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Central America: A Ride for the Climate · Global Voices
David Sasaki

David, a cyclist who has been riding through Central America on his Ride for the Climate has arrived in Colombia where he posts a summary of the first half of his trip with links to videos and pasts entries. Ahead: Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil.


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Chileans Students Still Stand for their Rights · Global Voices
Rosario Lizana

It is the first time in more than 15 years that public school students have coordinated to make the government hear their petitions. So far they have mobilized more than 150,000 students. How did they make it happen? Using technology. They all have blogs, use messenger, emails, and fotoblogs. These tools allowed them to act fast and communicate nationally.  A complete list of all the schools is here.
This week they made peaceful manifestations in the main streets of the capital that were infiltrated by hoodlums. Policemen were really tough and had to make public excuses for the way they treated students. “Grafica Rebelde” posted photos and videos of the incident.
President Michelle Bachelet, in national TV last night, responded to the petitions. She only offered free matriculation and public transportation for those in need and the student transportation pass now can be used 24 hrs and on weekends. This declaration, open ed a new problem, because the association of transportation does not agree with the solution. 520 public schools will improve their infrastructure and also 1,200 schools will be benefited by new furniture. Bachelet also announced the creation of new educational counselling, that will be in charge of student matters and will make modifications to the substantive law.Zaiditawaxona (ES) posts extracts of the speech and says that she doesn’t agree will the entire proposal.
Another viewpoint comes from Petruska (ES) who writes “I think that education is not that bad, because have teach something really profit for us, to made people associate for a common benefit “
Students are still deciding about these resolutions. If they don’t agree on Bachelet's proposal, next Monday there will be a national strike again. One of the public schools wrote in their blog (ES) that “tell all the president and delegates of the courses that we will have a meeting with a resolute character on Monday 5”.
To have a deep feeling of the animus and sensations of the students in these weeks, “In Plain Words” made a report each day and also got into the schools during the strike to post photos about the life of students while the occupation happened.
We will have to wait until Monday to know what will happen.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Rosario Lizana


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China: Old festival, new name · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Known in the West mainly for its colorful dragon boat races, yesterday's Duan Wu (端午) Festival has its origins with Qu Yuan (屈原), a renowned and respected corruption-fighting poet whose political passion, many claim, was equalled only by his homosexuality. As the story goes, his unrequited love for the king, combined with frustration over entrenched graft led Qu to throw himself into the Miluo river.
The locals then jumped into their boats and raced to the spot, throwing leave-wrapped bundles of steamed rice and meat into the river to stop the fish from feasting on his corpse. Today, while dragonboat races take place on the fifth day of the fifth month of every lunar year all over the world, in China the festival—vaguely bearing both anti-corruption and queer identity [zh] implications aside—bears little connection to its traditional roots.
Thus says Sina blogger Zhang Chi (张弛), who argues the festival, like several of its counterparts, should be renamed to reflect its current condition: a chance to eat zongzi, or sticky rice dumplings.
粽子节
很多人都反对把端午节说成粽子节，仿佛这一天只剩下吃粽子这件事。基于同样的理由，他们也不同意把中秋节叫成月饼节。好像中国人说来说去就知道吃。但我不这么看，既然有元宵节，粽子和月饼为什么不能有自己的节日。
关于粽子节，最近又听到新的说法，不是关于粽子，而是关于屈原的。大意是说他是个同志，曾经跟楚王有纠缠不清的关系。后来楚王烦了，屈原才投江自尽。而他的那些牢骚，那些诉求，包括路漫漫其修远兮，吾将上下而求索的著名诗句，都是十分绝望的表达。
我对粽子一般，几年前一度爱吃永和豆浆的粽王。里面有肉还有整栗子。跟我口味相仿的大有人在，所以粽子节这天基本吃不上，想吃必须提前订。现在白给我吃我都得考虑考虑。因为它实在太大了，吃一个保证三天吃不下饭。我也不喜欢楚辞，觉得它太过狞厉，装神弄鬼的，一点儿都不好玩儿，跟我的审美理想相距甚远。但我不反对把粽子节当成同志节，也就是说，只有同志们才在这天吃粽子。这才是对屈原他老人家最好的纪念。
前段时间听说有关部门要把粽子节连同其它传统节日向联合国申报非物质文化遗产，不知道是想表明这些节日快完蛋了，还是想跟世界接轨。真的，正因为我弄不清有些人脑子里整天是怎么想的，才觉得他们什么邪乎事都干得出来。
Comments:
今天就不吃粽子
学校卖的实在是不能吃
看您老这么一说俺不是同性恋所以更不吃了
绿豆糕还是不错滴,偶们武汉这地儿有个曹祥泰的绿豆糕是相当的正宗.可惜您估计是没机会品尝了,我到是想寄,就怕到您手上都长毛了.
俺爱吃粽子,俺不是同志,俺抗议你这么说
粽子?同志?奇谈!
关于屈原对楚怀王的恋情，老驰你仔细读读楚辞，会发现屈大夫好像把国君当成一个美女呵护，与后世的君为臣纲有一点点不同。关于吃不动棕王的事，还得套句楚辞：”恐年岁之不我与”。
胡说
哈哈哈,很有同感啊,我也喜欢说粽子节.
你还真的病得不轻。
我还龙舟节呢，真无趣
不是诗人，却经营着一家诗歌驿站
不是情人，却渴望着一句早安晚安
不是伟人，却瞻仰着一座烈士陵园
不是巨人，却俯瞰着一江春水东还
Not a poet, but running a poetic relay station
Not a lover, but yearning for a good morning, good night
Not a great man, but revering a martyr's tomb
Not a giant, but overlooking a East-running spring river
节
是人过的
不是棕子过的
棕子是被人吃的
照这么说
那么
春节还交子节呢
哈
端五是个节气
用气候的节气
来做节日名字
这样例子很多
比如仲秋
清明
千万不能叫粽子节,好像韩国要把端午节向联合国申报非物质文化遗产.理由是中国人不重视.
我们经常谴责日本人窜改历史,却忽视了自己并没有重视历史,重视英雄和伟人,中华民族几千年来似乎早习惯了中庸,中国人也太容易满足,太容易遗忘了,忘记悲剧,忘记耻辱,哀~~~~~~~~
叫粽子节是比较符合现实情况的，不管你我想不想承认
那过年不成饺子节了.
你病了，
吃个粽子吧。

author: John Kennedy


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DRC: Deadliest War · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Jewels in the Jungle covers and comments on  the TIME magazine's cover story on the DRC…”“The Deadliest War in the World”

author: Sokari Ekine


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Ecuador: Postcolonial Economics · Global Voices
David Sasaki

In one of the most mysterious English-language blogs on Ecuador I've come across, S. Artesian explains that “the distinction between Sierra and Costa in Ecuador is just this distinction between administration and export; between hacienda and export crop production.”

author: David Sasaki


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Ecuador: Three Types of Gangs · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Muerto de Risa expounds on the three classifications of gangs in Ecuador.


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El Salvador: Review of Salvadoran Blogs · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Soy Salvadoreño has another review of Salvadoran blogs (ES) to emerge since his first introduction (ES). Judging from the comments, it seems that a real sense of blog community is starting to take root.


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Estonia, Russia: A Stalemate · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Vilhelm Konnander posts a comprehensive overview of the Russian-Estonian relations.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Ethiopia: HIV amongst women · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Nazret.com reports that the number of HIV cases amongst women in Ethiopia is rising...l


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Haiti: Exhibit Commemorates Painter Jean-Rene Jerome · Global Voices
Alice Backer

“‘Itineraries Through Canvas’ is the theme of a retrospective on the paintings and other artwork of diseased artist Jean-Rene Jerome which opened May 25 at Ateliers Jerome in Petion-Ville,” says an article by Fortestson Fénelon posted byCollectifHaitideProvence. “The exhibit retraces the painter's itinerary from 1965 to 1990.” The event commemorates the painter's passing on March 1, 1991 and closes June 6.

author: Alice Backer


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India: Outsourcing the Blog · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Much of venom directed towards India seems to be the idea that outsourcing to India results in job losses in the US. Workbench decides outsorce the blog to India for a week. Hope this results in a healthier dialogue! “As a technology writer and programmer, I'm facing competition in both fields from Seal and the people he covers in India…Since he believes in outsourcing, I decided to give him a chance to make his case directly to an American audience by outsourcing this weblog. “

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India: Women and the Workforce · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Being a woman in India on women, labour and the government. The laws governing women in the organized labour force are surprisingly archaic, and are not very adequate to ensure justice at the workplace either.


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Indonesia: Quake Relief · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Unspun is looking into media and first hand reports and trying to figure out if the Indonesian government is doing a good job in handling the quake crisis.

author: Preetam Rai


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Iran: Free, thanks to bloggers · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Khabgard, Farshid Faraji, an Iranian cameraman who had been arrested in Iraq, wrote a letter to thank bloggers for his freedom one year ago. Faraji says bloggers let everybody know that he was detained and it really helped him to be released by Americans (Persian).

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: Women, Football & Violence · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kamangir says  several women were brutally hit and injured when they attempted to enter the stadium to watch Iran-Bosnia football match. The blogger reminds us that this game was the first match after Ahmadinejad’s decision to allow women to watch the games live, something strongly objected by the conservative clerics.


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Iran: World Cup & Creativity · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Logomahi has created a T-shirts related to World Cup & Iranian national football team. We can see some of  blogger's designs on his/her blog.


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Kenya: Banking and investment · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Bankelele posts his weekly roundup up of banking and investments stories from Kenya..


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Kyrgyzstan: Manas Rumors · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Registan.net discusses rumors of a new deal between the US and Kyrgyzstan over the use part of Manas airfield to support military operations in Afghanistan.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Latin America: Poll Numbers · Global Voices
David Sasaki

This week's Friday poll numbers by Boz might be the most in-depth yet.


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Malaysia: Chubb Safes in Mosques · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

why360 explains the purpose of Chubb safes found in many Malaysian mosques.


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Malaysia:  Keeping the Police in Check · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Malaysian MP Lim Kit Siang is asking both opposition and ruling MPs to join together to implement the establishment of Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).


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Mexico: Update on San Salvador Atenco · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Agus Acosta, a Spanish art professor has uploaded a work of video art titled “Help (Women of Atenco).” Zulma Aguiar links to the testimony of women sexually abused and tortured (ES) during the Atenco riots on May 3rd and 4th. Eduardo Arcos agrees that another Atenco could take place (ES) if major structural reforms aren't implemented soon.


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Mongolia: Tax Exempt · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Luke Distelhorst notes that projects related to Mongolia's 800th anniversary will be tax exempt, but he worries that the government will end up missing out on a lot of needed tax revenue.


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Mongolian Mining and the Blogs · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Mine shaft construction at Oyu Tolgoi, Mongolia, image by Ivanhoe Mines
The May 12, passing of Mongolia's windfall profit tax law on copper and gold rocked Mongolia's mining world. The law calls for a 68% tax on gold when the international price is above USD$500/oz and on copper on prices above $2,600 per ton. While Mongolia has always said that they are very supportive of foreign investment, companies viewed this as a real threat to a previously investment friendly atmosphere.
The law was passed on a Friday night and went relatively unseen in Mongolian media, however by Saturday afternoon reports in English were on mongolia.neweurasia.net and mongolia-web.com. For investors in the United States and Canada this was the first time they had heard about the new law and many companies stocks fell 20-30%. The lack of information sources in English on Mongolia have brought blogs to the forefront, especially on mining and the windfall profit tax.
The week following the passage of the law saw the Mongolian National Mining Association up in arms over the proposed law. The organisation's meeting was covered by Luke Distelhorst, author of mongolia.neweurasia.net . Both the mining companies and the members of the Mongolian Parliament who passed the law raised good points but still need to cross the gap that they have created in between each other.
The company that has been in the spotlight of protests and plastered across Mongolian papers is Canada's Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. Luke interviewed the President and CEO John Macken, as did Tom Terry of Eagle TV. Besides statements made by Ivanhoe and some other companies to the public, the majority of information came from blogs within Mongolia.
The actual law was passed in Parliament, while only 45 of 76 members were present, at a vote of 35-10. Most laws in Mongolia have three official discussions before they are brought to a vote, however this law was drafted and passed during the second discussion, all within five days. The haste and apparent lack of transparency brought criticism from mining companies as well as politicians and the President of Mongolia, who had a five day window to veto the law after
receiving it.
This issue brought international attention, most of which can be found on the comments of one post found here.  Ivanhoe's press conference, which was also covered by mongolia-web, found here, sparked massive debates between Mongolians, foreigners and all those found between. So far there have been 87 comments from all over the world expressing almost every view possible.
Zorigo says:
Here again who is stealing whose wealth? OT [Oyu Tolgoi project] rightfully belongs to Mongolia. In the Mongolian Constitution, it says that – in Article 6 2. All land, except that in citizen's private ownership, as well as the subsoil with its mineral wealth, forests, water resources and wildlife shall be the property of the State. State is PEOPLE. People is Mongolian citizens.
A Canadian investor says:
I don't expect to take something for nothing – IVN will pay taxes, employ Mongolians, build infrastructure and Mongolia will prosper. But you can't just pick numbers out of thin air and call profits excess or say that a mineral discovery that would never have been found without foreign investment can just be expropriated when it turns out to be valuable.
On Friday May 26, it was first announced on television that the President would not veto the law. Mongolia.neweurasia.net was the first to announce it outside of Mongolia and served as the source for many mining companies and investors who were anxiously awaiting the President's decision.
This windfall profit tax law has garnered international attention and blogs (in english) have done more reporting than any other one news outlet. Even though big business economics is rarely covered in most blogs, the relevance of this issue has proven that blogs can take the spotlight when there is a lack of reporting from other sources. Interviewing CEOs (as well as political figures) CAN become the norm for blogs doing everyday reporting. In this case, even the Wall Street Journal contacted bloggers requesting information that may not have been publicly available in English.

author: Ben Paarmann


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Nepal: Maoist tactics · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Blogdai reports from the field as he wanders about in a Maoist Rally. “Got me a free Prachanda tee shirt in the process. A pattern was evident and it showed the Maoist's mastery of mob control. Ninety percent of the marchers appeared to be bewildered villagers who were either forcibly coerced or promised jobs in Kathmandu by the Maoists.”


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Nigeria: Finance minister · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Nigeria, What's New comments on an interview with woman of the moment,Nigeria's finance minister, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and asks “Where was the Finance Minister when her colleague, the inspector general of police was stealing £100M from funds allocated from the treasury? Who are the unaccountable state governors? Which states did not account for the funds it received? “


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Nigeria: Price of Ignorance · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Ijeuman's Diary comments on the “price of ignorance” in Nigeria from the ban on homosexuality, to the building of infrastructure which is then either abandoned or vandalised.


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Nigeria: Talking about AIDS · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Exodus, a new blog from Nigeria, comments that the rate of HIV in Nigeria is higher than perceived.  She concludes “The most important thing to know is that we have a problem on our hand. Let’s get over the blues and DO something.”


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Pakistan: Football, televisions, old timers and the Stock Exchange · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A wonderful post by Shirazi on football in Pakistan. From television sales, to old timers.  “For Abdul Ghafoor (65-year-old Pakistani), once known as the “Black Pele of Pakistan,” life revolves around football. He has found a renewed vigor ahead of the World Cup finals. Mere mention of football and the mega event in Germany which helps him forget his loss of hearing and nearly impaired vision sparks life in him.”


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Panama, Colombia: Some Expensive Beans and a Legend Retires · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Sure, much of the world has become accustomed to paying US $50 to fill up their gas tanks. But $50 for a pound of coffee beans? Elena Hernandez has the story (ES). Meanwhile, both Libardo Buitrago (ES), Sangroncito and Jennifer Woodard Maderazo bid farewell to the actor who played the coffee icon, Juan Valdez.


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Russia: Corrupt Governors · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Yuri Mamchur of Russia Blog posts “a brief list of regional governors indicted or convicted of serious crimes in recent years” – which includes no less than 12 names.


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Russia: Finnish Property in Karelia · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

David McDuff of A Step At A Time reports on a Finnish lawyer who plans to sue Russia over the property in Karelia that used to belong to Finns before September 1944. Kari Silvennoinen, the lawyers, thinks that these Finns haven't lost their rights to this property.


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Russia, Georgia: Railway Reopened · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The railway between Moscow and Tbilisi hasn't been used in 13 years, but now the service is being restored, reports Vilhelm Konnander: “Even though the newly reopened Tbilisi-Moscow connection is not via Abkhazia, negotiations are underway between Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Abkhazia, to reopen also the line running through Abkhazia from Yerevan via Tbilisi to Moscow, possibly as soon as within two years time.”


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Russia: Limonov and Copyright · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Russia is notorious for its disregard for copyright laws. According to anti-piracy organizations, it is the second-biggest source of pirated software, music and film in the world. China is the first.
The discussion translated below (RUS) takes on the issue of piracy in a somewhat ironic vein: Sergei Maximishin (LJ user remetalk), an award-winning Russian photographer whose brilliant work appears regularly in many leading publications, discovered that one of his best-known photos – an ambiguous portrait of the Russian president Vladimir Putin – was used without permission on the cover of a book by one of the most controversial Russian politicians, Eduard Limonov, founder of the National-Bolshevik Party. The book's title is “We Don't Need a President Like This: Limonov vs Putin.”
The irony is that trying to sue Limonov or his publishers would, in a way, be like casting the first stone: Maximishin admits to having used unlicensed software himself – simply because he, like the multitudes of other Russians, couldn't afford the licensed product.
remetalk:
About theft
The cover of Limonov's book. I think this picture of mine has already become a folk picture [author unknown; in public domain].
[…]
At Moskva bookstore, [a 1 m-by-60 cm poster] in a golden frame was on sale last summer. I asked: So, are people interested? The seller said: It sells like pasties!
Communists pasted this image onto a cardboard, attached a stick to it, drew Hitler's mustache and an armband with a swastika and carry it around as an [Orthodox Christian banner] at rallies.
And someone sent me a link to the site where the persona is wearing a baseball hat with the McDonald's letter on it and there's a bubble coming out of his mouth with the words, “This cashier's free!”
[…]
fresquete: Isn't it like the highest reward for a creator when his creation [becomes familiar to everyone]. :))))) Seriously, though, have you tried to fight [this outrageous behaviour]? And is it possible to fight it at all?
remetalk: This is exactly what I'm talking about. I'll start suing when I buy myself Photoshop for $700. And for now I think that those who steal, don't pay, and those who pay, don't steal.
[…]
kostiki: Two hundred years ago historian Karamzin visited France. Russian emigrants asked him:
– In two words, what is going on at home?
Karamzin didn't even need two words.
– Stealing, – he replied…
P.S. Perhaps if [copyright law is respected], you'd be able to afford not just the licensed Photoshop, but [everything else]?
aka_lacerda: It's not about Photoshop specifically, but about the general situation in the country. As long as every computer has stolen Windows and Photoshop, any other intellectual property will be stolen just as well. They don't realise it yet. And aren't likely to anytime soon.
[…]
onemorepash: The game is called “Find your own way to talk Maximishin into suing Limonov.” Photoshop, GIMP, [$]700, [$]300… maybe there are people out there who, for this purpose, are ready to buy Sergei Yakovlevich [Maximishin] Photoshop? :))
bpatuiiika: I can steal it and give it to him as a gift. Then it'd be a “presented” copy [not stolen].


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Senegal: Blogging Mayor Proposes North-South Talks on  Migrations · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Reflecting on Senegal's drowned migrant crisis and migrations towards the West in general, Robert Sagna, the Mayor of Ziguinchor, Senegal blogs (Fr): “Developed countries (…) build quasi-impenetrable walls through “visas”. Visas (…) are not the right solution. (…) The youth from the South has chosen emigration. It is our responsibility to make sure that is not the only choice. Then let's make sure that migrations are not “chosen” but “organized” through a North-South dialogue. (…) Repression can never be a good durable solution, it makes things worse.”


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Serbia & Montenegro: Belgrade Grand Prix 1939 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belgrade Blog writes about a forgotten historical event that took place in Belgrade on the day “France and Britain declared war on Nazi Germany as a reaction to Hitler's invasion to Poland” – the Belgrade Grand Prix 1939, a predecessor to Formula One.


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Serbia & Montenegro: Montenegro Coverage Critique · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Estavisti critiques “the sort of reporting that’s been dominant in Montenegro for the past couple of years.”


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Serbia & Montenegro: Parliamentary Politicos · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dictionary of the Serbian Mess posts an introduction to the “Parliamentary Politicos” of Serbia.


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Serbia & Montenegro: Trip to Montenegro · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Following a trip to Montenegro as an observer at the referendum, Brooke of Desperate Serbwife writes of the land's beauty.


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Singapore: Keep Trading · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Han at The Legal Janitor agrees with Singapore prime minister's thoughts on free trade.


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South Africa: AIDS &circumcision · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Sotho points to a South African  report that claims that circumcising men can reduce the spread of AIDS


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South Africa: Lost firearms · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Fodder reports that 50,000 guns have been lost in South Africa over the past three years and asks “how the hell do you loose a gun?“.


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Tajikistan: CIS Meeting · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Vadim discusses the CIS meeting in Tajikistan that brings together members’ security and intelligence services.


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Trafalgar Falls, Dominica · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

“The Trafalgar Falls are one of Dominica's main tourist attractions, especially for cruise ship visitors, who were there in abundance the day we went. Still we managed to find a secluded hot pool and then an even more secluded cold pool to soak in for a little while.”
writes Barbadian blogger Titilayo in a post about her recent visit to Dominica entitled “i prayed the days would last, they went so fast.” Among the other attractions featured in Titlayo's Dominica photo album are Spanny's Falls, the Emerald Pool, the Boiling Lake and a lovely old stone church. Dominica is often referred to as “the Nature Isle of the Caribbean”.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Ukraine: A Trip to Lugansk · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Stephan Clark of Everybody I Love You writes about his visit to Lugansk, a “city was more visibly Soviet than any other I’ve yet visited in Russia and Ukraine.”


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Ukraine: Georgian Wine Banned in Russia, Advertised in Kyiv · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Konstantin Dlutskiy of Russian Marketing Blog doesn't think highly of the recent ad campaign of Georgian wine in Kyiv, Ukraine: “The caption on the poster goes, ‘It has more freedom than allowed. Georgian wine is banned in Russia.’ […] The message is clear but the target audience is probably too narrow. Import ban could hardly be an appealing message to the majority of wine experts. If they do already drink Georgian wine they would not drink more of it. If they don’t drink it but want to support freedom in Georgia there are thousands other ways to do it without getting drunk.”


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Ukraine: Language Issue · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

As Russian receives the status of the regional language in several Ukrainian regions, LEvko of Foreign Notes writes about the relationship between politics and the language issue.


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Ukraine: Video of Farmers’ Hard Work · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Stefan of Dykun writes about the hard labor of Ukrainian farmers and posts a video of Pidhajtsi “men loading sacks of processed wheat flour into their wagons and tractors.”


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Ukraine: Yushchenko Urges Parliament to Approve Constitutional Court Judges · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LEvko of Foreign Notes writes about president Yushchenko's determination to have the Constitutional Court judges approved by the parliament at last: “One of the reasons for the [parliament's] foot-dragging was that it did not want the Constitutional court to assess the validity or otherwise of Law № 2222-VI on amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine […]. The law, which came into effect 1st January 2006, reduced the powers of incoming President Yushchenko, compared to those of his predecessor, Kuchma.”


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Vietnam: Japanese Bridge · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Virtual Doug in Vietnam has the story of  a popular tourist spot known as    “The Japanese Bridge”


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Journalism 3.0 in Cuba: A Utopian Wish? · Global Voices
David Sasaki

First we must understand the significance of Periodismo 3.0 or “Journalism 3.0.” To the best of my knowledge, the popular term was first coined by Spanish blogger Juan Varela (ES) who explained in an interview last year that it “refers to the new journalism and journalist ‘that should utilize intellectual instruments, professionals, technologies, networked information, and above all else, pay attention to the interactivity and socialization of the information that comes through the new media.'” He distinguishes Journalism 3.0 and civic journalism by calling the former the perfection of tools to enable the latter. In the Spanish-speaking blogosphere the term has become as ubiquitous as “Web2.0″ amongst anglophone bloggers and has inspired websites like 3.0 (ES) in Argentina and a lively discussion (ES) among Venezuelan bloggers.
The term also recently found itself at the center of a debate about the current and future state of online journalism in Cuba. It began with a post by Spanish-Argentine Communication Professor Hugo Pardo Kuklinski entitled “Journalism 3.0 in Cuba: A Utopia,” which was then criticized by University of Havana Professor Milena Recio Silva with her guest post, “The Necessity of Not Abandoning Good Talent (Or, the Hurricane Around the Cuban Blogosphere).” Let us start with Pardo's critical skepticism.
Luego del encuentro de la Red Iberoamericana de Comunicación Digital en nuestra Universitat de Vic me queda un sabor un tanto amargo del D-Day. Como siempre, Piscitelli propuso nuevas lecturas y enfoques, en tanto que los diferentes invitados contribuyeron a brindar otro evento de calidad a nuestra facultad y van…
La desilusión viene de la mano de la participación de Milena Recio Silva, profesora de la Universidad de La Habana, en la mesa redonda sobre Periodismo digital en Iberoamérica. Allí se negó la realidad sobre el consumo de Internet en Cuba y el control que el régimen ejerce sobre la red y los contenidos que el ciudadano cubano puede o no consumir-producir.
The disappointment came at the hand of Milena Recio Silva, professor at the University of Habana, in the roundtable about digital journalism in Latin America. There she dismissed the reality about internet consumption in Cuba and the control that the regime exercises over the network and the content which the Cuban citizen can or cannot consume or produce.
Para ilustrar la situación, adjunto este informe de Reporteros Sin Fronteras, y una breve cita de Alberto Alvarez-Perea extraída de su artículo Internet en Cuba. “Lo verdaderamente difícil en Cuba es acceder a Internet. Tener equipo informático en casa, algo tan normal en millones de hogares de todo el mundo, se convierte en una odisea en territorio cubano. Este tipo de material sólo está disponible en almacenes del estado, a los que sólo se puede acceder de forma muy justificada. La venta a ciudadanos individuales está prohibida desde 2002. Además, desde el 14 de agosto de 2003, la llamada “Operación Windows” mantiene un estricto censo, realizado mediante encuestas y registros, de todos aquellos que poseen ordenadores personales. En ella se incluye todo tipo de información confidencial como motivos de su obtención, uso que se le da y características técnicas.”
La exposición de Milena Recio ofrecía un breve cuadro de situación sobre los blogs en Cuba, aunque la ponencia estuvo plagada de inexactitudes sobre los motivos reales del escaso ancho de banda existente en la isla, el mapa real del periodismo ciudadano y otros temas.
Here Pardo asks his readers why their wasn't resistance to what he considers Recio's sloppy scholarship and wonders if they conviviality of academic conferences causes its participants to lose their impetus to criticize.
No corresponde aquí hacer un ensayo sobre la realidad cubana. Pero valen algunos datos para contextualizar este post. Según un informe elaborado por Reporteros sin Fronteras, Cuba se ha convertido en la segunda mayor cárcel del mundo para los periodistas después de China. En la red podemos encontrar varios artículos al respecto, elijo sólo dos entre muchos: Los derechos humanos en peligro en nombre de la seguridad, de Amnistía Internacional. La Libertad de Prensa Encarcelada, de Rafael Jiménez Claudín, publicado en Chasqui en 2003.
En este entorno, hablar sobre blogs y periodismo colaborativo en Cuba es un verdadero absurdo. Ningún cubano, residente en la isla, puede hoy día realizar un blog crítico al régimen, tanto porque el acceso a Internet esta totalmente controlado como porque corre el riesgo de ser encarcelado o expulsado del país. Cualquier burócrata de segundo orden estaría dispuesto a denunciarlo inmediatamente. Así, los existentes pueden ser mejores o peores (no se trata sólo de hacer blogs políticos, la blogosfera es mucho más compleja), pero están enrolados fuera de cualquier esbozo de periodismo colaborativo o siquiera periodismo digital y allí es donde reside el problema de origen de este post. ¿Qué piensan los bloggers cubanos? ¿Qué piensa la blogosfera en general?. Se aceptan comentarios.
In this environment, to speak of blogs and collaborative journalism in Cuba is a real absurdity. No Cuban resident on the island can today create a blog which is critical of the regime, because the internet access is totally controlled and because he runs the risk of being jailed or expelled from the country. Any low level bureaucrat is able to denounce him immediately. As such, the existing blogs could be the best or the worst ones (this doesn't just cover political blogs, the blogosphere is much more complex), but they are outside of any definition of collaborative or even digital journalism and therein lies the original contention of this post. What do Cuban bloggers thing? What does the blogosphere in general think? Comments are accepted.
At the time of Professor Milena Recio's reply, as she notes, Pardo's post had yet to attract a comment. Since then, however, Martha Sánchez, who describes herself as a Cuban living in Cuba, commented on the island's need to find its own participatory media.
I should also note that Pardo cross-posted the article at Dialógica where it drew a comment from Ecuadorean journalism professor, Christian Espinosa who wrote:
Tema difícil, estuve en Cuba un mes en un encuentro y no puedo sacar conclusiones sino contar lo que viví: en las universidades sí había oportunidad de entrar a internet, por lo menos en la de comunicación sin problema. El internet es super lento porque se conectan solo por satélite y lo comparten entre todos el ancho de banda. No todos tienen sino los que realmente lo justifican segúnel estado. En otras universidades no entran a internet solo al correo electrónico. Muchas veces hotmail y yahoo estaba bloqueado, sin embargo, pude blogger en Cobertura Digital y cubrir el evento. Pero los profesores sí tienen acceso y los periodistas también desde sus casas. Para turistas hay a cibers donde navegaba por cuatro dólares la hora con unas tarjetas pre pago. ESto imposible pagar para un cubano, sin embargo, se dan modos, supe de muchos que loutlizaban para tratar de salir de Cuba. No había muchos blogs. Pero muchos cubanos los querían hacer. Elsy Fors lo tiene uno. Es un tema difícil sin duda. Lo que recuerdo es que en Cuba cuesta mucho hacer autocrítica pero también se tiende a exagerar lo que se conoce de críticas desde fuera.
Milena Recio was clearly offended by Pardo's claim that her paper contained sloppy scholarship. In her two part response, she asks why Pardo did not question her at the conference itself and then continues:
Mi “sesgada” intervención –el objeto de su desaprobación–, se basaba en la ponencia Blogs Cuba: una identidad atrincherada (I parte, II parte y III parte), en la que trataba de hacer un análisis de la práctica de la escritura blog en Cuba por parte de un grupo, bastante grande, de periodistas cubanos que llevan algún tiempo experimentando con estas formas de “periodismo 3.0”. Ellos merecen respeto, porque existen, y no son tan sumisos, ni política, ni ideológicamente, como Hugo Pardo sugiere o afirma.
Los que lean mi trabajo tendrán la oportunidad de ver cómo se refiere allí, precisamente, la polarización que suscita el tema cubano, y que Hugo Pardo ha ratificado otra vez con una nota tan alta. Cuba y los cubanos tenemos costumbre de topar con la pose seudoliberal de cierto tipo de intelectual que se siente en el derecho divino de excomulgar y vapulear la experiencia de la Revolución cubana sin estudiarla, sin conocerla, y acaso despreciándola de antemano.
Those who read my work will have the opportunity to see what is referred to: precisely, the polarization that is provoked by the Cuban theme, which Hugo Pardo has ratified once again with such a high note. Cuba and Cubans have the custom of fishing out the pseudoliberal pose of a certain type of intellectual that feels himself in the divine right to excommunicate and fiercely criticize the experience of the Cuban Revolution without studying it, knowing it, and perhaps despising it beforehand.
Which brings us to Recio's original paper presented at the University of Victoria roundtable discussion, “The Mediasphere and the Blogosphere: New Journalisms and New Formats.” It was published in three parts (I, II, III) on the weblog Enlaces (ES). Spanish speakers with an interest in Cuban citizen media would be well served to read the entire essay, but I will translate the abstract and choice paragraphs here.
Resumen:
En las circunstancias de baja disponibilidad de acceso a Internet en Cuba, los periodistas de la Isla constituyen uno de los grupos más importantes desde donde han partido las iniciativas de publicación de weblogs personales. En el escenario de la conflictividad política que atraviesa los flujos informacionales en torno a la realidad del país, en estas publicaciones se observan las señales de una discursividad que privilegia la afirmación identitaria de lo nacional, desde posiciones reactivas y de defensa.
Under the circumstance of low availability of internet access in Cuba, the journalists of the island constitute one of the most important groups since they started to put forth initiatives of publishing personal weblogs. In the scenario of the political conflict that intersects the flow of information outside the reality of the country, in these publications signals of a discourse that gives priority to the affirmation of national identity from reactionary and defensive positions is observed.
Cuando en el año 2003 comenzó a florecer la blogosfera, un grupo de periodistas cubanos se dedicó a descubrir y promover el uso de esta nueva forma de existencia en Internet, que tiene como sabemos la característica de favorecer el uso personal y autogenerativo del privilegio de editor de noticias. En la evolución de este proceso hemos visto la convergencia del interés oficial, promovido por las instituciones políticas del país, de “multiplicar la presencia cubana en Internet” con la vocación de algunos periodistas de ensayar la práctica de su profesión de manera autónoma, y más allá de los medios para los que escriben habitualmente.
Entre las especificidades del uso de los blogs desde Cuba, y dadas las características de baja disponibilidad de acceso a Internet, están hoy, precisamente, que la mayoría de los autores responsables de estas nuevas publicaciones son periodistas que utilizan sus conexiones domésticas y durante un tiempo de trabajo no retribuido salarialmente.
Among the specifics of the use of blogs in Cuba, and given the characteristics of low availability of internet access, the majority of bloggers today are journalists that use their home connections and during a time that is not compensated with salary.
She then goes on to assert that Cuba receives a “permanent, (dis)informative, hostile treatment” both in the international press and blogosphere and refers to several blogs as examples of what she calls a hostile bias.
Otro de estos blogs que podríamos citar es Medicina Cubana(9) sitio también bilingüe, presentado como iniciativa personal del Dr. Eloy A González, residente en Texas, Estados Unidos, y autotitulado activista de derechos humanos. Aparentemente el responsable del sitio actúa como editor de colaboraciones de varias personas que se presentan como periodistas cubanos independientes y quienes presuntamente envían desde Cuba reportes como este, posteado el 13 de abril de 2006, y referido a la atención médica en la Isla: “En Cuba hay que ser venezolano o irse a vivir a Venezuela; de lo contrario, ¡te mueres!” Otro ejemplo podría ser Cuba-blog. Thoughts about Cuba (10) –también bilingüe– mantenido por Teresa Bevin quien se presenta como profesora y escritora de origen cubano, residente en Estados Unidos, autora de la novela Havana Split. Este blog mantiene un tono más literario-costumbrista, tratando de hacer descripciones de vida cotidiana en Cuba. En el sitio se leen post como: “¿Olores cubanos…?” donde la autora intenta enlistar los aromas que considera ella típicos del país, con una mirada romántica y nostálgica, donde al final se declara la dicotomía entre la “Cuba de hoy” y la “Cuba de ayer” inscrita en los recuerdos de los cubanos emigrados.
The most useful part of the paper, for those wanting to get to know Cuba by way of its bloggers, comes in the third part where Recio links to what appears to be an exhaustive list of Spanish-language blogs from Cuba. She explains:
La mayoría de los blogs que los periodistas cubanos han inaugurado hasta hoy, se encuentran anclados en plataformas públicas como blogia, blogspot, ya.com, wordpress, etc. No estamos hablando entonces de blogs que han nacido en plataformas hosteadas en servidores institucionales cubanos, o que sean atributos agregados dentro de las publicaciones digitales tradicionales, sino de iniciativas individuales de publicación en Internet. La idea, el manejo, la edición, el perfil temático, etc. dependen exclusivamente del arbitrio de estos autores. Los autores de estos blogs se presentan al ciberespacio con sus verdaderos nombres y haciendo alusión a datos ciertos sobre algunas características de sus carreras profesionales o sus vidas personales. En un recorrido inicial por los blogs producidos en Cuba por periodistas, salta a la vista la sobrepresencia del término “Cuba” o asociados, dentro de los títulos o las URLs de los weblogs que analizamos.  En la mayoría de los casos, los atributos de la personalidad de estos blogs no están centrados únicamente en el individuo-autor sino de forma muy evidente en el hecho de que estas publicaciones prometen “hablar de Cuba desde Cuba”.


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Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome · Global Voices
Salam Adil

When it comes to food, I know where I would rather live. And, those of you who have never eaten ‘Masgoof’ before or tried Iraqi fruit and vegetables, will not understand me when I say that as far as food is concerned Iraq is the most civilized countries in the world. I still, for the life of me, cannot understand how British people accept to pay for hugely overpriced vegetables that taste of nothing more than water. But I digress…
Today I will highlight bloggers talking about food and that is not all, there is also the rich variety of posts that the Iraqi bloggers always serve up. As it is topical I also must cover the Haditha Massacre.
If you read no other posts this week, read these.
You will hear much about the those that died but less about the survivors of a bomb blast. Two bloggers this week survived and write about the aftermath.
Morbid Smile's is feeling “hopeless, Helpless, Angry, … Simply, I feel like a hell burning inside of me.” A motorcycle exploded in her local market and 22 of her neighbors died. I will let her describe the rest in her own words.
Thankfully, we were all at home that night. I begged Mom to go out and buy some stuff from the market but she kept telling me to postpon it to the next day. If we were there at that time, I would be writing this from Heaven by now. Or from Hell maybe!
We knew most of the people who died. One of them was a girl preparing for her wedding day which happened to be the next day! Three little brothers were inside a car waiting for the parent. One of them had his brain popped out of his head and died immedeatly, the two others lived but with a traumatic disease now. And many more…
The streets were closed, funerals were held in ever corner of the neighborhood, and people were all in black attending the funerals. Candles were lit in the explosion's place on the third day. I went there to see it; it was so sad. Seeing the place where I grew up in this state and knowing that people died their is heart breaking. The faces I've seen almost everyday since I was a little kid… They're no more.
I wrote last week that Baghdad Treasure's neighbors had been killed in an explosion. This week he writes a moving post about the mourning after:
my eyes caught a chain of black banners announcing the death of the martyrs that fell in the explosion. … Lines from the holy Quran and a big Cross were next each other as if they were hand in hand declaring the victims were Muslims and Christians and all died together in one crime. …
In Iraq, funerals take three days. Today was the third and the last. People of different sects and religions attended the funeral which was held in a tent in front of the house. Thirteen other funerals were held in the neighborhood, including the one that killed Um Omar, a Christian woman who was shopping with her 25-year-old daughter. Susan, the daughter, was a bride who got married few weeks ago. She did not die but she lost her two legs in the blast and has become crippled. …
As I walked from my house to the funeral everyday, I noticed how this explosion was successful enough to turn it so gloomy, dusty, and sad. … We considered all the dead were our mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters and we all shared the unforgettable pain and grief…
May she and all the Iraqi martyrs rest in peace.
Haditha
Currently the big international story on Iraq is about the investigation into the killing of 24 unarmed civilians by US Marines in Haditha. Yet bloggers inside Iraq have not commented. I scan through my past posts may show why. The issue of violence from US soldiers has been reported again and again and again, this is no longer news for them. From the Iraqi pundits outside there is an interesting split into two camps. Bloggers who had supported the war are commenting on everything but Haditha, bloggers who were against talked about Haditha and other possibly similar events.
For my own comment, in Asterism, I wrote: “It is a sad reflection on a modern civilsation when a general must fly in to Iraq to tell his troops how not to kill civilians indiscriminately. The point here is that the American soldiers in Iraq have become part of the problem for the Iraqi people and not the solution.”
Food Glorious Food
Neurotic Wife is, sadly, leaving Iraq. But, for once, she has the opportunity to go outside the Green Zone and she get to try one of Baghdad's delicacies:
Photo by Neurotic Wife
“We stopped at a place thats known for its ice cream, placed called (Faqma)…had the yummiest icecream ever(ofcourse I wasnt allowed to get out of the car)…
Could not believe that I can have such icecream here, here in Baghdad…Similiar to a banana split but instead with sliced bananas and a cocktail of icecream flavours….”
Yumm.
and HNK devotes a post to her favourite foods. She says:  “Maybe we don't have an electricity, peace ,freedom but we certenly have food.
Maybe we can't drive, walk and doing the simple normal things but we can eat.
Food always make you feel bettter, especially if it's taste good.
here are some food pictures.” The following pictures were certainly to delicious to safely post here.
But food also has its politics. Baghdad Connect reports on the threat to Iraqi wheat production:
in mid 2004 Mr. Bremer has introduced [in line with UPOV http://www.upov.int/ policies] clause # 81 concerning the intellectual property for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants but not the biodiversity of plants, which automatically phase out the Iraqi local seeds. …
Once the Iraqi farmers commence in planting those patent seeds then there will be no U-turn. Those patent seeds will eventually hybridize [pollute] the surrounding local seeds, which will make those local seeds protected intellectual property of the giant patent seeds companies, and that will force the Iraqi farmer to buy foreign seeds every year with the ‘appropriate’ fertilizers, and in a few years the expenses will surpass the returns, which means the end of the Wheat farming in the Mesopotamia.
Well, if food is good for the Iraqis how is it for the American soldiers? The Baghdad Alcohol Sponge reviews the US Army ‘Meals Ready to Eat’… “Someone should investigate just who all was involved in the awarding of the contract and how they tie with the idiots that made up the current menues. …
It has a ton of salt and tomato stuff in it–read: heartburn. Most of them seem to have a mixture of tomato stuff and heartburn mixtures. Black bean burrito? If you can eat that thing un-heated and maintain a smile on your face, I'll give you a dollar.
“Wheat Snack Bread” whoever came up with this idea should be publicly blugeoned in the face with a bag of seeping scrotums. And again the week after, just for having 2 of them in some meals.”
Mmmm, mmm?
In Other Worlds
Neurotic Wife posts her last blog from Baghdad and shares some thoughts and emails from her friends.
“It is words like these that make my heart full of joy…It is words like these that make me love every moment that I had spent here…  As I write this, my tears are already flowing…I cant help it…Im sorry, for words cant describe what Im feeling right now…This is the end of the Chapter…The end of Chapter Baghdad…The end of Chapter Green Zone…The end of an Amazing Chapter…
Ive waved goodbye to the beautiful date trees…This is my last post…My last post from Baghdad…And Im feeling like a Stranger…A Stranger in the Night….”
24 Steps takes a day off and realizes that in the new Baghdad there is nowhere to go. So he organized a family get-together. The conversation was the typical Iraq one… “Have you heard about the women who were killed in Amiriya?” … “Have you heard about the 7 young men who were killed” … And then he is cornered by his aunt:
“Now what do you say?” my aunt asked me, referring to that I might be the last Iraqi who is still in favor of the war. “Do you still like what happened in Iraq?”
I wanted to answer her, but I was really hungry. I didn’t want to be deprived of food at 3pm! Also, I didn’t have evidences to back my answer up!
Fatima is so happy that her generator is working she posts a recording of its sound. “Thankfully, we repaired our generator a while ago, and are sleeping well at night. It cost about $400 for a new piece, and another $400 for one month's supply of diesal to run the generator. Very pricey for the diesal, which normally should have cost one sixth of that price, but we're happy all the same.” And she reports an improvement in the electricity supply: “For the first time in a loooong time, the electricity came on yesterday for two hours, off for four hours.”
And Finally…
Zeyad is blogging for the New York Times again and offers us a taster of his posts. Reading the Iraqi Horoscope:
Gemini: Your parents have been nagging you to lay low and leave the country. Yet you are worried about an imminent death squad attack against your area. Plan your escape route carefully and keep a spare grenade for emergencies.
Attack day: Thursday.
Grenade No.: 5
Leo: A tip from one of your friends wrongfully ends you up in an
occupation detention camp. Learn to distinguish friend from foe. Avoid female American jail wardens, unless you like to explore
the arts of exhibitionism and BDSM.
Arrest day: Friday.
Prison cell No.: 26
Libra: Things are slowing down in your neighborhood. Your fellow watch-team members have nothing to do but smoke and trade mobile ring tones all night. It would probably not be a bad idea to take some time off from your guard duties and pay more attention to your love life.
Lucky day: Monday.
Street No.: 27

author: Salam Adil


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China: June 4th:Silence, Memorial and Blogger’s Saying · Global Voices
Frank Dai

Today it's June 4th, the 17th anniversary of Tiananmen Square Massacre, which marked the end of student democracy movement in Beijing and nationwide lasting from March to June, 1989. The communist party of China still did not recognize this mass incident as peaceful protest of students, who used demonstration and hunger strike to demand democracy and removal of corrupted officials.
Under the party propaganda policies, no commemoration of the movement was allowed in public places and the newspapers and TV networks passed the day wthout any even implied mention of it. Like the popular columnist and blogger Lianyue once has wrote when Google has entered Chinese market:”We(Google) guarantee: The day after Jun3th must be Jun5th”, the state-controlled media have just pretended that the event never happened 17 years ago, identical with the official history book's negligible claim of the movement as “a political incident in the spring and summer of 1989″.
Silence did not only existed in the media outlets but also on Internet. The major websites are mute as much as their mainstream media counterparts. While many foreign media will run their stories of civil right groups, dissidents sayings and request of groups like Tiananmen Mother, who demand compensation and recognition of people who sacrifice their lives in the event, a basic embarrassing fact is that the government will tighten the control of information online and offline, with blocking access  to witnesses and elevation of Internet blocking alike.
Even Google, who compromise to offered its Chinese search engine services in censored and uncensored version simultaneously are no exception from the powerful censor. Many areas in mainland China have reported failures to connect to Google in the past few days, while the censored and China-hosted Google.cn is still available. Andrew Lih has blogged a stories about it.  Shizhao also warned that people be careful using Google Desktop, since the application robots will crawl sensitive news from websites like BBC, causing the Great Firewall to trigger off.
Fortunately, the decentralized nature of Internet means such content can't be removed and ignored entirely.  Andrea of T-Salon remind us that the del.icio.us tag “8964” is once again active, aggregating reflections and thoughts from the Internet,especially the blogosphere. The scanning copy of Hong Kong newspaper in June 4th 1989 can be found on Flickr and video   on YouTube. It's like what XiaoQiang of China Digital Times, a participant of that event told in a recent interview   that “Internet Keeps Tiananmen Spirit Alive”
Keepwalking   shot photos of Tiananmen Square and post it on his blog titled “Picture without Words: Today, Square”: peaceful and crowded, not with anguish students but the cheerful and curious tourists, who may not even heard about the so-called June 4th Massacre, for many of them were born after the event and the state prohibt public discussion of the incident. Compared with the now famous image of Tank Man, who poised in front a row of armed tanks and block them to advance on the street in 1989, a true repersentatives of the spirits of the protesters, today's square is so quiet as usual as if nobody even remember, not mention to struggle for it.
Zheng, one of the earliest Chinese blogger, wrote today on his blog titled “17 Years”:
[In translation]
After the 17 years, the generation has grown up to adult.
However the ringing cry, warm blood and zealous yearning of them has not grown to be a self-organized and self-adapted environment of democracy, like the tiny seeds growing into green and vast fores
t…..
The  thing needed to magnify is  the voice, the continuity not the boring and faded mourning and commemoration year after year.
History won't repeat. New questions are ahead in front of us, and it's these news question that make the voice resurrect.
SideKick, a Hong Kong blogger, showed her “8964” special watch and change her blog's appearance in total black for “indirect memorandum”. In another post she edits a playlist of songs to commorate the anniversary . Every year Hong Kong will hold an unofficial memorial party to pay tribute to those who died on the street 17 years ago and HiRadio has many resources for that party.

author: Frank Dai


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Haiti: President and Mangos · Global Voices
Alice Backer

AyitiCherieConnexion reacts (Fr) to a recent AlterPresse article about threats to Haitian mango production and exports by saying: “In essence the article warns us that Haiti risks loosing its place as a top producer of mangos (…) if the Haitian government does not intervene in regulating this industry. Don't we now have an agronomist president? Let's see how he responds to  this imminent problem!”


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Iran: A video on the underground youth  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Berkely Forum blog has given a link to a very interesting video on the underground youth culture in Iran. We can see in this video different opinions about iranian government and interesting night life scenes.


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Iran: Photos & Matyrdom seekers · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Farzaneh Khademian, photoblogger & photographer, has exposed several photos of Iranian Martydom seekers in Tehran.


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Latest in the Francophone African Blogosphere · Global Voices
Alice Backer

PAN-AFRICAN
For the United States of Africa
Le Pangolin is fervently advocating for the dissolution of the current borders that separate African countries and that, he believes, weaken each individual African country:
Je suis pour des Etats-Unis d’Afrique par zone géographique ou linguistique, car cela va permettre d’impliquer l’ensemble des Africains dans la résolution de nombreux problèmes actuels (…). Pensez-vous sincèrement qu’un pays africain est capable de faire la guerre à un petit pays européen ? (…) Croyez-vous que des pays comme par exemple le Cameroun ou le Congo possédant beaucoup des richesses naturelles qui suscitent la convoitise de plusieurs pays occidentaux et des USA sont-ils capables de se développer individuellement ? De protéger leur territoire ? La réponse est un NON catégorique, car ni le Cameroun, ni le Congo de façon séparée n’ont pas les moyens de constituer des armées capables de défendre leurs richesses en mer (…) et sur terre (…) et s’opposer à la France.
Selon moi les avantages sont colossaux. Et les Africains feraient mieux de réfléchir à comment aboutir dans la décennie qui vient à ces grands ensembles, le plus rapidement possible. Il y va de la survie de l’Afrique d’ici 2025. Le développement fulgurant de la Chine et de l’Inde contraint l’Afrique à se diriger vers cette voie. A vouloir rester dans nos frontières et souverainetés actuelles est une attitude hautement suicidaire car la pression sur les ressources naturelles devient de plus forte presque impossible à tenir. Dans cette configuration l'Afrique detient à elle seule plus de trois-quarts de toutes les resources encore disponibles sur terre et mer.Tout le monde le sait aucun pays d’Afrique dans la configuration actuelle en dehors peut-être de l’Afrique du Sud, Nigeria (et même ?) ne pourra opposer une résistance à sa destruction ou spoliation par l'Occident.
COTE D'IVOIRE
Preparing for the Soccer World Cup
An article posted by Rewmi Abidjan says Cote d'Ivoire is preparing for the Soccer World Cup. The team will be recouping from the African Cup during its first week of training, says its trainer Henri Michel. The team will then prepare for a friendly match against Switzerland to take place on May 27 which its trainer calls a “test”.
Several Senegalese and Ivoirians posted words of encouragement to the Ivoirian team, stating that Africans as a whole believed it was the best African team in this year's cup and that the team had what it takes to make it to the second round:
tout ce que je repproche aux ivoiriens,c'est qu'ils négligent qu'ils sont malgré leur équipe jeune sont parmi les favoris de cette haute compétition.
j'ai peur qu'il ne soit trop tard au moment où ils vont s'en rendre compte.le match qu'ils ont livré contre l'italie l'a prouvé.il faut y croire et se dire qu'on a reçu la même formation, on joue dans les mêmes championnats.la cote d'ivoire a eu plus de cinq joueurs en ligue des champions européenne et deux joueurs en finale.je ne peux imaginer une élimination au premier tour.je vois les ivoiriens au pire des cas en demi-finale et si kalou accepte de faire un peu d'effort en attaque,on prend la coupe.
Deputies Cannot Question Parliament's Legitimacy
Newsfeed Rewmi Abidjan posts an article that states:
Dans un nouveau pied-de-nez à la communauté internationale, les députés ivoiriens pro-régime ont “adopté” jeudi un texte permettant l'exclusion de tous les parlementaires de l'opposition qui refusent de prendre part aux “sessions” controversées de l'Assemblée.
The UN has stopped deeming the Assembly legitimate since mid-December when the deputies’ terms expired, explains the article. Opposition deputies who question the Assembly's legitimacy will not be allowed to resume their deputy functions according to the new bill.
New Senegalese Contingent of the UN Mission
Rewmi Abdjan also announces the official arrival in Cote D'Ivoire of the Senegalese contingent of the MUNICI UN mission that will be in charge of peacekeeping during the upcoming Presidential election.  Also, a Senegalese, Antiou Pierre Ndiaye, will replace another Senegalese as head of the UN troops in Cote D'Ivoire.
DR OF CONGO
Western Press Changes its Tack
A recent article by Le Monde “finally looks at the Congo with sincere eyes,” says blogger Tony Katombe. The article states that the DRC government includes “former war criminals, known incompetents and unscrupulous business-types.” The blogger credits [opposition party] UDPS, Bishop Laurent Monsengwo and his own efforts for this turnaround in western media perception.  The blogger thinks back on the hard work it took to get where he is:
Il était plus que tant ! Pendant qu'avec nos moyens de bord, nous peignions la réalité de la situtation politique congolaise et l'évolution d'un processus électoral cahoteux, nous étions sans cesse contredits par des articles “angélicistes” de journeaux européens à gros tirage.
Le combat était bien déséquilibré, et de temps en temps, la tentation était forte de laisser tomber les bras, car ces média réussissaient à déformer même la perception de certains congolais. C'est donc mû par l'énergie du désespoir que nous avons tenu bon, avec des moyens de fortune, à présenter au monde, la vérité sur l'arnaque actuellement en préparation au Congo.
UDPS Campaign in Europe
UDPS Liege published an interview by La Libre Belgique  of UDPS spokesman Remy Massamba with Belgian journalist Marie-France Cros in which he asked for “a dialogue between congolese political forces with the support of the international community and denied that UDPS wanted to restart the electoral process from scratch. When asked what it would take for UDPS to join the electoral process, he said:
L'essentiel est qu'un signal montre que ces élections seront inclusives. Nous avons un cahier des charges mais nous savons que nous ne pouvons obtenir satisfaction à 100 pc. Il a fallu un an pour qu'on accède à notre exigence de mettre fin à la confusion possible sur l'identité de l'UDPS (NdlR: trois partis se réclamant de ce nom se présentaient; un accord différencie désormais les sigles) mais cela ne s'est fait qu'à la veille de la clôture du dépôt des candidatures; l'UDPS n'était donc pas prête.
On many governments’ perception that UDPS excluded itself from the electoral process:
C'est une lecture qu'elles ont eue à un moment. Mais toutes les ambassades à Kinshasa se sont impliquées dans le problème d'identification des partis -utilisé comme arme politique par le gouvernement- et ont réussi à faire fléchir celui-ci.
On UDPS's claim in press releases that there is an international plot against it:
Cela doit être le discours de l'UDPS. Tous les acteurs nationaux avaient accepté en décembre 2005, sous égide internationale, d'aborder les problèmes posés par l'UDPS au sujet du processus électoral; or, il n'y a eu aucune suite. Si on laisse les choses en l'état, cela relèverait d'un complot.
Papa Wemba and Kabila
Le Renouveau Congolais may have at one time been a fan of DRC Rhumba Rock star Papa Wemba but he is no more. This week, he called the crooner a Kabilist, i.e. a partisan of current president Joseph Kabila of which Renouveau is not a fan.
BENIN
President Seeks Key Sectors’ Input
See more here.
REUNION
Photos of Volcano
Reunion Passion  posts a scenic slideshow of  La Reunion‘s Piton de la Fournaise volcano.
Chikungunya Virus and Tourism
A chikungunya virus epidemic has been plaguing La Reunion and blogger Jean-Paul  of Dijoux.Re posted the latest news, including that several hotels have closed due to the epidemic's effect on tourism:
Malgré les températures plus fraîches l’épidémie de chikungunya ne baisse pas et reste à un niveau de 1200 cas par semaine. (…) Le Comité de Tourisme cherche par tous les moyens de relancer le tourisme avec entre autre la venue dans notre île de Miss Univers 2004 qui est australienne.
Indian and Moslem Issues in La Reunion
Zarabes, a blog dedicated to the issues of moslems of Indian descent in La Reunion, posts about the newly formed  CSHR, a local committee for the monitoring of Halal food (Comite de Surveillance du Halal a La Reunion) and about a symposium on India held on the island on Saturday.
SENEGAL
For a North-South Dialogue on Migration
Reflecting on Senegal's drowned migrant crisis and migrations towards the West in general, Robert Sagna, the Mayor of Ziguinchor, Senegal blogs:
En somme la globalisation en cours, qui a tendance à uniformiser les pratiques économiques, bute sur des questions fondamentales liées à la relation humaine à l’Autre. … Or depuis la nuit des temps, les hommes et les femmes se sont toujours déplacés … Les pays développés  … des murailles presque infranchissables sont construites à travers les « visas ». Le visa est une création des temps modernes et ne me paraît pas être la bonne solution. … La jeunesse du Sud a choisi l’émigration. Faisons en sorte que cela ne soit pas le seul choix, cela est de notre responsabilité. Ensuite faisons en sorte que les migrations ne soient pas « choisies », mais « organisées » dans le cadre d’un dialogue Nord-Sud pour une coopération active en la matière….La répression ne peut jamais être une bonne solution durable, c’est un pis aller.”
TOGO
Jazz and Literature
Kangni Alem directs us to novels recently released by his friends Sara Vidal, Amba Till and  Adelaide Fassinou on topics such as love and the border between Benin and Togo. He also treats us to his response to a swooning fan letter and to reflections on the relationship between music and literature.


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

With temperatures soaring above 45 degrees Celcius, summer is hot in Bahrain. And it is getting hotter, thanks to the escalating war being waged against local telecommunications company Batelco, which has changed its Internet packages overnight in newspaper announcements and emails to customers on May 11.
To add insult to injury, customers who had no say in the changes, had their accounts altered automatically. It was a take it or leave it deal, especially as the company has what amounts to a monopoly over the local Internet market.
“Batelco's current Broadband customers will automatically be upgraded during this month,” said the Press release.
What made some customers hit the rooftop, was the sugary language the Press release was coated with, especially when people who exceed their thresholds and who would have to pay through the nose, were being told that they would have unlimited Internet usage of UP TO … hehe
Are the increases a genuine plan to improve services or are they just another scheme to limit internet accessibility, especially in the poor areas of Bahrain?
In addition to Arabic and English websites (with the spokesman for the English site being no other than the Godfather of Bahrain's bloggers Mahmood Al Yousif) protesting what consumers alledge are unfair packages, pressure is mounting on the company to reverse its decision in unconventional methods, not witnessed in the island kingdom before.
They included a public meeting to discuss and protest the changes, buttons on blogs calling for an end to what many customers see as unfair practices by the company, a Boycott Batelco day, making the company's CEO as Mahmood's Scapegoat (!!), a rap song , a comparison of customers to indentured servants , car stickers and unconfirmed reports about calls for a demonstration against the telecom provider. *
Amid all these disgruntled customers, there is just one blogger who seems to be very  comfortable with the changes.
“Frankly speaking, 15GB is way more than what I and my family require (my sources at Batelco tell me that I have been averaging 6GB of Bandwidth throughout the past 3 months) and I count myself a medium internet user, as in.. It’s always a couple of full divx movies, a constant flow of MP3’s for the car.. In addition to heavy news browsing and obviously this lovely blog I maintain,” writes emoodz.
I am glad at least someone is happy!
* The only reference I saw for the demonstration calls  is here.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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A Monopoly-like Game to Carve out Africa · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Mocking Africa,  a French Monopoly-like game, Kangni Alem repeats the game's description [“Your goal is to explore, to conquer and to develop [the] new colonies. You will be able to betray alliances to exploit the lands of your adversaries, the goal being to own the most land at the end of the game”] and comments (Fr): “The game could not be easier (…) Enjoy!”


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African Vibrations · Global Voices
Obi

The football fever is on with the World Cup finals round the corner.  As is the tradition different countries have come up with their football anthems to cheer on their national teams.  To quote Bob Marley “Football Is Music”.  A claim playup.org have taken seriously by releasing An Alternative World Cup Album with 17 brand new football songs exclusively written and recorded for them.  Africa is well represented with songs from Daara J, Ayo, Patrice, Badié, Waldemar Bastos, and Ghetto Blaster.  With artists from other countries contributing songs to the project football is truely a global cultural phenomenon.  Mp3 samples and a short biographies are provided so get listening.  Welcome to my tenth African Music roundup.
Matt of Benn loxo du taccu keeps it football blogging live and direct from the media center at the World Cup in Berlin.  He talks about the War Child “Help” albums and their importance:
“10 years later the Help compilations are still great and still raising money for a good cause. Originally Help was brought-out by War Child to raise money for war-town Bosnia-Herzegovina. It’s amazing that the Bosnia conflict was only 10 years ago, especially when you consider that some of the countries involved are now vying for EU membership.”
Matt goes on to mention Tinariwen, a Tuareg band featured in the latest album, Help: a day in the life, and provides an mp3.  He will be dropping posts on African teams in the World Cup so look out for that.
Generation Nubia answers requests to post pictures of 2Face Idibia, winner of Best African Act at the MTV Music Awards 2005.
“This are pictures from the Mtv music awards last year so why are we posting them,two reasons actually :We didnt see to many full lenght decent pictures of him at the event and secondly this is probablly the only picture that shows him with his ‘baby mama’..so this is one for the history books.”
Generation Nubian also blogs about the recent black eyed peas tour of South Africa to support their aid foundation.  Pictures of the Peas and Nelson Mandela are also posted.
Steve Ntwiga Mugiri links mp3s from the artists Les Wanyika and Orchestra Les Mangelepa.  Really good songs worth checking out.  He also provides links to other artists and musical sites.  For the soccer mad he's dropped a seriously cool link to Nike's latest Joga Bonito (portugese for “play it beautifully”) video:
“To the soccer mad among you: Adrain, Mental, Sokari et. al.The world longest soccer video at Nike Soccer’s Joga Bonito. Very bandwidth intensive so avoid the link if you are on dial up. 2 BTW’s, first, does anyone know what that serious background music is? Next, Mental, a google ad came up on your site when I was checking out your soccer posts: Check it out all the way at the bottom: find lasting peace in Jesus no matter who wins. Very appropriate in my humble opinion.”
The first “BTW” i'm also curious about as the video soundtrack is heavy, heavy, heavy. The second “BTW” relates to something very funny but you'ld have to figure for yourself.  Hint: Jesus and the World Cup. Google ads eh?
Hans Riemer of Rock the Vote blog talks about the role of rap in West African politics focussing on Senegal:
“Rap has made inroads into a country renowned as one of the centers of West Africa's vibrant music scene, where the Mbalax style of dance music derived from traditional beats and popularized by N'Dour is a favorite genre.  In the early '90s, bands like Daara J and Positive Black Soul recorded hip-hop albums in Wolof, the most widely spoken African language in the former French colony, where many unemployed youth take to rap with dreams of hitting the big time.”
Hans goes on to explain:
“Quickly becoming the voice of a generation eager for jobs and education but frustrated by corruption, inefficiency and a lack of opportunities, they built up a loyal following.”
He reflects on a time hip hop and rap in the US had a strong political undertone and wishes for a revival.
sucka for life blogs about the Nigerian born, neo-soul guitarist Keziah Jones:
“I first checked for Keziah Jones in Paris at this spot named Le Triptique. The acoustic soul underground (if you will) there was holding a party for him. Celia from Les Nubians who is a fan of his dragged me there making it mandatory that I check him. While there, he made it known he had checked me a couple of years back in London at the Jazz Cafe with BFE.”
sucka for life puts up a clip from a New York show.  For those interested in listening to his music check out this radio.blog link.  This guy is incredible.
Morgan in Africa living in Rwanda talks about Congolese music:
“… due to my proximity to Congo, radio stations are dominated by Congolese news and music. Congolese music is variant, but it’s always fast and lively. Some types place more emphasis on traditional instruments, but the types of songs that are most popular on the big radio stations are called “salsa,” “rumba,” and “cha-cha”; in other words, it’s Latin American-style music, but sung in Lingala or Swahili. After a conversation with some colleagues today, I discovered that they thought that this music was uniquely Congolese!”

author: Obi


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Argentina: Chauvinistic World Cup Advertising · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Argentine media professor, Julian Gallo says he is tired of all the chauvinistic and overly patriotic advertisements (ES) amid World Cup hysteria and posts a video of a Quilmes advertisement to prove his point. He also posts two other videos, which he says are demonstrative of quality, non-chauvinistic publicity. Alfredo Octavio, on the other hand, posts a different advertisement from Quilmes and opines “this has to be one of the best songs ever for a team in any sport.”


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Armenia: Protest Against Racist Attacks · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian reports on a protest in front of the Russian embassy in Yerevan against racist attacks in Russia.


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Aruba: An allegory · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

At The Pan Collective, ArubaGirl writes a story about dwarves and elephants — or could she be talking about something else?


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Bangladesh: Conspiracy Theory · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The 3rd World View on one more conspiracy theory. “The textile workers are protesting, bombs went off in a cinema hall:- must be international conspiracies. It seems all that can not be explained or not to be explained logically are simply branded with the term ‘international conspiracy’.”


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Barbados, Russia: Mail order brides · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

According to Barbados Free Press, a Russian “marriage introduction service” is arranging group tours of Barbados for “prospective Russian brides and North American men.” Adds BFP: “While Barbados is a beautiful and romantic island (as we all know), for North American men seeking Russian ladies, the allure of Barbados is also about our visa requirements – which are easier than the USA and Canada.”


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Belarus: 2 Banned Films at Film Festival in NYC · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Iryna of TOL's Belarus Blog recommends two films on Belarus now playing in New York City; both are banned in Belarus: “I am jealous that a New York audience can see these documentaries, described by one of the critics as “rough-hewn, hard-core, must-see, front-line filmmaking,” on the screen, but hope that one day they also will be publicly shown in Belarus. In the meantime, samizdat, home-made copies of anti-regime documentaries by Dashuk, Khaschevatsky and Sheremet will continue circulating from hand to hand and being discussed in kitchens. Dashuk’s films are only a part of a growing underground cultural life in Belarus, similar to that which played such a crucial role in Poland and Czechoslovakia in the 1970s and 1980s.”


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Belarus: Opposition’s Use of Internet · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Although the Belarusian opposition “is way ahead of their colleagues in pre-revolutionary Serbia, Georgia, or Ukraine” in using internet for outreach, it's neglecting more traditional ways of drawing publicity and support, writes TOL's Belarus Blog, citing the obscurity of the hunger strike in Salihorsk as an example.


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Belarus: Vitryssland or Not · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Tobias Ljungvall writes about the difficulties one faces when  translating ‘Belarus’ into Swedish.


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Belarus: White-Red-White Flag at Roland Garros · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

TOL's Belarus Blog reports about the white-red-white flag of Belarus being used in Roland Garros tennis tournament broadcasts instead of the official flag.


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Bermuda: Pro-democracy rally · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Sean at IMHO.bm weighs in on the pro-democracy rally held last Friday in Bermuda: “It was good to see my fellow Islanders standing up and letting their voices be heard. I truly hope that this isn’t an isolated incident and that next time things are done prior to, rather than following the issues.” He also posts a few cameraphone photos.


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Blacks in France: Kofi Yamgnane Contending to be Socialist Party Candidate for Legislative Elections · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Kofi Yamgnane, a French politician of Togolese descent and the Vice President of the General Counsel of Finistère [a region in northwestern France] in charge of water management, announces (Fr) that he is presenting his candidacy to the Socialist Party to represent them in the  2007 legislative elections.  The Socialists will designate their candidates on June 14.


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Cambodia: Introducing Cambodian bloggers · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Cambodian blogger Wanna introduces more Cambodian blogs written in English. The post is in French but the links to the blogs are easy to spot.


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Chile: Complete List of Student Protest Blogs · Global Voices
David Sasaki

The Chilean newspaper El Mercurio has a complete list of Chilean blogs and photoblogs maintained by protesting students throughout the country.


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China: Media guru blog · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Mao Zedong's English teacher's daughter Hong Huang (洪晃), upon completion of her education abroad, came back to China and went on to become “one of the most influential entrepreneurs in Chinese print media,” says Jeremy Goldkorn at Chinese media blog Danwei in a post looking at her new blog [zh].


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China: Questions for Hu · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Twenty clever questions China Confidential‘s Confidential Reporter hopes might one day be asked of Chinese president Hu Jintao.
“Who knows?” Confidential Reporter asks, “Maybe Bill Gates will email the queries to Hu's Hotmail account.”
Question #3: “Do you believe in Communism?”


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China: Technorati unblocked (again) · Global Voices
John Kennedy

After having been blocked and unblocked in China, blog aggregator Technorati seems to be back, says Imagethief blogger Will, the day after the the seventeenth anniversary of one of the darkest days in China's contemporary history.
“Why now?” Will asks. “If I were a parnoid, conspiracy-obsessed recluse (I and I don't specifically deny it) I might suspect it's because today is June 5th, which is to say, on the back side of June 4th. (Along with a few others, Imagethief noted some weird hiccups in Google's service late last week as well, further adding to his cold sweats and furtive, darting eye movements.)”


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Czech Republic: Election Ends in Stalemate · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

On June 2 and 3, the fourth election to the Chamber of Deputies since the 1993 split of Czechoslovakia took place in the Czech Republic – and ended in stalemate. Below are some bloggers’ reports and reactions.
On the day the voting began, Bob Granico of Publius Pundit posted a comprehensive roundup of parties and their platforms, as well as various forecasts:
The likely outcome of the election seems to be a centre-right coalition government of the Civic Democratic Party and the Christian Democrats, but a key factor in the elections will be how well the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia does.
When the voting ended, My Czech Republic Blog noted that a coalition government looked unlikely:
When converting the percentages into the number of seats in the Chamber of Deputies, it looks unlikely that a majority government will be formed. The Civic Democrats/Christian Democrats/Green Party coalition would only get 100 seats, which is the same number the Social Democrats/Communist Party coalition would have.
Lemuel, a Slovak blogger of Deleted By Tomorrow, has been following the election in the neighboring country very closely and with more passion than he felt was necessary:
I have to remind myself, “I am not a Czech, I am not a Czech, this does not concern me”, but it is really hard.
Here is Lemuel's take on the current prime minister Paroubek (and head of the Social Democratic Party):
The truly Faustian thing about this man is that he is willing to break the 16-year-old taboo of not cooperating with the unreformed Czech Communist party. He famously declared “If need be, we will pass the laws that are necessary for the prosperity of this country, for the people of this country, with the help of the Communists. And if Martians were to fall here, then I would pass the laws with their help.”
Douglas Arellanes commented on the press conference given by Paroubek after the polls had closed:
Paroubek’s press conference had the tone of a temper tantrum. He basically confirmed one of the things most Czechs either openly or quietly feared: that he would let the Communists into the government.
Another non-Czech-based blogger, Gospodin_I of Bulgaria, looks at the election results from a perspective of someone whose country may soon follow the Czech Republic on its path into the EU:
[…] if the Party of the Civic Democrats is to adopt such a hard line on European integration, it obviously is cashing on a trend in public opinion. To say it more simple – EU resentment must exist in the Czech society if it is to be manifested in the positions of one of the leading parties. […] Soon after the accession (whenever it happens), we will realise that the initial costs of EU memberships are much larger than the initial benefits. And I am pretty sure that some of the leading parties that are now riding the wave of ‘returning Bulgaria to Europe, where it belongs’ and claiming the responsibility for this fateful choice of path will then change their positions in order to find new identities and of course voters. Just like the Civic Democrats do…
Finally, Jesse of Bored in Brno wrote about two of his favorite parties in this election and their ways to promote themselves:
Probably the most interesting party that has caught my attention is number 23, the “Folklore and Society” party. Certainly not one I expect to hear great things of in the election results, but perhaps a nice sentiment.
I'm not sure what advice folklore would offer the government.
[…]
My favorite advertisement, however, was for the Green Party. Among the parties that actually have some chances in the elections, the Greens are probably my favorite. Unlike in the U.S., they actually have some significant support here—well, they have parliamentary representation even though nothing like a majority. They were giving out free bags of “Green” Tea; this appealed to my taste for tea and bad puns. Not to mention that I like the idea of the Green Party.


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Dominica: Jean Rhys’ house · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

On a recent visit to Dominica, Francomenz goes out of her way to photograph the childhood home of renowned Dominican writer Jean Rhys, which is “now a guest house, right in the middle of the busy capital. When I jumped out of the car and dodged traffic to get just the right shot of the unassuming wooden building, people seemed to understand my interest and smiled at me as they walked just a bit more proudly down the street.”


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Egypt: Alaa got a 3rd 15 days · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Egyptian State Security renewed Alaa’s detention for another 15 days today (he already spent 30 days in prison) . His wife Manal visited him today and reports that he took the news stoically and is trying to remain strong.
Renewing them another 15 days could go on forever.

author: Haitham Sabbah


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Hong Kong: Chinese rule beneficial? · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Has being handed over to China been good for Hong Kong or not? Simon at Simon World takes a swing at this complicated question in ‘China's Rule of Hong Kong.’
In the 10 years since China took over, the city has had the Asia crisis, Tung Chee-hwa, the Article 23 marches, the right of abode cases, the controversy over Donald Tsang‘s appointment, the ridiculous rotten boroughs of the functional Legco constituencies, SARS and more.


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Hungary: Budapest’s Tough Streets · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Paul of Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar writes about the tough streets of Budapest: “When I first moved to Budapest, I was convinced, within a couple of weeks, that the whole city had declared war against me.”


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Iran: Ayatollah & the Poor · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Hojreh, a cleric blogger, talks about two titles in the same day and in the same newspaper, conservative Kayhan. According to blogger, newspaper reports that many people participated in the death anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini, Islamic Republic founder who had promised justice. Hojreh reports that in the same page, we read 14 million people, in Iran, have an income below poverty line (Persian).


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Iran: Free Tavancheh Blog · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

A new blog is created  to promote freedom for  detained student activist & blogger, Mr.Abed Tavancheh (Persian). In Abede Tavacheh blog we are informed that another student activist, Houman Kazemyan from Tehran university, is missed and 25000 students signed a petition to ask freedom for student leaders (Persian).


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Iran: Ganji & Liberal Democracy · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Hanouz, a collective blog, informs us that Akbar Ganji, famous dissident journalist & writer, published a new manifest ( essay) about liberal democracy on internet. According to this blog, in his writing, Ganji defends liberal democracy ideas (Persian). Ganji who, is in Europe to receive several prizes reminds us that liberal democracy needs to be based on more ethic (moral) foundation.


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Iraq: Ishaqi Crime · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Because of the quantity of articles and opinions that appeared in the media about Haditha crime, one thing you need to know… many missed about Ishaqi crime, LadyBird said.


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Israel: 666! · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

On Tuesday, many people around the world will wake up to a calendar number date that has been one of dread and apocalyptic connotation since it first appeared in the beginning centuries of the Common Era, EB said.


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Kazakhstan: Perceptions of Foreigners · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

The latest Kazakhstan Stories podcast covers Kazakh perceptions of foreigners.


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Kyrgyzstan: Balbals · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

The Golden Road to Samarqand writes about balbals, stone grave markers found on graves across Central Asia.


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Kyrgyzstan: US Base · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Yulia of neweurasia writes about the negotiations between the US and Kyrgyzstan over payments for the US military to house troops and equipment at the Manas airfield.


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Mexico: Obrador and Populism · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Both Michelle Dion and Greg Weeks examine the word “populism” in a recent New York Times article about Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Chilanga Banda says that the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) will stream tomorrow's presidential debate online (ES) from 6:30 to 8:30.


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Mongolia: Photo Essay · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Luke Distelhorst has a photo essay on Mongolia.


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Morocco: Please Respect Local Culture · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Behind the scenes at the Fes Festival there are several little issues that need clearing up. One is the dress code acceptable in Morocco. For a start the Moroccan people are far to polite to say anything … but plunging necklines and short skirts are as welcome as motorbikes in the Medina. Sure it is hot and the Sufi Nights are exciting but a few Western women need to respect local culture, Samir said.


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Nepal: Maoist Talk · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

More reactions after attending the mass meeting organized by the Maoists at United We Blog! . “I have been to all of them held after the 19-day movement (April). And on the stage speakers seem to lose their minds promising everything they can’t even make an attempt to think about. Big talk, always talk and petty actions. The monotony is killing me.”


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Nepal: Silence and the Maoists · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Blogdai goes to a 650,000 rally and is struck by something odd. “Something was not right. It finally occured to blogdai that the entire gathering was under an eerie pall of silence. I have never heard such silence from a group this large. No smiles no chanting, nothing. You expect the crowd to respond to the speaker from time to time, but again, nothing.”


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Palestine: Army’s Wishes Come First · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

It really irritates me how the actions of the Israeli army are always ignored by authorities.
If they kill, and they claim it’s by accident, then it’s by accident for sure, no one doubts that. If they raid and bomb and kill hundreds of innocent people, it’s just victims of a resistance-chaise, and no one dares say a thing. If they jail children or kill students, there’s always an excuse to justify all that. If they mistreat prisoners, it’s to serve their own cause…etc, Falastine said.


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Panama: Chef Melissa in La Prensa · Global Voices
Leon Kadoch

Chef Melissa de Leon appeared in the pages of the Ellas Magazine from the newspaper La Prensa in Panama, in which the newspaper reviews her talent and experience in the kitchen as well as two of her recipes.

author: Leon Kadoch


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Peru: Commentary on Garcia’s Victory · Global Voices
David Sasaki

A.M. Mora y Leon has a nearly exhaustive summary of what anglophone bloggers are saying about Alan Garcia's victory in Sunday's Peruvian presidential elections. Enrique Mendizaba, an international observer during the 2001 elections, takes a look at “the new roles of Peruvian political actors.” Boz has five talking points on Garcia.


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Peru: Ollanta Humala Conceded · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Fabiola Bazo writes that “in a very brief speech (no more than five minutes), Ollanta Humala conceded to a crowd of followers and supporters this evening.” Humala's second round opponent, Alan Garcia will once again become the country's president.


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Peru, Venezuela: Poll Off by 28 Points · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Both Francisco and Daniel Duquenal write with glee that the North American Opinion Research poll – often seen as pro-Chavez – was off by around 28 points in their prediction that Ollanta Humala would win Sunday's Peruvian election. Duquenal can't help but add that “watching [Latin American news network] Telesur this morning trying to put a best face on Humala defeat was a truly exquisite moment.”


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Philippines: Doctors from India · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Mongster's nest has a post that talk about Philippines planning to hire doctors from India to help offset the shortage of doctors in the country.


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Poland: “Dinner in Warsaw” Challenge Cancelled · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Polish reader of the Economist claimed it was impossible to find “a Briton who speaks fluent Polish.” Edward Lucas, the magazine's Central and East European correspondent, decided to prove him wrong: “I have challenged him to a dinner at a very expensive Warsaw restaurant, where I will produce a bunch of polonophone Brits (or other native English-speakers). We will have a neutral adjudicator. Over dinner, we will discuss in Polish a range of political, economic and cultural issues. At the end, the adjudicator will give his verdict. Depending on which way it goes, either Keller or I will pick up the tab.” Unfortunately, the challenge will not take place, and Lucas explains why in the comment section.


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Poland: History and the Present · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot writes about an unfriendlyy Auschwitz encounter between Lebanese and Israeli tourists; a 1980 opinion poll taken secretly in Poland; and the belated investigations of the alleged Communist spy priests.


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Poland: Poet Juliusz Slowacki · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Our Man in Gdansk writes about a Polish poet Juliusz Slowacki and his work called Anhelli.


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Poland: Politics and Protest · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot writes about the recent Law and Justice Party convention: “…a victory rally. Not much else, really.” He also writes about the upcoming “summer of protest”: “The Tolerance Parade, and the counter demonstration by Polish far-rights groups, have received official permission from Warsaw’s local authorities to go ahead on June 10.”


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Qatar: The Battle for Al-Jazeera Int’l · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

The first rule of journalism is that you don't miss deadlines. So far, al-Jazeera has missed at least three for the launch of its international channel, suggesting that all is not well with the Arab network's first attempt to break into the English market.
Officially, al-Jazeera International (AJI) is due to go on stream in September this year, but according to staff at the channel November or December is a more realistic prospect.


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Romania: The Annual Days of Brasov · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Romerican writes about and posts pictures of the “annual weekend of city pride”: the Days of Brasov.


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Singapore: Kampong Weddings · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Singapore's heritage blogger Lam Chun See remembers weddings in the Kampong (village) days.


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South Asia: The Immigrant Dad in the US · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Sepia Mutiny announces an online collaborative project, where readers are encouraged to send photographs of their dads who were South Asian immigrants after the 1965 Immigration Act to the US. “Remember that the main point of this is to capture through pictures what it meant to be a South Asian immigrant in the U.S. during the second wave which followed the ‘65 Immigration Act.”


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Soviet History: Stalin’s Labor Army · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

J. Otto Pohl writes about a special category of Stalin's victims: “During World War II, the Stalin regime mobilized nearly 400,000 Soviet citizens belonging to suspect nationalities into forced labor detachments. The majority of these men and women, 220,000 in total, worked in corrective labor camps under conditions almost identical to Gulag inmates. […] Unlike Gulag prisoners, forced laborers in the labor army received no trials or sentences. Their only crime consisted in being able-bodied members of nationalities declared unreliable by the Stalin regime. These nationalities included Russian-Germans, Russian-Finns, Russian-Koreans, Russian-Bulgarians, Russian-Greeks, Kalmyks and Crimean Tatars.”


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Sri Lanka: Net Neutrality and Peacebuilding · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

ICT for Peacebuilding reflects on net neutrality and what it means for peacebuilding processes.


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Taiwan: Tank man alive? · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Asiapundit‘s myrick has two key posts this week: one announcing the commencing of the 2006-2007 Asia Blog Awards contest, with the deadline for nominations set at June 16. A new category this year aims to include blogs of a more visual nature:
“Podcasts, photo and video blogs must be based on original content — which means a site such as Danwei.tv is acceptable,” the blogger writes, “but TV in Japan is not (although it is an excellent site).”
An earlier post looks at the claim from one dissident website that ‘Tank Man‘ is alive, well and in Taiwan.

author: John Kennedy


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Thailand: Insensitive Television Companies · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Andrew Biggs in Thailand is reporting that BBC and HBO has upset people in Southern Thailand after they put out posters calling for extras to play corpses.