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Indonesia: Magic powers · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Gunung Merapi, a volcano in Indonesia finally started spewing out  dangerous gas clouds. Ktemoc writes about some nearby residents who are refusing to leave citing their magical powers that would prevent any harm to them.


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Indonesia: Unravelling Journalist’s Murder · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Paras Indonesia blog  has a story on International press groups asking Indonesian authorities to find the culprits involved in the murder of a journalist. The journalist was investigating corruption allegations against officials in East Java.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Preetam Rai


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Iran: Diplomacy & War · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Rajabali Mazroi, reformist politician & blogger, says diplomacy is the best way to solve nuclear crisis. He writes that he does not agree with Iranian President's policy concerning nuclear issue. Blogger adds he believes USA and other big powers have not been on a right diplomatic path to negotiate with Iran. Blogger says Iraq & Afghanistan experiences are there to teach us lesson (Persian).

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: Women & Make UP · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Salakhi  Migerist writes some people say Iranian women use a lot of make up products! She adds but same people forget to say the only visible part of Iranian women are their faces and Iranian men just care about their beauty and nothing else (Persian).


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Japan: Signs of nationalism? · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Of prefect officials in Japan's Fukui city ordering one library to cease stocking a list of 150 books, Tokyo Times‘ Lee sees the move as “all in all a rather unsavoury affair, although as an isolated incident it’s hardly indicative of a return to ‘the bad old days.’ No, surely for that to be the case we would have to see the likes of people clamouring for a change in the country’s pacifist constitution, the forcing of public employees to sing the national anthem and high-ranking ministers suggesting the emperor should visit the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine.”

author: John Kennedy


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Kurdistance: Finding Rebirth in Grief · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

For my regular readers, I apologize for my absence, I lost a much beloved Uncle to Cancer of the Esophagus and was away dealing with family matters.  In reading through the Kurdish blogs this week, I found a posting From Holland to Kurdistan with a similar situation:
I feel sorry for my colleague and friend Sidar Bengin Epozdemir, who lost his uncle because of a dreadful disease. Last year I also lost my uncle because of cancer and another uncle of mine currently has a brain tumour and is slowly dying. When people die fast it’s horrible too, but when people die slowly, you can see it. You see their suffering, the tears in their eyes….. you see them melting away.. And the worst is, you never know when they walk out of your live.
I praise Sidar for writing an article so soon after his uncle’s death, when the pain is still immense. I hope Sidar’s article will inspire the Kurdish people.
Sidar's comments showed me a much more poignant side to death and loss…the regrets of a future never seen….
Last Sunday, I got to know, that my uncle Newzed Sagnic passed away after a long period of illness. It felt like a big blow. I didn’t know how to feel. Should I be glad, because my uncle had suffered so long, and was finally liberated? Or should I be sad, because he didn’t ever know a free Kurdistan? I couldn’t do more than analyse, through this writing.
My uncle was one of the countless examples of people who had experienced the state-oppression against the Kurds from the inside. He was tortured for years in Turkish prison cells for his identity, thoughts and effort for the Kurdish cause. For the last couple years, he lived in freedom, but the influences of the horrible actions were inevitable.
My uncle was also one of the countless people, who never lived in absolute freedom, like we as Kurds all can’t, in Kurdistan.
This is a moment of reflection for me. What is necessary in order to achieve our goals? – First and foremost, unification, a phrase that can’t be repeated too often. Putting people in corners, saying that they’re Kurds from Syria, PKK-men, Barzani-supporters or Iranian Kurds won’t bring us anywhere. We have to realise that we won’t achieve anything without each other.
This reminds me – and hence I am spreading the knowledge to you – that we need to remember the struggle of the Kurdish people to be in control of a homeland of their own.  We need to support causes like Save RojTV as it playing a critical role in the continuence of Kurdish culture, language and media in the Diaspora; we need to think in different ways to find the support in the subtle as in Pearls of Iraq Purple Ribbon Campaign; we need to remember to keep the dialouge open.

author: Deborah Ann Dilley


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Lebanon: Chomsky’s visit · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

lebanon.profile thinks that the American University of Beirut, the institution that paid for Chomsky's visit, should provide a more rounded view of the United States rather than present only the opinions of – what in the United States is deemed – the radical left.

author: Haitham Sabbah


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Lebanon: The National Dialogue · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Abu Kais sums the existing National Dialogue by saying; they hug, kiss and gently disagree.


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Lesotho: World Bank comes and goes · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Idland comments on the World Bank's visit to Lesotho and wonders if it will make any difference to anyone or anything…”I wonder if we aren't barking up the wrong tree. Nobody who is resident here really believes in any of the Growth Strategy papers that get floated around. Only the most optimistic fly-in-fly-out consultants can believe what they write – because they do not stay long enough to understand the fundamental challenges.”

author: Sokari Ekine


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Mexico: Artists From Tijuana · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Nathan Gibbs recommends to readers that they check out the Flash-based website for the exhibition “Strange New World,” which focuses on artists from Tijuana, Mexico.

author: David Sasaki


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Mexico: Chilean Anthropologist Beaten and Deported · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Antropologi.info is justifiably troubled by the deportation and beating of Chilean Anthropologist Valentina Palma when she went to San Salvador Atenco on Thursday, May 4 to document protests that erupted there. We will have much more on San Salvador Atenco and the reaction it has inspired later in the week.


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Mongolia: Mining Association Reaction · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Luke Distelhorst reports that the Mongolian National Mining Association held a meeting on the country's new windfall tax law, which has yet to be signed into law by the president. Mongolian mining companies were the most vocal opponents of the legislation.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Nigeria: Finance Minister’s achievements · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Naijablog comments on the achievements of Nigeria's Finance Minister, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and gives her credit for the 60% debt relief from the Paris Club and reducing inflation.


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Nigeria:Third term dies · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Nigerian blog, Chxta's World, is overjoyed by the death of the third term consitutional amendment.….”We are proud to be citizens of Naija, and it has been shown that we have people in the right places who know how to do the right things”


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Pakistan: Who was Aamir Cheema · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Lahore Metroblogging on a young student Aamir. “Aamir Cheema was a student in Germany. Apparently he went to assassinate the editor of Die Welt newspaper for publishing the infamous cartoons. Security arrested him in the lobby of the building and he was allegedly carrying a knife and told the police that he was going to kill the editor.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Poland: Different Kind of Diaspora · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Aaron Fowles of p3 writes about young Polish friends who are planning to go to England to earn some money: “England is a shangri-la for many Polish people. It's the local version of the American dream: Work hard, earn money, be happy. Learn English for free.” Becca of Boo shares a story of one Pole's awkward encounter with an overly friendly – and overly emotional – Canadian salesperson: “‘We live in Poland’ I answered, ‘Marek's Polish, I'm English’. The man looked geniunely interested as he turned to Marek. ‘I always raise my hat to Poles’ Marek looked confused so the guy continued, ‘in World War Two they really held their ground.'”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Poland: Homophobic Coalition Party Official · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot writes about Wojciech Wierzejski, the homophobic spokesman for the League of Polish Families, one of the three parties that make up Poland’s government coalition.


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Reunion: Slideshow · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Reunion Passion posts (Fr) pictures of the Port of St-Gilles (2 photos),  the beach at Boucan Canot and some palm trees.

author: Alice Backer


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Russia: Orthodox Baptism Ceremony · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Browler attends a Russian Orthodox baptism ceremony of a friends’ baby and shares his impressions: “All the children being baptised (there were about seven of them) got quite wet. The priest was sufficiently liberal with his splashing of the holy water. They also had a small bit of hair cut. (That alone would exclude Leon! Even at one year old, he still hardly has any hair to cut. An indication of being born to an Anglican father, perhaps?)”


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Russia: Site Devoted to Victims of Racism · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Daut of Ufa Blog is starting a memorial site devoted to the victims of racism in Russia. Some help is needed: “I have an incomplete list and very few photos. I have written various organizations and embassies, but so far haven’t received any replies. If anyone can help, particularly with pictures, leave a comment or send an email.”


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Singapore: Creative vs. Apple · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Singapore based Creative Labs is suing Apple for patent infringement and wanting to stop Apple from selling iPods. Creative makes mp3 players that compete with Apple. Tech blogger Justing Lee asks Creative  to “Stop Being a Sore Loser“


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South Korea: Farmers protest military camp · Global Voices
John Kennedy

unity at Days in Daechuri blog keeps up the coverage of villagers peacefully protesting the expansion of an American military base into their village, and the resulting state crackdown with the post ‘Environmental Testimony from Daechuri Villagers.’


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South Korea: Human rights campaign · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Prior to tomorrow's kick-off to Project Sunshine—a two-week campaign for human rights for North Koreans—a documentary was screened and a mock funeral procession held in, says Joshua at The Korea Liberator, “what appears to be either Myongdong or Apkujeong, but in any event, one of Seoul’s tonier neighborhoods.” Photos included.


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Thailand: Boycotting Censored Movie · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Andrew Biggs in Thailand boycotts the opening of the movie Da Vinci Code. The final 10 minutes of the movie is cut because of protests by Thai Christian groups. Andrew says “I don’t want to offend this group of well-meaning Thai Christians, but really, you have no right to be telling me what I can and cannot see. I’m an educated, grown man, and I am intelligent enough to watch something and make up my own mind about it. I don’t need you telling me what I can and cannot do.”


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

For the most part, blogs in Bolivia have been used by students, journalists, musicians, private citizens and by those who simply want a platform to write.  Governmental institutions have been slow to warm up to the use of technology to respond to the needs of the general public. Most departments do maintain their own website, which includes email and telephone contact information for the concerned citizen.  However, one unlikely institution that has embraced blogging technology has been the Constitutional Tribunal, which launched a blog in September 2005 for its official communication.  Interesting enough, it accepts comments from the general public, even though the court strives to maintain objectivity regardless of the pressures and demands from the populace.
From its website's FAQ:
“(This body) exercises constitutional control, guarantees the supremacy of the Constitution, respect and validity of individual rights, as well as guarantees the constitutionality of agreements.”
Comprised of 5 chief magistrates that are designated by 2/3 of the Congress, each serves a term of 10 years.  Their rulings are not always popular.  Many of the entries on its blog serves as press releases announcing decisions reached by simple majority.  For example, in March of 2006, it ruled that the government’s administrative intervention of the failing Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (LAB) airline was unconstitutional.  The entry regarding the ruling produced 46 comments and generated back-and-forth dialogue between various individuals concerned that the airline was placed back in the hands of the company’s president, who was blamed for much of the mismanagement.
It is unclear who actually posts the blog entries and it may seem to be only a service for public record, but the author felt that it was necessary to clarify the controversial ruling.
“Even though it does not form part of institutional policy to provide clarification regarding the decisions reached, the Constitutional Tribunal feels that it is necessary to make some clarifications regarding the case of Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (LAB), due to the continued questioning and grievances from those who feel wronged”
The entry goes on to clarify the process to which it arrived at the decision.  The entry also rejects any of the accusations and rumors that the court may have been illegally influenced to reach the unpopular decision.  One frequent commentor, Luis Antonio Peñaranda Valverde, who states that he serves as board president of the Institutional Front of Lawyers (FIA for its initials in Spanish) laments why the blog needed to clarify its decision in the first place.  He faults those commentors who know nothing about the law, yet still choose to comment based solely on their opinion and emotional relationship with the airline and not based on legal reasoning.  He likens these opinions to opinions from “those who know nothing about structural calculations, but still want to question the construction of a building or a bridge.”

author: Eduardo Avila


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Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia: Network neutrality · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Caribbean bloggers are making noise about the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Efficiency Act of 2006, currently before the US Congress, which would permit “broadband discrimination” by ISPs. “It seems odd that the rest of the world has such little influence on this decision when so much of the world will be influenced,” says Taran Rampersad in Trinidad. He also explains “why network neutrality is important for the future of disaster communication”. In St. Lucia, Dorna! at the Guabancex Blog describes the COPE Act as “excessively vòwas thinking” (vòwas is Kwéyòl for greedy).

author: Nicholas Laughlin


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Ukraine: Photographer Victor Suvorov Remembered · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Abdymok.net remembers Ukrainian photographer Victor Suvorov, who died May 11 of injuries sustained in a car crash April 26: “. . . he was blunt, and plowed ahead like a tank . . . […] and never asked permission to take a picture.”


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United Arab Emirates: Saturday’s children · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

secretdubai says that finally the UAE gets a sensible weekend that isn't unmanageably out of sync with the rest of the developed world.


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Venezuela: Film Blogs · Global Voices
David Sasaki

BlogaCine highlights the film ‘El Aprendiz’ by Jorge Hernández Aldana [ES], which will be shown at this year's Cannes film festival. Día Naranja, Días de Cine [ES] is a weblog by Venezuelan filmmaker Alejandra Szeplaki about the production of her first feature length film, “Día Naranja.


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China: Typhoon averted · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Six hundred thousand people were evacuated, blogs Brian Schwarz at China Challenges, in preparation for Typhoon Chanchu, which swept through southern China this week. More thorough coverage from the GZ Expat blogger writing from Guangzhou, just north of Hong Kong.


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Global Voices Podcast: An interview with Eduardo Avila · Global Voices
Kamla Bhatt

Eduardo Avila is an Bolivian American who lives in Washington DC and covers Bolivia for Global Voices.
Kamla Bhatt spoke with Eduardo at the recently concluded WeMedia conference in London about his work, blogging and Bolivia.
You can download or listen to the interview by clicking here or on the icon above.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSS

author: Kamla Bhatt


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Armenia: Andre · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Harmick and Der Hova are excited that Armenia's Eurovision entry has made the contest's finals.


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Bangladesh: Exporting Pickles · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Bangladesh's most under-rated export? A certain sort of pickle according to Imperfect World 2006.


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Barbados: Time-share development · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Why is the government of Barbados getting involved in a time-share development, asks Barbados Free Press; is it “a scheme to pour yet more public funds” into a private hotel chain?


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Belarus: Athletes and Fans For the White-Red-White Flag · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

TOL's Belarus Blog writes about Belarusian athletes speaking up for the outcast white-red-white flag – and Belarusian fans promoting it abroad: “There is one embarassment, though: Lukashenka cannot prevent waving of the banned flag abroad, and wave they do! Every away game, any hockey championship, etc. becomes an opportunity for the adherents of the national to poke them in front of the official TV and Lukashenka faces. This just happened once again during this year’s world hockey championship in Riga.”


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Bermuda: “Hate speech” complaint rejected · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Bermuda's Human Rights Commission has rejected a complaint against Senator David Burch, who used an offensive racial term in a radio broadcast last year. The HRC had no choice, says the Limey; “Burch's comment was disgusting. But unfortunately not illegal.” But Sean at IMHO.bm is “enraged”, especially because the HRC “scolded” the politician who made the official complaint. “If the Human Rights Act doesn’t guard against this, then it is utterly useless.” “It's up to the public to stand up and put a stop to … race based politics,” says Christian S. Dunleavy.


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China: Beijing’s new facelift · Global Voices
John Kennedy

From Will at Imagethief: The original painting of the retouched version currently hanging from the gate to the Forbidden City is going up for auction, and while old Beijing's bird whistles are increasingly being replaced with the sound of jackhammers, a recording of hutong sounds has been put online for all to enjoy.


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China: Billions in bad loans · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Will China's non-performing loans amount to $900 billion this year? Here's what Hong Kong-based blogger Milton J. Madison has to say:
“Knowing what I do of the Chinese banking industry, it does not surprise me that the auditor of 2 of the largest 4 banks in China estimates that NPLs are either much higher than officially stated or expect them to rise dramatically over the near-term. Basically, Chinese banks haven't a clue how to make loans and they do very little follow-up after they are made…We cannot rely upon the party accomplices that run these organizations to give us an honest answer, the Central Bank doesn't want to tell the truth before selling another stake to unwitting foreign investors and the Chinese themselves do not want to hear that their hard earned savings as deposits in the institutions could potentially be at risk!”


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China: To hell with the Vatican · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Simon at Simon World looks at the Chinese government's decision this week to spurn the Vatican and appoint their own Bishops:
“Naturally, this debate boils right down to control over Chinese civil society, and whether the Chinese government will tolerate any form of civil pluralism or alternate authority hierarchies in the country, or whether the corporatist model it has adopted will dominate social and even religious life in China, in all its aspects, for the forseeable future.”


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Haiti: What Will Preval Bring? · Global Voices
Alice Backer

AyitiCherieConnexion summarizes Preval's inauguration and wonders (Fr): “Ever since the election, things have settled a bit in Haiti. Kidnappings have almost disappeared. Will Preval stabilize the situation, eliminate government corruption, crime, unemployment and feelings of resentment …? Will certain countries of the international community stop dividing and conquering so that the peace Preval hopes for can happen? … Will Preval be a fraud like other Haitian leaders?”


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India: BSE Sensex falls · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Bombay Stock Exchange SENSEX (Sensitive Index) fell by a whopping 826 points in a single day. K has some reactions to the fall.


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India: Revolution and Music · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Amardeep profiles the revolutionary who sings. “Gaddar has become the police's biggest nightmare as they attempt to squelch the seemingly bottomless (or at least very deep) well of sympathy for the Maoists in India's impoverished rural areas.”


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Iran: Fashion Talk in TV! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Cafe Naseri says that there was a talk about dress fashion in Iranian TV. Blogger has taken a photo from her own TV to show who discussed dress fashion. She adds you can realise people who were involved in this discussion were a cleric and two veiled women.


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Japan: Questionable new laws · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Riding Sun‘s GaijinBiker pokes some big holes first in the Japanese government's new law requiring all foreigners entering the country to have their fingerprints scanned followed by another new law which will see a gradual decrease in the number of free parking spaces for bicycles, scooters and motorcycles in Tokyo.


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Kazakhstan: Nazarbaev as Machiavelli · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Stavros writes that Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev could write a Central Asian version of Machiavelli's The Prince. The first issue he discusses is Nazarbaev's ethnic policies.


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Kenya: Parliament Watch · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Kenyan Pundit and Thinkers Room have put together a new blog, Mzalendo whose mission is to keep an eye on the Kenyan parliament.


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Malaysia: Visiting Bidor · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Frus and Fuss visits Bidor, a small town in Perak state. The blogger posts pictures of the town and remembers childhood days “And I love the way time seems to have stood still in Bidor compared to major cities like KL. The sundry shops remind me so much of how it used to be when as a child, I would spend many delightful afternoons in shops like these, choosing my favourite biscuits and sweets from the small allowance given to me by my grandma whenever I visited her in Malacca.”


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Mauritius: A Lesson on Sirandanes · Global Voices
Alice Backer

[Mes] Idees Noires explains that Sirandanes are (Fr) “riddles about everyday life in Mauritius … a relatively traditional aspect of Mauritius that harkens back to the time when Malagasy slaves arrived who brought their riddles with them … and adapted them to the Creole language later on … and as with all ancient games, Sirandanes have a tendency to disappear, replaced by TV and only the older generations really enjoy them…”


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Mexico: Violence and Backlash in San Salvador Atenco · Global Voices
David Sasaki

This much we know for sure. On May third and fourth, in the Mexican town of San Salvador Atenco, riots broke out which resulted in 200 arrests and 50 injured officers according to an official statement. We also know that a 14-year-old youth named Javier Cortés Santiago was killed in the violence. Those small details, however, are about the only facts that all sides agree on. Disagreed upon is 1.) whether Cortés was killed by a bullet of the police or protesters 2.) whether protesters were raped by police officers or if such claims are fabrications 3.) whether the government was justified in using force, and 4.) most importantly, just what actually set off the riots?
What follows is an investigation of what took place in San Salvador Atenco through the eyes of journalists, bloggers, and foreign anthropologists who were at the scene. But it is also an examination of who we trust when stories contradict, blame is tossed back and forth, and the media, government, and bloggers all insist that they are the ones telling the truth.
According to Google News, Reuters was the first, major, English-language source to report on the violence, when “machete-wielding peasants clashed with police after a scuffle with flower sellers got out of hand.” It seems that the Reuters article was most likely an English recapitulation of accounts by Mexican dailies, which also depicted the violence as spontaneous and centered around unlicensed flower vendors in Atenco's market. La Jornada ran with the front page headline “War in Texcoco-Atenco: The eviction of florists in a market leads to a bloody battle.” Likewise, in a notably critical tone, El Universal wrote [ES], “the use of public force to restrict flower vendors from setting up in a street caused a violent confrontation between police groups – federal, state, and municipal – and the citizens of the area.” An editorial [ES] that same day puts equal blame on representatives of Mexico's three main political parties for not being able to contain “a minor conflict with eight flower vendors.”
But Jay wrote the day after the riots broke out [ES], “now, with what happened in San Salvador Atenco, I've lost all of the little faith that I had in the mainstream media.”
Mi madre vive en Texcoco de Mora, Edo. de México. Yo viví aqui por mucho tiempo. Y me encontraba en casa de mi mamá este fin de semana. Se han dicho tantas tonterías en los medios masivos de información. Desde los ingenuos que creen que remover a 6 floricultores de la banqueta provocó los enfrentamientos, pasando por los defensores sociales que siguen ciegamente a los “oprimidos del gobierno”, hasta los que aplauden la “rápida y efectiva” acción del gobierno estatal para retirar su bloqueo sobre la carretera Texcoco – Lechería.
Pero aqui unos hechos que seguramente no escucharon con López Dóriga, y menos con Tv Azteca…
La policia estatal lleva mas de 15 días en Texcoco! Claro que no tenian los blanquillos para estar en Atenco, así que invadieron el centro histórico de Texcoco. 15 días esperando ordenes, esperando un pretexto para usar la fuerza…
Claro que a muchos no les importó… pues no estaban haciendo nada. Simplemente tomando el sol, rascándose la barriga… impuestos muy bien gastados! El primer día que llegaron a Texcoco todo mundo podia oler que algo andaba mal. Pero poco a poco se volvieron simplemente parte del paisaje…
But here are some facts that you surely haven't heard from [Televisa anchorman] López Dóriga and much less from TV Azteca …
The state police have been in Texcoco for more than 15 days! Of course they didn't have the balls to be in Atenco [a city known for its violent protesters] and so they invaded the historic center of Texcoco. For 15 days they were waiting for orders, waiting for a pretext to use force …
Of course, for a lot of people, it didn't bother them … [the officers] weren't doing anything, just taking in the sun, scratching their bellies … tax money very well spent! From the first day that they arrived to Texcoco everyone could smell something fishy. But little by little [the police] simply became part of the background.
Jay's post leads to a lengthy discussion in the comments section about whether or not state force was justified, but Jay reminds readers that his criticism was directed at the press who he says established a story line of sponteneity because they did not have the appropriate background knowledge of what really led to the conflict.
There is no doubt that Mexico City native, Ulises Ali Mejias was the first blogger to write about Atenco in English. He also provided his readers with some context to the conflicts that the citizens of Atenco has often found themselves involved in, including machete-wielding protests against a proposed aiport in the area and disapproval of Wal-Mart's plans to open shop.
Sweetness & Light, a day later, painted the violent confrontation as “Mexican Anti Wal-Mart Riots” and said that the story was receiving so little attention in the American press because it is leftist, also anti-Wal-Mart, and “think it makes their side look bad.”
A.M. Mora y Leon of the popular, international conservative blog, Publius Pundit took the explanation as authoritative and claimed:
In San Salvador Atenco, in central Mexico state, not far from the capital, over 200 people were arrested, protesting a new Wal-Mart about to go up. One 14-year-old was killed, and President Vicente Fox has said over the weekend that the government overreacted.
That drew the ire of several bloggers including Mexican expat Rodolfo Soriano Núñez who currently blogs from New Hampshire [ES] (including this recent post on “The Ghost of Atenco“) and commented on Mora y Leon's post:
The riots had nothing to do with Wal-Mart. You gotta be out of your mind to assume that you know something about what is going on in Mexico just because you can download pictures from Mexico. The riot is connected with the awful mismanagement of the construction of a new airport in Mexico city back in 2000. Lately, the leaders of the movement that emerged back in 2000 to challenge the construction of the airport reorganized their group in an effort to boost their position during the on-going presidential election. Moreover, after a rather unusual intervention of the Mexican authorities to prevent the spread of the conflict, Marcos the leader of the languishing “guerrilla” in Chiapas (the EZLN) decided to show up there to get himself back in the newspapers.
The fact that Zapatista media darling, Subcomandante Marcos has used the disorder in Atenco to enter back into the pre-election political fray has not been lost on anyone. But few commentators have noted the important change in how Marcos and other Zapatista leaders now distribute information. A decade ago the Zapatistas (EZLN) depended on hand written and typed communiques which were sent to the Mexican press and most often published in La Jornada. In the years to follow, those communiques were sent, albeit less frequently, in real time to subscribers of email lists scattered across the globe. Beginning in November 2005, however, the Zapatistas embraced Web2.0 wholeheartedly with the weblog Enlace Zapatista (Zapatista Connection), which allows comments and encourages decentralized participation via proprietary services such as Technorati, Flickr, and YouTube. Perhaps indicative of who may be providing tech support to the EZLN, all posts are available in both Spanish and Italian. Many of them also include podcasts of Marcos passionately orating.
It was Enlace Zapatista that was most active in the days of the Atenco riots and most critical of the press’ coverage. The morning of May 6th a transcript and podcast of a speech by Subcomandante Marcos directed at Mexico's mainstream media was posted onto Enlace Zapatista, which inspired dozens of comments:
Ayer y hoy, fuimos testigos de una verdadera campaña de mentiras y de linchamiento en contra del Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra y en contra del pueblo de San Salvador Atenco, manipulando imágenes, fotos y palabras, los medios masivos de comunicación, sus direcciones, se están poniendo al servicio de la mentira y no de la verdad, un locutor decía que no creía en coincidencias, tampoco cree en la verdad, esta claro que quienes les están pagando a los medios de comunicación para esta campaña de mentiras tienen el dinero y nosotros no lo tenemos, pero esos, los que están allá arriba, que están pagando esta campaña no están en las calles, no hacen andar las fábricas, no hacen germinar al campo, no viven en las montañas, somos nosotros los que estamos abajo los que hacemos todo eso, los medios masivos de comunicación están preparando y ejecutando una campaña de desprestigio en contra de gente noble y buena …
… ellos están preparando y ejecutando esta campaña de desprestigio, y ustedes son los operadores, simplemente lo único que están logrando es que crezca el odio y el rencor abajo, para que ustedes lo enfrenten, no serán sus directores los que van a recibir los insultos y el repudio, sino ustedes camarógrafos, videastas, reporteros, fotógrafos, son ustedes los que van a recibir porque representan a esas empresas, que están yendo a contracorriente … lo único que están haciendo es que crezca el coraje y esto que esta aquí es una pequeña muestra y lo que pasó ayer otra y seguirán más y más, cuando se presentaron las primeras imágenes ayer en la mañana de las detenciones que hizo la policía, se apreciaba claramente como los policías pateaban y golpeaban a los detenidos que ya estaban reducidos, en la noche ya estaba todo editado, ya nomás aparecían los policías golpeados, ¿donde quedaron esas imágenes?, ¿donde están los desaparecidos?, faltan dos compañeros, uno es el hijo de Ignacio del Valle, su nombre es César y el otro es Ulises Ríos, ¿dónde están?, que los presenten, los familiares de las detenidas nos están avisando que están violando a las mujeres, ¿dónde esta su estado de derecho?, ¿qué hacía la policía aquí en San Salvador Atenco?, si el problema fue local, en Texcoco.
They [media executives, managers] are planning and excecuting this smear campaign and it is all of you [reporters, media employees] who are the operators and the only think you are achieving is the growth of hate and rancor from down under which you will be faced with. It won't be your directors that will receive the insults and repudiation, but rather all of you, the cameramen, reporters, and photographers, it is you who will recieve it because you represent these companies that are going against the truth. The only thing you are doing is increasing the rage and all this that is here is just a small glimpse and what happened yesterday, others will follow, more and more. When the first images were shown yesterday morning of the detentions made by the police, it was clearly apparent that the officers had kicked and beaten the detainees, who were already restrained. Then in the night, they were all edited. Where are these images now? Where are the citizens who have disappeared? We are missing two of our partners, one is the son of [automony movement leader] Ignacio del Valle, his name is César and the other is Ulises Ríos. Where are they? Present them to us. The family members of the detainees are telling us that the [police] are raping the women. Where are their rights? What is the [federal] police doing here in Atenco if the problem was local and in Texcoco?
But the Zapatistas are far from the only ones who disagree with how Atenco has been portrayed by the government and mainstream media. On May 6th Alfredo Sanchez quoted [ES] the commissioner of the State Security Agency who had said the day before that none of the police officers in San Salvador Atenco had carried any firearms.
Según el oficial policiaco, los uniformados solo actuaron con escudos, toletes y gases lacrimógenos y jamás dispararon con armas de fuego.
But included in the post is a picture taken from La Reforma of an officer in uniform clearly pointing his pistol. Sanchez goes on to quote another official who said there was still not sufficient evidence to determine if 14-year-old Javier Cortés was killed by a bullet belonging to the police, however, like Juan Carreón points out:
Javier Cortés Santiago, de 14 años, falleció de un balazo de pistola calibre .38 durante el conflicto del miércoles en Atenco, y no por el estallido de un petardo, como informaron las autoridades del Estado de México.
Javier Cortés era estudiante de secundaria. Los fines de semana preparaba merengues para venderlos en Bosques de Aragón. No usaba machetes. Al contrario, su familia estaba en contra del movimiento en Atenco, pero ese día Javier acudió al sitio de los enfrentamientos y recibió un balazo en el brazo izquierdo que le llegó hasta el corazón.
Javier Cortés was a middle school student. On weekends he made merengues which he sold in the Bosques de Aragón park. He did not use a machete. To the contrary, his family was against the [autonomy] movement in Atenco, but that day Javier went to the site of the confrontation and received a gunshot in his left arm that went to his heart.
But while the state forensic service (SEMEFO) assures that Cortés died of gunshot wounds, officials are still investigating who shot the lethal bullet. According to Carreón:
Hasta el momento, la Subprocuraduría de Justicia tiene dos líneas de investigación: “una es que los mismos seguidores de Ignacio del Valle (líder del Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra), realizaron el disparo; la otra que fueron los policías”.
De acuerdo al Reglamento establecido para las policías municipales y estatales, los encargados de vigilar el orden público local están facultados para utilizar como parte su armamento pistolas tipo revólver calibre .38, el cual coincide con la munición que le quitó la vida a Javier Cortés Santiago.
According to established regulations of the municipal and state police, those in charge of keeping public order are permitted to use, as part of their protection, .38 calibre pistols, the same munition which coincides with the bullet that took the life of Javier Cortés Santiago.
Despite the tomes of content published in the week following Atenco's violence, all of the speculation and reporting was done by individuals who weren't actually in Atenco when the confrontation took place. That changed on May 9th when Chilean anthropologist and filmmaker, Valentina Palma Novoa published a statement [ES] from Santiago, Chile where she arrived after having been deported by Mexican officials. Palma Novoa's entire statement was translated into English three days later at Narco News. She explains:
On Wednesday, May 3, after seeing the news on television and learning of the death of a 14-year-old boy, I was moved by the death of this small child and, as an anthropologist and documentary filmmaker, decided to go to San Salvador Atenco to assess the situation.
And then, some of the more harrowing excerpts:
They pulled me up by my hair and said, “Get in the truck, b$%@#.” I could barely move but they demanded that we move incredibly quickly. They tossed me on top of other wounded and bleeding bodies and ordered me to lay my head in a pool of blood. I didn’t want to put my head in the blood, but the black boot of a police officer forced me to do it. The truck started and began to move. Along the way, I was groped by the hands many police officers. I just closed my eyes and clenched my teeth, hoping that the worst would not happen.
I stayed still, listening to the groans from the bodies by my side, and heard them continue to bring more prisoners onto the bus, asking their names amidst beatings and shouts of pain. I do not know how much time passed before the bus closed its doors and began to move. The trip lasted about two or three hours. The torture began again and whatever small movement we made garnered more blows. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but the moans of the old man next to me kept me awake. The old man was saying, “My leg, my leg…¡God, have mercy, please have mercy!”
Eduardo Arcos has photos of Palma's wounds.
Valentina Palma Novoa was one of five foreigners arrested at San Salvador Atenco. Two others, María Sastres and Cristina Valls from Spain were also in Atenco and also reported that they were sexually assaulted by the police. According to a translation of an article originally from La Jornada:
The worst abuses came when they were put in a truck together with several dozen other people. “They put us in a truck, where they started beating us the whole time, hitting us with clubs and kicking us. They insulted us a lot, because we were Spanish, saying that we were with the ETA, calling us whores and many other things. Later they moved us to a bigger truck, where they accounted for all of us – I think there were 38 of us – and they abused the women sexually.
The Narco News Bulletin has been just about the only English source with continued updates on Atenco. It is worth reading Al Giordono's implication of two American political consultants behind President Fox's mismanagement of Atenco, an account of solidarity protests at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and a letter to Valentina Palma Novoa, María Sastres and Cristina Valls by Raquel Gutiérrez Aguilar who was arrested 20 years earlier while protesting in El Salvador.
Of course, with Mexico's presidential elections right around the corner, the violence in Atenco has been politicized into a partisan blame game. In fact, when Eduardo Arcos first wrote of the riots, several commenters offered their theories on which party was behind the disruption to win political favor. Alfredo Sanchez describes [ES] how some are trying to tie leftist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador to the fomented violence. On the other hand, Eduardo Arcos admonishes the pro-Obrador citizen media site Senderodelpeje.com for making videos that blame National Action Party (PAN) candidate Felipe Calderón for the police repression. And Enigmatario says that Subcomandate Marcos is using the momentum to disrupt the upcoming presidential elections by promoting his Zapatista autonomy movement. But, in a post titled “Playing the Fear Card,” Dave Pentecost is critical of an AP article portraying Mexico as a nation on the edge, which was then picked up by Forbes, CNN, and ten Spanish-language papers. Pentecost concludes, “this has to be based on a new PRI campaign talking point. Go back to the old repressive PRI government for another 71 years? We'll see if that's really the national mood.”
A plethora of videos documenting violence carried out by both protesters and police can be seen on YouTube. Similarly, Technorati has nearly 3,000 posts with the search term “Atenco.” Likewise, nearly 150 photos can be found on Flickr.
But with so much overwhelming content online, why has Atenco only been referenced obliquely in the anglophone press? Why was police oppression only condemned when it was spoken of by foreigners? Why has so little context been given of the region's long-running autonomy movement against the federal government?
They are questions to be considered, but so far without answers. Readers who would like to gain more understanding of the region and how a proposed airport inspired a growing movment for regional autonomy that was encouraged by the EZLN, “¡Tierra si! ¡Aviones no!” (Land Yes! Airplanes No!) is a three part documentary movie directed by Adan Xicohtencatl and Constantino Miranda and freely available for download.


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Mongolia: Ivanhoe Interviews · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Luke Distelhorst interviews John Macken, CEO and President, and Layton Croft, Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs of Ivanhoe Mines on the company's business in Mongolia.


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Nigeria: BBC documentary award · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Grandiose Parlor points to an award for a BBC documentary : This World: Bad Medicine, produced by Olenka Frenkiel in 2005. The documentary has won the Peabody award.


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Nigeria: UK & the NHS · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

African Shirts reports on the story of a Nigerian woman who fell ill in London and needed a new heart. Unfortuantely she was unable to receive free treatment under the National Health Service and died.


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Nigeria’s Failed Constitutional Amendment · Global Voices
Vandu

In the fourth quarter of 2005, reports began appearing in the Nigerian mainstream print media about a bid to have the Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, attempt a third term in office. Mr. Obasanjo, who has been president since 1999, is constitutionally permitted to serve a maximum of two four-year terms. In March 2006, a parliamentary constitutional review committee adopted proposals for the amendment of several clauses in the Nigerian Constitution. The most controversial of these was the fact that a president should be allowed to serve three four-year terms rather than the two four-year terms currently stipulated. This became widely known as the “Third Term Agenda” in Nigeria.
For the constitutional review bill to become law in Nigeria, both the upper and lower houses of parliament must approve it. On May 16, 2005, the upper House (Senate) rejected it with an unquestionable majority, bringing to an end all debates surrounding amending or modifying the Nigerian Constitution for the next six months. A large number of bloggers keenly followed events surrounding the constitutional review—especially events that centered on amending the constitution to allow the incumbent president seek an extra term in office.
Blogging from the Nigerian capital city of Abuja, Chxta’s World puts forward an article entitled “There is a God” in which it tells of people being “proud to be citizens of Naija [Nigeria]”given that “it has been shown that we have people in the right places who know how to do the right things.” Chxta’s World, like a large number of Nigerian blogs, opposed moves to amend the constitution to give Mr. Obasanjo a third term in office. Chippla’s Weblog, though generally favoring the idea of a constitutional amendment, was also strongly opposed to the idea of a third term. Like a number of blogs, it rejoiced on hearing about the rejection of the bill by the Nigerian Senate.
The blog Pause to Ponder, which is one of a few to have openly supported an extension to the tenure of Mr. Obasanjo, was left asking a great deal of questions after the Senate vote of May 16,2005. In an article entitled: “Suppose OBJ [Obasanjo] third term was a ruse,” it poses loads of questions on the entire constitutional review process, leaving you the reader to decide on them. Nigerian Times, despite being an opponent to the third term agenda, refuses to rejoice on hearing that it had been voted against. Rather, it calls on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of Nigeria to probe all allegations of bribery and corruption in respect of the constitutional review process.
Two days before the Senate vote, Naijablog, authored by a Nigerian-resident Briton, expressed fears for the future of Nigeria. It described Nigeria as a country “balanced on knife edge, between continued positive progressions and falling back into the dark old days” as well as a country in which “no one seems to know what is going to happen.” A day after the Senate vote, Naijablog appeared quite optimistic about what the future may hold, given that the country appears to be getting its politics right.
Just Thots By A Naijaman has been quite a vocal opponent in the blogosphere to the constitutional amendment that would have seen the Nigerian president extend his stay in office. It appears disillusioned with the present state of Nigerian society. Furthermore, its satirical portrayal of the chairman of the ruling party in Nigeria, Ahmodu Ali, as well as its questioning of the Nigerian Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, leave room for much discussion.
The process surrounding the constitutional review process in Nigeria gave rise to new sorts of dramas previously unheard of. While the country’s President was silent on it all the while, the Vice President came out in public against the clause that would allow for three four-year terms. The blog On a Lighter Mode wasn’t surprised by this because in its opinion “these two people [the President and his Vice] are from different worlds, only brought together by similar desires – the quest for power.” Grandiose Parlor while declaring no love for the Vice President had these words for those trying to amend the constitution to keep Mr. Obasanjo in power:
“It is shameful, disgraceful, and undeniably callous of the parties stoking the fire of the third term agenda, particularly the man right in the middle of the controversy [i.e. Mr. Obasanjo].”
Black Star Journal, authored by an American with vast knowledge on African politics, had earlier cautioned on the need for Mr. Obasanjo to resist seeking a third term in office, lest Nigeria become a failed state. However, the blog Obasanjo 2007, authored by Bola Adisa, resident in the commercial city of Lagos, took a contrary view by putting forward arguments as to why Mr. Obasanjo ought to be allowed to continue ruling Nigeria for much longer. Obasanjo 20007’s views were also echoed by Ransome Obem, who stands in deep praise of Mr. Obasanjo’s government.
Few issues in Nigeria have generated as much debate in the blogosphere as that of amending the constitution to allow the incumbent president contest an election that may have seen him serve an extra term in office. While a majority of bloggers found this unacceptable, few felt that it was necessary, given the realities on the ground in Nigeria. With the rejection of the constitutional amendment by the Nigerian Senate three days ago, it appears that Nigerians would now start preparing for an election next year. This would be the first time in their country’s history that the mantle of leadership will be passing from one democratically elected government to another.

author: Vandu


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Pakistan: Potohar Plateau · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A fascinating look at Potohar Plateau which yields an archaeologicaly rich past at Light Within -“Bounded on the east by the River Jhelum, on the west by the Indus, on the north by the Kala Chitta Range and the Margalla Hills, and on the south by the Salt Range, Potohar Plateau is really undulating, multi-coloured, picturesque and geographically ill defined area.”


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Philippines: Climber Scales Mt. Everest · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Newsstand blog is reporting on the first Filipino to scale the world's tallest mountain and the story as presented by the various news agencies. Some of the media companies were also involved in sponsoring the climbing teams. Jeg comments on the post “Congratulations to the Pinoys. Well done. No congratulations to the networks. These are people's lives theyre playing with for ratings. I mean pushing the schedule a full year ahead just because a rival network's team is going ahead? The sad thing about this is if, Heaven forbid, something bad happens (the descent is still dangerous), it'll boost their ratings even more. Win-win. We should all be so lucky.”


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Poland: Gay Activist and Homophobia · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

rod 2.0:beta writes about Krystian Legierski, “a Polish-born black gay activist. He is 27 years old and the owner of Le Madame, the influential Warsaw club that was recently shut down by the government.” The beatroot cites the U.S. State Department's annual human rights report, which places Poland as the world's 8th most homophobic nation.


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Poland: Revolution Needed to Fight Red Tape · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Kinuk thinks a revolution is needed in Poland, at the local government level: “In the 21st century, I am waiting for the wheels of 19th century-style bureaucracy to turn so that I can get my 20th century piece of plastic. In the age of digital masterfulness, my piece of plastic is taking 9 days to travel 600 kilometers within the same country. And I’m being dealt with and spoken to in such a Communist way that is shocking. I want a revolution. I want it to destroy the structure of the Polish local governments. And I want it now.”


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Senegal: Tiff with France over “Chosen Immigration” · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Commenting on a recent tiff between French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade over France's new policy of “choosing its immigration,” Forum Realisance says (Fr): “Wade is dead on because it is evident that France wants its pick of the best of African elites and takes for granted that (…) immigrants lured in with promises of an Eldorado (…) receive very little in return (…) It is high time that France (…) change its backhanded segretationist policy towards Africa and accept a responsible partnership that encompasses respect for development in Africa rather than confining it (…) to a role of  furnisher of raw materials, reservoir of labor, technicians and affordable intellectuals or simply to a role of  docile market for exports.”


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Sri Lanka: Failed States Index · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Questioning if Sri Lanka has failed as a state on FocuSLanka. “Sri Lanka has been ranked 25, between Rwanda and Ethiopia, on the list of Failed States Index (FSI) as computed by the US based Foreign Policy & Fund For Peace.”


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Sudan: No religious freedom  · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Sudanese Thinker reports on the arrest of a priest  for “kidnapping” a Muslim apostate who went to see him on her own.  He comments that religious freedom is supposedly enshrined in the constitution – “enshrined my foot”


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Taiwan: President faces non-confidence · Global Voices
John Kennedy

A recent poll blogged on at Michael Turton's The View from Taiwan suggests Taiwanese president Chen Shuibian's ratings are down to only %5.8.


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Trinidad and Tobago, Martinique: Trade and Investment Convention · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Taran Rampersad visits the annual Trade and Investment Convention in Trinidad and is pleasantly surprised. He meets a representative of a company in Martinique that develops innovative GPS/GIS software, and has a constructive, candid talk with the business development manager of a new ISP.


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Uganda: LRA offered peace deal · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Uganda-CAN reports that President Museveni has given LRA leader Joseph Kony until the end of July to end fighting and offers him a peace deal.


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Ukraine: New Government Likely to Emerge Soon · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Vilhelm Konnander thinks Ukraine is about to get its government, at long last: “Seven weeks after the March parliamentary elections, Timoshenko again declares that she stands as victor and new Prime Minister.”


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Ukraine: Obstacles in the Foreign Adoption Process · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Cristin of the Ukraine Adoption blog reports that many American families willing to adopt Ukrainian children are losing patience after many months of waiting for the Ukrainian government agency to start issuing paperwork needed to finalize the adoptions. To fight red tape, Cristin suggests writing letters to the president of Ukraine, the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, and the Ukrainian Ministry for Family, Children and Youth.


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Ukraine: Vote for Tina Karol · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Oleksandr of Messages From Canada calls to his non-Ukrainian readers to vote for Tina Karol, a Ukrainian contester in today's semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens.


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Uzbekistan: Politics & Religion · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Nick of neweurasia writes about politics and religion in Uzbekistan.


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West Indies: Brian Lara’s appointment “commercial”? · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Sir Viv Richards, West Indies cricket legend, says star batsman Brian Lara was recently appointed captain of the team for “commercial reasons”. “A tad ungracious of the great man,” says Jeremy Taylor at the Caribbean Beat blog.


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Zambia: Internet Security · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Zambian blog Real Life of a Journalist posts some tips on internet security


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Zimbabwe: Destruction of homes · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Today is the one year anniversary of the Murambatsvina in which the government of Zimbabwe destroyed the homes and livlihoods of thousands of people.  This is Zimbabwe asks that we remember devastation.   They have published  some photos and information on various actions taking place in Zimbabwe and London to remember what happened.


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Zimbabwe: Questions on Mutambara · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Enough is Enough tries to work out what exactly MDC breakaway Arthur Mutambara is standing for.  He asks “So what alternative is he for the people of Zimbabwe if he espouses the principles and values from both sides of Zimbabwe’s political divide?”


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Zimbabwe: Repression continues · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

The Bearded man has various reports of more repression by the Zimbabwean government – the arrest of a Mugabe critic; the ban of public prayers and marches; journalists barred from visiting victims of clean up exercise.


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Zimbabwe: WOZA trial · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

This is Zimbabwe reports on the trial of 63 members of WOZA (Women of Zimbabwe Arise) which started on Monday.….”Their crime was to protest deteriorating human rights conditions in Zimbabwe, and to publically march for food and love”


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Advocacy: Help protect global bloggers · Global Voices
Rachel Rawlins

Bloggers, like others at the forefront of activities promoting freedom of speech and information, can run into trouble with the authorities. At Global Voices we have had first hand experience of this with the illegal detention of one of our editors, Hao Wu. He has now been held for three months by the Chinese authorities at an undisclosed location, denied access to his family and lawyer.
The most recent victim of state displeasure is the award-winning Egyptian blogger Alaa Abd El Fatah who is one among many detained during peaceful protests advocating democratic change and supporting the independence of the country's judiciary.
Immediate and widespread web-based action was launched to campaign to Free Alaa! involving a number of initiatives, the most recent of which is a Free Alaa Frappr Map.
In order to help aggregate all the actions on behalf of bloggers at risk we have set up a page on Global Voices tracking current cases. We also have a wiki page – Global Voices Advocacy – where anyone can add information about bloggers under threat and actions being taken on their behalf.

author: Rachel Rawlins


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Africa: High internet costs · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Swamp Cottage points out the high cost of internet in Africa especially when compared to the US….$1800 for 1GB of data which is over 90 times what Kenyans pay.


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African Diaspora: Victory for Sarkozy’s Immigration Law · Global Voices
Alice Backer

” [French Interior Minister] Sarkozy's immigration law [CESEDA] passed in the French National Assembly! ” says  (Fr) Aimafrica . “For a country like Mali, this could be the beginning of an economic catastrophy. France … after having looted our riches and our people, wants business as usual. She no longer wants our unskilled hands, just our most brilliant minds! … Our brothers who have been clandestine for years will remain in that state for life!”


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Arabisk – The Arabic Bloggers Ken · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

The following is an abbreviated translation from some of the Arabic-language blogsphere.
Music…
Amal, in her latest cartoon:
In this cartoon; a poor bleeding Palestinian child is begging from a wealthy Arabian man who seems not giving attention and busy listening to one of the most famous, yet currently the most seductive singer in the Arab world, Haifa Wahbi.
Quoting the late Ghassan Kanafani (a famous Palestinian novelist, revolutionary journalist and writer), Amal writes:
Speaking of the Wawa, Iyas and Laith has produced the Jordanian version of the Wawa song (MP3). On the other hand, Haitham wrote a funny quick tutorial of the Wawa and how to treat it supported by seductive photos of the famous singer, Haifa Wahbi.
Iraq…
During the past few days, an application form has been widely distributed in many cities throughout Iraq urging past Ba'ath party members to rejoin the Ba'ath party. A news report by Al-Basra Net said that the form was distributed among the Iraqi-Sunni's only.
Imad Khadduri disaffirm this news. He said:
Away from war and conflicts, Tara, loves life. She lists here some of the reasons:
Democracy…
In Kuwait; democracy is heading towards a new brink. This evening, the ‘Orange Protest‘ will go out in streets protesting the new government proposal to change the number of election zones.
The protests already started few days ago. On Tuesday, Zaydoun had a foreigner guest from Dubai who is in business trip to Kuwait. When he saw the protest in front of the Kuwaiti parliament during the day, he insisted that he would like to join the protest that was going to take place a the same night.
Zaydoun then said:
A lot of photos from the last few days protests can be found here and here. Note the font colors of the blog like many other Kuwaiti blogs, turned orange.
That was on the peaceful side of protest in the Arab world. The rocky one still continues at Egypt.
The government issued a decree banning street protests.
Wa7da Masrya post short press release by “Journalists for Change“, which says:
Ahmed is even more pessimistic. He publishes the Egyptian flag, but upside down and writes:
Zarqa Alyamama even call it occupation:
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Argentina: El Buenos Aires de Borges · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Professor Julián Gallo was happy to see Borges and Buenos Aires mentioned in the New York Times, but he says [ES] Larry Rohter was mistaken when he wrote that an audio guide of Borges’ city is only available in Spanish. “The audio guide is also available in English and Portuguese, as the following mp3 reveals …” Brandán also reviewed the article and took to task a “a few points where [Rohter] was less than precise. As many Americans are now sure to travel to Argentina's capital city, Jeff Barry's review of Tomás Eloy Martínez's novel, “The Tango Singer,” seems almost prescient: “The Tango Singer is about an American graduate student who travels to Buenos Aires to research Borges’ writings on tango.”


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Argentina: Free Wi-Fi for Buenos Aires · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Chilean blogger Leo Prieto inspires applause in the comments for Buenos Aires Mayor Jorge Telerman's announcement [ES] that the city will provide its citizens with free wi-fi access. One commenter responds, “we Chileans are always copycats with bad ideas, why not copy these good ones?”


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Around West Africa · Global Voices
Oluniyi D. Ajao

The Trials & Tribulations of a Freshly-Arrived Denizen…of Ghana‘s beef this week is about the poor health service in Ghana.
More on Public Health care, or Korle-Bu; & How ECOBANK Won the Day
I woke up to the news on CITI-FM about the 14-yr-old boy who was suing Korle-Bu for having been operated on the wrong leg. Briefly taken aback, I was very happy that I had been given the opportunity to comment on something that had preoccupied me the whole weekend, and that was evidently the passing of Nana Amma, mentioned earlier, who had passed away from complications surrounding an operation for brain tumour.
A blog about the Fulani of Burkina Faso, Under the Acacias blogs about God, AIDS, and manicures
Have we lost sight of God, or re-made him in our own image? These unsettling and provocative observations and questions come from an evangelical Christian friend, who has given me permission to share them with you.
“I find myself in the place where my view of God is shifting. Well, maybe that's premature. I guess I've realized that as much as I would try to deny it, my God is very white & very Western. I've been reading outside my comfort zone lately, and have realized that I can't reconcile my God to the world I see. Clearly the problem isn't with God, it’s with me.
Ramblings of an African geek wets your appetite as he blogs about Ghanaian chocolates and also shares photos of some nice chocolate packages.
This post is about Chocolate
I suppose there are more important things I could be talking about, but one of the things I missed most about being away was the food, so expect me to just talk about that at times.
For those of you who are unaware, Ghana is one of the world's leading exporters of cocoa, the stuff that makes chocolate. Its how thousands of Ghanaians make a living, including my grandmother for a chunk of her life. Hence in addition to just liking the way it tastes, I feel sort of a special connection to Ghanaian chocolate.
Emily (the Ghana journal) is not done yet as she blogs about her encounter with malaria in Ghana.
Malaria, if you were wondering, is the worst flu you've ever had. It's pain, hot, freezing, sweating, cramping pain. It's disgusting, humiliating things like every time you unsuccessfully eat — which for a while was every time I tried. It was a head filled with bricks and set spinning on a tether. Maybe this is my final farewell to Ghana. Except I'm already starting to line up work for my return.
Home of the mandinmories blogs about a bye-election in the Gambia: A house divided
The Kombo East by-election as predicted here has been won by the ruling APRC. It doesn't take a psychic to predict that one. The final vote tally was:
Jung Conteh (APRC) 3,365
Lamin Darbo (UDP/NRP) 2,814
Momodou Lamin Touray (NADD) 1,109
The results manifest what most of us loud mouths have been saying for quite sometime,that the opposition divided as they are today will be drawing from the same pool of supporters albeit the bigger slice. The same fate awaits them at the presidential polls come october.
Cameroonian blog, Scribbles from the Den blows the whistle about corruption in Africa: Third World cash exodus ‘points to laundering’
Money flowing into UK bank accounts from developing countries has surged in the past few years, dwarfing Britain's official aid budget, figures show. The amount flowing in from poor countries in areas such as Africa and South America surged more than $115bn (£61.2bn) last year to $385bn.
The scale of the exodus of capital from countries with major social problems will raise fears of massive corruption and money laundering that will hurt the welfare of the world's most vulnerable people.

author: Oluniyi D. Ajao


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Bangladesh: Loss of secularism · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Drishtipat reflects on the loss of secularism in Bangladesh, seeing the example of Nepal revising its constitution. “After 15th August 1975, we lost one of the greatest assets of our natonal idenitity, i.e. our constitutional declaration of secularism.”


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Belarus: Yury Radzivil Trial · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

TOL's Belarus Blog reports on the trial of Yury Radzivil: “Yury faces 6 years in prison just for actually being almost killed. The man who has shot few times in his car is now victim in this case, and Yury is accused for driving him over. Actually, “victim” is colonel Karpenkou, head of “Almaz”, special forces police unit.”


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Blogging, The New Journalism Frontier · Global Voices
Iria Puyosa

Este artículo también está disponible en español.
The following article addresses five questions asked by university faculty member and digital journalism advocate, Zinnia Martínez, in her weblog, Periodismo Interactivo.
The questions were the following:
• How journalism has been incorporated into Venezuelan blogosphere?
• What Venezuelan blogosphere add to Venezuelan journalism?
• Do you think that journalism can be practiced in the blogosphere without being a journalist? (Translator note: In Venezuela, college graduates on journalism have to affiliate to a professional bar in order to be lawfully allowed to practice that profession)
• Are Venezuelan journalists ready for undertaking the blogosphere routines and to take part in blogosphere conversations?
• What you think would happen if online Venezuelan newspapers integrate weblogs into their websites?
All over the world, journalism as a technique has been incorporated almost unconsciously into blogging, partially because bloggers have made journalism’s discourse structures their own, since they tend to be customarily information consumers—some of them passionate and compulsive. Nonetheless, blogging overcomes the rigid over-simplicity of journalism by adding the stylistic powerfulness of “oral tales” and friends’ conversations. In addition, the best weblogs incorporate the resources of linking, referencing, quoting as well as pictures and graphics. Thus, they present a new public language, which excels the journalistic language.  We are talking about the best weblogs of course. There are others… better not to talk about.
The Venezuelan blogosphere does not contribute anything to Venezuelan journalism. It does not contribute anything because the blogosphere and the press are on parallel tracks. Bloggers take input from mass media, when they want to do so. They do not give anything back, because those who could benefit from their contributions prefer to stay inside a tank sealed against innovation.
Journalism is a trade that is developed in the practice. Therefore, those who do journalism via blogging can call themselves journalists. Professional certification is not a requirement for an independent journalist—either in the blogosphere or in the grassroots media—; although, professional certification may be still needed in private and government-run mass media as a labor rights safeguard, as well as a quality control mechanism on behalf of news-consumers. In the blogosphere, professional status is not necessary because the trade is being performed independently without the supervision from a business owner and there are not vulnerable clients to be protected but conversation partners. Professional training is necessary in this—as well as any other—milieu, but such training can be obtained by self-study. Credentials are optional.
In general, Venezuelan journalists are not ready for participation in the blogging movement. They lack the technical skills, and predisposition toward plural and horizontal dialogue. They lack interest.
Cadena Global gives us an example of what will happen if big mass media incorporate weblogs into their websites: Nothing will happen. Few read it, nobody links, almost none comment.
This conversation is also taking place in the following weblogs:

author: Iria Puyosa


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Bolivia: On the Brink of Land Reform · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Reform by presidential decree – this time land reform – continues in Bolivia says Alvaro Ruiz-Navajas. But, the regions of “Santa Cruz and Beni are not going to let this happen without a fight.”


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Brazil: Leftist Origins of Last Weekend’s Violence · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Luis Afonso explains why he believes 60's leftists radicals were the origin of last weekend's crime wave in Sao Paulo and much of Brazil. Andrew of Comings Communique, after watching the violence on TV wrote, “tonight for the first time I heard my wife express the opinion that perhaps Brazil should have the death penalty.”


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China: Campaign targets Microsoft · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Activism made easy at China Activist Weekly with a post from blogger Celia on an Amnesty International letter one can send to Microsoft regarding their behavior in China. Having it delivered is the hardest part:
“Oddly enough, it's apparently not possible to email Microsoft. I have searched for a general email or online comment form. All I've found is addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, and the email address for the Bill Gates Foundation. Anyone find general email contact info? Google and Yahoo! aren't at all this hard to contact.”


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China: Catholics demand film ban · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Journalist-blogger uleewang at Non-violent Resistance posts on the joining by mainland Chinese Catholics of the protest against the newly-released Hollywood film The Da Vinci Code and their demand it be banned:
“[W]ho knows, common resistance against the movie may help bring up the flirtation already going on between the Chinese Church and the Holy See. After the latest row over ordination of bishops, wouldn't this be a fine occasion to mend some fences.”


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China: Party pal plagiarizes? · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Eight, writes Donald C. Clarke at Chinese Law Prof Blog, is the number of observers who will be allowed into the upcoming trial of Zhou Yezhong (周叶中), a legal scholar with friendly ties to Communist Party of China leadership currently being sued for plagiarism by Peking University law professor He Weifang (贺卫方).


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China: Three gorges update · Global Voices
John Kennedy

An update on an old but ongoing environmental story from AB at Me Old China:
“As the construction of the Three Gorges Dam comes to an end, the battle for hearts and minds has intensified once again. Propagandists with the Three Gorges Project Corporation and the state government have been feeding the Xinhua news agency with tales of triumph this week in an attempt to counteract the doom-mongers in the foreign press, telling the world that the dam has not, defintely not, increased the risk of earthquakes and landslides in the region, has not led to an increased level of pollution, and will not put millions of people at risk downstream.”


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Costa Rica, Colombia: The Da Vinci Code and the Catholic Church · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Uri Ridelman has the reaction of Costa Rican bishops to the release of the Davinci Code. Sergio Méndez says [ES] that an announced boycott in Colombia will ensure that everyone goes to see the film.


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DRC: Pastor Kutino’s Detention · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Rvd. Kutino Fernando, founder of Sauvons le Congo [Save the Congo], was recently taken from his church by policemen and his whereabouts are unknown, says  (Fr) Tony Katombe at Le Blog du Congolais.  The blogger is skeptical that Kutino was stocking weapons in his church or inciting violence as alleged by authorities. He believes that the PPRD just unknowingly made a leader out of the detained Pastor.   “[Ruling Party] PPRD is starting to seriously scare us with its use of the police and many are asking how the party will react if its candidate loses the presidential election.”


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El Salvador, Peru, Mexico, Chile: Internet Day · Global Voices
David Sasaki

May 17th was “El Día de Internet,” or “Internet Day” in Latin America and several bloggers offered homages to the World Wide Web. From El Salvador, Hunnapuh asks [ES] “but really, what is the significance of the internet?” A commenter at BlogsPeru remarks that just around the corner is “International Webloggers Day.” (No sign yet when Martian bloggers will be commemorated.) And from Mexico City, Isopixel, ALT1040, and Chilanga Banda all have a review of events. The day coincided with Mexico's 20 year anniversary of being connected to the web. Ciberamérica celebrates [ES] Chile's advancements in e-commerce and e-government.


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Estonia: Tallinn’s Architecture · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Simon of Tallinn Daily Photo highlights one aspect of the city's architecture: “the marrying of modern around the old.”


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Ethiopia: Blogspot blocked · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Ethiopian Life reports that the Government has blocked all blogspot blogs….”Over the last two days, all blogspots blogs including http://www.seminawork.blogspot.com/ have been blocked in Ethiopia.”


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Europe: Eurovision Song Contest · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Rachel of Pustolovina: Adventure in Serbian shares her impressions on this year's Eurovision Song Contest, the first one she's watched.


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Grenada’s Chinese Village · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

From the Caribbean Free Photo photoblog:
This rather quaint archway marks the entrance to the construction site for Grenada's new National Stadium in Queen's Park, which is being built with funding, expertise and manpower provided by the People's Republic of China. With 500-plus construction workers from China living and working on the site, the area has virtually been transformed into a Chinese village, complete with garden.
One thing that struck me on my visit there earlier this week was the fact that while all of the Chinese workers wore hard hats, soft canvas shoes seemed to be acceptable as worksite footwear. When I made the observation to the Grenadian project manager, he replied that “that's their culture.” According to the project manager, the Chinese workers take daily post-lunch siestas and don't drink cold water. “Only hot water and tea,” he said, which would explain the ubiquitous khaki-coloured canteens.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Hungary: Prime Minister Decides Not to Watch The Da Vinci Code · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Paul of Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar writes about the prime minister's failed attempt to watch The Da Vinci Code.


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India: Blogs and Conversations · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Reshma appears to have been battling to figure out how to index her posts on blogger, and reflects “Depending on the metaphor you identify with, will influence whether you use it to ‘express’ or ‘exchange’ opinions and views; the frequency with which you post; the content that you post (topical v/s analytical); your response time to comments etc and depending on which of these metaphors become the dominant code around blogs will have a bearing on the features that publishing platforms in the future will be forced to offer.”


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India: Why is Tamil Nadu quiet? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

As the rest of the country takes up strong demonstrations against the reservations quota, Nathanworld wonders why one particular state doesn't seem to be making too much noise.


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Indonesia: Mount Merapi Eruption · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Enda Nausation links to  a blog run by an Indonesian journalist who is monitoring the volcanic eruption of Mount Merapi.

author: Preetam Rai


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Iran: From Hostage taking to Blogging · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Abbas Abdi, reformist politician & a hostage taker in US embassy, has launched his blog. He says if human being does not communicate, he/she becomes weaker than animal. Blogger adds at present situation internet is a very good instrument which helps citizens to communicate (Persian).

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: Professor in Danger? · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Samimanetar writes that it seems  Dr.Ahmad Naghibzadeh, Professor of Political Sciences in University of Tehran, is under pressure (by government). Blogger says recently Kayhan, a very conservative journal, talked about Naghibzadeh's   relation with foreigners (Persian).


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Malawi: African Hand Cart · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Timbuktu Chronicles reports on the the “African HandCart” being built by local carpenters in Malawi...”novelty lies in its use of readily available bicycle wheels and a wooden chassis and body. In addition, all bolts are bicycle components, the only other fasteners being common nails and wood screws.”


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Nepal: Parliament Declaration · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A historic Parliament Declaration in Nepal announces the revival of democracy. It's a complete turn-around from where the country was about two months back. United We Blog! covers the day.


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Nigeria: Balls of fire · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Nigeria: A long and difficult history posts a piece on the recent pipeline fire in Lagos which killed over 200 people with some photos.


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Nigeria: Engineer wins award · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Ethnic Loft reports that a Nigerian engineer has won a prestigous engineering award the “Total Excellence in Electronic Manufacturing (TEEM) award by the U.S based Society of Manufacturing Engineers.”


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Nigeria: Obasanjo’s achievements · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Grandiose Parlor points to an article in e-life online magazine which discusses  Nigeria's President Obasanjo and his achievements during his political and military careers.


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Philippines: Bootleg DVDs · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

VillageIdiotSavant has a very good reason for not buying bootleg DVDs.


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Poland, Russia: Sciagawki/Shpargalki · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Edward Lucas, Central and East European correspondent of the Economist, writes about sciagawki: cheat sheets used by Polish students to survive exams, which are “largely a memory test.” Tom Adshead of The Future of Russia points out in the comments section that sciagawki is shpargalki in Russian – and that there's even a shpargalki museum somewhere in Russia.


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Poland: The Da Vinci Code · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot writes about the apparent sin of going to see The Da Vinci Code in Poland.


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Puerto Rico: Building walls · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Inspired by the US government's decision to build “a ‘state-of-the-art’ wall” along the border with Mexico, Gil the Genius sarcastically compiles a “list of things in Puerto Rico that need walls all around them”.


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Russia: Blogger Dies on Mount Elbrus · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Aleksandr Antonov (aka LJ user caesar_rb)
1979-2006
Aleksandr Antonov's last LJ post was a very happy one: he was going on a two-week vacation to conquer Mount Elbrus. Here's what he wrote on April 30 (RUS), as LJ user caesar_rb:
I'm going to Elbrus!
So, my dear comrades, I'm leaving LJ for the next two weeks today.  Mountains and fresh air await me. And yesterday we had banya [sauna] and shashlyk [barbeque], there was a family holiday in the evening, which lasted till 3 am. And I forgot to go to bed because at 3:40 I took an elektrichka [commuter train] to the capital :)
Bye bye to you all :)
I hope no one is going to un-friend me ;)
On May 12, someone posted a comment to this post, with a link to a Russian tabloid story about two groups of alpinists (Russian and Ukrainian) who vanished on Elbrus; the story mentioned Aleksandr and his younger brother, Nikolay (the only one who survived).
First, there was disbelief; then there was despair mixed with hope. Finally, rest-in-peace notes began to arrive.
Currently, there are 285 comments on Aleksandr's last post: ten pages.
Below is a rare exchange (RUS) that occurred on May 16 and 17, breaking the edless flow of RIPs:
ya_anka: He hasn't conquered the mountain peak… :'(
chealsea: He has.
ya_anka: But didn't come back.
chealsea: […] I still can't believe.
[…]
skvoznik: You can't conquer a mountain peak. The elements can either let you in or not. When you're standing at 4,000 meters and there are only mountains and the sky around, you are nothing but a tiny spot: one slight push and you cease to exist. No alpinist would say that he has “conquered” the Mountain…
chealsea: Very correct words…
volk: They were at the peak at 8 pm. No one can understand how that could happen. You start out towards the peak at night, and by 10 am you are there, and then you go down, and by 5 pm you are at the cableway […].
Here's part of a separate post (RUS) by LJ user volk (Andrei Travin), an experienced alpinist who took part in an “Internet expedition” to the peak of Elbrus in summer 2005:
Death vs Internet
On May 9, nine people died and two more disappeared on their way down from the peak of Elbrus. Sixty rescuers, including volunteers, took part in the search, and so far, some 389 journalists have written about it. […] They weren't writing this much about our expedition, even though the appearance of the Internet at Russia's highest point seems to be pretty newsworthy. But people are more interested in corpses.
[…]
Approximately 30 people die every year in the mountains of Russia; of them, ten or so die on Elbrus. This time Elbrus has gathered its annual norm in one serving. […]


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Russia: No-Hot-Water Season Begins · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Owen of Lex Libertas writes about a very common occurence in Russia: as it gets warmer, it becomes more and more difficult to take a shower – because of the lack of hot water. It's been four days without it for Owen now and there are more days ahead: “I really should have been keeping a running tally of days without (hot) water since my arrival. I'm sure it would make two or three months solid.”


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Singapore: Citizen Journalism · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Kevin at theory.isthereason.com has a post on citizen journalism during Singapore's recent elections. Kevin says “I can’t wait for the next elections to see more people turn off their televisions (passive media), and tune in to the internet to not just listen, but join in (active media).”


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Somalia: Warlords and the US · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Yebo Gogo points to a White House press briefing which refused to deny the US was backing warlords in Somalia.


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South Africa: COSATU strikes · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Its The Question That Drives Us Mad comments on the COSATU led strikes in South Africa – Striking for jobs and discusses the role of unions in advancing workers rights.


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Sri Lanka: Last-Mile Hazard Information Dissemination · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

LIRNEAsia on the launch of the HazInfo Project “LIRNEasia launched the first phase of the Last-Mile Hazard Information Dissemination (HazInfo) project funded by IDRC, along with its project partners Sarvodaya, the largest community organization in Sri Lanka and TVE Asia Pacific (TVEAP), a non-profit media organization working in the Asian region. “


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St. Lucia, Grenada: Kweyol lesson and photos · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Georgia Popplewell at Caribbean Free Radio is travelling in the Eastern Caribbean this week; she's struck by “conservative” St. Lucians’ frankness about condoms, and gets an impromptu Kweyol lesson from two women in Castries. She also posts some photos taken in St. Lucia yesterday, and some from Grenada the day before.


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Taiwan: Chinese spy confesses · Global Voices
John Kennedy

A Taiwanese agent for the Chinese government wasn't so covert in trying to purchase an F-16 fighter jet engine and cruise missiles, blogs James J. Na at The Korea Liberator, followed up by a post from Joshua on the defection of another senior North Korean scientist: “The bad news is that he’s headed for South Korea, which will try to keep a tight lid on him.”

author: John Kennedy


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Trinidad and Tobago, USA: Trinidadian man caught in child seduction sting · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Steups reacts with disgust to the news that a Trinidadian man has been caught in an Internet child-seduction sting in Florida set up by Dateline NBC. “It's not enough that citizens here are causing consternation and shame but now we have expatriates casting negativity upon us.”


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Trinidad and Tobago: Visit from a televangelist · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Rentaempress takes on Benny Hinn, the American televangelist visiting Trinidad this weekend. “The last time he was here he made all sorts of pronouncements about how many demons he had to cast out,” she says. “I'm damn vexed … that we still haven't emancipated ourselves from this colonial mentality.”


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Ukraine: 62nd Anniversary of Deportations of Crimean Tatars · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

J. Otto Pohl writes about the deportations of the Crimean Tatars, which took place 62 years ago: “In the early hours of 18 May 1944 some 32,000 members of the NKVD and NKGB began the systematic round up the entire Crimean Tatar population. These armed units went from house to house and rousted the still sleeping victims and informed them that the Stalin regime had decreed that they were traitors to the Soviet Motherland. This false and slanderous accusation carried a sentence of permanent banishment from Crimea to Uzbekistan as special settlers.”


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Ukraine: New Mayor Against Teachers · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Scott W. Clark of Foreign Notes writes about Kyiv's new mayor's alarming first steps: “We know someone who is a teacher in the Kiev district. She tells us that Chernovetsky [new mayor] has taken away the bonus that Omelchenko [ex-mayor] gave them for some reason. She says he's anti-teacher but I don't think she really knows why. We don't know why either.”


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Ukraine: Support for Yushchenko Low · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LEvko of Foreign Notes cites an opinion poll, according to which support for president Yushchenko is much lower than it was in February 2005, when he first elected.


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Cambodia: Kindness of Strangers · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Vutha encounters an accident and goes to help the injured person. This reminds blogger Vanna of a similar incident where he helped an injured stranger.


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China: MSN users locked out, speak out · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Things have definitely been getting worse for users of MSN services in China since Microsoft recently shifted its Passport login process to Live.com. Following Global Voices Online blogger Frank Dai's post on this problem two weeks ago, a number of MSN Messenger, Hotmail and MSN Spaces users have started speaking up.
Wen Yunchao—who provides on his MSN Spaces blog, Ramblings of a Drunk, a weekly roundup of all net-based things censored and Chinese—posted recently what he has learned from MSN PR folks and his friends working in IT:
网事一周20060511：异常
MSN Messenger登陆异常
从5月8日以来，MSN Messenger无法登录、随时掉线等故障在北京及国内部分城市同时出现。业内人士称，“这种非暂时性的、范围如此之大的服务瘫痪，在MSN进入中国后尚属首次。”MSN相关负责人表示，出现的故障与MSN提供的服务没有任何关系，“主要原因是本地网络接入设备出现问题。MSN目前已经开始调查这个问题，会尽快解决。”MSN Messenger目前在中国有超过1000万的用户，且服务器仍在国外，通讯内容却没有受到中国有关部门的监管，MSN Messenger的异常及近期MSN SPACES的访问不畅，难免引发诸多联想。
Fellow MSN Spaces blogger Tate King posts a more personal perspective:
5月13日
这是为什么
MSN好久没能上了，有些想写的没写下来。听说是LIVE.COM被可爱的D给封了。好不容易找到一个敏感字不多的地方，伟大光荣正确的D就是不让俺们用。人民群众拥护的，他们就要反对。人民群众反对的，他们就坚决拥护。这究竟是为什么！！
As lamented on his Sina blog, even singer, racecar driver, post-80s teen author sensation and bluechip blogger Han Han is having MSN trouble these days:
为什么永远无法登陆MSN？出来一行字，说，抱歉，无法登陆到XXX，请稍后再试，如有疑问，XXX，为什么？WHY？外？