Global Voices Online

Ben Wheeler writes on honor among Georgia's thieves–their Achilles' heel.

Onnik Krikorian writes on Karabakh and internally displaced persons, refugees, and landmines.

Sean Guillory examines whether or not nationalism in Russia is anti-East or anti-West.

Guyana's MediaCritic continues his “Conversations” series with a chat with “Jamaican Sistren” about the Caribbean Single Market, which was ratified earlier this week.

Burma Underground talks about a deal between the Thai government and the ruling Myanmar junta to dam the Salween River and displace thousands in ethnic minority states for Thai industrialization.

Guyana-Gyal recounts the hilarious tale of her mother's close brush with an arranged marriage, though admits that she's got “tradition in my bones”.

Ice Man Melting is so busy celebrating the 121st anniversary of the Grenada Boys Secondary School and attending a screening of the island's first feature film, that he almost forgot that Grenada celebrates its Indepedence Day this coming Tuesday.

EastSouthWestNorth translates a column by China blogger Michael Anti praising EastSouthWestNorth's heroic translations of Chinese media reports: “If the Chinese blogosphere can be said to be like the world of martial arts, then EastSouthWestNorth's Roland is the supreme leader of the alliance who is in a lofty and unmatched position. So please let us pay tribute to you, the leader of our tribe.”

The passing of pioneering video artist Nam June Paik earlier this week drew comment from Korea bloggers here and here.

Michelle Dion writes about a recent court case in Mexico where a judge ruled that Coke-FEMSA dismissed a worker because of his sexual orientation.

Carolina, Juan, and Pedro are among the contestants of Reality Blog, which predictably enough is the Chilean blogosphere's equivalent of reality T.V.

Việt Nam is famous for having extremely high literacy rates for a developing country. Down and Out in Sài Gòn observes that when it comes to foreign shows, many Vietnamese prefer listening to dubbed voices than reading subtitles.

Hell's Dire Agent links to a An Asian Perspective on Online Mediation.

LandFall thinks that “emancipation” from author Terri McMillan has been good for Jonathan Plummer, if only in the looks department. Plummer is the young Jamaican McMillan met while on vacation in Jamaica and eventually married, and who subsequently revealed he was gay. The story of their meeting was the inspiration for McMillan's novel How Stella Got her Groove Back.

A brilliant photo-post at Samudaya.org showing protestors being shoved around by the police. Not even UN Monitors and journalists were spared.

United We Blog! has a feature on “A student in Nepal remembers how her life has changed after an army bullet fired at pro-democracy students hit her.”

Entrance To The Shrine on Bombay: The trains, dirt, romanticizing the journey on trains, dabbawallah system and more.

Reuben at Zoostation writes about Cochin, its Jew Town and some of the last “White Jews” left.

Titlayo is fascinated by a newspaper report about a Barbadian woman who has been indicted in the US on charges of software piracy. And Richard Bolai pays tribute to Rachel Pringle, “the famous 18th century Barbadian hotelier, entertainer of princes and commoners, sailors and soldiers”.

Thai activist website CorruptionWatch.net (TH) had its hosting contract cancelled by its local host, according to Reporters San Frontieres. The website, which runs critical coverage of individuals linked to Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra, has found a new host — outside Thailand.

A few Americans try Filipino fast-food chain Jollibee and freak out: “We became such Ugly Americans because this food was so beyond anything we could have guessed it would be. We couldn't stop. We were embarrassing ourselves and still couldn't stop. Every bite was another shock.” Their reactions offend some, while others shrug. “oh well. it's definitely exaggeration. jollibee was not made for them, it's for filipinos.”

Panamanian blogger, Anna Luisa writes, what I believe is, her first post in English and concludes, “Today was OK. Today was cool. Today was in English.”

Reporters without Borders has called on the “Ethiopian authorities to explain why they are holding Frezer Negash, a member of the opposition and a correspondent for the US news website Ethiopian Review, for the past week. Negash is three months pregnant...”……“This new arrest once again shows that the Ethiopian authorities cannot stand their political opponents expressing their views in the media or on the Internet,” the press freedom organisation said. “As no official charge has been brought against Negash, we consider her detention to be arbitrary.”

My Heart's in Accra writes in praise of Ghana street food - “Great food is one of the main reasons to come to Accra. And the way to eat in Ghana is not to go to restaurants, but to wander from stall to stall on the sidewalks, eating plantain, kebab, boiled eggs and yam chips. I’d add fresh pineapple and coconuts to her list of neccesary culinary experiences”

Naija blog writes an obituary as Teju Cole's blog on his journey home signs out - we are all feeling the loss.

The Trials & Tribulations of a Freshly-Arrived Denizen mourns Ghana's Black Stars poor performance in the Africa Cup of Nations.

AfroHomo posts an extract of a letter to Nigeria's President Obasanjo on same sex marriage. “”I personally [sic] do not like same sex marriage, but that does not mean I must stop others who prefer to live that way, if it makes them happier. At the end of the day we do not need sermons on marriage ethics passed as laws of Nigeria according to the taste and caprices of Obasanjo and his holier than thou ministers.”

Friends of Ethiopia points to a piece in the New York Times on Ethiopia's rich history and prospects for cultural tourism.

Chippla's Weblog and David Ajao both comment on the ongoing debate around a third term for President Obasanjo. Ajao writes..”Like the proverbial cat with nine lives, this menace called “Third Term” has refused to die. It only simmers a little, and re-surfaces again, rearing its ugly head in the political terrain of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Kazey's Journal has a timeline of the recent rebel attacks in the Niger Delta and asks a number of questions such as “Is Nigeria a safe place to live”?

From Kenya, both Kenyan Pundit and Thinkers Room comment on the ongoing saga of the Githongo scandal….Pundits conclusion…”there is money in Kenya, just in the wrong pockets”.

Adventures of a retired arm chair traveller provides some real facts about the DRC….”Um. No, 92 out of every 100 babies do not die. This is why sports columnists should not write about health statistics, at least not without asking, So what does that mean? Think about it — If I had 10 babies, one MIGHT live. C'mon. DRC has a population of roughly 60 million, so that means that if all the infants had lived, they'd have a population of 750 million? No, I don't think so.”

Gukira comments on the passing of Mrs Coretta Scott King who he says will not be remembered for her support of gay and lesbian rights nor for belief in civil rights for all - she will be “She will be, like Caesar, stabbed and appropriated, turned into a docile saint.“

Curious is sick and tired of “the media-hyped frenzy that is whipped up to promote celebrity in the name of helping the poor” and points to paper by Professor William Easterly, “Planners Vs Searchers in foreign aid” which discusses the subject.

Weichegud! ET Politics tells us why she believes Ethiopian leader, Meles Zenawi is suffering from schizophrenia.

Francomenz pays tribute to her brother Ryan Mendes, the only Caribbean athlete ever to participate in New Zealand's famous Speights Coast-to-Coast Multi Sport Race. And both Francomenz and Richard Bolai visit the exhibition featuring the work of Trinidadian Carnival designer Wayne Berkeley.

Aqumada comments on her transistion from mere foreigner to American citizen and the new expectations from her husband who remains a foreigner.

Alice Backer reminds us that “a general strike against the UN mission's perceived inaction against insecurity, the recent suicide (or is that killing?) of the head of the UN mission, and delayed elections,” hasn't put a stop to Haiti's cultural life. Last week a panel discussing a novel by writer Marie Chauvet took place in the Haitian capital. “Among various themes,” says Alice, “panelists highlighted the work's relevance to haitian literature and to haitian women's literature.”

Otobos1 blog (Persian) informs us that this Friday bus drivers will start a strike to ask for liberation of hundred bus workers and drivers who got arrested last week, one day before launching strike. Blogger asked other bloggers to back strike and bus workers by different means including covering news. Already about 40 bloggers have left comments on Otobos1 to say they will back movement tommorow.