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Iran: Religion & Modernity Seminar · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, former Vice President reports that this Thursday a seminar on Religion and Modernity will be held in his Dialogue Between Religions Institute. The blogger says several Iranian scholars will participate in this one day seminar and several writings from some other Western or Iranian academics will be distributed [Fa].


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Iran: Steel Market · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Pouyan writes about steel market in Iran. The blogger says last week the new government ended the free market in steel which was established a few years back. The free metal market had ended the rent of steel merchants in Bazar but finally they got the rent back through the political lobby. As usual there was no serious objection from politicians or academic scholars.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Fred Petrossian


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Latin America: WordPress.com en Español · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Proletarium celebrates (ES) the launch of WordPress.com in Spanish (ES).

author: David Sasaki


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Madagascar: Vacationing on the Cheap · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Madagascar Croissance is looking for a way to vacation  in Mahajunga, the “in” vacation spot, on a local's budget in Madagascar (Fr): ” All in all, with 51 euros, one can spend a standard vacation in Majunga (excluding superficial expenses of course) … But unfortunately that sum … represents the monthly salary of a simple government worker.”

author: Alice Backer


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Martinique: Reflections on Nudity · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Le Blog de [Moi] reflects (Fr) on nudity and her taste for it: “Yes I confess, I am a fan of nudity. Not nudism mind you but nudity. When I come home from work, the ritual is the same: long hot shower and afterwards I dress like Eve. I.e. I don't wear anything. What pleasure. Then I lay down on the bed to practice my favorite activity these days… blogging. What did you think it would be?”


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Pakistan: Islam, terrorism and the State · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Hardly Innovative … on terrorism, Islam and the State. Reflecting on Musharraf's military ambitions, the blogger think its time the army returned the barracks.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Panama: Donald Trump’s Panama · Global Voices
Leon Kadoch

The Panama Real Estate blog has an interesting article about how Donald Trump has fallen so much in love with Panama that he is building a $220 Million, 65 story (2.4 Million square foot) hotel/condo monoliths called the Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower in a posh Panama City neighborhood. Why is Trump doing this in Panama of all places? Read the article.

author: Leon Kadoch


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Panama: How to Travel in Panama · Global Voices
Leon Kadoch

Jenny Carrasquillo wrote a blog post on a subject that most people don't talk about… How to Travel In Panama…good advice, really interesting. Business people investing in Panama and general tourists will appreciate what this article has to offer specially if you're a Real Estate investor which spends a lot of time going to the airport and travelling around, even if you're a backpacker you will appreciate these observations.


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Peru: Blog Day Festivities · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Blogday Peru (ES) is the official blog of, you guessed it, Blog Day 2006 in Peru. On August 31st various members of Peru's blogging community will gather at Instituto San Ignacio de Loyola to celebrate.


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Poland: Relations With Germany · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Warsaw Station and the beatroot write about Poland's complex relationship with Germany.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Puerto Rico: Creative Commons PR · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Eugenio Martínez Rodríguez receives an invitation to a meeting to discuss the establishment of Creative Commons Puerto Rico.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Romania: Anatolian Carpets in Brasov · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Carpetblog walks into a cathedral in the town of Brasov, Romania, and discovers one of the best European collections of Anatolian carpets of the 17th and 18th century.


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Russia: On Foreigner-Oriented Women · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Tim Newman of White Sun of the Desert writes about “the myth of Russian women” – which seems to be as popular among some as the myth of the “mysterious Russian soul.”


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South Korea: politics of naming · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jamie from Two Koreas discusses about the politics of naming of apartment complexs: “What is so curious about it is that the names used are actually pretty crass and offensive.”

author: Oiwan Lam


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South Korea: Yasukuni Shrine · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Robert Koehler in Marmot's hole writes on the implication of Japan's president Koizumi Junichiro visit to the Yasukuni Shrine on Korea politics and history.


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Taiwan: political blog · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michael Turton is inviting initiatives in setting up a group blog on Taiwan politics.


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Taiwan: Yahoo! auction · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Recently Taiwan Yahoo! auction announced that all users will be charged 3% of transaction fees on most of the items. Eroach comments on whether such policy has violated the monopoly law in Taiwan(zh).


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Tajikistan: Recent News · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Vadim rounds up news about recent news from Tajikistan.

author: Nathan Hamm


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This Week In Palestinian Blogs: Summer Rain · Global Voices
Naseem Tarawnah

August 11th saw another weekly non-violent protest in Bil’in take a wrong turn as the Israeli army attacked protesters with rubber bullets and sound grenades as they marched toward the Separation Wall. International Solitary Movement reported fourteen people injured including an Israeli activist. Bethlehem Bloggers has a  first hand account from activist Jenny Digi. A video of the event created by ISM Israeli activists showed the unit commander yelling:  “This is Lebanon! I will not allow a demonstration during wartime!”,  as he orders his unit to fire on retreating demonstrators.
“They lost it in Lebanon, now they are going to retaliate and take revenge on Palestinian and their Supporters!” said Haitham Sabbah.
Meanwhile the siege of Gaza continues and overcome with homesickness Laila El-Haddad phones home as Dr. Mona El-Farra writes a letter to explain the situation from the point of view of a mother, physician and citizen of Gaza.  Iman has some interesting information on Israel’s operation Summer Rain,  launched in an attempt to recover an Israeli soldier, which has seen Gaza’s death toll rise to 193 with 790 injured. Of the dead 58 were under the age of 18 while 25 were women. Meanwhile the Palestinian film “Dreams in a Grey Spot” achieved the status of bestseller at Capalbio International Film Festival. Costing just $60 to produce by a group of young filmmakers under the age of 20, the film centers on a young man from a refugee camp who talks about his dreams as a poet and artist.
Blogger and artist Amal Kawash uses her artwork to remind us what the view is often like from the inside in this piece entitled “Windows So Clean”.
Fadi at KabobFest has an intriguing CBC video on Israeli media censorship when it comes to the most humane army in the world. Katie also has an interesting story to tell of a Human Rights Worker that tried to intervene on behalf of four Palestinian men rounded up randomly by Israeli soldiers from off the street.
Mi'kmaq of Window into Palestine reports that the Fateh political party is calling on Israel to stop arresting women and girls for the purpose of pressuring their relatives who are political prisoners:
“…a mother of six, was interrogated and intimidated for five continuous hours, according to local reports. She was then dumped off in a deserted area in rural Nablus. She was handcuffed and humiliated at the hands of Israeli intelligence officers, as the young woman reported to journalists and Palestinian security sources. Her husband is a political prisoner.”
With electricity, water and petrol becoming a scarce commodity in Gaza, Haitham Sabbah has an interesting video of newscaster Jon Snow confronting Zvi Ravner, Deputy Israeli Ambassador to London, on the issue of Israel’s collective punishment on the people of Gaza. Meanwhile the grave situation in Gaza has inspired some brilliant poetry from Hayam at Poetry4Palestine. While Ola of Cinnamon Zone has a few rules to keep in mind to better understand the Middle East conflict reported in the media.
In the midst of recent chaos, blogger Al-Falasteenyia retells her four-day journey to Palestine including a visit to the old family house and a collection of great photos. Meanwhile Umkhalil calls the attention of bloggers for the implementation of right of return.
Naseem Tarawnah from The Black Iris discusses the media’s latest apocalyptic reporting on the Middle East, specifically a story on the rise of American Evangelical Christian blatant support of Israel’s killings, most recently demonstrated by the likes of Pat Roberston and John Hagee. Journalist and blogger Daoud Kuttab has a thing or two to say about this support as a Palestinian Christian:
“Christian Zionists who use religious rhetoric to justify political and military actions are no better than Jewish or Islamic fundamentalists who make similar outlandish claims. Peace in the Middle East should be about the liberty, independence and freedoms of all the people of the region, and not about whose promised land the Holy Land is.”
Osaid Rasheed has discovered a new use of blogging in Palestine: PELTA (Palestinian English Language Teachers Association). Although still in its humble beginnings, its aim is to create a common place to bring together all English Language teachers in Palestine. Osaid wonders: “Can this blog gather the Palestinian English teachers in a time where checkpoints made it almost impossible for everyone to reach even his own school??!”

author: Naseem Tarawnah


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Trinidad & Tobago: 72 medals · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Manicou reports that Trinidad & Tobago has won 72 medals in the World Championship of Performing Arts in Hollywood, California, adding “I have to admit though, I've never heard of the competition before.”


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Ukraine: Return to Censorship? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LEvko of Foreign Notes writes about Ukrainian journalists protesting against what may be the return to censorship.


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Ukraine: The Left and the Rest · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Stefan of Dykun writes about the Ukrainian Left and other players on Ukraine's political “playground.”


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Uzbekistan: The Uzbek & the London Terror Plot · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Nick of neweurasia points out that the arrest of an Uzbek militant in Pakistan provided the trigger for the recent arrests in the UK of those accused of plotting to blow up airliners headed to the United States.


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Americas: Eating in the USA · Global Voices
David Sasaki

About obesity in the United States, Martin Varsavsky says that he and his wife have found the trick to eating out reasonably (ES): “We found that if you order an appetizer, entree, and dessert and share everything between two people, the amount of food is right and the restaurant workers aren't offended.


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Argentina: Desparate Housewives · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Ian Mount on the forthcoming Argentine version of ‘Desperate Housewives’: “So, how do you translate the pinched WASP, closet alcoholic played by Marcia Cross? Her Argy alter-ego is “daughter of a military officer and a fervent Catholic.”


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Argentina: Government Info From Cell Phone · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Pasa en Buenos Aires says that the Buenos Aires government has developed a WAP, or mobile phone, interface (ES) for their municipal website.


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Armenia: Benefits of Foreign Language · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Nessuna posts about the benefits of speaking a foreign language in Armenia.


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Armenia: Mafia State? · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian looks at whether or not Armenia is a mafia state.


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ArubaGirl: Brain drain · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

ArubaGirl muses on the annual of exodus of students who leave Aruba to further their studies in the Netherlands and elsewhere: “I do wonder, however, how many of ‘Aruba’s future’ graduate? And of those who graduate, how many come back? And what do they come back to?“


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Balkans: Serbian Propaganda · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

In an emotionally charged post about Serbian propaganda, Srebrenica Genocide Blog quotes from the ICTY testimony of his former high school teacher, Dragan Lukac, a Bosnian Croat concentration camp survivor.


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Bangladesh: The Leaders and The Masses · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

How is it that politicians choose high handed ways to deal with people in their countries. Drishtipat recalls a memory from long ago about a leader who appears to be rather kind and humane, contrasting it to the distant approach as adopted by the current one.


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Barbados: Perils of air travel · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Jdid outlines a few of the hazards, real and imagined, posed by the new restrictions around carry-on luggage.


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Belarus: Prohibition Looming · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

BM of TOL's Belarus Blog is shocked: Belarusians may soon have to drink juice, not beer or vodka, outside; underage drinking may become impossible; stores may be forced to stop selling alcohol after 10 PM. “Regime begins to limit people’s freedom in more and more ways, not only freedom of speech and election,” writes BM.


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Bermuda: GPS ruling · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Sean reports that taxi drivers in Bermuda are up in arms over a new ruling requiring them to install GPS units in their vehicles.


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Bolivia: Bloomberg and Bolivian Gas · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Jim Shultz admits that every journalist and blogger makes a mistake from time to time, but the reporting by Bloomberg News, according to Shultz, creates “a false public image that the Bolivian government has “seized the assets” of foreign energy companies through its May 1 ‘nationalization’ decree.” The post has inspired an interesting conversation in the comments section.


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Brazil: Lula Declines Debate · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Boz says that President Lula da Silva made a big error by declining to show up for the first presidential debate. Opposition blogger Luís Afonso Assumpção is bothered by Lula's increasing numbers in the polls despite recent kidnappings by the PCC (First Command of the Capital). Andrew of Comings Communiqué calls Conor Foley's latest blog post “one of the best summaries of Brazilian politics that I have ever seen.”


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Brunei: History of Oil Exploration · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The blogger at The Daily Brunei Resources discusses a book on oil exploration in Brunei. Oil and natural gas production contribute to almost half of Brunei's GDP.

author: Preetam Rai


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Cambodia: Cheating in the Exams · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Vutha in Cambodia looks at the leaking of high school examination papers in Cambodia.


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Caribbean: Languages spoken here · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Island Tips posts a list — by island — of the languages spoken in the Caribbean.


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China and Japan: the Ants · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Richard in the Peking Duck introduces a new Japanese movie “the Ants” which explores the topic of WWII war crime with merciless honesty.


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China: GDP calculation · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Rosu in Bullog points out that the calculation of GDP by the National Statistic Bureau is very arbitrary. According to the reports from 31 provinces, the growth of GDP in the first half year should be 12%. However, the figure given out by the Bureau is 10.9%. The difference is 804.8 billion yuan (zh).


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China: my future is not a dream · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The Asia Media Forum introduces a T.V soap drama, My future is not a dream, in China (Sichuan). It's tareget audience are rural migrant workers, whose dreams are starting small business. The drama is a collaboration between the TV network, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Start and Improve Your Own Business (SIYB) Programme, and China’s Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MOLSS).


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China: webcast regulation · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

According to Wang Xiao feng, the National Broadcast and Television Bureau will introduce a new regulation which requires permission for all internet webcast (zh).


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Cuba: US trade embargo · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Val Prieto invites readers to offer their views on the US trade embargo against Cuba (92 comments so far. . . .)


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Guyana: “It was a dark and balmy night. . . “ · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Guyana-gyal keeps readers on the edge of their seats as she describes the commotion surrounding a recent incident involving Guyanese in the Caribbean.


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Hungary, Poland: Crime Roundup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar writes about the deportation of ex-con Gabor Magosztovics (aka Joe Dinardo, aka Ironman “during his heavyweight boxing career”) from Canada to Hungary. The beatroot writes about Scottish teenagers being punished for attacks on Polish immigrants with a trip to Poland. Our Man in Gdansk writes about the arrest of a 48-year-old surgeon of the General Surgery and Transplant Clinic of the Medical Academy of Lublin: “When the police arrested the drunk and searched his apartment they found, in true journalistic cliched style, a ‘veritable arsenal’ of pistols, machine guns and rifles.”


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India: Clive Street and Collaboration · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Confused of Calcutta talks of how financial journalism runs in the family, the decline of Clive Street as the centre for finance and on collaboration online.


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India: The Turtle Girl · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Doodle Spot on a woman who spent much time working with turtles. “Viji (as Vijaya was called) was India’s first woman herpetologist when such a career was unknown in this country.”


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Indonesia: Iranian President’s Blog · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Unspun discoves that Iranian President Mahmood Ahmadinejad blogs too.  The Iranian president was a recent guest in Indonesia and he was very well received there.


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Iran: Carpet exportation declines · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Faryadnameh says Iranian carpet exportation needs a scientific marketing to adapt itself to a changing market. The blogger also refers to Mehrnews agency report that Iranian carpet exportation declined 8% this year compared to previous year. The blogger adds  our targeted market is Europe and a few countries such as Pakistan or India imitate Iranian models to conquer same market [Fa].


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Iran: Iranian Digg or Reddit! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Zharf says he has launched a new site similar [Fa] to digg and reddit in Persian. The blogger says site's name is Balatarin and everybody can add a link to that. All of the links  on Balatarin will be from users who are rewarded for good submissions (and punished for bad ones) by their peers.


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Japan: freedom of speech or privacy · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Matts in Occidentalism disagrees that Yasukuni Shrine had violated freedom of press in rejecting Asahi Shimbun's reporters entry to its compound claiming that the newspapers had violated its privacy in their previous report.


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Kurdistance: Three Week Update · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

After a brief hiatus, I'm back and clicking away…three weeks have passed and we have a lot to cover….
At the end of July it was announced that Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman would be doing a promotional tour of the US and Europe to talk about The Other Iraq- Iraqi Kurdistan. While this would have seemed to be a great opportunity to promote Kurdish culture, it was greeted lukewarmly. Non-Kurdish bloggers’ reaction ranged from distrustful at the ad campaign as either too pro-war in Iraq or too right wing to a short interview discussing the main ideas of The Other Iraq's website. Unfortuately, Kurdish bloggers didn't take advantage of this opportunity. Vladimir on From Holland to Kurdistan advertised the announcement (as well as the Kurdistan Blog Count), and posted a piece that comedian John Stewart has performed on The Other Iraq's Ad Campaign promotion.
With events occuring as they are in Lebanon, Kurdish bloggers are still talking about the implications of war there. Roj Bash! gives a history of the Kurds of Lebanon. From Holland to Kurdistan posts the Kurdistan Party of Lebanon's statement of condemnation of the Israeli attacks. Kurdish Aspect writes about the attempted parallels drawn by the Turkish government of the PKK and Hezbollah. And Sami from An Iraqi's Thoughts writes about how the war between Hezbollah and Israel is changing the Middle East in unexpected ways.
Now from the thematic review of things to some of the individual blogs. Hiwa from Hiwa Hopes writes about the importance of August 21st, the day marking the beginning of the Anfal Campaign against the Kurds. He encourages all Kurds to demonstrate on that day to show the world the resilence of the Kurdish people. Other stories he gives us is a sad case of a Kurdish aslyum seeker who ruined his chances of winning his court case when he was asked to swear on the Quran. And lastly, Hiwa critizes the Kurdistan Regional Government's new policy of resource allocation as something that should have happened a long time ago.
From Holland to Kurdistan writes about his Holland-based Kurdish news site, Azady.nl, being hacked by Turkish hackers. Other topics were the recent report to the European Union on the cultural situation of the Kurds in Turkey and how the Kurds and the Turkmen in Iraq could be an excellent example for peace. And lastly, he has an excellent piece about PKK terrorism:
I will now deal with one of the most controversial issues in Turkey: “PKK terrorism”. Personally I do not like to use the word terrorism. For Turkey the PKK is a terrorist organisation and for a lot of Kurds, they are freedom fighters. In this era of the war “against terrorism”, the word terrorism appears a lot on the TV screens. Many times “terrorist” actions are used to fight “terrorism”. Often governments turn into totalitarian and oppressive institutions, only to combat terrorism. Therefore I refrain from using the word terrorist, as it’s clearly biased. Both the Turkish state and the PKK used violence in the past. And I also refrain from calling them both terrorists!…..
….In my humble opinion the main problem is not the PKK. “Terrorism” is mostly a result of political exclusion and social exclusion. And that’s the problem! Kurds are excluded from a democratic and free environment in Turkey. Next to this problem is the recent upsurge of violence (2004) coming from both sides. This violence endangers a democratic and peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue.
a must read for this week.
Until next time!

author: Deborah Ann Dilley


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Myanmar: Celebrity Website · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Man Actually  posts a link to a site on Myanmar celebrities and talks about the latest singing sensation in Myanmar who pens her phone number along with her autograph. “I don't know, by now, she's changed her number or not yet…. But as far as I know she would be the one and only singer who broadcasted her number together with her signature..:”


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Paraguay: Ex-Dictator Dies in Exile · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Jennifer Woodard Maderazo has translated an excerpt from a 20 Minutos article about the death of Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner.


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Peru: Audio of Film Festival Seminars · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Did you miss last week's Festival Elcine in Lima, Peru? Not to worry, the audio from the  lectures and seminars have all been released for free on the internet, according to (ES) Audiovisual Peruano.


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Peru: Music: Remix Culture · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Oscar Montezuma introduces Novamlima, the new project of Miki Gonzales. According to Montezuma (ES) the new album is “another glimpse of Peru's remix culture.”


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Romania: Parking in Bucharest · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Owlspotting writes about the dangerous business of parking your car in downtown Bucharest.


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Russia: Real Estate and Chinese Investors · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Russia Blog writes about Moscow real estate and the Chinese investors’ plans for Moscow and St. Petersburg.


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South Korea: English craze · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Noja in Frog in a well discusses about the English craze culture in modern Korea with a historical background.


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South Korea: Liberation Day · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Yesterday (Aug 15) was the anniversary of Korea Liberation Day, Richardson from the Korea Liberator puts together South Korean newspapers’ editorial excrepts.


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Sri Lanka: Bloggers for Peace  · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Deshapalana has a petition by the Bloggers for Peace which urges the various stakeholders to work on the peace process.


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Sri Lanka: How do you say Mate? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

London, Lanka and Drums muses about a particular Sri Lankan word that appears to not have an English equivalent.  The closest one being “mate”.


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

Blogs can remind us about the plight of others.  Since many Bolivian bloggers write from various locations around the world, they can also capture the experience of other Bolivians, who are trying to make it in a land far from home.  Isabella Fuente recently returned from a trip to Bolivia, where she ran into many of her fellow countrymen and women in the Madrid, Spain airport.  These Bolivian immigrants were not as fortunate and faced an uncertain future.  She writes in her blog, Ergoth (ES):
Una escena dura. Aeropuerto de Barajas y la cola para migración interminable. Más de 600 personas de distintos vuelos intentando entrar a España. Todos con diferentes objetivos, por diferentes motivos, con diferentes sueños. De pronto alguien es retenido en migración, le dicen que sus papeles no están en orden, que debe esperar en una especie de sala que está a un costado. Poco a poco la sala se va llenando. Primero cinco, luego son doce, luego cada vez más. Yo era una de las últimas en la cola de migración y comencé a inquietarme, sabía que a mi me dejarían entrar, yo tenía tarjeta de residencia, no había porque no, pero la cola seguía creciendo y la situación se volviá francamente angustiante, todos mirábamos a los que iban sumándose a la sala. Llegué a contar hasta 78 personas detenidas, prohibidas de ingresar a España. Mi mayor dolor era que casi todos los detenidos eran bolivianos.
A couple of bloggers from Cochabamba, Javier and Luis Rodriguez recently started their stint on a local radio station every Saturday.  As Blogs de Bolivia highlights, they decided to use the internet to complement their airtime.  For example, they opened up an official blog called La Música Que Escuchan Todos (ES) (Music that Everyone Listens to) for the radio show, where they also include a podcast download of their most recent show for listening at a later time or for those who may not live in Cochabamba.
Finally, as the debate regarding the Constituent Assembly carries over to the blogosphere, the relationship between the mainstream media and blogs is closer than previously thought.  Plan B’s Sebastian Molina was casually reading a story in the Santa Cruz newspaper, El Deber, about 5 recent proposals in this Assembly, when he noticed an analysis given by his father and blogger of Ágora (ES), Carlos Hugo Molina, the former departmental prefect.  The text looked rather familiar because it turns out that it was the exact commentary left by Carlos Hugo as a comment on one of Sebastian’s earlier entries on this topic (ES).  When consulted, Carlos Hugo indicated that he did not speak with any reporter to provide his opinion, but instead, the journalist used the comment as a part of his story with no mention that it was a comment on a blog and not based on an interview with the original comment author.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Ukraine: Crimean Germans Deportation Anniversary · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

J. Otto Pohl writes about the 65th anniversary of the removal of the Crimean Germans to Kazakhstan, via North Caucasus, and about the impossibility of determining the exact number of Russian Germans deported in 1941.


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Ukraine: Former Citizen Leads Israel Peace Movement · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog writes about Jana Kanapova, who emigrated from Ukraine 11 years ago and, together with Khulud Badawi, an Arab-Israeli from Haifa, is involved in the Women's Peace Coalition and the Ta'ayush organization.


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Uzbekistan: Sidetrip Podcast · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Kazakhstan Stories posts photographs, video, music and a podcast concerning a trip to Uzbekistan.


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Uzbekistan: Women Making Ends Meet · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

At neweurasia, Shohruh writes about women struggling to make ends meet in Uzbekistan. In another post on the same blog, Ben Paarmann profiles a blog dealing with women's issues written in Uzbek called Ayollar Bekati (Women's Station).


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Jamaica: Renaming · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Geoffrey Philp calls the Rastafarian practise of renaming “a bold creative act and a model for freedom”.


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A Google Earth Canary Islands Conspiracy? · Global Voices
David Sasaki

In late July Google updated the satellite imagery of the Canary Islands in both Google Earth and Google Maps. The former satellite images from 2005 and 2006 were replaced by images belonging to the Canary public company Grafcan. While some applauded the partnership of Google with a local mapping company, others became immediately suspicious that the replacement images were at least six years old, leaving them to conclude that a government conspiracy was at hand in order to attract more tourists by removing unsightly, recent developments.
As Manuel Almeida lays it all out (ES):
The Green Party has denounced an agreement between the Government of the Canary Islands, through the public company Grafcan (Cartográfica de Canarias) and Google so that images of the archipelago shown on Google Earth – at least those of especially relevant to the tourist market – be retrograded from the current 2006 images to those taken in the period of 1996 – 2000. In other words, the Executive [branch] of the government and Google have decided to substitute the current images of the islands for others from at least six years ago so that some of the development abuses over the past few years do not appear. That way the tourist is “liberated” from such horrors as hotels at the shoreline, a rotary in the interior of a crater, or clear environmental degradation favoring one or another type of urbanization.
The Green Party's denouncement is based on a series of posts from Territorios Red that describe with precision some of the most important “changes” in the images on the island of Tenerife. The “Greens” have added some more images from Fuerteventura and assure that some military installations on Gran Canary Island have been eliminated.
After the publication of the news in some media outlets on the archipelago, the government of the Canaries and Grafcan have passed all responsibility onto Google although it is not understood what interest the company could have in offering “strategic” images of the island in place of current ones. If we take into account that a representative of Google traveled to the archipelago a year ago and maintained close contacts with the regional government, it all points to a shameful agreement that says nothing good about the transparency of the executive branch nor in the trustworthiness of Google Earth.  According to Canarias Ahora, the agreement was tacitly recognized by Isabel Aguilera, head of Google Spain, as having only “good intentions”.
Mentiras, Malditas Mentiras y Estadísticas also believes a conspiracy is at hand (ES):
… el gobierno de Canarias censura Google Earth para que no se vean los desmanes urbanísticos mediante las mañas de una empresa pública, que ha logrado retirar la imagen más actual de determinadas zonas para mostrar otra de hace seis años. Y sí, viendo como construyen esos malditos, seis años son una diferencia considerable.
But not everyone is so convinced. One commenter on Manuel Almeida's post writes (ES):
A los pocos días de salir la noticia el gerente de Grafcan explico por la tele que en los próximos meses se van a actualizar la imágenes con fecha 2005-2006. Creo que los verdes han sacado una noticia de donde no la hay. No tendría sentido que por ejemplo el aeropuerto de los Rodeos aparezcan en construcción pq sería una mala imagen para los extranjeros, no creen???. Personalmente creo que había zonas que no se veían absolutamente nada y ahora se ven mucho mejor. Es cierto que las fechas son antiguas pero yo prefiero dar un voto de confianza y ver como hacen las próxima actualización.
Victor R. Ruiz sees both good and bad (ES) in the changes to both Google Earth and Google Maps:
Hace algunos días había visto la actualización de las islas en Google Maps, la versión web de Google Earth. En realidad, en general, me había quedado con buena impresión por tres puntos destacables: el Gobierno de Canarias parece que se pone las pilas tecnológicas y llega a un acuerdo con Google para la actualización de los mapas utilizando la cartografía de Grafcan; la superficie cubierta es mucho mayor (zonas como el norte de Gran Canaria estaban en muy baja resolución y para colmo bajo nubes); y la resolución de las nuevas imágenes eran significativamente mejores. Por contra, me llamó mucho la atención que los colores estuvieran claramente distorsionados.
Responding to a story by journalist Julio Cruz (ES), implicating the Canary government, Ruiz writes:
Creo que las nuevas fotografías tienen deficiencia cromática, pero también tiene mayor resolución. Tampoco me parece que haya ninguna evidencia de que el Gobierno de Canarias haya tratado de «esconder al mundo las numerosas vergüenzas urbanísticas y destrozos que, en contra de los que se dice desde el gobierno afectan a las islas». Y aunque es de aplaudir su acuerdo con Google, lo que sí debería hacer de forma inmediata el gobierno es publicar en Internet, de forma gratuita, todas las imágenes de las islas en poder de la empresa pública Grafcan, independientemente de su acuerdo con Google.


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Argentina: Courses in Digital Journalism · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Wanting to gain some experience as a digital journalist? Spanish speakers might be interested in Clarín reporter Julio Orione's upcoming course in digital journalism, accredited by the Argentine University of Belgrano (UB). The course will be taught online with several guest professors/reporters covering specialized themes. On a related note, Dialógica has a video of Brazilian sociologist, Marcos Palacio (ES), who organized the post-graduate seminar “Digital Journalism and Commnication Media” at the National University of Rosario.


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Argentina: Music: Los Alamos · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Fernando Casale has a video of Argentine band Los Alamos performing the cover song “Walking with Jesus” by Spacemen 3.


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Bahamas: Armageddon · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Bahamian columnist Sir Arthur Foulkes wonders if the stage has been set for Armageddon.


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Bahamas: Civil service inertia · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Nicolette Bethel calls for a full-scale re-thinking of the Bahamian civil service: “the civil service as designed is crippling the development of The Bahamas. . . .  the version that we have in place was never intended to govern a free nation. . . “


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Cambodia: Heavy Rains · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Vutha writes about the heavy rains in Cambodia causing damage to agriculture and tourism.


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Central Asia: Borders · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Ben Paarmann begins to examine the reasons for Central Asia's current borders, which are often incorrectly called “arbitrary.”


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China: community DV shoot · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joel Martinsen in DANWEI reports on a community DV shoot project in Beijing's Tiantongyuan neigbourhood. The 30 minutes film is titled  How can I rescue you, my daughter?


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China: SARFT and farts, castrations feigned and intended: let the spoofing begin! · Global Voices
John Kennedy

In a recent edition of MindMeters columnist Fang Jun's Marriagement column entitled Love in the Internet Age [zh] is a spoiler of the recently-released Hollywood movie Hard Candy:
危险的水果硬糖
《Hard Candy》是我看的第一部与网络密切相关的电影。中文翻译为《水果硬糖》，其实“Hard candy”是网络俚语，指未成年少女。
开始的部分是一般人都想象得出来的网恋过程。32岁的摄影师杰夫，在网络上认识了14岁的海琳。两个星期之后，他们已经可以肆无忌惮地在网上调情：“小心心，你快去洗澡，我可以想象出你沐浴的样子”，于是他们决定见面。海琳看上去是一个皮肤白皙、发育不完全的女孩子，因为她才刚刚有过初潮。在刚见面的时候，她正在狼吞虎咽一块蛋糕，嘴上沾满了巧克力，多么天真！这种女孩让杰夫疯狂。他从未意识到噩梦马上就要开始了。
是的，如果你和网友在短暂的相识后见面，不能掉以轻心，即便对方是一个少不更事的孩子。你所掌握的关于对方的信息，前面都要打上问号。
海琳背着一个大书包。为什么？她解释说，带了几本书，言情小说。万一你爽约，我还可以翻翻书。
是吗？但是露出一角的那本看上去可不象什么言情小说。海琳一笑，哦，那是搞医学的父亲让我看的医科书，我很喜欢，但一直看不完。
后来我们知道那书包里装的是什么了。这部电影告诉我们，初次和网友见面，不是只有男人是带着工具上阵的，有时候女人也会。她们的大书包或大挎包里，可能藏着能把你变成太监的全套工具和步骤指南，或许还有电击器、长而结实的绳索、粘性十足的宽胶带。
海琳继续看似漫不经心地聊天，提到很喜欢某某歌手，但没有机会参加她的歌唱会。杰夫马上回应，我有她那次演唱会的mp3。顺理成章，他们到了杰夫的家里。喝饮料吗？不，海琳眼神警觉，不能喝自己未经手的饮料。她开始为杰夫调制橙汁鸡尾酒。杰夫倒下了。不能喝自己未经手的饮料，这句话对谁都适用。
杰夫被绑在了椅子上。他是一个恋童癖，涉嫌杀死海琳的好友唐娜。海琳是来复仇的。“我选择今天，是因为你的一个邻居上班去了，还有一个去旅游了！”“每次我说出一个乐队，你总是表现得像个专家，但总是晚那么几秒才答复。你注意到了吗？你对某某的评价，和亚马逊的评价一模一样！”“对了，我根本不喜欢那个歌手，我对她厌恶至极！”海琳翻出了杰夫所拍的未成年少女的裸照。她把杰夫绑在桌子上，用冰块敷在他的私处上——先麻痹，然后开始手术。杰夫恐惧至极。
影片的结局是，杰夫在海琳的威胁下自杀了。网络时代的恩怨自有网络时代的解决办法。
More on the internet+castration theme in a post from IT blogger Shanhe which looks at the passing of a recent law aimed at stifling the growing trend of posting cultural jamming-type videos online. More than just raising questions about the divisions of authority among China's regulatory bodies, bloggers across China read the news not with disappointment but with glee, thanking the increasingly anachronous government body for ensuring spooftastic blogging material for months to come:
互联网在我们这个国度发展了十多年了，不知道什么时候，广电总局，对就是那个管广播电视的部门突然关心起来互联网了，还制定了一个《广电总局拟加强监管网络视频制作短片需获许可》我看后，心里总有不吐不快的感觉。这样一个规定，是多么可笑的一个规定！
首先，互联网属于信息产业，属于信息产业部来管理的，这牵涉整个行业的一个规定，无论如何都应该少不了信息产业部的文件吧，可是，我看到这里似乎没什么信产部的事情，你广电不允许互联网公司搞IPTV，你怎么就管起来互联网的事情呢？你这手宽了吧！我要说你这信产部，平时挺跋扈的，一个GFW将国际互联网公司整的没脾气，这个中国互联网都是你的地盘，你要看着呀，不要求你为互联网做出多大贡献，现在广电捞过界了，你怎么屁都不放一个呢？
再说了，看看这规定“互联网上传播的，利用一切视音频摄制设备“拍摄、录制的，由可连续运动的图像或可连续收听的声音组成的视音频节目”，均属广电总局监管范围之列。”，也就是说，你结婚拍的纪念视频，你手机上拍的隐私视频都是属于广电总局的，都要广电总局允许你才可以拍，才可以给人看。一句话，以前我们生活的好好的，并没有危害到任何其他人的生活的这些行为都可能是违法的。一个规定就剥夺了我们之前的合法权益！我想问，宪法规定了政府可以这么随意剥夺老百姓的正常权益吗？宪法我在普法学习过，似乎没有规定政府可以这么做，相反，我记得行政许可法规定了，我们的政府应该怎么执行行政规定，怎么制定行政法规，广电总局的官僚们，你们由学习过吗？顺便问一句，你这三个代表了吗？八荣八耻你知道吗？我说错了，不懂法没关系的，当官的不懂法，不可耻吗？最为讽刺的是，这样的一个规定消息，竟然发自法制日报！这不得不让人佩服社么叫讽刺！！
其实，说穿了，这样的一个规定无非是看到了这个市场的发展巨大，而我们的所谓职能部门最喜欢的就是制定法规限定剥夺老百姓的正常权益，然后，你老百姓的正常需要非法，你就需要依附权利进行赎买，这就是腐败的源泉。再一个，广电的法规出来，有没有想过实施怎么搞？你监管自己行业的乱七八糟的事情都搞不过来，你还管得了互联网个事情？有时间，你把数字电视标准整清楚，把儿童不宜的电视剧清除出儿童频道，把你电台电视台的垄断暴利，以及电视上乱七八糟的IVR SMS广告给屏蔽掉吧！还有农村很多地方还不能够从电视上看到党的指示，者你更应该关心吧!
Back to MindMeters‘ Fang Jun, who proposes a start to SARFT spoofing:
中国的法律法规向来有个好处，你可以制定，我可以不遵守。至少对于个人来说是这样，小公司也可以这么玩，所以大家继续玩。
又，哪个高人演绎一个中国广电总局版的歌曲《FXXK you very much, FCC》。FCC歌曲的歌词，MP3音频. Wiki介绍。
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author: John Kennedy


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China: the prisoners · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Nick wong introduces three persons who are now on trial in China: Za Ai-zong, a reporter who was arrested because of a report on local government repression on Christian church. Ching Cheong, a reporter accused of being a Taiwan spy. Chen Guan-cheng, a blind civic rights activist (zh).


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China: unemployment · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

One Man Bandwidth gives us some data on how Chinese university students evaluate their college experience and future.


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China:”I am not interested in politics; I am only interested in making money” · Global Voices
Frank Dai

Have you ever heard of the term “Great Firewall” or “GFW” for short? Whom to blame when you have encountered the annoying message “Page Not Found” frequently seen when browsing the Internet in China? An email has been circulating the web recently, calling Chinese netizens to boycott Google, which, the email author claims, censors and blocks sensitive information about “Diaoyutai Island”, or Senkaku Islands, a piece of disputed territory between China and Japan. ESWN has a nice story about this with full English translation of the email.
Many veteran Internet surfers in China, acquainted with Internet blocking scheme, would probably in the first instant identify this message as false accusation and rebuke against Google, or even malicious promotional strategy used by Google's competitors, given the fierce competition in China's search engine market, because it's not Google but the the Great Firewallbuilt by the government that scans, monitors and resets the Internet connection when particular inquiries trigger off its alert.
A heated discussion is running on IdeasFactoryChina(reg required), a mailist maintained by SocialBrain Foundation(disclosure: the author is one member of the non-profit organization and it also hosts GVO Chinese Translation Project), concerning how to “promote” the GFW term and made it popular, which can be seen as the pre-condition in order to defeat it. The initial email by the ID “Aether”(reg required):
各位，被封闭的是我们，我们被一个叫做GreatFirewall的电子长城档在我们面前，这就是真相….
不需要吼叫，不需要鲜血，不需要杀戮，所需要的，只是我们冷静而沉着地说出自己的声音…
Google不能搜索，是的，因为有一个金盾工程掐着它的脖子，
我们所有的声音都会被它掩盖，只能听到它想要我们听到的声音…
No need for outcry. No need for blood. No need for killing. All we need to do is to utter our voices calmly and placidly……
Google cannot be searched. Yes, that's because a project called Golden Shield pinched Google's neck. It covers all our voices and lets through only what it wants to hear…..
Such a letter of appeal and calling is not so unusual in China’s blogosphere, a hot spot for gossip and hullabaloo. But the comments followed are really interesting, which can probably stand for the opinion of the majority of mass netizens toward censorship issue:
Comments by Yuk Hui (reg required) :
在國外有許多機構都在關注中國的互聯網政策，但是在國內，大部分人都無動於衷，有些是不知道，有些是無所謂，他們對我說「沒有甚 麼了不起，這是中國自己的事，我們都見慣了」…. 許多中國網民(何止是網民？)都有狂熱的「愛國精神」或「民族主義」，不知道知識的自由，甚至自由本身的價值，這常常使我難過
Comments by Zola(reg required):
我困惑的是：GFW里的被屏蔽关键词的选择是否只是个人意志的选择？还是系统性的意识形态的导向？ 我们知道，在加密措施花样百出和巨大的信息流量的互联网上，GFW对国家安全毫无帮助，唯一有帮助的是，禁止大多数普通网民了解某些事的假相或真相.
Comments by CWHung(reg required):
别忘了，GCD不是多米诺，有很多事情，不是普通百姓可以看到的。另外，我对政治不感兴趣，我只对赚钱有兴趣，所以客观的提醒一句，即便是所谓有益的“努力”也可能参杂着“别有用心“，好自为之
我选的是商业的路，或许以后你们其中有一些能成为中国富强的英雄，但是到目前为止，你们还是一点能力都没有，不是么？做好自己可 以做到的事，可以一起来讨论经验以及从实际出发去做未来的规划，而不是空摆着理想主义来纸上谈兵。如果不理解我所说的话，那就请你有时间的话，回答我一些 很简单的问题，你目前工作是什么？替别人做过些什么有益的事情？对于互联网目前的状况，你有过些什么努力？对于你不满意的社会现状，你尽过些什么责任？
我不关心政治，并不代表我不闻不问，只是我知道以我个人能力和活动的范围，并不能去改变什么，所以我能做的，仅仅是做好自己的事 情，在国际的商业往来中努力给中国人塑造尊严，给国内不少怀才不遇的人才创造更好的事业环境，用赚来的钱投入国内的慈善事业。我选的是这条路，你呢？朋 友。

author: Frank Dai


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Colombia: Launch of Creative Commons · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Ariel Vercelli (ES) and project lead, Carolina Botero (ES) both announce the official launch of Creative Commons licenses in Colombia on August 22. Entrance is free and a live webcast will be available on RadioFantasmas (ES). Botero and Jaime Rojas have also posted a complete introduction and announcement in English on iCommons.


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Colombia: Notes from Putumayo · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Adam Isacson has a typically indispensable post on his latest visit to Putumayo. Randy Paul applauds Alvaro Uribe's decision to issue arrest orders for the AUC paramilitary leadership.


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Cuba: On Castro’s latest message · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Divergent views on the most recent message from Fidel Castro, published in Granma this past Tuesday: Pastor Batista, from Las Tunas Cuba, said (ES) it “made millions of Cubans and people in other latitiudes VERY HAPPY,” while Luis M. Garcia questions Castro's referring to himself in the message as “Comandante en Jefe” – “Does this mean that Cuba now has two comandantes en jefe? Or has there been a second, hitherto secret proclamation from someone taking away the title from little brother Raul? . . . . Banana republic, anyone?“


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Guyana: At the airport · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

MediaCritic describes the experience of arriving at Guyana's international airport, wondering why the place is so empty and desolate: “Is it the election effect? This is after all the height of summer when loads of people usually return to visit family and friends to sip a bit of El Dorado and chase with a chunk of bunjhal duck. Where are the people? Have they lost all interest in Guyana? Are we now lost to the world?“


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Haiti: Deportees to Be Gradually Reinserted · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Collectif Haiti de Provence points to a (Fr) Radio Metropole article stating: “The Interior Ministry adopted new measures to better manage the case of Haitians deported [from America] (…) ‘Deportees who have served their prison sentence will not be freed upon arrival in Haiti. They will be kept in a detention center while awaiting their reinsertion into society,’ said a [spokesperson].”


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India: To buy a car · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Rashmi Bansal explores the economic opportunity and possibility of increasing car sales in India for a particular brand.


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India: What are they writing about? · Global Voices
Kamla Bhatt

What is India? How do you define it? Tigers, bollywood, masala chai, technology, food, old India and new India, English etc. etc.? Yes, these are some of the keywords that jump to mind when you say India and we have posts covering all these keywords. Plus, salsa…si, salsa, you heard right.
We begin by taking a look on India's Independence Day.
August 15th marked the 60th year of India's independence, and bloggers wrote and celebrated the day in their own way. Deponti writes about independence day celebration in her apartment complex in Bangalore. She also writes, "We are, perhaps an old country, but as a democratic republic, we are 60 years   old…and amazingly, the democracy works…. " She is right on how democracy works in India, a country with of over one billion people.
How has India changed in all these years? Biswanath Ghosh has a post on Old India, New India. How do the two India's co-exist? He writes, that the two India's have found a middle ground of sorts and that "the New Indian and the watchdogs of the Old India are allies in the Central   Government…" Over in London, Shoefiend,  remembers how they celebrated Independence in India. Makes for an interesting read.
One of the legacy that India inherited from the British was the English language. A Philosophical Skeptic's Musings has a post on English Mystified. He writes, "You have to isportingly spport (read as sportingly support) the growth of   English language." What happens to English when it meets the various regional flavors of India….why you get some interesting changes.
From language we move to food. Mahanadi organized a food blog event to celebrate India's independence. Hop over to Mahanandi's post to see a list of what each one of these bloggers cooked up. You will be positively starved and probably want to whip up some interesting recipe yourself! Here is Lulu Loves London's recipes of tricolor rice.
Here is an interesting twist on blogs and food. There is a blog called "gimmeyourstuff" and I hope someone out there can fulfill this user's request to get him some masala chai. Masala chai anyone? Wait for the page to load and scroll way down to catch the post, way past some empty yellow stuff…
We switch tracks from food blogs and travel to an old town in the heartland of India. Pavan Gupta has a nice post on the old university town of Aligarh. Aligarh Muslim University has produced some fine scholars, writers and thinkers, and is one of the better known old universities of India.
From University town, we switch to technology. Kamz has a really nice post that explains and helps us understand the difference between Win Ce and Win Ce. Net? Why do you care? You should because mobile phones are proliferating the world over and  mobile phones have their own version of operating system.
Salsa? Salsa en  la India? Eso correcto. Si, verdad. That is right. You read it right. Salsa is the latest craze in India, and Sujatha writes about salsa in Bangalore. Amigos y amigas next we will have the Tango? Si?
Bollywood. We cannot leave without taking a quick peek at what bloggers had to say about movies, can we? So, here is Buddha Smiling's “full scoop" on KANK,the much talked and blogged about movie that opened in theatres last Friday.
Finally, here is a look at tigers of India. Wait. This is not in India, but at the Iowa State Fair. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal had a couple of articles about state fairs in different parts of the USA, and how this trends appears to be fading away. While reading the articles I thought to myself if they would have any tigers or elephants from exotic India. Snake charmers are too exotic I thought and settled on tigers and elephants. And voila! here we have it ….tigers from India out in the middle of America (if Cincinnati can have its Bengals, Iowa can have its tigers!) Maybe these folks read my mind? Nah!

author: Kamla Bhatt


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Indonedia: Independence Day · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Jakarta Guru celebrates the Indonesian Independence day with his students.”Holidays for most but not is poor teachers, aaah, as we have to watch the sawn off savages click into overdrive. In fact for many students it's a day like any other. Running, screamin, yelling but today unencumbered by those tiresome teachers with their odd ideas of discipline and silence. “


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Indonesia: Optimist President · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The blogger at Sarapan Ekonomi blog likes the optimism of his country's President.


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Iran: Ahmadinejad & CBS · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Berkeley Forum talks about Ahmadinejad's interview on CBS. We read in this collective blog that during his interview with Mike Wallace from CBS there were a number of other instances when Ahmadinejad had “teacher-like” comebacks. It certainly reminded me of the old school days in Iran. This is because Ahmadinejad in fact was a teacher and a professor prior to entering politics. In his campaign speeches he often boasts about this and uses it as an illustration of how “connected” he is to his people.


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Iran: Holocaust & Cartoon Exhibition · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Faham criticized an exhibition of cartoons about the Holocaust in Tehran. The blogger asks what will be Iranians’ reaction to a similar exhibition about Iranian victims in Iran-Iraq war. Won't their feelings be hurt? The blogger adds Iranian authorities say in the West,  media is in the hands of Zionists and there is no freedom. Then they organise this kind of exhibition and when Jews protest, the authorities answered Jews you do not have even freedom of speech! [Fa]


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Kazakhstan: State Funding for NGOs · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

NGOs in Kazakhstan are worried about the possibility of the state funding them in the future. Leila looks at the pros and cons of state funding for Kazakhstan's NGOs.


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Kyrgyzstan: US Relations · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Registan.net examines rhetoric as an indicator of the state of US-Kyrgyzstan relations.


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Malaysia: No Malaysian University in top 100 · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Malaysian politician Lim Kit Siang laments the state of Malaysian universities as they fail to appear in the top 100 list prepared by the Newsweek magazine.


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Mexico: Elections: Still Waiting … · Global Voices
David Sasaki

The partial vote recount has concluded in Mexico, but what can one do except wait, says Ceci Connolly in a thorough (and well-linked) post of what's to come. The post has inspired an active comment conversation. Meanwhile, Ana Maria Salazar points out that “Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador´s honeymoon with the foreign press is over.” Al Giordano of The Nacro News Bulletin says he has obtained preliminary numbers from the recount ” that confirm the massive and systematic electoral fraud inflicted on the Mexican people.” Mark in Mexico has an informative post on tomorrow's recount deliberations. And finally, Jose Sanchez Zolliker just wants the whole thing to be over with (ES).


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Nepal: Internal democracy and Politics · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! on how internal democracy within the dominant political party is necessary and would reflect a wider commitment to demoratic process.


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Pakistan: Our English Language · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

All Things Pakistan links to an article that explores the way English language is used and has evolved in Pakistan.


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Pakistan: Renting Blues · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Ghalia laments how difficult it is to rent a house in Islamabad and comes up with some solutions.


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Poland, Russia: Mutual Blockades and Other Issues · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Copydude writes about the blockade of the Polish Port of Elblag by Russia, the visa blockade of Kaliningrad Russians by Poland, and other aspects of Poland's complex relationship with Russia on one side and Germany on the other.


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Russia: Chechen Lawyer Beaten by Chechen Policeman · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

David McDuff of A Step At A Time translates a Prague Watchdog article about “force without justice”: “'Thereupon [the police station’s acting head], insulting both the lawyer and his client in language that can’t be quoted, leapt up from his seat and punched [the lawyer] in the face, after which he grabbed him by the throat and tried to punch him again. However, [the lawyer] managed to break free and leave the building,’ the human rights activist says.”


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Russia, Estonia: Forest Fires · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

David McDuff of A Step At A Time writes about forest fires in Russia's Leningrad region and in Estonia.


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Russia: The Meaning of August 19, 1991 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog writes about the upcoming 15th anniversary of the Soviet Union's breakup.


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Slovenia, Slovakia: Antidote to the Confusion · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Glory of Carniola posts “The Ultimate Guide to the Mix-Up: An Antidote to the Slovenia/Slovakia Confusion” – as well as a “guide to the similarities between the two countries.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: CSME politics · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Jamaican Francis Wade is disturbed at the Trinidad and Tobago opposition leader's efforts to politicise the Caricom Single Market and Economy and tries to discern the thinking behind it.


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Venezuela, Argentina: Hezbollah in Latin America · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Western Hemisphere Policy Watch continues their coverage of the Latin America Hezbollah wing with new coverage from Argentina.


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Venezuela, UK: Boyd V. Livingstone · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Aleksander Boyd has stepped out of his retirement (ES) to continue his sparring with London Mayor Ken Livingstone: “My issue with Livingstone is far from over. The more I research him, his cronies, his advocacy in favour of criminal organizations, his associations with dictators that demonstrably support terrorism and Islamic fundamentalists, the clearer the view that sooner or later he will have to face the music.” Katy at Caracas Chronicles says that Boyd v. Livingstone is “not to be missed.”


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Voices from Kazakhstan  · Global Voices
Leila Tanayeva

Almaty Opera House
Welcome to our latest round-up of blog posts and online discussions that took place in Kazakh blogosphere.
neweurasia's Basil B. Akimov, a Karaganda journalist and editor of www.mediaprovinces.kz and www.medialaw.kz sites, writes about change of rules in the Supreme Court in Astana (RU). You have to show your ID when you enter, even in the hairdresser's that appeared there recently. Though, some people enter the Court without any IDs and shaved, jokes Basil.
He then discusses how newspapers in Karaganda fight for advertisements; and ridicules the names of the articles in yellow press: “Death in Dead End”, “The Water Doesn't Smell, it Stinks!”, “Lethal Hash”, referring to the increased deaths from drug overdose in Kazakhstan, which, in doctors’ opinion is due to the fact that drug-addictes are not adapted to new type of drug (!),  “Drugs with Onion”, “Transgenic Kolbasa (Sausage) – Do We Have a Choice?” (RU).
Irene, a journalist and coordinator of projects in an NGO aimed at providing legal aid to media, and interested in observing the life of the society (see her earlier post on clubbing in Karaganda), is not happy with the bureaucratic ordeal she has to go through in order to legalize in Kazakhstan. Irene was born in Kazakhstan, but travelled around as a child of a military officer and ended up in Ukraine, where she received her citizenship. If you are thinking about getting Kazakhstan citizenship – make sure you  read her posts beforehand (RU)!
Andrey from Almaty, who is interested in sports, music and international finances, updates us each week on sport news in Kazakhstan. In the last two weeks we found out that Kazakh football team is preparing for a transfer period, the results of it, the news from Kazakhstan hockey,  and about adventureous Tianshan Trophy race, where several armed men shot the cars in Almaty region (RU). In addition to sports, Andrey writes on broader topics: his trip to Issyk-Kul, the disrepancies in reporting on damages caused by Russian rocket Dnepr, and bowling in Almaty, as an alternative summer sport (RU).
Adam Kesher, a political scientist from Almaty, who publishes in weekly “Epoha”, writes several interesting posts on politics in Kazakhstan. First off, he critisizes the comparision of Kazakhstan to Singapore, that Kazakhstani government is fond of. Though similar in certain political aspects, like support for one party, one leader in power for a long time,  economically, Singapore managed to develop a diverse economy, while Kazakhstan profits from oil industry only. Furthermore, Singapore is a nepotistic regime, not tolerant to opposition, says Adam. Is it what we want to be like (RU)?
Germany wrote a memo to members of the EU, explaining why they should support Kazakhstan's candidacy for OSCE chairmanship in 2009. Adam Kesher lists the points made by Germany and examines them in detail (RU):
В целом, документ оставляет двойственное чувство. Ни слова о политических убийствах. Явные фактические неточности. Но это письмо отражает опасения и надежды европолитиков. «Казахстан может стать первой страной за пределами Западной и Восточной Европы – действующим председателем ОБСЕ и послать важный сигнал всем странам восточнее Вены». Но насколько эта кандидатура хороша для того, чтобы быть первой? И каким будет посланный ей сигнал?
The document leaves two-fold impression. Not a word about political killings. Clear factual mistakes. But this letter reflects fears and hopes of Europoliticians. “Kazakhstan can become the first country beyong Western and Eastern Europe – the acting chairman of OSCE and send an important message to all countries to the East of Vienna”. But how good is this country to be the first? And what message will it send to others?”
Adam sheds light on the trial of slain politicial Altynbek Sarsebayev, which was rushed through on 10 August. In one day the trial was stopped, and the Prosecutor asked for a death penalty to Utembaev and Ibragimov, whose guilt was not proven and whose role in the case was still not clear (RU).
There is business Kazakh style, says Adam, discussing the recent pieces by Mike Steen of Reuters and Julian Evans of Eurasia Home Analytical Resource, and recalling 2 foreign businessmen, Juri Wegelin and Canadian Adonis Derbas, who both spent time in Kazakh jails. Kyrgyz banker Mikhail Nadel thinks that Kyrgyzstan is more transparent and democratic, thus, better for business (RU).
A new LJ user mashenzia writes about different attitudes to marriage. She sees many weddings on the streets of Almaty and Ust-Kamenogorsk and notes that even the Almaty Time-Out journal, which propagates clubbing, no principles, dreams about Moscow “tusovka”, also sounds about necessity of a family this month.  mashenzia's foreign friends think it's remaining Kazakh patriarchal tradition, while her Almaty friends are suprised a girl can share a flat with a guy. Writing one of her first entries, mashenzia questions if this is what bloggers should write about. She notices the Almaty elitism when going to an elitist mall and seeing elitist teenagers comparing the ringtones of their elitist mobile phones. She also thinks that the saleswoman is suprisingly rude for a country with market economy (RU).
Watch LJ ehot for a daily photo of Almaty life. His last pictures show an unusual construction in the center of the city, and images of children bathing in Almaty fountains, blissful in +35+40 C heat (RU).
LJ user itsuken discusses an article of Kabdrahmanov that appeared in www.centrasia.ru site. The author claims that over the years the new ethnicity – “city Kazakhs” appeared. The differences between the city and “aul”, village Kazakhs, are so essential that you can rightfully claim that the city Kazakhs is another nation. itsuken argues that the difference between city Kazakhs from Shymkent and Atyrau and from Kostanai and Kokshetau, is more than between city and village Kazakhs. The former can speak Kazakh. The city French is more similar to city Brasilian than to a village French, says itsuken. It seems to me that the author was fed up with his village relatives staying over for summer, which made him write this pseudo-analysis, he concludes.

author: Leila Tanayeva


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Africa: Lack of Strategic Studies · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Le Blog de Kangni Alem posts an email from a friend which deplores (Fr) the lack of emphasis on strategic thinking in African advanced education.


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Ahmadinejad’s blog and Fidel Castro · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to the BBC, the launch of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s blog was reported on state TV, which urged users to send in messages to the president. Several magazines and newspapers around the world have already talked about Ahmadinejad’s blog. In his first, and so far only, post, Ahmadinejad talks about his personal history and the Islamic Revolution. Iranian bloggers have very diverse opinions about this new blog. Let’s look at some of them:
A rural attitude or a modern one?
Ayandeh Abi says that by reading Ahmadinejad’s writing, we find out about his rural value system and background, we see how peasants who immigrated to urban zones revolted against urban life and tried to destroy it. The blogger adds [Fa]:
Sibestan disagrees, saying he sees Ahmadinejad not as a peasant but as a man who wants to discover and form a relationship with urban life. In Sibestan‘s view, Ahmadinejad has found a way  to communicate through his blog, and communication is the heart of modernity [Fa].
Balouch says what Ahmadinejad writes in his blogs is less important than what he does in the country. He warns that Iranian authorities have a project for bloggers and blogs [Fa].
Presidential Attention: Good thing or Bad thing?
Jomhour wishes that Iranian authorities would ignore weblogs and let bloggers do their work. The blogger adds that media ( newspapers and magazines) have already been targeted and next time it will be the turn of blogs and web sites [Fa].
Hoder, a Toronto-based blogger, considers Ahmadinejad's blog a positive development, as it shows Ahmadinejad is a populist rather than a fundamentalist and that he's quite keen to reach the young educated urban Iranians around the world. Hoder writes:
. . . he wants to communicate with the outside world. If he continues writing it and if it becomes a real blog, then we should be happy that they're not going to shut down the blogging services as long as Ahmaedinejad is a populist.
Fidel Castro
Another political figure who captured the attention of Iranian bloggers is Cuban leader Fidel Castro and his recently announced  illness.
Azar offers his views on Castro's promises of freedom and love of power [Fa]:
Nikahang  remarks that  Fidel escaped several US assassination plots, but the things he did to his people! If he dies, communists will be sad and so will many others around the world, but how will the many people who escaped Cuba feel? [Fa]

author: Fred Petrossian


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Armenia: Mugged · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Nessuna was attacked and had her purse stolen. She gives a brief account of the experience at her blog.


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Bangladesh: The colour of Muslim Skin · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Rezwan comments on profiling that catches only the brown Muslims. “There are white Muslims, black Muslims, Asian Muslims, Arab Muslims, and Muslims of every color and ethnic background.”


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Belarus: Iranian Investments · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

VW of TOL's Belarus Blog writes about Iran's significant investments in Belarus.


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Belarus: Minus One Party, Possibly · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

BM of TOL's Belarus Blog writes about what appears to be the imminent shutdown of the country's Communist Party.


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Sutjeska National Park · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Novala, Europa felt like jumping and running through the fields in the beautiful Bosnia & Herzegovia, but was afraid of landmines; he did find a safe place eventually: Sutjeska National Park.


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Cameroon: No to French Monuments in Africa  · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Le Pangolin posts (Fr) an interview of Mboua Massock, a Cameroonian arrested for protesting the presence in Cameroon of monuments to French colonial personalities. Mr. Massock, who recently appeared in front of a preliminary tribunal to answer to charges of degradation of public property says: “France installed the statue of [General] Leclerc in the very place where our independence was obtained (…). Our independence heros, our nationalists, deserve that spot in Cameroon's Independence squares.”


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China: lawyers accused of stealing · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Hu Hao family puts it as a joke. Human rights activitist Chen Guan-cheng's lawyer team was being accused of stealing from local (Shandong) gangsters group and got arrested by police. And it happened just one night before (on August 17) Chen's trial (zh).
Zhen Jin-yan puts up a statement to condem such move (zh). Two of the lawyer team were release late at night, one of them still being detained at the police station.


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China: play and wan · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Maryannodonnell explores the meaning of “wan” (play) in Chinese via her experience in Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park.


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China: rumour and chainmail on google · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN picks up the story on google search engine and translates the chain mail.


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China: unregistered population · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Xin haiguang posts a letter to editor written by a police to Nanfang Weekend on the problem of un-registered population in China. New born babies are un-registered; deaths are un-reported; there is no way to have accurate population statistics (zh).


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Cuba, Paraguay: Stroessner & Castro · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

On the occasion of the death of Paraguayan dictator General Alfredo Stroessner, Luis M. Garcia draws parallels between the career of the General and that of Fidel Castro: “. . . here is an assessment of Stroessner (pictured), by a former US ambassador to Paraguay, George Landau: “He believed, as most dictators do, that he was absolutely irreplaceable … “


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Cuba: Sweet 15 · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Robin Thom had the good fortune to be on the right balcony at the right time in order to capture this lovely scene on the Paseo de Prado in Havana, Cuba. “I had always assumed this was a wedding,” writes Robin on his Flickr page, “but it was pointed out that this may be the celebration of the coming of womanhood.” Wikipedia tells us this celebration is called the “Quinceañera”, or Quince Años (Spanish for fifteen years), and is observed in parts of Latin America (the word “Quinceañera” can also refer to the subject of the celebration):
Fifteenth birthday celebrations were very popular in Cuba until the late 1970s. The custom entered the country partly via Spain, but its major influence was French. Wealthy families, who could afford to rent luxurious halls at country clubs or 4/5-star hotels and to hire choreographers, were the actual pioneers of Quinceañeras. Although lower-income families could not afford the same display of wealth, they too started to celebrate Quinceañeras, which they called Quinces. Those celebrations usually took place at the home of the Quinceañera or at the more spacious house of a relative.
While this traditional celebration is still practiced nowadays in Latin America and Latino communities in North America, it is sometimes observed by other events that focus more on the quinceañera's wishes (e.g. world travelling). In some cities, the more proper Baile de las Debutantes (Debutantes’ Ball) still survives.


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DRC: A Wasted Election? · Global Voices
Alice Backer

At Le Blog du Congolais, Ndjoli Bodjenga assesses the recent election as follows (Fr): “The posh crowd from the international community (Miche, Okala, Barosso, Swing, etc.) is happy to have organized co-called elections and to have prioritized the participation of the 3 local warlords. (…) Elections that could have made history basically took place without campaigning or debate and without the most competent candidates (…)”


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DRC: Louis Michel’s Performance as  a Mediator · Global Voices
Alice Backer

According to Ndjoli Bodjenga at Le Blog du Congolais (Fr)  European Commissary Louis Michel has performed poorly as  a mediator during the transition to elections in the DRC: “An impartial political mediator would not overtly confront one of the principal actors of the conflict to be solved; he would not sue the most popular political party when he is supposed to facilitate internal dialogue; he would not so overtly support a military candidate that might restore authoritarianism; he would have more persistent talks with more promising candidates recognized for their competence and experience (Lunda, Kamanda, Mukamba, etc.) “


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El Salvador: Solving the Gang Problem · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Insprired by the death of two young boys by a neighboring gang, Tim Muth has an unforgettable four piece series on El Salvador and Central America's gang problem. Print it out, come back to it throughout the weekend, but don't let it pass you by. (Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4)

author: David Sasaki


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Estonia: “Democracy in Action” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

In preparation for Estonia's presidential election, Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa decides to annoy municipal representatives of political parties and thus show “democracy in action“: “So for the next eleven days I will be putting up the contact information for different municpalities, starting with the capital of Tallinn.”


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Haiti: The other side of illegal immigration · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Christian Aid podcast tells the other side of the story of illegal immigration, from the Haitian point of view.


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India, Sri Lanka: Cricket and Violence · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Cricket 24×7 on South Africa's pull out of the tournament in Sri Lanka following a bomb blast in Colombo.


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Iran: Crackdown on satellite dishes · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Nikahang has published a photo from ISNA (Iranian Student News Agency) showing Iranian government crackdown on satellite dishes.


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Iran: Jahanbegloo & Confession · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Agh Bahman says it seems Ramin Jahanbegloo's, jailed philosopher; confession film will be broadcasted on TV. The blogger says he wants to see Iranian people reaction to this confession film. Will they believe that or not or just a part of that? The blogger adds Iranian people are not really predictable [Fa]. Jahanbegloo is accused of plotting a “velvet revolution” in Iran with the United States.


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Jamaica: Attending the AIDS conference · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Jamaican journalist Natalis Campbell reflects on the experience of attending the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto.


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Jamaica, Germany: Marlon James on Grass · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Jamaican novelist Marlon James offers his two cents’ on German novelist Günter Grass's recent admission that he was once a member of the Waffen SS: “I would think that a man who was in the elite SS going on to become the very conscience of his nation, would speak to the very best of humanity, not the worst.“


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Jamaica, USA: Harry Belafonte · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Jeremy Taylor considers the career of Harry Belafonte in relation to the latter's Caribbean roots and political activism: “. . . people should be judged for what they are, rather than what they are not. In his own way, Belafonte identified with the Caribbean from early on. . . . And while most people move quietly to the right as they get older, Belafonte has become more radical, moving away from music into political activism and upsetting much of the US political establishment in the process, even Hillary Clinton.”


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Japan: preservation of foreign culture · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Hisane Masaki from Ohmynews reports that recently Japan enacted a new law obliging the nation to actively promote the preservation of valuable foreign cultural assets. “Under the new law, Japan is expected to step up official development assistance (ODA) to help countries preserve and restore their cultural heritages, especially through the fostering of human resources in developing countries.”


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Kyrgyzstan: Dining on the Silk Road · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Aigul of Go Kyrgyz! writes about Kyrgyz cuisine.


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Latin America: Friday Poll Numbers · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Support of Peru's Alan Garcia, mounting indecision in Ecuador, expansion support for the Panama Canal, and fraud in Mexico City. Yup, it's Boz's Friday Poll Numbers.


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Lebanon: Before and After the Cease Fire · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Cease fire in the Israeli-Lebanese war officially began on Monday 14th August. Enteries in the Lebanese blogosphere were diverse starting from what went on during the last days of the war to predictions and analysis about the political consequences of the war on Lebanon. Some bloggers wrote about the effect of this conflict on their personal lives and attitudes. Others wrote about the reaction of their Jewish friends during the war. There are also some war jokes, anecdotes and war dialogues. Blogging and the reading of blogs turned out to be a source of solace and therapy for at least one blogger.
Let’s start with  Charles Malik who said that the Lebanese are unhappy and predicted a change in the domestic political scene in the coming days. While  AM bluntly mentioned the shifts she experienced in her feelings and attitudes as a result of the war.
Walid Moukarzel makes use of soccer terminology to evaluate the players in the war.
Bob at 1TooManyPeaches compared the announced goals of the war at its beginning and at its end and asks:
So again, can someone please tell me what was this war all about? […]
But wait, there are still more good news. Olmert said that Israel has the right to respond to any violation of the truce, which will mean that another round of destruction and killing will take place. However, he vowed to hunt down Hizbullah leaders and kill them. So in a way, he has the right to violate Lebanon’s sovereignty and kill Lebanese people, but if God forbids Hizbullah would violate the truce, he has the right to respond. It is a logic i still fail to absorb much like the whole logic of this war.
In one of her many satires  EDB wrote about symptoms of impending internal strife as a result of the war:
We've barely made it to day four of the ceasefire, and already the usual suspects (Syrian President Al-Assad, Jumblatt & co) are trying to stir the shit pot. And many Lebanese are falling for it– the old sectarian trap, and the blame-Syria-for-your-bad-hair-day game.
Jamal had this to say hours before the cease fire came into effect:
13 hours to go until the promised ceasefire.
Just over a month ago, a man by the name of Ehutzpanim Olmert declared war on Lebanon to send it back 20 years, to free 2 Israeli soldiers, and to destroy Hezbollah.
Instead he earned himself war criminal credentials, strengthened Hezbollah considerably, and caused damage to the Israeli army image that not even 20 years would fix. Not a very successful war, is it?
Have you ever thought of translating one of your dreams into a drawing?  Amal did just that.
Wars also bring out the sense of humor in some people. Many jokes were circulated in Lebanon during this war.  Ahmad posted one about Abu Abed and Olmert.
Wars also touch people on the personal level. Here Sophia wrote about shattered lives in Lebanon
Who was Salwa Wehbé ?
Most of the time, when we see pictures of people killed on TV or in newspapers, our perception of the life that is behind is always abstract. A life is a story and not everybody has the ability to construct a story out of a picture, especially when often such pictures are clouded by political, strategic, military or simply spin […]
Reading blogs was one way  Jamil found some peace of mind:
It was actually reading the blogs of fellow bloggers that helped me the most. I don't know anyone of them by face, but I felt connected, as if I knew them for a long time. Reading blogs has become a daily ritual and I have come to really enjoy it. On these blogs, I saw many talents. I laughed, teared, read poetry and listenned to forgotten tunes that lived in me for a long time.
An interesting new blog in the Lebanese blogosphere is  A Lebanese Cafe during the WAR which posts views and dialogues of visitors to Younes café in Beirut.
RoxieAmerica listed some statistics on the Israeli Hezbollah war.
Mustapha called for a new Lebanon in which:
We should have an internal belief that modern wars are fought economically, by competing in production and innovation. A prosperous, plural Lebanon is a stronger foe than a militant, xenophobic Lebanon. Prosperity is about uniting families by preventing immigration. It’s about dignity. It’s about prestige and influence. A militant Lebanon will only create destitute, wretched and scattered citizens who feed off other people’s charities.
Prof As’ad proposed the following equation for those who are interested in knowing the outcome of the war:
If you really want to know the answer to that: just see the Israeli press, the Zionist propaganda media, and the fanatics in the comments’ section of this site. They are pretty angry, are they not? They are quite frustrated and disoriented. They are fulminating and babbling incoherently.
[…] fortunately, this war has also discredited the suicide bombings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad: aside from ethics, it has been clearly revealed to be ineffective and worse. And Arab popular self-confidence is much more threatening to Israel, in strategic terms, than large Arab armies. The small size of the Hizbullah army will only add to the growing mystique.
Mirvat wrote about the reaction of her Jewish friend when this war began:
“What can I do? What can I do?” she screams to me in the most humane almost apologetic way trying to make me understand that she is as heartbroken about the dead children and mothers and fathers. She tells me how she stopped talking to half of her family who can’t see what she sees. She tells me how she attacked a rabbi telling him that a state that loots, tortures, confiscates land, undergoes ethnic cleansing and mass killing and war crimes is not a state that should represent her or her children or the religion she believes in. She told him a state built on racism and greed and religious fanaticism is not better that the enemy we try to demonize and to finish off. She tells him we adopted the techniques of the Nazis and what kind of hope will that leave our children with even if you don't care about their children? She then tells me the rabbi looked her dead in the eye and told her, “Every dead Palestinian child is a step forward”. She says she is not surprised, i say i'm not either for these are the hopes of those leaders who are exploiting the religion to their political interests and who exemplify the civilization of hate and the culture of death.
A call on Nassrallah to retire came from  Raja:
Lebanon, today, is at a very clear juncture, Nasrallah. You either “retire” your military component while it is at the “top,” leave a solid legacy behind, and save Lebanon in the process. Or, you persist in your obstinate ways, and drag all of the country into oblivion. Starting today, the real battle for Lebanon's survival begins.
Michael Totten reported from Northern Israel on events that took place on August 11 and 12.
Finally UrShalim posted some photos of the destruction of the areas where he spent a major part of his life in addition to commentaries on events during the war.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Transparency is Promoted and Debated in the Brazilian Election Process · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

The call for transparency is ringing in the Lusosphere these days. Brazilian presidential and general elections are six weeks from now and, after the innumerable corruption scandals involving congressmen and executive officials, the push for truth has become a vigorous movement on the Internet. The issue was on top of recent blog searches with the launching of a new web site service offering comprehensive information about the candidates. But, as you will see below, there is not always a clear agreement about transparency.
…projeto Excelências, da Transparência Brasil (perfil.transparencia.org.br), está experimentando uma visitação média de 15 consultas por segundo durante os últimos dez dias. São cobertos candidatos de todos os estados e de todos os partidos, e as informações prestadas são todas de domínio público. Incluem os processos judiciais a que respondem. O projeto tem o intuito de propiciar ao eleitor uma comparação direta entre os desempenhos desses candidatos, para assim melhor se orientar quanto ao voto.
Investida estapafúrdia, por Claudio Abramo – Blog do Noblat
Conforme noticiado pela imprensa ontem, o PT de São Paulo entrou com notícia crime contra a Transparência Brasil por esta manter, na Internet e em outros veículos de comunicação, a campanha “Não vote em mensaleiro” (e sanguessugas, piranhas etc.). Alega o PT que a campanha teria objetivo eleitoralmente prejudicial a seus próprios candidatos. Pera aí, “xovê” se eu entendi: A campanha contra o voto em corruptos prejudica os candidatos do PT? Quer disser que eles admitem que são corruptos e mesmo assim se candidataram? Sei não mas isso está um pouco complicado demais p'ra mim.
PT quer processar Transparência Brasil – Devaneios de uma mente doentia
Although still far from really understanding how to politically exploit the opportunities presented by the blogosphere, Brazilian politicians are establishing a definite presence. In a moment where many strict electoral rules enforce a low profile use of TV and other traditional media, the web presents itself as the wild and deregulated area to be conquered (or spammed?). That is the reason why an excitement and urgency can be felt in the web teams in charge of developing electoral strategies — they are the ones paid to do the job.
Apart from the actual candidates some well known political characters who were under heavy fire during the last year seem to have achieved a better understanding about how blogs can help. Two launches in the last month are the very symbol of this new awareness: José Dirceu, Lula's former all-powerful government Chief of Staff is blogging; and alsoRoberto Jefferson, the arch rival ex-congressman who denounced the ‘big monthly‘ and kick-started the political crisis that turned the country upside down. Seems that blog as political rescuer is already a well understood mode in Brazil, although it may not always be in tune with transparency.
O objetivo deste blog é ser um espaço democrático de discussão do projeto nacional em desenvolvimento, de reflexão sobre o futuro do país, de disputa política e de expressão da luta social.
Blog do Zé Dirceu
O deputado Wellington Fagundes disponibilizou cópia de sua defesa jurídica no caso das “sanguessugas” para consulta pública. Em uma prova de transparência e respeito ao povo mato-grossense, o parlamentar disponibiliza para download os documentos encaminhados para CPI que, ao não analisar as provas acabou incluindo erroneamente o nome de Wellinton entre os supostos envolvidos com a máfia.
Wellington disponibiliza defesa jurídica para consulta – welintonfagundes.com.br
From the viewpoint of Lula's government, as soon as the crisis exploded, transparency started to be seen as the only way out of the crisis. The web was soon perceived as the right place to implement the strategy.
O governo federal através da CGU Controladoria Geral da União está aperfeiçoando e disponibilizando informações que permita o cidadão comum e as entidades da sociedade civil executarem o que se chama de controle social da utilização das verbas públicas. Está funcionando com dados bastante detalhados e interessantes sobre os repasses aos municípios e aos governos estaduais.
Portal da transparência – Blog do Roberto Moraes
Brazilians are living times where hope invariably gets mixed up with despair. There are some commentators who use to brag about the country's ability of leaping over the industrial logic and development of the twentieth century by connecting the old and the new with a direct link. Although some interesting facts exist which back this theory, there are undeniable risks involved in being over-confident in the Internet-hyped promises of instant democracy. Still, we know no better recipe for transparency than pushing for public political revelation and participation through the social media tools we've come to know and love.
O Brasil foi o primeiro país a ter o processo de apuração eleitoral cem por cento eletrônico. Fomos o primeiro país do mundo a ter também cem por cento da declaração do imposto de renda entregue via internet. Nós, sociedade civil, também podemos inventar e criar marcos novos usando a tecnologia de informação a nosso favor. Nós, entre os 20 milhões de brasileiros que já usam a internet, podemos, ser os pioneiros de uma nova forma de cidadania digital.
Vamos fazer a diferença nas Eleições 2006 – Bússola Digital
Deixe de se sentir como vítima. Vivemos um novo tempo, cheio de possibilidades para o indivíduo. Mais informação, maior capacidade de se articular em redes, maior capacidade de fazer desta uma eleição diferente graças a uma minoria animada. Aquela que, com sabedoria e liderança, democraticamente, faz a maioria dançar. Vá de Google. Navegue. Interaja. Circule seus e-mails. Publique seus posts em blogs. Se estivermos interessados mesmo em fazer acontecer uma ruptura com o que está aí, o ponto de partida é começar a produzir rupturas dentro de nossos próprios cotidianos como indivíduos. Bem-vindo aos tempos da ação cidadã digital.
Bem-vindo à era da cidadania digital, por Ricardo Neves – Revista Época / Especial Transparência
The transparency concept has been in the center of a recent debate in the blogosphere powered by a post from David Weinberger, one of its main ideologues. While it may not be directly connected with the transparent quality we've been talking about in this post, it sure gives us a hint about the complexities this debate reveals. Institutions and individuals are not always under the same rules in the real world, and the web is the place where it all blends. We keep learning.
..Except it's important that we preserve some shadows. Opaqueness in the form of anonymity protects whistleblowers and dissidents, women being beaten by their husbands, girls looking for abortion advice, people working through feelings of shame about who they are, and more. Anonymity and pseudonymity allow people to participate on the Web who perhaps aren't as self-confident as the loudest voices we hear there. It's even been known to enable snarky bloggers to comment archly on their industry, even if sometimes they play too rough.
David Weinberger in a guest posted piece about Transparency and Opaqueness –  Strumpette
The Internet is a brightly lit place, but we need to remember that the brightest lights seem to create the darkest shadows. It's not the people lurking in the shadows that make them seem dark, however: it's the power of the light. And like all power, even light can be destructive if applied in the wrong way.
David Weinberger on Transparency and Opaqueness – /Message
Whether transparency and participation by the citizenry of the Lusosphere on the Internet will emerge as a creative or destructive political force is something we can learn about as the Brazilian national election process unfolds. How will the great diversity of many partisan and passionate voices of the Lusosphere's largest population  play into the new  Internet-linked democratic process? This is what we will be watching and reporting about.

author: Jose Murilo


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Mexico, Somalia: “A Forgotten Country” · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Mexican blogger Enigmatario (ES) has a thorough post on the latest developments in Somalia in a post titled “A country forgotten by the world, Somalia, Islamist rebels, and Africa's Islamic future.”


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Pakistan: About Karachi · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Shirazi has a wonderful post about Karachi, the harbour city in Pakistan. “I have found Karachi is constantly reinventing itself. It is a land of superlatives: Pakistan's biggest and one of the most prosperous cosmopolitan cities, home to universities and colleges, historic, cultural, and commercial centre. It has been a land of plenty for centuries.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Peru: Ollanta Humala formally charged in ‘Madre Mia’ case · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Living in Peru writes that Ollanta Humala has been formally charged in the forced disappearance and homicide of spouses Avila Rivera and Benigno Sullca Castro on June 17, 1992 in Pucayacu, ten minutes away from Madre Mia. Maxwell A. Cameron has posted the entre article in Spanish.


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Puerto Rico: Leaving · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Gil the Jenius contemplates the new trends in emigration from Puerto Rico: “The families leaving Puerto Rico are not the migrant workers of 50-60 years ago: now it's professionals who simply cannot remain here and achieve satisfaction, peace of mind and/or their goals.“


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Reunion: St-Denis, St-Pierre & St-Paul · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Reunion Passion posts (Fr) sunny pictures of the coastal Reunion towns of St-Denis, St-Pierre & St-Paul.

author: Alice Backer


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Russia: Real Estate and Oil · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Yuri Mamchur of Russia Blog examines whether there is a connection between real estate prices in Russia and the oil prices; his conclusion: “Even if the oil prices miraculously collapsed to $15 a barrel tomorrow, real estate prices in Russia will only continue to go up.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: Solzhenitsyn’s Speech · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ivan Lenin of Rush-Mush critiques the speech Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's gave at Harvard in 1978.


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South Korea: cyber violence · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Robert Koehler in Marmot's Hole discusses about the phenomena of cyberviolence in South Korea.

author: Oiwan Lam


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South Korea: Liberty in North Korea  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Andy Jackson in Marmot's Hole introduce a NGO, an unofficial Liberty in North Korea – LiNK. The organization is concerned with education on North Korean human rights and outreach to North Korean defectors.


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Sri Lanka: Archaeology and Conflict · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

How does the conflict situation affect the preservation of archaeological heritage in Sri Lanka? Lanka Buzz on the political indifference to the situation.


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Sri Lanka: Peace March · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

indi.ca attends a peace march and has quite an account. The comments on the post are quite a read.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Men! · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Attillah Springer has had it with the heckling and cat-calling to which women are subjected daily in Trinidad: “Why do men think that we need their reassurance?  Why do they think that we want to know what base thoughts they are thinking. . . . .“

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Ukraine: Gas Prices · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LEvko of Foreign Notes looks at the situation with gas prices in Ukraine.


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Ukraine: Political Situation · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dan McMinn of Orange Ukraine posts an analysis of the political situation in Ukraine.


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Ukraine: Small-Town Justice · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Petro of Petro's Jotter retells a true story of the complex ways in which justice is made in small-town Ukraine.


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Ukraine: Trip to Kyiv · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Moscow-based Digenis spends some time in Kyiv and compares it to Russia's capital, among other things.


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Ukraine: Tuk Tuk in Crimea · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Jo and Ants The Tukkers of Tuk to the Road have reached Crimea now, where one of their encounters was with a Crimean Tatar man who told them about the 1944 deportations.


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Uruguay, USA: Free Trade Agreements · Global Voices
David Sasaki

“To free trade with USA, or not to free trade, that's the question.” Or so says From Uruguay in a post that tries to understand how opposing ideologies can negotiate current economic needs.


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Uzbekistan: 15 Years On · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Nick gives an outsider's view of Uzbekistan, 15 years after becoming an independent state.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Venezuela: Compiling a photographic record · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Katy of Caracas Chronicles asks her readers to photograph all pro-Chávez sign in government buildings.


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Venezuela: Politics, Philosphy, and Gastronomy · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Two more translated op-eds from Venezuela. Miguel Octavio has translated “Escape from Ramo Verde” by Teodoro Petkoff while Guillermo Parra has Héctor Silva Michelena's “The Postmodern Philosopher and the Human Vultures.” For those who believe Friday's aren't meant for politics and philosophy, Caracas Cafe says this is a good weekend to head down to Li Bar (ES).


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China: Blogs from the dark side · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Does it goes without saying that the internet—particularly blogs and BBS'—is the place to go for unchecked and alternative voices in China? What about those blocked Chinese-language websites hosted overseas? Many like Wenxue City and 6Park also offer blogs, and here are titles of today's recommended posts from a few of them:
Boxun (博汛)
年轻时的诗：我是一杯最浓最烈的酒
茅境诗三首:读平昌老人《呼唤》
年轻时的诗：我与你
不好意思
枭雄黑道乱世的一百年！
七月鬼多
儒生论民主
伟哉，高智晟！
ChineseNewsNet (多维新闻网)
为和平主义下葬—-以色列开始战后反思
高智晟被中共抓去挤奶了
小泉见鬼去吧
法轮功搞不出什么新玩意来
Independent Chinese Pen (独立中文笔会)
面对强奸该怎么办？
发给五岳散人的公开的决斗邀请函
第四次谏党
我的转变和抗争—–在全球支持中国和亚洲民主化大会的发言
一个节外生枝的插曲:《忠告曹长青先生》
国民党军人刘篪和李植荣之死
特大司法腐败案件：回答马悲鸣先生


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Escondida Copper Mine Closes Production Because of Strike · Global Voices
Rosario Lizana

The high international prices of copper have caused the workers of the biggest copper company in the world to start a strike 12 days ago. They are asking for a better salary. Last night, 800 miners had a violent incident with the police forces who were trying to break up the strike. Today Escondida Mine decided to stop production. Esther Croudo (ES) explains the impact of the decision:
“..Since August 7 at 7:00 in the morning Escondida Mine stopped production; the copper mine with the highest production in the world, that represents 8% of the world production and the 23.5% of the Chilean production, which contributes 2.5%  in the gross domestic product.
Even though some tasks continue, the official day of stopage was today.  She continues explaining that:
more than 2000 unionized workers at the mine demanded that the salary’s and benefits should  reflect the actual high price of the “red gold.” When have we seen an average prize of US $3 per pound?”
Regarding the reason that convinced the enterprise to stop production tocopilla online (ES) writes:
“the enterprise said that the insecurity was provoked by the striking miners plus the obstacles in the roads that lead to the ore deposits. The loss of the Escondida Mine is US 100 million dollars”

author: Rosario Lizana