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Caribbean: Blogalization · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

In December 2005, Georgia Popplewell had a conversation with Creolese blogger Guyana-Gyal.  When asked what role blogs and blogging could play in the Caribbean region, Guyana-Gyal referred to the term “blogalization”, saying:
I don't know who coined it…I first used it in June, then found others have been using it before. In some small way, can blogging for the Caribbean be like globalization? I know globalization has some folks out there who knock it, and I won't get into that. But I think that blogalization can do wonders. What I'm trying to say is that maybe blogalization can be like the positive aspects of globalization. But blogging has helped me in other ways as well. It's given me confidence to express myself, given me a voice…I think eventually, voices that usually go unheard might get heard thanks to blogging.
I thought it might be interesting to get other regional perspectives on the term and three Caribbean bloggers stepped up to the plate: Gallimaufry and Pull! Push! from Barbados and Now Is Wow from Trinidad…
Pull! Push! thinks “blogalization is a big, clumsy, mouthful of a word”:
Globalization has different meanings for different people, so I do not like to compare it to Blogalization, although there may be one or two similarities.
I think that Blogalization is something completely different, but what it is exactly, I don't know. All I can say is that by me writing this and you (hopefully) reading it on a blog somewhere and leaving a comment, or not leaving a comment, we're both taking part in Blogalization. Maybe it's as simple as that? The Internet, and the Web in particular, have allowed us all, or the vast majority of us, to communicate freely, anytime and anywhere.
Elspeth at Now Is Wow agrees:
Through blogalization, the world becomes smaller as people connect intangibly (and sometimes, eventually tangibly) with distant others who share similarities.
She also thinks it has become somewhat of a lifestyle…
I think ‘Blogalization’ refers to the wave of people who now write and read blogs regularly and see it as a part of their day (akin to drinking coffee, reading papers or checking e-mail).
…while Gallimaufry is excited about the opportunities it presents:
As the Caribbean blogosphere grows, the opportunities it offers are becoming more apparent.  The whole phenomenon of blogging provides outlets for expression that we didn't have before, and outlets for imagination.  That's very important because it removes some of the aura of exclusivity or remoteness from the literary and visual arts, and encourages people to explore and exhibit
their creativity in ways that might not have occurred to them before.  I've seen people move from having photoblogs, or from posting a few poems or essays, to self-publishing a coffee table book or an anthology, so I think blogging is an important gateway…
Through blogging, she says, people are more willing to “put their art or opinions out there” – they realise they have something to say and finally believe that it is worthy of an audience.  Amit at Pull! Push! agrees:
What makes us think that the world is interested in what the Caribbean has to say?  I'd like to think that they are interested and are listening. I'm not an expert on sociology, but I believe humans are social animals, and are curious as well. We feel a need to communicate and to share our experiences with others. We also want to learn about and from others.
At first, Elspeth wasn't convinced that blogalization had any particular relevance to the Caribbean as opposed to anywhere else in the world:
Blogging is blogging and it connects people wherever they are. But I suppose one thing it does is to show a new face for the Caribbean…especially where, even in this day and age, there are (still) those who think that Caribbean people live in trees and are primitive and backward.  Blogalization must have changed that perspective to a large degree.
Amit adds:
We are active participants in the global economy and suffer and/or benefit from things like globalization. There is also the knowledge the rest of the world gains from reading Caribbean blogs/sites. It lets them know that we are here, so tread lightly because what you ‘big boys’ say and do, has a way of affecting us sooner or later. We are not a lesser people, we have rights, feelings, thoughts and most importantly, we have our own voice!
Gallimaufry also believes that blogging has done a lot for transparency in the region:
As the popularity of Barbados Free Press attests, I think blogs can also serve as a medium for activism and agitation, a way to bring issues to light that would otherwise have languished in darkness.  At every family gathering I've been to this year, someone has mentioned something from BFP (it helps that it's an election year, of course, so people are in the politics-talking mood anyway); it's even come up at meetings – so I think that the blog as an avenue for comment and critique and analysis and discussion could also be a big thing in the region, politically and socially.
It has also given her more of a world view:
Since I began reading blogs from the Bahamas and Jamaica and Trinidad and Guyana and St. Kitts and Grenada and St. Vincent and Aruba and Cuba and the Caribbean diaspora in the US and Canada and the UK, I think of myself more as not just a Barbadian, but a Caribbean person.  Blogging gives me a chance to connect in a way I couldn't before, with other Caribbean people and
their day-to-day lives and to discover commonalities and debate differences.
Gallimaufry hopes that Caribbean people will “start moving towards more networking, more collective pan-Caribbean blogging” and is “really looking forward to the things that are to come…there's the potential for so much more”:
I think the best thing about blogalization is that it involves using technology (which used to be perceived as something maybe sort of dehumanising and impersonal) to make things more personal and make people more connected – to make us all more human to each other, which draws us closer together.
Pull! Push! sums it up rather well:
‘Blogalization?’ I think it's just a new word for something that people have been doing since time immemorial, and that is: People telling stories, people listening and people conversing. The Internet and the Web have just made these things available to everyone and anyone, no matter where you are.


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China: Bullog International · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The Chinese Blog Service Provider Bullog has been closed for more than a month by now and they are yet to wait for the official approval document for re-opening the site. To save time, the Bullog international has been launch. Danwei has a translation of their launching note.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Loong not Dragon · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lanzhou city urged to standardize the translation of Chinese dragon into “Loong” as the two words convey very different imagine. Zishuo suggests to translate the word into “Yoooooog” as the word carries the horns, reflects the length and shows the tails of the Chinese dragon.


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China: Mars Language · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lu ren is so frustrated about the sensitive words censorship that he starts to explore the application of Mars language (zh): a combination of Chinese words and Pinyin. For example, “i” stands for “love” in Chinese.


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Colombia: Pictures of Senator with FARC Leaders · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is meeting with members of the FARC and Colombian envoys to arrange a humanitarian exchange, where Colombian hostages like former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and Clara Rojas who have been captive for more than 10 years would be released in exchange of certain actions the Colombian government would have to take. Some pictures taken during the humanitarian exchange discussions stuck like a thorn in many bloggers’ sides.
A photo gallery of the pictures in question can be found at the Bolivarian Press Agency's site.
For a bit of background, Kate, in A Colombo-Americana´s perspective, writes:
The humanitarian exchange [is] to be realized between the Colombian government and the FARC terrorists. Colombians have been divided on this topic; some feel that the negotiation is good, in that FARC will have a chance to prove itself to be trustworthy, with a more long-term goal being that they will become a formal political actor; others have condemned this mediation as a way in which the FARC will make lofty promises without fulfilling their end of the bargain, as their past track record, coupled with the way they have viciously affected thousands of Colombian families, leaves much to be desired.
One of the mediators, chosen by Colombia's president Álvaro Uribe Velez, is the opposition´s Senator Piedad Córdoba, and the polemic pictures from APB (Bolivarian Press Agency)  have leaders of the terrorist group FARC arm in arm with Senator Córdoba, who is wearing a matching beret and holding a flower bouquet with a slight smile in her face.
El Observador Solitario [es], in his post titled “Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer” writes about how this decision to have Piedad Córdoba from the opposition sent to discuss the humanitarian exchange, is futile. He supports his theory with two points, mentioning that not only are the FARC´s conditions for the exchange ludicrously high at this point, but that the FARC is currently divided. This agreement would only take place with a fraction of the insurgent organization, and that currently the FARC has the  upper hand now that they've expanded into Venezuela and have found a safe haven there.
According to blogger Víctor Solano, Piedad Córdoba has mentioned that the pictures were taken out of context,  [es] that she had just snatched the beret from one of them as a joke and that she was surprised with the bouquet between her hands.
Ricardo Buitrago [es] writes sharply in his post “Piedad's offensive hug”:
La foto del emotivo abrazo de la senadora Piedad Córdoba con los jefes de las FARC, en su reciente reunión en el palacio Miraflores constituye una nueva bofetada del grupo insurgente, que con la indolencia y permisividad de quienes se proclaman defensores del pueblo, han hecho del dolor de los familiares de la victimas del conflicto y del pueblo colombiano, rey de burlas. No se le podía olvidar a quien abraza efusivamente a los subversivos, que estos fueron los que cometieron el atroz crimen de los 11 diputados, los mismos que han efectuado cualquier cantidad de atentados con numerosas victimas en el país, los que trafican con drogas y los que tienen a numerosas personas retenidas en condiciones de cautiverio infrahumanas.
The photographs of the emotive hug between Senator Piedad Córdoba and the FARC leaders, in their recent meeting in the Miraflores palace [in Venezuela] represents the newest slap in the face from the insurgent group, which with the indolence and permissiveness of those who proclaim themselves defenders of the people, have made the pain of the families of all the victims of the conflict and the Colombian people in general, a laughing matter. She shouldn't have forgotten that she was effusively hugging the subversives, those are the ones who committed the heinous crime of the 11 deputies, the same who have orchestrated countless attacks with numerous victims in the country, those who traffick in drugs and who have held numerous people as hostages in inhumane conditions.
Puerto Rican Nelson del Castillo  in ABP defended the pictures and the gesture they portray in an article titled: Piedad Cordoba´s smile is an antidote to despair. [es]
¡Vaya error de Piedad Córdoba! Sonreír en medio de conversaciones conducentes, esperamos, a la liberación de prisioneros y, además, colocar en su cabeza una boina que posiblemente simboliza la siembra de confianza.
Some, like Víctor Solano in Desnudos (untying knots)  [es] stand on a wary middle ground, waiting to see what happens, and hoping it´ll all be worth it in the end. He writes that the pictures raise his suspicions of Cordoba's work with Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez and the FARC. Nevertheless, they are the only concrete actions that have been taken to reach the humanitarian exchange which would allow hostages to return to their homes and it is up to Senator Piedad Córdoba to prove that all this fraternization with Chavez and las FARC will be conducive to firm actions.Víctor closes his separate article in ¿Comunicación? [es]  with the following phrase:
Si Córdoba quiere fortalecer su gestión debe tener claro que comunica tanto lo que dice como lo que no dice; lo que muestra como lo que esconde.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Dominica: Cost of Living  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Living Dominica thinks that the island has some of the highest prices in the Caribbean.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Egypt: Those People · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

The Egyptian blogger Ohod writes here some short stories about people whom he have met in his childhood and how life changed them when they grew up.
He starts with Akram:
كان أكرم هو أول ملحد تراه عيني ، فبينما كنت في الصف الثاني الإعدادي زاملني في الفصل ، أظنني حينها كنت في الثانية عشرة ، و كان يكبرني بعام ، زرت بيتهم مرة ، و وجدت لديه مكتبة كبيرة ، كانت تخص أباه الذي لم أدرك مهنته ، و أعطاني رواية لاحسان عبد القدوس . كنا لا نقرأ سوى الروايات حينها. و أطعمني جبنا أبيضا من دمياط بلده الأصلي ، و خبزا ساخناً.
بعد أسبوع كنا في المدرسة في حصة الألعاب ، وجدت زحاما حول مكرم ، عدوت نحو الزحام لأشاهد ، وجدته يلعب الكرة ، و لكنه استخدم مصحفا صغيرا جلديا من النوع الذي يغلق بسَحّاب.
كان يقوم بذلك مع صديق له آخر ، كان الأولاد و البنات يشاهدون في فتور ، أو ضحك مكتوم ، أما أنا فقد كنت لازلت ذلك الفتى الذي ورد حديثا من بلاد النفط ، فثرت و اغتظت و ثارت حميتي الدينية ، قطعت علاقتي بأكرم . ترفعت تماما عن محادثته بكثير من الفوقية ، و لم نتكلم لعام حتى تركت أنا المدرسة.
علمت السنة الماضية من صديق قديم قابلته صدفة أن أكرم قد أطال لحيته منذ أعوام ، و أن له نشاط و تحركات مع اتجاه اسلامي ما ، و أنه تنازل عن مكتبته كلها لصديق قديم بعد وفاة أبيه
Akram was the first atheist I saw in my life as he was in the same class with me in preparatory school. I guess I was 12 years old then, and he was about one year older. I went to visit him at home once, where I found many books, which were owned by his father, whose profession I didn't know. He then gave me a novel written by Ehsan Abdel Quddos. We then used to read nothing but novels. We ate Damyetan white cheese, as he was originally from Damietta, and bread.
A week later, we were in school where I found a big crowd gathering around Akram. I went to see what's going on, and I found him playing football with another boy, but he was using The Quraan instead of the ball. The other students where just watching or even laughing. But I was just back from the Land of Petroleum (Gulf Countries), so I went mad and ended my relationship with him. I didn't talk to him any more till both of us left the school.
Last year I heard from an old friend, that Akram had grown a beard some years ago and that he is an active member in some Islamic Movement, and that he gave all his father books to a friend of his after his father died.
He then introduces us to a girl called Rehab.
كانت من فلسطين ، تسير في المدرسة بالحطة التقليدية على كتفها طوال الوقت ، كانت شديدة الفتنة و النضج ، طويلة ممشوقة كعارضة، ليست طفلة مثل الزميلات الأخريات. لم أعرف سنها ، فلم تكن لتحادثني أبدا.
كنت كثيرا ما أستمع من العديدين حول سلوكها الإباحي ، و ألفاظها الخارجة ، و علاقاتها المتعددة مع شباب المدرسة الأكبر.
حتى أتى اليوم الذي كنت ألعب الكرة في حوش المدرسة ، و طارت الكرة بعيدا لتسقط في مكان قصي في المدرسة ، جريت خلف الكرة ، و التقطتها ، و بينما أدور عائدا للعب شاهدت لأول مرة رحاب – في ذلك المكان القصي – جاثمة على ركبتيها و هي تلعق قضيب “صادق” ، أحد الزملاء.
و كانت هذه هي أول معرفتي بهذا التقليد الجنسي ، و أنا بعد ابن ١١ عاما ممسكا بكرة مهترئة ، و أتصبب عرقا.
شاهداني ، رفعت رأسها و نظرت نحوي .. ارتبكت أنا بشدة – كان فمها مبللا و شفتاها منفرجتان – عدوت نحو الحوش و أكملت اللعب ، و لم أخبر أحدا بما رأيت.
بعد سنوات كثر ، سمعت عن رحاب قصتين ، و كلاهما مؤكدتان بشدة ممن شاركوا فيهما، و تنتهيان نفس النهاية ، الأولى أنها عرفت طريق الفضيلة و ارتدت الحجاب ، و أخذت في نصح فتيات المدرسة لارتدائه ، و أصبحت من أشهر فتيات المدرسة خلقا و علما ، ثم رحلت عن مصر بعد عام لأهلها في الضفة.
أما الثانية ، فإنها لم تترك طريق الإنحلال ، و كانت لها علاقات مع فتيان و فتيات ، و أنها لم تكن تتحرج من إقامة علاقات ثنائية و ثلاثية في الفراش ، إلى أن ذاعت شهرتها بشدة ، و احتجزت لليلة في القسم ، فآثرت الرحيل عن مصر بعد عام لأهلها في الضفة.
She was from Palestine, and used to put on the traditional Palestinian scarf while in school. She was so attractive and mature, tall like models and not childish like my other school mates. I never knew her real age as she never talked to me.
I used to hear many rumours about her erotic behaviour, impolite words, and her relations with many older boy students in the school. One day, while I was playing football in the playground, and the ball bounced away. I ran after the ball to get it, and while I was turning to get back, I saw her kneeling on her knees licking Sadek's (a school boy) privates. It was the first time to learn about oral sex – an 11 year old holding a football in his hands and sweating.
They saw me, and she gave me that look that confused me so much – her mouth was still wet and her lips were wide open – I ran back towards the playground and continued playing and never told any body about what I saw.
Many years later I heard two stories about her, and both of them were confirmed by the ones who told them to me, and they both had the same end. The first story was that she became virtuous, put on the Islamic veil (Hijab) and started preaching other school girls. She became one of the most well known students by her virtue and chastity, and one year later she left Egypt back to her motherland in Palestine. However, the other story was that she never quit her deviated and immoral life, and she continued having relations with other boys and girls. Her reputation was tarnished and was put in jail for one night and then she decided to leave Egypt back and return to her family in West Bank in Palestine.
And the final story here is about Derendawy.
عندما أقرأ عن عبقرية موتسارت ، لا أتعجب كثيرا ، فلقد عرفت في طفولتي و مراهقتي معجزة مشابهة ، كان الدرناوي ، طفل من أسرة راقية في هليوبوليس ، يعزف ستة آلات باحتراف ، و صاحب أفضل قدرة علي التحليل الموسيقي شاهدتها ، و لم يدرس الموسيقى أبدا ، علم نفسه القراءة الصولفائية و التدوين و الهرمنة ، و هو ابن ١٣ عاما ، بلا كمبيوتر أو انترنت ، فقط كتب عديدة مصورة من مكتبة السفارة الامريكية ، كان ذو قدرة مدهشة على عزف أية أغنية يسمعها بكافة تآلفاتها الهارمونية ، أي تتابع الدوائر في التوزيع و خطوط الآلات ، و ليس اللحن الاساسي فقط.
و أذكر أنه كان يعزف كافة خطوط مقدمة أغنية “سپانش كراڤان” للدورز و كأنه فرقة كاملة ، علما بصعوبة المحتوى الكونرابنطي و الهارموني لها بالنسبة لطفل (أو بالغ) . و ربما يكون المواطن الوحيد الذي كان يحفظ مؤلفات باخ سماعيا ، و يؤديها كعازف بيانو عتيد.
درناوي كان ضحية أزمة عائلية و انفصال في الاسرة ، و رغم ظروفه المادية المتيسرة إلا أنه راح عرضة لاكتئاب شديد ، و قضى أشهرا يعزف الموسيقى وحيدا في غرفته المظلمة ، حتى أقنعته بالخروج ، و الانضمام للاصدقاء. و لكنه لم يستمر كثيرا.
أسر لي بعد عام أنه يحب فتاة ما ، كنت أعرفها ، و أعرف أنها تحب شخصا آخر .
أخبرته ، فازداد سوداوية ، و عندما اشرف على الخامسة عشرة كان مدخنا محترفا لكافة أنواع المخدرات.
و كان يدخن المخدرات منذ بداية يومه بلا انقطاع.
قابلته بعد ٤ سنوات ، لاحظت تركيزه قد ضعف جدا ، و أن يده ترتعش، بدون أن أسأل عرفت أنه هجر الموسيقى.
أما الفتاة التي أحبها سِرّا لسنوات ، تركت حبيبها الكلاسيكي لاحقاً – ذلك الذي حسده برماوي لسنوات – ، ثم تزوجت شابا اسطوريا في غضون أشهر ، و لم تصبح أي شيء يذكر .
هو قد سألني عنها في لقائنا الأخير.
أخبرته أنها تنتظر مولودا.
When I used to hear about Mozart as a genius, I was never astonished, and I met a similar miracle in my childhood. Derendawy was from a classy family in Heliopolis. He used to play six musical instruments professionally. He had the best ability in analysing music I have ever seen. He didn't study music, but he self-taught himself music notes and harmony, while he was still 13 years old and without access to the computer or Internet and just by reading a few books from the American Embassy library. He had incredible abilities to play any music he listens to.
Derendawy was a victim of his parents’ divorce, and despite his luxurious life he had severe depression and spent many months just playing music alone in a dark room. I then convinced him to go out and join our friends but it didn't last for a long time.
He once told me that he used to love some girl, whom I knew, and I knew that she was in love with someone else.
And when I told him about this, he became more desperate, and by the age of 15 years he was used to smoking the different kinds of drugs continuously.
I met him FOUR years later, but his concentration was so distracted, and his hands were shaking and I knew that he quit playing music even without the need to ask him.
And the girl he used to love, has left her old lover later on – the one whom Derendawy used to envy so much – and married another gigolo guy after few months.
He asked me about her when we met lately, and I told him that she is expecting a baby.
Ohod then comments on those stories. He notes:
أتعجب كيف تعكس قصصا بسيطة كهذه ، عوالم كاملة قي تغيرت لغير رجعة.
I wonder how such simple stories as these can change our entire world totally.

author: Tarek Amr


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Fiji: Hindi and Fijian for Children · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Babasiga likes the idea of schoolchildren learning Fijian and Hindi, the languages of the two ethnic groups in Fiji but wants kids to learn local dialects too.

author: Preetam Rai


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Georgia: Politicians Speak · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

TOL Georgia posts a collection of quotes from various political figures commenting on the recent unrest and clashes in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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India: Neglected Cemeteries · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

My Himachal on neglected cemeteries in Shimla, many of them them from the British Raj era.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India: One year of India · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Returned to Bangalore, India reflects on being back in the country for a year now.


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Iran: Ahmad Morshedloo’s images of people · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Thanks to View from Iran,we get information on  Ahmad Morshedloo's art and his images of people.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: Arrest and Destruction · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

The Iranian government has continued its policy of repression against women's rights activists and Sufi Muslims in recent weeks. Maryam Hosseinkhah, a women’s rights activist and journalist was arrested a few days ago, and a Sufi Muslims’ Center was destroyed by security forces about one week ago.
Target: Women’s rights activists
Maryam Hossienkhah is a member of the Women’s Cultural Center. She is an active member of the One Million Signatures Campaign. She was arrested only a few days after the website of the Women's Cultural Center was shut down on the order of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and the Judiciary.
Change for Equality writes on November 17:
“She was interrogated for over 2 hours on Saturday and told that she is charged with disruption of public opinion, propaganda against the state, and publication of lies through the publication of untrue news items on the site of the Women’s Cultural Center and the One Million Signatures signature campaign.
Change for Equality says the arrest of Maryam Hosseinkhah marks the continuation of increased harassment of women’s rights activists by Iranian security forces. To date, over 40 individuals have been arrested in relation to their peaceful activities in support of the Campaign
Negarka says [Fa]: “Free Maryam Hosseinkhah, she is a brave girl who just wrote for the freedom, justice and glory of her country.”
Farideh Gheyrat, a jurist, argues [Fa] that her arrest is illegal. Shirin Ebadi, a Noble Peace laureate, is one of her lawyers.
Islamic Republic vs Sufi Muslims
Women's rights activists are not the only recent target of government. Sufi Muslims (Dervishes) had a Center attacked and destroyed last week.
Mohammad Ali Abtahi, former reformist Iranian vice president, says [fa]:
In the difficult political, economic and international situation the country is experiencing, there was a row with Sufis in Boroojerd and their house of worship was destroyed. Sufis trying to defend their house of worship started fighting back as well. Meanwhile the house of worship was destroyed. A similar event occurred in Qom.
Azad Nevis says[Fa] the government’s reason to repress Sufism is not related to their ideology or religion. The blogger says the Iranian government represses whenever a group of people can organize themselves and have a leader.


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Iraq: Emails from Readers · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Neurotic Iraqi Wife posts emails she has received from readers in this post.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Iraq: Honour and Pride  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Konfused Kid discusses the concepts of honour and pride in a translation of an Iraqi song.


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Jamaica: A Man’s Man? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Marlon James writes a Top Ten list of the types of men men hate.


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Japan: Buzzwords 2007 · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Edo from Pink Tentacle blogs 60 buzzwords which has been nominated as Japanese buzzword of the year (2007) by local publishers. Among the 60 nominees, a panel of judges will select the top 10.


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Japan: Introduction to the Social Web in Japanese · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Blogger Akimoto recommends a new book about social networking [ja] by Japanese writer/translator Namerikawa Umihiko (who blogs at Social Web Rambling [ja]). The title of the book is Introduction to the Social Web (ソーシャル・ウェブ入門) and, according to Akimoto, it is easy to read even for beginners.

author: Chris Salzberg


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Japan: Joi Ito on the Tokyo Metro · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Joi Ito ponders about “train accident” suicides in Japan in a post entitled Life and death on the Tokyo metro.


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Japan: Panties Pulling Game · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lee from Tokyo Times blogs about the panties pulling game.


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Jordan: Lessons from the Elections · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Shifaa, from Jordan, brings us  the lessons learned and implications of the parliamentary elections held this week. The good news is that a woman won a seat without resorting to the women’s quota.


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Jordan: New PM  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Ammon is reporting that Marouf Bakhit has resigned his office, and that the king is planning on naming the current chief commissioner of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone, Nader Dahabi, in his place, reports Jordanian blogger Khalaf.


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Kuwait: Book Fair Visit · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Kuwaiti blogger Forza visits the bookfair and posts some pictures here.


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Kyrgyzstan: Transgender Remembrance Day in Bishkek · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

GenderStan reports that Bishkek activists, mostly lesbian, bisexual women and transgender people gathered at the central Ala-Too square in the capital of Kyrgyzstan to honor those transgender people who were killed in hate crimes.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Mozambique: Registration period is postponed · Global Voices
Paula Góes

The voter registration period which began on September 24 will not finish tomorrow, November 22, as planned. According to Moçambique para Todos [pt], “The registration has been postponed until December 15 this year, after which there will be a break for Christmas, Family Day and New Year's Celebrations, and work will then resume in mid January”. Mozambican President Armando Guebuza issued yesterday a decree revoking the date of 16 January for the first elections to Provincial Assemblies.

author: Paula Góes


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Myanmar: Rapper Arrested · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Rapper arrested for displaying a religious tattoo at a concert and the crowd riots.


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Myanmar: Reliable News · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Jotman writes “In Burma your only reliable sources of information are electronic.”


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New Zealand: Electoral Finance Bill · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The bloggers at Pacific Empire are protesting the Electoral Finance Bill. They feel that the bill will limit their freedom of speech.


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Pakistan: Protest at Punjab University · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

More updates on student protests against the actions of a specific political body at the Punjab University at Metroblogging Lahore.


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Palestine: Patient’s Plight · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah posts a video highlighting the plight of Palestinian patients, who cannot seek treatment abroad because of the closure of borders. Medicine supplies are also running out.


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Russia: Kadyrov’s Politics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Window on Eurasia cites an expert's opinion on Ramzan Kadyrov: “‘As a systemic separatist’ – this often-used term refers to those in Russia now who seek de facto independence but claim to be loyal to Moscow – ‘Kadyrov has forced Russia to make remarkable concessions.’ Indeed, Tsyganok argues, the current Chechen leader has already ‘achieved a great deal more than General Dudayev’.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: Muslim Neighborhoods · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

According to Window on Eurasia, some Russian comedians are among those who have reacted to the news of the formation of a Muslim neighborhood in Moscow: “In a bow to the classic British film ‘Passport to Pimlico,’ comedians at a nightclub in Moscow now joke that ‘this morning Southern Butovo seceded from Russia,’ a crack that a leader of the pro-Kremlin United Russia Party says is no laughing matter.”


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Russia: Playing Monopoly · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A short note on playing Monopoly in the former Soviet Union and Russia, at Robert Amsterdam's blog.


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Russia: Pre-Election “Excesses” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean Guillory “can’t help chuckle at the Putin and United Russia’s excesses.”


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Russia: Two-Party Duma? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

According to Siberian Light, it appears as if Russia is on the way to a two-party Duma: “However, depressingly, only two of the ‘major’ parties are likely to scrape together the seven percent of votes needed to gain any seats in the Duma – United Russia, and Communist Party of the Russian Federation.”


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Serbia: Kosovo Predictions · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Fistful of Euros is making predictions: “Kosovo will get some sort of independence, Belgrade and Moscow will cry foul, there will be a certain amount of huffing and puffing… and then, not much. The borders will stay open; the lights will stay on. The medium-term effect will be to create a sort of Balkan Taiwan, recognized by some states but not by others.”


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South Korea: Arrested for Calling Police · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michael Hurt blogs in detail how he got arrested by police because he called up the police to report on a street harassment by a drunken man.


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Sri Lanka: Media and Politics · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Lanka Rising on the connections between media and politics. “Media is no longer playing mere supporting role for democracy, but it has become key influential entity supporting marketing campaigns for political parties.”


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Tajikistan: Blast in the Dushanbe – Plot or Not? · Global Voices
Vadim Sadonshoev

Last week the bomb explosion frightened the whole population of Tajikistan, killing one person. As Josh Foust of Registan reports, early in the morning – at around 8 a.m., Dushanbe time, a poor street cleaner picked up a plastic bag, which exploded in his hands. It happened near the administrative venue “Kohi Vahdat”, not far from the Presidential Palace. “Kohi Vahdat” is a popular place for holding big conferences, including international ones. It is also close to the Uzbek embassy, commercial First MicroFinance Bank, prestigious Hotel Avesto and some other important buildings, but the people's attention was focused solely on the President's Palace.
As usually, the person killed by the blast supposed to have no links to the bomb itself. If it happened one hour later, the number of victims would have been higher, mostly comprised by the participants of the Regional Meeting for Environmental Risk Reduction in Central Asia, organized by the European Commission. The event was moved to another venue, but already in the afternoon the participants – representatives of international organizations and higher state officials – got back to “Kohi Vahdat” after the police finished the on-site investigation. Some experts assume that the bomb could have been addressed to the governmental officials and, more likely, to Prime Minister Okil Okilov.
Most of the news agencies reported that this explosion happened “somewhere close to Presidential Palace” without mentioning the exact place, somehow implying that the bomb was prepared for a particular person. Ian from Beyond the River made a translation of Rama’s post from neweurasia:
Dushanbe is a relatively peaceful city… Who would need to destabilize the situation in the country? Islamists, who are being kept down? Opposition, which doesn’t really even exist? I don’t think so. None of them would have taken such a stupid step. Maybe it’s a political game – a technique to restrain dissatisfaction of the popuilation? It’s highly possible. Tajikistan today is experiencing an unstoppable rise in prices for food products and an unprecedented bounce of inflation (12.4 per cent). That’s why it could be necessary to distract the people and the press from real problems by organizing a so-called “terror attack”.
Later on Ian updated his post by adding a link to Eurasianet article and taking a quote.
“Any authoritarian ruler needs an external threat. It’s always nice when there is an insidious enemy.”
–Alexei Malashenko, Carnegie Center Moscow
On the next day after the explosion I wrote  another post about another blast threat, which later appeared to be a training. The police wanted to test the security awareness of the population. In this regard, Ataman Rakin comments that the bomb explosion in Dushnbe was just a…
…‘let’s-scare-the-stupid-foreigners-so-that-we-can-sell-our-terrorism-problem’ performance.
Same with those who tried to put Saipov’s murder on the Hizb-ut-Tahrir recently. An EU conference is a soft target, contrary to U.S. facilities who are more heavily guarded. A friend who was on the site just after the supposed ‘terakt’ [terror attack] saw neither a corpse nor blood of the floor.
Nikita Smekaev from the Moskovskiy Komsomolets Blog links to one of the Russian websites, where Alexei Vlasov, Deputy Head of the History Department at the Moscow State University, said:
“The explosion in Dushanbe shows a bundle of contradictions. A week ago it was reported that Tajik president Emomali Rahmon is ill, as if for several weeks he was on treatment in a hospital in some Western country. This explosion can be put in one line with the recent assassination attempt against the Minister of Defense. The blast, defined as a terror attack, can be a consequence of internal discord in the Rahmon’s team concerning the issue of his successor”.
An author from Coffee with Mark Towhey thinks that this kind of explosions happen more often in London than in Dushanbe:
“The fact is that this type of explosion is extremely unusual for Dushanbe. Frankly, it happens more often in London than here. What’s very interesting about this bomb, and the few others that have happened over the years (from what my colleagues have told me) is that, although the government is very quick to pin them on “Islamist terrorists”, no group ever claims credit.  Although it would be hard for such a group to claim credit in a Tajik newspaper — they are not exactly icons to journalistic freedom — it would be dead easy to drop an email to BBC or Reuters.

author: Vadim Sadonshoev


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Trinidad & Tobago: Crime Talk  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“These men choose words that are meant to convince the population that crime is being handled effectively, yet the results show the opposite”: Jumbie's Watch thinks that the people in charge combating crime in Trinidad and Tobago are “flapping lips” and “bumping gums”.


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UAE: 70 Per Cent Increase in Salaries · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Kuwaiti blogger Bo7amo0od (Ar) announces that the UAE will increase the salaries of all its government employees by 70 per cent beginning next year.


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Ukraine: Holodomor Opinion Poll · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes translates a newspaper story on a Holodomor opinion poll results: “The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians in all regions are convinced that the Holodomor [famine] of 1932-1933 was caused by the actions of the authorities.”


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Ukraine: Multiple Disasters · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Orange Ukraine posts a “Multiple Disaster Update” that covers Chernobyl, Kerch oil spill and the coal mine tragedy, and writes separately about the coalition-building and speaker-nominating “mess and disaster.”


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Ukraine: Orange Coalition Not Likely? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Taras Kuzio lists reasons why the Orange coalition is unlikely to take place: “Yuriy Lutsenko is openly attacking Viktor Baloga, Ivan Pliushch is openly saying he will only support a grand coalition and BYuT are demanding that President Viktor Yushchenko finally outline his view on the coalition. Yushchenko meanwhile (just like after the 2006 elections) is silent.”


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Ukraine: Reflections on Charity Tennis Tournament · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Michelle Knisley of Scenes from the Sidewalk writes on what the recent charity tennis tournament meant to her personally and to the homeless kids in Kyiv.


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Uzbekistan: Amir Temur’s Cult Cultivated · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Michael Hancock reviews the book “Amir Temur in World History”, published in Uzbekistan in 1996. Mistifications substitute the real historical facts in this book, he says, and does not recommend to buy it – except as an oddity.


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Armenia: Responsible Politics · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Following the return of the first and former president, Levon Ter Petrosian, to the political stage in Armenia, the Armenian Libertarian-Socialist Movement says that to make amends for past misdeeds he should eventually back out and support another opposition politician's candidacy for next year's presidential election.


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Armenia: World Bank Corruption Allegations · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Oneworld Multimedia reports that although the mainstream media in Armenia are covering allegations of corruption in World Bank projects in the country, it was blogs that broke the news months before any newspaper or online publication.


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Bangladesh: On Foreign Aid · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

At the Bangladesh LiveJournal community, an author reflects on why the country is so dependent on foreign aid, especially in the context of providing relief for the victims of Cyclone Sidr.


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Belize: Flight Ban  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Back to Living in Paradise reports that a civil aviation ban barring two of Belize's airlines from flying into Guatemala has been having far-ranging effects: “While the airlines have been forced to refund fares…the biggest loser has been the tourist industry in Peten which has been deprived of around thirty visitors per day…”


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Bermuda: Political Season  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“May be we should hold an election every year as it would appear that’s the only time when anything gets done, or the public is actually listened to,” writes IMHO.bm, while Politics.bm has some advice for Bermudan politicians on how not to canvass.


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Brazil: Interview with a thought provoking filmmaker · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Moviola Digital [pt] publishes an interview with a thought provoking Brazilian filmmaker, Claudio Assis, director of Mango Yellow. “Although he is still working on his second feature film, he has shown that the underline of his work is to make  films with a strong social criticism”. Assis was interviewed by Fernanda Castro e Rafael Carvalho.


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Brazil: Open source software for all · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Sérgio Amadeu [pt] blogs about a draft for a law that guarantees public funding for open source software, which aims to ensure that 20% of the Information Technology Fund be applied in the production of open technologies by universities, technological institutes, research centres, cooperatives and community of developers. “This had been widely discussed on the Internet before it was presented in the National Congress”.


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Brazil: Proeminent leader has gone missing · Global Voices
Paula Góes

It has been seven nearly 10 days since João Batista, president of Association of Rural Producers of Jutaí-Amazonas, has gone missing. He is a forefront leader for local social and environmental movements and the community fears that he could have been murdered. Anthropologist Mary Allegretti [pt] publishes an open letter to help to spread the news.


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Cape Verde: We are Africans · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Obikuelu Pedra [pt] is not happy to hear on the Radio that Cape Verde is not part of Africa: “What a crazy idea to think that Cape Verde's culture is different from the one of Guinea Bissau and therefore we are not part of Africa. Come on!”


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Caribbean: Giving Thanks  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Thanksgiving may be a traditionally North American holiday – but more and more, the Caribbean seems to be taking notice.  Whether it has to do with the large Caribbean communities transplanted in North American cities, the smaller community of North Americans who make their home across the Caribbean archipelago, or the fact that saying “thank you” just seems to be a great reason for a holiday, many regional bloggers have been paying a warm West Indian tribute to Thanksgiving…
Bryan Morris, a blogger from Aruba, admits that Thanksgiving “is not such a big celebration here”, but goes on to make the point that…
Tourism is by far the biggest industry here on Aruba and the Americans (Thank You!) make up the largest percentage of tourists…so thanksgiving is still celebrated  to some extent.
On the other hand, Puerto Rico, which is a US territory, does celebrate the holiday – and Dondequiera takes the opportunity to list a few things he thinks his fellow Puerto-Ricans should be thankful for:
Give thanks that you live in a place with wonderful weather year round, with sandy beaches, blue water, and tropical breezes. It makes the rest bearable.
Give thanks that you live in a place where we have a “real” vote, the right to disagree with the Government, and to practice any religion (or not to practice) we see fit. Far too many people in the World have none of these rights.
Babalu Blog is convinced that “Thanksgivings are perhaps the truest proof of our Cuban-Americaness:
On the fourth Thursday of every November we have on our tables what we, as Cuban-Americans (or Americans of Cuban descent if you prefer), have in our daily lives: the best of both worlds.
Pwoje Espwa – Hope in Haiti writes:
It may sound a little strange to you all as you are gathered with family and friends on this Thanksgiving Day to hear that today is just another day here in southern Haiti. No parades, no televised football games, no huge table brimming with scrumptious food and turkey. That’s not to say that we are not grateful.
Belize-y Livin’ believes she has “so much to be thankful for”, and although the occasion is not a public holiday in Barbados, My Barbados Blog says:
We are counting our blessings, taking a much deserved holiday break, and will be back blogging on Monday.
Jamaican blogger Geoffrey Philp pens a Thanksgiving Poem, while Now Is Wow‘s “Thanksgiving” was celebrated soon after the Trinidad and Tobago elections:
I went to the COP Thanksgiving rally at Helping Hands grounds in the Pasea area. It wasn't a jump and wave rally. It was an interfaith event, with various spiritual leaders (Muslim, Hindu, Christian, etc.) each saying a prayer and a few words…I was not moved to feel patriotic about T & T…but I was touched by the genuine sense of togetherness and respect of the people and by the sense of gratitude and determination emitted by those on stage. It was a peaceful, communal, ‘old time feel’ of an evening.
This perhaps lends even greater credence to the words of Dondequiera:
Give thanks to people who exhibit little acts of kindness. It has an interesting effect of rippling throughout society.


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China: Arrested and Beaten for Being a Poor Peasant Worker · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A peasant worker was arrested and beaten by local police in Guangzhou because he was dressed poorly. The story was first posted at hqj's blog and Liu Xiao yuan pointed out that similar cases happen all over China. The poor are not protected in the present system.


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China: Child Labour? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The Opposite End of China criticizes the Congressional Executive Commission on China for putting cotton picking under the child labour section.


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China: Dongbei Tiger Eaten by Other Tigers in the Zoo · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Yao ronggui urges for more attention to the news about a Dongbei Tiger being killed and eaten by other four tigers in the Zoo (zh). Obviously the tigers were very hungry. The blogger also posts the news report video.


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China: Yangcheng Lake’s Hairy Crab · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Imagethief blogs about his recent trip to Yangcheng lake, a place where hairy crab is planted.


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Cuba, USA: Giving Thanks  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Thanksgivings are perhaps the truest proof of our Cuban-Americaness,” writes Babalu Blog: “On the fourth Thursday of every November we have on our tables…the best of both worlds.”


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Egypt: New TV Channel  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“As if we are really in a desperate need for another Music Video Channel !! And it is not like any other channel it is the MTV Channel directed to the Arab world,” writes Zeinobia, from Egypt.


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Georgia: Neo-Bolshevik Propaganda · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Resistance Georgia, an anti-Saakashvili blog, says there are grounds to compare the administration of the Georgian president to the Bolsheviks.


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Grenada: Walking Trees  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Ever heard of trees that can walk?  Free Spirit explains.


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HiperBarrio: Changing Perceptions with Creativity · Global Voices
Rezwan

Rising Voices grantee, the HiperBarrio project, is a great example of how underrepresented communities are increasingly able to tell their stories to the world from distant and remote places. Their success lies in the use of new media tools like blogs, videoblogs, and photoblogs to enable communities to to portray their thoughts and creativity.
Izpapalotl sums up HiperBarrio’s activities up to October. She highlights some of the project achievements to date.
Juliana Rincon reports that the photography workshop on November 10 was different than the previous ones as the participants went out in the open and visited the Carabobo walkway of Medellin to take photographs. Since they have already reached the limit with their HiperBarrio Flickr account their photos were uploaded on a Picasa album.
Galo, a participant, talks about their first encounter with video editing. They used images and videos taken during Cultural Week at the Fe y Alegría School in Santo Domingo. The videos are up on youtube and the images are in Medea´s flickr account.
The picture above is of the pageant participants dressed up with their ball gowns made from recycled materials.
The video shows the pageant participant who secured second place dancing with her partner. She is dancing a tropical medley including Porro, a regional dance popular in Medellin.
A couple of new posts were published in the group blog Convergente.
First the participants vowed to change the perceptions of the La Loma neighborhood in Medellin:
We want to share truths from the Public Library in St. Javier hill with the rest of the world, via the Internet.
The latest post [Es] tells the story of 78-year-old Manuael Salvador, a resident of La Loma who is known as “Suso Mugre”. The blogger talks about his struggles as a garbage scavenger who lives in a dilapidated house. Everybody seems to accept his state without offering to help. The Convergentes participants point out that we sometimes fail to notice our neighbors or people like Suso as become simply another part of the landscape.
HiperBarrio published their first newsletter in October. Their next goal is to arrange a writing workshop and publish a 2 newspaper.

author: Rezwan


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Hong Kong: Street Market Festival  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The last open space wet market in Central Hong Kong is about to vanish because of urban development. Citizen reporter gumpz reports on the recent street market festival for saving the space. He also pointed out that under the existing urban redevelopment plan, with the rise in office and commercial space, the market won't be able to survive, even though the government keeps saying that they would preserve the market (zh).


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India: On Returning · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Mitesh writes on his decision to return to India, after being in the US for a while.


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India: Patriarchy and Mythology · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Days in a Wannabe Punks Life takes a closer look at Hindu mythology, goddesses and the element of overarching patriarchy.


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Iran:Nocturnal hallucination · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kosoof, a leading photo blogger whose photos have been published in international media, has showed nocturnal hallucination in two photos.


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Kazakhstan: Economic Crisis Aftermaths · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

In the aftermath of slight economic and financial crisis, which the government prefers to call a “correction of the market”, the bloggers keep on discussing its consequences.
Sarimov says that the annual Kazakhstan’s Congress of Financiers has been postponed indefinitely. Mr. Saidenov, chairman of the National Bank, explained that the “president gave us his instructions, so the situation is clear, and the tasks given to the banking sector are clear also. No need to discuss them”, he said. An attempt to curtail discussions raises concerns of the blogger. “They are frightened”, he opines, supposing that some kind of political backwash can be expected next year.
Syndikator reflects on the government’s stipulation that the “poverty line” is calculated as 40 per cent of the cost of living. “Apparently, if I fail to earn this 40 per cent of the living wage, I would hardly survive. But is I managed to obtain, say, 43 per cent, I cannot be regarded as a poor man. Dura lex…”
Meanwhile, Wondernews is wondering what were the roots of the recent real estate crisis in Kazakhstan. He listened to one of the forbidden materials – interception of the phone conversations that sporadically appear on the web – the one in which top officials are “collecting” funds for the ruling party’s campaign during the August 2007 parliamentary elections. Among the companies that “donated” money were both of the major construction companies of the country. “Maybe this is the reason of bankruptcy of the mortgage market?” he asks provocatively.
Xxrock analyzes another issue – a government’s crackdown on the illegally built villas in the national parks near the biggest city of Kazakhstan – Almaty. “The conclusion about corruption in the city administrations is an open secret. There is a much more interesting question – all of the facts [when the land was given to the top officials] represent breach of the law and should be prosecuted. But only those officials who pose a threat to the clannish system of power can be brought to court in Kazakhstan”, he says, referring to the prosecutors’ decision not to file criminal cases against those offenders.
Steve LeVine never gets tired to observe developments in the oil sector of the Caspian states, including Kazakhstan. He reports that a fresh concession by Chevron and ExxonMobil is evidence of the shrinking influence of the big oil companies in Kazakhstan: “After years of playing tough guy on the Caspian Sea, the two companies have knuckled under and paid their share of a whopping $309 million environmental fine to the country”, he says. Moreover, he opines that Italy's Eni, negotiating on behalf of many of the world's largest oil companies with Kazakhstan, will try to satisfy the government’s demands and proceed with the development of the giant oil filed Kashagan.
Note: All links lead to posts in Russian, except Steve LeVine's blog.


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Kazakhstan: Gangster Movie Hits Box Office · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

The first Kazakh fully commercial movie – shot, cut and promoted without state support with the purpose to extract money from the box-office – has produced a big debate in the blogosphere. “Racketeer” is a movie about a young sportsman, who had to make money in the 1990s – a period of serious economic depression in Kazakhstan – and in order to do so, he quits university, joins a gang and knocks out money from the businessmen with his own fists.
Adam Kesher says that the movie has hit the box-offices – it was impossible to buy a ticket for three days after the first show. “I don’t think that the people were dying to see our version of many Russian “bandit soap operas”. More likely, a consumer wants to see the domestic films, wants to be proud of it”. He also regrets that the local distributors are not too keen in promoting Kazakh cinematograph. “There is no other way to support the domestic industry. France and South Korea were doing so – and look at their movies now! If distributors are to support only gangster films, the deformation of culture will be inevitable”.
Megakhuimyak is more positive. “I didn’t see the movie yet, and I may not like it at all, but I approve the fact of its appearance” he says, meaning the movie as a cultural and social phenomenon. “It’s good that we now have the industry that shoots films for the local consumers, not for the festival jury in Venice or elsewhere! It’s good we now have producers who don’t beg the money from the ministry of culture! It’s good that now we will have a new breed of actors, not the nephews, nieces or other types of somebody’s relatives!”, he says.
Sarimov has got a whole bunch of thoughts about the Kazakhstani cinematograph in general — after the discussion, which mostly took place in the abovementioned LiveJournals. “I’ve analyzed the films made in Kazakhstan over the past 10 years. It’s mostly an introspection, a self-reflection. Most of the topics are tied to aul [rural] thematique. Five recent films end up with the main character leaving the country – it’s an alarming signal, taking into account that the artists feel the reality more emotionally. The Nomad-type films are not the movies, but a pure propaganda. And we have some new and good social dramas”, he concludes with a sign of optimism.
Note: All links lead to posts in Russian.


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Kazakhstan: New Blog Studies Competitiveness · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Adam Kesher presents new blog project, launched by a newly established think-tank that is going to research Kazakhstan's competitiveness issues.


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Kyrgyzstan: Election Thresholds Debated · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

The Azamat Report says that Kyrgyzstan is buzzing with discussions of the 5% and 0.5% thresholds for the parliamentary elections. Because of the ambiguous wording of the Elections Code, it was unclear how these thresholds to be calculated.


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Kyrgyzstan: The Kyrgyzs Vote in Moscow · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Asel writes that the Kyrgyz citizens living in Moscow will vote on the markets, as polling stations will be organized in the areas most densely populated by migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan. Asel is concerned that setting up additional polling stations along market rows could lead to falsification of voting results.


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Lebanon: Becoming a Successful Politician  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese blogger Life Flaw suggests ways of becoming a successful politician in Lebanon. “If you are not a fortunate son of a… leader, you need to find an alternative way to make your way in the swamp of politics. A very efficient way is to buy it!!!” he explains.


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Lebanon: Introducing Yamli.com · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese blogger m. introduces us to a new site, developed by Lebanese programmers. Yamli  enables you to search the Arabic website, using English fonts.


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Lebanon: You Are Interfering  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“After a publicly open back and forth discussion between the U.S. of A. and Syria, each, blaming the other for interfering in the Lebanese presidential elections; I see no room for me to take sides. In fact I feel the US and Syria are both interfering in Lebanese affairs,” notes The Lebanese Inner Circle.


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Macedonia, Greece: FYROM · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Edward Lucas shares his piece on Greece's problems with a neighboring country also known as FYROM.


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Mozambique: Tribute to Ian Smith · Global Voices
Paula Góes

“Ian Smith died today at the age of 88 in Cape Town. The man who fought the English over the independence of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). For he is a true African Hero (there are also blond Africans!), we celebrate the man who still young went to Europe to fight Hitler and Nazism, and who, on returning to Rhodesia, contributed remarkably to transform his home country in one of the most developed in the whole of Africa”. Mozambique Para Todos reports [pt].


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Nepal: We need elections! · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

But for the Maoists, Nepal would have been voting today. United We Blog! urges that new election dates need to be announced soon.


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Russia: “Dirty Tricks” and Opinion Polls · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ten day to go before the Russian Duma election, and here is the third quick blogosphere roundup (the first one is here, the second one – here).
Dmitri Minaev of De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis reports on the “dirty tricks” used in this year's campaign. Here is one:
I was told yesterday of new leaflets posted on the walls in one of the districts of Samara. The text was like this: “Dear citizens, the Union of the Rightist Forces (SPS) informs you that we have asked AIDS-infected people to participate in our campaign to disseminate printed materials and to participate in the public opinion polls as interviewers. Please, be tolerant towards them.”
Considering the AIDS-phobia, imagine the reaction of the average people when an SPS interviewer would knock their doors… I've never heard of such tricks before.
And here are a few more, from Dmitri's rather comprehensive follow-up post:
[…] In St.Petersburg, the city officials campaign for the pro-Putin Yedinaya Rossiya (United Russia) even in churches. When the activists of Fair Russia asked about 10,000 citizens of St.Petersburg whether they felt any kind of pressure from the officials demanding them to vote for United Russia, 35% said yes, and 32% more said that they heard such stories from their friends or relatives. In Mozhaisky Military Academy the students are informed that their future job will depend on who they vote for. Workers of kindergardens report that the officials oblige them to participate in advance voting and to fill the election bulletins at work, in the presence of the superiors. The Vaileostrovsky regional health service offices demand the physicians to carry on propaganda for the United Russia. The local administration of Kalininsky district threatened to fire the school teachers who will not vote for the UR.
The director-manager of the “Siberian Coal Energy Company” Alexander Loginov received the following letter from the Kemerovo regional office of the United Russia:
“Your refusal to financially aid the the regional office of United Russia in the election campaign to the 5th State Duma is considered as a refusal to support President V. V. Putin and his creative policy.
I feel obliged to inform the President's Administration and the Governor of Kemerovo region on your position.”
The letter is written on the official blank of United Russia, has the signature of the regional party leader, the official stamp and the registration number. […]
This last item has been the subject of discussion on other blogs, too.
La Russophobe provides the translation of the letter – as well as one Russian blogger's commentary (LJ user sergeyhudiev):
I don’t know whether V.V. Putin would be pleased to have his name used as part of a racketeering/”ironing” enterprise. Perhaps he would not be pleased – judging from his comments about “impostors” (prokhodimtsi). This is, however, an unavoidable consequence of his cult of personality – this is the identity the impostors will use for their fraudulent ends. And it is for this purpose that a cult is established.
TOL's Elections in Russia offers more details on the letter scandal:
[…] It turns out that the executive director of the Siberian coal company, Alexander Loginov, has worked in the coal mines all his life and is a traditional supporter of the left wing parties. […]
Siberian Light reports that, judging by the results of Levada Center's opinion poll, “only two of the ‘major’ parties are likely to scrape together the seven percent of votes needed to gain any seats in the Duma – United Russia, and Communist Party of the Russian Federation.”
LJ user drugoi, a top-ranking Russian blogger, has conducted a poll of his own (RUS) on his blog – and the results are quite different.
If the Russian electorate was comprised of bloggers reading drugoi‘s journal, then three parties out of eleven would make it into the next Duma – SPS/Union of Right Forces (15.9% – 892 votes), Yabloko (8.6% – 484 votes), and Vladimir Putin's United Russia (7.0% – 391 votes). Although the Communists aren't among these three, they are really close, just two votes behind the United Russia: 6.9% – 389 votes.
The percentage figures in drugoi‘s poll are, of course, misleading – primarily because bloggers who are going to skip the vote altogether (31.2% – 1755 votes) or to spoil their ballot (18.1% – 1017 votes) are counted along with those who plan to cast their votes for a certain party.
But, as LJ user turchanovo wrote in a comment, “any sample is representative. What matters is what exactly it is representative of.”
Overall, this polling post by drugoi has received nearly 600 comments (RUS), and below are a couple of them:
obrut_mra:
Internet audience is the most passive. “I will not go to the polling station” means that the government will be chosen for you by your grandmother – who has been instructed by the TV who the right candidate is. […]
***
norlink:
It'd be interesting to conduct this kind of an opinion poll – “Among your acquaintances, is there one person who is voting for [the United Russia]?”, “Are there two people…?”, et cetera.
chernovv:
Why get yourself disappointed in people? :)
***
kociak:
Isn't there an “against all” option at the Duma election?
drugoi:
Not anymore.
kociak:
No wonder I've a feeling that something's missing! :)
kociak:
P.S. I hope they'll at least keep this option at the presidential election?
hedyn:
They've canceled it everywhere.
[…]
agent_008:
Soon there'll be a “FOR EVERYONE!” voting option :)


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Russia: Euro 2008 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Siberian Light writes on how Croatia has helped Russia to get into Euro 2008.


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Russia: Putin at Luzhniki · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Mark MacKinnon writes about Vladimir Putin campaigning at Luzhniki.


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Sri Lanka: Arson attack on printing press · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

An arson attack on a printing press in Sri Lanka provoking condemnation from various media organisations . More at Transcurrents.com.


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Tajikistan: Explosion as an Excuse for the Govt · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Vadim links to the Reuters article about possible negative consequences of the bomb explosion in Dushanbe and argues that instability is the last thing that the Tajiks want.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Disconnect?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jumbie's Watch posts “a collection of quotations showing the vast distance between brain and mouth.”


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Trinidad & Tobago, Haiti: Film Screening  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad's Studio Film Club will be screening the Haitian film Ghosts of Cite Soleil.


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Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica: Art in the Everyday  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Thebookmann attends the launch of Jamaica-based artist Roberta Stoddart's exhibition, which “shows a body of work that deals with the subject of discomfort and unseen social obligations.”


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Turkmenistan: Strengthening the Army · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Maciula reports that president of Turkmenistan – the country that sticks to neutrality in foreign affairs – called for continuous strengthening of the army defensive capacity.


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Ukraine: Holodomor Song · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Nash Holos posts a YouTube video of a Ukrainian song dedicated to the Holodomor victims.


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Ukraine: Maidan is 3 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainiana posts photos and video from the third anniversary of the Orange Revolution in Kyiv and criticizes president Yushchenko for not being self-critical enough: “What about our purchasing power? What about our average life expectancy? What about the AIDS epidemic? What about the casualty rate in the mining industry? What about human trafficking? As always, not a shred of self-criticism.”


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Vietnam: Why Preya Loves Vietnam · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Preya on why she loves the Vietnamese capital city Hanoi.


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Arabeyes: Halal Pork? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Islam, like Judaism, bans its adherents from consuming pork. But what happens when rumours about ‘Halal’ or religiously sanctioned pork appear in the market? Here's what some bloggers and participants in an online forum from Bahrain have to say.
Photo from: SubZero Blue
Lebanese blogger Mark, who lives in Kuwait, comments on the product with a one-liner:
Yeah, I don’t think so.
The post has a good 20 comments on it and there are also more comments on an online forum which Mark operates here. One of the readers writes:
Strong oxymoron.
After hearing about the product via Mark's blog, Subzero Blue, from Tunisia, wonders what other food is labelled as Halal.
“Very interesting. Some Australians have managed to find a way to make pork halal for Muslims.
Really great job; given that pork is one of the ultimate non-halal items on earth.
Kind of makes you wonder how halal the other labeled stuff is…” he writes.
The issue was also brought up on Bahrain Online, an Arabic-language forum, from Bahrain.
Readers were torn between those who believed the product was really available in the local markets and those who quickly came up with a ‘logical’ explanation.
Free Writer falls in the latter group and writes:
Araby agrees with Free Writer and adds:
In comparison, another reader laments:


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Argentina: Corruption in Government Spending · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Louis Cyphre of El Opinador Compulsivo [es] writes about the lack of oversight in government spending in Argentina.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Argentina: Lack of Handlebars in Roca Train Line · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Daniel of Usuarios del Ferrocarril Roca [es] shows pictures of the deteriorated condition of some of the handlebars in the local train line in greater Buenos Aires, Argentina.


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Bahamas: Dancing with the Stars?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Ringplay Productions was impressed with the National Dance Company of the Bahamas’ recent performance with the Alvin Ailey Company.


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Bahrain: Losing its identity? · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

This week in Bahrain we have opinions on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit, a blogger's dilemma about whether to have a female friend, another getting stuck between his wife-to-be and her family, a call for more Islamic bloggers, and a fear that Bahrain won't stay Bahraini for much longer…
Manama by night
We start this week with a photo from a new flickr group called Top 20 Bahrain:
Fun and games
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Bahrain briefly earlier this week, and bloggers have differing opinions on the visit and the man himself. Ammar thinks President Ahmadinejad is a fun-loving person:
Our very own favourite party-starter, Ahmadinejad, visited Bahrain yesterday. If you noticed helicopters around, road blocks, or riot police stationed around various areas of Manama yesterday, now you know why.
Anyhow, the Iranian president met with our own King Hamad, and discussed strengthening economic ties between our countries, the current crisis in the Gulf, and kicking out the US from the region.
Now it's this last point I want to focus on; i've always considered Ahmadi as the fun-loving type; he's been known for taunting the US, pushing them to the brink of war, and then backing up and saying all he wants is peace with that huge smile he's well famous for. He's done this numerous times, and it's something a little like watching a comedy show.
Mahmood thinks the president was like Santa Claus:
There must have been quite a run on dental surgeries over the last couple of days which continues today and possibly for a few days to come. The reason is not a sudden national oral hygiene awareness, but a condition borne of gnashed teeth to the point of shattering!
Why I hear you ask? Well, Ahmedinejad was Bahrain’s Santa yesterday. Yes, I know, his timing has always been off a bit, it’s still a few weeks until the presents are opened, but he came bearing very welcome gifts nonetheless, ones that the whole nation – especially the government and business community – has afforded them a huge sigh of relief. Bahrain, no thanks to our familial-tied Qatar, will now have guaranteed access to up to 2 billion cubic feet of gas a day to run its power stations which subsequently will directly shore the burgeoning plethora of energy-hungry projects; hence, one could say that Iran – much to the chagrin of even some parliamentarians and rabid anti-Iran personages – will have a direct hand in Bahrain’s future growth.
Maroon Al Ras has further analysis of the visit here (in Arabic).
Crossing boundaries
It's not just Bahrain; omranx is also making new friends:
i just joined uob [University of Bahrain] and it was kinda cool,
i wasnt use to study with girls in my class lol, at first it was kinda hard but later i got use to ( little )
will anyway after about 2months i guess, i made a friend female friend lol.
at first of the relationship it was hard lol talking to a girl, i never did that before, the relationship was based on friends no more, after 3weeks i guess, we started talking, somtimes calling, u know sh5bar [how are you] bla bla.
there was a guy i know, he was telling me what ur doing is wrong, at first i belived him but later on i thought why its wrong. am not doing anything wrong, first i think i never hard a relationship like this before, i have to get use to cuz later on i will need to make relationships like this so i can live easily lol.
tell me what u think about this.
is it right or wrong?
Which way to turn?
Tito84 explains his absence from blogging – and reveals a dilemma:
Apart from being too busy with work, I have proposed on 2nd of Nov. to get engaged, and thanks to Allah my betrothal was accepted. I was really feeling shy that day and was looking down at my knees all the time. Even when I was offered food, I ate in an irritating slow pattern. The most important thing that everything is all right and I got to relate to the girl of my dreams.
Now here is the surprising part. From the moment I proposed to her, I thought everything ( I mean the party and ملجة preparations) would run as smooth as silk. I thought that you only have to decide where to make the women party and how much would you pay the bride as a marriage portion (مهر).
This wasn’t really the actual scenario. Regardless of the financial expense, I’ve found that many minor details should be taken care of. First you have to go shopping with the bride and her family for dresses, accessories, make-up stuff. Then you have to decide how to decorate the stage where the bride and groom will sit. Also, there are these little boxes where you provide the guest with chocolate. There is also the شبكة Shabka and wedding card decoration.
What makes all this stuff painful and exhausting is that my family are asking me to prepare for it in a certain way. For example, make the invitation cards with this certain decoration, do this , do that etc. While on the other hand, the soon-to-be my wife is asking me to do it in another way. This leaves me stuck in the middle between two radical extremes!
Bahrain's bloggers
Layal is pondering the Bahraini blogosphere, after reading a piece by a local journalist about the apparent divisions amongst bloggers:
Rayyash thinks there should be more Islamic bloggers in Bahrain:
Islam and other faiths
Hayat wonders whether Islam is a religion of tolerance:
Some people will find that just thinking or researching or discussing this subject is an attack on Islam or scepticism about it, and some may decide I am an unbeliever or develop hate for me. Some might say that this reaction (of intolerance) is not a general one amongst all Muslims, and I agree with them. However I see the majority this way, and history and the present bear witness to the fact that Islam has a blood-soaked history because it did not accept others.
Manama by day
We finish with a photo that gives Mohammed AlMaskati pause for thought:
This picture was not taken somewhere in the streets of Mumbai or Hyderabad, nor is this a protest rally in support of Benazir Bhutto against the controversial emergency rule imposed by General Musharraf, sadly those are the streets of Manama, evident only by the Masha’allah sticker seen on the minivan at the bottom right corner.
What’s strange is that there is not a single Bahraini in sight, and what’s even stranger is that each and every single one of those cheap laborers has a job that doesn’t only suffices his expenses, but casually does extend to sending a proportionately large portion of their monthly income to their families back home.
Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way against those people or the nations flooding our markets with cheap labor and have nothing but absolute respect for those hard workers who chose to leave their country, family and friends behind in search for the green buck, let’s not go deep into the economics here and talk about their true effect on our labor market, how about we talk something we can understand and relate to.. The Culture -or what’s left of it at least…
More from Bahrain in a week.

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Bangladesh: Helping victims of the cyclone · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Bangladesh From Our View on how people can help those affected by Cyclone Sidr.


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Bangladesh: The cyclone and the government · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Addafication clarifies the author's viewpoint on the possible political fall out as one of the consequences of Cyclone Sidr.


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Barbados, St. Vincent: Rhodes Scholar · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Underground pays tribute to young Vincentian Robert Luke Browne, the 2008 Rhodes Scholar for the Eastern Caribbean.


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Bermuda: Xenophobia?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A Limey In Bermuda thinks that “some members of the (governing) PLP are wearing their xenophobia as if it were a perfume.”


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Brazil: Bloggers are debate starters · Global Voices
Paula Góes

MLOG [pt] reflects on a piece of news reporting that nearly a third of the debates on the Brazilian internet are started by the blogosphere. “Besides generating arguments, bloggers interfere in consumer's decisions when they quote brands or reveal consumption desire”.


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Brazil: Bogota is the next to host the Campus Party · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Guilherme Felitti [pt] reports that after the first international edition of Campus Party in São Paulo- Brazil this February, the event will be hosted in Bogota, Colombia from 16 through 22 June.


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Brazil: Police demoralization · Global Voices
Paula Góes

PE Body Count [pt] reports on a case that reflects the lack of security in Pernambuco-Brazil. The official car of the Secretary of Social Defense, Servilho Paiva, was stolen. The vehicle was found this morning, but guns belonging to two security guards were stolen. “This seems to be more of a case of demoralization. And, surely, it is”.


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Brazil: Thinking about cybercrime · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Universo Anárquico [pt] looks into Megan Meier's suicide to discuss cybercrime, such as cyberstalking and the use of anonymity to bully and cause psychological or emotional damage to others. She recommends some online safety and help groups and says it is time to take action: “Their purpose is not to prosecute anyone. It is to expose and remove undesirable people that are hiding in anonymity to  harm the others”.


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Brazil: Violence against woman · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Marcelo Tas [pt] compares two recent incidents of violence against women in different parts of the planet. In Abaetetuba, Brazil, a teenager was incarcerated in a cell with 20 male inmates. It had the predicable result, the girl was raped repeatedly. In Saudi Arabia, a girl was found in a car with a male company and was raped by the 7 men who spotted her. “Who is closest to the Middle Ages: Brazil or Saudi Arabia?”.


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Cambodia: Blog Award · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The Open Forum of Cambodia is announcing a blog award.


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Chile: Piñera and His Facebook Page · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Luis Ramirez discovers the Facebook page of Sebastian Piñera [es], a candidate for president in the next Chilean elections.  On his wall, the candidate writes,”I invite you to write your ideas and greetings so that we can have a fluid dialogue via this medium.  For me, this possibility has been a pleasant surprise.”


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China: Golf Culture in University · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Xueyong criticizes the golf culture in China university (zh). The blogger notices that for other countries, students enjoy sports that stresses physical competition, such as footballs and basketball, while golf is a showing off of class status.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Schoolmate Webites · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lui Ren blogs about his experience in a local SNS website called xiaonei.com. There are so far 2000 universities registered in the website. The blogger notices that there are 22,595 Anhui University alumni registered in xiaonei network while the university only has a population of 26,994 (zh).


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China: Signature for Operation · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A pregnant woman was sent to the Beijing hospital. Even though she didn't have any money, the hospital was willing to give a free operation as she and her unborn baby were in a critical condition. However, her husband refused to sign the operation paper, eventually the woman and the baby died at the hospital. Tang Cao from 1510 wondered if there were other ways to prevent the tragedy (zh).


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Costa Rica: The Arrival of China · Global Voices
Roy Rojas

With  high military honors [es], the Costa Rican president and Nobel Peace prize winner Oscar Arias was greeted by China, which is something that may sound ironic for some.  The blog Fusil de Chispas [es] provides pictures and videos of the visit.
What is the significance behind this new political and commercial relationship?  Why did Costa Rica leave 60 years of a political relationship with Taiwan behind in order to start a new one with the Asian commercial Giant, China?  Blogger Roy Rojas of the News Star [es] talks about some of the benefits in the switch.  Some think that the advantages for a country like Costa Rica are many because Taiwan does not compare whatsoever with China in its economic power and international standing. Costa Rica is the only country in the region to have formal political relations with China. [es]
Since the beginning of the relationship, the visits between the two countries have been reciprocated. As Tiquicia reports,  a delegation of Chinese legislators  headed by Jiang Enzhu visited Costa Rica on an official 4-day visit, where they were met by the president of the Legislative Assembly Francisco Antonio Pacheco and by the foreign minister Bruno Stagno.
International blogs have also made reference to this important visit.  The regional blog Nicaragua Hoy [es] wrote about this visit on its main page and transcribed the words of President Arias, who said,
Para las empresas chinas, Costa Rica constituye un mercado sumamente atractivo, no sólo por el nivel de educación de nuestra mano de obra, sino también por el potencial de exportar a los Estados Unidos libre de impuestos.
For Chinese companies, Costa Rica constitutes a very attractive market, not only because of its level of education of its workforce, but because of its potential to export to the United States tax-free.
The words of Arias makes reference to the recent approval of the Free-Trade Agreement with the United States  that was passed by a nationwide referendum.
During the first days of the Chinese visits, a contract to export 150 million dollars worth of Costa Rican shrimp to China was announced, which was followed by a multi-million dollar investment by a Chinese company in the Costa Rican refinery.  The international blog Actualidad [es], which is an Ibero-American Observatory of Asia-Pacific, also wrote about an investment of cellular technology.

author: Roy Rojas


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Cuba: Regional Police Force?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Babalu Blog finds “alarming” the prospect of “a new Latin American and Caribbean regional police force modeled on Interpol.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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D. R. of Congo: Interview with ‘Best Francophone Blogger’ Cédric Kalonji · Global Voices
Fred

It's always heartening to see a good blog make the leap from a niche audience to wider recognition. The major blog awards can certainly make that happen, or at least seal the deal.
Global Voices readers and editors have been paying special attention to the nominations for Deutsche Welle‘s Best of Blogs awards (aka ‘The BoBs’), probably because of their relatively global / multilingual scope and the jury's proven willingness to look for new voices rather than established stars. (Not to mention that Global Voices Online was itself a winner in 2005, and co-sponsored this year's awards.)
Those who worried about how few African blogs had been nominated will be applauding the jury's decision to give 2007's Best Blog in French award to Cédric Kalonji, from the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Here is my description of his blog in a round-up for Global Voices in July: ‘Probably the most consistently interesting Congolese blog is kept by Cédric Kalonji, whose photographs and commentary bear humorous but often sorrowful witness to the struggles of ordinary life in Kinshasa, the country's heavily populated, run-down capital.’)
On hearing he'd won, Cédric wrote,
Grande joie de voir que mon travail est reconnu sur le plan international et grande fierté de pouvoir parler au nom du grand Congo. Cette reconnaissance me donne encore plus de force, plus d’énergie pour poursuivre cette aventure et même aller encore plus loin.
The next day, fellow bloggers Nayembi and I met Cédric for a celebratory lunch of poulet à la moambe, plantains and ngai-ngai in Kintambo, a lively neighbourhood of Kinshasa. We talked about Cédric's double life, his growing readership, corruption, the need for discretion and even the ubiquitous Facebook.
[Quotations have been translated from French, with some reordering for coherence, and links added for illustration.]
Starting out
“I started on the Internet very early. In 1995, at the end of Mobutu‘s rule, only the government could go online, but I had a friend whose father worked in the Presidency, so I used to go and use their connection. It was very slow! Then after Mobutu's fall, the first cyber cafés began to appear, and more young people started to get interested. But at first they didn't know how to use it to search for information, and mostly looked at pornography.
“I had an idea for a TV show to explain the Internet to beginners, but it didn't work out because the guy in charge preferred to concentrate on music videos instead. Then I proposed something similar to Radio Okapi [Fr] – they called me in and liked my voice, so I got the job and learned about radio there.
“I began blogging about two years ago. A bunch of us started at the same time. It's not the same thing as radio, and for me the subject matter is different, so I don't mix the two. I've a double life, really. That's what's great about blogs – everyone can be a kind of journalist. One of my favourite blogs is kept by a taxi driver in Quebec [Un taxi du nuit – Fr]. He's great, that guy – he eavesdrops on all sorts of strange conversations in his car!
“At first I just wanted a photo album for my friends – I would write something like, ‘I saw a bunch of street-kids on my way to work this morning’, and that's it. Then I started to include more commentary. For instance, I would write about every day corruption, like traffic police demanding cash from drivers. But the policeman doesn't do it because he likes corruption, but because he has no choice. He's a father, he has children to feed and send to school, his pay doesn't cover the rent, what is he supposed to do?”
A growing readership
“I started to get feedback from readers asking for more. People in the Diaspora especially seemed to like seeing pictures of their country. My main audience today is still the Congolese Diaspora. I enjoy meeting some of them for a drink when I go to Europe. Then there are other people who have lived in the Congo or want to come here. Not that many Congolese have access to the web here. Many of those that do seem to like forums, where they feel free to say whatever they like.
“I saw the readership stats climbing from 8 visitors a day, to 15, 35, then – ah! 100! When I reached 100, I was really motivated. I said OK, let's make an effort. Having friends doing the same thing also helped. It became like a drug for me. I started getting up in the morning and immediately thinking ‘What shall I post on my blog today?’
“When I was featured in Le Monde [Fr, subscription only] in July, the stats suddenly jumped to 6000, eventually slowing down to around 1000. Yesterday, I had 4000 visits. Lots were from the Best of Blogs website, and also from an article about the awards by Reporters Without Borders. I get a lot of comments. I have a friend who enjoys refreshing the page to see how many minutes it takes for the first comment to appear on a new post. It's a problem actually, because now I want to move to a new blogging system (WordPress – partly so I can add links more easily) and I think it will be difficult to transfer all the comments.”
Photography in the Congo
“Often, my posts start with a photo I have taken. I take my camera everywhere, and I like to look around, noticing and photographing things that other people don't seem to, even fellow journalists. As I'm walking away, I'll immediately start thinking about what to write. I want to capture my mood at first sight of whatever I've just photographed. It's more direct that way.
“Sometimes, though, I have something I want to write about and I'll look for a photo to illustrate it. I don't always ask permission, in fact 85% of my photos I take discretely. It helps that I have a small camera [Cédric's readers paid for it after the first one was stolen], and a press card to get me out of trouble. Sometimes I have to set up a situation in order to get the photo, like buying something from a street vendor so I can hang around. Funnily enough, I don't have a single printed photo after four years of taking them. I've talked to someone here about the possibility of an exhibition, though.
“On the 1st of January this year, I was watching television, and I saw four photos from my blog in an ad! C'est quoi ca?! The guy hadn't even asked. I made him pay and sign a proper contract. It's the principle – I often give photos to people who ask for them, although I did sell a few during the elections.”
Self-censorship
“I don't get involved in politics on my blog. I'm very careful. I rarely cite names, just verifiable facts and my own observations. I know a lot of things that go on, but sometimes I can't talk about them, even though it eats me up inside. People would get upset…”
The future
“I'm proud of what I've achieved. Even if I leave the Congo, my blog will be there, and in ten years people will be able to look at it and see what it was like to live in the Congo in this era. And it's been an interesting time, with last year's elections and all that. But I think I'll be blogging for the rest of my life. What I'd really like to do is to travel around the Congo, blogging from all the different provinces. It's crazy that more people aren't doing it. I've suggested it to a couple of good journalists, and I've also talked to a friend about offering training for people who want to learn. People here still don't know what a blog is.”
And Facebook?
“I'm a huge fan. That's another drug: first thing in the morning, I check to see if I have any new friends – though maybe I wouldn't if there was a woman by my side! Look, I'm a web developer, so I look at the technical side. The work these guys have done, it's simply magnificent. It's a great demonstration of the open source concept. Like Firefox, it's better because so many people are contributing. I don't really worry about privacy – my phone number is even on there. But my profile picture is actually one I took of a park ranger in Bombo-Lumene – he represents me now, like I'm ready to defend myself.”

author: Fred


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Ecuador: Each Delegate to Constituent Assembly to Have Own Blog · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Christian Espinosa of Cobertura Digital [es] writes about the announcement that the 130 delegates to the Constituent Assembly in Ecuador will each have their own blog to update the public on their proposals.


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Egypt: Baha’ii Rights Film Available · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A film on Egyptian Baha'iis is now available online for downloading, announces Mideast Youth.


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Egypt: Is God There? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Why was I born into this life in the first place? I didn't choose that. I didn't and don't think i would have chosen to live such a life full of confusion. Is God there or is he not? Should i be Muslim or Christian or Jewish or Baha'i or what?” writes The Egypt Guy.


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Former Yugoslavia: Vladimir Arsenijevic’s Piece · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Glory of Carniola discusses an article by a Serbian writer, which begins this way: “For all ex-Yugoslavs, but particularly for the Serbs, the Kosovo Albanians used to be simply ‘our negroes.’ Nowadays, however, they are cast as Serbia's arch-enemies […].”


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India: Guha’s India After Gandhi · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Law and Other Things on varying reviews of Ramachandra Guha's book – India After Gandhi.


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India: Take Back The Tech · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Conversations with Dina writes about Take Back The Tech. “This is a collaborative campaign by ICT users, advocates, collectives and organisations that take issue with the prevalence of Violence Against Women in our diverse realities.”


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Iran:Persepolis,the Movie · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Sepideh Saremi,in Pars Arts, wrote about Persepolis movie.Persepolis is a an award winner animated feature based on autobiographical comics by Marjan Satrapi.


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Iran:Sohrab Razaghi is free · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Sohrab Razaghi,a former professor in university and civil society activist,is out of prison now. Kossof, a leading photo blogger,has published several recent photos of Razaghi.


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Japan: 5 Foreigners Kicked Out · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

James from Japan Probe has an update on the finger-printing immigration policy in Japan.


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Japan: Kids these days · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

What do you do when you've had enough of young girls sitting on the floor of the train, talking on their phone and acting like it's their home, when meanwhile you've had a gruelling day at work and just want to get through? One 35-year-old man in Yokohama decided that this time he'd had enough and kicked the 17-year-old girl sitting and chatting with friends beside him, apparently knocking her so hard that her face hit the train car door, chipping one of her teeth.
Bloggers had mixed opinions about the incident, but many were sympathetic with the man's choice of action. At News Impression, one blogger approves of the method:
自分もたぶん蹴るだろうな。
言ってもわからない（無視して聞かない）腐ったガキには少し痛い思いさせても体に教えるしかないのは普通の教育だよ！
Blogger Fukuro writes about having a similar experience and nearly doing the same thing:
私も似たケースを経験しました。
電車内通路で少年達が座り込んで談笑していましたが、降りる時にその真ん中突っ切ってやりましたね。
睨んでましたが、睨み返してホームで待機していたらドアが閉まって行っちゃいました。
あそこで喧嘩になっていたら・・・
Another blogger explains the problems involved in trying to get off trains nowadays:
たとえば、しょぼいＪＲだと、乗り降りの際にいちいち、開閉ボタンを押さなくてはならない。
最近、こういう電車に乗ると、その開閉ボタンのある位置に立っていて、そのボタンを押そうにもそこに立っているひとが、何かのゲームに夢中だったりして、降りたくても押したくても押せないときがある。
もちろん、そこに立っている人で、その駅で降りなくても、中には親切に押してくれる人も居ます。
しかし、こういう人はまれで、とにかく、どこから手を伸ばせばその開閉ボタンに触れることができるだろうか・・・。と悩ましげに苦悩してしまう。
One issue that was mentioned in quite a few blogs were the conflicting stories of the “kicker” and the “kickee”. Over at NEET no Me, one blogger congratulates the employee for kicking the girl and weighs in on this question:
GoodJob会社員！
公共の機関で、我が物顔で人が通るところに座り込んで占拠する、頭がおかしい若者が多い昨今の日本に、このような正義の味方みたいな人が登場するとは、地獄に仏のような話だ。
35歳の会社員が、突然何もしていない少女を蹴るなんてことはするわけないので、必ず蹴られた少女は、ことの引き金をひいているはずである。
それに、そう言う馬鹿達は、自分の良いようにしか、しゃべらないので、
注意されたけど無視したと言うことは言わないだろう。
Not all (although surprisingly many) bloggers were sympathetic with the man, and many were actually critical of both sides. One blogger asked if this was only a problem with young people, relating an experience dealing with the rudeness of older folks:
中高年のオジサンオバサンたちの、マナーの悪いことには目を疑う。
うちの会社の向かいにあるカラオケ喫茶にくる、50代〜70代くらいの中高年は、車道に車がはみ出していようが平気で駐車してしまうし、あまつさえ、駐車場がないときにはへっちゃらでほかの事務所の駐車場に無断駐車する。うちの会社も被害をこうむったことは少なくない。
店の外に出てでかい声で電話してることなんて日常茶飯事。
Finally, for an imaginative graphic rendition of the event, check out the pic posted at this blog.


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Jordan: Americans Not Too Rich · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Americans are not as ‘rich’ as they seem, argues Jordanian blogger Hareega.


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Jordan: No Thanks. I am Muslim. · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian blogger Qwaider argues that observing Muslims should politely refuse offers of alcohol and pork saying that they don't want it instead of apologising for being Muslim.


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Kazakhstan: Stabilization Money  · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Ben is doubtful whether the recently-announced $4bn stabilisation fund in Kazakhstan will be used prudently.


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Kuwait: Motorbike Trip  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Kuwaiti blogger Hellraiser continues to update us on his motorbike trip from Kuwait to Beirut, Lebanon, and back on this blog. The blogger has just arrived in Amman, Jordan, from Beirut.


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Kuwait: Paying Traffic Violations Online  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Kuwaitis are now able to pay off their traffic violation fines online, announces Zed. “I don't know how effective this is, but i will try it and see if it actually works, unlike everything else in Kuwait,” he notes.


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Kuwait: Why Worry About the Environment? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“The country is literally screwed, so why would I worry about the environment if I had no future?” wonders blogger Error, from Kuwait.


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Kyrgyzstan: OSCE to Monitor Elections · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Asel informs that the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights will send nearly 300 observers to observe the upcoming Parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan.


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Lebanon: Pessimistic About the Elections · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese blogger Maze is pessimistic about his country's presidential elections. “Tomorrow is the presidential elections in Lebanon after months of killing,destruction and pain…personally I'm pessimistic and don't think that a decision will be taken,” he writes.