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Thursday World Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

Africa:
Picture via Sotho,   drawn by 13-year old McGlen of Johannesburg, South Africa. He wants to be a veterinarian. Courtesy Creative Connections.
Thinkers Room says it shouldn't be this hard.
Afromusing thinks Kenya needs a “hygrid.”
Special Blog Coverage: Iranian Presidential elections:
Mr. Behi thinks U.S. pressure on Iran over nuclear weapons at this moment will make an illiberal election outcome more likely. He's no big Rafsanjani fan, either.
Iranian Prospect also discusses the relationship between the elections and the nuclear issue. He has another post about Mojtaba Saminejad, a jailed Iranian blogger, a jailed researcher, and how this all ties in with election politics.
Brooding Persian has a colorful account of the candiates who have registered so far, including “a 72 year old milkman from a principality far from Tehran who made an impression on the reporters with his open zipper during the registrations and he appears quite charming as he frankly admitted to having no place to sleep over the night at in Tehran.” He then complains about foreign analyists who comment on Iranian politics, claiming to know what “Iranians want.” He broods: “No two Iranians I know can ever agree on much of anything. “
New Blog alert: OpenDemocracy has a new Iran-focused group blog, Iranscan. The authors include bloggers from inside and outside Iran.
It would be interesting to know what bloggers in Iran think of this post on “Regime Change Iran.”
Iraq:
Iraq The Model links to pictures and info from an Arabic-language Iraqi blog about artefacts confiscated by a Syrian officer who was attempting to smuggle them out of Iraq.
Omar also links to this blog post about the Baghdad softball team.
Frustrated with Iraq's unreliable phone network which makes it hard to blog regularly, Ibn Alrafidain asks some tough questions about the way his fellow countrymen approach democracy.
A Free Iraqi recounts his personal experience with citizen journalism and his reflections on how the international media covers the Iraq story and why. Check out the comments thread on that post, too.
Khalid of “Tell Me A Secret”, who opposes the U.S. presence, returned home today to find a car bomb had exploded about 100 meters from his house just a couple of hours before.
Hammorabi blames Syria for supporting terrorism in Iraq.
Elsewhere in the Middle East:
Israeli bloggers celebrate independence day, via “Thoughts from a Rabbi.”
Chan'ad Bahraini tackles the subject of torture.
Chan'ad also points out that Bahrainonline.org and others were mentioned on the front page of the Wall Street Journal this week.
Kuwaiti Online is upset upon discovering more acqaintances who beat their household employees – who come from other countries and apparently are viewed as having no rights.
The Beirut Spring has a post on the role of Lebanese Christians in the new political context.
Eurasia:
Democracy Guy thinks that Bush missed an opportunity to support Armenian democracy while in Georgia.
Central Asia:
Registan.net on different approaches to upcoming elections in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
East Asia:
ESWN recounts a controversy over journalistic ethics in China.
Mask of China: Dalian Edition is concerned about an official news blackout on a local ferry disaster and ponders the implications thereof.
Fons Tuinstra of the China Herald is bemused that the media took the People's Daily revaluation story as gospel, when he smelled a rat all along.
Danwei accuses the International Herald Tribute of editorial sloppiness to rival the People's Daily.
Kevin Wen wonders about Google's new presence in China.
Fons in Shanghai says its only a meeting room.
Isaac Mao is able to use Google Web Accelerator from his office to access blocked websites.
Dottocomu on the latest special pocket for cellphones, while Japundit reports on the latest perversion (do not click on this if you are underage or a sensitive person).
South Asia:
3rd World View has a sad post on the face of Bangladesh.
Europe:
Jukka recounts a bewildering meeting with beauty queens.
Central Budapest says there will be a march against racism on Sunday.


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Friday World Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

Central Asia:
Kudos to Lyndon at Scraps of Moscow and Nathan at Registan.net for their excellent collection of posts and links, aggregating and translation (by Lyndon) of information about the Uzbekistan uprising.
Baltics:
This picture appeared around Latvia during President Bush's visit. All About Latvia explains what “Peace Duke” means.
Belatedly, here are some impressions on Bush's Latvia visit by Baltic coctail (sic)
Eurasia:
Blogrel links to some critical Armenian views about Bush's Georgia visit.
Cyber-Generation hates cold showers in Moscow.
Some silly person has created a Xanga blog claiming to be authored by Vladimir Putin…
Africa:
Afrotecnik posts some useful links on the impact of cell phones in Africa.
Zimbabwean Pundit gives us the latest links on arbitration for farmers whose land was forcibly seized.
Sokwanele describes his local pastor's latest junket.
Bankele posts from Nairobi on the state of Kenyan media.
East Asia:
ESWN has a long post on China's biggest internet crime trial to date.
Danwei mocks CNN's China coverage.
Southeast Asia:
In Thailand, Sampaworn shows how Bangkok Post editors make things worse.
Mack at BrandMalaysia criticizes Anwar Ibrahim's latest TV appearance.
Middle East:
Iraq:
Raed in the Middle has a good news story on Shia peacemakers in Fallujah.
A Free Writer says the insurgency is death with no rules.
Iranian Election Blogging:
Iranian Prospect describes a Strategy of Fear.
Hossein Derakhshan says the regime is desperate for a high turnout.
Free Thoughts on Iran describes Iran's censorship situation.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Rebecca MacKinnon


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Uzbekistan breaking news · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

Thanks to Registan.net for pointing out that the “Scraps of Moscow” blog is translating news and analysis from the Russian press on the Uzbekistan protest and crackdown story… in which troops are reported to have fired on protestors. Click here and here.
If you have links to any more blog-coverage on Uzbekistan, please post them in the “comments” section of this post.


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Al Jinane: Championing free speech in Morocco · Global Voices
Rachel Barenblat

For the next few weeks, we'll be offering profiles of bloggers nominated for the Reporters Sans Frontières weblog awards. This profile is part of the series. Please visit the RSF voting page and vote for your favorite blogs. – Your friendly editors
Tarik Essaadi is the blogger behind Al Jinane. His motto: “Bloguer pour comprendre la complexité du monde,“Blogging to understand the complexity of the world.” Al Jinane is the only Moroccan blog to be a finalist in Reporters Sans Frontieres’ Freedom Blog Awards. In his post about the nomination, Essaadi stresses that Al Jinane is “open” to its readers because he hopes to expose the “panorama of Moroccan culture and identity” to a worldwide audience.
Al Jinane, Essaadi says, will soon celebrate its first anniversary, though he also edits an online magazine EMarrakech which has been online since 2000. “It's an old need, to communicate and think ‘in plural,'” he says of his decision to begin blogging. Essaadi strives to be a global citizen, grounded in a strong sense of what's local but reacting to global affairs like a man of the world.
In an email interview, he explained that originally he and his wife (a data processing specialist) worked together on this project; now a team of eight, plus collaborators and partners, work together to weave the fabric of Al Jinane.
Many of the posts at Al Jinane are written by guest authors who Essaadi invites to participate in the blogging conversation. In one recent post, scholar Mohammed Lebabi chronicles a recent conference on what the three “monotheisms” have in common (Lebabi spoke there about the burgeoning hope and liberty experienced by Moroccan Muslims at the dawn of the 21st century, though he chided the organization for the lack of female voices). The post A L'Ombre d'Islam publishes a letter from guest blogger Mohsin Moueddin, arguing in favor of dialogue about Islam and its essential qualities, and decrying anti-Muslim prejudice.
These are the kinds of voices Essaadi publishes, and together they offer a fascinating glimpse into the cultural and political tapestry of Moroccan life. Still, his focus isn't purely on Morocco. Julien Pain has blogged here about  bloggers forced to stop publishing in Singapore.  And for World Press Day, Al Jinane opened its doors to publish a range of specially-selected articles (often in excerpt form) on the themes of freedom of expression and of the press worldwide.”
Nous publions ces textes pour méditation et par respect aux 53 journalistes tués et 107 emprisonnés dans le monde, seulement pour l'année 2004. le Blog Al Jinane reste ouvert pour toutes réactions qui peut enrichir le débat et pourquoi pas creer l'environnement propice pour des actions qui peuvent être salutaires pour d'autres journalistes sous l'enfer des abus…”
(“We publish these texts  [as foci] for meditation, and out of respect for the 53 journalists killed and 107 imprisoned around the world in 2004 alone. The blog Al Jinane remains open for all reactions which might enrich the debate and — why not? — create a propitious environment for actions which might be salutary for other journalists suffering the hell of abuse…”)
Essaadi hopes his blog will serve as a call to young Moroccan bloggers to “release the mooring ropes” and explore the liberty of this new era. He likes blogs which speak the unexpected, shake up static society, and which explore culture (especially in cross-cultural ways) — these, he says, are among the fine qualities of the best Moroccan blogs. His desire to see more Moroccans blogging has led him to help with the creation of WMaker, the first free blogging platform in Morocco, and plans call for launching Moroccan blogging portal Blog.ma soon. He's honored, he says, by the RSF nomination, and looks forward to sharing his perspective on Morocco with more readers as time goes by.

author: Rachel Barenblat


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Global Voices on Radio Open Source · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

Radio Open Source, a new public radio show hosted from Cambridge, Massachusetts by Chris Lydon, devoted its second pilot show on Friday entirely to Global Voices. The show featured conversations on the phone with bloggers Hossein Derakhshan (Hoder),  Ndesanjo Macha, Dina Mehta, Steve McDermott, and Global Voices co-founder Ethan Zuckerman, with me sitting in the studio.
Click here, have a listen, and let us know what you think. Ethan and I were thinking maybe we ought to try and do regular Global Voices podcasts.
Which brings us to another point.  Right now we're working on an aggregator of written blogs… but we really ought to do aggregators of audio podcasts – and eventually, video – from around the world.
If you are already doing podcasts, videocasts,  etc. , or if you know people who are doing interesting podcasts and videocasts from countries around the world. Please hit the “comments” section and let us know!!


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Monday World Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Ethan Zuckerman

Timbuktu Chronicles has a review of George Ayittey's Africa Unchained
Brian of Black Star Journal has a history lesson on the role of Liberia in Guinea's civil strife, and the hard time the country is having in getting aid to war ravaged areas.
Chippla thinks it's absurd that an American intelligence expert would speculate that Al Qaeda base itself in Nigeria… and potentially damaging to Nigeria's economy.
George Conard of On Safari with El Jorgito is looking for ways to charge cellphones in rural Rwanda… and stumbles on a post I wrote for WorldChanging…!
Nathan at Registan and Lyndon at Scraps of Moscow are both following events in Andijan, where hundreds have died in clashes between protesters and security forces and thousands are trying to flee to Kyrgyzstan. Working Definition, a Peace Corps volunteer in Uzbekistan, has some background on the conflict, and wonders about the content of several websites blocked from within Uzbekistan. Those sites include Muslim Uzbekistan, which features a set of photos from Andijan.
Afghan Warrior is concerned about comments former president Mujaddedi has made that appear to offer amnesty to Mullah Omar and other senior Taliban officials.
Baltic Cocktail is concerned about skinhead violence in Riga, Latvia.
Petr Bokuvka, the Daily Czech, is (understandably) upset about a Canadian/Czech fight during the hockey world championship. I miss hockey.
Omnik of Blogrel wishes the Armenian diaspora would put some pressure on the government to end the ArmenTel monopoly.
Linda of Oh Yeah, This is Life wonders why she Arabizes English words when speaking to her grandmother.
Friends of AlJazeera reports that AlJazeera reporters were detained while reporting a judicial meeting discussing the monitoring of upcoming elections. AlJazeera's reporting on Egyptian reform and programming featuring opposition leaders has been criticized on Egyptian state-controlled television.
The Arabist Network has a photo of a billboard at the Iraq/Iran border.
Argepundit is incensed about Newsweek's correction to its reports on abuse of the Koran at Guantanamo Bay, arguing that “Newsweek lied, people died!” (en español).
Rezwan of The 3rd World View has a roundup from Bangladesh newspapers, including a story about “Sisimpur” – the localized version of Sesame Street – and a link to a blog that promises an exposé of the Dhaka central jail.
Avaiki, blogging from Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, wonders when Pacific Islanders will receive compensation for illness related to fallout from cold war nuclear testing and wonders if New Zealand will help Islanders press their case.

author: Ethan Zuckerman


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Serdal: Arabic Pioneer Blogger from UAE · Global Voices
Ahmed Al-Omran

For the next few weeks, we'll be offering profiles of bloggers nominated for the Reporters Sans Frontières weblog awards. This profile is part of the series. Please visit the RSF voting page and vote for your favorite blogs. – Your friendly editors
Abdullah Al-Muhairi is one of the pioneer Arab bloggers, and was one of the first to blog in Arabic. However, he insists he is not the very first Arabic blogger. Al-Muahairi, aka Serdal, says he started his blog because he thought forums are no longer a proper place for him to publish his opinions, and he wanted to have a single site where he can put everything he wants to say.
On May 12, 2005, Serdal celebrated the second anniversary of his blog. He writes in a post on that topic: “I never thought this blog would affect me so much. (…) I just wanted a personal space to express my ideas.” Serdal thinks blogs can lead to changes in Arab World. “It is slow now, but the important thing is to reach a connected electronic community. I think we are in the beginning of forming this community. With more interactivity, discussions and meeting between bloggers in real world, we will see a bigger effect,” he said during an interview via email.
Serdal thinks blogs can be a real challenge for traditional journalism. He says: “Bloggers are more brave to write what traditional journalism won't dare to publish, and sometimes they can be faster to break the news. Also, bloggers write some stuff that we don't usually read in newspapers.” However, he thinks the role of journalism will remain important, and it will come even more important when we have stronger connections between newspapers and blogs.
Born in 1979, Serdal comes from Abu-Dhabi, UAE. His hobbies include reading, writing, walking and building websites. His blog pays much attention to new technologies and the internet. He says much of his writings are motivated by his feeling that he is committed to his readers, but in the same time he is very satisfied because he enjoys writing them and the discussions on his website.

author: Ahmed Al-Omran


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OJR article about Bahraini Blogs · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

Bahrain's bloggers are helping to bring international media attention to their country. Last week there was a long Wall Street Journal article.  Now Mark Glaser of the Online Journalism Review has a long article all about the Bahraini blogosphere:
Online forums, bloggers become vital media outlets in Bahrain
The small Persian Gulf nation has been moving toward democratic reform, but a registration drive for Web sites and the arrest of a popular online forum owner have sparked outrage in Bahrain's nascent blogosphere.
By Mark Glaser
Posted: 2005-05-17
It doesn't take much to get Mahmood Al-Yousif's juices flowing, to get him steamed at the latest moves by the Ministry of Information (MoI) in Bahrain. Al-Yousif, 43, is the first prominent blogger in the tiny archipelago in the Persian Gulf and runs a technology company there called Computer Point. After the MoI announced it wanted all Web sites and blogs to register with the government, Al-Yousif didn't hold back.
…
Click here to read the rest…


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Tuesday World Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

South Asia:
Just a Little Something reports on the Bangalore Bloggers Meetup. Muthu has video and more pix.
Dina Metha reports that the Indian government has offered accreditation to bloggers. But do they want it?  [Update Note: link to Dina's blog now fixed. Was wrong before.]
United We Blog marks the 100-day anniversary since the King seized power in Nepal.
Southeast Asia:
In the Philippines, By Jove! is glad to see that the Arroyo administration recognizes that the recent rash of journalist killings is a “crisis.”
Europe:
Turkish Torque picks apart (here and here) the World Economic Forum's comparative survey of gender equality in 58 nations, in which Turkey ranked 57th.  He theorizes that globalization may actually be part of the reason: “improvement in gender equality in one country can very well be the cause of deterioration in another.”
Middle East:
In Iraq, A Free Writer shows how Iraqi children without electricity study by candlelight in stifling heat.
Free Iraqi answers readers’ questions.
Iraq the Model has a great picture of Iraqi women getting internet skills and blogging training.
Baghdad Burning of the dead and the undead.
Iraq Rising has another long post on Islam.
Iran Scan sees signs that Rafsanjani is worried about his support among Iranian youth.
Hossein Derakhshan plans to start a Rear Window Initiative.
Chan'ad Bahraini has moved from Blogger to WordPress.
Amarji in Syria is cynical about upcoming “reforms,” and is concerned that continued violence on the Lebanese-Israeli border could lead to a confrontation between the U.S. and Syria.
In Libya, From the Rock reacts to the Newsweek scandal.
In Lebanon, Raja is disappointed in General Aoun. Lebanese Political Journal calls him “ignorant.”
Jordan Planet got a “freedom song” in a spam e-mail and wants to know if anybody else is getting them.
Thoughts from a Rabbi links to All for Peace Radio, a joint Israeli-Palestinian station.
Africa
In Zimbabwe, Sokwanele complains about what a drag it is to spend your weekend lining up to buy fuel for your car.
Black Looks reports that some local officials in Uganda have come up with the idea of virginity certificates as a way to fight HIV/AIDS.
Head Heeb has updates and analysis on two elections in Africa: Central African Republic and Ethiopia.
In Tunisia, Subzero Blue is excited about a new organization called Global Hand.
Russia:
The Russian Dilletante warns that liberty and democracy don't always go hand in hand, and believes that's especially true in Russia these days.
Neeka's Backlog has links and photos about the detention of protestors who rallied in support of jailed oil magnate Khodorovsky.  Siberian Light has updates on the situation.
Central Asia
Registan.net continues to bring us the latest on Uzbekistan.
…and Lyndon at Scraps of Moscow continues to follow the Uzbekistan situation with translations from the Russian media.
Latin America:
(Many oil stories today)
The Venezuelan blogosphere (mostly pro-opposition, anti-Chavez, from what I have found) is abuzz over allegations of corruption and impending collapse at the state oil company, PDVSA. See posts by Venezuela News and Views and The Devil's Excrement. (An alternative, point of view can be found here at Venezuelanalysis.com.
East Asia:
Imagethief reflects on China's P.R. problems in response to a post I wrote and a NYT op-ed.
When it comes to the internet, ESWN says ownership is censorship in China. He also posts on what he calls the “insane” petitioning system.
Kevin Wen points out a blog about corporate social responsibility in China.


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Help us decide who to interview! · Global Voices
Ethan Zuckerman

We've recently solved a couple of long-standing technical problems and we should be able to start doing “Skypecasts” – podcasts of interviews conducted over Skype – in the next couple of weeks. As we get ready to start broadcasting, we're wondering who to talk to first. What do you – our readers – think? Whose voice are you anxious to hear on the Global Voices site? Help us decide what interviews to conduct first by posting your preferences in the comment section.


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Second draft of Anonymous Blogging Guide · Global Voices
Ethan Zuckerman

I posted, some weeks back, the first draft of a technical guide to anonymous blogging. I've gotten great feedback from folks all over the world and have just posted a second draft of the guide on the Global Voices wiki, inviting collaborators to help me improve it. If you're interested in the suject of anonymous blogging, please visit the guide and lend a hand in improving it.
(If you're going to participate in editing this document, two requests: One, create an account on our wiki, so we can keep track of your contributions. Two, keep in mind the audience for this document – we're hoping to write a document that's fun, readable, technically correct, translatable, and aimed at activists in developing nations. We're not trying to write a document aimed at cypherpunks.)
Thanks for your help!


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Wednesday World Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

Central Asia:
Picture: “By The Kabul River” By Afghan Lord.
Waheed at Afghan Warrior weighs in on the recent anti-U.S. protests, in the wake of Newsweek's now-retracted story. He believes the Taliban tried but failed to take advantage of the situation.
Nathan of Registan.net was interviewed by the BBC about Uzbekistan, which he has been following closely on his blog. He has the full MP3 audio here.  He also points us to his latest article on the Uzbekistan crisis at OpenDemocracy.
Africa:
Jewels in the Jungle has a roundup of blog-coverage of the Ethiopian Parliamentary election.
Black Looks reports that Spain is jumping on the “Africa bandwagon.”
She is also unimpressed with U.S. the latest U.S. counter-terrorism initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Meskel Square on how news organizations (and enterprising people with photocopy machine access) are making money as all Ethiopia waits for results of Sunday's election.
Amber Henshaw has a firsthand account of the voting.
Kenyan Pundit links to a documentary on the rise of Kenyan hip-hop.
Middle East:
Aswantiba quips: “Who needs Newsweek when you got Al-Jazeera?”
“From Cairo, With Love” says people find his blog for the strangest reasons.
Farideh at Iran Scan notices that a professor at Rutgers University is one of the thousand-plus people who registered their candidacy to run for president of Iran.
Yasser at Under Underground describes the propaganda on Iranian TV.
Free Iraqi has some critical words for Spirit of America, which has democracy development-related projects in Iraq. SoA director Jim Hake responds in the comments section.
Israpundit has the scoop on the real Indiana Jones.
“Refugee” at Bethlehem Bloggers wonders whether the occupation will mess up his/her summer vacation.
Beiruit Spring gives high marks to the new U.S. ambassador so far.
South Asia:
Niraj says India's growing middle class is having trouble hiring domestic help these days… and that this is a bi-product of India's economic growth.
East Asia:
EastSouthWestNorth comments on issues of “media responsibility and ethics” in light of a series of photographs that have been spreading like a virus around Chinese cyberspace. The pictures are allegedly of a TV hostess from a local station in the Southern city of Shenzhen, in bed with a man purported to be a senior city official, but there's no way to tell for sure.
Andrea Leung recommends a report on the internet in China by Morgan Stanley's Mary Meeker.
Pacific:
There is a blog from the Cook Islands. Now you have no excuse not to know where that is…
Europe:
“Fistfull of Euros” on Dutch Euro-skepticism and the Dutch Finance Minister, who has a blog.
Gavin thinks its time for another Irish blog meeting, and gives us some links into the Irish blogosphere.
Meanwhile Twenty Major has some suggestions that would make fighting Ireland's organized crime more fun.
Ever heard of the Mari people? They're an ethnic group related to the Finns living deep inside Russia. Helsinkitimes.net claims they face discrimination and lack autonomy.
“Central Budapest” muses about Hungarian grumpiness.
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Blogger Profile – Jeff Ooi · Global Voices
Mack Zulkifli

Thinking Allowed, Thinking Aloud.
Meeting Jeff Ooi is very much different than reading his blog. You would not expect this quiet, dimunitive person to blog with such ferocity, that he has become the undisputed icon of Malaysian blogosphere. Yet, underneath the seemingly harmless and friendly persona, lies a seasoned cyber-activist that is commited to the causes he holds true. Sometimes to the point of being downright stubborn in not backing away from issues that might put him in an unpopular stance, especially with the government and authorities. I know of at least one organisation that breathes a sigh of relief when their ‘brand’ is not scrutinised by Jeff's blog,  called Screenshots.  He remains the leading advocate of blogging in Malaysia, and at least one leading online media for the ‘populist’ readership labels him, Malaysia's most influential blogger. He is also the most embattled.
Bridging Mainstream Media and Blogs
It is generally agreed that mainstream media in Malaysia leaves a lot to be desired. Then again, the same can be argued about blogging in Malaysia, where internet penetration and literacy is low, despite efforts by the government and a somewhat more lacklustre delivery of broadband availability by local telecommunications company. Jeff Ooi could not be bothered about the excuses they give, and is the leading propagator of online communities that band together in times when the common good needs a common touchpoint for discussion. A good example is community portal USJ.com.my, where residents of a predominantly upper middle class residential area bandied together and stopped ‘interested parties’ from building a food court instead of a much needed police station. This story has been featured in Global Voices, in an interview.
Challenging the Mainstream, Swimming against the tide
More than anything else, he challenges mainstream media to ‘clean up their act’, and has strong links to senior editors and correspondents of both local and foreign mainstream media. These strong links might not be all that friendly, however, as a one journalist of a mainstream media puts it to me, “We can thrive of each other, but with Jeff, you have to have your guard up all the time”. Indeed, that is what bloggers should personify, by being a media watchdog and ensuring that the news that is disseminated is not ‘spun’ to achieve a certain political agenda, which Malaysian mainstream media is notorious for doing. It bears some note that the major media companies are owned, directly or otherwise, by the major political component parties that make up the dominant ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional.
Jeff Ooi is right in the middle of this vortex.  He has taken up the task of putting his own spin, one which the public seems to react more positively to, on the stories that the mainstream media puts out. He has been thanked, on one occasion, by being villified on the front page by a major malay language daily, as publishing a commentary that criticised Islam. It created such a ruckus, that Jeff Ooi was subsequently called up and questioned by the police, with regards to several issues on his blogs, particularly the post that created so much fuss. It also raised Jeff Ooi's profile somewhat, helped by his engagement with the media on the issue. It also helped that the junior reporter who covered the story totally missed the point about blogging and the (changing) architecture of grassroot media, a term that seems threatening at one time. Not anymore.
Flashblog – The Jeff Ooi Interview
This blogger interviewed Jeff Ooi, rather it was a casual conversation on his blogging activities, and created a flashblog entry that so far has been read over three thousand times. It bears testament to the public's interest over this dimunitive man and his ‘Thinking’, allowed and aloud.
Some of the things missed in that interview, which I uncovered later, was that he styled his blogging much after Dan Gillmor, a person he cites as the one whom moved him to start in the first place. He writes of meeting his role model here.
After all is said and done …
Jeff Ooi remains the leading blogger in Malaysia. Yet he is still, more often than not, marginalised by a country more prone to write about foreign bloggers and the global advent of blogging, and not mention any local bloggers in their story. He has made strides in embedding himself in the local media scene, with his army of ‘little birds’, the term he uses for his sources, of which he maintains strong relationships with.
There are those who disagrees with him, as there will always be, but it is this blogger's opinion that a majority of Malaysians who are internet literate, find Jeff Ooi's blog, Screenshots, to be a source of news that matters to the man on the road. He is, above all, truly grassroots, in character, by nature and he uses his blog to reach out to Malaysian like himself, presenting a voice that is slowly, but surely, getting much louder.
[Link: Jeff Ooi's blog – Screenshots ]

author: Mack Zulkifli


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Friday World Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

South Asia:
Dina Metha has a photo essay of village women in India. (photo: Dina Metha)
The Corporate Social Responsibility weblog points to a report that there are 315,000 child laborers in Pakistan.
Eurasia:
Blogrel summarizes Armenian media reports about the U.S. billionaire Kirk Kirkorian, who is of Armenian descent, and whose foundation is said in Armenia to have contributed to “a large part” of the country's economic growth.
Onnik also asks: “Is a ‘velvet’ revolution ripe in Armenia?”
Voch Me Ban has more on possible reforms in Armenia.
Registan.net posts on Azerbaijan's Beleaguered Opposition, amid news that an Azeri opposition leader has died under mysterious circumstances. He links to a post by the Democracy Guy, who believes Azerbaijan will be a test for the Bush Administration “in which the democracy doctrine will either be shown as real policy, or merely neo-con happy talk.”
Central Asia:
On Uzbekistan, Nathan at Registan has his usual thorough roundup, then asks some tough questions about U.S. policy.
There is a new Uzbekistan blog: Radio Silence.
Thinking-East is covering the Mongolian elections (scheduled for Sunday) here and here.
East Asia:
ESWN has a full English translation of the original article in the Chinese-language Nanfang Weekly about Chinese “undercover internet commentators” that got picked up quickly by the international press. ESWN reports: “these news reports came to the attention of the almighty Internet nanny, and the original article has been removed from the Nanfang Weekend website.” Fortunately you can read the whole thing in both languages on his blog.
… ESWN has another interesting post on how statistics get hyped in China.
Bingfeng Teahouse has a photo essay on media brainwashing.
Chinadigitaltimes.net has a good collection of links today on the currency issue.
According to Slashdot: Asia is the “next frontier” in blogging.
Middle East:
Joshua Landis at Syriacomment.com describes the Syrian blogging scene.
Mohammed in Cairo asks: “what about Egyptian bloggers?”
Iranscan links to an interview with presidential candidate Hooshang Amirahmadi, and a Human Rights Watch report about abuse of dissident members by an exiled Iranian group.
Adventures with Mr.Behi reacts to the report with the headline: “Exchanging monarchs for monsters? Hell NO!”
Iranian Truth challenges the assumption that good Muslim women must wear headscarves.
Aref-Adib thinks Khomeini and Connery look kind of alike.
Iraqi bloggers have much to say about the Saddam underpants photo:
Kurdo's world is gleeful. So is the Kurdistan Bloggers Union.
Raed in the Middle (who generally wants the U.S. out) did not comment directly, but posted the underpants cover photo along with enlarged photos of the dead faces of Saddam's sons which were part of an Israeli photo exhibit.
A Free Writer posts a survey on Iraqi living conditions.
Iraq the Model has the first in a series of posts following the drafting process of Iraq's new constitution.
Africa:
Thinker's Room explains how some people seem to be more equal than others in Kenya.
African Bullets & Honey believes “the Kenyan government is at war with its own people,” and asks where Africa's heroes have gone.
Black Looks describes a “shocking story” of Cassava wars in Nigeria.
Afrotecnik links to new gadgetry for places with limited electricity: a self-winding mobile phone charger and foot charger that works with some laptops.
Timbuktu chronicles has some links about how the spread of mobile phones in Africa will help create a new middle class.


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Thursday World Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

Southeast Asia:
Kennysia in Malaysia speculates on an upcoming Singapore bloggers’ meeting this summer, with some great programming suggestions and hilarious graphics! (Featured on mock poster: Mr. Brown and Xiaxue. ) How come nobody ever made these for the BloggerCons???
Mack at Brandmalaysia discusses Malaysia's “worst managed company.”
Sarasonteh points out that the Thai government is trying to discourage the international media from reporting about ongoing violence in predominantly Muslim Southern Thailand. (Incidentally, the International Crisis group thinks it's an important story.) [UPDATE: the blog's author has posted some clarifications in the comments section here.]
Disni in the Philippines has a long critique of the Business Software Alliance's report on software piracy worldwide, which claims one third of the world's software is pirated.
Republic of Free Cyberspace:
Meanwhile, Turkish Torque points out that a Beykent University student has developed a free flash editor for Linux users.  Yay Beykent!
South Asia:
Uzz Buzz at “United We Blog” describes his recent audio conference on disinformation in Nepal.
Vantage point is enthusing about a movie… and it's NOT Star Wars.
East Asia:
Japan Window Photo Blog has great pictures and a long account of the Design Festa in Tokyo.
Are you feeling blogger-burnout? Gen Kanai has found a great new tool: Autoblogger. Be sure to watch the quicktime video…
Congratulations to Dottocomu for well-deserved praise from PC Magazine.
Marmot and Oranckay on how the scars of the 1980 Gwangju massacre remain raw.
Chattergarden reports that Hong Kong is cracking down on users of BitTorrent.
Danwei thinks China's state news agency, Xinhua, is obsessed with hot babes.
Central Asia:
Two Uzbekistan-based Peace Corps volunteers with blogs have reacted differently to a Peace Corps directive telling them not to talk about the political situation. Working Definition  has decided to keep blogging but avoid giving any more analysis on the Andijon situation. Wanderlustress has decided to stop blogging.
Scraps of Moscow has more on the Uzbekistan situation, thanks to his continued translation of Russian media reports.
Eurasia:
Workhorse in the Ukraine writes about the Crimean Tartars, who were deported by Stalin 61 years ago and still seek justice.
Orange Ukraine takes a look at Ukraine's economic problems, and suspects Russia is overcharging Ukraine for oil.
The Russian Dilettante says there are too many cars with St.Petersburg license plates in Moscow these days…
Siberianlight has an interesting post on the Eurovision song contest in Kiev, pointing out that the Russian lyrics seem somewhat anti-American.
Europe:
Barcepundit has been translating (here and here) material from the Spanish press on what is now being called “Spain's Terrorgate.”
Africa:
Wayne Wides at South Africa's Commentary.co.za gives President Mbeki some advice on how to make the economy grow faster, but wonders if Mbeki is willing to really do what it takes.
Black Looks reports that Nigeria is the first African nation with professional womens’ football (soccer).
Latin America:
Venezuela News & Views holds forth on the “neglected Venezuelan provinces.”
Middle East:
The Angry Arab describes being photographed for an LA Times profile. He has also written a silly song about Lebanon's Hariri.
We have reports on the 3rd Jordanian bloggers’ meetup from “And far away…”
Semitism.net now has streaming audio.
Kurdistan Bloggers Union has an interview with a Syrian Kurd.
Hammorabi discusses newspaper reports that Syrian forces have joined insurgents against U.S. and Iraqi forces.
Iraq the Model defends Spirit of America and Friends of Democracy against critics.
In Iran, Syamak Moattari is scared about the prospect of a U.S. attack.
Mr. Behi has done his first radio interview, available online.  …and, by the way, it was done with Skype.
Iran Scan lets us in on what Iranians are saying in taxis… and what the newspapers are saying.
Mahmoud was interviewed by the BBC from Bahrain.


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The World Reacts to Star Wars · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

I'm tracking posts about Star Wars written by bloggers around the world at the starwars+globalvoices del.icio.us tag.  If you find more Star Wars related posts from international blogs, please contribute to the list by tagging them with BOTH "starwars" and "globalvoices".
Mr. Brown wins the prize for the most original Star Wars viewing photos.
Check out the discussion of parallels between Star Wars and the Iraq situation at Raed in the Middle.
Bingfeng teahouse sees Chinese paralells.
Mack at BrandMalaysia likes this parody better.
All of this and more can be found through the Globalvoices Bloglines Aggregator.


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Monday World Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

SOUTH ASIA:
Photo: “Cheapest Commuter” by Karachiblog.
Kiruba reports on the Nth Chennai bloggers’ meeting.  SelectiveAmnesia has pictures.
MIDDLE EAST:
Iran's Guardian Council has released its approved list of presidential candidates and the reformist blogging candidate Mostafa Moeen is not among them. Some blogger reaction:
– Mr. Behi says the Guardian Council is the “gangrene of democracy.”
– Hossein Derakhshan (Hoder) accuses conservative candidate Moshen Rezai of shameless campaigning.
Iranian Truth discusses the rise of militarism.
The Kurdistan Bloggers Union posts photos of a demonstration by 50,000 Kurds in Syria to protest the disappearance of Kurdish cleric Sheikh Mohammad Mashouk al-Khaznawi. (More photos on www.qamislo.info)
On ChristianIraq.com, blogger Dahr Jamail describes the angst of an Iraqi man in Amman Jordan fretting about the safety of his family in Baghdad: “Abu Talat was talking via IM with his wife as she nearly fainted because bombs and gunfire were so near their home.”
Mohammed at Iraq the Model thinks talk of civil war is overblown.
Omar thinks the photo of Saddam in his underwear isn't such a big deal.
Raed in the Middle (with a long comments thread) discusses the parallels between Star Wars III and the Iraq situation.  (see my separate post for more Star Wars links!)
Ali at Free Iraqi reports on a bovine suicide bomber.
..more seriously, he also reports on a rally to honor an Iraqi police officer who was killed after stopping a suicide attack.
David at Israelly Cool has his first podcast.
Isam Bayazidi believes this year will go down in history as “Blog year of Arabia.”
At Syriancomment.com, Syria-watcher Joshua Landis asks: ” Would it be Better for Syria to have Regime-Change Now or in 5 Years?”
SOUTHEAST ASIA:
Various Singaporean bloggers got interviewed by Singapore's Sunday Times. Mr Brown is annoyed at being called an “online diarist.” He links to the newspapers raw interview so that you can compare them with the final newspaper report.
Still in Singapore, Wannabe Lawyer and Singasingapore are Google-bombing the Singapore Democratic Party.
Jacob at Omeka na huria recommends a book on internet surveillance & intimidation in Singapore.
Bloggers in the Philippines are outraged  that “a Google search for the word “Filipina” throws back a slew of sites on dating and mail order brides. It’s even worse for Google Image Search.” But the  “Pinoy Bloggers” – as they call themselves – aren't just going to sit back and let this state of affairs continue. They've got a plan to link the word “Filipina” to URL's and permalinks to each others’ blog posts that describe women of the Philippines as “excellent, smart and tenacious.”
Jeff Ooi has beautiful photos from a Buddhist ceremony.
AFRICA:
In Zimbabwe, Bulawayo on the Sokwanele blog has been driving his car around on “empty” because he doesn't have six free hours to wait in line.
Subzero Blue has a detailed report on the latest Tunisian Bloggers’ Meetup.
CENTRAL ASIA:
Nathan at Registan.net says Typepad blogs are now blocked [CORRECTION: appear to be blocked] in Uzbekistan.
EAST ASIA:
Isaac Mao announces the Adopt a Chinese blog program through which bloggers in other countries can help Chinese bloggers avoid censorship by hosting their blogs.
The Shanghai-based Dutch journalist Fons Tuinstra has started Radio Shanghai, a podcasting group.
ESWN links and translates a story from the Chinese press about a village requiring virginity tests in land compensation cases. Yikes!!


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Frederick Noronha on Blogger Certification in India · Global Voices
Ethan Zuckerman

Indian Journalist Frederick Noronha has shared an article with us about speculation that the Indian government might start accrediting bloggers. Thanks, Frederick!
BLOGGERS, GET GOING — OR GETTING INCORPORATED — IN INDIA?
From Frederick Noronha
GOA, India, May 23: Bloggers might wait for official recognition elsewhere in the globe, but not so in India, it would seem. Unexpected hints from the federal government at New Delhi, raising the possibility of the carrot of official recognition for bloggers, drew a quick ‘no’.
Indian blogging is still in its infancy, though this trend of social software is now increasingly being reported on in the mainstream media. Probably slow access to the Net, in most places outside the big cities, is the main culprit here.  But blogging was in the news in a big way recently, when a prominent media-related blog shut shop after receiving a defamation notice from one of the biggest newspaper chains in India, The Times of India Group.  Media review journal ‘Critique’, which is published from Nagpur in central India, came out promptly with a cover-story titled ‘Journos V/s Bloggers; Do they really need to fight?’
A report in the mainstream economic newspaper Economic Times came out with the story titled, somewhat misleadingly, “Bloggers, get ready for gov(ernmen)t jobs!”
This article suggested that “India is in the process of framing rules for granting accreditation to internet journalists and bloggers for the first time, taking a reality check on an evolving world of net writers who could shape opinion and who have already been granted access to official corridors in countries such as the US.”  Senior former engineer-turned-journalist Vickram Crishna
Mumbai-based Crishna wrote: “With due respect, I entirely disagree. Looking for ‘accreditation’ is like going to the vegetable market to buy meat. A large part of the value for society is the fact that bloggers are independent citizens, who do not ask for favours from anyone in order to provide an instant and ‘ordinary persons’ viewpoint of the world.”
Crishna added: “The attempt by government to pull blogging into the ‘mainstream’ is either merely a misplaced but well meant intention, or worse, an attempt to regulate through ‘recognition’. To quote from the complete article mentioned above, “According to Indian officials, blogs are becoming a political statement in many other countries — such as in the US and British elections — and India needs to prepare for such a situation” and again, “The idea is to sequester the genuine from the fraud and acknowledge those who really want to make a difference. They will be given facilities and better access through accreditation.”
Dina Mehta in her Conversations with Dina blog made a similar point. She said: “On the one hand i am happy that bloggers are being taken seriously, on the other, many questions and some fear running through my mind …. Do bloggers want this accredition by the government?  Do they need it?  What benefits? At what cost?  Will we lose our freedom of speech?  Is this license or protection or regulation of sorts?  Will they become mouthpieces for the Government?  Will it create competition among Indian Bloggers, in a mad rush for press passes, where camaraderie and collaboration exists today?”
Blogs in India have gained credibility for their role played in coping with the December 26, 2004 tsunami across Asia. Another interesting overview of blogging in India is here.
Rajesh Jain, one of India's most prominent bloggers who runs Emergic.org recently put out tips to help people to start blogging.
One good place to look up for Indian blogs is India.Blogstreet.Com's Top 100.


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Tuesday World Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Ethan Zuckerman

Brian at Black Star Journal worries that UN relief efforts are “damned if they do, damned if they don't”.
Emeka of Timbuktu Chronicles points us to companies exploring m-banking, banking services delivered through cellphones.
Ethiopundit feels “a profound degree of distrust and disgust with the ruling party” and wonders if the Ethiopian government has misrepresented a good harvest to obtain food aid.
Friends of Ethiopia, on the other hand, sees the recent elections as a breakthrough for the opposition.
Ory, the Kenyan Pundit, points us towards a collection of photos shot by Nairobi street kids at homelessworld.org. It's part of a series that includes photos from Moscow, Cairo, New Delhi and other cities around the world.
Zimpundit explains why the black market in currency is flourishing in Zimbabwe, despite government attempts to close it down.
Nate at Registan is concerned about Chinese influence in Uzbekistan (as well as their support for Karimov's crackdown on militants.) And he's got a link to a great story about Georgian threats against George Soros.
Onnik visits a Molokan community in Armenia and finds it a bit surreal to encounter blue eyed, blond, Russian speakers in Armenia.
Isam Bayazidi is having a tough time finding a content management system that has a bilingual (English/Arabic) interface.
Sabbah points us to a reworking of Grant Wood's American Gothic by cartoonist Emad Hajjaj.
Mohamed at From Cairo, With Love thinks it's great that Egyptians are being politically active, but that he's not sympathetic to the emails he's getting urging him to boycott tomorrow's polls.
Big Pharaoh points to evidence that he's an actual Egyptian blogger, not a CIA plant. Silly Bahrani Girl goes a step further, blowing her cover in an article in USC Annenberg's Online Journalism Review. (The article, BTW, is an excellent overview of the vibrant Bahrani blogosphere.)
Yasser is (understandably) confused about the certification of presidential candidate Mustafa Moeen. Mr. Behi thinks the decision by Iran's supreme leader to “order democracy” by re-certifying Moeen is a contradiction in terms.
Antoin is interested in having Ireland adopt a numeric post code system, like the US or the UK.
Petr Bokuvka, the Daily Czech, is finding context-based text ads in online newspapers just a little bit off…
Finland for Thought thinks Finland is pretty unique… but that philosopher Pekka Himanen's explanations for the nation's successes are pretty weak.
Gaurav wishes that Indian libertarians – himself included – would talk less about macroeconomic issues, and more about micro issues, like local poverty.
The Tokyo Times blog features what's quite possibly the world's least neccesary research study.
Japundit fills us in on some of the unknown dangers facing restauranteurs in Seoul: escaped zoo elephants.
Phil in Hong Kong wonders “What's in a Name”?
Guillermo at Sine Metu Reloaded picks apart a statement from President Kirchner in a line-by-line critique.
FYI speculates about Brazil's “sistema jurídico disfuncional brasileiro” (dysfunctional justice system) and its impact on Brazil's economic development.


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Juan Varela: Covering Journalism 3.0 in Spain · Global Voices
David Sasaki

For the next few weeks, we’ll be offering profiles of bloggers
nominated for the Reporters Sans Frontières weblog awards. This profile is part of the series. Please visit the RSF voting page and vote for your favorite blogs. – Your friendly editors
Spanish journalist and media consultant, Juan Varela, is the brain behind the blog of Periodistas 21, which refers to the new journalism and journalist “that should utilize intellectual instruments, professionals, technologies, networked information, and above all else, pay attention to the interactivity and socialization of the information that comes through the new media.” In an email interview Varela recounts how the blog began:
At the beginning it was a tool for a journalist and consultant that traveled a lot. In the blog I jotted down and reflected on interesting materials. Little by little it turned into something more personal and more open at the same time. Personal because it grew with my own personal interests and open due to the interaction with the readers.
But ever since Spain's March 11, 2004 terrorist attack, it has become much more. I naively asked Varela if the Spanish blogosphere has experienced any watershed moments.
Yes. On March 13, two days after the terrorist attack of March 11 and close to the general elections, cell phone text messages, some forums, and blogs spread what I call Politics 3.0 from the margins of the political parties and towards formal democracy. Thousands of young people took to the streets to protest against the lack of information and political manipulation. Their action precipitated the unexpected defeat of the Partido Popular in the elections the next day and the triumph of the Socialists.
In particular, Varela cites his post, The Day Text Messaging Changed Politics as his most important. It also furthered the scope of his blog from discussing only journalism to a broader analysis of politics and social organization.
Little by little, Varela claims the Spanish traditional media is beginning to catch on. Specifically, they have been sufficiently influenced to:
Periodistas 21 is updated at least daily and full of the latest links, insights, and analysis of how new media is affecting journalism, society, and politics in Spain and throughout Latin America.

author: David Sasaki


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Wednesday World Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

Middle East:
Chan'ad Bahraini is sad about Bahrain's wilting environment. Photo: dead date palms.
Mahmood wonders if recent international media attention will shame the Bahraini government from stifling free speech on the internet.
Linda asks why offices depicted in Arabic soap operas rarely seem to have computers in them.
Mohammed at “From Cairo With Love” describes voting in today'sreferendum on multi-candidate presidential elections, despite calls for a boycott.
Tom at “Shisha and Shawerma” is cynical about the whole thing.
Alaa describes being attacked and having his laptop stolen while attending a protest with his mother.
Ali at “A free Iraqi” continues his argument with Spirit of America.
IRAN'S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS:
Free Thoughts on Iran has some sarcastic advice for Iran's “management.”
Hossein Derakhshan (Hoder) discusses the debate raging in the Iranian blogosphere over whether reformist candidate Mostafa Moeen should agree to run now that the Guardian Council has reinstated his candidacy, after first rejecting him.
Mr. Behi also has much to say.
East Asia:
ESWN posts about Chinese online citizen-journalism, blog plagiarism in Hong Kong, and virgins accused of being prostitutes.
Bingfeng has some Chinese “doggerel” jokes.
STAR WARS ALERT: “Musing under the tenement Palm” watched Revenge of the Sith in Urumqi and has some observations about the way it was dubbed into Chinese.  (Don't forget to participate in the Globalvoices del.icio.us Starwars tagfest!)
South Asia:
Vantage Point discusses micro-libertarianism, a subject that came up at a recent bloggers’ meeting.
Europe:
Fistful of Euros reacts to the latest Madrid car bombing.
Barcepundit has more.
Finland for Thought reports on the Finnish Toilet Paper Crisis.
Eurasia:
Kaukasus found a book and website about all the many forgotten peoples of the Russian empire.
Latin America:
Thanks to Victor for pointing out NotiCuba, written by Elsy Fors, a journalist blogging from Havana. The tone of recent posts is generally supportive of the regime.
Gringo Unleashed translates a Spanish-language report about Al Qaeda in Central America.
Publius Pundit rounds up blog coverage of the crisis in Bolivia.
MABB discusses President Mesa's gamble with pacifism in Bolivia.
Africa:
Chippala reacts to American predictions of Nigeria's collapse.
MORE STAR WARS: Commentary.co.za compares the Republic in Star Wars to the U.N.


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Friday World Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Zephyr Teachout

Middle East
More pictures from the demonstrations in Egypt, from the Arabist Network.  From Cairo with Love shares a wrenching anonymous email from a woman who says she was assaulted in the riots.
Nearby in Tunisia, Zizou from Djerba and Subzero blog about Tunisian emigration. The numbers they have are:
- 80% of Tunisian youth would like to emigrate.
– 80.000 to 100.000 Tunisian youth leave Tunisia each year (Some come back of course).
– 25 to 35% of Tunisians abroad are jobless.
According to statistics from 2003, the number of Tunisians abroad is 850,000.
Sabbah is enthused about Israelii, Iranian, Syrian, Bahraini, United Arab Emirates, Egyptian, Palestinian, Moroccan, Saudi Arabian, Lebanese, Algerian, and Jordananian (and many other countries) cooperation the Sesame project – the Jordanian based Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East.
Also in Jordan, Abu Aardvark discusses the political situation facing prime minister Badran.
Africa
Friends of Ethiopia report on thousands of Ethiopian protests in D.C.
And Meskel Square reports that the Sub Saharan reformer has two “scoopettes”:
–	The first is that the CUD is calling on its supporters to hold mass prayer protest sessions in mosques today and churches on Sunday
–	An interview with Information Minister Bereket Simon over his fight for his seat in Lalibela.
–	Ethiopian ministers are on a mission to Somaliland to look into using its Red Sea port Berbera for commerce.
4 Sheezy reflects on stalled government projects in Kenya.
Kenya pundit opens a thread asking for Africa stories -good stories – that people wish were written about more. Help her out here.
South America
Daniel Venezuala talks about the High Court drama going on there – with lots of comments and discussion following.
Europe
A fistful of Euros, despite the sunny afternoon, posts throughout the day, diggin deep into to Euroconstitutional arguments, and predicts greater efforts to enforce the Stability and Growth pact.
Central Budapest talks about the future of digital TV in Hungary.
South Asia
Kiruba asks for help: “Would you know any person or shop which services digital cameras either in Chennai, Hyderabad or Bangalore?” Answer  here.
Anyone?
Lazygeek talks about the politics (and marketing) of the saucy posters for the movie Vallavan.
And Anita gives props and the trademark to the Bangalore bloggers bLogout to Suman.

author: Zephyr Teachout


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Glutter: Awaiting A Democratic Hong Kong · Global Voices
Andrea Leung

For the next few weeks, we’ll be offering profiles of bloggers nominated for the Reporters Sans Frontières weblog awards. This profile is part of the series. Please visit the RSF voting page and vote for your favorite blogs. – Your friendly editors.
Glutter is arguably the most vocal voice from Hong Kong in the English language blogosphere.
A native of Hong Kong, Yan Sham-Shackleton, the blogger behind Glutter, started blogging the day after she took part in a half a million people march against a pending legislation which, if enacted, would threaten free speech in Hong Kong.
The government eventually back down on the law. But Sham-Shackleton had continued to write relentlessly on free speech issue and tracking the ups and downs of democractic development in Hong Kong since then.  At times, her blog would also feature news on human rights violations in China.
“Because I am afraid that if we don't talk about it now, if we don't fight for and protect our freedom of press and freedom of speech, we will not have it anymore, and we can't protest every day nor is Hong Kong a democracy, so we have to work towards this goal in as many channels possible,” she wrote recently when she reflected on why she blogs.
Her blog is also a personal record in history where she hopes her writing will “turn into a historical record of the Hong Kong Story.”
But Glutter is more than an aspiration for free speech, democracy and the rule of law in Hong Kong.
It is also about showing the world graphic design, documentary-making, art, music, travel and women issues from a Hong Kong perspective.
Lately Glutter has been featuring musicians, t-shirt designs and musings on her life in a new apartment.
“Blogging is internet culture and the internet culture is a global culture,” she said recently in a local television news program in Hong Kong.
“You can have conversations with people in all over the world.”
As for her thoughts about being a freedom blog nominee herself, she wrote:“I am not here to “beat,” or “Compete,” with the 59 blogs. There is no real “Competition,” between us because none of us are working against each other. In fact we’re all working towards the same thing together. We are a team. All of us in our own way are trying to “Defend the Right of Free Expression,” through the blogging medium.”

author: Andrea Leung


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Thursday World Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

Rich pickings today from Southeast Asia:
The Filipino Librarian has launched a campaign with the Filipino blogging community to correct the online image of Filipinas – women of the Philippines. Click on all these links and support their campaign.
Inside PCIJ blogs a recent report about the state of women on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines.
Vietnamese women may attempt an online campaign like the Filipino bloggers someday. Noodle Pie takes a break from his usual Vietnamese food-blogging to reveal a scandal surrounding Miss Vietnam.
Sarasonteh posts on Thailand's “most embarrasing ad contest” and the “fawning correspondents’ club” in Bangkok.
In Singapore, Mr. Brown reports on a blogger flash-party. [LINK CORRECTED] There are Flickr pix too.
Another great Globalvoices Star Wars Post: Mystery Tan Lines does Return of the Sith in Singlish!!
Some people are getting a bit too carried away by this Star Wars craze… Mack at Brandmalaysia reports that a man in a Darth Vader suit has been flashing his “sabre” at unsuspecting women in Bandar Baru Nilai.
More seriously, Mack has a guest editorial on the balkanization and compartmentalization of Malaysian society.
East Asia:
The Mask of China reports that while Starbucks is coming to Dalian, their local staff can't spell.
South Asia:
United We Blog in Nepal expresses solidarity between Nepali and Iranian bloggers.
In India, Vantage Point meets a Muslim taxi driver who is investing in his daughter's future high-tech career, while encouraging his son to drive a taxi because the boy is nowhere near as smart.
3rd World View discusses the Bangladeshi rock scene.
Central Asia:
Nathan at Registan.net has a thorough Uzbekistan news roundup.
Latin America:
Devil's Excrement continues his regular criticism of Venezuela's state oil company, the PDVSA.
Venezuela News and Views has more on the PDVSA and allegations of corruption.
Barrio Flores on the protests in Bolivia.
Europe:
Neeka's Backlog recounts how a primary school class in the Ukraine is basically required by their teacher to support Yushenko.
Scraps of Moscow says: “Russia…appears to be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with China in its response to the events in Andijan.”
According to Fjordman, Dutch Muslims are encouraged to vote “yes” to the European Constitution.
Middle East:
Spark Armada shares his presentation for the Israeli “Blog Day” in which he talks about “The New People” and the role of blogs in people's identity.
In Syria, Amarji believes the President is bound to fail.
The Syrian News Wire analyzes Syria's admission that foreign fighters have been entering Iraq over the Syrian border.
Crossroads Arabia on how the Arab world is reappraising America.
Rafah Pundits Radio comments on a “blogfight” between semitism.net and Israellycool.
Lebanese Political Journal has details on the first round of parliamentary elections to take place this coming Sunday, and argues that Hezbollah is an international issue, despite the fact that politicians have been claiming the contrary.
Sami at An Iraqi's Thoughts thinks Zarqawi's arrest is “irrelevant”.
Hammorabi comments on a civilian's capture of terrorists.
Raed in the Middle wants Al Arabiya to change its policy of filtering viewer comments on its website when those comments are critical of the U.S. presence in Iraq.
Mr. Behi, Iranian Prospect and Farideh at IranScan are all talking about whether Iran's reformers should or shouldn't boycott the election. Neda calls for a boycott.
“Hello from the Land of Pharaohs” describes a failed attempt to vote.
1 Pissed Arab on why some people have problems with the spread of democracy in the Middle East.
Africa:
Commentary.co.za points out South Africa's mainstream media is having credibility problems.
Chippala has an update on the Nigerian presidential campaign.
Black Looks links to a report on Nigerian police abuse.
Black Star Journal points out Africa's 2004 growth rate was highest this century.


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Kenyan Blogs Roundup · Global Voices
Ory Okolloh

This is long overdue.
- Scentiments on something that many Kenyan bloggers based in the diaspora can relate to – missing Kenya.
- Kenyan politicians inspire a WTF moment.
- This is probably not what the proponents of the  Africa Growth and Opportunity Act envisioned.    Also via Bankelele, book lovers in Nairobi now have a new option.
- Thinker conducts a scientific study on “just friends”.
- Wg-K writes urges those who like to think that sexual exploitation and abuse of children in Kenya derives solely from the “West” and the “evil internet” to wake up  and smell the coffee.  I can guarantee you that almost every Kenyan woman who reads this post has gone through similar experiences, or knows someone who has gone through similar experiences.
- Adrian on a local prison beauty pageant that is giving women a second chance.
-  “Lay off the press!” says Afromusing.
- And last but not least, from the one of the newsest kids on the block(g), Diary of  a Mad Kenyan Woman has a wonderful post on reading Binyavinga Wainaina.

author: Ory Okolloh


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Monday World Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Ethan Zuckerman

It's Memorial Day in the US today, a day dedicated to remembrance of those killed and injured in military conflicts – similar to Remembrance Day in Commonweath Countries, France and Belgium. With that in mind, we begin the day's roundup with a selection of posts from Milbloggers – bloggers who are active or retired military personnel, or military families:
Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette honors the memory of Marla Ruzicka, founder of the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflicts, who was killed by a terrorist bomb in Iraq at the age of 28. John Upperman at Who's Your Baghdaddy? remembers six soldiers from his base camp who have been killed in operations in Iraq with photos of base facilities that have been dedicated to the fallen soldiers.
Blackfive points to a number of organizations that support soldiers in the field and groups that help former soldiers find jobs in civilian life.
The Talking Dog interviews US Army Staff Sergeant Shanona Gregozek, stationed in Mosul, Iraq, where she oversees a project – sponsored by Spirit of America – with the Kurdish Women's Union.
SFC Kevin Kelly reports on Memorial Day celebrations in his Engineer battalion, stationed in Iraq. And Lt. R.D. Currie of Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum, is “happy to report that Memorial Day 2005, in Southern Baghdad Iraq was fairly boring“.
Image from John Upperman's blog
Don't tell Martin that Africa is “suffering” from brain drain – he's got a strong argument that Africans living and working abroad are a key economic force on the continent.
Congo Girl explains why beans are expensive, why beer is cheap, and why this is a very bad thing.
Ethiopundit has a political quiz, of a sort, for you. In a similar spirit (i.e., unsympathetic to the Zenawi government), Friends of Ethiopia is very concerned about the presence of militia forces in Addis Ababa.
Mohamed at From Cairo, With Love wrote last week about a friend who was involved with a Kefaya protest last week and who reported that she was stripped, beaten and sexually assaulted by Egyptian authorities. He's now helping call attention to a protest organized by the Association of Egyptian Mothers – Black Wednesday – inviting all Egyptians to wear black to help protest last week's events and to call for the resignation of Egypt's interior minister, Habib al-Adli. (Some background on Wednesday's events from Newsday.)
Big Pharaoh is skeptical that people will participate in this movement, or a parallel white ribbon campaign. Over beers with a friend, he offers a timeline for what might happen over the next few years if the Mubarak government were replaced by an Islamist government.
Hoder wonders whether Iran's supreme leader, Khamenei, has implictly endorsed Rafsanjani, a seventy-year old presidential candidate, and how this aligns with his previous statements that Iran's new president should be someone “young and energetic.” Hoder also has an insightful piece on IranScan, analyzing the fashion decisions of major Iranian politicians and their attempts to appeal to different constituencies. Meanwhile, Babak Seradjeh wonders how 1008 of 1014 possible presidential candidates were disqualified by religious authorities.
Neda at An Iranian Girl calls attention to Akbar Ganji, Iran's longest serving political prisoner. Ganji has been imprisoned for 61 months and is now on a hunger strike. Mr. Behi is trying to organize a “Google Bombing”, trying to get bloggers to link to stories about Ganji's imprisonment.
Image – Black Wednesday banner
MivPiv – a Danish aid worker in Kabul – shares tips for identifying suicide bombers, and details the “kidnapping kit” she keeps in her purse. Her Flickr photoblog shows some of the prettier sides of life in Kabul.
Raffi of Life in Armenia was in Karabakh (a territory disputed between Armenia and Azerbaijan), watching footage of the new Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline – he's surprised that the pipeline has opened before a Armenia/Azerbaijan peace deal.
Nathan at Registan has a nice Global Voices shoutout, and his own world roundup, titled “Carnival of Revolutions”. Plus he's got a link to a new Mongolian blog. Saain bainyuu, New Mongol!
New Mongol is off to a terrific start, with an excellent piece explaining why Mongolia's election of a “communist” president doesn't mean that Mongolians are looking back fondly to Soviet times.
Image from New Mongol. Click to see it in its fully adorable glory.
Eduardo at Barrio Flores wonders what happened to the Frente Nacional Anticorrupción, which claimed responsibility for a bombing in Bolovia two weeks back. Miguel points to a recent survey that 6 out of 10 Bolivians would emigrate, if they had the opportunity.
Isidro at Argepundit sees France's vote against the EU constitution as being more about nationalism and traditionalism than “anticapitalismo”.
Yazad is trying to spark a debate, asking whether India should invade Nepal. He seems surprised that some Nepali commenters aren't happy about him asking this question…
Truman at Chien(ne)s Sans Frontieres is concerned that Mumbai city authorities are cracking down on “pavement” booksellers.
Amit Varma points to a story about heavy metals in ayurvedic medicines, memorably noting that “Metallica can lead to Megadeath”
Rezwan at 3rd World View celebrates Bengali fashion designer Bibi Russell.
Clair talks about the stereotypes that plague Filipina women.
llauren celebrates the opening of a children's playground in Dili, East Timor.
Photo from llauren – Heading to the Independence Day celebrations in Timor/Leste


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Skypecast: Indian blogger Dina Mehta · Global Voices
Ethan Zuckerman

We're proud to launch the Global Voices Skypecast series with an interview with ethnographer and blogger Dina Mehta, in Mumbai (or is it Bombay?), India. Dina and I talk about the factors that led her to become a blogger, the Indian version of the “bloggers versus journalists debate, and her hope that more bloggers will write about economic and technical disparities in India.
You can listen to our conversation here. (mp3, 30 minutes, 17MB.)
We're still learning about the technical details of podcasting using Skype – there are real challenges to getting a “clean” recording from Skype, especially when talking to people in low bandwidth environments. As we continue to post Skypecasts, they'll be filed in our “Podcast” category. If you use an aggregator to subscribe to podcasts, you may want to add this link to your subscription list.
Links to weblogs referenced in our conversation:
Dina's weblog – Conversations with Dina
Dilip d'Souza – Indian journalist and blogger.
Amit Varma – Journalist turned blogger, referenced by Dina as a blogger who doesn't accept comments.
Rohit Gupta leads a group blog with frequent critiques of mainstream media.
Pradyuman Maheshwari – Author of mediaah!, a now-closed blog which was sued by Times of India.
Indicubed – A blog setp up to allow group discussions of issues in the Indian blogosphere.
Rashmi Bansal – Editor of a Mumbai-based youth magazine, runs Youthcurry, a blog focused on Indian youth culture.
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text:
Tuesday Global Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Paul Frankenstein

East Asia
China Daily runs a USA Today article about a Chinese knock-off of American Idol, but, as Asiapundit points out, forgets to remove an embarrassing bit of copy.
CSR Daily uncovers the ironic news that anti-poverty wristbands were probably made in Chinese sweatshops. I suppose it could have been worse, though—they could have come from Chinese prison factories…
Bingfeng Teahouse provides insight into the wacky world of Chinese magazine circulation numbers; circulation of 30,000 is really 25,000, which is really 15,000, which is really…
The Cambodian blogosphere is all aflutter about the revelation that former King Sihanouk has a blog (of sorts). The blog itself can be found at www.norodomsihanouk.info; it’s written mostly in French, with some Khmer and English.
As anyone who’s ever been to Hong Kong knows, shiver-inducing air conditioning is de rigur in the buildings of the SAR. Ordinary Gweilo points us to a South China Morning Post article that reveals what many had long suspected: Hong Kong has the coldest offices in the world.
Photograph by Brooke Yu
Central Asia
Blogrel suggests that not having oil is a blessing in disguise for Armenia.
Nathan at Registan.net looks at the possibility of Kyrgyzstan hosting Chinese troops, and isn’t particularly thrilled by the prospect. He also links to eyewitness accounts of some of the Uzbekistan massacres.
South Asia
According to India Uncut, the police have set up a special ‘cyber-crime’ unit, targeting such crimes as “eve-teasing,” as well as other, more conventional offenses like credit card fraud.
And in sports, The Third World View has sage words of advice for those who would strip Bangladesh of Test status in cricket.
Africa
Jing, of Those Who Dare, looks at local unrest in Zimbabwe and wonders if it could be related to  Chinese influence in the country.
Middle East
Silly Bahraini Girl has a meeting with a government official that doesn’t go particularly well. Though she does manage to work an old joke (I’ve heard similar jokes told about various Soviet-Block countries) about Bahraini Hell into the post.
Also in Bahrain, Mahmood follows up on the case of the journalist arrested for writing for a foreign paper without first registering with the government.
In Egypt, the Arabist Network reports on coverage suggesting that a Potempkin school was set up in advance of First Lady Laura Bush’s visit to Alexandria—students and staff of a school were swapped out “in order to present a better image to the visiting dignitary.”
Regime Change Iran is following reports of clashes between pro-regime and secular students at Amir Kabir University.
Eight members of a Syrian anti-goverment group were recently released after being arrested last week. The Syrian blogosphere has been hailing this as a demonstration that “the regime can be successfully opposed.” Other commentators had been wondering if the arrest meant that “hopes for a renewed ‘Damascus Spring’ were over.” And SyriaComment pointed to a newspaper column that points out that the freed dissidents weren’t “the only victims of Syria’s security services.”
Europe
The Czech Prime Minister (Jiri Paroubek) and President (Vaclav Klaus) are squabbling, reports the Daily Czech; apparently, Paroubek is claiming that the Klaus cannot travel abroad without prior authorization from the Foreign Ministry. Naturally, the President disagrees.
A Fist Full of Euros looks at some of the economic reaction to the emphatic non that the EU constitution received in France. In other EU constitution news, Loic Le Meur opened a thread asking his readers what they thought the vote really meant.
Who knew? Budapest is apparently a mecca for health tourism.
Siberian Light notes the case of Andrej Mucic, who is attempting to cycle more than 7,000 miles across the frozen tundra of Sibera to raise $10,000 for anti-slavery groups. He’s trying to do it in 100 days—that’s more than 70 miles per day.
North America
And finally, blogs all over the world have been hailing the selection of Natalie Glebova as Miss Universe 2005. From an internationalist perspective, there’s something satisfying about seeing a Russian-born Miss Canada win a pageant that was held in Thailand. A random sampling of the reaction: a former classmate; another Canadian blog; more Canadian reaction; another Canadian celebrates; a Vietnamese blogger comments (unfortunately, I have no idea what he wrote); an Indian blogger's reaction; and the news even made it onto a chess blog!

author: Paul Frankenstein


text:
Wednesday Global Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Ethan Zuckerman

Central Asia and the Caucuses
Nathan at Registan has photos from the Supreme Court building in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where hundreds of people have stormed the structure to oust protesters who've occupied the building since April. (The protesters were demanding the ouster of all officials appointed by former president Akayev.)
Afghan Lord has a detailed report of a bomb explosion at Abdul Rab Akhunzada Mosque in Kandahar.
MivPiv introduces us to her Kabul neighborhood through pictures.
Katy at Blogrel notes that Armenia is one of several formerly Communist countries showing huge GDP growth over the past decade.
Photo from Registan.net. Protesters in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Middle East and North Africa
Sabbah wants to know why the US media isn't covering the AIPAC espionage case. (Background on the story in the New York Post, Ha'aretz.)
Issandr El Amrani reports that five members of the ruling NDP party are suing Kifaya leaders claiming that they were beaten in protests last week… the same protests where Kifaya members report they were beaten up by NDP supporters, leading to today's Black Wednesday protest.
Mr. Behi reviews Iranian presidential candidate Mohammad B. Ghalibaf's recent interview with IRIB. Hoder offers his opinion that the reformist candidates are for real and aren't afraid to break the taboos of the Islamist republic. And Omid Memarian talks about his meeting with formerly imprisoned Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji.
Omar at Iraq the Model reports on a demonstration in Baghdad… not against terrorism or occupation, but against smoking.
Africa
Black Looks introduces us to a blog focused on Western Sahara and has an excellent background on the Saharawi struggle for statehood.
Emeka at Timbuktu Chronicles is interested in the Bridges.org report on Free and Open Source software in Africa. He points us to the commentary on the report on WorldChanging.
Afrophile bloggers are incensed by the arrest of Médecins Sans Frontières workers in Sudan (myself included.) Black Star Journal has the story, as does Black Looks.  Meanwhile, the BBC has just reported that charges have been dropped, apparently in response to international outcry.
Ory is thinking about the Mau-Mau rebellion, pointing to an NPR story about veterans seeking restitution, and to a new film about the conflict.
Nazret.com has a roundup of elections news, including a story about the government's failure to release results in ten disputed areas. Friends of Ethiopia objects to the gerrymandering of electoral districts in Ethiopia along ethnic lines.
Zimpundit has a wealth of new posts – a conversation with a friend struggling to get by in Harare, commentary on the government's crackdown on informal laborers, and a roundup of global blogs talking about the situation in Zimbabwe.
East Asia
Jing at Those Who Dare… sees a great deal of irony in the arrest of a Singaporean reporter in China. Simon World has additional details on the story.
michgow is photoblogging a trip to Tuol Sleng, a high school that became the hub of Pol Pot's extermination camps in Cambodia.
Jakartass blogs about the brief lifespan of banbali.com, a site lobbying the Indonesian government which was rapidly hacked and filled with pornography.
Avaiki rounds up mainstream press references to nuclear testing and fallout in the Cook Islands.
Rezwan at Third World View talks about British MP George Galloway and his visits to Bangladesh (40% of Galloway's constituency is from Bangladesh.)
Rashmi at Youth Curry offers an informal comparison of two Indian newspapers.
Guillermo at Sine Metu Reloaded believes that a poll on the website of La Nación was “hacked”, by strategically moving it from the front of the site to a more hidden page. When the poll – asking readers their opinion of Argentine President Kirchner's first term – was on the front page, the President fared quite badly. Since the poll has moved off the front page, the majority of new responses have been positive, suggesting that government supporters are pointing allies to the new polling page…
Miguel talks about widespread vandalism and public disorder in La Paz in connection with protests against the Bolivian parliament.
Image from Sine Metu Reloaded. The graph shows voting on the La Nacion poll before and after it was moved from the site's front page.
Damone at Pesticide explains why the Hungarian right is grateful to the French left.
An amazing account of Ukranian bureacracy on Orange Ukraine.


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Thursday Global Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Amanda Michel

Central Asia
The Kyrgyzstan Kid attends the wake of a stranger in a small town in northern Kyrgyzstan.
Registan.net comes in with two interesting stories: first, the US State Department has ordered Embassy families to evacuate Tashkent, and it looks like the Peace Corps may be evacuating soon, as well; and second, internet cafe fines for viewing political websites are higher than fines for looking at porn in Tashkent.
Photo by TKnoxB
East Asia
Peking Duck reminds us that June 4 is coming up again soon, and suggests that the Ching Cheong arrest was part of the annual crackdown.
New Mongols notes an article that outlines increasing democratic trends in the homeland of Genghis Khan.
Southeast Asia
The Aseanist responds to a thought-provoking comment with a long, well-reasoned post about the upsides—and the downsides—to regional integration.
From the Philippines comes mp3s of the sessions from iBlog, the Philippines’ first blogging summit. Also, Crainial Cavity looks at what it takes to be a Filipino journalist—donning disguises, different routes to work, and, if all else fails, skipping town seem to be the recommended modus operandi…
South Asia
One of the biggest stories to hit the subcontinent this week has been the Indian government’s decision to ban smoking in movies and TV shows. Even movie stars are denouncing the law, though at least one blogger has issues with the actor’s quick response.
Photo by Steve Evans
Middle East
Several Egyptian bloggers have posted their thoughts on the assaults on women demonstrating against the Mubarak regime last week, and the “Protest in Black” demonstration yesterday in response to the attacks.
Meanwhile The Dumb North African reports on statistics on quality of life and inequality in Egypt and asks, “Just how representative do the likes of us bloggers think we are?” — leading to lively discussion in the comments.
In Iran, DoctorZim points to a survey claiming that 92% of Iranians will not vote in the upcoming presidential election, while IranScan discusses an article arguing that the elections don’t matter, because presidential power is so weak. Congrats to GlobalVoices participant Hoder, who was recently featured in several mainstream news articles.
Mahmood Al-Yousif in Bahrain is concerned about the impact of Western-funded development projects on the local environment. Omar from IraqTheModel asks if the “Integrity Committee” is the right way to fight government corruption in Iraq. And Beirut Spring has changed his blog photo for 5 days in protest of the murder of journalist Samir Kassir.
Africa
Ory blogs about the politics of foreign aid in Africa and Jeffrey Sachs’ new book. Ethiopundit discusses revolutionary democracy in Ethiopia and The Emperor’s New Clothes. And Black Gold reacts to a Human Rights Watch report about violence around the gold trade in the DRC.
Europe
Afoe does its own roundup
on why the Dutch rejected the Constitution treaty, including the interesting stat that 80% of young people voted against the treaty. AFOE also rejoices that the Bavarian cabinet may permit carwashing on Sunday afternoons.
Finland for Thought is happy that deregulation may permit shops to be open on Sundays.
A young boy playing outside in Hungary came across several skulls and bones, and the construction company responsible for recently filling the lot with fresh dirt disclosed that earth had come from a nearby graveyard.  Pestiside describes the scene.
Norway's Fjordman reflects on the significance of the French and Dutch votes — “Whatever you think of European integration, there is something inspiring about 20 million people who, having been told what to do by their most respected politicians and after listening attentively, then do the exact opposite. This week’s referendums in France and the Netherlands are probably the most significant event in European history since the end of the Cold War….”
HispaLibertas celebrates “Don Quichotte du Non,” a blogger who “took on European elites.” Find out more by reading HispaLibertas.
Today's blog roundup by Amanda Michel, Erica George and Paul Frankenstein

author: Amanda Michel


text:
Friday Global Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Paul Frankenstein

East Asia
Over at Big White Guy, Randall van der Woning writes about an expat Tiananmen protestor who climbed atop a giant TV screen in downtown Hong Kong and stripped off to reveal a Spider-Man costume. As Mr. van der Woning notes, activists are starting their June 4 protestors early this year, since June 4 itself falls on a Saturday.
Glutter reports that Hong Kong legislator Leung Kwok Hung (aka “Long Hair”) just called Chief-Executive-Apparent Donald Tsang “a shoe-shine boy”.
Photograph by Jessica Lim
Africa
The Black Star Journal raises the alarm on the hunger emergency in Niger.
The problem of violence against women in Nigeria is highlighted by Black Looks.
The Thinker’s Room profiles typical Kenyan MP, Jack Arse.
Congo Girl found a gallery of photographs of Kinshasa—or Leopoldville, as it was known at the time—from the 1950s. It’s remarkable how many of the buildings could be exchanged with their colonial counterparts in Hong Kong, Hanoi, or Kuala Lumpur; there seems to have been a certain sameness in the architecture of empire.
Friends of Ethiopia has coverage of election protests in London as well as Berlin and Atlanta. They also point to a lengthy profile of Elias Wondimu, a Ethiopean-born writer and publisher who is trying to raise cultural awareness of East Africa in the US.
Middle East
The Lebanese Blogger Forum reacts to the murder of Samir Kassir.
On the growing influence of Lebanese pop stars: not only are they selling out tours all over the Arab world, but they’re also causing the downfall of a “generation of Arabs”! If memory serves, weren’t the Beatles and the Rolling Stones supposed to cause the collapse of Western Civilization?
In more serious news, Mustapha at Beirut Spring tries to analyze what the Kassir murder means for Lebanese politics. There good discussion in the comments, too.
Latin America
Riots in La Paz: reports from Life in Bolivia and Miguel Centellas’s Ciao!. Because this is a story that’s completely  flown under the US press radar, you might want to check Google News for background.
Babalu Bloglooks at the potential for Castro’s brother to succeed him in Cuba and doesn’t like his chances.
Central Asia
Blogrel has found an Armenian-language blogger!.   Unfortunately, Global Voices lacks an Armenian-speaking staffer, so we can’t tell you what he’s actually blogging about. In more serious from Blogrel, it notes that Armenia Today is running a series of articles about World Children’s Day.
Registan is reporting that Israeli Embassy staff and families are being evacuated from Tashkent. Doesn’t look good for Uzbekistan right now.
Europe
A venn diagram that distinguishes between England, the UK, and the British Isles.
And, in Ireland, Piaras Kelly observes that Budweiser has been sponsoring rock concerts… but the only beer available for sale at those concerts is, you guessed it, Budweiser. Given that Ireland is the land of Guinness, Harp, Kilkenny, and all manner of good beer, that’s a business decision that just doesn’t make sense….


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Skypecast #2 with Sokari Ekine · Global Voices
Ethan Zuckerman

Sokari Ekine – aka “Owukori” – is one of the best known and most widely-read bloggers focused on Africa. Writing from her home in Andalucia, Spain, her two blogs – Black Looks and Afrotecnik – cover stories from all over the continent, with a special focus on women's issues and on her native Nigeria.
Our conversation, recorded via Skype yesterday afternoon, includes thoughts about the role of mobile phones in increasing connectivity in Africa, obstacles that make it hard for Africans to blog and the importance of calling attention to human rights issues. Just as we're getting into a discussion of the US “war on terror”, the line goes dead. As it turns out, we weren't cut off due to sinister government surveillance, but due to my fiscal and technical incompetence…
It's a great listen, right up to the abrupt end. And we're going to get Sokari back on the line soon to continue the conversation. In the meantime, Sokari offers a few blogs for the Global Voices aggregator… and for anyone looking for exciting voices from Africa:
TRAE days, from Abuja, Nigeria.
Startle The Echoes
Soul Searching
and her current fave:
Kenya Democracy Project
Listen to our conversation. (mp3, 30 minutes, 16.9MB)
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text:
Kiswahili Blogosphere · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

I am back. Here are voices from the Kiswahili blogosphere:
-  Mawazo na Mawaidha links us to a story about North Korean computer hackers whose abilities equal that of the CIA, a project that will end “computer blindness,” and an article on how to make money from free and open source software projects.
- Mwandani writes about a Nigerian journalist who tracks down African immigrants in Australia, interviews them and blogs theirstories.
-  Damija writes about women empowerment.  She identifies self-esteem and self-knowledge as the main tools for women empowerment.
- Martha advises the Hip Hop generation in Tanzania to think critically about what they imitate from American Hip Hop artists and to also think about how those things relate to the Tanzanian cultural context.
- Jikomboe posts a Kiswahili version of the Global Voices Manifesto. Two new English bloggers from Tanzania are also introduced.
- Pilikapilika is disgusted with King Mswati III of Swaziland who married his tenth wife last month.
- Reginald is waiting to see the implementation of the new law that bans smoking in public places in Tanzania.
-  Bakanja, an African monk, writes about sex having been reduced to and exploited for pleasure rather than being honored as a sacred practice and act of worship.  He bases his argument in traditional African beliefs.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Threat to Chinese blogs · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

Reporters Without Borders has issued a press release today voicing alarm at “the Chinese government's announced intention to close down all China-based websites and blogs that are not officially registered.”  The following paragraph is cause for concern:
A China-based blogger told Reporters Without Borders on condition of anonymity that the Shanghai police recently rendered his website inaccessible because it had not been registered. He then phoned the MII [Ministry of Information Industry] to ask what he had to do in order to register, and was told that in his case it was “not worth bothering” because “there was no chance of an independent blog getting permission to publish.”
Meanwhile, the Russian Interfax news agency reports China is using a system called Night Crawler “to block access to websites that have not been registered with authorities.”
We hope to have some updates with first-hand information here at Global Voices.
Andrea at T-Salon is also on top of latest developments.
Other news reports include:
..and if you haven't read it yet, you must read Steve Cherry's “The Net Effect: As China's Internet Gets a Much-Needed Makeover, Will the New Network Promote Freedom or Curtail It?”
Also keep an eye on China Digital Times for updates and links.
UPDATES:
(4:58pm EST) Nart Villeneuve of CitizenLab has an excellent analysis of what “night crawler” likely can and cannot do, based on the descriptions of it.
Andrea Leung of T-Salon emails to say: “FYI.  Beijing's Public Security Bureau has just lauched a new web-registration drive on May 31 targetting Beijing-based sites and site owners.  The campaign aims to prevent and clean out computer viruses on websites.” She points to this Chinese article about it on Sohu.com.


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Tiananmen Square Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Paul Frankenstein

A quick roundup of posts and rememberances of June 4, 1989—the Tiananmen Square Massacre. The Global Blog Roundup will be posted later tonight.
Andrea from T-Salon posts a lengthy collection of links discussing what June 4 means sixteen years on.
Aahsun looks back at June 4, 1989 and reflects on how time and age can change one’s political approach. Fans of bridgebloggers, note the last paragraph in the entry…
Ming, a Chinese student, tries to reconcile the official version of events with other information available on the internet.
Alex, of Mine Blogging, mournfully says that “on June 4th, I was disgusted to be Chinese. From that day onward, I make sure people I meet know I am from Hong Kong, not China.”
Glutter says “I don’t always feel [that photograph] appropriate as the sole photo and symbol for the events of this day, for what that one picture does is sanitize the true story of June 4th 1989.”. She also has photographs of the annual vigil in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park; Hong Kong Digital Vision has a similar array of astonishing photographs.
The Peking Duck tries to not write about June 4 but despite himself, expresses himself eloquently on the subject anyway.
EastSouthWestNorth looks at it two ways: first, he discusses the numbers game that the local press always plays with these large demonstrations. Then he asks the more provocative question: what’s really more important, democratic development or economic development?
Over at Simon World, Simon concludes that “democracy and freedom is not an inevitability for China. That’s the legacy of Tiananmen Square.”. His co-blogger Enzo talks about the square itself and how the actual events unfolded.
The Committe to Protect Bloggers sadly notes that the CCP had their own point to make that day.
Finally, Asiapundit has his own roundup of blog posts and news stories that recall that fateful day.


text:
Monday Global Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Paul Frankenstein

The Middle East
The famous “should women drive in Saudi Arabia” debate gets a hearing at Crossroads Arabia. Verdict? Well, since women can drive everywhere else, what’s the big deal?
The Syrian News Wire on the Hezbollah victory in the Lebanese elections: “This is proving to be an even more
predictable election than when Lebanon was under
Syrian influence.” That pretty much says it all, doesn’t it?
Subzero Blue is annoucing plans for the third Tunisian blogger meetup. Sounds like fun, though I don’t think that I can get GV to send me there to cover the event. In other news from Tunisia, the first Tunisian blog in Spanish has been sighted.
In reporting on the murder of a Libyan journalist, Abu Aardvark suggests that “if Moammar Qaddafi is going to be drinking tea with Tony Blair, and celebrated in Washington for giving up his non-existent nuclear program in order to vindicate the invasion of Iraq, Libyan journalists who criticize official corruption shouldn’t  be showing up dead, riddled with bullets and their fingers cut off.”
Photo by Aaron Schaub
Africa
This Is Zimbabwe reports from the site of a so-called police ‘clean-up’ operation. As the title says, if selling flowers was illegal, then why didn’t they stop it 100 years ago?
“Where are you really from?” asks Black Looks. What’s she’s really asking is, of course, “What makes you the nationality that you are? Where does that line end and where does it begin?”
South-East Asia
The Sassy Lawyer takes wonders why the government, since it’s so intent on censoring TV and film, does nothing about suggestive advertising.
The fact that Singapore has one of the highest numbers of bloggers of any country in the world (on, of course, a per-capita basis) was a topic of much discussion at the first Singapore Indian Blogger’s Meet, according to Kaps of Sambhar Mafia.
South Asia
Over the weekend, Nepalese lawyers staged a rally in Kathmandu, protesting the royal family’s seizure of power. United We Blog! has photos of the protest. The comments are running mostly royalist, however…
India Uncut takes a gander at a badly-abbreviated headline and lets his imagination take over from there.
Europe
In the wake of the French and Dutch defeats of the EU constitution, the group blog A Fistful of Euros notes that this may slow the Turkish drive to enter the EU while also observing that the UK has taken the opportunity to shelve Britain’s vote on the EU constitution. Elsewhere, the site also ponders what impact Kurdish national ambitions might have on Turkey’s EU application.


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Skypecast: Singapore’s mr. brown · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

I had a giggle-filled conversation today with Singapore's “enfant terrible,” Lee Kin Mun, aka mr. brown.
Topics included: How he instigated the Great Singaporean Conspiracy, the upcoming bloggers’ conference, “Singlish,” (English is one of Singapore's 4 official languages along with Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and Malay, but the locals like to combine these all together plus several other dialects like Hokkien and Cantonese), his often raunchy and irreverent podcasts,  plans to podcast Star Wars in Singlish with another nefarious character, Mystery Tan Lines. Tomfoolery aside, mr.brown also held forth on questions of censorship and self-censorship, the shutting down of the blog AcidFlask, and how blogs are inevitably changing the media landscape of Singapore.
My biggest takeaway? You don't always have to take yourself seriously to be influential!
Listen here!(mp3, 35 minutes, 30MB)
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