Global Voices Online

Sean Roberts notes that the son-in-law of Kazakhstan's president thinks Kazakhstan would be well-served by a constitutional monarchy.

Joanne Schirm reports on a historic moment in sports in Turkmenistan — the first baseball game played between teams from different provinces. The Dashoghuz Devils emerged victorious over the Mary Sharks.

Nick of neweurasia sings the praises of Uzbek bread.

Onnik Krikorian notes the disappearance of another Armenian blog written by Nessuna, who often shone a light on issues not covered by other bloggers.

Narcogen gives a thorough treatment to the particulars of waiting in lines in Kazakhstan.

Bermuda has released Bermuda Maps, its “own version of Google maps.” The Limey has a few criticisms, but in general he's pretty pleased with it.

Bangkok Pundit reviews media reports on the bombing in Southern Thailand. The bombs were left at banks and ATMS and set off by timer.

A slice of Bahamian history is encapsulated in a milk stand in Nassau that was recently bulldozed to create a traffic lane. Nicolette Bethel tells the story.

Linda Thompkins encourages visitors to Barbados — “the only place in the world where MacDonald's failed” — to eat local. [Editor's note: McDonald's also eventually pulled out of Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica, though they operated considerably longer in those countries than in Barbados, where they apparently lasted only six months!].

Barbados is the venue for a court case testing a new law permitting minority shareholders in a corporation the power to have a court review of the company's activities, reports Barbados Free Press.

Convention pour une Guadeloupe Nouvelle, the blog of a political organization by the same name, deplores (Fr) that a recent law mandating that duty-free zones be created in Guadeloupe has not been implemented. The blog adds: “Guadeloupe needs an in-depth fiscal reform in order to ensure its economic growth, create jobs and ensure its economic and social autonomy. We must fight to jump start this fiscal revolution.”

InternetRapide.com wonders (Fr) whether a recent sign read in a French Guiana telecom store predicts the imminent arrival of ADSL TV in the French Overseas Departments of the Caribbean.

Snowsquare.com provides a brief explanation of what September 1 is in Russia.

Snowsquare.com writes about the Swiss pencil-maker with a Russian-sounding name: Caran d'Ache.

Sean's Russia Blog writes about the Russian army's “lack of transparency in casualty figures” and quotes from a New York Times piece on the “allegations of state-sponsored” cruelty in Chechnya: “It seems that Kadyrov’s Chechnya is turning out to be no different than the late Shamil Basaev’s would have been.”

Charlie Ganske of Russia Blog writes about Oleg Deripaska and the world's largest aluminum producer, and about the case of Aleksei Pichugin, former chief of security for Yukos.

Most recent topics covered by TOL's Belarus Blog include: short-wave radio and “independent information” in Belarus; a proposed linguistic “upgrade” and other threats to the Belarusian language; scandals surrounding scholarship programs for persecuted students; Russian criticism of the Belarusian election law.

Ankabout presents us Aboozar, his blind electronic music composer from Iran. You can download some samples of his music or but them .

Qué Joder has a link to a powerpoint presentation of cases of corruption (ES) during the presidency (1999 - 2004) of Francisco Flores.

David of A Ride for the Climate is now in the Brazilian Amazon, where he visited the Instituto National de Pesquisas da Amazonia (INPA) to give a presentation and better understand what threatens the sustainability of the Amazon region. Also, a sort of table of contents from the South American portion of his trip.

Miguel Centallas gives more background information on the decision by the National Electoral Court to rescind legal status of several national & regional parties.

Iván Mejía informs Eduardo Arcos that you too can join the September 1 bloggers meetup in Xalapa, Veracruz (ES) by using Skype.

Ariel Vercelli (ES) says that El Clarín (ES) has translated an article about iSummit in Rio de Janeiro, which was originally published by the New York Times.

Juan Arellano celebrated the International Day of Folklore by checking out the third National Concourse of Folkloric Street Dance (III Concurso Nacional de Pasacalle Folklórico) (ES). Included are links to nearly 100 photographs of the parade and a Wikipedia page explaining traditional Peruvian dance (ES).

Ricardo Carreón gives a personalized account of Mexico's blogging history: “For me it is clear that the Election was the killer application for Mexican blogs. However, I think that those independent and authoritative voices will continue to play a role on shaping the future of my country. Many of them actually continue to do so.”

As Trinidad and Tobago observes the 44th anniversary of its independence on August 31, Jeremy Taylor wonders if “Independence as an event is becoming ancient history,” and whether Carifesta, the upcoming regional arts festival, will provide “a platform for something truly exciting and challenging. And that depends, not on organisers or funds or recognition, but on having something to say, and saying it loud enough for people to hear and take notice.“

Geoffrey Philp kicks off his series of “Five Questions” interviews with Caribbean writers by talking to Cuban-American author Ricardo Pau-Llosa.

MMK posts a newspaper article that assesses the sometimes farcical, often autocratic imagination of a nation from above, and questions where the people’s own agency lies. Death of the Kenya Dream has ramifications for third world people everywhere and calls for African intellectuals to reclaim the management of perceptions of Africa.

Adaure observes politician killings in light of the coming 2007 Nigerian elections and includes a list an “allegedly” official list of looters of the Nigerian national cake.

The Bearded Man collates daily bulletins of news from Zimbabwe with sprinklings of his own two cents, chronicling the land issue, the introduction of new currency and government claims in the face of criticism.

Blogswana addresses HIV/AIDS stigma, promoting the internet as a tool for peer education and understanding to reduce stigma and encourage testing, treatment and disclosure.

To intervene or not to intervene? The Black Star Journal explores contradicting views on the role of foreign interventions in Africa with particular reference to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In the interest of regenerating the rural economy and reducing oil imports, the Biopact blog reports that Senegal is launching a biofuels program with Brazilian and Indian support as part of the Global South’s alliance that strives towards independence from Western powers.

Guest author at DesiPundit on Indic blogs and what makes them stick. “I am fortunate that I just happened to be there, at the moment when Hindi blogging triggered-off. I was fortunate to be part of a group of like-minded people who were frenzied enough to bring Hindi to foray and do something new. Blogging was the common passion; this is what made it sticky.”

A Silly-Photograph meme has caught the fascination of quite a few bloggers in India.

ICT for Peacebuilding on technology being neutral. “I would argue, perhaps controversially, that technology does not have to be neutral to engender trust. Particularly in a peace processes and conflict transformation, tags such as neutrality have no meaning, but impartiality does. Impartiality facilitates constructive relationships, progressive dialogue amongst antagonists and engenders trust.”

Nepali Netbook on Rayamajhi Commission and the King. “Will Nepalis finally get to see their citizen king in full public view, perhaps even live on national radio and television, offering answers the commission couldn’t get from ex-ministers and officials? Or will the “interrogation” consist of a questionnaire the monarch could fill out at leisure?”

imperfect world 2006 on a book discussing the Tablighi movement. “The above book actually starts off with his stint in the Tablighi movement - where he ends up running away with a young (white) girl and takes her home to his parents! Now, Sardar has new light to shed on the Tablighi movement.”

Drishtipat Group Blog on encouraging discussions on Islam in Bangladesh. “What one poet/ author says, what question he/she asks should not be able to put a dent on people’s belief in Islam. The threats of fundamentalists to gag forcibly or kill everyone who tries to question some decree of Islam, only demean the power of Islam as a religion.”

Of the latest eruption of the Piton de la Fournaise, Reunion's volcano, Dijoux.re writes (Fr): “This eruption is a surprise because it was not predicted by specialists who only recorded the first quakes an hour and a half before the lava flow. (…) According to the observatory, this sudden eruption should not last but our volcano is capricious enough that we may have the time to admire it.” The blogger also posts multiple numbered images.

Reunion Passion announces (Fr) that Reunion's local volcano is erupting once again. She also posts pictures.