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Palestine: Free Speech  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian blogger Amal A posts an interesting question  which spells out the difference between the English and Arabic language readers of a news website. I wonder what the 8000 enlightened people who approved the burning of the book would say if they were asked, “Do you support the burning at the stake of Sharif Kana'neh and Ibrahim Muhawi, the editors of Speak Bird, Speak Again?”, she writes.


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Philippines: Soldiers in the Campus · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Mong Palatino is worried about the army visiting campuses and warning students not to join progressive youth groups. “These ‘peacekeeping missions’ of the military are unnecessary, illegal and dangerous. These create a chilling effect in campuses. The military aims to frighten students who are contemplating of joining groups which are critical of government policies. “

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Preetam Rai


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Russia: Who is “Maria Ivanova”? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

On March 11, the Sunday Times ran a piece by Sarah Baxter and Anna Voutsen on the recent attacks against critics of Vladimir Putin's regime. It opened with the story of a Russian journalist who has allegedly received political asylum in the United States following several attempts on her life, including two cases of severe poisoning. She is described as “the award-winning journalist, an expert on the Caucasus region” and is assigned a fictitious name in the piece, Maria Ivanova:
Ivanova is not the journalist’s real name. Until she leaves Russia she will not feel safe enough to be identified. “I live in fear,” she said in her first interview about her illness. “I feel trapped and constantly threatened by the security services.”
Needless to say, the Russian media and a number of Russian bloggers became eager to find out who was being concealed behind the pseudonym, and this, unfortunately, seems to have hurt an innocent person.
Timur Aliev – LJ user timur_aliev, editor-in-chief of The Chechen Society newspaper, the Chechnya editor of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) – has devoted four posts (RUS) to this issue:
March 11, 2007
I'm looking through [what my LJ friends are writing]. Many are feverish to learn who this mysterious Maria Ivanova is.
[…]
Everyone's guessing whether it's [journalist Yulia Latynina], or [Marina Litvinovich, LJ user abstract2001, editor-in-chief of the Truth of Beslan – PravdaBeslana.ru – website], or some other person. All assume this must be someone from Moscow. And I think this is very typical and says a lot on how little people in Russia know about the Caucasus. No, of course, there is Chechnya and Kadyrov, there's the tragedy of Beslan and the siege of Nalchik – everyone knows about these topics. But even our journalistic colleagues in Moscow do not know about the problems their colleagues in the Caucasus are facing.
I guess I know this journalist. But I'm not going to make my guess public here. The Brits must have had their reasons to rename her – what if publicity hurts her.
***
sorex: And now the poor one will have to [live a quiet, miserable life] together with [Meskhetian Turks] and other outcasts. Meanwhile, everyone in the civilized world knows that the FSB has got long hands. They can pour polonium into her tea in the USA, too.
timur_aliev: She's an active person and is definitely not going to live quietly… But it's true that she'll have to be careful while drinking her tea…
hippy55: Your sarcasm would've been appropriate if the journalist's life was under minimal threat. They were laughing at Politkovskaya's tea poisoning, too, until that very polonium became a reality. Poor country, if journalists are fleeing it.
sorex: Is it only the journalists that are fleeing this poor country? There are plenty of economic refugees as well. Many of them pretend to be political.
Anonymous: If journalists work for foreign intelligence, and do harm to their country in every way possible, do everything for the sake of the salaries paid by their foreign sponsors, then they should be jailed for a long time.
hippy55: I'm not arguing. As long as there're facts and a trial has occurred. [A fair trial.]
[…]
gray_weasel: […] If the journalist is for real, I don't think she needs a pseudonym, because there are enough details in the story that make it possible to find out her real name. Especially, if we are talking of the secret service or others who can do harm. :))) […]
timur_aliev: Her departure is convenient for the “secret service” – because this is a way to keep her from writing – but it has to happen quietly… And if a scandal breaks out, it won't be convenient for the secret service…
gray_weasel: It's not quiet already, if she has given an interview, or do you think the “secret service” folks don't remember which of the journalists they recently poisoned twice? :) To my mind, there's an obvious contradiction between the journalist's anonymity and the set of real-life details. […]
timur_aliev: What happened is the Brits simply did [a disservice] to her…
[…]
nav74: Kommersant [newsparer] writes that “Maria Ivanova” is [Fatima Tlisova, editor of the Regnum news agency’s North Caucasus service]. Is this the one you were thinking of? […] In an interview with Kommersant, Tlisova denies it all, but a Google search definitely points at her.
timur_aliev: Actually, no, she's not the one I meant…
March 12, 2007
Yesterday's attempts to guess who “Maria Ivanova” is have led to a few media piece today.
[…]
Here is what Fatima [Tlisova] responded on Regnum:
“[…] I did not have contact with the Sunday Times journalists. I do indeed plan to spend time at a U.S. university in the nearest future […]. But the only place where I can imagine my further work is the Caucasus. Who and what stands behind the Sunday Times publication and the persistent attempts to tie it to my name, I do not know.”
And they were surprised at the U.S. embassy as well:
The U.S. Embassy has no information on the Russian journalist seeking political asylum in the United States. “We at the embassy were perplexed by information published in the British newspaper the Sunday Times,” RIA Novosti were told at the press service of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
I did write yesterday that I think I know the identity [of Maria Ivanova], but I wouldn't want to reveal her name because it might hurt her.
And it did happen in the end, even though I was thinking about a different journalist, not Tlisova. Still, this story is going to harm Fatima. I think they'll be giving her real hard time with check-ups now.
Today, I've a feeling that even the journalist I was thinking about has nothing to do with it. And the publication is aimed against Tlisova. It's hard to say who organized it, but still.
Because if you think logically, the British had to understand that after such a publication, this journalist – whoever she is – who is not in the States yet, but in Russia, will not be able to get out of the country. And this is why she couldn't have asked to publish what they did, because it would prevent her from leaving.
***
lisa_dv: How true are these details, Timur?
“Police and secret service officers called Tlisova “a terrorist accomplice” and put out cigarettes on her fingers…”
“After publishing an article on one corrupted officer, a kidnapper of children, this officer came to the newsroom with flowers – and dragged a gun out of the bouquet. The guards managed to prevent the worst from happening.” http://www.stringer.ru/Publication.mhtml?Part=48&PubID=7175
timur_aliev: Fatima used to tell lots of horrors about her work – so I think this is 100 percent true…
March 13, 2007, 13:22
The yellow press has started a new thread on Maria Ivanova's case – this time it's the Izvestia newspaper (it hurts to call this newspaper [yellow press], but I have to).
According to their version, “Maria Ivanova” is [Elina Ersenoyeva, a Chechen journalist and activist who was abducted last year and who was reported to have been “a secret bride of Shamil Basayev”].
[…]
The journalist's imagination is enviable. He discards some versions, builds others, without basing them on anything solid. I'd like to see this imaginative guy when Elina's mother was fainting in front of me, begging to help her abducted daughter in some way.
[…]
March 13, 2007, 13:50
What jerks these journalists are. Stringer is writing on “Maria Ivanova – Elina Ersenoyeva” as well:
According to rumors, Elina Ersenoyeva has inherited big money from Basayev, and she can put them to good use in the West, and do her favorite thing at the same time – propaganda against the “bloody regime.”
Indeed, how simple it all was: most likely, when she reaches the West, Elina Ersenoyeva will be telling what a wonderful person Basayev was, how he was teaching her to cook borscht, and how she loved him. And Hollywood would buy the rights for a sentimental screenplay on the terrorist's last love affair.
[…]
***
pumchik: I read about Elina in your journal, a long time ago… Please tell me, has she been found?
timur_aliev: Are you kidding?
bratanishe: And where is her mother?
timur_aliev: Disappeared in early October…
***
Anna Voutsen (LJ user voutsen, the Moscow-based co-author of the Sunday Times piece, ended up issuing this “official statement” (RUS) on her blog:
[…] I do not know Maria Ivanova's real name.
But I do know that this person exists for real. And this person's words were quoted with his permission.
Update: Some theater of absurd this is. It has been noted clearly that the “name is not real.” If they had brains at least the size of a chicken's ass, they'd guess why. I've no idea why [the hell] Russian journalists had to do all the public guessing of this person's identity. A game of who is better at drowning the other or what?
And in comments to another blogger's post, voutsen wrote this (RUS):
[…] I did not talk to this person, unfortunately, so I can't make any statements.
Still, I know that the conversation was meant to be quoted. On certain conditions, like no names, etc. The person said what he considered necessary and possible. What we obtained – we quoted.
As for the mass guessing out loud whether it's Klava or Fyokla, or maybe even Pyotr Petrovich, I don't get it. [This is mean.] I think that the person who agreed to talk to us definitely didn't expect such meanness from colleagues. […]

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Senegal: meet Gokh-Bi System · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Joshua Wanyama of African Path blogs about Gokh-Bi System, a West African group that fuses traditional African sound with urban hip hop.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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South Africa: a blogger passes away · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Black Looks writes about Busi, the writer of My Realities blog, who passed away this week, “


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Zimbabwe: state cruelty · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kubatana's post shows cruelty by the goverment of Zimbabwe, “Spare a thought for the families of Sekai Holland and Grace Kwinjeh whose injuries were severe enough to warrant them being medivac’d to South Africa on March 17. To prepare for the evacuation they got the necessary clearance from the President’s Office, Immigration, Customs, airport security – only to be stopped on the tarmac by… a policeman with a brand new, never before heard of requirement. The officer commanding the Law and Order Section of the police had arbitrarily decided they now had to get clearance from the Ministry of Health.”


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Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe’s options in world cricket · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Zimcricketnews figures out three options for Zimbabwe in the World Cup Cricket 2007, “The easy option (in maths terms) first: if Zimbabwe beat both Pakistan and West Indies, they’re through.
The “need some help” options: if Zimbabwe beat West Indies, and Ireland beat both Pakistan and West Indies; or Zimbabwe beat Pakistan, and Ireland lose both their remaining matches, then Zim are through.
The NRR options: if Zimbabwe and Ireland each win one and lose one of their remaining games, then the Net Run Rate will decide who goes through from Zimbabwe or Ireland.”


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Africa: business media focusing on Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A list of publications focusing on business in Africa from the Benin Epilogue Part 1: “The country or continent of origin for these publications is overshadowed by the fact that there still is not enough coverage of Africa's business news. So, these business publications from other regions of the world who focus on business in Africa are fulfilling a need and helping to disseminate very good information.”


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Bahrain: Creative Conference a Hit · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif has just returned from a conference on the Creative Use of the Media for Tolerance and Understanding and shares his thoughts with us here.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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China: Officer dismissed for blogging · Global Voices
John Kennedy

In China, there's more precedent for blogging getting people in trouble with the police than there is for blogging in itself getting one getting fired. So what happens to cops who blog? Check out Hubei-based Soho Xiaobao blogger Wu Youming‘s most recent post, ‘Confessions of a canned cop‘, dated March 16:
寓言
有一个学校，里面的每个人都必须说谎话，这样才会得到老师的奖励。
说真话的孩子就要受到惩罚。
辞退通知书
吴幼明：
根据《中华人民共和国人民警察法》第二十二条第十、第十二项和《公安机关人民警察辞退办法》第五条第五、第十四项的规定，经研究，你自既日起被辞退，可凭本通知书领取辞退费和到劳动就业部门登记申请就业。
黄石市公安局（公章）
二00七年三月十五日
附：
《华人民共和国人民警察法》
第二十二条 人民警察不得有下列行为：
（十）从事营利性的经营活动或者受雇于任何个人或者组织；
（十二）其他违法乱纪的行为。
《公安机关人民警察辞退办法》
第五条  人民警察有下列情形之一，错误比较严重又不宜给予行政开除处分的，应当予以辞退：
（五）从事营利性的经营活动或者受雇于个人、组织的；
（十四）有其他违法违纪行为的。
二00七年三月十六日上午8：20时，我被两位所领导带到西塞山区公安分局。我在分局政治处等到10：50时，政治处M主任通知我到会议室。进去了后，分局D政委和三名黄石市公安局政治部的三名工作人员也在里面。政治部的同志向我宣读了《辞退通知书》，我在文件上签名，他们将《辞退通知书》交给了我并告知我可以在30日之内到黄石市公安局申请行政复议。他们问我有什么说的，我说没有。我现场将警察证交给了M主任，和所领导回所收拾东西。中午我将所内的私人物品带走，警用物品移交给同事。同事们开车帮我将东西送回家。
我被黄石市公安局辞退，这是我早已预料到的结局。不是我神机妙算，而是在目前的体制下，敢于讲真话的人就要准备好付出代价。从我2006年1月5日晚开始在网络上发表《交警为什么都热爱罚款》、《罚款任务猛如虎》、《死人不销户，活人难上户》、《基层民警向两会进一言：政府行为中应该禁止截访行为》等文章以来，我就想到了今天的结果。到今天才辞退我，我不责怪任何领导，黄石市公安局对我已经很宽容了。好多网友曾担心我和家人的安全，请网友们放心，黄石市公安局不是黑社会，没有任何人用暴力或威胁对待我，我只不过是被辞退了。
在此，我要谢谢黄石市公安局里所有与我共事过的民警们，谢谢你们与我在十三年的警务工。作中同甘苦共患难，我永远也忘不了我们之间的兄弟情意！我也要谢谢黄石市公安局里的各位领导，我给你们添了很多麻烦，让你们费心了；谢谢你们对我的宽容和爱护，我无以为报，只能祝你们官运恒通。
吴幼明
2007/3/16
13177303030
Wuyouming0714@tom.com
All those posts Wu mentioned? When Soho Xiaobao started deleting them, he took screenshots and turned to his old friend, avant-garde artist and Sina.com blogger Ai Weiwei who, in his March 14 post entitled ‘Deleted Posts‘, wrote:
民警吴幼明贴在我的博客里的帖子，总是被新浪的网管删除，这真是够累的。新浪博客，也算是一个现代传媒，总该懂得不偏不倚，童叟无欺的商业常识。泱泱大国，无视宪法，私设审查制度，戏弄言论自由，其气量之小品质之猥亵，让人耻笑，一个提倡和谐，口口声声公平正义的社会，为啥不能光明磊落点。
Youming's not your stereotypical Chinese cop, judging from his resume, which he posted on February 27, along with all the information he provided on his application—as Chinese police may exit the country only once a year—for special leave to travel to Germany to take part in his friend Ai Weiwei's art exhibit, Fairytale:
1974年生于湖北省黄石市
1991-1994年在黄石市两湖管理处工作
1994-1996年5月在黄石市公安局巡警支队一大队工作
1996-1999年9月在黄石市公安局下陆区公安分局肖铺乡派出所、老下陆派出所工作
1999-2005年12月在黄石市公安局交警支队一大队、二大队、交通秩序管理科工作
2005年12月至今在黄石市公安局西塞山区公安分局西塞派出所工作
The illegal behavior in which Wu was engaged was the self-publishing of his own literature magazine, Foam, which he had paid for himself for over six years and distributed via post all across the country. On top of losing his job, he was fined 20,000 RMB [just over USD 2,500], nearly a year's worth of his previous salary [zh].
More from Wu's resume:
2000年创办文学民刊《水沫》（至今己出11期，另有特刊3期。）
2001年主演独立电影《黄石大道》（彩色故事片,47分钟），导演卫铁，北京电影学院
2002年接受拍摄纪录片《水沫·人》（彩色/19分钟），导演桂冠，中央戏剧学院，此片获第八届大学生电影节最佳纪实奖，并曾在凤凰卫视播出
2002年受《我爱摇滚乐》杂志之邀，在杂志上开设《水沫插页》专栏（从11期—28期，2002—2004年）
2004年以文学策划和演员身分参与拍摄独立电影《东风破》（黑白故事片，22分钟），导演卫铁，北京电影学院
2005年接受拍摄专题片《生活在别处》（彩色/10分钟），导演苗毅、舒明柳，黄石电视台，此片曾在黄石电视台纪实栏目播出
2006年因在网络上发表《交警为什么热爱罚款》、《罚款任务猛如虎》、《死人不销户，活人难上户》等文字被《我爱摇滚乐》杂志评为2006年度网络人物。
曾在《大家》、《小说界》、《天涯》、《滇池》、《视觉21》、《新大陆》、《全景》、《撒娇》、《南方周末》、《萧湘晨报》、《法制日报》内参、《派出所工作》等刊物上发表过小说、诗歌、评论等文字。有访谈刊于吴文光主编《现场3》、《南都周刊》、《大江商报》、《萧湘晨报》，观念作品刊于李文主编《观念摄影》、诗歌评论刊于李少君主编《莽汉·撒娇李亚伟·默默诗选》等书籍。
Looking back over some of Youming's posts, he used his blog partly as an extension of his police duties, sometimes writing letters to local and national leaders on behalf of local residents he's come know, often posting pictures of their lives and sometimes even bringing light to their plights, like that of bookshop owner Yuan Maoling, who along with all the other residents of one building on Huangshi Wuhan Rd, were evicted to make way for the development of new high-rise apartment buildings. When construction stopped for the Chinese New Year last month, Yuan and his wife started selling books among the rubble, only to have them all confiscated by the city.
Here are some before and after pictures of the building on Huangshi Wuhan Road, taken by Wu Youming and his wife, Zhou Li:

author: John Kennedy


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Egypt: Blogging Alive in Egypt · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

NonArab-Arab, a blogger who has left Egypt, describes the current status of Egyptian blogs here. “I really love the fact that Egyptian blogging has really taken off as well the last few years, in Arabic and English. And especially now that there is good representation from the younger generation of Muslim Brothers, it's good to say that the Egyptian blogosphere is not merely a reflection of some tiny English-speaking minority but actually does have representatives from a decent cross section of at least the younger generation of the country,” explains the blogger.


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Iran:Made in USA Cigars · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Haji Washington says that Iranian parliament has given permission for importing cigars ( cigaretts) without any restriction, The blogger adds that American cigarettes are considered as agricultural products and they are not included in USA sanctions agianst Iran. The blogger writes so far tobacco related products are counted for about 50 percent of USA export to Iran [Fa].

author: Fred Petrossian


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Jordanian Blogs: A Snow Day & Other Mid-March Tales · Global Voices
Naseem Tarawnah

The biggest story to take the Jordanian blogosphere by storm seems to be the strange weather lately. A snow storm swept the country for 24 hours and many bloggers had many things to say about it. Most got their cameras out to take a shot of the crazy weather and every frame had a very different story to tell; as unique as snowflakes.
International Women's Day was on March 8th and a few Jordanian bloggers shared their opinions on the occasion, especially with regards to the status of women in Jordan. Her Majesty Queen Rania generated a little buzz when she posted a question on Yahoo! Answers asking “what are you doing to empower women in your country?”. And while on the topic, Khalidah shares her first published article on what it means to be a 30 something single woman in Jordanian society.
Batir Wardam has an interesting piece on AIDS vulnerability in Jordan while also looking at our growing thirst for advertisements.
BBC Radio held a debate in Amman recently asking how the Internet has changed our world. Amongst the panelists were bloggers Naseem Tarawnah and Roba Al-Assi who shared their experiences about the role of blogging in Jordan and the Middle East.
On the political front…
The Corporate Governance and Responsibility Forum was held at the Dead Sea recently and blogger Eyas was able to attend and offer us some of his reflections.
Arrabi looks at the problem of education in Jordan while Khalaf has taken an interest in recent discussions in the media on scientific research.
“…a bigger issue is that nobody in a position to make decisions actually reads research results anyway. This is a well known problem, and the sad fact is that getting officials interested enough in genuinely innovative research projects and results is almost impossible” says Khalaf.
Sure Jordan has become very pricey these days but Oula feels we're consuming too much, while Mohanned thinks it's all due to the influx of refugees.
Haitham Sabbah is proud that Palestinians have come together to form the first unity government, but remains skeptical of Israel's dedication to the peace process. From a house demolition in the West Bank to a naked and drunk Israeli ambassador in South America and the IOF's use of minors as human shields, Haitham gives us a run down of all the happenings west of the river.
Elsewhere…
Jordan's canyons are indeed beautiful but often times obscure. Rakan Mehyar goes trekking in one such canyon: Zarqat Ma'in, and comes back with an adventurous story. Meanwhile, Local band Sign Of Thyme played at Jafra cafe recently and Mazen Al-Ali has an excellent review of their performance.
Lina's found a new place in Amman to go for a morning run and tells us a little about the documentary workshop she's been attending while Ahmad Humeid looks at the growing design scene in Jordan.

author: Naseem Tarawnah


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Liberia: Decoration Day 2007 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“Wednesday was Decoration Day, the day when Liberians clean and decorate the graves of their ancestors. We walked around in the Palm Grove cemetery in the late afternoon, after most people had already come and gone, and many graves were freshly repainted,”  Liberia Ledger reports.


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Malawi: redefining wealth · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Victor Kaonga asks, “Is Malawi really poor?”: Isn't Malawi rich in human resources-some of which are helping keep the Westerners in good health? Aren't Malawians rich in cultural diversity and depth? The natural vegetation and animal life is marvelous and some of it unique to Malawi. Isn't Malawi beautiful through its nature? Is this not being rich?


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Mauritius: body painting with colors of independence · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Artist Krishna Luchoomun does body paiting with colors of independence in Mauritius, “For the 39th independence day celebration, L’Hebdo newpaper came up with an innovative concept. It asked Krishna Luchoomun to do a body painting with the colours of the independence.”


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Mauritius: Mauritian blogger in Lifehacker · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Lifehacker publishes Mauritian blogger's instructions on how to read Hotmail from your Gmail account, “Wow I got published on one of the sites I love reading the most lifehacker !!!”


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Nigeria: using website to communicate with voters · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Naijablog has a short post about the website of the Nigerian presidential candidate, Umar Musa Yar'adua. He is inviting voters to communicate directly with him through his site.


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Palestine: A Unity Government · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Finally we have a unity government with very ambitious program. This unity government is the first in the Arab world. Something all Palestinians are proud of,” writes Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah following the announcement of a unity government in Palestine.


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South Africa: GMO maize may be toxic · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ian Gilfillan reacts to a report by Greenspeace that genetically modified maize may be toxic, “Since maize is a staple diet in South Africa, especially for poor communities, it's long been a concern that South Africa's poor has been experimented on in this way, as in most countries, GMO foods are niche foods, not a staple.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: A podcast returns · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Caribbean Free Radio returns with its first podcast in 200-plus days, a look behind the scenes at the repeat performance of the annual Carnival show by the rapso band 3canal.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Yemen: No Gangs in Mukalla · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Yemeni blogger Omar Barsawad compares the seaside Yemeni town of Mukalla to Rio de Janeiro . “Mukalla is utterly free of gangs, criminals or thugs. Of a violent kind. As are all urban centers in Yemen. But there is a striking likeness between Mukalla and Rio De Janeiro, the Marvelous City. From a distance, out in the sea, Mukalla looks strikingly so; like Rio,” he writes.


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· Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Russian Dilletante corrects Andre Glucksmann: “To use “the Kremin” to denote Russia's supreme authority in the 19th century is a crude anachronism. The seat of imperial power from Peter I to Nicholas II was St. Petersburg, and the period in Russian history from the early 18th century to 1917 is known as the Petersburg period.”


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Arabisc: A Pictorial Tour of the Middle East  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

When I first saw these pictures. I thought to myself sheep = New Zealand.
How wrong was I! A closer look will show you that the donkey was familiar, the grass not that green and palm trees in the background. It was closer to home than I thought.
We kick off our pictorial tour of the Middle East with a trip to the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, during which Saudi-based blogger SaudiCacher and his cousins introduce us to some of the scenery, traditions and flora and fauna of the desert and valleys they cover.
“At around 8:30 we drove along the wadi. Ash Shawki is one of the main wadis that flows in the Tenhat at the base of the Dhana dunes. The trip was unforgettable as we pass by hundreds of sheep and camels grazing through the fertile valley. Occasionally we make stops to examine the landscape or check out some exotic plant. AbuTalal was keen to locate naturally grown mushroom or faga (Arabic word for mushroom), known to grow sporadically after the rainy season but cousin Hamad and I were eager to locate good hiding place for a cache,” he writes.
In addition to collecting mushrooms, the adventurers were also in for a treat, before the start of one of their drives.
“We stopped to take some pictures while my cousin AbuTalal collected some flowers of which he will later make herbal tea. We then continued to Wadi Ash Shawki and spent the night on its bank. Dinner was served around the camp fire at around 9:30 p.m. We woke up before sunset and prepared our breakfast .. Arabic coffee and dates. Herbal tea was prepared by AbuTalal from the flowers he collected earlier,” explains the blogger.
From Saudi Arabia, we hop to nearby Bahrain, where blogger Bahraini Rants enchants us with a meeting he has with an unexpected visitor at work.
“Sometimes i get blue.. when that happens, i find this guy hanging around on the ledge outside my window at work… he comes over, pauses and gives me a look “khey man, everything cool? you look a little down, you look like you could use some cheering up”. He's a Barbary falcon (a subspecies of the Peregrine), flies through Bahrain when the weather's nice, and is missing a talon – i call him rex. if you haven't noticed, rex is a total camera whore..,” says Bahraini Rants.
Not bad, considering that other bloggers have to put up with this view outside their windows everyday!
While still on the topic of animals, we make a stop in Egypt, where blogger Maryanne Stroud Gabbani writes about life on her farm.
“The evening of March 8, one of a neighbour's grooms stopped by to give us the sad news that the stallion who had sired Diva's foal had died that evening just as one of my grooms was setting out to check the horses. I got an almost unintelligible phone call to say that Diva had given birth in the paddock,” she writes.
Making sure that the dogs were securely stuck inside the house garden so that they couldn't run amok and terrify the new mother, I dashed outside with a flashlight. There in the middle paddock stood Diva over her soaking wet daughter. We gathered the baby up and walked the mare to the box at the end of the row of paddocks where clean dry straw was waiting. We carefully laid the filly on the straw and watched Diva as she nuzzled and cleaned the little creature. As we rubbed her with straw to dry her and stimulate circulation she began to struggle to stand. Organising four long legs under a tiny body isn't easy at all.
To create a buffer zone between the animal kingdom, we stop in Jordan where Samir R posts a picture of sun rays trying to break through thick clouds.
From Jordan, we move to Dubai, where AdBlog Arabia keeps us abreast of how pizza arrives warm at our doorsteps!
Not a bad idea indeed!
While the inhabitants of Dubai are enjoying pizza straight out of the oven, Lebanese blogger Mazen Kerbaj  keeps us entertained with paintings he is compiling in his art blog here.
Our last stop is at the Angry Arab News Service, where Lebanese As'ad Abu Khalil  posts this hilarious photograph from Egypt.


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Armenia: Flash Mob · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

The CRD/TI Armenia Election Monitor reports on Armenia's first flash mob.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Armenia: Homes of the Wealthy · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Armenia Blog posts pictures of homes of some of Armenia's wealthiest people.


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Armenia: UNDP & Politics · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Did the United Nations Development Program get rid of its Information Officer in Armenia for his political action? Onnik Krikorian reports on the removal of the Aylentrank activist and blogger Aramazd Ghalamkaryan (hy) from his position.


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Bahamas: Ignoring abolition · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Nicolette Bethel wonders whether the complete absence of any discussion about the anniversary of abolition in the Bahamas is because it's an election year: “Is it because people on the PLP are afraid to make too much out of it because of the long years of invoking slavery in election years. . . have rendered the concept of slavery impotent as a political tool?“


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Bahrain: On 300  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger emoodz gives us his thoughts about the movie 300 here. “If you haven’t heard already, the movie has caused quite an uproar amongst modern Persians/Iranians who see the movie as not only something of a fabrication, but also an insult to their history,” he writes.


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Belize: Saved by grandmaw · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

With a little help from “grandmaw Florence”, Lee Vanderwalker manages to avoid being mowed down by a landing Cessna on an airstrip in Caye Caulker, Belize.


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Bolivia: Taking the Coca out of Coca-Cola and Onto the Seal · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Photo created by Andres Pucci and depicts a sample seal should it only contain symbols important to specific regions of Bolivia.
Some weeks ago, some Bolivian bloggers became increasingly concerned whether the red, yellow and green of the Bolivian flag might be replaced with the rainbow-checkered flag called with the whipala.  This flag is symbolic of the indigenous population in Bolivia and the Andes, and where President Evo Morales receives a large portion of his popular support.  Another group that has backed Morales through thick and thin is the coca-growers.  The crop, which they cultivate especially in the Chapare and Yungas regions of the country, has become more prominent in the news over the past week and may figure more prominently on the national seal.
Many of these debates regarding the coca leaf are taking place within the context of the Constituent Assembly, which has been given the charge of rewriting the Constitution.  Since August 2006, the delegates have been meeting, but little progress has been made.  When news does emerge, it is often about topics such as adding the coca leaf to the national seal.  Martin Gutierrez, who blogs at Vitrina de Realidad Boliviana [ES] from Buenos Aires, wrote:
Entre tantas necesidades y prioridades que tiene el país, en el medio de temas tan complejos e importantes aparecen estupideces convertidas en temas relevantes que deben ser tratados a nivel de interés nacional. No se cae en este artículo en fomentar la publicidad de ese pedido, sino más bien, mostrar a los lectores el grado de relevancia que se pretende dar a una idea absurda.
Among the many needs and priorities for the country, in the midst of many complicated and important topics, stupid topics appear that become of national concern.  This article does not fall into giving more attention to this proposal, but rather to show the readers how much relevance this absurd topic is trying to attract.
He acknowledges that the coca is an important cultural symbol for many Bolivians, but it should not be what guides what is included on the national seal.  If that were the case, then other symbols important to many Bolivians, such as the diablada folkloric dance or the latest Miss Santa Cruz, should be included on the seal.
Andrés Pucci, who hails from Santa Cruz, imagined what a similar seal might look like should it appeal to only a part of the country.  The result is a seal with an Oriental feel, with animals, vegetation and sights normally seen in the eastern part of the country.
Even though coca is only grown in a relatively small percentage of the country, it has become known worldwide for its role in the manufacturing of cocaine.  It also was a crop that helped President Morales rise to national prominence.  He still holds the dual position of President of the Republic, but also head of the coca-growers federation.  Rolando Lopez of Rocko Weblog [ES] posts the trailer of the documentary called “Cocalero” by Alejandro Landes, which focuses on the presidential campaign of Morales and his close confidant, Leonilda Zurita, who is also a leader in cocalero (coca-growers) circles.
The coca leaf continues to gain national attention. President Morales held up a coca leaf during his address to the United Nations, which did not hinder this tiny leaf from being written about in the mainstream press and other English language blogs.  Now, a recommendation by a commission in the Constituent Assembly has found a way to challenge the multi-national and globally known company Coca-Cola.  This recommendation indicated that since the coca leaf is sacred to a segment of the Bolivian population, that companies should not use the word ‘coca’ in their names.
However, a lot from this recommendation stems from a perceived hypocrisy in that it has long been rumored that the popular soft drink has or had used coca as an ingredient.  Meanwhile, the coca leaf has been listed as a banned product for quite some time. Carlos Gustavo Machicado Salas of Guccio’s [ES] thinks that such a request is a reach, but does not see the harm in asking the company to identify their ingredients to see whether they actually do use coca in their product. The blog from the web portal, Bolivia Web, also thinks there are better and more pressing topics that these commissions should attend to, but also writes that the cola company should acknowledge whether coca is an ingredient in their cola.
Finally, the delegates from the Constituent Assembly have hit the road taking to all nine departments to hear and present ideas for the new Constitution.  Miguel Buitrago of MABB lays out the schedule for the next month.  He also reported on the outcome of the first of these meetings held in Cobija, Pando, which is located in the Amazon region of Bolivia.  Buitrago reported that many of the attendees from the population chanted ‘Autonomy!” which is a common-heard plea from people in this region.
El Alto blogger Mario Duran of Palabras Libres [ES] attended the gathering in person, when it arrived to the classrooms of the public university in La Paz.  With tape recorder and digital camera in hand, he and Willmar Pimentel, the webmaster of the page La Constituyente [ES], interviewed various representatives and asked them “which article is the priority for change or inclusion in the new constitution?”  Listening to the different delegates representing various political parties, the two heard various points of consensus, such as recognizing that there exists 36 original ethnicities and the need for autonomy, although many differed on how much of that should be political, and how much should be financial administration of resources.
This time, last year:
Water and whether it earned its place listed as a fundamental human right was the topic of the week.  One blogger attended the World Water Forum, as a member of the delegation sent by the new Water Ministry.  The soybean market would suffer because of a newly signed free trade agreement between the United States and Colombia, which had been a large consumer of this Bolivian crop.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Brazil: Women’s Petition for a ‘Right to Respond’ · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

In order to fulfill Global Voices’ mission regarding neglected media visibility of specific groups we will focus today on a Brazilian contingent which now complains of having had — along with local big media's complicity — it's own annual moment of expression and manifestation snatched by the recent visit of the US president to Brazil. George W. Bush's choice of March 8 as the start of what became known as the ‘ethanol visit‘ to Brazil ended up scrambled with the time when Brazilian Women's Movements expect to have their voices heard by the society as a whole. The target now is the media itself, the one which is now-a-days earning many different adjectives like ‘big’, ‘traditional’, ‘1.0’, etc., or the guys formerly known as ‘opinion builders’. Feminist organizations are starting a legal ‘right to respond’ campaign in order to guarantee prime time audiences to the broadcast of their vision of themselves.
Planejado para acontecer logo após o encerramento da marcha do 8 de Março, o ato contra a presença do presidente americano no Brasil acabou se somando à passeata feminista – e, devido a ação de bem poucos de um universo de cerca de 20 mil pessoas, diminuindo o brilho da ação das mulheres… No rádio e na TV não foi diferente, as bandeiras e reivindicações das mulheres, que levaram milhares à Avenida Paulista na última quinta, não mereceram a atenção da imprensa. Na avaliação das organizações da área, a invisibilidade e as distorções da imagem da mulher na mídia não se restringem, no entanto, ao jornalismo. São parte de uma concepção de comunicação que não respeita a pluralidade e diversidade da sociedade brasileira e que, por isso, acaba reforçando estereótipos e incentivando o preconceito.  Para contrabalançar este cenário histórico de discriminação contra a mulher na mídia, o movimento feminista entrará em breve na Justiça com uma Ação Civil Pública solicitando um direito de resposta aos meios de comunicação. A idéia é veicular, durante uma semana, em um horário específico e em todos os canais, um programa que retrate a mulher de maneira diferente.
Mulheres acionarão Justiça contra estereótipos veiculados pela mídia, in Agência Carta Maior – Clipping Urbano
É fato notório que nós mulheres mudamos a face do mundo – a nossa luta mudou o cenário político, econômico e social do país e do mundo. Nossas reivindicações alteraram o funcionamento dos organismos de poder, das empresas, da estruturação da sociedade, da organização das instituições de ensino, da própria família e dos papéis estabelecidos para o homem e para a mulher. Mas falam em nosso nome, reforçam os estereótipos que combatemos, não refletem as mudanças e conquistas já efetivas na vida real, usam e abusam de nossa imagem, dosando-a de mais ou menos sedução, prometendo nos entregar como brinde pelo consumo de tal ou qual produto, procurando nos iludir e iludir aos homens, aos jovens e às crianças, em função de interesses que raramente são os nossos. É preciso que a sociedade tenha acesso a uma visão diferente da que a mídia ora nos impõe. Queremos poder efetivamente usufruir de nosso direito à comunicação e mostrar a vida e a realidade das mulheres como nós a percebemos e vivemos. Queremos poder mostrar as mulheres em seus mais diversos contextos, na lida do cotidiano, em seus sonhos, em suas lutas, em suas conquistas, em suas contradições e problemas. Por isso, exigimos o nosso direito de resposta.
Mulheres pelo Direito de Resposta – Ciranda Internacional de Informação Independente
De maneira geral, a mídia condena o cenário de desequilíbrio entre homens e mulheres na sociedade. Critica as distorções no mercado de trabalho, a diferença dos salários, os mecanismos de opressão, a sobrecarga sobre elas. Entretanto, a mesma mídia – numa espécie de comportamento padrão – reproduz uma lógica sexista em sua cobertura. Basta ler o diagnóstico que este Monitor oferece esta semana. Elas só aparecem como protagonistas nas páginas das seções menos influentes, como se a elas fosse relegado um espaço menos decisivo e nobre. Como se a elas coubesse ainda o setor das amenidades, das perfumarias… Na semana do Dia Internacional da Mulher, o Monitor de Mídia observou como essas personagens freqüentaram o noticiário nos jornais catarinenses. No período de 3 a 8 de março, atentamos para o protagonismo delas nas matérias, o destaque que alcançaram e a centralidade de suas figuras na semana. Os resultados apontam para o fato de que elas pouco aparecem com relevância nas seções de Política, Economia, Polícia e assuntos mais “sociais”. A figura da mulher tem melhor visibilidade quando as personagens são famosas, e nesses casos, suas maiores vitrines são os cadernos de Lazer. Uma distribuição irregular que espelha a situação ainda existente de desequilíbrio dos papéis de homens e mulheres.
Os discursos e as práticas – Observatório da Imprensa
We have mentioned that media is now the target for Women Movements, but following closely we find out that seizing the media is more of a strategy to put out a message against what is being called the ‘glamor industry’. A recent series of deaths of model girls, victims of anorexia, had a great impact on the society and we are now seeing locally a growing concern about the effects of the Brazilian ‘beauty dictatorship’ over women. Something that has been going on well since the first ‘tall and tan and young and lovely’ girl of Ipanema started squeezing ‘ahs’ from worldwide audiences.
A indústria da moda e da beleza é o novo alvo. Nem é tão novo assim, diga-se. Foi no início dos anos 1990 que, nos Estados Unidos, surgiu o livro “O Mito da Beleza”, da escritora Naomi Wolf, um libelo contra a exploração da mulher pela chamada “indústria do glamour”. A onda desceu para o sul do Equador há pouco, mas já tem muito sobre o que falar. Na semana passada, relatório divulgado pela Jife (Junta Internacional de Fiscalização de Entorpecentes) acusou: o Brasil é recordista mundial em consumo de remédios para emagrecer. Drogas derivadas das anfetaminas, que podem causar dependência, psicose, problemas cardíacos e até matar, são engolidas em quantidades três vezes maiores do que as observadas nos Estados Unidos, onde o consumo também é alarmante. Estudo patrocinado pela gigante Unilever, feito em dez países (entre eles Estados Unidos, Grã-Bretanha e França), revela: o Brasil é onde as mulheres estão mais desconfortáveis com a própria aparência. “Só com cosméticos e perfumaria, as brasileiras gastaram R$ 17 bilhões em 2003″, cita Jacira Vieira de Melo, feminista e diretora do Instituto Patrícia Galvão. Tudo para conquistar o padrão “magra-branca-loira-jovem- cabelos-milimetricamente-alisados- sexy”, vendido pela indústria e que leva multidões a academias, clínicas de estética, salas de cirurgia e consultórios médicos.
Reflexões sobre o Feminismo III – Mulheres de Olho
Você já parou para observar que não importa do que seja a propaganda e tampouco o produto que se tenha a intenção de vender, haverá sempre uma mulher de corpo escultural, beleza incontestável e com roupas… ou melhor, sem roupas? Se tomarmos a grande mídia por base na tentativa de compreender o que representa a mulher hoje em nossa sociedade, seremos levados a crer que ela nada mais é que seu corpo (magro e jovem). Nas telenovelas o papel da mulher tem se resumido a complementar a história de um marido, uma família, um lar, sem os quais ela seria incapaz de encontrar sua própria felicidade. A história da mulher perpassa por um caminho de lutas e reivindicações de seus direitos, denúncia da exploração e anúncio da necessidade de mudança em uma sociedade amplamente desigual.
Por quê? – Vibrador Portátil
Is there enough support for such campaign in Brazil? I am not sure. But there is one other event that occurred during Bush's visit to the country AND related with women's sensibility that raised peculiar and contradictory reactions. It happened during a news conference featuring both Presidents, as Lula made a ‘colorful’ remark to express his confidence in a positive outcome when asked about the long-stalled Doha round of trade talks: “We're moving on solid ground to find a chance or the so-called G-point to come to an agreement”. The big joke around here was to find out how the translator dealt with the phrase, and if the original sexual connotation was maintained. Aside the normal political criticism earned by Lula for his every spoken word, it was interesting to see how his ‘colofulness’ was praised even by the feminists.
Dois dias depois de ensinar ao País que “sexo é uma coisa da qual quase todo mundo gosta”, Lula insistiu com seu parceiro americano quanto à urgência de chegarem logo “ao ponto G” do entendimento sobre a Rodada Doha. Para dizer que a conversa tem progredido, recorreu, sem inibição, à imagem do orgasmo feminino: “Estamos andando com muita solidez para encontrar o chamado ponto G e para fazermos alguma coisa”. Bush, atento ao fone de ouvido, riu ao ouvi-lo. O público americano, não. Esse trecho da conversa foi omitido na TV daquele país pelo tradutor que apresentava o diálogo ao vivo.
Bush riu de piada do ‘ponto G’ – Dois dedos de prosa
Mas, de tudo, confesso que morri de rir  mesmo com Lula comparando a evolução na relação do Brasil e EUA com a eterna busca do prazer feminino: “Eu penso que estamos andando, andando com muita solidez, para encontrarmos a possibilidade ou o chamado Ponto G para fazer o acordo” Com direito à mímica mostrando o tamanhinho do “ponto G ” e cara de safado.. hahahahahahahaha… ai, Lula, Lula… queria só ver a cara dos puritanos americanos traduzindo isso (os discursos dos dois presidentes foram traduzidos, simultaneamente, na CNN)…Isso me lembrou uma declaração de Jack Nicholson,  na época do Impeachment de Bill Clinton por causa do caso Mônica Lewinski, ele disse algo como “I like him, he is a president who fucks”. Também gosto de ter um presidente que não tem medo de falar e expressar sexualidade. Basta comparar a cara de felicidade de D. Marisa e a botocada Laura Bush, é nisso que dá viver com republicano…
Lula e a sexualidade feminina – Síndrome de Estocolmo

author: Jose Murilo


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Caribbean, Zimbabwe: Should Zim be allowed to play int’l cricket? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

On the eve of the World Cup match between the West Indies and Zimbabwe, Robert Frische at cricketwukup.com asks whether “in light of the atrocities being committed in that country,” Zimbabwe should be allowed to play international cricket.


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China: Cohabitation · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lyn Jeffery from virtual China translated a discussion from Sina BBS concerning “People's Congress Delegate Advocates Repealing Concept of Illegal Cohabitation”.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Inequality · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lyn Jeffery from virtual China blogs about a recent report on “How Much Inequality can China Stand?”


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China: Punish Seditious Speech? What a Joke! · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

During this year's congressional sessions, leftist Yu Quanyu proposed drafting a law to criminalize seditious speech. Joel Martinsen has a translation of Southern Metropolis Weekly's interview with Yuan Weishi. The magazine teased the article on its cover with the line “punishing seditious speech is a farce.”


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China: Sleeping delegates · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Laowiseass blogs a most popular email photo circulated in China last week: sleeping delegates of the people's congress.


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Cuba: Remembering the “black spring” · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Marc Masferrer has a series of posts on the subject of the commemorations of the fourth anniversary of the March 2003 crackdown on dissidents and journalists known as the “black spring”, including one on the “Damas de Blanco” (Ladies in White), and a message from a hunger striking political prisoner. Claudia posts a list and photo of some of those jailed, and says: “There has been no international outrage for these arrests and imprisonments. There has been no outcry for justice. Why?”


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Egypt: Arrested Bloggers Released Following Constitutional Amendment Clashes · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Three Egyptian bloggers arrested  for taking part in a rally to protest constitutional amendments in Cairo have been released , along with other protesters who have been detained for their involvement in the gathering.
“The 21 Kefaya detainees were finally released around 6:30pm today, after police agents at El-Dhaher Station stalled the process,” writes Egyptian blogger and journalist Hossam El Hamalawy.
“The detainees should have been released in the early morning, but the station’s agents kept delaying, saying they were “waiting for orders from State Security,” according to rights lawyers who were trying to process the activists’ release. At some point, the police wanted to delay the release by deciding to transfer two Upper Egyptian detainees back to their hometowns’ police stations. To our good fortunes, that did not happen, thanks to the lobbying of the present lawyers. A number of activists also assembled in front of the station, staging a sit-in to add to the pressure.
“The detainees on their part went on a hunger strike protesting their continued imprisonment, and only ended it with their release.
“I spoke with socialist activist and friend Khaled Abdel Hamid around 6:50pm. He was very cheerful, and said the police did not dare messing with them in custody because of the outside attention the rights activists, bloggers and the media were giving to them.”
The  three bloggers are: Mohammed Adel, who gives us a minute-by-minute account of his ordeal – along with photographs – here, Mohammed Taher and Mustafa Sayed Ismail.
According to El Hamalawy, another protest is being planned for tomorrow.
“The National Forces are calling on all activists to join the opposition MPs in their sit-in in front of the Parliament, this Tuesday 3pm, to protest (Hosni) Mubarak’s authoritarian constitutional amendments,” he writes.
“Already today, opposition MPs in Egypt have walked out of parliament in protest over constitutional amendments proposed by Hosni Mubarak, the president. About 100 legislators, including independents and members of several opposition parties, interrupted the parliamentary session by staging a walkout.”
Another blogger, Alaa Abdulfattah  (Ar), said opposition movement Kifaya  had called for the March 15 protest against the unilateral amendments being made on the Constitution by the National Party.
He said the changes to the Constitution aim to “ensure the continuation of the dictatorial rule over the country, the inheritance of succession and the abolishment of judiciary monitoring of the elections.”
This leads Cairo-based blogger Tom Gara to state the obvious: He has a feeling Amnesty International isn't happy with Mubarak.
Amnesty International has described the current batch of Egyptian constitutional amendments being put through the parliament as “the most serious undermining of human rights safeguards in Egypt since the state of emergency was re-imposed in 1981.”
In case that wasnt clear enough, they also said that the amendments will “enrich the long-standing system of abuse under Egypt's state of emergency powers and give the misuse of those powers a bogus legitimacy.”
Photo credit: Hossam El Hamalawy


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Egypt: Meet Abu Omar · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Frederik Richter, writing for The Arabist, links to an article which visits the Alexandria home of Islamic clergyman Abu Omar, who was kidnapped by the CIA in Milan and tortured in Egypt.


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Egypt: Remembering King Farouk  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Yesterday marked the 32nd anniversary of the death of the last Egyptian monarch King Farouk. Egyptian blogger Zeinobia gives us an insight into his life here.


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Egypt: The Burqini Question · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Issandr Al Amrani still has a few unanswered questions about the Islamic bikini – burqini.  “I’m not trying to make fun of this — people can wear what they want — but why call it burqini? A burqa is a rather extreme form of fundamentalist gear that is not found in much of the Muslim world outside of Afghanistan and, to a much less degree, India and Pakistan. Is the Taliban what they want their product to be associated with?” he writes.


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Ethiopia: naming system 101 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Enset discusses Ethiopian naming system, “As a person who had a hard time understanding the idea of a family name and did not like being called by my grandfather's name when I first came to the United States, I did not know what to make of the gentleman's assertion that the current naming system is an imposed one.”


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Japan: Hello Kitty product · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Hello Kitty product from air purifier to condom? Paul Nicholls from Japundit clarified that the Kitty condom is a fake news.


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Kazakhstan: Khalfin Exhibit · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

At neweurasia, Daniel reports on an Almaty exhibition of the works of Kazakhstani artist Rustam Khalfin.


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Kazakhstan: Literary Diversion · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

KZBlog writes a brief, humorous story on an application for a government grant.


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Lebanon: In Praise of Condi Rice · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese blogger As'ad Abu Khalil is full of praise for Condoleeza Rice – who just met with a handful of Arab ministers “brief them and grill them with instructions prior to the Arab summit. I thought that this was a very nice gesture that deserves praise. I mean, she did not want those ministers to go unprepared and not know how they should behave, and how they should vote. That was very kind gesture, I thought.”


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Lebanon: Meanings and Consequences · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

This week's summary is a selection of posts that focus on meanings and on repercussions. For example, what does it mean to be a modern man or a leftist in Lebanon and what is the aftermath of not caring for rural communities and of not developing agriculture as a means of production. Other topics involve the new poverty rates in Lebanon and how political bickering is taking its toll on young students.
On Meanings:
Ana Min Beirut posts on what it means to be a modern man:
I’m a modern man, a man for the millennium. Digital and smoke free. A diversified multi-cultural, post-modern deconstructionist that is politically, anatomically and ecologically incorrect. I’ve been uplinked and downloaded, I’ve been inputted and outsourced, I know the upside of downsizing, I know the downside of upgrading. I’m a high-tech low-life. A cutting edge, state-of-the-art bi-coastal multi-tasker and I can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond! I’m new wave, but I’m old school and my inner child is outward bound. I’m a hot-wired, heat seeking, warm-hearted cool customer, voice activated and bio-degradable. I interface with my database, my database is in cyberspace, so I’m interactive, I’m hyperactive and from time to time I’m radioactive.
Jij writes on what it means to be a leftist in Lebanon (and about much more):
What does it mean to be a leftist in Lebanon? Notwithstanding the four or five remaining members of the Democratic Left Movement, I believe that being a leftist in Lebanon is centered on three basic (forcibly ideal) tenets:  1- Promotion of a secular society, where an individual’s social, cultural and historical identity is not pre-defined and absorbed by his tribal belonging.  2- Support of an economic strategy whose highest goal is bettering the lives of its most underprivileged elements (as opposed to making the super-rich even richer), and unequivocal opposition to savage and devastating neoliberalism policies.  3- Opposition to neo-colonialism and to all its agents in the region.
Bech explains that the events happening in Lebanon are a classical case of power shifts:
Now if you come to think about it, what happened in Lebanon in the last few years is a classical example of shifts in power poles. One need to look at changes happening at the level of organizations and institutions (of the state and related) that deal with security issues, especially if one wants to understand the political deadlock which we are slowly sinking in.
On Consequences:
Abu Ali writes on the effect of the decline of the rural society and the roots of inequality
Lebanon’s cultural and environmental heritage is deeply rooted in its rural society. Our food traditions, our folklore and our landscape are kept alive by small family farmers. As rural people become impoverished and marginalized, they leave their lands, and our culture, society and environment erode. This has tremendous implications: poverty creates despair, which is conducive to political violence. The dissolution of the ties between people and land creates nations of passers-by, countries with employees but without citizen. This is a great part of Lebanon’s problem.
EDB posts about how the political situation is affecting students to the extent that an innocent school trip becomes a rehearsal for a civil war (the post contains other topics too):
My friend R., a teacher at a snazzy private high school, recently took his students on a paint ball outing. Instantly they organized into political factions– PSP and Future versus Hezbollah and FPM. “It was like a prelude to the war,” R. said with characteristic exasperation. Whenever a student was hit by a paintball and — as per the rules– had to leave the game, his fellow party members would instead use him as a human shield.
Siestske in Beiroet writes about a recent study on poverty and on what it entails to be poor in Lebanon.
According to a recent study carried out for the Ministry of Social Affairs by the UNDP (The Development Agency of the UN) 25 % of the Lebanese now live below the poverty level. Being poor in Lebanon doesn’t just mean your income is below a certain level, but also that you don’t have access to running water, schools and shelter. This is seemingly good news, because some ten years ago, this was about 30%. The quote for shelter, education and water went up, but the income dropped almost 9% for these people.
That's all for now, stay well till our next update.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Lebanon: Pessimistic Iraqis · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Iraqis are becoming increasingly pessimistic about the future of their country and unhappy about their lives, a survey suggests.”
And this: “Only 18% said they had confidence in US and coalition troops, and 51% said they thought attacks on coalition forces were justified,” writes Lebanese blogger Asad Abu Khalil  here.


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Lebanon: Saudis Spending Millions to Improve Image · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Saudi “businessmen” spend $15 million to fund a US “documentary” film to “improve its image around the world,” writes Lebanese blogger As'ad Abu Khalil here.


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Mauritius: give an egg for a bull · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Following a friendship gesture on Independence Day from Mauritius to Madascar, Mauritian blogger at My quest for world presidency, Roushdat, writes: “But Madagascar is itself in quite a difficult posture, how will this country help Mauritius? I just couldn’t understand…At first I thought, maybe the government is fed up bestowing honor upon people from countries that are far better at all levels compared to us…and they want to act as the big guyz in front of people from countries like Madagascar (Glacer imper devant zot :p).”


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Panama: Addresses · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Carlos Donderis, a Spanish blogger living in Panama, gets a kick out of Panamanian addresses [ES], which have more to do with description than a specific address.

author: David Sasaki


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Panama: Deftones Tribute and Beers and Blogs Meetup · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Rob Rivera's blog is becoming much more than just a great source of laughs and insight into Panamanian culture – it's also becoming an inclusive social hotspot. The next two upcoming events: a tribute to the Deftones and the next “Beers & Blogs Panama”.


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Peru: Maid’s Rights in Lima · Global Voices
David Sasaki

After a widely publicized protest against the harsh treatment of maids in Peru's beach resort communities, Hypathia's Daughter says the movement for maid's rights made a visit to the upper-class neighborhood of Miraflores in the capital city, Lima.


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Romania: Snail Mail, Airport, and the Roma · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Blog Bucharest complains about the Romanian postal service, Bucharest's Baneasa Airport, and discrimination against the country's non-Roma population.


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Russia: Freedom of Speech · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Vilhelm Konnander fears the Russian state may be preparing another attack on freedom of speech – and on bloggers – in Russia.


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Russia: Politics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Darkness at Noon guest-blogs at Sean's Russia Blog on the recent elections and the Russian political culture.


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Russia: Skiing and Snowboarding · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Russia Blog posts pictures of winter sports at Vorobyovy Gory in Moscow. Sochi Travel posts pictures from the skiing and snowboarding competition that took place in Krasnaya Polyana on March 1-3.


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Senegal Army: Face of Luxury, Back of Misery · Global Voices
Alice Backer

In its usual deadpan humor, Blog Politique du Senegal highlights an architectural anecdote about the military headquarters of Senegal to make a wider point about the army's budget and priorities:
Military headquarters entrance. Courtesy Blog Politique du Senegal.
Je ne sais pas si vous connaissez l'intendance militaire, en bas de l'avenue Lamine Gueye. Depuis quelques semaines on y fait des travaux.
Entre autres on y a changé les portails et les portes sur la facade principale. Les anciennes n'étaient pas pourries, à voir comme ça. Mais tout a quand même été changé pour être remplacé par des portails style nouveau riche, genre Louis XV revu et corrigé par un décorateur saoudien.
Je sais pas si vous connaissez les réalisations des décorateurs saoudiens, c'est ringard et de mauvais goût mais ça fait riche… Bref l'armée échange des portails en bon état pour des portails villas-nouveaux-riches-qu'on-sait-pas-comment-ils-ont-faits. A croire que l'armée est trop riche et ne sait pas quoi faire de son argent.
Ca fait rire, bien sûr c'est avec votre argent et le mien, enfin surtout le mien car je trouve que je paye beaucoup d'impots…. Moi ça me fait rire ! Vous, vous ne riez pas encore parce que vous ne savez pas tout, mais attendez la suite…
Si vous faites le tour de l'intendance, sur l'arrière, on longe le mur de l'intendance qui semble être rescapé de la bataille de Stalingrad. Au bout du mur, y'a un trou qui a toute une histoire. Tous les 5/6 mois on bouche le trou, le trou reste bouché quelques semaines et… il revient (le trou) et on recommence indéfiniment.
Devant, là où ça se voit, on vire des portes qui pouvaient encore faire de l'usage pour les remplacer par des merdes prétentieuses et derrière le mur s'effondre gentiment dans l'indifférence générale.
Back wall of military headquarters. Courtesy Blog Politique du Senegal

author: Alice Backer


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Somalia: the Land of the Gods · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A brief study of the Land of the Gods by Abubakar Ali: Unlike ancient Egypt where scholars were able to uncover and translate numerous writings and records, our knowledge of Sumaria remained relatively scant and inadequate. The author, however, thought it of interest that Sumarian huts which were made of woven reed were an exact replica of a Somali nomad’s collapsible hut. Also strangely enough, the most important Sumarian deity, MARDUK, literally meant in Somali ‘The one who was once buried’.


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South Africa: Podcasting Is Taking Off · Global Voices
Tyler Reed

Podcasting in South Africa is set to receive a great deal of exposure over the next few weeks with the launch of a new podcasting competition, iPodcasting Competetion. Uploads to the iPodcasting Competition start on March 19, 2007. The competition does seem rather tempting:
Got something to say? Think you’re the next big thing? Broadcast yourself or cast a vote for your favourite podcast and you could win a share of the more than R250 000 in prizes up for grabs, courtesy of Apple, 5FM, Coca-Cola and MINI.
Peter Hart-Davis and Mike Stopforth have expressed their concern regarding the terms and conditions of the competition.
Mike Stopforth in “SA Podcasting Gets A Boost”:
R 250 000 will attract a lot of attention. This is good news. However, before diving head first into the competition take note of this:
Please view our TERMS AND CONDITIONS for important contest information, including the contest categories and technical specifications for your podcasts.
He concludes:
Now what I know about the legal stuff is dangerous, but this is discouraging me from participating – Paul, could you help us understand what all this means?
Don’t want to be negative about it – this is a nice initiative from some very cool brands. However, remember the value of your own hard work and intellectual property.
Peter Hart-Davis left this comment at Cherryflava:
Hmmm is it just me or does this from the rules strike one as a tad draconian?
(b) each winner, by acceptance of prize, except where legally prohibited, grant permission, in perpetuity, for Sponsor and those acting pursuant to Sponsorâ€™s authority to use his/her name, photograph, voice and/or likeness, and videos, recordings, prize information, and Entry Materials (and notwithstanding anything to the contrary in these Official Rules license the use of the Entry Materials which may be altered, changed, modified, edited, used alone, together or with other works, and/or used in distorted, illusory or composite form, as solely determined by Sponsor) for advertising, trade and promotional purposes without further compensation, at any times or time, in all media now known or hereafter discovered world wide and on the Internet without notice or review or approval. All Entry Materials will be deemed a work made for hire under the copyright laws of South Africa, but if it cannot be so deemed, then each individual irrevocably sells, assigns and transfers to Sponsor all of his/her right, title and interest in and to his/her Entry Materials, including but not limited to all copyright and trademark rights, in South Africa and worldwide, therein, for valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged.
Paul Jacobson of chilibean translated the legal jargon into simple and understandable English:
The first part of these clauses seem ok but it gets worse as you near the end of it.  Here is a summary of what these clauses say:
Justin Hartman however was very pleased to see that Apple retail stores will be running free podcasting sessions:
Not only are these big companies promoting the idea of podcasting but they’re helping people in creating the content as well. Every day, Apple retail locations will be running free podcasting sessions at 12:30pm and 5:30pm for an hour from Monday to Saturday. You can use Apple’s equipment, Internet connection and their expertise totally free of charge!
Potgooi is the Afrikaans term for podcast. There are a number of Afrikaans podcasts in South Africa and abroad. Potgooi.com and Potgooi.net list a few Afrikaans podcasts. Some notable Afrikaans podcasts are Afrikaans in Sydney by Phil Massyn and Potgooi.nl by Machiel and Charlene in the Netherlands.
There are a number of formal and informal podcasts in South Africa and the majority of them are to keep people informed. Podcasts from the likes of Mail & Guardian and Moneyweb are two examples of many of the formal podcasts in South Africa. The ZA Show is more of an informal podcast with a personal touch by Glen and Bridgitte Verran who cover a variety of topics with regards to South Africa.
Another notable podcast which is still relatively new and attracting subscribers at a steady rate is Amplitude. The best and worst of South African marketing is discussed by Dave Duarte and Mike Stopforth in Amplitude.
For a list of more South African podcasts visit: Podcast SA.

author: Tyler Reed


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South Asia: Cricket Victories and Upsets · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Cricket World Cup 2007 appeared to have thrown quite a few surprises up for grabs over the weekend. Ireland won the match against Pakistan, and Bangladesh won the match against India. These outcomes were rather unexpected, especially the former one. The blogosphere has been buzzing with commentary and reflection on the wins and losses. Rezwan comments on the perception of the Bangladeshi team in India.
So what can you say about the above instances? Simple arrogance and looking down on others has caused India this disgrace. As a saying goes “none are more unjust in their judgments of others than those who have a high opinion of themselves”. India has took their eyes off Bangladesh who progressed a lot in 2006. Their techniques got better and they are getting used to winning albeit most of the opponents were not from the super eight of Cricket.
A wonderful collection of individual reactions at Unheard Voices who ask their readers to post
Where were you last night when Musfique hit the winning four and how did you celebrate. Share with us the story and also send one picture with the location where it was taken and we will put it up.
Meanwhile, Pakistan had a double loss. They lost to Ireland, and the team coach, Bob Woolmer died in Jamaica the next morning. NepalCricket.com Fan Club remembers the man.
He once visited Nepal – in January, 2004 as the member of High Performance Project and I attended the press conference. He was optimistic about Nepal’s chances and hopeful he will come back again (as I did) and there were journalists and all taking photographs with him. I didn’t because I wanted to take a photo with him when he would had returned to nurtured the team playing in the World Cup.
Khuram raises the issue of the media bashing the Pakistani team and Bob Woolmer for their performance in the match.
Before the news about Bob Woolmer’s initial unconsciousness, Geo TV was constantly presenting very bad insulting remarks of common audiance about Bob Woolmer, Inzimam and others, including the team as a whole. Those remarks were not making any proper sense and sounded very bad to me. I didn’t watch the match with Ireland, but the highlights were showing that Ireland, although was a new team, but was not any bad team at all. One factor behind our losing the match might be that we under-estimated a good team.
There also appears to be in India and Pakistan the utter loss of realization that this is a sport. Chowrangi for instance writes about how the team should commit suicide and not come back to the country. It highlights if perhaps more than the media, it is the fans themselves who have raised the frenzy to some sort of an unhealthy and obsessive level.
Wonderful posts in two parts (1 and 2) on World Cup Memories at One One Things. Barry's Beef writes about the weekend that Cricket won't forget too easily. More reflections on Bob Woolmer's death at DesiCritics.
Do you have it in you? sums up the situation and talks of the day when one billion people were shocked. India Uncut talks of Bangladesh and Ireland shaking it up. Chapati Mystery provides an interesting account of the two matches.
In this WC, I didn’t really expect Pakistan to do much. The top-bowlers were doped-up at home. The batting lineup is old, cranky, fat and bearded [say what you will but unless the sport in question is World’s Fastest Growing Hair Follicles – shave]. And yet, one still did not expect the #4 ODI side in the world to lose to Ireland. IRELAND! Who don’t even have a cricket team. These are injured rugby players on their physiotherapy routine, people! And those Irish beat, nay thrashed, nay smacked the jama’at out, nay drove the snakes out of our glorious team. Today, on St. Patrick’s Day, Pakistan was sent packing by Ireland. Kinya belev’t?
GreatBong bids three things a sad farewell. Bob Woolmer, Inzamam Ul Haq (the Pakistan team Captain who announced his retirement soon after the match) and “to the glorious fighting spirit that characterized Pakistan cricket for the last twenty years”. Confused talks of what he calls the St Patrick's Day Massacre.
No, to say that we lost isn’t quite enough; we were outplayed in every department of the game–massacre is the only word which comes to my mind.
Outplayed by Bangladesh, which despite their all-round improvement is a still second grade team which has only won 4 one day matches against test playing countries. A seventeen year old kid smashes our best bowler all over the park while the gladiators of the Indian team behave like whimpering, blundering idiots. And what a team we have!
More on the upsets galore at Nerve Endings Firing Away.John Cheeran on what should be the agenda for the Indian team and the coach Greg Chappell.
Failure to reach the Super Eight (and that looks like to be the most realistic scenario) would be utter disgrace for Chappell as coach. The sensible thing, in such an event, for Chappell would be to pack his bags and say a big thank you to the BCCI.
The Indian team, in the forefront those chosen 15 cricketers, deserve to be ostracized by television watching cricket fans and turnstile lovers. And advertising executives are likely to be chastened by the bitter experience of the 2007 World Cup.
PS – We know David Sasaki, the maker of the fabulous GV Digests doesn't understand cricket, but we hope this gets some prime real estate on the digest today for all the cricket loving people!

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Taiwan: Bloggers Organize To Save Losheng Sanatorium · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translated the article from Coolloud to show how individual bloggers work together to protect the Losheng Sanatorium.


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Taiwan: Embarrassed Blogger Association · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chiao ching translated the mission statement of embarrassed blogger association: This Association aims to provide a space for bloggers in the Internet world, who are unable to Self-Taglize, and then confused and Orzistic(?), to support and help each other.


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Tajikistan: Energy Conservation · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Gulru says that something needs to be done about Tajikistan's energy problems and suggests looking at how other countries, such as Thailand, have tackled their electricity shortages.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Farewell, Lloyd Best · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Nicholas Laughlin pays tribute to Caribbean intellectual Lloyd Best, who passed away on March 19: “We will desperately miss–because we desperately need, now more than ever–his hard-won but lightly worn knowledge, his insight, his optimism, his humour, his integrity. No one has understood the Caribbean better, and few have lived so selflessly.“


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Tunisia: Anti-war Tourism  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

US-based Tunisian blogger Leilouta has guests from back home, whom she took to an anti-war protest over the weekend.


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Tunisia: Guess the Movie · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Tunisian blogger Subzero Blue  is inviting his readers to guess to name of the film based on quotes he lists here.


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Ukraine, Belarus: A Fence for Bat’ka · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Abdymok posts a picture of the preparations to Aleksandr Lukashenko's visit to Ukraine's capital: “Workers on March 19 build a new fence around Belarusian Embassy in Kyiv. The last dictator in Europe is expected any day.”


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Uruguay: “Uncle Sam has left” · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Gabo of From Uruguay chronicles Bush's recent visit to Montevideo.


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Venezuela: Food Consumption, Chavez, and Barbara Walters · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Oil Wars, responding to news of food shortages in Venezuela, points out that food consumption was up 16% in 2006: “Truth be told, after noting how chubby Chavez himself appeared in the Barbra Walters interview I suspected as much.” Daniel Duquenal, meanwhile, asks, “Does Barbara Walters work for Chavez?” Find out why.


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Angola: Miss Landmine Angola 2007 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“If you are wondering how low some people will sink then this is just about it. Colleagues in Norway sent me an email with this story about a Norwegian project to promote a beauty contest for landmine survivors in Angola and to create a fashion magazine for specially designed clothes for survivors. The project has received some $80,000 from funders including the Norweigan government,” writes Sokari Ekine who considers the project highly offensive.


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Armenia: Decision 2007 · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Harmick of Blogrel explains why one should not expect much political change as a result of Armenia's upcoming parliamentary election.


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Armenia: YouTubing the Revolution · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Anoush Armenia posts video of the recent flash mob in Yerevan.


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Bahamas: Racism in Politics?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

At WeblogBahamas.com, guest commentator Bruce G. Raine weighs in on what he calls the Bahamian government's “promoting a fear of white people” and the resulting alienation of those who contribute to the island's economic mainstay – tourism.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Barbados: Traditional Architecture · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I have a thing for old buildings,” writes Gallimaufry.  “But it must be more than an appreciation of traditional Bajan architecture that moves me so, that causes me to feel a sudden rush of tenderness toward these abandoned structures.”  Some perceptive musings on what makes a house a home.


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Bermuda: Blogging vs. Journalism · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Christian Dunleavy at Politics.bm explores the concept of political blogging versus traditional journalism: “…while I certainly come at things from a specific angle, my potential biases are declared, whereas those in the traditional media can be much more subtle and undeclared…”


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Cambodia: The Four Beggars in Cambodian Society · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Vutha describes the four types of beggars one may find in Cambodia.

author: Preetam Rai


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Cayman Islands: The Functional Family · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“So, my old fart of a father, pushing seventy if there ever is a day, is getting hitched to a young hussy who is more than twenty years his junior.”  Mighty Afroditee posts an entertaining piece on the ever-changing family dynamic.


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Ecuador: President Versus Congress · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Milton Ramirez has a great roundup of response to President Rafael Correa's sparring with Ecuador's congress including excerpts from English and Spanish-speaking bloggers.


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Filipino Bloggers Discuss Homeschooling  · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

An interesting discussion on whether one should homeschool their children or send them to a school appeared on some blogs from the Philippines.
A Passerby's Trail writes
I am an educator and I had a lot of teaching experiences in different school levels; yet as a mom, I prefer to homeschool my child.  I’m aware how much work it’s going to be, especially if I intend to create a curriculum from ground up.  But I’m willing to invest all my time, my energy, my creativity and my expertise.  It’s worth it, because it’s for my child.
Tito Rolly, another Filipino edu-blogger agrees with  A Passerby's Trail and feels that technology may provide a good platform for home schooling
I think homeschooling is not a far-fetched scenario given the extent of what technology can do today. For example, whereas we have to buy volumes of encyclopedia before just to get an idea on a certain topic, the same can be had with just a click on your mouse.
And how it would help the kids, Tito continues
What this means is that a child no longer has to face the dangers of going to school; being run over by a vehicle while crossing the streets, the hassles of commuting to and fro’ being kidnapped, be confronted by bullies, playing hooky :-) or whatever… that also means less expenses for baon, miscillaneous expenses, grouchy teachers, etc. (No more suspension of classes during typhoons provided there is electric current) All they have to do is to log in to a site, open their lesson and learn. This may also mean that we can go global. Enrol our kids to schools anywhere in the world. Ah, the possibilities are just limitless.
Noypetes, commenting on Tito's post  feels  that home schooling might make class re-unions a thing of the past and  the students may not develop social skills if they don't go to school and mix with other students.
Home schooling is fine. My Concern with home schooling is the lack of social interaction among peers which is very important in honing a childs independence to coexist in a society. I think some of the patterns in teaching fundamentals should be retained. I agree that the convenience of the IT or world wide web serves it's purpose well but in so many ways looses the intimate setting of learning with other kids and the full personal presence of a teacher
A Passerby's Trail, having experience in handling large classes,  had anticipated this “social skills” aspect,   she wrote
I am an educator but I believe that school is not the only place for children to develop socialization skills.  Children don’t need to be around many people in order to be socialized because they don’t respond too well when they are in a crowd.  I know that because I used to handle very large classes.
Insecurity, self-consciousness and nervousness wouldn’t be an issue if a child is not in a classroom setting.  A school environment can certainly be a threatening place.  For some children, it can be traumatic.  It’s sad…  but that is a reality.
Tito has a wish for future schools
Let me take you further. As I envision it, our concept of what a school is will dramatically change in the near future. Schools as we know it will become obsolete. While there may still be a building we call a school, we will have no more classrooms per se but several roomful of computers where a teacher is assigned to each while the learers stay at home. Instructions will be in the form of modules and will be individualized for each learner who, in turn, will be more independent. Since progress will be up to the learner, the slow learners will be spared of the humilliation of being left by his/her peers for after all, there is no direct contact with them.


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Georgia: Maharaja · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Karen Shimizu reviews Maharaja, Tbilisi's only Indian restaurant.


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Global Voices en Français Celebrates Journée Mondiale de la Francophonie · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Today is Francophonia Day. About 50 French-speaking countries and territories, some belonging to the Organisation Mondiale de la Francophonie and others not, will reflect on what it means to have French as a language –often alongside others. (Not to worry we will tell you what the bloggers said as soon as they've said it.)
At Global Voices, this day has special significance as well. One year ago, I was barely getting my feet wet as a novice Francophonia Editor, translating into English blurbs from the blogs of French-speaking countries who don't get much coverage in other media. Today as Global Voices Lingua team leader, I and wonderful francophones like India-based Haitian blogger Pascale Doresca, French journalist and Le Monde contributor Claire Ulrich and  Malagasy blogger and GV author Lova Rakotomalala have been translating in the other direction, i.e. from English to French at Global Voices en Français. The goal is to bring more and more Francophones online into the global conversation. By translating Global Voices content into French, we hope to do just that.
See for yourself, the Global Voices en Français site is a work in progress but volunteer translators have been generating French-speaking GV content for Francophones for over a month. If you are a French-English bilingual, please contact us to join the team at francophonia [at] globalvoicesonline [dot] org.
Flashback. Inspired by Global Voices Latin-America Editor David Sasaki's  workshop on GV and language at the GV 2006 Summit in Delhi, a group of francophone bloggers approached Global Voices co-founders Ethan Zuckerman, Rebecca MacKinnon and Portnoy Zheng about starting a Francophone GV page similar to Portnoy's then year old GVO China site over lunch at Delhi Day 2. Other language communities expressed interest and Project Lingua was born.
Lingua, which is still in its infancy, brings you more than just GV en Français. It comes in:
-Bangla https://bn.globalvoicesonline.org/
-Chinese (simplified) https://zh.globalvoicesonline.org/hans/
-Chinese (traditional) https://zh.globalvoicesonline.org/hant/
-French https://fr.globalvoicesonline.org/
-Portuguese https://pt.globalvoicesonline.org/
-Russian https://ru.globalvoicesonline.org/
-Spanish https://es.globalvoicesonline.org/
Please join me and the whole Lingua team by contributing your language skills to any of the above groups. For Bangla, contact Rezwan Islam at i_rezwan[at]hotmail[dot]com. For Chinese contact Leonard at romleonard[at]gmail[dot]com. For Portuguese contact José Murilo Junior at portuguese[at]globalvoicesonline[dot]org. For Russian contact me at francophonia[at]globalvoicesonline[dot]org as we are looking for an energetic person to run that group. For Spanish, contact David Sasaki at osopecoso[at]gmail[dot]com.
Francophonia Day is truly a multilingual day for us at Global Voices.


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Guatemala: Community Radio · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Tom Allan has posted his reflections on community radio in rural Guatemala on Indymedia.


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Guatemala: Original USAC Building · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo snaps a shot of the original building to house Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala.


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Hong Kong: blogger gathering · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jacky writes about the weekend blogger gathering organized by sina. The topic is about media and blogging (zh).


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Hong Kong: Panda’s right · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Hegelchong criticizes the mainstream media's insensitivity towards animal rights in the news concerning central government giving two Pandas to Hong Kong for 10 years anniversary of reunification of Hong Kong with China (zh).


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India: Rapes in tele-serials · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

DesiDabba on the almost flippant use of rape as a plot twister in Indian tele-serials. “While the producers and others involved justify inclusion of such social offences as the ‘demand of the script’ and ‘story-telling’ there are many who simply label it as a cheap TRP tactic. Audiences across the nation now feel the need of censorship for Television shows. The common protest is that unlike a movie where one can choose to watch or not to watch, the same is not the case while watching prime time tele-serials.”


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Israel: Death of a Coach  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Israeli blogger Aussie Dave  writes about the death of Pakistan's cricket coach Bob Woolmer after his team's defeat against Ireland.
“While the family are saying that stress probably killed him, it is likely that if stress did not do the job, many Pakistanis would have,” he explains.


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Israel: Football Fans  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Israeli blogger Stephanie says that more than 7,000 British football fans are expected to be in Israel for a much anticipated match…and some more.
“The English side of the stadium has already sold out but the British fans are interested in matters beyond the game – they’re looking forward to sunning themselves on the beach, checking out restaurants, partying and hitting the local pubs (uh oh). The Israel press claims British police have banned “known hooligans” from coming over for the game. What a relief. Ha ha,” she writes.


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Israel: Is the Mount Temple a Muslim Holy Site? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Israeli blogger AgentAzure is questioning the attachment of Muslims to the Temple Mount based on photographs he has posted.
“However, my impression, formed under the influence of the pictures posted below, is that it was practically lying in ruins, forgotten and neglected, for a long time. Only when Jews arrived in the region en masse and started affirming their rights, did Muslims begin to show such keen interest in the “holy” sites,” writes the blogger.


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Israel: Mother’s Milk Needed  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Israeli blogger Yisrael Medad pleads for ‘mother's milk’ here  for a four-month-old infant whose parents died in a car crash.


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Israel: Obama Sympathatic Towards Palestine.  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Israeli blogger Batya is warning against the election of Obama , whom he accuses of being sympathetic towards the Palestinians.
“Yes, he, like Jimmy Carter and Condi Rice, is pro- (sic) “palestininian.” That's dangerous for Israel. It doesn't bother them at all that Arab terrorists are murdering and injuring Jews. They only care about the Arabs, who aren't “poor” at all,” writes the blogger.


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Israel: Where is My Gas Mask? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Israeli blogger Yael K is looking for her gas mask. “This is actually a good question and I don’t have the answer –in some cabinet or drawer or under something or another, perhaps the bed, hmmm. Not that I’m expecting to need it for anything any time soon but as a preparedness measure I guess I should know where it is,” she writes.


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Japan: Nostril flush · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The Nostril flush is for dealing with cedar pollen allergies, JP explains how to use it at Japundit.


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Jordan: Facebook and Bloggers  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordan-based blogger Shaden Abdul-Rahman says it seemed like all Jordanian bloggers woke up one morning and signed onto Facebook en masse. “So it seemed like Jordanians woke up one day and decided to group sign-up for Facebook accounts. It’s funny how almost everyone from JB signed up for an account on the same exact day,” writes the blogger.


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Kazakhstan: Nauryz Soundtrack · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Depending on who the community, Navruz, the Persian holiday marking the beginning of spring that is celebrated in Iran, Central Asia, and elsewhere, is today or tomorrow. News from the Caravan has a soundtrack for Nauryz for those who want to add a little Kazakh flavor to their celebrations.


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Kenya: a mobile information exchange for farmers · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

White African blogs about a mobile information exchange for farmers in Kenya, “Rural farmers in central Kenya have been piloting a project, called DrumNet, that provides marketing, financial services and information to them using their mobile phones. The project’s premise is that information on the market is one of the key elements that keeps farmers from getting the full market value for their products.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Kenya: Google Apps in Kenyan universities · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Chris Kiagiri writes, “Here at Google, we have just announced that we have signed a deal with the Kenya Education Network (KENET) to provide universities in Kenya with Google Apps™ – Google’s set of hosted and customizable communications services. This includes access to Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, and Google Docs & Spreadsheets under their university's domain and, as always, for free.”


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Kuwait: Internet Censorship  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Kuwaiti blogger Ayya touches on internet censorship in this post .
“We Kuwaitis usually pride ourselves that regardless of what, we still have the freedom to express our thoughts. Well; surprise guys, this is not true anymore. Internet providers like Fastelco, Quality Net and KEMS, are blocking sites, forums, as well as blogs, as an on-going process. And it would not surprise me a bit to wake up one day and find out that my blog is gone,” she writes.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Kuwait: Motorcycle Crashes · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Kuwait-based blogger Mark is obsessed with videos of motorcycle crashes and links to some of them here. (Warning: Not for the faint of heart)


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Malaysia: AIDS Stigma · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

MM links to a New York Times story on AIDS in Afghanistan and compares Malaysia to Afghanistan. “


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More Egyptian Bloggers Arrestedُُُ · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

Egyptian blogger MaLeK (aka MaLcoLM X) has been kidnapped today as he was in his way to attend a sit-in in front of the People's Assembly in Cairo.
According to blogger Amr Gharbeia, Malek has asked a Ghad party activist to report the arrest to Hisham Mubarak Law Center.
It has also been reported that two other bloggers were detained: Mohammad Gamal (aka Gimihood) and Mina (aka Haj Girgis).

author: sami ben gharbia


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Mexico: Braceros’ Social Security · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Mark in Mexico writes that the Mexican government is having trouble counting “braceros”, the migrant workers given special work visas between 1942 and 1964.


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Mexico: News Roundup · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Coming back from maternity leave, the prolific Ana Maria Salazar summarizes some of the latest stories coming out of Mexico.


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Nepal: On blogging and bloggers · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Deepak's Diary on the third blogmeet in Nepal. “We are young, modern generation of urbanites who have left our backwater heritage behind. But, there are so many obstacles. One crucial among them is our own tendency: we don't want to take initiatives. Yet, when someone takes the risk and the road is less bumpy, we jump on the bandwagon.”


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Nigeria: dispute over presidential candidacy · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The Head Heeb on the dispute over the Nigerian Vice-President candidacy, “The root cause of the controversy is Article 137 of the constitution, which prohibits any person indicted for fraud or embezzlement from running for president, as well as similar clauses disqualifying indicted persons from standing for the national assembly or senate. In recent months, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has indicted dozens of candidates, and it has been increasingly accused of targeting opposition candidates who pose a threat to the ruling party.”


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Non-Political Reactions to Bush’s Visit to Guatemala · Global Voices
Renata Avila

Touring this week through Guatemala's blogosphere, it was interesting to read the reactions to President Bush's recent visit, which differed from the usual pronouncements against U.S. policy. Some Bloggers discussed the Hollywoodesque display of security agents, how protests interrupted their activities, and how the non grata visit to a sacred place was fixed with a “limpia” (purification) by indigenous groups.
CARPE DIEM said that to go inside his own house he had to identify himself. He also described his street during Bush's visit:
Mi calle está sitiada. Hay una malla de metal en un extremo y un obstáculo de concreto en otro. Hay Policías Nacionales, Policías Municipales, SAAS, Antimotines, soldados chapines y gringos, perros, bomberos, periodistas, curiosos y quién sabe qué más.
In her post titled “Men in shorts”, journalist and economist Marta Yolanda Díaz argues that she was confused when, in the place of Sunday joggers and families, she saw a couple of fellows pretending to be Guatemalans, when it was obvious that they were members of the US secret service of US:
A pesar del coraje que me inspira la violación flagrante a nuestro derecho a la libre locomoción que impunemente cometen los gobernantes con tal de facilitar la visita de George W. Bush, no pude evitar sonreírme, sin necesidad de ningún químico estimulante, al pensar en la ingenuidad de los duchos miembros del servicio secreto estadounidense, quienes creían pasar desapercibidos en un país donde el individuo promedio no es, precisamente, un hombre blanco, musculoso, de estatura arriba del 1.80 metros y rubio. No obstante, ellos se sentían un paisano cualquiera. Qué risa.
In the blog of professor, poet and journalist Ana, she is waiting until Bush is gone, and she is angry because half of her university students did not attend her lecture:
Más de la mitad de mis alumnos faltaron hoy a clase porque la libre locomoción se ha acabado en esta ciudad hasta entrada la noche, cuando el kaiser, digo el presidente Bush se haya ido a México.
I was walking out my favorite bookshop in the city, at the same time with two blond American girls. They bought books in Spanish, and were learning how to say Gracias! I can’t help thinking that all is relative, and that everything can help us in ways that we cannot measure, even an uncomfortable and useless visit by Bush. Perhaps those girls will some day become American politicians.

author: Renata Avila


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Pakistan: The Black Madonna · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Light Within on the authenticity of the Black Madonna in various cultures. “Believe it or not — she is black! Her features, in most instances, are non-European! And ironically, most of these images are located in Catholic churches in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Now I am not out to distort history but the veneration for the Black Madonna has never ceased, and she continues to be worshipped till this day.”


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Palestine: Hip Hip Concert  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian blogger Imaan, who is now based in Sweden, gives us a detailed account of how she was able to finish her housework, arrange for her children to be looked after and slip with a friend to attend a Palestinian hiphop concert here.  “Here's what I liked most about them; they were passionate! Far too many times I've witnessed apathy and hopelessness in the eyes of palestinians. Here on stage was pure passion. They are skilled. Apart from having a message and a coldmine to pour from (you need to be angry if you're gonna be good at hip hop in my humble opinion), they are skilled with lyrics, rhymes and melodies,” she writes.


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Palestine: In Memory of Tanya Reinhart · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian blogger Fayyad links to an article written in memory of Israeli linguist Tanya Reinhart, who died following a stroke in New York.


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Palestine: Report on Palestinian Women  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics issued a report about the situation of Palestinian women in the West Bank and Gaza on the occasion of Mother's Day, writes Palestinian blogger Amal A. Mother's Day is celebrated on March 21 in all Arab countries.


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Palestine: Update on Nablus  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“For four consecutive nights, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have invaded Balata Refugee Camp on the outskirts of Nablus, Occupied Palestine. They drove up and down the camp, threw percussion grenades and fired randomly at residents’ homes,” writes Bahrain-based Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah here.