Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2007 May 10

10 May 2007

Daily archive · 9 posts

Stories from 10 May 2007

Interview with Pendar Yousefi: Blogger, Designer and Google Bomber

Written by Fred Petrossian · Middle East & North Africa

Pendar Yousefi is a blogger, designer, cartoonist and Google bomber. He has always been very creative in his designs and ideas and his works have been displayed in several magazines. We see here one of his designs: Xerxes King in an American comisc style. I recently interviewed Pendar about his blog Lego Fish, his various projects, and Iranian blogs.

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Kenya: Blogging the Next Presidential Election Post By Post

Written by Ndesanjo Macha · Sub-Saharan Africa

Kenyan presidential election is slated for December this year. Following the complex landscape of Kenyan politics may be an arduous task, particularly for non-Kenyans. Fortunately, Kenyan bloggers are breaking it down for all of us daily, post by post.

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Armenia: Police beat opposition protesters in Yerevan

Written by Artur Papyan · Central Asia & Caucasus

Bloggers were faster then most media covering the violent events of yesterday. Unzipped, Narjan (am), Aramazd (am) here (am), here (am) and here (am), HyeBlog (ru), E-channel blog (am), A1plus...

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Brazil: The Pope is Here - What Now?

Written by Jose Murilo · Latin America

Brazil, the world's biggest Catholic nation, is now entering the global media stage surrounding the Pope's visit. The previous visits of John Paul II have left profound impressions here, and although Benedict XVI obviously lacks the friendly compassionate mood that easily enraptures the Brazilian soul, the church and the media are working hard to nurture the numinous qualities around the new Pope's tour. The question is: will Benedict succeed in his attempt to push forward his agenda for Latin America? Bloggers comment...

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The Tunisphere Reaches Out to the Maghreb

Written by samsoum · Middle East & North Africa

Tunisian blogger Big Trap Boy writes about the importance of integrating the Maghreb Union which is made up of North African countries and its benefits to all the population in the region. He even appeals to Tunisian bloggers and others from Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and Libya to make June 1 a blogging day to promote the Maghreb Union, reports Samsoum.

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Japan: Self-Defense Forces to be Deployed to Henoko, Local Blogger Issues a Plea

Written by Chris Salzberg · East Asia

On the evening of May 9, Japanese broadcaster Nippon TV broke the news that the Japanese government is planning to send the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to put down protests in Henoko Bay, Okinawa. Local protesters have responded in shock to this move. One local blogger describes the move as an attempt to legitimize the role of the SDF as a national military.

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Updates from 10 May 2007

India

An interesting discussion at Sepia Mutiny on the nature of the 1857 Rebellion against the British in the subcontinent, as official commemoration appears to suddenly be the mood of the hour. “I know shamefully little about this fundamental event in the history of the Indian Subcontinent, and even less about the debates that it has spurred among historians, except that I know that these have been complicated and sometimes heated. But today marks the official sesquicentennial commemoration of the start of the Mutiny/Rebellion/War, and by way of launching the conversation, I present three different takes that are in the news today”

• Neha Viswanathan

India

Mumbai Magic goes for a walk in the bazaar and chances upon stores selling Unani medicine. “So how did Unani come to Bhendi Bazaar, a Muslim locality of Mumbai? The Mongols, that's how! When the Mongols invaded Persia and Central Asia, many scholars and physicians of Unani fled to India, where they popularised it. During the British rule in India, Unani medicine lost government patronage, but continued to be practiced in Mumbai because of its overwhelming popularity. Today, Unani is widely practiced among the Muslims of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.”

• Neha Viswanathan

India

Hip Hop Grandmom attempts to answer if one is born a woman. “The couple meant well and they had probably done so for their daughter. My opinion in the matter was different. I had decided that I would rather invest in her education and let her buy gold or silver as per her choice when she started earning. Education was perhaps the best dowry I could ever give her. This brings up the next question. Why should the question of offering a handsome/decent dowry come up at all? “

• Neha Viswanathan

Sri Lanka

cerno on a book that explores English as a language in Sri Lanka. “In terms of its content, the book has two broad areas. The first is an overview of the can of worms that is the history, politics, and socio-cultural perceptions of English (and its place) in Sri Lanka. The second is essentially a story of linguistic mutation told with the mechanics of linguistics and peppered with examples familiar to most Sri Lankans.”

• Neha Viswanathan

Nepal

Nepal Monitor on the plight of child soldiers. “Even as the government was saying that the peace process was holding and the law and order situation had improved, the last time the Carter Center painted a rather gloomy picture of Nepal, saying that there was “unacceptable levels of continued fear, intimidation and physical violence.” The latest document (actually a letter to the new Minister of Women, Children and Social Welfare, Khadga Bahadur Bishwakarma, who is also a Maoist minister) from the New York-based Human Rights Watch says the issue of child soldiers remains unresolved.”

• Neha Viswanathan

Bangladesh

Mash on the farce of justice and process in Bangladesh. “The military government, under the guise of an “anti-corruption drive”, is purging the political class in Bangladesh. Leading political figures in the country are being rounded up on all sorts of charges. The military has created special “summary courts” to expeditiously try the “corrupt” politicians.”

• Neha Viswanathan

Poland

Kiev Blogger writes about Euro-2012 and the infrastructure changes that Ukraine needs to introduce to make the event successful: “Take hotels. There is a huge lack of them in Kiev, so huge, that if you would look at the prices, you’d notice that they are very high for a country with average monthly wage […] of less than USD 300. And these hotels are on average pretty bad and always full.”

• Veronica Khokhlova