Global Voices Online

Gulru writes a post in response to a question she was recently asked about why Tajik women accept the dominance of men.

Depending on who the community, Navruz, the Persian holiday marking the beginning of spring that is celebrated in Iran, Central Asia, and elsewhere, is today or tomorrow. News from the Caravan has a soundtrack for Nauryz for those who want to add a little Kazakh flavor to their celebrations.

Karen Shimizu reviews Maharaja, Tbilisi's only Indian restaurant.

Harmick of Blogrel explains why one should not expect much political change as a result of Armenia's upcoming parliamentary election.

Anoush Armenia posts video of the recent flash mob in Yerevan.

The Head Heeb on the dispute over the Nigerian Vice-President candidacy, “The root cause of the controversy is Article 137 of the constitution, which prohibits any person indicted for fraud or embezzlement from running for president, as well as similar clauses disqualifying indicted persons from standing for the national assembly or senate. In recent months, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has indicted dozens of candidates, and it has been increasingly accused of targeting opposition candidates who pose a threat to the ruling party.”

Palestinian blogger Imaan, who is now based in Sweden, gives us a detailed account of how she was able to finish her housework, arrange for her children to be looked after and slip with a friend to attend a Palestinian hiphop concert here. “Here's what I liked most about them; they were passionate! Far too many times I've witnessed apathy and hopelessness in the eyes of palestinians. Here on stage was pure passion. They are skilled. Apart from having a message and a coldmine to pour from (you need to be angry if you're gonna be good at hip hop in my humble opinion), they are skilled with lyrics, rhymes and melodies,” she writes.

“Palestinians from the souther Bethlehem village of Umm Salamuna and neighboring villages will protest against the Israeli bulldozers which are currently razing their land for the Apartheid Wall. In honor of Mother’s Day, Palestinian and international women will march in solidarity on the frontlines during the demonstration,” announced the International Solidarity Movement here. Mother's Day is marked on March 21 in all Arab countries.

Palestinian blogger Fayyad links to an article written in memory of Israeli linguist Tanya Reinhart, who died following a stroke in New York.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics issued a report about the situation of Palestinian women in the West Bank and Gaza on the occasion of Mother's Day, writes Palestinian blogger Amal A. Mother's Day is celebrated on March 21 in all Arab countries.

“For four consecutive nights, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have invaded Balata Refugee Camp on the outskirts of Nablus, Occupied Palestine. They drove up and down the camp, threw percussion grenades and fired randomly at residents’ homes,” writes Bahrain-based Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah here.

Jordan-based blogger Shaden Abdul-Rahman says it seemed like all Jordanian bloggers woke up one morning and signed onto Facebook en masse. “So it seemed like Jordanians woke up one day and decided to group sign-up for Facebook accounts. It’s funny how almost everyone from JB signed up for an account on the same exact day,” writes the blogger.

As the world reads to remember Anna Politkovskaya tonight, La Russophobe posts a translation of a forum thread featuring photos of the Russian journalist's alleged killers following her into the supermarket just off Komsomolsky Prospekt in Moscow.

What has been written about Russia under Nicholas II sounds much like what could've been written about Putin's Russia. Apricotflan.com draws some conclusions and makes some forecasts.

Deleted by Tomorrow reacts to the post about the Slovak language and Slovak linguists over at bulbulovo.

Tom Allan has posted his reflections on community radio in rural Guatemala on Indymedia.

Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo snaps a shot of the original building to house Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala.

Traveling Life writes about junk food in Poland; in a comment, the beatroot explains what kind of a political statement he makes when he eats Big Macs.

Milton Ramirez has a great roundup of response to President Rafael Correa's sparring with Ecuador's congress including excerpts from English and Spanish-speaking bloggers.

The Poland Diaries writes about fire safety - or, to be more precise, fire hazard - in Poland.

The beatroot writes: “Poland’s population is shrinking faster than any other country in the EU. Strange that, in a country that claims to be 95 percent Catholic, don’t you think?”

This looks like a tasty combination: crispy fried whole fish from Panamanian chef Melissa de León with twice fried plantains from Honduras-based “La Gringa”.

Mark in Mexico writes that the Mexican government is having trouble counting “braceros”, the migrant workers given special work visas between 1942 and 1964.

DesiDabba on the almost flippant use of rape as a plot twister in Indian tele-serials. “While the producers and others involved justify inclusion of such social offences as the ‘demand of the script’ and ‘story-telling’ there are many who simply label it as a cheap TRP tactic. Audiences across the nation now feel the need of censorship for Television shows. The common protest is that unlike a movie where one can choose to watch or not to watch, the same is not the case while watching prime time tele-serials.”

Sepia Mutiny has a moving post on belonging to various cultures - by birth, accident, choice and necessity. “No one has the right to be the arbiter of who does and does not get to participate in their culture. Such judgmental “guardians” had the genetic fortune or fate to be born in to what those whom they look down on are drawn to, but that doesn’t endow them with any priveleges like the one our banned commenter wishes she could exercise on all those “black and hispanic women”.”

ICT for Peacebuilding on the increasing instances of web censorship and the cause for concern. “..my firm belief that technology, though it may not be neutral, will secure and strengthen the work of pro-democracy and pro-rights activists far more than it will aid governments clamp down on them. All it takes it one photo or a single mobile.

Deepak's Diary on the third blogmeet in Nepal. “We are young, modern generation of urbanites who have left our backwater heritage behind. But, there are so many obstacles. One crucial among them is our own tendency: we don't want to take initiatives. Yet, when someone takes the risk and the road is less bumpy, we jump on the bandwagon.”

Light Within on the authenticity of the Black Madonna in various cultures. “Believe it or not — she is black! Her features, in most instances, are non-European! And ironically, most of these images are located in Catholic churches in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Now I am not out to distort history but the veneration for the Black Madonna has never ceased, and she continues to be worshipped till this day.”

Coming back from maternity leave, the prolific Ana Maria Salazar summarizes some of the latest stories coming out of Mexico.

Russian Beauty tours Moscow subway stations: Mayakovskaya and Park Pobedy.

Kevin Lim is inviting his readers to a panel titled “Crowdsourcing the Media” that he is moderating as a part of a technology conference. “Initially entitled “Citizen Journalism”, the panel I’m moderating didn’t quite capture the feel of what the discussion was going to be about, so I renamed it to “Crowdsourcing the Media”, which seemed more inline with the way local news agencies approach citizen journalism.”

Kuwaiti blogger Ayya touches on internet censorship in this post .
“We Kuwaitis usually pride ourselves that regardless of what, we still have the freedom to express our thoughts. Well; surprise guys, this is not true anymore. Internet providers like Fastelco, Quality Net and KEMS, are blocking sites, forums, as well as blogs, as an on-going process. And it would not surprise me a bit to wake up one day and find out that my blog is gone,” she writes.

Kuwait-based blogger Mark is obsessed with videos of motorcycle crashes and links to some of them here. (Warning: Not for the faint of heart)

Hegelchong criticizes the mainstream media's insensitivity towards animal rights in the news concerning central government giving two Pandas to Hong Kong for 10 years anniversary of reunification of Hong Kong with China (zh).

Israeli blogger Stephanie says that more than 7,000 British football fans are expected to be in Israel for a much anticipated match…and some more.
“The English side of the stadium has already sold out but the British fans are interested in matters beyond the game - they’re looking forward to sunning themselves on the beach, checking out restaurants, partying and hitting the local pubs (uh oh). The Israel press claims British police have banned “known hooligans” from coming over for the game. What a relief. Ha ha,” she writes.

Israeli blogger AgentAzure is questioning the attachment of Muslims to the Temple Mount based on photographs he has posted.
“However, my impression, formed under the influence of the pictures posted below, is that it was practically lying in ruins, forgotten and neglected, for a long time. Only when Jews arrived in the region en masse and started affirming their rights, did Muslims begin to show such keen interest in the “holy” sites,” writes the blogger.

Israeli blogger Yael K is looking for her gas mask. “This is actually a good question and I don’t have the answer –in some cabinet or drawer or under something or another, perhaps the bed, hmmm. Not that I’m expecting to need it for anything any time soon but as a preparedness measure I guess I should know where it is,” she writes.

Israeli blogger Batya is warning against the election of Obama , whom he accuses of being sympathetic towards the Palestinians.
“Yes, he, like Jimmy Carter and Condi Rice, is pro- (sic) “palestininian.” That's dangerous for Israel. It doesn't bother them at all that Arab terrorists are murdering and injuring Jews. They only care about the Arabs, who aren't “poor” at all,” writes the blogger.

Israeli blogger Yisrael Medad pleads for ‘mother's milk' here for a four-month-old infant whose parents died in a car crash.

Israeli blogger Aussie Dave writes about the death of Pakistan's cricket coach Bob Woolmer after his team's defeat against Ireland.
“While the family are saying that stress probably killed him, it is likely that if stress did not do the job, many Pakistanis would have,” he explains.

“We carry so much useless and unwanted baggage that is passed on to us from the previous generations, and implicitly it just weighs us down, stifles our chances to be creative and imposes illogical limits on our lives, choices and freedom,” writes Tunisian blogger Subzero Blue. He advice is not to pass any of that to our children.

Vutha describes the four types of beggars one may find in Cambodia.

“So, my old fart of a father, pushing seventy if there ever is a day, is getting hitched to a young hussy who is more than twenty years his junior.” Mighty Afroditee posts an entertaining piece on the ever-changing family dynamic.

Christian Dunleavy at Politics.bm explores the concept of political blogging versus traditional journalism: “…while I certainly come at things from a specific angle, my potential biases are declared, whereas those in the traditional media can be much more subtle and undeclared…”

“I have a thing for old buildings,” writes Gallimaufry. “But it must be more than an appreciation of traditional Bajan architecture that moves me so, that causes me to feel a sudden rush of tenderness toward these abandoned structures.” Some perceptive musings on what makes a house a home.

White African blogs about a mobile information exchange for farmers in Kenya, “Rural farmers in central Kenya have been piloting a project, called DrumNet, that provides marketing, financial services and information to them using their mobile phones. The project’s premise is that information on the market is one of the key elements that keeps farmers from getting the full market value for their products.”

At WeblogBahamas.com, guest commentator Bruce G. Raine weighs in on what he calls the Bahamian government's “promoting a fear of white people” and the resulting alienation of those who contribute to the island's economic mainstay - tourism.

MM links to a New York Times story on AIDS in Afghanistan and compares Malaysia to Afghanistan. “

Egyptian blogger MaLeK (aka MaLcoLM X) has been kidnapped today as he was in his way to attend a sit-in in front of the People's Assembly in Cairo.

According to blogger Amr Gharbeia, Malek has asked a Ghad party activist to report the arrest to Hisham Mubarak Law Center.
It has also been reported that two other bloggers were detained: Mohammad Gamal (aka Gimihood) and Mina (aka Haj Girgis).

Chris Kiagiri writes, “Here at Google, we have just announced that we have signed a deal with the Kenya Education Network (KENET) to provide universities in Kenya with Google Apps™ – Google’s set of hosted and customizable communications services. This includes access to Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, and Google Docs & Spreadsheets under their university's domain and, as always, for free.”

Vincent Maher writes about a

Sub-Saharan Africa