Global Voices Online

Kevin Shockey isn't optimistic about the economic future of Puerto Rico.

A little late on this one, but the University of Michigan School of Art and Design has a wonderful collection of 11 posts documenting the month-long stay by faculty and grad students in Suriname.

In a long, thoughtful post by Anarchogeek on the future of radio, he links to a pirate radio station which is broadcasted from a poor neighborhood in Montevideo, Urugay. “The station has music, radio theater, locally produced programs, international politics, and covers local events for the community and is a major force for bottom up social organization and community events in a poor and violence plagued neighborhood. The station streams over the net, some of the time, so that former residents of the bario can listen and keep in touch with home even though they were forced to become economic migrants in Brazil, the US, and Europe.”

¡Weblog de Internet! find the portrayal of Uruguay [es] in Steven Seagal's new film, “Submerged” completely over the top. “A real deception in my opinion towards a country as lovely as Uruguay.”

Both Venezuela News and Views and The Devil's Excrement continue their analysis of last weekend's municipal elections and the role of the National Electoral Council (CNE).

VCRISIS has translated an open letter by Gustavo Coronel to officers of the Venezuelan army who recently graduated from a course on leadership sponsored by Cuban president, Fidel Castro.

Tomas Sancio of Venezuelan Politics writes a refreshingly apolitical post about the Venezuelan film, “Secuestro Express” (Express Kidnapping), which has been getting its fair share of Hollywood's attention.

Neeka's Backlog brings us a report from a Russian newspaper that Natalya Dmytruk, the sign language interpreter for the state TV channel, may soon lose her job. Dmytruk played a key role in Ukraine's Orange Revolution when she silently informed her viewers that initial election results were fraudulent while her speaking colleagues were toeing the party line.

Orange Ukraine debunks a number of myths about the state of government in Ukraine today.

Inside Somaliland passes on the news that Somaliland's Parliamentary Elections have been pushed back two weeks to the end of September.

The Sassy Lawyer's Journal wonders what's going on in the impeachment hearings in the Philippine House of Representatives.

One of the biggest immediate problems facing Malaysia right now is a thick layer of haze over peninsular Malaysia, leading the government to declare a air pollution emergency. Malaysian bloggers are, of course weighing in: Volume of Interactions lays the blame on ASEAN inaction; Jeff Ooi notes that the government is being surprising transparent during the crisis; and Mack Zulkifi digs up some satellite photographs of the pollution.

Jakartass lays out the background and context for current events in the Indonesian province of West Papua.

Italian blogger Luca De Biase looks at the takeover battle over Corriere della Sera, Italy's largest daily newspaper, and wonders if Prime Minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi is pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

Finland for Thought passes on the news that it's illegal to ride a Segway on a public road in Finland.

Ethiopundit posts a history of master plans for Addis Ababa; in a way, it's also a history of the city itself.

EastSouthWestNorth looks at the crafty strategy that the PRC is using in releasinginformation about imprisioned journalist Ching Cheong.

Danwei passes on the news that a fan-translated version of the very latest Harry Potter novel has been completed on-line, a month before the officially sanctioned translation is released.

The UK blog Talk Politics has a long, thoughtful post about what it really means to be British.

A post with photographs on the Miss Nepal contest. Don't miss the comments!

LankaBuzz has a post on the police throwing tantrums of their own in Sri Lanka.

Samudaya has a translated article on communication and monarchy in Nepal.

Dilip busts the myth of migration and urban poor contributing to choked cities.

A small idea for a library for street children sparks a lively discussion on Uma's blog, indianwriting.

Subzeroblue talks about the first edition of “Tunisian Fashion Week”, which will be held in the Tunisian coastal city of Hammamet from August 15 to August 17. This will provide young creators with the opportunity to present their collections to the public in the company of more experienced designers.

Rime Allaf says that if this committee's chairman is true to his word, the whole world will soon be talking about the issue and forcing relevant governments to find missing Syrians in Lebanon, missing Palestinians in Lebanon, missing Lebanese in Lebanon, missing Syrians in Syria, missing Palestinians in Syria, and missing Lebanese in Syria.

The Syrian News Wire belives that Iran's new president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the best thing to happen to Syria in the last two years. But the worst thing Syria could do is associate itself with Iran.

Crossroads Arabia believes that Asharq Al-awsat interview with Frank Gardner, the BBC correspondent who was shot and permanently crippled in an attack against him and his cameraman in Riyadh in 2003 is worth your attention.

Human Rights Watch says that the Iranian government must investigate the deaths of at least 17 people at the hands of security forces in the western province of Kurdistan over the past two weeks.

umkahlil says: This is my apology for Christians in the US to Muslims, the Arab World, and particularly Palestinians. Too many of my co-religionists have made a travesty of the Golden Rule which unequivocally compels us, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Lebanese Political Journal says that the scariest part about Islamic jihadists is that they are uncontrollable. But where do you go if you are Syrian and want to blow stuff up and ride in planes?

Kuwait Blogs celebrates their 1st Birthday with more than 300 Kuwaiti blogs in their blogroll and over 255 aggregated at Safat. Congratulations!

Lina and Roba got together today to make some sort of publicity cards for Jordan Planet to pass out during Lina's trip to Ireland this week. The result was “Jordan Planet - Your window into Jordan.”

If you happen to be at Amman - Jordan, don't miss to listen to Ammar's interview on Ammannet today at 1400 GMT. The interview is about Bloggers and Blogging in Jordan.

A week before the withdrawal from Gaza is to begin, Robert Rosenberg summaries the political, military and economical steps taking place from both side (Israeli and Palestinians).

Shiloh Musings writes a letter to NY Times expressing her disappointment because they omitted mentioning of last night massive prayer rally at the Western Wall, Old City of Jerusalem against Sharon's Disengagement Plan.