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From the Jordanian Blogosphere · Global Voices
Roba Al Assi

Jordan: Exempting US citizens from extradition and trial
One of the issues in the Jordanian blogosphere is the Jordanian parliament's decision to ratify a bilateral agreement between Jordan and the US which exempts US citizens from extradition and trial under the auspices of the International Criminal Court. Khalaf of “What's Up in Jordan?” is feeling ambivalent, “I certainly agree that US attempts to exempt itself from international law are hypocritical and unfair. On the other hand, fairness has little to with anything…. Thus, to me the issue boils down to pros and cons. On the pro's side, we are no longer threatened with the cut of US aid. Personally, I don't think that this is a credible threat, since they are already getting their money's worth as it is now… On the con's side, we made Amnesty International unhappy…. Bigger on con's side, we missed a chance to put our finger in Bush's eye.” Natasha Tynes of Mental Mayhem agrees on the ambivalency, “Which is more important in this case? US aid or respecting international agreements? Is safeguarding our economy more important than satisfying human rights organizations? Frankly, I'm glad I was not in a position where I had to make this decision, as the simple reality is: Doomed if you do. Doomed if you don't!” Ameen Malhas of Banzeen adds, “Anyhow, lest we forget, Jordan’s economy would go to the toilet if we didn’t ratify, as most sources indicate that the US is threatening to cancel its potential aid in the face of countries who hesitate to take this step.”
In regards to other thoughts, Amjad has some thoughts on democracy, “Democracy is a failure (I think) because it has to be controlled by guidelines, and because the guidelines are different from one religion, tradition, or race to another.” Haitham Sabbah is appalled by “injustice toward females in the name of Islam” saying, “Some cases are individuals, other is driven by state system and the rest are terrorists in the name of Islam! Are we living in 2006 or 1006?” Naseem Tarawneh of The Black Iris poses questions about banned Islamic party “Hizb Il Tahrir” and he also expresses his disappointment with the recent embassy closures in the Jordanian capital Amman.
Ahmad Humeid reflects while in Dubai, “Is shopping the new religion?”  Wael Attili takes us on a picturesque trip to Madaba, “The stones of Madaba are telling you much older memories, an ancient history and a religious dialogue between civilizations.”
A group of Jordanian bloggers have also taken the initiative to launch toot- “A new medium in which intelligent voices from and for Arabia are brought together and presented to a wider community; where passionate readers and writers can share and communicate without filtering.”

author: Roba Al Assi


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Kazakhstan: Pressure on the Opposition · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia reports that, in spite of the president's landslide victory and the opposition being a marginal force, pressure on the president's political opponents has increased since the recent election.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Nathan Hamm


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Mongolia: Elephant Keeping · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Chris Miller reports that Mongol ingenuity is being put to use to keep two elephants from the Russian circus who arrived in Ulaanbaatar early warm. In this case, the ingenuity goes by the name of vodka.


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Mongolia: Government Crisis · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Mongolia's government has been formally dissolved and the protesters have packed it up. Thomas Terry has blog coverage from the ground, and the other posts on his blog are as good a place to visit as any to understand the situation.


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News From Chinese Blogosphere · Global Voices
Frank Dai

Blogger Movie: the first short DV movie that is produced and casted by Chinese bloggers is under way for public show, named “A Hard Day's Night”(Or Adventure Of XiaoQiang). The play was written by Wangxiaofeng, a.k.a  Massage Milk, winner of Deutsche World for Best Chinese Journalist Blog. He wrote the original script(in ZH)for the short comedy piece and invited his friends in the blogosphere to take the job of shooting, producing and playing. Here is the trailer and here   is some photos in the scene. They also have hold a premier ceremony sponsored by Bokee.com(here is some photos taken by Wang's friend on the occasion). However, as the some foreign media like Reuters noticed and reported on the movie, they interpreted the movie as a political satire while the people who shoot it only considered the movie to be just for fun, as Buchimfan explained(in ZH). In a public promotion article, Wangxiaofeng said  (in partial translation):
There is no “main topic” in movie while it only want to tell a story in a narrative voice, which is quite “black humor” or absurd. Besides there is noting else….it has almost no aesthetic value. It is only a kind of entertainment, in which you can feel funny after watching the movie. We don't want to teach anything.
Podcast Analysis: Jack wrote an analysis of podcast in China based on data derived from Poodlook.com , the largest podcast directory website in China that he founded last year. The Chinese version of complete report can be downloaded here and China Web2.0 Review has translate part of the report. The conclusion is that Chinese podcast was developing very fast for last 3 months but it is still in the early stage.
Sohu Blog Award: The blog award held by Sohu.com, one of the three largest internet portal websites is closed. It offered reward worth of 2000-10000 RMB(about 300-1200 US Dollar) to the final winners. Here   is the flash with popup window that showcase the contests’ blog. Interestingly, it also has a section   which aggregated news reports on the event from bloggers. In a previous high-level forum, Sohu also invited some bloggers to do journalist reporting.
Gang of four are all gone: Gang of four, a term coined by the government that refers to four high ranking officials who launched and lead the so-called Cultural Revolution, are all gone after the last surviving member, Yaowenyuan died recently. After the Cultural Revolution, they were all sentenced to prison in late 1970s for the damage they did to the country. Danwei has a roundup   of reports in the official Chinese news agency and ESWN has translated a related article named “2006, 1976”
Other Posts:
The department of public security in Shenzhen released the comic internet police. For cartoon image here. It will hang on the websites in Shenzhen, reminding everyone of doing the “legal” thing on internet
BBC reviewed Roland Song of ESWN, in which Roland explained why and how he set up the blog which concentrate on Chinese media scenes and blogosphere and became the most valuable source of information concerned with China for his impartial viewpoint. The audio file can be downloaded here.
The official website for Chinese Government is online in Jan 1st, www.gov.cn. It has functions such as conference video casting. The traffic was rising at very high speed. However some bloggers (one example in ZH)questioned the welcoming remarks that it did not support any interaction.

author: Frank Dai


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The Moveable Feast: Eat the World in Ten Blogs · Global Voices
Melissa De León

#1
Have you ever wondered how the soldiers in Iraq spent the holiday season?  This is the day when you will get the scoop, first hand by Chairbone Stranger, an American soldier deployed somewhere very dusty in Iraq. His Christmas eve dinner report will leave you speechless, well, at least for a while!
#2
"The tongs weighed heavy in his hands, and firm in his grip. He was a natural, a TONG-MASTER." Through  braai politics – this is men's business, serious men's business , Mark's Digital Farm gives us a glimpse, a very unique account of the politics and posturing of men standing around a braai, the South African version of the American barbecue.
#3
One Whole Clove decided to play the part of the bored housewife and become all hot and bothered over a novel recipe that would make epicures and gastronomes alike roll their eyes and throw their hands up in despair. Visit her blog to get that scrumptious recipe to prepare Smoked Salmon Cheesecake now!
#4
Sailu's Food presents a very interesting post on the origins and health benefits of a sour leaf called "red sorrel." Hibiscus cannabinus, aka red sorrel leaves, roselle, gongura (telugu), pulicha keerai (Tamil), Ambad bhaji, ambada, ambadi (Hindi) are other names this popular sour green bears in the Southern State of Andhra Pradesh. For a majestic end, Sailu shares a delicious recipe to prepare authentic andhra pickles, a favorite to her mother Amma.
#5
From Vietnam, VietnameseGod offers the most delectable recipe to prepare Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls. As you might know by now, these spring roll beauties are one of the most popular appetizers in Vietnam, and since this recipe comes from the repertoire of a very charming restaurant "Seasons of Hanoi," is a keeper. Hope you like it!
#6
With only a couple of days left in Saigon, No Star Where crossed another item off his ‘to-do’ list with a visit to Chanh Hung, the (strangely) little known night fish market near Cho Lon. This is one of the most vivid travels I have made with the help of a blog: a rainbow of colors brings to life his memoirs, just gorgeous!  And now, from No Star Travels he documents a trip through seven countries in Asia, starting in Cambodia. Head over to his blog and follow this one in a lifetime adventure. Just the way I like it!
#7
BlueLotus from Japan shares her 01/07 Dinner: Nanakusa-gayu, a traditional seven herb rice porridge. In a delicious step by step recipe illustrated with bright colored photos, she instruct us on how to prepare o-kayu (rice porridge, much like Chinese congee) cooked with the seven herbs of spring. No doubt it is a scrumptious tradition.
#8
Marcela's blog, La Majuluta from Argentina, has become one of the most popular cyber spots to find incredibly delicious recipes and great photography from Argentina. This girl not only cooks beautiful food, she also loves physics, and I have found her blogging around in French, Spanish, Italian and English! Since I have sweet dulce de leche memories from the time I lived in Buenos Aires, I will suggest you pay special attention to Marcela's "Mousse de Dulce de Leche" (Dulce de Leche Mousse), which is a finger licking creation that is worth it's weight in gold!
#9
Saveurs Mexicaines: Les aventures culinaires d'une française au Mexique, is a blog about living in Mexico and the exotic culinary creations you will find there. This week, Laurange writes about nopales (Opuntia ficus indica) and shares a very good recipe to prepare "Ensalada de Nopales".
#10
If you are a "caipirinha virgin", I suggest you visit Grace's The Kitchen Journal to get the tastiest recipe to prepare caipirinha, which is a very popular Brazilian drink, very easy to prepare. The main ingredient for caipirinha is "CACHAÇA", which is a spirit distilled from sugar cane. Now, please take things easy and do not drink if you are driving  :) Grace is originally from Philippines, but currently lives and writes from Luanda, Angola.
I will be back next week with more!

author: Melissa De León


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Ukraine: Deserving Respect · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Scott W. Clark says that Viktor Yushchenko deserves respect for acting within the law and through democratic institutions to restore order to Ukraine's government.


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Venezuela: CIP Fact Finding Mission · Global Voices
David Sasaki

The first two days of a fact-finding mission by representatives of the Center for International Policy has been summed up in two posts at Caracas Connect. On Thursday the team met with Marina Corina Machado and Alejandro Plaz who will go on trial next Wednesday for “allegedly violating Venezuelan law when they accepted thousands of dollars of donations for their work from The National Endowment for Democracy, a U.S. based institution funded by the U.S. Congress.”

author: David Sasaki


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Venezuela: Community Radio; Open Source Software · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Venezuelan Views, News, and Analysis covers the growing trend of low-powered, community radio in Caracas while Andrew Leonard explains the relationship between a new law mandating “that all government agencies migrate their information technology infrastructure to free, or open-source, software” and Venezuela's private oil industry. Jamais Cascio of WorldChanging also breaks down “Software Libre in Venezuela.”


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Egypt: Clemenceau awaits · Global Voices
Mostafa Hussein

Amr writes about the decommissioned french aircraft carrier waiting to pass through the Suez canal. In its way to be taken apart in Indian scrap yards. Egyptian Environmental affairs Agency listened to activists and now considers the ship hazardous waste and illegal.

author: Mostafa Hussein


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First Woman elected President to Chile · Global Voices
Rosario Lizana

Michelle Bachelet, central left coalition, won today the presidential elections in Chile, with a 53.49 % over her contender, entrepreneur Sebastian Piñera with a 46.50 % from the Central right corresponding to the  official results. He could not override 16 years of left coalition government, where its outgoing president, Ricardo Lagos, also from the central left, is ending his period with more than 70% of popularity.
Today was the second round election; the first one took place on December 11.
President Lagos, in open TV  phone called Michelle Bachelet to congratulate and offer her “all his support,” and praised her by saying “your capacity will allow us to have a great government” Bachelet answered “Chile has demonstrated its republican tradition, people value the work we have done all these years”. They agree to have a working breakfast meeting Monday morning at her home. These were her first words spoken after the election results.
Sebastian Piñera thanked the people and said that “in democracy one of the things is to hear the voice of the majority”. As a member of the Right- Center coalition, he is committed to follow through the promises of his campaign, and offered to be a constructive opposition.
Celebrations at Michelle Bachelet command are taking place in Plaza San Francisco Hotel, near “Plaza Italia” one of the most popular sites in Santiago for big celebrations.
The new president will take office March 11, 2006, in the National Congress of Chile in Valparaíso. Michelle Bachelet has not had yet her first public speech.
For photos of the election process click here. Further results of elections in Chilean government.
Update:
Bachelet spoke in front of a big crowd, which was constantly supporting her by cheering her name, waving flags in a very joyful mood.  During her discourse, she emphasized that in her government there will be gender diversity, equality, new faces and backgrounds. In addition, Bachelet mentioned that by 2010 Chile will have and Equality Plan; where her main concerns will be to tackle issues such as public health and the provision of more work opportunities for all Chileans.
Furthermore, Bachelet stated that her approach to governing will be based in a participative government, with a strong alliance between society and politicians.
The new elected president mentioned some of her difficult emotional moments in her life “violence enter my life destroying my loved ones”. This might refer, to when under the Pinochet regime;  the death of her father General of the Air Force, Alberto Bachelet, while in prison, her mother and her own imprisonment, and later exile.
Dr. Bachelet, former Minister of Health and Defense, during Lagos period, added that her difficult background has shaped her into the woman she is today; deeply respectful of equality and justice.
By the end of her speech, Bachelet was joined on staged by her family; three children and mother with whom the sang the national hymn.

author: Rosario Lizana


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The Rock Scene in Puerto Rico · Global Voices
David Sasaki

It's Friday, getting close to 10 at night, and in the “pub” begins the distortion of the guitars and the shrill sound of the drums. After a minute, it's impossible to not move and feel awakened by this music that synchronizes my feelings and makes me follow the beat and caustic poetry until I slip away into the agressive swaying of the solos. It's an outlet, it's a night of rock.
Each generation has its musical favorite and in Puerto Rico, we're no exception. However, our country is a crossroads of all sorts of genres and so it's not odd that we have been influenced by the most famous musical genre of the world: rock. Since the 1950's rock music has been heard on our radio waves and, just like the rest of the world, we were jolted by the dominating “Beatle-mania” of the sixties. In the seventies, a type of rock which was heavier and more charged with socially aware lyrics began to surge.
The Impact of MTV
With its founding on the first of August, 1981, MTV forever changed the North American music industry. And this had its effect on the Puerto Rican youth of the 80's. With the boom of the so-called “pop culture” a revolution was started that modified rock music. Thanks to MTV's broadcasts, we were introduced to groups like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Motley Crew, Judas Priest, Twisted Sister, Scorpions, Bon Jovi, as well as many others that developed “Metal” as a genre of rock.
Heavy metal, beginning in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, had much influence in the 80's. It was a modification of rock that had been popularized by Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. With more aggressiveness in the chords and a distinct way of singing, metal became a favorite genre of many Americans. It was an era of excesses in North America indebted to the boom of so-called “Hairbands,” a name which alludes to the way they wore their hair: long and eccentrically styled.
It was in the 90's, with the surge of a new genre called “Grunge,” that the characteristic sound of pop rock changed and another series of variations within the genre commenced. However, because of the band Nirvana – which practically established a rock hymn with their song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in 1992 – the metal scene in the U.S. began to change. Eighties metal groups had to adapt to the rock revolution which started in Seattle, Washington by similar successful bands like Pearl Jam.
After “Grunge” – a type of music that combines strong guitar distortion with sad yet agressive lyrics and melodies – rock music has become something else.
The Scene
Invaded by musical history and seduced by new proposals, in Puerto Rico there is a group of young people that aren't just fans of rock, but also play it and want to develop the genre.
Groups like “La Secta” and “Circo” are currently receiving much attention, but they're not representative of the groups that comprise Puerto Rico's rock scene. But, just what is a “scene”?
It is a group of local rock artists that don't rely on the economic support of any kind. They're not marketed by some record company. And they play original music. According the the Puerto Rican guitarist, Paco Cestero, the musicians of the scene “are there for themselves. They make the music for themselves, not for the people.” Cestero, 32-years-old, expressed that the scene's artists try to continue making their music not to please the industry, nor the expectant fans, but rather towards the end of creating genuine music.
Many times, marked by stereotypes, Puerto Rican rock musicians are seen in a unfavorable light. Cestero, who is one of the most impressive guitarists in the country for his technique, said that many times people degrade the musical talent of a rock musician with expressions like, “Rocker … ah, that's not a real musician”
Even though the view of rock musicians is polarized, Puerto Rican rock has many followers but the situation for the musician who plays in a band and simply wants to live a life of music is difficult. It could be said that it is practically impossible. Many of the bars or clubs decide to let original bands play only with the condition that they are paid only a portion of what is earned in entrance fees. It sounds reasonable if it were only one band playing, but the reality is the three to five bands play in one night and must divide the earnings.
Guitarist Julián Acosta Cooper declared that “rarely does a bar pay original bands to play. What they do is give what they collect at the door and the business earns its money with the consumption of the drinks.” Acosta Cooper, a 19-years-old student of Computer Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico in Bayamón, commented that “when a band is played often on the radio, well, they can charge. But for us, depending on the show, sometimes we're not paid anything.”
There are always exceptions and in Puerto Rico there are still some establishments that pay original bands. Hard Rock Café in Old San Juan and Elvis Pub in Orocovis are two of the few places that are fair to the bands.
The Media
They need to be “pegado,” or “stuck in the heads of listeners” to be able to charge, but how are the bands going to be heard if they don't have the space? On the subject Cestero, who currently plays with the bands “Errant Society” and “All That I Bleed” among others, argued that “… “On the radio in Puerto Rico nobody hears Metal. There aren't any radio stations in Puerto Rico that give a space for Metal to be heard except for a few weekly little programs. And there are so many bands that, believe me, it's as if there were no exposure at all.”
Because of the situation the rockers maintain an “underground” scene that, although it has its followers, is limited. Also, many bands have opted to compose songs in English with the hopes of promoting their music in other markets since they feel that there is no commercial space in Puerto Rico for Progressive Rock, Hard Core, and other genres.
Breaking Through
Christian Muñoz Olmeda, the leader of the local band, The Redflux, made clear that “we are not doing this for money,” but rather to spread their musical art and transmit a message to society.
One initiative of this 24-year-old young man was to create an event by the name of “Made Here: Metallic and Social.” The event was carried out in the venue of the “Puerto Rican Athenian” on the 29th of October, 2005 with the participation of five bands: The Redflux, Serpenta, IRA, La Maldad Campesina and Tavú. All of the bands play original songs with social and political themes.
It should be noted that the event organized by Muñoz Olmeda was the first rock concert to be held at the Puerto Rican Athenian and had a record attendance of more than 340 people. The singer emphasized the attendance, explaining that regularly, the shows in clubs attract between 40 and 60 people.
The fact that it has produced an event that demonstrates the seriousness and social conscience of the musicians should start eliminating, little by little, the already established stereotypes and serve as a catalyst to the movement.
Those interviewed consider that the rock scene of Puerto Rico is better than it once was because it has incorporated more bands and more followers, however what is really worrying is that within the scene, there exists divisions and the support is not sturdy. This is contrary to what is occurring in genres like Reggaeton. In general terms, the rockers hope that their situation improves and that they are recognized as creators of musical art.
Translation by David Sasaki


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The World Social Forum Will Be Naked · Global Voices
Iria Puyosa

A week from the opening of the Sixth World Social Forum, the Venezuelan blogosphere is not paying much attention to the event.
Pro-government Aporrea blog is the only weblog publishing news about the WSF everyday. Most of such entries are quotations from the government news agency ABN. Meanwhile, the anarchist blog, Colectivo La Libertad is covering news about the Alternative Social Forum, that will be hosted by anarchist collectives in Venezuela the very same week of the WSF. Reste@dos is publishing notes about both the WSF and the Alternative Forum agendas.
The feeling among Venezuelan bloggers is that sixth WSF may not be authentically representative of the Porto Alegre spirit since military officers and presidential bodyguards are expected to take control of all the Forum facilities.  Thus, the humble Alternative gathering is seen as more suitable for social-minded people to share ideas without “pledging fidelity” to the Venezuelan president.
The only activity related to the WSF that is catching the attention of Venezuelan bloggers is the open invite to be part of a naked crowd standing to be photographed by Spencer Tunick.  At least twelve Venezuelan bloggers swear they will be there.
Tags: Foro Social Mundial World Social Forum

author: Iria Puyosa


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A tragic week in Bahrain and the Gulf · Global Voices
Mahmood Al-Yousif

It's been a tragic week for the Arabian Gulf; several hundred pilgrims died while performing the Hajj, the 6th son of Bahrain's monarch died in a car crash and just yesterday Shaikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, the 13th ruler of Kuwait died at the age of 78 after a long illness. Needless to say Bahraini bloggers’ commentary on these events were plentiful covering all three aspects, the most contentious of which was the pilgrimage disaster which was seen universally as avoidable:
The Joker starts the ball rolling and suggests that pilgrims are not treated equally as proscribed in Islam, where everyone should be equal. This is further demonstrated by the strict uniform and rites pilgrims undertake – but in actual fact they are treated according to their ethnicity, with 3rd world pilgrims treated in a much more derogatory fashion unlike the Saudis and other Arabs who perform the Hajj (Muslim pilgrimage). The solution he poses for this recurrent problem include the limitation of the numbers of people allowed to perform the Hajj – a theme universally taken by all commentors; hiring professional organisations to oversee crowd control and flow during the various stages of Hajj, and lastly the “ticket price” allowing people to perform the Hajj should be proportional to their prosperity.
Mohammed Al-Maskati blogging at emoodZ agrees and further amplifies on the theme by stating that once again, the Saudi authorities put the blame unfairly on pilgrims’ disorganisation and impatience, rather than the Saudi Hajj authorities’ incompetence. He goes further in suggesting that Sunni clerics should follow their Shi'a colleagues in re-interpreting some of the set tasks of the Hajj and making them more flexible, especially that the main bottleneck has been the “stoning of the devil” task. The Shi'a allow their followers to stone the devil at any time at the end of the Hajj, while the Sunnis only allow their followers to do so after the point of noon on the last day of the pilgrimage and has a time limit associated with the task. As all rites must be performed in strict sequence, if any pilgrim does not finish all these tasks, his or her pilgrimage would be regarded as null and void if these tasks are not completed. This interpretation adds to the frustration and hastiness of the pilgrims as they literally fight against time to finish their Fifth Pillar of Islam.
Mahmood finds himself in complete agreement with both of the above, and argues for more drastic measures: Hajj should be declared optional rather than mandatory, and clerics should find other ways in which Muslims can atone themselves of sins. He receives a lot of flack and some support for his thoughts.
Practically every Bahraini blog offered condolences to his majesty the king of Bahrain on the tragic death of his 6th son: Shaikh Faisal, who was just 14 and died as a result of a car accident. Shaikh Faisal is remembered by his friends as an avid equestrian and is full of life. Some commentors however wanted to break the norm and politicise this tragic event, especially as controversial forums like the recently lauded BahrainOnline.org, which mysteriously is on a 4 day maintenance regime! Hassan Al-Khozai  was disgusted by some of the black-hearted comments on “some” Bahraini forums who seemed to revel in the extinguished young life just because it belonged to a royal, and this comes from someone who could only be described as opposition. However Hassan is certainly not unique in this respect, he has proven his humility just as other traditional government opponents have: Abdulhadi Khalaf, and Manama Republic have conveyed their condolences with the politeness, respect and humility this situation demands.
The sympathies were extended universally once again to the Kuwaiti people and royal family on the death of their 13th Amir; Shaikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, after a long illness. Shaikh Jaber was much loved in Bahrain not only for the various infrastructural and community projects he and his government have done in Bahrain through the Kuwaiti Development Fund, but also for the shared history of the two countries and the closeness of their peoples.
In other activism news, non other than GV's MENA Uber Editor Haitham Sabbah launched a campaign to include the country name Palestine in the drop-down lists of online blogging services. He has met with some success so far in at least getting the blogging services to listen to his point of view and effect the required changes. While Strav highlights RSF's latest campaign targeting conrporate responsibility. Tawfiq Al-Rayyash  recalls the troubles and civil unrest that Bahrain went through in the 1990s and questions whether those methods are still applicable today in civil disobedience demonstrations. He concludes that those methods most definitely will not work to put pressure on the establishment, and asks what method would be most effective in this day and age. He was also in a reminiscing mood last week offering us a glimpse of Bahrain in 1954 showing a picture of one of the Hussaini processions, and tells us about Sami Yusuf, who is a “devout practicing British Muslim who sees songs as a means of promoting the message of Islam and encouraging the youth to be proud of their religion and identity.“
Silver Girl declares her love and admiration for Israel and suggests that Arab leaders should emulate Sharon. She also touches upon the very thorny Bahraini subject of what is regarded as illegal naturalisation when she highlights a column by Reem Khalifa, a journalist at Al-Wasat Newspaper .
Homesickness is a very powerful emotion, as copiously discovered by a very Silly Bahraini Girl, no matter how much she protests that she's not and quite likes the weather in Toronto, Canada, where she has exiled herself for the time being! However, that doesn't stop her from highlighting alleged corruption within the justice system in Bahrain.
Routine and structured ways of life is reflected upon by Mo at Random Blog. Mo is a final year medical student in Ireland who loves football, Xbox and PlayStation games which he sometimes writes about. It is a very random blog, but thankfully it provides us with a glimpse of what goes on with medical trainees in foreign lands! He even has some fashion advice to “manly” men this time: “They're plain and black, by the way. Just the way they should be. *manly grunt* ” he says in describing how he succumbed to the cold finally and bought some garments he wouldn't have been seen dead in only a few months ago!
The Joker finds out that his feelings for Dr. Phil are anything but platonic; he riles against this “Colonel/Psychologist” because he was aghast at his temerity of exhibiting a family whose child has suffered at the hands of a pedophile to public display on one of his shows. He further explores the quality of these shows and concludes that they are nothing but entertainment with station managers having no regard to their viewing public by sandwiching irreverent adverts in between program segments which he thinks should be treated with better respect, considering the sensitivity of their content and subjects.
If you were a university that has doctoral studies, would you accept a PhD dissertation in which 200 leading intellectuals branded as heretic? Well, Jaffar Al-Omran continues to shine by bringing us controversial subjects which are worth discussing. He has unearthed one Sa'id ibn Nasser Al-Ghamdi whose doctoral dissertation was submitted and accepted at: “Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University. In his dissertation Al-Ghamdi made a list of 200 Arab intellectuals accused of heterodoxy and deviation, the accusation, which is punished by death in his doctrine.
Book signings? Yes, we have them in Bahrain too, thanks to our very own Ali Al-Saeed, the only Bahraini English-language novelist. Ali had a book signing event which took place at the most famous shopping malls in Bahrain in which he met with some of his admirers. He was good enough to also post some pictures of the event.
Bahraini Rants is back! I, for one, missed his rants, I'm sure those of you who peruse his archives will become as addicted to this gentleman's writings as I have; and if you're like me, a person who likes his or her food, then don't miss out on his excellent Argentine Asado recipe. You will most definitely forget your diet when you read his descriptions because you will want to fire your BBQ immediately to try it out!
Back to the present, BahrainiRants now takes us on a trip down his musical memory lane and reflects on the music he mixed himself with painstaking attention to detail, as well as the smells and sights that music conjures up when he re-listens to some of his recordings now.
Two new blogs have become active of late: Samir, a Pakistani gentleman who lives in Bahrain has a blog he calls 1Pakistan in which he discusses issues pertaining to both Bahrain and Pakistan. The other is Asish Gorde, an Indian gentleman who has lived almost all of his life in Bahrain I am told, and is a lecturer in media studies at the University of Bahrain. Ashish's blog is Eureka Express and is well worth your visit.
More next week! Have a good one.

author: Mahmood Al-Yousif


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Afghan Whispers · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Afghan Reality says that according  to a poll  released by WorldPublicOpinion.org, 83 per cent of respondents think things in the country are going in the right direction. The blogger adds:
“Two imporant considerations must be taken into stock: a greater need for labour intensive programs to tackle the ‘opium economy’ in the war-shattered nation and a long-term commitment by the international community to keep these dreams alive.”
Afghan Lord reports that Deputy Interior Ministry on counter narcotics General Mohammad Daud has accused some officials at the Kabul airport of involvement in drug trafficking. The blogger writes:
“In this regards, he address that recently four policemen with 500kg of contraband were arrested in an airport of the country. Eighteen drug smugglers including Nigerian Nationals which were recently detained with drug by police in Kabul Airport”.
Afghan Local Radio is a fascinating blog which contains letters sent to radio stations across the country. Thanks to Agathe Dalisson & John West from Internews I discovered this blog. Afghan Local Radio informs us:
“Contrary to TV and print media, it is nearly accessible to all in terms of cost and coverage. Even the uneducated can switch it on, listen and feel integrated into the new emerging Afghan society. Radio, thus, incites participation and may on the long term be able to create conditions for a more democratic society”.
Some letters are written to inform, some are poems, and some are just stories. One of the letters talks about land mines. The writer is from a distant village where land mines have not been cleared yet. This Afghan writer wants to warn other Afghans about land mines which can be in different shapes such as butterfly or box.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Africa resources · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Bazungu Bucks points to a number of sites that have resources on Africa including a project called American Memory where photographs of many African Americans are stored –

author: Sokari Ekine


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Albania: Dream On · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Our Man in Tirana says that Albanians are incredibly optimistic about when their country will enter the EU.


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Argentina: Tourism’s Good and Bad · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Jeff Barry writes out his definitive list of 30 things to do when visiting Buenos Aires while Jorge Gobbi takes a closer look at the negative impact tourism can play in the city of Tilcara.


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Armenia: Bid for Power · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Oneworld Multimedia reports on an Armenian oligarch's bid for power.


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Bangladesh: Banning the Burqa · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Razib on the ban on burqa by the Dutch Government. The issue really is that women should be able to choose between outfits and not forced into one or out of one against their will.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Bangladesh: Moral policing · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Moral policing in Bangladesh? Rezwan and Reuben pose questions in light of the recent move by authorities to ban free calls on networks at night to prevent youngsters from talking vulgar. Unheard Voices has more.


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Bangladesh: On being kind · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Mezba's brief interaction with a Hajj pilgrim has him wondering on acts of kindness and if one remains oblivious to the sacrifices and strife of one's own, as opposed to being more sensitive to random acts of strangers.


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Bangladesh, Sri Lanka: Telecom · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

LIRNEasia on “Sixteeen per cent of the revenues of Bangladesh’s Grameen Phone come from four per cent of customers.  And they are not the most affluent people; they are village phone ladies.  This is one of the key findings of recent research conducted by LIRNEasia.”


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Biking to WSF · Global Voices
Iria Puyosa

Colombian ecologists are riding their bikes from Pamplona (Colombia) to Caracas (Venezuela) to attend the WSF. The 8-days tour aims to promote environmentally friendly transportation.


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Caribbean: A blogger’s book awards · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

For the fourth year in a row, Trinidadian Nicholas Laughlin publishes the “Nicholas Laughlin Book Awards” for Caribbean books — “i.e. books written by Caribbean authors, set in the Caribbean, or otherwise of particular Caribbean interest”. As interesting as the selections is Laughlin's analysis of his own reading patterns over the year, not to mention his commentaries on the books that didn't make the cut.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Chilean Elections in the Blogosphere · Global Voices
Mary Joyce

Este artículo fue traducido por Fernando Meza.
On Sunday, Michelle Bachelet, the socialist candidate, won the Chilean presidential election over the more conservative Sebastián Piñera with 53.5% of the vote.  One would expect the blog reaction to be equally split.  Interestingly, when I checked Technorati earlier today, the posts were overwhelmingly positive: “‘The Phenomenon’ Passes her First Test (ES),” “Great Michelle (ES)” and various posts with titles like “Vamos Chile!” and “Vive Chile!”  A little later in the day came the negative posts: “The New Face of Chile – haha!” and “Four More Years?,” referring to the perception that Bachelet is nothing more than a continuation of President Ricardo Lagos’ policy. Perhaps the pro-Bachelet bloggers published in a fury of adrenaline-surging excitement on Sunday night while the disappointed Piñeristas needed a few hours to get over their disappointment. Other excellent, and more non-partisan blogs covering the election are Periodismo Global and el Teléfono Rojo.
Other than simple pro and anti-Bachelet reactions, two other interesting lines of inquiry developed in the election posts.  One involved bloggers who began writing about the recent surge of women being elected to national office (Angela Merkel in Germany, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Liberia, and now Chile's Bachelet).  Technorati has a listing of such posts.  Also, many bloggers noted the recent surge leftward of South American countries (Bolivia, Venezuela, and now Chile).  A representative sampling can be found using the tags “Bachelet” and “Evo.” In addition, you can find great pics on Flickr of the impromptu Sunday night pro-Bachelet rallies that took place in Santiago.
However, possibly my favorite discovery was the Chilean elections blog, Elecciones2005 (ES), which has been posting non-partisan information about the elections and the campaigns for the past year.  Do election blogs exist in other countries?  How could the international blogger community support this kind of blogging?  Congratulations Chile on a free and fair election!

author: Mary Joyce


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China: Chinese Map of the Americas · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Frog in a Well, the China history blog, weighs in on the ongoing discussion over a 15th-century map allegedly showing that the Chinese encountered the Americas before Europe did.

author: Jose Manuel Tesoro


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China: Coverage of the Zhongshan Incident · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

EastSouthWestNorth posts selections from English-language and Chinese-language (translated into English) coverage of the “Zhongshan incident” — a clash over the weekend between protesting villagers and local authorities in Guangdong province.


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China, Vietnam: Character-less · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Pinyin News translates comments by a Chinese writer who claims that the foundation for Vietnamese culture is “extremely superficial” since Vietnam gave up writing Vietnamese in Chinese characters.


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El Salvador: Highest Murder Rate in Latin America · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Tim points to a new report by Prensa Grafica which lists El Salvador as having the highest murder rate in Latin America.


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Ethiopia: Pan-African e-Network · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Friends of Ethiopia reports that Ethiopia is to become the first beneficary of India's  “Pan-African e-Network Project – that aims at dispensing benefits of tele-education and tele-medicine to 53 countries of the African Union.”


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Female UN Secretary General · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Mshairi reports on a campaign to appoint a woman as UN Secretary General when Kofi Annan retires – possibly at the end of this year.


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Hong Kong: Expatriate Pay · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

The Hong Kong legislature is apparently considering a law to curb the “expat package” — the controversial practice of company offices paying Western foreign workers more in benefits and salaries than similarly qualified locals.  OrdinaryGweilo — himself an expat — doesn't think such legislation is necessary given the changing economy, which now values local talent more: “[Y]ou hear complaints from expats who find it difficult to get jobs because companies prefer locals (perhaps in the belief that expats expect higher salaries).”


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Hungary: Chinese Cooperation · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Central Budapest Blog reports an encouraging sign of Chinese-Hungarian business cooperation.


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India: Into the temples · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

There are temples in India that don't allow for the entry of non-Hindus and women. IndianWriting and Locana on the issue.


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Iran: Data Centers  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iran based Hezbollah blogger, Morteza va Ma, reports an article from Computer Javan (Young computer, magazine):” In World Summit on information society  in Tunisia, USA  monopolized internet without any war! Iranian presence didn’t have any meaningful presence. Blogger says in Iran , to be able to face US Internet monopoly we need several Data Centres but so far nobody listens to this advice. (Persian)


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Iran: Martin Luther King · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Fanous, a collective Iran based blog, has honoured memory of Dr.Martin Luther King by publishing several postings about him. For Fanous, Dr.Luther King was and is a real symbol of non violent political opposition.Persian


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Iraq: Folksy Games · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Iraqi girls kids have many things to play if you ask any girl kid in Iraq about folksy songs you will see every girl know many songs, so how do they know these songs? Children's Voice from Iraq tells us all about that.

author: Haitham Sabbah


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Iraq: Fuel prices · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Ongoing shortages of fuel and constant attacks on oil refineries are causing abrupt increases in official fuel prices as well as price hikes on the black market in the capital, Baghdad. A litre of poor quality petrol is now being sold informally for as much as US $1. Many drivers are complaining of the use of water and dyes to increase the volume and make buyers believe that fuel being sold is of a higher quality, Christian Iraq said.


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Israel: Imagine! · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

You know what is makin’ me mad? Anyone and everything that has to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is makin’ me mad. That includes Palestinians, Israelis, Jordanians, Egyptians, Lebanese, Syrians . . .oh, fine, the entire Middle East . . . the cocky-headed United Nations, the EU, Canada, the United States, Britain, Arabs, Muslims, Jews, the right wing, the left wing, The Big Bad Media, and all the idiots who think that if everyone would just sing John Lennon's “Imagine,” the world would be a better place, Sarah said.


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Jamaica: Calabash Literary Festival · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Caribbean Beat Blog links to an article on the 2005 edition of Jamaica's Calabash Literary Festival, describing it as “a detailed and entertaining look at what sounds like the most successful Calabash yet”.


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Kenya: poor woman’s printing press · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Kenyan Pundit writes a response to an article in Kenyan Daily Nation, on the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) campaign against misuse of public resources by government officials.  Her reply was turned down by the Nation's editor so she has reproduced it on her  blog“.  Blog = poor (wo)man's printing press”


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Kenya: Woman boxer · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Bankelele posts some advice on buying stocks, the price of veggies in Kenya resulting in him being served cabbage with his fish lunch and one to watch…. Kenyan boxer Congestina Achieng who is looking for a fight with Lelia Ali if she is able to get the right management behind her.


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Nepal: Thangka paintings · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A flickr post by luixs on “Tsering Art School, part of the Tibetan Buddhist monastery of Shechen in Boudhanat, Nepal. The school specializes in thangkas, paintings of sacred buddhist images.”


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Nigeria: hip hop links · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Soul on Ice has a work related rant as he stands up for his colleague and provides some hip hop music links.


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Nigeria: Muson Center · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Teju Cole is still writing about his experiences during his recent visit to Nigeria.  Here he writes on the “Muson Center.   “Muson was founded in the 1980s, and has since that time come to play a leading role in the musical and theatrical life of the country.” As usual this post is accompanied by one of his beautiful photos.


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Nigeria: portable loos · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Timbuktu Chronicles points to a company called DMT Toilets who are manufacturing much needed portable loos in Nigeria.…. . “Motivated by the recognition that there are fewer than 500 functional public toilets in Nigeria , and that the vast majority of these toilets are poorly maintained and inadequate. ”  Unbelievable that in a country of 150,million people there are apparently less than  500 functioning toilets?


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Pakistan: Blog-o-reason · Global Voices
Omer Alvie

Since the dawn of civilization … no, that's not quite accurate. Since the dawn of web logs, millions of net surfers have suffered from an existential angst relating to the real purpose of blogging. The famous Danish Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard might have addressed this question with a very simple answer, “How the heck should I know, I've been dead for a hundred and fifty years!”  But I can hazard a guess, that had he been alive today, he would have said, “I must find a truth that is true for me . . . and blogging is the way to go”, either that or “Bugger off!”
In my view, there are five key reasons why people blog. And they are presented below, in no discernable order:
1-To document the minutia (of their every day lives)
B-To vent their frustrations (about their place of work, the government, or the press)
Third-To report the truth (as alternate to what is presented in the mainstream media)
iv- To catalogue a list (of their personal CD collection)
and Lastly-To write about everything else not covered in the points above.
As for the real purpose for this post, I bring to you this week's small but relevant collection of links that show you what's being said in the Pakistani blog world..
Windmill suffers his own existential angst; Meanderings details her visit to the Mohatta Palace; Suspect Paki presents his angered response to the CIA Bombing in Pakistan; Journey questions the need for God; Lightwithin details the experience of Garam Chasma; and finally Napoleon Blown Apart comments on recent weddings.
So that's it for this week. I am off to research the writings of Sigmund Freud, who incidentally felt the real reason why people blog is because it reminds them of sex. But then again, Sigmund was a bit of a frustrated pervert anyway…

author: Omer Alvie


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Pakistan: Searching For Anarkali · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Organic Brew hunts for a couplet on Anarkali's tomb. Anarkali and Jahangir, and their story of unrequited love from Mughal times has captured both folklore and Bollywood.


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Singapore: Blog “Queen” in Another Controversy · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Recall Xiaxue, who soon after New Year's 2006 started an online petition to ban aerosol foam sprays from Singapore after unhappy encounters with both foam sprays and Bangladeshi foreign workers on New Year's Eve?  No you don't.  But many Singapore bloggers do.  Some have accused her of thinly-veiled racism against South Asians.  The controversy continues to reverberate, with recent accusations that she has misused her editorial privileges at Singapore blog aggregator tomorrow.sg to redact comments critical of her.  Last year, Singapore prosecuted several bloggers for racist comments.  Unfortunately for Xiaxue, an extremely popular local blogger, she could prove to be a tempting target.  In the meantime, Asiapundit gives us a play-by-play of the Singapore blogfight.


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Somalia: Security · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Harowo.com, News and  Commentary from Somalia points to a report in the Asian Times on security and warloads in the capital Mogadishu


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Somalia:  · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Inside Somaliland points to an article on Somalia by Relief Web which calls for a renewed committment by the international community to give financial and political support to the country.


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South Africa: infected blood · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

South African blog, Childish – Kodachrome Maybellene posts on a worrying report that blood donated in the Western Cape is not subject to the same standards of control as in other regions which may result in some HIV infected blood entering the system.


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South Africa: photo blog · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Arty Miss Lavinia is a photo blog set up by Lavinia Live


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South Korea: Presidential Overblog · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Apparently, South Korean president Roh Moo Hyun has three blogs.  Writes Oranckay: “Some have said one of Roh’s biggest problems is that he’s got his head buried in the internet. You know, instead of just governing without constantly trying to be best buddies with The Netizens all the time. I wonder if he is going to be able to sleep at night without wondering what kind of comments he’s been getting. (He’s been known to leave a few himself here and there.)”


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Taiwan: Chinese Fire Drill · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Taiwanonymous describes the unique fire escape items used in Taiwan, including a plastic “smoke-free” bag one puts over one's head while fleeing.


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This Week in Palestinian Blogs: It’s the Little Things That Matter · Global Voices
Shaden Abdulrahman

News of the blogosphere…
Laila from Raising Yousuf reports that the big day of elections is less than two weeks away. She has been recruited by the Guardians Unlimited to write about the elections in a series of posts.
From Ramallah Online, in Palestinian village of Al-Walaja people still live under the same conditions caused by Al-Nakba nearly 54 years ago. The Isreali military forces attackd the village and bulldozed Palestinians properties declaring the area to be a closed military zone.
From KABOBfest, the Palestine Solidarity Movement will hold its fifth annual conference at Georgetown University, Washington, DC from the 17th – 19th of Febreuary, 2006. The spokesperson of PSM, Nadeem Muaddi said the divestment from Israel has become a national concern.
Norwegians activists are under attack from Israel's supporters in the US and Condoleeza Rice threatens with serious political consequences.
What we talk about…
On Ariel Sharon‘s health condition:
SteamedPenguin at the beginning, was afraid Sharon would die quickly, then he was afraid Sharon would live.
KABOBfest's blogger Will‘s post number 400 was also about Sharon, Will says he was surprised not to see any news about Sharon‘s health on Yahoo frontpage sidebar.
Laila of Raising Yousuf wonders what will Sharon say when he meets all his peaces  on his final day, what will he say to his Maker?
Sugar Cubes compared the poor media coverage of Arafat's sickness and death to the excessive focus of MSM on Sharon‘s health and hospitalization. From Arafat to Sharon and recently Abramoff, who decides what's a top story?
Photo Credit: Raising Yousuf
From peacepalestine, in a letter from Al Jazeera camerman who is improsined in Guantanamo, Sami Al-Hajj, he asks a question which he can not get out of his mind, why are they punishing him?. Sami was tied to a wire out in the cold, standing all day on his feet just because he asked to go to the bathroom, feeling desperate he eventually soiled his trousers “to the enjoynment of the soldiers and whores watching“.
SteamedPenguin, thinks that Taliban = USA : “So I figure a dark hegemonical backwards empire beating up against misogynist, homophobic, anti-education, anti-progress goat-fucking clowns equals itself out.”
Sugar Cubes tried to shed some light on blogging in Arabic.
Read nasrawi talking about his date with Kamanche.
The little things that matter…
Haitham Sabbah has started a campaign to ask blog services to  recognize and list Palestine in their countries category. If a blog service does not recognize Palestine intentionally the pledge states that its supporters will not use it.
From Sugar Cubes, Arab-American author and radio show host Samar Jarrah appeared on a Fox News‘ segment called “Your Turn” as a special guest on “Dialogue Between Arabs and Americans” to talk about her book “Arab Voices Speak to American Hearts”, you can read a review of her book here. Samar did a fabulous job tackling different controversial topics of interest to the average American when it comes to Islam and the Arab World. She explained the difference between Islam and culture and talked about women in Islam. About Palestine, Samar says that Arabs still have the question of Palestine in their hearts even after september 11, the Afghanistan and war on Iraq, and they are still looking for a peacefull solution for the Palestine-Isreal conflict. Read the written interview here
From Sabbah's Blog, a member of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation are trying to educate the U.S. public by airing Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) on several TV stations. The campaign aims at educating the American public on the human rights conditions in the holy land of Palestine and the daily misfortune Palestinians are going through. Imagine Life, as a Palestinian Campain has also made a complimentary film called Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land.

author: Shaden Abdulrahman


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Trinidad & Tobago: Education blog · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Caribbean Free Radio  introduces a new group blog connected to a University of the West Indies course designed to equip teachers with skills in digital audio.


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Uganda: press censorship · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Africa Blogs comments on Uganda's press censorship….”MUSEVENI'S REGIME in Uganda has withdrawn accreditation to a Canadian Journalist, Mr Blake Lambert, who reports for The Economist, The Washington Times, and The Christian Science Monitor, and reduced the accreditation of BBC Correspondent”


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Ukraine: Gas Pains · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

foreign notes says that Ukraine's natural gas problems are politically hurting the president's bloc.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Uruguay: News Aggregator · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Pablo Hoffman (ES) has created an aggregator of Uruguayan news (ES) using his own open source project, Noti. The site, called NotiUY has a handy RSS feed.


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Vietnam: Noodlepie’s Podcast · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Vietnam-based foodblogger and freelance journalist Noodlepie takes a breather from his usual offerings to expound on blogs and journalism on his blog and in a podcast interview.  “Rethink newspapers. Give every journalist a blog,” he writes, in his further thoughts on his new blog space, stillbop.


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Zimbabwe: living in South Africa · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

This is Zimbabwe reports on a visit to a city in South Africa where many Zimbabwean refugees have settled.


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Afghanistan: Kabul & Security Barriers · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Afghan Warrior writes that the people of Kabul support the decision of their government regarding the removal of the security barriers from the streets of the capital. These barriers create a huge traffic congestion in Kabul, a longtime complaint of the city's residents. He also adds that in some parts of the city, the UN and some other civil and military organizations have blocked sidewalks with security barriers like barbed wire and concrete, forcing people to risk walking on roads.


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Afghanistan:Ambassador Speaking · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Accroding to webgardian, Mr.Tandar, the Afghanistan ambassador in Belgium responsible for the Afghan delegation to the European Union, in an interview with WashingtonPrism said the main problem for our Afghanistan's new democracy is drugs and that pressure must be put upon the demand and production at the same time.


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Africa: buy a goat · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

“a chance to ‘buy a sheep, a goat or some chickens from FARM AFRICA.”?  Bullets & Honey comments on this latest scheme on saving poor Africans…..”Imagine how good you will feel when you add a good deed to your vacation. ‘Not only will you be helping a worthy cause like poor African farmers or abandoned kitties (emphasis mine), but your lucky recipient will receive a gift pack with information about the charity and a unique gift to open on their special day.’


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Africa: China · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

AfricaBeat has a commentary and roundup of articles on China's presence in Africa. ….”The question on everyone’s mind is what effect – for good or for evil – China’s expanding role will have on the continent. As the blog “China in Africa: A New Colonial Power?” asks, will China’s ambitions in Africa constitute a “new round of colonialism” or “an opportunity for real development”?


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Africa: Living in the Diaspora · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

African Unchained points to an article by Stella Orakwue who asks  the question “What are Africans doing in Europe” and challenges those of us living in the Diaspora to think carefully about why we are still there!


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African Music Roundup · Global Voices
Obi

World Music. Lazy term. Music out of Africa is so rich it deserves it’s own full section in any major music store. but I could argue with the marketing department all day. My name is Obi and welcome to my first music blog roundup focusing on what’s buzzing on the beautiful continent of Africa and the diaspora.
Benn loxo du taccu (Matt Yanchyshyn) talks on the new album by Mali’s favourite son Salif Keita. The new album, M’Bemba, is indicative of a new trend and Matt writes:
“Like many big-name West African musicians, lately Keita has been sticking more to his acoustic roots and less to the casio synth. While the album still may be overproduced in my opinion there are still some great tracks that highlight much that is great about contemporary West African acoustic guitar music, particularly that coming out of Mali.”
The really cool thing about Matt’s blog are the mp3 links and the special feature where you can listen to a song right there on the site. Salif’s song “Yambo” is posted and he’s also included a link to an interesting interview.
Msanii_XL, blogging out of Kenya, is the one stop for all things African hip hop. He current post profiles a new emcee called blitz. blitz is in the mould of the rap group Dead Prez and focusses on conscious, political, uplifting material. Msanii also gives an interesting run down of his top ten rap albums of 2005.
he talks on rap duo Zion I:
“True & Livin‘….Amp live the beatmaker behind the group completely changed up his entire production and what he came up with is one of the better albums i have heard this year, with Zion I the emcee of the group spitting some realness, minus the thug poser-ism. This Bay area crew dropped some hotness, with varied guest spots “Nerd-rap” fav Aesop rock , Talib, Gift of Gab among others. Fav joints ‘Poems 4 Post Modern Decay’, ‘So tall’, ‘Birds Eyeview’(took a page from commons i used to love her), ‘What u hear’.”
Msanii also posts a podcast featuring Kenyan/African and American rappers (includes “2000 seasons” by Reflection Eternal. heavy)
SoundRoots reviews the “Sierra Leone & The Refugee All Stars” album. This project was recorded by six Sierra Leone musicians living in refugee camps in neighbouring Guinea.
“The album Living Like a Refugee includes one disc of raw field recordings from the refugee camps in Guinea, and one disc of studio recordings done in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The music — African folk/pop with a strong reggae influence — includes heartbreaking messages of peace and forgiveness, despite what the refugees have been through. A film on the band recently won “Best Documentary” award at the American Film Institute’s International Film Festival. Information on future film screenings and other band news is available at the Refugee Allstars site.
SoundRoots have also posted a song, “Mental Slavery“, off the album for download. Listen and support.
Naija Jams hails 2Face for winning MTV’s African Artist of the year 2005:
“Earlier this month, 2 Face Idibia (formerly of the Plantashun Boiz) was awarded African Artist of the year at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, Portugal. It’s nice to see one of the so-called “local boys” getting international recognition!”
Naija Jams goes on to talk about how hard it is to get hold of information and music by 2Face and features a 2Face photo gallery:
“The one place I was able to did find 2Face’s Face 2 Face, sent me a poorly packaged bootleg CD-R that was so badly reproduced (copied) that it was completely unplayable… and for $8 (1000 Naira) no less. Complete with a smeared, inkjet-printed, paper adhesive cd-label of an off-center color copy of the original CD. The other films/music cds purchased from the site were more of the same.”
Island of Spice blogs on the richness of South African music and it’s lack of world exposure:
“South African jazz–and the many genres that influence it, like marabi, kwela, isicathamiya and mbaqanga–is amazing, especially when you see live performances and feel the energy the artists bring to the audience. The South African music tradition is as profound and varied and extraordinary as African American music–it just hasn’t had the same international exposure.”
He details an interesting parallel between South African music and African American music:
“But beyond the sad story of “Mbube,” there are great sparks of creativity in the parallel history of South African and American music. The seeds were sown when migrants from rural South Africa brought their indigenous rhythms and musical traditions to the big cities, where they blended new hybrid styles heavily influenced by American jazz and big band sounds.”
BadGals-radio highlights the upcoming Bob Marley celebrations, “Africa Unite“, kicking off Feb 1-6th.
ALTHOUGH THE second annual ‘Africa Unite’ two-concert series is slated for Ghana, Africa, in early February, Rita Marley made it clear on Tuesday evening that the celebrations of Bob Marley’s 61st birthday are not restricted to one continent. Or, in fact, one race.
When we say ‘Africa Unite’ we mean black people anywhere you are. It is not really black by skin, but black by heart,” she told those gathered in the rear courtyard at 56 Hope Road, St. Andrew, on Thursday evening.
I’ll sign off by pointing readers in the direction of africanhiphopradio which is an excellent online radio station operating out of Amsterdam. It covers hip hop from all over Africa presented by famous regional djs and includes interviews and interesting studio banter.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSS

author: Obi


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Bahamas: Majority Rule · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

On the 39th anniversary of the achieving of majority rule in the Bahamas, Sir Arthur Foulkes traces the journey the country took to get there.


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Barbados: African drums · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Titilayo takes issue with the common perception that it isn't hard to learn to play African drums. “It is generally accepted that learning to play the violin or the trumpet or the piano or the guitar or other “real instruments” requires (even if self-taught) some sort of systematic approach, discipline, practice, effort, attention to developing the skill and improving the technique,” she says. “But with African or Afro-Caribbean drumming, there's “nothing to learn”.


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Bolivia: Morales Has Broad Support · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Eduardo Avila links to a recent poll which found that “65% of the population approves of the President-elect,” noting that the poll was done in urban areas where support for the Movement Towards Socialism party is usually lower.


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Brazil: Black Owned TV Station Charged as Racist · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Maegan defends a new Black-owned television station on Vivir Latino, noting that “while most Latin American countries don't like to talk about race, cases like this point to the huge issue skin color continues to be.”


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Cayman Is: Arts Festival · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

OddBlog previews the Cayman Arts Festival.


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Central Asia: Internet Usage · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia reports on internet usage in Central Asia.


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Chile: Citizen Journalist Coverage of Elections · Global Voices
David Sasaki

El Mercurio's “iBlog” today focused (ES) on election coverage from citizen journalists around the world. Among those mentioned was Maria Pastora Sandoval Campos whose article, “Women of Chile, We Did It!” appeared on OhmyNews International.


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China, Japan, Korea: The Uses of Anti-Japan Sentiment · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Two contributors at Japundit hold a frank conversation about why China and sometimes South Korea find anti-Japanese sentiment so useful: “It allows people to indulge their emotions…It has nothing to do with today’s reality. Imperial Japan no longer exists. It was annihilated, and everyone in Japan knows it.”  It's a long “intraview.” But a thought-provoking one.


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China, Thailand: Free Trade Defenders · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Bangkok Pundit rebuts local Thai newspaper editorials that argue that Thailand's free-trade agreement with China has been disastrous. “For China, Thailand has always had a large trade deficit with China and this existed before the bilateral trade agreement and still exists today.”  Meanwhile, Sarasonteh goes after a local critic's logic regarding Thai free trade with the United States.


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Dominica: Sisserou parrot · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

ThandieLand introduces the Sisserou parrot, Dominica's national bird, which all but disappeared from the island after Hurricane David in 1979.


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Dominican Republic: Hating reggaetón · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Bracuta (ES) explains why she detests the musical genre known as reggaetón.


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East Africa: photo gallery · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Kikuyumoja’s realm has some cool photos of  East Africa 50 years ago…


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Egypt: ‘Saturday Night’ Fatwa! · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

“So, Abu Hamza… Lets say that Brits hate Jews, why should I? Because they are Jews? But wait, Abu Hamza. Islam teach us to love everyone, specially and starting with Jews and Christians, as GOD said, they are the closest to us, Muslims.
For God sake, where does this crock bring his teaching from? This is not in Islam. At least not the Islam that I learned from my Dad and Mom. Not the Islam that we learned at schools. Not the Islam that we read in Qur’an. Where the hell he gets all this from?” Sabbah said.


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Ethiopia: Release of prisoners · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Nazret.com Ethio Blog reports on the release of 11,200 people arrested during the post-election political unrest in November.  This follows a series of previous releases and the closure of Dedesa detention camp in December.


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Ethiopia: Western media reports · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Redeem Ethiopia comments on the content of Western media reports on Ethiopia - reports on cheetahs and reality TV rather than the political situation…. “We scroll through the news on Ethiopia and find it hard to believe that these are the news pieces American media feels are worthy of attention. But we can not take these stories for granted without pondering if there maybe something more sinister at work.”


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France: Egalitarian myths · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Chippla's Weblog comments on the myth of egalitarian France and points to an article in the Washington Post on the subject. …”Next time one hears the Western European media complaining about how the United States treats its minorities, you may just as well choose to trash the article.”


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India: Digital Summit 2006 · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Dina has notes on Digital Summit 2006 currently underway in Mumbai.


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India: Reflecting on Bombay · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Vikrum watches “The Courtesans of Bombay” and reflects on jobs, life and the urban space that is Bombay, and how different the employment sector can be for women and men.


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Indonesia: All Mixed Up · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

iSSueZ, a Friendster blog by a young Indonesian filmmaker, writes: “Whether we like it or not, we are not just Indonesians anymore. We’re a hybrid nation. We are the result of information that has trickled into our brains without our realization. And due to that, we express ourselves now in gado-gado style, whether it is in conversation, articles, music, TV and now movies.”


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Iran: CNN & Mistranslation! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Shiva the spy, a US based blogger, says a CNN journalist mistranslated President Ahmadinejad's words in his recent public address; rather than quoting the leader as saying, “Every country has the right to peaceful nuclear technology,” the translator conveyed the message as, “Every country has the right to nuclear weapons.” Shiva adds  that the real question is, did this reporter purposely botch the truth, in order to manipulate public perception of the issue? Or was it really just a careless mistake, on an extremely sensitive matter?


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Jamaica, Cayman: Damien Marley concert · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Grand Cayman-based Jamaican blogger Mad Bull reviews a concert by budding superstar Damien Marley, the youngest son of Bob Marley.


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Kenya: Myth of economic boom · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

You missed this points to an open letter by an investor who writes that  Kenya's economic boom is a myth.


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Kuwait: Kuwait in the news · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Did the production team on Kuwait TV News actually read the articles that appeared in the foreign press about Sheikh Jaber? There they were gushing over the New York Times and The Independent and God knows who else, and practically thanking them for their kind words, almost beaming with pride for being mentioned so prominently in the world press, when in truth the NYT article was more concerned with what the future holds for Kuwait and the inevitable power struggle, whereas the Independent…
Meanwhile, over at Al-Jazeera.. as expected, a mean-spirited article followed by some outrageously nasty comments. Good to see many Kuwaitis refuting to that, Zaydoun said.


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Latin America, Spain: Blog Focused on Science · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Genciencia (ES) is a new, Spanish-language weblog focused on science. Today's post covers how archeologists identify gender from dinosaur skeletons (ES).


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Liberia: Sirleaf-Johnson · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the focus of a number of African blogs – Jewels in the Jungle, Angel Fire, Nigerian Times, Sudan Watch all comment on the inauguration of the new Liberian President.


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Mexico: Cancún’s Restoration · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Both Steve Bridger of afterwilma.info and Danna Harman of the Christian Science Monitor go over Cancún's plans to get back on its feet after Hurricane Wilma devastated the tourist city three months ago.


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Nepal: Ban on public gatherings · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

International Nepal Solidarity Network on the government imposing bans on public gatherings in Kathmandu and Lalitpur.


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Nigeria: University life · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Jangbalajugbu-Homeland Stories is reading reading “Daniel Pink’s “A whole new Mind: Moving from the Information age to the Conceptual Age” which he hopes will encourage him to use the right side of the brain.  However the book did not help him organise his day as he misses his presentation on “the challenges of Engineering graduates in the IT Industry”.


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Nuclear Crisis, Sanctions & BBC · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iranian nuclear crisis has become a hot story in Media around the world. Several Iranian bloggers inside Iran and out side country, have shared their feelings and fear about sanctions and war. They also show their disappointment concerning international media.
Mehrangize Kar, a USA based human right lawyer, writer and blogger, says:
“Under the present conditions, the people of Iran have no patience for war and blockade. They are disappointed to the point that whomever the Islamic leaders declare as an enemy, they consider as a friend; and whomever the leaders declare as a friend, they consider as an enemy. They also define national security as a concept based on territorial integrity, social wellbeing, economic security, liberties, democracy, human dignity, justice and human rights“.
Mr.Behi, Iran based blogger, writes:
“I am very scared of this nuclear issue. This is just a messy world. In one side it the Iranian government with all these manipulative crazy policies in foreign affairs and from the other side, the nuclear powers that keep threatening us. Who do they think will suffer if they put Iran under UN sanctions?…..I am so upset about international media too. The Iranian nuclear dispute is making headline in the news and when they want to show something about it, they show Ahmadinejad, some nuclear sites, some satellite picture and that is it. Some days ago, BBC World had a live contact with its correspondent in Tehran in a very snowy day. All she showed about people’s opinion was some scenes of Friday prayers –where virtually all of the supporters of government gather- and they have been chanting whatever the leader says since 26 years ago! I guess it was too cold and snowy for the BBC’s correspondent to move a little bit in Tehran and ask what other people might think“.
Hoder, a Toronto based blogger, tries to offer a solution in his blog. He says:
“So, please, instead of putting all your energy on stopping Iran, channel all your resources to make this regime change its behaviour. It's not possible by military attack or a coup. It's only possible by helping every Iranian individual understand that they can change this regime if they want to. Not through another violent revolution, but simply through small holes that for whatever reason exist: elections“!
NasimeDasht  (Persian) is an Iran based blogger who thinks only with tolerance regarding the world specially USA Iran can get nuclear technology. He considers Iran has to negotiate with USA to put an end to tensions.
I have checked several Hezbollah blogs but I didn't see any thing about nuclear crisis or sanctions. Just silence!


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Pakistan: Watch the president · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Wamy at moodlogic laments the tragic loss of life in a Pakistani village because of a US Strike and strikes the blame on the Pakistani President.


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Palestine: Zero Tolerance · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Despite the Israeli government's claim of a “zero tolerance” policy against settler violence in Hebron, Human Rights Workers report that settlers have continued their violence against Palestinians with almost full impunity in Tel Rumeida, ISM said.


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Philippines: Palace Walk · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Torn and frayed in Manila has been reading a book about Malacanang Palace, the official residence of Philippine presidents (and formerly of U.S. and Spanish governor-generals).  His reactions.


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Saudi Arabia: Why No Cinemas? · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Why No Cinemas? Some people in Saudi Arabia love to bane things for no reason. The majority of Saudi people here showing that they want a solution for this issue, as it became something reactionary to keep it banned without any rational reason, Ibrahim Owais said.


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Singapore: Blog Reader Species · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Crap & Such from Singapore catalogs the five different kinds of blog readers, such as “the lurker” and “the howler.”


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South Africa: Citizens Media · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

South Africa writes on the rise of the citizens media in South Africa.  Although he praises the inclusiveness of this new media he is also concerned over the credibility of some of the writers who are blatantly biased in their reporting.


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South Korea: What the President Wants to Destroy · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Kushibo-e Kibun lists the five chugigi, or “things South Korean President Roh Moohyun wants to destroy.’


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Sri Lanka: Ideas · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Hell's Dire Agent has “10 ideas for Microsoft Humanitarian Systems Group“.


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Taiwan: Premier Resigns · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

One whole jujuflop situation has been following realignments in the Taiwan government since the ruling party's defeat in the last election.  His latest is on the premier's resignation today.  But the job's not as important as it sounds.


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The Netherlands: Different Set of 30 H5N1 Strains Generated in Tree Format · Global Voices
Angelo Embuldeniya

Rudi Cilibrasi, a contributor to the Avian Flu Help blog and a Machine Learning researcher in the Netherlands wrote CompLearn which is an open-source data mining toolkit and is using it for H5N1 analysis. He has generated a different set of 30 H5N1 strains in tree format (PDF version / PostScript version), using CompLearn, which demonstrates that the avian flu virus is mutating into a closer H2H strand which is surely a cause for concern. According to Rudi, the numbers around the edges are all very low indicating that all the viruses are pretty closely related except for the “k2″ subtree that includes duckShandong0932004, duckYokohamaaq102003, and the others off to the right past “k0″. You can see that it is bordered by high numbers and there are several high numbers within the subtree itself suggesting a fit that is not very close, perhaps genetically.
This suggests there may have been more intermediate steps that we might explore using different hypothetical subsets of 15-50 virii to see what the most-likely phylogeny leading up to them is. But the “k10″ subtree confirms an earlier comment by Dr. Niman that the Mongolian and Novobirisk strains are very closely related. The “k11″ subtree suggests that there was a transmission of virus between Korea and Japan with those very low numbers. Overall the S(T) score of 0.990241 means that the computer believes it has figured out the structure nearly perfectly. Now it's our job to figure out why.
(Suggestions for better choices of species to try are always welcome.) Rudi stresses that he would love to try more recent data and thinks that this is the most important use for this type of chart at the moment, i.e. to track which strains are going where and when new strains pop up we can match them to the nearest previously known strain in the hope that this can shed light on the epidemiology of the situation.
Rudi has clarified that the data sources for the sequence data and the distance approximation technique (read more about this on the FluWikie) were obtained from a fellow member at the Bird Flu Discussion Forum (AvianFluTalk) whose onlinse pseudonymn is “gs” and it is presumed that ‘gs’ extracted the data from one of the two Databases at FluWikie. Rudi was trying to determine Normalized Compression Distance, a modern more robust measure than normal multiple alignment like you get from BLAST in certain situations and more information about this is available from Paul Vitanyi on the FluWikie as well as the web or just search for/google Rudi's complete name which has a bunch of papers tagged along with examples. More importantly his measure is a lot easier to operate as it is essentially parameter-free and so is a good choice as a first approximation analysis of a medium to large group of samples of unknown relation.
On a final note, readers and bloggers are kindly requested to suggest Rudi a better group of 30 samples to use in order to provide and gain more insight (please email your suggestions to cilibrar at ofb.net) on the situation.

author: Angelo Embuldeniya


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Trinidad & Tobago: Prime minister wannabes & music · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Elspeth Duncan conducts the first interview in her “If I were prime minister” project, and concludes that she needs to make some adjustments to her questions and approach. Attillah Springer primes for writing an article for a UK publication by making a playlist of her top 11 jouvay tunes.


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Turkmenistan: Democratic Turkmenistan? · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

What do different theories about political revolutions tell us about the prospects for a democratic revolution in Turkmenistan? neweurasia explores the question. (For a discussion of these theories across Central Asia, see Registan.net.)


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Zimbabwe: MDC split · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

The Zimbabwean Pundit comments on the split in the Movement for Democratic Change (Zimbabwe's main opposition party) …”The struggle in the MDC is not about elections, it is a battle for the control of the heart and soul of the party. As long democracy is based on public sentiment, Tsvangirai will for sure win out this war.”


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Albania: Roads · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Our Man in Tirana reports that the roads in Albania are a nightmare and that there are no signs that things will improve in the near future.


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Americas: Coffee and Tequila · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Boz has an interesting collection of links related to coffee and tequila in the Americas. The good news for margarita lovers is that the tequila behind the bar should no longer be watered down.

author: David Sasaki


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Bangladesh: Fair And Lovely · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

mezba's blog on advertisements on the local Bangla channel, and a particular one that plays on the fairskin preference in the subcontinent.


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China, Korea: Mandarin Required · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

The Asia Pages asks: “Who needs to study Mandarin?”  While China's rise is important and far-reaching, she admits, Mandarin is difficult for Westerners to learn and Chinese in business meetings that she's attended in Korea have all said they would prefer to use English. “Even the translator messes up on the tones, completely changing the meaning of the conversation. But most importantly, both the Korean and Chinese sides speak English so why not just use the common language?”


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China: Two Rules When Dealing with China · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Angry Chinese Blogger discusses two rules when dealing with China — never put a Chinese in a situation where they will lose face and never insult Chinese culture — and applies it to China's refusal to give in to the EU's demand that it close its bear farms.


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DRC: Belgium · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Black Star Journal comments on objections to the trial of former Chadian dictator, Hissène Habré, taking place in Belgium stating “But if one is going to get outraged at Belgian hypocrisy regarding crimes against humanity, isn't it more compelling to invoke one of the worst crimes against humanity of all time? Specifically the horror of Belgian King Leopold's Congo Free State“


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Ethiopia: pro democracy movement · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Friends of Ethiopia wonders if the coming visit by US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs to Ethiopia and Eritrea is bad news for the pro-democracy movement in Ethiopia…..”” Washington's leverage over Ethiopia is a promise to help Meles deal with a turbulent political situation at home and to persuade European donors to give back $375 million in aid they withheld over an opposition crackdown last year,” writes Reuters….That's precisely what the US appears to be doing.”


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Ethiopia: Search for a port · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

The Voice of Somaliland Diaspora-Ottawa writes about Ethiopia's search for a port in Somaliland and Djibouti...””Ethiopian officials want an alternative port because they don't want to be fully dependent on Djibouti,” says an expert in the forwarding business. “If Ethiopia could use other ports like Berbera and Port Sudan it would have a better bargaining power in dealing with Djiboutian officials.”


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Fatwas and tragedies..in the Moroccan blogs · Global Voices
Farah Kinani

Last week was a very active one in the Moroccan blogosphere and e-debats went on about different subjects, and very interesting ones. The Moroccan bloggers talked, among other subjects, about the  hajj’s latest tragedy. They also discussed the recent Fatwa about the necessity of wearing underwears while..  making love!
The online Freedom..!
Following the wave of censorship that occurred lately in China affecting journalists bloggers, IBAHRINE writes about either or not the Internet companies need to be regulated to ensure they respect free expression. The author of A Meta Blog on Arab blogs thinks that there's a surface appeal to this proposal, and that the idea is impractical.
Which members of Congress does Reporters Without Borders propose to approach? The ones who might cause the technology execs to listen — in a Washington utterly dominated by people who favor business’ desires over just about all else — are the least likely to get involved. I doubt that Cisco's John Chambers, whose company is one of the primary enablers of censorship, would offer more than a tiny bit of lip service if, say, Zoe Lofgren (a Democrat who represents San Jose, Cisco's home town, in Congress) raised this issue.
IBAHRINE says that the very notion of governments telling companies how they must behave on matters of speech is worrisome in the first place.
The U.S. government is growing visibly hostile to the First Amendment even today, and America is heading in the wrong direction on free speech in a general way. Maybe we should tend to our own backyard before we tell our neighbor how to weed his garden.
Mena's tragedy
As I expected, many bloggers posted last week about the crush that happened during the stoning ritual on the last day of the Hajj and killed hundreds of pilgrims.
DB gave his post the title “362”  referring to the number of dead in that tragedy. And he  wondered if everybody had to do it the same time(French), since it's simply not feasible.
Karim says in a short but angry post about the tragedy, that it's another proof which shows that – what he calls- the third world  countries are not evolving the right way(French).
Fatwas..here we go again!
Sonia posted last week about a fatwa that considers  making love naked a sin(French).
Honestly, I think it's a stupid fatwa..a ridiculous and a useless one.
Sonia says that the Muslem thinkers have to focus on more important issues instead of loosing their time (French) and energy discussing such ridiculous details.
Reda was confused when he heard about the fatwa asking married couple to make love with their underwears. And he wonders in his post if those Islamic preachers have nothing better to do(French).
Reda was more amazed when he learned that there was another fatwa by the late Ayatollah Khomeini , himself,  authorizing transexuals to change their sex(French)…
Larbi posted about the iranian fatwa and as usual , it was interesting to go through the comments to his post (French). Of course, the e-debat didn't focus on the main subject posted by Larbi, and the comments went on a virtual trial of fatwas but what was really interesting is the fact that Larbi‘s blog  Comme une bouteille jetee a la mer ! became , for some days,  a real space for exchanging ideas and different opinions about Islam.
Bravo Larbi and one thumb up!
Coup de coeur
a to z blogging (French) is a very special blog, and its author posts about ideas that can make the blogs look happier. He explains with details how to use this or that command .He even gives more precisions when he answers the comments. I visit this blog very often and it's really a big source of informations for me.
You may want to give it a look, u'll like it.
Ma vie est un peu celle des autres (French)  is that kind of blog you feel good when u read its posts.
You always end up smiling, and sometimes you want to read the post-stories more and more. Selwa, and don't even call her Seloua, writes in a “sweet” way and funny too.
She even interacts with her readers by asking them questions and involving them in her posts. Ma vie est un peu celle des autre means My life is also other's life, in a way.
That’s it for this week. See you next Wednesday, Inshallah;)

author: Farah Kinani


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Guyana: Flood coverage · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

MediaCritic commends Stabroek News reporter Christopher Yaw for his coverage of the flooding and the plight of the residents in the Mahaica/Mahaicony area.


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Guyana: Visit to Iwokrama · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

VSO worker Michiyo reports on a visit to the Iwokrama Field Station in the Rupununi region of Guyana.


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Haiti: Child soldiers photo hoax · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Somebody seems to think the issue of child soliders is a joke. According to the Archivex Haiti Archives, photos of child soldiers, allegedly Haitian and “led supposedly by gang leaders who have announced that they will vote for René Préval,” have been circulating on the internet. The photos have been identified by the site admin at haitforever.com as having been taken in Liberia.


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Hungary: Nationalizing Organs · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Pestiside.hu reports that Hungary's health minister opposes the country joining Europe's organ transplant matching service, saying that he thinks Hungarian organs, “national assets” as he calls them, should only go to other countries in the rarest circumstances.


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India: Baghdadi Jewish Community · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Kamla does a podcast with the author of “Jewish Portraits:Indian Frames” –  Jael Silliman talks about the Baghdadi Jewish community of Calcutta. Once a thriving community in Calcutta, the Arab-speaking Jewish community has dwindled to a handful of people points out Jael.


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India: Bollywood’s Charms · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Dateline Bombay on how Indian Bollywood Cinema appeals to young Indian diaspora that connects to its “coolness” and the culturescapes that impact their tastes.


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Indonesia: Lobby List · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Yosef Ardi imagines the wish list of U.S. business lobbyists currently visiting Indonesia, beginning with No. 1: “Boeing: Sell more airplanes to beat Airbus.”


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Iran:No War!Peace Please! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

In Zemestan ( means Winter), blogger shares his feeling about peace and war. He says nothing is more preciouse than life (Persian) and a smile on a child's face. He remembers his experience of war ( Iran-Iraq war) where many young people were killed and their parents suffered. Zemestan adds some praise war but in thousands years war has not had a positive outcome.


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Jamaica: Arrests in Steve Harvey murder · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Andrés Duque  links to a Jamaica Gleaner report which states that arrests have been made in connection with the murder of AIDS outreach worker Lenford “Steve” Harvey. Harvey was abducted from his home by gunmen and shot last November.


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Jamaica: Restorative Justice · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Jamaica Express announces a lecture on Restorative Justice in Jamaica taking place on Thursday 19 January at the Ames Courtroom, Harvard Law School at 7:30pm. The event is sponsored by the Berkman Center and the featured speakers are Kevin Wallen, Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, and Courtney Kazembe, who, according to the Berkman web site, are “working with the government of Jamaica to create a program of restorative justice that addresses the problems that often arise when inmates are paroled. . . . The program seeks to constructively bring unresolved enmities to the surface and deal with them before parole.” The event will also be webcast.


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Jamaica: Robotics team wins · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Jamaican robotics instructor and pioneer Marvin Hall reports  on the Jamaican robotics team's experiences at the Northern California FIRST LEGO League, where they were the recipients yesterday of a Judges’ Award. The Jamaica team was the Caribbean's sole representative at the event.


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Kazakhstan: Opposition Leader Freed · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

James of neweurasia reports that Kazakhstan has freed a major opposition leader halfway through his jail term.


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Kenya: Returning home · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

The topic of returning home is currently popular in the African blogosphere.  Here ThinkersRoom writes an imaginery two week visit by a Kenyan to her/his homeland then goes on to discuss how things would change for the better if Kenyans began returning home and contributing to the building of the country” That the post got 73 comments shows how important this issue is to Kenyans and Africans in general.


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Kenyan: Childhood beatings · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Childhood beatings is the subject of KenyanMusings…commenting on her nephew who she describes as the “most spoilt child I know” and returns to his/her own childhood “I got beatings for screwing up. I got beatings, slippers, belts, sucker punches, water pipes, kicks and sticks, ngotos, hot burning ears and crying over beatings was simply asking for more.” She however insists that she was not abused.


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Malaysia: Kuching for non-Kuchingers · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Kenny Sia writes an introduction to where he lives — Kuching, in Sarawak, Malaysian north Borneo — for those who have no idea where Kuching is.


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Mongolia: New Agenda · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

…yuu bna? reports on the MPRP's (Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party) new agenda.


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Mongolia: Thoughts on Politics · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Chris Miller has some thoughts about Mongolia's political turbulence, including some observations that the situation is less dramatic than it is being portrayed by the foreign media.


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Myanmar: A Changeless Land · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

On the 120th anniversary of the beginning of British colonial rule over Myanmar, Burma Digest translates an article comparing military dictatorship and colonialism.  “How’s it different from today? Not much!” writes the author.


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Nepal: Is it safe? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Is Nepal Safe? - A blog that tracks safety issues like curfew time and violence in various places within Nepal has the latest on the status quo in the country.


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Nicaragua: Outsider’s Observations · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Jason Greving of Nicaragua Travels continues his cultural observations with three more notes. Rather than the North American “furrow of the eyebrows,” he says, “here the Nicas have the same concept, but they scrunch upwards with their cheeks.”


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Nigeria: Gbenga Obasanjo interview · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

The Nigerian media and blogs has been full of comments on the recent interview with Gbenga Obasanjo, son of the President, in  The News “interview”.  Here Gbenga of Oro blog points to one response “Well, you need to read the materpiece… quite revealing, and worthy of an additional category in my blog, “Naija Politricks” — which hopefully will become “Nigerian Politics” when the politicians of the New Nigeria appear on the stage with good governance on their shoulders. For now, enjoy Omoyele Sowore’s reaction”


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Northern Uganda peace process · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Uganda-Can writes that ignoring “Northern Uganda is not a coherent policy” and points to an op/ed in the Stanford Progressive that argues for more US involvement in working for peace in the region.


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Pakistan: Humanitarian Efforts · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Metroblogging Islamabad on humanitarian efforts in the cold – “Several days of heavy snow and rain that have badly hampered aid distributions in earthquake-affected Pakistan and grounded helicopters since 15 January, are also causing continued misery for survivors.”


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Paraguay: Rumsfeld to Visit Again · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Gilbert Ramirez links to an article which says U.S. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld will visit the country to “deepen the democratic processes in the region.”


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Peru: Festival of Blogs · Global Voices
David Sasaki

BlogsPerú has brought back the festival of blogs (ES) where one topic is chosen for all of the community to blog about. This festival's theme is “Blogs and Journalism,” which will be discussed until the festival closes on Friday. A summary of the discussion will be published.