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NGO worker on Darfur · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Alliance pour la democratie et le progres interviews an NGO worker (Fr) on the situation in Darfur.  “Things won't get better quickly.”

author: Jennifer Brea


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Palestine: Evil Eye · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Dino Chocoholic, a Palestinian blogger living in the UAE, thinks she has been cast with an evil eye. Click here to read more.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Philippines: Manila’s Lopez Museum · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Torn and frayed in Manila urges readers to visit the Lopez Museum in Manila. The blogger considers the museum one of the well kept secrets in Manila.

author: Preetam Rai


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Russia: Beslan Evidence · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Step At A Time reports on the copies of faxes published by PravdaBeslana.ru, which “show that the local [North Ossetian] authorities were aware of preparations for a major terrorist attack involving the movement of convoys of vehicles, and targeting a public building, most probably a school, on “Knowledge Day” (September 1, the day when the new school year begins in Russia). The documents even made reference to the specific demands that the hostage-takers would advance.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: Friday Night Ethnic Fight · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog reports on the fight between ethnic Russians and Caucasus natives that took place in downtown Moscow last Friday.


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Russia: “Weaponization of Psychiatry” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Another article from Yezhednevniy Zhurnal on “the increasing weaponization of psychiatry” in Russia – translated, at Publius Pundit.


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Serbia: A Special Case of Blog Plagiarism · Global Voices
Ljubisa Bojic

Does a Creative Commons License help protect your blog from plagiarism? Is it a crime if a person from China copies your blog to overcome the so-called Great Firewall of China, trying to get some money along the way. How to protect yourself from web infringement?
Danica Radovanovic is a well-known blogger from Belgrade, who cares very much about her intellectual property and is eager to solve the problem she described at a Creative Commons listserv on May 30:
[…]
some guy mirrored and stole entire blog of mine, the guy copied entire blog, my intellectual property under CC license (Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License) plus he added AdSense to earn money on my account –  I never ever had commercial usage or benefit from my blog.
[…]
To cut story short, you saw the link of my latest post, I won't post anymore as everything comes up from mine blog to this stealer's blog who earns on my intellectual work (placed in China I assume). You will find all info in this post and from comments of IT and software engineers. Also science blogger Bora Zivkovic from Science Blogs gave alert at his web site and we are looking for legal help asap.
At her blog, Danica has posted a step-by-step instruction to help others dealing with the same issue:
Let this be loud shame for those thieves. It is detected where the stealer comes from, as well as I reported abuse email on their host, and to the Google removals.
Yan responds:
[…] What he did is setting up a proxy for people in mainland China to access wikipedia, technorati, and wordpress. You know the GFW block these websites. […] So blame him for the ads, and blame GFW at the same time.
Bernarda gives another example, introducing mysterious “302 redirects”:
Here is another serious blogger who has problems. Jim Zwick’s very informative site on Mark Twain and other stuff has basically been shut down.
“ […] The removal of the materials from the site is the result of the site being banned from both Google and the Microsoft Live search engine, which I believe is the result of their inability to deal with a well-documented problem with page hijacking using 302 redirects. A 302 redirect is supposed to be used to tell a web browser that a page has been temporarily moved to a new location. The browser is supposed to automatically go to that URL instead of generating a “page not found” error. Google and other search engines (except Yahoo) interpret these links to mean that the page linked to really belongs at the linking site, and it lists it under that domain instead of the domain where the page is housed. […]”
Mark McCrohon writes:
I have developed a plagiarism detection tool called DOC Cop that helps bloggers determine if their site has been posted elsewhere on the web. DOC Cop is on the web here – DOC Cop does not take copyright or ownership of material submitted for investigation and processing is free of charge (donations appreciated).
Then Danicar considers two ways of fighting cybercrime:
[…] 1. to submit a formal notification of claimed infringement as described in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (512(c)(3)(A)(i-vi)) to the Host (big company where this criminal holds all domains), so they would: ”Upon receipt of a valid DMCA Notification, we will commence with the removal of such content in an expeditious manner.”
vague…
and the other way, which includes real Digital Guru’s
2. to process my request of infringement here (”the file a notice of infringement with us – read: Google, you must provide a written communication”):
and this way has a much much heavier and broader notice.[…]
Raincoaster writes:
This particular case has been discussed in the forum quite extensively and the general consensus is that it’s a workaround to make sure that the contents of our blogs are made available to people in China and other countries where WordPress is banned, rather than a targeted attempt at piracy or theft of intellectual property.
You’re right, though, Adsense is very bad form. VERY bad, and it shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
At this point you get to make a choice: if you see this as a creative way to get your blog past the censorship hurdles that China puts up, then you would leave things. It’s posting my blog too, and I’m just going to leave it because it’s important to me that my blog be read all over the world, even in countries where the governments try to block it.
If you still want to pursue this, the only real choice is the way that Dreamhost, the company you’re dealing with, has requested, which is your choice #1 in that list you’ve just posted.
It’s entirely up to you.
[…]
What I mean is, you need to HIRE a lawyer. The EFF is a great resource, but they’re not a legal aid group; they’re lobbyists and activists.
Remember, too, that it’s US Copyright that you’re operating under, because you published it on a WordPress.com blog and that’s the terms of service. But the blog you’re fighting may or may not be hosted in a country that recognizes that law. China certainly doesn’t.
Michele writes:
I feel your pain!
I’ve been having similar issues with a well known industry news site stealing my articles and reposting them verbatim as their own
I didn’t want to name and shame at first, but I eventually did, as their response was so pathetic.
In her post titled “Goodbye, Wikipedia.jaylee.cn!”, Danica closes the case:
You may feel sorry that the whole wikipedia mirror is gone, as the guy who did the same with my blog was also circumventing Chinese content restrictions, as earlier said that citizens of China are not allowed to read Wikipedia. His web site was shut down by his ISP due to supposed threats from government.
At this time, the case rests, but the amount of stress, time and effort Danica has invested to solve the issue are enormous. This is a small contribution to the examination of the ethical questions of blogging. The conversation will go on.

author: Ljubisa Bojic


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Singapore: The best word · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

When you really mean you are sorry, according to Estee, its the best thing on earth.


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Tajikistan: Reforms Continue · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

James reports on the continued reforms being implemented by Tajikistan's President Rahmon. The president argues that his cultural reforms are designed to cut back on excessive spending by impoverished citizens, while others say they are invasively micromanaging Tajik lives.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Tajikistan: Truce Anniversary · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Beyond the River says that recent political developments highlight questions that have remained open since the peace agreement in Tajikistan's civil war, the tenth anniversary of which is coming in a few days.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Books To Travel With · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Nicholas over at Antilles is inspired by the UK Guardian‘s anecdotes from writers about books they've traveled with and comes up with his own interesting picks.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago: What Makes Great Art? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

According to Thebookmann, the canvas doesn't always matter when it comes to the spirit of great art:  “…What really matters is the passion and respect of a good deed from an individual from this small nation, Trinidad and Tobago.”


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Turkey is Typing…Favorite Posts of the Week · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Today feels like a random day, so you will get a random posting with all of the Turkish posts this week that tickled my fancy.
The Cause of the Holocaust
Me and Others writes this week about how the fabled quote from Hitler “After all, who remembers the Armenians” is used over and over as a justification of the Jewish Holocaust during World War II, and how it has been used by Armenian activists to vilify the Turks.  Of course, there could be other causes…such as a Jewish prostitute:
but i have some bad news for those who want to blame the bad turks for the nazi crimes. here is an article for you which says “hitlers holocaust might have stemmed from syphillis from a jewish prostitute.” so it must be not the turks but a jewish prostitude who is behind the most evil crimes of the modern times.
honestly, i dont believe either of the theories have anything to do with the realities. such a big evildoing cannot be simply explained by one single culprit reason. there are library full of documents trying to investigate and fully understand the holocaust, and just simply blaming the turks or a misfortunate jewish girl, or even hitler himself will not do it.
Curse of the Turk
Two more posts this week about Turkishness.  One from Hans at Internations Musings detailing the Curse of Turan:
The Curse of Turan (Hungarian: Turáni átok) is a popular belief that Hungarians have been under the influence of a malicious spell for many centuries. The “curse” manifests itself as inner strife, pessimism, misfortune and several historic catastrophes. The first disaster was the invasion by the Mongols, and the second the invasion by the Ottomans, Battle of Mohács in 1526.
The second post is more about the curse of fame….or rather how to obtain it as Talk Turkey illustrates:
I write this post as a response to the Turkish girl who keeps emailing me about becoming a star in Hollywood. You don't become a star, you start out as one, unless of course your ‘star’ alignment happens to be in the right place at the right time. Try the Turkish market first. I am sure they'll eat you alive as an American Turk discovering her roots. Great story line as the gullible gal falling victim to the preying men and her battle to overcome the emotions of girl meets boy, boy marries girl, and girl finds out he is a Kurd? Some ethnic intricacies played out.
Clash of Culture
Spooky Sense by Garfucius writes of the treatment by Turkish officials of archaeological finds:
culturicide? just a couple days ago, an ancient harbor was reported discovered during the construction of a tunnel for the subterranean train in yenikapı, with remains of byzantine boats and other archaeological artifacts. true to type, the finds will be collected and taken to the museum and the construction of the tunnel will continue as planned, apparently, over the ruins of the antique harbor.
Carpetblogger writes about the trials of Turkish bureaucracy-a wonderful primer for trying to survive it in Turkey- and about the trials of getting your carpets cleaned:
The likelihood an elective activity like carpetwashing gets done is inversely proportional to the number of linguistic and logistical obstacles that stand in its way. Not only must I identify a qualified carpet cleaning professional, that person has to come get the carpets. Furthermore, moving stinky carpets around is a royal pain in the ass any time of the year, more so when it is 100 degrees and you are on your own. These are all significant obstacles.
On the other hand, I have carpetdogs, so my carpets are pretty damn dirty. Smelly too. That workhorse 6′ x 5′ Dagestan sumac that was in the dining room in Baku and Kyiv absorbed prodigious amounts of food and alcohol from Sunday dinners and parties. These factors make carpetwashing less elective and more imperative.
Most importantly, however, if you're moving into a new apartment with Ottoman-era wood floors that appear to be designed for your favorite carpets (or, looking at it another way, if you made your second real estate purchase based on how good your carpets will look), you cannot have dirty carpets.
So what to do?
One thing you'll notice about Istanbul is that there are a lot of carwashes. Because Turks are enterprising, rare is the carwash that is only used for washing cars. For example, because they can be hosed down, carwashes are ideal places for a bayram sacrifice — a ritual slaughter of sheep and cows and a right bloody mess. More frequently, however, carwash guys are as likely to be aiming their high pressure hoses and soap brushes at carpets hanging from wires as Anadolu sedans.
Guide to Turkish Blogs
Dear Murat from Amerikan Turk has given another guide to the Turkish blogs…I recommend just following the link over there and seeing it for yourself.  He does a much better job than I.
And Lastly, My Newest Addiction
Chronicles of a Turkish Girl is my newest soap opera and it should be yours too (in fact it might outweigh my addiction to Lonelygirl15…it's that good).  This month she confesses to being interested in Christianity just to date her “smoking hot” abs instructor:
Yup, pretty soon I was going to church with him where I looked like a fish out of water. I couldn't follow which page they were on in the Bible during the sermons, but it didn't matter; I was sitting next to this hot guy. Shallow would be the perfect word to describe me. As I sat in a house of worship with him, my mind was having the most impure thoughts you can possibly imagine.
It wasn't long before I realized that his sole interest in me was to convert me. After awhile, I got tired of hearing about how much Jesus loves me. He also went onto to say that he could never be with a woman who did not not accept Jesus as the son of God. This “relationship” was going nowhere fast. I needed to end it and tell him that I would not convert AND that I do not subscribe to any organized religion.

author: Deborah Ann Dilley


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Ukraine: Ukrainian Music Blog · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The history of Ukrainian band Mandry and more – at Ukrainian Musical Matters blog.


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Uruguay: Puzzling Things · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Uruguay Dreaming lists “Things I Find Puzzling About Uruguay,” in which he does not mean to be impolite, but rather finds difficult to understand.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Armenia: Power Plates · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Armenia Blog has photos of prestigious license plates.


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Barbados, Dominica, Antigua & Barbuda: Deported Journalist Recounts Events  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The CARICOM journalist that was recently deported from Antigua and Barbuda tells his tale to Barbados Free Press.


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Central Asia: China’s Soft Power · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

At Registan.net, Joshua Foust examines how Central Asia might be impacted by China's soft power.


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China: Boycotting Beijing Olympics? They have ill intentions. · Global Voices
Jacky

From Mia Farrow to François Bayrou to US Congressmen, every news or report about boycotting Beijing Olympics has provoked rounds of anger from China's netizens.
In a widely cross-posted blog post Boycotting Olympic: A farce doomed to failure, Wang Chong, a political commentor, grouped the boycotting Beijing Olympics advocators into three categories.
第一，借奥运说事达到个人目的
Wang Chong believed François Bayrou had his hidden agenda when he advocated boycotting Beijing Olympics.  François Bayrou wanted to take advantage from this topic to campaign for votes.
第二，来自反华的右翼分子。
第三，一些非政府组织和右翼小报。
任何抵制北京奥运的言行都将注定没有市场，注定失败。
In response to US Congress raps China over Darfur, blogger Yingzi wrote Darfur problem exposes the selfish American hegemony.
这是怎么回事？简直离谱至极啊。这关你们美国人屁事啊。
…尽管言论荒唐，却能反映出他们内心的秘密。
正是因为中国经济迅速发展，中国的崛起让他们感到害怕了。
在这次事件中，达尔富尔地区爆发了内战，迫使西方石油公司纷纷撤退，而中国公司却趁机进入获取石油资源的进口。这就让美国人感到不爽和恐惧了。一些美国人 心中不满，就要找个机会来发泄咯。
…
其实根本原因就是，美国人自己的利益受到损害，而中国却能从中得到发展，美国人眼红了，更重要是美国人害怕我们中国的强大，怕他们的老大地位不保啊。
In fact, the main reason is that American's own interests are damaged, but China is able to benefit.  The Americans are jealous. More importantly, Americans are afraid of a strong China.  They worry that they will lose their leading position (in the world).
ShiShao believed that the US is playing a political game.
近年，中国在非洲的影响力在不断增大。在之前，存在于非洲的势力主要是以法国为首的欧洲和美国。选现在，西方认为中国在非洲的存在已经影响到这些国家的利益在非洲的存在。他们于是对中国”另眼相待”了。
…
美国和欧洲固守着”零和”的游戏规则，认为当有一方的利益增大之时，另一方必然会减少。他们认为中国在非洲影响增大会损害到他们的利益，于是极力排挤中国在非洲的存在。其实，这中思想可以休矣。
…西方国家的利益依然可以在非洲这个正在增大发展的空间的保持并不断扩大。这需要中国、美国及世界上所有国家的努力一起来消除非洲的贫穷、落后，让非洲发展起来，让大家达到”共赢”局面，这才是正确的选择。
John Zhou had a similar opinion.  He wrote
我的感觉是西方一些势力会利用一切机会，遏制正在崛起的中国。
But there is a rare voice in this post's comment.  An anonym commented,
lz已经被中共洗脑了,只要外国和中国过不去,lz就认为是西方在遏制中国崛起,但是lz知道因为达富尔问题已经有几十万的难民和成千上万的死亡吗?看来lz真该到难民营去住几天.
中国因为自己的石油利益想苏丹政府提供军火,直接导致了问题的严重化,这是应该谴责的

author: Jacky


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China: Revised draft of emergency response law · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The revised draft of emergency response law has dropped the ban and fine of unapproval report on natural disasters, public health incidents or industrial accidents. David Bandurski from China Media Project has summarized the responses from the Chinese media on the new draft.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: The China Opportunity · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fons tried to address the question: “Are you positive or negative about the effects of China on the world?” put forward by international delegations at China Herald.


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China: The death of a celebrity, a festival for the paparazzi · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated a deleted blog post by He Dong, an entertainment journalist, who criticised the media circus in response to the death of a celebrity Hou Yaowen.


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Croatia: “Feral Tribune” May Return · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

East Ethnia reports that the Croatian weekly Feral Tribune may be “returning through the good graces of, of all corporations, the prodigal monopolist WAZ. That would be half-good news, I suppose.”


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Dark Skinned Palestinians  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

There are dark skinned Palestinians, lashes out Rebellious Arab Girl, after fair-skinned countrywoman taunted her for her dark skin.


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Egypt: Beware of Summer Fruit · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian Zeinobia warns us about her country's summer fruit.


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Egypt: Campaign Against Female Genital Mutilation  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egypt is launching a national campaign against female circumcision (Genital Mutilation) writes Ibn Al Dunya.


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Estonia: Interior Minister · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Itching for Eestimaa writes about Estonia's interior minister.


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Hong Kong: 10 years · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lu Qui Lu-wei from 1510 wrote about her experience in Hong Kong for the past 10 years as a professional new immigrant from China (zh).


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India: Not her for President · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

As India gets ready for a new president, here's a take on why one of the candidates is unsuitable at India Uncut.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Iran:Photos of the torched gas stations · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Thanks to Jomhour we can see 62 photos of the torched gas stations and traffic jam in Tehran as Iranians protested fuel rationing today.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iraq War Profiteers  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A Citizen of Mosul posts a video of why the war on Iraq is continuing here.


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Israel: Neighbours at War · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Israeli Yaeli talks about the next major war in the Middle East – literally among neighbours – here.


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Jamaica: Engaged Employees · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Chronicles from a Caribbean Cubicle links to research which finds a connection between engaged employees and increased competitiveness: “Interesting, especially given my estimate that some 60-80% of Caribbean employees are disengaged.”


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Jamaica: Personal Space  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“From the beginning of slavery, there has been a war fought over black bodies and black space and because we have been victims in the past, we have conceded our space and our right to that space and it has had a debilitating effect on our self-esteem.”  Jamaican Geoffrey Phlip explores the concepts of personal space and holy space.


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Korea: 6.25 · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

It was 6.25, the 27th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. The day was quiet. Very few special events compared to the past. How do Korean bloggers consider the Korean War? They expressed what this date means to them in the past and at the present.
Dolstone2002:
어렸을때 매년 이맘때면 반공표어 만들고 반공 포스터 만들고 이런 것들 하면서 ‘아아 잊으랴, 어찌 우리 이날을-조국의 원수들이 짓밟아 오던날을-‘이런 노래를 불렀던 기억이 나는군요.
지금에야 그 때 그렇게 북괴를 욕하도록 교육받은게 자신의 권력을 유지하기 위한 독재자들의 수단이자 정책의 일환이었다는 것을 알게 되었고, 단순히 우리편 vs 나쁜편의 싸움이 아닌 세계열강의 틈바구니 속에서 힘없는 우리 민족이 어떻게 괴로움과 아픔을 겪을 수밖에 없었는지도 알게 되었습니다. 하지만 분명한 건 오늘 우리가 이렇게 풍요로운 삶을 영위할 수 있는 것은 그때 이 땅에 찬란한 생명을 흩뿌렸던 분들의 피와 땀이 있었기 때문일 것입니다. 우리 후손들을 위하여 형제들에게 총부리를 겨누어야 했던 그분들의 눈물을 절대 잊지 않겠습니다.
Musecine:
세월이 갈 수록 잊혀지는게 당연한듯 오늘의 달력을 보고서야 오늘이 6.25인줄 알았다.
국민학교를 다닐때 80년대 중후반이었으니 그 때는 아마 방공의 시절이었던것 같다.
학교에서 단체관람으로 반,방공영화를 보여주고 단지 영화라는 신기한 매체를 본다는 생각으로 재밌고 멋지다라는 생각뿐이 없었던 기억이지만….
초,중,교 교가보다 어릴적 익혀들은 동요보다 내 귓가에 또렷하게 남아있는 노래가 바로 이 6.25 노래이다.
아아 잊으랴 어찌 우리 이 날을
조국의 원수들이 짓밟아 오던 날을
맨 주먹 붉은 피로 원수를 막아 내어
발을 굴러 땅을 치며 울분에 떤 날을
이제야 갚으리 그 날의 원수를
쫓기는 적의 무리 쫓고 또 쫓아
원수의 하나까지 쳐서 무찔러
이제야 빛내리 이 나라 이겨레
The day when the enemies of our country trampled on us
With bare fist and red blood, we blocked our enemies.
The days we stamped our feet on the earth and shook our bodies with anger.
Now we’ll pay back to the enemies at that time.
Chasing after our enemies on and on
Smashing up every one of our enemies
Now we will bring glory to this nation and our brethren.
이 노래를 처음 배울때의 광경이 아직도 눈앞에 선 하다.
국민학교 2학년때 담임선생님께서 칠판의 오른쪽 하단에 며칠동안 적어 놓으셨던 그 노래.
당시엔 북한이라면 다 나쁜놈들이고 똘이장군에서 나왔던것 처럼 붉은 색의 살결에 돼지같은 얼굴인줄만 알았던 시절에 상태 안 좋은 영화관에서 보는 영상에서의 우리 국군들의 죽음과 우리나라 주민들의 눈물이 눈에 겹치면서 장엄한 선율에 맘을 뺏겨버린 그 노래. 어린나이에도 노래를 읖조리며 눈물을 흘리게 했던 그 노래가 바로 6.25노래이다.
저 노래가 언제, 누구에 의해서 만들어졌는지는 몰라도 노래가사는 멸공의 시대에 만들어 진듯하다.
다시는 부르고 싶지 않은 노래와 우리 후손들에게 들려주고 싶지 않은 노래 일 순위가 저 노래가 아닐지…
It would be the first song which I don’t want to sing any more and don’t want to let our descendants sing this.
bklove:
까마득히 몰랐는데, 인어님의 닉네임을 보고 알게되었습니다. 오늘은 한국전쟁 발발 57년이 지난 하루였군요. ‘반공 교육'을 강조하던 때에는 무척이나 많은 이야기가 오고간 하루였던거 같은데… 평화모드라서일까요? 생각외로 조용하게 지나가는 하루군요.

author: Hyejin Kim


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Latvia: Economy · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Edward Hugh of A Fistful of Euros posts a thorough examination of Latvia's economy, complete with some policy proposals.


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Mexico: Monterrey is Much More than Industry · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Ocho Cuartos [ES] writes that Monterrey is much more than being the industrial capital of Mexico, but it is also ranks highly in culture.


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Mideast Youth Wins Award  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Mideast Youth announced today that it has won an award for Best New Intellectual Entrepreneurship Project for promoting liberty.


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Moldova: Development Strategy · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“Moldova's development concept lacks any connection to the external environment, perpetuating isolation and self-centeredness,” Public Policy Watch writes about Moldova's “Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (EGPRSP), developed with the support of the World Bank.”


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Morocco: 72-year-old Activist Jailed for Supporting Prisoners · Global Voices
Hamza Daoui

Moroccan authorities just jailed 72-year-old activist Mohamed Bougrine for supporting prisoners who had been jailed for “attacking values in the Islamic kingdom”, according to this Middle East Online article.  The Morocco Report writes:
“So wait a minute.  This guy, Bougrine, who had been to jail before during the days of the protectorate, is apparently just a supporter of these prisoners…he didn’t actually attack religious values (whatever that means).  So now it’s a crime to have an opinion?”

author: Hamza Daoui


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Morocco: Telecoms, The Blogging Grand Prix, and Reactions to Salman Rushdie’s Knighthood · Global Voices
Hamza Daoui

Blogging has indeed become a popular Moroccan pastime, with new blogs cropping up every day.  Pointblog.com (fr), a self-described magazine of blogging, reports on the first Grand Prix des Blogs:”
Une centaine de blogueurs marocains a participé au 1 er GrandPrix des Blogs organisé par le portail Bayn. Khadija Housni, une enseignante à la retraite a remporté la compétition. Tandis qu’un blog consacré à l’environnement gagnait le prix des internautes. Ce portail serait la première plateforme marocaine avec 5 000 blogs hébergés.
A hundred Moroccan bloggers took part in the first Grand of Blogs organized by Bayn. Khadija Housni, a retired teacher, won the competition, while a blog devoted to the environment won the prize of the internet surfers. This portal is the first Moroccan platform with 5,000 blogs registered.
Maroc IT Blog reports that broadband usage in Morocco is increasing as well:
The latest research reports indicate broadband subscription worldwide has crossed the 300 Million mark, with the US and China leading the pack. France and South Korea continue to show sustained growth. In Morocco, broadband subscription growth is phenomenal, approaching the half a million mark, that’s doubling the number of subscribers in less than two years. Fiber To The Home (FTTH) penetration is proceeding at a fast clip in Asia and Europe as services including VOIP, IPTV, Gaming, and HDTV continue driving bandwidth demand.
While blogging and broadband use may be on the rise, however, A Moro in America tells us that microfinance in Morocco is in jeopardy:
Microfinance has proven to be a great success in Morocco and the latter became one of the pioneers of this poverty alleviating concept. Microfinance’s popularity has surged when the Nobel prize was awarded to a Bengali economist who helped the extremely poor farmers.Commercial banks hate the poor as a customer because they are not a good candidate for a loan due to the high risk of default. Microfinance has been the baby of non-profit organizations .Commercial banking and Microfinance are two things that have never been able to criss-cross in the past but things seem to be on the verge of a break-up with that tradition.
Moving on to world news, Najlae (fr) is one of few Moroccan bloggers to even mention the news of Salman Rushdie’s knighthood.  She says:
L’anoblissement samedi de Salman Rushdie par la reine d’Angleterre a sans surprise été suivi de réactions de par le monde contre ce nouveau “témoignage d’hostilité occidental” à l’Islam. Mais l’info était bien moins intéressante que la décision d’une poignée de Oulémas du Pakistan de donner à Ben Laden le titre de “saif al islam” سيف الإسلام en tant que Khalid Ibn Al Walid des temps modernes. Le plus dangeureux, comme le souligne Taoufik Bouachrine, c’est le fait de conférer une légitimité aux actes du cerveau d’Al Qaïda en le présentant comme un “résistant” devant les “ennemis” de la religion. J’ai beau essayer de comprendre comment ces Oulémas réfléchissent. Mais il est clair qu’ils n’ont vraiment, mais alors là vraiment pas conscience de la portée de leurs décisions.
The knighting on Saturday of Salman Rushdie by the Queen of England was unsurprisingly followed by reactions all over the world against this new “Western testimony of hostility” to Islam. But this information was much less interesting than the decision of a group of Oulemas* of Pakistan to give Bin Laden the title of “sword of Islam” like the Khalid Ibn Al Walid of modern times. The most dangerous, as Taoufik Bouachrine notes, is the fact that conferring a legitimacy on the acts of Al Qaeda’s mastermind by presenting him as a “resistant” before the “enemies” of the religion. I try in vain to understand how those Oulemas think. But it is clear that they are not really conscious of the impact of their decisions.
Another blogger with a stronger opinion on Salman Rushdie’s knighthood is Actual digital (es):
!Es el humor británico! No es nada más que otra expresión al estilo que caracteriza a ese pueblo y me refiero a la decisión de la Reina Isabel II junto a su Gobierno: otorgar el Honor Británico a un escritor que constantemente está protegido por Scotlandiard, y que probablemente con la obtención de esta nueva y prestigiosa destinción, va a necesitar más protección después del galardón. ¿Qué consideración tiene el Gobierno británico hacia el mundo musulmán? Me parece, cero o ninguna. La decisión es un insulto gratuito y inútil, sin decir más.Honorar al escritor de “Los versos satánicos”, Salman Rushdie en estos turbulentos tiempos en los que vivimos abre una interrogación difícil, a la cual no se pueden encontrar respuestas.
It’s pure British humor! It’s just another expression of the behavior that characterizes Brits. I’m talking about the decision of Queen Elizabeth II, along with her government, to grant the British honor of knighthood to a writer who is constantly protected by Scotland Yard, and who probably, by the obtaining this new and prestigious distinction, is going to need more protection than ever. What discretion does the British Government show toward the Muslim world? It seems to me, none at all. The decision is a gratuitous and useless insult, without saying more. To honor the writer of “Satanic Verses”, Salman Rushdie, in these turbulent times in which we live opens a difficult series of questions, to which answers cannot be found.
Creative Commons Licensed photo by mtkr


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Nepal: Constituent Assembly Polls · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Kathmandu Speaks on the importance of the Constituent Assembly polls.


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Nepal: Trafficking and Sex Slavery · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Nepal Monitor on combating trafficking and sex slavery in Nepal.


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Oman’s Blogging Community · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Progress is well underway on Oman's Blogger Community website, says Sleepless in Muscat.


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Pakistan: Education for All · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

All Things Pakistan on education, and the idea of ‘Education for All’.


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Palestine: New Hobby · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian blogger Rebellious Arab Girl has found a new hobby. Click here to find out more.


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Palestine: What’s Happening?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian Kawthar Salam  writes  about “what is really happening in Gaza and the West Bank.”


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Peru: Sporting Cristal Coach Blogs on Copa America · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Letra Suelta [ES] links to the new blog of Juan Carlos Oblitas [ES], the coach of the Lima football club Sporting Cristal, who comments on the ongoing Copa America tournament.


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Russia: CNN International’s “Eye on Russia” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog is disappointed that it's CNN International – not CNN in the United States – that's broadcasting a whole week of daily half-hour series called “Eye on Russia: The New Dawn.”


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Russia: “Completely Different Other Russias” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Riot police just off Pushkinskaya Square in Moscow during the June 11 Dissenters’ March – photo by LJ user msmetana
On Dec. 6, 2006, Maria Gaidar, leader of the Da! (“Yes!”) youth movement and daughter of former acting premier Yegor Gaidar, and Ilya Yashin, leader of the youth wing of Grigory Yavlinsky‘s Yabloko party, featured in a Global Voices translation that dealt with their intrepid attempt to protest a bill that abolished minimum voter turnout (20 percent) for all elections in Russia: they had spent an hour and a half suspended on ropes from a Moscow bridge facing the Kremlin, flying a 10-meter banner that said: “GIVE THE ELECTION BACK TO THE PEOPLE, BASTARDS!”
Earlier this month, following the June 11 Dissenters’ March in Moscow, both Gaidar and Yashin briefly found themselves in the Russian blogosphere's spotlight again – and here's why.
There was no police “overreaction” during the opposition's latest Dissenters’ March in Russia's capital – possibly, because the organizers decided not to follow up the rally on Pushkinskaya Square with the actual marching. Everyone made their speeches – or so it seemed, until the blogosphere offered a not-so-pleasant revelation: Maria Gaidar was prevented from addressing the crowd by, allegedly, Eduard Limonov, leader of the National Bolshevik Party (NBP) and Garry Kasparov‘s close ally in the Other Russia anti-government coalition.
Ilya Yashin (LJ user yashin) happened to be among the first whistleblowers when he wrote this (RUS) on his blog on June 12:
Attended the Dissenters’ March yesterday.
To be honest, I'm not very happy. Too many hammers and sickles, too many [Russian Imperial flags], too many fervent “Long live Russia” chants… Some guy was saying from the stage that “democracy ended in 1991″ – and was booed by part of the crowd. And when the [National Bolsheviks] started yelling “Russia is all, the rest is nothing,” my mood was ruined completely.
But I do not regret having attended. And I'll come next time, too. First, because it's stifling in the country, and the Dissenters’ March has the spirit of freedom. Second, after the April beatings it was impossible not to come.
I'd like to say a few words about the following.
[Maria Gaidar] was supposed to speak at yesterday's rally. Half an hour before the beginning, both she and I were offered to say something by the organizers. But Eduard Limonov learned about it and issued an ultimatum: if they let Mashka speak, he's leaving. The organizers apologized to Gaidar and she ended up without an opportunity to make an address.
So here goes. Eduard Veniaminovich, you… how to say this politely?.. you are taking too much upon yourself.
Have you forgotten what you were yesterday? Have you forgotten about Stalin-Beriya-Gulag? About how you were calling Yeltsin to initiate bloodshed in Chechnya? About how you demanded the dispersal of anti-war rallies of the 1990s?
We are going against our principles after this, when we stand next to you on stage and tolerate your emblems, which imitate Hitler's banners.
And you should appreciate it that many people believe that you really do not subscribe to your past cannibalistic convictions anymore.
Respect the people, Eduard Veniaminovich.
Maria Gaidar (LJ user m_gaidar) offered her perspective (RUS) on the incident on June 13:
I feel obliged to comment on the situation, since a scandal has broken out because of my failure to speak at the Dissenters’ March.
Before the rally, Aleksandr Osovtsev came up to me and suggested that I speak. I agreed. About five minutes before the rally began, he apologized and said that Limonov is categorically against my address, that he had threatened to leave.
I am not part of the Other Russia, nor was I one of the organizers of this rally, and I think that the organizers have the right to decide who will speak and who won't. I didn't want to [make this incident public] because I knew that everyone would immediately attack the Other Russia and the Dissenters’ Marches. That's why I only told several people about it, those I came there with, those who knew that I was to speak at the rally. And I asked not to spread this information…
It's a pity that this ugly episode has become public.
I, like many of you, am not comfortable with Limonov. I'm not comfortable with their emblem, with their rhetoric. I'm not comfortable when those on stage say that democracy ended in 1991 and yell that “Russia is all, the rest is nothing.” The only reason I try to ignore this is because there are real political prisoners in the ranks of NBP. These people are in jail for this slogan: “Respect our Constitution.”
The traditional myth circulated by the [National Bolsheviks] is that [they] are the vanguard of the marches. We held a rally two years ago, also on June 12. There was no Limonov there – but there were as many people (or even more). I am absolutely convinced that the main body of the marches is made up of the liberal-democratic public that has to make quite an effort to tolerate Limonov.
But! Right now, the Dissenters’ March is the main oppositional platform. And not because Limonov and NBP are there, but because people who wish to express their protest come there – and no one except the organizers of the marches offers them such an opportunity. If you want to organize the Dissenters’ Marches without Limonov – just do it.
The Dissenters’ Marches are not controlled by the Kremlin, at least. That's why I suggest that we, first of all, fight against Putin's bloody regime (TM), and not against Limonov, no matter what he does.
[…]
Yashin posted another comment (RUS) on the situation, also on June 13:
A few more words on yesterday's discussion on Limonov. Please believe me, I'm not trying to exacerbate the contradictions, but there are important issues that shouldn't be ignored.
So here. I ran into a couple of comments by NBP activists regarding the situation.
New York-based (!) [National Bolshevik] Sasha Lenina writes:
[National Bolsheviks] are not renouncing any of their views. Those who carried out the “shock therapy” are in for “stalin, beriya, gulag.” Ichkeriya will be cleansed according to Beriya's method.
The whole active of the marches are the [National Bolsheviks]. You can dislike Limonov. And it's natural that your associates (the liberal part of the Other Russia, the real cannibals) are the ones who can't stand him. But do they really have a choice?
And Moscow-based [National Bolshevik] Pavel Zherebin continues his colleague's thought:
It's simple: you keep silent about Yeltsin, your favorite USA and “Israel,” about the Russian “fascism,” about your support of gay pride parades, about the totalitarian [Soviet state], about the fight against international terrorism, about Lukashenko, etc. Then we'll keep from voicing our opinions on these issues, too, and will concentrate on the criticism of Putin's regime.
The rest of it we'll discuss in the Parliament of the Free Other Russia.
[…] [Let the likes of Maria Gaidar] act in “Israel.” It's Russia here, even though it's [the Other Russia].
Listen to me carefully, friends.
I've been involved in politics since 2000, joined Yabloko in 2001. In these seven years, I've never renounced a single slogan of mine. All that I said, all that I believed in seven years ago is still relevant for me today.
And you, [National Bolsheviks], have gone a long way during this time. You've publicly renounced the cannibalistic slogans, you've changed your program and are using my – liberal – slogans.
Your comrades are behind bars not for their “Stalin-Beriya-Gulag” – but for [Andrei Sakharov]'s “Respect the Constitution” addressed to the presidential administration. And through this your comrades have earned everyone's respect.
Today you declare your support for the fight for the free election, for independent courts and against censorship of the mass media.
First of all, I'd like to remind you that all these values were born thanks to the ideologues of the liberal movement, which I'm honored to belong to. Today, all the adequate ideological movements (conservatives, social democrats, and all the rest) accept these values as the fundamental ones. And it is these values that have earned the liberal ideology its right to exist and a place in history. And you have to respect this.
Second, you can't fight for civil rights and freedoms while also keeping your “traditional” National Bolshevik convictions. It's impossible to simultaneously “torture and hang, hang and torture” and demand fair elections to the independent parliament. […]
I find it offensive to hear slogans like “Russia is all, the rest is nothing” at a rally I'm taking part in (this is how it was at the latest March). This isn't patriotism, it's pure Nazism. Patriotism is the love for your country and respect for other countries and cultures. Nazism is the propaganda of the national superiority and contempt for those around you.
And one more thing. It's hard to accuse me of being [against Limonov]. You know that I've taken part in rallies to support NBP's political prisoners more than once, and I wrote letters to judges, and I helped your lawyers […]. I really respect many [National Bolsheviks] and consider them decent people, and some – real heroes.
But you'll have to renounce all the ugly stuff that you propagated in 1990s. Otherwise, guys, we have completely different other Russias with you.
Soon after Yashin blogged about his views, members of the “adult wing” of Yabloko spoke against any kind of alliance with the Other Russia and announced their intention to nominate Grigory Yavlinsky as their 2008 presidential candidate – a move that, among other things, further emphasized the Russian opposition's famous lack of unity.


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Russia: Perelman Riding Metro · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user ub7com posts pictures of the famous Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman, taken on a subway train in St. Petersburg.


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Russia: PwC Withdraws Yukos Audits · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

PricewaterhouseCoopers “now believes that information and representations which was provided to PwC by Yukos’ former management may not have been accurate.” Siberian Light comments: “If some of the biggest, and supposedly best auditors in the world can be so easily deceived, then there is absolutely no reason why anyone should trust their audits of any other big Russian firm.” A Fistful of Euros has more on this.


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Russia: Train Station and Train Photos · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Photographer Oleg Klimov departs for Siberia and Kamchatka – and posts pictures of the Yaroslavsky Train Station in Moscow and the Moscow-Perm train.


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Russia: Volga Cars · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Turkish Invasion writes about and posts pictures of the Russian-made Volgas: “So you thought that the only machines Soviets built were Ladas and Tanks, but indeed they also had a superior brand called “Volga”, named after the biggest river in Europe (and also the farthest frontier the Germans ever could reach on their Barbarossa campaign).”


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Serbia, Russia: “What About the Russians?” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Jasmina Tešanović guest-blogs at Boing Boing about what may appear as Serbia's misguided trust in Russia: “Back in 1999, Russians didn’t veto the bombing of Serbia. The Russians are using the Kosovo issue in order to reclaim ex-Soviet territories with Russian populations. Serbs know that the Russians have their own great-power motives in exploiting Serbian troubles, but the myth does not allow them to say that.”


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Slovenia: Photos of Musician Tadej Kenig · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dancing Photography – Borut Peterlin posts photos of Tadej Kenig, a renowned Slovenian clarinetist, “photographed as a shepherd, in a concert suit playing a clarinet to the sheep.”


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Syria: Margat Castle  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Syria Winks takes us on a pictorial tour of the historic Margat Castle.


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Taiwan: Fifth Day Festival · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

(photo courtesy of judie)
Fifth Day Festival is another name for the Dragon Boat Festival or Duanwu Festival because it is May fifth in the lunar calendar (June 19th this year).
There are different ways to interpret the festival's cultural events we hold. The ‘traditional’ interpretation is to commemorate a Chinese poet Qu Yuan. The other interpretation from some older traditions is to prevent diseases and drowning in summer.
Either way, people are more interested in seeing dragon boat competitions and eating zongzi.
There are several dragon boat competitions in Taiwan, but the oldest one is in Yi-Lan (for more than 170 years). In this competition, there are only two teams. No judge, no time constraints–people can keep racing until one team admits their failure. Another characteristic of their dragon boat competition is standing on the boat and rowing.
Although there are many dragon boat competitions (some people are from other countries), there is only one place where the craftsmen make dragon boats by hand. Most boats people use now are made of fiberglass.
In addition to rowing or watching people rowing the dragon boats, how about trying an egg-standing game? And then, zongzi are ready!
Although Taiwan is not big, we have different kinds of zongzi in different areas. In northern Taiwan, people fry the rice with meat first and then steam it. In southern Taiwan, people put rice and other food together and boil it. In the Hakka community, people have another kind of zongzi. They grind the rice first and make rice loaf. After adding other food, they steam it. All of them are salty. There is another dessert-like zongzi with sweet bean paste inside. While other kinds of zongzi are eaten when they are hot, this kind of zongzi is eaten when cold and with honey or sugar. Smart-apple has described different kinds of zongzi. Arkun also demonstrated how her aunt made a zongzi in 48 seconds and made dozens of them!
(photo courtesy of PipperL)
While enjoying the food, people also like to argue about which kind of zongzi is more delicious. In Yogurt's family:
大家伙各吃著喜愛的粽子，配著茶喝著可樂又是一番抬槓。媽媽說：「水煮粽子，肉和米的味道都跑到水裡，整顆粽子都失甜了。」嫂嫂說：「喔！才不會！把糯米炒的油膩膩，多不健康啊」這時候素來疼老婆的大哥忽然說：「不要比了！怎麼說人家她們南部粽才是正統！」大家狐疑的看著吃著滿口北粽，心滿意足在享受美味的大哥，不明白超有堅持的他怎麼會為美色放棄美食？沒想到他慢條斯理的說：「具歷史記載，屈原吃的就是南部粽。」「啊~~為什麼？」「道理很簡單啊！屈原吃的不就是拋入水裡粽子嗎？所以怎麼說人家南部粽放進水煮是歷史傳下來的，當然是正統囉！」他吞下他愛吃的粽子後說：「我們北部粽是放在岸上祭拜，還沒丟到水裡的粽子，屈原吃的才是端午節的王道。所以，王道歸她們，但是我跟屈原不一樣，不喜歡在水裡吃粽子，我還是喜歡吃這種還沒下水拜屈原的這種。」大家恍然大悟的哄堂大笑，又是一個有趣的端午節！
This post is brought to you by the Global Voices Chinese (traditional and simplified) team of GV Lingua. Lingua seeks to amplify global voices in languages other than English through the help of volunteer translators. If you would like to contribute as a volunteer and join the GV in Chinese team, please visit our site:

author: I-fan Lin


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Trinidad & Tobago: Poem for the West Indies · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

West Indies Cricket Blog posts a poem submitted by a West Indies Cricket fan.


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Trinidad & Tobago: The Wind and The Temple · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Multimedia artist Elspeth Duncan posts video of Trinidad's Temple on the Sea.


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Tunisia: Divide and Conquer  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Subzero Blue from Tunisia shares his ideas on the divide and conquer situation in Palestinian politics here.


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Tunisia: Freedom of Speech Campaign  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Tunisian blogger Samsoum  has launched a new campaign on the theme “Freedom of Speech” for the 1st of July, writes Tunisian blogger Nadia.


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Turkey: Giving Tattoos a Bad Name · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Turkish Amerikan Turk sheds light on a story which could be giving tattoos a real bad name here.


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Uruguay: Three Goals Against – Just a Memory · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

¡Montevideo me mata! [ES] hears the word of Uruguayan coach after the 0-3 defeat at the hands of Peru in the opening match of the Copa America tournament.


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Uzbekistan: Electioneering · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Uzbekistan's president has been making numerous trips to various regions of Uzbekistan in what Jamiyat of neweurasia calls the launch of a re-election campaign.


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Algeria: Holiday Debate  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Algerian Nouri gets us in into the debate of changing the weekly holiday from Thursday/Friday to Saturday/Sunday here.


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Anguilla: Slave Labour?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As imported Indian labourers marched against unfair wages on a high-profile resort project, Corruption-free Anguilla writes: “Our government has lost its way.  It was the compassion of the ordinary Anguillian that redeemed our government today.”


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Arabeyes: The Moment of Truth for a Jordanian Father  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Today's Arabeyes makes five stops – two in Kuwait and Saudi each and a last stop in Jordan, where a blogger and journalist is forced to face himself and take a stance on the Palestinian infighting between Fatah and Hamas.
Kuwait: Memoirs of Adolescents
Kuwaiti Saloom urges people to read a new book hot off the Press.
Kuwait: Reuniting with Friends
Still in Kuwait, Frankom reunites with his friend Bu Abdulla, after he has gone AWOL since he tied the knot.
Saudi Arabia: Innocent Bloggers
Mashi Sa7 (On the Right Path), from Saudi Arabia, washes his hands off an accusation made against bloggers here.
Saudi Arabia: Farewell to a Loving Father
Still in Saudi Arabia, Obad pays tribute to his loving father, who passed away a year ago in this post.
Jordan: Making a Choice
Out last stop is in Jordan, where blogger and journalist Amjad Shaltoni shares with us a question posed by his daughter – which left him in a position where he had to make a choice.


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Bahamas: Crime and Punishment  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Sidney Sweeting at WeblogBahamas.com is astonished at the lenient sentence imposed in the disturbing case of sexual abuse of a six-year-old girl: “If the Attorney General is successful in changing the sentence…perhaps that could be a start for the courts to send a message, with the help of Parliament, that there will be punishments to fit the horrific crimes that are destroying our country.”


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Bahamas: Reinventing our Image  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“People are people, and fundamentally people are all the same.  The differences are superficial; underneath, we are more alike than we think.”  Nicolette Bethel calls for a reinvention of “the images of savages” that have subconsciously defined the people of the Caribbean.


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Bangladesh: Changing Lives · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Voice of South on a woman's life turning around thanks to micro-credit and telecom.


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Barbados, Jamaica: Irving Youngest to Fly Solo Around the World  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Free Press celebrates the outstanding achievement of Jamaican-born Barington Irving, who has become the youngest pilot and the first black person to fly solo around the world – and they're even more impressed to learn that he built his aircraft himself!


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Belize: Free Text Books for Primary School Children  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Simone's Belize Blog is overjoyed at the news that the Belizean government will start supplying all primary school children with free text books.


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Benin: Is the press living up to its promise? · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Babilown posts an article that asks whether the Beninese press is living up to its responsibility (Fr) to act as the “fourth branch” of government.   “Whether the executive, the legislative, or the judicial branch…in all spheres of public life, too often we are content to wallow in mediocrity, in the so-so and minimum service becomes the rule.  The press should not limit itself to this “classic” model.”


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Brunei: Of Love and Trust · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Old Man has some wise words for people who want to test the fidelity of their lovers. “Testing is bad. Because half of those tested would definitely fail. At the very least, it will bring doubt to the relationship. Doubt is not good to a relationship.”


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CAR: Amnesty International calls for UN troops · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Amnesty International is calling for the immediate deployment of UN troops (Fr) to the Central African Republic to address the worsening security situation in the north of the country highlighted in a new UN report (Fr), Alliance Pour La Democratie et Le Progres writes.


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Central Asian Agriculture · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Bonnie Boyd reports of locusts plaguing the region and draconian regulations forcing Uzbek farmers to harvest green wheat.

author: Ben Paarmann


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Central & Eastern Europe: Political Parties · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dr Sean's Diary fails to come up with “two or three examples of parties in CEE that might plausibly resemble the ‘radical right wing populists’ (as opposed to old-style neo-fascist or integral-national extreme right)”: “Plenty of successors to blood and soil national traditions, now somewhat tamed by post-1989 realities of liberal democracy and European integration – and yes, bucketsloads of economic populism some styling itself right (Hungary’s Fidesz), some left (Slovakia’s Smer) and some just down-the-line militantly anti-establishment (Poland’s Self-Defence) but even allowing for the rather flexible nature of the ‘radical right populist’ label […].”


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China: Bloggers take on drugs · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Judging from its wikipedia entry—or its United Nations page which hasn't been updated in three years, one might think the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, June 26, belongs to China, the first member of the American War on Drugs, and a country which takes its drug problems seriously.
How did the Chinese blogsphere mark the occasion? Blogging kingpin Sina.com drug convicted substance abuser and aging rocker Xie Dong out to speak on his experiences, a bundle of videos were uploaded to Chinese video sharing websites like 56.com where ex-addicts shared their struggles and anti-drug petitions were passed around. Posters were made, bringing in the usual stoner comments (“I smoke drugs.” “I smoke cigarettes..hehe”), one Xinhua blogger took the time to show people what they're up against, and upstanding car owners even gathered in a parking lot to spell out the Chinese words ‘ban drugs’.
At citizen blogging website MoLive, two posts went up, one in Beijing where concerned neighborhood aunties and uncles teamed up with health professionals to spread the word about the link between intravenous drug use and HIV infection:
6月26日上午，北京石景山区委在电影院广场举办了”参与禁毒斗争，构建和谐社会”的活动，一百多名青年志愿者参与了这次远离毒品，远离爱滋病的宣传活动。期间，有关部门发放近千份的宣传资料，并为群众义务宣传预防爱滋病的有关知识。（21:47）
Reader comments:
第1楼： 股神 新人 4级
顶！顶死你！！！（2007-06-26 21:48）
第2楼： 金辰 三段 38级
顶！（2007-06-26 21:50）
第3楼： wuwei 菜鸟 8级
顶！（2007-06-27 07:00）
第4楼： 变相怪杰 新人 6级
顶！远离的同时，我们也不能排斥得上艾滋病的人，因为他们也是在无意识的情况下得上的，所以我们更要非他们关心（2007-
06-27 07:59）
第5楼： 心静 新人 3级
难怪这么多关于禁毒的直播，昨天是禁毒日呀，俺都不知道（2007-06-27 08:52）
第6楼： yongxianwei 二段 31级
顶！（2007-06-27 12:05）
第7楼： 峰 熟手 20级
反正我是不碰这个（2007-06-27 12:23）
第8楼： 小刚 新人 7级
顶！这个害死人啊!（2007-06-27 13:50）
第9楼： badboy 新人 13级
顶！（2007-06-27 14:11）
第10楼： 俯拍 新人 5级
顶！ 往往沾上毒品的人起初都是对它好奇才去尝试的，这是个错误的想法（2007-06-27 15:00）
第11楼： 微笑刺客 新人 5级
顶！强烈抵制（2007-06-27 17:29）
第12楼： jingguan 新人 12级
顶！支持，一定要制止（2007-06-27 22:40）
第13楼： sheng588888  一段 29级
顶！（2007-06-28 09:38）
And a second post from provincial Guizhou, not far from China's corridor into the Golden Triangle, where local authorities took a different approach:
Reader comments:
第1楼： 峰 熟手 20级
顶！有点不人道（2007-06-26 14:47）
第2楼： 游客评论：
顶！（2007-06-27 08:06）
第3楼： 心静 新人 3级
看来贵州这里贩毒的人很多，抓住的就有这么多，还有很多没有抓住的呢（2007-06-27 08:42）
第4楼： 蓝风视界 一段 21级
顶！场面壮观.我眼福不太好.犯人们穿的是救生衣吗?（2007-06-27 09:01）
第5楼： 变相怪杰 新人 6级
顶！好好戒毒吧！（2007-06-27 09:07）
第6楼： 游客评论：
这些家伙太可恶了，枪毙八年（2007-06-27 09:34）
第7楼： 游客评论：
一个县城就这么多的毒贩子，这里贩毒很猖狂呀（2007-06-27 09:34）
第8楼： 游客评论：
学生也参加这个大会，学生还小还是不要让他们参加的好（2007-06-27 10:04）
第9楼： 游客评论：
楼主应该跟踪报道，去拍一些他们被枪毙的场面（2007-06-27 10:06）
第10楼： 文彪 新人 9级
执法部门没有人懂得什么叫人权～（2007-06-27 10:07）
第11楼： 游客评论：
他们应该都不是重刑犯，都没有带脚镣，而且面容不是很憔悴，一看都是些小人物（2007-06-27 10:09）
第12楼： 游客评论：
第10楼： 文彪 新人 9级 执法部门没有人懂得什么叫人权～（2007-06-27 10:07） 什么意思给大家解释一下，我们不理解
（2007-06-27 10:10）
第13楼： 游客评论：
不吸毒的人生是不完整的 （2007-06-27 10:13）
第14楼： 游客评论：
犯人穿的背心怎么都跟清洁工一样呢（2007-06-27 10:16）
第15楼： 游客评论：
贩毒比较严重的就是一些边境地区，贩毒太猖狂了 （2007-06-27 10:17）
第16楼： 游客评论：
吸毒后悔一次，不吸后悔一生（2007-06-27 10:22）
第17楼： 游客评论：
看了吸毒人的惨状，真是不寒而栗（2007-06-27 10:41）
第18楼： 游客评论：
人为什么会吸毒呢（2007-06-27 10:41）
第19楼： 游客评论：
现在很多明星吸毒，前段时间谢东刚在家里被抓，还搜出了很多的毒品（2007-06-27 10:42）
第20楼： 游客评论：
杀无赦，崭立决（2007-06-27 10:51）
第21楼： 游客评论：
66这个数字很吉利，有什么特别的寓意吗？（2007-06-27 10:53）
第22楼： 游客评论：
个子长的大了也不好，就要举牌子（2007-06-27 11:01）
第23楼： 游客评论：
有点杀鸡给猴看的意思（2007-06-27 11:03）
第24楼： z669558 入门 24级
顶！（2007-06-27 11:14）
第25楼： 游客评论：
宣战来吧，我们毒品是不会被打败的 （2007-06-27 13:37）
第26楼： badboy 新人 13级
顶！就是犯罪吧，也没必要把人拿去示众，这有点侵犯人权（2007-06-27 13:39）
第27楼： 传媒大师 新人 7级
顶！这些人好可怜!（2007-06-27 14:41）
第28楼： 散步天涯 熟手 16级
顶！他们现在可怜,你知道他们以前是多么风光吗?（2007-06-27 17:58）
第29楼： 周化丽 入门 16级
顶！吸毒后悔一次，不吸后悔一生（2007-06-27 20:05）
第30楼： 姜子牙 熟手 12级
顶！吸毒后悔一生，不吸后悔一次,（2007-06-27 20:26）
第31楼： jingguan 新人 12级
顶！第29楼： 周化丽 入门 16级 顶！吸毒后悔一次，不吸后悔一生（2007-06-27 20:05） ？？？？？？？（2007-06-27 22:29）

author: John Kennedy


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Croatia: Marko Perković Thompson · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Illyrian Gazette and Balkan Baby write about the controversial Croatian singer Marko Perković Thompson and his recent concert in Zagreb. In the same post, Balkan Baby also writes about Tito's birthplace and football.


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Cuba: Bye Bye Blair · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Child of the Revolution acknowledges former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's departure from office and shares why he's sad to see him go.


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East Timor: Growth Aspirations · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Tumbleweed in Timor Lorosae feels “every country deserves the equal chance of making some developmental faux pas“


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Egypt: Books, History and the Holocaust  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Big Pharaoh finds a interesting book at a street vendor in downtown Cairo. Click here to read more.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Egypt: Freedom of Worship, Blogs to the Press, Anti-torture Campaigns Continue and More · Global Voices
Freedom For Egyptians

In this week’s round-up from the Egyptian blogosphere, I am highlighting freedom of worship from two blog posts by Big Pharaoh and Baha’i Faith in Egypt, how an Egyptian blogger has started covering blogs for a weekly newspaper in Egypt, how anti-torture campaigns by bloggers extend to one of Egypt’s coastal cities and finally a technological tip by Greendata blog for Facebook users.
Freedom of worship: Big Pharaoh reports this week on the arrest of 15 Egyptians. The Pharaoh says their only charge is that they are “Quraneyeens”. He says:
They’re Muslims who believe in the Quran, and only the Quran…In traditional Sunni Islam, religious jurisprudence and law are mainly derived from two main books: the Quran and the Hadith. The Quran we all know. But what about the Hadith? These are the actions and deeds of the Prophet Muhammed. The issue with the Hadith is this: they were written over 150 years after the death of the Prophet. Before that they were transmitted orally in a way that would make their utter authenticity pretty doubtful.
He adds:
Even today no scholar or religious figure can dare to declare that the entire volumes we have now at hand are all authentic. This is the reason why the Hadith are classified into strong and weak Hadiths.
Another issue with the Hadith is the fact that many of Islam’s controversial issues are found in the Hadith and not the Quran. Things such as the status of women and Sharia’s penal code were derived from the Hadith. Even the adult breast feeding fatwa has its roots in a Hadith.”
This is a very interesting topic worth reading on Big Pharaoh’s blog.
Baha’is in Egypt: Another freedom of worship-related topic is the dilemma of the Baha'i Faith in Egypt. The Baha’i Faith in Egypt blog reports on an identity crisis of 14-year-old Egyptian twin children, who continue to try to thrive without Egyptian birth certificates.
The blog quotes an Egyptian newspaper as saying “the children's parents and grandparents are Egyptian. Even after the passing of more than three years of court battles, Dr. Raouf has not been able to obtain birth certificates for his children. Since Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court has prevented Bahá’ís from documenting their religion as “Bahá’í” in the religion section on all official documents—in violation of citizenship rights to freedom of belief—Dr. Raouf in collaboration with a team of attorneys, was forced to amend his request to insert dashes or leave the religion section vacant on his children’s birth certificates.”
Blogs Move to the Press: Egyptian blogger Abdel Monem Mahmoud or “Ana-Ikhwan” Blog has announced that he will be covering blogs on a weekly basis for the Egyptian newspaper “Al-Destoor”. He has just posted his first article this week according to his blog.
Abdel Monem was released from prison on June 2 after spending more than 45 days for political allegations.
Anti-police Torture Campaigns Continue in Port Said: Hossam El-Hamalawy of Arabawy blog is highlighting Tamer Mabrouk’s blog’s campaign on anti-corruption and anti-police brutality. Mabrouk is a blogger from Port Said, an Egyptian coastal city that is located on the Suez Canal.  Arabawy says:
“Tamer has just posted an audio-recording of a phone conversation between Police Officer Ahmad Tawfeeq and a woman teacher he allegedly mistreated by the name Ibtessam as a favor for one of Mubarak’s NDP members Ali el-Alfi. In the conversation, Ibtessam accuses the officer of assault and severe beatings in the street–something he did, according to woman Ibtessam, as a favor for the “big guys.”
Facebook Tip: Recently in Egypt, I have noticed the growing number of people who have started using Facebook to run part of their social life. It is amazing how big groups started communicating through the facebook in Egypt to attend concerts, sell stuff or find a job. It has become a world of its own in a very short time. Greendata blog is giving us a tip on Facebook registration.
And with this Facebook tip, I will leave you here, until next week!

author: Freedom For Egyptians


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Facets of Afghanistan · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Both Registan.net and Nonpon discuss the drawings of Canadian National Post illustrator Richard Johnson, who spent two months embedded with Canadian troops in Kandahar and presents a rare and haunting insight into life in the war-torn province.


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Hong Kong: Media’s sense of responsibility is growing? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated the Beijing News’ interview with Zhang Guoliang, head of Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po (文汇报), about the changes to Hong Kong's press environment. In the interview, Zhang claimed that “Hong Kong media's sense of responsibility is growing”. However, earlier this year, a survey by Hong Kong Journalist Association showed that 60% of the reporters was under self censorship pressure.


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India: Forces in Kashmir · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Kashmir on the excesses of the Indian security forces in the state.


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India: Why women don’t make the cut in Politics · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

IndianMuslims.In on why the Presidential candidate is in trouble. Apparently women lack leadership skills, are too candid and are easily overwhelmed by emotions.


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Iraq: More than Just Numbers  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“A nation is not a corporation and when we deal with a nation we are dealing with a society; a mass of people with ever changing hearts and minds and that's why numbers alone can't be enough to assess the situation—thoughtful insight and looking at the bigger image are also required,” writes Omar in Iraq The Model.


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Kazakhstan: No more gambling! · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

What happened to the ubiquitous casinos in downtown Almaty since they got banned? Adam Kesher investigates on neweurasia.


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Kuwait: Old Sports Pictures  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Kuwait-based blogger Mark posts these old pictures from Kuwait.


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Lebanon: Syria’s “in the eye of the storm” · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

A strange conversation took place last April between Syrian president Bashar El Assad and UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon, writes Sophia. The meeeting ends with Bashar El Assad telling Ban Ki Moon: “We are in the eye of the storm. You will need to stay in contact with us.”

author: Moussa Bashir


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Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa,” the original “Thriller” · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Alain Mabanckou writes about famed Cameroonian musician (Fr) Manu Dibango, whose Soul Makossa  has “all the rhythm, all the atmosphere” of Michael Jackson's album Thriller, although it debuted 11 years before.

author: Jennifer Brea


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Martiniquian blogger on “Fleurs du Mal” · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Le blog de [moi] celebrates the 150th anniversary of Fleurs du Mal (Fr) by posting “Le Vampire” and explaining her attraction to Baudelaire's poetry:  “Baudelaire speaks of death and women like no other.  I really understand his fascination with the two…I open [the book] rarely because it always brings out my most somber thoughts…My Pandora's box so to speak.”


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Mideast: Networking Arab Journalists  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Most Americans can’t tell the difference between Arabs and non-Arabs and they often use the terms Muslim and Arab interchangeably,” writes Ray Hanania  in an article on networking Arab journalists.


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Nepal: Refugees in Austria · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! on Nepali refugees in Austria.


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Pakistan: Hospitals and Profit · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Pakistani Spectator on hospitals being runs as for-profit businesses.


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Paraguay: Upcoming Panel on Media, Power and Freedom of Speech · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Elyacare [ES] writes about an upcoming panel about “Media, Power and Freedom of Speech” and their relation to each. The event scheduled to take place in Asuncion.


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Philippines: Taking back the “Sexy Filipina” Search Keyword · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Noemi is not happy with the internet search result for the word Filipina. The blogger is urging fellow bloggers from Philippines to collectively beat the porn and smut marketers by actively using the keyword on their blogs and linking them to non-porn sites

author: Preetam Rai


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Poland, Germany: “Stepmother of Europe” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Publius Pundit quotes from a BBC piece on the Polish-German relations and reproduces the controversial cover of the Polish weekly Wprost, featuring a computer-generated image of German Chancellor Angela Merkel breastfeeding Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and President Lech Kaczynski.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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RFE/RL under attack in Armenia · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

The Armenian branch of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, one of the few independent broadcasters in the country, is under increasing pressure from the government, report Oneworld and The Armenian Observer.


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Russia: Attic Repairs · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ruminations on Russia explains what the oligarchs’ flight from Russia may have to do with the delayed repairs of an attic at one apartment building in Moscow.


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Russia, Belarus: Blaming Putin and Lukashenko · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Adam Goodman of Being Had admits that life is tough in Belarus and Russia, but disagrees with La Russophobe‘s perspective: “[…] I refuse to believe, just as I have since I started writing about Belarus, that it is appropriate to place the blame solely on Lukashenka or Putin.”


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Russia: Monument to the Defenders of Leningrad · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Darkness at Noon posts pictures from the Monument to the Defenders of Leningrad.


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Russia, U.S.: Comparative Presidential Popularity · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

As Putin and Bush are about to meet on Sunday, Sean's Russia Blog discusses a survey comparing the two leaders’ popularity.


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Singapore: Singapore’s Hit Band from the 1960s · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The mod-ified music blog features audio clips of an interview with two of the members of a popular 1960s local band .


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Syrian Blogsphere: Reform, Arab Nationalism and Travel · Global Voices
Yazan Badran

The blogosphere seemed a little relaxed the last couple of weeks, after the tense debates over at the Creative Syria‘s Golan Heights Forum.
We start off with, Yaman Salahi, a Syrian blogger studying in UC Berkley. Yaman who created a blog called Lee Kaplan Watch, was being sued for what he was writing, he says…
As a student at UC Berkeley, the center for the Free Speech Movement, I never thought I’d find myself at the receiving end of a politically-motivated libel lawsuit. I am the creator of a blog called “Lee Kaplan Watch” which focuses on analyzing the integrity of Kaplan’s published articles. When he discovered the website, Kaplan began a campaign of intimidation, including e-mail threats of legal action and various online smears alleging that I was a Nazi, a Ba`athist, and a member of al-Qaeda. He threatened to harass me and members of my family, and even went so far as to contact the Dean of Student Life at the university. After asking me to stop writing about his work several times, he finally filed a lawsuit against me in small claims court for “tortious business interference,” libel, and slander.
To move on to another debate that was taking place on the Syrian turf, Abu Kareem from Levantine Dreamhouse, published a mini reform agenda that was suggested by Majhool, one of the commentators on an earlier post, the agenda included many points. These ones were about Lebanon:
2) Lebanon:
a. Support a consolidated pro-Syrian, accountable, & strong government in Lebanon
i. Improve relations with Sunni and Maronite communities
ii. Support the independence of the Lebanese government
iii. Replace the corrupt pro-Syria base of support in Lebanon by more accountable and legitimate (representative) base.
iv. Eliminate all Syrian financial corruption in Lebanon
v. Work with the Lebanese government to gradually and systematically eliminate all armed militias including Hizbollah
vi. Support replacing the confessional system with accountable representative system that will strengthen the Lebanese state
Wassim from Maysaloon, was well opposed to the suggestions, which sparked a heated debate on both blogs, in Wassim‘s reply in his own post, he said…
His second point on Lebanon is laughable and sounds like it has come straight from the Pentagon. He begins by talking about supporting a pro-Syrian, accountable and strong government but I assume he is referring to the Syria which is ‘responsible’ enough to make ‘peace’ with Israel. He then lists off a number of demands he feels would make the Syrian government more palatable for his sensitive political taste buds. Of course he wishes the complete dismantlement of Hezbullah, the first real resistance to Israel since 1948 if ever which makes one wonder what passport he holds and if he is even from the region?
Meanwhile, another debate was taking place over at Arab Democracy about the concept of Arab Nationalism. Joseph in his post, seems to think that “‘murdering’ Arab Nationalism will we be able to formulate a better vision for the Middle East, with an Arab dimension at its heart.”
I belong to a Minority in the Middle East. A Religious minority by birth and an Ideological minority by choice. Having been tempted by Arab nationalism in my youth as an alternative to narrow sectarian-minded enterprises with no horizon, I soon came to realize that in practice, far from being a liberating project, it carried in itself the seeds of discord and exclusion.
To close off, we end with another journey of Abu Fares. This time he takes us with him on his 11 day business trip to 5 cities in the old continent next door, Europe.
Eleven days, twelve flights, five cities, lonely nights in strange hotels, exasperating meetings around oak tables, luxurious meals in fine restaurants, dazzling looks of beautiful women and here I am again, back where I have started.
Traveling has always pleasantly surprised me. The anticipation before reaching a new city and the longing to return to mine. The things I would do, the places I would see, the people I would meet and the memories that will creep up on me before I surrender to sleep. Smells, tastes, textures, colors and feelings are fresh and hold my senses like a first encounter with a mysterious woman.
“J’ai des mémoires de villes comme on a des mémoires d’amour”.

author: Yazan Badran


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Tanzanian bloggers virtual election, Taifa Stars African Cup of Nations victory  and a backflip in the parliament  · Global Voices
J. Nambiza Tungaraza

It is official, Tanzania bloggers are going to hold a virtual election on June 30, 2007. There are eight candidates for different positions listed on the Jumuiya ya Wanablogu Tanzania (the community of Tanzanian bloggers) blog.
Candidates photos are on the right hand side of the blog for easy viewing.  In what is likely to be a very close election, the chairperson and secretary positions have attracted three candidates each while the treasure's position has attracted only two contestants.
Alleged Bank of Tanzania embezzlement and a backflip in the parliament
Maggid Mjengwa has posted an article written by one of his readers looking at the performance of Tanzania's parliament current speaker, Hon. Samwel Sitta. The article applauds how the speaker challenged unsubstantiated claims in the house by Members of Parliament, especially during the current controversy surrounding the disappearance of Bank of Tanzania‘s Shs.250bn/- from external debt account and the controversial BoT Twin Towers project in Dar Es Salaam. During the discussions, the once staunch critic of the government, Hon. Chrisant Mzindakaya from the ruling party CCM, did a backflip by praising the BoT as one of the top 10 banks in Africa, implying that the Bank has done nothing wrong. And a surprising change of attitude from the house speaker followed – this time the house speaker did not ask the MP to either substantiate his claims or to produce the names of the other top 10 banks in Africa on the list:
Si Mheshimiwa Spika, naibu wake wala Waheshimiwa wabunge wengine walimhoji Mheshimiwa Dk Chrisant Majiyatanga Mzindakaya kuwaorodheshea safu ya benki kuu kumi bora barani Afrika. Kwa taarifa zilizoandikwa magazetini kama nilivyozinukuu hapo chini ningekuwa miongoni mwa Waheshimiwa wabunge ningemuomba Spika na Naibu wake wamtake Mheshimiwa Dk Chrisant Majiyatanga Mzindakaya athibitishe kauli yake.
Neither the Speaker, his deputy nor the other members of parliament dared to ask Hon. Chrisant Majiyatanga Mzindakaya to produce the list of top 10 banks in Africa. According to newspaper reports as quoted below, If I were one of the MPs I would have asked the speaker to ask Hon. Dr. Chrisant Majiyatanga Mzindakaya to substantiate his claim.
VIP treatment in the House of Parliament for Taifa Stars after African Cup of Nations victory
Various Swahili blogs followed closely the African Cup of Nations qualifiers.  And yes, Tanzanians are jubilant after their national football team Taifa Stars won 1-0 in an away game against Burkina Faso during the 2008 African Cup of Nations qualifiers in Ouagadougou. The win briefly put Taifa Stars at the top of Group Seven ahead of Senegal.
As the nation watched the match live on their TVs, bloggers kept on posting updates of the match. What happened after the match shows how much Tanzanians love soccer and their national team. Immediately after the winning goal, Saidi Yakubu broke the news:
Habari za hivi punde kutoka Burkina Fasso ni kuwa Taifa Stars wameshinda kwa bao moja bila licha ya kukuru kakara za hapa na pale zilizosababisha kocha Maximo kutolewa na mchezaji Shadrack Nsajigwa kutolewa lakini hii ni habari njema kabisa kwa vile sasa tunaongoza KUNDI NAMBA SABA! KILA LA KHERI STARS!!!!!!!!!!
The latest from Burkina Faso is that Taifa Stars has won one nil despite tense situations here and there that caused Coach Maximo (Tanzania) and his player Shadrack Nsajigwa to be sent out, the good news is we are leaders of GROUP SEVEN, ALL THE BEST STARS!!!!!!!!!
Along with Saidi Yakubu's blog, Muhidin Issa Michuzi kept on posting photos of Dar Es Salaam streets immediately after the match. He received an update from one of his readers:
Kaka michuzi nipo baclays house ghorofa ya pili dirishani, hivi nnavoandika ni kwamba mamia ya wananchi wanaandama kwa furaha kwenda ikulu, nadhani labda kwenda kumpongeza JK…
I'm here at Barclays [Bank], second floor, as I am writing this, hundreds of people are marching joyfully towards the state house, I think they are going to congratulate JK [Tanzania's president, Jakaya Kikwete]…
Upon arrival in Tanzania, the team was greeted with a heroes welcome in the Parliament where the 2007-2008 budget was being debated.
Amidst the joy Ngurumo probes government's motive behind National team's invitation to the National Assembly during the budget debate. He posts a link to his article, which appeared in one of the local newspapers In the article, he wonders whether the decision to welcome the team in the Parliament was meant to distract public attention from “painful reality of the budget”:
Watawala wetu wanataka kufunika machungu ya bajeti ya serikali kwa chereko za ushindi wa Taifa Stars dhidi ya Burkinafaso? Katika tukio la hivi karibuni, ni juzi tu ilipoamua kuathiri mwenendo wa mjadala wa bajeti ya bungeni Dodoma kwa kisingizo cha kuipongeza timu ya soka ya taifa (Taifa Stars) kwa ushindi dhidi ya timu ya taifa ya Burkina Faso.
Iliamua kuwapangia nafasi ya kuwapongeza “mashujaa” katika sehemu ya muda ambao ulipangwa kwa ajili ya wapinzani kuwasilisha bajeti mbadala, ambayo ilikuwa inakosoa bajeti ya serikali na kuweka mapendekezo mbadala.
Haikutokea hivi hivi. Inaeleweka kuwa timu hiyo haikuwa imepanga kufika Dodoma, juzi. Ilikuwa imepangiwa kulakiwa kwa kishindo Dar es Salaam ikitokea Burkina Faso kupitia Mwanza.
Viongozi wa serikali wakapata wazo. Baada ya kuwa wamesikia malalamiko ya wananchi kuhusu bajeti ya serikali, na baada ya uongozi wa serikali bungeni kuwaita na kuwapa somo wabunge wa Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) na waandishi na baadhi ya wahariri Dodoma, ulisukwa mkakati wa kupunguza makali ya wapinzani, na hasa kuzuia hoja zao zisitangazwe kama za serikali.
Is our government intending to cover up the painful reality of the budget with a Taifa Stars win against Burkina Faso?
The have decided to divert attention from the budget discussions with a guise of congratulating the national soccer team, Taifa Stars. They decided to congratulate “our heroes” at a time slotted for the opposition to table their alternative budget and their critical response to the government's one.
All of this did not happen by chance. It is understood that the team was not scheduled to go to Dodoma (where the national Assembly sits). It was to be welcomed in Dar Es Salaam from Burkina faso via Mwanza.
But the government got an idea. After they heard people's complaints against the budget and after the leaders of the government's side in the parliament debriefed members of parliament from ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and some journalists, they set up a strategy to lessen the effect of the opposition's criticism especially to deny the opposition's proposals equal publicity like that given to the government.
Higher education woes
The issue of higher education loan scheme has reappeared in the Swahili blogosphere. This time it is about 300 university students in danger of being barred from sitting for their exams. Maggid Mjengwa and Muhidin Michuzi post a scanned letter issued by the Saint Augustine University of Tanzania threatening to prevent students who have not paid  their fees in full from siting for their end of the semester exams.
Also on the same issue of higher education, Egidio Ndabagoye asks the minister of higher education to resign from his post and urge other bloggers to sign a petition demanding the ministers resignation.
Traffic congestion and reversible lanes in Dar Es Salaam
Elsewhere in the Swahili blogosphere, Charahani talks about introduction of reversible lanes as a solution to the problem of traffic congestion in Dar Es Salaam . He does not think that the plan will ease Dar Es Salaam traffic congestion:
Mpango huu umesababisha abiria wengi waenda kwa miguu wagongwe na magari na wengine kujeruhiwa vibaya na au kuwa na hofu wawapo barabarani kwenda wanakohangaikia maisha yao.
Binafsi, sina budi kusema kwamba sijaridhishwa na uharakishwaji huu wa utekelezaji wa uamuzi huu kwani athari zake zimeshaonekana. Tayari, maisha ya watembea kwa miguu yamo hatarini na mpango huu hautaweza kumaliza tatizo la msongamamno kama inavyodhaniwa.
The measure has caused many pedestrians to get hit by cars and  resulting in bad injuries to some. Personally, I have to say that I am not happy with the ad hoc implementation of the solution for the effects are already evident. Pedestrians lives are in danger and this solution will not be able to solve the traffic congestion problem as previously thought.
And, from TED Global conference in Arusha Tanzania, as he was blogging live at the conference Ndesanjo announces the birth of a new Swahili blogge by Bob Sankofa, who was one of the TEDGlobal2007 fellows, and anticipates that his film and photography skills will add value and excitement to the steadily expanding Swahili blogosphere. Bob Sankofa started blogging live at the conference.
Also Ras Luihamu urges readers to have respect and not to use offensive language as they post comments in blogs. He gets discouraged when blog moderators have to approve comments before publishing.

author: J. Nambiza Tungaraza


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Trinidad & Tobago: Midnight Robber · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Ah does bade in acid and scrub meh teeth in the ashes of Caroni and grease meh foot beyond petroleum jelly…and when I laugh a roar more terrible than Ivan tumbling over Grenada to make politicians scamper like pot hounds in the gutter.”  Thebookmann posts a speech from The Midnight Robber, one of Trinidad and Tobago's traditional Carnival characters.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Ukraine: Kyiv Traffic Jam · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Olechko gets stuck in traffic in Kyiv and discusses possible reasons for the jam with her cab driver: “[…] end of year graduation, Rada’s last meeting for the year, end of business quarter, beginning of four-day weekend!”


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Bahamas: Planning for New Providence · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Population growth, limited road capacity and potential hurricane threats make it critical for the Bahamas to think about urban planning. Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit explains.


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Bahrain: The Tale of a ‘Legal Slave’ · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Many of Bahrain's bloggers have had something to say about the 1% deduction from salaries for the new Unemployment Fund. Munther at The Drivel of 2 Bahrainis is furious:
OK, I’ve received confirmed news that the government will take THAT controversial % 1 out of my salary starting next month. Now, I am no scrooge but to have money deducted from my hard earned salary for slackers is just unfair! People are talking about a women who comes from a well off family applying to the fund and; believe it or not; got accepted!
I don’t know which annoys me the most, the fact that MPs and Ministers are not gonna get that stupid tax deducted from their hard earned money, or the fact that those who work for the ministry of interior affairs and the army got a pardon so that they don’t get taxed either! I wonder if that job offer at the army is still standing?
Yagoob has an innovative approach to the issue:
Yes, it’s officially and truly here…the dreaded 1% cut for the Unemployment Fund..
I lost to this cut BD 4.130 (US$11) which is the equivalent of me pouring petrol at Abdulla Centre and a full tank of petrol lasts me about 4-5 days because my daily commute from Riffa to Manama.
So if we took this idea further into my extremely delicate monthly budget and juggling my personal debts, because I lost the 4 dinars thus I will or actually the government will lose 4 days of my productivity due to the fact that I can’t fill my tank to go to work!
So I will then slack for four days every month and then maybe I could after a few months rack enough days of slacking to complete a month and get back the money (BD 160 / US$425) by applying for the unemployment fund!
Ammar tries to identify exactly what people are objecting to:
Why is it such a fuss? It's only 1%? And it does go towards helping the unemployed; definitely a noble cause. Let's take a quick look at why this is the wrong way to go about it. First, no one has any idea where this money is going to go. There hasn't been any verified auditing done on amounts which have previously been taken out of our salaries (ie, Social Insurance), and we all saw the results a few years ago when it was reported that the GOSI was actually losing money. So where was this money going? Invested in the wrong way? Stolen? Or did someone just lose most of it on the way to the bank? Well, either way, we have no idea where our 5% GOSI deduction is going, and we're not even sure if we will actually receive any benefit out of it when we decide to retire. So when the decision was given to increase our total GOSI deduction to 6% a few months ago, most people didn't take it very lightly. Add to that another 1% for the unemployed, which isn't even going through the GOSI this time, meaning hardly any record keeping, and people's blood starts to boil. Ironically enough, the deduction starts in a June, so you're boiling both figuratively and literally.
He lists further objections here and here.
Concerned Citizen X also believes that the situation is unfair:
If salaries in Bahrain were adjusted for the inflation rate and the yearly increment, if any, was significant, this would not have a big impact on our day to day lives. Unfortunately here in la la land it WILL HAVE A HUGE IMPACT.
A law has just been issued in Bahrain banning labourers from working outside from noon until 4pm in July and August, and limiting working hours. Mohammed AlMaskati is pleased about the decision:
Finally some good news! I always felt bad for those laborers *cough* slaves *cough*, every time I drive past them in the streets. Be it the unbearable heat they have to work in, their unprotective light clothing and skinny bodies. It is about time someone takes some action for their favor.
We have all grown up to the story of how the public media does not announce it when the outdoor temperature exceeds 50 degrees Celsius, as there is a law that prohibits laborers to work in such extreme work conditions. Now regardless of how creditable this urban legend is, I am delighted that it didn’t take another catastrophe (Like that of the Dana Dhow, or the fire in the labor compound) for the authorities to move on this.
[…]
A good day in wonderland, been a while!
Silver thinks this may encourage Bahrainis to work in the construction sector:
The new law might make it easier for Bahrainis to start working in construction and other labor intensive jobs. Add that to the new labor reforms, which basically make it more expensive to import labor, I can see some Bahrainis moving to work in those jobs. Now I refuse to believe that all Bahrainis won’t work as labor. Just look at ALBA for example, they work in the heat of August and in front of melting Aluminum pots, much worse than construction, yet most of the workers there are Bahrainis. So I say with the right working conditions and the right pay, Bahrainis will work in construction and other labor intensive jobs.
Ammar has little sympathy for the employers who are complaining about the new law:
If you aren't aware yet, a decision was passed a few days ago banning contractors from working their staff during the hours of 12pm and 4pm during the summer. With the soaring heat and temperatures reaching 50 degrees Celsius at times, it was probably the only humane thing to do. Obviously, such a decision was frowned upon by the constructors. Some argued loss of productivity, some argued increased expenses to transport labourers to and from accommodation during these work hours, and some went to the extent of saying that millions of dinars will be lost!
Can you believe that?
Constructors; I understand your frustration; I know that instead of making net profits of so and so million this year, you might have to deal with a few less million (if that is really how much it is going to cost you!). I understand that you will have to forget about buy that fourth house in the Caribbean this year. I understand, and I sympathise with your cause, I truly do. I also wish I had a house in the Caribbean.
On a related subject, Cradle of Humanity tells the story of a ‘legal slave':
He greeted me every morning as I opened the backdoor and entered the office. Some time back when I first joined I had asked for a cup of coffee, with cream and no sugar. Ever since, every day at the same time he would come with my morning coffee. He received my “Thank you” with a wide smile, “welcome madam” he would say back. At times when I was stressed and so were my colleagues he seemed to be the only smiling face in the office. Malcolm was different- he did everything cheerfully. More than once my co-worker had commented on how good our “office boy” was that maybe the company should consider opening a restaurant.
Cradle knew very little about Malcolm, until he lost his job and had to leave Bahrain:
He worked in our office from 9 to 5. He then worked at a hotel from 6 to 1. The weekend was shared between the two premises. He lived in a room where there was nothing but his uniform, and as per his earlier conversations with some staff members, he had no friends. He only spoke to those in our office, on the random occasions when my likes thought about chatting with the “office boy”. He was alone. In a foreign country among people who spoke a different language, most of which are better-off than he was. He had no right to quit or change jobs, and he did not have the money to arrange for his emancipation. He was a legal slave, with little attention from everyone.
He left, to his hometown; his legacy from Bahrain was only a plastic bag.
Ayman is concerned about those people who get into debt for the sake of holding a wedding stretched over many days, and wishes they were more sympathetic to everyone who has to attend:
Ok, so some people do want to make the best wedding and spend all their just started life savings, and want to start their life together with big a loan just to have a wedding. Their call, it's their wedding and their life after all. I do not agree on it, but hey, just my opinion.
But having seven days for a wedding? C'mon!!! Day for henna, for Jalwa (traditional ceremony in Arab weddings), for whatever, and then two days for dinner, and some others for i don't know what.
Hey, it is your wedding, but did you think of all the people who have to attend? And especially women who now have to make like 7 different new dresses costing that much, and they may not wear them again. And they have to attend all those seven days and seven nights, so who takes care of kids, and husbands? And of course everything else will be on hold for seven days or more.
Anyway, if you are thinking of a 3 or 7 days wedding, think of the people who have to attend. Do them, and yourself a favor and spend a nice honeymoon with your wife, and ease it on the credit card.
Mohammed AlMaskati has been pondering another rite of passage this week:
There is something about the traditional burial rituals that really gets to me, with another death in the family, someone I wasn’t close to, can’t relate to in any way. I knew how the rest of my day is going to end up like as soon as I heard the dreadful news early that morning.
There is something that kept pushing me to the edge of the grave, right in line with his close family members and stand there, zoned out of my surroundings, looking no where but towards the grave itself, knowing that this is my family’s side of the graveyard; not so far away lays my grandfather, my grandma, my cousins, all around me. I took a long look to the area as I walked out; it’ll only be a short while before I myself join them, right here on this spot, not so far away from where I stand right now.
When leaving the cemetery Mohammed saw the grave of a young man killed during political unrest in 1996:
He was 21 years of age when three bullets found their way through his body, later buried with the presence of only riot control officers and security guards, without any family members to even identify his body or attend the burial. … This is but one story of nation that is filled with tales of sacrifices and courage by decent Bahraini families that lost a loved one; other’s whose members faced torture and imprisonment for long years or those that were forcefully thrown out of the country that they called home.
The grave stood a witness to an era of injustice and tyranny, a reminder of the days of “State Security Law” and its crooked court, other martyrs were laid to rest not so far away. Heroes of this little land that gave their lives to what they believed in, youngsters that gave their future for this nation, unlike us all they didn’t choose to shyly burry our heads in the sand, but spilt their blood as ink to a long unforgettable novel of sacrifice and call for a country of equality and justice.
Butterfly has been suffering from ‘blog depression':
To lift our blog depression, let's turn to Scarlett Cyn, who has an outrageous story to tell:
Z went to the US embassy here last week to renew his passport and came back with a highly amusing story. … Z was there and while waiting in line to hand in his application for the new passport, noticed a huge (black) Saudi man (sorry, color of this man is part of the story) in a thobe (you know, the long white arabic clothes the men wear) screaming like HELL at a woman behind the bullet-proof glass window. Now, normally, considering where they were, this would have scared the &*%# out of anyone, right? Right. But its not that he was screaming, it's that he is &*%# crazy. It is because of WHAT he was screaming.
He was screaming, over and over again, in English “I WANT MY AMERICAN PASSPORT! I DEMAND MY AMERICAN PASSPORT!!! I AM MICHAEL JACKSON'S BROTHER!!!! (did you catch that??) THEY ABANDONED ME IN SAUDI FOR 30 YEARS AND I WANT TO SEE MY BROTHER MICHAEL!! I WANT TO VISIT MY FAMILY IN LOS ANGELES! THE JACKSONS! MICHAEL JACKSON IS MY BROTHER!!! GIVE ME MY PASSPORT! I DEMAND TO HAVE A PASSPORT. THEY ABANDONED ME IN SAUDI ARABIA FOR 30 YEARS BUT I WANT TO SEE MY BROTHER MICHAEL NOW.”
We end this week with a bemused post from Munther at The Drivel of 2 Bahrainis, who wants to know why some women insist on wearing their hair in a high hump under their headscarves:
What’s with this new trend regarding Hijabs? I barely got over the bandanna style which surfaced with the release of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (last year’s trend) and now this? Last night, I’ve been to Lilo’s Cafe and noticed that most of the girls who wore hijabs had this weird hump on their heads! … One of my mates who’s considered the womanizer of the group claims that it originated in Saudi Arabia where girls uses this “fashionable’ method to tell guys that they are single and looking for somebody ! Wow I never thought that we’d get an Arabian version of Shag Tag Night! … Two of the lads spent a good part of an hour arguing about what's in there and finally agreed that it’s actually empty yogurt containers! … Wearing a designer Hijab is nice and I am sure that most would not argue that! But getting into this weird phase of camel hump styles is just taking the mickey and has nothing to do with religion or chastity!
That's all from Bahrain this week!

author: Ayesha Saldanha