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Interview with Allamezadeh & Ezati, Iranian Famous Movie Directors & Bloggers · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Global Voices has  interviewed two bloggers who are involved with the magic world of movies: Reza Allamezadeh & Amir Ezati. Let's start with Mr. Allamezadeh.
Reza Allamezadeh is an Iranian famous movie director, writer and blogger. Allamezadeh, based in Nederland, teaches cinema ,  continues his creative career and writes his blog in Persian. Iranian filmmaker released from political imprisonment after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and living in exile in the Netherland since 1982, has been writing and publishing novels and short stories in his native Persian and making a number of films, including 10 documentaries for Dutch television, a feature-length film, and several shorts for children. Many Iranian actors and actresses have collaborated with him including Shohreh Aghdashloo an Oscar nominee. Allamezadeh has always reminded me Costa Gavras. His last work which is a play about Dr. Mossadegh has been a great success among Iranians worldwide.
A scene from play & Mossadegh in Perisan
Reaching Iranian Directly
Q: You have always communicated a social or political message in your movies, documentaries and plays. What is about blog? You consider it as a diary or you try to communicate as usual a political/social message?
A: Interesting thing about blog for someone like me whose works (films, books and…) have been strictly forbidden in his country is that I can communicate with my fellow Iranians inside the country directly and without any supervision. Remember that I have been making films and publishing books during the last four decades and never had the chance to reach my audience in Iran directly. When I started my weblog I was not sure about what I was going to do with it. But now, after more than 2 years regular blogging, I know more than ever what I am doing. It is not a diary in the common sense of the word, nor a social or political statement about recent events. It is just sharing my feelings about things that are not to be said in films or books, sharing them with a vast range of audiences inside and outside my country. I don’t send any message of any kind, in my weblog, however I try to give clearly my ideas and opinions about a novel that I am reading right now, or a film that I have seen last night, and sometimes, of course, about social or political issues that interest me.
Q: For a director like you who has been involved with communication world for years, what is added value of a blog for you?
A: I think I have partly answered this question already in the first part, however I can add to it by referring to the fact that blogging, at least the way I am doing, is more direct, more personal, more casual, even more friendly if you like, comparing with any other means of communication like making movies or writing books and so forth. I feel I am talking to friends that know me and want to hear from me what I am up to, in this or that moment.
Q: How you see the evolution of Iranian blogs in these 3-4 years?
A: The fact is that unfortunately I don’t spend enough time to read Persian weblogs because of the fact that I don’t have enough time. However in general I know that it is growing immensely and is getting more and more attention of the young generation.
Q: In your opinion how can blogs become more interactive and attractive?
A: In my idea most of the blogs are full of the written texts published in web, rather than the multi-media items. There is a fundamental difference between printed materials and multi-media blogs, even if when they deal with the same subject. When you have the possibility of adding sound tracks or video clips to your text, your article will change in all aspects. What I am trying to say is that blogs will be more attractive if the bloggers make use of the multi-media possibilities instead of just writing and publishing the texts in internet.
Allamezadeh is very busy man and  he is always between projects & trips. He kindly accepted to be interviewed and proposed us to use what we can find useful in his blog.
Second interview is with Amir Ezati who belongs to the post revolution generation. He was born  at the end of 60's and has lived in Iran, Turkey and Finland. He has  written reviews, taught cinema and made films. The last but not the least, he has launched a specialised blog, New Wave, about cinema in Persian.
No More Censorship & Instant Contact
Q: What have been your motivations to launch a specialised blog about cinema & movies?
A: Cinema & literature are not only my profession but they are a window to look at the world around me. In reality, cinema is an instrument for me to be in touch with others. Most bloggers try to escape censorship and self censorship. Bloggers try to have a direct contact with their readers. I used to work in different cinema magazines, TV and I was also lecturing in film institutes. Permanently I was in contact with people through mails, phone calls or face to face talk. Blog gave me the chance to be in instant contact with readers. They read your writing and leave you a comment. Comments help blogger to perform his/her work and blogger in his/her turn constructs his / her own identity in the eyes of readers. Reviewing movies through a political, social and psychological point of view is very serious thing for me. May be blogging becomes more serious thing than writing sexual souvenir, jokes or political insults.
I never saw many of these people whose links are in my blog. I thought they are writing in a professional way in their blogs about movies. Mr. FarhadPour and his colleague Mr. Yousef Abazari have an original way to look at cinema and Mr. Esfandyar Monfaredzadeh a famous and great music composer. Unfortunately their blogs have become inactive.
Q: If you can write in a cinema magazine, will you stop blogging? What is added value for your blog?
A: I am writing for Rooz online each Thursday. Blog save you from editor’s censorship and I have a freedom in blogging that I am not going to change that with anything. In Iran I suffered censorship and sometimes my reviews about Iranian movies found nowhere to be published. For example I was the only one who gave a zero point to Glass Agency movie and I talked about hands behind curtain that made it. Magazine which published that went under huge pressure and I was threatened by Ansar Hezbollah.
Q: How you think about Iranian blogs evolution in artistic fields?
A: Artistic fields are not taken, seriously, in consideration in blogs and cinema blogs need a long way to go. If I had financial support, I would publish many good reviews on a site or blog because most of these works were done before revolution and are not really available.
Q: What is about movie directors and blogs?
A: I have not seen one yet. A few have sites but some times even email is not mentioned. They usually prefer to publish their words as short comments. Most artists do not pay attention to direct contact with people who follow their works. I hope they start to understand importance of direct contact and tolerate criticism.


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Iran: An Option for Nuclear Activity · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Omid Memarian, blogger & journalist, says I think the best option for the Islamic Republic is to suspend nuclear activities for such a short time and try to build trust among the International community and then follow the nuclear plan under the IAEA watchdogs. It is better to get off the isolation than enrich 1 gram uranium a month with 164 centrifuge.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: Investment is needed! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Ali Mazroi, reformist politician & blogger, writes that investment is needed to solve country's economic problems such as poverty and unemployment. The blogger adds at present only government investment is possible. Foreign investors and non governmental domestic investors prefer to quit country or wait to see what is happening in Iran (Persian).


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Jamaica, UK: Celebrating Zadie’s win · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

JT at the Caribbean Beat Weblog celebrates Zadie Smith's winning the Orange Prize for Fiction: “Zadie Smith is British but counts as Caribbean on account of her Jamaican mother and the multicultural world she lives in. . . .  Don't worry about the critics who make much of this book being a homage to E.M. Forster and Howards End: it works in its own right. What's so impressive about it is the way it dramatises the cultural divide between younger and older generations, between whites and African Americans, between liberals and conservatives, and the internal divide that haunts everyone of mixed-race, mixed-cultural birth.”

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Kazakhstan: Iranian Ties · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Leila discusses ties between Kazakhstan and Iran in the wake of a meeting between delegations of the two countries.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Kenya: Art & Artists · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Kikuyumoja’s realm begins a series of posts  about art and artists from Kenya

author: Sokari Ekine


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Kenya: Schmucks · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Thinkers Room has a rant at Kenya's MP who he describes as “schmucks.”.……”These yahoos would have us believe that they will stop being the same tribal cabals. That they will suddenly become nationalists. That they now will be smart enough to hit the water if they fell out of a boat.”


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Kenya: World cup rules for men · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

On the eve of the 2006 World Cup which starts tomorow in Germany, Kenyan blogger, Mshairi posts a list of rules to “the men of this world” concerning their behaviour during the 4 week tournament.  “From 9 June to 9 July 2006, kindly note I will be unavailable for football talk. I don’t want to hear explanations about what team or player is doing what – one Ronaldinho is very much like another Ronaldo………………”


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Malaysia: Malaysia vs. Europe · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

A Malaysian politician, currently on a trip to Europe asks on his blog “Why is it Malaysians can match person-to-person the Europeans, but lose out when it comes to nation-to-nation?”

author: Preetam Rai


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Malaysia: Visiting a Market · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Hanny has posted pictures from a street market from the North Malaysian state of Kelantan. The market is mostly run by women entrepreneurs which is interesting as Kelantan is often considered as one of the more traditional places in Malaysia. Hanny says  “The women there are famous for wearing a lot of gold bangles.. So when I was there, I was looking for a lady who wear gold bangles up until her elbow hehehe but I cant find any..”


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Mongolia: Energy Cooperation with China · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Luke Distelhorst reports on talks over coal and energy cooperation betwee Mongolia and China.


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Myanmar: Introducing Myanmar Blogs · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Dathana at Nyein Chan Yar blog introduces other blogs by Myanmar bloggers both inside and outside the country.


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Nepal: Interim Constitution · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Legal News from Nepal on the need for an interim constitution – “Legal experts stressed the need for an interim constitution to legalise the recent achievements of the movement and the declaration of the House of Representatives (HoR).”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Nepal: Prachanda speaks · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! comments on Prachanda, the leader of the Nepal Communist party on television. “Prachanda said that first Maoists should be incorporated in the interim government and the country should talk about developments and bringing in help packages from abroad.”


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Nigeria: Gaddafy on Taylor · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Nigerian blogger Chippla comments on Gaddafy who has “berated the Nigerian government for handing over Charles Taylor to the Sierra Leone war crimes tribunal”.  Chippla wonders whether Gaddafy is concerned about possible revelations by Taylor which could implicate him?


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Nigeria: Woman for President? · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Nigerian blog Cyblug  asks if it is possible for Nigeria to have a female president referring to Nigeria's finance minister Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala


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Nigeria: Youth & the Digital Revolution · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Ore of Ore's Notes blogs about the Nigerian “Youth Empowerment Forum for Digital Revolution” which took place two weeks ago in Lagos.


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Peru: Humala and UPP Go Separate Ways · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Inka writes on Journal Peru that Ollanta Humala will not lead the UPP party. Humala ran under the party banner when his own Nationalist party failed to officially register in time.

author: David Sasaki


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Philippines: Island Biking · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

VillageIdiotSavant blogs about the island life he observed on his bike trip around the Island of Panglao in Philippines.


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Playboy Indonesia and Two Contradictory Opinion · Global Voices
A. Fatih Syuhud

There are two interesting contradictory responses regarding the second edition of Playboy Indonesia which was released from its new office in Bali. Budi Putra thinks  that the second issue is “skinner”:
The edition, which hit newsstands across the country on Wednesday,  offers bolder content than the first.
The first issue on April 7 was a tame affair by the standards of the U.S. original, with less flesh visible than on many beaches, including those on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali, or than in many magazines already for sale in the country.
On why Playboy faces strong opposition in Indonesia:
Even so, the power of the Playboy name as the iconic symbol of relaxed Western attitudes toward sex drew strong opposition in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
Rendy Maulana, on the other hand, feels the other way.  He said he feels lucky to get the second edition and in his opinion nothing pornographic at all in it, at least compared to some other magazines like Maxim and FHM which are available in Indonesia much earlier and without any reaping any controversy.
He even feels sorry to those Playboy Indonesia's editorial boards who have to shift their office and even do not dare displaying ads out of fear to the Muslim radicals’ threats.
Rendy Maulana and many of his blog's commenters seems to be representing the opinion of Indonesian younger generation who support the full-fledge freedom
than, say,  Budi Putra  whose  opinion is able to wisely see the root cause behind the controversy from the  international context.

author: A. Fatih Syuhud


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Poland: “Stalinist War Criminal” Extradition Order · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

J. Otto Pohl explains his support for an academic boycott of Israel: “The state of Israel currently harbors a number of Stalinist war criminals guilty of abusing, torturing and murdering innocent men, women and children in the Baltic States and Poland. Foremost among these criminals is Solomon Morel wanted for trial in Poland. Israel has twice rejected extradition requests from Poland. They claim that the statute of limitations has run out. No other country in the world has a statute of limitations on crimes against humanity and Israel does not apply this limit to Nazi crimes against Jews.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Puerto Rico: La Voz del Centro · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Tinta Digital introduces (ES) “La Voz del Centro”, a radio show on Puerto Rican and Caribbean history and culture whose episodes are also archived online.


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Russia: Ruble Vs Dollar · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Russian parliament may pass a law banning price-setting in foreign currencies. Vilhelm Konnander comments on the implications of such a law: “Banning public use of dollar or euro denominations will have absurd consequences. Looking only at president Putin's recent annual address to the State Duma, it would have rendered him a considerable fine, judging from the number of times he used the “d” word. The new law may also create considerable confusion at the upcoming G8 Summit in Petersburg, as the Duma has recommended the Russian delegation only to use rouble denominations when presenting financial data.”


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Serbia & Montenegro: One Team at World Cup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Serbia and Montenegro will play as one team for the last time in this year's World Cup. Doug Muir of A Fistful of Euros and Srdjan Cvijic of The TransAtlantic Assembly write about the team's chances.


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Singapore: Singapore as a model for South Korea · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Jodi at Asiapages  wonders if Singapore could serve as a model for South Korea's aspirations to be a international business hub. “What struck me most about Singapore though was how I have heard people talk about how Korea is striving so hard to model itself into something sort of like what Singapore is. “


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Somalia: US relations · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

My Hearts in Accra points to an NPR commentary and analysis on the history of US relations with Somalia.


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Somalia: Warlords no where to run to · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Yebo Gogo reports that Somali warlords fleeing the Islamic militia that have taken over Mogadishu are running out of places to run to as Kenya operates a “zero tolerance” attitude towards the warlords.


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Somaliland: Attacks by Somalia · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

The Voice of Somaliland – Diaspora Ottawa writes on the attacks on Somaliland by supporters of former Somali leader Siad Barre.  He believes the supporters are using the present instablility in Somalia to undermine  the gains made by Somaliland towards global recognition


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Storms and rain in Chile  · Global Voices
Rosario Lizana

Pancho Cornejo show us the capital rain collecters in this photo.
The first rain arrived and half of the capital, Santiago, is flooded. One of the main reasons is that the urban ground of the city has erased the natural channel’s that drained the water accumulated in the mountains towards the sea. So now the water stays in the streets. The title of the post of Sebastián (ES) “Why is this big news?” ironically referring to the consequences of the rain, let us understand the citizens’ mood. He explans the reasons “First: because in more than a year that we don’t have rain and we miss it Second: The pollution. Santiago is a valley and the only way to clean the air is the rain, because we don’t have wind. Third: Because Santiago doesn’t have a drainage network and when it rains it’s flooded”. Margot (ES) posts that “they said that the drainpipes collapsed because they are dirty with leaves and litter and in consequence the city flooded”.   “Regions sin Fronteras” (ES) says the streets intersections in the capital are affected by the flood and also refers to the storm in the south of the country which have affected 631 people. El Mercurio (ES) , said the number of victims is closer to 2000.

author: Rosario Lizana


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The Kannada Context: Hear the nature of voices · Global Voices
Sanket Patil

The amplification of small sound bytes effects a joyful reverberation in a large room. I got a few mails/comments for my last post, The Kannada Context: Exclusive Identity and Other Stories. I also got to know interesting people. It is nice to see the feedback from a small, yet vibrant, community. In fact, it is such vibrance that keeps people like Shekhar Poorna young. He's passed the age when we all start feeling “ancient”, long ago; and he works at ungodly hours to keep a community alive. Fortunately, he is getting able support by a set of young enthusiasts. The Hindu has a small story about kannadasaahithya.com, spearheaded by Shekhar Poorna since the last 5 years – A Kannada Connection. There is yet another impressive initiative: a complete Content Management System (CMS) in Kannada, called Sampoorna. The sampoorna team quotes several valid reasons for this initiative. (Note – Most links in this post refer to blogs in Kannada language.)
Shekhar Poorna makes a mention of my last post in his editorial at kannadasaahithya, and gives his own insights about Kannada bloggers. He categorises them, and talks briefly about the nature of each blog. Well, we need voices. More of them, whatever be their nature. Meditative,
thoughtful, provocative, clairvoyant, silly or “othervoice” (er.. sorry about the pun ;) ). Blogs entice you to exercise your freedom. And people get out of inhibitions. Perhaps, that is why, Shubhaprada, who does not know how to read ot write Kannada, attempts a poem in Kannada, about “The time for Dinner”, which is eesentially a time for the family gathering, chinwag, and flow of memory. So what if the script is English, the cuisine is Kannada!
In Rujuvathu, about which I mentioned last time, Jnanapith (pronounced, dnyaa -na- pee- tha) award winner, U R Ananthamurthy writes about the “Modern Civilization and the Fate of the Cow”. He uses the cow as a highly utile metaphor to build his thoughts about cultural differences, effects of modernization and our shortsighted selfishness.
In that era, our disposition that everything that surrounded us was pure, was innate, in the village life. Indeed, the needs of our day to day engagements nourished this feeling. At the centre of this consciousness was the cow; the dwarf cows which were aplenty in the whole of the malenADu [region of rainforests]. Let me proceed after a brief digression. If a cow from our household was sacred, a cow from the neighbourhood was evil. So it seemed. They represented the cows born with ardent hunger that were resolute of leaping over any kind of fence. When we could not any longer endure the annoyance caused by the cattle belonging to the people we were not in good terms with, chances of shunning them to the [community] stable were also counted. The owner should pay a penalty to bail them out from the stable; he should then contrive a time for retribution, so that he can rout our cattle to the stable. [translated]
Through his excellent phrase and colloquial intimacy, he narrates his experiences. He then asks several questions that are important to him and others, like: “We want modernization; at the same time we want the cow to remain sacred. Is that possible?”. You may not agree with a lot of his conclusions, but we all are looking for more arguments, and not more conformance. The site has many other interesting articles, and a section for his English writings too. You may be interested.
Sriram writes another great essay. This time a personal tribute to Kurien, the architect of the Indian White Revolution, or the Milkman of India. Sriram, one of Kurien's students at the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), gives a first hand account of Kurien, the rebel, Kurien, the whimsical, and Kurien, the paradoxical. He also has the same piece in English, on his English blog. If you are interested in Kurien or the cooperative movements in India, you will get useful insights there. An excerpt below.
We as a country needed Kurien in his role at the time he performed his role to perfection. His book gives a peek into how he kept the interests of the dairy farmers as central and played a game of chess to foster their interests. The game of chess could be in competing in the market, and it could also be in preventing the competition through means that were exclusively available to him. During his entire life it is clear that he played a tom and jerry with the government, largely criticizing the government for its policies, making fun of bureaucrats in public, and a posturing of autonomy. At the same time, he used the government, the bureaucrats and all machinery in ways that would keep putting hurdles in the competition.
I want to draw your attention to the first sentence of the excerpt. Very true. We as a country should also learn to accept our icons and heroes as real people. Kurien is representative of all non-fictional heroes, anywhere and anytime.
Dakshina Kannada (or South Canara, a coastal district in Karnataka) Police maintain a blog- spdk, with the purpose of disseminating authentic police news of the district to those who are interested. Though we would not be too amused by Police news, such efforts towards transparency are noteworthy.
Vishwanath rants about “spoilt kids”, dAri tappida makkaLu, of rich and powerful parents, citing several examples. This is, of course, in the wake of the recent “Pulp Fiction incident” of Rahul Mahajan's drug overdose. They are all kids of our “rulers”. What can we say?
Although I am not much aware of other regional language blogs, I can still safely bet that antarangi is one of the most prolific regional language bloggers, at a rate of one fairly long post everyday. He is a self confessed “sinner” (aka NRI), who writes from the US about a variety of topics – the “sickness” of the wall clocks at his home, the insecurity about his immigration status and also gets worked up by debates in the Kannada literary world. Interesting, all in all.
If you want to blog in Kannada, and also want to be a part of a interactive community, create a blog at sampada. You cannot compare it to huge services like blogspot, of course. In fact, H P Nadig, the force behing the sampada drive does not want anyone to do such a comparison, and clearly tells you “what sampada is not”. There are several interesting blogs there. Benaka writes a series of posts on his Japan tour. HPN reviews Media Player 11 beta, and is not amused. He calls is “stale food on a silver plate”, since it only provides new interfaces, and not much else.
taLuku Shrinivas continues with his experiments with the poetry form. Alpazna scripts a “plagiarized but customized for my lover” poem for his lover. Again, we would not talk about the merit of poetry here. tale haraTe is yet another fake news blog. Jeevishivu has a detailed review of Girish Kasaravalli's- an excellent Kannada movie maker- dweepa.
By the way, I should apologise for the delay in posting this round up. Hopefully, I have, at least partially, redeemed myself by pointing to some interesting voices. Till next time then…

author: Sanket Patil


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Ukraine: The Government’s Lies · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Vilhelm Konnander disagrees at length with Carlos Pascual, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, who has written a piece for the Washington Post entitled “Chernobyl's Lesson: A State's Lies Threaten its People and its Sovereignty”: “To be quite blunt, Pascual needs to cut the crap. He does not tell a lie, but he is surely twisting the facts, although he should know better.”


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Ukraine: World Cup Vs Work · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Vilhelm Konnander writes on how the Ukrainian government tries to accommodate the people's need to watch the World Cup, to which Ukraine has qualified for the first time since independence: “[Prime minister's] recipe is to adjust working hours to avoid collisions with matches. Another viable alternative would be to put TV-sets at workplaces. Why? Yekhanurov explains: ‘We can expect an epidemic of various diseases. People will simply report sick in multitudes’.”


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Venezuela: Blog-Journalism Conference · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Luis Carlos (ES), Jorge Letralia (ES), Zinnia Martinez (ES), and José Roberto Duque all partook in the event “Blogjournalism: Your Voice on the Web” at the Central University of Venezuela on Saturday.


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Venezuela: Where Before There Had Been Precise Names · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Iria Puyosa is a Venezuelan blogger who has been finishing her graduate work in the United States. This post describes her return to Caracas last week.
El vuelo sale de Houston. Por las conversaciones que escucho de pasada, parece que todos los gringos que me rodean trabajan en la industria petrolera nacional, en las soberanas empresas mixtas que sustituyen a las asociaciones estratégicas. Menos participación en acciones, pero más retórica patriótica, como corresponde al proceso.
Nadie me había comentado que los trabajos de ampliación del aeropuerto de Maiquetía han avanzado lo suficiente como para hacer del paso por inmigración y aduanas una experiencia más cómoda. Tendencia humana a ignorar lo positivo. Las malas noticias son más apasionantes.
Nobody had told me that the expansion work at Maiquetía airport has advanced sufficiently to make passing through immigration and customs a more comfortable experience. Human tendency to ignore the positive. The bad news is more exciting.
Gregorio, el taxista que viene a buscarme, se convierte de inmediato en pana-pana, aunque hace dos días ninguno de los dos sabía de la existencia del otro. Me advierte que nos toca la peligrosa carretera vieja, porque a esa hora ya está cerrada la trocha, para terminar de construirla. No es así. No hay nadie trabajando en la trocha; iluminación, taludes, señalización tendrán que esperar un largo tiempo, dado el ritmo de trabajo incesante que observo. Lo bueno es que no hay casi tráfico y llegamos pronto a Caracas. Durante el camino, Gregorio me comenta las noticias de quienes andan detrás del volante todo el día. Hay escasez de gasolina; ¿se nos acabó el petróleo? Levantaron el asfalto en muchas calles, para no ponerlo nunca más. Puedo constatar la falta de asfaltado justo entrando en Caricuao. “Ellos”, “esa gente”, son los responsables de los problemas de vialidad, la pérdida de rentabilidad de las estaciones de gasolina y la inseguridad. No me hace falta preguntar quienes son “ellos”, pero no puedo dejar de notar ese rodeo para no nombrar. Lo seguiré notando durante toda la semana; taxistas, peluquer@s, mesoner@s, emplead@s de barra, asignan la responsabilidad a “ese señor”, “esa gente”, “ellos”. ¿Por qué estos sujetos indeterminados donde antes había nombres precisos


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Vietnam: Summer in Hanoi · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Our Man in Hanoi  encounters aircon politics while trying to beat the  rising temperatures in Hanoi. “Worst of all is air con politics at work.  Us Tays would like to shiver in 16 degrees.  Locals like it somewhere around 28.  My Vietnamese colleague who wears little t-shirt and skirts in summer says she will be sick if I turn the air con down again.  But I've tried to explain that my long trousers and shirt is the very least I can wear.  But she could wear a cardigan.  “Why would I wear a cardigan,” she says.  “It's summer”.”


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Zimbabwe: Blogs under threat · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Zimbabwean Pundit writing on Enough is Enough points to a series of links covering all the Zimbabwean blogs – blogs that would come under threat if the proposed IC Bill goes through


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Zimbabwe: Rising prices and outreach programmes · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

The Bearded Man comments on the increasing cost of living of basic food products in Zimbabwe and the start of an outreach programme by Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC in Zimbabwe.


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60th Anniversary of King Bhumibol Adulyadej · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

People in Thailand are celebrating King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 60th anniversary of his accession to the throne.
Andrew Biggs describes the celebrations, part of which is a procession by royal barges on the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok.
Personally, I had my own amazing experience. Yesterday afternoon, i was at the Royal Barge Procession rehearsal. I watched those 52 majestic barges sail down Chao Phraya River. Then, as the sun went down, I cross the river to get to Snam Luang and then Rama 4. As I crossed the river, I saw hundreds of thousands iof Thais lighting candles paying homage to His Majesty the King. Many stood on the bridge against the backdrop of Wat Arun, which was lit up beautifully. It was one of the most stunning things I have ever seen.
Agam's Gecko gives the reasons for the King's popularity.
There really is no doubt about it: HM the King is the most deeply loved and revered monarch anywhere in the world. There is a reason for that. Throughout his life, he has exemplified the very highest model of what a monarch should be for his people. And in return, his people — of every religion and ethnic group, from the hill tribe peoples of the north to the Muslims of the south — love him with all their hearts. Having watched this relationship over the past 15 years, particularly his skillful guidance through times of crisis, I can truthfully say that I love him too.
My Thailand Diary maintained by a Lilian, a Swiss resident in Thailand agrees with the above sentiment
The King will make a public appearance today, standing on the palace balcony to greet the tens of thousands waiting for him. His Majesty has truely won the heart of his people! And Thai people express it in a way that is seldom seen anywhere else in the world. All the Thai people today, whatever their politics, birthplace, religion or creed, exclaim with pride in their hearts: ‘’Chai Yo'’ and ‘’Long Live the King.'’
Kitty at See What the Cat Drags in blog links to the translation of the King's speech on the occasion.


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Africa: Solar fridge · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Timbuktu Chronicles highlights the imporantce of alternative technologies in Africa  in this case a fridge that runs on solar energy.


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Argentina: BBC Blog Guidelines · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Argentine blogger Mariano Amartino celebrates the employees blogging guidelines published at the BBC (ES), which he has translated into Spanish.


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Armenia, Azerbaijan: Karabakh’s Position · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

The Basturma Chronicles offers up a paper examining the dynamics of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh.


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Belarus: Homophobia · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

TOL's Belarus Blog highlights homophobic attitudes that seem to be prevalent in the country and are even shared by the otherwise progressive politicians: [Artur Finkievich, a leading “Youth Front” activist] said that if his organization comes to power, they will treat those who has non-traditional sexual orientation as monsters. They will limit such people so they couldn’t work with children, couldn’t take any governmental posts…”


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Burundi: Crime pays · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Agathon Rwasa reports on the jailing of yet another journalists whilist war criminals are rewarded with government posts in Burundi


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Cambodia: Book on Cambodian History · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Andy in his blog talks about a new book on Cambodian history “A book arrived through my letterbox today for review, namely John Tully's A Short History of Cambodia : From Empire To Survival, courtesy of Australian publishers Allen & Unwin. Thanks guys. Its a 270-page book intended for tourists, students or general readers wishing to find out more about Cambodia's history.”


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Cambodia: Buddhist Monks and Football · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Vutha in a post titled Reaction to watching World Cup 2006 compares the reaction of various people on monks watching the World Cup matches. “Meanwhile, there are different reactions to Buddist monks watching football match because they think that it is against the Buddisht faith and monks are required to challenge discipline and to learn if they watch sports. Another opion raised that monks can watch footbal World Cup but not allowed to scream, cheer with a angry face or happy feeling and bet money on football match.”


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Caribbean: Hurricane unpreparedness? · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

As hurricane season begins, Taran Rampersad worries that “the Caribbean in general can't handle a Category 3 hurricane. All everyone is discussing at this point is how fast one can recover”.

author: Nicholas Laughlin


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China: Desperate football housewives · Global Voices
John Kennedy

“Everyone has their own way of celebrating or dealing with the inconveniences of the World Cup,” writes Shanghaiist blogger Peijin Chen of pregnant Chinese women who have painted soccer balls on their bellies in ‘Desperate football housewives.’

author: John Kennedy


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China: University entrance exam · Global Voices
John Kennedy

China's nightmarish university entrance exams wrapped up today. Seen in a post from Danwei‘s Joel Martinsen are rumors that ‘full-mark’ essays from the composition section are already being collected for publishers with response anthologies in the works.
“In the days following the exam each year,” Martinsen writes of Gao Kao (高考) the annual test which often leads several senior high school under pressure to kill themselves, “the national media is filled with analyses of the essay questions. Papers invite big-name authors to reflect on the topics or to try their hand at answering them.”


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China: Yahoo and the law · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Chinablawger Kevin Fisher blogs in response to an article from a journalist advocacy group which condemns internet company Yahoo for cooperating with Chinese authorities in imprisoning Chinese journalists:
“These Chinese reporters were guilty of things like forwarding a governmental email to foreign reporters.  In the case of one Chinese journalist, Shi Tao, he emailed a warning to Chinese writers to avoid topics about Tiananmen during the event's anniversary. Apparently the reporters were using Yahoo to send such pro-democratic information around the world. The Chinese enforcement agencies went to Yahoo and demanded information about the account and discovered that Shi Tao was the owner of the account. Chinese police then arrested him.”


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Costa Rica: Opening the World Cup · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Costa Rica opens up this year's World Cup against host country Germany and “Ticos,” as Costa Ricans call themselves, couldn't be more excited … and nervous. Fusildechispas describes just how many people worldwide will be watching the game (ES). Bob Glass says that, despite Germany's predicted win, the Costa Rican team remains optimistic. The high school-aged nephew and friends of My Dos Colones: “They said, the only hope they had, was that Germany does not embarrass Costa Rica with a score of like 10-1.”


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Cote D’Ivoire: Soccer and National Reconciliation · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Rewmi Abidjan posts an interview with Blaise Compaore, President of Burkina Faso in which he (Fr) denies landing support to rebels in the North of Cote d'Ivoire and weighs in on the Ivoirian soccer team: “The team mirrors pre-conflict Cote d'Ivoire: united, entrepreneurial and open(…) This team will give Ivoirians an image of what they all look forward to: national reconciliation.”

author: Alice Backer


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DRC Roundup: Elections, Mining Corruption, Peacekeepers & More · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

With July 30th elections fast approaching, the blogosphere's attention remains fixed on the Democratic Republic of the Congo's uncertain political future.
Congolese opposition bloggers continue their criticism of the elections and of a political transition process they see as unfair, while Western bloggers and expatriates in the Congo write about foreign media coverage of the DRC and an international peacekeeping force some say is wholly inadequate to the task of maintaining stability for the elections.
Elections
Congolese opposition bloggers continue to question the integrity of the upcoming elections, and what prospects exist for a united and politically stable Congo if the process of forming the first post-war government is not fair, inclusive and transparent.
Philippe Lomboto Liondjo, writing for Anthony Katombe's blog, Prince du Fleuve Congo, thinks the situation is dire. Citing recent repressions of the opposition by the current government, Liondjo describes, a highly volatile situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that is (Fr) “on the verge of exploding”:
Une fois encore, les événements de ces dernières semaines nous amènent à jeter un regard critique sur la Transition en cours en République Démocratique du Congo. Et le moins que l’on puisse dire est que les conclusions qui s’imposent suite à cette analyse sont de nature à renforcer l’image d’un désastre non seulement annoncé, mais annonciateur d’une plus grande catastrophe qui risque d’engloutir pour de bon cette pauvre nation qui a pourtant déjà connu bien des malheurs.
En effet, après les dérives et autres erreurs stratégiques dans la conduite de la Transition en elle-même, après les questionnements- au demeurant toujours sans réponses claires- sur l’identité de la « haute hiérarchie » et que certains nomment la « congolité», après les arrestations et détentions arbitraires d’individus dont le seul tort est de poser des questions démocratiques et après…détournements scandaleux de deniers publics et autres méfaits sans noms, après de multiples mais fausses tentatives de coup d’état,… Et après tout cela nous sommes en droit de dire que c’est dans une atmosphère viciée et extrêmement volatile que le pays vit.
À cause de tous ces « mensonges d’état », le Congo est au bord de l’explosion, à l’instar d’un volcan réveillé par toute une série de tremblements de terre. Ces mensonges qui se répandent comme un venin mortel, comme un virus qui, lentement mais sûrement, gangrène tout le pays.
Le Pangolin looks (Fr) more broadly at elections in Africa, including recent and upcoming contests in the Congo, Chad, Gabon and Benin, and suggests why in many cases, elections have failed to bring lasting peace, stable governments or a permanent resolution to outstanding political conflicts.
Car depuis le retour du multipartisme (même de façade) et la pression légitime des peuples à se choisir souverainement ses dirigeants, aisni d'un côté l’Afrique recense très peu d’expériences d’élections qui ne souffriraient d’aucune contestation de la part de l'opposition au pouvoir et de l'autre côté beaucoup d'élections font l’objet des contestations conduisant parfois à des violences ou des intimidations de la part de ceux qui détiennent le pouvoir.
Une autre caractéristique de ces élections c’est cette impression que l'issue est connue d’avance du fait même du peu de renouvellement  qu’elles devraient normalement opérer. Cette situation dans beaucoup de cas conduisait l’opposition à jeter l’éponge pour ne pas porter sa caution à une honteuse mascarade, c’est le cas du Tchad récemment…
Les tenants des élections comme mode de prise de pouvoir face à des dictatures ou des situations de guerre civile, pensent qu’elles ont la vertu d’éliminer la violence et d’installer la démocratie. On peut toujours évoquer le cas de l’Afrique du Sud et du Libéria, mais ces deux cas restent minoritaires, car on a vu que les dictateurs qui avaient été battus aux élections revenaient au pouvoir par la force comme au Congo ou par des élections (Didier Ratsiraka, à Madagascar, Mathieu Kérékou au Bénin). Et que ces élections ne permettaient pas de façon suffisante de prétendre que la démocratie fonctionnait et que le pays était « pacifié ».
…la fonction assignée aux  élections est celle de servir à légitimer un pouvoir obtenu par la force,  face à la pression interne et aussi des institutions internationales qui cherchent à se couvrir de l’opinion publique de plus en plus importante dans les débats et choix électoraux se déroulant dans des systèmes réellement compétitifs des pays occidentaux.
Pro-Kabila March
Writing for the Le Blog du Congolais, which has been highly critical of President Kabila, Anthony Katombe describes  a pro-Kabila march organized by the People's Party for Reconstruction and Development (PPRD) that took place on May 31st in Kinshasa and contrasts it with the May 24th protests organized by the UPDS, an opposition party:
Et pour cette marche, personne n’a reçu ni gaz lacrymogène dans les yeux, ni matraque dans les côtes. Et même le dispositif de sécurité n’a pas été aussi imposant que celui du 24 mai 2006, alors que l’affluence de ce jour était plus importante et en valait largement la peine. Aucun leader du PPRD n’a été ‘‘sécurisé’’ par le ministre PPRD de l’intérieur et aucun problème d’autorisation ne s’est posé
Mining Contracts & Corruption
Musengeshi Katata  of Forum Realisance writes about the Lutundula Commission which one year ago examined mining contracts with foreign companies made by various rebel groups and the government.  The report found that (Fr) “dozens of these contracts were illegal and of questionable value to the development of the country” and recommended that all contracts be annuled.
After the report was sent to the National Assembly, it took more than eight months for it to be distributed.  Members of the Commission were also threatened or harassed. Katata blames the delay on (Fr) “pressure exerted by high-level politicians who were cited in the report and by the major political parties that wanted to bury it before the elections, originally scheduled for May.”
…ne soyons pas aveugle, toutes les causes de la guerre civile congolaise, des querelles armées et sanglantes de petits,…c´était justement ces contrats illégaux d´exploitations minières illégitimement contractées au détriment de l´intérêt du peuple congolais et de son développement. Les sociétés étrangères qui s´abaissèrent à ce bas et sournois marché sont aussi celles qui fournirent les armes avec lesquelles leurs marionnettes, pour justifier ou assurer leurs fallacieuses intentions, créèrent le désordre dans lequel il serait plus aisé d´asseoir, pensaient-ils, leurs opulentes traîtrises
Peacekeepers
In the last DRC roundup, I wrote how Musengeshi Katata in Forum Réalisance thought that Germany's recent decision to send its own soldiers to augment the 17,000 strong, multinational peacekeeping force in the DRC represented “an encroachment of the Congo’s sovereignty” and wondered “if despite its intended purpose – to provide support for the election – it might not end up intimidating people.”
This week, Ali writing for The Salon, argued that the German force was more for show than anything else given that many of the troops would actually be stationed in Germany or Gabon.  In a comment, Bill from Jewels in the Jungle, , goes even further to writing that “The entire EU Security Mission for these upcoming elections in the DRC is a shameful farce.”
Coverage of the Congo in Mainstream Western Media
Jewels in the Jungle has been closely watching media coverage of the DRC in major Western media outlets and has noticed a trend which suggests “the DR Congo is “in the house” of mainstream international TV news media in a very big way.” Jewels presents highlights of a CNN interview with DRC President Joseph Kabila in which Kabila said he was “shocked” to learn about the thousands of rape victims in eastern Congo.   Time Magazine cover story “Congo: The Hidden Toll of the World's Deadliest War”
Electrical Theft
Kim Gjerstad writes about a boy he saw electrocuted while attempting to wire a nearby house.  One reader questioned whether the photograph of the dead boy hanging from electrical wires should have been posted at all, and in response to Gjerstad's explanation that “electric theft [is] all too common in Congo,” another reader had this to say:
The sad part in your story is the word “THEFT” that described the poor boy. I call it “BRAVE”, there's nothing wrong about using courrage to get out of darkness, especially when you don't have a voice in society and the government don't care about the little people.

author: Jennifer Brea


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Estonia: Homophobia and Racism · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa and Estonia in World Media (RUS) report that  the Dutch Ambassador has decided to leave Estonia due to the recent racist and homophobic attacks on his partner.


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Guyana, Barbados: Happy birthday, Carter and Lamming · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Geoffrey Philp sends birthday greetings to two major West Indian writers: the late Guyanese poet Martin Carter, and the Barbadian novelist George Lamming.


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Haiti Rejoins CARICOM · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Collectif Haiti de Provence points to an  AFP article that announces (Fr)Haiti's official rejoining of Caricom. Haiti temporarily ceased being a member of the 15-country Caribbean body in 2004, after the fall of then President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. CARICOM invited President Preval to attend the organization's next summit in July in St. Kitts.


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Hong Kong: Chinese author porn · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Roland Soong at EastSouthWestNorth translates an essay making waves on a Chinese BBS recently written by a woman calling herself the Franz Kafka of China. In a bid to draw readers to her works, Daiqin (黛秦) provided some illustrations: photos of her naked and in a bra. Readership rocketed.


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India buzzing …music, films,football, cricket, fuel crisis and 24/7 media · Global Voices
Kamla Bhatt

For a third week in a row there appears to be no respite for Indian bloggers.  We had various stories vying for our attention: the fuel hike, the Rahul Mahajan case, Cricket in West Indies, the World Cup…and given this constant stream of stories is at any surprise that there is yet another collaborative blog from here? And guess what Bollywood fans are no longer confined to the Indian community….there appear to be more takers for them at the International level.  Then there is IT with IBM and Motorola announcements, Apple pulled out of India. But, wait I am not covering the developments in the IT sector. Phew! Bloggers certainly had a lot on their plate.
But, before we begin on a serious note, why not start on a lighter note and segue into the more serious issues? So let us begin with some naach/gana or song and dance …
Here is  a video clip from YouTube on a Indian version of the famous Beatles song, “I wanna hold your hand.; Thanks to Asia Pundit for this. This clip has been making the rounds in the blog world for a while now. This song clip is from an old Hindi film with the Indian Elvis Presley/Jerry Lewis: Shammi Kapoor, an actor famous in the 1960s and 1970s. Here is a link to Shammi Kapoor's website, who was one of the first Indians to jump on the Indian bandwagon many moons ago. Whoever said tha globalization is a 21st century thing? Note: Google Video is not available in India, so YouTube has emerged as the default video tool of choice in India.
Let us stay on the same topic and move to the entertainment  choice for many Indians: films.  And, here we will look at Bollywood (Hindi films). This is a topic/subject/theme that appears to unite bloggers online and bring them different parts of the world.
Bollywood:Digging around the digital world it appears that the interest in Bollywood is seeing a steady increase. These pot-boilers, as Indian reviewers like to sometimes label Hindi movies, have got some international fans who can't seem to get enough of all things Bollywood. There are two Bollywood blogs in German. Michael Langhans's Bollywoodblog is a dedicated Bollywood lover and faithfully covers and the major trends and new films in the Hindi film industry. And here Babasko from Vienna, Austria with his Baba Aur Bollywood blog in German. A Bollywood blog in Dutch, and even though I cannot read Dutch I read in-between the lines and looked for familiar sounding words or phrases. I spotted Surinam and connected the dots, and I suspect this blogger must have some connection to Surinam and maybe the Indian community in Surinam. En ought of my deductive skills. Even if you cannot read Dutch do go and see the vivid and colorful Bollywood posters.
Peter Grossman has a blog that is semi-automated and multi-lingual (German, Portuguese, French, Italian, Japanese and Chinese…phew! that is a whole lot of languages there). You can check out Peter's blog titled Bollywood Rumors and catch up on the latest news and gossip.
Rahul Mahajan:Live TV and sensational TV coverage has arrived in India. No questions about it, but many viewers are not sure if they like this new trend that MSM is pushing on its viewers. The big story everywhere from blogs to MSM was the Rahul Mahajan case. All other stories were put on the back burner for a week. Rahul is the son of a well-known politician Pramod Mahajan, who died last month after his brother shot him. Mahajan senior was a political strategist and a major force behind India's BJP party. Last week Mahajan junior get together with his dad's secretary and others took a horrible turned and turned tragic. Drugs and alcohol are the supposed substances that killed Mahajan senior's secretary.
Bloggers reacted, and my how they did! The underlying theme appears to be why is MSM obsessively covering this event?
Here is what Sudheer Narayan of SN Times blog has to say on the subject and questions why the media focused so much of attention on this event. Amit Varma of India Uncut is also had it with the saturation of this story by MSM, and read his blog to find out why. I too pitched in my views on this subject. That old familiar feeling of the Anita Hill case, OJ Simpson coverage by US media came back to me as I watched this terrible whodunit unfold on live TV. And I wondered if MSM had run out of stories in this country of one billion people?
Hari Sarvanan wonders why MSM still continues to cover this story and says: ” Please do not flash Rahul's arrest in 1st page and report President's action in Page 10. Please discourage negative publicity and encourage good stuff…for a difference!”
Here is Siddharth Vardarajan, a MSM member, of Reality, One Bite At A Time, take on on the subject: But, Siddharth has narrowed his focus to address the issue of live confessions on TV. Is this a print media vs. TV issue?
Fuel Hike:
The Indian government increased the price of petrol/gas by Rs. 4 per litre. This increase has created a heated debate about the pros and cons of the Indian government's fuel policy.
Here is Niraj's take on India's’ oil price and the long-term impact. ” Living in the United States, I bare the brunt of increasing oil prices. Honestly, it has changed my behavior…But as long as India continues to shield its people, in a futile attempt at paternalism, from rising oil prices, it should remember it is only postponing the inevitable. There will be a day of reckoning.” And Manish from Hoshiarpur in Punjab looks at this entire fuel crisis on a lighter vein. I have not seen many bloggers from this part of Punjab.
Carpooling seems to be next logical step and Sreejit talks about what appears to be India's first online carpooling website. Go commuters!
Sports:
Two sports had Indian bloggers pre-occupied: cricket and the up-coming world cup. Watching and reading sports-related blogs reminds me of the change in the sports season in the USA: when the baseball season comes to a close and the football season starts. Indian sports lovers are gearing up for a month-long world cup football bonanza. But, first let us look at cricket.
Cricket: The touring Indian cricket team put up a great fight against the West Indies at Antigua. First, here is Kartikeya of Cricketing View, who labels the Antigua match as a memorable one, and read his blog to find out what else he has to say about this particular match. The game had its high moments when the current poster boy of Indian cricket Mahinder Singh Dhoni was declared out under some interesting circumstances.
Read Chirag's take on the Mahinder SIngh Dhoni episode. And, then there is Sakshi Juneja who shares her take on the subject of Dhoni and the West Indian cricket captain Brian Lara. Nothing unites Indian bloggers like a good game of cricket and here are some more bloggers sharing their view on the subject. Amit questions the way the game ended and says:: ” Staying awake till 3.30 am for two consecutive days only to see a winnable test match ending up in a draw, is not a good feeling. And you feel even worse when you see that the captain of your team is not sad for not being able to win the match…” Read on to find out what else he has to say on this subject. Ankur Nagpal shares his thoughts on what is turning out to be a much-talked about cricket match.
Football: The world cup in Germany has generated quite a bit of excitement. Bloggers have built a feverish pitch to this month-long celebration of the sports. Iyerospace prefers not to call this frenzy as “football fever,” but as fahrenheit. Read why he describes it this way…it is a pretty humorous post.
Indians are the biggest viewers of the football cup says Paavan from Ahmedabad.
Here is Pratyush Khaitan of Sportoloysis who blogs exhaustively on all things sports in his blog. Predictably this sports addict has lots of entries on football and India.
Dreamchasers has a post on mobile phone service providers and how they are tapping into the world cup mania in India.
Babita writes in her blog on how she is gearing herself up to watch the world football cup. She writes: “Today is the first day of football (soccer) as it is called in india world cup 2006.i am gonna try and watch every match since i have taken a pledge to enjoy my vacation to its best.”
Dilip D'Souza shares some interesting tidbits about what drives drives a female football and his quest came to an abrupt end when he clapped his eyes on a Times Of India article, hold your breath, Football Goes Bust.…and has dashed off a letter to the newspaper asking for some more information on this subject. Read for yourself on what he has to say.
An Indian fans wonders aloud in his blog, appropriately titled Reflections: “When, oh when will we see the Indian flag flying atop a pole during a world cup soccer match? I hope in my lifetime! “Finally to the last thread in this post: the latest collab blog from India. This one is called Hafta Magazine , which translates to mean one week (that is one meaning and there are others) and every Monday you can expect to see new posts on various subjects. This collab blog is more like a magazine. Go check it out.

author: Kamla Bhatt


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India: Politics of Rape · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Guptavati writes on the politics of rape. “Rape.Sexual Abuse..These words stir up something very primitive, a fear,a reaction so primordial in me that it defies logic,reasoning and everything else in me that swears by my usually dry rationality.”


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India: Predictions for World Cup · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Bills of Lading makes predictions for World Cup 2006. If you're betting, please head over there and educate yourself a bit! “I was a 10-year old cricket obsessed kid during France '98 & the football World Cup meant nothing much to me. I only saw the finals & immediately took a liking to the game. Zidane became my new hero & Croatia my favourite team. But a lot has changed since then.”


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Indonesia: Warning to Radical Groups · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Indonesian blogger Marting Manurun in his post titled Radicals, beware! points to an announcement by Indonesian government that warns radical groups that the government would take serious actions against them. Martin asks “Now, with all the rhetoric, will the government finally face them strictly? Don’t think of making ‘special laws’, or another ‘anti-terrorism’ law, to face them. Just use the authority provided by the Civic Code (KUHP) as it has already had all that needed to stop them.”


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Iran: Boring Holidays · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Hanif Mazroi writes that most Iranian people get bored during holidays because they do not know what to do with their free time. The blogger adds there are only a few leisure places in Tehran and the young do not know where to consume their energy. He says rich people take a trip to outside or inside Iran and have a good time and the others should get bored (Persian).


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Iran: Persian Without Accent! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Shahr-e-ghese published an advertisement from an Iran based journal. This advertisement invites Iranian from different regions to learn to speak Persian without accent (Persian).The blogger has been surprised by reading that.


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Jamaica: The “neighbourhood crackhead” · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

“The murder rate has hit its all time high in Jamaica, but yet sometimes I feel very removed from it. Nobody in my family seems to be perturbed,” begins Back on the Rock, as she tells the story of the “neighbourhood crackhead” who keeps stealing things from her house in Kingston.


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Kazakhstan: Joining the BTC · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Ben Paarmann notes that Kazakhstan has finally officially announced it will join the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and gives an overview of the country's oil export options.


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Kenya: African blogosphere · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Kenyan Pundit sings the praises of an innovative and fast developing African blogoshphere.


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Kenya: Perils of coffee picking  · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

For the coffee addicts of the world, Cock and Bull Stories posts on the harzards of picking coffee – “When they tell you; ‘Finish you food, there are kids starving in India’, they should also add, ‘Drink up you coffee, there’s probably a boy in Kenya whose genitals are hanging up a tree.’


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Kenya: World Cup Indeed · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

MentalAcrobatics manages to link maths to football – well its here – World Cup 2006 and I have already missed 6 minutes !


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Kiskeya: Amnesty International Criticizes OAS   · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Collectif Haiti de Provence points to a Radio Kiskeya article which states (Fr): “Amnesty International criticized the Organization of American States (OAS) harshly for its complacency vis-a-vis blatant violations of human rights perpetrated against many on the continent, including Haitians in the Dominican Republic.”


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Kyrgyzstan: World Cup Betting · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Tolkun Umaraliev says that “World Cup Crazies” in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh are getting together throughout the competition to bet on and watch the games.


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Latin America: Friday Poll Numbers · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Boz's Friday poll numbers this week show the neck to neck race in Mexico presidential race as well as an electoral map from Peru's recent election.


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Latin America: World Cup Weblogs · Global Voices
David Sasaki

In addition to José Luis Orihuela's list of weblogs in Spanish dedicated solely to the World Cup, Colombian blogger Blue Elephant will be writing contributing to the football poetry at fulbo.net. Finally, from El Salvador, “Hunnapuh” took a look at site statistics to find that page views were extraordinarily low today. Half of those who did visit the page, came to download an Excel version of the World Cup calendar.


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Bolivia: Is Morales Delivering? · Global Voices
David Sasaki

MABB asks readers “is Morales Delivering?” Buitrago is convinced that he is: first with the nationalization of hydrocarbons and now land reform.


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Martinique: New Digicel Billboards · Global Voices
Alice Backer

In the aftermath of Caribbean Telecom Giant Digicel's purchase of local telecom Bouygues, InternetRapide.com describes  (Fr) changes in the billboard landscape: “We can already see new 4X3 billboards on the sides of [local] roads. After the mainly blue Bouygues billboards (…) the red of Digicel will compete with the blooming flowers of  Flamboyant trees.”


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Moldova: Village Wine-Drinking Music Video · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Peter Myers of Adventures in Moldova posts a music video (origin and performers unknown, I guess) that shows Moldovon countryside and local wine-drinking traditions.


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Mongolia: Rejected Press · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Luke Distelhorst reports that a Mongolian journalist was turned away from a corporate press conference because that journalist has done a good job reporting on the company in the past.


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Nepal: Football fever · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! on football fever as remembered from 1990 and other times.


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Nigeria: ND kidnappings  · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Unilag faces reports on the kidnapping of Korean oil workers by Niger Delta militants...


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Oil Wars: Auding the Voters’ Registry · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Oil Wars writes that Venezuela's voters’ registry “was thoroughly audited in late 2005 by an independent outside agency which found that it was a largely accurate and was completely appropriate to serve as the basis for elections.” Miguel Octavio, however, is skeptical, calling the audit “Simply one more fraud.” Daniel Duquenal has gone into length about how he says the National Electoral Council inflates the registry.


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Poland: Equality Parade to Take Place Saturday · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Poland's Equality Parade will take place Saturday; Becca of Boo writes on her plans to participate and also muses about the importance of “standing up for fundamental rights in what should be a modern, European state” at p3. The beatroot and p3 report that the All-Polish Youth decided to cancel Saturday's “Intolerance Parade.” The beatroot also writes about how the Euston Manifesto relates to Poland.


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Russia: Assaulted Activist Wins Lawsuit · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Muckraked reports that Ivan Pavlov, the human rights lawyer who was attacked last week, won the lawsuit against Russia’s Bureau of Standards and Measures, which he believes had caused the attack.


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Russia: G8 Security and Domestic Issues · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Domestic politics seems to somewhat interfere with the attempts of St. Petersburg police to provide security for the upcoming G8 Summit (July 15-17). LJ user aneta_spb, a journalist, retells a friend's story (RUS):
There's been much noise in the [state-funded] mass media about pre-Summit security, about fighting xenophobes, fascists and [skinheads]… Arrests have already been made because of this, apartments have been checked. Just in case, they do check-ups at random apartments – cops show up, check registraiton papers and if there are young people in there, they are being interrogated on the subject of their belonging to the “extremist” organizations…
But today they came to an anti-fascist activist (who is no longer 20, far from it), or, to be more precise, to her elderly parents, and told them that their daughter was on the extremists list, that she was against the existing regime…
The parents responded cleverly – can't one be against the government in this country or what?
They promised to the parents to keep their daughter under surveillance. […]
LJ user domohozjayka responds with a joke:
- Who is it?
– It's us, the cops.
– What do you want?
– To talk.
– How many of you are there?
– Two.
– Well, why don't you two talk to each other?
Later, domohozjayka adds three more possible ways of dealing with the police, of her own creation:
[…]
1
– Who is it?
– Please open the door.
– I wasn't asking for advice on what to do. I was asking who's there.
2
– Who's there?
– Open up, it's the police.
– Oy, no, I'm scared, I don't know you.
– Look into the peephole – I'm wearing uniform.
– Oy, but I don't know you in uniform, either.
3
– Who's there?
– Open up, it's the police.
– It's a mistake, I didn't call the police.
– No, you didn't. I've come by myself.
– It's the wrong apartment.
(what follows is too long and boring)
A few comments later, LJ user shavu posts a wonderful excerpt (RUS) from Sergei Dovlatov‘s story about how he was always ready for visits from the Soviet police – thanks to a local drunk who used to warn him.
***
This almost cosy image of a 1970s Soviet kitchen – with homegrown dissidents telling political jokes and reading banned literature – is suddenly interrupted, however, by aneta_spb‘s proactive journalistic approach:
I'm getting in touch with various cops. Press service is demanding that I send them a written request (ha-ha). But we'll choose another path. I've fished out phones of several deputy heads of district police departments. Now, while I'm going to the clinic to solve my son's problems, I'll think of how it'd be easier to get info for the story. Because if I introduce myself as a journalist, they wouldn't tell me anything and let me bypass the press service.


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Senegal:  Failed Privatization of  State Peanut Company · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Over at Sunuguerte, Forum sur l'Arachide au Senegal, a blog on the peanut industry in Senegal, contributor Moubarak Lo writes (Fr): “[Privatized peanut venture] Sonacos may fail. Because of the role of the peanut as a wealth creator and as a poverty reducer in the rural world, the government must fight tooth and nail to save the venture.”


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Serbia: Racism and Xenophobia · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dictionary of the Serbian Mess and Pustolovina: Adventure in Serbian write about instances of xenophobia in Serbia.


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Slovakia: Players in the June Election, Part 2 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Slovakia goes to the polls on June 17, and Lemuel of Deleted by Tomorrow continues his educating and entertaining series on the Slovak politicians – The good, the bad, the ugly (Part 2: The Ugly).


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South Africa: Shacks for sale · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Squatter City highlights the cost of housing for the poor in South Africa as a shack sells for $21,000


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South Korea: World Cup consciousness · Global Voices
John Kennedy

NGOs in South Korea have banded together, writes Kotaji blogger Kotajihwal, to prevent World Cup fever from drawing attention away from pressing social and political issues.


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Sri Lanka: More Tamils flee to India · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Transcurrents.com on Trincomalee tamils fleeing to India. “The impact of total war will be felt by all sections of Sri Lankan society. It is however the Sri Lankan Tamils of the North – East who will bear the brunt of renewed conflict and undergo the greatest degree of suffering.”


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Tajikistan: Dushanbe Real Estate · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Elizabeth reports on Dushanbe real estate and the challenges in obtaining it.


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

The concept of sovereignty was a fundamental pillar during the Movimiento Al Socialismo’s (MAS) victorious campaign in last year’s elections.  Claims of interference by foreign governments, most notably by the United States, in the internal affairs of Bolivia were the foundation for calls of increased sovereignty.  A little more than 4 months since President Evo Morales took office, there are claims that a different type of interference is taking place but by different foreign governments. Many bloggers are increasingly worried about the close relationship between Morales, President Fidel Castro of Cuba, and President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.
The government of Cuba has provided medical doctors to provide services to Bolivians, especially after the terrible flooding in many parts of the country.  However, Jonathan Olguin of Business and Politics in Bolivia blog refers to these service providers as “super doctors.” This label wasn’t given because these doctors possessed any super skills, but rather because of their claims of how many Bolivians served in such a short period of time.  The 590 Cuban doctors have declared that approximately 570,000 patients have been attended to in a period  little less than two and a half months.  According to Olguin, the calculations do not add up, but perhaps these “super doctors” will be able to cure every imaginable disease in the world.
Another group of foreigners that may be operating in the country may be the Venezuelan military.  Briegel Busch, who writes in his blog Bolivia Eclipse (ES), said that the Organization of American States (OAS) announced that it will address the issue of the presence of Venezuelan military officers in Bolivia.  Busch believes that this should truly be investigated and reminds his readers that the presence of any foreign military must be authorized by the legislature.
However, Bolivia recently received two helicopters complete with flight crew as gifts from the government of Venezuela.  The anonymous blog Morir Antes Esclavos Vivir (ES), which is a phrase from the Bolivian National Anthem (translation: Die rather than live as slaves), wonders whether these helicopters will be used as vehicles by the MAS campaign for the Constituent Assembly elections.  The author also wonders why Chavez cares so much whether MAS wins the majority of seats for the Constituent Assembly.  These types of gifts are not assistance, but rather interference, wrote the blog author.
Finally, a new blog called Vitrina de Realidad, written by Martin P. Gutierrez, a Bolivian studying in Buenos Aires thinks that Morales is beginning to get too involved in other neighboring countries’ internal affairs as well.  He cites the example of Morales inviting Peruvian presidential candidate Ollanta Humala to the lakeside town of Copacabana and using the state television channel to extol the virtues of Humala, who ended up losing to Alan Garcia in last weekend’s elections.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Togo: Soccer Team Demands Bonuses · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Blogger Kangni Alem onTogo's soccer team (Fr): “Business is business and Togolese players are right, logically speaking, to privilege their bank accounts over the country's honor. They demand bonuses, pay them their bloody bonuses. After all that is the rule of thumb for all other national teams! (…) My advice to the team:(…) just loose fast and get back home.”


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Trinidad and Tobago: Budget increase · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Club Soda and Salt condemns the Trinidad and Tobago government's decision to increase the year's spending by TT$4 billion, including “$650 million … for continuing gasoline subsidies. These are meant to protect the Trinidadian public from the rising price of oil. This is incredibly poor policy”.


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Trinidad and Tobago: World Cup fever · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

“Up at the airport, the roundabout is festooned with flags and twenty-foot mascots playing steel pans and guitars. I followed a taxi into the car park, and it had I IS A WARRIOR TOO splashed across the entire back window. We are all instructed to wear red for the foreseeable future.” At the Caribbean Beat blog, Jeremy Taylor reports on World Cup fever in Trinidad and Tobago, the day before the national team, the Soca Warriors, play their first match.


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Venzuela: Metro Price Change · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Qtpd describes the change in pricing (ES) at the Carcas metro. Rather than charging per segment, each journey will now have the same price (US $0.30) regardless of distance or the amount of transfers. Three commenters agree with the policy change, though one believes that it will spark protests.


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Zarqawi: More Blogger Reactions · Global Voices
Salam Adil

The blogs keep analysing…
Baghdad Treasure was at a press conference near the Iraqi parliament when the news broke. And he was happy. “We held our breath for a second and then a loud “Mabrook” [Congratulations] was said by one of the radio stations reporters. Few minutes later, journalists started congratulating each other.”
He pictures those killed in terrorist attacks and says:
“Although everybody knows that I am against the U.S. occupation to Iraq, I believe what they did in helping the Iraqis kill Zarqawi was a good real step for a better Iraq after three years of destruction and struggle. It’s only now that I feel the US forces are really serious and want to get rid of the terrorists who came as a reaction to their occupation to the country in a way or another. It’s only now I felt that they really want to accomplish their mission and go back home soon. I really hope that what I am feeling is right.”
Baghdad Dweller is with a TV crew on the streets of Beirut interviewing people for reactions to the killing of Zarqawi. But they were under the strict instructions only to gather pro-occupation opinions (go figure!). Of the 30 people they talked only 3 were ‘suitable’. The rest were like this:
“They are the Americans who create Zarqawi, and now they don’t need this myth anymore”.
“As long as the occupation exists then there will be many other Zarqawis”.
Best opinion I heard today was:
“The Americans announce the death of Zarqawi because they wanted to show support for Iraq’s new government, but Zarqawism is not dead they left the option open to use another name or names“.
And the emotions keep rolling in:
Hala_s is happy. She was going to post a depressing tale of her mother being forced, for the first time, to go out of her house in Baghdad wearing a headscarf, but that was yesterday: “Today I feel I cannot finish it….Why ? Because I am happy, very happy indeed. You all know why. Zarqawi is finished.” she writes. “Things might not improve or change instantly, but this will definitely have a positive effect on Iraqis. It will bring back a long lost confidence; not in the government but in themselves and the future. The tables are turning at last.”
and Neurotic Wife is bitter.
“there is this little time to be happy, slightly happy that the death of Zarqawi may be a good start…A Good start for the new Iraq…
And to those who are mourning now the death of their Hero, I can only say…Shame on you…Your Hero has now joined Satan and his clan in God's Hell…May their torture be that of the utmost level…I hope you will join them in hell too….As the saying goes…An Eye for an Eye…”

author: Salam Adil


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Bonjour and Photos from La Reunion · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Blogger Audrey from Reunion Passion says (Fr) Bonjour but mostly posts  more photos of her beloved island La Reunion.


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China: Freethinking young writer takes on the cultural establishment · Global Voices
John Kennedy

With the majority of China's artists and intellectuals having been silenced or executed earlier this century, what does that say about that generation's thinkers who are still around today? Han Han (韩寒), perhaps the one post-eighties writer most read by those under thirty, gave birth to a huge controversy earlier this month when he published a post on his blog which took aim at and showed no mercy to three prominent middle-aged contemporary artists: painter Chen Yifei (陈逸飞), film-maker Chen Kaige (陈凯歌) and fellow blogger-writer Yu Qiuyu (余秋雨), with Yu known to many for having been part of an eleven-member team of writers commissioned by the Gang of Four during the Cultural Revolution.
Was this an attack borne out of contempt for past crimes colluded with? Grumblings a young non-comformist and anti-traditional writer coming into his own? Or just the way some youth talk to elders in pseudo-Confucius modern China?
In late May Han Han blogged about reading an article online written by fellow blogger Yu Qiuyu mourning the death of Shanghai artist Chen Yifei, first thinking it was written by Chen Kaige (whose ex-wife, Chen Hong (陈红)—later seen speaking out angrily against Han Han—was set to star in Chen Yifei's upcoming movie) and then called it a joke.
Here's the offending post [zh]:
三个中年男人
陈逸飞去年忙拍电影，鞠躬尽瘁，这点我非常钦佩。他死后有记者打电话给我，记者说，陈逸飞死了，你怎么看待。我当时不知道这消息，很吃惊，问怎么死的，记者说，拍电影太累，生病。
我沉默半天，说，为自己喜欢的东西死了总是还有欣慰。只是，陈红真可怜啊，这么年轻就要自己带着两个孩子。
然后电话那头也沉默了数秒。我就挂了。过了两天我看了报纸才知道，我乱点了鸳鸯谱。
不知道为什么，我脑子里，余秋雨，陈凯歌，陈逸飞都长一个样。人也一个样。以至我经常把他们搞混。
有人说，他们是大师（我怀疑是自己放出风去的），这点我从来不相信。我觉得一个大师要够有人格魅力，而这是他们三个最缺乏的。坦率的说，我不喜欢这三个人，他们身上有太多中国中年男人的无趣，不坦诚，精明狡猾，缺乏想象力和没有幽默感。他们都沉迷在自己弄出来的巨大概念里过家家。他们三个人所做的概念，全是冲着一个字去的，就是“伟”，现在多少已经达到了“伟”他兄弟的境界，就是“伪”“猥”“痿”，可以说，大师就差一口气，全国人民都着急。
当然，这样的人多了，很多也为我所喜欢，为什么我这么不喜欢他们呢，我觉得，主要是我不喜欢他们的长相。包括余秋雨的发型。大师绝对可以不修边幅，他们绝对属于没修好边幅。这理由自然很肤浅，但，不喜欢一个人的长相，这有啥办法呢。我也没妨碍着大家喜欢，比如很多比年轻的美女们。但我就是不喜欢他们的腔调。
余秋雨老师前一阵子可以经常在电视里看见，他总是在考察模特的修养，问穿着三点式的模特一些比如“1和2有什么区别”之类的问题。但是奇怪的是，无论什么场合，余秋雨老师总是感觉他洗脸从来不用毛巾，而是用油条。余老师当时《文化苦旅》出来的时候，我还特喜欢看，觉得写的好。当时我初二，还模仿他的文笔，写作文的时候经常“凝视着这块前朝的板儿砖，多少年的文化在我心中吐呐”。后来看到他不少照片，我说，这人怎么有点油头粉面的啊，怎么搁都和那些淳朴的风景不协调。后来余杰逼着余秋雨忏悔，但那阵子我忘了自己正忙一什么事，完全不知道内情，凭借着想象，我觉得这两人都姓余，岁数差不多差了两轮，小的又逼着老的要忏悔，该不是余秋雨不认余杰这个儿子。我当时就向朋友发表乌龙意见，说，余杰不错，又有才华，我要是余秋雨，就认了，虽然父亲没有培养，但是还是有遗传。。。。。。这事充分证明我是一个肤浅的人。后来就只能在电视上看见余老师了。
The last two paragraphs go on with some serious mocking of Chen Kaige, Chen Hong, Zhang Yimou (张艺谋), Yu Qiuyu and Chen Yifei, finishing off a post that has already received over 6,700 comments and nearly 360,000 pageviews, par for the course on this young iconoclast's blog.
Yu Qiuyu has two blogs [zh], but no mention of the dispute can be found on either, although a google search suggests one was published and later erased. It might have been this letter [zh] found on Liu Yihan's blog, which the blogger insists was written by Yu himself: ‘Han Han, you're a money-grubbing thug,’ in response to the above post:
韩寒同志:
你好,首先请原谅我用同志这个词,此同志非彼同志,彼同志非此同志,同志和同志的意思是不一样的。我之所以用同志这个词，是想让你意识到我是非常郑重地口吻正告你的。
首先，我要告诉你骂人是不对的，骂人为什么不对，因为骂人容易让别人生气，而一生气就容易得高血压，而一旦得高血压就容易引发中风和心肌梗塞，而一旦中风和心肌梗塞就容易死，韩寒，你要知道你现在是在害命啊。
再次，你不仅害命，你还想谋财，根据上海某报刊的传言，你要出新唱片了，所以你是为了扩大唱片的发行而借我进行炒做，你为了谋财而对我进行陷害，于心何忍。照孙悦妹妹的话说，你的快乐是建立在别人的痛苦之上的。
韩寒，我怎么也想不通，你怎么就对我进行人身攻击呢，我想我们还是蛮有缘分的嘛。
1）我生活在上海，而你生在上海。
2）我是最出名的中年作家，而你是最出名的青年作家。
3）我的第一本书名为《文化苦旅》，你的第一书名为《三重门》，我为百姓叫苦，你为百姓喊重，我们可是同样代表了人民的心声和利益的，我们本是同道中人，何必如此纠缠不清。说到这个事情，更让我生气的是余杰，我也姓余，他也姓余，我们本是一家，何必呢。不过一家也不一样的嘛，鲁迅和周作人也是一家，可志向就不一样了，不一样所以走到两条路去了。可我们志向可完全一样啊。所以你不该攻击我。
韩寒，你想一想，从三个方面的哪个方面看看，你骂我都是不对的。
关于你对我的一些看法和问题，我不得不做一些说明。
1）说我不是大师，那你就大错特错了，我可是大学的教师的，所谓大师者，大学教师也。这个你都不懂么。
2）至于我为什么老问那些大学生和青年1和2的区别，我想你该明白的，我们大学教出来的学生差不多也就知道这些问题的，所谓物极必反。按照有关调查和杨振宁哥的话说,我们的大学是世界上一流的大学的，把学生大学生都成神了，物极必反了，所以他们现在只要知道1和2的区别就是很合格的大学生了。你问其他的他们不知道啊.
3）至于我为什么不修边幅，哎，韩寒啊，你难道不知道，我大部分的稿费都捐给希望工程了。我是没钱修边幅了啊。希望你也能和我一样，把大部分稿费捐给希望工程。
韩寒,很不好意思,对你的问题，我只能这样回答。
愿一切好。
Not so many comments, but more captivating on the whole. Here are some random quotes from other bloggers: [zh]
1975
说心里话，心里对韩寒的这个论调很看不上。先不说他拿已经故去的人取笑，这行为本身就让人不齿。还说余秋雨是用油条洗脸……拿人家的相貌取笑也是我所厌恶的。最最悲哀的是，在这种可笑、浅薄的论调下，还有不少他的拥趸者。
Stanford
其实我不反对它发表看法和言论，”权威”也有错时，毛泽东不也做错过吗？但它最起码得尊重自己吧。
Bluesky424
上次开骂，我是一边倒地站在姓韩这小子一边，这次，却着实让人为难了。支持姓韩这小子吧，他骂的三人中有两个我听着都不顺耳。反对姓韩这小子吧，他对余秋雨余老师的刻薄又实在说到了我心上，余老师干的事跟他的脸一样的恶心，披着文化的皮，天天在电视上跟明星们争镜头。
Whest
文化交流是可以，互相切磋也是可以的，但是，将本来是好事的交流切磋变成一种侮辱，甚至是人身攻击，这未免有些令人不齿。中国自古以来就有文人相轻的传统，这一点看来就连思想新潮的韩寒同学也不能免俗。……


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China: Google’s China Problem · Global Voices
Frank Dai

Google, the largest searching engine service in the world, has become under fire for its incompetence for providing unstable services to Chinese customers, due to the intensified online censorship, or Great Firewall of China, around the 17th anniversary of Tiananmen Massacre.
Today, as Julien Pain, Chief of Reporters Without Borders, or RSF Internet Freedom desk pointed out that Google,after two weeks of accessing difficulty, has been back to normal.  However it's inaccurate to call it  a blockade, since Internet users in China retrieving Google's US-Hosted Chinese version will get different results at different time and area. Rather it can be called as “disrupted connection“, as Financial Times called.
Google has offered its censored version at Google.cn, a China-hosted service registered at the Chinese government, which received much criticism from human right groups and blogosphere when launched in January. At the same time it provides option of uncensored version, to which it would redirect when typing url “www.google.com” in China. Google.cn has been available for past two weeks. However, it was estimated that only 1% of users in China applied Google.cn as their searching choice for Google service.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin said that they might compromise their principle, the famous “Don't Be Evil” slogan, for entering the Chinese market. Google has been evaluating whether their arrangement is identical with its company's policy and principles, while considering the possibility of retreating from China. However Reuters has reported that Google is staying in China.
On June 8th, spokesman for Foreign Ministry of China Liu Jianchao said on a routine press conference:”Chinese government welcomes companies like Google who want to operate in China's information area, but all trade and business should be conducted in comply with laws and regulations. We hope that these companies would obey Chinese law when developing business in China”. Keso, one of leading Chinese IT evangelist blogger said on his blog:
[In translation]
Indeed Liu Jianchao admitted that “it was us(Chinese government) who block Google because they did not obey the law”. But the spokesman will never told the foreigners that which law that Google has violated and which law the blockade is performed according to. The foreigners want explicit clauses in the law for them to do business, but here in China, many things are unspeakable like Zen.
Andrew Lih explained Google's position from his view. He also notices some incoherent media reports explainning Sergey Brin's position. He thought that the reason that Google's much criticized because they hold high moral standard for their business conduct.
Some Chinese blogger even resort to virtual voodoo, for they fail to access Google. keepwalking have made such one (tipped by Rebecca). Herock Xia blamed that Google Chinese official blog's failure to discuss this topic.

author: Frank Dai


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DRC: Pregnant 10 Year-Old? · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Opposition party blog UDPS Liege posts an email signed by a Gabriel Maindo which blames (Fr) President Joseph Kabila for the unfortunate case of a pregnant 10 year-old: “This is Joseph Kabila's scorecard: a 10 year-old girl prostitutes herself in order to eat. The result is in front of you! (…) This is an everyday reality for many other minors aged 8 to 14 who are victims of our elites’ bad policies!” The blog posts a photo of the alleged new mother, Gladys Chelagat, holding  a baby.


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DRC: Towards a Secession of Katanga Province?  · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Le Blog du Congolais ponders (Fr) the possibility of a secession of Katanga Province : “The neocolonialists have thought of all possible scenarios, especially that of a defeat [in the upcoming presidential election] of the only person who can assure the continuity of their [mining] business, Joseph Kabila, the incumbent. They are predictably courting Katangan chiefs (…) by causing them to envision great prosperity for Katanga if it detaches from the Congo.”


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Mexico: Funny World Cup Clips · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Mexican blogger Rolando Garza hopes for a wonderful World Cup, a wonderfully funny one, that is. If you've been taking the first couple days of play too seriously, then this is the video for you.


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The Global Voices Show #2 · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Episode #2 of the Global Voices Show has landed! In this edition we feature excerpts from the following podcasts:
XiaoQiao (Singapore)
Africa Files: The Pulse (Canada/South Africa)
BahasaPod (Indonesia)
Kazakhstan Stories (Kazakhstan)
Free Talk with Oon Yeoh (Malaysia)
JameedKast (Jordan)
The Kamla Bhatt Show (India)
Radio Open Source (USA/Serbia & Montenegro/Trinidad & Tobago)
This episode of The Global Voices Show is available in the following formats:
– MP3 (23:48 min; 16:4MB)
– Enhanced AAC (23:48 min; 11:4MB) – with embedded images and links. For iTunes and owners of later model iPods.
You can play all of these directly from this page by clicking on the “Audio MP3″ and “Audio M4A” buttons at the end of this post.
Or subscribe using any of the following links:
MP3 (all Global Voices podcasts) – RSS | iTunes (podcast page) | iTunes (direct subscription link) | Odeo
AAC (Global Voices Show) – RSS | iTunes (podcast page) | iTunes (direct subscription link)
Also featured on this show are two music tracks from Magnatune – “Mystery Box House” and “Senegambia”, both by Daniel Berkman from the CD Calabashmoon; and “Oslodum” by Gilberto Gil, from The Wired CD.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSS

author: Georgia Popplewell


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To have GCE O’Level English, or not to have? What is the Question? · Global Voices
Maurina H

The last week, a letter on the Borneo Bulletin, the nation's sole English newspaper published a letter in its Opinion page which calls upon the Bruneian Government to scrap off the currently existing GCE O' Level English Language to be replaced with a "locally designed" exam paper instead. The writer, under the pseudonym Liguist, had argued that every year a lot of students fail to pass the GCE O' Level English exams, which is a requirement to get to UBD and most Governmental posts because of the following:
"The O Level English exam seems to have been designed for academic, native speakers of English, not for Brunei students, who start learning English in primary school and whose use of the language outside the classroom is limited."
Liguist had termed the GCE O'Level English exams as "a relic of colonial times" and should be replaced with something "with an attainable goal which our students will enjoy reaching for".
The issue of the low passing rates of English O' Levels in Brunei is an extremely much debated about issue within the Ministry of Education. Pehin Dato Haji Awang Abdul Rahman, the Minister of Education has voiced out his concerns in a speech he delivered at the National English Language Teaching Conference saying that so called improvements in English language competence in the country are "not reflected in GCE `O' level results" (Borneo Bulletin: August 2005).
LSM, responded to Liguist in his blog OurLocalStyle by saying that, "accusing teachers of designing examinations solely to encourage students into an academic career is a claim that needs to be taken seriously". He agreed that the O'Level examination is indeed "a holdover from colonial times" and pointed out the fact that Britain, the originator of the exam has "moved to the GCSE". However, he spews his concerns that by "locally designing" the O'Level exam, might "set the bar lower" for Brunei students.
"An easier O-Level English paper is not going to do students any favours."
Turquoise and Roses had also responded by saying that the O'Levels is an "old-fashioned way to test language competence" and "its replacement to something more suitable and logical is long overdue" and asserted that it is designed to "encourage an academic career". She echoes Liguist's sentiments that it is a paper for first language speakers of English and Bruneians are by right speakers of English as a second language who "start being formally introduced to a limited amount of English at Primary Four and who do not have any absolute reason or obligation to speak the language outside of the school environment.
LSM's reply was that,
"If there is a need to re-tool the current O’Level exams then by all means. But if re-tooling means making it easier then I hope it is because the current standard of English assessed by the O’Levels is too high."
He again voices out his scepticism that it might "dumb down" the examination yet he is not against the idea of reformatting the exam.
Justin on the other hand does not believe in scraping of the O' Levels. He argues that "the whole point of the English-medium system of education in Brunei to require students to be able to speak, read and write both Malay and English as a well as a first language speaker of both those languages". He had said:
"Surely to dumb down – and don’t doubt this, a locally designed English language paper would be dumbed down – is to defeat this purpose."
He draws examples from Singapore, a country also using the GCE O' Levels,  to illustrate his point. His views are agreed with in another comment by nottoshabby.
However, it must be remembered that Singapore and Brunei have vastly different educational system where English is technically a first language in Singapore, in Brunei it is very much a second and inferior language to the very dominant Malay and drawing comparisons on the two countries will prove to be unfair and one sided.
What will eventually happen to the GCE O' Levels? Should this examination, introduced in 1951, still be utilised in this day and age?
"Policies are made by politicians. Not academicians."

author: Maurina H


text:
World Cup Playlist · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Fair trade music download site Calabash Music‘s Global Downloads blog has published a playlist compiling “some great music from around the globe [that] shows the connection to soccer via these artists. Some of them played professionally, some of them own teams, some of their music has been featured at World Cups, African Nations Cups, and other football competitions.”


text:
Global Food Blog Report #21 · Global Voices
Melissa De León

#1: After almost a month her blog vanished without reasonable explanation, Chef Ines Peña from Caracas, Venezuela is back with her brand new and improved creation: Apuntes de Cocina. Lets head over to her blog and cheer her up a little for her perseverance and the love to share her knowledge and delicious recipes through her blog.
#2: Chef Diva  from Colombia cooks up a tasty idea: How does the International Day of the Chef sound? Do not forget to send a note to your favorite cook on June 23!
#3: Pies Descalzos from Mexico (ES) shares her favorite recipe to prepare "Chiles rellenos," a traditional delicacy made with chiles, beans, cheese…Ah, I definitely want some :)
#4: Chef Paz , created a step by step visual guide on how to prepare plantains: Plantain, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways #2 – Simple Fried Plantains.  You will LOVE it!
#5: Lobstersquad from Spain, a very unique & charming new blog. The second, so far I have found that writes in English from "La Madre Patria." Her original illustrations are breathtaking if you like the style, of course, but what I love the most is her unique approach to food through the eyes of an artist! Just take a look at THIS:
Aren´t picnics the best?
Any kind of picnic, wether it´s a full
dress affair, with champagne cooling in the river and a wicker hamper,
or a simple sandwich savoured on a park bench while reading Vogue. The
best.
This spring has been quite picnicful.I´ve had a Retiro
park picnics of cheese and gazpacho. Freesbee tossing and tuna
sandwiches, plus ice cold beer on the beach at Cape Trafalgar.An
elaborate meal for six, with the dogs, in the country, under the
encinas.
Maybe I´ve been brainwashed by all the Enid Blyton I
read as a child. In her books, the phrase "everything tastes better
outdoors" is mentioned at least twice. Always followed by the same
litany; ham sandwiches, chocolate cake, hard boiled eggs and ginger
beer.Head over to her blog and finish reading this delectable post…
#6: Cream Puffs in Venice loves so much her football team, that she has created a fantastic Risotto Tricolore to honor the Italians during this event:
So … in case you hadn't noticed … I'm cheering for Italy in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Hosted by Germany, this event promises to be a month-long
celebration of "the beautiful game." The most popular sporting event in
the world, the World Cup unites men, women and children in their
passion for football (don't call it soccer!).
How did football come to be called the beautiful game? Naive Cream
Puff that I am I always assumed that it had something to do with the
fact that generally speaking, football players are hot. Apparently this
is not the case.
According to Wikipedia,
football's moniker as "the beautiful game" came about thanks to the
autobiography of the man who is widely considered to be the greatest
soccer player ever: Pelé. In 1977, Pelé's autobiography was published
with the title My Life and the Beautiful Game.
So who's going to argue with the greatest ever?!? Personally, I still
like my "football players are hot" theory. But that's just me.
In my family, football holds a place of extreme honour and the World
Cup is considered an event so grand that regular life is justifiably
put on hold.
Italy's playing but you have to have a filling replaced? Learn to live with the pain of a toothache.
On the other hand, she takes her kitchen adventures to the next level: Crepes Suzetee
Last month, Mrs. B sent out the culinary equivalent of the Bat signal when she asked for recipe testers. In August 2006, the book that she has been editing, The World is a Kitchen,
will be published. To prepare for this incredible event, she asked
fellow bloggers to donate their time and kitchens to test recipes from
the book. How could I resist?
Mrs. B honoured me with four recipes to try and the recipe for
crêpes Suzette was the first to get my attention mainly because I've
never had crêpes Suzette much less made them. Continue Reading…
#7: Chiriqui Chatter from David, Panama, gives us the scoop on where is the HOT, really HOT place to watch the games in that region: Restaurante Mi Tierra Chiricana Watches the World Cup!
#8: Cook (almost) Everything at least Once  shares a delectable recipe to prepare Carrot Falafel. Just take a moment to see those pictures…in no time you will be at the grocery store getting the carrots, right? Enjoy!
I must admit that I'm quite fond of Falafel, though it took me a while
before I made them for myself. I'd always thought that there was some
secret involved in making them and that they would be "difficult" but
it couldn't be further from the truth. So when I saw this recipe by
Donna Hay for Carrot Falafel, naturally enough I was drawn to it.
Carrots are a wonderful vegetable but I seem to always cook them in the
same ways – a new way to incorporate them in a dish got my interest. Get the recipe NOW!
#9: Cha Xiu Bao  presents the most interesting video/report I have seen on "The Pinching Pasta," The kitchen ladies in action—Oh, I would just LOVE to have that dish for lunch! :-)
This team of kitchen ladies (they are the stereotype of what we called
煮飯婆 in Cantonese, rice-cooking woman in English) were making 揪片, a pasta specialty of Shanxi. The closest translation I can come up with for this is "pinching pasta," or "nipping noodles" in that each piece of pasta is nipped out from the chubby dough with thumb and index finger. Look at their speed! …Continue reading!
See you next week!

author: Melissa De León