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Peru: Fujimori Extradited to Face Charges · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Photo by Enlacenacional and used by permission
After a lengthy process, the Chilean judicial system ruled that former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori would be extradited to face charges of corruption and human rights abuses.  When news of the court's decision reached Peru, bloggers would react almost instantaneously with jubiliation and with a firmer confidence in the justice system.  However, questions still exist about what this means for the political landscape in Peru, especially for the party of current President Alan Garcia and whether this was part of Fujimori's plan the entire time.
Sandro Medina of Letra Suelta [ES] writes from a journalist's viewpoint:
En estos momentos las salas de redacción de los diversos medios de comunicación son un loquerío. La noticia de que  la justicia chilena aprobó finalmente la extradición de Alberto Fujimori al Perúcambió todos los planes del día. Ni qué decir lo que ocurre en las calles o en las esquinas de esta ciudad llamada Lima, donde la gente común y corriente no deja de comentar la extradición del ex presidente. Ni qué decir de la atención mediática que habrá cuando Fujimori pise suelo peruano para responder ante la justicia.
In these moments, the newsrooms of various media channels are going crazy.  The news that the Chilean justice system finally approved the extradition of Alberto Fujimori to Peru changed everything.  This is not to mention what is happening on the street corners of Lima, where ordinary people are commenting on the extradition of the ex-President.  This does not even mention the media attention that there will be when Fujimori steps foot on Peruvian soil to repsond to the justice system.
Humberto Contreras of El Lado Oscuro de la Tierra [ES] is optimistic and thanks Chile.
Cuando esta mañana leyendo los diarios on line me doy con la noticia de que la justicia chilena había concedido la extradición del ex presidente Alberto Fujimori, a los tribunales de justicia del Perú, no pude menos que exclamar a voz en cuello: ¡Gracias Chile! … Este 21 de Setiembre del 2007 tiene que ser una fecha histórica. El primer país latinoaméricano y, quizá del mundo entero, que extradita a un ex primer mandatario por delitos de corrupción y lesa humanidad. Esta resolución tiene que servir de ejemplo a toda la comunidad internacional para que los delitos contra los derechos humanos no queden impunes y puedan ser sancionados de acuerdo a lo estabecido en las jurisprudencias nacionales e internacionales. Y tengan la seguridad de que el Perú, le dará el debido proceso a este ex funcionario -cosa que él nunca hizo- cuando fue el “mandamás” en el país.
When I was reading the online newspapers this morning, when I read that the Chilean justice system had approved the extradition of ex-President Alberto Fujimori to the Peruvian justice system, I could not help but yell Thanks, Chile!  September 21 should be a historic date.  Peru is the first Latin American country and maybe in the world, that extraditions a former Preisdent for charges of corruption and crimes against humanity.  This resolution should serve as an example for the entire international community that human rights abuses should not remain unpunished and can be sanctioned according to national and international jurisprudence.  Rest assure that Peru will provide due process to the ex-President – something that he never did when he was the head of the country.
Ernesto of the blog Física3 [ES] writes from Spain and agrees with the decision of the Chilean judicial system.
Empieza bien el fin de semana, mas aun si vemos que se le trae por los casos importantes (que son los que conllevan condenas mas larga). El escenario politico se tornara interesante definitivamente, a ver cual es la posicion que tomara el Apra con el ex dictador en el Peru, si esta presencia ayudara o debilitara el nucleo duro del fujimorismo, como escondera la cabeza el empresariado que aplaudio hasta con las orejas durante los 90s…..
The weekend began well, and it will be better when we see what other important cases are brought up (those that bring longer sentences). The political stage has definitely turned more interesting, to see the position taken by the Apra (President Garcia's political party) with the ex-dictator of Peru, and to see whether his presence will help or weaken the strong nucleus of Fujimorismo or how the businessmen will hide when they enthusiastically applauded during the 1990s.
Gustavo Faverón of blog Puente Aereo writes from the United States is waiting to see the final verdict in order to ensure that Fujimori spends many years in prision.
Fujimori va a Lima, a encontrarse con los deudos de aquellos a quienes mandó a matar, o cuya muerte pasó por alto o justificó. Ya era tiempo. La justicia tarda, sí, pero, en contra de lo que dice el lugar común, raras veces llega. Ahora, por lo menos, parece estar en camino. Los criminales suelen frecuentar ciertos lugares de la sociedad: los palacios de gobierno y las prisiones son dos de ellos. Éste ya vivió en uno; lo espera el otro: ojalá pase allí mucho, mucho tiempo.
Fujimori is on his way to Lima to face the debts from those that he ordered to kill or whose deaths were justified by him.  It was time.  Justice takes time yes, which is in contrast to what some say, it rarely arrives.  Now at least, it appears to be in motion.  The criminals rarely frequent certain places in society: the government palaces and prisions are two of those places. This one already lived in one, and the other awaits him.  Hopefully he spends a lot of time there.
Dennis David writes in Psicosociales [ES] about the principal political actors.
desde ya se vislumbra un panorama nada grato, sobre todo, para políticos que han dado muestras de estar aliados a los partidarios del fujimorismo y que no esperaban un fallo favorable a la extradición. La preocupación embarga al mismo Presidente de la Repúbica, Alan García, así como a muchos miembros de su bancada. Pues, el gobierno ya ha dado evidencias de estar aliada al fujimorismo tal como lo demuestra la elección de la última mesa directiva del Congreso, que lo preside Luis Gonzalez Posada, con el voto fujimorista. Por su parte, los partidarios del ex Presidente también han lanzado el grito al cielo y amenazan crear un verdadero ambiente de guerra civil. Pues otra vez están convocando a los más pobres para unirse a su causa.
The panorama does not look very pleasant, especially for those that have shown to be allied with the Fujimori party and that they did not hope for a decision for extradition.  This also worries President Alan Garcia, as well as members of his political party.  The government had shown signs of being allied with Fujimorismo, which was demonstrated in the election of the last Congressional board, which is presided by Luis Gonzalez Posada.  For their part, members of Fujimori's party have also threatened to create an environment for civil war.  They are calling together the poorest to unite for their cause.
Cesar Esquerre of La Nacion Inka del Siglo XXI [ES] tries to look for the reasons that Chile ruled in favor for extradition.
En Chile, hace unos días se comentaba que se había propuesto que (Chile) ocupe una alta posición como aliado de EEUU y occidente, y preocupaba enormemente el tema de los derechos humanos y de imagen que podria afectarse respecto a no extraditar a Fujimori, pues hasta ese entonces estaba claro que no podían extraditarlo, sin embargo los comentarios de “No hay intromisión política” repetidos desde ese momento en adelante por los voceros, pueden ser leidos al revés en ese idioma que los lectores de estrategia conocen, un lenguaje no hablado de actitudes de variables políticas y donde siempre que un miembro de poder dice muchas veces algo, generalmente es porque es más bien al revés. ¿Eso pudo influir?
A few days ago in Chile, there were comments that Chile holds a high allied position with the US and the West and that there was an enormous worry about the topic of human rights and what it would look like if they did not extradite Fujimori.  Up until that point, they could not extradite him and the comments of “There is no political meddling” was repeated by the spokespersons. One could look at the language used by someone in positions of power, when he/she says something, the opposite is actually true. Could that have affected things?
Silvio Rendón of Gran Combo Club comments about Fujimori's recent statements on RPP, a Lima radio station, where the ex-President says that everything has turned out the way he had planned.
Al estilo del Chapulín Colorado “todos mis movimientos están fríamente calculados” o, si se quiere, al estilo del Superagente 86 que cuando estaba ante situación inesperada hablaba del “viejo truco”. En este caso estaríamos ante “el viejo truco del regreso voluntario”. Desde luego, no es algo creíble. Sin embargo, es cierto que con esto se “deschileniza” el caso Fujimori y se “peruaniza”, sin dejar de existir una competencia internacional en el asunto, pues las cortes internacionales tienen mayor jerarquía que las cortes peruanas.
In a very comedic manner, (Fujimori said,) “all of my moves are shrewdly calculated,” as if he had an “old trick up his sleeve.”  In this case, we are talking about the old trick of a voluntary return.  From there on, it is not very believable.  However, it is true that with this, the case is “de-Chileanized” and it becomes “Peruvianized” and it still is an international affair because the international courts have a higher hierachy than Peruvian courts.
The blogger that calls himself Fantomas cannot be any more explicit about what he thinks of Fujimori [ES].
escuché la entrevista en CNN a Fuji. Se me cayó el tío. Nervioso, descolocado, titubeante, distraído, desesperado. Qué diferencia con la arrogancia cuando andaba protegido por su militancia en sus mejores años peruanos, o cuando estaba en Japón haciéndose el cojudo, o en el mismo Chile cuando por ahí se le ocurrió declarar cuando no debía hacerlo. ¿Qué tan acompañado está políticamente? ¿O realmente está solo?
I saw Fujimori's interview on CNN.  He was nervious, disorientated, stuttering, distracted and desperate.  What difference to the arrogance that he once showed when he was protected by his militancy during his best years in Peru or when he was in Japan acting smart, or when he when he made declarations in Chile when he shouldn't have.  How politically accompanied is he?  Or is he really alone?
Finally, the reactions from the Fujimoristas are not very calm, as Marco Sifuentes shows in some photos on his blog El Utero de Marita [ES], where acts of violence by Fujimoristas took place against the site of the judicial branch. For more links to reactions by Peruvian bloggers, please visit Globalizado [ES].

author: Juan Arellano


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Russia: Conference on Renewable Energy Sources  · Global Voices
Ljubisa Bojic

Web 2.0. is finally coming to the Balkans: SeminarskiRad.com, a portal based on the share principle and offering free resources to Serbian students, has become really popular very quickly. A few days ago, the portal's blog supplement opened on Blogger, dedicated to the topics relevant to Serbia's youth.
The first post (SRP), published by the blog's co-founder Milos Stefanovic (nicknamed Kiskovic), is a report from a recent Moscow conference on renewable energy, whose aim was to educate young scientists in order to make this planet greener. Below is the post's translation:
[…] Renewables are our planet’s future. It is very important for UNESCO to take a lead in educating young inventors. The European Network for Education in the Field of Renewable Energy (EURONETERS) met Sept. 3-7, 2007, in Moscow […]. Professors from FYROM, Lithuania, Greece, Serbia, Belarus and Russia held meetings at the All-Russian Institute for Electrification of Agriculture. The initial gathering of a task group for solar energy was followed by the executive committee of the network for education in this field. Professors coming from state universities across Europe are volunteers looking enthusiastically towards the future and working hard to establish joint educational program which involves publishing new booklets, creating online lab experiments and investing in lab equipment. The intention is to motivate students to handle innovative projects and opportunities in both research and application of renewables.
The main alternative sources of energy are wind and water power, solar energy, biofuel and geothermal energy. Between 1990 and 2003, renewable energy’s share in Germany’s electric power generation fuel mix grew from less than 3 percent to almost 9 percent. Over the same period, net electricity consumption in Germany grew by approximately 5 percent, while carbon dioxide emissions from electric power production declined by roughly 13 percent. The Renewable Obligation legislation places a commitment on licensed electricity suppliers in the United Kingdom to source an increasing proportion of electricity from renewable sources. The World Summit on Sustainable Development has placed the promotion of sustainable and renewable energies high on the international agenda.
Moscow UNESCO chair in renewable energy and rural electrification is lead by professor Dmitry Strebkov, who presided at the meeting of the EURONETERS Group for Solar Energy, which consisted of numerous papers and educational methods presentations. Scientists, gathered at a round table, exchanged their experiences. Conversation continued at labs where students showcased their works. Professor Igor Tyukhov introduced participants to the exciting methods to teach effects of the moving sun on solar cells.  Polite hosts gave tour of a laboratory that produces solar panels. These panels are part of the extremely effective solar concentrators used to elevate the power of the electricity produced. The facility is capable of producing 1 megawatt of power by using these devices.
Meeting of the EURONETERS executive committee was presided by head of the network, professor Spyros Kyritsis. Academicians agreed to continue implementing agenda with minor changes. They applauded the completion of several new didactic tool, a book written by professor Kiril Popovski and colleagues on geothermal energy, a book of Strebkov and Tverjanovich on solar concentrators, Arbusov and Evdokimov on fundamentals of photovoltaics and Axaopoulos and colleagues on solar thermal conversion. Professor Vytautas Adomavicius highlighted hydrogen energy as highly promising for automotive industry of the future. Professor Viktor Bashtovoy said that biomass is a promising energy source for heating and electricity production when adequate technologies are present.
Professor Petros Axaopoulos demonstrated his educational software on solar energy, which helps to enhance students’ education in renewables.
Professor Milorad Bojic talked about a possibility for students to implement online experiments. Experiments that can be shared between institutions via the internet (then there is no need for students to travel to other institutions in order to perform such experiments).
These educational materials are applied in many universities in Italy, Sweden and at the U.N. University for Peace in San Jose, Costa Rica. As students are satisfied with the educational procedures, executive committee recommended intensifying activities.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Ljubisa Bojic


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Singapore: Asian Horror Movies  · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Yznw, A horror movie fan in Singapore has a lowdown on couple of  required plot elements in Asian horror movies.

author: Preetam Rai


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Turkey: access WordPress blog with WordPrexy · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

Great Firewall of Turkey activists launched WordPrexy.com project to make Turkish blogs hosted on WordPress.com accessible.

author: sami ben gharbia


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Ukraine: The Language Issue · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Victor Yanukovych‘s Party of the Regions is pushing for a referendum on granting Russian official status as a national language, in addition to Ukrainian.
Taras of Ukrainiana points out the irrelevance of such an initiative by citing the 2001 census data:
[…] Nationwide, some 77.8 percent identified themselves as Ukrainians, while only 67.5 consider Ukrainian their native language.
Question: Which of the two languages needs protection?
In the comments section, Taras writes more on the language issue:
[…] If [Yanukovych] wants two languages, he should help his fellow Donbasians learn Ukrainian. He should also work with the Kremlin — not for the Kremlin — to do more for Russia’s 3-million Ukrainian community.
Instead, he and his Party of Regions thrive on the antagonisms and fault lines left by the Soviet policy of Russification.
[…]
As a Kyivite, I speak Ukrainian and Russian equally well. Never in my whole life have experienced any anxiety or constraints while speaking Russian either in public or in private. But I do remember those dirty looks that some people gave me when I spoke my native language in public at the dawn of Ukraine’s independence.
I have no aversion to any language. But I do have aversion to people who want Ukraine to be a colony of the Russian Empire, and are fishing for an excuse not learn Ukrainian, a non-language to them. […] Of course, not all people who speak Russian are unpatriotic. Kyiv, still largely a Russian-speaking city, voted Yushchenko 78 percent in the third round of the 2004 presidential election. […]
Further on, in a comment to Taras’ post, Peteris Cedrins of Marginalia offers the Latvian approach to dealing with the language issue as an example and concludes:
[…] Learning another language is addition, not subtraction — protecting our national languages is about reducing asymmetrical bilingualism, not obliterating Russian.
Journalist Oleksandr Paskhover, who has recently interviewed Yanukovych for Korrespondent magazine, also writes (RUS) about Yanukovych's referendum initiative on his Korrespondent.net blog:
During the interview for Korrespondent […], Victor Yanukovych asked me more questions than I did. So I didn't really understand [who was interviewing who]. I asked him a question about why the election campaign had turned into mutual vilification, and he asked this in response: “Have you heard me insulting anyone, ever?” I asked him a question about the status of Russian as a national language. He asked me: “What's bad about granting the Russian language the official status?”
And I support this! But I approach the issue from a different direction. If the Russian language in Ukraine were given the status of a foreign language, it would've gained so much more from it than from the status of the second national language. Beginning this year, at the gymnasium that my son and daughter attend, they've reduced the number of Russian lessons. The space freed up by this is filled with French, in addition to English and German. I have nothing against the language of Dumas, Zidane and Le Pen, but I think that good Russian will be of more use to my children than half-literate French. The school authorities explained to us that since Russian isn't a foreign language, the ministry of education has cut the hours allotted to its study, in favor of a foreign language. Dear ministers, please return the status of a foreign language to Russian, and let my children study it along with English and German – five times a week.
The discussion of this post has been going on for over a week now; at some point, it has evolved into a brawl, and there's also a lengthy lecture on linguicide, posted in installments by one reader. Here's a translation of just a handful of them (UKR, RUS):
Ihor_Dudnyk:
I wonder if Victor Fedorovych [Yanukovych] has ever heard of Belgium, where there are several national languages, and the country is on the verge of splitting, and the language issue is one of the key reasons for this split.
Introducing a second national language in Ukraine – Russian – will place the country on the verge of a split (Belgium is an example) and will destroy the Ukrainian language (Belarus, where they've almost destroyed the Belarusian language, is an example).
Sasha, you should've advised Victor Fedorovych to learn more about the language situation in these countries, and perhaps then he wouldn't be asking questions like this.
Leading:
Ihor_Dudnyk, I think that the problem of Russian or any other language does not exist in Ukraine. This pseudo-problem is dragged out of the closet every time there is an election, dusted off and solemnly brought out in front of the roaring crowd. And after the election, it's put back into the closet, into the very same corner of it. […]
Petro-syanko:
[…] The language issue is impossible to resolve, because it requires 300 votes in favor of the changes in the Constitution. Of course, [the Party of the Regions] can bribe the deputies whose votes it's missing, but this money would be spent in vain and won't bring any dividends. What will be left for them to be screaming about at the next election […]?
Chif:
The problem of the Russian language is inflated as an air balloon and is exaggerated […]. There are folks from every corner of our motherland at our university. A good example: there are bestest friends in my group, from Lviv, Bila Tserkva and Sevastopol. And the language poses no problem to their friendship… [Javier] Solana has said it best today: Ukraine's got more significant problems than a referendum on the Russian language.
svs02:
It's just that no one has ever thought of … how much the second national language would cost. […] All laws, documents, etc. would have to be accessible in two languages, and so on. That is, I, as a citizen, have the right to come to any institution and interact (including through documentation) in either of the national languages, right? And no bureaucrat from Donetsk would be able to allow himself NOT to speak to me in Ukrainian, and, vice versa, in Ivano-Frankivsk, they wouldn't be able NOT to interact in Russian. Or am I misunderstanding the concept of the national language???
And street signs on the buildings… they probably have to be on both languages, nicht??? [sic]
Petro-syanko:
“And street signs on the buildings… they probably have to be on both languages, nicht???”
Oh, [it'd be great if they were there at all], even in one language, even in the unofficial one :-)
Gm:
I'm addressing supporters of the second national language here:
You say that you are “for” the Russian language.
This ain't so.
In fact, you're “against” the Ukrainian language.
Nothing is threatening Russian in Ukraine. Besides, it's got its own base – the Russian Federation, where it will continue to develop.
But Ukrainian has nowhere to retreat.
Ukraine is its base.
And this is why your position is amoral.
Gm:
I walked into EuroStar bookstore in Kyiv yesterday and eavesdropped on a conversation between a [male customer] and the young salesperson. The conversation was in Ukrainian – the man was asking if there was any science fiction in Ukrainian, and the salesman was politely saying that there was nothing – all books were published by Russian publishers and were available only in Russian. The man left empty-handed.
I asked the guy how many books in Ukrainian the bookstore had overall – he said there were approximately 60-65 titles, and the rest – some 4,000-4,500 items – were in Russian. And then he added quietly that there have been no additions in the past month.
I asked him whether this was the company's acquisition policy. He said it looked like it was, and, in his opinion, this was being done deliberately, because there is a demand for Ukrainian-language books, even though they are more expensive than those published by Russian publishers.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Vietnam: Ignoring Myanmar · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Diacritic highlights the protests happening in Myanmar and wants Vietnam to distance itself from Myanmar. In recent years Vietnam has increased its contacts with Myanmar.


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Vietnam: Installing Linux · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Saigon Nezumi, who is promoting open source in Vietnam, is pleased that his student was able to install Ubuntu Linux on his computer by himself.


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Africa: Black victims of Nazi holocoust · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Black Looks writes: “Finally a memorial is to be erected outside the home of one Black victim of the Nazi holocoust giving a name to the nameless. Mahjub bin Adam Mohamed originally from Tanzania who married a German woman and was charged with ‘miscegenation’. He died in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, in November 1944.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Africa: Citizen Journalism for rural communities · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Listen to SANGOnet ICT Services Manager, Matthew de Gale talking about their Citizen Journalism project, which aims at promoting the use of Web 2.0 by rural communities in Africa.


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Argentina: Taxi Cab Owners vs. Peones · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Cronicas Argentinas [ES] continues the blog series on taxis in Buenos Aires by asking readers whether they prefer taking a cab from an owner or from “peones,” which is someone that rents the cab from the owner to make a living.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Bahrain: Corruption No Longer Condoned · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Like everyone else in Bahrain, I was thrilled to read our Crown Prince’s unequivocal statement that corruption will no longer be condoned and that even if a minister was implicated in corruption, he or she will get their just dessert,” writes Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Bahrain: Soap Hanging from Trees? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini in Alaska Haitham Salman wonders why there are bars of soap hanging from the pear trees in the backyard of his new home.


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Barbados: Regional Connectivity  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Living in Barbados asks: “Why is it that with a solid Caribbean regional network C&W cannot provide a simple, seamless, means of accessing services like voice mail within the region?”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Belize: Carnival Time · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Due to our most recent hurricane scare, Carnival was rescheduled to yesterday”: Belize-y Livin’ mixed fun with responsibility as she “handed out the condoms and HIV/AIDS literature to adults when we were walking behind the float…HIV/AIDS affects Belize more than any other Central American country.”


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China: Forced Land Expropriation  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

1 bao has a detailed report on forced land expropriation case in Zhejian, Lunchuan. In order to protect their land, local villagers sued the local government for illegal expropriation of farmland. Even though the  State Department has expressed concern over the case and demanded the local government to handle the issue properly, the local government has ignored the guideline and continued the forced land expropriation. Yesterday (Sept 24), the villagers confronted with construction workers who tried to destroy their land with trucks (zh).

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Guide To Etiquette · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT) has issued a guide to talent shows, which includes a pre-screening process for program content, length, judges, hosts, and special guests. Joel Martinsen from DANWEI has translated the guide into English.


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China: Traffic cops get machine guns · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Do Chinese street cops need more weapons? On the same day earlier this month that it was reported urban riot police in one southern city were undergoing training to use crossbows, a new program began in south-central China's Chongqing Municipality which, in addition to handguns and bulletproof vests, would see traffic police there equipped with machine guns every night after nine for the purpose of carrying out drunk driving and traffic violation spot checks.
Sina blogger Zhou Pengan who made the two-city connection above points out that current police firearm regulations make it illegal for machine guns to be used in routine traffic control work. The People's Police—quite different in nature from the People's Armed Police—Wikipedia entry puts the usage limit for lethal weapons at [to] “be used if necessary to stop violent riots, to lessen the overall loss of life, or to subdue surrounded but still resisting criminals. The regulations even governed use of sirens, police lights, and whistles.”
Zhou opines:
作为特警，为了应付各种突发事件，多装备一两样武器也是很有必要的，但将老祖宗们使用过的弓弩升级一下用于防暴，我不知道它具有什么优势？如果希望不置人于死地的话，催泪弹、催泪瓦斯显然效果更好；如果是希望击毙对方，则枪支的效果则更为明显。
The latter news received quite a bit of coverage, and no shortage of discussion. Sina, via Kaysky.cn, did a poll [photos included] on support for gun-toting traffic police, the response choices for which read:
1) I don't support this. Driving and walking at gunpoint is just too terrifying.
2) I support this. It's in accordance with the law and at the same time establishes police authority and deters crime, adding to citizens’ sense of security.
3) Whatever.
Readers of one post on this at the WHXF bbs left the following select comments:
我真的被震慑住了！以后再也不敢酒后驾车、不带证驾车。。。鸟。。。保住小命要紧啊！
直接戒严算了，反正满大街都是敌人。
建议用迫击炮，市民更放心。
恐怖中求河谐
一人发把枪，怪河蟹的
除了武警,还有武装交警
Writes one reader of the report at the NewsSSC bbs:
枪杆子里面出和谐，吼吼。
And the top comments left at Netease's report:
哈哈,谁违章毙了谁.好恐怖的JC
重庆有那么乱吗? 查个车还要持冲锋枪!!!晕!!!!
知道现在社会治安咋样了吧!连个交警都配枪,你以为是在老美啊,每个人都有枪.
最好每人再配个手榴弹，这样更威风！
发现违章当场击毙

author: John Kennedy


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Costa Rica: Vice-President Resigns · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Roberto Gallardo [ES] and Fusil de Chispas [ES] write about the resignation of Kevin Casas, Vice-President of Costa Rica.


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Croatia: A Vacation Report · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

While reading Csíkszereda Musings‘s report on his vacation in Croatia, try to come up with the names of at least “five famous Croatians.”


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Czech Rebublic: Violent Football Fans · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Petr Bokuvka of The Czech Daily Word writes about violent behavior of the Czech football fans.


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Czech Republic: Brno Airport Bus Service · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Petr Bokuvka of The Czech Daily Word lists drawbacks of the bus service that connects Brno downtown and its airport: “In Brno, the airport is served by regular bus line number 76 that has about ten stops on the way to the center and thus is used also by people from the neighborhood the bus goes through. And it is also used by people who work in the industrial zone that neighbors the airport.”


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Ecuador: Unlocked iPhone · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Palulo documents in detail how he was able to unlock an iPhone [ES] for use with local Ecuadoran cell phone providers.


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Egypt: Workers Strike · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Hossam Al Hamalawy from Egypt is writing about a workers strike. “After the first day of the strike and sit-in, the picture inside the factory is really amazing. 10,000 people breaking the fast together in Tala’at Harb Sq, located inside the company compound. It’s a scene, which I find no words to describe it with….” he notes.


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Environment: The UN Conference on Climate Change Part I · Global Voices
Juliana Rotich

- Thematic Plenary I – Adaptation – From Vulnerability to Resilience.
Facilitator is Dr. Asha-Rose migiro Deputy Secretary General
Co chaired by H.E Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark,
and HE Owen Arthur, Prime minister of Barbados.
Tweets here, and this post will be added to as the conference continues.
During the meeting, presidents and prime ministers addressed the panel; speaking about their individual countries. Some of them mentioned how they were adapting (Netherlands, Mauritius and others) to climate change while others highlighted their major challenges. By and large most of the leaders acknowledged that climate change poses a serious threat to the planet. However, there was one exception. The delegate of the Czech republic said that he did not believe the Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report was balanced noting that there is no scientific consensus on climate change and that the UN should set up a panel to investigate the corollary arguments and conclusions made by the IPCC. He clearly does not believe that global warming is a problem. There was a light moment with applause when he joked that people need to save more energy and cool the room.
The delegates from African countries all gave examples of the effects on climate change in their respective countries. The following statement by the president of Ghana in large part mirrors observations by the other African leaders about what the current situation is.
In Africa and other poor developing countries, climate change is already making it difficult to guarantee the necessities fo life. These countries, including my own Ghana, are already feeling the impact of change resulting from our oft misinformed handlign of our environments and also from the effluence caused by the industrialized nations. Erratic rainfall patterns, droughts and desertification, floods and other weather related disasters are directly endangering human life and affecting agricultural productivity, food and water security.
There were a few examples of how countries have been able to adapt to climate change. The PM of Netherlands pointed out that his country has been adapting to severe environmental effects for a long time, by developing and implementing innovative solutions such as advanced water management, building of dykes and floating houses.
Other examples of what can be done to adapt to climate change: Re-forestation, use of renewable energy such as wind, solar and biomass (mentioned by representatives from Mauritius and madagascar). Island states are also very vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and the PM of Barbados mentioned during his closing remarks that it is a matter of survival to deal with Climate change.
Tweets of Part II are here
Note: Earlier this year, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report that mentioned that climate change will likely have a ‘graver effect’ on Africa.
Please stay tuned for more Live from the UN.

author: Juliana Rotich


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Environment: The UN Conference on Climate Change Part II · Global Voices
Juliana Rotich

– Thematic Plenary- Adaptation. Facilitator is Dr. Asha-Rose migiro Deputy Secretary General
Co chaired by HE Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands and H.E Mr. Fakhruddin  Ahmed the Honourable Chief Advisor of the Non-Party Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.
I will be doing short form blogging in the form of tweets in the newly created channel for Global voices: http://twitter.com/GlobalVoicesEnv Short summaries of what the leaders are saying in the 2nd plenary session “The challenge of Adaptation” (Note:session began at 3pm, I will tweet it from 4pm onwards).
Note that Part I is posted here.


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Environment: UN Conference on Climate Change  · Global Voices
Juliana Rotich

I am blogging live from the United Nations building in NY. I will tweet part of the conference and blog it as it progresses. A Short Intro and the sessions I will attend at the conference is available here.


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Ghana: Barclays uses blogger’s photos without permission · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Oluniyi Ajao complains about his photos being stolen by Barclays Bank (Ghana): “A few minutes ago, I saw an ad on CNN, with Barclays Bank congratulating themselves on being the 1st offshore bank in Ghana.
Well, the two photos displayed at the tail-end of the ad are mine and used without my permission or attribution.”


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Ghana: Hiplife hits dead end · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Muntala Muntari discusses the end of Ghanaian music, hiplife:”A decade of hiplife has come and gone with little or no fun fair. The Ghanaian genre of music, which started out as a promising star among all the genres of music in Ghana, is now melting like butter against sun.”


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Grenada: Tattoo  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Ever seen a live Tattoo (considered a “wild meat” delicacy by many West Indians)?  Then Free Spirit‘s pictures will have to do…


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Honduras: Immigration and Factory Closings · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Aaron Ortiz of Pensieve writes about the closing of a Fruit of the Loom factory in Honduras and his thoughts about the possible immigration ramifications.


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India: Classical Music · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

30 in 2005 attends a seven hour Indian Classical Music Concert and comes back very happy.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India: Twenty20 and Cricket Fans · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Twenty20 format of Cricket seems to be winning over new fans, as Chronicus Skepticus takes to the game.


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Iran:Ahmadinejad at Columbia · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Sepdieh Saremi in Parsarts writes “are you in New York? Go up to Columbia to see the madness as Ahmadinejad is giving a speech there today.”

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Bahai’s in Trouble · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iranian Truth says Bahai’s are a discriminated class in Iran and are often ignored by the Diaspora completely. In Iran, they have in many cases been uprooted from their homes, denied access to resources equal and on par with other Iranians, and even violently attacked strictly on the basis of their religion.


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Iran:Offices of Conservative Website closed · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

RSF (Reporters Without Borders) and Necas,an Iranian blogger,criticised [Fa]the closure of the offices of the hardline website Baztab.com.Baztab was highly critical of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.


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Iran:”We do not have Homosexuals in Iran” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Mahmud Ahmadinejad,Iranian president,said,in Columbia University,”we do not have homosexuals in Iran like you do in your country.”Watch the film.


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Jamaica: Nobel Prize Picks  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“It goes without saying that the list of writers that haven’t won will always be more impressive than those who have, but that’s matter more of volume than taste”: Marlon James puts forward his picks for this year's Nobel Prize in Literature.


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Jamaica: Plant Wisdom  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“In this lifetime, she has a lot to teach me”: Geoffrey Philp is looking forward to lessons from his favourite plant.


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Jordan: Sad Day for Online Community · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“The Jordanian government is going on, what can best be described as, an anti-online free speech jihad. A decision has been made to monitor websites (most likely including the rising popularity of blogs) and to keep them in check with the country’s notorious press and publication laws,” writes Naseem Tarawnah from Jordan.


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Myanmar: Tens of Thousands Join Protest led by Monks · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Myanmar bloggers are posting videos and pictures of the large protest that took place earlier today in Yangon, the former capital and the largest city in Myanmar. The protest was led by Buddhist monks. It is the latest in a series of month long demonstrations against the military government and was initially fueled by price rises.
via Burmadigest.info
Following blogs have pictures of the day's happening. (via Blog of Nyein Chan Yar)
Niknayman blog
Justice and Injustice
Soneseayar Blog (A video clip from the streets of Yangon)
Myanmar Media, Education & Development Watch
Sa -nare-nar comments on the above blog.
I would lidke to request all our friend gp doctors to take care of our monks. I hope they are doing the right thing. Please inform your nearest Dr about sick monks in order to visit them for treatment. Medical professionals include doctors, indigenous practitioners and nurses


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Nepal: Indian Yoga Guru and Media · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! on the issue of an Indian Yoga Guru's trip to India, and the immature handling of issues pertaining to Nepal by the Indian Media.


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One Million Voices for Peace · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

What is the One Million Voices campaign all about and could peace in the Middle East be a reality? Also, what role is the internet and blogging playing in this mass movement, which over 500,000 Israelis and Palestinians have signed up for so far?
Global Voices Online caught up with campaign Communications Coordinator Erin Pineda  who discusses with us the ambitious project, which aims to amplify the voices of the ‘moderate silent majority’ caught up in the conflict.
Q – What is the One Million Voices campaign about? How and why was it launched? Who is responsible for it?
A – The One Million Voices Campaign really consists of two parts – the People’s Summit on October 18, 2007, and the year-long campaign that will follow it.
The People’s Summit is a parallel event held simultaneously in Tel Aviv and Jericho, internationally-linked to solidarity events held worldwide, to give a platform to the moderate majority of Israelis and Palestinians who wish for an end to the conflict, as they propel their elected representatives to sit down and negotiate a two-state solution.  The Summit will be free and open to the public; the only “cost” of admission is signing on to the OneVoice Mandate – which calls upon the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to initiate ongoing, immediate, and uninterrupted negotiations, to reach a two-state solution on or before October 18, 2008.  There are currently well over 500,000 Israeli and Palestinian signatories to the mandate (in roughly equal numbers on each side), and over 10,000 International supporters – a more detailed and complete breakdown of the numbers is available here.
Thus begins the One Million Voices year-long campaign to make it happen.  The process is a two-pronged approach that involves: 1) continuing and intensifying our recruitment process on the ground – we are aiming to get one million Israelis and Palestinians on board through the process – in addition to strengthening the network of youth leaders and activists already in place; and 2) relaying this momentum to the leadership, so that when they sit down to negotiate, they do so knowing that they have a groundswell of support from their constituency – hundreds of thousands of people who are demanding progress and results from them.  In the weeks after October 18, 2007, the signed mandates will be physically delivered en masse to the steps of the PLC and the Knesset by delegations of OneVoice volunteers and activists.
One Million Voices is an initiative of the OneVoice Movement, a mainstream nationalist grassroots movement with over half a million signatories in roughly equal numbers both in Israel and in Palestine, and 3,000 highly-trained youth leaders. It aims to amplify the voice of the overwhelming but heretofore silent majority of moderates who wish for peace and prosperity, empowering them to demand accountability from elected representatives and work toward a two-state solution. For One Million Voices, we have been working in conjunction with a world-class Production Team (including Michael Lang of Woodstock and Chris Wangro of Concerts in Central Park) and a host of dignitaries and luminaries who have agreed to be Honorary Co-Chairs and Board Members – such as Klaus Schwab, Founder of the World Economic Forum; Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland; and Stuart Eizenstat, Former Under-Secretary of State.
Q – What do you aim to achieve and are such goals possible?
A – What we aim for is no less than: 1) the broadest, largest simultaneous mass mobilization of citizens in both Israel and Palestine for the sake of ending the conflict; and 2) a two-state solution agreed upon no later than October 18, 2008.
It is an enormously ambitious goal – some might say unrealistic.  But the truth of the matter is, we have no other choice but to work for it.  The alternative of continued, escalating cycles of violence, terror, occupation, and war is no alternative at all.  If the past 40 years of stalemated negotiations have taught us anything, it is that it is not enough for the leaders to be ready to sit down; it is not enough for international diplomats to push for negotiations.  For there to be results, the will of both peoples for resolution – both Israelis and Palestinians – has to align, and has to be made manifest.  The leaders need to know their people support them and demand results from them; Palestinians need to know Israelis want to end the conflict; Israelis need to know the same of Palestinians.  One Million Voices aims to create a shared reality in which Israelis, Palestinians, international supporters, and their leaders clearly see the reality of the moderate majority on both sides, taking an active stand for a two state solution.
Q – Why are you holding a bloggers meet up in New York today (September 24)? What role do you anticipate the bloggers will play? Have you witnessed any positive reconciliation attempts between Palestinian and Israeli bloggers and how vital is building such bridges between bloggers and citizen journalists to your peace initiative?
A – Internet technology and alternative media are making the world an increasingly accessible and interconnected place – allowing international interaction between people on different sides of the globe, or on different sides of a regional conflict.  Alternative media like blogs not only create a way for ordinary people to interact, but also to become an active part of ‘making the news’ – as Blogs and the “blogosphere” gains prominence and popularity, it is also changing the way that we think of media, news, and reporting.  Now the people can really take part in that process – in determining what is ‘newsworthy’.
Unfortunately, the old adage “if it bleeds, it leads” usually proves true in terms of gaining media attention for positive, non-violent efforts to change the way things are.  Blogs are both a compliment and an alternative to traditional media coverage – one that is participatory and user-defined.  We hope that bloggers who believe in what we do will use their blogs and their networks to help spread the word – to use their blogs to reach out to other communities and to keep in touch with what we are doing.
Q – How successful has your online campaign been and how much impact is your online activism having on the ground?
A – Well over 500,000 Israelis and Palestinians have signed on.  The vast majority of these sign-ups have been on the ground in Israel and Palestine – but with the launch of www.OneMillionVoices.org at the beginning of August, we are beginning to gear up towards a big online push to get people to sign up online.  As I mentioned above, the internet provides an incredible opportunity for collaboration between those separated by distance or conflict.  A great deal of our International Supporters have come to us through one of our online platforms – which is vital to our programming on the ground.  It is critical to demonstrate to Israelis and Palestinians that the international community is with them, is behind them supporting their efforts.  And one of the best ways to highlight this is online.


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Pakistan: The Twenty20 Final · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A thrilling final match at the Twenty20 World Cup between India and Pakistan. Kaleidescope liveblogs the entire match in two parts – Part 1 and Part 2.


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Pakistan: Twenty20 Finals · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Twenty20 couldn't have had a more spectacular final match. All Things Pakistan has an interesting comment thread on the India-Pakistan match.


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Paraguay: Latest Poll Numbers · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Bloggings by Boz talks about the latest poll numbers in Paraguay.


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Paypal in Bahrain · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Abdulla  discusses Paypal in Bahrain, saying users in Bahrain can only send but not receive money using the system.


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Peru: Alberto Toledo’s Thoughts on Fujimori Extradition · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Mate Pastor [ES] writes about the recent comments made by ex-President Alberto Toledo regarding the recent extradition of Alberto Fujimori.


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Peru: Fujimori’s Arrival · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Juan Arellano of Globalizado [ES] continues his coverage of the Fujimori extradition with his recent entry regarding the arrival of the ex-President to Peruvian soil.


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Ramadaning in Kuwait · Global Voices
Abdullatif AlOmar

Ramadan, food and shopping were top priorities among Kuwaiti bloggers last week.
To start off, Amer at Hilaliya provides a picture of inside a mosque (masjid) before prayers.
“That's a wonderful photo, Amer, for those of us who never see the inside during prayer,” comments Intlxpatr, an expatriate in Kuwait.
Erzulie talks about a typical Ramadan day for her.
“So Ramadan funks up the metabolism. That’s nice. One of the things that I do love about Ramadan though is the aroma of familiar foods you smell just before you enter the house. That has never changed and I hope it never will.”
EXzombie , one of the upcoming young Kuwaiti directors, announces plans about his new project over at exzombiesm.
“Some of you might know already that I'm working on a project about the Kuwaiti blogosphere, and bloggers, I'm finishing my research soon, and would like to start shooting some interviews,” he explains.
Frankom , meanwhile, talks about his trip to Sultan Center (a hyper market in Kuwait) and how he felt.
Anafilibini also talks about what she likes in Ramadan in Kuwait and lists a couple of points.
Some of The Things I Love About Ramadan In Kuwait:
1. The scene of people giving away food and money from their cars to less fortunate people on the streets.
2. 2 hour less working time..
Intlxpatr also writes about breaking the code and finding the right time to shop in Ramadan.
Finally, this morning, I was able to do some shopping. We are talking desperate, here, no eggs left in the house, no onions and we are getting low on milk.
I shopped on Thursday, the first day of Ramadan, with no problems. Since then, I have tried to shop Friday after church, and Saturday around two in the afternoon – both times, just the crunch in the parking lot convinced me not to even venture into the store. This was true both at the Sultan Center and at the co-op.
And last but not least, Qais, over at io81, talks about how a shop redefined Konafa (type of Arabic delicacy).
i started thinking about how such a simple arabic sweet become advertised on satellite TV. Why did other Konafa places did not come up with the same idea, how come a product like Konafa generate such hype?

author: Abdullatif AlOmar


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Romania: Buses · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A comprehensive post on Romanian buses – from An American in Romania.


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Saudi Arabia: The Right to Drive · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A group of Saudi women are campaigning for the right to drive in the only country in the world which bans women from driving, reports The Arabist.


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South Korea: History of Nationalism · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

K. M. Lawson from froginawell discusses an article written by Korean scholar on the history and development of Korean nationalism.


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Healthy Living  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Alarmed by the rising rates of non communicable diseases in the Caribbean the Heads of Govermnents recently held a summit dedicated to addressing the issue”: Abeni puts in her two cents’ worth.


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Taiwan: Flickr.tw · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

CK received a letter from a lawyer representing Flickr. The letter demands him to close the website and hand over the domain flickr.tw (zh) back to Yahoo! because it has violated the company's trademark. Many Taiwan bloggers criticized Yahoo! for its legal action. In Hemidemi's bookmark (zh), some comments point out that domain name shouldn't be equal to trademark; some point out that flickr wouldn't take up flickr.tw as its domain in the future, the website has done no harm to Yahoo!


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The Baltics: Unity Day; Latgallia · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Marginalia writes about Latgallia, and the history and politics of the Baltic Unity Day, marked on Sept. 22.


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

“Now, I am not necessarily enamoured of our leaders, our government and our politics, but I am proud of our Republic status”: Lifespan of a Chennette wishes Trinidad and Tobago a happy Republic Day!


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Ukraine: Devushka Fall Fashion · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Carpetblogger posts some Kyiv devushka pictures and writes about “what's hot on the streets of Kyiv this season.”


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Ukraine: “The Battle of Billboards” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

With roughly 160 hours remaining before the Sept. 30 parliamentary election, Ukrainiana takes a walk around Kyiv and posts a photo report on “The Battle of Billboards.”


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World Reaction to the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

In every society in which they find themselves, the world's 370 million indigenous peoples are among the most vulnerable and marginalized.
After over 22 years of negotiations and consultations, the United Nations approved the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples earlier this month, a broad, non-binding agreement articulating basic individual and communal rights to cultural self-preservation, self-determination and natural resources.
The Declaration sparked conversations in blogospheres around the world about the situation of indigenous people today, the Declaration's value and limits, as well as harsh condemnation of the four member countries that voted against: Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
K sums up the main provisions of the Declaration:
la Declaración consta de 46 artículos y establece parámetros mínimos de respeto a los derechos de los pueblos indígenas, que incluyen propiedad de la tierra, acceso a los recursos naturales de los territorios donde se asientan, respeto y preservación de sus tradiciones y autodeterminación…El texto también hace hincapié en la importancia de la educación bilingüe y alude a la implementación de medidas especiales para asegurar el mejoramiento continuo de las condiciones económicas y sociales de los ancianos, mujeres y menores, en particular. La Declaración no es jurídicamente vinculante, pero representa un instrumento dinámico en las normas internacionales, que ayudaría a proteger a los indígenas contra la discriminación y marginación.
Democracia Multicultural:
Los pueblos indígenas afirman que sus tierras y territorios están siendo amenazados por la minería, tala, contaminación ambiental, proyectos de privatización y desarrollo, las designaciones de tierras como áreas protegidas o reservas y el uso de semillas genéticamente modificadas, entre otros.
Kenya Environmental & Political News Weblog writes that in Kenya, the Maasai and Ogiekrg face serious social problems that “stemmed mostly from eviction from their ancestral land and being denied the right to continue living in forests as their forefathers.”
Ever since colonial times, most of what used to be Maasai land has been taken over, for private farms and ranches, for government projects or for wildlife parks. Mostly they retain only the most arid and least fertile areas. The stress this causes to their herds has often been aggravated by attempts made by government of Kenya and Tanzania to ‘develop’ the Maasai.
Similarly, since colonial times, there have been persistent attempts to evict the Ogiek from their ancestral forest, usually on the pretext that they are degrading it. But when the Ogiek are removed, their forest is not protected but rather exploited by logging and tea plantations – some owned by government officials. In some parts of the Mau forest, groups of Ogiek are now resisting eviction, while in others they face influxes of settlers onto their land. The most serious threat currently facing them all comes from the government’s plan to open up around one tenth of Kenya’s forests – most of it in the Mau forest – to outsiders.
Censored News posts a statement by civil society organizations on the conditions of indigenous peoples elsewhere in Africa:
au moment ou des milliers de Batwa dans la région des grands lacs sont affectés par des guerres dont ils ne connaissent pas les raisons, des familles de San sont expropries de leur terre par des fermiers et des parks nationaux. Les forets qui constituent les ressources de survie des autochtones (Baka, Bageli, Batwa, endoroi, Massai, Ogiek, M’barabek …etc.) d’Afrique centrale et de l’Est sont détruites, le peuple touareg entre l’Afrique du Nord et de l’Ouest est pris dans le feu d’un conflit d’intérêt d’exploitation de ressources naturelles et géopolitiques des Etats
Citing a World Bank report, Pepitorias writes that in many countries in Latin America, 75-90% of indigenous peoples live in poverty and that indigenous peoples are more vulnerable to global warming and natural disasters.
The passage of the Declaration was heralded as an historic milestone by indigenous groups, but many bloggers were highly critical of four “settler states” that voted against it: Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Although legally non-binding, many of the document's provisions were controversial, according to Democracia Multicultural (es), including one ensuring that indigenous land cannot be “sin el consentimiento libre, previo e informado de los pueblos indígenas interesados, ni sin un acuerdo previo sobre una indemnización justa y equitativa” and another requiring restitution or just compensation for confiscated lands.
Wampum observes that states which voted against the Declaration were all former colonies of England in the Americas and the South Pacific, and that the states most active in promoting it were former colonies of Spain and Portugal in the Americas.
The MySpace blog save the sacred sites (via Angry Indian)
I have prayed many times that the world would recognize the rights of Indigenous Peoples. I knew that the US & Canada and of coarse Australia, who have done to the Aborigines what the US & Canada have done to Natives, would vote no. The big surprise to me was that Mexico, with their horrible treatment of Indigenous People there, wasn't the 5th country voting against the UN resolution for Indigenous rights. Another amazing thing to me is that even the countries who decimated the Native populations on the Caribbean Islands voted for it. The world is changing. And the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand had better catch up.
La Tribu du Verbe posts a video of a demonstration in Montreal organized by Femmes Autochtones du Quebec and writes about Canada's opposition to the Declaration:
Mais voilà que depuis l’entrée des conservateurs au pouvoir en janvier 2006, le Canada est devenu un farouche opposant à cette déclaration. Dernièrement, à quelques semaines du vote final pour l’adoption de la déclaration, le Canada, appuyé par l’Australie, la Nouvelle-Zélande, la Russie, la Colombie, la Guyane et le Surinam, a demandé de reprendre les négociations, manoeuvre qui a pour but de paralyser l’adoption de la déclaration.
The CAC Review calls the vote against the Declaration by these four “settler states” a “serious tactical error” that will not diminish the Declaration's symbolic value:
To be seen to act against the contents of the Declaration will be equated with acting against international public opinion. What stands out is not that “the liberal democracies with the most intense engagements with indigenous issues” voted against the Declaration, as some have said, since many other countries, with larger indigenous populations, and arguably more intense engagements, voted for it. What stands out instead is how settler states are still in the process of trying to settle themselves, how much “engagement” has really been disengagement, distance, friction, and conflict, and how much wishful thinking plays a part in reigning fantasies that, one day, Europe Part 2, will be as embedded in its foreign soil as Original Europe can claim to be on its soil.
The vote against the Declaration was a serious tactical error: these four states now sorely stand out as colonial, white states, anachronistic entitites in a world where “decolonization” has become part of the international vocabulary. They have also handed the Chinas of the world a powerful argument–that they too flout the will of “the international community,” that they too do not recognize the rights of disadvantaged minorities, and that liberal democracy is really little more than kleptocracy. If accepting the Declaration could have been symbolically binding (even if not legally so), then surely rejecting the Declaration will also come at a political cost. Some of us will see to it that it does.
soup is good food, the blog of a Canadian political science student, writes that even non-binding declarations can turn into political liabilities for governments unfriendly to native issues:
some might point out that the declaration is non-binding. The Canadian government could have easily signed it to look good and then ignored it like we do with other declarations. I wouldn't use this excuse.
I think the Harper government knows exactly how dangerous declarations can be.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is/was non-binding. Now many parts of it are customary international law. It's not perfect and violations still occur, but it's there. It's a global rallying point for change and justice. And that's something.
Politicians have learned from this “mistake” of allowing non-binding seemingly harmless feel-good declarations in. It eventually causes problems. Which is why we now have four powerful countries with ongoing histories of disgusting abuses against indigenous populations having temper tantrums over the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Because heaven forbid we should sign onto something that would oblige us to do the right thing.
What impact will the Declaration have?
In Martinique, le blog de [moi] predicts the declaration may prompt new rumblings from pro-independence elements.
Martinique is an overseas department of France, which had long opposed the Declaration on a “principal of the indivisibility of the Republic” and its refusal to recognize communal rights.  France changed its position under former president Jacques Chirac, who was personally interested in “first peoples.”
indigenouspeoplecongobrazza (Fr) writes that although the Declaration, and in particular the sections pertaining to the use of land and natural resources and the principle of informed consent, might appear to be a victory for pygmies in Congo, “the absence of national legislation regarding indigenous peoples and the low level of education among most indigenous peoples” will remain major barriers to their benefiting from the Declaration.
Criticisms of the Declaration
Polysocial (es) notes that the Declaration was amended at the last minute, without input from an indigenous groups, after an agreement was struck between its cosponsors, a group of African and Latin American countries, including Peru, Guatemala and Mexico to include a clause which states the intention of the Declaration is not to authorize or stir any action threatening the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign states.
Many Central and South American organizations demonstrated against these amendments, Polysocial writes, believing that the Declaration “had suffered changes that diminished its content…in the spirit of debilitating and restricting its scope.”
In a comment on le blog de [moi], WK, a reader, writes:
il y a quelque chose qui me heurte profondément dans cette déclaration c’est que j’y trouve une sorte d’abdication à créer des sociétés multiculturelles et un encouragement à des replis identitaires. Par ailleurs, une déclaration aussi globale me paraît mal venue dans le sens ou elle est tellement vague qu’elle pourra rester lettre morte alors qu’il y a bien urgence dans certaines cas, je pense par exemple à l’Alaska où des ressources et des modes de vie sont menacées par l’avidité des compagnies pétrolières.
One Japanese blogger voices concern about how indigenous peoples are defined.  The UN has long relied on self-definition and purposely vague standards.
気になるのは、用語に関することです。宣言の英語表記ては「indigenous peoples」の諸権利に関する宣言となっていて、nationでもethnic groupでもありません。朝日も産経も記事の見出しは「先住民」ですが、本文では「先住民族」と「先住民」を併用しています。不統一で、あいまいです。
The blogger also writes that Japan is not the homogeneous society it claims to be:
日本ではしばしば単一言語、単一民族などといわれがちですが、子細に見れば、多元的、多様な文化が伝わっていることが分かります。文化的な多元性、多様性をもっとも端的に示しているのは、民族宗教といわれる神社の祭りの多様さです。縄文の火祭りをいまに伝えるものもあれば、伊勢神宮のお膝元で東南アジアの畑作農耕文化と共通するお田植えが行われてさえいます。
And explains the role of semantic issues in the Ainu people's campaign for cultural rights, and the influence of the declaration:
「民族」だといってしまえば、やれ「民族自決」だ、「独立」だ、ということになりかねません。日本でも、政府は、たとえばアイヌに対して、「先住民族」とは認めていません。萱野茂さんが尽力して10年前に成立した「アイヌ文化振興法」も「アイヌの人々」と表現しています。しかし、今回の採択を受けて、「アイヌ民族の尊厳確立」を目的に活動する北海道ウタリ協会はさっそく、「先住民族として認めることを要求していく」と表明しています。
Japanese translations by Chris Salzberg.

author: Jennifer Brea


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Zimbabwe: State sponsored sex stings · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Akin blogs about the case of the former Archbishop of Bulawayo: “Before the case of Bishop Pius Ncube who resigned his post as the Archbishop of Bulawayo on the 11th of September 2007, there was the case of the Reverend Canaan Banana, the first president of Zimbabwe with Robert Mugabe as his Prime Minister who after Mugabe usurped all power was accused and convicted of 11 counts of sodomy….”


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· Global Voices
Jens Wilkinson

Japanese blogger and human rights activist Arudou Debito talks about the new biometric immigration procedures for foreigners arriving at Tokyo's Narita Airport, along with the revival of mandatory fingerprinting after a hiatus of ten years.

author: Jens Wilkinson


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Africa: United States of Mobile Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kenny writes, “Politicians fail, technologies prevail“: Celtel, MTN and Vodacom are just three of a growing band of African operators tearing down national boundaries to allow their customers seamless mobility as they travel from country-to-country.


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Africa/Diaspora: Mixed feelings about reparations · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Koluki has mixed feelings about reparations: “Saying you are sorry, and trying to show it in material ways could be a part of a healing process. But in my heart, I know that giving money, and land alone….will not be the answer.”


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Barbados: STIs · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Underground refers to an article which suggests that “Barbados maybe losing the battle against the spread of sexually transmitted infections among the youth.”


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Bermuda: Cause and Effect  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

IMHO.bm thinks that fixing the problems with Bermuda's youth requires a return to family values.


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Bolivia: Evo on the Daily Show · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Bolivian blogs Pronto*, Barrio Flores and Blogs de Bolivia [ES] are anticipating the appearance of Bolivian President Evo Morales on the popular U.S. program the Daily Show.


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China and Taiwan: Lust, Caution · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lee Ang's latest movie is about to release. K. M. Lawson from Frog in a well writes the debates and historical background of the movie. ESWN also posts a translation of a Taiwan cultural critics Lung Ying tai's reading of the movie story.


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China: Naked Performance · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A Chinese blogger Hairong Tiantian who gained her fame by soliciting pictures of limp dicks has recently performed another nude art performance called 99 Tents, 99 Dreams. The performance is widely reported in the Chinese Internet and Kenneth Tan from Shanghaiist also blogs about it.


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Corporate blogging the Kenyan elections · Global Voices
Bankele

Kenya’s largest newspaper, Daily Nation, has launched a new online platform  that focuses coverage of the 2007 general elections. The interactive platform is a work in process that will include top stories, blog posts, and multimedia content.
Citizen contribution is invited in the form of comments and anyone who has any interesting picture taken of a political event is also invited to send it in.
The blogs are mostly by the Nation senior editors and one of the current top ones is by the Managing Editor in charge of media convergence and new products, Chares Onyango Obbo, who, in one blog post, hails the demise of KANU – the former ruling party. He notes that:
Kanu has all but become a shell that cannot field a presidential within just one electoral cycle of losing power. And without a presidential candidate, which would have allowed the party to build a national machine and craft a centralised election strategy, it will be a miracle if it can field even half the number of Parliamentary candidates it did in 2002…there is also something of Shakespearean retribution in (former President) Moi who led Kenya through its worst period, suffering the humiliation of burying Kanu half-alive by giving up on it as a viable enough organisation to field, let alone win, a presidential candidate.
Kenya’ second largest circulating newspaper, The Standard, also has an election section that is, for now, bereft of interactive features.
Kenyan presidential and parliamentary elections are slated for December 2007.

author: Bankele


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East Asia: Military Threat · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

James from Japan Probe posts a survey conducted by GlobalTalk 21 on Chinese, Japanese and South Korean people's imagination of the source of military threat.


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Ecuador: Campaign Messages on Hi5 · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Cronicaero [ES] is continuing to receive candidates’ campaign messages on his Hi5 social networking profile.


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Egypt: Shhhsh..The Driver is Sleeping · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Talasim, from Jordan, posts this picture, sent in by a contributor in Egypt.


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Environment: Final thoughts on “Live from the UN” · Global Voices
Juliana Rotich

The invitation to blog about a live event at the UN was unprecedented. This was the first time that bloggers were given a reserved area in the press room, with a clear view of the humongous screen partitioned into 4 parts, one for each channel that you can tune into with the classic UN white ear piece.
We got the specifics on who will be chairing which plenary and were even able to attend some of the plenary meetings in their respective halls. I later found out that the word plenary means meeting, so in effect we were attending a ‘meeting, meeting’, though not in the sense that we think of a meeting. It apparently goes further i.e “…fully attended or constituted by all entitled to be present”. This is not the only word that seemed like “UN speak” there was also ‘capacity building’ and ‘knowledge transfer’ Many of the leaders in the sessions I attended used these key words repeatedly. Hearing similar words (in succession too) made you think you were listening to a broken cd player.
Back to the word plenary and its meaning, it includes the idea of entitlement of those present to fully participate and have their say. It helped to talk to and ask the UN foundation communication officers about the format of the meeting because it is very easy to get completely bored and think that there is repetition between delegates speeches that it the whole exercise does not make any sense at all. Is this a conversation? Parallel conversations? What about the themes? Adaptation, Technology, mitigation, financing? I was not sure what to expect when attending the meetings, but i can tell you this. The words in the themes appeared to have been inserted into prepared speeches. I kept on hoping to hear concrete examples of how countries have been adapting to climate change, and thought that it would be the focus of the meeting. What i got were snippets of examples from a few leaders like the PM of Netherlands and the PM of Mauritius amongst a few others. To be fair, the challenges of adapting to climate were succinctly enumerated by many leaders from Africa, including appeals for funds to ‘build capacity’, and perhaps countries have not formally figured out how to adapt to climate change. The format of the talks is clearly classic UN. It wouldn't be the UN if each country did not have a say, though you can't help but wonder if what is happening is a real conversation. Strangely, I came away thinking that perhaps its a different type of talk that one would have to get used to and, decipher. Is the December meeting in Bali going to be a real conversation about what the next steps are in dealing with climate change?
One thing that is undeniable is the passion and commitment of the Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to get the leaders of the world to really act to respond to climate change. I would highly recommend watching his opening remarks  and reading the summary. In addition , depending on which country you are interested in, the UN news center has been excellent in posting videos of the sessions online. [Note that you would have to download Real player].
The speakers from Plenary I on adaptation were from the following countries:Argentina, Guatemala, Micronesia (Federated States Of), Czech Republic, Cyprus, Honduras, Zambia, Ghana, Angola, Thailand, Madagascar, Nigeria, Italy, Netherlands, Republic Of Korea, Mauritius, Bangladesh, Andorra, Spain, and Guinea. I would start with the speeches from Netherlands, Ghana, Zambia, Nigeria.
This ideo The Czech Republic was a small highlight for me. The president thinks the debate on climate change is one sided, and presents some arguments to debunk global warming. At the 7 minute mark, he details his recommendations with some humor thrown in for good measure. His recommendations are definitely arguable, but not his comedic timing.
All in all the ‘Live at the UN’ experience was like i mentioned above, unprecedented. As the UN figures out ‘how to talk to blogs’, and bloggers like myself figure out how to cover the UN, It appears that blog coverage would add value to future UN talks. One thing for sure is that the UN has made the first step towards making the proceedings even more relevant by embracing the blogging medium as a tool in reaching out to people around the world.
My sincere thanks to the UN foundation staff and the other incredibly cool (solar back pack carrying, moleskine toting, mac lugging) bloggers. Stay tuned to ‘Live from the UN’!


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Ghana: Green architecture in Accra · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ugo writes about modern green architecture in Ghana: “The condos will showcase other sustainable materials easy to come by in Ghana: bamboo for the poolside cabana and balcony railing; adobe plasters for the walls; and recycled oil drums as large-format shingle siding.”


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Ghana: These Africans annoy me · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Olawunmi on Africans and corruption: “how we can be so unintelligent about our corruption and expect the world not not to notice, and then we turn around and act indignant when the western press label us corrupt and dishonest.”


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India: Adam’s Bridge, Infrastructure, Government and Religion · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project proposes cutting through a formation known as Adam's Bridge or Rama Setu. Even as the environmental implications of such a project are being discussed, along its  economic viability, the debate has been focused on the nature of Adam's Bridge. Is it a geological formation, or a man-made bridge? The latter becomes a consideration because the Ramayana indicates that the bridge was built because of divine intervention.
In effect, the controversy has become one of determining the nature of Ramayana and the sentiments of those who believe that this is a structure sanctioned by religion. Varnam discusses the historical Rama in this post -
While the  Government is sure that Rama did not exist, historians disagree. A. L. Basham writes that Rama may have been a chief who lived in the 8th or 7th century BCE who did not have any divine attributes. He goes on to write that Rama and Dasaratha were insignificant chieftains, who were ignored by the Puranas, but whose exploits were remembered, elaborated and magnified by by bards.
The Government in an ill-fated affidavit stated that Rama was a mythological figure. Riding the Elephant discusses the project and the controversy.
This is a story that shows how the cauldron of religion, politics, ethnic groupings and regional differences that are a part of daily life in India can spill over into business and infrastructure development. The project involves dredging a shipping channel along the Palk Straits between the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the island of Sri Lanka, and it has been halted by a dispute that turns on the arcane point of whether an ancient Hindu god is part of mythology or someone who actually built a rocky bridge, now mostly submerged under the sea (bottom of map), across the straits in the path of the channel.
Reality Check India presents a fact-sheet on the Rama Setu, and the Government's affidavit.
This kind of brazenness in an affidavit is completely unbecoming of the government. Nobody asked the ASI to comment on the existence of Ram – they should have restricted themselves to stating whether the Ram Sethu has archeological significance to their organization.
Step back and ask yourself : What is the issue before us ?  The hindus believe that Rama is God and that the bridge was built by his sena.  Well, the arguments must end there. You just ran into a religious wall.
India Daily discusses the issue in its political context, as various political parties and lobbies attempt to state that Rama himself is a myth or that there is an element of truth to the Ramayana. Akhil points to DMK (a political party) ‘s comments, and kolkatabase writes on the Hindutva agenda. India Mahesh points to the historical context of DMK and Karunanidhi.
My Wierd Wired World discusses the infrastructural need for the project. Globonomics! on the other hand links to contrary opinion.
The article speaks of distance from Europe to Kolkata to be much lesser of 8 hours and 250 nautical miles and distance from Africa to Kolkata would actually increase by 3.5 hours with reduction in distance – a measly 70 nautical miles! He further quotes John from the Economic and Political Weekly as saying that the ships would be charged almost $5000 as per the project and they would find going around Sri Lanka cost effective.
Great Bong, with trademark humour and sarcasm dripping from his post, comments
No matter how disgusted I am at the ASI, I am however mightily pleased at how our national parties, more specifically the BJP and the other saffronites, have once again shown us that on the issues that really matter to the country [namely whether certain formations of rock on the sea floor were made by an army of dhoti-clad monkeys or not] they are right on the money and keeping an eye out for us.
Doing Jalsa and Showing Jilpa entertains with the criss-crossing of names and snippets from the epic. Proses Anonymitus has a hilarious post titled “On the Expected Effects of Imbibing the Scientific and the Political Spirit in India“. Nilakantan Rajaraman, a blogger, writes in a mainstream newspaper, an article about the nature of federal structures, questioning why the whole country should be consulted about a project that technically only affects Tamil Nadu.
Nanopolitan writes on faith-based attacks on science and the reluctance of the Indian scientific community.
What about the voice of the scientific community as a whole? By this I mean our science academies — of which we have three! Wouln't if be nice if they come forward with their opinion on Adam's bridge? Wouldn't it be nice if they explain what science has to say about its formation? Wouldn't it be nice if they also offer a strong argument for a scientific outlook to life in general and natural phenomena in particular? Wouldn't it be nice if they lend their collective support to ASI and its scientists? Wouldn't it be nice if they take a united stand for science and against superstition?


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Jamaica: Promises, Promises · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican Francis Wade wonders: “What is the cost of a promise that falls through the cracks?”


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Japan: District For Grannies  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Pingmag has an article about the design of a district (Sugamo) in Tokyo for grannies.


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Japan: Fukuda Slated to Be Next PM · Global Voices
Jens Wilkinson

In the Liberal Democratic Party election held on Sunday the 24th, Fukuda Yasuo defeated opponent Aso Taro, and is slated to become the next Prime Minister. He will follow Abe Shinzo, who resigned two weeks ago.
This marks an important change. Fukuda is generally known as a moderate within the LDP, and thus his election is a change from the administrations of Abe and his predecessor Koizumi Junichiro, who followed a generally conservative, market-oriented reform program. In the Upper House election held this July, the LDP was badly beaten by the opposition Democratic Party of Japan. Thus, it seems that a period of fluidity has arrived in Japanese politics.
Needless to say, the election of Fukuda is a major topic for bloggers as for the media in general. One of the big issues that Fukuda will deal with is the extension of the Anti-Terror Law, which permits Japan to participate in the US “War against Terror.” A recent report that Japan was (in opposition to the law) refuelling US aircraft carrier heading to Iraq will put more sparks into the emerging fire.
Blogger Jun Okumura, writing in English, talked about the main issue that Fukuda will have to take up, the counter-terrorism extension bill.
The first item on the Prime Minister to-do list is, of course, pushing a counter-terrorism extension bill. Mr. Fukuda has steadfastly refused to say that he'll resort to the supermajority override. I firmly believe that this is merely part of the LDP charm offensive, beginning right after the Upper House election, when Nobutaka Machimura and other party worthies talked up the DPJ and even hinted at a Grand Coalition.
Conservative blogger Hakase no Hitorigoto summarized a right-wing position on Fukuda's election, seeming to express dismay as a “step backward” that Fukuda will probably take:
一方、安倍氏とは、改憲や集団的自衛権行使の論議で大きく食い違い、今後の「与党内対立」をも回避できない状況にあった。いわば、安倍氏の存在は「目の上のたんこぶ」であり、邪魔者であった。このままでは、政権を離脱する可能性すら考えなければならない局面にあった。
On the other hand, Fukuda has a quite different stance from Abe concerning the right of collective self-defense, and it will be impossible to avoid conflict within the ruling party on this. Abe's existence itself has become like a “bump on the head of the LDP,” and it even seemed possible that the LDP would lose power.
Thus, for conservatives, it seems that Fukuda represents a danger that Japan will move leftward from the Koizumi/Abe line. From the other side, Blooger Aoki Naoto, talks about his excitement about what may come next in Japanese politics.
既存政治を全否定する私でも、これから始まる福田自民党と小沢民主党の歴史的攻防にワクワクした思いで注目せざるを得ない。国民不在の政治劇ではあるが、どちらが政権を取るのか、そしてその政権がどのような政策を国民に提示するのかは、我々の生活に直結する。
Even I, who am usually blase about politics as usual, am exciting about the coming historical confrontation betwen Fukuda Yasuo and Ozawa Ichiro of the Democratic Party of Japan. It will be politics without the presence of the people, but the winner of the contest will have a big effect on the lives of the people.
Finally, Hosaka Nobuto, a Diet member from the opposition Social Democratic Party, expresses the lack of enthusiasm that many feel regarding Fukuda's election, and in particular his thoroughbred upbringing (he will be the first second-generation Prime Minister ever):
明日、首班指名を受けて組閣される福田内閣はサプライズなどなく、派閥均衡配慮型になるのは、これまでの経過を見れば容易に予想できる。そして、私たちはこの内閣をいつかどこかで見たような感覚で受け止める。
「帰ってきた自民党内閣」「壊れなかった自民党内閣」なのか。また、親子で総理というのも、世襲政治家だらけの日本の停滞した政界の空気を物語る。その前 の安倍総理も岸信介の孫、今回の対抗馬だった麻生太郎幹事長も吉田茂の孫となれば、今回の自民党の選択は「総理の子か、孫か」しかなかったことになる。
The Fukuda cabinet, which will be elected tomorrow, is no surprise, but rather represents a division of positions among the factions of the LDP, and this could be easily predicted. And it seems we've seen this kind of cabinet before.Is it really a “revival of the LDP” or “a cabinet from an unbroken LDP”? In addition, this second generation prime minister is symptomatic of the void in Japanese politics, where political positions are inherited. The former prime minister Abe was the grandson of former Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke, and his opponent, Aso Taro, is a grandson of former Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru. Ths choice this time was between the “son of a former prime minister” and the “grandson of a former prime minister.”


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Jordan: Online Forums Vs Blogs · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bakkouz from Jordan discusses online forums and blogs in this post.


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Kenya: Kenyan kids on politics and tribalism · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sue notes that Kenyan kids are influenced by political discussions in the country: When new political parties are formed, they know it is for which tribe. It was just the other day I heard very young boys saying: “We ni wa ODM si wewe ni mjaluo (You are an ODM member, you are a Luo)” nasty comments.


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Libya: In Memory of a Father-in-Law · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Khadija Teri from Libya remembers her late father-in-law in this post.


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Mauritius: Is Kreol inferior in Mauritius? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Mauritian blogger, Jean Lindsay, asks: “How can I accept that Kreol, my mother tongue, is inferior to other languages spoken in Mauritius?”


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Mexico: Discriminatory Tendencies of Mexico City Youth · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The recent National Youth Poll found that many youth in Mexico City would not accept having a homosexual as a neighborhoor or live with someone with HIV/AIDS.  Vivir Mexico [ES] takes a look at these findings and writes “we have a lot of work to do.”


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Moldova: Resource on Transnistria · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Scraps of Moscow links to a resource on Transnistria.


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Moldova: Trafficking in Women · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Scraps of Moscow links to resources on trafficking in women in Moldova.


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Moldova: Transnistria Photos · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Scraps of Moscow links to a photo project devoted to Transnistria and writes about the problem of “passportization” of the Transnistrian population.


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Myanmar: Voices from the Region · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Myanmar's government is warning the protesters to stay off the streets following a large demonstration in Yangon yesterday. The protesters are being led by monks and they are demanding more freedom and roll-back of price hikes announced earlier this month. Bloggers from the neighboring countries are posting their thoughts and support.
Citizen on Mars remembers the time when Philippines was in somewhat similar situation.
Whatever becomes of the mass protest in Yangon, I hope nothing extraordinarily violent would inure, despite that in every move against a government, violence (or some form of) may always exist. I hope the generals would keep their composure and calm not step back in time and become beastly in engaging the protesters in the streets. We have been once in the same situation—or twice even—first in 1986 along EDSA and then in 1991 when former President Joseph Estrada was forced to step down
Diacritic, who has earlier written about warming relations between Vietnam and Myanmar, criticizes Vietnamese newspapers for not giving the protests due coverage.
Tuổi Trẻ, Vietnam's most popular and widely read daily newspaper allocates five sentences in “20.000 Người Mianma diễu hành phản đối chính quyền quân sự” while Thanh Niên raises the ante by sparing seven sentences in “Hơn 100.000 người biểu tình tại Myanmar” to what other international news sources have dedicated front page editorials.
Diacritic adds
Our Burmese colleagues today informed us of the rumor that this evening, internet access will be shut down in Myanmar to prevent further leakage of photos and videos that have found wide circulation among the internet.
In a post titled We are with you Myanmar, Cambodian blogger Somongkol Teng replies to a comment critical of Buddhist monks participating in political activism.
I am aware that in Buddha’s teaching, monks should be reserved and by all means shouldn’t be involved in politics. However, if we think realistically, they are also one of the rightful citizens of the nation. Whatever happens to the country affects everyone — ordinary people and monks alike. We can use the Khmer Rouge time as an example. Thousands of monks were killed. For many reasons, I don’t think they should be silent at all. When society requires their intervention, it’s appropriate enough to hear their voice and initiatives.
Singapore blogger Bernard Leong wants ASEAN (Association of  South East Asian Nations) and China to intervene in Myanmar to prevent the bloodshed.
In the past twenty years ever since Tiananmen (which I remembered vividly), every such type of protest in Asia (except for Philippines and Indonesia after the Asian financial crisis) usually have ended up in bloodshed. While the military junta has already moved to put their troops on the ground, a possible bloodshed may take place soon. If that happens, a lot of innocent lives will be sacrificed in the process. So, how is the world going to do about this? While the US has already started the sanctions, it is now very interesting to watch what China is going to do about this. My feeling is that ASEAN will take an non-interventionist approach aka do nothing and let it happen which is something that I am personally against.
Another Singapore blogger Monsoon Blogging hopes the crisis would help in bringing about a change in Myanmar.
All of us want to see progress in Myanmar, the country has missed out on economic development over the last two generations while the rest of SE Asia steams relentlessly ahead, so it is time for Myanmar to wake up now, joins the rest of Monsoon Asia progress and share the prosperity. It does not matter what form of government if the people are well look after, that there is a future for their children.


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Nigeria: Nigerian Stock Exchange results · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ogbuotobo blogs about the recently released results of the Nigerian stock exchange: “The stock market was flooded last week with the results of some quoted companies. Some declared dividends, while some gave a hint as to what their full year results would look like.”


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Nigeria: Why is e-gold popular in Nigeria? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Oluniyi Ajao wonders why e-gold is so popular in Nigeria:”I had never seen public posters, banners, handbills, billboards, newspaper/magazine ads all used in promoting the use of e-gold…Not until I visited Ibadan (in Nigeria) again, recently.”


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Paraguay: Dealings of Petropar · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

From Paraguay, Zoopolitica [ES] writes about the transactions by the petroleum company Petropar and that “in any other serious country, this would be a national scandal, with resignations, accusations and jail.”


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Peru: Sculpture For Victims Defaced · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

A memorial called the “Crying Eye” remembers the approximately 70,000 people that died due to armed conflict in Peru.  Hypathia's Daughter posts pictures of this sculpture in Lima, which was recently defaced.


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Russia: “Art Concrete” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Copydude writes about what may pass as Soviet roadside art, and about a misadventure with a Russian woman in Kaliningrad.


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Russia: Kasparov; “The Italian” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Accidental Russophile comments on the New Yorker 12-page piece on Garry Kasparov, and writes about The Italian, a Russian movie by director Andrei Kravchuk.


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South Africa: Blogger to be IT Personality of the year? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

South African blogger, Vincent Maher, has been shortlisted as one of the ten finalists for the IT Personality of the Year Awards.


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Sudan: The future of the “African solution” · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The African Dove discusses the “African solution”: Africa, following the times of colonization, has fostered an attitude of “African solutions to solve African problems”. After years of severe oppression and domination by western countries, the last thing newly independent African countries wanted was more westerners meddling in their domestic issues.


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Tanzania: Bongoland II – final version · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Watch the final version of Tanzanian film, Bongoland 11.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Hail to the $100 Laptop · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Seldo.Weblog reviews the $100 laptop: “This feels like the real deal.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Mayaro Memories  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

KnowProSE.com spends some time in Mayaro, on Trinidad's south east coast.


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· Global Voices
Jens Wilkinson

Blogger Tobias Harris, a keen observer of politics in Japan, adds some interesting analysis of the transition from the Abe to Fukuda cabinets. He looks at the return of factional politics in the ruling LDP, and finds that Fukuda has made some keen decisions in his first day in power.


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Africa: Ibrahim Index of African Governance · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Extra Extra's reaction to the Ibrahim Index of African Governance: “I’m afraid did not fall out of my chair when I saw that the Democratic Republic of Congo is ranked at 47 out of all 48 African countries, just ahead of Somalia.”


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Africa: The problem with e-commerce in Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Erik Hersman discusses the problem with e-commerce in Africa: “A lack of true online payment options is crippling African e-commerce, and South Africa is no exception.”


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Algeria: Skin Lightening Cream · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Beauty is skin deep. Not so, argues Nouri the Moor from Algeria in this post, where he discusses the obsession of darker toned women with skin lightening cream.


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Arabeyes: Ramadan Scenes · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

With the month of Ramadan halfway through, bloggers in the Middle East are still tapping away at their keyboards, reflecting on different aspects of the Islamic month of fasting. This week we make stops in Yemen, Palestine, Kuwait and Israel to see what bloggers have to say.
Yemen: Month of Eating
From Yemen, Thamood (Ar) wonders if Ramadan has become the month of eating and urges people to eat less during Iftar, which is the meal they break their day's fast with.
Palestine: Time for the Family
In Palestine, Assad Ramallah has taken the opportunity to help his father run his store. He also gives us a sneak preview to the life of Palestinians under siege.
“Ramadan month continues, I have more time to spend helping my family, and spending time with them.
I guess its good for me, but also for them.
Most mornings I'm helping my father in our store. He surely needs my help. His health is not as good as it was before.
I think that this is a result of the past two years…my father nearly closed his shop because of the hard days- People could not afford buying things at the store because many people in ramallah are not working or didn't get any salaries , so they have no money, and when people have no money they cannot spend it…
My father decided to continue working, and keep the store alive. It made me happy, because I know how much he likes his store, sometimes I feel that the store is all his life. And that's the reason why I'm helping him.
I'm glad that I'm free at the mornings to help him, and I'm sure he will be able to continue working at the store in the future.
These days, I have much free time, because studies have not begun yet, but I know that soon I will be busy with university again,” he explains.
Kuwait: Where Did I Park My Car?
In Kuwait, Toomz talks about how she's been avoiding people on chat programs on the internet for six months .. but how Ramadan has made her forgetful.
“For about six months now I've been avoiding chat clients. I stopped logging into my MSN account and rarely use GTalk. They are such time wasters and despite the fact that I'm an awesome multi-tasker I don't have the patience to sit at a computer anymore. I'd rather be out and about.
I've also avoided interacting too much on Facebook in the past few months, but now I've got a renewed interest in it. I think I did one of the stupidest things ever and removed everyone off my Limited Profile list. I blame it on Ramadan.
Ramadan makes me stupid. And forgetful. And stupid. Every day after work I wander around the parking lot searching for my car. I've lost my car every single day of Ramadan.  I always remember what floor I parked on but which section? Forget about it!” she writes.
Israel: Cannon Blasts to Break Fasts
Israeli Izzy Bee also shares with us a tradition seen in most Arab countries in this post, where she writes about the cannon firings which signal the time to break the fast (sunset).
“In the old city of Jerusalem there are a tangle of historic tales, waiting to be respun. My droll buddy James Hider, intrigued by the blast that marks the evening meal during the holy month of Ramadan, sought out the Sandouka family that has summoned fasters to dinner for the past century or so with a cannonball. His report appeared in the  London Times, and it makes an intriguing read. Uri Lupolianski, the orthodox Mayor of Jerusalem, has no problem with the Arab family that shoots shells at sundown outside the venerable gates. The mayor sided with the traditionalists and derided new rules that would force Sandouka, who has been shooting the signal blast for two decades, to pass a $2000 certification course before handling explosives,” she explains.


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Argentina: Public Transportation News · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Viaje Como el Orto [ES] is a blog devoted to news about public transportation in Buenos Aires.  In addition, the site receives personal testimonies from individuals that have experiences difficulties with the system.


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Argentina: Rodriguez Saá Campaign Ad · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

De Todo Un Poco [ES] is appalled by a recent campaign advertisement by Presidential candidate Alberto Rodriguez Saá and that “if it didn't air on television, I would have thought it was a joke.”  He also posts a video of the ad in question.


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Bahamas: State of Education  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Rick Lowe at WeblogBahamas.com blogs about the report on the state of education in the Bahamas.


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Bahrain: Top Notch Intelligence  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Our intelligence machine is the most sophisticated in the world, no expenses spared, the latest technology of smart cards and biometric identifying systems as well as the latest in surveillance technology. I don't know about you but I boast about this everywhere I go,” writes Babbling Bahrania from Bahrain.


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Bangladesh: Blogging Ramadan · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Sadiq Alam rounds up posts on personal experiences during Ramadan on the blogosphere.