Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2007 May 14

14 May 2007

Daily archive · 6 posts

Stories from 14 May 2007

India: Bloggers on art, morality, government and freedom of expression

Written by Neha Viswanathan · South Asia

In what looks like more than mild disagreement between the moral police and the artists, a student from a university in Baroda was arrested for displaying “obscene” works of art....

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Bolivia: The Work of the Constituent Assembly and Government Regulations

Written by Mario Duran · Latin America

After nine months, the work of the Constituent Assembly, which has been charged with writing a new constitution remains stagnant. In addition, the government has began to place restrictions on the import of used clothing and on the export of wood, and bloggers weigh in.

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Talking to Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp

Written by Nicholas Laughlin · North America, Caribbean

The Jamaican writer Geoffrey Philp has published five books of poems, a collection of short stories called Uncle Obadiah and the Alien, and a novel, Benjamin, My Son. He lives...

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Outrage as Zimbabwe assumes helm of key global organization

Written by Zimpundit · South Africa, Zimbabwe

As if all the troubles bedeviling Zimbabweans were not enough, Zimbabweans were aghast last week as it emerged their beleaguered nation is going to lead the UN Commission on Sustainable Development in yet another cruel twist in the nightmare that is Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's ascendancy occurred in spite of the fact that it is the nation with both the fastest shrinking economy and one of the highest inflation rates in the world.

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Morocco: How to Best Represent One's Country

Written by Jillian C. York · Middle East & North Africa

With the increasing popularity of blogging comes a debate about how to represent one's country, or in many cases, the country in which one is currently living. This week, Jillian York takes a look at the current discussion in the Moroccan blogosphere about how to best portray Morocco.

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Arabeyes: Muslim-Coptic Clashes in Egypt

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa

Sectarian strife rocked the quiet Egyptian village of Bahma in Giza on Friday over alleged plans to open a new church. Blogger Nora Younis (Ar) tells us what happened and why. She also criticises the deafening silence of authorities in the civil war which saw the burning of five shops, 25 homes and an undisclosed number of casualties and provides a solution to the crisis.

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Updates from 14 May 2007

Japan

Jeff at his Okinawa Blog reports on his experience “Living Dangerously on Okinawa's Coral Sea”, protesting environmental surveys for a new base at Henoko Bay. Jeff writes: ” It's a landmark day […] It is to be the first day in which the Self-Defense Force — the Japanese army — is used to disrupt a protest. Okinawans are the world's happiest people, full of warmth. Belly-laughter is ubiquitous. This morning, though, everyone is grim-faced. I see precisely two smiles during the first four hours. […] It could be the early hour, or it could be that we're about to face down the SDF. Or they could be thinking of what they stand to lose if they fail.”

• Chris Salzberg

Japan

Andreas at Chosaq expresses skepticism about reports that the Japanese government is planning to move ahead with plans to promote the open source operating system Linux in government agencies from July. A story originally published in Nikkei Shimbun “says a consortium of major IT firms including IBM (IBM), NEC (NIPNY) and Oracle (ORCL) plan to sell servers and systems running Linux in Japan”. Andreas predicts, however, that Microsoft will win out in the end: “Microsoft will simply give in to the government’s pressure and offer its software at a lower price point. And be sure then that Japan’s Linux plans will be put in the fridge for another while.”

• Chris Salzberg

Belarus

A small roundup of the Eurovision-related posts from the Balkans: Pustolovina: Adventure in Serbian writes on the victory for the “new Serbia” and on “a night of belonging”; East Ethnia writes on the complex politics behind this year's Serbian winner Marija Serifovic; Bosnia Vault writes about the contest's youngest participant - Bosnia's Maria Sestic; Illyrian Gazette writes on how “increased migration from eastern to western Europe” effects the contest's voting.