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Oman: Post-Gonu Reflections · Global Voices
Riyadh Al Balushi

Oman is recovering from Gonu, the cyclone that hit its coast less than two weeks ago. Many residents of Muscat lost their houses, cars and all their possessions. The luckier ones had to suffer several days without electricity or water. Recovery is swift in action though, water and electricity are now back to almost everyone in Muscat, food supplies were provided to those locked up in remote areas and the reconstruction of the roads in main areas has already started. Life is almost back to normal in Muscat, but some more time is needed for the same to be said about other damaged places like Quraiyat and Aamirat.
Bloggers in Oman are now reflecting and reporting their experiences of the cyclone. Ranjini survived the storm and went to help evacuate her friend:
On the morning of the 7th, I got a call from one of my closest friend, Poonam, who I actually had been calling pretty frequently throughout last night. She lives in one of the most low-lying areas in Muscat – right behind the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, and quite close to where my dad's office is located. She needed a huge favour – a place for her and her sister to stay until this mess was sorted out. I agreed, and when I got there to pick her up I was shocked. The boundary wall had collapsed – this wall was 4 feet high – and there was water everywhere, the level close to 6 feet of water. SUV's were drowned, and I spotted a BMX bike floating around somewhere. My friend and her sister lowered themselves down from their 2nd floor flat's balcony from some bedsheets, along with their luggage. The tenants of the ground and first floor had come up and basically 12 other strangers were forced to spend the night at their home.
Suburban is glad that her young child is fine even though she lost a lot:
We're Alive, but battered. At a friend's house where they have power and internet! Awesome. We were very lucky to lose nothing that can't be replaced, the baby girl is happy, healthy, and seems baffled by all the mud in the house. She's dying to play in it but it smells a lot like untreated sewage. Things in Al Ghubra not so good, but others have it worse.
Jawahir Jewels is grateful for all the work the authorities have done and thinks that it was unfortunate that some people contributed in making things worse:
so much was lost….. what was most upsetting was the fact that many ppl didnt take heed to the the warnings issued and when actually physically were told to move out of the dangerous areas they still didnt listen and many paid the price with lives and damage to their property……
Tia is making suggestions on what citizens could do to help the authorities:
Oman has faced many challenges before and managed to pull through, and I believe that we will get through this crisis as well. But let’s face the facts, there is a lot to be done and the government alone won’t be able to restore Oman, we as citizens need to reach out and help.
A group of Omanis are working together in collecting all the relief information regarding the Gonu cyclone in the Gonu Relief Blog:
Welcome one and all to a blog that has been especially established to monitor the situation of relief efforts in regards to the Gonu Cyclone that has hit Oman recently.
We will be focusing mainly on what is needed to be done and what can be done towards this issue.
Please feel free to make any suggestions you feel are necessary to meet that goal.
Finally, VKN posts the lessons he learnt from the Gonu experience:
1. Life is short, and any day may be your last. Live so as to not regret your last day.
2. Family is the most important thing in our tenuous lives.
3. Family is what happens to people when they spend time together. Eat meals together, with the TV off of course. Laugh together.
4. Life is easier when you work as a team.
5. Nature is powerful.
6. Water is precious.
7. We all have similar needs.
8. Good and bad exist together.
9. Time is in short supply and there are oversupplies of opportunities.
10. Sometime it is good to remember that not all the world has access to very basic things in life (water, food, electricity and other things).
11. There are so many people who invest for tomorrow rather than for today.
12. Nothing remains constant; everything is in a flux of change.

author: Riyadh Al Balushi


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Palestine: Call to International Community · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“It’s very simple: the Palestinians say “Hamas, Dahlan, and the PA should go to hell, all of them should disappear from Palestine”. The International community should stand up to its responsibility toward the Palestinians according to the International laws, and not according to the Israelis demands,” writes Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Palestine: Fighting for Nothing  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian blogger Al Falasteeniya concludes that the Palestinians are fighting for nothing and that the ongoing civil war is the doing of International powers, namely the US.


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Qatar: US Threat to Al Jazeera  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Friend of Al Jazeera, Tom, posts a warning by British MP George Galloway of a US threat to the Arabic television station.


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Yemen: Hadramut’s Social Structure · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Yemeni blogger  Omar Barsawad discusses Hadramut‘s social classes in this post.


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Bangladesh: natural disaster and responsibilities of the bloggers · Global Voices
Rezwan

Last Monday rain-triggered mudslides buried dozens of hillside shanty homes in Chittagong killing at least 134 people. This is just another piece of tragic news that we read everyday. As a blogger how do you respond to it?
Arild Klokkerhaug is an entrepreneur, blogger and the man behind the largest Bangla blogging platform “Bandh Bhanger Awaaj”. Once again he led from the front to show how the blog community could mobilize in a tragic situation like this. He asks in his blog:
how many bloggers do we have in chittagong? can we have local bloggers reporting and sharing information with us? can bloggers of chittagong unite and start a campaign? mobilize people to share food and clothes with the victims? take your blog posts to the press, suggest direct action, be there and participate for help and report back from the disaster area what is going on. i think we can.
He calls for action:
this is the potential power of our blog community, and this is a cause to unite for! come on bloggers, lets unite for a campaign and participate with coverage and help.
Supporting Arild's call Arif Jebtik slammed the bloggers for being not responsive:
আমরা সেই দুর্গত অসহায় বৃষ্টি ভেজা মানুষদের কথা বলতে ভুলে যাই।কারন তারা আমার সুরুচি আর সুক্ষ তর্ক জ্ঞানের বিষয় নয়।আমার কাছে দেশে মানেই একটি বিশাল বিষয়,দেশের মানুষ আমার কাছে গুরুত্ব পায় না।
We forget to talk about those helpless rain-drenched people. Because they are not the subject matter of our rhetoric, our artistic debates. Our homeland is a big issue to us, however the people of the land are not.
These statements did made a great impact. Bloggers like Bokolom started talking about ways to save the water-clogged people in Chittagong, stop cutting hills which caused the mudslide, and how to help the affected families.
Arild and some other bloggers went to Chittagong and reported about the situation. Bangladeshi Bloggers, students from all over the world started raising funds for the victims. Trivuz suggested how a person could save money from the victims, from cigarette, tea consumptions or curtailing telephone call durations. He also reports about the activities of the second team of bloggers in action including photographs here.
Arild points towards some more potential:
the blog community can stand united and mobilise both your online and offline networks, to help some of the affected people. they will need help for a long time. we will see humayun tomorrow, but who will see him next week, next month and next year. can he take the place of his mother for his younger brothers? will he be able to build them to be the men their mother wanted them to become? that is what the blog community can do here through giving time, advice and small help to the many humayuns which are out there among the land slide victims and the victims of disasters to come.
As a blogger are you aware of your social responsibilities?

author: Rezwan


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Chile: Transantiago Continues to Frustrate · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

En Tu Ciudad [ES] continues to feel resigned about the state of Transantiago, the city's public transportation system.

author: Eduardo Avila


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China: Where’s the disaster relief blogging? · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Apparently internet video is huge and growing in China these days. Yes, people want to see video. Interested in citizen reporting that's relevant but perhaps apolitical? How about the weather?
Back to 56.com, now the top Chinese video sharing website. Like Flickr, the space it provides for reader involvement is often used—abused?—for larger discussions. Looking at  56.com's current events channel, the fifth post from the top contains video, photos and personal accounts uploaded by users. Is it blogger coverage of the massive destruction seen all over southern China—where, from Guangzhou, 56.com is based—earlier this month? No, these videos, photos and accounts, although posted this past week, all date back to last summer when Saomai, the strongest typhoon to pass through China since the Communist Party seized control [zh], ripped through the country's coastal east and south.
So where to find live disaster blogging from this past month's catastrophe? This blogger has looked but still doesn't know. Is Chinese media coverage sufficient? Project Diaster's video blog seems to only bring us training videos and clips from old TV shows. So what's the problem?

author: John Kennedy


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East Timor: Obscure East Timor? · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Living Timorously blogs about businesses and individuals who continue disregard East Timor as an independent country.

author: Preetam Rai


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Gay Pride in Brazil: 3.5 Million March and Government Sponsorship in São Paulo  · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

There are controversies about the exact numbers — estimates range from 3 to 4 million people — but São Paulo's Gay Parade last week probably set a record as the world's most attended street event. In a country that prides itself for allowing the free flow of its cultural diversity, each year this gathering has displayed the cutting edge for social acceptance of sexual behavior. Even more so since the Ministry of Culture decided to officially support the event as part of its program of promoting cultural identity and diversity. The Brazilian blogosphere reacts diversely.
O público estimado de 3,5 milhões  de pessoas na Parada do Orgulho Gay, realizada ontem na cidade de São Paulo, a maior do Brasil, representa a nitidez de uma constatação. Os homossexuais precisam ser respeitados e ter assegurados seus direitos civis. Sob o lema “Por um mundo sem racismo, machismo e homofobia”, eles denunciaram, na Avenida Paulista, a existência do preconceito e a urgência de a sociedade encarar a diversidade de maneira positiva. O evento está sendo considerado como o de maior proporção no mundo.
Milhões na Parada Gay Contra o Preconceito – Apenas uma idéia, só isso…
Manipular números parece ser uma mania dos organizadores da “Parada do Orgulho GLBT”. Aliás, relembro aqui, abortistas e o Movimento Gay podem se dar as mãos em matéria de manipulação de dados. Talvez esses senhores não sintam vergonha alguma em fabricar dados, no mínimo duvidosos, em favor de seus movimentos. Claro que uma grande mídia aparelhada e, portanto, amestrada, é elemento fundamental no propósito de divulgar a grande mentira e insitir nela, para que assim esta assuma ares de verdade. Nada de novo, sendo que trata-se de conhecida tática nazista [3].
Parada Gay teve 3,5 milhoes de participantes: mentira! – Cristian Faber
Compared with the Pope's visit to the country, which failed to gather a single million-figure audience to listen to calls to reinforce traditional family values, the ever growing crowds supporting the annual Brazilian celebration in favor of sexual diversity stands out as a remarkable sign of the times in the world's biggest Catholic nation. Official sponsorship of the event for the last 4 years has surely propelled the movement into the mainstream, and the merits of such a policy are still hotly debated. The Health Ministry's harm reduction campaigns during the event, aimed at HIV infection control and safe drug use, were also put under fire by critics. The debate styles ranged from theater to argumentation.
Participante da Parada Gay de SP critica proibição da camisinha. No hostiário, José Roberto Fernandes carrega preservativos… Ele se autodenominou “Beto 24″, uma referência ao Papa Bento XVI. O figurinista foi à festa acompanhado de seu namorado, Marcos Oliveira, que se vestiu de bispo. As roupas dos dois têm as cores do arco-íris, adotada por paradas gays em todo o mundo. A mitra – espécie de chapéu usado pelo Papa – de “Beto 24″ tem uma cruz com as cores do arco-íris.
Homem vestido de Papa critica igreja católica – Observatório da Perseguição
É realmente chocante, é da linha “acredite se quiser” quando testemunhamos as nossas autoridades, as quais deveriam zelar pelos bons costumes e dar bons exemplos, corromperem os valores morais do nosso povo e promoverem o que pode haver de pior. Esse ano, o Governo Federal destinou cerca de R$ 8 milhões dos nossos impostos para promover a Parada Gay, o que eles consideram um evento de valor “cultural” e “turístico”, que celebra a “diversidade” e traz ingressos aos cofres públicos. A bem da verdade, a Parada Gay é um evento criminoso, imoral e insalubre, onde atos obscenos são cometidos de forma livre e expansiva, em formação de quadrilha, em clara ofensa às nossas leis penais, colaborando para o próprio desmantelamento da autoridade e para a proliferação de doenças. Nem mesmo do ponto de vista estritamente econômico podemos julgar vantajoso esse evento, já que tem efeitos devastadores sobre a saúde pública, pois sabemos que o custo de se tratar um paciente aidético é extremamente alto, trazendo impactos negativos sobre a população economicamente ativa. Mas para os BURROcratas do Governo petista isso não basta. É preciso, ainda, fazer uma clara apologia ao uso de drogas, ensinando didaticamente ao cidadão como ele deve se drogar. É importante tornar aceitáveis hábitos degradantes como cheirar cocaína e praticar sodomia, pois para essa gente, isso é promover a “arte”, a “cultura”, o “turismo”, a “cidadania”, a “diversidade”… Falta muito pouco, mas muito pouco mesmo, para o atual governo lançar uma cartilha ensinando o cidadão a se suicidar, tamanha é a cara-de-pau e a cafajestice desses homens…
Panfleto para Parada Gay orienta como cheirar cocaína – Roberto Cavalcanti
As Sao Paulo's Gay Parade expands as a mega event, more support is arriving from corporations reaching out to the gay market. A study this year by the consumer research firm Insearch found that Brazilian gays were above-average wage earners and spent 40% more on leisure than heterosexuals. Additionally, this single event attracted some 300,000 Brazilian and foreign visitors, who boosted the receipts of hotels, restaurants and shops. Tourism Minister Marta Suplicy, a former Sao Paulo's mayor famous for being a sexologist before entering politics, is proud to say: “This is the biggest parade on the planet. Our city is again showing that it respects diversity”. But still the event is far from achieving unanimous support, even inside the gay community.
Poderia ter 4 milhões de pessoas, mas se não houvesse consumo, o apoio certamente seria inferior, muito inferior. E creio que para os homossexuais, o apoio é o mais importante, afinal, é para isso que o Dia do Orgulho Gay existe: para que o direito colorido seja ouvido, visto, respeitado; a diversão vem com o resto. O preconceito só diminuiu quando o consumo aumentou; assim também é com os negros, com as mulheres: para que discriminar se pode-se lucrar? Essa idéia surgiu durante uma conversa com um grande amigo: não foi o preconceito que diminuiu, foi o lucro que aumentou. Acredito que ainda há muito o que fazer para que os homossexuais sejam respeitados, independentes de gerarem dinheiro ou não à sociedade. E que nessa luta, a Parada seja cada vez mais, um sucesso.
Parada Gay – Apoio à classe ou ao $consumismo$ colorido? – inpauta
Pude acompanhar pela televisão alguns trechos da festa no jornal das 10, da Globo News de domingo. Surpreendentemente, as imagens não ficaram restritas a uma visão aérea, mas havia repotagem instalada na Avenida Paulista. Cenas de “agarra- agarra”, apelo, e até certo ponto erotismo também foram exibidos em outros programas televisivos. E a partir daí faço uma pequena reflexão. Será que a parada do orgulho gay representa mesmo a real maneira como agem, convivem e pretendem viver os homossexuais? ou será que o fanatismo de alguns e o exibicionismo em massa apenas prejudicam a imagem que se tem destes quando se trata de uma sociedade cada vez mais individual e centrada em valores distintos?
O outro lado da “histórica” parada gay – Midiocracia
In the same Paulista Avenue, two days earlier, the ‘March for Jesus’ took place gathering more than 2 million followers of evangelical churches. Although the organizers denied the official opposition to the gay demonstration, the city could feel the tension between the two groups. After a peculiar week of crowded demonstrations, São Paulo city can certainly be proud of its ability to shelter and support diverse representations of the Brazilian culture. Below you'll see links to Sao Paulo's Gay Parade pictures and videos, and a comment from a foreign blogger reporting from the ground.
MIL VIVAS PARA A DIVERSIDADE, O RESPEITO, A ALEGRIA, O AMOR!!!!
PORQUE NÓS GOSTAMOS DE PESSOAS!!!!! MIL BEIJOS PRA TODO MUNDO!!!!!
Parada Gay de Junho de 2007 – Morgana
Esta es la primera parada gay a la que asisto y a pesar de que muchas de mis espectativas no fueron superadas, he concluido finalmente, entre ayer y hoy, tiempo en el que además navegué buscando notas relacionadas, que Brasil es un país privilegiado y que, aunque el camino por ser recorrido aún es enorme, tiene una población que en términos sociales es vanguardista. Claro, es verdad que aún hay mucha discriminación, que se hacen necesarios días especiales para salir a la calle y mostrar que es es gay, homosexual, lesbiana, transexual, transgénero, etc., pero ya existe ese día y ello es un avance!
Parada Gay en Sao Paulo – Blog de Joa

author: Jose Murilo


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Guatemala: Rating the Political Parties’ Websites · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Romero GT [ES] links to and analyzes the web design of various political parties in Guatemala.


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Iran:Censorship becomes worse for internet · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Freekeyboard writes [Fa]that he discovered that a site like web resource that provides information about web related issues such as RSS, got filtered.The blogger says censorship becomes worse in Iran.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Watch a Film about Ahmadinejad and Tomatoes · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Watch this short film on Current to “see why in Iran Ahmadinejad’s reputation hinges on tomatoes?”


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Korea: Labor Law and E-Land · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

Last November, the Korean government finally changed the law for irregular workers. To fight discrimination against irregular workers and despotism of companies, the most significant change was to force companies to switch the status of irregular workers who have worked in the company more than two years to that of regular workers. Even though most labor unions were not satisfied completely, the enactment is set to take place on the first of July.
Companies have already started looking for ways to get around the new regulations. One well-known company, E-Land, which is a model for small and medium enterprises and also a Christian company, fired 3,500 workers.
A blogger who works in a department store affiliated with E-Land put up this post.
저는 뉴코아아울렛에 근무하는 직원입니다.. 뉴코아는 현재이랜드 그룹 소속으로 있는 계열회사라고 할수있죠… 요새 회사 돌아가는 상황이 너무 심각해 몇자적어봅니다.. 물론 저는 입사 10년차인 정규직이구요.. 7월 비정규직 법안 통과때문에 요새 회사가 엄청 시끄럽습니다. 비정규직일이라면 남의일… 먼일로만 여겼었는데.. 막상 내옆의 동료의 일로 다가오니 신경을 안쓸수가 없네요..
이랜드는 이법이 통과하기전에 비정규직 전원을 해고시키고 외부업체(용역)에게 아웃소싱시킬 계획을 가지고있구요.. 현재 뉴코아에만 비정규직이 3~4백명이 넘습니다.. 회사관계자의 말을 빌리자면 높으신 이사님의 말씀입니다.. 나라의 비정규직법을 지키기위해 7월이전에 비정규직을 모두 해고시킬수밖에 없다는 겁니다.. 이게 말이됩니까..!!!! 이랜드가 기독교 회사인건 아시죠.??
제가 기독교를 뭐라하는건 아닌데.. 이회사는 이익을 위해 직원의 안위는 거들떠도 안본다는겁니다.
현재 뉴코아는 전지점에서 매일 용역보안들과 대치하며 조합원이 다쳐 병원신세를 지고있습니다..
Before this law begins, E-Land plans to fire all irregular laborers and to hire people through service agencies. There are 3-400 irregular workers in my place. My boss says they have to fire all irregular workers to keep the previous law. Can you believe that? You must know E-Land is a Christian company. I’m not blaming Christians. But this company doesn’t care about employees at all. Several employees were sent to hospital because of physical fighting with service guards whom E-Land hired.
The reason why E-Land fired 3,500 workers was because they’re not kind enough to customers.
A blogger introduced one of the laborers’ posts and photos of the demonstration.
“사실은 어제도 다른데 일자라를 찾았어요. 솔직히 얘기하면 남한테 구차하게 보이느니 다른 일을 하려고 했는데… 내가 그냥 그만두는 것으로 끝나는 게 아니라 이런 일이 계속해서 일어난다면 내가 인내를 가지고 싸워야 한다는 생각이 들었어요”
지난 03년, 이랜드 자본은 비정규직 노동자를 고용한 후 퇴직금을 지불하지 않기 위해 9개월 만에 해고하는 관행을 저질러왔다.
A blogger, naljava, shows his anger.
어제 MBC 뉴스의 아수라장이된 뉴코아백화점 뉴스를 보다 나 화가 나버렸다.
계산원 여직원들과 이들을 끌어내려는 이랜드가 고용한 용역업체 직원들과  몸싸움이 벌어진 장면, 계산원들의 인터뷰
백화점 계산원 1 : “예 멍 자국입니다. 그 사람들 때문에 멍들었고 여기도 멍이 좀 들었고.. 저를 확 낚아채더라고요.”
백화점 계산원2 : “저는 애가 2명인데 다 대학생이에요.. 그래서 제가 지금 나오지 않으면 안 될 상황에 놓여 있거든요…”
시간당 3,900원을 받는다?
백화점 매장이나 계산원 직원은 생각보다 힘이 드는 직업이다.
속상한 일이 있어도 웃으며 하루종일 서서 일을 해야 한다.
손님들과 상대하느라 바싹 마른 목에 물 한모금도 매장에는 마실 수가 없다.
물론 화장실도 자유롭게 갈 수 없다.
‘너무한다! 해도 해도 너무한다! 라고 중얼거리다 기업의 경영적인 부분도 이해 못하는 바가 아니다.
그래도 이건 아니지 않나? 나보다 더 많이 알고 똑똑한 사람들이
이렇게될 것을 예상 못했을까? ‘안된다.'고 외치던 사람들의 목소리를 듣지 못했나? 알면서도 다른 대안이 없었던 것일까?
‘장기적으로는 차별 구조가 없어지면서 바람직한 고용구조가 자리를 잡을 것이다. 일부 희생은 어쩔 수 없다.’ 이렇게 말하지 말자.
시간당 3,900원을 받으며 자식들 뒷바라지하시는 우리의 어머니들 몸에 든 멍은 시간이 흐르면 지워지겠지만 가슴에 남은 멍은 어찌하라고..
It is a hard job. They always have to smile, standing the whole day. They can’t even drink water. Of course, they can’t go to toilets anytime.
‘It’s too much. Way too much! I’m mumbling.’ I understand the business mind of entrepreneurs. But isn’t it not moral? Smart people who know more than me… Didn’t they really expect this? Weren’t there any other alternatives?
‘In the long term, the discriminatory structure will be gone and a proper employment structure will be put in place. We have to endure some sacrifices.’ Don’t make excuses like that!
Bruises on the bodies of our mothers who support their children with 4 dollars per hour will disappear later, but how about bruises in their heart?
Some bloggers seem to be angrier because the company was E-Land. E-Land has a different story from other conglomerates in Korea.
A blogger explains well why the anger toward them is more serious.
‘이대 앞 2평의 신화’
이랜드의 성공을 압축적으로 상징하는 말이다. 1980년 이화여대 앞 ‘잉글랜드'라는 작은 옷가게에서 출발한 이랜드. 시작한 사업은 탄탄대로를 달렸다. 내 또래라면 학창시절 이랜드 상표가 붙은 티셔츠 한두개쯤은 누구나 가지고 있을 정도였으니까. IMF때 잠시 위기를 맞기도 했지만 이랜드는 구조조정과 인수•합병으로 지금은 패션은 물론 유통과 건설  여러 계열사를 거느린 대기업 반열에 올랐다. 성공의 원인(진짜 성공한 건지 난 잘 모르겠지만…)에는 여러 가지가 있었겠지만 그중에서도 가장 대표적으로 꼽히는 것이 ‘기독교식 경영'이다.
창업자인 박성수 회장은 알려진대로 ‘독실한’ 기독교인이다. 이랜드가 내놓은 의류 브랜드들은 대부분 1800년대 말부터 1900년대 초 한국에 온 선교사들-언더우드•헌트 등-의 이름을 따 만들었다. 또 목사를 채용해서 회사에 상주시키고 기도실 만들어 일주일에 한번은 출근 전 기도회를 연다.
특히 노동자 관리 측면에서는 기독교식 섬김과 헌신을 요구하기도 한다. 이는 기독교인 직원들이 이랜드의 저임금을 용인하게하는 신앙적 배경이 된다. 때문에 노동조합은 회사가 기독교 신앙을 노동착취나 돈벌이수단으로 이용한다고 반발한다.
The founder is a sincere Christian. Brand names which E-land used were from missionaries who came to Korea from the late 1800 to the early 1900s, such as Underwood, Hunt, and so on. In addition, they hired priests in the company and made prayer rooms. There is a prayer time before starting work every week.
They sometimes demand Christian-way-devotion and contribution to manage workers. Christian employees accepted low salary. Therefore labor unions criticize that the company makes use of Christian belief in order to get the sweat of their labor and the means of making money for the company.
기도하던 손으로 노동자들을 때리지 마라
어제 MBC 뉴스데스크를 봤다. 비정규직을 없앤다며 계산원들을 해고하고 업무를 외주화하겠다는 이랜드의 ‘희한한 비정규직 대책'에 반발한 노동자들이 ‘맞고’ 있었다. 회사가 부른 건장한 용역 어깨들한테 말이다. 대부분 다 여자 노동자들이었다. 이들은 울면서 “우리의 일자리를 돌려주십시오”라고 말했다. 그 잘난 ‘기독교의 사랑'으로 이들을 모두 정규직으로 전환하라는 요구는 않겠다. 하나님이 보살펴 주셔도 자본주의 사회에서 기업은 기업이다. 수익성이 악화되고 경쟁력을 상실하면 살아남기 힘들다는 것을 싫지만 인정한다.
하지만 연약한 노동자들을 때리지는 마라. 그것도 ‘하나님에게 매출 신장시켜달라'는 기도를 하며 모았던 그 두손으로 말이다. 노동자들의 휴게실을 없애고 기도실을 만들든, 기도회에 참석을 강요하든 뭘하든, 제발 “품꾼을 억울하게” 눈물나게 하지는 마라. ‘품꾼'을 억울하게 하는 기업은, 그대들이 믿는 하나님에겐 모래위에 쌓은 성일 뿐이다.
I’m not going to demand him to switch them to regular workers based on Christian love. Even though God takes care of us, enterprises are enterprises in this capitalist society. I know that low profit and weak competitive power will hurt you. But don’t beat these tender laborers. Especially with hands you used to pray, ‘God, please help us sell a lot of products.’
I don’t care that you made prayer rooms instead of rest rooms, and that you forced people to attend the prayer sessions. Please don’t make them cry. To God, your enterprise is just like a castle on the sand.

author: Hyejin Kim


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Mexico: Taco Recommendation · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Defecito.com recommends Tacos Betos in Mexico City to get one's fill of “tacos de cochinada.”


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More on iSummit Dubrovnik 2007 · Global Voices
Renata Avila

Live blogging from the iCommons iSummit is an interesting way to get centralized and up-to-the date information about what voices are saying about important subjects such as the future of “the commons”, “the communities” and the way to communicate it to whom it matters the most: the children. Today, the new project Education Commons was released! Scholars are blogging about this new project and you can have the most recent information at the website of iCommons
It might be really interesting if you look, share, remix or just make comments at iCommons Summit Dubrovnik 2007: Artists in Residence Flickr set – updated daily.
In Spanish you can read updates on KARISMA [ES] or QUEMARLASNAVES [ES]
If someone is interested on the larger discussions during cc Legal Day you can see it at TWITCHGAMER
It is important to stress that many of the problems that arose due to the misunderstanding of non-english speakers from different cultural backgrounds, who lacked translated materials, which was unavailable for those who needed it the most.

author: Renata Avila


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Singapore: Ancient Scripts of South East Asia · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Noelbynature recommends an exhibition on Malay scripts current being hosted at the National Library in Singapore. “this is indeed a rare opportunity to see the epigraphy of ancient Southeast Asia in one collection.”


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The English language debate in the Philippines · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Last month, a group of educators, scholars and other prominent individuals filed a petition in the Supreme Court questioning the policies of the government which mandate the use of English as medium of instruction in schools. This sparked a spirited debate in mainstream media and of course in the blogosphere as to what should be the best language to be used in Philippine schools.
Wow Manila gives a backgrounder to the controversial memo of President Gloria Arroyo pertaining to the main language to be taught in schools:
“On May 17, 2003, the President Arroyo promulgated Executive Order No. 210 titled “Establishing the Policy to Strengthen English as a Second Language in the Educational System.” The salient points of the EO are the following:
* English should be taught as a second language at all levels of the educational system, starting with the First Grade;
* English should be used as the medium of instruction for English, Math and Science from at least the third Grade level;
* The English language shall be used as a primary medium of instruction in all public institutions of learning at the secondary level.”
Petitioner Patricia Licuanan appeals for a broader appreciation of the problems besetting Philippine education:
“It's not just English—it's the whole educational system! The deterioration of English must be understood in the context of the general decline in Philippine education. The problem we are facing is not simply the deterioration of English. It is also the deterioration of Math and Science, and it is this general decline that undermines the competitiveness of the Filipino and the Philippines. Indeed, undue emphasis on English may distract us from the bigger problem. Upgrading education in general should improve the quality of English as well.”
Tugot supports the memorandum order of the President. Blackshama's blog contributes in the language debate. A nagueño in the blogosphere agrees with the arguments of the petitioners. Filipina soul presents two views on the issue, and her post generated a lively discussion.
Philippine Schools Online reviews past proposals on the language issue and mentions the current legislative measures favoring the use of English in schools. My Philippine Life looks into the language policies in the country.
A must-read: Manuel L. Quezon III uploads the pertinent documents, news articles, opinion pieces and shares his perspective on the ‘language wars’ in the Philippines.
Perhaps the most intelligible blogpost in advocating the adoption of English comes from Philippine Commentary. A sample of his views:
“The main point I think is that English is an integral and inseparable and most substantial part of the Filipino cultural heritage–ineradicably a part of our intellectual, educational, and historical patrimony. Its rejection and treatment as “foreign” is a twisted form of the self-loathing that some people wish us all to practice as “nationalism.” What they actually are propagating is a romantic kind of aboriginalism that masks a more modern and leftist agenda…Nearly 100 percent of all major scientific papers are published in English, even by non-native English speakers, not only in Computer Science, but in Physics, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Medicine, and the rest of the hard sciences. English is unavoidably the lingua Anglica of the world in this historical epoch, even if it irks the Filipino nationalists and their ideologies of resentment.”
Philippines Without Borders on why the need to master the English language?
“Because everybody else is trying to do the same. Right now, there are probably close to 400 million native English speakers, making English the third largest language next to Mandarin Chinese and Spanish…We should not dilly-dally on embracing policies that would restore the importance of English in Philippine society.”
Seek no more links to an article written by Babe Romualdez on the mistake to reject English as the medium of instruction:
“Filipinos are clearly losing out because of that very big mistake to abolish the use of English as a medium of instruction 20 years ago. Today, a lot of employers are complaining about the deteriorating quality of our graduates, and the fact that majority of them lack the required skill and facility in the English language.”
A small gleaning factory provides an excerpt of a study on the origins of Taglish: a combination of Tagalog and English. The sane unstable2: fighting temptations on school rules in learning English and the uses of this foreign language in Philippine society. Voltaire Oyzon on why English is patronized in the provinces:
“One common misconception about the Philippines is that it speaks only one language–and that is Tagalog (honey-coated as Filipino). In fact, Tagalog/Filipino speakers comprise only 29 percent of the total population and the rest are non-Tagalog…If English is a threat to the Tagalog/Filipino language because it is foreign, then Tagalog/Filipino is also a threat to all the non-Tagalog languages for the same reason. The English language, from the non-Tagalog point of view, is neutral in the sense that it is used globally.”
The Pinoy has an article which notes the concern of foreign investors and business sector on the deteriorating English proficiency in the country. But Businessmirror reports that some Japanese companies are leaving the country, and transferring to China, Thailand and Vietnam because few workers speak Niponggo in the Philippines.
hapoNessa on why the government wants students to learn English:
“Let's face it, the Philippine's biggest export is human labor, and the only thing keeping our economy afloat are those dollar remmittances. The government wants us to learn English so that we can find jobs abroad. We're not learning English for our benefit, we're learning it to serve our masters.”
ThirtySomething v4.3 quotes various studies on the importance of emphasizing native language in the education of children:
“Beyond the preachy rhetorics, other studies on bilingual and multi-lingual methods of education across the world also show that students do better in school if they are taught in their mother tongue instead of an English-only medium of instruction…Why is Malacañang then so petulant on insisting an English-homogenized medium of instruction in schools?”

author: Mong Palatino


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Ukraine: Want an “A”? Pay $30! · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

When Ukrainian news site Korrespondent.net reported last week that Kyiv street cleaners would be receiving $400 a month beginning this June, a number of readers confessed that they were earning less working as college lecturers or medical doctors. How some skilled Ukrainians manage to survive on their meager salaries was highlighted five days later, when Korrespondent.net ran a piece (RUS) about a Ternopil college lecturer who had told her students they were to pay her to pass their exams.
She had set the following rates: $10 for a C, $20 for a B, and $30 for an A. Although she ended up failing in her endeavor to supplement what little she was being paid (she was arrested while accepting a $130 bribe), hers isn't a singular case, and most seem to go unpunished.
To the readers who have commented on the story, corruption at Ukrainian colleges appears to be a familiar subject: hardly anyone was shocked by the Ternopil lecturer's crime, but many found it surprising that the woman was charging so little.
Below are some of these comments, translated from Russian and Ukrainian:
Anonymous: Cheap. There was no use for the students to turn her in.
[…]
Authorized!: This isn't news, […] similar rates have existed at [Simferopol] Medical University and Foreign Languages Institute since the 1990s, only they were higher and applied to the entrance exam grades as well as the grades received throughout the semester and at regular exams, and everyone knew about it (a note: I didn't study at either of these institutions).
Morfius: Well, the rates are sort of low… I'm just comparing them to those in the capital…
Aleks: The rates are pretty low compared to the KPI [Kyiv Polytechnical University]… Though it isn't clear what class she taught… Maybe her rates were appropriate – if she taught something [as irrelevant] as Comparative Analysis of the World Religions […].
kievanton: They'll still continue to pay if their heads are empty (95 percent of the students are like this). And this, at least, was cheap.
[…]
Veselin: Our dean's initials are D.G. and he has been given a tender nickname – Daite Groshi [“Give me money,” in Ukrainian] – because everyone knows about the rates he's set [for those who wish to pass the exams]. And despite this, he keeps working…
esche kruche!: In Kyiv, one has to pay not a small sum to get enrolled into a normal [secondary] school (not even a university)… It's sad…
Kiev: Our bribes are bigger, but everyone's silent about it. Why? Because the heads are empty!
Recap: People at the forum are deeply outraged. And not by the fact of the bribe itself, as those damn bourgeois democrats could have thought, but by its size. The most important thing here is to defend the honor of one's alma mater, which is ahead of the world's best colleges in terms of the size of the bribes – and not just ahead of some Ternopil. This is the way we live.
Sanya: Eh, you should have visited the [Bukovyna] Medical Institute… $500 for the state exam!!! I […] think that quality education isn't possible when professors teach badly deliberately so that they could grab a bribe afterwards. And the state has got to understand that the best way to fight bribery is to give teachers decent salaries – because the biggest share of the teachers’ and state officials’ incomes – as well as those of the doctors, sad as it is – is made up of bribes! This is exactly what the shadow economy is – no one has introduced a tax on bribes so far, right, and the amount of money that's there is huge!
[…]
kava: Unfortunately, few people understand the moral of this tragic story. The lecturer is obviously not an evil extortionist, because if she were, she'd be demanding large sums of money. Perhaps she didn't have enough money to survive, and so she was forced to do what she did. Ours is a crazy country. After the election two years ago, I remember how they gave a prison sentence to a young woman somewhere in the East for messing up the ballots at a polling station. Maybe she's serving her sentence now. And those who organized all these bad things are still pretending to be politicians. How disgusting it all is. And no one cares – we are sailing along with the stream, hoping that we'll end up getting somewhere…

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Vietnam: Food Safety · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Saigon Nezumi wonders about the safety of the food in Vietnam. Local newspapers have been reporting on the investigations by authorities on local and import food products.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Picture-Perfect Promenade · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Elspeth at Now is Wow snaps a few photos and tells interesting stories on her way to get the morning paper…

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Algeria: Egg Fest  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Eggs feature high on Algerian blogger Chef Zadi's mind, who dedicates a post  to Algerian egg dishes.


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Algeria: Help Feed Children · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Algerian Chef Zedi calls upon his readers to join the fight against global poverty by helping feed children.


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Arabeyes: The Middle East in Pictures  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

I will kick off today's pictorial tour of the Middle East with this video, from a wedding in Amman, posted by Jordanian blogger Roba Al Assi.
“Eccentric, and I still really can’t get past trying to figure out why in the world would anyone want a Greco-Roman sword fight at their wedding. Historical influences that the Greco-Roman culture has left in Jordan? Too much of that 800 movie? Al-Resalah style Arab love of sword fights? Mind-boggling indeed.
Personally, I guess I side with the regular (and I suppose boring, I mean, what, no sword fight?!) zaffeh*,” she explains.
Our next stop is in Kuwait, where Fonzy shows us images of how Kuwait City looks like in a dust storm.
“Yesterday the weather forecast predicted light winds, which I felt on my way to work in the morning and it felt refreshing. Those same winds brought dust later on in the day. Looking out my office window, the skies were full of dust and I could barely see anything. Things are only gonna get worse and from what I heard, its gonna be quite similar most of the summer,” he notes.
While still in Kuwait, intlxpatr, gives us a photo album of changes to Kuwait City's skyline, sans the dust here.
“Kuwait in the 1970’s was called the Paris of the Gulf. People who lived here then talk about it with great nostalgia, they call it paradise. Kuwait was an old trading city, full of merchants and traders. Kuwaiti men went out on fishing boats, and pearling boats, and the love of the sea is still deep in the Kuwaiti soul. The women were strong and adventurous, and took care of all the family business while the men were out to sea.
Kuwait had a tradition of tolerance and sophistication found nowhere else in the Gulf,” writes the blogger.
Moving to Lebanon, we will make a stop at this image, of Mount Lebanon, posted by finkployd  with a one-liner which sums up the story:
this past Sunday, people converged in the mountains to escape the heat and the news…
Our last image of the week is a picture taken by Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif of a tiny Bulbul in its nest, which has just hatched in his garden.
Al Yousif celebrates the beginning of those birds new lives, but paying tribute to his loving father who passed away a year ago.
“The first to hatch of the bulbuls who have nested in one of our ficuses.
I’ll dedicate this shot to my father, who departed this world one year ago tomorrow,” he writes.
* A ‘Zaffeh’ is a traditional wedding procession


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Argentina: Mauricio Macri’s Record · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

A comment left on the blog Soy Donde No Pienso [ES] lists the various times when the representative Mauricio Macri, who is favored in the second round of the Buenos Aires mayoral race, missed a vote, which was 280 out of 320 sessions.


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Bahrain: Blog Birthday  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bint Battuta, from Bahrain, marks her blog's first anniversary – with a lot of philosophical questions.


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Bahrain: High Score in Failed States Index  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Third Annual Failed States Index is out, reports Bahraini blogger Jadd William. “Bahrain has scored relatively well. At 134, Bahrain ranks better than Kuwait (at 124) and Saudi Arabia (at 83 ). The remaining GCC countries beat Bahrain: Qatar (at 137), UAE (at 138) and Oman (at 146),” he explains.


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Bahrain: Red-Taped Social Responsibility · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif discusses “red-taped social responsibility” in this post.


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Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago: Globalization  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As Caribbean nations deal with the challenges of globalization, Barbados Underground is “not convinced that we are headed in the right direction. The sad reality is that globalization by its design will change the traditional way countries have to interact; national boundaries will become blurred.”


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Bolivia: A Week in Review · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

José Andrés Sánchez summarizes in his El Deber blog about the week's happenings in Bolivia, which consisted of everything from seminars about mass migration to a proposal that would eliminate former presidents’ salaries after leaving office.


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Bolivia: Taking Their Complaints to Their Blogs · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

[Editor's Note: This is the first contribution of Hugo Miranda, a Bolivian blogger from Oruro]
The local blogosphere is not very developed in Bolivia, making it very unlikely that the businesses pay much attention to complaints or even see the complaints in the first place. There are more and more blogs that make complaints against their failure to deliver services or poor customer service. What makes this odd is that not all of the businesses are local, but national and international companies. Here is a summary of recent complaints by various bloggers.
1. Andrea writes at Lo Digo Yo [ES] and her experiences at Hamburguesas Toby (Toby’s Hamburgers).
She had a bad experience a couple of months ago, when one of her friends became locked in one of the restaurant’s bathrooms and no one seemed to have the key. In the end, they had to force the door open.
Era como si la puerta les importara más que las tres personas que se encontraban adentro. Y luego el negarse a retribuir la comida que se enfrió, cuando a mi parecer era lo más lógico. Lo peor de todo es que en ningún momento se disculparon, ni siquiera cuando se lo pedimos explícitamente. No hace falta decir que llegamos tarde a clases.
Estaba leyendo en el Nuevo Día un artículo sobre las Hamburguesas Toby que decía que “para mejorar debieron terciarizar los servicios y concentrarse en la atención al cliente”. Si así es la atención al cliente hoy en día, no quiero ni imaginarme cómo era antes de que se “concentren” en ella. La verdad es que ninguna promoción de dos hamburguesas por un dólar vale eso.
It was as if the door was more important than the person inside. They later refused to replace the food that turned cold, which seemed to be the logical thing to do. The worst part of it all is that they never said they were sorry, even when we explicitly asked for an apology. To make it worse, we were late for class.
I was reading in the Nuevo Día (local newspaper) about Hamburguesas Toby where it said “in order to improve they should streamline services and concentrate on customer service.” If that is how customer service is today, I don’t want to even imagine how it was before they “made an effort.” In reality, no promotion of 2 hamburgers for 1 dollar is worth all of this.
2. Leonardo Byon of Marketing SOS [ES] and Hipermaxi Supermarkets.
Leonardo explains how this supermarket chain makes more money by not giving the entire change. In his post, he shows that the candy used as change is far from the value of .20 or .10 cents, which is what the supermarket should provide.
En mi caso, fue la alternativa (2). Me dieron 50 centavos y dos dulces de limón. Le exigo que me del cambio exacto en monedas y me dice que no tiene. Es tan costumbre la practica que ya ni siquiera piden disculpas. Curioso, me fui al pasillo de dulces y note que la bolsa del dulce de limon que me habian dado como cambio, tenia un precio de venta final de 10.99 bolivianos por 100 unidades, siendo el precio unitario aprox. 11 centavos.
Dos dulces equivalen a 22 centavos (precio de venta y no precio de costo Hipermaxi). Ni siquiera me habian devuelto el valor equivalente de los 30 centavos restantes.
In my case, it was the alternative (2). They gave me 50 cents and two lemon candies. I demanded that they give me the exact change in coins and they said that they didn’t have it. The practice is so common that they don’t even provide an apology. I was curious so I went to the candy aisle and found the bag of candy that they gave me as change, it had a price tag of 10.99 Bolivianos for 100 pieces, which is about 11 cents each.
Two pieces of candy equals about 22 cents (sale price and not of cost to Hipermaxi). They didn’t even give me the value of the remaining 30 cents.
3. Palabras Libres’ [ES] Mario Duran vs. Banco Mercantil – Santa Cruz and Viva-GSM.
Duran appears to have very little patience with these two businesses, which was explained here in Global Voices, but the other took place months ago. In regards to SMS messages, the website used to send these online messages cannot be seen with Firefox. This is a slight against the users that continue to utilize this navigator, in which he wrote in his letter:
Sin embargo, tales inovaciones no están disponibles para que puedan se aprovechados por todos los usuarios con acceso a Internet, en particular para los usuarios que usan el navegador Firefox. Debido a que una de las secciones del sitio, la que permite enviar mensajes de texto (SMS) no funciona correctamente con este navegador. Los usuarios de Firefox, creemos que esto nos priva de la libertad de escoger lo que consideramos nosotros como el mejor producto para navegar en páginas web porque nos obliga a usar un producto específico para el cual ha sido construida la página.
These innovations are not available to be used by all internet users, especially those who use Firefox, due to the fact that one of the site’s sections, which allows one to send SMS text messages does not work with this navigator. The users of Firefox believe that this deprives us of the freedom to choose what we think for us is the best web navigator, and this requires us to use a specific product.
4. Santa Cruz Denuncia [ES] and the organizers of the appearance of the Harlem Globetrotters in Bolivia
Matias Mendoza deals with the appearance of these famous basketball players in Santa Cruz, who arrived late, as everyone knows. This was due to a flight delay, and the game started at 23:00.  What is ironic is that the airline that was delayed was Aerosur, one of the event’s sponsors.
La verdad me pareció una falta de respeto y una burla al público, ya que las entradas no eran nada baratas, había muchos niños, que a esa altura de la noche, como se imaginan estaban dormidos. Incluso creo que yo tampoco disfruté tanto el show por el cansancio que traía encima. Finalmente el show concluyo a las 1 de la madrugada y los organizadores se salieron una vez más con la suya.
Cada vez Santa Cruz es una ciudad más grande, con las ventajas y los problemas que trae esto para su población. Podemos estar progesando en muchas cosas, pero creo que algo en lo que no se ha hecho mucho avance es en el respeto al consumidor. Como sucedió el martes, constantemente existen atropellos hacia el consumidor y no hay quien los defienda.
It really seemed disrespectful and it was a slap in the face to the public because the tickets were not inexpensive at all, and there were a lot of kids that were up late.  As one can imagine, many were sleeping. I think that I didn’t really enjoy the show because of being tired.  Finally, the show ended at 1:00 a.m. and the organizers came away with the profits.
Santa Cruz is a big city with all the advantages and problems that brings for its population.  We can be progressing in many things, but I think what we haven’t progressed as much is with respect to the consumer.  As what happened on Tuesday, there are always slights against the consumer and there is no one to defend them.
5. Sebastián Molina of Plan B [ES] and FEDEX.
Sebastian comments about one of the largest delivery services in the world that could not finish the service.  Sebastian is adamant about his opinion of this company.
FEDEX es la peor empresa que existe para realizar envio de paquetes de manera interdepartamental en Bolivia.
FEDEX is the worst business to send packages interdepartmentally in Bolivia
There are many more ofthese complaints in the Bolivian blogosphere, which maybe the companies are not reading, but it looks like Google is.


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Brazil: Engineer Found Dead in Iraq · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Swimming Against the Red Tide criticizes the lack of action by Brazilian president Lula da Silva in regards to kidnapped citizen and engineer Joao Jose Vasconcellos, who was recently found dead in Iraq.


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Brazil: From Legal Commons to Social Commons · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

Ronaldo Lemos published his paper “From Legal Commons to Social Commons: Brazil and the Cultural Industry” at iCommons.org, describing some of the current transformations regarding the processes by which information and culture are generated, from the point of view of developing countries.


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Chile: SkypeIn Now Available · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Fayer Wayer [ES], a technology-related blog, is pleased that SkypeIn is now available in Chile.


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China: BeijingF__kingOlympia · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI reports on a punk song, BeijingF__kingOlympia, by a Jiangxi underground band, aka Punk God widely circulated in China. Department of Culture of Shanxi Province has issued a notice to stop the illegal transmission of the song.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Blogger Journalism Website Blocked · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Luqiuluwei reports that a mainland blogger journalism website my1510 seems to be blocked(zh). She urges readers to subscribe to their rss feed.


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China: June 4 Ads in Chengdu Evening News · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translated an article by a veteran worker at Chengdu Evening News explaining how the thirteen word advertisement (in memory of June 4) made its presence in the newspapers: From the process how the whole affair unfolded, this was a planned “prank.”  This “prank” reflected the public opinion of the Chinese people in terms of its deep sympathy for the victims of June 4th and respect for the mothers who lost children.


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China: Slave Labour · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Bingfeng put together reports on the Shanxi slave labour scandal. Chong from interlocals translated an internet article on the power of internet to expose and rescue the forced labour.


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D.R. of Congo: African superhero who talks to plants · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

An amazing story of Cornielle Ewango: “He’s a forest conservationist working in the Ituri forest of Eastern Congo. He’s trying to preserve the flora and fauna of this amazing region in the face of incredible odds….”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Egypt: Support Iraqis on World Refugee Day  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egypt-based Issandr El Amrani appeals to readers to do more to help Iraqi refugees, on the occasion of the World Refugee Day which falls on June 20.


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Ethiopian bloggers first to report shock guilty verdict · Global Voices
Andrew Heavens

Ethiopian bloggers were among the first to report on a court's shock decision to convict 38 opposition politicians of a range of serious charges including “outrages against the constitution” earlier this week. (Here is the BBC story on the trial, and past GlobalVoices coverage.)
Mainstream journalists and observers were caught unawares by the guilty verdict handed down against prominent members of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), including its leader Hailu Shawel and the mayor elect of the capital Addis Ababa Berhanu Nega.
But bloggers – some of whom were in court – had the first posts online within an hour of the judges’ announcement.
The politicians were arrested in the aftermath of violence and street protests that erupted following Ethiopia's controversial 2005 national elections. Authorities accused them of provoking the violence and planning to overthrow the government.
The CUD members have long dismissed the trial as a political sham – and most of them have refused to defend themselves. They are due to be sentenced in early July. Many of them could face the death penalty or life imprisonment.
Seminawork was the first with Breaking news:Court finds kinijit leaders guilty [kinijit being the Amharic abbreviation for CUD]. MeskelSquare followed with Guilty.
The second the news [of the verdict] came in over my mobile, a huge thunder and hail storm broke over Addis.
The ominous weather echoed the fears of many bloggers, who initially thought the decision would lead to further clashes on the streets. In the end, there were no protests, but the disquiet remained. Just Thinking summed up many people's feelings in Damaged beyond repair?:
The sun wan’t shining in Addis today. As if to match the mood in the city, it was a cloudy and gloomy day. Not that people were not going about thier business. In fact, I was stunned by the normalcy of the day around me. But most people I’ve talked to, friends and acquaintances, said they found the verdict a rude awakening. Most of us foolishly thought EPRDF [the ruling government coalition] might want to fix things up and would let people like Dr. Birhanu Nega go free.
The Other Side was also surprised by the lack of public protest, but set out to explain it in In the wake of the verdict.
I was wondering why there hasn’t yet been any visible reaction to the verdict here in Addis. Some say that the post-election momentum is gone and most have forgotten, but I know otherwise. I know that people still care, and will say so as often as they think it safe.
Tobian Thinktank expressed his dismay at the move in Another Step Backwards:
Sometimes I try hard, very hard, to convince myself that our current leaders are good meaning co-Ethio citizens who care about our country… in their own ways which I am unable to understand. They're just embittered by the long struggle experience coupled with infantile Ethiopian politics (not to imply that they're any better at it). Then they do shit like this and my little theory crumbles.
Enset struggled to find a positive note in Freedom on Trial!:
To all peace loving people of Ethiopia, yesterday June 11, 2007 was both a day of sorrow and a day of jubilation. It was a day of sorrow because, at least temporally, freedom itself was on trial in the Ethiopian justice system. Yet it is a day of joy because we have heroes who gave us their yesterday so that we all can live for today.

author: Andrew Heavens


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Ghana: benefits of telecom liberalization · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The benefits of Telecom liberalization in Ghana: “Prices have fallen drastically since, with some networks offering starter packs with very wide coverage for as low as 15,000 Ghanaian Cedis (less than $2). Junior Secondary School graduates can now access their high school placement on their mobile phones.:”


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Guyana: Pest Problem?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Instantly, a series of nervous breakdowns hit me, biff bang thud, bradaps, just so they take me down, piece by piece, ow, somebody hold me, hold me and sop me head with cooool Limacol before I faint.”  Guyana-Gyal does not suffer pests lightly.


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India: Climate Change and G8 · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Indian Economy Blog on India's way of dealing with the G8 talks on climate change, and why the country must take some actions.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India: Theatre in Education · Global Voices
JJ Rajendran

Tolubommalata & Koodiyattam are few amongst the variegated theatre forms in the sub-continent. While this ancient art is slowing fading away, modern Indian theatre is taking stage. It now is not only a form of entertainment but a beacon for educating young minds. Umesh from ‘Theatre in Education’ explains that impressions both big and small can be directed on children. While in the same blog, announcements are made as to how teachers are lectured on teaching Math and Science in the ‘theatre form’.
We chose The Lorax, Dr. Seuss’s rhyme filled with utterly nonsensical words, but superbly sensible message about saving the trees. We read the play, but decided that the ideas had to come from the children. Therefore we made them create Tableaus – still pictures. The topics were simple in the beginning, like “standing in the rain”. They got the hang of it and the topics got tougher. Topics became, A Ferrari car, Stuck in a Lift, At the Dentist and Any topic of your choice. The results were astounding. They had no problems handling the topics, and were often more creative than so called “mature” adults. The tableaus gave us the key to creating the play.
Theatre Capital on the other hand, not only has bits of information on their on-going projects but also pictures of various happenings all the way in Bangalore. The information that caught my attention was the results on Xth ICSE drama class, it was surprising to know that drama/theatre was already a part of the new ICSE syllabus.
The scores were spectacular to say the least. Ranging from 86% to 97% these students were winners all the way in Drama
The Playbacktheatre’s group has one of the most innovative ways to bring real life, everyday scenarios back into play.
Then we moved into stories, an eight year old shared his heart-wrenching story of losing his parents and taking to the streets, of traveling hundreds of miles taking on various jobs…before finally landing up here. We jumped into the story with gusto, each actor playing his part. At the end the audience applause lasted for a really long time.
Theatre in India seems to evolve with its worlds surround and to all those innovators and educators my heartfelt adulations but I only hope and pray that they might someday revive those ancient art forms and make it presentable to the Indian cinema cults in the genre of 99% style and 1% substance like Hawkeye reviews.
Photo Courtesy : TheatreCapital

author: JJ Rajendran


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Iran:Abbas Amir Entezam, most senior political prisoner  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

You can see in Kosoof a photo of Abbas Amir Entezam who is the most senior political prisoner.Abbas Amir Entezam was deputy prime minister and government spokesman of Iran's provisional government after the revolution in 1979. In December 1979, he was charged with “treason” and spying for foreign governments.


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Iraq: New Blogs  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Konfused Iraqi Kid updates us with a list of new Iraqi blogs in town here.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Iraq: What About Iraqi Civilians?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraq Pundit wonders where Iraqi civilians stand in US policy.


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Israel: Christian Gazans are in Danger  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Israeli blogger Yael says Palestinian Christians living in Gaza are in danger – after repeated attacks by Islamic militants.


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Israel: Life in Ramallah · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Not allowed to enter Gaza, Israeli blogger and journalist Lisa Goldman travels to Ramallah and reports what she saw there last Friday, the day after Hamas took power in Gaza.


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Japan: Art of campaigning  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Japan Observer has a post commenting on the culture of political campaign in Japan: elections serve neither as a vehicle for holding officials accountable nor as a transmission belt for public concerns. Neither politicians nor voters seem to take their responsibilities seriously, meaning that election campaigns, for all the ritual, are remarkably hollow, full of sound and fury but signifying nothing.


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Japan: Fingerprinting visitors · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Debito reports that Japan immigration will adopt a new policy in November 2007 for fingerprinting and photographing all foreigner visitors to Japan:  Except that as well as being kinda weird and laughably amusing, it’s deadly serious about targeting foreigners as potential terrorists.


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Japan: Lawmakers’ Ad on Comfort Women · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A group of Japanese lawmakers took out an ad in the Washing Post  to present “the facts” about the comfort women that “no historical document has ever been found by historians or research organisations that positively demonstrates that women were forced against their will into prostitution by the Japanese army”.  Robert Koehler from Marmot's Hole commented on the “facts” of the ad with other “facts”.


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Kenya: problem with free primary education · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Alexcia argues that the the free primary education initiative in Kenya is stuck in antiquity with no market driven input.


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Morocco: How to bake bread in the medina · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Although bread is available for sale nearly everywhere in Morocco, nothing tastes as good as home baked bread – but many Moroccans, even those who own ovens like my mother-in-law, choose to bake their bread somewhere else: the furan, or community oven.  This week, a New York Times article on the community oven sparked a conversation throughout the blogoma.
Four Continents remarked upon the practice:
I lived with a solidly middle-class host family and they did have their own oven and baked bread at home, but even they considered this a luxury, even in the new city where families are more isolated and independent. In the medina, houses are compact and crowded and the ovens are still very much alive and necessary. In Marrakech, I watched a little boy carrying his family's bread home get in a fight with another boy. He set his tray down ever-so-carefully in the road before proceeding to kick his opponent in the groin. This was a kid who knew that coming home with dusty bread or no bread at all would be a big problem, and who took his job as oven-runner seriously. If a six-year-old takes it that seriously, you know it's important to Mom, too.
The a la Menthe sees a slow death for this way of life, saying:
Unlike many places in the world, in Morocco it is still possible to find communities that bake their bread (Khubz) — a staple of Moroccan cuisine — in a community oven, an institution which — like communal steam baths (hammam) knits communities together. In addition, farmers sell fresh produce in the souks (markets), and chickens are bought freshly slaughtered from the butcher. As a friend of mine put it, in Morocco, it's all organic food. The Times, however, notes an ominous trend toward factory farming, mass production of food, and supermarkets, at least in the larger cities. In light of our soil-exhausting monocultures and the cruel overcrowding and massive doses of hormones and antibiotics to which we subject our livestock in the United States, I am seriously skeptical that Morocco will gain by following our example. Would anyone say that Americans eat better than Moroccans? Thought not.
A Moro in America had only this to say:
New York Times published this well detailed and documented article. It brought back childhood memories and described a dying tradition.
The furan is particularly attributed to medina life, and as it's been said, Fez is the world's largest living medina, or old, walled city.  Everything Morocco, a blogger who lives there, has this to say about medina living (or, surviving, as it were):
A lot of people ask what it's like to live in the medina. Although I live in Fez medina, one of the biggest and oldest in the country, I think it must be pretty much the same in any medina. It's true you can't drive up to your door in most cases and some of your friends may refuse to visit because you live in a ‘dangerous’ neighborhood, but the benefits outweigh that. Having lived in both the medina and the Ville Nouvelle, I prefer the medina hands down.
After further explanation, the blogger concluded:
Overall, if you have to live in the city, medina-life is the way to go. It's interesting, fascinating and educational when you are not indigenous to the culture. It is a window into the changing times overtaking Morocco as people move from the country into the city. The medinas are not stagnant, time-warped portals into the past, but living and adaptive urban environments. It may be true that you see a man turning wood with a foot lathe or another weaving on an ancient form of loom, but traditional craftsmen exist in every culture and every country; Moroccan culture just has more respect for artisanal traditions and the practical nature to keep what works rather than throw it over for technology. You have to love a place like that.
The last post this week is entirely unrelated, but poignant and therefore must not be left out.  Blogger Big World Learner made a plea to stop world violence:
I’m sorry but whatever political analysts, spokesmen and supporters might say, what I think about this is simple: Nothing can justify what’s going on there. Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon neither have time nor the means to squander in civil wars – not to say in wars – full stop. This nonsense has lasted too long and must stop now!
Photo by Jillian York

author: Jillian C. York


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Nepal: Bhutanese Refugees · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Kathmandu Speaks on the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal, the urgent need to intervene, and India's big bully tactics in South Asia.


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Nepal: Jimmy Carter – talked, smiled and went · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! reproduces Jimmy Carter's statement after his four day visit to the country, and the post has an interesting discussion in the comments section.


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Nigeria: Anthology of works by Nigerian bloggers · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Latest information about the anthology of works by Nigerian bloggers from Laspapi.


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Pakistan: Home and the City · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Metroblogging Islamabad urges the people in the city to treat it the way they'd treat their own homes.


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Palestine: Which Ramallah Do You Prefer?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian blogger Umm Khalil posts two pictures from Ramallah then and now .. and asks: “Which Ramallah do you prefer?”


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Palestine: Worsening Humanitarian Crisis  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

International Solidarity Movement reports on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, as well as an appeal to Israel not to “stand idly by at a time when the fundamental human rights of Gaza residents are being violated and the right to life is being threatened.”


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Peru: The Charges Against Fujimori · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Peru Politico [ES] summarizes the 12 charges that former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori faces and that he may be extradited soon from Chile, where he currently is located.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Romania: GayFest 2007 in Bucharest · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Plenty of pictures and a report from the GayFest 2007 in Bucharest by Romerican: “Perhaps a statement of solidarity, the Romanian Jandarmeria had stationed a large number of attractive men in uniform alongside the gay paraders.”


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Russia: Lost ATM Card · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A horror story, almost, from Darkness At Noon: you're in Russia, and you use one of those ATM machines that gives you the money first and then returns your card, and you take the money but forget about the card – and then the horror begins: “Do you mean to tell me that my ATM card is wandering around Moscow right now in the pocket of some technician and that MAYBE it will show up in a couple of days? That's unacceptable. Listen, I need to know right now, WHERE'S MY CARD?”


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Serbia, Finland: Marija Serifovich’s Infamous Quote · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belgrade 2.0 posts a video of a press conference with Marija Serifovic, who won this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki, at which she makes the following remark about Finland: “erm, the country didn’t particularly suit me, and I don’t like those yellowish, “see-through” people… I despise them…” Bloggers discuss whether Serifovic was being ironic, racist or just silly.


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Sierra Leone: helicopter crasn and president exit speech · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Latest news from Sierra Leone on Sweet Sierra Leone blog: Helicopter crash and President Kabbah exit speech.


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Slovenia: More Bike-Lane Parking Pics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

An update on the “Self-Absorbed Bike Lane-Parking Morons” Project – at Piran Cafe.


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South Africa: politics of renaming streets · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The bitter politics of renaming streets in South Africa: “It seems as though the Democratic Alliance is going to be taking eThekwini Municipality to court, to set aside the recent controversial renaming of streets in Durban.”


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Sri Lanka: Environment and Religion · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Scourge! catches part of a sermon by a Buddhist priest, and points out that the priest appears to suggest that a “western” lifestyle is harmful to the environment.


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Sri Lanka: Getting it right about the Blogosphere · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Anandawardhana points out that a mainstream media publication got the nature of the blogosphere wrong in an article on Sri Lankan blogs.


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: High Airfares  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Abeni is frustrated with the high cost of regional travel in the Caribbean: “LIAT has been getting on my last nerve with their ridiculously high fares…I wish they would just disappear or hopefully realise that their price structure is making them even less relevant.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Film Director gets CBE · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Horace Ové, the Trinidadian film director…becomes a CBE, or a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for ‘services to the film industry'”.  The Caribbean Beat Blog recognizes his achievement.


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Ukraine: Elton John and Kids With AIDS · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Michelle Knisley of Greetings from Kiev attended Elton John's AIDS awareness concert, along with approximately 200,000 other people. Before the concert, she happened to watch a TV clip about the orphanage she used to work at and recognized two girls with AIDS she once played with.


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Ukraine: Elton John and the Fake Philanthropists · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainiana writes about Ukraine's horrifying AIDS statistics and the wrong crowd that Elton John has gotten himself into.


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Ukraine: Lviv · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Olechko visits Lviv and posts some photos and a sketch.


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Zimbabwe: government to monitor internet and postal communications · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This is Zimbabwe describes a new law to allow the government of Zimbabwe to monitor e-mails, telephone calls, the internet and postal communications as insulting.


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Zimbabwe: The Interception of Communications Bill · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

Last week, Zimbabwean parliament passed “The Interception of Communications Bill” that will allow the government to monitor telephones, emails and the Internet.
Zimbabwean ISPs are condemning this law, which is waiting the approval of the Senate, because it will require them to purchase expensive monitoring equipments they cannot afford.
Transport and Communications Minister is arguing that this is similar to legislations existing in the United States and Britain: “These are countries which are regarded as the beacons of democracy,” he said.

author: sami ben gharbia


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Afghan Whispers:Education, music, wonderful nature and freedom · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Sun Leaf talks about the painful situation of Afghanistan's education system. The blogger says
Compared to other countries in Asia, the Afghan education situation is startling. The statistics below show that tremendous challenges remain. One of the poorest measures includes funding or implementing short-term education projects, which are abrubtly brought to an end leaving thousands of hopeful children back in the circle of illiteracy, neglect and darkness. The blogger to prove his/her argument mentions several statistics:More than 5.4 million children are enrolled in schools today, nearly 35% of them girls, compared to a little more than a million 5 years ago and almost no girls.
Still, half of our school-age children are estimated to be out of schools with significant gender and provincial disparities.
Afghanistan's Cat Stevens
Sun leaf also writes about a popular Afghan singer who is, according to the blogger, Afghanistan's Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam).The blogger writes about this singer: you know the lyrics or not, the tune itself should be able to take you to the lands far away.
Wonderful nature, dangerous road
Onne Parl writes about her journey to the heart of wondefrul nature in Bamyian but she reminds us about the danger too. When speaking to Afghans about sightseeing, they ask at first: “Have you been to Band-e Amir?” These well-known lakes in the middle of the Koha-e-Baba Mountains are one of the few tourist places in Afghanistan. Thousands of locals bundle up the whole family and make a long journey up to the lakes. It takes one and half days from Kabul to reach this place. Furthermore there are a lot of mines left in this area. Three years ago one minibus got blasted next to the main road. Thirteen men were killed on the spot.
Praising freedom of express
Free Keyboard,an Iranian blogger talks about [Fa] his trip to Afghanistan.He compares freedom of expression between Iran and Afghanistan:Contrary to our Islamic land (Iran),in Islamic Afghanistan,there is not a lot of restriction for newspapers,magazines,internet and books.You have your freedom to publish whatever you have.You have freedom to have your site and write whatever you want in it.Just like a developed country.He adds of course extremist people threat your life.
The blogger adds when I was in Afghanistan, a friend of mine launched Kabul Press and now it has 4000 visitors. He says internet is free but a few have access to that.


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Afghanistan: Kuchi Incursion · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Mohammad Fahim Khairy says that nomadic Pashtun tribes exploit and abuse the Hazaras of central Afghanistan.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Argentina: Celebrating Flag Day · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

It is Flag Day in Argentina and Buenos Aires Argentina Guide is celebrating by writing about the history of this national holiday.


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Argentina: Manu Ginobili Action Figure · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Agua Fuertes 2004 [ES] walks into a shopping center in Flores and is pleased to find an action figure of Manu Ginobili, a member of the current NBA champions, on the shelves.


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Bahrain: MP Branded a Kaffir  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A religious Bahraini MP has been branded a “kaffir” – an apostate – and Mahmood Al Yousif  discusses  how this could become a dangerous trend in society.


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Bangladesh: Deporting Mohiuddin · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Mash on the deportation of Mohiuddin to Bangladesh from the US, and why it's not a day to celebrate but to reflect.


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Barbados: Accountability in Construction Sector   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Recently Barbadians witnessed the sanitizing of a ‘list’ of 300 companies which were previously approved by government to benefit from building contracts.”  Barbados Underground wonders whether the inefficiencies of the construction sector make it an easy vehicle through which taxpayers’ money can be misappropriated.


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Benin’s fans get rowdy at the Togo-Benin match · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Togo played Benin in Cotonu this Sunday, the fifth day of qualifying matches for the 2008 Africa cup.  Benin won (4-1), but not before their supporters engaged in what Togo-iTunes calls “gratuitous violence” (Fr).  Togo-iTunes has photographs of the match and the rowdy fans, taken by a Togolese journalist posing as a Congolese.

author: Jennifer Brea


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Bermuda: Government Appeals Gag Order Decision in BHC Scandal · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Both IMHO.bm and Politics.bm blog about the latest developments in the Bermuda Housing Corporation scandal.


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Central African Republic: Rebel soldier executed for shooting MSF volunteer · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

The young rebel soldier responsible for the death of a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) volunteer has been executed, Alliance Pour La Democratie et Le Progres writes.   The director of MSF was shocked.  “A tragic death is followed by an absurd one.” (Fr)


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China: Chen Guangcheng beaten, on hunger strike · Global Voices
John Kennedy

AIDS and environmental activist and information point man for several imprisoned bloggers, lawyers and writers Hu Jia—husband of Zeng Jinyan—has, following six months of silence, updated his blog with the latest information [zh] on the situation of blind reproductive rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng, nearly a year to the day since his arrest:
陈光诚在临沂监狱遭警方指使殴打 绝食4天表示抗议
2007年6月19日是农历五月初五端午节，陈光诚的妻子袁伟静、大哥陈光福和光诚远在杭州的舅舅一起到临沂监狱，进行每月一次的探视。由于是端午，所以今天很多服刑人员的家属在申请与”普管”服刑者一道吃饭，但唯独袁伟静要为光诚申请时，监狱方予以拒绝，说光诚属于”严管”，不可以与亲人一道吃饭。身着印有光诚头像体恤衫的袁伟静，在服刑人员家属中最为显眼，所有监狱工作人员都对她、对光诚另眼相看。袁伟静问为何光诚被”严管”，对方说在监狱不到一年的服刑者都属于严管，我们惊讶监狱人员随意歪曲法律的胡说八道。对方随即有给于另类解释，说光诚经常投诉狱方、检举公安，所以要被”严管”。这个说法证明，山东临沂的政法部门是用非法手段打击报复公民对司法部门的监督和投诉。
上午11点，袁伟静和陈光福进入探视室，发现光诚被剃了犯人光头，神情也非常不好，包括提到外面有远道而来的舅舅时，光诚也没有很明显的反应。光诚告诉袁伟静和陈光福，他因为每日坚持申诉，被监狱方认为是”不听话”，所以让六名犯人拳打脚踢陈光诚。光诚在南京就读的专业就是中医和推拿按摩，，他本人就是医生，对人体非常熟悉。他感到肋部疼痛，推测自己肋骨可能被打断。光诚已经以绝食4天的方式来表示抗议，76小时以来他绝食绝水。在夏天的环境中，陈光诚的身体很快就会垮掉。
光诚1岁多的小女儿陈克斯平时认得光诚的样子，她从袁伟静穿的体恤衫上天天都能看到父亲的形象，而且她来过监狱不止一次。但这次，小克斯看到被剃了光头表情严峻的光诚，克斯已经无法认出自己的父亲。陈光福和袁伟静都看到光诚腿上的伤痕。悲伤的袁伟静继续向驻狱检查人员投诉光诚受到的虐待，并且要求狱方带光诚去医院做X光检查。而且今天是端午节，她不能将光诚被打的事情告诉光诚的母亲和舅舅，以免让70多岁的老人们伤心。
一位盲人维权者，用自己学习的法律知识保护弱势群体，在我们这样一个有法律却没有法治的专制国家中，他的维权行动触及了当地贪官酷吏的利益，中国政府、尤其山东政法部门从2005年8月20日开始，对陈光诚和他的妻子袁伟静百般压制，22个月来多次使用言语凌辱、非法拘禁、暴力攻击。还在全世界众目睽睽、铁证如山之下把政治案件刑事化，用陷害的方式把陈光诚投入冤狱4年零3个月。属于中国公民的人权，完全被国家黑社会势力随意践踏。
请国际社会对盲人陈光诚的遭遇予以关注，还陈光诚自由，惩治所有参与迫害陈光诚的地方政法部门责任人。
胡佳
被北京市公安局国保总队非法拘禁的第31天 于BOBO自由城家中
离2008年奥运会开幕还有416天
Day 31 of being illegally under arrest by Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau State Security agents,
Hu Jia
416 more days until the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

author: John Kennedy


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China: Environmental politics · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chong from interlocals.net translated an article by Zhu Jiangang on “three parties in environomental politics”: the three parties are central government, civic groups and citizens, special interest consortium in the local levels.


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China: Harmonizing 18 child rape cases · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chris O'Brien from Beijing Newspeak criticised Chinese media for downplaying the crime of 18 child rape cases in Gansu by a primary school teacher: Xinhua did not release this story in Chinese. The report about the death sentence was buried, as usual, on page four or five of the local newspaper. Presumably a clear report on the crime would be regarded as a negative impact on society and would reflect badly on local education officials and teachers.


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China: More on Slave workers · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translated various local reports on Shanxi slave workers issue. They give more background on the morality of contemporary Chinese society.


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China: Security guard culture · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Security guards (Bao-an) in China is omnipresent. Granite Studio noticed the presence of Bao-an is very distinctive feature in China, but they have different set of rules for locals and for foreigners.


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Congo: Small business important for economic growth · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Congopage writes about the importance of small and medium businesses (Fr) and private initiative for economic growth.


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Costa Rica: Breaking Relations with Taiwan and Starting with China · Global Voices
Roy Rojas

On June 8, Costa Rican president Oscar Arias announced the diplomatic relations with Taiwan have been broken, and ties have been established with China.  In leaving behind 60 years of diplomatic relations, this has created a great deal of critical comments, as well as of support. Legislators, blogs, press, etc. have all given their opinions.
What did Costa Rica gain in recognizing Taiwan?  Some say money is the answer. During many years, Taiwan has maintained close ties with Latin American countries and gave gifts, beneficial loans, donations, etc.  One cannot say that we or any of the other 24 countries were in that relationship for moral reasons. One can also not say that the country is ungrateful because that it was  in the relationship for self-interest and not for conviction.
Some national blogs gave their opinions and the majority were against this decision, such as the blog La Suiza Centroamericana [ES]:
Y nos ha confirmado sin ambages que hemos entrado de manera decidida y definitiva en la era de la prostitución diplomática…Nuestra relación con Taiwán no estaba bien planteada porque se basaba en las dádivas y no en los principios fundamentales compartidos.
And it was confirmed, without talking in circles, that we entered in a decidedly and definitive fashion into the era of diplomatic prostitution…Our relationship with Taiwan was not well established because it was based on favors and not on shared fundamental principles.
One might ask whether Costa Rica's relationship with Taiwan was healthy or whether it was only for self-interest.  Even though the countries share principles such as democracy, freedom of speech, whether that really mattered.
Juan Carlos Hidalgo [ES] writes:
Considero totalmente imprudente y bastante perjudicial la decisión del gobierno de cortar relaciones diplomáticas…Costa Rica siempre ha ‘rajado’ de ser un país promotor de los derechos humanos y la libertad. ¿Cómo se justifica romper relaciones con una de las pocas democracias consolidadas del Este Asiático a cambio de un régimen represivo y violador de las libertades civiles más básicas como lo es China?
I consider the government's decision to cut diplomatic ties to be completely imprudent and very harmful…Costa Rica always has ‘gave an effort’ to be a country that promotes human rights and freedom. How is it justified to cut ties with one of the few consolidated democracies of East Asia in exchange of a repressive regimen and violator of the basic civil liberties, such as what happens in China?
There are other blogs that entirely support the decision, such as Fusil de Chispas [ES] writes:
El comercio y las puertas que se abren con la voraz economía China, se me hacen mucho más beneficiosas potencialmente, que el costo afectivo que parece tener el a otra cosa mariposa, en este momento específico
Commerce and doors are opened to the economic voracity of China, and I believe that this is potentially much more beneficial than the sentimental cost of the decision, ‘out with the old, and in with the new’
“A decision of this transcendence requires discreet diplomacy.  We have been as transparent as the circumstances permits,” explained President Oscar Arias, when asked why the negotiations were secret.  Now the country can be open to a market that contains 20% of the world's population (1.3 billion people), which is something immense and that may benefit the country.

author: Roy Rojas


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Cuba: New Rules for UN Human Rights Council  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Even as members of the European Union seek “to forge a fresh relationship with the government in Havana”, the United Nations announced that it has dropped independent expert monitors of alleged human rights abuses in Cuba. Uncommon Sense shares his perspective.


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Dominica: The Scent of an Island · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Whether it is bay leaf and ginger in the Southeast of the island, the flowers in the rain forest, or the frangipani, plumeria and night blooming jasmine planted in gardens, Dominica smells like nowhere else on earth.”  Living Dominica breathes in the beauty of the island.


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Guatemala: Elections Website · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Elecciones Guatemala [ES] is a new website dedicated to the upcoming electoral season in Guatemala.


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Guyana, Barbados: Living Legends · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Living Guyana laments the fact that the majority of Guyanese cricketing heroes choose to live elsewhere.


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Guyana: Seeing is Believing · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana-Gyal will not believe she has a rodent problem until she sees it with her own eyes - but she's setting down a few traps just in case.


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Haiti: Reflections on the beauty of life · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Note d'Or writes about a new-found appreciation for the beauty of life after a nine day hospital stay.   “As I greet each tree, each bird, each blade of grass and my square of flowers, I thank the rusty beds for being there to make me aware of these beauties that reveal themselves by contrast” (Fr).


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Hong Kong: Defending plagiarism · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A blogger's commentary on a comic had been plagiarized by a popular local magazine. An apology would have ended the issue. However, the editor's attempt to defend plagiarism has resulted in more outraging responses from the blogsphere. ESWN has translated the conversation between the blogger and the editor. The original post is here (zh).


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India: On Arranged Marriages · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Sudipta's Life on a discussion on arranged marriages at a rather “international” gathering.


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India, Pakistan: Kashmiris and terrorists · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Kashmir on the perception of Kashmiris in India and in Indian media as terrorists.


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Iran:Appeal for Iranian Students · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

In CityBoy we read “this is an appeal by bloggers against the detention of 9 Iranian students from the Amir Kabir Polytechnic University in Tehran who are been kept and repeatedly tortured at the notorious Evin prison.”The blogger has published the photos of these 9 jailed students too.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Beautiful photos of Sahand mountains · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

You can see several photos of Sahand mountains in this photo blog.


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Iraq: 830 Assassinations Documented  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Over 830 assassinations have been documented, victims killed along with their
families. Numbers includes: 380 university academics and doctors, 210 lawyers
and judges, and 243 journalists/media workers” writes Ismail Jalili in an article posted by Iraqi blogger Imad Khadduri.


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Iraq: Al Hakim Dead · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Lady Bird announces: “Al-Zawraa TV channel (recently in Syria), broadcast a banner today [the red line in the image above] saying that Abdul Aziz Al-Hakeem [Hakim] died today in a hospital in Tehran, no confirmation yet by any news agency.”


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Iraq: Difficult Reconciliation  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Amid increasing sectarian violence in Iraq, Alive in Baghdad concludes: it's difficult to see how reconciliation between Iraqis can be possible in the short-term.


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Iraq: Sleeping Arrangements  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi Sunshine speaks fondly of how she misses sleeping in her own room and how her family now sleeps in the living room – where they have three hours of air-conditioning every night.


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Israel: Dancing Queens  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Israelity gives us a review of British production Mamma Mia – which was enthusiastically received by Israel's dancing queens (and kings).


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Israel: Kos Ban Benefits  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Israeli Desert Peace says being banned from the Daily Kos has opened new doors for him and others to air their views.


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Japan: Freak Accidents · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

TokyoMango reports on freak accidents in Tokyo in the news today: a 28-year old woman was strolling in Shinjuku when a sign from a pizza place fell on her head, leaving her in the hospital with a brain contusion, and a fancy day spa in an upscale neighborhood in Shibuya exploded.

author: Chris Salzberg


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Japan: Video Art, Media and Zen · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

An interview with Montreal-born Japan-based video producer Michael Goldberg has been posted at gyaku. In the interview, Goldberg discusses his experience with media art movements in the 60s and 70s, as well as his recent documentary entitled “A ZEN LIFE” about Japanese author/translator D.T. Suzuki, widely credited as having introduced Zen to the West.


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Jordan: 48 Hours to War · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Shifaa from Jordan gives us a break down of the last 48 hours that led to the civil war in Gaza.


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Jordan: Municipal Election Polls  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Municipal elections are being planned in Jordan for next month and Naseem Al Tarawnah updates us on poll projections.


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Kazakhstan: Celebrating Astana · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

At neweurasia, Adam reports that enormous sums are being poured into lavish celebrations of Kazakhstan's capital, Astana.


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Kazakhstan: Krishna Homes Destroyed · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

KZBlog reports that more Hare Krishna homes have been destroyed and that the community's temple could be destroyed soon.


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Kuwait: Dream Lunch · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“If your lady manager invited you for lunch in your dream, would you tell her the next day about it?” writes  Purgatorian from Kuwait.


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Kuwait: No to Cucumber Drink · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Sumi-Kuwait hopes that a cucumber beverage launched in Japan will not make it to the Kuwaiti markets.


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Kyrgyzstan: Manliness and Bridenapping · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Nurbek says that bride kidnapping is not for real men. The tradition of bride kidnapping has revived since the collapse of the Soviet Union in Kyrgyzstan.


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Mongolia: Dr. Ayurzana Bold · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Birding Mongolia eulogizes Dr. Ayurzana Bold, a highly respected biologist and ornithologist from Mongolia who passed away on June 10.


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Peru: Cashing Adsense Check · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Tinta Fantasma [ES] recently received his first check from Google Adsense. However, he had a bit of trouble cashing it.


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Peru: Video In Support for Machu Picchu · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Peru Music [ES] links to a video produced by the Tourism Ministry, which is pushing a campaign for voting Machu Picchu for one of the 7 Wonders of the World. However, many think that this is not a good use of state money and that the quality leaves a little more to be desired.


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Phénix, Défi Liban, a collaborative blog for Lebanese and French middle school students · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Phénix, Défi Liban is a collaborative blog between two middle schools, one French, one Lebanese, that seeks to “symbolize and make concrete the desire for peace that animates us.” [Fr]


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South Asia: Sir Salman Rushdie · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Sepia Mutiny on knighthood and Salman Rushdie, and how the writer in the 80s was a strong critic of the British establishment.


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South Korea: How Does Seoul Rank Globally? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

R. Elgin from Marmot's Hole points to the fact that Seoul's quality of life ranks below 50 best cities globally.


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Sri Lanka: Then Sri Lankan Blogger · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

London, Lanka and Drums on what makes a Sri Lankan blogger. “My view on it is that the SL bloggers share an interest in Sri Lanka, whether that is because of nationality or location or heritage it doesn't matter.”


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Grenada: The Grenada 13 · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Abeni weighs in on the re-sentencing hearing for those convicted of murdering Grenadian Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and others in 1983.


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Togo: Possible avian flu outbreak · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Togo iTunes writes about a suspected case of avian flu in Togo [Fr].  On a semi-commercial farm 45 km outside of Lome, 2,000 of 3,000 chickens died in two days.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Happy Labour Day · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The 5Rivers Kid acknowledges the celebration of Labour Day in Trinidad and Tobago.


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Turkmenistan: The Banned Disease · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Abdulgamid says that Turkmenistan's government is finally showing some willingness to deal with HIV/AIDS.