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Bahrain: Mobile Mess?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Mobile phone woes anyone?
“It took a whole year, two phones and a good BD 200 (US 530) for me to realize that there is absolutely nothing “smart” about the so called “PDA Smart Phones”. I just dumped my Sony Ericsson m600i yesterday, exchanging it alongside my late imate KJam I had previously,”  laments Bahraini blogger Mohammed Al Maskati.


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Bangladesh: The BBC and Cricket · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

a bengali in TO doesn't take kindly to the BBC's patronizing view of Ireland and Bangladesh's entry into the World Cup Super 8 round. “The BBC has always been a patronizing old white men's club. Yes, they do deliver (mostly) fair and balanced coverage of the Middle East, but when your main comparison is the CNN, that doesn't say much. These old white men have a few set ideas and are scathing when reality begs to differ.”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Bangladesh: The Middle Class · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Salam Dhaka talks of the person in the middle. “The middle-class is where the best of the country's talent lies. Yet, they are in a very tight corner when it comes to financial options. The capital markets in Bangladesh are rigged and almost non existent.”


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Barbados: Tourism Growth or Inflation?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Free Press wonders if Barbados’ tourism industry has actually grown or whether “visitors are spending more, simply because virtually everything is costing more, so there has not been any real growth at all.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Belarus: A Roundup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

TOL's Belarus Blog covers these subjects: silly pretexts used to arrest opposition activists; the Constitution Day; Belarusian “market socialism“; some of the effects of the recent “gas war” with Russia.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Belize: Flush and Be Happy  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I always feel relieved in more ways than one when, after long travels, I once again visit a public toilet in Belize.” Simone Angel thinks all the bells and whistles of “top of the range” toilets are a symbol of progress gone mad: “Progress is not always about going faster and it's not about sanitizing the hell out of life either.”


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Brunei: Lawar – Brunein Traditional Dish · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Maurina introduces Lawar, a traditional dish in Brunei. “What is interesting about lawar is that, it does not require any conventional form of cooking, e.g. frying, boiling, sauteing, grilling. Not to say that it is eaten raw just like that. On the contrary, it is cooked, but only using the acids from the liberal amounts of lime added in the beginning.”

author: Preetam Rai


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Cambodia: Cloggers get Press · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Cloggers – a self coined name by Cambodian bloggers themselves are happy that the mainstream media has an article on them. Dee Deehas more.


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China: Animal-dropping paper · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Will blogs about the recent suggestion to turn Panda poop into wrapping paper, following Thailand's example in using elephant dropping. He drew some associations from the news.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Google Vs. Baidu · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Peoples’ Republic of blogs three pictures that tell the differences between Google and Baidu.


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DRC: Angolan troops in Kinshasa? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

While Congolese are trying to get their life back to normal, there are rumours that Angolan troops have been deployed in Kinshasa, blogger Kate Wolf reports: The have been rumours of Angolan troops in the country on and off for several months and there have now been definite sightings in Kinshasa. Apparently during the fighting the Angolan army was ready for deployed to Congo.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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East Asia: History Round up · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jonathan Dresner from Frog in a Well has written a history round up on issues such as comfort woman, Nanjing massarce, textbook, etc.


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Egypt: Arrested Activists and Bloggers Released in the Desert  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bloggers Roam the Desert
Egypt today released bloggers and other activists arrested in an anti-Mubarak rally in Cairo held the previous day in the desert, according to bloggers.
Blogger and journalist Hossam El Hamalawy, who has been closely following the developments, writes:
Police released the remaining Kefaya activists in custody today in the afternoon, after they spent their night in the Qattamiya desert, locked up in two prison trucks.
There were two prison trucks; one containing eight detainees: Ahmad Droubi, Adham el-Safti, Omar Mustafa, Ahmad Samir, Khaled Mustafa, Sherif Ragab, Mohamed Abdel Qader, Kareem el-Sha’er.
The other car, it turned out, had two activists only: Mohamed Gamal and Omar el-Hadi.
The detainees, according to a phone interview with Droubi, were not allowed to leave the car, and were given food only once at 4am. They even had to urinate inside the prison truck in empty Koshari boxes and bottles, courtsey of Mubarak’s police.
The prison trucks started cruising in the afternoon again, and dropped each detainee off in a different location out in the desert, starting from 2:40pm, according to lawyer Rajia Omran.
The arrests were made during demonstrations called for by the opposition, including the Muslim Brotherhood and Kefaya, against proposed amendments to the constitution. A referendum on the changes which would help the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) exclude opposition Islamists from the political system was also held today. The referendum, which was marred by civil unrest and clashes with the police as seen in the photograph above, saw a low turn out because of calls by the opposition for people to boycott it.
According to blogger Alaa Abdelfattah, the changes (Arabic) – “ensure the continuation of the dictatorial rule over the country, the inheritance of succession and the abolishment of judiciary monitoring of the elections.”
But what happens to activists who end up in prison in Egypt?
The following link gives us a chilling insight to life behind bars in a detention centre. There are also photographs and a video link showing the atrocious conditions detainees are subjected to when rounded up at protests.
I have noticed the following in the prison cells and the treatment with detainees:
First: The prison cells were so narrow; one of the detention cells was 3 * 4 metres and it contained 11 detainees; the other was 6 * 3 metres and it contained about 14 detainees; Ikhwanweb correspondent managed to take photos of them through his camera phone which he hid in his clothes after the security forces have arrested him.
Second: The toilets are not suitable for human use.
Third: The detainees received tough treatment from the state security: visits were banned, their lawyers were not allowed to visit them throughout the period of detention except when the detainees declared their hunger strike, the police officers allowed lawyers in cells to attempt to make them stop the hunger strike.
Fourth: Conflicting orders from State Security Police officers.
Fifth: There was no difference between Muslim Brotherhood detainees and Kifaya detainees; the regime gives of them the same maltreatment, repression and persecution, the same policy it will use towards any one opposition to the constitutional amendments.
Sixth: MB, Kifaya members were detained in this crackdown; the system did not differentiate between them.
Is Censorship the Solution?
In Egypt, many activists double as bloggers, in a bid to air their grievances about the authorities and the system. To reign in increasing dissent, Judge Abdel Fattah Mourad is hoping    to block 21 blogs and websites which are deemed as harming Egypt’s national security, defaming Egypt’s image abroad, and insulting President Hosni Mubarak.
“The Administrative Court will look into the lawsuit filed by Judge Abdel Fattah Mourad to block 21 blogs and websites, on Tuesday, 9am…PLEASE SHOW UP! THE EGYPTIAN BLOGOSPHERE NEEDS YOUR SOLIDARITY AND SUPPORT,” pleads El Hamalawy.
Photocredit: Amr Abdallah

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Egypt: Free Kareem Rallies and What Kareem Wrote  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A call has gone out for a second round of worldwide rallies to pressure the Egyptian government to free detained blogger Abdulkareem Nabeel Sulaiman, a 22-year-old former Al Azhar University student, who has been sentenced to four years in prison for articles he wrote on the Internet.
On February 22, an Alexandria court found him guilty of insulting both Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The ruling was upheld on March 12, sending shockwaves around the international blogosphere as well as calls by human rights activists for the immediate release of the jailed blogger. There were also calls for a more severe sentence to ensure that other bloggers don't follow in Kareem's footsteps. For instance, a civil claim filed by the eleven lawyers who want to fine Kareem for ‘insulting Islam’ is still pending.
Free Kareem Campaign Continues
But this will not dampen the spirits of campaigners fighting to free Kareem.
“The Free Kareem Coalition has been contacting individuals around the world who have expressed interest in holding rallies next month at Egyptian Embassies and Consulates in their country of residence.
We believe that all freedom-loving individuals need to make their voices heard with the rest of the world. The date of the worldwide demonstrations has been tentatively set to Friday, April 27, 2007.
Any form of support from you, be it your presence in the rally, promoting it, or organizing one in your area, would be a great boost to our cause to free Kareem Amer,” wrote his supporters here.
What Kareem Wrote
A lot of you may be wondering about what Kareem wrote. What is this furore all about? Kareem's articles, which have led to his ordeal, are found here. His supporters are however quick to point:
“DISCLAIMER: The creators of the Free Kareem campaign would like to stress the fact that they do not agree with the contents of this article,” regarding this article in particular.


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Egypt: Tunisian Prisoner’s Health Deteriorating · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“The health of the Tunisian prisoner of conscience Reda Boukadi is reportedly deteriorating again due to the diseases that hit him in Tunisian prisons; he should be released or moved immediately to hospital to be hospitalized before it is too late. the doctor who hurriedly examined him in Charles Nicolle hospital days ago said that he must be immediately given adequate care because his health is bad,” according to  the Cairo-based Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan) website.


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Ethiopia: political prisoner needs urgent medical care · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A petition for  political prisoner Hailu Shawel: “Petitioning the agency to pressure the government of Ethiopia–its primary regional ally in the Horn–to allow Engineer Hailu access to immediate and proper medical care is not a political demand. It is a purely human rights concern.”


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Hong Kong: Post-election analysis · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN put together various polls about Hong Kong people's evaluation of the two candidates and priority in concerned issues, and provided a detailed post-election analysis of Hong Kong politics.


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Hong Kong: Queen’s Pier · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Simon world has an update on the preservation plan of the Queen's Pier: a roadside Pier. Over the Rainbow explains the reason why Hong Kong architects insist to keep the Pier in Situ is because of the symbolism in its spatial relation with the city hall (zh).


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India: Nandigram, it could get worse · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Even as the media appears to be forgetting about Nandigram, SacredMedia Cow has a post by a journalist who says that the real carnage is yet to come. “Though the report is yet to be made public, CBI sources very clearly detail out the following – a. police did not follow the standard 5 step procedure before opening fire and they fired to kill – in almost all cases the bullets pierced the bodies around stomach & chest.”


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India: On TATA · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal provides a rap sheet for a corporate giant TATA. ” Until the onset of liberalisation, Tatas remained the undisputed king of the license-raj, covering its trail of human rights, labour and environmental violations with liberal philanthropic give-aways.”


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Iran:A few photos of several extinct and endangered animals · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Animal Science blog has published several photos and description of extinct animals in Iran such as “Iranian Lion”(Panthera Leo Persica) or Mazandaran Tiger.There are also photos of endagered animals such as Cheetahs and Euracian lynx.The blogger says urbanism and mismanagment can add endangered animals on the list of extinct animals.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Sanctions and reactions · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kamangir informs us about a piece titled “ten points about Resolution 1747 ” published on Alef,a right-wing site.According to this piece:”While it had no effect on this resolution it might be effective in the future. Although, the pressure has not had any effect on the daily life of Iranians, and on the economy of Iran, if the West goes further than this and the sanctions start affecting Iran, then many people in Iran would start asking if we are paying the price of owning a nuclear bomb, why not really posses it and benefit from it.”


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Iraq: Debaathification?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Ibn_Alrafidain lets us in on his take on the debaathification of Iraq here.
“The US administration and its Iraqi allies seem to have dissimilar approaches to the de-baathification law. The Americans want to go much further than the Iraqis in easing rules barring former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party from government service,” he writes.


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Iraq: Homes Destroyed  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Lady Bird links to a video allegedly claiming that US forces demolished Iraqi homes here.
“Last Friday US occupation forces destroyed civilians houses in Raghba-Katoon -Ahdamiya neighborhood. I bet houses owners if they fought against the occupation forces they will called terrorists,” she writes.


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Jordan: Iraqi Refugees  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Konfused Kid, who lives in Jordan, shares with us a day of his life here. He also shows us how Iraqi refugees are faring in nearby Jordan.


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Kazakhstan: Kondopoga Trace · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia's Adam reports on an apparent outbreak of ethnic violence in Kazakhstan between Kazakhs and Chechens, a country that likes to pride itself on ethnic and religious harmony.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Lebanon: Spring, Art and Dilemmas  · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

In Lebanon spring officially begins on March 21. This is why March 21st is celebrated as Mother’s Day here. Bloggers tend to post more about love, nature and sunshine, reflecting the general upbeat mood. Even the political post tend to be plans, strategies or analysis about how to make things better. I have collected a sample of both in this round up and as usual, this is just a sample. There is a lot more out there, but space and time do not permit to list them all.
Let’s begin with bloggers who posted photos of their trips to South Lebanon:
McDara posts this photo article about his visit to South Lebanon. One of his photographs is seen above. Adiamondinsunlight also took a trip to the South and came back with some photos which she posted on her blog.
Reflecting the general mood of spring and its effect, Adiamondinsunlight brings up the topic of skirts when she states:
Spring is in the air in Lebanon, and my heart is filled with anticipation at the sartorial joys of the season. During the warm weather months, I dress almost exclusively in skirts. I love their clean lines and the way they hang – and, of course, the way they swish-swish-swish when I walk.
Here, I also love wearing skirts because they remind of yet another treasured date conversation.
And so did Mirvat in this post when she links spring and love:
As the golden rays tenderly reinvade our days. As the shy Spring springs the first promise of summer and heat and fun, everyone around me seems to be falling in love. I am falling in love too.
Enough with the spring love already. Let's move on to art. Here Ibn Bint Jbeil takes us, in one post, through a step-by-step guide on how to reach the design below of which he says:
Arabic Design is about harmony, unity, perpetuity. It is, as my late professor Dr. Gordon Bugbee would say, “A Unity that is Subdivided.” Yet it is also about a certain innate, naturalist beauty that is ironically communicated through a delicate, measured geometric aesthetic.
If you are into some lengthy articles about some serious stuff then you may visit Marxist From Lebanon who is investigating the Lebanese ethnic dilemma.
While Angry Anarchist is investigating Zionism’s Socialist dilemma.
What is the relationship between Asterix, the Lebanese and their politicians? Abu Ali has an answer:
The Asterix analogy persists to this day in the minds of many Lebanese. But they don’t see Lebanon as the village holding out against the Arabs anymore (many never did anyway), it is their sects that are besieged and holding out against …the other sects. Each sect has its own sets of heroes: for many Maronites, Samir Geagea is the reincarnation of Asterix the honorable freedom fighter, and Patriarch Sfeir is definitely the wise druid Getafix. For many Shi’a, both Asterix and Obelix fused into the persona of Hasan Nasrallah during the July 2006 war (that’s why he wears large flowing black robes), although after his press conference of March 20, Nabih Berri may soon be making claims to the title of the Shi’a Asterix.
This is all this week. See you next week and happy spring.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Malaysia: Saving Native Languages · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Jewelle is happy that her native language is being made an examination subject. The blogger feels that this would help save the language from extinction. “So I totally laud this new policy as I think this language is fast disappearing as more and more Sabahan parents do tend to speak other common language like English, Malay and Chinese.”


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Mozambique: Blasts Kill Dozens in Maputo · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

Mozambique's capital Maputo is mourning the victims of a tragedy that could have been prevented, local bloggers say. Dozens were killed instantly when a series of bombs, mines and rounds of ammunition in the country's largest arms depot exploded late Thursday and descended on nearby poor neighborhoods, triggering fires and causing residents to flee in panic. Several hundred people were injured when shells and shrapnel were thrown into the air, as the initial blasts caused further detonations, in what can be considered the country's worst man made disaster outside a war zone . Officials blamed the high summer temperatures for the explosions, but bloggers are not happy with the explanation and want to elucidate the possible occurrence of negligence by the military. Citizens don't seem to trust the media to find out the thruth about the tragedy.
As explosões ocorridas quinta-feira num paiol em Maputo fizeram 96 mortos e mais de 400 feridos, segundo um balanço feito hoje pela Associação de Imprensa sul-africana. A cidade da Matola, a 12 quilómetros de Maputo, também foi atingida, registando-se oito mortos e dezenas de casas destruídas. Já está criada uma comissão de inquérito independente para apurar as causas dos rebentamentos. A comissão deverá apresentar conclusões dentro de duas semanas. Cerca de 20 toneladas de equipamento militar estariam armazenadas no paiol quando se deram as explosões. As chamas atingiram as zonas residenciais em redor e os rebentamentos destruíram várias casas. A população responsabiliza o Governo pelo desastre. Já em Janeiro tinha explodido outro paiol com armamento antigo.
Explosões do paiol em Maputo atingiram também a cidade da Matola – Moçambique para todos
Neste sábado, dia 25 de Março, fizemos uma pequena ronda pelos bairros da capital moçambicana, cidade de Maputo, locais que foram mais atingidos pela explosão no maior depósito de munições em Moçambique – paiol de Malhazine. Pelas últimas informações, a explosão provocou cerca de 100 mortes e mais de 450 feridos (19 pessoas faleceram nos cuidados intensivos do Hospital Central de Maputo, noticiou a televisão pública moçambicana TVM). Em resultado da explosão também foi atingido o Hospital Psiquiátrico de Infulene e várias fábricas, armazens, locais de culto e residências, situados na zona do impacto. A televisão portuguesa, RTP, surpreendeu ontem pela negativa, pois no telejornal de 20h00 (hora portuguesa) não foi dito absolutamente nada sobre a situação em Maputo, com destaques para a universidade Moderna, FCP, DR Congo, Iraque, futebol, enfim, tudo menos situação no “país irmão”. E depois ainda vão falar do “relacionamento especial com a África lusófona”…
Explosão em Maputo – Ucrânia em África
Foi preciso telefonar para lá para ficar a saber a dimensão dantesca da tragédia. O horror e o medo. A angústia de se saber, e aos seus, e aos seus meninos, abandonado ao destino e tudo o que se pode fazer é manter as crianças em casa e longe das janelas enquanto os projécteis voam, os cadáveres se semeiam, os destroços se acumulam, as explosões continuam. É como se estivéssemos no Iraque. (In)compreensível a (in)sensibilidade com que o (não) assunto foi tratado nos media* portugueses. Inaceitável.
Medo, Morte e Destruição em Maputo – Lida Insana
While soldiers are still going through the neighborhoods near the depot to collect the munitions that had not exploded, the government declared three days of mourning and set up a commission of inquiry into the accident. The 20 tons of obsolete arms and munitions dating from the country's civil war, from 1976 to 1992, had been stockpiled in a depot set to be destroyed, and it was the second time in less than two months that the aging explosives in the arsenal have detonated. Bloggers want to know what made the military wait so long to take action and prevent the tragedy.
Mesmo que não tenha havido intenção, este caso mostra que os militares devem ser devidamente motivados a serem cuidadosos, rigorosos e inflexíveis com os seus materiais, e todos os aspectos da segurança. São coisas de tal maneira sensíveis e perigosas que não toleram desleixos. É mais um aspecto que deve levar os governantes a não os tratar como vulgares funcionários públicos. Têm especificidades que devem ser tidas em consideração e que devem ser devidamente compensadas, pois não estamos em época histórica que tolere a escravatura. A cada um segundo o seu esforço, sacrifício e restrições de direitos, liberdades e garantias.
Os militares e as especificidades de suas missões –  Do Mirante
O que a Renamo nunca conseguiu, nos 16 anos de guerra, conseguiu-o o Ministério da Defesa sem precisar de ter nenhum inimigo pela frente. Com a agravante de terem sido destruidas as linhas de transporte de energia para as províncias de Gaza e Inhambane, que ficaram totalmente às escuras. Porque o que aconteceu em Maputo não foi uma catástrfe natural, imprevisivel. O que aconteceu em Maputo já rinha acontecido antes, quer em Maputo quer na Beira. Tinha acontecido, em nível muito menor, em Maputo há menos de dois meses. E, para além do paleio do costume, ninguém tinha feito nada, o que resultou nesta gigantesca roleta russa em que os projecteis levantavam voo, descontrolados, sem ninguém saber onde iriam parar. E sabendo, pela boca do Ministro da Defesa, que poderiam atingir qualquer lugar num raio de 30 quilómetros. No Jornal da Manhã, da Rádio Moçambique de 23 de Março, ouvi, estarrecido, o mesmo Ministro a dizer que todo aquele material homicida estava ao ar livre, ao Sol e à chuva.
Guerra contra o povo – Idéias para Debate
Segundo o Ministério da Defesa as explosões verificaram-se devido a deficiências eléctricas, mais precisamente, devido a um curto-circuito. Ora de acordo com informações que obtive de Maputo no local não há energia eléctrica. Mais grave ainda, é o facto deste paiol estar quase em situação de quase total ostracismo desde a retirada do exército colonial, mantendo-se lá, material deste período e material obsoleto da época em que a Frelimo tinha o seu exército. A ser verdade esta constatação é uma grave incúria.
Paiol de Maputo volta a explodir – Pululu
Moçambique já tem um escol considerável de juventude que sabe fazer contas, lê jornais e acede à Internet. Além de que o povo mais humilde, mas nem sempre idiota, vai percebendo melhor os meandros escuros do poder e fazendo algumas contas de cabeça. De cabeça, mas contas. Por isso, Guebuza tem de aplicar alguns dos ensinamentos que supostamente terá colhido dos seus colonizadores. Mandar abrir um rigoroso inquérito e deixar ficar tudo na mesma. Ou mandar abrir um rigoroso inquérito, realmente descobrir o que se passou e explicar como é que morrem mais de cem pessoas porque estava muito calor e um curto-circuito não sei quê…
Pum – Espumadamente
Mozambicans are still counting the casualties, and it seems that Lusophone bloggers will follow closely the reports, the inquiries and the coverage presented by the media on the developments in Maputo's arms depot blasts. On the other side of the network, new kinds of audiences are being formed.
A tragédia já ocorreu, agora é a altura das estatísticas. Quantos mortos, quantos funerais, quantas brigadas da Frelimo no terreno, quantos kits de comida a distribuir amanhã, quantas crianças desaparecidas. Através da Rádio Moçambique, a directora clínica do Hospital Central de Maputo, por exemplo, afirmou há momentos que agora são 101 mortos. Um funcionário sénior do Estado afirmou que devem estar ainda desaparecidas 200 crianças. Temos, agora, a era do fait divers, do espectáculo, dos números, do amortecimento.
Estatísticas, fait divers, espectáculo – Diário de Um Sociólogo
We certainly live in an age of information overload, and with so much access it is interesting to note what things we do pay attention to and whose cries we have ears to hear. We have all heard the recent cries of Britney Spears (if you shop at a grocery store you have not been able to escape them), but how many of us have heard those of our brothers and sisters in Kinshasa or Mozambique?
Ears to Hear – The Margins
A last search on the Blogosphere brought some footage of the blasts, and an indication of a Google Earth link to a better visualization of the place.
Veja o paiol de Malhazine pelo Google Earth, com o zoom pode verificar a existência de dois pavilhões (chamemos-lhes assim) que desapareceram. É crível que vários outros armazéns ainda existam.
Paiol de Malhazine pelo Google Earth –  Diário de um sociólogo

author: Jose Murilo


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Oman: Copyright Law · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Today, the local newspapers carried an advertisement from the Ministry of Telecommunications prohibiting the use of counterfeit or pirated material including computer programs that are either sold, lent, given, shared, or otherwise,” writes Omani blogger Sleepless in Oman.
“Given the seriousness of this issue in the current time and stage that we all now live in, and being a child of the 21st century technological revolution. It seems quite disappointing that the Ministry in name has started its said ‘war against piracy’ now without giving the consumers that do have such programs in their systems an alternative,” he adds.


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Pakistan: Back in 1959 · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Light Within has a wonderful collection of advertisements from a 1959 publication. “I own a copy of Pakistan Railway's time table published in November of 1959. Besides train timings, it has a section of advertisements which is a great glimpse into our national past. I've selected following 8 advertisements from this publication.”


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Panama: Taxis · Global Voices
David Sasaki

“It occurred to me that for people like Carlos, assuming the worst about strangers is one of life’s great little pleasures. A pleasure which can transform something as boring and mundane as a taxi ride, into something dangerous and risky and rash,” writes Matt Landau in his meditation on “Taxis in Panama.”

author: David Sasaki


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Romania: Internet Use Stats · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Information Policy reports on Romania's Internet use statistics.


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Russia: Blood Tests, Work Permits · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Turkish Invasion reports on the blood tests one is required to undergo to be allowed to work in Russia.


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Russia: Deportation of Kalmyks · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

J. Otto Pohl posts a note on the deportation of the Kalmyks 63 years ago.


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Russia, Georgia: On Beggars · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Darkness at Noon (Moscow-based) and Music and Life – Everywhere! (currently, in Tbilisi) reflect on street beggars and ways of dealing with them.


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Russia: Higher Education Crisis · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow writes in-depth on the troubles facing Russia's universities.


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Russia: Spring in Moscow · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Two-Zero captures a typical early-spring scene in Moscow.


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Russia: User Guide · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

This has been an eventful weekend, rally-wise.
In Minsk, Belarus, water cannons had to be used against several thousand citizens opposed to Aleksandr Lukashenko‘s regime. In Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia, it took some 20,000 police and military personnel to prevent yet another “Dissenters’ March” from happening. In Moscow, however, 3,000 riot police were called to guard 15,000 pro-Kremlin Nashi members during their celebration of Vladimir Putin's seventh year as Russia's president.
Gallery owner Marat Guelman (LJ user galerist) got hold of Nashi booklet – and here's what he thinks of it (RUS):
[…] I felt somewhat jealous of [Eduard Limonov]. To have such determined propagandists [as Nashi are] costs a lot.
In general, Nashi can be considered the founders of a new genre. The booklet resembles a brief user guide. For an extremely simple device (something like a hammer). Just a few words, but repeated on every page:
fascists: hitler and limonov
traitors: [Andrei Vlasov, a Soviet Army General who cooperated with Nazi Germany during WWII] and [Mikhail Kasyanov, Russia's PM from 2000 to 2004, who is currently Garry Kasparov's close ally]
enemies: america and the liberals
victims: saddam hussein and the russian people
friends: Putin and Putin tomorrow


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Thailand: Farang Beggars in Bangkok · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Metroblogging Bangkok points to a video interview with a professional foreign beggar in Bangkok. “You know those farang who sit on the overpasses with signs begging for Baht to help them buy a plane ticket or something? They usually look like backpackers, and honestly they usually make me pretty sick. I guess more and more of them have been popping up lately, and this video is of an interview with one in Gaysorn. He makes 1,000B a day, meaning, 30,000B a month.”. Farang refers to a person from the west.


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The Balkans: War Criminals Abroad · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Neretva River writes about five war criminals living abroad; Bosnia Vault writes about the one who had just been spared extradition by a British judge: “How much time needs to pass before a crime is no longer worthy of being dealt with in a court of law? In other words, how much time must pass before an alleged crime ceases to be a crime?”


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Jamaica: Leonie Forbes for Award of Excellence  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Ms. Forbes has been an inspiration to actors and artists all over the world… especially black actresses and people of Caribbean decent.”  Caribbean Beat Blog  is thrilled that West Indian actor Leonie Forbes will be honoured with an Award of Excellence at this year's ReelWorld Film Festival in Toronto.


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Tunisphere: March 20, Mayans and Arabs. · Global Voices
samsoum

March 20 is normally the day when my fellow citizens celebrate our independence day (3/20/1956).
But it also happens to be the celebration of the fourth year of Iraq invasion by the US and its allies and that was reflected on some Tunisian blogs like Temeraire in his post “March 20th, colonization and independence”  where he reminds us that our independence day is to be remembered forever also as the horrible date of Iraq colonization by the “American empire”.
“Tank-borne democracy” has resulted in horrific figures in terms of the number of bombs, deaths and the mistreatment and torture so carelessly meted out. Today there is no hope whatsoever that peace will return to the land of the Tigris and Euphrates.
Alluding to the lack of freedom, Stupeur wrote a very subtle post “51%: We lost the opportunity to have an opportunity”
Oh yeah, we've lost the chance to have a chance!
On this day, March 20, the board met and announced that repression
would be the majority shareholder in our company!
A shareholder of great financial, ideological and socio-cultural
importance.
He is capable of buying even more shares at the expense of other
shareholders.
A consuming company where the large eat the small.
BigTrapBoy, a very popular and smart blogger (my favorite actually), wrote about the movie “Apocalypto” and made a very pertinent comparison between the Mayas and the Arabs.
“A great civilisation is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.”
Will Durant.
Ce sera ma pensée du jour. A méditer, non?
Pour ce qui est du film, l'histoire se passe à l'époque de la civilisation Maya en Amérique du sud, mais il est clair que Mel Gibson a voulu faire le parallèle avec ce qui se passe dans le monde de nos jours. Les peuples arabes seront-ils les prochains Mayas? La question peut se poser.
I just saw “Apocalypto” again, the last film by Mel Gibson which I
liked alot. I'd like to recommend it to you and moreover cite the
quotation which appears at the beginning of the film, a quotation
full of truth:
“A great civilisation is not conquered from without until it has
destroyed itself from within.”
Will Durant.
That's my “thought of the day”. Something to think about, no?
With regard to the film itself, the story takes place at the time of
the Mayan civilisation in South America, but it's clear that Mel
Gibson wished to draw parallels with what it going on in the world
today. Are the Arabs the Mayans of today, one might ask?

author: samsoum


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Uganda: 2006 Best of Blog Awards  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Jackfruity announces the winners of the 2006 Uganda Best of Blog Awards: The goal of the 2006 Uganda Best of Blog Awards was to recognize the incredible writing and art in this community, and all of our nominees are certainly emblematic of the talent that exists in the Ugandan blogosphere. Congratulations to the winners! I look forward to seeing everyone continue to express themselves through word, art, design and photography over the next year.


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Armenia: Consultations & Mourning · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian reports on public mourning of Armenia's recently deceased prime minister and the political uncertainty that has followed his death.


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Armenia: Something Smells Fishy · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

At the Armenian Socialist-Libertarian Movement blog, Sasuntsi Anarchist says that the timing of the Armenian prime minister's death is suspicious.


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Bahrain: Constitutional Court Works  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif admits that the Constitutional Court in his country works, after the court issued a decision negating the constitutionality of a Law by Decree which dealt with the appropriation of land by the government for “public interest”.


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Bangladesh: 1971, as I saw it · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Shahidul Alam, a photographer talks about “1971, as I saw it”, an exhibition of photographs taken as Bangladesh declared independence. “Today, those photographs join them in protest. Peering through the crisp pages of the newly printed history books, they remind us, “No, that wasn’t the way it was. I know. I bear witness.””


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Bangladesh: Perils of Tourism · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Unheard Voices points to the experience of tourism in other countries and warns of similar consequences in Bangladesh. “I fear Bangladesh faces similar fate like the neighboring countries as tourism develops there unless measures are in place to deter child sex trade catered to foreign tourists. Based on a report by Global March, there are already about 20 thousand children involved in street prostitution in Bangladesh though I suspect the actual number being much higher.”


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Bolivia: Bolivian Television’s Watchdog · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Blogs in Bolivia have yet to achieve the level of being a primary source of information to compete with other forms of communication.  Television continues to dominate the manner in which citizens get their news and where they follow current events.  A blog called La TeVelisión [ES], written by Rodrigo Serrate aims, as his tagline states, “for a better television that we all deserve.” His criticisms and observations about the state of Bolivian television leaves neither side of the political spectrum off the hook.
Serrate wrote a follow-up post regarding an issue that caused great concern among many bloggers.  In an earlier Global Voices Online article, bloggers were not pleased with a decision made by the state-run television channel to change is traditional tri-color logo that represented the Bolivian flag.  In its place was a logo that closely resembled the whipala flag that, which many complained, did not represent the entire country.  Serrate soon discovered that the channel had backpedaled and introduced a new logo that went back to the three colors of the Bolivian flag.  He applauded this decision, although laments the fact that all of the sets, microphones and other items with the old logo had to be replaced yet again.
In his most recent post, Serrate took some screenshots from the news broadcast of the television channel Sitel.  In a story about some of President Morales’ recent controversies of corruption within his party, the news channel accompanied the story with caricature drawings of an angry Morales. He wrote that the host would say, “this is how our President Evo Morales Ayma looks after these cases of corruption…”  His article titled “This is News?” emphasizes that this is no way for a serious news channel to operate.
Tanta gente que egresa como periodista y se muere de hambre por no conseguir trabajo en un medio de comunicación, especialmente en television, ya es hora que a los ineficientes se los bote y se de oportunidad a nueva gente llena de ideas y mejor preparación.
En caso de Sitel, a todo el mediocre equipo de prensa le hace falta una limpieza y por supuesto, al propietario algo mas de conciencia.
There are too many graduates with degrees in journalism that are struggling to find jobs in the media, especially in television.  It’s time to get rid of the inefficient people and make way for new people with a lot of ideas and better training.  In the case of Sitel, the entire mediocre news team should be wiped clean, and the owner should become more conscientious of the work.
On the larger screen, Luis Rodríguez of Diseccionando a la Musa Perdida [ES] provides his own analysis of the most recent Bolivian movie called Los Andes No Creen En Dios (The Andes Don’t Believe in God) set in the early 20th century.  Even though the production, and in particular the sound quality, were of high quality, Rodriguez left the theater with a bad taste in his mouth, as his major gripe had to do with the script and the actors.
O una supuesta cholita que se expresaba igual que las actrices de Televisa. No es que tenga algo en contra de esa mega productora de novelas, sino que la actriz encargada de representar a una cholita encarnó a la típica, cruel y malvada, madrastra que lucha por la fortuna del moribundo marido, y que no sabe más que responder a gritos con un tono de voz a la defensiva. Y pasó eso durante toda la película. Las cholitas no hablan ni gesticulan así, tampoco creo que vean muchas telenovelas. Al menos no en la década del veinte
A supposed cholita (indigenous woman) expressed herself in the same way as the Televisa actresses.  It is not that I have anything against those mega productions of soap operas, but the actress playing a cholita resembled the typical, cruel, and evil stepmother that chases after the husband’s fortunes, and who doesn’t know how else to respond except with yelling in a defensive tone of voice.  This happened during the entire film.  The cholitas do not talk like that or make gestures like that, and I don’t think they watch too many soap operas either, especially during the decade of the 1920s.
This time, last year:
Miguel Esquirol of El Forastero, guest wrote an article about the great “Charango Controversy,” in which many Bolivians were upset when Chilean President Michelle Bachelet presented U2 singer, Bono, with a charango as a native Chilean instrument.  Many identify this instrument as typical Bolivian.  In addition, this controversy was soon overshadowed by a strange and tragic bombing in La Paz, in which the bomber proved to have an odd background that many bloggers wrote about.

author: Eduardo Avila


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China: 500 days · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

In less than 500 days, Beijing Olympic will begin. Wang Xiaofeng has some wild thoughts (zh) about the Beijing city: 1. half of the population will leave the city to give space to foreigners; 2. the city will become very clean with a mixture of real and plastic flowers; 3. no more traffic jam; 4. people will become polite… 7. the sky of Beijing will turn blue; 8. audiences will cheer for both teams; 9. crime rate drops to zero; 10. all sport news, no more social news.


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Colombia: Garcia Marquez Honoured · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Author Gabriel Garcia Marquez and his “extraordinary literary career” were the toast of the fourth Congress of the Spanish Language held in Colombia.  The Latin Americanist gives details.


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Cuba: US Top Food Source?   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Child of the Revolution links to an Associated Press article that cites the United States as Cuba's top food source, despite the US trade embargo on the island.


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East Timor: Want a Native First Lady · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Republika Banana wants Francisco Guterres “Lu Olo” to win the upcoming presidential elections in East Timor as the blogger wants a native first lady. The other candidates either have foreign wives or are unmarried. One of the other candidate has a East Timorese wife but she has not lived long in East Timor.


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Ecuador: Photo of Blogger Meetup · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Get to know the faces of Ecuadorean bloggers with this hyperlink captioned photo from the last “Blogs&Beers” in Quito.


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Egypt: 300 Review  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Blogger Issandr El Amarani watched the movie 300 and gives us his thoughts about it here.


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Egypt: Anti-Mubarak Demo in DC  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Nora Younis, who is based in Washington DC, US, reports on a rally she helped organise in DC to protest against the constitutional amendments in Egypt. “We met with Mr. Wael Aboulmagd, Deputy chief of Mission..Mr. Wael said expressing our concerns and debating the amendments was very healthy. When I told him its a shame this can only happen in USA while fellows who were doing it in Egypt last night were kidnapped and beaten by security agents; he said ‘you don’t expect Egypt to change overnight. It will take more time for Security apparatus to change mentality’,” she wrote.


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Egypt Hacked on Wikipedia  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia draws attention to some foul play on Egypt's entry on Wikipedia. “I don't know who did (it) but this is rudeness,” she writes.


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Egypt: HRW Slams Egypt · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian-based blogger Issandr El Amarani links to an article in which Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticises Egypt for its heavy-handedness in dealing with protesters demonstrating against amendments to the constitution. The changes, said HRW, “effectively remove basic protections against violations of Egyptians’ rights to privacy, individual freedom, security of person and home and due process.”


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France: Line Crossed in the Hunt for Immigrants · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

(photo via broyez)
Here is a sombering follow-up to the post regarding the hunt for illegal immigrants and their following arrests in France. It seems that things have gotten worst in a hurry with the French presidential elections fast-approaching. Series of sudden arrests prompted many French people to take action and protest against what they perceive as being unjust treatments. Here are some of those stories as reported by the French Association RESF (Reseau Sans Forntieres Education, which combat the expelling of children schooled in France ) in an official press release:
“Paris, le 20 mars 2007
Répression et chasse aux étrangers : un pas a été franchi.
Hier et ce soir, des incidents graves se sont produits lors de rafles
effectuées dans nos quartiers à Paris.
Lundi 19 mars en fin de journée, nous avons assisté, révoltés, à une
tentative d'arrestation devant l'école maternelle Rampal d'une dame venue
chercher une petite fille à la  sortie de l'école.
Malgré l'intervention des parents présents, et celle d'enseignants, les
policiers ont fouillé et interrogé cette femme, prenant de haut les
protestations, devant les enfants et  parents traumatisés. Ils l'ont ensuite
emmené pour une destination qu'ils n'ont pas voulu préciser, laissant la
petite fille désemparée…
Suivis et à nouveau “interpellés” par des parents de façon véhémente, les
forces de l'ordre ont fini par relâcher leur proie plutôt que de provoquer
une émeute. Cet incident  a eu lieu lors d'une énième rafle dans le quartier
de Belleville.
Ce soir, mardi 20 mars, au même endroit, après plusieurs allers-retours dans
le quartier, les policiers ont finalement assiégé un café (situé à l'angle
de 4 écoles, les écoles  Lasalle et Rampal), et y arrêtant, notamment, un
grand-père de 2 enfants scolarisés aux écoles Piver et 77, bld de
Belleville.
Après l'avoir maintenu dans le café pendant plus d'une heure, la police
décidait d'embarquer ce grand-père juste avant la sortie d'école de 18h. Les
parents d'élèves, des  enseignants, les militants de RESF et les habitants
du quartier tentaient d'intervenir. La réaction des policiers fut immédiate
: ils cherchaient violemment à disperser la  mobilisation, n'hésitant pas
utiliser la violence physique et un peu plus tard à asperger la rue de gaz
lacrymogène. Les parents présents aux sorties d'écoles, avec leurs  enfants
et leurs poussettes, atteints par les puissants gaz lacrymogènes, se
réfugiaient dans l'école élémentaire Lasalle pour fuir cette scène
particulièrement traumatisante.
Le grand-père a finalement été emmené dans un commissariat du 2ème
arrondissement.
Quelque temps après, les rafles se poursuivaient à Goncourt et à la rotonde
de Stalingrad.
Non contents d'augmenter la cadence des contrôles au faciès, parfois en
dehors de tout cadre judiciaire, les fonctionnaires de police ont donc
choisi cette fois de violer le  dernier refuge des valeurs de la République,
à savoir l'école.
Le Préfet de Police de Paris aurait tort de sous-estimer la colère
grandissante que provoquent ces procédés iniques et circonstanciels dans les
quartiers dits “populaires”. La  peur cède peu à peu à la détermination d'y
mettre fin, on l'a vu ce soir.
Nous partageons cette détermination. Le procédé de rafle est en lui-même
odieux parce qu'il bafoue l'ensemble des droits fondamentaux des personnes
humaines. Et  doublement insupportable quand les institutions de la
République sont elles-mêmes visées.
Nous rappelons aussi les garanties données à RESF à deux reprises pendant
l'été 2006 (le 5 juillet et le 27 juillet) par la Préfecture de Police :
qu'il n'y aurait pas  d'interpellations dans et aux abords des
établissements scolaires.
Désormais, devons-nous tenir pour caducs ces engagements ?”
Blog de primtemps  also reports other exactions by the police involving arrests and deaths of various people from Guinee, Sri Lanka, Chad and Cameroon and ask when will the madness stop ?:
“Qui s’intéresse au sort des sans-papiers en France n’arrive plus à suivre. Les informations tombent, l’une après l’autre à une cadence inégalée. Toujours plus loin dans la violence et dans l’humiliation, toujours plus bas dans l’échelle des droits humains.
Extraits.
« Lille – Jeudi 15 mars – Un jeune Guinéen, étudiant en physique-chimie, est emmené au poste parce qu'il n'a pas ses papiers sur lui. Il en ressort le lendemain porté par ses amis, marchant avec difficultés, des empreintes de chaussures au dos de son tee-shirt blanc et, sur le devant, des traînées de sang mêlées de salive…”
Plus près de chez nous :
Mardi 20 mars, à Lournand, petit village de Saône-et-Loire. Une jeune camerounaise, conjointe d’un français, est arrêtée, tandis que son mari et le maire du village se rendent à une convocation en gendarmerie. La jeune femme est envoyée en centre de rétention, pour être expulsée, sans que son mari ne puisse la revoir »
Au-delà de ces actions de répression, les expulsions conduisent parfois au pire :
– Issa, jeune tchadien expulsé le 6 mars 2007 est retenu dans un commissariat de N’Djamena depuis sa descente d’avion. Il a subi un interrogatoire « musclé » ; les dernières nouvelles datent du 13 mars : il était très affaibli et privé de nourriture. Il n’a plus donné de nouvelles depuis lors…
– Elanchelvan Rajendram – 30 ans – a été expulsé vers le Sri Lanka en août 2005 ; il a été exécuté chez lui ce 28 février par l’armée sri-lankaise » lien
Depuis l’affaire d’Outreau, la responsabilité des magistrats est devenue une question récurrente. Les ministres, préfets, magistrats… impliqués dans ces affaires devront-ils s'expliquer et assumer leurs propres responsabilités ?

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Guyana: Cricket Venues Ready?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

With the South Africa vs. Sri Lanka World Cup Cricket match due to take place in Guyana tomorrow, Living Guyana refers to “a strongly worded e-mail” by the World Cup's senior legal counsel about Guyana's “failure to proceed satisfactorily or effectively” in relation to the Host Venue Agreement.


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Honduras: World Water Day · Global Voices
David Sasaki

“March 22, 2007 was World Water Day. And guess what? Sunday we had no water! How ironic. Or how prescient.” So begins La Gringa's reflections on water resources in rural Honduras.


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India: Qualitative Research and Blogs · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Conversations with Dina discusses if blogs will kill focus groups in qualitative research. “Because blog conversations are viral on the other hand, and often there is no way of ‘checking’ back on the demographics. Its difficult for an ‘outsider’ (read marketer who isn't into blogging) to trust this conversation then, although some smart marketers believe, “bloggers’ unsolicited opinions and offhand comments are a source of invaluable insights that are hard to get elsewhere”.”


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Iraq: What Arab Leaders Should Say · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Lady Bird claims that the US dictates on Arab leaders what to say in their closing communique released at the end of their Summits.


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Jamaica: TriniJam Biz Club?   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“After the doubles and jerk-chicken are over, and the reggae and soca music has stopped, and the wining and dubbing is finished… what else would happen?” asks Fwade at Chronicles from a Caribbean Cubicle, who has a vision for a Trinidad/Jamaica Business Club.


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Japan: Apology Problem · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Did or didn't Abe apologize for Japan’s wartime use of sex slaves? Oftenover from Japundit comments on the news about Prime Minister Abe's recent apology on sex slaves issue.


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Japan: Mask Idol · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lee from Tokyo Times blogs about Japan fashion and fetishism by refering to the recent “Mask Idol”.


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Jordan: Iraqi Blogger Back Home · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordan-based Iraqi blogger Confused Iraqi Kid, who ran away from home after a scuffle with his father yesterday and endured the night sleeping on the floor in an Internet cafe, is back home.


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Kazakhstan: Green Cover · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Ben Paarmann says that the Kazakhstani government's newfound interest in stricter environmental regulation of the energy sector may all be a way for them to justify not meeting stated production goals.


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Kazakhstan: Serbia Defeated · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

At neweurasia, Leila reports on Kazakhstan's upset win over Serbia in Group A of the Euro 2008 qualifiers. This is Kazakhstan's first victory in a competitive match and second victory overall since joining the Union of European Football Associations in 2002.


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Korea and Japan: Sex Trade · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Robert Koehler from Marmot's Hole reports that: There are currently an estimated 40,000-60,000 Koreans illegally residing in Japan. Of these, 30,000 are believed to be working in the sex trade. And the number of Korean men in Japanese host-bar is increasing rapidly.


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Martinique: Owing De Beauvoir · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Says Blog de Moi[Fr]: “I am not sure that young women of today are fully aware of what they owe an author such as Simone de Beauvoir and to feminism in general given how hard some of them work to distance themselves from it.”

author: Alice Backer


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Mauritania: Successful Election · Global Voices
Alice Backer

The CRIDEM blog points to a press release by Ould Maouloud stating [Fr}: “The March 25, 2007 election happened in good conditions marked by transparency, civic duty, responsibility and serenity. The Mauritanian people and its democracy are only better for it… In this occasion, I want to pay homage to the 48% if Mauritanians who have … voted for really change.”


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Mozambique: mourning after bomb blasts · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Green Chicken Diaries writes about the recent bomb explosions in Maputo, “Officially, 101 people are dead (at least that was the number of bodies delivered to the morgue so far). The city of Maputo is providing coffins for the funerals which started on Sunday. Searchers are also trying to hurry with body recovery in the destroyed neighborhoods because the high temperatures we've been having the past few days are speeding up decomposition (which will make it harder to identify remains). More than 100 children are reported missing according to the allafrica.com news. That number hides the fact that other children are among the dead and injured.”


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Nepal: Gaur Massacre · Global Voices
Paramendra

The unthinkable happened on March 21 in Gaur in the central Terai plains. Two political groups clashed, and violence followed. 29 were dead, more than 40 injured. This incident has shaken Nepal.
Democracy For Nepal condemns the violence but it also takes the Maoists to task for disrupting the MPRF mass meetings earlier in Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj. They have issued a a press statement alongside ANTA, Association of Nepali Teraian in America. DFN concludes by saying Best Option For All: Elections In June.
The Terai now has half of all elected seats, after the Gaur incident the Home Minister's resignation issue has switched to becoming a Maoist issue and is no longer a MPRF issue, and Om Gurung's recent hostile interview to Kantipur shows there really is no Madhesi Janajati alliance, so sticking to the completely proportional elections to the constituent assembly for the sake of the Janajatis is no longer valid for the Madhesi Movement.
United We Blog has published an interview with a human rights activists that claims professional criminals were involved in the killings. A Bihar nexus is suggested. The post has photographs of shrouded bodies and links to youtube videos.
Maoists say they didn’t start the Gaur fighting (and a team of human rights activists have concluded that the massacre was perpetrated by the professional criminals), they didn’t fire bullets. Instead, Maoists are demanding that the government should take action against the attackers. Expressing the commitment to the peace process Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, the second in command in the Maoist party, said that such incident would not obstruct the peace process.
INSN has a news update. Madhesi – United We Stand has plentiful coverage.
Nepal – Lessons from Gaur Incident
Over the last several months, these YCL cadres are employed to occupy the houses of various so called landlords and royalists who are blacklisted by the Maoists party, kidnapping the people, forcefully collecting the donations, extorting money, vandalizing the opponents and most importantly confronting with other political parties. Their main targets various Madhesi organizations that are raising their voice for Madheshi freedom.
Nepali Perspectives says US ambassador Moriarty has been proven right that the Maoists have not transformed much.

author: Paramendra


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Peru: Football Frenzy · Global Voices
David Sasaki

“Since last Sunday, when Peru’s U-17 youngsters (barely) qualified for the 2007 World Cup hosted by South Korea in August and September, Peruvian football pride has been restored.” Wolfy Becker has more on the football frenzy welcoming back Peru's national youth team. You can see a video of highlights of Peru's game with Argentina at NoSeas.com.


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Peru: Plagiarism at Every Level · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

There is no doubt about what has captured the attention of many Peruvian bloggers these past two weeks: the plagiarism of a local blog's content by the daily newspaper, La República [ES]. Though this isn't the first time such a thing has happened, this time we find much more repercussion. We covered the topic immediately in the Global Links, but now that it has reached an almost satisfactory conclusion, it's worth the trouble to take another look.
The case has two parts: first is the plagiarism found in the column El Ofidio, which reviews denouncements and news in the sphere of local politics, of a post from the blog Desde el Tercer Piso [ES] (“From the Third Floor”), a blog that took it upon itself to, this time, denounce the paper:
Agradezco mucho que La República haya recogido parte de los datos que presenté en el informe Elección Constitucional, pero, la próxima vez, please, muchachos de Camaná, citen la fuente.
This denouncement was echoed quickly in various blogs, among them a post of Silvio's in Gran Combo Club is suggested as a main source of information for being apparently the most complete in terms of coverage, references, and chronology of what happened.
After boiling around in a few local blogs, the rectification was made by La República. It seemed like the impasse was overcome, although with the reservation articulated by Fer of Pospost:
Esta aclaración se enturbia ya que al tiempo de ponderar la información de José Alejandro Godoy, se da a los lectores una información falsa de la ubicación del mismo. La dirección es http://desdeeltercerpiso.blogspot.com/ y no desdeeltercerpiso.com, como señala Ofidio.
The second part of this episode is the nearly veiled reference made by Mirko Lauer, also of La República, to another of Silvio's post, which curiously, had been mentioned in previous post here. What Lauer said was: “With a more playful spirit however, some blogs interested in the subject have begun to play with a hypothesis of war. As if it were a Playstation game”. Obviously, and surprisingly, Lauer did not completely understand the intention of post, or what it covered. As Silvio says:
Creo que los periodistas peruanos tienen que aprender a respetar un poco más a la blogósfera. He visto algunos ataques gratuitos y maltratos que son difíciles de racionalizar. En otros países algunos importantes medios como CNN, CBS, Reuters, Los Angeles Times fueron pillados por los blogs mintiendo groseramente, tergiversando fotografías, inventandose noticias, etc. Estos medios tuvieron que reconocer su mala práctica y hasta algunas cabezas rodaron …. ¿Podría ocurrir algo así en el Perú?
However, unlike the plagiarism from Desde el Tercer Piso by the Ofidio column, this time there was no clarification or anything of the sort. Strangely, the following day Lauer mentioned a foreign article in his column and did include the source and even the URL, which brings up Silvio's point about mainstream media not considering national blogs important or worthy of credit.
But don't think that plagiarism is limited only to the scope of media and blogs. This last week the spotlight focused on an instance of plagiarism perpetrated by the well-known writer Alfredo Bryce Echenique of a text by ambassador Oswaldo de Rivero. Roberto Bustamante, of Blog del Morsa was the first one to write about it in the Peruvian blogosphere in his post: “Literature: Alfredo Bryce Attacks Again.” Soon, several more posts looked at the topic, the most recent of which is “Literature: Bryce, Complete Plagiarism”. From “Literature: the alfredo bryce affair,” I extract this paragraph which, coincidentally, was cited by someone we mentioned above:
En medio de todo este enredo, alguna voz quiere confundir más las cosas echándole la culpa a Internet y relativizando la falta. Si el asunto es de por sí vergonzoso, los argumentos de Lauer lo son más todavía:
Que sea muy facil copiar sin poner la fuente no significa que todos vayamos a hacerlo. Una regla en los blogs (no siempre cumplida, como toda regla) es anotar las referencias y linkear a los originales. En los medios escritos la fuerza de la costumbre parece impedir que se haga lo mismo, aunque es obvio que casi todas las columnas que leemos son por lo menos inspiradas en lecturas de sus autores (imagino que buena parte de ellas en internet, fácilmente referenciables para que los lectores contrasten por sí mismos).
No se trata de hacer aquí ni un escarnio, ni como se dice “hacer leña del árbol caído”. me parece que en varios de los casos (como resalta también en el post de jomra), prima el derecho del consumidor a rechazar un producto “bamba”, para darle la vuelta al argumento de lauer, donde “la red se convierte en la proverbial arca abierta donde hasta el justo peca”, justamente la red permite también la vigilancia y el control ciudadano. si no hubiera sido por la red, jamás hubiéramos podido detectar la estafa de alfredo bryce.
Just because it's easy to copy without putting the source does not mean that we are all going to do it. A rule among bloggers (not always fulfilled, like all rules) is to write down the references and to link to the original sources. In printed media, the force of custom seems to prevent journalists from doing the same even though it is obvious that almost all of the columns that we read are at least inspired by what their authors read (I imagine that a good part of which is from the internet).
This isn't the place document the complete scenario, nor as they say “to make firewood of a fallen tree,” but it seems to me that in several of the cases (as it also stands out in Jomra's post), the right of the consumer to reject a bad product prevails over Lauer's argument that “the network becomes the proverbial open coffer.” The network allows the monitoring and control of the citizens. If it had not been for the network, we would have never been able to detect the theft by Alfredo Bryce.
In blog El Útero de Marita the topic has also been exhaustively covered and I especially recommend this post: “Some reactions on the plagiarism by Bryce” with lots of links to others blogs and articles. The outcome has been the resignation of Bryce to El Comercio and, like El Útero de Marita mentions in her post “Bryce resigns from El Comercio in bad form”, it has not been exactly what was desired. In his farewell:
…abandono mis colaboraciones con el diario El Comercio, entre otras cosas, porque como decía Orson Welles, el periodismo es un oficio en el que “hay muchas ostras, pero muy pocas perlas”. Y en cuanto a las disculpas que les debería a mis lectores, prefiero utilizar solo unas palabras de León Tolstói y prometerles que “la próxima vez fracasaré mucho mejor”.
To which the El Útero de Marita comments:
Terrible que Bryce “no asuma absolutamente nada más” aparte del “error de su secretaria” y la “falta de control” en los envíos, cuando se han demostrado OCHO CASOS de plagio, uno de ellos de hace ONCE AÑOS.
Finally, today La República published the article “All repetition is an offense,” that makes mention and openly cites the post from El Útero de Marita and other blogs. (It would have been the end if an article on plagiarism didn't cite its sources.) As an aside, it is worth noting that the Wikipedia articles on Bryce linked to above already mention the subject of the plagiarism. Well, even though we don't offer anything to be plagiarized this time around, it's best that we end here until next time.
Translated from Spanish by David Sasaki.

author: Juan Arellano


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Puerto Rico: Violence Ranking · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Gil the Jenius is livid over a local demographer listing Puerto Rico as the 9th most violent country in the world: “I'm not here to say We are Paradise Found, or even Paradise Lost.  Are We violent? Yes, We are and We have to deal with that. Are We a Top 10 violence-infested country? Hell, no.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Russia: Chechnya’s Street Children · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Step At A Time translates an article on street children in Chechnya.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: Deadly Strip Club Fire · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Turkish Invasion reports on the deadly fire at a Moscow strip club.


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Russia: Grozny Photos · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Step At A Time links to incredible pictures from Grozny, Chechnya, taken by LJ user kunstkamera.


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Russia: Non-Touristy Moscow Pics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Turkish Invasion posts non-touristy pictures of Moscow.


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Russia: Putin’s Article in the Times · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Very Russian Tochka Net thinks Vladimir Putin should stop writing articles for publication in the West: “Confused, placatory stuff whose only effect is to make a bunch of smart-arses think we’re trying to suck up to them. At least this time he didn’t say we’re European.”


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Russia: Svyaznoi Prezidenta · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow writes on the latest get-together of the pro-Putin youth group Nashi (the post includes a lovely Russian-language paraphrase of Aleksandr Pushkin).


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Russia: Thaw · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

White Sun of the Desert reports on the beginning of the springtime thaw in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk: “Bereft of any kind of drainage system, the melting snow first forms a brown slush which lies ankle-deep on every pavement, and later turns to lakes of dirty water which straddle entire roads and covers a car in filth within minutes.”


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Russia: Variations of Dissent · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

After reading LJ user rudin‘s report (RUS) from the Dissenters’ March that took place in Nizhniy Novgorod this past Saturday, LJ user an_drevv made this ironic remark (RUS):
Judging by the ratio between the participants [police outnumbered the protesters], it looks like the majority of the dissenters were cops, and the locals were just preventing them from expressing their dissent. […]
According to rudin, the following slogans were featured at the short-lived march: “Russia Without Putin!”, “Give People Freedom!”, “Fascism Won't Get Through!” There were also two men in the crowd who chanted “Glory to the Russian Nation!” – which rudin found inappropriate, but the police didn't seem to mind.
According to LJ user iriele, who attended the march, too, and even got detained and taken to the police station, there was one more slogan (RUS) out there – and one more reason to join the Dissenters’ ranks:
[…] First of all, why did I go there? The main reason – besides a gulp of freedom – is, damn it, solidarity with the slogan “Let's Reclaim Nizhniy [Novgorod].” (Partly borrowed from London's “Reclaim the Streets.” Though I've been using these words in some press releases a lot, so it's all in the air.) Everyone can see what the government is doing to the city. Parks are being destroyed and instead shopping malls and elite blocks (ugly, as a rule) are being built […], last trees are being eliminated from the old center. […]
All this despite the fact that there are plenty of places suitable for construction in Nizhniy [Novgorod] – deserted industrial spaces that can be restored, for example. […]
Together with three other residents of Kovalikha, we went to the March, seeing it as an opportunity to draw attention to the attacks on our neighborhood (construction of a highway and skyscrapers right in front of our windows, elimination of the green zones). There are simply no other ways except street protest […].
As an opponent of the Dissenters’ March, LJ user scandal_max would have most likely disagreed with this last statement – even though local (as opposed to federal) mess seems to annoy him no less than it annoys iriele. To illustrate what he believes real democracy is, he quoted his brother's post (RUS) on fighting mess with more mess – here:
Half a year ago, they took away the garbage container from the neighboring backyard. The container used to be placed very conveniently: people living on our side of the street were passing it on the way to the subway station. This is why people from the nearby buildings ignored the removal of the container and continued to leave their garbage where they had been leaving it before.
The municipal authorities put up a sign near where the container used to be: “Residents, please note that the garbage container is no longer in this backyard; the garbage disposal center is now located at this address: …” People from the nearby buildings ignored this sign and continued to leave their garbage where they were used to leaving it.
Janitors tried not to take the garbage away, assuming that the residents of the building nearby would take initiative in dealing with those who littered. But the residents […] ignored the janitors’ initiative and continued to leave garbage where it lawfully belonged.
And yesterday, the container was finally returned to where it should be. We've spent six months fighting for it. And we have won!
Long live the civil society!


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Sierra Leone: claiming Ishmael Beah · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A Siera Leonean blogger claims Ishmael Beah, the author of  A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, “However, as a Sierra Leonean, I don’t want Ishmael to be a Universalist. I want very badly to claim him as Sierra Leonean and to own his experience as part of our collective Sierra Leonean experience and recent history. I understand the need to draw attention to the international plight of children used as carriers, sex slaves, and soldiers but Sierra Leone badly needs Ishmael Beah to represent us too. In a country where so few of us ordinary citizens ever get an opportunity to “talk truth to power” in the international community we need someone who has that opportunity to do so for sweet Sierra Leone.”


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South Korea: blocking foreign porn sites · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Matt from Gusts of popular feeling blogs about the recent government policy in filtering out foreign porn sites in South Korea: We're also told that the government “will block around 180 such foreign sites by the end of May”. Wow. All 180 of them. They really aren't kidding around this time, are they? I guess that's the end of porn in Korea.


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South Korea: FTA · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jamie from Two Koreas has an update about the FTA negotiation and anti FTA protest in South Korea: The march was also able to march into Gwanghwamun unobstructed, which was even more of a surprise.


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South Korea: The Value Deflation of Schools · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michael Hurt from Scribblings of the Metropolitician has a lot to complain and criticise about the South Korea education system.


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Sri Lanka: Cycles of a wartime blogosphere · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

cerno isn't impressed with the Sri Lankan Blogosphere's opinions on the ongoing conflict. “Perhaps we might spot the rarest beast in the Sri Lankan blogosphere: a discussion on how badly the rulers of the north and south need this war for their survival. And the sheer absurdity of expecting them to even seriously considering anything that might end the war.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Sri Lanka: Terrorism and Communication · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

indi.ca reflects on the recent LTTE attack on an airport. “When I say terrorism as communication, I mean that terrorists don’t usually occupy land as much as media. Al Qaeda didn’t start any occupation of New York with 9/11, but they have occupied the media from Fox News to clerical mix-tapes ever since.”


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Tajikistan: Implications of -ov · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Bonnie Boyd says that the Tajik president's decisions to drop Russian endings from surnames potentially has foreign policy implications for Tajikistan. She says that the decision does nothing for Tajikistan but satisfy a presidential whim.


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The Israeli Blogs-Looking for an Advocate · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Hello Everyone!  Today I am guest authoring for the Israeli blogs…a section of the Middle East that doesn't get covered very much here at Global Voices.  It isn't because we aren't interested…we are, and it isn't because the Israeli blogs aren't fun and fascinating…because they are (and I will show you shortly). It is because we lack an author who wants to share this wonderful section of the blogosphere with us.  In fact there are lots of areas of the world that we aren't able to cover on Global Voices because we need volunteer authors to step in and help tell the stories that are out there.  Would you like to join our team? Would you like to find more ways to join the conversation? Contact us!
But for now, let's return to the Israeli Blogs.  I intend to give you a small smattering of content, ranging from fun to politics, from everyday life to special occasions.  Starting with some fun…did you know that pot is “not kosher” for Passover?
So much for using marijuana as Karpas. Yes, it’s leafy and yes, it’s green. But apparently, hemp seeds are not kosher for Passover. That is, if you’re Ashkenazi. The seeds belong to a limbo category of growing things called “kitniyot,” so if your seder has beans and rice, feel free to put the “Yes I Can” in cannabis this Festival of Freedom.
Or have you heard about Israeli backpackers in India?
A popular joke amongst Israelis traveling in India goes like this:
An Indian asks an Israeli backpacker, “So how many Israelis are there?” The backpacker answers “Around 7 million.” The Indian then asks, “And how many in Israel?”
Around 50,000 Israelis visit India each year – mostly backpackers, a large proportion of whom are on a gap year between the end of their army service and the beginning of the rest of their lives. They comprise only a minuscule proportion of the total number of foreign visitors to India each year, but Israelis are the only ones who have a tendency to travel in packs, and to cluster in certain places. In Delhi they stay at the Hare Rama, one of the grottiest guesthouses in Pahar Ganj, a seedy area near the train station. In Goa there is Tel Aviv Beach, and during the summer Israelis stay in spots around Himachal Pradesh (HP), most notably in a little village called Bhagsu Nag, near Dharamsala.
The presence of Hebrew-speaking backpackers is so overwhelming in these places that they have come to resemble little Israeli colonies in India.
In the Israeli Blogs there is a level of commonality that all bloggers can relate to:
Just in case anyone out there might be entertaining the idea of starting their own blog I feel that in the interest of full disclosure I should point out that keeping up treppenwitz hasn't always been all beer and skittles.
There have been countless times when cantankerous commentors and tiresome trolls have nearly sapped me of my will to continue.  And every few months I look in the rear-view mirror and wonder if I even have anything left worth saying.
But every so often this thing called treppenwitz opens a new door or provides a personal connection that I didn't think possible.   And just when I am asking myself why I bother doing this, I get a surprise of… if not beer and skittles… then at least cookies and cream
And of course, there is always something new to be learned…or rather more details to discover:
There are several options in Israel for young men graduating from high school. This is all very new to me and some of it I may even have wrong. But for what I understand, every Israeli boy (and girl), when he turns 18, is obligated to serve in the Israeli army. Their choices are:
1) go directly into the army and serve three years.
2) get a postponement and study in yeshiva for 1 to 3 years. Hesder Yeshiva allows the boys to learn more and do less army service, Mechina programs allows the boys to learn up to one and a half years and then do 3 years of army service.
3) do sherut leumi (which is what most girls do), which is national volunteer service.
Those are the 3 choices as I understand them. Every Hesder yeshiva is different, as is every Mechina. Hesder yeshivas are know to have much more serious learning than the Mechina programs. And as I understand it, The Hesder programs are more textual based, while the Mechina programs are more spiritually/practically based.
In my recent research into this new area for me, I was delighted at the political commentary…. from this about anti-Israeli bias:
Today’s lesson in media bias: Watch a wire service outright lie to its readers. First up, the Saudi peace initiative, which is essentially dead in the water due to the Arabs insistence that Israel agree to it before they can then begin to make changes to things they find objectionable. (And right now is a good time for a “WTF? You want me to sign the agreement and THEN say I don’t like it? WTF?”)
To this wonderful piece (with accompanying YouTube video) about the UN's lack of resolve on human rights issues:
Although it sounds like a delicious idea, I do not believe that urging Israel and the US to leave the United Nations in a good idea. However, it is imperative that the public understand, when the UN denounces Israel for human rights violations, that that is how the human rights council enjoys spending its time. This does not mean that Israel never violates anyone's human rights, rather that the UN is not a reliable observer of the human rights “scene.” The current council includes Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia — all known for their unbiased treatment of Jews and outstanding records in Human Rights, eh? (She asks rhetorically) In the next two years, Human Rights Council will include Pakistan and Cuba. Libya has sat on this council. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
There are two sad results of this mess. First is that millions of people around the world are suffering badly under their governments, and the UN is not twitching an eyebrow on their behalfs.
I was also pleased to see sites promoting peace and understanding in the region from the collective site Good Neighbors to this from DesertPeace:
It seems that anti Arab sentiments are on the rise in Israel. This according to a recent poll on whether or not the state should back Arab migration. Of 500 Israeli Jews polled, the results showed 50% were in favour of encouraged migration.
I find it amazing that there is no attempt made to hide these feelings. Israel is constantly denying that it is a racist state or a state that is implementing apartheid, but here is proof that those very policies are supported by half of the population.
It is a very sad commentary on the situation here and shows how much work is left to be done in this country to reverse this trend before it completely overtakes us.
Racism must be defeated through education.
Well if you have made it to the end of this article, I hope that you are as interested in this section of the blogosphere as I am.  I hope that if you are an Israeli blogger that you have been inspired to be an author, and do a better job of this weblog round-up than I.  In any case, if you want to see more…let us know!

author: Deborah Ann Dilley


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Uzbekistan: Picking Cotton · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia posts photos of children taking part in Uzbekistan's cotton harvest and translates some discussions on LiveJournal blogs of the use of child labor to harvest Uzbekistan's white gold.


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Zimbabwe: living under a dictatorship · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Zimpundit on life in Zimbabwe, “In Zimbabwe, a nation dominated by government owned media, keeping up with the political realities is an impossible and risky undertaking. Media in Zimbabwe is dominated by a state owned daily newspaper, and state owned radio and television. All reports carried by state media are unsurprisingly partial to the government. There’s a vacuum for balanced reportage on the country. Western media on the hand, seem too eager to demonize the Mugabe regime. They seem to always go back to their all too old mantra of showing our nation and our people as undercivilized meanwhile ignoring our unprecedent fortitude.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Egypt: Citizen Journalism Talk · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Hossam Al Hamalawy will give two talks  – one on citizen journalism – at the 5th Cairo Anti War Conference and 3rd Cairo Social Forum being held later this month. “The conference should be a golden opportunity for us to exchange experiences with international and local activists. I hope to see as many of you there,” he notes.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Afghanistan: Higher Education Crisis · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Safrang reports that there are too few university spots for eligible students in Afghanistan and that the problem is only getting worse. The blogger argues that failing to provide education for them will create a large number of dissatisfied youth.


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Africa: Bloggers Differ on Reparations and Apology for Slavery · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The Slave Trade Act was passed in England 200 years ago. The act ended slave trade in the British empire. A number of events such as art exhibits, lectures, church services, and parades have been taking place all over the world to mark this day.
In England, Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed deep sorrow, Mayor Kevin Livingstone made a formal apology. In cyberspace, the Archibishops Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John Sentamu used YouTube to share their reflections on slave trade.
The African blogosphere has marked the anniversary with discussions centred around issues of apology, reparations, and Africa's role in the trade.
Amir Ibrahim, writing at Kenya Imagine, deals with the issue of Africa's role in the trade:
Such scholars point out that few slaves were captured directly by the slavers and that the majority were sold on to them by prominent African states like the Ashanti kingdom. These scholars also maintain that slavery was a social construct already existent in Africa and that European slavers merely took the slaves into new markets. The historical record proves that whereas this may be correct strictly speaking, traditionally African slaves were indentured labourers whose lives and station in society was much higher than was permitted in the New World. The phenomenon of European slaving and the horrors of the slave experience in the new world are unprecedented in documented human history.
Did African empires benefit economically from the slave trade? Amir continues:
While it is true that there were African states Dahomey, Kongo and Ashanti, that profited handsomely from this trade, history indicates that even the wealth that slave-raider chiefs accrued from the trade quickly reverted to the slavers as it was used to buy alcohol and firearms both of which only served to further fuel the trade. In the end the economic benefits of slavery flowed only one way, out of Africa.
Who Should Aplogize for the Roman Empire?
“Brothers sold Brothers,” writes Refined One:
…Slaves from
Africa were sold by there own brothers( Africans)… No matter how hard that maybe for us to accept it is the truth!
This has caused division between Africans and West Indians to date…some feel resentful towards Africans for what was done to there ancestors.
We should not let division in our lives,  for the perfect will of God is still to be unfolded…Our dreams will still be fulfilled.
In another post, Refined One had suggested an apology for slavery. She changes her mind:
Why I decided to write this post was because in the post before this I said something about an apology….which I would like to take back.
She prefers forgiveness to an apology:
Brothers on different continents, of different shades, we are all still brothers, as I said before FORGIVNESS is the only way forwarded.
There has been a renewed call for an apology for slavery following the Virginia State legislature's apology for the state's role in the trade.
Khanya finds this idea disturbing. Why should people apologize for other people's sins?:
It seems to me that this shows an inversion of moral values. Tony Blair ought not to apologise for the slave trade, because there is no way he can be held responsible for it. But he can be held responsible for the bombing of Belgrade and Basra, and if he symbolically went and washed the feet of the widows and orphans of those cities, and the stumps of the maimed and the lame who were crippled by British bombs dropped at his orders, then he would be doing something far more significant. The demand that he should apologise for the slave trade is simply grotesque.
Who should apologize for the Roman Empire? He asks:
My wife (and children) are descendants of slaves. I haven’t yet discovered any slaves in my own ancestry, but for all I know there could have been, say under the Roman Empire. Should I therefore demand that the Italian government officially apologise?
Dismissing arguments made against an apology, Amir Ibrahim writes:
It is strange and offensive then that the British Government should hold the descendants of the slave victims of this the greatest crime against humanity in such contempt as not to issue a symbolic apology for the crimes committed against them. The arguments they advance against such an apology are truly specious and offensive. Firstly they claim that these events were committed such a long time ago that apologies are now irrelevant. The Catholic Church's apology for its crimes against Galileo certainly dismisses this idea. The second is the silly notion that an apology would be an act of national self-hatred. The Germans, the Japanese and the French could have taken this childish route, but were more assured of their place in history. Neither does this explain why Tony Blair apologised to the Irish, or how religious organisations like the Vatican and the Church of England have managed to survive their apologies.
Roots, Kunta Kinte, and Snoop Dogg
In a post that is likely to touch some raw nerves, Chxta questions the logic behind the call for an apology:
Slavery (at least the non-covert form) ended in 1865, and I don't think that there is anyone walking the planet now who was around back then, so Chxta doesn't understand this call for an apology, the call for reparations, and more recently, this idea of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome.
What is this mad demand for an apology? And how do events that ended well before any of us walking around now have a direct bearing on what we do today?
According to Chxta, African slaves were captured by Africans. Therefore, Africans are the ones who need to apologize:
……If you watch the movie Roots, Kunta Kinte was not kidnapped by white guys, he was kidnapped by niggers…..
If there is anyone who should apologise, it is those of us that come from Africa now. We should apologise to those that can't trace their roots, and have no ‘true sense’ of identity, afterall we sold them.
Chxta opposes the idea of reparations for slavery arguing that there is no direct link between the state of African people today and slavery:
Anyway, the main object of this write up is to voice Chxta's opinion that all the calls for reparations, for apologies and the attempt to link the failings of African nations (and African American peoples) today to slavery is utter bollocks, and an exercise in something worse than colonial mentality, slave mentality.
Chxta is yet to fully understand how Kunta Kinte being made to accept Toby as his name at the back end of a lash is responsible for Snoop Dogg claiming to be a gansta. Chxta doesn't understand how the fact that their great great great great great great grandmother was the bed wench of some plantation owner
in Nashville is responsible for the moral laxity we see among African American youths (and their cousins of Caribbean descent on this side of the pond). Chxta doesn't understand how slavery prevents today's African American youth from going to school, instead preferring to rap and do sports in the name of ‘keeping it real’. Chxta doesn't understand how payment of reparations would help African economies to get on their feet when there is almost definitely a cabal in one corner of the room waiting to pocket the reparation money and tell boys that ‘dem no give us shinshin’.
Slave Trade and the Church of England
In “Reparations for slavery?,” Black Looks posts a link to a BBC article about the Church of England considering reparations. The Church of England owned African slaves in the West Indies.
Riviersonderend would like the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, to extend his notion of justice for slavery to gay, lesbian, and transgendered people:
Yesterday, people from all walks of life marched in London in commemoration of the slave trade’s abolition. Our collective “moral conscience” was there as well: the church. The procession was blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. Just a bit ironic, I would say.
As Williams is marching for justice, he is preparing to deny justice to the world’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people and sanction their persecution in Nigeria. Why? Because the Bible says so.
Let us not forget the Bible’s position on slavery, as we celebrate this momentous landmark. Let us not forget the church’s role in the slave trade – the Church of England had slaves on its plantations in the Caribbean. Let us not forget that the Southern Baptist Convention was formed in an effort to preserve the Christian basis for slavery before the American Civil War. Let us not forget that the Bible does not condemn the practice of slavery.
Indeed, in 1856 Reverend Thomas Stringfellow, a Baptist minister, wrote A Scriptural View of Slavery, in which he claimed: “… Jesus Christ recognized this institution as one that was lawful among men, and regulated its relative duties… I affirm then, first (and no man denies) that Jesus Christ has not abolished slavery by a prohibitory command; and second, I affirm, he has introduced no new moral principle which can work its destruction…”
Do You Remember?
Lastly, Jikomboe posts a link to a video of Burning Spear singing his 1975 song, Slavery Days. Wailing: do you remember the days of slavery?


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Africa: we should all wear sacks and cover ourselves in ash · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A thought provoking piece by Dennis Matanda at the Sub-Saharan Africa Roundtable, Africans: A race that got lost a long time ago: “And in response to Koluki’s www.africanpath.com’s article on ‘Are We Losing the Plot?’ my answer is a resounding YES. I will even dare to go further by saying that we lost the plot a long, long time ago and there is no hope for us – unless of course, shock therapy is applied. I know that this is going to happen in the next few days. But between now and then, we Africans should stop singing praises about being a proud black people. I think that we should all just wear sacks, cover ourselves in ash and sit on street corners – if we can find the time to leave our misery, poverty and selfishness!”


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Arabisc: In Keeping with Fashion, Algerian Blogger Sued · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

An Algerian official has today filed a case against blogger Abdulsalam Baroudi, accusing him of libel for an article he posted on his blog. This will be the first time a blogger is sued for his online writings in this North African country.
Baroudi is unruffled and says he has nothing to worry about.
Baroudi  says journalists will be meeting tomorrow (Thursday) to discuss the case.
Meanwhile, in keeping with his plans, Moroccan blogger Mohammed Saeed Hjiouij
 who had earlier announced that he would dedicate the week from March 25 to 31 to highlighting his favourite Arabic blogs, has started detailing the blogs he likes.
Today he sheds light on two Egyptian blogger brothers – Ahmed and Amr Gharbeiya.
The site Sebona, which literally translates to Leave Us, has been launched to campaign against a lawsuit being brought by Egyptian Judge Abdel Fattah Mourad to block 21 blogs and websites in Egypt, which are deemed a danger to the country's national interests and insulting to its president Hosni Mubarak.
Moving on, another Egyptian Bobs award winning blogger Jar Al Qamar is back in Egypt after spending two weeks in the US, where he was bombarded with details about Anna Nicole Smith‘s death and the custody battle still going on.
And what does he say about all this?


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Arepa de Huevo from Colombia, Ceviche from Ecuador and Pupusas from El Salvador! · Global Voices
Melissa De León

#1: From Colombia: Nika's Culinaria shares a delicious recipe with step-by-step photos on how to prepare a traditional Colombian delicacy: Arepa de Huevo (Arepa with Egg)
My first experience with it was when we visited Colombia 25 years ago.
As in other latin american countries, street vendors sell all manner of things. We were on foot somewhere in Bogota, Colombia, and literally by the roadside there was this large woman sitting next to an enormous wok-like pot filled with boiling hot oil. She also had dozens of eggs and arepas. I didn’t really know what to expect when we walked up. I watched her cut open a large arepa…Read the complete post!
#2: From Ecuador: Erin in Ecuador and Elsewhere shares her experiences with Ecuadorian cuisine, specially "Ceviche," during her stay in that South American country as Ecuador's first IVP (International Volunteer Program)
Here I am below,  enjoying my first crab-ceviche, which is now my favorite of the Ecuadorian ceviches. Ceviche is usually seafood, "cooked" and marinated in lime juice. The Ecuadorian ceviche is served as a kind of soup, with tomato, onion, and limes and "chifle" (fried plantain chips) on the side. That was the second meal of the day (after breakfast…. and would be one of four!!… and I thought I ate too much in the US on Thanksgiving!). Read more…
#3:  From El Salvador:  Gluten Free by the Bay tells the story of how she became a fan of the Salvadorean Pupusas: The Day my House Became a Pupuseria! Learn how to prepare Pupusas de Queso y Frijoles Refritos, as well as the tasty Curtido de Repollo.
I was living on a tight budget and at just $1.65 each, pupusas were just about the cheapest and most filling healthy meal I could find. I recall reading an article that said the rule for making a meal of pupusas is "one for a snack, two for lunch, three for dinner." Sounds about right to me. It was easy to fall in love with these thick El Salvadoreño corn tortillas crafted out of masa harina, stuffed with cheese, beans or meat and topped with a spicy cabbage salad known as curtido.
This weekend my house became a pupusa factory. My friend Melanie came over for dinner, and we ate stacks upon stacks of pupusas con curtido de repollo. I filled some with a combination of goat jack cheese and cotija, while others were stuffed with both cheese and refried beans. Get the scoop now…
#4: From Nicaragua, American in Nicaragua writes about how millions of dollars are spent every year on poverty studies in Nicaragua, instead of using that money to feed the people in need.
About 4 years ago an NGO came to Nicaragua to do a big study on what people ate for food in Nicaragua, what were the typical daily meals.
They found (no duh) that most people had beans and rice for breakfast and beans and rice for lunch and gallo pinto for supper. Now gallo in Spanish means “chicken”, so the people doing the study figured that the people were eating better at supper, because they were eating gallo. Well, gallo pinto is rice and beans mixed together.
So for the millions of dollars for this study, the results were that people here in Nicaragua eat mostly rice and beans. Anyone here could have told them that for free. Read the complete story now...
#5: From Brazil, Brazilian Food Love:  learn about Maracujá, and a very unique recipe to prepare Cocada de Maracujá.
In Brazil there are over 150 different types of passion fruit, 60 of them being eatable and the rest are used within different medical researches. Passion fruit contains a lot of carbohydrates, vitamin A,B,C, calcium and important minerals and iron. A juice made of passion fruit is calming and anti inflammatory. Tea made from the passion fruit leaves can have healing effects on infections.

author: Melissa De León


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Armenia: Burying the Prime Minister · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian reports on and has photos of the burial of Armenia's prime minister.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Bahamas: Still Enslaved · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Nicolette Bethel sees stunning parallels between a young black American filmmaker's documentary about race and the image that Bahamian children have of themselves 200 years after the abolition of the slave trade.


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China: Iron dragon · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Tim Beckenham from Shanghaiist reported that a Henan-based investor group is constructing a 21-kilometre (13 mile) long metal Chinese dragon as a tourist attraction. There is also suggestion that the dragon structure could help minimise the impact of sand storms on the nearby capital.
Chris O'Brien from Beijing Newspeak has provided us with more background: Apparently, the project was halted for not going through the correct planning procedures back in 2003. Xinhua has reported that the dragon is already under threat as it appears to constitute a serious breach of environmental regulations.

author: Oiwan Lam