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Myanmar: Veteran journalist criticizes bloggers · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Respected intellectual and veteran journalist Mg Su San criticizes the behavior of some Myanmar bloggers who are “abusing the chance to express given by the new technology.”

author: Mong Palatino


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Nepal: The American Dream · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sangam.Silpakar from Nepal posted a detailed analysis on the Nepalis pursuing the ‘American dream’.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Rezwan


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Pakistan and War on Terror  · Global Voices
Rezwan

The Pakistani Spectator says : ” ‘War on terror’ never became popular within Pakistan and it never got any support from public. One of the main reasons for people not supporting ‘war on terror’ is the concept where people believe that this is America’s war against Muslims – or to be more precise, against Islam.”


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Peru: Blogger’s fights · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Javier from El Lápiz y el Martillo compiles the last series of clashes between diverse factions of bloggers. In his post Paisaje después de la batalla (es) he ends with a reflection: “debate and criticism -even their sole existence- will always be more important than the pettiness and insults that will inevitably accompany them.”

author: Juan Arellano


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Senegal: Confusion about Ramadan · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ria writes about Islam and the confusion about Ramadan in Senegal: “Thus for some, Ramadan ended yesterday; for most it was today, declared a national holiday by the Government. One final confusion: the festival to mark the end of Ramadan is called Korité in Senegal, but is known elsewhere in the Muslim world as Aïd-el-fitr.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Singapore: Regulation of political activities · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Still Me blogs about the regulation of political activities in Singapore. The blogger suggests several unique ways to circumvent surveillance.


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USA: Voices without Votes watch the Debate · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

You may not be able to see Russia from your backyard, but if you tune into Global Voices’ U.S election website, Voices without Votes, you sure can learn a lot about what the whole world has to say about tonight's debate between the U.S. vice presidential candidates, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden.
The unpredictability of Republican candidate, Sarah Palin from Alaska, has heightened the global curiosity factor significantly.
Two posts on Voices without Votes offer a preview of what non-American and expat bloggers are saying on the eve of the debate. In “Debate Watch: What is Sarah Palin Getting Into?” Hoa Quach quotes world bloggers for and against the Republican candidate.
Israeli blogger, Sultan Knish says:
“Palin has suffered from hysterical overreactions on both sides. Hysterical hatred from liberals and hysterical adoration from conservatives and now a hysterical backlash from some conservatives. She has an interesting story, but she isn't superhuman, she can't fly or change the nation in 5 minutes. Like every Governor who wends his or her way to the White House, she'll need time to learn and adjust, but she has proven that she's capable of taking on big jobs, which frankly is more than Obama has proven.”
Meanwhile, also on Voices without Votes, Jillian York shares some links to bloggers talking about Democratic candidate Joe Biden in, “Debate Watch: What is Joe Biden Up Against?”.
Spanish-American blogger, Claudia, writing for PoliGazette, says:
At this point, the VP debate is creating the expectations of a monster truck rally. It will be watched purely for the spectacle, to see big cars errupt in flames. The narrative is basically set in stone that this VP debate exists to see if Biden can actually achieve putting his whole leg in his mouth and to see if Palin can actually achieve speaking for upwards of an hour without saying anything coherent.
In the last month, Voices without Votes aggregated more than 800 posts from bloggers around the world writing about the election.
Today, a New Zealand blogger on Lucire writes about Palin and “in defense of lipstick”. Margot the Marrakesh Mystic checks the Chinese astrology charts of both vice presidential candidates, and the blog England for Obama suggest that Democratic candidate Biden should go for an attack strategy in tonight's debate.
With only a few weeks to go before the election in November, the Voices without Votes bloggers are pulling together to spread the word about the website in the name of global dialogue.
Global Voices’ Morocco author, Jillian York invites readers to buy t-shirts and stickers. Lebanese author, Nash Suleiman has made this video (and this one) to advertise the website:
Join us on Facebook and Twitter (especially if you're going to be Tweeting the debate!), and visit the websites of our partners who are also covering the elections from as many different perspectives as possible.

author: Solana Larsen


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Vietnam: Typhoon during harvest time · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Typhoon Hagupit killed more than 40 persons in Vietnam. Economic losses are huge especially in agriculture since it is rice harvest time.


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Bahamas: Straw Market Budget  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Rick Lowe at Weblog Bahamas thinks that the 5 million dollars that the government is allocating to rebuild the Nassau Straw Market “is over the top. This matter deserves clearer thinking.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bangladesh: Premium Internet service · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bangladesh Corporate blog informs that the government owned telecommunications giant BTCL has started to offer a special number to access Internet service, which is the first of its kind in Bangladesh. All one needs is to have a land phone line and a modem and the dial-up internet usage charges will be added to the phone bill.


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Brazil: Impunity and forgetfulness over Carandiru Massacre · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Visit to Carandiru, photo by Flickr user  silmaraelis, published under a Creative Commons license. The caption says “the souls had longer been forgotten there”.
The Carandiru Massacre, considered a major human rights violation in the history of Brazil, happened sixteen years ago (October 2, 1992) after a riot broke out in the 9th Pavilion of Carandiru Prison Complex in São Paulo. The riot went out of control, which led to the elite force of the Military Police being called in and a confrontation which resulted in the reported death of 111 prisoners. No police were killed.
Human rights groups claim most prisoners were unarmed and offered no resistance, and that the police also fired at inmates who had already surrendered or had tried to hide. Regardless of this, no one has ever been punished, and the only person to be tried was the commanding officer of the operation, colonel Ubiratan Guimarães (assassinated in September 2006 in a possible crime of passion). He was initially sentenced to 620 years in prison but the conviction was later revoked after mistrial claims.
Many Brazilian bloggers republished the same pieces of news from the media, but only a very few dedicated an original post to the day. Dinha [pt] was one of them, remembering it as the “biggest act of cowardice committed by the  Brazilian State against the imprisioned population in the country's history”:
Ontem, 02/10/2008, fez 16 anos que o Estado divulgou oficialmente que massacrou 111 cidadão brasileiros. Todos os que foram massacrados, assassinados, não estavam em guerra franca com o Estado, mas sim, no momento do massacre, eram prisioneiros, estavam sob cutódia desse mesmo Estado. Por isso estavam desarmados e mais, muitos estavam trancados em celas.
In a blog post called “Impunity”, Tarso Araújo [pt] reminds us that nobody has been made responsible for this crime, and that there is no estimate of when the accused will be tried:
O fato de o processo envolver muitos réus, além das dificuldades estruturais do Judiciário para responder ao acúmulo de ações pendentes, faz a tramitação ficar lenta.
O processo está em grau de recurso no Tribunal de Justiça de São Paulo (TJ-SP). Por haver indícios de autoria de crime doloso contra a vida, o juiz determinou que os réus fossem julgados por júri popular, situação com a qual os denunciados não concordam.
Depois que o TJ-SP decidir a questão, será necessário definir os procedimentos para o julgamento de um número elevado de réus. Não há previsão de prazo para que os réus sejam julgados.
Answering a question posted on Yahoo! Answers about how the rebellion started, Pucca [pt] shares a piece of story she learnt through an acquaintance, one of the few inmates from the 9th Pavilion who survived the massacre:
Um conhecido de família viveu aquele inferno. Ele nos disse que na verdade ninguem sabe afirmar exatamente como tudo começou. Ele disse que ajudou a jogar mais de 200 corpos dentro do fosso de supostos elevadores existentes no presídio e que tiveram suas portas lacradas com concreto. Seu amigo de cela (barraco) foi morto por policiais, ele só sobreviveu porque se escondeu atras da porta, quando as celas foram desocupadas pelos presos a pedido dos pms ele disse que correu juntamente com tantos outros presos pelas escadarias da prisão que estavam lavadas de sangue e cachorros pastor alemão iam ao encalço deles. Um dos cachorros mordeu sua mão direita. Disse que ficou no pátio com outros presos mais de 12 horas pelados e todos de cócoras. O crime dele???? Participou de um assalto a uma casa lotérica, réu primário cumpria pena no pavilhão 9, onde tudo começou.
The Hub brought an interview with P.P., who was serving next door on the 8th Pavilion and watched the horror unfold from his window. He says that the official number of deaths, 111, reflects only the re-claimed bodies – he believes there were more than 300 deaths. Together with a group of about 30 other inmates, he was summoned to help to carry the bodies, 50 of which he carried on his own. P.P. laments that, 16 years on, the case is marked by impunity and forgetfulness:
“It was ugly. But what hurts me most – how absurd it is that it has now been forgotten – no one talks about the Carandiru Massacre here in Brazil anymore” (P.P. in interview with Raquel Quintino – a human rights activist from the Universidade de Comunicação Livre).
The Carandiru Prison Complex used to be South America's largest prison and once housed nearly 8,000 inmates. The prison was demolished on December 9, 2002 to make way for a public park. YouTube user mtrombelli has a video documentary shot by students of journalism showing its last moments, empty cells and the demolition. Flickr user  ispic has a gallery of pictures taken just before the demolition.
Those who would like to dive deep in the history of the prision and the massacre should start by watching the highly regarded film Carandiru, directed by Hector Babenco, and inspired by the best-selling book Estação Carandiru (Carandiru Station, as yet un-translated) by Brazilian physician Drauzio Varella, who worked in Carandiru as a volunteer addressing its AIDS epidemic from 1989 to 2001.

author: Paula Góes


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Brunei: List of contaminated items from China · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Brunei's Ministry of Health has published a list of contaminated products from China. Many of the food items are sold in Brunei markets.


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China: Giving a hand to rescue U.S? · Global Voices
Bob Chen

The sweeping financial crisis that strikes U.S has brought a debate in the country and its congress whether the government should intervene and rescue the Wall Street, or even the entire economy. And It is not the only country pondering on a rescue plan.
Right in a recent interview by CNN, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao appealed for giving States a hand:
So this time we should join hands and meet the crisis together. If the financial and economic system in the United States go wrong, then the impact will be felt, not only in this country but also in China, in Asia and in the world at large.
Wen talked so with a certain reason, as blogger 百草止水 posted on discussion board Tianya.cn in a entry named  “should China rescue U.S?” ; 中国到底该不该拯救美国;？
在这个世界上，美国是唯一牵一发而动全身的国家，不仅因为它是独一无二的超级大国，还因为它是全球最大的消费市场。你可以不从美国进口商品，但无法不向美国出口，如果这个消费市场停摆了，全球经济将无一幸免地跟着遭殃。
The plane named “subprime mortgage crisis” is running into “Dollar status” and “foreign debt”, illustrated by unknown netizen.
Besides the States’ significant influence over global market, more importantly, China is the largest holder of U.S. Treasury bills, and also maintained a strong trade tie with US where is the country’s major destination of export(21% of total).  With its GDP’s reliance on export,  the determination of China to help rescue U.S from another disastrous depression could be reasonable.
As Wen Jiabao said in the interview,
The U.S. finance is closely connected with the Chinese finance. If anything goes wrong in the U.S. financial sector, we are anxious about the safety and security of Chinese capital.
But does the situation allow China to rescue U.S?
Above all, the prospect of U.S economy is in deep uncertainty. No one could imagine how much the crisis that has destructed Bear Stern and Lehman Brothers is going to wreck anymore.
百草止水  pointed out that the crisis is rooted in the States’ inherent economic system, that
美国经济对金融产业的依赖很强：第一，美国以两亿多人口占据世界第一消费市场，不是因为美国世界最富，而是美国流行“寅吃卯粮”的消费文化，也就是说美国人习惯于拿明天的钱用于今天的享受。
Thus, the consequence could be
第一，美国人更加不敢将钱存入银行
第二，金融企业的不 景气会使其发行的债券无人问津，而且已发行的债券也可能成为白纸一张，华尔街的融资能力剧烈受挫，美国经济的前景更加堪虑。第三，美国银行的存款锐减，金 融企业的债券不再受欢迎，也就越来越无钱用于放贷和投资，缺乏了银行支持的消费市场便进一步萎缩，不仅美国经济陷入衰退，全球经济也会一片混乱。
第五，美国经济出现全面危机，美元更加疯狂地贬值，美元的世界货币地位彻底终结……
第六，美元的剧烈贬值将会使美国债券尤其是国债的持有人高度受损，作为美国国债的第一第二持有者的日本和中国将首当其冲。
第七，为转嫁危机，包括美国在内的世界各主要国家就会穷兵黩武，一场新的世界大战在所难免，核武器可能首次大规模使用，人类可能遭到灭绝。这不是百草止水危言耸听，1931年的欧洲金融危机就是这样子的，那场危 机成了第二次世界大战的导火索。
At the end of his article, the blogger posted a critical question
要知道，中国手里的外汇储备世界第一，在美国金融危机当中，中国有能力发挥积极作用。问题是美国一直在积极遏制和围堵中国，甚至一再阻扰中国的统一进程，对这样的国家我们需要以德报怨吗？
In 2 pages of comments followed, firespace1 scorned
支持楼主拿工资去救美国
7758521wan said:
你真是个牛人啊，据然想起来承救美国，他妈的你才吃饱饭几天啊，现在就出来救人，真是有种，你是真的有钱就到大街上去救几个同胞不是更好吗……我为你感到悲唉啊．
Accordingly, maybe people should ask “do we have the power to save America”.
零时三刻1970 said:
中国也没那能力去救美国
不落井下石抛国债已经是最大程度的支持了
But 推拖拉机的浣熊 thought the other way,
说楼主脑残的脑瘫患者.看不懂就闭嘴.别再那乱扣帽子.如果美国危机持续下去.最多十个月,国内经济必然失控.从金融开始到房地产后工业.国人到时不知多少人要自杀.
EileenZ　rebuked:
照楼主的说法，美国永远都不能倒下，全世界都应该用本国的力量去支持美国的强大，这样他才能不停的用别人的钱去消费，给其他国家带来订单？
这样的逻辑，真的很糟糕，就像你不停的给钱别人来买你的东西一样，而这个人最终不会付清它的债务，因为他自己没有钱，所有的钱都是借来得。
讨厌猫的男人 seconds, giving an analogy
中国好比就是给美国打工,然在老板说我没钱了,公司要倒了.打工的说不能倒啊,倒了我没饭吃了,老板说那就你借点钱给我继续开公司,你也可以继续为我打工.楼猪这叫什么逻辑
That might be why insins said:
要救，但要乘机提条件 为什么要救？美国是中国的最大出口市场，他衰退，中国也要损失惨重。
提条件虽然不厚道，但跟美国人提不要心怀不安，他们对我们一直如此的，我们可以在台湾问题，西藏等问题提条件，多好的筹码啊
More than the unwillingness to give a hand, there are voices criticizing U.S is trying to transfer his financial burden to all the rest of the world, nothing different with a rogue state's action.
In another discussion board, IronBlood, 大大跑 said
美国金融破产与９７年国企业改革之初有的企业采用破产方法甩债另立公司都是为了破壳逃债，不过本质不同的是：美国是破外国债权，美国实际资产一点也没少……对这样不讲信誉赖掉他国债务的国家，为什么还要进行投资救市
On the one hand, China fears the financial crisis would not only involve the States itself, but destroy the global market and economic order as well; while on the other hand, it is thrilled by the significant chance, as the States might have during the World War 2, that along with the shift on power map, China would escalate to a status of super power.
大大跑's comment is exactly the expression of this ambition:
中国老百姓不同意政府参与美国救市，一是美国金融破产信誉让中国损失严重；二是国际上不应以美元做为单一世界货币绑架世界经济；三是世界上需要经济重新洗 牌规避类似美国大举破产逃债经济事故。有的网友说“美国的经济危机就是世界经济权益的一次再分配，中国务必做好重建新秩序的各项准备”

author: Bob Chen


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China: What Has My Country Done For Me?  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translated an article, What has my country done for me? from Southern Weekend's special issue for the 59 anniversary of the Nation. Other articles in the special issue includes: What have I done for my country?[zh] What else can my country do for me?[zh] What else can I do for my country?[zh]

author: Oiwan Lam


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Cuba: Helping the Victims  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Yoani Sanchez takes a road trip to help some of the most severely affected Cuban hurricane victims and says: “I returned and confirmed that the recovery will take years, that hope is scarce and that the worst may be yet to come when the enthusiasm for helping fades.”


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Cuba: Showcasing an Everyday Hero · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Ronald from Guamo blog honors an everyday hero in Cuban's lives: the lathe operator [es] . In a country where spare parts are quite impossible to get, the ingenuity and creativity of lathe operators who can create pieces out of scrap metals to reinvent motors and equipment parts is priceless.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Ecuador: Referendum Results Herald Changes · Global Voices
Milton Ramirez

The Minister of Economy for Alfredo Palacio's presidency, Mr. Correa, published a document in 2004 which  can be found at La Insignia [es] where he stated back then what is currently being discussed in Art. 303 of the newly passed Constitution, stating that Ecuadorians will go back to a national currency, and control and regulation of money will return to the Ecuadorian Central Bank.  Since Ecuador currently uses the US Dollar as currency, this has not been seen with positive eyes by many. However, not even the protests against the approval for the new Constitution, have stopped this “Citizen Revolution of XXI Century”, as the victory was proclaimed by the Presidential political movement, Alianza Pais (Country Alliance).
Preliminary results favor the Ecuadorian government (98.87% of votes had been counted, so far) and its vision of political future in Ecuador. As of today, 63.94% of population has voted for Correa's petition and 28.08%  are supporting the NO.  Guayaquil, one of the largest cities in Ecuador, however, voted differently than the rest of the country: even though results were quite close between both tendencies, finally the NO won with 46.97% of preference. Guayaquil's Mayor, Jaime Nebot, had to concede the results and being one of the leaders opposing the approved Constitution, he was quick to respond to Correa's call about dialogue and say he's not looking towards a separatist new Guayaquil, independent of its actual country, as many suggested.
Bloggers in Ecuador have commented about  the referendum's aftermath. Some are happy with the triumph of the YES and some others think that promised change is still far, far away.
Juan Fernando Pachedo of Satturn Attacks [es] begins his post asking himself, New life hopes? and he continues to doubt that a plain paper as the Constitution, might change things in this South American country. On the contrary, he advises his fellow citizens to take some steps in the economical area:
- Abrir tan pronto puedas una cuenta en Euros, créanme no hay moneda que se ponga al euro
– Sacar tu dinero del país, algunos Bancos te permite abrir cuentas en sus filiales en USA o directamente puedes hacerlo tú, es el mejor camino.
– No embarcarse en deudas en los próximos dos años, no deudas grandes al menos, recuerda que ahora pagas en Dólares y cuando tengas una nueva moneda devaluada te será más difícil de poder pagar a las cuotas de tu casa, auto etc, etc
– Migrar, si tienes a donde y de forma legal hazlo, ojo no aconsejo te subas a un bote y te vayas a EEUU sin siquiera poder articulas dos palabras, pero si tienes un empleo o una profesión que te ayude, puede hacer una migración ordenada tuya y de tu familia.
Eduardo Varas of  Libros, Autores y Riesgos [es] laments  that a great number of people, like him, neither voted for  YES nor for NO.  Eduardo thinks this shows that Ecuadorians vote favoring sensationalism and looked away from different options. Reminding us how Ecuador's political road has been in the last decade, he writes:
Y bueno, ver esa distancia, ver que un país se mueve por pasiones (por ejemplo, ayer en uno de los canales se pasó un reportaje sobre las consultas que se han realizado desde la vuelta a la democracia y me quedé helado al ver que en el gobierno de León Febres Cordero se lanzó una para preguntar al pueblo si se prefería que candidatos independientes pudieran participar en contiendas electorales. La mayoría dijo No. Luego, varias años después, Sixto Durán Ballén, en su gobierno, hizo la misma pregunta y ganó el Sí. No hay opción, se vota por la figura y no por sus ideas… eso suena a condena), y entender que el manejo será así por mucho tiempo, te obliga a despertar a varias ideas…
El Cronista of CronicaCero[es] recalls that this is the  fifth time in less than two years that President Correa gets the favor from Ecuadorian citizens.  He comes to realize that opposition is still blind to the changes that are really happening in his country:
Sí, a ver, dirán algunos que nada ha cambiado, que siguen los casos de corrupción, que sigue el gasto, que sigue el desempleo, que sigue la pobreza. Es cierto. Hay ciertas cosas que no cambian. Pero lo que se aprobó ayer, domingo 28 de septiembre, es sin duda, un paso enorme para modificar la estructura de un Estado que hace rato se olvidó de la gente y que se la jugó corruptamente por quienes tenían el poder financiero y político.

author: Milton Ramirez


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Grenada, Jamaica, U.S.A.: The VP Debate  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Grenadian Blah Bloh Blog and Can a Jamaican take Cali sound off about last night's US Vice-Presidential debate.


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Guyana: Cartoonist Passes On  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Living Guyana acknowledges the passing of retired Stabroek News cartoonist Hawley Harris.


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India: Nuclear deal with USA · Global Voices
Rezwan

Santosh at Über Desi discusses the significance of the India-US nuclear deal.


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Japan: Day of Sake · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ad Blankestijn from Japan Navigator blogs about the Japanese tradition in brewing new Sake on October 1, the Day of Sake.


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Japan: Robot Fair · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Edo from Pink Tectacle blogs photos of old and new robots at the CEATEC 2008 home electronics trade show.


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Japan: The mysteries of Kourakuen · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Blogger id:kokorosha writes about the many mysteries [ja] of Kourakuen [幸楽苑], a chain of ramen restaurants in Japan.

author: Chris Salzberg


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Laos: Rituals of moving into a new house · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Nye Noona blogs about the rituals practiced in Laos and Thailand when moving into a new house.


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Morocco: New Spike Lee Film · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Moroccan blogger Allal El Alaoui of cinema and movies writes a critique of Spike Lee's upcoming film.

author: Jillian C. York


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Myanmar: Journalist, opposition leader arrested · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Ohn Kyaing, a veteran Burmese journalist and opposition figure was arrested by the police Wednesday night. Ohn Kyaing was also involved in cyclone relief activities.


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Nepal: The rebel Prime Minister · Global Voices
Rezwan

Minerva's Crossing is impressed by the speeches Nepali Prime Minister and former rebel leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) gave in New York and comments: “rebel movements can change, if they are willing to do so”.


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Pakistan: The mispelling controversy  · Global Voices
Rezwan

After the recent flirtatious statement incident of Pakistan president Asif A. Zardari, Teeth Maestro digs out another controversy relating to the president, this time whether he misspelled or not while signing in a guest book.


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Perú: Bloggers Adopting Congressional Representatives · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

At the beginning of this month, television host Rosa María Palacios published on her column in the Peru21 newspaper an article titled We Have the Right to Know [es] in which she wrote about her fruitless tries to get information on a congressman's expenses. When she wasn't able to get any answers, she prompted other citizens to do the same and request the information in an attempt to pressure Congress.
This article was quickly accepted among bloggers, and it spread as a meme. The first one to write about it on his blog and present it as something bloggers could do was Paki's Blog, in Adopt your Congressional Representative …[es]:
1. Primero escoge a un congresista, si es que votaste por él, aún mejor.
2. Envíale la carta (lo ideal sería que la dejes en Mesa de Partes del Congreso, ya que el acuse de recibo del fax de la oficina de Administración, no consigna el número telefónico) Recuerda que el nuevo Director de Administración del Congreso de la República es Víctor Guerrero de los Ríos (cambia el nombre en la carta) El número de fax es: (01) 311 7719
3. Pon en tu blog un banner como este. Te puedes bajar el PSD (sólo tendrías que meter la foto del parlamentario y su nombre)
4. Cada semana publica un post de seguimiento, hasta que el Congresista acceda a tu justa solicitud.
As can be seen in the comments for the same post, bloggers have started to join the innitiative and by performing a  Google search one can find many more. Obviously some members of the congress didn't like this idea very much and their answers varied from absolute resistence to poo-pooing: “If they adopt me, I will denounce them criminally. Besides, I´m an adult, I can't be adopted” (Congressman Walter Menchola), but not all did, some even invited bloggers to Congress. In El Blog del Morsa (The Walrus’ blog) although a congressperson  wasn't adopted, they published the post  Blogosphere and politics: Adopt your Jaguar:
A pesar de que hablamos de unos 20 ó 30 blogs que se han sumado al llamado de RMP, desde ya se puede considerar un éxito la campaña. Ya se ha señalado públicamente la necesidad de que los congresistas rindan cuentas y ya no hay marcha atrás. Que no es el gran tema del Congreso, que el problema de fondo es la necesidad de partidos de verdad, ok. Pero el golpe fue encajado, directo a la quijada.
After several days, one of the requests made, in this case from the Peru21 newspaper, was rejected. The blog “Desde el Tercer Piso (From the Third Floor) attempts an explanation  to this:
No me extraña que el Congreso de la República le haya negado a Perú.21 la información sobre los gastos operativos de 5 congresistas. Y menos aún que lo haya hecho con el mismo pretexto que le dio a Rosa María Palacios hace algunos días. Y tampoco será raro que el nuevo Director de Administración del parlamento me niegue mi solicitud de información sobre el primer vicepresidente Luis Giampietri. ¿Por qué? Ensayo una respuesta. Pues básicamente porque en el Perú nuestros funcionarios públicos, electos y no electos, no están acostumbrados a rendir cuentas a la población que los eligió y/o paga sus sueldos con sus impuestos. La carencia de ciudadanía efectiva en el país, sumada a la situación casi de impunidad con la que parecen vivir el Presidente, los Congresistas y demás, hacen que se generen temores una vez que se produce una campaña para que se hagan más transparentes las cosas en la política peruana.
After this, the blogger's requests also  started getting rejected. And almost simultaneously  The guideline that forced Congressional Representatives to justify their operational expenses was rendered ineffective, basically the  heart of the matter which originated the campaign.  The blog Una Bitácora de Jomra (Jomra's log)  expresses the  belief that in the end, although the requests were rejected (and he explains the legal base of this) the balance was positive:
Hay que tener en cuenta, además, que aunque la batalla legal pueda perderse, la política es ganable, aunque en su caso la administración y la justicia determinen que no hay derecho a pedir esos gastos de forma directa o en las circunstancias actuales o en los términos solicitados, podemos pedir a los congresistas que tengan la transparencia política que ha tenido Valle Riestra.
Lo andado, en sí mismo, es positivo. Sea porque se han presentado 10 o 100 cartas, sea porque el tema está en el debate nacional, que los congresistas se sientan “observados” (porque no son sospechosos de nada, pero sí estamos vigilando sus y nuestros bolsillos). … el queremos saber y el sentido de ciudadano responsable se va extendiendo, y eso ya en sí mismo es positivo.
Nevertheless, criticism of the campaign wasn't absent. For example, El Jorobado de Notre Dame (The hunchback of Notre Dame) in his post  The “caviarizatión” of the blogosphere tells us that it seems more like an ego-trip and selfish exercise to him:
O sea, desde cuándo a acá me has resultado un ciudadano responsable tú, oe, que gorreas cable, que no cruzas las pistas por las esquinas, que conduces borracho, que botas el pucho de tu cigarro a la calle… no me vengas pues. Anda no más. Lo que se busca es hacer evidente tu blog (cosa que está bien). O sea, sinceremos la huevada… Me da la impresión que los bloggeros han pisado el palito del liberalismo político de Rosa María Palacios que bajo el supuesto de que todos los ciudadanos somos iguales (mentira, pues, a quién le quieres engañar), de que todos tenemos la misma capacidad de ejercer determinados derechos como es la mal llamada “vigilancia ciudadana”. ¿Todos los ciudadanos somos iguales ante la ley? Más falso que beso de madrastra. El liberal-Rosa-María tiene una fobia al Estado, porque solo ve “ciudadanos con derechos políticos” y “economía de mercado”, cuando es precisamente la garantía de la estatalidad (de que las instituciones estatales de control funcionen, por ejemplo) lo que garantice que hasta el ciudadano analfabeto pueda acceder a un bien público como es la información. Se trata de construir instituciones estatales y no de decir que no funcionan. Se trata de mejorar la representación, y por lo tanto de no confundir a la institución (el Congreso) con los ciudadanos que ejercen ineficientemente los cargos de representación (algunos congresistas).
For his part, Lapicero Digital (Digital Pen) exposes some of the motives that prompted him not to participate in his post Why have I not adopted a congressional representative?:
2. El congreso es la institución más débil y más desprestigiada del estado peruano. Piñata fácil. El poder del estado no pasa por ahí, sino por el ejecutivo y por los poderes fácticos como la prensa, la iglesia, los militares, los empresarios, las mafias. Más aún, los poderes fácticos suelen aprovecharse de la debilidad del congreso para imponer sus propias agendas (“disolver-disolver”).
8. No se necesita un canal adicional de intermediación política (aunque se publicita a esta campaña como un “modelo de participación civil“). Ahora le tengo que enviar mis consultas a un blogger para que éste monitoree al congresista, aquí. El congreso ya tiene una página web donde se puede hacer el seguimiento de cualquier pedido y, de hecho, la ciudadanía ya recurre a esos mecanismos. Toca reforzar el contacto de la ciudadanía con sus representantes, no debilitarlo.
11. Una vez que se sepa sobre los gastos operativos de los/as congresistas ¿qué se gana? ¿Qué pasa con las otras métricas de calidad de la actividad de estos representantes? Cumplimiento de promesas electorales, número de proyectos presentados, ausentismo, comunicación con sus electores/as, etc. Toda esa información se podría obtener también, acaso más fácilmente, pero no se le hace mucho caso. Por alguna razón, tal vez seguidismo a la periodista Palacios, comenzaron por los gastos operativos, pero hay muchas dimensiones que hubieran podido atender. Claro, hacerlo requeriría un trabajo más involucrado y especializado. Más fácil es el cargamontón y llamar a que más gente joven pida lo que ya le fue rechazado a gente mayor.
The blog Asesinato en el margen tries to give some answers to criticism in the post  Defending the Adopt a Congressional Representative Campaign :
1. ¿Importa cuál es la motivación del solicitante? No. Yo podría ser un racista iracundo y ponerme a fiscalizar a Marta Moyano por esa razón, por ejemplo pidiéndole información sobre sus gastos operativos con el afán de fiscalizarla. También lo puedo hacer por puro ego, por creerme la mama de tarzan, por moda, por paternalismo, por figuretti o por computarme un ciudadano digital. ¿Eso invalida mi derecho a acceder a dicha información o a participar en una campaña para ello? No, para nada. Esto me recuerda el argumento del racismo para explicar la conducta fiscalizadora de la prensa con Toledo. Yo creo que algo de eso existió, pero el que haya existido o no es irrelevante pues de lo que se trata es de ver si es que las denuncias en contra de Toledo eran ciertas o no. Más allá de la motivación racista del denunciante, lo que importa es si lo denunciado constituye un hecho doloso que amerita una sanción de acuerdo con nuestro esquema legal. ¿Qué la prensa no es tan severa con García? Si pues, pero eso es otro tema.
Finally, the campaign has had some collateral products or unexpected spin-offs, like for example the sarcastic campaign Adopt a Journalist started by the blog tv-Bruto: Citizen Campaign: Adopt a Journalist: Banner for you to place on your “citizen blog” / video: Rosa Palacios is given a spoonfull of her own medicine or the snarky Adopt a blogger, as is satirically informed by the Naked Chile blog in the post  Adopta a blogger campaign is launched. In a more serious plan there has also been a campaign to Adopt a Draftsman in the blog Hojas de Vida: ADOPT A DRAFTSMAN, a campaign that isn't a joke. And to wrap up , this interesting related post is by Andrea Naranjo: Political organizations and the digital inclusion/literacy: the case of Adopt a Congressional Representative. Also, the original Adopt a Congressional Representative blog itself.


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Peru: Digital Communications Event Cancelled · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Laura Vannessa from Lau's Blog is very embarrased that a local university has cancelled a Digital Communications event because Jose Luis Orihuela, one of the speakers, was organizing a Beers & Blogs in Lima.


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South Korea: Choi Jinsil · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Famous South Korean actress Choi Jinsil committed suicide on 1 of October. Ask a Korean! pays tribute to the Choi with a brief account of the actress’ life history.


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Sri Lanka: Media manipulation · Global Voices
Rezwan

Serendipity discusses the current state of media manipulation in Sri Lanka.


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Jamaica: Saving the Children  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Between watching a feature on institutionalised youth in St. Vincent and hearing news of the child murders in Jamaica, Abeni concludes that “we must save our children since the alternative is just too grim.”


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Thailand: Student initiation ceremonies · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Oneditorial writes about the student initiation ceremonies in some of the schools in Thailand.


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Venezuela:  Socialist Shoes Seem Oddly Familiar · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Simón Bécquer from the Alternative Reality blog in his post The Converse Shoes of the Socialist Youth [es] shows us the images for the new campaign for Venezuela's Socialist Youth, in which young people are asked to step into socialist shoes. However, these shoes, modelled and shown by President Chávez himself are oddly familiar: they are a red knock-off of the popular US brand Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars, with the PSUV logo instead of the traditional red and blue star. The author wonders where these ironic and “original”  Venezuelan shoes could  be purchased.


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Azerbaijan: Post-Election Scenario · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Azerbaijan’s Presidential Election speculates on the possible aftermath of the 15 October vote in the country. The blog says that although previous elections have been accompanied by unrest and violence, a boycott by Azerbaijan's main opposition parties make that unlikely this time around. Letters in Bottles agrees, and says that such a situation might well be welcomed by the West.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bahrain: Comedy without borders  · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Bahraini blogger Ammar, who runs the site Bahrain Talent, has just seen the Axis of Evil Comedy team perform in Bahrain – and was pleased that local comedians were able to hold their own on stage: “The act also introduced local talent; five comedians from Bahrain, unknown to most, but who had the crowd on their knees in laughter!”

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Cameroonian Female Bloggers on the Go · Global Voices
George Esunge Fominyen

From education through health, fashion, art and culture to women’s empowerment Cameroonian women are telling the stories of their lives on the web. For instance, Betty who lives in Manchester, England blogs about her preganancy at Betty’s Pregnancy Diary.  At week 34, she ponders on the consequences of the current credit crunch in world markets:
I decided with the credit crunch looming over our heads like bomb sirens, it’s no time to be frivolous. Mind you, the sound of my teeth noisily crunching away on Maltesers like they are going out of fashion is the only sound more overbearing than the credit crunch round here! I have decided to be very organised with my baby shopping. Instead of going all out on mad shopping sprees, I’ve sat down and painstakingly drafted lists and budgets. I’m getting so good at balancing the books; I think I could give the Chancellor of the Exchequer a run for his money.
In relation to parenting, Mabi’s World discusses the challenges facing grandparents who have to take up full responsibility for their grand children:
In many homes and communities, grandparents have always helped to look after their grandchildren. They are so happy that they travel long distances to be part of the action. Some grandmothers have had to travel abroad to “babysit”. However, for a growing number of grandparents, the brief visits to welcome the new-born baby have now been replaced by the responsibility of providing full-time child care, while Mom and Dad are busy at work.
This relatively new blogger also posts health advice on managing typhoid fever and draws from her late father’s personlity to declare teachers as leaders in commemoration of World Teachers’ Day on 5 October:
My father, Ntunibu James Azefor, was a teacher. One, whose leadership qualities still call for celebration today. His students still remember him as a selfless, respectful and determined person, devoted to the cause of sharing knowledge. Every one of his former students I meet has a story of how he influenced their lives. They describe him as a good teacher whose diligence, vision, attentiveness, and passion to teach and share knowledge enabled them to achieve success and reach great heights. In InterAction parlance, he would be described as “enabling others do great work”. That is leadership.
Mabi azefor Fominyen is a journalist, radio and TV presenter with Cameroon's state-run broadcaster (CRTV), who is interested in family, leadership, gender and  women’s empowerment issues.
Speaking of women's issues, Rosemary Ekosso bounced back this September after a dip. She is not pro-polygamy and she is clear about it when she reacts to a BBC report on a man who married 86 wives in Nigeria:
There is no valid excuse for polygamy in today’s world, and we know it. Let us stop pretending to protect the interests of women in such situations when we know full well that we are only thinking about preserving the status quo either because it does not impinge on our lives or because it is to our advantage.
But one of her readers had a different point of view and had the following words for Rosemary:
Did the women tell you it is unfair to them?Did they say anything about being forced into it? They choose the lifestyle they want and we have no right to impose our notion of what we believe to be the “ideal” marriage scenario on them. That would be trampling on their freewill as humans.
On the artistic side of things, Dulce Camer  who describes herself as “a young Cameroonian trying to live out her dreams”,  interviews Anrette Ngafor, a trendy  32-year-old up and coming Cameroonian female photographer with great ambitions:
My goal is to have my own label, own company, own business and own studio one day. Not long from now this should happen as I am working towards that and I hope to achieve it and make my dream come true.
Style and fashion is also a point of interest for Germany based singer, song writer and media designer – Menoosha. In The Pink Post – she tackles the issue of weaves that do not enhance the beauty of African women:
My dear Afro Sisters! Here is my solemn petition for a BETTER TREATMENT FOR OUR HAIR!!! Whether straight, curly, kinky, fake or real, PLEASE!!!! let's TREAT OUR HAIR SHAFTS FAIRLY!!!! LOVE YOUR HAIR, AS YOU LOVE YOURSELVES!!!!
Finally,  Bamenda Babe’s  at My African Father blog provides a few recipes from Cameroon. After living for years in the USA, this blog is the lady’s way of connecting to her roots and one way is by cooking Cameroonian dishes:
Making kohki-corn here in the USA is quite an acrobatic feat. Where does one find the plantain leaves to use for wrapping up the kohki into bundles for steaming? And before this–before all else–where does one find the kind of corn that works? The corn sold at stores here is too soft, contains too much water, and is way too sweet. Are there any fresh cocoyam leaves around here?

author: George Esunge Fominyen


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Chile: Students produce bullying awareness short · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

The students of the Chilean Las Cumbres male school have produced a series of shorts; including the following one about bullying and teen suicide, which closes with the following statement:
This is a phenomenon that is taking place in our country and the rest of the world. You can't know what another person is thinking, or how your jokes may affect them. Let's avoid the hindering of future talents due to the immaturity of some.
The short “Bullying” is rich in body language and expression, so even though it is in Spanish, the message is fully understandable regardless of your spoken language:


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Colombia: Local Golf Star Becomes Role Model for Kids · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

In Good Times in Medellin, Medellin Travel writes about how Colombian kids have a new role model to look up to: 26 year old golf star Camilo Villegas, who this past month has made the headlines for winning the BMW Championship PGA Golf Tour, a first for any Colombian.


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Japan: Heiankyo Alien · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

mojix at Zope Junky Nikki writes [ja] about Heiankyo Alien [平安京エイリアン], a video game developed by the University of Tokyo's Theoretical Science Group in 1979. mojix explains that the game, which consists of dropping aliens into holes in Heian-kyo (ancient Kyoto), can now be downloaded and played without even installing it. “In the old days, machine's were not so complicated, and games succeeded or failed on the strength of their ideas,” mojix writes. “I guess that's why there were so many great games back then.”


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Japan: Jiyugaoka Street Exhibition 2008 · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Space Journal has pictures of an ongoing street exhibition in Jiyūgaoka (Tokyo) held today and tomorrow (Oct. 4-5), designed by architecture group g86 [ja]. The show, located on Shirakaba street next to Jiyūgaoka station, is a “virtual exhibition” featuring QR codes as a “window” to various works by artists and information about local stores.


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Japan: Pictures from Hatena Haiku · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

id:y_arim at Electric Lover Hinagiku collects together pictures he has posted over the past two months at Hatena Haiku [ja] and adds short comments to each. Pictures feature anime characters Asuka Langley Soryu and Rei Ayanami, and a figure reminiscent of anime Weiß Kreuz.


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Japan: The Future of Web Community and Contents · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Blogger and writer Chiki Ogiue [荻上チキ] at seijotcp announces that the 2008 Young Critics Summit on “The Future of Web Community and Contents” [ja] will be held on Sunday Oct. 12 from 14.00 – 16.00 (doors open 13.30) at Sanseido Bookstore [ja] in Kanda, Tokyo. The summit will feature three speakers: Ogiue himself, author of many books including “Web Enjo [Flaming]” and “Net Bullying“, Satoshi Hamano [濱野智史], researcher at Nihon Gigei [ja] (formerly at GLOCOM), and Tsunehiro Uno [宇野常寛], editor-in-chief of PLANETS [ja].


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Kenya: Role of technology in post-election crisis · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Juliana Rotich and Josh Goldstein have written a paper on the role technology of post-election crisis in Kenya.


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Liberia: Five Liberian Journalists Reprimanded · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“The Press Union of Liberia has reprimanded five journalists for ethical misconduct following their admission of guilt in a recent investigative mission to Margibi County,” Liberian Times reports.


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Palestine: Jerusalem blues  · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Vika, who lives in Jerusalem, lists the reasons why she is feeling despondent these days, including a recent realisation: “My mood hit rock bottom this month when I realised the reason for the loud and constant hammering and digging that has plagued us all summer…is the beginning of a wall that will encircle a Palestinian village and cut it off from Jersualem and from its neighbours.”


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Africa: Let Us Talk About US Politics · Global Voices
Jon Gosier

Obviously the upcoming American elections are of great interest to many people around the world and the role technology is playing has been interesting, to say the least.  The Economist recently launched their Global Electoral College web application that encourages people all over the world to have their say with the American voters in November.  Of course, these foreign votes won't count but it will be interesting to see how they compare to the actual outcome.
Perhaps as much as its friends around the world, Africa is especially interested in how the upcoming American elections will pan out with a number tuning in to watch the Presidential debate on Friday 26, 2008 (which almost didn't happen). Blogger and Ushahidi co-founder Ory Okolloh encourages Americans really think about their choices and the potential outcomes by participating in the “Dear American Voter Project”:
“Dear American Voter” is inviting you to be a part of a global dialogue featuring responses from around the world to the question, “What should Americans think about as they cast their ballot? ” (Uumm…if you vote for McCain…goodbye USA, hello Russia and China).
Meanwhile, Blackyard notes that Barrack Obama's performance at the debate appears to have given him a slight boost in the Gallup Polls. Everest Chiali wrote about the night's exchange in Swahili.
But there are other concerns as well.  Siasa Duni suggests that the McCain-Palin ticket suffers from a lack of transparency and wonders if Sarah Palin is being protected from scrutiny by advisors who recognize that she isn't ready for serious questions from reporters.  Especially after one of Palin's first national interviews with Katie Couric, drew an uproar of criticism when Palin embellished her own diplomatic record as Governor of Alaska:
In order to minimize the fallout from the Hail Mary selection of Ms. Palin, the Republican presidential campaign organizers have been limiting Ms. Palin’s exposure to scrutiny. While reporters are allowed to ask her questions, she’s never placed in a situation where she has to answer. In the past four weeks, I have only seen two reporters who have been blessed with access to Ms. Palin. There was the much ballyhooed interview with Charles Gibson of ABC News who was careful to handle Ms. Palin with the softest of kid gloves, even though he still managed to expose her as having limited-to-no understanding of international issues with a question about the Bush Doctrine and its interpretation (America has the right to preemptively attack other nations perceived as threatening).
Angry African likens America's current dilemma to gangs terrorizing a neighborhood:
So you got a guy who was a bit stupid but you liked having him around for a barbeque. Never a good reason to select him, but hey, there you go. You thought, “How bad can it get?” And boy did it get bad. He started fights with neighbouring communities even though they did nothing to your community. Oh, they talked tough, but you knew their community is way to weak to do anything. But he started fighting them in any case. Instead of those guys who kept on throwing bombs over your fence. The fights started sucking you dry and the place started falling apart. The houses started to crack, the lights went off in the streets,  and the roads are falling to pieces. Basically your little community is just not the same anymore. And almost everyone agrees that this guy sucked big time. He is not coming to the next barbeque. It’s time to select someone else to run the show and fix up the place again.
So it has come down to two guys you can vote for. One is a guy who doesn’t look a lot like you, he is a bit young, tell you he has all these big ideas to make it better, but also tells you that you will have to pull your weight to make it better. Now he might be a bit shaky.

author: Jon Gosier


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Blogger of the week: Rezwan · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

Global Voices new South Asia editor, Rezwan, from Bangladesh has been with Global Voices as a volunteer author since 2005. Memorable posts by Rezwan include a report on Twittering’ an earthquake in Bangladesh, and a story of colorful but expensive Bangladeshi weddings. He replaces the illustrious Neha Viswanathan as South Asia editor.
His personal blog, The Third World View portrays Bangladeshis and Bangladesh in English to a global audience.
Eager to help create more content in Bangla on the web, Rezwan initiated the Lingua website Global Voices in Bangla with fellow translators.
He is also Features Editor on Rising Voices, a Global Voices project that gives micro-grant funding to new blogging projects in some of the most marginalized communities of the world. Here, Rezwan writes about the internet connectivity problems facing REPACTED bloggers in Kenya, the explosive energy of young bloggers in La Loma, Colombia, and shares the beautiful photos taken by Bangladeshi women-bloggers of Nari Jibon.
Why did you start your personal blog in 2003 and what was the reason you chose to write in English?
I was in Dhaka then, and I read a story in a local newspaper about the famous Iraqi blogger Salam Pax, who was writing an online diary about the Iraq war and the effect it was having on his everyday life. I started reading his blog and also came across some other interesting blogs.
This inspired me to start my own blog sometime in April 2003. At first I could not figure what to write. But I soon found out from the other blogs that there are huge misconceptions about Bangladesh, mainly due to the absence of Bangladeshi voices on the Internet. And I found my focus: topics on Bangladesh and following the Bangladeshi blogosphere.
In those days Bangla Unicode was only in the development stage so I could not blog in Bangla (as the reader had to have the same Bangla software/fonts I used). My focus was to communicate with the world, so English was the ready choice.
How did you first hear about Global Voices?
I probably first came across the site because my blog was being linked by Global Voices. I was already doing small roundups in my blog and guest-blogging in a couple of regional ones.
Then in July 2005 I received a mail from Global Voices co-founder Rebecca MacKinnon : “We find that we've been linking to you quite frequently over at Global Voices and would love to know a little more about you…” She requested me to post on Global Voices.
I was thrilled to write for Global Voices, and the rest is history.
What is your most memorable blogging experience?
I've have a lot of interesting experiences. I remember in April 2004 I traveled to Sri Lanka and blogged about it. I remember how desperate I was to find an Internet-connected PC to upload my pictures and post my daily report. This urge makes one a passionate blogger.
I also get my share of amusements from the comments in my blog posts. I wrote about the national ID card implementation process in Bangladesh, and sometimes I still receive comments from people who have specific queries like “My ID is lost. Please tell me how can I get a new one.”
What persuaded you to start Global Voices in Bangla?
Bangla-blogging is relatively a new phenomenon. It really took off in December 2005 when a Bangla blogging platform was launched, breaking all technical barriers (it's now the largest). Bangla is spoken by 230 million people in the world, but because of absence of a unified Bangla computing platform (unicode) hundreds of Bangla online sites/publications in Bangladesh and India are not searchable and there is really a shortage of quality, Bangla content on the web.
That is why I was interested in translating Global Voices content in my mother tongue. I knew that soon, more and more people would have access to the Internet, and I wanted them to be introduced to  blogs around the world in their own language. We have 15 translators on board but only 4-5 are regulars. I hope we we will be able to find additional enthusiastic volunteers to join the team.
The only thing you need to do now to read Bangla fonts is set your browser's character encoding to Unicode (utf8). Earlier you needed to download at least one unicode Bangla font, but now most recent operating systems come with everything pre-installed. Check here if you face problems either typing or reading Bangla fonts (https://bn.globalvoicesonline.org/bangla-settings/).
What have you learned about citizen media through your writing about the Rising Voices projects?
I enjoy following the developments of the various Rising Voices grantees. I come from a developing country myself and can relate to many of the challenges they face, like getting connected to the Internet, or just to be able to sit in front of a computer. I still hear from bloggers back home that sometimes they open a web page, and it takes so much time to load, they can grab a cup of tea and finish it while they wait. But these people are still passionate to blog, and this is true for participants in every Rising Voices project, whether in Madagascar, Kenya or Dhaka. Highlighting their efforts makes me realize more and more, that what we are doing is right.
What do you feel are some of the most important developments in Bangla citizen media in the past year?
The first one was the Bangla blogging platform I discussed above. Now we have 4-5 platforms with thousands of users and many, many readers, and they have a growing competition between them. The blogs on other multilingual platforms like Blogger, WordPress etc. are also coming up.
Soon a popular Bangla news daily from Bangladesh will be introducing blogging services and others will follow suit. The Bangladeshi government has declared that it will install computers and Internet connections in almost 10,000 schools across the country. I think we will soon see an explosion of blogging in Bangla.
In South Asia as a whole, do you think citizen media has had any impact on people's attitudes or understanding of cultural and political differences?
Yes of course. We had different developments in the blogospheres in those countries but more or less the people have come to know about the power of blogging.
The Pakistani blogosphere has shown their diversity and openness breaking through the stereotypes portrayed in the media. The Indian blogosphere is so huge and its regional language blogosphere are growing to emphasize the country's multicultural, multi ethnic heritage. In Bangladesh, where the traditional media ignore blogs and are more prone to self-censorship to protect themselves, the bloggers have broken all barriers to voice their opinion fearlessly and some journalists now prefer blogs to publish their investigative reporting.
It also is fascinating to get perspectives from the bloggers about the Sri Lanka's ethnic disputes, Nepal's journey towards democracy, Bhutanese culture, and Maldivians opposition to their long serving President.
The traditional media of these countries often follow the politics of acrimony which sometime augment nationalism and hatred between these countries. You just need to look at a common incident (e.g. the border dispute in India and Pakistan) and follow the newspaper coverage of both the countries, and you see how skewed the reports are. The bloggers are bridging the gap by adding a human touch to the issues, and are in fact creating more friends than enemies between those countries.
Photo of Rezwan above, was taken by Jen Brea and is shared under a Creative Commons license.


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Brazil: 128 million vote on the anniversary of the Constitution · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Queue in Santos, state of São Paulo. Photo by Flickr user Luana Garrido used with permission.
Over 128 million Brazilians are today choosing 5,563 mayors for cities and towns, and 52,137 city councilors. Despite the huge numbers, the electronic voting system adopted in the country means that the first results will be available as soon as the polls close, at 5 pm local time, and by tomorrow some cities will already know their elected representatives. If there’s not a 50% plus one vote winning margin in today’s voting for 79 cities with over 200,000 electors, run-off elections are scheduled for October 26.
Nice Pinheiro [pt] has just come back from the polls and said that everything is going smoothly in the small city where she lives in the state of Rio de Janeiro:
Acabei de chegar. Fui votar. Adoro votar. Faço questão de exercer minha cidadania. E lembro de todos os candidatos em quem votei. Não voto por votar. Nunca. Não anulo meu voto e muito menos voto em branco. É meu direito, e faço questão de preservá-lo e exercê-lo.
Campaign remains in Santos, state of São Paulo. Photo by Flickr user Luana Garrido used with permission.
Voting in Brazil is compulsory and every literate Brazilian whose age is over 18 years and less than 70 years is obliged to vote (except those who live in the Federal District and territory of Fernando de Noronha where there are no local elections). Not everyone likes the fact that voting is an obligation, like Cleber Rosa [pt]:
Chegou o dia em que somos obrigados a sair de casa, enfrentar uma fila e escolher entre candidatos que temos CERTEZA que não vão fazer nada para a melhoria de nossa cidade, estado ou país.
Alguns chamam isso de “exercer cidadania”, eu chamo de “nos obrigar a escolher entre o ruím e o pior”.
Patricia Marques [pt] agrees that voting should be a right, not an obligation:
Sei que ainda verei a mudança do voto obrigatório para o voto facultativo e nesse dia talvez irei sair de casa para votar com muito mais felicidade, me sentindo detentora de reais direitos políticos, me sentindo muito mais cidadã.
Lola Aronovich [pt] writes about all the good memories that elections bring her and wishes everyone a happy voting day:
Portanto, pra mim, há tanta emoção, tantas lembranças, tanta esperança, por trás de cada voto, que fica difícil entender quem não gosta de votar, quem sente saudades da ditadura, quem acha que um votinho não faz diferença. Eu sou apaixonada por eleições. Se meu conselho vale alguma coisa, vá à urna com orgulho e consciência e escolha quem você quer que te represente na câmara dos vereadores e quem você quer que governe a sua cidade. Que é sua, é nossa, vale lembrar. É nosso país, nosso planeta, e o único que temos. Bom voto!
Upon the close of voting, at 5 pm today, Idelber Avelar [pt] will be covering the elections on his blog and invites everyone to participate:
Este post será atualizado várias vezes no dia de hoje, provavelmente a partir do final da tarde, com links, números e comentários sobre as eleições municipais brasileiras. São 5.563 municipios elegendo prefeitos e vereadores. No G-79, ou seja, as 26 capitais e outras 53 cidades com mais de 200.000 eleitores, pode haver segundo turno. Chegando das urnas, deixe aí o seu depoimento.
20 years of the Brazilian Constitution
The special day coincides with the 20th anniversary of the current Brazilian Constitution, known as the Citizen Constitution, the one which guaranteed human rights and restricted the state's ability to limit freedom –  a reaction to the period of military dictatorship. Renata Pimenta [pt] reminds us that it is exactly because of this Constitution that Brazilians are able to go to the polls today:
A “Constituição Cidadã” foi responsável por devolver aos cidadãos seus direitos individuais, cassados pela Ditadura Militar (1964-1985). Graças ao novo documento, o povo brasileiro pôde votar para presidente em 1989, já que a Carta restabeleceu o voto direto nas eleições presidenciais. A Constituição anterior, de 1967, estabelecia plenos poderes para o governo militar.
The images above are from a commemorative selection of photos from Agência Brasil, used under a Creative Commons License.


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China milk scandal and Southeast Asia · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Like the rest of the world, the China milk scandal has alarmed Southeast Asian countries. China is the major trading partner of Southeast Asian nations. Chinese goods are popular and accessible in the region. It is not surprising to learn that Chinese milk products which are contaminated by melamine have already been sold in local markets.
How did governments react to the issue? Chinese milk products were scrutinized, strictly regulated and banned. Even the popular white rabbit candy was listed as a dangerous food item. Health agencies have published a list of safe products from China.
Because of the milk scare, consumers are changing their diet, while others refrain from drinking milk. As expected, milk companies are assuring customers that their products are safe. A consumer from Brunei wants the government to review its list of contaminated milk products. Now a Mummy is worried since she bought a biscuit from a company based in China.
What is the reaction of bloggers? A Singaporean describes the issue as “Weapons of Mass Consumption-Tainted Milk Saga.”
Bangkok Pundit advises the government not to overreact:
“The government needs to take appropriate action to ensure the safety of its citizens, but it likewise shouldn't overreact and create a panic – if the government overreacts, China could retaliate and this affects Thai exporters.”
A reader is shocked to see Chinese milk products still being sold in Thailand supermarkets:
“I think the Thai government's stance is totally unacceptable, it's not just a question of PR. How come you can still see the products on the shelves in supermarkets? The government should take a strong stance for the public safety and inform us clearly what products are contaminated and remove them.”
Alexisthetiny from Bangkok will now buy more local and unprocessed food products:
“Melamine is supposed to be toxic, right? How in the heck, then can we have ‘acceptable levels’ of that stuff in our food? I’d imagine that for something this disgustingly bad for our health, ‘acceptable levels’ would be nil. Jesus. How on earth have we gotten to a point where we would allow stuff like that to be added to our food? Actually, how on earth have we gotten to this point where we allow corporations to tell us what is ok in food even if it goes against our instincts? One thing for sure, this is going to change my food shopping habits. From now on, its as local and unprocessed as it can get.”
My Food for Thots from Malaysia writes about the difficulty of banning trade with China:
“But heck, what's not made in China? Even Nike shoes are made in China! Does this mean it's only safe buying stuff not made in China? Which only mean the expensive, branded stuff? Which leads to bigger inflation? Which means our salaries will not suffice? Sigh….”
Tumbleweed in Space from East Timor writes about what the milk scandal revealed on modern living:
“The recent milk scandal in China once again reminds us of how much contaminants there are in almost every aspect of our life. This time it's melamine, but recently studies have also shown that polycarbonate, a plastic commonly used for milk bottles, contains the hormone-disrupting Biphesonol-A.”
What is the possible impact of the scandal on Myanmar? Fear from Freedom explains:
“Chinese milk powder is used widely in Myanmar. Coffee and tea mixed packets are used widely as well. Since these packets contained milk powder the authorities should check the source of the milk. Singapore found tainted milk powder in tea packets and our imports are from Singapore. It is important to tell the people so they can avoid milk powder from China in any form until things are checked.”
House on a Hill from the Philippines reminds the government not to impose trade policies that hurt the poor:
“Instead of taking pains to determine whether Sanlu milk could have indeed been smuggled into the country and sold to the public, we have government officials overreacting by freezing imports and pulling off the supermarket shelves just about any milk and milk-based product from China. What kind of solution is that? That’s a double whammy. That’s discriminating against legitimate Chinese producers and exporters of milk and milk-based products. Worse, that is hurting poor Filipinos who can not afford the que horror prices of milk and milk products sold locally by multinational companies.”
Then she identifies alternative sources of calcium:
“So we have a government who has continually failed to educate the people of the dangers of buying unlabeled food products. That same government is cutting off the supply of cheap milk because it cannot curb smuggling. Where does that leave the consumers, especially the poor ones? For those with children below two years old, breastfeed them. For the rest, understand that while milk is a good source of calcium, it is not the only source of calcium. Sardines, okra, tofu and beans are all rich in calcium.”
The Curious Life of a Quirky Chef from the Philippines asks “Is China trying to kill the world one kid at a time?” The blogger adds:
“First, there was the global controversy about children's toys that were tainted with lead. Then, the issue about candies and biscuits from China that allegedly contain formaldehyde. Today, health officials all over the world, plus the millions of dairy consumers are panicking because of the Chinese milk products that are contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine.”

author: Mong Palatino


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China: Skype Messes Up · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Rebecca Mackinnon from Rconversation blogs about the recent security trap problem of the Chinese Skype, or Tom-Skype. Imagethief suggests foreign Internet firms to operate their own business rather than surrender their brands to local partners.


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Hong Kong: Netizen Against Introduction of Internet Filtering  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The Hong Kong government has issued a consultation paper on the “Review of the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance” last Friday (Oct 3). The first round of consultation will be lasted until end of January.
A most controversial issue is the suggestion on introduction of an internet filtering system in Hong Kong. In part 4 of the consultation paper, it states that the main issue at stake is:
Given the emergence of new forms of media, particularly the growing popularity of the Internet, members of the public consider it important that measures are taken to protect youngsters from the dissemination of obscene and indecent materials on such new media systems.
The government layouts a number of options:
Option one: co-regulation approach that demands Internet Service Providers to:
1. tighten up their service contracts with subscribers by incorporating specific clauses which prohibit subscribers from publishing obscene or indecent articles;
2. formulate measures against repeated offenders, which may involve limiting the bandwidth made available to such offenders or imposing temporary suspension or termination of service in case of contravention of contractual terms;
3. implement a voluntary labelling system and encourage webmasters to label their websites to indicate whether they are suitable for children and youngsters;
4. provide filtering services to subscribers for the purpose of filtering out web content which is not suitable for children and youngsters.
Option two is mandatory approach via legislation:
to make it mandatory for ISPs to provide filtering service to their subscribers so that
children and youngsters will be protected from web content not suitable to them. This would enable filtering of content from both local and overseas websites.
Option three is statutory approach, which targets at content providers:
1. websites are required to provide warnings if they display indecent materials;
2.  an access control system is to be established to authenticate the age of the web users. For example, web users are required to input their credit card data before getting access to webpage containing indecent materials to ensure that they have attained the age of 18;
3. empower enforcement agencies, upon receipt of a judicial warrant, to issue a “take-down notice” to the indecent websites or the ISPs concerned; and
4.  prosecute content providers who fail to comply with the statutory requirements.
Martinoei criticizes that all the suggestions imply an introduction of Great Fire Wall in Hong Kong:
蘇錦樑呢條X建聯黨員，話咁快就要在香港引進防火長城，淫審處本來己經被指權力過大，依家權力仲要大到搞過濾名單，係咪想搞香港版防火長城。照香港有大衛像都係淫褻嘅硬膠前科，隨時成個高登都會列入過濾名單，咁樣仲成世界？仲惡過廿三條。
Although the government stresses that it doesn't have any fixed position, erynnyes from Those were the days is still angry at the government's suggestions:
當然，政府把一切說成諮詢，政府沒有立場，甚至在文件中提出反對者聲音，以顯示中立，可是在童工角度，有些立場、建議，根本提出也是罪，因為這是削弱香港互聯網自由，完全毋須討論，皆因沒有任何妥協之餘地！那份諮詢文件，就像互聯網的23 條，只想打造一個超越中國的打壓互聯自由的香港金盾！
Hystericireul posts a large picture of David Statue in his blog to protest against the Indecent censorship policy. He also makes a dozen points on the consultation:
10. 淫唔淫，根本就係同洩唔洩一樣，各施各法各隨心。除左少部分好明顯變態嘔心核突既物品之外，根本好多物品就無一個清晰定義去界定點為之「淫」，尤其是當你成班仆街連大衛像都可以覺得係「淫褻」既話，仲有乜野係唔淫？vv物語講西，淫唔淫？西廂記夢中交合，淫唔淫？莫非我地以後創作時就唔可以打破古人既曖昧，照樣講到扑野就「呵呵，哈哈，嗯嗯」算數？
11. 根本個問題係，健立一個健康健全既人格，咁佢睇乜都唔會變壞。而家係你班撚樣搞柒左個社會，成班小朋友未升中先西窿，3456789p玩齊，呢個係佢地腦荀未生埋既問題，我地要做既係好好教導佢地，而唔係一味禁絕囉。
11. The issue at stake is to help our children to develop a healthy personality, then whatever they read, cannot have negative impact on them. Look at how this group of dick heads rule the society, children are having 34567 P (multiple sexual partners) before they enter high school because they are not mature in their attitudes. We should teach them, not prohibit them from knowing.
There are also some discussions from Internet forums, such as from pumb.org:
User169167 criticizes the government's official ability in governing Hong Kong:
雞有病 = 唔俾賣活雞唔使煩
樹有病 = 斬晒佢唔使煩
色情網頁教壞細佬 = block晒佢唔使煩
政府班高薪厚職既天材知唔知咩叫教育？
說穿了其實就係借管制色情網頁為開端，繼而達至更容易收緊其它題材網頁(例如政治、社論)，壓抑社會另類渠道反對聲音。
All these well-paid high ranked government officials, do they know what is education?
The hidden agenda is to start from controlling the pornography websites and then tighten the control of other websites (such as political and social critics) and repress oppositional voices.
User george2be said that the government power should stay out of the filtering mechanism:
家長同學校想filter, 應該自己裝軟件做.   政府可以提供資源同條件令呢d軟件更易買到 (如跟機可以加).   根本無需要立法賦予政府設立過濾機制既權力.
正如莫乃光講, 現在最大問題係淫審處裁決標準不一, 缺乏公信力.   連定標準既機構都亂七八糟, 在未解決呢個問題前, 點可能立法比佢權力去過濾更多既言論同資訊.
倒行逆施莫過於此.
Like what Charles Mok has said, now the problem is about the double standard in the OAT judgment. They have lost their credibility in the public. If they don't have a clear standard, how can we give the power to the government in filtering information?
This is such a regression in local governance.
User P-U-M-B pointed out that the internet would eventually become intranet under such policy direction:
咁搞法 !! internet 變左intranet
Kay sets up a facebook group on defending internet freedom to follow through the consultation.


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Japan: 1st Keitai Photo Awards · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

id:heimin posts pictures he's taken with his keitai [mobile phone] camera over the last year [ja], including: shots before and after he shaved his head, close-ups of cutting nostril hair, snapshots of meals he's eaten, cats and dogs, the Hanshin Tigers, manga and ice cream. The popularity of Keitai Shosetsu [short story] award-winner “Atashi no Kanojo” spurred the blogger to start the “Japan Keitai Photo Awards”, which he hopes to win himself. Prize money is 2 million yen, but be warned: the blogger hasn't paid his last month's rent yet and only has 10,000 yen in his pocket.


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Japan: GLOCOM report on new JICA president Sadako Ogata · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

The GLOCOM blog has a report (in both English and Japanese) on new JICA president Sadako Ogata's [緒方貞子] presentation Oct. 2nd at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ), which follows on the Oct. 1st consolidation of much of Japan's Official Developmental Assistance (ODA) through the merging of JICA and JBIC (Japan Bank for International Cooperation). The report describes Ogata's presentation as “one of the most impressive luncheon speeches at FCCJ in recent years.”


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Japan: Google, the anti-social corporation · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

In a post entitled “Google, the anti-social corporation” [ja], former Mainichi journalist and writer/blogger Hiroyuki Fujishiro [藤代裕之] at Gatonews picks up on an ongoing series of posts [ja] by blogger and security researcher Hiromitsu Takagi [高木浩光] criticizing Google's handling of the roll-out of its Street View service in Japan. Fujishiro notes that while business aspects of Google are generally viewed positively, there is a need for more discussion on various issues relating to privacy, censorship, security/trust and culture.


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Japan: Photos that evoke the senses · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Have a look at Sinsoku VIP [神速VIP] for an amazing list of photos that evoke the senses [ja].


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Philippines: Comment on Palin · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

After reading an interview of US vice president candidate Sarah Palin, a popular Filipino blogger comments: “The woman has no idea what she’s talking about! It is not sexist to call a dimwit a dimwit, especially if she’s running for the vice-presidency.”


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Singapore: Breastmilk in ice cream · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Red Roses, Gold Thorns from Singapore opposes the proposal to use breast milk in making ice cream products.


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Thailand: Vegetarian festival 2008 · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Chinese communities in Thailand are celebrating the annual Vegetarian festival. Check out these interesting photos.


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Afghanistan: Policewoman executed by Taliban · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Azar Balkhi reports that Taliban militants have shot dead high rank female police officer in the volatile southern Afghanistan province of Kandahar.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Afghanistan: Secret dealings with the Taliban · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Strategist says that the Afghan government, Western military forces and Taliban senior leaders have been holding secret peace negotiations.


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Afghanistan: UN Security Council Report · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

SunLeaf writes that the newly released UN Security Council report on Afghanistan is highlighting a number of issues including the extension of the ISAF mission and concerns over the issue of civilian casualties.


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Egypt: The Fire Series Continues · Global Voices
Nermeen Edrees

Apparently, the fire monster is not over with Egypt yet and has decided to shoot off to El Mehalla El Kobra. “Ghazl El Mehalla Textile Factories No. 6, 7, 16 have burnt down,” reports Arabawy.
Karim El Behiry reports from the Gharbeia governorate:
Karim continues:
Back to Arabawy who notes the probable cause of the fire could be “electric sparks as the machines were re-started after the holidays. The textile factories of course are full of raw cotton supplies and inflammable materials. Fire spread quickly.”
The series of fires is really fishy, and a conspiracy theory is quite appealing for so many Egyptians, given the recurrence of the severe fires hitting influential/historic Egyptian buildings which started with the Egyptian Parliament on August 19th, 2008, followed by the National Theatre in Cairo.
Linuxawy lists the fires and tries to speculate which building's turn is it next?
He adds:
“

author: Nermeen Edrees


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Bahrain: The Dead Canary  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Bahrain, Suhail Algosaibi writes this story about his dead canary.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Bangladesh: A festive land · Global Voices
Rezwan

Dhaka Dweller comments on the various festivities celebrated in Bangladesh: “In this secular country, where Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and ethnic minorities live side by side, where both religious and cultural events are celebrated with great fanfare, and where Western culture has slowly permeated Eastern traditions, life is a nonstop celebration of festivals.”

author: Rezwan


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Belize: National I.D. System  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Belizean reports that the government “is making a move to introduce a forced National I.D. system as part of new Anti Crime legislation being promoted by the U.S.A. and the British Governments.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bhutan: Wake up world! · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bridge to Bhutan quotes Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley, who reminded the world of a wake up call while speaking at the United Nations General Assembly recently: “Economic well being is not human well being,” and “the main cause of the financial crisis nations faced today was the result of ‘living beyond our means‘.”


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Cambodia: Film industry · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Andy Brouwer links to an article which discusses the film industry of Cambodia.


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Cape Verde: On reaching the 3rd place in the Ibrahim Index · Global Voices
Paula Góes

João Branco comments on Cape Verde's achievement going two points up to the respected 3rd place in the Ibrahim Index of African Governance. “This is an important piece of news, given the fairly rigorous and serious way – at least so it seems – that they come up with this classification. Note that Cape Verde is only behind Mauritius and Sheychelles.”

author: Paula Góes


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Egypt: Mubarak Pardons Journalist  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak pardoned Al Dostour newspaper editor in chief Ibrahim Eissa, who was sentenced to two months in jail for publishing an article on the president's health. Zeinobia has the story.


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Guyana, U.S.A.: On Mavericks  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Litblogger Signifyin’ Guyana dispenses some advice to Sarah Palin “and her vocabulary advisors”.


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India: Consequences for West Bengal · Global Voices
Rezwan

Words from the Solitude discusses what effect the recent pullout of the TATA Nano project from Singur will have on the West Bengal region in India.


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India: Finding the root of terror · Global Voices
Rezwan

Thoughts of an Indian Citizen comments on the cause of recent terror attacks in India: “the root cause of this terrorism is dirty politics being played in respective countries for personal gains by certain section of politicians and their operational colleagues the religious-fundamentalists.”


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Indonesia: Local software industry · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Hardjono Teknoblog blogs about the need for Indonesia to “develop its local software industry to the point that it can obtain a portion of the global software outsourcing market.”


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Iran: Ministry of Intelligence banned students to study · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Ahmad Shirzad, former deputy in Iranian parliament, writes [fa] that Ministry of Intelligence has banned several students to continue their studies in country's universities. He regrets that Ministry of Science has given such permission to Iranian security services.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Jamaica, Haiti: School Term Delayed  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica's Abeng News Magazine reports that schools in hurricane-ravaged areas of Haiti are struggling to re-open after the storms.


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Jamaica: Raising the Bar  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Active Voice says that the Jamaican Olympians “have raised the bar very high” – and wishes that the Jamaican media would follow suit.


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Jamaica, U.S.A.: Portia & Palin  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Kadene Porter at Abeng News Magazine suggests that Jamaican Opposition Leader Portia Simpson-Miller and US Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin “have more in common than just the bangs in their signature coiffes…”


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Japan: Newsgraphy and HatenarMaps · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

With ever-increasing amount of news information making its way onto the Internet every day, the question of how to parse and interpret this information is becoming more and more critical. Services such as Newsmap tackle this problem by visualizing data from news flows in a 2-dimensional space in an attempt to reveal patterns in news reporting.
Japanese blogger and engineer id:kaiseh [ja] has taken a somewhat different approach with their visualization tool HatenarMaps [ja], which made a splash [ja] in June of this year, and more recently with Newsgraphy, launched on September 25th. Both tools use Voronoi Treemaps to display data in a 2-dimensional space, HatenarMaps taking its information from Japan's popular blogging platform Hatena Diary [ja], Newsgraphy drawing in news feeds from Yahoo! News [ja]. id:kaiseh has also developed a popular [ja] visualization service for tracking the top bloggers on Hatena Diary through number of bookmarks and RSS readership, referred to as TopHatenar [ja].
In a post from June 9th, id:kaiseh explains how HatenarMaps works:
このサービスを簡単に説明すると、はてなダイアリーのユーザに、獲得ブクマ数に応じた領土面積を割り当て、さらに似た者同士の領土を隣接させるという試みです。
地図の全体を見渡すことで、はてダの大まかなトレンドを掴むこともできるし、スケールを拡大していけば個別記事に到達することもできます。さらに、 Google Mapsで検索するような感覚ではてなidやキーワードを入力して地図を探索したり、「去年と今年で勢力図がどう変わったか」を調べることもできます。
To get a good idea of how HatenarMaps works, have a look at the fantastic video below demonstrating the visualization algorithm. The video cannot be embedded directly, please see pages at Hatena (no registration) or NicoNico Douga (requires registration, English instructions for which can be found here) to watch it.:
HatenarMaps is developed with Java, and uses the following method to minimize the group of all Hatena users to a manageable size:
まず、以下のルールに基づいて、はてなダイアラーの「上位1000人」を抽出します。
1. 被ブクマ数総計の多いユーザから順に抽出。
2. ただし、RSS購読者数が上位2000位以内にランクしていないユーザは除外。
(The blogger notes that the above steps use the database from TopHatenar.)
Next, vectors are calculated for each of these users:
次に、この1000人についてそれぞれ、被ブクマ数の多い日記エントリのベスト5までを対象に、はてブに付与されたタグの頻度を合計し、タームベクトルを構成します。ただし、タグは全部で数万個あるので、使用頻度の低いタグを切り捨てて、ベクトルの次元数を300まで減らします。
And finally, groups are created through clustering:
各ユーザに対してベクトルが定まったら、そのベクトルを基に、K-means法という手法による非階層的クラスタリングを実行して、1000人のユーザを100個のクラスタに分割します。この結果、はてブタグの類似性が強い（≒日記のテーマが似ている）ユーザ同士がグループを形成します。
このときついでに、グループに名前を付けます。グループに属する全ユーザのタームベクトルを合計し、一番強い成分のタグをグループ名とします。
For further details about how HatenarMaps works, please see the original post in Japanese.
Newsgraphy is a service with a similar concept to that of HatenarMaps. In a September 25th post, id:kaiseh explains:
6月に公開して大きな反響をいただいたHatenarMapsの可視化手法を、Yahoo!のトピックスAPIから取得したニュース記事に適用して、いろいろと機能強化を施したものがNewsgraphyです。Mashup Award 4thにも応募しています。
追記（2008/9/26）: 「HatenarMapsの可視化手法を適用」と書きましたが、これは二次元平面へのマッピング手法（Voronoi Treemap）のことで、クラスタリング手法は含んでいません。Newsgraphyは、Yahoo!で分類済みのニュースカテゴリ階層を使用しています。
The blogger then contrasts Newsgraphy with newsmap:
ニュースの可視化と言えばnewsmapが有名ですが、newsmapよりも面白くて実用性の高いサイトを目指して開発しました。
and with HatenarMaps:
HatenarMapsでは各々の領土が角ばっていて、地図というにはやや無機的な感じがしていたので、地形をフラクタル化してみました。かなり自然物に近い見た目になったと思います。
In Newsgraphy, it is possible to narrow the range of visualization through use of a calendar:
カレンダーで日付の範囲を指定すると、その期間内に報道されたニュースの領土がハイライトされます。この機能を使えば、世間で注目されているトピックが時系列的に推移する様子を観察できます。
id:kaiseh notes later that it is possible to highlight regions by searching for keywords. The default mode colors regions differently according to the category of news, with a 3-color classification scheme used to enable users to survey news from various perspectives.
There is another visualization mode for person/place/organization, which functions as follows:
ニュースの見出しを形態素解析した結果から
* 特定の人物に関わるニュース
* 特定の（地理的な）場所に関わるニュース
* 特定の企業や組織に関わるニュース
を判別し、それぞれアイコンで表示します。緑が人、青が場所、赤が組織のアイコンです。
Finally, news can also be categorized by coloring it according to how recent it is. In this method:
最近のニュースほど緑豊かな領土になり、古いニュースほど土気が多い領土になります。
The blogger finishes the post with a look to the future of Newsgraphy:
クローリングは今月9日から開始しているので、まだ情報が若いですが、今後半年、1年とデータが溜って地図が成長すれば、かなり面白いニュース傾向分析ができるようになると思います。


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Japan: Perspective on problems at IBM Japan · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Blogger id:higayasuo traces recent problems at IBM Japan to the old guard in the company not understanding modern conditions of the industry [ja], carrying over experience from an age of general-purpose computers to a modern Americanized age of rational production through outsourcing and specialization. Based on this experience, id:higayasuo explains, this older generation makes the mistake of outsourcing offshore the task of writing  computer programs, while performing writing of program design documents domestically, in the end a more costly way of doing things.


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Latin America: lore, ghosts, demons and frights. · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

The mythology in Latin America is quite rich: some tales have been passed onto us from the Incas, Mayas or Aztecs, and others are colonial imports from Europe.  On this first part of the multinational Latin American post, we'll visit some of the most popular myths and legends like the Llorona, the Cegua, the Cadejos and the Evil Light.
Legends and myths are part of our culture. Nina Maguid  mentions in her post “Of Fear and Frights”, that these stories were told in first person and usually around some source of fire, and I couldn't agree more. I used to hear local versions of some of these stories during my holidays, sitting around dining room tables at rural farmhouses, our faces lit up by a flickering kerosene lamp. All it took for a story to be recalled was the unexplained baying of dogs or a horse galloping by in the dead of the night.  Nina mentions three specific frights famous in her mother's Argentinean hometown: The bad light, the widow and the pig.
Scary creatures that jump at you by kevindoolay
According to Comodín at El Blog de Oro, this light would be used to hunt for treasure: if it was a white light, it would signal gold and silver treasure, if it was red, they had to run away, since it was the devil at work. This myths is by no means unique to Argentina: all over the world people have tried to explain the meaning of these mysterious lights which appear at twilight, like in Spain and Chile.
The Widow was a woman slighted in love, who died when she discovered her husband was unfaithful. She signed a deal with the devil to remain forever in this world and get her revenge. She would jump on single men's horses and ride pillion with them, and if they got frightened, she would kill them. The only way to remain unscathed was by carrying a rosary or crucifix and not getting scared. This myth is so fixed in Argentinean folklore that the expression “getting visited by the Widow” is a synonym for an unexpected or disagreeable event.
El Loco Bender (Crazy Bender) also writes about the Black Widow, and adds a bit more flair to the hair-raising story by promising a lonely, slow and painful death to those fickle or unfaithful men she meets.
Costa Rica has a similar myth, known as la Cegua. La Cegua will hitch a ride from lonely and unfaithful men, luring them with her attractive appearance, but once she is atop the horse, when the men look back they will see that her face is a horse's skull covered in putrid meat, and she will bite their cheek to mark them as unfaithful. However, blogger Elemental writes that the outcome may be far more dire: all unfaithful men die with their eyes wide open in fear, and those who weren't unfaithful keep their lives, but remain impotent for the rest of their lives.
Elemental also writes about the Cadejos, a demon dog that would appear at night with the sound of dragging chains, although none would be visible. The size of a small calf, this dog had matted hair, giant fangs and sizzling eyes, nose and ears, and would scare anything in its way, from naughty children and wayward men to farm animals. Nevertheless, this “fright” is considered benevolent, since it will walk along drunken men and make sure they get home safely, even protecting them from other beings of the night such as La Llorona or common thieves. In Guatemala, however, they consider that there are two versions of this dog: the black one and the white one. The white dog will protect anyone it walks with, and in Deguate.com, Mrs. Argentina Barcia tells of how the Cadejos led them to find her father's dead body.  At El Blog Chapin another goose-bump inducing story tells of how El Cadejos appeared to a city slicker staying at a homestead, and how people should take heed when warnings of the supernatural kind are delivered by country folk.
La Llorona by rareworlds
Our last legend for today is that of La Llorona, [en]  one that caused me to fear cats in heat for years and years of my childhood . La Llorona is “the crying woman, and this is one of the multinational frights. From Mexico to Chile, the Llorona stays near bodies of water (which might include a water tank in your garden) and wails for her missing children. She might just be there to scare you, or if you are in Colombia [es],  she might want you to hold her baby for just one second, since she's very tired, and then you'll be condemned to being La Llorona until someone takes the burden off your hands. The story of how her children went missing varies from one country to the other, but most have some of the same elements. Women who married men who were much richer than they were, got slighted or abandoned, and decided to take their anger out on their children by drowning them, to later regret their choice. Others versions have a young and flighty woman who leaves her baby out by a river rock where she things he'll be safe while she goes out dancing, and then the river rises and takes the baby away, and so the woman remains near rivers, asking everyone if they have seen her children.
The following Costa Rican animated short film, Asusto, by Pablo and Francisco Céspedes Jr showcases most, if not all the Costa Rican legends, including the ox-less cart and the headless priest. No translation necessary: there seems to be no need for words when you are busy running away from fright after fright.


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Morocco: Fez to Host Ronaldinho and Zidane · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

The View from Fez reports that the city of Fez will host UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors and celebrity footballers Ronaldinho and Zinedine Zidane for a Match Against Poverty.


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Pakistan: Humanitarian Crisis in Parachinaar · Global Voices
Rezwan

Hasnain's Life reports that the Talibans had imposed an economic blockade on Shias in Parachinar, a town of Upper Kurram Agency in Pakistan which led to a humanitarian crisis.


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Palestine: The Demise of the US Empire  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Will, from American Palestinian Kabobfest, lists 10 clues of what he describes as the end of the American Empire.


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Philippines: “Racist” BBC show · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A Filipino lawmaker wants the BBC to apologize for a comedy show which depicted a Filipina maid “as an object of sexual ridicule.”


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Syria: Artists’ Work Showcased  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Imad Moustapha, Syria's envoy to the US, posts pictures of two of his favourite paintings by Syrian artists.


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Syria: Damascus Cultural Calendar  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Yaser Sadeq, from Syria, writes about the cultural scene in Damascus.


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Syria: Lazy People  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Syria, Muoffaq Qabbani writes about how much he hates lazy people.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Urban Farming  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Like most countries in the world we are victim to the growing global food crisis. As an oil-producing nation our agricultural sector has been neglected and scorned for so long, that we now find ourselves unable to provide adequately for ourselves, even though we have the land, resources and know-how”: TriniGourmet.com thinks that urban farming could be “a small-scale solution to a full-scale problem”.


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Uzbekistan: Cotton Harvest · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Michael Hancock reports that Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, will soon play host once again to the 4th International Uzbek Cotton Fair amidst continuing accusations of the child-labor issue.


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Water buffalo for farming · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Due to high fuel prices, Lao and Thai farmers are going back to the basics: Water buffaloes are helping plow the lands again.


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Afghanistan: A reason the LA Times is terrible · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust notes just how terrible American media coverage of Afghanistan can be.


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Afghanistan: Peace, and Trash · Global Voices
Joshua Foust

While it may be nice to see the resurgence of news about Afghanistan in the U.S., there remains a great deal of complexity to the country. That isn't even discussing what Azar Balkhi sees as the Coalition's inability to recognize tribal rivalries when calling in air strikes.
It is nevertheless worth considering. The bombing at Shindand is but one problem facing the often neglected west of Afghanistan. Typically thought to be more stable, and more secure, and more prosperous than the rest of the country (it is), Herat nevertheless faces some enormous challenges, starting with the so-called “Tajik Taliban.” As Tim Foxely explains,
The idea that now other ethnic groups are starting to emulate, if not actually join, the Taliban and conduct resistance against the Kabul regime lies somewhere between “a very real cause for concern” and “everybody's worst nightmare”.  It evokes the “tipping point” concerns of ISAF commanders past and present that the population might eventually get fed up with tens of thousands of international soldiers charging around dropping bombs on them and a corrupt government that fails to deliver and shift their allegiances elsewhere.  The other angle is the very high likelihood that Akbari was sacked from his position for being corrupt or incompetent or both and is therefore having nothing more than a big sulk, Afghan warlord style.  As such, it would be a localised and exceptional situation and probably nothing to worry about.
This is an excellent summary of just how difficult it is to determine which problems in Afghanistan require serious consideration and near-panic, and which ones are, for lack of a better term, cyclical variations in a standard conflict pattern.
Kandahar bazaar during Ramadan, courtesy Flickr user Chooyutshing.
This can manifest itself in a couple of ways. Alex Strick van Linschoten, for example, just returned to Kandahar from a few weeks abroad. What has he noticed upon his return?
If there’s one thing two weeks abroad (California and London) does it gives a certain perspective on the things you quickly accept as ‘normal’ when living in Kandahar. If someone would unholster his pistol and place it on the table at Café Nero in London I think they’d have a problem or two, but in Kandahar I don’t blink twice when interviewees or friends come in off the street and lay their AK-47 or even once an RPG next to the wall.
Otherwise the city’s pretty quiet.
Indeed. Further north, Harry Rud wanders through the trash-filled streets of Kabul, and remarks on just how disconnected foreigners can fell when locked inside their armored compounds:
Many foreigners here are not allowed to step foot outside their compounds, have lists of places they can and (more often) cannot go to, and strict rules about how high the walls, how thick the barbed wire, how many armed guards surround them. It is not a situation most want or enjoy. It drives many to distraction. I am lucky to be able to walk a little further, though it gives me no greater feel for the place when I’m too nervous to stop and look around me.
It’s hard to describe the causes of that nervousness. There’s the obvious but unlikely risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then there’s that disconnect; the sense of us and them it breeds, of being so very out of place and watched by an unknown crowd. A bird-like suspicion, to stretch the point.
But this raises the question: just what, exactly, is the West doing in Afghanistan after seven years of occupation? Azar Balkhi notes that in the West, there seems to be mindless panic but no real sense of urgency:
Pakistani Taliban fighters openly flogged two butchers for selling the flesh of animals in the northwestern Swat valley today September 25, and in the same day the Pakistani soldiers fired at American reconnaissance helicopters that were escorting U.S. ground troops along the volatile border Thursday, sparking a five-minute ground battle between the countries.
This is all happening as President Asif Ali Zardari and Hamid Karzai are promising
Washington help in the war on terror and meeting with the top American leaders in New York…
Heavily armed Taliban fighters brought the blindfolded butchers to a crowded market in Kabal sub-district and flogged them in front of a throng of about 200 people. The media was also called by the Taliban to cover the event but there is no any government to stop them.
Which brings us back to where we started: Afghanistan's extreme complexity. The latest meme to be making the rounds of policy offices in London, Washington DC, and Brussels, is negotiating with the Taliban. Christian Bleuer wonders:
* what “Taliban” (Quetta Shura? Local semi-autonomous commanders? Hizb? Haqqanis? Others? all at the same time?)
* and if answer is “Moderate Taliban” then please define who exactly they are.
* don’t you already consider the Afghan government’s reconciliation program to be a form of negotiation?
* do you really not know about the Afghan government communicating/negotiating with insurgents?
All that being said, there remain bright points of life within Afghanistan. Andrea shares just such a moment, and it really cannot be done proper justice through excerpting. It will have to stand on its own.

author: Joshua Foust


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Africa: Social Media in Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Jonathan analyses advances in social media on the African continent: “Contrary to popular belief, Africa is not completely absent from the Internet. In fact, the continent at large is undergoing a connectivity revolution unlike anything it has ever seen.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha