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Libya: Highlander’s Fourth Anniversary · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Libyan blogger Highlander celebrates her blog's fourth anniversary with a trip down memory lane detailing her beginnings as a blogger.


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Libya: Jellyfish Warning · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Khadija Teri, from Libya, warns against a type of jellyfish, which can be found around beaches and gives us remedies on how to cure their painful stings.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Nepal: Monarchy’s future · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

UWB! on what could be the future of monarchy in Nepal. “..epal’s ruling, biggest and one of the oldest political party goes for federal democratic republic making it almost certain that monarchy will formally be abolished in Nepal in the next few months.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Peru: Facebook and Social Networking · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Lately, the attention given to social networks has been strong. Who doesn't receive, even multiple times a day, invitations to subscribe to one service or another? I suppose many of these invitations are sent out by inexperienced users who simply click on “accept” without noticing much what they're doing, which sends out massive mailings to all their e-mail contacts. But, whether that be the case or not, it seems this thing will be around for a long time.
In Peru, by far the most used of these networks is Hi5, but lately Facebook is also obtaining [an inroad]; of course, there is still no comparison in numbers. I don't have data with regards to it, but there must be many tens of  thousands of Peruvians registered in Hi5, while Facebook has little more than 6,000 users registered in its “Peru” network. Definitely, or at least for now, Facebook is not the social network your neighbor or your ex classmate here in Peru is using. El blog de Oscar Ugaz [ES], a Peruvian publicist living in Spain, talks to us about this in the post, Trapped in 4 social networks:
(Facebook es) la más completa. No solo las fichas de los miembros sino toda la interacción 2.0 imaginable:, los viajes que han realizado, lo que postean en sus blogs, lo que dicen en twitter, fotos, videos, etc, etc. El contra: aun no esta extendida en Latinoamerica y España por lo que la gente que tengo en Neurona y en hi5 o no se ha enterado de que Facebook existe, o es muy perezosa. Y por otro lado, la gente que tengo en Linkedin no esta tan metida en el mundo 2.0 como para apreciar las ventajas de Facebook (vamos que no todo el mundo tiene que ser un digerati).
¿Cual es la solución? O mantener las cuatro (mucho tiempo invertido) o empezar a invitar a todos a Facebook. Lo que sucede es que no soy de aquellos que manda correos con productos tratando de “evangelizar” (por más que la herramienta lea mis cuentas de correo y haga el trabajo por mi) Y por otro lado soy consciente de que entrar a una de estas redes toma tiempo. (migrar datos, subir materiales, etc, etc). Vamos que la única solución que le veo, y que creo que es lo que debe buscar la gente de Facebook, es crear una herramienta que permita migrar los datos de una red a otra. . En pocas palabras “unirte a nosotros con todos tus datos e info, solo requiere unos pocos clics”:
Y es que creo que no soy el único loco que acaba metido en cuatro de estos sitios a la vez. O por lo menos eso parece.
(Facebook is) the most complete. Not just member profiles, but the complete 2.0 interaction imaginable: trips they've taken, what they post on their blogs, what they say on Twitter, photos, videos, etc., etc. The downside: it is still not extended in Latin America and Spain, so the people I have in Neurona or Hi5 either haven't heard about Facebook's existence, or they're very lazy. And, on the other hand, people I have in Linkedin aren't so in the 2.0 world to appreciate the advantages of Facebook (not everyone wants to be a digerati).
What's the solution? Either keeping all four (a big investment of time) or beginning to invite everyone to Facebook. What happens is I'm not the type who sends e-mails with products trying to “evangelize” (no matter how much the tool reads my e-mail accounts and does my work for me). And, on the other hand, I am aware entering one of these networks is time-consuming (migrating data, uploading materials, etc., etc). Well, the only solution I see, and I think is the one Facebook people should seek, is to create a tool that allows you to migrate data from one network to another. In a few words, “joining us, with all your data and information, only takes a few clicks”. And, it's because I don't believe I'm the only one who is in four of these networks at the same time. Or, at least that's what it seems.
Jesús from X.Blog [ES] tells us in his post,  Facebook: the only ring of social networks, how he came across Facebook, and why he decided to join it:
Facebook fue uno de esos encuentros casuales-obligados que a veces ocurren con una aplicación. Entrar a mi cuenta de Last.fm y ver que hay una “aplicación” (realmente son módulos) para Facebook, entrar a mi twitter y ver lo mismo, eso solo entre los dos lugares que siempre frecuento… al final curioseando descubro que hay varios servicios para Facebook: Delicious, Youtube, Flickr, etc etc etc. ¿Y qué es Facebook?, es una red social tipo Hi5, tipo Myspace, y de hecho es la competencia directa a éste último. En cuanto a diseño es simple, sencillo y ordenado. Aunque el servicio es antiguo recién despega por la compatibilidad con las aplicaciones más conocidas de la red, de hecho así yo me animé a inscribirme.
Facebook was one of those casual-obligatory encounters that sometimes occurs with an application. Entering into my Last.fm account and seeing there was an “application” (really, a module) for Facebook, entering into my Twitter and seeing the same thing, that's only at two places I always go to…in the end, out of curiosity I discover there area various services for Facebook: Delicious, Youtube, Flickr, etc., etc., etc. And, what is Facebook? It's a social network like Hi5, Myspace, and in fact, it is the direct competition of the latter of those. With regard to design, it is simple and ordered. Although the service is old, it is recently taking off because of its compatibility with the best known applications on the web. In fact, that's why I opted to sign up.
Additionally, the philosophy of cooperation and its possibility as a business is interesting. Don't believe, however, that is the only thing. In the post  Interviews of virtual work at the blog El metaverso de JL Revilla [ES], we discover not-so-obvious-at-first-try uses of this network, as well as other social networks, of course:
Según el WSJ muchas empresas están experimentando con mundos virtuales para entrevistar candidatos. Mayormente se trata de Second Life, pero también es común que empresas como HP, Microsoft, Verizon y otras cuelguen videos en YouTube o creen perfiles en Facebook para reclutar personal. No sé si la tendencia pegará del todo, pero algo sí es cierto: Los ejecutivos de RRHH de hoy toman en cuenta muchos detalles interesantes de nuestra relación con la tecnología. He escuchado casos de algunos que simplemente descartan los curriculums que muestran un correo de Hotmail.
According to the WSJ many companies are experimenting with virtual worlds to interview candidates. Mostly, it has to do with  Second Life, but it's also common in companies such as HP, Microsoft, Verizon, and others that post videos on YouTube or create profiles in Facebook to recruit staff. I don't know if the trend will become completely popular, but something is certain: The HR executives of today take into account many interesting details about our relationship with technology. I've heard of certain ones that simply discard the resumés that show a Hotmail address.
As expected in this type of business, because ultimately that is what they are, there is already speculation about the possible purchase of Facebook by one of the giants of the industry; in this case, Yahoo has been mentioned. The blog  Software Tecnología Informática Ocio [ES] tells us about this, and other things, in the post FaceBook is going to be worth more than 10 thousand million dollars:
facebook es una pagina web donde se puede contactar con muchas personas alrededor del mundo, siempre hay riesgos en estos enlaces de amigos, puedes tener un amigo que no es quien dice ser. Facebook es una empresa revolucionaria que se esta transformando en la madre de las comunidades del mundo, creciendo de manera extraordinario al ritmo de 1 millón de Facebookers nuevos por semana. Quien no quiere tener esa cantidad de visitantes a la semana?.
facebook is a web page where you can get in contact with many people all over the world, there are always risks in these friendship links, you can have a friend who is not who he says he is. Facebook is a revolutionary company that is transforming itself into the the mother of all world communities, growing extraordinarily to the rhythm of one million new Facebook users a week. Who doesn't want to have that number of visits a week?
But obviously not all the opinions are favorable. In a more or less recent post,  ElGonzi.com [ES] discusses an internet rumor and asks: Is Facebook created by the CIA?
…hablando de Facebook, podemos decir que tiene en su base de datos a más de 20 millones de personas a nivel mundial. Toda la información reunida en un solo sitio, lista para que el gobierno gringo pueda entrar y saber más de las personas que inocentemente se inscriben día a día. Esto es solamente un rumor pero hay indicios que podrían corroborar esto… Lean la fuente en inglés que hay links a noticias relacionadas.
…talking about Facebook, we can say that in its database there are more than 20 million people worldwide. All the information is together, in one place, ready so the [American] government can come in and know more about people who innocently register daily. This is only a rumor but there are indications that could confirm this… Read the link in English, with links to related news.
Ernesto, of the blog Consultor Internet [ES], in the post  Rentability or “value”? , presents his objections to to what the well-known Martin Varsavsy wrote about Facebook in various posts on his blog. The divergence of opinion is principally on the side of the business model and its real value.
Martin Varsavsky comenta que una empresa llamada Facebook segun el va a valer 10,000 millones de dolares, luego de explicar a que se dedica se deshace en admiraciones a su crecimiento, a lo que hacen y al hecho de que sus empleados se haran ricos …[…]… Si claro, todo suena muy bonito, pero a la hora de la verdad en su articulo no hay ninguna mencion a si se estan generando ingresos o no, solo al crecimiento de usuarios y a lo revolucionaria que es,
me hace recordar la epoca en que los “clicks” o “visitas” eran el patron con que se valoraban las empresas, en lugar de preguntarse si el flujo de caja ya habia llegado al retorno de inversion o por lo menos iba en camino de lograrlo, ahora con esto de la Web 2.0 sin querer veo que esos criterios vuelven a aparecer, no fijarse en rentabilidad presente o potencial sino en el “valor”, …[…]… claro… ahora la idea no es generar ingresos sino esperar a quien nos compre el invento, que si… que esos procesos son a veces inevitables pero no deberian ser la base del crecimiento de los negocios en Internet,
Martin contesta parte de mis objeciones diciendo que esos millones de usuarios seran monetizados por Google (que seguramente sera quien compre a Facebook), y es de ahi de donde sale el valor del negocio. No se …. … esto me suena a “¡mira cuantas visitas tiene esta nueva Web!! ¡compremos acciones!”, bueno, es verdad que el caso de Youtube nos indica que puede llegarse a una rentabilidad debido al alto volumen de usuarios(*), pero claro… la idea de ir siempre a la masa critica y no a la rentabilidad sin un plan de negocios claro no me convence del todo, y es que fueron esos “planes” los que abundaban en la epoca de la burbuja. … Creo que en todo caso la pregunta que debe quedar seria: “el negocio que se esta construyendo, ¿tiene sentido en si mismo o necesita necesariamente ser parte de un engranaje mas grande?”
Martin Varsavsky comments that a company called Facebook according to him is going to be worth 10,000 million dollares, after explaining what he does, he makes statements of admiration for its growth, what they do, and the fact their employees will become rich…[…]… Yes, of course, it all sounds nice; but at the moment of truth, in his article there is no mention if they are generating income or not, just the growth of users, and how revolutionary it is…
…it reminds me of the period when “clicks” or “visits” were the model with which companies were valued, in place of asking themselves if the cash flow had reached the  investment return or if at least if it was on the path of attaining it. Now,  with this thing about Web 2.0, without wanting to I see that criteria reappear, no noticing the current or potential rentability, but rather the “value”, …[…]… of course… now the idea is not to generate income but to wait for them to buy our invention, yes… those processes are sometimes inevitable but they shouldn't be the basis of growth of business on the Internet…
… Martin responds to some of my objections saying that those millions of users will be monetized by Google (who surely will be the one that buys Facebook ), and that is where  the value of the business will come out. I don't know… … this sounds to me like “look how many visits this new website has! Let's buy stocks!”, well, it's true that Youtube's case indicates to us that you can attain rentability due to high user volume (*), but of course… the idea of always going to the critical mass and not to rentability without a business plan doesn't fully convince me, and those were the types of “plans” which were in abundance during the bubble period. … I believe that in any case the question that should remain be: “the business that is being built, does it make sense on its own, or does it necessarily have to be part of a much larger [apparatus]?”
In any case, it seems that while not everyone likes it, Facebook is a success in many viewpoints, from the innovation with regards to its 2.0 platform as well as the number of users it gets, that the news of its sale for various million dollars does not surprise us. And of course, it wouldn't be too much to have a look and see if it is what we are looking for with social network material.

author: Juan Arellano


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Romania: Travel to Croatia, via Hungary · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Csíkszereda musings documents the 1,000 miles of his travel through Romania, Hungary and Croatia – here and here.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: Kondopoga Anniversary · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Window on Eurasia writes about the first anniversary of the Kondopoga riots.


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Russia: Pavlik Morozov · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Window on Eurasia writes about the 75th anniversary of Pavlik Morozov's death: “The anniversaries of Beslan, Khasavyurt and Kondopoga have attracted more attention this year, but as in the past, a small group of Russians met on Sunday to commemorate Pavlik Morozov, the young man killed by his relatives after turning in his parents during collectivization on September 3, 1932.”


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Russia: Putin’s Party Campaign Ads · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user dizainer posts pictures (RUS) of campaign ads of the pro-Putin United Russia party in the Pskov region; its slogans are: “Putin's Plan – United Russia” and “United Russia – Putin's Party.”


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Saudi Laptop Sleeves · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Looking for an interesting sleeve for your laptop? Saudi Jeans has a few ideas.


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Singapore: How to Spend a Cashless day in Singapore · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Daphne shows how a cashless day can be spent pampering yourself in Singapore.

author: Preetam Rai


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South East Asia: White Elephants · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Bisean looks at the importance of white elephants to the royalty in continental South East Asia.


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Sri Lanka: Khaki Clad Cops · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Powercut Circus on the cops in Sri Lanka and on abuse of power.


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Syria: Eating Pork · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Maysaloon from Syria writes about why Muslims have certain reservations against pork – aside from religious considerations, of course.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Public Art  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“As cities in the first world move to celebrate their works of art we hide ours behind facades and glass”: Blogging from Trinidad and Tobago, Thebookmann makes a case for preserving public art.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Wikiscanning arrives in Japan · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Adamu at Mutant Frog Travelogue reports on the use of the Japanese version of Wikiscanner to track self-editing on Wikipedia by, among others, the health and labour ministry, the education ministry, a member of the Japanese National Diet, and the newspaper Mainichi shimbun. The post also links to local bloggers’ reactions, and includes a partial translation of a post by Japanese blogger Kikko.

author: Chris Salzberg


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Afghanistan: Culture, Clash · Global Voices
Joshua Foust

One of the more intriguing aspects to being a white guy in America watching events unfold in Afghanistan is the astounding number of cultural gaffes and clashes that take place. Unfortunately, this sort of friction isn't limited to amusing and trivial things like diet coke, but rather often involves substantive matters as well.
Last week, Preeti Aroon, writing for the Foreign Policy Blog, noted a small protest over the issue of soccer balls in Afghanistan. The basics, as I explained in a similar post, were stemming from several efforts to “reach out” to local Afghans by giving them soccer balls (which are for football, I suppose)… only these balls have the flag of Saudi Arabia on them, which contains the Shuhada. Around 100 or so Afghans in Khowst did not like the idea of kicking a verse of the Koran with their feet, and held a peaceful demonstration in protest. Properly chagrined, the military apologized, and is now reviewing the program to see how to maintain it without any further unintentional insults.
Naturally, American bloggers blew the incident entirely out of proportion. Afghanistanica  found some of the more outrageous examples:
[T]he always subtle and nuanced Michelle Malkin blogged the incident and, after berating the US military for its “ridiculous groveling” apology, remarked about Muslims:
“…they’re pretty damned “sensitive” (read: ready to riot) about everything.” [her parentheses, not mine]
Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team, Afghanistan, by Flickr user lafrancevi
Her commenters are actually more “sensitive” (read: attempting to offend) than Michelle is, but you will have to scroll down past the Koran in the toilet to read those comments.
Oh dear. Afghanistanica also linked to some other American blogs (Little Green Footballs and Jihad Watch) that made similarly heated statements about the “riots” (which actually weren't). He responds by stating what should be the obvious:
I’ll just say that that I don’t think most Afghans wake up with some sort of strong desire to get angry and riot. And I don’t think many foreign soldiers wake up with a strong desire to offend Afghans. I think this incident was quite minor, and I can’t believe how much attention it received considering the other more important concerns in Afghanistan.
Precisely. In fact, rather basic rights, such as speech, seem to be still under attack… in Kabul of all places.
Radio sadaiHaqiqat, Salam Watandar partner station in samangan was torched down last night. The radio station was set up by the local youth, mostly consisted home made gears…
The station has received some threats, mostly from local information and culture authority.
Beyond the threats to the radio station, Atash Parcha relates what it was like to wake up to a suicide bomb.
BOOM! thats the sound that awoke me on Friday morning. i was too tired. i drifted back into sleep.
later on during the day, my sister asked me if she had heard the explosion. It was a suicide attack against the German NATO troops situated in the military west wing of Kabul International Airport. As usual, it was the civilians that suffered in masses.
Here in the States, where we go into weeks of national mourning over far smaller events, such an attitude is difficult to understand… as is the anger some might feel over having their holy book, in their eyes, desecrated by foreigners. By not understanding these fairly basic cultural cornerstones, the U.S. and its allies seem set up for future failures.
Alas, Afghanistan is going nowhere without more foreign investment, a prospect made incredibly difficult by the so-called “land mafia” that has been stealing land for its own purposes.
Multiple land registries allow well-connected strongmen to stake claims with impunity, and the lack of a functioning legal system leaves victims with no recourse.  The lack of security vis a vis land and property rights remains one of the major impediments to investment in Afghanistan.
Indeed. But it isn't all gloom and doom for Afghanistan. The newly repurposed Safrang, who has spent the last week in Herat, has many nice things to say about the city:
The first thing that catches the attention of a newcomer to the city is the broad, well-paved and preserved, and tree-lined streets of Herat. At least that is what caught my attention coming from Kabul with its permanently congested and pot-holed roads as our noisy convoy with its escorts zipped through the long drive from the airport into the city via Injeel district.
Then it is the history. It is there in the huge citadel, the magnificent Friday mosque, the strikingly beautiful Minarets that are all in such heartbreaking state of disrepair, the tombs of Gawhar Shaad and Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, the historic four gates of the city, the square with a Soviet tank and statues in memory of the brave Heratis of the 24th of Hoot all over it, and on and on…
Third comes the wind. No, the famous story about the wind of a hundred and twenty days is not some fairy tale…
After the streets and the history and the wind, it is the Heratis that make Herat great. Their endearingly idiosyncratic Farsi accents, their Persian features and polite manners, their relative cosmopolitanism, their industrious and entrepreneurial spirit, their love of and patronizing of arts and literature (evident in their frequent use of poetry in speech), and the fact that until things got really bad with security here, the city’s parks were filled with families out picnicing at night! I seriously like that.
He also mentions the interesting fact of the entire region's steady supply of electricity. Somehow, he has made me want to visit even more than I did before… and I already really wanted to see what it was like…. if nothing else that to see the elaborate narotechture  springing up in its newfound prosperity.
Why not end on a more positive note? Hope for bridging the wide gap between Afghanistan and the West may, after all, be possible through music. This posting of an American Rubab master at work is somewhat breathtaking, and very much worth seeing.

author: Joshua Foust


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Bahrain: Celebrating Divorce · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Silly Bahraini Girl celebrates the divorce of a friend in this post. “Yup.. we now celebrate divorces more than we actually celebrate weddings and the reason being you walk into a marriage with your eyes shut tight,” she explains.


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Bahrain: More on ‘Duped’ Filmmaker · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Esra'a writes a follow up on the case of a South African film maker who alleges that she was recruited to Bahrain, duped, kidnapped and deported, after her contract with her sponsor fell apart. Blogger Mahmood Al Yousif chimes in.


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Bangladesh: IT Education · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Rezwan laments the state of IT education in Bangladesh.


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Barbados: Safety First  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Living in Barbados is concerned about the lack of enforcement of safety measures on one of the island's construction sites.


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Brazil: Favela Fashion Show · Global Voices
Paula Góes

“A school for fashion in one of Brazil's most notorious favelas is proving to be quite a hit, not just with the students who dream of a better life, but also with the local residents who were the special guest at there violent neighbourhood's first fashion show”. See a video at W.V. Fitzgerald blog.

author: Paula Góes


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Brazil: The slavery heritage · Global Voices
Paula Góes

“More than a century after the abolition of slavery, Brazil still has small remnant “quilombos”, free settlements created by fugitive African slaves in the 17th and 18th centuries”. Read the full report  				Brazil: ‘Quilombo’ Communities Fight Exclusion.


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Cambodia: The Decline of Angkor · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The South East Asian Archaeology Blog writes about a new research on the civilization that built the Angkor temples. The research agrees with half a century old theory of a French archeologist who claimed that the civilization decline was because of over exploitation of its natural resources.


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China: Democratic House Demolition · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Minjian has a great report on the experience of democratic urban renewal in Zheguo town from Zhejiang province: every year, the town selected 270 people from 120,000 population and let them decide how to use the 50 millions public fund for development. In their urban renewal project, they managed to get 100% consensus from local citizens. The report is very detailed in describing the negotiation process (zh).

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Destroying Home Sweet Home · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Zenjinyan writes in her blog that everyone has a home, it shouldn't be a far fetched dream, but a basic human right. According to the report of the Centre on housing rights and evictions, in Beijing, because of the Olympics, more than 1,250,000 people have their homes destroyed; in Shanghai, because of the World Expo, more than 18,000 people have lost their homes.


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China: Stock Company’s Ups and Downs · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Mr zhang uses the example STjintai (600385), a company in the China stock market that went through record breaking ups (42 days exceeded the limit) and a recent 4 days limited downs, to show the lack of monitor (such as on insider trade) in the stock market (zh).


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China: The Most Awesome Fake Reporter In History · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translated a local report about a most awesome fake reporter, who earned his living by getting “red envelops” through his special feature report service.


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Colombia: Dutch Woman’s Secret FARC Guerrilla Diary · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

On September 1st, the El Tiempo [ES] newspaper of Colombia wrote about the army's findings after raiding an insurgent camp back in July. One of the hottest news items, possibly because the information found on revolutionary leader Carlos Antonio Lozada´s laptop computer [ES] is classified, is a diary found at the camp. This set of spiral notebooks contains the thoughts and feelings of Tanja Nijmeijer, a Dutch woman who for the past 5 years has been living and working with the FARC, the Colombian revolutionary armed forces. Within this group, she is known as “Eillen”. The partial content of these diaries has already been published in newspapers and online, both in Spanish[ES] and in English, by Radio Netherlands Worldwide.
In Colombia, Tierra Galactica y Cosmica! [ES] Paul O'Leary sums it up:
…En este diario Tanja Nijmeijer escribe lo que ya sabemos los colombianos y esta sabiendo todo el mundo, pero sobre todo los europeos que creen que estos narcotraficantes están luchando por la vida y la libertad (mas asesinos y violadores que estos narcos de las farc hay pocos en este mundo)…..escribe que las farc es una carcel, una basura…donde algunos tienen rolex y otros son tratados como animales(ella misma) y los guerrilleros razos. dice que en medio de la soledad de la selva, los guerrilleros de las farc tienen sexo todo el dia, hasta contagiase de sida,osea….. culiar,matar y culiar que este mundo se va a acabar!
…In this diary, Tanja Nijmeijer writes what all of us Colombians already know and the rest of the world is finding out, particularly the Europeans who believe that these drug traffickers are fighting for life and freedom (there are few in the world who are more of assassins and rapists than these narcs)… she writes that the farc is a jail, a garbage dump… where some have Rolexes and others are treated like animals (like she) and the private life of the guerrilla. She says that in the middle of the solitude of the jungle, the Farc guerrilla members have sex all day long, to the point of getting AIDS, in other words.. to fuck, kill and fuck because this world is coming to an end!
In Tumbo2 [ES], stultaviro takes it in with a dose of humor:
Conmoción en Holanda por ‘Eillen’, una joven de ese país que se enroló en las filas de las Farc. Voceros de la organización N.T.N.I.D.L.Q.P.E.C.P.L.F.S.C. (No Tenemos Ni Idea De Lo Que Pasa En Colombia Pero Las Farc Son Cool), anunciaron la apertura de varios puntos de inscripción en todo Amsterdam para atender la horda de jóvenes enloquecidos por seguir los pasos de su compatriota, quien según estadísticas en la última semana logró desbancar en popularidad a Paris Hilton, Harry Potter y Shrek.
Commotion in Holland due to “Eillen”, a young woman from this country who enlisted in the ranks of the FARC. Spokespeople from the organization W.H.N.I.O.W.H.I.C.B.T.F.A.C (We Have No Idea Of What Happens In Colombia But The Farc Are Cool), announced the opening of several registration tables throughout Amsterdam to meet the demand of wild young people to follow in the footsteps of their fellow countrywoman, who according to last week´s statistics, managed to beat Paris Hilton, Harry Potter and Shrek in the popularity polls.
On Equinoxio [ES], Daniel Ramos is reminded of the documentary film Guerrilla Girl and ponders:
Las historias de Tanja e Isabel, de tantos otros jóvenes que entregan su vida a la lucha por ideales de justicia social e igualdad enrolándose en las FARC desafortunadamente quedan registradas como algunas de las más tristes crónicas utópicas que conocemos hoy en día, como un testimonio más de la criminalidad absurda que no parece tener fin en Colombia y de las utopías enfermas que pretenden aliviarla…
The stories of Tanja and Isabel, and of many other young people who are dedicating their lives to fight for ideals of social justice and equality by enrolling in the FARC, unfortunately remain registered as some of the saddest utopian chronicles we know of today, like another testimony of the absurd criminality that seems to have no end in Colombia, and of the sick utopias which pretend to relieve it…
In En Medio del Ruido [ES], Mauricio Duque Arrubla links to information [EN] and other blogs[EN] who are discussing this news, then he writes:
Ojalá esta situación sirva para que los gobiernos de Europa Occidental pongan presión sobre los terroristas, la misma que están poniendo sobre el gobierno colombiano por sus vínculos para militares. No debe eliminarse la fiscalización al gobierno de Uribe y debe comenzar a hacerse a los narcotraficantes y asesinos de las FARC.
Let's hope this situation makes the Western European governments apply pressure to the terrorists, pressure them the same way they are doing with the Colombian government because of their connections with the para-military forces. The overseeing of Uribe's government should not be stopped and it should begin with the drug dealers and assassins of the FARC.
Colombians and foreigners alike debate in Poor But Happy, where Tinto succinctly posts the article and the comments bring it to life, skipping from privacy issues, to possible retaliation, to international recruiting efforts by the FARC, to what draws these foreigners to join the guerrilla[ES]:
Sr Tertius comments:
Here's another issue: Regardless of whether she is a criminal or not, her privacy should be respected, no? Her diary is a private document, and the police and army may use it for intelligence and whatever other purposes, but what purpose does it serve to make it public?
Billyb comment seems to reflect what many other Colombians could be thinking, but don't dare write about directly:
Regarding the point made, differentiating political and common crimes, what happens when the lines between the two become nebulous when applied to the organization (the FARC in Her case) you delinquent in? As for wishing her evil, she enthusiastically joined an organization that kidnapped 3 of my cousins, one who they put a bullet in his head and another we never saw again and I'm sure she's participated in actions where unarmed civilians have lost their lives, and as far as I can tell, her dairies have not expressed any remorse for the loss of innocent lives. As a matter of fact she laments the fact that she didn't get the chance to kill the helicopter crew. Whatever good she thought she was doing by joining the FARC will never in my mind balance out what has happened to so many innocent people at the hands of the FARC. So I see no need to cut her any slack. To many people, specially foreigners, the conflict in Colombia is a chance to participate in an abstract intellectual feelgood exercise, but to many of us it's a bitter personal experience.
It seems that Tanja isn't the only foreigner recruited by the FARC [ES], and it is yet to be seen what will happen to her, if the FARC will kidnap, torture or kill Eillen for her lapse in judgement or if they'll let her loose and let the Dutch and Colombian government to deal with her.
(Foto courtesy of geenstijl)

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Cuba: Pavarotti Passes On  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“He was a seminal tenor. His presence in opera, concerts and recitals was so ubiquitous that he almost single-handedly brought opera back into the mainstream of American and world culture,”  writes Babalu Blog, as he acknowledges the passing of Luciano Pavarotti.


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Egypt: Sandmonkey Back · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian Sandmonkey is blogging again and promises to take it slow – until he finds his feet again.


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Egypt: Swimming At Agami  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger D.B. Shobrawy writes about the time he almost drowned, while swimming in Agami, off Alexandria.


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Escaping Iraq · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Riverbend writes a very touching post about escaping Iraq and its war to Syria.  “My aunt and uncle watched us sorrowfully. There’s no other word to describe it. It was the same look I got in my eyes when I watched other relatives and friends prepare to leave. It was a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness, tinged with anger. Why did the good people have to go?” she writes.


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Grenada: Faith or Fiction? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“People shy away from the secularization of their fiction. Fantasy is by its very nature SPIRITUAL”: Tobias Buckell refers to essays by Guy Stewart to stimulate discussion about science fiction and Christianity.


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Hamas Bans Outdoor Prayers · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian Islamic party Hamas has banned outdoor prayers, writes Egyptian blogger The Big Pharaoh. “Now that’s the definition of irony,” he exclaims.


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Iran:Beyonce Knowles Goes Islamic · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kamangir published  screen-shots taken from the Pink Panther movie the Islamic Republic has managed to “put together”. Watch here to see how Beyonce Knowles goes Islamic!Iranian TV decided to cover Beyonce's body!

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Father of Modern Biology · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kourosh Ziabari informs [Fa]us that Mahmoud Behzad, who is considered as the father of modern biology in Iran,died in Rasht,a northern city in Iran.The blogger says it is pity that in Iran, we get used to admiring our elite only after their death.


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Iraq: Is Islam the Solution? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraq the Model asks : Is Islam the solution for ending the violence in Iraq? His answer is: “(R)eality proved that political Islam is in fact the problem, not the solution. And this is true not only in Iraq but in many other countries in the region that are full of political Islamist movements. They build their rhetoric on what they like to call the golden age of Islam and promise that a new golden age could come if people returned to the roots of Islam…but what happened when Islamists ruled? Definitely not a golden age of any sort.”


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Israel: About Yohana · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Israel, David Bogner writes about his son Yohana in this personal post. He says: “Our little boy isn't sick in the conventional sense so wishes of ‘I hope he gets better’ are not really called for.  He isn't retarded… in fact the doctors all agree he is smart as a whip. Yonah just experiences the world around him a little bit differently than most of us.”


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Israel: Syria Fires at Israeli Warplane · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Aussie Dave, from Israel, wraps up reactions on the latest developments about the possible shooting of an Israeli warplane, which flew over Syrian airspace and dropped ammunition, by Syria.


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Jamaica: Portia Concedes Victory  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Moving Back to Jamaica writes about his experience “as a Presiding Officer in Polling Station number 62 of the Kingston Central constituency”, while Jamaican Lifestyle says: “Mrs. Simpson Miller has finally conceded victory to the Jamaica Labour Party.”


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Japan: Cosplay · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Pingmag has an interview with Cosplayer, Mello Yubari, on their own perception of the cosplayer world. For Mello, cosplay is a way of expressing one’s love for something – it’s a really fun mode of expression.


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Japan: It’s in the Milk · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

A group of scientists announced yesterday that Japanese women's breast milk has been found to contain polychlorinated/brominated coplanar biphenyls, or Co-PXBs, a toxin similar to the pollutant PCB. Possible sources of the toxins include a contaminated fish supply, fumes from garbage incinerators, and factory wastewater.
Blogger Mumon outlines and comments on the findings:
日本人の母乳に臭化系化合物が蓄積していることが大学の研究グループの分析で判明したことを５日に発表したそうです。臭化系化合物というのはPCBに構造や毒性が似た物だそうです。
原因として考えられるのは、世界中の魚に凝縮され蓄積された物が、体内に取り入れられることが主なる原因らしい。そういえば、水揚高日本一を誇る焼津港でも世界中の漁船が入港するようになり、いろんな海から魚が集まっています。動物性蛋白より健康にいいといわれていた魚食文化にもなんとなく寂しい影が忍び寄ってきるていますね。
中国各地ではがん患者が急増してきているそうです。２００６年のがん発生率は前年比１９％増で農村部は２３％増だそうです。科学的な証明はまだされていないそうですが、「汚染物質を垂れ流している企業とがん死亡者が多い地区の分布が一致した」そうです。
たとえ１％増であっても中国の場合は日本の１０倍の人間に被害を及ぼすことになることを考えると、約２０％増というのは桁違いの数になるのですね。そしてその汚染物質は当然のごとく海に流れ込み・・・・・・。
一番の問題は、日本の場合は国民によるチェック機能がある程度働いてはいるが、中国では民主的チェックは、すなわち国家に対する反逆と取られがちになることですね。一党独裁社会では政治屋の汚職や不正経理などはつき物です。日本もプチ一党独裁が長く続き、今になって国民のチェックが入りだしましたね。
米ソ中、それに日本も含め、世界の大国といわれる国が、なんとなく甘えの構造に戻りつつあるようで、この地球を壊しだしているみたい。日本の母乳さえ危険に陥れるとは何たることでしょうね。
In a post entitled “MADE IN MOM — Is this dangerous too?” (MADE IN お母さん も危ない？), blogger Wadai no Pon Pon expresses shock at the discovery:
安全だと思っていたものが、実はそうじゃ無かったって時のショックは、結構大きいほうなんですが、
これもスゲーショックでした。
結論から言いますと、日本人の母乳がＰＣＢに極めて近い化学物質に汚染されている事がわかったらしいのですよ
母乳っていえば、生まれたばかりの赤ちゃんが命の糧として食べるものでしょう
それも工場で作られるわけじゃなくて、お母さんがまさにその体から作り出した愛情たっぷりの栄養ドリンクだと思っていたのにさ
Blogger Risamine, meanwhile, weighs in with a perspective from the theory of psychologist Abraham Maslow:
魚がダメならいよいよ大豆などからタンパク質をとるしかないですね・・・・・
いくら先進国が集まって、環境問題を論じても、中国やその他の発展途上国は、生きるのかが精一杯（今の日本の大多数もそうですが・・・）なので、環境なんてお構いなしですね。
In the case that fish become inedible, we may be left with no choice but to get our protein from soy beans…
However much developed countries may gather and discuss environmental problems, in China and other developing countries, they are doing everything they can just to get by (the great majority of people in Japan are today also in this situation, but…), and so the environment is not something that is cared about much.
マズローの段階説どおり、やはり基本的欲求が満たされて、初めて人間の高次の機能が発揮されるのは間違いないところだと思います。
環境問題はグローバルな問題なので、根本的解決は資本主義の構造を変えていくことが必要になるでしょう。
ゴアをはじめ、利権に絡んで環境問題を利用する輩が多いですが、もっと大きな視点で物を言う人達が一人でも多くなって欲しいものです。
I think [Abraham] Maslow made no mistake when he expressed, in his hierarchy of human needs, that higher-level functionality comes out only when basic wants are fulfilled.
Environmental problems are global problems, so it seems to me that a fundamental solution requires that the capitalist system be changed.
Starting with Gore, there is a large group of people who make use of environmental problems for their own interests. What I really want is that the group of people who are speaking about these things from a broader perspective grows larger, even by just one person.
For more perspectives on the story, see posts from bloggers Arekao, Aratetsu, and H. Matsui.


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Kazakhstan: Sham Elections  · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

On the eve of the elections, a result prediction poll on the top Livejournal community 101almatinec showed that the bloggers were far from being unanimous in their forecasts. This seems interesting, because most of the people here explain their absenteeism and apathy with the allegation that the “results were known in advance”. This time it wasn’t the case, apparently (RUS).
Woman casting their vote, by Flickr User hemak
Small-horsy almost never writes about politics, but she resolutely opposes the “nothing-depends-on-me” principle of many Kazakhs. “I have one thing to say: if you sit and weep that nothing depends on you, it will remain this way. Active people can make the difference. You are free to skip voting, but the problem is that most machinations are done with the unused ballots”, she says (RUS).
Meanwhile, Irene of neweurasia posts an overview of fraudulent techniques, based on her experience as an election monitor. She highlights the six simplest ways of how to win on all counts: multiple voting, irregularities during mobile voting, presence of officials at the polling station, organized group voting, stuffing the ballot-boxes, and cheating during the ballot count (RUS).
One of the reasons why the people in Kazakhstan were not sure about the outcome of elections were the recent constitutional amendments, which made the parliament a technical approval body, where the minority has no rights. Many thought that the opposition would be given some seats in the legislature (especially now when it is purely decorative), thus promoting the regime’s image.
Pulemetchizza is not trying to analyze the situation. She is just “sitting and sadly reflecting”. She writes: “I was loyal, because I thought that the new ones will try to get as rich as the incumbents. But I don’t like to be treated as an idiot. Let’s call things by their names. Don’t call this a democracy. Let’s honestly admit that we are not building it. Then I will shut up and continue writing posts about my baby’s excrements.”
Disappointment was the main emotion that dominated the blogosphere – and, certainly, the whole society. Count-asylum noticed that the opposition Social Democratic party was far ahead Nur Otan in the exit-pollsters’ notebooks. 4uni-muni says that in Kazakhstan, the “results of the vote depend neither on the voter turnout, nor on the vote, nor on the voters”. None of the elections here was deemed free by the OSCE. Another usually totally apolitical blogger Belilovsky wonders: “If there is only one party in the parliament, maybe this body should be called differently?”
Megakhuimyak tries to understand the correlation between the percentage Nur Otan gained in each region and the level of the governors’ “zeal”. He alleges that if there was no so-called “administrative resource”, the parliament would have consisted of 65-70 per cent Nur Otan members, 15-20% of Social Democrats, and 7-10 per cent of the quasi-opposition pro-presidential Ak Zhol party. He also warns the president that the protest electorate is growing.
Sarimov, a local pro-opposition journalist, puts a dot in the myth of Kazakhstan’s transition to democracy: “The current regime will never share power with the people. There will never be a democracy in Kazakhstan under Nazarbayev”. Sean Roberts suspects that “the country’s previously shaky relationship with the OSCE’s election monitors will come to haunt them again. Nathan of Registan confesses that he would honestly be shocked if Kazakhstan gets the chairmanship in the OSCE in late november this year.
Interestingly, the blogosphere distinguished itself at these elections as leaking information: on the eve of the election day, a full list with access codes/passwords to the e-voting machines appeared on several Livejournal communities, raising even more serious doubts concerning the reliability of the e-voting system, which was purchased by Kazakhstan from Belarus.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome · Global Voices
Salam Adil

It has been a while since I last wrote my roundup but today I will only write about three blogs. There is so much to report and, yet, at the same time I feel there is so little. You hear a lot about Iraq in the news, about military surges and oil laws, benchmarks and statistics, political disagreements and security. There is a whole maze of paths and blind alleys that one can travel down considering the situation in Iraq. But all this boils down to one thing and that is the everyday life and hopes of the people living in Iraq.
Maybe none better can explain what I mean than a post in Inside Iraq. Sahar quotes the story of a cousin returning home in Baghdad one day:
“We turned the corner and all of a sudden all hell broke loose. We were a target! WHY?? What is happening?? We ducked as far as we could, but the fire wouldn't stop! Who was shooing at us??
“A thin scream! Oh my God!
TARA!!
“She went limp in my arms! I started screaming and screaming. My husband tried to move and was shot too. Twice. But he didn't pass out.
“I opened the door. Cradling Tara in my arms and shouting for Dima to stick by me, I crawled out of the car, and continued to crawl the few meters to the gate of the nearest house. Too terrified to raise my voice, I banged and banged with all my strength – and miraculously – the door opened.
“Arms came to my assistance, we were half dragged into the house…
“A few minutes passed.
“Miraculously, I saw my husband's twisted face peep through the half open gate at ground level! They ran to him and pulled him in. We found that he was shot in the shoulder and in the arm. He was loosing blood fast.
“I tried to stop the bleeding but wasn't skilled enough to do it. I was losing them – they were dying in front of my eyes!
“Suddenly the door was kicked in. American troops poured into the house … Looking at us – at the blood – at my broken family..
“They said they were sorry. They had set up an ambush for somebody and we had walked into it. “They thought he had taken refuge in this house, and followed him in.
“They said they were sorry, again and again…
“My daughter lost two fingers. My husband has a punctured lung and a steel sliver embedded in his arm, still to be seen to.
Sahar finishes, with more than a hint of irony,on the major news of the day:
Parliament resumes its sessions tomorrow to discuss important things like Oil Law, maybe, or new ministers.
Security in Baghdad is better.
Much better.
Normal life among the car bombs
Sunshine describes the routine when a car bomb is discovered in her neighbourhood:
dad come running and saying “OPEN ALL THE WINDOWS AND DOORS THERE IS A CAR BOMB IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD NEAR THE HOUSE” I was shocked and didn't think about anything I opened my room's windows and called our neighbor S to tell them about the car, so that they open the windows and doors and hide in a safe place , their dad replied
- hello?
- hello uncle , if you don't mind , please, if it is ok
(then I thought what am I saying?!!) There is a car in our neighborhood and will explode in a sec, thought I would tell you to ..
- he interrupted me saying , oh yea I knew about that, thanks , and stay safe..
I went downstairs with my family members and we stayed in a safe room, I forgot all the prayers, I was trying to remember simple says in Quran but I forgot every word, and started to think about 100 things in the same time, I felt scared from the stressed situation, there were policemen in our neighborhood and in front of our house, suddenly I started to laugh, I said ” people change their clothes and wait for guests, or relatives, but I am waiting for the car to explode” …
After an hour of waiting, and I think it was the longest hour in my life, we heard VERY HEAVY shooting, dad and grandpa asked us to go to the corridor and wait, after 30 minutes I felt tired, I took of my shoes, and kept walking in the corridor, I was standing near the stairs and the kitchen's door, BOOOOOOOOOOOOM the ground started to shake under our feet and the other door of the kitchen was opened from the bluster with so much dust, Mariam was screaming , and mama was saying ” it is over now, it is over now” I said “thank god”
Now is the shocking fact that car bombs still target residential areas or that people already have developed routines to cope with them?
A fishing trip among the bombs and bullets
A few days later Sunshine and her family decide to go on a fishing trip. Sunshine‘s mother, mama, describes the event:
I took my kids to a picnic ,to a casino [resort] near the Tigris river with some relatives, Sunshine enjoyed fishing there ,my other two kids ,Miriam and yoyo, had fun too swimming and playing, although we heard many many explosions but the kids did not care, I supposed to have fun there, the weather was great, the company was nice , the view of the river was so much relieving , my kids happiness was the most important thing to me, but suddenly I burst into tears ….Then as I was close to one of the trees I heard a far away shooting and few moments latter the tree wicker near my head was smashed by an aimless bullet…the fear I felt was beyond discretion…
Sunshine took all the explosions in her stride. She writes:
we heard sooooooo many explosions but we were in a safe place, we were able to see the smoke in the other side, one of the explosions was near my house, grandma was alone, but she is ok, now we don't care about the material thing, the money come and go, but the soul doesn't.
but after hearing her mother's story she later adds:
I had a great time fishing, & thought everyone was happy, I didn't know that my mom burst in tears nor about the bullet that hit the tree few centimeters away from my mom, she hide that and didn't mention it. When she told me my heart began to beat fast and I felt horrible, and started to think what if my mom was a little bit to the right or to the left, I wouldn't forgive myself because I wanted to go fishing and they agreed because they wanted me to be happy.
Sunshine recounts some of the tragedies that happened in her neighbourhood and admits her fears:
I do feel scared, from everything, even if I try to hide it, but there's a horrifying feeling inside me. Everyday I hear a shocking news, my neighborhood is more dangerous than before, about 4 car bombs were found this week, beside the so many mines. Every street leads to my house is closed, no one can enter/leave my neighborhood, we are stuck!!!! How will I be able to go to school? Hospital? We can't even go to the other side from the neighborhood.
These are just stories from two families that were written in the last couple of weeks. How many times have such stories been repeated for the millions of Iraqis over the last four years.
It seems to me no amount of congressional benchmarks or American military surges will bring normal life back to ordinary Iraqis. It may succeed in temporarily propping up an increasingly unpopular government. But, after one year, two years, then what?

author: Salam Adil


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Moldova: Judiciary Scandal · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Alexei Ghertescu of Law in Moldova writes about a recent scandal in the Moldovan judiciary.


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Moldova: Patriotism · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Lucia Candu of Public Policy Watch writes about Moldova's Independence Day and patriotism.


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Pakistan: Defense Day · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Pakistani Spectator on defense day in Pakistan. “On 6th day of September 1965 Pakistan army had to defend the sovereignty of the country against the aggressor India army.”


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Paraguay: Asuncion Shantytown · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Charles Lane visits one of Asuncion's shantytowns and finds most of the population makes a living from the landfill.  He also posts pictures on his blog The Soybean Wars.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Peru: Problems with the Telecommunication System Post-Earthquake · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Eduardo Villanueva, a communications professor, writes about the problems with the telecommunications system following the August earthquake in Peru [ES]. “No, there was no contingency plan…no, the state did not do what it should have done,” writes Villanueva.


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Peru: Water Levels for Amazon River Dropping · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The water level of the Amazon River has been dropping to near record lows.  Andean Currents writes that many are blaming deforestation and the logging industry.


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Russia: Beslan Anniversary · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Moscow City Day celebrations this year coincided with the third anniversary of the 2004 Beslan school siege. Like many others, LJ user varfolomeev66 (Vladimir Varfolomeev, Radio Echo of Moscow host) found this shockingly inappropriate and wrote this (RUS) on his blog:
City Day or the Day of Grieving?
Why aren't New Yorkers and Washingtonians having public celebrations on September 11?
Why aren't there loud fireworks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on January 27?
Why aren't they holding concerts and holiday festivals in Grozny and Nazran on February 23?
Why wouldn't you see picturesque parades in Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka on December 26?
Because over there, these dates are associated with national catastrophes, whose victims’ memory they are trying to keep and honor in these countries. Over there live and rule the Human Beings who don't think it possible to hold any celebrations on the days of Grieving. Events like Moscow's City Day – the most shameful and disgusting action that one can possible imagine on September 1.
Before you set out to have fun at Manezhnaya or Poklonnaya Squares today, to the Christ the Savior Cathedral or to Luzhniki, remember that on this very day 1,128 people were taken hostage, and 333 of them died, including 186 children.
LJ user mgtverskoy offered this explanation for the authorities’ heartless initiative:
All this is being done so that people forgot [about Beslan]. […]
A relatively small memorial gathering did take place in Moscow, however. LJ user abstract2001 (Marina Litvinovich, founder of PravdaBeslana.ru site) posted a few pictures (RUS) from it on her blog (more pictures are here). The first photo is of Dmitry Milovidov, whose daughter died during the 2002 Dubrovka theater hostage crisis; at this year's September 1 rally, he held a poster with photographs of the children and adults who had died in Beslan.
Below is one of the conversations that took place the comments section of abstract2001‘s post:
lugerp08:
400 people is too few, perhaps there haven't been enough victims yet. :(
abstract2001:
Should there be victims for other people to wake up? ;((((((((((((((((((((((
lugerp08:
Apparently, yes, if it's predominantly the victims and their relatives who attend such rallies. The rest probably lack the time, they were saying goodbye to the summer with beer outdoors, and were celebrating September 1 at home.
rgkot:
And what's going to happen if one goes to such a rally? Will the Chechen terrorists drop their weapons […] and repent?
lugerp08:
No, the terrorists will leave the Kremlin if we stop acting like sheep.
LJ user drugoi posted a selection of 2004 Beslan photos from various sources, most of them heartbreakingly graphic. Although he didn't write a single word, his post generated seven pages of comments, the majority of which were wordless, too.
Below are a few comments that broke the mournful silence (RUS):
lach_gas:
It's amazing that you hear more about Lady Diana […] than about Beslan. The capital is celebrating. On […] TV, on this most tragic day in recent history, they are broadcasting ice dancing and outdated Hollywood tits.
ptiza_s4astja:
Well, all of this has to be forgotten and we should pretend as if nothing had ever happened. Hey, we live in the most well-off, developed country, all's cool, people live in prosperity and safety, and Beslan doesn't fit into this scheme at all.
bifurcus:
Horrible. One is willing to forget, but such things should not be forgotten, there's no way we can forget.


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Russia: Chapaev; WWII and Bulgaria · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis writes about the Red Army commander Vasily Chapayev, killed in 1919, and about the relationship between the Soviet Union and Bulgaria during WWII.


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Russia: Football Fans; More on Politkovskaya · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog posts an update on Anna Politkovskaya's murder investigation and writes about the nationalist politics behind Russia's football fandom.


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Saudi Prince Calls for Reform · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Issandr El Amrani, from Egypt, reports  that a Saudi prince is calling for the formation of a political party and the release of reformists from prison.


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South Africa: Controversies in South African cricket · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

South African Cricket Scene writes: “Jacques Kallis has refused to reconsider being the South African vice-captain, however he has committed himself to South African cricket in the future.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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South Korea and China: Mystery over death of Korean diplomat · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chris O'Brien writes a very informative detective story by going through Chinese, Korean and international reports on the death of Korean diplomat in Beijing.


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Sri Lanka: Divorce Rates · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

vikalpa on rising divorce rates in Sri Lanka.


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Sri Lanka: In Hampi · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Very Random Thoughts on visiting Hampi in India.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Service Before Self?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I've observed people during my lifetime, and there is typically one general reason why people do anything: Self interest”:  KnowProSE.com wonders, “When does self interest actually step aside for community interest? Does it?”


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Ukraine: Parliamentary Mess · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The early parliamentary election is in three weeks, but the Ukrainian parliament has recently reconvened, Foreign Notes reports, “despite three [or was it four?] presidential decrees to dissolve it.”


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Ukraine: Weekend Street Politics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainiana reports and posts pictures from Kyiv's peaceful political bazaar.


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Ukraine: Yushchenko’s Kids’ Costly Education · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A TV host of the once oppositional station almost gets fired for reporting on the cost of education for president Yushchenko's children. Ukrainiana asks: “Is Channel 5 — held in high esteem as the ice-breaker of the Orange Revolution, in what was then a tightly knit ensemble of Big Brother media — reversing course?”


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Zambia: A Zambian becomes a Grand Master in chess · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kenya Chess Blog on the amazing journey of the “Zambezi Shark”: “Amon simutowe has become the first man from sub-saharn Africa to achive GM status. The zambezi shark achived this noble feat at the Euwe Stimulans.:


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Argentina: 260,000 Bloggers and Counting · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

According to a recent article in the Buenos Aires newspaper Clarin, there are approximately 260,000 bloggers in Argentina. Blog Pasa en Buenos Aires [ES] takes a closer look at the data, which among other says that nearly 45% of the bloggers are under 20.


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Bahamas: A Lot of Garbage  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Rick Lowe at WeblogBahamas.com thinks that the island's residential garbage collection “is ripe for privatisation.”


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Bahrain: Blow to Democracy · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Democracy Coalition Project has warned Bahrain that the progress to democracy has slowed down considerably and in some regard has actually regressed especially since 2005, writes blogger Mahmood Al Yousif.


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Barbados: Crunching the Numbers  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Pull! Push! breaks down the reality of Barbados’ national debt into “terms and figures that the average man or woman on the street can easily understand and appreciate.”


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Barbados, Grenada: Campaign Finance Reform?   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Grenada's ruling New National Party admitted they received campaign financing from a failed offshore bank but denied that the funds ever went directly to its leader,” writes The Bajan Reporter, as he details how the case increased pressure for the passing of legislation to govern campaign financing on the island.


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Bolivia: Criticism of the Unión Juvenil Cruceñista · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

El Pais de las Maravillas [ES] criticizes the Unión Juvenil Cruceñista for their behavior in the streets of Santa Cruz and shows a picture of members of the UJC in a car with a swastika on the door.


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Chile: The Month of September · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

En Tu Ciudad [ES] writes that September is month of contrasts for the city of Santiago, “It's a month with few work days, with a lot parties, a lot of fun, but hate on the other hand,  a lot of festive spirit and with unity, with a lot of joy for celebrating and a lot of pain to suffer through.”


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China: Banning Sexual Implication Content · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Josie Liu from China in Transition blogged about the Chinese Government's effort in banning sexual implication content in T.V and radio broadcast. Despite the bans, there are more and more sexual implications in the media.


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China: Herbal Tea Soft Drink · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Imagethief writes about a soft drink brand called  Wang Lao Ji, which turns herbal tea into popular soft drink and is supposed to be healthy for the body. However, looking into the ingredient, it is more a sweet soft drink than herbal tea.


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China, Russia: Deportation of Buryat Lama · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Window on Eurasia writes on the deportation of a Buryat lama from China.


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China: The Most Awesome Security Guard · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN and Zhaomu posted a series of photos to show how a security guard in Chongqin beat up a rural migrant worker who was taking a rest outside the shopping mall.


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Deforestation in Ghana & What China can learn from France? · Global Voices
Juliana Rotich

In these times of globalisation and world trade, the challenge of how to protect the environment while ensuring increased economic growth appears to be a problem facing many countries. In this article we offer glimpses of this, first in Ghana through the post ‘Sweet ‘n Sour’, and in China in the post ‘What China can learn from France’.
Rory Williams of the blog Carbon Copy points to one of the negative effects of the deal struck between China and Ghana where China is set to build a 400MW hydroelectric dam and Ghana is to supply China with cocoa – massive deforestation. Rory also includes some poignant facts about the ‘sour’ end of the deal.
…originally forests covered 36 percent of Ghana's territory but by 2000 this had shrunk to just 10 percent.  Forest clearing in Ghana is also a result of urban sprawl, export of timber, and use of wood for domestic fuel. Despite planting 10,000 hectares of managed forest a year, logging is taking place at an estimated 5 times the level it should be for sustainability.
The concept of Green GDP, an index of economic growth with the environmental consequences of that growth factored in, is mentioned in the post ‘What China can learn from France’ by Jianqiang Liu of the blog China Dialogue. (For some background on the idea of Green GDP and the need for its adoption in China, read  this post  by China Dialogue‘s Ma Jun) Jianqiang Liu makes a compelling case for the need for China to draw lessons from France's laws regarding environmental protection, which offer a precedent for dealing with myriad environmental problems.
The significance of the charter is that no other law may contradict it. By contrast, China’s environmental laws are numerous and of little use. There are no consequences for companies or local governments that ignore them, which they continue to do. Enshrining the principles of environmental protection and sustainable development in the Chinese constitution would give them unprecedented legal status as well as symbolic power.
Last but not least, also from China Dialogue is a post on India's third liberation – An economy that benefits the poor and protects the environment. The manner in which this can be achieved is outlined by John Elkington. In addition he wonders whether India can join China in a new ‘axis of sustainability’.

author: Juliana Rotich


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Dominica, Grenada: Hurricane History  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Living Dominica finds out about the hurricane history of the island and adds to a Grenadian blogger's advice on how to be prepared.


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Ecuador: Blogs for the Constituent Assembly · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Editor's Note: The following is a translation of an article written by Christian Espinosa at his page Cobertura Digital [ES] and used with permission.
Surely, this will be an experience to remember in terms of political campaigns using internet 2.0 tools: when the political party of Rafael Correa chooses to replace its traditional website for a community site of blogs, where each candidate for the Constituent Assembly has his or her own blog.
The result?
More than 100 blogs with the possibility of interaction in the comments section are competing for a greater presence on the primary page of the official site, in this case Alianza País [ES] according to the amount of updates of their proposals. For each candidate, there is a respective video presentation on You Tube along with the statistics of number of visits.
Party lines vs. proposals that leave its print
The advantage is that we can now see how much ex-Ministers (of Energy) Alberto Acosta [ES], (Communications) Monica Chuji [ES] or models like Roxana Quierolo [ES] (who only has two updates) worry about reaching their audiences without falling into the party line and taking into account their own administration of their blogs.  What they publish depends on each one of them. Everything they say or promise will leave its print on the internet, for everyone to see.
Explosion of Blogs of the Campaign
This is a very unique case in the region because it is not every day that the Constituent Assembly takes place, where it can change the Constitution of a country.  There are more than 4,000 candidates for the 120 slots for representatives.  The elections will take place on September 30, 2007.
Alianza País, the government's political party, is not the only one with its own blogs.  In Ecuador, there has been an explosion in the number of blogs [ES] and  videos uploaded to YouTube by hundreds of candidates that are not well known.  All it takes is a look at the tag “Asamblea Constituyente” in Technorati. The advantage is that we can see if they go back on what they have said.  The difference is that these parties do not have an overall collective strategy, rather they are personal initiatives.
President Rafael Correa Announces the Creation of his Blog
Caption: Coming soon the blog of the citizen President Rafael Correa
Finally, Rafael Correa's communication strategy has become one of the strongest demonstration in the use of campaign 2.0 resources in the region. Not only does he have his own YouTube channel, Flickr account for his official photographer, but also a community (in the style of El País) with more than 100 blogs updated daily. The next step, according to the banner published on the official party page, is the creation of the official Presidential blog of Rafael Correa.
Questions
A journalist colleague that edits the political section raised a question about the blogs that are not part of the campaign.  How can the independent blogs (not part of the campaign) be a part of the Assembly election process? Have they been part of the process?  How?


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India: On America · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Stylestation of being American, six years in the US and nationality.


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India: Sexuality and Women · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Ultra Violet on the wraps on women's sexuality in India. Like sanitary napkins bundled in newspaper packages.


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Indonesia: Balance of Trade · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Exegesis says the concept of Trade Balance should not be used in a negative way. The blogger is responding to an Indonesian news paper article that is lamenting Indonesia's trade imbalance with Russia.


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Iraq: Vacationing in Lebanon and Syria · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Faiza Al-Arji posts pictures from her last vacation to Syria and Lebanon here.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Jamaica: McNair’s First Novel  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Geoffrey Philp's Blogspot features Joseph McNair as he talks about his first novel, O Şe Şango.


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Japan: Voters get the government they deserve · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Ampontan writes about the long-time “nexus of money, politics, and government” in Japan, translating a blog post on a book about the late Agriculture minister Matsuoka Toshikatsu, whose career famously ended in suicide. After highlighting numerous money scandals in Japanese politics, Ampontan notes that: “All the people we discussed for their involvement in scandals have either kept or recovered their Diet seats. […] As the saying goes, people get the government they deserve. And this is what the Japanese electorate deserves.”


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Jordan: MP Attacked · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Ahmad Ghashmary, from Jordan, writes about how a Jordanian MP from the Muslim Brotherhood was attacked and had half his beard shaved after he spoke out against the Jordanian government.


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Jordan: Read Sultana · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lina Ejeilat, from Jordan, encourages her readers to read a controversial book called Sultana by Jordanian author Ghalib Halassah, whose works were banned in Jordan.


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Lebanon: HRW Blames Israel for Lebanese Civilian Casualties · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

In its latest report, the Human Rights Watch made the point that Hezbullah did not use civilians as human shields while fighting against Israel in the war during summer 2006. The report rebukes Israel for the unjustified bombing of civilian areas leading to more than 1,000 civilian deaths. Beirut Spring, Remarkz and Les Politiques reflect on this report.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Libya: Dream Interpretation · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Khadija Teri, from Libya, had a ‘weird dream’ and needs help in interpreting it.


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Mexico: Difficulties for Families in Utah Mine Disaster · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Marisa Treviño of the blog site Latina Lista focuses on the difficulties faced by Mexican families during the mine disaster in Utah.


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Morocco election photoblog lets voters talk politics with pictures · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Millions of Moroccans headed to the polls today to take part in a political process many lament will only offer the Moroccan people more of the same.  So if voters aren't particularly enthused, who could blame them?
It's Morocco's eighth parliamentary elections since 1960, but as Amazigh Blog (fr) wrote last week, ‘WHAT IS NEW in 2007? Personally, if I had to sum it up in one word, I would say NOTHING.”But what happens when a group of “idealistic nomads at heart” decide to bust out of the corporate grind and do something to spice up the country's rather sluggish political debate?
Intikhabat.2007.com (Fr) is a new, submission-driven photoblog with a rather simple concept: get Moroccans to express their thoughts on politics, one picture at a time.The folks behind Intikhabat2007.com prefer to remain anonymous, but describe themselves as young professionals active in social or community projects, and without any particular political affiliations. “We're just interested in finding creative ways to improve the political situation in our country,” one of the website's organizers said in an email.
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I decided to interview the site's organizers to get the story behind Intikhabat2007.com's genesis in their own words:
Why did you decide to start Intikhabat2007.com?
32 (yes 32! can you believe it?) political parties are participating in these legislative elections but their campaigns have mostly failed to interest Moroccan citizens. Most parties, if not all, have decided to avoid bringing up some very fundamental issues to the forefront of the debate and, in sinking to the lowest common denominator, have rendered themselves indistinguishable in the eyes of a majority citizens. They have also been incessantly campaigning to market and advertise their “symbols” (each party is represented by a symbol…mostly animals and household objects) and have forgotten to establish two way communication channels with their constituencies.Intikhabat2007.com was created to give the chance to citizens to express themselves and send out messages hopefully encouraging debate on issues that actually interest them and that may have been overlooked. The site is also a chance to organize information, presenting links to every party's political programme, their respective websites, legal documents and other interesting citizen initiatives. Not all political parties are the same and well informed citizens can make better choices and decisions.Yes, definitely. The idea actually came a few days ago while browsing some projects described on “www.demologue.com” which is a very interesting reference on the role of digital activism in promoting democracy…the final concept was developed after an online voice discussion through skype that brought together three friends from Morocco, France and Canada.
Why use pictures?
They say pictures are worth a thousand words, maybe pictures with some words on them are worth even a bit more…
How do you think citizen media and “new media” formats (blogs, podcasts, etc.) can contribute to political dialogue in Morocco?
New media formats have already been contributing immensely to the political dialogue in the country especially over the past few months. Bloggers such as “Larbi”, “Eatbees”, and “Ibn Kafka” (I'm missing to mention many more) have written countless posts and articles presenting truly fresh perspectives, which have engendered enormous debate, dialogue and discussions.
Others, such as the now infamous “Targuist Sniper” have posted videos on youtube.com exposing corruption in the country's police force by filming some of them in the act and catching them red-handed on tape. “www.selwane.tv ” which started out as a local initiative in the city of “Salé” has become nationally the best source of video media relating to the elections. They have conducted and posted over 50 video interviews with leaders and representatives of political parties, members of civil society, artists and citizens.
What are your plans for this project after the election?
Election day this Friday should not be considered as the final culmination of a period or process but only as an important intermediary step. Results will be published, coalitions will be formed, ministers will be chosen, others will be appointed, parties and people need will need to be held accountable, and intikhabat2007.com will always be active as long as citizens feel the need to have a channel through which they can send their messages and express their opinions.
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Pictures speak volumes about Moroccan politics
Intikhabat2007.com was launched only this week, but has already generated interest, and a number of submissions, from Moroccans around the world.
Simo and Leila in Boston, with the help of some South Park friends, say, “We love our country and want to contribute to its future…when will [Moroccans living abroad] have the right to vote?”
(Sanaa in Vancouver posts a photo about that same topic, to which a reader replies: “I have never understood why they didn’t let MREs vote even if everybody rush to meet with them at the Port in Tangiers and airports. They want their money, but not their votes.”)Imane from Casablanca has a word to say about internet censorship:
And as usual, an image of youth speaks loudest.  Ilyas from Fes holds a sign that reads, “Attention please! My future is in your hands!”
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Intikhabat2007.com's readers on the legislative electionsKamal:
UNTIL THE POWER IS SHIFTED TO THE PRIME MINISTER WHO IS FREELY ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE THESE ELECTIONS ARE REALLY IRRELEVANT.
Massine:
…et vu ce qu’on lit dans la presse, ….nos partis politiques n’assurent pas vraiment leur rôle de sensibilisation et d’encadrement des citoyens…………on a vu se multiplier par quatre le nombre de ces partis politiques ….n’importe qui créer son partis……certains partis politiques dites nationaliste ou ceux qui ont participé à l’histoire de notre pays sont devenu des citadelles…des châteaux forts …on ne peut pas y accéder…l’écart se creuse de plus en plus entre la base de nos partis et leur sommet….certains mammouth ou chef de partis sont au sommet depuis des décennies….ne veulent pas accepter le changement ….laisser les jeunes prendre les choses en main …et vivre leur époque…et participer pleinement à la citoyenneté…
…seeing what we read in the press,…our political parties aren't really fulfilling their role of educating and training of citizens……we've seen the number of political parties multiplied by four…anyone and everyone is creating their own party……some so-called nationalist political parties or those who have participated in the history of our country have become citadels…forts…we cannot enter…the gap between the base of our parties and its higher echelons grows greater and greater…some mamomoths or heads of parties have occupied their place on the top for decades…they don't want to accept change..let the youth take things into their own hands…and live their age..and participate fully as citizens.And the last word goes to Obligatoire:
je n’ai jamais participé au election au maroc, parceque tout simplement c’est une connerie…
I have never participated in elections in Morocco for the simple reason that they are a farce…
For more on the elections and Moroccan politics, the folks at Intikhabat2007.com suggest checking out arbi.org,  blog.ma/obiterdicta, eatbees.com, poliquonautemarocain.blogspot.com and  www.selwane.tv or see our archives for more Global Voices coverage of Morocco.

author: Jennifer Brea


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Morocco: No Need for Voting · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Felix, from Morocco Times, is dismayed that some Moroccans living abroad don't feel the need to take part in their country's elections.


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Pakistan: The war in 1965 · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

All Things Pakistan on the various version of the 1965 war between India and Pakistan.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Peru: Horse Patrols for Lima · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The Peruvian National Police has decided to purchase 200 horses to help patrol the city.  Pospost [ES] notes a study that demonstrates that the horse patrols has help reduce crime in some districts.


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Peru: OLPC in Arahuay · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

One Laptop Per Child News takes a look at the detailed account of the OLPC pilot project in Arahuay. Carla Gomez Monroy documents the entire process and adds her thoughts at the OLPC Wiki page.


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Russia: Another “Nashi” Interview · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog translates excerpts from an interview with another member of the pro-Putin Nashi youth movement.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: Kadyrov’s “Systemic Separatism” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Window on Eurasia writes about Ramzan Kadyrov's “systemic separatism”: “his efforts to sharply limit Moscow’s control over his republic while not seeking independence as such.”


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Russia: Moscow Mosque’s New Website · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“Moscow’s Historical Mosque has launched a new Internet site as part of its outreach effort, but in an indication that Muslim leaders anticipate that the site will be hacked by opponents of Islam, the site’s organizers have linked it to three different addresses,” Window on Eurasia reports.


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Saudi Arabia: Giving Birth · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Blogger Nzingha, who lives in Saudi Arabia and is expecting a new baby, writes about her experience giving birth to her first daughter in 2004.


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Singapore: Why Apple Created IPod Touch · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Singapore researcher and entrepreneur Bernard Leong has some theories on why Apple created the iPod Touch music device.

author: Preetam Rai


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Slovenia: Boris Kobe · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Glory of Carniola writes about Boris Kobe's playing cards, illustrated with scenes of life and death in a Nazi concentration camp. Also, a photo edition of the Best of the Slobs roundup.


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Slovenia: Presidential Campaign · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Marko Bucik writes about Slovenia's presidential campaign, which is “much more about personalities than beliefs.”


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Sri Lanka: Drinking water · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Towards A Utopia on the results of the drinking water tests in the village of Sooriyapokuna.


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Taiwan: Pacific Humpback Dolphin Workshop · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michael Turton wrote an elaborative report on the “Second International Workshop on the Conservation and Research Needs of the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins, Sousa chinensis, in the waters of western Taiwan”. The workshop had some detailed discussion about politics in environmental impact assessment.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Carlisle Chang · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Coffeewallah remembers the late Trinidadian artist, Carlisle Chang.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Colombia: Bogus Earthquake Alarm in Bogotá · Global Voices
Carlos Raúl van der Weyden Velásquez

After Peru’s earthquake, and every time a quake happens near Colombia, Bogotans remember once again that they should be prepared for this kind of disasters, but they often do not. Around noon on Tuesday, August 28, someone who had nothing better to do called several companies and government offices, pretending to be an engineer of Ingeominas (Colombia’s geological institute), and told them that an earthquake was going to take place in the city around 5 PM. The emergency hotlines, as well as the National Seismologic Network phone lines, collapsed. The rumour had been around for several days ago. Even though most people with some education -or with some kind of common sense- know that earthquakes can’t be predicted (so far, of course), some buildings, specially downtown, started to be evacuated, and panic started. As you can see in this video, a surveillance worker for a military hospital told Caracol TV: “the order was to evacuate the [normal] people, not the patients”.
Nevertheless, the fear a big earthquake will strike Bogotá someday is by no means groundless. As Víctor Solano reminds us [ES] :
Toda Bogotá se encuentra ubicada en zona de amenaza sísmica intermedia. (…) el impacto de un terremoto en Bogotá sería monstruoso debido a que las normas de arquitectura sismorresistente se adoptaron muy tarde y por eso cerca del 80 por ciento de las construcciones podrían colapsar estruendosamente.
The entire city of Bogotá is located in an intermediate seismic threat area. (…) the impact of an earthquake in Bogotá would be huge because the norms for an earthquake resistant architecture were adopted too late and that’s why 80 per cent of the buildings could collapse loudly.
Solano also criticized the media coverage and asked them to be more “responsible”. For example, some media outlets, like El Tiempo or Caracol Radio, claimed the National University of Colombia campus was evacuated, which wasn’t true (later they corrected the wrong information they provided).
The worst thing is that for almost two centuries a “prophecy” by father Francisco Margallo y Duquesne still rings in the ears of a lot of Bogotans every August, who said, “On the 31 August a year I won’t tell / successive earthquakes will destroy Santafé” (Bogotá’s colonial name, which was taken up again on 1991-2000). Although in 1917 (when several earthquakes actually struck the then big town) and in 1973 the Margallo prophecy was about to be fulfilled [ES], the last time Bogotá has been hit by a high magnitude earthquake was February 1967. In May there was an earthquake [ES] which left no victims (it was a Saturday around midnight, so I didn’t feel it). Maybe some people stayed away because of the date. In a Catholic country, is not strange to find some devote souls [ES] asking to go back to praying, as if a natural disaster was a punishment from God. The fans of the “triangle of life” hoax also show up [ES] on the forums. Of course, not everyone [ES] is so ignorant.
The office of Bogotá’s mayor has been working for years in a campaign [ES] in order to teach Bogotans what to do and how to prevent these events. Though the campaign has been praised, if you saw what happened on August 28, most people did not heed the advice. As Hodracirk's blog [ES], writes:
Ayer Bogota fue victima de una broma, que causo pánico generalizado,  un flashmob conocido solo por una persona…Lo realmente sorprendente es ver lo credulos que somos, y la falta de cultura de la sociedad que cree que un terremoto se puede predecir de esa manera, incluso algunos cerca a mi casa salieron comprar víveres, adicional mente esto es una prueba para de que la ciudad esta mal preparada para afrontar una emergencia de este tipo.
Yesterday, Bogota became victim of a prank, that caused general panic, a flashmob only known to one person… It was surprising to see how gullible  we are, and the lack of knowledge of a society that thinks an earthquake an be predicted this way.  Even some near my house bought supplies, which shows that the city is unprepared to face an emergency like this.

author: Carlos Raúl van der Weyden Velásquez


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Guatemala: Poll Numbers for Sunday Election · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Bloggings by Boz compares poll numbers for this Sunday's elections in Guatemala, as well as hypothetical second round figures.


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Iran: Families remember mass executions of 1988 · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

August 31 was the 19th anniversary of the execution of thousands of Iranian political prisoners in 1988 who were buried in a mass grave in Khavaran. Friends and relatives of the victims visited the grave where their chidren, brothers, sisters are buried without name or sign.
In spite of pressure from human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch the Iranian government has never officially acknowledged the executions. The majority of those executed were serving prison sentences for their political activities after unfair trials in revolutionary courts. They had however never been sentenced to death.
Grand Ayatollah Montazeri who was supposed to replace Grand Ayatollah Khomeini, the Founder of Islamic Republic, once criticized this mass killing and was reportedly then marginalized by the Islamic Republic.
Azadi-B has published 30 photos of this event:
This album is powered by BubbleShare – Add to my blog
Kooshtar 67 (means killing of 67 or 88) says [Fa] 19 years have passed since political prisoners were massacared in the summer '88. We still hope that one day that truth-finding committees may provide information, and that popular tribunals may condemn those responsible for the crime.
Azarmehr explains what happened in the prisons before the executions:
Iran's political prisoners were called in to face kangaroo courts of three clerics. The prisoners were asked two questions each, “Do you believe in Allah?”, “Are you prepared to renounce your organisation?”. The prisoners had no idea about the consequences of their replies. In fact a ‘No’ to any of the above questions meant immediate execution. Many of the prisoners had already finished their prison sentences but were still not released, some were even brought back after they had been released.
Royeh Madareh Zendgi published a photo and wrote [Fa] a poem to conmenmorate the 1988 victims and relatives. The blogger says:
And I know that you are not going to forget
The fate of our brothers
After many years
You will remember in a stormy night
That bloody summer
*The image above is a poster published by the Association of Political Prisoners in Exile to remember the victims


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Iran:What was all story about Haleh Esfandiari? · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Akbar Montakhabi,journalist and blogger, says[Fa] he got surprised when he learned that Haleh Esfandiari,Iranian-American scholar,was allowed to leave Iran.The blogger adds the government put her in jail for 3 months and accused her of acting against national security.Then nothing!The blogger asks what was the real story about Esfandiari?


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Jordan: YouTube Solution for Job-Seekers · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Nowadays eager job seekers are turning to places like You Tube to tout their marketable skills, prospective employers are reacting positively,” writes Hatem Abunimah from Jordan.


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Morocco: Bus Accident · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Blogger Cory, who is based in Morocco, writes about an accident involving a bus he was riding on from Rabat. He writes: “(T)he awesome part was, the van tipped over on its side because the bus just kind of pushed it over. the really awesome part was, the bus didn't stop. we just kept going.”


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Oman: Inflation Increasing · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Inflation is on the increase in Oman, writes Muscati, who adds: “Cost of food went up 11.1% in one month. Add the 9.1% the previous month and that's a 20% increase in just May and June!”


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Azzamn – New Omani Newspaper · Global Voices
Riyadh Al Balushi

Muscati is discussing the latest new magazine in Oman.

author: Riyadh Al Balushi


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Bahrain: Getting It Out of Your System… · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

We have a world of contrasts in Bahrain this week. The summer vacation is over, which makes some bloggers happy, and others miserable. Religious scholars – respect or despise them? One blogger compares blogs in the USA and in the Arab world. And our star post this week is a description of how to detox, Bahrain-style…
Here we go again…
Schools and universities opened again this week, and a number of Bahrain's bloggers have posts on educational matters. Ahmed describes an interesting phenomenon he has noticed:
Shaima Al Watani is concerned about increasing incidents of violence between school students, and thinks something should be done about it as soon as possible:
One in a Million has a very succinct post:
It’s only nine more months till the next summer vacation!
Coping with life in Bahrain
Students may be lamenting the end of summer, but Seroo (who recently moved back for an extended visit after years of living in London) can't wait for hers to be over:
It's been a good summer because I love Bahrain. I love hanging out with my family and my childhood friends. I love cocktail Kuwaiti from Burair and drive-thru everything. I love the simple life here that can get you as far as you need. It's great, isn't it? My friends abroad leave me jealous facebook messages on how sunny life must be here and how wonderful it all is.
What I don't tell them is that after a whole summer here I've now got an itch that no matter how much I scratch will not go away. Who was I kidding, a whole summer here and I was expected to stay sane? With no special exhibitions in museums, no parks, no outdoors activities, no long walks, no intellectual stimulation, no anything new and no character to anything around me, was I supposed to be just fine and not feel useless?
For some more opinions on why life in Bahrain is frustrating, read a post by another blogger here (please be warned, the post is full of profanities!).
Blogging here, blogging there
Butterfly sometimes tours blogospheres in different parts of the world, and has some comparisons to make with Arab blogs:
Faith – and disillusionment
We turn now to religious matters, and Rayyash explains the background to a call for ‘death to secularism’ made by a senior cleric in Bahrain:
Mohammed AlMaskati is not feeling at all charitable towards religious scholars:
The urge to purge
Ramadan is about to begin, and Bahraini Rants describes a traditional method of ‘detoxing’ before the month of fasting:
Historically, the last Wednesday before Ramadan has always been a busy time in Bahraini homes… Bahrainis, being the cool holistic cats that they are, cleansed and detoxed their systems to ring in the coming holy month properly. They used to drink a strange combination of leaves, roots and branches called “ishrig”, mixed up by the local Hawaj (apothecary) and brewed into a god awful drink to help cleanse your system. In other words, a diuretic with the devastating outcome reminiscent of raging cyclone steroids, nice enough picture for you?
A couple of years back, right before the start of Ramadan, I jokingly mentioned to my father about wanting to cleanse my system before fasting. He replied with giving ishrig a try, and I said, why not. My why not was met with a very disdainful scoff and grave statement that will forever ring in my ears, “if you do take ishrig, you will not leave the house for a while, and you will feel pain, insurmountable pain”. He then regaled me with stories of his childhood on attempted escapes from the clutches of his house to avoid drinking the stuff. Let me tell you, the ol’man has a pretty high tolerance for weird herbal remedies, and if he’s adding a disclaimer to ishrig, then this stuff was pretty bad.
But of course me and my father have this very XY chromosome chest thumping dare double dare contest perpetually going on, and we agree to drink ishrig together and deal with consequences (a previous contest between us was betting the waiter at an Indian restaurant on how hot they could make their lamb vindaloo and then who was man enough to eat it all – end result, a very painful evening with no real winner). His claims of me not being able to handle it were met with my pointing out his old age and inability to re-hydrate fast enough.. In keeping with traditions and all gentlemanly rules, we set the date for the last Wednesday before Ramadan to cleanse our systems, and see who’s made of mettle and who’s a yellow belly baby…
Perhaps you can guess what happens next… This post just has to be read in full, so I will leave you with bated breath (and perhaps churning intestines). Ramadan Kareem, and more from Bahrain in a week!

author: Ayesha Saldanha