Global Voices Online

Imagethief reveals how you know Christmas is approaching in officially atheist Beijing.

Controversial but popular Japanese TV character Razor Ramon HG, a.k.a. Hard Gay now has a toy inspired by him. A “sexual minority” teacher's network has complained that the toy, which encourages children to stick plastic swords into a barrel until the TV character jumps out, discriminates against homosexuals.

Ricky Carandang reveals his disappointment that the commission tasked with reforming the Philippines' constitution and consider a change from a presidential to parliamentary government has taken the best reforms off the table.

Yawning Bread tells the stories behind Singapore's national symbols, including the much-maligned merlion and the Vanda Miss Joaquim orchid.

Revere at Effect Measure praises China's cooperative transparency in sharing with the world its bird flu virus samples. “The Chinese also report they have begun their own clinical trials of an experimental H5N1 vaccine.”

This is my last roundup until next week and I would like to end with a blog I think we all love Benn loxo du taccu……….Africa's music for the masses - North and South of the Sahara.

Lest some of us forget a few of life's realities at this time of much merrymaking etc Grandiose Parlour reminds us via Medecins Sans Frontieres of the impact and cost of AIDS in Africa…..”I was awestrickened after viewing” And I too!

Kid's Doc in Jos posts on Christimas in Nigeria……….Weather: dry and dusty. Travel: Like Thanksgiving in the US, this is the time for traveling home.Decorations: modest by American standards, but then Americans may be just a tad on the excessive side. Christmas parties: I’m sure that there are all varieties of parties and I don’t know most of them. Food: Spicy hot jollof rice with a chunk of beef or chicken is probably the most common. Christmas day at church: As far as we can tell, everyone in the Christian community (as opposed to Muslim) goes to church on Christmas day. Visiting is the main activity of the day after church. The day after Christmas is Boxing Day, from British tradition. It is a national holiday and the visiting and celebration continues.
Overall, Christmas here is very moderate, with neither the drama and emotion nor the frantic craziness and commercialism of Christmas in the US.

The New York transit strike features on quite a few Indian blogs. Kamla has a podcast where she speaks to a few business people on the transit strike.

On a lighter mode - a great tune but hey you need to change the song sometime! He has some questions about African leaders….”Is it true that Presidents are usually possessed by evil spirits/forces after they assume position” more to come…. Does Uncle Sege belong to the KGB? “Legend/myth/fiction has it that his drink was poisoned once in an occasion. And instead of laboratory tests being carried out to confirm it, the buttom of the cup simply popped out when he lifted it to drink. Call that Bendel Insurance?!”

Molara Wood has some cool photos “owambe belles” and “Lagos lass“. And if you write love poetry you can submit to the African Love Poems to be published next year.

South African reports that Australia's racist hooligans are still on the rampage this time hurling abuse at the SA cricket team….”The latest news coming out of Australia is that South Africa's cricketers were racially abused and called “kaffirs” and “kaffir boeties” during the first Test in Perth. This kind of behaviour is completely unnacceptable and should be dealt with severely by Cricket Australia. The current punishment of simply ejecting offenders from the ground, is insufficient and a mere slap on the wrist.” Interesting choice of words!

Gukira writing from the US complains that foreigners are not getting the same protection as US citizens in Bush's latest move to invade people's privacy……..”Repeatedly, leaders have condemned this “invasion of privacy.”Daddy senator and Mommy representative must protect Baby citizen from the hostile government wolfs.Not a single word, at least not reported, about the foreigners in America, as visitors, as scholars, as friends, as family. We need no protection. We are all potential threats”.

Moving back home is busy getting lost in Nairobi….”.i am unsure how people who have never lived in this city, get around. honestly. there are no map-books. and even if there were, people tend to substitute whatever road names there are for hand gestures. for example james gichuru is that road from lavington going towards ngong that goes like this”.. Sounds familiar!

Aqumada links to a site called “Overheardinnewyork” where people post conversations they have overheard in the city. He gives some examples ….”Puerto Rico chick: He likes that—what do you call it? That the black people make…that “tooka tooka tooka”…?
Nuyorican chick: Rap music.” - Sounds like fun - lets all give it a try over the next week!

Black Star Journal reports on the withdrawal of UN forces from Sierra Leone…….. “Once the largest peacekeeping mission in the world, UNAMSIL has disarmed and demobilised over 72,000 combatants and collected and destroyed over 30,000 arms, explained head of mission, [Daudi Ngelautwa] Mwakawago.”

Jewels in the Jungle has his own comments on the growth of the African blogosphere and uses a quote from Zimbabwean Pundit to describe it …”“The African blogosphere is a heterogeneous amalgam of blogs not only by Africans and people on the continent as much as it is comprised of blogs that write about the continent. There are many people around the world that write about Africa. This miracle of cyberspace—that it allows for cheap communication unfettered by geopolitical boundaries—has made it possible for the African odyssey to share center stage alongside the big issues in the west, thanks in part to Africa’s bloggers. The latest news from Africa is available to anyone in the world with access to the internet.”

My Heart is in Accra points to literary journal Granta whose lates issue is “The View from Africa“…Ory pointed me towards a piece by Binyavanga Wainaina, a Nairobi-based author who offered the satirical and very challenging “How to write about Africa”. (Pieces like this are great when, like me, you complain about how other people write or report on Africa… and you realize that you’re using cliches and sloppy generalizations as well…) I also enjoyed Lindsey Hilsum’s “We Love China”, which takes a close look at China’s increasing influence in Africa. It’s not a new story, but Hilsum tells it well, talking to Chinese entrepreneurs about why it’s a great time to be in business in Sierra Leone.” - Definately one to get.

Adam Isacson makes the argument that “Evo Morales is the natural and predictable product of twenty years of a militarized, failed U.S. drug policy in the Andes.”

Leo Prieto is impressed (ES) by an audio-visual show put on some by fellow Chileans in New York.

The Farakka Barrage has been a sore point in the diplomatic relationship between Bangladesh and India for long now. DeshCalling has a post on what is termed as a “diaboloical water conspiracy against Bangladesh“.

Legal News from Nepal reports that “The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has written to former Justice Top Bahadur Singh, the chairman of the Inquiry Commission on the Nagarkot killings, welcoming the formation of the probe panel and highlighting international standards as benchmarks of investigation of such incidents”.

The Hudood Ordinance is a draconian measure in Pakistan that makes life for rape victims even worse by demanding proof of the rape from the victim in the form of witnesses. Ampersand has more on the issue.

KO finds lots to improve at the frontier town of Taftan.
I fear that entire generations of travelers who have entered Pakistan through Taftan have their worst fears and more about our country confirmed. Obviously, as they travel the length and breadth of the country that impression becomes positive, but why start off on the wrong foot?

Made in Brazil covers the controversy surroundng Eliana Tranchesi.

Jonathan Olguin has translated an interview with Vice President-elect Álvaro García Linera.

Margot Hotus Salinas, a “linguist, musician and budding journalist,” remembers her childhood on Rapa Nui, also known as, “Easter Island” and “Isla de Pascua.” Nearly 2000 photos of the island are available on Flickr.

Orange Ukraine argues that Ukraine's current gas crisis will not ultimately help Yanukovich or other pro-Russia candidates in upcoming elections.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then Bulgarian banks may soon come up with miner-proof ATM cards according to a report from Nomad Notes.

Orange Ukraine argues that Ukraine should allow CIS election observers into the country during the March elections. (They may be barred for their negative assessment of the 2004 elections–the only time they have given such an assessment despite having observed numerous elections in the former Soviet Union.)

br23 blog comments on the upcoming presidential election in Belarus. That they are earlier than expected, the author says, matters not for the outcome.