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Lebanon: Random Posts During the Holidays · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Lebanon has been on a holiday the past week. Three holidays coincided together. This year happens to be one of those rare years when the liturgical calendars of the Orthodox Christians and Catholic Christians coincide. For that reason, all Lebanese Christian communities celebrated Easter together. Last week also witnessed the birthday of Prophet Mohammed. All Lebanese Moslem communities celebrated it. This may be the reason why Lebanese bloggers, in general, seem to be on a break. Nevertheless, the following are some selections of the past week’s posts. Happy festivities to all.
Let us start with some cartoons. Both the supporters of the government and the opposition have used the “I Love Life” campaign. In this cartoon, Amal simply asked the “I love lifer” to go “get a life”.  Shirin also uses this cartoon to express her opinion about the political forces and external interferences that she believes are having an influence in Lebanon.
The Jews of Lebanon blog is taking up the call by the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar which is asking any interested Lebanese Jew, whether in Lebanon or abroad, to speak about their experiences in Lebanon and their lives.
this is an unprecedented act of outreach and one we wish to utilize to the fullest. If you are interested in contributing to the piece [peace?], and really helping to shed light on the dire circumstances Lebanon’s Jews face and continue to face, and to help accelerate the noble cause of this evolving project within mainstream Lebanese media and society, please contact us immediately
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Lebanon sparked the following comments from Dr. Marcy Newman:
If Pelosi, Lantos, and the other congressional leaders traveling in their delegation wanted to understand what peace means to all parties they could have spent their time in Lebanon meeting with victims of Israel's war and she could have toured the areas of the country destroyed by Israel. She could have visited with Lebanese families affected by American-made cluster bombs. Such meetings could have helped Pelosi to respond to a report on her desk from the State Department, which states Israel may have violated legal agreements made with the U.S. in the 1970s when it dropped between 2.6 and 4 million American-made cluster munitions on Lebanon last summer in the last 72 hours of the war after the cease fire agreement had been brokered.
Ms Levantine has three posts that are a talk given by Dr Rami Zurayk, Professor of Ecosystem Management, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, entitled: “Disillusionment in Development” (Part one, part two, part three) In its conclusion the speaker states:
We, in Lebanon, are going through the same prise de conscience other activists are experiencing in Seattle, Rio, Dakar and Bangkok following their disillusionment with corporate development. This has to be looked at positively in order to use it as a catalyst for change. […]we need to review our experience, and develop our new paradigms, in collaboration with like minded activists and militants around the world. We must fight disillusionment with action rather than with despair.
Abu Kais expresses his doubts about the intentions of the chairperson of the Lebanese parliament, Nabih Berri, when he called on the Saudi leadership to convene a conciliation meeting for the rival Lebanese political leaders:
Berri is apparently going out of his way to create a rift between the Saudis and March 14—a role consistent with his status as mediator between the Assad regime and the kingdom of Saud. By moving the talks from Beirut to Riyadh, Berri hopes to corner March 14 and show them as anti-Saudi.
And finally from Layal, a expert’s explanation of why musical video clips shown on TV are more dangerous to kids than pornographic clips available on the internet.
During the meeting, A mother said that her son once told her about his friend who showed him porn movies in the internet, and how he got scared and hid under the table. The doctor said that it's a normal reaction from a kid in his age (9-12) who still didn't get any proper sex ed. What the doctor emphasized on was the modern video clips. She said that video clips are more dangerous because: […]
Be well till next week.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Namibia: webcams in Namibia · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Finally, Gerard locates webcams in Namibia:”The search finally bears fruit, thanks to NamibiaOnline.net: two Windhoek webcams are indeed online, giving you a nice view not only of the Olympia scenery but also of the current weather situation (Weatherunderground information about temperature, humidity, visibility and wind conditions are included on the page).”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Palestine: Debating the Refugee Issue · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Daoud Kuttab discusses bearing responsibility for the Palestinian refugee problem.

author: Deborah Ann Dilley


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Palestine: Historical Comparisons on the Right of Return · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Oranges and Olives poses some questions for Zionists who say that the Palestinians should assimilate out of the refugee camps: “But let us take a look at the issue from a different point of view: Didn't the Jews maintain their national aspiration for a return to the holy land? Did they not stay for 2000 years in the diaspora while maintaining themselves as a distinct group from those other groups they lived amongst?”


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Rwanda: Commemorating a 14-Year-Old Genocide · Global Voices
Alice Backer

April 7th marked the 14th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide and was an official day of remembrance in Rwanda. At Pour Une Afrique Plus Ambitieuse et Volontaire  Ravel Thombet wrote [Fr]: “Rwandan youth should free itself of this heavy heritage, born of human stupidity… In my upcoming book Interrogations Troublantes [Troubling Interrogations], I try to understand the why and how of this … sudden and unexplainable animosity…this avoidable genocide.”

author: Alice Backer


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Rwanda: Good Hotels · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Rwanda-based expat Guillaume posts [Fr] a guided tour of his favorite hotels and guest houses in the Rwandan cities of Kigali, Kibuye, Gisenyi, Butare and Cyangugu. It is a greatest hits list so even if you don't read  French, know that the cited hotels come recommended by a knowledgeable traveler.


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Rwanda: Rwanda to export 3D design system to US · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Rwanda is set to export 3D computer design system to manufacturing companies in the US: “Capitalising on the growing pool of skilled engineers, the government, with help from SolidWorks Corporation, a US firm is to start an ICT project called Gasabo 3D Design that will convert two dimension (2D) data into 3D models required by US manufacturing firms that use computer graphics.”


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Somalia: renewed conflict · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

No Longer at Ease blogs about renewed conflict in Somalia: “I met a journalist friend of mine from Mogadishu in Qatar about a week ago, he give me insight into the current situation there. There was relative calm in Mogadishu for the past few days, most of the bodies laying in the streets were buried. It's estimated that more than 380 people died in the recent fighting in Mogadishu while thousands have fled the city.”


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South Africa: Sharing culture: Bring ‘n Braai · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The Muso writes about a Free Culture event in South Africa: We’re pleased to announce an event the intellectual magnitude of which has not been seen in these parts for some time. Later this month, Larry Lessig, Founder of Creative Commons and Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, will be in Cape Town for a short visit. Their stay will culminate on the 20th of April at The Armchair Theatre in Observatory in an event that we are calling Bring ‘n Braai, a locally flavoured nod to the creative commons ethic of artistic collaboration.


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Syria: Celebrating Good Friday · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Iraqi blog In Iraq, Sex is like Snow, writes about watching the Good Friday celebrations in Damascus.


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Tanzania: tourism in Tanzania · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Jaduong writes about a  damaging postcard message about Tanzania's tourism sector shown on The Amazing Race reality TV:
“What prompted me to write about this is a “postcard” from The Amazing Race reality TV program that I came across on the web. Please view the postcard yourself here.
The card has so much (positive stuff) to say about Zanzibar as a tourist destination, but then at the very core of it, it drops a serious bomb on the Tanzania’s seriousness on tourism.”


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Turkey: Pastries and the Ottomans · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

What do the pastries Kipfel and Krapfen have to do with Ottoman history?  Turkish blogger Mavi Boncuk fills us in!


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Uganda: Blog Awards, Digital Activism and More · Global Voices
Joshua Goldstein

A historic moment in the Ugandan blogosphere occurred a few weeks ago as the winners of the 2006 Uganda Best of Blog awards were announced. Since February 2007, local bloggers have been gathering for the Uganda Bloggers Happy Hour, which is held monthly at Mateo's bar in downtown Kampala.
The awards were the brainchild of Jackfruity, an irreverent, civically minded blogger based in Kampala. The goal of the awards, according to Jackfruity, is “to recognize the incredible writing and art in this community.” The awards were decided based on open voting over a month long period, culminating in a ceremony at the March Happy Hour.  Awards were given to a diverse crowd of bloggers, ranging from a Ugandan woman living in India to a Danish woman living in northern Uganda.
Here are the winners of 2006 Uganda Best of Blogs Awards:
Uganda Blog of the Year:
I Have Left Copenhagen for Uganda
Best Writing:
Dear Mr. Mccourt (now Once Upon Ish)
Best Design:
Living Zack's Utopia
Best Photography:
Locus Amoenus: Gulu, Northern Uganda
Best Post:
mataachi inc.: Kim +10
The Mabira Forest Controversy
Ugandan bloggers have responded forcefully to the story that the Ugandan cabinet was considering giving away 7,100 hectares of Mabira Forest to private investor to turn into a sugarcane plantation. Mabira Forest is prominently located on the Kampala-Jinja Road and is Uganda's largest tropical forest. I Have Left Copenhagen for Uganda reports that a boycott of Lugozi Sugar, a brand owned by the company intent on developing Mabira Forest, is being promoted via text message:
Congratulations to the Ugandan civil society for reacting! This is a fine example of a non-violent action, which in no time has created massive attention among the population, not just on individual basis, but also institutions and organisations are reacting. And not just within Uganda, it is going global. Campaign-wise this is a very interesting tool; any person with a mobile and airtime can participate.
However, no one said it should be easy; Police Spokesman Asan Kasingye is now hunting the originators of the text messages encouraging the sugar-boycott. He states that this kind of boycott is economic sabotage, claiming probably rightfully, it is illegal in the country. He is prepared to carry out arrests. In my opinion this man's reaction is proving that the campaign is working! Guess the Uganda goverment is to learn about modern non-violent campaigning methods…(hopefully before it runs out out teargas).
In his post titled, “Battle to halt Mabira Forest giveaway taken to cyberspace,” Abubaker Basajjabaka shows the effectiveness of the SMS campaign:
With government playing hide and seek, on top of giving contradictory statements about the whole saga, environmentalists took their fight to FM Radio Stations, dgroups and have also resorted to using Short Message Services (SMS) to caution Ugandans to stop buying Lugazi Sugar if their desire to grab part of Mabira Forest is not dropped.
SMS have particularly been effective. Over the weekend, packets of Lugazi Sugar have been piling up in supermarkets besides some business owners withdrawing them from their stalls. Environmentalists have been arguing that apportioning part of Mabira Forest would bring more adverse effects than the sugar shortage. Opposition politicians have also picked up the slack and are busy de-campaigning government for seer lack of concern if they granted a deal like that.
Rainforest Blog calls for action to stop “Great Ugandan Mabira Rainforest Give-Away”:
Let the Ugandan Parliament know rainforests and their ecological services including water, climate and biodiversity are more important than sugar which can be grown elsewhere. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni continues to pursue legally dubious plans to destroy large areas of Uganda's last important intact and protected rainforests. Some one-third of Mabira Forest Reserve [search], about 7,000 hectares of an area which has been protected since 1932, will lose its protection for sugar cane production by the Mehta Group.
Daniel Kalinaki, a prominent journalist for the East African, weighs in on his personal blog:
In his book, Sowing the Mustard Seed, President Yoweri Museveni waxes lyrical about his life-long drive and ambition to liberate Ugandans politically and economically. The jury is still out on whether the political liberation, aka the ‘fundamental change’, is temporary or a mere papering over the cracks. Economic development, however, will certainly not come by pawning the family silver as giving away Mabira represents. To do so would be to see the forest for the trees, instead of seeing the trees for the forest.
Two other bloggers, Just Sayin and Only in Uganda, both write that concerns of economic development and environmental protection should be balanced.
There is an online petition to save the Mabira with over 9000 signatures.
Blatant Abuse of Power
After government agents raided Uganda's High Court to re-arrest six treason suspects who had been granted bail, In An African Minute wonders how seriously Ugandans should take the President's recent abuses of power:
My last Global Voices piece   seems to have brought to light an interesting conversation of how seriously to   take Museveni's   recent   excesses in suppressing opposition activity. On one hand are those who see   storm clouds fast approaching on the horizon.   James   can see Uganda becoming the next Zimbabwe.
On the other end of the spectrum is   27th   comrade, who worries little when Presidential storm troopers raid the High  Court after opposition candidates have been let off bail. Sadly, this   represents the attitude of a large portion of Ugandans, for whom state excess has become commonplace:
Unfortunately, by the standards of the continent, Museveni is a   darling. He has not gone the way of Mugabe, bull dozing entire slums and   eliminating entire opposition parties. Nor has Museveni gone the way of   Ethiopia's Zenawi, who blatantly kills protesters on the street of Addis,   spies excessively, and censors the Internet. However, no nation in East Africa is beyond falling back into   despotism, and Museveni's recent excesses should be treated as part of a   slippery slope. International pressure, and to the extent that it is possible,   domestic pressure, should continue to hold Museveni responsible for the   excesses of his regime.
Finally, sub-Saharan African Roundtable paints a colorful picture of Kampala's hectic streets:
Kampala is one of those cities that are bursting at the seams. And unlike Harare where they look for fuel solutions by giving policemen mountain bikes to patrol the streets, the Ugandan capital is the first and only place in the world where everyone and anyone can get away with anything illegal. If you were caught draining mercury from all hospital thermometers for instance, you can and probably will get away with it – do not ask me how. If you evicted one of the oldest schools in the country from prime land by saying you were going to build a world class hotel for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting [CHOGM] in November 2007, nothing would be done to you if you downed the buildings and left them to the fallow for three months – making that part of the city look like Mogadishu!

author: Joshua Goldstein


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Afghanistan: Soldiers in Video · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Afghanistanica discusses how soldiers on both sides of the current and earlier Soviet-mujahideen fighting are depicted in video commemorations.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Algeria: Future Arab Alliances with Israel? · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

The Moor Next Door talks about the Arab states and future alliances with Israel and against Iran: “A long road must be traveled until the major Arab states can win Israel's confidence. When I argued earlier that an alliance of Arab states be formed against Iran, I said that Israel should be kept on the sidelines of this effort, as it would undermine the credibility and viability of such an organization.”


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Arabeyes: When the Country Becomes YOUR Personal Farm · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This is the official portrait of Al Haj Abu Gamal. Look at it carefully for he is no ordinary villager. Abu Gamal translates to Gamal's father while Al Haj is an honorary title bestowed on Muslims who have been on pilgrimage to Mecca. And those two reasons aren't the only ones which give him the right to have an official photograph.
Al Haj Abu Gamal is the leader and owner of a farm estate, called El Ezba in the Egyptian dialect of Arabic, and he is also the main character in a satirical blog (Arabic), which is keeping some Egyptians in stitches nowadays as it mocks incidents and personalities which have incredible similarities to what is happening in contemporary Egypt.
So what does the anonymous blogger, who is entertaining us with tales and graphic images of  Al Haj Abu Gamal, his family, projects, visits abroad and expansive estate, has to say about his main character and life at El Ezba?
Abu Gamal Knows Everything
Among the highlights of the story so far are: a referendum on changing the constitution at El Ezba and preparations for Gamal's engagement. Al Haj Abu Gamal also attended a Summit for other nearby Ezba owners.
Gamal's Engagement
Meet Gamal, left, Al Haj Abu Gamal‘s pride and joy as well as El Ezba‘s future hereditary ruler, who is gearing up for a fairy-tale engagement.
The Referendum on El Ezba's Constitution
Some of the new clauses in the Constitution include:
Blogger's Reaction to El Ezba:
Blogger r, reviews the blog in The Arabist.
“Abu Gamal’s village, a little rural paradise nestling in the Egyptian countryside, governed and guided by village headman Mohammed Hosni (Al-Hagg Abu Gamal) and ably assisted by Al-Hagg Fathi Shurour and Kamal Al-Shatamouni (Fathi Evils and Kamal They-abused-me… ho ho). Things are hotting up in the village as it lurches into the new millenium: there’s much talk of — “praise be to the Prophet… wossit called again?”– Jamotratiya and other fiendishly modern ideas such as his latest wheeze, a new constitution. All he wants is a little gratitude. The “Little Bey” Gamal has been helping the great man get to grips with his Lab Tonb and the age of the Kumbuyutur (after a few trifling misunderstandings: the Hagg now realizes “Blog” isn’t a rude word), while Umm Gamal, First Lady of the Village, has been ear-bashing him about ladies’ rights. It’s tough at the top but the Hagg isn’t the type to give up: he’ll see it through.
“I spat coffee all over my keyboard when I first read this blog. It’s more than just satire: it’s a perfectly imagined and realized comic universe. Sorry for not providing more translation of the content but at risk of sounding like an Arabic snob (God rot them) much of the genius lies in the language. Anyway, I’ve pasted some of it below so you can get an idea. Reminds me of Muhammed Mustajab’s characters for those who know his stuff: violent, pompous, dishonest, idle rural types… it’s super,” explains r.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Armenia: Predictable politics and apathetic youth · Global Voices
Artur Papyan

A lot of things happening in the political landscape of Armenia are anticipated and predictable “by journalists and people on the street alike”, Notes from Hairenik states, building up his speculations around the fact, that this predictability in the Armenian politics leads to apathy, as people do not see their vote as a decisive factor in bringing change to the country:
When politics is predictable, apathy abound. Supposedly we just have to take things as they are reported by the Armenian media or by word of mouth. There’s nothing else to be done except to let it happen, at least that is the vibe I have been getting.
Despite the overall mode, the blogger insists, that it is the Armenian citizens who will ultimately determine the course of the elections. Still in another post here, Notes from Hairenik quotes The Armenian Weekly newspaper on the topic of political apathy, especially among the Armenian youth:
Indeed, the trend of people in their twenties is to leave, mostly because of the common belief that “Armenia is not a country” or that “there’s nothing here” to keep them. … Even if someone does have a well-paying job, for instance as a software programmer, leaving the country is nearly always considered a better option.
Still, the blogger is optimistic, and the youth movement Sksela which has been covered extensively in the Armenian blogosphere over the last couple of months has a lot to do with the fact it seems:
However, this is not entirely the case. Although they are a minority, some youth are clearly trying to become involved in civil society and build the democratic process. And they are trying to get the message out to those who are for the most part unaware.
Interestingly, EurasiaNet has recently published Onnik Krikorian’s article on Sksel a and attempts to target youth in Armenia by political parties such as Prosperous Armenia.
Youth in newspaper hats stand on street corners and read aloud from Armenian dailies. Masked young people march by parliament yelling “Don’t Eat Too Much!” at deputies. It’s election season in Armenia, and with the parliamentary vote just over a month away, one unconventional youth group is waging weekly war on widespread political apathy.

author: Artur Papyan


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Aruba: Shopping, Aruba-style  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Arubagirl gets nostalgic about La Linda , which, to her, represented the glorious disorganization of the Aruban shopping experience: “If one would want an old-fashioned kitchen appliance, La Linda would have it. If you need ponytail holders in obscure colors, La Linda would have it.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bahamas: Tribute for Winston Saunders · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Following the death of Bahamian Winston Saunders last year, Ringplay Productions has committed itself to re-establishing the Repertory Season which Saunders himself instituted in the 1980s in an effort to cultivate an ongoing theatre tradition in the Bahamas.


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Bangladesh: The Cricket Fan · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

a bengali in TO comes up with a list of likely give-aways of a person being a Bangladeshi cricket fan. “You also harbor grand delusions that no matter how bad the scoreboard is, someone will come and smash 100 runs in 30 balls or take 6 wickets in an over. You genuinely believe it will happen.”. Given some of their recent matches at the World Cup, the tribe of fans can only increase!

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Belarus: Gospels in Romany · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

April 8 was International Roma Day; TOL's Romantic writes about Gospels translated into Romany language, and posts an interview on the Belarusian Roma community with Nicolas Kalinin, Belarusian delegate to European Roma Travelers Forum.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Bolivia: Exodus Interrupted · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The exodus from Bolivia recently sped up due to a looming deadline set by the European Union.  Beginning on April 1, Bolivians wanting to enter Europe must now secure a visa to do so.  No longer could Bolivians that want to find greener pastures, particularly in Spain, could enter as easily as before.  With this deadline in mind, many Bolivians rushed to local travel agencies and airline ticket counters to purchase a seat on the next flight to Madrid, but were met with unexpected results.
Violeta, a blogger from Cochabamba, wrote in her blog Desnudate! [ES] about this mass migration from one’s homeland:
31 de marzo, fecha máxima para que los bolivianos podamos “huir” de nuestro país rumbo al sueño europeo, más precisamente a España donde supuestamente existirían mejores condiciones económicas y “mejor vida” según algunos “españobolivianos” (ahora mas españoles que bolivianos) que aseguran que nunca más volverán a Bolivia, nunca más volverán a un país de pobres, a un país sub-desarrollado, al país de las cero oportunidades.
To help facilitate this escape from the country, many unscrupulous individuals took advantage of paying customers.  Miguel Buitrago aka MABB wrote about this in his blog.
Making matters worst, there are plenty of people, such as travel agents, who are trying to speculate with the anguish of these people by continue selling tickets to Spain, even though there are no more places on the planes. The military has jumped in and has announced it would make available, on order of the government, airplanes to take Bolivians to Brasil so they could catch connecting flights. These tickets are supposed to cost $390 dollars, and that is on top of the between $1200 to $3000 dollars people already paid.
At the forefront of this mess, is the tanglement left by the airline Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (LAB), which had been in financial trouble over the past year.  The company had oversold flights to Madrid, and to add insult to injury, these flights that were schedule right before the April 1 deadline were cancelled due to a shortage of fuel.  Many dreams were dashed and administrators of this failed airline were taken into custody.
Andres Pucci lists reasons why the airline is on its last legs [ES], such as poor administration by VASP and Tito Asbun.  He also faults the current government’s lack of interest in resolving the crisis, as well as the higher prices for fuel. Customers were openly protesting these failings at the airports across the country, but the airline’s workers were also protesting past wages that have not been paid and a helplessness to improve their company.  A blog written by workers of LAB recently was resurrected called  OPINE acerca del Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano [ES] (Give your opinion regarding Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano. Blogger Carlos Gustavo Machicado Salas writes in Guccio’s [ES] that most likely that LAB, the oldest airline in South America, has its days numbered.
This time, last year:
Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano was also in the news, when workers took their protests to another level by occupying the runways in the airport in Cochabamba.  One blogger wrote, “if a miracle does not happen soon, then the final ending is in a matter of days or weeks.”  One year later, the same conclusion would be valid.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Bulgaria: Married to a Foreigner · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

As her husband waits for Bulgarian visa, Petya makes a public vow: “I swear, when Kyle and I outmaneuver the Bulgarian bureaucracy and convince everyone that it is perfectly ok to let a husband live in the same country as his wife, I will write the most comprehensive guide on how to marry a foreigner in Bulgaria.”


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CAFTA: Point of Disagreement in Costa Rica · Global Voices
Roy Rojas

Editor's Note: Juliana Rincón Parra has already shown us the extensive opposition to Costa Rica's ratification of the Central American Free Trade Agreement. However, San Jose-based Roy Rojas was adamant that we also show the support for CAFTA in Costa Rica and its blogosphere. The following post has been translated from its original Spanish.
In the last two years, in Central America and the Dominican Republic, a lot of political discussion has centered around the good and the bad that would come from the proposed free trade agreement with the United States. Out of all the countries involved, Costa Rica is the only one that has not ratified the Central American Free Trade Agreement. This is because an opposition of minority parties has tried to kidnap the Legislative Assembly and to obstruct all parliamentary progress.
What has in fact happened in the countries that have ratified – Nicaragua and El Salvador for example – is that exports to the US have increased significantly and unemployment has not gone up as opponents had warned. What is the fear keeping labor unions from supporting a deal with a country as consumerist as the United States, where, at the moment, Costa Rica already exports millions of dollars every year?
How is it that so many economists and experts on the subject, like those of the Inter-American Development Bank (I.A.D.B.) and Central American Bank of Economic Integration (BCIE), among others, could be mistaken and allegedly want to drag us into a catastrophe like the unions insist. This is simply inconceivable. We cannot close our doors to a great market like the United States, which, although we are currently insulated from by the “Initiative of the Caribbean Account”, this program could be eliminated at any time. And we would be left unable to export our agricultural products, technologies, and textiles to a market that feeds thousands of Costa Ricans.
According to data provided by the Ministry of Economy, 13,000 people could be unemployed with the exit of textile manufacturers from the country as it would be impossible to compete with other manufacturing countries that are able to export their products, without tariffs, to the United States. These companies leaving Costa Rica would then install in some other country of the region that has ratified the treaty. At the moment, in some zones of Costa Rica, the textile sector provides almost 78% of employment. In 2007, textile exports from Costa Rica diminished 11% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, in countries of the region that are part of CAFTA, textile exports have increased 17%, which makes us wonder if the treaty really wouldn't benefit us.
Now, one of the subjects that has been most controversial is the opening of the telecommunications industry to more competition (which does not equate to privatization). Many points of view exist about the topic, such as in Fusil de Chispas [ES], which frequently makes references to data from other countries where there are multiple suppliers of telecom services, such as this post pointing readers [ES] to an article from the online magazine Confidential, which points out the low tariffs that we have in Costa Rica [ES], even though we are third in cell phone use per capita worldwide.
En el año 2000, la tarifa por el servicio celular en Costa Rica era la más baja de Centroamérica, y estaba más de 50% por debajo de la segunda más barata, la salvadoreña. Así consta en un completo informe publicado entonces por la revista online Confidencial, sobre la calidad del servicio ofrecido por BellSouth en Nicaragua.
And so, if we are clear that we will not have privatization, and what we will have is just more competition, then why is there fear of letting other companies offer cellular and internet service? If the current provider, ICE, is the cheapest of the region and practically the world, than what does it matter if others come also? Competition benefits all of the users. ICE would likely improve their service and foreign service providers would have to compete with their low prices. The Association of Young people for the Development [ES], an organization of Costa Rican youths, has a weblog that deals mostly with the free trade agreement (State Universities and CAFTA [ES], State-investor Arbitration [ES], Where is our progress? [ES] , etc), It shows a clear example of the diversity of opinions on the topic of free trade. When the moment arrives for deciding, nobody it can say there was no information.
Supporting the free trade agreement does not mean that we support the North American government. Nor that we agree with its manifold international policies. But we recognize that, as a small country, we need a commercial partner. We need their market and we need a treaty which guarantees the right to their market which are now without control. With a treaty, we have a “contract” that would not allow them from preventing our entrance in the future.

author: Roy Rojas


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Central Asia: Aral’s Cost · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Bonnie Boyd begins a series of posts on the Aral Sea by discussing how we calculate the cost of the sea's loss.


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Central Asia & Caucasus: Corporate Philanthropy · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

At neweurasia, Marianna argues that NGOs need to develop a culture of giving across Central Asia and the Caucasus to encourage local corporate support of the work that NGOs do.


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China: Memedia Issue 3: New century for grassroots media · Global Voices
Nan Yang

Another benchmark for the vibrant Chinese blogsphere, key bloggers and big names have come together to form Memedia, home to a collectively-written weekly roundup of the biggest stories from the Chinese blogsphere. Writes Virtual China's Lyn Jeffery:
Coming from the combination of three terms, Me/Meme/Media. Memedia will provide interesting things, important things, diverse things, for us to enjoy together….
Here's a translation of Memedia's third weekly issue:
[科技和互联网]
如何从一个被监控的铅封的计算机中偷取数据？自然有大坏蛋帮你想办法 ！ 谷歌继续被阉割，上海市委书记和邓小平等文字陆续从谷歌的世界里彻底消失 。BlogSpot也再次无法访问，虽然还有访问的方法，但是BlogSpot的恢复不知道google.cn的公关同志能否解决？
我们在这闹腾Me Media（草根媒体），不知在大洋的彼方，这早已成为生活的一部分。荷兰则有更有趣的“无策划、无主持、自行组织的在线及线下”的unDEAF活动。但是谈到网络开放与可访问性，Mozilla如是说。而GTalk和msn, yahoo, ICQ, QQ等IM的互通，现在也终于可以做到了（带套访问）。国内令人无语的”备案”，本想取经的美国则决定：“政治博客无需向政府登记” ，不过个人Blogger并不安生，甚至受到死亡威胁 ，看来哪里都有坏蛋 。
版权对互联网的影响越来越大，超星的倒下是一个例证吗？据说 VeryCD自罚八万 ，这对早日实现共产主义或有好处 ？而电子地图也开始纳入监管 。另一方面，新版GPLv3草案则在一片争吵声中发布。
[社会]
社会的良心和脊梁不会折断，在举国沉默的时候，举世正在关注。 而Blogger 英雄 Zola已经站在了最前线，发回关于钉子户事件的直接报道 ，但是独立blogger等同于公民记者的概念么？herock提出了独立Blogger+专业训练＝公民记者，但是老外的态度表明，这或许还有很长的路要走。二十四道过滤的纯净水虽然好，但是富含矿物的自然泉水不是更好么？
[周曙光和吴苹] zola如他自称的那样，他是一个凭直觉做事的愤青，他居然从湖南坐了两天两夜火车到了重庆，试图以Blogger的身份报道 “最牛钉子户”事件，虽然他缺乏专业的新闻知识，他凭一张与最牛维权户的女主人合影的照片居然引起广泛关注，以至于走在重庆被陌生的重庆居民认出来，居然成功的实现了自己的目的：一夜成名。他果然被《南方都市报》采访报道了，而且被国内外众多媒体记者联系上。Zola终于实现了自己此行的部分目的 。当然，要来一份人物专访也还有很多办法。看来2007年特色blogger的赞助资金已经入手地十拿九稳了。他还被网友主动要求赞助他在重庆的行动，并且得到1900多元的赞助，提供赞助的有北京的网友，有深圳的不留名人士，甚至有从重庆郊区赶来见上一面只为赞助Zola的中年人，还有黑龙江的不知名的网友，甚至有日本美国德国的华人朋友。 这些人中有些是中文Blogger，有些是陌生人，一个普通青年的冲动行为，一个自我娱乐顺便娱乐大众的非典型愤青，居然能够引起这么大的反响，有上百篇热情的blogpost在热情地支持和讨论着的zola，不能不让人相信把政治变得娱乐化才是最好的传播方式，难免让人考虑个人媒体的影响力， 中国的个人媒体从此将进入公众视线？
是非成败转头空，几度夕阳红，谭伯牛面对胡适和秦桧或远或近的身影，一息三叹。
现在这个社会说话都要讲证据的，但是说过的话可不要想能随便否认，不然你或许会如此尴尬。
中国省市领导大调整 ，书记们忙着从一个州搬到另一个州，看来快达到G点了。其实施瓦辛格还是挺愿意到华盛顿的，可惜他没有这个福分，没有生在中国。
日本首相又一次在合时的时间向慰安妇道歉 ，其实他应当先为自己先前的言论道歉，然后再道歉，否则要陷入道歉的死循环。不过还好，中国的Blogger们并不关心这些问题了，腻烦了。
[商业]
中国电信话费业务缩水，所以抱怨3G牌照推迟 。中国电信业掷骰子来决定重组方案，有人赌联通将被肢解，或者是谣言，都无所谓，反正是左面的口袋进入右面的口袋，不必热血沸腾。淘宝可能会对商家收费了，布棉提出了很好的建议，招数和QQ的收费方式差不多。麦田再次提醒不要人人都来吹泡泡。
Twitter在本周还是热门的讨论话题，越来越多的人在上面叽叽咕咕，你甚至能够通过地图看到世界各地的人们正在做着什么，而国内也涌现出更多同类应用。
[生活娱乐]
很有趣,近年来主管官员开始爱出风头了,从邬书林到龙新民到张宏森。他们说出来的话都很奇怪，大概从来内部传达如此，可惜公民媒体时代，没有不透风的墙，透出来就被人笑话。动物的命运比人好不到哪里去，海豹宝宝的三种不同生存处境也让我们看到了事态炎凉，有人还能够关注他们的分布已经很不容易了，如果能够变废为宝，把熊猫大便当作礼品 ，真算是创意了 。
Robert无法抑制自己的声带，想说这样一句话：Jerry, hope is a good thing. 为什么呢？因为一些人总会自虐，看来工作压力再重，也要学学作自己心灵的主人。“学而时习之”，学是上学，习就是复习，是这样的么？看来我们都被那些靠教书度日的人骗地太惨了。不过，他们的错，他们不知道。
本周八卦，刘德华的歌迷追星苦苦十八年直到父亲卖肾跳海家破人亡，她的心理健康有没有问题呢？在这个娱乐致死的年代，看来发生什么都正常。
Odds and ends of this week. An Andy Lau's fan, a girl who has been chasing him for 18 years, and her father committed suicide by drowning himself in the sea. Is she suffering from psychological illness? In the era of entertaining ourselves to death, it looks like normal whatever happens.

author: Nan Yang


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Egypt: Making Blogging Friends · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Egyptian blogger Back to Life, Free dedicates her post to fostering blogging friendships.


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Eritrea: Female Genital Mutilation Outlawed · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Addax posts an article in English announcing the Eritrean government's decision to outlaw female genital mutilation. Adds the blogger [Fr]: “Note that this practice is now condemned by the African Charter of Human Rights in its Article 5.”


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Georgia: Congressmen in Tbilisi · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Cuttino Alexander writes  about meeting with a US Congressional delegation visiting Georgia.


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Guyana: Brown Dawg and Cricket Security  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Security at the ICC World Cup Cricket tournament is tight – Part 2 of Brown Dawg's post on Guyana Gyal‘s blog explains why.


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Guyana, Jamaica: Driving Miss Crazy?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Living Guyana drives home his point about the local taxi drivers: “Clearly, the Guyana taxi industry lives by two codes – ‘we'll get you there – dead or alive’ and ‘we'll brake when we hit something'”.  And the Jamaican blogger at Stories of Me recounts his own driving woes: “Driving in Jamaica is about self preservation – ‘How can I get from point A to point B without the aid of an ambulance or a hearse?'”


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Haiti: Cost of Dying · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuaderno Latinoamericano links to an Associated Press story on the high cost of dying in Haiti: “The cost of a funeral is more than most Haitians make in a year, and it costs a good amount just to pick up the body from the morgue.”


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India: Hale-Bopp, the world and I · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Windy Skies remembers a fascinating time in 1997 when the Hale-Bopp comet last came around. “I wondered if someone like me sat on this very hill when the comet last visited Earth over 4,000 years ago and as I looked up at the stars twinkling away mischievously I was certain there were many among them so far away that I was seeing them now as they existed at the birth of mankind.”


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Iraq: Meeting an Iranian in a Foreign Land · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

What happens when an Iraqi and an Iranian meet on foreign soil? Madly in Love With Iraq tells us.


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Israel: Last Day of Passover · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Jerusalem Wanderings posts about her last day of Passover: “I decided to join my messianic Jewish friends in a much more subdued Easter Sunday service at the Garden Tomb – where Protestants believe Jesus was buried. They said it was an evangelical service in Arabic, which I thought was gonna be kind of funky.”


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Jordanian Blogosphere: An Iris Also Blooms · Global Voices
Naseem Tarawnah

The seasons are moving forward, the weather is moving forward, and the clocks have all sprung forward for spring. But controversy is in the air these past few weeks on the Jordanian blogosphere…
The Arab Observer has a bone to pick with people who harass women on the street, while Hala looks at the double standards of so called ‘honor crimes’ in Jordan. Meanwhile, Tamara tuned into a local religious radio station only to shocked to hear a sheik legitimizing female circumcision, calling it mandatory in Islam!
“Using an official radio station to legitimize female genital mutilation is outrageous. When the sheikh said that it is mandatory in Islam, he showed his own ignorance of the religion.”
Elsewhere, the yet to be launched Jordanian channel ATV will host a show called “Ween el Modeir”, an Arabized version of “Boss Swap”. The first company on the pilot episode will be Menhaj, where blogger Amjad Mahfouz works as the Multimedia Director! Meanwhile Frances Goodman is on the search for Jordan's national flower, the Black Iris, across the kingdom.
more
Religiously speaking: Easter can sometimes be passed off as another commercialized holiday, some Jordanian bloggers prove celebrating Easter in Jordan can be a spiritual experience.
“I don't want a Jewish doctor to see me”
The request from Hareega's sick patient in Arizona was a bit shocking to him, forcing him to conclude: “If I refuse to be discriminated against I should not accept it to others and prevent it if possible. Racism is racism is racism.” Naseem has his own struggles with the “J” word.
Kilany got a wake up call from a man in Jordan's northern city, Ajloun, that reminded him of the many people living in poverty outside our capital, Amman. “There must be something to be done… Jordan is not only Amman, it is certainly not only West Amman… we sometimes forget that”. Meanwhile, blogger Rain Dancer met a man from another northern city, Jerash, who complained that the municipality had sprayed for bugs amongst the famous Roman ruins and in the process prevented wildflowers from growing.
In the political arena: the new political parties law has been met with a lot of resentment by the opposition. Jordanian bloggers give their take on the reaction to the law and what it will mean for the upcoming elections.
While Naseem finds the government's anti-child labor campaigns a bit hypocritical, Khalaf points to another instance of hypocrisy with the government's inability to handle corruption in Jordan despite their anti-corruption calls:
“Now, the failure of the grand scheme to eradicate corruption gives pause.  Does not corruption exist in Jordan? Are the wrong cases focused on, in order to hide real corruption?  How useful are General Accounting Bureau reports? It seems that upon follow up, many of their allegations do not add up to real corruption.”
In light of the King's decision to scrap two public holidays earlier this year, Qwaider asks: “What is so wrong with employees getting some time off?” Meanwhile, Mohanned is confused over the mixed signals the government has been sending regarding energy policies.
Haitham Sabbah has plenty to talk about when it comes to Palestine and history this month as April is the graveyard of the Jenin and Deir Yassin massacres, while Iman has a word or two to say about an anti-occupation ad that was initially refused for being “inflammatory”.
Arabian Business magazine released its annual Power 100: a list of the world's most influential Arabs. While Lina searches for reasons to explain the presence of only two Jordanians on the list, Batir thinks the list has missed some key Arab personalities.
In other news: Lina has just recently read Abdul Rahman Munif's book “Story of a City” that tells the story of Amman in the 1940's; pushing her to look at Jordan's capital in a different way. Read her interesting review.
A Moroccan film festival has chosen filmmaker Rifqi Assaf's “The Last Patch” to be a part of the programme, while Samer has launched a new events section on his blog to keep track of the cultural happenings around town.
Ahmad Humeid has an interesting post on the strange branding practices in Jordan that range from the cultural to the religious. And lastly, a few weeks ago the French Cultural Center launched Le Carnaval in Jabal Lwebdeh and Salam has an interesting review of the event complete with a variety of pictures.

author: Naseem Tarawnah


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Kazakhstan: Jury Deliberation · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Leila reports on the starts of jury trials in Kazakhstan.


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Kyrgyzstan: Protests Begin · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Teo Kaye reports that protests against President Kurmanbek Bakiev have begun in cities across northern Kyrgyzstan, but that turnout is not as high as press accounts claim it to be.


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Kyrgyzstan: Tajikistan in the 90s · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Vadim draws parallels between Tajik politics in the 1990s and the current political situation in Kyrgyzstan, saying that Kyrgyzstan must do what it can to avoid making the mistakes Tajikistan did.


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Latvia: “Language Issue” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

All About Latvia discusses “the language issue.”


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Lithuania: Dance Show · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Music and Life – Everywhere! reviews a Lithuanian dance show Zmones (“People”), choreographed by Anzelika Cholina.


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Moldova: American Concert · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Public Policy Watch writes about American music in Moldova: “Beside providing funding for this event, the US Government has physically participated in the concert: the US Ambassador in Moldova performed a highly significant and emotional part of Lincoln Portrait: he recited excerpts from the famous public speeches and addresses of Abraham Lincoln […]”


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Nepal: The Foolish Hope · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Blogdai bites with characteristic sharpness on the foolish and fond hope that the Maoists may actually change their ways. “During every step of this process, Prachanda has been unbowed, uncompromising and unwavering in his Maoist ideology. What ridiculous sliver of unfounded hope leads us to believe that he would ever change his ways?”


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Pakistan: What is a “Progressive Muslim”? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

iFaqeer attempts unpacking the various adjectives used for Muslims, and wonders what a Progressive Muslim is. “There is one universally applicable Islam. But it is a comprehensive “deen”, a complete way of existing in this world. It is “jaama'e” (comprehensive) and has a complete code for every human being in every place and time. Each of us understands it and adopts it as a function of our respective personalities, temperaments, and circumstances.”


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Presenting – the new Global Voices web site! · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

If you’ve visited the Global Voices web site before, you may notice that we look a little different. If this is your first time, you'll be happy to know that you’re looking at our new site design, which was launched on Monday 9 April, 2007.
We’ve worked hard to create a new streamlined, simplified and enhanced version of the site to make the reporting we do that much easier to follow and understand. We have removed the less necessary parts and fine-tuned confusing features. Even more exciting, we've developed new tools to help you sort through the vast quantity of material posted daily by our authors and editors. Here's an overview of our new features:
The Shelf
Those who remember the old design may recall the large country and topic clouds in green and blue boxes at the top of the page. These no longer occupy the whole top of the page, but they’re still easily accessible from what we call the “shelf,” an animated navigation tool at the very top of the page. Click any of the links and the shelf will roll down instantly, offering you all possible countries, topics, authors and search options – all without having to reload the page. Try it yourself! (Use the black and white arrow to hide the panel when you’re done.)
Share us!
At the bottom of each post, just above the comments, we've added a “share this” link. Click on the link to send the article instantly to your favorite social bookmarking site (e.g. del.icio.us, Digg), or email it to a friend.
Navigation by Media and Region
At GV we try to showcase the widest array of citizen media possible: our articles often include photos, embedded video and audio. Clicking on any of the new media icons will take you directly to a list of posts including either video, audio or photographic content. Each media page has its own RSS feed.
Next to the media icons are our new contextual navigation pull-down menus, which allow you to narrow down your Global Voices search to a specific region or topic.
Translation Listings
With the advent of our “Lingua” sites, Global Voices content is now being translated by our Lingua volunteers into six languages (and counting!). Entries on the main GV site are now accompanied by a list of the languages they've been translated into, allowing you to switch to your preferred language (if it's available) or simply to brush up on your French or Bangla while visiting the site.
The Map
Our shiniest new toy, the map, offers a geographical perspective and looking glass for the international content on GV. On each page you'll see the map of a country or region relevant to what you're looking at. By rolling your mouse over the  image you'll see actual maps of that country and be able to see the names of surrounding countries by rolling over their dots. Click on a country's dot and you'll find yourself on the GV page for that country. Get lost on the other side of the planet or just check out your neighbors. We hope you have as much fun with this thing as we do!

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Russia: Excerpt from “The Real Siberia” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Siberian Light posts the first excerpt from John Foster Fraser’s account of his 1901 trip from Moscow to Vladivostok, “The Real Siberia.” More to come.


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Russia: New Silicon Valley in Siberia? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Novosibirsk is no “new Silicon Valley,” writes Ruminations on Russia – because the former is “home to a unique successful risk-taking culture” and the latter is home “to unfeasibly large mosquitos.”


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Slovenia: 35 Facts About Slovenes · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Glory of Carniola posts “35 facts about Slovenes” – which “seem to be written from the perspective of second-generation Slovenian immigrants, presumably in the U.S. (The big clue being the use of Fahrenheit in number ten.)”


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Slovenia: “Best of the Slobs” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Three weeks of The Glory of Carniola‘s picks from Slovenian blogs – here, here, and here.


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Slovenia: Webcams and Photos · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Glory of Carniola links to a collection of webcams around Slovenia, and to an online gathering place for some 500 Slovenian photographers.


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Sri Lanka: Why SAARC? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

True Sri Lankan doesn't quite see the point in SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) “The leaders travel lavishly and stay in lavish hotels during the period of the summit and spend quite a sum of the regions citizens tax money on this puppet summit.”


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Touring Libyan Blogs:Nalut Spring festival, mountain bikes in Libya, maturity, headless a short story, abuse of maids, and true love · Global Voices
Fozia Mohamed

Another week in Libyan  blogs, this week Khadijateri attended the Nalut Spring Festival, all I can say that it is incredible, the photos. the people, the adventures. I made a promise to go next year, how can anyone miss such beauty ?
“Nalut is in the Nafusa Mountains and is approximately 2,000 feet (610 M) above sea level.Halfway up the mountain that leads to the city of Nalut a welcome station was prepared for travellers entering the city. A tent was set up next to a small mosque with a group of people serving dates, fresh buttermilk and ibsisa (a mixture of spices and nuts that are roasted and ground into a fine powder. Oil and water is added and it's mixed into a paste). Clean bathrooms, fresh water and a sitting area were provided for women and men. The welcoming committee had answers to any questions that visitors might have and it was a lovely beginning to the generous hospitality offered by the people of Nalut.”
Apparently there is even mountain biking in Nalut, I am pleasantly surprised  to see this .
Braveheart has raised important issues with his honest post ‘are Libyan mature enough’ . Reading through it I felt  he was showing every negative aspect of the Libyan personality and our failures. We needed someone to put a mirror to our face and call these by their names. I think that piece should be printed out and framed. The commenters of course remind us that there is good and bad in every society, but seriously this post is a masterstroke !
“Before I came here I have a picture about Libyan abroad, they are intelligent, smart, hard worker and the most important thing I thought they are civilized people, to be honest I was chocked, the first thing the Libyan mind doesn’t change any more still close on itself , I’m rarely I met Libyans has friends from other nationality, they try to find their friends from the same city or even the street in Libya and that is it , no more relation no need to interact with other cultures , I think being in England is big chance to know people from every where and know how they think, eat, sing every thing about them. But we Libyan still close mind and when u ask some one why u don’t make friends from other nationalities the answer will be what I’ll benefit from them?[sic]”
The very talented Ghazi Gheblawi is entertaining us again with one of his short stories, this time it is called Headless ! The plot plays on the fear of loosing our head figuratively speaking with so much to do in this busy life.
“I couldn’t see myself. There was only dark emptiness…!!!
I walked to the flat's front door, facing a stillborn, depressing morning. I tried to touch my eyes, but there was nothing. Only a smooth studded neck. When did I lose my head?!! And what made me more astonished is that I found myself walking in the streets without bumping into things. But when and where did I lose my head..??!! I have the desire to eat without a mouth, to hear dirty jokes without ears. But when and where did I lose my damn head??!!”
Unconventional is exploring the abuse of domestic help by some Arabs and is hoping that this does not spread to Libya.
“[..]the more I hear how servants are treated in Arabic countries, the more I cringe inside. I am sure there are exceptions to every rule, but how did we go from Islam stripping us of our color and race in front of God to considering ourselves in some way racially superior. It absolutely boggles my mind.”
I will now live you with Libyan Violet, who is dubbed Libyan Venus by one of her readers because she seems to be searching all the time for the one true love . She is back from her hiatus with a post from the writing of an Iranian poet Sheema Kalbasi .
“I want to have a heart that has one city's name on it, the city where you ARE at any given time. I have been handed this love generation after generation to find you somewhere close or even from far to let you know of the truth. ” By Sheema Kalbasi

author: Fozia Mohamed


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Trinidad, Guyana: Roti Musings · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Just in case you were confused about the different types of roti (a soft, flour-based nan that is a staple of Indo-Caribbean cooking) Lifespan of a Chennette clears things up.


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Turkey: Friendship Concert Cancelled by Armenian Threats · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Amerikan Turk notes the cancelled Turkish-Armenian Concert because of threats to the musicians by the local Armenian community.


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Ukraine: Forecasts · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Taras Kuzio thinks there's a chance for Yulia Tymoshenko to become Ukraine's prime minister again.


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Yemen: Saving the Somali Refugees · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Moments in Words from Hadhramout writes about the situation of Somali refugees in Yemen.


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Afghanistan: Fallout from Ajmal Naqshbandi’s Death · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Safrang analyzes the ways in which the government of Afghanistan is and is not responsible for the death of Ajmal Naqshbandi.


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Amatomu: The South African blogosphere, sorted · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“Dear friends on the South African blogosphere, it is with great pride and a degree of trepidation that I announce the public alpha test of Amatomu.com,” writes Vincent Maher, officially announcing the launching of Amatomu. Blogger Tyler Reed, unaware that Amatomu was in a closed alpha testing phase, wrote about it before it went public alpha. According to Vincent, it was a code on on a test blog, which led Tyler to discover it:
It was always going to be hard to keep something like this a secret, but those we invited managed to stay quiet for more than a week,” he says. Word got out when South African blogger and Global Voices author Tyler Reed, who was unaware of the initial secrecy, discovered code on a test blog and wrote a review of the site on his own blog, www.tylerreed.co.za.
Amatomu is a new, dynamic South African blog aggregator hosted by The Mail & Guardian Online. Some bloggers have called it “South Africa's Technorati”.
The Mail & Guardian‘s online strategists and bloggers, Vincent Maher and Mathew Buckland are the key figures behind Amatomu.
“This has been more than a website for Vinnie and I, but a passion,” writes Mathew Buckland:
It was part of what we call our “Lab” projects at M&G (modelled on the Google Labs concept), which we have created via a rapid development process without the usual project plans, workflow diagrams, specs, storyboards etc etc… It’s not for the faint hearted.
Amatomu is something that has been developed on weekends, early mornings and that has had Vince and I monitoring it late into the evenings from our homes and even Vince rushing to the office on a particular late Sunday evening. What has been particularly great, is to see the same amount of passion for it by the local blogging community.
The name Amatomu, which means “reins” in isiZulu, was the subject of considerable debate before it was eventually chosen:
Amatomu, the name we eventually settled on, was hotly debated. The name means “reins” in isiZulu and I was a strong proponent of it because of the original desire to steer more mainstream traffic towards the blogosphere. Matthew was concerned that the name might imply some sort of punitive element but I managed to win that argument, only just, by explaining the difference between a crop, a bit and the reins (not that I know much about equestrian sports LOL).
Amatomu was designed with the primary objective of providing an organized perspective of the South African blogosphere. Sorting it out:
The general idea was that we wanted to provide some sort of destination for our readers that would give them an organized perspective of the South Afrian blogosphere, and offer some useful services to bloggers without treading on the toes of existing services like Muti, which we support completely.
One sentence describes Amatomu: “The South African blogosphere, sorted.” Ethan Zuckerman explains the sorting:
The sorting refers to the site’s ranked lists, which list blogs in terms of their popularity in terms of unique visitors. Amatomu is able to calculate this by asking participating bloggers to put a badge on their sites – by analyzing how many users see this badge, the system can calculate how many readers see the blog.
Features: Graphing the buzz, calculating rankings, tracking traffic
Amatomu ranks, categorizes and sorts out South African blogs using criteria: Tag Cloud, Top 100 Blogs (using unique readers as main indicator), Hot Right Now, Trends, Blog Search, Latest Blog Posts and Blog Charts.
According to Mathew Buckland, they have recently enabled Amatomu to graph the buzz in the South African blogosphere:
We’ve added more graphing on amatomu.com’s search results. It tracks activity of search keywords over a 30-day period and then graphs the buzz. These are new graphs we added together with the others launched on overall blogosphere trends and individual blogger profiles on top posts etc…
Another feature tracks traffic sent to one's blog from Amatomu:
Today we added a little somethign extra to Amatomu that tracks how much raffic we send to your blog.  That figure is now listed on your stats page and after a week we will start graphing that too, for your visual pleasure.
At the moment my blog gets about 15% of its traffic from Amatomu and that’s roughly the figure I hear from others too.  Keep in mind that once we go public with the site and link it from the Mail & Guardian Online that figure will increase dramatically.
Vincent explains how rankings are calculated:
When you register you’re asked to put a little bit of code in your template. What that does is it tracks the pages and unique visitors to your site. We’re still working on the way that tracking happens but it seems to be working fairly well so far. From this data we calculate the most popular blogs over 24 hours, 7 days and one month, and we also track the most popular posts.
If it ain't there, it does not exist: Look, quickly!
Both South African and non-South African bloggers’ reaction to Amatomu has been overwhelmingly positive. FACareers put it this way, “If it ain't there, it does not exist”:
If you need to stay abreast on local happenings, you’ll find it all there. Not just news, but information, networking possibilities, new developments, and so much more are readily available through a singular platform.
I’d go as far as to say, if it ain’t there, it doesn’t exist. (Well, that is the idea behind the product, and I’m sure it won’t be too long before my statement is completely true)
Bizcommunity.com calls Amatomu, a searchable blog directory:
Amatomu.com collects South African blog content and measures traffic to local blogs, displaying the top 10 and top 100 blogs by their popularity. The site also organises blogs into various categories such as media and marketing, business, politics, technology, life, sport and entertainment, effectively turning it into a searchable blog directory.
Nick thinks it is pretty cool that Steve Rubel, a marketing strategist and senior vice-president at Eldeman  links to Amatomu:
I subscribe to Steve Rubel’s RSS feed and just noticed that he has linked to Amatomu in his del.icio.us links. That is super cool. Maybe I am missing something and a bit slow on this post, but maybe the dudes at Amatomu haven’t noticed it yet!
I think it’s pretty cool.
Alwyn calls Amatomu graphs “a serious eye candy”:
Amatomu added some seriously good looking graphs to the front page and even more on the stats page for your blog, indicating the page impressions for each of your blog posts, and over 3 different periods, the last 24 hours, last 7 days, and last 30 days.
It gives you a good insight into the popularity of each of your posts that you’d typically only know if every visitor left a comment (which we all know they don’t)
Swimgeek compares watching Top 100 blogs in South Africa to stock trading:
I’ve been looking at the Amatomu Top 100 blogs in SA list a few times over the last week. It’s a bit like day-trading.. watching your blog stock move. I’m in the top 40 today.
Top 100 blogs in South Africa, really nice to see.
Adelaide declares: I am the No. 10, look quickly:
Ok, while it lasts, look quickly: I'm the No. 10 Life Blog on the new South African blogosphere site, Amatomu.
Although Amatomu has been described as the Technorati of South Africa, Eish argues that it is more navigable than its “big brother”:
The internet universe is so immense that blogs originating from South Africa are pretty darn hard to find. Since discovering Amatomu that has all changed for me. It's been referred to by some as the Technorati of South Africa, but I don't know if it's just me, but I find it way more usable than it's ‘big brother.’
It's has easy to navigate tabs which start with a ‘full’ top 500 listing (that oddly stops at 200!?). But then you can check through the top blogs by traffic for the past 24 hours, 7 days & month. The same can be done for each of the categories. It has a sidebar which lists new postings from registered blogs as they are posted. There is also a column for newest blogs and a “Zeitgeist” widget which displays most popular topics being blogged on the SA blogosphere.
As a blogger it's simple to register and as the rankings are calculated on actual traffic figures it's a fun way to keep tabs of visitor numbers in relation to fellow SA bloggers.
Charl finds Amatomu a good alternative to Technorati, which is too large for South Africa:
Technorati is simply too large for South Africans to make an impact. Amatomu gives us even playing field and allows us to watch what's happening locally. I would certainly like to see this project grow and improve, as I'm sure it will.
Stii uses Amatomu to find out how healthy the South African blogging community is:
If you go onto Amatomu, you will see that whatever SA blog you visit from there has got some opinion. If not opinion, then at least some form of originality. I’ve never seen such spamming happening yet in the SA blogosphere. (Apart from the lovely daily links that seems to be soooo popular! At least even there opinions about the links are given in the form of a one-liner.) When this does happen (hopefully never, although that might be wishful thinking) we will have bigger problems. Crap like that detracts from a blogging community in more ways than one. There is nothing more appalling than hitting a blog that only offers you a link to another… PUKE!
Through Amatomu, Laurence notices how apolitical the South African blogosphere is:
On the subject of Amatomu: it also left me rather surprised at how apolitical the South African blogosphere is. The US blogosphere is far less weighted towards political blogs than it once was, but even so, three out of the the Technorati Top 10 are political. On the Amatomu Top 10, it's zero. I wonder why?
Khanya looks at race and blogging in South Africa. “Are there black bloggers in South Africa? If there are, why are they not showing up on Amatomu?”, Khanya asks:
Look at South African blog aggregator sites like Amatomu, and the vast majority of the bloggers there are white. And this in spite of the fact that it is run by the Mail & Guardian newspaper, which has several black journalists. So if there are black bloggers out there, why aren’t they showing up on Amatomu?
The last thing Gino would like to see is Amatomu becoming an aggregator for “A-list bloggers”:
As more blogs get added to the system, it will be interesting to see how Amatomu helps users discover new blogs that are just starting out, in turn generating some of the traffic and links to these new blogs as well. This is important to take away any potential stigma of Amatomu being of use to only “A-list bloggers” or “serious bloggers”.
PixelPLEXUS would like to see more innovation around Top 10 and Top 100 features:
What I’d like to see next is some innovation balancing the popularity contest aspects of the top10 and top100 lists with valuable stuff that may or may no lie hidden somewhere in the long tail… I can’t say that any of the tags in the ‘what’s hot’ cloud appeals to me in any way whatsoever :-(, but that is not the point here, far from it.
Issues: What is a blog? What is a South African blog?
There seem to be several issues, which need to be resolved. Laurence, blogging at Commentary.co.za, notices some sites on Amatomu have stretched the definition of a blog:
I spent a lot of time today playing around with Amatomu, and while it's a fascinating and fun tool, I also couldn't help but notice that a lot of the sites on its list stretch the definition of a “blog” to its most tenuous. It's difficult to make this argument without coming across as a pompous elitist, but that doesn't make it any less true.
Swimgeek weighs in on the same issue:
At first glance a few “blogs” did not strike me as blogs, but they have syndication feeds and they have comments. They seem to lack the personal angle. When is a news site with teams of sub-editors no longer a blog? The top 10 contains at least 3 sites which I don't think are blogs.
Swimgeek talks about a filtering mechanism to prevent “law of the jungle”:
Is there some filter process for what is a blog and what is an SA blog.. or is it just “law of the jungle”?
Steve Hayes wonders how long Amatomu will remain a South African blog aggregator:
How long will it remain a South African blog list? Is there anything to stop pyramid marketers from Korea or penis enlargers from Oklahoma from signing up?
The Future: RSS reader and Social Networking
A great future is awaiting Amatomu users. According to Vincent Maher, it is set to becoming more than an aggregator:
There are some new features coming.  The first is the ability to create an extended blogger profile and upload a picture of yourself or something you like.  The second is the ability to indicate which bloggers you know and like.  The third is to give you a page filtered by your favorites.  That pretty much makes us an RSS reader too, if you think about it.


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Argentina: Buenos Aires Walking Tour · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Alan Patrick has put together an invaluable resource for Buenos Aires-based lovers of sauntering. Complete with 26 stops, photos, and a map.

author: David Sasaki


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Armenia: Campaign Underway · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Though some parties have been doing some unofficial campaigning already, Armenia's parliamentary election campaign is now officially underway. Notes From Hareinik analyzes some ambitious campaign promises from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutiun. Meanwhile, Onnik Krikorian has photos of the same party's campaign launch.


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Armenia: Theft from a Blogger · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian catches both ArmenPress and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty using his photos without permission.


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Bahamas, Jamaica: Tribute to Lockhart, Watkins & Tosh · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Ringplay Productions pays tribute to Calvin Lockhart and Viveca Watkins – two icons of Bahamian theatre who passed away recently.  And WeblogBahamas.com remembers the music of Jamaican Peter Tosh.


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Bahrain: We are NOT Bedouins · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Bahraini blogger Emoodz discusses his frustration at the elite trying to masquerade Bahraini culture as being Bedouin.


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Belarus: Roma History · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

TOL's Romantic posts a brief history of Belarus’ Roma community.


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Bermuda: Bridging the Education Divide · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Politics.bm quotes an analysis of census data on Bermuda's education divide: “Education should be a source of opportunity, not a mark of privilege. People who can’t afford to send their children to private schools deserve the same opportunities as those who can. But today, that birthright for Bermudian children in the public school system is in jeopardy.”


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Botswana: vote for the Nata village blog · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Please vote for the Nata village blog: “PLEASE take five minutes of your time and help us out! The Nata Blog has entered a contest with www.netsquared.org. They are a website that promotes using the internet for social change. The top 20 projects will be invited to their conference in San Jose, California May 29, 30. The important thing is they will assist the projects with funding and technical assistance.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Brazilians Wrap-up and Rap Upon 10 Years of Blogging · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

The word is out on the web: blogs are celebrating their 10th anniversary. And although blogging about blogging is something bloggers do all the time, the remembrance offers the opportunity for new raps around the beloved theme. The thread started from an April 1st Dave Winer's post where he praises the decade long course of his ‘Scripting News‘, but the paternity attribution is not undisputed. The Lusophone blogosphere catches the wave by sending out new perspectives on the issue and honoring the date as an important collective achievement.
Maio é o mês das noivas e abril é o mês dos blogs. Há dez anos, num dia de abril, Dave Winer começou a publicar um diário em rede que viria a ser considerado por muitos o primeiro blog. Claro que ninguém nunca saberá exatamente quem foi o primeiro, até porque muitos dos milhões de usuários que tinham páginas na web em 1997 publicavam coisas que pareciam com o que hoje nós chamamos de blog. À maioria daqueles “sites”, porém, faltava interação, a possibilidade do leitor dar sua opinião no rodapé do texto do autor, transformando cada entrada em uma discussão. Mas tudo bem: quase a totalidade dos blogs de hoje também não tem interação, seja porque a audiência não se interessa em comentar ou porque o autor não se interessa ou não tem energia para manter um diálogo com seus leitores.
10 anos de blogs: a [r]evolução da expressão – Silvio Meira – dia a dia, bit a bit
Os blogs que começaram pra muita gente como forma de distração, acabaram virando coisa profissional que lhes rende dinheiro, com o patrocínio de empresas e também com o Google Adsense…  Blog é vício, é companhia, é troca, é informação, é diversão, entretenimento, exercício da palavra, é aprender a aceitar opiniões diferentes da sua, é ser tolerante. Blog é tudo de bom!
Os blogs completam 10 anos – Exílio (in)voluntário…
While blogs as an online publishing tool cross their first major milestone, a new trend is thriving in the Lusosphere: the influx of professional bloggers, or people who start (trying) to make a living through their own blogs. The abundance of ads and sponsored links, along with the debates (and competition) about who is doing well in the new ‘market’ has sometimes turned into a contest that ends up with some Google checks appearing as symbols of success at the end of the month. The issue has even juiced up a meme that spread through many local blogs: do you write for pleasure or for money?
Ano passado após sair de meu emprego, por não consegui me adequar a trabalhar mais de 10h fazendo os outros encher os bolsos, resolvi fazer “uma carreira solo”, a intenção era trabalhar em algo que desse prazer e rendesse bem. E em um belo dia navegando sem rumo encontro um blog chamado Contraditorium, e confesso que me fascinou ao ver aquele cheque do Google, que imaginava eu somente os “gringos” ganhassem, e isso me fez pensar: está ai algo que realmente gostaria de fazer, escrever um blog e ganhar por isso. E começou minha trajetória nesse universo, atualmente possuo três blogs (Cavanhas Cavanhas . com, Opinião Digital e Livre Vontade Saber e Arte), adoro escrever e ter um feedback (os comentários) quase que instantâneo. Apesar de escrever com prazer, a idéia é viver somente com o retorno dos blogs, o que posso dizer então é que escrevo com paixão com o objetivo de ganhar dinheiro. Tenho muitos projetos pela frente para consegui uma diferenciação nessa Blogosfera. A partir principalmente da próxima semana várias ferramentas estarão sendo adicionada quase que diariamente.
Meme: Blog, escrevo por paixão ou por dinheiro? – CavanhasCavanhas.com
Não sou hipócrita a ponto de dizer que escrevo apenas por paixão, e é claro que gostaria de me sustentar só com o dinheiro gerado por um blog, mas ainda escrevo por paixão, escrevo porque gosto de escrever, porque gosto de compartilhar informações. Mas cito mais uma vez: Quero também ganhar dinheiro com meu blog. Mas a ênfase se torna diferente, blogueiros de paixão, são mais atentos ao seu público, atentos aos detalhes que tornam seu blog diferente (layout, posição de anúncios, etc), a qualidade dos textos. Enquanto blogueiros do dinheiro enchem suas páginas de anúncios, fazem com que o usuários seja enganado para clicar em anúncios, faz de seu site um verdadeiro campo minado de anúncios, onde o pobre usuário pouco pode se mexer, com o perigo de ser redirecionado por um clique e quem sabe um dia encontrar o que ele estava procurando ao digitar palavras-chave em uma ferramenta de busca. Blogar não é apenas ganhar dinheiro, é interagir com um meio onde você pode ensinar e aprender, e onde nenhum conhecimento é supremo. Gostaria que nessa nova leva de blogueiros estivessem blogs que queiram ensinar, e não apenas ganhar.
Meme: Blog, escrevo por paixão ou por dinheiro? – Bruno Godoy
Estão leiloando a credibilidade dos links na corrida pela “monetização” dos blogs. Na mídia convencional, a inserção de publicidade no conteúdo é um dos primeiros passos para canibalizar o produto, deixá-lo menos atrativo para um leitor/espectador bombardeado com propostas de venda onde, a princípio, estaria seu entretenimento ou informação. A corrida dos blogueiros pelo lucro fácil tem feito isso com o link: agora o internauta deve ter cuidado redobrado no que clica para não cair nas armadilhas do link vendido. Essa pressa, ou ganância se você preferir, e a falta de um conteúdo realmente bom parecem estar sempre juntos, quanto pior o conteúdo, maior o exagero nos links pagos, um deve compensar o outro, o que falta em audiência de um lado tem que sobrar em links promocionais de outro. Essa corrida pelo ouro do clique enganado ameaça o princípio básico da internet, o hipertexto, a interconexão de conteúdos, a rede.
Os links estão perdendo a credibilidade – BlogueIsso
In the middle of this debate about passion and professionalism some bloggers start to comment about what make them blog, and the patterns which are turning some of them into successful and recognized writers. Some analyse the relationship between those acknowledged bloggers and ‘big’ media, and how the ‘good’ ones are being co-opted by newspapers and magazines and offered to readers as columnists in blog-like sets of articles.
Sério, para que você vai criar um blog? O que você vai escrever? Com que objetivo? Para quem? Como? Com que linguagem? Questões simples como essas muitas vezes não são respondidas. O sujeito vê o artigo da Veja falando de blogs, depois sabe do primo que tem um blog e que ganha uma graninha, ai começa a pesquisar e descobre que tem gente que ganha uma granona com blogs. Ai o sujeito vai lá e cria um blog. Mas e ai? O que vai surgir dessa empreitada?
O simples guia rápido e alternativo de como criar um blog – Fabio Seixas, versão TXT
Sei que a metáfora soará meio gay, mas eu vejo que os blogueiros enxergam sua condição como uma lagarta, que depois de uma certa quantidade de visitas / notoriedade, sofrem uma metamorfose e se transformam em uma linda borboleta, batendo asas em uma mídia “de verdade”. Por isso não temos grandes blogueiros, e sim grandes profissionais de outras áreas que têm excelentes blogs, ou na melhor das hipóteses “gente que começou em blog”, como o Mr Manson. A conclusão que chego é que não há nenhum blogueiro profissional no Brasil apenas porque ninguém nunca realmente acreditou na possibilidade de existir tal figura. Por incrível que pareça, isso é muito bom, principalmente para quem chegou tarde na Blogosfera. Afinal, não é todo dia que se encontra uma mídia com mais de dez anos de idade, completamente virgem de profissionalização.
Blog, como virgindade, é coisa que dá e passa – Contraditorium
Antigamente, a marca construía grande nomes do jornalismo. Hoje é ao contrário – os grandes nomes constroem a marca. Explico – antes bastava trabalhar em um grande jornal para já ter meio caminho andado e ganhar uma grande influência. Para fazer nome no jornalismo, você precisava bater na porta da Folha, do Estadão, da Globo… Hoje, é diferente. Você constrói o seu nome, a sua marca na rede. Você não precisa passar por esses locais para ter o seu selo de “credibilidade”. Isso é uma evolução e tanto no jornalismo. Talvez o grande efeito dos blogs no jornalismo. Ajuda a dar uma respirada e a colocar novas opiniões e atores no mercado de idéias. O problema é que uma parte dos jornalistas da grande mídia e da própria web não aceitam isso. Não querem largar o osso. E insistem em ocupar todos os espaços. Outro problema é que parte do público e os sites de notícias, em sua maioria, ainda não perceberam isso. E ainda apostam em ‘grandes nomes do jornalismo’. Tentam transformar colunistas da velha mídia em blogueiros.
Você faz o seu nome na rede. Já percebeu isso? – Tiago Dória Weblog
“O número de blogs é muito elevado nos meios de comunicação com presença na web. Respeitadas as devidas diferenças editoriais e culturais, a impressão com a qual fico é a de que era preciso ‘entrar na onda’. Mas entraram na onda sem se deixarem contaminar pela cultura digital. Os jornalistas criam e mantêm os seus blogs nos ‘big media’ seguindo mais a lógica da cultura do jornal impresso. Ou seja, mantêm, de fato, colunas. Neste sentido, para muitos meios, blog foi apenas uma maquilagem nova para uma velha idéia: a idéia de se fazer uma coluna de opinião. Logo, não são espaços de conversação; não fogem à lógica de comunicação unidirecional.”
Daniela Bertocchi in 10 anos de blogosfera – Renato Cruz
Some commenters reach back in history to trace the patterns that may somehow help us understand possible future trends, while others go back to access statistics in order to formulate what we are supposed to expect from the blogging revolution.
Acreditamos que a Internet cumpriu uma primeira etapa de povoamento e agora ela vai se consolidar na sua verdadeira vocação: o primeiro meio de interação do ser humano, que permite a comunicação do muitos para muitos. Trata-se de um novo paradigma da comunicação humana, uma quebra que só havia ocorrido no mundo nessa magnitude com a invenção da prensa por Gutemberg, na Alemanha, por volta de 1500. Mudanças de paradigma como aquela provocaram grandes revoluções e quebras de hierarquias e monopólios. A revolução industrial, francesa, americana e russa foram filhas dos livros e dos jornais, sem os quais não aconteceriam. A Internet entra agora no ciclo das massas. As quebras de monopólio na indústria da música, do software, cinema, publicações, comércio, telecomunicações é apenas o começo… Somos um povo com uma enorme capacidade de interação e o fazemos de forma natural. Está no nosso sangue. O Orkut é um exemplo: 70% dos integrantes mundiais são brasileiros. Nós somos o povo que mais fica tempo na Internet. É como um poço de petróleo inexplorado. Temos a capacidade de comunicação e relacionamento que nenhum outro povo tem. Somos bem articulados e isso conta a nosso favor. Os outros terão que vencer suas barreiras culturais, além da organização da rede. Temos a habilidade de trabalhar em rede e de interagir. Precisamos saber transformar o que hoje é entretenimento e exibicionismo em conhecimento e participação. Se aliarmos estas metas ao planejamento estratégico do país, deixaremos de dar pulinhos e podemos dar os grandes saltos que precisamos.
Entrevista com Carlos Nepomuceno: Livro analisa o fenômeno Web 2.0 – Web Dois
O IBGE apresentou em base ao PNAD de 2005- várias informações sobre o uso de Internet. A boa parte da mídia impressa, defensivamente, destacou que só 21% das pessoas usam internet no Brasil. Bem, lembro que os leitores diários de jornais são 20%. Isso no Rio… Em 2015 teremos entre os que nasceram no Rio, com mais de 12 anos de idade, pelo menos 75% usando Internet. Pelo menos. Isso sim será um problema geracional/ comunicacional entre os mais velhos – e os mais jovens. Como geracional este Ex-Blog quer se referir também a quem precisa fazer comunicação pública, ou seja, políticos, meios de comunicação, agências de publicidade, empresas, lideranças sociais, etc… Quem fizer uma comunicação velha, digamos industrial, quem não aprender a falar estando na internet, falará para si mesmo.
IBGE e a Internet – Liter
As a special ‘extra’ to this post, our review of 10 years of blogging revealed an interesting analysis by a Brazilian “blogospher” who decries the need for a Lusophone blogosphere. Daniela Bertocchi is a Brazilian journalist-blogger with a master's degree in cyberjournalism from Minho University in Braga, Portugal who, in an recent interview appearing in Tiago Dória's blog offered her vision about the different patterns ruling cultural and linguistic boundaries.
Porque uma ‘blogosfera brasileira’ e não uma ‘blogosfera lusófona'?
Muito boa essa pergunta. Curioso que acho que não conseguiria responder a essa questão com propriedade não fosse eu estar em Portugal há quase 3 anos e conviver não apenas com portugueses, mas com cabo-verdianos, angolanos etc. Tenho duas coisas a dizer. A primeira: o erro, na verdade, não é esse; o equívoco é achar que o que separa os blogs é a fronteira do idioma. A segunda: além disso, os motivos comerciais – imperativos no mundo de hoje – justificam o uso da expressão “blogosfera brasileira”. Explico a seguir cada uma das minhas suspeitas. Em primeiro lugar, o que separa os blogs é a fronteira cultural. E o idioma está incluído na cultura, junto com uma data de outros componentes bem complexos (como “identidade”, por exemplo). Ocorre que somos, hoje, 210 milhões de falantes da Língua Portuguesa em 8 países do mundo. Trata-se do que poderíamos chamar de um “espaço multicontinental” de mesma língua. Todos os que falam o português são lusófonos, obviamente. Assim, todos os blogs em português – criados e mantidos ou no Timor, ou em Cabo Verde ou em Angola ou noutros sítios – poderiam, por defeito, integrar-se numa blogosfera em português. E por que não a formam? Por que não conseguimos levar essa expressão adiante? Porque não partilhamos a mesma cultura, a mesma realidade, a mesma identidade, o mesmo modo de expressão, os mesmos problemas cotidianos. Não existe uma coesão entre este “nós” lusófono. Logo, não existe uma coesão entre estes blogs. (Quando falo em coesão, falo em força de atração, naquilo que os une).
A blogosfera de Portugal, por exemplo, possui características muito diferentes da brasileira; os blogs aqui tendem a ser super opinativos, analíticos e teóricos (poucos são informativos) em comparação com os do Brasil. Falar em “blogosfera em português” só seria possível se desconsiderássemos completamente essas grandes diferenças culturais e optássemos por considerar apenas a questão linguística da coisa. Ou seja, falam a mesma língua e pertencem à mesma blogosfera. E nada mais. O problema é que o fato de falar um mesmo idioma não cria um sentimento de comunidade. E os blogs, como sabemos, alimentam-se deste sentimento.
Em segundo lugar, faz todo o sentido falar em “blogosfera brasileira” ou “serviço voltado para blogueiros brasileiros” quando pensamos que o Brasil é um mercado gigante e promissor. Daqueles 210 milhões luso-falantes que citei, nós, os brasileiros, somos 170 milhões. Além disso, estamos muito à frente em questões de acesso a Internet em comparação com Angola, Timor ou Moçambique, por exemplo. Resumindo, acho perfeitamente compreensível o uso da expressão; embora, naturalmente, eu tivesse muito mais gosto em poder usar a expressão “blogosfera lusófona”.
Entrevista com Daniela Bertocchi, do Intermezzo – Tiago Dória Weblog

author: Jose Murilo


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Brunei: Circumcision in Old and Modern Brunei · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The Daily Brunei Resources writes a post describing how circumcisions are done in Brunei today. The blogger has another post on circumcision in the old days.

author: Preetam Rai


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Brunei: Retirement Woes · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Old Man's Blog cautions its readers in Brunei to focus beyond short term and plan for retirement.


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Brunei: Rice Harvest Ceremony · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Maurina describes the traditional rice harvesting festival of Mangatam in Brunei


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China: Blogger to hang up column · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Imagethief blogger Will Moss writes of plans to end his career as the Little Red Blog columnist for tech news website CNET next month: “China geeks with a writing jones who are interested in carrying the torch should get in touch.”

author: John Kennedy


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China: Google playing dirty · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Google got some positive bloggage of its recently-released Chinese-language input software, and then Chinese bloggers discovered some impropriety in the program code, leading to Google's apology.


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China: Greening rock ‘n’ roll · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Kaiser Kuo, strategy director at Ogilvy China blogs on a recent meeting with two stylish Greenpeace campaigners and their plans to “promote green consciousness” at the Midi Music Festival in Beijing next month.


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China: On Wang Xiaobo ten years later · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Blogger and Life Weekly editor looks back at another renowned cultural critic—Wang Xiaobo, on the tenth anniversary of Xiaobo's death, how he relates to works from someone a generation older than him, and how Xiaobo ended up on the cover of Life Weekly. [zh]


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China: Queer Tibet · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Did you know Lhasa, capital of Tibet, has its own gay bar? Gay bloggers too. Via Jeremy Goldkorn at Danwei, that and more from Fridae.com correspondent Dinah Gardner.


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China: Renewed unrest in Dingzhou? · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Pro State In Flames blogger Moogee writes yesterday of a freeway roadblock in Hebei province's Dingzhou village which allegedly lasted forty minutes, led to a 500 vehicle-long traffic jam and disrupted train service. [zh]


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East Timor: Voting Patterns in East Timor Elections · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Dili-gence has a post on why the voting patterns in the other regions of the country may not be like the capital city Dili. The elections are on in East Timor to select the next president of the country.


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Ecuador: Historic Vote Set for April 15th · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Paul Henry on the importance of this weekend's national referendum in Ecuador.


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Estonia: Thoughts on Occupations · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Itching for Eestimaa visits the Museum of Occupations in Tallinn and muses on Estonia's past.


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Fiji: Blogger’s Meetup · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Laminar_Flow points readers to a inaugural blogger's meet in Fiji.


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Gabon, Guadeloupe: Circumcision and HIV · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Guadeloupe Attitude posts [Fr] an article by Maité Mapangou, Executive Secretary of OPDAS-Gabon [Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS in Gabon] concluding that “circumcised or not, any man who does not protect himself is a potential  agent of the spread of the virus“. The article comes in response to a recent news story alleging that circumcision might have a protective effect vis-a-vis HIV.

author: Alice Backer


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Grenada: Windies vs. South Africa Today  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Today, the West Indies plays South Africa in Grenada.  Writing for ttgapers.com,  Garth Wattley emphasizes how much is hinging on this particular game: “Both teams need no reminding that any more errors could be fatal now.”


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Honduras: Real Cost of Bananas · Global Voices
David Sasaki

La Gringa, sticking to the theme of working conditions, takes a look at “the real cost of bananas” in Honduras.


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Hungary: Budapest Opera · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar listens to Puccini’s Turandot at the Budapest Opera House – and looks around.


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Hungary: Nyugati Underpass · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pestcentric writes about what seems like a pretty hellish place: the Nyugati underpass in central Budapest.


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Hungary: Positive Note on Health Care · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar gets a surprisingly good treatment from a Budapest doctor: “… although the inside of the hospitals still look like something from the Crimean War and the doctor wore Moses sandals, how I was dealt with last night was quicker and more efficient than the times that I’ve had to rely on the British health service.”


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Hungary: Space Travel · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pestiside.hu reports on the “first words of Hungarian spoken in space for 27 years.”


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India: Water and Women · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A time to reflect on a place where water is everything. “This woman sits just otuside the main gate of the reserve, just off the dusty main road. She has pots of water filled and ready, and fetches them from near her home which is close to the main gate,, when the pots go empty. People give me whatever they wish… She also adds, often they don’t give anything. I just do it…”


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Iraq: Shopping with your video camera · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Journalist blog Moderate Risk takes us on a video trip to the local Souk (a bazaar) in Suliamaniya, Iraq.

author: Deborah Ann Dilley


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Jordan: Car-less in Amman · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Into the Wind contemplates how she will manage the traffic of Amman without her car: “Since I’m going to be car-less for over a week, I’m going to seize the opportunity to conduct a little experiment, and give our existing public transportation system a chance. I’ll try to minimize the use of taxis to things that are extremely urgent, and try to resort to the bus system and understand how it works here.”


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Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan: Irrigation and the Aral · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Bonnie Boyd discusses how Soviet irrigation policies led to the depletion of the Aral Sea.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Kenya: war against corruption goes online · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Bankelele on war against corruption in Kenya, “A noble step in the war on corruption is this website by the Public Procurement Oversight Authority which list all contracts awarded over 5 million shillings ($71,430) by organs of the kenya government. A step further would be to require/ publish all companies who are awarded such contracts to also publish/disclose all the company directors.”


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Latvia: Referendum? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

All About Latvia writes on the president's intention to put two national security laws for referendum.


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Lebanon: Stopping the Cycle of Violence on Women · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Lebanese blogger FaiLaSooF urges women who have had sexual harassment experiences to share them with her in order to begin a campaign against violence on women.


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Madagascar: English as an Official Language, Tribute to Victims of Colonial Conflicts and Cyclones (Again) · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Busy couple of weeks in terms of news in Madagascar: 3 items were particularly
discussed among Malagasy bloggers:
1) A referendum on the constitution is currently on the way in
Madagascar. The question that Malagasy will have to answer is as follows:
“Acceptez-vous ce projet de révision de la Constitution pour le développement rapide et durable par région, afin d'améliorer le niveau de vie des Malgaches?”.
One of the proposal of the referendum concerns the implementation of the initiative called MAP. This acronym is a double play-on-word that emphasizes the new direction that president Marc Ravalomanana wants to give for Madagascar. MAP stands for Madagascar Action Plan but also for Malagasy AmPerin'asa. As a matter of fact, one of the amendment to the
constitution that is proposed is the addition of English as an official language. This would be a critical step for Madagascar in its
willingness to open its market to a broader spectrum. It is of course a proposal not free of controversy because language has often been a subject of controversy in Madagascar.  30 years ago, Madagascar underwent a proposal that placed Malagasy as the only official language. It was seen back then as an attempt from Madagascar to distance itself
from French influence. Today, the addition of English and the
reaffirmation of Malagasy as the language of choice will probably be
perceived as slight against France again. Manny and other bloggers are not quite sure how to vote and what to make of this addition of English as an official language. Elodieriana writes:
3 langues officielles….vivement la traduction des documents officiels…traduction de la constitution entres autres avec 3 colonnes?
Many bloggers are also not quite sure what to make of this “MAP-thing”, another
critical point of the referendum: Mikozatra writes that many
may have not read the MAP entirely but the presentation of the
document is surely well-done, as this radio host's confession can attest:
En première page donc Plan d’action Madagascar 2007-2012
Plan Audacieux (avec un grand A) pour le développement rapide.
Et la photo d’un jeune garcon, trés bien, joli sourire, dentition
parfaite. A l’intérieur, ll y a plein de photos également, un véritable
diaporama du président en campagne, à la campagne, et des malgaches, de
paysages, la flore.. tiens pas de lémuriens ?
The refenredum early polls have come out and suspicions are already
arising in newspapers regarding the validity of the results.
2) Madagascar paid tribute to the memory of thousand of victims of the
“March,29th insurrection” against French occupation. The bloodshed that
day was such a cataclysm that French newspaper “Le Monde” classified it as one of the most disastrous conflicts during French colonization.
…soulèvement qui fut l’une des premières manifestations nationalistes dans l’empire français. La répression, avec près de 100 000 morts un des grands massacres coloniaux de l’après-guerre, sur lequel la France a étendu un voile de silence , a fauché toute une génération de cadres malgaches
Malagasy bloggers also paid tribute to the victims by collecting
the most heartfelt pieces written about those events, most of them were compiled by Nivo here.
3) Finally, yet another cyclone hit the island this week. Jayla is the name of the most recent one and it is one the 6th of its kind within the last 6 months, each one of them as damaging the next one.  Official statements reports 8 deaths and the fact that ½ of the town of Sambava is devastated.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Martinique: Breakup Blues · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Le Blog de [Moi] had a fit of anguish [Fr] at the news that a 20 year  same-sex relationship recently ended. Says the blogger: “I have a hard time with lesbian breakups … As if we owed ourselves to make it against all odd …  And I can't help but think of my own couple… Can't help but look for signs.”


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Mexico: Alleged Rape and Murder of Ernestina Ascencio · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Erich Adolfo Moncada Cota has a two part report on the alleged rape and mudder of 73-year-old Ernestina Ascencio Rosario by Mexican soldiers in Veracruz.


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Montenegro: On the Way to EU · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Montenegro is now “officially on the road to EU membership” – but no one has really noticed, A Fistful of Euros reports.