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Palestine: Wall Demo Planned  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Palestinians from the souther Bethlehem village of Umm Salamuna and neighboring villages will protest against the Israeli bulldozers which are currently razing their land for the Apartheid Wall. In honor of Mother’s Day, Palestinian and international women will march in solidarity on the frontlines during the demonstration,” announced the International Solidarity Movement here. Mother's Day is marked on March 21 in all Arab countries.


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Panama, Honduras: Fried Fish with Plaintains · Global Voices
David Sasaki

This looks like a tasty combination: crispy fried whole fish from Panamanian chef Melissa de León with twice fried plantains from Honduras-based “La Gringa”.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: David Sasaki


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Poland: Demography · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot writes: “Poland’s population is shrinking faster than any other country in the EU. Strange that, in a country that claims to be 95 percent Catholic, don’t you think?”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Poland: Fire Hazard · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Poland Diaries writes about fire safety – or, to be more precise, fire hazard – in Poland.


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Poland: Junk Food · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Traveling Life writes about junk food in Poland; in a comment, the beatroot explains what kind of a political statement he makes when he eats Big Macs.


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Russia: Now and Before · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

What has been written about Russia under Nicholas II sounds much like what could've been written about Putin's Russia. Apricotflan.com draws some conclusions and makes some forecasts.


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Russia: Politkovskaya’s Killers · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

As the world reads to remember Anna Politkovskaya tonight, La Russophobe posts a translation of a forum thread featuring photos of the Russian journalist's alleged killers following her into the supermarket just off Komsomolsky Prospekt in Moscow.


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Russia: Subway · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Russian Beauty tours Moscow subway stations: Mayakovskaya and Park Pobedy.


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Singapore: Crowdsourcing the Media Panel · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Kevin Lim is inviting his readers to a panel titled “Crowdsourcing the Media” that he is moderating as a part of a technology conference. “Initially entitled “Citizen Journalism”, the panel I’m moderating didn’t quite capture the feel of what the discussion was going to be about, so I renamed it to “Crowdsourcing the Media”, which seemed more inline with the way local news agencies approach citizen journalism.”

author: Preetam Rai


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Slovakia: Language and Linguists · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Deleted by Tomorrow reacts to the post about the Slovak language and Slovak linguists over at bulbulovo.


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South Africa: front-page photo from a citizen journalist · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Vincent Maher writes about a Mail & Guardian front page photo from a citizen journalist: “Congrats to Miriam Mannak for her photos of the fires on Signal Hill this weekend. She submitted her photos in the reader pics section of the News In Photos and one of them was used on the Mail & Guardian home page this morning.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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South Asia: On culture and belonging · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Sepia Mutiny has a moving post on belonging to various cultures – by birth, accident, choice and necessity. “No one has the right to be the arbiter of who does and does not get to participate in their culture. Such judgmental “guardians” had the genetic fortune or fate to be born in to what those whom they look down on are drawn to, but that doesn’t endow them with any priveleges like the one our banned commenter wishes she could exercise on all those “black and hispanic women”.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Sri Lanka: On Web Censorship · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

ICT for Peacebuilding on the increasing instances of web censorship and the cause for concern. “..my firm belief that technology, though it may not be neutral, will secure and strengthen the work of pro-democracy and pro-rights activists far more than it will aid governments clamp down on them. All it takes it one photo or a single mobile.


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Tajikistan: Women & the Power of Men · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Gulru writes a post in response to a question she was recently asked about why Tajik women accept the dominance of men.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Tunisia: Unwanted Baggage  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“We carry so much useless and unwanted baggage that is passed on to us from the previous generations, and implicitly it just weighs us down, stifles our chances to be creative and imposes illogical limits on our lives, choices and freedom,” writes Tunisian blogger Subzero Blue. He advice is not to pass any of that to our children.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Turkey is Typing….Business and Travel · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

What I thought were the interesting blog posts this week all seemed to revolve around business and travel. I think that it is the coming of spring that makes me what to run away from ordinary life.
Of course, if you wish to run away to say…Turkey…blogger Talk Turkey has an interesting way of funding that. Bloggers are all about links, and in order to create more links, Metin is starting a “link contest” for his site.  The grand prize is a trip to Turkey, runners up get an iPod Nano….and as I don't want to miss an opportunity for a free trip to Turkey, I give this link to him.
Flying may not be everyone's cup of tea as Murat from Amerikan Turk tells us a bit about his fears while flying…
“In the event of an emergency water landing…
…this aircraft will disintegrate into a billion fiery pieces and your physical being will instantaneously transform into the consistency of cooked ‘chum'…”
As a kid flying to Turkey every couple of years, I imagined that an emergency water landing would be awesome fun. There were huge self-inflating rafts! Super-slides to joyfully launch down! (no shoes allowed!) Some of the slides doubled as rafts! Self-inflating life vests! What a crock
If you do plan on coming to Turkey, Turkey and My Foreign Perspectives warns about rising prices in Istanbul:
Prices took another jump this week in Istanbul, at least in the grocery stores. It seems just when you think prices will level off, another jump comes and substantial they are when compared to the average workers’ pockets.
With Turkey being ranked among one of the best places to invest for emerging markets, I believe they may well have emerged. At the same time, while cities like Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir are wallowing in delight, other parts of Turkey still struggle with lack of infrastructure, poverty, and basic needs.
Cost of goods in the top three cities continue to rise and begs the question whether the economy is on-track or just gives the appearance of a thriving economy.
I spent last week in Ankara, where prices for food, rent and entertainment are remarkably lower than Istanbul. This makes me wonder why costs keep rising in Istanbul at an unprecedented rate in comparison to elsewhere in Turkey.
Despite the rising prices, Istanbul is a place with many small joys as Metroblogging:Istanbul points out.
It's the small things in life that bridge cultures and continents. A quiet sunlit afternoon at the square adjacent to the Galata Tower turned into a rowdy futbol match as local kids challenged a visiting group of Asian tourists to a pick up game.
Balls whizzing, people ducking and old men yelling advice flushed spectators out from their shops and homes and a community came together for an hour…all due to a beat up ball getting whacked from boy to man and back again.
There has been a lot of talk about new building projects within Istanbul which Spooky Sense by Garfucius is critical of:
the reconstruction of istanbul is essential, but not the construction of an istanbul anew. currently, the city, situated in an incredibly attractive natural and geographic setting, is one of the ugliest in the civilized and semi civilized world – take out the relatively virgin historic peninsula and what remains of pera, you are left with heap after heap of clustered masses of concrete, clustered into congested confines where a congealed lifestyle draggles behind a time wasting, tiresome, inefficient national economy. what istanbul needs is tearing down that ill used space and building from scratch according to rational plans. istanbul, to become something real, desperately needs urban utopia of renascence and metanoia.
constructing a burgeoning new, plastic, inflated toy town on the immediate rim of the old city is the textbook worst scenario in urbanization, a guide to what not to do. just considering the extra burden on the plight of the infrastructure and the extra idle population it will draw into the city should be enough to discourage such wet dreams of drowning istanbul under cement. but more importantly, the end-result is so ugly, it so denies the historical heritage of the two empires that created constantinopolis, it is an epitome of characterless poor taste.
Our top three links for this week are:
1. James from Turkey and his run-down of the Turkish presidential race.
2. If you would like to learn more about notable Turks, visit We are the Turks.
3. This is a rather strange one.  Mavi Boncuk had a post about a new film called Costak which is about the life of Petri the Knife.  Unfortunately it is something that I am having a hard time finding more information on…so if you know of anything, let me know. Till next week!

author: Deborah Ann Dilley


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Zimbabwe: Man killed, opposition arrested and tortured    · Global Voices
Zimpundit

The Zimbabwean government, backed into a desperate corner by a growing groundswell of protests, lashed out violently last week brutally crushing a “prayer meeting” planned by a coalition of civic organisations inlcuding the opposition.  The fateful prayer meeting, slated for the Zimbabwe Grounds last week in the historically significant Highfields suburb in Harare had been planned by the Save Zimbabwe coalition failed to even take off. In a country with repressive media laws, it was the bloggers and online news outlets that clued the world into what went on in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe's state owned media only gave the violence and police brutality cursory mention all the while blaming the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).  Frustrated by this, Kubatana Blogs wondered:
The media in Zimbabwe is owned and operated by the Mugabe regime. So Sunday’s aftermath, aka how the events are being portrayed, is in the hands of the State. Zimbabweans, since last night, are being force fed a diet of MDC thuggery, non-attendance and opposition violence.
This makes me wonder when the pro-democracy movement will get its act together in terms of creating its own robust media and information response unit.  The majority of Zimbabweans don’t get satellite tv so Zimbabwe’s prominence on the BBC last night is neither here nor there for those who want to get the real story.
This man, Gift Tandare, was killed by Zimbabwe's police during skirmishes before the rally.  On top of that, mourners were shot at his funeral a few days later.  Now there are reports that Gift's family has been forced to exhume his body as the police took it away from them. In her ode to Gift posted on Black Looks, Isabella Matambanadzo observes:
He was on his way to a prayer meeting. He was committed to joining other Christians in collective worship for some respite from the political and economic problems facing his country.  His crime: being an activist for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, MDC.  Rest in Peace Gift Tandare. Zorora Murugare.
For the first time since the formation of the MDC seven years ago, Morgan Tsvangirai, the party's founding leader was the victim of brutal attempt on his life.  Quoting an eyewitness account of Tsvangirai's beating, Zimpundit described the beating thus;
A crack Commando unit based at the army’s Cranborne Barracks in Harare was responsible for the brutal torture of Morgan Tsvangirai and other opposition leaders on Sunday, according to a police officer who witnessed the assault.
The police officer, who is based at Machipisa Police Station in Highfield suburb, said Tsvangirai and the other opposition leaders were tortured for close to two hours by drugged soldiers disguised as police officers.
In an interview with ZimOnline on Tuesday, the police officer who cannot be named for security reasons, said: “I have been in the police force for three years, and I have been involved in the assault of suspects.
“But what I saw on Sunday was not assault. It was attempted murder, especially on Tsvangirai, Madhuku and Kwinjeh (Grace, the MDC deputy secretary for international affairs)”
Tsvangirai fainted three times during the murderous assault.
Nearly a week later, a frail Tsvangirai was discharged from hospital and is recuperating at home.  Another first was seen in the aftermath of the arrest and torture of the MDC leadership; leaders of the splintered party's two factions were seen for the first time since the party's split in 2005 showing overtures of opposing the Mugabe regime as a united front,
It appeared most of the opposition supporters wished the solidarity and the unity of their leaders in court yesterday could be transferred outside the courtroom and the prison walls. They appeared to say the two would do the nation a lot of good if they could forge a formidable unit outside the courtroom by making sure there is one united MDC.
Twice, Tsvangirai failed to sit up. Twice, Mutambara, who appeared not to have been seriously assaulted, helped him, patting his shoulder for encouragement.
More than twice, the two exchanged whispers and ended up smiling and shaking hands.
If only it could be more than a courtroom gesture, the smiles from onlookers in the courtroom seemed to suggest.
In the ancillary discussion that has developed in the blogosphere Mugabe has not only been villified for his inhumane treatment of his subjects, legitimate questions about Mugabe's place in history and legitimacy of post colonial Africa have been posed in posts like this one by Chippla,
Zimbabwe could rightly be viewed as a textbook case of all that could possibly go wrong when a freedom fighter mutates into a despot. While this Wikipedia article states that the Zimbabwean economy shrunk by 4.7% in 2006, a newsclip on Al Jazeera English television indicates that the Zimbabwean economy could expect to shrink by roughly 7.7% this year. Amidst the turmoil of political and economic uncertainty, Robert Mugabe sits tight in Harare clearing himself of any blame for what is currently going on.
Mugabe, it seems, couldn't give a damn about Zimbabweans. He is only interested in power. A onetime hero, it appears, will in all likelihood be confined to the pages of history befitting of tyrants and malevolent dictators. Yet the ultimate tragedy is this: why does Mugabe, in falling from grace to despondency, take the entire Zimbabwean nation down with him. Why?
For much more on Zimbabwean police brutality visit This is Zimbabwe, Kubatana blogs. and SW Radio Africa.

author: Zimpundit


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300: More Than a Movie for Many Iranians · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

The movie “300”, based on a Frank Miller comic book, has been both a big hit at the box office and a hot topic in Iran's media, big and small. In Zack Snyder's movie, 300 Spartans fight to the last man against Persian King Xerxes and his million man army.
Many Iranians were outraged about the movie. According to the daily paper Ayande No, the movie seeks to tell people that Iran, which is in the Axis of Evil now, has for long been the source of evil and modern Iranians’ ancestors are the ugly murderous dumb savages you see in ‘300’.” .” Warner Brothers, the film's producers, were quick to explain that the film is “a work of fiction, loosely based on a historical event.”
Iranian bloggers discussing the movie had diverse reactions.
Anger and Hope
Lego Fish created a “Google bomb” called Project 300 (“300 the movie”) to direct people who are searching for information about the movie to a site featuring the works of artists using the theme of ‘ancient Persia’. The blogger says “take advantage of the wave and carry the message [that Iranians are not what is portrayed in the movie].”
The blogger says that, despite what some have suggested, Project 300 is neither retaliatory nor confrontational. It is a collaborative endeavor aimed at showing the artistic side of Persians you normally don't see in the media, especially these days.
The Spirit of Man takes a historical look at “the whole of Spartan society,” arguing that “Sparta was a totalitarian and aristocrat community well over 20 centuries before the term was even invented.” He adds that “300 the movie will not be on the list of crappy movies I want to waste my money on and I encourage others not to spend their hard-earned money on that too.”
Mohammad Ali Abtahi says Hollywood created the film to humilate Iran's history. He adds that it is probably a reaction to statements by Iranian leaders like Ahmadinejad's speeches against the Holocaust. Abtahi adds, “but this movie can not have any influence on people in the world who know history” [Fa].
Kourosh Ziabari wishes to see more historical accuracy in movies:
I just want to ask that what happened if all the filmmakers, producers, writers and artists didn’t attempt to omit the historical realities and choose what they want among the pages of history? I want to ask that what happened if 300 the movie would sketch the real and trustworthy picture of Thermopylae war between Persia and Greece?
Much Ado About Nothing
Parsanevesht[Fa] says the movie gives a negative image of Iranians but it is not insulting. The blogger asks why we react so emotionaly, adding how it is possible to launch Google Bomb and petition three days before the movie comes to theaters?
Pouya, who actually did see the movie, writes:
I can see why so many Iranians are pissed off about it. The movie is racist and degrades Iranian history by showing ancient Iran as an empire of tyrants, sexists, slaves, and plunderers. It is, however, a fictional portrayal of an historic event.
What about real life?
Iranian Truth wonders if the protests inspired by the movie might be better focused elsewhere:
It’s pretty disappointing to see so many Iranians in an outrage against this movie when there’s so many more important and bigger issues out there, such as, lets see, a possible war on Iran which could cause thousands of deaths, the abduction of female activists in Iran, the continual deprivation of human rights in Iran and in the US.
The blogger goes on to make an interesting comparaison between different petitons signed by Iranians:
Only 293 people petitioned for the release of political prisoners in Iran.
4,083 people petitioned for the release of women activists who were recently jailed in Iran. 5,108 people have pushed to release Ahmed Batebi from jail, torture, and death
But of course 6,153 care that a movie based on a comic book demeans their Iranian pride.
Majid Zohari [Fa] says that the Greece's respect for ancient Persia is much more important than the Islamic Republic's respect for Iranian history. The blogger asks really who is humiliating Iranian national pride more.
Where are Iranian investors?
Azarmehr describes how a director wanted to make a movie about Iranian history but wasn't able to get any support from local investors.
Few years ago a young director by the name of Alexander Jovy wanted to make an epic movie about Cyrus the Great. Some of my Iranian readers may remember me interviewing Alexander on Azadi TV, outside the British Mueseum in London. The budget for the Cyrus movie was estimated at 50 Million Pounds. Two non-Iranian investors had each provided 20 Million Pounds towards the making of the film. Both investors wanted to show the spirit of tolerance and greatness in Cyrus. Had the film been made, it would have been a source of pride for all of us. Yet not one Iranian investor came forward to close the remaining £10M balance!

author: Fred Petrossian


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Afghanistan: Nowrouz & Signs of Spring · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Safrang writes that spring has become associated with renewed fighting in Afghanistan in recent years and takes the liberty of changing an old folk song associated with Nowrouz (the holiday celebrated on the first day of spring) to urge a different mullah to come join the festivities.


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Arabisc: A Mysterious Bug Gnawing at Middle Eastern Bloggers · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Something is amiss on the Middle Eastern blogging scene .. and computers and modern technology are to blame.
In addition to trouble with the law in their countries, which are closing in on freedom of speech and expression as I write this, bloggers have another demon to confront.
Egypt‘s outspoken Sandmonkey is not tolerating the monkey business going on in his comments section and promises to get down to the heart of matter.
“My comments section seems to be greatly messed up!
“For weeks now I have been getting e-mails from people whose comments get eaten, or disappear, or mysteriously re-appear after a day or two. And now I am seeing it myself, with almost 10 new comments on the post below that are showing in the comments section in my dashboard but not in the comment section of the post. It's all messed up.
“So, dear commentators, I am really sorry. I am working on it, but I have no idea why it's acting this crazy. Once I find out I will let you know!” he promises.
In Bahrain, Silly Bahraini Girl is loud and clear about her desperate need for a new computer.
“My laptop is so crappy now. I mean. It has survived me for about two years!! It fell a few times. It is cranky like me. It has a crack on the side. Lemme check. Yes. That it takes from me too. It was soaked in coffee. It was lost with my baggage in Heathrow. It was traumatised, abandoned, abused and taken for granted. It had to be reformatted one too many times. It is on 24 hours. It gets fevers sometimes. It starts coughing and making noise. I haven't taken it to the doctor for its jabs, although it was infected with viruses. I don't know if it has contracted Aids yet.. but it has had some unsafe and unprotected practises with other machinery in its lifetime.
In short. It is time for a new buddy,” she pleads.
Meanwhile, Iranian blogger Mr Behi, who has just moved to Tripoli, Libya, is facing his share of computer woes.
“Actually I had one post in laptop prepared for today – this one I wrote before one of my meetings when the guy stood me up for an hour!- but just the day before yesterday, I saw smoke was coming out of my laptop when I turned it on. Man this was a brand new Dell M90. I hope my hard disk is not harmed otherwise I am so dead!” he writes.
In Kuwait, blogger Don Veto is battling spam, which he usually deletes. But one email caught his eye and he might push him to give up blogging and spend the rest of his life looking for Mark.
“I get the usual amount of Spam email which I delete promptly, but this particular spam was interesting, Alena wrote:
How are you? My name is Alena. I from Russia, city Cheboksary. To me 28 years. I shall tell to you about myself a little.
I corresponded with the man from the your country before. His name Mark. He is from your country. We had a long correspondence and Mark wanted, that I have arrived to him in the your country that I have seen what life there.”
You wouldn't want to upset Alena now.. would you?
Still in Kuwait, Kuwaiti blogger Spicy Pepper admits that the Internet is luring him into accumulating more bills.
“With all the websites out there selling everything from cars to toilet paper, its hard not to buy anything. I sometimes tell myself on holiday to avoid the shopping zones since I know i would buy stuff i dont really need. The Internet makes things even worse, you tend to see stuff and buy it quick without thinking about the consequences that usually results in MORE BILLS,” explains the blogger.
Conspiracy theories anyone? Or is it just a mysterious bug gnawing at some of the region's outspoken citizen journalists?


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Argentina: Chinatown · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Buenos Aires Weekly has some great photos of Buenos Aires’ Chinatown neighborhood of Belgrano.


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Argentina: Maps and Buenos Aires’ Self Image · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Robert Wright explains how the evolution of the free tourist map from Argentina's Subsecretaría de Turismo over the past two years demonstrates a gradual change in Buenos Aires’ self image. Also, a clarification about the odd orientation of maps of Buenos Aires.


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Armenia: Economic Developments · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Armenian Blog Review reports on various developments in the Armenian economy, including a natural gas pipeline linking Iran and Armenia and poor localization for Windows XP, as discussed on Armenian blogs.


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Bangladesh: Human Rights Commission · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Unheard Voices on the Human Rights Commission. “It is never too late to initiate something as essential as a national governing body to protect human rights in a country where we see violations of it far too often. Thought on this proposal?”


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Bhutan: SAARC rally · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Visit Bhutan on the SAARC car rally in Bhutan. “One of the main objectives of the exercise would be to enhance people-to-people contact within the region and increase trade activities among constituent countries which will draw the member countries attention for the need of improving transport infrastructure and encourage tourism, economic and business co-operation in the region.”


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Bolivia: Constitutional Proposal by Podemos · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Miguel Buitrago has a useful summary of a proposed new constitution by the Podemos political party.


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Cameroon: literary giant dies · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Dibussis Tande announces the death of the Cameroonian literary giant, Bate Besong: To many Cameroonians BB was an inspiration, a teacher and mentor. He was an iconic figure who gave meaning to the cliché, “Man of the People”.


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Chile: Censorship, Victor Jara and Los Tres · Global Voices
David Sasaki

In his inimitable style, Tomás Dinges ties together the popularity of Mexican Rancheras and American hits, Chile's feudal history, the oppressive days of the dictatorship, the brutal murder of Victor Jara, and the censorship of video images by the producers of the massive concert recently held by Chilean folk-rock superheroes Los Tres at the Festival de Viña.


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China: blogspot blocked again · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jeremy Goldkorn reported that many foreign blog providers have been blocked in the past few weeks. Blogspot is blocked again.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Book banned prior to printing · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Prior to a recent reprinting, ‘A Narrow Escape From Death: My ‘Right-wing’ Life’, a book from retired Xinhua journalist Dai Huang was banned from being published by order of China's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), in which Dai recounts the years during which he was cast as a rightist and forced to undergo reform labor.
Civil rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, one of the biggest names in his field, has agreed to take up Dai's case. Pu's Sohu blog has recently been deleted, but a statement from the lawyer appeared on ‘edgy’ bbs forum WHXF late on the evening of March 21st. Dear friends, Pu begins:
根据行政诉讼法和最高法院司法解释的规定，法院在收到起诉状后应在7日内立案，或者在此期限内裁定不予受理；倘若7天内无法决定是否立案，也应先立案再决定到底是受理还是裁定驳回起诉；若法院在7天内既不立案也不出具不予受理的裁定，原告可直接向上一级法院申诉或者直接起诉。但北京市第二中级法院在3月7日期限届满前，却告知我们还要”等等”，能否受理和出不出不予受理的裁定，都还没有结论。
为此，我和张思之先生于3月8日再次前往该院，提交了《关于及时依法立案的申请》，目的是以此固定2月28日起诉的事实，以防将来空口无凭说不清楚，同时请法官明白依法受理是法院的本分，拒绝受理案件需要给出合法的理由。在这次谈话中，我告诉法院我们对本案极为重视，期望法院也能依法办事，同时也明示了不会无休止地等下去，请法院不要掉以轻心。
The letter posted onto the bbs seems to have been truncated from an e-mail:
这份文件请见附件二。
The next—third—time Pu contacted the court, March 13, was to inquire on the case's progress. Pu says he was told authorization had just been sent down from the Beijing Supreme Court, that it was being researched and we would still have to wait. Around the time the Two Sessions ended, Pu writes, it was announced that the Beijing #2 Intermediate Court had rejected Mr. Dai Huang's case against the GAPP .
On March 20, contact was made with the court for a fourth time, at which point Pu says he was told the reason Mr. Dai Huang's lawsuit was rejected was because Dai “doesn't meet the legal requirements”, with the court saying it felt the object of GAPP's “shot” was not Dai himself, but the China's Writer Union and the Writer's Publishing Houses.
So is Dai qualified to sue the GAPP for ordering his book not to be published? Pu writes:
本案原告戴煌先生是1944年参加新四军的一位老记者，他因耿介直言于1957年被划为右派，其后二十余年间失去自由妻离子散，他把自己的经历写出来这一行为本身，就是对历史负责的态度，况且此书在大陆已两次出版，本不应存在选题被”毙”的可能。出版社受制于邬书林副署长所坦承的”重大选题审查备案程序”循例上报送审，竟然被该署依据语焉不详”有关文件规定”认定为不宜安排出版，这一事实意外昭示了中国大陆出版自由和作家创作自由的种种禁区。
What's crucial about this, Pu says, is that unlike the list of eight books banned recently, Mr. Dai's book was banned before it even came out, making this what Pu sees as one of most notorious examples of pre-emptive censorship ever…As the first case of a mainland writer suing the GAPP administration for illegally banning a book, the significance of this case is especially profound.
Finishing up, Pu writes:
顺便告知各位，近日我们将代理章诒和先生，就1月11日邬书林副署长代表新闻出版总署实施查禁其《伶人往事》的违法行政行为，对该署提起行政诉讼，具体的工作准备正在进行中。
多谢关注。
浦志强 2007年3月21日于广州
Interestingly, the can be read online in its entirety at no cost, is reviewed in some places and is even for sale at Taobao, the Chinese version of eBay.

author: John Kennedy


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China: legal base for the real name system · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI sums up a discussion in Liaoning Legal News on whether the “real name registration system” has legal base: Of the real-name systems that have been proposed recently, relevant national laws are only in place for the banking system; real-name systems for mobile phones, online games, blogs, and other areas do not have that legal basis.


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China: property, power and violence · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Shao Zishing from mindmeter posts an article about the logic of property management and the distinctive character of “property violence” in China (zh). This article has been censored away by some printed media.


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China: reading property law · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Postive solution blogs about his reading of the newly passed property law in China: while private property was the most eye-catching section of the law, the focus was in fact on problems with State-owned property.


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China: translation tool · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Eric Hu has a review on the google translation in Shanghaiist.


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Costa Rica: Cafta, Point of Discord · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Roy Rojas on the intense protests against the Central American Free Trade Agreement in Costa Rica: “what has happened in countries that have ratified the agreement, for example Nicaragua and El Salvador, is that exports to the US have gone up significantly and there has been no loss of employment like the opposition said there would be.” He adds that signing the agreement does not mean “that we support the US government and much less that we agree with their foreign policy, but that we recognize that as such a small country, we need a commercial partner, we need their market, we need to have an agreement that guarantees us rights, which in this moment are out of control.”


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D.R. of Congo: latest from Congo rangers · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The trials and tribulations of getting to Camp Karema, “We are making progress on setting up Camp Karema at the Bukima patrol post. It takes about 3 hours to get there from Goma, on a pretty rough road, and then a very rough road. Some would call it a track. It is not uncommon to have more than one puncture on any one journey, and if you have shakey bones I would not even attempt it!”


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Egypt: Constitutional Amendments  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

In five days Egypt is scheduled to hold a national referendum on changes to its Constitution.  Even veteran Egyptian opposition figures, well versed in the regime's authoritarian ways, have expressed shock at the choice of March 26 for the referendum, writes blogger Abu Aardvark (Marc Lynch). This is a travesty, a crude mockery of promises of political reform, and something which deserves widespread international mockery and condemnation, he adds.


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Estonia, Russia: Football and (Lots of) Politics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

An upcoming football game between Estonia and Russia inspires Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa to write a lengthy post on all the complex political matters that stand between the two rival teams and their fans.


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Estonia: Tallinn and Narva · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Itching for Eestimaa writes about a day spent in Tallinn (11 comments) and the city of Narva (35 comments).


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Ethiopia: stalker spills acid on a woman · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ewenet Means Truth in Ethiopia writes about the sad story of Kamilat Muhisin, “Everyone who is following Kamilat Muhisin's story is absolutely horrified at what has happened to her.
She lies in a hospital in excruciating pain, disabled and horribly disfigured when a man called Demesew spilled sulfuric acid on her young pretty face.”


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German “Open Music” Band Dedicates a Concert for Peru · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

[Editors Note: The following post originally appeared on the weblog of Creative Commons Peru and was translated into english by Juliana Rincón Parra. We've already seen a rural Ecuadorean “techno-folklorist” become an international celebrity by using YouTube and a weblog. Now a small German band is reaching out to bloggers around the world in their efforts to gain fame and make friends.]
Röntgenschall is on a virtual tour in Lima, Perú. With it´s motto, “your blog is my stage”, this small band from a small German city seeks to accomplish their great dream: Play gigs throughout the world. With this in mind and defying the paradigm that some people have that – the internet and the online diffusion of music goes against their interests – they designed a system that ranked their fans. The five blogs with most votes would host a virtual concert especially dedicated and edited for them, their country, and community of users. So that´s how the peruvian blog Txitua.org was chosen as their next “concert stop.”
This band has used different social networking mechanisms to spread their music: Del.icio.us, biTTorrent, Jamendo, Myspace, Youtube, Hi5. They have even freed up their music under a Creative Commons atribution, noncommercial, share-alike license. These are Web 2.0 tools every Peruvian artist should know.
I like Röntgenschall, what can I do to help them?
- Download, copy, spread and remix their music.
– Blog, make a Podcast or VideoCast
– Join their fan club, maybe your blog will be their next stop
– Visit Jamendo, write, rank it, make it your favorite
– Add them to your MySpace
– Add them to your hi5
References:
- Press release in English
– The band's blog
– Concert at Txitua.org

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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India: 50 million missing girls · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A flickr group called 50 million missing attempts to collect pictures of Indian women and girls. “It is the HOPE of this website to have as many possible of the 50 million missing represented by a photograph. These can be of Indian women or girls, of any age, and community represented as portraits or shown as engaged in various activities — which is life.”


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India: New Year Celebrations · Global Voices
Kamla Bhatt

New Year in March you ask? Well, yes in certain parts of India it the start of a new year since they follow a different calendar and not the Gregorian calendar that the western countries follow.
Ugadi, Gudi Padwa are some of the names for the New Year celebrations in India. The festival is not celebrated throughout India, but is celebrated in many southern and a couple of northern states of India. Typically, people heralded the new year by wearing new clothes, puja (prayer) and of course food, which is the standard staple of any Indian festival.
Any Indian celebration demands the use of flowers. The flowers used to adorn pictures of god, for prayers, and young girls and women adorn their braids with fragrant flowers. Rajesh Dangi of Bangalore writes that flower sales go up during the festival season. And he has a photo that goes with his posting. Notice the different kinds of flowers and garlands that includes jasmine, roses, and other fragrant flowers that bloom during this season.
Deepa Mohan has a wonderful picture (the photo appears pretty symbolic, complete with seeds, bud and flowers) of a traditional Indian tree and its blossom: gul mohar. Deepa writes, “…the flowers are symbolic of our past efforts blooming into success now, and the seed pod below stands for the seeds of actions, sown today, which will result in fresh blooms in the future.
KesavaIndia‘s post captures the spirit of the New Year in the Southern state of Andhra Pradesh. He writes about the significance of a dish called Ugadi Pachadi:
A special preparation called ugadi pachadi (chutney) is a must in very house. Fresh tamarind with fresh water, jaggery, fresh mangoes and fresh margosa flowers form the ingredients of Ugadi Pachadi. They are mixed in a new decorated earthen pot and then kept before the presiding deity of the house hold. After puja, everybody partakes of the Ugadi Pachadi and only then goes for meals in the company of all. The significance of this Pachadi is, the mixture of bitter margosa flowers and sweet jaggery is that life also is a mixture of sorrow and joy…
Vee of Past, Present and Me has a wonderful post on how Konkanis celebrate their New Year's called Gudi Padwa. She wonders why she tries to recreate her childhood experience of New Year's in the USA and writes,
And yet, I go through the steps and make the age old meal that we have had on every Sansar Padwa/Gudi Padwa/Ugadi. Conciously and subconciously, I follow the steps I have seen my mom and bapama take year after year…As familiar aromas waft through the suddenly active house, I see the look on my husband’s face. The same look that is echoed on mine. It is the look of comfort, of being home in a strange land, of the childhood gone by and the reluctant adult-hood that has been thrust upon us. Suddenly, I know.
If you are curious to see what a typical puja ceremony looks like, you can watch a video clip that I shot in Bangalore.

author: Kamla Bhatt


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India: Sex Ed · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

India Daily reports on children being denied sex education, because, well, apparently it's too graphic. “The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to ban the sex education provided under the adolescent education program in its present form in the schools.”


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Jamaica: The Digital Revolution · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Geoffrey Philp refers to a post by Kenneth Goldsmith highlighting possible implications of the digital revolution.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Jordan: Better Press Laws · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

It seems that there is some good news for Jordan's journalists. “After a little pass and play between the two Houses of Parliament, the Lower House voted to cancel (i.e. remove) the clause that upheld the imprisonment of journalists in the new press and printing draft law after it was sent back from the Upper House. The hefty fine is still on but at least journalists won’t have to see the inside of a jail cell,” writes Jordanian blogger Nas in The Black Iris.


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Kenya: mobile money transfer · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Bankele's post on money transfer within Kenya shows how mobile phone technology transforms the financial sector in Africa, “With cell phones this is already happening but it's just not formalized. The Option – Safaricom's free magazine publication has a letter to the editor this month from Joe Nickson of Kerugoya (central Kenya) who paid his fare in a matatu (bus) by transferring 50 shillings airtime to the conductor's phone and he received 30 shillings actual cash as change.
Airtime offers many more possibilities – 7 million cell phone (including more post-paid cell phone customers) vs. 100, 000 credit card users in Africa.”


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Kurdistance: Newroz · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

The vernal equinox marks the beginning of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of the “New Year” or Newroz for the Kurdish people. The holiday is not limited to just the Kurds as cultures from Iran, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Albania, India, Turkey, Zanzibar, and from various countries of Central Asia also celebrate this event.
While the event is technically a cultural holiday, for the Kurds there is a political aspect to it as well. To the Kurds in Iraq the holiday comes after a period of mourning for the 1988 Anfal campaign where thousands of Kurds died in gas attacks. To the Kurds in Turkey, the event marks a opportunity to press for their rights as people. In any event, celebrations include large crowds of people, dancing, singing, and the occasional bonfire to jump over. Jumping over fire symbolizes passing the jumpers’ bad health and bad luck from the past year to the fire in exchange for the good. For a description of some of the various Newroz traditions, see here.
The dual cultural and political celebrations that Newroz evokes in the Kurds can be traced back to the legend of the beginnings of holiday.
The Legend of Kawa the Blacksmith-
There are many stories that tell the tale of the beginning of the celebration of Norouz; one of the more famous myths surrounding the holiday is the Kurdish Legend of Kawa the Blacksmith.
Once upon a time there was an evil Assyrian king named Dehak. The king and his kingdom were cursed because of his wickedness. The sun refused to shine and it was impossible to grow any food. The king Dehak had the added curse of having two snakes attached to his shoulders. When the snakes were hungry he was in great pain, and the only thing that would satisfy the hunger of the snakes were the brains of children. So every day, two of the children from the local villages were killed and their brains fed to the snakes.
Kawa was the local blacksmith and hated the king, as 16 of his 17 children had been sacrificed for the King’s snakes. When he received word that his last child, a daughter, was to be killed he came up with a plan to save her. Instead of sacrificing his daughter, Kawa had sacrificed a sheep and had given the sheep’s brain to the King. The difference was not noticed. When others heard of Kawa’s trickery they all did the same; at night they would send their children up to the mountains with Kawa where they would be safe. The children flourished in the mountains and Kawa created an army from the children to end the evil king’s reign.
When their numbers were great enough, they came down from the mountains and stormed the castle. Kawa himself cast the fatal blow to the evil king, Dehak. To tell the news to the people of Mesopotamia he built a large bonfire, which lit up the sky and cleansed the air of the evilness of Dehak’s reign. That very morning, the sun began to shine again and the lands began to grow once more. This is the beginning of the “New Day” or Newroz as it is spelled in Kurdish.
As stated before, celebrations in Iraqi Kurdistan/Southern Kurdistan came on the heels of memorials for the deaths at Halapja.
19 years ago, the west including UK, US and the so called UN agreed with Saddam Hussain witnessed by God to use chemical weapons and gass us, Kurds.
a survivor
Halabja will always be my identity
And while the victims are still grieving, as can be seen here in a video posted by Vladimir who writes for From Holland to Kurdistan, many Iraqi Kurds such as Hiwa are still sending out their wishes for a happy New Year. If you would like to see video of celebrations in Northern Iraq/Southern Kurdistan we have video.
By the way, Radio Open Source will be hosting a program tonight on Iraqi Kurdistan, in which a few of the Kurdish bloggers that we cover here will be featured.
To the Kurds in Turkey, Newroz is a time to celebrate the new year and also promote the Kurdish cause, much to the dismay of some Turks who feel that the holiday should not be political at all. From Spooky Sense by Garfucius:
however, as the pkk and the kurdish question became more deeply engraved in turkish political society, naw-rooz, too, acquired a political character. first in the east, then the kurd populated sectors of large towns, it became an occasion where separatist slogans were shouted in demonstrations, occasionally acts of vandalism and pillage were staged, the turkish government was protested and clashes occurred with the police and the military law enforcement. the wood fire, too, was replaced with burning truck and tractor tyres which gave less flame but a thick, poisonous, pollutant and very visible cloud of smoke.
about 10 years ago, the state put its hand on naw-rooz. it was declared as a day to observe nationally, i.e., kurd, turk, what remains of armenian, greek and jew all together, as one soul. papers printed and tv's broadcast sights of bejacketed, necktied officialdom wearing black shoes and generals in full uniform jumping over the fire. tyre burning was of course outlawed, not because of environmental or health concerns, but because of the difficulties of policing it. thus, the spirit of revolt injected to naw-rooz by the kurds was enucleated.
yet, during the last few naw-roozes, the revolt was back. clashes, though not major, occurred in the east and big cities like ankara, izmir, adana, mersin, even antalya and of course the largest kurdish populated city in the world, istanbul, between the police and gendarmerie and the kurdish militants and youth, who now include a good many under 18.
tomorrow, march 21 is naw-rooz. information coming to newsrooms indicate there may be protests and demonstrations tomorrow in istanbul. at any rate, the police, in the name of taking precautions, may block, control and close down quite a few roads for security reasons, congesting the already paralyzed city traffic. those who travel around gaziosmanpaşa, tarlabaşı (taksim) and dolapdere should be particularly wary. their daily rhythms may be seriously upset.
happy naw-rooz, to all of us by the way. after all, it is originally a day for merry making. spring is here!
Kurdish blogger Rasti has a different take on the situation in Turkey.
There's been a lot of nationalist activity in Turkey in the last week, and it's specifically directed toward the Kurdish new year, Newroz. Last year, Turkish media worked itself into a frenzy with its usual predictions of violence during Newroz, but the violence didn't come to pass during the holiday. This being an election year in Turkey, the nationalist activity directed against Newroz is, in reality, another excuse to round up DTP politicians, and has become an issue for anti-“terrrorism” boards….
It never entered the thick heads of the Ankara fascists that maybe Kurds are weary of having to demonstrate, protest, and engage in legitimate armed resistance in order to gain the right to be treated as human beings. There's a bit of double-speak used here, though, because “to review security measures to be taken” against Newroz demonstrations can be translated to mean: “prepare provocations against the Kurdish people.”…
the “completely artificial” Turkish Nevroz (as opposed to Kurdish Newruz–remember the “W” is forbidden) will be the order of the day this year, as the Paşas have determined. Given that this year we have witnessed the Deep State murder of Hrant Dink; that a Turkish professor is facing charges of insulting Ataturk; that extremist nationalism is praised and the resulting violence is thereby encouraged; that Erdogan is trying to outdo everyone in nationalist sentiment in the battle for Cankaya; that 50-kilo mega-flags are considered the proper response to Kurds who wave red, yellow, and green hankies; and that BBP, the people who brought you Ogun Samast, is proclaiming “brotherhood,” “peace,” and “love,” and a general warm, fuzzy feeling for Kurds, means that it will be an interesting Newroz.
Regardless of politics, it is a new year. To my readers I would like to wish you a happy Newroz. Newroza píroz be!


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Kuwait: The Louvre is Off to Abu Dhabi  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“The French people are not happy with the latest event of the French governement deciding to build a branch of the Louvre in Abu Dhabi; they believe this museum is part of France and giving it away is like giving part of France too. This is the first time in my life I hear about a museum becoming like a McDonalds!” writes Lebanese blogger Fonzi, who lives in Kuwait.


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Kuwait: Where a Woman’s Place is in the Office · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Kuwaiti blogger Princess works in the human resource department of a company with 700 plus employees. All was well .. until she got a call  from a trainee who refused to acknowledge she was a woman and continued addressing her in the male gender.


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Kyrgyzstan: Svetlana Nazarenko · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Tolkun Umaraliev reports that Svetlana Nazarenko, a native of Bishkek who is the lead singer of the Russian band Gorod 312 (ru), has been awarded the honorary title “Honored Artist of the Kyrgyz Republic.”


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Latin America: Bush vs Chávez · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Calling George Bush's visit to Latin America, “a meaningless show”, Robert Borbow sketches a cartoon to show Bush and Hugo Chavez competing for influence in the region.


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Latvia: Ukrainian and Russian Folk Music · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dykun posts a video and writes on a Ukrainian and Russian folk music performance in Riga, Latvia: “they performed together a show of russian and ukrainian wedding songs and rituals, with the structure of a ukrainian cossack marrying a russian bride. […] presented are typical wedding songs and a re-enactment of negotiations for the marriage, which finally happens in the end.”


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Lebanon: For Peace in Iraq · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese blogger Lila, who currently lives in Montreal, Canada, pledges her support to One Million Blogs for Peace – To End the Iraq War.


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Lebanon: Love a Casualty of War · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese blogger Bob links to an interesting article  which shows how love is a casualty of war.


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Mauritania: First Arab Country to Hold a Second Round in a Presidential Election · Global Voices
Alice Backer

The blog of Convergence Républicaine pour l'Instauration de la Démocratie en Mauritanie (CRIDEM) points to a La Tribune d'Algérie article stating [Fr]: “Long considered a back-country, Mauritania just proved to its neighbors and to the world that when it comes to democracy, the country can now be an example. Never has an Arab country held a second round in a presidential election. Among the 19 candidates running, the two ahead are Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallah and Ahmed Ould Daddah. With respectively 26 and 25% of the vote, they will run again on March 25.”

author: Alice Backer


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Mauritius: the abortion debate · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Christina Meetoo's take on the abortion debate in Mauritius. “On the whole, their discourse is basically geared towards instilling a feeling of guilt in people, specially women. And today, Mgr Piat in L’Express declares that the State should not be neutral on that issue, claiming that the government should protect little children indiscriminately, be they unborn.”


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Morocco: El Bicho and Darga Perform April 1st · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Chadstoune is happy Moroccan band Darga and Spanish band El Bicho will be performing in Casablanca on April 1. Says the blogger: Says the blogger [Fr}: “El Bicho is one of the best bets of flamenco fusion based on daring mix of music! ” and  “Darga is a group united by its love of music and conscious of the role that youth must play in the country's social dynamic”


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Pakistan: The judiciary · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Whisk on the accountability of the judiciary. “Since this debacle with the Chief Justice began, numerous jurists and lawyers have resigned from their posts and boycotted the courts in protest, because apparently, the supreme judicial power in the land cannot be held accountable for any misconduct.”


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Russia: Subway Dogs and Manners · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Darkness at Noon writes about the Moscow subway – its dogs and the etiquette.


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Russia: “Whack the Blogs” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Heribert Schindler of Rossijskaja Federazija “whacks” Russia blogs of a certain category: “My entry ‘Whack the Blogs’ is admittedly inspired by a most rabid and fascinating phenomenon of blogosphere, by a persuasively US based group of spin doctors who vehemently try to convince me of them being one single hateful female and not some public relation agency or NGO.”


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Serbia: Belgrade Zoo · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belgrade 2.0 reports on the sorry state of the Belgrade Zoo.


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Serbia: “Deveti Mart” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belatedly, a bit of contemporary Serbian history, via Belgrade 2.0: on March 9, 1991, Belgrade became the scene of large protest rallies. “This was the first sign that the citizens were not so satisfied with Milosevic’s rule, already after two years of his reign.”


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Serbia: Milosevic and the Internet · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belgrade 2.0 predicts a new war, over Milosevic: “Even though the online group of Milosevic-haters is by far bigger than the group of his supporters, it seems as if the supporters are louder and manage to create a balance. How long can this go on i wonder?”


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Serbia: Neo-Nazis · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belgrade 2.0 writes about Serbian neo-Nazis and their web presence.


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South Africa: blog awards controversy in mainstream media · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Vincent Maher posts a scan of the S Sunday Times (South Africa) article about the South African blog awards, “I have a scan of the article as it appeared in the Sunday Times this weekend. It’s pretty balanced in my opinion, but read for yourself.”


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South Africa: South Africa’s technorati · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Tyler Reed breaks the news about Amatomu, “Amatomu is tracking South Africa’s blogosphere. It is brought to you by the folks over at Mail & Guardian, who really seem to be getting the whole new shift in the web and keeping up with it.”


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South Asia: Brown people in the UK · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Pickled Politics on brown people and the government in UK. “Although I’ve frequently explained the process and the reasoning behind which the Labour government has engaged with brown people in the UK, especially Muslims, I haven’t explained it properly in one article.”


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St Vincent & The Grenadines: Cricket Upsets · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Abeni shares her thoughts on some unexpected developments in the ICC Cricket World Cup that's being played in the Caribbean.


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Sudan: ICC on War Crimes in Darfur, USS Cole, Funky Hairstyle & More · Global Voices
SudaneseDrima

There has been quite a lot of action in the Sudanese blogosphere during the past 3 weeks. We'll start with the International Criminal Court‘s announcement which named 2 suspects accused of committing war crimes in Darfur.
The Sudanese Thinker was surprised when he saw the picture of one of the suspects:
Ahmed Mohamed Haroun is one of the two named by the ICC as suspected war criminals involved in Darfur. Today for the first time I saw a picture of him.
Does he look Arab to you? He doesn’t to me. In fact he looks Darfurian. But is he really? If yes, it would mean he’s either an Afro-Arab or an Arabized African. “Darfur is a genocide perpetrated by Arabs against Africans” is an oversimplification of what’s really happening. I hope the picture above is more proof of this.
He's also confused with some aspects involving Sudan, China, America and the CIA:
My head really hurts! Something is fishy here and I’m trying hard to make sense of what’s happening with:
1) China’s move which contradicts Hu Jintao’s visit to Sudan.
2) America’s plan B (and its latest coercive efforts against Sudan) which contradict the news of the CIA building its largest center for east Africa in Sudan and also the cooperation between Sudanese intelligence and the CIA (a fact which gets little to no coverage in the US media).
Black Kush brings news on 2 Southern Sudanese officials arrested on corruption charges:
That is a bold move by the Government of South Sudan on corruption. Martin Malwal became one of the richest South Sudanese men in Khartoum these days and his wealth has been the issue of debate among the people. The other guy seems to be a scapegoat and there are definitely many heads going to role. It is about time, anyway.
He also brings our attention to the news on Sudan's Vice President, Salva Kiir meeting Darfur rebels:
Atlast VP Salva Kiir is trying to throw his weight on the Darfur crisis. Where was he all this time. The SPLM hands off approach was ot acceptable. His party is part of the government and will certainly be equally blamed.
Hope his peace efforts bear fruit.
Meanwhile, Hipster is angry at the news of the lawsuit brought against Sudan by the families of the victims of the USS Cole bombing:
Now, I'm 100% sure that the US is targeting my country. Since the Darfur tactic has proven ineffectual, they are using other means to pressurize the govt.As CS contended, why don't the US compensate for the bombing of Al Shifa Factory in Khartoum in 1998.I saw the missile flying in the air with my own two eyes!!!
Nomadic Thoughts also expressed her anger but at something different. She was furious after reading about this news:
GUJRANWALA, PAKISTAN – Working for the public was a gift from God for Zille Huma Usman, Punjab's provincial minister for social welfare.
But two weeks ago, Muhammed Sarwar violently disagreed, killing her before a crowd because, he said, God does not allow women to work. He later told police that he felt no remorse for his crime.
This is what she had to say:
Reading about things like this just annoys the hell out of me. Who are these idiots that run around and pretend that they are carrying out Allah's will? These people are obviously mentally unstable and they have the nerve to claim that this is Islam!
And now on a lighter note, a picture of a Sudanese Umm Bororo tribe member with a funky hairstyle:

author: SudaneseDrima


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The Balkans, Japan: War Re-Enactment Games  · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Photos of a group of Japanese men clad in Croatian and Serbian military uniforms has caused a scandal in the Serbian blogosphere, Neretva River reports: “…these men were participating in a re-enactment of the recent wars in a ‘capture the flag’ style game which apparently had different scenarios, one apparently was very distastefully called the ‘Bosnian survival’ game.” More on it at Belgrade 2.0 – here.


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Trinidad: Just Breathe · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A poetic take on breathing from Elspeth at Now is Wow.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Farewell to Icons  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

ttgapers.com pays tribute to three Trinbagonian icons who passed away recently: calypsonian The Mighty Terror, journalist George John and economist Lloyd Best.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Lara on his Team Mates · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Ever wondered who's the biggest moaner on the West Indies cricket team?  Who has the best dress sense?  Or who takes longest in the shower?  Captain Brian Lara spills the beans – and the West Indies Cricket Blog has the video clip to prove it.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Panday’s Conviction Squashed · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad and Tobago News Blog reports that the court conviction of former T&T Prime Minister Basdeo Panday, who was found guilty of not declaring a million-dollar London bank account to the Integrity Commission, has been squashed.


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Ukraine: Soviet Currency Places · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

MoldovAnn discovers a couple places in Kyiv where the Soviet-time currency – rubles and kopeks – still survives.


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US, Brazil: Accord on Ethanol · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Isabella Kenfield and Roger Burbach argue that “The US-Brazil Accord on Ethanol is good for GDP but very bad for rural poor.”

author: David Sasaki


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Uzbekistan: Mosque and State · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Registan.net discusses how the government of Uzbekistan is using the state-sanctioned Islamic religious establishment to back its policies and ideology.


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Arabisc: Rebelling Bloggers from Syria to Tunisia  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Ever heard of the rebellious bloggers? Well, this is what some bloggers in the Middle East refer to themselves because they are breaking the norm – speaking their minds on blogs without censorship or editing but paying the price for the consequences of free speech later on.
Tunisian blogger Sami Ben Gharbia, who is also Global Voices Online Advocacy Manager, is one such blogger. Living in exile in The Netherlands, Ben Gharbia was invited to Dubai to take part in a television programme on Arab bloggers, following a surge in interest in the phenomena after Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabeel Sulaiman was sentenced to four years in prison because of posts he wrote on his personal blog.
Ben Gharbia, who spoke along with Syrian blogger Roukana Hamour and Egyptian blogger Rami Seyyam  on the programme, gives us his take on that interview here.
The blogger admits he was enchanted by meeting the other two fellow bloggers more than appearing on the silver screen and preaching the viewers about the importance of blogs and citizen journalism.
Ben Gharbia  then takes us to Syria and shows us why Hamour was dealt with in this manner.
Ben Gharbia claims that Hamour‘s plight was given a cold shoulder by international media as well as blogs and aggregators, which usually rally for the support of other ‘more prominent’ bloggers.
Moving from Syria, Ben Gharbia  narrates to us the plight of Seyyam, who also had his stint behind bars.
This talk with Seyyam, is giving Ben Gharbia thoughts, such as returning to his homeland and fighting his war on the ground.
Ben Gharbia, also shares with us his story – that of leaving his homeland and living abroad where he operates a virtual war to ensure a better home and more freedom and human rights for the people he has left behind.
Sadly, his experience with Arab countries leaves him bitter and angry.
This is all today. See you on Monday with a new take on Arab blogs.


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Armenia: Yezidi Election Divisions · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

The CRD/TI Armenia Election Monitor 2007 says that Armenia's largest minority group, the Yezidis, are divided over the upcoming parliamentary election.


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Bermuda: In the Pink  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

An ode to the colour pink by Tom at Paradise Found.


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Bulgaria, Libya: Tripoli Six in the Economist · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Economist's Edward Lucas reposts his piece on the “Tripoli Six”: “Bulgaria has tried hard to make the scandal an international issue, and has also raised money to help the AIDS-infected children. But Libya appears to want to do a deal, involving freedom for the Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, convicted of organising the Lockerbie bombing, and payment of $2.7 billion in compensation—the exact amount paid by Libya to the victims of that outrage. The argument amounts to: ‘You release a justly convicted Libyan, and we will free six unjustly convicted foreigners.’ Amazingly, much of the rest of the world, including many African and Arab countries—and even some European politicians—seems to agree with Libya’s attempt to link the issues.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Cayman Islands: Bob Woolmer · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Mad Bull refers to a story in the Jamaica Gleaner citing new evidence that Pakistan's cricket coach, Bob Woolmer, may not have died of natural causes.


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Central Asia: Celebrating Navruz · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Sue Sypko says that celebrating a holiday like Navruz is tough to do for a group because everyone disagrees on how to spell the holiday's name, how to decorate, and what food to serve.


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China: Homeowners hold their ground · Global Voices
John Kennedy

How does China's landmark, much-blogged about new property law relate to the average citizen? An illustration comes with the decision by two residents of central China's Chongqing Municipality to hold their ground when the land upon which the house they purchased had been sold, then dug up, by a developer which then successfully had the courts rule to evict her and her co-habitant, Yang Wu.
Smelling a story, journalists from all across the country rushed to the city [zh] to see what would happen when the owner, Wu Ping, ran out of time to evacuate her ‘nail house‘ at midnight on March 21. In the meantime, Wu set up her own blog and released this video:
Chinese netizens had already been blogging the story for a couple weeks, and the comment flow reached a peak this week with bbs members almost unanimously posting in support of Wu and Yang, many casting the couple as heroes, fighting for the rule of law. On the evening of March 21, popular forum Cat989 set up a thread for readers to report the latest news and in less than 48 hours has seen over 8300 responses and forum Tianya's live updates thread not far behind. Readers kept the threading moving with worried comments, in-person feedback and self-shot photos flooding in non-stop straight through a second night until the morning of March 23. Netease had initially set up a space for open comment but quickly shut it down, later opening another space. Xici Hutong's Reporter's Home forum also had some great photos pouring in, but all that can be seen there now is the following message:
媒介评论——做媒体沟通新渠道[直接访问地址：reporter.xici.net]网友观点不代表本版立场,注意发言的客观、理性，请不要讨论跟媒体和编辑记者本身没有关系的话题。本版保留删帖的权力。
Here's what citizen journalists have been liveblogging about the situation at the nail house. The following few comments were left on the Tianya forum in the following order between 10:17 and 10:32 on the morning of March 21:
中国基本上是党最大，情大于法。法是上层阶级压迫老百姓的工具而已。
可怜的还是老百姓
中国从来不缺少法律，缺少的是法律的执行。法律前面不是人人平等，这样的法律能起多大的效力？！
能有重庆网友现场直播拆迁全过程就好了，拍个DV
我觉得这个钉子户的肯定有背景,要不然的话……
中国有人权么？
我都这么老了，还没有见过人权长什么样儿呢！
Here are some more randomly-chosen comments of the tens of thousands in the nail house thread at Tianya:
crystal369, 14:44:38, March 21
体制不改变，司法不独立，百姓永远是鱼肉。
按《土地法》规定：不是必须由吴女士将土地使用权出让给 开发商，开发商才能办理土地使用权过户手续吗？房管局有何权力裁决吴女士将房子卖给开发商？吴女士的房子不卖，犯了中国哪部法？哪条罪？？公权力房管局还真TMD 强买强卖，这样的公权力比土匪还恶劣100倍！！法院还支持，无赖
hzwsx01, 16:09:59, March 21
土地是国家的,没错;
但是请记住:
1>人家可以使用土地70年,这点可是在土地使用证上说明了的.现在人家没满,就没资格要求别人搬;
2>七十年到了,OK,你可以去挖归国家所有的”土地”,但是土地上的房屋,对不起,请不要动人家的.有种你能把人家的房屋下面的土地整个搬走呀..如果因你的动作,坏了人家的建筑,不好意思,你同样得承担责任了.
Laughing as I throw a brick, 22:34:12, March 21
不知道上面骂我的人有没有很仔细的看过这个新闻．
１，开发商给他的赔偿价是２４０－３５０万．在所处地段已经是非常适合的价格，不存在故意压价的行为．
２，我已经说了，如果是合法权益应该保护．他开口就是２０００万
难道你觉得能够实现？如果他能成为榜样，那就不用加法律了．
And here begin the posts in which bloggers in Chongqing posted what they saw:
作者：白天与黑夜YL 回复日期：2007-3-22 00:26:00
我们去的时候旁边的面包车司机对我们说的.最开始开发商要给钉子户他们3百50万.结果钉子户觉得少了.结果最后法院评估是2百47万.这下钉子户就急了.
作者：sunning_xu 回复日期：2007-3-22 15:10:00
攻城开始,现场已经在封锁中，众多围观的普通市民都被大范围的栅栏隔离在施工范围之外。
只听得现场一片混乱,哭声,叫喊声,机器轰鸣声,吹呼声,声声入耳,但是不知道里面究竟发生了什么?
作者： 射日一号　回复日期：2007-3-22　15:33:22
1点40分左右，施工方工人将一个牌子放到施工地点，上面写着：危险，严禁攀爬！
现场还没有拆迁的动作！
作者： alex_kang　回复日期：2007-3-22　17:36:02
网易现场直播的贴子已经被删除.天涯也快了.
作者： phoebus_chen　回复日期：2007-3-22　18:07:25
先文字汇报一下今天下午3点左右我专门过去看到的情况：
我是2点50到的现场，由于地面视界有限，看不能里面的情况，我在轻轨的站台上做的观察的拍摄。事实上这个位置很好，距离钉子户不过20M，房子的窗口正对着轻轨车站，看到老杨好几次，他不停在房间里走动，时不是跟另外一面的记者的挥挥手。中间也有几次在房间内活动了一下拳脚，看来他精神不错，也很知道保持体能。吴姐同志在下面接待记者，3点左右现场大概有20名记者在采访她，这次她好像有所准备，提供一些书面的资料在散发。每当老杨露出头时，她也会激动地跟他挥挥手，看得出，她是非常担心的。陆续还有电视台扛摄像机的记者赶到现场加入采访。到4点我走时已经有大概5台摄像机在现场了。
Here's a picture posted by weibeeling at 18:33:58, March 22
Owner Wu Ping accepting interviews from media
And a few more from Yi Wen at 21:38:12, March 22:
从下午1点30分开始，工地方面已经在切断通往小楼的道路，原本在小楼周围的记者也被清理出现场，只能在较远的地方拍摄。到2点的时候，基本已经将道路封闭，封闭处加固完成。
Continuing:
作者：射日一号　回复日期：2007-3-22　21:50:27
房屋里面漆黑一片，没有任何动静。现场围观的几百名群众还没有散去，而且越聚越多。
作者：中国刘翔　回复日期：2007-3-22　21:50:55
这个问题很好解决嘛。
钉子户的这个房子既然已经全世界闻名，这就是重庆的名胜了嘛。
开发商保留现场不变，收门票。
业主修个楼梯，继续营业。
重庆市以此为契机，拉动旅游业。
凡是参与和推动了这一历史事件的网友，享受五折优惠，可以去钉子户酒店消费。
多赢。
作者：牛牛的好　回复日期：2007-3-22　22:15:45
我在现场用手机上网，很慢，大家见凉！！
现在是最新的，趁着夜色，挖掘机，推土机，铲车已经开来了，法院的也来了
作者：lygmqh　回复日期：2007-3-22　23:55:25
最新消息！现场有人向网友透露，今天不拆，明天十点开听证会！
作者： zlvsszl　回复日期：2007-3-23　00:23:57
我刚从现场回来。
现场没想像中热闹。有200~300个重庆市民在附近的天桥、轻轨站台上支援老杨，离老杨坚守的堡垒大概有60~80米远！。。现场有个蔺姓的兄弟在组织大家吼老杨，雄起~~！老杨用电筒朝外面射了几下，以示回应！老杨是坚强的，老杨的稳重的！
对面楼上是各地的记者，他们给我们这边的其中一个人打了电话，叫大家继续吼，他们肯定拍下来了，明天，重庆人的声音~！雄起~这响亮的声音，将传到世界各地！我爱你们！重庆人民！中国人民！你们，当然，包括我！都是最棒的！
根据从下午就一直在现场的朋友反映，老杨几乎没有跟大家对过话！他肯定很累了！明天大家要想点实际行动来支持他！我们的英雄！
今晚肯定是拆不成了~ 我离开的时候大概是23：45，我建议大家尽量早点休息，也让老杨休息一下！明天他还要继续战斗！他是最勇敢的战士！
Across the way are journalists from all over the country. They phoned one of us over here and told us to keep shouting, they want to film it. Tomorrow, Chongqing's voice, ‘be brave’ resonating, throughout the world! We love you! Chongqing'ers! Chinese people! You, of course me too! We're the best!
Based on what friends were saying all afternoon, old Yang hasn't talked to anyone! He must be tired! Tomorrow everyone must think of some actions to support him! Our hero!
They definitely won't tear it down today. When I left it was about 23:45. I recommend everyone get to bed earlier, let old Yang get some rest! Tomorrow he will continue fighting! He's the bravest warrior!
Similar reports continue throughout the rest of the night, straight until 7:30 on the morning of March 23 when this post was finished. Here are some of the photos from Tianya:
Taitian, 23:32, March 21
今天云集了很多记者
Big, small and black, 11:01, March 22
（房主老公照片）
No money, no house, 14:34, March 22
房主的样子何其悲壮
Wanzhou skin-eating brutha, 15:13, March 22
现场已经正在封锁过程中，众多围观的普通市民都被大范围的栅栏隔离在施工范围之外
Edible Mushroom, 15:33, March 22
围观的
Edible Mushroom, 16:19, March 22
Give me back my money, 16:30, March 22
晚上做饭吃！
Big, small and black, 17:15, March 22
Sprint600, 22:51, March 22
杨武说：谁靠近就砸死谁！
Spring600, 23:12, March 22
夜幕下的孤岛
The First Pole, 00:13, March 23
……
Flying over the sea, 00:22, March 23
红旗飘飘！散打王成维权壮士！
And from Cat898 user ‘Let Me Win’, comes this photo:
“公民的合法的私有财产不受侵犯”!!!


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China: nail house · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The picture of “nail house” from Chongqing has been widely spread in BBS and mainstream media. Lyn Jeffery from virtual China gives some more background about the case.
DANWEI also has a report, puts the discussion under the context of the recent property law.


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China: nationalism and Olympic · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

David Bandurski from China Media Project post a translation of a recent editorial in Southern Metropolis Daily, which argues that China's well-publicized appetite for Olympic gold has become a kind of Midas touch, spoiling the spirit of friendship and harmony that the Games have come to symbolize.


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Cuba: Show me your Coffee · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuba and Coffee – CubanAmmericanPundits.com explores the cultural significance of this seductive drink.


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Dubai: Life is a Beach  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Dubai-based blogger Seabee laments the loss of beaches in Dubai. He shows us in photographs what has replaced the emirate's “huge stretches of soft white sand with warm turquoise water to swim in” which have now turned into huge construction sites.


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East Timor: Should One Travel to East Timor · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Dili-gence has a post on the current travel situation in Dili, the capital of East Timor. Australia and some other countries had issued travel warning to East Timor and some aid-workers had left East Timor temporarily after violence broke out a couple of weeks back.

author: Preetam Rai


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East Timor: Trouble Alerts · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Xanana Republic Gazette gives us a glimpse into how the “trouble” alerts are sent out in East Timor.


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Eastern Europe: Edward Lucas Roundup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Economist's Edward Lucas posts his pieces on East European churches; Solzhenitsyn; Chechnya; Poland's relations with other EU members; color revolutions and foreign funding.


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Egypt: A First for Parliament  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“In what I think is a first in Egyptian political history, on Sunday 18 March, 102 opposition legislators began a boycott of parliament’s plenary sessions. The sessions are devoted to swiftly passing what the Mubarak regime is calling ‘amendments’ to the 1971 constitution,” writes Egyptian blogger Baheya. “In reality, the alterations augment executive powers and constitutionalise the exclusion of Mubarak’s challengers,” writes the blogger.


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

Egyptian blogger Hossam el-Hamalawy says that an anti-Mubarak demonstration is being planned in London, UK, on March 26. “Egyptians in London will demonstrate in front of the Egyptian Embassy, Monday 26 March, from 12pm to 3pm, to protest Mubarak’s authoritarian constitutional amendments,” he writes.


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Egypt: Are Hobbits Real? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia is excited that hobbits are not a figment of imagination and really existed.. or so the story goes.


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Egypt: Gamal Faints  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Ibn Al Dunya links to an article which claims that Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's son and heir-apparent Gamal fainted for five minutes prior to a NDP General Secretariat meeting.


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Egypt: Jokes Not Allowed  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egypt-based blogger Issandr El Amrani links to an article which claimed that the State Security banned Kifaya leader Dr. Abdul Wahab Al Meseiri from holding seminar on jokes.


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Egypt: US Rally Planned  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Nora Younis is calling upon her readers to rally against the constitutional amendments in Egypt at a rally in Washington DC, US, on March 26.


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Guatemala: Garifuna · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Chapinadas on Central America's Caribbean Garifuna population.


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Haiti: HOPE Act Implemented · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Haiti Innovation applauds the implementation of preferential trade status for Haiti via the HOPE Act: “…this is a first step. There is still much to do in Haiti…but let this minor triumph in Haiti’s economic stabilization be a reminder to us all that with hard work, perseverance, and faith, much can be accomplished.”


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Honduras: Privatizing Hondutel · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Mario Posas runs through the pros and cons of privatizing Hondutel, Honduras’ state-owned telecommunications monopoly.
Update: From a reader: “This Honduran article that you wrote about appears to be a translation of a 1995 article??? It talks about President Reina and who is going to run for president in 1997. Our president is Mel Zelaya. Very strange that it would appear in 2007.”


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Hong Kong: local action and 318 rally · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Thanks Roland for translating the details of Local Action rally in March 18 from Inmediahk.net. Indeed, there were no mainstream news report about the police abuse and the rationality of the rally.


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India: Development of Choor Dhar Hills · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

myHimachal on an effort by citizens for local development. “Setting a rare example of ‘peoples action for the development’ by crossing all the social, cultural and area boundaries , thousands of resident of Himchal Pradesh and Uttrakhand have joined hands to develop Choor Dhar Hills known as heaven of adventure tourists and trackers all over country.”


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India: For Nandigram · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Cuckoo's Call on Nandigram – “Nandigram is a symbol of humble people’s defiance, protest, militant resistance and sacrifice against the globalising local state. It has broken the stupor, apathy, cynicism and mute, opportunistic acceptance defining the intelligentsia and middle classes in Calcutta and West Bengal.”. This comes at a time when the government seems to care little about what citizens really want.


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India, Pakistan: Google and Local · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

I, Me, Myself on how even as organisations cater to an international audience, they don't always get the local preferences right. “The text on the Google Pakistan page in Punjabi has been written in the Gurmukhi script, which most Punjabis in the Pakistani part of Punjab can not read (except, perhaps, some members of the small Sikh community there). Most of them read and write the Punjabi language in the Shahmukhi script.”


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Japan: Tokyo election and nationalism · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

James from Japan Probe blogs about the Tokyo governor candidates’ stand and debate on nationalism, in particular to the policy of coercing teachers to stand and sing the national anthem ‘Kimigayo’.


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Kyrgyzstan: Military Mars Navruz · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Gene Daniels says that the heavy police and military presence on the streets of Bishkek marred Kyrgyzstan's Navruz celebrations. There is speculation that the president ordered the heavy security presence to dissuade his opponents from staging protests.


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Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome · Global Voices
Salam Adil

I cannot believe it has been four years since the Iraq war started. Has it ended? I don't know but it feels more like an a lifetime has passed. In one of the rare coincidences with large parts of the media, Iraq bloggers are commemorating another anniversary of the war. This post gathers their collective thoughts. But first…
If you read no other post this week, read this:
After five months (!) of self-enforced exile in her home, Chikitita decides to venture out into the Baghdad streets and feels somewhat like a tourist in her own city. Her initial inquiries about the outside world were not too hopeful: “it turned out that buses no longer pass by my once safe neighbourhood. It has even earned “The Frontline” label based on the fact that it has been teeming with cannibals lately.” Venturing out only confirmed the rumours:
A Tsunami has hit the area and nobody bothered to tell me. I could not recognize the new décor; what's that charred bus doing there? When did all those shops blow up? I'm running out of pens and notebooks and the only shop that sells stationery has been razed! Only now I could match the sounds I've been hearing with the pictures.
Feeling nostalgic she took the bus, but that proved sadly depressing.
“The atmosphere inside was so eerie; passengers are no longer exchanging chitchats as they used to do, not even smiles – except for the woman who passed my fare to the driver. People are no longer discussing politics … I could sense the apprehension and mutual mistrust, no one wants to venture be outspoken about anything or anyone that bugs them. I thought national mourning has been declared; none of the half a dozen vehicles I rode had a radio playing…
Tears kept streaming down my face until I reached the Jadriya Bridge. Only there I could smell life.”
She concludes: “Meeting fellow Iraqis in the streets of Baghdad used to inject a dose of hope within me. Yet, it's no longer the case. People are tired and fed up, smiling used to be an Iraqi trademark, and sure it has become a part of history!”
Four years on…
Imad Khadduri links to a set of graphs from the Brookings Institute Iraq Index showing how the situation has progressively deteriorated over the past four years. He writes: “As for Rumsfeld's metrics, the Iraqi saying goes: soak it in water and then drink the water for all the good it will do you.”
Neurotic Wife gives her review of the whole war:
Four years on and while the world listen to their Ipods, Ipods filled with their favour-te music, Iraqis listen to daily mortars, explosions, bombings and helicopters. Four years on while the children of the world play their Wii's, Iraqi children sleep the nights in fear. Will I live or will I die they think to themselves. Will the Americans come and get me or will the Iraqi baddies take me away. Yes Four years on…
She demands that Bush and Blair fix the mess they created:
You have been putting your hands in the devil's claws, for once Bush and Blair, just for once, before you leave your powerful chair, do something good, do something commendable. For once Bush and Blair, just this once, do something for the IRAQI PEOPLE, the Innocent Iraqi people. Support them in their times of need. HELP THEM. Give them a safe haven. Don't you think they deserve it? Don't you think that after all these years, these people's lives are worth saving???
Attawie continues in a similar vein:
Fourth year of misery and mysteries; Where are we now and where are we going. For how many more coming years? For what? Hope had abandoned the land which once wrote the very first letter ever. Logic seems bizarre on the land where the wheel was invented. Beauty disappeared. Nothing has left but hideous streets, which once were cloud nine; today they are spotted with innocents’ blood.
She left Iraq to exile in the Gulf but the attraction of her homeland remains strong:
We leave hoping to start a new life but still this land pulls us by the magic it once had. So I believe that magic still lingers on. It still pulls us by the memories we keep in our minds, by the dream of going back to our childish never land, the land that tries to be optimistic. …
It pulls us back by its very sweet sound, it's the precious Iraq.
Faiza publishes a letter from an American friend:
i can't believe in a few days will be the commemoration of the beginning of the war four years ago. Iraq is a survivor — and we will keep working against those who destroy the joys and beauties in life, and working for those who just want to relax and lay their head down on their pillow in comfort and peace, without having to worry desperately about the safety of everyone and everything dear to their lives.
After four years Khalid Jarrar has given up on any hope that American people can bring an end to the war:
for four years I have been pleading for peaceful ways of ending the occupation. Trying to cooperate with the peace movements here and in the states to find a way out, but as we can all notice, our efforts are in vein…
It sounds to me, that after 4 years of occupation, that America is a nation of selfish people, too busy with their lives and joys to care about how their own country is screwing the world, instead they really concentrate on getting fatter, rockin’ and rollin’, watching the Oscar night and reality shows… if it wasn't that the American army is losing by all means, most of Americans wouldn't have moved a hand, or a tongue to demand the withdrawal of the army from Iraq…
Sad fourth birthday hateful spiteful occupation, Sad fourth birthday dear beloved Iraq, i miss you, and i promise you that there will be an end, soon.
The woman i was runs through the ‘successes’ of the new Iraq: “more than 20% .. under poverty line, more than 700 000 civilians lost their lives; more than 4 million Iraqis became refugees.. more than 300 000 poor women were widowed; .. the Baghdad morgue receives more than 60 dead bodies on daily bases” and writes:
It is time to shout: enough is enough; Bush should try to change himself and the Americans should try to change their regime. Almost one million civilian Iraqis bloods is enough for giving the Americans safer world, more fuel for their cars and more prosperity. We should all shout put in mind that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said those who watch injustice silently are evils and Martin Luther King said that silence is betrayer
And 24 Steps to Liberty recalls how he braved almost certain execution to escape the front line as a soldier in the Iraqi Army in 2003. He recalls:
I don’t know how to use a weapon to defend myself. Even if I did, defend myself against whom? My brothers [that what I called the U.S. soldiers] or against the Kurds [I am half Kurdish]? I cannot do that.
I decided to end this stupid play and do it my way.
Between you and me it seems that nobody had anything good to say about the last four years how about you?

author: Salam Adil


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Malaysia: Lying Bloggers  · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

S.K. Thew in Malaysia questions Malaysian Information Minister's advice to people asking them to give more weight to what they read on mainstream media compared to blogs.


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Mexico: Regulation and Rural Broadband Penetration · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Gilad Lotan reviews an article arguing for telecom regulation reform in Mexico in order to increase broadband penetration.


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Nepal: An impulsive nation · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Nepal Monitor on Nepal as an impulsive nation. “All sorts of crazy stories develop in Kathmandu. If it suits your agenda, you don’t have to verify them. You don’t have to second-guess them. They help in news media’s feeding frenzy. You don’t have to explain them. They help create a level of suspense.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Nepal: Art and Truth · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Deepak's Diary on an artist – Laxman Shrestha. “He says he embarked on the journey searching for the answer for his question of truth. “I found it in art,” he says, “therefore painting for me is a penance.”


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Panama: Semana Santa Recipes · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Melissa de Leon reminds readers that “in Panama and the rest of Latin America, Holy Week and Lent are among the most important dates on the calendar.” Here's a great introduction to the importance of Holy Week in Latin America along with some tasty recommendations for what to cook.


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Part One: Inside the school of the Egyptian blogosphere · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

It is being made clear almost daily that the dynamism of the Egyptian bloggers isn’t just online; the country's activist bloggers are also highly engaged on the street as well. They've been playing an active part in the pro-democracy reform movement which is contesting Mubarak‘s long reign; they're present at almost every sit-in and demonstration, supporting the Kifaya National Movement for Change and using blogs, text messaging, videos and photos to expose police abuses during rallies, and even inside police stations.
In other words, the Egyptians aren't merely sitting in front of their computer screens, blogging about the change they'd like to see happen — they are deeply committed to being a part of the process. By acting as watchdogs on the government and on the country's mainstream media, they have gained credibility beyond their local audience and attracted the attention of regional and international media that is following their every move.
Rarely does a week pass by without news about the arrest of one or more Egyptian bloggers. On March 15 2007, three bloggers were arrested –- then released the same day — for taking part in a protest against the controversial constitutional amendments which were approved by Egypt’s parliament on March 19. On March 20, three more bloggers, MaLeK (aka MaLcoLM X), Mohammad Gamal (aka Gimihood) and Mina (aka Haj Girgis), were arrested en route to a sit-in in front of the People’s Assembly in Cairo. They were also released the same day.
Last month, on February 22, the Egyptian court sentenced the 22-year-old blogger Abdel Kareem Soliman (aka Kareem Amer) to four years in prison for insulting Islam and president Hosni Mubarak on his personal blog. Furthermore, on the March 12, Judge Abdel Fattah Mourad, head of the Alexandria Appeal Court,  upheld Kareem’s four-year prison sentence and prepared to launch a lawsuit to block 21 blogs and websites for “defaming Egypt’s image and insulting the president.” Hossam el-Hamalawy republished on his blog the following message from blogger Amr Gharbeia:
The list, 21-websites-long, includes the blogs and sites that took part in the discussion around the book the Judge has written, and the wide plagiarism evident in the book copying HRInfo’s report on Internet Freedoms in the Arab World, and a how-to-blog guide written by blogger Bent Masreya.
Of the 21 blogs and website, I was able so far to confirm Kifaya’s and HRInfo’s websites, in addition to the blogs of Bent Masreya, Yehia Megahed, and my own.
However, and despite the power and the unity that characterize the Egyptian blogshpere, many believe that the Egyptian regime, using the stratagem of sowing discord by condemning Kareem Amer, has succeeded in dividing Egyptian bloggers into two camps: the Islamists, who criticize the way Kareem was writing about Islam and Muslims and, in a way, support his condemnation; and the liberals, who are defending Kareem's rights and campaigning for his release. According to Elijah Zarwan, a Cairo-based researcher for Human Rights Watch, “many of the people who defended Kareem in the Egyptian blogosphere strenuously objected, publicly or privately, to some of his writings. But they still defended his right to express his views. In any case, as the Egyptian blogosphere grows, it is becoming more reflective of the diversity and pluralism of Egypt itself. Kareem didn't divide the blogosphere. It wasn't unified to begin with.”
Even if the core activist bloggers are linked to the Kifaya movement, we are also witnessing how the Egyptian political blogsphere is changing, as young activists from the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest and oldest Islamic movement, have started using blogs to raise awareness of their cause and actively campaigning for the release of members of their movement  who have been jailed.
But why is nobody in the West talking about this new development, which certainly will affect the entire region, given the central leadership role of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Sunni Muslim world? The Egyptian organization has been, since its creation in 1928, a major source of inspiration to all Islamic parties across the region. Is the mainstream media, especially the western media, by focusing on “liberal” bloggers while ignoring those with an Islamic slant, applying a double-standard in their coverage of the Egyptian blogosphere? Elijah Zarwan believes, however, that the international media's lack of focus on the Islamist blogs is a question of ignorance, “both of the blogs’ existence, and of the Arabic language,” and the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood blogs are a relatively new phenomenon.
A few weeks ago, Mohamed Nanabhay blogged about The Changing Face of Arab Blogs, raising an important point:
And now that the Muslim Brothers from Egypt are blogging, it would be interesting to see how much weight Global Voices (and other bloggers) give to these voices.
During a presentation entitled “Blogging Where Speech Isn't Free” at the recent South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, Global Voices co-founder Ethan Zuckerman answered the question:
solidarity and a willingness to agitate for speech for all threatened bloggers, not just the ones we agree with – we’ve got to be prepared to support Muslim Brotherhood bloggers in Egypt as well as dissidents like Karim.
In Part Two of this article, I interview three young Egyptian bloggers. Read it to gain an insight into the highly organized Egyptian blogosphere, and how bloggers’ perceive their role in this new, turbulent phase in the history of the country.

author: sami ben gharbia