Global Voices Online

Daniel Mauermann has a wonderful Flickr photoset comprising images of Cubans from all walks of life, including one extensively pierced individual smoking a cigar.

Henry Gomez accuses Joe Garcia, the former executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation, of deliberately misinterpreting statements made by President Bush during a television interview and playing playing “divisive political games”. According to Gomez, Garcia claimed that Bush had made statements to the effect that US-based Cubans would be excluded from participating in the eventual transformation of Cuba.

A new blog called, Civilian Resistance in Lebanon - www.lebanonsolidarity.org has started a campaign for Lebanon; ‘An Open Country for Civil Resistance.' The campaign is calling upon the local and international community to join a campaign of civil resistance to Israel's war against Lebanon and its people and declare Lebanon an open country for civil resistance.

The campaign is endorsed by more than 200 local and international organizations. More information can be found here.

Baheyya describes Gamal Hosnie Mubarak (son of Egyptian President) visit to Lebanon as adding insult to injury by pretending to care for the Lebanese people. She says: “But why should I be surprised? What else should one expect from the Mubarak regime but grovelling to the Israelis, using the Lebanese for a photo op, and keeping one nervous eye on the outraged Egyptian public and another on the demanding American bosses? A despised, depleted regime desperately clinging to power should never be cause for wonderment. A despised, depleted regime seeking to salvage some paltry war profits should not be cause for surprise.”

Well, face to face it is, and the question before all of us, particularly government and military leaders, is whether reserve forces, who only a few days before were sitting in their high tech offices and work stations, or relaxing after completing final examinations at the country’s colleges and universities, are ready to engage an enemy who not only has spent years of training and preparation, but for personal and religious reasons is not afraid to commit the ultimate sacrifice on the field of battle, Picow said on the 30th day of the Israeli-Lebanese conflict.

Hilal Chouman describing what he saw on TV: Yesterday, a man was seen on a TV channel. He survived from Shiyah massacre. All his family members died. He was seen carrying some papers covered with dust. Those included passports and other official documents. He was smiling in a strange way and repeating:

“Here are the papers. Nothing is gone. Come look.. Nothing is gone.. I still have them all!”

Sean's Russia Blog reports on the theft of 221 exhibits from the Hermitage.

Yuri Mamchur of Russia Blog writes about the competition between U.S. and U.K. law firms to represent those who suffered in the Airbus A-310 crash in Irkutsk in July.

Michael Averko of Russia Blog writes about toy Soviet tanks, hammer-and sickle-and-red-star jerseys, two-headed-eagle sweatshirts: his favorite Russia-related “chochkas.”