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Azerbaijan: Linguistic University Recollections · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Sheki, Azerbaijan remembers studying 15 years ago at the University of Languages in Baku. The blog says that corruption was rampant at the university during the Soviet era, but that post-independence reforms in the admission system have improved the situation. It also remembers one lecturer who was sent to Siberia for fighting against the Soviet regime.


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Bangladesh: A Change Is Required · Global Voices
Rezwan

Life As I Know It comments on the impending Bangladesh election: “I hope this 9th national election brings a change… no matter how small it is. It has to start from somewhere.”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Rezwan


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Barbados: Journalists Arrested  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Barbadian blogosphere is an uproar following the arrest of two mainstream media journalists – a move that bloggers are interpreting as an assault on press freedom.
The popular and outspoken Barbados Free Press says that the arrests were in retaliation for “reporting on a police officer who is charged with dealing drugs” and reminds its readers of two previous incidents “where police roughed up reporters and destroyed their notes, photos and videos.”  While it notes that “Commissioner Dottin has once again promised to have some sort of investigation or inquiry into the incident” BFP is cynical about anything actually coming of it:
There never is any investigation or explanation by Dottin or the Royal Barbados Police Force because the police are above the law in Barbados.  There is no civilian oversight of police officers in Barbados. There is no working complaints board and no independent agency to investigate police wrongdoing. If citizens want to charge a police officer with an offense, that presents another whole layer of impossible.
Calling for the resignation of the Commissioner of Police, Barbados Free Press follows up its first post by republishing a message from Barbados journalist Amanda Lynch-Foster that is tantamount to a call to action:
I’m sure most of us are feeling the same way today – pissed off and frustrated with the disrespect that journalists are getting. This is the third time this has happened in the last year and a half or so and I am not really happy with the responses. The Commissioner keeps saying he will investigate – we have heard that before. Last year, the former AG said we had no right on the hospital premises. Some members of the public even say we deserve it. It feels like there is a creeping disrespect for journalism and it’s coming from all sides.
So what are we going to do about it?
Barbados Underground also posts Lynch-Foster's message, along with images of what it calls “Police Heavy Hand”.
Boyce Voice (usually an entertainment-focused blog), finds himself moved to comment on the situation:
As a Barbadian, I am ashamed and appalled at the actions of the Royal Barbados Police Force as it relates to the imprisonment and subsequent charging of reporters Cherie Pitt and Jimmy Gittens for attempting to execute their journalistic duties yesterday.
It sickens my ass when I look in today’s newspaper and see a picture of a big burly male Police Officer shoving female reporter Cherie Pitt for attempting to take a picture of a man that has been accused for being a drug dealer.
What message is being sent by the Police who are supposed to be protecting our women from domestic violence?
Is the legal authority of the Royal Barbados Police Force to be used to protect officers accused of drug activity?
I am appalled that the Police should behave in such a disgusting and disreputable manner and then have the audacity to charge Jimmy and Cherie for obstructing justice. It should be the police who should be charged for obstructing the journalists and assaulting Cherie Pitt.
It sickens me when I read of the limp and historically proven impotent words of Police Commissioner Darwin Dottin promising a full investigation into the matter.
The question is who guards the guards?
This incident more than ever provides an example of the need to have an external authority to investigate and have the power to take action against Police officers who abuse their legal authority.
He goes on to liken the police action to “Gestapo tactics”:
It is a proven fact that oppression of a society usually starts with intimidation of the press then it’s only a matter of time before they come for you…
And in a comprehensive post that links to a series of blogger reactions, The Bajan Dream Project puts in his two cents’ worth:
It is textbook in its simplicity: a police officer sworn ‘to serve and protect’ makes his way to a court appearance charged with possession and trafficking of cocaine, while journalists arrive to take photos for the press. Simple? Not in Barbados. For, in Barbados, this ‘oasis of calm in an otherwise troubled world’, two journalists now await trial after a brutish arrest in their line of duty[¹]. Freedom of the press, it seems, does not include covering crooked police. Welcome to Barbados, a democracy with caveats.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Barbados, St. Kitts & Nevis: Murderer Executed  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbadian bloggers Gallimaufry and Barbados Underground take note of the recent execution of a convicted murderer in St. Kitts.


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Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago: Stanford’s Legends  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbadian Cheese-on-bread! and Trinidad-based Caribbean Beat Blog talk about the uncertainty surrounding US billionaire Allen Stanford's continued involvement in Caribbean cricket, following the dissolution of his West Indies 20/20 Cricket Board of Legends.


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: More on “Resolution 819” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

More on Resolution 819, the film, at Cafe Turco – here, here, and here.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Peter Lippman’s Travel Reports · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Americans for Bosnia is re-posting journalist Peter Lippman's reports from his travel in Bosnia and Herzegovina: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4.


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Srebrenica Roundup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A roundup of Srebrenica Genocide Blog‘s recent posts: the process of identification of the victims of the massacre; the ICTY's conclusion on Naser Orić, former senior Bosnian commander in charge of defending the Srebrenica enclave; testimony by Doctors Without Borders representatives delivered at the 2001 French Parliamentary Hearing into the Srebrenica Tragedy – here and here; an update on Radovan Karadzic's defence; an official confirmation “that the current number of Srebrenica Genocide victims stands at 8,372.”


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Wartime Childhood Memories · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Amila Bosnae shares some wartime childhood memories.


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Central & Eastern Europe: Freedom in the Balkans; Visa Restrictions · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ari Rusila examines the Balkan-related results of the Freedom House's Freedom in the World survey at AriRusila’s BalkanBlog, and writes about the Henley Visa Restrictions Index, highlighting the results for countries of Central and Eastern Europe, at AriRusila's BalkanPerspective at Blogactiv.eu.


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China: Interview with Anti-CNN founder · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jenny Leung interviewed the founder of Anti-CNN.com, Qi Hanting. The interview is posted at China digital times.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Why China’s Block of the New York Times Doesn’t Matter  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Adam from Shanghai Scrap explained why China's block of the New York Times doesn't matter.


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Colombia: The Murders of Journalists · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

A recent investigation in Colombia found that the majority of journalist murders have remained with impunity. Victor Solano of ¿Comunicación?  [es] asks, “How many more journalists must die before the situation is seen as a priority?“

author: Eduardo Avila


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Costa Rica: The Organization of Saprissa · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Jaguar del Platanar [es] describes Saprissa, his favorite football club in Costa Rica as “an example of organization, of hard work, joining of forces, and of planning,” which has allowed them to win on the field.


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Ecuador: The Passing of Ex-President León Febres Cordero · Global Voices
Milton Ramirez

Ecuador is in mourning after learning about the recent death of former president León Febres Cordero (LFC). He was president of Ecuador from 1984 to 1988 and died at age of 77. Upon hearing the news, people gathered outside Guayaquil Clinic to accompany his remains to Guayaquil's Cathedral, where many others had gathered to pray and will also take part in the burial services at the La Paz Park cemetery.
To honor the ex-President,  Fernando Cordero, President of Legislative and Fiscal Commission suspended activities and current President Rafael Correa has declared national mourning for three days. Ecuadorian bloggers remember their ex-President and provide their thoughts about Febres Cordero. We've selected some posts to inform the GVO community:
Cobertura Digital [es] chronicles the developments of the news about Febres Cordero death in the Ecuadorian media, and how Twitter played an important role in the distribution of information.  Blogger José Chalco Salgado [es] writes a quick biography of the ex-President where he includes a summary of his studies, political career, and how he accomplished very significant works in all infrastructural areas.
Ecuador sin censura[es] begins his post with a warning, “Do not expect me to eulogize León Febres Cordero”. Instead, he shares an anecdote that occurred in Europe and reflects the kind of man that the former president was.
Siendo él Presidente de la República, una delegación de Gobierno viajó a Europa a negociar unos temas ferroviarios. Un hombre que vivió, en primera mano, esas negociaciones tuvo la gentileza de compartir conmigo la siguiente confidencia: tras una jornada complicada, de interminables reuniones, regateando precios y claúsulas, los anfitriones ofrecieron llevar a los miembros de la delegación Ecuatoriana a un Cabaret. El caballero que encabezaba la delegación, justo se encontraba al teléfono con Febres Cordero reportando los avances de las conversaciones cuando les hacían la invitación.
“Presidente, le informo que parece que nos quieren llevar donde unas “peladas” ¿Qué sugiere que haga?” preguntó, entre inocente y contrariado, al mandatario.
“Deja bien alto el pabellón Ecuatoriano” respondió León, “pero la propuesta no se cambia”.
While he was President, a government delegation travelled to Europe to negotiate items regarding the railroads. A man who witnessed these negotiations firsthand had the kindness to share the following story with me: during a very complicated negotiations with neverending meetings, negotiating prices and clauses, the hosts offered to take the members of the Ecuadorian delegation to a Cabaret. The man who headed up the delegation, found himself on the phone with Febres Cordero reporting on the progress, when they made the invitation.
“Mr. President, I have to inform you that it seems they want to take us to some “girls”  What do you suggest I should do?” He asked the President, between being innocent and being upset.
“Leave the Ecuadorian flag high” Leon replied, “but the proposal does not change.”
El Manaba [es] is a blog normally set for an adult audience, but for this occasion has set aside its normal activities to write about the person who is remembered for saying “I have produced more than what I have consumed“. El Manaba also recalls how was it that the deceased president gained visibility in politics after uncovering corruption by Prime Minister at the time, Carlos Feraud Blum, who was later fired.  El Manaba writes, “I think this was the first step in his political career, which took him then to be President of Ecuador and Guayaquil Mayor.”
Cambiemos Ecuador[es] recognizes Febres Cordero's official works and even when it says “he was a man of private enterprise, convinced that private enterprise was more efficient than the public businesses” emphasizing:
Sin duda hoy ha muerto un hombre polemico, un hombre que hizo muchos y  grandes cambios, como presidente y luego como alcalde.  Un hombre que trabajo toda su vida, comprometido con su causa.  Quienes lo conocieron lo admiraron o lo odiaron, no habia medias tintas con este hombre.  Cometio errores, pero asi son los grandes lideres.  Dejo una ciudad nueva, si ha Orellana le reconocemos ser fundador de Santiago de Guayaquil, a Leon Febres Cordero le debemos reconocer fundar una metropolis llamada Guayaquil: moderna, limpia, con orgullo, con cara para enfrentar al nuevo milenio.
Without a doubt, a controversial man died today, a man who made many and great changes, as President and later as Mayor. A man who worked his whole life committed to his cause. Those who knew him either admired him or hated him, there was no in-between with this man. He made mistakes, but great leaders are like that. He has left behind a new city,  if we recognize Orellana as to be the founder of Santiago of Guayaquil, León Febres Cordero must be acknowledged for creating a metropolis called Guayaquil: modern, clean, proud, face-to-face with the new millennium.
Imputación Objetiva en Materia Política[es] doesn't agree with other bloggers who are praising the former president and writes, LFC the prominent leader of the Social Christian party leaves behind a negative and damaging outcome to will be kept in the history of Ecuador. The only thing Jose Ma. León will inscribe on his epitaph is: Here lies León, the unpunished.  Some have linked his government with an increase in human rights abuses during his Presidency.
Ecuador has lost a ex-President and a leader. Rest in Peace!

author: Milton Ramirez


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India: The ‘Conspicuous’ Indian Elites · Global Voices
Rezwan

Words From Solitude criticizes the role of the Indian elites after the recent Mumbai terror attacks.


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Jamaica: Christmas Present · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

All blogger Long Bench wants for Christmas is “a public apology from Bruce Golding for how he and his government have been a spectacular failure and embarrassment to Jamaicans in 2008.”


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Jamaica: Half & Half · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaicans have an innovative method of dealing with the impact of the global economic crisis – Iriegal says that merchants “are now cutting everything in half and selling it at reduced prices.”


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Japan: The early salaryman catches the worm · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Blogger Yoshihara (吉原) at Engineer Live no Henshûchô (エンジニアLiveの編集長) comments about a new trend which is spreading among Japanese salarymen. As a response to the Japanese practice of working overtime from morning to night without rest, many white collar workers seem to have decided to dedicate the first hours of the morning to themselves: some of them study, others read a book in a cafe or enjoy the “breakfast” menus which many restaurants prepare especially for them.

author: Scilla Alecci


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Kurdistance: Celebrating the Night of Winter · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Kurdish blogger Rasti wishes a Happy Şeva Zistanê to all. Şeva Zistanê translates into “The Night of Winter” and is celebrated on the Winter Solstice.

author: Deborah Ann Dilley


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Macedonia: NATO and the Name Issue · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Macedonia's foreign minister Antonio Milososki said this in Helsinki earlier this month: “Republic of Macedonia fulfilled the criteria for membership in the North-Atlantic Alliance, but it will join in when it will be allowed to do so in a dignified manner.” Say: Macedonia comments: “This statement mirrors the public opinion in Macedonia and is illustrating how important is for us Macedonians to be recognized under the only name we find possible: Macedonia, and the ethnic group: Macedonians.”


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Morocco: Out with the old, in with the new · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

The View from Fez shares a discussion with Aziza Chaouni, an architect with a plan to redesign and repurpose the famous tanneries of Fez.

author: Jillian C. York


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Pakistan: Airforce On High Alert! · Global Voices
Rezwan

Tensions are apparently running high between India and Pakistan as Lahore Metblogs reports: “Pakistan Air Force today conducted vigilance exercises throughout the central Punjab and North-Eastern parts of the country including Azad Kashmir.”


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Pakistan: The forgotten silence of 1971 · Global Voices
Rezwan

Raza Rumi at Pak Tea House discusses the tragic events of 1971 that lead to the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan: “The truth is that we as a state and society lost our majority province after pushing its people into a situation where independence through a War of Liberation was the only choice.” He ends with: “We ought to apologize to our Bangladeshi friends, and begin a new era of honesty.”


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Palestine: No falafels in Gaza · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

In Gaza has found one of the few falafel stands still able to operate despite fuel shortages in the Gaza Strip.

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Philippines: Fisherman saved by dolphins and whales · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

According to Filipino fisherman Ronnie Dabal, he was saved by dolphins and whales when his boat was turned upside down last week in Palawan, Philippines.
Redempto Anda wrote this story for the Philippine Daily Inquirer – the country’s leading newspaper. How did the dolphins and whales save the fisherman’s life? Below is the fisherman’s story:
“Early in the morning while fishing for tuna in the choppy waters of Puerto Princesa Bay, a squall came upon him and turned his boat upside down.
“Dusk came as Dabal’s hopes started to vanish and a creeping darkness began to envelope him. From out of nowhere, a pod of around 30 dolphins and a pair of whales measuring about 10 meters in length came and started to flank him on both sides.
“As he lay still on top of his piece of plastic board, Ronnie narrated how the dolphins would alternately nudge his tiny life raft using their pectoral fins towards the direction of land.
“Dabal said he passed out while the dolphins were doing their slow chore of nudging him to shore, and woke up on the beach of Barangay (Village) Luzviminda where he was finally assisted by local residents there.”
The fisherman is also a dolphin spotter.
Blogger Ang Kape Ni LaTtEX was fascinated by the story of the fisherman. He connects the story to the need to promote eco-tourism in the country:
“Dolphin spotters — a common second job for Puerto Princesa fishermen — head out early in the morning to look for large pods of dolphins, whose location they then relay to boatmen bringing tourists in for dolphin watching tours (using, what else: SMS text messages).
“Clearly, the Philippine eco-tourism scene’s promising outlook presents several lessons that must be fully appreciated. Foremost of these lessons is that locals will fiercely defend whatever livelihood they have — make the environment their livelihood and they will defend it out of their own volition. Everything else follows — compliance with laws, self-policing amongst ranks, even a total change in attitude with regards to littering.”
But DJB doubts the story of the fisherman. He explains his reasons:
“Sorry, but it sounds to me like a fairy tale for adults. Or a parable pleading for a kinder, gentler Homo sapiens. If this were some illiterate fisherman, and not one of Mayor Ed Hagedorn’s “dolphin wardens”, the story would be nearly miraculous. As it stands, though, I am almost ashamed to admit it, But I’m SKEPTICAL about the entire veracity of this story! I don’t know why, but that was my first impression after reading PDI’s (Inquirer) story today. Now there are a lot of details…Hmmm…
“Been doing a prelim search. I haven’t found even ONE reported instance of such a thing happening in the past. But then, that is just my googling.
“Also, I didn’t realize that crustaceans (”bugto”) could swim out in the open ocean and eat up soggy fishermen. Maybe on the beach, but while he was floating on the piece of styropor? These must be amphibious bugto super cannibalistic crabs or something.
“Thirty spinner dolphins and two pilot whales saves a human being. That’s one for the headlines.”
Palawan is located on the western side of the Philippines. It is part of the Luzon region. It is a popular tourist attraction; and more importantly, it is endowed with natural treasures:
“The island province of Palawan has been declared as a natural sanctuary of the world, and for good reason. It is wrapped in a mantel of rainforests, outstanding dive sites, majestic mountains, primeval caves, and pristine beaches. It is surrounded by a coral shelf that abounds with varied and colorful marine life. It boasts of exotic flora and fauna, like the mousedeer and the scaly anteater, that are found nowhere else.
“Palawan waters are among the best in the world, not only for diving but also for fishing. A diver’s paradise, it has miles of sub- surface coral and rainbow reef walls whish surround the coasts and coves teeming with rich marine life.”

author: Mong Palatino


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Russia: LiveJournal and Mass Media Laws · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

IZO translates LJ user plucer‘s view that the newest LiveJournal addition – this line at the end of the posts: “I hereby give third parties the right to reproduce or disseminate all of my materials as a whole or in part…” – “would mean you were ‘disseminating information’ and mass-media laws would thus apply to the post.”


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Saudi Arabia: The problems of women in medicine · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Saudi blogger Ruhsa explores the stigma faced by Saudi women working in medicine, including the idea that women in the field are considered “easy”.


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Saudi Arabia: The return of public cinemas? · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Public cinemas have been banned in Saudi Arabia for the last 30 years, and if residents of the kingdom want to watch films on the big screen, they travel to nearby Bahrain or the UAE. However, last week in Jeddah a film was screened publicly for a mixed-sex audience. In this post we hear what Saudi blogs have to say on the subject.
John Burgess at Crossroads Arabia says:
Saudi Gazette reports that public cinema is back in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi film ‘Manahi’ was shown before a mixed-sex audience in Jeddah, and also in Taif. The article points out that the film showing was part of the Eid Al-Adha celebrations in the city, so I’m not sure—and the article does not make clear—whether the cinema wil l remain operational after the holidays. Nor does the article spell it out, but it’s pretty clear that this would not have happened without the support of the Governor of the Mecca Province, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal. Prince Khaled has the power to force certain kinds of change within his area of authority and has shown a willingness to do so.
Young Saudis are hoping that this is a permanent change as they’re tired of having to travel to foreign countries simply to watch a film on the big screen.
Ruhsa welcomes the move:
Cinemas are officially banned in KSA and people go over to Bahrain or UAE to watch movies in person (or buy pirated versions of all movies for home viewing).
Interestingly, last week the movie “Manahi”  was shown in Jeddah and Taif. It was a HUGELY successful and popular event that ran for some 10 days. The head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of  Vice, Abdullah Al-Gaith spoke out against it: “Our position on this is clear – ban it. That is because cinema is evil and we do not need it. We have enough evil already.”
What is odd is the about-face that showed up in today’s news. The official comment is now  “We are not against having cinema if it shows the good and does not violate Islamic law”.
“Manahi” was produced by Rotana Holdings, a media company owned by Prince Waleed bin Talal. The next movie,“Eyal Manfouha,” also by Rotana is already in the works.
This is one more indicator that the wind of change is blowing. It would be better if KSA started developing a good media/movie censoring/cleaning-up board that can set standards for what can and cannot be shown, and how to allow movies from Europe, USA and Asia to be shown.
Close Up comments on the film itself – and sees a future for Saudi filmmaking:
ومع ذلك أعتقد أن في مجتمعنا شباب مبدع واعد قادر على تقديم أعمال سينمائية قديرة تنبع من عمق روحنا وهويتنا، بكاميرا واحدة وطاقم صغير يقوم بجميع الأدوار يكتب ويصور ويمثل ويمنتج !
However, I do believe that in our society there are creative and promising young people who can make cinematic works capable of emanating from the depths of our soul and identity, with one camera and a small crew, taking on all roles – writing, filming, acting, and producing!


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Sri Lanka: The Siemens Bribery Scandal · Global Voices
Rezwan

Rohan Samarajiva at LIRNEAsia analyzes the recent Siemens Bribery Scandal and comments that every country should check Siemens court papers for traces of corruption.


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The Balkans: Distortion of History · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Jasmin's Heart writes about deliberate distortions that often pass for the recent history of the Balkans: “Also, history, as written by too many historians here, in recent years, Croatian historians, Serbian, Bosnian – on the subject of the last war and many others that proceeded on this area – is really not a real science, it’s a nationalistic fairytale story.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Earthquake & Flood  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

From Trinidad and Tobago, Coffeewallah blogs about an early morning earthquake: “It was really something that jolt, makes you wonder if the universe is trying to tell us something, floods, earthquake, what next, a plague of grasshoppers?”, while TriniView.com posts photos of the recent flooding she refers to.


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Turkey: A New Take on the Gingerbread House · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Carpetblogger proposes a new Christmas tradition, the making of “Ginger Kondu”- gingerbread houses modeled after the architecture of Turkish squatter villages called Gecekondu.


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Turkey: An Online Apology to Armenia Campaign · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

According to Istanbul Calling, a new online campaign allowing Turks “to sign onto an apology for the “great catastrophe” that the Armenians suffered during World War I” has been launched by Turkish academics and intellectuals. “The apology, now signed by more than 15,000, studiously avoids the “G” word, but it is being seen as another important step in making the Armenian issue less of a taboo in Turkey.”


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Turkey: Campaign for a Joint-Commission on the Armenian Question · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Talk Turkey urges individuals to join his new campaign to demand that “Turkey and Armenia form a joint-commission to research and investigate the facts of genocide and other claims; without any pre-existing conditions, and reservations, and that both sides promise and resolve to end this matter once and for all.”


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Ukraine: Crisis, Microfinance and Politics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Below is a selection of recent posts from English-language blogs on the political and economic crisis in Ukraine. (An earlier post on the financial crisis in Russia is here, and in other countries of Central and Eastern Europe – here.)
Michelle Knisley of Greetings from Kyiv writes that because of the crisis the atmosphere in the Ukrainian capital has been “a little extra somber” lately; her post is titled “Christmas Or Crisismas?”:
[…] Everywhere you go, everyone here is talking about the “crisis.” You even hear the word in passing conversations as you go down the street. The “crisis” is on everyone's mind and with good reason. The hrivnya going out of control, […] and there are reportedly no dollars to buy. Ukrainians are truly experiencing a financial crisis of epic proportions.
Last week half of Kyiv's residents had their hot water/radiators turned off. This was due to unpaid bills both by residents (some people are so poor they cannot possibly pay them) and also mismanagement by the government. […] Supposedly the hot water is back on but now the rumors are flowing that utilities in some areas of Kyiv will be raised ten times higher. This means rents will increase. It seems that no matter what the solution is for any problem, it only creates a reaction that creates another crisis in a different area of life.
MoldovAnn writes, too, that “[t]his holiday season will not be so merry for many Ukrainians” – and here is why:
Public transportation rates increased 4x
Hot water shut off in much of Kyiv for 3-4 days
Heating reduced throughout the city, some buildings without heat periodically
Price increases almost daily, market stands not bothering to write new prices anymore, instead posting “+20%” to yesterday’s prices
Bank deposit accounts frozen, people can’t withdraw their money
Pensions not paid
Government employees not sure if they’ll get paychecks this month
Layoffs, downsizing, bankruptcies
Falling hrivna, salaries’ value reduced by nearly half
Banks advertising on their homepages auctions on cars and other items repossessed
Evie of Kiva Stories from the Field writes in more detail on what it's like to live in Ukraine now:
[…] In the western world, “political tensions” essentially mean that 24-hour cable networks switch to all politics, all the time. In Ukraine, due to “political tensions” between local officials, last week many districts of the capital city of Kiev lost heat and hot water. These are government-controlled commodities – the local government can literally shut off your apartment building’s gas heating at a whim. In sub-zero temperatures and bitter continental winter conditions, losing heat for a week is a hardship to pale at. People couldn’t even wash dishes, because the water was literally freezing out of the tap. Even now, three days after the heat was turned back on by these same officials, radiators are merely lukewarm, homes are still freezing, and people are sick with colds and flu.
In addition, the value of the UAH (or “grivna”) has fallen from 5.05gr to $1 on October 1 to 9.45 to $1 on December 17 – a loss of nearly 50% of its value in two and a half months. This has a direct impact on many citizens, since half of all bank loans and most rents are denominated in either dollars or euro, but most people get paid in grivnas. Imagine that your rent was 2,525 grivnas ($500) per month on October 1. At current exchange rates, your rent due on January 1 is now 4,725 grivnas.
Banks are feeling the crunch most keenly, since most of their own debts are denominated in foreign currency as well. Informal reports from Kiev state that it is nearly impossible for individuals or businesses to get dollars out of ATMs or money changers – banks are holding on to all foreign currency reserves and refusing to sell them. One source attempted to find USD from over 20 different ATMs and exchange kiosks, with no luck. […]
The blogger – who is a Ukraine-based fellow with Kiva, a U.S. NGO that helps “individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world” – also explains how the crisis is affecting microfinance initiatives in Ukraine:
[…] When a lender sends $25 through Kiva to an entrepreneur, that money is received and disbursed by our field partner in that country – in this case, HOPE Ukraine. The field partner is a microfinance bank which is authorized as a financial institution in that country. […]
When Kiva sends $300 to an entrepreneur, it’s exactly that: $300. So we’re expecting that same $300 back, regardless of the value of the local currency. Imagine that HOPE Ukraine had raised $300 on Kiva on October 17 for an entrepreneur named Tanya. They would have converted it into grivnas at 5.05, and given Tanya 1,515 grivnas on a 10-month term. Her principle payments are 152 grivnas, which is what she gives to HOPE Ukraine each month, and HOPE Ukraine promises to convert it and send it back as $30. However, when HOPE Ukraine converted Tanya’s monthly payment back into dollars on December 17, that 152 grivnas is no longer worth $30 – now it’s worth only $16. HOPE Ukraine must then pay $14 out of its own pocket in order to send Kiva lenders a $30 repayment.
[…]
Due to the crisis, none of the big traditional banks will give out loans anymore, so everyone is coming to HOPE Ukraine.  They have as much business as they can handle, and more.  And because the grivna is worth less, they can lend out in higher amounts.  Since Kiva has a $1200 per entrepreneur loan cap, back in October no Kiva clients could borrow more than 6,060 grivnas.  Today that $1200 loan cap is worth 11,340 grivnas – so they can service clients who have a greater range of financial need.  And they can use the extra income they’re generating on all these new loans to pay that $14 on Tanya’s loan.
Microfinance institutions in these circumstances begin to seem, if not recession-proof, at least recession resistant. […]
Meanwhile, Ukrainian politicians seem to be as detached from reality on the ground as ever.
“Total opposition. All the main political players and institutions in Ukraine are in opposition to each other.” This is the title of Tetyana Vysotska's latest post on What's Up, Ukraine?, in which she describes the current political situation:
[…] So, today the Prime Minister of Ukraine is in opposition to the President of Ukraine and to the National Bank of Ukraine. The President of Ukraine is in opposition to Prime Minister. The National Bank is also acting like a political body, declaring its non-support of the Government and its policies. Official opposition – the Party of Regions – is declaring it is against all the powers mentioned above, and is waiting for spring to come to power after the fail of the “Orange leaders”. The new-elected Speaker of the Parliament Volodymyr Lytvyn is claiming for neutrality, but in fact is in opposition to everyone who is interested in the snap parliamentary election, which would take the high post in Parliament off from him.
Ukrainiana (here) and Foreign Notes (here and here) have more on the complex relationship between Ukraine's president, prime minister and the National Bank.
Chernobyl and Eastern Europe shares the results of a recent poll on how the country's politicians would fare if the presidential election were held now:
According to a social survey titled “Crisis 2008: Ukrainian politics in the mirror of public opinion,” Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych and current Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko would both reach the second round of a presidential election, if it was held now. Current President Viktor Yushchenko would not make it to a second round. […]


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Uruguay: Holiday Phone Calls Saturate Lines · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The Christmas holidays in Uruguay often saturate phone lines due to the increase in the number of phone calls made to friends and family both home and abroad. Chino of Tan Conectados [es] writes that the telephone company Ancel plans to double the number of lines available.


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A Caribbean Christmas · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

‘Tis the season – and nowhere celebrates Christmas quite like the Caribbean!  Here's a glimpse into what bloggers are doing to get into the spirit of the festivities…
Guyanese bloggers do a meme on “Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without…”  For Signifyin’ Guyana, who started the meme, it's “my dad's ham” and “playing board games with my folks after we've all had a few and then some more.”  Guyana 911 chimes in (sometimes cynically) with the following list:
- Christmas clean up.
Whoa.. what happened to this house. Are you moving out?
- Pepper Pot.
Time, tide and Jesus birthday waits for no pepper pot. Is the earth going to stop moving if you don't make pepper pot?
- Black Cake.
- A Christmas Tree.
Cut them all down, but lets not make Christmas cards out of em. No.. instead, we can make furniture. Now that's a revolutionary idea. Furniture… something anyone can actually use.
- Singer commercials.
- Painting over the house and anything else paint sticks to.
- Remittances.
Raptus8 thinks that gift-giving is an inseparable part of Christmas (once the gift is for him):
Since we are speaking about gifts I would like to say to all of my friends and family that you know I have lots of love for you but this year plz don’t expect anything but a Christmas card from me.
I’m broke; yes I’m broke…what? I got a promotion the other day? Yes I did but I’m not wealthy and I want to be, so I’m saving my money.  I do hope that you will understand my position and that this will not discourage you from buying that special item you saw with my name on it…
In Jamaica, Iriegal says that while Christmas time is synonymous with family, the global financial crisis is having an impact on remittances and gifts sent to Jamaica from the diaspora:
We know it's Christmas time in Jamaica when the barrels start rolling in.
Tings kinda ‘salt’ this year though. The economy has made many items scarce and the shipping fee has gone up as well. Seems folks sending ‘gift cards’ now.
She also notes that the recession is making itself felt in other ways this Christmas:
Christmas is not Christmas without deh white dem. (Jamaican white rum). We use it for sorrel, Christmas Cake, Christmas Pudding and so on. So why did the people at Wray and Nephew dem lay off their workers right before Christmas. Isn't that shooting yourself in the foot?
Cuts are going on everywhere on the island, just as it is all over the world. The recession that the United States is feeling is a Global thing. Everything trickles down. What is sad is that many of the smaller islands do feel it more. When you don't make nothing, you don't have nothing and people try to take that ‘nothing’ away from you, it hurts.
Abeng News Magazine prefers to reminisce, taking a look at Christmas in “Old Jamaica” here and here.
Bermuda's The Devil Island.com knows its Christmas when Jose Feliciano sings Feliz Navidad, saying:
I swear, there is nothing that comes to mind as a more perfect, joyous, happy-making Christmas song.
Trinidadian blogger This Beach Called Life concurs, calling it “the best Christmas song ever” and even posting video of Feliciano singing his signature tune.  He goes on to explain:
Jose Feliciano is an an accomplished guitarist and sings with a distinctive voice and style. Feliz Navidad has become a Cristmas classic and is now impossible to separate from the Christmas season.  Feliz Navidad is one of the top 25 most played and recorded Christmas songs around the world.
However, fellow Trinidad and Tobago-based blogger Coffeewallah is finding it hard to get into the spirit of the season:
I constantly hear people talking about their ‘Christian’ beliefs. It never ceases to amaze me that a lot of these so-called Christian folk are the same ones who bitch the loudest when asked to contribute to a can drive or anything. The same people who will come around and ask you again and again for their children's raffle or whatever, when asked, their response usually is, I gave to something two months ago. I must remember that one for future use. Grinch behaviour coming alive here.
But the staples of a Trinbagonian Christmas somehow manage to bring her around:
The pointsettias were abloom, their spiky red leaves cheerily brightening the usually sombre space. Though the skies were rainy, inside we were snug, with our ponche de creme to warm us, some Christmas music to sing along with…and all was good.
Speaking of Christmas staples, Simply Trini Cooking salutes that time-honoured West Indian Christmas dessert, Black Cake, and includes a recipe should anyone want to try making it.
Barbados Underground posts a reminder about the reason for the season and expresses concern about the commercialization of the holiday:
Christmas 2008 will be celebrated in gloomy economic conditions but Barbadians appear to be following the script of behaviour from previous years…which sees the majority of our population motivated by commercial reasons to celebrate Christmas.
BU's apprehension is echoed by Dominica Weekly, which considers the true meaning of Christmas and goes one step further by asking what God would think of modern-day celebrations.
Christmas celebrations in the French-speaking Caribbean, on the other hand, appear to be steeped in tradition.  With December 25th quickly approaching, the French Overseas Departments of Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyane are vibrating to the tune of their folk musical instruments like ka (a big drum)[Fr], ti-bwa (two bamboo sticks)[Fr] and of Christmas Carols. Welcome to the world of “Chanté Nwel” (Singing for Christmas)!
In the blog Sous le Soleil de Guadeloupe [Fr], Pat and Jac describe the paradoxical situation of the island, gripped with the Spirit of Christmas and raging through the gas crisis [En].
Still, there is one thing at the core of the Guadeloupean traditional celebration of Christmas and it is “Chanté Nwel”.  Creole [En]for “Singing for Christmas” or “Singing Christmas (carols)”, it is the very shrine of Christmas in these French territories.  “Chanté Nwel” used to be an opportunity for entire families to go around their neighborhood to visit neighbors and sing Christmas carols with them to the tune of the “ka” and the “ti-bwa”. At that time, it was in a safe atmosphere that people would go around their remote villages very late at night.
Although Chanté Nwel cannot be done in the same way as before, people still feel the need to sing Christmas carols together and in a very local way.  You haven't celebrated Christmas, if you haven't been to a “Chanté Nwel”!  It is such a vivid tradition that even the West Indian diaspora abroad wants to celebrate.  On his blog Risbomontréal  [Fr], a young Guadeloupean university student describes his joy at receiving an invitation for a “Chanté Nwel”:
Quelle bonne nouvelle que j'ai eu ce matin en ouvrant mon p'tit mac :D ! La news lettre de ces types super cool de Tropikal97 où ils invitent à participer à une super soirée diner/Chanté Noël + Boite de nuit à l'antillaise et tout ^^ !!!
It seems that the Chanté Nwel fever is spreading wherever French West Indians can be spotted: check out this invitation for a Chanté Nwel in Cergy, in the suburbs of Paris, published on the blog Carrefour du Soleil [Fr], by a group of West Indians.  Or listen to Cactus, a Guadeloupean folk group that promotes Chanté Nwel in a blog called Cactus Chanté Nwel [Fr]. There is even a video of Cactus performing some Christmas carols, sung in Creole.
Can't manage a trip to the Caribbean this Christmas?  Not to worry – the West Indian warmth transcends distance thanks to the voices of bloggers who share their stories of Christmas in Cuba, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Cayman Islands, and Puerto Rico.  Some posts are more optimistic than others, but the sentiment of the season is palpable: Hope.
In the words of Bahamian blogger Womanish Words:
Suddenly, a choir. Singing Deck the Halls. Outside the dark living room window. And sistas, I mean, singing so beautifully.
I would have loved any carolers, the raw-boned, hollering kind I would have gratefully welcomed in these hard times. Any group of folks generous of spirit so, creative and cooperative and connected so, having spirit enough to gather themselves together and go sing-up Christmas for strangers, I have to love them. Especially now, when money is tight, and fundamentalism is dividing the neighbourhoods with hatred, and all are on guard against violent crime. We opened the door, lit a torch, gave a donation. They were all wearing Santa hats. They sounded like a choir out of Dickens. Perfect harmonies, soaring tenors. Our son asked, “Are they singing for us?” Yes, they were singing for us.
I thought it was a cosmic moment, a sign and a wonder, a message from the World of Spirit. Saying quite literally, go ahead and deck the halls, try Be Happy, celebrate, give. Do this to actively resist the fear, to transform it into something like good living.


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Argentina: Top 10 Taxi Driver Recommended Restaurants of 2008 · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Layne Mosler has been documenting her taxi rides in Buenos Aires, where she asks the driver to take her to their favorite restaurants.  She lists her Top 10 favorite recommendations from 2008.


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Azerbaijan: Into the Mountains · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

After living and working in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, for two months, a religious holiday provides Joe's Trippin’ with the opportunity to explore the north of the country. In particular, while surviving various attempts to marry off the Canadian to local girls, the blogger visited the town of Quba and the mountain village of Xinaliq. The post is accompanied by photographs.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bahamas: Cuba & the USA  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“A constellation of events will shape the pace of the rapprochement between our geographically closest neighbours”: Simon at Bahama Pundit blogs about relations between Cuba and the US.


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Bangladesh Election 2008 And Cyber Activism · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bangladesh goes into poll on December 29, 2008 for a much awaited parliamentary election. The scenario is lot different than the recent US presidential election where citizen media and Internet campaigning and fund raising were extensively used. With a penetration of 1% of the total population of 145 million, Internet is still not a media that reaches mass people. The new generation of bloggers and facebook users are trying to harness the power of the new media. Bangla Blogging platforms like Somewhere In, Sachalayatan, Amar Blog, Muktangan are buzzing with election related posts – from constructive debates to mundane bickering of acrimony between political ideologies. But how can they affect the politics as the decision makers such as the bureaucrats and the politicians mostly keep themselves away from the digital media and Internet and are not connected to the conversation. The traditional media still dictate in Bangladesh and many are losing the trust of common people for biased reporting. The websites of the political parties are not interactive. Only a few out of thousands of candidates were seen using Internet in their campaign.
Bangladesh politics is traditional, rhetoric and propaganda based and there is little scope for interaction with the leaders asking for accountability. The grass root activists and the general people have little to say in the decision making processes. However Jagoree, a non-partisan platform for Bangladeshi youth, is using facebook and blog to to engage in the political and policy making processes by developing themselves as informed and responsible citizens.
What are we? Image courtesy: Jagoree.
Jagoree is currently running a campaign called ‘Amader Vote, Amader Kotha’ (Our Vote, Our Voices). Learn more about the campaign from their facebook page.
Planning and mobilizing processes of Jagoree. Image courtesy Jagoree
The notable success of Jagoree in recent days was the making of a documentary and publishing it in YouTube for wider audience [bn]:
The aim of this 5 minutes 44 second documentary is to inspire Bangladeshis to cast an informed vote in the coming election. It shows the frustration with the current politics and at the same time frames the hope of the young Bangladeshis that a change will come.
This time around much information on the candidates and the election are available on the Internet. What the Bangladeshis need is to look for the facts and be informed for making the right decision regarding whom to vote.
SHUJAN, a non-profit organization in Bangladesh dedicated to good governance, has an award winning site [bn] which provides much background information on the candidates. The site has different sections like general information on election, constituency wise copmarative information of the candidates and much more. SHUJAN has also something unique to offer. They have an archive of over 4000 entries of news of Corruption of politicians (browseable by name) of whom many are contesting in the 2008 election.
Bangladesh Election commission has also detailed information including voter list and  the candidate profiles in pdf format (to be downloaded and distributed) and guidelines for observers.
E-Bangladesh is providing links to all the important news regarding Bangladesh election and posting analysis and breaking news from citizen journalists in their constant coverage of Election 2008 (in English). The site also posts links to resources for the election including candidate lists and election manifestos of the parties. Its sister initiative, the Bangla Blogging platform Amar Blog has started its election coverage in Bangla language which is providing news and citizen journalists’ views on the election.
The popular English language group blog Unheard Voice is also providing analysis and commentaries on the recent election.
The largest Bangla blogging platform somwhereinblog.net has started a group blog on Bangladesh election in collaboration with the English language news paper The New Age. The news daily has recently started an election portal which will feature selected blog posts from the group blog and news/analysis from its daily newspaper publications. This is the first instance in the country where a major print media is collaborating with a blog platform outside its management. The portal will provide live results of the election. It has an user-friendly interactive map plotting the previous results.
Quite against the tide of the digital divide among the candidates, blogger and journalist Maskwaith Ahsan, who is running as a MP candidate in the Rajshahi -6 constituency, has started using facebook to run his campaign.
It remains to be seen how Bangladeshis use citizen media like blog, videos (e.g. YouTube),  photographs (e.g. Flickr), twitter etc. during the election.


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Bangladesh: Election Under A Caretaker Government · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bdfact shares the key findings of a study titled ‘Election under a Caretaker Government’ based on past elections in Bangladesh.


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Barbados: Missing Money  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Bajan Dream Project reports that “a further BDS $100,000 is missing” from the Central Bank of Barbados’ vaults.


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Caribbean: 2008 in Review  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

From natural disasters to lightning bolts of the athletic kind, 2008 was a busy one for the Caribbean blogosphere.  Here are some of the highlights…
Politics
On the heels of a year that seemed to be defined by politics, 2008 also began on a political high note, thanks to Barack Obama's amazing win in the Iowa caucus.  From that point on, the majority of regional bloggers caught Obamamania and supported “their” candidate all the way to the White House.  While the Caribbean was captivated by Obama's promise of change, Barbadians were orchestrating a political change of their own – some believe that outspoken political blogs may have helped turn the tide of the election by discussing key issues such as alleged corruption and the need for integrity legislation.
Further north along the archipelago, Jamaica‘s top politician was riling up bloggers, thanks to his “No gays in my government” comment during a BBC interview – but certainly one of the most significant political scenarios coming out of the region this year was the retirement of Cuban leader Fidel Castro after nearly 50 years at the helm of the socialist republic.  Despite the change in leadership, however, most bloggers felt that it was business as usual.  According to Uncommon Sense:
An unfortunate consequence of that hand-over, reinforced by Fidel's “retirement,” is that the dictatorship survives. A face, presumably Raúl's — I haven't seen the script — will be placed at the top of the flow chart, come Sunday. But the dictatorship survives.
Fidel's “retirement” is not a moment to celebrate. Unfortunately, his legacy will survive his life's work, and his life. It is a historical moment to note but nothing more.
Freedom of Speech
The issue of freedom of speech seemed to plague the region this year; both mainstream media and the blogosphere fought against attempts to silence them.  Although there still appears to be some distrust between MSM and the newly active blogosphere in some Caribbean territories, it was interesting to see the two sides come together and make their voices heard.  In Guyana, for instance, one blogger – MediaCritic at the Living Guyana blog – made it his business to cover the banning of a journalist by the country's President.  His commitment to the cause was so fierce that it prompted GV Caribbean author Nicholas Laughlin to comment:
Living Guyana's sustained coverage of the Moseley ban story — largely ignored by other Guyanese blogs — has rivalled the coverage of Guyana's mainstream media.
Over in Barbados, bloggers were wondering if their means of online expression was in danger, while in Cuba, it appeared that certain blogs may have been blocked.  Trinidad and Tobago had to contend with its Prime Minister actually paying a visit to a radio station to complain about two announcers who had made disparaging comments about him, a move that made bloggers even more vocal than usual.  Barbadian bloggers also joined ranks with their mainstream media counterparts following the arrest of two journalists – a move that Barbados Free Press says was prompted by the fact that the reporters were covering the case of “a police officer…charged with dealing drugs.”
Human Rights
Closely linked with freedom of speech is the question of human rights.  Some of the most memorable stories in the Caribbean blogosphere this year dealt with human rights abuses – from the arrest of Las Damas de Blanco in Havana as they staged a peaceful demonstration for the release of their husbands, to the reinstatement of the death penalty in Jamaica.  Cuban bloggers were by far the most conscious of human rights issues, blogging at length about the significance of International Human Rights Day and their island's history of stifling human rights.
Puerto Rico was worried about “the government's latest deed, the application of the Real ID Act to the island's drivers”, which they thought was way too intrusive and bordered on a breach of privacy.  Barbadian bloggers cried “foul” after the suspicious and untimely death of I'Akobi Tacuma Maloney, while the issue of the Rights of the Child was linked with concern about Jamaica's escalating crime rate in this post about violence against minors.
Crime & Health
The big crime story in the region this year was undoubtedly “the killing by joint army and police services of Guyana's most wanted man, Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins, and his ‘Lieutenant’ Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles”.  Bloggers breathed a communal sign of relief that the two men met as bloody a fate as they inflicted on so many innocent people, even as an editorial in the Stabroek News warned that the killing of Rawlins doesn't mean the end of violence – but Jamaica certainly tried to curb its own rising crime rate via a March for Peace, inspired by the increasing number of violent crimes against women and children.  The region's own experience with violence – not to mention the fact that several West Indian territories have substantial populations of Indian origin – made it that much easier for Caribbean to empathize with India after the horrific Mumbai terror attacks.  And in another kind of war – the war on HIV/AIDS – the Caribbean joined the rest of the world in recognizing World AIDS Day and joining the discussion on everything from education to  HIV/AIDS workplace policy.
Disasters
This was the Year of the Hurricane.  Monster storms wreaked havoc across the Caribbean archipelago, from Grenada to the Cayman Islands.  Gustav, Hanna, Ike, Omar and Paloma are not names the Caribbean is likely to forget.
Cuba and Haiti were hit particularly hard by the multiple storms, which caused loss of homes and of life – and on the heels of these tragedies, Haiti faced yet another in the form of a disastrous school collapse.  In the words of Haiti Innovation:
Some emergencies can be predicted. Every hurricane season, we can anticipate that Haiti will likely be hit with tropical storms. Others such as the collapse of a school in Petionville yesterday are unexpected tragedies.
Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana were battling floods on a regular basis during the region's rainier-than-usual wet season.
The Economy
Perhaps the first sign of the effects of the looming global financial crisis was rising food prices and scarcity of produce.  Caribbean bloggers were concerned – and finally the penny dropped with regional politicians – Trinidad and Tobgo's Prime Minister called for “belt-tightening” a few months later.
Cuban bloggers were quite vocal about the US/Cuba embargo, debating whether or not any change to the status quo would actually be felt in the Cuban economy.  Guyanese bloggers, on the other hand, suggested that if their government did not sign the new European Union EPA, the local economy would be the loser.
Meanwhile, the French-speaking Caribbean was rife with protests over the skyrocketing price of gas and its effect on the pockets of the man in the street.
Sport
If there was a bright spot in the Caribbean blogosphere this year, it came in the form of regional athletes’ performance in the Beijing Olympics.  Jamaican Track and Field athletes dominated; the Caribbean celebrated.  Usain Bolt was not only a hero – he was a phenomenon.
A few months later came another sporting moment to be proud of – the Caribbean team defeated England in the Stanford 20/20 Cricket Tournament, winning the match by an astounding ten wickets, becoming overnight millionaires in the process and – even for a moment – restoring some pride to beleaguered West Indies cricket fans.
Fond Farewells
Several Caribbean icons passed away this year and bloggers respectfully paid them homage…
Jamaican musicians Alton Ellis and Byron Lee and Guyanese newspaper editor David de Caires, who Nicholas Laughlin describes as “the founder and editor-in-chief of the independent Guyanese newspaper the Stabroek News, and one of the Caribbean's strongest advocates for press freedom.”
The Caribbean celebrated astounding highs and coped with debilitating lows this year – but the most convincing sign that we can deal with whatever comes our way is the fact that we continue to talk about issues and through discussion, better understand our own experiences and challenges in the context of an ever-shrinking world.


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Chile: Regional Library of Aysen · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The Regional Library of Aysen recently opened in Coyhaique, Chile, which will also house a computer lab.  Máximo Moreno Grez describes the newest facilities complete with photos [es].


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Egypt: Internet cables cut again · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Once again, fibreoptic cables have been cut in the Mediterranean, affecting the internet in Egypt and other parts of the Middle East. Elijah Zarwan at The Skeptic asks, “What accident could account for three cuts in three locations over the course of a year?”


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El Salvador: The Military · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Luis writes on the history and role of the military in El Salvador in this blog post published at Dunlaps in San Salvador [es].


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Georgia: Cannon Fodder · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

The Tbilisi Blues examines the state of the Georgian army before and especially during the August war with Russia. The blogger says that he saw with his own eyes how reservists were sent into action in Gori wearing nothing more than tennis shoes and ill-fitting uniforms to serve as cannon fodder.


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Ghana: Upcoming conference on communication education · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Communication, Culture, Democracy & Development in Nigeria announces that the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE) is organizing a conference to take place at the University of Ghana from the 4th to the 8th of August 2009 under the theme “Communication education and practice in Africa: a social contract for the 21st Century”.

author: Elia Varela Serra


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Welcome, Global Voices in Serbian · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

Today, I am honored to announce that Global Voices in Serbian has officially launched, alongside our many other proud Lingua websites.
The key initiator of Global Voices in Serbian is Siniša Boljanović, a graduate of Serbian language and literature and a Global Voices author. In case you don't know him, you can read this interview with him that has already been translated in to three different languages by Lingua.
The three main translators of Global Voices in Serbian (Vera Serkovic, Dijana Djurickovic, and Siniša) are seeking more enthusiastic volunteers to become partners in their team.
There are six other up-and-coming language versions of Global Voices who are also seeking volunteers. They are Nepali, Urdu, Polish, Indonesian, Russian, and Swahili. If you are a writer or translator of any of these languages: Don't hesitate, contact us right now!
Project Lingua is now one of the largest and certainly most interesting and vigorous online translation projects on the web.
With 15 official language versions of Global Voices (more coming soon) and more than 100 volunteer translators’ enormous efforts, I am always honored to be a part of Lingua. Please leave your comments to show your encouragement (yes, we love that!).
Congratulations Global Voices in Serbian!

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane: Celebrating Christmas with “Chanté Nwel” · Global Voices
Fabienne Flessel

With Christmas approaching, the French Overseas Departments of Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyane are vibrating to the tune of their folk musical instruments like ka (a big drum)[Fr], ti-bwa (two bamboo sticks)[Fr] and of Christmas Carols. Welcome to the world of “Chanté Nwel” (Singing for Christmas).
In the blog Sous le Soleil de Guadeloupe [Fr], Pat and Jac describe the paradoxical situation of the island, gripped with the Spirit of Christmas and raging through the gas crisis [En]. Interestingly enough, the pictures taken by Pat and Jac, at the biggest shopping center of Guadeloupe [En], highlight just another ambiguity in the Christmas celebration of Guadeloupean people, who live both by the European standards of the fake snow-capped Christmas trees and their local palm trees.
Still, there is one thing at the core of the Guadeloupean traditional celebration of Christmas and it is “Chanté Nwel”.  Creole [En]for “Singing for Christmas” or “Singing Christmas (carols)”, it is the very shrine of Christmas in these French territories.  “Chanté Nwel” used to be an opportunity for entire families to go around their neighborhood to visit neighbors and sing Christmas carols with them to the tune of the “ka” and the “ti-bwa”. At that time, it was in a safe atmosphere that people would go around their remote villages very late at night.
Although Chanté Nwel cannot be done in the same way as before, people still feel the need to sing Christmas carols together and in a very local way.  You haven't celebrated Christmas, if you haven't been to a “Chanté Nwel”!
It is such a vivid tradition that even the West Indian diaspora abroad wants to celebrate.  On his blog Risbomontréal  [Fr], a young Guadeloupean university student describes his joy at receiving an invitation for a “Chanté Nwel”:
Quelle bonne nouvelle que j'ai eu ce matin en ouvrant mon p'tit mac :D ! La news lettre de ces types super cool de Tropikal97 où ils invitent à participer à une super soirée diner/Chanté Noël + Boite de nuit à l'antillaise et tout ^^ !!!
Who could imagine that snowy Montreal could welcome such tropical events!
It seems that the Chanté Nwel fever is spreading wherever French West Indians can be spotted, as in this invitation for a Chanté Nwel in Cergy, in the suburbs of Paris, published on the blog Carrefour du Soleil [Fr], by a group of West Indians.
On top of everything, I can't explain my surprise when I found out that Cactus, a Guadeloupean folk group, promotes Chanté Nwel in a blog called Cactus Chanté Nwel [Fr]. Here is a video of Cactus performing some Christmas carols, sung in Creole.

author: Fabienne Flessel


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Haiti: Photo of the Year  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Haiti Innovation reports that the UNICEF “Photo of the Year” features the plight of Haiti, while the photographer, who has her own blog, says of her win: “It’s not only great because my work as a photographer gets recognition, but also and much more important – eventually many people will turn their eyes on Haiti's children.”


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Hong Kong: Not too boring Christmas · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Karden, with her black and white cats, wish you a not too boring Christmas. (via inmediahk.net)


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India: Talking Terrorism · Global Voices
Rezwan

Kavita Chhibber, a freelance journalist, shares at Desicritics some of her interviews with notable international personalities on the Mumbai Terror attacks.


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India: The voices of Bangalore · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Bikerdude at Bengalooru Banter shares with us some of the entertaining voices and accents that can be heard in Bangalore.


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Iran: “A blogger in Kurdistan was arrested” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Several blogs and news sites reported that Davood Azadfar , an Iran based blogger, was arrested[fa] yesterday in Mahabad in Iran's Kurdistan province. It seems he had criticized Mahabad's authorities in his blog.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: Muslim Bloggers site was hacked · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

We read [fa] in Iran based Muslim Bloggers site that it was hacked a few days ago while it had launched a campaign to support Gaza Strip people. It seems that several other conservative sites such as Shiayan recently were hacked in Iran.


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Japan: Christmas illuminations within a click · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Blogger Happy Kernel suggests a website that collects videos of Christmas illumination along the streets of every Japanese city. The idea of this website's creator, Shinya, was to make it possible for parents with small children to enjoy the Christmas atmosphere from home.


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Korea: Teachers who have been fired · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

Recently, some Korean teachers were fired because they were opposed to a new test that the government initiated, Ilje Gosa (one-type test, a nationwide scholastic achievement assessment). It is a test that all students take with the same questions and the same date, so that students can be compared across the country. Some of them welcome this test so that they or their children or students will acknowledge where they are in their studies. [EN]  Others are opposed to it because it will lead to a society of seeking grades for grades’ sake and in the long term schools, students, and parents will be obsessed with scores and rankings [EN].
Regardless of hot arguments, the government carried out the test and some teachers were opposed to letting their students take the test. Instead of it, they had field trips with their students or some students refused to submit the test papers. Regarding the decision that the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education made to discharge those teachers (compared to the light punishments to teachers who sexually harassed their students and who cheated for their achievements), netizens are enthusiastically discussing this event.
Students who lose their teachers write:
[…]오늘…선생님과 이별했습니다,,그것도 이번 4교시 다가 아니고 1교시까지밖에 볼수없었죠, 선생님은 “평화가무엇이냐”라는 노래을 틀어주시고 학생 하나 하나 직접 앉고 할 말을 해주었어요,,,, 다 끝 마치고 헤어질 때 눈물을 흘리고 가시던 선생님의 뒷모습이 아직도 기억납니다[…]
Parents are also expressing their concerns on the Internet.
일제고사에 대한 자율체험학습을 허용한 교사들을 파면했다는 얘기를 처음 듣고 솔직히 무슨 말인지 몰라 인터넷을 뒤적거려 일제고사가 무엇인지 얼마전에 처음 알았습니다. 그리곤 깨달았죠. 아…정권이 확실히 바뀌긴 바뀌었구나…
전 7살과 3살난 아들을 둔 아버지입니다. 내년이면 큰애가 초등학교를 들어가게 되지요. 그래서 부쩍 교육에 관심이 많아지기도 했습니다만 요즘 애들 어떻게 가르치는지 어떤 정책이 있는지…잘은 모릅니다.
내가 생각하는 교육은 예전과는 다른 어떤 차별화된 교육을 원하고 있었습니다.
단순히 우리 어릴적처럼 중간고사 기말고사등등을 보면서 등수를 나누고 수우미양가로 성적을 나누는…. 그런 방식에서 우리교육이 탈피했다고 알고 있었습니다.[…]
I am a father who has 7 year old and 3 year old boys. Next year, my first son will start his primary school. So I started being interested in education, but I didn’t know what policies education. Education that I think about now is different from the past. The education I had which had mid-term and final exams and grades were assigned by test scores… I thought that our education was beyond that system. […]
일제고사를 거부(사실 거부도 아닌것인데)하고 체험학습을 허용했다고해서 파면이란것 자체가 징계로써 지나치단 생각입니다. 상명하불복이란 그 체계가 성추행이나 촌지보다도 더 크단 것이지요? 왜 이런 얘기를 하는것인지는 다들 아실겁니다. 성추행,촌지등 비도덕적인 행위를 저지른 교사는 그대로 파면되는경우가 극히 드물죠? 또 다른곳에서 아니면 형식적인 징계만을 받고 다시 교육현장에 남아있습니다. 일제고사에 대한 대안학습을 시킨 교사들이 무슨 해악한 존재인가요? 그들이 잘못한 것이라곤 아이들을 서열과 순위로만 평가하려는 잘못된 정책에 양심적으로 판단한것뿐입니다. 거부하게끔 선동을 했습니까? 아님 시험을 방해했습니까???? 일제고사가 왜 필요한것이지요? 순위를 매기고 싶습니까? 서열두요? 정말 그렇게 애들을 키우고싶으신가요?
난 싫습니다. 분명 공부는 필요하고 성적도 중요합니다. 내가 어느위치에 어느정도인지 알아야하는것도 중요하죠…. 허나 그것이 초등학교때부터 시작된단것에 전 반대합니다. 하나같이 귀여운얼굴에 세상을 배울 준비를 하고 동심의 세계를 키워야할 초등생들이 자신들의 성적대로 스트레스를 받고 순위가 매겨지고 어떤아이들은 성적에 으스대고 어떤이는 성적표를 감추어야하는 그런 초등학교 교실이 좋다는 겁니까? 내년에 학교를 가는 큰아들 생각에 벌써 머리가 아픕니다. 공부는 자기 스스로 해야합니다. 더욱이 어릴때에는 더욱그렇습니다. 성적이 좋으면 좋은대로 나쁘면 나쁜대로 스트레스를 받는 서열지상주의 교육에 대해 반대합니다.[…]
While some are not satisfied with unfair punishment to teachers, others are also talking about current teachers and schools.
[…] 성추행을 범한 교사에게는 어찌보면 가벼운 벌이라고 볼 수 있는 징계만을 내리고 일제고사를 거부한 교사에게는 해임이라는 벌을 내리는 것은 어찌보면 정부의  과한 벌이라는 생각이 듭니다.
그렇지만 전교조 교사들에게도 문제는 있다고 생각합니다. 일제고사를 반대하는 교사들… 의견은 누구나 가질 수 있고 누구나 자신의 의견을 주장할 수는 있다고 생각합니다. 그렇지만 교장의 허락도 받지 않은 가정 통신문을 가정에 보내고
선생님을 비롯한 어른들의 영향을 많이 받는 아이들에게 일방적으로 일제고사에 대해서 비판한 점은 선생님들께도 문제가 있는 건 아닌가 싶습니다. 우선 어찌되었든 나라에서 실시하는 것인데 이렇게 아이들에게 “얘들아 이건 안 좋은거야. 하지말자”라고 주장하는건.. 아이들에게 어떤 생각을 심어줄까요?
하기 싫은것, 안 해도 된다고 생각하는 것, 내가 판단했을때 옳지 않다고 생각하는건. 그게 어떠한 것이든간에 안 해도 되는거라는 생각이 들 수도 있습니다.
일제고사.. 어찌보면 아이들을 1번부터 줄세워서 판단하는 것임은 부정할 수 없습니다. 하지만 어느정도 필요는 하다고 생각합니다. 물론 시험 결과가 좋지 못한 학생들, 부모님들, 학교측에서는 달갑지 않은 소식이겠지만…지금의 교육 현황이 어떠한지.. 어느 지역이 상대적으로 부족한지.. 어떤 아이가 좀 더 집중적인 교육을 필요로 하는지도 중요하다고 생각합니다
However, I also think that those teachers also have problems. I agree that anyone can have opinions and can vocalize. However, it was not a right behavior that those teachers sent a letter to parents without any permission from principals and criticized ilje-gosa to students who are influenced by adults including teachers. Anyway, the examination will be put in force by the government. But if those teachers just say “this is not good. Don’t do it,” how will the children think about it? They will think that if they don’t want, they don’t have to do it. If they think it is not right, they will not do whatever it is.
Ilje-gosa… it is hard to deny that it will be used to judge children by number. However, I think that that kind of measure is sometimes necessary. Of course it is not good news to students, parents, and schools which don’t have good test results. But it is necessary to know what our education situation is at present, which areas are behind, and who should get more focused education.
Not a few also have different thoughts.
지금은 정보화 시대이다. 일제 고사를 통하여 자신의 현재 수준을 알고 준비하는 것이 왜 나쁘지.. 내가 세상 속 어디에 있는지는 알고 자유를 누려야 하는 것 아닌가..[…]

author: Hyejin Kim


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Puerto Rico: License to Kill Trees · Global Voices
Michael Castro

A recent administrative order by Puerto Rico‘s Secretary of Agriculture has created a shock wave of reactions in the blogosphere. In the island of Puerto Rico if a person had to cut down a tree he/she had to request permission form the island's Department of Natural Resources – that was until recently, when the Secretary of the Agency, Javier Velez Arocho, issued an administrative order that automatically grants a “fast track” permission to anyone who wishes to cut a tree.
The order, which grants permission to cut up to ten trees, is automatically granted to anyone who hands in a photograph of the tree/s in question. Prior to this administrative order, any potential tree-cutter had to justify the reason for so doing and a technician from the agency would visit the site to determine that: a) the tree was not a protected species, and b) the reasons given by the person requesting the permission were sound.
Blogger Ivonne Acosta from Sin Mordazas was the first to raise the voice of alarm, summarizing the administrative order in this post:
Miren lo que se incluye en este permiso de Vélez Arocho:
• las personas que interesen tumbar los árboles pueden obtener el permiso el mismo día
• la intención es agilizar el procedimiento (o sea: que se tumben árboles más rápido)
• aplica a todos los municipios menos Ponce y Carolina (que emiten los permisos localmente)
• la orden administrativa aplica de inmediato y habrá un “técnico evaluador”
• el “técnico evaluador” firmará la autorización el mismo día siempre y cuando los documentos presentados provean información suficiente
• esta “información suficiente” no incluye el examen por parte del DRNA de los árboles a cortarse, basta con que los que quieren tumbarlos presenten dos fotos de cada árbol
• el peticionario debe presentar evidencia de la tenencia de los terrenos donde ubican los árboles a tumbar (o permiso si son estatales o municipales)
Determined to keep her finger on the pulse of the situation, two days after her first entry Acosta republished the island's El Vocero newspaper editorial (ES) and caricature (ES), both of which provided commentary on the latest developments.  She also went a step further and published a petition  (ES), which at the time of this post has been signed by more than a hundred persons.
Other bloggers have joined Ivonne Acosta in what can be considered the biggest blog wave in Puerto Rico's blogosphere to date.  Satirical blog El Ñame (ES) and blogger Edwin Vazques from Cargas y Descargas (ES), who says:
Para los que se estén preguntando por qué el límite de 10 árboles tiene que ver con el sistema métrico.  Tiene que ser.  Seis árboles suena muy anticristo.  Cinco trae cuestionamientos estadísticos.  Uno lo tumba cualquiera sin que el vecino se entere.  Ocho es un número algo estúpido.  Ah, pero diez, he ahí un número redondo.
Other blogs (all ES) have joined in the call for Javier Velez Arocho to revoke the administrative order, including Elco Lao, Mario Nuñez form DigiZen, Siluz from Escribiendo en Vos Alta, Cesar from La Opinion que Nadie Pidió, who, along with Enfogoná from Clientela furiosa writes a moving plea to “save our trees”, Coloquiando con Don Segundo y Doña Bianca which calls for “urgent action” and Pepe Grillo la Guía Verde, who refers to the order as “treecide”.
Myrisa from En el país de los ciegos… has been very pro-active, e-mailing other bloggers and asking them to put comment sections on their blogs so that more people can join the campaign.  Her plea seems to be working – blogger Pegao from Sal Pa’ Fuera has already posted a link on his blog directing visitors to Ivonne Acosta's online petition.  Two Facebook groups have also been created, here and here.
There is no doubt that the Puerto Rican blogosphere is making its voice heard on this pressing issue.
Photo above is of the People's Forest (Bosque del Pueblo) in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico by “Oquendo” on flickr.

author: Michael Castro


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Madagascar: Television station is forced to stop broadcasting · Global Voices
Mialy Andriamananjara

VIVA, one of Madagascar's national television stations, has been ordered by the Minister of Telecommunications to stop broadcasting:
“Suite à la diffusion par la chaîne de télévision Viva d’un enregistrement contenant des propos de l’ancien chef de l’Etat Didier Ratsiraka réfugié en France dans son journal du samedi 13 janvier 2008 vers 20 heures, lesquels propos étant susceptibles de troubler l’ordre et la sécurité publics, la chaîne de télévision Viva est interdite de diffusion.”
The mayor of Antananarivo, Andry Rajoelina is the 30-something owner of VIVA, as well as of other highly successful firms, such as Injet, a communications firm, and Domapub, a highly successful advertising agency, headed by his wife, Mialy Razakandisa, a member of a prominent family.
Rajoelina, known locally as Andry TGV, was elected Mayor of Antananarivo with 63% of the vote in 2007, winning the elections against President Marc Ravalomana's protege, Hery Rafalimanana.  Andry TGV, whose resume uncannily resembles the President's – no college or formal education, but a keen entrepreunerial spirit that has resulted in successful business ventures, difficult relations with the government, a run for mayor – has been at odds with the President and the government ever since his victory.
Last week, the tensions between the mayor and the president were high when VIVA, the mayor's television station, broadcast musings and ramblings by Didier Ratsiraka, the former president of Madagascar, after showing the former presidential picture of Ratsiraka for several minutes, a move criticized by some. Ratsiraka was ousted in 2002, after controversial election results in which both he and Ravalomanana, then the Antananarivo mayor, claimed victory. After a long street protest, blockades by citzens, and the endorsement of Ravalomanana by Western powers, with the noted exception of the then French President, Jacques Chirac, Ratsiraka was forced to take refuge in France. The controversial video shows Ratsiraka harshly criticizing Ravalomanana and is available in Malagasy on dailymotion.com.
Mialisenfout thinks the government must be joking and quotes a minister, Bruno Andriantavison, who once said:
“Les libertés d’opinion et d’expression n’ont jamais été interdites du moment qu’elles respectent les règles du jeu”
Tomavana comments :
“Sky FM [Toamasina], Feon’i Toamasina [Toamasina], Karajia [émission quotidienne de la Radio Don Bosco, Antananarivo] … maintenant VIVA TV … à qui le tour ?”
In the same spirit of jest, Jentilisa
titles :”Ary raha… Viva TV dia avy eo Injet sy domaPub ?”
He then ironically lists all the actions that TGV will take to mobilize the citizens in the capital, Antananarivo, wondering if they will guard him, as they guarded Ravalomanana's home against foreign mercenaries hired by Ratsiraka in 2002.
“Entanin'ingahy amin'izay ny vahoakan'Antananarivo hiambina ny takelaby fanaovana ny dokambarotr'ingahy betsaka sady mbola mahabetsaka ireny ihany. Tena mahavita izany mihitsy ny mponina'Antananarivo tahaka ny niambenana ny teny Faravohitra ka! aza manahy mihitsy ingahy. Ary aza matahotra fa tsy maintsy ho lasa filoham-pirenena ingahy ka! Fa aleo aloha izaho hitondra ka! Mbola tsy ampy taona hitondra ingahy tsinona!”
There have also been lively discussions about Ratsiraka on serasera.org, an online forum, although nobody seems to miss the Ratsiraka era :
“Ny alika no miverina @'ny efa naloany sy ny forongony… Zahay koa efa LEOn'ny nilaha-bary teny @'ny fokontany sy ny Magasin M, ny nilahatra ankisisika bus FIBATA manginy fotsiny, ny kitapo zara raha mahita kitapo tsihy hovidiana, ny cahier kitra kotsan'ny orana… Zany rehetra izany tamin'ny andron-dRatsiraka (1980-1989). Mora manadino ny gasy a!!!!… Amin'izao fotoana mba mahita beurre TIKO hovidiana ihany…”
Ironically, during the same week, the government organized a meeting with all Malagasy political parties, opponents included. The agenda of the December 17 meeting was to permit the free exchange of ideas among political players, and resulted in a proposal to change the laws regulating political parties.  According to the website of the President, the modifications aim to reinforce political parties and permit them to participate more effectively in the development of Madagascar.  The government had commissioned a report on how to reform the regulations regarding the financing and merging of political parties, which in Madagascar currently number in the hundreds. It is noteworthy that this report was produced by two former opponents: Serge Radert and Serge Zafimahova, both ministers during the presidency of Zafy Albert. Zafy Albert is now a rabid Ravalomanana opponent. During the meeting, about 400 million ariary (US$ 218773.53) were distributed among the fifty attending party leaders. About thirty political parties declined to attend.
Serge Radert and Serge Zafimahova later issued a press release on their motivations to write the report and their caveats. They seem not to agree on the use of their report during the December 17 political meeting and already appeared to distance themselves from the results of the meeting. The press release emphasizes:
“nous avons évoqué notre attachement à la liberté d’expression et au libre débat et nous avons évoqué, en particulier, notre ferme condamnation à toute forme de censure et à toute fermeture de médias audiovisuels et de presse écrite, en particulier au niveau de l’actualité, nous avons jugé inopportun la fermeture de la télévision VIVA.”
The tensions are now at the highest, Andry TGV said there were orders arrest him for “fa namory olona mpanao politika tsy nahazoana alalana tetsy @ La Rotonde ingahy ben'ny tanana,” “rallying political people without authorization at the hotel La Rotonde.” The government later firmly denied this and Zombia wondered if Andry TGV was intentionally spreading false rumors.
“Hosamborina i TGV eh
Ohatry ny feo nampatsiahy ahy ilay hoe :”Voapoizina i Hasina eh” na ilay hoe “hosamborina i Zafy eh”
Resaka hanentanam-po ny olona fotsiny, fa ny ol vao mijery hoe iza avy no mpanohitra dia aleo indray miverina mody manidy trano. Fa miandry fotoana ny zavatra rehetra
Iza no mahita raha sarinady anakonana ny fanomezana ny tany 1.000.000 ha ho an'ny Daewoo, sy ny 250.000 ha ho an'ny Indianina fotsiny io”
The arm wrestling continues. During interviews broadcast by no less than three radio stations, Andry TGV then issued an ultimatum, expiring on January 13, for the defense of “freedom of speech and democracy” against the government. But Jentilisa comments :
“paika entina hampakarana ny maripana izany zandry mba hivononan'ny olona hitokona amin'ny voalohan'ny taona a! jereo ange fa saiky nifanitsy tamin'ilay nosoratako tamin'ny lahatsoratro halina hoe ho avy amin'ny fiambenana indray izany ny mponin'Antananarivo eee!”
If everybody feels like News2Dago and Jentilisa, the alleged tactics may not be enough to drag the demonstration-weary population of Antananarivo into the streets:
“Izaho kosa hitazan-davitra ihany fa tsy misy hidirako ny @ izay satria tsy misy hanome ahy ariary na ny andaniny na ny ankilany ny ahy any am-paosiko aza no manaraka @ fandoavaka 6% @ impôt synthetique ho an'Ingahy ben'ny tanana ary ny hetra TVA homena an'i ra8 hozaraina @ ireo mpisolelaka mpanao pôlitika omena 400 tapitrisa ariary be izao (vola be hono no nozaraina teny Mavoloha teny t@ 17 izany adalan'ireo izay tsy te hankeny).”

author: Mialy Andriamananjara


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Mexico: The Christmas Bonus · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

In Mexico, the end of the calendar year means a Christmas bonus called “aguinaldo” .  Vivir México [es] writes that due to the economic crisis, this tradition is in danger of not being paid.


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Morocco: The age of the green car? · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

In a recent blog post, Abdelilah Boukili wonders “is it the age of the green car?”


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MSF’s Top 10 Humanitarian Crises in 2008 · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

MSF (Doctors without borders) has released its annual list of Top 10 Humanitarian Crises of 2008 and the DR Congo, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Somalia and Ethiopia's Somali region made the cut. Several bloggers have commented on the list, including The Road to the Horizon who noted that there was “no under-reporting this year” and Ethan Zuckerman who observed how disconnection affects public health.


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Nepal: The Need of Service Tax · Global Voices
Rezwan

A Little Effort to Change Myself argues that there is a need of service tax in Nepal.

author: Rezwan


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Pakistan: Love Of Arabian Language · Global Voices
Rezwan

The view from behind my specs… comments: “everyone in Pakistan seems to have some strange affiliation with the Arabic language.” Read the post to learn why.


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Peru: Top Ten Moments of Web 2.0 For 2008 · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

El Útero de Marita [es] posts the Top 10 moments of Web 2.0 in Peru in 2008, including the campaign of “adopt-a-Congressman.”


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Press Under Attack in Nepal · Global Voices
Bhumika Ghimire

Even after the restoration of democracy in Nepal, the country’s press has so far been unable to function without threat and intimidation. Violent attacks against journalists, publishers are becoming a common occurrence.
On December 21, activists belonging to the ruling Maoist party attacked the office of Himal Media, the publisher of Himal and Wave Magazine, Nepali Times and Himal South Asian magazine.
United We Blog describes the incident:
“The Maoist cadres vandalized the Himal Media office at Hattiban in Lalitpur and attacked the staffers including the publisher and Nepali Times editor Kunda Dixit, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ashutosh Tiwari, Executive Editor Kiran Nepal and senior correspondent Dambar Krishna Shrestha among others.”
The brazen act has drawn sharp criticism from all major political parties, international free press organizations and the United Nations. Surprisingly, the leadership of Maoist party is silent on the attack.
The latest Maoist attack against Himal Media is yet another addition to the long history of the party’s agitation against Nepal’s free press. Kashish at Samudaya.org, who has been associated with Himal Media since 2000, writes about the history of violence:
“A search of ‘Nepal’ on the website IFJ.org (International Federation of Journalists) or a search on Google with the keywords ‘journalist killed by Maoist’ reveals the brutal history of aggression against the media by the Maoists in Nepal. It is deeply troubling that the same party currently heads Nepal's government. It reminds me of Russian journalists who in recent years have ‘mysteriously’ died. In Nepal, however, it's hardly been a mystery; Maoists have either taken credit or been found responsible for these attacks and murders”.
The reason for violence against Himal Media is widely suspected to be a report published in Nepali language fortnightly magazine Himal, about the activities of Maoist affiliated trade unions.
ChangeinKU has a different take on the incident and the reason behind it:
“Himal Media claims that the Maoists attacked them because of their Feature report in (the) vernacular weekly “Himal.” At the same time, it is an open secret that the Himal Media is terminating jobs also. So, a neutral Nepali, who do not have to earn livelihood by writing in Newspapers, find it very difficult to ascertain who is right and who is wrong. It is quite possible that the Management itself might have carried out this kind of attack to hurry closure of the office to give permanency to the job termination.”
No matter what the reason behind the attack is, it raises serious questions about the Nepalese government’s commitment towards press freedom. In last November the South Asian Journalists Association based in New York raised the same question and included a report from Reporters without Borders on the threats against Nepalese press:
“Acts of violence and intimidation against journalists are still very frequent in the provinces. Journalists are particularly threatened in the southern Terai region, where armed groups hold sway and there are hardly any police.”
The photo blog at MyRepublica has a collection of pictures taken by Bijay Rai after the attack showing injured journalists and damaged office premises.

author: Bhumika Ghimire


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Rising Voices Seeks Micro-grant Proposals for Citizen Media Outreach · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Application Deadline: January 18, 2009
Rising Voices, the outreach arm of Global Voices, is now accepting project proposals for microgrant funding of up to $5,000 for new media outreach projects. Ideal applicants will present innovative and detailed proposals to teach citizen media techniques to communities that are poorly positioned to discover and take advantage of tools like blogging, video-blogging, and podcasting on their own.
As the internet becomes more accessible to more people, including mobile phone users, the so-called digital divide seems to be narrowing. In its place, however, we see a participation gap in which the vast majority of blogs, podcasts, and online video are being produced in middle-class neighborhoods in major cities around the world.
Rising Voices aims to help bring new voices from new communities and speaking new languages to the conversational web, by providing resources and funding to local groups reaching out to underrepresented communities in the developing world. Please visit our current list of grantees for project examples.
The sky is the limit, but unfortunately funding is not. Rising Voices outreach grants will range from $2,000 to $5,000. Please be as thoughtful, specific, and realistic as possible when drafting your budgets.
Successful projects will be prominently featured on Global Voices. Grantees are expected to host regular workshops to train participants how to start and maintain a weblog, upload and share digital photographs, and produce basic videos. Grantees are also required to post regular project evaluations and updates to the Rising Voices website.
Completed applications will be accepted no later than Sunday, January 18. Please submit your completed application on the Rising Voices apply page.
Feel free to ask questions in the comments section below or by sending an email to outreach@globalvoicesonline.org.

author: David Sasaki


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Taiwan: Winners of Citizen Journalism Award · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

Peopo, a unique and successful citizen media project presented by Taiwan's Public Television Service(PTS), just announced the second Citizen Journalism Award winners. The five video reports are about the disaster caused by typhoon, the management of stray animals, taxi drivers’ voices and lives, hoboes’ heath problems, and an old lady who desires to read and learn. However, the very existence of PTS and Peopo as well are under grave crisis because of  government interference.


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Tanzania: Fight against corruption intensifies  · Global Voices
J. Nambiza Tungaraza

Tanzania's fight against corruption has taken a new turn with the arrests of former government officials, ministers and high profile individuals from early November.  Last week for instance, retired Treasury permanent secretary Gray Mgonja was taken to court on allegations of abuse of office and occasioning loss of 11.7b/-.  Mr Mgonja is accused of abusing his official authority by arbitrarily ignoring the recommendations made by the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) not to grant tax exemption to M/S Alex Stewart (Assayers) Government Business Corporation company in 2003.
The appearance at the Kisutu court of Mra Mgonja, of the former Minister for Finance Basil Pesambili Mramba and of the former Minister for Energy and Minerals, Daniel Ndhira Yona late last month has increased the stakes in the fight against corruption in Tanzania. The former ministers were brought to court last month over the same scandal.
In November in another case 20 suspects including business tycoons and Central Bank senior officials were brought to court on charges of conspiracy, forgery, theft and obtaining credit under false pretence through the Bank of Tanzania (BoT)'s External Payment Arrears (EPA) account. The EPA case involves the theft of billions of shillings from the Bank of Tanzania's External Payments Arrears account.
For the best part of 2008 Tanzanians have been waiting to see how President Jakaya Kikwete handles corruption scandals dogging his government. Since the recent arrests, President Kikwete has received praises, even though some are sceptical and are calling for more heads to roll over numerous high profile corruption allegations.
On December 15th, Dr. Faustine of the blog Faustine's Baraza [Sw] gave a tip that the retired Treasury permanent secretary Gray Mgonja was about to be taken to court that morning on allegations of abuse of office. And Bongo Celebrity [Sw] confirmed later on that indeed Mr. Mgonja had appeared in court. Praising the president one reader wrote:
JK BRAVOOOOO!! Umeshaanza kuandikia historia ambayo haijawahi kuandikwa na kiongozi yeyote, si wa Tanzania, Afrika na pengine pia Ulimwengu. Tunaamini kwamba hii ni hatua muhimu sana ya kwanza ili nchi iweze kupiga maendeleo. Bila kuondoa ufisadi nchi haitaweza kupiga hatua zozote za maendeleo.
HONGERA kwa kazi kubwa. TUNAOMBA mwenyezi Mungu azidi kukupa BUSARA na UJASIRI, kwa kuwa hii vita si rahisi na lele-mama kama ambavyo watu wengine wanadhani.
NAOMBA watanzania wote wapenda maendeleo, bila kujali itikadi, tukumbuke ule umoja wetu tuliofundishwa na Mwalimu tumuunge mkono Rais katika vita hii.
MUNGU IBARIKI Tanzania
More hopeful comments were also left in other Tanzanians blogs. In Issa Michuzzi's [Sw] post titled “Breaking neeewwwwwzzzzzz” one comment reads:
Naona mambo yanazidi kuwa mambo. Hawa akina Mgonja waliifanya wizara ya fedha na kodi zetu kuwa shamba la bibi. Ngoja vianze kuwatokea puani. Ngoja sheria ichukue mkondo wake ili liwe fundisho kwa walio kwenye madaraka na wanatumia nafasi zao kuhujumu mali ya umma. Inaweza kusaidia angalau hata kidogo maana hali ilikuwa imefikia pabaya. Mtu anaamua tu kufanya jambo lolote analojisikia ili mradi tu ni mali ya umma. Inasikitisha sana…
While congratulatory comments pour in, others still have doubts about the government's preparedness to go after all high profile figures. In the same post by Issa Michuzi a reader wrote:
hiki ni kiini macho kingine unafikiri kuna cha maana kitakachofanyika zaidi ya kupewa dhamana? halafu kesi kupigwa dana dana hadi watanzania watakaposahau. Kumetokea nini kwa mafisadi wa EPA? wote wako nje kwa dhamana wanakula kuku. vitu kama hivi vinafaidisha vyombo husika vya mahakama kupata posho na hongo kutokana na marekebisho ya masharti ya dhamana. tumeshaushutukia mchezo huu we need to do more and seen to be doing something.
Another sceptic reader at Issa Michuzi's thinks that these corruption charges are part of a political game that started during the last elections:
Nakubaliana na wewe kiasi kidogo kuwa sasa tunaelekea Mahali, Lakini kumbuka kuwa hawa wote wanaopandishwa kizimbani ni kundi la pili ambalo halikuwa upande wa muheshimiwa wakati wa uchaguzi. Hawa walikuwa upande wa Mkapa wakiwa na dhumuni la kumuweka Sumai kwenye kiti hicho. Ambao ndio inasemekana walianzisha fyoko fyoko za Richmond Ili kumuharibia Mkuu asipate tena 2010. Na yeye sasa anawarudia na mbio hizi zinamuelekea Mkapa kama ukichunguza vizuri. Kwahiyo mimi naona huu bado ni mchezo mchafu wa siasa tu.
In all the posts discussing the high profile corruption cases in Tanzania there are calls for more powerful individuals to appear in court. In another post by Issa Michuzi on the EPA case a reader wrote:
Kwa kweli wakamatwe samaki wa aina zote! Nyangumi hadi dagaa! Msituchezee picha halafu mkawaacha nyangumi wakiendelea kututimulia vumbi na ma-epa yao barabarani, na majumba ya mabilioni!…
For more photographs of the accused in court check out the blogs Dr Faustine's Baraza, Issa Michuzi and Mzee wa Sumo here and here.

author: J. Nambiza Tungaraza


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Trinidad & Tobago: A Day in the Life  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

TriniGourmet.com posts “A Day in the Life” flickr photoset.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Ukraine: A Loud Protest · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainiana writes about and posts video of a very loud protest in Kyiv: “On December 22, at noon, Kyivites honked their horns to protest against rampant government corruption and endless power struggles wrecking the Ukrainian Dream amid the country’s deepest economic crisis since the early ‘90s.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova