As a business tycoon, Alaa Mubarak has always maintained a low profile. Last May, his 12-year-old son - Mohamed - died suddenly and Egyptians sympathized highly with the bereaved father, mother, grand mother, and grand father. Zeinobia covered the funeral saying:

President Mubarak did not attend the funeral … Alaa Mubarak was crying during the prayer and the funeral. It is hard for any father to be in this situation … Seriously I feel sad … I want to hint out that across the internet where the news was published the comments came to prove how great the Egyptian people are in these times.

Before the 14th of November Egypt-Algeria match there was a lot of tension for the encounter was to determine which of the two teams would qualify to next year's FIFA World Cup in South Africa. But instead of responding to the Egyptian-Algerian actor Ahmed Mekky's wake up call for unity, peace, and tolerance, Egypt's loss on November 18th in Sudan proved that it was much more than football!

The Mubarak brothers were in Sudan to cheer for the national team and, along with the rest of the Egyptian hooligans, they were assaulted by Algerian hooligans. Upon his return Gamal Mubarak was totally silent but Alaa Mubarak made two very angry live calls.

The first call was on Dream TV with Khaled Al Ghandour.

On this call, Zeinobia wrote:

We have reached the point of no return as Alaa Mubarak has opened his fire on the Algerian federation , the Algerian fans and the Algerian thugs in Sudan not to mention the Algerian press and the Algerian Ambassador. “The Algerian press attacked him and his brother unfairly if I may say , it is a normal thing that they would support their country’s national team for God Sake !!”
Speaking about Alaa himself , well he is more human and more simple than his pale brother. There is a huge difference. If you do not know who he is , you will think that he is normal Egyptian football angry fan.

His second call was on national TV (Al Beit Beitak). Once again Zeinobia said about his second strike:

It seems that Alaa Mubarak has a lot to say from that bloody night in Khartoum that left so shaken and so furious , last night he did it again and called a live night news show ; this time it was the official Al Beit Batik.

This time it was much long , he was ballistic and you have something interesting quotes more than the previous time with his famous line “ They were treating us as if we are Jews killing people in Gaza”

On Twitter, Sandmonkey and Pakinam Amer had questions:

On Facebook, the reactions varied from extreme sarcasm to extreme endorsement as status updates, fan pages, and groups were created overnight in support of the new national hero.

Spring wrote a cynical note about the elite that ended in:

The Arabist was furious at Alaa Mubarak's shamelessness and asks what about Egyptians?

Alaa Mubarak, denounces Algeria as a “country ruled by generals and pashas!”

Mourad thinks it's all a political manouver

Nawara Negm wonders where this Alaa Mubarak came from:

Moftah quoted Alaa Mubarak's statement:

Kareem El Behiery of Egyworkers quoted political analysts saying:

And in another post Kareem El Behiery wrote:

Jack Shenker of Chatoyant Crumbs wrote:

Mubarak adds fuel to the fire as football riots spread
President vows to defend Egyptians abroad as violence spreads across Cairo and Algiers
Egyptian regime accused of whipping up nationalist fervour for political gain

Alaa Mubarak called live for the third time on TV and pulled the “I am a provoked Muslim” card

Alaa Mubarak with Amr Adib

Nawara Negm wants Alaa Mubarak to be arrested in the name of the Egyptian emergency law:

Yemeni journalist Nasser Arrabye keeps a dairy of his coverage on Blogspot. Last August, he wrote about the military actions between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels:

The Yemeni government said Thursday it would take a military actions to liberate schools and government buildings used as barracks by Al Houthi rebels in Sa'ada, north of the country.

He then continued:

The statement came after information about fierce battles between the rebels and government troops in which dozens were killed and injured from both sides over this week.
“Since President Ali Abdullah Saleh ordered the halt of the military operations, the saboteurs and terrorists continued their attacks on the citizens and security forces, committing heinous crimes against everyone including elders, children and women, in addition to kidnapping, cutting roads, destroying houses,” the statement added.

But it seems that the Houthi rebels had a different point of view:

The Al Houthi rebels said, however, they were only defending themselves and they do not want a new war.

A few months later, no one was able to stop the ongoing war. But a new question was raised: Is it a civil war taking place in Yemen, or are there other parties participating in this war as well.

The Houthis claimed that the Saudis are participating in the on going war, and their troops are there to help the Yemeni government. The government, on the other hand, denied this. Nasser Arrabyee wrote:

A Yemeni military official denied Monday Al Houthi rebels' allegations that the army used a Saudi base to attack them.
The Saudi authorities have “allowed Yemeni army to use a Saudi base in Jabal Al Dukhan from which it launched attacks,” said Al Houthi in statement sent through emails.
The military official, who asked not to be named, said Al Houthi tries only to cover his defeats by speaking about Saudi interference. “Jabal Al Dukhan is Yemeni not Saudi lands,” he said. This is not the first time Al Houthi rebels accuse Saudi authorities of intervening in the war.

But few days later Nasser Arrabyee wrote another post in his blog:

At least 5 Saudi soldiers and 15 Al Houthi rebels were killed in fierce confrontations between the rebels and Saudi forces in Al Khuba and Jabal Al Dukhan in Jaizan area south of the Kingdom, local sources said Thursday.
The leader of the rebels Abdul Malik Al Houthi said in a statement Thursday that the Saudi army is bombarding his fighters' posts in Al Malahaid frontline far west of Sa'ada, “with all kinds of weapons”.

So the Houthi claims about a Saudi intervention were true, and that's what forced Gregory to raise the following questions:

I get the impression that the idea of wading into the muck that is the northern revolt is not something that has been well thought out in Saudi Arabia, which also gets at something else I have been asking for a while: who exactly is running Saudi Arabia's Yemen portfolio? It certainly is not Sultan. And although Muhammad bin Nayif clearly has charge of the AQ section, Saudi Arabia is not the US and is not only focused on al-Qaeda. It has a multi-faceted relationship with Yemen.
My impression is that no one individual is in charge, but that different individuals are taking turns steering the thing with little idea of where they are going besides bouncing from crisis to crisis trying to keep the crazy Yemenis and their problems from flooding across the border.

Sapphire then left a comment on Gregory's post, and tried to elaborate why Saudi Arabia decided to enter that war:

Now, why did the Saudis decide to step in with their military into Yemen? Word has it that after loosing Iraq on their northern border to the Shi'ats of Iraq, they cannot and will not tolerate another Shi'at state on their southern border too, assuming that is, that the Huthis defeat the central Yemeni government and win their independence.

The Egyptian blogger Zeinobia wasn't pleased with the Saudi intervention:

Officially Saudi Arabia has declared war on the Houthi rebels , I will not discuss if its right or not or if it a battle in a bigger regional war but I will discuss the fact that Saudi Arabia mostly will not win this war easily or hardly as it hopes with all that multi-million gadgets they have simply because this is a guerrilla war in the mountains!

She then continued:

I do not know why the Saudis are heading to the same swamp we went to in mid 1960s , of course it is an irony because they used to back up the Yemenis against us !!! In fact I read some news claiming that KSA used White phosphorus against the civilians there !! Is this a deja Vu ??!!??

But was it only the Saudis who have been involved in the war? An Iranian ship was seized near the Yemeni coasts. And that's what made Nasser Arrabyee write the following:

An Iranian ship laden with weapons believed to be on its way to Al Houthi rebels was seized on October 26th, 2009, off the coasts of the Midi harbour in the far north west of Yemen. The 6-member crew, five Iranians and Indian, are now under investigations in the Yemeni capital Sana'a. The Iranian embassy in Sana'a denied at the time that the ship was carrying weapons.

And hence Gregory wrote about a possible proxy war taking place in Yemen:

“So it is a Saudi-Iranian proxy war,” he said. (The he being: Simon Henderson, director of Gulf and energy policy at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington.)

The involvement of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sunnis and Shi'ats, rang a special bell in Abul Maali Fayek's head as it seems that what he was afraid of has happened:

And finally Zeinobia was wondering here if the Arab League of Nations still existed and why it wasn't taking any actions to stop this war:

I do not know if it is ironic or sad ; Arab and Muslim blood should not be spilled like this by the hands of another Arab and Muslim blood !! We are one by the end of the day.
I do not know where the role of the Arab league when you need it , Amr Moussa seems out of town , well guess out he is losing points as possible presidential candidate !!

Cartoon published in Gulf Times Nov. 22 2009

Is it satire, or just bad taste?

A cartoon of a crazed, angry-looking woman threatening a child with a dripping bowl of tainted gruel has left many Doha bloggers scratching their heads and looking for answers.

The sketch, titled ‘Housemaid's revenge,' was published in Sunday's Gulf Times, a local English newspaper.

The cartoon depicts a maid - presumably Indian, judging by the red bindi on her forehead and gold hoop earrings - threatening a toddler after being scolded by her employer.

The text reads:

Your mum shouted at me today just because I broke a plate. And I am going to strike back. Count on me you brat, you won't sleep at home tonight! You will stay at Al Sadd Children's Emergency. Open your mouth now. This dish I have made will make you so sick that it will make you dizzy for hours.

Many Doha bloggers strongly condemned the cartoon, but were undecided about the artist's intentions.

On Twitter, Weirdweb said:

No, really, Gulf Times, let it all out. Tell us how you REALLY feel about Indian maids. #racism #paranoia

On the forum Qatar Living,

Commenter Olive said:

There's so much wrong about this cartoon I'm not sure what the editor was thinking when he allowed it to be printed.

Some wondered if the message behind the cartoon was lost in translation.

On Twitter, tomgara said

What is worse in this Gulf Times (Qatar) cartoon - hectic racism or awful 6th-grade writing? The answer is both.

On Qatar Living, the debate turned to treatment of maids by their employers, who sponsor their stay in the country.

genesis said:

Mohammed cartoons are never meant to be funny. Most of his work is dark altough sarcastic. I think it's badly translated, the intention is how cruel some sponsors treat their maids

rMs_000 responded diplomatically:

It describes about the cruelty of some sponsors.. and devilish reaction of house maids. Editor doesn't show any partiality to both of them i say. So its neutral..

britexpat said

The message is quite simple..Abuse the maid and you risk her abusing the child

Satire or not, most found the cartoon to be in poor taste.

On Twitter, rachelannmorris said:

Not funny in any way shape or form

On Qatar Living,

Commenter Amoud said:

I don't like this at all…..Even the bad translation doesn't cover what bad taste this is in.

And Adham Essam chimed in:

Oh my God! I CANNOT believe that was printed. How on earth could they allow something like that??? Which ever angle they were going for, it is completely wrong of them to present the issue like this. For the maid. For the child. For the parents. Disgusting…

For more on the discussion, visit Qatar Living.

As they mention on their site:

We want to send you on a five-day, expenses paid trip to the South By Southwest Interactive 2010 festival. Tell us your story and you could be headed to Austin on us. Plus, we're giving away three Flip Mino video cameras and a bunch of sweet T-shirts.

It's simple to enter: just make a video. In 60 seconds or less, make a case for open video. Then upload it anywhere and tell us the URL. You can make any case you like, in any form you like.

It can be in any language, any form, and any topic related to open video issues, to be posted before January 31, 2010. All videos must be licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) or other applicable license. For ideas of what to make the video about, they have a page with a list of topics or issues you can check before making or posting the video. Don't forget to check the FAQ as well.
So what is South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive. It is a series of events and conferences which take place in Austin, Texas:

SXSW Interactive features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable line up of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer.

Some of the issues relevant to the contest are Art & Remix Culture and Fair Use; Citizen Journalism, Activism and Human rights; Collaborative video; Commons & Licensing; Device Freedom; Digital Divide; Education and video; Royalty-free Codecs; Media Consolidation; Net Neutrality; Privacy & Censorship and Universal Accessibility.
Some of the videos that have been uploaded already on the site are:

Be smart, support open video from Adi

Photo of So Youn shared by the Peace Corps

Two years ago, Global Voices first introduced Morocco's Peace Corps blogosphere, a close-knit group of volunteers blogging from some of Morocco's most far-flung locales. Over the years, Peace Corps bloggers have provided insight into several small, rural communities where there are few - if any - Moroccan bloggers.

This week, however, the Peace Corps bloggers are mourning the loss of a fellow volunteer, 23-year-old So Youn Kim, who had worked at a youth center in the southern Moroccan village of Tamegrout.  Although the Peace Corps has not released the cause of So Youn's death, they have assured volunteers that it was unique to her, and not related to her work in Morocco.  Bloggers who knew her and those who didn't have memorialized Kim in a set of posts describing her ambition, her beauty, her incredible drive, and the important work she was doing in Morocco.

Oclynn in Morocco describes So Youn's important work in Tamegrout, saying:

So-Youn put the workshop together in an attempt to help her host brother develop a business of conducting these workshops for tourists, Moroccan artisans and visitors. This was not her assignment as a Youth Development Volunteer, but something she took on to help her community. She was bright, driven, kind and generous.

Blogger Hillary shares a photo of So Youn

Sharing a photograph of So Youn, blogger Hillary writes:

It saddens my heart to write that fellow PCV, staj-mate (my YD training group), and friend, So-Youn, has suddenly passed away from an illness in Marrakech last night. My thoughts are with her family and friends as we all try to understand and morn for the loss of a great woman, PCV, and all around funny person. I will always remember that she loved life, reading, writing, and her friends dearly. Though I was not very close with her, when I did the pottery workshop at her site about a month ago this time, I got to know her better and see why so many people love being around her. The picture above is the last picture I had with her (she is the last person on the right side).

Blogger Shwiya-b-Shwiya honors So Youn's memory in this post:

So-Youn was an exuberant soul, feisty and fiery and feminist. She could be tempestuous, but she also had a great deal of empathy and arms big enough to enfold those twice her size in the most generous of hugs. She held fast to her moral code, and her strong sense of right and wrong drove her to speak out, to rally for change and to lead by example. She gave a great haircut. She loved her work and her village. She had a great deal to look forward to.

She lived large. She was ~ no, is ~ an inspiration.

I'm never very good with words when it comes to these things, but I felt I owe it to her to let the world know how special she was. She was beautiful, articulate and opinionated, so it seems only right to leave you with some words of hers about the experiences we've shared here.

“I believe in the power of the day to day, the simple yet otherwise impossible conversations, the truths that I speak and live that affect the people around me as I learn from the truths around me in turn.”

Joy in Morocco shares a letter letter written by Peace Corps Director Aaron S. Williams, an excerpt of which describes So Youn's experience in Morocco:

In September 2008, she wrote: “Youth development work is effective when young people are taught to become educated, empowered, and responsible members of their communities while being given space to explore and share the challenges of their own individual identities.”

This is an ethos and passion So-Youn brought with her to Morocco. I am sharing the news of this tragedy with the hope that all of you will honor her commitment to service by providing the best support, comfort and opportunities to our dedicated Volunteers and staff around the world.

So-Youn wrote recently, “I believe in the power of the day to day, the simple yet otherwise impossible conversations, the truths that I speak and live that affect the people around me as I learn from the truths around me in turn.”

From the Moroccan blogosphere, condolences to So Youn Kim's family and friends.

To attract attention and to inform voters about their candidacy, presidential candidates need to produce and pay for the airing of TV ads. Several videos of candidates have been airing on TV already in the past few months. All of these TV ads were also uploaded on YouTube.

Pinoy Picks! provides an initial list of presidential candidates in the country. Shalapog's Blog is not satisfied with the present crop of candidates:

As you wake up in the morning you can start to smell that the season is fast approaching. You can see it in all corners of the street, the music on the radio, the busy people checking their list and including TV commercials. And here comes…the PRESIDENTIABLES!

This 2010 election, I am not that excited about it because I am not satisfied with the candidates and their portfolios. I do not know much about politics, even though I took Political Science as my collegiate course, However I do care about how the country would do with the next president.

Here are the TV ads of presidential candidates:

Senator Manny Villar wants to emphasize his humble beginnings:

The young Senator Chiz Escudero plays a superhero

Defense Secretary and administration candidate Gilbert Teodoro insists that intelligence and competence are needed in government

Senator Noynoy Aquino, and son of a former president, has the most star-studded political TV ad- music video

Former President Joseph Estrada is literally running again through a commercial for an anti-arthritis capsule

Scholar Danny Arao reviews these ads:

They are strong in form but lacking in substance. Even if they stress the need for genuine change there is no attempt to categorically express their stand on burning issues of the day.

One can argue that they are just trying to introduce themselves to the public, but isn't it more endearing to the public if they immediately talk about specific problems like human rights violations and the failure of agrarian reform?

Barrio Siete dislikes political advertisements

I hate political advertisements. To me it’s just a waste of money that should be spent elsewhere. I would like the candidates to spend their election funds on projects that would be beneficial to people in need.

Officially, I have no candidates yet. I’m still busy looking through candidates with my personal magnifying glass. There are the political ads, with their shots at informing the electorate of their platform, if there ever was one, but mostly their faces and their attempt of projecting themselves as candidates, pathetic as it may be.

The 1961 agreement provides for the selling of 350 million gallons of raw water daily at 3 Malaysian cents per thousand gallons. Singapore also agreed to provide Johor (a Malaysian state near Singapore) with a daily supply of treated water at a price of 50 cents per 1,000 gallons. This agreement will end on 2011.

The 1962 agreement gave Singapore the right to draw water from Johor River. In return, Johor was entitled to a daily supply of treated water from Singapore. The agreement is valid for 99 years.

Since the first water agreement will end on 2011, former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad asks through his popular blog if the current government is thinking of renegotiating the agreement in order to come up with a better deal:

2011 is not too far away. Have we thought about extending the 2011 treaty or not extending it or negotiating a new water supply agreement? Are we going to be charitable again and sell raw water at 3 sen per thousand gallons to our rich neighbour?

Being charitable and not raising prickly issues is a good way to make friends. But what is the cost to the people of Malaysia.

Blogger Kent Moo notes that the former leader “unleashes a tidal wave of sarcasm over the issue of selling water to Singapore, and in the process drowns his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.”

Mahathir’s blog entry, as always, elicited many comments. Abang Din supports a renegotiated water deal:

It is really unreasonable to continue supplying raw water to Singapore if the return profit is totally unacceptable. We are doing business here, let it be a real business. Of course we must consider our friendship with Singapore, but to continue with the ridiculous deal is not an option.

I hope the Malaysia government will see this problem very seriously so as not to give bad reputations to the peoples of Malaysia. Raw water is owned by all Malaysian, so make sure that the decisions are fair and reasonable.

Ifanonline also thinks that water prices to be discussed in the deal should reflect the current market prices

It is a simple common sense. Any layman would know that if there is any new agreement to sell water to Singapore, there should be new prices according to the current market. Malaysia and Singapore can discuss diplomatically on the water issue and come to an agreement about the new water prices. It's easy actually, if Singapore don't like the price, then Malaysia should not be a goody-goody and sell the water at such a horrible low price.

Weesg believes it is still a win-win solution if the first water agreement is not renewed since Singapore can learn to be more self-sufficient

I question why this is being brought up now. Singapore has said that they would let the 1st water agreement lapse in 2011. Since Malaysia feel that the water price is unfair, and Singapore is happy to let the agreement lapse, isn't this win-win? If Singapore does not have enough NEWater after 2011, that is Singapore's own doing, right? Seems like someone is trying to flog a dead horse, yet again.
Anyway, I am glad that Malaysia has refused to extend the 2011 agreement. It is good for both countries. Singapore can also learn to be self-sufficient.

It is important to remind people that an agreement is an agreement (is an agreement). Learn to accept it. Chose your leaders wisely.

Singapore’s Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts published a primer in 2003 to clarify the issues surrounding the Malaysia-Singapore water agreements. In this primer, Singapore insists that it has been fair in dealing with Malaysia regarding the water deals

The water dispute is not about money but Singapore's existence as a sovereign nation. The Water Agreements are part of the Separation Agreement which guarantees Singapore's existence as an independent nation. If the terms of the Water Agreements can be changed by Malaysia at will, then Singapore's independence too could be called into question. This is the root dispute.

The issue is not how much we pay, but how any price revision is decided upon. The Water Agreements contain specific provisions on when the price can be revised and how the revisions should be computed. Price revision cannot be at the whim and fancy of a particular party. If Malaysia can change the terms of agreements solemnly entered into at will, where is the sanctity of agreements? Any future agreement we enter into with Malaysia will have no value.

Rajan Rishyakaran blames Malaysia’s Mahathir for the stalled negotiations between Singapore and Malaysia

Why should Singapore agree to pay significantly more on water when they get absolutely nothing in return?

Certainly, even under Mahathir’s price of raw water, Malaysian raw water will still be cheaper than self-sufficiency: but capitulating to Mahathir’s demand sets a negative precedent on Singapore. Because of Mahathir’s inability to compromise, unreasonableness and impatience with Singapore, Singapore and Malaysia is stuck in a lose-lose situation.

Singapore’s dependence on imported water has forced it to maximize new technologies in order to produce its own water supply. It has developed NEWater (reclaimed water) and it recently constructed the biggest desalination plant in Asia.

This past week at the Brazilian Digital Culture Forum [pt] I had a chance to meet up with Diego Casaes, a dedicated Global Voices author and translator from Salvador, Brazil. Much of Diego's writing on Global Voices has spread awareness about legislative threats to online freedom in Brazil, such as the infamous “Azeredo Bill“. He has also profiled cyber-activists like João Carlos Caribé and Daniel Pádua (who just lost his life to cancer) and their attempts to protect the individual freedoms and social bonds enabled by the Internet.

Diego will soon be headed to Copenhagen to report on the United Nations Climate Change Conference from December 7 - 18. He was invited to cover the conference as a winner of the Think About It blogging competition, where you can read all of his posts related to climate change in Brazil.

Transcript:

I'm Diego Casaes. I'm from Brazil. I live in Salvador in the northeastern part of Brazil. I am the coordinator of the Portuguese translation team and a voluntary author for Global Voices Online.

David: And how did you get started in Global Voices?

Diego: I got started in Global Voices when I met Paula on Twitter. She invited me to write. It was about the flooding in Brazil. And it was in May, 2009, this year. So it has been seven months.

David: What are some of the other topics that you write about on Global Voices?

Diegp: I mostly write about freedom of speech and cyberactivism. A couple of times it was about the environment. Mostly about cyberactivism.

David: How do you see the Brazilian blogosphere as different from other blogospheres around the world?

Diego: Well, maybe because we are very passionate when we discuss things
so bloggers take this passion from daily life to their blogs. So they are very optimistic and discuss really loudly with each other. They scream on Twitter. In many blogs you can see many comments … like flaming comments. People with passion. Actually, it's interesting to see how the Brazilian blogosphere is quite different from others.

David: And why do you think that is? You think it's just … cultural?

Diego: Maybe. Because I was talking to a friend from Kazakhstan and he says that the blogosphere in Kazakhstan is not very active. They have lots of blog posts, but not lots of comments. In Brazil it is very different. We see lots of comments in the blog posts. People really discuss things.

David: So what are some of the things that Brazilian bloggers are discussing these days?

Diego: These days, especially in 2009, they are very addicted to discussing about cyber-activism. Because we have lots of bills that want to take away our freedom on the internet. So, in this event where we are here now, lots of blogs from cyber-activism and freedom of speech are discussing all of this.

David: What do you write about on your personal blogs?

Diego: Well, some of my points of view on many subjects of communication, freedom of speech. But I also have a blog about Japanese culture because I listen to Japanese music and I watch many Japanese animations. So I mostly write about that. It's nice actually because nobody thinks you would write about that. I'm not very Japanese. I don't look Japanese, but I just love it.

David: You're going to Copenhagen, right? For a conference on climate change. How did that all come about?

Diego: Well, actually I got a message from my Global Voices reader profile asking me to go to Copenhagen to participate in the Think About It competition, a European blogging competition. I went to Copenhagen in December and we were at the launch event where we learned about what we were going to blog about on climate change. Now, last week, we got the news - me and two other guys - that we were selected to represent the European Journalism Centre in the COP15. From 92 bloggers only three of us.

David: Solana from Global Voices asks, “what are you going to do in Copenhagen with your blogging award?”

Diego: Well, I hope to bring bloggers' and journalists' views on the COP15. And maybe meet some world leaders and try to ask them if they really want to see the planet die. And try to bring citizen media into the discussion because there are plenty of journalists who are going to COP15 but I think this is the only actual event where many bloggers are going to a big even like this. So, it's quite different. And I hope to do a good job reporting on climate change.

David: Sylwia Presley asks, “How has working for Global Voices changed your life?”

Diego: Since I am Brazilian I am very passionate about many things and I think that Global Voices is part of us because we learn from it and we bring some of these themes that we're discussing on Global Voices to our daily life and discuss them with friends.

Sometimes I bring topics like wars in distances places like Africa
or people dying of hunger in Kazakhstan. I think Global Voices made me more aware that we are in a world and that there are other people in this life; not only our close friends.

David: This question comes from Ethan: “Where can I learn more about Technobrega music?”

Diego: I saw his question on Twitter and I was quite scared because I don't listen to technobrega. But I did some research and there is this website called bregapop.com and they gather many style of brega music
including technobrega and it is interesting because in the bands' profiles they had the Orkut profile telephone numbers. So if you want to contact them you can just go to this community and find many artists from Belém do Pará, which is the place where the technobrega emerged from.

They also embedded many YouTube videos of technobrega in this community so it's quite fun actually. It is interesting how they use citizen media
and other web 2.0 resources on this website.

David: What would you like to see for the future of Global Voices in the next five years?

Diego: For the future of Global Voices I think we are going to create much more content on the Lingua sites and I think that we'll establish a very well-known community. We'll get famous I think. Many more people will want to contribute to Global Voices. At this event where we are right now, many people came to me asking, “how can we contribute to Global Voices?” So I think that the community will grow.