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The State of the Argentine Blogosphere: Jujuy · Global Voices
Jorge Gobbi

Jujuy a northern province of Argentina, pegged between the province of Salta, Bolivia, and Chile. It's one of the most beautiful places of the country, but also one of the poorest. Jujuy's touristic potential has just begun to be exploited a few years ago. And it also hosts an interesting community of blogs, one of the first to have a provincial directory which is unfortunately offline today: Jujuy Weblogs -although you can still see it through Google's cache. The absense of this directory joins the perception by many bloggers of the lack of unity between the different blogs. While Sergio Aramayo points out that “the state of the local ‘blogthing’ is quite incipient”, Veronica San Martin admits “I only have contact with two blogs from Jujuy, which I visit often, read their posts, leave comments, recommend visiting, and also have shown them as examples in the blogs seminar I have given. I don't think there's a common unity among the province's blogs”.
There's consensus among the interviewed bloggers from Jujuy about the lack of diffusion of blogs’ existence. Some categories where these kind of publication platform would be interesting is local politics. However, there are no blogs – or at least, I haven't been able to detect them- that analyze the topic of local policy at Jujuy. According to Veronica San Martin, “I don't know why there aren't any blogs that speak about local policies. I can only make two assumptions: maybe it's because when one creates and writes in a blog we do it on something we're passionate about, and maybe there's no one that at the same time likes politics and knows about blogs. Notice that around here, this tool is not widely popular yet. I have taught information technology seminars in the province and these included the teaching of blogs as a new communication and expression tool, but these classes were aimed at Jujuy's tourism sector. I also did it for the agriculture sector. If this technology were spread to other sectors, I believe more blogs would come up and diverse topics would be discussed, including local policy”.
Blogs from Jujuy, by topic
There are many blogs especifically dedicated to Jujuy's news. On the tourism side, the most active blogs are Veronica San Martin's Turismo Jujuy; Alguien de Perico and Sergio Aramayo's Jujuy.com. There are blogs about history and places, such as Apichuya's De vicuñas andantes, api dulzón y duendes perversos. Or personal blogs, such as  José Victor Antonio Riquelme's Cyberblog 520; Lagrima's Yuyos y Yerbas; Text Decoration; Sin Pupilent; Peros, paras, porkes; Irremediablemente nocturno; Martín Chalup's Martland; and Luciérnaga Furiosa, by Cas.
There are also blogs about technology and the Internet, such as Rodrigo Galíndez's (who currently lives in the city of Cordoba) 16 bits; Ezequiel Acosta Garcia's Pixeljuy; and Sergio Aramayo's a16, more into web design, just like the one of the Asociación de Diseñadores en Comunicación Visual de la Provincia de Jujuy. Also, in the same style, there is Dos Dedos.
As stated in the introduction, Jujuy began to appear on the tourism radar some years ago. Such interest has inspired various conflicts, such as problems for land possession in Tilcara, which I wrote about in my travel blog (here and here). Except for Copenoa, a news agency in Northern Argentina, I haven't noticed any other media taking interest in the subject, which is really intersting.
By the way, if anyone knows of any other blogs from Jujuy that were left out of the list, let me know in the comments area.
Jujuy's blogs list
Tourism and news
Turismo Jujuy
Alguien de Perico
Jujuy.com
Technology, Internet, Design
a16
16 bits
Dos Dedos
Pixeljuy
Personals
De vicuñas andantes, api dulzón y duendes perversos
Cyberblog 520
Yuyos y Yerbas
Text Decoration
Sin Pupilent
Peros, paras, porkes
Martland
Luciérnaga Furiosa
Photoblogs
Joaquin Carrillo
Events
Calendario de Jujuy

author: Jorge Gobbi


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Trinidad & Tobago: Another take on the smelter issue · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Valarauka mistrusts the information being put forward by opponents of smelter project in southern Trinidad. “My opinion, as an economist, is that there is, as always, a more dynamic solution to this issue than the naysayers suggest,” he writes. “That is, I think we can have our clean air, our integrated communities, and our profitable industrialisation.”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Uganda: Makere University · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Africa Unchained comments on the dwindling funds of tertiary institutions in Sub Saharan Africa which he says have reached crisis proportions….”The challenge is for institutions to formulate alternative sources of income so as to reduce their almost complete reliance on state funding. Makere University's successful Private Students Scheme implemented is an example of one such creative partial solution.”

author: Sokari Ekine


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Uganda: Rise in private security personnel · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

See no evil, hear non, just be a dork comments on the rise in gun ownership  the rise of private security personnel in Uganda. Apparently there are now 18, 000 security personnel working for 75 firms in addition to 13,000 police.


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Ukraine: March 26 Vote in the United States · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow gives a somewhat belated photo-tour of the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on the day of the March 26 parliamentary vote.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Zimbabwe: Mugabe’s anger · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Enough is Enough posts on Mugabe's anger over the ZANU-PF reforms as they desperately look for ways in which to “rejuvinate” the party's image...”Even more clear than that all is not well within party is how telling this episode of the dichotomy that exists in Zimbabwean politics between the MDC and ZANU-PF.”


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Iran: Books & Copyright · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kamangir says Tehran International Book Fair is one the most important events in a Tehrani student's life in the spring. Blogger adds even though, students get free coupons to pay almost half, buying an original book would be your last option. A thick technical book in Tehran is sold for less than 10,000 Tomans, means less than 15 CAN$. I am terribly sorry, but the absence of copyright in Iran is just fantastic for students.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome · Global Voices
Salam Adil

The biggest barrier to understanding the reality of today's Iraq is not being able to feel what it is like living in a state of continuous war and lawlessness. On Wednesday the BBC led on the story that 50 people had been killed in one day in Iraq. Yet the story did not even register in the blogosphere. For Iraqis today such atrocities are just part of the background of their lives. I have dedicated this weeks column to posts about the day to day life in Iraq. But it is not all negative. If you read through to the end I have instructions on the Iraqi style of haggling.
Writing this post does not get easier. This week I again send my commiserations, this time to veteran Iraqi blogger Raed Jarrar who lost his aunt recently when an American missile hit her house. He also writes a memorial for the principal of his old school who was one of the many teaching professionals to have been assassinated over the last three years:
Slah Al-Bandar was the principle of my school… A great man with a big heart. We never call our teachers with their first names in the Middle East, every teacher is called “Ostath” then his name, as in Teacher. Ostath Slah used to be a very strict eastern teacher that everyone feared, but everyone loved as well. He used to work as a taxi driver in his beaten VW car after finishing his work in our school, and on weekends too…
Every Thursday, he stood there in the middle of the big football field while the 1400 students gathering in a U shape around him never dared to whisper. He stood there and asked us all to watch the Iraqi flag going up while singing the national anthem…. Then, he'll get the old microphone and repeat the exact same introduction for his weekly speech:
“My dear sons and students. My dear colleagues and educators. Good morning…
In this blessed day, I want to talk to you about…..”
He repeated this for years, until he was assassinated some days ago.
Ostath Slah Al-Bandar's big heart will never beat again.
May they all rest in peace.
Fear and Courage on the Streets of Baghdad
Miraj is no shrinking violet. She wants to buy a milkshake and after giving up on the household men helping, she decides to go herself regardless. But being a woman, traveling alone in Baghdad has its problems. Going by foot is out of the question:
“There was a new food shop … but the problem it’s located in a street where all you can see is men and men and more men. Rough looking guys sitting in the street near the shop, standing next to cars in the street where the shop is. I didn’t want to attract attention if me and my sister shopped from there, especially because most of them will know where we live and under these circumstances we are nothing but a simple bait for some of the criminals and rapists roaming our streets. It happened to me once when I was attacked near my house and I won’t risk it again by exposing myself or my sister to such animals.”
So she goes by car and her mother and sister come for support. But this is not without its hazards: “after passing by a small check point my heart started pounding like a drum and I opened my eyes wide unconsciously and started paying attention to any strange move around me. A car behind me with a guy in it started gazing straight into my eyes right from the check point.” But he was only one of those men who “think they own the street and it’s not a place for females with their cars… I wonder if those silly things they do make them feel better about their faked manhood.”
Then at the shop she takes the standard precautions:
“The safest move is to keep the car engine on in case anyone one came nears me to run away… On our way back I noticed a small van with guys stopped meters away behind my car, I told my sis not to go out together because it would take me some time to open the door while mum seemed still reciting Quran. I asked my sis to stay at the shop in case anything happened she could scream. I went to the car and mum felt my fear and opened the door for me, my sister quickly joined us and I moved with my highest speed.
And once home you thank God: “I turned to sis and mum and told them Hamdallah ala Alsalama, a phrase used to be used back n time in Iraq when you reach safely from another country by a plane mostly. Here we used it in such a small trip to the food store. Weird though, I didn’t feel the milk’s taste as before.”
But there are no standard precautions when gangsters enter your house looking to kidnap your daughters. That is just what happened to I Was There. Fortunately his daughters were not home as their bus had broke down. He tries to rush home as fast as possible. “But it took 45 minutes in a 15-minute road to reach my house because of those police checkpoints and the 150-meter distance that we should maintain between our cars and the US military Hummers … other wise they will shoot us so I was driving slowly following them while I was boiling deep inside trying to get home as fast as possible.”
All he can do is reinforce the locks on his house and plan for his daughters to leave Iraq. But the ordeal does not end there:
Next morning, I was leaving the house when two men took a picture of me while they were driving by the house and run away.
On the next day, my youngest daughter… went to her teacher, who lives one block from my house, for a privet lesson.Two men in a black car chased her to her teacher house then when she finished the lesson they were still waiting for her there so she told her teacher and called her mother; the teacher kept her in her house until they left then she walked her home.
He concludes: “It bothered me that no one cared for what happened… because what happened with me is an every day story in Iraq now… I just became a new scene in the Iraqi tragic play which the marionettes called it the new Iraq, but we will leave this new Iraq for them. I don’t think that they will found many Iraqis who will accept to live in their new Iraq.”
Now even the busses are targeted by bombers. Baghdad Treasure's friend Ahmed relies on them to get to work:
Ahmed started to be worried all the time. Like all Iraqis, he is unsafe at all. “Wherever I go, I feel I am going to die. Even going to work became as hard as getting a job,” he told me once. Today, a bomb planted inside a minibus exploded in Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City neighborhood, killing at least two people and wounding six.
But although he says the security forces are doing nothing to stop this, Iraqis themselves are reporting suspicious cars. He writes: “Today, a group of people noticed an anonymous car parked inside the main bus station in Baghdad's famous Shiite neighborhood of Kadhimiya. They called the police who came hurriedly to see if the vehicle was a car bomb or not. Bravely, they defused the bomb they found in it and saved dozens of innocents’ lives.”
But the police cannot always be trusted. An Iraqi Tear gets a call from her son. He explains that he lost his money and mobile. Here is his story:
Close to the Central Children Hospital, a joint police-national guard check point stopped him. (Such check points used to stop him several times a day because his car number plate [is from a] Sunni governorates… and you can imagine what would be happen to a driver being alone) and my son was alone.
A policeman asked him if he is Sunni or Shiite… my son answer was (I am a Shitte). The next question “why is your car carrying this number?” my son told him that he bought the car from Baghdad… Another policeman who was searching the car told him: look I found this book in your car with the name Omer (a Sunni name). Who is Omer? A student in my class, my son answered. “F*** Omer and every Sunni; be a good Shiite and curse Omer and the Sunnis” the policeman adviced him… The policeman took the $200 and his $430 worthy N70 Nokia mobile that he bought days ago.
What could we do?
Nothing but thanking AlMighty Allah that they let him go… Till now more that 244 Omers were assassinated in Baghdad. They were kidnapped or arrested by the police; then their tortured and shot dead bodies were found.
Life on the Front Line
And if it is not the police, it is being caught up in the ongoing war. Brian gets mail from Qassem in Ramadi who describes the American military operations there against insurgents last week. While there is a strong political message, there is also a story of life on the front line. Qassem writes:
I am now with my family in Anbar I found my family ok…and most friends also…….but the situation was very bad ……burned tank ( US tank ) was in front of my house and my house [was damaged] partially… there was hard fighting ……
He relates what it is like to emerge after a battle and how people create their own system of communication to warn each other away from the war zone:
at the morning I succeeded to get out my house and I found many holes at many wall of the houses around …..it resulted from last night attacks of US troops ( after midnight ……most of streets blocked by the local people …..we can notice that the street is blocked when line of small stones cross the street ,it means there is US tanks on it some where……this is our way to warn the people that this street is dangerous and US tanks can kill who enter it………the clear fact is that US troops never put marks or signs to warn the civilians if they don’t allow people to get in some where…..and 100s of civilians killed because of no signs put by US troops .
An idea of the troubles of living in a front-line city:
For the last year Ramadi people take care of their city services by their own selves because our city completely ignored by the Iraqi government in add to the problems of my people with US troops along the last 3 years…..now we need to maintain the services again by ourselves ……the people in Ramadi think that the US troops want to punish the local people of Ramadi because they never allow to US troops to install military bases inside the city and fighting US soldiers every time they trying to get in the city…..for the last weeks US troops made many mistakes and destroyed houses of Alkurbeet Family ( tribe leader ) , train station of Ramadi centre and many other buildings …… in add they attacked Iraqi national guards that joined them …..US snipers killed 3 of Iraqi soldiers ….it was other mistake!!
And a message of defiance…
At night ,the US air force was very noisy with their jets and scared us too much …..I canot imagine that it will be ok tonight …
I like to tell them “ I am and my family and my people living in our houses and staying in our city , and, US soldiers and tanks and guns used every day against us…so, who should stop ??? we or U ??”
And Finally…
I really don't like to end on such a negative note and this post cannot pass without a mention. Neurotic Wife learns from her HUBBY something that everyone should know. How to haggle in the bazaar. Here is her blow-by-blow account:
HUBBY: How much are these pants
Indian seller: Sir they are 150
HUBBY: A HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS!!!! (his eyes popping out)
IS:No sir no, 150 dirhams (shaking his head from side to side)
HUBBY: A HUNDRED AND FIFTY DIRHAMS!!! WHY???I can get much cheaper in America (accent turning slightly to match that of the IS)
IS: But sir, this good quality, this is pure cotton sir, look at the quality sir…(taking the pants on his hands and turning them inside out)
IS: LOOK sir, look, this is TOP, TOP quality…u no find anywhere in market same same…
HUBBY(looks at me, and Im just staring into space, indicating I dont wanna be part of this)
HUBBY: Ok look I buy 5, i give you 150…(HUBBY starts taking the cash out)
IS: No sir, no, cannot, is good quality sir, see hand made…
HUBBY: ok i buy 4 i give you 100…(Im laughing my ass off here)
IS: Oh noooo sir (the shaking of the head becomes vigourous) NO, what you do is haram…I have baba(father), mama(mom) mal ana(all of a sudden the indian seller turns speaking broken arabic) fee old, very old people…have to give food, no money…
HUBBY: Ok I no buy..too much money this..BYE…
AS we walk away…The IS shouts, ok sir ok, for you i give 100, HUBBY tells me under his breath to continue walking and not look back…but im really feeling sorry for the IS now…we continue walking…The IS's screams become louder…SIR SIR I GIVE YOU 90…HUBBY again tells me to continue walking….The screams becomes begging and we hear running footsteps…The IS is behind us..OK sir he says…his eyes twitching..ok sir, what u want to pay???HUBBY tries to act cool and says I changed my mind…IS contniues…Ok sir I give you this look good quality 100% cotton, 50, only 50..HUBBY rolls his eyes, and shakes his head…IS then said ok sir, take (pushes the pants onto HUBBY) and tells him give me 20….OMG im thinking..OMG…from 150 to 20!!!! WTH…..
…HUBBY said watch and learn from the expert with a cute smirky smile covering his entire face…
But dont take your negotiating skills too far. Neurotic Wife refused to pack her husbands suitcase for him. As she says: “…Sorry HUBBY, I no give you 100% hand made perfect quality wife…”

author: Salam Adil


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African Diaspora: Hard times for Africans in France and Belgium · Global Voices
Anthony Katombe

Several francophone blogs have tackled African immigrants’ latest tribulations in France and Belgium.
Choosing Immigrants
Le Pangolin criticizes French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy’s latest round of  immigration policies. The blogger sees Sarkozy’s approach as a diversion from the real social issues raised by protestors of  the CPE [Youth Employment Law]. Le Pangolin,  belies Sarkozy's assertions that France wants to start “choosing its immigrants” through new, tighter policies:
La France a toujours choisi son immigration, rappelez-vous des balayeurs sénégalais que la France est allée prendre au Sénégal et Mali, des ouvriers des usines automobiles Renault et Peugeot qu’ils sont allés chercher au Maghreb pour casser le parti communiste et la Cgt qui étaient virulents et puissants dans les années 50 à 1970.
Le Pangolin ridicules a French government drowning under youth unemployment protests attempting desperately to redirect public attention towards a scapegoat, the African immigrant:
Le message est donc clair, on ne fera plus venir ces gens, on veut des immigrés qualifiés ayant fait des études chez eux, désormais vous aurez ces emplois (…) Les personnes qui sont visées par le CPE sont surtout les non qualifiées, or depuis longtemps le patronnât français et l’élite française ont réservé ces emplois aux immigrés (balayeurs, femmes de ménages, gardiennage, garde malade, éboueurs, ouvriers du bâtiment, coursiers).
Love France or Leave It
At Forum Realisance, blogger Musengeshi Katata critiques Sarkozy’s  “Love France or  leave it” quote which he finds ironic in light of France’s  unwillingness to integrate Africans or to grant them opportunities similar to those afforded French whites:
La France, monsieur Sarkozy, ce n´est ni une prostituée obligée à lever ses jupons les jours de famine, ni une église où tous les vices sont acceptés pourvu qu´on dise amen ou encore une nations gouvernée par des principes occultes et douteux ; c´est hélas bien autre chose que cela : c´est une des nations les plus ambitieuse de cette terre. Et malgré tous ses manquements et ses défauts, dans son cœur vivant et chaud, elle couve un des meilleurs idéals de l´existence humaine, et ne vous en déplaise, c´est ce havre brûlant et vertueux que nous aimons aveuglément. Et croyez-le ou pas, nous allons la défendre et continuer à l´aimer, parce que nous sommes persuadé qu´elle représente, dans son âme attendrie et sincère, le plus beau de tout rêve humain.
Stranded in Belgium
From France, we skip over to Belgium with Le Renouveau Congolais‘ Etienne Ngandu  who writes about a group of African immigrants threatened with deportation who have been taken in by Sint Antoniuskerk Church.  They have lived in Gand for years and their children go to school there, says the blogger, but they are being denied residency. The blogger recounts:
Nous sommes allés donc à la rencontre de ces hommes et femmes qui ne demandent qu’à vivre et être traités avec dignité. En effet, ces personnes ont perdu complètement tout repère de la vie, puisque se retrouvant en marge de la société car tel est le sort réservé à tous ceux qui n’ont pas le fameux sésame qu’est un titre de séjour valable. Tous vivent dans la peur et l’angoisse de se faire expulser à tout moment de la Belgique.

author: Anthony Katombe


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Echoes from the Tunisian blogosphere · Global Voices
Mohamed Marwen Meddah

Swobodin writes about how Project Gutenberg has over 10,000 books legally available for download in more than 50 languages, yet none of them are in Arabic. He goes on to talk about the inexistence of any Arabic books in an electronic format, and how Arab national libraries and cultural centers are not doing their job in promoting Arabic literature and culture.
MMM writes about the International Book Fair taking place in Tunisia and his dissapointment after visiting it. He sees the same religious books every year at most stands with different covers and colors, the same translated books about Yoga, Macrobiotics and self-help, the same old Arabic books by old Arabic writers, semi political books talking about age old issues or supposedly “hot”, yet unimportant, topics. Only a few interesting or important books are to be found among all the clutter. He goes on about how new Arabic books by new Arab writers are almost impossible to find. He then gets into statistics about Arab books and content in the world, and how there is basically no support for new writers in the Arab world (Arabic).
Heliodore writes about attending Paulo Coelho's press conference at the International Book Fair of Tunisia and publishes a couple of photos he took (French).
Adib writes about how he got to meet Paulo at the fair a few days later, how nice he was talking to people, and remembers how Coelho's book “The Alchemist” played an important role in his life (French).
Zizou, after reading a newspaper article about some parliamentary discussions about preserving the Tunisian culture and values, and a project to invest 3 million dinars into renewing Cinemas, he wonders how realistic their talks and plans are, and whether they're really tackling the real issues and finding the right solutions (French).
Swifty writes a great post about the scientific side of Islam and the different scientific facts that the Holy Koran already detailed over 1400 years ago. He published a selected list of some of these facts and the verses in the Koran that detail them (French).
Princess, on the occasion of the International Book Fair taking place these days, writes about the issue of how we almost don't have a reading culture in Tunisia. She talks about the people who act like they're intellectuals without having really read books, people who say they don't have time for books in between their “cool” everyday activities like going to clubs or coffee shops, and the students who barely read their school and university books (French).
Soufi gives a quick and short review of the European Cinema Days in Tunis, listing the unforgettable moments or details, as well as hiw favourite movies and scenes (French).
Zaratoustra writes about how the new French visa procedures require people to give their fingerprints and wonders when they'll be requiring DNA samples too, then jokes on about how 5 years down the line they might start requiring people to put an explosive bracelet around their necks that will blow up if their visa ends and they're still in France (French).

author: Mohamed Marwen Meddah


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Iran: Free Osanloo! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Aknoun va Inja reports about a letter which is written by more than four hundred political and cultural personalities, to ask government for Mansour Osanloo's, bus syndicate leader, freedom (Persian). From this letter we learn Osanloo has already been in an isolated cell for four months without have any right to hire a lawyer or meet with family members.


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Prominent Egyptian blogger arrested and several other activists · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Originally by Socrates
Alaa Abd El-Fatah, one of the Egyptian political activists, and one of the first bloggers in Egypt was arrested today together with around ten more activists during a peaceful demonstration in solidarity with sixty activists who were arrested over the past two weeks in a non-violent sit in, as well who were held in custody for two weeks under investigation for “crimes” that if anything would raise only mockery including, humiliating the president, possession of “publishing equipment”(graffiti spray) and blocking traffic.
The first group of activists arrested two weeks ago was supposed to have their cases reviewed by prosecution today, so as to release or renew holding them under investigation. In solidarity with them 200 lawyers approached as a defense council, a number of judges, and a number of activists among whom were Alaa and his colleagues gathered around the court house.
Authorities denied the activists entry to the court house, in addition to attempting to present the “detainees” files only, and not the detainees themselves to prosecution. For hours, Alaa and his fellow activists shouted slogans against the government, sang and showed solidarity with their detained fellow activists. At the end of the demonstration police forces surrounding the group increased, refused to let them leave and started picking those to arrest, Alaa and ten others. They were taken to the nearby police station were they were denied lawyers, or any visitors. Lawyers are now standing outside the station just monitoring in case the arrested activists are taken somewhere else, which is exactly what happened. Three of them were taken blindfolded to another police station and were released later.
The latest attacks of Egyptian authorities rose to squash public support for the demands of Egyptian Judges for complete independence of the judiciary authority, which had the executive authorities interfering with its work for decades to forge elections, detain opposition leaders and punish voices that rise against decades of ruling under emergency law. Judges also demanded an investigation in the forgery of last elections. To shut them up, in a step with illegal procedures, the government, represented by the ministry of justice, referred two of the judges leading the movement to the validity committee. Judges had an open sit in their club (syndicate) for weeks now, the sit in that was supported by another sit in by Egyptian activists from Kifaya (enough), Al Horreyya Alan (freedom now), El Ghad party in addition to other movements and independent individuals outside the judges syndicate. For three days in a raw, police forces, assisted by thugs, attacked the activists sit in late at night, brutally beat the demonstrators and each time arrested a group of the demonstrators. At the first night: April 24th, police forces brutally beat up a judge, a court president. 60 activists were arrested in these attacks: among them Malek Mostafa , Mohammed Sharkawy and Mohammed Adel who are fellow bloggers. Mohammed Adel is a minor and is held in a regular prison facility. The arrested group has started an open hunger strike in solidarity with the demands of the judges and in protest for the continuity of their detention.
Alaa is one of the most active people working to support the blogosphere in Egypt. Coupled with his wife Manal, their “Bit Bucket“, is the aggregator collecting almost all Egyptian bloggers. He won the special Reporters Without Borders – DW Best of Blogs award in 2005 and was previously interviewed on Global Voices.  He is one of the people that the Egyptian blogosphere success and latest wide spreading is indebted to.

author: Haitham Sabbah


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Russia: Ban on Georgian Wine and Water · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Beginning today, Russia has outlawed Georgian sparkling mineral water Borjomi, a health product that many ulcer patients have been relying upon since the Soviet times. Gennady Onishchenko, Russia's chief health inspector, has ordered the ban allegedly due to the discovery of a batch containing fake Borjomi. A few weeks earlier, Onishchenko restricted imports of Georgian (and Moldovan) wine – allegedly on health grounds, too. It is widely believed, however, that the embargo is politically motivated. Both mineral water and wine are Georgia's most famous – and biggest – exports, and the ban is expected to have a severe impact on the country's economy.
LJ user plushev, a Moscow-based radio journalist, has been documenting (RUS) his hunt for the “disappearing” Georgian goods:
April 15, 2006
plushev:
Disappearing Goods
Aha, in addition to Georgian cognac, I now have to manage to buy a box of Borjomi. Interesting, but it is often recommended by doctors. Now, from the point of view of [the Russian Consumer Goods Inspection], they are killer doctors, definitely. The likes of Onishchenko [Russia’s chief health inspector] work to increase my stocks.
In summer, they'll find harmful substances in Moldovan apples, and towards winter – if the situation doesn't change – in tangerines. Needless to say, apples from Transnistria and tangerines from Abkhazia would be deemed ecologically safe.
***
altist72: I've been to Ashan [Moscow shopping mall] today: the wines department looks very funny.
prosvet: Hm, don't they sell French wines in Ashan? Also, Vichy St. Yorre is better than Borjomi ;o)
[…]
plushev: If I understand it correctly, to compare Vichy and Borjomi is like comparing Chablie and vodka. Besides being two different drinks (Borjomi is a health product, mineral water rich in various salts), they are also in different price categories. […] I haven't met a single doctor who was recommending Vichy water.
[…]
drugoi: I wonder what wine they are serving in Georgian restaurants now? […]
plushev: Nothing's changed in the restaurants. I suspect that those who've managed to take the wine off their shelves, took it straight to the restaurasnts with substantial discount.
[…]
bizam: You are joking, and Borjomi relieves my stomach ache. Nothing but Borjomi. Now all that's left are pills… :-(
azh7: We're fellow victims… Will have to stock up on it today.
bizam: A box won't last long to save me. I need 1-2 liters a day.
azh7: I also drink up to four plastic bottles…
April 18, 2006
plushev:
Shopping
Have been to Ashan, pure entertainment, especially in the wines department: my impression is that someone played a wild game of bowling at some shelves – where the Georgian and Moldovan wines used to be. But not just this. There were just two (!) types of Russian wine. […] Borjomi is still there, but I didn't have space for a whole box, of course, and took only three bottles, just in case.
[…]
***
svetosila: “There were just two (!) types of the Russian wine.” I wonder which ones. Maybe there's some homespun truth in their names?
plushev: I was in a hurry, didn't catch the names, sorry.
[…]
svetosila: Under these circumstances, it'd be fitting [to have wine] called “Smile” (there used to be such wine or some other alcoholic beverage). I've never had enough courage to try it.
One of the saddest childhood memories – a provincial bookstore where all the shelves are filled with one (AND THE SAME) book.
May 5, 2006
plushev:
They've done it faster with Borjomi than with cognac. I've managed to buy some, but not much. And today there's nothing left, not in the stores I had time to check in, at least.
But some bootleg [Borjomi] has been delivered to the Echo [of Moscow radio station].
***
sdanilov: […] Soon they'll be editing out scenes with Borjomi and Georgian wines from the Soviet movies – as an alien, unfit for our time, form of “product placement.”
[…]
mcavity: In Krasnodar […], there's no Georgian but plenty of Abkhaz wine – on the shelves in the “Russia” department – with labels of horrible quality, as if made of torn newspapers. Borjomi is still there.
[…]
sivilia_1: […] What's next? Soon we'll probably be using nothing but Soviet… Russian, that is… stuff, despite its quality, as in the “good” old times.
May 6, 2006
plushev:
There's still time
Borjomi can still be bought in stores and drugstores, I've stocked up on a few more bottles. […] It's interesting, by the way, that even at the time of worsening of the relations with Latvia, [the Russian Consumer Goods Inspection] didn't think of [Latvian] sprats.
***
ailon: Latvian economy wouldn't have been affected by a sprats import ban as much as the Georgian economy is affected by the wine and Borjomi ban.


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The Spice of Life · Global Voices
Melissa De León

#1: From Argentina, Pomelo Pleasures presents:
The Spice of Life: She wants it in her jam, me too!!! :)
I am an absolute nut about mulled wine, and perhaps with good reason. I remember France during the holidays, going to a bazaar full of baked goods and steaming vats of mulled wine, warming the hands and the belly against the chilly air. I spent Christmas in France in Stasburg, the place for Christmas, eating pain d'épices and downing bucketfuls of spicy wine on the snowy streets, but mulled wine is sold all over France during the winter season, and is also very plentiful around my family's home, especially during holiday parties. The wine fills the air with the unmistakable aroma of cloves and cinnamon, a sent forever linked in my mind with smiles and the good cheer of the season.
Now, I am sorry to reminisce about all of this Christmas business but I really am getting to the point; and that is the flavor of this mulled wine brings back memories of childhood and good times. Well, I want that in my jam.
#2: From the Raw foods world: Rani and Raja and his Raw Key Lime Pie.
I prepared it, it's…hmmm… fantastic! Go ahead, try it…and you will see :)
#3: From Karine's Food in China!
A wonderful, very colorful virtual trip to the Farmer's Market in Dali, Yunnan. The climate and geography around the ErHai Lake helps the farmers to grow a big variety of vegetables and fruits with an "eat-me" sign written all over the place. It really makes me want to go there right now!!!
#4: From Anthony's Kitchen, The Bachelor Cooking Blog from Mumbai, India.
Is the showcase for the Curry Mela 16th! Mouthwatering Indian creations. One after another, they will inspire you to cook in a way that probably you have not tried before. Go ahead, do not be shy!
#5: From Divina Cucina in Certaldo, Italy…a gorgeous Season's Best: Primavera. Beautiful produce, and the hills wearing a rainbow of shades of green! Oh My…!
Inspired by Tana and her small farm blog, I thought I would let you know what is happening in the hills near my home in Certaldo. I will try to document some of the local producers and interview them.
Certaldo is a beautiful hill town, built all in red brick. It is very tiny and full of atmosphere, not really a tourist town as there is really a living village and not a series of shops…
Certaldo and the surrounding valleys are also Chianti wine producing villages, not Chianti Classico, which is limited to the hills where it originated, Radda, Castellina and Gaiole.
The hills are lined with vineyards, olive trees and farm houses, still working farms. My neighbors the Tinti’s still sell their wine in bulk, Vino Sfuso, if you go by with your demijohns! Continue reading this inspiring post…
#6: The Flying Apple in Austria really takes off this time. Learn about how Angelika acknowledges the inspiration she has gotten from fellow food bloggers around the world. Thanks to that and to her charming spirit and energy, her catering business is a total success. I only have one question thou, would she deliver to Panama? I am in need of a Personal Chef! LOL!
#7: From Fusion View, London, U.K.
This post is so good that we have to share it with you! Have you ever heard of "hair dryer duck." The truth is that the duck was super tasty and extra crispy—-what else do you need from a duck?
In the middle of all the laughing caused by the story behind the "hair dryer duck" recipe, I remember that long time ago I read about an incredible post by The Skinny Chef, the recipe was to prepare "dishwasher poached salmon." Yep. So, after looking and digging into my favorites, I found it. This recipe is going to crack you up too.
Recently, I was browsing through a community cookbook compiled by a ladies’ congregation from the suburbs of Pittsburgh, close to where I grew up. Most of the recipes were divine though I had to laugh when I saw this bizarre exception. The preparation struck me as unappetizing, but technically speaking, it’s a cooking method that must work. I thought I’d include the recipe for those of you who might be curious. So what will be featured in the next book, you ask? Garbage disposal pesto is my bet! Get the recipe NOW!
Nothing like a good recipe to prepare when you do not have a stove or microwave, or any of the other conventional cooking appliances available! Ha! Creativity is great. I love it :)
#8: Have you been to Citarella's in NY? The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz writes about what she had to do to get some photos of her favorite Fish Market. Loved those giant clams, YUM!
Have a tasty week!

author: Melissa De León


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Voices of African Women · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Afromusing continues her excellent reports on solar power in Africa.  She has opened up her blog to take questions on alternative energy in Africa and here she answers a question from Mshairi on when will the high costs of installing solar panels come down.
Yes, the time is drawing near i think. January this year, i visited a farm in Eldoret where they used solar for heating water, using an installation of ’suntanks’ which is a south African company. I asked the approximate cost of the installation, and he indicated that it cost him Ksh 120,000. He did indicate that there is a german company that can set up a similar installation for 1/2 the cost
She adds that the government also need to step in and provide tax breaks for people wanting to install solar panels.  Proving grants is another incentive for people to take up the use of solar power.
Bent Outa Shape has started a photo blog “From My Eyes to Yours” and publishes her first set of photos from her home in Rhode Island.   Her journal blog, Bent Outa Shape was set up to help her through her journey with Scoliosis Surgery  and from her writing it is clear she is really enjoying blogging and has made lots of new blogging friends.
The surgery has since been done, and I'm almost fully recovered… Now this blog is about whatever's left over of my life. Welcome.
The church is the subject ofConfessions of the Mind.
I was made to dress in pearls with long flowing skirts and court shoes in either cream, white, black or red. My hair was in pig tails and I was like 14 then. I used to look like their aunty.
Later on she had battles with her mother about wearing socks with traditional dress (not exactly an appropriate combination). She stuck with it and won the battle.
“As the years rolled by the fashion style became more should I say “Chic”, no more allowing mom to dress me up in Sunday best. But she made me wear aso –oke one time and I said to her the only time I would wear it is if I wore socks with it. My mom was aghast and said no, oh well I said no as well, so it was like the clint east wood movie, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly standoff and I won. So I happily wore my knee length white socks with open-toe koi koi shoes and my pink aso-oke, I looked a sight but I was happy.”
Everchanging writes about “hatred, support and silence” in terms of violence against women and is impressed with some of the discussions that have taken place in the blogsophere.
Just reading a recent call for childhood stories by taureanminx, I realised a lot of people's early memories involved beating of wives/children. It is incredible that people are actually talking about this, considering the pressure to be silent and keep things “within the family” in nigerian culture, religious or not. I think the reason more people are speaking about violence is that they have seen others do so and are starting to realise that violence against women/children is not as “normal” as they have been taught/pressured to believe.
She writes about her own experience of violence from boys in school and college but says it is not surprising because young Nigerian men are conditioned  to think they are superior to women and it is OK to act rudely or  slap a woman.
So where do I stand on supporting the “brothers”? I don't. I don't believe in supporting my country just for the sake of it being my country. Truth comes first. And my words are important. So I will always speak before I even consider support. Speech must come first because women/girls are conditioned to be silent. So I support african women speaking, even if, especially if it is to the detriment of the african male as a construct, even if it hurts african men.
Weichegud!ET Politics writes a tribute to Ms Bertukan Mideksa  who is vice-chairperson of the Coalition for Unity & Democracy Party.  Ms Mideksa has been imprisoned by the Ethiopian authorities.
You made it difficult for us to give up on Ethiopia. How can we? If people like you can stand in the middle of the boulevard of ruined dreams and urge us ahead, how can we say we’ve done our part and retreat? You’ve made it difficult, Birtukan. You’ve made it impossible for me to forget what Ethiopia has done for me, and what I should do for Ethiopia.
Mshairi expresses herself wonderfully as always through her poetry.  Her poem “The Contemptible Lout” speaks for itself.
He weaves and ducks
Scattering misery and malice
A little here
A little there
Shamelessly two-faced
Brashly insincere
In his wretched meanderings
His heart will never inspire
Neither feel nor know love
Where his soul should be
An abscess resides
What an African Woman Thinks has been reading WMAHUBE, a collection of speeches by Thabo Mbeki.”  In this post she discusses one particular speech around corruption in which Mbeki claims there was elatively  little corruption in pre-colonial Africa.  Rombo takes issue with this claim .
What about slave trade? Were no chiefs complicit in the enslavement of their own people for material gain? What about colonialism? Were there no Africans who betrayed their own for personal gain? Was there, at this intersection between the African and the Foreigner, a sudden eruption of the corruption of the mind and the soul?………..It’s on sale, but I’m not buying.
She does however agree with Mbeki on one aspect of corruption which is that it should not be discussed without also discussing ” emocracy, transparency, accountability and social inclusiveness.”
Ethiopian blog Concoction points out the contradiction of international aid as the Dutch withdraw funding from Kenya because of corruption and China claims it will not meddle in Africa's internal affairs…
Long blogs ago, I said that aid has never been free. And it will never be. Therefore, we shouldn’t waste time even thinking, let alone write, about China's benefit from Africa… Of course! The benefits are not just raw materials and a good dumping ground for cheap Chinese stuff, but also politically. China is gathering the support of most African countries to have more political leverage internationally – within the UN, for example.


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Afghan Whispers: To Celebrate or not! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Afghan bloggers talk about anniversary of Kabul's fall in hands of Mujahedin. They disagree about whether or not to celebrate. Why should the Afghan people celebrate this day? Did they get freedom, justice or….  The blogger adds this event just brought more war for another ten years (Persian). He says,
Afghans did not fight holy war for justice, prosperity,…To understand why they celebrate you should get how Afghans look at things and their value system. Bravery is a value in itself and outcome is not that important.
Dialogue 3 says about this event that we celebrate jihad (holy war) and not people (Mujahedin leaders) such as Rabbani, Syaaf, and others. People were engaged in this war against foreign invasion and we celebrate that (Persian).
Yadshtayi az Gharb (Notes From the West) talks about this day as one of darkest day in country's history. He writes people witnessed the worst plight in last hundred years Afghanistan's history (Persian). The day after Mujahedin entered Kabul, war broke out between different groups of Mujahedin.
Nikobad talks about importance of professional diplomacy for country (Persian). Blogger writes:
“Afghanistan must play as one actor on international scene . Political parties, parliamentary groups, ministries, and anybody else can not have its own foreign policy. If not there will be a lot of divisions between diplomacy and strategy of foreign policy which at the end failure a weakness will be its consequences for Afghanistan in region and in the world.
Blogger adds Afghanistan needs global diplomats not classic ones. He explains classic diplomats are the ones who, without any knowledge of foreign countries go on missions, just because they have good connections.


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Africa: Religious miracles · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Africa Unchained points to an article on the rampant spread of  belief in religious miracles in Africa….” From the Gambia to South Africa, Africans believe in miracles are legendary. In West Africa, where spiritual churches are most prominent compared to other parts of Africa, people attend churches 24 hours a day with the hope of visions and miracles.”


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Alaa detained for 15 days “pending investigation” · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Today, the Egyptian blogsphere is loaded with anger and appeals for urgent actions. All what you need to know to feel the pulse is watching the Egyptian Blogs Aggregator (maintained by Alaa). The story of his arrest is in the headlines across the blogsphere as well as some news websites beyond the Egyptian borders.
Following is a summery and updates from around the blogsphere:
Alaa's wife, Manal reports that Alaa and the other arrested activist are now detained for 15 days:
Alaa and the rest of the group that was kidnapped yesterday, will be detained for 15 days. They didnt go directly to the prison as we thought, but spent the night at the Khalifa's police station and are supposed to be transferred to the prisons now. The 3 women will go to El Qanater prison, as Tora prison where the rest of the 40 detainees are held has no section for women, and the men are supposed to join the rest and go to Tora prison, but some think that they will also taken to El Qanater prison (which has sections for both men and women).
Sandmonkey also confirms the 15 days detention “pending investigation”, which could be renewed indefinitely. What he is afraid of is what could follow inside the infamous prison:
Him and the men were sent to the infamous Torah Prison and the girls to the Qanatir prison for the duration. This makes them hardly safe, because stuff that goes on in egyptian prisons on the hands of the jailors: beatings, sexual assaults, torture of all kinds. This is why we aim to get them out of there as soon as possible, so that even if they do end up serving the entire 15 days- which they won't have to if the government gets pressured- they ndon;t end up serving an extra day after that. No one deserves this happening to them, especially for exercising their right to free speech.
However, there seems to be another15 day’s detention, but a renewal 15 days detention for the first arrested group. Tomanbay says:
Arrest period was extended for the protestors detained on April 24th, for 15 more days. Mind you, this is an ad-hoc arrest, no subpoena, or court orders issued. This brings the period they're spending in prison, without facing charges, to 30 days.
Salma confirms that this 15 days-extension for the first arrested group. However the other alarming part is the condition of the detainees:
Faisal also confirms the reports of mistreatment.
Nermeena describe what is happening as a “crisis. She says:
Talk about freedom & Democracy Till now…..48 detained, among them 6 bloggers, and 3 ladies!!
In his last night post, The Skeptic fears are coming true:
When I first met Alaa in the summer of 2005, I told him I was worried the government would crack down on the Kifaya protesters after the elections, when the world’s attention was elsewhere. I asked him if he was worried about what would happen if that came to pass: Many of the protesters were young, they had never been in jail, they didn’t know what could happen to them. He said he believed that it was too late for the government to put an end to the protests, that once people had tasted a bit of freedom, the regime couldn’t roll it back.
“The government would pay a heavy price if it clamps down on us,” Alaa’s father told the BBC’s Heba Saleh last year. The coming days and weeks will see both those predictions tested.
Yasmina, as many other bloggers are calling for help:
GO TO SANDMONKEY’S SITE AND HELP ALAA AND OTHERS THAT WERE ARESSTED . We need to show our support no matter whare you are. I sent two emails and made my brother send one. Just help cause people don't really know what kind of abuse our great Egyptian cops put people through.
You can find more templates here.
Freedom for Egyptians blog is reporting that Human Rights Watch Responds to Egypt's Regime Mass Detentions:
Human Rights Watch has said the Egyptian government should immediately release scores of peaceful protesters arrested over the past 10 days solely for exercising their right to free expression and assembly.


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Albania: Agron Tufa’s Poetry · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Traveller One of Stepping Stones posts a translation of Agron Tufa's poem about Albania.


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Albania: Uighurs From Guantanamo · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Our Man in Tirana writes about five Uighurs who are being moved to Albania after five years of detention in Guantanamo.


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Armenia: Kurdish Nationalism, Yezidis · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian writes about Kurdish nationalism in Armenia and has many more posts and photos of Armenia's Yezidis.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Barbados: More on the death boat · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Barbados Free Press posts a follow-up to an earlier entry concerning the boat found adrift off the Barbados coast containing the corpses of 11 men. It would appear the men were en route from Senegal to the Cape Verde islands.


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Belarus: Flashmob Inside a Police Bus · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Leo Finkel of Maidan International reports on a flashmob protest against re-naming the streets of Minsk into Soviet names, which took place inside a police bus.


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Belarus: Intercepted Police Talk · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

br23 blog posts a sampling of what Minsk police talked about during the Chernobyl March opposition rally. The conversations were intercepted by a hacker and are available online in mp3 format, in Russian.


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Belarus: Opposition’s New Direction · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

In his weekly roundup of Belarusian politics, Tobias Ljungvall discusses the recent shift within the opposition: “Apparently, Lebedko sees a bigger role for himself, and is also proposing a more radical style of work than that which the thoughtful Milinkevich stands for. Milinkevich, on the other hand, is now equally eager to create a new national movement.”


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Belarus: Zubr Disbands · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Andrei Khrapavitski and TOL's Belarus Blog write about the disbanding and future fate of Zubr, a Belarusian youth opposition group.


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Brunei: Revolution and Bilingual Education · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Maurina at Turquise and Roses has on post on 1962 Brunei revolution and how the subsequent suppression of the revolt helped Brunei continue with its policy of bilingual education.

author: Preetam Rai


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Burundi: State violence · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Agathon Rwasa reports that the Burundian government has ordered the police to “beat anyone that does not obey the law”..  The President is reported to have said “I told journalists that if the police tell you not to go beyond this line and you do so, they have the permission to beat you,”


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Cambodia: Wimax rollout · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Blogger chlim01 in Cambodian capital Phnom Penh is roporting that the city now has 90% of it's area covered with WiMax. WiMax stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access and this technology allows for high speed wireless internet connection over large distance. The technology is ideal for places like Cambodia where wired infrastucture does not provide enough coverage.


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Cameroon: Travesty of justice continues · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

IGLHRC (International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission) reports that Cameroonian government continues to refuse to release the 9 men equitted of homosexuality charges….In a further travesty of justice, the government is forcing the men to stand trial again.At their initial trial, no witnesses were called and no proof offered by the prosecution, so Judge Tonye, the magistrate overseeing the case, declared the men innocent of all charges..


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Caribbean: Farewell to two cricket grounds · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

At the West Indies Cricket Blog, Ryan Naraine notes that the Caribbean will bid farewell to two cricket grounds this season, Guyana's Bourda and the Antigua Recreation Ground.


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China: Blogger upgrades, returns · Global Voices
John Kennedy

AsiaPundit‘s myrick blogs back with a new look, a new host and a new server following nearly two weeks of silence.

author: John Kennedy


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China: Cinematic spoof spin-offs · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Jason Li at Virtual China looks at the various spin-offs that have popped up in recent months of an online spoof of a movie released last year.


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China: Strike-it-rich lit · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Lalaoshi at Laowiseass blogs on yet another book which sells the secret of breaking into the Chinese market with his own take on the author's theory of that which motivates Chinese  consumers: protection and projection.


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Darfur: No UN troops yet. · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Sudanese Thinker has three posts on the Darfur peace talks – The Sudanese government still has not given permission for UN troops in Darfur


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DRC: Emerging Coalition Between Church and Opposition · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Says (FR) blogger Philippe Liondjo at Prince du Fleuve du Congo,: “A powerful coalition is emerging.  Rumors of negotiations between Bemba's MLC, Tshisekedi's UDPS and other groups and political parties born in the diaspora are being confirmed and point to a shift in the struggle for the [D.R. of]Congo's survival. The nationalistic character of this emerging coalition is reinforced by another very influential factor here in the Congo: the involvement of the Congo's Catholic Church.” This coalition, the post suggests, would serve as an opposition to ruling party PPRD.

author: Alice Backer


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DRC: Reflections on Sovereignty · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Prince du Fleuve du Congo reflects (FR) on foreign involvement in Congolese politics: “We made a big mistake when we accepted to sit around a table with foreigners to engage in power sharing at Sun City… Today we must recognize that the transition was not a solution, that elections will generate more problems than solutions … Foreigners from the East want to rob us of our country via so-called free, democratic and transparent elections.”


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Ghana: Health Care · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Trials and Tribulations of a Freshyly Arrrive Denizen debates public v private health care in Ghana... A lot of people, including myself, appreciate the efforts of public health care, but see it as still insufficient. I have tended to believe that private is better, because of the quality of the time spent with you, and the service provided. Nana Amma’s case has proved a rude shock that this is not always the case.”


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Haiti: New Haiti-Based Haitian Blog · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Parlons Peu uses the blog medium to publish (FR) his father Marcel Salnave's journalistic works from the 40s and 50s. Recent posts include a raving review of Haitian musical prodigy Ernst Lamy written in 1940 and reflections on the Haitian National Bank written in 1946.


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Haiti: Skewering Kevin Sites · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Humour site God Bless the Whites takes on Kevin Sites’ coverage of Haiti for Yahoo's HotZone.


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Hong Kong: Supermarket food cleared · Global Voices
John Kennedy

How much does it cost to raise a child in Hong Kong? No, how much does it really cost?
Two sets of answers at Simon World, along with the refutation three weeks later of a food safety story one blogger suggested the downplaying of which would serve the interests of both one media company and the alleged perpetrators involved.


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Hungary:  Magyarisms · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Andy H of Csikszereda Musings writes about five words that he thinks have been borrowed from Hungarian.


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India: Delhi Bloggers Meet · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Twilight Fairy does a roundup on the Delhi Bloggers Meet. Large range of topics, blogs and nuances discussed.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India: Kashmir beyond the front page · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Akshay has a breathtaking collection of photographs that he took in Kashmir. He writes “This was not the Srinagar we read about in the papers or see on the news channels. This is not the Srinagar of curfews and bandhs, of grenade attacks, of bomb blasts, of shoot outs, of encounters, of security checkpoints and bunkers, of armed men in uniform, of abandoned buildings, of sniffer dogs, of military convoys, of lurking fear and of 6000 missing young men.”


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India: Poorism, Tourism and the Western Tourist · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Pickled Politics points towards stories on Poorism – or Tourism that lets the tourist take a peak at the poorer parts of India.


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Internet Censorship in Pakistan · Global Voices
KO

The Pakistan govenment has been attempting to censor the Internet, in fits and starts over the years.  Pakistan has a long history of censorship, from banning books & magazines to shutting down newspapers and jailing journalists. In the early 2000’s internet usage took off in Pakistan, bringing it to the attention of the government. Sadly, the government has been trying to restrict access to the internet by monitoring and filtering all internet traffic, in the process slowing internet speed for everyone, and violating basic human rights, as specified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Pakistan is a signatory to.
See the Wikipedia article for a good overview of Internet Censorship in Pakistan.  Another website, Pakistan 451 is following these censorship attempts as they happen. I wrote about internet censorship in Pakistan here. Teeth Maestro has been very active against the censorship, and started a campaign Don't Block the Blog. The Society Against Internet Censorship in Pakistan has also been very active in spreading about the word about the block, and has been spreading the news in Pakistan and outside, in the hope that increased awareness will lead to the govt. backing off on its censorship drive. While a few days back it appeared that the block had been lifted (for blogspot.com), the block is back in place yet again.
The Supreme Court and Government of Pakistan have obviously an extremely limited understanding of the Internet, and do not grasp what exactly they have done. They are still thinking along the lines of traditional media, made up of books, newspapers and magazines, and probably think they have blocked certain ‘bad’ issues, and that everything else will be accessible as usual.
Most, if not all people savvy enough to operate a computer are easily able to bypass any technological blocks the govt. puts up. At best, the various censorship solutions the government will implement over the next few years will discriminate between the technological haves and have-nots.
It is sad to see Pakistan walk down that same road. At best, attempts to censor the internet will give the censors a false sense of security that they are doing something, while slowing down the internet for the entire country, as well as further degrading its image throughout the world. On an email list Dr Awab Alvi says
The problem is not all that simple – Pakistan is constantly in a battle with India to gain a competitive edge in the IT sector, all outsourcing coming into the region may at first look at the tremendous cost saving potential in Pakistan, but when the bureaucracy gives mixed signals on simple IT issues, the company naturally looks at the greener pastures across the border, a govt ready to adapt to change with the blink of an eye, to ensure they continue to become an IT leader in the region.
The internet, although a network in name and geography, is a creature of the computer, not the traditional network of the telephone or television industry. It will, indeed it must, continue to change and evolve at the speed of the computer industry. Trying to impose artificial barriers on the internet is akin to building sand castles on the beach – sand walls can’t stop the spray of information coming over the walls, and the next wave of technology will completely overwhelm the entire castle.
A short list of banned websites:
All websites hosted at blogspot.com, www.balochvoice.com, www.baloch2000.org, www.balochfront.com, www.sanabaloch.com, www.hinduunity.com and a number of websites hosting content deemed blasphemous by the government.

author: KO


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Iraq: Oil Ministry Fire · Global Voices
Salam Adil

Zeyad reports that a fire destroyed the accounts and records floors of the Iraqi Oil Ministry. As a result, employees have been told that salaries cannot be paid for some time. He posts a photo and reports rumours that the fire was started deliberately to hide a corruption scandal.


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Jamaica: Carnival innovations · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Francis Wade details a few of the innovations in service and use of technology which have been introduced into Jamaica's Carnival. “The food at the Frenchmen Jamaican fetes is simply outstanding, and makes the evening well worth the money (which worked out to about US$70.) From the shrimp soup, to the sushi, to the desserts, to the _very_ wide variety of choices… I thought it way above any fete I have ever been to in Trinidad.”


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Jamaica: Prostitution – to legalize or not to legalize? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

A Jamaican businessman raises the question of whether prostitution should be legalized in Jamaica to help control the spread of HIV/AIDS, but Leon Robinson's not having any of it. “Legalizing prostitution may have the reverse effect,” says Leon, “making solicitation a more accepted practice. Plus it would further destroy the delicate moral fabric of the country, and would further encourage sex tourism. A more practical solution would be to create more jobs, because no prostitute is proud of the life he/she lives, and most would gladly take a 9 to 5 job if one presented itself.”


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Jamaica: Writer’s books on Caribbean lit. syllabus · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Writer Geoffrey Philp is delighted to see his books beginning to appear on the Caribbean literature syllabuses at various institutions, including the University of Iowa.


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Kifaya Under Arrest · Global Voices
Elijah Zarwan

There's a gentle spring breeze blowing in Brooklyn, and the sounds of kids playing basketball are coming in through the window from the schoolyard next door. It's early evening, at the end of a sunny weekend. Across the street, neighbors are singing intentionally off-key to an earnest version of “Wimoweh.” It's clashing with the piano from downstairs. I'm sunburned from a day eating homemade Indian food with an old friend in Prospect Park.
And I'm stunned, sickened, and anxious to get back to Cairo. Another friend of mine, Alaa Ahmed Seif al-Islam, went to jail there yesterday (May 7). He was among 11 young people arrested for turning out to support  Kifaya activists arrested in last week's crackdown at the latter's scheduled hearing this morning. The tireless Aida Seif El-Dawla, who was there, says   Sami Sedhom told the protesters, “You bitc***. You sons of bitc***. This is how it is going to be from now on if you do not behave and know your limits. If you do not behave you'll have the bottom of my old shoes all over you.” (Her full email is posted at Arabist.net)
Police released three people—Sara Abd al-Gilil, Mohammed Awaad, and Yasser Abbas Mohammed—and held the rest in the Saida Zainab police station before transferring them to the Heliopolis State Security Prosecutor's office. A friend who works for a wire agency tells me he just heard the prosecutor has ordered them held for 15 days.
“We were just there to be present at the court hearing,” Aida said. “They encircled us…they wouldn't let us go.”
Friends of two of the detainees told Aida that security agents had called to say they were “screwing them right now.”
The eight people still in custody from yesterday's arrests are:
These most recent arrests, coupled with the arrests last week, are dominating the Egyptian blogosphere. Wael Abbas has photos. “The Egyptian regime is getting bloody wild,” Freedom for Egyptians observed in the headline to her May 7 post. “Security forces are lashing out in all directions detaining anyone who would open his/her mouth in any street in Egypt using very arbitaray procedures, thanks to the renewal of the Emergency Law…One year ago…a political writer told me ‘this regime will be thrown away with blood.’ I didn't want to believe him, but I am seeing blood coming! I am saying it now with my eyes filled with tears,” she concludes.
Toman Bay is concerned that “the government will continue this illegal arrest until the infamous May 25th passes (the first anniversary of the constitutional amendment referendum, and the police brutality against protestors).”
Sandmonkey writes, “We are on our own, and the regime is getting more desperate, paranoid and brutal by the minute.” Toward that end, he is encouraging people to campaign for Alaa's release. The campaign is spreading rapidly across the Egyptian and expatriate Egyptian blogosphere.
In the same vein, a group of Ahmed al-Droubi's friends and supporters have put together a blog devoted to campaigning for his release and the release of those arrested with him on April 26, and Big Pharaoh has posted a list of useful Egyptian government contacts. I hope these won't dilute the effort to free Alaa. But when Malek and three other bloggers were arrested at protests last week, Alaa felt strongly that whatever campaigns people launched should be in support of all the detainees, not just the bloggers among them. I know that he would not want special attention—for good or for ill—because of his rising international profile.
I've met these people. I can't imagine the Interior Ministry honestly regards them as a threat. True, Alaa is an award-winning blogger and the son of veteran rights activist Ahmed Seif al-Islam, but the protests represent a nuisance rather than an existential threat to the regime. Yet the Interior Ministry does seem to recognize that the arrests could backfire: A spokesman told Al-Jazeera that those arrested the morning of May 7 had been released (just as they were being transferred to the Heliopolis State Security Prosecutor's office) and the Interior Ministry told Reuters that no one had been arrested.
So is this the regime's new idea? Crack down, arrest those protesting the crackdown, arrest those protesting the arrest of those protesting the crackdown, deny everything? Protests are no longer tolerated. The core of the Kifaya movement is now in jail.
When I first met Alaa in the summer of 2005, I told him I was worried the government would crack down on the Kifaya protesters after the elections, when the world's attention was elsewhere. I asked him if he was worried about what would happen if that came to pass: Many of the protesters were young, they had never been in jail, they didn't know what could happen to them. He said he believed that it was too late for the government to put an end to the protests, that once people had tasted a bit of freedom, the regime couldn't roll it back.
“The government would pay a heavy price if it clamps down on us,” Alaa's father told the BBC's Heba Saleh last year. The coming days and weeks will see both those predictions tested.

author: Elijah Zarwan


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Kyrgyzstan: Constitutional Reform · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia reports on constitutional reform in Kyrgyzstan and the debate over submitting constitutional reforms to public referendum.


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Kyrgyzstan: Protest Breakdown · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

CXW of neweurasia breaks down the recent protests in Kyrgyzstan and says that the opposition should look for other ways than more protests to move forward.


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Malaysia: Abandoned Tin Mines  · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

why360 in Malaysia goes exploring man made entrances on the side of the hills. These openings lead to the tin lode mines that used to generate a large part of exports from this part of the world.


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Martinique: Bolo’s First Skypecast · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Bolo from Martinique Sans Fil loved her first Skypecast ever: “I am very moved. :) Imagine thirty or so people from all over the planet using different platforms (Mac, PC etc.) communicating on the same subject.”


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Martinique: Immigration Scandal Update · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Bien Vu offers (FR) an update  on Martinique's immigration fraud scandal: “About three people have been incarcerated. More than a quarter of 11,000 of the suspicious immigration files …reveal grave anomalies. A well organized ring that operated within local government has been dismantled.”


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Mexico: Abuse of Force in Salvador Atenco · Global Voices
David Sasaki

With a title quoting the Commissioner of State Security, Wilfrido Robledo Madrid who said that “in Atenco the police did not carry firearms,” Eduardo Arcos posts a photo of a policeman pointing his pistol. Enlace Zapatista has an audio speech, photo gallery, and transcription (ES) which accuses Mexico's mainstream media of “manipulating images, photos, and words” in their coverage of the riots that broke out last week in the small town near Mexico City.

author: David Sasaki


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Mongolia: Health Minister Interview · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Luke Distelhorst publishes an interview he conducted with Mongolia's Minister of Health on HIV/AIDS.


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Mongolia: Protest Broken Up · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Luke Distelhorst reports that Mongolian police forcefully dismantled protesters’ gers (Mongolian yurts) as South Korea's president arrived for a visit. Tom Terry, meanwhile, writes on the reaction of police to Eagle TV reporters’ attempts to film the event.


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Nepal: Agenda for change and justice · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! presents an “agenda for change and transitional justice” as Nepal makes the transition to democracy.


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Nigeria: Julias Berger unethical drugs · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Grandiose Parlor reports that one of Nigeria's largest foreign businesses, Julias Berger has been ” nailed for unethical â€˜pharmaceutical practices and discriminatory administration of drugsâ€™ by the Nigerian National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) late last month. The regulatory agency has since shut down all four pharmaceutical drug stores of Julius Berger.”


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Nigeria: Nail boys in Jos · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Kids Doc in Jos gets hit by local “nail boys” or “revenue boys” – they stop your car place a board with nails on the road in front and demand money…Doctors get discounts so instead of paying N10,000 you only pay N2,500 about £15


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Peru: Toward the Second Round · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

And so the elections in Peru have passed, but they will return because they have no officially announced what we all already knew: there will be a second round of voting and it will be between Ollanta Humala and Alan García. This, as you can immagine, is occupying the thoughts of various bloggers who are analyzing, debating, or simply compiling information and showing diverse information that has been published in other media.
For example, in Politikeando Perú two posts called my attention, one of them about an analysis by the Editor for Latin America of the Economist, Michael Reid, given in an interview to the BBC. Another post is “Humala and Chavez: Dangerous and Suspicious Relations,” which analyzes the curious game of alignment between Chavez, Humala, García and Toledo.
Jomra is busy with the upcoming second round debate: it's necessary to have a debate between the candidates, with good arguments aimed at what should be debated, but far removed from what a debate really has become: a spectacle for the masses. Sticking to the theme, Victor Mechan, in his blog Ciencia, looks at the possible outcomes and opponents in his post “Elecciones, Perú: Recta Final.” I say “opponents” because in addition to the debate between the presidential candidates, they have also planned debates between leaders of respective government programs and those in charge of each sector. As you well know, they are the ones likely to become the next government ministers.
Lucho Becerra offers us an article that appeared in the New York Times and was translated to Spanish: “The Imminent Peruvian Disaster: an Article of the New York Times.” It argues that both of the two options that we have at the second round polls will make things worse. Something that Rosaelen does not agree with in her post: “Superfluous Commentary.”
In a post that is not as Anti-APRA [the political party of Alan García] as others of hers I've read, Litta of Blanca Nieves attacks one of the main ideological points of APRA in her post “Will García Abandon the Party Platform?” The post has inspired various comments, some judicious, others not so much. There is also a post in response to Litta in the blog Free Opinion titled: “Clarifying ‘Blanca Nieves’ on the Party Platform of APRA.”
On the other hand, the blog Incan Nation of the 21st Century writes, from a nationalistic point of view, “The Topic of Propriety of Strategic Natural Resources: According to Alan and Ollanta.”
Finally, Carla chimes in on the movement that is circulating around Lima to abstain come election day in her post “Abstention Does Nothing.”

author: Juan Arellano


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Philippines: Overreaction in the schoolboy’s table etiquette case · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

villageidiotsavant wonders if Filipinos and other Asians are overreacting over an incident where a Filipino-Canadian student was punished in his school for the way he used his spoon and fork while eating.


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Poland: High School Finals · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Kinuk wishes good luck to the Polish students who are about to take their final exams: “Maturzysci, as the students taking the end-of-school exams (the equivalent of British A-levels) are called, still dress up to write their exams. Black trousers or black skirts for some, white shirt or blouse and often a black jacket or cardigan sets them out from the rest of the crowd on the bus or the street. Being all caring-teacher-like, I want to go up to each and every one of them and wish them best of luck.”


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Romania: Getting Internet Service Through Romtelecom · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Romerican writes about what it takes to get internet access through Romtelekom and predicts the company's future: “I predict Romtelecom will dwindle in the face of competition as the telecom market slowly cracks open here to VoIP companies and international competitors.”


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Senegal: Microsoft to Issue Wolof Applications · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Senegalese blogger Semett posts  (FR) a Le Soleil article about Microsoft's plans to launch Wolof language applications.  The new applications should help bridge the digital divide and modernize government as they will permit “individuals to fill out forms such as fiscal forms online instead of on paper.” Says Cheick Modibo Diarra, the head of Microsoft-Africa: “Today it is important to broaden access to multimedia by facilitating access for those who can read and write in languages other than French and English.”


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Serbia, Bulgaria: EU Race · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Brooke, “a temporary Serb” and author of Desperate Serbwife believes that Bulgaria is “boring” and “certainly not ready for the EU”: “At least you feel like you're in Europe when you're in Belgrade, even if things are still creaking their way out of the decade of conflict. It's simply not fair that each and every Serb is still being punished by the EU because of Milosevic (I mean, they overthrew the guy, shouldn't that count for something?) – and it is a real shame that a developing country like Bulgaria is considered more EU-worthy than Serbia.”


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Singapore: Blogs and Election results · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The blogger at e pur si muove posts a marks card of blogs that where trying to predict the election results. Singapore's general election on Saturday brought back the ruling People's Action Party into power.


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South Africa: Zuma Aquitted · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Black Looks reports that Jacob Zuma has been aquitted of rape……..”The verdict is a loss for the Khwezi and for all the other women who will now be deterred from reporting rape knowing that they cannot expect justice to be done. That their personal lives will be invaded in the courtroom should it reach that far. That their credibility as sane people will be challenged. That she will be abused and denigrated in the media. That other women will stand against her and heckle her.”

author: Sokari Ekine


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Sri Lanka: Tamils and the LTTE · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The issue of camps, rights and diaspora in Sri Lanka. Are Tamils justified in supporting LTTE if they are pro-peace? Tiny Little Fractures says “The reason is this: If someone is fighting for my rights then I expect them to RESPECT my rights. The LTTE negates this, the rights that they fight for are not ‘Tamil’ rights, instead it is LTTE rights.”


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Taiwan: Injured blogger persists · Global Voices
John Kennedy

How do you blog with one broken hand? The last few posts from Ryan at The Lost Spaceman tell us how.


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Taiwan: Solving taxing troubles · Global Voices
John Kennedy

The Taipei Kid blogger mocks the Taiwanese government's decision to use foreign faces and exotic accents in an attempt to educate locals about Taiwan's tax policies.


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Ukraine: Folk Music Instruments Scam · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pawlina of Nash Holos writes about an Australian internet scam that involves Ukrainian folk music instruments.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Ukraine: May Celebrations · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Scott W. Clark of Foreign Notes writes about May celebrations in Ukraine.


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Ukraine: Rock Sich Festival · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Mat Savelli of Roma Roma writes about a rock festival taking place in Kyiv, Ukraine, that may inspire some U.S. musicians to refer to the Cossack history in their bands’ names.


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Venzuela, USA: “Choose Your Chicken” · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Liz Henry has translated a portion of Venezuelan-born Meibell's account (ES) of purchasing a live chicken in Harlem, New York.


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Zimbabwe: Blogs · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Enough is Enough links  to various reports from Zimbabwean blogs over the past week..


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Zimbabwe: Campaign for Sanitary Towels · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Action Alert:  Sokwanele announce the start of a campaign “Dignity Period” .   “Shortages of sanitary ware go to the heart of women’s rights: it’s an issue which raises questions of whether a woman is forced to stay away from work or school; whether she is putting her health at risk by picking up infections or, if she is HIV positive, whether those infections will literally shorten her life span”


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China: Economic predictions, improvements · Global Voices
John Kennedy

A rounded weekend of heavy duty blogging from China Confidential‘s Confidential Reporter.
A preview of China Central Television's upcoming multi-episode documentary which claims the decline of America's role in global politics on Saturday:
“Unlike the crude state-sponsored videos that glorified the September 11 terrorist attacks as a humiliating strike against an arrogant superpower, the planned multipart production promises to be a slick dissection of American economic and military might.
Further China-U.S. conflicts over revaluation of the yuan on Sunday and good news for Chinese companies with the expected release of new rules regarding issuing of IPOs from the China Securities Regulatory Commission on Monday.


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Access to MSN Spaces in China · Global Voices
Frank Dai

Many people have said that their MSN Space blog is inaccessible or experiences diffculties in connection, including Nina Wu, sister of detained blogger and Global Voices colleague Hao Wu, with many MSN bloggers confirming the problem (1,2).
According to this article, the inaccessiblity of MSN Space lies in Live.com. Mircosoft change its .NET Passport login process into Live.com, this required Chinese users to redirect to live.com to sign in their credentials and Live.com is probably blocked in China. So all the MSN related websites have been inaccessible during recent weeks.
This post also provides some other means to login and continue use MSN sites without running a proxy as listed below:
Tests show two things: first, after using above techniques to access them, MSN and Hotmail services are returning to normal; second, Live.com is only accessible with a proxy like that of Tor.
Several days before the block stopped for an interval but resumed just within few days. It's still unclear whether this problem is due to outage of  servers of Microsoft's China Branch. With the recent visit by President Hu Jintao to Microsoft and Bill Gates the block seem quite unreasonable. No confirmation from Microsoft is available at present.

author: Frank Dai


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Afghanistan: Famous singer & street kids · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Yadashthaye Adabi, Farhad Darya, a famous Afghan singer, performed among street kids to attract government's attention to children's misery in Afghanistan (Persian).

author: Fred Petrossian


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African Music #8 · Global Voices
Obi

I recently had a discussion with a friend about fair trade and it threw up some deep questions about African music.  Who really owns the rights to the recordings?  Who brokers what?  How connected is the artist to his/her audience market?  Is the music industry inherently complex?  Is this solely an African concern?  Welcome to the African music roundup.
John Buckman of magnatune blog gives a reason for the lack of African music on magnatune
“I received two great African music CDs recently. These are musicians from Africa, recording in London. However, I can't accept that CD for Magnatune, because the recording is totally owned by a producer in London, who would then receive all the sales royalties, and none would go to the actual performers. This situation, where the recording company or producer owns all the rights to an album, is the norm in world music.”
A very moral and importance stance.  The artist must have ownership of his material.
Cold sweat of Lock it down reviews the record  “Lagos Stori Plenty“
“While we're still at home enjoying “African Rebel” as, without doubt, THE best reggae compilation cd to see the light of day this year, the busy Germanz of Out|Here records went back to Africa to cook up a fine new release: Lagos Stori Plenti. A comp with the finest hip hop Nigeria has to offer today. An yet again, it's killing.”
looking forward to listening to this cd and sampling what Nigeria‘s finest have to offer.
Akii Bua Denise of Late Nights in Kampala talks about Monday nights in the capital city of Uganda.
“For starters, most people are nursing their hangovers from all the parting they did from Friday night. Some just got married and are still promising their undying love for each other…
Me, well I have to work on the radio so I do not have the space to exercise the above pleasures! But yesterday was different. Apparently while most are hanging out, proposing or honeymooning, there is a group who sit together at the National theatre and try out their luck on the microphone. They sing, they recite poems, someone plays the drum”
Akii displays a picture of Bee Cool, one of Uganda's most prominent reggae artists.
Too Me To Blog reviews an LP, “Expressions”, by Nigeria group Styl-Plus.
“Already familiar with the inner workings of the styl-plus machine, given that I oscillated between fan and hater during the Olufunmi era (for all those that missed it-It was a surreal period in Nigerian history when every Nigerian had this one song stuck in their head), it was good to note that nothing had changed. Production credits still go to the Styl-plus in-house production duo of Sunky and Mekoyo.”
Kaysha posts pictures of his current tour of South Africa.  Kaysha is a Congolese born artist currently living in West Indies and has put out four albums.
“Sending a lot of love from Sandton, South Africa… It’s a bit cold, it’s winter here, but I really enjoy the country…
I’ll post photos of my shows in Pretoria, Joburg tonight, Mozambique very soon. I also been in great clubs, thanx to Chivas, like Palms, Taboo, etc…”
Kaysha also has an extensive collection of photos detailing his tours and music activities.
Muki Garang wades into the definition of African Hip Hop:
“In Africa it is not clear at all from my research as to what the definition or the characteristic of Hiphop is. Some view it as musical genre, others term is as them, in that, they as individuals are Hiphop and thus form the culture while others do not have an idea at all so they do not bother or most mimic to fall victim to the contemporary bandwagon of ardent trend keepers.My definition of hiphop is based on two schools of thoughts;a) The Evolution b) The imposition.”
Muki Garang goes onto explain and discuss his definition.  Good read.  Muki has uploaded a few of his videos on vsocial.com for us to enjoy.
Sampsa Daily provides a really good link to a website called Afromix:
“The most extensive discographic database on African and Carribean music. Nearly 2000 artists and more than 5000 albums referenced, organized by musical styles, country, instruments, labels and years. Many links towards artists, labels, festivals sites…”
Afromix is a portal of African and Carribean music and features an extensive discographic database profiling over 2000 artists and referencing 5000 records.  Impressive and very informative.  Essential bookmark.
John K of J's Theater writes about the African Rap festival that took place in Conakry, Guinea back in April:
“I'm not familiar with many of the groups (well, none other than Neg’ Marrons [see below]), but I would love to see and hear how hiphop is developing and transforming as a musical form and practice in sub-Saharan Africa, especially now that hiphop and rap have become a vital mode of cultural, political and social production across the globe.”
John is interested in more information about the artists and access to their audio/video stuff.  Do comment and tell us if you are better informed.  More information is available on the festival's website.

author: Obi


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Argentina, Brazil: Alternative Energy · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Wondering if increased consumption of Biodiesel will be a boon to Argentina, Martin Varsavsky asks “Is Oil to Chavez what Biodiesel is to Kirchner?” Sangroncito recently wrote about Brazil's success with Ethanol.


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Argentina: Sketching Freud and Solá · Global Voices
David Sasaki

It was Sigmund Freud's 150th birthday this past weekend and Roberto Bobrow commemorates the influence of Freudian psychoanalysis in Argentina, noting that a neighborhood of the capital city is even called “Villa Freud.” Using a “new set of digital oils,” Bobrow also sketched the well known Argentine conservative columnist, Morales Solá.


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Armenia: Uborka · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Zarchka writes about all the tasks involved with uborka, Armenian spring cleaning, and all the “oofs” that come with it.


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Barbados: She blinded them with numbers · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Barbados Free Press questions the assertion by the Governor of the Barbados Central Bank that the economy is soaring. “This purported “Barbados GDP Growth” is not being fuelled by increases in production efficiency or capacity, expanded and new markets, new buyers or the establishment of new businesses attracting new foreign sales and profits. Nope. This claimed GDP growth is fuelled by government spending and borrowed money.”

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Belarus: The West’s Awareness · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Following Dick Cheney's recent speech in Vilnius, TOL's Belarus Blog writes that “the U.S. and Western Europe are becoming more and more aware of Belarusan situation.”


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Bloggers Bomb for Blogger · Global Voices
Rachel Rawlins

Not the life-threatening variety of course. I'm talking about a campaign to bring attention to the situation of detained Egyptian blogger Alaa Ahmed Seif al-Islam, as well as the more than 40 other peaceful protesters held by the authorities.
Blogging supporters have started a new site to track the latest information at Free Alaa!. There are many banners and pictures available as photographs on flickr tagged alaa.
In addition bloggers are using another technique to bring Egypt and the Egyptian Government and the Egyptian Government's human rights record to public attention.
Close examination will show that each occurrence of the word “Egypt” above is linked to freealaa.blogspot.com. This is a well-known technique – if enough people make the same link to the word “Egypt”  then eventually a  search on the word will give the site as one of the top results.
Alaa is a popular blogger and supporter of blogging. He and his wife Manal run the Egyptian Blog Aggregator. It seems fitting that other bloggers are using the medium to the fullest extent to campaign for his release.
Alaa is a prominent member of Kifaya (“enough”) known as The Egyptian Movement for Change, a grassroots pro-reform protest group which was described last year in this way by human rights activist Sa'ad Eddin Ibrahim:
… that very simple slogan will probably enter the English language, or all the European languages, as the second probably most well-known word in Arabic after “Intifada.” So, 10, 15 years ago introduced the word intifada – uprising – and now this year the word Kif[a]ya…
For Egyptians to demonstrate, even in small numbers, to break the fear barrier and to continue to do so for now three months continuously, small groups here and there continue to demonstrate. The Muslim Brothers demonstrate, the leftists demonstrate, the Nasserites demonstrate. The judges – that is the latest – the judiciary in Egypt is rising up also in defiance, demanding its own independence – wanting to restore its own independence.
It's the continued struggle for independence of the Egyptian judiciary which has led to Alaa's detention. Early in April the authorities took action to prosecute judges who complained about election violations. A few weeks later a group of 50 judges held a sit-in protest to oppose the government's prosecution of their colleagues. Demonstrators came to support the judges’ action but the authorities then broke up this protest violently and beat a senior judge who came out to intervene.
It was in the most recent of this cycle of demonstration – detention – demonstration in support of the detained that Alaa and 10 other of his colleagues were themselves taken in by the authorities.

author: Rachel Rawlins