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Kuwait’s Double National Day Celebrations · Global Voices
Abdullatif AlOmar

Two national day celebrations were marked in Kuwait last week – one on February 25 and the second on February 26. Kuwait's bloggers were quick to dig into the history of the celebrations.
LiL ALiEN in a post entitled معلومات وطنية للجيل الجديد (National Information for New Generation) writes:
في 19 يونيو 1961 تم إلغاء معاهدة الحماية البريطانية التي وقعت في 23 يناير 1899 ، و إعلان استقلال دولة الكويت
لأنه اليوم الذي استلم فيه المرحوم الشيخ عبدالله السالم الصباح الحكم بتاريخ 25 فبراير 1950 بالإضافه أنه اول يوم بدأ فيه استخدام النشيد الوطني الحالي
26 فبراير 1991 هو يوم تحرير الكويت من الغزو الصدامي الغاشم الذي بدأ في 2 اغسطس 1990 ودام 7 أشهر، وساعد في تحرير الكويت 30 دولة بقيادة الولايات المتحدة وبتشريع من الأمم المتحدة
RADIANT GUY created a slide show to commemorate the  occasion.
I've created this slide show (below) for Kuwait's independence and liberation days using photos I've taken my self between 2006 – 2008 in several locations
Forzaq8 wrote a short poem:
We may speak of as if its dull
While it seem as if amount of logic is null
Sometimes you are surrounded by culls
Which would drive you mad and make you go on quell
But there is nothing like that can make you lull
In the end the glass is not half empty but half full
Of course not everyone is happy with what happens during such celebrations.
intlxpatr describes what happened to her when she went out.
Yesterday, I was finishing up a project around 6 and heading to my next appointment when I turned onto Gulf road. Big mistake. I should have taken my clue from the barriers guarding entry to the left on Gulf road, but as I was turning right, I didn’t give it more than a second thought.
Big mistake. Suddenly I am caught in semi-gridlock, and the worst kind, gridlock with gangs of adolescents wandering the sidewalks on both sides of the car, gridlock with main routes being barred, gridlock with people in adjacent cars spraying each other with high arching streams of foam – it’s like suddenly being in the middle of a nightmare.
mpjs gives advice of what to do during the Hala February celebrations, an extravagant celebration to mark the occasion.
After a year of waiting, Hala February Celebrations have come to their max today. I very eagerly wait for  today since I get sprayed with foam when I make eye contact with these kids. I wait eagerly every year for this day waiting for the newspaper guy to come to my doorstep and drop the paper so that I can read about the crimes they have committed
Image Credit : Yousef from somecontrast

author: Abdullatif AlOmar


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Mideast Youth: Back to School  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Mideast Youth bloggers took part in a Skype discussion with students from an American school. Questions were about race, politics, bigotry, nationalism, materialism and a few other ‘ism’s, explains Egyptian D B Shobrawy, who was joined by Esra'a, from Bahrain.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Pakistan: Healthcare · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Pakistani Spectator takes a closer look at the health care system in the country.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Pakistan: Online identity · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Light Within from Pakistan explores the idea of identity in the online world.


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Palestine: YouTube Removes Gaza Massacre Video  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

YouTube has removed a video by Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah entitled Gaza Massacre.


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Poland: 1968 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot writes about the 1968 student protests in Poland.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Poland: March 8 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Polandian posts a guide to March 8 in Poland.


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Russia: Anglophone Bloggers Discuss the Presidential Election  · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Eternal Remont posted this summary of the March 2 presidential election in Russia:
Russia’s nail-biting presidential election came down to the wire yesterday, as the world cautiously awaited the outcome of the vote. For it's part, Eternal Remont has stayed above the petty cynicism of western observers who gratuitously forecast the outcome of the event before all the votes were counted.
In the end, Dmitry Medvedev pulled a comfertible 70.23% of the electorate – 2,373,736 more votes than Putin won in his 2004 re-election (Jamestown).
This is not too shabby when your only opponents are, as Anne Applebaum writes,“a clapped out communist, a complete nonentity, and the ludicrous anti-Semite and vulgarian Vladimir Zhirinovsky.” (Here’s the lovable Zhirinovsky ordering his bodyguard to shoot Andrey Bogdanov during a national debate.)
Below are a few more samplings of the coverage that the election has received in the English-language blogosphere.
Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa had to explain himself after he wrote this in the introduction to his election post:
The Russian people, burdened by numerous good choices in their presidential election, finally settled on Dmitri Medvedev yesterday, a 42-year-old fan of the rock group Deep Purple who will become the youngest Russian head of state since Prime Minister Aleksander Kerensky took over the reins from Georgy Lvov in July 1917 at the age of 36.
A reader inquired:
[…] Justin, you are kidding, aren't you? The malignant little troll settled on a puppet. The “Russian people” weren't consulted.
Giustino replied:
I forgot to mention that I frequently employ sarcasm in my blog posts. Maybe I should put up a disclaimer?
Andy H of Csíkszereda Musings mentioned Medvedev's age in a different context:
On the day that I turned 42, Russia elected a president who is also 42. I grew up in a world in which the Russian (then Soviet) presidents were basically the oldest men in the world. Anyone remember Konstantin Chernenko for example? A man who seemed so old that he could barely appear on TV, and who proved to be just as frail by expiring soon after ascending to the role of leader. With these memories, being as old as the president of Russia is a little bit sobering. […]
David Weman of A Fistful of Euros began his election post this way:
Guess what? Medvedev won! […]
He then pointed out the “tandem” arrangement of Medvedev's forthcoming presidency:
[…] The question is if Medvedev eventually will become the de facto head. […] Another question would be what could happen if Putin would die or partly retire. […]
Taras of Ukrainiana also commented on “the Medvedev-Putin tandem”:
[…] Some analysts and Western politicians view Medvedev as Putin’s softer alter ego — a more liberal, more tech-savvy, more Western-friendly type of guy.
Some also believe Putin’s premiership will result in a redistribution of power. Yet others say Putin will run for president again, which the Russian Constitution allows him to dо after a one-term break from the presidency. Well, let’s see. Let's see how the Medvedev-Putin tandem works. […]
Taras also posted five Medvedev/Putin-related videos, including the quite famous 2004 footage of “Medvedev as the protocol-conscious guy who couldn't refuse Yanukovych’s offer of candy at a parade in Kyiv […].”
Andy of Siberian Light liveblogged the election, producing what Tim Worstall has called “a masterpiece of redundant blogging.” Among other things, Andy wrote this about Medvedev's victory:
[…] 70% is an important psychological figure, which will on the face of things give much more credibility to backers of Medvedev. On the other hand, the late increase in Medvedev’s vote share, from 64% late yesterday to just over 70% at the close of play, might arouse suspicions among the more conspiracy minded observers of Russian politics…
By the way – Medvedev gained slightly more votes in total than Putin four years ago (translation here), but a slightly lower overall percentage – Putin managed 71.31%.
[…]
In Chechnya, Medvedev gained a disappointing 90% of the vote (translation here). Disappointing because Putin gained 99% there just four years ago… […]
Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog commented on the election and the coverage it received in the American media:
[…] The editors from the Washington Post can’t get it through their thick skulls that the “head of the Communist Party” and the “buffoonish ultranationalist” are the only serious opposition simply because they actually have political constituencies. To suggest otherwise would be like saying Ralph Nader is the only serious opposition in the American election. The real sad part is that instead of allowing Kasyanov to run openly and uninhibited to show the world that Russians don’t care about him, the Kremlin’s minion in the Central Election Commission disqualified him for allegedly faking signatures. I believe this claim. But the election is all bullshit anyway so the way I see it you might as well let all bullshitters play. At least that way the whole process won’t be so goddamn boring. […]
James of Robert Amsterdam's blog re-posted Michael Idov's video roundup of the election day:
Michael Idov of the New Republic had a hard time finding anyone who had actually voted in the Russian presidential election, apart from those who attended the polls for free food and prizes. Others he spoke with voted for Zyuganov simply because they wanted to vote for someone who was not “rammed down their throats.” Idov also remarks on the sad state of the opposition, left huddling and hiding in “smoky rooms”, making “hopeless jokes” like dissidents of the Khrushchev era.
Perspectives on the New Russia, writing on the eve of the election, recounted nine “attractions that are being offered at different polling stations to encourage Russians to come out and vote.” Here's one:
8. In Karachaevo-Cherkisia, all voters will get free haircuts.


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Russia, Czech Republic: Comparing Presidential Elections · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Czech Daily Word compares the Russian presidential election to the earlier Czech one.


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Russia: More Photos of Riot Police and Protesters · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Lots of photos of riot police and protesters in Moscow on Monday – at LJ user _subtle_‘s blog (commentary is in Russian).


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Russia: Notes on the Post-Election Protest Rallies · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

On Monday, riot police in Moscow arrested dozens of people who attempted to take part in an unauthorized post-election protest rally.
Marina Litvinovich (LJ user abstract2001, an aide to Garry Kasparov) was one of those who got detained. Here's part of what she wrote (RUS) following her release:
I'm home, yes.
Briefly: my arm is bruised, my glasses broken, I was upside down when they threw me into the riot police bus, [hit] my head on the stairs a bit. Not the best way to enter a bus.
Inside my bus […] there were mainly those who got detained at McDonald's. Riot police burst into [the McDonald's] and snatched people out. They seized those who [had nothing to do with the rally], too. We had two underaged [schoolkids]. Also, God forgive me, there were two [members of the pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi] on our bus. Nice kids, who quickly enough [received a political orientation] from other detainees ;) Well, and the situation [was as good as any political orientation], too… […]
Sergei Davidis (LJ user blacky_sergei) wrote this (RUS) about the election and the Moscow rally:
Sad…
The election has made me sad somehow. Not because of Medvedev's victory – it was predictable. But because of the boldness and disrespect for law, which was evident in Moscow, for example. Shameless [falsifications], mass voting by dead souls, attempts to chase away and bribe the observers, refusal to accept complaints… followed by bold statements that there had been no complaints… All this with no real need for all this…
There are no rules that these jerks are prepared to respect, and it makes me feel helpless.
And then there's also the Dissenters’ March today. It wasn't enough that these jerks hadn't approved it in a timely and lawful manner, it wasn't enough that they packed the whole neighborhood with cops. It wasn't enough that they were grabbing anyone who tried to chant or attracted too much media attention. But they were also seizing people who committed no violations whatsoever. Mikhail Kriger [LJ user kitaychonok_li was detained around 4:20 PM with no explanations given to him; he obeyed the police, as usual, even though their demands were unlawful. And in the evening, it became known that he was being accused of [resisting the police] and they wanted to subject him to administrative arrest. Since the cops were purposefully searching for him both at the protesters’ gathering place and inside the buses carrying those already detained, it appears that they chose to punish him for an overly active position. He, for example, was one of those who initiated and took part in the single-person rallies in support of [Vasily Alexanyan], and then in support of [Natalya Morar].
And [LJ user dmitryhorse], along with other [members of AKM, the Vanguard of the Red Youth movement], was detained at the Chistyye Prudy McDonald's around 4:45 PM. In the protocol they wrote that he was marching along Chistoprudny Boulevard at 5:30 PM…
And there's practically no doubt that the courts would stamp these decisions, ignoring the witnesses’ accounts… […]
LJ user ilugru described (RUS) a march of his own – a one-person protest rally of sorts:
I left work earlier, but still too late to really take part in the event – by 5:50 PM they had detained nearly everyone they could detain, there was a hellish crowd of cops by Turgenevskaya [subway station], the remnants of the protesters and a crowd of journalists. I didn't encounter anyone I knew and decided to carry out a tiny individual march. Good thing [The New Times, a Russian-language weekly] had made a really good pre-election issue, which consisted mainly of pages full of slogans. I opened the page with the words “Vote or not, [you'll still get a male reproductive organ]…” and walked along Myasnitskaya St. towards Lubyanka, holding it close to me. I didn't run into riot police along the way, [regular] cops were looking intensely [at me], some were making steps towards me, but no one [really got me]. At the square near the Solovetsky Stone [Lubyanka], I saw a really amusing scene – hordes of cops were guarding all entrances to the square, which was occupied by six (!) people gloomily waving flags of the [pro-Kremlin Young Russia youth movement]. […] I would give a lot to listen to the thoughts of the big riot police guys who had to stand along the perimeter, guarding these clowns.
In St. Petersburg, the post-election protest rally was an authorized one – and it actually did take place. One of the protesters, LJ user aneta_spb, wrote this (RUS) on her blog:
It was good. But not much. It's clear that in the nearest future we will not see tens of thousands of protesters. […]
***
Links to some photos and a video from the Moscow and St. Petersburg rallies are in these earlier Global Voices posts: here, here, and here.


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Russia: Photos from St. Petersburg Rally · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user shavu posts pictures – here, here, here, and here – from the post-election rally in St. Petersburg, which, unlike the one in Moscow, did take place.


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Russia: Photos from the Dissenters’ March · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Russian photographer Oleg Klimov posts five photos from the Dissenters’ March that was prevented from taking place in Moscow Monday.


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Russia: Two Photos of Riot Police and Protesters · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user nl posts two photos from the post-election protest rally in Moscow: riot police dragging away a bespectacled woman and her daughter – and riot police dragging away a man with a cheap camera.


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Russia: Video from the Rally in Moscow · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user dmitryhorse posts a video in the ru_politics LJ community from the post-election protest rally in Moscow, during which riot police detained dozens of people.


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Serbia, EU: Membership Prospects · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Greater Surbiton writes about “the EU’s prospects of joining Serbia.”


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Serbia, Kosovo: Twitter Use · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Twitter Facts writes about Twitter use in Serbia and Kosovo.


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Singapore: Little India Photos · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

udderiffic indulgence visits Singapore's ethnic Indian district for his research and posts images of the neighborhood.

author: Preetam Rai


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Soviet History: Radio Liberty is 55 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis marks Radio Liberty's 55th anniversary with this post.


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Unsolved Case · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“If only the Justice System could have gotten it right we would have been spared the embarrassment of such all round incompetence”: Abeni blogs about another unsolved murder in St. Vincent & the Grenadines.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Stoned in Kuwait  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Desert Girl, from Kuwait, just got stoned. Before jumping to conclusions, read this post.


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Tajikistan: Hunger to replace energy crisis · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Vadim reports that the partly solved problem with electricity in Tajikistan, may have been not the main problem to face by the population this year, as the coming food deficit threatens to spark unrest in this volatile region.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Thailand: Casinos in Thailand · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The lost boy asks readers what they feel about Thailand looking at allowing casinos to operate.


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The Balkans: Secession and National Self-Determination · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Greater Surbiton writes about “an undeniably thorny issue” of the right of national self-determination.


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The Blog for a Cause! guide is now available in Spanish · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

Blog for a Cause!, the Global Voices Guide of Blog Advocacy, is now available in Spanish thanks to this translation by María Florencia Puente from Global voices en Español.
The guide outlines easy-to-follow tips on how to use blogs as part of campaigns against injustice and features successful examples of advocacy blogs from around the world. It is divided into five sections:
Blog Por Una Causa! is availble for download as a PDF file. You may need to install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it.
Please download Blog Por Una Causa! and help us translating the guide in your language.
For further information please contact Mary at MaryCJoyce [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com or Global Voices Advocacy Coordinator Sami Ben Gharbia at advocacy [ at ] globalvoicesonline [ dot ] org

author: sami ben gharbia


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Trinidad & Tobago: The Real Criminal  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Shivonne Du Barry republishes one of her articles in which she paints a portrait of criminals in Trinidad and Tobago.


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Turkmenistan: Presidential Program Speech · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Lunaric comes up with the translation of the Abdulgamid's post that analyzes Turkmenistan President's speech outlining the agenda to reorganize national economy, modification of the country’s investment policy and stabilization of the country’s geopolitical situation.


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Ukraine: Kyiv Gallery Crawl Presentation · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Olechko‘s “Kyiv gallery crawl presentation” slide show is here.


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Ukraine, UK: More on Olena Franchuk’s New House · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainiana writes about the new owner of “Britain’s highest priced mansion”: ex-president Kuchma's daughter Olena Franchuk.


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Afghanistan: Afghan Communism, Made in America · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Afganistanica finds out that many of the Afganistan's communists in 20th century were indoctrinated in the United States, and analyzes the difference between them and the USSR-educated former communist leaders of Afghanistan.


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Africa: Africa Reading Challenge · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Tuko Pamoja comes up with “Africa Reading Challenge” idea: “In recent years I’ve become increasingly interested in reading books dealing with Africa, and so I present the Africa Reading Challenge. Participants commit to read – in the course of 2008 – six books that either were written by African writers, take place in Africa, or deal significantly with Africans and African issues.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Americas: Overview of Crisis Between Three Countries · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The Boliviarian Crisis for Dummies is a blog post provided by El Útero de Marita [es] to better explain the recent turn of events involving the countries of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.

author: Eduardo Avila


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South Africa: Another Manto Blunder… · Global Voices
Muhammad Karim

The controversial South African Health Minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who you might remember a couple of posts back as being under fire for her antics…is back in the spotlight, this time bloggers are venting anger at an address she gave to the presidential task team on traditional medicine.
From The Big Breakfast blog who comments on the “Minister of Ill-health”…:
…came up with another blinder, saying (quote) “We cannot use western models of protocols for research and development. We should guard against being bogged down with clinical trials.” She then went on to say that the lack of measuring and documentation within traditional medicine encouraged legal challenges and dubious practise.
That, madam Health Minister, is why we have clinical trials in real science.
Is there a place for traditional medicine to exist side-by-side with ‘Western medicine’, or are they at odds with each other?
Even more scathing was Synaptoman:
At the launch of the Healthy Lifestyle Programme in Port Shepston (what in God’s name was she even DOING there), she announced that alcoholic beverages will soon carry messages highlighting the negative effects of alcohol. Are we supposed to take this woman seriously? Her alleged alcohol consumption is legendary, her fast-tracked liver transplant is common knowledge, and now this idiot is lecturing the rest of us about OUR alcohol consumption?
She went on to say says that she hopes to emulate the success her department has had with the tobacco industry, where a 40% drop has been achieved due to warnings on cigarette packets. This is not necessary. We could probably achieve at least a 40% drop in alcohol consumption in this country if we could just get HER to join the AA.
and adds in this comic depiction of the minister…
The overarching question which this incident again lends ammunition to is…  How can the President have Ministers of such caliber on his staff, and defend their positions amid all their antics?

author: Muhammad Karim


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Armenia: Reflections on Political Unrest · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Blogian reflects on the recent political unrest in Armenia. The blog blames both the government and the opposition for clashes at the weekend which left at least eight people dead and criticizes the mindset which now exists that has turned Armenians against each other.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Armenia: Samizdat & the Internet · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

After a 20-day state of emergency was declared in Armenia when clashes between security services and supporters of the former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, broke out on the streets of the capital following the disputed 19 February presidential election, access to the media has been severely restricted. According to presidential decree, local media outlets can now only publish official news and political propaganda is banned.
4) Publications of mass media concerning state and internal political issues can be implemented solely within the limits of the official information of state bodies.
5) Ban on leaflets and implementation of political propaganda by other means without permission of corresponding state bodies.
While many news outlets complied with the emergency restrictions, others didn't and soon found their activities curtailed. Because there are no national television stations in Armenia operating independently from the state or government-linked businessmen and officials, the pro-opposition media has been limited to publishing newspapers or online magazines and news services since the pro-opposition TV station, A1 Plus, was taken off the air in April 2002.
Opposition views and opinions could also be heard broadcast via Radio Free Europe, but retransmissions have been pulled from the airwaves since the state of emergency was declared.
But, with online pro-opposition media outlets which haven't complied with the restrictions now blocked inside the country, the situation has created an unprecedented opportunity for blogs to fill the gap. As many are hosted on generic servers such as WordPress or Blogspot, access has not yet been restricted. However, YouTube, which was used by A1 Plus to disseminate video of the weekend's riots, does appear to be inaccessible.
Nevertheless, pro-Ter-Petrossian activists outside of the country have seized upon the opportunity to instead use blogs to disseminate information during what is to all intents and purposes a media blackout in the country. Interestingly, one such blogger, Artmika at Unzipped, likens it to the old Soviet practice of “samizdat.”
Samizdat (Russian: самиздат) was the clandestine copying and distribution of government-suppressed literature or other media in Soviet-bloc countries. Copies were made a few at a time, and those who received a copy would be expected to make more copies. This was often done by handwriting or typing.
This grassroots practice to evade officially imposed censorship was fraught with danger as harsh punishments were meted out to people caught possessing or copying censored materials.
Vladimir Bukovsky defined it as follows: “I myself create it, edit it, censor it, publish it, distribute it, and [may] get imprisoned for it.”
While the opposition literature has its own site, others such as pro-Ter-Petrossian activist Nazarian are following in the spirit of the old days by republishing content on their own blogs. Although an initial fear that his blog had also been blocked in Armenia proved premature, Nazarian, like Unzipped,  has taken on the role of serving as one of the main sources of information for the opposition in Armenia and its Diaspora.
Now that Armenia has been reduced to the level of China, the brave souls try to keep the liberty going by publishing underground papers and radio reports. Fortunately, we have internet now in addition to the traditional methods of samizdat to disseminate information. Below it the issue number one of samizdat. The sources and authors are kept secret to protect them from the Armenian state.
Indeed, in a recent analysis for ISN Security Watch, one Diasporan academic acknowledged this new trend although also identified one of its shortcomings.
With a media blackout in place [..t]he only source of independent (although biased) news remains the various blogs maintained by individuals in Armenia and a handful of international news agencies that have limited access to properly assess the situation in the country.
With YouTube apparently blocked by most ISPs in Armenia (the site times out constantly) it remains to be seen if blogs are targeted next. According to The Armenian Observer and a media legal expert for Internews Armenia, blogs technically fall under restrictions in place as a result of the state of emergency.
However, as of writing there appears to be no censorship or restrictions on local bloggers yet, with Ter-Petrossian activists such as Bekaisa constantly updating her LiveJournal site in Armenian, Russian and English on a daily basis. Just in case, however, Unzipped posts tips on how to circumvent internet censorship.


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Bahamas, Barbados: Bookkeeping Blunders?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Rick Lowe, blogging at WeblogBahamas.com, refers to a Barbados Free Press post to raise the question of whether or not the government is being deceitful with the country's finances.


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Barbados, Jamaica: Legalise it?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbadian blogger Gallimaufry reports that “Jamaican policy-makers are considering legalising marijuana” and comments on the possible fallout.


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Bolivia: Nintendo Phone Error · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Hugo Miranda points out a major error in the newspaper La Prensa. In an article about celular phones, the newspaper published a photo of a “Bolivian” talking on a cell phone.  Upon closer inspection, the man did not appear to be Bolivian and the phone was actually a Nintendo game controller.


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Foreigners’ Registration · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pure Intent describes what it takes to get registered as a foreigner in Bosnia & Herzegovina.


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Brasil: The FARCs statement in face of the death of Raul Reyes · Global Voices
Daniel Duende

Professor Antônio echoes in his blog[PT] the statement allegedly made (in spanish) by FARC's High Command in face of what they call “the assassination of Raul Reyes”, one of the political group's leaders, and several other people in an attack by the Colombian army some days ago.

author: Daniel Duende


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China: Iconic Expression · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Caitou posts a newly released iconic expressions of QQ and MSN.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Movie Classification System · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Wang Xiaofeng explains how movie classification system can improve the freedom of expression in China [zh].


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China: OK To Sing Tibet Independence? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Imagethief discusses whether it is appropriate for Bjork to chant Tibet independence in a Chinese theatre.


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China: Two Grand Meetings · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Liu Tian-chao felts that the National People's Congress (NPC) and the China People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is similar to the Spring Festival Gala [zh]. The representatives’ speeches are repetitions of political clichés and their opinions are usually not as concrete as those in the internet.


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Colombia: Karaoke Blogger Night in Cali · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

A group of bloggers from Cali, Colombia gathered for Karaoke Blogger Night, and Blog del Incognito [es].


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Colombia: The Unsettling Conflict with Ecuador and Venezuela · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Colombian bloggers are closely following the events unleashed by the Colombian army's incursion into Ecuadorian territory. Fear of war is palpable throughout the discussions on the legitimacy of the attack and its repercussions, the unveiling of computer files establishing nexus between the Ecuadorian and Venezuelan governments and the FARC and the knowledge of 50 KGs of Uranium that the FARC allegedly has.
equinoXio, a longstanding ” independent, non partisan Online Digital Magazine” whose English version was recently launched  February 3rd, has done a thorough job following the unfolding events in their Spanish version, with a few articles already being translated into English.
In their article  “FARC number 2 has been killed in combat near Colombia-Ecuador border” they write:
Luis Édgar Devia Silva, aka Raúl Reyes, the number 2 commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), has been killed by security forces, Colombian Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said Saturday morning.According to Mr Santos, “human sources and information verified by the State's intelligence” told Colombian authorities that guerrilla fighters from FARC's 48th front would meet with Reyes in Granada, a place near Colombia's border with Ecuador on Friday night. An joint operation of Colombia's Military Forces and National Police was held starting at 0:25 local time (5:25 UTC) on Saturday.
Colombian Air Force bombed a guerrilla camp, located 1.8 km from the border inside Ecuador, near Santa Rosa, from Colombia's air space. Guerrilla responded with shooting, killing one Colombian soldier, Carlos Hernández León. According to Santos, Raúl Reyes and Guillermo Enrique Torres, aka Julián Conrado, with other 15 guerrillas, were killed. Their corpses were recovered by Colombian authorities, after the camp was surrounded and Ecuadorian Armed Forces arrived there.
In equinoXio‘s other article,  “Colombia will not send troops to borders to Ecuador and Venezuela” they inform about one of the important issues that has bloggers commenting on  possible justifications for the incursion into Ecuador; the belief that they may be helping the FARC terrorists:
Around one hour later, Colombian National Police Director, general Óscar Naranjo, saidReyes, whose content, according to a preliminary report, shows ties between Quito and FARC, through Gustavo Larrea, Ecuador's Internal and External Security minister. The documents (PDF), letters written by Reyes and addressed to the FARC Secretariat, involve some alleged commitments by Ecuador with FARC, which had promised to deliver Correa Army corporal Pablo Emilio Moncayo, kidnapped in 1997, for Mr Correa to become another mediator between the terrorist group and the Colombian government. Ecuadorian officials have denied the claims.
Alejandro Peláez [es] compares Colombia to Israel:
Por ahora todo es retórica y show. Gritarle al imperio, vestirse de rojo, llamar lacayos a todos, comprar armamento a Rusia y tractores a Irán. Pero mientras Chávezse embadurnaba de retórica geopolítica, Colombia actúaba y bombardeaba un campamento de guerrilleros por fuera de sus fronteras al estilo israelí.
Ahora si se ha pasado de una jugada de Risk a las acciones reales. Colombia -en la mente de Hugo- es Israel y Venezuela, supone uno, viene siendo Irán. Y entonces ¿que pasará? por ahora nada.
For the moment, all of it is rhetoric and show. Yell at the empire, dress in red, call everyone a lackey, buy weaponry from Russia and trucks from Iran. But while Chávez was slathering himself in geopolitical rhetoric, Colombia was acting and bombing a guerrilla encampment outside its borders in the Israeli style.
Now this has stepped out of Risk strategy plays to real actions. Colombia -in Hugo's [Chavez] mind- is Israel and Venezuela, one can suppose- is something like Iran. And then what happens? Nothing for now.
Pala Labra [es] reflects an opinion echoed by other Colombian bloggers who believe that the political misunderstandings with Ecuador could be better dealt with if Hugo Chávez, Venezuela´s President, kept to the sidelines:
La verdad a mi no me importa mucho ni el socialismo, ni soy Uribista, ni nada. Soy de la mentalidad de que todo el mundo puede tener la razón, como dice Fito, “No pertenezco a ningún Ismo”. Pero hay cosas que definitivamente me chocan… ayer escuchando a este tipo, cosa que hice sólo porque mi papá tenía el televisor prendido, me imaginaba yo a Myriam mi vecina destrozando a mi familia en la asamblea simplemente porque no está de acuerdo con que comamos cereal al desayuno, articulando una guerra mientras los demás vecinos la aplauden vigorosamente. La verdad es que Myriam no sabe qué comemos al desayuno y creo que no le importa, al menos no tanto como para hacer un escándalo semejante. También sé que el ejemplo es demasiado simple, pero fue lo primero que pensé en ese momento. Y es porque en general me molesta muchísimo la gente que se mete donde no la han llamado.
Truth of the matter is that I don't care much for socialism, I'm not pro Uribe, or anything. I'm of the school of thought that believes that everybody in the world could be right, as Fito says, “I don't belong to any -ism”. But there are some things that certainly make me mad… yesterday I was listening to that guy [Chavez], only because my dad had the tv on, and I was imagining my neighbor Myriam completely shredding my family during assemby simply because she doesn´t agree that we should be eating cereal at breakfast, articulating a war while the other neighbors clap vigorously. As a matter of fact, Myriam doesn´t know what we eat at breakfast and it isn´t any of her business, at least not enough to make such a racket. I also know my example is extremely simple, but it was the first thing that came to mind. Just because in general, it really annoys me when people get into other people´s affairs with no invitation.
Mauricio Duque Arrubla [es] reads around the blogosphere to see what others have been saying about this conflict and wishes to clear things up a bit:
Pero pareciera para muchos extranjeros que el problema en Colombia es si hay o no hay acuerdo humanitario.
Con todo el respeto a los secuestrados y sus familias ese no es el problema. Hay muchos problemas antes de la liberación de los secuestrados (las farc, los paras, el hambre, la desigualdad, la corrupción). No quiere decir que los solucionemos en ese orden y si logramos la liberación de los secuestrados sería mejor noticia que la muerte de ese tipo.
Pero con preocupación leo que lo que piensan muchos europeos es que con la desaparición del asesino se envolata el acuerdo. ¿Y lo demás? No existe para ellos. Y el malo siempre es el gobierno nunca los delincuentes del otro lado.
Se perdió el sentido de las proporciones.
PS: Por más que el gobiero colombiano tuviera razones de sobra para hacer lo que hizo, estuvo mal hecho. El fin no justifica los medios. Pero que lo que pasó es una buena noticia no lo niego. Lo que viene puede no ser tan bueno pero ahí vamos viendo.
But it seems that for many foreigners, the problem in Colombia is if there is or isn´t a humanitarian agreement.
With all due respect to the hostages and their families, that is not the problem. There are many problems coming before the liberation of the hostages (the farc, the paramilitary groups, hunger, inequality, corruption). That doesn´t meen that we have to solve them in that order and that if we manage to get the hostages freed that would be even better news than this man´s death. [Raul Reyes, 2nd in command for the FARC]
But with concern I read that what many Europeans think is that with the dissappearance of this murderer, the agreement dissappears as well. ¿What about the rest? It doesn´t exist for them. And the bad guy always turns out to be the government, never the delinquents on the other end.
Sense of proportion has been completely lost.
PS. Even though the colombian government had reason enough to do what it did, it was wrongly done. The end doesn´t justify the means. But what happened was very good news, that I can´t deny. What seems to be coming can´t be too good, but we´ll have to see.
Víctor Solano [es] has taken to the task and built a timeline of the events that led to this conflict which has Colombians biting their nails. However, even more eye opening than the post itself, are the comments, where people are heatedly debating the timeline as well as the allegations of the 50 KG of Uranium that the FARC received aided by Venezuela.  The source of this Uranium is one of the topics:
Camilo Andrés,  copies  political blogger Atrabilioso's  3 part report on the events on his blog [es] on his belief that the Uranium came from medical equipment theft:
Básicamente el Uranio en poder de las FARC salió del robo de equipos médicos que utilizan ese material radiactivo. Hace algunos años, se registró una extraña oleada en la que fueron robadas varias fuentes de poder de aparatos para el diagnóstico clínico. Las autoridades, en ese momento, solo atinaron a prevenir a los ciudadanos sobre las consecuencias para la salud de estar en contacto con el elemento.
Basically, the Uranium in the FARC´s hands came from radioactive materials used in medical equipment which during a misterious tide of thefts these power sources for clinical diagnoses were stolen a few years ago. The authorities, at the time, only managed to warn the general population regarding the health risks that being in contact with this element bring.
Carla Mariela [es] from Venezuela,  provides another theory, that its source is Venezuela itself:
La noticia que más me llamó la atención ayer fue la del URANIO, no sabía lo de los robos a equipos médicos, pero si me había enterado que desde hace unos años se han dado movimientos de tierra en el sur de Venezuela en las área del Cerro Impacto, este cerro tiene grandes concentraciones del mineral precursor del URANIO, Venezuela no lo exporta oficialmente y tampoco tiene oficialmente medios para procesarlo, pero ahora la coincidencia me parece super grave.
The note that most called my attention yesterday was that of the Uranium. I didn´t know about the medical equipment theft, but I did hear that for a few years now there have been land movements in the Venezuelan south in the area near Cerro Impacto. This mount has great concentrations of the mineral form of Uranium. Venezuela doesn´t export it officially and they officially don´t have the means to process it, but now this coincidence strikes me as quite serious.
On another comment, blogger  Leonardo Benavides Gómez for Villa Noticias [es] tells that at the border with Venezuela at Villa del Rosario, cars with Colombian license plates are not being allowed to cross and that Venezuelan military personnel is patrolling the border. In his blog, he posts a picture of the military standing at their side of the Táchira river border.
In the political analysis blog Colombia Hoy [es], they have come to a conclusion: what originally seemed a plan to simply kill a terrorist leader became a means to unveil the political support the FARC has been receiving from other countries.
En un segundo momento comienza a hacerse evidente que la operación militar tenía un horizonte mucho más amplio. En efecto, la destrucción del campamento de Reyes en territorio del Ecuador buscaba poner en evidencia ante la comunidad internacional, primero, la presencia de las FARC en aquél país y, segundo, destapar las relaciones entre las FARC y algunos gobiernos de la región.
Ese era el objetivo estratégico de la operación: golpear políticamente a Chávez y a Correa, y denunciar su relación con las FARC.
At a second glance, it becomes evident that the military operation had an ampler horizon. In fact, the destruction of the Reyes camp in Ecuadorian land sought to bring out into the light before the international community, first, the presence of the FARC in that country and second, to unveil the relations between the FARC and other governments in the region.
That was the strategic objective of the operation: to politically affect Chávez and Correa, and denounce their relation with the FARC.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Dominica: It’s Easy Being Green  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Grinding poverty?  Au contraire – Steve's Dominica thinks the Nature Island has grinding greenery: “A lushness that hits you in the face hard every day…I know where'd I rather be.”


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El Salvador: Medical Tourism · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Tim's El Salvador Blog writes about the latest coverage regarding medical tourism to El Salvador, and writes that a patient's trip, “becomes both a medical treatment and a tropical vacation.“


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EU: Towards a European Global Online Freedom Act · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

The European Parliament has passed a proposal  (571 in favor, 38 against) to treat Internet censorship by national governments as a trade barrier. The proposal was submitted by European Parliament member (MEP) Jules Maaten of the Dutch conservative VVD party. The adopted Maaten amendment calls on the European Commission, “to specifically deal with all restrictions to the provision of Internet and information society services by European companies in third countries as part of its external trade policy and to consider all unnecessary limitations to the provision of those services to be trade barriers.”
The proposal will now pass to the European Council. If adopted as a European Union (EU) law, the proposal could have an impact on future trade negotiations between the EU and governments engaged in Internet censorship. “As the adopted amendment on treating internet censorship as a trade barrier is currently only the wish of the Parliament it is not yet part of EU legislation. We will nonetheless keep on pressuring the European Commission and the Council to formally adopt such a proposal in EU legislation,” Jethro van Hardeveld, the political assistant to Jules Maaten, said in an email.
On November 7th, 2007,  a public hearing on “Censorship & cyber-dissidents. Freedom on the internet in authoritarian states” was organized by Jules Maaten and two other MEPs from the Alliance for Liberals And Democrats for Europe (ALDE Group) in Brussels. The hearing included voices from cyber-dissidents from Tunisia and China, Reporters sans frontières (RSF), and the Dutch ISP XS4all, on “the increasing grip of governments in repressive states on the content of the Internet.”
The hearing also called for a European version of the Global Online Freedom Act (PDF) in the United States: “The EU will now have to make supporting journalists and cyber dissidents a priority. Free speech must remain the basis of the Internet. Europe should follow the American example where legislators are working on a Global Online Freedom Act. We urge the European Commission to follow this example and come up with a European version of this Act,” Jules Maaten declared.
In a recent parliamentary question on February 21, 2008, Jules Maaten asked whether the Commission is, “willing to invest 20 million euros in technologies able to develop and distribute anti-censorship tools and services which could help Internet users breach electronic firewalls set up by China, Iran and other closed societies?”
I sent some questions for an interview to MEP Jules Maaten which were answered by his political assistant Jethro van Hardeveld:
Can you give us a  brief background about this Internet anti-censorship proposal?
Since 2006 our office has been active on the issue of internet censorship. We started working on internet censorship with the resolution and debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg in 2006 on ‘freedom of expression on the internet’. The motivation for working on the issue of online censorship is that free speech must remain the basis of the Internet and that human rights should also be protected online.
Why this focus on the “great firewall” of China? Does China represent the primary target of this initiative or does it also include all other countries engaged in online censorship – even those commonly described by the EU as “moderate Arab regimes” such as Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, etc.?
The proposal is not focussed at any specific country. It calls on the European Commission to deal with censorship in third countries through it´s external trade policy. It is in no way solemnly directed at China. In a press statement (also attached) from Jules Maaten however we did mention the ‘Great Firewall of China’ as it it is a concrete example and one of the most well known cases of censorship.
The European Union's  association agreement with countries like Tunisia explicitly requires them to observe human rights and political freedom, however, the EU did not establish a well-functioning mechanism to address continuing human rights abuses by those governments, so how you will deal with the online censorship? Are we going to see the EU boycotting products or imposing sanctions?
We are calling for the EU to adopt a European version of the American Global Online freedom Act. This EU legislation should cover and deal with online censorship by European internet companies in third countries. This legislation should also contain provisions obliging European internet companies to place their servers in non authoritarian/western states, in order to guarantee that will we not get another ‘Shi Tao’ case (the arrests of cyber dissidents ). Furthermore, the European Commission more or the less admitted in an answer to written questions by Jules Maaten that the self regulation in the European internet industry has failed. The European Commission answer: …”the Commission welcomes this clear and unequivocal statement and calls for the industry to work in close cooperation with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on a code of conduct to prevent and counteract cyber repression. The Commission regrets that, so far, no progress has been made on this issue.”…


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Georgia: Self-Ethnic Cleansing · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Steady State expresses its opinion on an analysis of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict which says that nearly 300,000 Georgians fled their homes by their own accord. The blog takes issue with the idea.


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Guatemala: Antigua Coffee, the Best in the World? · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

“So what makes La Antigua Guatemala the best coffee in the world?”  Rudy Girón provides some backing arguments to this claim, as well as a photo of the coffee bean harvest.


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Guatemala: Important Authors 1980-2000 · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Ronald Flores takes exception of a Guatemalan newspaper columnist's claim that there have not been any recent authors of importance.  Flores provides examples of authors that he considers to be worthy of attention.


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Guatemala: The Switch to Ethanol · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Luis Figueroa of Carpe Diem [es] is pleased that the Guatemalan government halted the “Ethanol Law,” and that any switch to this alternative fuel should be voluntary, instead of forced.


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Honduras: Picking Sides in South American Conflict · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Aaron Ortiz of Pensieve [es] wonders which side Honduras would pick if the conflict between Colombia and Venezuela escalated.


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India: How did Huckabee make it this far? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Renegade of Junk – with characteristic sarcasm asks how Huckabee made it this far.


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India, Pakistan: Kashmir Singh and 34 years · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

IndieQuill from India and All Things Pakistan on the return of Kashmir Singh, an Indian held in Pakistan for the last 34 years.


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Japan: Justice served in contaminated blood scandal · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Martin at Kurashi reports on news that the Japanese supreme court upheld a suspended prison sentence for a former health official, Akihito Matsumura, for having failed to prevent the use of HIV-contaminated blood products in the mid-1990s. Martin finishes his post with the question: “When will this debate start for real in the place where the scandal originated, the United States of America?”

author: Chris Salzberg


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Kazakhstan: Party Changes Name, Not Too Well · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Adam Kesher tells that last week the major opposition party of Kazakhstan, the “Nagyz Ak Zhol”, has changed its name to “Azat” party. He analyzes the change and says that it was probably not the best option chosen.


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Kazakhstan: Second-Life Astana · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Lena B-va tells about an ambitious project in the Kazakhstani segment of Internet – Second Astana, part of global Second Life social service.


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Kenya: Google hosts Skunkworks meeting · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Bankelele attended Skunkworks meeting hosted by Google in Nairobi: “Skunkworks (blog) meeting yesterday was hosted by (7 month old) Google Kenya, and it was attended by an interesting mix of engineers, webhosts, designers, admins, bloggers and rivals of Google, – who all listened as Google employees explained their aps and maps.”


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Kenya: Vote for ushahidi.com · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Daudi asks his readers to vote for ushahidi.com: “I have lost count of the number of radio and print interviews that have come my way because of interest in the project. Now Ushahidi needs your help again. Ushahidi has been entered in to the $100,000 Netsquared Mashup Challenge for further development. This is big in very many ways. It helps secure the future of the project and it helps secure the independence of the project, it allows the project to grow beyond Kenya, it give the opportunity for a powerful and increasingly necessary tool to achieve its potential.”


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Korea: Religious Encounter on the Subway · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

Religious issues always generate a lot of opinions from netizens. An experience of a netizen has gained attention in the last week on a Korean website.
[…]오늘 지하철 타다 자지러졌습니다. 아마 글 읽는 분들중에 저랑 같이 그 자리에 계셨던 분도 있으실지 모르겠네요. 아무 생각없이 지하철에 탁 올라타는데 마치 영화 소림무공에나 나올법한 스님께서 턱 하니 한켠에 자리를 잡고 앉아 계시더군요. 짙고 하얀 눈썹과 눈에서 나오는 광체에 저 같은 범인이 함부로 눈을 맞댈수 없는 포스를 지니신 분이었습니다. 정말이지 등받이에 기대고 있는 그 스님에 몸뒤로 찬란한 후광이 감싸고 있어 움찔할 정도였습니다. 저 뿐만 아니라 올라타신 다른분들 모두 그렇게 생각했을듯..
헌데 다음역에서 어떤 아주머니께서 탁 올라 타시더군요. 열차가 출발하자마자 한눈에 평범한 아줌마가 아니라는걸 느낄수 있었습니다.결코 평범하지 않은 비범한 눈빛과 무언가 심상치 않은 비밀을 담고 있을것 같은 움찔거리는 입술 그 분이 드디어 입을 열자 다들 한발짝씩 자동적으로 물러 설 수 밖에 없을 정도였습니다. 왜 지하철 타면 지옥간다고 하느님 믿으라는 분들 있죠? 그분도 그런 내공을 소유하신 분이시더군요. 단 30초 만에 a4용지 석장을 얘기할수 있는 스피드에 달변가 였습니다.
지하철에 올라타시자 마자 그 짧은 순간 강렬한 내공을 강타받은 승객들은 아주머니에게 향했던 시선을 자연스레 스님에게 향했습니다. 왜일까요. 아무튼 스님도 그 아주머니도 알게 모르게 우리에 시선을 느끼셨는지 아주머니께서 갑자기 스님쪽으로 성큼 한발 내딛어 다가가시더라구요. 그리곤 크게 숨을 들이시곤 스님을 앞에두고 일장연선을 하시는겁니다. 하느님 안믿는 불경한 놈이라는 말부터 지옥에
스님만을 위한 명당자리가 있다나 어쨌다나. 스님과 아주머니 사이에 강렬한 불꽃이 튀기는게 눈에 보였습니다. 그제야 몇몇 승객분들이 더이상 참지 못하고 쿡쿡 웃음을 내비치기 시작했습니다.
저 또한 웃음이 나면서도 이제는 스님에 대응이 궁금했습니다. 그러자 스님도 안되겠다 싶으셨는지 잠시 망설이시더니 너털 웃음을 지으시더군요. 허허허. 이렇게 말이죠. 근데 그 모습이 마치 무림 영화에 나오는 한장면 마냥 목소리에 내공이 실린것 같이 쩌렁쩌렁하시더군요. 아.. 그 순간 만큼은 그 어떤 무림인도 울고 갈만큼 쩌렁쩌렁한 웃음이었습니다. 아주머니가 일순 움찔하셨지만 역시나 아주머니에 내공도 쉽게 볼수 없을만큼 만만치 않으셨습니다. 아주머니는 그에 굴하지 않으시고 계속 하여 지옥예찬론을 펼치시더군요. 스님은 계속하여 너털웃음뿐. 둘다 한치에 양보도 없으셨습니다.하지만 점차 시간이 지날수록 스님이 안쓰럽게 느껴지더군요. 늘 상 실전에서 갈고 딱으며 연마한 아주머니에 내공은 속세를 떠나 지내시는 스님께는 역시나 버거운 공격이었습니다.몇 정거정이 지나자 마침 제가 내릴 역에서 때맞쳐 스님이 자리에서 일어나시더군요… 아주머니는 자신에 공격에 아직도 만족을 못하셨는지 아니면 승리에 기쁨을 만끽하시는지 마무리 공격을 스님과 저희에 등뒤로 계속하여 내뿜고 있었습니다. 그렇게 우리는 아주머니 공격을 뒤로하고 지하철에서 하차했습니다. 허나 스님을 따라나선 저와 몇몇 승객들은 지하철에서 내리자마 자지러 졌습니다.
스님 내리면서 왈. “그년 참 말 많네”
At that time, a middle aged woman got on at the next stop. As soon as the train started, I could feel she was not an ordinary woman. Absolutely uncommon and unique glances, and lips that seem to contain some secrets. As soon as she opened her mouth, everyone couldn’t but help step back automatically. As you know, there are people who tell us to believe in God in the subway, otherwise we will go to the hell.  She was the one who had that spirit. She was such a good speaker she could finish the quantity of four pages of A4 in 30 seconds.
In the short moment when she got on the subway, passengers who were hit by her energy looked at her and turned their eyes to the monk. Why? Anyway, as it seemed that the monk and the aunt felt our eyes, the aunt suddenly walked toward the monk. After a big breath, she started a long speech in front of the monk, from how a person who doesn’t believe in God is disrespectful to about a part of hell that is reserved for monks. It’s so obvious that there was an intense spark between them.
Not putting up with it anymore, several passengers started laughing. I couldn’t stop laughing, but I was so curious how the monk will react. Maybe he also thought he shouldn’t keep the silence and started laughing. Hahaha, like this. But the scene was like that from a martial movie and his laughing sound was so strong and energetic. Wow… that moment, it was laughing like thunder, enough to make any martial artist run away.
The auntie in an instant stepped back, but her energy wasn’t weak either. Bearing up under it, she started talking about hell again. The monk also continued to laugh. Both of them didn’t give way to each other. The more time goes by, the more I felt sorry for the monk. She was a veteran with considerable experience and the monk was one who meditates away from the modern world. Her attack was beyond the monk. After several stops the monk got up from his seat in order to get off where I was supposed to as well… As she seems not to be satisfied with her attack or she would like to feel her victory, she didn’t stop her speech behind him. The monk including me got off the subway behind her attack. But passengers and I who got off following the monk couldn’t help but laugh out. Getting off the subway, the monk said. “That wench talks so much.”

author: Hyejin Kim


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Kuwait: Retirement Plans  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Kuwait, Cat Eyez (Ar) writes about wanting to retire from work.


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Kyrgyzstan: From Santamania to “Subbotnik” · Global Voices
Asel

During the last two weeks, the Kyrgyz blogosphere has come up with a bunch of interesting articles, funny and witty comments along with bright photos of Santa Claus First Winter Festival in Kyrgyzstan. The Festival was held from 23 to 25 February and spurred lots of criticism on one side – and light humor on the other – among Kyrgyz bloggers.
For instance, bretelka wonders (ru):
Have they all gone crazy? I can’t believe that it is possible to save gifts for two billion children in Kyrgyzstan. They will be all stolen!
Fancher seriously mulls over the idea (ru):
Guys, don’t you see the potential of this idea? First of all, everyone knows that Santa Claus does not exist. Santa Claus is a famous global brand. If this idea becomes very popular, then it will be a very important step towards tourism development in Kyrgyzstan (by attracting more tourists). I think that this idea is a good and realistic.
Another witty comment by Ataman Rakin (eng):
Iiiiikkk!!! Long beards.
They are certainly Wahhabis.
From such a funny start we can now move on to more real and serious issues that captured attention of bloggers. Anna Yalovkina reports on Kloop.kg that Bishkek city mayor Daniyar Usenov has announced the start of two-month “subbotnik” among school pupils and students. The word “subbotnik” derives from the Russian word “subbota” (Saturday) and means community work during which people clean streets, parks, and surroundings of schools and other public institutions.
Ladymystery notes (ru):
Not a bad idea at all.  We have always cleaned the territory of schools. I want to see my town very clean, but unfortunately we pollute it more than we clean it.
However, the human rights defender Maksim Kuleshov protests against such a decision by Usenov and calls it a violation of child’s rights. He says that the Soviet Union is already over and our children are not property of Mayor. He also added that he and his team will hold protests against Bishkek Mayor’s office.
Men agrees with Kuleshov (ru):
Let the Mayor clean the city, not children from schools. Looks like the mayor decided to build Communism in Bishkek.
Talking about protests, everybody remembers the Tulip revolution of March, 2005 when ex-president Akaev had to flee the country. Now Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev and newly elected Parliament want to make an amendment to the Labor Code of Kyrgyzstan which will make the 24 March a national holiday of Kyrgyzstan.
Psyho complains about such a decree (ru):
Will the Parliament ever work and do something useful? It’s been two months since they are doing nothing.

author: Asel


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Mexico: Daylight Savings Time · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Tome Chango Su Banana thinks that Mexico should not follow daylight savings time, since studies have shown it costs more money than it saves, and it can alter one's “bio-clock.”


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Nepal: Campaigns and Elections · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! on the election fever gripping Nepal as political parties start their  Constituent Assembly Elections campaigns all over the country.


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Nepal: Development and Politics · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Nepal Monitor on donors to the country raising questions on political issues as they do affect development choices.


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Nigeria: Fictitious names in voters’ register · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Grandiose Parlor writes about rigging in gurbenatorial elections in Nigeria: “The Mimiko legal team revealed how the voters’ register was manipulated and filled with fictitious names and photos by the ruling party PDP during the gubernatorial election last year.”


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Nigeria: First online bookstore · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Timbuktu Chronicles writes about the first online bookstore in Nigeria: “Emmanuel Magani and Debola Omololu are the founders of Debonair Publishing, an online bookstore ,a first for Nigeria.”…A fully integrated online bookstore.”


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Peru: Efforts to Make the Inca Trail Recognized by UNESCO · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The Peruvian archeaological site of Machu Picchu is already considered as a UNESCO World Heritage site, but Juan Sheput of Mate Pastor [es] writes about the efforts to make the Inca Trail also recognized by UNESCO.


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Poland: Victories, Poverty, Food and Drink · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Polandian writes about Polish victories and defeats, dispels the myth of Poland's poverty – here and here – and the myth of excessive drinking in Poland, and posts a non-vegetarian roundup of Polish cuisine.


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Protests over high prices strike Burkina Faso · Global Voices
John Liebhardt

Although somewhat overshadowed by the larger – and more dangerous –demonstrations in Cameroon last week, at least four cities in Burkina Faso also witnessed strikes over skyrocketing prices that descended into violent demonstrations.
First, on Wednesday, February 20, protesters in Ouahigouya and Bobo-Dioulasso, the country’s second largest city, marched against increasing costs of oil, sugar, soap and other staples. These marches turned violent as protesters smashed signs, targeted government offices for vandalism, including demolishing the office at the government customs agency and damaging gas stations. All told, one hundred people were arrested in Bobo. The next day, demonstrations continued in Banfora, in the country’s south western corner, where protestors also vandalized offices and some ended up burning a statue dedicated to women.
Here’s a few impressions of the demonstrations in Bobo-Dioulasso, recounted by Mrs. Guevin in Africa, a Peace Corps volunteer visiting from Benin:
[W]e noticed large groups of men congregating on the streets and determined that this must be part of the strike. The shops on the streets were all closed and locked up. The men did get rowdy at times… they refused to let cars pass through the streets and I saw some guys trying to pull down the Stop sign on the corner.  They barricaded the street with big rocks and groups of people would come running down the street as if fleeing something. At one point the air became full of a stinky odor and the waiter at our hotel insisted we move inside because they were gassing the protesters.  Luckily for us we not harmed and the street we were on was not witness to the most violent acts of the day. In other parts of town, people broke windows, and took out street lights with rocks. They also tore down a statue of the Burkinabe President.
Usually it’s Ouagadougou, the country’s capital, where demonstrations begin and then move out to other parts of the country. Even as the downtowns’ of Bobo-Dioulasso and Ouahigouya were still smoldering, organizers in Ouagadougou announced a march against high prices for the city on Thursday, February 28. With the government on notice, police and military clogged the roads, protected important businesses and attempted to keep groups from congregating that morning. It was all in vain.
Here’s a very good recap of the day’s events by Burkina Mom:
By 9:30, people had started burning piles of tires and trash out in the streets near the [downtown] Rood Woko market. The usual way of getting these fires going is for the demonstrators to grab people trying to pass by on motor scooters. They are forced to watch as their gas tanks are emptied onto the barricades. The vehicle is usually returned, as long as the person hasn't protested too much about their “donation” to the cause.
At the same time, things started up in the Patte d'Oie neighborhood, near Ouaga 2000. When I write “things” I mean: destroying traffic lights, tearing down billboards (especially the fancy electronic ones), burning tires and trash in the streets, blocking the roads and throwing rocks at vehicles that try to pass by. When you get down to it, it's not all that horrible. Yes, stoplights are expensive to fix, but at least they aren't trying to harm anyone. Most of this very minor vandalism is done by students- young men mainly.
Soon after, the northern neighborhoods like Tampouey and Dapoya errupted into similar bouts of mild vandalism. Some of the demonstrators were as young as 10 years old. In fact, the news accounts and the accounts of my friends all say the same thing: the protests here were unusual because there were many very young children involved.
“[T]here seemed to be an awfully high number of riot-gear clad police around the city as David and I set out on the truck to get a few jobs done,” writes Chrisanga, who was visiting Ouagadougou.
… after ,managing to secure Senegalese visas for the 4 pax who needed them we headed off to get some diesel… as we got closer to the service station we noticed a large amount of pillars of black smoke around the city… one next to the Shell where we were headed…. closer still we saw rocks being thrown and something that looked a lot like fighting… “I think I should turn the truck around” said I to David… “Good idea” he replied… by the time we got back to the hotel there was a fair few burning tyres on the street, alot of rocks around and multitudes of army and riot police swarming around the place.
From my blog, Africa Flak, I recount a story from a friend who, by chance, returned to town right in the middle of the demonstrations.
The group came in on the Ouahigouya road…but immediately after passing the toll booth, saw “a mass of black smoke in front of us…and ahead of us was a bunch of tires people were burning.” The group decided to turn around and circumvent the city to the north and attempt to enter from a different direction. However, they were also stopped by burning tires in the middle of road. They finally entered on a dirt road where tires were burning, but gingerly drove through them. “There were lots of people standing around, but I didn’t see any violence or anything.” Near one of the barrages…there was a large post blocking the road. The group also passed a group of soldiers protecting an office of a neighborhood mayor from any violence. After dropping the group off, the driver attempted to circumvent town on the beltway called “route circulaire” past Dassasgo and Wemtenga, but was eventually blocked by rioters. Eventually, and this is third-hand, he made his way to Gounghin where he ran into other demonstrators.
In all, some 200 protestors were arrested in Ouagadougou Thursday and one reported death (but still no confirmation of that mortality).
In the aftermath of any violent protests in Burkina Faso – they take place about every 18 months or so – expatiates living here begin playing a favorite pastime: try to read between the lines of the protestors’ stated objectives to decipher their real objectives. This is where the anger of Burkinabé can be compared with people from Cameroon. Previously pointed out, both countries share the fact they are stable, former French colonies with leaders who came to power back in the 1980s. Both Presidents are nearing the end of their constitutionally mandated term limits. The 75-year-old Paul Biya and his supporters have proposed to modify Cameroon’s constitution to extend his mandate to one more seven-year term. Blaise Compaore, in power since 1987, may win one more five-year term. (Fun fact: both presidents are married to women named “Chantal.”)
Let’s start with the stated objectives, which are easy to list, but numerous. From Girl Raised in the South, who lives in a village near Bobo-Dioulasso:
The price of goods (soap, sugar, cooking oil, gasoline) has been rising dramatically here. In my village I have heard grumblings about this. Evidently, the rumours had been spreading for days that people were going to hold a demonstration to protest the rising cost of living, or in their words, “le vie est chere” (The life is expensive).
From Under the Acacias:
The riots appear at first glance to be a popular uprising, the spark for which was recent increases in prices. We have all noticed these price rises and the word on the street accuses the new prime minister, Tertus Zongo of being behind them.
However, while steep price rises have indeed occurred recently, and the government should probably have acted earlier, all may not be as it seems. Zongo has been trying to crack down on corruption, and insisting that import taxes owed to the government – often avoided by “special arrangements”- be properly paid. This is one factor that apparently has been behind the rises.
Taxes on the wealthy are supposed to help the government pay for education and development and decrease dependence upon external aid. However, powerful and wealthy traders who offer bribes to avoid paying heavy taxes are not happy that their scams are being scuppered.
The day before the Ouagadougou protests, February 27, government ministers met the press to attempt to divert public anger about instituting new taxes, the recurring theme of high prices of foods and goods (along with government inaction) and to hopefully head-off the demonstration. The ministers pointed out that food prices continue to rise around the world and they announced to fight these increases with a three-month suspension of customs duties on such goods as powdered milk, rice, sugar, salt and pastas, costing the government roughly $6.6 million in revenue.
Burkina Mom pointed out that more than a few saw through the limits of this three-month moratorium.
But the government plan for peace and order was defeated because- guess what? It looks like [Politician and demonstration organizer] Thibault Nana (and probably lots of other smart folks) know how to read. Foiled again, Blaise and fat cat pals! Nana and others no doubt listened to the radio, read the newspapers and immediately realized that the Burkinabé people were being thrown a bone. An insultingly tiny rotten bone.
In Africa Flak, I had a somewhat different take on opposition politicians during an emergency meeting of political parties to try to address the issue of high prices:
As the country’s political parties met yesterday to hash out an agreement to bring down prices, Ouagadougou’s Mayor Simon Compoare was manning the barricades. A photo in the local paper showed the city’s diminutive mayor with a cell phone in one hand and a walkie-talkie in the other, surrounded by security police and presumably barking out orders. When a pair of local reporters approached him for a quote, he barked: It will have to be later, I don’t have the time.
It provided an interesting contrast between a somewhat distressed Compaore out on the streets and a meeting that look like it could have taken place at some Disney World hotel.
The governmental meeting – and the photo of Simon – showed to me the divide between those in power (including those standing next to men with guns) and those without power seemed about as insurmountable as could be in its present iteration. For all the bluster from the opposition about how the government had done nothing but watch prices rise these past few months, where were other parties and their ideas even two weeks ago. Even after last week’s riots, ideas were scarce. Like administrators, they only jumped during a time of crisis. Is that what we would call exhibiting good leadership?
English-language Bloggers living in Ouagadougou noticed the alacrity at which workers tidied up and repaired the downtown district. In the outlying neighborhoods, however, where damage was most likely worse because of less police presence, you can still see the scars of burnt tires, smashed stoplights and broken signs.
It’s too early to tell the residual effect these demonstrations will have on the political culture of Burkina Faso. However, in the short term at least, few people and few members of the local media are happy about the role played by the security services during the demonstration in Ouagadougou. Burkina Mom argues that their behavior made the situation worse:
The police arrived and made a show of force. The demonstrators threw stones. The police replied with tear gas. Cecile (our cook) says it was terrible.- the CRS in trucks, chasing down the people (many of them children!) as they fled the gas. The worst thing was that the huge clouds of gas affected even the people who stayed home, closed up in their courtyards.
It seems that this very violent reaction (approved by the mayor of Ouagadougou, who was on the scene) set off a much more violent chain of protest- The parking lots of two government offices were immediately attacked and many vehicles destroyed. Some bank builings and other office buildings were attacked. Lots of other cars and small stands were targeted.
As the city turned to calm almost immediately, a demonstration post mortem from Africa Flak:
Someone told me that if word gets out that the police abused some of the 200 people who had been arrested; they will start protesting against them. This is in opposition against the minister of security’s speech last night commending the work of the police. The front page of one newspaper showed a soldier grabbing a young protester; a second picture showed another being pushed down in the back of a truck by a bunch of riot police. Let’s just say he has a look of fear on his face. It’s hard to tell if there is another person already lying in the bed of the truck.
One group that may think of striking: Students. A majority of the demonstrators appeared to be young, and they may have been the targets of police brutality. Even if not, the students are much better organized than most other groups. And, at 16,17, 18, who didn’t mind a day off from school?

author: John Liebhardt


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Puerto Rico: Bidding War?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Here's an idea: Let's place Puerto Rico on eBay”: Gil the Jenius, tongue firmly in cheek, wants to know if there are any bidders.


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Russia: Journalism and Politics in Chechnya · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user oleg_panfilov (of the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations) reports (RUS) that Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov has joined the Russian Union of Journalists. LJ user timur_aliev, on the other hand, has quit as the editor of the Chechen Society newspaper to become Kadyrov's aide. (The Chechen Society is no longer being published (RUS), and its website is no longer there.) [Update 03/06: Kadyrov lasted for one day and then was expelled from the Union, in order to prevent other prominent members from leaving in protest. It also appears as if it wasn't his initiative to join, but that of the Union's Chechen chapter.]


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Serbia, Russia: Kosovo · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Streetwise Professor explains his “deeply ambivalent” position on Kosovo’s declaration of independence.


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South Africa: In support of “race-based” organising · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Na'eem supports race-based organising in South Africa: “Anyone who believes that such “race-based” organising has no place in the “new South Africa” either has no clue, at best, about what apartheid did to black people or, at worst, wants to ignore the persistent aspects of apartheid and move on as if life really has substantially changed for black people. The latter attitude serves only to entrench white privilege. The argument that I have heard repeatedly over the past few weeks, therefore, that “there is no place for race-based organisations in a democratic South Africa”, is nonsense.”


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South Africa: SA Blog Awards finalists · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Eish blogs about the South Africa Blog Awards finalists: “The finalists of this year's SA Blog Awards have been announced. There are a few interesting inclusions and surprising exclusions in most categories, but this is not surprising considering the nominations were left to the general public ie. the various blog's readership. It will be interesting to see how this pans out after last year's controversy. You have until March 19th to have your say.”


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South Korea: Military Service · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michael Solis from Ohmynews interviewed some conscientious objectors who have been imprisoned for refusing to partake in military service.


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Tajikistan: Support Entrepreneurs with Kiva · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nathan writes about Kiva, the website that connects with microfinance institutions, allowing users to make small loans to entrepreneurs around the world, which can be of much help and use for the small and medium businesses in Tajikistan.


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The Baltics: Guidebooks; Brits in Latvia · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Baltic Visitor reviews “the best Baltic guidebooks” and writes about the fate of “the ‘English pig’ who urinated on Latvia’s Freedom Monument.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Bad Dream?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“This is Frederick Street. This is the heart of the capital. But beneath…all that glass and iron and steel which, in the daylight, glimmer like blades, lies the body of a man clad in a $5,000 African suit the colour of royalty, with a bullet in his head”:  Trinidadian blogger Andre Bagoo thinks he must be dreaming.


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Trinidad & Tobago, Colombia, Venezuela, USA: Taking Sides  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“You would think that, as a general principle, if country A sends troops across the border into country B, that the world community should stand in sympathy with country B’s right to protect it’s territorial integrity, right?”:  Trinidadian blogger Further Thoughts comments about the Columbia/Venezuela issue.


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Turkey: Mock Armenian Hangings · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Blogian posts some disturbing photographs of the celebration of the 90th Anniversary of the Turkish liberation of Erzurum. Claimed by both Armenians and Turks, the city featured re-enactments of the hanging of Armenian bandits which were viewed by children. The blogger notes that even nationalist Turkish newspapers were critical of the celebration.


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Turkmenistan: The End of Prosecutor’s General Career · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Maciula writes about the dismissal of the Prosecutor General of Turkmenistan, that further strengthened President’s Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov power. This was the next stage of weakening the Turkmen law enforcement agencies.


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Africa: Vloggers, Bloggers and Movies · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

A few glimpses of Africa through citizen media videos. From BoB winners, to storytellers, documentaries on artists, Nigeria´s Nollywood movie industry and more.
Usnico´s other video stories are interesting and well done:  one video tells the plight of African flood refugees, and another, well, it´s title tells it all: Fighting leaves Chad in Gruesome State.On LookingGlassLand,  a varied sample of videos selected from the Internet Movie Archives can be found, including a Cameroonian storyteller at Yaoundé [FR],  a promotional video for a Ugandan beauty pageant contestant [EN], and  Italian photographer Carla Cinelli tells of her experience photographing woman in Burkina Faso [IT].
Nigerian VCDs at kwakoe by Paul Keller.
In many African countries, there are thriving movie industries. Such is the case with Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry. Kulture Klash International presents the following video of the Nigerian Film industry organization convention, where US distribution of Nollywood films is discussed. If you are interested in knowing more about Nollywood and its videos, journeymanpictures has a documentary from 2005 where the unique and low-budget movie-making process is explained.
YouTube user  rippleat uploaded the following 2 part documentary on artist Issa Nyaphaga from Cameroon. The film by Chris Hill lets the artist himself tell the story of how he learned to paint in a rural village in the traditional style, how he became a political cartoonist and was prosecuted for ignoring censors and then how he found asylum in France, where he later spoke in front of the French parliament for the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Convention on behalf of refugees.


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Armenia: Elections · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Registan has posted an entry on the post-election situation in Armenia. The pioneering blog on Central Asia also touches upon the recent clashes on the front line between Armenia and Azerbaijan and appears to conclude that the overall situation is unpredictable.


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Armenia: King Without a Crown · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Faced with restrictions introduced under the current state of emergency in the country, the Armenia Now online weekly magazine has started up its own blog in an attempt to circumvent attempts to limit information to official sources only. In one of the first posts, an anonymous blogger compares the opposition to the authorities and says that both were responsible for the clashes which occurred on 1 March in downtown Yerevan and which left eight people dead.


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Azerbaijan: Managed Democracy · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

With presidential elections in neighboring Georgia and Armenia having been shrouded in some controversy, Asking Tough Questions in Tough Places turns its attention to Azerbaijan which goes to the polls in October. The blog says that Azerbaijan will be sparing no efforts to convince the international community that the vote will be democratic and lawful, but says that for election watchers it's all likely to be a lost cause.


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Barbados: Cannabis Abuse?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Gallimaufry was “taken aback” to discover that the US State Department's 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report ranks Barbados as the second highest abuser of marijuana in the region.


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Barbados: Neighbours at War?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“In case you haven’t noticed, a few of our neighbours are making noises that sound very much like war”: Barbados Free Press wonders whether the Venezuela/Ecuador/Colombia issue will have an impact on Barbados.


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Bermuda: Dehabilitation?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Bermuda’s criminal recidivism rate is now 78%. In other words, 78% of prisoners who complete their sentence will reoffend and serve more jail time”: Vexed Bermoothes blogs about “dehabilitation”.


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Bulgaria: Facebook Ads Off Target · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Balkan Yankee – a Bulgaria-based American – writes that “targeted advertising [is] not so targeted on Facebook.”


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China: Life Stream and Privacy · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Zhanbin points our that life stream applications, such as Friend feed has turned us into voyeurism and exposure addicts [zh]; and the notion of privacy is under challenged.


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China: Ten Years In Jail For Uploading 28 Obscene Photos? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translated a local forum post discussing the jail time of uploading obscene Photos. According to existing regulation in China, the jail time for 28 photos with 250,000 plus hits can be up to 10 years!


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Greece, Macedonia: More on the Name Conflict · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Balkan Baby writes about the the conflict between Greece and the neighboring country known as “Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Skopje, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, New Macedonia, Upper Macedonia, Slavo-Macedonia, Nova Makedonija, Macedonia (Skopje), Vardar Republic, FYROM, Republika Makedonija–Skopje, Republika Makedonia or Republic of Skopje.” (Also, there's a lively discussion taking place now in the comments section to an earlier Global Voices entry on the Greece-FYROM name conflict.)


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Hong Kong and Japan: Maiderland · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ben Ng visited a cafe called Maiderland during the weekend (zh). The cafe is run by a group of Japanese ACG (anime, comic, game) lovers in Hong Kong.


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Hong Kong: Cats in the University · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lingnan University in Hong Kong is popular for its friendly attitude towards cats. Duke of Aberdeen visited the university and took some photos of the cats in the university. There is a photo set at flickr.


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Hong Kong: Privatization of Public Space · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Littleolso comments on the privatization of public space by Time square [zh], a super shopping mall at Causeway Bay, a most expensive district in Hong Kong Island.  The shopping mall rented out the public space and made huge profit while deprived the right of ordinary citizens to use the space freely.


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India: Identity and Conflict · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Talkies explores identity, conflict and the politics of apathy in India.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Iran: Students protest against “gender apartheid” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Hundreds of students continued a protest at  Shiraz University against “gender apartheid” on Tuesday 4th of March. The students want their university to put an end to a policy that began in February of separating men and women into different classrooms.
The students also asked the President of the university to resign and demanded better conditions in their cafeteria and dormitories. They also want to have the right to choose their own delegates. On March 4th, the protest movement entered its 8th day and several bloggers covered the story, while mainstream media in country ignored it.
Here is a video film of one of student protest movements, where the students chant: “It is our final message, student movement is ready for rebellion”.
In a blog that calls itself “Socialist Students of Bahonar department of Shiraz”, we read:
A couple of hundred students chanted slogans such as “Security and peace is our absolute right” (the Iranian government usually uses a nuclear energy is our absolute right slogan). The university is not a military base.
The blogger adds that the university authorities promised protesters they would deal with their demands in the first days of demonstrations. But it seems nothing happened in reality.
The blogger says that the freedom of students has been restricted in the university because of military presence that enforces discrimination against women and girls.
Another blogger, “Socialist students of literature at Shiraz University”, protests [Fa] against the separation of genders in classes, and calls it a crime against humanity. The blogger writes that some students have been mistreated and that the growing military presence is disturbing for students.
Ta Azadi 86 writes [Fa] that the protest movement goes on while the authorities grow. The blogger says:
About 10 students were asked to appear in court. Several university professors were among the students. Basiji forces wanted to disrupt the demonstration but student resistance pushed them away.
AmirKabir Khabarnameh, a leading student information website, writes Fa] that several students’ families were contacted by security forces and asked to stop their children from participating in the protest movement.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Jamaica: Ackee · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Montego By Day By Day blogs about the national fruit of Jamaica.


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Jamaica: New Era of Business  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Here in the Caribbean, there has always been this tendency to want to meet someone before doing business with them”, but Jamaican Francis Wade believes “in this new era, business-people MUST become comfortable doing business with people they have never met, will never meet and who may not even speak the same language.”


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Japan: Cat Challenge · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

James from Japan Probe posted a funny video on a cat challenge in walking through 10 people's shoulders.


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Japan: Mixi in hot water over terms of use revision · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Japan's hugely popular social networking site Mixi is in hot water this week after news [ja] that a proposed revision to its Terms of Use (ToU), to become effective as of April 1st, will force its users to agree to grant Mixi no-royalty, non-exclusive rights over all content published on the site, retroactively applicable to all content uploaded before the changes to the ToU. This means that Mixi can potentially use any content on its servers (including messages sent through its messaging service), ignoring access controls on such content, and potentially profit from it.
Blogger fukamimi translates the most controversial part of revisions to the ToU, Article 18:
By agreeing to the ToU (which all users implicitly do by continuing to using the service):
1. Users grant Mixi a no-royalty, non-exclusive rights (of replication, broadcasting, public transmission, display, distribution, translation, alteration, etc) to any content uploaded onto Mixi servers.
2. Users agree not to assert their moral rights against Mixi. [Moral rights include the right of attribution, the right to have a work published anonymously or pseudonymously, and the right to the integrity of the work. source:Wikipedia]
(Or as Matt Alt at AltJapan put it: all your content are belong to us.)
Response to revision was swift and decisive, with forums [ja] and blogs [ja] expressing everything from confusion to outrage. While Mixi has since posted a note (viewable only to Mixi users) stating that it has received many comments and is currently investigating possible changes to the above clause, this may not be enough to stem the flow of users leaving its service. Blogger tek_koc writes:
上の文をかみ砕いて説明すると、mixi上に書いた文章や写真はmixi側で勝手に本にしたりするかもしれないよ。しかもそれは無償でだよ、改変もするかもよ、ということになります。
コミュニティ経由で人の日記を見てみると、熱心に書いている人が本当にたくさんいる。
小説家を目指してのオリジナル作品、自分のイラスト、プライベートなことから、テキストサイトのような面白長文など、本当にたくさんです。
そういうのを見るたび、いつもブログやサイトでやった方がいいと思うけどなぁと思ってはいたものの、余計なお世話だろうと口を噤んできました。でも、mixi側が改めてこんな規約にしたのだから、はっきり言うよ。mixi日記に何かを真面目に書くのはあまりにももったいない。
Many bloggers speculated on possible profit-driven motives for the revision to the ToU, some questioning the wisdom of a money-making strategy based on selling “crowdsurfed crowdsourced content”. Blogger k-ino picked out three main reasons for the move:
mixiがなんでいきなりこういった行動をとったのか。考えられるのは、
Well-known lawyer and blogger Ogura Hideo (小倉 秀夫) [ja], meanwhile, blogging at benli, cites various parts of Japan's Copyright Law in tackling legal aspects of the controversial revised agreement:
mixi騒動に関して気になったことの一つに、「公表権」についての一般の誤解というのがあります。
公表権とは、その著作物でまだ公表されていないもの（その同意を得ないで公表された著作物を含む。以下この条において同じ。）を公衆に提供し、又は提示する権利をいいます（著作権法第１８条第１項）。つまり、著作者の同意を得て公表された著作物については、著作者は公表権を行使することはできません。
従って、mixi内に投稿したコンテンツについて投稿者が公表権を行使しうるかは、この投稿行為が著作権法上の「公表」にあたるのかが問題となります。では、著作権法上の「公表」に関する規定を見てみましょう。
He then cites Clause 2, Article 4 of Japan's Copyright Law (translation courtesy of the Copyright Research and Information Center), which defines the phrase “made public” (公表された) as:
著作物は、第二十三条第一項に規定する権利を有する者又はその許諾を得た者によつて送信可能化された場合には、公表されたものとみなす。
The expression “made transmittable” is explained in Article 2, Clause 1(ix-5) of Copyright Law as “putting in such a state that the interactive transmission can be made by either of the following acts:” (1) “to record information on public transmission memory of an interactive transmission server already connected with telecommunication networks for public use”, and (2) “to connect with telecommunication networks for public use an interactive transmission server which records information on its public transmission memory or which inputs information to itself.” (For full descriptions see the relevant passage of the translated Copyright Law.)
Ogura notes that “interactive transmission” is defined in article 2, Clause 1(ix-4) of same law as:
自動公衆送信 公衆送信のうち、公衆からの求めに応じ自動的に行うもの（放送又は有線放送に該当するものを除く。）をいう。
And that “public transmission” is defined as:
公衆送信　公衆によつて直接受信されることを目的として無線通信又は有線電気通信の送信（電気通信設備で、その一の部分の設置の場所が他の部分の設置の場所と同一の構内（その構内が二以上の者の占有に属している場合には、同一の者の占有に属する区域内）にあるものによる送信（プログラムの著作物の送信を除く。）を除く。）を行うことをいう。
From all these legal definitions, he concludes:
従って、mixiが「閉じた空間」であろうとも、そのコンテンツにアクセスしうる人が「多数人」といえる程のものであった場合には、mixiへの投 稿により送信可能化がなされ、著作権法上の「公表」がなされたということになります。
[…]
では、マイミクが少ない人は大丈夫かというと、そこがまた難しい話です。すなわち、不特定人については少数（極端な場合１人）であっても「公衆」にあたるという見解が広く支持されており、そのような見解を支持する人々の多くは、何をもって「特定」人とするかについて家族に準ずるほどの高度の個人的結合関係を必要とするという見解である場合が少なくありません（私はそういう考え方には反対なのですが。）。このような見解に立った場合、そのコンテンツにアクセスできる人の数が少ないとしても、コンテンツ投稿者と、これにアクセスすることができる人との間に、家族に準ずるほどの個人的結合関係がない限り、投稿＝送信可能化＝公表ということになり、その時点で公表権を喪失するということになります。
従って、mixi内の投稿について必ずしも著作者が公表権を行使しうるとはそもそも言えないということになります。


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Japan: Reflections on a life in Silicon Valley · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Well-known Japanese web visionary Umeda Mochio, blogging at My Life Between Silicon Valley and Japan, reflects on his life over the past 20 years [ja] since the time in 1988 when he first joined the world of IT consulting. In the past few years, his most recent books such as Theory of Web Evolution and Five Propositions for the Web Era have sold a total of more than 700,000 copies, drawing more readers to his ideas than he ever expected.


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Kazkahstan: State’s Ineffectivess and Expansion · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

While the government continues to take steps towards expansion into most lucrative and strategic sectors of national economy, simulaneously undergoing an administrative self-restructurization, Kazakhstani bloggers discuss effectiveness of the state bureaucracy.
KZBlog reports on the authorities’ voiced intention to keep on renegotiation of contracts with foreign investors:
“What is more, oil companies are not to be the only targets of renegotations. Steel giant Arcelor Mittal whose mines have come to public attention for disasters that killed miners late last year and in 2006, is under pressure as well. Critics believe that the government is essentially nationalizing its resource industries by canceling contracts that do not give the government enough control or a big enough profit share”.
Zhanna Zhukova is more supportive about giving hard time to Arcelor Mittal:
“Finally, it happened – after series of tragedies, when dozens of miners were killed in blasts on the coal mines of Arcelor Mittal’s Kazakh subsidiary in Temirtau – the government took a firm stance. For years they were putting a blind eye on the violations of labor norms and safety at the enterprise”,
says Zhanna, reporting on the statement by the emergencies minister Vladimir Bozhko on possible cancellation of licence for extractive activities if Arcelor-Mittal fails to meet conditions of the government.
Against this background, it especially interesting to see how a prominent economist and ex-minister Zeinulla Kakimzhanov took the offensive. Recently, he came out with a number of interviews, criticizing the state's economic policies. He also said that he had been voicing his thoughts and suggestions earlier via official channels, but “the bureaucracy in Kazakhstan is not used to criticism” – apparently, he was right:
“Shortly after these demarches, Kakimzhanov was fired from the post of head of the state-owned Investment Fund of Kazakhstan”, reports neweurasia [ru]
Megakhuimyak elaborates on the reasons why it is so, and reminds of the ongoing administrative reform, which presumes reduction of the staff in state bodies:
“There is a wise observation: the more you reduce the staff, the more it grows. Low effectiveness of most of the state agencies is the result of brain-drain, high turnover and lack of competent manpower policy, which results in the situation when people come to public office not to do their job, but to make money” [ru].
Mantrovkz is really depressed about that, and says that the notion of justice is getting devalued, yielding to the cult of rude power and dumb lust for profit in absence of the unifying national idea [ru]. Meanwhile, sarimov have studied the latest Forbes’ list of billionaires:
“Do you know that the aggregate fortune of 8 Kazakh billionaires makes up $22.8 billion, which is more than the size of National Oil Fund with its $22.6 billion! Now imagine how big the National Fund could have been, if we had normal economy and politics!” [ru].


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Kyrgyzstan: From Kant to Manchester · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Asel reports that England's Manchester Futsal Club is interested in transferring a young player from Kyrgyzstan.


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Kyrgyzstan: Where the Brains Are · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

The Azamat Report looks sadly at the rating of OECD member countries, according to which Kyrgyzstan's 15-year-old students are the last among those of 57 countries on math, science, and reading abilities.


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South Asia: On the Ganges · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

End Poverty in South Asia on the importance of the Ganges river to the people of the sub-continent.


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Sri Lanka: Life in Conflict · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Prasanna continues the excellent series – “Travels in a Militarised Society” – on life in Sri Lanka at groundviews.


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Turkey: Raising Murderers · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Following on from photographs of young children watching mock hangings of Armenians in the Turkish city of Erzurum, Blogian comments on concerns expressed by some Turkish columnists that the nation is “raising murders.”


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Ukraine: ParkLikeIdiot.com.ua · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

If anyone, for some reason, needs a sign saying this in Ukrainian – “Attention! I park like an idiot, stay away from me!” – you can download it here. Created by Ukrainian LJ user entertainer_ (UKR), the sign is part of the effort “to get rid of” the people who don't know how to park. The Russian-language site – with a photo gallery – is here.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Uzbekistan: Tashkent Allows US Access to Airbase · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nathan reports that Uzbekistan is – again – allowing some NATO members, including the United States, to use an airbase in the country to assist operations in Afghanistan.


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Venezuela: More on the Crisis · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Kira Kirakin's new blog is called Anotaciones Al Borde [es]  and her recent entry has to do with the tool Google Earth and the possibility of seeing FARC campsites.


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Afghanistan: Women’s Day Celebration · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Mohammad says that the US Army sponsored the celebration of the International Women's Day, March 8, in the northern part of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. The festivities included a musical performance of an Afghanistani band and a fashion show.


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Algeria: Language Revitalisation Opens Old Wounds · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Not everyone welcomes language revitalisation efforts,” writes Lameen Souag from Algeria. “Apart from anything else, it often implies that a major decision taken by you or your parents – to speak to the children in a different language – was wrong, and, by increasing your exposure to the endangered language in question, puts you in a position where you can't help but notice that this decision's implications are nearly irreversible,” he explains.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Armenia: Conspiracy Theory · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Archuk's Blog argues that the reappearance of former president Levon Ter-Petrossian to the political scene in Armenia as well as post-election unrest is linked to Kosovo's independence and attempts to find a solution to the longstanding conflict with Azerbaijan over the breakaway territory of Nagorno Karabakh. The blog sees the situation in the South Caucasus as just one component of the long-term geopolitical goals of the United States.