text:
Reforming Philippine Elections · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

While top election commissioners in Thailand accused of manipulating electoral results are now in jail, not a single Philippine election official has been convicted for electoral fraud or corruption.
Philippine electoral system is one of the most inefficient in the world. It would take more than a month before results can be known after election day since counting of votes is still done manually.  Transmission of election returns from municipal level to the province capital may even alter electoral results.
Resolving electoral protests can be very expensive and may drag for many years. There are cases when the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) will announce that the incumbent mayor, councilman or Member of Parliament are not the real winners in the last elections after these officials have wrongfully assumed their office for almost three years or just a few months before the scheduled next elections.
The political crisis in the Philippines today is largely due to the allegations that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cheated in the 2004 elections. An audio recording of a conversation between an election officer and a woman believed to be Arroyo herself was released to the public last year which triggered mass rallies calling for the President’s resignation.
While criminal charges have been filed against the election officer, the case is moving too slowly because of the perceived bias of the prosecutor handling the case at the Lower Court.
In a bid to overhaul Philippine elections, Senator Richard Gordon is pushing for the modernization of ballot-counting technology. He wants the Philippines to seriously study the “fast and efficient counting of electoral ballots in India.”
ComelecAKo defends the COMELEC, its policies, programs and even the embattled election commissioners. However, he is also an ardent supporter of genuine electoral reforms.
A new initiative in the blogosphere to reform Philippine elections is BotanteKAMI. Its avowed aim is the following:
This is dedicated to the idea that is dedicated to the idea that elections belong to the people. Here, we can share information about how to take back control of elections by increasing the pro-activity of our participation in elections, improving voter vigilance, and increasing the accountability of election administrators.
Carl Marc Ramota points out the paradox in the partylist system; where millionaires instead of the poor are elected as partylist representatives in Congress.
The COMELEC Online Press Room provides the official position of the election body on different issues.

author: Mong Palatino


text:
Russia: Amber Room · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Copydude writes about Kaliningrad and the mystery of the Amber Room.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Veronica Khokhlova


text:
Russia & Armenia: Discriminatory Hiring · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Nessuna reports on anti-Armenian discrimination in hiring for jobs in Russia.

author: Nathan Hamm


text:
Russia: Kremlin’s Big Fish Fishing · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Yuri Mamchur of Russia Blog writes about the current regime's idea of fishing: the “big fish” are Mikhail Khodrkovsky's former business partner Leonid Nevzlin, currently based in Israel, and two London residents – the “oligarch” Boris Berezovsky and “the so-called ‘Foreign Minister of Ichkeria’ Akhmed Zakaev.”


text:
Somalia, Ethiopia: Mystery plane · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Reject the Ethiopian Invasion! picks up on reports of a mystery aircraft which landed at Mogadishu, rumored to be carrying arms from Eritrea. “The last thing Somalia needs is more arms,” the blogger writes. There is also part of a transcript of the U.S. State Department media briefing which dealt with Somalia, Ethiopia and the plane.

author: Luisetta Mudie


text:
South Africa: World Cup 2010 · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

“We, as Africans should not under-estimate the pessimism, especially in Europe, that surrounds 2010 FIFA World Cup scheduled for South Africa,” writes Matters of the Mind.


text:
South Korea: no-fta · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Media cultural action (a Seoul based independent media activist group) has put up the “no-fta” demonstration video in July 12, 2006 with english subtitle on their website.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Taiwan: corruption · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

FLD from China Times wonders how president Chen Shui-bian would response to the recent accounting department report on the president house national secret expenses (zh). The report was released yesterday: 77% of the expenses was without standard record.  The case is now filed at the department of justice.


text:
Tajikistan: Intellectual Development · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Vadim discusses why Tajikistan placed last in intellectual development amongst post-Soviet states on the World Bank's knowledge index.


text:
Thailand: Pad Thai Pho Noodles · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Manivan Larprom in her Thai Lao Food Blog has text and video instructions for preparing Pad Thai Pho Noodles.

author: Preetam Rai


text:
USA: Ukrainian Sunflower Festival of Detroit · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Greg of Reflections on Ukraine writes about the Ukrainian Sunflower Festival of Detroit, scheduled to take place Aug. 25-27, 2006.


text:
Venezuela: El Conde del Guacharo · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Both Miguel Octavio and Francisco Toro try to help their readers understand the candidacy of Benjamín Rausseo, better known as “El Conde del Guacharo.”

author: David Sasaki


text:
Voices from the Caucasus · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Russian tourists rest in the shade in the Novy Afon (New Athos) monastery near the capital of the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia – by eurutuf
What follows is a roundup of notable blog conversations from the Caucasus that took place over the last week. For a change, how about we take you through the countries in reverse alphabetical order?
Georgia:
The breaking story at the beginning: Georgia seems to be stepping up its efforts to re-incorporate the breakaway province of Abkhazia into its fragile state and Sean-Paul Kelley  gives some great background at Registan.net to a conflict that has long been in the making. In contrast to the Black Sea province of Adjaria, it seems that Abkhazia won't give in without force. How will Abkhaz backer Russia react? Matt Jay has more on the story and reports that a warlord from within Georgia took refuge in Abkhazia today. Is this the casus belli? Susan of Sueandnotu brings it straight to the point:
A fascinating spectacle is unfolding in the wild, uncontrollable west of the country where parliamentarians and well-coiffed ministers are squaring off with warriors and wise men from another time. It's as perfect an illustration as you could ask for of the whole untamed spirit of this place in the modern world; at times wearing modernity like an ill-fitting suit.
Moving on to the bright side of life, Breed is chased off at gunpoint in Georgia. To all our relief, he's only acting:
Some time ago I was approached to act in a soap opera. I had all the attributes they were looking for – I’m a guy, I’m an American, I’m (relatively) young. The role I’m playing is one of… a young American guy. So far so good.
Susan is about to pack her bags and leave Georgia. Quite sad actually, as her stories always presented a refreshing alternative to at times all-too-serious blogging from the region. One of her latest encounters took place on the steps in front of her apartment, where she investigated the source of a strange noise:
But here, one of the explanations you can't rule out is that it's a bunch of men who have inexplicably deposited upon your steps two wooden barrels holding baby bears, and that they have decided to have an impromptu supra above them.
Back to some more serious news of this week: Georgia's problem with rampant corruption seems to be getting better, thanks to reforms of President Saakashvili, which Vasili describes on neweurasia. Now, says Nathan of the Registan, it is crucial for Georgia to institutionalise these reforms.
Azerbaijan:
Breed has another fantastic story, this time on a textbook post-Soviet conspiracy revolving around the murder of a newspaper editor in Baku last year. The order to kill him came from high up in the Azeri government, as was only revealed this week. Go read the whole post for some James-Bond-style investigative blogging. In what is a regional post about redrawing borders to make the Middle East a more peaceful place, Sabbah discusses a hypothetical proposal that would let Azerbaijan incorporate large areas of north-west Iran, home to a large Azeri minority. A specialist blog on wine informs us that a French company wants to plant large vineyards in Azerbaijan, a country not renowned for its vino. Yet. Now that wine from neighbouring Georgia is banned on Russian markets, maybe Russians will switch to Azeri booze instead? Denise of neweurasia writes about the omnipresence of former President Heydar Aliyev and concludes that ‘all roads lead to Heydar’.
In between Armenia and Azerbaijan lies the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Brendan Hoffmann maps the long-lasting conflict from a different perspective. Beyond the sabre-rattling rhetorics coming from both Armenia and Azerbaijan, he has a closer look at an unrecognised republic that could be proud of its achievements, but has to be afraid of once again becoming the arena of a nasty war between two rivalling nations.
Armenia:
The fact that there are large numbers of ethnic Armenians in Lebanon has made the Armenian government issue a blanket invitation for all Lebanese caught in the sandstorm of bombardment, reports Onnik in his first roundup of the Lebanese-Armenian blogosphere. Meanwhile, the Armenian blogosphere is discussing the national holiday of Vardavar, an occasion used to douse complete strangers with water. On Onnik's Oneworld blog, you can also find pictures of this wet celebration from last year.

author: Ben Paarmann


text:
Zimbabwe: The Royal Mugabes · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

The Bearded Man stands amazed as Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe gives the office of president something of a face-lift, endowing it with what looks a lot like the trappings of monarchy.


text:
Afghanistan: Religious Police · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Azad Afghan says it is a terrible news that Afghan government decided to create a religious police [Fa]. The blogger adds Afghanistan had already suffered a lot because of religion.

author: Fred Petrossian


text:
African innovation: hi-tech roads · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

African Architecture & Design writes: With soaring global temperatures, “bitumen based roads seem not to be as durable because of their low melting points, although concrete is a better alternative to bitumen/asphalt, it is however more expensive to construct with.”


text:
Americas: BlogHer · Global Voices
David Sasaki

As the BlogHer conference approaches, Liz Henry takes a look at what Spanish-speaking bloggers have to say. Also, an introduction to more women bloggers from Ecuador and Mexico.


text:
Argentina: Syrian-Lebanese Club · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Robert Wright posts a photo of a notice hanging outside the Syrian-Lebanese Club of Buenos Aires, which he translates for readers.


text:
Bahamas: Goodbye, British Honours list?  · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Nassau Bahamas Vacation reports briefly on the plans afoot in the Bahamas to abolish the British Honours list: “Her Majesty will no doubt let her views be channeled through her own discreet diplomats at some stage.“

author: Georgia Popplewell


text:
Bangladesh: Persecution of the Sufis · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Sadiq Alam on why the Sufis were persecuted through history. “Because sufis often speak against injustice in the name of religion, they often speak against unjust rulers, they often speak against the unjust social practices.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


text:
Bolivia: “Did Evo Really Blow It With The US?” · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Boli-Nica asks if Evo Morales ruined the new bilateral understanding between Bolivia and the US established by visiting Vice-President Alvaro Garcia Linera.


text:
Call Centre Blues · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Spice Bear tries to clean up after an electric storm hit her computer:  “Five minutes later, he gets back and tells me to press the f10 button repeatedly. and to make sure that it's more than once. by now i'm about ready to blow but i don't want to be put on hold forever and or


text:
Cameroon: Cooperative dairy · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Timbuktu Chronicles reports on the Tadu cooperative dairy in Cameroon.


text:
Chile: Broadband for All · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Mary Joyce has  translated Atina Chile's “Broadband for All” manifesto to English.


text:
Comic Strips and Blogs: Not Everything is Text · Global Voices
Jorge Gobbi

Usually, blogs are associated with written text. But for some time now, an interesting transformation is taking place in the blogosphere, and the methods used are more varied. In Argentina, comic strip blogs are becoming more common and many times they're made by people with trajectory in low circulation magazines. The phenomenom even has an aggregation blog, Historietas Reales (ES), which reunites a series of strip cartoonists who also have their own blogs.
The idea behind Historietas Reales is simple: they are the authors’ personal stories, which anchors topics to everyday life situations. From Monday to Friday, two strips are published, while on Saturday and Sunday three strips are published. This project has the participation of Federico Reggiani and Fran Lopez on Autobiografo (ES); Fabian Zalazar on Yo conmigo; Diego Agrimbau and Dante Ginevra on El Asco; Andrés Biscaisaque and Hernán Cañellas on Martini Seco; Mr. Exes on El gabinete de Mr. Exes; Ernán on Como me hice rico y famoso; Ángel Mosquito on Granjero de Jesú; Clara Lagos on Clarísimos días; Rodrigo Terranova on La Divina Oquedad; Carolina Moadeb on Indecentemente Cursi; Max Aguirre on Los resortes simbólicos; Andrés Iommi on Mis problemas con los cómics; Z.A.P. on Quien es Z.A.P; Kwaichang Kráneo on La Cárcel de ocho huesos; Marco Guzmán on Jorgete y sus amigos. The idea to reunite them all on one single blog is great, since it lets readers follow them more easily and at one specific location. Especially for now, those users are still in a minority.
La semana onirica also is collective blog that features dreams as a main topic. Everyday new stories are published, except on weekends.
Another group of strip cartoonists that keep a collective blog is reunited under the name “Mama, soy famoso” (mom, I'm famous). In this case, there isn't such an obvious theme as in Historietas Reales, so there's a wider variety of topics, but it always emphasizes humor.
Historietas Aquelarre is a blog made by three cartoonists: Caio di Lorenzo, Federico Baert and Marcos Vergara. They define their project as “an anthology of strip comics made from 1990 to now, by the three most ignored artists in history on a last attempt to be discovered by a “Maecenas”.
On a similar line of Historietas Reales, with autobiographic stories, there is Liniers: Cosas que te pasan si estas vivo (things that happen when you're alive), by an Argentinean cartoonist very popular for his work in La Nacion newspaper, where he publishes his strip comic “Macanudo”. And Esteban Podetti, a cartoonist with a long legacy in comic books in Argentina, has a blog where he mixes humor and drawings, and that is published in the Argentinean newspaper Clarin under the name of “Yo contra el mundo” (me against the world).

author: Jorge Gobbi


text:
DRC: Last Minute Campaigning  and Complaining · Global Voices
Alice Backer

As Sunday's presidential election approaches, and the campaign period closes today, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) bloggers chronicle last minute campaigning and complaining by some of the 30 or so candidates and other actors.
Candidates’ Backgrounds
Prince du Fleuve du Congo continues a debate with Christian Geraud about Joseph Kabila and the merits of the many allegations that question the candidate's nationality, his filiation to Laurent Kabila and other outstanding questions on his background.  The blogger posts Christian Geraud's latest email debunking the various allegations. Geraud generally believes that there are not enough facts to substantiate the various rumors about Kabila:
Est-ce vrai que Kabila avait incarcéré son épouse, est-il vrai que Joseph Kabila l'en avait sorti et est-il vrai que c'est Joseph Kabila qui avait déconseillé à son père de se rendre au sommet de l'Union Africaine. (…) Rien qu'en examinant ces trois premières questions, je constate qu'ils n'y a aucun fondement sur les faits avérés et donc c'est tout à fait normal qu'il n y ait de réponses pour elles.
Light in the Heart of Darkness chronicles some of the last minute moves of other candidates, including Bemba's walk from the airport to Kinshasa, and his decision to start a fire near his own campaign headquarters to burn the belongings of squatters camping near it. In the process, she provides some background on the candidate. She also tells us about Ruberwa's whereabouts.
More and More Candidates Skeptical About Process
Le Blog du Congolais notes that a growing number of candidates are denouncing irregularities and wonders why they waited until the last minute to echo some of the gripes that Union pour la Democratie et le Progres Social  (UDPS) leader Etienne Tshisekedi had all along:
En moins d’une semaine des élections, aux 19 candidats, récemment réprimés sur le boulevard du 30 juin, s’est ajouté le très modéré Z’AHIDI Arthur NGOMA, vice-président du Congo en charge du social, qui dénonce une parodie d’élections et réclame, à la place de cette mascarade électorale, des concertations pour crédibiliser un processus qui a tout l’air d’être conçu pour le triomphe d’un candidat désigné d’avance ailleurs qu’au Congo.
Il convient aussi de relever les menaces à peine violées  de Jean-Pierre BEMBA, l’autre vice-Président en charge de l’économie qui avertit qu’il ne se plierait, en cas de défaite, que devant un scrutin transparent.
Il est fait état, dans les milieux proches du Dr Kashala, de Pierre Pay Pay et de Diomi, trois autres  candidats à l’élection présidentielles des entraves leur posés de la part des autorités portuaires et aéroportuaires, qui seraient instrumentalisés par Kabila, non seulement pour le dédouanement et l’acheminement de leur matériel de propagande, mais aussi pour leur déplacement en provinces. Une situation que même la MONUC se borne juste à déplorer.
Avec tous ces entraves aujourd’hui déplorés, la découverte des 5 (7.5, 10 ??) millions de bulletins de vote supplémentaires non signalés par Malu Malu, l’abbé président de la commission électorale dite indépendante (CEI), les réponses alambiquées sur la localisation du serveur et les programmes informatiques utilisés, les 216 bureaux de votre fictifs signalés par le quotidien Le Phare, … tous se rendent compte, encore une fois, alors que le vin est tiré, que comme toujours, Tshisekedi, avait vu juste. L’exigence de requalification de cet homme, coupable d’être toujours en avance sur son temps, n’était donc pas une bouderie de plus.
Endorsements by Religious Communities
Despite the trend towards candidates complaining about irregularities, religious institutions are officially backing the electoral process according to The Salon :
It seems as though the Catholic church has given a very cautious backing to the electoral process, thus making it the last religious community to do so. (…) The Catholic Church counts 50%+ of the Congolese population (the largest Catholic communty in Africa), thus making it one the most influential, and certainly the most organized institution in the country. Its backing of the process is therefore crucial to the credibility of the polls.
Earlier in the day the Islamic and Protestan communities, as well as the non-denominational Christian “awakening” churches had already given their approval, and called on all Congolese people to vote massively.

author: Alice Backer


text:
Georgia: Abkhazia Tensions Rising · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Matt Jay and Sean-Paul Kelly report on the rising tensions between Georgia and the separatist region of Abkhazia.


text:
Haiti: 1941’s Port-au-Prince · Global Voices
Alice Backer

From Port-au-Prince, Marcel Salnave posts (Fr) an article written by his journalist father of the same name in 1941: “our capital is embellishing under the welcome influence of urban planning. Gardens designed according to the demands of art have replaced almost everywhere our empty lots and where weeds once existed, there are now only shrubs with soft branches and ornamental plants sculpted by landscapers. All  surrounded inevitably by lawns.”


text:
India: At the Haji Ali Dargah · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Ultrabrown has a wonderful photo-post on one of the landmarks in Mumbai, the Haji Ali Dargah.


text:
India: First a blackboard, then the laptop · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Atanu Dey on why One Laptop Per Child isn't the right solution to India's education issues. “Attention and funds need to be directed to those issues first before one starts buying laptops by the millions. Fact is that we need basic education (literacy, numeracy, etc) and secondary education.”


text:
India: The terrorists within · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Gaurav comments on one of the sentiments in the Indian blogosphere which appears to celebrate Israel's hardline approach in Lebanon. He reminds us that the terrorism within the country is of far more importance. “But until that day, make your peace with the fact that on an average, the most daring thing an Indian politician will ever do will be introducing newer reservations and/or boldly take the fiscal deficit where no FM has ever taken it before.”


text:
Indonesia: New English Daily · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Unspun reviews the newest English language daily in Indonesian market. The paper is produced by a business group called Jababeka. “If the Jababeka group wants to run its own newsletter then they should just get a blog, a website or print out a newsletter. To dress it up as a newspaper and pretend it is one while a large portion of what it does is hagiography of the Jababeka idols is silly, wasteful and will not win the paper respect or readers.”


text:
Iran: Does Ganji want to preach?  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

In Pouyashome, we read that Akbar Ganji, dissident journalist wants to be considered as a  journalist and a political activist.The blogger says contrary to our expectation,Ganji  likes  to preach about religious world and some other general or so called philosophical issues rather than discussing specific political problems.The blogger reminds us this is not only Ganji's behaviour but Khatami, former President, a few years ago in an interview with CNN reacted in a same way and talked about history rather Iran's position in international relations [Fa].


text:
Iran: Khatami writes letters too! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

In Iraneno we read that Mohammad Khatami, former President wrote a letter to several important political, religious and academic personalities such as Nelson Mandel, Kofi Annan and Noam Chomsky to condemn Israel and war in Lebanon. In blog we read that Khatami considered Hezbollah as a legitimate resistance in Lebanon and Israel as the most important anti peace force in Lebanon and Palestine [Fa].


text:
Iran: Stop Stoning · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Sologen has given a link to a petition to save an Iranian woman from death by stoning. We read in this petition we are deeply concerned that Ashraf Kalhori, a 37-year-old mother of four, has been sentenced to death for having had an extramarital relationship. We are further concerned that she has been sentenced to death by stoning.


text:
Kazakhstan: Nuclear Age · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia reports on Kazakhstan's entry into the nuclear age, the construction of several nuclear power plants in partnership with Russia.


text:
Malaysia: Mace Attack · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir was attacked with mace today at an airport. The attacker was one of the 1000 people gathered to welcome the former Prime Minister. Ktemoc Konsiders blog looks at different versions of the incident.


text:
Mexico: Poll Numbers and Teachers Strike · Global Voices
David Sasaki

It's Friday! That's right, time for Boz's famous poll numbers, wherein 48% of surveyed Mexicans believe there should be a recount while 53% believe that Calderon won the election. Lopez Obrador isn't among them, however, says Ana Maria Salazar: “After López Obrador proclaimed himself the winner of the presidential election; Felipe Calderón said that no one should be deceived with such authoritarian attitudes.” She also gets readers up to date on the teachers’ strike in Oaxaca as does Mark in Mexico, who says that striking teachers are intensifying their blockades.


text:
Nepal: Another Round Of Talks · Global Voices
Paramendra

The Nepali blogosphere is agog on the impending talks between the Maoists and the seven party alliance.
United We Blog has a few stories:  Maoists Quibble Over Returning Seized Property,  Nepal Peace Process: All Eyes On Friday High Level Meeting,  Spring Thunder In Nepal…Glorious But Inconclusive-II,  Nepal Budget: A Few Numbers and Maoist Disagreement,  Independent Army (Nepal Army Behaves Like Parallel Government),  Nepali Village Story: Maoist Lock House, Parents Kicked Out, Son Leaves Army Job.
“Dari katera aayeko dekhda pharkelan jasto lagdaina” [Seeing them coming clean shaven, I feel that they will not return back to Jungle.] …. a boy named Aasish threw those remarks which I remember every time I see clean shaved Maoist leaders Prachanda, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and Krishna Bahadur Mahara.
INSN has posted two interviews with Dr. Baburam Bhattarai from other sources. Bhattarai is one of the top two Maoist leaders.
We wanted full democracy to be enjoyed by the vast majority of the people; basically the downtrodden poor people, women, Dalit, oppressed nationalities, Madhesis…….. Our ideology is not that dogmatic and rigid. Our ideology is a science, which has to develop according to the demands of the 21st century. As they say, Marxism is not a dogma but a guide to action………Our insurgency or our movement was totally independent and totally homegrown. We did not seek any support – physical or material – from anybody else……… the US makes statements – very unwarranted and disturbing statements – …….  Things have changed but Moriarty seems to be sticking to the old mindset of the Cold War era. ……. Arms will be laid down only after the election of CA. Before that nobody is going to lay down their arms – neither the Nepal Army nor the PLA…….. In every place including South Africa, Latin or Central America or Northern Ireland, none of the conflicting parties have laid down their arms before the final political settlement……… Nepalese economy is already in private hands. Ninety-five percent of economy is in private sector. So, there is no question of privatization, it is already privatized…….. I think within few weeks, we will be able to have interim constitution.
Democracy For Nepal (DFN) has proposals for federalism and an interim constitution.  DFN talks of an Interim Monarchy, Interim Army, Interim Parliament and of April Revolution, April Convention.
Both DFN and Samudaya have extensive photos from the ANA Convention, dubbed the largest Nepali event outside of Nepal. Sarahana Shrestha of Samudaya talks of the Indian author Arundhati Roy.
Asking what was the right thing to do in a democracy, in which an armed dissent is crushed by military power and unarmed dissent simply ridiculed and brushed aside, Roy confessed her depleting faith in democracy itself…….. It takes one leader to take a country back by decades.
Madhesi: United We Stand has an article by Dr. Govind Shah on Social Inclusion of Madheshi Community in Nation Building. Reason And Revolution says it is good that the Chinese and the Maoists are finally talking. Random Jottings is concerned about the Nepalis stranded in Lebanon.
There is a news piece on BBC News Online titled “Stranded and scared in the war zone”, which reports the plight of Nepalese stranded in Lebanon and the lack of support for them from the Nepalese consulate there, and the fear of one Nepalese worker, Gopal Ghimire, of dying in a foreign land.
Blogdai is ever so pessimistic of the chances of the peace talks.
The Maoists will break off peacetalks sometime between now and Dashain.  Madhav Kumar Nepal will align himself directly with Maoist philosophy. Old man Girija Koirala will die within a year. Sujata Koirala will assume the prime ministership. The current Koirala parliament will never hold an election for anything. Paras, not the King, will go into exile. The RNA will allow Maoists to seize government before they act. James Moriarty will resign as U.S. ambassador within 9 months. India will not act against any Maoist coup attempts, attrocities or actions in Nepal. China will ally with the guns and tacitly support the Maoists. ……. Some fun, eh? blogdai has been batting a little better than average in the prediction department, so look out Nepal, chaos is on the way.

author: Paramendra


text:
Nigeria: Political murder · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Even sadder and more depressing than the Middle East, writes UKNaija, “is the news of the brutal callous murder of Funsho Williams, the grey bearded affable engineer who had consistently for the past ten years made no secret of his ambitions to rule Lagos State.” Taurean Minx also shares her reaction.


text:
Pakistan: What Musharraf should do · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

All Things Pakistan on political advice to Musharraf and sensing the pulse of the blog's readers through a little vote. “It seems like everyone has an opinion on what Gen. Musharraf should do about the 2007 elections and the question of ‘removing’ his uniform.”


text:
Russia: Andrei Sychyov’s Case · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog posts an update on Andrei Sychyov's case and writes about cruelty in the Russian army.


text:
Russia: Chavez in Russia · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Yuri Mamchur of Russia Blog writes about the visit of Hugo Chavez to Russia.


text:
Russia: Kaliningrad Travel Restrictions · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Copydude writes about travel restrictions for Kaliningrad residents: “As fast the Berlin Wall came down, the EU has been building it back up. You can’t paint nice murals on the Fortress Schengen wall, but it’s just as effective at keeping people in.”


text:
Russia, Ukraine: Stories About Words · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Below is the translation of three stories about words: in the first one, they are being banned; in the second, they offend; in the third, there aren't enough of them.
LJ user plushev, a Russian radio journalist, writes (RUS) about the government's attack on the name of the controversial National Bolshevik Party (NBP):
All words, words, words
These people are for some reason afraid of words. […]
The Federal Registration Service has asked RosOkhranKultury [Russian Culture Protection Department] to punish the mass media that cover NBP. On what grounds? Because when they call NBP a party, these mass media are spreading false information, since NBP isn't registered as a party. According to this logic, those who aren't members of the Writers’ Union cannot be called writers. By the way, I still remember that this is exactly how it used to be in the Soviet times. But what's most interesting is that folks at RosOkhranKultury are totally confused themselves:
RosOkhranKultury recommends calling the National Bolshevik Party of the Bolsheviks “the party that calls itself NBP.” […]
So is it a party or not? And is [the RosOkhranKultury representative] spreading false information by calling NBP “a party that calls itself NBP”?
I asked [Eduard] Limonov [leader of NBP] today why there is such a fear of words – maybe he, as a literary master, has an idea. He said that history doesn't know a single case where something ceased to exist after a forcible extraction of the word [its name] from the lexicon.
In fact, everything has been turned upside down. Here's what false information regarding NBP's status is: “NBP party registered by the Ministry of Justice.” The rest has been made up, but no one cares, and that's why, beginning today and until the cancellation of this piece of paper, you won't hear the words “NBP party” on the air (including our station, though on others these words are rarely used now anyway). But please be sure that plenty new constructions will be coined (I've offered “non-party NBP” and “the Party That Can't Be Named”). This, of course, is good for the NBP party, which considers itself a party, but which cannot be called a party. Ministry of Justice ([Federal Registration Service] is its department) couldn't have made a better present to Limonov – awesome advertisement.
But still, why such a fear of words?
***
qopqop: I'm surprised by something else. The readiness of the mass media to follow idiotic orders. Everyone thinks this is idiotic but all are eager to play along. Officials aren't allowed to use the word ‘dollar’ and here's [German] Gref [Russia's Minister of Economics] looking like a “clown of a federal level” at a government meeting when he says “non-rubles.” Idiocy must be ignored simply because of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech. Or a lawsuit should be filed. But when even [the Echo of Moscow radio station where LJ user plushev works] obeys, I don't even know what to say.
plushev: If you don't know what to say, don't say anything.
vika_1_2: The Soviet Union also doesn't exist anymore. How are they going to punish for mentioning it? […]
klober: This is absolute, pure paganism, where words are meanings. Pagan women are not allowed to say the names of male gods and fertility spirits. Children are given names at birth but throughout life they are called something else, in order to deceive evil spirits.
***
LJ user otar (Otar Dovzhenko) writes (UKR) about how a TV journalist-turned-politician hurt the feelings of some of his new parliamentary colleagues by using a synonym of the word “Homo Sovieticus“:
When he was introducing a draft (don't remember which) from the parliamentary rostrum, head of the freedom of speech and information committee Andriy Shevchenko [member of Yulia Tymoshenko's Bloc, not to be confused with football star Andriy Shevchenko] used the epithet “sovkove” [derivative of “sovok“] to describe some aspect of our television.
This has caused the “Bolsheviks” to protest. Representatives of the three factions took turns demanding that Shevchenko respect other people's views and not offend what they hold sacred.
In particular, a representative of the Party of the Regions noted that “our people were born in the Soviet Union and one shouldn't offend their Motherland.”
[…]
***
LJ user lucysd writes (RUS; warning: contains a graphic photo) about how, allegedly, members of the Pora party ran out of words and used feces to punish a young man who claimed at a press conference to have been stood up on a promise to be paid for living in Pora's tent camp at Kyiv's Independence Square:
Contemporary Ukraine: Arguments and Facts
Today [Pora members] poured shit over a guy next to the UNIAN [news agency]. Literally. Out of a pail.
Regardless of whether he deserved it or not, this gesture, imho, expresses very vividly the state of affairs in Ukrainian politics.
[Graphic photo and news story text omitted]
P.S. I've just imagined how [head of Pora] Kaskiv […] orders Pora soldiers to go inside the tent and come up with a pail of the weapon of contemporary proletariat (or intelligentsia?). […]
***
b0ris: The weapons befit the war.
aier: Would be nice to do this to all parliamentarians from the Party of the Regions […], Communist Party and Moroz's Socialist Party – and, ideally, to all who voted for them.
zgollum: I don't see why this shouldn't be done to all parliamentarians in general.
do_: The weapons befit the people, yes.
lucysd: I wouldn't generalize like this :) More like, the weapons befit the army :)
djushes: It'd be interesting to read about it in some English-language media. Any links?


text:
Trinidad &  Tobago: FTAA · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

With the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) practically a “dead duck”, Jeremy Taylor suggests that Trinidad & Tobago remove the sign at the airport proclaiming the country “the natural home of the FTAA secretariat”.


text:
Ukraine: Blog in Ukrainian · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user laset (UKR) has launched a free WordPress blog service for those who would like to blog in Ukrainian.


text:
Ukraine: Waiting for Yushchenko · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dan McMinn of Orange Ukraine posts a brief update on Ukrainian politics and offers a few apolitical links.


text:
Uzbekistan: Privatization · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Ben Paarmann discusses plans for land privatization in Uzbekistan that, he says, will not likely do much to improve the economic situation in the country as it will not include the privatization of agricultural land.


text:
War in Lebanon and Privatization  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

The Lebanon war is still hot news in Iran and Iranian bloggers talk about it. By reading some blogs we discover a very original approach to protesting against war, taking place in Tehran.
Demonstrating with George Habash photo
Nasle Farda writes about an original demonstration in Tehran against war. The blogger writes 70 to 80 people demonstrated in Park Vali Asr in Tehran against war in Middle East and all over the world [Fa]. Most of these people wore red T shirts with Bread, Peace, and Freedom slogan on them. They did not chant death to this or that country .The blogger says
بر روي اين پارچه سرخ به زبان فارسی و همچنین انگلیسی  نوشته شده بود كه جنگ بر ضد انسانيت را متوقف كنيد نكته ديگران  كه عكس هايي از كشتار مردم و  ويراني هاي جنگ در میان تجمع كنندگان ديده مي شد همچنين عكس هايي از جرج حبش و ديگر رهبران چپ گرايي فلسطيني در ميان تجمع كنندگان به چشم مي خورد. در این تجمع ضشعاري سرداده نشد و تنها پلاكاردهايي با اين مضامين :
كارگران تل آويو با اعتصاب خود ماشین جنگي اسرائيل را فلج كنيد
دستان هاي امپرياليسم از خاورمينه كوتاه. نان صلح آزادی.
The blogger says after 50 mintues the demonstrators ended their protest by singing the Internationale.
Arousak Kooki talks about some reactions to this demonstration. One person said it is not our problem but it is an Arab problem [Fa]. Another one asked which war you are talking about. Another guy who looks like a Hezbollah guy says we should not expect peace. We should strike back when somebody attacks us. The blogger says it was a peaceful demonstration but when they sang Internationale a couple of policemen appeared and asked us to go home.
Lessons for Iran
Zharf says Iran and Iranians can learn lessons from the Lebanon conflict. The blogger thinks what happened to Lebanon can also happen to Iran in a USA invasion [Fa]. The blogger says
The blogger adds like Hezbollah the Iranian state is isolated and looks at events through an ideological window.
Abbas Abdi, a reformist politician, considers Hezbollah after this conflict or a cease fire can not be as strong as it was before. The blogger says public opinion, wrong or right, will consider Hezbollah responsible for all the damage in Lebanon. Hezbollah can not operate anymore in a favourable political environment [Fa].
Beyond international events several bloggers have discussed the Iranian Leader's decision concerning privatization of a very important part of Iranian economy.
Privatization: why now?
The Iranian Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, ordered that 80% of State run economy  should be privatized according to the Constitution. Several bloggers talked about this surprising decision and each look at this privatization issue from a different angle.
Hanif says Ahmadinejad used to give slogans against privatization and had made obstacles for third development project for Iran. But the leader now gave an order for massive privatization. The blogger says now we should wait to see how Iranian President will react [Fa]. Will he offer this privatization to revolutionary guards and Basij, an islamic paramilitary force, as usual? Several industries and enterprises such as huge Steel factories, banks, and insurance companies will be privatised .
Sibestan says it was unexpected decision and he does not understand why it was taken at this time. He asks if any friends who are economists could explain the political consequences of such privatization  [Fa].
Privatization: Who pulls the strings?
Aljenab Sorkhpoush thinks that Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is behind this decision. The blogger says the Iranian President used to talk against privatisation and even promised to bring back some privatized industries to Iranian nation (government) [Fa]. He concludes “I will bet after this day Ahmadinejad will praise privatization and how is related to justice”.


text:
A Big Laugh in Venezuela · Global Voices
Iria Puyosa

Venezuelans will be holding the funniest elections in the country history. Entertainer Benjamin Rausseo, better known as Er’ Conde del Guacharo (Count of Guacharo), announced this week that he will run for President.  Rausseo is Venezuela’s most popular comedian, and he has no political background. His character is a working-class man from the northeastern part of the country (by the Caribbean Sea), bearing stereotypical traits such as being a lazy deadbeat and womanizer; he talks in coarse language, and doesn’t care much about either public affairs or family values. Originally, the character satirized negative traits associated to Venezuelan folks, but surprisingly the audience found the character quite affable, and most people liked him.
Rausseo got extensive TV coverage for his announcement to run for President, much more than any other presidential candidate so far. His campaign is taking advantage of the Internet, and includes a weblog, an online forum, and a network of bloggers for Er’ Conde.
Chorro de Escape highlights the Conde’s efforts devoted to gain support from internet users, especially from bloggers, and the “tsunami”   in favor of the comedian aspirations.
No se si me equivoco, pero primera vez que un candidato presidencial se ocupa tanto de la gente que esta en internet, especialmente de nosostros los blogeros y la respuesta que ha recibido ha sido “un tsunami” como dijo el, muchisimos blogs ya se estan uniendo, los medios lo estan apoyando muchisimo, porque el Conde ahora tiene mucho que decir.
Topochoblog compiled a large list of bloggers’ reactions to Rausseo’s Presidential aspirations.
Many bloggers show enthusiasm with Er’Conde, like Lilibeth who says,
Entre tanto desbarajuste político yo prefiero morir de Risa que morir de hambre y miseria!
Not without some embarrassment, some bloggers say that they may end up voting for Rausseo. Regardless, Venezuelan politics has become a slapstick comedy.
The second most popular reaction is cynicism.
los políticos venezolanos, sin haber estado jamás en un escenario, suelen dar más risa que er Conde, aunque es una risa agria.
On the contrary, Chavista bloggers are having a big laugh, like Alex  who says, “this is the funniest episode of Venezuelan political history.”
Lobo Hombre gave another twist to the case. He argues that Rausseo is unraveling the absurdity of VEnezuelan politics.
Lo que el conde está haciendo acá (repito: genialmente) es poner de manifiesto en nuestra propia cara lo ridículas, viscerales e irreflexivas que son nuestras posturas políticas
Maybe, Lobohombre is right.

author: Iria Puyosa


text:
DRC: Documentary Video  · Global Voices
Alice Backer

The Salon posts a french-speaking video-documentary  covering the last 6 year's events including the 6-day war between Rwandan and Ugandan armies, the assasination of Laurent Kabila and the promise of elections.


text:
DRC: Election Survey Results & EUFOR Crash · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Extra Extra  posts results of a DRC election survey he conducted from his blog (most respondents thought the election would take place without major disruptions) and explains that yesterday European Union Forces “managed to crash an unmanned drone into a residential area, injuring four and destroying a house.”


text:
DRC: Human Rights Watch Election Concerns · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Human Rights Watch  outlines human rights concerns that might impair the fairness of elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo tomorrow.


text:
Iran: No bombs on Tehran! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Visible Track has published a photo of Tehran at night and says I could not imagine a day that my dear Tehran being bombed or destroyed like Beirut!


text:
The Week That Was in Bahrain · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

With the Middle East literally on fire, Bahrain bloggers have naturally turned their attention to reporting and commenting on the latest tensions in the region.
The most comprehensive and ‘juicy’ stories, backed with videos and voice clips, are found at Haitham Sabbah's blog, who is battling two fronts, reporting to us the latest atrocities on civilians in both Palestine and Lebanon.
A cleverly compiled post entitled “Did you know“, gives us a chilling insight to issues, one never imagined could happen in this day and age.
“Did you know that 87 percent of Lebanese support Hizbullah’s fight with Israel, a rise of 29 percent on a similar poll conducted in February. More striking, however, is the level of support for Hizbullah’s resistance from non-Shiite communities. Eighty percent of Christians polled supported Hizbullah along with 80 percent of Druze and 89 percent of Sunnis,” writes Sabbah.
Well, if you didn't, now you know!
In another post this week, Sabbah shows us how Hizbullah not only has the Lebanese rallying behind it today, but also British MP George Galloway, who announced to a cheering crowd, that Hizbullah was “never a terrorist organisation.”
For the faint of heart, the blog is flagged with a slide show, featuring graphic photographs of this war's latest victims – innocent children whose lives were snatched before their parents’ very eyes, with most of the ‘civilised’ world sitting back and watching the terror without even lifting a finger.
Like it or not, this gruesome presentation of maimed bodies, speaks volumes at a ‘visually-prejuidiced’ age where a photograph speaks a 1,000 words.
And why are all those children dying, you may ask? Silly Bahraini Girl found the answer in an article she posted on her blog entitled Blood in Beirut: $75.05 a Barrel.
That is cheap.. but not as cheap as the Saudi donation to Lebanon, which Mohammed Al Maskati describes as pocket change.
“Saudi Arabia on Sunday donated $50 million to Lebanon….Let’s carry out some math here, since the Lebanese-Israeli conflict raised earlier the past oil prices sky-rocketed the per barrel intra-day for September delivery hit a new high of $78.18 on the ICE Futures Exchange in London yesterday (I came across reports that expected oil touching the barrier of the $85 by the end of summer) from an earlier $74 this pass week, multiply that by the Saudi crude oil production capacity of around 10.5-11.0 million bbl/d,” writes Al Maskati.
In another post, Al Maskati aptly sums up his feelings of disgust at the state of sudden “dumbness” which has gripped the Arab world:
“The Arabian Silence: Not surprisingly the Arab coward regimes stood still to witness the butchery of the Lebanese people, the amazing silence still manages to capture my attention. Hezbolla doesn’t need money or artillery but we Arabs still fail to even support them sensitively,” he writes.
To shed light on Al Maskati's state of confusion, Manama Republic explains:
“Turning-in the other cheek is best left to Arabs.
“Speaking of which, one chosen newspaper of the chosen people may have been truthful in reporting that a leading Arab leader had called a Chosen Prime Minister to urge him to keep up the good work. The speed by which the normally lethargic Larger Kingdom reacted to the break of hostilities is both bewildering and suggestive. It is either a new found Washingtonian efficiency -in the person of Prince Bandar- has inched closer to the ears of his uncles than originally thought, or that the text was readied a long time beforehand.”
Food for thought??

author: Amira Al Hussaini


text:
Bangladesh blog buzz · Global Voices
Rezwan

The latest happenings in Bangladesh related blogs around the world:
* Society: The filming of the award winning novel ‘Brick Lane’ by Monica Ali  has been stopped in one location in London, UK under protest from the local Bangladeshi community.  Monica Ali's writings have created much controversy and were accused for stereotyping Bangladeshis in UK . Razib Rashedin discusses the issue in details.
Drishtipat has more on this issue.
* Politics: Drishtipat laments on the decaying dignity of the politicians and the state of Bangladeshi politics.
Tasneem Khalil posts a brilliant article analyzing the upcoming Bangladesh elections and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism (causes and consequences).
* Technology: Rajputro tells about the advent of the electronic marketplace over the mobile phone in Bangladesh.
* Censorship: Rajputro reports that the information ministry of Bangladesh has suddenly shut down thirteen popular satellite channels including ESPN, Star Sports, Ten Sports, HBO, Zee TV etc. creating much outrage among the viewers.
* Religion: Sadiq of inspirations and creative thoughts discusses the guidance provided by scriptures of different religions concerning vengeance and retribution.
* Music: Kazi Rubayat Imam informs on the publishing of the much awaited debut album of the emerging Bangladeshi underground rock band Arbovirus.
Dipu has the history of Bangladeshi rock bands.
* Middle East crisis: Krishnokoli discusses among other things who's fault the war is anyway.
Mezba raises a few questions on the evacuation.
* Tourism: Estonian Kristel Kadak posts some glimpses on Bangladesh in words and picture.
* Interview: Professional Bangladeshi blogger Razib Ahmed (SouthAsiaBiz.com and IndianRaj.com) got interviewed by the Blog republic. “Positive attitude towards blogging is a must if you want to survive and grow” says Razib who has gained much attention within a few months.

author: Rezwan


text:
China and South Korea: whose cultural heritage ? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Richardson in Korea Liberator blogs about the potential debate between China and South Korea concerning Mt Baedu (or Changbaishan in Chinese pronounciation) as China has decided to register Mt. Baekdu on the World Geopark list designated by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).


text:
China: Tangshan earthquake · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joel Martinsen in Danwei attemps to explain why the Chinese Government spent so much effort to commemorate the Tangshan earthquake. “To some extent, it is this determination, and not the tragedy itself, that is being commemorated today.”


text:
China: the chinese blog guidebook · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jason Li introduces the newly published chinese blog guidebook titled as Everyone Plays with Blogs.


text:
DRC: Carefully  Hopeful · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Echoing the optimism of another US-Based DRC blogger,  The Salon writes (Fr): “The elections have finally begun. Though there are justified worries about the election's transparency, this is a a historic experience on this vast land which is as large as Western Europe. As a Congolese, while keeping a sane dose of carefulness, I rejoice in the fact that my compatriots can experience this long awaited process.” The blogger  also posts links to media that are covering the blow-by-blow of the event today.


text:
DRC: Counting of Ballots Has Begun · Global Voices
Alice Backer

The Salon writes: “Counting has begun in many voting stations in the Eastern part of the country, which is an hour ahead of Kinshasa, and the West. Radio Okapi's live service is reporting an estimated level of participation that is higher than 70% in most of the stations that have started counting.” The blogger also reports on some trouble in East Kasai, Etienne Tshisekedi's stronghold and on threats by certain voting center workers who want to get paid before they resume counting.


text:
DRC: Optimism on Eve of Landmark Election · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Foli Kat, a new blogger based in the US, has been following Global Voices's coverage of Congolese bloggers writing about the July 30th election and has a very different perspective from the largely pro-opposition bloggers highlighted in my previous posts.
Foli Kat writes that whatever their shortcomings, these elections are an important first step for building a new democracy:
Quelque soit le nombre des irregularites, puisque le peuple congolais est pris en otage il y a pres de 4 decades, l'homme congolais devrait se passer des ambitions personnelles et aurait le devoir de porter l'interet de toute la nation sur sa tete. Notre petite constitution garantit deja un certain degre de controle et de balance entre les differents organes. Comme notre democratie n'est qu'a son enfance, allons aux elections, elisons les leaders qui en sortiront meme si le systeme a quelques erreurs, nous avons tout le temps a les corriger aussi longtemps que nous restons vigilants. Batissons ce beau et geant pays au coeur de l'Afrique. Aidons notre peuple a retrouver sa liberte et sa dignite humaine.
And in response to several Congolese bloggers’ repeated accusations of election irregularities and criticims of government treatment of opposition candidates and protestors, he has this to say:
Dans la democratie, on doit faire une difference entre une manifestation pacifique et l'autre qui devient toute suite desordonnee et troublante. A chaque fois que les militants de l'UDPS marchent, ils finissent souvent a semer le desordre–attacker tout celui qui a des idees differentes des leurs, casser tout ce qu'ils rencontrent le long de leur marche,… Ce comportement, meme si on n'est pas partisan de ce qui assure l'ordre public est condamnable et doit etre contenu…pour le congolais agir dans la democratie c'est rouler a tombeau ouvert sur une autoroute qui n'a pas de code de conduite…
Concernant les irregularites denoncees dans l'organisation des elections du 30 Juillet 2006—personne ne peut affirmer qu'il peut y avoir des elections nulle part au monde sans qu'il y ait quelques defaillances ici la.
Meme dans les vielles democracies comme aux USA ou je vis depuis plus de 20 ans, nous avons encore en memoire l'image tarnie des elections de l'an 2000—Bush avait arrache la victoire a Al Gore au vu et au su de tout le monde. Jusqu'a ce jour je doute que mes deux choix faits en 2000 et en 2004 auraient ete pris en compte par le serveur qui les capitalisait. A New York, au bureau de vote tu trouve les noms des candidats groupes en democrates, republicains, et independants. Pour faire ton choix, tu dois bouger une petite manivelle a cote du nom du candidat jusqu'a placer un X sur le carre a cote de son nom–Comment est ce que je sais que mes choix n'ont pas ete pris en compte—parce qu'en 2000 comme en 2004, mes X ne se sont pas loges exactement dans les carres, j'ai meme du appeller la dame qui surveillait la machine pour m'en rassurer. La pauvre dame ne pouvait rien pour moi. Alors j'ai remis les manivelles a leurs positions originales et j'ai essaye celles du cote republicain, mon X s'est exactement loge dans le carre a cote du nom de Bush!!!!–des ma sortie, j'ai dit a ma femme que ces machines ont ete manipulees et mes choix ne seraient pas comptes comme autant les choix de tous ceux qui ont rempli leur devoir d'electeur a de telles machines manipulees.
Concerning the alleged irregularities in the organization of the July 30th 2006 elections–no one can claim that there are elections in any part of the world without some problems here and there.
Even in old democracies such as the United States where I have lived for more than twenty years, we still have the tarnished image of the 2000 elections–Bush stole Al Gore's victory right in front of everyone.  To this day I doubt that the votes I cast in 2000 and 2004 were counted by the person adding them up.  In New York, at the polling place, you find the candidates’ names grouped [by party] into democrats, republicans and independents.  To make your choice, kyou must move a little lever next to the name of the candidate just to place an X in the box next to their name – How do I know that my votes were not counted–because in 2000 as in 2004, my X was not placed exactly in the square.  I even called over the woman supervising the machine to make sure.  The poor woman could not do anything for me.  So I pushed the levers back to their original positions and I tried the Republican side.  My X was placed exactly in the square next to Bush!!!–after I left, I told my wife that the machines had been manipulated and my vote would not be counted just as the votes of all those who fulfilled their duty as voters at machines that had been similarly manipulated.
These conversations are part of an ongoing debate on the upcoming elections.  (For more see: “Elections, Mining Corruption, Peacekeepers & More,” “Coup Attempts and More Questions on the Upcoming Elections,” “As Elections Approach, the Congo’s Bloggers Discuss Recent Violence, Media Repression and the Limits of Foreign Aid,” “Last Minute Campaigning and Complaining,” and other posts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo)

author: Jennifer Brea


text:
DRC: Voting At Last · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Extra Extra  writes: “It has been a beautiful day here in Kinshasa, and the atmosphere has been very peaceful and more friendly than usual wherever I’ve gone. (…) The officials at the voting centres are doing a good job, helpfully explaining what to do. (…) There have been a few instances where people arrived to discover that someone else had voted in their name. Just an honest mistake, one has to hope. Most people had voted by 4pm, remarkably.”


text:
Food Blog Report #26 · Global Voices
Melissa De León

#1: From Denmark, KristianPetersen.com and his original "Peach, chili and garlic soup with chicken"
It´s essensial for a starter to have a great, not to spicy taste, to be light, and be able to make the tongue´s taste system ready for something with more taste, flavour and with more density. The special thing about this soup is that you wil have the sweetness from the peaches, the spicy from the chili, and the tense garlic taste from the garlic (of course).
This soup is a it states is a little out of my own rules, but if you´re a great chef, you will be able to get the taste of the chili not to be so spicy. Head over to his blog and get the recipe now!
#2: From Little Town in Hungary, a photo blog with a world of flavor! Learn about "Local Produce,"  and the all time favorite snack "Langós"
Fresh from the Sunday market, Lángos (pronounce Langosh) , the all time favorite breakfast/snack of people here (and whole of Hungary).
Lángos is dough deep-fried in oil (i saw one recipe on line which uses lard ..hope it's not true :s) . Spread lángos with some crushed garlic, sour cream and grated cheese …most delicious !! but, i like mine simple just with a little garlic! It's a shame that the snack is not as famous as Hungarian Goulash and paprika ;) Take a look at the tasty photos now!
#3: From Canada and Germany, Deetsa's Diningroom on her "Travels to Alsace and Southern Germany, Part I"
As you exit the catherdral, there are a number of little restaurants you can patronize in the church square for lunch. We chose ‘Aux Armes de Strasbourg’, a brasserie. Here I experience my first taste of Franco-Germanic food. I wanted to taste regional things on the trip as much as I could so I had a ‘jambonneau’, ham section on bone, while the men shared a large dish of choucroute (Sauerkraut with meat, meat and meat). The ham I had was not bad but I just loved the mustardy potato salad with it. It balanced the meat taste really well. I tried a bit of the sauerkraut and still found it a bit to strange for my liking yet. I even allowed myself to sip a tiny bit of the beer the Frog was swooning over and found it didn't actually make me regurgitate like most beer. Continue reading and get the complete report and gorgeous photos…
#4: From  Australia and the U.K., Daydream Delicious on  a delicious recipe to prepare "Hot Ginger Juice."  This is the perfect homemade remedy to fight a nasty cold.
I was not a happy girl when I got home 25 minutes later. Straight into the shower I went, clothes in washer, and thoughts of magical ginger juice cheering me up. This natural juice, taught to me by Nerida (my brother's girlfriend), is a wonderful remedy when I feel a cold coming on or a bit down in myself. The health qualities of ginger are widely know and when teamed with lemon and honey a more soothing concoction can rarely be found. It's so good infact, that it's been known to completely prevent me from being sick. This remedy comes highly recommended. Get the complete story and the priceless recipe…
#5: From Stockholm, Sweden, Anne's Food:  an incredibly easy and delicious recipe to prepare "Banana Bread," and "Peach Ice Cream"
#6: From Panama, Heidibella in the Tropics shares a great idea for a quick lunch or dinner: Faster than Take-out!
We had Ramen Shrimp Pouch for dinner tonight. The is the perfect Monday night meal after a
weekend of pigging out like…well…pigs. It took me less than 15 minutes to put it together and after 15 minutes in the oven…voila! Better than take-out and so light and flavorful. The steam from the broth cooks the noodles and the shrimp perfectly. I couldn't find any mirin so what I did was I found a stir-fry sauce that had sesame oil and soy sauce already in it and just mixed it with the broth. Give this a try…it's fun! …Get the tasty recipe HERE!
#7: From Kitchen Culture,  or what happens in a Moroccan-French-Canadian woman´s kitchen: Veal Brochettes, Faux Parathas & French Style Asparagus…wow, what a menu!
Last night there has been a bit of unvoluntary novelty with the "faux-parathas". I already made 3 or 4 times Meena's "Alu Parathas". They are so easy to prepare and really a delicious alternative to plain bread. That's what I wanted to make for supper, only to find out there were no potatoes left. I already did tell my sons I was making them. They were impatient to grab some right out of the cast iron pan and eat them as soon as possible at the cost of potential tongue burns. I didn't want to endure the storm of protest which would certainly happen if ever I told them there would be no parathas.
I remembered the paneer parathas offerings at my favorite Indian restaurant in Paris, but since paneer isn't a staple in my fridge (yet) I decided to use feta cheese mixed to a paste with the usual suspects for "chermoula", a Moroccan marinade. I'm happy to report the inspiration was good.
#8: The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz shares a recipe to prepare a Puerto Rican delicacy: Pastelon de Platano (Ripe plantain Pie)
“You scored a 10 on this,” my sister said as she reached for seconds of the Ripe Plantain Pie I’d made for dinner. If I scored the food on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the highest mark, like my sister, I’d give it a ten, too. The pie tasted very good.
Regular readers know from past posts that my all time favorite food is plantain.
I developed the taste for plantain as a youngster in Africa.  Although my favorite way to eat plantain is in its plainest prepared form (kelewele), I like that there are different plantain recipes.  Depending on the country, there are several ways to prepare it…Continue reading this post and get the recipe HERE!
#9: Notes from Spain:  Cuisine from Spain, podcast No. 10 Grilling!
The Catavino crew come round for some serious grilling (that’s Barbequing to us Brits), while we chat about grilling culture in Spain and abroad, fine Spanish wines, why Spanish ingredients are so good, and Marina tells us about two great summer salads. This podcast goes hand in hand with the almost simultaneously recorded podcast over at Catavino radio, where we do some serious wine tasting before the food chat here gets underway.
Have a delicious week!

author: Melissa De León


text:
Hong Kong: Richard Li · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Martinoe comments that even though Richard Li (Tycoon Lee Kar-shing's son) is able to purchase the liberal intellectual Chinese newspapers, Hong Kong Economic Journal, some young progressive columnists will probably leave and the original readers community won't be the same anymore.


text:
Martinique: Plane Crash Aftermath · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Bien Vu writes (Fr):”It's been more than 8 months since 152 Martiniquans died in a crash in Maracaibo [,Venezuela]. Since then, talks at cross-purposes between the Association aux Victimes du Crash Aerien [association of victims of the aerial crash] (AVCA) and the Brazilian insurer of West Caribbean Airways who cannot seem to agree on the amount of indemnification for the victims’ loved ones. (…) the insurer's lawyer has started a case-by-case determination. (…) But how much money is that much pain worth? (…) who can declare that this person or that person is worth more than others?”


text:
Reunion, USA: From Maryland to Florida · Global Voices
Alice Backer

US-based Reunion-born blogger Reunion-USA2 discovers (Fr) cultural differences between Maryland and Florida:”My husband is happy in Florida: no more politically correct here! When he goes out with colleagues, they all drink beer –in Maryland, nobody drank during work hours so as not to be labeled a drunk. Yesterday they had their cake and ate it too by having lunch at Hooters.”


text:
South Korea: fan death · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Robert Koehler in Marmot's Hole blogs about the urban legend of “fan death” in South Korea:  Can you really die from falling asleep with your fan on and your windows closed?


text:
South Korea: green tea · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Sanshinseon in Marmot's Hole blogs about the recent Tea World Festival in Seoul and gives the readers some background about Korea green tea culture.


text:
Tahiti: Miss Bora-Bora Contest · Global Voices
Alice Backer

From Tahiti, Jean-Marc posts (Fr) pictures of the Miss Bora-Bora contest.


text:
Albania: Reactions to the Sunday Times Article · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

annabengan of annasblog reposts the Sunday Times Magazine's article on Albania, and the “official reply/explanation from the chief editor of Sunday Times.” annabengan's Albanian friends thought the article was “fair” – while her non-Albanian friends considered it “bad journalism.” One reader wrote: “[…] if this were written about a poor decrepit black neighborhood in a ghetto somewhere, it would not have been as condemning or condescending; there would have been at least a little understanding of why the squalor is so present and a bit of compassion for the people trapped in that cycle.” Our Man In Tirana links to other responses that the article has received.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


text:
Argentina: SosPeriodista · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Franco Giménez introduces (ES) SosPeriodista (ES) (“You're the Journalist”), a new citizen media space based out of Córdoba.


text:
Armenia: Hye Superstar · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Zarchka reports on the outcome of “Hye Super Star,” Armenia's version of “Pop Idol.”

author: Nathan Hamm


text:
Azerbaijan: Oil · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

At neweurasia, Delia explores whether oil revenues will be good or bad for Azerbaijan.


text:
China: reticence: would-be lesbians, corporate executives and urban journalists · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Ever wonder why there was no male version of 2004's smash television phenomenon Super Girl? While a lesbian conspiracy might have made for better Communist Party PR positioning than news of yet another great initiative cut down by state censorship, super-adrogynous and super-popular Super Girl winner Li Yuchun‘s queer image did at lot to help turn female homosexuality from a taboo subject into something people, albeit mainly young, idolize and, as seen in a post this past week from Ycul blogger MJ, sometimes even fantasize about:
几年前,我去过一个拉拉聚会.要解释一下,并不是我喜欢女人,那次是和另两个女朋友去的,她们一个是写论文研究这个的,另一个和我一样,是去看热闹的.全场只有我们几个,不属于这个团体,纯是好奇.
当时我有少少的沮丧,因为没有拉拉看上我啦.被男人看上没什么可炫耀的,被女人看上才有成就感!成就感!!!!人活着难道不是为了自我实现麽?拉拉喜欢的要么是很帅很阳光的,要么是很媚的,像我们这种没有特点\没有姿色的,只好做壁花了.
虽然有过女人喜欢我,但完全是因为这个博客,这种喜爱是建立在灵魂领域的,比如某篇文章让她们想起了她们前男友什么的,和肉体无关.可是我多希望有女人喜爱我的肉身,而不只是轻飘飘的灵魂呀.
这贪婪的欲望居然快要实现了.三年过去了,今晚我接到一个电话,居然来自那个远得已经要忘掉的聚会!一个拉拉要和我约会!我已经被这个消息快震到晕过去!上帝呀!居然有女人能看中我这没有一丝帅气和妖媚的沉重的肉身.不是因为看了我的文章,而且过了那么多年!这说明什么?说明我飘乎的身影一直萦绕在她的心间.不过我也怀疑她可能给所有与会的人都打了电话,但是为了多自我麻醉一会,这个假设在这里不成立.
我第一时间把这个消息告诉粲然,她没有用震惊\骇极\羡慕\流口水表示对我的敬佩,我觉得很不满足.我活了这么多年,第一次能被女人看中,值得纪念的一天!
PS:一直有个疑惑,我觉得同志比异性恋更好找才对,不应该在陌生人中寻觅的.比如我,不可能对一个认识的异性表白,怕丢脸.但对同性应该很容易,尤其是女性之间,怎么表现亲热,勾脖子\亲脸,都不会有人怀疑的,这种日常生活中培养的感情难道不比陌生人更有基础吗?
PS: All along I've had a hunch that queers make for better dating than heterosexuals. People shouldn't look for dates among strangers. I, for example, could never speak openly with someone I know of the opposite sex, would be too afraid of losing face. But it should be quite easy with someone of the same sex, especially between women: expressing intimacy, putting arms around each others’ necks, kissing each other on the face, all wouldn't arouse others’ suspicions. Wouldn't the love fostered in this kind of daily life be more fundamental than that with a stranger?
More on media management and PR spin, MindMeters.com blogger Fang Jun looks at how one spokeswoman from Sohu.com handled questions regarding the major Chinese search engine's profits following this year's World Cup, and links it to the messy showdown between Google and Chinese search engine Baidu in:
“这些是公关数字，不是投资者关系数字。”
搜狐CFO余楚媛在发布财报的分析师电话会议上的回答太强悍了，回答分析师对之前搜狐所说的世界杯收入的具体数字，她回答说：“这些是公关数字，不是投资者关系数字。”
ThinkEquity Partners的迈克尔·张的提问：“我们已在新闻中看到，世界杯相关的营收额达人民币3000万~5000万元。你能详细说明一下吗？换句话说，世界杯的营收对第二季度的贡献有多大？”
搜狐CFO余楚媛回答：“我想，世界杯带来的营收额外增量，我不想给出绝对数字，根据GAAP准则，分摊在第二、三季度的营收额外增量大致是200万美元，分摊在两个季度里，你在新闻中看到的实际上都是非GAAP数字，包括折扣和税费在内的总额，这些是公关数字，不是投资者关系数字。”
因此，在我们今年初签署的框架协议之外的营收额外增量大约是200万美元(基于GAAP会计准则)。
张朝阳： 额外增量(Incremental)的意思是，完全由世界杯产生的广告营收。
公关数字，有特色，哈。
与百度CTO刘建国关于google抄袭百度的说法有得拼：
如果要说抄袭，其实Google也抄袭了我们很多东西。比如相关连锁，我们是拼音连锁可以翻译成汉字，他们后来也学习了。我们有新窗口打开功能他们没有，他们后来也学习了。从这个意义讲，他们也是抄袭。不过我们尊敬Google，觉得搜索业界应该朝着培育市场的方向努力。
Sohu CFO Yu Chuyuan answered, “While I think the World Cup brought about increased earnings, I don't want to give an exact number. According to GAAP criterion, earnings for shares in the second and third quarters increased by approximately USD two million. The shares in the two quarters, what you saw in the news are in fact non-GAAP figures, including discounts and taxes on the total amount. These are PR figures, not investor relations figures.”
Therefore, aside from the framework agreement signed early this year, extra increased earnings amount to roughly USD two million (based on GAAP accounting criterion).
Zhang Chaoyang: What extra increase means is advertising earnings completely brought by the World Cup.
PR figures, quite special. Ha.
Worth comparing to what Baidu CTO Liu Jianguo had to say about Google copying Baidu:
If we're going to talk about copying, then actually Google has copied many things from us. For example, our respective links. We've made romanized links translatable into Chinese characters, and later they learned this too. We had ‘new window open’ function before they did, and later they learned this too. Speaking of the significance of this, they are also copying. However, we respect Google, and feel that the search engine industry should be working hard to look in the direction of market development.
Several days ago news surfaced of a violent riot between protesting factory workers in the southern Chinese factory-laden city of Dongguan and police. Here is what neighboring Guangzhou-based blogger-journalist X Marden had to say:
纪念的权利
晚上接报料：东莞桑园工业区亨利美尔敦玩具厂外来工抗议资方超时工作非人待遇发生冲突，多名外来工死亡，几十人被捕和失踪。
我还不知道这位报料者身份，但似乎他已经给我手机打过几次报料电话了，前两次都是深圳外来工遭遇暴力事件。我所能做的，就是把新闻线索提交给珠三角新闻编辑部，只是面对这样血腥的“群体性事件”，记者是否会去现场采访？如今形势之下，报道一般是无法见报的，更糟糕的是，记者在场也会被当作新闻单位违规的例证。
又是东莞，又是血案。东莞似乎是一个火山口，外来工权益遭侵犯的现象严重，这种情况是否还会继续被漠视？
顺便说说，刚好看到本报后天上市的特刊《东莞外来工报告“丰碑”》。说实在，“丰碑”这两个汉字看起来有些刺眼。这个词汇通常被用来形容革命烈士，外来工已经成了“烈士”，但是革命？这是他们奢望却难于被承认的权利。
附录梁文道先生的一篇纪念文章，未删节版。
I still don't know the identity of the person who sent me that, but it seems he's already rung my cell phone several times to give me news tips. The last two times were when migrant workers in Shenzhen met with violence. All I can do in response to these bloody “mass incidents” is to pass the scoop onto the Pearl River Delta news editorial department. Will reporters go to the scene to cover it? Under the current situation, the report would pretty much never get printed. The worst part is, journalists at the scene will also be considered examples of news workplaces breaking the rules. Again, Dongguan; again, a bloody case. Dongguan seems like the mouth of a volcano, with the serious phenomenon of migrant laborers’ rights being infringed upon; will this situation just continue to be ignored?
By the way, just happened to see that the day after tomorrow my newspaper will have a special feature ‘Dongguan Migrant Workers Report a “Monument”‘. To tell the truth, these two characters ‘monument’ [丰碑], are glaring to eye. This term is usually used to describe revolutionary martyrs. Migrant workers have already become ‘martyrs’, but revolutionaries? In their wildest wishes, but yet, also their hard-earned right to be recognized as such.

author: John Kennedy


text:
Czech Republic: Moravian Folklore · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Bored in Brno posts a report from the 49th “annual celebration of local music and folklore in the town of Velka nad Velickou in South Moravia”: “Being a Czech festival, the beer flows liberally. Despite the higher elevation, the region can still sustain some grape cultivation and there is a culture of wine making, though it is not as strong as in other areas of south Moravia. There is no shortage, as well, of liquors distilled from plums (slivovice), apricots, peaches, pears, walnuts, and herbs.”


text:
DRC: Post-Election Roundup · Global Voices
Alice Backer

“A Peaceful Election”
Congolese at the polls. Photo by Federico, courtesy of Extra Extra.
By and large, the voting has ended in the DRC, according to The Salon:
With the exception of the three towns that had to continue/report the voting for today, due to numerous arsons (Mbuji-mayi, Mweka and Mwene-ditu), all the voting stations have closed, and most have already finished the counting processes, and published their individual results. However the Electoral commission have put a moratorium on partial results, to allow the 3 aforementioned towns to vote without undue pressure.
Extra Extra writes:
All the people who were quite coy in recent weeks when asked whether they would vote are now coming up to me with a grin to say proudly ‘Moi, j’ai voté hier’ (I voted yesterday). One added that when standing in the queue, she told a man off for telling his wife who to vote for.
There were some caveats however as the blogger explained:
There have been a few instances where people arrived to discover that someone else had voted in their name. Just an honest mistake, one has to hope. Most people had voted by 4pm, remarkably.
The Salon  had explanations for the incidents that did get reported:
The reported incidents were in Tshisekedi's stronghold. These were people decided to stop the polls from going forward.
In a post significantly titled “Peaceful Elections”, Friends of the Congo echoed much of what The Salon and Extra Extra had to say:
The Friends of the Congo observation delegation in Kinshasa reported that the voting in Kinshasa was peaceful as it was in much of the country. The main disturbances took place in the Kasai province where supporters of Etienne Tshisekedi boycotted the elections and prevented voters from going to the polls. Tshisekedi's supporters set ablaze trucks carrying ballots as well as polling stations. The Independent Electoral Commission had to extend voting to a second day in Kasai because of the disruptions on Sunday.
My Heart's In Accra  counted the election as one of the UN's low-profile successes.
Alleged Kidnapping of Candidate's Security Guards by Kabila
On Sunday, Friends of the Congo wrote:
The Friends of the Congo were contacted (…) from Kinshasa by one of the presidential candidates, Alafuele Mbuyi Kalala of the Rally for a New Society. Dr. Kalala shared with us that Kabila’s Special Presidential Security Group (GSSP in French) kidnapped his press secretary, Mr. Jacques Mampembe and his special assistant, Mr. Kalengi Kasyui, at 4:50 P.M. Kinshasa time.
Dr, Kalala said that two presidential guard vehicles without licence plates pulled up to their car and snatched his two campaign staff persons from the car; dr. Kalala was not in the car at the time. Dr. Kalala said the elections were plagued with a tremendous amount of irregularities, nonetheless “they [Kabila’s government] will have to kill all of us to steal the elections.”
Dr. Kalala calls on the United Nations and the international community to call for the immediate release of Mr. Mampembe and Mr. Kasuyi.
The Count
Extra Extra  speculated on the count  to come:
This may well be the high point of the whole process. The count will take a long time (several weeks), and unless communication efforts improve dramatically, speculation, rumours and suspicion will abound concerning what is going on behind the scenes.
The Salon also looked to the process of tallying results:
Everybody is waiting for the results, and the waiting is very tough. People are very apprehensive of the various reactions after the results are announced, so this period of incertitude is a very tense one. We are still monitoring the Net and Radio Okapi to let you know as soon as there are news. Note however that the final results will only intervene on August 31st, and we will only be able to give tendencies. So far, participation in the East seems to average around 80%+. Not bad, no?
In response to a comment to his blog, The Salon further broke down the counting process and the technology behind it:
Each station has an average of 600 voters, so that goes quite fast. They are sending the ballots to 62 computing centers, all over the country. And there the centers will computerize the data, and send them to a central server. But they are sending preliminary messages by cellphone messages.
According to Friends of the Congo:
The results from the elections will not be finalized for three weeks. Although, preliminary results may be released in days. Should there be a second round, the Electoral Commission has announced that it will take place on October 29, 2006.
Lingering Opposition Skepticism
Says Friends of the Congo:
Members of the opposition maintain their position that there were a lot of irregularities and let it be known that should Kabila win in the first round, the country will become ungovernable. There is still a strong belief that Western governments and corporations strongly back Kabila.
French-speaking DRC-based opposition bloggers were by and large quiet throughout the weekend and while Philippe Liondjo of Prince du Fleuve du Congo did post today, it was to (Fr)  continue pre-election debates about candidate and interim President Joseph Kabila's background. Today's questions had to do with Kabila's education, namely whether he holds a law degree from a Washington University and if so, whether that degree is more than  B.A.


text:
Georgia: Kodori · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Vasili Rukhadze has a detailed and informative post on Georgia's recent capture of the Kodori Gorge from a rebel warlord, noting the significance of the event in Georgian and regional politics. He says that Georgia's success mark the beginning of a new era in Georgian politics.


text:
Georgia: United National Exams · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Ana praises Georgia's new higher education entrance exams, which are designed to limit opportunities for corruption and ensure that students entering higher education institutions are adequately educated and prepared for higher degrees.


text:
Indonesia: Chinese Valentine’s Day · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Indonesian blogger Christine Susanna Tjhin, currently a student in China, talks about the traditional Chinese Valentine's Day. This year, the day falls on 31 July.

author: Preetam Rai


text:
Iran: Batebi was arrested · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Ikna, Ahmad Batebi, activist student was arrested again [Fa]. Batebi had already spent six years in jail to participate in a student protest movement. His wife  is going to start a hunger strike in front of United Nations office in Tehran.


text:
Iran: Velayati meets Fisher · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Dr.Velayati's followers, Joschka Fisher, former German Foreign Minister will be in Tehran for two days conference on Iran-European Relations in Strategic Centre [Fa]. Fisher is going to meet Akbar Velayati, Leader's adviser on Foreign Affairs.


text:
Kenya: Mourning a father · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

“Next year will be 25 years since you were shot ruthlessly and left to die in some ditch,” writes Farmgirl to her much-missed father. “Oh just want to tell you that Raila and his cronies plotted the whole coup thing that led to your death…I wish he would say sorry to the many families that lost loved ones. Daddy I wish he would just take a minute and say he is sorry that I grew up without you.”

author: Luisetta Mudie


text:
Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome · Global Voices
Salam Adil

With all the war and suffering I just don't feel like blogging. But todays post is important and I feel it is my duty to write it.
If you read no other blog post this week read this
Caesar of Pentra writes of the numbing pain and screaming anger at the loss of his close friends to the random violence in Iraq:
Then I decided to call Baghday’s dad again waiting for more good news about his progress!
But I was surprised when an unfamiliar voice answered
Me: “I’m just asking about Baghday, how is he?!”
The Guy: “I’m his cousin, Baghday has donated his life for you!” which means that Baghday’s gone!
I can’t remember then but a loud sharp wailing screech.
I didn’t imagine that I could cry on someone like that. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t study, I couldn’t stop weeping and I couldn’t stop that desire of cutting ma self again!
The more blood the more relief. … Isn’t there any moment of silence? Won’t you stop this blood flood? I hate you, Iraqis! I hate you, Iraq! I hate you all! …
Once, ma mom said: “I’m not Iraqi, I’m Italian! Because in Italy I felt that I was a real human and such land deserves to be your homeland and to consider yourself as a one of their people!”. She was f***ing right!
May God keep my beloved mates in his eternal paradise. And if I could send them a message I will say this:
“Don’t fret, pals! You are in much safer, better and pleasant place! A place with no hypocrites, no love cheaters, no assassins and no power outages.”
Lebanon
Baghdad Connect gives an original view on the war in Lebanon. I read it and thought; well it is so obvious, why should it be so controversial?
Today there is a true chance for a moment of contemplation for both the Lebanese and Israelis to draw back from their hardware, just for brief moments, and look at the bigger picture. They are the only two true democratic systems in the middle-east yet are engaged in a war! …
This is an opportunity not to be missed for both warring parties to look into their own internal affairs instead of relying on global myths and phony Shamanization. Perhaps it is time for Israel to refrain from the purification war of the dead David Ben-Gurion against the Palestinians, and begin to establish infrastructure of trades with their future neighbors instead of slipping into the inflationary trade of cults and armaments, which will further drag them into the abyss. And for the Lebanese to invest in their own people – as they truly can. … The Lebanese should realize that their country is the only true democratic Arabic country in the region and they must keep it so.
There was a enough comment on Lebanon in the rest of the blogodrome to fill this post twice over – but I will skip all that and let Neurotic Wife say it all…
can you hear my screams????? You think by doing that you will elliminate terrorism??? …
Terrorists are those that target innocent civilians!!!Terrorists are bin ladens/saddamists/zarqawis/militias…and now ISRAEL!!!Terrorists are not CHILDRENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN….This is so cowardly….Such a weak act…you wanna elliminate Hizbollah, then go after them and not after the innocent!!! …
Well done Israel…Well Done Arabs…Well Done US….Well Done the WORLD….Its time for a Standing Ovation….Come on everyone lets all stand up and clap…Clap for the courageous people that spoke out now and said “Cease Fire”…Bravo…Bravo…Bravo…The world has become such a safe place now that these kids have been martyred….So Safe…Wowwww….I can barely recognize it….Bravo…Im impressed….This is exactly what democracy means…Lets teach our children the new meaning of democracy….
Child: Mom, what does democracy mean???
Mother: Well Child, democracy is when you try to protect your self by killing children and women…This is the new found Democracy…
The week in politics
Can national reconciliation in Iraq be a bad thing? Well, it could be according to Iraq The Model. Mohammed explains “I know this may sound a bit confusing so please read to the end…” To cut a long story short he reports on talks of reconciliation between warring sectarian militias, not so much to for the sake of the people but:
“the unpleasant scenario I'm expecting is basically that these parties want this truce to fix one front and pave the way for the beginning of a Sunni-Shia joint Islamic insurgency against the US and the UK in Iraq, and I call it Islamic because that's how the planning party wants it to look like to persuade militants of the other sect to join them in their next mischief or at least to guarantee that the other sect would remain neutral during the conflict they are planning to spark.”
Is there a hidden hand behind the sectarian killings in Iraq? Baghdad Connect delves into the news of recent massacres and wonders how sectarian they really are. In the recent in Hay Al-Jihad massacre BC reports that Sunnis were not the only ones targeted but also the 14 Shia employees of a company he knew personally. And if not a hidden hand maybe the mainstream media:
the media simply ‘assumes or believes ’ that the dead are either Shiites or Sunnis depending on the area where the crime is being reported! … Only the media reports the killings! … It seems that the killers have been relying on the mainstream media to report the crimes based on people/faction/area (thanks to the constitution), which helped the crafting out of today’s Baghdad demography of faction/area, and further helped the perpetrators to forge their goals.
Baghdad Treasure looks up the meaning of Civil War and decides Iraq is already in one. He gives an excellent summary on the events that led up to it and gives this rumor: “the American army may carry out a huge operation in Baghdad looking for militiamen and insurgents. People, including my family, started storing food and water. It is believed it is going to be as worse as the Falluja and Najaf battles.”
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki's, visit to America raised a couple of eyebrows. Ladybird called him an idiot for asking for US troop reductions and coming back with a promise of more troops. While Maliki's refusal to condemn Hezbollah while in America gained him some respect from Truth About Iraqis.. “Maliki grows one ball, US Congress has none” he writes. On the other side The Exiled Shalash critisized Maliki because he “failed during yesterday's press conference with Bush to thank the United States for liberating Iraq, he failed to acknowledge the sacrifces of the men and women of the United States armed forces.”
And Finally…
Neurotic Wife drags us over the roller-coaster emotions of  her life. Recently her HUBBY found out she had ranted about him in her blog and she takes us through the consequences:
Things at home got really bad…And when I say bad I mean really really bad….HUBBY and I reached a point of no return…In a moment of anger and frustration we both decided it was best for us to go separate ways…As I sat there in silence, my life with HUBBY flashed infront of me….a movie strip…a movie strip of memories…
But I am not giving away the ending – read on to find out what happened next.

author: Salam Adil


text:
Latvia: Baltica Festival · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dykun posts footage from the Baltica Festival in Latvia: “More specifically, this is footage of two groups from Latgale. Latgale is a region of Latvia that has long fascinated me; it is considered by many to be the most rural part of Latvia, and it shares a long border to the east with Russia. The Latgallian dialect is quite distinct from the rest of Latvian, and Latgallians are considered a distinct group within the Latvian nation, though there is a small, small minority who consider the Latgallians a distinct Baltic ethnicity seperate from both Latvians and Lithuanians. […] In short, Latgallians are to Latvians what Hutsuls are to Ukrainians.”


text:
Mexico: Godwin’s Law a la Mexicana · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Reminding readers of Godwin's Law, which says that “as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one,” Eduardo Arcos posts (ES) recent photos of election protests in Mexico.

author: David Sasaki


text:
Nigeria: Missing Lagos · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

“Lagos,” writes Jangbalajugbu, “is a city that habours the hardworking as well as the lazy. The sane and insane. It is a city with different kinds of people from the rich, educated, wealthy, brilliant & intelligent to the dejected, the accursed, the incorrigible, the hopeless, the dead but breathing-walking corpses, the pathetic and the depressed among others.”


text:
Nigeria: Scotland Yard · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Detectives from Scotland Yard have just arrived in Nigeria to help with the investigation into the murder of politician Funsho Williams who died last week in Lagos, writes UKNaija. “If they fail, I can just imagine the Nigerian government crowing ‘Well, even the experts from Scotland Yard couldn't crack it, so you can't blame us, can you?'”


text:
Old dating practice · Global Voices
Rezwan

Cigay of  Bhutan Weblog writes about an age old dating tradition of Bhutan. Young men used to visit a girl's house discreetly at night,  to let her know of his feelings and his intention to marry her and have children with her. With the passage of time, this rural practice has been misunderstood and grossly abused by those who are richer or more powerful.


text:
Power of Blogs · Global Voices
Rezwan

Desipundit on the global impact of the Indian Blogosphere: “while it is true that it’s only a small part of Indian population that is online, and even smaller number accesses blogs, when it comes to the online world, Indian blogs are windows, potholes and doors into India.”


text:
Russia: “List of 17” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog writes about groups present on (and missing from) the FSB's Terrorist Organizations list.


text:
Russia: “Mystery Illness” in Chechnya · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

David McDuff of A Step At A Time has translated a Prague Watchdog/Radio Free Liberty broadcast on the “mystery illness” that affected more than 100 children in Shelkovsky district.


text:
Russia: Brian Grover & Matthias Rust · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Copydude writes about two men who became (in)famous after they flew their light planes into Russia illegally: Brian Grover (1938) and Matthias Rust (1987).


text:
Saving Nature · Global Voices
Rezwan

KO criticizes the corruption ridden Pakistani politicians for  supporting the Pakistan Air Force's bid to acquire land to establish a weapons trial range in the Hingol National Park,  the largest National Park in Pakistan. This will drive away the wildlife from the park and the temple of Hinglaj, one of the holiest sites of the Hindus located there will be off limit for the devotees.


text:
Serbia: Talks of War · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Eric Gordy of East Ethnia writes on the talks of war and the pains of forming a viable democratic coalition in Serbia.


text:
Serbia: Yugoslav Film Archive · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belgrade Blog writes about the new storage space for the Yugoslav film archive.


text:
South Africa: The scammer spammed · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Electric Spaghetti, otherwise known as Saaleha, reels in her man after a spontaneous and florid response to a “419” spam/scam-mail in her Inbox.


text:
South Africa: Trade union · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Writes Farrel Lifson at politics.za, South Africa's largest trade union COSATU gets a lot of media exposure, but still has fewer than two million members.


text:
The unshackling of Bangladesh · Global Voices
Rezwan

Tasneem Khalil reports that Bangladesh is the cover theme for August 2006 issue of the Himal Southasian, South Asia's first and only regional magazine. The magazine's introspective comment: “Bangladesh is set to become a powerful member of the world community, once it deals with its difficult issues of mal governance and confrontational politics”.


text:
This Week In Palestinian Blogs: World On Fire · Global Voices
Naseem Tarawnah

While the flames of war engulf Lebanon, Gaza is still under attack. Many of the victims have been Palestinian children, some barely a year old; and as their families prepare to burry them Haitham Sabbah asks the fundemental question: “How shall we forget? How shall we forgive?”
As sound of artillery shells resonated from the nearby Al-Magazi refugee camp, Mona El-Farra overhears one of the girls at the children’s center in the Nusseirat camp say: “Nobody can stop me from dreaming, nobody should take my dreams away.”
Mona has been touring the camps and hospital emergency rooms in Gaza the last few days with many stories to tell; stories of sadness , of freedom and of resilient children of Gaza whose dreams continue to dance.
Laila El-Haddad still finds it difficult to blog from the U.S. especially when the news from back home has been mixed. While her in-laws have fled to Syria her father’s cousin in Gaza tells her that with no electricity in the area people can eat only what they cook the same day as lack of refrigeration and sweltering summer heat add to the already accumulating frustration. Meanwhile Fida, Laila’s activist friend from Gaza, writes her an email along with some photos of the Rafah crossing: “I came back and thought I can do some thing , but the Israelis destroyed more and killed more , and now in Rafah a lot live in the schools after they lost there houses.”
Fayyad of KabobFest is not surprised at Zawahiri’s latest video as he attempts to jump on the recent wave of support for Palestine and Lebanon where traditionally resistance movements there have viewed Al-Queda with contempt.
While pictures of Israeli citizens signing missiles before they are launched into Lebanon and Gaza have become popularized on many Palestinian blogs, Fayyad wonders if this is considered “Jewish terrorism” since “When a Muslim commits a crime, the whole of his religion goes on trial.”
In Hebron, Katie from Postcards From Palestine describes a week full of harassment that starts with a Palestinian family trying to celebrate a birthday party despite the aggravation of neighbouring Israeli settlers and intervening Israeli army soldiers wondering “whether or not this birthday party was legal”  and ends with her frustration over the beating and jailing of her friend.
Collective punishment and scare tactics: Naj from Gaza translates leaflets dropped by Israeli planes from occupied skies. Naj also documents the amount of damage that can be done by just some of the Israeli incursions in three days.
Elsewhere, just west of Nablus, the Israeli Army closed off a checkpoint and opened it briefly to allow only Israeli settlers in, leaving dozens of frustrated Palestinians to stage a non-violent protest by lying down on the ground to close the road with their bodies. The Israeli army responded with excessive beatings and sound grenades.
Last March Haitham Sabbah published two interesting posts about Samia, just another Palestinian refugee trying to cross the border to see her homeland. Recently another Palestinian blogger, Reem, had the good fortune of meeting her to talk about what it means to be banned from entering one’s homeland.
Lastly, Hayam Noir writes an open letter to Kofi Annan, Dr. Marcy Newman writes one to Israel.

author: Naseem Tarawnah


text:
Tour Nepal, save Nepal · Global Voices
Rezwan

South Asia Biz on why the tourists around the world should travel Nepal. With the restoration of a democratic government and the end of Maoist insurgency, there are plenty of reasons to visit this land of happiness.


text:
Ukraine: Universal of the National Unity · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LEvko of Foreign Notes writes about the Universal of National Unity that president Yushchenko expects the leading Ukrainian politicians to sign, and some of the problems that surround the negotiation process.


text:
Uzbekistan: Revoked Licenses · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

The Long and Winding Road has a report on Uzbek pop musicians losing their licenses to perform in public after a journalist accused their lyrics of not being authentic Uzbek poetry and them of being bad musicians.


text:
Zimbabwe: Morgan Tsvangirai speech · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Eddie Cross on Zimpundit posts in its entirety the speech given by former union leader and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to  a National Convention held by Churches in Zimbabwe Saturday to debate the crisis in the country, and the way forward.


text:
Albania: Survey on EU Expansion · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Our Man In Tirana is surprised that, according to a survey on the EU expansion, only 44 percent of respondents oppose Albania's membership.