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Hong Kong and China: How About Other Reporters in Jail? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Hong Kong Journalist Ching Cheong has been released by Chinese government. Wang Ning asked: how about other reporters and human rights activists, such as Lu Jianhua, Hu Jia, and Guo Feixiong?(zh) The blogger said, if China wants to have a grand Olympic, the government should release all of them.


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Hong Kong: GdotTV.com · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

G stands for homosexuality, bisexuality and transexuality. GdotTV is the first internet channel in Hong Kong, contributes to this minority circle.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Oiwan Lam


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Hong Kong: Greatest Scandal · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Kenneth from Shanghaiist has summarized the greatest sex scandal in Hong Kong concerning various popstars. Interlocals.net has an article on the political debates and implications of police crack down of the internet information.


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Hong Kong: Super Prison · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The head of Hong Kong police force Tang King-sing claimed that those who possessed class III obscene articles may violate existing law. Duimanpark points out that if the police were to arrest those who had copies of class III obscene photos in their computers, the city need to build a super prison that can contain more than half of the population (zh).


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India: How the US elects · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Elections in the US can appear quite muddled-up to an outsider. confused of calcutta explains the various stages of the presidential elections.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India: Run-up to Super Tuesday · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Indian Muslims Blog rounds up the process of presidential elections in the U.S. as of a day before Super Tuesday.


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Israel: One Wall Down, a New Reality in the Middle East · Global Voices
Gilad Lotan

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians poured into the Egyptian side of Rafah as the wall on the Egypt-Gaza border was brought down by Hamas over a week ago. Egyptian attempts to revert the situation to its previous state where they hold little or no responsibilities, have failed. Many bloggers have been writing about this new reality in the Middle East, having immense implications on both Egyptian politics and Israeli security.
A recent post in the daily capitalist portrays the events in Rafah as a milestone in creating a reality of hope in Gaza:
Breaching of the wall in Rafah represents a new period in the Gaza strip and its relationship with Israel. Not a giant jail anymore, but a land with an open border, with residents that have something to lose. For many months Gaza residents have gotten used to a reality where they have nothing to lose. Life in the Gaza strip under Hamas rule has become intolerable, resulting from their ongoing Qassam missile policy, and non-recognition of Israel, whom in return forced economic and political isolation onto the Gaza Strip. Residents have stopped hoping and concentrated on surviving.
In his book, The True Believer, Eric Hoffer describes revolutions and the spread of mass movements. Hoffer recognizes the beginning of the end of every dictator. “Every government's enemy” claims Hoffer, “is the belief that things could be different. That there is an alternative reality; a better one”. When the Hamas engineers took down the wall for the benefit of their people, they sent Gaza's residents on a trip to a different reality. A trip from which they all return with a belief that things could be different.
A day after the wall came down, the Gaza strip is the most optimistic place in the world. The residents talk, compare, show-off and tell tales. About their new television, a relative they met, the food in El-Arish restaurants and their future plans to visit Egypt.
Our generals and politicians complain against the Egyptians, who left the border wide open. About the weapons flowing into Gaza, the terrorists who escaped, ammunition and guns. They do not consider the sudden positive change. They are mistaken…
The day after, Hamas will try to continue its usual policies. In the name of its blind fundamentalist belief, continue to send Qassam missiles to Sderot and destroy any chance for its residents to live a peaceful, normal life. However, Hamas will find out that Gaza is changed, as the hunched heads of its residents were replaced by optimism; people wanting to live their lives, people full of hope.
The picture above shows the torn down wall that used to separate between Palestinian and Egyptian Rafah (taken by Haitham Gabr).
However, little positive change is seen from the Israeli side of the border. In the past day a woman was killed and 40 others wounded when a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dimona. A second suicide bomber, stunned by the first blast, was killed by an alert police officer before he could explode himself, saving many lives. In addition, two Qassam rockets were fired into Sderot.
In a recent blog post, Yoav Karny describes how mainstream media compares the breaching of the wall in Rafah to that of Berlin in 1989. He strongly opposes Israel's decision to tighten the closure on Gaza, and portrays a picture of the Palestinian people as having two guns pointed at their temples – one from the Hamas and the other from Israel:
…How awful Israel looked at this day. How ugly and distorted. Malicious, evil and unjust.
How unfair. And how can one ignore the context? Who can forget the Fascist nature of the Hamas – a totalitarian organization which is inherently against any idea of peace with its neighbor.
After several days of open border policy, Mubarak declared that “this will never happen again”. In an attempt to shut down the border crossing in Rafah, an armed battle emerged between Egyptian security forces and Palestinians. As 38 Egyptians and 6 Palestinians were wounded, this prompted the border to remain open. Zvi Mazel describes the Egyptian policy and its implications on Israel's security:
Although the Egyptian economy received a boost with Hamas's planned breach into Sinai, reacting to Israeli blockade, it placed Egypt in an embarrassing position. Mubarak announced his blessing with the arrival of the “Palestinian brothers” and allowed them to buy all products they need. However, soon enough, this warm welcome turned into worry. Not only did the Palestinians undermine Egyptian sovereignty by infiltrating into Sinai with neither permission nor proper registration, but many thousands of them continued past the canal and into Egypt proper. Egypt currently holds 3000 Palestinians who made their way to Cairo and other cities in detention. In addition, Hamas terrorists were not deterred from opening fire on Egyptian policemen who tried to supervise over the crowds, making their way into the Egyptian side of Rafah, wounding over 30…
By taking down the wall and allowing the passage of Palestinian crowds, Hamas creates a cover story, hiding its pre-existing plan to use Sinai as a logistic base for infiltrating terrorists into Israel.
Mubarak can only blame himself for the grave situation which formed. He did not act against the smuggling of weapons, explosives and terrorists trained in Iran who returned to Gaza, as was signed in agreement between Egypt and Israel. As a result, Hamas and other organizations in Gaza gained strength, and continue shooting Qassam rockets into Sderot, while trying to place lethal bombs on its border.
However, Mubarak has alleviating circumstances. In order to prevent weapon smuggling through tunnels, his forces would have fought and killed Palestinians over a sustained period of time. As a consequence of this action, other Arab states would have condemned Egypt. Moreover, the Muslim Brotherhood would have taken advantage of such an event and acted to weaken the government's rule.
During the 12 days that Gaza-Egypt border was wide open, Hamas brought in significant numbers of long-range rockets and anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles. This flow of weaponry into Gaza was already constant, through smuggling tunnels and other means. The destroyed border only added to the seriousness of the problem, claims the Jerusalem Post.
Meanwhile, Bondy writes:
Egypt's declaration that the situation at the border with Gaza will return to its previous state does not seem possible. Israel's recent indications that the responsibility over the Gaza strip should be handed over to Egypt truly alarms the Egyptians. Every day we hear their declarations stating that the current situation is extraordinary and temporary. In addition to an open border, Israel needs to deal with the threat along the Israeli-Egyptian border, where security measures and general alertness have been raised in concern of terrorists passing from Gaza through Egypt and into Israel, hoping to detonate bombs.
The full implications of this new reality with an open border between Gaza and Egypt are still unknown. Israel might be relieved to hand over some of the responsibility to neighboring Egypt, but both countries realize the dangerous cost in security and political stability. From worries to hopes, we will try our best to keep posting the different perspectives here.

author: Gilad Lotan


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Jamaica, Dominican Republic: Oscar Wao · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican Marlon James so loved reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao that he says: “Junot Diaz should hire me as his publicist.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Kenya: 10 reasons to love Kenya · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Paula explains why she loves Kenya aside from the elephants, Mombasa and the Maasai: “Kenya is probably the only country in the world whose Electoral Commission boss declares that he doesn’t know who won in the presidential race – yet statehouse continues to be occupied.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Kenya: Music for peace · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kenyan musicians make a music video for peace: “Musicians from around Kenya join to create a music video and song to help stem the violence in Kenya.”


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Kenya: Presidential elections after 10 years · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Oscar Obonyo argues that Kenya should hold presidential elections after 10 years: “JUDGING from events of the just concluded presidential polls I opine that Kenyans ought to change the existing electoral laws to subject the holder of the Office of President to elections only after a straight term of ten years.”


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Mozambique: Tension situation over public transport fares increase · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Carlos Serra [pt] reports on a popular protest against the rise in public transport fares in Maputo, Mozambique, which has ended up in gross violence. He has been constantly bringing news the post, the last one of his updates says: “In the Choupal neighbourhood trees were cut down and graves were opened up to barricade the roads, only one car was allowed to pass through, a funerary one carrying a body. Inhagóia's residents are still angry     with the police who have shot people”.

author: Paula Góes


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Nigeria: 2Face Idbla attacked · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Last week, Nigerian superstar, 2Face, was attacked and robbed, Bella Naija reports: “Nigeria superstar, 2Face Idibia was attacked by armed robbers AGAIN! On Thursday last week, armed robbers attacked Tuface Idibia around 11PM in Anthony Village, Lagos State. The robbers allegedly got away with Tuface’s new Range Rover SUV.”


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Nigeria: Celtel Nigeria: Error connecting · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Yomi is not impressed with Celtel's GPRS billing service in Nigeria: “As far back as I can remember, the GSM network now called Celtel Nigeria has always had a problem with its billing platform for GPRS. The platform has been so unreliable that at times for months subscribers browse free. Surely, Celtel must have gotten tired of seeing its GPRS subscribers enjoy unlimited free browsing.”


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Pakistan: Arbitrary Censorship · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Arbitrary censorship of websites in Pakistan – affecting KO and Wired Pakistan.


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Pakistan: Where are these clock towers? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A quiz at All Things Pakistan. Recognize the location of the clock towers in the photographs!


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Peru: The Return of Alejandro Toledo · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Former president Alejandro Toledo is back in Peru for a few days, and Juan Sheput of Mate Pastor [es] is pleased, and indicated that his presence as a professor at Stanford University and a lack of any charges of corruption or human rights abuses as had been typical of former leaders has helped Peru's image abroad.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Poland: GM Foods · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot writes about Poland's stance on GM foods.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Poland, Russia: Katyn Massacre at Wikipedia · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Over at the beatroot, a discussion of the constantly changing first sentence of the Wikipedia article on the Katyn massacre.


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Poland: Trade Unions and Homophobia · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Trade union Solidarity “has called for the striking from the work regulations of a clause calling for tolerance,” Our Man in Gdansk reports.


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Russia: DPNI Newswire · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Moscow Through Brown Eyes translates typical headlines from the newswire of the Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI) and notes: “Another thing about this kind of craziness is that it really isn’t worth dissecting, analyzing, arguing with, or linking. But it’s also a little dangerous to ignore it.”


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Russia: Preparations For May 9 Parade · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Robert Amsterdam writes about a media report on the preparations for the May 9 military parade in Moscow.


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South Africa: Blogging memories in graphs · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Vincent uses graphs to tell the 2007 South African blogging memories: “This post is based on 6-month data from Amatomu, showing blog audience reach as a percentage. Some of them compare blogs, others show single blogs and each illustrates something I think has been fairly important.”


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South Africa: Campaign to end hate · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sokari blogs about the campaign to end hate in South Africa: “The 07-07-07-Campaign to end hate against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Intersexed (LGBTI) persons was launched at the Saartjie Baartman Centre, Heideveld in Cape Town on the 2nd anniversary commemorating the violent and brutal death of 19 year old Zoliswa Nkonyana (04/02/06).”


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South Africa: How companies can save energy · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This is how a South African company is saving energy: “Then they have turned the geysers in the building to a more reasonable heat. The Escalators (four stories worth) are only operational for a few minutes each day in peak times. The light bulbs are currently being changed to energy efficient bulbs, the fluorescent roof lights are being culled from 3 per light fitting down to 1 and in some cases two fluorescent bulbs.”


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South Africa: TED Africa Conference 2008 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Juliana writes about the 2008 TED Africa conference in South Africa: “The TED Africa conference in Capetown South Africa, promises to build on the magic of TED Global 2007. The concept for this years’ conference makes that quite clear.”


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South Africa: Twaction 2.0 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Tyler writes about a site he launched last year in South Africa, Twaction: “In December I launched a site called Twaction. In short, it’s a site that turns tweets from Twitter into actions. I am really grateful for the coverage it has received and I owe a lot to those who shared ideas and were part of the process.”


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South Africa: Voting for blog awards begins next week · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Nominations and voting for the 2008 South African Blog Awards begins next week: “The 2008 South African Blog Awards is scheduled for its annual process of nominations and voting this year from 11th February through to 14th March, and the winners announced at the final awards ceremony on 3rd April.”


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Sri Lanka: LTTE and War · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Times Eye comments on the sheer scale of violence caused by LTTE's activities, and why war may be the only way out.


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Lack of Evidence · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Abeni feels “like a psychic” as the Director of Public Prosecutions in St. Vincent & the Grenadines rules that there is no evidence to support the accusation of rape against the Prime Minister.


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Trinidad & Tobago: The Farce of Consultation  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Shivonne Du Barry attends a public consultation and gains “some insight into what many have long suspected is the sham of consultation.  It is known that Trinis are never sustained in their efforts so there is no real danger of having to actually take their concerns into consideration.”


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Uruguay: The International Year of Languages · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

From Uruguay, La Bitácora de Gelman [es] writes about the International Year of Languages.


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U.S.: Presidential Candidates on Putin and Russia · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Siberian Light examines “what each of the remaining US presidential candidates has to say about Russia and about our hero Vladimir Putin, the mighty President they all hope one day to emulate…”


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USA: Voices Without Votes · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

There are few subjects that spark the imagination of bloggers worldwide – and United States foreign policy is one of them. Today, Global Voices is launching a new website with Reuters that opens a window on the global conversation about the 2008 presidential election in the USA.
It's called Voices Without Votes.
Global Voices challenges people to listen to people beyond their own borders. We translate back and forth from blogospheres in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe in hopes that people may come to understand and care for one another across borders.
We also encourage international media to talk to and report on the concerns of ordinary citizens around the world. Hopefully, looking at US politics more closely through a kaleidoscope of world blogs will be a compelling and thought-provoking experience. Send us links to blogs you would like us to link to, including your own.
Our Middle East and North Africa Editor, Amira Al Hussaini is going to be editing the website with help from other Global Voices editors and volunteers. Check in regularly at Voices Without Votes until Americans finally hit the polls and elect a president in November 2008.
Meanwhile, the world is still talking! Are you listening?

author: Solana Larsen


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Zambia: 2008 National Budget · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

New Zambia writes about the 2008 Zambia National Budget: “The Finance Minister, Mr Magande delivered the 2008 National Budget on Friday, apparently under emergence power from a generator. complacency to embrace the collective vision of his or her society.”


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Afghanistan: The Hazara, In Pictures · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust reviews a National Geographic's big special photo coverage on the Hazarajat, a big central mountainous region in Afghanistan, but notes that America’s broken promises continue to haunt the land.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Barbados: Arguing about Blogs · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Following the publication of a Letter to the Editor in one of the Barbadian dailies, Living in Barbados is “in danger of getting angry. I do not want what I write and what I have seen most of the Barbadian blogs writing described as ‘putrid effluent’. That is an insult, straight and simple.”


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Barbados: Ash Wesnesday  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Traditionally, people give up something for Lent, fast and pray a lot. In recent years we have tended to make Lent positive, by taking on a challenge”: Living in Barbados acknowledges the arrival of Ash Wednesday.


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Barbados: CSME  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Underground‘s “commenter analyst” examines the pros and cons of the Caribbean Free Market and Economy (CSME).


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Brazil: And the samba school winner is… · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Beija Flor is the winner of this year's title of best samba school of Rio de Janeiro's carnival, reports Thiago Velloso [pt]. “The audience was shouting ‘twice champion’ even before the school started the parade”. There is a plugin in this blog for those who want to hear this year's song.


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Cambodia: Beaches Going Private · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Details are Sketchy writes about more and more beaches in the city of Sihanoukville going private.

author: Preetam Rai


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China: Netizen Party · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

RFA reports that the chair of China Xinmin Party, Guo Quan announced the establishment of China Netizen Party to be a branch of Xinmin Party on Feb 3, 2008 (zh).


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Costa Rica: Diplomatic Relations with Palestine · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Juan Carlos Hidalgo applauds the decision by the Costa Rican government to extend and establish diplomatic relations [es] with the Palestine Authority.


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Costa Rica: Recent Protests and Police Repression · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

“There once was a green country presided by a Nobel Peace Prize Winner, where there were more teachers, than soldiers and universal social security [es],” writes Julia Ardón in response to recent protests and reports of police repression.


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Ecuador: Farewell to Petronio Salazar · Global Voices
Milton Ramirez

Many Latin Americans, in one way or another,  love sports, and are especially fond of fútbol (soccer). In addition, the middle and lower income people enjoy practicing sports, especially volleyball, indoor fútbol and soccer.  It was in these surroundings, that a very charismatic person named Petronio Salazar was born in Quito,  eventually became very famous and popular in Guayaquil.  He received his start as  commentator in the popular  Ecuadorian Radio Network (CRE) that has been transmitting in Ecuador and now online to the world since 1940.  He's been awarded by various Ecuadorian institutions such as the Board of Ecuadorian Sports Journalists, the Ecuadorian Association of Radio and had received special mentions during the Ecuadorian Commentor's Day. He especially remembered for his commentating for the 1974 World Cup.
In spite of his popularity,  it is hard to find a picture of Petronio Salazar (except for one similar to the one pictured above), who lately was away from the microphones because of his illness.  He can only be compared with charisma of Carlos Efrain Machado (who doesn't recall his laughing?). Salazar sadly passed away at the age of 70 after a lengthy illness. Bloggers remember with nostalgia how they grew up listening Petronio Salazar, even in places where radio waves barely were received.  Blogger Carlos Jumbo  cries [es]:
…mucha gente que creció escuchando su original narración de un encuentro de fútbol, en mi natal Potrerillos, un pueblito casi desaparecido en el mapa, era la época dorada de las emisoras ubicadas en la frecuencia AM, CRE (no se llamaba Satelital en aquél entonces y no estaba en FM), llevaba las emociones día a día…
…Many people who grew up listening to his original commentaries of a soccer match in my native Potrerillos, a town almost that disappeared from the map, was the golden age of radio stations located in the AM frequency, CRE (not named Satellital at that time and wasn't  FM neither) carried the emotions everyday …
Cronist Sports Manual, an old page created in order to build up the soccer terminology and quotes a very original expression used by Don Petro:
Ese jugador se quedó fuera de juego, pero usted no se quede sin su ……(publicidad).     – Petronio Salazar, haciendo publicidad en la C.R.E.
That player was off side, but you should not be left without your ……( advertising).      – Petronio Salazar, doing publicity in the CRE
The Universe is one of the major newspapers in Ecuador and its headquarters are in Guayaquil. Its founders were close in business to Victor Emilo Estrada and Rafael Guerrero Valenzuela, both directors of the first and second CRE. Rafael Veintimilla   writer of this newspaper,  gave us some semblance of Petronio:
…apenas un adolescente que estudiaba en el colegio La Salle en su natal Quito y que no imaginaba ser uno de los relatores más carismáticos del fútbol ecuatoriano, se escondía por la vergüenza.
…Barely a teenager studying at La Salle school in his native Quito, did not realize that he would be one of the most charismatic  Ecuadorian soccer commentors, often was caught hiding out of shame.
The timid young man was a star in the soccer games, acting as ‘reporter’ while seated and using his motto “Cántelo y grítelo” (sing it and shout it)  where referring to a goal.  This is what La boca del pozo [es] would summarize:
“Don Petro”, así lo conocía la afición deportiva del Ecuador, fue un ícono de la voz y relato del país
“Don Petro,” was how sports fans  of Ecuador knew him by, and he was an icon for his voice and for his commentary for the country
Other bloggers also criticized some of the Guayaquil newspaper. El ojo en la hoja [es] says those newspapers used euphemisms, and they didn't cover the whole information about ‘Don Petro’ death and he reassures:
Me gustaba de Petronio esa forma culta y frontal de decir las cosas, como lo hacen la mayoría de guayaquileños, directo a la vena pero sin mala educación, por eso es que me indigna que se usen eufemismos para explicar la muerte.
I liked Petronio and his cultured and straighfoward way of saying things, which is how most guayaquileños do the same,  direct to the point, but without being rude, which is why I am outraged that euphemisms are used to explain his death.
Finally, another ‘broder’ (brother)  living in the Big Apple called upon his Catholic beliefs to ask for Petronio Salazar eternal rest,  Un guayaco en New York [es], writes:
Descansa en Paz Petronio. Parece que alla en el cielo necesitaban un locutor que te mandaron a llamar. Ahora el cielo ya tiene la dupla inmortal: Pepe Murillo y Petronio Salazar. Me imagino en el cielo a Pepe y don Petro narrando los goles de Alberto Spencer, Carlitos Munoz y Jimmy Izquierdo
Rest in Peace, Petronio. It seems that all in heaven needed an announcer and  they were asking for you. Now Heaven has the immortal pair: Pepe Murillo and Petronio Salazar. I imagine in Heaven, Pepe  and Don Petro narrating the goals of Alberto Spencer, Carlitos Munoz and Jimmy Izquierdo.

author: Milton Ramirez


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India: Obama or Clinton? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Reflecting on Super Tuesday in the U.S, Blowin’ In The Wind takes a closer look at the difference between Obama and Clinton.


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Israel: Living under Rockets · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Ayana Neta, 14, from Israel vows to remain strong as rockets continue to pound her kibbutz. “The first rocket that fell inside the kibbutz was 2 m’ from one of my classmates in the kibbutz. But what I want to tell all of you is what it's like living under rockets, in my kibbutz,” she writes.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Jamaica: Marley’s Birthday  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican Geoffrey Philp realised early on that “good writing, like a good life, cannot be built solely on negation” – and credits that awareness to Bob Marley's “ability to transform through word-power the consciousness of a generation and to show how life-affirming values could be transmitted in poetry through rhythm and metaphor”.


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Jamaica: Real Estate Reality  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican Francis Wade is convinced “that our crime is keeping our real estate prices in check.”


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Kazakhstan: Clinton’s Shady Affair with Kazakh Uranium · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Yuri reports on how the scandal around ex-president Bill Clinton, his friend, a Canadian billionaire businessman, and Kazakh uranium deposits evolves, and reviews the interview of Senator Hillary Clinton’s interview to Fox Channel.


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Kazakhstan: New head of administration · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Adam Kesher writes about reshuffling in the state apparatus in Kazakhstan, resulting in the appointment of a young technocrat economist to the powerful position of the head of the presidential administration.


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Malaysia: Worshipping the Father of the Web · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Suanie on why she worships Tim Berners-Lee, the founder of the world wide web.


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Morocco: The Whole “Kitten” Caboodle · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Cats are abundant in Morocco.  Overabundant, even.  One of my favorite things about living there was photographing the street cats – of which there would often be groups of up to 20.  Judging by the spate of posts from the Moroccan blogoma (and even some recent travelers to Morocco) about cats, I'm not the only one who loves felines – and lately, even professional artists and photographers have found them to be a popular subject!
The House in Marrakesh recently shared a series of photos of Moroccan street cats.  Here's one, of which the blogger said:
In the medina, it is useful to live above a fish shop.
Useful indeed, as the blogger mentions in her next post that Morocco is experiencing a shortage of cat food:
Most Moroccans feed their cats scraps and they seem to do fine. Our pampered beasts have acquired a taste for Whiskas but the supply seems to have run out.
It is not to be had anywhere. Not at Marjane or Acima ( the supermarkets outside the medina). People are emailing and telephoning each other in search of Whiskas sightings. Things often run out here – mustard, for example, and no one is quite sure when they will reappear.
Global Voices’ own Lalla Lydia shared artist photos of Moroccan cats, while sharing this tidbit about the Moroccan attitude toward felines:
Household animals, particularly dogs, are considered taboo in Islam because they are said to be unclean. The saluki (a pure-bred hunting dog from Arabia) is exempt from this, as are songbirds and cats (perhaps because the latter keeps out the rodents). Supposedly it is also because cats are supposed to be clean (just think of how long they spend licking themselves).
In response, a reader of her blog sent a Moroccan cat calendar.  Here's Miss September:
(Photo and calendar by Joan)
The Whole Kitten Kaboodle (whose name is a total coincidence in relation to the title of this post) recently visited Morocco and had many lovely cat photos to share.  Here's one, with the blogger's own caption:
Guess what!!! In Morocco, chickens are kept behind bars in prison boxes. And these prison boxes are guarded by specially trained felines. I present to you the Sargeant at Arms of the Poultry Police.
Another traveler, author of TMF's Travelogue, had kind things to say about the Moroccan treatment of cats, and shared a couple of photos as well:
Cats are everywhere in Morocco – Moroccans are indeed cat people. People don’t really “own” cats the way they do in developed countries – they’re more like community pets that wander about. People take care of them and feed them scraps when they can. Some are pampered more than others – like there was one cat that seemed to live in the hotel in Essaouira, who just forced his way in and made himself at home on the sofa – jumping up and taking hold of his spot as though it had a reserved sign on it. There was also a few in the restaurants that did the same. The ones that aren’t as fortunate are a bit mangy and will often congregate at your feet, screaming loudly for scraps. This is always a bit sad, and I’m a cat person, so I always end up feeding them – which is then followed by a half dozen more following.
Wayfarer Scientista used cats to determine if a place was worth staying in:
A cat & an Arabic sign. We found that the relative health of the cats were a pretty good indicator of whether or not we wanted to stick around in any one place.
Finally, DeepTape sums up the cat situation best, saying:
Cats are everywhere in Morocco, on rooftops, fighting on the tent fabric overhead, strolling through restaurants. In the Palais Bahia, we saw a dozen cats gathered together in the courtyard; clearly they were the true rulers of the place. On a rooftop terrace restaurant, a cat padded over across neighboring roofs to make friends and beg for scraps. However, I saw no rats, something I can’t say for San Francisco.
To this I will add a personal note – Moroccan cats are simply the best.  So good, in fact, that I brought one back to the United States with me.  On that note, I leave you with a photo of my very own Moroccan cat, LC:

author: Jillian C. York


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Mozambique: Riot organized via SMS is covered by bloggers · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Three people died and more than 250 were injured in a riot yesterday in Maputo, which followed a protest against the increase in fares charged by the chapas (private minibus operators from the Mozambican capital). One of the first people to bring the news to the public was the blogger and sociologist Carlos Serra [pt], in a post just after 8:00 am, which was continuously followed up as he had fresh information to share.
He reported on barricades being improvised to prevent minibuses from operating and halting of all bus and mini-bus services soon after, as well as the police intervention, stranded commuters and the first person left dead. People started to contact the blogger directly to provide their first accounts of what they had heard and seen.
While most of the local TV stations were showing soap operas and the radios broadcasting football, people flocked to the Internet to get more information. Carlos Serra received dozen of comments on his report, with many readers thanking him for his minute-to-minute updates, the only source of virtually real time information available. Micas [pt] said in his comment:
Revoltante! A Rádio não deveria estar ao serviço da informação, ao serviço do povo? Não é um serviço público? Que me desculpem mas o futebol poderá ficar para depois.
Disgusting! Shouldn't the Radio be at the service of information, at the service of the people? Isn't it a public service? Excuse me, but football can be left for later.
Bayano Valy [pt] brought today an analysis of the poor participation of the mainstream media and its consequences:
O que me pareceu ter acontecido ontem foi que mais uma vez os órgãos de comunicação públicos furtaram-se de cumprir com uma das suas obrigações de informar o público sobre questões de interesse público. E me parece que as manifestações de ontem eram de interesse público. Ao furtarem-se do dever e obrigação de reportar sobre o que estava a acontecer não terão os nossos órgãos públicos contribuido para que mais pessoas se pusessem à rua com todas as consequências que daí podiam advir?
What seemed to have happened yesterday was that once again the public media avoided complying with one of its obligations: to inform the public on matters of public interest. And I think that yesterday's events were of public interest. On avoiding the duty and obligation to report on what was happening, wouldn't our public agencies have contributed to more people going to the street with all the consequences that could arise from this?
Other citizens were recording the events even closer. The short video below, by KaeDhee was shot from a roof terrace in one of the quietest areas, Coop, near OMM Square at around 14:30.
Such widespread demonstrations are unprecedented in Maputo and apparently the mobilization started soon after the Transport Ministry and the Federation of Road Transport Associations (FEMATRO) agreed that fares would increase up to 50% for the chapas (from 5 meticais to 7.5 – US$0,20 to US$0,30). People used SMS to send text messages inviting others to protest in the day the new fare would take effect, according to Orlando Castro [pt]:
Hoje o protesto registou uma inovação. Foi convocado por sms e incluía fortes críticas ao Governo da FRELIMO: “O povo está a sofrer, os filhos de ministros, deputados e outros dignitários não andam de chapa e os chapas estão caros. Vamos fazer greve e exigir justiça. Lutemos contra a pobreza”.
The protest today had an innovation. It was convened through sms and included strong criticism of the FRELIMO's government: “People are suffering; ministers, parliamentarians and other dignitaries’ children don't travel on chapas and they are expensive. Let's go on a strike and demand justice. Let's fight against poverty. “
The increases were justified by th latest rise in the price of fuel, which saw a 14% increase in the price of diesel and an 8.1% increase in the price of petrol. On the other hand, the official minimum wage is less than US$2 per day, and the poorest people would be the most affected by the new fares. Some bloggers, such as Ivone Soares [pt], were not happy satisfied with this justification:
O salário mínimo está aquém das necessidades básicas das populações, ademais que o índice de desemprego em Moçambique é vergonhoso para um Governo que se diz do Povo, mas que preocupado com os mega-empreendimentos.
The minimum wage is below people's basic needs, and in addition to this the unemployment rate in Mozambique is shameful for a government which is said to be [a government] of the people, but is concerned only about mega-ventures.
Manoel de Araújo [pt] writes an open letter to Mozambican president Armando Guebuza asking him to speak up about the unprecedented event in Maputo:
Pela primeira vez depois da independencia nacional a populacao de Maputo saiu a rua com um unico proposito- dizer de forma clara e inequivoca de que ja esta farto das instituicoes estatais e que pelo menos desta vez, iria resolver os seus problemas, usando as suas proprias maos!
For the first time after the national independence, the population of Maputo gained the streets with a single purpose – to say in a clear and unequivocal way that they are already tired of the state institutions and that at least this time, they would solve their problems themselves, with their own hands!
Leonardo Vieira [pt] says he is not surprised that people have run out of patience after so many price rises in less than one month: fuel, bread, and the chapas fare. He blames the government for its passivity, which leaves the population with no choice but the use of violence. In this case, the protesters achieved what they were fighting for:
E qual foi a consequência??? Na pessoa do ministro dos transportes, o Governo anuncia que já não mais irão subir os preços.
And what was the result?  Through the minister of transport, the Government announced that it will no longer raise the prices.
In a comment to the above blog post, Nelson Livingston [pt] agrees with Leonardo's theory that people's patience is coming to an end, and makes a dark prediction [pt] for the future:
O que me intriga é como o governo subestima o povo. Como não lê os sinais de insatisfação. Será por estar demasiado desligado da situação popular ou por uma cruel insensibilidade que se “ignora” o resultado de algumas medidas tomadas lá no topo. Agora aprendeu o povo que “criança que não chora não mamã”. Aprendeu que “governo não gosta de barulho”. O povo aprendeu a “mexer o remoto control” o futuro é assustador.
What I have been intrigued by is how the government underestimates people. How it does not read the dissatisfaction signs. Is it because they are turned off to people's situation or is it a kind of cruel insensitivity which “ignores” the consequences of some decisions made up there. Now people have learned that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” They have learned that the “government is averse to noise.” People have learned how to “operate the remote control”. Future is frightening.
A phantom city
Today, Carlos Serra reports that after the protests continued in some places into the evening, this morning Maputo was like a phantom city. There was no public transport, most schools and shops remained closed. Rubbish was soon building up along remnants of the barricades thrown up the day before. Only in the afternoon the chapas started again to circulate.
However, there are still some tension in other parts of Mozambique. Carlos Serra has been, as usual, providing all the last updates, quicker than any other media in the country. In his 28th update today at 20:40, the latest at the time of publication of this piece, he reports:
Três mortos e 268 feridos – eis o rescaldo dos levante popular de ontem, segundo a estação televisiva TVM no seu noticiário das 20. Mas segundo o “O Paísonline”, calcula-se em 93 o número de feridos que deram entrada no Hospital central de Maputo, dos quais 25 continuam ainda internados.
Three dead and 268 injured – this is the aftermath of yesterday's popular uprising, according to the TV station TVM in their news at 8 pm. However, according to “The Paísonline”, it is estimated that there were 93 wounded brought to the Central Hospital of Maputo, of which 25 are still in hospital.


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Nepal: A new flag in Iraq · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Kathmandu Speaks! on the unfurling of a new flag in Iraq, and reflecting on the new anthem in Nepal.


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Pakistan: On Kashmir · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Wayward Mind on the genesis of the biggest conflict between India and Pakistan – the issue of Kashmir.


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Pakistan: Searcing Homes · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Islamabad Metroblogging has a short post on a search that seems to be ongoing in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.


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Serbia: President Tadic Gets Re-Elected · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Below is a selection of Anglophone bloggers’ views on the outcome of Serbia's presidential election.
Eric Gordy of East Ethnia began his analytical piece for OpenDemocracy.net with this summary:
The inconclusive result in in the first round of Serbia's presidential election on 20 January 2008 led to a second round on Sunday 3 February. Again, there was widespread fear that the extreme-right nationalism represented by the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and its candidate Tomislav Nikolic would score a decisive victory; and just as in the first round, an extraordinarily high turnout prevented that outcome. The incumbent president Boris Tadic of the Democratic Party (DS) squeaked through to re-election with 50,5% to Nikolic's 47,9%. In doing so Tadic has probably gained a bit of political autonomy in addition to his second five-year mandate, but nothing is secure. […]
On Jan. 15, Chris Farmer wrote at his B92 blog about his Serbian babysitter's fears of Nikolic's victory:
My babysitter has her bags packed.
One fine day, a couple of weeks ago, I heard the announcement that if the Radicals should win the upcoming presidential elections – i.e., Smiling Tommy Nik – that she was ready to pack up and leave the country.
Hm, I told her. […]
In the comments section to this post, Aleksandar Stosic replied:
Your babysitter is not alone.
Many youngsters or middle age Serbs told me the same sentences, nobody wants another war, another cirssis, another inflation, another regional instabilty….
Me personaly, have same feelings every times in pre-elections period. […]
And Lighthouse expounded on what Stosic wrote:
[…] Your babysitter probably remembers 1992, and that famous exodus of foreign diplomats in a convoy. I also remember. Though not a babysitter, I earned my living owing to foreigners in Belgrade at that time. When they left, I had to close my small business.
So, that is what your babysitter “knows”. So, in case Nick The Undertaker wins, pack up yourself. Prepare to go home, because your babysitter will already be there.
Alan Jakšić, England-based Croatian Serb aka Balkan Anarchist, was relieved to learn of Tadic's victory:
[…] Although in an ideal world there would be no states and borders, no governments and politicians, and hence no need for elections, this is a good result. […]
In his first election day post, Jakšić wrote this about the two candidates and the Diaspora Serbs:
Boris Tadić has proven himself more than capable of running a country in Serbia's position, bearing in mind its recent past. Under him, Serbia has slowly improved its reputation in the world. And whenever Serbia gets a good word said for her, it's that much better for us Serbs in the Diaspora and fellow Serbs in neighbouring countries like Croatia, where I come from. Of course, good energy spreads! […]
[…] according to Serbia's very own Diaspora Minister Milica Čubrilo, Diaspora Serbs usually vote for the Democratic option. Diaspora Serbs don't want their country Serbia to go through the instability of the 90s again, and they also don't want the lives of their relatives back home to again be destabilized. […]
[…] I really don't want Nikolić to win. I can understand why many people may vote for him, but they should really think about us in the Diaspora.
Viktor Marković of Belgrade 2.0, exasperated with the constant necessity to choose between “black” and “white,” asked readers to place bets on which candidate was going to win:
It’ not like we’re new to this kind of black/white situation here and it’s getting boring.
But, let’s try and make it more interesting. We’ll organize a small competition here – who ever comes closer to the official results in the comments wins a beer in Belgrade. Losers can join in, of course.
While the winners of Belgade 2.0‘s contest haven't been announced yet, it appears that 23 percent of those who made their bets would have to pay for their own beer: 5 out of 22 voters thought that Nikolic would beat Tadic.
Douglas Muir of A Fistful of Euros “was half hoping for a Nikolic victory, if only to shake things up; it would have been bad in the short run, but might have opened up new possibilities further along.” Here's what he wrote about the stance that Serbia's Albanians have taken:
[…] The Albanian minority in the Presevo Valley in South Serbia refused to endorse Tadic either […]. That’s understandable but unfortunate; when the Albanians refuse to vote in Serbian politics, it lends strength to extremists on both sides. A lot of Albanians in Presevo seem to think they’re going to be part of Kosovo in a few years anyway, swapped for the piece of Kosovo that’s north of the Ibar. That might make sense, but it’s not going to happen for many years, if it ever does, and in the meantime it does them no good to try ignoring the state they’re part of.
Dr. Filomena, a Slovenian blogger, wrote this on the Kosovo issue and the two presidential candidates:
[…] Tadić and Nikolić are not as different in their POV as portrayed, especially when it comes to Kosovo. I will go out on limb to suggest that possibly, Nikolić would have been (will be?) able to negotiate better when the initial after-independence-declaration limited outbursts of violence subside. Then again, I could be wrong.


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Singapore: Traditional Chinese Medicine · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Good Morning Yesterday takes us back in time to look for some traditional Chinese remedies for sore throat or cough.


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Sri Lanka: West, the Govt and the LTTE · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A post on TamilNet on the role of Western Nations in the conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE.


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Turkmenistan: Odd Regime Melting Down · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

CXW reflects on the news that President Berdymukhammedov recently lifted a 7-year ban on opera and theatre in Turkmenistan and what this means.


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Uzbekistan: Gesturing to the West · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nathan says that a number of Uzbek human rights activists are receiving amnesties, a gesture some observers believe is an obvious consequence of Uzbekistan President Karimov’s desire for closer ties relations with the US and EU.


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Venezuela: Thought on Chávez · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Luis Carlos Díaz of Periodismo de Paz [es] shares some thoughts about Hugo Chávez that he wrote at various blog communities at traditional newspaper sites.


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Afghanistan: ECFR’s Afghanistan paper · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Péter Marton analyzes a new paper out from the Europan Council on Foreign Relations calling for a major shift in terms of commitment to the ongoing efforts in Afghanistan.


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Afghanistan: Wikiscanning Afghanistan · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Afghanistanica reviews Wikipedia's articles on Afghanistan and says that many Afghanistan-related articles on Wikipedia are problematic.


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Albania: Gambling; Religion · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Living in Shkoder writes about gambling in Albania – and posts three “Reflections on Religion” pictures.


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Albania: No Power; (No) Smoking · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Stepping Stones writes on the Albanian way of coping with power shortages – and on the non-enforcement of the no-smoking law.


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Algeria: Khomeini on Islam · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Nouri the Moor from Algeria posts a quote by the late Iranian spiritual leader Ayatullah Khomeini in this post.


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Argentina: Anti-FARC Protest · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Grito Argentino [es] writes that approximately 300 people assembled to protest against the FARC in Argentina.


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Bahrain: Ash Wednesday · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bint Battuta from Bahrain marks Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.


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Bahrain: Crackdown on Protesters · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Dr Abdulhadi Khalaf reposts an article on Bahrain's crackdown on protesters.


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Bahrain: Scam Alert · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif exposes a scam .. he just escaped from.


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Bermuda: Public Access  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The Ombudsman has published her annual report, describing cases of…incompetence affecting virtually every branch of the Bermuda Government.  And guess what: the world did not end.”  Vexed Bermoothes is in support of a Public Access to Information law.


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Bolivia: Rapid Deforestation in Santa Cruz · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Bolivida [es] writes about the continued deforestation in the department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia and provides a video of satellite images showing the difference in forest coverage from 1984 to 2000.


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Bulgaria: TV Game; Feminist Blog · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Petya of bighead writes about helping her boss out in the Bulgarian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and running a feminist blog in Bulgarian.


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Burkina Faso: New schools, village feminism and the shame of all birds · Global Voices
John Liebhardt

“February’s already here,” writes new Global Voices Online author Paula Odhiambo in a recent post, “but we’re all still finding our place and getting our footing in 2008. It is bound to be an interesting year, and is already full of great expectations.”
Ditto that for those blogging from Burkina Faso in English.
Keith from Under the Acacias immediately got to work on one of his new projects for 2008 of planning to build a Christian primary school in Gorom-Gorom. The project is still in the initial stages, and he’s using this time to coalesce design ideas that will allow the building to be more aesthetically pleasing and eco-friendly than “the cement-brick ‘ovens’” that often double as schools in Burkina Faso. He traveled 200km southeast to view the Gando school and meet the Burkinabé architect who designed it, Francis Kéré, winner of the 2004 Aga Khan prize for architecture. It was here where Keith found inspiration:
Almost all materials and work is local – mostly earth and rock, both in ready supply. The walls are made from pressed mud bricks, with a measure of cement mixed in, using the brick press. The bricks are resistant, but need to be protected from the rain – in this case by the suspended tin roof.
Two adjoining classrooms had different floors – one cement, one dammed earth. The dammed earth seemed visibly to be resisting better. The ceiling of the classrooms was made by lying bricks on top of rows of metal bars, providing insulation and allowing air flow. The tin sheet roof is suspended over the brick ceiling by a metal frame, protecting the building from rain, and allowing air flow. Kéré says that they have not had any problems with the wind, even during very high winds that knocked down trees.
When the calendar turns to February in Burkina Faso, the whole country becomes covered in a not-so-fine film of dust, brought on by the winds of the Harmattan from the Sahara Desert. From Becca Faso:
WOW. How do I describe it? The Harmattan is an amazingly gusty and constant wind that sweeps across the Mahgreb and the Sahel knocking over all the sky scrapers, light-up signs, electrical poles, and trees in its path. That last part was a joke. We don't have any of those. It is sooooo gusty! It moves my outdoor chair around and lifts my tin roof. The thing you must remember is that we've not had rain since early september. This coupled with persistent gale force winds means that the ground is now in the air. There is a general haze all the time because of all the dust and dirt in the air. Is dirt a greenhouse gas?? Haha. No, really? If I dont keep my mouth tightly closed outside, my teeth will wear dirt sweaters. Gross. Teeth are not the only things that suffer. There is a constant battle between me and the perennial layer of dirt covereing my house. Thank you GOD that I only have a two-room crumbling shack to sweep out. My entire world is the color of mud . . . my clothes, my skin, my formerly white cat, the air, the ground . . . the harmattan displaces what usually stays beneath my feet and repaints the whole world.
Perhaps we can pin it on the beginning of 2008, with those obligatory New Year resolutions. Or, maybe it’s the dry, hot winds that force everyone indoors for cover. However you look at it, people are just more contemplative this time of year. Especially so for Peace Corps bloggers, when the first months of the year mark a major hurdle: either they are well into their first full year of service or they’re making their final laps because in a few short months, their time in Burkina Faso will be complete.
For those leaving soon, it’s a natural time to question whether they’ve done any good at all. Girl Raised in the South recently had an epiphany regarding her work:
I feel like every Peace Corps volunteer talks about that “moment”…the moment where they suddenly feel the impact that they are having in their villages (however small they may be). I had done some interesting projects…but I hadn't quite felt that impact and gratitude from the people involved. I think it was something that I needed to buoy me through…to give me that extra spark. It surprised me that the one project that I didn't dedicate all that much attention or time to was going to turn out to be that moment. From the first day all the way through to the last, it was the most fun and beneficial experience that I have had. The group of 8 guys were AMAZING! They all participated, and laughed, and shared their experiences…there was never a moment of silence in the room…. I couldn't believe the response that I was getting from them. I honestly swelled with pride. They actually GOT IT…they understood what I was talking about! Not only that…but they said so, and they also said the most elusive word for me here…”thank you.” Aside from gift giving, I haven't heard that word all that often in relation to my work. People just assume the foreigner is here to give…so why say thank you? It was so refreshing to see people–right before my eyes–benefiting from the knowledge I was sharing from them.
Even if the work situation has sorted itself out, living in a foreign country always raises questions. Jill, from Jill and Marcus in Burkina Faso, is currently working through her relationship with Burkinabé culture:
It would take a lot more than two years for me to really integrate into Burkinabé culture because I'd have to change. A lot. For instance, I don't cook. I don't like doing it and, more importantly, I suck at it. And this is a level of suck that can't be improved with practice. Markus, on the other hand, is a great cook. It doesn't seem fair to subject him to two years of burnt rice and crunchy noodles just so we can fit the traditional Burkinabé gender roles.
Since I can't be like a Burkinabé woman, maybe I could be like a Burkinabé man and drink tea and chat for hours and hours. This would be a lot easier for me to do than attempting to cook…
So, I react to Burkina like I would a prom date with the wrong impression–by keeping it at arm's length. But just because I, an opinionated, type A feminist who's a terrible cook, don't really fit in here doesn't mean I can't appreciate the culture from the outside. Where else can I sit under a tree at my favorite bar on marché day, drinking cool beers, people watching, saying hello to friends, and being greeted by tiny elementary school students? You don't have to be just like a Burkinabé to appreciate things like that.
The issue of gender roles raises an interesting point. From foreigners, especially those living in rural areas, one hears a lot of talk about what they feel is the constricted and marginalized nature of women’s lives in Burkina Faso. For some people, this insight not only teaches them about the so-called ways of the world, but also teaches them little about themselves. From Moco in Burkina Faso:
I never really thought of myself as a feminist before coming here. If pressed to definitively say that I was or was not, I would have replied yes, but it wasn't a constant thought in my mind. Funny how things chance when you arrive in a country where women are incredibly marginalized. For example, a Burkinabe colleague will bring up the upcoming U.S. presidential elections, and baldly state “Clinton's woman cannot win because women cannot be president; they are not strong enough to lead men.” Another day, with another man, the issue of excision (female genital mutilation, look it up) arises, and it is explained to me that though it is illegal, without it, women will not be faithful and obedient to their husbands, so it continues. Needless to say, these conversations are a little hard for me to stomach, and its a thin line between expressing my opinions and offending those of another culture.
It wouldn’t be a round-up of blogs from Burkina Faso without an interesting animal tale or two. Sit back for a piece from Clay in Notes From Burkina Faso:
I walked over to my neighbor's house a few weeks ago to catch up on the day's news. Sagnon was sitting on his porch, and when he saw me walking up he pulled up another chair next to him. I sat down and, seeing his newborn chicks walking around the yard, asked him how many he had. Right when I did so, a large eagle swooped down out of nowhere, picked up a baby chick, and took off. L'aigle! L'aigle! Sagnon was standing up on his porch, yelling and swatting at an eagle long since gone. Well, I guess I only have three, he said, and sat back down. Want some tea?
Finally, Stephen from Voice in the Desert translates a Fulani poem about bats:
Wilwindu semtini pooli
Alla semtin dum
Sabu bilan koyde de jumnita hoore
Walaa leebi nguuri ina piira
Oh bat, you are the shame of all birds!
God himself has shamed you
You swing by your feet and hang your head down
You've got no feathers and you fly by your skin.

author: John Liebhardt


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China: Bullhorn Moment · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Enka compares the bullhorn photo of Premier Wen Jiabo with a bullhorn photo of Bush.


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Colombia: March in Washington, DC · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Plan Colombia and Beyond provides some thoughts from the Center for International Policy Associate Paola Castro, who writes, “As a Colombian-American citizen I feel really glad that the pro-peace and anti-FARC rally went well today in Washington D.C. Around eight hundred people came together in Freedom Plaza [15th and Pennsylvania Avenues], with Colombian flags and a variety of signs. Interestingly enough, none of the signs were pro-government or pro-Uribe as some people predicted.”


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Cuba: Students Ask Questions  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Why are Cubans barred from freely using the Internet? Why are those few who are lucky enough to get access to the Internet then banned from using Yahoo?” Child of the Revolution reports that Cuban students asked some tough questions in Havana recently.


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Dominica: Small Tremor · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Steve's Dominica felt “another little earth tremor…5.0, 80 miles east of us, 21 miles down.”


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East Asia: Early Modern Periodization · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Morgan Pitelka from frog in a well blogs about a symposium on “early modern” periodization in East Asia. There is an interesting debate about comparative history.


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Egypt: Syrian Blogger Still in Prison · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Egypt, Elijah Zarwan writes: “Syrian blogger Tariq Biassi, 22, is still detained, apparently without charge or trial, in Damascus’ notorious Palestine Branch detention center. Syrian Military Intelligence officers arrested him from Tartous on June 30 after he insulted the security services in a blog post.”


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Egypt: Twitter Messages from Gaza · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Nora Younis from Egypt writes about her visit to Gaza and shares her Twitter messages in this post.


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Estonia: Institute of Memory · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Itching for Eestimaa writes about Estonian history and the establishment of the Institute of Memory, “which despite its interesting name, serves an honorable purpose — to look into the human rights violations committed in Estonia in the period from 1944-1991.”


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Estonia: Laine Jänes · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Itching for Eestimaa writes about Estonia's current culture minister and, quite possibly, the future prime minister.


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Guyana: R.I.P. Bernard · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Signifyin’ Guyana laments the passing of writer Deryck Bernard.


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Hong Kong: From Sex to Police Scandal · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

It has been 10 days that Edison Chen’s sex photos scandal occupied the front page of local newspapers (ESWN has summed up local newspapers report everyday.) The issue is not only a sex scandal about various prominent local pop stars, but also an outburst in response to the tension caused by the “indecent and obscene censorship” system and the police’s abuse of power.
I have written a post at interlocals.net on the political implications of the issue and have been writing citizen reports in Chinese at inmediahk.net. In brief, because the victims of the scandal refused to stand out for a testimony at the beginning, the police did not treat the case as the “stealing of private data”. Instead, they applied the Control of Indecent and Obscene Article Ordinance (OAO) to crack down on the distribution of the photos on the Internet. Local netizens were agitated, when the police prosecuted the first netizen suspect who had uploaded one of the photos and when the magistrate rejected his request for bail. The suspect is now being held in custody for eight weeks until the next hearing.
Netizen from Hong Kong Golden Forum designed a poster stating that “We want fair treatment, Not scapegoat!” and launched an online fund raising for putting up an advisement against police abuse of power. A new internet forum, the Coalition of Hong Kong online community has been set up to discuss about fund raising and protest organizing matters.
Then the head of the police force, Tang King-sing, added oil to the fume by claiming that the possession of the photos and e-mail, mobile and other P2P sharing of the photos may violate the OAO.
Diumanpark exclaimed:
香港大鑊了，上有淫審處，將不雅物品的名單無限擴大，下有警務處，不用甚麼發放意圖的明確證據，就可以勤快地捉拿收藏者，這簡直是將廿三條用另一種形式實現了…
我很相信，全世界(當然包括香港)有90%男人曾經管有過淫褻及不雅照片，剩下10%未曾管有過的，則因性壓抑過度而有很 大機會成為性罪犯、連環殺手等危險人物。為了應付這群犯罪的男人，政府實有必要放棄文娛區和政府總部計劃，用西九和天馬艦的地皮興建超級監獄，安置如此龐 大的積犯。
Obviously, the case is a selective prosecution, as most of the people who have uploaded or possessed the photos are still free. Lamtw asked:
我不明白的，是為何警方這麼緊張。警方可否解釋一下，為何要這麼緊張，找國際刑警幫助，是不是因為涉及英皇集團的藝人？
老實說，如果是真相，發佈這些真相，的確犯了發佈淫褻及不雅物品的法例，但是香港有數以N計的網站，每日有網友上載這些相片，有很多為了逃避本地執法，將資料寄存在外地。為什麼涉及「陳冠希」和「女星」便這麼緊張？
Evchk, a localized version of wikipedia on internet big issue, pointed out that the police action and the court’s ruling is another case of “the poor is XX under the law”. Netizen has designed a protest picture against the legal system.
Tang King posted a recent court case to show how unfair the court judgment is. In the case [KCCC765/08] a car seller was in suspect of paying three under-aged girls for having sex and taping the sex scene. The suspect was charged for 16 criminal offences. However, he managed to bail out with HKD$40,000.
誘姦，拍片，令人身心備受永久重創的強姦疑犯，為甚麼竟比只發開了十二張並非自創，而且亦未定不雅/ 淫褻的照片更有資格保釋？…
請告訴我：為甚麼單憑數張白金信用卡，數十萬元卡數欠款，便無視被告有工作在身，有能力還款的事實，而一口咬定他別有用心？
On Feb 5, inmediahk.net organized an action to visit the first netizen suspect and offered help for legal assistance. There is a joint statement on the website demanding 1. a court revealed of the bail arrangement; 2. a clarification of the nature of the case as “stealing of private data”; 3. a reform on the Control of Indecent and Obscene article Ordinance and system in order to avoid police abuse of power; 4. The resignation of Tang King-sing for launching the selective prosecution and creating such chaos. A video on the action has been posted on youtube :
Even though 7 people have been arrested and the police claimed that they had found the source, the problem is yet to be solved as the Internet is borderless. Confronting the netizens’ outrage, on Feb 5, the assistant head of the police force tried to clarify that possession and sharing (among friends) of the obscene photos would not violated the OAO. But it seems that the messages are too late and too weak.
On the other hand, some netizens still blamed Edison and set up a facebook group. On 5 of Feb, Edison Chen had finally broken the silence , apologized to the actresses involved and asked netizens to destroy their copies of the photos.
From the very first day, Kurk compared the issue with the Japanese Comic “the Death Note” that everyone can be the “Killer” in the Internet era. The source of origin has lost its meaning, someone else, probably away from Hong Kong, has taken up the “Killer” role in distributing the photos. 200 more photos were distributed via emails and P2P communication devices yesterday (Feb 6, 2008). It is quite clear that the Killer wants to challenge the local police force.
Kendo 1231 pointed out that the most important task is no longer catching the “Killer” as the photos have taken effect on the society already:
捕捉到奇拿否並不最重要，最重要是如何重整香港追星族的震撼和給予了她們什麼影響。藝人亦是人，其有愛恨七情六慾，大家無須要投石扮衛道，關上門你在私下亦是一樣。當然藝人成為形象偽人便再已經沒有形象可言，代言人資格可休矣，這回合社會已經要接受沖擊。


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India: Eastern Promises and Bollywood · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A wonderful set of photographs at Trivial Matters – focusing on women from Russia and Eastern Europe who work in the Bollywood film industry in India.


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India: Etiquette for Migrants · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A proposal in the U.K to educated migrant communities on etiquette doesn't sit very well with The Brat, The Bean and Bedlam.


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Iran: Shutting Down “Zanan” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Razeno says several leading western journals published articles about “silencing Zanan (means women) Magazine”. The blogger has given links to New York Times and Boston Globe.Zanan was a leading magazine for 16 years writing about women issues.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:A documentary about Tehran · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

In You Tube, we can find a trailer of “Tehran: Another Side”, a documentary produced & directed by Sam Ali Kashani. The film explores the streets of Tehran, exposing a side of the people and culture that we don't usually see in western media.


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Kazakhstan: Elites Getting Younger and Bleaker · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Reshuffling of elites and higher officials in Kazakhstan is rarely a consequence of open political debates. Quiet resignations and appointments in the conditions of shady politics provide a fertile soil for commenters and observers to ponder on the reasons that are underneath this or that shuffle. However, there is a shared opinion that in recent years the elites are getting younger, as the “older guard” of Soviet Communist Party bosses is gradually stepping down.
Recently the Kazakhstan president has appointed Kairat Kelimbetov, a 39-year-old tecnocrat economist, educated in Moscow, as head of the presidential administration. He has made a successful carreer on the public service from the officer at the planning department in the Ministry of Economy up to the head of this ministry. Last year he was heading the state Fund of Sustainable Development “Kazyna” and became deputy chairman of the presidential “Nur-Otan” party.
Adam Kesher reminds that seven yeras ago Kelimbetov was among the founders of the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan movement (which called for democratic reforms and was subject to serious persecution by the authorities) and also opines on the reasons of such promotion:
“The post of the head of presidential administration is a key one – and one of the most powerful in the country. Whilst experts are trying to guess what stands behind the appointment (economic prioritiy of the state policy and the task of tackling the credit crunch, or renewal of the elites) one thing is pretty clear so far — it is possible to make a carrer in the public office. Perhaps, this is the main message sent by the reshuffling against the background of new attack on corruption, declared by the ruling party”.
Nemtschin agrees that the idea of elite's renovation is clear – young and modern people having no “dark Soviet past” that represent “new generation” are coming to bring in the new vision. “However, there is the reverse of the medal”, he says, meaning that youngsters may lack experience. Another problem he has witnessed at one of the cross-ministerial roundtables is that young officials often reach their success only due to outspoken loyalty to the president and the regime in general. In addition, many of them tend to take extra benefits from their positions:
“What I noticed after visiting this ministry? Some typical things include – Swiss watch, lots of handshakes, talks and circulations around the rooms, When answering the phone calls, they ask to call back next week. The main thing – implicit obedience to the boss [ru]”.
Meanwhile, another young and vivid – or rather we should call him notorious – ex-member of elite Rakhat Aliyev had a dizzy career mostly due to his close family ties with the presidential family. And it was due to the strong-willed presidential decision this former husband of Nazarbayev's elder daughter has fallen into disgrace, charged with leadership of an organized gang and kidnapping of the two men. He was recently sentenced in absentia to 20 years in jail, but he is still unreachable for the Kazakh Themis. Safely residing in Vienna (Austria), Aliyev – now presenting himself as Nazarbayev's critic – launched a website. “It was immediately blocked in Kazakhstan”, mantrovkz says [ru].


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Kazakhstan: Ethnic Tensions and Underestimated Identity · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Kazakhstan is a country that often boasts with inter-ethnic and religious tolerance – in tsar epoch it accepted many labor migrants from Ukraine and Russia. In J. Stalin's times it was a destination for deported nations and political prisoners. In late Soviet period thousands of industrial and agricultural professionals came here to partake in economic modernization of the republic. It was back in 1980s when Kazakhstan earned the title of a “laboratory of inter-ethnic friendship” and now every year the new capital, Astana, hosts the Forum of inter-confessional consent under the patronage of president Nazarbayev. At the same time, not everyone believes that this is a characteristic of modern Kazakhstan, as minor ethnic tensions are occuring in the everyday life and the Kazakhs are prevailing in the state structures.
Slavoyara, a journalist and an ethnic Russian living in the Central Kazakhstan, is so cautious about overwhelming predominance of Kazakhs in the state bodies, that she even contemplates emigration:
“That's how political balance work here… When all nationalties of the country will be proportionally represented in the government, tax bodies, local administrations etc., then we would be able to speak discuss it. Frankly, I don't care much about this issue. We live well, make money and eat sufficiently. But my kids will live in another – genuinely international – country. And they will speak English, not Kazakh” [ru].
Interestingly, another blogger from the Northern Kazakhstan (where the Russian population's share has been historically very high), aslili witnesses a different situation, and calls Kazakhstan “a wise enough country” to avoid clashes:
“So, we are sitting in the courtroom – I am a Russian born in Armenia, our lawyer is a Russian born in Karabah, the judge is a kazakh born in Russia, another lawyer is a local Kazakh, and the court expert is a Tatar born in Bashkiria (a region in Russian Federation). Then I go out and go to the market – buying grapes from an Uzbek, salads from a Korean, pomegranates from an Azeri. In the shopping mall a young Chechen girl asks me to look how a new dress fits her… Everyone is so friendly and respectful to each other” [ru].
Megakhuimyak, a Kazakh blogger from Almaty, is not too happy with the current prevalent mentality of the Kazakhs – Kazakh culture and national movements are marginalized and focused not on the socio-political problems, but on the language issue. Megakhuimyak reacts to the interview of Dos Kushim, a national patriot, member of the Civic Chamber under the president. A former journalist and ex-deputy governor says that fair elections are not so important for a Kazakh as the chance to speak with a state official in Kazakh language. Kushim also oddly opined that Kazakh psychology is that “boss is always right”.
“In other words, the message is as follows: “you can do what you want with us, but we really want you to shout at us only in Kazakh” [ru]”.


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Kyrgyzstan: American Military Presence · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Asel informs readers that the presence of U.S. troops in Kyrgyzstan costs $17.5 mln a year, according to the Kyrgyz Minister of Finance.


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Kyrgyzstan: Echos of the Parliamentary Elections · Global Voices
Asel

The results of the Parliamentary elections of December 2007 and distribution of seats among deputies from each party have spurred lots of discussion and criticism among various human rights activists, heads of international organizations and foreign governments.
According to them, during the elections there were huge violations such as discrepancies in voters’ lists, pressure on chairs, members of local election commissions, bringing university students to polling stations, and wide-scaled palm-greasing especially in rural areas. This allows coming to a conclusion that Kyrgyzstan is far from democracy yet.
However, a positive trend to note is the activeness of the civil society, especially among young people as a result of their dissatisfaction to the government after the elections. Young activists joined in demanding to announce the incumbent parliament and all its decisions illegitimate and to recognize the ruling of Bishkek local council on rules for holding rallies and manifestations unconstitutional.
The campaign by the young people “I don’t believe” was launched to hold a wide-scaled campaign and create a powerful nation-wide youth movement. It involves about 70 university students, ex-Foreign Minister Alikbek Jekshenkulov, ex-MP Temir Sariev, and human rights activists.more
Blogger Mirsulzhan Namazaliev, a leader of the campaign, had a meeting on the 31 January 2008 with the US Ambassador in Kyrgyzstan Marie Jovanovitch to talk about current human right situation in the country and last trials over the participants of the campaign.  He said:
I have told about illegal detention of participants and asked all democratic countries to use their mechanisms which can help to resist to movement of state to the side of authoritarianism and disrespect of fundamental human rights.
After a repeating number of peaceful protests and rallies in front of the Parliament, Bishkek city council and Central Square followed up by immediate arrests by Bishkek police, the young liberals are even more passionate about continuing what they are doing.
One the 14 February, Valentine’s Day, they are planning to have a big campaign called “I love you, Kyrgyzstan”. The campaign throughout the Bishkek center will be peaceful and will include about 100 participants. It will start at 11 a.m. at Ahunbaeva Street. The bloggers are quite supportive of this idea. For instance, Morrire says:
I pretty much like the idea of having such a campaign on this day. The name of the campaign coincides with the meaning of the Valentine’s Day.
Elvira67 left a nostalgic comment:
Who if not our youth will protect and love our country. I feel proud of them. I really miss the beauty of the country: mountains, rivers, and trees.
Yes, we do love our country…

author: Asel


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Kyrgyzstan: Kyrgyz Ombudsman elections · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

GenderStan looks at the three candidates for the position of Kyrgyzstan's Ombudsman, all of them seemingly unpromising in terms of facilitation of the civil society's work.


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Latvia: “The Idiot’s Day” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

All About Latvia writes about “a criminal investigation over the allegations of distributing child pornography by the Latvian National Opera” – and about a fine imposed on a Latvian supermarket by “the language police” for advertising “in non-understandable and mutilated state language.”


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Mexico: Chinese Community Celebrates New Year · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Cuadernos de Silicio [es] describes the events surrounding preparations for the Chinese New Year in Mexico City, and that 2008 corresponds to “the Year of the Rat,” a year that members of the Chinese community think “could be favorable for having a lot of children, as it is characteristic of this animal”, he reports.


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Mongolia: Mongolians at electronic gaming event · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Radigan Neuhalfen reports on the Mongolian team's performance at the Second Asian Indoor Games, which now include e-sports and videogames in its program.


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Pakistan: Caring for the mentally ill · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

All Things Pakistan on the critical but neglected issue of caring for the mentally ill in the country.


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Pakistan: Made in China · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Pakistani Spectator on the rush of Chinese goods, and how Pakistan needs a strong infrastructure to maintain its economy.


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Serbia: More Views on Boris Tadic’s Re-Election · Global Voices
Sinisa Boljanovic

Democracy has passed one more very difficult exam in Serbia, eight years since the end of Slobodan Milosevic's regime: the incumbent president Boris Tadic got re-elected on Feb. 3, with 50.5 percent of the vote to Tomislav Nikolic‘s 47.9 percent.
The previous Global Voices post on the outcome of the election covered reactions of the Anglophone Serbia bloggers. Below is a translation from Serbian of two more posts, both published on B92's blog portal.
Branislav Kovačević Cole wrote on Feb. 4:
[…] Instead of congratulating Boris Tadic, I would caution him to study the results of the election very carefully. He should not think that the rating of his Democratic Party has increased. And he should be grateful to all those voters who were much more mature than their political leaders… […]
[…] After this victory, Boris Tadic and the Democratic Party have a huge responsibility. No time for celebration.
I congratulate all citizens who went to the polls and in this way stopped the radicals from taking over.
Nune Popović wrote on Feb. 5:
Serbia's anti-democratic forces learned their political lesson on [Oct. 5], 2000, and their influence has been growing stronger since. Unlike them, the democratic forces failed to learn their lessons and heed the warnings. They locked themselves inside their dilettantish circle, having a false picture of the situation in Serbia and giving themselves undeserved credit for fictional democracy in Serbia.
The democratic coalition has got little time for decisive political fight against radical national-socialist parties in Serbia this time. […]
[…] Poland has the the Institute of National Remembrance , a state body that makes sure their people never forget what the criminals from different structures of the former regime did in their country in the past. The goal is for them to be found and arrested.
If Serbia had a similar institution, we would not have to remind citizens of who the radicals used to be, [Vojislav Seselj], [Slobodan Milosevic] and their regime. And we would not have to remind ourselves of what they did to us and why they are still unpunished. They are again right behind us. Some of them behave as if nothing happened when they had absolute authority, and they are not punished. […]

author: Sinisa Boljanovic


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Sri Lanka: A big dose of politics · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

London, Lanka and Drums takes a closer look at the Sri Lankan blogosphere, and observes that a lot of the discussion appears to focus on the political situation in the country.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana: Supercat · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Boy, does West Indies Cricket Blog have a book for you!


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Afghanistan: Eradicating opium through development · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Bipasha Ray reports that the UN Office on Drugs and Crime issued its annual winter survey of poppy planting patterns and predicted a poppy harvest close to last year’s record, while a UK governmental development agency and the World Bank say that it will take at least 20 years and £1 billion in investment to break the Afghanistan's economy’s dependence on opium.


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Afghanistan: Journalist Missing Found Safe · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nasim Fekratْ  reports that Basir Ahang, a freelance correspondent for a Afghanistan's local Radio “Farda”, the “Namah” weekly and the La Repubblica, who was missing for some time, has been found safe abroad.


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Argentina: Graffiti on Trains · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

TBA Me Mata [es] posts a video of some graffiti artists tagging a Buenos Aires train in broad daylight and writes that there is “zero security.”


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Armenia: Bloggers Love Media – Media Love Blogs, But Who Loves More? · Global Voices
Artur Papyan

Armenian blogs have always been attentive towards the mass media although you can't really call it love because in part there's not much to like about the Armenian media these days. As to the recent courtship of bloggers by the media, Ahousekeeper [AM] has very rightly noted:
“Aravot” newspaper has discovered the Armenian Blogosphere. Talking to Uzogh [RU], and later searching through our journals, they have come to the conclusion that Armenian Bloggers “don't like political games and disdain homosexuals”. So now you know what questions journalists are most interested in, don't you?
And while some Bloggers appreciate the fact that the Armenian media has finally entered the 21st century, others are wondering [RU] why of all issues discussed in the Blogosphere the Aravot journalist was so interested only in the attitude of bloggers towards homosexuals? At any rate, despite the strange conclusions made by the journalist and the obviously “provocative” headline, it was a pretty good article, the Armenian News Blog [AM] concluded. It's also worth pointing out again that two media outlets, A1+ and Radio Hay, not only love bloggers more, but appreciated them earlier and also set up their own blogs.
The A1+ blog is located at http://a1plus.blogsome.com [AM], and the Radio Hay blog is at http://www.radiohay.am [AM].
Regarding the “reciprocal” love of bloggers for the Armenian media, here's what Ogostos’ [RU] journal says about about ALM, a TV company widely regarded by the more educated young part of the population in Armenia as disgraceful TV channel which only be regarded as a joke.
The “ALM” channel went on air on metric frequency, which means – it was broadcast all over Armenia.
A most incredible TV channel was thus created in the world. Different from all others. Television, who's owner has the right to do everything. He can broadcast 24 hours of a party held at the “ALM” for New year if he likes. Or, if he likes, he can show a boy singing 24 hours of traditional Yezidi songs. He can talk politics 24 hours in the most awkward key… if he likes. And if he likes, he can announce to the whole wide world “darned Yezdis, I invite them here to sing, and in return, they don't vote for me! this means, they won't sing on my channel any more!”.
Another interesting discussion on the mass media in Armenia was started on Uzogh's [RU] blog. The blogger had placed a news video from the Haylur news program of Public TV of Armenia covering the recent pre-election meeting of Levon Ter-Petrossian with voters in the town of Talin, during which a man from the crowd was beaten up by the supporters of the presidential candidate in response to his yelling, “Talin people are not supporting you!”.
The blogger asked other Armenian Bloggers working in the sphere of media what they thought about the news item and whether it was ethical or not. In response, Mark Grigoryan [RU] came up with a detailed analysis pointing out that:
Generally speaking, the material could have been done much more professionally. I think, that the Public TV of Armenia, undoubtedly, should provide news coverage of much higher quality than that.
The other respondents to Uzogh's[RU] inquiry also noted, that the news item wasn't balanced enough.
To conclude, we can state that while the Armenian mass media are taking the first steps towards discovering the Armenian Blogosphere, Bloggers have been already been analyzing, assessing and criticizing the media for quite some time now. Looking at recent trends during the media coverage of the pre-election period in the country it looks like they'll have much more to dwell upon in the coming week or two as well.
The audio version of this article [AM] will be broadcast on Radio Hay FM 104.1 on Saturday, 11:00
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSS

author: Artur Papyan


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Belize: New Government · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Its a new day in Belize…unofficial reports have said that the UDP has swept the general election 2 to 1. This is getting interesting,” writes Back to Living in Paradise, adding: “The government has changed without a single bullet fired.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bolivia: Garbage on the Walls · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

In El Alto, Bolivia,  Hugo Choque writes about a different type of garbage.  Every morning between 4 am and 5:30 am, one can see individuals plastering walls of businesses and homes with flyers for every type of advertisement imaginable.


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Brazil: Free books online, no need to print · Global Voices
Paula Góes

O Escriba [pt] has created a link to his online library, with free books available for download. Some of them are quite rare, others have been forbidden, such as Roberto Carlos’ biography. He has only an environmentally-friendly wish: “Please avoid printing them out, reading on the screen is not that much difficult”.


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Brazil: Getting ready for the Campus Party 2008 · Global Voices
Paula Góes

The first Campus Party ever to be hosted in Brazil starts next Monday, February 11. Marcelo Tas [pt], winner of the BOBs prize for blogs in Portuguese, will be there. “I'll show up on Wednesday at 19:00, for the panel “Blogosphere and the future of media,” together with Luisa (MTV) and music producer Miranda.


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Carnival: Videos from around the world · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

One way to know about a culture, is to see how they celebrate and why. Many countries share a common festival, the carnival, and each country gives a distinctive flavour to the celebration. Carnival usually takes place during the weeks prior to Lent in Catholic countries, and it's usually a time to revel, enjoy and feast before the 40 days of fasting and prayer in preparation of Easter begin. Citizen videos show us how carnival season was spent this year in Bolivia, French Guyana, Goa, India and Croatia.
Els mes joves motoritzats
by JC i Núria
Probably the best known and most televised carnivals in the world are the Brazilian Carnaval, full of floats, samba and dancing, and Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Perhaps you've also heard about the carnivals in Venice, full of harlequins and masked revellers. Because there's plenty of information out there about them, I won't go beyond mentioning them here. Instead, through videos shot by common people like you, I'll show you the carnivals you may never have heard of.
From Bolivia, angelcaido666xuploaded several videos of the different events during this year's carnival in Oruro, a festival which was declared one of Mankind's Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCOin 2001. This traditional Andean festival celebrating Pachamama and Tio Supay was turned into a Catholic representation by substituting mother earth for the Virgin Mary and Uncle Mountain into the Devil.
This video by angelcaido666x shows another side of the carnival, the band festival. On his blog [es], he also explains the songs they are playing and shares his experience at the festival.
From French Guiana, dailymotion user lesmezenesshows us the creole tradition of the touloulous, women who during the nights of carnival dress in elaborate dresses that completely cover them, including gloves, head-wrap and a face covering, so they become unrecognizable. During touloulous balls, men have to dance with any touloulou who asks them, and offer them drinks, which they take through a straw, thus remaining anonymous. You can see this video by following this link to lesmezenes DailyMotion site.
India's festival takes place in Goa and Kerala. From Goa specifically, youtube user JoeUKGoa posted several videos of the carnival at this former Portuguese colony.
In Croatia, people walked on the parades in spite of the rain. User intrepidCRO uploaded this video showing the “zvončari” or bell-ringers, which are the last ones in the procession and with their animal heads and large bells ringing are meant to scare away the winter.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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China: Most Popular RSS Readers · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

William Long listed out the most popular RSS readers in China.

author: Oiwan Lam