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Echoes from the Tunisian blogosphere · Global Voices
Mohamed Marwen Meddah

Neila talks about the International Buttefly Rally (in French) that is taking place in Tunisia from the 23rd to 27th of September. This rally is exclusively for women. The women drivers will drive around the country starting from Habib Bourguiba street on the 23rd in the direction of Kairouan, then Nefta, to end it in Kerkennah. The official website of the rally (in French).
Chouchitou and Marwen write about the Tunisia-Morocco world cup qualifier match tickets that were sold online and were snatched in a matter of hours. The pressure was so big that the web server was brought down to it's knees and the site crashed. Hopefully sports will fuel a growth in e-commerce in Tunisia.
Marwen also talks about his admiration for Tunisian handicrafts and his memories at a workshop where copper plates were carved on.
Karim finds and reviews a newly launched free Maghreb blog host that seems to be running on a php based blogging engine.
He also says that he heard that a tornado passed through the city of Beni Khiar on the eastern coast of Tunisia.
Houssein reports (in French) finding the first Tunisian gay blog “Mon Enfer” (My Hell) (in French).
Ahmed writes about his trip to the USA, in the SALAM program, and how it changed his perception of the country and how he felt that a part of the American culture was hidden in him through hollywood movies.
Thysdrus writes about the Fulla doll, another Barbie-like doll that steps out of her shiny pink box wearing a black abaya and matching head scarf.
K-pax writes (in French) about how he is disgusted by Tunisian football (Soccer) and that he quit going to the stadium to watch the matches. He says that he can no longer go through the long queues to get the tickets, and the longer lines to enter the stadium, only to watch a match that is more like a parody of football, witness referee mistakes and risk getting hit.
He now prefers to watch important matches from the comfort of his home, although he decided to attend 2 final matches before going to Canada.
Sami announces that he and one of the Escalier 7 team will be joining the teaching staff in the faculty of Monastir (in French) .


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Kuwait Blogosphere Roundup · Global Voices
Bader

Parenting in Kuwait is so mixed. Q discusses how parents can easily leave their children with maids when they are young, and is concerned on how this influences the young child's development. Then Sheba remarks on how mom's are all over their children when they are in school and watching over them and helping/doing their homework and even going to their college orientation to help them settle in.
Misguided uses charts and statistics to prove why he isn't married yet.
Working in Kuwait has always been tough and mixed. Jazz Central compares and contrasts government work to the private sector. Confused writes about the stress in the private sector leads people to just quit. Guess it ccould be as Forza points with Google allowing their employees to create new ideas and inventions like Googles Secure Access; when Kuwait just invest in either stocks or real estate but not ideas or people.
Kuwait Tranny hope for one day in Kuwait where mothers and daughters go to school together, and parents's have an honest relationship with their children's lives, but doubts it will ever happen in Kuwait.
Entrepreneur asks where is the best places to eat in Kuwait, while Latifa lists some observations about Kuwait.
Don veto shares with us pictures of Kuwait's traffic jams and pictures from it's deep sea, while Toomz wonders how many sudoko addicts are in Kuwait.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Bader


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Algeria: Ramadan Cuisine · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Since the fasting month of Ramadan is getting close, Chef Farid Zadi of Algerian Cuisine blog is going to start posting some Ramadan Recipes.

author: Haitham Sabbah


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Azerbaijan Election Report · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Neweurasia has posted its latest weekly Azerbaijan election report.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Bahrain: Boycott of Israeli goods · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Mahmood is convinced that Bahrain should ends primary boycott of Israeli goods.


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Bangladesh: Role of Military · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Unheard Voices has poses tough questions on the role of miliary in the bombing in Bangladesh.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Bolivia: BBC Makes Factual Error · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Miguel Centallas caught a factual error in a BBC article about Bolivia's election status, which so far has not been corrected. Several comments following the post are critical of BBC's coverage of Latin America.

author: David Sasaki


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Bolivia, Paraguay: Questioning US Intentions · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Benjamin Dangle questions the intentions of the U.S. military in Paraguay and wonders if they are not trying to secure Bolivian oil fields as the country gets ready to elect its next leader.


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Bolivia: Would-Be President from Pepsi · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Jim Shultz has an entertaining post about a Bolivian-American Pepsi employee seeking advice on running for Bolivian presidency.


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Brazil: Baile Funk Podcast · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Atari has compiled a podcast of her favorite Balie Funk tracks discovered on her recent trip to Brazil.


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Brazil: Bringing Justice to Pará · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Randy Paul wants something to be done about the lawlessness in Pará, Brazil.


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China: Rich-poor gap alert · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Corporate Social Responsiblity Asia notes that the gap between rich and poor in China has got to what officials in Beijing are calling the “yellow alert” level.

author: Luisetta Mudie


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China: Shanghai book swap · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Sinosplice organized an English-language book-swap in Shanghai at the weekend. Judged a success with a 10-person turnout, the event sadly lacked a participant from Hangzhou and the chance to acquire a second-hand copy of Why Men Don't Have a Clue and Women Always Need More Shoes.


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Comments problems · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

Sincerest apologies to anybody who tried to post comments over the past two days.  This was caused by an unfortunate technical mess-up on my part while attempting to block a bad spammer.
The bad news: If you tried to post something and it didn't appear, unfortunately it has been lost. The good news: If you try again now, it will be submitted for moderation and (if it's not spam or obscene or a nasty personal attack against somebody) should be approved promptly.

author: Rebecca MacKinnon


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El Salvador: Flooding From Rita · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Tim documents the flooding in El Salvador caused by hurricane Rita.


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Ghana: Entrepreneurial pride · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Timbuktu Chronicles highlights the success of an up-and-coming Ghanaian food-processing company, and its conveniently packaged traditional flours and foodstuffs.


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Hetq blocked in UAE · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Martuni or Bust!!! reports that Hetq Online is blocked in the United Arab Emirates in the wake of its reporting on the trafficking of women and girls to the UAE by Armenian and Arab gangs.


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Hong Kong: Mickey Mouse economics · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

SimonWorld picks up an article by online financial commentator David Webb, who puts the SAR government's calculations on recent major land transactions–including that for the Disney theme park–under the microscope.


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India: Crimes against women · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Stomach-turning news anyone? Death Ends Fun and POV have posts on crimes against women.


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Japan: Hello Kitty lawsuit · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

“Still more evil from the mouthless one from Sanrio,” report both AsiaPundit  and SimonWorld on an intellectual copyright lawsuit brought by Hello Kitty creators Sanrio against a group of Hong Kong drama students.


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Jordan: The Power of Blogging · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Wondering how powerful  blogging can be and effect of that on business? Well, here is a good example from Jordan. Jad has a very good example which actually hits two birds in one stone. First, as an upset customer, and second as a blogger who shared his feeling in his blog and asked for comments. He ended up getting attention of people who never heard of blogs, while the company apologized. And he is happy with the power of blogging!


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Kenya: IT infrastructure · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Bankelele reports that the state-owned Telkom Kenya has launched an Internet telephony, or VoIP, service, and has begun laying a fiber-optic cable connecting Nairobi to Mombasa.


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Latin America, Spain: Professional Weblog List · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Victor Ruiz has a list of professional blogs in Spanish on his wiki. [via Julio Alonso]


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Mexico: Volchito · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Aleksu explains what is a Mexican Volchito.


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Nepal: Gone to NY · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Samudaya.org has a post on Minister Pandey heading the Nepali delegation at the UN's convention in New York


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Nepal: Reel life · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Directors, scriptwriters, cameramen and dance directors from Nepal’s film industry have formed the Democratic Filmmakers’ Forum says United We Blog!


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Nigeria: Overpriced taxis · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Chippla reports on the emergence of another new street item in the Nigerian capital of Abuja: smart new taxis which are bookable by phone–but unaffordable for the average resident of the city.


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Pakistan: Blogs react to Musharraf’s comments · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

President Pervez Musharraf came close to achieving a PR disaster in recent times. The blogs were alive with the sound of sheer amazement, anger and disgust. In the Bullpen wonders why the statement was made in the first place. The extremely active Feminist community at Live Journal has its opinions. Dhimmi Watch has a post with some interesting comments.
So was this the Musharraf that promised a more ‘forward’ outlook? Blast Furnace Canada Blog has a post with his take on events such as “Take back the night” and Musharraf. Reality Cafe on Musharraf's denial, and Washington Post's stand. Feministing.com on PPP‘s response to the remarks. Satire galore here.  GOP Vixen on why Musharraf won't find himself on Oprah anytime soon, and Mukhtaran Mai's opinions on the remarks. the olive ream with trademark humour in “Open Mouth: Insert Army Boot”.


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Pakistan, India: Parenting · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Nanopolitan and Habitual Procrastination on parenting and what makes good or bad parents.


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PolBlog: Local View on Election · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

PolBlog interviews a Polish voter about last weekend's election.


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Qatar: Tayseer Allouni verdict in – 7 years in jail · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Friends of Aljazeera says that journalist Tayseer Allouni has been sentenced to seven years in a Spanish prison and describe this as a blow to Arab media. It is speculated that journalists covering the “War on Terror” will now feel hesitant to pursue stories involving movements or organizations that are branded as “terrorist”.


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Saudi Arabia: Jews and Zionism · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Rani (a German lady married to a Saudi) of Not without my cat blog writes about Saudi Arabia's negative approach to Jews but describes the reason for the hatred of Jews in the Arab world by saying, it is Israel state, and relating Jews with Zionists.


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Shamiran · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian once again made the annual pilgrimage to Shamiran to cover the Armenian Yezidi community‘s late September festival. In addition to a brief report, he brought back many photos.


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Singapore: Habeat mulier animam? · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Singabloodypore joins what a local media report terms an ‘old debate’ about whether domestic helpers in the city-state need a day off. Via SimonWorld.


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South Africa: Potato famine · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Commentary.co.za wryly notes a recent comment from Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe: “We have heaps of potatoes but [the] people [of Zimbabwe] are not potato eaters.”


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Strange Things in Azerbaijan · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

While travelling about Azerbaijan, Carpetblogger encountered a few oddities.


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Sudan: Mounting tension · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Aid worker Sleepless in Sudan reports that thousands of Arab camel-herders are gathering near the Kalma camp for displaced persons, while elsewhere in the troubled region of Darfur, rebel militias are said to be infiltrating the northern town of El Fasher.


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Uganda: Gulu Walk Day · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

UgandaCAN is organizing an event called Gulu Walk Day in major cities across the world on Oct. 22 to campaign for peace in northern Uganda.


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Zimbabwe: Remembering Memory · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

“Who will remember Memory?”, asks Faithful at Sokwanele, referring to the baby daughter of a Zimbabwean man whose home was destroyed by the government of President Robert Mugabe.


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A Night at the Theater · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

An American Dramaturg in Armenia reports on a lively night at Yerevan's Hamazgayin Theatre.


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Argentina: High School Diploma Statistics · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Doug of All-Encompassingly summarizes an article from the Argentine daily La Nación, which says more than 70,000 public employees in Buenos Aires don't hold high school diplomas.


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Argentina: Podcast Directory · Global Voices
David Sasaki

podcast.com.ar has a comprehensive list of the few podcasts currently being produced in Argentina along with a larger list of podcasts from the Spanish speaking podosphere.


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Aruba: Elections · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Lost in Smallness reminds readers that all political campaigning must end several days before the election. Results are available from the A.P.


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Bahamas: “Religious Con Artist” · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Bahamas Blog calls preacher Neil Ellis a “religious con artist.”


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Bangladesh: Asia Democracy Index · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Unheard Voices has a post on Bangladesh being ranked 4th in the Asia Democracy Index, prepared by Singapore-based Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia.


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Bermuda: Tropical Storm Philippe · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Bermuda Blog has some photos of tropical storm Philippe's passing 60 miles south of the island.


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Bolivia: Latest Poll · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Barrio Flores has the results from the “latest” pre-election poll taken nearly three weeks ago. Eduardo wonders if the numbers have changed since front-runner Evo Morales announced he would end the controversial U.S. program on coca eradication if elected.


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China: Don’t boycott Yahoo! · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Jeremy Goldkorn at Danwei argues that continued investment by companies like Yahoo! in China will continue to promote freedom of expression among its citizens. He accuses Yahoo!'s critics of pursuing an anti-corporate agenda that has little to do with the Chinese people.


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China, Tibet: Unscheduled protest · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Angry Chinese Blogger goes into some detail about an incident during the recent visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to New York, in which Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing was surrounded by a crowd of angry Tibetan protesters.


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China: What the government fears · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

RebeccaMacKinnon posts a well-linked and closely argued commentary on the main fear driving the new set of Chinese government regulations to control its citizens’ Internet use: the tech-savvy smart-mob.


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Hong Kong, China: Democrats in Guangdong · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

China Confidential reports on the visit to southern China by Hong Kong's pro-democracy politicians, and debate with provincial Party chief Zhang Dejiang on the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.


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Hong Kong: Not the only fruit · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

ESWN offers an alternative and embarrasing translation of a Cantonese public service movie about oranges…oh, and free trade.


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Images from Cuba: Enrique’s ’57 Pontiac · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Steven, who normally blogs in English, Spanish, and French at Steve's Gallery continues his excellent “Voices of Cuba” series with this photograph of Enrique, a construction worker from Santiago de Cuba. On his Cuba Blog he notes:
As important as the posts and photos here are the fact that they are all being posted directly from Cuba [is also important]. I have a running bet with a friend in Matanzas who claimed that things like blogging and photoblogging were impossible from Cuba. He’s going to owe me a cerveza very soon…


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India: Can’t work at night · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The growing BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) sector has a sudden setback from an unexpected quarter – implying less opportunities for women report The Indian Economy and Within / Without.


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India: Non resident Indian · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The politics of being called an NRI (Non Resident Indian) and why km at Flotsam would rather not be called one.


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Iranian Journalists & Blogging in Iran: An Open Window to Communicate · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iranian journalists in their blogs,time to time, provide us first hand information. A couple of months ago Webnameh published Ganji's supporters’ photos in front of hospital before any other site or journal. A few weeks ago Hanif Mazroi, who was jailed last year , wrote about his prison days, his suffering, and his chained friends too. A valuable page of history which explains in details a persecuted journalist's dark days.
Arash Sigarchi in a Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber Dissidents says “we can freely write in our blogs“. He is right, many journalists express their ideas with much freedom in their blogs. Many of them paid for that by being arrested. Sigarchi, Motalebi, Samminejad,…are just a few names among many others. Some prefer write without mentioning their real name. FMSokhan whose writings are published on Gooya, a popular news site, is one of them.
Some journalists such as Massih Alinejad discovered blogging when they lost their jobs. Massih(Masomeh) Alinejad used to cover Iranian Parliament. Conservative Parliament barred this brave journalist from her workplace after her revelation about Mps’ huge pay. She started to express herself in her blog. Iranian State closed the door to her she opened a window to communicate.
Iranian journalists used blogs to share their ideas, photos, favourite articles and communicate with their readers. News in blogs are fragmented and discontinued but valuable. So valuable that some go to jail for that.

author: Fred Petrossian


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IRC chat about RSF Guide for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents · Global Voices
Ethan Zuckerman

Log file opened at: 9/27/05 10:41:55 AM
ethanz: Hi friends – we'll start in about three more minutes
ethanz: I'm logging the session and will post the transcript, so this session is on the record
ethanz: Okay, good morning/afternoon everyone
sabbah: Hi ethan
DeborahFin: Hello!
ethanz: Welcome to the online conversation about the recently released RSF Guide for Bloggers and CyberDissidents
kaseton: hey
DeborahFin: Hi, J!
ethanz: We'll start by letting Julien Pain, the editor of the guide talk a bit about the project, then move on to take questions
ethanz: My hope is that this can be an open discussion to answer some questions raised by the guide, talk about issues of identity and anonymity online and strategize about ways to protect bloggers in places where it's difficult to blog
ethanz: Julien, want to lead off?
RMacK: while we're waiting for julien, i'd like also to welcome yan sham-shackleton, one of our contributors, author of the “glutter” blog (nick is “glutterbug”)
RMacK: also warm welcome to marku beckedahl of netzpolitik
ethanz: I think Julien may be joining us in a little bit.
DeborahFin: Hi, Ethan!
ethanz: Maybe we can start with some questions or comments about the guide.
ethanz: Anyone have any pressing issues they're hoping to discuss in this session?
Julien_Pai: I'm back, sorry
RMacK: (sorry misspelled: Markus
glutterbug: tut tut Julien!
ethanz: Hi Julien – we're going to let you lead off with a quick statement about the guide while folks get questions ready
DeborahFin: Hello, Julien!
ethanz: Julien, what inspired RSF to produce this guide?
Julien_Pai: Hi all. I guess you've all read the Introduction of the handbook ?
Julien_Pai: It explains why we released this booklet. the question is : is this booklet really helpful?
RMacK: i think not everybody has read it.
ethanz: Maybe you should say a bit about it, since not everyone has read it yet…
Julien_Pai: Ok. Well, we wanted to help bloggers linving in repressive regimes to create their blog without getting caught by the cyberpoplice. And explain how to get around censorship.
RMacK: i have a question. why “cyber-dissidents” in the title?
Julien_Pai: Everything started with an experience we had with nepale bloggers
RMacK: (sorry to interrupt)
SethF: Julien – I don't think this audience is the right one to ask if it's really helpful. I think we overwhelmingly think it's great, so we're very biased 1/2 :-)
Julien_Pai: We realized that creating a blog was no that easy.
Julien_Pai: It's easy for americans or french internet users, but I can tell you it's not for nepales…
ethanz: What were the problems Nepalese users were having?
Julien_Pai: first they had no technical skill at all. They hardly knew how to use the INternet
Julien_Pai: And there's a huge font problem
Fons: is it also translated in Nepalese then?
Julien_Pai: blog tools are not designed for these kind of alphabet
Julien_Pai: (sorry for the bad english, but I hate typing fast)
Julien_Pai: It's not in nepale
ethanz: no problem, Julien – we're all bad typists in IRC…
Julien_Pai: We're looking for people to do it… for free
sabbah: well, but that a general problem that applies on everything on the internet for them, not only blogs
ethanz: Fons – at this point, the guide is available in Arabic, Persian, French, English and Chinese, I believe, though not all translations are complete
Julien_Pai: agree. But anyway that was the first problem to tackle
ethanz: Haitham, have you had a chance to look at the Arabic translation?
sabbah: yes, it is very good
DeborahFin: (On IRC, you can't tell who is typing with his/her nose)
Julien_Pai: it's costly to translate everything…
ethanz: Who is doing the translation, Julien?
Fons: but then Nepalese have specific technical problems to make blogs, I understand
Julien_Pai: professional translators
ethanz: what are the other high priority languages?
Julien_Pai: Russian would be great
ethanz: I think Russian's really important…
Julien_Pai: We're working on a spanish version as well
Julien_Pai: Yep, but we had to make choices
sabbah: can I get this straight. what is the main objective of the handbook? show people how to blog or show people how to blog without getting caught?
Julien_Pai: both
glutterbug:  I would assume it's both depending on the level of the user no?
presroi: I guess you can't tell one from another
glutterbug: Each person can get what they need out of it for themselves as long as thei nformtion is there.
Julien_Pai: first you have to teach them how to create their blog, and then how to remain anonymous
DeborahFin: It's good to build the privacy-protection skills in from the beginning with a new blogger
sabbah: sure, so what makes this handbook special compare to other blog creation guide?
Fons: but staying anonymous is only needed for a small number of bloggers
ethanz: I think it;'s the audience, Haitham, that makes it different
ethanz: Most guides have been written for European or American authors…
Julien_Pai: it's all in one. and the audience…
sabbah: good point
glutterbug: the those users who don't need it don't have to read those chapters :)
BorisAntho: there are anonymity issues even in creating/setting up the blog as well. :)
sabbah: which actually leads me to the other part
DeborahFin: Or who don't need it….YET
sabbah: anonymous post and credibility
ethanz: HUGE topic, Haitham…
DeborahFin: YET = you're eligible too
sabbah: while I think it's helpful, yet I have a doubt how will that effect the credibility of the posts and blogger
Julien_Pai: Nart's and ethan texts were, until then, only accessible to specialists
ethanz: Very good to bring it up…
sabbah: one can claim to be posting anonymously because what he might want to say is of risk our might put him in danger, but why and how should we hold him creditable for what he/she says?
ethanz: Julien, that's very much what I was trying to do in my chapter… make knowledge that's known to experts accessible to everyone
ethanz: Haiham – does it reassure you at all when someone develops a reputation over time, despite the fact that she is anonymous?
RMacK: haitham i think you're right. i think bloggers who dont need to be anonymous should really be encouraged to make their identities clear if they want to be credible
Julien_Pai: yes, but I wanted your piece to be read by a wider audience, and I think i worked
blogalvill: right, so they can get themselves carried off by the secret police …
sabbah: specially that we know that the blogspher is dominant by the west (no offense). why should they believe an anon post?
ethanz: What do others think about this larger issue of anonymous blogging. Is it a neccesary evil, or something we should avoid, or a good thing…?
RMacK: blogalvillager, i men people who dont need to be anonymous
Julien_Pai: It's just necessary, whatever you may say
BorisAntho: reputation != identity, and vice versa
RMacK: obviously, people who are in danger of being carted off need to be anonymous, which is hte whole point of the guide
DeborahFin: Ethan:  I think it depends on the purpose of the blog
RMacK: but imho, people who blog anonymously who dont need to dilute the credibility of those who blog anonymously bcz they really need to
Fons: one of the side effects of bbs's in China is the many unfounded rumors and accussations go around
ethanz: Boris – I like your formulation… but “how do we trust anon bloggers” is the first question almost every journalist asks…
Fons: having a very bad effect on the quality of discussions, although it might simetimes be necessary
BorisAntho: by reputation
DeborahFin: E.g., I blog about professional matters, and I use my real name.  If I were blogging about personal matters, maybe I wouldn't.
ethanz: Fons – would love for you to say more about that – esp. in context of recent china news…
glutterbug: I think people have their reasons, and if they want to be anonamous, than that's there business, and if a few blogsphere people want to judge that's their perogatived and if someone feels they are not “credible” then so be it. Others may find it equally so. I find it worrying that in a medium that is supposed to be about the ability to express oneself without constraints someone is already laying down “laws” and “best pract
glutterbug: ices” according to them.
ethanz: Welcome MMM, Joi, everyone…
sabbah: reputation of what? then how long will he have to wait to get that?
JoiIto waves
BorisAntho: think of “identites” on such system as slashdot/wikipedia
ethanz: Haitham – I think “Sleepless in Sudan” has a pretty good reputation as an accurate blogger, though no one knows who she is…
RMacK: glutterbug i agree with what you're saying. nobody's talking about laying down laws.
SethF: Anonymity is linked to retaliation, for good or evil.
RMacK: but people should be aware of the various factors affecting their own credibility and the credibility of others
DeborahFin: Hi, Joi!
RMacK: so they can make more informed decisions about what they want to do
RMacK: depending on what the purpose of their blog is
glutterbug: However in this forum wheere we are supposed to be discussing the information that people have worked very hard to be put out, I find it odd to have the basic premise of it being questioned before we even discuss what is good.
ethanz: Fons – would the rumor problem be as bad if people ignored messages from people they'd never heard of before, but took more seriously information from people who they'd seen use the same screen name over a long period of time?
sabbah: ethan, I agree, but that what the west think. and since there is no more Sudan blogs, then who can judge?
DeborahFin: RM:  “Informed decisions” sounds good to me
RMacK: glutterbug makes good point. we digress
BorisAntho: glutterbug++
glutterbug: Further more, anoniminity is the most impotant thing for people who are in opressive regimes
ethanz: It’ s a fair point, Haitham – one of the topics I'd very much like to talk about is how this guide can help get new bloggers online…
Fons: rumors in China would make a great Phd
ethanz: Julien, do you want to say more about the background of this project?
RMacK: glutterbug i agree w/ you 500% percent on that point
ethanz: Or are we already off and running on the questions part of the talk…
ethanz: ?
glutterbug: I think the fact one can “question” the credibility of an anonamous poster is first world free world luxury
glutterbug: This guide is made for people who could be arrested for speaking their mind.
jeffooi: I think blogging anonymously should apply on two conditions – ( 1 ) in emerging democracy or dictatorial regime where open identity invites fatal risks ( 2 ) occupational hazards where the bread&butter and three square meals for the family are at stake. These are real-life issues
SethF:   And there is “retaliation against one's social standing”, versus “retaliation against one's life”.
SubzeroBlu: I agree with glutterbug on that last point
glutterbug: Yes, and if those people want that, then great. And if someone else wants it. then they can. the reader can judge
kaseton: jeffoi : how would you know if you are living in emerging democracy?
ethanz: Haitham, what do you think of Jeff's conditions – do those address your concerns at all?
sabbah: jeffooi – mind it, this handbook can be used by terrorists too!!!
SubzeroBlu: You can't question the credibility of someone based on if he is revealing his identity or not because not everyone has the possibility of doing so without getting into trouble
ethanz: that's also a question we're getting asked about a great deal
BorisAntho: glutterbug++
ethanz: Seth, you had a nice response to that question…
Julien_Pai: terrorists already know how to remain anonymous
jeffooi: you need to scan the political environment and make good judgment
JoiIto: whistle blowers in developed countries need anonymity. See Deep Throat
sabbah: well, how do you know that this blog or that is of a terror?
SethF: Rgiht. Terrorists will already know this. Ordinary citizens will be helped.
kaseton: what is good judgement
DeborahFin: Well, every tool can be used for good or for evil.
kaseton: it is too late, when law enforcement is knocking at your door
glutterbug: And people have the ability to judge if they want to support anyone. Some people feel president bush is credible and some don't. He puts his name on everything
SethF: The problem with “blogging anonymously should apply on two conditions …” is that every anonymous writer will claim the conditions apply to them.
ethanz: While I agree wholeheartedly that blogs can be a tool for good or evil, some people are going to react very negatively to the guide by suggesting that we're aiding and abetting secure communications for people who want to harm lots of other people…
BorisAntho: i revise my equation (apologies I am half asleep): name != identity
RMacK: yeah boris you're up early! ;-)
BorisAntho: name == reference for history of behavior allowing forumulation of trust ratios
SethF: ethanz: Occupational hazard :-(
BorisAntho: :D
DeborahFin: Ethan:  Indeed.  This debate is old as technology.  In other words, as old as sticks and stones.
kaseton: you`re right
sabbah: that's my point, ethan
SubzeroBlu: Of course some people will think of it negatively, but as Deborah just said, almost everything can be used for both good and evil, but that doesn't mean it doesn't help people who need it
RMacK: julien i have a question: what kind of feedback have you been getting on the guide so far?
SubzeroBlu: the internet in general can be used for good and evil, it doesn't mean it should be shut down
BorisAntho: so-called terrorists use the same tools we all do to communicate: from hand signals to cellphones. shall we all stop talking?
SethF: But, really, I don't think Harvard/RSF/etc. has too much to worry about on that score. Just a talking point.
ethanz: Haitham, I haven't had a good response, except to say that I think smart terrorists already know how to stay anonymous. I think it's important that human rights advocates, whistleblowers, etc. have the same info…
SubzeroBlu: I agree Ethan
JoiIto: SubzeroBlue, corollary to that: internet can used for good or evil so no matter what we say, people will always try to shut it down.
Julien_Pai: Well , a very good feedback. But to be honnest I don't have any feed back from the poeple I was trying to reach. It will tabke time.
DeborahFin: In other words, it's sort like a nuclear weapon standoff.
Fons: Problem is the cultural bias, as also Rebecca has pointed out in her review
ethanz: Julien, who will you need to hear from to know this guide has accomplished its goals?
kaseton: remember Phil Zimmerman quote about privacy and outlaws
DeborahFin: Reminds me of Tom Lehrer's song, “Who's Next?”
Fons: at least in China, not clue about other countries
ethanz: Fons, would love to hear more about cultural bias…
BorisAntho: smart “terrorists” hire the same kinds of people “non terrorists” hire to make their communications efficient
Fons: using the name dissidents is one thing
jeffooi: In developed countries, why must whistleblwers like Deep Throat need anonymity? Joi…
Julien_Pai: I wish a chinese guy or a nepale one will tell me that he set up his blog using this guide.
Fons: the press release on 11 commandments would not be understood in China, just an illustration
SethF: Say something like “If we can't write about freedom, then the terrorists have already won!”
ethanz: Julien – will take some time, but I agree, that will be a great indicator…
ethanz: jeff – whistleblowers are still in danger of losing their jobs in the US – happens all the time.
Julien_Pai: And for that, I need to work the circulation of this tool.
RMacK: so we have a great community of people here. how can we help the right people use the guide as intended?
BorisAntho: i think we need to get off the terrorists here and get back on the this very nicely done PDF for cyber-dissidents.
RMacK: yes boris is right
ethanz: MMM, when I'm in Tunisia in a few weeks, is it reasonable to think that I can disseminate this guide in Arabic?
glutterbug: Fons: What do you mean the press release on 11th commandments would not be understood in China. I understand it perfectly well and I am in China
Fons: I would appreciated it if the cyberdissidents could be removed in a second edition
RMacK: we should disseminate this all over WSIS
RMacK: in many languages
Julien_Pai: We have hard copies
DeborahFin: Fons, is the term “cyber-dissident” problematic?
Fons: refers to christian culture, people have no clue about commandments
RMacK: (if MMM thinks that's a good idea)
Fons: yes it is
Julien_Pai: I'll be at the WSIS
ethanz: Fons – good point,. That's a nice reminder…
Fons: even those who are active policially in the mainland prefer not to be seen as dissidents
glutterbug: I think people can understand a list of Helpful guides. regardless of titling
Julien_Pai: but poeple there will be mostly experts…
DeborahFin: Fons, that's interesting, in light of the current movement on Wikipedia.Org to delete the “cyber-dissident” article
jeffooi: ethan… whistleblowers are still in danger of losing their jobs in the US … pretty much a bread-an-butter daily dose ;-) at least one condition does apply?
Fons: missed that on wiki-pedia
RMacK: i agree, certainly a lot of chinese bloggers i know don't want to be labeled “cyber-dissidents”
ethanz: true – makes the formulation work, Jeff…
glutterbug: We're really doing to spend this time discussing semantics?
Markus_Bec: i? ll be on the wsis too. maybe thats a good chance to reach lots of people involved in civil society worldwide.
DeborahFin: Re:  Wikipedia…email me at deborah@finn.com, and I'll send you the link.
ethanz: It looks like we're going to be doing a session, as GLobal Voices, called “Expression Under Repression”
Julien_Pai: bloggers and cyberdissidents are to different kinds of people. But we defend both.
Fons: ok
SethF: In the US, being a “dissent” is “cool”. Not so in other places …
ethanz: Not definite yet, but likely…
ethanz: Working on it with Hivos…
RMacK: it's not semantics. i think it has real implications for who dares to access this material and who dares to have it sitting there on their hard drive
SethF: Err, “dissident”
RMacK: with a title “cyber-dissident” prominently displayed
Julien_Pai: To tell you the truth I don't like the word cyberdissident either.
Fons: so, why use it?
ethanz: Julien, can we kill it in the next edition… :-)?
ethanz: Or, maybe, say more about why the term got used in this edition…
Julien_Pai: On my list of 70 internet writers jailes, most of them are dissidents who used the Internet to publish their views, not bloggers
ethanz: Really good point…
jeffooi: cyber dissidents can be problematic in a reasonably democratic country like Malaysia… that's a self-inflicted social stigma, wear it, you go into the opinion-shaping sphere as an underdog
DeborahFin: I think that the link between blogging and all other web-based communication is blurring.  I wouldn't worry about that much.
Fons: just, so maybe also the wrong writers for a Chinese audience?
Julien_Pai: We created the word 5 years ago. It's not that easy to “kill” a word. And it really defines a certain category of poeple
ethanz: Is there a better term that both honors the people Julien is working with and is less uncomfortable for some of the folks in this group?
Fons: maybe the angel is a problem and the name an expression of that
Julien_Pai: Many chinese we defend are cyberdissident, not bloggers
DeborahFin: “Citizen Journalist”?
DeborahFin: (As a very bland alternative?)
Julien_Pai: jeff, don't worry, I wouldn't call you a cyberdissident.
Fons: When most writers are dissents it is very hard to change only the title
SethF: DeborahFinn : There's a lot of blurring of “blogger” so as to be able to simultaneously claim the high numbers of diarists, and the social importance of journalism.
Julien_Pai: They're not journalists
kaseton: may be title should be change to something like “Handbook for anomyous and friends”
glutterbug: I think people need to start seeing that there are people in jail for speaking thing the government does't like and how we could best help them. Honestly, am I the only person representing China here? If this was China we would not be discussing words we would discussing the implications.
RMacK: kaseton: heheh
Fons: I thought you were in HK, that is a different place :-)
RMacK: you are not the only chinese person on here
glutterbug: I am just pointing this out tho.
Julien_Pai: thanks yan :)
DeborahFin: Ok, let's discuss the implications.
SubzeroBlu: sorry I didn't reply earlier ethan, I'm still at work and head over heels with stuff
RMacK: words have implications. my 10 years in china taught me so
Julien_Pai: Fons, you know that ost poeple we defend in china are cyberdissidents, not bloggers or journalists
RMacK: mainland china. not hk or taiwan
glutterbug: Yes they do.
Fons: but what is the angel of the book then, to help bloggers?
ethanz: MMM – curious whether it's reasonable to think Julien, I and others can distribute the guide in Tunis at WSIS…
Julien_Pai: What should I do, tell them that I don't defend them anymore because they're not bloggers?
RMacK: julien makes a good point. there is a big difference between bloggers and cyberdissidents
JoiIto: The question for me is what the purpose of the title is
Julien_Pai: Ethan, you'll be at the WSIS?
RMacK: defending online speech and defending bloggers is not the same thing
ethanz: Looks quite likely…
RMacK: bloggers are one subset of online speech
JoiIto: do you want people carrying around a book that says, “How do do things that REALLY piss of your government and get away with it”
JoiIto: or something less dangerous… cyberdissident is a nice title for people who are already going to get busted for their bags
RMacK: obviously you don't want to stop defending all online speech and i dont think anybody would think you should
ethanz: Joi, we could always call it “The Happy Friendly Guide to Being an Obedient Citizen”… :-)
SubzeroBlu: loool
ethanz: The title and contents could be very different…
SubzeroBlu: if you call it that, then I don't think there will be any problems :P
JoiIto: seriously tho… I think you need to be careful. Sending around a document that labels you could be a way to get these people profiled.
Julien_Pai: Joito : Let's be clear. In 95% of the cases we call a cyberdissident someone who's aready in jail.
Fons: People do need much help to make blogs, but more on a non-political level
SethF: “Effective Online Expression” or similar is nicely ambiguous
Fons: Can you get the book in jail?
JoiIto: But if they're in jail, are they anonymous? I'm sorry. I guess I'm maybe missing that target audience…
ethanz: Julien, would “Effective Online Expression” work for cyber-dissidents…?
DeborahFin: There could be two editions.  Two titles with the same text.  You make your choice, and download it.
Julien_Pai: Fons, how do you dfine politics?
RMacK: why not just “global handbook for bloggers”
RMacK: since the handbook only addresses blogging and not other forms of online speech
SubzeroBlu: But in Tunisia though, as someone who is attending the WSIS and who is from abroad, I don't think it would be troublesome to distribute it
Julien_Pai: in china is an extensive concept, as well as “state secret”
Julien_Pai: Rebecca : I don't defend only bloggers.
JoiIto: distributing might be OK, but who would someone who wanted to start blogging anonymously seriously want a copy of a book with a funky title to be in his/her possession?
ethanz: MMM – additional question – do you think it will be useful/helpful if we distribute it in Arabic?
Fons: the question is whether you really want to have a Chinese audience or not, like joi illutrated
RMacK: julien i know you dont only defend bloggers. but your handbook is all about blogging
RMacK: its not about how to use chatrooms or set up web pages
Julien_Pai: We could have said “handbooks for online writers”
sabbah: Julein – do you have a list of all servers that distribute the handbook?
SethF: Basically, this is pushing up against the problem that “how to be a pundit” and “how to dissent and not get yourself killed” are really two very different issues.
ethanz: RMack – raises an interesting question – whether a future edition should be broader…
Julien_Pai: Nart's part, or Ethan's, are not abou blogging
JoiIto: Does the Chinese government have a list of all of the servers that distribute the handbook?
Julien_Pai: same as the last chapter on encryption
sabbah: and do anyone know if all these servers are watched and logs who download it?
ethanz: I can assure folks that my server is not being watched by anyone but me,.. :-)
sabbah: lol
Julien_Pai: Joito : We don't have many servers which distribute it, that's a problem
DeborahFin: Julien:  Yes, future editions should be broader.  You start with something good, and extend it.
SubzeroBlu: For Tunisians, I think the French version would be more helpful, anyway Arabic would be more for the other Arabs attending the WSIS
ethanz: Seems like there are a couple of questions here…
ethanz: Do we need additional servers to distribute this?
SethF: ethanz: On your end … you can't made assurances about intermediaries (Yahoo!)
RMacK: if the handbook is about “how to get ideas on the internet without getting arrested” blogs are not always the best tools
ethanz: Is the title of the guide problematic for users in some countries?
RMacK: in china, bbs are actually a better way to go
ethanz: How do we best distribute this guide to be useful to the folks we need to reach?
RMacK: in a lot of cases, and journalists use bbs, not blogs, to disseminate stories killed by their editors
Julien_Pai: I'm trying to use peer to peer networks. Do you think it's a good idea?
SubzeroBlu: I think the cyber-dissident part is the one that is a bit problematic
SubzeroBlu: in the title I mean
JoiIto: I would say that you should put it in the public domain and allow translators to change the title and even remove the attribution to fit local use cases.
Fons: BBS is the best tool, agree R.
SubzeroBlu: it's as if it's encouraging people to become cyber-dissidents
SubzeroBlu: at least that's the feedback I got when I put up the link on my blog
BorisAntho: JoiIto++
DeborahFin: SubZ: Well, is the purpose to DIScourage them?
sabbah: see, saudi and emirates are very hard on censorship
sabbah: they might already blocked it, or watching who download it
JoiIto: It should become something like an long modern urban legend. Then people can't track it easily and it can be spread more widely
Julien_Pai: Subzero : how do you want me to name the 62 chinese I defefend. If you find another word, I take it.
ethanz: Julien – what do  you think of Joi's suggestion? Allow some redistribution under CC to get better distribution?
sabbah: I guess someone should say get it at your own risk ;-)
BorisAntho: 1- languages, 2- less alerting title, 3- make free and easy to distribute
JoiIto: and if it appeared in various versions, it would be harder to ban
BorisAntho: \remix
JoiIto: keep the original the way you have it but allow people to… yes. remix
ethanz: Boris, Joi – needs to be some recognition of the very hard work RSF put into building the guide, tho…
RMacK: the 62 chinese you defend are definitely cyber-dissidents. they are people in jail for putting things on the internet. but they are not bloggers
Julien_Pai: I agree on changinf the title for distribution. Let's stick to “hanbook for online writers” or “bloggers”
RMacK: “cyber-dissidents” does not equal “bloggers”
BorisAntho: we all recognise it
ethanz: “Guide to Safe and Effective Online Speech”?
SubzeroBlu: Julien, I understand you, but Ethan asked if the title was problematic for some users in some countries, and I think the cyber-dissident part is what could make it problematic for some. But I do agree that no matter how you try to phrase it, it is for bloggers and cyber-dissidents
JoiIto: so is the point recognition of each copy or the beginning of this mission? I thought it was to help these people, not to get recognized for passing out some cool thing at WSIS
ethanz: Julien, thoughts on remixing and redistribution?
kaseton: Joito: the problem could that a remixed paper would contain wrong informations
ethanz: Is this something RSF is open to?
DeborahFin: I like the CC idea, although there are the usual questions about whether dubious stuff that is added by others gets attributed to RSF
BorisAntho: ethanz: we all recognize it, right? heck I'll send RSF a $100 contribution right now… as long as they assure me they don't really care all that much about recognition… ;)
RMacK: joi, the point is that we may be scaring away some of our key audience by having “dissident” in the title
ethanz: Deborah – one thought might be to ensure that remixed verions all have links to the RSF original…
SethF: Hmmm … If I were a nasty government agent, I would “remix” by
Julien_Pai: ethan : ok with you suggestion
Fons: In China people will remix is anyway when then think it is useful
SethF: imakeing proxies point to government honeypots, etc.
JoiIto: right, my point is that if your point is to get this into as many places as possible, why not make it more “free” rather than trying to get it exactly right globally
DeborahFin: Seth: Very scary
ethanz: I will commit to distributing, in whatever languages are available, editions with a title that's less contriversial…
RMacK: good point joi
BorisAntho: kaseton: in my teenage culture, there is a myth that states masturbation causes hairy palms. this is obviously falseinformation… and never stopped anyone…
ethanz: on my unmonitored server…
alo: I would have liked to see either more PDFs for differnet formats (A4/letter, eg.) available
kaseton: cc will be a good idea,  remixed would it be anyway
alo: or something that oculd be reflowed
ethanz: alo – are you interested in building those versions?
alo: i could, was it done in indesign?
kaseton: BorisAnthony: didn`t it? i have to tell my agency
JoiIto: Now I'm starting to get a grip on the one part that I think was sort of nagging me… this book is too “glossy”
BorisAntho: hehehe
Julien_Pai: nd what about the p2p ?
JoiIto: anarchists use ascii
ethanz: Sounds like one of the big conversations that's going to come out of this is possible redesigns and remixes of the guide…
BorisAntho: JoiIto++ (sadly…)
ethanz: Joi's going to want to do an all ASCII anarchist remix, obviously…
BorisAnthony does select all, copy, paste into .txt document
RMacK: the remix idea to suit local situations is brill
ethanz: Will you commit to hosting that version, Joi?
JoiIto: and the book itself should end up anonymous in a sense I think
JoiIto: I would be happy to yes
DeborahFin: Let a thousand ASCII flowers bloom
BorisAntho: i'll put a copy on every server and domain I have access to ;)
Julien_Pai: everybody can redesign, but then please don't mention RWB.
JoiIto: And if you look on wikipedia, you will find the attribution to the RSF original
Julien_Pai: There's no copyright on ou material
ethanz: Julien – is that there preference – remix at will, but don't attribute? Or remix and attribute the original?
JoiIto: You might want to add a paragraph about that
Julien_Pai: Please alert me when someone host a version of our guide (not redesigned)
Fons: WHen you attribute to RSF it will be stopped by Chinese filter anyway :-)
BorisAntho: Julien_Pain, si vous me procurez une version source (non PDF) je ferai volontiers une version HTML
Julien_Pai: If you mix it, that's not our work any more, so don't mention us
JoiIto: So I suggest that we start a wikipedia article about this at some point and help sort out the various places this ends up and the different versions. That would actually be intersting and useful to read
Julien_Pai: Fons : very true
alo: Fons: so much for “sans frontieres” :/
ethanz: Okay, so RSF sees their work as being a specific, designed, published mix of this work…
Julien_Pai: it's already in html on our website
ethanz: As well as translations of that work, yes?
Fons: It would be good to check every edition on ‘banned words’ in China and replace them
BorisAntho: parfait
alo: i'm not as interested in remixing content, but making it more accessible in its print form
alo: would be willing to reflow text & regenerate PDFs to make this happen
BorisAntho: medium remix, not content so much
Julien_Pai: I don't think the chinese would scan the pdf for keywords
Fons: pdf is harder to remix
ethanz: Sounds like that's all possible based on the HTML version on RSF, but that RSF wants to make it clear that they're releasing one version, not explicitly supporting the remixes…
RMacK: anybody out there an expert on whether pdf's get scanned for banned words?
JoiIto: just have an ascii version somewhere so people can rebuild it
sabbah: ok, sound it's getting tech now…
JoiIto: well, Google scan's pdfs
JoiIto: why wouldn't the Chinese gov use Google?
BorisAntho: I think RSF can take credit and recognition for seeding the effort… a widely distributed garden of efforts and resources can grow from its seed
ethanz: MMM, Haitham, would love to hear about what versions would be most useful in the middle east. Is the current version good to distribute as is?
sabbah: yes, but prefer HTML
glutterbug: no but chinese people use google like the rest of us which is why google, yahoo and msn already have “blocked” words for the Chinese market
Julien_Pai: if you delete all the forbidden words, you'll end up with a text which is not readable anymore
ethanz: Jeff, what about distribution in Malaysia?
kaseton: joiIto: may be beacause google is filtered in china ;)
Julien_Pai: boris : that's the way I see it
ethanz: Got it, Haitham – need to point people towards the HTML as well as PDF versions…
Fons: should not delete, replace
Fons: Special Chinese art
sabbah: yeas, ethan
glutterbug: put * in between?
BorisAntho: Julien_Pain, the HTML version on your site is non transportable
Fons: or using homonimes in Chinese
ethanz: Glutter – what would your suggestions be for making this more accessible in China?
JoiIto: In Japan, many BBSs intentionally misspell words so search engines don't find them
Julien_Pai: replace with (like demo…cracy)
glutterbug: Yeah, that's how people did it when I was being the censor!
RMacK: yeah people often to dem0*cracy and things
SubzeroBlu: I agree with Haitham, and think it should be distributed on other servers too because the RSF site is blocked here in Tunisia
Julien_Pai: Boris : Ok. I understant. Comes from spip
kaseton: may be use pictures instead words
Fons: hmm, we have the enemy here :-)
glutterbug: We we had to block words like jun*e forth.
BorisAntho: capice
ethanz: MMM, I'll host an Arabic version later today so folks can link to it…
glutterbug: Not thast it worked. people alway got around it.
sabbah: so guys, do you have anything else you like to share with us about the book other than the tech. issues (which I'm sure you will get around)?
BorisAntho: je m'occuperai de faire une version “clean” ;)
glutterbug: Ethans. I would suggest having more Chinese versions leading people to the copies.
Julien_Pai: Arabic version? Based on our translation?
glutterbug: Right now I don't think many people know it's there. I tried to ask the HK bloggers in Chinese to put up the guide but it's in English
glutterbug: and the guys rather put things up in Chinese
Julien_Pai: Boris : tu pouras m'envoyer le lien?
SubzeroBlu: Ethan, it's true we're Arabs but most Arab bloggers blog in either English or French, so those would be useful too I think
alo: sabbah: yes, i'm interested in more than tech as well :)
glutterbug: I mean the press release is in English.
alo: though i'm not sure where we are in the conversation, as i've arrived late
ethanz: Julien, I'm basically making the offer to host anything that's blocked because the RSF site is blocked.
JoiIto: Or you could use 1337 – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet ;-P
ethanz: No real time/interest in remixing….
jibot: Knekk is Jorge of technorati and a bot
Julien_Pai: Glutter : I think you're right, the biggest problem is not to avoid censorship but to make it known there…
glutterbug: Because the chinese government isn't as vigilant
glutterbug: as people suggest, there are always holes
Deborah909\ Deborah909 = DeborahFinn
glutterbug: And people in the dissident community will be able to pass copies to each other hopefully
RMacK: yep glutterbug is absolutely right
RMacK: always holes
glutterbug: So really it's touching upon the people in a safe way.
ethanz: MMM – So I should bring more English/French guides than Arabic ones to WSIS then? Berkman has offered to make a big purchase of guides for redist. at WSIS…
Deborah909\ Am back after IRC problems. Note new nickname.
Julien_Pai: Ethan. Understood. Thanks a lot.
glutterbug: I worry the most that this guide can put people in jail because this is surely subvesive material
BorisAntho: lol
Julien_Pai: Yan : can you help me to distribute this handbook in China?
Julien_Pai: Fons?
glutterbug: But the information has to be out there first and that we have to let the individucal users decide on the risks they are willing to take
ethanz: If other people are interested in hosting copies on their servers to help people get around blocking of the RSF site, please email me – I can help coordinate as I know Julien is hugely busy
glutterbug: yeah.
ethanz: ethanz AT gmail
SubzeroBlu: I personally think that the people who will most probably start blogs in the Arab world are those that use English or French. In Tunisia, it's French, in other countries it's English.
Fons: would not put it on my weblog for reasons mentioned
Julien_Pai: Ethan : I'll bring many guides to the WSIS
JoiIto: RMacK, are you bringing them to Shanghai? And if so, how are are you going to distribute them?
SubzeroBlu: Anyway, Arabic is useful for another audience, which I think is smaller though
jeffooi: etanz… bloggers are more influential in English. So the original version in English suffices in Malaysia, and probably Singapore too. Already,, two english papers are mentioning about RSF's Guide already inthe last two days.
RMacK: good question joi
RMacK: needs to be figured out
Julien_Pai: Fons : but can you help circuating it?
JoiIto: “Gee, you look like a dissident, here, have one of these. Boy, YOU'RE really going to need one. nudge nudge.”
RMacK: i think i better discuss that elsewhere
BorisAntho: re: print versions: perhaps having a version trimmed of all the superfluous (however pretty) images stripped out
Fons: I do not agree with the cultural bias it has now
JoiIto: ok
ethanz: Fons, would you be willing to point to the Chinese versions on my server?
jeffooi: Center for Inderpendent Journalism (CIJmalaysia.org) is already providing downloads for the guidebook in PDF
Deborah909: WSIS is a whole other IRC chat!
RMacK: quick announcement: ethan and i will need to go in about 15 mins,  at which point we'll save the transcript, although everybody is welcome to hang out here forever if they want
Julien_Pai: Boris : yes, we need a version without the images.
sabbah: guys guys, again, plz,
RMacK: i agree w/ deb, wsis is definitely a whole nuther irc
glutterbug: Rebeccas please don't bring them to China. If the Shanghai government gets it they will be on the lookoout
Julien_Pai: Fons : cultural biais
Julien_Pai: ?
JoiIto: Boris, lets get a server started on that special IP segment for this stuff soon.
Deborah909: Where can we find the transcript later?
BorisAntho: JoiIto: yessir :)
glutterbug: Right now the Shanghai government has the heaviest and most advance tracing system in all of chian
sabbah: can u discuss these tech issue someother time and come back to discuss the handbook?
Fons: yes,mentioned that before
ethanz: Deborah – will be on my blog and on Global Voices…
RMacK: yeah the shanghai govt is nasty
ethanz: Haitham, what are the other issues you want to bring up?
RMacK: i would rather not discuss shanghai here
glutterbug: But they might not know about this because they are only looking internally
Deborah909: Ethan:  Bueno!  I want to add a link to my blog
glutterbug: They aren't looking outwards.
glutterbug: I would assume another department or other groups of people are looking at that.
sabbah: I asked if you guys have anything else to share with us about the book
Deborah909: While we've been chatting, I've already had a query from someone at TechSoup/CompuMentor about how the discussion is going
glutterbug: I mean it could be the same department. But the risk is great. For yourelf as well.
ethanz: Haitham, I think Julien are I were mostly here to take questions…
RMacK: deb we will save a transcript and post it
ethanz: We've gotten a lot of good ones, especially about ways to redistribute
RMacK: i'm not talking about shanghai here.
glutterbug: Oh. Ignore more.
glutterbug: Ignore me.
glutterbug: Sorry
RMacK: you wanna talk to me about shanghai pls email me
JoiIto: stop talking about Shangai RMacK
ethanz: Many have been technical, but I think it's been very helpful as far as getting questions about how we can redistribute…
RMacK: joi, ;-)
ethanz: and get a wider audience for the guide…
sabbah: sure sure
sabbah: what about the content?
ethanz: Are there other questions folks wanted to ask that have not yet been addressed?
sabbah: who read it, can they share with us how did they find it?
sabbah: easy, hard, etc..
alo_: i'm not sure exactly the scope of this chat, as some questions seem to be verboten
Deborah909: I'd love to see the guide expanded
RMacK: maybe we should do a surveymonkey survey about the guide for feedback?
Julien_Pai: exÃ¢nded to what?
ethanz: Anyone want share how they found about about the guide, whether they had trouble accessing it, etc.?
Deborah909: RM:  Great idea
Deborah909: Extended beyond the guide to blogging
Julien_Pai: Rebecca : good idea. But I don't know how to do that.
ethanz: Deborah, what are some of the other things you'd like to see in a future version?
Julien_Pai: to…
RMacK: alo, no questions verboten, we are just aware that this is a public forum
RMacK: which means that anybody can be watching it
JoiIto: I'm sorry to be a stick in the mud, but I really think you want to make the two way communications with people who read this book as limited as possible
Deborah909: Re:  Surveys.  There's the technical skill in setting up a survey, then there's the skill in crafting the questions.
JoiIto: sorry to keep talking about distribution
Deborah909: The structuring of questions is much harder than you'd think.
glutterbug: distribution is the most important thing tho…
JoiIto: Would the people who really need this book want to risk filling out some survey?
glutterbug: i am with joi
Deborah909: I can probably find you an academic person/social scientist who can help.
RMacK: joi you're right
JoiIto: Or just academics who study people who need this book
Deborah909: Joi:  Good point.  :-)
alo_: as far as distribution goes, i would jsut like the pdf to be easier to run off a printer no matter where you are, that's all
JoiIto: which is fine, but you need to be clear
Julien_Pai: deborah : good. But then we need to find the right people to answer the questions
alo_: the cropmarks and paper size were an obstacle, and i don't think many folks will do the formatting themselves
ethanz: There definitely needs to be a followup conversation about distro, including mirror servers, licenses, etc.
RMacK: good point alo, the pdf could use trimming
JoiIto raises hand to help on licensing and distro
Deborah909: The annoying thing about survey research is that the planning AND the execution have to be excellent.
YogSototh: What about a text-only version?
ethanz: That can be via email and give Julien a chance to answer some questions re licensing and such…
glutterbug: I just worry about the size of pdfs on dial ups.
alo_ raises hadn to help with reformatting
RMacK: pdfs on dialups are horrible
glutterbug: And acrobat
Julien_Pai: alo : I agree. WHo could do the formatting?
JoiIto: I think you should have people put some special string on their blogs if they read the book and survey the blogs
BorisAnthony does html in his sleep ;)
JoiIto: don't make them connect to you or send you anything
alo_: Julien_Pain: me
ethanz: Haitham's raised the question about whether we want to have conversations about the contents of the guide, rather than focusing on distro…
Deborah909: Joi:  Ahah!  Tagging to the rescue!
JoiIto: ;-)
BorisAntho: :p
Deborah909: I (heart) tagging
alo_: who can I follow up with re: reformatting?
Julien_Pai: alo : then, please send me the edited version internet at rsf.org
SethF: ethanz: The problem is that the people here are mostly (all?) wealthy (in global terms) and free – so that limits the perspectives.
ethanz: Re: followip
ethanz:  I want Julien to have the time to make decisions about licensing, etc.
RMacK: ethan and i need to leave for a meeting in 10 mins but others are welcome to stay forever and keep talking
ethanz: We're happy to host a wiki conversation on globalvoices and point people towards that…
sabbah: ok, was nice talking to you all… good luck ;-)
glutterbug: could we even just have one that's a word document and a text document?
Deborah909: Ethan:  Yes.  You can't make split second strategic decisions.
ethanz: Thanks, Haitham – good anonymity questions… obviously we'll keep you posted…
glutterbug: Those thiings can go on line right?
RMacK: bye haitham!
SubzeroBlu: bye Haitham
Deborah909\ Waves goodbye to all.
alo_: Julien_Pain: i've emailed you (i hope)
SethF: Bye
kaseton: ma be you should even split each chapter
Deborah909: Thanks for this great discusssion.
Deborah909: Bye!
Fons: bye
glutterbug: splitting chapter is good.
ethanz: So, we're going to close the transcript in about five minutes and post it.
Julien_Pai: Yan : how can we distribute it in China?
ethanz: We're going to have a longer, slower conversation about distribution, which will likely move onto a wiki
Markus_Bec: thats a good idea
glutterbug: Well I think we need to just plan it.
glutterbug: I mean, sit down and come up with a ten point plan of what needs to be done
glutterbug: Smaller files. Remixes, mulitple servers. Translations. and then spread the job out. there are a lot of people here with a lot of expertize.
Julien_Pai: yan : Good idea Yan, I alsohave  a few ideas
glutterbug: Need to know who does what/
glutterbug: I couldn't keep up.
BorisAntho: i smell a wiki page coming…
ethanz: We'll put a page on the GV wiki later today
glutterbug: And then it's a slow process of putting it up. It's easy right now because there is a lot of press but it's going to take a long time to get all of this done.
RMacK: i may strike a certian subject before posting
BorisAntho: hah
glutterbug: We all have jobs.
ethanz: Will let people volunteer to work on parts of the project
RMacK: starts w/ “s”
glutterbug: And stuff
JoiIto: and end with hai
ethanz: Will also let Julien talk with his team about licensing stuff before we all go remixing all over the web
ethanz: Wiki page and transcript will be linked to from GV, my blog, rebecca's blog, etc.
glutterbug: It's totally doerable. And julien I think it's worth doing this because you can use the map for futher publications as well
ethanz: Cool. You're all welcome to keep discussing.
glutterbug: I mean it's a long term goal and you can probably start finding distribution point so people.
ethanz: We're going to close the trascript and get to the next Berkman event…
ethanz: Congratulations and thanks to everyone involved with the guide.
JoiIto: yes… congrats on your work
kaseton: you should delete all login and logoff message from transcript
RMacK: this has been a truly awesome conversation
ethanz: We'll do some light cleanup on the transcript, including IPs.
alo_: thanks rsf folks for your work
RMacK: kaseton, yes will clean up transcript before posting
ethanz: If anyone believes something needs to be redacted, contact me off channel
Julien_Pai: Thanks !
RMacK: thanks so much to everybody.
kaseton: thanks for your guide
ethanz: Thanks for the questions and feedback, everyone.
ethanz: Transcript is closing here…
RMacK: yes, and thanks to JULIEN, and ethan and yan and markus for your hard work on the guide!!!
RMacK: it is a really valuable contribution
KevinMarks: ah, just missed you all
ethanz: Sorry, Kevin
ethanz: was there something you wanted to bring up?
Markus_Bec: it was fun supporting such a great project.
ethanz: We need to run to a lunch in a few moments, but…
KevinMarks: no, just wanted to eavesdrop and say well done
ethanz: cool.
RMacK: i hope you will all come back here to the IRC and hang out as much as you want for follow-on discussions
KevinMarks: and plug blog finder a wee bit
ethanz: you just missed a lively chat – transcript will be posted on GV later today
ethanz: globalvoicesonline.org
KevinMarks: as I think it could help your various projects
ethanz: Cool – there's going to be a wiki as well – you may want to mention that there.
RMacK: it would be great if people want to use this space to accomplish stuff of common interest!
ethanz: Okay, we're grabbing lunch. See you all in channel…
KevinMarks: have a look at http://technorati.com/blogs/
KevinMarks: and how you cna tag your own blogs
KevinMarks: bye

author: Ethan Zuckerman


text:
Jordan: Music Morals · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Sugar Cubes and Sabbah seem to be upset with what they describe as the low level of moral that some Arab artists and Arab Music TV channels are performing and promoting.


text:
Lebanon: Support May Shidyak · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

In solidarity with the Lebanese Journalist, May Shidyak, who was seriously wounded (lost left leg and hand) when a bomb exploded inside her car north of Beirut a couple of days ago, Lebanese bloggers have a lot to say and ideas to support.


text:
My Son, Mikhail · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Oneworld Multimedia reports on how NGOs and public organizations in Armenia help children with disabilities thrive.


text:
Myanmar: Burma Underground · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

The Thailand-based Burma Underground blog has been set up to support civil organizations in Burma (Myanmar), especially ethnic minority groups.


text:
Nigeria: Succession struggles · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Chippla posts a long commentary wondering who will succeed Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, and notes the recent flight of current Vice-President Atiku Abubasar to a ruling PDP party stronghold to register as a member.


text:
North Korea: Video of a beating · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Oranckay posts still photos and links to an audio clip from a video of North Korean border guards apparently beating a female defector as she attempted to return home after eight years working in China.


text:
Pakistan: Blog-o-rama · Global Voices
Omer Alvie

Without a helmet, riding a Vespa scooter at 45km an hour, I headed out on the internet highway last night, swerving my way through heavy traffic (risking life and limb) to bring you this neat little collection of posts from some very interesting Pakistani bloggers.
Meanderings had a rather eloquent and angered response to President Musharaf’s (now infamous) comments to Washington Post, which she incidentally forwarded to the President’s web site; Teeth Maestro posted about President Bush’s desperate need for a BATHROOM BREAK at the UN summit (as he hadn’t ‘been’ earlier); Suspect Paki examines the news of the incident in Basra and the two British marines; Mina presents her shell shocked comments on the recent bombings in Lahore; and Windmills highlights the story of an Israeli conscientious objector which is definitely worth reading.
Apart from the above, I want to highlight some ‘non-newsy’ posts by Pakistani bloggers that are worth viewing because they help break the monotony of political blogging highlighted above. Kay’s blog is rather refreshing as it presents a tri-photo commentary of  life; I AM MAKING IT HAPPEN excels in photo blogging as her photo compositions are superb; and finally Light Within writes about mountain climbing in northern Pakistan which is a riveting read.
Well that’s all for now, I better be off or my ISP Proxy will fine me for not wearing a helmet.

author: Omer Alvie


text:
Pakistan: Can’t get enough of Pepsi? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Thinking of grabbing a Pepsi in Lahore? Metroblogging Lahore urges you to think again!


text:
Palestine: Beirut? No… Gaza · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Lama Hourani writes at ‘International Solidarity Movement‘ and says: “So it seems that we are living in Beirut again these days. And it seems that I had forgotten what the sound is of an F16 when it attacks. In any case, they are visiting us several times a day and after midnight.“


text:
Peru: Bill Passed Encouraging Federal Procurement of Free Software · Global Voices
David Sasaki

GROKLAW reports that Peru has passed a bill encouraging the procurement of Free Software by the government. An English translation of the bill itself is also available at the Asociación Peruana de Software Libre.


text:
Russia’s New Patron Saint · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

siberianlight.net reports that the Russian Orthodox Church has just named a new patron saint for long range nuclear bombers.


text:
Saudi Arabia: Official Religious Policeman site · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

The Religious Policeman often get complains that he is not the official site of the ‘Religious Police in Saudi Arabia’. So he decided to give the audience a guided tour through the official Religious Policeman site (which is in Arabic).


text:
Senegal: Sufi brotherhood · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Black Star Journal flags a fascinating feature on the BBC about Senegal's Sufi brotherhood.


text:
South Africa: News values questioned · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

The Fish Bowl notices starkly different treatment given in the South African media to murder stories, depending on whether the victim is black or white.


text:
Sri Lanka: Celebrating heritage · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

In Purgatory has a list of people in the Arts and Literature who are connected by the common Sri Lankan heritage.


text:
Sudan: Darfur update · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Sleepless in Sudan fleshes out her report of a military build-up in the northern Darfur town of El Fasher with the latest official news dispatch from the United Nations.


text:
The State of the Russian Opposition · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Russia Blog discusses conflicting reports on the state of the Russian opposition.


text:
Join Our Live Chat! Handbook for Bloggers & Cyber-Dissidents · Global Voices
Rebecca MacKinnon

The IRC chat was a great success, with three dozen participants from around the world (China, Malaysia, Tunisia, Bahrain, Japan, Germany, France and Canada, just to name a few…) The transcript is available here if you'd like to see what transpired. Coming out of the conversation are a new set of efforts to spread the Guide around the world – we'll be posting a link to a wiki page in the next couple of hours for people interested in helping us with this project.
Do you have questions about, criticisms of, or reactions to the Reporters Without Borders Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents? Global Voices will be hosting a live online chat to discuss the book on Tuesday September 27th at 11:00amNewYork /15:00GMT /18:00Cairo /23:00Beijing. Click here for full instructions about how to join the Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
Reporters Without Borders Internet director Julien Pain will be there to answer  your questions and discuss your reactions to the handbook. We are inviting all of the contributors to join us. Their names will be added here as they confirm attendance. Right now they include:
– Ethan Zuckerman, Global Voices Co-founder, How to Blog Anonymously
– Yan Sham-Shackleton, who blogs at Glutter, author of the chapter: “I kept my promise to those who died“
– Markus Beckedahl of Netzpolitik, author of chapter: We promote civil and human rights.
– more coming…
If you have questions or comments about the Handbook which you'd like Julien and the rest of us to think about (or start discussing) in advance, please share them in the comments section of this post.
NOTE: In case you're having trouble accessing the handbook from the link above, we are also hosting a copy. Click here to download the English (PDF).
How to Blog Anonymously (Chinese PDF)
How to Circumvent Censorship (Chinese PDF)


text:
United Arab Emirates: GITEX · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Secret Dubai says that GITEX in its current form has become an unwieldy, logistically-nightmarish bore. He adds that it lacks relevance and cost-effectiveness for the vast majority of attendees, is far too wide in its scope to give adequate exposure to every segment, so he suggest to split it into two.
On the same subject, it seems that Keefieboy didn't had a better impression, specially that it toke him nearly an hour to get in!


text:
Zimbabwe: Government scandals · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Zimpundit gives a long and detailed round-up of the latest news from Zimbabwe's scandal-hit ruling party.


text:
African Aid: An anti-utopian view · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

African Bullets and Honey posts a self-styled anti-Western aid screed, citing a recent article on utopianism in the Foreign Affairs journal, and sparking debate in the comments section.


text:
Belize: New Company to Search for Oil · Global Voices
David Sasaki

With global oil reserves running low, Belizean writes about a company which will begin searching for oil in Belize.


text:
Blogging in the Cambodian Language  · Global Voices
Beth Kanter

NIDA, National Information Communications Technology Development Authority, is the government agency that oversees the country's telecommunication policy.   The Cambodian Government's ICT Policy encourages the development and deployment of Open Source software.
The implementation partner is  Khmer Open Source Project, an Open Source Software Localization project to customize Khmer-Language versions of  applications and most recently an operating system.  (Tharum offers a screen shot via Da, a software enigneer working on the project).
How is the government mandate for Open Source software and the implementation of Khmer language software shaping the Cambodian Blogosphere?   During the summer, the Khmer Open Source Project released open source Cambodian language blogging software and in September the number of registered bloggers more than doubled, from 100 to 205.
Based on my reading of the few English-language posts, this young, but vibrant blog community is turning into an incredible information resource.    The blog conversations taking place include some on technology, for example, “How Can We Translate the Word Avitar Into Cambodian?.”  There are also threads on cultural activities, music, and perhaps politics.
I'm not sure because  my Cambodian language skills are limited, so I know that I'm missing out on lots more.     Not too long ago, I predicted that Global Voices will eventually need a bilingual bridge blogger to summarize in English some of the Khmer-Language posts.     The time has come!   And, Tharum would be a fantastic bilingual bridge blogger!

author: Beth Kanter


text:
Bolivia: Global Perspective · Global Voices
David Sasaki

MABB has a collection of news excerpts from around the world relating to Bolivia including a focused look on U.S. interest in the region.


text:
Bolivia: Rock Boliviano · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Blogs de Bolivia has a list of Bolivian rock groups’ websites.


text:
Brazil: A Blogger’s Introduction · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Claudio Tellez, a German-born, conservative, Chilean mathematician living in Brazil offers an introductory first post on his new English-language weblog.


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Chile: “My First PC, But For Real” Petition Delivered to President · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Christian Ocampo has an update [ES] on the “My First PC, But For Real” campaign's petition which was delivered to president Lagos.


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China: Internet regs seen before · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Running Dog comments on the latest set of Internet guidelines to come out of Beijing, saying that the new rules are a re-hash of the old, and that China's ability to filter and censor the Internet is already well known.


text:
D.R. Congo: What shall we do with the Lord’s Resistance? · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Congo Watch picks up a report saying that the Congolese army has vowed to disarm 400 Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) fighters who have crossed their border and were last seen subsisting in a national park. S/he also notes a recent post by Ngomrom mentioned on GV last week.


text:
Equatorial Guinea/Nigeria: Disappearances, torture · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Amnesty International is concerned about allegations of torture and the unfair trial of about 70 people charged with offences related to an alleged coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea on 8 October 2004. The organization is also concerned that three of those convicted in absentia risk “disappearing” or being subjected to torture or ill-treatment. Via LowFat Brains.


text:
India: Stolen heritage · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Indian heritage in an American living room? Vislumbres has a post on  stolen Indian artwork.


text:
India: What the businesswoman wore · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Rashmi Bansal has an insightful take on the recent awards for Corporate Excellence, and wonders why the media focuses on anything but the work-related accomplishments of female achievers.


text:
Iran: Sanction · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Mr.Behi grew up under war and sanctions. He says, “I do not want to see Iran under sanction again. This government cares about it's ideology first and then the people. That is insane. Who said that we should cut relations with US and pay this huge price. This is enough.”


text:
Iraq: Referendum · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Omar asks, because Iraqi intellectuals, artists and writers have taken it upon themselves to monitor the referendum, no one wants to come from outside?


text:
Jamaica: Primer to Reggae Music · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Lusan has a brief introduction to the history of reggae music in Jamaica.


text:
Jamaica: Rules for Driving · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Scratchie's World offers a 13 point guide to driving in Jamaica.


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Jordan: Is BigBrother watching? · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Firas is wondering why non of Jordan Planet (Jordan Blogs Aggregator) bloggers talks or mention local issue. He says that if you browse JP’s blogs, you will soon come to the conclusion that Jordan is an oasis of democracy where people are enjoying financial ease and prosperity.


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Kenya: Visit to the British High Commission · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

What an African Woman Thinks has a beautifully written account of a recent visit to the British High Commission in Nairobi, in quest of a visa. Via Kenyan Pundit, who thought so too.


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Malaysia: ISA could lead to rights abuses · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Human Rights Watch reports that Malaysia’s Internal Security Act (ISA), which gives the government unchecked powers to detain individuals for long periods without charge, is a recipe for abuse.


text:
Mexico: Chespirito · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Matthias Goodman has an exhaustive post on the career of famed Mexican slap-stick comedian, Chesperito.


text:
Mexico: Congressional Independence · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Michelle Dion and Matthew Shugart continue to disagree on the level of legislative independence and its political and electoral effects in Mexico.


text:
Nepal: a new constitution? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Samudaya.org‘s sources tell them that a new constitution might replace the current one in Nepal.


text:
Poland’s Unexpected Prime Minister · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

the beatroot discusses Poland's unexpected new prime minister.


text:
Post Election BlogCast · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

PolBlog has another post-election blogcast, this time speaking to a young voter, an diplomat from the Brazilian embassy, and the beatroot's Peter Gentle.


text:
Russia’s Cheese Boom · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Ruminations on Russia says that while Russia's cheese industry is booming, serious supply problems are discouraging investment.


text:
Singapore: Blogs worse than porn? · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Huichieh Loy, at From a Singapore Angle takes issue with a recent commentary in the Straits Times newspaper saying blogs are worse than porn, and links to the storm of reaction this kicks up in the blogosphere.


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Somaliland: Suspects apprehended · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Inside Somaliland picks up on a triumphant report from Awdal News, lauding the unrecognized country's police force for the prompt arrest of a group of suspected terrorists: “Somaliland has dissipated the misconception of being a no-man's land like its neighbor Somalia where international terrorists come and go at will,” the report says.


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Sri Lanka: Expensive misery · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

UNP Sri Lanka has a say on the state of the economy and on the “Cost of Living Misery Index.”


text:
Sri Lanka: Waiting for the bus · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A wait at the bus station  vividly remembered at Days Go By..


text:
Sudan: Darfur problems worsen · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

The United Nations does little more than wring its hands as fighting intensifies in the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur; thousands more civilians flee their homes as U.N. officials admit they haven't addressed the problems there, reports Coalition for Darfur.


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Sudan: Gallows humour · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

To an aid worker in Darfur whose boyfriend hasn't e-mailed her for a week: “It's not you, he's probably just been abducted by rebels.” This, reports Sleepless in Sudan, became a running joke among NGO workers for a while–until someone's boyfriend  abducted by rebels.


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Thailand: Music from Chaozhou · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Thai-Blogs has a photo essay on the folk art of Teochew (Chiuchow/Chaozhou) opera, and backs it up with a little of the history of the ethnic Chinese who share that birthplace.


text:
The Interconnectedness Of It All · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Neeka's Backlog offers up a personal story on changes in labels but not in names in post-Soviet elite circles.


text:
Venzuela: Starting to Dialogue · Global Voices
Iria Puyosa

Responding to recent violations to freedom of speech in government-run media, Venezuelan bloggers have launched a collective weblog, En Diálogo [ES] (In Dialogue).  The blog intends to bring people together from different political backgrounds to discuss the country's problems and put forward solutions.

author: Iria Puyosa


text:
Vietnam: The East is Punk · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Coming across an array of punk-style badges in a Saigon market, NoodlePie wonders if the Vietnamese equivalent of Johnny Rotten will finally come and liberate his ears from indigenous pop music.


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Zimbabwe: Senate elections · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Zimpundit comments on the decision of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to field candidates for forthcoming senate elections in Zimbabwe; gloomily he cites a proverb from his birthplace about  “cows that defiantly rush to a river/watering hole with little regard for how many of their kin crocodiles have decimated only because they are thirsty.”


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Armenia’s Budget · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Oneworld Multimedia reports that Armenia's budget is set to reach $1 billion for the first time since independence. While the military will still receive the lion's share of the budget, education and social programs are set for notable increases.


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Bangladesh: Preparing for Ramdan · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A dry run for the month of Ramdan at Imtiaz's WeBlog along with some very astute observations.


text:
Burma/Myanmar: The name game · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Just a little conversation…about romanization. Burma Underground throws its hat into the ring on the Burma/Myanmar naming debate.


text:
Cambodia: What, no laptops? · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Beth Kanter asks what happened to a much-vaunted scheme to provide hand-cranking laptops to children in Third World countries, and whether Cambodians will benefit from it.


text:
Chad: Belgian court rules on Habre · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

A Belgian judge has issued an international arrest warrant charging Chad’s former dictator Hissène Habré with atrocities during his 1982-90 rule, reports Human Rights Watch.


text:
Chile: March Supporting Gay Rights · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Andrés Duque has a
summary of last weekend's march in Santiago, Chile to celebrate the “decision by the Education Ministry to adopt sexual orientation non-discrimination language in the standard high-school sexual education curriculum and saluted an initiative by the Chile Chamber of Deputies to combat hate crimes based on sexual orientation.” The post also notes that presidential candidate Tomas Hirsch said he would support “legal recognition of same-sex partnerships through the adoption of civil union legislation.”


text:
China, Japan: Threat assessment · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Angry Chinese Blogger analyses just how threatening a recent leaked Japanese government document on the military threat posed by China may be to Sino-Japanese relations.


text:
China: Unofficial news reporting · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Xici Hutong posts unpublished field-notes from a Zhejiang-based Xinhua reporter regarding disciplinary action against a high-ranking Nanjing official, but the link leads now to an error message. However, ESWN has translated a portion of the report into English.


text:
China: U.S. citizens expelled · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

China Herald rounds up news coverage of the expulsion of Randy Guthrie and another U.S. citizen from China after both had served short jail terms for selling illegal DVDs.


text:
D.R. Congo: Harder than bullets · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Jewels in the Jungle warns us why diamonds–especially those mined in the D.R. of Congo–are not a girl's best friend. Via Congo Watch.


text:
El Salvador: Evacuation Unpreparedness · Global Voices
David Sasaki

After summarizing an investigation which found that the Salvadoran government “has done little to prepare to evacuate the 12,700 people who live beside the Ilamatepec (Santa Ana) volcano,” Tim's El Salvador Blog today focuses on fleeing residents from the nearby community of Cantón Palo Campan who are not being supported by the government.


text:
Ethiopia: Blame Lord Voldemort · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Ethiopundit writes a detailed and hugely entertaining update on the withdrawal of the Ethiopian government's lawsuit in a Virginia court against Tensae Radio, which reported that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his officials had deposited millions of dollars in foreign banks.


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Hong Kong: Li Ao presser · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

ESWN translates part of the Hong Kong news conference given by Taiwan writer Li Ao, freshly arrived from his controversial speaking tour of the mainland, including the various ways in which the local press handled his stab at a common Cantonese expression…


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India: Awards, politics and movies · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The selection of the movie Paheli has raised quite a few feathers in Indian Blogs.  A perspective to make you laugh, think and think again!


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India: Whatever happened to the liberals? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Tamil Nadu seems to be full of moral police, given the reaction to an actor's comments, an HIV awareness campaign and moves to control the way women dress on campus.


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Indonesia: Fuel price increases · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Bali Blog braces for squalls in Indonesia following the announcement of fuel price hikes, which have historically been a flashpoint for popular unrest.


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Indonesian Blogs: Oil, protests, and bird flu · Global Voices
Enda Nasution

Fuel hike, demonstrations and heavy traffic jams:
The government is planning to raise fuel prices on this Saturday, 1st October to address the budget deficit, and already Indonesia has seen demonstrations against the hike in the streets of Jakarta.
Sporadic protests against a price increase have been launched across Indonesia this week, but so far the numbers have been small. With the year's second fuel-price increase now firmly set (up by about 50%), people are predicting that the demonstrations will increase in size as we approach the official announcement of the hike.
Two things are happening on the street: demonstrations against the fuel hike and heavy traffic jams created by people queuing at the gas stations trying to fill up their gas tanks before 1st October.
One blogger post a report today where he saw thousands of people moving to presidential palace. Arie in Jakarta wrote how he spent twice the regular time to reach his office from his house.
The main reason of the hike is the sky-high world oil prices that have ratcheted up fuel subsidies, which this year will eat up nearly a fifth of Indonesia budget which government can not sustain.
This has been mentioned by Priyadi on his blog Priyadi’s Place, an Indonesia blogger well known for debunking Internet scams and hoaxes.
His second post supporting the fuel price increase “Dukung Kenaikan Harga BBM! (2)” received more than 100 comments where people are debating and sharing information about the hike.
Other bloggers, against the increase, cited the fact the increase on fuel price will also increase all prices on goods and services and basically make life harder for most Indonesians.
The government of course has prepared a program to help ease the situation; 16 million households will eligible for a lump sum of $30 in compensation during the next three months.
But the timing is too delicate because it’s to close with the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan on October 3 or 4 when usually there's an inflationary impact on the price of goods.
One way or the other, this fuel hike will be a great test for the government and for the Indonesian people. Let's hope and pray the storm will pass and the situation will be better.
Regarding the Cepu oil deal between Indonesia and Exxon Mobil:
Indonesia and U.S. petroleum giant Exxon Mobil Corp. signed a 30 year revenue- and production-sharing agreement that will allow the U.S. firm to tap East Java province‘s massive Cepu oil field (reserves of 600 million barrels of oil, some say 1 billion barrels).
The strongest reaction to the deal might come from Kwik Kian Gie, the former head of Indonesia's Central Planning Agency under President Megawati. His opinion titled “Terjajah Exxon” (Ruled by Exxon) was widely copied by Indonesian Bloggers and circulated on the Internet stating that by allowing the deal to happen, Indonesia is basically still being “colonialized” by foreign powers, the same situation as 50 years ago.
Was he right?
Yosef Ardi, a journalist for Bisnis Indonesia writes on his blog Indonesia Today about the deal with what he called “Cepu Deal: Mediocre Mentality”. On his analysis he wrote that instead of 85:15 (the standard arrangement for such production sharing) the Cepu split is 70:30.
70% for Indonesian government and 30% for the contractors which in this case is again split by Exxon Mobil (45%), Pertamina, state-owned company (45%) and local government (10%)
Indeed it seems like a good deal for Indonesia if we compare it with no production at all, but he calculated that the 15% lost from the standard deal is equivalent to (at US$50 per barrel) US$1.5 million per day or US$500 million per year and US$15 billion in 30 years.
Still related, a blogger reported of an accident in Cepu where a car crashed to Oil Train created huge fire on 23rd September 2005.
The H5N1 virus or what we called Bird Flu or Avian Flu:
The Bird flu has killed 66 people in four Asian nations since late 2003. Currently there are at least 57 people are being treated for suspected bird flu in Indonesia, where the disease has already claimed six lives.
There are many Indonesian blogger reactions to the news of bird flu. One posted the known symptoms of bird flu, other collect links to bird flu cases in the media.
One blogger in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia has release his pet birds from the cages, other releasing prayer.
One blogger in Jogjakarta asking why government does not gives enough information because this causes confusion and panic among the people but mostly bloggers posted warnings for people to guard their friends, family and loved ones.
There is even a new Indonesian blog dedicated to cover the Avian Flu: http://indoavianflu.blogspot.com/
People might think that all this bad news about bird flu is bad for business.  Not in Jogjakarta. Indonesians, especially Javanese have a special relationship with pet birds. The famous bird market Pasar Ngasem in Jogjakarta has reported a sale increase 20-30% since the bird flu news begins.
From previous post:
Hanzky Azalia in Saint Louis, USA has posted President SBY speech during his US visit when he accepted Honorary Doctorate Degree from Webster University.

author: Enda Nasution


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Kuwait: Sport Stepstone · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Kuwaitism says that in Kuwait, sports are only used as a stepstone by people who don't care about it anymore! Giving example of Sh. Ahmad AlFahad, who used to be head of football federation and now is oil minister.


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Lebanon: FBI Help · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Mustapha of The Beirut Spring blog says that the Lebanese Minister of Interior should resign and the FBI should help with the investigations of recent terrorist attacks on Lebanese figures.


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Muddy Waters · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Siberian Light discusses Vladimir Putin's muddying of the waters regarding his plans beyond his current presidential term.


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Nepal: Are the neighbours interfering? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

An Indian delegation visiting Nepal was not received too well. Samudaya.org explains the whys and how.


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Nigeria: Can this be democracy? · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Chippla comments on parliamentary democracy, Nigerian style: “This crisis of Nigerian society lies in the fact that its ruling class sees no reason why it shouldn't live like the ruling class anywhere else in the world. The truth however is that Nigeria is not like ‘anywhere else in the world’ – it is a poor developing country with a pathetically low per capita income.”


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Pakistan, France: A French Lahori · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Metroblogging Lahore introduces us to the French Lahori who blogs at RadioLahore (in french). An inadequate Google translation can be read here.


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Palestine: Human Shields · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

umkahlil says that Israeli Forces uses brother of murdered victim as human shield to search a greenhouse belonging to his family. After he was released, he said that the Israeli soldiers used him as a human shield to discover the destiny of the persons who were inside the greenhouse. One of the victims was his brother.


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Peru: Summary of Virtual Blog Festival · Global Voices
David Sasaki

BlogsPerú has a summary [ES] of the First Festival of Blogs: Blogs y Author's Rights, a virtual and well-coordinated discussion throughout the Peruvian blogosphere.


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Russian Marketing Technology · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Russian Marketing Blog reports on Russian grafitti avoidance technology for light box advertisers.


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Saudi Arabia: Gender War · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Farooha writes very interesting posts about what she call a phenomenon that is gradually yet shockingly growing rampant in Saudi Arabia, the war between genders.


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South Korea: Secrets of golfing success · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

AsiaPundit notes that the secret of the success of South Korean women golfers has at last been made public.


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Sudan: Well, duh. · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

So the U.N. continues to say things are getting worse in the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur. “What would really be news is if someone actually prosecuted the people behind the violence for their crimes,” writes a furious and on-the-spot Sleepless in Sudan. And until the international community actually gets the judicial process moving: “I suppose the United Nations officials will be content with continuing to state the obvious.”