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Iran: Bloggers on the Iranian crisis · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Arash and several bloggers have published a statement by a group of Iranian bloggers about the Presidential elections and the subsequent events.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: Remembering Omid Reza Mir Sayafi and March 18th · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

OR318 logo
A few months after the death of blogger and journalist Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, who died in an Iranian prison after allegedly insulting religious leaders, a memorial and activism site called March18.org has been set up to remember him and to hopefully keep this story from repeating itself. Following, the first video created for the March18 movement (OR318), with the motto: Let the first blogger to die in prison be the last.
With the recent events of political unrest in Iran, following the last elections, this message is as important as ever. Taking into consideration that it is through blogger and social media users that information on what is happening in Iran has been relayed to international media outlets, it is only fair to protect them from incarceration, disappearance and possibly death. Global Voices’ Hamid Tehrani informed us last week of new cases of Iranian bloggers’ arrests.
From the March18.org site:
The irony is that, as more members of both the public and the media praise the ability of bloggers to inform, the more these de facto journalists around the globe become victims in fact. The March 18 Movement aims not only to make sure that Omid Reza is remembered, but also that other persecuted bloggers around the world do not disappear into interrogation rooms and prison cells. The March 18 Movement would like to become a voice for bloggers everywhere who are in risk of being crushed under the heavy machinery of repression.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Iranian officials ‘crowd-source’ protester identities · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iranian protesters appearing in widely disseminated online photos from the ongoing post-election demonstrations in Iran, are now being targeted on a website of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The website is called Gerdab (which means ‘vortex’) and belongs to The Information Center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for Investigating Organized Crime. It shows images of 20 people with red circles drawn around their faces claiming without evidence that they have been involved in creating “chaos” in Tehran.
Citizens are invited to call or email if they can identify the people on the photos. Gerdab also claims that two of the people depicted have already been arrested. The site provides no further information about any of the depicted people.
Some Islamist bloggers have republished the photos.
Meanwhile, some supporters of the protest movement have themselves published several photos of Iranian security forces and in particular suspected undercover agents asking citizens to help identify them.
For instance, there is one photo of a suspected agent pulling a gun from his belt on the back of a motorcycle. Several bloggers published the photo of the suspected agent, asking readers to help identify him. A few days later, rumors circulated of his name, his position as a Basij leader, and a supposed multimillion dollar bank debt. Information like this is neither fact-checked nor reliable and can have severe consequences for any one who shares the man's supposed name. Online rumors easily replace facts.
It would not be the first time that a photo has led to trouble or imprisonment in a conflict. However, this is a new development in officially sanctioned stalking and persecution by crowd sourcing information online.
See Global Voices special coverage page on the Iranian Elections 2009.


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Iran: “Protest Movement” Tribute Michael Jackson · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Here is a film in You Tube where we can watch ‘Iranian protest movement’ tribute Michael Jackson with “They don't really care about” song and a collection of photos from Iran. [warning: some photos are very graphic]


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Japan: Chinese Translation of 2channel · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

Takeshi Yamaya links to 2ch Kan Riben (2ch看日本), a blog that posts Chinese translations of interesting threads from the Japanese Internet forum 2channel. He appreciates the thoughtful observations made by their commenters.

author: Tomomi Sasaki


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Japan: News in Japanese for Iran Election Protests · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

“You can't get really the details of the Iran election protests from the Japanese newspapers and TV stations, but the situation is updated by the minute on Twitter.” – Hiroto Kobayashi set up iranelection, a Digg-style news aggregator specifically for this topic, where users are submitting links to content in any language with a short intro in Japanese.


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Kenya: The plight of gays and lesbians in Kenya · Global Voices
Haute Haiku

As much as Nairobi is described as one of the more cosmopolitan cities in Africa where a lot of homosexuals find solace, homophobia is widespread.
For example, a Kenyan blogger Pater Nostra has a friend whose pictures were posted and debated on Wananchi Forums. He exclaims:
I am naturally pissed that the audacity of the member of Wananchiforums.com (to post such threatening and victimizing articles) has been entertained and of the administrators to allow such to be posted. Should anything happen to her, both the member and the administrators of the website have to blame. They have made a person vulnerable to attack, abuse, and assault which is morally wrong and goes against her fundamental rights to protection and security. Her life is in danger.
Keguro, an English professor and a blogger reveals the underlying truth about how homosexuals are named and shamed all over the Internet. “The politics of outing” is the title of his post. While most leaders are squirming on their seats over it, others are trying to smoke them out and stamping on their rights.
He blogs about the traumatic ordeal one has to face while still not comfortable with their sexuality:
Within the context of outing, one’s individual wishes and political stance are subsumed by another narrative. One is positioned as a homosexual, hailed as such, and must respond within the structure so created, a structure in which non-response is not possible. One need not respond to one’s accusers, but one responds to those who know one: family, friends, even to the email that offers information and sympathy.
He quotes a gender and sexuality author, Lauren Berlant:
It is this cluster of desires around one that I term “the political,” borrowing from Lauren Berlant’s notion of cruel optimism. To be outed in a country that provides no official spaces or languages for recognizing outing is to become subject to a host of desires, some friendly, some not, some lustful, some not. One becomes marked. Many years ago, when I first came out, my mother composed a grand narrative of my life that, in retrospect, sounds like something from Austin Powers. I was a mad party animal bottom. Her terms, not mine. When I asked how I found time to study as a mad party animal bottom, she replied, quite rationally, that I was a mad party animal bottom from Friday through Sunday. (In truth, I went out Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and was relatively asexual, which I made up for in that glorious year I turned 24. Ahhh, 24!) (A confession, happy now?)
He concludes:
I have written, previously, about the dangers of homophobic discourse within a space that does not have any homosexual discourse. In such a space, outing becomes impossible as an affirmative gesture. Yet, isn’t it precisely in such impossible spaces that we have become possible?
Samuel Delaney writes that “coming out” used to mean coming out into a homosexual community, not as a performance of truth to gazing heterosexuals. I do not use the word community much, and do not trust it. But it can be a powerful thing to imagine, and wonderful to belong.
Such belonging might be one necessary, useful, and pleasurable afterlife.
Two months ago, Keguro blogged about a woman who had her head smashed with a beer bottle in a club because of her sexual orientation:
[A Kenyan lesbian] was leaving Madd House on the said morning with a friend – (anonymous), when, as they were walking through the exit, a woman shouted out behind them “ma lesbians”…. [The Kenyan lesbian] didn’t recognize the woman and they got into a verbal confrontation during which the woman hit her with her bag and went off to go back upstairs. [The Kenyan lesbian] and (anonymous) followed the woman, later identified to them as Constance Sirikwa Rukia, and saw her being hidden in the changing rooms by the bouncers.
[The Kenyan lesbian] went to ask the bouncers why they were hiding the woman when they should be kicking her out for disturbing them. The bouncers held each of [The Kenyan lesbian’s] hands and attempted to throw her out. Upon seeing that [The Kenyan lesbian] was being held by the bouncers, the woman then hit [The Kenyan lesbian] on the head with a bottle that she’d been holding and she fell down, bleeding heavily.
What most bloggers found surprising was how the security guards were willing to sacrifice core principles of citizen protection, making them less safe. An anonymous reader on Nostra's blog says:
These people are bad. What they have done is wrong and they should not be allowed anymore to do this. Why are they doing this? I cant believe that such hate exist unless they do it for the sake of publicity. They have disseminated the article to many fora and I think that is their intention. They want it to be known. Its wrong. Pouline is strong.

author: Haute Haiku


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Kenya: The politics of Mass Male Circumcision · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

HIV Kenya discusses the politics of “Mass Male Circumcision“: It seems like a short time since the issue of mass male circumcision (MMC) became a political football and it is not even the latest issue to have that status any more. But articles about it still appear every now and again and there seem to be a handful of genuine projects aiming to roll out MMC in some countries.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Kenya: Why the Daily Nation beats the East African Standard · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

FortySouth explains the Daily Nation of Kenya beats the East African Standard: “Yes, they do, within the context of respective online presence, at the very least: Note that it was in June ‘08 that Nation moved their content from www.nationmedia.com (now the host of their corporate brands) to www.nation.co.ke. So why is the Daily Nation (DN) the more popular site?”


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Liberia: Interruption brought to you by really cute kids · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This interruption is brought to you by the department of really, really cute kids from Liberia!


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MJ Death Reaction in Kuwait · Global Voices
Abdullatif AlOmar

After the passing of Michael Jackson there has been a mixture of reactions from the Kuwaiti blogosphere.
Remembering their childhood, ReadmyBlog writes about when he first heard of MJ's death:
I woke up this morning and the blogosphere was talking about the death of Micheal Jackson. My earliest memory of MJ was seeing my cousin trying to moonwalk
TheJacob is in wonder at the reactions from people around him:
some who say yuck
some hope he is in Hell
some who say some dog and died
what is with the hate ?
I don't know why some people just hate him
If I don't understand it or there is a reason please tell me
7anna7inno speaks of her feelings:
Shurouq over at Jabriya Za7ma:
I'm sorry for not talking about Iran election and after effects or Netanyahu settlements ,  or the grilling of the interior minister or the nationality for the sons of the Lebanese as it should , only that Michael Jackson was able to move the stagnant waters of the blog
sou  is amazed and shocked that so many care:
Now I’m sure Michael Jackson fans might grill me, but I don’t care. Don’t tell me Michael inspired so many of the artists I listen to; had he not been around, neither would have your favorite artists.” These are my favorite artists, and not one of them sounds like Michael Jackson:

author: Abdullatif AlOmar


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Nigeria: Good days with Nigerian telecoms sector are over · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Jeremy discusses the latest trends in the telecoms sector in Nigeria: “The Nigerian telecoms sector has finally hit market forces and the mathematic of where supply and demand cross at a competitive pricing point.”


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Palestine: “Free Gaza” Boats Waiting In Cyprus · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

The Free Gaza Movement have produced a video showing their attempts to leave Cyprus and sail to Gaza with medical and reconstruction supplies.

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Palestine: Traditional Cooking In The Ground · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Sameh Abo Wadih describes the traditional Palestinian style of cooking in an oven dug into the ground, called a zarb [Ar].


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Preetam Rai interview  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

GV author Preetam Rai was interviewed by Syed Syahrul Zarizi of Malaysia about his online projects and his thoughts on blogging and travel.

author: Mong Palatino


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South Asia: The World Is Poorer Without MJ · Global Voices
Rezwan

Michael Jackson, the king of pop, is truly a legend in many countries of the world which has become more evident after his death. Millions of fans are mourning his sudden demise and remembering how his music was associated with their growth.
South Asian bloggers are also chiming in with their reactions.
Bhutan:
Earth Bound Insight thinks the world is a poorer place without Michael Jackson (MJ):
If there are 6 billion people on this planet, and every single one had decided to blog on Michael Jackson’s death, it wouldn’t matter that I am yet another one of the billions of bloggers.
But I still want to add my piping, squeaking ineloquent voice too, to give accolades, and pay tribute
To the man who was : the King of Pop.
To the Appollo Icon.
To one of the best entertainers in pop music history,
regardless of the controversies of his personal life, the man still made great music.
Pakistan:
Hamid Abbasi at Chowrangi writes:
Though he was no more enjoying the lime light as he used to get, his story is one full of determination, struggle and misfortunes. From a black in a society dominated by white, he emerged as the true generation leader, and this remained until his death.
Thanks for touching so many around the world, undoubtedly Michael was larger than life.
Pak Tea House remembers the influence of the king.
For many of us, he was the only face of western music in Pakistan the 1980s. We grew up admiring him, trying to moonwalk like him and trying to scream like him.
Danial Burki, a commenter on the above post recalls what the icon meant for them:
His music really kept hope alive in Pakistan during the 80s.
Bangladesh:
Ishtiaq Rouf writes:
বহু গায়ক আসবেন, অনেক “এন্টারটেইনার” জন্ম নেবেন, কিন্তু দ্বিতীয় জ্যাকসন আসবে না। শত বিতর্ক আর হাস্যকর কার্যকলাপ সত্বেও মাইকেল জ্যাকসন চিরকাল “থ্রিলার” হয়েই রইবেন। ..
একটু পাগলাটে আর খামখেয়ালি না হলে বোধহয় প্রতিভাবানদের মানায় না। একটু তাড়াতাড়ি ফুরিয়ে না গেলেও তাই। তাই বলে এতটাই দ্রুত? মাত্র ৫০ বছর বয়সে?
Being a bit eccentric and out of the ordinary probably suit the talented people. Being exhausted a bit early is probably also not uncommon. But this early? Only 50 years of age?
A commenter on the post writes:
| ভুতুম [অতিথি] | শুক্র, ২০০৯-০৬-২৬ ১০:০৬
নেভারল্যান্ডেও তাহলে বয়স বাড়ে, রোগ হয়, মরে যায় কেউ। মনটা খারাপ হয়ে আছে।
Kowshik writes:
তার প্রকৃতিপ্রদত্ত সৌন্দর্য আমার চোখে বেশী চমকাতো, কি স্পর্ধায় তাকিয়ে থাকতো মায়াবী-রাজপুত্রের কালো চোখ! মাইকেল জ্যাকসনের মৃত্যুকে প্রত্যাখ্যান করলাম। প্রকৃতির এই স্বেচ্ছাচার মানি না।
Sri Lanka:
Diaspora blogger London, Lanka and Drums says:
What became clear over the years to me, as well as several million other people, was that he was a troubled soul, a person looking for something. He had the money, he had the talent, the fame and all the trappings. He just never appeared to have the contentment, the inner peace that so many people who live a “normal” nine to five life have.
His legacy will last and his music will stay. As a musician I can have total respect for the way his contributions to the world of music actually shaped and changed things. Musically he's one of the greats.
But it's Michael Jackson the young kid in the early Jackson Five songs that I feel sad for. It's Michael Jackson the father of three that I mourn for. I hope he finds his peace.
India:
Uber Desi recalls that Michael Jackson toured India in 1996 and did a show in Mumbai.
Jackson is the one Western artiste who is known to even the common man in India.
Kamla Bhatt pays tribute to MJ:
Michael Jackson thank you so much for your music and the countless happy hours of music and memories that you gave so many people.
She noticed that Jackson exerted a huge influence on Bollywood and the Indian film industry. Ennis at Sepia Mutiny posts some videos portraying how MJ influenced the Indian film industry.
Bollywood actor Anupam Kher writes in a blog post:
In my book, Michael Jackson is to entertainment what Gandhi is to peace and humanity.
Aparna Ray at Newsmericks wrote a limerick as a tribute to him.
As a man who lived life off the wall,
Michael Jackson, King of Pop, had it all.
Unmatched voice and that dance,
Held the world in a trance,
But then after the rise, came the fall.
Aditi Nadkarni at Desicritics remembers:
He was my very first introduction to pop music, our generation's pop music. If it weren't for him, our times would not have had any star to show for itself, no Elvis, no Beatle mania. We from the 90s would have passed by without a craze.
I remember hearing the scream, the sounds of shattering glass weaved into his music, the irreverant howl, the vulnerable quiver of his voice and the startling hiccup that punctuated his songs so in contrast to the steady, unbroken, melancholy notes of Indian music.
Slime, a commentator on that post tells that Michael Jackson represents the impossible and wishes:
I salute God for making such people like MJ who conquered. MJ, u will be born again in future years as young people will try to achieve the impossible.

author: Rezwan


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Africa: Bloggers pay tribute to Michael Jackson · Global Voices
Rebekah Heacock

A Nigerian performer impersonates Michael Jackson at a concert in Abuja. Photo courtesy of N.R. on Flickr.
The death of American pop star Michael Jackson has sparked an outpouring of emotion from nearly every corner of the world.  Fans are sharing their memories of Jackson on his official site in nearly a dozen languages, and the news made the front page of papers across the globe.
In Africa, bloggers are paying tribute to the King of Pop by posting pictures and music videos. Writing from Nigeria, Oluniyi David Ajao offers a list of his 26 favorite Michael Jackson songs, while Ugandan blogger Serakelz honors Jackson's memory with instructions on how to do the moonwalk, a dance move created by Jackson.
In Ghana, Kent Mensah of Africa News collects reactions to Jackson's passing on Twitter and Facebook:
“Africa loves Michael Jackson… from birth you learn how to survive and that Michael Jackson is music… the most famous musician ever,” Rasco Patterson said on twitter @chickenwang4.
“Make this world a better place for me and you these are the words from a true legend like Michael Jackson. I will always remember you Waco Jaco,” Elton Afari, Accra, Ghana said on Facebook.
Echoing the sentiments of many African fans, Sudanese Thinker remembers the pop star fondly:
In a lot of ways Michael Jackson was my childhood. His music filled it with lots of joy and beautiful memories. It uplifted me when I was down. It made me happy when I was sad.
And as awkward and flawed as he was, I will dearly miss him and his talents.
And Ugandan blogger Dickson Wasake honors Jackson with a poem:
On the death of Michael Jackson;
The tears fill the earth,
Black or white;
The Liberian girl cries,
And so does dirty Diana,
even the stranger in Moscow,
We all scream;
“Oh it’s too bad; oh it’s too sad;
The king is gone too soon,
And I just can’t stop loving him!”
Though many bloggers are grieving over Jackson's death, others are questioning his eccentricities, including his changing skin color.  In Ghana, blogger Emmanuel Bensa laments:
….the African culture tells us that we don't speak ill of the dead–and I am not about to do so anytime soon, but what I will do is to categorically state how much of a bad decision it was to become a white man.
Black is beautiful–and it will forever be so. As a Black Man, Michael Jackson had the looks, the voice; the talent. Oh what a shame.
For Ugandan blogger Rosebell, Jackson's death prompted reflections on why the news pays so much more attention to the death of a pop star than to other tragedies:
As I watched the reaction around the world to Jackson’s death I wondered if really all humans can ever be equal. Not that I don’t recognise MJ’s contribution to music and his great talent, I would be naïve to do so, but I wonder why we no longer get the shock when we see death around the world. Everyone seemed to say oh he died young at 50, and then I thought that actually in Uganda life expectancy is at 50. Do you know in many African countries dying of old age is almost history? Do you know that this shock we feel at the loss MJ’s death, many Iraqis face it everyday? The fear for the loss of their own lives and the puzzles of how their children will grow, grips people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Omar Basawad of Safari Notes dismisses these criticisms, focusing on Jackson's legendary talent:
Whatever might be said about Michael Jackson, whatever one might think of him – one thing is certain: he defined an era.
“RIP MJ,” writes Kenyan blogger WildeYearnings. “You now have the whole sky to moonwalk on…”

author: Rebekah Heacock


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Algeria: On France’s burqa ban · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Algerian-American blogger The Moor Next Door remarks upon France's intended burqa ban, saying, “The trouble the French may want to worry about is not the burqa as it is worn in France today, but that such a ban, as the headscarf ban has done, will make the garment a greater symbol of Muslim identity and sign of cultural defiance.”

author: Jillian C. York


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Bahrain: What Does “Madrasah” Mean? · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Bahraini blogger Cradle of Humanity is currently in the United States, and she recounts a misunderstanding that took place when she was asked if there are any madrasahs in Bahrain…


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China: Building collapsed in Shanghai  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

At around 5:30am on June 27, an unoccupied building still under construction at Lianhuanan Road in the Minxing district of Shanghai city toppled over. Want to see the amazing scene? via ESWN.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: More Green Dam documents · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Rebecca MacKinnon from Rconversation shared with her readers two Chinese government official documents on Green Dam technical requirement and testing.


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Honduras: Still Heading to the Polls Despite Arrest of President · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Despite the arrest of President Mel Zelaya and with military planes flying over the cities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, Juan Carlos Rivera of Mirada de Halcon [es] writes that Hondurans are still heading to the polls.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Honduras: The Arrest of President Mel Zelaya · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Honduran President Mel Zelaya has been arrested and Aaron Ortiz of Pensieve writes about some of the swirling rumors, as well as the fact that one of the online newspapers is down, probably by the overwhelming traffic.


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Hungary 20 years after rise of the Iron curtain · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Hungarian Spectrum writes about the 1989 opening of the Austro-Hungarian border, eventually leading to the rise of the Iron Curtain, dividing Eastern and Western Europe.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Iraq: Reflecting on Iran · Global Voices
Salam Adil

Assuming my dear readers have not been living in a cave for the past couple of weeks, the developments after the recent Iranian elections need no introduction. Here I present, in their own words, the recent comments of Iraqi bloggers on the subject. So much has been said about the elections already, that whether a blogger is pro- or anti- the protests is becoming more irrelevant. But, what is important here is the Iraqi perspective. How, after sanctions, forced regime change, war and destruction do Iraqis respond?
I will not mess around with words…I know that this is your speciality…it is not mine.
I have learned that life is too short lived…and I have no time for words.
I will tell you, give it to you the way it is…and the way it is supposed to be.
There is a sense of urgency looming over my head. And am getting quite impatient…
I have swallowed words, paraphrases, sentences, dictionaries…whole and undigested.
Now, excuse me, I have one hell of an indigestion and I need to vomit it all out…in your faces.
Listen to me, and listen well…
I am no beggar of an Arab,
I am no Palestinian either…
These are your pawns, and they love being played around with…to the applause.
I am neither.
I am no pawn and no beggar.
And I also have no time for delicacies,
I have no time for niceties.
I have invented Language, I own it.
I play with it, pull it like a string dangling from a
from a puppet…
There is nothing you can teach me,
nothing you can invent…
I have mastered the Art
The art of deception,
the art of hypocrisy
the art of language…
I have mastered the art,
of sitting on edges
like a humpty dumpty
and I see you now
teetering…
I know,
you know,
we know…
Leave aside the wordings
kick away the propaganda…
like in a football
match
I match,
you match ?
No you don't.
I know, I know.
I know and you hate me for knowing.
I know your torturers by names.
I know your hidden agents by their codes.
I know your identities even if you are hiding…
Cover up,
like you cover us up.
Ali, Hassan, Hussein
watch them over
wearing Arabic labels
glued on their chests,
stamped from Al-Hijaz.
I see Darius galloping
in your minds,
minds covered with turbans
of pretence
bowing to yourselves….
bowing,
prostrating
to a saint
the saint of your imagination…
I hear echoes…
blasting through cement walls
as thick as your brains
thicker than your brains.
I see colors pouring down hallways,
I see the green
I see the black
I see the red
and
I see the white
of Death
hovering over…
fluff, fluff
cotton fluff
cloud fluff
word fluff
hovering above
open arms
receiving truths
from dungeons
dungeons
where Aryans
dark skinned
Farsi
interrogate
in the name of
Mani
of Zarathustra
in the name…
Whose name was it
do you remember the name?
I have forgotten names
I have erased them,
with chalk
with paint
with black covers…
a thick cloth
A thick cloth
through which you are now
shouting
I hear you
I hear you,
But did you hear me
in that dungeon
where you engraved
my name
with the sword
of some Ali
where you chained me
with the rods of
some Hassan and Hussein…
My eyeballs just rolled on
the floor
like some dice of fate
like some dice from a poker
game
being played
in a sand castle
a castle of turbans
a castle of turbans
and lamenting women
waiting
for another prince…
I feel metal drills
drilling secrets in my limbs
touching nerves
with which
I will awaken you….
I push aside thick curtains
black thick curtains
hanging behind bars
hanging behind subterranean
cages
I push them aside
and watch your faces
shouting
for freedom…
I cry out to you,
I am Josef in the well
give me your hand.
You do not hear me,
you buried me
alive.
Now you are screaming
I hear you screaming
alone…
Iraqi Mojo:
As the the death toll in Iran reaches into the dozens and outrages American leaders, the “resistance” in Iraq and other jarab continue to mass murder Iraqis in the numbers we have become accustomed to seeing there, without the outrage expressed by the President. It's as if Iraqi lives are worth less than Iranian lives. It reminds me of the comment by Madeline Albright, about the sanctions being worth the price. Iraqis have always been expendable.
Nadia:
Hey I wish the Iranian people the best too, at least the best that they can possibly get out of the situation they're in right now. But why is it when so many liberals and leftists feel the need to convince the right wingers that Iranians are human beings, it's a portrait they paint as a contrast to all those “special” people that they are surrounded by? Not that I didn't already know that that was how they felt, cause believe me, this is not the first time I ran into this sentiment and it won't be the last.
This really wasn't what I wanted my first post on the aftermath of the Iranian elections to be about, but there it is. If anyone cares though I concur with this guy.
Layla Anwar:
Neda Agha Soltani is the name of the young woman assassinated with a bullet in her heart by the Iranian government Basij Militias. No family funeral was allowed for Neda.
Her family and fiancé were interviewed and the video of her ruthless murder has not ceased circulating across the globe…
All the media outlets have been talking about Neda. That is fine with me. But how come no media outlet has spoken of the thousands of Nedas in Iraq that have been brutally murdered by the Iraqi Shiite Militias trained, armed and funded by Iran ?
Hundreds of Iraqi women have suffered a worst fate than that of Neda, and only in total 3 articles and a couple of videos were circulated in their names. Not even.
Why ?
…
The whole of Iraq has become a Neda with a bullet in her heart.
And that is more or less it. While Twitter and other blogospheres have been ablaze with comment most other Iraqi bloggers chose to spend their words talking about daily life or Michael Jackson, or Microwave Chocolate Mug Cakes. From a country which will, arguably, be the most affected by any upheaval in Iran, this lack of interest speaks more than all the comment in the world.

author: Salam Adil


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Iraq: Remembering Michael Jackson · Global Voices
Salam Adil

There was some comment in the Iraqi blogs on Michael Jackson. But first…
If you read no other blog this week read this one:
A little late in the posting but essential reading. Sunshine studies for her exams while braving constant explosions, shooting and poor electricity. She writes:
I wish the shooting and explosions will stop , and It will be a miracle, if we can have electricity more often , I'll feel the luckiest person in the whole world, my eyes hurts me when I stay late at night studying with torch light, I can't study more than two hours with poor light! Sometimes I wonder Am I demanding too much??? !!
Michael Jackson
The Narcicyst, an Iraq rap musician, summed up his feelings in MJ titles:
Fight till the end, but I'm only human.
You're moonwalking while we stay living in black and white. You made us all stare at the Man in the Mirror and find a way to heal the world. There was no way we were BAD enough, even a smooth criminal knew he wasn't dangerous enough. We are the world, but the world of music will never be the same without you. We apologize for chastising you, the world is a fucked up place. Rock Rock On my brother.
Miss you man.
Layla Anwar pays tribute writing: “Had it not been for Michael Jackson, the stupid, racist MTV would have not allowed a black man. M.Jackson was the first black man to appear on MTV with his Billie Jean, paving the way for subsequent black artists…” while reminding us to keep some perspective on the news:
While the whole world mourns the pop icon M.Jackson, whose Thriller was the turning point in his career, there is another series of thrillers taking place in Baghdad and which will mark another turning point in the recent bloody history of this doomed country.
Over the past 4 days alone, over 350 Iraqis were killed. And scores of others injured. …
I already see zombies and ghosts rising from the graves just like in the M. Jackson Thriller video, except this Iraqi thriller is no pop video and no one is there to pay their homages and mourn us.
And Attawie reminds us of her favourite Jackson lyrics:
Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me
Maybe the world would stop talking about if he was white or black, good or bad, Muslim or not.
That's all for now
and… Let's heal the world


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Israel/Palestine: Analyzing the New York Times’ Coverage · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Peace activist Richard Silverstein analyzes the New York Times’ coverage of Israel and Palestine by reporter Ethan Bronner. Silverstein criticizes what he perceives to be Bronner's pattern of deprecating and minimizing the work of the Israeli peace movement.

author: Maya Norton


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Israel/Palestine: Human Rights Activist Reports on Mission · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Reporting from Israel, human rights activist Rae Abileah reflects on her recent Gaza solidarity mission.  “It felt really powerful to be taking a stand against occupation in this very tangible way.” She adds, “While I know that we enjoy the privileges of these fun-filled actions, there is an ever-present awareness of the reality for the people who are suffering at the hands of occupation.”


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Israel/Palestine: Travels With A Surfboard · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Jesse Aizenstat is an American surfer who has been visiting Israel and Palestine – and he has carried his surfboard everywhere: “Walk from the Jerusalem bus station to the Muslim Quarter. This took about a half-hour; perhaps more because of inquisitive strangers questioning my sanity for bringing a surfboard to the holy city.”


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ISS: Photos and a Poem from Koichi Wakata · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

Astronaut Koichi Wakata on the International Space Station posted some photographs, including one of Sarychev Volcano while it was erupting (Also part of NASA's Image of the Day Gallery), and a tanka poem: “My home planet enwrapped / The blue light of the atmosphere shines”.


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Japan: Moonwalker, Jacko’s video game · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Esu-kei remembers [ja] the popular video game Moonwalker featuring the animated version of Michael Jackson. The object of the action game by Sega is to score points destroying the bad guys with moondust and choreographic kicks. When the enemies are all beaten, the children are safe.

author: Scilla Alecci


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Japan: News Digest from Tokyo Art Beat Blog · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

William Andrews has posted this week's News Digest at the Tokyo Art Beat Blog. The series is a good mix of local and international art news stories.


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Kazakhstan: KGB is back? · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Adam writes that journalists, rights advocates and opposition leaders, express concern that Kazakhstan returns to the vicious practice of the Soviet times in treating the dissent.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Kazakhstan: Media Protest Against Crackdown · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Arman reports on a silent action of protest in the downtown of Almaty, Kazakhstan, in which journalists of independent newspapers, media organizations and opposition politicians put on scarves on their mouths in a symbolic demand of more freedom of speech.


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Kyrgyzstan: “Fight Piracy!” Action · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Samat presents a photo-post on the action to protect the copyright and fight piracy, staged by the Kyrgyzstan's State Patient Service.


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Kyrgyzstan: Terror Attack Registered · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust reports that according to the Kyrgyzstan’s regional administration, five armed individuals killed by the Kyrgyz national security troops were members of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.


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Morocco: The Last Jews of Essaouira · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Reading Morocco mentions an article on the last Jews of the town of Essaouira but says of the discourse: “I am intrigued by the history of Jews in Morocco but there needs to be a little more constructive criticism of Jewish out migration from the country, especially to Israel; and of their on again/off again relationship with Morocco.”


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Pakistan: A Minute Of Silence Honoring MJ At Sindh Assembly · Global Voices
Rezwan

Paksitani blog PKKH calls this a death of common sense: “Just when you think our so called ‘elected representatives’ can’t embarrass us anymore, they tend to prove us wrong. The Sindh Assembly has this morning held a minute’s silence as a mark of respect to Michael Jackson, on his sad demise.”


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Pakistan: The Hunt For Baituallah Mehsud · Global Voices
Sana Saleem

Baitullah Mehsud (born ca. 1974) is a leading military leader in Waziristan, Pakistan and the leader of the Taliban umbrella group, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which was officially formed in December 2007. He belongs to the Mehsud tribe in Pakistan's troubled South Waziristan region and is commanding about 20,000 pro-Taliban militants. Mehsud, the most wanted man in Pakistan, was accused of assassinating the former Prime minister Benazir Bhutto. He also claimed responsibility for Lahore Police academy attack and is thought to be responsible for many such attacks.
Mohsin Segal at Pakistan Spectator talks about Mehsud's terror tactics:
Pakistan's #1 terrorist is Baitullah Mehsud who has rocked Pakistan from Karachi to Khyber with a continuous string of suicide attacks, bomb blasts, kidnapping and then his other evil tactics. He has garnered support from many quarters and is capable of wrecking havoc throughout Pakistan. His power has not all of a sudden emerged from out of the blue. He has cashed in on the opportunity. He is using the wandering and clueless foreign militants and the local militants, in the name of Islam, as a cannon fodder.
Baituallah mehsud is known to avoid public appearance or photographs. A video by Istream.in shows him and his possible hideout:
On 17th June, the Pakistan army has officially started an operation against Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and his allies in South Waziristan.
Jauhar Ismail at All Things Pakistan discusses the reasons for the army offensive:
While the military analysts disagree on the timing for this operation, there is no disagreement that crushing Baitullah and his militant network is a prerequisite for curbing the tsunami of terrorism engulfing Pakistan. In addition to providing sanctuary to top level Al-Qaeda leadership, TTP is also running several suicide training camps in South Waziristan. He has also made successful attempts to fuse together various terrorist groups to fight their “common enemies”.
The operation is termed as ‘Rah-e-Nijat’ which means ‘way to good riddance’. In the wake of the operation Rah-e-Nijat several tribe leaders form Baitullah's native tribe have turned against him. Junaid Khan at Pro-Pakistan gives an insight on the alliance:
Now that the army operation is imminent, a division between the Mehsuds are becoming visible. The tribal people of South Waziristan will have to take sides since remaining neutral will be a difficult option.
Another post at Urdu Maza emphasizes on the need of the operation:
Its the best time, we have dispersed more than 3.5 million Pakistani, now Pakistan army should clear every militant in north and South Waziristan, enough is enough, northern areas are the backbone of our culture and society, these areas are symbol of purity and beauty and of course a heaven of tourism, but unless these criminals are not wiped out completely, they can create problem again.
With the local tribesman volunteering to help the army and a Rs. 50 million bounty on Mehsud, it is hoped that the operation will be swift. But Pakistan is facing a growing number of refugees who are fleeing the wars and if this operation continues for long, this will trigger a humanitarian catastrophe.

author: Sana Saleem


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Palestine: Learn From Palestinians · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

In the West Bank, Samuel Nichols describes visiting a Palestinian family: “These people don't need to learn about modern economics, democracy, or the peace process. The opposite is true, we all need to learn from them. The graciousness, kindness, and love of their hospitality is something that could change the world, if we only listened.”


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Palestine: Lebanese Activist Stuck At Egypt-Gaza Border · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Lebanese activist Natalie Abou Shakra, who reported from Gaza during Israel's attacks in January, is not being allowed to cross out of the Gaza Strip into Egypt.


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Palestine: Memorializing Michael Jackson · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Palestinian blogger Sabreen Witches memorializes Michael Jackson and his influence on the world in this post.


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Palestine: Rafah Crossing Open For 72 Hours · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Laila El-Haddad is hoping she will see her parents soon, as the Rafah Crossing from Gaza into Egypt is temporarily opened: “Of the some 5000 Palestinians registered to cross, only 250 were allowed out of Gaza on the first day (a total of 5 buses), and only 4 buses scheduled to depart today. My parents – on bus # 16, are waiting along with thousands of others.”


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Palestine: Support Requested For West Bank Villagers · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

The activists of The Villages Group are requesting support for the villagers of Susya in the southern Hebron Hills in the West Bank.


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Palestine: Website Honors Memory of Fallen Daughters · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Among the casualties of the Gaza war with Israel this winter were four young women of the Abuelaish family. Daughters For Life is Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish's tribute to their memory. Jewschool calls it: “A powerful endorsement of non-violence in the face of Palestinian extremism and Israeli belligerence.”


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Russia: “Ingushetia, boom” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Fistful of Euros writes about the assassination attempt on Yunus-Bek Yevkurov and the situation in Ingushetia and other North Caucasus regions.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Syria: The Worst Time to Die · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Syrian blogger Maysaloon notes the unfortunate timing of Michael Jackson's death in relation to the Iran media storm.


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Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan Remain Worst of the Worst · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Musa reviews the “Worst of the Worst 2009″ report by Freedom House, which lists two Central Asian states – Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan – among the world’s most repressive societies.


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Albania: Electoral improvements and lingering problems · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Albanian Blogger comments on the 2009 general elections in Albania.


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Bangladesh: Grameen – Workable Idea Worldwide · Global Voices
Rezwan

Naveen Bachwani at Grey Matter is fascinated by the works of Grameen Bank and Dr. Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh. His idea of Microcredit and Social business has been replicated in many countries and can work in any country of the world.


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Bangladesh: Sacking Of Army Officers · Global Voices
Rezwan

Unheard Voice blog discusses the sacking of seven army officers in Bangladesh and comments: “If army is not kept above political partisanship or at the least not perceived to be above partisanship, we will have a high price to pay in future — just like we have a paid a high price for destroying some of our other institutions in the past.”


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China: A migrant worker strikes back · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michele Scrimenti from Chinageeks translated an excerpt of a post by Wan Xiaodao, a rural migrant worker in his 20s who criticizes the society from grassroots point of view.


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China: Being blocked · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Uln from Chinayouren shares his frustrated feelings on being blocked by the Great Fire Wall of China.


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China: Netizens’ reactions over Michael Jackson’s death · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fauna from ChinaSMACK translated Chinese netizens’ reactions over Michael Jackson's death.


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China: Online social movement · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fili An posts a review on Chinese censorship and netizen's online social movement.


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China’s Stimulus Package and its Effect · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China elections and governance has a series of article on the China's economic stimulus package and its effect. Part one is An introduction to China's stimulus package. Part two is The green dragon soars on the wind: Chinese stimulus and the environment. Part three is Migrant workers and social unrest. The last part is China's Stimulus Package and its Effect on China's SOES: Bad for the Economy and Bad for the Prospect of Democracy.


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Cuba: Fear of Change?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Like the seemingly never ending US blockade that attacks Cuba’s economy from without, from the inside a corrosion process is gradually eating away at the relatively young 50-year revolution”: From Havana, Circles Robinson says that “there is a conservative political class of managers at most workplaces and government offices who fear and resist any attempts to change the status quo.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Cuba, U.S.A.: Connecting the Dots · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Call it coincidence, but diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense thinks that in light of news that Cuban human rights activists Jorge Luis García Pérez “Antúnez” and his wife were once again arrested, “it might be best to connect the dots”, particularly “in the wake of the NED ceremony, at which Antúnez spoke via telephone.”


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Czech Republic: End of EU-presidency · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Czechmatediary recounts the end of the Czech presidency of the European Union, finalising it with a big street party.


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East Timor: Press freedom situation · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Daily PCIJ reports on the press freedom situation in East Timor


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Ecuador: State Contracts With President’s Brother Raise Concerns · Global Voices
Milton Ramirez

Multi-million dollar contracts between the state petroleum company Petroecuador and several private companies raised some eyebrows when it was discovered that the brother of current president Rafael Correa was a member of some of the private enterprises.  Fabricio Correa has been part of private companies that had been awarded contracts to provide public works services [es]. Even though Fabricio Correa has been emphatic that the contracts were won legally through a competitive bidding process, many do not believe these claims and believe that it has more to do with the fact that his brother is the country's leader causing the government to look bad in the process.
Aluminum sculpture of the Virgen of Quito at the cuspid of El Panecillo. Photo used under Creative Commons license by http://www.flickr.com/photos/tacvbo/
Fabricio Correa has defended himself by saying that he has been a businessman for 30 years and his brother has only been a politician for only 3 years. However, there are some who saw something suspicious from the beginning, as Santhros tweeted, “New season of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’ first contestant: Fabricio Correa.”
Many see the problem in Ecuador directly related to the new Constitution and the role being taken by the state. The increase in regulations make things difficult for Ecuadorians to understand. Ecuador Sin Censura [es] comments on a recent speech given by Rafael Correa, where he defended his brother and accused the media for distorting the information about the business relationship between the state and his brother.  However, it was a comment made by Juan Montalvo who also points to the system as allowing something like this happen:
Mi crítica no es personal, sino ideológica. Los escándalos de Fabricio son la punta de un iceberg inevitable. No es culpa total de Correa, es el sistema. Cuanto más interviene el Estado, cuanto más grande se hace el botín político, más corrupción se produce. Tan exacto como las matemáticas. El Sr. Correa podrá tener todas las buenas intenciones del mundo, pero el sistema que propone siempre derivará en corrupción, quiebra económica, clientelismo y frustración social. Solo un negacionista de la historia se empeñaría en seguir defendiendo lo contrario. Lástima que haya tantos.
The organic law for the public procurement system prohibits any business between the the government and relatives of government officials, as it is established by law in the Official Record No. 395 of August 4th, 2008. Manuel Ignacio Gómez Lecaro of Hoy y Ahora [es] wonders why Correa had not criticized these large contracts:
¿Se imaginan cómo hubiese saltado Rafael Correa en sus épocas de ciudadano común si todo esto hubiese sucedido en uno de los gobiernos de quienes él ahora llama “cadáveres políticos”? ¿Se imaginan el escándalo que hubiesen armado los hoy asambleístas y funcionarios del Gobierno? Pero en estos tiempos socialistas parece que no existe la corrupción, solo la mala fe de los medios empeñados en atacar al Gobierno.
(…)
Hasta eso, no hay una sola voz con fuerza en la oposición que diga las cosas como son. Las cortinas y los manteles verdes huelen a podrido, pero pronto se irán olvidando. Correa quedará algo lesionado, pero seguirá avanzando, acaparando poderes, insultando.
Imagine how Rafael Correa would have reacted when he was a ordinary citizen, if all of this would have happened in one of the governments that he now calls “political cadavers.” Imagine the scandal that would have taken place by the members of the Assembly and the government officials? But in these socialist times it appears that there is no corruption, only the bad faith from the media determined to attack the government.
(…)
Until then, there is not a single strong voice in opposition that says things like it is. The curtains and green tablecloths smell rotten, but they soon will be forgotten. Correa will be somewhat hurt (by the revelation), but he will continue moving forward, gaining power, insulting.
Yet, some bloggers see the criticism should fall on the brother for not realizing how the situation might be perceived.  Andres Contilde of Modestamente Humano [es] writes that such a move gives opposition to his brother much more ammunition for criticism:
Fabricio Correa: este man sí es la auténtica falla. Cómo va a meterse a concursar siquiera en proyectos para el Estado aunque sea legal la figura con la que entró a participar.
(…)
Sea lo que sea que sea, así haya sido totalmente transparente la contratación, totalmente legal, sin ningún favoritismo y sin mano negra o palanca ya deja para pensar mal. Deja mucha tela para que alguien malintencionado la corte a diestra y siniestra. Ahora se planea reformar la ley, en teoría Rafael Correa solicitará la nulidad de esos contratos para que se vayan quitando las sombras de duda, pero con el solo hecho de que las sombras hayan aparecido ya se hizo un gran daño
Fabricio Correa: this man is the one truly at fault. How could he get involved in the bidding process for projects with the State even if when he was legally able to participate.
(…)
In any case, when the contracts had been totally transparent, totally legal, without any case of favoritism, and with any dark hand or assistance, it still looks bad. It leaves a lot of room for those with bad intentions to cut it both ways. Now there are plans to reform the law, in theory Rafael Correa will solicit the nullity of those contracts in order to remove the shadow of doubt, but with the fact that the shadows have already appeared, it already caused great damage.
After public debate, President Correa has announced that the government will unilaterally cancel the contracts [es] made with companies in which his brother is a participating member. At the same time, he criticized Fabricio for the business indicating that he may not have violated the letter of the law, but he did violate the “spirit” of the law that prohibits this kinds of business.  However, as Contilde mentioned, the damage has already been done.

author: Milton Ramirez


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French Caribbean: Farewell Mickael · Global Voices
Fabienne Flessel

The news of the death of the King of Pop was like an earthquake felt around the world. The shock wave reached the French Caribbean, where bloggers from Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, all pay homage to the late artist.

author: Fabienne Flessel


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Ghana: New Media in the Hands of Young Ghanaians · Global Voices
Gayle Pescud

I had an opportunity to interview Mr Michael Boampong, the Executive Director of Young People We Care, based in Kumasi, Ghana.  YPWC is no ordinary NGO and Michael is no ordinary young man, by anyone's standards. Operated by young people, for young people, YPWC exploits new media to create links with like-minded individuals and organisations around the world to enhance opportunities for young people here in Ghana.
Welcome Michael, can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m the founder of and currently work as the Executive Director of Young People We Care (YPWC). I completed a four-year undergraduate degree at the University of Cape Coast, majoring in Economics and Geography, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences. I’m passionate about youth empowerment and believe that youth must be empowered now to ensure a brighter tomorrow for everyone.
I am also an advisory board member of the Bangladesh Youth Parliament, and the Country Representative of UNICEF Rural Voices of Youth. I am currently doing national service with the United Nations Development Programme, Ghana.
YPWC, founded in 2005, is a youth-led and -focused organisation that is headquartered in Ghana, with satellite offices in the United Kingdom and Canada. The organisation is operated by young people aged ten to thirty-five years and adult partners working on youth-and development-related issues worldwide.
Basically, we aim to educate, inform and inspire youth participation in global issues, to build sustainable partnerships aimed at youth development, and to provide young people with the tools and resources to take action themselves.
We believe that through informing and engaging youth, they will be inspired to get involved and take action to improve their local communities. For example, we have held workshops on communication skills and report writing for youth in far-flung regions of Ghana with sponsorship from Disney, which might seem surprising but it’s brilliant to see the youth in those areas organizing themselves and responding to these inputs.
And we believe that this is how we can change the world. So, we try to create a platform for youth to translate what they have learnt into action and involve them in decision making on key developmental and global issues.
The online volunteering programme provides opportunities for volunteers to provide support and assistance “virtually”, in other words, they volunteer via the internet. The virtual volunteer programme is innovative and, of course, cost effective for all involved. Volunteers can work from anywhere and don’t have to travel all the way to Ghana just to help out; they can volunteer in their pyjamas in their rooms anywhere in the world.
Our online volunteering programme started through the UN Online Volunteering system  in 2006. You can see that the site is divided into two parts: one for the volunteers and the other for the organizations.
When I started YPWC, it was hard for partners to trust the capability of our team because we had no record of successful project management to go on. Realizing that it would be hard to mobilize funding to get the organisation started, I decided to search for assistance from experts online for things like the design of a website and the brochure. These would normally cost a significant amount of money. That’s when I came across UN Online Volunteering and it has proved very helpful for YPWC. Currently the monthly newsletters and the YPWC website updates are carried out by UN Online Volunteers. Acknowledging the impact of UN Online Volunteers assistance to YPWC, in August 2008 the UNV featured YPWC in their newsletter. Honestly, the assistance and expertise given by virtual volunteers has changed the face of YPWC. It has provided greater opportunities and benefits for us and those we work with, despite the limited funding we received from donor organizations and individuals. We’re still working with online volunteers today.
Occasionally we post volunteer opportunities online through the official YPWC website or the UN Online Volunteer website. Interested volunteers who meet our criteria for a particular project or assignment are contacted and given a final work schedule and details about any support they might need. The great thing is that they can sit in a small or big town anywhere across the globe and help. You can work as a virtual volunteer without stepping outside your home; you only need to have a reliable internet access on your computer. We have an online group that volunteers join and that’s where we do a lot of chatting, cross-checking, and planning.
In the past months, our online volunteers have helped to create bi-monthly newsletters, moderate online discussions on the theme of migration, proof-read documents, and assist with website construction and management. Currently they are helping in the creation of a Youth Action Guide as well.
If anyone wishes to know more, they can contract Shimrit Janes, one of our lead volunteers, at Janes@ypwc.org.
We communicate via email and also through social networks. On urgent matters we use SKYPE phone calls or have instant chats.
I work with our YPWC staff to create opportunities for online volunteers. I assist online volunteers if they need more details about volunteer opportunities. I provide input to ensure that the tools or materials being created will actually meet the objectives of the project for which they are being designed.
They come from all over the world: United Kingdom, Canada, Cameroon, Philippines, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Bulgaria, India, and USA.
We know that blogging is very effective in sharing and spreading knowledge and ideas, especially for those who traditionally do not have a “voice”—and that usually means youth. As such, the YPWC Blog has been created to meet one of our main objectives: to provide a “youthful voice” for the leaders of tomorrow.
We’re encouraging YPWC’s staff, volunteers and friends to write and engage in discussions concerning the thematic areas of YPWC’s work like youth and migration. We hope it will provide an ongoing platform to showcase YPWC’s work and that of those connected with YPWC, too.
We are now inviting writers to come and post. If you are interested, please visit our info page for more details.
How will it work? Who’s managing it? What do you hope to achieve from it?
We are looking for original content. We do have guidelines about posting that will be provided upon acceptance to post, including obtaining permission from copyright owners before posting copyrighted materials, and verifying facts before posting–all the usual conditions. We're OK with posts on our blog being posted elsewhere, provided YPWC is credited and the actual blog post is linked to.
The Blog is being managed by YPWC’s Online Community Manager who can be reached at Oluwakorede.Asuni@ypwc.org
For now we are not connected with any Ghanaian bloggers, which we hope to change. We have received applications from Nigerian bloggers, which is excellent.
Currently, our most active social media network is Facebook. You can check out our page here.
I hope to specialize in migration issues in future and continue to connect with youth everywhere to take action for change.
Thank you very much for taking the time to share your fantastic experiences working with young people in Ghana and telling us how you are making the most of new media.

author: Gayle Pescud


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Grimaces of education in Kazakhstan · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

From June 01 to June 10 school graduates in Kazakhstan were undergoing Unified National Test (UNT) – the first and one of the most important tests in their lives.  As Zara, one of our bloggers, writes, the average test result has been 74.9 points, which is 7 points higher than the one for the last year. The number of graduates with excellent marks, who confirmed their knowledge, has increased from 36% in the last year to 54.5%.
“On the whole, the situation with UNT results over the country is more optimistic comparing to the previous years”, she notes [ru].
Sadenova gives her own calculations, based on the officially stated figures, and her conclusions are far less optimistic [ru]:
Analisys of UNT-2009 results shows that every 7th school graduate hasn’t scored the threshold of 45 points, every 9th school graduate scored over 100 points, and only 1 school graduate out of 13,500 scored the maximum of 125 points.
And lord-fame tells about rumored violations during the test.  Crib notes and mobile telephones used by the graduates are nothing, comparing to what is described below [ru]:
$ 300 – is the price fixed by local level some education officials and their cronies for not noticing a mobile telephone in the hands of a graduate passing the test. This price is valid for the provinces, and it's more expensive in Almaty and Astana. By paying $1000 you can be sure that your child will get teacher’s help in case of a difficult question.
Also posted on neweurasia.


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Honduras: Zelaya Arrested and Removed as President · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The day started across Honduras with news that President Mel Zelaya was arrested in his home by armed soldiers. A referendum vote was scheduled for the same day, which was one that was opposed by the Supreme Court, the Armed Forces and the Honduran legislature.  Days earlier, Zelaya had removed the head of the Armed Forces, General Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, which was followed by the resignation by other top military officials because they would not support the vote.
It was soon learned that Zelaya had been taken to Costa Rica, where he continued to call himself as the legal head of state. There was also a rumor that Zelaya had resigned. However, the alleged letter turned out to be false notes Juan Carlos Rivera of Miradas de Halcón [es].  The reaction from the blogosphere and twittosphere ranged from calling the situation a coup d'état to those who saw the move as the only way to stop Zelaya's controversial move.
Photo by Roberto Brevé and used under a Creative Commons license. http://www.flickr.com/photos/breve/3668996322/
There have been power outages in the capital city, as reported by Honduras Daily News, which speculates that it is an “attempt to limit the passing of information.” However, information is currently being passed through social networking sites like Twitter and Blipea, which were very active throughout the day.
A supporter of Zelaya, Hibueras [es] wrote:
Manuel Zelaya fue detenido y sometido por la furza bruta de la jauria criminal de nuestra historia esclavista para evitar que el pueblo hondureño posea el poder de inclusion y de construccion de su patria, los responsables de tan ignomioso acto son todos conocidos y pagaran caro su abuso.
Llegó la hora de buscar por otros medios, lo que se nos niega por la paz, y los responsables seran jusgados por sus actos de traicion a la patria.
Manuel Zelaya was arrested and subjected to brute force by a criminal element that has enslaved the Honduran people, in order to prevent the people from obtaining power for the sake of inclusion and the construction of their homeland, those responsible for such a disgraceful act are well-known and they will pay for their abuses.
It is time to search by other means, those things which we are denied through peaceful means, and those responsible for their acts of treason will be judged.
Supporter of President Mel Zelaya by Roberto Brevé and used under a Creative Commons license. http://www.flickr.com/photos/breve/3668437385/
Later in the day, Congress voted to remove Zelaya as president and installed Roberto Micheletti, who had been president of the legislative body.  Soon after, he announced that new elections would be held as scheduled in November. However, the installation of Micheletti as acting president has drawn the criticism from many of Honduras’ closest allies, especially from Venezuela, who has threatened military action if any of its diplomats in Honduras are kidnapped or killed. In addition, President Hugo Chávez has said that the new government led by Micheletti would be defeated.
Some twitterers like Hugo Chinchilla is worried about the statements made by Chávez and take it as a sign that there may be involvement from these allies. He was told “unofficially” that the military is preparing for a possible intervention by Venezuelan and Nicaraguan troops [es].
There are others like Jorge Garcia, who is supporting the  new government and is urging his Twitter followers to provide support to soldiers with food and drink [es].  He also states:
En #honduras no hubo golpe de estado, el estado de derecho continúa, la constitución sigue vigente.
Now that much of the world's attention is on Honduras, Wilmer Murillo is worried about being isolated by the international community. He pleads:
que devuelvan a Mel! estamos quedando como retrogradas ante los ojos del mundo.


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India: Celebrating Rain · Global Voices
Rezwan

Gargi at POV celebrates the rains which have come late this monsoon season. She reminds us that: “the link that India has to rains, is much like the colder nations of the North have towards Spring. A lot of our mental and physical well being is linked to it raining and raining well.”


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India, Pakistan: Diplomacy Lesson From A Tennis Duo · Global Voices
Rezwan

Kalsoom at CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan highlights the bond between the India-Pakistan Tennis duo Aisam ul-Haq Qureshi and Prakash Armitraj who are playing together in the Wimbledon. They are one of the finest examples of citizen diplomacy in promoting goodwill and improving perceptions between the two nations.


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Israel: would Israeli grassroots support harm the Iranian uprising? · Global Voices
Carmel L. Vaisman

In the past two weeks Israelis were following the tweets coming out of Iran with excitement, but were divided on the issue of participation in the “Twitter revolution.” Blogger Esther Yerushalmi, who was banned from Iran as a child during the Islamic revolution, writes [HE]:
“As I watch the news coming from Iran a wave of memories takes me back to 1979: my little brother and I cuddled in bed listening to the frightening gun shots and screams from the streets: “death to the Shah, death to America, death to Israel”. Overnight we became unwanted and had to run away from Iran. At the time I was busy with the ties in my hair and being in love with the neighbor's son, so losing my childhood innocence and the comfort of my little world so abruptly shocked me too much to even feel the pain.
The Iranian people are now closing that cycle for me: the young people, whose parents drove me away from my home, are identifying with my pain now. When I talk to the people there now, they're so warm and sympathetic, ashamed of Ahmadinejad, apologizing for his crazy remarks, remembering the time our countries lived in peace and they too want to be a free nation now, united with the world. They reach out to me and talk to me like a sister, dreaming of the day I can come visit and their words make me cry.
What happened to these young people that made them open their hearts and see clearly? They were oppressed. When you're oppressed for a long time you either die out or become stronger. And they chose the strength because the aspiration for freedom is in the Iranian DNA and unity is in the Islam DNA, not the ayatollah Islam, but the real original Islam. And when these two aspirations don’t materialize, they [Iranians] are ready to die for it.
Regardless of other interests, so many people online support the fight for these aspirations but only a few hundreds of Israelis are among them. Could we leave the distrust behind and support these people as people, who want and deserve exactly what we want? They cry out for our support. Yes, ours too. They want to join us and want us to join them. Can we be generous now?”
Elad Rosen, an Israeli art student, forwarded an email stating ways to help the Iranian people online and his email appeared on many blogs and was quoted in the Israeli press.  He writes:
“At this pivotal historical moment, the notion of a global village is becoming most relevant. For the first time we can do more than just watch the events, we can actively and almost effortlessly help people fighting for their freedom and democracy under an oppressive cruel government”.
Some of his suggestions included:
•	Setting up safe international proxy web addresses for Iranians
•	Seeding torrents of Iranian videos and re distributing videos and images to help decentralize the information flow and make it hard on the Iranian censorship
•	Changing our twitter location to Tehran to confuse Iranian government officials trying to locate and close twitter accounts
Indeed, many Israelis changed their Twitter location to Tehran and some haven't changed it back yet. That phenomenon resulted in a conspiracy theory that the revolution tweets are ALL coming from Tel Aviv as part of the efforts to deny the magnitude of the Iranian uprising or blame Israel for it.
As Iranian freedom demonstrations were organized all over the world, a local group of Web activists and Iranian Jews tried to organize such a demonstration at Rabin square in Tel Aviv  on 27/6/09. Over 600 people registered as ‘attending’ or ‘maybe attending’ at the Facebook event, however less than 20 people showed up. The organizers were disappointed by the small number of protesters.
Some of the Twitter and Facebook conversations in Hebrew may shed a light on the reasons Israelis hesitate to engage. This short twitter conversation took place on June 18th between llana Tamir, the community manager of Israblog, the biggest Israeli blog hosting platform, and Gal Mor, a famous technology blogger and until recently the content manager of Ynet website: (translated from Hebrew)
@ilanatam: I'm not sure Israeli participation in the online campaign is the right thing to do. The revolution shouldn’t seem like an Israeli intervention.
@galm:  I think there's a difference between an action initiated by Israel as a country and an action of Israeli people, as citizens to citizens, not identifying ourselves as Israelis
@ilanatam: there is a difference all right but does it exist for the average citizen of Tehran who sees that Israelis are interfering with his internal affairs? They have an issue with Persian independence, you know
A different voice was expressed by Shachar Laudon on the wall of the Facebook event created for the Israeli protest:
“It's a futile protest. Iran was and will be Israel's enemy. Only if the ayatollah's rule will fall things might change but meanwhile I don’t want to support Mousavi (which is an Ahmadinejad dressed as a lamb). I think we should stand behind the IDF, which will protect us from Iranian imperialism”.
According to Yair Lapid, a popular Israeli columnist on Yedioth Acharonot newspaper, the IDF almost prevented the Iranian uprising. In the weekend print edition (26/6/09), he writes:
“what is happening in the past two weeks in ‘freedom square’ in Tehran – the wonderful accumulation of young people, internet culture and women power- wouldn’t have happened if two months ago we would have listened to our regular bunch of boisterous hysterical voices trying to bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities. If that were to happen, the Iranian people would have done what we do in times of crisis: stand behind their government washed with patriotic anger, so Ahmadinejad wouldn't have needed fraud to get reelected. We would have lost this one time chance to see a real internal change bringing about the collapse of an evil empire and we wouldn't have even known we lost it”.

author: Carmel L. Vaisman


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Jamaica: Bloggers on Jackson  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Michael Jackson's death has Jamaican diaspora blogger Geoffrey Philp ruminating on the meaning of life, while Annie Paul says: “the mainstream media has limited credibility for me now [post Jackson's death] particularly in the wake of the Iraq War which they triumphantly and confidently led us into.”


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Japan: Shiso-flavored Pepsi · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

Pepsi Shiso (Japanese for perilla or beefsteak plant) went on sale a couple of days ago – Curzon loved it while Darg thought it was nasty.

author: Tomomi Sasaki


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Morocco: Celebrating the First Female Mayor of Marrakesh · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

The Moroccan elections of two weeks ago brought surprising results and were received with mixed reactions, as Hisham pointed out in this post.  One such result was the election of a woman to the position of mayor in Marrakesh for the very first time.  Fatima Zahra Mansouri, who studied law, is only the second woman to ever hold the position in Morocco (Asma Chaâbi, mayor of Essaouira since 2003, was the first).
Bloggers were mostly excited for Mansouri.  Popular blogger The View From Fez announced the news:
A 33-year-old lawyer on Monday became the first woman to be elected mayor of Marrakech, one of Morocco's biggest cities and a key tourist destination.
Fatima Zahra Mansouri outpolled veteran outgoing Mayor Omar Jazouli by 54 votes to 35 in Monday's municipal council vote, becoming the second woman to take a mayoral position in Morocco after Asmaa Chaâbi, mayor of Essaouira.
Maghreb Blog commented as well:
Just some breaking news from Marrakech: The first woman city mayor in Morocco has been voted in the red city's city council meeting today. Fatema Zahra al-Mansouri, a 33 year-old lawyer from the Party of Authenticity and Modernity, will assume the new responsibilities for the next six years, replacing Omar Jazouli who has been at the helm in Marrakech for 12 years. al-Arabiya reports what Sheikh Biyadellah, SG of PAM said: “reflects the image of a modern Morocco.”
The Twittersphere shared reactions to Mansouri's election and the election of a number of other women to council positions.  From Jerusalem:
Moroccan “tweep” Abdelilah Boukili pointed out that although there have only been two female Moroccan mayors, there are a number of Moroccan women holding lead positions in small towns, by noting:


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Myanmar: 1st H1N1 Case Confirmed · Global Voices
tan

Myanmar on Saturday confirmed its first case of swine flu, with state media reporting that a 13-year-old girl had tested positive for the virus on her return from Singapore.

author: tan


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Russia: Crackdown on casinos and gambling · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Eternal Remont discusses the Russian government's current crackdown on the country's casinos and gambling industry.


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Russia: Stalin visits Voronezh · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

LJ user Vaziani tells about [RUS] how the local Voronezh communists have wallpapered the city with huge pictures of Joseph Stalin in commemoration of the 22 June 1941 attack on the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany.


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Taiwan: Meet Taiwan’s “Twitter Queen” · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

Andrew from Feast Meets West interviewed Rose Huang, the most-followed twitterer in Taiwan, in his radio show on RTI.

author: Portnoy Zheng


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The Balkans: Agim Ceku · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Fistful of Euros writes about Agim Ceku and his arrest and release in Bulgaria last week.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Taking Issue  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidadian diaspora blogger Jumbie's Watch takes issue with a government anti-crime advertisement.


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Argentina: Kirchner Handed Defeat in Congressional Elections · Global Voices
Jorge Gobbi

The parliamentary elections held on Sunday, June 28 across Argentina have left a negative balance for the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. In the Chamber of Deputies, for example, the party's representation fell from 115 members to 94 members. In the Senate, it lost 4 representatives and was left with 31. After recognizing the defeat, Kirchner's husband, Néstor, resigned from the head of the Justicialist Party (Peronist).
Photo of voting station by Jorge Gobbi
In the province of Buenos Aires, the most heavily populated in the country, the Union PRO, an alliance between Peronist dissidents and the PRO party, came out ahead.  This alliance is led by Mauricio Macri, who is the current mayor of the city of Buenos Aires, and is considered to be more right-leaning than the positions of Kirchner. In the city of Buenos Aires, the PRO party won was expected, but with a smaller margin of votes that had been predicted.  The surprise came with the good showing from the center-left candidate and film director, Fernando “Pino” Solanas, a Peronist critic of the government's policies. He received 24% of the votes versus 31% from the PRO, while the Civic Coalition of Elisa Carrió finished in third place. The government's party was defeated in many of the other most heavily populated provinces, such as Córdoba, Santa Fe and Mendoza. However, it achieved victory in 12 other districts.
These elections were characterized by new ways of coverage. The most interesting was the extensive use of Twitter by many of the media outlets, as well as by users. Using the hashtag #urna2009 (ballot box 2009), there was information published from polling places and there was extensive coverage of the tabulation of votes. The hashtag was used by various media outlets, such as La Nación [es] and Perfil [es].  These two media outlets also published the updates from their journalists via CoverItLive. There were also other sites, such as Stream.Zauber [es], that tried innovative interfaces to present the information, using a combination of Twitter, Facebook, video taken from Ustream and newspaper RSS feeds.
Photo of the closure of the Kirchner campaign by Mariano Pernicone and used under a Creative Commons license: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pernicleto/3663297215/
In the blogs, there were many highlighted posts. In center-left blogs that support the government, Alejandro of La Barbaerie [es] analyzes the election's winners and losers and writes that “the most important thing is not to win, rather to make the other lose.”  Diego F. of Mundo Perverso [es] also writes about the defeat as a “source of legitimacy,” but also writes that there might be some temptation to write about the things that the government did wrong, but rather the things that it did right during their administration should be what is written. Artepolítica [es] writes about what the defeat on 6/29 means for those that have been supporters of this government:
3. Nos deja el esqueleto, la base, la plataforma, de lo que debe ser un modelo económico para la indepencia económica, la sobernia política y la justicia social. Nos deja la convicción que otro país es posible.
En el 2001 nadie tenía la más puta idea de cómo reencauzar el crecimiento económico. Y donde dice “nadie” incluímos principalmente a nosotros. Hoy sabemos por dónde ir, sabemos cuales fueron los huecos, sabemos cuales fueron los errores.
4. Nos deja mejor organizados, nos deja encontrados, nos deja con un enorme futuro por delante.
3. It leaves us with the structure, the foundation, the platform, for what should be an economic model for economic independence, political sovereignty, and social justice. It leaves us with the conviction that another country is possible.
In 2001, no one had the faintest idea how to re-channel economic growth. When we say “no one,” we also principally include ourselves. Today, we know where to go, we know where were the holes, we know what were the mistakes.
4. It leaves us with better organization, it leaves us discovered, it leaves us with a grand future ahead of us.
In blogs critical of the government, Martín Varsavsky, an Argentine businessman based in Spain, analyzes the elections in his entry “Liberals vs. Socialists in Argentina [es].”  In PapBlog [es], Fernando Arocena compiles a top ten of interesting links and noteworthy news. Walter Bove of FunkBlogJob [es] writes about a “crushing defeat for Kirchnerism”
Por otra parte, lamentablemente, a partir de pasado mañana van a empezar a aparecer en el tapete todos los graves problemas que tiene nuestro país, la mayoría de ellos por la imprevisión, por la falta de políticas, y la absoluta inoperancia del matrimonio gobernante. La gripe A, la desocupación, la caída de actividad económica, la inseguridad, la incertidumbre social, y fundamentalmente, como frutilla van a empezar a tomar estado público algunos casos de corrupción y de malos manejos de gobierno que por ahora se venían disimulando por parte del Gobierno K.
Like previous legislative elections, many of the winners were in good positions for the elections of 2011, such as Macri and Carlos Reutemann, senator-elect in Santa Fe. Many will be watching the next moves by the Kirchner government now that it appears to be weakened in Parliament. However, they still have more than 2 more years for the completion of their term.

author: Jorge Gobbi


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Bahrain: Comparing Government Efficiency In Bahrain And Japan · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Bahraini blogger Yagoob is studying in Japan, and he compares the experience of receiving financial aid from the Bahraini and Japanese governments: “Nagoya is a city with a population of 2.2 million people, four times more people than Bahrain, and yet they are sure of every single piece of information they have and work accordingly.”

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Bahrain: The Failure Of Education · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Mahmood responds to a recently issued official report about the standards of education in Bahrain: “Education in this country is a joke, generally. Things will not change unless the decrepit primary and secondary system is gutted.”


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‘Buy Indonesia’ campaign  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A campaign was launched encouraging Indonesian consumers and companies to patronize locally-made products and services.

author: Mong Palatino


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Egyptian Blogger Wael Abbas: Detained at Cairo Airport · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

Upon his arrival from Sweden at the Cairo Airport, blogger Wael Abbas tweets the details of his detention at Cairo Airport. The Arabist reported saying: Egyptian mega-blogger Wael Abbas is being detained at Cairo Airport after his passport was confiscated last night. This is the first time this has happened to Wael, who is currently holding a sit-in with a banner at the airport requesting his passport back.

author: Marwa Rakha


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Estonia: Budget cuts and GDP decrease · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

A Fistful Of Euros points at the link between budget cuts and GDP decrease in Estonia.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Guyana: Man in the Mirror · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana-Gyal thinks there just might be a little bit of Michael Jackson in all of us: “We might colour that bit a different shade, call it another name, but there it is…only difference is, between he and most o’ we, is that he coulda transcend the pain and sorrow of being human and create amazing works…”


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Haiti, U.S.A.: Danticat Cops Guillén Prize · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Repeating Islands reports that Haitian-born author Edwidge Danticat has won the 2009 Caribbean Philosophical Association’s Nicolás Guillén Prize.


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Indonesia: Candidates seek support of bloggers · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Indonesian candidates are seeking the support of popular bloggers in order to win more votes.


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Indonesia: Vice President Debate  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Indonesia conducted a debate among vice president hopefuls. My Busy Brain thinks the candidates were all colorul. Listen to the audio podcast of the debate.


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Iran: Protest movement inspires art · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iranian and non-Iranian citizens continue to create online works of art to support Iranians who protest against the  June 12 presidential election results in Iran.
Last week, we published more examples of how ‘art meets protest’.
Tim Raines, an American artist created a design expressing solidarity with Iranian protesters.
Hamed Pourabedin‘s design refers to the death of Iranian protesters in the last two weeks. He suggests that killing protesters only makes the movement stronger.
Iranian blogger Elika Hedayat shares her art work on her personal Facebook page:
Also by Elika Hedayat is this design. The words in Persian spell out one of the protesters’ slogans: “Don't be afraid we are all together”
Nikoo shares an original design of his friend Patrick:
An Iranian artist plays the piano and sings as a tribute to Neda Agha Soltan, a young girl who was shot and killed during a post-election demonstration in Tehran on June 20. This video has been watched by more than 36,900 visitors:
See Global Voices special coverage page on the Iranian Elections 2009.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Jamaica: Hangings to Resume · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Upon hearing news that the Jamaican government intends to resume hangings, Iriegal is both sad and fearful that the decision is the right one.


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Latvia: IMF, ECB and the EU Commission at odds · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

A Fistful Of Euros describes how the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank may be taking another line on the currency peg of the Lat to the Euro and the country's future inclusion into the Euro zone.


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Malaysia: RM1 million payment as tourism ambassador  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

SK Thew reacts to a report about the RM1 million given to former Ferrari Formula One team boss Jean Todt to spend over two years as Malaysia’s Tourism ambassador.


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Myanmar: U2 Shows Support for Aung San Su Kyi · Global Voices
tan

The Irish rock band U2 had urged its fans to show support for Aung San Su Kyi by wearing masks of her, which can be downloaded from their website.


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Pakistan: The Real Problem · Global Voices
Rezwan

Talkhaba points to the water shortage problem in some provinces of Pakistan and criticizes the bickering between the political parties representing provinces, who blamed each other.

author: Rezwan


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Palestine: Harsh Treatment By Egyptian Border Authorities · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Lebanese activist Natalie Abou Shakra, who has been in the Gaza Strip for seven months, is now being prevented from entering Egypt by the Egyptian authorities. Witnessing the treatment of Palestinians at the border she says: “They have been taught to accept this treatment. But, as activists, it is our job to break through the silence & scream out the injustice…no matter what the price.”


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Paraguay: The Possibility of a New Bullet Train  · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

There is speculation that a new bullet train could be built linking the Paraguayan capital city of Asunción with the Brazilian city of Paranaguá and which uses the energy from the Itaipú dam. Carlos Rodríguez of Rescatar [es] thinks that it could be beneficial for the region.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Peru: Interview with Peruvian Books · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Juan Arellano of Globalizado [es] interviews the creator of the website Peruvian Books [es], which recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. The site shares information about new books from Peruvian authors and upcoming literature conferences.


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Puerto Rico: For Shame! · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Litter mars one of Gil the Jenius‘ favorite Puerto Rican beaches, causing him to comment: “Every piece of garbage–every one of the thousands of pieces of garbage–indicts Us with its clear message of unconcern, of consumerism, of brainlessness, of herd mentality, of disdain, short-sightedness and sheer incompetence.”


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Russia: Another journalist death · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Eternal Remont reports that the editor of a Rostov-on-Don newspaper has died from injuries of a beating last month, supposedly provoked by his paper's reporting.


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Russia: Lingering high mortality rates · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Streetwise Professor writes about the prevalent high mortality rates among the Russian population, based on figures from the Lancet published by Reuters, with interesting comments by Sublime Oblivion.


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Russia: Paradoxes of population growth · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

LJ user about:blank comments on [RUS] recent research comparing Russian population growth with average income in various regions and cities 1990-2009, coming up with the interesting result that the country's second and third cities, St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novogorod, are making moderate progress in comparison to many other less developed Russian regions.


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Saudi Arabia: Michael Jackson v. Elvis Presley · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

When Saudi blogger and journalist Yasser Al Ghaslan heard about Michael Jackson's death, he immediately remembered the day he heard that Elvis Presley had died.
He writes:


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Serbia-Belarus: Mobile phones in civil resistance · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Information Policy summarises a recent survey on the use of mobile devices as a tool of civil resistance in Serbia and Belarus, concluding that state surveillance of communication is making them increasingly difficult to use.


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Serbia: History and architecture · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Nothing against Serbia discusses Belgrade architecture and its influence by both Byzantine and nationalist heritage, illustrating his point with pictures and plans of the city's former main telephone exchange building.