – it affects so many other internet users. People try to bypass filtering using proxy servers and for news websites I personally use RRS feed readers.
—
Our next interview will be with a Swedish blogger who visited Iran recently and took some very interesting photos.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: Death of a political prisoner · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Komitedefa, Valiallah Feyz Mahdavi, a political prisoner died after nine days of hunger strike in a prison in Karaj [Fa].


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Iran: Nasrallah was censored · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Bamdad, Hassan Nasrallah's, Lebanese Hezbollah leader, interview was censored in Iran [Fa]. The blogger says the following part of his interview got censored ” I would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if I had known it would lead to such a war“.


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Iraq: Iraqis don’t have an exit strategy · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

IraqPundit reminds Iraqis that Iraq has no choice but to stick to the plan for democracy. On the other hand, however much Iraqis might sympathize with the inexperienced members of parliament they voted into office, but IraqPundit says that they are tired of hearing them evoke Saddam Hussein’s regime to justify their ineffectiveness. “Iraqis would like them to put the past behind them and, to use an Americanism, move on.”

author: Haitham Sabbah


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Israel: The Morality of Business · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Amechad says that the morality of business is the problem of Israel. “It lacks equality under law but has this idea of income equality that serves to weaken those better off instead of strengthen those worse off, which in the end, also weakens those worse off — making Israel a far worse country than its potential could be if all sectors of its society joined the Western Capitalist model including a philosophical backing in the liberal tradition.”


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Latvia: Elections · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

All About Latvia writes about the upcoming parliamentary elections.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Lebanon:  Peace, Art, Humor and Politics · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Topics discussed in the Lebanese blogosphere this week involved, among others, literature, war-art, the art of souvenir production and war-humor. Peace is a topic that is almost always present. A few samples discussing and dissecting the concept of peace with Israel has been selected for this week’s roundup. In addition to these we have historical account, from a personal view point, of one blogger who lived the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and what followed.  Happy surfing.
The death of Naguib Mahfouz, the only Arab to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature prompted  The Angry Arab News Service to write a post in which he said:
I certainly will argue that his prominence in Western eyes rose in the Sadat era—when Sadat’s trip to Israel made Egypt an acceptable model of Arab countries, when things Egyptian became less controversial than things Arab or Muslim in general. The respect for Mahfouz was a reward for Sadat.
“Peace Art Graffiti in Beirut” is a topic mentioned by Raincoaster posting from  Cold Desert where combat zone graffiti artist Arofish, who was drawing in one of the most bombed out areas in Beirut, is quoted:
I was asked by local people to paint something happy, to reflect the spirit of the community. Before starting I banged up a piece of explanatory text on the wall (…) It reads: “When Ramallah, in Palestine, is put under curfew by the Israeli Army, nobody goes outside for days. The streets look completely deserted. But from a tall building, if you look out over the city, you can sometimes see hundreds of many-coloured kites, flown from the roof-terraces by the children of Ramallah. The children you can see here are flying kites to celebrate the spirit of the people of Dahyeh. Some kites you can see are flying away. These are for the children who are no longer here; they are no longer held down to the Earth.”
Sietske in Beiroet, the Dutch Woman Abroad, returned to Beirut from what was supposed to be her summer holiday. She visited the bombed areas of Beirut and wrote on the reconstruction efforts, the dust and rubbles of the suburbs, and the misery of the housewives. In addition to posting new photos on her blog she wrote about  souvenirs she got from the suburbs:
I’ve done an earlier piece on Nasrallah’s charm offensive. When I was down there yesterday, I bought some ‘souvenirs’; A T-shirt with Hassan Nasrallah, some key chains with the Hezbollah logo. People in Holland almost gasp when you say you can buy Hezbollah flags on the street. They all want to have one. In Europe it is inconceivable that you could buy Hezbollah supporters stuff in the open.
I had an American colleague here who bought a flag for her brother in the States, but was looking for all kinds of ways to hide it in her luggage. “This will never make it through customs,” she said.
The issue of peace is a major concern in Lebanon and the Middle East. A few of the bloggers discussing this issue are mentioned here:
Mirvat, who is one of the contributers at  Lebanese Bloggers Forum raises the question of the possibility of peace with Israel at the end of her article “Some Palestinian Mood …” :
Even when those Arabs do not necessarily believe in fighting for their fellow Arabs […], and regardless of how they were raised and who they identify with […], how can a human being be willing to make peace with a nation on his border that treat his fellow human beings with utmost disregard for all considerations of human decency, fairness, equality and freedom.
Awfully naïve of course but let's start here shall we?
If you do not have a problem with the state of Israel, where do you stand on morality?
Blogging the Middle East has a detailed critique of a statement by the Israeli Peace Now organization. The analysis also touches upon the concept of peace movements in Israel. The following is an excerpt from the opening paragraphs:
Throughout the latest round of Israeli aggression (yes, that is what it was) I kept reading Israeli media, hoping to find a hint, however faint, of genuine disgust at the killing being done in the name of Israeli sovereignty, security, and deterrence. Alas, no such thing was to be found. The few who ventured to criticize pointed to the losses in the ranks of the Israeli army, the failure to stop the Katyushas from raining down on the north, the terrible suffering of the northerners who were holed up in shelters or were living in “refugee” tents on the Tel Aviv beach, the horror of it all… To make it worse, to the utter discomfort of these open-minded, freedom and democracy-loving people whom Western media never fails to hail as heroes (at the same time portraying the “enemies” as bloodthirsty war-mongers who do not value life, freedom, or peace), the war “against HezbAllah” was not going as planned. Not because there were too many civilian deaths on the other side of the border, but because there were too many Israeli soldiers wounded and killed, and apparently too lenient a policy on behalf of the Israeli Air Force.
The latest war with Lebanon caused some Lebanese blogger to desert the peace camp with Israel according to  Solomon2:
A few months ago a Lebanese-Canadian executive who blogs using the moniker  Perpetual Refugee traveled to Israel to assume control of his company's subsidiary from the incompetent Israeli management. Expecting a hostile reception and prepared to wield his wrath as revenge for the humiliation he felt as a child in Israeli-occupied Lebanon, he instead discovered warmth, affection, and devotion as the Israelis looked to him as their leader.[…]
This summer's conflict puts a different perspective on our Perpetual Refugee. He saw his family and acquaintances as weak and defeated, and decided that was unacceptable.[…]
The Perpetual Refugee is now lost to us, consumed by the very demons he tried so hard to escape from. Let us mourn.
Then there is the issue of moral values discussed by Chet at Voices from Iraq/Palestine/Lebanon who had his take on morality and moral values of the warring parties in the recent Lebanese crisis as well as the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.
Humor and the media were taken up by Finkployd at Blogging Beirut.  In one of the posts we have war humor: “Quotes in History”, while in another we have Lebanese media beating Israeli media:
With Al-Manar's accurate and uninterrupted broadcast during the 2006 Israeli War on Lebanon, and LBCi's soon to be aired documentary featuring a never before seen video of Ron Arad, Lebanon has once again become the center of media production in the Middle East.
Further proof lies in reports of more and more Israelis tuning into Lebanese television, radio, and satellite broadcasts to get the news, or rather the real news.
In light of the decision of the United Nations to send International Forces to Lebanon to resolve the issues raised by the recent Israeli war on Lebanon, Marwan Kyriakos-Saad wrote two posts about his teenage experiences in Beirut during the Israeli invasion of 1982 and a similar decision back then to send Multinational Forces which were supposed to separate the Lebanese from the Israelis and act as a peacekeeping force. The first post “Summer ‘82” and the second“Autumn ‘83” serve as alternate historical lessons.
On the local political scene,  Abu Kais criticized the decision of the Lebanese parliament to have a sit-in until the Israeli blockade on Lebanon is lifted instead of passing much needed legislature for the country. He wrote:
This buys everyone time, especially the Lahoud-Hizbullah-Aoun camp, which would rather see the government toppled before the parliament's majority gets its way. How apt would it be for them to decry the inefficiency of the government while idling in downtown Beirut? And how convenient would it be for Assad to see the Hariri tribunal delayed?
Finally the fact of war leftovers such as unexploded cluster bombs causing post-cease fire casualties does not stop the Lebanese from propagating some  war jokes  which seems to serve as a form of therapy to carry on.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Mexico: Elections: A Winner, Finally · Global Voices
David Sasaki

More liveblogging from Eduardo Arcos, this time of the decision by Mexico's electoral tribunal to declare Felipe Calderón winner of the July 2 presidential election (ES). El Blog de Rodrigo did the same (ES) as did Ana Maria Salazar with a series of (so far) nine posts. For more context, Colin Brayton of The New Market Machines Radio begins his new weekly feature, “What's the Scenario” by focusing on the Mexican presidential election itself and coverage of the election by the US media.

author: David Sasaki


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Mexico: New York Yankees Vs. Sultanes de Monterrey · Global Voices
David Sasaki

It would seem that the marketing department of Monterrey's Sultanes got some creative inspiration from the New York Yankees.


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Nepal: Peace, Politics and Pressure · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Dinesh Wagle at United We Blog! on how pressure politics in Nepal is being played by the Maoists and how it could hinder the peace process. “It’s becoming clear that Maoists are focusing themselves in the politics of pressure and their recent activities are alarmingly contradictory.”


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Pakistan: Censoring the Net · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

KO on the move of the government in Pakistan to set up a body to censor the internet. He points us to a forum online where the issue is being discussed.


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Palestine: Israel isolated? · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Fayyad analyzing news from Israeli media noticed that there are some indications that Israel is becoming increasingly isolated and sanctioned. His first example is the news that several European countries have banned Israeli Airlines El Al from landing in their airports if they are carrying IDF cargo, and the second example is the news of the ghost of prosecution for war crimes that is chasing the commanders of Israel's army.


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Reunion Is Waiting for You · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Reunion Passion announces (Fr) that an exhibit is taking place in Paris September 12 and 13 to relaunch Reunion as a tourism destination entitled: “Reunion is Waiting for You.”  Reunion's tourism industry was dealt a blow by an ongoing Chikungunya  fever outburst.

author: Alice Backer


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Russia: Kondopoga and Thoughts on Illegal Immigration · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A week ago, two ethnic Russians were killed in a restaurant fight with Chechens in the northwestern town of Kondopoga, Republic of Karelia. The deaths triggered riots and demands to deport all Caucasus people from the town.
Reading Russian blogs now is a little like walking through a minefield: ethnic tensions in Kondopoga have revealed a highly charged segment of the blogosphere, with a fair number of bloggers seemingly favoring most radical measures against Russia's non-Slavic minorities and immigrants, including their physical elimination. But Russia is huge and so is its blogosphere (LJ-sphere, to be precise): tolerance isn't rare there, and nor are common sense and sense of humor.
Moscow-based gallery owner and once notorious political consultant Marat Guelman (LJ user galerist) outlines potential political consequences of the situation and offers a long-term solution to the crisis:
Can't get Karelia out of my mind. Chechens are citizens of Russia, so it has nothing to do with illegal immigration. To declare Karelia “free from the natives of the southern federal district” is to make the first and significant step toward the breakup of the country. A quick breakup, with the nearest election as its catalyst. This is on the one hand.
On the other hand, this and other conflicts do have an ethnic component. To pretend that this isn't so is to pass the “realpolitik” into the hands of the most radicalized Nazi.
Who suffers most from all this today? Perhaps, the non-criminal, decent people from the ethnic Caucasians. And perhaps it's they who should lead the resistance to their criminal co-tribesmen. Ethnic communities do have to cooperate with cops and others. Their survival is at stake. […]
***
vbenedict: Hasn't it occurred to you that non-criminal, decent ethnic Russians are suffering from it, too?
galerist: Everyone's suffering, but [ethnic non-Russians suffer] the most. They are afraid to go out into the street because of how they look.
[…]
livancheg: May I remind you WHO has been [killed]? Chechens? And who was killed in Salsk? And in Yandyki? And in Uglichi? WHO, in light of this, has to be afraid to go out into the street? As a sidenote, I'll remind you of how many Russians are left in Chechnya. In 1989, there were 370,000.
LJ user favorov (Petya Favorov), drawing on the high visibility of the Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI, a Russian anti-immigrant organization) in the Karelian unrest, proposes to create an alternative, citizen-led organization, the Movement in Support of Legal Immigration:
Supporters of DPNI are fighting against immigrants – instead of fighting against illegalness. Corruption is at the root of the flourishing illegalness. Illegal immigration will flourish even if the followers of the White Order stab three [blacks] a day and blow up two markets a month – as long as the police continue to take bribes from Tajiks with no registration, as long as border control officers continue, for $100, to stamp Kyrgyz passports with expired [Russian residency permits], as long as construction firms and markets continue to bribe inspectors off. What they have to do, though, is patrol trains crossing the borders, send anonymous threats to local bribe-taking policemen and fight for social and sanitary norms to be observed at construction sites.
As long as the state, due to its corruptedness, is incapable of carrying out sensible immigration policies, citizens have to take initiative. Problems caused by the out-of-control influx of people into the country are huge, but what Russia needs isn't the lack of immigration, but good immigration. While the law enforcement officials are acting in a similarly tyrannical way toward a comparatively educated […] Uzbek guy who came here to look for better life and toward a socially dangerous Uzbek mafioso from the market […], it is a civic duty of every Moscovite to register, if possible, any positive immigrant in their living quarters. This doesn't place any legal burden on us, whereas for them registration means work, means for survival and a chance to break free from the criminalized and low-paid jobs currently available to them. Each one of us has to act as the selection committees similar to those in the Canadian and other embassies […].
Perhaps, it'd be worth setting up committees of civil assistance to immigrants, to accumulate information on those Muscovites who wish to register positive foreigners at their homes, and to examine applications and interview with the immigrant applicants.
What are your thoughts on this?
***
navygator: What is positive immigrant? What are the selection criteria?
favorov: It's up to everyone to decide…
navygator: Looks like utopia to me…
favorov: This is civic action for the sake of the patriotic idea :)
navygator: I am somewhat against immigration. Not against the people, but it's more of a fear of their passionate nature. They are stronger than we are and soon there'll be more of them here.
aruta: I'd take part in explaining to the [Russian citizens] that [immigrants aren't all the same] and that murdering someone who's not armed is a [bad deed], for which they used to [sentence to death by shooting].
[…]
oslik_evev: While there is more work than people, immigration is necessary. […] Because they are illegal, they are violating the law apriori, and they lack the inner ban on going against the law. Hence, this feeling of being above the law.
favorov: This is why they should be freed from the necessity to violate the law apriori. In general, it's possible that our immigration law [isn't all that bad], if only it was being observed.
[…]
msmetana: […] Russian immigration law is more than liberal. (Ukrainians only need to register if they want to obtain a bank loan […] or if they have a work permit and are too lazy to leave the country every three months.) […]
Timur Aliev (LJ user timur_aliev), editor-in-chief of the print/online weekly Chechen Society and an ethnic Chechen, posts an exercise in black humor that reads like a dystopian answer to the previous selection:
I've read about what's going on in Kondopoga – and decided something had to be done before the situation in Grozny grew to be as bad as it is there.
Although I do not have enough facts on the situation in Karelia, I assume that the problem is in illegal immigration. (Why else would DPNI hold rallies there for two days in a row?) And Chechnya is currently being washed over with a wave of this very illegal immigration – Azeris, Georgians, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Moldovans, they are arriving in whole dozens already. And none of them registers or gets a work permit in Chechnya. Yes, for now they are only working at construction sites and open Uzbek cuisine cafes, but the worst is probable ahead. Some [worrying signs] are noticeable now already. A construction workers’ team from Azerbaijan that we invited to remodel a two-room apartment was asking for 850,000 rubles ($30,350). Of course, we refused – we just don't have this kind of money. But this Ilham wouldn't let go – he called us a few more times, offered to give us a 50,000-ruble ($1,785) discount. If this continues, these illegal migrants would start forcing evroremonty [expensive and often tacky remodellings] on people, charging crazy money. I'm not an official, I've nowhere to steal from, but the migrants would be grabbing ordinary bureaucrats from ministries and departments on their throats, and they'll have to rob the budget and take bribes in order to pay.
And gypsies from Tajikistan who are begging for money in the streets of Grozny? They are said to be drug dealers. That is, they are basically depriving our own [dealers] of an opportunity to make money. Same with the Chinese. They say the three Chinese take 1,000 rubles [$35] for taking out one truckful of trash, whereas our unemployed are asking three times as much for this job. Where should they go?
I'm afraid if it goes on like this, Chechnya would soon find itself as a prisoner of these non-humans, the illegal migrants. It's time to resist – to create our own Movement Against Illegal Immigration.
By the way, a few years ago, in the neighboring Ingushetia, a family of illegal migrants from Armenia tried to [take over] the republic. At first, they were photographing people for driver's licenses, then for passports, etc., and then they opened their own photo studio. Simultaneously, they were baking and selling cakes, opened a video rental/sales place, did fortune-telling using stones. If this had continued, who knows who would have been running the country in a few years. But four patriots (two Chechens and two Ingushs) prevented this from happening – they kidnapped one of the illegal migrants and demanded ransom for him (not because of the money, it seems, but to scare the rest away). The police, however, didn't get this patriotic feat and arrested the guys, setting the illegal migrant free. In a month, though, the whole family left somewhere (I suspect they went to Kondopoga)…*
*) :-)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
***
dadrov: Why did you delete the post from the [LJ] political community? Do you think they won't get the humor over there?
timur_aliev: I didn't delete it, the moderator did. Looks like they didn't get the humor, indeed… :)) […]
dadrov: This is logical. Such humor isn't [well-taken] in Russia, even if it's accompanied with lots of smileys. […] We don't joke about people being kidnapped by Chechens. […]
timur_aliev: It's better to joke about it than to do the kidnappings. […] Andit's definitely better than let posts like this through: “The Chechens screamed ‘Allahu Akbar’ as they were killing people.”
[…]
nfb: For some reason, I knew you'd be happy. Well, when Russians cry, Chechens are laughing. And with the genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Russian-speaking people in Chechnya in the early 90s, it's silly cynicism to muse on DPNI in Grozny, don't you think?
timur_aliev: It's just that Chechens always laugh – even when they are crying… […] By the way, how can people write cookbooks when millions are starving around the world… :)))
[…]
evva: Timur, do you really not understand that Chechens are feared and hated in the Russian cities? Even without the war, outside of [the history of the interethnic relations]. Not [Dagestanis], not Ossetians, not Georgians – but Chechens and, to a lesser degree, Azeris. Because of how they behave – and never tire to re-confirm their reputation. Don't bother writing about good and bad people in every nation – it's about proportions and the dominating types of behavior. You shouldn't have joked about the topic that's painful to everyone.
[…]
sorex: […] I have an alternative suggestion and I'm serious. Is there anyone in Chechnya […] to hold a rally with this slogan: “Russians, come back!”? Overall, what's life like for your Russian community? Many of the ethnically concerned in Russia are convinced that it's been a long time since you had it. Though I remember a TV story from Chechnya between the two wars, where they said that thanks to Maskhadov's Russian advisor, the Russians were allowed to sell pork.
timur_aliev: […] From time to time, there is talk in the republic about “the return of the Russian-speaking ones” – as a rule, by the government… but the ones who do arrive are, as a rule, those who work for the government or somewhere else where it's possible to make money…
There isn't really such thing as the “Russian community”… People live on their own. Work and live. Though some gather in church – I did a story on Easter, saw a few hundred people, but these mainly are the very poor people… There are also Russian women married to Chechens. All in all, there are a few thousand, I think…


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Russia: Kondopoga Riots · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Alex(ei) of The Russian Dilettante's Weblog analyzes the situation in the Karelian town of Kondopoga.


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Russia: Orthodox Christians Against Madonna · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Moscow-based LJ user nl posts a photo story (RUS) on the protest rally held by the Russian Orthodox Christians against the upcoming Madonna's concert.


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Russia: Sale of a Newspaper · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog writes about the recent sale of the Russian daily Kommersant.


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Serbia: Guca Festival · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belgrade Blog posts a video from the 46th Guca Trumpet Music Festival.


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Singapore: Foreign Classmates and Grades · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Cheahchuwen feels that Singaporean engineering students are having a hard time competing with foreign classmates. “But, tell me, how is a typical Singaporean undergrad in Engineering going to get decent grades with all overwhelming numbers of foreign scholars/students? From my estimation, there's probably only 40% of Singaporeans, and the rest are largely, from a ‘upcoming Asian nation’. And they're really clever, or hardworking, or both.”

author: Preetam Rai


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South Korea: The transformation of USFK · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Francis from interlocals.net writes an analyical piece on the implication of U.S-Korea handover of wartime operation command: The real issue here is not really about sovereign right of military command, but the subtly and deeply changing role and strategy of the ROK-US military alliance with very strong regional implications. Not only the US bases and facilities so widely spread in South Korea will become perfect launch-pads, but the South Korean military will also be involved in ‘flexible’ operations.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Thailand:  Steve Irwin’s Death · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Andrew Biggs in Thailand is saddened by the passing of TV presenter Steve Irwin. Irwin was popular across South East Asia for this TV shows that featured wild animals. “Steve Irwin was very much a “larger than life” figure who loved his work. He loved wild animals, and taught a whole generation of people to understand, and respect, animals.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: New party · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Manicou comes out in support of a new political party being formed by the estranged political leader of Trinidad and Tobago's opposition party.


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United Arab Emirates: Accidents by Nationality · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

A newspaper report that statistics show Indians and Pakistanis in Dubai are the worst drivers and caused most accidents in Dubai in the first half of the year. Seabee wonders why accidents need to be presented by nationality. “If statistics are going to be presented in that way, then let's have the full picture so that they actually mean something”, Seabee said.


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Vietnam: Independence Day · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The blogger at The Final Word wanders around Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to bring us photographs of the Vietnamese Independence Day decorations.


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Antigua: Who should have a passport? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

At Talk Antigua, Roxann takes issue with the fact that a US-born child of an Antiguan was able to get an Antiguan passport.


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Argentina: With or Without a Helmet? · Global Voices
David Sasaki

The city government-run blog, Pasa en Buenos Aires describes a debate in legislature over whether cyclists should be obligated to wear helmets when they ride in the city (ES). Commenters debate the issue.


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Armenia: Assassination · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

There has been another assassination in Central Yerevan. Onnik Krikorian notes that assassinations have been on the rise since the 2003 elections. He expects that there will only be more as next year's elections approach.


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Bangladesh: FOBANA and Friends · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Drishtipat on attending a diaspora based event in the US. “Federation of Bangladesh Association of North America (FOBANA) just celebrated their 20th year over the long weekend (Sep 1, 2 & 3) in Cobb Galleria in Atlanta.”


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Belarus: Kolkhoz · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ivan Lenin of Rush-Mush writes about a diehard Soviet tradition in today's Belarus.


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Belarus: Boycott of Football Team · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

TOL's Belarus Blog suggests a more productive alternative to a senseless step taken by the Liberal Party of Netherlands to protest Aleksandr Lukashenko's regime.


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Bermuda: Newspapers under fire · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Limey outlines some of the challenges being faced by Bermuda's newspapers.


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Bermuda: The government blogs · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Bermuda government has started a blog, writes the Limey.


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Bolivia: Update on Bolivia’s Constituent Assembly · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Jim Shultz and Miguel Buitrago each with their own perspectives on the troubles facing Bolivia's newly born Constituent Assembly.


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Cambodia: Tuk-Tuk Drivers Protest in Angkor · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Details are Sketchy talks about the protest by tuk-tuk drivers in Angkor after the new restrictions that prevents them from driving the tourists to the temples were enforced. Tuk-Tuks are three wheeled motorised vehicle widely used in South East Asia and South Asia as a form of public transport. The authorities have instead awarded the local transport contract to a Chinese company that operates electric vehicles. “Given that a hundreds-strong group of moto drivers now have nothing to do all day but sit in the Angkor Wat parking lot and watch as a foreign company drives away with their cash cow — and pay for the pleasure — it’s seems rather predictable that the scheme would end in grief.”


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Caribbean: West Indian Day Parade · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

TrinidadJunction attends the annual West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn, New York on Labor Day: “every single island in the Caribbean is represented. Each island typically has their own truck and/or band and can choose to ‘parade’ anyway they see fit. Some islands, like Trinidad and Barbados, choose to bring out bands. . . . “


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Colombia: Paramilitary Leader Found Dead · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Adam Isacson gives some link love to others discussing Colombian issues. Randy Paul offers his own thoughts on the discovery of paramilitary founder Carlos Castano.


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Costa Rica: Congressman accused of sexual harassment · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Uri Ridelman says that Costa Rican congressman Federico Tinoco has been accused of sexual harassment by his assistant.


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Cuba: Non-Aligned Movement · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) holds its heads of government meeting next week in Havana, Cuba. Luis M. Garcia remembers the NAM well from his childhood growing up in Cuba and offers this view: “It’s got 115 members or thereabouts, it meets regularly and produces communiqués and plenty of photographs of leaders of some of the poorest nations in the world alighting from their personal jets and calling on the US to give more money to the poor.”


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India: Blank Noise Project · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Blank Noise Project, which has been building support and testimony about sexual harassment on the streets through blogs and blog coordinated action has a wishlist – Monica wishes they done some things differently.


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India: Murugan Provision Store · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Chandrachoodan on the provision stores in Chennai, the system of credit, the shopping experience and how every corner of the city has one.


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Iran: Unbearable lightness of statistics · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Fallo Safah writes that in Iranian TV, the chairman of Iranian Parliament asked  Minister of Road & Transportation ” to think methods to reduce statistics of accidents”. The blogger says in this country only statistics are important and according to them we are very happy people and there is no inflation [Fa]!


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Mexico: Calderon as president · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Two months after Mexican voters went to the polls, Felipe Calderón has been officially declared president-elect of Mexico. Boz rounds up the mainstream media's reaction while A.M. Mora y Leon links to all the English-language blogs. Ana Maria Salaza has a useful final entry summarizing yesterday's events.


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Pakistan: Earth and Sky · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Shirazi on the breathtaking mountains. “Northern Pakistan is a land of contrasts, of surprises, a richly textured melting pot of diversity that leaves a vivid memory in the minds of every visitor, hiker or adventurer – only if the world knows it. “


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Peru: Present Your Blog · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Peru seems set on becoming the Latin American country with the most blogger conferences in a single season. Next up: “Present You Blog (ES)” at the University of San Marcos (ES).


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Russia: “Chandeliers From Hell” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Konstantin Dlutskiy of Russian Marketing Blog writes about an unfortunate name choice for a store.


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Russia: Chechnya’s Independence Day · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

David McDuff of A Step At A Time translates an article about Chechnya's Day of Civic Concord and Unity, or the Republic Day.


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Singapore:  Minister’s Guest Post · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Librarian blogger Ivan Chew shares his thoughts on Singapore's foreign minister's first post as a guest blogger on another blog.


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Spain, Mexico: Third Blog Anniversary · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Mexicanos en España, a weblog dedicated to – you guessed it – Mexicans in Spain, celebrates it's third anniversary.


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Sri Lanka: The problems Tamils face · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Land like no other requests readers to list five problems faced by Tamils in Sri Lanka and the resolution of the issue.


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Sub- Saharan Africa: Making the case for free markets and open politics in Ethiopia · Global Voices
Daniel Kalinaki

Ethiopundit argues that less government interference in the economy will allow citizens of such countries more political freedom.

author: Daniel Kalinaki


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Talking with Jonathan Lundqvist, Swedish blogger about Iran · Global Voices
Farid Pouya

Jonathan Lundqvist is a Swedish blogger who visited Iran and shared with us his travel  experience in his blog. By reading this we discover many interesting things about Iran such as how western magazines are censored in this country:
Q: Please tell us about your thesis about Iran and your trip to this country?
A: I went to Iran to research my masters thesis on Iranian blogs. The project was funded with help from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, who are promoting democracy in the world. I stayed for around six weeks in Iran.
In short, the thesis (to be published after peer-review, later this fall) is about if and how blogs can help Iran to move towards democracy. I do this first by redefining the concept of what is considered political action to better adjust it to the Iranian situation, and second to relate it to western theories of democratization.
I met and interviewed twelve bloggers about their motivations to participate in the public sphere – some in English and some in Persian using an interpreter.
Q: Is there any difference between reality in Iran & image that we have about country through our media?
A: There’s a huge difference! Although Iran is very close to Europe in terms of geography, the media portrays it like completely different world – and mainstream media often try their best to polarize it according to the simple, easy-to-chew good guys/bad guys dichotomy. This isn’t true – we all know this – but it’s really overwhelming when you get there. I found people to be very interested in, and open-minded about, western culture. Very different from the simplified version the western media presents. Sure, there are the official anti-usa wall paintings, but at the same time young people are wearing t-shirts with the American flag printed on them!
Another interesting angle on this is that a lot of Iranians watch western satellite-TV, and are indeed very conscious about how they are described. And they can’t recognize themselves. One of the more common things people I met said to me was “Please, when you go back to Sweden – tell them about the real Iran. How it really is!”
I’m sure there are fanatics in Iran, just like anywhere else in the world. But the people I talked to – some I just met briefly in a store, others at museums or over a cup of coffee – were not gun crazy Hezbollahs. That’s the real Iran. There might be reasons to fear the Iranian government. But do not fear the Iranian people.
Q: What was your experience of Iranian cafe net/cyber cafes? How are people cope with filtering?
A: I spent quite some time at internet cafés since they are a great place to meet people, and I got the feeling that most people knew ways around the filters. There was a lot of interest in proxies and more secure solutions such as the Tor onion router. The biggest fear among bloggers was to be included in the – often very arbitrary – filter, since it effectively removes a huge chunk of their audience.
So in a sense, since a lot of people knew how to get around the filter when they really wanted to access a certain site, the censorship seemed to strike harder at someone who wanted to speak, then those who only wanted to listen.
Interestingly enough I also discovered what appeared to be uncensored internet available at a certain library in Tehran. I didn’t dare to check a lot of sites (nor porn sites, for obvious reasons) but political blogs that are normally filtered were accessible from the library's computers. Obviously I couldn’t really ask the staff if this was a technical oversight or if it was left uncensored on purpose. It intrigues me to this day.
Q: You have published very interesting photos about Iran and you wrote about your trip in your blog. What were your readers’ reactions to them?
A: First, let me just say that I had to take certain precautions while in Iran. It’s not unheard of that the authorities get upset when foreigners poke around in what they consider being “their business”. So, my strategy – to protect myself, and perhaps more importantly the people I interviewed, I decided to stay as far down under radar as possible. Better safe than sorry. This meant two things: no blogging (I even erased the posts I had already made before going), and very little photography. (Dr. Jahanbagloo was arrested a few days after I arrived, and there were rumors of more crackdowns.)
But, I still managed to snap a few shots with my conveniently sized (and very touristy) digital camera. Some of the pictures I took really showed how ordinary Iranians use the public sphere to fight back. There was for example graffiti with web addresses to blogs in meter-high letters on walls in Tehran. I doubt that they were left there for very long, but they still show the dramatic effect blogs can have on the society, I believe.
Q: Did you chance to talk with some English speaking Iranian youth? Something interesting about these conversations to share?
A: Yes, I met a lot of wonderful people who really made an effort to make me feel right at home. The hospitality and curiosity seems endless. Once you get closer to people though, you realize the double-nature that people are forced to live with. On the surface everything is fine, but look closer and everyone has something to say about the government: “inappropriate” jokes and one-liners are extremely common once you get off the sidewalk and into a more comfortable and private setting; deeply rooted fears about the consequences of the Iranian government’s foreign policy are found in most people. One important thing for my research was also that I met quite a few people who explicitly said that they did not dare to operate a blog.
Also the society itself is very different from what I expected it to be. The people I talked to before leaving basically told me that I should give up on the idea of finding female interviewees, for example. This was in reality no problem at all. I found it very easy to mix with girls, and only a few days after I arrived I found myself in a “hidden” backroom of a restaurant in northern Tehran celebrating a girl’s 25th birthday! I ended up with just as many interviews with women as with men – something I’m very happy about, since women’s participation in politics is an interesting angle.
And everyone is dreaming about leaving for another country.
Q: Do you want to add an experience, souvenir, idea from your trip?
A: Maybe this is expected of me, but I would really like to emphasize the greatness of the internet! Globalization is not an easy matter and can be discussed at great length, but one aspect of the borderless internet is really clear – it is a wonderful tool at bringing people together. And I’m not saying this only in an academic sense, but also from a personal point of view. I have great faith that we can indeed get closer to one-another across seemingly huge geographical and cultural differences. I hope we can bypass the traditional media, and get directly to the source: don’t wait for the editor of your local newspapers to tell you what’s in the minds of Iranians; read up on the blogs. Don’t wait for Discovery Channel’s documentary about life in Mashhad; go to Flickr and see for yourself.

author: Farid Pouya


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Ukraine: List of Richest Ukrainians · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LEvko of Foreign Notes writes about Ukraine's richest men.


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Vietnam: First Day at School · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

At the start of fall semester, Vietnamese blogger Elmooh remembers his first day at school 19 years back.


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Vietnam:  Sampling Street Food · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The blogger at Antidote to Burnout takes us beyond the main streets to sample neighbourhood food stalls.


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Afghanistan: Winning the War · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Waheed says that if NATO forces really want to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan, they must pressure Pakistan to take action against Afghan militants based there.


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Argentina: Stencils and Building Restorations · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Ian Mount has a couple snapshots of “Gay-Positive Stencils in San Telmo” while Robert Wright takes a chronological look at the restoration of Argentina's Supreme Court and Casa Rosada.


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Armenia: Football & the Flag · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Akhtamar, blogging at ArmYouth Blog, writes that he and his friends decided to show their national pride while attending the recent football match between Armenia and Belgium by painting the Armenian tricolor on their faces. He reports that this was met with plenty of shock and confusion.


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Bahrain: New Beginnings · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

What if you try to enter the US borders without a passport? SillyBahrainiGirl can tell you the experience.


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Belarus: Doing Business 2007 Ranking · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

TOL's Belarus Blog reports on a World Bank's “Doing Business 2007″ survey: Belarus has ranked 129 this year, right after Ukraine.


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Belarus: Interview With Young Activist · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Robert Mayer of Publius Pundit interviews a 22-year-old Belarusian activist who now lives in Kyiv, Ukraine.


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Bermuda: Sustainable Development documents · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Limey kindly makes available on his weblog downloadable copies of the draft Sustainable Development Plan documents that the Bermuda government appeared be having trouble with at their own newly launched blog.


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Bolivia: Brink of Political Disaster? · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Jim Shultz asks: Is Bolivia in the midst of a national meltdown or just emitting the loud noise of political change?


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Bulgaria, Romania: Right to Work in the EU · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Edward Lucas, the Central and East European correspondent of The Economist, writes about the dispute over whether Romanians and Bulgarians should have the right to work in the EU: “Few subjects stimulate sillier discussion and worse economics than migration from poor countries to rich ones.”


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China and Hong Kong: toilet stories · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Simon World puts together two toilet stories, one from Beijing (bomb proof toilet) and one from Hong Kong (golden toilet).


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China: defending private education · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Recently, the education department claims that the Mencius’ Mother private school in Shanghai is against the spirit of education law. Some of its accusation is concerning its curriculum, i.e. lacking of patriotic education. Xueyong writes in his blog in defence of the school and the development of private eduation in China (zh).


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China: fragant pears · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Photos showing the picking of fragant pears in Xianjiang in the opposite end of China.


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China: positive report · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Wang Xian-feng explains what is positive report: if we say “coal mine explosion in Shanxi caused 40 death” it is negative report and will have very negative effects on the society. So, how should we change it into positive report? we can change the headline to “coal mine explosion in Shanxi, 60 people were rescued”(zh).


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China: urban myth? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Dan Washburn in Shanghaiist investigates whether Lonely Planet is actually banned in China, or it is just another urban myth?


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Colombia: Creative Commons Launch · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Alvaro Ramirez calls the Colombian launch of Creative Commons “a complete success” (ES). Colombian project lead, Carolina Botero, is asking readers to help translate and subtitle (ES) the presentation of Lawrence Lessig at the launch.


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Cuba, Bolivia: The ballet tours; Evo visits · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Luis M. Garcia reports that the Cuban National Ballet is receiving mixed reviews on its tour of Europe and notes that a visit to Cuba by Evo Morales has been reported on Cuban television.


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Cuba: Grandson of Cuba’s first president · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Luís Afonso Assumpção interviews the grandson of Cuba's first president.


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Czech Republic: Phone Book Season · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

My Czech Republic Blog writes about the annual ritual of obtaning a phone book in Prague.


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Czech Republic: Tram Ride Podcast · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Bored in Brno writes about trams and records a tram ride soundscape/podcast.


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Guyana: Alien kidnapping · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Guyana-Gyal hasn't heard from her brother in over week. “I hope them aliens ain't kidnap he again,” she says.


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Guyana: The ubiquitous Guyanese · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Guyanese are everywhere, observes a wistful MediaCritic: “Lost, gone, no more. Building other nations, building a brighter future overseas.”


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Haiti: Back to School · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Collectif Haiti de Provence links (Fr) to a metropolehaiti.com article explaining  the hurdles that parents and children alike faced today in going back to school. Namely, according to the Minister of Education Gabriel Bien-Aime, only 10% of schoolchildren will be able to start school this week, a number lower than usual. He cites the lack of security as a major hurdle in neighborhoods affected by gangs. He also announced the government's plan to decrease discrimination in book distribution; the plan entails favoring the neediest schools and the most remote areas.


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Hong Kong: privacy dispute · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translates  three controversial articles in defense of EasyFinder's position of refusing to apologize for pop song singer Gillian Chung backstage photographs.


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Iran: Poverty in Sistan · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Society for democracy has published several photos showing poverty in Sistan region.


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Iraq: Need to unit! · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

We in Iraq need no special occasions to remind us of terrorism; the front is still on fire and the daily confrontation leaves no place for doubt in our minds about the aggressive nature of terrorism against everything that opposes its ideology even when the opposition is represented by an Arab or Muslim trend whether Sunni, Shia or any other variation, let alone the Christians, Jews, Buddhists or non-religious people, say Mohammed.


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Kyrgyzstan: Constitutions · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Yulia of neweurasia reports that Kyrgyzstan's constitutional commission has finally presented three draft constitutions to the public and revealed the disagreements and political wrangling that were involved in their drafting.


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Kyrgyzstan: Tekebaev’s Heroin · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Sean Roberts discusses the curious and shocking case of the arrest of a prominent Kyrgyz opposition politician, Omurbek Tekebaev, for smuggling drugs into Poland.


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Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome · Global Voices
Salam Adil

Been a while since I last reported from the Blogodrome. It was not the holiday that stopped me – it was the mountain of work after. It seems every one is back from holiday demanding my time. Anyway I'm back, Iraq is the same-old, same-old, well maybe a darker version of the same-old but Iraqi blogs are in a bit of a spin.
Ladybird had decided to stop blogging and wrote her goodbye (post was deleted), but an outcry from her readers brought her back and she is now blogging with a vengeance. Ali, of the blog A Free Iraq deleted his blog and one of the most active bloggers Truth About Iraqis has also boldly gone. He writes:
Those few, enlightened individuals in our histories – the Ghandis, Mandelas, Martin Luther Kings, Mother Theresas and so on – are such rare occurences that our societies revere them … But that is defeatism at its loudest. It is not these people that should be held up high but the clarity of vision they sacrifice all for. … By revering those brave individuals we are admitting that the human collective is itself cowardly. By saying these individuals are inspiring we are admitting that the human collective is uninspired. … We use them to remind ourselves that there is always hope but we then proceed to quash any traces of it.
Which is why the enemy is within. And it is time to boldly go …
And where is he going?
I am a Trekker. I have made no effort to hide that. I have loved science fiction all my life, ever since I was about six. …
Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today, but the core of science fiction, its essence . . . has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all.
This is the last blog entry for me.  And so, I boldly go … Live long and prosper
So what of the Iraqi blogosphere? Zeyad thinks that the 212 blogs enumerated at Iraq Blog Count is a poor showing given that Technorati tracked its 50 millionth blog. But, Omar counters with this:
The fact is, those 212 blogs listed here are only the tip on an iceberg as the mass of the Iraqi blogosphere remains unseen and grows below the surface and that's mostly because this mass is almost entirely written in Arabic and thus receives little if any global attention
and he links to an Iraqi blogging site that has 1558 individual members. Not all of these are active bloggers but neither are the 50 Mil tracked by Technorati. And I can add to that al Iraqi Community with at least 5000 members. Suddenly the blogodrome is that much larger!
If you read no other blog post this week, read this
Chikitita was inspired to write about the strength of women when she encountered a female bus driver in Baghdad for the first time:
My feelings were a mixture of hope, pride, happiness, respect you name it. I just kept looking at her with a smile drawn on my face. “Come on… that’s rude stop it!” I said to myself. Shifting my attention to the street, I noticed people, particularly men with gaping mouths, nudging each other whenever the minibus I was in passed…. I could have asked her how come she took this job, but I did not. Her face spoke volumes…
What matters is the fact that I proved to myself that women are not the weaker sex as they have been portrayed. Some of us might be stupid, but they are not weak. … Reading through the press releases and communiqués I have worked on, I was often offended by the overuse of “women and children” to buy the sympathy of people, would-be donors and NGOs. I once asked, “why women and children”. Does this mean men are not worthy of people’s sympathy? The answer was always, “because those two are the weakest of the lot.”
That is not true. I am a woman, but never have I ever felt any weaker than men, whose strength is only physical. Even THAT is debatable. When my siblings and I were kids, my sister could smack my brother just as hard as he could smack her, whereas I could not; I used a very smart strategy that is “take him by surprise, tickle him and hail him with countless slaps and blows.” So when it comes to brains, I guess women are loads smarter.
Or this one:
After experiencing the war in Lebanon first hand Hala_s has been fighting to fall in love again with her life and friends in Britain, but no such luck:
What is frightening; is how submissive we are all becoming. We are starting to believe that there must be something seriously wrong with us. Let alone contributing to the new terms; radical Islam, moderate Islam, Islam phobia, axis of terror and today’s Islam fascists …
On the other hand, you meet others who are so angry and in constant rage; no reason no space for any kind of conversation.
The Media is turning us against each other to distract us from the real culprit, and at the same time accelerating hate and disgust from others toward us.
Can’t you see that we have been slaughtered for the last 50years …
Can’t you see that we are the only ones who have to abide by UN resolutions or otherwise what is dictated by the US while others do what they want?
Can’t you see that even when we are bombed and maimed; it turns out to be our fault?
Above all can’t you see that the conspiracy theory we are accused of believing in is utterly the only reality?
I can confidently tell you that the 1815 corpses delivered to Baghdad morgue last month made the Israelis day, along with the daily murders in Lebanon.
Wake up, our lives and destinies revolve around the happiness and safety of Israel. And those aliens Israelis who don’t speak our language and don’t share our culture have more right to exist in our own land than us. …
Don’t tell me we’d rather have moderate people, there isn’t such thing. Where does moderation come from? You are moderate when you live in moderate surroundings.
The Week In Politics
Baghdad Connect marks the return of Abu-Ghraib prison to Iraqi control by giving an interpretation of the American abuse of prisoners way above the head of most political editors:
The conduct of the American interrogators at Abu Ghraib prison was in fact to unwrap and ‘de-tattooing’ the cultural identity of the Iraqi people by the ‘redeployment’ of human bodies within new social landscape.
Changing the lines of a body will result in removing the ethnic identities …  to reshape the ‘personhood’ of a society in order to prevail and to eventually exercise power.
The humans pyramid shape of exposed anuses of Iraqi prisoners was an interpretation of Americans defiance through associating excrement discharge to their experience. By doing so the Americans have blatantly challenged the world community with their unpopular war…
Body mutilation, humiliation etc. had been for thousands years part of ancestral comportment to redefine, punish or introduce new social orders in peoples’ lives. … The body in the end becomes a ‘political field’.
What's in a flag? The controversy over the Iraqi flag raised a few heckles. Zappy suggests Mr. Barzani goes hit his head on a thick wall. “If you have no pride in your nation’s flag then you can “leave Iraq”. He says that the Kurds were killed and tortured by the governments of Iraq raising this flag, I say what's that got to do with the flag?”. While Omar finds the whole argument childish, needless and dangerous. He write: “The behavior of both leaders … sends a wrong message at a time when the government is supposedly trying to persuade groups and parties to join the reconciliation plan. Now if the “reasonable, responsible and moderate” leaders are acting like this, how can we expect violent and undisciplined groups to believe in the national cause?” And Riot Starter gives the politicians a piece of her mind:
ALL Iraqis had suffered under that flag, Arabs or kurds, Muslims or Chrisitans or other. Everybody had suffered under the flag, slaughtered and murdered or sent out on war in the name of hate. … Chan este7eto! [you should be ashamed] It's been some 3 years since you have come to power, and nothing has improved yet. You've only been stealing for the past three years, and it's been out in the open since day one.
After the shooting of a British Tourist in Amman, Zeyad blasts media bias:”Again, Al-Jazeera's first newsflash on the incident announced that Iraqis were behind the attack. It's almost as if it's a case of wishful thinking… However, it turned out the gunman was a Jordanian of Palestinian origin from the town of Al-Rusayfa, near Al-Zarqa (the hometown of slain Zarqawi).”
Neurotic Wife was so seriously annoyed that Hubby wanted to return to his old job in Iraq that she tears apart the myth of reconstruction:
what kind of rebuilding is taking place…we were there….we saw the reality of projects…A school that was in shambles, was renovated by painting the walls pink….pink walls WILL NOT enhance the education of the Iraqi kids!!! Where are the kids in the first place???Almost many of the parents have refrained from sending their children to the schools because of the security situation…Most of the teachers have fled…either in hiding or left the country for good….WOW great rebuilding!!!
Take hospitals, whats the point of putting some new medical equipment, or painting the maternity rooms orange when the doctors have become a prime target for kidnappers and terrorists…You go there and theres no one to look after you…Nurses and doctors decided to seek a better life in Jordan, Syria or the UAE….Your only salvation is maybe the newly painted orange wall staring back at you…aha great efforts…
The roads and bridges that were renovated, are prime targets for bombs and highway bandits…I mean cmon…Rebuilding…yes its there…The money has been spent…More money is gonne be spent, but for what….and for who…
Whither the Iraqi Government? Iraqi blogs have been alive with speculation that the days of the Iraqi government are numbered. Baghdad Connect reported that Condoleeza Rice allegedly told the Iraqi Prime Minister “We are Ironing Saddam’s clean shirt for November (thanksgiving day). Until then if you couldn’t pull it through then we will make Saddam wear it again or have it tailored for someone of his size!” Normally I would have discounted this as a fun rumor until I read that the New York Times quoted a US official saying that the Americans are considering “alternatives other than democracy” in Iraq. Then Mohammed at Iraq The Model found an Iraqi perspective to the story quoting other unnamed officials:
The report was published on the Iraqi website of Sot al-Iraq, a website run by Iraqi intellectual mostly in exile. The scenario or “plan” predicted by the author of the story says that the US is going to offer Iraqi military and government one last chance to control the situation and prevent the sectarian violence from turning into open civil war  … This “last chance” doesn't lack a deadline and according to the report the deadline is supposed to be somewhere between September and October, … However upon failure of military efforts and if civil war breaks out the report says the following steps will be taken:
1-Declaring Iraq a zone of genocide and referring the Iraqi file back to the UN Security Council under resolution 1483.
2-After getting appropriate new resolution from the UNSC, the US and allies return to assume all security responsibilities in Iraq.
3-Dismising the current Iraqi government and parliament.
4- Appointing a US military leader for Iraq.
5-The constitution of Iraq remains active but with articles concerning governance suspended.
6-Appointing an Iraqi civil administration consisting exclusively of technocrats with no religious, sectarian or ethnic leanings to assist the US lead military administration in running the affairs of the country.
7-Holding general elections in the country under international supervision at least 2-4 years from the beginning of the implementation of the plan.
But Mohammed is not inspired by the plan because “the doubts among the masses that America came only to replace one dictator with another and not to spread democracy will become a fact” and “that would be exactly what authoritarian regimes in the region want and would give them a chance to declare the war ended with a victory for dictatorships.”
And Finally
Morbid Smile is in America! After the heart rending disappointment of being thrown out of her Fulbright Scholarship because all the prospective Universities turned her down. And then recently she received a call from Fulbright saying they had a late email from a university… and two weeks later she is in America.
I like happy endings.

author: Salam Adil


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Latvia: Sandra Kalniete · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

All About Latvia writes about Sandra Kalniete, the newest candidate for president: “Kalniete’s biography represents Latvian history before and after the fall of the Soviet Union.”


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Malaysia: Cellphone video captures police excess · Global Voices
Sameer Padania

When the Malaysian police started accepting crime reports sent in by members of the public from their cellphones, little did they expect that their own misdemeanours would one day be caught in the frame.
Malaysians have had to put up with police corruption and misconduct as a part of everyday life.  But now blogs and video cellphones have given Malaysians who are exasperated by the lack of action against the police a new and very public outlet.  A new Malaysian blog – Polis Raja Di Malaysia (or “Royal Malaysian Police”) – aims to pull together footage documenting police misconduct from video-sharing sites like YouTube and GoogleVideo.  The blog promotes itself with the strapline “Police should fight crime, not fight the people”.  Cellphone videos on YouTube range, for example, from footage and photomontages of the police breaking up protests to a police officer firing into the air unprovoked while breaking up a fight – as seen below.
One recent video that hasn't made it onto Polis Raja Di Malaysia yet, but has been on other blogs, appears to show police officers beating and humiliating two youths in a police cell.  It has caused controversy in Malaysia and human rights organisation Suaram calls it “the tip of the iceberg”.  The video, which shows a youth being forced to lick his saliva off the floor, was apparently filmed by one of the police officers on his cellphone, and only came to light when he sent the phone in for repairs.  A technician uploaded the clip onto the internet, and one viewer sent it in to Malaysia TV3's Utama Bulletin news programme, which aired it last week.
It's just one of many alleged cases of police brutality that remain either uninvestigated or unpunished, and this one has only stoked up a controversy because video evidence surfaced – in this case, unwittingly released by the police officer himself.   As a result, it seems that Malaysian police officers are now banned from carrying cameraphones.
In November 2005, a debate flared up around the so-called Squatgate video, in which a young woman was forced to strip naked and perform squats in a police cell.  The 70-second clip – also filmed by a police officer – was circulated via MMS (Multimedia Messaging Sevice, or photos and videos sent like text messages via a phone) under the title “Gadis Lokap”, until it was eventually sent to opposition MP Teresa Kok on VCD (Video CD).  Kok showed the video on her laptop to fellow MPs, and soon after a body was set up to investigate the incident.  She later blogged extensively about the flak she received for exposing the scandal, including being accused of encouraging voyeurism.
We were originally planning to link to an edited version of the clip, which cuts out the frontal nudity from the original clip, but decided not to link to it at all, because Hemy Hamisa Abu Hassan Saari, the victim in the SquatGate case, issued a statement asking that people stop circulating the video.
Cellphone footage can obviously be problematic – it's often poor quality, grainy, shaky, and the sound is sometimes difficult to hear.  Using it as evidence is even more sensitive.  In the Squatgate case, the clip originally caused confusion because  – as the blog Politics 101 Malaysia highlighted – some media put 2 and 2 together and came up with 8, confusing the woman in the clip with another case in which three Chinese nationals had been forced to strip in a Kuala Lumpur police station in November 2005.  The Squatgate clip surfaced at the same time as the Malaysian Prime Minister dispatched the Home Minister to Beijing to deliver an official apology to China.  When it was later established that the victim in the Squatgate video had in fact been a Malay woman, malaysiakini, a citizen media site, even suggested that, as a result of the media error, there would be a backlash against media freedom.
Now, in the same week as the new police brutality video, Hemy Hamisa Abu Hassan Saari has launched a compensation claim, demanding 250,000 RM from the Malaysian government in damages.
Human rights organisations have repeatedly criticised the Royal Malaysian Police for mistreating detainees and heavy-handedness, and in 2003 Amnesty International called for a move to human rights-based policing.  On the Malaysian Bar Council website, by far the most popular download is a document called “Know Your Rights”, giving ordinary Malaysians a checklist of what to expect as acceptable police conduct and what their rights are under arrest.
In response to pressure, three years ago, the Malaysian Prime Minister promised to set up a body called the IPCMC – the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission – and three years later, it's still not up-and-running.  malaysiakini leaked a police memo in June 2006 showing police opposition to the body, and Aliran, a Malaysian human rights organisation claimed earlier this year that the mainstream media had been ignoring its demands for the IPCMC to be set up, and  Suaram and Amnesty International Malaysia responded to the latest incident by calling for the IPCMC to be implemented immediately.  Despite this, it seems that the foot-dragging continues.
Today it was announced that Tan Sri Mohd Bakri Omar, the Inspector-General of Police, would be replaced by UK law graduate Tan Sri Musa Hassan on Monday.  With the clamour growing for the Commission to be set up without further delay, how Musa Hassan responds to the latest video scandal, and how the government handles Hemy Hamisa Abu Hassan Saari's compensation claim is going to be crucial.  MP Teresa Kok publicised an online petition internet users can sign to pressure the government into establishing the IPCMC.  Until that happens, however, the role of ordinary citizens and police whistleblowers in recording and exposing police misconduct using cellphones and blogs looks like the only course for justice.

author: Sameer Padania


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Malaysia: Human Trafficking · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Malaysian blogger Volume of Interactions watches a documentary on trafficking of women while on a visit to Australia. The blogger is disturbed by the fact that most of the trafficking transits through Malaysia. “What irks me so much is that these things are happening right now within our very borders, perhaps no further than a stone's throw from where i work. Its an issue of terrifying proportions yet i had to travel to a foreign country to learn and listen from a frank discussion of the problem. Why don't we hear about these things in our local news? “


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Martinique, France, World Cup: Would a Blue Shirt Have Done it? · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Faced with evidence that the French soccer team wore blue jerseys in 1998 and 2000 when the team had better World Cup luck, Le Blog de [Moi]  theorizes (Fr) that the team's choice of a white jersey for this year's World Cup final was unwise.


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Martinique: Ursula Martinez and [Moi] · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Le Blog de [Moi] marvels (Fr) at the amount of attention her blog received for a video of an Ursula Martinez act at the Juste Pour Rire festival in Montreal. She says: “I was linked to from all countries and in all languages.”


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Mexico: Punk rock warrior women · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Liz Henry points to videos of “Punk rock warrior women from Mexico City.”


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Myanmar: False Modernity · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Myanmar blogger Moe Moe has a question for women in her country “Burmese girls and women, honestly, do you think that just because you can wear a halter top or a see through (ugly!) pants/skirt that you are free and you are independent? That you have gained a step into the world of liberation?”. Moe Moe's question comes in response to photos of a concert she found in another blog. The blogger wonders if modernity allowed in Myanmar is only superficial with youngsters copying western fashion and music but not being allowed  “freedom to think, ask, write discuss, vote, to gain knowledge, to have a say in anything, to choose not to be corrupt, to maintain one's pride and dignity”


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Peru: Software Freedom Day · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Luis Gustavo Lira has an English-language press release on Software Freedom Day, which will take place on September 16 at Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru.


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Peru: The Peruvian Cuisine Explosion · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Alejandro of Peru Food comments on Joan Cirillo's AP article about the explosion of Peruvian cuisine.


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Saudi Arabia: Books Censorship · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

See how Ahmed (you might) received his books parcel after Ministry of Information returned it from a routine censorship unit at the ministry without finding anything dangerous.


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Serbia: A Yugo in the US · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

D.R. Fairday of A Yugo in the US is blogging about stereotypical Serbs in the United States – and about himself: “*You have 17 consonants and 2 vowels in your last name. Close. It's 6:4, but Amers can't pronounce two of them, and they never put the accent where it should go.”


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Serbia: Film on War in Kosovo · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Kushtrim Xhakli writes about a movie about the missing persons of the war in Kosovo.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Costume hunt · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Trinidadian blogger saucydiva, who's been making the rounds of the “mas’ camps” in Port of Spain in search of a Carnival costume, pays a visit to the headquarters of  Pulse 8, whose “Wicked Waitress” costume is priced at US$400.


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UK: Tony Blair’s long goodbye · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

“Behold the stubbornness of the politician. The arrogance and blindness and stupidity of the species,” writes British-born Trinidadian blogger Jeremy Taylor, examining Tony Blair's refusal to step down. “It's a lesson that some parts of the Caribbean have yet to learn. Everyone has their sell-by date, after which the product begins to stink.”


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United Arab Emirates: Equal rights · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

secretdubai wonders why vaginoid homo sapiens can't have the same rights and privileges afforded to others?


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Uzbekistan: On Trial for a Song · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

The Long and Winding Road reports on the latest developments in the trial of Dadahon Hasanov, a musician on trial for writing a song commemorating the massacre of civilians during the May 2005 protests in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijon.


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Venezuela: to2blogs · Global Voices
David Sasaki

to2blogs (todos blogs, or “all blogs”) looks like an excellent (ES) alternative (ES) to the no-longer-active Veneblogs.com (ES). The to2blogs weblog describes (ES) the project as a “vertical directory of Venezuelan blogs.”


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Armenia: A Yorkshire Kurd in Ferik · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian reports on a visit to the Yezidi village of Ferik in Armenia.


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Bangladesh: Google Archives · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Drishtipat on the treasures inside Google News Archives, and on reading of Bangladesh's independence in the 70s.


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Bangladesh: Police Brutality · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Drishtipat discusses the difference between police brutality and the maintenance of law and order, reflecting on some recent events. “The daily newspapers of today are flooded with news of how the police force had been abusive to the people attempting to siege the EC Secretariat”


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Belize: Independence · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Lee Vanderwalker reminds us that September is the month Belizeans celebrate their country's independence from Great Britain and offers a “quick, bad-memory recap of historical events,” which begins: “On September 10, 1798, the English Baymen who were loggers, farmers and pirates, along with their slaves beat the crap out of the Spanish armada. . . .”


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Bermuda: Civilian hurricane relief · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Limey in Bermuda's latest “open mike” topic is tabled by a former Corporal in the Bermudian Regiment, who draws on his experiences working the hurricane relief detail and calls for “a parallel force based on the ideals of grassroots democracy rather than military hierarchies, to assist with hurricanes.“


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Bermuda: Safe against drugs? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

An newspaper interview with an pseudonymous drug leader outlining the deficiencies of the authorities in charge of securing Bermuda's ports and borders leaves Sean disheartened: “What would be interesting would be for a spot test. Hire a consultant (secretively) to bring in contraband and see exactly how secure the airports or docks really are.“


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Bolivia: On the Brink? · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Miguel Buitrago wonders where is the rule of law and Miguel Centallas asks if Bolivia is “on the brink” of collapse. Meanwhile, inspired by Harper's Magazine Jim Shultz serves up the his own Bolivia Index: “Number of comments accusing The Democracy Center of being either: communists; stupid; getting rich in Bolivia; MAS lackeys; or some mix of all: Oh, we stopped keeping track of that a long time ago.”


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Cambodia: Jailed Professor  · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The Details are Sketchy blog takes on the appeal by Asian Human Rights Commission to free an arrested professor Tieng Narith in Cambodia. The blogger feels that the commission is not aware of the actual facts surrounding the arrest. “Let’s be clear. Tieng Narith was teaching racism and hate from an unauthorized, self-published, profanity-lace textbook with portraits of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler on the cover. For the Asian Human Rights Commission to suggest that the school dismissed Tieng Narith unfairly really is remarkable.”


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China: CCP and FoxConn · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chong at interlocals.net gives the readers more background about the reconciliation between FoxConn and the 1st Financial Daily: FoxConn's party committee secretrary said, “Party's task is to serve company's production and business.” Last year, the company allocated RMB 8 million to its party committee.


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China: Don’t anger the youth · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Trolls with dozens of axes to grind, China's angry youth (愤青) are the single loudest and mobilized group on the internet in China. Nationalist, racist, sexist and more, they embody pretty much every ugly extreme to be found in contemporary China. While most rational netizens ignore them, their dominant online presence means they can't be avoided or discounted.
As seen in Frank Dai's post today, angry youth are not people you want on your back. Here's one recent example [zh], tame in comparison to the rabid castration, death and expulsion threats launched against last month's target, a British sexblogger based in Shanghai:
为什么外国人可以在广州横行无理—暴打中国人！
今天，坐公交车经过西场时看见两个外国人正对一个拾荒者[中国人]拳打脚踢，把中国人打头破血流。。。。更加震惊的是旁边有个中国女人还在幸灾乐祸,哈哈大笑。。。。。！鲁迅说过；中国人最大的悲哀不是禺味，而是麻木不仁。。。。！！！
Superman Little Bro
请问一下，你当时在干什么？
Reborn Three Years
ＬＺ就是旁边的中国女人？
Kill The Ni**ers (杀死黑鬼)
这不单是拾荒者的不幸，这是中国人的悲哀——魔鬼横行，汉奸当道。。。。
My Head Lays Flat
打110比发这帖实际些。
Kill The Ni**ers
外国人暴打中国人不是新闻！反过来中国人打外国人就是违法事件！打110有用吗？
Zhou Xiaodong
外国狗再欺侮中国人，中国人一定要一起上，给我猛劲打！
New Mr. Goodytwoshoes (新好好先生)
中国人是。。。。。。{看客}。。。。。
My Head Lays Flat
1.你让人盗窃后报110也许也没用，但你还是会打这个电话。
2.外国人也是可以打的，赔钱罢了。
alanliu168
TMD，我上去就是两砖头，比打这电话更实际些。
scxw028
上切就是5757124
Love In The Outer Milky Way
我遇到后一定打死他丫的….
非常严重鄙视那个发笑的妇女…严重鄙视观看而不上前报仇的楼主.
Guangdong Nutcase
为什么不打110？
Widow: I Do Want You (寡人410)
楼主应该是在车上看见的。！！就算不方便下车也应该打110的啊，。~~~~
Shell-picking Mermaid
对呀,我就觉得韩国人的爱国精神值得我们中国人学习!和他们这方面比起来我们中国人差距太大了!要不在国外人家为什么说中国人一个人是条龙,一群人是条虫呢!就是不团结!看不的别人比自己好是中国很多人的普遍心态!少了应该要有的精神!
Man-made Diamond
经过鉴定：楼主是个爱国愤青，来这里妖言惑众！
坐公交车经过肯定就不知道打人详情啦，你怎么知道被打的是拾荒者？难道你认识他？还有哈哈大笑的女人你是怎么看出她是幸灾乐祸的？
假如我经过，我的判断是，被打的人是劫匪，哈哈大笑女人是被抢劫的受害者，打人的外国人可能是见义勇为。
My Head Lays Flat
经过，见到个好象是汉奸。
Man-made Diamond
哈哈，强烈支持楼上的说法！
我最怕跟‘爱国份子’同流合污了！
能被‘爱国份子’认为是‘汉奸’，是我的荣幸啊！
My Head Lays Flat
我说好象，也没说是谁，
你自认是‘汉奸’。
你自个荣兴个够好了。
Man-made Diamond
我考！
中了扁脑袋圈套！
晕死！
Got Another Better Lover
外宾哦，当扁要扁，及时向爱国愤青通报就行。不过俺不知楼主当找谁好~~~
Take It Easy (晃晃悠悠吧)
垃圾
Man-made Diamond
拦住，不给路过，说清楚谁是汉奸先！
15-10
这还用讲明白谁是汉奸？有良知的中国人都知道谁是汉奸啦！！！
Loneliest23
该死，免费的110都不打
Poplar Yang
悲哀呀!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Man-made Diamond
有良知的人是在说我吗？那我就告诉你，是非善恶的标准，是建立在客观公正的态度上的，好人坏人与爱不爱国无关。凡事总以爱不爱国来划分的，那是叫愤青，是一群邪恶卑鄙的人，是缺乏良知的中国人，懂吗！
Guerrilla Propaganda Cadre1
认为凡是中国的东西都应该否定的
那不叫愤青叫什么
这群人是否邪恶卑鄙
我到不如你敢如此武断和信口开河
Guerrilla Propaganda Cadre1
动不动说别人邪恶卑鄙的人
九成都很无耻
yrsh
真的？不相信。我看到了一定揍鬼佬
merry0408
向中国投降的鬼还有脸在这里叫，永远也是中国的阶下囚
Man-made Diamond
你说的也没有错，但是我也从来不会‘动不动说别人邪恶卑鄙’，假如我骂他邪恶卑鄙，那么一定有我的理由的，也就是说，他一定是个邪恶卑鄙的人我才这样骂他，懂吗！
比喻愤青叫人爱国就是卑鄙的行为，为什么？‘己所不欲，勿施于人’，而‘爱国’却是一件自己不愿意做而希望别人去做的事情。‘爱国’意味要付出自己的利益，付出多大呢？按照爱国愤青们的要求，那是要付出自己一切的一切，包括生命，你说说你自己愿意吗？再说，人家爱国了、付出了，那么谁是受益者呢？谁在别人的‘爱国’行为中获益呢？
你‘爱国’，那是你的权利，你愿意的事情，我无话可说，也不做任何评论，但是假如你叫别人去‘爱国’，那你就是不算邪恶卑鄙，至少也是缺德的！
另外，拜托你换个好听点的马甲来辩论好吗，你这个ID的每一个词都真让人恶心！
Gentlewoman Goes Crazy
恩 支持人造金刚石.是非善恶的标准，是建立在客观公正的态度上的
Man-made Diamond
有美女支持！精神大振！
嘿嘿！
Guerrilla Propaganda Cadre1
1.废话，谁骂人的时候会认为自己没有理由？
2.你的档次还没到能付出的时候，所以只想着如何占便宜。
3.同理，你爱做汉奸可以做个够，你又为何见不得别人爱国？你说话真矛盾。
4.人造金刚石就很垃圾，不比碎玻璃值多少钱。以假石当宝之人，恶心得来还很没档次。
Guerrilla Propaganda Cadre 1
波大没脑，这世上不存在客观公正的态度，不同的立场有着不同的是非善恶的标准。
Guerrilla Propaganda Cadre1
叫我换马甲？同理？你人长得那么恶心我能否让你回回炉呀？
Guerrilla Propaganda Cadre1
长那么大没见过几个美女吧？
嘿嘿！
Man-made Diamond
你才是没有脑！
我作为一个普通的国民，没有任何特权的人，我的立场不知道能不能反映大多数和我类似的国民的立场呢？
Man-made Diamond
真不愧是愤青，说话也是语无伦次的。
你说我不够档次，我不反对，‘国’是什么人爱的？没有达到‘国家利益’的主人，跟人家学爱什么‘国’？
假如你‘爱国’，我不会反对，我最多当一个看客而已，就象我在看热闹看别人自杀，但是我决不会劝说、欺骗、教唆、引诱别人去自杀，这是我的道德底线！
Guerrilla Propaganda Cadre1
只要你懂得一些基本常识,你就应该懂得,大多数人确实是愚昧的,不愚昧的只有少数人,既然你将自己往多数人那边放，我可以很肯定地判断你很愚昧,你没有脑!
Guerrilla Propaganda Cadre1
由上面的结论你没脑推出你思维一定很混乱,所以你听什么道理都会觉得人家语无伦次.
另外,假如你想做‘汉奸’,我没必要反对，反正你成事不足败事有余.
Guerrilla Propaganda Cadre1
我们知道,一个档次很低的人,他的道德底线也会很低,往往一些蝇头小利的诱惑,足以让他放弃所谓道德.
Don't Be A Punk
同志们，你们能不能再吵得厉害一点呢？
BensonM
MD ~~就算是抢劫犯也用不着洋鬼子执法吧~~
langoyy
有图吗？传张上来给大家睇下。
Man-made Diamond
什么是愚昧？就是缺乏独立的思维能力，缺乏是非的判断力的人。
在正常情况下，精英和愚昧的人都是少数，大多数都是普通人，假如一个国度，他的多数国民都是愚昧的，那就说明那个国家的教育出了问题，造成它的国民出于未开化状态。
假如说中国的国民大多被教育成是愚民，宣传干部的功劳相信是最大的。
Man-made Diamond
果然是宣传干部，断章取义的功夫可不简单！不值一驳！
Man-made Diamond
谁说洋人是执法者呢？
假如你路见抢劫，帮忙捉贼，没有人会把你看成是执法者吧？
yangwei1983
谁也不敢苟同。
Guerrilla Propaganda Cadre1
人不骂我，我不骂人，俺很五讲四美的。
Guerrilla Propaganda Cadre1
知耻者勇也，你也别再丢人现眼了。
Guerrilla Propaganda Cadre1
抱歉哈，俺只想打击那金刚石，其实俺也喑恋淑女很久了。
嘿嘿，你那么叼，俺很怕你，俺把淑女让给你总行了吧。
Man-made Diamond
哈哈，我早就象骂人啦，就是怕给封ID，划不来啊，假如版主能特赦，在本贴骂人不追究，我保证把吵架升级，骂某人是傻B。
Man-made Diamond
这个游击队还算是个比较文明的愤青，值得表扬一下。不过愤青总是愤青，说话还是臭的很！
Guerrilla Man-made Diamond
1.你认为我是臭愤青就臭愤青吧，你是香汉奸吗？
2.理说不过想骂尽管骂，别憋着，憋多了就真憋成傻B了。
3.我也很喜欢骂人的，比讲道理省事多了。
Little Handsome
某日我在岗顶电脑城附近的天桥碰上两黑鬼，一看就是能混的，说不定是传说中的黑人贩毒网成员，两人并排上楼梯把整条路都堵住了，走得又很慢，我想都没想把他们扒开就往前钻，钻过去回头看了一眼，眼睛瞪得老大的瞅着我。真想不通，难道中国人这么好欺负可以让老外这么不尊重么 ？我也狠狠瞪了他们一眼头也没回的走的。
Man-made Diamond
楼上的，不用那么自卑，人家黑人也没有欺负你啊，只不过是走得慢点而已吗，把路堵了，那是跟他们的生活习惯或者说素质有关系。在香港，搭乘自动扶梯时，不赶时间的会站在一边，留出一个空间给赶时间的人通过，假如你在香港不这样做，人家也会说你没有素质的！
Man-made Diamond
宣传干部：说你是傻B，其实不算骂你，只是实事求是而已。
Guerrilla Propaganda Cadre1
人造金刚石： 你大脑进屎，小脑缺陷，说你傻比，你还谦虚～！
Guerrilla Propaganda Cadre1
人造金刚石这傻B锤子长在脑壳上，真奇怪世博会怎么没喊你去展览！？

author: John Kennedy


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China: Golf court and Peking University · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

As part of the package to be the first grade international university, Peking University has been proposing to build a golf court. According the Xue yong, the proposal has been banned. But the blogger continues to explain what is the relation between 1st grade university and golf court:
“the mission of ‘the world's first grade university’ is to cultivate leaders for the society. Beida's mission would be the same. For a person to become society's leader, they have to distinguish themselves from ordinary people, they have to play something not afforable to ordinary people, for example using public money to play golf. Since Beida cultivates the upper class, students need to have upper class habitus… (zh)”


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China: making sense · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Picking up the discussion concerning Meng Guangmei and Toiletgate in DANWEI , Sun bin carries on the discussion to the phenomenon of “Feeling the China elephant” in China-related internet forum and blogs written in English:
China is an enormous country, both geographically and demographically. Everyone watching China, including this blogger, is trying to feel his elephant with a partial view.It is also very easy to reach an absurd conclusion if one is not careful.


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China: Press, In Contrast · Global Voices
Frank Dai

In the recently high-profiled case of First Financial Daily vs Foxconn, over the former's controversial news report on the latter's alleged Apple Ipod's sweatshop. The dramatical end to the case, in which the two issued a joint statement focussing on mutual understanding and “building harmonious society,” was generally considered as an example of how the press in China, theoretically independent and outspoken, was intimidated and compromised in the face of powerful corporation.
Is our press, including websites, newspapers and TV networks, only a timid coward, waiting for instruction and orders from the government on what and how to report? When national sensation s, celebrities gossip and overheated patriotism mix together, stirring up the “journalist's instinct”, that's another story. The press will never hesitate a minute to follow up such a story without any authorization from the authorities. The reasons? The press simply wants to make money and the readers want that story.
The latest victim of such press war is Meng Guangmei, a TV host and former model. The strange point is that the press, stained with the habits of its American colleagues, have named this incident “Toiletgate“. Meng appeared on a Taiwan TV network talk show and commented on her experience in Mainland China, mentioning some toilets near Tiananmen Square where she saw a hundred pale “asses”. ( video here) Sun Bin has a nice and insightful post about this.
The Chinese Internet is always replete with uproar, perplexing sentiments and hullabaloo, especially on the forums and blogs, given the overwhelming popularity of internet man-hunter effort. Many people feel that the spreading of online self-publishing technologies and its anonymous nature makes such phenomenon possible. But as the esteemed Chinese IT blogger Keso said, the press play an infamous role in inciting overheated nationalism and the social group dubbed as “Angry Youth“, with his latest blog post titled “Angry Youth, Made In China “.
[in translation]
我一直认为，民原本不暴，青原本不愤，但架不住媒体总喜欢耸人听闻，被媒体一忽悠，民就成了”暴民”，青就成了”愤青”。这一点在网络上表现得尤其明显，凡涉及民族主义、道德宣判等主题，往往很容易发展成”网络暴民”事件，而在这些事件背后，总能看到这些媒体的不光彩的影子。他们用肮脏的手，操纵着所谓的 “民意”
最新事件的主角是孟广美，一名来自台湾的普通的电视节目主持人，几乎成为这种”民意”的又一个牺牲品。先是一家地方小报的”首席记者”，在一番断章取义、添油加醋之后，借所谓的”嘲笑内地人”这个民愤极大的话题，制造仇恨，煽动民意，发出第一份民族主义”追杀令”。然后经由门户网站别有用心的引导，地方小报立刻就拥有了全国影响力，追杀行为迅速演变成一场流氓和暴徒的狂欢
媒体们不敢去监督政府，也不敢去监督企业，所以在这些祖宗面前，他们一会儿当儿子，一会儿装孙子，可一旦他们遇到类似赵薇、孟广美这样的弱女子，就立刻觉得自个儿成了老子。他们一而再再而三地在一些弱势的个体身上，施展他们无处施展的淫威，展示他们自以为是的道德和情操。而他们手中最好的武器，就是民族主义。民族主义常常成为这些媒体豢养的家犬，召之即来，挥之即去，屡试不爽。

author: Frank Dai


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Cote d’Ivoire: Toxic Waste Scandal · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Kangni Alem writes (Fr):”There is no virtue in politics, let alone in business. The case of the toxic waste from a Greek (or was it Russian?) ship dumped in Abidjan illustrates the violence of this maxim and reminds me that since the 80s, political leaders and economic elites of Africa have regularly been tempted by easy profits linked to the illegal commerce of toxic waste.”


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Cuba, Bahamas: Ambassadorial priorities · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Cuban ambassador to the Bahamas has been promoting the Non-Aligned Movement Summit which takes place in Havana from September 11, says Rick Lowe, but “we wonder if he will pay as much attention to the plight of the wives of the Cuban political prisoners asking for the release of their husbands as he pays to the plight of the so-called Cuban Five?“


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Estonia: Historical Revisionism · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa writes about Estonia's Russian community and the differing interpretations of history: “Under the premise of spooky Stalinist history, everything the USSR did up until the very moment that Nazi Germany invaded the USSR in 1941 was just fine, including the partionining of Europe. Because how can you condemn the actions of your enemy when you yourself abetted that enemy, shook hands with him, signed territorial agreements with him, and worked together to destroy both foreign governments and people?”


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Europe: Free Movement of Labor · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar writes on the free movement of labor and the backlash against East European migrant workers in Western Europe.


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Haiti: Questioning Haitel’s 70 Million Investment · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Tout Haiti  ponders (Fr) Haitian telecom Haitel's recent 70 million dollar investment into CDMA technology: “Why didn't the Haitel investors invest those 70 million dollars in the agricultural sector where there is much more stability compared to Port-au-Prince.”


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Hong Kong: doubts about Ching Cheong Verdict · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translates Next weekly's article on Doubts about Ching Cheong Verdict.


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India: BlogCamp · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Blogcamp in India is scheduled for this weekend. Kiran on what might be on the cards.


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India: Ganesha and Remains of the day  · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The immersion of the idols of Ganesha in Mumbai speaks volumes about the way people treat the city, its environs and how the remains of the day are scattered all over the city. More at Ultrabrown.


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India: What noise? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Annie Zaidi reflects on the Blank Noise Project – an online initiative to address sexual harassment on the streets, by hoping to demarcate what is harassment and what isn't.


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India: Wiki project on Bribes · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Govindraj on how more India based wiki projects are needed. For example, one on bribes! “For instance, a Wiki project on government departments that accept or demand bribes with details of who, when and in what circumstances.”


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Iran:Old Ayatollah · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, blogger and reformist politician says there is a problem that old officials do not retire. He reports about old Ayatollah Meshkini's,the head of the Assembly of Experts, last talk in the Assembly of Experts which is the most supreme governmental institution.Meshkini talked about the preference of lunar calendar over solar calendar and that human being is superior to animal since animals take their heads toward their food but human being takes the food toward his mouth. Abtahi adds If Mr. Mehskini who is badly sick and we hope he recovers soon had been retired, neither his religious and scientific background would be harmed nor the religious principles and thoughts of the young people.


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Jamaica: 5 Questions with Kwame Dawes · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Geoffrey Philip publishes the second in his “Five Questions with. . . ” series on Caribbean writers. This week he interviews Ghana-born, Jamaica-bred poet Kwame Dawes.


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Jamaica, USA: Writers’ retreat · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Jamaican writer Geoffrey Philp pays homage to a writers’ retreat in Seaside, Florida where he once spent a month living “what is every writer’s dream: waking up in a windswept villa by the sea, writing, having breakfast while watching whitecaps, then writing some more after lunch. . . . “