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Russia: Putin Out, Medvedev In · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

On Wednesday, Dmitry Medvedev became Russia's third post-Soviet president.
LJ user kozenko – Andrey Kozenko, journalist for the Russian daily Kommersant – wrote this (RUS) about the legacy of the outgoing president, Vladimir Putin:
[…] I feel all but indifferent about Putin's departure. Nothing to thank him for. He ruled the way he could, according to the mentality. Many people liked it.
But still, there is something to this phrase: “Former Russian president Vladimir Putin”… mmmmm :) […]
In an earlier post, Kozenko explained (RUS) his decision to take part in the Dissenters’ March in Moscow on May 6 (his thoughts on what the rally turned out to be like were featured in yesterday's Global Voices translation):
[…] I don't like the [Soviet-style] “rapturous and long ovations” [to Russia's leaders] on TV. I don't like news styled as propaganda.
I don't like aggressive patriotism and hostile rhetoric.
I feel dirty when I hear of a certain governor who was sweating as he sat with a suitcase of cash in the reception area of the head of a certain state-controlled corporation – in order to have his region included into some [state-funded development] program.
I no longer find it funny that in my native region half of the officials have been sent to jail for corruption. Especially, considering there's an opinion that they were jailed not because they deserved it, but due to clan war. Because, basically, they all deserve to be jailed.
I really dislike it that all my friends and acquaintances involved in business [may be jailed all too easily]. And they're saying that they try [as hard as they can] to do their work in accordance with the law.
Anyway, I do have the reasons to dislike this regime. And I want to vote for the opposition. And I don't really understand why the regime has annihilated all the oppositional politicians who could have been representing my interests. I'm not even saying they should make up the parliamentary majority. I just want for them to be there and to have influence. But they aren't […]. And I'm presented not even with a choice, but with something given: forget about it, stop caring. We are experiencing a consumer boom, enjoy it. Buy yourself something. Or, well, go to the Dissenters’ March if you are so oppositional.
But I don't want to go to this march at all, with people I don't consider close. One of them […] is a writer [Eduard Limonov], the other is a chess player [Garry Kasparov]. I don't like this form of protest, I don't like to chant slogans and don't know how to. But, I repeat, I have no choice. Either I go, or I stop caring about what's going on.
Here is the last comment to this post:
stas_ya:
How about everything exactly [the way you describe it], but there's no money as well? And [no hope of getting some in the future.] What consumer boom are we talking about? The only thing left is angry apathy – would make it neither the [protest] march, nor to a store…
Back to Medvedev's inauguration: LJ user dolboeb (Anton Nossik) was so impressed with the traffic situation in Moscow on Wednesday that he decided to write a letter (RUS) to the new Russian president:
[…] Dear Dmitry Anatolyevich,
Congratulations on assuming your new post. I hope you enjoyed the ceremony as much as I did. I thank you for providing me with a rare opportunity to see daytime Moscow without traffic jams. Please consider holding inaugurations once every week, preferably on Wednesdays. I think this could contribute to solving many traffic problems of the Russian capital. […]
Judging by this popular “bold/hairy algorithm” cartoon – posted, among others, by LJ user tumbochka – Medvedev is to have more than one inauguration in the next few decades (if not weeks):
Soviet/Russian leaders: Lenin (bold), Stalin (hairy), Khrushchev (bold), Brezhnev (hairy), Andropov (bold), Chernenko (hairy), Gorbachev (bold), Yeltsin (hairy), Putin (bold), Medvedev (hairy)… Putin (bold), Medvedev (hairy), Putin (bold), Medvedev (hairy), Putin (bold), Medvedev (hairy)


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Saudi Arabia: The Second Wife’s Pain · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Saudi Arabia, American Bedu shares the pain shared by the second wife.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Singapore: Cat Welfare Society blog · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Members of the Singapore's Cat Welfare Society’s committee are now blogging at The Unofficial Cat Welfare Society Diary.

author: Mong Palatino


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South Asia: Soaring food prices · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

2.6 billion links to a report by the Asian Development Bank on the soaring food prices the world over.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Syria: Americans in Iraq  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Sugar, from Syria, links to a video featuring footage made by US soldiers in Iraq and comments: “Well, it’s not like it’s the first time we hear or see such videos about those American soldiers who they say are liberating Iraq and protecting America from terrorists. Instead….all what they did, is humiliating the Iraq people and especially little innocent children….I am really speechless….”


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Syria: Longing for Approval  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“It just seems that those who are most critical of and most aggressive towards the “decaying west” appear to be, at the end of the day, the most desperate for its approval, at least subconsciously,” comments Yazan from Syria on statements made by politicians on safeguarding the Muslim culture from Western influences.


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Syria: No Golan Anniversary  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Remember the big PR campaign run by the Syrian government on the sad 40th anniversary of the illegal Israeli occupation of the Golan? Neither do I. To be fair, they only had 40 years to prepare and are probably saving their best efforts for an eventual 50th anniversary, so why rush them before that milestone?” writes Rime Allaf from Syria.


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Tajikistan: Price for elecricity doubles · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Vadim reports that electricity in Tajikistan becomes twice more expensive for the empoverished population.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Trinidad & Tobago: Going Postal  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

KnowProSE.com blogs about the recent mail strike in Trinidad and Tobago.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Turkmenistan: Who is Rashid Meredov · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Maciula writes about one of president Berdymukhammedov’s closest associates, the Turkmenistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Rashid Meredov.


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Ukraine: Berdychiv Photos · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Photos from the Ukrainian town of Berdychiv – by LJ user mihato (text in Russian).

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Ukraine: Crimea Photos · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Photos from Crimea, Ukraine – by LJ user miiish (text in Russian).


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Vietnam: Demolition photo · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Saigon Today posts a picture of a demolished structure in Saigon, Vietnam. He notes that “There is plenty of construction and redevelopment happening all over town.”


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Zimbabwe: New bank notes….again! · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kogy has lost count of bank notes in Zimbabwe: “Anyone knows how many bank notes we now have in Zimbabwe? I have lost count the monetary situation has gone bananas in our beautiful land of milk and honey. The Reserve Bank governor Mt Gideon Gono has just announced the introduction of new banks notes.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Zimbabwe: Political executions reported · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Reports of political executions in Zimbabwe: “Last night we received unconfirmed reports that eight people were executed in Shamva. Their bodies are in the morgue, but their names are still unknown.”


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Afghanistan: Glass Half Empty · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

SunLeaf reacts to the words of Afghanistan’s ambassador to Canada, who assured MPs that Canadian aid funds are not winding up in the “pockets or bank accounts” of corrupt officials.


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Armenia: Bomb Alert · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

The Armenian Observer posts photographs and an account of discovering one of Yerevan's main roads blocked off by police after a small home-made bomb was discovered. The bomb was later defused.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Armenia: Eurovision Song Contest Blogging · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

In what is likely the first time an official organizational committee has reached out to bloggers in Armenia, Uzogh announces that Public TV is convening a meeting between the Head of Delegation for Armenia's Eurovision Song Contest Entrant, Sirusho, and all interested citizen journalists.


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Armenia: Youth Activism · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Seetizan, the blog of a local youth activist, continues to dwell on the need to encourage the active participation of citizens, and especially youth, in addressing various local issues which are usually related to, or actually part of, much wider problems affecting the whole world. In his latest post, Seetizan attempts to “re-brand” the slogan of a small radical opposition youth group and expresses the desire to start something more constructive away from partisan party politics.


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Barbados: Blogging vs. Journalism · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bajan Global Report weighs in on the question of blogging versus journalism.


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Brazil: A chat about blogs and journalism · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Mario Amaya [pt] talks about how the mainstream media has adapted itself to the Internet, transition from paper to digital, advantages of blogging, and the Brazilian blogosphere in preparation for his piece for Palavra na Tela 2008 (Word on the Screen) [pt], a special chat about Blogs and Journalism hosted by the Digestivo Cultural site.

author: Paula Góes


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Brazil and Orkut: made for each other? · Global Voices
Daniel Duende

Orkut, Google's experiment on Social Networking Services, is extremely popular in Brazil. More than 53% of Orkut users is Brazilian — even more, if you take into account Brazilian's profiles that don't show their country information and profiles by Brazilians living abroad — and more than 70% percent of Brazil's Internet users are actually profiled and active on the network.
A very large part of Brazil's online life is going on inside Orkut. Still, most of the Brazilian mainstream media and the blogosphere don't pay much attention to this social networking service, unless there's something bad to be said about it. News about hate-groups meeting at Orkut, or about pedophiles using of the social networking service to exchange child pornography or to hunt for potential victims, are fairly common on both the Brazilian media and blogosphere. But what else is going on there? Who might be all these Brazilians at Orkut, and what are they doing there?
To give Global Voices Online readers some insight into the answers to these questions, let's take a quick look at some of the Brazilian activity at Orkut, and you're invited to come along if you have an Orkut profile or a Google account – you need at least a basic registration — in order to follow the links:
First of all, let's take a look at some profiles. The first thing you notice is… Brazilians have a lot of friends. It's very common in Brazil to add everyone you know — or even just heard of — and fake or “non-person” profiles to your friend's list. More than that, it's usual to add people you don't know and don't even want to know, just in case you wish to visit their profiles someday. It's also easy to notice how fond we are of showing pictures of ourselves and our friends, except when we want to look particularly cool (and that's fairly less common). Most profiles are very colorful in language and imagery, and show a lot about what it's intended for the profile viewers to know about the people behind them. It's easy to feel that despite personal taste differences, Brazilians feel very “at home” at Orkut and their profiles are testimony to this.
Gigi is famous on the scene. Lots of friends, lots of pictures, long description, busy scrapbook: Typical Brazil.
The scrapbooks, places where users can leave open short messages to others on their profiles, are heavily used not only to chat, sometimes to many people at a time — is if everyone was in a house meeting or a party — but are also usual places to advertise parties, events and share quotes and textual fragments. It's a matter of opinion whether these are spam or just free-form personal advertising.
Fake profiles, as well as bogus communities — like this one named “it must be boring to be a tree” — are very common. However, more than causing mayhem, these are more commonly put to mostly healthy humorous uses. Some even say Brazilians rise fake profiles and bogus communities to a work of art.
On the “I woke up somewhat bilingual today” they don't even have forum topics. The community was made just for the fun of having it's banner on their profiles.
Now, let's take a look at the communities. Besides the vast majority of communities aimed more to provide humorous or ideological “badges” for their members to show on their profiles than places for real conversations, there are a lot of serious communities too, and a lot of interesting and passionate debates are going on there. Let's take two examples. one from a community discussing the women's right do decide on abortion and the other from a community discussing Brazilian ban on WordPress.
Abortion is only legal in Brazil in cases of sexual abuse or pregnancy that endangers the mother's life. In this thread about whose interests were behind the legalization of abortion in Brazil, on the community “Aborto: um tema em debate” [“Abortion: a matter under discussion”], mor@ngoღღ says [Pt]:
“[…]Hoje li um texto* que no mínimo aguçou essa minha vontade de esclarecer a questão. Trata-se dos dizeres do Professor Humberto Vieira presidente da PROVIDAFAMILIA.
De acordo com sua pesquisa, ele mostra que existem correntes eugenistas que pregam o controle populacional usando entre outros recursos o aborto.
Essas correntes seriam responsáveis por discursos bem parecidos com o que vemos aqui. Por detrás de um feminismo de fachada querem reduzir-nos em número para que não representemos uma ameaça ao domínio dos países imperialistas.[…]“
“[…]I read an article today that sharpened my urge to clarify [this] matter. It was about what professor Humberto Vieira, president of PROVIDAFAMILIA [roughly: “PRO-LIFE-AND-FAMILY”] association, says. According to his researches, he shows that there are some eugenic factions that preach the population control using, among other methods, abortion. These factions were responsible for speeches that are very similar to the [pro-choice] ones we see here. Hiding behind a facade of shallow feminism, they want to reduce our numbers so we don't represent a menace to the imperialist countries domination.[…]”
Then Jose Guilherme furiously retorts [Pt]:
“[…]se vc levou a sério esse texto mediocre e paranoico por favor vai pra comunidade do Olavo de Carvalho. Pq lá é que eles gostam dessas teorias de dominação mundial.
E se for verdade ? Vamos deixar de fazer algo pq os outros querem isso ? Vamos ditar as nossas políticas públicas para contrariar aos supostos “imperialistas” e não pq interessa ou não ao país ? E como diminuir população ajuda os “imperialistas” ? Tudo vago e sem explicação… claro…“
“[…]if u took this mediocre and paranoid article seriously, u should go to the Olavo de Carvalho community. ‘Cos they really like these world-domination theories over there. And what if it's true? Should we refrain from doing something just because someone else wants us to? Should we modify our public policies just to counteract some supposed ‘imperialists’, and not because it is in our country's best interests? And how does reducing the population help the ‘imperialists'? All very vague and with no explanations… of course…”
Politely, mor@ngoღღ tries to support her point:
“Eu entendo controle de natalidade como determinar quantos filhos cada pessoa deve ter. Diferente de planejamento familiar. Pelo menos era o que eu pensava. Eu via planejamento familiar como dar ferramentas para que as pessoas escolhessem quantos filhos querem ter…
Mas se a campanha vier acompanhada de atos proibitivos ou punitivos vira controle de natalidade, isso eu sou contra.“
“I understand birth control as the determination of to how many kids a person is allowed to give birth. It's not the same as family planning. At least, that's what I used to believe. I used to see family planning as bestowing tools for people to choose how many children they want to have…  but if the campaign includes prohibitive or punitive acts, it becomes birth control, and I am against that.”
Kelli joins the conversation saying [Pt]:
” Meio incoerente não?
[…]
Aborto criminalizado é um ato proibitivo e punitivo, então vc tbm é contra?“
“Doesn't it sound a little incoherent? […] The ban on the abortion is a prohibitive and punitive act. So, you're against this [ban]?”
Then José Guilherme delivers his coup-de-grâce:
“Morango […] Esse discurso é meramente uma forma de atacar a legitimidade de quem é a favor da legalização. Pintar essas pessoas ou como capachos de “agentes” externos… ou como ingenuos manipulados. Ou seja… ao invês de debater as questões… buscam atacar as pessoas e suas motivações. Ad Hominem em escala grande.
Na ANDSC menos de 25% das mulheres disseram que abortariam/abortaram… então ao menos 75% realmente acreditam que as OUTRAS devem ter esse direito sem que isso seja reflexo de interesse proprio.
As teorias ditas “Freakonomics” de controle da natalidade tambem foram rejeitadas pela ANDSC.“
“Morango […] your speech is merely a way to undermine the legitimacy of those who fight for the legalization [of the abortion]. To make them look like servants to external ‘agents'… or like manipulated naive people. So… instead of discussing the important matters… [you] seek to attack people and their motivations. It's a mass Ad Hominem [argument]. At the ANDSC [Aborto não deve ser crime – “abortion should not be a crime” [Pt], a pro-choice Orkut community] less than 25% of the women said they would eventually get an abortion, or have already had one… so, at least 75% of them really believe the OTHER ones should have this right [to choose], without any personal interest involved. The mentioned ‘Freakonomics‘ birth control theories were rejected, too, at ANDSC.”
At another community, about the Brazilian justice threat to ban WordPress.com domain [Pt] (already discussed here and in many other places), there's a thread where the members show their discontent at the idea of one million users being punished for just one blogger's misdeeds. Paulo calls its peers into action:
“Calar a boca de 1 milhão pelo erro de um ?
Não podemos deixar isto acontecer. Se alguém errou, que pague-se pelo ato cometido, mas não se pode penalizar uma coletividade, devido o erro de um indivíduo.
Temos que chamar a atenção da mídia e da sociedade para este cerceamento da liberdade que querem cometer.
Mande e-mails para os amigos, para a imprensa, para autoridades.
Se nos omitirmos, teremos nossa boca calada. E depois não adianta chorar. “
“Silencing one million [users] to punish for just one's mistake? We can't let it happen. If someone misbehaved, he or she should pay for his/her acts, but you can't punish the entire collective for just one individual's misdeeds. We must call the media and the society attention to this violation of our freedoms that they want to commit. Send emails to your friends, to the media and to the authorities. If we omit ourselves, we will have our mouth shut, and then it will be no use to crying over this.”
Athos seems to agree with Pedro, and vents his frustration over his faceless suspect [Pt]:
” Se verem um blog de pornografia,denunciem.
Vai ver é ele que fez toda a merda.“
“If you see a pornographic blog, report it. Maybe it was the responsible for all this shit.”
There's always a lot to say about Brazilian use of Orkut. On my next articles, I'll try to keep track of it, and use it together with the Brazilian conversations on the blogosphere, to amplify Brazilian voices on the Internet. This will surely provide a better picture of what we have to say to each other, and to the world.
As a bonus, here is a video, provided by José Murilo in his blog Ecologia Digital [Pt], where we can watch John Perry Barlow — political activist, social thinker and mythical band Grateful Dead's lyrics writer — explaining his views on Orkut and Brazil, and telling us how he may have been an important part of all this Brazilian online party:
—
The author of this article is on Orkut too. He may be found here. Don't forget to leave your opinion about his cat. Both man and cat appreciate it a lot.
(author's note: most of Orkut links in this article are in Portuguese)

author: Daniel Duende


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Brazil: Lady bloggers meeting · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Lucia Freitas [pt] is organizing a BlogCamp for Brazilian women bloggers. “Our idea is to bring together what I feel to be a ‘silent majority’ on the blogosphere, a while before BlogCamp Brazil”, she explains in another blog. Right now there is a poll to choose a name for the event, which may happen in August. Among the suggestions are SheCamp and LaFemmeCamp.


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Cape Verde: On the possibility of adopting the Euro · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Virgílio Brandão [pt] ponders on the pros and cons of the adoption of the Euro as a currency in Cape Verde. “The country must have a clear picture of its response to problems that would arise from this, and must gain more benefits than difficulties. The population will appreciate it”.


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China and U.S: Who’s Currency? Who’s Problem? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Kaie pointed out that the devaluation of U.S dollar becomes everyone else's problem [zh], especially for China as Chinese capital has been flowing around the world.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Character Map · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Xucx posted a list of maps that showed different perceptions of China by different social groups, such as Beijing people, Shanghai people, angry youths, etc [zh].


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China: EV71 outbreak in China sparks criticisms   · Global Voices
George Sun

While not bird flu related, the recent outbreak of HFMD (Hand Foot and Mouth Disease) in China gives us an opportunity to see  how the Chinese government responds to an epidemic. During the  weekend china issued a countrywide alert to control the disease as it is also  spreading in many other parts of china. Still, one can’t see  the end of that trouble that is on rise with every passing day. Blogger Chenguang [zh] shares his opinions comparing it with the outbreak of SARS in 2003.
在4月23日之前，安徽省疾病控制方面的专家一直为病因的确诊感到焦虑和担忧。但后来却发现引起此次公共卫生事件暴发的“真凶”，竟然是在40年前就已发现的常见肠道病毒EV71，而且这种病毒引发的“手足口病”在全世界很多国家和地区都已经出现过，就在去年的安徽邻省山东，也出现过近万例的报告，也有死亡病例。
Before April 23rd, the disease control experts in Anhui Province felt the anxiety and concern because of the confirmation of the cause of the disease. But later on they found the original cause of this public health event, which was the epidemic intestinal virus EV71 found 40 years ago, and this virus triggered the “hand, foot and mouth disease” in many countries around the world. Last year, in Shandong, Anhui's neighbouring province, there were nearly 10,000 illness cases reported, including a few deaths.
当外界问责安徽省卫生厅“没有及时向卫生部上报病情”时,“肠道病毒EV71感染不是法定必须上报的传染病”这个最冠冕堂皇的理由就把应该承担的重大责任推得一干二净。而当时的实际情况是，阜阳已经因此死了十多个患儿了。
When the outside accountability comes to Anhui Provincial Health Office, asking for “a timely disease report to the Ministry of Health”, the high-sounding excuse that “intestinal infection EV71 virus is not a statutory infectious diseases that must be reported” has completely passed the buck to others. At that time, in actuality, more than 10 children had died in Fuyang.
事后，更有官员在接受媒体采访时说，“我国每天大约有2万到3万例各种传染病报告，每年大概有600多万个病例报告，每例都通报，不是造成社会不稳定吗？”
After the accident, more than an afterwit official said to the media, “China has about 20,000 to 30,000 cases of various infectious diseases reported daily and more than 6 million reported cases annually. If we report each one of them, won't it inflict social instability?
思想上重视，实践上落后。在中国行政文化中，保一方平安，是官员不得不严重关注的事项，搞不好是要丢乌纱帽的。上级官员也会动辄以“祖国和人民”的利益教育下级官员。然而，这会促使管理者只重视“社会安全事件”，现对忽视”公共卫生”/“自然灾害”；为了尽可能“明晰”负责，遇有危机事件出现时，或者隐而不报，或者上报了事。缺乏超越常规处置应急事项的动力和机制，也极为缺乏预警的技术手段以及技术与管理有效对接的能力。年初的南方大雪，气象部门是事前有所预测的，但却没有将此预测转化为应急管理的一部分。阜阳EV71感染事件之后，人们会再次想到我们政府公共卫生应急管理能力的低下,急需为应急管理制定相应的法律。
Ideological attention, but backward practice.  In China's administrative culture, security is the matter officials have to seriously concern about. Otherwise, it may cost their official positions.  Higher-level officials will often use “the motherland and the people” to teach the lower level of officials. However, this will only attach importance to managers of “social safety incidents” and ignore the “public health” / “natural disaster”. In order to “clear” responsibility, in the event of crises, they are more likely to hide, not report or just “report up”. Being devoid of the effective system and mechanisms to handle emergency matters, the local government also lack the early warning technology and the technical means to dock with the management capacity. The heavy snow in the South early this year had been forecasted by the meteorological department, but there is no forecast in this part of emergency management.
Blogger Lelelele [zh] says a lot suspicion can be raised from the issues of the mass infection of EV71.
安徽省卫生厅在4月29日的新闻通报中称，省财政安排了1000万元专款用于购置救治设备。但截至5月2日，大多数病童家属还不知道这一规定，也并未享受政策实惠，继续承受着医院高收费之苦。相对于以谎言辟谣，某种程度上还只属于行政良知的范畴，而当地对于专项拨款“去无踪”则显然远远超越了良知的边界，这令人费解！
On April 29th, Anhui Provincial Health Office announced that 10 million RMB has been deployed to buy the treatment apparatus. But until May 2nd, most of the victims’ families didn't know this regulation and didn't receive any profit of the policy, still enduring the high price of medicine. Compared with the refuting of the rumors, which is merely, in a sense, a matter about conscience, the “disappearance” of financial deployment is way beyond that. How inconceivable it is!
English blogger FLA_MEDIC thinks there is a lack of effectiveness in China's health and sanitation system.
In 2003, China covered up the fact that they were seeing hundreds of cases of a new type of deadly pneumonia, what became known as SARS, for several months. They have in the past been less than forthcoming about their bird flu cases, and have been slow to send samples to the WHO.
Blogger Yin Minhong  even says that PM Wen Jiabao should resign if the government can't successfully control the spread of the disease.
The number of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) cases reported in China this year has risen to 11,905 by Monday, resulting in 26 deaths, according to Xinhua counting of local official figures. Tang Xiaoping, an epidemic expert and deputy head of the health bureau of Guangzhou, said the drastic rise is a result of an order by the Ministry of Health on Friday, which classifies HFMD as a C class epidemic that must be reported to the ministry.
An anonymous author posts a few words saying the spread out of EV71 reflects much broader and inner social problems in China.
It might help to put this epidemic in perspective and look at the history of outbreaks in the past and also at the health condition of children in that part of China. Are these children at higher risk for some reason? Are they susceptible to other infections? What is health care, poverty, economics like in that part of China. The air looks very polluted there.

author: George Sun


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China: Olympic Torch in Guangzhou · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jojofish blogs photos of Olympic Torch relay in Guangzhou.


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East Timor: Welcome to a new blogger · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Lorón Económico [pt] is a new blog from East Timor. On its first post, the blogger presents the economic challenges the country faces. “The future of East Timor economy will depend, ultimately, of the creation of a thriving private sector that can generate production, savings, private investment and trade.”


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Georgia: Russian Miscalculation? · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Window on Eurasia highlights the opinion of a Moscow-based military analyst who likens the recent escalation of tensions between Georgia and Russia to the Winter War with Finland. According to Pavel Fel’gengauer, military affairs analyst for a Russian newspaper, Russia might have miscalculated.


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Guyana: The Conversation Tree  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana-Gyal tells the story of The Conversation Tree.


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Haiti, USA: Food & Hunger · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Haitianalysis.com publishes an article by Dr. Joia Mukherjee and Donna Barry that explains why the current food crisis “is only the most recent in the hemisphere's hungriest country.”


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India: On teaching · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Learning by Living shares her experiences of teaching a class of 20-somethings in India.


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India: The middle class · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Conversation Hub on a walk through the Dharavi slum in Mumbai and reflects on space, money and the emerging middle class.


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Iran:Filtering again · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Jomhour says[Fa] that his blog got filtered for the fourth time but he will continue to write.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Halt threats to “cyber-feminists” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

RSF,Reporters without Borders, urged Iranian government to halt threats to “cyber-feminists”.RSF adds “The Internet is the only way for these feminists to demand their rights. They have become an easy target and are suffering real harassment.”


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Iran:Why Tehran should pay for Lebanon · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Mohmmad Ali Abtahi, former vice president, writes [Fa]that he does not understand why Mayor's Office in Tehran should pay 3 million dollars for reconstruction in Lebanon. He says according to official statistics there are many poor living in Tehran.


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Kazakhstan: Much Ado About Banks · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Adam analyzes some developments in the Kazakhstani banking sector, including negative references from the rating agency, released data on banks’ losses in 2007 and proposed introduction of criminal responsibility for the bankers’ actions that led to bankruptcy.


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Kuwait: The Blind Leading the Blind  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Kuwait, Desert Girl writes about a website which tells expatriates what to expect in countries they will be moving to. She comments: “I think a lot of newcomers are being misinformed by well-intentioned people that don't really understand. It is a matter of the blind-leading-the-blind.”


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Kyrgyzstan: Afghanistan Stun Kyrgyzs in AFC Challenge Cup · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Elena presents some pictures from the soccer game between Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan during the AFC Challenge Cup Group C qualifier and grieves for Kyrgyzstan’s loss.


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Lebanon: Strike Gone Sour · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

May 7 should have been a day for general strike and demonstration to contest the government’s economic policies, price rise and low wages. The workers syndicate had to cancel the demonstration, although keeping the strike on, because clashes broke out in many places around Lebanon between different factions belonging to the pro–government and opposition camps. Bloggers were quick to comment on the events. Here are some of their reflections from yesterday although the events are escalating very fast into gunfights in the streets of Beirut. Check back for more summaries on bloggers posts and reports on the unfolding crisis:
Tantalus’ comment reflects what most Lebanese fear – “a civil war”:
upon hearing knocking on his door, Lebanese citizen gets up to see who's there:
Oh Civil War, where have you been for 18 years? I've missed you. Welcome back.
Rami expresses his disgust:
Also F*** those who try to pretend they’re angels, while we know very well that it takes AT LEAST 2 to start a fight, so it’s quite obvious that 8 March and 14 March are both a*******.
I’m at work now and I still don’t know if it will be safe to go back home or not… Oh that’s one more F*** YOU to the “wado3″ (situation).
The Inner Circle explains why he is now ashamed of being Lebanese:
The worst part of all this, is that Lebanese think they’re propped up to being better than their surroundings. For one, Lebanon is not even on the map for most of the world; For me, today, Lebanon is mostly a bunch of low class, rubbish people that rule out any image the few intellectuals behind the scenes strive to propagate. Everybody forgot the purpose of today’s demonstration, or whatever you want to call it, ten minutes into the show.
Angry Arab analyzes what Lebanon is going through and why from a social, regional  and historical perspective:
Several of the emails I received from Beirut today informed me that “civil war” has erupted or started in Lebanon. Which makes you wonder: when does social science decide when a civil war officially starts? It does not start with a parade or a press conference, and I can assure you, from experience, that often people don't know that they just entered a civil war. […]
What Lebanon is going through right now is undoubtedly part of the legacy of Rafiq Hariri. His designs for Lebanon (early on with Syrian-Saudi support, and later with the support of a faction in the Syrian regime before it was neutralized after the rise of Bashshar Al-Asad) clearly were in tune with the US-Israeli plans in the region. […]
Sanyruah was too inviting for the Americans: they thought that he would do in Lebanon what Maliki failed to do in Iraq: to impose national will against militias and resistance groups anywhere in the region. No one in the new era is permitted to defy US/Israeli will. […]
What happened in Lebanon today was certainly part of a larger regional conspiracy: you can't isolate the developments of Lebanon from the developments in Iraq and Palestine. […]
So will there be civil war? Thus far, one can say this. The party that wants civil war can't achieve it, and the party that is capable of instigating and sustaining a civil war does not want it–not yet anyway.
Jnoubiyeh mentions the government's decisions as violations that will lead to undesired repercussions:
The decision to remove B.G. Shqeir will also prompt Muslim Shiite powers in the opposition to act so that immunity of Muslim Shiite official posts remains intact.
Hours earlier, the vice president of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council Sheikh Abdul Amir Kabalan said he conveyed a message to Saniora that removing Shqeir would be viewed as an unprecedented violation that will lead to undesired repercussions.
For his part, the head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun defended Hezbollah's communications network, stressing “there are other private communications networks than Hezbollah's.” “Finding a camera on airport road is not a security penetration,” Aoun said. “The road to Bekfaya is full of cameras and they monitor us all the time,” he added.
Friday Lunch Club posts a letter he got from Nir Rosen in which Nir reports about his experience during the day while running around from one flashpoint to another:
“….I spent the entire day running around all the flashpoints in Beirut, wherever there were mobs, shootings, explosions, I got harassed by various militias from both sides and it works perfectly for my big story about the Sunnis of Lebanon and their militias, but I was really shocked at the behavior of Amal. I’ve spent a lot of time with Mustaqbal militiamen, who of course are thuggish and racist and their militias are getting better organized, and that’s all frightening, but they seem very weak and almost cowardly when compared with the Amal thugs I saw today, who were very provocative.
The Human Province asks how an issue like raising the minimum wage should become an excuse for street fight:
My friend S, on the other hand, lives in Corniche el-Mazra'a, where there has been fighting most of the day. She just told me that they haven't seen any army troops in over an hour, just militiamen from Amal and Mostaqbal (Future Movement) carrying guns and RPG launchers. They don't have any electricity and have had to leave the living room, because the windows are too big. There have been other clashes in the usual places: Cola, Museitbeh, Tariq el-Jadida, Tayounneh and Ras el-Naba'a, amongst others.
It's really depressing to me how even an issue like raising the minimum wage, which should have appeal across sectarian lines, inevitably turns into an excuse for thugs from vying political parties to fight in the street.
Mirvat sees the situation as a curse Lebanese inherited from their Phoenician forefathers:
It is the curse of our fathers that we should never be together, that we should always be divided. That we should destroy everything we achieve. That we should work against each other. That we should always leave the next generation in dire despair and faced with the challenge of re-building a name for themselves and their country, until we ruin it all, all over again.
Feiruz is stuck at the airport!
Will we ever be taken seriously again, be respected again? When we do not trust ourselves, we exhaust ourselves, we self-destroy and we will .. inevitably .. implode from within!
Liliane sees Lebanon being torn apart between two factions:
Ladies and Gentlemen, we the Lebanese are being dissected and torn apart by two major evil forces, the Haririst and the Hezbollah!
The coming days will unveil the upcoming war, not necessarily a typical civil war which we are used to, but when RPGs, Snipers and bombs are used in a supposedly “peaceful” demonstration, then it is an ugly battle taking place to say the least.
Until now, some of the Future movement members have closed the road in Saadneyil and also in Masnaa, which is the crossing border between Lebanon and Syria in response to the closing of the road to the airport by Hezbollah. The first, claimed that once the airport road is open, they will open the roads on their ends.
Marxist From Lebanon points out to the fact that all political parties are organized for war:
The events of today show much each and every political party is organized for war. The realist perspective would be the Security dilemma: “hey they got arms, so I will have arms as well even though I am a lover of peace!” A Small Question though, if you take the collective number of the people on the streets, it tells you that the majority of the proletariat in Lebanon do not [want] war, and only those pathetic rug rats wants to go to war.
Photos and updates are being posted at Blacksmiths of Lebanon, at Bilad ash-Sham and at Farfahinne.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Lebanon: Stuck in Beirut  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese Mark, who lives in Kuwait, says he is stuck in Beirut. He explains: “Looks like I am stuck in Beirut. The airport is closed and doesn’t look like its going to open anytime soon if anything it looks like there will be a war with hezbollah. Now I am going to try and leave Lebanon through Syria.”


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Malaysia: Vigil for jailed blogger Raja Petra this evening · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Take note of what's been happening in Malaysia these past few days since popular blogger and political commentator Raja Petra Kamarudin, 58, was imprisoned on Tuesday after a trial which saw him charged with sedition for having written a blog post.
If the Malaysian government was truly worried about bloggers effecting social unrest, now they have it. Remember, this is a country where any politician worth their mutton—Jeff Ooi was one of several Malaysians who rode their blog and calls for reform to Parliament in recent elections—has a blog, and even the old goats now blog too.
Ex-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has a highly-read blog, as does PM hopeful Anwar Ibrahim.
“They set up their blogs, and they try to close down our blogs.”
Raja is one of the sharpest voices both online and off in Malaysia, so it's highly suggested you check out his statements to the public right after his sentencing, vlogged by Malaysian citizen media stronghold, Malaysiakini.
Raja Petra (or RPK) has had his case brought to parliament, where MP-bloggers are calling RPK's arrest politically-motivated retaliation sought by the current ruling coalition following its heavy losses in recent elections, elections that saw for the first time popular bloggers winning seats, on a platform of increased transparency and post-colonial racial integration.
As the Malaysia Star points out, this is the first time that a blogger has been charged under the Sedition Act, and RPK now faces a fine of up to just over USD 1,500 and/or three years in prison. The trial, which saw businessman Syed Akbar Ali charged with sedition for a comment he left on RPK's blog, appears to have been carried out with no clarification given as to which part of the Act RPK had supposedly violated.
Multi-ethnic reform lobby group Aliran looks at the text of the Sedition Act, and expresses shock that this led to anything more than a defamation charge.
As of Thursday morning, RPK's readers have raised online far more than what he stands to be fined, and also today comes news that Raja Petra is on a hunger strike, and refusing to meet even with his own wife.
Following a candlelight vigil held outside Sungai Buloh prison last night, another vigil will be held at 8pm this evening in downtown Kuala Lumpur.
A Facebook group that has been set up to call for RKP's release is buzzing today, and a whole set of images can be found there, among other places, for anyone who wants to put a badge on their blog to show their
support:
At the center of all this is still the murder of Mongolian former model and polyglot Altantuya; Raja Petra's blog post calling for justice in her death to be resolved has been posted widely in recent days; here's how it begins:
Today, we shall not be talking about politics. We shall also not be talking about race or religion. Today, we shall talk about doing the human thing. Today, let’s discuss how to launch a ‘Justice for Altantuya: restore Malaysia’s dignity’ campaign. And let’s send those bastards who murdered Altantuya to hell where they belong.
An invitation was extended earlier to Mr. Kamarudin to come speak at this year's Global Voices Advocacy summit to be held in Budapest this June, and remains extended now.

author: John Kennedy


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Maldives: Policing the country · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Power to the People states that there are around 4000 officers to police a population of 300,000 people, and asks questions about policing in Maldives.


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Myanmar: Slow relief work · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

First, an update on the situation in Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis hit the country a few days ago. The death toll continues to rise. The official report on the number of casualties is way below international estimates.  The government is still placing the number of dead people around 23,000 while international aid groups believe the figure could now reach 100,000.
Golden Colour Revolution hints the death toll could be worse:
“According to an undisclosed interview with one government official, death toll is reaching 600,000 so far and 100,000 still missing. According to his figure, 180,000 were killed in Lutbutta township alone. 90,000 in Phyar Pone Township; 80,000 in Bogalay Township; 50,000 each in KywanGanKone, DayDaYae and MawKyane Township.Authorities. Army and its thugs are throwing away dead bodies to the nearby river. Even in Ye Way Cemetery in Yangon City, dead bodies are cremated in batch without proper identification. Emphasizing to Phyar Pone Township, authority declared an Emergency Act.”
Bangkok Dazed received an e-mail from an expat friend living in Yangon, Myanmar. Below is a short description of how people in the residential city are coping with the situation:
“In our house we were trapped when tress around the house fell over after 11 hours of strong winds at 200-240 knots. The mess is terrible everywhere, with all electricity down and no water for days. Our home/office phone lines are down including all power lines. I am here today at the internet café. This area on Mahabandoola Street is open again in downtown Yangon, as they had underground wiring and cables. All the rest of us who live in residential areas and in the city are left with no power. We are looking at 3 to 6 months, or maybe 1 year to get power again! To add more stress, all food and water has gone up 3 times the price. As each day goes by, the price of generators go up; we paid $2,000 for a generator that is usually priced at $900 to $1,200. So it’s really bad. All of us are unhurt, but we are still coping with this situation.”
Now, let’s discuss the status of the relief work in Myanmar. The ruling Junta is still restricting the movement of international relief groups. Soe Moe enumerates the services and goods needed by Myanmar today:
“It’s been 6 days since the cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar and the situation is getting worse day by day due to the decomposed animals and human lying around the effected areas. Recent days, we had witnessed the generosity of the world as the humanitarian aid in millions of dollars. But it is very sad to find out that Burmese government is hesitating to grant visa to UN aid workers and NGOs in the name of politics. It is not the time for politics during the time of humanitarian crisis. And it is very sad to hear on news that the western nations are willing to provide the aid needing by the cyclone Nargis victims while Burmese government is refusing to accept them.
“Today first UN aid plane has landed in Yangon International Airport after 2 days delay due to the visa issues. And more planes are waiting permission from Burmese government to land in Yangon. Italy, Thai, India and Indonesia aid planes had been allowed to land in Yangon. We have seen the death toll increasing dramatically over the days.
“What we desperately need is experience aid works and rescue units to help the survivors, to dispose the dead bodies properly and to control the deadly diseases. We need helicopters to go to the most remote areas where the aid is greatly needed. In Burmese air force, we have limited numbers of helicopters and they won’t be able to help those from remote areas. US military is offering aid mission. The US airbase in Thailand is ready to send its helicopters and ships to Burma for search and rescue mission. And again, Burmese generals are not going to accept the offer because they are Americans. This is not the time for like or dislike. This is the time to save as much people as we can.”
The blogger is also horrified to see the dumping of corpses in the rivers:
“I was so surprised to see that dead people being dump into the rivers. I’m wondering what they are thinking. It won’t solve the problem by throwing the dead bodies in to the river. In fact, it will endanger the people who are living along the river bank with deadly diseases.
“In a matter of days, the death toll will increase again. This time it is not going to be devastating force of the cyclone Nargis, but it is going to be the poor health care and reluctance to accept the aid workers around the world by the generals of Burma. And this time the government will also be responsible for the dead of tens of thousands of Burmese in Burma. Their ignorance to the early warning of the cyclone Nargis and reluctance to accept the aid from around the world will be the main cause of people dying in our country. And we will never forget how people are being killed during 1988, September 2007 and May 2008.”
Bangkok Dazed insists giving aid should not be politicized:
“If the USA, or any country, wants to offer humanitarian aid, I think that is wonderful. But the aid shouldn’t come with strings attached, or accompanied by lectures. Just help the people that need it, and keep your political and religious agenda to yourself. But that seems to be an impossible task for the “holier than thou” contingent. You would think those idiots in the Bush administration would “get it” by now. But no, they continue their same style of inflammatory, derisive diplomacy; criticizing and ridiculing other countries, rather than making a sincere attempt to engage in constructive dialogue. That means sitting down and talking to the other country, not lecturing them and calling then bad names.”
Beyond SG advises the Junta to learn from the Chinese government:
“Aid is pouring in from all over the world. The bottleneck is the damaged infrastructure which was not very good to begin with. Initially suspicious of foreign assistance, the Myanmar Government is cautiously opening its door to outside help. This is a major test for the military government. If it rises to the challenge, its standing in the eyes of the citizenry will go up. The manner in which the Chinese leadership responded to the unusually cold weather during the Chinese New Year period this year earned it widespread praise.”
Asia's Perfect 10 is looking for the intervention of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN):
“Close to 5 days after Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, ASEAN has yet to mobilize anything to aid Myanmar. Thailand and Indonesia have pledged something. Good for them but ASEAN is reacting really slow to aid one of its member states.”
The Junta really suffers from low reputation. Even international relief campaigns are assuring the potential donors that the relief goods will not be directed to Myanmar’s government. Melody’s quotes a sample of the relief campaign information drive:
“You can provide immediate, direct relief to Burmese cyclone victims. The relief will go entirely to the victims. These will not be sidetracked by government agencies, politics or administrative siphoning.”
Straight Talk provides details on the donation drive in Malaysia. Busy Days monitors donation collection in Singapore. The blogger also writes that
“A well-known regional Myanmar Blogger, Nyi Lynn Seck, from Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar, has volunteered to go to the affected regions of Irrawady Delta to distribute food, medicine and other relief supplies.”
Ko htike's prosaic collection describes the military generals as shameless after they were caught replacing the labels of aid boxes from Thailand. The Burmese Ruby Diary is disappointed that some commentators are writing that the cyclone was a punishment for Myanmar. Little Myanmar compiles an international aid contribution list.
Related articles: The Perfect Storm, Unprecedented cyclone disaster


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New Zealand : Don’t Let Microsoft Buy Facebook · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Kiwiblog does not want Microsoft buying Facebook.

author: Preetam Rai


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Pakistan: Domestic violence · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

All Things Pakistan explores the issue of domestic violence in the country.


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Pakistan: The Mayor of Karachi · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Five Rupees on meeting the Mayor of Karachi in the campus of University of Chicago.


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Palestine Think Tank Launched · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A new website, called Palestine Think Tank, has been launched. It provides commentary in English and Arabic, and according to the site: “We believe that the just struggle of the Palestinian people is the greatest liberation struggle of our times, and we aim to render service to their cause through presenting as many aspects of their history, culture and struggle as we can.”


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Singapore: Supplies to Myanmar · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Singapore based Myanmar citizens are sending their first batch of supplies for Myanmar cyclone relief.


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Slovakia: Euro-Zone in 2009 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Fistful of Euros reports that Slovakia has “won EU approval to adopt the euro on Jan. 1 2009, thus becoming the 16th member of the European single currency zone.”


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The Global Voices Summit ’08 site is live! · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

We're thrilled to announce the launch of the web site for the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2008!
Our Summit will take place this year in Budapest, Hungary on June 27-28, 2008. Visit the Summit site for background information on the goals of the meeting, our terrific program of events, registration details and information about the charming city of Budapest, including a list of blogs about Hungary.
And while you're at it, please help spread the word about the Global Voices Summit by flying one of our sweet-looking Summit badges or banners on your blog or web site.
Over the next few days and weeks we'll be adding speaker bios, a list of attendees and more — and do keep checking in at the site for blog posts and commentary from Summit participants and others and to join in the conversation.
See you in Budapest in June!

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Trinidad & Tobago: Dreams & Reality  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidadian blogger Now is Wow Too has a dream that leads her to wonder if “the dream (is) a symbol of ‘the people'? What have we said? Are we yet to say it? And how?”


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Trinidad & Tobago, USA: Victory or Defeat?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I found myself watching Air Force One last night on TV, while waiting to see which of the US Democratic presidential candidates would give the most stupid victory speech”: Trinidad and Tobago blogger Jeremy Taylor bestows that dubious honour on Hillary, while One Tribe, Many Voices says: “Thanks to Barack Obama, I feel a renewed purpose in my own quest.”


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Ukraine: Lviv Photos · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Photos from Lviv, Ukraine – by LJ user touchy-blaze – here and here (text in Russian).


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Angola: Decolonization in motion · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Carlos Pereira [pt] has found a very interesting video showing the mass emigration of Portuguese-descended settlers and white Angolans from Luena, with scenes classified by the blogger as “great drama moments for the victims of a disastrous decolonization process”.


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Award for Egyptian Blogger  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger/journalist Wael Abbas has received the Hellman-Hamlett Award from the Human Rights Watch, writes Ibn Al Dunya from Egypt.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Bahrain: Witchcraft on the Table  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Bahrain, Mahmood Al Yousif paints a colourful picture of the proceedings of a parliamentary session – which discussed witchcraft.


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Bangladesh: Politics and a Brown American · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Mash writes on the race between Obama and Clinton, from the perspective of a Brown American.


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Brazil: Change yourself the media focus · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Guilherme Felitti [pt] has some good tips for those who wish to take part of the Reporter Blogger [pt] experiment or want to experiment with Citizen Media. “Remember that, be you a journalist or a blogger, you are committed to telling your readers a story as close to as possible to reality”.


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Caucasus: Subjective Well-being · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Social Science in the Caucasus, the blog of the Caucasus Resource Research Centers, looks at the the subjective well-being of citizens living in all three South Caucasus republics. Although the data used for the survey is from 2006, the survey finds that the impact of poverty and unemployment is more significant than in other former Soviet countries such as Ukraine and Russia.


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China: 12% Wage Raise Expected in Guangdong · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fons from China Herald quoted a report from market watch about the Guangdong government's plan to lift wages of all employees by 12 percent this year.


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China: Google Kingsoft Translation · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

William Long introduced the release of a new Chinese-English translation tool by Google and Kingsoft [zh]. Fons also writes about it at China Herald.


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China: Violating Baby’s Right to Play · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Zheng Jingyan said that the national security police intimidated her neighbors and told them not to let their kids play with her baby. Zheng's husband, Hujia, was sentenced to 3.5 years earlier this year and Zheng is monitored.


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Diaspora: Armenian Student Association Remembers Genocide · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped features a guest blogger from the Armenian Student Association in California who reports on how Armenian-American university students remember the Armenian Genocide through art and performance.


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Egypt: Disabling SMS Messages  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“[T]here had been news circulating saying that the regime ordered the three mobile phone operators in Egypt either to cancel all the accounts with unregistered data especially in Mobinil and Vodafone or to close the SMS service for these accounts,” writes Zeinobia from Egypt.


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Egypt: Increasing Gas Prices  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Egypt, My Life Thinking writes about increasing gas prices in his country.


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Egypt: Nasralla’s Press Conference  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Cairo, Zeinobia  gives us a digest of Lebanon's Hizbulla leader Hassan Nasrulla's Press conference.


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Egypt: You’ve Been Punk’d  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Tarek says: “Egyptians, you've been punk'd,” following news that Egypt's parliament endorsed Monday a government bill to raise taxes and fuel prices less than a week after President Hosni Mubarak announced a 30 per cent salary increase for all government employees.


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India: Pangea Day · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Almost as good as Chocolate writes about the upcoming Pangea Day – a day devoted to films in different locations of the world.


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Iran:Street children in photos · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Aszaka has published several photos of street children in Iran. The blogger says[Fa] it is the crime of capitalism to leave these “angels” into poverty.


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Jamaica, Guyana: The Life of Das · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican Geoffrey Philp blogs about the life and work of Guyanese poet Mahadai Das, and features one of her poems.


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Japan and China: Hu’s Visit · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Japan Observer comments on Chinese President Hu Jintao's 5-day visit to Japan.


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Japan: Demographics · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ampontan blogs about government and private sector's plan for meeting the demographic challenge.


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Japan: Fujyoshi Sub-culture · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ben Ng notices that the Fujyoshi (female ontaku) sub-culture is on the rise in Japan.


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Lebanon: Laughing in adversity · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“There are heavy gun-shots going on near us, and my roommate made me laugh amongst the shootings: ‘these are crazy mother-******s, i am happy to be as normal in comparison,'” writes Razan in Beirut.


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Lebanon: Misunderstanding? · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“…Hezbollah's private telecommunications network that triggered the confrontation is a ‘secure network of primitive private land lines [that] helped the guerrillas fight Israel's high-tech army in the 2006 summer war’ quotes GPC on one of the direct causes of the current conflict in Lebanon.


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Lebanon: Things may slip? · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Prof Rami Zurayk, who is in Beirut with his family, writes his observations and what he is witnessing on the third day of the conflicts in Lebanon.


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Lebanon: Who is who · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Ben gives us a quick run down of who is who and what in Lebanon right now.


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Malaysia: Raja Petra Posts Bail · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Detained Malaysian blogger Raja Petra has posted bail and is now at home.


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Morocco: Dutch Sweets Soon · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Dutch sweets will soon be available in Morocco, according to 24 Oranges.


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Palestine: Israel Trainee Diplomats Internet Brief  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“The Israeli government's Foreign Ministry is involved in efforts to influence public opinion on the Internet. Israel's Foreign Ministry orders Internet propagandists, so called ‘trainee diplomats,’ to skew online polls and public forums to conform with the Israeli line,” writes Window Into Palestine.


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Peru: 200 Years of Lima Cemetery · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The “Presbítero Maestro” cemetery in Lima celebrates its 200th anniversary and Javier Vargas of Deveritas [es] posts colorful photos about its “beautiful tombstones, mouments and mausoleums adorned with marble sculptures belonging to wealthy families and national heroes.”

author: Eduardo Avila


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Peru: Decrees May Make it Easier to Arrest Protesters · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Peruvians are concerned with recent presidential decrees, which critics say, will make it easier for the military to arrest protesters and will be a blow to human rights in the country. C.J. Schexnayder of Andean Currents writes that the timing may coincide with two international summits to he held in Peru.


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Saudi Women Against Late Night Weddings · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Apparently many Saudi women believe that late night weddings are highly inconvenient, so they’re campaigning and holding workshops to try and change this tradition,” writes Bahraini blogger Esra'a, who argues that Saudi women should be rallying for other, more pressing issues.


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South Asia: Burma, the junta and a crisis · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

In a post titled “Hell in the time of Junta”, Sepia Mutiny writes about the humanitarian crisis in Burma.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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South Korea: Film Festival  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Junni wrote a Korean film festival guide at Ohmynews.


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Sri Lanka: Creating wealth · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Deane's Dimension takes a look at the issue of poverty, and writes that the question is not how poverty can be reduced, but how wealth can be created.


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Sri Lanka: Cyclone Nargis · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

LIRNEasia on a timeline of Cyclone Nargis and the lack of an effective early warning system.


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Walking Shoes?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The rising cost of living prompts St. Vincent & the Grenadines blogger Abeni to say: “Seriously though, I find times are changing a little too fast for me.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Football Fever  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“It is no secret that people are football crazy in Trinidad and Tobago,” writes Discover TnT Blog, adding that “the upcoming friendly match between Trinidad and Tobago and England is already stirring up debate.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Transparency Issues  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

KnowProSE.com refers to an article in the Trinidad Express to make the point that “in the continuation of an era where government is being accused more and more of corruption and overspending, it seems counterintuitive that a government that wishes to stay in power would remove public hearings.”


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Armenia: Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

“Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves,” The Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin sang together, and in Blogian's case this certainly seems to be the case. After overhearing one of her husband's friends try to convince him to travel to Europe to “have fun with women,” the blogger's sister ripped up his passport.


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Armenia: Surveillance of Gays & Swingers · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on the English translation of an article written by a fugitive opposition newspaper editor and activist on surveillance of prominent gays and swingers by the successor to the KGB, the National Security Service. It is alleged that compromising dossiers are collected which can later be used for political blackmail.


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Burkina Faso: Shea butter and other secrets  · Global Voices
John Liebhardt

If you know your beauty products, you most likely have heard of shea butter – the natural fat extracted from the fruit of the karite nut. Shea is a natural moisturizer and its high levels of vegetable fats allow it to treat a host of skin conditions, from burns to eczema to rashes. Karite trees are mostly found in the African Savannah, and grow abundantly throughout much of West Africa, especially Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Burkina Faso.
Western beauty companies have been falling over themselves trying to purchase fresh raw shea from cooperatives of African women. They see it as a win-win proposition: Buying shea provides cosmetic companies with this wonderful natural product while giving African women a chance to earn money harvesting and processing a natural resource.
Burkina Mom was recently handed an advertisement from a Western cosmetic company promoting its use of shea butter from Burkina Faso. While it explained how the women gather the karite nuts, the piece didn’t go into the detail how much work is actually required to process the butter. Burkina Mom fills in the facts.
Here's a few things about shea trees, nuts and butter:
They are trees that must grow for 15 years before they start producing nuts. Each tree produces only about 45 pounds of nuts per year.
When the nuts are ripe, they fall to the ground. So, gathering them is really not labour intensive. What IS very intensive is the amount of labour required to make butter out of the raw nuts. This labour is done exclusively by women.
It involves taking off the pulp, breaking the inner shell, roasting the nuts, then grinding and mixing the paste by hand. It is lots of work, and like many things done by women here, it doesn’t pay that much.
But the while article talks a lot about the “cultivation of shea butter nuts”, there's not one word about the labor actually involved. It is invisible.
Meanwhile, here in Burkina, more and more women are forming cooperatives for shea butter production and sales. Some of the bigger groups are even able to buy simple machines that make the work less backbreaking. So, I have been heartened by the increased use of shea butter in various beauty products. And I guess it’s nice to see West Africa in the media, but I wish they’d get it right. Especially if they want us to buy their over-priced products.
In April, National Geographic published a 5,700-word travelogue about a trip through the Sahel. It wasn’t lost on one blogger that the only Sahelian country the writer Paul Salopek failed to mention was Burkina Faso. She wonders why. It is because Burkina Faso is a quiet, boring country, not known for providing much news. Its AIDS rate is low, the malaria rate may be bad, but the country is very politically stable.
It leads her to wonder what she’ll remember from her two years in Burkina Faso when she returns home in a few months.
From Jill at Jill and Marcus in Burkina Faso:
So what's a girl supposed to do when she's just spent two years in what just might be the most boring country in a continent she really has no interest in? I guess I'll digest and reflect by reading what I've written about this place, talking to RPCVs, and looking at photos. I'm a little hesitant to look at photos, though, for two reasons. The first is that photos of this place have the eerie quality of changing the reality of things. I look out my front door and see my neighbor's pants-less kids playing with a bike tire. No big deal. then I take a picture and suddenly I have a photo of adorable little African kids playing with their little homemade toy, and oh look, they have no pants, isn't that just so cute?! It's very spooky. The other reason is I don't want my memories to be skewed by photos. Humans are so visual and so dumb that we make up stories that never even happened so our memories match our photos. So if I look at my photos that have that eerie AFRICAN quality to them, I'm going to think this place was way more interesting than it is. But that wouldn't be so bad, would it?
Speaking of preconceptions, Ex Africa was witness to his own – from someone also living in Burkina Faso.
From Ex Africa:
The other day I arrived in Ouahigouya. I went to Emily’s house and we shortly left to go eat at Maison de Jeune, a popular buvette. They got good benga (beans in Mooré), what can I say. There were three Japanese volunteers there. Emily knew 2 of them and we striked up a little discussion. I told them I lived in the Sahel, in between Djibo and Dori. The first thing one said was ‘al Qaeda?’ I was rather astonished but tried not to show it on my face. Al Qaeda, WTF?! Are you that prejudiced? She went on to talk about the muslims there. I really couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The muslims there treat me very nicely. Yes, they treat me curiously, but they are very kind people, Mossi, Peul, and Fulse people alike. I told her yeah most of the population was muslim. She then mentioned al Qaeda once again. We ended the conversation and Emily and I went and found our own table. We looked at each other like “What was that?” I didn’t like that exchange. I don’t think the Japanese volunteer meant anything bad, but I could feel the skepticism as she spoke. Muslims, for the most part, are wonderful, kind people. They are just like Christians, Jews, Animists world round. Most are beautiful, empathetic people. A few bad apples spoil the whole group some people think. Let’s stop the prejudice people.
Clay creates his own presumptions for his neighbors. That of the odd foreigner.
One of the most satisfying things I do each week is burn my trash. Or more specifically, watch it burn. I do this for two reasons, the first being that I like to. The second is that, if I don't, small children passing my house on the way to school will see what to them is a fresh bag of goodies and peruse through it. They will, without a doubt, be sure to taste everything they find. Jettisoned packets of velveeta-like Vache Qui Rit cheese will be licked clean, just like what I thought were empty tomato paste cans. I find the whole thing kind of disgusting; I prefer to burn. I'll even burn plastic bags: the more colorful the smoke the better! But the environment!!?? I too once felt your pangs of conscience. But I ride a bike as my sole form of local transportation, and I use hardly anything that leaves a wrapper in its wake. I'm probably the most carbon neutral I've been since I had the comfortable, if cramped, sublet of my mother's womb. And did I mention that I really love burning my trash? So one night I found myself with a full box of trash (this is where your boxes go when you send packages) and nothing else planned. Afire in my courtyard, I saw that it was burning quickly, too quickly. This was my whole evening! I can't reread Harry Potter 7 again! (Alas, yes I could, and yes I have). In a race against time, I ran to the field next to me and grabbed dried cornstalks by the armful, returning to feed the fire. I was doing this, going back and forth, a few times before I realized two elderly village women were staring at me, dumbfounded. Did I mention that they sincerely believe large fires at night attract cannibalistic flying sorcerers? Sweating, soot covered, realizing what I'd done, I thought only to say, “Ne t'inquiète pas! La madame ma voisine est chrétienne et a prié pour nous! Toute la domaine scholaire est bien protegé!” Or: Don't worry! My neighbor is a christian and has prayed for us, all the area around the school is well protected! And it is, or so she has told me multiple, multiple times. Thankfully, they probably couldn't hear me as the tall, contented flames crackled happily, noisily, into the night.
A few posts ago, we reported that Stephen Davies and his book, Sophie and the Albino Camel, was shortlisted for the Norfolk Shorts Award for short novels. The book didn’t win, but Stephen reprinted a letter on his blog, Voice in the Desert, he sent to the awards ceremony talking about his book and his love for African stories.
[Sophie and the Albino Camel is] set on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, not far from where I live, and some of the characters are even based on real people. Sophie is based on a real nine year-old English girl called Milly who lives with her parents in Burkina Faso. Muusa ag Litni is based on a bandit who hijacked Gorom-Gorom's ambulance a few years ago and drove off in it, which in my opinion is even worse than stealing a camel!
I've always had a soft spot for African adventure stories. When I was ten, I used to love King Solomon's Mines (by Rider Haggard) and Sahara Adventure (by Wilbur Smith). Stories of exotic and dangerous places used to keep me up late into the night, reading by torchlight under the bedclothes. If you like African adventures, there are lots of recent books for you to choose from. The Door of No Return is very exciting, as is Ringmaster. Or if you enjoyed Sophie and Gidaado's first adventure, there are two more in the same series: Sophie and the Locust Curse and Sophie and the Pancake Plot.
For foreigners living in Burkina Faso, there’s always a time for conversations about bodily functions. Here’s one of those times. From GRITS heads to Burkina:
Upon arrival in Satiri it is obvious that it isn't the “bustling Metropolis” that is Banzon. Our food options are limited to beignets, REALLY salty rice and peanut sauce, and attieke (MY FAVE!). So, of course I chow down on a bowl of attieke (pronounced: uh-check-ay, made from fermented manioc) and some fried fish heads…YUMMY! Things were going great…I was feeling pretty good about the food. It was a little crunchy, and the oil had more of a black color as opposed to the lovely golden brown we are used to. But, hey, it's Burkina…I have seen worse. We eat our meal and head back to her house for a little afternoon nap. As we are walking over to finish drawing the grid lines on the world map I start to feel a bit woozy. Being that I rarely throw up, I almost never recognize the signs when it's about to happen. I attempt to help with the work, but finally give up and we commission a small child to show me back to Rose's house while she continues on the map. We start walking and already I know something isn't right. My mouth starts to water like crazy and I know what's about to happen. We walk past this large group of men sitting around drinking tea and doing pretty much nothing. They enthusiastically greet me and start yelling, “hey, toubabou, hey…how are you? Where are you going? What are you doing?” Well…in t-minus 2 seconds I was heading for the ground…and as for what I was doing…well, puking my guts out while they just stood there and watched. I heard them talking in Jula to one another, “hey…look, the white girl is throwing up.” The whole time I am thinking, “hey, where is that Burkina hospitality…get over her and help me!” At this point I have created a Jackson Pollock painting on the ground, but I catch my breath enough to tell someone to fetch Rose.
The story ends on a happy note:
Truly, after that I felt perfectly fine, and the rest of the week went wonderfully. I just had to avoid the one thing I actually enjoyed eating for the rest of the week. That night as I was talking to Rose about the whole thing we both agreed that while in Africa you can always say, “well, it could have been worse.” I could have had it coming out of both ends in front of all those people, I could have still be throwing up, I could have had wrenching pain…but I didn't. Eh, it's not so bad, and it could always be worse. NEXT!
Moco in Burkina Faso attempts to solve the mystery of the Canadian missionaries.
In addition to each of the two projects, I put in my time at the CSPS (health clinic) each day, assisting with prenatal consultations, weighing babies, and helping with monthly vaccinations. The rest of the time in village, I can be found reading , playing with my posse of little kids, visiting with neighbors and attempting to learn Siamou, or riding my bike to various locations. Cory, the health voluntee in the village of Serekeni, is my closest neighbor, and we've recently been trying to meet the ever-elusive Canadian missionaries who live in my village. The first time we located their house and prowled around, they had yet to return from a year-long trip back to Canada, so we had to be satisfied with a view of the house and yard alone. However, we marveled at the giant screened-in porch which is twice as big as my entire house, the huge water tank providing running water, and the solar panels for electricity. Then we were guiltily interrupted by the guard and made our exit. The second visit, we apparently just missed them by a few hours, they had gone to Orodara for the day. But their presence was evident by the newly-swept courtyard, car tire tracks, and various signs of habitation. After admiring the bouquet of flowers in a glass vase, complete with linen table cloth on the porch, we told the guard we'd try again another time and scampered off, visions of running water and good food flashing through our minds.
Charlie, from Blooming Rose, attempts to teach local women the mystery of embroidery.
I now have ten ladies doing embroidery with me. We sit on the veranda in the afternoons and there is much laughter, although I gather that most of it is at my Fulfulde. If it's not me saying words that sound like something rude, it's my regular announcement at 6 o'clock that ‘I'm finished’.
Their tenacity to learning has been impressive so far, but we're still a way from producing really good quality work. There is just one lady so far who has been embroidering sarongs that I am ready to sell…I'm hoping to use some of the profits to start a market stall to help the ladies to sell their work locally. It's a small idea but one that I hope will make a big difference to this particular group of stars.
Finally, more proof that Burkina is a little short of earth-shaking events. Here’s a weather report. The good news: in some parts of the country, the hot seasons is being forced out by the beginnings of the heavy rains.
From Lara in Burkina:
This time of year involves a lot of trying to sit as still a possible with a really large bottle of water next to me, under the tree in my courtyard during the repo everyday. Even my students and colleagues have a hard time handling it. My male students wear uniforms with button down shirts and at about 10:30 in the morning when the room really starts to heat up, they start to unbutton them. That's right…it's so hot that my students were literally taking their clothes off! Ummm…Moumouni you need to keep your shirt ON during math class.
Well, that was the situation anyway, until a few days ago, when miraculously, a giant dust cloud blew out of the northern sky and was followed by rain, glorious rain, buckets and buckets of rain that lasted for hours. Who hooo!! The French describe someone who is lucky as having many chances, and in this particular case, nous avons eu la vraie chance. My burkinabes tell me that it's ultra rare for it to rain that early, especially so far north in Burkina. Now they can go out into the fields and start cultivating (virtually the only thing 90% of the population will do for the next four months).

author: John Liebhardt


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Iran:”Boycott Us, We Have Nuclear Bomb” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Khomeinism says [Fa]despite all these stories about Iranian nuclear program and sanctions, western companies continue to sell all their products in Iran.The blogger says, with irony, we should remind these countries that Iran has “Atomic Bomb”, do not sell your products anymore.


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Lebanon: Future TV Vandalized · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“During the war last summer, i cried the most when i heard that the Baalbek ruins are being threatened. Not equally dramatic but equally tragic, it seems that all the archives of future tv got totally destroyed! (18 years worth of records),” writes Mirvat about the damaging of one of the television station's buildings.


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Lebanon: Government Decrees Repealed · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“The army command has just announced it is reinstating Wafiq Shuqair as the head of airport security and will investigate Hizbullah’s communications network ‘without harming the resistance’, asking for the withdrawal of all armed men and the reopening of the streets,” reports In the Middle of the East about the government's decisions that started the current crisis in Lebanon.


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Lebanon: “Hot Summer” · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“It's a pretty hot summer indeed in Lebanon… A strike that turned into a civil war… I'm scared..Yesterday when I heard the gunshots getting closer to my house I couldn't stand up!! I couldn't run!! and I couldn't even move!!!” writes NightS on her experience with the current events in Lebanon.


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Lebanon: Like being under siege · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“I live in Ras El-Nabeh, where clashes have been raging for the last 2 days, and thanks god today is relatively calm and under the Lebanese army control. But still, I didn’t go to work in fear of not being able to come back! Yeah feels like being under siege!” writes Rami.


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Lebanon: “New Era Begins” · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

MFL's provides a list of lessons and observations drawn from the crisis in Lebanon.


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Myanmar: Unrealisting Expectations · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Andrew Selth at The Interpreter says “governments and international agencies calling for immediate action in Burma seem to be over-estimating the regime’s capacity to respond”


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Zambia: Parastatal madness and constitutional debate · Global Voices
Brenda Zulu

This roundup covers Zambian bloggers who are discussing “the parastatal madness,” the debate over the constitution of Zambia, the election crisis in Zimbabwe and the African Forum on ICT Best Practices 2008, which took place in Burkina Faso recently.
New Zambia talks about “parastatal madness” saying that:
Secretary to the Treasury, Evans Chibiliti, disclosed earlier this week that a number of companies (Zamtel, Zesco etc) owe the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) billions of Kwacha in unremitted taxes. Apparently ZRA has sufficient legal tools to compel defaulting clients to pay,but the situation is tricky because of ” the strategic importance of the erring firms and institutions”.
The truth of course is that this is not entirely true. One only needs to peruse through the PAC report to see that most of the parastatals are actually owed a lot of money by the government, this is why they never pay taxes! Many of us have previously called for these parastatals to become independent, but reality is that incentives for government to act are very weak. Parastatals help governments to shift debt around! Mr Chibiliti calls this implementation of “various debt swap and cancellation initiatives”.
Issues over matter blogs about the constitutional circus in Zambia:
Legal issues, especially those to do with the constitution making process, stump me, I must admit, but this round of making the constitution is simply baffling. A few years ago, the President, Dr Levy Mwanawasa, State Counsel, against all opposition, appointed a Constitution Review Constitution chaired by renowned lawyer Willa Mung’omba.
The epitome of opposition to the Mung’omba commission was the resignation of Zambia Democratic Congress president, the late Dean Mung’omba from the body just after the first sitting, if I remember correctly.
Forgive me if I am wrong, but Willa and Dean were brothers and yet the latter refused to be part of the charade, and if President Mwanawasa’s sidestepping the results of his own creation is anything to go by, Dean was right to think the whole thing was a joke.
In fact, Mr Mwanawasa has not said very kind things about the job done by the Mung’omba team particularly for suggesting the mode of adopting the resultant document via a Constituent Assembly.
The issue of the high cost of such a venture kept cropping up with the argument that parliament was adequate for enacting the draft constitution into law. But I am stumped even more that the same amount that was to be costly setting up a CA is now being spent on the National Constitution Conference.
Mwankole has concentrated on the Zimbabwe election crisis:
It has been speculated that Hitler may have suffered from a mirage of psychological issues, he was an ideologue with unshakable convictions…….. He did not use language for the purpose of interaction with others, but only for the purpose of dominating others. He endlessly engaged in long-winded and pedantic speeches, with “illogical arguments full of crude comparisons and cheap allusions.
As in the case of Hiltler, I find that Mugabe's direct reports, especially the army chief are pandering to the whims of a mentally ill man.
Much worse how do these policemen beat up their fellow countrymen for voting against Mugabe, during the day and go back to their homes at night, in the very neighbourhood where the people they beat up live?
Finally, ICT Journalist discusses the recent African Forum on ICT Best Practices 2008 held in Burkina Faso:
The level of interest in using technology solutions to address critical development challenges is getting high in Africa. At the same time, there is an essential need to accelerate the penetration and application of technology on the continent, particularly at the public sector level.
Feedback received from various government leaders and international financial institutions on the continent clearly shows that the best way to achieve this objective is to provide the conditions necessary for African governments and advisory institutions to share their own best practices, subsequently creating a roadmap for the future.
In this way, African leaders and the institutions that support them can actively assist in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public sector institutions through the use of technology and create the capacity for Africa to increase its own competitiveness.
Any institution that provides leadership on this issue would simultaneously achieve a high impact outcome for Africa’s development and an opportunity to distinguish itself from the crowd.

author: Brenda Zulu


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Taiwan: April 26th 2008, a Usual Day and a Special Day · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

Photo courtesy of Alhorn.
April 26th, 2008 should be a usual day, no more.
However, this March, Wenwei mentioned about a 24-hr photo activity held in 1992, and Yangphoto decided to hold a 24-hr photo blogging relay on April 26th:
照片具有歷史意義
影像能表達生命力
相機掌握在你手上
按下生命感動的快門
In response to this call,
來自台灣各個角落的一百九十位攝影者在當天拿起相機，按下快門，接力記錄台灣的24小時。
這些照片與連結將在今天（5月5日）在網路部落格完整呈現….
00:00-07:00:People finishing yesterday's work, people preparing for a new day, and people supporting the the former two groups of people.
07:00-11:00:People eating breakfast, people starting working, and people taking a day off.
11:00-15:00:Young people and cats waking up and hanging around, people keeping working, and people attending activities.
15:00-17:00:People keeping working, people playing, and more people playing.
16:54-21:00:People with their family, people with their friends, people with themselves, and people with food.
21:00-24:00:People keeping working, people going home, and people trying to find their home.
Yangphoto said,
而從這些照片來看，參與這次活動有媒體的攝影記者、高度使用網路部落格的學生、為人師表的老師、一般的市井小民…等[…]容或影像水準不一，容或是負面的台灣，但他們真實呈現了所看到的台灣。
Wenwei said this kind of activity can
使在台灣的每一人有命運共同體的體認。
He also hopes that in the future we can have
台灣企業的２４小時、台灣勞工的２４小時、台灣婦女的２４小時.
There is also a video including some photos in this activity on youtube (uploaded by ohho0625):

author: I-fan Lin


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Vietnam: Netizen’s Reactions to the Olympic Torch · Global Voices
Caroline Finlay

Vietnam’s history has been intertwined with that of China for thousands of years. Wave after wave of Chinese invaders have controlled Vietnam for more than half of the last two millennia, and the influence on Vietnamese language and culture has been stronger than that of any other neighbouring country. The Vietnamese follow Mahayana Buddhism, and Confucianism continues to influence the education system. The Mon-Khmer roots of the Vietnamese language are all but drowned under the pressure of a massive number of Chinese loan words, the adoption of Chinese tonal pronunciation, and until the Latin writing system was adopted, Chinese characters.
Perhaps it’s a human characteristic that the closer we are culturally, the greater we perceive our differences. The Chinese continue to fan the flames of World War II massacres and stoke anti-Japanese sentiment. The Vietnamese do the same – but direct their anger at China. Just as the PRC’s government has given tacit approval for anti-Japanese protests, anti-Chinese protests are the only ones likely to appear on Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh’s streets. Ask a random Vietnamese person, “Which country to you hate the most?” and the answer will most likely be, “China!”. The neighbours have put aside their differences in favour of trade, and in 2005, 17 years after China last invaded northern Vietnam, China became Vietnam’s biggest trading partner.
The Vietnamese have had another opportunity to vent their anti-Chinese feelings with the visit of the Olympics flame’s to Ho Chi Minh city, but unlike anti-Chinese protests in the west, their complaints have nothing to do with Tibet. Popular democracy and freedom protests tend to not be covered in Vietnam’s state-controlled media, and mention of Tibet and of the monks’ protests in Burma was minimal. Instead, the Vietnamese are fixated by the Spratly and Paracel islands, of almost negligible land area but with potential oil deposits, located in the South China Sea between Vietnam, China, Taiwan and the Philippines. All four powers claim and occupy a few of these bits of land sprinkled across one of the most travelled seas in the world.
Vietnamese youth protesting against Chinese claims to Spratly and Paracel Islands in December 2007. More images at Flickr.
Anti-China protests are led by Vietnam’s youth, who also make extensive use of the internet. The pressure from pro-Spratly youth led to reports of famous singer My Tam refusing to carry the Olympic torch. The following was posted as a picture file, not text, because net censors and their search engines cannot read it – showing bloggers are aware of Vietnam’s increasing internet censorship. I will refrain from posting the blogger’s name or url.
“Lo ngai về tình hình bất ổn chính trị liên quan đến ngọn đuốc, MT đã bị ép buộc cầm đuốc trong ngày 29/4. . . .Vì tin tức MT từ chối rước đuốc đã nhanh chóng lan truyền trên mạng internet, forum…trên đài truyền hình và báo chí nước ngoài gây nên 1 làn sóng xôn xao và hoang manh rất lớn. Tin tức cho biết MT sẽ kh được duyệt xét xuất cảnh trong thời gian rước đuốc cũng như có thể gặp khó khăn sau này.”
“You should be very worried about the current state of affairs and the unacceptable policy regarding the torch relay – MT [My Tam] will be forced to carry the torch on 29/4… Because the news of MT refusing to carry the torch spread quickly through the internet and on forums…on television and in foreign newspapers, it caused a tumultuous and alarming impact wave. The news told us that MT will not be able to get permission to leave the country during the torch procession and that she may face difficulties in the future.”
The government’s reaction to a popular a internet dissent was to nip it in the bud and make a point of having My Tam carry the torch. The pop artist was later pictured smiling on April 29th when she took her turn on the streets of Ho Chi Minh city between the Chinese guards in their blue jumpsuits.
Protests were also a possibility during the torch relay, but they were very small and easily controlled.
Blogger haivuong63 posted this article outlining an effective protest[vn] at the torch relay. Again, the cautious language shows haivuong63 is aware of net censors and of promoting protests.
theo tôi mục đích cần xác định rõ hòng có thái độ thích hợp… là lên tiếng về sự xâm lấn biển đảo nước ta của nhà cầm quyền Trung Hoa…cụ thể là Hoàng Sa và Trường Sa thân yêu. Vậy không nên lầm lẫn với việc ngăn cản buổi rước đuốc…Hãy xác định đây là cuộc biểu tình ôn hoà vì Hoàng Sa – Trường Sa. Chúng ta không nên phản đối ngọn đuốc thể thao dù đã bị bắc kinh lợi dụng…
according to me, the protest must have a clear goal and an appropriate manner, which is to raise our voices about China’s invasion of Vietnam’s sea and land areas… specifically in our beloved Spratly and Paracel islands. Because of this we shouldn’t act wrongly by hampering the torch procession…We must intend this to be a protest gentle protest for Spratly and Paracel. We shouldn’t oppose the Olympic torch even though it has been taken advantage of by Beijing.
Many Vietnamese people remain deeply suspicious of their increasingly powerful northern neighbours, shown by blogger Ngu Yen’s stinging reply to vuonghai63:
Con thấy mình có biểu tình cũng không thể lấy lại được 2 quần đảo, vì nhà nước mình đã chấp nhận im lặng, và tụi TQ thì quá mạnh về quân sự. Thật ra nếu nó muốn đánh chiếm VN, nó đã có thể. Hơn nữa, bộ trưởng quốc phòng mới của TQ là một kẻ kiêu căng ngạo mạn, lại hiếu chiến. Nhà nước mình không thể thay đổi được gì vì gián điệp Trung Quốc đầy rẫy và nắm các chức vụ chủ chốt trong bộ máy nhà nước. . .
I feel that if we have a protest that we still wouldn’t be able to get the two island chains back because our country has already silently accepted the situation and because gang-like China’s military is too strong. Truthfully, if it wanted to invade Vietnam, then it could. Furthermore, China’s new defence minister is an arrogant, self-important and trigger-happy man. Our country can’t do a single thing [about Spratly and Paracel] because China’s spies are everywhere and hold key posts in the government’s machinery.
The Vietnamese people feel empowered at the opportunity to protest a historically bellicose neighbour, but that highlights the fact that protests at home are so few and far between, and any protest can be dangerous. Blogger Dong A SG protested for Spratly and Paracel in January 2008 and was arrested and held incognito for alarming the blogging community. The official reason for the arrest was tax evasion, but shortly before being arrested, bloggers report Dong A SG as having visited pro-Spratley and Paracel blogger Dieu Cay.
Now that Vietnam has entered the WTO it doesn’t face the international human rights pressure it used to, and at the same time Vietnam is under pressure from trade partner China. This a combination that may even eliminate the one doorway for Vietnamese youth to practice activism – anti-Chinese activism.
This article was originally posted on China Beat

author: Caroline Finlay


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Africa: Cain Prize for African Writing · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“Earlier this week, the shortlist for the Caine Prize for African Writing was announced. The contenders…,” reports Rebekah Heacock.

author: Ndesanjo Macha