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Malaysia: Nation Building or Breaking · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Susan Loone is concerned about politicians trying to fragment her country and launches a new blog to discuss the issue. “This page will document all the events which continue to tear our social fabric apart, unless we do our part to put a stop to it all. One way is making others aware that these methods are not the way to nation building. At times we do not realise how fragile we are, still as a nation.”


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Nepal: BLOGBAN · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

NepaliVoices calls out for a blogmeet for bloggers from Nepal. “This is a gathering of Nepali bloggers to talk various issues (all bloggers are free to talk on any issue they want) plus the formation of Bloggers Association of Nepal (BLOGAN).”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Nepal: Stealing slogans · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

At United We Blog! – The Madhesi movements finds itself commented on by Prachanda. “Federalism and proportionate representation are our slogans. We raised those issues. Now reactionaries who were always opposing those issues and were against the election of constituent assembly are stealing those slogans and trying to portray themselves as the biggest republicans, Prachanda said.”


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Pakistan: Blog-o-vacation · Global Voices
Omer Alvie

I'm back! …or didn't anyone notice I was gone? Anyway, as I was not able to attend the Global Voices summit in Delhi (as I am still waiting for the approval for my Indian visa after three months), I consoled myself with a trip to my homeland, Kingdom of Lesotho. No, just kidding, I was off on a well-deserved vacation (if I may so myself, as no else would) to Pakistan. My days there were much prized perusing the wares of what the cities of Lahore and Karachi have to offer. Even had the opportunity to meet a lot of the Pakistani bloggers whose blogs I frequent and highlight in my post here at GV. But before I get into that, let me call your attention to the recent post by Teeth Maestro, who also happens to be the co-founder of the Don't Block The Blog campaign, in which he details a new solution to by-passing the blanket blogspot ban still in force in Pakistan.
Having some problem surfing to blogspot websites with pkblogs I had resolved to try and find another solution, I went on a prowl for good solution after a massive hunt I came up with the idea of setting up a secure SSH tunnel in combination with FoxyProxy Plug-in on FireFox.
During this vacation, I had the opportunity to visit some of my favourite places, in Lahore, including the Lahore Museum. If you ever get the chance to visit Lahore, this place is a must see or else the authorities will not allow you to leave the city (or that should be the policy for all visiting tourists, if I had anything to do with it).  The best part is for 10 Rupees they allow you to photograph inside the museum. I went ape, and took nearly 150 photographs. I shall open my own museum gallery exhibiting the photographs of the exhibits at the Lahore museum, and I shall charge only 5 Rupees to photograph my photographs.
Lahore Museum
The Glasshouse points out another conundrum with his latest post.
Over the years, I have had the opportunity to converse with several former foreign secretaries and senior ambassadors and during these conversations (some lengthy, some brief) I have habitually made it a point of asking each of them one simple question: Who has dictated Pakistan’s foreign policy over the past few decades?
Mohatta Palace – Karachi
Another museum worth visiting is the Mohatta Palace in Karachi. Formerly the residence of Fatima Jinnah, the sister of M. A. Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, the building was restored to full glory and now houses a museum dedicated to preserving the history of Sindh. No pictures allowed inside the museum, which is a shame, because I would have opened up another museum gallery displaying photographs of all the great exhibits.
Karachi Bloggers Meet
During my stay in Karachi, I was invited to a large gathering of Karachi bloggers. Coordinated by Teeth Maestro and hosted by Vintage Shop at her family's café Déjà vu, the afternoon gathering was spectacular with 20 plus prominent bloggers all getting together to talk incessantly about everything imaginable, including my choice of footware for some reason. This event was blogged about by Awab, Madeeha and myself. I even had the opportunity to meet Ali Khurshid, a brilliant photo blogger from Karachi featured in the recent Time magazine issue of the ‘Person Of The Year’, in which they featured various prominent international bloggers.
What I realized at the conclusion of this wonderful gathering is that even with the blanket blogspot ban enforced by the authorities, it has not made the slightest difference for these and hundreds of other bloggers as they are tenacious as ever and even more committed to promoting blogging in Pakistan, which is a very good thing.
And finally, I would like to mention, that I recently re-launched my own blog, with an extremely loud whimper, rather than a bang, as my chosen wordpress theme turned evil on me and I had to experience design hell and exorcise the demons to get everything back in order.

author: Omer Alvie


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Pakistan: Bridges in the country · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A delightful post at Light Within on bridges in Pakistan. “Pakistan in the last six decades has not built a bridge of any aesthetic or architectural value. Most of the new major bridges are of the economic variety built for the roads out of pre-cast concrete boxes or beams, or of plate girders that any one hardly notices driving over.”


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Pakistan: Visit Pakistan 2007 website · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

KO has a scathing review of the Visit Pakistan 2007 website, launched to promote tourism to Pakistan. “No tourist cares that the Ministry is working on policy formulation and development, as well as promoting and executing tourism investment projects. The only thing this page is going to do is tell the potential tourist browsing the website that the sainted Ministry of Tourism could care less about tourism and tourists.”


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Palestine: Blogger Gets Rapped by US State Department · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah engages in a tongue in cheek tirade with the US State Department, after accusing the US of commiting acts of terrorism in Iraq.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Peru: Seeking Wi-Fi · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Pointing to other cities planning municipal wireless internet access like San Francisco, Singapore, and Buenos Aires, Tinta Fantasma asks why there is no similar initiative in Peru [ES]. Meanwhile, Waldo of El Mundo de los Pendrejos takes initiative himself to list the free and subscription-based wi-fi connections [ES] in the capital city of Lima.

author: David Sasaki


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Poland: Ex-PM’s Blog · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Traveling Life writes about the blog of Poland's former prime minister.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Puerto Rico: Trivialisation of Blogs · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Eugenio Martínez Rodriguez suggests that the adoption of blogs by the mainstream media in Puerto Rico may have had the effect of “trivialising” the form.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Russia: Conversation With Litvinenko’s Widow, Part 11 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

David McDuff posts installment #11 of Marina Litvinenko's interview, translated from the Russian.


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Russia: On Ramzan Kadyrov, Again · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

At his 3.5-hour annual press conference today, Russian president Vladimir Putin has offered praise for Chechnya's prime minister Ramzan Kadyrov, in response to a young Chechen journalist who pointed out that 70 percent (approx. 770,000 people) of the republic's able-bodied population  were unemployed.
Complimenting Kadyrov seems to have become somewhat of a trend here. Recently, another Chechen journalst, Timur Aliev – LJ user timur_aliev, editor-in-chief of The Chechen Society newspaper, the Chechnya editor of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) – has noted (RUS) that Kadyrov does deserve some praise. (This is the second translation of timur_aliev‘s thoughts on the controversial 30-year-old Chechen leader; the first one was posted on Global Voices on Sept. 15, here.)
And again about him, Ramzan Kadyrov
I'm reading the news on Yandex. With Chechnya, there's only one topic – the possible change of [Chechnya's president Alu Alkhanov] for someone else. Either for Vakhayev, or, skipping him, for Ramzan. What's basically is the same piece of information is being repeated over and over again.
I don't understand one thing – where's the sensation here? Did anyone ever doubt that Kadyrov would become president? And even if he wouldn't, what's going to change because of it? He is doing a lot for the republic as prime minister, too. He's extremely popular. Though sometimes he gets criticized – but what government doesn't?
It reminds me of my teenage years, when my friends and I were thinking what we would do if we suddenly became presidents. And our thoughts then weren't too different from what Ramzan is doing now. Just like him, we were suggesting pretty utopian things: to build this and that, to force ministers and bureaucrats to do their work. The only difference is that we were only talking about it, and Ramzan is actually doing it. Whether he's successful is a different issue. But it looks like he is. Shamil Beno found a rather precise label for him: “an effective military-political manager.” […] Regardless of whether Ramzan becomes president or not, nothing is going to change for the republic.
Is anything going to change for Russia? Not likely, either. The Kremlin solves most of the problems through Ramzan.
Of course, it's possible to understand Ramzan as a human being. He must be thinking like this: “Here I am, working hard, having arguments, negotiating with the Kremlin, with the rebels, standing up for the city, finding the money, and journalists are criticizing me and, moreover, citing [Alu Alkhanov] as an example to follow – when it should be the opposite – because I work more than he does.” So, in principle, it's possible to understand Ramzan. Purely as a human being. And what they are writing about sovereignty or that Ramzan will go off into the forest – that's nothing but fairy tales.
In the comments to this post (RUS), the discussion touches upon Anna Politkovskaya, the slain journalist who, among other things, used to be one of Ramzan Kadyrov's harshest critics. (Two Global Voices translations dealing with Politkovskaya's murder are here and here; also, at the end of January, the New Yorker and London Review of Books both ran pieces on Putin's Russia that begin with Politkovskaya's death.)
uliana: […] How is Chechnya doing without Politkovskaya?
timur_aliev: Many people remember her. One of the women [who stopped by at our office] today was telling about how Politkovskaya was writing about her son.
uliana: Does it mean that Ramzan has adopted Politkovskaya role, only at the state level […]?
timur_aliev: Not exactly, because Politkovskaya was voicing a problem, served as one of the forms of feedback – for officials, among others… Now Ramzan has learned about these complaints – maybe from the press, maybe from letters, and he has reacted – at his level…
uliana: As far as I understand, there's a stream of complaints. It used to flow towards Politkovskaya, and then she did whatever she could – either voicing the problems, or finding donors. And nowthe stream has moved towards Ramzan and you [the Chechen Society newspaper], as you're saying… […] Is it visible in Grozny that Ramzan looks as threatening to Russia as [Dzhokhar Dudayev] and [Aslan Maskhadov] did?
timur_aliev: No, the stream has been flowing towards Ramzan for long enough – for the past year and a half, perhaps… But it's difficult to get through to him, so they turn to the press instead, including us… […] Those who analyze the Russian press and various internet reports, they do see it… But more often people perceive these articles and quotes as anti-Chechen…
uliana: So, he's like a father and those who are against him are the enemy of the whole people… That is, not the whole people, but of those who aren't fighting… Ok, thank you.
timur_aliev: No, of the whole people, indeed.
uliana: Of everyone??? Why are they fighting then?
timur_aliev: Oh, I apologize, I misunderstood you at first – of course, I meant those who aren't fighting.
bbb: What do you think is the percentage of those who aren't fighting […]? 99, 90, 70? And – how do you define those who are fighting – are they the ones who fight literally, or do you include those who aren't fighting but sympathize with those who are and, under certain circumstances, would be willing to help them?
timur_aliev: It's very difficult to provide the real numbers now – the level of trust is very low – a person may be saying one thing but thinking something else… Besides, at any moment, these figures may change – it all depends on [what's more profitable now]… Perhaps, for now, there's something like 20 percent of those who firmly do not fight and do not sympathize, about 10 percent of those who fight or are dedicated sympathizers, and the rest are those who hesitate.
bbb: Thank you! Of course, the “real” figures do not exist at all, and I was interested in you subjective evaluation.
How would you describe the position of these 20 percent of those who categorically do not fight and do not sympathize – are these the ones who consider breaking away and independence harmful for Chechnya in principle, regardless of whether it is possible? Or are these also the ones who think that [independence] is utterly unrealistic under the current circumstances, and hence, conversations about it are deemed harmful for Chechnya?
And – do I understand you correctly that when we are discussing all these percentages, we mean first of all the Chechen population, noth [ethnic] Russians (if any such remain and/or have returned in noticeable numbers)?
timur_aliev: 20 percent are those who thought from the very beginning that breaking away and independence would harm Chechnya in principle,
and also those who began to think this way after a brief [negative] experience,
and partly those who think it utterly unrealistic under present circumstances, but allow themselves “to wait and see”…
Yes, I do mean the [ethnic] Chechen population.
[…]
kiveretsky: Timur. My father spent six years in Stalin's camps for an insignificant short story. He is 82 now. He keeps shaking his head and saying = how good it was in the times of Stalin. Like, what a strong person he was! And you have reminded me of papa with this post… Has made me sad…
[…]
timur_aliev: I feel sad, too – and that's why I write…


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Sri Lanka: 104 Ministers! · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Strong reactions to the expanding bus of ministers in Sri Lanka. Indi.ca says “Governance is not a prize for betrayal. It is a duty and a service, and Mahinda has corrupted it even further.”. LankaWatch comments “That’s a total of 104 parliamentarians now serving as the government of Sri Lanka. The question on everyone's mind is with the increasing military budget and dwindling foreign investments, who pays for all these ministers’ security and luxuries.”


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Syria: The Politicisation of Global Warming · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Syrian blogger Omar gives us an interesting synopsis of a paper on global warming,  which stresses that “the (US) government intervenes with genuine scientific studies, in an attempt to delude the public of the serious, and eminent problem of global warming.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: The Bible, à la carte · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

A 2007 calypso citing the book of Leviticus in support of its anti-gay message inspires Trinidad blogger Jessica to comment, with considerable light-heartedness, on both freedom of speech issues and the selective use of the Bible to bolster certain viewpoints.


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Ukraine: Political News · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes writes on the future of Kharkiv following Yevhen Kushnatyov's death; the investigation of Yushchenko's poisoning; and Yanukovych's reaction to the unfavorable PACE report on Ukraine.


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UXcamp, Information Architects in Panama & 2007 Panama Jazz Festival · Global Voices
Melissa De León

#1: Jorge  Arango reports on the first UXcamp – an user experience gathering in Panama.
Last night BootStudio hosted what is probably the first user experience gathering in Central America: UXcamp. We had a pretty good turnout, and folks (web desigers and developers, for the most part) seemed genuinely excited about the issues being discussed:
#2: Stephan Schuab reports on the same event: UXcamp, Information Architecs in Panama
Information Architecture is an interesting topic and important when you are working on web applications. It doesn't matter so much what technology (PHP, J2EE or .NET) you use to implement your application. From a software developer's perspective IA is about narrowing down the specification for the application and define the user interface (the user experience as they say, hence "UX"). To a lot of other people who do not create applications, but merely static websites IA is about structuring the information and creating a proper navigational structure. Note that it's not about graphics design. This is the last step and one of the goals of UXcamp is to teach people that the actual design comes last. Read the complete post here…
#3:  The Panama Report features Rob Rivera's "brutally honest" style of writing, this time the subject is "The Panama Sex Guide," or a comprehensive guide of what goes on in Panama when it comes to sex as a touristic attraction.
Yes, never have three letters combined caused such a polarized reaction depending on what side of the religious and socio-cultural spectrum you reside in. No matter where you stand though, it can't be denied that Panama is a downright paradise in many fields, and because this “little train that could” hates to disappoint, the business of sex is alive and well in a variety of forms that will sometimes make you think twice in regard to the most ridiculous sexual misconceptions about Third-World countries you and your frat buddies threw around in between keg stands back in the day. Sex in Panama is every cliché you've ever seen or read about Latin America, amped up to eleven…Continue reading!
#4: Chiriqui Chatter reports on one of the most traditional State Fairs in Panama: Feria de la Candelaria, in Bugaba-Chiriqui Province.
Bugaba Fairgrounds
Jan 26 to Feb 4 ;
I asked what time the fair opened and the reply was in the morning.
- Agricultural fair with dairy and beef cattle judged by judges from Mexico, Europe and Canada.
- Carnival rides
- Stage entertainment in the evenings.
- Many vendors
Rodeo.
1 Feb thru 4 Feb.
I believe the big main rodeo is on Sat, 3 Feb. i asked for details and the reply was ”everyday”. The rodeo stadium is constructed new every year and taken down after the event. It’s built out of bamboo, old and new boards and old metal roofing. I’ve been taking daily photos of the construction process and yesterday, I noticed the bamboo floor joists are tied down with strips of inner tube, quite a contraption!!! I worked in construction in the states and this errr… structure would never fly in the states but it works here. Get the scoop now…
#5: CaDs Online (ES) presents a pictorial reaview as well as a video from his last visit to Amador in Panama City: Paseando por Amador.
Aprovechando que el sol no estaba tan fuerte este domingo, decidimos aprovechar para ir a pasear por la calzada de amador, conocida también como Causeway.
Este, como ya sabréis, es uno de mis lugares favoritos de Panamá, un lugar idóneo donde caminar sin preocuparse del tráfico, disfrutando de la brisa del mar y el sonido de las olas. En esta ocasión iniciamos el paseo a la altura del Figali Convention Center y caminamos hasta el Instituto Smithsonian, donde estuvimos viendo la pequeña exposición de biología marina que tienen montada. Read the complete post...
#6: The Cooking Diva attempts to rescue one of Panama's oldest traditions, the Chicha making, sharing a step by step recipe with photos: The mysterious relationship between "Chicha de Maiz" and Latin Americans.
It is called "Chicha de Maiz" (a kind of corn beverage, made with corn sprouts. It is delicious fresh, or add  extra kick by fermenting it a few days).
The mysteriously idyllic, almost lost relationship between "Chicha de Maiz" and Latin Americans has been one of my ongoing quests, no expiration date for this one. I am just really intrigued by the different ways it's prepared in the different Latin American countries. It always puzzles me the fact that people do not prepare it any longer, as they used to do in the long gone days. Read the complete post…
#7: Greta Earle reports on the Panama Jazz festival 2007:
January 18 – Noche Panamericana: We couldn't make it on time, but fortunately do not appear to have missed much according to the program. Left me wondering how late, if at all, the event started. Once seated, I was pleasantly surprised when mere seconds later I heard Patricia Vlieg would be joining the Panamerican Big Band which was getting ready to play. I know this girl because she went to the same school as I did. I always remember her because she sings beautifully and, maybe because she is blind, seems to vibrate with the melody and the vibes travel around the room melting anyone who'll listen. Get more details...

author: Melissa De León


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Uzbekistan: Blogs and the Law · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Registan.net looks at a change to Uzbekistan's media law that now defines all websites, including blogs, as mass media, subjecting them to registration and content submission requirements. The author expects that this will only delay the growth of the Uzbek blogosphere.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Venezuela: Organic Urban Gardens in Caracas · Global Voices
David Sasaki

The Temas Blog points readers to a BBC photo essay about an experimental urban, organic garden in Caracas’ city center.


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A Day in Bahrain: Political Activists Arrested and Released · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Sandwiched between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Bahrain sure feels it needs to stir up internal politics to keep up with the Joneses. The subtle infighting between its Sunni/Shia population just isn't exciting enough. The simmering mistrust must come to the surface for all to see. And the date for the showdown was today.
According to the Bahrain Human Rights Centre, its president Abdul Hadi Al Khawaja along with political activist Hassan Mushaima were arrested at 6am (Bahrain time) this morning, when armed masked men dragged them out of their beds and took them to the Public Prosecutor for questioning.
The two are members of Haq Movement, a splinter group from Al Wefaq National Islamic Society, which is the largest political group in Bahrain. Since the establishment of political parties is banned by law in this fledgling democracy, such gatherings of like-minded individuals are called societies. Al Wefaq has also secured 16 (plus 1 non-member who enjoys their support) seats in the country's 40 member Parliament – the biggest bloc in the chamber which shares its powers with an appointed 40-member Shura or Consultative Council. Confused about our form of democracy? Well, it is new and shaping up since Bahrainis were first allowed to go to the polls in 2004, following sweeping reforms initiated by His Majesty King Hamad.  So let's give it a break and move on to today's showdown and see how bloggers reacted to it.
ِA third activist, Shakir Abdulhussain, was arrested too, but it was the first two, whose popularity led to massive street protests across villages all over the country, calling for their release. The result of the the chaos which shook the small kingdom was a meeting between Wefaq's MP bloc and Bahrain's Interior Minister and their subsequent release at about 8pm (Bahrain time).
“After a 7 hour wait and interrogation, the President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights Mr. Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, and Mr. Hassan Mushaima, the Secretary General of the Bahraini HAQ Democratic Movement as well as a third activist, Shaker Abdul-Hussein, were released on bail on Friday night. The charges against them are related to state security crimes including: an intention to change the governing system of the country, circulating false information, insulting the king and inciting hatred against the regime in accordance to articles 160, 165, 168, 172, 173 & 214 of the much criticized Bahraini Penal Code of 1976. If sentenced, the activist can face more than 10 years imprisonment.
“The release of the activists came following the eruption of demonstrations and intense clashes with security forces in several different parts of the country in reponse to the arrests this morning,” said the human rights centre site.
Khawaja was expected to speak at a talk in Washington DC, entitled Reform in Bahrain: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back? on February 13.
Blogger Mahmood Al Yousif gives us his two cents on the situation.
He says the title of the talk is “not a very imaginative”. This is because it is:
“a very much overused sentence in Bahrain – with justification, I might add. All you have to do is pick up any paper, on any day and read any political topic. Continue reading about that topic for a while and you will see – there in black and white – why Bahrain should most probably trade mark that “brand”.
“Nowhere is that brand more in evidence than in the political, freedoms and human rights scenes,” he writes.
He sums up the arrests as a fiasco and calls for their immediate release.
“What the government has achieved with this unwise move is proven the basic premise of the seminar. Bahrain does indeed takes one step forward, and several steps back!
Do they really think that the apprehension of a panelist will magically cancel the seminar? No, what they have also done is given the seminar both legitimacy and popularity! Just think of the headlines it will create now.
Is this really conducive to our situation?
Is there no one in power that will step forward with political courage and will and put a stop to all of this?
We are getting rather tired of all these situations.
All we want is to live with dignity for goodness’ sake. Is that too much to ask?
Release them. All of them. For the sake of the future of Bahrain,” he pleads.
But their release isn't taken lightheartedly by fellow blogger Silly Bahraini Girl.
“Why were they arrested and why are they being released if there were sound grounds for arresting them in the first place? is there a law in this country? what does justice mean? or is the reputation of bahrain a YOYO in the hands of little children who don't know what the hell they are doing or in which direction they would want to steer this country.
“A country becomes a country when it has institutions which uphold law and order. A country is only classified as one when it respects justice. And justice is not established by lip service…it is a huge responsibility which includes giving people way too many rights than some would love to let go of. After all, you cannot aspire to be treated as a citizen when you don't qualify as one,” she writes.
Chanad Bahraini  describes the arrests as disturbing.
The arrests come a day after the sentencing of two other activists, in what is now known as the leaflet detainees.
Chanad says all the arrests:
of course, (are) deplorable, and makes clear exactly how this regime views freedom of expression in Bahrain. But let’s be serious. The real reason why this happens is because the regime knows they can get away with it. Even if the detainees are released after investigation, or if they are given a royal pardon after being sentenced, the government has achieved its goal: harassing and intimidating the people out of demanding their rights. So while the constitution may claim that the people are granted freedom of expression, the reality is that the regime reserves the right to freedom of intimidation.
Meanwhile, Al Yousif sarcastically called the leaflets duo Enemies of the State.
“Bahrainis Dr. Mohammed Saeed and Hussain Al-Habshi start serving their time in prison today for voicing their political opinions. The first for a year, the second for 6 months. Isolated from their jobs, their families and their community simply for voicing a political opinion which the government interpreted as tantamount to carrying arms and forcibly mounting a coup to change the ruling regime.
“For just printing and wanting to distribute a document written by a dissident – a national figure nonetheless – calling for the boycott of the recently held national elections,” wrote Al Yousif.
This brings us to today's pressing question: Is speaking up and pushing for more rights the right way to go about in a country where you know you could be subjected to detention and investigation?


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Africa: separating Africa from the Middle East · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

White African on the 2007 Bloggies, “There is a category for “Best African or Middle Eastern Weblog”. Someone tell me why the hell people cannot seem to separate Africa from the Middle East? It’s a different continent! Let me get this right… You can separate UK blogs from European blogs, but not Africa from the Middle East?”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Africa: will China teach Africa how to fish? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Writing about Chinese investment and technology transfer in Africa, Jennifer Brea asks: will China teach Africa how to fish?


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Algeria: The Noble Black · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Algerian blogger Lameen Souag  examines the definition of the word black in the Songhay language, which is spoken in and around Timbuktu and in the Sahara.
“It would be interesting to examine the connotations of “black” in more languages,” he writes.


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Argentina: Buenos Aires Blog Roundup · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Alan Patrick of the newly named Buenos Aires Argentina Guide has already put together his eighth Buenos Aires blog roundup, including mention of a recent Clarín article about the boom of blogs in the metropolis.


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Armenia: Demo for Zhirayr Sefilyan · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian reports on a demonstration in support of Zhirayr Sefilyan, a critic of the Armenian government who was arrested in December on charges of planning a coup. Onnik says that the arrest probably has to do with the upcoming parliamentary election.


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Armenia: Wimax · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Burnell writes with excitement about plans to install wimax in Armenia.


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Bahrain: Improve your Vocabulary · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahrain Rants encourages readers to spend their weekend slipping in new words into their conversations. This weekends gems are: Flummery, Maven and Vamoose.


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Bermuda: Peeing in a bag? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Christian S. Dunleavy traces the source of a Bermuda regiment official's puzzlement over the idea that new regiment recruits are required to “pee in a bag” to the blog of a regiment recruit.


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Brazil: Insensitive Sao Paulo Major · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Ricardo Carreón laments the recent comment by Sao Paulo Mayor Gilberto Kassab which he says “poked fun” at a recent tunnel collapse which killed seven people.


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Cambodia: Be the first to tell · Global Voices
Tharum Bun

Too often, most people, want to be the first to be informed of events and situation happening around them or anywhere else in the other of parts of the world. In the world where technology is changing the way we live, we want to do more than just being the first person to read and watch the news. We also want to report and explain any issue we have in mind or things we encounter using web tools to publish text, audio, and even video clip. The matter may be professional, personal, a story that touched our heart or anything else in our own backyard. We are ready to be the first ones to tell. It is no longer that we demand news at our finger tip, but we also want to post opinions, thoughts, and stories with just a few mouse clicks.
The rapidly changing cityscape of Cambodian capital city Phnom Penh, once under French colonial rule, attracted the attention of Sopheak. The local blogger, surprised by the new buildings springing up recently, posted his comment with a series of pictures.
The 24-year-old local blogger also talked about the issue of misspelling in Khmer language as he wrote with concern that:
Perhaps Harvard University in the United States is very much known to most Cambodians that there is a high school in Cambodia named after it. But for the blogger who posted a picture of the English and computer school is note sure why the name was chosen. The banner reads: Hard Word High School offers foreign languages class: English, Chinese, Thai, and Computer.
Wait … It’s not the prestigious Harvard University but it’s Hard Word High School. I really don’t know what they mean by naming it “Hard Word“. Photo is courtesy of Mungkol
Tom, a Cambodian computer programmer in the United States, is proud of his father. His father's book is titled ‘The life of a physician under the Khmer Rouge Regime’. Based in Missouri, the 26 years old Khmer-American hopes the book will be available in English and that the world will learn about the 1975-1979 genocide through their own eyes.
“This book, which was just published recently in Cambodia, was written by my father. As the title suggests, the book is about his surviving experience during the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979 that killed almost 2 million Cambodians.
As a son, I am very proud of you and your work Pa. It makes me appreciate life more after reading about your hard life during those years. Thank you for this wonderful gift. I hope it will be published in English soon. I want the world to read it and see the Khmer Rouge regime through your eyes.”
Somongkol was so thrilled that he began his weblog post with the words “Dengue fever, an acute mosquito-borne tropical disease with a geographical spread similar to Malaria, rocked Pailin City Restaurant in Lowell, Massachussetts, tonight,”. Somongkol was reporting on the show of a Khmerican music band at a Khmer restaurant in Lowell, U.S.A.
The Cambodian Fulbright scholar talks a lot about his student life in the United States as well as Cambodia affair in the news.
“Somehow the charismatic force that holds this fantastic band together is a famous Cambodian singer, Chhom Nimol, whom the band recruited after scouring the scene in Long Beach , which is home to the largest Cambodian population outside Cambodia, for a front woman to interpret the Khmer-language songs that so compelled them.”
Reacting to the  death sentence of infamous dictator Saddam Hussein, local blogger Vanak commented
The strongman dictator Saddam Hussein of Iraq was hanged. He was operating the country like he was running a mafia business. Corrupted to the core. The army was his. The police was his. The court and the law were his. His family, brothers, sons appointed in high government positions.
And do you want to know how Cambodian news reporters in newsroom of the Cambodia Daily – Cambodia's leading English newspaper take their lunch-break?
Juan Antonio Giner posted two pictures to tell the story.

author: Tharum Bun


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Caribbean: Caricom Blog · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Though not officially affiliated with Caricom, the recently launched Caricom Blog aims to “provide information on the Caribbean Community and all related events, news, meetings and more”.


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China: ethically inspiring TV series during prime time · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Peijin from Shanghaiist puts together reports on TV management: From February until August, Chinese TV “golden hours” (5-8pm) programming is going to go on moral diet, shedding excess and unwanted sex, violence, and moral degradation.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: statistics on love and sexual relation · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Li yin he blogs the statistics on an online opinion poll on the difference between woman and man's attitudes towards love and sexual relation (zh). The data shows 37% of male has tried commercial sexual service before.


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Czech Rebublic: Shawarma in Brno · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

NvB: Bored in Brno? discovers a cafe that serves Middle Eastern fast food in Brno.


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Dominican Republic: Free mixtape · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Dominican hip hop blog rihiphop.com offers (ES) a free download of the complete mixtape “Pueto Pa Lo Mio”.


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Egypt: Police Attempt to Rape Woman · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Arabist writer Issandr El Amrani links a story about the trial of two policemen charged with attempting to rape a woman.


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El Salvador, Mexico: Hike in Corn Prices · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Tim's El Salvador Blog takes a look at a variety of economic news stories focused on El Salvador including the rise in corn prices. That rise is also affecting Mexico, writes radio host Ana Maria Salazar: “The Governor of the Bank of Mexico, Guillermo Ortiz Martínez, said that an emergency salary rise and controlling prices do NOT solve the problem of the price hikes on basic foodstuffs. On the contrary, that would create a battle between prices and salaries.”


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Fairly tale in Chile: Small Giant · Global Voices
Rosario Lizana

The famous French “Small Giant” arrived to Santiago, Chile. Many citizens gathere to see this in the centre of the capital. Claudia (ES) introduces us to the concept:
Cuenta la historia de un rinoceronte que escapó de África, pasando por las minas del cobre y llegando a la gran ciudad para ser capturado por la mágica niña de un cuento de hadas. Como señaló Jean Luc Courcoult (Royal de Luxe), la Pequeña Gigante representa la parte de nosotros con la cual queremos volver a encontrarnos, y que se vuelve real con el cariño de la gente. Es magia, es fantasía; es esa parte infantil que siempre va a vivir en nosotros (me recuerda la dedicatoria de El Principito de A. de Saint-Exupéry).
Thousands of Chileans attended to see this 5 meter long marionette, even people from outside the capital, like  “Gata de media luna” (ES)  who described the experience:
A salir de la estación, nos encontramos con un mar humano. Miles de personas esperaba a que la marioneta articulada por humanos, se despertara y saliera a recorrer las calles. Como todos, queríamos verla. Nosotros teníamos un merito aparate, viajamos especialmente para verla(bueno y aprovechar el viaje para hacer uno que otro tramite poco). La muchedumbre estaba enardecida! En lo que pudiera que les permitiese ver mejor se subían, micros, camiones, paraderos, nada escapa a la imaginación.
Roberto Olivares (ES), couldn’t resist the illusion that this doll made in her sun. As he explains:
La Pequeña Gigante que estuvo en Santiago ha sido una de las experiencias más espectaculares que he visto, hasta el sábado me conformaba con verla por televisión, pero la ilusión que veía en los ojos de Francisca hicieron que pese al temor de la masa, del calor y del no ver nada decidiera levantarme el día domingo a las 8:00 de la mañana para estar antes de las 10:00 viendo como despertaba esta muñeca que salió de las páginas de un cuento para instalarse con nosotros por tres largos y entretenidos días.

author: Rosario Lizana


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Georgia: Electronic Music · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Levan says that electronic music is very popular in Tbilisi at the moment and gives links to a few of the artists he finds interesting.


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Hong Kong: I’ll get the job done · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Donald Tsang has finally launched his election campaign for the Chief Executive (2007-2012). As the new Chief Executive (CE) would be selected by 800 selective committee members dominated by pro-China and business sector, he is sure to continue his position for five more years even though there is another candidate, Alan Leong, to compete with him this time.
In this sure to win election, instead of showing his vision for Hong Kong, believe it or not, his campaign slogan is “I'll get the job done!”
The local blogosphere is outraged by the implications of the campaign slogan to Hong Kong society and political development.
Florence from Overtherainbow describes the atmosphere and intepretation of her colleagues on the slogan in the newsroom:
編輯室七嘴八舌，由報章副主筆湯臣兄帶領下，一致將這句口號理解為：喂，我打份工咋，你地要雙普選，要唔拆皇后碼頭，爭唔到唔好話我，我都要睇老細面色架。
Martin wonders why reporters from the press conference did not ask Donald who is his boss:
特首作為政治領袖，佢係打邊個嘅工，佢似乎無點樣講清楚。佢係打市民嘅工，定係北京嘅工，在場記者無個問過呢條基本問題。
Transpig tries to compare the Chinese and English phrase of the slogan:
如果將「我會做好呢份工」直譯﹐我會寫 I'll do this job well / I'll do well in this job 而不是「I'll get the job done」。反過來說﹐「I'll get the job done」的意思也不像「我會做好呢份工」﹐反而近似「我搞得掂」…英文「Get the job done」中的「the job」通常不是指某份工 / 某個職位﹐而是說某項任務 / 某件工作吧﹖﹗
那個「the job」是甚麼﹑曾蔭權又向誰拍心口保證「I'll get the job done」呢﹖大家慢慢想象啦 :P
So what exactly is “the job”, to whom Donald Tsang is reaffirming his ability to “get the job done”? It is up to your imagination :P
Hisboy feels frustrated about the quality of local politician:
曾先生的這個競選宣言，似乎連政客都不如，因為，「做好呢份工」看的是眼前，而不是將來；其他候選人提出也就罷了，提出的卻是一個未選就知道必定當選的曾蔭權，那麼問題就大了。我期望特首除了有氣魄外，更重要的是有願景，為香港的未來指向一條正確的道路。
Sara thinks the slogan is a terrible idea:
還真沒聽說過以打工仔心態來治理一個城市/國家的。作為打工一族聽落就真係有啲驚。有哪個打工仔會真心為老細仆心仆命做事，大部分還不是抱著「多做多錯、少做少錯」、「做又 36，唔做又36」、「老細冇個好、同事冇個信得過」的心態…
One bean notices that the slogan is a continuity of colonial system and rationality:
四十年前入職公務員隊伍，說的是這句，四十年後「競選」特首，竟將此句作金句返炒，也算是說得夠白。
(image from donald-tsang.com)


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Japan: forced eviction of homeless · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Kamapat blogs about the recent protest of Osaka's homeless against city government's forced eviction plan (jp). There is an online petition organized by rootless.org. Interlocals.net has collected more background on the issue.


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Kyrgyzstan: Plov Recipes · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

The Golden Road to Samarqand posts two “official” recipes for Kyrgyz plov, a rice dish with onions, meat, and carrots.


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Mexico: Prostitute Stick Ups · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Mark in Mexico, who was hospitalized himself recently for “some type of infection”, tells readers of a recent report from El Universal in which Mexico City prostitutes drug and rob their clients.


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Nigeria: politics of census in Nigeria · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

In a thought provoking piece, One Hundred and Forty Million: For every French Person, there are two Nigerians, Chippla discusses the politics of census in Nigeria.


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Poland: More on Sex Scandal · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Traveling Life writes of the sex scandal in Poland: “Four. That's how many women have now come forward accusing the leader of the neo-communist Self-Defense party, Andrzej Lepper, of pressuring them to have sex with him. […] how many women have to come forward before the Kaczynski twins and PiS, or the “Law and Justice” party, do some justice and kick out Lepper, along with the rest of his crooked party, from the government?”


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Requiem for a Blogger: Life and death issues from beyond the Portuguese keyboard · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

The year of 2007 started with the Lusosphere being surprised by the announcement of the death of a well known blogger. MEG [Maria Elisa Guimarães] became famous as the editor of SubRosa, one of the first-generation blogs in Brazil, and also because of her relentless promotion of conversation among bloggers through an active and warm-hearted commenting and emailing activity. The eulogies performed throughout the Lusosphere gained a great deal of attention as MEG was darling to many of the first A-list Brazilian bloggers.  Never-the-less, something peculiar about Meg's announced death kept ringing in some of her closest friends. Indeed, there was more to the story than what could be seen at first sight but Lusophone bloggers, old and new, did not hold back expressing their homages to their beloved colleague.
Na verdade, Meg, não faço a menor idéia de como começar. Na alienação imatura que só faz adiar o inadiável, eu achava que nunca precisasse escrever esse texto. E vou cair, claro, nos lugares-comuns – que na verdade acabam sendo o refúgio secreto dos que se aventuram a afetar irreverência. Vou dizer, sim, que a blogosfera perdeu toda a graça. Vou dizer, sim, que passam na tela do meu PC todos os posts onde você fazia megabytes de propaganda carinhosa de blogueiros que, segundo você, valiam a pena ser lidos – e que depois disso deixaram definitivamente o anonimato internético.
MEG – Ao Mirante, Nélson
O jardim ameno do seu blog era um grande e agradecido sorriso. Escrevia no Sub Rosa como “forma de resistência“, como “desejo de sobrevivência“. Com tranquilidade e muita esperança. Docemente. Quem ama a vida, assim, desperta decerto na eternidade. A nossa sentida homenagem. Daqui, de Portugal, que a Maria Elisa Guimarães tanta amava, um derradeiro Vale! de despedida.
À minha querida MEG – Almocreve das Petas
Alguém aqui já conhecia a Meg? Do dia 14 de janeiro pra cá, Meg se tornou assunto recorrente em vários blogs. Tomei conhecimento de Meg ao ler um post muito bonito no Ao Mirante, Nelson. Não entendi direito o que queria dizer, mas vi que era uma homenagem. Pouco tempo depois, talvez até no mesmo dia, não lembro, li outro post, agora no blog de Cíntia, mulher de Nelson, externando sua tristeza pela morte de Meg. E, se não me engano, li mais um outro texto lamentando essa morte, só que não sei mais onde foi. Pelo que pude perceber, Meg era uma blogueira das antigas, dona do Sub Rosa, e muito querida dos blogueiros de primeira geração. Em algum desses posts-homenagens tinha o link pro Sub Rosa e cheguei a ler uma coisa ou outra. Ainda pensei: “poxa, depois que a moça morre é que eu fico conhecendo o blog… agora é tarde.”.
MEG – É a mãe!
Hoje, a blogosfera, sobretudo aí no Brasil, está fazendo uma homenagem à doce Meg. Todos os que a conheceram escrevem um post dedicado. Uma das mais bonitas será a do Paulo José Miranda. O Paulo JM é um poeta português que se apaixonou pelo Brasil e por uma rosa, Meg. Mas ela tocou muita gente, pela via do amor e da amizade. Deste lado do mar, quero que também fique registada a saudade. a nossa saudade, a do fado, de que Meg, mesmo sorrindo muito, era tão apreciadora. Sabia que ela era fã de Aldina Duarte?
Bill, você conheceu a Meg? – Ante Et Post
The first report about the presumed fatality appeared in a post [‘My Woman Died’] from Paulo José Miranda, a Portuguese blogger who writes as if he were Meg's husband, despite confessing that they met in person only once(!), during a weekend in Sao Paulo. There were details of a diagnosed cancer in Meg and a trip to New York's Mount Sinai Hospital for specialized treatment. Contradictory signals started to arise when some bloggers found out that the IP address used by Meg in her ‘last’ posts and comments was not from a US ISP, but it was instead coming from some place covered by Telemar Norte, a company providing Internet access to the northern region of Brazil. Reactions to the growing evidence that Meg's death was a hoax, and that she was now online with another name [Tereza Quetzal] turned a mourning blogosphere into a crossfire of judgments.
O post intitulado Sub Rosa foi apagado. A Meg não morreu. Tenho passado a tarde de hoje a tentar esclarecer esta história. Vou tomar como verdade a notícia de que não morreu, pois recebi um pedido de desculpas da pessoa que me informou da sua morte. De um e-mail a uma pessoa com quem troquei algumas notas sobre o caso hoje à tarde, destaco a única coisa que me “apraz” dizer: «Uma tristeza, brincarem assim com os sentimentos das pessoas. Uma vergonha. Isto é o cúmulo da mediocridade e da cretinice. Como é possível esta gente ser tão lorpa?» Não tenho mais nada a dizer, senão lembrar-me, mais uma vez, do que há dias aqui escrevi [Nas prisões norte-americanas corre entre os presos uma regra de sobrevivência que se aplica muito bem às relações cibernéticas: Don't Trust Nobody!]
Nota – Insónia
O pior não foi forjar a morte. Mas se apresentar de novo com um pseudônimo, afirmando ser uma amiga, e insinuando uma transcrição de palavras de Meg, algo do além. Agora se sabe que a amiga é a própria Meg. Não há informações de familiares. Há pessoas que falam com a certeza de que ela está viva e que a farsa tem proporções maiores, como um pseudo-marido, que publica fotos de uma mulher bem mais nova, a Meg tinha/tem aproximadamente 60 anos, afirmando que é a própria e que ela morreu. O antigo blog foi modificado e está no nome de outra pessoa. Às especulações unem-se coisas ruins e aspectos negativos de sua personalidade, que foram surgindo no bafafá de comentários que se transformou o episódio. É comum nos decepcionarmos com as pessoas, ainda mais no meio virtual, que não podemos ter certeza de nada. As pessoas podem simplesmente montar uma vida virtual, como forma de fuga, diversão, medo de encarar o real e se esconder atrás de um computador. Os blogs estão cheios de pessoas que gostam de chamar atenção. Nessa vida aprendi a tentar nunca julgar e procurar entender. Mas a lição que fica é: a vida virtual não compensa, deveríamos, sim, passar mais tempo com nossos amigos reais, em ambientes reais, seríamos mais felizes.
Sobre blogs e enganos – Palavras dispersas
Tem vezes que não durmo bem. Esta noite me grilei muito com a história da MEG. Para quem não conhece a história, aviso que é triste. No começo das bloguices esta mulher, consideravelmente mais velha que os outros blogueiros, era muito envolvida nos blogs, dava conselhos, animava as pessoas, esses babados. Parece que era muito doentinha. Ninguém a conheceu ao vivo, exceto o Marcus Pessoa, que é da região norte. Aí, de repente vem a notícia que ela tá num hospital USA. E daí que ela morreu. Houve choro e ranger de dentes. Até que descobriram que ela não morreu coisa nenhuma, que o mail dela vinha do Norte mesmo, não dos EUA. Parece que além do câncer ela tinha desordem bipolar. E então me sinto revoltada com o comentário das pessoas sentidas pelo logro. É o contrário do filho pródigo. A pessoa que era exemplar virou uma velha sem ter o que fazer e daí morro a baixo.
Que tristeza a raça humana – Universo Anárquico
Apart from the overheated exchange between the enraged ex-mourners and Meg's temperate supporters and friends, there were interesting remarks among the hundreds of comments that started sprouting on blog posts about the issue. There were good ones going deeper into some psychological aspects of blogging, and others speculating about possible plans to take advantage of the attention gathered by the case.
Em uma preciosa entrevista concedida à jornalista Elis Monteiro em maio de 2002, Meg afirmou: “Escrever um blog é uma tarefa que não se faz sozinho. Vira um trabalho coletivo. Quer no fato de que as pessoas que nos lêem seguem indicações e chegam a outros destinos, vão em frente, como também suas críticas, seus questionamentos, os que apontam erros nossos, contribuem expressivamente para se saber a quantas se anda. (…) Acho que blog é uma experiência conjunta de se viver melhor. Da prática da partilha, a negação da propriedade absoluta. Exercício de esforços do afeto“.
Um poema para Meg – Pensar Enlouquece, Pense Nisso
Se Meg é um personagem – tudo lhe é permitido – morrer, renascer, reinventar, estrapolar, transcender. O que significa o lógico? É importante a pessoa ser lógica? O que é importante, ser dramática ou lógica? O que é a desassociação de idéias? No que ela difere, numa pessoa artística e numa pessoa mentalmente doente? Alguém que se recupera de um ataque cardíaco por acaso se recupera carregando pedras? Não deveria essa pessoa esperar até estar bem para discutir tais questões , já que estando doente inevitavelmente levará a pior ao tentar infringir os direitos dos outros? Sorry, eu não sou Meg!
Comentário de Zelda Scott in InternETC
Quem sabe, dia qualquer, a Meg “reencarne”, não é mesmo? Muito já escrevi sobre blogueiros que se utilizam da internet para suprir suas carências de ordem sentimental. Não que seja errado, ou condenável, mas é algo tristíssimo por ser ineficiente. Acaba dando em NADA! A pessoa fica dependente de comentários elogiosos, sofre quando estes diminuem, faz piruetas e distribui ‘docinhos’, tudo para receber sua dose de carinho virtual. O carinho virtual assume a mesma importância do oxigênio, da água, da luz do sol. Não condeno esses viciados em carinho virtual, já disse. Somos todos neuróticos em algum grau, ainda que mínimo…  Bom… o alerta que fica – se é que alertas têm alguma serventia prática, é: nosso blog não é nosso mundo, nem é nossa alma, muito menos o nosso coração. Nosso blog é apenas um espaço onde publicamos fragmentos do que somos. Se o levarmos muito a sério, ele – o blog – nos “matará”, ainda que virtualmente. Abração, Ina, e trate de não morrer jamais, ok?
Comentário de Dennis in Pensar Enlouquece, Pense Nisso
Tenho informações que considero muito fieis aos fatos. A Meg esta fazendo uma pesquisa sobre o comportamento humano na Blogosfera. Fez isso e vai lançar um livro, que segundo minha informante, será muito bom, esclarecedor. Realmente deve dar uma ótima radiografia do comportamento humano. Quando souberam que ela morreu, todos a elogiaram, era a melhor pessoa do mundo e agora tudo se inverte. Ja encomendei meu livro.
Comentário de Anonimo in InternETC
É a internet no seu melhor. Empatias, amizades, amores e desamores, blogs, e-mails, IRC, ICQ, MSN e o diabo a quatro… Tudo por um pouco menos de solidão. E estamos, afinal, ainda mais sós. R.
Comentário anônimo in Nota – Insónia
As a last word I will quote Cora Rónai, journalist, one of the first Brazilian bloggers and still today one of the most read ones in Brazil — and Meg's friend.
O Anônimo escreveu: “Se não fosse pelas maldades, ela mereceria compaixão…” Perdão, mas… que maldades? Nos quase 150 comentários do post lá embaixo, várias pessoas deram depoimentos em que reconheceram, em primeira pessoa, o carinho e a gentileza que receberam da Meg. Não houve um só relato de alguém que se dissesse diretamente vítima de qualquer maldade. Falaram na Magaly e num blog deletado em 1915, sem levar em consideração o que eventualmente estaria escrito naquele blog, e porque cargas d'água a Meg teria a sua senha. Repito o que escrevi: acho que ela quis dar um perdido no tal português — que deve ser, este sim, um tremendo mau caráter (fiquei horrorizada ao ver como ele quis surfar na popularidade da sua “falecida mulher”) — não calculou o exato alcance dos seus atos e, a essas alturas, se a conheço, deve estar arrasada e profundamente arrependida do que fez. A meu ver a Meg é, sim, digna de compaixão. Muita compaixão. Por vários motivos, mas agora, sobretudo, por ter posto a perder tantos amigos conquistados ao longo dos anos: afinal, também não se pode pedir a ninguém que chore o mesmo defunto duas vezes. Dito isso, vamos cuidar da vida.
Caso Meg – internETC.

author: Jose Murilo


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Romania: Beer Commercial · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Csikszereda Musings links to a video about people and things Romania is famous for – which turns out to be nothing but a beer commercial.


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Romania: Traffic in Bucharest · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Blog Bucharest points out that Romania's capital is just like any other big city – full of bad drivers and traffic jams.


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Russia: Conversation With Litvinenko’s Widow, Part 12 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Installment #12 of Marina Litvinenko's interview has been translated and posted at A Step At A Time.


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Russia: Photo-Marathon For Children With Cancer · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

On Jan. 27, 2007, the third annual photo-marathon was held in one of the wards (Onco-Haematology 16) of the Children’s Clinical Hospital in Moscow. It was organized by the International Society for Paediatric Oncology (SIOP), the International Confederation of Childhood Cancer Parent Organisations (ICCCPO) and the Russia-based Donory – detyam initiative group (“Donors to the Children”), and facilitated by local volunteers, many of whom are bloggers.
Below are some reflections, reactions and photos by bloggers who volunteered at the photo-marathon this year (as well as by a few of those who didn't, in the comments to the first entry). (Warning: photos linked to in this entry are rather bandwidth intensive and absolutely heartbreaking.)
LJ user drugoi has titled his photo series “Strong People” (13 photos, RUS):
But these strong people are still very small. This morning, a few visitors came to support them in their uneasy fight for life.
[photo]
Today, yet another photo-marathon was held at the oncology ward of the Children's Clinical Hospital. A photo-marathon is when a person with a camera comes to every patient, teaches him the basics of photography and helps him to take a few shots – a self-portrait, his mama's portrait, a view from the window. Then these photos are gathered and printed, and then an exhibition is held at the ward. A small holiday that everyone is looking forward to.
[photo]
Not everyone, of course. When we arrives, little Anton was still asleep.
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Georgy is 6 years old. “Already six,” as he told us. Georgy was showing off his new Motorola and the games that were in his phone.
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These are Georgy's slippers.
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Photo education session is in full swing.
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This is Liza. She is 4 years old. She has been through five chemotherapies already. Her mama says that Liza's hair used to reach beneath her waist. She is quiet, pensive. As they all are here.
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Liza doing applique.
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A thin tube spreads from Liza and reaches here.
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In the room next door, a little Chechen, Magomet, is fighting with his mama. He doesn't want to take pictures and that's it.
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Anton has awaken.
[photo]
Sad Lyuba.
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Polina from Ust-Kamenogorsk. Brain tumor, a difficult case. Every day that she spends here costs her parents – who are not rich – 12,000 rubles [approx. $460]. It's good that there's someone who is helping them. Here, they call people like this “sponsors.”
[photo]
Five best shots will be sent to the international exhibition titled “I Want to Go Home.” This is how fundraising is being done. […]
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LJ user alepa didn't think at first (RUS) that it was appropriate for the photos of the children patients to be posted online, for everyone to see:
alepa: It hurts. Why are you posting this. My brother was at that hospital, he died of cancer at the age of 8. I don't know how I'd feel if his photos appeared in LJ. But it seems to me that there should be other ways to make money for the kids who are there. Why does it have to be shown to everyone? I just don't understand what for. To awaken people's empathy? Or to encourage to donate money? I apologize for the agressively hysterical tone of this letter – I always follow your journal with interest. But this got me, it's all very much alive.
But other bloggers make alepa change her mind eventually:
lmgirl: Because we should be helping all together “the whole world.” One by one it is hardly feasible. But how do you let “the whole world” know and make it remember that things like these do exist? :(
[…]
olgalav: May I respond to you? I've been through this myself and survived. And now I'm trying to let the world know that THIS exists. Because healthy, happy people have no idea that things like this happen. I've been told by many: if it hadn't been for you, we wouldn't have known. And there's a catastrophe with the money there, and with medications, etc. We are just trying to show the world that something like this exists. And that people shouldn't turn away from it. Please believe us, we are not doing it for profit. And why not LJ? Of today's mass media, it is one of the most influential.
nastyasha: Perhaps, someone would open the http://www.donors.ru page, go there, donate blood and help these kids at least with this… […]
moniava: Yes, and also all the parents whose children's photos are posted here have permitted to distribute the information about their children online.
[…]
doremifasollasi: All means are good for treatment.
alepa: I understand your position. Thank you for the answers, I didn't expect there'd be som any of them. I guess you are right.
chaika_v: I'll add a bit more. Yes, fundraising is important. Very important. But there's one more side to it. That people start helping each other is the result of the soul's work. This is helping my soul work. These photos, and what the volunteer guys are writing in their journals – it's all screaming about how it is possible to live selflessly, it's taking the indifference away.
alepa: Yes, thank you. I haven't thought about it at all, because I got swept by my own memories and emotions. People who are involved in this of course do deserve HUGE respect. […]
***
LJ user vichka_sun has posted 25 photos taken by Roma, an 11-year-old boy she was assigned to at the hospital. She wrote (RUS):
[…] I've been given the best participant of the photo-marathon. Romka. Probably so that I myself could learn how to photograph. […] In some three hours, an 11-year-old boy has come up with a photostory on life in oncology wards of the Children's Clinical Hospital that's worth a World Press Photo Award. […]
[…] He is a patient at the department […] for children with good indicators, and they are allowed to walk around the hospital. […] Roma [showed me around]. We had tea with his mama and Laura, a volunteer. Romka playes a guitar a little, listens to the Prodigy. He had no problems finding a common language with the people he photographed, he never photographed them against their will. I kept wondering – why is he so fond of shooting paintings, drawings on the walls, signs on the doors, but then all his snapshots merged into this story and all became clear. The competition's theme is “I Want to Go Home.” Romka pulled it off effortlessly somehow. Throughout the photoshoot we haven't thought of this theme once. But it's visible in every one of his pictures. What else: I had plenty to learn. Really.
[25 photos by Roma]
***
LJ user knesinka-buh spent the day of the photo-marathon with the 3 1/2-year-old Lena Amelena, who was on IV and thus not allowed to walk around, and too tiny and weak to use the camera (RUS):
[…] We didn't really manage to take pictures… her fingers are very small and thin, and she wasn't strong enough to push the camera's big button… but together we photographed her mama and papa, her legs, and the balloon, which we placed into bed for a nap before taking a picture :) […]
Go here to see over a dozen photos taken by knesinka-buh and Lena.
***
All pictures taken by the children that day are here.
The rest of the hospital's cancer patients will be having their photo-marathon on Feb. 4.
***
Links to last year's photo-marathon works are here.


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Russia: Putin’s Press Conference · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Mikhail Khodorkovsky's lawyer Robert Amsterdam comments on Vladimir Putin's annual press conference and writes about Russia's energy politics.


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Serbia: Kosovo Holiday · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

One Missionary in Kosovo writes about the International Day of Prayer and Fasting for Kosova, marked Jan. 31.


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Tajikistan: Roundup · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Vadim rounds up the Tajik blogosphere at neweurasia.


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Thailand: Soccer Dispute · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Metroblogging Bangkok describes the event that caused the latest sporting rift between Thailand and Singapore.

author: Preetam Rai


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Trinidad & Tobago: Calypso Fiesta memories · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Laura at the Caribbean Beat blog reminisces about Calypso Fiesta, the semi-final event of the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival's calypso competition.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Hang them? Then what? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Jeremy Taylor gets to the bottom of the idea being voiced by many in Trinidad and Tobago that capital punishment is a solution to the country's ills — and explains why it's not.


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Uzbekistan: Phony NGO · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia looks at the World Bank's implementing partner on a project to promote civil society in Uzbekistan.


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Venezuela: Chavez Indefinitely or Path to Reform? · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Miguel Octavio, who is now also publishing selected posts in Spanish, writes gloomily of the so-called “enabling law”: “Two days ago the Deputies of the National Assembly simply gave up their jobs and their own mandate in order to enable Hugo Chavez to rule by decree for an unheard of period of 18 months in areas that not even the Deputies knew about in detail the day they voted on it. It was indeed a sad day for democracy and freedom in Venezuela.” Fellow opposition blogger Daniel Duquenal adds, “As of today no man in Venezuelan history will have had as much power, as much discretionary power that is, with the possible exception of Juan Vicente Gomez.” Oil Wars, on the other hand, inspires a novel-length comment thread with his post “Why Chavez is so loved.” And finally, Richard Gott's argument that “Venezeula's ‘enabling’ legislation is more likely to prove a path to reform than a road to dictatorship.”


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Video from Benin: Fete des Peuples · Global Voices
Alice Backer

LaFlammeTV posted this video on DailyMotion of this month's Fete des Peuples [Peoples’ Celebration], an event that took place in Cotonou, Benin adding:
La Fête des Peuples est une grande manifestation culturelle qui puise sa vitalité à la source dans les variétés caractéristiques des traditions et cultures du Bénin.
Elle présente en live :
· une BENEDICTION DU ROYAUME de TADO;
· les danses spécifiques des Cours Royales :
– « HOUNGAN » de Houawé ;
– « HOUNGAN » de Djimè (Allada) ;
· des spécificités musicales et chorégraphi-ques de certaines nationalités et Régions du Bénin.
It features, live:
– A blessing of the Kingdom of Tado;
– “Houngan” of Houawe;
– “Houngan” of Djime;
– musical and choreographic specialties of certain nationalities and regions of Benin.
(Update 2/4/07: If you clicked on the video before today and noticed a boring talking head, sorry. I only realized today that the wrong video was up. There are dozens on the LaFlamme Daily Motion account and although I meant to put up Chapter 10 all along, Chapter 13 was up. Sorry and enjoy. No talking heads on this one, just an entertaining dance. )

author: Alice Backer


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What is Madagascar to Americans? · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Malagasy aty California explains (Fr) Americans’ challenges with Madagascar's geography: “I often had to confirm that Madagascar is not close to the Middle East, that it is not a city, not in Europe and mostly that people don't speak Spanish there … Don't expect a correct answer when you ask Joe Smith to place Madagascar on a map.”


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Bangladesh: First politician blogger · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Sajeeb, the son of the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina, is the first Bangladeshi politician to blog.  “Wait a minute. Where’s our credit? Why are we being blamed for destroying our democratic institutions? After all, we have been completely shut out of government for five years.”


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Bangladesh: Political Posters · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

imperfect world 2007 on political posters and violence in Bangladesh. “Bangladeshi political posters don’t belong in galleries or your walls….they belong in the streets…In Bangladesh it is to seek out vengeance, to fan the flames of hatred and carry out retribution on the streets. “


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Czech Republic: A Message to Condoleezza Rice · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

On one wall in Brno, the second-largest Czech city, there's a collective letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. When Swobodin v Brne discovered it, he asked a friend to do an English translation of the text that appears next to Ms. Rice's portrait and a reproduction of a painting of African slaves:
Dear Madam the minister,
Please do not forget your slave origins.
They got their freedom.
Let freedom and peace to other people.
Sincerely,
Brno people.


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India: The economy and The Economist · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Indian Economy Blog on The Economist's story on India overheating. “I don’t normally consider myself an economic nationalist – but there is something in the Economist’s words which hearkens back to how Wall Street viewed East Asia before the crisis, or how the IMF prodded Argentina in the early part of this decade.”


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Indonesia: Floods in Jakarta · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Unspun in Jakarta posts a message from a local NGO trying to help the people affected by the latest floods in the Indonesian capital. “As I write this the skies are cloudy, it has been raining lightly but it may pour at any moment, even as the flood waters have yet to receede.”


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Nepal: Meeting other bloggers · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Nepali Voices on the first ever formal blogmeet for Nepali bloggers. “Talks were mostly centered on the need of the blogging community and its benefits for all. There were talks on blogging, and even on Terai issue (much of which was done after the end of the meet).”


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South Asia: British Identity Debate · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Sepia Mutiny on another round of the British Identity debate. “This moves the discussion into the realm of public policy, which is the whole point of course, but does so with an off-hand definition of “multiculturalism,” a term that is bandied about a great deal in the UK political conversation but has nothing close to an agreed meaning, either as a political philosophy let alone as a program of policy action.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Bach on steelpan · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

W. Lotus posts a video of herself playing the Prelude of Bach's Partita III (BWV 1006) on the steelpan.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Hosay · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Q the Creator at Snaphappy posts photos of the Hosay (Ashura) observances in Trinidad, which is celebrated by the Shi'ite Muslim communities in the districts of St. James and Cedros.


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USVI: Blues Festival · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

At the News of St. John blog, Frank Barnako posts a podcast featuring an interview with the organiser of the St. John's Third Annual Blues Festival.


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A Week Goes by in Kuwait · Global Voices
Abdullatif AlOmar

Do you doodle ? Well Nibaq over at Savior Machine not only doodles, but he leaves his doodle machine in the bathroom and everyone in household doodles on it. This is the end result of the community doodling.
Intlxpatr one of the many expat bloggers in Kuwait shares with us his views on his trip to Doha, which he sums up in two sentences:
Departing Kuwait was chaos
Arrival in Doha was smooth
Are you a third Culture kid ? Amer Over at Hilaliya is one and he explains what a third culture kid is and his story is as follows:
Third Culture Kids are global citizens: creative, independent, cosmopolitan, multilingual, tolerant, higher than average I.Q., we can live anywhere but we never really belong anywhere.
Aggy looks at the 18th Gulf Cup ( soccer tournament held every two years, open to teams from around the Gulf) and gives us what he thinks of the Kuwaiti team's performance there and why they failed .
However, when I followed the matches in the 18th AGCC Cup, I was disgusted with Kuwait's results. More dangerously, I was NOT surprised.
Meanwhile, Kthekuwaiti pulls no punches in his exposé on the practice of the telecommunication companies about Internet connection cards.
Here we go again..
Wataniya took their data sim card; stuck it into a router (Option’s GlobeSurfer 3G HSDPA router), called it ‘new Wnet’ and introduced it as a a new service. Then they started charging 12kd extra a month.
Speaking of business practice and shenanigans, who didn't pull some kind of shenanigans in high school? Tat shares one of his shenanigans stories in high school.
The principal explains that somone killed the fish in the tank and he would give us all detention for the rest of the year if he doesn't find out who did it.
Ever felt that there is prejudice against people of a certain marital status ?
H over at Readmyblog feels that there is and he coined a new term for that.
I invented a word. And it’s maritalism.
No3ik takes us on a pictorial tour of what she did in the Hussainia( congregation hall for Shia ritual ceremonies )  in a pictorial tour which could double as a cooking guide.
This is the family's husaineya, so its only women and girls, that's why some tasks are more like great achievments.

author: Abdullatif AlOmar


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Bahrain: Lost in Translation? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahrain blogger Esraa posts hilarious pictures  of errors made in translations from Arabic to English and vice-versa.


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Botswana: living with AIDS · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Pilot Mathambo shares his story of being HIV positive on Nata Village blog, “The doctor took my blood and I had to wait for 2 weeks to get the results.  When the test results returned, I was told to see the social worker.  She had no training in dealing with issues like this.  She simply said, you can test negative or you can test positive and you are positive! I wanted to jump from a window. I went absolutely
crazy and had to be hospitalized and tranquilized.”


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Cameroon: English newspaper goes online · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

One of the most popular English newspaper in Cameroon, Eden, has recently established its presence online, writes Dibussi Tande.


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China: first look discrimination case · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Peijin Chen from Shanghaiists puts together some local reports about the first look discrimination case in China: A 23 year-old Henan woman named Qiu Zi (秋子) may become the center of China's first appearance-related work discrimination case after accusing a company of firing her because her head is too big.


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China: same sex marriage · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Li Yin he will submit a proposal in the coming National people's congress on same sex marriage legislation (zh).


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China: sexual politics · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jeremy Goldkorn from DANWEI alerts the readers that Chinabounder (a blog recounting foreign guy's sexual experience with Chinese woman) is back and fighting back. He quoted a recent cold blood murder of a young girl in Hunan, and asked why didn't the netizens witch hunt the murderer.


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DRC: Taximan Assassinated · Global Voices
Alice Backer

UDPS Liege writes (Fr): “A taximan was just cowardly assassinated in his own house, in front of his wife and children by the GSSP who had requested money from him. It is on Avenue Bikela in the town of Ngaliema, in UPN-Kinzonzi. This all happened around midnight.”


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Haiti: What’s in a Picture · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Haiti Solutions posts a picture of President Preval laughing with Iranian President Ahmadinejad at what appears to be an international leaders’ official event and adds (Fr): “This picture is not good for Haitians around the world … Haiti has enough  important issues to manage … Our politicians have to be more responsible, they are no longer young starry-eyed students on a university campus, they represent 8 million Haitians. Their actions have consequences.”


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Malawi: mourning one of their own · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Malawian bloggers are still mourning one of their own, “A couple of days before the operation, he posted on his blog that he had just recovered from Malaria. My last comment to his blog was congratulating him for that recovery and mentioning that Malaria is no longer threat for under-five kids only since it is also killing adults like some local celebrities. Indeed, on 21st January Vic Kasinja of Joza and Taxina fame died of Malaria in Lilongwe.”


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South Africa: cash prize to top bloggers · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The South African blog, 24.com, is offfering cash prize to top bloggers: “That’s right, starting today we’re giving away R3000 a week to the top bloggers on 24.com, as voted by the 24.com blogging community. So go visit your favourite blogs, nominate them for the competition by clicking on the button on the right-hand-side of the page, and watch the votes roll in! (Make sure your friends nominate you too, so you’re also in the running).”


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Sudan:The Chinese Are Coming And Losing AU Chair · Global Voices
SudaneseDrima

This roundup's highlights are Sudan losing African Union Chair to Ghana and some thoughts on China's interests in Africa. Black Kush is relieved that Sudan's president Omar Hassan al-Bashir has lost the bid to become the head of the African Union:
So the African heads have spoken. In the traditional way of resolving conflicts, the post of the AU chair has gone to  Ghana
You can give a sigh, but what deal has been made for next year? Nobody is speaking about it yet.
And so is The Sudanese Thinker. Both of them also shared their thoughts on China. Black Kush blogged a post entitled “The Chinese Are Coming!”:
The Sudanese Thinker had this to say:
Many Sudanese are happy about the fact that China has such close relations with Sudan. They love the idea of a broken America and a new Chinese super power filling the vacuum. I don’t. Frankly, the idea worries me. I would honestly prefer for America to be the sole super power rather than it being China. I fear what I don’t understand and I don’t understand China’s intentions well (maybe I should engage Chinese bloggers more often). I do however understand America’s and the West’s much better. Therefore I don’t mistrust them much. Moreover China is no democracy. It’s a country with no real freedom and a place where human rights are not well respected. It is communist, it is against religious freedom and it is essentially God denying. That does not sit well with me.
…China is profiting from its activities in Sudan without caring much about what’s happening in Darfur. It’s doing the same in other places too.
Meanwhile Path2Hope who lives in Tanzania blogged about her recent trip to Ethiopia:
No matter what preconceptions you might have about Ethiopia, it boasts some of the world's most beautiful people, a land of rich history, music and (ancient) breathtaking architecture.
‘Amharinye alchlem’ which basically means ‘don't speak/understand Amharic’, is a good phrase to remember. Although I must say I did have a hard time selling it, they simply concluded that I'm an Ethiopian snob denying her roots. A friend warned me that if suspected as a Somali, I would encounter a lot of problems. But if there's one country on earth that actually adores Sudanese people, it's Ethiopia.
Mimz has a post about Female Genital Mutilation:
Did you know that there are 3 types of FGM?
Each one is worse than the other, in ascending order.
This website contains useful info on the clinical management of FGM, and you can see for yourself the level of damage on the female genitals before and after giving birth.. as well as have a clear view on how painful the procedures of infibulation & suturing are.
Precious has been writing a highly informative series on different Sudanese political parties: historical intro, political parties after 1989 coup, the Umma Party, the Democratic Unionist Party, and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army.
Last but not least, Hipster is back from her break and she's blogging again.

author: SudaneseDrima


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Zimbabwe: abuses in gold mining sector · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This Is Zimbabwe writes about human rights abuses in Zimbabwe's informal gold-mining sector: “One has to look back a decade to understand the regime’s haphazard stance on gold panning, which has left the desperate panners confused and now threatened with violence and starvation.”


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Afghanistan: Dog Fighting · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Kabul Diary reports from the scene of an extremely popular sport in Afghanistan, dog fighting.


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Arabisc: Kuwaiti Looking for an Easy A · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

We may have all met them..at least those of us who have managed to secure straight As at school and university. While some us may shun them from the beginning, Kuwaiti blogger Jandeef couldn't shake this climber off his back that easily.
He gives us a hilarious transcript of a series of conversations he has had with a fellow Kuwaiti, who has come to study at the same university he in enrolled in, in the US. Whether the conversation is real or imaginary is irrelevant, but its portrayal of how some lazy students are after an easy A rings true to many of us who have come across such specimens in our lives.
Here's the dialogue, which started with this telephone conversation:
At the meeting, our climber friend drops a few hints, but Jandeel pays no attention:
And then he continues pushing for more.. but Jandeel still continues to offer him advise.
And then the mid-term results are out..
And then he wants to register for the second term.
A few months later…


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Arabisc: Morocco’s Blind Declare War · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

In Morocco, a group of blind people are planning to stage a protest with a difference.
Blogger Dar Lakbira says that they have decided to wear shrouds when they march on February 7 to demand more rights and support from social services to draw attention to their plight, which includes not being able to secure jobs – despite a clear law which says that the disabled in Morocco should be given a priority in securing a job.
Dar Lakbira, which means the Big House in Arabic, doesn't hide his sympathy towards this sector of society, which he says suffer as much as other down-trodden sectors in his country.
Dar Lakbira then gives us an insight to the war the blind are planning to wage to get some of the rights guaranteed to them by the law.


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Argentina: “Recuperated Workplaces” · Global Voices
David Sasaki

From Global Labor Strategies: “What happens when a group of workers take over their workplace and try to run it without private owners, professional managers, or the government?  10,000 workers in 200 workplaces in Argentina are trying to find out.”


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Armenia: Insult to Dignity · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Blogrel reports that officials in Armenia are incensed at a performance by a British dance artist who wrapped his nude body with the Armenian flag and danced on it. Officials are calling it an insult to Armenian national dignity and suggesting that the performance was criminal. Harmick, the author of the post, points out that Armenian officials should be far more worried with many other more ubiquitous insults to Armenian dignity.


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Armenia & Turkey: Hrant Dink Roundup · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Oneworld Multimedia rounds up recent posts from Armenian and Turkish blogosphere about Hrant Dink


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Bahrain: Genetically Engineered Food Alert! · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahrain-based blogger Haitham Sabbah raises the alarm about the presence of genetically engineered food, which is not labelled, floating about in the markets of Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and even Bahrain.


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Bahrain: Mating Parrots · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif has appointed himself the official parrot paparazzi. No sexually active parrot is safe from his prying eyes.


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Bangladesh: Anita Rau Badami · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

black and gray with another interview. This time with Anita Rau Badami. How can one not read it when the first questions asks “Why is satire, feminine and at times strangely seductive, so important to you or your work?”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Bangladesh: When the powerful are arrested · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Rezwan on what it means when the powerful and rich in a country finally get arrested, and why transparency must be maintained. “It is said that the ill-equipped and staffed judiciary always favor the wealthy and the influentials. So arresting big names like ex ministers, political leaders and VIPs are quite rare in the country.”


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Barbados: Foreign security force · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Barbados Free Press views the manner in which the Barbados government plans on “ramming through” some last-minute legislation permitting foreign nationals to become part of the security apparatus being put in place for the 2007 Cricket World Cup as a warning sign “of a corruption of democratic principles that – if allowed to grow unchecked – will threaten our individual freedoms and the very heart of our democracy.”


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Belize: Taiwan or China? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Belizean – The Belize News Blog publishes an article by Godfrey Smith analysing the benefits for Belize of establishing diplomatic ties with China rather than Taiwan.


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Bolivia: A Cement Obelisk and Frozen Water Balloons · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Cities and towns were on the mind of a handful of Bolivian bloggers this week.  In December of 2006, the city of Cochabamba rolled out the red carpet and played host to a summit for South American presidents.  In honor of the occasion, some of the local lawmakers proposed to commemorate the gathering by constructing a giant obelisk somewhere in the city’s center.  Some of them also theorized that this would be a boom to local tourism in spite of its estimated Bs. 4,000,000 (approximately $500,000 USD) price tag.
Fadrique Iglesias Mendizábal finds the idea absurd.  In his blog El Clavo en el Zapato [ES] (the Nail in the Shoe), he said the proposal does not quite add up.
¿Alguien de verdad en su sano juicio o con un poquito de sentido común se cree que en un país alucinante para el turismo, con lugares alrededor como Samaipata, Chiquitos, Tiwanaku, La Paz, Coroico, Toro Toro, Copacabana, el Salar, Sucre, Potosí, Noel Kempf, etc, etc, etc, un paseante, por más engañado que esté, va a modificar su hoja de ruta para ver un trozo de cemento, so pretexto de ser el más grande se Sudamérca?.
Could someone with a sane mind and a little bit of common sense actually believes that in a country with such impressive tourism spots such as Samaipata, Chiquitos, Tiwanaku, La Paz, Coroico, Toro Toro, Copacabana, the Salar (de Uyuni), Sucre, Potosí, Noel Kempf, etc., etc., etc., think that a traveler, no matter how misled he might be, would change his route to see a cement tower, whose sole pretext is that it is the largest in South America?
Iglesias Mendizábal thinks there are other worthwhile attractions in Cochabamba, and perhaps the giant obelisk wouldn’t be all that it is cut out to be.
Pero pensemos, ¿qué es lo que puede atraer a un turista de Cochabamba?
Digamos que la diversidad natural, el clima, la comida, la riqueza intelectual y sus artístas, el legado etnocultural, la arqueología, las fiestas populares (Urkupiña, Feria del Pescado, Manzana, Charango, Chicha, Wayllunka, etc.) ; como ven motivos sobran tenemos una cultura realmente rica, pero latente y casi enterrada. Más rica que un pampacu de Vinto.
We should think, ‘what could attract a tourist to Cochabamba?’ Perhaps it might be the natural diversity, the climate, the food or the intellectual richness , and its artists.  Perhaps it might be the ethnocultural legacy, the archaeology, the popular festivals, such as Urkupiña, the Fish, Peach, Apple, Charango, Chicha, or Wayllunka festivals.  We really have a rich culture, but it is almost overlooked.  It is more rich than a pampacu from Vinto.
He laments that the city is falling behind other Bolivian cities that have launched cultural initiatives like book fairs and film festivals.
Evelin Torrico, a resident of Santa Cruz, recently returned to her querida llajta (beloved homeland) and her annual visit to Cochabamba.  Among its unique charms is the abundance of food and opportunities to eat – up to six times per day.  She writes in her blog, Mis Locuras [ES] that it has a small town, where everything is a short walk away.  However, she also recognizes that water balloons are out in full effect in a lead up to Carnaval.
Eso sí OJO!….desde la anterior semana que estaban mojando con globos…fui el domingo con mis primos y empezaron a llegar globazos de todos los lados….al principio los maldecía, les gritaba enojada “ocioooosos de miii…rrrthaa!!” jiji pero lueeeeego…hasta nos compramos a 1bs los 10globos cargados con agua, y empezamos la batalla entre los autos que pasaban con sus francotiradores, y nosotros en la acera jijij…peeeeeero con mi siempre maravillosa punteria no le dí a ni uno!!! ..y bueno…así, dicen que las primeras semanas es “sano” pq despues comienzan a lanzar globos congelados…..ttrrrrtrrrr qué dolor!!!
Be attentive.  Since last week, everyone is out with water balloons.  I went out with my cousins last Sunday and water balloons were incoming from everywhere.  At first I cursed at them, but then later, we bought 10 water balloons for Bs. 1 (approximately $0.12 USD).  The battle began with the cars that passed by with their snipers. We were standing on the sidewalk, but with my sharp aim, I didn’t hit a single one! … They say that the first weeks are safer because later they start throwing frozen water balloons.  Oh, the pain!
These two bloggers wrote about their home town of Cochabamba, one of the major urban centers in the interior of the country.  Another blogger named Joup recently embarked on an adventure to a small town called Urubichá in the department of Santa Cruz, for a work project involving the famous orchestra and chorus from the area.  Complete with a rickety bus, interesting characters that stepped on and off the bus that seemed to stop every few feet to pick up new passengers, and members of FELCC (Special Force Against Crime) aka the police, and a near-miss accident,  Joup and her traveling companions finally reached their destination.
Finally, Marco, a Tarija-based blogger from Pandemónium [ES] wrote one sentence aimed at generated discussion.  He asks, “What if Evo (President Morales) died today?”  As a result, a dozen or so comments responded with their take on hypothetical events.  Some would fear that current vice-president Alvaro Garcia Linera might be even more negative for the country.  Some joked that Morales’ ghost would come back to haunt, while others feared total anarchy.
This time, last year:  After a comment asking whether all Bolivian blog articles only relate to politics, we took a look at some of the different types of Bolivian blogs.  Literary, technology and photo blogs all take prominent roles in the growing Bolivian blogosphere.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Brunei: Stamps from Brunei · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The Daily Brunei Resources has a post on the history of postage stamps in Brunei.


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Chile: Library of National Congress Chooses Creative Commons · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Creative Commons Chile announces [ES] the new website [ES] launch of the Library of the Chilean National Congress. All of the content on the site is published with an “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Chile” license.


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Costa Rica, Bolivia, Venezuela: Oscar Arias, Hugo Chavez, and Evo Morales · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Katy of Caracas Chronicles translates a statement by Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Oscar Arias criticizing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's “democratic dictatorship.” Meanwhile, the Latin America and Caribbean blog of the Overseas Development Institute compares the leadership and policy making differences between Bolivian President Evo Morales and Chavez.


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Cuba: No visas for American cyclists  · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Charly Morales Valido reports (ES) on the US government's refusal to grant US cyclists travel permits so they could contest the XXXII Vuelta a Cuba race, which takes place later this month. The 2003 edition of the race was won by American Todd Herriot.


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Czech Republic: Ethnic Kazakh Minister · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Leila of neweurasia.net writes about one of the four Green Party ministers in the newly-formed Czech government – Dzhamila Stehlikova, an ethnic Kazakh born in Almaty, Kazakhstan: “Appointed as a minister without portfolio, pani Stehlikova is responsible for the policies in the sphere of ethnic minorities and human rights.”


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Dubai: Jobs Scam · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Looking for a job in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates? Perhaps you should read this first.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Dubai Shopping Festival · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The annual Dubai Shopping Festival is making headlines around the world .. but Secret Dubai seems to be turning green with some of the publicity he is seeing in his own turf.


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East Timor: Reporters Without Borders Report on East Timor · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Dili-gence comments on the Reporters Without Borders findings on press freedoms in East Timor and explains why he has no sympathy for the journalists who were in Timor from May to July last year.


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East Timor: UN Environment Report and East Timor · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Diligence looks at recycling, pollution and rise in sea level from the point of view of East Timor. “The locals at the lower end of the income scale find themselves unable to contribute much to CO2 footprints. While the well-heeled foreigner probably is at the other slothful end most of the time.”


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Foreseeing South Africa’s Future Hegemony over Africa · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Togolese origined France-based blogger Kangni Alem comments on a recent series of workshops  on collective knowledge and practices in Africa organized by the Africa Centre in Cape Town, South Africa (Fr): “The Africa Centre is a project which foretells the future hegemony of South Africa on the rest of the continent. A project entirely funded from within while elsewhere funders would have been international. … In the rest of Africa the selfishness of the rich forbids such practices, correct me if I'm wrong!”


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Guadeloupe: Dengue Fever/Chikungunya a Threat · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Guadeloupe Attitude  highlights (Fr) the story of Alexandre,  a 6-month old Guadeloupean infant who passed away recently from dengue fever  (one of two in the last month) and adds: “Authorities fear a resurgence of the dengue virus, chikungunya version. Transmitted by female mosquitoes, it is not mortal in its primary form but in its secondary form provokes grave hemorrages  on older people and infants especially … The fight against mosquitoes should become a priority on the island through an outreach campaign.”


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Guyana: Where’s the Indo-Guyanese culture? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

MediaCritic notes a bias against Indo-Guyanese culture in a newspaper column purporting to report on Guyana's cultural scene.


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Haiti: In praise of Barbancourt · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Robert Miller at Haiti Innovation sings the praises of Haiti's famous Barbancourt rum, and quotes from an article which notes the role of Barbancourt in voodoo rituals.