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Barbados: Future for Agriculture?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Notes From The Margin recounts a conversation he had concerning the future of Barbados’ agriculture industry.


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China: Government Subsidy  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

DANWEI translates a news from local newspapers announcing that the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau would give 230,000 low-income citizens 20 yuan per month starting from next month to deal with inflation.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Mid Autumn Festival Logo · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Many Internet Portal websites in China has put up their new logo for the Mid Autumn Festival. Kuangfeng puts up 5 major websites’ logos design for a comparison (zh).


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Culture and Art with an Iranian Accent · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Sepideh Saremi is editor of Pars Arts, a collaborative citizen media project covering culture and art related topics in Iran. She talks with us about the project, its goals and its challenges.
Q: Please tell us about yourself and the Pars Arts project
Pars Arts is a collaborative blog by, for, and about young Iranians everywhere. The goal of the site is to provide smart, relevant, and frequently updated content to the young Iranian diaspora. I'm the founding editor and an Iranian-American writer/editor/blogger who grew up in Los Angeles. I started Pars Arts in late 2006 because I was interested in learning and writing about Iranian things online, and I wanted to do it with a community of people interested in doing the same.
Q: Pars Arts is a collective project where several people including some bloggers contribute. Do you consider it a citizen media project?
I don't personally think of it that way but at the same time, I don't think that's necessarily an inaccurate description. In the broadest sense of the term, Pars Arts could be considered a citizen media project because none of its writers are making any money from it now and I don't think any of us has extensive, traditional, professional journalism experience. That said, all of our contributors thus far live in North America, where none experience any outside censorship and the media are not state-controlled. Also, Pars Arts’ focus is art and culture, and not political advocacy or activism, which is usually what “citizen media” connotes to me.
Q: What is the added value of Pars Arts as a site?
We try to make sure each post has a take-away: something new for readers to watch, listen to, read, think about.  Hopefully this keeps the pontificating to a minimum and makes the posts useful. We're not at the point where our coverage is as comprehensive as I'd like it to be yet. We need more writers to get there.
Q: Do you have any plan to develop the project? Where do you get funding?
Ideally at some point we can either generate some ad revenue or partner with like-minded sites and non-profits in order to get some of our future plans off the ground. But the priorities now are getting more writers, continuing to create good content, increasing our readership, and then expanding to other plans as we meet those goals. Our biggest obstacle is getting the word out. We have a small Facebook group, but we have put the bulk of our time into site content and need to do more in the area of outreach.
Pars Arts is financially independent, so we are not funded by any government, political party, think tank, or religious organization. I paid for the hosting and our WordPress template was very graciously designed for free by the site's technology director and contributing writer Javod Khalaj (javod.com).
Q: Why is your site in English and not Persian?
Our primary audience is the young Iranian diaspora, and there's a pretty broad spectrum of Persian language proficiency within that audience, whereas English is pretty universal. My own Persian reading is slow and my writing is dreadful, so it would take me forever to write a post in Persian, and then it would likely still have lots of spelling mistakes. While I work on my “dicteh,” I still want to learn and write about Iranians, so I do it in English. Some of our contributors could probably write in Persian just fine, but it started in English and I'm not comfortable editing Persian yet. And it'd be nice for everyone if non-Iranians learned a little more about Iranian culture, too.
Q: You say you focus on cultural and art issues that other news sites ignore. What do they ignore and why? What is really missing in top Persian sites or Iranian sites in English?
I don't think other sites necessarily ignore art and cultural issues. However, there's a lot of non-political stuff happening that gets marginal attention. For instance, a few weeks ago we had a post about the Iran Cheetah Project , and one of my favorite posts is about online Iranian food shopping.
Of the non-political content that does exist in English, well, one of the reasons I called the site “Pars Arts” was a very nerdy play on the word “parse” – for all the sifting I was doing to get to well-written content. Frequently there's not sufficient copyediting on some sites, and it's hard to take get through an article when it's replete with typos and poor grammar.
That said, I do think Pars Arts has a long way to go, a lot of work to do, and ultimately needs more good writers to be great. I want to see more English-language content with high editorial standards, and I really hope that Pars Arts can provide it.
Q: How do you evaluate the Iranian blogosphere of recent two years? Are you blogging? How do you see the female presence on the Iranian web?
Because I read mostly English-language blogs, I don't have sufficient background to answer the first question. Regarding the second question, I've had various personal blogs in the past and now have a website that mostly has samples of my writing and will have a small blog component as well. This likely won't be a very personal blog. As far as female presence on the Iranian web goes, I think it's pretty great but I'd love to read more blogs by Iranian women in English, and more that are about topics other than politics.
Q: Any ideas to share with us?
Yes! As far as I've observed, there's not a lot of coordinated work among Iranian publishers/journalists outside Iran, and I wish we had a tighter professional network. I wish there was a greater spirit of mentoring and collaboration. We can produce better work if we're working together, after all, or at least learn from each other. I suppose a wish is not an idea, but that's all I've got for now. If anyone wants to work on making it happen, I'm so there.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Dominica, Guyana: Making Music  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Living Dominica posts video of street musicians in the island's capital, while Living Guyana shares what he thinks is the problem with Guyanese music.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Egypt: Blogging Workers’ Strike  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Freddy Deknatel takes a look at how a blogger is covering Egypt's workers strike in this post. Global Voices Online earlier reported the unrest here.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Egypt: Demonstration Planned on Thursday · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A demonstration will be held in Cairo, Egypt, at 9pm on Friday in protest against the jailing of journalists and in solidarity with the workers on strike, reports Abna Masr (Ar). The demonstration has been called for by opposition movement Kifaya.


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Egypt: Hunt-the-Editor Season! · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

It’s “hunt-the-editor” season! In two weeks 5 editors-in-chief and 3 journalists working for opposition newspapers have been arrested and sentenced to jail and/or a big fine, reports Hatshepsut from Egypt.


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Haiti: I’m Sorry  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Latin Americanist reports that “exiled former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier has apologized for any ‘wrongs’ committed under his rule.”


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Hong Kong: Fire Dragon Dance · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jacky Szeto posts some great photos of fire dragon dance at Taihang in Hong Kong (zh). It is a traditional ceremony during mid-autumn festival in Hong Kong. The dragon will dance for three days, and tonight will be the last day.


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India, Burma: No Comment · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Sepia Mutiny on India being rather quiet on the issue of the pro-democracy protests in Burma.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India: Cricket and Journalism · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Falstaff isn't amused with an article in the NY Times about cricket, Twenty20 and India.


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India: Cricket and Religion · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A comment by a Pakistani Cricket player doesn't sit well with Indian Muslims.


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Iran:Che Guevara’s children visited Iran · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Amin Taghikhani says that Che Guevara's two children came to Iran and met with Iranian officials last week.The blogger writes[Fa] “do Che Guevara's children know that thousands of Marxists have been executed by Islamic Republic!”


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Iran:Lips · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kosoof,a leading photo blogger, has published his new photos.One of them is called “Lips”.


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Jamaica: Home Sweet Home  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Francis Wade blogs about how “life became easier when I realized that I was Jamaican, first and foremost.”


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Myanmar: Warning Shots Fired Upon the Protesters · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Jotman in Thailand is updating his blog with the latest happenings in Myanmar where the security forces have started breaking up the protests.

author: Preetam Rai


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Myanmar: Updates From 26 September · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

YouTube user dennisbier09 has posted two video clips and writes
This 2 part video shows both Monks and ordinary civilians protesting the military government in Myanmar (Burma). The footage was taken on a rainy Monday afternoon in the former capital of Yangon (Rangoon) on September 24, 2007.
Awzar Thi has collected pictures on the protests uploaded by Myanmar bloggers at Saffron Revolution.
Thailand based Bangkok Dazed is thinking about his friends in Myanmar
I received a couple of e-mails this afternoon from friends in Yangon. One describes the current situation as “Very, very tense. Our school is getting closed down starting tomorrow. Don't know what's going to happen next.” Another local said that “Here they started fighting in downtown today. It seems bad. I will write later. I don't know how long we will have internet … maybe they will cut soon.” I’ve been surfing online constantly the past few days, trying to get updates on the ongoing situation. Supposedly a curfew is now in effect for Yangon and Mandalay.
Meanwhile, Malaysian politician Lim Ki Siang is urging Malaysia and the regional grouping ASEAN to do more to avoid a bloodbath in Myanmar.
Malaysia and ASEAN must come into the very forefront in regional and international efforts to support a peaceful resolution of the monk-led mass protest marches in Rangoon and Mandalay especially as ASEAN had given the Myanmar military junta a new legitimacy and fresh lease of life by admitting Myanmar into ASEAN ten years ago.
In an earlier post, the politician cautions China and India, the neighbors and supporters of Myamar's ruling junta
China – and in particular the Beijing Olympic Games 2008 – and India will not be able to escape adverse international repercussions of a bloodbath in Myanmar as they will be blamed for giving support to the Myanmar military junta and turning a blind eye to the bloody crackdown in the country.
Myanmar blogger Yangon Thu shares her thoughts on the happenings in Myanmar. The blogger urges readers to sign a petition requesting
China to influence Burma Junta's actions against the peaceful protesters and also to stop intervening with the UN's work for the people of Burma.
Indian blogger at The Acron feels that China, India and Thailand are not in a position to influence the ruling regime in Myanmar.
External actors—excluding China—have no real levers. And as Chandra asked, how seriously can we expect China to ask the junta to introduce democracy. So Chinese advice will only be limited to telling the junta not to exacerbate the situation by spilling blood. That’s similar to the reaction of ASEAN’s secretary-general. Thailand, which might once have taken a bold position on democracy, is currently under military rule. So you won’t hear much from the Thais either.India’s UPA government—in crisis-mode and with talk of elections next year—is likely to adopt a similar approach. No, the Indian navy won’t be conducting exercises off Myanmar’s shores. The same goes for the US Pacific Fleet.
Bangok Dazed ridicules the approach taken by the United States. American president George Bush announced more sanctions against Myanmar.
More sanctions? What is that going to accomplish at this point? But that’s typical of Bush-style diplomacy: call the country evil, impose sanctions on it, and don’t attempt to actually sit down and talk with anyone.


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Nigeria: Abuja Film Festival · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Naijablog wants more information about the Abuja Film Festival: “Apparently the Abuja International Film Festival is next week (see the pasted text from Balancing Act's Broadcast e-newsletter below). All I could find out about this festival online are this page, and what seems to be the festival's webpage here which is out of date and Google tells me has content which may harm my computer.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Pakistan: Trams in Karachi · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Light Within has a wonderful post on the trams in Karachi, which are no longer around.


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Peru: Dangerous Construction · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The Peruvian government has relaxed norms for the construction of buildings arguing that the deregulation will speed up construction and reduce bureaucracy.  However, Desde el Tercer Piso [ES] counters that it might make buildings less safe especially in regards to earthquakes.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Peru: Negligence Leads to Turtles’ Demise · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Juan Arellano is saddened about the negligence shown by local government officials in Peru that allowed for the illegal commercialization of turtles [ES] and their eggs in a protected nature reserve.


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Russia: Moscow Subway Myth · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Turkish Invasion writes about one myth of the Moscow subway that's actually true.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: Nashi · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Darkness at Noon writes about the pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi and the impact they may have on Russia's political development.


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Saudi Arabia: Pepper Spray for Religious Police · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif reports  about two girls in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, who sprayed the notorious religious police with pepper spray.


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Sri Lanka: UN International Day of Peace · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Sarvodaya on a Peace Walk in Trincomallee to mark UN International Day of Peace.


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: HIV/AIDS Awareness  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“As far as am concerned, fighting the HIV war calls for effective use of all available tools”: Blogging from St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Abeni comments on a steamy ad campaign intended to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS.


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Thought Leader: An Editorial Blog · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The South Africa's Mail & Guardian online has been experimenting with new media through their 3-step blogging strategy. The first part of the strategy was the launching of the South African aggregator, Amatomu. The second was a blogging platform, Amagama. An editorial blog, Thought Leader, is the culmination of this 3-step strategy.
Vincent Maher, the Mail & Guardian digital strategist, explains their 3-step blogging strategy:
Thought Leader is the 3rd part of our 3-step blogging strategy. The first was was to aggregate and measure the local blogosphere, which we did via Amatomu. The second was to provide a hosting platform for blogs, which we did via Amagama. The final step, and the most challenging, was to create a hybrid between a group blog and a more traditional opinion and editorial site that we could really throw our reputation behind as a quality news source.
A few people have asked me if there is any method to the madness as we rolled out the previous two products but, as you can see, 1+1+1 > 3 in this case and the 3 sites form a comprehensive approach that not many other SA media have adopted.
Each blog is edited by our editorial team and so are the comments and the intention is for it to become the source for quality blogging in the spheres of politics, economics, society, religion and technology – this will no doubt also spur some robust debate ahead of the elections.
Another thing you may notice is that it features a lot of local blogging talent mixed in with the Mail & Guardian journalists and experts. There can be no doubt that blogging in South Africa has caused an explosion of writing and from this has emerged some real talent [along with some real untalent] and we wanted to help these newcomers get some public exposure and be part of the great debate.
Mathew Buckland,  the General Manager, Mail & Guardian Online, announced the launching of the platform calling it an “editorial blog”:
We’ve launched what I call an “editorial blog” platform, called Thought Leader — the third part of our blog strategy, after the amas — amatomu.com and amagama.com.
A key aspect that we were insistent on was that this was an “editorial blog” product. We needed the content to pass through an editor… old-fashioned traditional media style. So all blog content goes through our online editor Riaan Wolmarans. Unlike our other blog products, we needed this because Thought Leader appears strongly under the Mail & Guardian brand, therefore the company is liable, responsible and directly associated with the content. We had the debate internally for months while conceptualising Thought Leader, deciding that all content, whether in a newspaper, a website or blog needs to go through a gate-keeping process if under our brand.
Chilibean described Thought Leader as a “mashup of traditional media and new media“:
Mail & Guardian's Thought Leader blog is quite an interesting mashup of traditional media and new media. The site is basically a really big group blog with about 40 contributors so far. The blog is monitored by Mail & Guardian's online editor, Riaan Wolmarans who pretty much seems to have his hands full making sure the contributions submitted to the blog are safe for publication. The reason for this editorial control makes a lot of sense.
I like the Thought Leader blog and the way it has been put together. If Vincent and Matt add those extra feeds the service will be even more useful. For now, it is early days but I think this one is going to be a goodie going forward. In the meantime, I am going to add one more feed to my list …
Nicharalambous was excited about the new initiative:
am a big fan of the work that M&G have been doing, that’s no secret but I really like this initiative and have been waiting to blog about it for a while. The concept is a simple and effective one.
Ray Hartley, the editor for The Times of South Africa, congratulated Mail & Guardian:
KUDOS to the M&G for launching their Thought Leader blogging platform. Very nice, easy design and a good selection of bloggers ranging from the M&G’s own Matt Buckland and Vincent Maher to the somewhat self-consciously contrarian Ivo Vegter (Mbeki was right to fire Nozizwe).
Bridget McNulty felt honoured when she was invited to be part of Thought Leader:
So I’m really honoured (and a little overwhelmed) to have been invited to be part of Thought Leader – the Mail and Guardian Online’s exclusive new blogging platform (la di da! I hear you say).
Most of the people are blogging on politics and news and sport and the like. I’m blogging on The Novel Life: whimsical observations on the everyday. It’ll be a little like this, only more focused, and only on a Monday and Friday. One for the week, one for the weekend. And it’ll mainly be about novel stuff, and also about observations on everyday life.
Different to this, but also in my voice (obviously).
Come visit me!
Well-known bloggers in the African blogosphere such as White African, Mike Stopforth, and Vinny Lingham are also part of Thought Leader.
The launching of Thought Leader brought back a common debate in the South African blogosphere about “cloning.”  Webaddict asked, “Is Thought Leader M&G’s Wibble.co.za clone?”:
Came accross wibble.co.za 41 days ago, submitted it to muti
Wibble is a multi-user, multi-industry blog. If you are a thought leader in your industry open an account NOW
Over at Mail & Gaurdian Vincent Maher & Matthew Buckland have just launched thought leader…
The default plugin that comes or used to come with a Worpdress installation is called Hello Dolly. Dolly, also the name of the first sheep cloned many years ago.
Is it just me or is there something strange happening here?
Stii asked, “So what's the big deal?“:
So, was Wibble the first ever group blog? Did Vince and Matthew clone Wibble? Really, who cares! Did Muti rip off Digg or Reddit? Did Amatomu and Afrigator clone Technorati? Surely that NOT relevant AT ALL as what is important at the end of the day is which service is liked and used more and by whom. THAT is what is relevant IMHO. Not who cloned who and how and why. Wibble does not allow me to comment without having to register. M&G’s Thought Leader does! Guess where I will spend my spare minutes…
Cloning web services is an integral part of the internet’s evolution. If you have a problem with it, you should maybe stop and think for a minute… If you are the creator of the cloned product, then boy! you better watch out… There is a lot of pretty talented people out there and you better stay on top of your game, else you’ll be (God forbid) knocked out by a clone!
While Thought Leader continues to invite more bloggers and draw media attention, Vincent Maher announces: Thought Leader go print:
Usually the way things work in a newspaper is that copy gets written for the print publication and then gets re-purposed for the web. If the publication has a good convergence and integration strategy in place then the final output medium is unspecified at first, but there are not many publications in the world that have this working properly. In parallel, copy gets written for the web product, sometimes in the form of blogs, that seldom finds its way into the print edition. The Times have done this particularly well with their “blogumists”.
This week marks the first week in M&G history where a substantial amount of the Op-Ed section [close to a thousand words in two separate sections] has been dedicated to content that was written specifically for the online product by our readers. Our UGE (User-Generated Editorial) strategy is now in full swing with this, the final link in the chain.
Personally I have longed, for a long time, for the day when online media gets the same level of respect as the printed word. If we online people are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that there is still more authority attached to the printed word, regardless of whether there is a rational basis for it or not. To see Thought Leader go to print, and in such an important section, feels like a seminal moment.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Blogging Against Abuse  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Abuse is all over, in many forms. If anything, citizen media can highlight abuse…”: KnowProSE.com gets a jump on Blog Against Abuse Day, which will be observed tomorrow.


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Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica: By Association  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Caribbean Public Relations republishes an article that she wrote for the Jamaica Gleaner about the benefits of joining a professional association.


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Trinidad & Tobago: What Kind of Unity?   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“If the UNC and the COP do unite, what kind of unity could this be?” asks Manicou, who is confused about some of the moves being made in Trinidad and Tobago's election season.


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Ukraine: Agrarian Marketing Project · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukraine List links to a resource that explains why, among other things, Ukraine's lettuce market is “weak” and this year's carrot supply is insufficient.


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Ukraine: Awaiting Election Fraud · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes writes: “Accusations and counter-accusations of cheating by the main political protagonists are reducing the chances of the September 30th VR elections being conducted fairly and producing a result that will be accepted by all participating parties – something that is being almost completely missed in articles on the elections in the Western press.”


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Ukraine: Kyiv Pre-Election Pics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A few pre-election photos from Kyiv – from Michelle of Greetings from Kyiv.


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Ukraine: Kyiv Restaurants · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Carpetblogger reviews “four restaurants in Kyiv that are not awful.”


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Ukraine, the EU: Neighbors vs Members · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Orange Ukraine writes: “Ukrainians are dealing with the difference between being a member of the EU and being an EU neighbor and they don't like it.”


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Venezuela: Personal Constitutional Reforms · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Luis Carlos Díaz of Periodismo de Paz [ES] provides his own version of Constitutional reforms with 40 brief and straight to the point articles open for debate.


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Bahamas: Education Challenges  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit examines the problems facing Bahamian education.


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Bangladesh: Burma and Religion · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Sadiq Alam on the situation in Burma. “Religious and Spiritual moral standpoint has given rise to many changes in human history in terms of revolutionary changes and justice.”


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Bolivia: Evo Morales on the Daily Show · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

According to the Comedy Central channel's website, last Tuesday evening's guest would only be the 2nd sitting president to appear on the comedy fake-news program.  In late 2006, the President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf would appear and was interviewed by host Jon Stewart.  Bolivian President Evo Morales, who was in New York City for the United Nations summit, took the opportunity to appear on the television program that is largely unknown to most Bolivians.  Blogs like Comunica Bolivia [ES] provided a bit of background information about the program in anticipation of the appearance.  However, the clip soon appeared on video sites such as Google video, YouTube and on the Daily Show's own website, allowing Bolivians and Bolivian bloggers to follow along and give their verdict.
Unlike Musharraf, Morales does not speak english and was aided by the use of translator.  However, many noted that many of Stewart's jokes became lost in translation and that Morales took the interview way too seriously. Jose Andres Sanchez of El Pais de las Maravillas [ES] provided a translation of the transcript.  Soon after the clips and transcripts appeared online, many bloggers provided their own thoughts.
The blogger Alkolica [ES] didn't buy Morales description of his own administration:
y puedo decir que a pesar de ser una pequeña entrevista, recibio bastante apoyo de la audiencia, sus respuestas fueron directas, humildes, llenas de verdad (nada que ver con la realidad actual) evo debe saber que se consigue mas con miel que con hiel de las personas, por primera vez, escuche hablar de la diversidad cultural, en un momento de la entrevista se refirio al anfitrion diciendole que en bolivia tambien tenemos rubiecitos, y que todo se trata de vivir en nuestra diversidad cultural, llevando la Paz, y que por favor no lo consideren DEL EJE DEL MAL, refiriendose a chavez y a castro, que todas las naciones deberian unirse para luchar y salvar a la humanidad, …. si eso fuera verdad yo estaria llena de orgullo en este momento….
Even though it was a short interview, (Morales) received a lot of support from the audience, his answers were direct, humble and full of truths (however, it had nothing to do with the current reality).  Evo should know that you accomplish more with honey than with bitterness, for the first time, I heard him talk about cultural diversity, and at one moment during the interview he referred to the host saying that in Bolivia there are also light-skinned people and that we should try to live our cultural diversity in peace and that please do not consider him part of the axis of evil, referring to Chavez and Castro, and that all of the nations should united to fight and save humanity…it that was true then I would be full of pride at this moment.
At one point during the interview, Stewart read three of Morales’ campaign promises, which includes the nationalization of hydrocarbons, calling a Constitutional Assembly and agrarian reform that he is said to have delivered.  Sarcastically, Stewart asked, “what are you trying to pull?”  Many that follow Bolivia closely think that things are not as black and white as they may seem.  Martin Gutierrez of La Vitrina de la Realidad Boliviana [ES] disputes whether all three can actually be considered as accomplishments, such as the Constituent Assembly that has had to extend its deadline and the ongoing dispute over the debate regarding the location of the seat of government.
However, others like Hugo Miranda of Angel Caido [ES] hopes that the tone Morales used will carry over back in Bolivia.
Ojala se de cuenta en algun momento que para gobernar no necesita andar peleando con medio mundo y como dijo en esta entrevista en bolivia habemos gente de todo tipo hasta como el mismo Jon Stewart.
Hopefully he realizes that in order to govern one does not need to be fighting with everyone and as he said in the interview that in Bolivia there are all types of people even people that look like Jon Stewart.
From a strictly political point of view, political science professor Miguel Centellas provides his own analysis at Pronto*, although overall he writes that he was not impressed:
Evo’s performance did make him seem reasonable, calm, and appealing to a broad constituency of moderate liberals. In that sense, his performance was a rousing success—particularly when contrasted to last year’s Chávez “devil & sulfur” theatrics at the UN or this week’s Ahmadinejad fiasco at Columbia University. And that is, of course, the primary concern—from a political point of view.
Finally, many believe that the appearance of the popular television program did a lot to boost Morales’ reputation in the United States, as he presented his ideas in a plain and concise manner.  Clare Sammells writes on the collective blog Gringo Tambo that the appearance was appealing to most U.S. viewers.
Most U.S. listeners would hear a clear subtext: how did you overcome the structural inequalities and discrimination you faced? How did you beat the system? Americans are impressed by rags-to-riches stories, tales of people who rise to achieve far more that those in power would expect. President Morales is a perfect example of the kind of successful individual we admire.


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Chak De India – Go For It India · Global Voices
Kamla Bhatt

Chak De India  (Go For it India) is a Bollywood film that was released last month, and what an impact the film has on the pysche of Indians.  In India Chak De India has become a magic mantra of sorts and Indian business schools are thinking of including the film in their curriculum. The film is about the vision and determination of a hockey coach, who molds the team's spirit and thinking and helps them win the world cup.
In general, Indians are not known for their prowess in the sports field, except for cricket. Yes, in the world of cricket, Indian cricket players play a fairly decent game and have won quite a few matches. However, at the recently concluded  Twenty20 World Cup in Johannesburg, the Indian cricket team led by Mahindra Singh Dhoni did an outstanding job and won the World Cup after a gap of 23 years.
Many bloggers wonder if the Chak De India effect is responsible for the string of wins by India in cricket, football and hockey?
Sanjay Goel's post captures the feelings of many bloggers in this sentencee:
“Somehow the release of Shahrukh Khan starrer Chak De India has coincided with one of the best time for Indian Sports”
Karteek of K World  pursues a similar train of though and wonders if the film Chak De India's responsible for India's wins in the world of sports. He writes:
Wondering whether a movie can bring Good Luck to a nation ? A definite logical answer to the question is “No”. Not Just “No”, but it's “NO!!!”
But, let's trace through this time line
You will have to read Karteek's blog to find out about his analysis and the co-relation between a Bollywood film and the Indian sports team.
Mutterings That Matter writes in his post Chak De India:
“This win has eclipsed both of them as I have been waiting for 22 frickin years to be so happy.
Congratulations Team India – T20 Champions…Chak De India….”
Anand Krishnan's Musings writes:
“But the icing on the cake is that in the past couple of months, Indian tennis, badminton, field hockey and soccer have all taken India to levels that were associated with non-Indian nations. It is this “broad based rally” in Indian sport that makes me want to say, “chak de India”!”
The Chake De India effect is not lost on Dave of Dave's Travel blog. A baseball fan, Dave thinks he is on his way to becoming a cricket fan. In his blog post titled Chak De India he captures the mood of the nation during the final match between India and Pakistan at Johannesburg.
“Luckily for me, the match started late and I arrived in time to witness a furious Pakistani comeback. They were on the verge of victory, and nationwide depression was beginning to take hold, until India salvaged a miraculous win! No sooner was the final ball caught than the firecrackers began exploding all over Mumbai.”
And, when the winning Indian cricket team landed in Mumbai yesterday they got a heroes welcome and the city came to a standstill. Guess what song was playing in the background as the team made their way through the city? Chak De India.

author: Kamla Bhatt


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Chile: Microsoft’s School of the Future in Peñalolén · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Luis Ramirez writes about Microsoft's new “School of the Future” that was launched in the municipality of Peñalolén, which is only one in 12 schools that will implement this educational model.  The special report can be found on the blog Un Computador por Niñ@ [ES].


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China: TV Series Banned · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A popular TV series called Red Question Mark was banned by SARFT – more from DANWEI.


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Colombia: Blogs y Polas 3 · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Medallo Bloguero [ES] posts pictures of the recent Blogs y Polas 3 blogger get-together.


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Costa Rica: Frustrations with Telecommunications · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Competition in telecommunications is supposed to lower fees and improve service.  However, Fusil de Chispas [ES] does not see it that way and provides examples of customer complaints.


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Cuba, Jamaica: Under Siege in Burma · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Uncommon Sense blogs about the struggle in Burma, while Montego Bay Day By Day says: “Freedom is not a thing that is earned. It is a right that is obtained at the very moment that one is deemed alive.”


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Czech Republic: “Tabloid Transitions” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dr. Sean's Diary critiques Transitions Online‘s “confused tabloidy democratization writing” on the Czech politics.


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Egypt: Committee to Defend Universities · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A National Committee for the Defense of Universities has been formed in Egypt. Read more about it in Hatshepsut‘s post here.


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India: Elasticities of Corruption · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Urbanomics on the elasticities of corruption and the consequences of regulation.


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India: In Ladakh · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Feringhee has snippets from her stay in Ladakh. From Yaks to shopkeepers.


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Indonesia: Bloggers Gathering · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Unspun says Indonesian first ever large scale bloggers gathering, Pesta Blogger, will be on October 27 in Jakarta.


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Iraq: Seventeen Ministries without Ministers · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“The NYT has a report on the troubled government of Nouri Al Maliki. The story says that 17 ministries now are without a minister and those ministers who are left are in many cases doing double duty, making it difficult to improve the performance of the agencies,” writes Iraq Pundit.


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Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago: Outsourcing Service  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Francis Wade makes a case for the customer service function to be outsourced in Jamaica – and Barbados and Trinidad, for that matter.


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Japan: Military Otaku?  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

James from Japan probe reports on a new member, Shigeru Ishiba, in the Fukuda cabinet. Local media called this Defense Minister: military otaku.


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Jordan: Letter to the Censor · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian blogger Hareega writes an open post to the censor here, and sarcastically notes: “We need you here. Our Jordanian blogsphere is polluted with cracked, uneducated, totally rude, unpatriotic, anti-freedom ignorant Jordan haters. I need you here. I need you to teach me to love my country, to watch my words before I regurgitate them in public and hurt my people, and most important of all, I need you to teach me freedom.”


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Korea: Stiffer for Sex Offenders? · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

In a major portal site in Korea, there is a section for ‘Today’s Debate.” One of the topics on the 25th of September was Korea’s launching of a new policy of ‘electronic bracelets for sex offenders.’ The following post generated hundreds of responses, touching off a big debate.
본론에 들어가기전에 말하지만 저는 성범죄를 옹호하는게 아닙니다-_-;;그리고 아동범죄는 예외로 하고싶다는 말을 드립니다
내년부터 성범죄자에게만 전자팔찌를 도입하자는 내용의 뉴스가떳떠군요
참 어이가 없고 답답합니다…;;
물론 극악무도한 범죄를 전자팔찌를 도입해서 재범을 막자는 의견은 좋습니다
하지만 여기에는 많은 문제가 있습니다
가장큰문제는 형평성이라고 볼수가 있습니다
전자팔찌라는 이중처벌을 굳이 할려면 마약 도박 상습절도 사기등등 재범확률이 많은
수많은 범죄에도 이런 방법을 쓰면 재범의 확률이 크게 줄겠죠?
그런데 왜 성범죄자에게만 이러한 룰을 적용해서 이중고를 겪게 하나요?
말이 안된다고는 보여지지 않습니까?
만약 이러한법을 적용하면 법의논리에서 형평성에 엄청난 모순과 논란을 가지고 올것입니다
그리고 또한 성범죄자들이 죄값을 안받은상황에서 이러한 것을 적용한다면 이해가 갑니다
하지만 이런것도아니고 죄값이라고 말하는 법의 심판을 충분히 받은상황에서 이러한 것을
적용시키는것 또한 성범죄자에게만 법의이중잣대를 들이대는 모순이라고 봅니다
어떤분들은
성범죄는 피해자에게 평생 씻을수없는
정신적고통을 주는 범죄(심지어는 영혼의살인?)이니 이러한처벌은
당연하다고도 합니다
물론 맞는 말일수도 있습니다
하지만 이세상에 피해자에게 정신적고통을 않주는 범죄가 어딨습니까?
그러식으로 피해자의 관점에서 처벌해야한다는 가정하에 설명해 보겠습니다
어떤 부부가 있습니다
평생동안 힘겹게 모은 돈을 밤에 도둑이 들어 평생모은 전재산을 털어 갔습니다
이부부는 그동안 쌓았던 모든것을 잃은 충격으로 평생을 고통속에 살아가겠죠…
또하나의 예를 들겠습니다
잘나가는 모델이 있습니다
그러나 불행하게도 운전자의 음주운전으로 인해 교통사고를 당해
사지가 절단되는 사고를 당했습니다.
이사람은 직업을 잃고 불편함과 고통으로 평생을 힘들게 살아가야합니다.
그럼 이러한것들또한 피해자에게 평생 씻을수없는 고통을 주었으니
마땅히 전자팔찌에 준하는 처벌을 해야 마땅하지 않을까요?
그러한식으로 하자면 이세상에 용서받을 죄는 없습니다.
일생동안 처벌받아야할 죄목이 무한이 되겠죠?…
After this opinion, there have been hot debates. So far 80 percent is against his opinion and the rest agree. The issue of equality with other crimes and anxiety that it will be the beginning of controlling individuals’ freedom are major reasons why some of them agree with his opinions.
Here is somebody who agrees.
글쓴분에게 적극동의하며 글을 적습니다. 조만간, 전자발찌제도를 시행한다고 합니다.
인권과 다른 범죄와의 형평성에 대한 문제부터 시작해서 일방적 거대세력의 시녀로서 국가의 부처가 존재하는것이 아닌가 하는 의구심이 하늘을 찌릅니다.
전자발찌제도의 시행과 더불어 추진및 시행기관에 대한 질문을 드립니다.
1.살인자와 성범죄자중 어느것이 죄질이 더 큰것입니까?
2.성범죄를 줄이기 위한 제도중 “캐나다의 화학적 거세”가 효과있었다고 보십니까?
3.미국의 전자팔찌제도 시행후 한국보다 성범죄율이 줄어들었다고 생각하십니까?
——- 개인적인 의견및 답 ——–
1. 일부에서는 성범죄는 살인죄보다 더큰 범죄라고 주장들을 합니다.(예를 들어서 여성단체,여성부,기타 일부 국민들) . 성범죄는 정신적인 살인개념도 포함된다는 어눌한 논리를 핍니다.
이런 의견들은 고려할 가치도 없습니다. 여러 범죄중 최고의 악질범죄는 살인죄 입니다. 사형제도를 유지하는 많은 국가중 사형을 선고하는 범죄자의 대부분은 살인자들입니다.
이번, 전자발찌제도 같은경우에는 “불법체류자의 인권, 범죄자의 인권”을 강조하는 우리정부의 인권정책과 크게 배치되는 제도이기도 합니다. 단순한 모순점이라는 소리죠.
또하나, 성범죄자의 범죄에 대한 처벌은 존재합니다. 죄값을 법치주의나라에서 주어주고 그 후에 전자발찌나 팔찌를 채운다는것은 이중처벌의 결과를 가져옵니다.
2.전자팔찌,발찌(시행예정)와 더불어 일부 선진국에서 시행하는 화학적거세에 대한 결과를 아십니까? 화학적 거세는 극히 일부국가에서만 시행이 됩니다. 그럼 캐나다에서 시행하는 화학적거세에 대한 결과를 들여다 본다면, 과연 시행을 해야하는 법인가? 하지말아야 할 법인가? 라는 딜레마에 빠지게 됩니다. 캐나다는 한국보다 강간율이 여전히 6배 높은 수치를 기록하는 짐승같은(?) 국가랍니다.
3.미국 일부주에서만 시행합니다. “미국에서 시행중이다 ” 라는 말은 거짓입니다. 일부 주에서만 시행이 됩니다만, 역시나 캐나다의 이웃이라서 그런지 성범죄율은 한국보다 여전히 3배나 높은 짐승같은(?) 국가입니다.
획기적인 결과를 보여주지 못하는 제도를 , 단지 전시행정 / 캠페인행정 / 포퓰리즘에 의거한 행정집행을 그만 접어주시고, 외국에서 실패한 제도말고 새로운 제도를 찾아보시길 바랍니다.
발찌, 팔찌등 일부국민들에게 개목걸이를 묶을려는 행위는 아니라고 봅니다.
좀더 지나면, 화학적거세도 분명히 나옵니다. “싹뚝”
1.	Among killers and sex offenders, whose crime is bigger?
2.	Do you think that the chemical castration of Canada in order to lessen sex crime has been effective?
3.	After the establishment of the electronic bracelet system of America, is the ratio of sex crime going down more than Korea?
My personal opinion and answer,
1.	Some people (like female organizations, female departments, and some people) argue that sex crimes are much more serious than murder. They insist that sex crimes include spiritual murder. These kinds of opnions are not valuable. The most hideous crime is murder. Among a lot of countries keeping capital punishment, criminals who get executed are all murderers. In the case of electornic bracelets, it doesn’t balance human rights for illegal sojourners and for criminals that the government emphasizes. In addition, there is already punishment for these sex offenders now. Giving the punishment and electronic bracelet means double punishment.
2.	Have you heard about the chemical castration that some developed countries implement? A few countries use this system. If you talk about this system in Canada, we will be in a dilemma whether we also have to apply this law or not. The rape rate of Canada is six times higher than Korea.
3.	Some states in America use this system. Not everywhere. The rape rate of America is three times higher than Korea.
Please try to find new systems, not failed systems from other countries that are used by the administration only to show off, for campaigning, and populism.
I don’t think that tying some humans with dog necklaces like bracelets is a good idea. Sooner or later, the chemical castration will be applied as well. “snip-snip.”
Goongyeilhak showed cases of other countries.
우리나라는 성의 정조 관념이 강해,  성폭력 피해여성이 오히려 죄인취급당하는 경우도 적지않습니다 예를 들면 밀양여중생 집단강간사건때 피해자 여중생들에게 그것도 경찰관이 밀양 망신이라는 망언을해 화제가 됐죠  또하나 여성을 상대로 강도사건 같은 경우 대부분 가해자들이 여성을 성폭행함으로써 범죄신고를 막는 수단으로 악질적으로 악용하고있는 경우가 아주 아주 많습니다 그런이유에서인지 현재 우리나라의 성폭력사건 신고율은 약 6%~10%에 불과합니다. 즉, 100건의 성범죄가 발생해도 단 6건에서10건사이 정도만 신고 또는 고소가 된다는 얘기인데 참고로 미국의 성폭력사건신고율은 약 50%이상이라고 합니다.  그만큼 우리나라가 성폭력 피해자측에게 불리한 환경이라고 해석할수도 있습니다. 그리고 2000년 7월부터 지금까지 7차례에 걸쳐  성범죄자 3,580명의 신상을 공개까지했지만 .  성범죄는 줄지 않고 오히려 늘고 있는 추세입니다 이 때문에 특별한 대책이 필요하다는 여론이 거세고 현재 대부분 대한민국 국민들이 성폭력 처벌이 수준이 낮다고 한목소리를 내고있는 실정이며 이번에 실행하고자하는 전자팔찌도입은 80%이상 찬성할꺼라 봅니다  대부분에 선진국 같은경우  물리적으로 약자에 속하는 노인 , 여성 그리고 어린아이들에게 행하는 범죄는 더 강하게 처벌하고있습니다.
* 거세수술 합법화한 나라 : 미국(8개 주), 독일, 덴마크, 이탈리아, 노르웨이 등
* 전자팔찌 : 네덜란드, 프랑스(최대6년 착용), 미국(평생), 영국, 캐나다, 호주, 스웨덴 등
미국의 8개 주에서는 거세수술까지 합법화하는 추세고, 특히 콜로라도주 등 4개 주에서는 어린이 대상 성범죄자에게 출소 직전 ‘디포프로베라'라는 거세 약물을 투여하기도 합니다. 미국 콜로라도주는 1998년부터 ‘성범죄자 평생 감시법'을 시행해 재범 우려가 높은 성범죄자의 성욕을 저하시키는 약을 정기적으로 투여하고 있고 독일과 덴마크, 이탈리아, 노르웨이 등 유럽 국가들에서도 성범죄자의 거세를 합법화하는 추세죠.  플로리다주는 지난해 11세 이하의 어린이 대상 성폭행범의 경우, 최저 형량을 25년으로 높이고 출소 후에도 전자팔찌를 차고 다니도록 하는 법률을 통과시켰고 캘리포니아 주에서도 성범죄자들이 도심에 거주하지 못하게 하고 평생동안 전자 족쇄를 채우는 법안이 발의됐고 주민투표에 부쳐질 전망입니다.
Those eight states of the U.S. plan to legalize the castration operation. In particular, four states including Colorado use the castration drug, ‘Depo-Provera’ on sex offenders targeting children…
Racer’s concerns about the electronic bracelet system come from a bigger and more futuristic perspective.
조지 오웰의 소설 1984에 나오는 ‘빅브라더’ 를 알고 계십니까?
빅브라더(Big Brother)는 긍정적 의미로는 선의 목적으로 사회를 돌보는 보호적 감시, 부정적 의미로는 음모론에 입각한 권력자들의 사회통제의 수단을 말합니다. 즉 “정보의 독점과 일상적 감시를 통해 사람들을 통제하는 감시 권력”을 의미하죠.
한 예를 들면…
영국의 감청 시스템 ‘에셜론’ 을 아십니까?…군사 관련, 정치인에 대한 감시와 도감청은 물론 민간, 기업마저도 거의 완벽하게
감청 가능한 최첨단 감청 시스템입니다.
개인의 자유, 보호되어야할 프라이버시, 법적 형평성마저도 “공익을 위해서” 라는 명분 하에 모두정당화됩니다. 자유주의와 달리 사회주의 국가에서 ‘공공의 이익'을 위해서 더욱 많이 개인을 통제하고, 개인의 자유를 더욱더 침해해도 당연시 되는, 반대하는자의 목소리는 묵살되는 것과 같은 맥락으로 말이죠.
인터넷 실명제, 통신비밀보호법 개악, 성범죄자 전자팔찌…잇다라 나오는 일련의 법안, 정책들은 일견 공통점이 크지 않아보여도 이것들은 모두 한방향으로의 경향성을 가집니다. 뭔지 아시겠습니까?
바로 더욱 큰 정부, 더욱 큰 통제, 더욱 큰 권력, 더욱 큰 자유의 침해를 뜻합니다.
공공의 이익을 위해서라는 명분 하에 말이죠.
이번 성범죄자 전자팔찌 법안에 대해서는 단지 성범죄자는 천인공노할 찢어죽일 놈들이니 당해본 자의 고통을 네가 겪어봤느니 하는 (심정적으로는 저도 이 말들에 동의합니다) 감정적인 측면만 부각시키기보단 더욱 신중하게 접근해야 합니다.
이 문제는 세 가지 측면을 심각하게 고려해봐야 할 필요가 있습니다.
먼저 감정적 측면이 아닌 법의 형평성을 고려해야 합니다. 다른 범죄로 인해 고통받고 있는분들도 많습니다. 살인범조차 석방되어 돌아다니고 있는 사람이 있는 마당에, 유독 성범죄에만 감정적이고 극단적으로 반응하는 사람들이 상당수 있는 것은 분명 비이성적으로 보입니다. …
또 이중처벌 문제가 있습니다. 전자팔찌를 시행하는 일부 국가의 경우는 그 기준을 엄격히 제한함과 동시에, 전자팔찌 그 자체를 처벌로써 활용하고 있습니다. 우리나라처럼 징역형으로 일단 한번의 처벌을 받은 뒤 또 전자팔찌를 착용하는 결과적으로 이중의 처벌을 받는 구조가 아니죠. 이 문제 또한 고려해봐야 할 것으로 봅니다.마지막으로는 정치, 사회적으로 미칠 파장과 앞으로 미래에 미칠 영향력이 그것입니다. 위에서 얘기했듯이 제가 주로 얘기하고 싶은 부분은 바로 이부분입니다. 이번 전자팔찌 법안은 징역형이 아닌 “다른 방법으로의 사회에서의 통제” 의 첫걸음이라는데 큰 의미가 있습니다. 성범죄자에게만 팔찌를 채우는 것은 법의 형평성 문제는 물론 우리나라의 법정서 상  살인, 상해(얼굴에 염산을 부린다던가 몸에 화상을 입게 한다던가 신체를 절단,손상시켜 심각한 장애를 초래하는 죄질이 나쁜 상해), 사회적인 말살로 심각한 후유증을 초래하는 사회적으로 심각한 해악을 끼치는 다른 중범죄들… 상습적 절도, 사기, 도박, 마약중독에 대해서도 성범죄자와 마찬가지로 전자팔찌를 채워야 한다는 담론은 반드시 나올 것으로 봅니다. (개중에는 범죄자의 인권은 필요없으니 모든 범죄자에게 전자팔찌를 시행하자는 파시즘같은 극단주의자도 일부 나타나겠죠.↑윗글만으로도 이미 그런 의견을 지닌 사람이 다음아고라에 다수 나타났군요.) 예를 들어 꽃뱀의 사진과 신상공개, 꽃뱀에게 소리가 울리는 전자팔찌를 채우게 한다면 사람들의 반응은 어떨까요? (꽃뱀 또한 심각한 정신적 고통과 후유증을 초래할 수 있습니다…)
더 나아가 다른 범죄에도 적용된다면? 전자팔찌 기준이 완화되어 초범에게도 적용된다면? 많은 반론들이 있긴 하지만 관문이론이라는게 있죠..처음 한단계만 선을 넘으면 그후로는 둔감해져 점점 다음 단계, 관문을 넘기가 쉬워진다는…
자신은 범죄를 저지르지 않을 것이니 범죄자는 아무래도 상관없다는 분들, 과연 “공공의 이익”이라는 명분하에 프라이버시와 개인의 자유가 침해되고, 이런 의식이 팽배하게 된다면 과연 이런 프라이버시와 자유, 인권의 침해가 범죄자에게만 적용될거라 생각하십니까? 순진하게도요? 정부의 권력은 강화되고, 개인과 사회에 대한 통제는 강화되며, 인권과 자유의 침해를 막아주는 벽은 이미 허물어진지 오래인데도 말이죠.
백프로 이렇게 될거라는 소리가 아닙니다. 이렇게 될 가능성이 있다는것을 약간 비약해서 예를 든 것입니다. 현재 쏟아져 나오는 정책들을 보면 이러한 경향성이 있고, 우리사회가 흘러갈 방향성에 영향을 미치는 것이니 우리 국민들이 정치가들에게 휘둘리지 않기 위해서는 감정적, 비이성적으로 접근할 것이 아니라 이런 측면도 함께 고려해봐야 한다는 뜻입니다. 위에서 말했듯이 이번 전자팔찌 법안은 “첫걸음”이라는데 큰 의미가 있습니다….
For example… have you heard about “echelon,” which England uses?…
Not only military-related information and inspection of politicians, but also civilian and enterprises are wiretapped with this most advanced technology.
Individual freedom, privacy to be protected, and legal equality will be squeezed out under the name of “for public advantages.” In contrast to liberal countries, it’s like a socialist country that controls individuals more for ‘public advantages,’ infringes individual freedom, and ignores opposing voices. The system to publicize your name in the internet, retrogressive revision of the communication privacy protection regulation, electronic bracelets for sex offenders… a series of regulations. Even though these policies don’t have similarities, they tend to go to the one direction.
Do you know what it is?
It means bigger government, bigger control, bigger power, and bigger infringement of freedom, under the name of the advantages for the public. Rather than thinking emotionally because you know the pain of victims, we should consider the issue more cautiously.
We need to consider it in three aspects.
First, we should think about equality of the law, not the emotional part. There are victims who go through pain by other kinds of crimes. But killers are walking around here after release. It seems not reasonable why people are especially sensitive and extremely reactive about sex crimes. …
In addition, there is another issue about double punishment. Some countries that enforce electronic bracelets strictly limit the standard and utilize it as a punishment. It’s not double punishment like in our country. We should think about this system.
The last problem is how this policy will affect politics and society, and the future. This is the part I would like to emphasize. This policy has the significant meaning that it’s not imprisonment, but the first step “to control society in another method.”
Beyond this issue, there will be another step to argue about that other crimes, such as heavy crimes… should be included into this system (Some of them  will even start saying that all criminals should wear the electronic bracelets-I have already seen those opinions in this debate section).
For example, how about we let ggot-baem (flower-snake: women who entice men and take money) have the bracelets, and publicize their photos and personal history? (because those will cause serious spiritual pain and consequences to the victims)…
How about if the system applies to other crimes? If it applies to the first offender? Even though there are not a few objections, there will be steps. If we go through the first step, the next steps will be much easier.
People who say they are not going to commit the crime and are not related to criminals… If this view becomes so common and, under the pretext of “public advantages,” it infringes on privacy and individual freedom. Do you think that this infringement of privacy, freedom, and human rights will just apply to the criminals? Are you that naïve?
The authority of the government will be stronger and the control of individuals and society will be stronger. Protection against infringement of human rights and freedom will collapse.
I’m not saying that it will change like that with 100 percent certainty. I am making an example that it would be possible. If you see new policies, this tendency is strong and it will influence the direction how our society will change. Therefore, we should consider this aspect, not approaching emotional and irrationally, in order not to let politicians do toward us whatever they want. Like I said above, the electronic bracelets will be the “first step.”….

author: Hyejin Kim


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Moldova: Transnistria 2 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Douglas Muir of A Fistful of Euros posts the second installment on Transnistria.


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Myanmar: An Australian View of the Protests · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Australian author and journalist Mark Bowling writes  “History shows that eventually, regimes like Burma's military junta can't last. People need their dignity and are resilient enough to hold out for basic human rights.”


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Myanmar: Citizen Journalism · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Bangkok Parlour on Citizen Journalism in Myanmar. “Citizen journalism has arrived in Burma. And, while the risks to those who courageously capture the deplorable realities of life today in Burma are great, the potential rewards to the country as a whole are greater. Images today speak louder than words.”


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Myanmar: Wearing Red on Friday · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

South East Asian bloggers mental jog, unspun, Elizabeth Wong  and Kelvin Quee are going to wear red in support of the monks in Myanmar


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Philippines: Corruption scandal reaches the presidential palace · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A backgrounder on the issue is provided by GMA news through this timeline:
April 2007: The Philippine government and ZTE Corp. of China entered into a US$ 329.5 million contract for a national broadband network (NBN) that will improve government communications capabilities.
August 29, 2007: A congressman disclosed in a privilege speech that Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos met with ZTE officials in China weeks before April 2007, apparently to broker for the NBN project:
August 30, 2007: Abalos denied brokering for the National Broadband Network project despite admitting he knows some officials in ZTE Corp. He admitted making four trips to China and playing golf there, but denied reports that he lobbied for the ZTE deal in exchange for money and sex.
September 10, 2007: In an affidavit, Jose “Joey” De Venecia III claimed that he was with Abalos in China when the latter met with ZTE officials. He claimed he heard Abalos demand for money from the ZTE officials. Joey is a majority shareholder of a company which lost to ZTE in the bidding for the NBN contract. He is also the son of House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.
September 11, 2007: The Supreme Court en banc issued a temporary restraining order against the implementation of the controversial NBN contract between the Philippines and Chinese firm ZTE Corp.
September 18, 2007: In a Senate hearing, Joey said First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo personally told him six months ago to “back off” from pursuing the multi-million dollar national broadband network project.
A few days ago, Romulo Neri, a cabinet secretary of President Gloria Arroyo, also testified in the senate and accused Abalos of offering him almost a $5 million bribe in connection with the deal. Neri told the senate that he informed the president of the bribe attempt. The president instructed him to reject the bribe. However, Neri refused to divulge other details of his conversation with the president citing “executive privilege.”
Was the president involved in the controversy? Why did she approve the signing of the contract despite being informed of the bribe attempt? Why are the allies of the president accusing each other of being involved in shady transactions?
Inside PCIJ uploads the presentation of the government explaining that the Chinese company ZTE offered the best proposal in terms of capability and cost. A Nagueno in the blogosphere thinks the national broadband network project “started out as a good idea that later metamorphosed into some sort of a Frankenstein project.”
Yugatech comments on the senate investigation of the contract:
“Despite the politics behind the issue, I was more frustrated with the Senators asking repetitive questions and making non-sense tech-related conclusions… In essence, the proposed project is sound and laudable…But it is frustrating to realize that such a technological leap forward is marred with corruption and politics.”
The Bystander is not surprised over the scandal:
“With the way this government is being run by Arroyo and her cohorts, scandals and controversies seem to be an everyday occurrence.  However, what makes this scandal quite different from the ones before it is the noise where it’s coming from.  Unlike other whistleblowers who could easily be identified with the opposition, the current whistleblower is no less than the son of Speaker Jose de Venecia, a known Arroyo ally.”
Citizen on Mars ponders if the project is beneficial to the country in the long run. Our thoughts are free says top election officer Benjamin Abalos will leave a legacy of controversy when he retires from public service next year. Carol P. Araullo believes “that what the public is witnessing is a single corruption scandal opening up a veritable can of worms.”
Crooning the Night Away compares the presidential palace to a mafia house
“With the ZTE deal investigations in the Senate heating up, the image of gangsters running that palace by the Pasig River becomes more and more clear, and right in the middle of it all, the image of a godfather — an uglier, meaner Don Vito Corleone.”
Notes of Marichu Lambino wants the President “to come out and explain exactly why she let the election chair run around on the broadband contract with just a few months before elections.” Our Times disapproves of the project:
“What’s the urgency behind this broadband project anyway? One of the reasons why government’s communications run into billions is the number of personal calls done in hundreds of cubicles in every corner of the bureaucracy. Also, we do have 9-10 million Filipinos overseas and 81 or so foreign posts spread throughout the globe. Unless government makes more effective use of e-mail, YM, VOIP, and video-conferencing tools, those bills will remain sky-high.”
Philippines Without Borders on what the senate hearings revealed:
“The hearings proved what professors from the University of the Philippines School of Economics had said all along—that the project didn’t undergo any decent feasibility study. There was no honest-to-goodness numbers crunching. Grilled by senators, Transportation officials couldn’t answer even the most trivial details (like the cost components of government telecommunications expenditures) on the “savings” that the supposed NBN could bestow on the country’s coffers.”
Pinoy Penman articulates the sentiments of many Filipinos:
“I’ve had it. Somebody up there (or better yet, down there) please punish these people—with bolts of lightning, vats of boiling sulfur, suppurating sores, a rain of toads, anything!—if not for whatever crimes they may have committed, then for the worst offense of all, that of thinking of you and me as halfwits and of themselves as geniuses—which may well be the case, if we do or say nothing against this systematic, State-sponsored, shameless moronization of the Filipino.”
Ricky Carandang Reporting believes the Speaker of the House had implicated the president in the controversy:
“This is not an unsubstantiated claim by some oppositionist trying to oust the president. This is the Speaker of the House talking about something he had direct knowledge of.  The fourth highest offical in the country and a loyal ally of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.  Whether he meant to or not, the Speaker may have just implicated the President in the ZTE Broadband scandal.”
Pinoytux weblog believes the project can be accomplished without foreign assistance. Agham insists that the project should not be pursued by the private sector:
“Any improvement to the use and access of new technology is always welcome. However, this should not be left to private companies to do, or worse, be a platform for corruption of a few.”
Aparador ni Lisa is disappointed that the First Gentleman has chosen to leave the country rather than face his critics. Peter Lavina wants the deal to be probed by Congress and Supreme Court even if it was already suspended by the government. Wake T-Rex asks if the Philippines is already standing up on its own after the government suspended other controversial deals with China.
The Ignatian Perspective defends cabinet secretary Romulo Neri who refused to divulge other details of his conversation with the president on the ZTE contract. But Uniffors described Neri as a rat. Miguel Paraz says the ZTE scandal revived the Philippine interconnectivity issue. Khanterbury Tales blogs about the death threats received by a columnist who wrote a blind item about a high-ranking election official involved in an anomalous deal.
Angelica Viloria narrated the life lessons from the senate hearing: There is always a diplomatic way of saying things; A poor memory can be the refuge of the guilty or the innocent; When in government, it is better to be without a friend; When in a stressful situation, keep your sense of humor. She adds:
“It was entertaining to a certain extent, exasperating at times — but when you think about it, if this is what happens with just one single contract, no wonder the country isn't moving forward.”
Txtpower group launched a cyberprotest by uploading a video about the issue in You Tube. A ringtone can be downloaded to express protest against the corruption scandal. Just live a simple life asks if the issue is the tipping point for the administration.
Newsstand and Slap Happy found humor in the senate probe. Achieving Happiness liveblogged the senate hearing.
ISAW on the dangers of the project:
“Let me make this short and simple. The problem with this deal is not only about over pricing. The problem of this deal is that we would be giving a foreign firm the ability to sniff into all our government transactions.”
Ironnie is against the project:
“As for the NBN project, I am not against having all agencies connected but is this a pressing need? Will this project save me from waiting in long lines and jumping from one government agency to another just to process some papers? A lot of people are dying in public hospitals for lack of equipments. A lot of students have no decent rooms and books in their classes. Surely, they deserve to be prioritized more.”

author: Mong Palatino


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Poland: The Women’s Party · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot and Dr. Sean's Diary write about the Women's Party of Poland.


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Polish computer programmer arrested for Google Bombing · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

The 23-years old Polish computer programmer Marek W. might face up to three years in prison for having created a Googlebombing software linking Polish President Lech Kaczynski’s website to the word “kutas” meaning penis in Polish.

author: sami ben gharbia


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South Korea: Dokdo’s Logo · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

mins0306 from Marmot's Hole report that Dokdo's Logo in the Korean Internet sites has made Chinese government unhappy. Dokdo is an island in North East Asia and its sovereignty is still in dispute.


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Sri Lanka: Technology and Burma · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

LIRNEasia on technology giving the world a rare view of Myanmar's rage.


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Sri Lanka: Vehicle Art · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Cerno has pictures of vehicle art in Sri Lanka.


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Thailand: Sharing Myanmar’s Shame · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Fringer says Thailand shares Myanmar's shame as Thai leaders are not making a stand against the ruling regimen in Myanmar and their handling of the protests by monks and civilians.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Oil Spill  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“If it takes the Environmental Management Authority a week to take notice of an oil spill, how can we trust them to monitor the daily emissions coming from a plant?” asks Rights Action Group T&T, as it calls for “an immediate introduction of proper emergency response mechanisms to be put in place to deal with situations like this.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: The Secret Interview  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Caribbean Free Radio snags the first-ever interview with the secret blogger claiming to be the Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Visiting Curaçao  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Lifespan of a Chennette makes a trip to Curaçao and gives us a guided tour…


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Ukraine: For Sale on eBay · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Orange Ukraine reports on how someone tried to sell Ukraine on eBay – and about the Sept. 30 vote: “The undecided, the casting of votes to smaller parties, the votes “against all”, will decide Ukraine's future.”


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Ukraine: Political Mess · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes roundups a few news reports that reveal “the mess the country is in, which could endanger its democratic development.”


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Ukraine: Sept. 30 Vote · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Mark MacKinnon writes about the upcoming Sept. 30 vote: “Pity the ordinary Ukrainians who are trapped in this never-ending tug-of-war.”


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Ukraine: Unresolved Cases · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Mark MacKinnon writes about two unresolved cases that don't do any good to president Yushchenko's image at home and abroad: the 2000 murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze and Yushchenko's 2004 poisoning.


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Arabeyes: Meet Maryanne Stroud Gabbani · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egypt-based blogger Maryanne Stroud Gabbani started blogging in 2003 at the age of 54, after becoming frustrated with trying to answer people individually regarding how it was that she was so happy living in a place that the news said was so opposed to “western women”.   She figured that hopefully a blog would reach more people and give Egypt a human face and has never looked back since.
Following is our interview with her:
Q. Who is Maryanne Stroud Gabbani? What are you doing in Egypt and why and when did you start blogging?
A. I am an American emigrant to Canada (during the 70's) who met and married a Sudanese/Egyptian emigrant to Canada while we were both grad students at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario. My late husband was my connection to Egypt and the fact that his businesses were keeping him in Egypt more than in Toronto after our kids were born was the reason for moving to Egypt. I got tired of shoveling the snow alone, I guess. I also had the odd notion that it was better for children to see their father once in a while. Moving to Egypt was entirely my idea and Diaa was actually quite against it as he could see that there were definite material advantages in living in Toronto. Our children were attending an excellent private French school and we had a lovely house in Etobicoke, but it just wasn't quite right, so we agreed to try living in Egypt for two years starting the summer of 1988.  The family voted to stay in Egypt before the end of the two years. We lived in Alexandria for the first five years and then moved to Cairo as the demands of my husband's businesses dictated more and more time in the capital. We lived in Maadi to be near the American school where we transferred the children from a French school in Alex, Ecole Champollion in Ibrahimeya. As Canadians, we figured that they needed a bit of both languages and cultures, and as Egyptians they were quite settled in the new country, partly because we didn't travel back and forth every year like many ex-pat families. Instead, we spent time exploring Egypt, Europe and the Mediterranean. The kids only got to know North America again when they were getting ready to go to university.
I think that we got the internet in about 1996 or so, and I immediately began searching for email groups for riders/horse owners. I had two mares at Sakkara Country Club at the time and I was looking for more information on horse care and training. I found a group for general equestrian interests and another for endurance riding, two groups that I still belong to over ten years later. It was the administrator for one of these lists who gave me the link to the famous Baghdad Blogger in 2002/3. I'd never heard of blogging before and I was struck by the immediacy of his writing from Iraq. At that point I was relatively newly widowed when my husband was killed in a flying accident, and my kids were in New York at Columbia University. In fact, both of them were there the morning of 9/11 and I was the one who called them from Cairo to warn them to stay on campus as we had no idea what was going on there.
The endurance riders (an interesting group of lunatics who think that it's fun to ride 50 to 100 miles on horses) had contact with the Gulf Arabs because the families of Dubai and Abu Dhabi had taken up endurance in the 90's, and by some weird fluke I had found myself the manager of a 120 km race that was Egypt's first international endurance race sponsored by Mohamed Maktoum in the spring of 2000, just before my husband's death. I was the only person on the organising committee formed in Cairo for the race who had even the vaguest idea what endurance was, though it was entirely academic and my friends abroad helped to coach me through the ordeal. Some of the endurance people had visited Dubai for races and they had a lot of questions following 9/11 regarding my life in Egypt and the lack of conformity between what they were seeing in the media about the Middle East and what they'd experienced. I can't count the number of times I was asked, “But how are you, a North American woman alone, coping in that country that is so anti-western?” and I got sick of answering individually. That was when I decided to start writing my first blog, Living In Egypt. My goal was to talk about ordinary day to day boring life in Egypt so that people could see that it really wasn't all that different from other places and that it really wasn't so scary. I had no idea that I'd still be writing it four years later.
Q. How many blogs do you maintain? What are they? Can you briefly describe each one of them and explain why you set it up?
A. I now have three blogs, Living In Egypt, which is still about  just that. Early in 2005, after I'd moved out of the city to the countryside, I began Turn Right at the Sarcophagus, which is about riding and horses in Egypt. The name for that blog came from a quote from an endurance riding visitor from the US who went off into gales of laughter as we were talking about a riding trail between Sakkara and Dahshur. The trail crosses a railway and turns right where there is a large sarcophagus lying by the tracks. Where else can you have a set of directions like that? My third blog is the Cairo/Giza Daily Photo, and I was invited to participate in the Daily Photo group by members who liked the photographs that I published on my other blogs. I started the Daily Photo blog early this year. It involves publishing a photo daily or as close to daily as can be achieved with a short explanation of what is in the photo. I tend to choose photos of people doing interesting things rather than buildings or landscapes on the whole.
Q. What do you blog about? What are the topics closest to your heart?
A. Over the years I've realised that I have a passion to show the human face of Egypt to the world. When I met Diaa and learned that he was Egyptian my first response was to laugh and ask where his little skirt was and why he wasn't walking sideways. And then I was stunned at how little I knew about modern Egypt other than a few bullet points like the nationalisation of the Suez Canal or the building of the Aswan High Dam. I felt very stupid even though I'd spent an entire year at Berkeley as an undergrad studying Egyptian art and architecture.  When we were first together, I put in quite a lot of time on reading historical, sociological and religious books about Egypt and the Middle East. I had been working on a PhD (never finished) in social psychology, so the research came naturally. Later, once we'd moved to Egypt I began collecting a fairly extensive collection of books written by explorers, visitors, and Egyptians about Egypt. The media blitz against the Middle East and Islam in the wake of 9/11 was, for me, a serious slap in the face. When I tried to find ordinary information about Egypt on the net, it was almost impossible, so I hoped that Living In Egypt would become a source for ordinary people who wanted to know about ordinary things.
It's hard to say what topics are closest to my heart. Anything that can show the richness and diversity of culture, tradition and language in Egypt (despite Nasser's attempts to extinguish it) lights me up. Sometimes I will write about politics but I really believe that political events are not what take up our time and anguish during our days, no matter where we live. On the other hand, trying to find a particular teacher for our children or working through a social morass of the sorts that confront extended families…these are the things that occupy our minds and thoughts, and most of the time they meander into issues of ethics, morality and tradition. Perception of social situations is important to me and the way in which the reality is often not perceived because we get too carried away with our own assumptions. I've always said that I never actually quit social psychology…I just moved my lab. Having raised two multicultural children of two multicultural parents (my husband was Sudanese/Egyptian and I'm American/British) I have been sensitized to issues of identity and cultural assimilation and change. All of this can be found in a discussion of regional cooking, literature, marriage customs…almost anything.
Q. You write about personal and general issues. Which are the issues which show the real face of Maryanne Gabbani?
A. I suspect that I am closest to the surface when I talk about  families and children.  I worked three different jobs simultaneously while I was pregnant with my son in Toronto.  We had to cancel my classes for the next week from the hospital. But my husband had to travel a lot and we felt that children needed one full-time parent…even if that was made up by two part-times…and since he wasn't going to be there, I took on being a mother as a full-time job. As our family was Muslim, however relaxed we might be in observance, I had to raise my children within that tradition. I wanted them to reap the benefits of the North American culture along with the benefits of the Egyptian/Sudanese cultures. It was a quite a tightrope to walk for a number of years and not the easiest job I ever had. The hours were terrible too. The issues were compounded when we moved to Egypt and the Egyptian family found interactions with the children to be a bit odd sometimes. Our kids were much more independent than their cousins, much more outspoken (God forbid!), and critical of their surroundings. They came by these traits quite honestly having learned them from both parents, but as members of a Middle Eastern family these characteristics were not always appreciated by members of the extended family.
As the children grew up, the issue of just what exactly they were emerged. Were they Canadian, Egyptian, or Sudanese? Well, they were perfect Canadians though they didn't live there and their affinity for sunshine and warmth made it a bit unlikely that they would in the near future, but they had to work out for themselves what they felt that they were. I still remember how my daughter shocked her Egyptian friends on the first day of school when they were told to stand with people from “their country” and rather than stand with her Egyptian or Canadian friends she went to stand with her Sudanese cousins. Additional issues of being “not really Egyptian” came up for them because of my being Canadian. I always found this a bit silly considering the ethnic pearl that the modern Egyptian is, having layer after layer of immigrant blood. But it's an issue. While my children where in middle and high school I worked as a substitute teacher at the American school in Maadi where a lot of the children were of mixed backgrounds or had moved so many times that they were having to manufacture their own cultural identity. It was something that fascinated me.  Our children are our future and I believe that being a conscious and conscientious full time mother is a very honorable job.
Q. As a Western woman living in Egypt, how do you associate with the women around you and how do you portray them in your writings?
A. Most of my friends in Egypt are either Egyptians or women like myself who have invested themselves in this country.  Since moving to my farm, I've begun taking people out riding in the farming area and the desert near Abu Sir and some of my ex-pat clients have become very dear friends, but in the end they always have to leave. The women in my particular area are for the most part the poorer farming women and I always take the time to say hello and ask how they are when I'm out riding. Some of them have become quite good friends as well. I honestly can't say that superficially I have anything at all in common with them other than the fact that we live in the same area and are able to talk together, but at a deeper level we share a lot as wives, mothers, widows. The basic facts and issues of our lives at that level are very much the same. We worry about our kids, their educations and futures, we puzzle over husbands or we mourn them. The basics of human existence really are so similar. I have a lot of respect for the fellaheen women. They work tremendously hard to maintain their families for the most part. And they can see that I like and respect them, so we get along very well. The beautiful flash of a smile under a scarf always lights up my day.
On a practical level as well, the local women are important to me. Riders in Egypt ride in the desert for the most part. They don't bother to train their horses for the interesting obstacles that might be encountered in the farm area and even more important they don't want to deal with the farmers. When I began riding in the countryside in order to rehabilitate a couple of injured horses, I was told that I'd hate it. The children would drive me crazy asking for money or pens or whatever and the people weren't nice. Huh? Well, I had no other alternative so I decided to try anyway and I made a decision that I would never give the children anything other than conversation, but that I wouldn't be stingy with my time. Sure, at first the cries of “baksheesh” were annoying, but they usually stopped when I'd stop my horse and suggest that in fact they should be paying me for providing them with entertainment. Occasionally I'd meet rude children, but I never lost my temper. I'd turn to the nearest woman and suggest very mildly that if she were to come by my home and my children were to speak to her like that, I'd probably beat them. Howls usually ensued. Essentially, I made the women my allies. I made sure that I let them know that I appreciated their help and simply by rigorously observing the rules that dictated that I, as the traveler, should always greet them politely, I showed them respect. I hope that my respect for them shows in my writing and photography.
Q. Who are your readers and how much feedback do you get from them?
A. I have to admit that I never really check the statistics for my blog. I get emails from all over the world and occasionally I even get requests from people visiting Egypt who want to meet me and see my farm. Some of my posts elicit more in the way of comments than others but when I have had connection problems and not been able to post, I'm amazed at the number of people who write to ask if I'm okay. The highest compliments to me have come from Egyptians abroad who write to tell me that they read the blogs to imagine themselves at home again. If I can do that as a foreigner, then I must be doing something right.
Q. How are your family and friends reacting to your blogging?
A. My family uses my blog to keep track of me, as every so often I get an email from a brother or sister or friend to ask a particular question about a particular post. My children don't like to admit it, but I know that they read the blogs from little things that they let drop. I don't blog about my children and only mention them occasionally. It isn't their blog after all and they have the right to privacy. I also don't usually blog about my friends for the same reason and there are vast components of my life that I also don't talk about, particularly the years after my husband's death, which were very difficult. My blogs are about Egypt and how I relate to Egypt and I try to keep that focus. They aren't really about me at all. I do hope that my friends and family enjoy the blog, but I've never really asked them.
Q. What has blogging given you and what have you given it?
A. Blogging has given a lot of focus to my perceptions of what is going on around me. It has sharpened me and made me more attentive to my life. It has also given me a marvelous outlet and one that is utterly selfish. It's free, I don't have to please an editor, and I can talk about whatever I like. What more can a writer ask…well, of course for readers, but I've been lucky enough to have those as well since quite early on when Blogger slotted me in to Blogs Of Note one day. I was astonished but delighted, I must admit.  As for what I've given blogging, my initial response was “not much”… but when I started Living In Egypt there weren't many nonpolitical blogs about Egypt available. Now when I do a search for blogs, which I do occasionally just to see what is going on out there, I find quite a few. I'm not worried about competition at all, since we all see different things. On the contrary, the diversity is wonderful and I'm beginning to think that we are able to present a mass of information to counteract the shallow biased news reports.
Q. What are your future plans with blogging?
A. I'm hoping to keep it to just three, but I have no plans to stop. I seem to be one of the “friendly” bloggers in Egypt as far as I can tell. The only notice that I've gotten from the official public was a fairly positive article in Al Destour a while back which had nice things to say about my blogs although the writer wasn't all that familiar with English and made some rather amusing mistakes. I have no plans to leave Egypt and no plans to stop writing so I think that people are stuck with me for a while and I think that as I get older my experiences here will also be of interest to people. Old age in Egypt is not the same as it is abroad in that here the social network is stronger and more supportive. It should be interesting.


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Bahamas: Artists or Liars  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Where we don't explore ourselves, we pay the price”: Nicolette Bethel, guest authoring at Bahama Pundit, explains how lack of any real emphasis on the arts translates into creating “a society of liars.”


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Bahrain: A President Visits  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahrain-based blogger Bint Battuta shares with us a new blog, set up to cover President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Columbia University earlier this week, created by its Graduate School of Journalism students.


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Bahrain: Corruption Index · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahrain's ranking in the Corruption Index slips again, writes blogger Mahmood Al Yousif. Countries with a significant worsening in perceived levels of corruption in 2007 include Austria, Bahrain, Belize, Bhutan, Jordan, Laos, Macao, Malta, Mauritius, Oman, Papua New Guinea and Thailand.


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Bahrain: Happy Birthday Google  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Al Dirazi from Bahrain wishes Google a happy ninth birthday.


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Bahrain: Interview with DJ FawazO · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Esra'a interviews  Bahraini DJ FawazO.


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Bahrain: What Men Think of Shopping · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Ammaro gives us an insight into shopping — from a man's perspective.


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Bolivia: Photo ID Requested for Ahmadinejad Arrival · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

El Alto blogger Mario Duran of Palabras Libres [ES] was repeatedly asked for identification by government officials when trying to take pictures of the arrival of Iranian president Ahmadinejad near the Bolivian international airport.  Duran did manage to snap some photos of the caravan and of the welcoming crowd and posted a slideshow.


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Cambodia: Cambodians Hold a Vigil for Myanamar · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Cambodian blogger Mean Lux has posted images from a vigil they held in front of Myanmar embassy this morning.


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Cambodia: Supporting the Red Shirt Campaign · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Ms. K, a Cambodian blogger, remember a Burmese friends and asks readers to support the red shirt campaign.


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Chile: Decision for Nuclear Energy · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Marcelo Aliaga of Bloggeando la Vida [ES] writes that in light of recent studies that Chile will soon need to decide whether or not to adopt nuclear energy.


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China: Bloggers side with Burmese monks · Global Voices
John Kennedy

While Chinese authorities remain weaselly in their diplomatic response to Myanmar's fatal clampdown on the tens of thousands of monks and citizens of Yangon who have come out to rally for an end to the military dictatorship, a number of influential Chinese bloggers have taken the radical move of going against all known truths regarding The Chinese Mind as of Sept. 17, 2007 with some throwing their weight squarely behind the Saffron Revolution and others even using this incident as an opportunity to reflect on the state of China's own democratic movement.
Wednesday morning when the Chinese blogsphere began to respond to news of the growing protest and subsequent crackdown was when the first Bullog—an independent blog portal home to many prominent Chinese journalists’ blogs—blogger Don Ma posted the first of his several updates on the situation with ‘different government, same old line,’ a response to the junta's claim of instigation from both domestic and foreign enemies. “All dictatorships think the same way,” writes one reader; “Li Hongzhi” jokingly (?) blurts another. A further update from Ma closer to noon that the Myanmar military had begun cracking down on the monks received no response.
Bullog blogger and historian Fu Guoyong posted not long before lunch on Wednesday an essay he'd written on Aung San Suu Kyi back in 2002 in which he puts forth some ethical guidelines for China's own democratic movement, and without naming names, perhaps referring to those currently (housebound and imprisoned parallels nonwithstanding) involved in it.
One of Fu's readers writes:
昂山淑姬……丧失理想的中国何时才能有这种“圣徒”般的人物？
Writes another:
为何不期待自己成为这样的人物？
Coincidentally, a search on YouTube for 缅甸 brings up two recent cellphone-shot clips from the streets of Yangon, the latter having been posted by a ‘yongfuguo’:
By noon Thursday, other Bullog bloggers began kicking in. Blog editor for major internet news portal NetEase Wen Yunchao posted two photos under the title borrowed from People's Daily: ‘two photos of anti-authoritarianism':
9月23日，缅甸仰光，大约2万名僧侣和市民走上街头，反对军事独裁。
人民网的报道称这场运动是“反对军事独裁”：
Some comments:
我们物价上涨的时候……
follow monks
已经开枪了
震撼,感动!
啥也不说了……
Indispensable ProState inFlames blogger and The Beijing News reporter moogee made his first post of several just after lunch Thursday with a translation of a Myanmar Daily editorial which dismisses the protests as the actions of an extremely small rumor-spreading and reactionary minority instigated by reactionary Western forces, manipulating and encouraging people to violate the constitution and attack the government, the military and the whole of society with the aim of throwing the country into chaos; the editorial adds that the government also hopes to see an end to corruption, the promotion of democracy, that in fact it's these illegal groups out protesting who are working against such goals…
Two translatable comments from the many caustic and sarcastic others left on this post:
好熟悉的文字
真他妈比的有意思
全世界的独裁专制统治者，说起话来，强调和语气都完全一摸一样
日他娘的比
A few hours after another post from Don Ma responding to news that monks and citizens were being attacked—“sure enough, the Communist Party of China government won't interfere with another country's domestic politics”—moogee added that:
和尚情绪稳定，开枪的都是临时军人
Reader comments:
不知道仰光的路况能不能支持住坦克…..
党太虚伪了，当年没有日本人干涉内政，他们有今天。对自己是自由主义，对别人是专职主义的垃圾。
缅甸的和尚还算对得起自己的信仰
另一方面也反应缅甸的专制还不成熟
我们共产中国老早就专辟了一个“宗教事务局”，一网打尽佛道僧尼上帝安拉……
有时候我想，如果要我一边信仰一个神，一边服从宗教事务局的领导，我真会害怕自己下地狱。
Later in the afternoon moogee reposted one netizen's strongly-worded demand for China to immediately dispatch troops to Myanmar and restore order, generating two pages of heated and fascinating debate in comments over this issue; Sina blogger Yan Nanfei put out a post at five pm that the authorities had begun using tear gas to stop the procession, and then the Paparazzi Brigade ycul blogger put out at just before nine:
会不会大开杀戒
缅甸的局势如火如荼地进行着,全世界都在关注,
然而国内媒体确是静悄悄的,好象俺们的邻国什么都没发生一样.
最新局势的进展到处都有报道,但是深度报道却还一直没看到
僧侣集团和民主派是什么关系?为什么是僧侣们首先起来游行
后台是谁?
油价上涨是导火索,缅甸国内深层次的矛盾是什么?
< <经济学家>>还是比较靠谱,比较客观,而且把事情的来龙去脉说清了,
但是深层次的分析估计要等到下一期
< <经济学家>>好象对前景很悲观,
…..
中国在这中间起到什么作用?
各国都在关注.
中国也担心事件对自身的国际形象不利
对08年的奥运会有负面影响
就象苏丹达尔富尔人道危机中国的不作为
导致一些国家抵制俺们的奥运会
但是中国对缅甸军政府的警告好象并不起作用
和朝鲜核危机一样
中国的作用并不象西方想象的那么大
小弟弟并不很听老大哥的话
会不会大开杀戒呢?
心里有点寒
But China's warning to Myanmar's military government seems to have had no effect
Just like with the North Korean nuclear missile crisis
China's role isn't as great as the West seems to think it is
The little brothers don't seem to be listening so much to what Big Brother says
Is there any way to stop the killing?
I'm a little worried
Then Thursday night the Bullogers got wind of the Red Shirt Campaign worldwide protest scheduled for Friday, and support spread quickly. “Wear a red t-shirt!,” said journalist-blogger Priest Liu first at 11 p.m., “and support Myanmar's democracy movement!”
At eleven-thirty, Beijing-based journalist Taras the Arab Sohu blogger wrote:
据胡贲老师说，缅甸的游行，就是我们的19（8）（9），既然如此，那还是应当支持一下的。另外，全世界搞一搞，也是胡闹一把，好玩啊。
A world wide campain is going on now to support the people in Burma. There is a signifigant group at Facebook, discussion boards are buzzing and this sms-message is being sent to thousands right now: In support of our incredibly brave friends in Burma: May all people around the world wear a red t-shirt on friday, September 28. Please forward!
Just after midnight, Bulloger Huang Zhangjin, another journalist, wrote:
明天请穿红Ｔ恤
At 1:38 Friday morning, Beijing time, Bullog founder Luo Yonghao chimed in, posting the same image with a quote from Suu Kyi:
‘my existence is the best form of protest’, pledging to the red t-shirt protest five hours later.
The first comment left there:
怎么缅甸的事各大网站都没上头版！！！！！
Is also left on the aforementioned Wen Yunchao's second post on Myanmar:
“Glite革命”
缅甸僧侣9月23日在仰光发起了二万人的游行，展开近二十年来向军政府作出的最大挑战。此次群众运动因军政府上月取消官方补贴而导致燃油价格暴涨而引起。作为全球互联网管制最严厉的国家之一，缅甸经常封锁国外新闻网站和提供电子邮件服务的网站。然而，大批市民在仰光街头示威游行的消息和片断却恰恰是通过互联网传遍世界的。面对反网络封锁技术广泛传播而束手无策的缅甸政府，竟然一度切断了国内网与国际互联网的连接。有人认为，在这种境况之下，有关缅甸局势的详细报道依然能流向海外，这不能不说是一场打破政府对互联网封锁的全球性胜利，这场以信息主导的运动将来都很有可能被称为“Glite革命”（Glite，缅甸应用最广泛的代理网站）。9月27日，一则信息在包括中国大陆在内的国际互联网广为流传：“为声援缅甸民主运动，国际和解伙伴（International fellowsshipreconciliation）号召全球人民今天（9月28日）穿红T恤。”
As of 8 am Beijing time on Friday, September 28, only two more Bullog bloggers have publicly announced their participation in today's protest.

author: John Kennedy


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China: Chinese Government’s Role In Myanmar · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Bonnae from 1510.com comments that the recent crisis in Myanmar has put Beijing in an embarrassed position as there will be more international pressure to China on the one hand, on the other hand, there is some economic interest between China and Myanmar, for example, there is a planned oil pipe construction project at the border areas between China and Myanmar (zh).


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China: Should Citizen Reporter Get Sponsor For News? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The first self-claimed citizen reporter in China, Zoula, tries to engage in a discussion on whether or not citizen reporter should get sponsor for their reports (zh). Zoula has been reporting on news about nail house and forced land expropriation. From time to time, he receives cash and material sponsor and has been criticized by other bloggers and professional journalists.


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China: Three Gorges’ Environmental Problem · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Official media in China finally admitted that if “no preventive measures are taken, the project could lead to catastrophe”. Chris O'Brien from Beijing Newspeak regards the reports a positive attitude for the Chinese Government in tackling the environmental problem in China.


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Colombia: The Story of Arturito · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Andrea Rojas Cartagena, a participant in Medellin's Hiperbarrio project, tells the story of Arturito in her blog aptly named Historias de Personas [ES].


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Ecuador: Feeling the Earthquake · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

De Todo Un Poco [ES], Nelson Piedra [ES] and Aqui Vamos de Nuevo [ES] all recorded their experiences with the recent earthquake the struck Colombia near the Ecuador border.


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Egypt: Beware of US Tapping · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Now that the U.S. is tapping domestic phone calls people need to watch what they say, not because they have anything to hide but because in the course of an innocent conversation you can draw a lot of unwanted attention,” cautions D B Shobrawy, from Egypt.


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Egypt: Bin Laden’s Popularity · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Big Pharaoh from Egypt shines a light on the popularity of the Bin Laden lantern in his country — and possibility of the popularity of the man himself.


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Egypt: Muslim World Journal of Human Rights · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Readers may be interested to know that Berkeley Press has just launched the Muslim World Journal of Human Rights, notes The Arabist from Egypt.


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Egypt: Newspaper Strike on October 7 · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Chief in editors of the independent and party newspapers decided to not to publish their newspapers on Sunday the 7th of October 2007 , the daily newspapers will not be published on that day and the weekly newspapers will not be published in their days as an objection move against the jail of the journalists in attempt to escalate the case,” writes Egyptian blogger Zeinobia.


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Egypt: Ramadan Musings  · Global Voices
D B Shobrawy

It's fair to say the month of Ramadan provides a unique experience for all parties involved, the fasting followed by excessive eating, the excessive eating followed by excessive partying and the scathing eye of everyone around you.
It's amazing that while all this keeps everyone busy, the Egyptian government still finds time to suppress free speech. Zeinobia reports on the most recent developments on imprisonment of journalists.
I do not know if that is going to be on a daily basis , I mean every time I open an Egyptian website I find the news that an Egyptian court somewhere ordered to jail Journalists and chief editor of some newspaper with fine to be paid !!
This is in less than a week , oh man
There was another court order today to jail another group of journalists ,the order came afternoon ,I do not know when ,but it turned out that the Agouza court decided to jail the publisher of “Sawt El-Oma” , the Chief in editor of the same newspaper and three journalists in it  for two months and a fine equals to 100 E.P each
Not eating all day can put people on edge, add some people's stupid behavior to the formula and you'll have a very dangerous combination. Mo'men is fuming with road rage after dealing with some inconsiderate drivers.
Driving in Egypt is like surviving in a vicious jungle, Dominant species (lions) get to do what they want without ethical restrains while submissive species (sheep) choose to play it safe, be victimized and endure the frustration. There is no such thing as dual-species that can go both ways; inevitably, one attitude will conquer the other and you are labeled; Predator or prey.
Labor protests are snowballing into a nation wide fervor this month as iron and textile workers join forces to protest work conditions, I'll let Hossam Al Hamalawy take it from here.
…a number of textile labor activists in Bolivara, El-Soyouf, and Alexandria Spinning and Weaving have met and are mobilizing for solidarity protests in their factories. Kafr el-Dawwar workers are also mobilizing for a new protest, while the Helwan Iron and Steel Mills workers are fund raising for the Mahalla strikers.
The Socialist Alliance is also calling on Egyptians to join the protest against the General Federation of Trade Unions…
Carmen is certainly one of the better voices of the Egyptian diaspora. I think Ramadan stress is taking its toll on her, she presents a story like only she can, laid out in simple but eloquent terms. As usual her students provide more laughs through their innocence than any grown adult could ever hope for. Here's her side of the story…
So I didn't fast. I woke up in the morning with the headache and couldn't go through that pain again. It's still lingering right now as I write this, but I managed to hold it at bay throughout the day.
Lunchtime felt like an inquisition. I had all my colleagues’ eyes on me as I was heating up my food. “What's going on? Is Ramadan over?”
“No, I'm sick today.”
Ten minutes later. “What happened? Is Ramadan over?”
“No, I'm sick.”
Five minutes after that I was asked the same question once again so I decided to go into the schoolyard to eat in peace.
No such thing.
I sat on the bench for about a minute and a half before one of my Pakistani students came running up to me.
I strongly recommend you read the whole post for its full entertainment value.
Till next week everyone.

author: D B Shobrawy


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Egypt: Workers Strike Enters Fifth Day · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Nora Younis posts a picture of the workers on strike in Cairo as their protest enters its fifth day here.