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Ukraine: Coalition Choices · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dan McMinn of Orange Ukraine examines coalition choices for the blocs and parties, which – according to the still preliminary results – have made it into Ukraine's parliament: “Politicians Fighting So Voters Don't Have To […] Politicians are going to have to swallow their disgust and make necessary but odious political compromises. Not incidentally, these compromises should help, or at least reflect the views of, most Ukrainian citizens.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Ukraine: Election Observer’s Story · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ethan of Room 12A recounts his experience as an election observer in Kyiv.

source: news-globalvoices

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


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Ukraine: Fundraising For Project Empty Orphanage · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Cristin of AmericanExpat, a blog on Ukrainian adoptions, is fundraising for Project Empty Orphanage: “Currently there are approximately 125,000 children in Ukrainian orphanages. Many of these kids are “stuck” there because of inaccurate or missing paperwork. This project was designed to help kids’ paperwork problems that stand between them and a loving family. […] It is hard to imagine that for so many children, the only thing standing between them and the chance for a real family is $60 and a signature.”


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Ukraine: Hugo Chavez Knows About Orange Revolution · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A.M. Mora y Leon at Publius Pundit writes about Hugo Chavez’ remark on the Ukrainian Orange Revolution of 2004: Venezuelan president has called it a “pink revolution” done by the “gringos” and said he expected his rivals to use a similar strategy in the December presidential election.


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US Dollars, Human Rights & War  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Mehrangize Kar US based human rights activist, lawyer & blogger discusses a hot issue: US 75 million dollar help to promote democracy in Iran. She does not believe that US dollars can be helpful for Iranian human rights activists. She says:
“Not only the present government but also the judgment of the Iranian public opinion will prevent the activity of those human rights organizations that receive financial support from abroad. They would become suspect in the eyes of Iranians. The increasing number of destitute, the poor and victims of violence and other social ills in Iran will storm the offices of organizations that receive foreign funds to demand their share of these monies. It is even possible that conspiratorial elements within the government itself would instigate a group of such people to shut down and destroy foreign-funded human rights organizations. Given the Iranian Government’s past record of fabricating such scenarios, such an outcome appears quite possible.
In sum, it can be said that any political approach aimed at ameliorating the present conditions, if it does not correspond to the reality of the internal situation of Iran, is bound to backfire and destroy the limited advancements that have already been achieved in the area of human rights in Iran.”
On Webgardian blog same issue has been discussed by Iranian European and American bloggers or non bloggers.
The Spirit of Man, a Canada based blogger, talks about raising tension between US & Iran. Blogger reports:
“An Iranian hardliner party which controls both the Islamic parliament and the government, named Abadgaran, has suggested that Iran should conduct a military exercise with Cuba, Venezuela and other anti-America countries in that region of the world to send a message to the United States of America.”
Hanif Mazroi (Persian), Iran based reformist journalist & blogger, says  propaganda in Iranian TV reminds him Iran-Iraq war.  Propaganda is about nuclear energy and oppressed population of Iraq! He says it seems that Iranian TV woke up and realised suddenly there is a war in Iraq!Blogger adds he does not know what is use of this all propaganda.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Venezuela: Documentary Movie “La Lista” · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Daniel Duquenal says that the Venezuelan documentary, “La Lista” is starting to get the attention it deserves. Both Duquenal and Miguel Octavio have reviews of the film.

author: David Sasaki


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Water, pipe and bridge · Global Voices
Connie Veneracion

Ktemoc says the destruction of the causeway that carries the pipeline with which Malaysia supplies 50% of Singapore's water needs is not a coincidence to Malaysia's proposal to build a bridge where the causeway is. He says it is related to the unrealistic price that Singapore pays for the water that Malaysia supplies.

author: Connie Veneracion


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Zimbabwe: Life for ordinary citizens · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Zimpundit conducts an interview on the streets of Harare to find out what life is like for the people.

author: Sokari Ekine


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· Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Sotho reports on a speech given by a Black  woman on London's Underground….“Wake up, people! You must get involved otherwise the world is going to pot, starting with poor countries. We live in the same world, yet we don’t share it’s resources equally….”


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Afghanistan: Children · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Afghan reality says according to a Unicef report, Afghanistan  remains a country where 600 children under the age of five die every day, mostly from preventable causes.


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Africa deserts – source for solar power · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

AfroMusing points to a link ” “African deserts a potential clean energy goldmine?” which suggests using Africa's vast deserts such as the Kalahari and Sahara as huge sources of solar energy.


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An artist to watch · Global Voices
Connie Veneracion

Diacritic has added Daniel Hyun Lim in his list of artists to watch.


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Argentina: Wikipedia and Kirchner · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Doug of All-Encompassingly points his readers to an article from the Argentine paper, La Nación about the recent virtual battle on Wikipedia to define President Néstor Kirchner. The Wikipedia page is currently locked.


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Armenia: An Armenian in India · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

“Headache” is an Armenian in India blogging at Oneworld Multimedia. Meanwhile, Onnik Krikorian writes about the long history of ties between Indians and Armenians.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Armenia & Azerbaijan: Karabakh Compromises · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian says that neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan understand the compromises that must be made to reach peace over Karabakh.


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Awards, death and birthdays  in the Moroccan blogosphere · Global Voices
Farah Kinani

Last week was a happy one for M.S Hjiouj(Arabic) who not only celebrated his  birthday(Arabic), April the first, but also won  the 4 Arabs Internet sites Award for March.
It is our decision that your site does indeed stand above others in its graphic quality, site design, and overall attractiveness. We appreciate the existence of such sites on the Net, and hope that through this award, your site will become more visible to the public.
So congratulations to our last week's coup de coeur.
Farewell Fadi !
Fadi died last week(French), and the Moroccan blogosphere is already missing him. My sincere condoleance to his family and friends .
It's hard for me to switch from death to celebrations, from sorrow to joy but aren't life and death neighbours nigh!
Well, believe it or not, M.S Hjiouj is only 24! I used to think he was older than that since the content of his blog shows a maturity and a sens of analytical thinking you rarely find in young bloggers. Anyways,Happy(Arabic) birthday(Arabic) to you(Arabic) !
Another popular blogger in the Moroccan blogosphere celebrated his birthday April the first. Larbi doesn't tell his age , he doesn't even blog about his birthday. I found out about it thanks to one of the numerous comments(Arabic) Larbi leaves in most of the Moroccan blogs. Happy birthday to Larbi!
Political blogs?
Can we start talking about political blogs in Morocco?(Arabic) Asks Bla faransya(without French), author of the blog Without french, talk to me in my language, fellow citizen(Arabic).
Bla Faransya is very optimistic about the future of blogging in Morocco. He even believes that it will become a powerful tool the way it's starting to be in some countries like the US and Iran(Arabic).
Bluesman denounces the way corrupted police officers  use horrific methods to get innocent people confess  to crime they didn't do (Arabic).
Amine criticises France for being scared of the future and sceptical of reforms (french). That's at least the image he's getting especially after the very mediatic confrontation between the French government and the unions about  the First Job Contract (CPE) that gives firms the right to summarily lay off the under-26s any time during a two-year period.
Much ado about (almost) nothing!
Read a blog or..listen to it!
From now on, you can listen to the View From Fez, so enjoy it!
Every now and then technological advances take me by surprise. Today it was because of AGORAVOX – On this site I found I could actually listen to the posts on the View From Fez! The electronic voice was a step ahead of what I have experienced before – so worth a listen, especially if you are sight impaired
One picture of Djemaa_el_Fna posted by Anima made all nostalgics of this magical place whisper their wish to go back ,for a second, taste and smell the great food you can only find in this  popular area in Marrakesh .
Karim posts a poem i would like you to read. It's called Dreamer, by Brian Moses.
I dreamt I painted a smile
on the face of the earth
for all to see.
coup de coeur
When Issam says that Mohamed choukri‘s “For bread alone” is only a best seller because of its sexual content(Arabic), I deeply disagree. But I do like visiting Issam's blog(Arabic), for it's  interesting posts, nice presentation and amazingly sarcastic style.
That's it for today. See you next week, Inshallah.

author: Farah Kinani


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Bahamas: Hate · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Nicolette Bethel traces the roots of some of the hatred she sees manifested in the behaviour of Bahamians to the island's history of slavery.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Bangladesh: Moderate Muslims · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Mash, a Bangladeshi blogger attempts to answer question put to Moderate Muslims.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Burkina Faso: Bird Flu · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Keith of Under the Acacias reports on the arrival in Burkina Faso of bird flu and explains the impact on the local population for whom chicken is the cheapest source of meat protein. Other meats such as sheep and cattle are expensive so what will the people eat?


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Caribbean: Hurricane forecast · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Linda Thompkins reports on a recent meeting held to discuss the 2006 hurricane season and its implications for the Caribbean. The hurricane season begins officially on June 1.


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China: Chinese law · Global Voices
John Kennedy

The Chinese Law Prof links to the 2005 bibliography of German-, French- and English-language works on Chinese law compiled by Knut Pissler of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and Private International Law in Hamburg.

author: John Kennedy


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China: Death compensation · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Are the lives of urban Chinese worth more than those of their rural counterparts? chinablawger tells us what the Chinese government's current stance is and how that might change.


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China: Spying computers · Global Voices
John Kennedy

The Angry Chinese Blogger takes an in-depth look at the possibility raised earlier this week of Chinese-made Lenovo computers being installed with eavesdropping technology and used to spy on Americans.


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CSI help criminals escape? · Global Voices
Connie Veneracion

The Sensintrovert has screenshots of media reports that say the Police Deputy Inspector-General surmises that the success in Malaysia of the TV series CSI might be making criminals smarter by teaching them how to remove traces of their crimes.


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DRC: UDPS Chapter’s General Assembly in Belgium · Global Voices
Alice Backer

UDPS Liege posts  (FR) an invitation to UDPS /Wallonie's General Assembly which will take place April 9 in Liege, Belgium. UDPS is an opposition party in the DRC.

author: Alice Backer


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Estonia: 1994 Ferry Disaster Controversy Continues · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa writes about the controversy surrounding the 1994 Estonian ferry disaster and likens it to JFK assassination.


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Guatemala: Forced Evictions on the Rise · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Rob Mercatante comments on a recent report Amnesty International, which says that forced, violent evictions are on the rise in rural Guatemala.


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Guatemala: Online Documentaries · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Patrick writes in Spanish and English that videos about Guatemala are starting to appear on the Internet, including one about responsible tourism.


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Guyana: Old time bird ‘flu remedies · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

“Almost everyday I open the newspaper…what I see? Reports about how many birds in which country sneeze, which ones had aches and pain and cough and fever and…,” writes Guyana-gyal in an unusual meditation on old-time remedies used to treat sick chickens and the person she wishes she could give a good dose of the stuff to.


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High cost of health · Global Voices
Connie Veneracion

Dr. Emer, a practising physician, observes that in the Philippines, the high price of medicine can be fatal to your health. In Cambodia, “medical corruption punishes the poorest of the poor” by depriving them access to basic health care.


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Historical revisionism does not go unnoticed in China · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Heated debates have sprung up throughout China's online community surrounding a new historical drama on China Central Television (CCTV) which, many charge, leaves out some important facts and revises others.
The 37-episode program, which debuted on March 27, focuses on the life of 17th-century Chinese general Shi Lang—officially considered a national hero honored for reuniting China and Taiwan, but whose defection to the mainland's Manchu-led Qing dynasty in 1646 leaves many viewing him as a traitor who sold out his country and directly responsible for bringing an end to the remnants of the Ming dynasty in Taiwan.
While the majority of such discussions have been concentrated on bulletin boards, the debate has carried over to blogs as well.
The Fat New Viewpoint blogger sets the tone in the introduction to his post ‘Speaking to the widely broadcasted falsehood and harm in the Shi Lang affair‘:
看殃视的《屎朗大酱菌》，不由的感叹，人原来可以这样无耻。历史要为某党所用的时候，竟然能被如此篡改。剧中人物，甚至连当时两岸的普通群众，一个个俨然象受过党教育的；而反面角色，说话又活脱脱陈水扁的口气。不过，这一出，无意间竟让许多人把党和满清政权等同起来了，而台湾却真正成为中华民族的正朔了。一个网友说得精彩：某党又扣了个屎盆在自己头上,不知道哪个傻逼要在会上做检讨了,就想当年《走向共和》一样。
At Danyan's Hexun blog a lengthy discussion follows his post “I really want to shut CCTV's mouth.” First a look at Danyan's thoughts:
播施琅的故事是什么意图不难理解，本来就是让大家理解的，但是有个问题就在于：这个人，不合适作为高大全人物摆放在高处。
首先，站在汉民族角度，施琅是不折不扣的满清鹰犬，说他是汉奸一点也不为过。
比如康熙六年他上〈边患宜靖疏〉，其中写到：”堂堂天朝，万国宾服，岂容此余灰以滋蔓患日。”
谁是余灰啊？是谁的余灰呢？谁是天朝啊，是谁的天朝呢？
1651年7月这个家伙就叛投满清了，那时候南明还在，郑成功还在，台湾还在荷兰的手里，满清还远没有征服整个中国。
清朝文献里，说这位施琅先生是因为看不惯郑成功的军队到处强抢民女而与之发生矛盾的，后来郑成功又为了亲兵事件杀害了施琅父兄，总之，在那个汉族阵营里，充满了丑恶，大清啊，我来了——师琅同志毅然决然地弃明投清了。
这条恶狗紧跟着就参加了对南中国的大举征伐，六年后就升任同安总兵，再过一年又升任福建  水师提督，他的刀下，应该没少流同族人的鲜血吧？！
施琅对于武力攻伐，有一种狂热。
满清内部对于攻灭郑氏甚至都没有统一思想，康熙也还一直持有谈判的意思，惟独这位施琅，一心兴兵，康熙三年升官到靖海将军后如同打了鸡血，5个月的时间里两度起兵，都因气候原因无功而返。
康熙七年，满清怀疑这些汉奸通敌，下令裁撤福建水师，所有战船一律焚毁，这些降将一律归旗或者发到各省屯田。
And a recent response from Danyan reader Snow Mountain Hunter:
1、此电视剧的观点与目前大陆绝大多数百姓的观点是一致的。认为：统一台湾，不是靠象当年清廷谈判一样、靠嘴皮能获得的。当年的历史就是一面镜子
枪杆子才能出政权。即使台湾的部分老百姓想统一，但政权毕竟掌握在少数统治阶级手里。你看看上次台湾总统选举就知道了。很多百姓不认同，怀疑陈水扁两颗子弹作弊而游行示威，结果怎么样，陈水扁他们派出大批警察，用警棍、高压水龙头、催泪弹、殴打……来对付老百姓！那些可怜的老百姓最终还不是屈服了？陈水扁至今还不是风光？海外的华人也曾吆喝好久，但是对陈水扁、李登辉、吕秀莲之流的台湾的统治阶级毫毛未损。
对付台湾这股统治力量，大陆必须要有施琅当年的决一死战的勇气和决心，才能完成国家的统一。当年施琅的时代是这样，今天，也必将被历史再一次证明！
大陆今天的武力准备，就是以枪杆子为后盾，作为以后谈判的筹码。不打、和平统一最好；如打，则一战平定，就和当年解放海南岛一样。现在大家看看海南岛，有没有象台湾如今这么难缠。
国家统一是大义，但并不是每个人都顾大义的。这时候，必须要有武力做后盾。
2、《施琅大将军》这个电视剧无论它的负面作用如何，光靠嘴巴说不管用，要看事实。君不见在很多地方的抽样调查，具有正面回应的、反映好的占80%以上，这不仅代表着大多数人的心声和意见，也说明拍的好，总比花费数千万的电视剧《春光灿烂猪八戒》之类乱七八糟的要好的多！就象选举一样，你不赞成也好，赞成也罢，最终要接受现实
3、《施琅大将军》再怎么着，它毕竟是一部电视剧，不是历史教科书，——即使是历史教科书也是随着时代的不同而有所变化。我们老百姓看着玩玩，消遣一下，顺便了解一下大致的历史评书，也未必就是大逆不道。你非要上纲上线，我看你比共产党更不民主！
有本事你自己拍一部更精彩的？！别在那里一味骂人。上星期我还在埋怨最近没有什么好的电视剧看呢，好不容易有了个消遣娱乐的，有些人又在哪里乱叫……


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Hong Kong: Drug mules · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Would you go easy on a drug smuggler?
“For the number of people whose deaths they would most likely have contributed to by bringing that stuff in they got off damn light in my book,” writes the flagrant harbour blogger about three Australians convicted yesterday in Hong Kong for smuggling heroin.


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Hungary: Budapest Parking · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pestiside.hu writes about strange ways punishing Budapest parking violators: “Not only are some alleged offenders long since parked six feet under, many of the surviving motorists are claiming they no longer owned their vehicles on the dates given. Others say they remember paying the fines but no longer have the receipts.


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Hungary: Budapest Prepares For Flood · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Timbo of The Hungary Years posts pictures of how Budapest is preparing for the flood. Pestiside.hu writes about disaster tourism and media attention: “The English-speaker of unidentified origin […] speculated that the Danube would have to rise another meter for the story to be big enough for the BBC.”


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India: Watching movies in Delhi · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Jabberwock finds out that watching Brokeback Mountain in a Delhi theatre is a less than pleasant experience.


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India: Youtube and Data · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Propeller reflects on Youtube.com as a data warehouse –  “If there were to be an video archive along the lines of archive.org, snapshots of life all across the world can be recorded in a giant knowledge database making it probably the first system in the world which has knowledge of life in visual form.”


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Indonesian links · Global Voices
Connie Veneracion

Indonesian tech blogs Daily babblings! and Enda Quicklinks have links to an article on online identity and anonymity, a blog on parenting and fashion and a blog where you can calculate how much you've spent on cigarettes from the day you started smoking.


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Iran: BlogNews · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

BlogNews is a collective blog in Persian which covers news and blogs in different fields including technology, politics and media. It is a fascinating place to discover new blogs. The collaborators are from around the world and editor is Asdolah Alimohamadi, a Denmark based blogger.


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Jamaica: Debating PJ’s proposal · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Eon proposes a series of televised “reasonings” on the subject of the three pressing issues pinpointed by outgoing Jamaican Prime Minister P. J. Patterson as areas where the country's political leaders should attempt to achieve “bi-partisan consensus”.


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Jamaica: Intolerance at university · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The beating of a young allegedly gay man  by fellow students at the Jamaica campus of the University of the West Indies prompts Francis Wade to contemplate issues of tolerance and crowd psychology.


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Japan: Penis festival · Global Voices
John Kennedy

“Is anything illegal in Japan?” asks one reader in response to MasaManiA‘s photo essay on the country's Shinto penis festival. [Contains nudity and explicit language]


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Join us live! Iraq: is the media telling the real story? · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

Click here to join us for a live discussion about whether the media is covering Iraq objectively.  You can watch or listen on a live webcast and join in a live online chat to express your views.
Several members of the Global Voices community will be live-blogging the event: Middle East/North Africa Editor Haitham Sabbah, Iraq contributor Salam Adil, Iraqi-Australian blogger who now lives in the U.S., Fayrouz Hancock, Omar of Iraq the Model blogging from Baghdad, and Iraqi blogger Raed Jarrar (who will be present in the room in New York).  An RSS feed of their posts and others can be found on the event website.
More background and ways to participate here.

author: Rebecca MacKinnon


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Kids in the kitchen · Global Voices
Connie Veneracion

Children’s kitchen, cooking by children!, the 8th edition of Lasang Pinoy, a monthly project of Filipino food bloggers from all over the world, culminates with the round-up of participating blogs by Beijing-based Iska Montero. It is the first time that some of the participants posted videos in lieu of text entries in their blogs.


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Kissing and hugging in public indecent? · Global Voices
Connie Veneracion

A couple kissing and hugging in a public park were arrested and charged with indecent behavior but The Saidicious Blog says although the Constitution does not explicitly allow public kissing and hugging, neither does it prohibit them.


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Kyrgyzstan: Bride Stealing · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Nurilya, a university student in Kyrgyzstan, writes about bride kidnapping and a friend of hers who was kidnapped.


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Kyrgyzstan: Student Blog · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Kyrgyzstan Student Blog has a new post with four short essays on what the future holds, Kyrgyzstan's youth, keeping Bishkek clean, and crime problems.


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Latin America, U.S.: “Border Wars and Truces” · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Commenting on the U.S. immigration debate, “Sangroncito” notes that Americans can easily take for granted that they are warmly received around Latin America without the costly and invasive process that visiting Latin Americans must endure.


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Man-made eggs · Global Voices
Connie Veneracion

At Talkin’ Tech, BernieJ has photos of unique eggs from China. They almost look like chicken eggs but they are a hundred per cent man-made.


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Mexico: Most Free Music Downloads Worldwide · Global Voices
David Sasaki

RegioBlogs points to a recent study by Yahoo! and OMD that lists Mexico as first place among 11 countries in the amount of free music downloads done by young people between 13 and 24-years-old.


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Mexico: Pre-Colombian Prostitution · Global Voices
David Sasaki

The bilingual blog TlacuiloPilo argues that prostitution has existed in Mexico for centuries, concluding that it is “as Mexican as chile, frijoles, or mitotes.”


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Mongolia: Protest · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Luke Distelhorst has a report on and photos from a small protest outside the Mongolian parliament building.


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Mongolia: Protests · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Luke Distelhorst has additional photos and reporting on the protests in Mongolia demanding the president's resignation and more favorable terms for Mongolia in a contract with Canada's Ivanhoe Mines.


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Mozambique: HIV/AIDS project · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Aid worker, Jared's Mozambique Adventure reports on his present project which is a micro finance scheme that will work on “pro-active” solutions for HIV/AIDS in Mozambique.


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Nigeria: Voice blogging · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Oro blogs on voice blogging…”You can now listen to all my blog posts — by simply clicking the link that says  Listen to this podcast (computer-generated voice).”


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Podcast ban is politcally motivated · Global Voices
Connie Veneracion

Relative to the prohibition against using podcasts for political campaigns, Singapore Election Watch reproduces a statement from the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) Secretary-General that says this is not the first time that the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) has arbitrarily thwarted its efforts– the PAP banned videos in 1996 when the SAP produced a video to present its platform.


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Point-Counterpoint: Kurdistance vs. Turkey is Typing… · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Today is going to be a diversion from the normal. I cover both the Kurdish bloggers and the Turkish bloggers for Global Voices, and up until this point I have been able to keep the two fairly separate as I don't want to offend anyone on either side of the Kurdish issue in Turkey. This week, however, both groups are discussing the same incident(s) and if there was ever an opportunity to show both viewpoints of a given issue, this is it—so welcome to Point-Couterpoint: Kurdistance vs. Turkey is Typing.
The Issue: The history of the Kurdish Question in Turkey is a long and complicated one. The Kurds accuse the Turkish government of cultural genocide because of Turkish policies such as their internal displacement programs and the supression of Kurdish culture and Kurdish human rights. The Turkish government on the other hand see many/most Kurds as terrorists because they proclaim their Kurdish identity as above their Turkish citizenship–an ethnic identity vs. national identity issue–under Turkish law, denying your Turkish identity also means denying the Turkish state: an act of treason. While my explanation of the situation doesn't deal with everything, it helps to illustrate the complications of the situation.
Last week, a funeral procession for 14 PKK insurgents turned into protests, the protests lead to clashes with the police, and violence has ignited the Southeast of Turkey and spread to various other parts of the country as well. Newest reports indicate bomb blasts at the Prime Minister's party headquarters in Istanbul and that Turkey is scrambling to revise its terrorism laws to make harsher punishments for actors in the current violence. Some of the protest violence has been committed by average Kurds, however the bombings have been committed by Kurdish separatists groups, among them the PKK.
There is your short primer-the following three topics will be discussed with each viewpoint clearly outlined: Recognition of the Kurdish Question in Turkey, Justifications for Violence, and the Role that Media is playing within this Conflict.
Recognition of the Kurdish Question in Turkey:
Turkish POV- Despite the firm stance that the Turkish government takes on the Kurdish issue, the Turkish bloggers are fairly openminded about the subject and there has been healthy discussion on most of the blogs. If fact this week two separate blogs announced the publication of two new books on the Kurdish question: The White Path and Mavi Boncuk. Bloggers have been reporting about various conferences within the country about the Kurds and stressing the need to keep the dialouge open especially in light of Turkey's attempt to enter into the EU.
Kurdish POV-The overwhelming opinion of the Kurdish bloggers is that the government of Turkey has not truly recognized the full depth of the Kurdish issue in the Southeast, especially the aspect of poverty in the region. However the sentiment about the Kurds of Turkey being able to overcome their problems can be symbolized in the general friendly nature of the Kurds:
If a visitor goes to Kurdistan, they will find that these statements are true. The people take care of each other and, as poor as they are, they generously share what they have with guests and the guest is lavished with care. This has nothing to do with wealth, rather it is something from the Kurdish heart. For me, this is the single greatest distinguishing mark between “The East” and “The West.” Forget about the investment in “The West” when thinking about this, because no matter how glittering Istanbul may be, it does not have the heart of Amed.
Justifications for Violence:
Turkish POV- Even the most peaceful of Turkish bloggers have been profoundedly affected by the violence (keep in mind that military service is mandatory in Turkey so anything that affects the military affects all—bringing the emotions in this conflict that much closer to the surface). For example, Amerikan Turk had this to say about the violence:
Regarding Turkey, my advice to those responsible for this carnage: “LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT”. The Kurds show their true colors in public for a change, instead of using the guerilla warfare they have been waging for decades in the remote mountains and valleys of southeastern Turkey. Your actions speak louder than words, and the world sees you for what you truly are.
In response, Erkan's Field Diary said the following:
I know Murat is certainly more sensitive than what he literally says here but I guess he symbolizes what things are going towards… All of us should be more careful in making generalizations….
Erkan continues saying that
Despite the slowness of reforms and Turkish State's hesitance to intensify investments in the region, Turkey does not deserve this. Growing Kurdish autonomy in Northern Iraq and EU pressure on TR seem to encourage PKK's increasing bold moves in the region. It is unfortunate at this time because Turkey did never have this much of an open society (at least during my lifetime). Turkish state might re-initiate security measures in all over the country. Maybe PKK wants this, as it is an old revolutionary tactic: to heighten the crisis in order to polarize the fighting parties. But this has been tested again and again and ordinary Kurds and Turks will be affected only negatively. Nearly every day a Turkish soldier is killed and let me remind you that military service is mandatory. Even killing soldiers make “guerillas” guilty of killing civilians in the final analysis….
Even Mavi Boncuk (who normally sticks to more historical issues in his blog) gives his opinion as to the timing of the protests:
Is this a spontaneous public reaction or part of a well orchestrated event to achieve a certain ‘Serhildan’ (popular uprising). The events flared on March 28, coincidentally the 20th anniversary of the death of Mahsum Korkmaz, the first military leader of The Kurdistan's National Liberation Army (ARGK) the military arm of PKK. Code named Agit, Silvan, Diyarbakir born Korkmaz made a name for himself in August 15, 1984 action where two police officers were murdered in Eruh & Semdinli villages. Recent November 9, 2006 bombing incident in Semdinli where one person died in the Umut bookstore, owned by Seferi Yilmaz. Yilmaz was in prison for 15 years as one of the PKK guerrillas who carried out the very same first attack on Turkish military targets on August 15, 1984. What a tangled web.
Kurdish POV- I believe that the Kurdish reaction/justification for the violence can be summed up no better than in their own words.
Hiwa:
This is my first time observing the true will of the people of what the Turkish Government and media calls it “southeast”, the voice of the Kurds in Turkey in their millions to be screamed into the ears of the ruling Turks and those of the Europeans….What we are watching and most of us doing nothing about it is the people of northern Kurdistan from Amed to Constantinople rising without a leader!
This uprising needs support and dont worry it will not be material or weaponry, all it needs is moral and word of mouth support. Kurdistanis in northern Kurdistan are longing to even see what the southern Kurdistanis are enjoying of self-rule, intra-Kurdistani reforms without a single non-Kurdish man having a say!
Rasti:
The situation is dire. We see before us the shredding of Kurdish culture as it has been known for centuries, if not millenia. It has taken 83 years of Turkish misrule to bring us to this point. The boys become criminals and the girls prostitutes and everyone outside of this reality cannot understand the violence. Everyone spends pointless hours shrieking their anti-PKK mantras. The fact is that this shame goes directly to the Turkish government and to no one else. The shame is not that Kurds must do what they have to in order to survive, rather the shame is that the Turkish government, by its fascist policies forces Kurds to do what they have to in order to survive.
Kurdish Aspect:
Mr. Erdogan the dictionary describes terrorism, “As the calculated use of violence (or threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.” Now who is the terrorist? 20 million Kurds who have been forced to live under decades of brutality, torture, unjust and ruthless occupation of the Turkish state can not be terrorists. Children are not terrorists but killing them is a terrorist act. No, Mr. Erdogan, you and your state are the terrorists not millions of Kurds who simply want to live like human beings.
Isn’t it every human being’s right to be able to practice, preserve his or her native language and culture? Mr. Erdogan, the Kurdish issue is not going to be solved by more threats and terrorist acts of your security forces, but by understanding what a great American president Thomas Jefferson wrote “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Like every human being on the face of this earth the Kurds want these very things. Recognition of Kurdish rights and peaceful resolution through dialog is the only road to peace in that reign. Avoiding the reality that stares you in the face, time after time, is nothing but pure self-deception.
The Role That Media is Playing:
Turkish POV- As with an conflict within the past 50 years, the media has played a huge part in public perception. The Turkish bloggers have been putting up regular news updates on all of their sites, and in some cases putting up links upon links to news articles being written. Most media articles have condemned the violence and specifically the Kurdish national movement propounded by the *terrorist organization the PKK. (*Classifiying the PKK as a terrorist group is still a sensitive subject-for the purposes of this article, I use this term as it is a norm for the majority of governments who recognize it.)
Kurdish POV- Kurdish bloggers have also kept up with the news updates, Vladimir on From Holland to Kurdistan has provided links to videos of the violence. What was not reported by the Turkish bloggers was that in the case of this specific incident, Turkish media not only critized Kurdish media for the conflict, but in one case blamed the violence on a single television station. Followers of my weekly Kurdistance article, will no doubt remember the work being done to Save Roj TV, a Kurdish television station that has faced immense pressure to shut down from the Turkish government. In another stab at the station, Turkish media directly accused the station of inciting the violence in the Southeast:
Turkish daily News , Friday 31 March, 2006
“Roj TV proved it is PKK's mouthpiece:
Roj TV has shown what kind on television channel it is. Especially in its editorial policy during the latest incidents, it proved that it acts like the PKK's spokesman. The language it used and the content of the stories broadcast seemed more like directives than reporting. A television channel can oppose policies. It can use any language its viewers want. It can criticize official policies. However, if a channel tries to incite civil war and calls for demonstrations that will result in people dying, no one can call that freedom of expression. “
and here:
Seeing it from rather broader perspective, this systematic attacks on ROJ TV is not a coincidence. The Turkish National Security Council presidency in a press conference on 19 July 2005 openly have declared: “The Turkish army is not tolerating ROJ TV, and expecting cooperation of Media for closing it down as an urgency”. In the meeting of Higher anti-terror organisation, under the auspices of Abdullah Gul the Foreign Minister, extensive decisions for curtailment of press and their banning have been taken.
But in spite of all these pressures and smearing attacks ROJ TV continue with its objective programs, in compliance with the universal principles of broadcasting.
Responses to these accusations have been strict denials:
Roj TV's broadcasting never condon violence and hatered. Roj TV has not conveyed calls to shop and business owners to ” Close their shutters and roll down their metal blinds”. What ROJ TV has done is reporting about the events in Diyarbakir in an objective way and has exposed the brutal treament of innocent people in Diyarbakir . Newspapers like Hurriyet should come to their senses and refrain from demanding the closer of a free media outlet which is true adherent of freedom of expression.
The situation with Roj TV is unusual to say the least, the complexity of the situation deepens in light of local politicians who have agree to do interviews with the station have been detained by the authorities. This is definitely something to keep watching in the weeks and months to come.
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As to predictions on when this will all end, there have been none, and I don't think that logically there ever can be. If you have managed to make it to the end of this mini-novella, I thank you, and I hope that I have given you, dear reader, a more balanced overview of the Kurdish Question in Turkey.

author: Deborah Ann Dilley


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Serbia & Montenegro: Belgrade Travel Frequently Answered Questions · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Victor of Belgrade Blog has started a list of Frequently Answered Questions on how to get to and where to stay in Belgrade.


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Slovenia: Bad Translation · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Michael of The Glory of Carniola writes on the bad Slovenian-to-English translation and the mystery of one word's correct spelling: is it caffe, cafe, café or kafe?


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South Korea: Cultural exchange · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Occidentalism‘s Matt blogs on the resumption of a teacher exchange program between Japan and South Korea suspended a year ago with the escalation of a territorial dispute between the two countries.


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Sri Lanka: Difference between UK and SL · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

London, Lanka and Drums on the difference in attitudes in Sri Lanka and the UK – “I think many of the major differences are caused by the relative labour costs. Even taking cost of living into account manual labour is far more expensive here in the UK than in Sri Lanka.”


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Sri Lanka: LTTE faked abduction · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Transcurrents.com on what appears to be further political intrigue in Sri Lanka – “The University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) has alleged that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organization has faked the alleged abduction of seven Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) personnel at Welikande on the Batticaloa – Polonnaruwa border in two separate incidents on Jan 29th and 30th of this year.”


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Sudan: Slavery and genocide · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Passion of the Present reports on the 300 mile walk undertaken by  Simon Deng  to highlight the continued practice of slavery in Sudan  and the genocide in Darfur.


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Tajikistan: Bright Future · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

“Tajik Boy” comments on US Ambassador to Tajikistan Richard Hoagland's remark that Tajikistan is a success story and says that he thinks the country has a bright future in store.


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The Week That Was – Bolivian Blogs · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (LAB), the capitalized national airline, currently sits in the midst of a severe economic crisis, which may signal the end of the second longest running airline in the world.  Since 1925, the Bolivian carrier, named after the British insurance market, Lloyd's of London and conjures up images of stability and security, was a symbol of national pride.  In the mid 1990s, under the policy of capitalization, shares were sold to a private company and later sold to Bolivian Ernesto Asbún, who now is the target of suspicion for the poor administration of this company.
Since the sale of these shares, LAB began accumulating approximately 140 million dollars of debt.  Employees claimed that they were owed months of back pay and promised payments to pension funds were never made.  As a result of these complaints, the government of President Evo Morales proceeded to declare an administrative intervention, which was later ruled illegal by the courts.  Jaime Humerez Seleme of Boliviscopio (ES) drew attention to Morales’ accusations that the embattled president of LAB bribed the courts for this favorable ruling.  However, no proof has yet to be presented.
Frustrated by this failure of the government intervention, the striking workers, which included pilots and other support personnel began a series of protests and hunger strikes.  Soon, the measures became increasingly radicalized as groups of individuals took control of the runway at Jorge Wilstermann International Airport in the city of Cochabamba, which is also LAB headquarters.  Soon, other groups joined the cause, such as labor movements and other civil society organizations.  The Democracy Center was on-site interviewing Water Coordinator, Oscar Olivera.  The authorities soon converged onto the runway and dispersed the crowd using tear gas, which puzzled Olivera when he stated, “Evo is tear gassing his brothers.”
Shortly after being gassed, Olivera received a call on his cell phone from Bolivia's Vice-President, Alvaro Garcia Linera, who told Olivera, “We can’t block the country, can’t block airports.” Said Olivera, “These are the same people, Evo and Alvaro, who before [they became the government] supported the force of the people expressing themselves.”
Paralyzing the operations of an international airport for 24 hours could result in grave consequences, points out Sebastian Molina.  As he writes in Plan B (ES), such a halt in service could result in an automatic loss of international category for the Bolivian airport, in which it would have to prove that it could continue without similar stoppages before it could regain that classification.
While some are placing blame directly on the shoulders of Asbún for the poor administration of the airline, others are blaming the neoliberal system that forced such a sale of shares with such questionable results.  Sergio Asturizaga believes that the case of LAB could be another of the many capitalized companies that could share the same fate.   In his blog  Así como me ves me tienes (ES), he provided the example of the state railroad company, which was sold to a Chilean investor and subsequently ceased to operate.
Humérez Seleme sums up the current state of the airline, “If a miracle does not happen soon, then the final ending is in a matter of days or weeks.”

author: Eduardo Avila


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This week in Israel: after the elections, putting together a coalition · Global Voices
Lisa N. Goldman

As predicted, Ehud Olmert‘s Kadima won the most Knesset (parliament) seats in last week's national elections, with 29 of the 120 seats. Likud, headed by Benjamin (Bibi)  Netanyahu  was crushed: it won only 11 seats, compared to 38 in the 2003 elections.
Labour, headed by Amir Peretz, came in next with 19 seats. Kadima and Labour have a combined 48 seats and they will form the base of the governing coalition. Now Olmert needs to find additional partners who will give him at least another 13 seats for the minimum of 61 needed to form a government. Who will he invite to join, and what kind of a deal will they make?
Below is a roundup of opinions on the ongoing coalition negotiations, followed by some non-political posts.
With her extensive real time election coverage, Allison left all the other Israeli bloggers in the dust – big time. Her blog is essential reading for excellent (and frequently hilarious) commentary and fantastic links. Journalist Mark Glaser picked her out for special mention in his column for MediaShift on the PBS site. Over the past week she has been updating her blog several times daily with links and commentary on the coalition building process. There are so many great posts that I can't link to just one or two here. Just go over to her blog and take a look – it's the blog fan's equivalent of a candy store.
Don Radlauer serves up an in-depth analysis of what the election results mean. This is essential reading for a sober look at the numbers and what they say about “ideas that won and lost.” What do the results say about Israel's feelings regarding the peace process, further withdrawals from occupied territory (“disengagement“)  and their country's social ills – like poverty and the overburdened education system? Read Don to find out.
Fayrouz posts a letter from a friend who thinks that the Arab parties do a bad job of representing their constituents, Israel's Arab minority, in the Knesset.
Shai summarizes Amir Peretz's bizarre attempt to bypass Olmert and try to form a coalition with right-wing parties in order to become prime minister. Peretz and Olmert have since “kissed and made up.”
Yonatan casts a jaundiced eye on the unseemly haggling that characterizes the coalition building process, pointing out that:
The flawed, primitive ( in my eyes ) voting system gives parties’ representatives the opportunity to haggle over parliamentary seats and leaves the public – and the (wo)men who are supposed to build the coalition – in the dark about the final results of the election. That does not help to gain the people's trust in democracy.
Not politics!
Ra'anana Ramblings describes the food drive at her local supermarket. As the Passover holiday approaches, the dire situation of Israel's many poor means that they will not be able to afford a festive seder meal on the first night of the holiday. To help, several organizations have begun collecting donated food.
Over at the group blog One Jerusalem (OJ), Jill is up to Part Seven of her ongoing memoir, Not Jewish?! What are you doing here? It's the middle of Gulf War Two, her boyfriend has been called up for army reserve duty, and suddenly he sorta kinda pops the question. This means that Jill has to face the “C” word (convert), because she knows that her boyfriend would want their children to be Jewish. She never thought of herself as a religious Christian, but suddenly she starts to wonder what religion really means to her.
And Stephanie has written a fabulous post about  about an exhibition of cutting edge Israeli graffiti artists’  street art at a trendy downtown Manhattan art gallery. Check out her posts for links to the extremely cool sites of some very hip Israeli artists. (I think Rami Meiri‘s site is amazing).

author: Lisa N. Goldman


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This week in Nigeria · Global Voices
Oluniyi D. Ajao

This week's round-up of Nigerian blogs starts with Naijablog (exp)‘s assertion that Nigerians change their political language and thinking. His post is titled: “The sterility of political discourse in Nigeria“
Nigeria at this time desperately needs a new political language. Instead of 3rd term, South-South vs North etc, fiscal federalism, percentage deviation blah di blah, its time there was talk of transformation, nation-building, planning for the next ten or twenty years, free education and healthcare for all, job creation strategies, concern for the environment and fostering innovation. Surely the next administration should win on their vision for a united Nigeria with jobs for all, not on the basis of petty tribalism and greed.
The feeling about Nigeria continues with another blog, Just thots by a naijaman. This blog looks at the a Nigerian forum called “Nairaland” and also highlights the true spirit of the Nigerian: “Nairaland and the Nigerian Spirit“
Nairaland would probably take the dubious role as the beer palour for all internet loving Nigerians and friends of Nigeria. A watering hole to unwind, discuss burning national and international issues, sports, family, health, romance, entertainment, technology and jokes.
It is not hard to note that a majority of highly active members are Nigerians in foreign lands, those who are trying to reconnect with their fellow country men and those who wish to stay in touch with current issues at home.
Kazey's Journal takes a critical look at the Nigerian government's decision to run ‘Made in Nigeria’ software.
Did I get the news report right? Or is it the FEC, that are too stupid to understand that saying something like “Made in Nigeria software only” is not only vague but a sign of IT illiteracy? Or maybe it is just me been too excited about the whole news report. Still can’t figure that out.
Things Nigeria doesn’t have.
1. A made in Nigerian Operating system.
2. A made in Nigerian Enterprise Applications besides small-light scale applications to serve different niches.
3. A made in Nigerian hardware that has a Made in Nigerian software-driver to support it
Laspapi celebrates a veteran female Nigerian actress, Joke Silva-Jacobs.
With Joke Silva (Jacobs) today as she combined having her hair braided and working on the desk top. Joke Silva (in red), one of Nigeria's finest actresses of all time, learnt her craft in drama school while in the United Kingdom . She has worked in radio, tv and drama for many years.
She was part of the Cast (and also the Producer) of the production of Eve Enslar's Vagina Monologues in Lagos about 3 weeks ago.
Even though the dissappearance and re-appearance of former Liberian president, Charles Taylor, happened last week, some Nigerian blogs are still look at the issue. Gradiose Parlor asks: “Did Charles Taylor Received Help From Top Nigerian Officials to Escape?“
Taylor definitely received some help to escape; however, to assert that his escape was probably orchestrated by the top hierarchy of the Nigerian security forces is troubling and warrants a thorough investigation.
Aba Boy bares his mind about the Charles Taylor saga.
Firstly, I will like to applaud the Nigeria security services for the exceptional job that led to the capture of Mr Taylor. How these guys managed to track him to a village on Nigeria's border with Chad still defies principle. For OBJ whose trip to America (and few minutes with G. Bush) would have been dominated by the Third term agenda, what a stroke of ‘luck’ Taylor goes missing before he lands in Gods own Country, and a few hours before his short audience with “W”, the competent Nigerian Security Services find Taylor in a lone car with his wife. So for the duration of the visit, all talk about the third term gets knocked off the agenda, and Charles Taylor hugs the headlines. Even the great Spielberg couldn’t have even made this up.
Aladejebi Ayodeji's blog is unhappy that Internet access was not part of the questionaire during the recent national census in Nigeria. He wonders: “Why Was Internet Access Count Eliminated from Census?”
Census, Census, Census….counting heads of all Nigerians. However i was shocked to discover that in all the questions asked, there was nothing like…”Do You Use or Have internet Access?”. Why would this question not be part of the survey being done by NPC? Dont they know that this statistics is relevant in times to come. I think having this kind of statistics would have been used to help IT companies project what the future of IT will be.

author: Oluniyi D. Ajao


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Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan: State Visits · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia covers important diplomatic visits between Turkmenistan and China and Kazakhstan and Russia.


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Uganda: Children abducted by the LRA · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Uganda-CAN points to a new report that estimates some 66,000 youths  have been abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda.


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Uganda: Kalangala by boat · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Ugandan blog Undo describes a journey by boat to Uganda's Kalangala district (a group of 84 Ssese Islands)


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Albania: Modern Bride Joke · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Annabengan at annasblog tells an Albanian joke about what's considered a “modern” bride. The joke does reflect the reality and the reality isn't likable: “Albanian modern brides – husbands’ sex objects instead of house slaves of their families? Come on – there MUST be some other roles to pick from!?”


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Argentina: Overexposing B.A. · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Ian Mount, in a post titled “Overexposing B.A.–Will it Ever End?” links to an article he wrote for the New York Times about traveling to Buenos Aires. Argentina's largest paper, El Clarín notes (ES) that it was among the most popular online articles at the Times website.


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Armenia: Korfball Trophies · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Zarchka updates readers on the performance of the Armenian youth korfball at the recent world tournament at which they took two trophies, but not necessarily the ones they hoped for.


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Beer · Global Voices
Connie Veneracion

Over at The Man-Blog, Emerson Bañez has the rundown on different kinds of beer–their colors, flavors, aroma and alcohol content.


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Bolivia: Stranded by Transport Strikes · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Rob of Rob's Rave describes being stranded first in Tarija and then Sucre, Bolivia because of transport strikes and road blockades.


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Brazil: Former Economy Minister Indicted · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Luís Afonso Assumpção says that a corruption scandal by former economy minister, Palocci is representative of the “status of this ‘ethical’ government from Worker´s Party.” Randy Paul compares it to the Scooter Libby scandal in the United States.


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Bridging the Technology Divide in Africa · Global Voices
Hash

A couple of different projects designed to bridge the “digital divide” in Africa have been brought to my attention recently.  I thought I might just highlight the project with a short summary and a link to their website.
Mlogik
Mlogik is an African start-up that designs and sells value-added mobile services using open source technologies. With headquarters in Mauritius, Mlogik’s objective is to extend its network throughout Africa by the end of 2006.
Ndiyo!
Ndiyo! is a project set up to foster an approach to networked computing that is simple, affordable, open, less environmentally damaging and less dependent on intensive technical support than current networking technology.  They have a very interesting video, that explains what they are doing very well.
Mobile for Good
Mobile for Good (M4G) is a social franchise project designed to use mobile phone technology to help alleviate poverty and improve the lives of people in the developing world. It delivers vital health, employment and community content via SMS on mobile phones in order to inform and empower disadvantaged individuals.
Manobi
More than 3400 producers, middlemen, traders and hotel keepers receive by phone on a daily basis, a free SMS indicating the prices the product they want in any selected market.
The good news is that these are just a few of the projects being developed.  They only represent the great amount of work being put in by individuals, that are in NGO's as well as private enterprise, to bring the everyday African into the digital age.  You'll notice that many of the companies are leveraging the widespread use of mobile phones as the platform for connectivity – a trend sure to increase in the coming years.
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author: Hash


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China: Blog service providers · Global Voices
John Kennedy

uleewang at Non-violent Resistance blogs on Chinese blog service provider BlogBus’ new blog moving service:
“It's pretty obvious what this could mean to the domestic blogsphere. If you are not happy with your current BSP, you can move house with the least hassle — in a matter of 20 minutes and some clicks of the mouse, you can dump the sorry old home and start anew without losing your online identity. Right on, Blogbus!”
uleewang follows up with a comment, “[a]pparently I was over-optimistic about BlogBus's service, as people tend to be about a lot of things in China these days. Experimented with my own MSN Space a couple of times in the past week. Never worked. The exporting process seems to work fine in the beginning, with a window telling me ‘XX blog entries already exported.’ But somehow it always gets stuck at 59 blog entries.”


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China: Human Rights · Global Voices
John Kennedy

The Asiapundit observes that according to a think-tank run by the Chinese Communisty Party, Japan's human rights record is by far the worse of the two countries.
“Actually,” the blogger continues, “the official website of the government-sanctioned Chinese Society for Human Rights Studies doesn't really keep official statistics on human rights abuses in China. It does have some glowing reports on how quality of life is improving in China, and several reports noting human rights abuses in the United States.”


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China: Legal reform · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Chen Yongmiao posts on his Constitution Blog a letter he sent recently to lawyer John Wei Chien-feng, former president of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, on behalf of some of China's leading democracy activists and legal experts in which he states the need for democratic reforms, suggests some practical first steps and welcomes any advice or introductions. [zh]


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China: Media censorship · Global Voices
John Kennedy

A message on the front page of alternative news website Zheteng says the site was forced to close on March 31 due to “illegal” content, but was allowed to reopen the next day once the content concerned had been erased. Zheteng was the only mainland media outlet in attendance at a news conference held last month by Zeng Jinyan, wife of the recently-released AIDS activist Hu Jia. [zh]


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China: Qing Ming festival · Global Voices
John Kennedy

In ‘Hell Money,’ Outside In blogger Jo gives a rundown of Qing Ming (grave sweeping festival) past, present and future.


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China: Unexplained deaths · Global Voices
John Kennedy

The Opposite End of China gathers coverage of last week's discovery of 121 skulls in a forest in northwestern China's Gansu province which tests show belonged to women and children.
“So, what's the deal?” asks the blogger. “Is there a psychotic serial killer on the loose in northwest China? Is this another case of shady post-mortem organ harvesting? Nobody seems to know at the moment, but I'll keep you posted.”


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China: Zhou Enlai · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Zhou Enlai's death thirty years ago this year gave rise to the April 5th movement. Or was it May 4th? The Useless Tree gives us a refresher, and more.
“There are no official commemorations of the 1976 demonstrations in the PRC today.  The official party line is that the April 5th Movement was a patriotic, even revolutionary (i.e. not counter-revolutionary as was first held) event that confirmed the rightness of Deng Xiaoping and, thus, the current party leadership.  But the government would just as soon ignore the date.  The ruling party does not want to remind people that protesting on Tiananmen Square might be a good thing.”


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DRC: UDPS Worried About Fairness of Elections · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Le Blog du Congolais posts (FR) a lengthy declaration by the President of UDPS’ National Committee questioning the motives of the international community in its various involvements with DRC's elections, the constitutionality of elections postponed beyond June 30, 2006 and the violent image of UDPS that is portrayed in western media.  The declaration proclaims various demands related to the  fairness  of the electoral process, transparency in government, freedom of expression, access to the media, human rights and disarmament.


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Eritrea: Including the youth  · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

EMDHR writing on Eritrea comments on the government's treatment of the youth in the country.  As they represent the future the government should apply a more inclusive policy towards the youth….”the youth are sizeable proportion of the Eritrean labour force. Youth are an engine of growth and development. The sooner responsibility is given to young people, the sooner will they become responsible and be able to handle their own affairs. Increased participation soon creates greater self-reliance. At the same time, youth participation should be looked at as a process, not a method; and it involves learning from mistakes. With out the provision of an equal chance to the young people to express them, equitable development is near to impossible.”


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House of worship law · Global Voices
Connie Veneracion

Per the latest revisions in the law, for purposes of establishing a house of worship, religious congregations are now required to have a minimum of 90 members. They must also secure the prior approval of the government and the residents of the area where the house of worship is to be erected. Indonesia Matters republished an interview of a Philosophy professor who says the new rules violate the Constitutional right to freedom of religious worship.


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Hungary: Hangover Cure · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pestiside.hu reports that a drink capable of saving one from hangover has been created by Hungarians: Soberguard, […], combats the symptoms of a hangover (macskajaj) by ‘cataliyzing the enzymatic alcohol metabolism pathways’.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Hungary: “Real Community Politics” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

As the Danube water continues to rise, Paul of Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar thinks various Hungarian parties’ activists have a chance to get involved in “real community politics” on the eve of the election.


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India: A drop in HIV infections · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Lives in Focus on the glimmer of hope offered by a study that suggests there might be a drop in HIV infection in India -“The research, conducted by a joint Indian and Canadian team, found that India's safe sex awareness campaign has had a dramatic impact on reducing HIV infection rates in South India—the epicenter of India's AIDS crisis.”


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India: Loyalties  · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Indian Muslims on the position Muslims find themselves in India – “The two Muslim teachers gave application asking for leave for Haj were asked by the Education Officer, a woman, to given an undertaking that they would not indulge in any anti-national acitivity during the period of their leave.”


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Iraq: Samuel Johnson Prize · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Riverbend was shocked to find out the book “Baghdad Burning” had made the short list for the Samuel Johnson Prize- a prestigious, British award for non-fiction.

author: Haitham Sabbah


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Jamaica: Sex tape cover up · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Prominent Jamaican citizens are said to be “starring” in sex tapes found at the Kingston home of former ambassdor Peter King, who was murdered back in March. “The clout wielded by these ‘pillars of society’ has already set tongues wagging that the police may be party to an extensive cover-up to save the reputations of these individuals,” says Yardflex, who also quotes a child rights activist who expresses the hope that guilty parties will be charged if any of the tapes feature underage boys.


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Kenya: impact of colonialism on African women · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Afrikan Eye writes on the affect of colonialism on African Women....”Firstly, women were affected by the alienation of land experienced by most Africans. However, women appear to have been more personally affected by this land alienation.”


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Khatmandu’s tense political moves · Global Voices
Paramendra

The seven party alliance in Nepal is in the middle of its “decisive” protests to topple the autocratic regime in Nepal, and the protest programs have met with unprecedented resistance from the security forces.
United We Blog, UWB, has some remarkable coverage as usual.  General Strike Day I Diary,  On Photos: April Uprising I,  Maoists Attack on Sarlahi,  The Eve of General Strike,  Leaders & Professionals Arrested,  Interests of Power Centers,  April Uprising: What to Expect?.
Democracy For Nepal, DFN, has offered its usual political analysis, and calls for action on the part of the Nepali democrats worldwide: April 9, April Revolution: Document Every Atrocity, The Fascists In Kathmandu, Final Act: Disobey The Curfew, April 6,7,8,9, April 16,17,18,19, April 26,27,28,29, Write To Bush, Condi Before Possible Clampdown, Kamal Thapa Is A Nazi, Kamal Thapa Going Jail, Kamal Thapa Chukkie Pissing.
DFN also has covered three time Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's trip to New York City. There are video clips and photos: Deuba Off To DC, Deuba In Jackson Heights, Deuba At Hotel Pennsylvania, Deuba At Columbia.
DFN's calls for action fall in several category. The number one is the work being done to launch an organization of Nepalis worldwide to aid the revolution for democracy. Hamro Nepal All Set To Be Launched. The blog also has an extensive video interview with Dinesh Tripathi, Advocate, Supreme Court of Nepal, who has been working harder than anyone else to seek legal remedies on behalf of the movement: Dinesh Tripathi, Your Worst Nightmare.
Samudaya speaks to release those who have been arrested: The movement must not be aborted.
Mero Sansar is right there with United We Blog in terms of coverage. Just look at this photo blog.

author: Paramendra


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Kyrgyzstan: In Praise · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

David Read writes in praise of Kyrgyzstan, listing some of the wonderful qualities of the country.


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Kyrgyzstan: Ryspek · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

The Golden Road to Samarqand reports on Kyrgyz university students’ thoughts on Ryspek Akmatbaev, a man widely believed to be a criminal and unliked everywhere but his hometown who is running for parliament in Kyrgyzstan after protesters demanded he be allowed to stand as a candidate.


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Malacañang’s response to the NY Times editorial · Global Voices
Connie Veneracion

Piercing Pens links to a New York Times editorial that talks of President Gloria Arroyo's “increasingly authoritarian tendencies”. PCIJ reproduces the statement delivered by Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye who says the editorial shows that “the opposition’s irresponsible political efforts are impacting international perceptions”.

author: Connie Veneracion


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Mongolia: Freedom of Information · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Luke Distelhorst writes on freedom of information in Mongolia.


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MSM Iraq coverage: Bloggers give thumbs down · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

On Wednesday evening New York Time at the Reuters headquarters in Times Square, bloggers from around the world joined in a live panel debate over whether the media is telling the real story in Iraq.  See the Reuters news story summarizing the event here and a blog post about it on  one of The Guardian blogs here.
UPDATE: Video has now posted on the Reuters site. You can watch the whole thing or some selected highlights, including: Bloggers weigh in, why the complete story isn't being told, the dangers of reporting, and how partisan criticism and pressure from both left and right puts pressure on journalists.
The conclusion of the panelists seemed to be that the media isn't presenting a full picture of what's happening in Iraq, but there were no concrete ideas as to what can or should be done about this problem.  Problems with the coverage include: It's too politically polarized. There isn't enough background and context due to space and time limitations in news outlets. News organizations are businesses and must tailor their reports to the interests and sensibilities of their audiences (which explains why non-Iraqi victims get more play than Iraqi victims in the Western media). There are physical limitations on what Western, other Middle Eastern, and Iraqi journalists can physically report on because the situation is so physically dangerous. Etc.
We had about 40 people or so who watched the webcast around the world and joined a live IRC chat. We had our own parallel discussion going, and I managed to relay some of the online questions into the room so that the panel could address them.
The consensus among bloggers in the chatroom was that the media does indeed fail to provide a comprehensive or truly objective picture of what is happening in Iraq. However people disagreed on why, or what is to be done. Fayrooz Hancock asked: “why when a foriegn journalist is kidnapped, the media cover it extensively. When an Iraqi journalist is kidnapped (we have two right now), the story is forgotten the next day.” The media representatives answered honestly that unfortunately, audiences back home are more concerned about victims from their own country than Iraqi victims. The concerns of the audiences do drive coverage.
Global Voices Iraq contributor Salam Adil asked why the media doesn't do a better job at explaining the context of news events: “I heard a lot of talk for and against the media. But here is the problem – things happen and the media is flailing around for answers. There is no good background reporting to explain why things are happening.”  Panelists admitted that news organizations generally don't do enough on that score.. but blamed lack of audience interest or attention as the main reason why better context and background is not given.  Salam responded to this on a blog post titled “the real problem with the media“: “Why are people blaming journalists – when it is the editors who are failing to inform the public or put the politicians on the spot.”  I then asked his question as a follow-up to the panel. Panelist Roger Cohen of the New York Times  responded that editors actually do follow and respect the guidance of journalists in the field.  His claims, provoked the following exchange on the IRC chat:
[extraneous chitchat deleted]
JelloWorld [former news correspondent]: omigod b***s**t alert
MarvinHutc: Roger – wrong.  You are the limiting factor and not as good as your correspondents.  You being “editors”.
salam_adil: its not just the correspondents – what about commentators
JelloWorld: liar!!
RMacK [me]: i agree w/ you jello. i was fighting w/ my editors constantly
pokegirl: did you expect anything else?
JelloWorld: no. just scary to hear it again…said so bloodlessly
rachelrawl: profit. there we are. news is widgets. a product
JelloWorld: 1. report 2. ???? 3. Profit!
pokegirl: audience line. no wonder newspaper subscriptions are dropping. they have no clue what audiences want! i'm not involved with the media world at all and he's got it all wrong
Salam followed up on his blog:
my question gets answered – but it had to be asked twice and there are no editors willing to explain themselves. One former editor blames the correspondents. Oh dear.
So what about all the comment and analysis? What about all those panel shows held in CNN and the like where the speakers only argue two sides of the same point? People sit there pointing at journalists and no editors are taking the blame.
Here is the point – if we had a full debate in the media on Iraq would this tragedy have been allowed to happen in such a disastrous way? Would there be some understanding for when and how troops are to leave Iraq? Would the Pentagon have felt safe to throw away the State Department's Future of Iraq plan and go for its scorched-earth-year-zero plan?
Up to now the media as a whole has not done its job as a pillar of democracy – and its failure will be felt for years to come.
While all agreed that media coverage of Iraq is very incomplete, there was a wide range of views about whether the media is biased in a left or right direction. Several military bloggers on the chat voiced the view that the media is overwhelmingly against the U.S. presence in Iraq and reports accordingly. Said “Cannoneer04“: “The insurgency thrives on getting their message out.  They require journo assistance for that.”  Omar, who blogs from Baghdad at Iraq the Model remarked: “each news outlet has an agenda. and I think the way they report news from Iraq reflects that agenda. the media is telling the truth but not the whole truth. and is unfortunately adding or omitting some fine details according to their agenda.” Fay addressed the problem that embedded journalists seem to be the only non-Iraqi journalists who are able to spend much time outside of their secure locations: “Real reporting comes from walking the streets and talking to people. Most embedded journalists are being there to report what's the army doing not what people lives look like.”
The discussion continues in the blogosphere. This post will be updated with more links after the archived video gets posted on the Reuters website and key quotes get posted, giving bloggers who were asleep in the Middle East during the discussion time more opportunity to react and share their views.


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Nepal: Day 1 of the general strike · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

As the four day general strike in Nepal kicks off, United We Blog! provides an account of the first day.


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Nepal: Dissent intensifies · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Samudaya.org has a photo-post of dissent in Nepal - things as they stood just before the General Strike.


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Nigeria: Blogging ideas for new bloggers · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Ethnic Loft writes there is more to blogging than politics and technology and suggests that “upcoming pundits would delve into, and shed more light on, some of these undercovered topics and others” such as food, music, health and sport.

author: Sokari Ekine


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Nigeria: Political discourse · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Naijablog comments on the “sterility of political discourse in Nigeria”  instead of the same old discussion around 3rd term and fiscal policy he suggests a move towards a transformative discourse  with a progressive vision of a future Nigeria.


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Pakistan: Islamic Relief · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Yasmine profiles the work of Islamic Relief -“sponsoring a series of six dinners around the United States, in order to raise funds for continuing support for the victims of last October's earthquake in South Asia”


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Palestine:  Palestinian Child Day · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

This year, the circumstances surrounding Palestinian Child Day are no different – our children continue to feel the pain of occupation. Israeli forces continue to deprive children of their right to life – since the start of this year alone, 12 children have been killed, bringing to 740 the total number of children fatalities since the start of the intifada. In the same period, around 4,000 minors have been arrested, of whom some 400 are still in prison, Laila said.


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Pedicab · Global Voices
Connie Veneracion

A pedicab is a bicycle with a sidecar. It is a popular public transport in many Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines and Indonesia. Sarapan Ekonomi has a photo.


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Peru: Fujimori Rumored to be Extradited Soon · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Patrice writes that Ex-president Fujimori has married a Japanese woman for what Patrice believes are political reasons. Un Lobo en Perú says that Fujimori is rumored to be extradited from Chile soon to stand trial in Peru and is surprised that the local media is not giving the story more attention. Journalist Juan Carlos Lujan recently encouraged his readers to support an online campaign (ES) by Amnesty International requesting that Fujimori be extradited.

author: David Sasaki


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Peru: Protest Against Ollanta Humala · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Andrés Duque has posted pictures of yesterday's protest against presidential candidate Ollanta Humala by Lima's LGBT community just days before the country heads to the polls. Un Lobo en Perú has a collection of quotes by Humala in recent days.


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Poland: Lem and Other ‘Unique But Aging Voices’ · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Warsaw Crow writes about the death of Stanislaw Lem, the great Polish science fiction writer, and muses on Poland's other “unique but aging voices.”


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Puerto Rico: Journalism debate · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Tinta Digital (es) attends a forum on “the eternal question” of the licensing of journalists in Puerto Rico, smiles when blogs are briefly mentioned, and concludes that “this discussion might have been interesting in the 20th century. . . .”


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Russia: Cheap’n’early DVDs · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Konstantin Dlutskiy of Russian Marketing Blog reports on the long-awaited alternative to pirated DVDs: “Cheap’n’early DVDs from Universal Pictures cost 150-200 rubles per disc (~$5,5 – $7,2). They are of lower quality and are released only four weeks after the first night.”


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Russia: How Russians View Stalin · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile writes on how today's Russians perceive Stalin: “The attitude I have witnessed seems to be: ‘Yep, Stalin was bad, but that was a long time ago and what can you do about it? Things are different now … and you, as an American should shut up anyway because you have that Hitler-wannabe George Bush attacking everyone in the world and stealing oil, etc. etc.'”


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Saudi Arabia: OSCAB · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Seems that many Saudi bloggers are not happy with the new Official Community of Saudi Bloggers (OSCAB).


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Saudi Arabia: Woman Car Drive · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Mahmood quotes a Saudi daily news paper which said: “Despite the presence of a large number of Saudi women drivers in Bahrain, not a single case of traffic violation has been registered against them.” Mahmood then wonders, will it take an act of God Himself to get the Saudis to allow their women to drive?


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Serbia & Montenegro: Visa Regime · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Viktor of Belgrade Blog writes about what it takes for an average Serb to get a visa to travel to the EU. He also has an advice to those who are visiting Serbia: “Fact: more than 70 percent of Serbian students never traveled outside the country borders. […] So, when chatting with the locals, feel free to share some of your culture with them, besides learning about theirs.”


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Sierra Leone: Charles Taylor · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Yebo Gogo provides a  detailed account of the charges faced ex Liberian President, Charles Taylor who is on trial in Sierra Leone.


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Singabloodypore confirms, challenges Chemical Generation Singapore · Global Voices
Connie Veneracion

Soci of Singabloodypore confirms Chemical Generation Singapore‘s speculations that one of Singabloodypore's bloggers is, in fact, the President of the Young Democrats in the Singapore Democratic Party. However, Soci challenges Chemical Generation's allegation that Singabloodypore is just another SDP tool for political propaganda by presenting the public profiles of all its bloggers.


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South Africa: Apartheid · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Sotho on Mzansi Afrika tackles racism in post apartheid South Africa and racists assumptions about Black people's contribution to history and society....”You didn't steal our brick-making techniques, you nicked the damned bricks themselves. Your arguments don't seem in the least like colonialist arguments, they are the very definition of colonialist arguments. History says the African was enslaved abroad and on his native content by those wielding more brutal weapons. Of course you built the universities, if by “you” you mean the one who was in power then. Who else could have built them? Oliver Tambo in Tanzania?”


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South Africa: Evangelical misinformation · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Idland is concerned about some evangelical posters  on display in South Africa that claim they can cure HIV/AIDS...”In a country where fighting misinformation is a major part of the battle against HIV/AIDS, I am not sure these crusaders have picked the right side.”


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South Africa: Jacob Zuma trial · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

African Shirts writes on Jacob Zuma's testimony during the rape trial in South Africa in which he claims he took a shower after having unprotected sex with an HIV postive woman.  African Shirts comments “it is this kind of ignorance which perpetuates the spread of HIV. People raping infants in SA, because of local lore that sex with a virgin cures HIV. Or even some belief among men that they're immune from the virus. The Catholic Church preventing the use of contraception doesn't help either. The spread of HIV should not be as fast as it is today.”


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St. Lucia: Political meeting · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Matthew Hunte attends a political meeting of the United Workers’ Party in the district of Micoud, St. Lucia.


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St. Vincent: WNBA draft pick · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Abeni pays tribute to St. Vincent-born Sophia Young, this year's WNBA number four draft pick.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Activist blog · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Rights Action Group T&T blog is aggregating material on the subject of the controversial aluminium smelter to be established by Alcoa in southern Trinidad.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Top 5 World Cup moments · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Stacy-Marie Ishmael lists what she and the members of the Soca Warriors Football Forum consider Trinidad & Tobago's top five World Cup moments.


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Uzbekistan: Tamerlane’s Curse · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Olesya of neweurasia writes about a Russian television program about the legend of Tamerlane's curse.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Yemen: Threat To Species · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Omar Barsawad says that Hadhramout's ecosystem too, is in danger of being overwhelmed. For the last twelve years, Omar have never seen a hyena around; and yet before he could see one every now and then; and now too, he's seeing fewer and fewer foxes and wild rabbits. Each year thousands of turtles come to the shores of Hadhramout to lay their eggs; and though there is government protection, the number of turtles now is much fewer too.


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Zimbabwe: MDC Congress · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

This is Zimbabwe publishes the response by Eddie Cross to a series of questions posed on their blog regarding the governance and politics of Zimbabwe and in particular to the MFD congress that recently took place.


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· Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Ore's notes has a complaint about that same old yak yak from men who accost  you on the street – like you are really going to jump in their car or go on a date with some fool who stops you on the street?  Ore's comment…”do men think so little of women that they think we will drop at their feet with these really weak approaches? I can imagine that it must be daunting for a man when he sees a woman somewhere and wants to get to know her. But, humour, honesty and sincerity work for most of the women I know (myself included); sleazy lines soooo do not. And additional word of advice: checking out any body parts is strongly not advised.


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Africa: innovation in emergency care · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Timbuktu Chronicles points to an innovative project tested in India that would provide a way of addressing “sustainable emergency care in the developing world.”


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African Diaspora: Forum on Euro-African Relations · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Djibrilkeita announces (FR) an upcoming forum on European cooperation with Africa to take place in Paris April 9. Panelists will mostly discuss Rwanda and Ivory Coast.


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Argentina: The Most Popular Leader of the Americas: Nestor Kirchner · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Expat Argentina cites a new survey which calls President Nestor Kirchner the most popular leader of the Americas. “I think it is safe to say that, barring a very major scandal, Kirchner is going to be re-elected in a landslide.” Bob Row has posted a cartoon, which suggests that Peronism's anti-democratic characteristics led to the 1976 military coup.


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Armenia: Turkish Border · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Christian Garbis speculates on what may happen in Armenia after the border with Turkey opens, which he foresees happening in the near future.


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Bahrain: A glimpse of Iraqi art · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Mahmood offers a glimpse of Iraqi art in his recent Vlog which he shot during his recent visit to Albareh Gallery. He envy whoever buys any piece from Mr. Al-Bahrani’s exhibit. Mahmood beleives they will treasure it for life and get a lot of enjoyment just for looking at it once in a while, regardless of whatever the grand mufti explodes out of his mouth.


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Belarus: Flash-Mobbing in Minsk · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

White Boats – by Andrei Hrachou
On April 4, a small group of young people gathered at the Svisloch River embankment in Minsk, folded origami paper boats, let them out into the water, and left. Most boats were white, but a few were painted the colors of the banned Belarusian flag, white-red-white.
The gathering was one of the increasingly popular Minsk flash mobs, coordinated through a LiveJournal community, by-mob. Brainchild of LJ user hondurazian, the motivation for it was this (RUS):
Many people detained and sentenced on March 19-23 are already free. But many aren't. We are waiting for them – and we are happy that many are already back! Let's greet our friends and the spring!
[…]
Spring, freedom, little white boats – free Belarus! Let's enjoy life!
Initial reaction to this flash mob idea was negative, though (RUS):
slonopotam: Yeah, right, better call it “Let's make the city even dirtier.” There's enough trash lying around after winter.
The comment caused a minor yet impassioned debate on ecology, with a slight political undertone to it (RUS, BEL):
hondurazian: aha! a hundred sheets of paper in the river is a deadly blow to the city's ecology! we're drinking this water! and these jerks are throwing little (poisoned) pieces of paper in it :)
slonopotam: You mean you don't give a damn about what you call ‘ecology’ (though ecology is a science and it doesn't change because of the garbage)? You don't care if the city's dirty or not. The main thing for you is to show your pseudosignificance, isn't it?
oskoltsev: aren't you aware that paper gets utilized easily and is absolutely harmless for the environment, unlike poliethylen? if you aren't, I'm happy to be the first to inform you. greenpeace will not forget you
hondurazian: :-P Don't make false accusations. I'm a rather ecologically-minded person and always throw garbage into garbage containers. The thing is, paper (unlike, say, plastic) in the form of a hundred (two, three, for hundred, or even a thousand) paper boats in the river will NOT harm ecology in any way, because it will eventually dissolve.
And from there, a new flash mob idea has emerged (RUS, BEL) – to hold a volunteer cleanup day, a subbotnik:
libre_ave: Eh, creating a mess again… maybe you'll come up with something useful… a subbotnik, for example!!!
oskoltsev: and lenin with a log… lol
exhumator: Why, that's a good idea! Maybe we'll see the president! He loves subbotniks…
libre_ave: yes but if you do it you have to make sure people see WHO is doing it
mindoug: A very interesting proposal, by the way. An oppositional subbotnik! Let's rid our Motherland of Lukashenko's garbage!
***
Belarus flash mob community (by-mob) was created March 26, the day after the violent dispersal of the opposition's peaceful rally in Minsk. One of its goals is to “peacefully express one's point of view on what's going on in the country.” Over half a dozen flash mob activities have already been carried out in Minsk.
The one that took place April 3 was a reaction to the words of Minsk mayor Mikhail Pavlov: he threatened to sue organizers of the Oktyabrskaya Square protest to compensate the city for the sewage cleanup expenses incurred after the tent camp had been destroyed. And, according to LJ user minskfm (RUS), to compensate the city was exactly what some 70 flash mobbers tried to do when they showed up at the Central Post Office in Minsk and started filling out money order forms:
Ten minutes before the action begins, there's a [KGB] man with a video camera, shooting everyone at the entrance. There's a fair number of people inside already, filling out forms. Someone thoughtful has already placed sample forms on the tables, with all the info printed on them.
Another [KGB] man with a walky-talky comes over to a girl and asks her “to stop this rubbish.” He attempts to look at what she's writing. She asks him not to bother her, as she's filling out a money order – it's her right. She is entering personal info and he has no right to see it. (Attagirl!) Then the man comes up to a guy and asks him to leave.
People start coming to the cashier's window. Minutes later, there's a line all the way to the entrance door. All in all, 70 people.
A woman from Radio Liberty shows up, tries to interview someone. Another journalist asks someone to explain the situation. A few men who just happened to be there are laughing and ask what's going on, too. Someone tells them it's a ‘flash mob.’ One repeats the word to another, they laugh again, even though neither understands the word's meaning, of course.
A manager woman runs in. There's fear in her eyes, she asks everyone to leave, hysterically, and runs back and forth all across the hall. Desperately, she cries: “What in the world is going on here?!” People standing in the line begin to laugh.
It is decided to make a semicircle out of the line, so that more people could fit inside. Meanwhile, the cashier woman is shocked and perplexed. She refuses to accept money order forms, says what's written on top isn't correct. Shuts her window for a while. Then says that the forms are wrong. […] Those who stood at the beginning of the line, sit down to fill out new forms.
The manager woman is joined by a man in blue uniform, also a post office employee. Neither knows what to do with the crowd. They ask journalists to show their press cards, then tell them to leave the building to avoid problems. Then they try to find out who organized all this. Someone points to the man with a walky-talky))) The man in blue drags him outside!)
Then the line's tail decides to leave the post office for some reason. But some of those at the beginning have filled out the new forms and are trying to pay.
Then it is being decided whether to stay till the last person fills out the form and pays, or to leave. [KGB] men are waiting outside and no one knows what they may do next. That's why it's decided not to take risks and around 6:18 pm everyone leaves.
***
Aleksandr Lukashenko's third inauguration ceremony is scheduled for April 8. Members of the by-mob community are planning to wear black, the color of mourning, on this day (BEL):
exhumator:
Mass action on April 8
Reason: Lukashenko's coronation.
Location: all cities and towns of Belarus, abroad. Wherever you are, take part.
Time: April 8, Saturday, all day long.
Essence: Go out into the streets, hang black ribbons everywhere, dress in black yourself, carry black balloons. Black user pictures in your LiveJournals. In short, the more black, the better.


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Blogging success · Global Voices
Connie Veneracion

When asked what makes Yugatech click–high traffic, high comment rate, and good ranks from Google and Technorati, blog owner Yuga says he doesn't even use “tools” like wordtracker, database of keyword lists, ebay directories, adsense accelerator and the like. He says it's all about writing what genuinely interests you, “the same topics I would talk about whenever I’m with friends, chatting over a cup of coffee or a bottle of beer.”


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Caribbean: Animal welfare · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

At the Caribbean  Beat Weblog, Sabrina searches on the internet for help with a sick stray dog and finds Caribbean Animal Welfare, a web site offering information and resources for Caribbean organisations, including reports on the plight of animals after hurricanes.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Caribbean: Cruise ship cuts · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

One cruise line is planning to remove half its vessels from the Caribbean on account of high costs associated with hurricanes, says Mad Bull: “We are going to have to try to diversify into other areas, though I don’t know yet what they are. Our islands have a big challenge ahead, it seems.”


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Cayman Islands: Easter hypocrisy · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

“Cayman ministers will speak out about a stupid fictitious book or a movie with homosexual undercurrents, but they’ll have Easter egg hunts on their lawns to celebrate the resurrection of Christ,” writes Cayblogger.


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China: Great firewall undermined · Global Voices
John Kennedy

The end to China's Cultural Revolution thirty years ago took with it the need to censor one's self in order to survive. While people in China can now speak freely—a right protected in the Chinese constitution—there still exists an unwritten set of rules and standards for when and if an audience is involved.
For the average Chinese netizen, there are two main fronts in the Chinese Communist Party's war on free speech. Up front are search engines, where a query on sensitive keywords might let you get as far as the second page of results—if they appear at all—before browser paralysis sets in and your connection is disabled, often for twenty to thirty minutes at a time.
On the back end are websites and blogs where if the wrong characters don't bring a cease and desist order, software is triggered which quickly renders the offending page unloadable. Removing the sensitive content will sometimes secure the survival of your blog. Often it does not.
You want to post on the relevant political and social issues, but when words act against you, what's a blogger to do?
Podcasts seem to be an answer, at least until voice-monitoring technology catches up—an idea not lost on Democratic China Blog's Neo, whose MSN Spaces blog of the same name was blocked on the mainland not long ago.
First up is a news report [zh] on Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference delegate Zhang Xianliang and his proposal to build a Cultural Revolution museum.
Following that Neo posts a series of four recordings [zh] of Ming Ju-zheng (明居正), Dean of National University of Taiwan's political science department speaking on the Cultural Revolution.
Volume one: In the nearly thirty years since the Cultural Revolution ended, Chinese Communist Party officials have all along evaded discussing it. It's absolutely necessary that we can have a review. This piece attempts to clarify three major problems: Mao Zedong's motives and role in bringing about the Cultural Revolution, why he used such tactics in seizing power, and the Communist Party's role.
Volume two: This volume discusses some of the phenomena seen during the Cultural Revolution such as the struggle against capitalists, cult of personality, and how allowing politics to determine state affairs led to such cruel battles. In particular addresses the Cultural Revolution's absurd nature and examines the devastation done to Chinese society and humanity.
Volume three: This volume looks into Lin Biao, the Gang of Four and the Red Guards‘ responsibilities in the Cultural Revolution and puts forward a view different that of Chinese Communist Party.
Volume four: Some political happenings before and after the Cultural Revolution and the negative affect this had on political and social life on the mainland, including: public denouncements and trials, factionalism, financial incentives for exposing the politically incorrect, all of which are discussed at length.
How long will podcasts remain a viable option in subverting internet censorship? Let's hope longer than it takes Cisco to drive to the bank.


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China: Rural-urban divide · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Shak from Chinawhite leaves the city life for a countryside vacation and discovers some differences while out there.
“A quick dinner in a local restaurant and then on to experience some nightlife in Hefei [capitol of eastern China's Anhui province], first thing that strikes me is the price. Everything seems half the price of what we pay in Shanghai. Second thing that strikes me is the very very few foreigners here. In fact, out of the three clubs we went to, I see one other laowai[Mandarin term for foreigner]. Quite interesting that the best club in town is called ‘Beauiful Club,’ huge place with lots of signs and corporate identity all featuring a typo (welcome to China, why fix it if its working). Third thing that strikes me is the friendliness of these people compared to those in Shanghai (we love Prada, Gucci, LVMH and Starbucks),” writes Shak.


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China: State surveillance · Global Voices
John Kennedy

“The mark of the beast,” says the Art of Balance blogger, of China's Public Security Bureau's announcement of the completion of a database which contains details on 1.25 billion of China's 1.3 billion citizens.
“Parallel to this,” continues the blogger, “we will be facing the worlds biggest roll-out of RFID (radio frequency identification) by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), which oversees the country’s police force, who plans to issue more than 1.3 billion second-generation resident identification cards based on RFID chips, according to an industry analyst at In-Stat China.”


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Colombi: Notes from last week · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Adam Isacson has an informative ten-point review of the last week in Colombia.


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Conversation between prisoners · Global Voices
Connie Veneracion

James Wong Wing On of Freedom in Solidarity has an excerpt from the memoirs of Sybil Kartigasu, a member of the resistance movement during the WW II Japanese occupation. The excerpt is a prison conversation between Kartigasu and another resistance fighter, Toh Lung San, who was tortured and later beheaded at the age of 21.


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Cuba: Illegal immigration · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Regalado.blogia.com reproduces (es) a press release which  appeared this week in the Cuban press regarding the attempts by Cubans to escape the country by boat. The release was prompted by an accident which took place off the coast of the Pinar del Rio province, and includes the line, “The events of the dawn of in waters to the south of Pine of the River yesterday confirm the irresponsible, criminal and aggressive character of the US government policy towards Cuba and in particular of the deliberate use of emigrants against the Revolution. . . “


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DRC: Failed Inclusion of UDPS · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Le Blog du Congolais ponders (FR) the reasons why main opposition party UDPS will not participate in upcoming elections: “The electoral packet, designed in upscale Western quarters, was a take it or leave it deal. […] One has to wonder whether it was not deliberately intended  for UDPS not to participate” .


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Ethiopia: Development contradictions · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Concoction points to a BBC report which highlights the  descrepancies between the Ethiopian government's version of development and that of villagers in the country.