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Mexico: Update on Swine Flu Outbreak · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

“The Infection is Fear” is the title of a regularly updated post on his blog Intersections about the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico City.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Morocco: Al Quds Al Arabi’s 20th Anniversary · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Morocco, Cinema and Movies marks the 20th birthday of Arabic language newspaper Al Quds Al Arabi. “In my country, it is sad to hear from time to time that some journalists are given bribes to keep their thoughts hidden.However,there are others just like our modest newspaper, Al qods Al Arabi choose to fight for the truth and rightfulness,” notes blogger Allal El Alaoul.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Pakistan: Death Penalty Mandatory for Blasphemy · Global Voices
Rezwan

KO blog reports that according to a new law in Pakistan penal code, death penalty is now mandatory for blasphemy convicts.

author: Rezwan


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Palestine: Reading Anna in the Middle East  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian-American Sarah, at Reflections of a Cultural Mutt, attends the book signing of Anna Baltzer, the author of Anna in the Middle East and shares her reflections: “It was such a powerful presentation, and so refreshing to hear someone non-Arab speak so passionately about the injustice and oppression of another people.”


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Qatar: Video of Unpaid Workers Sparks Debate · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The harsh realities facing migrant workers in Qatar was at the centre of a discussion on Qatar Living after an Al Jazeera English report highlighted their plight recently.
The video zooms in on the lives of construction workers, whose livelihood was impacted by the economic crisis, some of whom haven't be paid for up to four months.
Salam kicks off the discussion on the above video saying:
Ugly reality, cannot accept it, but have to put it up with it, until the issue is addressed from the roots.
No excuse for injustice and cruelty. I wish I didn't watch the video.
Fishermanalex adds:
this is the dark side of the story
no fancy cars,no high class clothes  no malls no hotel just hard work and no money
Salam retorts:
Even though this issue has been raised, by the media, several hundred times, but this is maybe the only pressing exposure, that will force this kind of aching slavery to an end. I hope I live to see it buried soon, once and for all!
Mind you, the world is suffering from enslaving in other shapes and forms.
Hagar thinks this problem is region-wide:
This goes on all over the Gulf. The workers at the bottom of the food chain have little recourse. To not pay them is, of course, illegal, but the State will not act against the companies in a timely manner. There is little the workers can do, even if they never get paid. People go to prison here all the time for not paying their debts. When do we ever here of a company owner or official going to prison for not paying their workers (although the crime here is greater).
And tallg notes his surprise that the Qatar-based Al Jazeera is tackling this issue:
The plight of workers not being paid is something we're all to aware of and not at all surprising any more. What is surprising is that Al Jazeera are reporting it.
Meanwhile, Cynbob is under the assumption that Al Jazeera‘s report will help solve those workers problems:
Bravo Al Jazeera—perhaps now, because of Al Jazeera's credibility here in this region, these laborers can get paid.
These companies need to stop “passing the buck” so that these people can receive their hard earned money.
Do the right thing. This is beyond pitiful.  It is criminal.
Farafreeexpat adds:
I cannot believe for the life of me, that people who work round the clock in very harsh and unbearable weather conditions are not paid their meagre wages and still be be treated like this?! As less humans?! This is the height of INJUSTICE and what makes matters worse is the fact that the Labourers cannot collectively voice out their grievance, no voice, no union!!!!
Is there a reason why they should be treated this way? Aren't they human beings like every other man driving fast cars and spending thousands of Riyals in one night?
The earlier the media exposes this INJUSTICE, the better the whole world knows that there is a modernized version of slavery….. —-! World's richest country!
For more reactions, click here.


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Russia, Ukraine: Swine Flu Prevention · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Short updates on anti-swine flu measures taken in Russia and Ukraine – at IZO: here, here, here, here, here, and here.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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South Africa: ANC and Democratic Alliance 2004 versus 2009 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Michael Trapido compares the results of the African National Congress (ANC) and Democratic Alliance (DA) in the 2009 election with those that they achieved in 2004.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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South Africa: ANC’s psychological blow · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The mighty ANC was on Saturday given a psychological blow when the final election results confirmed that it had lost its two-thirds majority, notes South African blogger Joe Social.


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South Africa: Newspaper makes wrong results call · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A South African newspaper makes a wrong results call: While clearly nowhere near as disastrous as that, I was amused this morning to find that the Weekender newspaper dated 25 April 2009 has made a similar mistake by “calling” the results of the Western Cape poll prematurely.


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South Africa: UnFreedom Day in South Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sokari writes about Fredom Day in South Africa: Today is Freedom Day in South Africa. However for many in SA the notion of freedom is as illusive as ever as under the new apartheid where the poor are disenfranchised and excluded through the Kwa Zula-Natal Slums Act.


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South Africa: Why I miss South Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Rod explains why he misses South Africa: As I watch the electoral process unfold in SA from China I feel proud of my country. My heart jolted as I wrote the words, “my country”. The elections are being done peacefully, democratically.


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Sri Lanka: Provincial Council Election Results · Global Voices
Rezwan

Lanka Libertarian posts updates of the results of the elections of the Western Provincial Council in Sri Lanka.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Re-engineering · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“In Trinidad and Tobago engineers and scientist are not encouraged to build and innovate”: This Beach Called Life explains.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Ukraine: Art Exhibits; Kyiv Pics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

IZO writes about some of Kyiv's current art exhibitions, and posts a few random pictures from the streets of the Ukrainian capital: “The place is rich in facture, people don't seem to mind your taking them, and you don't feel you're going to be asked to desist, or worse, by the police.


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Morocco: AIDS, Money and Sex Toys · Global Voices
Hisham Almiraat

Morocco has a low prevalence of the HIV infection, compared to other African countries. According to official figures, 2,800 Moroccans have presented the symptoms of the disease, whilst 22,300 have been infected and live with the virus, since the discovery of the illness in the 1980s. A day of campaigning, information and screening of HIV/AIDS was organized throughout the country on April 25.
Looking out to Sea by gwgs on Flickr.
The country has a reputation of tolerance, and although this is mainly a young and fairly open society there are still instances of prejudices suffered by people infected with the virus, and the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS as blogger Miloud reminds us:
ينظر المجتمع المغربي إلى هؤلاء المصابين باحتقار أحيانا وبخوف في أحايين أخرى، فالمغاربة يعتبرون أن السيدا لعنة إلهية تصيب المرء عقابا على سلوكه المنحرف البعيد عن الأخلاق والدين الإسلامي، وبناء على ذلك ينبذون المصابين […] يعيشون وسط القلق والاكتئاب والميولات الانتحارية بسبب هذا النبذ الاجتماعي وعدم التفهم الذي قد يكون في كثير من الأحيان من طرف أقرب الأقرباء.
Gay-Maroc-Musul, a blog interested in Moroccan gay issues, reminds us how financing is important and explains how NGOs, including the Moroccan prominent Anti-Aids association ALCS, who have met with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on April 22nd, to ask for more funds for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, have been disappointed by the minister's response:
[Les associations] ont fait valoir que le Fond Mondial n’avait plus assez de ressources pour financer tous les projets techniquement et scientifiquement validés qui lui sont soumis par les pays les plus pauvres. Mais Bernard Kouchner a clairement exclu toute augmentation de la France au Fonds mondial, confirmant juste le maintien de son financement actuel.
The HIV-AIDS pandemic has undeniably transformed the approach of many countries toward sexual questions that have long been considered taboo, especially in conservative societies. And as the Moroccan society tries to figure out the best way to fight the infection, and as discussions on sexual matters get more and more open throughout the blogosphere, we learn about signs of “sexual emancipation” as some would call it. According to Vanessa Pellegrin, a journalist based in Casablanca and blogging on the collective blog Casawaves:
Contrairement aux idées reçues, les marocaines (surtout celles âgées entre 20 et 25 ans) sont friandes [de sextoys]. Mis à part les commandes privées faites à une amie qui s’envolerait pour l’Europe, et qui ramènerait avec elle un jouet coquin sous le manteau, il existe de vrais réseaux, parfaitement discrets et organisés qui se chargent de vendre ces jouets pour adultes.
This post provoked a passionate and frenzied response.

author: Hisham Almiraat


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Armenia: Joke of the Day · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped says joke of the day in Armenia is news that the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) are now calling themselves an opposition political party. Having left the ruling coalition government yesterday in protest at talk of possible reconciliation between estranged neighbors Armenia and Turkey, the blog says that the nationalist party is out of touch with reality.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bermuda, Turks & Caicos: Better Representation · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Vexed Bermoothes is disappointed in his Premier's performance at the recently concluded Fifth Summit of the Americas: “I wish he had stuck to working for Bermudians’ benefit rather than playing cheerleader for the discredited TCI administration.”


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Cambodia: Road accidents · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Road and traffic accidents have been increasing in Cambodia, especially in the capital city of Phnom Penh.

author: Mong Palatino


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Caribbean: When Pigs Fly?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The idiom “when pigs fly” is not a popular one in the Caribbean these days as regional bloggers, like the rest of the world, keep a close eye on the Swine Flu threat.
Bloggers from Cuba, the regional territory geographically situated the closest to Mexico, where the outbreak appears to have originated, are understandably very interested in the latest developments.  Circles Robinson, writing at Havana Times, seems confident in his country's ability to stave off the threat:
No cases of swine flu have been reported so far on the island. Over recent years Cuba has developed a system to face possible epidemics after the spread in some countries of bird flu.
The authorities recommended that the population ‘step up personal and collective hygiene including covering the mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing, frequently washing hands and maintaining cleanliness at homes and workplaces, as well as seeking medical attention when necessary.’
Experts are rushing to estimate just how dangerous the new Type A (H1N1) swine flu strain will be, gathering data on the outbreak in Mexico and other countries.
Cuba is known for its nationwide civil defense network that last year had to confront three powerful hurricanes.
Meanwhile, Along the  Malecón, tongue firmly in cheek, says:
The Cuban government's ability to organize the masses and oblige people to comply comes in handy when trying to prevent an outbreak of disease. Authorities have proven that in their campaign against dengue fever, for instance.
The Cubans’ organizational skill also comes through whenever authorities need to prepare for a hurricane, stage a mass rally or bring out people to vote (Option A: Fidel. Option B: Fidel. Option C: Fidel).
I know, I know…Cubans have their own style of democracy.
Girl With a Purpose reports that the Jamaican government is taking no chances:
The Ministry of Health has put Jamaica on a Swine Flu Alert.
This means that all ports of entry to the island, are being watched carefully by Health officials, to identify travellers from Mexico, USA and Canada, who may be infected with the virus…there have been Health Desks set up at the island's two international airports…which are being manned by nurses.
The blogger herself appears to be following the Jamaican authorities’ lead: the rest of her post is chock full of practical information on protecting yourself against the disease.
Further away from the source of the outbreak is Guyana, although the country's close proximity to Colombia, which has reportedly identified a few cases of the outbreak within its borders, has blogger Imran Khan paying attention:
I do not believe that it is yet time to panic but certainly the 12 suspected cases of swine flu in Colombia must be cause for concern.
The Minister of Health says we have little to worry about but stay safe people. While once pork is thoroughly it should bring no harm you may want to consider what and where you eat. It may be the safest thing, as far as possible, to prepare your own food until this whole thing passes.
Bermuda's Catch a fire and Trinidad and Tobago's Coffeewallah, however, really feel for the Mexican people during this trying time.  Catch a fire says that the last thing Mexico needed on top of the Swine Flu outbreak was an earthquake:
For a country already under extreme stress from the flu outbreak, especially its medical services, this is not exactly helpful. I am a bit unsure whether everyone staying at home is a good thing or not here – less people in crowded areas to be injured, but more chances of people being in buildings that could fall.
And the potential for this to accelerate the spread of the flu there is, well, its not a pretty thought at the moment.
Coffeewallah, who met the Mexican President at the recently concluded Fifth Summit of the Americas, adds:
Today I really feel for President Calderon…my heart is with him in Cuidad Mexico rocked by a 6.0 earthquake and ravaged by swine flu.  Very Animal Farm, makes you wonder really if Mother Nature is exacting her revenge on us. That'll teach us stupid humans. The Mexican economy which was doing okay is now going to take a hit. Mexican products, tourism and people are taking a blow that is simply not fair, one hopes that they will weather this storm and come out the other side soon.
Vaya con dios mis amigos.
Barbados Free Press is already seeing the fallout that the outbreak is having on the local travel industry, but is realistic about the situation:
No man and no nation can control the wind, tides and the seas. And so it is with swine flu. Nothing that Barbados did contributed to the outbreak, and little that Barbados does will matter on an international scale. Our government has instituted a watch at Grantley Adams international Airport, but realistically that is about all that can be done.
But Abeni, who blogs from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, is at the stage where she is dreaming about “pigs, virus giving pigs.  Pigs contaminated with flu and gleefully infecting us all”:
Everywhere I looked people were wearing masks as if Soufriere had erupted and we had to protect ourselves from sulphur and ash.  I saw long lines at the hospital looking for vaccines that were either nonexistent or insufficient to meet the demands.  Disappointed persons could be heard wondering aloud if corilla and other forms of bush medicine were strong enough to fight off this threat.  Meantime, visions of Stephen King's The Stand were dancing in my head.
Then I woke up and first thing on the television was news that this flu thing cannot be contained.  Now I'm wondering if my island has the capacity to handle it should it arrive on our shores.
Barbadian diaspora blogger Doan Mind Me, on the other hand, seems unconcerned, writing a humourously quirky post – which he calls the “book of Pork-etry” – suggesting, with a vigourous nod to George Orwell‘s Animal Farm, that the swine of the world are somehow getting their comeuppance:
Chapter 12…
2. For were not the swine saved also by Noah in his ark at the bequest of the Lord? And if then swine be so unclean why did God choose at that moment to not smite us or choose not to have us drown or become extinct like the dinosaurs or the dodos? (Gotcha!)…
6. And in later days when religion started to hold less sway in the world and the world became more secular, and the cows were stricken by the deadly Jacob Crutzfeldt, there was hope that our ribs, succulent bacon and pigtails would find a new niche and finally be recognized for the value that they hold.
7. But there arose ones called nutritionists and health food fanatics and other heretics to continue with the crusade against our flesh saying pork is unhealthy and our meat was not readily digestible and other such obscene lies which made the people afraid and turned the people even further against us.
8. But alas enough is enough for vengeance is thine saith the lord and is he not lord of all swine-don (as opposed to all Swindon which I think is a spot in the UK).
9. So verily it came to me hence in a vision. The time for revenge is nigh on hand.
10. Let them again blame us for this swine flu but let all shudder in fear…
12. And there arose a great noise like the terror of an intense thunderstorm as the assembled hosts oinked loudly in support and the council of swine-don murmured in appreciation of the oration of Napoleon and approved of his idea to use the swine flu as a weapon against the anti-swine-ites and the haters of ham.
13. And so it came to pass.


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Central & Eastern Europe: Racism Roundup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot writes about Poland's boycott of the UN conference on fighting racism; Hungarian Spectrum writes about the Hungarian Guard and Holocaust denial; coverage of Slovenia's neo-Nazis – here and here, by Sleeping With Pengovsky, as well as here, by Piran Cafe; Borut Peterlin posts photos from an anti-fascist rally in Ljubljana; a post on Belgrade's gypsies – at Bill's Blog.


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China: A citizen campaign to reveal the forgotten dead  · Global Voices
Bob Chen

从车上下来的高举冲锋枪的警察高喊“把手举起来，原地不要动”这个只有大片中才有的场景让我有些不知所措。
In his blog, Li Peifeng so recalled his encounter with the police in Si-chuan. No smuggling, no robbery, all he was doing is simple – he was volunteering. But his story is no less exciting and hair-raising than any thriller. He was chased by Chinese police.
A covered fact
As the anniversary of Si-chuan Earthquake, the devastating disaster that claimed over 80000 on May, 12 last year is approaching, China has to pick up the heavy, heartrending topic again. But for many parents whose children were buried in rubble, their nightmare has never gone away for the entire year.
The government failed to publish a complete list of the victims in Si-chuan earthquake. There are only cold numbers of death toll while their names, age, and reasons of death remain unknown.  In particular, the names of student victims are seen as a top secret.
Los Angles Times explained,
The possibility that corruption might have been involved in the building of schools is the most politically sensitive aspect of the earthquake post-mortem.
According to an official announcement last year, over 6000 students died at the earthquake. Schools collapsed at an extraordinary high rate compared to other buildings standing nearby. In Beichuan, the county middle school had its two floors sunk into the ground.
Netizens and bloggers, scrutinizing pictures of the relic, found that the wreckage exposed the scarcity of steel girders, which should have been a major supporting component.
Premier Wen Jiabao, inspecting the area devastated, has avowed to tell the public who should be responsible for the shoddy works. But the promise has not yet been fulfilled. Though the recently released National Human Rights Action Plan has emphasized on a state effort to register names of victims, Blogger Ai Xiaoming felt frustrated,
5·12地震过去即将一周年，人们遗憾地看到，到目前为止，尚未有任何一份有关灾区垮塌学校建筑质量的专家调查报告得到公布；公众不仅难以查询到某一学校垮塌原因的详细信息和鉴定结论，而且也不了解这一调查过程到底持续了多久、经过了怎样的程序、是由哪些单位以及责任人实施的.
校舍倒塌，除了天災，究竟有沒有”豆腐渣工程”的人禍？哪些有？哪些沒有？遇難學生的家長需要一個答案，但政府卻再三推搪，連最基本的遇難學生確切人數，至今都無法公佈。
The blogger also noted that the public propaganda had already set the tone about who is to blame:
四川地方媒体数家报纸在2008年6月25日同一天登出了同样内容的报道，标题为 《地震是毁房罪魁 幸存者应理性看未来>。
Citizen volunteers, a vulnerable new force
江油市局的警察曾拿着打印的我的照片到旅馆，跟老板说“这个人是一个犯人，看见他的话通知我们”，我可不想再被他们连夜送往“到了你就知道了”的地方了。
—–Volunteer Yang Licai , ‘investigation diary’.
What the government has failed to accomplish, citizens were going to take over. Ai Weiwei, a Beijing artist known for co-designing the “Bird's Nest” Olympic stadium, launched a small project that sends volunteers to Si-chuan for investigation. They knocked at the doors one after another, visited families with victims, and tried to interview school officials.
In this way, the volunteers have managed to detail as many as 6000 names of dead students.
However, it was so costly a process. Ai Weiwei's predecessor Tan Zuoren was the first victim of the government's effort to prevent such investigation. The Los Angles Times reported,
Tan Zuoren, a literary editor and environmentalist who was creating an archive of children killed in collapsing schools, was arrested in March 2009 on charges of subverting state authority, according to Amnesty International. It said his dog was stabbed and his computer stolen in a pattern of harassment leading to his arrest.
Tan Zuoren's project kicked off in February. He appealed to people on the internet and mustered an army of self-organized volunteers. Asia Times reported that
他的好友、四川作家冉雲飛感慨：”你是一個鬍子拉碴的堂*吉柯德，一些自詡聰明的人甚至不無暗諷你的大戰風車，但你依然故我，做著你的調查與努力。”
他被拘時，只有十五歲的小女兒在家，她說：”四五個人沖進來，有人穿著警服，有人沒有，他們出示了證件，然後抄家，然後帶走爸爸。爸爸一句話都沒有說。”
Ai Weiwei is determined to finish Tan's plan. In his blog, he published a batch of phone records that noted down how officials turned down his request of a complete list with names and schools of the killed students. The verbal fights between Ai and staff from a variety of departments are sometimes bitterly amusing. In most cases, Ai was redirected to some other bureaus. 150 phone calls were noted down. But no concrete answer was given
Later, Ai launched his long-term project. Hepublished a notice about his campaign on his blog
2008年12月15日，我们开始了“5.12汶川地震死亡学生”的调查整理工作，在多次向四川省政府民政，公安和教育机构要求公布死亡学生人数及名单,遭到拒绝的情况下，通过网络信息线索，对地震重灾区域进行了实地走访调查。在2009年5月12日的地震周年到来之前，完善这份“汶川地震死亡学生”名单。拒绝死亡，尊重生命，寄托哀思，告慰亡灵。

author: Bob Chen


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China: Tracking swine flu on Twitter · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Swine flu for China so far is a chance to reflect [zh] on how SARS was prevented from becoming a pandemic, and the steps being taken now in Mexico and elsewhere.
Wang Jiadong has a post [zh] looking at how social media have been used to track the spread of outbreaks, from trending topics on the China Google to #hashmarks at the Twitter search engine, introducing the global Google swine flu map to his readers along with the QQ version.
The tech community at cnBeta have posted on the American CDC's [zh] use of Twitter and YouTube to disseminate the latest information, and are actively discussing the situation in the comments:
能评论吗
吃猪肉能传染么？
如果中国的什么疾病控制中心用QQ发布某信息…… 那估计很多人就要喷代谢产物 ~~ 你觉得呢？
看看人家国家~~再看看天朝gov 。差异啊~
就是你这种人…… 外国用所谓的这些软件发布就是潮流要是国内 用什么QQ发布 估计你就要来喷代谢产物 了! 不要看外国的月亮的时候那么崇拜 实际上你这么崇拜人家 人家未必把你当啥东西看
Twitter真是个肥猪流网站! 这么废品 的功能就想不明白为什么这么多人要用？？难道这就是外国人思想观念比较新的具体体现了？
差距是有的，但是和十几年前的中国比起来，现在进步了很多，应该鼓励不能嘲讽
An earlier cnBeta post [zh] noted that usage of the #swineflu had reached a rate of 10,000/hour. A commenter there points out that the @CDCEmergency Twitter account had already reached 25,000 followers, to which another reader writes:
中国非典，禽流感的时候，又不见消息这么灵通？好了，现在其它国家有疫情了，中国就哇哇哇地宣传。果真是那样，三句话总结新闻联播:前十分钟,领导们很忙;中十分钟,全国人民很幸福;后十分钟,世界上其他国家的人民都生活在水深火热之中。

author: John Kennedy


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China: Why people don’t use voicemail · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Instant talking, with interruption, anytime, anywhere. Jian Shuo Wang looks back at why voicemail failed to take off in China and remains unpopular today.


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Cuba: Right to Travel  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Hasn’t it been said already—by enough voices—that the requirement for permission to leave and enter Cuba has to be repealed?”: Generation Y wants to know “What more has to happen to stop them from hijacking this right from us?”


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Czech Republic: Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Czech roundup: Czechmatediary – on the new translation of the Bible into contemporary Czech and on Albert Einstein's Prague connection; CzechFolks.com – on xenophobia, job market, and the Brno Expats Forum online community; The Journeys of Captain Oddsocks – on bone churches and the liberation of Plzeň 64 years ago; The Czech Daily Word – on the Brno Reservoir and the fight against graffiti in Brno.


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Ecuador: Reminiscing About Guayaquil · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Raul Farias of Al Lado del Camino [es] takes some friends on a tour of the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador and reminisces about his days as a child in the neighborhood of Las Peñas.


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Egypt: Interviewing a Baha’i Assailant · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

Egyptian blogger Ibn Rushd interviewed one of the Baha'i assailants.
Here's a translation of the interview, in which the assailant admits to his role in the burning of six homes belonging to Baha'i families in the village of Shoraneya:
I met Mohamed by mere coincidence in a local bread bakery in Boulac El Dakrour in Giza. When Mohamed learnt that I am a journalist, he smiled at me saying: “Do you know that I am one of the Shoraneya heroes?” His use of the word “hero” made me wonder so I asked him to elaborate.
The interview ended right there and then, as Mostafa Fathy wrote:

author: Marwa Rakha


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Egypt: Stigmatized by AIDS · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

According to the UNICEF, reported HIV prevalence is low in Egypt – ranging from 2,900 to 13,000 individuals – but there is very limited access to information for those most at risk and weak provisions for people living with HIV. Most reported HIV cases are transmitted through unprotected heterosexual sex, 90 per cent of Egyptian women who live with HIV were infected within marriage, and Egypt has a very high level of Hepatitis C infection, a virus with similar modes of transmission to HIV. A group of bloggers and independent media personalities are supporting the “Openness” initiative that is anti-stigmatizing AIDS patients, and calls for their integration in society instead of alienating them further by educating people on how to deal with them to avoid getting infected.
In response to Enas Lotfy's invitation, several bloggers posted the following message on their blogs:
شهادات حية لمتعايشين مع فيروس مرض الأيدز.
لقاء مع قادة دينيين ونظرة الدين لمرض الأيدز والمتعايشين معه.
حوار مفتوح مع بعض أعلام الفن والصحافة.
-مبادرة صراحة: مبادرة المدونين العرب في التجاوب مع مرض الأيدز
Bloggers from Egypt supporting the initiative include: Ahmed Shokeir, Hany George, Sherif Abdel Aziz, Amro Ezzat, Radwa Osama, Mina Zekri, Osama Abdel Aal, Marianne Nagy, Ahmed Zidan, Basma Moussa, Zahraa, Mahmoud Ezzat, Asmaa, Enas Lotfy, Ramez Sharkawy, Randa Abul Dahab, Mona Zidan, Shamie Assad, Abdel Moneim Mahmoud, Ghada Abdel Aal, Marwa Rakha, and many more.


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Egypt: Wandering Internet Trolls · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

Wandering Scarab posted an interesting note on the four types of Internet trolls: “creatures that wander into forums and blogs, with malicious intent to generally interrupt online discussions by flinging their excrement everywhere, and inciting others into responding emotionally.”


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Fiji: New rule creates thousands of retirees · Global Voices
Michael Hartsell

A recent government decree in Fiji orders all civil servants 55 years and older must retire Thursday, April 30. The new rules affect any person working within Fiji’s government, police force and prisons service. Previously, those workers would be employed until turning 60.
The mandate excludes the commissioner of Fiji’s police or prisons or the head of Fiji’s military.
Debate continues on the total number of forced retirees who will leave the workforce on the last day of April. Fiji’s Public Service Commission permanent secretary told the media more than 1600 civil servants will be affected, including 15 doctors, 97 nurses and more than 800 teachers. One blog calculates perhaps 2200 government workers could be out of work.
In order to continue necessary services, the government will allow workers with “scarce skills” to be eligible for re-employment on 12-month contracts. Those professions include doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers and other technical officers.
A post at Coup Four And A Half, the blog providing the 2200 statistic, reports that the influx of recent retirees could provide liquidity issues for the country’s retirement financial plan, Fiji National Provident Fund.
With the deteriorating economy and rising inflation due to devaluation, it's expected that most of those retiring will want to withdraw their money all at once, instead of taking the pension scheme under which the calculated percentage of their funds is paid out once a month.
The interim regime has publicly stated that all those retiring at the age of 55 should depend on their FNPF savings to sustain them for the rest of their life and cater for the needs of their families.
Sources say it will be interesting to see whether the FNPF allows members to take their money out in a lump-sum.
Raw Fiji News also predicts most retirees will take their money out immediately. The fund’s manager affirmed all retirees will be paid according to their pension options.
The new retirement regulations arrive when Fiji’s economy is under strain. It has been hit by the global economic slowdown, hurting the tourist and agriculture industries; the recent devaluation of its currency by 20 percent has raised fears of inflation. On top of that, Moody’s Investor Services downgraded the country’s credit ratings by two notches because of “political instability.”
The Intillentsiya blog argues Fiji’s taxpayers will eventually foot the bill for the mass retirements.
Eradicating all those over 55 (with the privileged exceptions of Bainimarama & Teleni) from the face of the civil service is just irrational. Especially as we all know there are no set internal means in existence within the civil service to capture their institutional knowledge of where things are at, upon their departure. It is simply impossible to capture it all within a span of day’s (there are some reports of instant departures) whereas normally institutional knowledge is embedded into organizational procedures and structures. The fact that there will be a helluva lot of extra workloads thrown upon the remaining civil servants to deal with is almost guaranteeing worse off service outcomes to taxpayers. In effect the taxpayers once again bear the brunt of this flawed and illegal decree…
The economic fall0ut of this flawed policy and illegal decree will be severe. Assuming that these 1,000 or so over-55er’s were on a conservatively estimated salary of FJD$30K that essentially boils down to savings of about $30mill from now on. Which is dandy for Bainimarama’s continued illegal empire building.
However the other end of the spectrum also means that there is a $30mill LESS floating actively within the economy (goods, services) and it will fall upon the illegal regime to somehow subsidize normal government mandated services.
It also means there’s less taxes for collection and therefore even less income for custodians of our national coffers at FIRCA to depend on for next year’s budget.
The superannuation custodians FNPF can also expect similar trends.
The retirement regulations are problematic to a few bloggers who point out that Royal Fiji Military Force commander Bainimarama, who turned 55 April 27, has been excluded from them. Tim Selwyn, in a post at the New Zealand-based Tumeke blog, says the forced retirements will allow the government to do away with troublesome army officers.
It is no coincidence that Bainimarama turns 55 on 27 April and that he can force any state employee to retire that is 55 just three days later. It may be utter hypocrisy, but it is also a classic Alpha Male move to eliminate the senior ranking rival males – the MO of the bully/thug military man.
The retirement exemptions are the means the military will use to sack the good sorts of government officials that resist – in any way – the “new legal order.” The sorts of people that refused to obey the Commodore the first time around in 2006 and who continued to operate their departments without reference to what they knew was an illegal authority. He had to send troops into some of these offices because the senior civil servants refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of his regime – and the Appeal Court upheld that Bainimarama's government was and is illegal. These are good people with a genuine ethic of maintaining a first class neutral public service. These people will be forced to retire and the Commodore can move his military men and other pro-regime supporters in – regardless of merit and competence and with no mind for the rule of law.
Earlier this year, Commodore Frank Bainimarama’s interim government fought and won a case against two public sector unions allowing it to reduce the civil servant retirement age from 60 years to 55. A few weeks later, the Supreme Court allowed the two unions to appeal the case, granting a stay in the new rules.
The stay was nullified after the country’s president, reacting to a court case questioning the legality of the Bainimarama government, abrogated the constitution, fired the entire judiciary and made himself head-of-state. He then reappointed the Bainimarama government to a five-year mandate.
During the retirement case, the Bainimarama government argued the 55 year rule will free needed cash for the government, allow older civil servants to enter the private sector with new businesses and, more importantly, permit Fiji’s bulging young population a place in the workforce. One analysis showed that Fiji’s private sector has only been able to handle one-half of the new job seekers each year.

author: Michael Hartsell


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Honduras: No Cases of Swine Flu Yet · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

No cases of the swine flu have been reported in Honduras, but with suspected illnesses in neighboring Guatemala, Leonidas Mejia of Janpedrano Blog [es] writes that it may be a matter of time that it reaches his country.


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Hungary: Critical Mass 2009 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Budapest Guide posts pictures from this year's Critical Mass rally.


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Hungary: NY Times’ Coverage · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pestiside.hu writes about the New York Times’ coverage of Hungary.


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Hungary: Péter Esterházy · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum writes about Péter Esterházy, a Hungarian writer.


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India: A Peek Into The Young Voters · Global Voices
Rezwan

Kamla Bhatt profiles an young voter from Trivandrum, Kerala to understand who the young voters of the Indian elections 2009 are and what are their issues.


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India: Analysis Of Elections 2009 – Phase 2  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Offstumped Campaign for Elections 2009 provides an analysis of the second phase of the Indian elections 2009.


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India: Showing The Middle Finger · Global Voices
Rezwan

Über Desi reports that according to “a new ruling by The Election Commission of India, voting officials in certain polling stations are now marking middle fingers with the purple ink, instead of index fingers.” This has sent vibes across many bloggers who are trying to analyze what the voters are trying to say proudly displaying their middle finger marked with purple ink.


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Indian Elections 2009: God and Country · Global Voices
Bhumika Ghimire

The ongoing elections in India have exposed deep fractures in the country's religious landscape. Blogs are buzzing with allegations and counter allegations of religious persecutions in the land where you can find devotee of every major religion in the world.
Persecution of Christians is a hot topic among Indian and foreign bloggers. Violence against Christians in the state of Orissa is the most widely commented topics on the issue of intolerance against Christians in the country.
Here is Sandhya, a citizen journalist for Instablogs reporting on the Hindu-Christian clashes. The title of this video is provided by the journalist, not by author of this blog or Global Voices.
While there is strong presence of blogs, websites on the issue of alleged persecution of Christians, some Indian bloggers and foreign journalists have negated those claims:
Francois Gautier, a French journalist, discussed the issue back in 2001, long before the Orissa violence:
“Now to come to the recent cases of persecution of Christians in India at the hands of Hindu groups. I have personally investigated quite a few, amongst them the rape of the four nuns in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, nearly two years ago. This rape is still quoted as an example of the “atrocities” committed by Hindus on Christians.
Yet, when I interviewed the four innocent nuns, they themselves admitted, along with George Anatil, the bishop of Indore, that it had nothing to do with religion: It was the doing of a gang of Bhil tribals, known to perpetrate this kind of hateful acts on their own women. Today, the Indian press, the Christian hierarchy and the politicians, continue to include the Jhabua rape in the list of atrocities against Christians.”
At Vijayvaani, Hilda Raja-a retired professor, writes about the ongoing debate on persecution of Christians in India which grew louder as the elections approached:
“The GCIC (Global Council of Indian Christians) has made a grave accusation against the present UPA government – that there may be unfair elections. But it appeals to the same political leaders who cannot ensure even fair elections to guarantee safety for religious minorities (read Christians) and ensure their participation in elections, defend freedom of religion, and bring to justice those who discriminate against Christians. That’s a tall order. If the UPA government till date was not able to ensure all this, how can it do so on the eve of elections?
If carefully scrutinized, the statement calls for throwing out such a government and bringing in one which will fulfill the tall order made by GCIC. Thus, unwittingly, it has accused the UPA under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, an Italian Christian, to have failed in protecting minorities. Another serious accusation made by Abhishek (director, Open Doors) is that the law had been restricted in its application in favour of the Hindu majority and to the disadvantage of minorities such as Christians and Muslims (under Congress-led UPA, I suppose).
Does this mean that he and other organizations with whom he collaborates want to throw out the UPA government which failed minorities and bring in a government which will protect minorities? “
Alleged bias against India's Muslims is also being discussed online. Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan discusses “Indian Muslims and the 2009 Elections – Challenges and Prospects of Political Success” in depth.
He points out the emergence of small regional parties as a viable choice for Muslims who feel alienated by large national parties:
“A new phenomenon this time is the emergence of a number of small Muslim parties. Muslims already have the Indian Union Muslim League in the southern state of Kerala (with 2-3 members of Parliament and a sizable presence in the provincial legislative assembly) and Majlis Ittehadul Muslimin in the southern city of Hyderabad (one member of Parliament and about a dozen in the provincial assembly).
A new Muslim entrant from the last year is the Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF) in the northeastern state of Assam which won nine seats in the provincial assembly elections last year and expects to win 4-5 seat in the current national elections. The AUDF has now stretched its wings to other states too and is fighting elections in a number of northern states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.”
Here is actress Shabana Azami, talking about being Muslim in India. An interesting discussion on bias against Muslims in India.

author: Bhumika Ghimire


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Indonesian minister thinks swine flu could be man-made · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Indonesian Heath Minister Siti Fadilah Supari thinks it is possible that the swine flu could be man-made “to boost pharmaceutical companies’ profits.”


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Nepal: Politics of Energy · Global Voices
Rezwan

Nepali Perspectives comments on the failed power supply deal between India and Nepal: “Nepal’s.. interest will be best served by ensuring energy security and being self reliant in the matters of energy – from our own water resource.”


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Peru: Newspaper Mocks Indigenous Congresswoman’s Spanish Language Proficiency · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Isabel Guerra writing at Living in Peru provides an overview  of a recent case of discrimination and racism by the local newspaper “Correo” for mocking the the indigenous congresswomen Hilaria Supa for her poor proficiency of Spanish. When in fact, she never attended school and Spanish is her second language. Others have come to Supa's defense saying that she represents millions of Peruvians like her.

author: Juan Arellano


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Russia: Sochi Election · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog writes about the results of the Sochi mayoral election.


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Serbia: Belgrade Museum of Aviation · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Bill's Blog writes about a visit to the Belgrade Museum of Aviation.


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St. Lucia: Ideas on the Strike  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As members of the civil service take strike action in St. Lucia, Sun Rain Or… says: “It would be a welcome change is if St. Lucians found the time and impetus not to go back to inaction in between this and the next crisis.”


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St. Lucia: The Heat is On  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Repeating Islands reports that the race for the prestigious position of the Oxford Professor of Poetry has become “decidedly unpoetic”.


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Thailand: Southern militants launch attacks · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Eleven attacks by separatists in southern Thailand were launched last Sunday. A blogger criticizes the lack of in-depth coverage by the local media


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The News of Bantu Mwaura’s death shocks Kenyan bloggers · Global Voices
Njeri Wangari

The news of Bantu Mwaura’s death have caught many with absolute shock.
Bantu Mwaura, an award winning Kenyan performing artist, director, playwright, storyteller, poet and university lecturer is dead.
Bantu Mwaura at the Poetry Africa Festival in South Africa
He was found dead outside his gate at the  Sunlight estate in Nairobi’s Lang’ata area, on Monday (today) morning. His family had reported him missing on Friday evening. Police are  currently investigating the cause of his death.
Bantu was also a  very vocal political and human rights activist and a cultural theorist who  worked mostly with civil society using theatre and performance in human rights and developmental work.
The news was first broken publicly online on a news website by one of the leading Kenyan media companies.
However, a Kenyan Writers group on Google were the first to inform writers, critics and Bantu’s comrades of this tragedy.
Renee Mboya, an artist working with Dreamaker Africa in providing  Economic solutions for the arts posted this on the forum.
Just to say Rest in Peace Bantu Mwaura. Anyone got details…something
about a car jacking on Langata Road. :-(
Other renown Kenyan writers and poets who have worked with Bantu on numerous occasions such as Rasna Warah, Muthoni Garland, Shailja Patel, Al Kags, Binyavanga Wainanina, Phillo Ikonya, Neema Mawiyo and Simiyu Barasa were equally dumbfounded by the news as scanty details of his death tickled in.
It is still not yet clear, what or who killed him.
Yet another young promising Kenyan male has died today. Bantu Mwaura, a
friend, an academic, a brilliant mind passed away today. No news of how or
whether it was murder. More on this when I get more information. I, for one,
will miss him deeply.
Rasna
Although the news of Bantu’s death did not receive any slot on any of the Local TV station’s prime time news, many bloggers, online forums and groups are conveying their condolences as they reminiscence their past encounters with him.
KenyanPoet says this on her blog:
I got to know Bantu through the monthly Kwani open Mic nights in its early days where he never failed to read one or two of his poetry. Most of his poetic work was in criticism of the Kenyan Political scene through sarcasm.
A fellow thespian and activist, Phillo Ikonya who is also the President of PEN International Kenya conveyed her deep shock as she wrote the news to  a Google forum for poets of which I am a member.
My heart goes out to his Family  at this time. I will post more information as I receive it.
Gukira, a blog ran by Keguro  Macharia posted this:
The Tragedy of Bantu Mwaura
I have yet to confirm the circumstances of his death. Assassination and suicide are the two competing narratives.
There are many tragedies here, and I choose an idiosyncratic one: human rights defenders have been assassinated in the past few months, allegedly by government forces. As a result, every single suspicious death of a human rights activist is clouded, and the tag cloud is dominated by government-funded figures.
Peter Kimani, a journalist with the Standard group, says this about Bantu’s death
Bantu Mwaura, who has died at the young age of 40, was a leading light in the Kenyan arts whose star dimmed when the skies were starting to brighten.
I recall the bleakness that engulfed the land at our first meeting 15 years ago. Artistic freedoms were very limited, and those who had dared speak out were either in detention or exiled.
Reclining on a pillar supporting the Rahimtullah Memorial Library in downtown Nairobi, and where Bantu was a star performer, I asked what his dreadlocks meant to him
The Nairobi Chronicle, an on-line journal based in the city of Nairobi, Kenya posted this:
It is still not clear how he died but there are several theories doing the rounds in Nairobi. Speculation ranges from assassination by a government hit squad to suicide. Police are already investigating the death.
The news comes amidst revelations that the dreaded KweKwe squad has been renamed as “Eagle” squad. The mission of Eagle Squad is to kill anyone it suspects of having links to Mungiki.
CapitalFM, a Kenyan radio station has also posted the news of Bantu’s Death in a story written by Bernard Momanyi:
Dr Mwaura died on Sunday night but many of his friends and former students at the University of Nairobi said they learnt of the death on Monday afternoon.
“I cannot believe Dr Mwaura is dead, he was such a good lecturer. He taught me two years ago,” a former student at the University of Nairobi said.
It is clear from the comments posted in the various online spaces that many have not yet come to terms with this tragedy.
Incognito posted this comment on the Capital News website(April 28th, 2009, 8:57 AM)
I still cant believe that Bantu is really dead…it so breaks my heart for Bantu was the rarest of species, a free spirit that roamed the world freely and he touched a number of hearts. I hope the truth shall be known. Bantu may the Good Lord rest your soul in eternal peace. You will be greatly missed and you will forever remain in my heart.
St. Lawrence University where Bantu Mwaura was an adjunct faculty member have created a Memorial Web Page for all those wishing to send in their condolences
Indeed, Kenya has been robbed of one of the greatest minds to ever grace our literary scene, human rights platform and lecture halls.
Below is one of Bantu’s poems:
The Politician
This donkey is a politician
It don't care
It kicks it owner
Who voted for it!
Toils hard to get kickbacks
From every deal
At the expense of its owner
The voter
This politician is a donkey
It don't care
…
This politician is a praying mantis
It prays and teases
To mate with the male!
But soon as it sucks life's juices
It snaps off the life of its lover
This praying mantis is a politician
Bantu leaves behind his wife, Susan Bantu and 2 daughters, Makeba in honor the late South African diva, Miriam Makeba and Mekatilili, in memory of the Kenyan heroine who led the Giriama in resisting the British invasion at the turn of the 20th century.

author: Njeri Wangari


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Trinidad & Tobago: What’s Happening?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad diaspora blogger Jumbie's Watch is not pleased with recent developments in his home country: “Have criminals become so hardened that they wage war on children now?”


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Ukraine, Russia: Tymoshenko-Pugacheva Duet · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainiana writes about a Yulia Tymoshenko-Alla Pugacheva duet.


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Venezuela: How Children Show Their Community Through Photography II · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

Counting the consequences for the victims of the armed conflict in Colombia can be extremely difficult. Survivors and refugees have had to run from their own land and cross the Venezuelan border in order to guarantee security for their families. However, even then, the situation often does not get much better. Immigration problems, unemployment, poverty and other forms of insecurity have hurt the quality of life for these families.
Within these communities, children can often be the most vulnerable, yet they have immense potential to grow. The group Ancla2, which has been featured on Global Voices last year, recognized this opportunity and gave a workshop to a group of refugee children in a town called El Nula located along the Venezuelan-Colombian border.  The beautiful landscapes of the region were the backdrop for the workshop, which taught the children how to approach and appreciate the details of daily live and to have a sense a community. They communicated this through the use of photography and creative writing.
Thus, the blog El Nula por la Paz [es] shows the experience and the results of these workshops telling the story of a community often ignored by the mainstream media. As the site's description reads:
Detrás de las hermosas formaciones geográficas que se observan desde que se entra a El Nula, se crean una serie de preguntas, ya que la imagen que se tiene desde la capital y otras provincias venezolanas no es muy positiva del todo, ¿cómo vive la gente del pueblo?, ¿por qué esa imagen negativa de sus habitantes?, ¿cómo se entretienen los niños?, ¿cuáles son las ventajas de sobrevivir en esta controversial población?
Por medio de la fotografía y la redacción de algunos textos que acompañan a las fotos podemos notar como los niños van más allá de lo que comúnmente puede verse en el pueblo, pues el contacto humano y la querencia de un pueblo en paz nos sirve para darnos cuenta en cómo la luz de sus miradas traducen el universo ideal que está dentro de sus visiones futuras.
Behind these beautiful geographic shapes that can be seen as soon as one enters El Nula some questions come to mind, since the image that people from the big cities have is not always the best. How do people from this town live? Why do they have this negative image of their residents? How do kids pass their time here? What are the strategies of survival among this controversial population?
Through photography and accompanying text, we can see how children go beyond of what is commonly seen in the town. The human contact and the love of a peaceful people is good to make us realize how the light in children’s eyes can translate the ideal universe that exists within their future visions.
Some of the workshop's participants are featured on the blog. Cleida, 13, chooses to photograph and to write about the cows she sees around her community [es]:
Photo by Cleida and used with permission
Yo voy a escribir sobre las vacas. Las vacas dan leche y de la vaca que estoy escribiendo la vi cuando íbamos para La Playita y la vaca tenía un becerrito recién nacido, y un perro se estaba comiendo la placenta de la vaca. Le tomé la foto y nos fuimos del lugar donde estaba la vaca y el becerro, y me gustó ver el becerrito tan lindo que tenía.
Fourteen-year-old Álvaro took a picture of his mom and titled the post “my mom is like a rose [es]”:
Photo by Álvaro and used with permission
La foto la tomé porque es mi mamá y porque yo la quiero mucho. La otra foto se la tomé a mi vecina porque es muy amable con las personas y le enseña a los de tercera edad y a los niños, por eso me gusta tomarle a mi mamá a la vecina y a los animales, a las cosas, y a las personas que fueron para el curso de fotos. Al profesor Álvaro y a las personas de la calle y a los conocidos, a Ingrid. La foto que más me gustó fue la de mi mamá y la de Ingrid.
Photo by Ancla2 and used with permission.
The project also attracted admiration from others in the citizen media community. David Sasaki, published a post about this project that adds more context about the ongoing conflict and the refugees:
What I love about this project is that it doesn’t just represent El Nula as a war zone like every other reference to the community that you’ll find online. No, it shows El Nula through the eyes of those who live there. When tragedy hits next then the young people of El Nula will know how to use online tools to spread awareness and seek help. But until then, they also know how to spread awareness about all the good in their lives as well.

author: Laura Vidal


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Antigua & Barbuda, U.S.A.: Kincaid Honoured  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Repeating Islands learns that Antigua-born author Jamaica Kincaid “is among the 231 new members chosen to join the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009.”


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Armenia: Shooting the Messenger · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Security, in the Caucasus and beyond…. comments on the tendency for nationalist voices in Armenia and the Diaspora to shoot down any proposals intended to promote peace and reconciliation with Turkey by discrediting them and preventing any open discussion or independent thought.


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Azerbaijan: Police · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines comments on the continuing saga of Parviz Azimov, a youth activist recently expelled from his university. The blog notes that whereas the police usually concentrate on preventing serious criminals from carrying on their activities, in undemocratic countries they usually focus on youth and political activists instead.


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Bangladesh: Summer Pickles · Global Voices
Rezwan

Its hot and humid in Bangladesh now and the perfect season for hot and sour pickles. Dhaka Dweller Shahnaz shares her recipes for Mango pickles and posts mouth watering pictures.


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Bubisher: A Bus of Books for Children in Western Sahara · Global Voices
Renata Avila

Bubisher..Books for Western Sahara children in refugee camps
Bubisher means “a bird bringing good news.” According  to Roge Blog, it is also the name of a Saharaui poetry book. But for hundreds of children living in refugee camps in Western Sahara, it is the name of a bus full of books, explains  Haz lo que debas.
Gonzalo Moure, a children's book author and the man behind Bubisher says:
El Bubisher no lleva libros regalados o sobrantes, sino un plan de lectura, con 4 o 20 ejemplares por titulo, para un fondo inicial de 1400 libros.
Abueliki blog encourages us to read the Bubisher blog, meet the creative bus and support the endeavour – not only with funding but through sharing experiences and learning about the exemplary way in which volunteers engage in the project and love it. Among them are politicians, universities, publishing houses and ordinary people.
EL PAJARO QUE TRAE LA BUENA SUERTE from Irene Bailo on Vimeo.
Kalandra Blog explains more:
Además de libros en castellano, donados por editoriales como KALANDRAKA, el Bubisher también incorpora una selección de literatura infantil y juvenil en árabe, lo que afianza los lazos de la multiculturalidad. Frente a la carencia de libros y de espacios de lectura, el Bubi supone “una biblioteca abierta y que se acerca a los lectores”, tal y como ha expresado Gonzalo Moure. Una biblioteca rodante, en constante movimiento.
Would you like to volunteer with Bubisher? You can do it by joining their 120 Bubisher friends initiative which partners with classrooms or even schools to collect some funds or you can donate books or funds on your own. You can also translate their materials from Spanish to other languages or you can just forward the Bubisher poster to your friends and print it to show it to your offline community.  And there is more, you can visit the refugee camps as a volunteer and share some good readings with the children.
In conclusion, I would like to quote Bubisher creator Gonzalo Moure, discussing literature and books:
Eso es la literatura: corazones que no dejan de latir, pensamiento sin la barrera del tiempo. El corazón del abuelo latiendo en nuestro pecho. El aliento de Homero en nuestros oídos. Leer es vencer al tiempo, tener mil corazones

author: Renata Avila


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“Cashing In On Swine Flu: How Ethical Is That?” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Svetlana Gladkova of Profy shares her “doubts about people shamelessly cashing in on the hysteria surrounding the latest threat to the human race – the swine flu.”


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China: English-language mouthpiece paper launched · Global Voices
John Kennedy

People are talking about the new English-language Party paper, Global Times, which launched last week, finding it alternately: confused, soft power, serious, a waste of money, revealing and redundant.


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China: Green stimulus omissions · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Beijing has earmarked a substantial portion of its economic stimulus package for environmental protection; Charlie McElwee at the China Environmental Blog shows us just how far that money has gone.


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China: Growing climigration · Global Voices
John Kennedy

At Absurdity, Allegory and China, Jim Gourley discusses the extent and severity of China's climigration problem, and the reasons there's yet to be seen meaningful change.


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China: Year of the solar · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Julian Wong at The Green Leap Forward scans the plans the “California of China” has to boost solar power projects this year and for the coming few.


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Cuba: Path to the Future · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“This little accessory hanging from the hip could well come to be all the newspapers we lack at the kiosks”: Cuba's Generation Y has faith in the potential of SMS to be a reliable source of information.


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Ecuador: President Correa Wins Reelection · Global Voices
Milton Ramirez

With the majority of votes counted, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa appears to be headed towards re-election without the necessity of a run-off.   He joins former president José María Velasco Ibarra as the only man to occupy the presidency more than once. Correa's party, PAIS Alliance, also captured the majority of seats in the National Assembly giving it increased power in the country.
Photo by Ecuadorian Presidency and used under a Creative Commons license. http://www.flickr.com/photos/presidenciaecuador/3480496889/
His victory gives Correa to chance to strengthen what he calls “21st Century Socialism.” Ecuadorian bloggers are reflecting on what must be changed of improved if the goal of lowering poverty can be realized.
Joselias Sánchez [es] is a teacher and journalist in Manta and elaborates upon three points of what he has seen during the Ecuadorian elections.  He writes that the results are not surprising and adds on some statistics:
Su triunfo, inobjetable ratifica su poderosa subyugación sobre los ciudadanos ecuatorianos. Según el exitpoll a boca de urna, el 55,2 por ciento de los 10 millones 591 mil electores sufragaron a favor del Mandatario – candidato. Está masa electoral está integrada por 9 millones 111 mil 162 ciudadanos, 715 mil 972 analfabetos y, cuatro sectores que, por primera vez sufragan por así disponerlo la Constitución: 55 mil 066 militares, 39 mil 501 policías, 507 mil 534 adolescentes entre 13 a 18 años, y 86 mil 426 extranjeros con cinco o más años de residencia en el país.
Bloggers are also taking a closer look at the results. Fatima Efigenia [es]  points to the difference in the percentage of votes that Correa received during this election and his favorable rating and the previous Constitutional Referendum, where Correa has been receiving close to 70%
Among those who did not support Correa is Santhros of  Autentico Ecuatoriano [es] who criticizes the goal of socialism from the administration, saying that Karl Marx would laugh at his current version. He thinks that Correa's socialism does not work for everyone, just for determined groups:
Donde no hay justicia de tribunal, no hay justicia social. Un estado engrosado acompaña a una economia raquitizada. Solo la producción elimina la pobreza. Solo la educación capacita a los ciudadanos a ejercer sus derechos y cumplir sus obligaciones en democracia. El único ser que te puede sacar de la pobreza material estará siempre frente a ti en el espejo. Las buenas intenciones mal encaminadas producen mas muertos y desatres que una guerrila. Hasta Pinochet, Stalin y Pol Pot pudieron haber tenido buenas intenciones.
Poverty is not the only issue on the minds of Ecuadorians who went to the polls to elect leaders to be able to solve them. The re-elected President still faces serious problems including the ongoing issue of crime. There is an Ecuadorian living in Spain who shares his experiences and calls attention to young people in Ecuador about importance of dialogue, even with the opposition. He has special advice for all on how to solve the important issue of crime.  Christian Gallegos writes [es]:
…Una es que los jóvenes que ingresan al mundo laboral no tienen trabajo,  y el segundo es que la manera de pensar en la juventud Ecuatoriana es muy acomplejada en un gran colectivo los típicos < < aniñados de casa de caña>>, que creen que por trabajar en construcción, barrenderos, etc., pasan a ser de otro grupo social. Aquí en  España donde vivo ya hace 10 años,  todo esto es diferente,  la juventud trabaja en lo que sea, para así tener dinero el  fin de mes  y disfrutar de la vida, ahorrar y muchas cosas mas que con dinero se puede hacer, !ese tenia que ser el pensamiento de todos los jóvenes Ecuatorianos¡, y así hacer de Ecuador un país mas productivo y desarrollado.

author: Milton Ramirez


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Egypt: “Egyptians are not Arabs” · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Mathilda wrote her thoughts in a scientific research that believes Egyptians are not Arabs; it focused mainly on the Egyptians around Luxor, where old upper Egypt was located.

author: Eman AbdElRahman


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Egypt: Plans for Sexual Harassment Film Unveiled · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

After the success of Egypt's Anti-Harassment Day, Egyptian blogger Asser Yasser invited women to share their personal experiences with this issue.
Asser wrote:
The documentary is based on following a number of females around for five minutes as they walk in the street. Our aim is to get footage of the forms of harassment they get exposed to while running errands. At a later stage, the forms will be categorized and will be studied independently.
Volunteers wanted!
Egyptian women join hands against harassment
The activist also shared pictures (see above) and details of the activities organised on the anti-harassment day here.
Asser's call received several responses, the most interesting of which was a blog post in solidarity with the cause by Wandering Scarab - an Egyptian woman living in Canada:
When I was living in Egypt, in the early 90s, I was subjected to sexual harassment on a daily basis. From the clerk at the grocery store all the way to the guy taking my order for pizza delivery, sexual harassment in Egypt is very common. Some behaviors that constitute sexual misconduct in Western societies are even completely acceptable in Egypt such as whistling and verbal abuse of women passing by. As women, we are often taught that there is something wrong with us and that perhaps we give the wrong signals or do something to attract the attention of sexual predators. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I recall some of the things I've experienced – some of them funny, some scary.
The average Egyptian girl, including myself, suffers sexual abuse almost constantly as a normal part of her life.
The post goes into more details – in English and in Arabic – about the exact details of harassment.


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Egypt’s First Independent Union Formed  · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Egyptian activist and blogger, Hossam El Hamalawy, blogged about his initial impressions of victory after he spent a day with tax collectors, who descended on Nasr City, to lobby the Labor Ministry into recognizing their free union. He then uploaded the pictures he took for the demonstration, and also quoted Sara Carr's report – in Daily News Egypt. This is the first time real estate tax collectors have formed their first independent trade union since 1957.
Tax Collectors celebrate the formation of their union. Picture by Hossam El Hamlawy
Later on, El Hamalawy added that the union has won international legitimacy – in addition to the local one – when the Arab, African, International representatives of the Public Services International accepted the membership of Egypt’s Union of Real Estate Tax Authority Employees.


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Georgia: Alternative Eurovision · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Following the scandal surrounding Georgia's aborted attempt to enter a song mocking the former Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Moscow, This is Tbilisi Calling says that the country will instead hold its own alternative international song contest.


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Guyana: e-Waste · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The mo’ they fall, the mo’ they break, the mo’ they break, the mo’ you buy.  Slick, smart cell-phone makers and sellers”: Guyana-Gyal considers where all the e-waste goes.


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Hungary, Bolivia: Eduardo Rózsa-Flores · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum writes about Eduardo Rózsa-Flores and the alleged plot to kill Bolivia's president – here, here, and here. (An earlier GV post on Rózsa-Flores, by Eduardo Avila, is here.)

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Jamaica: Calabash Countdown · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The line-up looks yummy”: Life, Unscripted, on the Rock begins the countdown to Jamaica's Calabash Literary Festival.


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Jamaica: Career Crime? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“In times of economic downturn, crime pays”: Jamaica Salt is saddened that “more and more Jamaicans are taking up robbery as a professional career.”


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Jamaica: Mad Tax  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Abeng News Magazine‘s Michael Spence says: “The new gas tax added in the latest Jamaican national budget is bad but when you tax reading material…this has to come from a government that has gone mad and is intent on helping the poor to get poorer.”


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Mexico and Hong Kong: Fears over the fatal swine flu virus · Global Voices
Winglok Hung

Confirmed and suspected cases of swine flu keep increasing and the fatal influenza epidemic has spread worldwide at an alarming speed.
As of 28 April 2009, more than 100 people have been killed by the disease in Mexico, and more confirmed cases have been found in Canada, the United States, Spain, Britain and South Korea. Suspected cases have also appeared in Brazil, France, Israel and Australia.
Margaret Chan who is now the Director-General of World Health Organization (WHO), previously served as Director of Health in Hong Kong and led the Hong Kong government to tackle the 1997 H5N1 avian flu and 2003 SARS outbreaks. Nevertheless, Hong Kong residents are expressing their fears over the leadership of Margaret Chan to fight against the recent swine flu.
Martin Oei, a senior journalist in Hong Kong, is skeptical of Margaret Chan's capability to handle another outbreak:
相信年資十年以上的記者或評論員，都不會忘掉現任世衛總幹事陳馮富珍醫生，她在擔任香港衛生署署長時，對抗H5N1和SARS時的表現，她在中國政府全力支持下居然做到世衛總幹事，簡直可以用無天理來形容。我在這裡的博客文章都講，我寧可支持日本的尾身茂醫生擔任總幹事。
豬流感蔓延全球，這次是對陳馮富珍一次重大考驗，但作為香港人，見她H5N1和SARS時的表現，你敢對她有信心？所以，香港人絕對要自求多福…
As swine flu is spreading across the world now, it will be a big challenge for Margaret Chan. As a Hong Kong resident, looking back for her performance in H5N1 and SARS, do you have confidence in her? So, Hong Kong people have to wish for good luck and fortune by ourselves…
Other Hong Kong people also joined the discussion on Hong Kong Discuss in mocking Margaret Chan for her advice, “I eat chicken everyday,” during the early outbreak of avian flu in 1997.
Reader Phmo wonders:
唔知陳馮富珍今次會唔會日日食豬呢！
And Edric taunts her with:
佢會日日食國內空運豬肉
Meanwhile, the past dismal experiences of 1997's avian flu and 2003's SARS outbreak might trigger Hong Kong people’s fears over the recent swine flu. There are currently five students from the Chinese University of Hong Kong on exchange in Mexico and one of them, Daydrew Ng, wrote on Facebook of his decision to leave Mexico immediately:
Daydrew Ng at 3:55pm April 27
我同sandy 會這個星期走…我知我冇什麼資格影響你的決定…但大家都係係mexico exchange 的香港人…算係比較了解你現在心情的人….我真係覺得…我地應該走!!!
我唔知係唔係傳媒誇張…也唔知真實的情況去到幾嚴重…其實應該無人會知…我都無需要知…
因為我肯定的係…我有好多愛我的朋友和家人…佢地都好擔心我…我唔想佢地為我擔心, 佢地支時我每一個決定, 但我都要正面回應佢地的支持…唔可以令佢地失望!…
I am not sure whether mass media are exaggerating…I don’t know the real situation either…but there is no need to know….
I know for sure that I have many friends and family members whom I love very much….they are worrying about my situation…I don’t want to let them down….they will support my every decision and I have to respond positively to their support….can’t let them be disappointed!!

author: Winglok Hung


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Pakistan: Pak Voices · Global Voices
Rezwan

Pak Voices is a crisis reporting tool for Pakistan based on the Ushahidi engine. The website is mapping the recent unrest in Karachi city. “Submitted incidents will appear online [pending approval]” reports Dr. Awab in his twitter account.

author: Rezwan


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Pakistan: This Is Not Islam · Global Voices
Rezwan

Pakistani blogger Faisal K. at Deadpan Thoughts questioned an enlightened scholar of Islam to confirm that what the Talibans are preaching is “hardly the Islam brought by the Quran and taught by the Prophet through his teachings.”


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Syria: Reactions to the Hariri Tribunal · Global Voices
Anas Qtiesh

The UN's Special Tribunal for Lebanon today ordered the release of all four suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri on February 14th, 2005, in Beirut. Syria was largely blamed for the attack, and that caused the deterioration of its relations with the West, including the Bush Administration's recall of the American Ambassador to Damascus.
The four Lebanese nationals were all are generals who headed the Syrian-backed Lebanese security and intelligence departments at the time of Hariri’s murder, according to Press reports.
Sasa from The Syrian News Wire is thrilled to see the verdict as he was reporting it on his blog and Twitter feed as the events unfolded. He writes:
Although they could still be indicted at a later date, this essentially clears Syria and renders the UN Special Tribunal meaningless.
The four men have been held without trial for three years. Lebanon thought they could fish for some evidence – the UN says there are no grounds for them to face trial.
And 3abdulsalam is critical of the entire tribunal and the March 14 team that was demanding it. He says [ar]:
Will the waiting-for-truth ticker and the slogan of “freedom, independence and sovereignty” and all the accusations going in a single track and all the feverish demands for the International Tribunal be their own wrong doing.
After the announcement, Lebanese blogger Qifa Nabki tweeted hearing “celebratory gunfire” in Beirut:
The issue is far from over, but indicates a move toward normalized relations between Syria and Lebanon.

author: Anas Qtiesh


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Taiwan: Participating in the World Health Assembly · Global Voices
John Kennedy

The news that Taiwan will be participating in the World Health Assembly under the name Chinese Taipei came from the island's president and is received simultaneously as humiliating, a major step toward international recognition, and as nothing really important.


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The Conflict In Sri Lanka And The Indian Elections · Global Voices
Rezwan

Madhu at Indian Election 2009 blog comments: “Tamil Nadu elections have been hijacked by the conflict in Sri lanka, all the political parties raise this issue and only this issue.” The blog also reports that the hunger strike of Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Mr. Karunanidhi was an alleged ploy to gain some votes.


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UAE: Torture video sends shock waves around the world · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Last week, a grainy video from 2005 made headlines, shaking up viewers around the globe.  The video, first shown on U.S.-based ABC News, showed Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan – brother of UAE's crown prince Sheikh Mohammed – torturing an Afghan grain farmer, attacking him with a cattle prod, then literally pouring salt on his wounds (WARNING: Video contains graphic content and is not suitable for all viewers. The video is accessible at ABC News ).
In Bahrain, Internet users were surprised to find out that access to the video on YouTube had been blocked by the Bahraini authorities.  Writing on popular online forum, Bahrain Online, which is also banned in Bahrain, user Mahdy notes:
قامت وزارة الاعلام البحرينية بتستر على احد الجرائم التي بثت على اليوتيوب بعدما حجبت احد الفيديوهات التي تم نشرها في موقع اليوتيوب الشهير التي تظهر فيه تعذيب افغاني على يد عيسى بن راشد ال نهيان يظهر فيه وهو يعذب افغاني ، الراوبط في الاسفل محجوبة من قبل وزارة الاعلام ؟
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGWj…eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGWjxzMka4
هذا الموقع مغلق لمخالفته الأنظمة والقوانين في مملكة البحرين !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGWj…eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGWjxzMka4
They are blocked because they go against the laws and regulations in the Kingdom of Bahrain!
Arab Lady, a UAE-based blogger, had only this to say about the video:
No comment!!Mercy Mercy Mercy on Earth ya Allahhhhhhhhhhhh
Twitter user tomsp, who is based in Dubai, drew comparisons between the U.S. government and that of the Emirates:
Muscat Confidential, an Oman-based blog, also brings up the U.S. in its assessment of the situation:
Tapes released by a former business partner of the Sheikh, and broadcast last week by US network ABC, showed the UAE Sheikh personally torturing an Afghan trader over a missing load of grain. The story was around in mid-2008, but now that ABC have broadcast it, the issue is again in the news: the main question is what will the new US Administration do?
The activist site UAE Torture, which is reportedly blocked in the UAE, offers more information on the story and its background.

author: Jillian C. York


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United Kingdom: Barcamp Transparency to discuss Internet monitoring by government · Global Voices
Sylwia Presley

A new U.K. government plan to monitor all email, phone calls, and internet use as part of a counter-terrorism initiative has already sparked lots of negative commentary in forums and blogs. It makes even more timely an upcoming Barcamp Transparency meeting in Oxford on 26 July, 2009 where internet enthusiasts will discuss and consider how to support privacy, freedom of speech and web 2.0 ethics in the United Kingdom and around the world.
A “BarCamp” is a meeting format where networks of people organize a public event using the internet, collaborating openly on the agenda. The idea for BarCamp Transparency arose in April during a session at BarCamp Apache Oxford on cyberactivism that demonstrated substantial interest from attendees in discussing everything related to privacy online.
Orwellian?
The U.K. may not be famous for its lack of privacy or freedom of expression, but readers of news articles about the government's new surveillance plans have left numerous concerned comments in online forums.
A BBC News article by Dominic Cascani is the subject of discussion on the RichardDawkins.net website.
Widecora from the UK, posts in response to the article:
What if I don't care if I get blown up by a terrorist? Can I have my privacy back, please?
Ficklefiend from Scotland, agrees:
WTF? p.s- exactly how many murderers do they estimate send the details of their exploits via email?
On Livejournal, a newspaper article from The Independent also receives many responses, including one from Mannygoldstein who thinks the reference to terrorism disingenuous:
Are things not now grotesquely out of proportion? There are many threats to the safety and security of the UK and its citizens but they cover a whole gamut of items including road accidents, swine flu and lightning! How many deaths and injuries have resulted from terrorism and how many resources have been spent on ‘security’ to protect the public from such a threat?
Spreading the word
Derryquinn has created a video on YouTube against government surveillance and censorship and writes: “Please spread this video around, refuse censorship of the web. Send this message to your local councillors, whatever country you are in. Tell them you will not stand for orwellian monitoring of the internet.”
Bloggers have also reacted.
Richard at How This Old Brit Sees It… thinks the new idea is insane:
Bloody brilliant, eh? That'll teach the bad guys, eh? That'll stop ‘em, eh? That'll certainly make us all a lot safer, eh?
Since the baddies won't be reading & hearing what everyone else now is, eh? So they won't increasingly simply start switching back to using all sorts of ‘good old fashioned’ low-tech stuff for their secretive plotting & planning, eh?
Nawh! Never!
Not!
On Twitter @lostmoya started a discussion linking to a BBC article, and received support from a fellow follower, @4TMSocialMedia:
@lostmoya I agree. Internet monitoring, CCTV cameras with microphones, anti-terror laws used against civilians. Orwell's 1984 has arrived.
… and thoughtful consideration from @glynmoody:
@lostmoya well, that might just take a long time to get round to doing things, hoping the next election supervenes
Reactions to the announcement will provide a basis for face-to-face discussion on this and other topics related to privacy in the UK and worldwide during Barcamp Transparency.

author: Sylwia Presley


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Azerbaijan: Last day of April · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Sheki, Azerbaijan comments on today's massacre of at least 13 students at a university in Baku and says that the end of April will now live on in the collective memory of the country as the day when the children of some families never came home.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bangladesh: Value Achievements Not The Ancestry · Global Voices
Rezwan

Citing the example of Dr. Atiur Rahman, the newly appointed governor of the central Bank of Bangladesh who  made a life out of nothing, Shada Kalo urges Bangladeshis to stop the practice of “inferring the quality of a human being based on his or her family background.”


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Bhutan: Flood Threat · Global Voices
Rezwan

Tshering Tobgay reports that the river Gotu-chu, a tributary of the Pho-chu river had swollen which could trigger a possible flood downstream along the Pho-chu and Punasang-chu rivers in Bhutan. The blogger comments: “We now know that we are ‘not prepared’ to handle a flood in Punasang-chu.”


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Caribbean: Funding the Fight against HIV · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Both Abeng News Magazine and Repeating Islands note that “Caribbean governments have been urged to provide financial support for the Regional Coordinating Mechanism of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP).”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Caribbean: Keeping Track of Swine Flu  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As concerns over the Swine Flu outbreak continue to mount, Caribbean bloggers are educating themselves, just in case…
In light of a Washington Post report which “ominously tells us that the World Health Organization warns that we are on the verge of a global pandemic”, Guyanese blogger Imran Khan is heartened by the call of a local journalist for “his colleagues in the media to pay greater attention to the swine flu situation”, but still wonders about the government's pro-activeness:
I have seen reports from Minister of Health Dr. Leslie Ramsammy saying that the government is monitoring the flu virus but this is a quickly developing and changing threat and I have seen no updates since. I noted that he had warned that anyone who begins to feel ill should quickly head to the nearest medical post. Good advice I suppose but what PRECAUTIONS should people take?
I am uneasy (and I am sure thousands of others are as well) but we are not getting clear, consistent, regularly updated messages from the Ministry of Health. We are effectively fending for ourselves.
Jamaican blogger Mark Lee, blogging at Abeng News Magazine, is also paying attention to the WHO's warning, as are the folks at Barbados Free Press:
We at Barbados Free Press are willing to bet that in two months time this new crisis in the travel industry will be ending. Our leaders should not only be thinking about what is to be immediately done to protect everyone, they should be planning for the recovery of our tourist industry after this swine flu passes.
BFP‘s compatriot Barbados Underground adds:
The medical authorities in the USA are being very negative in their forecast on how this pandemic will spread. This is not good news for the Barbados authorities, North America is a top three tourist market for Barbados.
At this point we can only hope that the Barbados government is able to galvanize all the stakeholders to treat with this matter with the seriousness it deserves.
…while Pull! Push! learns from a local mainstream media report that:
‘Barbados has been placed on a swine flu virus alert’ and ‘two local samples had been sent off to the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) in Trinidad and Tobago to be tested for the virus.’
As if to put Barbadians’ minds at ease, Keltruth Corp. posts a link to a website that is tracking existing cases of the virus on a world map:
So far, Florida, the West Indies, Africa and Asia are in the clear.
This has not stopped Belizean bloggers from being concerned.  Lee Vanderwalker, an artist/blogger who divides her time between her house in Belize and her studio in Mexico, is right in the thick of things:
I'm not high risk since I hardly ever leave the house anyway and I promised myself when I moved to Mexico to not stick my fingers in my mouth. I am most concerned with Belize closing its border with Mexico, that would really mess things up.
So I´m making preparations for a long quarantine, stocking up on food and medicine and hunkering down. My gut feeling is that as usual the media overblows everything and that its not as bad a they make it seem, but on the other hand…
Belizean reports that the country's government “reacted to the threat posed by the Swine Flu Virus and has today ordered the closure of major public events including the National Agricultural and Trade Show which was to have started tomorrow 1st May”, adding:
The closure of the National Agricultural and Trade Show (NATS) is unprecedented. The postponement of the annual general meeting of the Holy Redeemer Credit Union and several other weekend events planned for a long Labour Day weekend have flummoxed most Belizeans.
Over in Cuba, Generation Y questions the decision to continue with planned May 1st celebrations:
My experience with colds and flu-like illnesses tells me that a huge mass of people is the scenario most conducive to their spread.  The announced measures should include, for the minimum protection, the postponement or cancellation of the festivities for International Workers’ Day.  I don’t want to create unnecessary alarm.  I don’t know anyone who is infected and an official statement has been released saying that there are no recorded cases of this disease, but remember they told us the same thing for a long time about AIDS, before finally confessing that it had entered Cuba, not to mention keeping secret the number of dengue fever cases each year.
With all humility, I ask the Cuban government to re-think the idea of bringing together thousands of people at this time.  Please, show less concern about the spectacle and more protection for the citizenry.
Letters from Grenada, meanwhile, cannot help but notice that:
Fewer than 200 people have contracted swine flu, and everyone gets mask-happy. Meanwhile, MILLIONS have died of AIDS, yet some people still don’t use condoms.
I’m not saying swine flu isn’t real.
But it is a fact that masks do not prevent transmission. I also believe that mass hysteria never ever helps. Example: Once upon a time, people believed in witches. So they hung/burned/drowned these alleged witches. Also, their cats. Then the rat and flea populations exploded. Hello, bubonic plague.
So, just in case, Cuban diaspora blogger Sunrise in Havana posts a list of handy tips to help avoid contracting the flu “without dangerous drugs or vaccinations”:
I have not caught a flu in over two decades, and you can avoid it too, without getting vaccinated, by following these simple guidelines, which will keep your immune system in optimal working order so that you're far less likely to acquire the infection to begin with.


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Cayman Islands: Same Old  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“This election has the potential to again be nothing more than ousting current politicians who do very little and replacing them with politicians who are entirely incapable of bringing their generalizations to life”: The Cayman Islands’ Blog Man is afraid it's politics as usual for his country's upcoming elections.


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China: Mash-ups in history · Global Voices
John Kennedy

With ‘Socialism with Chinese Characteristics’ as one of the more prominent examples, Jeff Wasserstrom at The China Beat delineates mash-up culture in China, and don't miss out on the Confucian Blues.

author: John Kennedy


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China: Ongoing urbanization · Global Voices
John Kennedy

With the Olympics long gone, the gentrification of Beijing neighborhoods continues. “Still, the signs go up, the schools and shops close down, and jobs, education and the prospect of permanent residence are suspended,” writes changing china blogger Ray Deng in his two-part photo essay.


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China: The Beijing Consensus · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Few are calling China's overseas investment strategy a Consensus comparable to the Washinton/IMF model, so how then best to describe it? Tom Orlik at China Translated explores a few alternate understandings.


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Honduras: Commercial Activity in the 1950s · Global Voices
Leonidas Mejia

Mario Perez of Honduras Hoy [es] takes us back in time to the capital city of Tegucigalpa of the 1950s, with photographs and names of businesses that flourished more than a half of century ago.

author: Leonidas Mejia


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Honduras: Sailing Through the “Unknown Honduras” · Global Voices
Leonidas Mejia

Guillermo Anderson on his blog Bitacora de Honduras [es] take us on a magical trip through the Patuca river and the Atlantic coast of “La Honduras Desconocida” (the Unknown Honduras).


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Hong Kong: SexyPhotoGate uploader sentenced · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Just over a year since photos of Edison Chen in bed with his Hong Kong celebrity friends appeared online, computer technician Sze Ho-chun has been found guilty of uploading the 1,300 images, blogs an anonymous The Dark Side blogger.


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India: Not On The Voter List · Global Voices
Rezwan

“There are many I know who won’t be able to vote because their name is not on the electoral rolls”, wrote Rajesh Jain in his blog.  Later during the day when the blogger went to vote in South Mumbai, he found that his name was missing in the Voter list.


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India: TEDIndia Fellows program · Global Voices
Rezwan

The TED Conference is now accepting applications for 100 TEDIndia Fellows to participate in the TEDIndia Conference in Mysore, India. Approximately 75% of the Fellows will represent the South Asian region, and 25% will represent other regions of the world.  For information about how to apply please visit this  and this page. The deadline is June 15, 2009.


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India: The Maoists-Naxalites And The Threat To Democracy · Global Voices
Rezwan

On 16th of April, 2009, just as the Indian elections began, the Maoists attacked police and poll booths in Latehar district of the eastern state of Jharkhand in India. Words From Solitude provides background of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and its factions and the naxalite movement to understand their ideologies and their violent poll boycott strategies.


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Israel: Arab and Jew Represent Israel at Eurovision Contest · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Israeli Arab Mira Awad and Israeli Jew Avinoam Nini will represent Israel in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest with “There Must Be Another Way,” sung in Hebrew and Arabic. Awad's performance will be the first time an Israeli Arab has represented Israel in the Eurovision contest. Daniel Lubetsky of the Peaceworks blog has the official preview video.

author: Maya Norton


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Israel: Gay Couples to Wed at Pride Parade · Global Voices
Maya Norton

The Israeli website Go Gay [Hebrew] is seeking a gay and a lesbian couple to wed during Tel Aviv's 11th annual Pride Parade on June 12th, 2009. Tel Aviv Fever reports that this will be the first public gay wedding in Israel, and perhaps the world.


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Israel: Praying for War No More · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Israeli blogger David Bogner of Treppenwitz reflects on the nation's Day of Remembrance. “Israel’s national anthem… is called ‘HaTikva’- literally, ‘The Hope’… The words speak about 2000 years of longing to live as a free nation in our homeland. As an Israeli, and as a father, I can’t promise… but I hope we have truly seen our last war.”


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Israel: ‘Slumdog’ Star Films Movie About Palestinians and Israelis · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Frieda Pinto, the female star of Slumdog Millionaires, is in Israel preparing for a film about the interconnected lives of Palestinian and Israeli women from the founding of Israel through modern times. Checkpoint Jerusalem has the story.


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Israel: Teaching Compassion to Your Children · Global Voices
Maya Norton

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Kazakhstan: Expansion of the Uranium Industry · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust reports that Kazakhstan is aggressively internationalizing its uranium industry by opening new mines, establishing high-profile international partnerships and lobbying for the global uranium fuel bank.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Kazakhstan: Internet Regulation Amendments Adopted in First Reading · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Yesterday the Kazakh Parliament's lower chamber has approved the first reading of the draft law on online regulation, which is meant to equate all websites (including blogs, social networks, chatrooms, forums and even online shops) with mass media. On the other hand of this law, the authorities will be granted the right to block any local or foreign website for “violation of the national legislation”. The decision to block it would be issued by the general prosecutor, and approved by the city court of Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan. Many bloggers believe that the government wants a legal tool for filtering of the web. LiveJournal, a leading platform in the Russian-language blogosphere, is blocked in Kazakhstan since early October last year, and no official reasoning has been provided for that.
What is next? The president may veto the law on the eve of the country's OSCE chairmanship next year and, thus, polish his personal image. However, the government does not care much about OSCE – it neglects critical recommendations, citing “country specific”. The West also does not care much about Kazakh democracy against the background of global economic crisis. What will happen if the law is adopted? Internet is inherently unregulatable environment, and the people will use proxies, anonymizers and special software. Kazakhstan would join a team of enemies of the Internet – and the next possible step can be banning Tor-like programs, like in Uzbekistan, writes adam-kesher.
The protesting Internet users would possibly try to sabotage the work of state bodies – to apply for official registration and – immediately after obtaining it – close the blog and apply for deregistration. According to the draft law, the Astana city court would be making decisions on blockage of the foreign websites (at the request of the prosecutor’s office) in absentia of the website owners. So, the enthusiasts can also bring the owners of blocked websites to the court sessions. They can also paralize the work of the prosecutor’s office and/or court by numerous complaints on the content of tens of thousands porn-sites. If the government is to ban the websites that have paid membership (like LiveJournal, which is blocked in Kazakhstan since early October last year), the paid members would be able to challenge the court decision as it violates their rights.
So far, the bloggers are indignant at the novelties, introduced by the government and initially adopted by the one-party parliament. Rosvet, a professional journalist, is puzzled how the equation of blogs and mass media is going to work technically [ru]:
How is it going to work? Registration of a blog will require your passport details? The Ministry of information will issue a registration number to each blogger? Will I be obliged to provide copies of my blog entries to the local administration, like all newspapers are to do?
Uncle Shal, the veteran of the Kazakh blogosphere, comments [ru]:
The law is very raw. How seriously you can treat the law, which states: “It is not allowed to use a mass media outlet with the prupose of committing administrative or criminal offences”. You can replace the words “mass media outlets” with any other – “shoe”, “hammer”, “watercloset lid” – the meaning will not change! And how do you like the abstruse definition of an “Internet resourse”, and the consequent equation of all URLs with mass media? These are only few reproofs to the authors of this draft law…
Many bloggers are afraid that this law will be used to eliminate all kinds of dissent online. The state bodies will be able to post a provocative post or comment – and immediately file a complaint with the court or prosecutor's office. It should be noted that the online reprisals were already present in the Kazakhstan's history. Several years ago two most prominent Internet newspapers Kub.kz and Navigator.kz were banned by the authorities and legally denied the right to have a .kz domain. Last year, a young researcher was arrested and jailed on the basis of messages in his email box, which was hacked by the special services. Why the governement is so concerned about Internet? Megakhuimyak explains [ru]:
There are several reasons.
1. Bloggers are uncensored unlike journalists and editors. They always post and discuss leaks, rumors and truth
2. The whole world can read what was posted online. A newspaper's circulation can be arrested, a printing house can be shut down, a TV channel can be raided. All usual methods of repressions are useless online.
3. It is impossible to erase somebody else's content on the Internet.
4. Information is sent to the web instantly – there is no time to intercept it.
5. The West judges us by the Internet publications. The authorities want to have a nice look always.
Now the death of Kaznet [Kazakhstani segment of the world wide web] and guerrilla warfare against firewall should be expected. Up until recently only Livejournal users were fighting in this war – now the whole Kazakhstan will join.
Unfortunately, this anti-Internet campaign of the authorities further worsens the Kazakhstan's image, which has been the one of a most advanced and developed country in the Central Asian region. Bloggers sadly look at the other countries – like Zuzau, who is amazed [ru] by the photo-blog of President Obama on Flickr with high-res pictures, and tim-son reminds that while Livejournal is unofficially banned in Kazakhstan, the Russian president Medvedev opens his on this platform [ru]. Meanwhile, Katelka points out that the repressive draft law is spurring critical civil stand of the generally apathetic Kazakhstani citizens [ru]:
Just look what they have got now. I blogged in my personal cute online diary about beauty. Who would have ever thought that I will be posting political criticism here? Who made me do it? Exactly, the authorities. Don't meddle in my personal space!
The bloggers, media organizations, rights activists have signed a number of petitions to the state bodies and international organizations. They have held several flashmobs – like sending a shackled keyboard to the government, or a symbolic burial of the Internet. Several activists were arrested, having been accused of an unsanctioned rally. The most recent action is an online protest against the law – on May 13, from 3 to 4 p.m. all users are urged to leave all websites in the .kz zone.
Some observers still believe that the law will not be signed into force by the president. If it’s adopted, the court will have to provide public and valid explanation for the blockage – and the devil is in the detail.
Also posted on neweurasia


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Kazakhstan: Internet Regulation Amendments · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Adam analyzes possible outcomes of the law on internet regulation, which is currently passed through the lower chamber of Kazakh Parliament.


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Kazkahstan: Major bank admits default · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Zara writes an update on entry of the state in BTA Bank. “The subsequent shift in ownership have eventually led to aggravation of the situation around the country’s largest private bank’, she says.