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Flying Over the Iraqi Blogodrome · Global Voices
Salam Adil

Literally this time. I am writing this as my flight to Dubai is actually flying over Iraqi airspace. First time ever.
If I were to give a true summary of the Iraqi blogs these past weeks it would be one of sadness, death, and violence. But I am not going to dwell on such matters as it is depressing and achieves nothing. Today I will  concentrate on politics. With the situation in Iraq becoming beyond bearable for Iraqi people, several bloggers are looking at the future, asking questions and trying to see ways out of the mess. But first…
If you read no other blog post this week, read this.
Faiza al Arji (mother to Iraqi bloggers Raed, Khalid and Majid) visited her, now empty, family house in Baghdad. After seeing the house empty and all covered in thick dust, she wrote:
I felt sad, and felt how heavy the sadness is on my heart.
I walked out silently, quietly. My relative walking behind me, also silent, without a word. I stood at the top of the marble and wood staircase in the center of the house, and looked down at my son Khalid's computer downstairs; he left the loudspeakers on the sofa, and the camera fixed on the screen, everything in its place as if the people of the house will be back in a short while, and dust covered all of these.
I looked at the big chandelier in the middle of the house, and found that dust marred its brilliance and beauty too…
I gave the whole house a sweeping sorry glance. I remembered the war, the chaos, robberies, thefts and assassinations, the immigration of my brother, the owner of the house; a doctor, his fear for himself and his family, my leaving my former house to this one here because the old one was in an area near the Airport Road, the heart of the battle against the occupation, with daily explosions, and broken window glass.
Then I remembered the story of my son Khalid's kidnapping from university, his arrest, being put at the Interior Ministry for twelve days accused of terrorism, for nothing more than having a beard! How this family endured these difficult days, then they let him go because he was innocent, and because we paid a ransom for him, and decided to leave Iraq, like thousands of families did, before and after us…
I remembered how the family separated; Khalid studying at a university outside Amman, I see him once a week, Majid studying in Cairo, Raid lives in America to work for Iraq, and I work with different organizations to help the devastated and the displaced from Iraq.
I started to burst into tears. My relative came to consol me; Are you crying for the furniture? Because of the dust? Tomorrow, a woman will come to clean the house…
I told him through my tears: No, I do not cry for the furniture, let it go to hell. I cry for my country which was shattered, my family which scattered, the Iraqis who were killed, the blood that was shed, and the devastation that spread. All the Iraqis are like me, what happened to them also befell me….
I kept crying bitterly, but he dragged me, and removed me out of the house in spite of me, so I would be quiet….
“What is going on in Iraq?” is on the lips of so many people these days. Sectarian politics has turned into open combat and many ask questions and some look for answers.
hala_s watches remembrance day in Britain and remembers the Iraqis.
I sat there watching, reading and wondering about our unknown soldiers and unknown victims; who will list them and pray for them? Who will compensate our children for their stolen childhood? Who will compensate our youth for the lost years?
I cannot stop myself from thinking that the prosperity and stability in here were only accomplished because countries like ours live in hell.
They initiate wars to get cheaper fuel for themselves, they starve Africa to get better food and they incite hatred to cause civil wars and find markets for their filthy arms business. …
When I ask my family and friends back home whether it is better for the foreign troops to leave us alone, I find their answers more confusing. They became accustomed to the fear they know and cannot take another shock. …
Once there was love, once there was hope and once there were memories.
Now there is nothing, and if there will come a day when this nightmare is over, I am sure no one will want to remember.
There will be no remembrance day for us.
Mohammed reports that Iraqis have lost faith in the current govenment but argues against removing it until a new coalition is assembled from Iyad Allawi's bloc, the Kurds and people “from within the parliament in addition to liberal powers that weren't lucky enough to reach the parliament”. How?
The only means is explicit, direct support from the United States to this future partner. Everything is allowed in war and since Iran or other countries support this or that harmful party then America has the right, and the moral obligation, to support a party of its choice. America is in Iraq now and in order to create a cover of legitimacy to any political or military solution, a strong Iraqi partner must first exist.
Salam Adil (that's me) explains that the civil war is being driven by support from outside forces and America has lost any control of the situation in Iraq. His suggestion? America should “sacrifice Israel to win Iraq“:
By forcing Israel into a humiliating withdrawal from occupied Palestine and the Golan Heights, America will focus the attention of the Arab states away from Iraq and towards the Palestinians. It will give Syria and Iran confidence to turn away from supporting insurgents and accept deals with the US. And the warring parties in Iraq, seeing that they are losing support from outside, will have no other choice but sue for peace.
Fatima gives a 6-point plan.
1. Close the border with Iran and Syria and literally threaten Iran with extreme military retaliation if the situation in Iraq does not improve.
2. Clamp down militarily on the most problematic militia (Jaysh Al-Mehdi) kill or arrest the field commanders and senior leadership. Once that happens the other militias will take heed…
3. Change the present government. The problem is when parties are above the law because of their militias they are not prone to compromise, force them to when they no longer have their militias and Iraq will be a different place today.
4. Threaten immediate US withdrawal and the parties will all compromise because the Sunnis have more to gain from a civil war than the Shia do.
5. Give Sunnis a reason to go against Alqaeda and other extremists. Presently they are seen as the only solution to US and Shia agression against them.
6. Change the posture in Anbar, let the Sunnis feel that the US is not against them.
LORD was inspired by some questions posed by Luke of Olivebranch to pose his own solution to the violent situation:
The first step would be to ban all religious and sectarian parties, the second step would be getting rid of all who came with the occupation, and put them to trial for treason, this step would include following anyone who fled the country and confiscating all their assets. All the terrorists are included in this too, with the exception of the national patriotic resistance. The third step would be forming a national patriotic government and putting Iraqi nationalists into office, the choosing of which would only be based on merit regardless of sectarian, ethnic, or religious belonging. The fourth step would be to restore all Iraqis to their original jobs and annulment on any laws that incriminate thoughts, beliefs, or principles. No individual should be incriminated without hard evidence and beyond any reasonable doubt. The fifth step would national reconciliation, letting go of all the mistakes of the past, starting over and putting whatever happened before behind our backs. The last step in the most important and crucial step in building the Iraqi future. Revenge will get us nowhere to say the least, in fact revenge is one of the reason we are where we are today.
Iraq Atheist looks to a solution. Among his suggests are:
[the Americans] bring troops two or three times as much and make them take over, stay for two years and then pull out, with no bases or troops left.
Toppling this government for at least these two years and running the government by someone like Sali7 Al Mu6leg; a former Baathist who would win the hearts of most Sunnis. Or an Arab king or prince, who would be hated by all Iraqis and perhaps then Iraqis will have something in common.
taking control over mosques in all Iraq by the army of Saddam and appointing preachers who are controlled by the government.
Taking control of the holy shrines … under the pretext of protecting their authenticity and safety. (Personally, I would like to see them levelled to ground, if you have seen the movie V for Vendetta, you would understand!!)
Konfused Kid, senses the end is nigh for the Sunni resistance in Iraq:
With Saddam, the Ba'athist figure, and al-Dhari, the Sunni Muslim figure being chased, the s**tstorm prediction may be sooner than u think, hang on to your toilets.
I can really smell it, and to tell you something, I am relieved. Cut the teasing and just get it over with, we are getting sleepy.
Neurotic Wife looks at all the failed reconstruction by America in the past and makes her own suggetion:
Dont spend more on reconstruction, spend more on rebuilding the person. The Iraqi person. The Iraqi human. Take away his fear by reinforcing laws and rules. Get rid of the current government that proved to the Iraqis and the world where its allegiance is with. Invest in building lives rather than concrete structures. Do what you preach and live by your words “Winning the Hearts and Minds”. Instead of the billions lost on concrete and foundations, spend the rest by helping people get on their feet. HUBBY once said, if all the money that was spent here was distributed amongst the Iraqi families in a fair manner, you will never see an insurgent on the street. You will not hear of stories like “such and such militia paid so and so a $100 just to kill someone for no reason”. People wouldnt be in need to do such things. People wouldnt be in need to survive.
The last word goes to Zappy who suggests that Iraqi Bloggers should form their own militia:
Dear Iraqi Bloggers “inside Baghdad” how about we set up a Milita?
Maybe we would do much better than the Idiots in parlament, at least Im sure we would smell better.
And Finally… Sunshine keeps bringing light to the people around her. Apart from collecting money to help send a child with a heart problem for treatment abroad she collected money to help her classmate R. R lost her father as well as 6 other relatives to the violence in Iraq. I'll let Sunshine tell the story:
In this week , I decided to collect money to buy a computer for R , (my best friend who lost her dad as well as 6 relatives ), and I collected so good amount of money , I can't wait till I see her impressions when I will bring the computer to school , I think it is really nice present …
I teach R how to use computer twice a week ( we have old computers in school ) . she feel comfortable to talk to me , because she's sure that I will not tell any one about her problems, when I reach home I burst with tears , she is living in such hard circumstances, and her financial condition is really bad , I try to help her in simple things , like buy her stuff she needs , or in any possible way I can do , like in computer lesson , the teacher wanted us to create a computer program , she said “if you don't know you will have to go to a programmer and pay for him, but that will cost a lot ”  … Anariki and The Kid helped me making the program and I added R's name next to mine in this project , as well as S my other best friend .
the computer teacher is so mean with R , she say ” why don't you have computer ? “,”are you illiterates ?”,” only people who are …. You know don't have computers”” she means poor people , or” are you still illiterates” , ” everyone have computers in their houses ? ” can you believe that anyone in this world can say such things to a poor orphan ? I went to another teacher and told her , R really get hurt from the teacher's word , not all of the people in the world are rich and have computers .
Anyway I told R that I bought her a computer ( I didn’t until now , but I told her I did ,so that she can't refuse taking the present, pride issues again) , she refused first , but I convinced her hardly and told her that my relatives sell computes and they didn’t take so much money from me , ( she believed that , heheheh ) I don't lie , but I had to this time . she's extremely happy, but she still have doubts that we might be kidding or it's just a jock , but she will be sure that I am serious when the computer will be in her bedroom .
I told her because the girls condition was to tell R first , and if she agree they will bring the money ..
R's dad bought them a computer desk , and a chair before he died , he was planning to buy the computer on Sunday , but unfortunately he was killed on Thursday .
And you know there is hope when you read stories like these.

author: Salam Adil


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Guadeloupe: Route du Rhum Video Podcast · Global Voices
Alice Backer

InternetRapide.com  reposts (Fr) a Guadeloupe.fr video podcast about this year's Route du Rhum transatlantic sailing competition.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Alice Backer


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Indonesia: Expensive Wheels · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Indcoup wonders how Indonesian armed forces is able to afford expensive vehicles for its staff while it has no money for more important purchases.

author: Preetam Rai


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Israel: The Crucial Difference · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

“Many people were upset about the fact that Olmert was invited to address the OU Orthodox Union Convention in Jerusalem because of his anti-Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel) and anti-democratic policies. He wasn't the only Israeli official who spoke. After Jewish Agency Chief Ze'ev Bielski's call for American Jews to immigrate to Israel, outgoing Israeli Ambassador to the US, Danny Ayalon, told the attendees not too, that they are needed in America to pressure the powers there,” Batya said.

author: Haitham Sabbah


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Japan: school bullying · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Kaishin blogs about the school bullying issue in Japundit.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Kenya: mistreatment of Kenyan novelist · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Black Looks has an update on the mistreatment of Kenyan academic and novelist, Professor Ngugi wa Thiong'o.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Kenya: visual roundup · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A visual roundup from Kenya by Kikuyumoja's Realm, “A collection of scenes I’ve caught during the week. Because life is about seeing and sharing.”


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Myanmar: Graduation Ceremony · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Dawn describes the unique graduation ceremony in Myanmar. “Myanmar graduation ceremonies are different from western ones. There are two days: rehearsal day and the actual ceremony day. I don't know who started this rule, but for the two days, most wear two different suits. On rehearsal day, we don't need to wear the black robe, so that day is the best day for the girls to show off themselves. But for both days, females have to wear Myanmar traditional dress, while males can wear either full Western suit, or Myanmar traditional suit.”


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Nigeria: challenges for Nollywood · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Zaynab A. Omaki writes about Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry, in the sub-Saharana Africa roundtable, “For all is flaws, however, Nollywood has been able to create a sense of nationhood. Nigerians identify their film industry as being wholly their own, even if they don’t identify with its productions. That’s why Nollwyood, with some work on its vision, objectives and originality, can eventually blossom into a positive influence on its consumers and present a more complete image to the outside world.”


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Reunion: Sarkozy and Nassimah Dindar · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Pierrot Dupuy writes (Fr): “I am learning from different sources, some of which are close Parisian relations of [French Interior Minister] Nicolas Sarkozy, that if he is elected President, he will offer a minister job to Nassimah Dindar … Is the best way to avoid Nassimah the minister for Sarkozy not to be president?” (Nassimah Dindar is President of the French Regional Council encompassing La Reunion.)


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Sudan: Southern Sudanese are trapped · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Africa Blogs explain why Southern Sudanese feel trapped, “Inside the mud-and-wattle structures, eating places by day and pubs by night, littering the Juba streets, people hurdle to discuss the future of Southern Sudan. But they are discovering that it’s becoming harder to discuss the future without discussing the wave of insecurity sweeping across their country.”


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The Week That Was in Bahrain  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

More than 300,000 Bahrainis went to the polls on Saturday to elect 40 Municipal Councillors and another 40 Members of Parliament. This is the second time Bahrainis vote in their modern history, after sweeping reforms initiated in 2002. According to official records, seventy-two per cent of the eligible voters took part in the process. Needless to say, the elections kept Bahrain's bloggers busy over the weekend.
Mahmood Al Yousuf calls election day D-day and explains how optimistic he is about his country's future.
The elections this time around are vastly different from 2002 as this time all but one political society have decided to participate, and as those societies contesting are the largest in Bahrain and their programs and agendas are non-sectarian, well thought out and achievable, we can rest assured that the new parliament when it is finally declared by Dec 3rd will be much more representative of the people and it will elevate the quality of life of Bahrainis and residents alike.
I really hope and pray for a better Bahrain for all Bahrainis, and hope that the new parliament will be the nucleus of change for the better, one that will put paid to the dangerous sectarian rifts in this country, and one that will work to make us proud, once again, to be Bahraini.
Chanad Bahraini flags his announcment of the elections, with a story on a rally held in Bahrain the day before.
The rally, elections and swarming journalists milling around the country did little to hide the underlying bitterness of slow and cosmetic reforms in the country, as Bahrania points.
The elections in Bahrain have received relatively good coverage and overall noted the skepticism and distrust over the whole process due largely to the recent Bandargate scandal. “Playing by unfair rules”as the Economist aptly describes the elections. Nevertheless, you are left to wonder at times whether reporters have accidently used an Iraq or Lebanon quick template, not just for their nauseating emphasis on sectarianism where every other word is Shia or Sunni, but we also had reports of “civil war”, “Muqtada al-Sadr” appearances, harbingers of potential “Shia uprising” and even plots of ethnic “cleansing”. Certainly the regional situation isn't a bunch of roses, and you realise how tension can spillover indirectly from your unruly neighbours. Lebanon – Bahrain is not, however much the media would like to play up Saudi or Iranian influence on the country. It is American influence on the ruling family which determines our political course more than anything, the story ad nauseum repeats itself across the ME.
Desert Island Boy also reflects on the ‘good’ coverage the elections have brought Bahrain.
Three months or so following the events surrounding the controversial Dr. Saleh Al Bandar, Bahrain's second parliamentary elections hit the front page. Of course, it gained that spot on the Washington Post online edition for pretty much the wrong reasons. The WP aired out all the salient points that Bahrainis themselves are disallowed from discussing. Of course, it did cover its bases by giving much maligned Information Minister Mohammed Abdul Gaffar, a platform to tell us that the sky is polka-dot green with pink sparkles.
Following the vote, comes the results, which Silly Bahraini Girl didn't take in stride.
What?? Not a single woman?? What is wrong with you, you morons??
It is OK for women to be mothers, sisters, girlfriends, housewives, mistresses, teachers, engineers, journalists, prostitutes, shop keepers, cashiers and bar tenders – but not policy makers and parliamentarians???
What the hell! And you tell me that 72 per cent of the population eligible to vote had cast their vote.. and not a single woman has made it so far, with the exception of Ms Al Gauod who won the seat uncontested?
Does it take a beard to be an MP? Is this the only criteria? Well, let's see what the Parliament of Hair (PoH) will do in our modern robust thriving deMOCKracy! Well done mountain goats…hard luck the rest of you hopefuls.
Mahmood is more calculating in his assessment.
From the liberals points of view, it’s good news. At least all of the Wa’ad candidates have gone into a run-off with an opponent, so there is a good chance for a few of them to actually reach parliament, now that the vote is concentrated just between two people.
The liberals now have to work extra hard to convince people that they are the right choice.
Away from politics, MKButch has found what he was looking for.
Finally after couple of months of searching on ebay i found it.
The same model was given to my grandfather and passed to my father, and now to me. Sadly i lost it. I looked everywhere, it took me months to find a replacement. I am just hopping that the Croatian seller i bought it from wont con me.
Hope it is what you want!
Meanwhile, Serendipity has had a rough day with the opthalmologist, who insisted he had high pressure … in his eyes.
Next thing I know, she pushes my head back, the nurse puts a finger out on top of me and instructs me to keep staring at it. How? My eyes burn now, thanks to you, and you want me to stare at your finger when there's a BRIGHT LIGHT behind it!
Then the doctor starts moving this black object towards my eyes. I didn't even see what it was nor where it came from! Obviously, I looked away. She tells me not to blink. Yeah! Right! She asks me to continue looking at the nurse's finger. How am I supposed to do that when you've got what looks like a hole puncher coming at my pupil?!?!
Brilliant! Reminds me of my adventures at the dentist's but that's another story altogether!

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Tunisia: Censoring Wikipedia? · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Sami Ben Gharbia writes (Fr): “We don't yet know if it is censorship or not but what is certain is that the Wikipedia and Wikipedia Foundation sites have not been accessible from Tunisia since the 23rd of this month. According to a subscriber to the francophone Wikipedia mailing list … it is probably a case of censorship of Wikipedia in Tunisia.”


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United Arab Emirates: Road Toll · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Moryarti explains why Road Toll is the solution for horrible roads traffic between Dubai and Sharjah. “If you live in Sharjah, you pay less rent, but in return you get stuck in traffic for at least 3 hours more every day. But with Road Tolls, main roads will clear out big time because the ones who can't afford them will chose other alternative roads. If you can afford to pay Tolls, don’t even think of taking alternative roads. As a matter of fact, if you pay Road Tolls twice a day, 7days a week for a whole year, the difference you will be paying will not even be a fraction of the extra cost you will have to bare if you decide to move back to Dubai…”
Sound interesting!


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Vietnam: Vietnamese Youth · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Antidote to Burnout gets treated for his birthday by his young students in Vietnam and reflects on the future of Vietnam.


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Arabisc: Bahraini Elections, Dying Children and Confusing Freedom! · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahrain held its second Parliamentary elections in its modern history this week, with about 300,000 voters going to the polls.
Amongst them was Bahraini blogger Haythoo, who hoped his ‘party’ would emerge victorious.
During the previous elections, four years ago, several political societies (political parties are banned in Bahrain) boycotted the elections under the pretext that the Bahraini Constitution was   “unconstitutional”.
Blogger Fareed Isa too was looking forward to exercising his right to elect his representatives in Parliament and the municipal councils.
خلال الفترة الماضية – فترة الدعاية الانتخابية – قدم المترشحون الكثير من الوعود وأعطوا الكثير من الآمال للمواطنين ينبغي أن لا تنسى أو تضيع لسبب بسيط هو أن الناس الذين انتخبوا هؤلاء بناء على هذه الآمال وتلك الوعود لن ينسوا كل ماقيل وسيمارسون دورهم التاريخي الذي يفترض أن يعرفه المترشحون الذين سيصيرون نوابا أو بلديين
Away from the Bahraini elections – but still in Bahrain – Blogger Khalid is concerned about the death of three young children, when their house burned down.
In nearby Saudi Arabia, Raed Al Saeed is having difficulties understanding freedom of expression and what it means in different contexts.
حاولت بشتى الطرق فهم حرية الرأي والتعبير ولكن لم أفهمها!
عندما يهينون نبينا فهي حرية تعبير ولا عليهم أن يعتذروا.
ولكن في فرنسا يمنع تكذيب “حقيقة” جرائم الإبادة الجماعية ضد اليهود من قبل النازيين! ولكن لا يمنع تكذيب “حقيقة” وجود الله؟!
وفي بولدنا يعتبر الإساءة إلى الكنيسة الكاثوليكية ورئيس الدولة جريمة يعاقب عليها القانون. ولكن إذا أساء البابا للإسلام يحفظ له حق حرية التعبير!
أما في أمريكا الحرة الأسود من الأصول الأفريقية يستطيع أن ينادي أسوداً أخر بعبارة زنجي Nigger ولكن إذا كان أَبْيَضَا فلا يستطيع أنا ينادي أسوداً بعبارة زنجي كما حدث مع Michael Richards.
Our last stop is with war, destruction and the smell of death in Iraq, where Imad Khadduri from Free Iraq, paints a painful picture of the suffering his country and people are witnessing.


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Bangladesh: Family in the country · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Andrew Morris on family in Bangladesh and UK. “It never ceases to amaze me here that ‘family members’ can travel across the country, turn up unannounced at a relative's home, and expect to be accommodated, fed and watered for up to a month.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Barbados: Fatted calf speech · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Barbados Labour Party publishes on its blog a scanned image of what is alleged to be a page of a speech given by a member of the opposition party containing some controversial statements.  Barbados Free Press, however, hesitates to jump to any conclusions about what the statements actually mean.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Barbados: Machismo and domestic violence against men · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Two radio personalities make light of a news report about a barrister who has reminded Barbadian men that the Domestic Violence (Protection Orders) Act offers protection to them as well as women. Titilayo is concerned at the radio announcers’ attitudes: “Physical abuse is nothing to laugh at. Domestic violence is nothing to laugh at. All people in Barbados, women, men and children, are afforded protection from domestic violence under the laws of the land. All people in Barbados should feel free to seek protection under the laws of the land without having to face ridicule for taking steps to ensure their personal safety and well-being. That’s the way it should be. When will that be the way it is?“


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Belarus: Kozulin Turns 51 in Jail · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A former presidential candidate, Aleksandr Kozulin, has celebrated his 51st birthday in prison, in relative obscurity, and with no food – because he's been on hunger strike for over a month already, writes TOL's Belarus Blog.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Belize: A bang-up tourist season · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Lee Vanderwalker of Caye Caulker, Belize, is busy with preparations for this year's tourist season, which from the feedback she's been getting is going to be “a bang up year.”


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Bermuda: Premier hosts students · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Edward Rance reports on a dinner hosted by the Premier of Bermuda for Bermudian students studying in the UK and the post-dinner Q&A session where the students asked the Premier some difficult questions.


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Bolivia: Morales in the Netherlands · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Miguel Buitrago describes Evo Morales’ upcoming travel plans as social unrest continues domestically: “Morales cannot stay outside Bolivia more than 5 days, since he does not have permission of Parliament to travel, he'll go on to the South America – Africa Summit in Nigeria. His final stop will be Cuba to celebrate Fidel's birthday.”

author: David Sasaki


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Bolivia: Questions for Bolivian Ambassador to US · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Have you got a question for the Bolivian Ambassador to the US? Now is the time to ask it as Jim Shultz prepares for his upcoming interview.


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Caribbean: West Indies cricket team’s #1 fan · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Cricketwukup.com profiles the “West Indies’ [cricket team's] #1 fan”.


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China: 40 mins radio dead air · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated a blog post from Pingke, who tried to explain the 40 mins broadcasting dead air from nine stations, from his experience in working for radio.


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China: boycotting Karaoke copyrights management · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Wang Xiao feng comments that the Karaoke copyrights fee management recently proposed by culture bureau is against international practice and damaging local music industry: The caculation is a standardize price per song (via the culture bureau managing system) rather than a monthly negotiated price between the Karaoke company and the copyrights holders. (zh)


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China: Chen Guangcheng’s case re-opened · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The blind human rights activist's case is re-opened today. According to Zeng Jinyang (zh), the lawyers were harrassed by local police and the village has been blocked to prevent local villagers to go to the court as Chen's eyewitnesses.


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China: golden Mao · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Shang_kenneth from Shanghaiist reports that a 7 metre high statue of Chairman Mao has been recently erected in Changsha. It is a prelude to Mao's birthday next month.


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China: More crazy growth for 2007 · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fons Tuinstra from China Herald foresees that China will have more crazy growth for 2007.


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China: rule of party · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The State Council of the People's Republic of China has finished the investigation of several pollution cases in Jilin province, which has caused the death of 8 people and 700 million yuan economic loss. However, the government officials involved only recieved warnings and punishment by the party. Ai Wei-wei criticized that the party rule has replaced the rule of law in such case (zh)….


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China: sex scandal · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China Media project translates an article from Southern Metropolis Daily which comments upon the recent sex scandals and discusses about free speech and social responsibility.


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China: story on resignation of a soccer commentator · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN puts togethers reports and translation on the media story about the resignation of a famous soccer commentator on CCTV, Huang Jianxiang. The case is significant as it touches upon the media system, a debate between two media workers.


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Colombia: TeleSur Reporter Arrested · Global Voices
David Sasaki

The Narcosphere and Western Hemisphere Policy Watch come to different conclusions on the detention of TeleSur reporter Freddy Muñoz by Colombian authorities. Dan Feder of Narcosphere writes: “At the very least, the Colombian government, in allowing the press to discover the accusations against Muñoz has made a very heavy-handed attempt to discredit an accomplished journalist who has exposed the ugly side of the Colombian and U.S. governments’ war against leftwing rebels.” But Western Hemisphere Policy Watch counters, “Chavez is actively seeking to destabilize the Colombian government by supporting the FARC and other rebel groups in Colombia. Telesur is nothing but a propaganda arm of the Bolivarian movement in the Americas. We put our faith in the Colombian legal system.”


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Cote d’Ivoire: France and UN Resolution 1721 · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Generation Consciente writes (Fr): “Despite its best efforts, Paris did not succeed in getting the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution that might oust President Gbagbo. After intense negotiations at the UN headquarters, Resolution 1721 regarding Cote d'Ivoire, a French intitiative, was adopted by the Security Council. It maintains Laurent Gbagbo at the head of Cote d'Ivoire for another year (until October 2007), a measure which further delays elections.”


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Ecuador: Rafael Correa Wins Election · Global Voices
David Sasaki

A.M. Mora y Leon tries to make sense of Rafael Correa's win on Sunday in Ecuador's presidential election: “And maybe it’s understandable – Correa was a fresh face. Noboa was an oligarch. Correa must have seemed more like an outsider, more willing to be worth the gamble to focus on the poor, via handouts.” Greg of Two Weeks Notice adds, “Perhaps the most problematic for democracy will be the resistance he will face in the legislature, with the lack of a loyal opposition, though this will obviously depend on what types of reforms he attempts.” Both Milton Ramirez and Erwin Cifuentes do the media reaction roundup while Boz pens his usual five points.


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Egypt: Bad Class! · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

What happens when your students are rude, uncouth, and highly uncivilized to their teacher and each other? “The world may be full of bad people, but it's good to know that there will always be good people walking in their midst that have the potential to make it all better,” Carmen said.


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French minorities: Questioning the Republican Model · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Togolese-origined French politician Kofi Yamgnane posts a December 13 conference announcement that questions the limitations of French republicanist integration (Fr): “Integration in the French tradition … is resolutely hostile to any differentiation or separation founded on individual origins … Contrary to the Anglo-Saxon model, the Republican model rejects communities and opposes their distinctness. At a time of globalization and increasingly important migrations, at a time of acute crisis in our suburbs and of immense social pain, is this model still efficient?”


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Haiti & Debt Relief: Will Government Measure Up? · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Jojo at Collectif Haiti de Provence posts a Radio Kiskeya article on the World Bank and IMF conditions for permanent debt relief for the country and writes (Fr): “The conditions for permanent debt relief are clear and precise and for once seem human … Can our compatriots once in power govern while respecting these conditions? If corruption and thievery as they stand today are no longer accepted, will as many people be interested in politics? The financial institutions should firmly threaten to sanction states, nations and banks that accept no questions asked to secret the assets of those who break the law in this area.”


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India: A writing exercise  · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Caferati has a writing exercise that asks writers to write from the other side of the fence. “It could be a poem extolling child labour. A monologue from a necrophiliac. An essay in favour of stronger government controls if you're a libertarian (or a paean to free markets of you're not).”


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India: Caste and reservations · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

National Highway on caste matters and reservation. “But if a ‘meritorious’ person like him could achieve so much in life despite such hardships, why do we need reservations at all? “I was an exception,” he says, “dalits are deliberately discriminated against and excluded and we need reservations to make sure they get their due.””


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Iraq: Uncle Saddam · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

All what you wanted to know about Saddam Hussein can be seen in ‘Uncle-Saddam’ documentary. “Uncle Saddam gives a feel for what it was like to be around the man and what sort of a man Saddam Hussein was, what he did inside the unfair system of dictatorship with checks and balances absent,” Bakkouz said.


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Japan: blogger survey · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Kaishin in Japundit presents some data from a recent blogger survey: almost 70% of the people who took it responded that updating was too much of a trouble…


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Jordan: M.E. three potential civil wars · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

“We could possibly imagine going into 2007 and having three civil wars on our hands,” King Abdullah said in an interview with the ABC network; citing conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon and the decades-long strife between the Palestinians and Israelis.” Natasha is not optimistic either. “The situation in the Middle East is getting gloomier by the day. I frankly do not see any light at the end of the dark tunnel we are currently going through. No wonder I am reading only fiction these days,” she said.


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Libya: A Dutch letter to Gheddaffi, “We burn migrants.” · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

On the 26th of October 2005 a fire raged in the Dutch Schiphol Airport Detention Centre. Eleven migrants died.
In an Open Letter to Gheddaffi a Dutch media-activist informs the Libyan president about the fate of three Libyan citizens. One died in the fire; another survived but “was treated in a sub-human way” by Dutch authorities; and third stands accused of starting the fire and still in custody, even after two separate judges ordered his immediate release in the last weeks… “None of them were accused of any crime or violation, not even of trespassing. Being declared ‘illegal’ doesn't constitute a criminal offense according to Dutch law. Yet [..] they usually suffer the same restrictions as suspects of common crimes, or worse even when they are housed in temporary facilities like ‘detention-boats’, hangars, or containers.“


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Montenegro: James Bond Connection · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

East Ethnia writes about the fake and the real Montenegro – and the James Bond connection.


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Nepal: Peace Process · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Nepali Netbook comments on the peace process being a farce. “Protestors injured in the April Uprising want representation in the interim parliament. Can the relatives of those killed be far behind?”


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Pakistan: Government tracks your movement · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Oyster travel card in London maybe a bit more than just a device for convenience according to Suspect Paki. “If you register your Oyster Card, the police can, without your knowledge, determine the extent of all your London Transport wanderings.”


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Pakistan: Headgear for Pakistan · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

All Things Pakistan has a wonderful post on headgear in Pakistan. “Even though with increased travel, TV, and urbanization some of the caps (not turbans, though) worn in one part of the country have also been adopted by people in other parts but, by and large, the cap or a turban a man wears dose hint at the broader ethnicity of that person and, sometime, even at his social status.”


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Palestine: Border still closed! · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Since then, Laila and her family are still waiting to cross the border from Egypt to Gaza. There is now some rumors that the border is opening tomorrow for three days only, in both directions. She can't be certain until she hears the same from the Egyptian border officials.


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Poland: On Borat, Election, and Russia · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot writes on Borat's Polish connection, a hungover election official, and the current “Polish-Russian meat war.”


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Russia: Gas Policies · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ruminations on Russia writes about gas policies of the Russian government.


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Russia: Image Abroad · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

ZheZhe [dot] us posts a lengthy entry on media discussions of Russia's image abroad.


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Serbia: Fear of Avian Flu · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pustolovina: Adventure in Serbian cites a paranoid letter on avian flu that the U.S. embassy in Belgrade is sending American expats.


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South Korea: My Reflections on Roh Moo-hyun · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Citizen reporter, Victor Foo, from Ohmynews! writes an evaluation on South Korea's president Roh Moo-hyun's achievements and setbacks during his term.


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Tahiti: Market of Papeete · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Photos de Tahiti et de Polynesie posts (Fr) pictures of the market of Papeete.


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Taiwan: handicapped VS. foreign maids · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A report at interlocals.net by torrent on the recent debate between handicapped alliance and foreign maids on granting the migrant domestic workers basic labour rights in Taiwan.


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Tanzanian bloggers’ virtual conference · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Tanzanian bloggers held their first virtual conference on November 18th, 2006. The aim of the conference was to discuss various steps to be taken to make the community more effective and expand its reach. Most bloggers feel that there is an opportunity for blogs to be a tool for critical national dialogue and social development. And that, in order for revolution in citizen media to take roots in Tanzania, the blogging community needs take the lead, starting with establishing its own goals and vision.
The conference came at a period when blogging is increasingly becoming popular in the country. It was organized collaboratively using online tools. Doodle was used for voting purposes (to decide on the date and time of the event), this wiki page was used for proposing the conference moderator, brainstorming conference agendas and discussing other related issues. IRC@Work was used to set up the conference channel, #blogubongo. Login instructions were posted on the wiki and on blogs. Members’ blogs were used as a space for discussions and for spreading the word about the conference.
Offline, Majira, a Swahili daily paper in Tanzania, carried an article about it and Mwananchi, another Swahili daily paper, had a feature article arguing that the conference was a practice in virtual collaborative democracy and an indication of the dawn of Tanzanian citizen media. Mwananchi Sunday edition carried another feature article last week discussing the outcome of the conference.
For some reasons, some bloggers had login problems. They were either logged out automatically or not able to login at all. While the conference was going on, the conference moderator, Ramadhani Msangi, was simultenously leading the discussion while corresponding with bloggers who were unsuccessfully trying to login. The comment section on Jikomboe was also used to communicate with bloggers who were experiencing login problems.
In attendance was Mike Mushi, a Tanzanian computer geek and the founder of HabariTanzania, Jambo Forum, and Blog Tanzania, a blogging platform. Mike is a friend of the Tanzanian blogging community. Quickly, he created an alternative channel through Jambo Tanzania, which redirected bloggers to the official conference channel, #blogubongo. He posted login instructions on Jikomboe’s comment section. This solved the problem. However, some bloggers had given up by the time the problem was solved.
The conference, which lasted for over two hours, had a loose format. The conference moderator’s task was to make sure that participants stayed on topic and let them know when it was time to move on to a different agenda.  The agendas were formally announced by the moderator the day before the conference after selecting from the wiki suggestions that had a wider support.
It was decided through voting that November 18th will be the National Blog Day in Tanzania. The date was chosen in order to remember the day this conference was held. The National Blog Day will have a different theme each year and blog awards will be given out on this day. The type of awards to be given was not decided. The idea, however, is to give out something physical, cultural and meaningful. A few participants suggested makonde carvings. Perhaps Tingatinga art will be one of the awards.
All participants agreed that there is a need to find ways to distribute blog content to people without Internet access. In order to do this, it was decided that a healthy relationship need to be developed between bloggers and the mainstream media. A few newspapers in Tanzania are slowly, though not regularly, starting to publish content from blog posts.
Three newspapers were named as friends of the Tanzanian blogging community at the moment: Majira, Mwananchi, and Tanzania Daima. Efforts will be made to have a regular section of interesting content from blog posts on these newspapers.
In recognizing the importance of radio stations in Tanzania, two participants volunteered to establish a relationship with the leading FM station in the country, Clouds FM. Normally, radio stations in Tanzania read and review interesting and topical articles from major morning papers. The plan is, therefore, to convince the stations to include blogs in their reviews.  Also, a popular news site in Tanzania, HabariTanzania, will soon start posting entries from Tanzanian bloggers. [Update: HabariTanzania has started posting entries from Tanzanian blog posts (including Global Voices Online)]
Considering the low rate of Internet penetration in Tanzania, the possibility of having blog posts available to people through a popular medium such as radio was very exciting to all participants. Internet access is limited to urban Tanzania and can be expensive, particularly with the current power rationing in the country.  Most participants also saw the need to reach out to senior editors and reporters through mini-workshops to show them, among other things, how they can use and benefit from rich, informative, and original content on Tanzanian blogs.
On the issue of a bloggers’ code of ethics, it was agreed that more time was needed to think and debate about it because of its sensitive nature. There was a consensus, however, that in order to establish trust, respect, and exercise social responsibility, some minimum ethical requirements have to be encouraged and observed.
Once there is a general agreement about the code of ethics, bloggers will produce a single document, an improved version of the Dodoma Declaration. Dodoma Declaration is a bloggers’ code of ethics modeled after guidelines created by CyberJournalist.net, which was written by bloggers who met informally in Dodoma early this year.
It was also agreed that the Tanzanian blogging community should work towards establishing a formal community structure with leadership positions, a clear vision, goals and objectives. The community will have its presence online through a website and an aggregator and possibly a physical presence in Tanzania at a later stage.
Time did not allow for participants to sort out the details of such a structure, i.e., leadership positions, voting procedures, terms of office, the official name of the community, goals and objectives.  Therefore, an interim committee was formed through voting to elicit ideas and opinions from bloggers about issues that needed more time and input.
The committee is made up of Da’ Mija (the Netherlands), Jeff Msangi (Canada), Ndesanjo Macha (USA), and Ramadhani Msangi (Tanzania). The process is expected to be as transparent and participatory as possible.


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The Balkans: EU Hopes · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Neretva River writes of what may be “the end of Turkey's EU accession hopes” and the “implications for the Western Balkans.”


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Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada: Public transportation · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Over at the Caribbean Beat weblog, Laura Dowrich shares some advice about public transportation in Trinidad and notes a few of the unique features of Grenada's buses.


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Ukraine: Was the Famine Genocide? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Petro Rondiak of Petro's Jotter writes a letter to the editor of a Kyiv English-language publication, disagreeing with his view on the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33; the editor responds.


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Venezuela: Campaigning and History · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Miguel Octavio describes the “perverse symbolism of the location of Chavez’ closing rally.”


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Voices from Central Asia and the Caucasus · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Astana (Kazakhstan) – Waiting for a bus – photograph taken by Richard Messenger (Many more bus stops here)
While we're waiting for the bus, why not check out some of this week's highlights from the Central Asian and Caucasian blogosphere, brought to you bi-weekly by neweurasia?
Web 2.0 in Central Asia
Nathan of Registan.net links to a new Youtube video posted by the Kazakhstani US embassy's spokesman Roman Vassilenko. Taking into account that Mr Vassilenko has commented on blogs before, he might be duly called Kazakhstan's Cyber Ambassador. In contrast to Kazakhstan's increasing media savviness, Uzbekistan's ads on Youtube don't fare that well. Presenting one of the first-ever podcasts on the region, Bicyclemark interviewed Amanda of ChristianAid about her work in Tajikistan.
Image is everything
Kamron describes (RUS) his discovery of a social advertisement campaign which recently appeared on Uzbek TV. While similar campaigns before were supposed to arouse patriotic feelings in the Uzbek people and to convince everyone that everything is perfect, the latest one was designed to raise the level of cultural education of people. Both Registan and News from the Caravan reported about the launch of a Central Asia glossy magazine. Steppe features high-quality photographs and articles ranging from recipes (how to cook plov) to historical accounts (an interview with a daughter of the last Emir of Bukhara).
Emerging and phantom middle classes
Theory holds that with economic growth and development usually comes the emergence of an initially small, but affluent middle class. Now, it is undisputed that Kazakhstan has seen some spectacular growth over the past five to six years, and anyone walking the streets of Almaty can tell that the fruits of the oil boom are trickling down to at least some people. Sean Roberts, on his fantastic blog The Roberts Report discusses the political implications resulting from the existence of a new middle class:
[T]his middle-class can be expected to put more and more pressure on the government to perform and to be effective. For years now, people in Kazakhstan have been satisfied with the low expectations of stability, and the general mantra has been “at least there is no war.” Now they want circuses…
There are separate signs for this being the case. Leila of neweurasia reports on the ‘right to have a right-hand-drive car’ and the protests following a recent decision by the administration to ban the import of second-hand Japanese cars. Finally, KZBlog, a blog maintained by an American expat living in the capital Astana, reports of recent fashion trends in Kazakhstan and in how far an indigenous scene is evolving.
In Uzbekistan, however, this is slightly different, reports Sean Roberts. The daughter of the president recently attended a fashion show in Tashkent, which represented a snapshot of the illusion of a middle class in Uzbekistan. While most of the population lives hand to mouth, only a very small minority can afford to live luxurious lifestyle:
The whole scenario is reminiscent of Marie Antoinette’s supposed comment about the starving French peasantry – “let them eat cake.” In this case, is the princess trying to say “let them wear mink” right before the winter cold sets in?
Kyrgyz economy in crisis?
The state of the Kyrgyz economy is worrying bloggers from the small mountainous Central Asian republic. Kyrgyz Report reports that the economy is growing much slower than anticipated and believes that the coming winter could become very rough. In the light of the recent parliamentary crisis, it is also interesting to read about the results of a recent public opinion poll on the same blog. It turns out that the perception of the state of affairs varies greatly in the regions and that most people are most concerned about their economic standing.
Read on!
Vadim of neweurasia rounds up the Tajikistani blogosphere, Onnik on his Oneworld Blog has the latest from Armenian blogs, Leila writes her bi-weekly Kazakhstani roundups on Global Voices, and Yulia has the voices from Kyrgyzstani blogs on neweurasia.

author: Ben Paarmann


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Afghanistan: Opium and the Economy · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

At Registan.net Joshua Foust comments on the World Bank's new report on opium eradication in Afghanistan, saying that something new must be tried because the current approach is a failure.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Africa: Africa’s economies · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Eliesmith writes about the 2006 African Development Indicator, “According to the report, the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of South Africa have retained their dominant positions on the economies of sub-Saharan Africa. Both countries account for 55% of the GDP of the region.”


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Africa: the African ICT Achievers Awards 2006 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Here is a list of winners of the African ICT Achievers Awards 2006, “The Winner of the Top ICT Youth Innovator Award, Nomfundo Nguse(19), was also a finalist in the Top ICT Young Entrepreneur category.”


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Albania: Flags and Skyscrapers · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Our Man in Tirana writes about Albania's Flag Day and the capital's amazing new skyscraper.


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Albania: Ismail Kadare · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Wu Wei writes about a talk given by Ismail Kadare in Oxford.


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Argentina: African Nations of Buenos Aires · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Jeff Barry takes a fascinating look at “the African Nations of Buenos Aires” followed up with an introduction to UNESCO's introductory overview of slavery in Argentina.


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Argentina: Buenos Aires in 4D · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Alan Patrick notes that Google Earth has added a fourth dimension and gives a hyperlinked overview of the then-and-now of Buenos Aires. For those still caught in a 3D world, you can still download Ezequiel Galotti's 3D Google Earth portrayals of Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata.


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Armenia: Destruction on a Whim · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Christian Garbis is outraged about a new Armenian law legitimizing the government to tear down any building by decree when the government says it is necessary for government or public needs.


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Armenia: Forestree 2024 · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Simon of Blogian posts a video he made on deforestation in Armenia.


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Armenia: Karabakh Peace · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian reports on the possibility of a peace deal being close over Nagorno-Karabakh.


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Armenia: Vote Quality · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian disagrees with other Armenian bloggers who are calling on fellow Armenians to vote for Silva in the BBC's The Next Big Thing contest. He says that they should instead vote for the best entrant and let Armenians succeed in such competitions on their own merits.


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Armenia: Women in Action · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian and Zarchka both report on a recent rally in Yerevan to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.


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Bahamas: Threats to marine resources · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Bahamas needs to defend its marine resrources and fishing grounds against the encroachment of poachers and similar threats, says Sir Arthur Foulkes.


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Bangladesh: On Nur Hossain and Democracy · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Ahmede Hussian remembers a man who of 26 years who died in 1987. “On the 10th November of 1987, Nur Hossain, an auto rickshaw driver and an activist of Awami League, went out to the street, his torso bared, with two lines written in Bangla on his chest and back– Gonotontro Mukti Paak, Shoyrachar Nipat Jaak (Long live democracy, Down with tyranny).”


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Barbados: Credit where credit isn’t due? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

A former Barbadian ambassador to the US states that whites are given too much credit for the success of the Barbadian economy. Barbados Free Press thinks he's entitled to his viewpoint, but “the future for all of us who love Barbados must belong to a different vision.”


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Brazil: Post-Election Podcast · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Luís Afonso Assumpção has published a podcast about his disappointment with the outcome of Brazil's latest elections and his thoughts on Latin America's current political reality.


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Brazil: Turistas and Tourism · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Made in Brazil on the concern that the movie Turistas might harm Brazil's tourism industry.


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Brunei: Bomb Scare at the Airport · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Our Local Style in Brunei is happy that the authorities are serious about airport security. Brunei's main airport was closed for two and half hours after an alert passenger notices an unaccompanied handbag in the smoking lounge.


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Cambodia: Cambodia’s Rabbi · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Arie meets the first and only native rabbi in Cambodia.”Jewish? In Phnom Penh? Adollah would like to meet you. He's very friendly, free with his blessings, and he may be able to heal the sick.”


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Caribbean: Blind Cricket · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

As the West Indies prepares to participate for the very first time in the Blind Cricket World Cup, cricketwukup.com outlines the rules of blind cricket. Among them: ” Umpires give verbal commands and the bowler must shout ‘play’ as he releases the ball.”


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Caribbean: Nalo Hopkinson audiobook recording · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Caribbean-born sci-fi writer Nalo Hopkinson solicits help with the pronunciation of certain Igbo words and botanical names as she prepares for the audiobook recording of her novel, The New Moon's Arms.


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Cayman Islands, SVG: Sexual harrassment · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Mighty Afroditee in Grand Cayman and Abeni in St. Vincent find themselves in situations where they are touched inappropriately by men.


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China: foreign bank · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Logan Wright in Survived SARS translated a survey from China Youth Daily about consumers’ attitude towards foreign bank.


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China: limited real name registration? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China Media project follows up the report and debate on blogger real name registration. The chairman of the Internet Society of China claimed that backstage real name registration is a limited real-name registration.


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China: no big deal to die in demolition · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Zhao mu blogs about a suicide note by Li Min-sheng in Shandong who hanged himself to death because of government's demolition project. The official response to Li's suicide was: people die everywhere because of demolition… (zh)


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China: open against hidden shamelessness · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translates an interview in the Southern Weekend with actress Zhang Yu, who has been posting videos of her trading sexual favors with directors and producers in return for film roles.


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China: Rise of Nations · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translates some netizens’ comments on the CCTV series “Rise of Nations”.


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China: the rise of great nation · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Sun bin blogs about a recent Chinese documentary T.V, the rise of Great Nation, which will probably be as influential as River Elegy produced 18 years ago. It is regarded as a prelude to the next wave of reform in China


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Croatia: Schengen and Eurail · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“Slovenia, Italy and Hungary are working to maintain the current border regime that allows Croatian citizens to cross into their countries with only an ID card,” Neretva River reports. And – “From January 1st 2007 passes covering rail travel in Croatia, Ireland, Italy and Portugal will be available, as well as Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg). Additionally, Eurail will also have two new country combinations – Austria and Hungary or Italy and Spain from next year,” writes Croatian Chronicles.


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D.R. of Congo: Bemba should concede defeat · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“…the time has come for Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo to concede defeat,” writes Eye on Africa following the rejection of a legal challenge to last month's presidential run-off election by the Democratic Republic of Congo's Supreme Court.


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D.R. of Congo: Bemba’s election challenge update · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“Before declaring the definitive outcome, the Supreme Court rejected Bemba’s challenge for lack of proof (the burden of proof being on the claimant). The CEI was found to have acted legally and transparently. One claim – that Kabila had spent government funds on his investiture ceremony – was regarded as irrelevant to the election results. Bemba’s lawyers did not attend,” reports Extra Extra from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.


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DRC: “Bemba was to be defeated” · Global Voices
Alice Backer

In a long post about Kinshasa's fervor for Bemba despite his defeat, Le Blog du Congolais writes (Fr):”It was written and we knew it: Bemba was to be defeated, for a reason or another. The court however did not this time around have to find the reason. Bemba's lawyers did the court's dirty work.”


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DRC: Insurrection in North Kivu · Global Voices
Alice Backer

UDPS Liege wrote yesterday (Fr): “According to the UN Mission in the Congo (MONUC), fighting resumed this Monday morning at Kasengezi, about 20 kilometers from Goma. UN troops from India intervened using helicopters and ground operations to bring the men loyal to [General Nkunda] back to their positions near Sake, reports Radiookapi.net.”


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East Timor: East Timor Survival Guide · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Via Dili-gence comes this post by Teresa that has a comprehensive guide for newly arrived people in East Timor.


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El Salvador: Gilberto Soto Murder, Two Yeras Later · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Tim Muth says that the Teamsters union in the US issued a press release urging US Secretary of Condoleeza Rice to pressure the Salvadoran government to reopen the investigation into the murder of labor activist Gilberto Soto.


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Ethiopia’s bloggers disappear again · Global Voices
Andrew Heavens

The bulk of Ethiopia's bloggers disappeared from Ethiopian computer screens for the second time in seven months this week.
All sites hosted by the popular Blogspot platform stalled when internet users tried to log on to them through their Ethiopian Telecom Corp dial-up connections.
The small stable of anti-government blogs hosted on the Nazret.com platform – including Urael and EthioBlog – also remained inaccessible (they have been unreadable inside Ethiopia since May).
Some of the bloggers themselves were quick to point the finger of blame:
This attempt by the government to completely censor all information in and out of Ethiopia is a desperate effort to keep citizens ignorant and unaware
wrote Ethiopian Politics in ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT BLOCKS BLOGS AGAIN!!
It can hardly come as a shock that the likes of Seminawork have been blocked again in Ethiopia. What is frustrating is that journalists will mitigate the block because authorities here will lie about it when asked. Memo to hacks: They're blocked. Period. It's not “mysterious”
wrote Addis Calling in Ethiopia Websites are Blocked.
It apparently didn't come as a shock to Seminawork. He simply added a postscript to his post about this weekend's Great Ethiopian Run, stating:
PS: All pro-democracy websites are now blocked in Ethiopia. Blogs which were unblocked for the last three months are blocked again including this blog.
Markmedia noticed the disappearances in his post Ethiopian government blocks bloggers:
…there is a blocking action against a large number of Ethiopian blog sites [both on and from]. I can not access any of the internationally hosted blogs from here in Addis. This is a strangulation of the freedom of speech and an obvious attempt to stop the flow of information on and about Ethiopia to its citizens.
It is not the first time this tactic has been used.
An interesting perspective came from Don't Eat My Buchela!, a new blog written by an “Ethiopian American Stay at Home Mom in Dalian, China”.
She described her frustrations at the widespread internet censorship going on in China in Information Highway… Detour Please!. And she noted some parallels:
I was googling recipes for injera and several pages I wanted to look at did not come up. Most interestingly, all the pages (political ones) that are blocked in Ethiopia don't come up here either. I was really looking forward to catching up on those once I got here. Little did I know some stuff about Ethiopia is blocked. I know the Ethiopian Telecommunication used Chinese experts to block undesirable political websites from the sensitive eyes of the public… may be the same experts that do the deed in China just extended their services to the Ethiopian Government blocking the websites both in China and Ethiopia?
Ethiopia's blogspot blogs first disappeared from Ethiopian computer screens in May (see GlobalVoices reports here and here). They reappeared three months later, only to disappear again this week.
The Ethiopian Government and its monopoly operator Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation have always denied any involvement.

author: Andrew Heavens


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Flooding in Haiti · Global Voices
Alice Backer

JoJo at Collectif Haiti de Provence links to a Sunday AlterPresse story on the current flooding in Jean-Rabel, Haiti. The story states (Fr):
“The Jean-Rabel community, a town in the northwest of Haiti, is currently facing serious difficulties after 3 days of incessant rains (November 23, 2006). Already at least two lives were allegedly lost and material losses are considerable.”


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Guatemala: Ranking of Blogs · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Notas al Margen links to two lists ranking Guatemalan blogs [ES].


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Guatemala: Video of Kites in Sumpango and Santiago · Global Voices
David Sasaki

About Guatemala has a video of giant kites in Sumpango and Santiago as part of All Saints’ Day.


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Guyana: Spare the rod · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Guyana-Gyal reacts strongly to a newspaper headline stating that the Guyanese Education Ministry backs corporal punishment: “I ain’t anti-discipline. I just am anti-beating a child. I wonder why we can't seek alternative ways to discipline. But the truth is, we so beaten, we don’t even know how to think creatively anymore.”


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Haiti: Impunity, President Preval and Farah Dessources · Global Voices
Alice Backer

On November 15, Farah Dessources, a 20 year old first year University student was kidnapped and killed despite the payment of part of the ransom by her mother. Saturday during her funeral, a demonstration took place in Port-au-Prince, demanding that the Preval government do more to stamp out insecurity. There are very few Haitian bloggers but one seemed particularly moved by the issue, blaming the government for it. Haitians debated the issue on the many Haitian online communities and message boards.
In one post, blogger JoJo at France-based Collectif Haiti de Provence  deplored (Fr) that the President and Prime Minister made more of an appearance at  the Haitiano-Dominican Friendship games taking place during the weekend than at the Farah Dessources funeral and thought it symbolic of their lack of interest in solving the security issue.  In another, he wrote (Fr):
La liste de ceux qui devraient comparaître devant une cour de justice est si longue qu’il faudrait plusieurs années pour un jugement équitable. Peut il exister une justice  équitable contre un système qui cautionne, protège et tire profit de la douleur et la détresse des autres.
Monsieur Le président de la République, Monsieur Le chef de la MINUSTAH, Monsieur le premier ministre, Monsieur le Directeur de la PNH, messieurs les ministres, Messieurs les sénateurs, Messieurs les députés, messieurs les fonctionnaires du gouvernement. Votre indifférence n’a d’égale que votre turpitude et n’est que le reflet de votre incapacité à diriger une nation.
Votre gouvernement est de mèche avec les kidnappeurs dont  vous justifiez maladroitement les exactions par vos théories à deux balles.
Vos enfants et vos biens sont bien gardés à l’extérieur. Votre politique carotte/bâton est inefficace. Combien de récits de ce genre il vous faudra lire pour démontrer votre volonté et surtout la panoplie des solutions que vous êtes sensés, du aux postes que vous occupez, apporter à la nation ?
Your government is in cahoots with the kidnappers whose excesses you justify gauchely with your shaky theories.
Your children and your property are safely tucked away abroad. Your carrot and stick strategy is inefficient. How many similar stories will you need to read about to show your will to implement the many solutions that your position summons you to bring to the nation?
On a Haitiwebs.com thread dedicated to the issue, some posters debated solutions. Titine, for example, asked (Fr): “What about the return of the Army? What are we waiting for?” Bana2166 added (Fr): “The international community (UN, France, US, Canada and others) have determined that Haiti does not need a military based on our past history with the army. Haitians want the military but the international community does not.”
Titine concluded (Fr):
La TOURISTHA et la police font tellement du bon travail (??) Cette jeune fille a ete assassine et mutile ils n'ont pas bouge pas meme le petit doigt. Haiti n'appartient plus aux haitiens a ce qu'il parait. Donnez-moi l'armee parceque Preval s'en fout pas mal du pays maintenant qu'il s'occupe de sa vie privee. Oui, l'armee, c'est ce qu'il nous faut. Vive l'armee, abas Preval et son gouvernement.


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India: A popular actor and public memory · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A popular actor who was charged under an act to prevent terrorism is partially let off the hook. World of India! on public memory and law. “The actor has been let off the much serious charge of abetting terrorism, though. A youth was quoted on NDTV saying – ” his family and he himself have done so many good things for society, so he should have been let off”.”


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India: MSN and Windows Live Report on Blogging · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

An MSN and Windows Live Report on Blogging in India has some reactions. A post at India Daily that highlights the findings. Dina Mehta has doubts about the methodology.


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Iran:Clashes at AmirKabir University · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Azarmehr three students from Amir Kabir university staged a sit in at the university entrance today.They were protesting at the decision to ban them from continuing their education.Campus marshals tried to break up the gathering by physically attacking the 200 students who had formed a human chain to protect three students.One injured student was taken to hospital.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Friday Prayer · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kamangir has published very interesting photos about scenes from Friday prayers.


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Japan: cutting cedar trees · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Multantfrog points to a news concerning Japan public policy makers recent action: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government started a project Monday to cut down 1.8 million cedar trees in the mountainous Tama region west of Tokyo to help people with cedar pollen allergies.


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Japan: fingerprinting foreigners · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joe in Multantfrog blogs about the newly introduced foreigner registration system in Japan, which requires foreigners to give the immigration a copy of their criminal / fingerprinted record.


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Japan: typical foreigner? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Debito blogs about a school ad: “E R English School needs a native speaker. Blonde hair
blue or green eyes and brightly character.”


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Jordan: toot, tan and ikbis! · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Blogging is growing rapidly in the Arab world, and some smart projects are capitalizing on this growth by providing tools that were until a while ago a de facto Western made only!
After the hand picked posts in the famous ‘toot’ aggregator, the same company has recently launched the first Arab oriented photo/video sharing website called ikbis.com and just two days ago they launched the toot advertising network called ‘tan‘.


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Kazakhstan: Fashion · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

KZ Blog has a bit of fun with photos from Kazakhstan's Fashion Week.


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Kazakhstan: Fashion · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Almaty's fashion week just wrapped up and KZ Blog reports.


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Kazakhstan: Video & Image · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Registan.net discusses the very different images created by Kazakhstan's promotional videos and videos of the destruction of a Hare Krishna community in southern Kazakhstan.


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Latvia: News Roundup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Homemade booze, politics, and attacks on tourists: All About Latvia provides a news roundup.


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Lebanon: Hizbullah and communal coexistence · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

“With Hizbullah reportedly planning “surprise” protests this week to topple the Siniora government, many, including Shias, are not surprised by how far the foreign-funded militia is prepared to take the country, and the Shia community, in what seems to be a political jihad against the state,” Abu Kais said.


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Lebanon: Minister Pierre Gemayel Assassinated · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Lebanon witnessed this week the brutal assassination of its minister of industry and trade. This terrorist act overshadowed all other events and topics in the Lebanese blogosphere. Nevertheless, the posts were as varied and different as the political inclinations of the Lebanese themselves. Here is a sample of what they had to say:
Blogging Beirut and Liliane posted some pictures from the scene of the crime and from the demonstration and funeral that followed.
Lazarus comments:
It is telling when a group of warlords point fingers and claim righteousness when a young man is brutally killed. what is more disturbing however is the Machiavellian “intellectuals” who expect that riding the tailcoats of warlords to a sovereign and independent Lebanon is the way to go. They see a goal (which most us do share) and sincerely believe their path is the “smart one”, yet I wonder if they realize that they have been walking on a treadmill for the past two years.
Abu Kais saw that:
The battle for Lebanon right now centers on the tribunal that will bring the killers of Hariri and others to justice. The court’s local and foreign opponents are stopping at nothing to block its formation, including assassinating members of the cabinet that will approve the plan.
While MarxistFromLebanon  mentions an SMS message he received calling for him to participate in the demonstration:
I got this sms on my mobile phone and it seems it is circulating through out Lebanon:
“Imagine Wi'am Wahab, Assem Kanso, Nasser Kandil, Sleiman Franjieh, Talal Arslan, Mohamad Fnesh as your new ministers, Salim Hos as your prime minister and Michel Aoun as your President!
Participate Tomorrow and they will stay home!”
Another point of view from Dr Victorino de la Vega
President Bush, Prime Minister Olmert and their Saudi Islamist friends were quick to blame this horrendous crime on Syria and Iran, even though there isn’t a single shred of evidence against these two countries. Maybe we could ask Dick Cheney and Mike Ledeen to fabricate a few colorful proofs with the help of the Israeli embassy in Niger- think nuclear “yellow cake”… hmm yummy! ;)
In fact, Pierre Gemayel was a leader of The Phalange (“Al Kataeb” in Arabic), an overtly Fascist Christian group modeled after Franco’s Hispanic version of the Nazi Party called El Movimiento Falangista: not really the standard textbook definition of a “democrat”… even by the Middle-East’s notoriously low standards!
The Rambler compares “news” from neighboring countries with “news” in Lebanon:
No News: So, the official civilian death toll in Iraq for October was 3079. Never mind focusing the camera on the living (hell). Numbers are easier to digest. Disturbing, but a fine substitute for Sudoku when you’re stuck for ideas.
No News: The murder of Gaza continues. Israeli business as usual with “targeted assassinations” reliably embellished with a few dead Palestinian kids & mums. Human Rights Watch instructs the caged Palestinians on how better to comply with international humanitarian law by improving their sitting duck skills. And those who can do something (the US), do nothing. The Israeli peaceniks soldier on with a hollow peace message that takes “as its moral yardstick the primacy of Israel's survival as a Jewish state”.
News!: A “targeted assassination” in Lebanon threatens to shake up not only the zoo, but also the region & even the world! We're just so photogenic, so valuable…
Pierre Tristam/Candide’s Notebooks writes the following as part of a lengthy analysis
It’s virtually irrelevant who murdered Pierre Gemayel. The question is: who does this benefit, and what next? Pathetically appropriate questions to ask on this, Lebanon’s Independence Day. By a process of elimination—it has always been all about elimination in Lebanon—you can rule out those whom the murder doesn’t benefit: the anti-Syrian and anti-Hezbollah bloc is on its last leg. It can’t afford a cough, let alone an assassination. …
… Pull up a chair. The situation room is about to get noisy. And make Israel and the United States look like two gentle manatees compared with Hezbollah going Medieval on Lebanon’s ass.
Jean  questions the investigations:
Police said today, they had little to report about the assassination.
One must admit, it is rather dazzling, this declaration.
A man, in his car, in a moderatly crowded christian neighborhood, in broad daylight, gets bumped in the back by another car, of which 3 gunmen come out, and shower the man's car with bullets, killing him and his bodyguard..
Did I forget anything ? ah yes… this man, is a Cabinet Minister !!!
Anarchorev posts photos to warn of what might have been the purpose of the assassination:
Not that I subscribe to the hysteria that the Western media and their “leftist” complicits in Lebanon are trying to spread, but I thought I would post a few photos which might paint a more accurate picture of what the planners of this assassination might have been aiming for.
From left to right
Photo #1: A Lebanese army officer tries to stop an angry Christian Lebanese man beating a Syrian driver who sits inside his Syrian taxi car after it destroyed by other angry protesters in Beirut, Lebanon….
Photo #2: Supporters of assassinated Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel show their anger by stepping on a poster of Hezbollah ally General Michel Aoun in the Beirut Christian stronghold of Ashrafieh….
Jij addresses the March 14 coalition, of whom Minister Gemayel was a member:
To the reasonable people in March 14:
The government was limping. It could not have functioned without Shia representation for much longer. Hezbollah was raising the ante. Aoun was emboldened. The demonstrations were going to happen within days if not hours; the excitement and anticipation in the opposition camp could not be overstated…
Then Pierre El Jmayyil is assassinated. March 14 get a lifeline. They switch to ‘blame-Syria’ mode immediately. The opposition is cornered and taken by surprise. …
Any reasonable individual would (and should) ask himself the following question: What on earth do Syria and Iran have to gain from this assassination? Things were going in their favor.
Raja reflects:
As for yesterday’s rally, it was merely a wave; a wave that washed up against a rock and receded back into the sea. That temporary, almost fickle, nature of the March 14 protests is the reason that people who argue “the Syrians could not have killed Gemayel and all the other politicians because it runs counter to their interests” are wrong.
The Syrians feel pretty secure about Hizballah's ability to hold its own against these waves of protest and fury. So they do what they need to, to gain any sort of advantage on the international playing field.
EDB talks with a enthusiasts who are members of Late Minister Gemayel's Phalangist Party:
A group of young men loitered outside the Kataeb (Phalangist) office in Rmeil until the early hours of the morning. What were they doing? There was talk of marching on the Presidential Palace in Baabda after the funeral celebration. My roommate says rumors spread in Hamra last night that Walid Jumblatt had also been assassinated. Panic ensued. Other friends have been ordered to stay home by their families and loved ones until the dust settles. Will it ever? The custom-made March 14th posters that depict each martyr against the backdrop of his assassination scene were mass-produced for Pierre Gemayel over night and slapped on billboards all around Beirut. Of all people beholden to foreign interests who lack credibility, Detlef Mehlis blamed “pro-Syrian forces” for Gemayel's assassination, from his office in Berlin. A little bird told him. Did the little bird have a goatee and a lot of money?
Prof Abu Khalil had this to say about the Gemayel family and the Phalangist Party:
It is only fair that I say a word about the Lebanese Gemayyel family. No one family in Lebanon has made more contributions to the formulation of a Lebanese version of fascism than this family. Really. In this respect, one has to note that Pierre Gemayyel (the grandfather), and his son Bashir has made great efforts (with the help of Israel) to create a fascist movement for Lebanon modeled after the Nazi party.
And he also asks
Why does the death of Pierre Gemayyel generate more attention–and certainly more sympathy–than the death of hundreds of Palestinian and Lebanese who have been killed by Israeli occupation troops?
Finally, Urshalim asks two questions regarding the assassination of Minister Pierre Gemayel and fears about the future of Lebanon.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Malawi: Malawian windmill · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Hactivate has a moving story about a windmill in Malawi, “The windmill stands on a tripod of wooden polls about five metres above the ground. It consists of locally-available materials and as far as he can remember his investments were K500 for two bearings, K500 for a bicycle dynamo, K400 for a fun belt and K800 for a bicycle frame. [about $15 USD total].”


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Mongolia: Fake Hijacking? · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Tom Terry, Managing Director of Eagle TV in Mongolia, has a long, information-rich post on what appears to have been a fake hijacking by government agencies of a plane in Mongolia.


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Nepal: Laws to protect children · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Bahas on why Nepal requires a stronger legal framework to deal with child sexual abuse and violence against children. “police find it difficult to deal with such cases as there is no specific legal provision. However, the recently passed Gender Equality Act has addressed the definition of sexual abuse to some extent.”


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Russia, Britain: Litvinenko’s Death · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot and Ruminations on Russia write about the reaction of the British media to Aleksandr Litvinenko's death.


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Russia: “DPNI-Light” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog writes that in Russia, “The race struggle has replaced the class struggle, and the ‘illegal’ stands in for the ‘kulak’.”


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Russia: Suleiman Kerimov · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Russia Blog writes about Suleiman Kerimov, a Russian billionaire and PM from Vladimir Zhirinovsky's party, who got into a car crash in southern France and is now “in coma with burns over 70% of his body,” while his black Ferrari Enzo has been torn apart and its fuel tank exploded.


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Serbia: Kosovo and Albanian Flag · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

One Missionary in Kosovo writes about Kosovars’ claim to the flag of Albania: “The flag itself is one of the challenges to imminent Kosovar statehood.  When you ask any Kosovar what the flag of the future state of Kosovo would be the answer is always the same…the ‘shqiponja’ or double-headed eagle flag.  The problem is, naturally, that the state of Albania has already laid claim to that emblem.”


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Sri Lanka: Citizen Journalism · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A new Citizen Journalism initiative GroundViews based out of Sri Lanka takes off. From their About Page – “In response to many requests from INGOs, humanitarian aid organisations including sections of the UN, CSOs, local and international journalists as well as members from the diaspora to have a better idea of conditions on the ground in Sri Lanka, the Voices of Reconciliation project decided to launch a tri-lingual website called Groundviews to strengthen the voices of civil society and concerned citizens, particularly in regions of conflict, in Sri Lanka.”


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Syria: 8 Syrian Students Face Trial for Starting Discussion Group · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

On Novermber 28th, 2006 the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC) of Syria held the first trial for eight youth arrested for founding a public discussion group on cultural issues, including current cultural and political issues in Syria. No one has heard any news from them for over nine months as they have been held incommunicado and without access to a lawyer since their arrests in the early part of this year. “When Syrian authorities continue to arrest youth committed to secular and democratic ideals, pushing them away from public life and the institutions of civil society, this can only increase radical thinking and extremism in the country,” Joshua Landis said.


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Syria: Study in Japanese · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

How to explain Newton's law in Japanese when your mother tongue is Arabic and you are fluent in English, but not that comfortable in Japanese? Yazan, seems to be struggling in his studies in Japanese!


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Text Theft in Caracas · Global Voices
David Sasaki

On November 17 Venezuelan architect and blogger, Guillermo Amador, jotted down a post titled “Traffic and Civilization” in which he criticized the Chief of Transit in Chacao [a neighborhood of Caracas] for claiming that the capital city's ever-worsening traffic problem had no solution. “Just because he doesn't know how to resolve the problem,” writes Amador, “doesn't mean that there is no solution.”
The rest of the post is precisely that: a four point plan to lessen vehicular congestion in the city. Ten days later Luis Carlos Diaz left a comment [ES] on the post informing its author that the text had been borrowed without attribution by the newspaper El Diario de Caracas. Amador responded with this post:
Plagiarism or Inspiration?
This morning I received a copy of El Diario de Caracas from the 23rd of November. On page 15 there is a very interesting article about traffic in Caracas. It was written by me on November 17, in five minutes, as those of us who have a blog are used to doing.
But one second, don't congratulate me. The article is edited and a little unimproved and is signed by a man named Nestor Valecillos. What's surprising is that nobody asked my permission. I'm not cited in the article, there are no quote marks. Nothing. When I started reading it, I got excited, thinking that in some part of the article they were going to say “this article was written by Guillermo Amador in his blog www.elmodulor.com, he is an architect, and so on.” But no. As I kept on reading, my horror and indignation increased, because it was the entire article, not just a simple quote. What angered me most was that the “author”, Nestor Valecillos, puts my experiences as if they were his; things that happened to me are written in the first person by Nestor Valecillos. This shouldn't be done. It's really ugly. Let's not even speak of ethics or anything else ethereal, which ultimately are only in our imagination.
It's ironic that my article says this:
It can be supposed that humanity's cultural evolution passes through three states: savagery, barbarism, and civilization. While we can't remain in and respect the last, we will find ourselves in one of the other two. It's complicated to follow the rules while one sees that everyone else, those who surround you, are literally doing whatever they please.
And I find someone who published exactly that, hehe.
My blogging friends, the original post is here in my blog.
The article of Nestor Velecillos is here. (Part 1 and 2)
Comments:
Adriana: Friend, I believe that none of us would be bothered if they were to publish an article of ours, so long as – like you point out – we are cited as the original source. I think that journalists look through blogs to get inspired – even though this was no inspiration, but rather copying – they should have dignity, ethics, and professionalism.
Jose Blanco: Unfortunately it's a recurring theme. Sometimes I find, between quotes, parts of our work in Google and it always presents disagreeable surprises … I have a friend at El Diario de Caracas and I'm going to call her to see if she can help.
Padre Oso: Boycott El Diaro de Caracas until the plagiarizer publicly apologizes … what nerve!!
Hunnapuh: You receive our support from El Salvador, where the blogging community is also large. And this pseudo-journalist gets our greatest repudiation, because it's not about economic benefits or something similar, because the majority of bloggers do it without motivation of profit … Our solidarity and respect for the work of all bloggers around the world.
Duilio: Looking at it from the positive side:
- you made yourself more famous (now you'll be visited by more than google bots)
– it's evident that you wrote a good article
– I can't think of anything else: hold on a second while I look for something in some blog …
I also nearly die of indignation when I saw my posts plagiarized in various weblogs where they also make them worse, recount my experiences in the first person, change the gender of the protagonist in my stories, etc. And, yet, I still haven't made it to a newspaper!
Sebastian Delmont, a Venezuelan ex-pat living in New York City, weighs in with his post, “Copy and Paste Journalism“.
I still can't understand what the “journalist” Nestor Valecillos was thinking when he delivered his most recent article titled “Civilization Stuck in Traffic”. Could he have thought that there isn't a single person out there who reads El Diario and also the blog of Guillermo Amador? Because just one single reader would note something familiar and make the connection. That's obvious.
Let's see if you guys take note: the article in question in El Diario de Caracas: Part 1 and Part 2 (which is the most interesting), compared to Guillermo's post about traffic in Caracas. If you need a clue, look at the emphasized points … “improve public transport”, etc, etc. And if you think that the newspaper omitted one of Guillermo's four points, look closer, they simply forgot to put the bullet points …
I wonder if El Diario has enough etiquette and editorial responsibility to publicly admit to plagiarism. And I wonder what consequences it will bring for Mr. Valecillos. But these days I feel a little cynical so I don't have much hope.
Finally, Afrael – another Venezuelan expat living in the US – writes, “It's bad to generalize, but …“
Generalizing is bad, but really, journalism in Venezuela is worse every day. Again, I repeat, generalizing is bad and I know that for the fault of a few we end up judging an entire profession, but the actions of Mr. Nestor Valecillos leave much to be desired. What did he do? Ohh, not a lot … nothing more and nothing less than plagiarize an entire post from the blog of Guillermo Amador, el modulador.
Of course, when you read things like this, you can easily arrive to hasty conclusions. I agree 100% with Sebas when he speaks of Copy and Paste Journalism and really, what Nestor Valecillos did is not professional, ethical, or polite.
From now on, he'll have to face the wrath of the “criollosfera.” We're not much, but we have Google on our side.


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Thailand: Black May Video · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

New Mandala links to a video from May 1992 that shows Thai soldiers kicking and beating people who were protesting against the government then. The soldiers were under the ultimate command of Surayud Chulanont, the current prime minister of Thailand.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Violence against women · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

To mark the 16 days of Activism against Gender Violence, Titlayo has pledged to write 16 posts on the subject of violence against women. Today, she writes about the situation in Trinidad and Tobago.


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Ukraine: Hutsul Wedding Photos and Video · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user dali-bude posts amazing pictures and video from a reenacted traditional Hutsul wedding. Dykun posts the final installment of a contemporary Hutsul wedding video.


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Ukraine: Kyiv No Istanbul · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Carpetblogger explains why Istanbul is not Kyiv.


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Africa: LGBTs issues in Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Black Looks writes about current development in LGBTs issues in Africa, “The Kenyan Times published an article in support of the South African Bill and states that it does not believe that homsexuality is “unAfrican” which in itself is quite a leap forward as that is one of the principle arguments used by African homophobes.”


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Africa: technology conference ’07 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Tech4Africa '07 is gaining momentum, writes One Afrikan: “And so it begins…. We’ve started getting some really good feedback for the Tech 4 Africa conference (last check we were up to about 30 replies after a day or so of being up and emailing to an initial beta group for testing) which has totally surpassed our expectations. When the automated notification emails started coming in, you shoulda heard the shouts of joy!”


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Armenia, Azerbaijan: Karabakh Deal Close · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian discusses the latest news that a deal on a peace deal over Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan is close, commenting that he does not expect such a deal to come before parliamentary elections next year in Armenia or presidential elections in both countries the following year.


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Azerbaijan: Buying Condoms in Baku · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

The Budget Files reports on the joys of buying condoms in Baku.


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Bangladesh: Names, caste and family · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

What's in a name? At the Bangladeshi LJ community, a member writes about experiences with caste, name and marriage. “The question here is, how do the majority of this generation feel about blood lines, family names, ect. Do we have a deeply embedded caste system and what can we do to get rid of it.”


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Belarus: CIS Scandal · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

TOL's Belarus Blog writes about the scandal involving Russian journalists that broke out during the CIS summit in the Belarusian capital. Also, there's a post about the pain the summit is causing to downtown Minsk.


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: EUFOR Commander Interview · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Finding Karadzic posts an interview from a Sarajevo daily with General Marco Chiarini, who is nearing the end of his one-year term as EUFOR commander in Bosnia & Herzegovina.


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Cambodia: Kite Weilding Terrorists? · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Details are Sketchy writes about the ridiculous comments made by Cambodian information minister supporting the police confiscation of kites from protesters who were planning to fly them in front of the national assembly.


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D.R. of Congo: volcanic eruption · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

There is a volcanic eruption in Eastern DRC, reports Congo Girl: “I went to the website hoping for a photo of the volcano, Mount Nyamulagira, but there was only a photo of lava covering Goma that came from Mount Nyiragongo in 2002.  The expert cited in the IRIN report stated that Nyiragongo's lava formed a barrier that prevented the recent eruption farther north from reaching populated spots.”


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Egypt: The Right to Love · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

“What causes sons to hate their mothers, fathers to target their daughters and husbands to persecute their wives? Have Adam and Eve not co-existed long enough for love and mutual respect to take hold? In this respect, we cannot say that such an attitude is particular to the Middle East, indeed, it is widespread throughout the world and even in ‘civilized’ first world. One, often, hears tales of rape, domestic violence, injustice in the workplace and was it not so long ago that; European women secured the right to vote?’The question, now, is why the Middle East is lagging behind in developing woman’s place in society?” Arima asks.


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Guyana: Piggybacking on Barbados tourism · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

MediaCritic proposes that the target of Guyana's most significant tourism advertising campaign should be tourists visiting Barbados, a model already adopted by St. Vincent & the Grenadines: “Through a CARICOM engineered initiative our powers that be need to establish some formal initiative with our sister nation in order to initially offer affordable two or three day eco-tourism based trips to Guyana’s hinterlands to the tourists who Barbados already attracts.“


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Haiti: Annual Floods · Global Voices
Alice Backer

JoJo from Collectif Haiti de Provence on floods in Haiti (Fr): ” It's the same every year. A part of the country flooded, victims and people made homeless by the hundreds. Recall the lot of people from the border and the catastrophe that hit the city of Gonaives [last year] … Rains represent a real threat to the population.”


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Haiti: Studying at night in Gonaïves · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

From Haiti publishes a photo of students studying in front of the Hotel Heberson, which, according to blogger Baturrico (ES), “is one of the few places in Gonaïves which remain illuminated in the night, while the rest of the city is in darkness as a result of the rationing of electrical power.” Adds Baturrico: “Around exam time there are so many students studying by the light of the hotel's lamp posts that you'd think somebody had organised a flashmob.”


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Haiti: Wyclef Jean in Concert in Jacmel · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Haiti-based blogger Yon Ayisyen says Haitian-American hip hop artist Wyclef Jean will be in concert in Jacmel, Haiti soon (Fr): “He will perform December 1st two days before the local and municipal elections. I wonder, will he take the opportunity to stay and vote on Sunday?”