Global Voices Online

Chroniques de Ndoumbelane dislikes (Fr) the question “If Africa had not been colonized, would it now be developed?“. Instead the blogger prefers to think of an alternative history where “the west would have encountered other civilizations without destroying them.”

Since onion is such a staple of Malagasy cuisine, Aiky at Madagascar Croissance would like to see (Fr) more exploitation of the food for exports.

Abeni no longer believes that hundreds of “jumbies” roam around during the “jumbie leggo” on November 1st and 2nd: “However, I find myself wishing there was some truth to the old tale. It would be so nice to see the dearly departed if only for two days.”

The school bullying in Japan becomes a social problem related with racial discrimination. Debito reports on a recent court case disclosing the details of a nasty bullying of a third-grade female student who has a Chinese father.

According to Alexpappas in Japundit, the battle is between mobile phone companies, NTT DoCoMo and Softbank over “unfair advertising”.

ESWN translates a feature story on the 12 hours working day of a cleaning woman in Hong Kong. On average she earns HKD$10 (USD$1.2) per hour. Yet the government is still hesitated to pass the law on minimum wage protecting cleaning women and security guards.

Fang Jun in mindmeter reports that TCL, one of the biggest electronic appliance producers, is about to withdraw from Europe market. In the first half year, TCL has lost HKD758 millions (USD 1 million) in Europe market. It is not always a good strategy to go global (zh).

Keso comments on Baidu's performance. Even if the company has an increase in profit, its stock price drops. In order to fulfill the estimated stock price in 2 years, the company has to have 100% increase in profit annually (zh).

Tsinghua university architecture department Zhou Rong criticise property developers for promoting luxurious lifestyle in their designs which are very much against people's need - more from sohoxiaobao (zh).

Will at imaginethief comments on the recent Chinese official, Yang Xiaokun's statement that China has no censorship! - an insult to people's intelligence and a PR suicide.

El Blog de Rodrigo [ES], Ana Maria Salazar, El Sendero del Peje [ES], and Mark in Mexico [ES] continue their near-hourly updates on the tension in Oaxaca. Blog.com.mx draws a comparison [ES] between Apple Computer's hesitation to license its software and President Fox's decision to send in federal troops: both decisions were correct, but came too late. Finally, Ciudad de México has various links to stories covering yesterday's march in favor of embattled governor Ulises Ruiz, but then asks: “wouldn't it be obvious that some co-called march in support of the governor … was organized by Ulises Ruiz himself?”

Liz Henry recounts an incredible (if not completely credible) story about the 1995 Medellin Poetry Festival where poets were kidnapped until they secured their freedom by reciting poetry to their captors. For more info on this year's Medellin Poetry Festival, check out Henry's post and the blogs she links to.

Gretchen Gordon takes a look at Bolivia's renegotiated contracts with foreign oil companies. Miguel Buitrago, posting a graph of the new agreements, writes: “I haven't looked at it in detail, but on the fly I am thinking, if the companies agreed to this conditions, if they agreed to keep investing, and if they said this deal is benefitial for them. Also, if the deal is benefitial for Bolivia, I'd say, way to go Evo.”

Rob Rivera paints with broad strokes what one can expect of Halloween in Panama.

Campaigning (and the consumption of alcohol) has ended in Nicaragua with Ortega in the lead, writes Erwin Cifuentes in a well-linked pre-election wrap up. Bloggings by Boz has three observations to keep in mind for on Sunday's election.

Panama was invaded by Zombies on October 28th. The event promoted by Rob Rivera and ButterFest Media was a total success. The walk started by Parque Urraca in Avenida Balboa and ended outside of the Unplugged Bar in Avenida Uruguay. For more information on this activity visit Jorge Yau's blog, Rob Rivera's Blog and Butter's Blog. Also, you can see pictures at the Photo Gallery of the Portodiao Network and Butter's official Gallery.

Tim Muth gives an update on Solidarity Net, “the program of president Tony Saca's government to provide subsidies of $30 to $40 per month to poor families with children.”

My Czech Republic Blog writes about the country that is “the hiking heaven” and “a world trail marking superpower.”

TOL's Belarus Blog posts a weekly digest of the Belarusian blogosphere and writes about the sentencing of a young activist.

Neretva River writes about Croatian language and new travel regulations for those crossing the Croatian-Slovenian border.

Our Man in Tirana writes about ways of dealing with Albania's Communist past and the (im)possibility of lustration.

A Fistful of Euros writes about Bulgaria's foreign minister - a blogger.

Kamron reports on Europe's stepped-up negotiations with Uzbekistan.

At neweurasia, Yulia reports on the Kyrgyz president's public relations failures in handling negotiations with the opposition.

Is all hope lost? Will the upcoming parliamentary elections be fixed? At Blogrel, Observer writes that there is reason for hope.

Leila profiles Murad, a musician from Turkmenistan who plays the dutar (a two-stringed instrument) and is part of The Silk Road Band.

Rico reports on recent trends in political party development in Kazakhstan.

Zarchka has more to say about the medical system in Armenia. In her latest post, she explains who her family had to turn to when traditional doctors were little help.

Citizenship is a sacred honour, a plaque we carry proudly on our chests and a burden pressing hard on our backs. Can we be true citizens and do our country justice if we continue to keep our lips sealed despite all the injustice happening around us? Silly Bahraini Girl said.

In fact, I don't see Jordanians of Palestinian as a sect. There are no ethnic or religious differences between the two groups, and any sense of identity is purely a personal opinion or sense of belonging. Many Jordanians (particularly the older generation) feel that they are Palestinian, and many of their children and grandchildren have never known any home besides Jordan, and have a sense of belonging to this country that may exceed that of a Jordanian with an East Bank heritage. Why should such people be labeled as Palestinian? Khalaf ask.

Visiting the sand dunes in the Sahara is part of most trips to Morocco. Usually this involves a long drive from Fez, across the Middle Atlas and down to Erg Chebi. Well, according to some reports, in the future you might not have to travel so far too see them, as they are on the move, Samir said.

“Many intellectuals here have celebrated the announcement of the new succession law issued by King Abdullah last week as an extraordinary achievement, and hailed the king for a wise decision. The so-called intellectuals has given even the slightest hint to the country's need to such law since King Fahad passed away and until the new law was issued. Our very own intellectuals have failed for one good year to recognize the importance of what they describe now as a necessity for any modern country, and “a turning point in political reform,” Ahmed said.

Jomhour reports more independent academics have been deprived of teaching in universities. The blogger adds student activists have been deprived of continuing their studies too [Fa].

A Land like no other on the potential of BPO sector in Sri Lanka and how scams could affect it. “In a recent research finding, it was revealed that main constraints we have in Sri Lanka for this industry is political instability (Obvious!), poor public transportation and high cost in telecommunication infrastructure.”

Black and Gray on the current political scenario in Bangladesh and the interim government. “It is surprising; shocking almost that the party that has so overwhelmingly won the elections only five years ago is now frightened to face the voters this time next time round. The level of corruption and misrule of the BNP's last term can only be compared to the forlorn days of 1972-75 when different armed gangs and the then Prime Minister's sons indulged themselves in a world of corruption and degeneration.”

An Anthropologist Wannabe on being a desi and on Malkani's Londonstani. “Malkani explains, and I paraphrase, that minority (Indian) communities find it difficult to integrate quickly and effortlessly, so, they may do just the opposite, that is voluntarily isolate themselves from other communities, trying to build up their self-esteem and identity so that when they reintigrate into society later on, they do so from a position of strength and on their own terms.”

Democracy For Nepal on participating in a democracy and Maoists. “The Maoists are not going to be able to keep their militia intact and still participate in the constituent assembly elections. That is out of question.”

Shivam Vij points to caste based violence. “A little over a month ago, four members of a dalit family were massacred in Kherlanji, a village in district Bhandara, 120 kms away from Nagpur in Maharashtra.” [Warning - Images maybe disturbing.] Great Bong comments on what may be real trigger. “Regardless of the fact that similar atrocities have been perpetrated by animals of various political hues on various castes of people, unified only by their poverty.”

Dili-Gence discovers two new English language dailies in East Timor.

Vietnamese God describes a typical country wedding and urges readers not to miss one if they get a chance to attend one.

CherryFlava on Africa's latest contribution to the rapidly expanding world of animation, “But instead of ruthless panga-wielding villains with capped teeth - Cape Town-based ‘The Blackheart Gang' may be the next international superstars to emerge on the global animation screen.”

Mental Acrobatics announces the release of, probably, the first computer game in Swahili, “The first ever Kiswahili computer game? That didn’t sound right but then again I can not think of any other Kiswahili computer game. Perhaps someone out there knows of one? If so please share it with us.”

Caribbean Free Radio writes about the experience of Halloween in what is very likely the first neighbourhood in Trinidad to adopt the tradition.

A blogger uses a postage stamp for the first time since the beginning of the year, “Today, for the first time in 2006, with ⅞ of the year gone, I bought and used a stamp to mail a personal letter.”

Is there a bomb threat in Nairobi, Kenya?: Apparently, and this is word on the street unverified, there is a suspicious package somewhere around the GPO building which is pretty much bang in the centre of Nairobi CBD.

The pressure to “keep up with the Jimenezes” and the notion that one should “stay within the system” may be highly incompatible in the Puerto Rican context, says Gil The Jenius.

“You really can't win in the court of public opinion when you are denying a child something,” says VivirLatino, recounting the case of the Cuban boy who was denied the Nikon camera he won as a prize in a painting competition, on the grounds that the camera “contains elements that are included in the list created by the U.S. during the 1962 Cuban Missle Crisis.”

Barbados Free Press solicits ideas on how to eliminate some of the dishonest practices that have long been a feature of Barbados' elections, from the upcoming general election.

The Manicou expresses outrage and disbelief at the circumstances surrounding the latest murder of a minor in Trinidad.

Andy Brouwer is pleased that the Cambodian activist Somaly Mam was awarded the Woman of the Year award by the US magazine Glamour. In an earlier post, Andy has written about Somaly Mam and the work she is doing in Cambodia. “If you aren't aware of Somaly Mam, she's the president and co-founder of AFESIP, a grassroots NGO which works to combat trafficking of women and children into sex slavery.”

Indcoup has the news on the passing of Clifford Geertz, an expert on Java island in Indonesia. “Geertz is most well-known for his study of, in particular, Javanese religion, economic development, traditional political structures, and village and family life, and his work in this area has had a profound impact on western understanding of Java.”

Adam, a Malaysian blogger and a recent resident of UK has some tips for newcomers to the country.

Stuck in Fiji Mud of Fiji reports that U.S. and Australia are taking the rumours of an impending coup in Fiji seriously and making contingency plans. Growing tensions between the prime minister and the military chief is said to be fuelling the rumours. Mayvelous in Fiji writes that people in Fijian capital city of Suva are also talking about the coup.

Mansour Nasiri,a leading photo blogger won Kaveh Golestan award.The prize wininng photo shows that the female police officers beat many of the women protesters who asked for equal rights.

K.M Lawson in China history group blog looks into the most popular Japanese travel guide to China and studies the historical information there. Part of the history is missing.

Zheng Jinyan blogs her meeting with Dalai Lama in New Delhi. Dalai's message is: “only if the Chinese government agreed, I would return immediately. I had no interest in politics, I am semi-retired in India. When I return to China, I wouldn't intervene into politics, what I will do is to promote humanistic value.” (zh)

Michael at the opposite end of China gave you some tips for Tibet travel: No Tibet Travel Permit? No problem!

Rebecca has some very detailed reports on the 2nd Chinese bloggers conference: Keso's keynotes, the session on “From China to the world, from the world to China“, and discussion about the future of blogging in China.

Chow from inmediahk.net has also written up a citizen report on the conference (zh).

Zhao Mu comments on a recent report on a famous writer, Hung Feng, who has turned into a beggar because the government stopped subsidizing his work. Zhao Mu said that Hung's experience shows that the tradition of state-sponsored cultural and literary workers has become a history (zh).