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Armenia: Voters Undecided · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped republishes the findings of a recent poll which indicates that the 19 February presidential election might well be decided by a large percentage of currently undecided voters. The blog concludes that in order to woo such voters, candidates should now start to appeal to them with manifestos rather than bribes.


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Bahamas: Police Work · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“With the rate of crime being what it is, we the people are looking to the police for answers”: Craig Butler at Bahama Pundit questions the effectiveness of the island's police force.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bahrain: Fikr 6 – Changing the World · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Last week I was privileged to attend Fikr 6, a conference organised by the Arab Thought Foundation:
In keeping with the mission of the Arab Thought Foundation to promote the unique culture and values of the Arab people, Fikr 6: Arab Strategies For the Global Era will assemble the smartest leaders in Arab countries and beyond to discuss the major challenges facing the region, and how they are developing innovative solutions to the complex problems of: the rapidly rising global energy demand, regional and country-specific security measures, fulfilling the expectation of a youthful population, mitigating economic disparities alongside prosperity, meeting societal needs, and developing a sustainable environment. We will ask the assembled leaders how they are engaged in doing good for society while doing well for their organizations and business enterprises in the different Arab countries.
The speakers came from all over the world – and included John Clippinger and John Palfrey from the  Center for Internet and Society, which founded Global Voices!
Six Bahraini bloggers attended the event in all (each link takes you to all the Fikr 6 posts by that blogger):
المنعوت دائما
هذيان الحروف
ammaro.com
bint battuta in bahrain
Mahmood's Den
Yagoob's Dome
Ammar wonders about globalisation:
A question was raised over what the Arab world has contributed to the process of Globalization; the answer was “We buy. The world produces and we buy”. This does make you think, considering that we have become consumer economies rather than producers (with the exception of oil). We don't export motor vehicles, we don't export electronics, we don't export technology, and so on. People don't travel to world to attend our universities, people don't leave their countries to receive our healthcare.
Sure, a few countries do produce and offer services to a certain extent, but overall the general notion is that we consume. Essentially this means that most of our money is not being used inside our countries, and is slowly being pumped out of the region. Cash inflow from outside the region isn't very outstanding either, and besides the petroleum (for a few countries) and to a certain extent, investments, what else do we really have to offer the world? Isn't it about time this started to change?
Mahmood reports on a session about education he chaired:
It was agreed that modern education is the missing catalyst in the Arab world, a situation which must be corrected at all levels and completely overhauled should we wish to be part of this technologically advanced era. […] The political situation in many parts of the Arab world coupled with the dearth of opportunities for young minds provide a fertile ground for frustration, one that possibly leads to that young mind to prefer foreign lands for furthering their education or indeed to emigrate to in the hope of more respect, remuneration and a wealth of other opportunities. The “brain-drain”; however, is not that simple. The panel suggested that for enterprising minds the world over, geographical limits are immaterial, and in a lot of cases this migration is actually beneficial to the person’s country of origin or community as when the resources are provided, then the result of that migration will cross the physical geographical border and have a positive impact on the community as a whole.
Bint Battuta (that's me) quotes a surprising statistic:
In Finland you need to be in the top ten per cent of graduates to become a teacher. In South Korea you need to be in the top five per cent, in Singapore and Hong Kong the top thirty per cent. In the Arab world teachers tend to be recruited from the bottom twenty per cent of graduates, who have no other option.
Yagoob is impressed by a young Saudi student:
A surprise addition to the panel was the young Abdulaziz Al-Taraizouni, a Saudi studying at King Fahad University and heads an IT society at his university. He compares the education of old as the obtainment of “pure knowledge and nothing else” whereas modern education is looking ahead and is more concerned with the job market. He supported his fellow panelists in that students must gain the skills needed to adapt to all changes. The society he heads is the ‘IT Leaders Society’ which is a society that encourages the students to find new and innovative ways to use and create technology. He finds that the society has given so much freedom for the students and much room to grow, develop and find themselves with the final product being the amount of productivity the students show in their work..
Bint Battuta is also impressed by the Saudi participants in Fikr 6:
Some of the most impressive speakers were Saudi, and I mention that only because of the stereotype of Saudis prevalent in the Gulf, let alone the rest of the world. I have encountered a number of very cultured Saudis, mainly writers, but this was the first time I had listened to people working in business and industry, and I was struck by their education and articulacy (whether in Arabic or English) and their dynamism and innovative thinking. At one point I was feeling tired, and uncertain whether I could sit through a particular session; I checked to see who the speakers were, and because they were Saudi I knew it would be worth attending.
Butterfly is happy to have had the opportunity to attend:
But she wonders what the follow-up will be:
Other Fikr 6 posts worth reading: a debate about the single Gulf currency, and an interview with philanthropist and high-tech entrepreneur, Kamran Elahian.
Photo credits: ammaro.com

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Bangladesh: Miracle Boy · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Voice Of South on a “miracle-boy” – a seven year old child saved from the cyclone.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Bangladesh: Undefeated · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Mash on the release of four University professors. “The release comes after growing public outrage over the sentencing of these professors for a non-violent and silent protest. ”


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Barbados: Going Places  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Gallimaufry is pleased that several Caribbean destinations made it onto The New York Times‘ list of “53 places to go in 2008″.


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Bermuda: Free Transport?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Free public transport in Bermuda?  A Limey in Bermuda has a few concerns…


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Srebrenica Numbers · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Srebrenica Genocide Blog writes about the breakdown of those killed and missing in the Srebrenica region.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Bosnia: Kosovo Independence · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

TOL's Balkanizer wonders whether Bosnia is going to recognize Kosovo's independence, once it is declared.


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Cuba: Human Rights Day Demonstration · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Child of the Revolution, The Cuban Triangle and Uncommon Sense all blog about a demonstration that took place in Havana on Human Rights Day.


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East Timor: Day at The Races · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Dili-gence spends a day experiencing the horse races in East Timor.

author: Preetam Rai


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Ecuador: Immigrant Brothers Fall From Scaffold · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Un Guayaco en Nueva York [es] asks for prayers for one of the surviving Ecuadoran immigrants that fell from a scaffold used in washing windows of a New York City building.  The other brother died due to the injuries.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Georgia: All Eyes on Kosovo · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Steady State says that the failure to come to a decision on the status of Kosovo might well send Russia and the West on a collision course. With the need to resolve frozen conflicts in the South Caucasus on the international agenda, what happens with Kosovo has implications in this region too.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Guyana: Living in the Now · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana-Gyal is happy to be exactly where she is, even as she looks toward the future “with great gusto, gung-ho and big gallops of hope”.


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Haiti: Citizen Media & Transparency · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

kiskeácity wonders if citizen efforts to help Haiti should incorporate blogging.


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Hong Kong: Tech-donation · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Charles Mok blogs about the newly established project, Tech-donation, in Hong Kong (zh). It is organized by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service and Techsoup.

author: Oiwan Lam


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India: Ellora Caves · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Youth Curry on visiting the wonderful Ellora caves, government neglect and the noisy tourists.


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India: On Plagiarism · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

balancing life on the recent incidents of plagiarism in academia and why the real problem goes back to not educating children about citing one's sources.


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Indonesia: Online Hate · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Indonesia and Malaysia have been on somewhat unfriendly terms recently because of mutual claims of ownership of cultural artifacts they share. Carla writes about the online conflict between the netizens from both the countries.


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Iran: Leftist Students Arrested · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

The Iranian government arrested several leftists students in Tehran and Mazandaran last week – perhaps as a preemptive action before the “Student Day” (16 Azar). The leftists student group “Students for Freedom and Equality” informed the world about this through their blogs, and were able to organize several rallies for freedom, peace, and equality in different universities in Iran in spite of arrests.
Photo is from azady-barabary-01.blogspot.com
There are at least three interesting things about the student leftist movement: 1- After the mass execution of thousands of leftist militants in the 1980’s the Marxist/Socialist idea is still able to mobilize people in Iran. 2- The repression of the socialist students is happening in a country that has close ties with socialist leaders in Latin America including Hugo Chavez and Daniel Ortega. 3- This movement essentially relies on blogs to communicate and organise.
Peace, Equality and Freedom
The Barabary Azadi  blog (means “equality freedom”) belonging to leftist students, writes that on December 2 while students were preparing themselves for demonstrations, the authorities began to arrest activists in Tehran.
The blog adds:
… But the demonstration was held by the Radical Left on Tuesday, in the University of Tehran in front of the Engineering Faculty. The demonstration started with singing revolutionary songs by the students; many students carring posters and slogans defining their wants and aims such as “The University Is Not a Garrison”, “Liberty of Women Is Liberty of Society”, “NO WAR”, “Hands Off the People of Iran”, “Free the Political Prisoners”, “There IS an Alternative”, “Free Our Classmates”, “The Student Movement is Allied with the Workers and Women's Movements”, “We Want Independent Unions.
The blog also published a list of names of students who were arrested and promised the movement will go ahead, no matter how many are arrested.
Schhr, Student Committee of Human Rights Reporters blog  reports [Fa] that relatives of the jailed students are worried about their conditions in detention. Most of these students are being held in isolation cells in the notorious Evin prison. The Ministry of Intelligence has told students’ families they can keep them for 90 days without providing any information about them.
Back to the 80s?
The Mbulletin blog belonging to leftists students in Mazandaran, in the north of Iran, says five students were arrested and it reminds them of the bad days in the 80s where thousands of leftist militants were arrested and executed in Iran.
The blog writes [Fa]:
Once more Islamic Republic Intelliegence failed in its calculation, and “Students for Freedom and Equality” organized the Student Day in different universities all over country. Demonstrators showed their solidarity with jailed students. Students in universities in Tehran, Shiraz, Ahwaz, Mashad, Isfahan, Sanandaj and Mazandaran called for freedom for their fellow students.
Stars in chains
Salam Demokrat says [Fa] students were transfered to Evin prison. The blog says there are many other political prisoners such as labor and women's rights activists. The blogger comments that the Evin prison is “full of shining stars”.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: Crime Connection?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“It's a cautionary tale that should tell us Jamaicans that poverty by itself does not cause crime”: Francis Wade tries to analyse the apparent connection between wealth and crime.


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Japan: Flaming and the secrets we hide · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

The phenomenon of flaming (enjo) is widespread in Japan, particularly on the notoriously free-wheeling frontier of anonymous posting forums such as 2-channel. In contrast to popular depictions of Japanese as the “humble giants of the web“, posters in these forums are known for being ruthless in the extent to which they will chase people down for their perceived wrongdoing. Just a few weeks ago, a site created to allow users to pick out sites to flame and comment on them was shut down [ja] two days after going online due to complaints from site owners, flamed by an estimated 200,000 users.
The topic of flaming was taken up last week by one Japanese blogger, who argued that the nature of the Internet as a medium of communication has distorted the separation of public and private, of what is shared and what is hidden in a society. Blogger Kusamisusa asked: are the things that people are attacked for so viciously online really so out-of-the-ordinary?
In the blog entry, he writes:
「うわべだけ規則に従って、規則違反はコッソリやるべし」という規律は、「健全な社会」にとって極めて重要である。（炎上と、< 他者>のメンツを立てること）
他に言葉が見つからないので「健全な社会」と鍵括弧つきで書いてみた。
たとえばオタの集まるイベントで働いてた人がコッソリ「オタきもい」と言ってもたいして問題ないし、牛丼家で働いてる人がコッソリ食材を粗末に扱って遊んでもたいして問題ないし、未成年がコッソリ酒を飲んだりタバコを吸ったりしてもたいして問題ない。
問題だけどたいして問題じゃないこと、悪いことだけどたいして悪くないこと、が、世の中にはたくさんある。そしてそれらは、コッソリ行なわれなければならない。
たとえばあなたが中学生であるとして、あなたが学校で漫画雑誌を読んだり菓子を食べたりしてもたいした問題ではない。教員もそれを知っているとしよう。だが、あなたは絶対にそういう行為を教員の目の前でやってはならない。彼のメンツを潰してはならない。歩行者が信号無視をしてもたいした問題ではない。だが、交番の真ん前の交差点では、青になるのを待つべきである。
黙認と容認の間には致命的な差異がある。この差異はくだらないといえばくだらないものなのだが、しかし社会はこれを簡単には放棄することができない。< 他者>に隠れて行為しうること、これはどうしても重要なことだ。
「炎上」のひとつのパターンは、「< たいして悪くないけど悪いこと>をしたことがネット上で明らかになり、叩かれる」というものだ。このタイプの炎上を巡って必ず出てくるのは、「そんなには悪いことではないのだから、そんなに激しく叩くことはない」という意見と「悪いことをしたのだから、叩かれて当然だ」という意見との対立である。どちらの意見も正しいと言えるだろう。それは確かに悪いことであるが、そんなに悪いことでもないのだ。
< たいして悪くないけど悪いこと>がコッソリ行なわれているうちは、私たちはそれを黙認しうる。だが、それが大っぴらに行なわれれば、私たちはそれを見過ごすわけには行かない。メンツを潰されてはたまらない。コッソリやってれば咎められないような行為がネット上に（本人の意思で）晒される、という事態は、私たちを当惑させる。悪いことは悪いことなのだから、懲らしめるべきだ。いやしかし、その程度の悪さは誰だってやっている…。
あるいは、コッソリ隠れていようがどうしようが、規則を完璧に一律に徹底したほうが社会は「健全」だろうか。それこそ、法治国家のあるべき姿なのではないか。恣意的な運用を一切排した、ルールに基づく支配。それはおそらく非人間的な状況であろうが、別に非人間的で不味いこともないかもしれない。
インターネットの普及が、「うわべ」と「コッソリ」の間を、パブリックとプライベートの境目を、奇妙な形に捻じ曲げてしまった。炎上は、この捩れがもたらす混乱として在る。私が居酒屋で友人に話すならば何ら問題にならないような話も、ブログに書けば炎上の火種になる。では、居酒屋でその話を聞かされた友人は、私の悪事を咎めなかった不道徳な人間として責めを負うべきなのか。出火元を叩く「ネットイナゴ」がもしもその友人の立場だったら、その場で私をただろうか。では、ネットで公開したことが問題なのか。ネットはパブリックな場であり、私的で反社会的な内容は書かれるべきでないのか。完全匿名で叩かれないように書けばよいのか。匿名でならばやってよいが顕名／実名でやってはならないこと、が存在するのか。ネットで「本音」を聞き出してはいけないのか。芸能人やアルファブロガーが書くとダメで、私が書いてもＯＫな内容が存在するのか。
おそらく、公共空間というものについて、よく考える必要がある。

author: Chris Salzberg


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Japan: Scary Cyberspace · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Paul Nicholls from Japundit blogs a survey on Internet scariness.


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Japan: Three inmates executed · Global Voices
Hanako Tokita

Tomumaru[jp] quotes recent BBC coverage of the Japanese executions of three death row inmates on December 7. The glogger condemns the secrecy of Japanese executions and discusses in detail the national debate on the issue of the death penalty  in the country.

author: Hanako Tokita


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Japan: Welcome, we’ll collect your fingerprints and mugshot · Global Voices
Hanako Tokita

tokyodo-2005[jp] has reposted a cartoon by Hashimoto Masaru. “People are not concerned even when  the government violates human rights. This probably means that people who live in Japan in fact are very unhappy. Because they are unhappy, when other people's human rights are violated, they don't consider these to be violations…”


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Jordan: Public Places · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian blogger Ohod discusses the “crisis of public spaces in Jordan.”

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Kadafi and Mugabe: Democracy and Human Rights · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Página Um [pt] translates an article about how the mainstream media views on Kadafi and Mugabe have changed over the years: “Kadafi and Mugabe, and the way that media present them nowadays, are clear examples of what our press and our leaders understand of democracy and human rights: subordination     and money”.

author: Paula Góes


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Kyrgyzstan: Reviewing the month · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Almaz reviews the political developments in Kyrgyzstan, highlighting the murder of an Uzbek journalist in the southern city of Osh, resignation of the prime-minister and barring of an opposition leader from parliamentary elections.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Latvia: Online Voting in 2009? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Information Policy reports that Latvia is planning to allow voters to cast ballots online in the 2009 elections.


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Pakistan: Top Ten Blogs · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Light Within picks up the top ten blogs from Pakistan, explaining why these blogs make it to the list.


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Panama: Ten Favorite Sites · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Irving of Al Aire Libre [es] lists his ten favorite places in Panama to visit.


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Russia, Belarus: A Union? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“A union between Russia and Belarus with Putin as president? Those are the rumours presently at sway in Moscow,” writes Vilhelm Konnander.


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Russia: Nashi’s Vova Panties · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Scraps of Moscow writes about “a Nashi-sponsored fashion-show-cum-rally,” Russian politics and feminism: “The young lady – or at least part of her – is proclaiming, ‘VOVA! I am with you!'”


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Russia: President Dmitry Medvedev? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A year and a half ago, Moscow bloggers had to go all the way to the Zoo to yell “Preved, Medved!“ to the bears there. Today, they don't even have to leave their computers – all thanks to president Vladimir Putin‘s pledge of support to Dmitry Medvedev, first deputy prime minister and the likely 2008 presidential candidate.
Medvedev's last name stems from the Russian word for “bear” – medved’ – and Yandex Blogs portal (RUS) lists over 1,500 posts in the Russian blogosphere today that greet him irreverently with “Preved, Medved!” (RUS) and over 1,400 more posts that refer to Medvedev in a more reserved manner (RUS), by what appears to be his semi-official title by now – “the successor.”
Anglophone Russia bloggers are also discussing the much-awaited announcement of the person who is likely to become Russia's next president. Below are some of the reactions.
Mark MacKinnon's Blog:
[…] So all hail President Dmitry. There is, of course, the small matter of elections to be sorted out, but you can be sure that the Kremlin – unless this decision creates a major rift behind the red walls – will make sure Putin's man is elected. The liberal opposition is self-destructing anyway, choosing not one, but three candidates to run for the presidency in April.
[…]
Medvedev owes Putin everything. If Putin asks him to do something – to make him prime minister, or even to relinquish the presidency because Vladimir Vladimirovich misses the comforts of the Kremlin – he'll do it.
Ruminations on Russia:
The Last Act or Just the Prelude
Google News has links to 108 news feeds announcing that Dmitry Medvedev was nominated to be the Presidential candidate for United Russia and other Kremlin-friendly non-jackal parties; and VVP saw the nomination and thought that it was good.
Too easy, its not going to end just like that.  That may be a front for being caught off-guard.  The rumour doing the rounds in late summer was that Medvedev had been caught with his hands in the cookie jar and would henceforth be the man running the key cookie jar (GAZP) but would not be running the whole damn thing. […]
Sean's Russia Blog:
[…] This is still an unfolding story and more will be discussed in the coming days. However, even at these early stages, one thing is clear. No matter what Putin does to show that he’s leaving the Presidency, his very own critics just won’t let him go. As Michael Corleone declared in Godfather III: “Just when I think I’m out, they keep pulling me back in.”
Siberian Light:
[…] I’m beginning to wonder (and I don’t think I’m alone), though, whether Medvedev could actually be the real deal – that is, a President who actually leads Russia, as Putin slips gently into an early semi-retirement.
Medvedev’s loyalty to Putin means that he is unlikely to turn on his former boss. And, rather like Putin back in 2000, Medvedev is the man nobody can conceive of as being President – no power base, stuck in the middle of warring clans. The perfect man to hold everything together… […]
Perspectives on the New Russia:
[…] 4. The Russian blogging community has responded with commentary, some of it fairly cynical. A couple of bloggers have suggested that Putin picked Medvedev because he is the only candidate shorter than Putin, others have suggested that they now will be voting for Gazprom to be the new Russian president.
5. Finally, it turns out that Mr. Medvedev – who is a soft spoken and largely wooden on camera particularly in contrast to the more charismatic leaders like Zhirinovskii – as a youth was a major hard rock fan, loving Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin. He also reportedly loves the sound of vinyl records.
The Accidental Russophile:
[…] I very much doubt it will affect any change in the direction of Russia, Inc. In fact, Medvedev's strong business experience and persona lend itself to Russia as the emerging corporate state, a nation that is run like a business. Most analysts tend to cast Medvedev as a liberal – I think this is a mistake. He simply isn't the sort of Russian man who shoots his mouth off to show what a real man he truly is.
[…]
[…] Medvedev won't lend himself to the easy, knee-jerk, “He's a fascist” kind of blogging. He doesn't appear to be so vain as to appear shirtless for photos while fishing with some prince. He is unlikely to kiss children on the belly.
In short, the man is a professional.
Scraps of Moscow:
[…] The Russian stock market has surged – Gazprom, where Medvedev is Chairman of the Board, is up 3% – and I have to say that in the imperfect world of Russian politics a smooth transition to a Medvedev administration may be the best possible outcome for anyone concerned about continued growth and stability in Russia. Medvedev's involvement in corporate Russia predates his involvement with Gazprom – he was head of legal affairs at SPB-based timbercompany Ilim Pulp for most of the 1990s – and fits with his the “moderate liberal / technocrat” label generally applied to Medvedev's politics.
The market's favorable reaction to this news may also reflect a sense of relief that the succession process is moving forward.
[…]
Looking ahead, this may also be good news for the future of the US-Russian relationship, both because making money is one thing both countries agree on and because of who Medvedev is not – a hawk like Sergei Ivanov. But who knows – the past few months have been all about surprises and the expectation of more surprises […].


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Russia: Prison Torture Video · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Robert Amsterdam posts “a secret video made in 2006 by a prison guard of a ‘Preventative Actions’ exercise by the OMON (special police squad) performed at a prison camp in Yekaterinburg”: “The appalling instances of beatings, torture, inhumane treatment and excessive and arbitrary violence shown in this recording inarguably represent a fundamental violation of human rights.”


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Russia, Serbia: Kosovo Crisis · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Steady State writes that “the West and Russia are heading towards a major collision” over Kosovo.


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Serbia: Dusan Saponja & Dusan Cavic · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belgrade 2.0 posts a wonderful selection of the wonderful video stories by Dusan Saponja and Dusan Cavic: “For short episodes such as these you just saw, it’s not really necessary to understand Serbian. However, most of the real masterpieces, award-winning shows, are subtitled. You see, besides humorous short clips, Dushan and Dushan are really the best when it comes to exploring not-so-popular subjects of the sometimes not-so-cheerful Serbian reality […].”


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Serbia: “Tension Digest” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belgrade 2.0 writes about “Kosovo is Serbia” campaign and other elements of the current Kosovo-related “tension.”


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Singapore: KL – Singapore Bullet Train · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Sophie on the proposed bullet train between Malaysian capital KL and Singapore “can the two governments agree to such a plan that will greatly benefit the people of the two countries?”


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South Korea: Migrant Worker Trade Union Demonstration · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

CINA blogs some pictures about the last Sunday demonstration organized by Migrant Worker Trade Union against the government crack down.


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South Korea: Student Suicide  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Matt from Gusts of Popular Feeling blogs about the problem of student suicide due to the pressure of college entrance examination.


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The Anonymous Blogging guide is now available in French · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

The Anonymous Blogging with WordPress and Tor guide is now available in French thanks to this translation by the Tunisian blogger Malek Khadhraoui, and we are busy making translations into other languages.
The guide outlines several methods of protecting one’s identity in order to avoid retaliation and can considerably reduce the risks that a blogger’s identity will be linked to his or her online writings through technical means.
Le “Guide pour bloguer anonymement avec WordPress & Tor” is availble for download as a PDF file. You may need to install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the PDF. If you experience difficulties viewing PDF format online, try this linkable and blogging-friendly HTML version.
Please link to it, download it and help disseminate this important information. You can simply grab the HTML code from here!

author: sami ben gharbia


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The Balkans: Corruption · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Balkan Baby writes about corruption in the Balkans.


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The Balkans: Croatian Serbs · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Balkan Anarchist writes at length about Croatian Serbs and their war experiences: “If someone were to ask me how I felt about what my Serbs, the Croatian Serbs, went through during the first half of the 1990s, I would answer them by saying, “heartbroken”. Heartbroken that those leaders who led my people have, thanks to their politics, contributed to the current situation my people are in, i.e. not by their centuries-old “hearths” as we call our lands, but in Serbia and other parts of the world.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Expiration Date · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

KnowProSE.com discovers the importance of expiration dates…


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Trinidad & Tobago: Lion House  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Thebookmann features a wall painting of Lion House in Trinidad, made famous by V.S. Naipaul's A House for Mr. Biswas.


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Ukraine: Bryan Adams, Enrique Iglesias, Michael Jackson · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukraine Musical Matters reports on the recent Kyiv concerts of Enrique Iglesias and Bryan Adams and Michael Jackson's upcoming visit.


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Ukraine: Yatsenyuk’s Promise · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Yulia Tymoshenko got 225 votes instead of the needed 226 to become Ukraine's PM today, and Ukrainiana wonders if Arseniy Yatsenyuk is ready to deliver on his promise to resign as speaker due to that: “Yatsenyuk got the job only as a condition of the Orange Coalition agreement between BYuT and NUNS. If he choses to keep the job as a condition of a Grand Coalition agreement, he, along with the entire NUNS, will follow in Moroz’s footsteps.”


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Uzbekistan: Clothing Culture · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Bordersca tells about fabric culture/business which has been flourishing since collapse of the Soviet Union in Samarkand, an ancient city and main tourist destination in Uzbekistan.


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Uzbekistan: Wannabe Friends with U.S.? · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Jamiyat reports that president of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov spoke at the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the constitution at which he touched upon the relations of Uzbekistan with the US, saying that “the disagreement between Uzbekistan on the one hand and the USA and EU on the other is not a reality”.


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Venezuela: Changing Computer Clocks to Bolivarian Time · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Afinidades Electivas [es] provides a link to show how to change Venezuelan computers to reflect “Bolivarian Time,” which means turning back the clock one-half hour, which is a change implemented by the Venezuelan government.


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Afghanistan: Contractor Database · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Carl Robichaud reviews the Windfalls of War report, an investigation of US contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, puvlished by the Center for Public Integrity.


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Bangladesh: Fighting discrimination in Canada · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

To my pen, forgive me for typing blogs a letter from her uncle, who is going to court to fight the discrimination he faced at the hands of security guards outside a station.


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Bangladesh: HIV/ AIDS · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Voice of South on another kind of a disaster that could hit Bangladesh – that of HIV/ AIDS.


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Barbados: BIM Magazine · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Gallimaufry is “really excited to hear…about the relaunch of Bim magazine”, a publication that was instrumental in the development of West Indian literature.


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Barbados, Jamaica: Cradle to Grave  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Living in Barbados blogs about Jamaican funeral traditions.


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Barbados, Venezuela: Petro Caribe  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As the General Manager of the Barbados National Petroleum Company makes a statement “on the ‘gift with strings’ that is Petro Caribe, Notes From The Margin says: “The truth of the matter is that Petro Caribe does NOT help the Caribbean, it is NOT in the Caribbean’s best interest.”


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Brasil: Magazine made by bloggers is live · Global Voices
Paula Góes

After 10 months’ work, Rafael Reinehr [pt] announces OPS – the e-magazine written by bloggers – is now live: “The fun has just begun. In the coming weeks, sections will be populated, articles will be published, new bloggers will begin their journey in this project, that has what it takes to become one of the best cultural portals of recent times, with no false modesty”.


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Brazil: Lower socio-economic classes and e-commerce  · Global Voices
Paula Góes

MLOG [pt] comments on a recent research showing that, in Sao Paulo,  consumers in classes C, D and E – the middle class, the working poor and the poorest of the poor – have turned to e-commerce more than those in classes A and B. “Cheers to democratization, access and popularization of computers and to the Internet!”


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Cambodia: Comic Launched · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Andy Brouver writes about a graphic comic book that was released recently in Cambodia. The printing was held up for 17 years because of market conditions.


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China: Call for Abolition of Re-education Through Labor  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Donald Clark from Chinese Law Professor blogs about a proposal submitted by Beijing University Faculty of Law professor He Weifang, along with 68 other signatories, to the National People‘s Congress requesting that it review the system of re-education through labor (RETL).


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China: Laowai Blog · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Kenneth Tan from Shanghaiist translated a post from a popular local forum (zh) commenting on Laowai's blogs writing on China.


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Colombia: Santa Fe de Antioquia Film Festival · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Juliana Rincón of Medea Material [es] writes about her recent experience at the Santa Fe de Antioquia Film Festival in Colombia.


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Dominican Republic: Tropical Storm Olga Approaches · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Blog Santo Domingo [es] provides the latest on Tropical Storm Olga.


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Egypt: The Secret of Sudanese Women · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian Sandmonkey shares a secret about Sudanese women in this post.


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El Salvador: Documentary Film – Los López · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

A documentary film called Los López tells the story of Mirtala López, who worked during the El Salvadoran civil war in a refugee camp in Honduras, is making the rounds of theaters writes Jasmine Campos of Periodismo Cultural [es].


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Haiti: The Needs of Children  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I would argue that the measurement of progress in a country is…the ability of that country to meet the needs of its children”: Haiti Innovation refers to a UNICEF report “which suggests that we have a long way to go, both for Haiti and the world as a whole.”


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India: Identity, conflict and a hiatus · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Sharanya explains her hiatus, as her comments about the current issue of ethnic Indians in Malaysia have been blow out of proportion.


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Indonesia: Shamanism in Indonesia · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Indonesia Matters looks at the practice of Shamanism in modern Indonesia.


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Iran:Creating fear without reason · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Mohmmad Ali Abatahi,former vice presdient and blogger,criticized Iranian police decision to crack down on long boots and winter clothing. He says “confusion in the uncommon decisions made about clothing makes the society worried and afraid.”


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Israel: Arab Literacy Project  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Israel, Maya Norton writes about the UAE-based Kalima project, which aims to translate books written in different languages into Arabic.


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Japan: Coffee Splitter · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

James from Japan Probe blogs about the arrest of coffee splitter who had assaulted 5 schoolgirls with coffee via drive-by spitting attacks.


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Japan: Pearl Harbor and John Lennon · Global Voices
Hanako Tokita

kitanomizube[jp] reflected on peace and violence on the day of the Pearl Harbor attack, which also happens to be the day John Lennon passed away.


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Jordan: 15 Years of Texting · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian Roba Al Assi celebrates 15 years of cell phone text messaging with this post.


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Jordan: Pay Raise · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian blogger Khalaf writes about pay raises in Jordan.


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Kazakhstan: Almaty, a Dream Destination? · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Arseny translates a post reviewing the Wall Street Journal’s supposition that Almaty may become one of the next Mecca for international tourists.


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Kyrgyzstan: Watching Russia · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

The Azamat Report is watching the recent developments in Russia, like many people in Kyrgyzstan do, because Putin is very popular in Kyrgyzstan and many wish that we had a president like Putin, as a result President Bakiev tends to imitate his Russian counterpart.


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Kyrgyztsan: Kyrgyz Santa Promises Revenues · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

CXW reports that the Kyrgyz Tourist Board is capitalising on the recent revelation by the Sweden's consulting firm that Santa Claus should be living in Kyrgyzstan to better manage his activity.


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Mexico: Immigration and Binational Relations · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Immigration, Education and Globalization: US-MX is blog written by a post-graduate class at the University of Guanajuato, Mexico, whose goal “is to address immigration, education, human rights and binational relations, particularly as they affect the United States and Mexico.”


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Mexico: Michoacán Reporter Killed · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Mexico Reporter writes about the targeted shooting death of Michoacán reporter Israel García Pimentel.


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Mexico: Reforming the Electoral Institute · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Franc Contreras of Mexico Monitor writes about President Felipe Calderon's plan to reform the Federal Electoral Institute.


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Pakistan: Top Ten posts · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Following up on the list of top ten blogs from Pakistan, Light Within picks out the top ten posts from the Pakistani Blogosphere.


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Palestine: Gaza Update · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Kabobfest‘s Will reports on more bloodshed in Gaza, Palestine.


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Russia: 13 Years Since the 1st Chechen War · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dmitri Minaev of De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis commemorates the 13th anniversary of the First Chechen War by linking to his earlier translation of a Chechen journalist's recollections from that time.


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Russia: Advice to Opposition · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

TOL's Elections in Russia quotes a Russian blogger who thinks the opposition's approach isn't constructive enough.


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Russia: “Nashi” in Moscow · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The second post-election week in Russia started with an exchange of niceties between president Vladimir Putin and first deputy prime minister Dmitry Medvedev: on Monday, Putin said he backed Medvedev to become president, and on Tuesday, Medvedev said he backed Putin to become prime minister.
The first post-election week, however, had been marked by increased presence of out-of-town members of the pro-Putin youth movement Nashi (“Ours”) in Moscow – and by the first public appearance of a few members of Mishki (“Bear Cubs”), the new children's pro-Putin movement.
Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow wrote extensively about Mishki and the shock they've caused in the Russian blogosphere and the media.
LJ user odalizka wrote (RUS) about her encounters with a group of Nashi kids in Moscow last week:
As we all know, the young Nashi, dressed in red and white raincoats, with a portrait of [the president] and the words “Our Victory” on them, have flooded all of [Moscow's] downtown, beginning Monday. I thought they'd be taking part in meetings and rallies on large streets and squares; but for the past four days a small group of young people with flags has been hanging out near our office, on a small street in the Chistyye Prudy neighborhood.
The rainy Monday proved especially hard for them – they were hiding in our gateway, which we use as a smoking place and where there's also a “bed for an hour” hotel […]. The young boys and girls evoked extreme pity and a desire to warm them up, wash and feed them. Then it turned out that the office of [Eduard Limonov]'s party was nearby – and yes, this group had been sent here to guard this very office [of Limonov] permanently. To keep [Limonov's guys] from moving forward in one forceful, united front and snitching away our hard-won victory.
[three photos]
As you see [on the photos], they are blocking traffic as they stand on both sides of the road, making something of an arc with their flags above each car that drives by. In general, they act as if they own this city. Victors and occupants. My colleague today tried to drive when the green light was hers – right when a group of young people in raincoats was crossing the street. She honked at them (because it was red light for them), and they surrounded her car and started waving flags around her. She opened the window and said: “Do wipe the car more thoroughly, it happens to be really dirty.” They began to laugh and left her alone. […]
Their eyes are empty. The Tajiks sweeping our backyard look like Sorbonne students in comparison. Their badges say something like, “Yekaterina Sidorova. Vladimir. Ideology.” Some are obviously the leaders – they are dressed in warm red jackets with a portrait of you-know-who. At 5 o'clock sharp, they take off. Needless to say, windows of the cars parked nearby are decorated with Nashi‘s leaflets, famous all around the [blogosphere] by now, with amazing illustrations and text [more on it in this translation, posted at La Russophobe]. […]
I mean, you get, right? This crowd had to be a) brought to Moscow; b) accommodated; c) dressed in uniforms; d) provided with [leaflets, flags, etc.]; e) fed; f) paid, obviously. Instead, damn it, they should have put them in school classes and educated them – investing this way into the future of our great motherland.
[…] It's unbearable to see for yourself what kind of people the current regime is relying on.


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Russia: “The Neva Horror” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis writes about St. Petersburg's new tourist attraction: “The Neva horror. The cyberspace of fear.”


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Singapore: Taxi Fare Hike · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Mr. Brown in Singapore thanks a Taxi companies for pointing Singaporeans to a more healthier and cheaper form of transportation.


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Sri Lanka: Taking blogs seriously · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

London, Lanka and Drums reflects on blogging in the context of a session discussing blogs at the Galle Literary Festival.


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Turkmenistan: End of Illusions? · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Maciula analyzes the recent President Berdymukhammedov’s last speech in which he ordered that satellite TV dishes be removed from all Ashgabat houses.


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Ukraine: God or Demons Against Tymoshenko? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

An MP from president Victor Yushchenko's bloc proposes to have the parliament building sanctified, to purge it of the “demonic forces.” An MP from Victor Yanukovych's Party of the Regions claims that God is against Yulia Tymoshenko as Ukraine's prime minister. Ukrainiana posts a video and translates transcript of the latter's statement.


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Ukraine: Immature Politicians · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes compares the new Ukrainian parliament to high school – here and here.


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Ukraine: Lavra and Castle Paintings · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Olechko posts two of her recent paintings of Ukrainian architectural landmarks.


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Ukraine: Politics Roundup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Orange Ukraine has a roundup of all things that are wrong with the Ukrainian politics.


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Ukraine, U.S.: Carol of the Bells · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainian Musical Matters writes about a 1916 Ukrainian song that became a Christmas hit in the United States.


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Uruguay: Montevideo Marathon · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Martín Balao writes about the 13th Annual San Felipe and Santiago de Montevideo marathon [es] that will take place on December 15th through the streets of the Uruguayan capital.  For this race, each runner will have a special computer chip tied within their laces that will help calculate their time.


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US Virgin Islands: Effects of Olga  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

News of St. John reports that the Virgin Islands are feeling the effects of sub-tropical storm Olga.


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Argentina: What the Media Didn’t Say About Personal Fest · Global Voices
Jorge Gobbi

Last Friday in Buenos Aires,  the Personal Fest was held, which was an event that gathers Argentine and foreign musical artists, sponsored by a local mobile telephone company: Personal owned by Telecom Italy. The show was preceded by an impressive advertising campaign in every imaginable media: television, radio, magazines and newspapers. But this Friday something unexpected happened: during the wait for Snoop Dogg's show, a person was stabbed and another one was attacked, which caused a huge disturbance. Many people ran way causing a stampede and many were trampled on and injured, not too seriously, fortunately.  Many of the people who went to the Personal Fest affirmed that it was a miracle that the incident did not end in a massacre. Scared by this incide, and despite there still were a few more show left, many people decided to leave the place where the festival was taking place.
The most shocking fact was that, despite the existence of injured people, practically no media covered the incidents, not even the local cable news stations, who are prone to those “last minute” newsflashes.  This particular silence towards a serious issue in an event sponsored by one of the largest advertisers in Argentina, started a real furious reaction among blogs and forums. In a certain way, the fact itself was left in the background, and the big subject was the notorious hiding that the media made of the facts. And when they did bring it up, they did so in a casual way, playing down its importance.
Just a few minutes later, people who attened the Personal Fest started leaving comments on the event's blog, which were deleted a few hours later, something that was reported in blogs such as Personal Fest Desastre [es], a site created to tell the story. The site's creator wrote:
Creé este blog para postear todos los comentarios que fueron borrados del site oficial del Personal Fest. La intención de esta via es canalizar las opiniones q fueron suprimidas del site para garantizar nuestro derecho de expresarnos y defendernos del abuso permanente.
I created this blog to post all of the comments that were erased from the official site of Personal Fest.  The purpose of this medium is to channel the opinions that were withheld from the site in order to guarantee our right to express ourselves and defend ourselves from permanent abuse.
In this same blog, one can see pictures of the incidents and a video filmed a few minutes after the stampede of people.
But many other personal blogs also talked about this incident. The journalist Eduardo Fabregat, from Pagina /12, the only news media that informed about these issues, made an early summary report on his blog Pan y Circo [es].
Anoche, en la primera fecha del Personal Fest y poco antes del show de Snoop Dogg, hubo un herido de arma blanca. Según me contó el periodista Roque Casciero (quien confirmó la versión con personal de Cruz Roja y la Policía), desde que trascendió la noticia hubo un importante operativo de Popart y Personal sobre la prensa para minimizar el hecho, e incluso se dio a conocer un comunicado bastante livianito en el que se habla de “un incidente entre un reducido grupo de gente”, no se menciona el arma blanca ni que el herido fue operado en el Hospital Rivadavia.
Last night, on the first night of Personal Fest and a little bit after the show of Snoop Dogg, there was a person wounded with a weapon.  According to the journalist Roaque Casciero (who confirmed the story with personnel from the Red Cross and the Police), from the time that the news was announced there was an important operation from Popart and Person regarding the press in order to minimize the event, and even there was a light communication in which they referred to a “an incident between a small group of people,” and there was no mention of neither a weapon, nor the wounded that was operated on at the Hospital Rivadavia.
Also the 20 Palabras [es] news site published about the incident, and hundreds of comments broadened the information.
La desorganización del festival acaba de dejar un herido. Es un chico que acuchillaron en medio de una estampida, tras la que se fue un cuarto del público. Está internado en el Hospital Rivadavia.
The festival's disorganization left one wounded.  It is a male that was knived in the middle of a stampede, and after which more than a fourth of the public left. He is admitted at the Hospital Rivadavia.
The website of Argentine version of the Rolling Stone magazine published a light account of the event, which they called “a party”. In this note, comments were disabled.  Instead readers literally assaulted the previous article about the show the band The Police played a few days earlier.  That article did allow comments and the readers accused the media of hiding the facts. Such comments were deleted, but the magazine published a note about the incident, which can be found here, and where one can find more comments of angry readers.
Behind these, dozens of blogs started publishing about this subject and linking other sites. In a few hours, any person that wanted to find information about the incidents in the Personal Fest could do so. Despite the fact that the mass media had not informed about the issue, the information was widely available.
And there are some early conclusions from different bloggers. The first one, it's increasingly evident that, for certain issues, the traditional media do not monopolize the spreading of certain topics of public agenda, but they still act like they can –in this case, by not informing about a serious incident in an event sponsored by one of the largest advertisers in the country.  Unblogged.net [es] writes:
Periodismo ciudadano? La revolución de los blogs? Llámenlo como quieran. Lo que es seguro es que para estar bien informado, con los medios tradicionales, no alcanza.
Citizen journalism?  Blog revolution?  Call it what you want.  I assure you that to be well informed, the traditional media is not enough.
Second, the fact became a real public relations disaster to those who organized the event. Many blogs revealed that the organizing company and the press agency that managed the event pressured to avoid the release of further details of the incidents; by doing this, they created a massive protest in the Net, and now the events have blown out of proportions, as Fabregat of Pan y Circo [es] reported.
Third, that in a country still sensitive for the tragedy of Cromañon, where 194 young people died of asphyxia in a rock concert, any incident in a public event quickly becomes big news. There are no deaths in this case, but there were injured people. Gabby Aloe of La Vie en Rose [es] was relieved that there were no deaths:
Gracias a Dios fue en un lugar abierto y amplio como el Club Ciudad, si era en otro predio con accesos más chico, hoy los estaban contando.  La gente corría y decía, “no sé explotó el escenario, explotó el escenario.”
Thank God it was in a large and open space like Club Ciudad, if it was in another location with smaller access points, maybe I would be saying something else.  The people ran saying, “I don't know, the stage exploded, the stage exploded.”
Fourth, that the mass media are also one of the most affected parties in this incident; certain agencies cannot control like they used to four or five years ago.Here's a list of blogs that talk about this topic and that have not been cited in the rest of this note:
2 Papiros
Denken Uber
Manzana que no
Vida Vacía
Geekotic
Online
Tecnicalia
La tuya está
Kill Your Kids
Fabio.com.ar
Partido Pirata Argentino
Bonzo
Unos cuantos piquetitos
Pablo Mancini
Bloc de Periodista
Martín Revert
Mundo Perverso
Yo opino que
Sonoaxis
La verdad de la milanesa
If there's a blog I did not mention, leave the link in the comments area.

author: Jorge Gobbi


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Yemen: Visiting Shibam  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Yemeni blogger Omar Barsawad takes us to the historic town of Shibam, where the world's first skyscrapers were built in this photo post.


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Africa: Competition for radio broadcasters · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Afromusing writes about a scriptwriting competition for radio broadcasters in Sub-saharan Africa organised by the Developing Countries Farm Radio Network (DCFRN) and the Technical Centre for Agriculture: “If you know people in Radio, this would be an opportunity to pass along to them.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Africa: What is an African genocide? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Dennis Matanda writes about Africa asking: “What is the standard of African genocide? At what stage do we say is enough is enough? Is it when 1,000,000 people or 250,000 have died? Is it genocide if there is a battle between two tribes or one nationality against another?”


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Angola: Worried about children welfare? · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Orlando Castro [pt] casts doubt on the Angolan government discourse about its engagement in the protection and promotion of children welfare.   The assurance that this was in the national political agenda was given by the Minister Joao Baptista Kussumua, at the UN headquarters, New York. “You only need to look through the five stars hotels’ back windows to see the opposite”.


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Argentina: Protest Against Uruguayan Paper Mill · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Daniela Vilar of Grito Argentino [es] writes about a protest held in Buenos Aires against the paper mill in Uruguay and for care of the environment.


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Armenia: Banditocracy · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Nazarian comments on the bombing of a minor opposition newspaper in Yerevan with the 2008 presidential election just two months away. Although the damage was slight, the blogger says that the attack in itself is representative of the continual harassment of the radical opposition press.


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Armenia: Media Protest · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

The Armenian Observer posts details of a protest demonstration staged in support of a regional TV station in Armenia's second largest city of Gyumri. The TV station is currently facing pressure from the authorities in the run up to the 2008 presidential election.


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Armenia: Newspaper Office Bombed · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

The Armenian Observer posts details and a YouTube video of the offices of a minor opposition newspaper supportive of former president, Levon Ter Petrosian, which had its door blown off by an explosion in the early hours of the morning.


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Azerbaijan: Media Freedom · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Leigh's new adventures in Azerbaijan says that the authorities in Baku reacted quickly in releasing an imprisoned Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist after comments from the U.S. Ambassador on media freedom in the country.


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Bahamas: Junkanoo Controversy  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

If art is made and no one sees it, does it really exist?  Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit blogs about what the calls the “absurd controversy over the recent attempt to charge the press a fee to cover Junkanoo.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bahrain: Country on Holiday  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif announced that the country officially on holiday for 10 days – to mark National Day and Eid al Adha.


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Bahrain: Human Rights Activists Faces Trial · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A Bahraini human rights activist is being prosecuted in Bahrain for illegally setting up a society, reports the Free Kareem website. Mohammed Al Maskati is a supporter of jailed Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabeel Sulaiman.


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Bahrain: Travelling Alone  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahrain-based blogger Umm Naief describes her feelings as she prepares to travel alone with her infant.


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Bangladesh: Release Arif · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Addafication hopes that the cartoonist Arif is pardoned soon, given that some university professors were similarly pardoned recently.


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Bangladesh: Remembering 1971 · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Mash has testimonies from people who faced the excesses of the Pakistani army in 1971.


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Barbados: East Coast Hike  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Gallimaufry posts some photos of a hike she took along Barbados’ east coast.


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Barbados, Jamaica: Road Deaths · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Jamaican males sees cars as extensions of themselves and use them to make statements…”: Living in Barbados blogs about driving habits in Jamaica.


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Belarus: Lawsuit Against Newspaper · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

TOL's Belarus writes about a lawsuit filed against a Minsk newspaper.


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Burkina Faso: What Causes Corruption? · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Babilown posts a video [Fr] where the head of an NGO in Ouagadougou describes corruption in Burkina Faso and its causes, while another discusses the situation in Brazil.

author: Jennifer Brea


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Cape Verde: Enough of mugging – II · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Updating us on the problem of muggings in Cape Verde,  Pedrabika [pt] compiles a list of blogs that have been discussing the issue and invites readers to tell their stories on the comments section: “Let's get all testimonies together and compose a big letter to be delivered to the authorities and presented to society”. A rally takes place this Friday, December 13.


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Chile: BiblioRedes, From Visviri to Puerto Williams · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of articles about citizen's media projects that I had the opportunity to visit during a five-week trip through 5 countries in South America.
Photo of the BiblioRedes campaign on a public building in Valparaiso, Chile.  Photo by Eduardo Ávila.
Glancing at a map of South America, it is easy to tell that Chile stretches for kilometers and kilometers nestled in between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains.  The time it takes to travel along the Pan-American and Austral highways is measured in days, not hours. One might think It is easy for Chileans to feel disconnected from one another due to the physical distance that separates them.  A program called BiblioRedes (Network of Libraries) is hoping to close the distances and bring people closer together through the use of the internet provided free in local public libraries.
An initial grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2002 impulsed the program, which has the backing of the Chilean government under the Directorate of Libraries, Archives, and Museums (DIBAM). In each of the 387 public libraries from Visviri, which is located on the Chilean-Bolivian border to the southernmost town of Puerto Williams, located near the Antarctic, the program provides free computer access and broadband internet.  In some of the more remote areas of the country with less developed infrastructure, such as Robinson Crusoe Island, the connections are through satellite hookups. A recent census found that the majority of home computers are concentrated in the middle part of the county or where the capital of Santiago is located.  This program allows individuals that may not normally have access to these technologies to learn how to use computers.  In total, there are approximately 2,300 computers installed in these libraries.
Leading each of the BiblioRedes site is an encargado (coordinator), who is an individual drawn straight from the community.  The advantage of this is that each individual is well-trusted in the community and already knows the local cultural context.  Coordinators participate in trainings themselves, who then in turn, teach the residents of the local communities.
In addition to free access to the internet, BiblioRedes provides digital literacy training through a series of workshops, including the use of Microsoft Office, Encarta encyclopedia and how to create presentations.   To date, more than 200,000 Chileans have taken part in these workshops. One highlight of these trainings is the instruction on how to create their own websites.  Many utilize this space to tell about their communities, a special interest they hold, or about their local culture.  In all, about 3,000 websites are hosted on the BiblioRedes server.
A blog called Contenidos Locales [es] (Local Content) features the very best of this content and centralizes it on the updated site.  Categories such as: History [es], Legends [es], Music [es], Aboriginal People [es], Tourism [es] and Religion [es] make it easier to find content.
Some of theses sites tell about the hobbies of residents from the local community, and created by the participants themselves. For example, Ángel Calfuan created a website called La Esperanza [es] about a group of older adults from the community that have become involved with a club for folkloric dancing.  The library in community of Trovolhoe is located in the municipality of Carahue and has its own website [es].
Los  adultos de esta agrupación  están trabajando  en un proyecto  llamado DANZANDO LOS  AÑOS DORADOS  POR UNA VIDA SALUDABLE. Con el cual se han visto beneficiados 18 adultos  de la edad de  60  a 97años. El objetivo general de este proyecto  es crear espacios  de sana convivencia entre los adultos mayores, para  favorecer y  potenciar la actividad física y la salud mental a través de la práctica de la danza de raíz  folclórica. Y en forma especifica tener en Trovolhue un grupo de danza folclórica  que represente a los adultos  mayores en distintos  eventos artísticos y culturales  dentro  de la comunidad  como  fuera de ella.
The adults from this group are working on a project called DANCING DURING THE GOLDEN YEARS FOR A HEALTHY LIFE. The program has benefited 18 adults from the ages of 60-97.  The general objective of this project is to create opportunities for healthy interaction between older adults, to support and strengthen physical activity and mental health through the practice of folkloric dancing.  The objective is also to provide a group of folkloric dancers from Trovolhue to represent the older adults in different artistic and cultural events in and out of the community.
Other sites are used to marketing and publicity tools for local businesses.  Gastronomía Magallánica [es] is a site that highlights various restaurants in the city of Punta Arenas.  Others are more family-orientated, such as the site created by Jhoscenia Arancibia to promote the company [es] she runs with her husband.
Colmenares Arancibia es una microempresa familiar dedicada a la extracción de productos apicolas, como lo es la miel, y entregar servicios de Polinización. El trabajo con las abejas no es difícil pero es necesario ser metódico. Dedicado y muy responsable, y por supuesto no ser alérgico a la picada de la abeja.
Colmenares Arancibia is a family micro-enterprise that is dedicated to the extraction of apicultural products, such as honey and deliver pollination services.  The work with bees is not difficult, but it is necessary to be methodical, dedicated, very responsible, and of course, to not be allergic to bee stings.
Additionally, these sites are also a source of cultural pride especially among indigenous groups. There are a number of native peoples in Chile and the first inhabitants of the Tierra del Fuego region of Chile were the Kawéshkar indigenous group. Carlos Pedraza proudly creates a site [es] to talk about their lifestyle [es] and their customs [es] .
Su idioma es el kawésqar, nombre con el que ellos se autodenominan. En su idioma, esta palabra significa “persona” o “ser humano”. El nombre alacalufe, originalmente tenía una intención despectiva y ellos no lo usan.
Their language is kawésqar, a name that they call themselves. In their language, the word means “person” or “human being.”  The name alacalufe, originally had a derogatory meaning and they did not use that term.
Luis Carvajal also maintains a site for an Aymara community in Chile [es], which is an indigenous group that is usually thought to be only located in neighboring Bolivia and Peru.
According to Enzo Abbagliati, National Coordinator of BiblioRedes, there is interest in adding more participatory media training to the program, such as creating a blogging platform that will enable the participants to find like-minded people across Chile and throughout the world.


text:
China: Bullog’s top stories of 2007 · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Is it top ten year-end list time yet? Bullog International blogger Song Shinan gives us eight choices [zh] in a vote for blog story of the year at Bullog, the small but growing blog service provider (BSP) which hosts some of China's most progressive blogger voices, centered around hope to move on from the beating public trust in government and media has taken in recent months.
2007 was Bullog's first full calendar year—if you include the month this autumn it spent ‘under reconstruction’—and saw several high-profile personality clashes, three nominees for the Best of the Blogs awards, at least two server blow-outs and, most recently, a move overseas. Just twenty-four hours after Song published his post on Dec. 12, eight pages of votes had already been left; he begins:
Ring out the old, ring in the new；
The year is going, let him go；
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
一年又要过去了，来，玩耍一下。
牛博2007年度新闻候选如下（您可以到留言里投一票，单选）：
1、牛博主力站被和谐。
10月19日，由于众所周知的原因，牛博主力站被北京通信管理局强行关闭。在107大报告中我们可以找到这个“众所周知的原因”，那就是“保障人民的知情权与表达权”。
案发后，牛博网友“主席手下一小兵”在豆瓣牛博小组里发贴《牛博不完全作者二奶地址目录》，经网友补充后，被广为转载（生前与牛博“不合则去”的爱心牌和菜头，也转了此贴）。
案发后，牛博总编辑老罗表现出令人惊讶的乐观。他没有愤怒地向政府开炮，扔出数以万计的“操你妈逼”，也没有委屈地摆出受迫害造型儿，高呼“牛博不朽，自由万岁”。他居然像个真正的胖子一样心平气和，默默地操着办着一件实事——
On October 19, for reasons that everybody knows are unavoidable, Bullog Central was forced to shut down by the Beijing Communications Administration. We can find in the 17th National Party Congress keynote report these “reasons that everybody knows are unavoidable, namely, “guaranteeing the people's rights to be informed and to be heard.”
Following this, Bullogger “the Chairman's foot soldier” posted “the incomplete list of Bullog users’ mistresses’ addresses” on Douban.com, and with readers’ additions, was widely spread around (He Caitou, loving supporter of Bullog alive—and “out of order”—also reposted this).
Following that, Bullog editor-in-chief Luo Yonghao shocked everyone with his optimism. He did not angrily go off on the government, or start casting thousands of curses upon anyone's mothers, nor did he start whining and playing the victim, shouting something like “Bullog forever! Long live freedom!”. Just like the fatty he is, stayed calm and reasonable, dealing silently with the issue at hand—
The old, and new, Bullog logo.
2、牛博国际站开张。
11月20日，牛博国际站（http://www.bullogger.com/）开张。除了读者评论、自行注册博客两个功能未开放外，从作者到界面，都跟老牛博一模一样。
牛博国际站作为“非电子公告牌性质”，比老牛博的点击略有下降，但日均独立IP访问数没有太大变化。这说明老牛博在1年零2个月里所形成的固定读者群，对它拥有相当的忠诚度。
在某个博客留言里，有网友声称：“牛博，我的精神家园”。
也许一些脸皮厚的人看了这句话会吐，但对于热爱牛博而且脸皮薄的人来说，他们将虎躯一震，星泪一闪。
我们身处的时代，是一个诡异的时代。一切有价值的正在被颠覆，比如正义、责任、人性，以及理想。一切没价值的则被颠覆更快，比如华南纸老虎、欧阳月球坑、节约型奥运，以及很成功的房改。而身处这个诡异时代的我们，也很容易就沦为虚无主义者。
但是，无论这个时代如何诡异，如何糟糕，仍有一些价值会幸存，也仍有一些珍视此类价值的幸存者会发出声音。
如果你愿意，在牛博，肯定能找到这样的幸存价值与幸存者。
On November 20, Bullog International (http://www.bullogger.com/) opened for service. Aside from the two functions of readers’ comments and open registration, from the users’ perspective, it was exactly the same as the old Bullog.
Bullog International, minus a bulletin board system, saw a decrease in click rates from the old Bullog, but the daily average of individual hits hasn't seen too big a change. This just shows how faithful the steady readers are that the old Bullog managed to establish in just a year and two months.
In the comments on one blog, one reader wrote: “Bullog, my spiritual home.”
Those with more thicker skin might have vomited upon seeing those words, but the thin-skinned, passionate about Bullog types, they were in for a shock.
This age in which we are living, is an age fraught with perils. Everything of value is now being subverted: justice, responsibility, humanism, and idealism. And things of no value are being subverted even faster, like the South China paper tiger, Ouyang‘s moon crater, an economical Olympics, as well as successful reform to the housing system. And us, here in this perilous age, how easily we end up nihilists.
But, no matter how abnormal, how messed up, this age may be, at Bullog, some values are surviving, and survivors who prize these kinds of values are still speaking out there.
Just so long as you are willing, at Bullog, you are guaranteed to find survivors and survival of these kinds of values there.
3、“厦门散步”博客直播。
6月1日、2日，数千名厦门市民自发上街“散步”，要求停建PX项目。牛博作者北风与一名国际友好人士赶赴现场，与牛博作者令狐补充利用手机短信及网络接力，在牛博博客上进行了全程现场报道。
在中国传统媒体对“厦门散步”报道集体缺席的情况下，牛博博客记录者所传播的声音，显得异常刺耳与悦耳。
Over June 1 and 2, thousands of Xiamen residents spontaneously took to the streets for “a walk”, demanding an end be put to the PX project. Bullog user Beifeng and one friendly international type rushed to the scene, and along with Bullog user Buchong, used mobile phone SMS and an internet operator to carry out live reports of the full duration of the procession on a Bullog blog.
In the collective absence of Chinese traditional media reports on “the walk in Xiamen”, the voices spread through Bullog blog-reporters were both exceptionally harsh and pleasing.
4、连岳获“德国之声”年度最佳中文博客大奖。
11月15日，“德国之声”国际博客大赛于柏林揭晓。最佳中文博客由牛博作者连岳获得。讽刺的是，从大赛投票开始到揭晓，连岳的博客始终无法访问。
之所以无法访问，是因为“连岳的第八大洲”与老牛博“咸鱼河蟹”了。
作为牛博的旗帜性人物之一，连岳在2007年因持续批评厦门PX项目而成为厦门乃至中国的言论英雄。
事实上，此次博客大赛的10个候选中文博客有3个来自牛博。除了连岳外，还有醉钢琴与老罗。
On November 15, the winners of Deutsche Welle's international blog competition were announced in Berlin. The title of best Chinese blog was awarded to Bullog author Lian Yue. What's ironic is that from the beginning of voting for the competition until the announcement was made, Lian Yue's blog was inaccessible.
The reason “Lian Yue's Eighth Continent” was inaccessible was due to the old Bullog's having been harmonized.
As one of Bullog's flagship figures, Lian Yue's persistent criticism of the PX project throughout 2007 made him a hero both for Xiamen and for freedom speech in China.
In fact, three of the blogs in this years Best of Blogs competition were Bullog bloggers. Aside from Lian Yue were Drunk Piano and Luo Yonghao.
5、罗方之争。
6 月4日，方舟子在他的牛博博客上发表声明：“今天有一名来自吉林延边的精神病患者通过代理服务器和刷贴机上了几千条内容相同的评论和留言，我没有时间删除和管理。在牛博网管理人员做到以下三条之前，我将关闭这里的评论和留言：一、删除这几千条重复的评论和留言。二、防止重复张贴和炸板。三、对评论和留言增加‘全部选择’的功能以便成批删除。”
随后，老罗发帖回应，最后说：“为了不影响我做编辑工作时的心情，我把我讨厌得要死的方先生的博客从牛博首页上拿掉了，从‘完整的牛博作者目录’上也拿掉了……今后我会一如既往的支持方先生的学术打假事业和科普写作事业，我过去支持方先生也不是因为喜欢他，现在讨厌方先生也不会因此不支持他的事业。牛博首页的新语丝链接和科技打假资金募集网站的链接也会继续保留，牛博的编辑推荐里也会继续推荐方舟子的科普文章，只是链接都会指向新语丝或新浪上的地址”。
之后就是打群架。略。
结局：方舟子离开牛博，部分新语丝网友自此视牛博为寇仇。
在我看来，罗方之争，不是利益冲突，也不是原则冲突，而是性格冲突。方舟子的离开，对牛博当然是个损失，但也不是什么无可挽救的损失。是个遗憾，但不是遗嘱。
On June 4, Fang Zhouzi wrote on his Bullog blog: “today, one psychopath in Yanbian, Jilin, using a proxy server and a spambot, posted several thousand comments of similar content [to my blog], which I do not have time to delete. Until Bullog webmasters make the three following adjustments, I will close comments on my blog: 1) delete the several thousand repeated comments; 2) prevent repeat postings and comment blasts; 3) add a ‘select all’ function so comments can me moderated en masse.”
Luo Yonghao responded to this, and eventually wrote: “so to not affect my mood while carrying out webmaster work, I've taken the annoying-as-hell Mr. Fang's blog down off Bullog's front page, and removed it from “the full list of Bullog users…from today forth I will continue as of old to support Mr. Fang's academic fraud-busting and science writing career. My past support of Mr. Fang was not borne of affection for him, and my loathe of him now will not mean non-support for his causes. Links to the New Trends and Dajiajijin websites will remain on the Bullog front page, and Bullog's “Editor Picks” will continue to highlight Fang Zhouzi's writings on science; only the links will be directed to New Trends itself, or Fang's Sina blog.
Then the fighting began.
The conclusion: Fang Zhouzi left Bullog, and some New Trends fans came from this to see Bullog as foe.
As I see it, the Luo-Fang War, was not a conflict of interests, nor was it a conflict of principles. It was a personality clash. Fang Zhouzi's departure was of course a loss to Bullog, but not an irrecoverable loss. It's a shame, but not a tragedy.
6、“歧视同性恋”论战。
2007 年8月25日，平客在他的牛博博客上发帖《同性恋是犯罪？》，力挺激情燃烧掉同性恋的傻逼孙海英，并给出了很神奇的理由：“我是反对同性恋的，即便我是同性恋我也反对它。那终究是有悖常态的非主流行为，同性可以有很深厚、绵长的友情，但性嘛，实在不堪。我反对同性恋，但我尊重周围彼此相爱的同性恋朋友，那是他们的自由。我在反波里谈过这个问题，现在的同性恋在政治正确的旗帜下，不仅是理直气壮了而已，大有“同性恋代表先进生产力、代表先进文化、代表人类进步”的趋势，那就全人类都同性恋吧，一代，只要一代，人类就会灭绝。”
牛博作者王老板随后发表《憋不住说几句》，《马蜂窝跟你没完》等文章，与平客商榷，只是双方的商榷稍微暴力了一点。
期间，网友一窝蜂涌上，绝大多数参与群殴平客，少数则劝架。最后以平客离开牛博首页收场。
在我看来，歧视同性恋在本质上与中世纪焚烧异教徒没什么区别。平客有坚持自己“反对同性恋”的权利，网友当然也有将他打成马蜂窝的义务。
On August 25, 2007, Pingke posted “Homosexuality is a crime?” on his Bullog blog in support of that stupid c*** Sun Haiying's passionate flaming of homosexuals, giving the very miraculous reason that: “I oppose homosexuality, and even if I was a homosexual I would still oppose it. It is, after all, still an abnormal minority behavior. Homosexuals can have deep, tender friendships, but sex? It's totally unbearable. I oppose homosexuality, but I respect my close homosexual friends who love each other; that is their freedom. I've discussed this problem on my podcast show, how now, under the flag of political correctness, homosexuals aren't only just becoming more self-righteous, but are all like, ‘homosexuals represent advanced productivity, represent advanced culture, represent human evolution.’ So let everyone go gay then—in a generation, just one, humans will go extinct.”
Bullog user Boss Wang then wrote the posts, “A few words I can't hold in” and “The wasps ain't done with you yet”, disagreeing with Pingke, only both sides’ disagreements got a little violent.
Meanwhile, bloggers kept poking the wasp's nest, and the vast majority of them took part in ganging up on Pingke, only a few tried to stop the fighting. It ended with Pingke leaving Bullog's main page.
The way I see it, there isn't much difference between discrimination against homosexuals and the burning of heathens during the Middle Ages. Pingke has the right to defend his “opposition to homosexuals”, and bloggers of course have the obligation to attack him like wasps.
7、《牛博文集》即将出版。
2007年11月，老罗四处给牛博作者打电话，希望对方同意将牛博博客上的文章选入《牛博文集》。
《牛博文集》出版策划者是京城10大熟女杀手莫之许，作序者暂定有中国10大文化名人：老罗、郭敬明、钱烈宪、徐静蕾、王佩、林志玲、连岳、田中爱、醉钢琴、蔡依林。
群星璀璨，敬请期待。
In November of 2007, Luo Yonghao phoned up all the Bullog bloggers, hoping they would agree to let their works be included in “The Bullog Collection”.
The mastermind behind the publishing of “The Bullog Collection” is one of Beijing's ten top ladykillers, Mo Zhixu, and the preface is tentatively set to be written by ten of China's biggest cultural figures: Luo Yonghao, Guo Jingming, ProState in Flames, Xu Jinglei, Wang Pei, Lin Zhiling, Lian Yue, Tian Zhongai, Drunk Piano and [the Taiwanese popstar?] Jolene Tsai.
A line-up of the brightest stars, coming to you soon.
Is the last one a candidate or Song's wishful thinking? Bullog founder Luo Yonghao is quite well-known offline in China for his former career as an instructor with New Oriental.
8、老罗将执教考研马列。
2007年12月，老罗接受北京某考研机构邀请，在明年夏天执教考研马列。
该考研机构本来拟邀请老罗教考研英语，但老罗不愿重复自己。他们又劝老罗教马列。
老罗开始说，别扯淡了，后来一想，马列的阵地我们不占领谁占领？于是决定去讲中国最好听的马列课。
老罗并且声称，要将学生讲得死去活来——死的要讲活过来，活的要讲死过去。
我对此只有两字评语：打入敌人内部，赢得少年芳心，哦也！
In December, 2007, Luo Yonghao accepted an invitation from one post-graduate institution in Beijing, to teach a post-graduate course next summer on Marxism-Leninism.
The post-secondary institution had originally invited Luo to teach English, but faced with Luo's refusal to tread old ground, they then urged him to teach Marxism-Leninism.
Luo's first response was, ‘cut the crap,’ but then came to think, ‘if we don't hold the lead in Marxism-Leninist thought, then who might occupy it?’ Then he decided to go teach China's best class in Marxism-Leninism.
Luo also stated, he plans to teach his students to death with it—those he doesn't talk back into living.
I have only two comments on this: infiltrating the enemy camp to win the hearts and minds of the young—oh yeah!

author: John Kennedy


text:
China: Please, Give Me a Job · Global Voices
Meng Zhang

Although there are almost half a year before graduation, the seniors in the universities of China have already thrown themselves into the cutthroat job-hunting war. With the meticulously-made resumes, those ready-to-be graduates are busy running about the various job fairs, which can often attract tens of thousands of senior students flocking to seek their ideal work.
Youku vlogger Haomang Yigen (好芒一根) shot a piece of video of the recent “super surprising job fair in Nanchang University” (if the video is slow, you can click here to see the same one in YouTube):
今天12月8号南昌大学举行招聘会！附近大学毕业生有的纷纷涌向拥有亚洲最大校门的南大前湖校区！招聘会外面排队学生波涛汹涌！相互挤压有的女孩都被踩了！深思中国毕业生就业形势的严峻和毕业生的就业压力.虽然有各种形式的就业压力的分流，由于超大批的扩招大学生，一点压力分流就如杯水车薪！
Today is December 8 when it's time for Nanchang University to hold job fair! Some of the nearby graduates have been streaming to the Front Lake Campus(前湖校区) of Nanchang University which owns the biggest gate of Asia! The surge of the students waiting outside the job fair hall has resulted in some incidents that a couple of girls were trampled on in the crowded! Thinking of the serious situation and employment pressure of Chinese graduates, even if there is a variety of ways to help ease the employment pressure, the expanded college students in extremely large quantities still make the measures nonsense!
The report of the 17th CPC National Congress clearly required “the employment work for the university graduates should be done well”, which has fully reflected the Central Party Committee‘s ardent expectation of educational development especially the progress of higher education, the great attention to the employment work for university graduates and good care for the graduate students, China's Education Minister Zhou Ji indicated in a video conference of the 2008 national graduate employment work, which was held on December 5 in Beijing. Despite Minister Zhou's confidence, the annual job fairs across China universities from north to south have been a tough struggle to each senior who is going to work after graduation next year.
Generally, the enormous number of applicants is the stubborn headache to the authorities so that almost every time the organizers have to ask for policemen or security guards to keep order of the job fairs, however, the huge surge of people sometimes still makes the place of recruitment like a battle field.
leafmin in the tianya blog community collected a set of pictures of explosive scenes of job fairs in 2007:
郑州万人招聘会，大门被挤倒，电梯也被挤得变了形
Ten-thousand-people job fair of Zhengzhou, in which the gate was crowded down and the escalator was out of shape
人山人海，见到招聘企业人员的面就已算不错了。别说应聘行不行了！
A sea of people, it had been luckier to meet the company's interviewers. No space to consider whether you were hired or not!
After seeing a news about the graduate job fair in Tianjin, Sina blogger Zhang Le (张乐）recalled a similar scene which he had experienced at the beginning of December in Changchun. The heavy employment pressure had left him little latitude to select a good job:
长春招聘会现场
Changchun Job Fair
学校的老师说，在年前是一个签约的高峰，要把握这段时间尽量多看信息，多应聘，否则就要等到过年的三月份了，如果那个时候再签不到就比较麻烦。
这些天来我天天上网浏览各种招聘信息，忙的不亦乐乎也郁闷的不亦乐乎。上网抱怨几句，朋友发现现在快递行业比较“紧俏”建议我找个快递公司去送快递，听了这话我昨天晚上真的是很难入睡，虽然大学生现在已经遍地都是了，可难道我他妈的花了家里几万块钱读个大学就配去送个快递？这话说起来似乎会让人觉得我有眼高手低之嫌，其实我一直是做好了最坏的打算的，到毕业那天如果再没有合适的工作，再底层的工作我都会去作的，毕竟那是要解决生存的问题。
The teacher said, it's a peak for signing contracts before the New Year. We should grasp this period of time, collecting information as much as possible and holding any opportunity to submit applications, otherwise we had to wait until March of next year, in which it would be really troublesome if we failed again.
Recently, I surf the Net everyday to browse through all kinds of recruiting information, extremely busy and extremely disappointed. I made some complaints on Net and a friend told me the express service was “very popular” now, so why not work as a delivery man for the express company. Having heard such suggestion, I could hardly fall asleep last night. Although the graduates have been awfully abundant, how can I work as a delivery man after graduating from the university which has f*** cost my family tens of thousands RMB? The words may let someone think I'm a fastidious and demanding man who's actually inept, but indeed I have always prepared for the worst. If there's still no proper job for me until the graduation day, I will do any job no matter how hard it is. After all, it's a question about living.
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Exceptionally disappointed
Netease blogger flyheart, a postgraduate in Guang Zhou, described part of her job-hunting experience:
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说实在的，从11月24日参加大学城北亭举办的招聘会以来，给自己的一个感觉就是，不管什么类型什么层次的招聘会，都会有一大堆的大学生；不管什么样的职位，最后都有一大堆的简历。望着此中情景，只能感叹没办法，中国什么都缺，就是不缺人；本来在99年之前中国也缺大学生，那时的研究生可是香饽饽，可是最近几年硕士博士也都城地瓜土豆了。
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To be honest, since November 24 when I attended the job fair held in Bei Ting of Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, one of my feelings is no matter what sort of job fair, there will be a swarm of graduates; no matter what kind of position, there will be a great pile of resumes. Facing such situation, I can do nothing. China lacks everything but people; before 1999 China used to be short of graduates, too. Postgraduates at that time were really precious, but in recent years even masters and doctors have been surplus.
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Another Sina blogger Qianqian Ruoshui (浅浅若水) personally analyzed the other side of the graduate job fair:
2008届毕业生招聘热潮已经掀起。可是参加过招聘会和了解招聘会内幕的人都在骂娘。我的一个南京大学的一个朋友，成绩不错，社会实践能力也很出众，但是他最近告诉我，他投出去的几十份简历份份石沉大海，没有一点回音，白白浪费了很多钱，搞得自己现在饭都吃不起了，我就借了点钱给他。也看到了现在大学生就业的艰难困境。那么，为什么那么多所谓的大型招聘会都在忙些啥，都没有招人吗，打听一下之后知道普遍的情势都不看好，大家灰心伤气，而毕业一天天临近，已经到火烧眉毛的时候了。那么大学毕业生招聘会的背后是什么？我们来分析一下。
大企业忙宣讲
每到招聘时节，大企业仿佛都一夜之间赶时髦似的全都跑到大学去开什么宣讲会去了，往往更注重宣讲，而真正的目的并不是招聘！大企业名企业都把招聘季节当作宣传自己企业的大好机会了，他们根本就不参加那些所谓的大型招聘会。
小公司招聘忙会忽悠
很多小公司打着招聘的大旗，招而不聘！据某公司一招聘经理称，他们去招聘并非真正招聘，只不过是去给企业做宣传，以招聘的方式给企业做宣传，真是滑天下之大稽。…
主办方借招聘之机忙赚钱和演戏
很多主办招聘会的单位根本不关心学生怎么就业，而是忙着赚钱，也不关心来招聘的企业到底是大公司还是皮包公司，只要交钱就给展位。随随便便，很不严谨的就冠之“2008某某大型招聘会”。什么叫大型到是值得商榷。每人１０元钱的门票，一般招聘会随随便便都有几千人，主办方趁机大大的捞了一笔。而一些高校的招生就业办公室，大都是在演戏，为了应付学校的考核或者指标什么。
大学毕业生算什么
而只有这些知识分子，大学毕业后新的弱势群体因为生存才在不断地忙招聘会。花钱和心思做简历，结果被那些缺乏道德和根本就不是来招聘的单位当做垃圾一样把简历扔在垃圾桶，不但丢失了自己一些个人信息，还丢失了尊严。
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The upsurge of recruitment for the 2008 graduates has started, but people who have attended the job fair or known the inside story are both complaining. A friend in Nanjing University who did a good job in study and had an outstanding ability of social practice recently told me he had sent dozens of resumes but got no reply and the high cost of job-hunting had made him hardly  afford the life, so I lent some money to him. The situation of the graduate employment is difficult, but what's the so called great job fair busy at? No one employ person there? After inquiring I found the general prospect was not good, everyone was disappointed and the dead line for graduation was approaching day by day, which demanded immediate action. Then what is it behind the graduate job fair? Let's have an analysis.
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Big Enterprise Busy at Advertising
Every time when the recruiting season comes, the big enterprises like following the fashion would go to the universities overnight to hold publicity meetings which mostly emphasize the publicity but not aim at employing workers! All the big and prestigious enterprises regard the recruiting season as a great chance to publicize themselves. They never attend the so called large job fair.
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Small Company Busy at Bragging
Lifting a signboard of recruiting, many small companies just interview the applicants without employing! According to some company's personnel manager, they actually wouldn't take on anyone there, but only wanted to do publicity. It's so ridiculous. …
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Organizer Busy at Making Money and Shows
A lot of job fair organizers are not concerned about the student employment at all but only busy at making money. No matter big giants or briefcase company, the host will provide display stand to anyone as long as they pay the cash. It's free and simple to give a name to the fair like “2008 so-and-so Large-Scale Job Fair” and what does the large-scale mean really deserves a discussion. The organizer will take advantage of the chance to gain lots of money because almost all the job fairs can easily magnetize thousands of people and each person always has to buy a 10 RMB admission. Besides, some university enrolment and vocation offices only make a show for dealing with checks and the like from the above.
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The Graduate Is Nothing
However, only the intelligentsia, the new disadvantaged group after graduation, have to keep busy at job fair for living. But finally, their carefully-made resumes which cost a full amount of effort and money are thrown away into the garbage bins by those immoral companies that don't mean to recruit the graduates at all. The graduate students not only lose some of their personal information, but also the dignity.
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In addition to the cruel competition, the green graduates also have to face different limits and discrimination during the job-hunting. QQ blogger Youth Laboratory (青春实验室) who is living in Beijing summarized four prejudices which some graduates would be faced in the job market:
女生先出局：性别歧视依然存在
在找工作的过程中，女生们似乎总是显得很无奈。“招聘的时候没有明文规定不招女生，可为什么最后通过面试的全是男生？”
进入笔试的同学里男女生的比例是差不多的，甚至女生稍多一点，可最后被录用的名单里，却清一色全是男生。现在很多单位并不写明只招男生，却在淘汰的过程中先推女生出局……
学历还要“查三代”
名牌大学的博士学位、硕士学位还不够，还要看本科。这是如今招聘会上用人单位查看学历的的要求，被不少人称为“查三代”。
肝病限制：用人单位怎么都在躲我们
患肝病的大学毕业生，在找工作时受到的限制似乎更多。事实上，医学上早已确认：乙肝病毒携带者肝功能相对正常，不等于乙肝病人，体力上与正常人无异，也不妨碍他人接受教育。正常的学习、生活、工作中，乙肝病毒携带者与其他人接触不会发生传染。 但用人单位还是谈肝色变。
相貌歧视：长得不好看是谁的错
相比于男生，相貌问题在女生求职中表现得更明显，用人单位对女生的相貌相对要求更高一些，因为长相不好求职失败的案例不少，近几年表现得更明显，但相关的法律法规对相貌歧视并没有明确的约束，求职者即使遭遇相貌歧视也很难通过法律途径维护自身权益。
Girls Are First Out: The Sexism Still Exists
The women graduates always seem helpless when they are hunting jobs. “No proclamation declaring that women are not employed, but why at last all the people who finally pass the interviews are men?”
In the schoolmates who have entered the written examination, the proportion of women graduates is even a little higher than men, but in the final list you can only see the men's names.
Now lots of units won't manifest that they only employ men graduates, but during the eliminating process they will firstly make the women out.
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The Academic Background Should “Be Checked to Three Generations”
Doctorate and master's degree of the prestigious university are not enough. The employers will check whether your Bachelor degree is also coming from the key university. Nowadays this kind of examination of educational background in the job fair is called “Be Checked to Three Generations”
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Liver Complaint Limit: Why Are We Shunned by All the Employers
It seems the graduates who have liver troubles will face more restrictions during job-hunting. In fact, the medical authority has already confirmed: Not equal to hepatitis B patient, people carrying virus of hepatitis B relatively have normal liver function. They are as the same as the normal people on physical power and won't hinder others from accepting education. People will not be infected when they are in touch with person who carries virus of hepatitis B. However, the employers still turn pale at the mention of liver.
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The Physical Appearance Discrimination: It's not My Fault to Be Ugly
Compared to men, the appearance play a more important role among the women graduates. The employers relatively have a higher standard for the women's appearance. To be turned down for the not good face is not unusual and such kind of phenomenon has been more obvious in recent years, but there are no relevant laws that clearly ban on appearance discrimination. As a result, it's very difficult for the applicants who meet appearance prejudice to protect their own rights  through legal procedure.

author: Meng Zhang


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Dubai: Newspaper Changes Tone  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

McMenon, who lives in Dubai, is annoyed at how a newspaper changed its tone in reference to the gang-rape case in which a 15-year-old boy was attacked in Dubai.


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Europe: Anti-EU “Strategies” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Kosmopolit writes about three “different anti-EU strategies of leading politicians”: “the quiet, the loud and the hyperactive.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Georgia: Populist Politics · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

TOL Georgia is less than impressed with the populist politics of opposition politician Shalva Natelashvili. The blog says that promises from the candidate for the January 2008 presidential election usually sound crazy and often sound “crazy.”


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Hong Kong: Universal Suffrage Not Later Than 2017 · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Although a majority of public opinion supports universal suffrage of the SAR Chief Executive (CE) in 2012, the SAR government still insists on a “Not Later Than 2017” position in a recent consultation report (announced in Dec 12) on political reform. The present CE, Donald Tsang, claimed that he would get more support if it is “Not Later than 2017” than 2012.
How about the Legislative Council universal suffrage time table? The government report mentions very little about Legco's universal suffrage timetable but stresses that it has to be later than the CE. Which means the earliest day for the Legco universal suffrage will be 2020, 13 years later!
Some mainstream media started blackmailing the pan-democrats by saying that if they don’t agree on the time table for Legco election, they will ruin the 2017 CE universal suffrage.
Ah yeah from inmediahk.net quotes from the Ming pao editorial and criticizes the newspapers political stand. According to the editorial:
泛民陣營有必要在爭取『一步到位』和『分步走』之間抉擇。……如果泛民陣營的立場是非要同時立法會普選不可，否則連行政長官先行普選也不要，採取這種綑綁式的「零和抉擇」取態，則連2017 年普選行政長官的可能機會，這次也不可能實現。
Ah yeah describes such blackmailing comment as “loyalty dance” for wining the central government and SAR government’s trust.
上面那兩段社論的引文出自「公信第一」的《明報》，四兩撥千斤把政治責任由曾蔭權推到泛民身上，忠字舞跳得出神入化爐火純青。
Hegelchong makes fun of the language game in the report and suggests a time frame of “Not Later than the End of the World” for getting more people support:
一萬八千名向政府提交有關政制發展意見的市民，有一萬六千份支持2012達致普選行政長官，曾蔭權卻竟然說，不遲於2017年會有較多機會獲大多數人接受。…乾脆便說，不遲於地球大毀滅會有更大機會獲得大多數人接受！
Winter wonders if s/he can eventually see the universal suffrage day come:
記得九七回歸，香港市民期待 2008 普選行政長官，十年轉眼即逝，民建聯早把黨綱修訂，否決 08 普選，正是今日的我打倒昨日的我。2008 普選無望，渴望普選的一群只好把盼望延續到 2012，不料 2012 普選夢再度落空，正是十年之後又十年，只怕到老還是一場空。甚麼他媽的「未能取得各界共識」、「循序漸進」，60% 民意支持還不算共識？香港人由八十年代起爭取民主選舉至今足足二十年，循甚麼序？漸甚麼進？
Now the SAR government has announced the report, the pan-dem alliance has to give their responses. Those were the days spells out the dilemma the pan dem alliance is facing now:
若泛民今次政改再投否決票，泛民A說，他們就會中了煲呔陷阱，成了遲遲沒有普選幫兇… 特別是現實的香港人，他們眼見2012無望，必會轉投2017普選特首陣營，那時泛民又應如何自處？
泛民B說，煲呔今次建議， 真的很「毒」：拋出一個2017普選特首的空泛建議，既沒內容、連參選門檻高低也不說，就要泛民決定支持與否，若泛民反對，罪在泛民，若中央明知主流民意支持2012雙普選，仍舊加以否決，甚至連2017是否普選特首，也不肯承諾，那是中央責任…
Plastichk suggests the pan-dem to work out the details rather than the time table:
細節才是普選問題的主戰場！泛民到時「以實還虛」，在細節的問題上，真假民主立即現形，提名機制如何？委任區議員何時取消？泛民對政府方案最後判斷之前，應先「聽其言，觀其行」。


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India: On Post Feminism · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Ultra Violet asks if it is indeed time to call in the era of post-feminism yet.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Iraq: Empty Classroom · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Attawie walked into class expecting to sit an exam. The classroom was empty. Read why here.


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Iraq: Refugees in Syria and Jordan · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi Faiza Al Arji  updates us on the situation of Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan in this post.


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Israel: Rockets Hit Sderot, Flame the Israeli Blogosphere · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Some might say that the tiny town of Sderot in the Western Negev is Israel's little secret. This red roofed village an hour's drive from Be'er Sheva lies only minutes from the Gaza Strip. As such, it has been a prime target for Hamas aggression against Israel. Use katuysha rockets to hit a major center, you are in for a war. Bombard a hamlet in the midst of an international conflict, and display your anger.
If in all your reading about the Middle East conflict you haven't heard about Sderot, don't be surprised. You're not the only one. Despite the fact that Sderot has been under nearly constant attack from qassam rockets for the past 7 years, its tenuous position in the buffer zone of Israel and Gaza is conspicuously ignored in mainstream news channels.
For your reference, qassams are homemade rockets made out of pipes with steel warheads at the tip. With a range of approximately 15 kilometers, they are used for short range attacks only. Qassams came into common usage by Palestinians against Israel in 2001 toward the start of the Al-Aqsa Intifada (also known as the Second Intifida). It is widely acknowledged that their primary purpose is to lower Israeli morale.
Sderot's mayor stepped down after nine years of service. Since the barrage began in 2001, over 6,300 rockets have slammed Sderot.
Mayor Eli Moyal's resignation came in concert with the peace talks that began in Jerusalem, following up on the November Israeli-Palestinian Peace Summit in Annapolis.
In his resignation speech broadcast on Israel Radio, Mayor Moyal explained:
“I cannot take the responsibility to manage a city that is under attack for seven years. If 20 children are killed tomorrow from a rocket, I will be asked, ‘why did you open the kindergarten?’ I have been deliberating matters pertaining to human life for years now, and I cannot continue…  For seven years no one has taken responsibility for what is happening here. It is unreasonable to start the morning with eight Qassams. I am not willing to take this responsibility. I was chosen to manage a city, and not this situation.”
Mayor Moyal said he hoped his resignation pressured Israel's government to take action for Sderot's protection.
With 20 qassam rockets hitting Sderot this morning alone, the Israeli blogosphere is contemptuous. Here are some of their reactions.
Elder of Ziyon:
“Sderot is not on the radar of the ‘peace’ plan. Sderot cannot be found on the roadmap. The 20 rockets that were shot today towards Sderot are not considered an obstacle to peace. It is way too inconvenient to mention Sderot when talking about the sacred ‘peace process.'”
I highly recommend Elder of Ziyon's Qassam Calender as a tool for following this conflict.
Israel Matzav:
“On a day when some twenty Kassam rockets hit Sderot, the peabrains who call themselves a government decided not to send the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] into Gaza today to put a stop to the shooting, and instead decided to talk to the  ‘Palestinians’ about giving them their own  reichlet from which they will be able to shoot more comfortably.”
Yid With Lid:
“[Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert's lack of leadership, indecisiveness and peace at any cost additude has given Hamas and growing confidence in Israel's vulnerability. Hamas is sending rockets into the Negev with reckless abandon–and snubs their nose at peaceful nations. The world sees a leaderless Israel and is doing its best to push the nation into a one-sided “peace” deal. Its time to show Hamas that terrorism does not pay.”
Atlas Shrugged:
“Mayor Eli Moyal resigned today. Atlas shrugged. This is a dark day, my friends. This man should be Prime Minister.”
Tundra Tabloids:
“One does not make peace with one's enemy, but only with one's ‘former enemy.’ That is one very inescapable truth that the  “screw Israel club” have yet to comprehend.”
Response from Palestine
The official Palestinian response came from Muhammad Abd al-Al, spokesperson for the Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees:
“The resignation of Sderot's mayor constitutes a great victory for the Palestinian resistance. This is a political victory, a victory for morale, it adds to the humiliation we are heaping upon the Zionist army in the field. Our improved missiles are waiting for the enemy's tanks, but the ones who will really suffer are those Israeli residents of the area.”
He additionally threatened: “We and the other Palestinian organizations are prepared for the great struggle to commence and to hurt the Israelis in the West Bank as well. I hope that we will soon begin bringing the technology and know-how needed to launch rocket attacks to the West Bank.”
Additional Resources
Listen to an audio file of Mayor Moyal that was recorded during the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006. (The first minute is rough sound quality, but it is worth it to keep listening for a full understanding of the conflict and Sderot and Israel's struggles.)
Visit the Sderot Media Center and hear Sderot's perspective firsthand.
Return to Global Voices Online's Gilad Lotan's “Sderot's Invisible Wounds” for a more personal perspective of the situation (September 2007).
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author: Maya Norton