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Latvia: Corruption Scandal · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

All About Latvia reports on the newest corruption scandal and writes about how poverty forces many Latvians to violate the laws: “For a trolleybus conductor I met on my recent trip to Latvia, this was a matter of survival. Instead of a normal fee, she charged me less without giving me a ticket. That means, she will not be accountable for the money she had received and can take it as an extra pay.”


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Malaysia: Letters to the PM · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Malaysian member of parliament Lim Kit Siang is disappointed that the Malaysian prime minister is ignoring the letters sent to him. “If the Prime Minister does not read and is not bothered to get briefed about an urgent letter from the Parliamentary Opposition Leader on serious corruption allegations against high-profile leaders in his administration appearing in the international media, gravely undermining Malaysia’s image and international competitiveness, who will expect the Prime Minister to have time for anyone who send him letters, petitions or appeals as their hope of last resort for justice?”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Preetam Rai


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Malaysia: Remembering Past Election Campaigns · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The Malay Male recounts some “Amazing Election Stories” from his childhood days. (the post has some naughty language)


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Mexico: Breaking News: Earthquake · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Via Twitter I was just alerted to a “strong earthquake in Mexico City.” Acapulco is without electricity. Eduardo Arcos is updating every minute [ES] on Vivir Mexico.

author: David Sasaki


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Mexico: Tijuana: “Between a Window and a Door” · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Nathan Gibbs on Oscar Ortega's sculpture “Entre Ventana y Puerta” or “Between a Window and a Door” in Tijuana: “He explained the title as a description of Tijuana’s physical (and perhaps psychological) situation. It’s an incredibly transited city, but has no seaport, making its coastline only a “window.” The “door” refers to the U.S. border — a door locked for many. The piece, like the city, is rich with layered symbols: the hand of Mexican labor, cars circle the base endlessly, the round indigenous blocks carved with the men’s bathroom figure, the jumbled mosaic like the residential architecture covering Tijuana’s hillsides.”


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Nepal: Constituent Assembly Elections and India · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Nepali Netbook on the Constituent Assembly elections in Nepal, and the meaning of the Indian Ambassador's words. “In suggesting that Nepalis should establish their own electoral paradigm, the Indian ambassador has much more than overruled UNMIN chief Ian Martin. Mukherjee has assured our SPAMers not worry about trifles like international credibility; the world’s largest democracy has already conferred all the legitimacy this government will ever need.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Nicaragua: National Wiki · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Rodrigo Peñalba and Mario Delgado introduce [ES] the wiki [ES] of MarcaAcme, “the first open wiki dedicated specifically to Nicaragua.” Among the pages is a directory of Nicaraguan weblogs, which so far lists just seven.


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Nigeria: Nigeria Elections 2007 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The World According to Adaure on Nigeria Elections 2007: “Part one of the much awaited election in Nigeria is finaly here. The Feds on Wednesday declared Thursday and Friday a public holiday, literarily at the very last minute. Many people including myself were rather ticked by this because we didn't get the opportunity to rush to the banks to load up for the long and ominously questionalble weekend. Yes, people are scared about what's going to go down.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Pakistan: Driving in Lahore · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Light Within on traffic in Lahore. “they will always drives at a speed less than 40 kilometres per hour along the middle of recently beautified, recently widened Lahore roads, and forget the distinctly marked speed lanes. They drive without looking left or right as if mesmerized by the taillights or what ever is written on the back screens of the vehicles they are following closely.”


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Pakistan: Want to “make friendship”? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A strong step taken to publish numbers of people who harass others by calling them up at Behind the Chairman's Door. “First off, it takes a small man to call someone up and harass them, but then most of Pakistan’s male society is frustrated because of the Mullah code. Now, since in Pakistan, the only thing that mobile companies will do is warn the person that is making these calls, we have created this Wall of Shame. If you are receiving harassing calls or SMSs, please post them on Take Back Pakistan so that we can approach the relevant authorities for the permanent blocking of the number.”


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Romania: More Bucharest Pics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

More pictures of Bucharest at Novala, Europa.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Romania: Old Cars · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Romerican‘s dream of a Trabant has been replaced with something else: “There may not be a lot of nostalgia for old cars in Romania right now, but as more time passes the wounds get healed, average incomes rise, and the number of wealthy people grow.”


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Russia: Cheburashka · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog writes about Cheburashka's misadventures in the capitalist world.


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Russia: Moscow · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“But what makes Moscow that special?” asks The Turkish Invasion. (Definitely not its housing options.)


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Russia: Why April 14? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow no longer lives in Russia's capital, but continues to receive notes from the U.S. Embassy there:
They send these out every once in awhile when something big has happened or may be about to happen – sort of like a travel advisory, but more targeted.
The most recent such note had to do with Saturday, April 14, the day on which several political movements, including the opposition, decided to hold rallies all at once. Below is a rather informative excerpt:
[…] The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has advised the U.S. Embassy in Moscow of several large demonstrations planned for Saturday, April 14th in Moscow at the locations listed below. Moscow city authorities do not rule out the possibility of violence, and will be providing a large militia presence, particularly in the area of Pushkinskaya. The Russian authorities advise Americans to avoid downtown Moscow on Saturday, or to exercise caution if you must be in the area. We wish to remind American citizens that even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence.
The times and locations are as follows:
12:00 PM – Pushkinskaya Square, Sparrow Hill, and Turgenevskaya Square – Molodaya Gvardia and Other Russia, expecting up to 20,000 people.
1:00 PM – Slavyanskaya Square – Union of Right Forces.
2:00 PM – Bolotnaya Sqaure – Movement Against Illegal Immigration and Congress of Russian Communities, unlikely to draw as large a crowd. […]
While a few hours still remain before the busy “demonstration day” begins, a good (if somewhat carefree) question to ask is this: Why April 14?
At least one Russian blogger – LJ user galerist, gallery owner Marat Guelman – hosts a discussion (RUS) on this subject on his blog:
I'm not reading newspapers and that's why I learn about the news from journalists who ask me to comment on this news. And yesterday, for example, I learned that four rallies are scheduled for April 4. Rallies of those who agree and those who don't, CRC and URF.
Please educate this ignorant one: why April 14? What's in the date? […]
***
vianega: April 14 – because it's Saturday, and the next weekend will be Lenin's and Hitler's birthdays, dangerous. […]
[…]
panam: And no one got an idea to hold a rally against all these rallies on Friday the 13th… […]
jfht: There was an idea to have a protest rally against protest rallies, only I don't remember if it did take place. […]
gleza: April 14 is the day on which poet Vladimir Mayakovsky committed a suicide.
galerist: I wonder if anyone would remember this.
[…]
leprikon: I'm turning 30 on April 14. It's terribly unfair and I disagree with it, too. :)
galerist: Sounds like a reason for the fifth rally.
[…]
katterfeld: We in Irkutsk are also holding it on the 14th: http://babr.ru/?pt=news&event=v1&IDE=37047.
The logic is simple: a week earlier is still cold; a week later, there are Lenin's and Hitler's birthdays, and Nazis and Communists would be getting in the way; and then there are May 1, May 9, and the dacha season…


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Saudi: Killer Pardoned · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A woman who has murdered her ex-lover has been pardoned by his family and may soon be set free, writes  Saudi-based blogger Nzingha.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Senegal: hip hop meets politics · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Tune Your World posts a documentary, African Underground: Democracy in Dakar, which shows the role of hip hop in Senegalese politics, “Our friends at Nomadic Wax are in Senegal this month producing a unique documentary film, called ‘African Underground: Democracy in Dakar’, showing how local hip-hop is shaping the current Presidential Election. Each week they are sending back 5-10 minute video segments. This “real-time” documentary style allows for immediate discussion of music and politics in Senegal.”


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Sri Lanka: Army and the A5 road · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

DefenceNet discusses the Sri Lankan military situation. “Infantry units of the Sri Lanka Light Infantry and Gemunu Watch took complete control over the Mahaoya-Chenkaladi A5 yesterday. With this capture, SLA are now in complete control over 90% of civilian populated areas in the eastern province.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Moko Jumbie Movie · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Stefan Falke's Eye takes note of German filmmaker Harald Rumpf's documentary about the Moko Jumbies (stilt walkers) of the Dragon Kilimanjaro School of Arts & Culture in Trinidad and Tobago.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago, U.S.A.: R.I.P. Kurt Vonnegut  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Both Caribbean Free Radio: “Like many of my ilk (US-educated Trinidadians of a certain age?), I had my Vonnegut phase” and The Latin Americanist: “One of his best science fiction novels was 1963’s Cat’s Cradle which was set in the fictional Caribbean island of San Lorenzo and whose ruling dictator may have been based on Haiti's “Papa Doc” Duvalier and Dominican strongman Rafael Trujillo” acknowledge the recent passing of American novelist Kurt Vonnegut.


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Uganda: Protest turns into manhunt for Indians, three people killed · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Last week, Joshua Goldstein wrote  about Ugandan bloggers’ reaction to Ugandan government's decision to give away 7,100 hectares of Mabira Forest to private investor for sugarcane plantation. The decision has been criticized by the Ugandan civil society, whose resistance to the allocation included the use of SMS.
Yesterday, Ugandan bloggers were busy blogging about violence and deaths at a protest in Kampala against the government of Uganda and the private investor, Mahendra Mehta. It is reported that three people died after the protest turned violent. Two of them were shot dead by the police.
The private investor involved in the saga is of Indian origin. Ugandans of Indian descent became the victims of mob attacks during the violence. Communists Socks and Boots writes:
There are riots in Kampala. Over Mabira forest, and the planned give-away of part of it. Some guys want to mint money off an irreplacable phenomenon (commonly-called `Mabira Forest’), and others want it preserved. The guy supposed to buy part of that forest is a Ugandan for generations, but he is of Indian origin. So, South Asians have been the victims of you-wanna-disposess-us noise. And I have heard that two have been killed in the scuffles in the city. I hope that isn't true. Because, if it is, it shows the one thing I hate about democracy. (Hey, the Danes can find something to write about!)
I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda reports:
Several people died today in Kampala during what was intended to be a peaceful demonstration in favour of Mabira Forest. Sometimes things escalate fast, and today the ever so friendly Kampala simply went mad. The man behind the company who is to buy the piece of the forest is Indian, and apparently the rally took an unexpected direction and turned its anger into a manhunt for Indians or the ones who look like.
Her Iranian friend was trapped in the middle of the riots after she was mistaken to be of Indian origin:
I was in a meeting all day and only heard of the riots around 11 am where one of my development worker colleagues explained how she got trapped in her red MS car the middle of the riots on her way to Nakesero Market. She is of Iranian origin so the mob took her for Indian. When you see others being stoned by a mad mob, pulled out of taxis, shops being looted, you do think ‘to hell with a scratched car!’ – and she made it out of there.
Others didn't. Some were stoned, some were shot at by the police and others were hit by cars.
Nobody expected the situation to turn into a manhunt for anyone of Asian origin:
We did not imagine that things would come to a head so quickly and so badly. A protest to save trees has quickly turned into a manhunt for anyone of Asian origin. For those who may not be Ugandan, the person to whom the government wishes to give the forest is an Asian. They have been pulled out of taxis and their shops have been vandalised. As a write, I have seen the body of a young Indian man lying on the back of a pick-up truck. I wonder if and when his family will find him.
The protest, argues Kelly's Uganda Journal, has lost its enviromental focus:
And I was right! It is only 11 o'clock and sadly two people have already died, they were hit by a speeding car on Kampala road that was trying to flee from people stoning the vehicle. Also the protest has lost its environmental focus and taken on an anti-Asian tone. Apparently from the reports we are getting demonstrators are chanting, “go away Muhinde!” (Indian) and the likes. An Indian was also attacked near Centenary bank on Kampala road and Entebbe road junction and his motorcycle was burnt. So far no tear gas though… I give it one hour!
Ernest Bazanye goes as far as saying that Ugandans do not really care about the environment, they are simply looking for people to blame for their problems. The rich become the target: “Envy has turned into racism, which has turned into murder,”
Ugandans don’t care about the environment. Well, you might, but that that mob doesn't. If Ugandans gave a shit, why would we still have a problem with buveeras and why would people still not be using energy saving bulbs, and why would they still be doing their laundry at the lakeside, right next to the sign that asks them not to, and what about that mess called Nakivubo channel? And why are they always encroaching on wetlands? They are encroaching on forests too! And what about all the kasasiro and rubbish heaps everywhere you go? And why is it everyone’s ambition to own a gas-guzzling smoke belching 4-wheel drive?
That riot wasn’t about the environment. I bet if that demo had been peaceful there would have been hawkers making a killing selling mineral water and kabalagala wrapped in buveera at the site.
People don't care about the environment. Poor people just want someone to blame for their lot, and so they blame the rich. Through some twisted reasoning this justifies what we did.
Envy has turned into racism, which has turned into murder.
Kelly's Uganda Journal has more details of the violence in the streets of Kampala:
-Oh it didn't even take that long, five minutes after I typed the paragraph above we were notified that tear gas has been deployed. Apparently people are also stoning any vehicles driving by and all the Indians are scared and have closed their shops and gone into hiding. All roads leading to the area are blocked by police.
-Now they have burnt more stuff and killed an Indian, also Indians, about 50 have fled to a nearby mosque in the area and are held up inside- I can only imagine the derogatory, hate filled conversations going on inside that mosque in hindi and urdu, Punjabi and what not, about Ugandans… if only I were an Indian dialect speaking fly on the wall!… Police are trying to secure the area around the mosque.
- Indian driving a tractor trailer truck in Katwe was burnt, truck destroyed, he was rushed to Mulago hospital… how did this get all the way to Katwe?
- The military has been deployed to assist the flailing police, rioters have spread to CPS, Constitutional Square and the State House… tear gas has deployed by Parliament, Entebbe road from Kampala road to the clock tower, as far as Katwe market, and at the above, CPS, etc…
This has really gotten out of control! Frankly I don't see why the police can't contain this, there are only 400 demonstrators supposedly???
-Lots of gun shots heard.
-The military are ferrying Indians to Central Police Station (CPS) for safety
– Military has also secured a mosque near owino for Indians to go to.
– Reported targeting of bazungu (whites) and Chinese, Canadian ISU teacher driving on Mukwano on streatch between ggaba road light and clock tower was stoned in his car and had to race through the mob so people would move to avoid being hit.


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Ukraine: Corruption · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

MoldovAnn writes about corruption in Ukraine: “I’ve witnessed a few corrupt transactions in my day, both in Ukraine and in Moldova. Mostly, I’ve seen incidences with the local police.”


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Ukraine: “Hi, Mom!” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Abdymok.net posts a note about Ukraine's young protesters – and their leaders.


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Ukraine: Kyiv Photos · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Michael Forster Rothbart photographs one of the Kyiv neighborhoods to which evacuees from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant were relocated two decades ago – and gets his camera bag with 41 items in it stolen. (There are many more photos and stories on the blog, including a few from the protests currently taking place in Kyiv.)


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Ukraine: No Political Passion · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

MoldovAnn observes “a lack of passion” among the pro-Yanukovych protesters gathered in Kyiv: “They just don’t look engaged – they are sitting around eating, drinking, drinking, drinking, talking, drinking. I don’t hear them talking about politics at all.”


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Ukraine: Radiation · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

MoldovAnn tries to buy a dosimeter in Kyiv: “No wonder the general population long ago stopped actively worrying about radiation in their food – whether it’s there or not, you basically have no way of finding out.”


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Ukraine: Response to Yanukovych · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes reacts to PM Victor Yanukovych's piece in the Financial Times.


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Venezuela: Latin America in Deferment · Global Voices
David Sasaki

“In Latin America, revolutions are also a non-traditional product for export. It is a matter of a charm that is as typical of us as pretentiousness or corn, mariachis or chocolate. We also have sentimental caudillos, necessary rebels, a class of heroes that can no longer be found anywhere else in the world. People that seem to have been taken out of a forgotten cinema epic. We are almost the planet’s retro TV channel. All those who still feel a nostalgia for history can come here.” That comes from Alberto Barrera Tyszka whose El Nacional column has been translated by Guillermo Parra.


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Vietnam: Working in Vietnam · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

azngamerboi publishes an interview in which he recounts his move from Philippines to Vietnam and talks about the opportunities in Vietnam for expats.


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Yemen: New Role for Women · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Blogger Jane Novak  links to a news article which says that the Executive Office of Islah Party in Aden affirmed its intent to grant women wide chances of assuming posts in the party. “Good. Yemeni women are very talented, intelligent and have a lot to contribute politically,” she notes.


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Yemen: Sa’ada War Continues · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Away from the prying eyes of international media, the war in the Yemeni province of Sa'ada continues, reports blogger Jane Novak. “Civilians trapped in Dhahyan as it is bombed and attacked by tanks. Diseases spreading, unburied bodies one cause. Hospitals overcrowded with military and volunteers. Locals plead for food and medicine. Political arrests continue, including minors,” she explains.


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Bahrain: What’s An Imbecile? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif  discusses the meaning of the word imbecile and admits that he “was actually generous in that term’s use in some cases.”


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Chile: building a new educational understanding · Global Voices
Rosario Lizana

These days one of the issues that is capturing the attention of Chilean bloggers is the educational reform. The LOCE, Constitutional Organic Law of Students is being reformed to a new law called the General Law of Education (PLEGE) (ES).
Michele Bachelet, president of Chile declared that origin of the LOCE was authoritarian and that this new reform is based upon republican and democratic visions “and in a democracy, a law has to legitimize the popular sovereignty and the current LOCE, clearly does not count on this legitimacy”
This could be a reference to the beginnings of the current educational law, which was made during the dictatorship period under Augusto Pinochet.
One of the two issues of conflict of this reform has to do with the selection of students during the first schooling period and the elimination of profit for private institutions.
Mariana Aylwin, ex Minister of Education (and son of Patricio Aylwin, ex Chilean president) , posts (ES)  that the public schools used to select children, because before there were not enough schools for all of them. She also refers that the schools that still have to select students because there is more demand, that should make a transparent selection process.
The number of schools has grown in the last few years. José Joaquín Brunner, (ES) an expert in education explains that the private educational for-profit sector gives education to half of the Chileans students, which means one million students.  So any decision in this matter should be oriented to strengthen the relation between the public and the private sector.
To understand other general issues in discussion, Rodolfo (ES), a professor of the University of Talca explains some general differences about this new reform:
“Actualmente la LOCE se centra en que el Estado debe resguardar la libertad de enseñanza, sin prestar similar atención al derecho a la educación. El proyecto propone equiparar ambos derechos. La LOCE actual no obliga al Estado a financiar un sistema gratuito que asegure el acceso a la enseñanza preescolar; la modificación extiende esta obligación a la enseñanza preescolar.
En la actualidad la LOCE permite el financiamiento público a instituciones educacionales privadas con fines de lucro, creadas sin mayores exigencias respecto de su creación y continuidad. En paralelo las escuelas municipales deben funcionar con subvenciones irrisorias basadas en la asistencia y sin real autonomía. El resultado lo tenemos a la vista: una educación de mala calidad. Por eso extraña que se afirme que la LOCE no tiene nada que ver con una educación de calidad: tiene mucho que ver. Lo anterior no implica que la LOCE sea la solución para una educación de calidad, pero ella contiene las bases conceptuales, los fundamentos, los cimientos, sobre las cuales se construye el sistema educativo. Lo que corresponde es que ella recoja la amplia experiencia nacional e internacional en la materia”.
Currently, LOCE is centered on the fact that the State should guarantee the freedom to teach, without giving the same attention to the right of education. The proposal of the project wants to balance these rights. The current LOCE does not obligate the state to finance a free system that includes access to preschool education, the modification extends the obligation to include preschool education.
In reality, the LOCE allows for public financing of educational private for-profit institutions, created without any great demands on their creation and continuity.  The public schools, in comparison, have to operate with ridiculous subsidies based on attendance and without real autonomy. We can see the results: Bad educational quality. Because of that it is strange to see the assertion that the LOCE has nothing to do with a quality education: it has a lot to do with it. This doesn’t mean that the LOCE is the solution for a quality education, but this contains the conceptual bases, the grounds, the foundations in which the educational system is built. These correspond to widen the national and international experience in this issue.

author: Rosario Lizana


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Egypt: Still in Prison after 125 Release Orders  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egypt-based blogger Tim Seah reports on five prisoners  who have been behind bars for a decade and who are yet to be freed despite 125 release orders. “Security forces arrested five kids, some of them as young as 15, from the al-Sharqiyya governorate in the Nile Delta on suspicion of belonging to Islamic Jihad following the 1997 terrorist attacks in Luxor. In the 10 years since, Ismail said, magistrates have ordered their release 125 times each, saying there was no evidence to keep them detained. No matter. A decade later, they are still in prison,” he explains.


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Iran:No Sunni mosques in Tehran · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Alpar  [Fa]talks about recent Islamic Solidarity conference in Iran. He is surprised that Sunnites in Tehran has no right to have their own mosques.He asks is Islamic Republic ready to give this right to Sunnites?

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Remember Ali Farahbakhsh · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Hanif Mazroi [Fa] reminds us that Ali Farahbakhsh,an economic journalist,has been in prison for 5 months.The blogger says journalism is an unpredictable profession in Iran. You, as a journalist, can never be involved with politics but you can go to jail without knowing the reasons.


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Malawi: A Biblical Lesson for Malawi Politicians, Blogger Graduates With a Distinction, Unique Lake Malawi Species and Robots Separate Couple · Global Voices
Victor Kaonga

Whoever is reading this might know just how dangerous it can be to trust anything on the Internet. The reasons are numerous. No need to labour and explain them. Malawi's newest blog Kwathunetwork (‘Kwathu‘ means ‘home’) is a place for discussing the theme “Knowledge is good only if it is shared. Old Wisdom, New Lessons.’ The blogger whose name is elusive proudly links to Malawi sites and warns about the Internet (*Note: the original article was written by Chippla Vandu.):
The Internet might be one of the greatest inventions in modern history, but it could also be a very dangerous place. All sorts of sinister activities go on within its humongous maze of uncontrolled information—credit card fraud as well as other forms of monetary fraud, online suicides, illicit chat room activities with minors and these days, online bullying.
The anonymity, which the Internet offers, appears to sometimes create demons out of gentlemen and women. Truth be told though, no online activity is ever really done anonymously. Neither pseudonyms nor anonymous aliases provide perfect covers for individuals’ online activities.
For example, the blogger questions the claim that Philip Emeagwali is the “father of the Internet”  and goes on to name media houses that have relied on information on his website:
In an article written a year and four months ago, this blog openly questioned the so-called achievements of this Nigerian-American scientist. Alas, for so many had already bought into the calculated hype—from New African magazine, which voted him the 35th greatest African ever, to the Nigerian government, which in January 2006 commemorated him with a stamp on which the words “Supercomputer Genius” appear.
CNN Student News also bought into the hype by declaring him “a father of the Internet” without providing any evidence for this other than stating that “he is recognized as one of the fathers of the Internet.” By whom, we are not told. This blogger sent requests to New African magazine as to the source of its information on this Nigerian-American scientist. To this day, a response is still being awaited.
This Nigerian-American scientist must have done a pretty good job in deluding so many. But we could all learn a thing or two from his tricks. Always try to independently verify information you come across online. Check with other sources and keep checking till you are able to corroborate the information at hand. All those fooled by this Nigerian-American scientist—by the way, his name is Philip Emeagwali—appear to have had one flaw. They all seem to have relied on the fraudulent information on his website. The need to verify information at hand becomes all too obvious.
Elsewhere, the blogger provides a bliblical view of Malawi politics and compares Malawi's president Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika and his predecessor Dr. Bakili Muluzi to the biblical Esau and Jacob. In a post titled, Let us Take Our Journey, the blogger explains that the biblical patriarch Esau set a marvelous example of bridge building between two people seemingly on a collision course. He became a transitional person of incredible capacity who looked beyond all the “ifs, ands and buts” of past hurts and grievances. Kwathunetwork wonders if Esau offers any lessons to Malawian politicians:
He had been snookered out of his birthright by a cunning foe, none other than his brother. Talk about too close for comfort and “in your face!” Yet after years of separation, Esau chose to make a difference and took the moderate course”. Will modern day Malawi, Dr Bingu Wa Mutharika and Dr Bakili Elison Muluzi have the same vision as Esau in dealing with their nemesis? Only time will tell, but their “then and there” is now! Whether they do or not, it is the voice of Esau that echoes the millennial refrain “this is the way, walk you in it.
Blogger graduates with distinction
Higher educational qualifications are a prized possession for most people including one of Malawi's active bloggers Clement Nthambazale Nyirenda who is graduating this month in  at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Howard College Campus) with Master of Science in Computer Engineering with distinction.
He acknowledges a number of people that have helped him get this far and describes himself as:
up-and-coming young academician,researcher and consultant in Computational Intelligence, Computer Networks and Reconfigurable Hardware systems. I am also a developer of Open Source Software. Of late, I have developed a huge interest in Grid Computing.
Congratulations from the Global Voices community!
Ruby on Rails in Malawi
Lilongwe-based blogger Soyapi Mumba writes about a presentation on Ruby on Rails in Lilongwe, Malawi:
It was great to have 8 guys from Lilongwe show up on a Sunday afternoon and discuss programming languages and trends. A lot of thanks Margaret Ngwira of Kamuzu College of Nursing for allowing us to use (or is it under-utilise) the Library computer room. There was an LCD projector and lots of space and computers ready to be used. We want to have such talks once a month so expect another one in May. Like I said, the second screencast was Putting Flickr on Rails, so I've Put the photos of the Rails event on Flickr.
Lake Malawi appears in blogs for its most unique species
Lake Malawi is “believed to contain more endemic fish species than any other lake in the world and the species are estimated to be 450–600 species.” A relatively new blogger Hastings Zidana dedicates his blog to talking about Lake Malawi biodiversity which he says are exposed to a variety of challenges. The fresh water lake, one of the most beautiful in the world has the Malawi cichlid fish and some varieties of mbuna found only here. It is a rare species.
Having been concerned with the lake biodiversity, Zidana has embarked on a special project calling for a management strategy to mitigate the implications of translocations on the fishery diversity of Lake Malawi:
Lake Malawi is one of those ecosystems which has suffered human impacts due to increasing settlements and farming activities near or in the shore line. This has affected the breeding grounds of many fish species including, the most totted Lake Malawi Tilapia commonly known as ‘Chambo“. As if this is not enough, the Lake Malawi ecosystem is also at the moment suffering from fish transfers or what ecologists call it fish translocations. This is happening mostly with the most colourful species which are commonly known as “Mbuna”. The high demand of the Malawian Mbuna to European and Asian markets has led fishermen to capture these tiny spcies as far as the northern waters and send them to the southern waters where they are freighted to outside markets. It is during these processes that some of the Mbuna species are dropped on the way and hence found to be where they do not belong.
Traffic Lights separate husband and wife
Traffic lights are known to be one of the key markers of modern-day cities. However, no one in Malawi noticed the gender dimension of traffic lights until early this year when Mzuzu, a city in Northern Malawi, had its first traffic lights. Ndagha writes a post about a joke resulting from the traffic lights in Mzuzu considered to be “gender insensitive.” The original joke is in Tumbuka and has been circulating amongst Malawians. The joke goes like this:
Husband and wife are are at traffic lights awaiting their turn to cross over.
Husband, slightly more knowledgeable about the traffic lights goings on goes:
Mwanakazi wane, tilindizge dankha pano. (My wife let us wait here).
Wife: Enya afumubane (Yes my husband)
Then comes the “green boy”
Hubby: Sono ni nyengo ya banalume pera, imwe mulindize dankha kuti pize kamunthu kanakazi apo. (Now it is time for me only, you my wife, wait for the female sign to come up)..
Wife: Enya a fumubane, imwe dangirani nitimusanganinge. (yes my husband,proceed ahead and i will catch up as soon as i am permitted to cross over)
Hubby crosses over
To their surprise, no female sign comes up and the two are on the opposite sides of the road.
Wife: Sono ine nijumphenge apa, pakuba nge mpha banalume pera pano (Will I be able to cross here, it seems this place is only for men).
The couple spent the whole day there awaiting a female sign for the lady to cross.

author: Victor Kaonga


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This week on Myanmar Blogosphere: Myanmar Thingyan 2007 · Global Voices
May Hnin Phyu

April has always been the most exciting month for Burmese as it is the month to celebrate Thingyan – water festival. It is also a New Year in Myanmar calendar. Burmese around the world celebrate Thingyan with various type of seasonal food, music and lots of water.
Over at Myanmar blogosphere, the bloggers are also celebrating Thingyan in their own style. Myanmar Mahar Thingyan 2007 is a blog dedicated for this year Thingyan created by Service+ and involve lots of contributors, photos, latest Thingyan news and entertainment.
Image from flappingwing's Flickr page
Thingyan is a time for doing good deeds, purify the past year and turn a new leaf for the next year. While youths enjoy celebrating in Manduts, elders would meditate, donate to charities, and exercise Buddhism teaching at monasteries and pagoda. Among them blogger Ma Gyi writes about various types of annual Thingyan Charities undertaken by her friend.
Thingyan brings different experiences and memories to different people. Y & G explain why they most like about Thingyan,
It makes us clean and fresh for the new year. On New Year Day people do meritorious deeds. They set free many animals such as fishes, cows and goats. This is the festival I like best.
While KSN COMPUTER CENTRE(MDY) talks of changes in Thingyan culture and current day Myanmar youth.
Now a day Thingyan becomes bad because of fighting, drinking alcohol much, accidents and unacceptable fashions such as wearing very thin or short or sexy dresses. The real culture for Myanmar such as going to pagoda, monastery, paying respects to the aged persons becomes less and less…
Kalosayhtoo also  tries to differentiate between rural, urban and overseas Thingyan including his favorite moments of the festival.
Calling Myanmar residents in Singapore for Thingyan celebrations
Thingyan also provides great opportunities for business people as everyone will be shopping for water gears, cloths, fashion accessories, renting cars and not forgetting groceries for preparingThingyan food. One of them is a blogger Barnyarbarnyar who writes about her idea to sell BBQ and hoping to earn some cash as well as enjoying Thingyan from her shop.
Music, dances and floats are crucial factors for Thingyan festival in Myanmar. Various types of dance groups from many organizations will take part in the best floats and Thingyan group dancing competitions every year. Every year many new Thingyan songs are composed and many classical favorite songs will be replayed. A lot of hard work and efforts go into the preparation for the country wide festival. Many Myanmar blogs post songs and photos of Thingyan celebrations; among them, blogger Maydar-wii posts her old time favorite guiter notes on Thingyan songs, and aclmdy takes photos of Mandalay Thingyan Dance preparations.
Having ten days long public holidays for Thingyan this year, many Myanmar Bloggers are still writing about their daily Thingyan celebrations. This would be the longest Thingyan holiday in Myanmar and surely will be a memorable one.
Happy Thingyan and Prosperous Myanmar New Year 2007 to all Myanmar out there.

author: May Hnin Phyu


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Algeria: Islam and the Islamists · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Algerian blogger Nouri discusses the struggle between Islam and the Islamists here.


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Bahrain: One-Family Spirit  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Blogger Chanad Bahraini scorns  Press reports praising Bahrain's one-family spirit and posts pictures of demonstrations in which police clash with villagers. ‘The “one-family spirit”, it would seem, is the notion that all of Bahrain’s land and resources are the chattel of just “one family”. For if you refuse to be loyal servants of that “one family”, then get ready to deal with this,’ he writes. ‘This’ refers to a photograph of riot police in combat gear, with the smoke from tear gas clouding the background.


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Bahrain: Speeding Engineer Released · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The German engineer responsible for building the Bahrain International Circuit, which is hosting the F1 today, was caught speeding in Bahrain, reports blogger Mahmood Al Yousif. He was apparently released without any reprimand when officials realised who he was.


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Bahrain: Support for Paper · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“(W)ould any of their honourable MP’s care to ask Minister of Finance about why did the Undersecretary of Finance instruct Bahrain Development Bank (whose funds come in part from the two schemes of pension funds) to grant unsecured loan of BD 200,000 (two hundred thousands dinars) as urgent cash injection to Al-Watan newspaper two months ago?” asks Bahraini blogger Manama Republic here.


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Interview with Kazis Toguzbayev, Journalist/Blogger from Kazakhstan · Global Voices
Leila Tanayeva

Kazis Toguzbayev is a Kazakhstani journalist/blogger, who was sued for insulting the honor and the dignity of the president in January 2007 when he uploaded two articles on a group blog KUB.kz. Kazis is 59, married and has grandchildren. He is a colonel of the Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan in reserve and a pensioner for 10 years now. We spoke about the lessons that he learned after the trial and about the citizen journalism in Kazakhstan.
Q: What is blog and citizen journalism for you?
A: It’s a possibility of free self-realization.
Q: Why did you decide to write the articles, which, as you might have known, will get you in trouble?
A: In this case not my mind, but my feelings lead me. I would not have been able to exist if I did not write and upload these articles. Not writing them would be worse than being punished for it. In other words, I could not have been silent.
Q: What topics are you most interested in, how do you choose what to write about?
A: I quite like philosophical topics, like the religions and issues of ethnicity. Unfortunately, the Kazakhstani publications do not yet accept the conceptual and reasonable discussion on these topics. In my case I could say that my topics have chosen me. Because I have soul as well, and it cannot accept and not answer to what is going on. I personally felt that when Altynbek Sarsenbayev (Kazakhstani opposition politician) was murdered and when the authorities tried to hide the truth about his murder, I was being murdered too. I felt like I was being killed too – though I am alive, I felt like I was being buried alive.
Q: Do you think your case has helped to attract the attention to the freedom of speech in Kazakhstan?
A: I didn’t have this purpose, but it happened. I found more than 160 thousand (!) documents with my name in the Internet. I wouldn’t have been able to organize such an promotion if I wanted to! Most publications were about the persecution for what I have written. The tone was sympathizing, so I concluded that I managed to attract the attention to the state of freedom of speech in Kazakhstan. Besides, the OSCE has addressed the minister of foreign affairs in Kazakhstan Marat Tazhin. It said that the norm of the law, which envisages the criminal punishment for an assault on honor and dignity of the president was an anachronism. The US State Department also included my case into its annual report on human rights.
Q: Did local and international NGOs and civic initiatives help you during your trial?
A: Yes! The international fund for freedom of speech “Adil Soz” found the means to pay for a professional lawyer who defended me. I wouldn’t simply have such means! Besides, the president of this fund Tamara Kaleeva was one of my public defenders during the trial. Other public defenders were the president of the foundation “Journalists at risk” Rozlana Taukina, Asylbek Kozhakhmetov, leader of the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, a party that is not registered. Our justice system depends on the executive, so my professional lawyer could do almost nothing. Thus, despite all the legal arguments from my defense, I could not have escaped the conviction. I think that the public defenders have done the most.
Q: What lessons have you learned from this case, have you changed your opinion about the state bodies, the courts, the possibilities of the Internet, the Kazakhstani community of journalists?
A: Lesson number one – you have to be careful about what you write if you want to escape the punishment by the repressive state bodies. Lesson number two – if you cannot help writing, you have to write, despite the threat of the punishment, even a criminal one. As for the state bodies, they are the same as they used to be in our totalitarian past: the Committee of National Security, prosecutor’s office, and, as I understand, the administration of the president do the monitoring of the press (do an ideological surveillance), the prosecutor and the courts finish what the other start. I am confident that my case was not only political, but also ideological. During the trial the prosecutor and the judge were asking questions, but could not listen to my answers. They asked: “What (criminal) intentions did you have when you wrote your articles?”. I answered that my main motive was that I don’t accept the immoral behavior of the president Nazarbayev, and I was trying to prove that he was immoral. The prosecutor and the judge seemed like they did not want to hear, but they could not stop me from talking.
As for the journalists, I myself was the main provider of the information about my trial. For instance, the “Svoboda Slova” (Freedom of Speech) newspaper didn’t say anything about my trial. On the other hand, the foundation for the protection of freedom of speech “Adil Soz”, the “Journalists at Risk” fund, “Respublika” newspaper and TV “31 channel” have done a lot to highlight my trial.
Q: What is the state of the citizen journalism in Kazakhstan? Are there many people, non-professional journalists ready to write in the Internet about political and social issues?
A: Yes, surprisingly, there are many people like that. However, they are not yet ready to do it for a simple reason – the lack of the skills to work in the Internet, especially, to work with blogs. The existing Internet media are a barrier for them as much as print media.
Q: What do you think is the future of the Internet, blogs and citizen media in Kazakhstan? Will there be more trials of the journalists, will there be legislative restrictions, censorship as in China or the atmosphere will be freer and there will be more people active online as in Russia?
A: For instance, KUB.kz (political blog, where Kazis published) is administered from Paris. It saves it from the persecution by the Kazakhstani authorities. But I think that the number of blogs will grow in Kazakhstan anyway. The number of persecuted journalists will grow as well. The current policies on nationalities can lead to another huge outflow of Russian-speaking population from Kazakhstan. Forced transfer of bookkeeping to Kazakh can negatively affect the number of active and free journalists. So it is difficult to say exactly what scenario will Kazakhstan follow the Chinese or the Russian.
Q: How did your family react to the process?
A: I always did what I wanted to do. I feel the most free in political journalism. My family was worried for me at the start. But they got used to my activities with years. And they even learned to look at the social processes as I do. That is why none of my relatives panicked when the KNB (Committee for National Security) started two criminal cases against me. Moreover, my wife told me when I was going to the court: “Victory or defeat! I am not going to the trial. This is not my problem. Not even yours! The government has created this problem. They should sort it out now”. At the same time, she packed my bag with warm clothes and biscuits.
Q: How do you imagine the future of the Internet in Kazakhstan?
A: Free! Kazakhs in the 21 century have a chance to get themselves out of this slump through the Internet. The flat, evolutionary way of growth in the economy and population will not solve the problem of Kazakhstani – not only Kazakh – society. We need a qualitative move forward. And the Internet provides this historical chance for Kazakhstanis, which we should use for sure.

author: Leila Tanayeva


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Iran: State-Run Newspaper Mocks Ahmadinejad · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kamangir reports in Jam-e- Jam,a newspaper published by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB),the relativity theory was decorated with a picture of Einstein writing on a blackboard. Instead of mathematical equations we read:I made the worse mistake ever to discover atom and stuff!! Hey! Mahmoud[Ahmadnejad]! for God’s sake forget it!


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Iran:Shortage of medicines for MS patients · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

MS (Multiple Sclerosis) patients and their familes protested in front of a central pharmacy in Tehran because of the shortage of medicines as Hamid Sadi shows in this photo.


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Iran:Two women activists are out of jail · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Varsh[Fa],two women activists, Nahid Keshvarz and Mahboubeh Hosseinzadeh, are out of jail.They were arrested about two weeks ago when explaining people One Million Signatures Campaign.This campaign wants to put an end to discriminatory laws against women.


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Iran:Women of Tehran’s pre-revolution brothel district · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Here are several photos of women of Tehran's pre-revolution brothel district.Photos were taken in the Citadel of the New City — “Shahreno” — was Tehran's brothel district before the 1979 Revolution.


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Iraq: Constitution Referendum Results  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Hassan Kharuffa writes  about speculations on the results of the referendum on the Iraqi constitution. “There are 18 provinces in Iraq. If the results in any three of them was more than 66% against the constitution, the constitution will be rejected. Then the whole process will be repeated, and it will be 6 months before another constitution will be presented, which I don't think will be much different from this one,” he writes.


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Kuwait: Bloggers’ Show Aired Following Protests  · Global Voices
Abdullatif AlOmar

Popular Kuwaiti television show Al Diwaniya is being aired again – following protests from some of Kuwait's bloggers.
The show, which was expected to feature interviews with some bloggers in one of its episodes was taken off the air, sparking speculations and rumours as to why it was pulled off.
Q over at Kuwaitism notes the development here.
“Yesterday and today more than one person told me that he saw the advertisement for the program and it will air this Monday.  With all respect to the efforts and the program, it is new and has a small viewer base although it has great quality and topics. The decision to stop the program by the ex-minster was stupid.. or naive to be more precise and I expect the number of viewers of the next episode to exceed any previous figures because of that decision and the public outrage that came with it. The most important aspect is that the number of viewers will increase for the episode which they wanted to block because of fears of making blogging and those reading blogs more popular. This is what you get with no planning,” he writes.
Bo6ager uploaded the episode but for some reason Google removed it.
“Your video was rejected because it
didn't comply with our Program Policies,” was the message he got.
Qaiss over at io81 went to a visit to Failaka Island and took some pictures there. Among them is the photograph you see above.
“The reason for not posting the past day, was my visit to Failaka Island. I’ve been there a long time ago (1999), but my friends say it has changed and so we went,(in between the storms). It's a nice place “not wow” just nice, you can think of it as changing scenarios from the busy, crowded Kuwait to a quite place having old Kuwaiti tea,” he explains.
Meanwhile, Zaydoun with a few more bloggers are promoting the launch of the new campaign which calls for protecting the Kuwaiti Constitution following talks about amending parts of it to limit the limited freedom it currently provides.
“Our marginalized constitution has been subjected to violations for a long time, which have now become the norm for the majority of Kuwaitis, who are helpless and don't know much about the constitution and the clauses which guarantee their rights and whatever is left of their liberties. Trespassing on the constitution is not enough for the violators, who only refer to it when they get themselves into trouble and need to rescue themselves. Otherwise, they forget the favour and are now even threatening to suspend and stop using the constitution, which is being out on retirement. Is it right to keep quiet after all that has happened? Of course not!,” he explains.
Away from the constitution, Scottish Expat boojam shares with us his experience with Kuwaiti bureaucracy.
“Every year in April, I have to take my car to Jabriya Vehicle Testing Station for its annual ‘test’ and re-registration. Its approach makes me uncomfortable, edgy. In UK we have to do the same, the MOT test, which the car has to pass in order to remain on the road. If it fails any one of the forty or so checks, then it must be re-presented, once the problem has been attended to. It's a pain, but at least you know where you stand. And you can be pretty sure that the test is done correctly. In Kuwait, it is not quite the same,” he complains.
And finally chillnite witnessed and photographed the dust storm that hit Kuwait on April 11.
“Look what happened to Kuwait City on April 11th, 2007 at 11am when a mega sandstorm hit it. Now that's what I call Mars Attacks!” he writes.

author: Abdullatif AlOmar


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Lebanon: Remembering the Civil War · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

April 13, 1975 is officially the date when the Lebanese civil war began. It lasted for 15 years and it officially ended in 1990 after the Taif agreement. More than 150,000 died and hundreds of thousands were injured or displaced. Almost every Lebanese was affected in one way or another. Local groups and organizations commemorate this date with activities that remind everyone of the catastrophe of war with the hope that such activities will prevent its repetition. These activities may be of great significance today since the tensions and bickering among Lebanese political groups are reaching heights similar to those reached in the pre-civil war years during the seventies.
Following is a selection of some blog post that mentioned and discussed this topic.
In this post, Blacksmith Jade mentions an interview with three current leaders who were also militia leaders during the civil war. The paper interviewed them about their regrets and/or apologies for their actions during the war. Besides the defensive tone in their replies, their answers are interesting and may give a clue of what to expect in the near future.
Sietske In Beiroet mentions and posts one of the leaflets dropped over Beirut by a group calling themselves “Lebanese Women for Civil Peace”. The leaflets call on the women to play a role to stop the re-emergence of violence. She also points out the name that Lebanese give to the civil war:
The Lebanese, when talking in Arabic, refer to it as ‘the events’. That phrase ‘civil war’ was coined by the west. There might be war in one part of town, but in the other part of town life went on as usual.
In this article, which discusses some of the reasons that cause civil wars, Courtney C. Radsch discusses the Lebanese civil war and calls on the leaders to work on preventing another one from taking place:
Today, Friday the 13th, marks the 32nd anniversary of the beginning of Lebanon's bloody civil war, the day that sealed its future not as the Paris of the Middle East but as the war-torn emblem of sectarian violence and destruction. Today should be a day for the politicians in Washington as well as Lebanon to reflect on the causes and effects of the civil war and to try to learn from history in order to prevent another war from breaking out in the currently tense political environment as well as keeping the civil war in Iraq from lasting as long as Lebanon's.
Skylark posts a poem (Ar) in which he admonishes people to think hard before taking up arms. He also posts pictures of Beirut during the civil war with links to where more pictures may be found.
M Barbay posts a 14 minutes video which claims to capture the past 30 years of Lebanese history with the aim of finding a way to end the template of random repeats of wars.
And here is a different perspective on the war from Angry Anarchist. After pointing out that
On the 32nd anniversary of the eruption of the civil war, virtually all the war criminals, all the fighters, all the butchers, are on the loose. And what is worse, many of them preside over political parties, and hold political office.
She goes on to state that
The mythology of the civil war needs to be destroyed. Not dismantled, but destroyed. There are those who insist, despite what experience has shown, that pampering will lead to the dismantlement of this mythology. That merely “encouraging” people to discuss the civil war is enough to actually get them to do it, and do it in a way that would be more than merely parroting the official version approved by the sect's self-appointed leader(s).
Finally MFL writes an article which he describes as a summary of a summary of some factors that lead to the breaking out of a civil war, including the Lebanese civil war or the “events” as some in Lebanon like to call them.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Morocco: Bloggers talk about the soul of Morocco and recent bombings · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Thanks to a New York Times article entitled “The Soul of Morocco”, the Moroccan blogosphere is busy debating the truth in this statement.  Fez, a city of approximately 1 million, is known as Morocco's most refined city.  As the home of the Qarouyine University, one of the world's oldest and prestigious, its reputation is not unearned.
However, in a country with such a rapidly changing and growing economy, many of Fez's residents have been left behind.
“Right now, today, in 2007, Fez is also a ghetto in every sense of the word and most of its inhabitants are barely eking out a miserable subsistence living,” says Everything Morocco, a foreigner living in the ancient Fez medina (town).
The Morocco Report‘s taamarbuuta questions the authenticity of Fez, saying “Fez may look like a jewel in an abyss of globalisation, but where is the authenticity in these tourist-pouncing Fassis?” (April 9, 2007, “The soul of Morocco?” to which The View from Fez rebuts with a post entitled  “Fez versus Meknes – ‘tourist -pouncing Fassis?‘” and challenging local readers to visit Fez.
Liosliath, of the blog Morocco Time, takes issue with Fez being named the country's soul, saying “There’s still a lot of ‘authentic’ Morocco to be found outside the main tourist areas.”
Also on the lips of Moroccan bloggers are the recent suicide bombings in Casablanca.  After one man, Abdelfattah Raydi, blew himself up in a Casablanca internet cafe, the police went after his compatriots and on Tuesday, were close to catching several when one detonated a bomb underneath his clothing.  Police shot another, and a third (who turned out to be Raydi's brother, Ayyoub) detonated a bomb, killing himself and a policeman, and injuring several, including a young boy. On Saturday morning, two more men blew themselves up on Blvd. Moulay Youssef in Casablanca, where the American Consulate is located.
‘Aqoul blogger Lounsbury commends Mohammed Faiz, the owner of the internet cafe where Abdelfattah Raydi first detonated his bomb (and whose cafe is know wreckage, leaving his already poor family even more destitute), requesting that anyone with ideas contact him to facilitate a fund for Faiz and his family.
Moroccan blogger Big World Learner exclaims, “Blood, terror, mutilated bodies, young people blowing themselves up in public places!! It’s always difficult to believe that these things are happening in our country!” (April 12, 2007, “Misleading terror“)
Bo18, a blogger of the Moroccan diaspora asks concisely, “No seriously, its getting a bit out of hand. Don't you think as well?”

author: Jillian C. York


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Nigeria: state elections marred by irregularities and violence  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Hac Lege on state elections in Nigeria: “As expected, the polls at the recently concluded state elections in Nigeria is eliciting condemnation for various quarters, even before an announcement of results. The Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] has even gone ahead to cancel some of the results from some states in the federation.”


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Taiwan: Bloggers’ Further Action on Saving Losheng Sanatorium · Global Voices
Pipper Lee

As mentioned in the previous post, discussions and actions on saving Lo-Sheng Sanatorium have widely spread in Taiwan blogosphere. Now the whole event has also attracted attention from mainstream media, the public, and politicians.
Bloggers’ actions:
In addition to discussions and collaboration over their blogs, several bloggers decided to take actions in the real world.
Several bloggers walked into the sanatorium, taking a lot of pictures for those have never been in the sanatorium. As kovis said:
家和房子是不一樣的
家是心情上的認同
而房子只不過是個容身之處
所以說「家」是心之居處
To clearify if the reservation of 90% of the area is applicable, nooorman asked his friend who works in the Rapid Transit System, and compared all approaches proposed by the Department of Rapid Transit System (DoRT), Dr. Ke-Chiang Liu (劉可強), and Dr. Chao-Chin Yu (喻肇青). By illustrating the design (with the help of wenli‘s hand-made schematics) and discussing pros and cons of each plan, he explained the proposals one by one to his readers. He also decided to turn his blog into a platform specializing in technical issues of Lo-sheng reservation.
In the mean time, HOW visited Dr. Liu, asked his opinion about the controversies among those proposals, and put voice records and a sketch of the interview on his blog. He concluded that there is still space for negotiation:
捷運局的方案與文建會的方案基本上是有討論空間的。而捷運局保存40%的方案根本上並沒有真的保存到樂生療養院，也不願意和文件會的案子進行工程技術上的討論。這個案子是很有機會找出一個具體可行的解決方案。
The bloggers then initiated a joint action and got more 200,000 (TWD) to advertise their appeals on Appledaily news. The ad revealed information of 90% reservation, and emphasized that Hsinchuang city may also benefit from the reservation. Another joint action was also organized to make T-shirts with words “Saving Lo-sheng” on them.  Benefits from selling these T-shirts will be donated to the campaign.
Macdog created a service called “Losheng Walker”, allowing users to recommend resturants and places near the sanatorium.  Benla called for a meeting to talk about “what bloggers can do in the social campaign”. Representatives of “Youth Lo-Sheng Union” and other organizations, together with several bloggers and those interested in this topic, shared their thoughts for this issue.
Yao contacted the owner of the Gundam-like  lantern that attracted many discussions during the Yuan-Hsiao Festival. With permission from the owner , Yao and several bloggers placed the lantern inside the sanatorium – “Gundam is protecting the Lo-Sheng”.
Public attention:
The Taiwan Public Television Service online produced a program by inviting members of the campaign, local residents and representatives from Hsinchuang city, specialists of the rapid transit system, and representatives from the administrations (including the DoRTS, the CCA, the Department of Health, the Transportation Bureau, etc.). In this show, the specialist He-Yuan Cyue (闕河淵), who is also the ex-vice director of the DoRTS, revealed that the technique issue can be resolved if the DoRTS re-evaluates their regulations. From his points of view, the schedule may even not be delayed once the 90% reservation proposal is applied. His words were then quoted and discussed in the blogosphere.
Many other organization and individuals also cosigned for the reservation, together with the calls from more than 180 scholars (they posted an ad on Chinatimes, too), medical workers, media students, and culturologists. The IDEA, which is an organization under the UN, also epressed their great concern for this issue.
On March 21, two of the possible candidates for president 2008, Mr. Xi-Kun You (游錫堃) and Mr. Frank Chang-ting Hsieh (謝長廷) claimed that they would support the reservation of the sanatorium. Two days later, the Executive Yuan Premier Mr. Tseng-Chang Su (蘇貞昌) also asked the Public Construction Commission to negotiate with the DoRTS and try to find a way to reserve the sanatorium as much as possible. So far, they have been working on it.
Debates and Different voices:
There are opposite opinions for the “Saving Lo-sheng campaign”. MOTCT posted his comments, explaining that the regulations cannot be modified, otherwise  safety of the train might be compromised.
Subing expressed his observation on the so-called “Lo-sheng compaign”:
支持樂生保留的人獨缺我那群長期從事社運的朋友們，他們毫無例外的告訴我，樂生保留訴求的正當性不足，很難說服社會，作為一個專業的社會運動者，他們必須選擇戰場，他們甚至質疑現在還選擇樂生當作戰場的人，要不就是判斷出問題，不然就是別有用心。
In March 31, Mr. Hsi-Wei Chou (周錫瑋), as the Taipei County Commissioner (where the sanatorium is), participated a demonstration entitled “We want MRT for our survival!”. The demonstration was staged by the local representatives of Hsinchuang. They opposed the reservation of Lo-sheng sanatorium because it may lead to the construction of the Mass Rapid Transportation (MRT) behind schedule. Mr. Chou stood on the float, asking the Executive Yuan do not postpone the schedule of the demolition:
各位鄉親，我們捷運為了樂生，我們願意等，但是已經等了三年，我們還要再等一年以上，再等下去嗎?  (群眾大喊) 不要~~~~
He also told the crowd that he will proceed the demolition on April 16, unless the Executive Yuan asks the government to postpone via formal documents.
In the Legislative Yuan, Mr. Chia-Fu Tsai (蔡家福) , the legislator who was elected from Hsinchuang city, obstructed the legislating procedure of “Hansen's Disease Compensation Act”. Although the draft of the act have been proposed and negotiated during the past two years, Mr. Tsai, together with the other two ligislators, boycotted the cross-party negotiations right after they arrived. This will cause the efforts via the legislation facing a dead end before April 16.
The upcoming events:
On April 15, the day before the scheduled deadline for demolition, another demonstration will be held by more than 50 organizations in front of the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. Protesters will voice their support for the reservation, and ask the government to cancel the order of demolition and protect human rights of the leprosy ex-patients.
Last minute update:
In April 12, the Executive Yuan Premier announced that the demolition of the Losheng Sanatorium will be postponed and the reservation of 90% is going to be considered. Later the Taipei County Commissioner confirmed the announcement and claimed that he will follow the Executive Yuan's decision. But he also insisted that the Executive Yuan has to take the full responsibility if the construction is delayed.
The author would like to thank the GV Chinese translation team for the help with preparation for this article.

author: Pipper Lee


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Taiwan: bloggers joined a demonstration for saving Lo-sheng · Global Voices
Pipper Lee

Several bloggers joined a demonstration held on April 15 for saving the Lo-sheng sanatorium. They took an interesting flag inspired from a featured Gundam-like lantern called “Gundam is protecting the Lo-Sheng”, which was placed in the sanatorium.


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10 Years of Blogs: Do they carry weight in Ecuador’s mainstream media? · Global Voices
David Sasaki

The following post originally appeared on the blog of Ecuadorean communications professor Christian Espinosa and was translated into English by volunteer translator Linda Evarts. If you're interested in contributing to Global Voices’ mission by translating posts from non-English weblogs, please contact the appropriate Regional or Language Editor.
While reading comments about the 10-year anniversary of blogs (among them, those published in Spain’s El País [ES] and Argentina’s Infobae [ES]), I thought about the piece published by El Comercio in Ecuador.
It was a commentary by the technology editor, Andrea Rodríguez, who has followed web 2.0 with the same zeal that she brings to her study of science. In doing so, she’s put Cobertura Digital on the map with her writings about the development of journalism and blogs in Ecuador and the region.
El Comercio’s article mentions the statistics from www.ecuablogs.com, the community of Ecuadorean bloggers (that has been neglected of late — will it be revived? — one hopes…)
The title of the piece: “Blogs Celebrate Their 10 Year Anniversary and Keep Growing”
But how much influence on traditional media in Ecuador have blogs had in the past or do they have now?  Do they carry weight?  Here at the Cobertura Digital we’ve assembled a sampling of what bloggers are thinking…
Erebé.net thinks blogs exert almost no influence, based on a comparison of Ecuador with other countries.  Still, based on the reach of blogs and the media coverage they’ve received in Ecuador of late, I think they’ve achieved much more than Erebé.net gives them credit for … Am I being overly optimistic?
Today I’m celebrating the work of several Ecuadorean journalist colleagues who work for renowned national publications and for whom blogs allow a closer relationship with their audience (when previously they had to pray that someone would write a letter to the editor).
, is the Managing Editor of El Tiempo, a newspaper of great influence in the third largest city of the country and the author of the blog “Hablemos de periodismo”. (He is surely the first Managing Editor with a blog in Ecuador.)
is one of the best sports journalists on Radio Sonorama, one of the country’s most popular stations and maintains the blog Cyberfútfol (he posted from Germany during the World Cup).
writes an important column in El Universo, the largest national newspaper, and writes the independent blog Leaves Torn From the Notebook (Las hojas arrancadas del cuaderno).
is President of the Association of Foreign Journalists in Ecuador—he’s the one who organizes meetings with (Ecuadorean President) Rafael Correa—and writes a blog on public journalism.
, winner of the International Foundation for New Journalism Award, writes a blog called Independent Word (Palabra Independiente).
writes Teletoxia, an important media criticism column in the daily newspaper HOY, and keeps the blog Edocmanolo.
, who conducts interviews for Gamavisión’s morning news program, has a blog called Jorge Aguirre.
manages one of the most popular radio stations in Cuenca and writes his opinions in his blog Cuencanos en el planeta.
writes radioguamote.blogspot.com a blog in which he practices hyper-local journalism, bringing the media spotlight to an indigenous community that receives minimal coverage in the traditional media.
, one of the most prestigious schools of journalism in Latin America, runs Chasqui, a magazine-styled blog about Latin America.
: Here we find the recent unveiling of a section promoting blogs in the digital version of the newspaper.
: Despite its repeated blog bashing, the Guayaquil station has its own blog platform for its users and listeners.
, the recognized columnist of the newspaper HOY and producer of the radio show Sonorama, has a blog called Hot Potato (La papa caliente).
, the director of Informed Citizenry on the Web (Ciudadanía Informada.com) and former politics editor of the newspaper HOY, writes a blog about politics, soccer and journalism.
is trying to build blog capacity—though still in the form of editorial columns—by providing space to TV journalist Gonzalo Ruiz, among others.
Cobertura Digital has dipped into blogs and journalism as a source of work and business.
, a correspondent for Tiempos del Mundo, writes for the magazines Diners and Criterios and produces a radio show on Nuevo Tiempo and maintains Cobertura Digital to help journalists and public relations workers develop, design and produce blogs.
Blog Agency of Police News: www.policiales.coberturadigital.com
Time for Blogs in Tiempos del Mundo: www.tdm.coberturadigital.com
Video blog of the TV show La Hora Nacional: www.horanacional.com
Website monitoring social spending in Ecuador: www.inversionsocial.ec
The beta version of Cobertura Digital TV has a video blog of citizen journalism about Ecuador.
Have we missed anyone?  Leave a comment.
-Thanks to a commentary we remembered that Rafael Méndez leads a newspaper that keeps us up to date on what's happening in Naranjal:
http://lanoticianaranjal.blogspot.com
-Guillermo Granja, a popular Ecuadorean photographer and now owner of Agencia, wrote to us with his blog: http://guillermo.fotografosecuador.com
Colombia: news on Víctor Solano’s blog


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Arabeyes: Bahraini Blogger in Court Tomorrow · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This is Mahmood Al Yousif, the God Father of Bahraini bloggers, who is being sued by a Bahraini Minister for comments he published online.
Mediations between the two parties failed, and the case is now being heard by the Higher Criminal Court tomorrow.
Even the meek Bahraini Journalists Association is backing Al Yousif, and has called for society to rally for his case.
The association issued the following statement:
Bahraini Journalists Association invites all journalists in Bahrain to amass in solidarity with the Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al-Yousif at the High Criminal Court on Tuesday April 17, 2007 due to the case brought against him by the Minister of Municipalities Mansour bin Rajab.
This calls all the journalists to be present at the courtroom and declare their solidarity with Al-Yousif on this issue of freedom of opinion and expression in Bahrain. The BJA condemns the insistence of the minister in pursuing a lawsuit against Al-Yousif, especially as Al-Yousif’s criticism of the minister in his Internet published article was criticism of the minister’s capacity as public official rather than personal. The BJA also calls on civic institutions political and social to show their solidarity by attending at the trial and release supportive statements of Al-Yousif.
Al Yousif, who enjoys huge popularity in Bahrain and beyond, made this announcement on his blog today:
We’re all gathering tomorrow morning at the Court building at 9:30. Cases are looked at starting at 10:00am.
It’s a freedom of expression case, any way you look at it. Please show your opposition to attempts to stifle this freedom by being there.
He also shares with us his thoughts on the trial, which he emphasises is a case against freedom of expression.
What I want to emphasize, if I may, this is not really a case against Mahmood Al-Yousif as much as it is a case against the tenets of the freedom of expression.
We, the people, should not be cowed into a status of never questioning or criticising a government official no matter how high that position is. They have to realise themselves, or be made to realise that the positions they occupy being called “civil servants” is no accident of nomenclature, but fact.
Unfortunately, both the Penal Code and the Press & Publications Law specifically not only discourages this civic responsibility of criticism, but glaringly criminalise it!
Al Yousif remains adamant that he committed no crime in criticising the official.
No, this is not a case against Mahmood Al-Yousif and never was. What I have written is rather mild when you consider it. This is a case purposefully levied to silence criticism.
Today it is me. Tomorrow it is everyone who dares to even glance “wrongly” at a public official, even if that official happens to be a janitor.
Needless to say, bloggers from around the Arab world share Al Yousif‘s thoughts.
From Saudi Arabia, blogger Mashi Sah expresses his solidarity with
Al Yousif.
From Dubai, in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, Secret Dubai also rallies support for the blogger as well as for more freedom of expression in the region.
“Bahraini journalists plan to gather at Bahrain's High Criminal Court on Tuesday 17th April to protest the libel case brought against Mahmood Al-Yousif by government minister Mansour bin Rajab. Mahmood criticised bin Rajab and his department's response to heavy December rains that caused flooding. The minister claims his “feelings are hurt”.
This is a stark reminder that the privileges of freedom of speech that many of us enjoy back home in the West are not available in this region. In properly democratic systems of government, criticism of the government and government figures is expected and necessary for the democratic process. According to the UAE Publications Law, such criticism is illegal. In Bahrain, and in the wider Gulf, one can face heavy fines and lengthy jail sentences,” he writes.


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Arabeyes: Egyptian Blogger Abdul Monem Mahmood Arrested  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Abdul Monem Mahmood (Arabic) is the latest in a string of bloggers arrested by Egyptian authorities. He is being detained under custody for 15 days as charges are drawn up against him.
The Muslim Brotherhood blogger, journalist and television presenter was detained early Sunday morning, amid conflicting stories which first confirmed and then denied his arrest.
His colleague and friend Hossam El Hamalawy reports his arrest here.
Bad news… Muslim Brotherhood blogojournalist and friend Abdel Moneim Mahmoud was detained by Mubarak’s Gestapo early Sunday 1am, at the Cairo International Airport…
Egyptian Security forces arrested blogger and Ikhwanweb correspondent Abdel Moneum Mahmoud at Cairo International Airport today while on his way to begin seven Arab countries tour to prepare a report about the status of human rights in the Arab world for the British satellite channel Al Hiwar. Monem had already boarded the plane when he was later pulled out by security forces.
After the arrest and sentencing of blogger Abdel Karim Sulieman to four years in prison for his internet blog, the Egyptian government seems to be pressing ahead with its campaign to silence all voices of civil dissent and encroaching on freedom of expression by arresting or intimidating bloggers and political activists.
Alaa’ Abdel Fattah, who had himself spent time behind bars for his political activism, gives us a timeline for Monem‘s arrest.
You might have heard about the arrest of Egyptian blogger Abdol Monem Mahmoud, since this particular story was being reported while it was happening some conflicting/confusing information got disseminated, this is my attempt to piece together the sequence of events…
1.  state security arrests several muslim brotherhood members
2. Monem receives a phone call from his mother informing him that special forces raided their alexandria home and he is wanted
3. Monem decides to turn himself in in order to spare his parents any hardships
4. in preparation for his arrest monem sends emails and SMSs informing people he is about to turn himself in and posts a couple of posts on his blog that can be used as a seed for a campaign
5. not able to reach Monem bloggers assume he already turned himself in and got arrested
6. Monem contacts his lawyers who tell him to wait until they find out more details
7. lawyers find out there is no legal arrest warrant and advice monem not to turn himself in
8. news that Monem is still free and on the run reaches the blogosphere
9. Monem hears his father's health is deteriorating and he needs to be hospitalized, monem is now confused and starts contemplating hiding for a longish period
10. Monem shoots two videos, one about his father's health that gets posted on youtube (is this the first time a wanted political prisoner on the run posts videos on youtube? I'm sure state security appreciated this touch), the other is an interview with Al Hewar TV (his current employer)
11. Monem judging that since there are no legal arrest warrants he is technically allowed to travel and decides to try and leave the country on a pre-shceduled business trip
12. Monem passes passport control and boards the plane but gets arrested before plane takes off
13. hours later Monem shows up in front of shobra prosecutor is charged with silly charges that can put him in jail for a very long time, Monem will spend 15 days in custody then appear before the prosecutor again, prosecutor will most probably send him back to jail when th 15 days are over. this can go on for 6 months (enough time to cook up a good anti-terrorism law?). his arrest is now legal (or as legal as it gets in the land of the pharaohs)
According to blogger Mustafa Hossein, this is not the first time Monem spends time behind bars for his activism.
This was not the first time Monem was detained. He was tortured by state security forces.
He was outspoken in his blog regarding human rights abuses and free speech.
Supporters quickly put together a campaign to Free Monem , which is in Arabic.


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Armenia: On the Trail with Heritage · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian reports from the Armenian parliamentary election campaign trail with on a Heritage party event.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Aruba, Puerto Rico: Recognizing Gay Marriage · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Aruba is the first Caribbean territory to officially acknowledge gay marriage, reports gay news blog.  The move follows a three-year legal battle with Dutch authorities that began when a lesbian couple tried to register their marriage on the island.  And Vivir Latino says that Puerto Rico may be considering the same move: “Wouldn't it be a hugely powerful statement if Puerto Rico, who is subject to US laws, were to pass the measure and prove once and again how it truely is its own nation with a clear concept of the diversity that is the Puerto Rican people?”


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Bahrain: Brazilian Dance · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger emoodz  regales us with a tantalising Brazilian dance at the Spring of Culture festival, which has generated heated debates between Islamists and liberals on whether such live entertainment should be allowed in Bahrain. “I sat through two butt numbing hours on that very uncomfortable chair, fascinated by the passion and enthusiasm of the performers on stage, taken by the bright colors, the joyful spirit and touchy rhymes, watching the curvy sexy bodies of the dancers as they melt together in breathtaking harmony,” he admits.


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Bahrain: It’s Raining Men · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

It's raining men in Bahrain, according to blogger Mahmood Al Yousif, who reports that a second Indian man has plunged to death from a pedestrian bridge built over a busy highway.


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Bangladesh: Celebrating Bangla New Year 1414 · Global Voices
Rezwan

Shuvo Bangla Noboborsho (Happy Bengali New Year) to everyone. April 14th was the first day of the Bangla year 1414 also known as Pohela Baishakh.  In Bangladesh, this day is a national holiday and in West Bengal it is a public holiday. Now Bangladeshi bloggers will take us through the history, culture and celebrations of this event.
Some history about “Pohela Baishakh” via The 3rd world view:
This marks the beginning of Baishakh, the first month of Bengali calendar. Celebrations of Pohela Baishakh started from King Akbar's reign (sixteenth century). The main event of the day was to open a halkhata or new book of accounts. This was wholly a financial affair. In villages, towns and cities, traders and businessmen closed their old account books and opened new ones.
The celebration of Pohela Baishakh by broad masses in the Bangladesh context may be dated from the observance of the day by “Chhayanat”, a cultural organization in 1965. In an attempt to suppress Bengali culture, the Pakistan Government had banned (Rabindranath) Tagore songs. Protesting this move, Chhayanat opened their Pohela Baishakh celebrations at Ramna Park with Tagore's song welcoming the month. The day continued to be celebrated in East Pakistan as a symbol of Bengali culture.
After the independence of Bangladesh this has grown to be a countrywide mass celebration. In the big metropolitans like Dhaka and Chittagong this day is marked by mass crowd flocking to hundreds of open air concerts and cultural programs, mask rallies etc. Close your eyes and try to see gives an account of his Pohela Baishakh experience in the capital Dhaka:
I started walking towards the historic “Ramna Botomul”, center of all attraction and the value of the cultural program. The crowd was so thick all around that it was not easy even to walk. The whole area became a sea of people. There was no vehicle allowed within one kilometer of the “Ramna Botomul”.
But what drives all these people to go out and celebrate? Ulysses of Back to Bangladesh observes:
(This is) the only holiday which is pure fun. No historical or religious connotations. Just enjoy the day. So people were out for fun. Kids getting faces painted, playing with balloons and balls. Women wearing white and red saris. Friends walking hand in hand. Mothers, fathers, children – some grandparents.
Nazzina posts images of people gathering at Fine Arts Institute, Dhaka University to welcome Bangla Year 1414.
People enjoyed traditional culinary delicacies ‘Panta, Ilish, Shutki and Pitha’ at home and in the streets. Ershad also has some reflections of the new year in Dhaka city.
Pohela Baishakh also marks the beginning of the Baishakh season which brings seasonal  kalboishakhi storm. Auddieland reminisces about a typical Bangla new year:
It's one of those days when you can cook khichuri and wait for the rain and the storm because we Bengalis love having khichuri when it rains or when the thunder is tearing the dark sky in a million pieces with it's thunderous sound!
Shadakalo remembers the innocent lives lost in an terrorist attack at Ramna during the pohela boishakh celebrations 6 years ago.
The fundamentalist islamic terrorists thought attacking one of the cultural celebrations of life and renewal would serve their purpose, and for a while, protected by their friends and masters in the government, it worked. But its a new government and a new will to fight this evil, and we are glad to hear that the case is being resurrected.
Time and again the religious fundamentalists and political oppressors have feared the free spirit of the masses and the people power. They always try to instill fear inside people by their terrorist activities and restrictions everywhere. But people always rebel against such intimidation by showing their support in masses. And Pohela Baishakh is one such occassion to just do that.

author: Rezwan


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Bangladesh: Oh Ireland! · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A heavy day for Bangladesh yesterday. Rezwan liveblogs the cricket match with Ireland. “24 Overs: Bangladesh is in real trouble with 104/5. Their front-line batsmen are all out. They tried to play too many shots instead of nudging around for singles like what Ireland did. Ireland is playing better here and they deserve to win. Bangladesh need to think about their batting strategy.”


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Cameroon: collective amnesia · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Individual memory and collective amnesia in Cameroon: “The absence of memoirs, autobiographies and biographies in Cameroon is merely one facet of a much broader problem, i.e., the collective inability (or unwillingness) of Cameroonians to keep historical records for posterity or to even consider these records as important contributions to the national collective memory. For example, there are very few publications containing key political speeches, landmark declarations and documents of our times (save those of Presidents, Ahidjo and Biya).”


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China: A Bottomless Glass  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chai jin wrote a poem in her blog “A bottomless Glass”[zh] for a charity organization: If we only talk about poverty and not about how to empower the poor and the vulnerables to voice out for their rights, to monitor the powerful social groups and enjoy same rights… we are pouring water into a glass without bottom. Social justice is the bottom of the glass.
I have translated the post into English at interlocals.net.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Baidu JP blocked? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

William long tries to investigate why mainland Chinese netizen can't visit Baidu again [zh]. The result showed that i.p from China are reset by Baidu japan site.


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China: Rat Poison · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Tim Beckenham from Shanghaiist puts together reports on recent rat poison incidents which caused hundreds of illnesses in northern part of China.


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Cuba: Michael Moore · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“…With his latest project, filmmaker Michael Moore reveals himself as a ‘sicko,’ willing to use some seriously ill veterans of the ground zero cleanup in New York to help the Castro dictatorship score a few public relations points,” writes Uncommon Sense, linking to a New York Post report on the issue.


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Georgia: Free Hugs · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Levan manages to find a video of free hug distribution in Georgia.


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Guyana: Cricket…Yawn! · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana Providence Stadium features an article by Peter Roebuck that calls the 2007 ICC World Cup Cricket Tournament “an abysmal failure”.


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Hong Kong and Taiwan: Cross Border Citizen Reporting · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Citizen reporters from Hong Kong have spontaneously organized a trip to Taiwan to report on Losheng preservation campaign. Lee Chung-nei carried with her a very simple question: why do these group of 70 years old grannies would stand up to resist the government policy? [zh]


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Hong Kong: Human and Dog Competing for Space · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Plato from inmediahk.net wrote a letter to the Chief Executive office to tell his experience in competing public space with dogs in the King's Park Hill [zh] (he was assaulted by dogs). As a result of the development plan that aims at eradicating “streets” with shopping mall, both grassroots and dogs don't have enough public space and they have to compete with each other. Of course dogs are back up by middle class owners in this case.


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India: A Lawyers’ Enclave · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

My Mylapore on a little history trip with notes on Palathope, the lawyers’ enclave. “What circumstances caused generations of legal eagles to ‘graduate’ from Palathope? Their ‘graduation’ into the world of litigation and trial linked surprisingly, more definitively to this sleepy, little lane, rather than to any academic institution of law. Was a societal creation like a ‘neighborhood’ solely determining the choice of profession amongst multiple generations of residents or were there more complex factors at play?”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Introducing the Qatari Blogosphere · Global Voices
Mohamed Nanabhay

“A little country with big heart” is how camper described the tiny (but rich) State of Qatar on its last independence day. While that's a nice quaint description, many in the region tend to think of Qatar as “the small country with the big mouth” because it funds and hosts the AlJazeera News Channel which always seems to be causing a stir.
Not surprisingly, a number of blogs have spun out around AlJazeera. The one that gained the most popularity was “Don't Bomb Us – A blog by AlJazeera staffers” which was written when the news broke that the United States had considered bombing the station's headquarters in Doha and the AlJazeera Talk blog. Of course, a number of staff also blog in their personal capacities – from talkshow host Faisal AlCasim to Stef the Weatherlady.
Qatar is made up largely of expatriates and the Qatari Blogosphere reflects this. You'll find blogs written by people from across the developed and developing world (and even a couple written by Qataris!). Qatar Living launched the Qatar Blogs Project last year to promote blogging in Qatar and help bloggers from Qatar connect with each other. It currently lists over 40 blogs with many still to be added!
For a quick taste of some of the more interesting figures in the Qatari Blogosphere, we have
Watch this space for more interesting voices from Qatar!

author: Mohamed Nanabhay


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Iran:15 students arrested in a university in Mazandaran  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Eteraz[Fa], 15 students were arrested by security forces in a university in Mazandarn province in the northern part of country.According to the blogger a few days ago,Bijan Sabagh, a member of Islamic Association of university,was arrested and many students started to protest against this act.Some even started hunger strike.


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Iraq: Nationalists Targeted · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi nationalists opposed to the controversial oil law have been targeted in the attack on the Iraqi parliament, writes blogger Raed Jarrar. He also says Iraqi nationalists are leaving the government and forming a shadow government. “Forming a shadow government is still good news because it indicates that Iraqi nationalists are still willing to try political, rather than military, solutions for ending the occupation, but at the same time news coming from Basrah and other southern cities indicate that the next days might be very violent. It seems that some nationalist groups have been calling for major rebellions against the occupation forces and their collaborators,” he explains.


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Iraq: Targeting Taxi Drivers  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Writing in The Arabist, Ursula Lindsey is concerned  “the actions of the 20,000 or so private security contractors in Iraq, who fall under no legal system whatsoever and a few of whom apparently like to get their kicks by taking target practice on elderly taxi drivers.”


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Israel: Hugs are Holy · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Hugs are holy, writes Rabbi Yohana. “We can have men hugging men and women and hugging women. We can have mixed hugging for those that want that. We can have kids hugging kids. Hugs are holy,” he explains, after posting a video of the Free Hugs movement, started by Juan Mann.


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Israel: Jewish Blog Awards · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Israeli blogger Danya Ruttenberg announces that the Jewish and Israeli Blog Awards are taking nominations until Thursday.
“You read Jewish blogs; tell them which ones you think are the best,” she adds.


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Israel: Second Holocaust Survivors  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Israeli blogger Stephanie  talks about the trauma second generation Holocaust survivors suffer from.


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Jamaica: Second Thoughts on Simpson-Miller · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Fwade at Moving Back to Jamaica has second thoughts about Portia Simpson-Miller, Jamaica's first female Prime Minister.


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Japan: Number 1 Language of Bloggers Worldwide · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

It will likely come as quite a surprise to the English-speaking world that the number one language of bloggers worldwide, in terms of number of posts, is not the “language of international communication”, as English is typically regarded. Nor, before the Chinese chime in, is it the language of the most populous state on the globe. According to the 2006 fourth quarter results of the State of the Live Web report issued quarterly by Technorati, a blog search engine which at last count tracks over 70 million weblogs, in terms of blog posts by language, English and Chinese in fact rank second and third, at 36% and 8%, respectively.
Edging out English for first place this quarter was Japanese, with over one-third of all blog posts — 37% — written in this language. This is not, in fact, the first time that Japanese has been rated as the number one blogging language by Technorati; back in November 2005, in an earlier State of the Live Web report, Japanese was also took top place with 31%, although the total was much more evenly split with English and Chinese at that time.
Judging by the reaction of bloggers themselves, it would seem that the Japanese are as surprised as anyone else at the results of the report.
At What a wonderful world, Japanese blogger sgt_fire_fox writes:
3位に中国語が入っていたのはちょっと驚きです。とは言っても、世界最大の人口を持つ国家の主要言語ですから3位に滑り込んできたのは当然の事かもしれません。逆に日本でのみ使われる言語である日本語が1位になった事が奇跡と言えるのでしょうか。
The same blogger gave some concrete reasons for why Japanese people blog in such great numbers:
日本語がブログ投稿数で1位というのには、どのような要因があるのでしょうか？
考えられる要因としては
・ブログサービスを提供している企業の多種多様化
・携帯電話からの更新が多いため（携帯電話の普及率は71.8%）
・ブログの一般化（2005年から2007年でブログ利用者は2倍以上に増加）
こんなところでしょうか。まだまだ他にあるような気もしますが…。
What kind of causes are there for Japanese coming in first place in terms of number of blog entries?
Here are a few conceivable causes:
These kinds of things. I have a feeling there are many others as well, but…
Blogger Yumeututu points to the influence of Japanese celebrities such as Manabe Kaori and to the variety of ways in which blogs are used in Japan:
英語圏の絶対人口数より日本語圏の方が少ないのは周知の通りですが、その日本語がブログ投稿数で世界一位というのは驚きです。確かに初代ブログ女王と呼ばれた眞鍋かをりさんが芸能界で一躍有名になって以来、各著名人はほとんど公式サイトやブログを持つことが一般的になった気がします。また、各プロバイダも無料でブログスペースを提供してくれるし、最近では携帯からでもお手軽に投稿が可能になったからでしょうか。それにしても使い方は様々でビジネスとしている人、コミュニケーションの手段としている人、備忘録にしている人といろいろですね。何はともあれ、無料で動画がアップロードと閲覧できる「YouTube」というサイトも日本人利用者が多いのが事実ですし、技術の輸入と利用が器用だなと感じました。
Many Japanese bloggers also connect the recent rise in popularity of blogs in Japan to the country's historical roots as a “writing society”. Commenting in response to a blog entry on the Technorati report, blogger Ichiro explains:
日本は文の国ですからねー。大昔から日記書いたり随筆書いたり唄を詠んだり。あまり自己プレゼンをしない代わりに、文章を介すくらいの距離感のコミュニケーションがちょうどいいのかもですね。
戦時中も兵士が日記書いてたり。
そもそもブログやる前は日記サイトやテキストサイトが大流行で、「『だから』ブログは流行らない」って言われてたし。その意味ではブログによって何かが変わったわけではないのかも。
It's because Japan is the country of writing. Since ancient times, Japanese have been writing diaries, writing essays, and writing poems. Rather than presenting themselves, people prefer to communicate at a distance by using text.
During wartime, soldiers also kept diaries.
Originally, before the time of blogs, diary websites and text sites were very popular, so people say: “maybe that's why blogs have caught on”. In this sense, maybe blogs have not really changed anything.
Blogger Helio Tatibana also comments on the history of writing in Japan, and on Japan's relation to the “West”.
日本人は、飛び抜けてブログ好きなのですね。シャイで、はっきり物を云うことが苦手な日本人は、書くことによって自己表現をしようとしているのでしょうか。これから類推できることは、ブロガーの数に至っては、世界の国の中で、日本が断然トップを走っていることです。
ブログという仕組みを作り上げたのはアメリカですが、利用者は日本人が最も多いのですから、なにやら、欧米を真似て、取り付かれたように熱中した一時期のボーリング、ゴルフ、スキーなどに似ています。
Not all Japanese bloggers were entirely convinced of the result. One blogger noted that many Japanese blogs are in fact dead and not being updated regularly:
このほったらかしで更新されなくなったデッドブログを「石ころ」と呼ぶそうですが、検索する方からするとこの石ころが邪魔です。
クリックしてページを見ると何年も更新されていないブログ。
経験ある方も多いでしょう。
Technoratiの調査では、日本語で書かれたブログが全ブログの37％を占め、英語ブログを追い抜いたそうで世界一。
その分、日本語ブログの石ころも毎日たくさん生産！？されているようです。
邪魔だと思いながらも自分のブログもまったく更新していない人も多いはず。
話題になると飛びつきスグに忘れる日本人気質！？からすると石ころはドンドン増えそう・・・。
Those dead blogs that are not updated and neglected are called “pebbles” (ishikoro). Many of these dead blogs get picked up by search engines and it's annoying.
You click on links and you find blogs that have not been updated in years.
I am sure a lot of people have experienced this.
According to the research by Technorati, 37% of all blogs are written in Japanese, outdoing English blogs to become number one.
Seems like Japanese “pebble” blogs are being produced by just that much.
There must be a lot of people who are annoyed by them but they themselves don't update their own blogs.
Judging from the tendency of the Japanese who quickly flock to new things and get bored soon, I have a feeling there are going to be more of these dead blogs…
Another Japanese blogger was also somewhat skeptical about the result:
3 位が中国語らしいですね。というかつい最近まで英語がブログの首位を占めていたわけですか。英語を使う国はアメリカ、イギリス、オーストラリアにカナダなどなど、かなりありますね。それらを抑えて 1 位になったということは、相当な数のブログが日本語で書かれているということですよね。単一国家が複数の大国に、ブログの発表数で勝っているわけですよ。まー、多分それくらいしか勝てるところってないんだと思いますけどね。近年のブログブームとか見ていると、そんな感じです。次は、ブログの内容で外国と勝負する番ですね。

author: Chris Salzberg


text:
Japan: Will Day · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joe Jones blogs about the April 15 Will Day and Japanese Will Law in Japan Law Blog. The day is designated by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations.