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Honduras: Juice Combinations · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

La Gringa writes about the different combination of juices in her favorite juice store, Chapala, in La Ceiba, Honduras.


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Honduras: Murder of Radio Journalist · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Aaron Ortiz of Pensieve writes about the murder of radio journalist Carlos Salgado in Honduras.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Eduardo Avila


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Hong Kong: University Master Plan · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The Chinese University Student Union has launhed a signature campaign against the university's undemocratic practice in Master Plan process (zh). The students demanded the university to include representatives of stake holders in the master plan steering committee and disclose all information in relation to the campus planning. HK-x-force, a student blogger, commented that the university should take lead in setting up the tradition of democratic practice in Hong Kong and open the door to students and community participation in planning (zh).

author: Oiwan Lam


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India: Book Review, The Indian Clerk · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Jabberwock on David Leavitt's The Indian Clerk – “In essence this is a fictionalised account of the real-life collaboration between G H Hardy and Srinivasa Ramanujan in the years 1913-1919, a collaboration that led to some of the most important mathematical advances of the century.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India: Heroines and Cinema · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Doing Jalsa and Showing Jilpa has a hilarious but telling post on the various stereotypes that heroines in films are slotted into.


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Jamaica: Reading 100 Books  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Methinks I shall read 100 books,” declares Jamaican author Marlon James.  Find out why.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Japan: Peace as a Global Language Conference · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Debito forecasts a conference on Peace as global language in Kyoto University of foreign studies from Oct 27-28.


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Japan: Veggie Characters · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

You can take a look at the Japanese vegetable packaging culture from Pingmag.


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Kyrgyzstan: Referendum brings new constitution  · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Central Asia section on the foreignpolicyblogs reviews the outcomes of the first constitutional referendum in Kyrgyzstan, which brought new constitution and resulted in dissolution of the parliament.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Kyrgyzstan: Rights of Believers · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Genderstan reflects on the new arguments for an interpretation of human rights that are raised by the organized Muslim believers.


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Malaysia: AstroNot · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

KurtLow is wondering why Malaysian media is calling the first Malaysian in space an astronaut when the space mission web site just refers to him as an participant.

author: Preetam Rai


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Malaysia: Egg Noodles From Kuching · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Eating Asia takes us to Kuching in Malaysian Borneo to meet a family that has been making Egg Noodles for three generations.


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Malaysia: Former Leader Protecting Whistleblower · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The Malaysian says former Malaysian deputy prime minister Anwar may face charges if he fails to reveal the whistle blower who secretly recorded a video that features lawyer brokering a deal to appoint senior judges.


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Malaysia: Sucide Bombing Is UnIslamic · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Mahaguru88 comments on the recent suicide bombing in Pakistan and questions the act of suicide bombing and its use by certain groups.


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Pakistan: Women and Harassment · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

All Things Pakistan on the harassment and bullying women face at the workplace or in school.


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Poland: More on the Election · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A few more links on the Polish election: the beatroot explains Kaczynski's defeat; Dr. Sean's Diary sums up the results and notes a “a complete slaughter of minor parties“; Edward Lucas declares that the “era of the ‘terrible twins’ is over”; Yascha Mounk‘s general summary at Harvard International Review; Europhobia cheers Poland, but boos Switzerland; Jonathan Newton writes about the election and Poland's EU business.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: Bloggers Discuss James Watson · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

James Watson, an American Nobel Prize-winning geneticist, provoked international outrage when the following statements of his were quoted in the Oct. 14 profile in The Sunday Times:
He says that he is “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really”, and I know that this “hot potato” is going to be difficult to address. His hope is that everyone is equal, but he counters that “people who have to deal with black employees find this not true”. He says that you should not discriminate on the basis of colour, because “there are many people of colour who are very talented, but don’t promote them when they haven’t succeeded at the lower level”. He writes that “there is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically. Our wanting to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so”.
The news of the controversy has produced a certain stir in the Russian-language blogosphere, too.
U.S.-based LJ user karial recounted (RUS) meeting James Watson in person:
[…] I met Watson two weeks after 9/11. The first question he asked after introductions and hand-shaking was: “So, are we [the U.S.] going to Afghanistan now to finish off what you guys [the Soviets] haven't?”
[…]
I had been warned about Watson's habit of saying politically incorrect things. I had to sit with a microphone in my hands throughout his lecture, ready to stand up and say that the company that organized this seminar didn't share Mr. Watson's views. No, I don't find the role of a censor pleasant – I find it amazingly disgusting – and I really hoped to avoid becoming one. But, unfortunately, we could face a lawsuit otherwise.
I admit that a few times I did push the microphone's switch-on button – and was about to rise. And each time Watson would stop “on the verge.” But he always comes closer to the verge than anyone else on the celebrity lecture circuit, and it seemed to me that he was doing it with a bravado and even with something resembling Schadenfreude.
In the current situation – if you read the actual quote – he has also slowed down almost at the edge. But crossed the line a tiny little bit. And a lot of people were waiting for this moment.
Watson, despite his age, is a wonderful, very interesting lecturer. During the first half of his lecture, we had a feeling that he didn't really understand why he was invited to this seminar; he was beginning with different thoughts – then dropping them halfway through. He was using old slides, not even the transparencies of the early 90s, but slides in square frames. And then he easily, with a few phrases, connected all the lines that he had started and showed how they emphasize the seminar's main concept. So, at least six years ago, he was in his right mind and with solid memory, so to say. And all Watson's political incorrectness is conscious.
We can argue ad nauseam whether a star of his magnitude can allow himself to voice thoughts that [aren't PC]. Whether it's an impudent challenge of a free person to the system or a hole at the bottom of a boat that took much effort to build, a boat that ensures there's if not equality, then a state close to it. […]
Below are some of the comments (RUS) to this post:
doctor_iola:
Actually, I think it's a paradox that a country with such a level of freedom of speech or something has gotten itself so much of political correctness…
karial:
And thank God that there is political correctness. Or else you wouldn't have become a doctor. IQ tests at the turn of the century used to show that the IQ of East Europeans was lower than that of the native Americans. Would you like to fight every day to prove the opposite? Or keep hearing that women bigger than sixe 10 are neither sexy, nor satisfied with themselves?
drauk:
Still, I think that political correctness (especially, its today's, extreme, version) is not the same as equal rights and opportunities.
karial:
Unfortunately, these are really close notions. Because how can one talk about equal rights, when a certain group of people – based on race, ethnicity, sex, size – would permanently be tied to […] a certain quality? Say, all Russians are crooks. And yes, they'll invite you to a [job] interview, but they'll always assume that you are very likely to be stealing things.
And what's being said by the public print and broadcast media is what forms these perceptions. […]
puh:
So much noise because an old person has decided to say what he thinks (and, most likely, it is really the way he says it is)?
karial:
A person who is a public figure, especially in the world of science, has to understand that he can't “just say what he thinks” – it's not his kitchen, his words cause public response. […]
Moscow-based LJ user ivanov-petrov wrote (RUS):
[…] I'm a stranger, of course, and these problems seem rather remote to me. But if something like this happened in Russia, I'd be extremely upset. I know that things like this did happen in Russia, and even twice as bad, and many times worse. I'm not saying we've got something to be proud of. What I'm saying is that it kind of sucks.
[…]
I'm absolutely not sure that the guy is right. It's very important to know what and how exactly it was said. But it seems to me that it's all about an individual's right to say things – and the right of a group not to want to hear such things. And whose freedom is tougher… All else being equal, I'm rooting for the individual.
And here's one of the conversations that took place in the comments section to this post:
taichi_777:
Everyone agrees that [blacks] have a special kind of plasticity that Europeans lack, and they dominate in many types of sports, and the white aren't offended by this, as far as I know. I mean, if the guy's theory gets a scientific proof, there'd be nothing terrible for the Africans in it. Statistics aside, [Aleksandr Pushkin] did exist after all. :)
Who knows, maybe each race has its niche, each one has its own strengths.
[…]
alamar:
[…] For most people, statistics is a tricky thing, but it's a perfect basis for speculation.
taichi_777:
I can't but agree, especially when we're talking about intellectual skills statistics. Miracle often occur here even at the individual level here – I know D-students with high IQ :)
[…]
ajawa_took:
It's a very standard argument: let basketball and jazz be black, and science and business white, and no one would be offended. The problem is, the niche that you reserve for the blacks – it hasn't got enough money even for a small share of them.
Those who dreamed of becoming great scientists or businessmen, but failed to, they live in private houses and drive Lexuses, and their children continue to dream, knowing that if it doesn't work out for them, they'll be like their papas. And those who dreamed of becoming great musicians or athletes, but failed to, they live in black ghettos and are either surviving on unpleasant, low-paying jobs, or begging for money, or end up as criminals. And their children understand that they have no future in sports or music (or else I'll be like papa), and no one's calling them to science and business – there are only whites there.
taichi_777:
There's plenty of injustice in the world, and, moreover, something's telling me that the life of American jazz-playing blacks is no more horrible than the life of the Russian pensioners.
And one more injustice that we may lament: it's become fashionable in science to be politically correct instead of seeking the truth.


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Slovenia: Lipizzaner; MojVideo · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Glory of Carniola writes about Slovenian horses in American movies – and about a Slovenian video-sharing website, MojVideo.


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Slovenia: Media Business · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sleeping With Pengovsky writes about recent developments in Slovenian media business.


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Sri Lanka: Outsourcing and Exploitation · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Sampath's Mindspace on the exploitation of outsourcing partners in countries like India and Sri Lanka.


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Taiwan and Burma: Burmese Chinese in Taiwan · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Coolloud has an interview with a Burmese Chinese, Yeung Yong Zhou. In the past, his family considered Taiwan as their mother country; however, when he started his study in Taiwan, he felt bitter about the debate on the definition of “Taiwanese”. Now that he has got the right of abode in Taiwan, he is caught in a complicated feeling on whether he should return to a familar country with no freedom (Burma) or stay in Taiwan with a marginal position (zh).


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Trinidad & Tobago: Music in Politics · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“If religion is the opiate of the masses then music must be the amphetamine”: Blogging from Trinidad and Tobago, Shivonne Du Barry examines the phenomenon of political parties using local music to appeal to voters.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Too Much Traffic  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

KnowProSE.com shares his thoughts on traffic in Trinidad and Tobago.


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Tunisia: Breaking Censorship  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Tunisian blogger Sami ben Gharbia decides to beat the censors in their own game.  He tells us how, in this post (Ar) I am translating from Arabic today.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Afghanistan: Asia Foundation Survey · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Afghanistan Watch looks inside the Asia Foundation's latest survey of the Afghani people and notes that it paints a nuanced picture and provides some fascinating data on various issues: from support for traditional institutions to democracy and women’s rights.


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Algeria: Journalists Under Attack · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

..Or Does it Explode? – a site dedicated to the struggle for Civil Rights in the Middle East – points to the wave of recent attacks on journalists in Algeria.


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Argentina: Maradonic News · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

GoodAirs writes two quick “pieces of Maradonic news” including a Mexican couple getting married in the Diego Maradona Church, a day before his birthday.


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Armenia: Genocide Recognition or Democracy? · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Raffi K and Arshineh, both bloggers from the Armenian Diaspora writing on Life in Armenia, post letters they've written to U.S. Congress Speaker Nancy Pelosi praising her for House Resolution 106 which recognizes the Armenian Genocide. Despite increasing pressure not to do so, both hope that Pelosi will still bring the resolution to a full vote by the U.S. Congress next month.
However, another Diasporan blogger, Christian Garbis at Notes from Hairenik, instead challenges ethnic Armenians living abroad to stop talking about the Genocide for just one week. Although not against the resolution, he suggests that they instead tackle some of the social or political problems facing Armenia if only for just seven days.
Local blogger Bekaisa appears to agree with him and posts the full text of  an article in the Washington Post that says pretty much the same thing. “Imagine what the Armenian diaspora might have accomplished had it worked as hard for democracy,” the newspaper asks.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Armenia: Opposition Detainees Released · Global Voices
Artur Papyan

Via Romamerda1 on YouTube, there are updates on the latest developments following the arrest of Armenian opposition leaders, Nikol Pashinyan and other members of the “Impeachment” bloc. The description accompanying the video reads:
Nicol Pashinyan and other members of “Impeachment” party were unjustly imprisoned for 8 hours on 23 October in Yerevan. After the meeting with the 1st president Ter-Petrosyan, police finally freeds them at 3:20am. A large group of people was chanting “Battle,battle until the end” and applausing president Levon Ter-Petrosyans and others.
I find it very significant to note that the police freed the prisoners after meeting with the first president, Levon Ter Petrosian (or LTP as most bloggers call him), who is currently the considered to be the most likely opposition candidate to be able to stand a chance in the presidential election early next year.
The Armenia 2008 Election Monitor blog covered the story at length yesterday:
RFE/RL reports that “at least a dozen” opposition activists supportive of former president Levon Ter Petrosian have been detained. Their crime? In lieu of having access to the broadcast media to advertise Friday’s rally at which Ter Petrosian is due to speak, the activists used megaphones to announce the meeting on the streets of the Armenian capital, Yerevan. One of those detained is believed to be the outspoken editor of the pro-Ter Petrosian Haykakan Zhamank newspaper, Nikol Pashinian.
[…]
Given that the capital is full of people setting up loudspeakers at kiosks or even simple tables selling CDs on street corners even though they deafen passer-bys and local residents, as well as the dozens of entertainment complexes opened by corrupt officials and their relatives in public parks, the action does not appear at first glance to warrant such a response. It is unknown so far whether the activists obstructed traffic or otherwise “disturbed the peace.”
At any rate, with Friday’s rally looming ever closer, tensions seem to be rising. In part this is because however unpopular Ter Petrosian might have been, he is seen as the lesser of two evils by a significant number of people when quizzed about their voting preference for next year’s presidential election. Quite simply, they say, anyone is better than Serzh Sarkisian.
No wonder then, that the authorities and the ruling Republican party of the prime minister, presidential hopeful Serzh Sarkisian, are taking Friday’s rally very seriously indeed. Some would argue that they’re reacting in a manner that does not befit any country supposedly on the path towards democratization.
Mark Grigoryan [RUS] says the opposition has great hopes on the rally scheduled for October 26th, which is likely to mark the start of Ter-Petrossian's presidential campaign. The blogger notes that although the Yerevan authorities haven't prohibited the rally, the Republican party is organizing a free concert to coincide with it, and says that there preparations by police are already underway.
“Are they really so scared of them [the opposition]?” he asks with surprise to conclude his analysis of the situation.
Other reports of the story can be found on Bekaisa [RUS], Armenianewsblog [RUS], Armenian Breaking News, Narjan [RUS], and in a really interesting eyewitness account by David_Sand [RUS] with a second post detailing his opinion on the latest developments:
Honestly speaking, it is hard to imagine better PR for an oppositionist than his arrest not long before a scheduled rally. I can't find an explanation to the arrest of the editors of “Armenian Times” and the “Forth Power”. This might be a result of police stupidity or carefully prepared PR. At any rate, this is how it all looked:
- Police arrest editors of opposition newspapers who were making public calling in the street for citizens to attend Friday's opposition rally,
- Opposition supporters gather at the police department (and by the way, representatives of the parliamentary opposition minority were also there) together with human right defenders, journalists and inhabitants of houses close to the police department,
- Levon Ter-Petrosian arrives, and everybody starts shouting “Levon, Levon” as if the savior has come with the key to all the problems faced by the opposition,
- After a couple of hours, the detainees are released, which in the eyes of the public raises the authority of Ter-Petrosian.
The blogger also notes that TV has ceased to serve as a source of information because from his observations, there was no coverage of the events in TV news reports. However, I can state that there was pretty good coverage on Yerkir Media TV, but that is the exception, proving the point made by David_Sand.
One of my most favorite of bloggers, Pigh [RUS], is as outraged by Ter Petrosian as ever:
Everything, everything, everything is done to make sure they have something to talk about at the rally. Perhaps tomorrow they’ll get somebody's head smashed so that there is a fresh topic to discuss…
[…]
There is the impression that Levon has lots of support among the oligarchs although, if you look at it soberly, why not? Grzo, Lfik, and Tsarukyan were all created by Vanik Smbatovich… (former Minister of Internal Affairs Vano Siradeghian during LTP's rule in the 90s).
Interestingly, Pigh connects the recent increase in the price of sugar, which added to considerable public discontent with the current authorities, with LTP and the desire of those oligarchs supportive of the ex-president's return to help him by sudden price rises on the eve of the presidential election.

author: Artur Papyan


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Armenia: Shopping Tales · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) Dominic in Armenia recounts a few humorous stories about shopping in Armenia. The tales depict life in the country very well indeed.


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Bahrain: Internet for Arab Activists · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Esra'a cross-posts an article which argues that the Internet has become a global village for Arab activists.


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Bangladesh: Bloggers, the media and the army chief · Global Voices
Rezwan

The political arena of Bangladesh heated up after the Eid holidays. Bloggers cum citizen journalists had a role to play in this.
J Rahman at Mukti has some background:
Earlier this year, Bangladesh experienced an extra-constitutional change in government.  The Economist called it a coup that dares not speak its name.  Initially, this de facto coup brought respite from a months-old stalemate between the country’s rival political parties.  But soon, the technocratic regime (Caretaker government) that was installed by the army started arresting top politicians on corruption charges.
In many ways it becomes evident who is running the show here. The army chief has been the center of media attention providing all kinds of political statement on behalf of the Caretaker Government. In recent days he has declared that he don't want to become president of the country which attracted much publicity and got cheered from the public. His prominent exposure in the local print media raises eyebrows. Rumi of In The Middle of Nowhere says:
Please see below the screenshots of the main page ( Cover page) of most of the major Bangladeshi newspapers published today… all of them had a common theme… Almost all newspapers gave banner heading treatment with a central front page picture of General Moeen U Ahmed. No, he did not save this planet from immediate annihilation by a meteor. He is visiting USA and spoke in a reception hosted by a hitherto unknown Bangali diaspora organization.
And you still want me to believe that Bangladesh is not under a de facto martial law?
An anonymous commenter in Mukti Blog first raised the question on the 16th of October. Mash followed it up with an investigative report in E-Bangladesh regarding irregularities in General Moeen U Ahmed's personal housing loan from Trust Bank, a commercial bank owned and operated by the Bangladesh Army. He had quoted evidence from an auditor certified prospectus hosted in public domain of the Security Exchange Commission of Bangladesh that Mr. Ahmed crossed his capacity as a director on the board in obtaining a large amount of loan. He also cited the regulation that more than one member of a family cannot be director of a bank but His brother was appointed as the MD of the Bank during his tenure.
Mukti adds:
These violations of the banking regulations were completely avoided by the mainstream media in Bangladesh.  While the bloggers were discussing this, what did the daily newspapers in Dhaka report?  They reported on the General’s visit to Britain and America.
……
After it broke in the internet, the General was asked about the issue by reporters from ATN Bangla, a TV channel.  Then major newspapers reported the General’s explanations.  Here is how the Daily Star chose to report it.  Out-of-context? You be the judge.
Adding more to the controversy General Moeen U Ahmed denied the allegations and said he had only taken Taka 3.5 million (The audit report says 9.9 million). He also claimed that he is a victim of “internet propaganda.” His brother, the MD was also quick to respond [bn] to the issues without mentioning the audited prospectus.
Shada Kalo Blog reacts:
I would have accepted the explanation that the prospectus contained a typo. But if the MD is not claiming that the prospectus was incorrect, then surely the information was correct.
Tacit points to the significance of this:
This story will not die down any time soon, given that this is the same man who has sent countless people to jail, held them without bail, and tortured them, all in the name of ridding our country of nepotism and corruption. Hopefully, this information will give pause to everyone who would like to take him at his word and believe that he has Bangladesh’s best interests at heart.
And Mukti aptly puts it:
“(These are) questions that should be raised by people far more qualified than the bloggers who have been raising them this week.
I asked the editor of a major Bangla daily earlier this month about press freedom in today’s Bangladesh.  He said a lot of things without answering the question. LK Advani said about the Indian media during their Emergency — the media was asked to bend, they chose to crawl.  Ours seem to have taken supplication to a new low.
Even if the General is telling the truth, this incidence should make it obvious that unless things change, he is likely to end up not different from the other military rulers that came before him.”

author: Rezwan


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Burkina Faso: Corrupt journalists · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Ramata Sore writes (Fr) about National Press Day in Burkina Faso and how many journalists are compromised by politics.

author: Jennifer Brea


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Burkina Faso: Mariam Sankara returns from exile · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Ramata Sore posts a statement by Mariam Sankara (Fr), wife of assassinated former president Thomas Sankara, thanking the Burkinabe people for their warm welcome.  Mrs. Sankara returned to Burkina Faso for the anniversary of her husband's death after twenty years in exile.


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Caucasus: LGBT Report · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

After mentioning it in a previous post, Unzipped: Gay Armenia posts the text of a new report on the situation of LGBT people in Georgia and Azerbaijan. The blogger says that the comprehensive study is a “historic event” as it was conducted locally by a fact-finding mission to the South Caucasus. A report on Armenia is due to be released in the near future.


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China: Same Life Same Price · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

In China, if a rural peasant got killed in a traffic accident, the compensation is likely to be much lower than those with a urban household registration. Recently, Liu Xiaoyuan won a case in Beijing for a “same life same price” compensation of a car accident which killed a rural businessman (zh). Earlier this year, the district court ruled for a RMB78,600 (USD10,000) compensation; Liu managed to challenge the district court ruling in the higher court and bring the compensation to RMB176,530 (USD24,000).


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Cuba: US to Encourage Democratic Change?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“US President George W Bush will today announce a set of initiatives designed to encourage democratic change in Cuba,” writes Child of the Revolution – but he wonders if the measures will make any difference.


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DRC: Che Guevara on Laurent Kabila · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

History speaks as Congolese blogger Alex Engwete translates (Fr) Che Guevara's pessimistic assessment of Laurent Kabila‘s potential to become a revolutionary leader: “He lets things drag on forever without caring about anything other than internal quarrels, and he also devoted to women and drink…”


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Dubai: Xmas Already? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Christmas is coming early to Dubai this year, notes Seabee in this post.


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Ecuador: Galápagos Islands Blog · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

TV Galápagos [ES] is a blog aimed at promoting tourism in the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador.


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Egypt: Red Card for Professionals · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian Mostafa Hussein discusses the Red Card – available to professionals in his country.  “In Egypt, we already have a system called the ‘Red card’ for expelling highly skilled professionals. Ensuring that the country will keep the finest of its minds away,” he notes.


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Egypt: The Definitive Photograph  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Skeptic from Egypt links to a photograph  from another blog, which he describes as The Definitive Photograph.


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Guyana: Give the People what they Want  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Guyanese people Abroad so home sick they does crave every juicy detail about things happening here. If ants belch, they need to know what decibel”…so Guyana-Gyal gives them what they want.


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Haiti: Constitutional Amendments?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Is a Constitution a living document?” asks Bryan Schaaf at Haiti Innovation as he raises the issue of modifying certain sections of the island's existing constitution “for the betterment of the country”.


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Iran: Power Struggle over Nuclear Crisis · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

The resignation on Saturday of Ali Larijani, the top Iranian nuclear negotiator, has led to speculation about the reasons for his decision, and how it will affect the nuclear crisis. About 200 members of Parliament protested against replacing Ali Larijani with Said Jalili, a close ally of President Ahmadinejad. Iranian bloggers share their opinions, and describe Jalili.
A bad sign
Mohmmad Ali Abtahi, former reformist Iranian vice president and blogger, says the resignation of Ali Larijani is a bad sign for the country. The blogger says:
This change, which naturally means non-responsiveness to international demands is an important and dangerous piece of news for Iran. When Mr. Larijani who was holding an extremist political view… feels he should resign, the world will have a bitter and dangerous understanding – and we are talking about a world that we all know is looking for excuses to have another victim in this region called Iran.
NikAhang, a leading cartoonist and blogger who drew hundreds of cartoons of Larijani says [Fa] that Iranian reformists considered him the smartest person among the conservatives. The blogger wonders when conservatives cannot even tolerate Larijani’s presence, what can others expect?
Uncertainty
Bahnam Gholipour says he does not think that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had a decisive role in Larijani’s resignation. The blogger adds that his resignation may in fact be in protest of the Iranian state's position regarding nuclear policy, and that Larijani probably does not want to put the government's policy in to practice.
Jomhour says [Fa] it is possible that Larijani’s time was past and his presence was no longer useful to push “desired state policy”. The blogger adds that in the future we are facing both the possibility of war and of making a compromise on the nuclear crisis.
Gaining Time
Digital Klashinkov reminds [Fa] us that Ali Larijani was a candidate in the last presidential election. He was an opponent of Ahmadinejad’s and was backed by traditional conservative groups. The blogger adds that Ahmadinejad gains more power in foreign policy by replacing Larijani. He says Ahmadinejad is failing in his policies, but is trying to buy time, since he has only 18 months left of presidency. He says he acts as though he has only been president for three months.
Viva ideology and power!
Moslem Reporter, a pro-Ahmadinejad blogger presents[Fa] a few of Said Jalili's ideas. The blogger says Said Jalili lost his right foot during the Iran-Iraq war. He speaks Arabic and English and was recently responsible for the North America and Europe section of the Foreign Ministry under Ahmadinejad.
The blogger quotes Said Jalili to show he believes in strong Islamic ideology. According to him Jaili has said: “One of the challenges in our foreign policy is the question of human rights. If what you believe about human beings is not the right thing, you get into trouble. But if we believe that our vision of humanity is superior to the Western – then we are not going to be challenged by human rights questions.”
It also seems that Jalili enjoys reading Samuel Huntington, an influential American political scientist, and approves of the weight that he gives to Iran in his writing. The blogger quotes Jalili again: “Huntington places Iran second among the 9 most influential countries. He places England third. It is certain that he has seen some power points in Iran.”

author: Fred Petrossian


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Jamaica: That Jamaican Touch · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“One of my biggest challenges has been to control what my wife calls my ‘Jamaican touch’,” explains Geoffrey Philp.


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Japan: Rape at Iwakuni · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Turner at Keeping Pace in Japan comments on the alleged rape of a 19-year-old Japanese girl by four US Marines on the first night of the Sake Matsuri [Festival] in Higashi Hiroshima.

author: Chris Salzberg


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Kazakhstan: “Kazakhgate’s” start to be set this Friday · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Steve LeVine informs that the court in New York should set a date for the start of so-called “Kazakhgate” trial over oil consultant James Giffen, accused of bribing higher officials in Kazakhstan.


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Kazakhstan: Prices Unleashed · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Immediately after the parliamentary elections, which were deemed undemocratic by the international monitors, the prices went crazy in Kazakhstan. The ruling party “Nur Otan”, led by president Nursultan Nazarbayev – who rules the country already for 17 years – had been building its campaign on socio-economic achievements and promises of better life for every citizen. Eventually, it won all seats in the legislature, but the very first days of triumph were marred by the unprecedented devaluation of the successes and disenchantment with the promises.
Xxrock reviews [RUS] recent official reports on the socio-economic situation, and the conclusion is not an optimistic one – the government seems to be embarrassed concerning the ways to solve the crisis:
October 10. Prices for agricultural products have increased by 10.4 per cent, comparing to 2006.
October 15. Minister of Trade Orazbakov says that the prices boom is stopped and the government fully controls the situation.
October 16. The price for vegetable oil and sugar increased two-three times. The prices for eggs, pork, macaroni and vegetables went up also.
In Karaganda, the people are shocked by uncontrollable inflation, which may also be a consequence of conspiracy between the monopolists. Gulnaz reports [RUS] from the second largest city of Kazakhstan: “It is impossible to buy sugar, salt and flour in Karaganda. People sweep these products away. Prices are still rising – and this process somehow cools down the demand. The local television channels heat up the agiotage by broadcasting rumors without any referrals to official information, while the local authorities don’t show up on TV at all. It seems like the officials don’t care about the people”.
Nemtschin recollects [RUS] the times of “wild deficit” in late 1980s and 1990s: “We, as children of the Soviet Union, probably, should invest money in vodka. Earlier it was a universal currency that could have been exchanged into consumer goods and services”.
The Kazakhstani macroeconomics used to be a sphere where the government’s boasting could happily coincide with praises from the international expert community. However, the crisis has hit it too. S&P agency downgraded the Kazakhstan’s credit rating against the background of the country’s excessive external borrowings and signs of volatility. Ben comments on the government’s intention to buy back internationally-listed shares in Kazakh companies. “Such a share purchase plan would in the end cost the taxpayer dearly, and doesn’t really seem to be a viable solution to the problem taking into account the budgetary constraints”, he says.
It may sound strange that the deficit of food products and stock market problems are taking place in a country that has GDP growth rates higher than in the developed world. However, everything sorts itself out is you bear in mind that the only reasons of this growth are high prices for raw materials and heavy export of oil and metals. Steve LeVine, as always, keeps an eye on Kazakh oil sector and reports on the trend towards resource nationalism amidst the debates over the supergiant Kashagan oilfield. As partial compensation, the consortium agreed to grant Kazakhstan a larger share of the field.


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Korea: Kissing in Public Places · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

Kissing in public places can turn into a major issue and generate arguments.
연신내역에서 발생한 10대 키스를 보고  말싸움끝에 폭행을 한 어르신이 폭행죄로 법의 심판을 받는다고 합니다. 이 분은 전에도 10대가 담배 피는 것을  보고는 폭행했다고 합니다.
그럼 10대가 공공장소에서 과도한 애정표현과 술 담배등을 하는 것에 대하여 어떻게 생각하십니까? 참 어려운 세상에 사는 것 같습니다.
What do you think about excessive love expression, drinking, and smoking of teenagers in public? We live in a difficult world.
After the news, a blogger writes how he (she) feels about others’ opinions about this accident.
어른들 앞에서 키스했다고 10대 연인을 폭행한 60대
실제로 보지 않은것이라서 10대든 60대든 난 그들을 비난 하지 않겠어.
하지만 난 댓글을 단 사람들에게 한마디 하고 싶어
아마 야후댓글은 20대~30대 이상들이 대부분이야
즉 성인들의 생각을 알 수 있는 곳이지
그런데 정말 보는 내가 화가 났어.
잘때렸다니..
오히려 상을 줘야 한다고?
요즘 아이들 요즘 아이들 이러는데
모두 부모들이 잘못 키운죄가 아닐까?
확실히 아이들이 싸가지 없어졌다고 한시기가
바로 인터넷 때문이라고 한다.
그런데 컴퓨터만 사주고 인터넷만 달아주고
어른들은 그에 따른 교육을 시켰나?
정부는 뭘했나?
아이들은 분명 어른들로 인해 그리고 환경으로 인해
자란 아이다
아이가 얼마나 태어났을 때 착할지 몰라도
환경이 나쁘다면 그 애는 따라 나빠지기 마련이다
난 절대 어린애들을 욕하지 않는다.
그들은 분명 나쁜 환경에 자란 피해자다.
그리고 애정행각이 그렇게 욕먹을 짓인가?
그리고 요즘 아이들 나쁘다 나쁘다 하는데
이건 학교 선생님들이 문제다…
그리고 요즘 아이들 그렇게 안나쁘다
다만 머리좀 기르고 좀 안좋게 보이지만
항상 학교에 피해자는 학생이였다.
정말 나쁜학생은 반에서 몇명 없다.
하지만 그 나쁜 학생도 분명 교육을 잘 못 받은 피해자.
이건 당연한 이론이다.
아이들은 어른들을 보고 자란다.
옛날엔 가진 폭력때문에 아이들이 숨겨왔지만
지금은 표현할 수 있는 시대
어른들을 따라하는 시대!
물론 이 뉴스에 나와있는 아이들이 풍기문란이란 걸로 잘못은 했지만
아이들을 싸잡아서 욕하는 어른들이 한심하고 내가 부끄럽다.
It seems that the incident turned into a battle between teenagers and adults.
문제의 본질은 폭력입니다! 길거리에서 애정표현이, 길가던 생판 모르는 노인한테 얻어맞아야 할만큼 큰 잘못인가요? 왜, 아예 범죄라고 해보죠! 길거리에서 담배피는 학생을 폭행했던 전력이 있는 사람이라죠? 물론 그 때 담배피던 학생을 훈계하다 때린건 수긍할 수 있는 일입니다. … 이 사건은 단순히 타인의 애정표현을 가지고 문지를 일으킨 것이므로, 그 노인에게 전적인 잘못이 있는 겁니다! 솔직히 난 나이가 서른인데, 부딪치는 많은 이들 중에서 말세를 운운하기 좋아하는 4,50대가 되려 싹퉁머리없는 짓을 많이 하는 것을 겪어왔고, 2,30대 층이 예의바르고 상식이 통하는 올바른 행동을 하는 것도 많이 겪어왔기 때문에, 요즘엔 4,50대나 그 이상 연령층의 행동이나 생각에 도덕성이 심각하게 결여되어있다고 봅니다.
Another opinion:
학생이신가 보네요 ….기사내용 다 읽었어요?
일단 폭력은 잘못 되었습니다. 기사내용을 보면
할아버지가 애들한대 애정표현 한다고 훈계하다 근대 학생들이 무슨상관이냐고? 대들었다죠
길가다가 담배핀다고 바로 때릴만큼 그런 성인은 거의 없다고 보구요 거의 훈계하다가 애들이 대들어서 맞는거죠~~
10년뒤면 벌거 벗고 성관계하는데 왜그러나고 하겠네 ㅡㅡ
About this incident, a blogger shows a poll about the extent of physical contact.
가끔 인터넷에 떠있는 공공장소에서의 애정행각 사진에 눈살을 찌푸렸던 기억이 있습니다. 둘이 사랑하고, 그에 스큰쉽을 나누는 것은 이해하지만 왠지 공공장소에서는 자제했으면 하는 바램입니다.
그런데 대항생 10명 중 4명은 길거리, 지하철 등 공공장소에서 가벼운 입맞춤 정도의 스킨쉽을 한 경험이 있으며, 10명 중 1명은 진한 키스도 나눠봤다라는 설문조사가 나왔군요. 통행이 잦은 공공장소에서의 스킨쉽에 대해 설문 참여자 절바 정도가 가벼운 입맞춤 정도는 공공장소에서 해도 상관없다라고 응답했습니다.
스킨쉽의 수위는 ‘가법게 입을 맞췄다(43.8%), ‘손을 잡고 있거나 포용(30.6%)’였고, 특히 ‘진하게 키스해 본적이 있다’는 응답도 11.2%나 차지하고 있습니다. 반면에 자신이 해본 스킨쉽의 수위를 묻는 질문에 ‘공공장소에서는 애정행각을 벌인 적이 없다’는 응답은 11.4%에 불과합니다.
공공장소에서의 스킨쉽에 큰 거부감이 없는 탓에 다른 이들의 길거리 애정행각을 바라보는 대학생들의 시선도 관대해 공공장소에서의 애정행각을 목격했을 때 드는 기분에 대해 ‘적당한 수준을 지키는 스킨쉽이나 애정행각은 귀업고 사랑스럽게 보인다(44.6%)이라는 수치가 나왔습니다. ‘남의 사생활이므로 굳이 신경쓰지 않는다’는 의견이 19.3%, ‘안 보이는데 가서 하지(15%)’로 기타의견으로는 ‘보기에 민망하다,’ ‘말세다,’ ‘부모님은 아시나?,’ ‘부럽다’등이 있었습니다.
당당하게 연애를 하는 것도 좋지만, 과도한 애정행각은 눈살이 찌푸러지기도 하는데요, 가급적이면 연인들의 스킨쉽은 다른 사람들의 눈을 의식해줬으면 합니다.
사귀는 남녀 사이의 스킨쉽 허용한도는 남학생의 경우 ‘성관계’가 57.2%로 1위를, 여학생은 ‘키스’가 49.9%로 1위를 차지했다고 합니다. 물론 남들이 보지 않는 장소에서 말이죠.

author: Hyejin Kim


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Kuwait: Lost Between Cinemas and Restaurants · Global Voices
Abdullatif AlOmar

It's after Eid in Kuwait so what would most people do there? Most have one of two options – either go to the movies or dine in a fine restaurant.
Sadly, new blockbuster The Kingdom was banned in Kuwait so what do Kuwaitis who want to watch it do?
Amir over at Hilaliya  tells us what everyone expects to happen.
We told you so…thousands of pirated KINGDOM copies have flooded the Kuwaiti black market. I'm sure the Ministry of Information is ecstatic now that the Studio and Movie Exhibitors get no revenues, but the pirates get all the profit.
Marzouq from zdistrict also talks about his experience of watching movies in Kuwait.
This is really getting frustrating, even when you want to go see a movie in Kuwait it's quite difficult. The Kiosk at Cinescape wasn’t working right and it felt like it was going crazy and trying to spit out the damn card they sell. I don’t understand why they haven’t improved the quality of the pop-corn that they have at the Cinema, the ones you buy from the Co-op or Sultan Center tastes a lot better then what they have.
Marzouq also comments on segregated cinemas, unruly children and movie censorship.
Meanwhile, Qias at io81 went to a restaurant, and after trying it, changed his mind about it vowing never to return again.
Throughout the Eid holiday, I have visited Villa Fayrouz with 2 more friends. I honestly dislike Villa Fayrouz customer service but they surly have great tasting food
Other than Eid activities, there have been a couple of things of interest on the Kuwaiti blogosphere.
intlxpatr reports about talks for a new proposal to rename ‘residents’ to ‘visitors.’
Calling all us guest-workers “visitors” is just a dumb idea. Call us guest-workers, call us workers, but if you call us “visitors” then you run into problems with folks who are just coming in for a VISIT, i.e. visitors.
esetch from the blog Dreams are made of these , continues his quest to hunt for old mail boxes that the mail authority ceased to use.

author: Abdullatif AlOmar


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Kyrgyzstan: Studies of LGBT problems · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

CXW reviews several recent publications and reports concerning the situation of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) people in Kyrgyzstan.


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Lebanon: On how to become a political leader · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Cold Desert dissects some political prototypes. In this post, he explains how to become a political leader: “there is a single prerequisite; you need to be the son of a political leader. This political leader should have a very strong public base who would follow him blindly.”

author: Moussa Bashir


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Lebanon: On the pre-election meetings  · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“So Christian “leaders” can do little at this stage. Pace any past pretence at grandeur, they forget that their past divisions have reduced them to bit players in a widening sectarian fight …” says Jeha about the meetings taking place between Christian leaders to prepare for the presidential elections.


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Lebanon: Politics and Soccer · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“The Lebanese treat their politics like other countries treat soccer. ‘All the props are there. You have team flags with various colors, you have buses that shuttle the fans, you have the bitterness and ecstasy that follow defeat and victory, and you always blame the referee,'”  writesBeirut Spring quoting a conversation with the Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey.


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Lebanon: Wine · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“The wine industry of Lebanon: $25 million a year, of which $10 million are from exports. 7 million bottles a year, of which 3 million are exported,” reports Dr. Rami Zurayk.


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Peru: Census Day · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Photo taken by Gustavo Picon and used under a Creative Commons license.
The National Census 2007 [ES] took place on Sunday, October 21, which from the very beginning generated controversy [ES] relating primarily with the methodology of it use, which differed from the previous census.  The previous census also received plenty of criticism.  The drop that tipped the glass was the fact that there was no transportation from 8 am to 6 pm [ES] on the day of the census.  In spite of all that, the census took place with regularity except for some isolated incidents in different areas of the country.  The results will be announced in March.Different bloggers wrote about this topic, such as Perú Global [ES], who responded to the critics of the census:
Hay gente que se rasga las vestiduras por el censo y la inamovilidad, gente que demuestra su gran mediocridad, cuando hay huelgas y paros que nos atrasan en días laborables no dicen nada de nada, PERO PARA SER LOS PIQUITOS DE ORO DE SIEMPRE, HABLADORES, CHARLATANES EN ESO SI SON BUENOS, PERO PARA COLABORAR CON EL CENSO O PODER SER EMPADRONADORES VOLUNTARIOS AHÍ SE ESPANTAN CUAL COBARDES. Esa gente me da lastima, se escandalizan tanto por una inamovilidad de 10 horas , que se nota que son PRESOS DE LA ESTUPIDEZ Y RESENTIMIENTO, NO PUEDEN PASAR UNAS HORAS EN SUS CASAS CON SU FAMILIA, POBRES RESENTIDOS SOCIALES. Que lastima da esta gente
There are people that make a big fuss over the census and for the lack of transportation, people that demonstrate their great mediocrity, when there are strikes and protests that delay or workdays, then they do not say anything.  BUT TO BE THE PIQUITOS DE ORO DE SIEMPRE, TALKERS, CHARLATANS, FOR THAT THEY ARE GREAT, BUT TO COLLABORATE WITH THE CENSUS OR TO VOLUNTEER THEY RESIST AND THEY ARE COWARDS.  I feel sorry for those people, they make a huge fuss for the lack of transportation for 10 hours, and it is obvious that they are PRISONERS OF STUPIDITY AND RESENTMENT, THEY CANNOT SPEND A FEW HOURS AT HOME WITH THEIR FAMILIES, THEY ARE SOCIALLY RESENTFUL.  How unfortunate.
On the other hand, we have the opinion of Juan Sheput of the blog Mate Pastor [ES] criticizes the government concerning a few points that leave a lot to be desired.
Las pérdidas comerciales por el paro obligado ascienden a US$250 millones. El propio censo es una perdida en sí. Niños y adolescentes diligenciando documentos con distintos tipos de letras y números. Utilizando lápices que no sirven para documentos que se van a manipular, pues la manipulación hace que se borren los datos, son tan sólo algunas de las deficiencias de este censo. Falta de entrenamiento, falta de seriedad en los censadores, son consecuencias de una total irresponsabilidad con el tratamiento de las cuentas nacionales.
The commercial losses due to the forced stoppage reach USD 250 million.  The census in itself is a loss.  Children and adolescents handling documents with distinct type of letters and numbers.  Using pencils that do not work with documents that will be manipulated, because the manipulation makes it that the data is erased, these are only a few of the deficiencies with this census.  There is a lack of training, a lack of seriousness from the census takers, these are the consequences of total irresponsibility with the treatment of the national accounts.
The crticisms do not only refer to these points.  Danza, the pseudonym for the blogger at Tan sólo unas burbujas [ES] questions the motives for the census:
¿Y a qué tanta urgencia de hacer un censo ahora? A menos que alguien por allí quiera tener pretexto para hacer cuadrar a la fuerza ciertas cifras que le intereresen mucho, yo la verdad, no la veo. O a menos que alguien esté sacando su alita de las partidas presupuestadas para el censo..
What is the urgency to take a census now?  Perhaps someone around there wants a reason to make certain numbers work that would benefit them, but to be honest, I do not see it.  Maybe someone is taking his/her cut of the amount budgeted for the census.
In addition to the criticism, the prohibition of transport was primarily adhered to, but not without causing some difficulties in the daily life of the Peruvians.  Coralí of Milkshake de Fresa [ES] writes about these examples:
Fui a eso de las seis a comprar mi pancito en Metro y de verdad presencie una cosa inimaginable: habia tanta gente como un 24 de diciembre a medio día y un monton de chibolos tambien. Las colas en las cajas eran terribles y la gente en verdad llevaba carritos llenos de mil cosas. Pero lo peor fue a la hora de ir a buscar el pan, habia tanta pero tanta gente apretujandose sin piedad que mi esposo no puedo conseguir nada de pan porque tenia miedo de empujar o lastimar a alguna viejita, yo si consegui pan porque pese a los empujones estaba junto a algunas viejitas y señoras y pasamos piola pues… la gente gritaba porque sacaban el pan por un lado de las cestas y por el otro lado no… era todo un caos y para pesar el pan otra colaza gigante.
It was around 6, when I bought my bread in Metro and honestly something unimaginable took place: there were so many people as if it were December 24 at noon and a bunch of children too.  The cashier lines were terrible and the people had carts full of many things.  but the worst was during the time to look for bread, there were so many people pressing against one another without any mercy that my husband could not get any bread because he was scared of pushing or hurting some elderly person, I did get bread because in spite of the pushers I was next to some elderly people and they let us by….the people screamed because they took bread from one side of the baskets and from the other side no…everything was a chaos and to weigh the bread there was long line.
It appears that some of the questions did not impress many, Claudia of La Columna de Tobi [ES] notes some points that she did not agree with:
Es cierto que este censo es sumamente criticable. Pero a la larga, es un censo y debería ser lo mejor posible. ¿O no? Una de las críticas fue la falta de una verdadera capacitación para los encuestadores….Formularon mal las preguntas. David Sulmont se muere si las escucha decir “¿acá no hay nadie con discapacidad, no?” en vez de hacer la pregunta completa y dar las opciones. O, antes, decirle a mi madre “usted trabaja… ah, usted es independiente” y marcar trabajador independiente, sin preguntarle. Dicho sea de paso, mi madre no es trabajadora independiente. O que yo les diga que tengo estudios superiores completos y me marquen superior no universitario completo porque me vio “muy joven” para haber terminado la universidad… okeeeey.
This census can be entirely criticized.  On the whole, it is a census and it should be the best that it can be, or no?  One of the criticisms was the lack of real training for the census-takers….They also formulated the questions poorly.  David Sulmont would die if he heard them say, “a disabled person does not live here, right?” instead of asking the complete question and by providing the options.  Or instead of saying to my mother, “you work…oh, you are independent” and mark independent work, without asking her.  My mother is not an independent worker. Or even though I say that I have completed advanced education and then they mark me as incomplete because I looked “too young” to have finished the university….right.
However, those were not all the problems.  Miguel Tejada, one of the bloggers of Gran Combo Club [ES] participated in the census as a data collector and tells of his experiences:
Me he recorrido a pie toda la avenida del ejército de 5 a 6 pm, y en todo el recorrido, familias enteras esperando omnibus para regresar a sus hogares en conos. Mucha gente se censa en los lugares donde no vive. De hecho, en edificios de apartamentos con dos cuartos o en casas minúsculas de dos habitaciones, he censado a 10 o 15 personas, que afirmaban que vivían ahí. Como el censo supone que la gente dice la verdad, uno tiene que “creerles” a los que responden, pero la multitud esperando micros para regresar a sus hogares me indica que las cosas no son así.
On foot, I walked the entire avenue from 5 – 6 pm, and during the entire walk, entire families were waiting for the bus to return to their homes.  Many people are counted in places where they do not live.  In fact, in some apartments with 2 rooms or houses with two small bedrooms, 10-15 were counted, who confirmed that they lived there. How does the census measure who is telling the truth.  One must “believe” those who responded, but the majority of the people waiting for the bus to return to their homes indicated that things are not like that.
The blog Suriel de la Jungla Perdida [ES] reproduces a note from RPP about the problems experienced by some census-takers.
en el colegio “Santísima Cruz” del distrito de San Martín de Porres, los jóvenes censadores quemaron los documentos empleados para su labor ante la ausencia de algún representante del organismo estatal que abone el dinero. Dijeron inclusive que el INEI había prometido la entrega de víveres, gorras y polos. ”No han cumplido con las cosas que ofrecieron. Estamos aquí sin desayuno y almuerzo”, precisó uno de los censadores a RPP. El mismo problema se produjo en otros centros de recolección de datos en Barrios Altos, Surco y San Juan de Miraflores.
In the “Santísima Cruz” school in the district of San Martín de Porres, the young census-takers burned the documents used in their work due to the absence of a representative of the state institution that would provide them with money.  They also said that the INEI had promised the supply of hats and polo shirts.  “They did not fulfill the promises that they made.  We are here without breakfast or lunch,” said one of the census-takers to the (media channel) RPP.  The same problem took place in other collection centers with the data from Barrios Altos, Surco and San Juan de Miraflores.
Milanta gave his congratulations and did everything to call everyone to participate [ES]:
A mi me queda felicitar a todos los que se inscribieron, incluyendo a los chicos y chicas de última hora, para cumplir un deber ciudadano (muy al margen de si me parece bien o mal el censo y si ese día quiero ser libre a pesar que es un domingo encerrado en casa y demás bla bla bla…). Agradecerles por su tiempo invertido (palabrita de moda, ¿no?…) en una tarea que MUCHOS OTROS no la quisieron ni la desearon. Luego se quejan que falta más democracia y tanta palabrería que sinceramente caaaaaaaansa. En los hechos más que en las palabras se ven la voluntad y las actitudes de toda persona comprometida y que busca el bien de su país. Nada más.
I would like to congratulate all those that registered, including those boys and girls, who did so at the last moment in order to fulfill a citizen's duty (which is very different to whether or not I think the census is good or bad and whether on that day I would like to be free to move around even though it is a Sunday enclosed at home, blah blah blah…).  I thank you for your invested time (fashionable word, no?) in a task that MANY OTHERS did not want to do.  Later, they complain that there is a need for more democracy and so much wordiness really tires one out.  One can see one's will in one's actions, rather than one's words and in the attitudes of everyone who is committed to the betterment of his/her country.  Nothing more.

author: Juan Arellano


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Press freedom in Benin takes nosedive · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Babilown writes about Benin's steep drop (Fr) in Reporters Without Borders’ annual country ranking of press freedom.


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Russia: Dubrovka Investigation · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

David McDuff of A Step At A Time translates an article on the investigation into the 2002 Dubrovka hostage crisis in Moscow.


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Russia: Election Miscellanea · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

TOL's Elections in Russia writes about the voting plans of Russia's homeless; campaigning for Putin through vodka; a group of young people opposing Putin; and a group of artists supporting him.


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Tanzania: IMF no longer viewed as an enemy · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Tanzania Common Cents writes about Tanzania's relationship with IMF: “While it is true that over the years Tanzania has graduated in her relationship with IMF to the point of currently operating under a PSI and thus driving its own development agenda; and while its true that IMF policies have evolved over the years to a degree where they are more favorable to the LDCs, the argument of whether IMF and World Bank past policies had done more harm than good will continue unabated.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica: Foreign Coach for Windies  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican sports journalist Tony Becca thinks that the hiring of a foreign coach for the West Indies cricket team is “an insult”: West Indies Cricket Blog thinks “Becca has never been more wrong.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Soca for Womex · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

de cooler : soca news reports that the Trinidad-based rapso group 3 Canal will be performing at the World Music Exhibition in Spain.


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Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname: Preservation · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

KnowProSE.com wonders about the cost of preservation – and how it applies “to other things that cannot be digitized and saved”.


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Tunisia: Solidarity Visit Blocked · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Mohammed Abbou, the legendary dissident who sewed his own mouth shut in jail to protest censorship, is once again harassed by the Tunisian authorities, who have banned him from travelling to Egypt to attend the trial of Egyptian editor Ibrahim Issa, reports ..Or Does it Explode?


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Ukraine: “Flit” Punk Rock Band · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainian Musical Matters writes about “a relatively young new Ukrainian punk rock band, Flit (pronounced ‘fleet’).”


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Ukraine: “Hate at Hoverla” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainiana reports on the “Hate at Hoverla” incident: “At the top of Mt. Hoverla, Ukraine’s highest peak and President Yushchenko’s favorite mountaineering range, members of the Eurasian Youth Union have trashed the Ukrainian coat of arms, the trident, and its accompanying stone engravings.”


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Ukraine: Poroshenko on Tymoshenko · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes‘ 1,000th post deals, among other things, with Petro Poroshenko's thoughts on whether Yulia Tymoshenko will become Ukraine's prime minister after all.


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Ukraine: Post-Election Politics, Etc. · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Lots of new posts at Orange Ukraine, including this overview of the post-election developments and other issues.


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Ukraine: Two Paintings · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Olechko posts her painting of an apartment block in Lutsk, which, like most apartment blocks in this part of the world, initially looked gray, but then she began painting it, and it turned out that it's not gray, but pink!


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Uzbekistan: Clearing border from mines · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Central Asian Borders reflects on the news or maybe a new rumour that Uzbekistan has begun to clear border areas (with Tajikistan) from mines. Uzbekistan mined its border with Tajikistan in the 90s.


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Afghanistan: Exports Go Up · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Afghanistan Watch reports that the country's exports, which are 10 times lower than imports, have shown the upward trend this year.


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Africa: Is China annexing Africa? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Is China annexing Africa?:”The latest project to hit the headlines is a $5 billion offer from the Chinese government to fund roads, railways, hospitals and clinics in the African Congo. Elsewhere, China is already “the biggest investor in the Sudan,” says the Seattle Times. In Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, office blocks, military headquarters and a refurbished stadium are all the work of planners from Beijing. In Uganda, Chinese money built the new State House.”


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Armenia: Condoleezza Rice Against Genocide Bill · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Oneworld Multimedia says that it comes as no surprise to discover that support for House Resolution 106 recognizing the Armenian Genocide is waning, with the U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, the latest high-ranking official to urge U.S. lawmakers to drop the bill.


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Azerbaijan: Mr Gay Europe 2007 · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on the surprise entry by 19-year-old Sadikj Ragimov into the Mr Gay Europe 2007 contest. This is the first time that any contestant from the South Caucasus has entered the competition, the blogger notes, and was an amazing show of courage from someone living in a deeply homophobic part of the world.
It should also be noted that the blogger himself set an important precedent — being Armenian and able to blog on neighbouring countries, especially on such a sensitive issue as LGBT rights, without resorting to [ethnic] prejudice or bias.


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Bahamas: Road Rage · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit indulges in “a little road rage”.


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Bahrain: Helping Iraqis · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Dawood is thinking of ways of helping Iraqi widows and orphans in this post.


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Bangladesh: Bloggers mobilise against domestic violence · Global Voices
Rezwan

(Logo credit: Amnesty International)
October is Domestic Violence Awareness month in the USA, devoted to connecting battered women’s advocates across the nation to work together to end violence against women and children.
The issue, however, is not country specific. Domestic violence is a menace that is found all over the world. It is a disease prevailing in all strata of society, present in the lives of the educated and uneducated, the rich and the poor. Bangladeshi women experience some of the highest rates of domestic violence in the world.
In this report we will see how Bangladeshi bloggers have started making waves in the fight against domestic violence to bring justice to its victims, proving the power of cyberactivism once again.
Via Samiha Esha we take a look at the story of (*name withheld on the request of the victim as she was blackmailed and forced to request omitting the name), a lecturer of Brac University who was brutally assaulted by her husband, (*name withheld on the request of the victim ), in New York, where he is a student at Columbia University.
Pictures tell a thousand words. but *Victim's note says more:
I am lucky to be alive, and there must be a reason why the month-long abuse I sustained did not culminate in my death. I had said my ‘innah lillah..’s and was prepared to die, but that didn’t happen. Instead, he raped me with my head draped with a scarf so that he wouldn’t have to look at my disfigured face.
She was rescued by police and the *victim is now in the custody of the NY police. Dr. Kathryn Ward at Nari Jibon's Bangladesh from our view has more updates:
Her abusive husband's elite family is threatening her family with false cases. More recently many prominent Bangladeshi women's organizations and leaders have protested the continued harassment of *victim and her family and called for justice in Bangladesh and USA.
Some have organized on Facebook a group to provide Justice for the *victim! while others are speaking up and writing to challenge the victim-blaming anti-victim activities of the abuser's, family, and friends who have posted misinformation on these websites!
Adhunika Blog has some shocking statistics:
Studies show that up to 3 million women are physically abused annually by intimate partners in the United States. However, the numbers seem worse for the South Asian community in the U.S, where approximately 41% of women are physically and/or sexually abused in some way by their current male partners in their lifetime. Unfortunately, the real percentage may be higher as many South Asian women are less likely to categorize various interactions as domestic violence, or are afraid or prevented from reporting such incidents.
The Blog lists some helpful links to different domestic violence groups in USA that provide information about domestic violence and different services to victims.
Now let's go to Bangladesh to learn about more violence against women.
On October 22, 2007 Manobi posted about Rahela, a working class teenage girl who was gang raped lead by a former colleague who also slit her throat was slit and mutilated her body with acid three years ago. Before her painful death she could name the devils who did this to her mother. A case is on trial in court and the first hearing will be on October 29, 2007. A leading human rights organization “Ain O Salish Kendra” is fighting for justice for Rahela and is leading the court battle. The accused are hiding from the law and may be acquited due to insufficient evidence. Her husband remarried after six months and is happy that she could save him and his family from becoming a suspect by naming the culprits. This negligence is another form of violence!
In her post [bn] Manobi urged the bloggers to amplify the news everywhere they could, especially in the local media, so that Rahela can get justice. The post received an enormous response–222 comments to date. Jiner Badshah posted another appeal titled “justice must prevail” [bn] to the Bangladeshi blogger community to create petitions, spread the news among the local media and create awareness in social networking sites.
And it worked like a wonder, as articles have started to appear in the local media. This has prompted local journalists like Foisal Noi [bn] to go to Rahela's village and dig up more information on the case. A significant TV broadcast about Rahela's case is planned for October 29. Whether Rahela will get justice, only time will tell. But that single post by Manobi led to  a level of activity in the society that was certainly unprecedented.
Manobi says in an email:
Now it feels like, Rahela is not abandoned, she is not forgotten. This ovewhelming response once again proves Humanity is the religion what we all follow.
I urge all the cyber activists of the world to raise your voices against the domestic violences of your communities and create more awareness on this subject. Sometimes all it takes is the power of one to bring about change.
(*name withheld on the request of the victim as she was blackmailed and forced to request us to omit the name)


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China: Affirmative Action for Rural Students · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Xueyong suggests that universities in China should adopt the policy of affirmative action for rural students (zh). At present, among the top rank universities, only 20% of the students comes from rural area, although rural population is consisted of more than half of the whole population. As education is a mean to solve cross-generational poverty problem, the blogger suggests the university admission should increase the proportion of rural students according to the ratio of population.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Collective Labour Arbitration · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fons from China Herald brings up into the attention of the drafting of labour arbitration law. One missing element is the collective labour arbitration process.


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China: Reporting Moon Orbiter · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Rose Lu from my1510 compares the various arrangement for reporting on China space travel (zh). Yesterday, most of the reporters managed to witness the Chang'e-1, the first China's moon orbiter, blasting out to the space, even though they have to enter the Xichang Satellite Launch Center as tourists.


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Costa Rica: Free-Trade Agreement Passes · Global Voices
Roy Rojas

On October 7, Costa Rica participated in a democratic exercise through a referendum to decide on the fate of the Free-Trade Agreement and citizens were able to be a legislator for  day.  It was a day with plenty of tension on both sides.  Neither those supporting “Yes”, nor those supporting “No” were assured of a victory, and in the streets, one could hear equal numbers of songs and chants, and most importantly with respect.
At 6 pm, the polls closed and the tension increased in the campaign centers.  The leaders gave statements to the press and predicted their own victory.  At 8:30 pm, the results were announced by the Supreme Electoral Court. The “Yes” side was victorious with more than 60% of the tables counted.  It was almost a definite victory.  The “Yes” side had won.  After the announcement, there were festivities on side, and frustration on the other.  Between the two sides, there were reports of fights, arguments and attempts and public disorder.  However, it did not reach problematic levels.
Many bloggers asked what will happen from here on out, and some say that there is not a clear panaroma because many laws still need to approved in parliament, so that the Free-Trade Agreement becomes active.
Fusil de Chispas [ES], who was against the agreement, writes:
La mayoría de los votantes costarricenses salió a votar. La mayoría votó SI. El TLC avanza. “Costa Rica recibirá lo que merece, lo bueno, y también lo malo”
The majority of Costa Rican voters went out to vote.  The majority voted Yes.  The Free-Trade Agreement passes.  “Costa Rica will get what it deserves, the good, as well as the bad.”
Alejandra of the blog Crisálida de la Mariposa [ES]  writes:
Una nación educada no es únicamente aquella con altos índices de alfabetización, sino la que asume la responsabilidad de pensar críticamente. Si algo reflejan gran cantidad de correos electrónicos, blogs, otros sitios web, videos del TLC. Por eso, en lo personal, el referéndum, más allá de un SI o un NO al TLC, me resulta un momento histórico en el que ponemos a prueba nuestra madurez democrática, nuestro nivel educativo y nuestra salud mental como sociedad.
An educated country is not only one that has high literacy rates, but those that takes the responsibility to think critically.  That may reflect that large numbers of emails, blogs, other websites, and FTA videos.  For that reason, the referendum beyond the YES or NO vote, to me the referendum was historic, which demonstrated our democratic maturity, our level of education, and our mental health as a society.

author: Roy Rojas


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Dubai Expensive? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Seabee from Dubai compares prices in Dubai and the UK in this post.


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Dubai: The Kingdom Review · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Dubaiwalla reviews blockbuster The Kingdom in this post.


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Ecuador: Correa Criticizes IMF · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Danny Ayala Hinojosa of El Federalista [ES] criticizes Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's declarations regarding the International Monetary Fund following a visit with Pope Benedict.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Egypt: Iraqi Prostitutes in Syria · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Hatshepsut  links to an article which discusses the plight of Iraqi refugee women in Syria, who have turned to prostitution to support their families and children.


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Egypt: On Kushari · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Rebecca, who blogs from Egypt, introduces us to Kushari, a local dish. “It’s a mixture of rice and pasta, and a small amount of lentils and chickpeas, and some dried onion and tomato hot sauce,” she explains.


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El Salvador: Funes Under the Watchful Eye of ARENA · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Hunnapuh [ES] welcomes FMLN presidential candidate, Mauricio Funes, “to hell” in reference to the following 18 months where he will be under the microscope of the opposition party ARENA prior to the next election in El Salvador.


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Georgia: Economic Growth · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

In a region where poverty is still endemic, figures for economic growth are a constant feature of speeches and election campaigns by governments. Georgia is no exception, but TOL Georgia asks if high economic growth rates from a low base mean much when they are compared to lower rates from more developed countries. It's a question, perhaps, that many other countries in the region should be asking.


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Georgia: Russian Paranoia · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Steady State posts a link to an article in Russian detailing territorial claims that the Republic of Georgia might have on Russia since medieval times. The blog treats such claims with scorn and sees it more as anti-Georgian paranoia than anything based on historical fact.


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Guatemala: Adoption Fees for Couples · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Blog de mi Guatemala [ES] comes across a website for the organization Guatemala Miracles, where the agency charges $25,000 and up for honorariums to help couple adopt a child from that country.


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Guyana: Iwokrama · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana-Gyal tells the fascinating story of Iwokrama, “part of one of the last four intact rainforests in the whole wide world!”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Indonesia: Proud To Be An Indonesian Blogger  · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Indonesian blogger Imam Brotoseno has created a fan video for the Indonesian bloggers summit to be held in Jakarta on 27th October. (via Unspun)

author: Preetam Rai


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Iran: A cartoon about oil and Ahmadinejad · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Nikahang, a leading cartoonist and blogger, has published a cartoon about high oil prices and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.


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Iran:Bookstores in trouble · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iranian government clamps down on bookstores’ coffee shops.Kaghz Pareh says[Fa] that he does not understand the reasons of government's decision in a country where not many people read books.


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Iran:Free Baghi,human rights activist · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Freedom for Baghi covers all news about jailed human rights activist,Emad Baghi. Emad Baghi has been arrested about 11 days ago.


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Iran:International Book Exposition · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Ghomar Asheganheh informs[Fa] us that this week for the fifth time an “International Book Exposition” will be organised in Tabriz,in north western Iran, where 1000 publishers from all over the world will be present.


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Iraq: Why Arabs are Such a Mess · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraq Pundit wonders why Arabs are such a mess in this post.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Jamaica, Grenada: Accidental Death?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Life and Times of Michmac is disturbed about the conditions surrounding a vehicular accident in Grenada that claimed the life of a mother of one.


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Japan: Taiwanese chorus music to the ears · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

A video of an auditorium in Taiwan featuring 258 Taiwanese people watching and singing along (in Japanese) to the lyrics of Japanese anime songs became a hit in Japan earlier this week [Ja] after it was uploaded to Nico Nico Douga, a popular video sharing website. Within three days of the upload the video had been viewed over 120,000 times and had attracted nearly as many comments [Ja], the majority of them featuring Japanese singing the praises of Taiwan and Taiwanese people.
Blogger morecom wrote of the event right after it was uploaded:
別に誰も相手の事を思いやったわけでもないのに、結果的にお互いが好印象を与え合ってるっていう話。
[…]
この動画は台湾の中央大学というところで台湾の人が組曲『ニコニコ動画』を２５８人で歌ってる動画です。これはすごい。
中には別に歌ってない人もいるから２５８人が同時に歌ってるわけではないと思うけど、これだけ大人数で歌ってるのは日本でもないんじゃないかな。
でも何よりこの動画がすごいと思ったのは別にこの台湾の人は誰かのために何かをしたわけではなく、自分達が面白い、楽しいと思ったことをしただけなのに、それが結果的に私達日本人が台湾の人を好きになれる動画になってるってところ。
こんな動画を見せられて台湾の人を嫌いになるなんて人はいませんよ。「この台湾の人たちも私達と同じように日本のアニメやゲーム、そしてニコニコ動画が好きなんだなぁ」なんて感じで好意を持つことはあっても「ふざけるな」なんて思う人は決していないと思う。
台湾の人は歌いたいから歌っただけ、私達日本人は面白そうな動画があったからそれを視聴しただけ、それだけなのに台湾の人たちと仲良くしたくなりました。これってとってもすごいし、すばらしいことだと思う。
[…]
それにしてもこの動画、再生数の伸びがものすごい。私が見た朝７時ぐらいの時点では再生数が１４００、コメント数が２０００ぐらいだったのに、今（９：２３）の時点で再生数が９３３４人、コメント数が１０７３１になってる。昨日の午後９時半頃にアップされて、半日ぐらいで一気に伸びてきた。多分今日のうちにどんどん伸びて、今日中にランキング（本日）で１位になるんじゃないかな。とにかく再生数もコメントも伸びが半端ない。
[…]
元々台湾の人には好意をもっていたけれど、この動画を見てますます台湾の人が好きになりました。私以外にもこの動画を見てそう思った人は多いんじゃないかな。動画の中のこのコメントが私が思った全てですよ。
In the comments section of the same post, two Taiwanese people who had actually attended the event gave their reactions. The first comment was posted on Oct. 21st:
台湾のDavid K. Narusegawaと申します。
実はこのイベントは先週、直接に参加し、歌ってしまいました。ｗ
私自身は歌が下手なんですけど、このイベントを参加し、やっぱり思わず感動しました。
こうやって少しずつ台湾を理解し、そして好きになる日本の方が増えれば、公的な宣伝CMより何十倍の宣伝効果になるかもしれません。
台日友好を続けるように、そして平和を続けるように祈っています。
The next comment was posted the next day on the 22nd:
日本の方々がこのようなイベントをどう考えているのが気になって、ちょっと検索してみたら、この記事が出ました。 このような両国民お互い理解を深める機会があって、本当にとてもいいことと思っています。
Blogger morecom responded:
おお！参加していた方からコメントをいただけるとは、ありがたいことです。
動画を見ている私にしてもなんかこう感動するものがありましたから、参加された方からすれば感動もひとしおでしょうね。
仲良くしよう、なんてCMを見るより１００万倍以上の効果がこの動画にはあると思います。
こういった活動を通じてますます両国の友好が深まるといいですよね。


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Kazakhstan: “Kompromat” Wars · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Rakhat Aliyev has lots of titles with an attribute “former”: former son-in-law of president Nazarbayev, former chief of special services, former media mogul and former influential clan leader. Today he is a figurant of the criminal case, accused of abduction and possible murder of heads of Nurbank, which was also controlled by Aliyev. Soon after the prosecution had started, he left the country and now lives in Vienna (Austria), sporadically enlivening the Kazakh politics with ejection of discrediting materials – “kompromats” – about the members of elite.
Recently, Rakhat came up with the series of very painful “kompromat” – audio-files of tapped telephone conversations of the key figures, including ministers, presidential administration officials and oligarchs. Although the content itself was not extremely dangerous, the very fact that telephones of the “people in power” can be intercepted and made public is certainly getting on their nerves.
Mantrov, a local journalist, believes [RUS] that there is possibly a coup brewing in Kazakhstan. “Rakhat Aliyev moved on from the threats to actions and now tells the world about the Kazakh regime”, whose staunch adherent and defender he was until recently. “It is rumored that several agents of special services, who were bugging the telephones of higher officials, have been arrested on suspicion of that they used those files for destabilization of political situation”, mantrov reports.
Although the opposition decisively rejects any support to Mr. Aliyev, seeing him as a person, who was behind persecution of the democrats, when president’s ex-relative headed secret services, a number of the opposition websites posted links to the mp3 files. They were soon blocked by the state-owned ISP Kazakhtelecom. The first Kazakh podcast website Inkar, which took a telephone interview from Aliyev, was blocked also.
Ivanalmazoff, a reporter of Inkar, comments [RUS] in the Livejournal community: “This is not the first time when the websites that support opposition are blocked in Kazakhstan. This means that the political crisis is already here”. The Kub weblog, owned by Kazakh film director Rachid Nougmanov, who lives in France and tends to support the opposition, was also blocked and deprived [RUS] of the right to use .kz domain.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Kyrgyzstan: Kleptocracy in Action · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Beaudi reflects on the recent developments in Kyrgyzstan, including adoption of the new constitution on a referendum and call for new parliamentary elections, saying that these developments indicate rollback from democracy in this country.


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Kyrgyzstan: Vote Predictions · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

The Azamat Report reviews the pre-electoral political situation, saying that Ak-Jol, a newly established party of the incumbent president has pretty low political standing, but “the so called ‘administrative resource’ will do its job” and ” if the elections take place with the same violations as the recent constitutional referendum did, Ak-Jol is guaranteed to get the majority of seats in the parliament”.


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Lebanon: Westernized Lebanese · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“It's very common for the Western journalists to talk about “Westernized” Lebanese. It seems, however, that with this term they are identifying only one part of what is the West […] In reality they are only identifying those middle class characteristics found across the globe in this globalized world,” writes Tigermarks.


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Peru: Memories, Re-encounters and Roots · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Alejandro of Peru Food writes a in-depth summary post titled “Memories, Re-encounters, Roots” regarding his recent trip to his native Peru.


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Philippines: Arroyo Pardons Plunder Convict Estrada · Global Voices
Tonyo Cruz

Many recoiled in horror, showed signs of disbelief and have become sick since around 6:00 pm today after the Presidential Palace announced that Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has granted a pardon for Joseph Estrada, whose ouster by People Power 2 in 2001 made her president.
For a quick view of the pardon or executive clemency Arroyo granted to Estrada, take a look at the blog wits and nuts. It includes the full text of the pardon.
Noting the swift way the pardon was given, alice in wanderlust posts a news item on the issue and inserts her comments there, like a case of “thinking aloud”.
Proving that young Filipinos today as still concerned, cristiniwini gives her view alongside laments about the lost momentum in the semestral break:
She'll do whatever it takes to get people's attention off her. She even gave former President Joseph Estrada the pardon just to make people think about it more. I have nothing against Erap but don't you think that there are a lot more people deserving of it than him. He put the country in so much shame and she's just letting this go? I mean, wtf. Right?
Pabrika Imagery shares the views of many regarding Arroyo's motive in granting the pardon:
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has her dirty hands full of controversy: the broadband fiasco, the bribery AKA as financial assistance, and the deadly Glorietta bombing.
And what better way to deviate all the attention, all the boos and the insults thrown her way, than to do the unthinkable, the unforgivable?
and suggests that:
We might as well dissolve the Sandiganbayan, which found Erap guilty beyond reasonable doubt of plundering this poor country. Throw in the dissolution of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (tasked with recovering the ill-gotten Marcos wealth), considering that the Marcoses are back in power after all the pillaging they've done.
Addresing Arroyo, if i give up i'll get what i deserve has this to say:
~tiNAwaG ka LNg PRESIDENT GLORIA MACAPAGAL AROYO paRDoN na KgaD! amfness! [You were just called by Estrada as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and you instantly gave pardon! Gosh!]
Thoughts of a Misplaced Jester is also incensed:
This is outrageous. This clearly proves that PGMA will stop at nothing to protect her presidency…
and takes the country's bishops to task for lobbying that Estrada be granted clemency:
The senile bishops of CBCP have come so far as to calling this pardon a Christian act when they were asking for it from PGMA. They reasoned that Erap has suffered enough and deserves the little amount of dignity in the twilight of his life. Let me pose this question. How about the faceless poor and their growling stomachs? How about the Filipinos who are yet to be born but already have unpaid accounts from the World Bank? How about us, the Filipino people who were bastardized by this plunder? We are all sad victims of these plunderers. Is it not frustrating to know that we have the laws to prosecute the culprits at court but with this blatant abuse of executive discretion this 6 year litigation is well, mainstream farce? Good heavens. This is Christian? Which Christ are we talking about here?
Telling it straight and in Filipino, reypinmoko agrees and says the pardon makes a mockery of the 2001 uprising.
another blog, bury me in this dress, feels betrayed:
The Dwarf just pardoned The Yak. I’m trying to laugh it off but I’ve really lost all respect for the administration. Goddess help the Filipinos because we are all doomed. Even Filipinos outside the country and living the golden life abroad.
A veteran of People Power 2 uprising, paolo's pen, perhaps speaks out:
The presidential pardon reportedly has good intentions, but for someone like me who was in EDSA everyday that fateful January in 2001, this latest development leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Is this what we fought for? For naught? At that time, our intention was to get rid of this crook, and for the main beneficiary of the people's actions against another person to give pardon to this same person, parang mag-asawang sampal sa mukha. I love this country, but in times like these, I question whether it's all worth it.
Newsstand describes the reaction at the central desk of the country's most influential newspaper:
We in the newsroom knew the decision was coming (as one editor-wag put it, “Pinatay na ang baboy,” referring to preparations involving Estrada's favorite food, lechon), but still, when it came, we recoiled, horror-struck.
Ditto for Filipina Soul who compares Estrada's fate with that of Ferdinand Marcos:
Marcos was exiled from the Philippines up to his death, and ERAP gets pardoned?!
This is absolute nonsense, a cause for blackamail, makes Arroyo a laughingstock, and a mockery of the justice system!
Oooh it makes me so mad!
For the blog THINKING ALOUD, a lamentation that the rule of law has been gutted by opportunism and that ultimately, an injustice was done against Filipinos:
I know of no words, negative superlatives, or any reaction for that matter, that could ever express my resentment and condemnation of this decision. Why do I disapprove of it?
The man was convicted of a crime–of robbing taxpayers of their money and keeping it for himself for his own selfish gains–and should, therefore, pay for his crime by serving his sentence in jail.
But no, because of political maneuvering, the incumbent president grants pardon to this criminal to divert the attention away from the more controversial issues, of which her name is written all over as the orchestrator, like the cash gift corruption at the palace, the national brodband network deal, and charter change. Former president or not, he deserves to rot in jail. If he doesn't, what message does this convey? It only says that here in the Philippines, you can get away with your crimes. It shows partiality: some others who are convicted of some petty felony, yeah, they get punished; but others like Estrada–with his loads of money, his years in public service, his love of the Filipino masses, and his supporters–he doesn't deserve to go to jail. He deserves to be forgiven. This only shows that indeed there is no rule of law in this country.

author: Tonyo Cruz


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Puerto Rico: Solutions to Problems · Global Voices
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Gil C. Schmidt aka Gil the Jenius provides a series of solutions to Puerto Rico's economic (1, 2) and governmental (1,2) woes.


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Qatar: Divorce via SMS · Global Voices
Mohamed Nanabhay

PeacefulMuslimah, who lives in Qatar, was just divorced via an SMS text message from her husband. She has: “lots of questions rattling around in my head but not a lot of answers…”

author: Mohamed Nanabhay


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Sudan: Day of Action for Darfur · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The Whinery 2.0 posts videos for Day of Action for Darfur.


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Syria: On Female Circumcision · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Syrian blogger Wassim talks about female circumcision, Hejab (headscarf) and rebels without a clue in this post.


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Trinidad and Tobago: Youth and Politics  · Global Voices
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Ramblings and Reason refers to a controversial song called called Trinidad and Tobago Sucks to illustrate the sentiment of “a certain segment of the under-thirty population who have educated themselves on the issues and find the local brand of politics, which refuses to deal with those issues, more than distasteful.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Politcal Debates  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Notes from a small island is all for Trinidad and Tobago's political party leaders having a debate, “fielding specific questions about the real issues affecting the nation.”


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Tunisia: Email Scam of the Year · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Tunisian blogger Samsoum posts what he describes as the email scam of the year here.


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Tunisia: Free Advertising · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“In an effort to encourage Arab startups, give them a push and spread out some love: I'm offering free banner space on my blog to promote their services,” announces Subzero Blue from Tunisia.


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Turkey: Media Interview  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The team at Metroblogging Istanbul were interviewed by The Washington Post for the series How the world sees America – Amar C. Bakshi talks to America's lovers and haters around the world.


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Turkey: Turkish Army Drive · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Amerikan Turk discusses a new interest among people to enlist in the Turkish army.


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Uzbekistan: Electoral Theater · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Bboyd opines on the pre-election environment in Uzbekistan, predicting the outcome of pre-orchestrated campaign: “the play will be a romance, with the incumbent and the state reunited for another decade”.


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Uzbekistan: Journalist Killed · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Libertad reports on the murder of Uzbek journalist Alisher Saipov, who worked in the neighboring Kyrgyzstan and wrote abot Uzbek minority there.


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Albania: Parking Problems; Bridge Reconstruction · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Albanian Blogger writes about parking problems in Tirana and the reconstruction of a pedestrian bridge over the Lana River.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Albania: Real Estate · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Living in Shkoder, Albania writes about the new construction and other real estate issues in Albania.


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Anguilla, Cayman Islands: Environmental Value · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Unless our leaders can come to understand the economic value of our environment, they will be unable to make good decisions about projects and policies,” says Corruption-free Anguilla.


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Argentina: Google To Open in Buenos Aires · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Leandro Zanoni of eBlog [ES] writes about Google opening up its third operations center in Buenos Aires, Argentina.


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Bahamas: The Answer to Crime?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Callers to a radio programme in the Bahamas think that enforcement of the death penalty would act as a deterrent to crime.  Rick Lowe at WeblogBahamas.com begs to differ.


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Barbados, Dominica: Journalist Sued · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“It all started when The Times published an article asking how it was that the Prime Minister acquired a million dollars worth of real estate on his politician’s salary”: Barbados Free Press reports that the editor of a Dominica newspaper is being sued by the island's Prime Minister.


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Bolivia: Violence in Santa Cruz · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Andrés Pucci [ES] criticizes individuals from Santa Cruz that participated in violent acts of vandalism during protests regarding hydrocarbon taxes.


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Queen Katarina · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

YakimaGulagLiteraryGazett remembers the last queen of Bosnia.


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Srebrenica Memorial Quilt · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Srebrenica Genocide Blog and Bosnia Vault write about the Srebrenica Memorial Quilt project, an initiative to commemorate “over 8,000 men, children (boys), and elderly who died during Srebrenica genocide.”


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Bulgaria: No Fear of Iran? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Balkan Yankee thinks that, contrary to what George W. Bush may want to believe, “the last thing on anyone’s mind in Bulgaria is the looming fear of an Iranian attack.”


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China: Official excess met with humor, scorn, death threats · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Bloggers for some reason kept mostly or dead quiet about the 17th Party Congress while it was being held during the third week of this month, and now that it's over, blog posts on the subject are being deleted even before they get published [zh].
A chance for bloggers to get a few words in popped up at ten a.m. on October 25 at the military.club.china.com forum in a thread showing the photos someone had taken when the Pizhou, Jiangsu Party secretary returned from Beijing, amassing over 800 comments by 3:30 in the afternoon, reactions to the red-carpet reception Party Congress delegate Li Lianyu received. By the evening, the thread had met the same fate as that of the other few related discussion spaces from the past few days.
Xiao Qiang at China Digital Times has posted on this here.
The introduction given to the photos at military.club:
太牛的场面 让我呕吐了好久
And a screenshot taken of the ratio of support votes (smaller section) given to the thread to the oppose votes (vast majority) and the bbs handles and IP addresses which cast them:
Selected comments:
* 作者:fucunfang 发表于:2007-10-25 10:33:29
21世纪的中国竟如此落后，这些欢迎群众的自主人格在哪里？！
* 作者:名字都被占了 发表于:2007-10-25 10:33:33
你看这领导都是红光满面的呀。这日子过的。啧啧啧。。
* 作者:garyq 发表于:2007-10-25 10:34:05
嗨，终于知道当官有多好，我想当官！！！！！！！！！
* 作者:都是真的 发表于:2007-10-25 10:36:57
一看就知道这SB是个作威作福的“土皇帝”，绝对不会亲民！！
* 作者:木棉一号 发表于:2007-10-25 10:37:15
我敢断言,这娃完了!!!
* 作者:狼和小羊 发表于:2007-10-25 10:37:36
顶上去！让更多的人看看！成何体统！
* 作者:老希 发表于:2007-10-25 10:38:15
能跟焦书记比吗?这些欢迎的人是怎么了?
* 作者:天马行 发表于:2007-10-25 10:39:04
无语!
* 作者:*厅局级的享受* 发表于:2007-10-25 10:42:30
胡总看看吧！我们的公仆、我们的人民就是这样？！丢人！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！
* 作者:剑涵 发表于:2007-10-25 10:44:00
这些人肯定是下级组织的,可见巴结拍马在那个地方已经相当流行!!
这些人肯定是下级组织的,可见巴结拍马在那个地方已经相当流行!!
还拿五星红旗!还有军队~~~~~~~~~靠!
一定要温总理看看~这个大书记!!
* 作者:dadada001 发表于:2007-10-25 10:45:21
浪费国家资源,该杀!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
* 作者:狼和小羊 发表于:2007-10-25 10:46:45
再顶！顶到中央纪委去！查查这位“亲民”的书记是如何赢得老百姓的“爱戴”的！这次欢迎仪式用去多少纳税人的钱！那些政府机关的公务员、那么多单位的员工不上班引起的间接损失有多少！
* 作者:凌村 发表于:2007-10-25 10:54:22
党旗拿去签名。。。。。。是不是违反了党章呀
* 作者:kt520 发表于:2007-10-25 10:54:39
这样下去，我们的国家要完了！
* 作者:要有志气 发表于:2007-10-25 11:00:54
我决定每天都要回复一下，版主可千万别删，哪怕是胖子书记给你一百万也别删，一直回复到胡总一想到就恶心的那一天。
It seems the Military.Club readers are generally full of anger and grief over this; from towards the end:
* 作者:闲云2004 发表于:2007-10-25 15:31:26
这就是一党制的弊端.缺失了监督和约束的权力是洪水,是猛兽.是中华民族的悲哀.
* 作者:无聊的一代 发表于:2007-10-25 15:32:02
明天我就撤了他!
There's also a Baidu space set up as a sort of fanzine for Secretary Li, by someone claiming in large font themselves to be an interested rural youth motivated by what he sees as laziness among his peers. In what seems was sincere admiration for Secretary Li, on October 24 s/he posted the photos, which gathered its own set of comments, of a markedly different tone, and which were all removed sometime on the evening of the 25th.
The ‘Li Lianyu—model cadre of a new era’ blog, October 25
The ‘Li Lianyu—model cadre of a new era’ blog, October 26
And the photo post itself:
Comments (#s 1-70 and 72-99 of which seemed to have already been missing):
71
lilianyu0516
2007-10-25 15:51
友情提醒：欢迎各位朋友来到本博客空间，同时欢迎各位对邳州的发展提出好的意见和建议。但同时警告一部分人，不要在这里进行无礼的谩骂。如果不听劝阻，继续在这里肆意妄为，对我们的领导和邳州人民进行言语攻击，那么你将受到法律的严厉制裁。
100
匿名网友
2007-10-25 21:04
坚定不移地团结在以李书记为首的领导周围，坚定不移地走中国特色社会主义道路，以邓小平理论和“三个代表”重要思想为指导，贯彻落实科学发展观，谱写邳州人民美好生活的新篇章！！！
102
网友:一位普通的上海市民
2007-10-25 21:34
李书记，人民的好书记，我太感动了！上海的习书记上调中央，我代表1800万上海市民欢迎李书记来上海当书记！
103
网友:复旦学子
2007-10-25 21:39
欢迎李书记来复旦做演讲，复旦学子向勤劳勇敢的邳州人民致敬！向敬爱的李书记致敬！
104
网友:一位普通的北京市民
2007-10-25 22:11
李书记，人民的好书记，我太感动了！我代表1800万上海市民欢迎李书记来北京当书记！
105
网友:坐山雕
2007-10-25 22:14
李书记，怎么看着你就像金正日呢？人民的好书记啊好书记！！！
106
网友:一个普通深圳市民
2007-10-25 22:15
李书记，人民的好书记，我太感动了！我代表深圳市民欢迎李书记来深圳当书记！
107
网友:A
2007-10-25 22:16
如果不听劝阻，继续在这里肆意妄为，对我们的领导和邳州人民进行言语攻击，那么你将受到法律的严厉制裁。
____李书记能告诉我您将用什么法律严厉制裁吗？
109
网友:你们
2007-10-25 22:23
我代表全世界人民欢迎李书记！
110
网友:中央领导
2007-10-25 22:43
中央热烈欢迎李书记来当中共中央总书记
pamiang
2007-10-25 22:51
我代表北京人民热烈欢迎李书记到上海做市委书记
115
网友:中国人民
2007-10-25 23:00
这么大的活动，经费是哪里来的?是谁组织的？那么多人停工，这些都需要向人民交代清楚。我们的公务员，纳税人养着你们，给你们的钱不是给你们来干这个的。
116
网友:sara
2007-10-25 23:11
哈哈
117
网友:这是谁啊？
2007-10-25 23:13
书记，你是谁啊？
这待遇和小平同志、江主席、胡主席差不多吧？
胡 主席去你们县也不会这样吧？
如有疑问请亲自问主席！
119
匿名网友
2007-10-25 23:25
全心全意为人民的好书记，赫赫
不过乱删帖子就不好了
121
匿名网友
2007-10-26 00:06
李书记在邳州这么小的一块地方都有这架势
到了中央那还不直接压倒江书记？
他不是一个人的书记！他不是一个县的书记！他不是一个省的书记！
他是一个国家的书记！他是全世界人民的书记！他是银河系的书记！
支持李书记竞选宇宙书记！
123
匿名网友
2007-10-26 00:32
李书记，北京人民欢迎你
快来领导我们吧

author: John Kennedy


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Croatia, U.K.: Film Festival · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

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Cuba: Of Speeches and Workshops · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

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Egypt: Favourite Blogger Day · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

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Hong Kong: China’s Olympic Opportunity · Global Voices
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Iran:First step towards USA-Iran war · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

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author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Letter to Yahoo · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kourosh Ziabari has written a letter to Yahoo:”Yahoo mail has recently removed “Iran” from the list of world countries in its signup page!We, therefore, ask Yahoo! to add Iran to the mentioned list again.”


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Iran:”Nuclear Bomb and Blackmail” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

View from Iran shares her Iranian friend's opinon on Iranian nuclear crisis. This friend,Reza, says :“It’s not that I think that Iran will actually use a bomb.I think they’ll just use it as blackmail.” He goes on to tell me that anyone who thinks that the current government of Iran is not pursuing a bomb is living in a dream world.”


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Iraq: D Cups and the Greenzone · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

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