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China: Jews in Harbin · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

China Confidential picks up a Xinhua report on the visit to the northeastern city of Harbin by members of the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL). “In the 1920s, Harbin was the largest Jewish community in the Far East, with a thriving economic and cultural life. Numerous Jewish relics of those days, including assembly halls, schools, banks and memorial parks, have been preserved. The ADL is the largest and most powerful of the so-called defense organizations that exert enormous influence over America's organized Jewish community. The others include the American Jewish Committee and the American Jewish Congress,” writes Confidential.


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China: Participatory gangster yarn · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

ESWN has translated extracts from one of the most popular forum posts on Tianya, entitled “My Seven Years in the World of Gangsters”. Ostensibly a memoir of someone who has now left the triad fraternity and is looking back on his experiences there, the fictive nature of the story becomes clearer as readers continue it via comments posts. As of March 19, 2006 at 00:45, there have been 1,729,215 page views and 21,584 comments, reports Roland Soong.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Luisetta Mudie


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China: Who rules the province? · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Chinese Law Prof summarizes and comments on an article which analyzes the career of Qiu He (仇和), recently promoted to the rank of vice governor of Jiangsu Province. The essence of the issue, the Prof writes, is that Qiu has apparently run roughshod over the legal rights of those he has governed in previous positions, but has ultimately delivered impressive economic results and introduced political reforms, a result which leaves some commentators wondering how valuable democracy is anyway.


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Cuba: World Baseball Classic · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Blogging from Havana, Cuba, Ernesto commiserates with his homeland over their loss to Japan in the final of the World Baseball Classic, but also notes the silver lining: “two island nations rewriting a game invented in North America, and giving a lesson of courage and team work.”

author: Georgia Popplewell


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DRC at a Boiling Point · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Over at UDPS Liege, blogger J. Kayembe Tshipamba lists  (FR) all the reasons why he believes the DRC is headed towards an era reminiscent of the Mobutu years:  free speech issues as evidenced by the repressed March 10 opposition protest; the presence of Rwandan mercenaries; the parcelling of the DRC in 26 provinces; issues with freedom of the press mishandled by the government and poor leadership by key government figures to name a few.  He also deplores the role played by the UN.

author: Alice Backer


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DRC: Street kids · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Adventures of a Retired Armchair Traveller reports on street kids in Kinshasa and points to an article which writes that the children are…”being beaten, abused, starved, thrown out of their homes which brings all the hardships and dangers of living on the street, at least in part because fear of witchcraft is cultivated among their parents. Preachers are consulted as to whether the children are possessed. The consultation demands a fee, and the resulting ‘exorcism’ based on an answer of yes, your child is possessed, requires an additional fee.”

author: Sokari Ekine


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East Timor: Fast Rise · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

tumbleweed in timor lorosae tells the story of a local East Timorese woman who went from janitor at a UN facility to principal secretary to the local UNICEF chief.

author: Jose Manuel Tesoro


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Ethiopia: Fear grips the capital · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Nazret.com writes that Ethiopians are grippped with fear – fear to speak and meet with each other…”A climate bordering on fear has taken hold of the Ethiopian capital as journalists, lawyers and politicians carefully measure their public remarks and contacts in the face of widespread arrests and prosecutions”


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Haiti: “Shacking up” with America · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Alice Backer links to an article on the new realities of US immigration which helped her understand how Haitian-born hip-hop star Wyclef Jean was able to vote in the recent Haitian elections: “it turns out he's shacked up, not married, to America”.


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Images from Venezuela: From Bolívar Avenue · Global Voices
David Sasaki

The main bridge of the Caracas La Guaïra highway wasn't the only thing to fall down on Sunday. More than 1,500 Venezuelans dropped their drawers for American photographer Spencer Tunick who has been capturing large groups of naked volunteers in major cities around the world.
Guillermo Amador Bograd, who blogs at El Modular (ES) and Caracas Café (ES), did not remove any clothing himself, but attended with his wife as volunteers for the event which he describes as “unique and unrepeatable” (ES):
Later, Tunick was lowered to the avenue and began moving people from one side to the other, mixing skin tones and positions, until he took the photo that appeared in this morning's papers across the country and world: the people formed around Bolivar, like a father with his naked children, very interesting really.
The work of positioning people, moving them from here to there was gigantic. My wife was part of that team and she told me that “it was impressive to see people, of all types, undress completely and as if it were nothing.” There was nothing sexual between them; nor was there in the way we watched them, they were just human beings. People looked in each other's eyes. They were not fat and skinny, with plastic or real breasts; they were human beings, friends, and there was that sense of camaraderie which can give you chills deep down to your soul. To know that not everything is lost, that people like this exist with spirits so pure, that deep down we are all equal and that this is not just a metaphor but a reality.
Robert Basler links to a video (not work safe) of the photo shoot where Tunick explains why he chose the location of Avenida Bolívar:
Um, I picked this location because I felt that the buildings were kinda like uh, like a whale in Antartica that loses all it's skin and it's like bones, like you know what I mean? So I, so I, so I felt that the building was very iconic in that sense. And then, and then, I liked the view that the highway forms with the big, empty, barren street.
Rimrod, who describes himself as an “engineer, writer, poet, astronomer, pilot, and habitant of Venezuela” says that traffic to his blog jumped overnight (ES) as visitors arrived from searches for information on Venezuela and Spencer Tunick.
In the office, on the radio, everywhere, the talk of the day was about Spencer's photos and the boldness of his almost 1,500 models. I couldn't go myself because it's a little complicated, traveling more than a hundred kilometers just to strip in the middle of an avenue. But I confess that I would have done it for the experience and for art. So, I give my respect to the thousands of Tunick's models.
Finally, Afrael, a Venezuelan native now living in the United States chimes in (ES):
Today is a good day, Venezuela is once again in the international news and not thanks to the viaduct or phrases like “Mr. Danger, you are a donkey.” No, we owe it to Spencer, Spencer Tunick who, with his lens and habit of early-rising, took hundreds of photos of a little bit of Venezuelans in the “costume of Adam (and Eve).”
It's strange, despite 7,000 people having registered, less than 1,500 showed up, but in the images, they look like even fewer. Really I don't know. Perhaps Guillermo (ES) or Huguito (ES) can attest to how many people were there. Even though Caracas is an open-minded city, we are plenty shy and conservative when it comes to stripping in public. Or maybe it's due to the perennial quest for the perfect body, in which so many obsess, that caused many to put on the brakes.

author: David Sasaki


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India: Arranged Marriage of another kind · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Just a little something, on a new service called MarryGold, which says – “‘Marrygold’ intends to help professionals above 25years of age, who do not have much time to focus on finding partners for marriage.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India: Why Commonwealth? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

In the context of the Commonwealth games, Karmadude looks up the history of Commonwealth and isn't too sure why India should be a part of this any longer.


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Indonesia: Against the Progressive Tax · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Nearing tax reporting date in Indonesia, Cafe Salemba decries the progressive income tax. “In addition to being the cruelest income cutter, progressive tax is also the meanest disincentive to work hard(er).” He starts a discussion with his co-group blogger, another economist.


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Iranian New Year · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Today Iranian all over the world will celebrate NEW YEAR (1385), Norouz. It is fascinating to see that many bloggers remember political prisoners, blogger or not.
Two Iranian reformist politicians  & bloggers, Mostafa Moin & Mohammad Ali Abtahi, just posted a short happy New Year message on their blogs.
Moin (Persian) says year 1384 (previous year) with all its sweetness & bitterness passed and we must learn lessons from it.
Abtahi wished a year full of happiness,…and  realism for all Iranians (Persian). Probably realism refers to current nuclear crisis.
Farda Generation (Persian) talks  about Osdanlou, jailed bus syndicate leader, who is still in jail. Blogger says let light a candle for him and he hopes next year he will become free.
Hanif Mazroi (Persian), Iran based blogger, photographer & journalist, talks about jailed blogger, Mojtaba Saminejad. Blogger writes that he with several other bloggers visited Saminejad's family.
Noqte tahe khat (Persian) reminds us that New Iranian Year is year of the Dog.
Abbas Maroufi, Germany based writer, poet & blogger,  (Persian) says Ganji's liberation makes everything like spring.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Kenya: African women · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Afrikan Eye writes on the role of African women in civilisation….”I always cringe when people talk about African women's ‘traditional role in Africa’ when in actuality they are referring to a fairly recent period in time (namely the 1800s) when African women's roles had already been distorted. So…just to set the record straight, here we go…and as a certain person would say…MUJIENJOYIII”


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Kenya: Homosexuality is UnAfrican · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Gukira writes a brilliant short piece entitled “Homosexuality is Un-African”………”Homosexuality, it is claimed, was introduced to Africa by the West. Others argue that homophobia, not homosexuality, was introduced to Africa. This dog-chase-tail debate privileges cultural origin as the primary source of legal authority: “as it was so it should be.” Myths make for great stories but terrible legislation.”


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Nepal: No Justice · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! reports – “In a bizarre case, policemen arrested a justice-seeking policeman from the library of Kantipur Publications”


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Nepal: Racism  · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Bahas on the prevalent forms of racism in Nepal - “Racism in Nepal particularly affects members of the Dalit and indigenous as well as refugees and other ethnic communities.caste-based discrimination has been recognized as a critical problem worldwide, with particular impact in South Asia.”


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Nigeria: Census · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Nigeria's is presently in the midst  of carrying out a census.  Oro reports that by the end we should know “exactly how many Nigerians live in Nigeria — 120 million? 150 million? Less? More? And as soon as that census exercise is over, another census (that will seek to consider how many Internet enthusiasts there are in Nigeria”


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Nigeria: Splashing out · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Naijablog has a couple of nights out and about in Nigeria at an Owambe party .…”(‘come and show’) party. A big society woman was ‘washing’ her new upscale housing estate in Maitama. The yearly rent is reputedly 90,000US per year (N13.5million). “


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Pakistan: Navroz celebrations · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Raheel wishes his readers a happy Navroz and talks of the rich tradition of the day, and the way it is celebrated.


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Philippines: Poverty and Science Fiction · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Jardine Davies, an ardent Filipino science-fiction reader, analyzes why in so many science-fiction novels poverty is juxtaposed with high technology.


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Russia: Attack on Litvinovich · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow reports on tonight's attack on the Russian opposition activist Marina Litvinovich, who serves as an advisor to Garry Kasparov and is also chief editor of the BeslanTruth website.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Singapore: Blog Credibility · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Malaysian blogger Mack Zulkifli comments on a recent survey in Singapore that ranked blogs as lowest in credibility and newspaper reports as highest. But Mack says there is more than meets the eye.


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Somaliland: Woman MP visits US · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

The Voice of Somaliland-Diaspora Ottawa  reports on a visit to the US by the first elected woman MP in Somaliland, Honorable Ikran Haji Daud Warsame


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South Africa: Music · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Rethabile writing on Mzansi Afrika discusses music and what it means for Africa and Africans. “Music, then, is serious matter in Africa. By extension, it is also serious matter to African-Americans, whose fore-parents brought it over as slaves, and maintained enough of it for future generations to “have it in their blood.”


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South Korea: Confucianism in action · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

The Asia Pages has a long and detailed warning to anyone considering living and working in South Korea: “Words cannot possibly describe to you what a shock the Korean way of doing things was to me. My entire first year at my current job was a harsh, harsh lesson for me in Confucianism in the workplace. I remember locking myself in a stall in the women's bathroom just so no one would see me cry–and this happened at least once a month (somtimes more than once) for a good 9 months,” she writes.


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Thailand: Rural-Urban Divide · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Maytel 2020 describes the rural-urban divide in Thailand that characterizes Southeast Asian politics as a whole. “Southeast Asia has long been noted for its ‘patron-client’ political structures which many theorists believe stem from the primarily agrarian nature of most of the region. Farming rice is a precarious livelihood strategy and poor farmers need protection.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Not in Chaguaramas · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Trinidad & Tobago government's proposal to locate low-income housing on Trinidad's north-western peninsula is a bad idea, says Francomenz, in a well-documented post on the matter.


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Uzbekistan: UNHCR kicked out · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

The latest international organisation forced to leave Uzbekistan is the UNHCR. No reasons have been disclosed by the Uzbek government yet, writes CXW.

author: Ben Paarmann


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Voices from Central Asia and the Caucasus · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Lunch – by Dushanbe Pictures, Erik Petersson, 2006
With that fresh portion of Tajik plov on your plate, we bid you welcome to the latest roundup of the Central Asian and Caucasian blogosphere, brought to you bi-weekly by neweurasia. First off, apologies for the delay in presenting this week's edition – but end-of-term stress kept all of us busy. As usual, we take you through the eight countries alphabetically. Unfortunately, this week no entry from/on Azerbaijan made it into our roundup. If you're an Azeri blogger or blogging on Azerbaijan, be sure to send us your story.
Armenia:
It goes without saying that Onnik Krikorian's Oneworld blog provides the best gateway to the Armenian blogosphere thanks to the frequent roundups posted there. In the latest edition, Onnik summarises what has been a busy week in the English-speaking Armenian blogosphere. On the same blog, Nessuna rounds up the Armenian-language blogosphere.
Georgia:
Susan of SueAndNotU posts on a nice encounter on Tbilisi's biggest outdoor market Bazroba, where she made a new friend who sells electronic spare parts. Joel of neweurasia reports that four opposition parties united in order to challenge the government on a number of issues.
Kazakhstan:
Erica over at The Durrty South of Siberia calls on people to donate American games to an organisation looking after physically-disabled children in the north of Kazakhstan. On neweurasia, Ben rounds up half a year of Kazakh election blogging that took the blog's contributors from attending conferences to engaging in heated debates. Michael Hancock writes about the naivete with which some Kazakh families treat junk mail in their mailboxes, and in how far evil-minded advertisers are exploiting the hard-working people. Stavros, involved in human rights issues in Kazakhstan, posts podcasts on a number of issues. Check out this one on how a marshrutka (minibus) gets you around Almaty, Kazakhstan's inofficial capital.
Kyrgyzstan:
Edil Baisalov, President of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society in Kyrgyzstan, recently started his own blog. In one of his latest posts, he carries an extensive summary of a lecture given at the American University in Bishkek by Bakyt Beshimov about the foreign policy aims of Kyrgyzstan (Link in Russian). Kyrgyzstan Student Blog, a new bi-lingual blog featuring law students from Karakol and Bishkek is now up and running. In the blog's first post, Sandro is very critical of President Kurmanbek Bakiev. Amira of The Golden Road to Samarqand posted some impressions of everyday life in Bishkek. On neweurasia, Claire has several posts on commemorating the ‘Tulip Revolution’ that toppled Askar Akaev from power one year ago. Is the anniversary really a reason to celebrate? Read here, here, and here to get the full insight.
Tajikistan:
The five Christian Aid workers that travelled through Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have now made available very interesting video footage of their trip on their blog. The files are very large, but it's definitely worth to strain your internet connection, as exlusive videos on blogs on Central Asia are not very frequent delights. For more visuals, check neweurasia, where Tajik Boy has found a great online photo gallery on Tajikistan. On the same blog, James says that the International Monetary Fund has agreed to work closely together with Tajikistan on macroeconomic issues.
Turkmenistan:
Turkmen blogger Karakum has addressed a theme regularly raised on another Turkmen blog, Paikhas, which is that of federalism in Turkmenistan. He offers his own perspective on the issue, and a lively discussion ensues in the comments section (Link in Russian). Nathan of The Registan says that last week has been busy for President Niyazov – he decreed that the authorities should get rid of ‘fools’ within their ranks and that each woman should be given $38 as a present on the National Spring Holiday in March. Carpetblogger says that “Turkmenbashi's” idea to plant a forest in the desert is more genius than anything else Donald Trump ever came up with. On a more serious note, neweurasia's Peter reports that two Radio Free Europe journalists had been detained. Nathan of The Registan found out, that they were released later under the condition never to work for the Prague-based news outlet again.
Uzbekistan:
Dnevnik Zhurnalista-Lyubitelya has some interesting statistics on internet use in Uzbekistan.  Apparently, there are 60% more Uzbek internet users now than 2004 (Link in Russian). Novoe Uzbekskoe Slovo has a story on the upcoming Silk and Spice Festival in Bukhara (Link in Russian). The World Bank has suspended funding for projects in Uzbekistan, reports James on neweurasia. The Bank fears that under the “present conditions” in Uzbekistan, resources won't be delivering tangible development results.
Regional news:
If you're based in New York, be sure to check out next week's (Tuesday) event at Miller Theatre at Columbia University ‘The Music of Central Asia’, as reported by Larry Tweed. Marianna of neweurasia wrote an article on the US government's approach to aid in the Caucasus and asks in how far the new MCA (Millenium Challenge Account) is really ‘new’. On the same blog, Neil rounds up issues relating to press freedom in Central Asia, and James summarised a lecture given by former World Bank country director Dennis de Tray.


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Africa: development economics · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Idland on the continued “Scramble for Africa” and the business of development economics and creative statistics.


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Argentina: Learning from the Past with Art · Global Voices
David Sasaki

In a week focused on the past, Robert Wright recounts his trip to an exhibit at the Centro Cultural Recoleta on the dictatorship from 1976 to 1983. “The idea is that by examining the past in detail, it will never happen again.”


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Argentina, Spain: Holy · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Fernando Casale features Holy, an experimental Argentinean musician living in Spain. As always, songs are available for download.


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Belarus: Day 4 Update and Radio Open Source Belarus Talk Show · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

br23 blog sums up the fourth day of the protest in Minsk and links to a Radio Open Source talk show on Belarus, in which he took part yesterday.


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Belarus: Radio Liberty Reports Violence Against Protesters · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user l_u_f_t posts a Radio Liberty report (BEL) claiming that the police are beating up protesters who are going down into the subway to go home and then return to the square. There's a photo of one boy with an impressive scratch on his body. The boy, Mikhail Avdeev, says the cop who attacked him introduced himself as Vladimir Naumov, interior minister of Belarus, and that he wanted to tear apart the white-red-white flag but failed and ended up tying it into a knot. Photos from the square are posted at http://news.lyakh.org/; the one displayed here was taken 2 1/2 hours ago, at 9 am Minsk time today.


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Belarus: The Purpose of the Protest in Minsk · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ivan Lenin at Rush-Mush translates a Belarusian LJ user's eloquent explanation of what the protest in Minsk is about: “The current resistance is a note of protest. A revolution probably won't happen. But there is a hope that the authorities will remember the tents on the square, next time they consider making an unconstitutional desicion.”


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Bermuda: Awards scheme? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Limey has a bit of fun at the expense of the promoter of an awards ceremony to which Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Halle Berry and others were allegedly invited.


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Brazil: Economy Minister Palocci · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Luís Afonso Assumpção says things aren't looking good for Economy Minister Antônio Palocci.


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China: Another Taishi village election · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

ESWN translates a Chinese-language news report from Boxun.com (ZH) about the result for the recent elections in Taishi village for a representative to the National People's Congress (NPC).


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China: Illogical, comrade · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Bingfeng Teahouse is surprised at the profusion of beliefs and practices–including feng shui–found among the well-heeled professional folk of Shanghai, which do not fit in with a rationalist world view.


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China: Shanghai marriage stats · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Shanghaiist cites a recent report in Chinese which says that 90 couples get divorced in Shanghai every day. One-night stands are increasingly being blamed for this. Via Simon World.


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China: Traffic TV · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Danwei reports on the next development in China's love affair with the internal combustion engine: Traffic TV. “The ad delivery machines that have appeared in around 10,000 taxis and buses throughout [Beijing] will now deliver up-to-the-minute reports of traffic jams and accidents so you'll know why your commute is taking so darn long,” writes Joel Martinsen.


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Costa Rica: International Festival of Poetry · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Brian Campbell has an inside look at the impressive list of poets who will be attending the fifth annual Costa Rican International Festival of Poetry, which will take place from May 27 to June 4.


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Diaspora: Football wins · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Ayaan Hirsi Ali blogs reports on a football match between gay men and muslims that took place in Amsterdam to mark the International Day Against Racism. The Muslim team won 4-0


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DRC: “I Have  a Dream” · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Blogger Tony Katombe of Le Blog du Congolais publishes (FR) an eloquent email received from a Belgian reader who thanks him for shedding light on Belgium's past and present entanglements with the DRC.  Katombe then embarks on his version of “I Have a Dream” in which through his blog he dreams of enlisting average Americans and Europeans in the fight for Congolese democracy.


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DRC: Saving UDPS · Global Voices
Alice Backer

UDPS Liege publishes a reader's plea  (FR) that Etienne Tshisekedi-led opposition party UDPS learn the art of political negotiation and to make concessions rather than maintain a purist principled stance on key issues.


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El Salvador: Electoral Disorganization · Global Voices
David Sasaki

In a comprehensive analysis of the recent elections, U.S-El Salvador Sister Cities argues that on “an objective level, it is important to signal the breakdown of the institutionality of these elections, beginning with campaigns that kicked off far before the stipulated start dates, woeful disorganization on election day (indelible ink that not only rubbed off, but also caused painful burns, polling centers that opened late, irregularities in the voter list, etc), and the unconstitutional dual role that Antonio Saca took up.”


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Ethiopia: World water Day · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Concoction  reminds us it is World Water Day.   She  focuses  on the act of “fetching water” which is largely ignored….fetching water is not something men do unless they are alone.” At which point the man has daily incentives to pay a lobola to purchase his daughter as his lover, wife, mother of his children and, of course, as his cook and water fetcher which is included in that bride price of up to ten cows (which chug 50 liters a day and compete with the women for water access).


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Ethiopia’s bloggers remember their poet laureate · Global Voices
Andrew Heavens

Memories of one man dominated the Ethiopian blogosphere over the past few weeks – the father of Ethiopian theatre and Poet Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin.
His death in late February went unnoticed by much of the international and African press outside Ethiopia. So it was largely down to the country's bloggers, with their vastly superior stores of cultural memory and local knowledge, to step in through March to make the appropriate tributes.
Weblog Ethiopia was not the only one to notice the unsatisfactory coverage from old-school media – with the honourable exception of Reuters and the New York Times. In a comment on Meskel Square  he wrote:
It seems BBC's Addis correspondent gave the shrug not only to the bombings, but also the death and funeral procession numbering upwards of a thousand for Ethiopia's Poet Laureate Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin. The poet and playwright wrote more than 30 plays and translated many Western works into Amharic, including those of Shakespeare, Brecht and Molière. In 2002, the newly formed African Union adopted one of his poems as its anthem, and he recently added to his awards the Norwegian authors’ union’s freedom of expression prize for 2005. His literary work is recognized enough that Reuters and the New York Times wrote in depth articles on his passing…But not even a word from BBC's Network Africa.
Contrast that to BBC's coverage of Mali musician Ali Farka Toure's death, the hyperlinks to his music, the live phone call to his house during the funeral…It's clear some media in the West only care to show disaster, or song and dance as the only products coming out of Africa.
Things We Should Have Written Down posted a tribute article he had written for Addis Ababa-based newspaper The Sub-Saharan Informer:
The recent passing of Ethiopian Poet Laureate Tsegaye Gebre Medhin has sent ripples of sadness – and nostalgia – throughout the Ethiopian artistic community. Widely regarded as the father of modern Ethiopian theater, Tsegaye was also a poet, historian, and essayist, who lived and worked through censorship under three different oppressive regimes.
Alemu Gebra, an actor and director at the National Theater, was a student in 1975 when Tsegaye opened the country’s first actor’s training school, and remembers one such occasion.
“I remember one play in particular that we performed in front of Dergue officials,” Alemu says, laughing. “Colonel Mengistu was in the audience. They realized it was a direct criticism of them, and it was immediately stopped.”
“Ripples of sadness – and nostalgia” summed up much of the commentary from the rest of Ethiopia's stalwart bloggers.
Carpe Diem Ethiopia wrote his own poetic evocation of a child hood in Addis Ababa as a tribute to the great man:
I dedicate this piece to one of the greatest Ethiopians that ever lived, Belatengeta Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin. Farewell, hero…
…By the time I reached the old neighborhood, dusk had arrived in the city. Addis Ababa undergoes a complete makeover around this time, especially in the summers. The day is cooling down and the evening chill drives her residents to hastily wrap their heads in the warmth of their gabis. The air is filled with the smell of mender cooking: a mélange of berbere, Qibe, and burning eucalyptus. I rolled down my window and drew in this aroma unique to Ethiopia and one that summons pleasure-filled memories of a childhood now gone.
Ethiopian Politics did a favour for all us English-only speakers and provided a translation of one of his poems:
“dreaming a dream unrealizable
tending a disease incurable
weeding a plant uncultivable
helping other lives be livable
to live my own, I was incapable”
Wegesha of Aqumada described an interview he had conducted with the poet laureate shortly before his death:
I simply sat on the chair facing him and quietly waited until he got off the phone all the while being reminded of my late grandfather shrouded in Gabi and the hand woven skull cap covering his thinning hair.
And relative newcomer A view from my porch spoke for many with the entry:
It is a very sad time for Ethiopia and Ethiopians for we have lost one of our greatest man. Poet Laureate—Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin died in New York where he has been on dialysis treatment. May God bless his soul. My deepest condolences to the family and friends of Tsegaye Gebremedhin. He will not be forgotten.

author: Andrew Heavens


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Guyana: Amerindian eco-resort · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

VSO intern Michiyo gets to spend some time in a Makushi Amerindian village in Guyana's Rupununi region, and experience first-hand the community's efforts at running an eco-resort. As usual, she also offers a Japanese translation (JA) of her post.


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Guyana: Miniskirt · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

A miniskirt almost upsets the matchmaking plans of Guyana-gyal's Auntie M.


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Guyana: The phone conversation · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Guyana 360 has received their copy of the recording of a phone conversation between the police commissioner and a member of parliament. Living Guyana doesn't seem to have received theirs, but posts a transcription of the conversation anyway.


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Hong Kong: Glutter on Hao Wu · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Glutter is in shock over the detention of Beijing or Bust blogger and documentary film-maker Hao Wu (Wu Hao in Chinese), with whom she took part in a BBC World Service panel discussion on censorship in China. She posts a transcript of the discussion.


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India: An artist and her art · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Middle Stage on the art, life and times of Amrita Sher-Gil. “Half-Indian and half-Hungarian, of aristocratic lineage, she was born in Budapest and brought up in the Hungarian capital and in Shimla. She studied art in Paris in the wake of high modernism”


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Iran: Sufis under Pressure · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Akhbar Sufi (Sufi news) is a new blog which is talking about Iranian Sufis’ problems with Iranian government. Akhbar Sufi (Persian)  says in Semenan decision has already been taken to destroy Sufis’ worshiping building as it was done in Qom.


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Irshad Manji deceives and doctors are the most likely to blog in Morocco · Global Voices
Farah Kinani

Now that I'm becoming more familiar with the Moroccan blogosphere, I can tell that one of its characteristics is the fact that many of its members are doctors or student-doctors.
In this week's roundup, we'll find out what interested some of those doctors-bloggers last week. We'll also pay a visit to some “news oriented” blogs, and will read excerpt from literary ones.
First let's welcome the spring and also remember that the first day of this beautiful season is also the international day against racisme. Isn'it Bluesman?
The conversion of Francis Fukuyama
Karim, one of the authors of ARAB OBSERVERS writes about Sweetness in the Belly,  the story of a white Muslim woman, Lily, raised in Africa, who shifts between London and Ethiopia. Lily’s childhood is spent on many places, among them Tangiers when her Anglo-Irish hippy parents relocate in Morocco.
Some of the most beautiful passages are about Lily's (the main character in the novel) faith. Islam is her guiding force, as she seeks to discover the true meaning of jihad, “The holy war we have within ourselves … Our internal struggle for purity.”
IBAHRINE posts about the cost of commercial internet access in Cairo and some other cities around the world. The article stresses that in nine of the 24 most populated cities, the average person spends at least 10 percent of their daily income for an hour of Internet access at a commercial access point.
When people in Cairo or Jakarta spend a larger portion of their daily income on commercial Internet access, they find relatively less cultural content.
When Soumiaz finished reading “How I Learned to Love the Wall ” by Irshad Manji she felt it's well written article but it lacks balance.
Irshad’s article did not appease my trust for positivism but it did deepen my humiliation, because to me there is nothing more humiliating than the image of an old person hopping (as young soldiers are standing watching and refusing to help) over the wall to go about their business.
Back to Karim of ARAB OBSERVERS who's trying to understand the unexpected switch of  Francis Fukuyama in his latest  book America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy . Karim says the books argues that the war on Iraq was a mistake, and that American policy should be more mindful of the aspirations of third world countries.
It is good to see that a prominent neoconservative theorist has converted to a more realistic point of view on current world affairs and the relations between East and West.
Why don't you blog in Arabic?
With a new look, Larbi is back with his “embarrassing” questions. The latest one is about the Moroccans who prefer to blog in French or any other language than Arabic. Is the Arabic language still alive?(French) He asks his readers who were many to “justify” their choice of language.
Samir is posting good news for lovers of Moroccan Argan oil. Some 1400 hectares of argan tree land are to be replanted with the endemic tree in the south-western region of Souss-Massa-Draa in 2006 to fight desertification.
The Argan tree (argania spinosa) grows in a harsh environment, surviving heat, drought and poor soil. It is little known outside Morocco, and many Moroccans themselves have never heard of it because it grows only in the south-west of the country – roughly between Essaouira and Agadir, in an area covering 700.000-800.000 hectares.
Doctors’ talks
Arakgna is lost in the wide wild world.  She is a student doctor and her latest post is about a test that has been designed to see if you have spent too much time in medical school and whether you are having adverse side effects due to prolonged exposure.
Astyanax is very desapointed to realise that some young “white” Moroccans  believe that black means scary.
It's scandalous!
bloodlover(French) and Bsima(French) announced the event(French) and Lemrina posted a briefing about it(French).
Hoba Hoba rocks!
Imanita posted a sad yet nice heart warming text about a fascinating journey she had with her small red box(French) .
Between the sky and the ground I'm still suspended. The mirror inside my box reflects my gaze. I smile to myself.
Othmane Boumaalif is the star doctor of the Moroccan blogosphere since his appearance in the Moroccan television channel 2M. He Lately gave an interview to the magazine jeune Afrique(French) and he's posting about it(French).
Not only those student doctors like to blog , they've also created a blog for their association MEDVILLE(French). Its main goal is to  allow them to stay in touch but also to discuss special issues concerning their researches.
Coup de coeur
Kahina is the name of a woman, a hero from north Africa. She was the queen of Amazighs and her name means prophetess. But the Kahina(French) I want you to know this week is a blog I discovered last year and found myself instantly under the charm of its warm posts and pictures.
myrmecie(French) is a blog I ‘ve discovered lately and I just love it. It's warm and interesting . The author, Lillytwill is a student doctor (another one?) and her name means literally “my night is long”. Hmm, it's hard to be a doctor who blogs!
That's it for this week. See you next Wednesday, Inshallah.

author: Farah Kinani


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Jamaica: Carnival  · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Stunner previews the Jamaica Carnival celebrations, which has many people attending “soca-robics” sessions to get in shape.


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Jamaica: Commonwealth Games · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Leon wonders why the 18th Commonwealth Games aren't getting more media attention. “Is it because the mighty U.S is not involved, since the Commonwealth games only include former territories of Britain? (But wait, America is a former territory of Britain!).”


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Jamaica: Male sexual harrassment · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

ClaudeMills.com tackles the subject of the sexual harrassment of men in Jamaica in an article which quotes business consultants, a psychologist and at least one potential victim who says, “I know what it is like for a woman to shower unwanted attention, but I don’t think a Jamaican man would even complain if it happened to him.”


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Japan, China: Organ Market · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

OhmyNews! reports that a growing number of Japanese are seeking organ transplants in China, where lax regulations and a high number of executions make organs available for desperate buyers.


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Kenya: Dare to be Different · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

What an African Woman Thinks writes about “daring to be different”  and discusses what is normal and what is deviant…..Because sometimes, too often in fact, it seems to me that that question degenerates into who is like us and who is not. And, it can, in this cruder form, make a virtue of who we are and a vice of who we are not, simply because we are the majority, and might, of course, makes right.”


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Kenya: Home again · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Kenyan poet, Mshairi expresses her homesickness through a poem “Home (Again)” It is that time of the year for Africans in the Diaspora to begin to pine about warmer climates.


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Kenya: Water conflicts · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Kikuyumoja’s realm also posts on World Water Day.  He forcuses on the global water statistics and conflicts that arise over access to water. …”Over 260 river basins are shared by two or more countries. To date, the UNESCO’s International Shared Aquifer Resource Management project (ISARM) has inventoried over 150 shared aquifer systems with boundaries that do not correspond to those of surface basins.”


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Latin America: 11 feeds · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Argentine blogger Diego F. González has created 11 Feeds, an aggregation of eleven of the most-read feeds by techie Spanish-speaking bloggers.


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Mexico, Puerto Rico: World Water Day · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Today is World Water Day and Oscar Reyes has a collection of photos from the World Water Forum currently underway in Mexico City. Gil Schmidt notes that 15 – 18% of Puerto Ricans lack consistent water services. Monica Campbell writes of innovative solutions by young people across the globe. Majda and Ginting, writing from the World Water Forum in Mexico, have met with colleagues from Urugyuay, Paraguay, and Colombia to discuss how to build a water campaign at their NGO, Friends of the Earth International.


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Nigeria: And it’s Census Time Once Again · Global Voices
Oluniyi D. Ajao

Nigeria is having another population census after 15 years since the last one was held. Unsurprisingly, the Nigerian blogosphere is buzzing with information and opnions about the national activity.
Grandiose Parlor is pessimistic about the whole exercise, and bears his mind on the issue:
Census 2006: Another Nigerian Spectacle?
Despite four censuses in the past, the much awaited and keenly debated 2006 census commenced under a cloud of apathy, apprehension and acrimony. The widespread confusion and pockets of violence in some regions as reported by the various news agencies and in the Nigerian blogosphere makes me wonder if Nigeria has what it takes to exist as a progressive nation.
Would it be too early to predict a lousy result given what is unfolding in the country?
Emmanuel Oluwatosin’s Thought Line is on census break and enjoying his time at home.
The Sit-at-home order by the Lagos State Government is gradually having the same impact on my blogging time. That means, I might be forced to stay offline too and hence, my blog witnessing Census Break :) . Anyway, I would try to do some work offline and upload whenever I come online. So, let’s all stand and be counted…
Gbenga Sesan's Oro looks beyond the Nigerian population census, and looks at the Nigerian Internet users census as well:  National Census — and an Internet Census
For the next few days, Nigerians are all involved in one project — the national census. By the end of the process, we should know exactly how many Nigerians live in Nigeria — 120 million? 150 million? Less? More? And as soon as that census exercise is over, another census (that will seek to consider how many Internet enthusiasts there are in Nigeria) will hold at the MUSON Center in Lagos. Just like the shame of not knowing how many of us there really are (to help effective planning), this digital census should help rid Nigeria of the shame that contention and slow-paced action around the .ng issue has brought.
Still on Nigeria's population census, Naijablog (exp) cannot hide his disdain about the poor information management associated with Nigeria, and how it is affecting the organisation of the current census: Information mismanagement
The census has, er, started. I hesitate because as usual, there is an almighty information balls-up at work. First, we were told to stay at home Tues-Sat. Then, the President stepped in and said we only have to be grounded Fri and Sat. Meanwhile, Lagos State had already decreed that everyone must stay home for the whole 5 days, as originally planned. Lagos has apparently shut down for the week. Now, the FCT minister has apparently announced that everyone must leave work by 12 (or 2?) Tues-Thu, with everyone staying at home Fri and Sat. But then I caught the Information Minister on NTA last night implying that only those who hadn't already been counted and who received a calling card must stay home Fri and Sat. It's all very confusing. I went to see a Director witin a govt agency today and asked him what he planned to do. He said every now and then, he peeps out of the window. If everyone starts leaving the building, he will too!
Not even Ore's Notes is sure of information about the census: Census, at Last!!! For the last week or so, no o…
Census, at Last!!!!!!For the last week or so, no one has been sure of exactly how this census was going to work. Do we stay at home and be counted, or what?
I'd been looking forward to this 4-day break for a very long time and assumed that Tuesday to Friday would be work-free days. Then we started to hear that this would not be so. This was followed closely by the “public holiday” versus “curfew” debates i.e. would Tue to Fri be public holidays (i.e. we don't go to work, but you can move around freely) or curfewed days (i.e. you still don't go to work, but then you can't leave the house either). I really didn't care either way, so long as I got to stay at home. Yes, I know! What a conscentious and hard worker I must be (not!). Well, actually I am, which is why I really wanted the break – to take care of all my other business.
Today is the World Water Day and Shola Ogunlokun chooses to blog about that: Its no mid life crisis
Today is the 14th United Nations world water day, and with many parts of the South East of England on alert about low water resovouir levels, it is time we reflect on our use of this natural resource as well as think of those in countries where water is not a luxury.
This World Water Day, WaterAid is encouraging people to take a minute to consider the 1.1 billion people who do not have access to clean, safe water. During the course of that minute, four children will have died of water-related-diseases. This is not inevitable and it certainly isn't acceptable.

author: Oluniyi D. Ajao


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Nigeria: Progressive? · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Grandiose Parlor comments on the Nigerian census and wonders despite 4 censuses and the widespread violence reported around the census whether Nigeria has what it takes to exist as a progressive nation.…”How does the insurgency in the Niger-Delta impact the census in this area? Is there any provision (by the government) to address the (expected) undercounting of the people of this region?”


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Nigeria: Vagina Monologues · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Ore's Notes writes about her visit to see the Vagina Monlogues in Lagos last Thursday… Ore is not so sure about the call to reclaim words like “the C-Word” as a means of removing power from the speaker of the word.


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Pakistan: The day the idea was born · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Light Within on Pakistan Day -“The people of Pakistan celebrate the 23rd of March, every year, with great zeal and enthusiasm, to commemorate the most outstanding achievement of the Muslims of South Asia who passed the historic Pakistan Resolution on this day at Lahore in 1940.”


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Peru: Second Round Scenarios · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Noting that nearly 50% of Peru's registered voters are under 35, Peru Election 2006 examines possible scenarios for a second round of voting. Un Lobo en Perú concentrates on the strategy of conservative presidential candidate, Lourdes Flores Nano as campaigning both winds down and heats up.


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Philippines: Linguistic Divide · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Howie Severino talks about the linguistic divide in the Philippines between Tagalog a.k.a. Filipino (the language spoken in and around the capital Manila) and English (the widely-used colonial lingua franca). “…a foreign correspondent once noted that our presidents use Filipino only when they want to tell jokes or be folksy. When it’s time to explain something serious like foreign policy or economics, it’s always in English, as if it’s beyond the unwashed natives to know about it. Or perhaps language is the unspoken wall in the Philippine version of apartheid.”


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Singapore, Malaysia: Comparing Educational Systems · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Rajan Rishyakaran recently got his exam results back. That got him writing about the differences between the Singapore and Malaysian systems of education. Singapore's is highly competitive and meritocratic while Malaysia's has affirmative racial discrimination.


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Singapore: Stability not Diversity · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

A Xeno Boy in SG tells a little fable about how Singapore's threatening diversity was domesticated and coopted. “The city mimicked democracy, mimicked prosperity, mimicked diversity, mimicked lives. It was a wonderful performance. And the City became the City of Laughter.”


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Sri Lanka: Online communities · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Mahamoor on the growth of online Sri Lankan communities in recent times and the growing conversations in the Sri Lankan context.


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Thailand: Money and Sex · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Claudio Romano at wanderingkhunphu struggles with the eternal question of money and sex as he fights off Thai transvestites.


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The (virtual) life of a regional editor · Global Voices
Rachel Rawlins

Sitting here in virtual space has its disadvantages. Since starting at Global Voices I've been attempting to get to know my new colleagues, specifically the regional blogger-editors.
There are potted biographies with lovely pictures which come with a complete archive of their writing attached. All useful information, but it lacks the human touch.
Since we're all often near computers there are other methods of interaction, of course. Instant messaging is possible when time zones mean we're awake at the same hour. E-mails cover the night divide.
Then I discovered from her blog that our  south Asia editor, Neha Viswanathan had been invited by blogger Kamla Bhatt to be a guest on her regular podcast The Kamla Bhatt Show. You can listen to, or download, the podcast Podcast: Kamla Bhatt talks to Neha Viswanathan
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSS

author: Rachel Rawlins


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

Este artículo también está disponible en español.
At the  World Water Forum, Bolivia took a position that water should be guaranteed as a fundamental human right.  Along with three other Latin American countries, the new Bolivian Water Minister also lobbied to keep water privatization from being included in free trade agreements.  One blogger, Nick Buxton, who usually writes at Open Veins attended the forum as part of a delegation from this newly created Ministry.  He also wrote some thoughts at Red Pepper.
Marcela Olivera, assistant director of the Democracy Center, was a guest writer on Blog from Bolivia.  Olivera, a well-known activist in this field, reflects on World Water Day, where it has not been widely celebrated in a country known for confrontations with multinational companies that signed contracts to privatize the water delivery services.  The issue is far from being resolved and she asks, “How do you supply water to those who need it the most without extending a hand to privatization?”
Other natural resources also were on the mind of Bolivian bloggers.  For example, a recent free trade agreement between the United States and Colombia threatens the soybean export from Bolivia.  Jonathan Olguin, who has resolved to write at least one Spanish entry for every two English entries, writes that the soybean market will not be the only market to suffer  (ES) when the ATPDEA agreement expires and without negotiating an agreement of its own.  His Journal of Bolivian Business and Politics blog also wonders how President Morales’ proposed alternative to a free trade agreement, “People’s Trade Agreement” might work and that the phrase sounds a little like populism.
Boliviscopio’s (ES) Jaime Humérez Seleme begins with an old saying “God punishes without stone, nor stick,” and compares it to the effect of taking away the soybean market from Bolivia.  In this case, he says that the U.S. used the soybean to punish the country (ES) without sticks and stones.  Alexey also laments the loss of this important market, but also hopes that his coca tea is not taken away in similar fashion.  In his blog Alexey Writes, he criticizes the new Foreign Minister’s declaration that coca should be part of a schoolchild’s breakfast.  He points to two recent studies indicated that there is no nutritional value in this leaf.
In other news, four ex-presidents are being charged with various crimes, such as signing illegal contracts with the oil companies and also with the desactivation of missiles.  Javier and his blog Una revisión de todo un poco (ES) wonders why the new government wants to try these former heads of state.  There is only one that still remains in politics, the others have retired to private life or are no longer in the country.  He writes, “this is further proof that change is in process, however, what is scary is we don’t know where it will go (ES).”
Finally, Corry in Bolivia recently wrote about his gravity-assisted bike trek down the “World’s Most Dangerous Road” in the Yungas region of Bolivia and Ergoth’s (ES) Isabella Fuente finally saw the Bolivian-Mexican film “American Visa,” (ES) which was sent to her in Spain by a friend.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Trinidad & Tobago: World Cup song & other ironies · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Stacy-Marie Ishmael riffs on the fact that the Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation has outsourced the country's “official” World Cup song to “two guys from Leeds”, and other Trinbagonian ironies.


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Ukraine: Anti-Lukashenko Rally in Kyiv · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user samuel_smith posts photos from a rally (RUS) that took place in front of the Belarusian embassy in Kyiv today. The protesters mocked the recent election in Belarus by casting ballots that had no alternative candidates on them, thus giving Aleksandr Lukashenko 183% of the vote. They also went to Ukraine's foreign ministry and demanded that Lukashenko is proclaimed persona non grata in Ukraine. (Complete English translation is here.)


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Ukraine: Yushchenko’s Reaction to Belarus Election · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Oleksandr at Messages From Canada discusses Ukrainian president's inadequate response to the fraudulent election in Belarus.


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Venezuela, Argentina: Mommy Bloggers Unite · Global Voices
David Sasaki

For much of the tech-centered, Spanish-speaking blogosphere, Meibell (ES) is most well known as the wife of veteran, Venezuelan-turned-New-Yorker blogger, Sebastian Delmont. But Liz Henry says that Meibell is taking charge with a call to Venezuelan mommy bloggers based in Caracas. A similar blog mom meetup takes place in Buenos Aires tomorrow.


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Venezuela: DJ DUBB · Global Voices
David Sasaki

GlowMain features Venezuelan drum and bass DJ, Aureliano Alarcón Smith, also known as DUBB (ES). A download of a live set is available.


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Vietnam: Ban on Overseas Films · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Vietnam's Ministry of Culture and Information is considering banning overseas Vietnamese filmmakers from releasing films within Vietnam. Diacritic.org has more here.


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Cambodian Weblogs in the Spotlight · Global Voices
Tharum Bun

When it comes to quality, expatriate s’ Weblogs are unbeatable. And to learn what's going on around town and in the country, locals’ Weblogs are noteworthy. It is all about what Webloggers must learn to come up with things to give the world a good read. However, they also learn
some issues, from plagiarism to copyright.
When a number of Webloggers focus on specific topics and issues, the others write about anything that touches their hearts, from issues in their own backyard to their personal lifestyle. What's the difference between Weblogs of local people and the expatriats? Everyone is a
storyteller, news commentator or opinion columnist. They are all digital citizens in this digital age. Let's selectively explore and experience the Cambodian Weblog community.
Cambodian-American Webloggers
Phatry, a news reporter for the Phnom Penh Post, one of the leading English language newspapers in town, is also Weblog author, “1.man.among.13,607,069.fists.” His Weblog posts, not so very different from his published news articles, gives readers clarity and worthwhile stories to enjoy. He is also an affiliate member of the Khmer Connection, a Cambodian Community's Web site; the Killing Fields museum in the U.S.; the University of Washington; and more. And Rod Kov is proud to be Cambodian-born citizen. He writes about his life in the United States, and occasionally reflects his views about Cambodia. In response to a debatable discussion on Khmer-American identity, he wrote “I officially decided to change the title of my blog to My Khmerican Corner to appropriately describe me, I think.”
Students in foreign countries
The famous slogan of Nike says, “Just Do It.” But a Cambodian student in Australia, who mostly posts his new photos, titles his Weblog, “Just Shoot It.” In one of his last posts he lets his visitors know that, like everyone in Cambodia, his family members also embrace mobile phones the way that people in developed countries do. In South Korea, young and mature Leakhina, currently pursuing a higher education there, created her online journal to share what's going on in life outside her home country with her family and friends. It seems it is another express way to send letters home or even interactively communicate with her friends. Going further to Europe, Sopheap studies public health in Norway. Like anyone else away from home, he has his own online journal, too. He started blogging in late 2005, talks about his specialized field, comments on Cambodia-related news, and finds it cool to get comments from his visitors.
Weblog by expatriates
Since 2002, ‘webbed feet‘ is likely the first ever blog setup by an expat living in Cambodia. He first started in Siem Reap, the top tourism destination, when Internet connections were expensive and extremely slow. Now, working in Phnom Penh, he muses about almost anything, from local to international issues. Sweet Cucumber, named after the the street where this resident located, Mr. Guy is yet one of the most prolific Cambodia webloggers. Lately he has arrived in town again after several months away. But, his first week this time is likely not a good sign, as he wrote “It seems that my first week in Cambo is riddled with bad luck.” Apart from lively commentary from his readers, he also offers a selection of beautiful photos taken since 2004. One of the big new things in town Food blog, went live in late 2005. This topical food weblog attracts fair attention from expats. The content is all about what to eat and where to go. Mythicaldude: Everyone in town loves to steal his photos. As written in his profile, he claims he is just another amazing human being. Currently living in Phnom Penh, his weblog represents another source about Cambodian life in the eyes of a foreigner.

author: Tharum Bun


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Algeria: Adonis Interview · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Nouri Lumendifi agrees with the Syrian poet Adonis (Ali Akbar Said) and believes that foreign intervention and/or poking and prodding can yield credible results when it comes to furthering democracy in the Arab world. Nouri says, “…there would never have been elections in the Gulf without American agitation. Democracy will never reach the Arabs unless they are aided in some way by foreigners who have already achieved democracy for themselves, because democracy is a foreign concept in Arab society and the nature of much of the current societies in the Arab world is extremely xenophobic and anti-democratic.”

author: Haitham Sabbah


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Argentina: Video of Interview about Blogging · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Anibal Rossi has posted a video (ES) on Dialógica of an interview with Alejandro Rozitchner (ES) and Julián Gallo (ES) about blogging in Argentina.


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Bangladesh: Porn and faith · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

imperfect world 2006 on pornography being available near Dhaka's landmark mosque.


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Barbados: Avian flu prep · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Barbados is preparing for the possibility of an avian flu outbreak by stockpiling the drug Tamiflu, says Linda Thompkins.


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Belarus: Fewer Foreign Journalists at the Square · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

br23 blog writes about the arrests of the opposition activists and an alarming news – that the number of foreign journalists present at the square has diminished: “And protesters are concerned about it. They view this presence of foreign correspondents as a guarantee that police won’t storm and destroy the camp, arresting everyone, when no one is videotaping the scene.”


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Belarus: Protest Stories and Conversations · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

For the past four evenings, thousands of people have been gathering at Kastrychnitskaya (Oktyabrskaya) Square in Minsk, Belarus, to protest the fraudulent presidential election, demand a new vote and support the opposition. The crowd thins as the night arrives, but a few hundred young activists stay on in a small ‘tent city’ by the huge skating rink, braving the brutal weather and trying the regime's patience. The state-owned media either ignore or misrepresent the protest, and much of the virtual discussion takes place in Belarusian LiveJournal communities. Some of these conversations are translated below.
“Lukashenko to the Hague” – by Eugene Grabkin
LJ user Eugene Grabkin posts his photos from the protest and is wondering in the minsk_by LJ community (RUS) whether it is somehow possible for him to get a press card:
I could even provide photos later. ;) Because people are asking where I'm from and what I'm doing?.. And what if I'm from the [state-owned Belarusian TV]?..;)))))
Here's a recommendation (RUS) he's received:
sanitarro: Make one yourself, write PRESSA on it, minsk_by and your nickname :)
it'll protect you from the people, I guess :)))
though it may get the cops interested :)
but do write your nickname, to avoid an entrapment where a cop gets himself a similar card, but if there's an unknown nickname on it or an unknown face over a known nickname, it's easier to sort it out :)
anysyst: Yeah, write this on it: Journalist working for the largest Internet publication www.livejournal.com
***
Posted by LJ user alisunya (RUS):
I was there yesterday evening. I've never seen so many real People, sunny, sincere, fearless. Thank you for being the way you are!!!
My friend stayed there till morning. Between 6 and 7 am, she and nine more people (2 guys and 7 girls) were going to the subway station Oktyabrskaya […]. Riot police were following them, then asked them all to go into a police room at the station. My friend and two other girls merged with the people standing in the line for subway tokens, but the rest got detained. […]
***
Posted by LJ user l-u-f-t (BEL):
People in the tent city […] need water and gas burners. If any of you can help, please do. It's better not to bring the stuff over, but to throw it out of the car windows. It's safer that way. THEY ARE HOLDING ON THERE FOR ALL OF US!
***
Posted by LJ user aneta_spb (RUS):
To Belarusian friends
I'm three hours away from Minsk today and here's what I think.
The only thing reaching here are the rumors of “some people rallying over there.” Not all people have Internet access, and those who do may not be in touch with those who've never seen it. My friends are intelligent people and they are against Luka[shenko], but they are pessimists and lack information. I stopped over and gave them the news – that's good; someone else would go elsewhere, too, but that's not enough. It's necessary that everyone knows about the events. If there are local activists, they should busy themselves with spreading the information. […]
A discussion follows (RUS):
egils: My Internet informs me that there'a a zero chance to overthrow Luka this time […]. First, there should be a prominent opposition figure to rally with and only then will it be possible to “orangize” [apelsinstvovat’, refers to Ukraine's Orange Revolution].
shavu: no, one has to rebel always. that's the only way. when you lose – continue working. and for now, nothing's been lost yet.
[…]
the poles protested in 1954, 1968, 1970, 1980 (and this doesn't include “lesser” strikes, demonstrations and rallies) and they didn't succeed until 1989.
that's the right path shown by John Paul II
egils: Well, they could afford it in Poland. Because they always had mass opposition there: you throw some to jail, others will come. And who will replace them in Belarus?
shavu: the new ones will come. and if they don't, it means that Lukashenko has indeed been elected by the whole people. that's it.
***
Andrei Khrapavitski, a Belarusian blogger living in the United States, has translated two “Maidan stories” (RUS) and posted them on his site:
[LJ user alexan3]
For all day long, our food supplies were refilled by women and men, including seniors. People helped in every way they could – money, candies, medicines, tea, clothes, blankets. Especially touching was an old woman of about 65 years of age, who hardly hobbled with a walking stick, but she brought us her homemade bread and disposable plates. She handed us her gifts with tears in her eyes, saying, “Thank you, my dear, thank you. Thank you for not being afraid. We are with you. We will support you.” At this sentimental moment, I felt like crying. Such genuine kindness is keeping us warm more than some slogan shouting. People started bringing food in private autos and cabs. But cops got an order and aligned their people along the street. They worked quickly and efficiently. A cab drives in and stops, the door opens, and before a passenger manages to get out, two cops jump in, and the car drives off in an unknown direction. Possibly, to feed the president’s administration. Soon bus #100 quitted stopping here. The vermin had changed the bus’s route, what was comparable to the melting of ice in blockaded Leningrad. But somehow people managed to bring in food, water…
[LJ user bullochka]
I am writing these lines on March 22 at 0:48. Of the past 24 hours, two were when I had an opportunity to sleep. An hour and a half ago, I was released from a police station. So far I don’t know where my brother was who carried products to the campers. Maybe, they are still there, on October Square, joined in a circle, hand in hand, to protect the camp by their own bodies. -10 degrees Celsius of frost is crawling down on Minsk. The reinforcement won’t come. No one will be able to get through the cordons of the riot police, KGB agents, blocking all access to the square. Nobody will be able to bring them hot tea or a sleeping-bag. I’ve understood this a couple of hours ago out of my own experience.
***
A seemingly innocent request from LJ user Jahor Shumski, elicits this discussion (BEL, RUS):
shumski: Dear drivers! Please support our defiant spirit: honk as you pass Oktyabrskaya Square in the morning. This truly elevates our mood.
anysyst: It's risky… They can fine you, for “making noise within city limits.” You should warn people about what they are getting themselves into.
shumski: In the evening, every second car is honking. Maybe it's time to stop being afraid of your own shadow?
arina_skripka: I agree! Almost everyone's being fined. In the evening, there are too many cars for the traffic police to figure out who was honking, but in the morning, they do it right away, no questions… Unjustified risk (imho)
pavietra: I'm ready to donate money for fines, if necessary!
kong_en_ge: There's no fine for it. Warning in the worst-case scenario – read the administrative violations codex.
finder_bel: A question: How to attach a blue ribbon to the car so that it's visible and doesn't contradict the driving rules?
kende_r: I've seen cars with ribbons on their antennas today.
***
Ivan Lenin of Rush-Mush has translated a summary post (RUS) by LJ user lipski who has been providing regular updates from Oktyabrskaya Square since the very first day of the protest:
The Belarusian Maidan [Maidan means ‘square’ in Ukranian, referring to the Orange revolution – IL] has not won, but failed. From the very beginning, March the 19th. Yes, some people have got rid of fear. Yes, there was mass action that Minsk hasn't seen in a long while. Yes, it hasn't been suppressed. BUT. It wasn't supressed not because anyone is afraid of EU sanctions, but because there wasn't a need to supress it. Such development demonstrates the weakness of the opposition and plays into the regime's hand. “Maidan” as it is right now, is good for the official TV's picture. It's turned into an instrument of the regime's propaganda, not the opposition's campaign. “Maidan” is happening not because of its defenders’ heroism (no irony here), but thatnks to the goodwill of the regime. The tent camp could be taken out tonight, nicely and quietly, when there are 200 people in there, just like they took out the first tent on the square. And I'm almost positive that that wouldn't cause an explosion of protests or international sanctions.
As four days have passed, we see no political dynamics. The protests are dying down. With each day, there are fewer and fewer people. On monday, there were 7-8 thousands, yesterday – 3,500 to 4,000, and today – around three. The same tendency as in fall 2004. There is no plan, no action, no palpable goals, no organization. The situation can only be rescued by a mass action on March 25th, but it doesn't look like it's being seriously prepared.
In my view, it's wrong to identify the events in Minsk with Maida, as many people do. A better analogy would be “Ukraine without Kuchma”, which didn't succeed, but became a foundation for the Orange revolution. After the “Minsk maidan”, what has to follow is organizational work, if the opposition wants to accomplish something, and is psychologically prepared to take power into its hands and to take charge.


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Bolivia: Terrorism? · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Miguel Bitrago writes about last night's explosions in La Paz, which are being called “terrorist attacks”. Eduardo Ávila, with the help of Jonathan Olguin has done some investigating on the two suspects.


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Burkina Faso: Water · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Under the Acacias has a report on access to water in rural Burkina Faso..”The lack of a ready source of clean water means either a walk – usually for the women – of several miles to the next pump – which will of course then be twice as crowded.”


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Cambodia: Gentle Tactics · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Maytel 2020 talks about how Cambodians’ gentleness is really a strategy for survival. “Having observed the natural and unassuming bodily gestures of village life I can say undoubtedly that the perception that Khmers and southeast asians in general are all sweetness and light is simply untrue. They are just like everyone else except that being nice is more likely to prolong their life rather than shorten it.”


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Caribbean: Carifesta 2006 · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Jeremy Taylor at the Caribbean Beat Blog looks forward to seeing what the Caribbean arts festival Carifesta 2006 has in store. “I still remember the excitement of the very first Carifesta in Guyana, in 1972, when it seemed that the whole of Georgetown was taken over by musicians, poets, dancers, actors, painters, singers, artists of every sort from every corner of the region. Nothing quite like it had ever happened before; much of the work was ground-breaking and truly exciting; suddenly we all began to understand what people in other Caribbean countries were thinking and doing, and the buzz of discovery and exchange seemed like the start of a new age.”


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China: Democracy of food · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Shanghaiist reviews a new phenomenon in Chinese cyberspace; a good food guide called Dianping (ZH). Four stars, but only in the Web site version, which is written by the restaurant-going public. The book, Jay Sheng reports, is rather bland.

author: Luisetta Mudie


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China: Double act · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Non-violent Resistance lays into U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Lindsey O. Graham, with many a searing epithet from behind the reporter's notebook at a recent news conference in Beijing. “They couldn't remember vice premier Wu Yi's name, whom they had just been meeting half an hour ago, (“one tough lady, she would do well in an American courtroom, I like her a lot” was all they could muster), and two and a half years after raising that sorryass China-bashing bill of theirs, Schumer still couldn't get his pronunciation right,” he fumes.


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China: Hu Jia, Day 36 · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

feng37 translates the latest post from Zeng Jinyan, wife of AIDS activist Hu Jia, who went missing, believed detained, 36 days ago. Original Chinese post here.


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China: Just a love song · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Holidarity reads the cover story of the Chinese edition of Rolling Stone, only to be horrified by the glossing over of the political importance of rocker Cui Jian's music, especially the Eighties anthem Yi Wu Suo You.


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Colombia: Election Analysis · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Kamilo Klauss (ES) and “Sentido Común” (ES) both have in-depth analysis of last week's elections in Colombia.


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DRC: Elections and “Rwandanization” · Global Voices
Alice Backer

For Musengeshi Katata from Forum Realisance  (FR) a victory for Joseph Kabila in the upcoming election would only prolong the “rwandanization” of the Congo.  The “rwandanization” of the Congo started when Laurent Kabila, Joseph's predecessor and father began hiring rwandan and ugandan mercenaries to keep himself in power, says Katata.  If Kabila the son (an adopted Rwandan) is elected Rwandan mercenaries can continue the  illegal trafficking of gold and diamonds suggests Katata's post whereas if he is not, “rwandanization” will stop.


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DRC: How Many Take Part in Opposition Protests? · Global Voices
Alice Backer

At UDPS Liege, Raphael Doly Tshipamba questions  (FR) European journalist Marie-France Cross’ assertion that less than 400 attended  opposition party UDPS’ March 10 and 22 protests.  Says Tshipamba: “That is a terrible  lie contradicted by AFP and local reports  on the one hand and TV5 Monde images on the other.”


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Egypt: Can you leave Islam? · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

The news about the trial of the Afghani Christian convert and the worldwide reaction to it pose an interesting dilemma to Muslims all around the world. Here's something to consider: Open up any Islamic Jurisprudence book, turn the page to the chapter discussing ‘Riddah’ (the Arabic word for converting from Islam to another religion), and you will find out that what the court in Afghanistan was contemplating (executing the man) is unanimously approved by all Islamic scholars since the dawn of Islamic history! There is no debate, no need to argue for or against the ruling, and no in-depth analysis since it has never been challenged. It is considered Fact, AT said.
However, AT argue that: “… there's ample evidence in the Quran (which its authenticity is not even debatable by a Muslim) that indicate otherwise! Where's is the truth?”


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Egypt: The secret war · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Free Soul asks: “Why can’t we simply accept each other and stop the biasing that blinds our eyes from the truth when we rush to “defend our religion” and on the way we do all possible mistakes and sins thinking we are doing a great job, I hear address my speech to Muslims and Christians equally because what I see is more than a shame, it is crazy and unbearable!!”


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Ethiopia: Afwerk Tekle · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Addis Abba Rocking Fun Zone points to the work of Ethiopian artist, Afwerk Tekle who recently sold a painting for $10 million!


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Finnish and Spanish Paper Mills Generate Tension in Latin America · Global Voices
David Sasaki

The last few months have seen an escalation in tension between Argentina and Uruguay due to the construction of cellulose plants whose by-products will flow into a shared river.
The plants in question are the Spanish-owned Ence and the Finnish-owned Botnia; multinationals that have caused environmental disasters like what happened in Pontevedra, Spain.
The conflict has provoked everything from insults between technicians to the blockage of border passages on the part of Argentine citizens. And the politicians have not found the way – perhaps due to incapacity or negligence – to find a balance between the demands of a clean environment and the necessities of investment and work.
This subject has generated, in both countries, voices defending one or another position. And obviously, blogs also take part in the debate.
There are even some blogs that have been created purely and exclusively to discuss the conflict, which all of their posts focus on. Some examples:
And there are also hundreds of blogs that have written interesting posts on the subject:
Not only was there extensive journalistic coverage by traditional media and blogs, it also came at an artistic level. Fernanda Rubio, of the blog El Mirador (ES) uploaded more than 30 songs that are circulating in defense of one or another position in her post “Duel of songs” (ES).


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Fouad Al-Farhan: We Have to Move On · Global Voices
Ahmed Al-Omran

If you have been following Global Voices for more than six months, then you probably have read the name of Fouad Al-Farhan in this space several times before this one. Actually, one of my posts here back in October 2005 featured a post by Al-Farhan, when he left a meeting with Karen Hughes, undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs at the US Department of State during a visit to Saudi Arabia. So, who is Fouad Al-Farhan?
Fouad Al-Farhan is one of the pioneer Saudi bloggers. He was born in 1975 in Taif, west of Saudi Arabia, and received his higher education in the United States. He graduated from Eastern Washington University with a degree in marketing, then joined Ball State University for a masters degree in computer sciences. “Although Bush and his gang have been trying to remove all my good memories from my life in America, but I still think that I have lived the best years of my life there, moving between different states such as Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, and Indiana,” he told me during an interview via email.
Al-Farhan, who has a great interest in the American and Saudi political affairs, and who has been following the active liberal and Islamic movements in the Arab World, says that he has been reading blogs and observing their effect on the American life since the beginning of the blogging revolution. However, it took him about four months to decide to start his own blog. “I was carefully studying what I want to offer. I wanted to be special, and to be committed to this new thing in my life as much as possible,” he says after about nine months since he started blogging.
Bloggers can be so different from each other, but most of them have one thing in common: they want to express themselves. Al-Farhan is no exception. “I want to express my freedom, ideas, and hopes, publicly and in a way that is unusual in the Saudi society. I think blogging is the best tool to do that now,” he says. Other reasons which encouraged him to start his blog are the limitations on freedom of expression in Saudi Arabia. “The television stations are completely owned by the government. The newspapers are highly censored, and some of their chief editors have been in their positions for more than 30 years. This is why you find our media boring and primitive,” he added. Al-Farhan thinks that blogging can help young Saudis to make the government hear their voice, and to let the world know that they share the same human values, ambitions, and interests with them.
Fouad Al-Farhan does not spend much time working on his blog. He takes about half an hour daily to update it, but that time can change from day to day depending on his other commitments. But does he feel committed to his readers? Not really. “Every time I blog, I know there is someone out there hears my voice. I don't care if this “someone” agrees with me or not, likes me or not. All I care about is that I voiced my opinion. Freedom of expression is a right for every human being,” he said.
Moving to the current state of the Saudi blogosphere, Al-Farhan thinks that blogging is still very new in Saudi Arabia. “If 10% of Saudis are using the internet, then I think that only 1% of those know blogging or had heard about it,” he says. Saudi bloggers are probably blamed for this, and Al-Farhan says he is unhappy that those experts on certain topics who use the internet extensively won't share their views and knowledge through blogging. The quality of content on Saudi blogs is questionable, but he thinks those who blog are better than those who don't. Which is easier? To turn the existing superficial bloggers into professionals, or to convince professionals out there to start blogging? He is not sure, but “we probably should work on both directions,” he added. “The superficiality is due to our fear from expressing ourselves, and that's why we find Saudi bloggers goes under strict self-censorship.” He thinks that they have fear from being misunderstood.
Fouad Al-Farhan does not have this fear, though. He is one of the few Saudi bloggers who write using their real name. Bloggers hide their identity because they are afraid of the government, society, or their families. But he thinks that bloggers should not be afraid from the government. “The government's battle is against the terrorists who want to destroy our nation,” he says, “and if you were a terrorist then you won't be thinking about starting a blog, but you would think how to run away.” We are a young nation, and it's time for Saudis to get over their fears and reservations. “I really think that blogging can make a very big difference in the Saudi society,” he added.
Saudi internet users are still using forums heavily to read the latest news and participate in the conversation. The popularity of Al Sahat website, which is basically a group of several forums usually denounced in the media for carrying extreme views, is a clear evidence on that. Fouad thinks the popularity of Al Sahat is exceptional, and he believes that everyone in Saudi Arabia, including ministers and officials, follow that website. He frequently links to threads from Al Sahat, and he disagrees with those who consider it extreme. However, Fouad says the future is for blogs; forums are on the way to become history. In forums, there are  limitations set by the owners, and these limitations determine the style and popularity of the forum. “In the blogs, you are the owner, and it is entirely up to you to make your blog special and popular.”
What kind of effect can blogs have on traditional journalism in Saudi Arabia? “I don't think that blogs can compete with media on reporting news, but they would probably thrive on the side of analyzing news,” Al-Farhan wrote. He believes that Saudi newspapers have almost no credibility. “If you have become a well-known blogger, then you can have more credibility than a whole newspaper,” he added.
Although Fouad Al-Farhan believes future is for the blogs, he does not know how does this future would look like. But we can only be optimistic. “If we worked hard to spread blogging in Saudi Arabia, and convinced some influential people to adopt it, then we will gain the benefits of blogging in the same way Western societies did,” he says, “we have to move on.”

author: Ahmed Al-Omran


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Guyana: Expectations of women · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

When Guyana-gyal meets a widow and her two children at a charity luncheon, her thoughts turn to the plight of women. “So many women, waiting quiet, quiet, for donations. How many got a skill? I wonder if they only aim in life as young girls was to marry, have children. Nobody teach them more. Nobody ever tell them that they husband might leave…either die or walk away.”

author: Georgia Popplewell


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India: Forget the public school · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A recent post on the Freakonomics blog on a 10 year old Indian boy writing in, sparks a post that talks of government schools being uniformly worse than private schools world over, regardless of the country.


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India: Polio  · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Balancing Life on polio in the subcontinent - “It remains a major problem in 9 countries. What’s common between them all? Extremely high populations living in relatively squalid conditions, in extreme poverty. And the sub-continent, especially India and Bangladesh, remain at the very heart of the disease.”


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Indonesia: Tolerance for Terror · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Sarapan Ekonomi worries about a recent survey result that indicate 11% of Indonesians – or 24.2 million people – think terrorist attacks are OK.


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Jamaica, Guyana: Walter Rodney · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Jebratt and Geoffrey Philp remember slain Guyanese teacher, writer and political activist Walter Rodney, on the day of his birthday.


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Jamaica, UK: Bamboula restaurant · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Trinifood visits a Jamaican restaurant in London and treats us to a mouthwatering review.


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Japan: Rise of anime · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Japundit‘s Marie writes about the recent rise in popularity of anime and manga (cartoon movies and books) in the United States, sparking a lively discussion in the comments section.


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Kenya: Banking & Investment · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Bankelele posts his thoughts and tips on Kenyan banking and investment with details on each of the country's banking institutions.

author: Sokari Ekine


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Kenya: Parliament resumes · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Kenyan Pundit comments on the Kenya's current parliament which resumed yesterday which she describes as “Congregation of fools“.


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Kyrgyzstan: One year on · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Sandro of Kyrgyzstan Students is being bitter about the first anniversary of the ‘Tulip Revolution’ whereas Amira over at The Golden Road to Samarqand talked to some students who hold different opinions. Claire of neweurasia also has some details.


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Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome · Global Voices
Salam Adil

This week is a week of rememberance. It is the third anniversary of the start of the Iraq war and the Iraq bloggers are commenting on the hopes at the start and their feelings for the future. It is also the 18th anniversary of the Halabja massacre. And the burning by Halabjans of the monument raised mixed comments from bloggers. Also several bloggers take on the issue of American violence. Last week I wrote about insomnia, this week I have laziness and the confused kid gets back to being confused.
If you read nothing else this week, read this:
24 Steps to Liberty watches the inaugural session of the new Iraqi Parliament and gives a vivid and personal account of the proceedings. He describes the event in a way that television never can:
“Jafari, the current PM, and Mulla Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic revolution in Iraq … were whispering to each other each time Pachachi said a sentence including “far from ethnic and religious divisions,” they didn’t like what he was saying. I could sense it from several feet distance.”
The last straw for 24 Steps came when a member objected to giving the oath on the grounds that two words had changed:
“I didn’t know if I should cry, smile, laugh, or spit on my country’s lawmakers… I was thinking ‘come on men. It’s only the first session. We are not asking for much. Just say that you are the new parliament. Is that too hard for you to agree on? Well, f**k you and f**k me if I believe there will be a ‘national unity government’ if you don’t even agree that you exist.’ “
Its been three years since the beginning of the war.
Among bloggers, optimism is hard to come by. But what there is, can be summed up in Iraq the Model. Mohammed starts unsure saying that “until this moment we have different feelings and opinions about where this operation brought us and where its … going to lead us.” He remembers the days just after the regime was toppled. How Iraqis were angry and hit out at symbols of the old regime. The fears of America:
“all that Iraqis knew about America was that it's … the imposer of the sanctions and above all, the America that let us down in 1991…
There was a wide gap between the two but we had no choice but to work together, because in a moment Iraqis didn't choose, America and a group of Iraqi ex-pat leaders were suddenly replacing a regime that controlled everything for too long.
Iraqis were confused and vulnerable..”
But was it the right decision to remove Saddam? Mohammed says ‘yes’ because “life stopped and time stopped when Saddam ruled Iraq.” and “we have hope and I see this hope even in the words of those that are cynical about the outcome of the political process”. He ends defiantly: “And yes…Iraq will be the model.”
Riverbend sees things differently:
“It has been three years since the beginning of the war that marked the end of Iraq’s independence. Three years of occupation and bloodshed.
She fears the present:
“The real fear is the mentality of so many people lately- the rift that seems to have worked it’s way through the very heart of the country, dividing people. It’s disheartening to talk to acquaintances- sophisticated, civilized people- and hear how Sunnis are like this, and Shia are like that… To watch people pick up their things to move to ‘Sunni neighborhoods’ or ‘Shia neighborhoods’ .”
And she remembers how sectarianism was treated before. As a child she was asked by a friend if she was a Smurf or a Snork as a code for ‘Sunni’ or ‘Shia’ and being told by her mother “we’re Muslims- there’s no difference.”
In a similar vein Hala_s notes that Iraq had been ripped off by the Coalition Provisional Authority, is being torn apart by all its neighbours, and Iraqis are too busy surviving to do anything about it. She wonders if it is too late to stop Iraq sinking.
Treasure of Baghdad gives his personal recollection of how his family lived through the war and recalls how over three years his happiness of being liberated has turned to disappointment: “I thought this war was the last as we were told and promised. I did not expect it would be the… beginning of horror, fear, civil war, destruction, and death.”
The Woman I Was relates a long list of kidnappings, murder, assassinations, violence, and war. She says
“all these happened in the second week of March while the Americans were preparing them selves to celebrate the third anniversary of the “new Iraq”..The week was a typical week .. The ordinary week called “bloody” and the extraordinary one called “bloodiest”. Blood became the character of the Iraqis life and day..”
She also talks about the absurdities of the new Iraq. Well worth reading!
Attawie talks about freedom: “in the new Iraq, the free Iraq, … we are free to say publicly what we want to say. Oh, and this freedom gives the right to other free citizens to disagree with me. Therefore, they are free to attack me, bomb my car and even kill me. I believe the chaos results from an overdose of freedom.”
The last word goes to Hassan:
“Not more than an hour before, I got a call from a BBC reporter, asking for my opinion about the last three years, considering that the anniversary of the beginning of the war is this weekend. I really was surprised, because I have never thought of it. I never thought of remembering the day the war started. And I won't.”
There was another anniversary this week. The 18th Anniversary of the Halabja massacre. This anniversary ended in violence when people from Halabja attacked and burned down the monument to their dead. Bloggers had varied reactions.
Some are saddened: The Exiled Shalash laments “Haven't we suffered enough? Haven't enough of us died? When will this stop? When will we have time to mourn our dead and write eulogies for our dead and erect monument in honor of our dead? WHEN? WHEN?” and Fayrouz does not understand why “I'm not surprised the Kurds aren't satisfied with their government… But, I'm surprised that people would destroy this monument because of their anger at the government. I'm not sure what message they're trying to send.”
An Iraqi Tear points to a unifying aspect: “Iraqis, before the anger of Halabja, used to think that the Kurds are living in another world; a world of prosperity and safe.. Now they are discovering that they are on the same boat; fighting for their rights no matter if they are Arabs, Kurds or Turkmens!.”
Iraqi Tear and Asterism (that's me) also talk of the hypocracy around the memorial. Iraqi Tear reminds us that “In July 1989, April Glaspie, the American ambassador then in Iraq, and Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi foreign minister then too, gave a joint press conference in Baghdad… Glaspie red a document.. finding that the chemical weapon (gas) used against Halabja was not only Iraqi.” and Asterism remembers that the Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani was in alliance with Saddam at the time of the gas attack.
In other worlds
Several bloggers posted graphic pictures and comment on the bombing of a family home by America near Balad where 11 people, mostly children. I will not link here to the posts because the pictures are so disturbing. While many commentors on these blogs point out that worse is being done by Iraqis on each other I personally wonder if it is because Iraqis expect higher standards from the American army.
And Finally:
Shaggy is having a seriously lazy week and gives us a lesson in applied procrastination. On Saturday he puts off studying for college, and wonders about lunch. Later he picks up his book but falls asleep on page 36. By Monday he is complaining that he has reverted to being a slob. “Today's my day to drive, I really ought to go out for a drive after lunch. Wow, within a matter of minutes I've decided to push back my studies. Where's my lunch.” Then he goes on to forget to call his friend or fill the car up with petrol. Tuesday was “Another Sloppy Day”. Then by Wednesday he is excited to go to college. He even brushes his teeth.
I think we have all had a week like that.
And  Konfused Kid is in desperate need of counseling. So who does he turn to for help? The blogoshere of course. We are warned: “this post is personal and could be admittedly boring, as I will treat you as my psychiatrist. You have been warned like hell so don't flame in the comments”. And he pours his soul out about love and relationships in a 3000-word post. Someone please read it and sort the Konfused Kid out so he can get back to posting what we love to read.

author: Salam Adil


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Mongolia: Roads · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

neweurasia's Mongolia blog commenced posting and among many posts, this one here discusses whether Mongolia should really look into nuclear power as an energy alternative.


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Myanmar: Material Support · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Burma Underground discusses the hypocrisy of the U.S. government opposing the Myanmar junta while denying thousands of Myanmar refugees resettlement in the U.S. because of purported “material support” to terrorists.

author: Jose Manuel Tesoro


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Nepal: Human rights · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Bahas on the human rights issue in Nepal which appears to take turns for the worse, and compares to perilious circumstances elsewhere in the world.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Pakistan: Culture and Lahore · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Organic Brew points to a website that lists cultural events in Lahore -“Our task is to get the widest range of cultural activity registered on the site, and promote the website amid the Lahoris by also offering a cultural picture data base, online forums and discussions on culture and related issues.”


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Peru: Citizen Reporting · Global Voices
David Sasaki

In a post entitled, “Me, a Citizen Journalist?” (ES) Juan Arellano posts a screenshot of a photograph of his which was featured on the Citizen Journalism section of the major daily, El Comercio. Peruvian blogger Juan Carlos Lujan (ES) has  been largely responsible for El Comercio's promotion of citizen journalism.

author: David Sasaki


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Philippines: Dress Codes · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Jove Francisco asks if whether the Philippine press corps’ decision to dress “up” or “down” reflects their level of respect for the President.


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Russia: Valenki Factory · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile links to an article about one of Russia's business success stories: a valenki factory in a small town on the Volga River.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Saudi Arabia: 500km to the nearest cinema · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Yes.. 500km to the nearest cinema! How painful could that be? Well, it is the sad reality our Saudi friends are suffering from and Amira fully understand why.


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South Korea: Pagan practice · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

“The proud new owner will set a blanket out in front of his/her new vehicle. On this blanket will be a smiling pig's head, plates of steamed pork, chopsticks, and bottles of soju. There will also be burning incense,” writes The Asia Pages, on the subject of pagan rituals in South Korea and Kyrgyzstan. Even in Christian South Korea, she discovers, ghosts still walk the streets.


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Thailand: Boycott and Democracy · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Chemical Generation Singapore thinks that Thai opposition's decision to boycott the coming snap elections is a strategic miscalculation and bad for democracy.


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Trinidad & Tobago, USA: Ethical call · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Prepping a show featuring writer and performer Tony Hendra, whose daughter once accused him of molesting her sexually, Sweet Trini, who works at a public station in Washington DC, has her “least favourite prep ever. and my least favourite ethical call ever.”


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Ukraine: Kyiv Sightseeing · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Nancy Case of Case In Point takes her readers on a Kyiv sightseeing tour: “Is there anything cooler than being in a narrow cave with prostrating pilgrims and ancient shriveled dead guys and only one thin candle for light? I didn’t think so.”


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Ukraine: Tymoshenko’s ‘Personal Touch’ · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Scott W. Clark of Foreign Notes writes about ‘personal touch’ in Yulia Tymoshenko's campaign, a quality lacking in Victor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine Bloc's approach.