Global Voices Online

Who knew Armenians Could Rap? posts about Hye Tghek, a Yerevan rap duo.

Raffi Meneshian, a blogger at Life in the Armenian Diaspora, writes about joining Yeraz Art, a nonprofit that assists young Armenian musicians in finding venues to perform internationally and helps fund their education.

Oneworld Multimedia has plenty of discussion of talks in France between Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach a settlement over Nagorno Karabakh, including that a US military presence in the region may be key to lasting peace.

Ben Wheeler has a postage stamp sized portrait of the Georgian gym scene.

Riverbends neighborhood and home was raided by the police. She provides a detailed account of what happened: “One of them stood with the Klashnikov pointed at us, and the other one began opening cabinets and checking behind doors. We were silent. The only sounds came from my aunt, who was praying in a tremulous whisper and little B., who was sucking away at his thumb, eyes wide with fear.”

In a somewhat enigmatic, but very informative series of four posts, S. Artesian of The Wolf Report describes, “The Importance of Being Ecuador.”

Costa Rica en el Presente has unofficial election results which are being thrown around as the Supreme Election Tribunal (TSE) continues to hand count ballots. In what Bob Glass calls a “fitting end,” those 7.7 million paper ballots may end up recycled as toilet paper.

Eduardo Ávila has two posts on the current troubles for the airline, Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (LAB). Jim Shultz tries to decipher Washington's mixed signals towards Bolivia and then calls a rumored reduction of US aid to the country a “good thing twice.”

Gustav of the Warsaw Station reports on the meeting between Poland's president Kaczyński and George Bush, during which Bush, among other things, asked Kaczyński for “his advice on Ukraine.” Gustav also writes that president Kaczyński and some political analysts expect Poland's relationship with Russia to improve soon.

Lemuel Kolkava of Deleted by Tomorrow writes about a funny development in the Slovak politics: because of the early election, the party that most wanted it now risks being left without space for campaign ads - “most of the billboards were already rented by private companies in the preparation for their own summer campaigns.”

Charlie Ganske of Russia Blog writes about the TV adaptation of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's novel “The First Circle” that's currently being shown on Russian TV. He sees it as a “positive development.” Charles also reviews a 1999 Russian-French-Bulgarian movie “East-West,” and promises that the “The Ninth Platoon” review will be next

Yuri Mamchur of Russia Blog writes on the recent clashes in a Southern Russian village, the inadequate coverage of Russia in the U.S. media, the West's support for the Russian ‘oligarchs', Putin's decision to invite Hamas representatives to Moscow - and the possible reasons to be concerned and even outraged by all these.

Ricardo Héctor, a Brazilian living in Chile, says it's going to be a busy year for Brazilians with Carnival right around the corner, a difficult World Cup tournament in Germany, and federal and local elections. Brazil Uncovered is a weblog which recorded the journey of Doug Banks and Dan Osborne as they sought to re-ignite their faith in football by journeying to Brazil.

Michael M. at The Glory of Carniola writes that Slovenian women were portrayed as not pretty in a 2002 Ali G's movie - and how Slovenians remained unmoved by it.

Inspired by a Finland blogger, Giustino at Itching for Eestimaa discusses something as relative as female beauty - and the lack of it - and writes on the Miss Estonia and Miss Tallinn contests.

Nepali Netbook on the outcomes of the recent elections and the sham - “8 municipal elections have allowed all three of the kingdom's principal protagonists to emerge as victors. “

Parmendra Bhagat on the forces that will determine Nepal's political currents - “Most political operatives working within democratic systems would agree that these three are the components of power: money, message, organization. These components are even truer for a complicated democratic movement like Nepal is.”

A different sort of Valentine for this year. Love for the country at United We Blog!

Charles Matheson reports to work at his office in the Jamaican district of Spanish Town, which erupted in violent protest on Wednesday in response to the killing of a gang leader. “The silence outside was broken by the crack of gunfire as we all scampered away from the front of the building, which is constructed of mostly glass,” writes Matheson. “At around 9:00am we were told to close the office and head home, which we did.”

The state of education in India and the current trends of the Government investing in Primary Education at The Indian Economy blog.

moodlogic with an update on the recent (and first ever) Bangladeshi Bloggers Meet with a photograph!

Sr. Diaz posts his 14-minute documentary (ES) on New York-based Dominican deejay DJ Chucky.

Guyanese Muslim blogger Qays finally weighs in on the Danish cartoons issue. “Could it really have been something as insolent and flippant as “testing the boundaries of free speech?” he says. “I just can’t comprehend that level of idleness. And I’m from the third world.”

The Trinidad & Tobago World Cup Blog links to a newspaper article stating that Janet Jackson has cancelled her appearance at a Carnival party organized to raise funds for the Soca Warriors, Trinidad & Tobago's national football team, who will be participating in the World Cup this year in Germany. The T&T World Cup Blog speculates that Jackson could be replaced by Colombian pop diva Shakira.

Writing about a concert by the Trinidadian rapso group 3canal, Nicholas Laughlin seizes the opportunity to rant about the current political situation.

Jamie on Two Koreas considers it significant that the All China Federation of Trade Unions is pressuring for a collective bargaining agreement at Hyundai's China operation , even though China restricts collective union actions.

Le Blog de l'UDF, the blog of a French centrist party, reports (FR) its leader Francois Bayrou's visit to French overseas departments Martinique and Guadeloupe. In his post-visit press conference Bayrou cited the unaddressed psychological consequences of slavery, rampant unemployment, a banana industry crisis, immigration from neighboring Caribbean nations, and transportation and development problems as hurdles faced by the two departments.

Tim Maddog on Indiac rebukes China's claims of being “peaceful” in a recent white paper, by citing Taiwan's white paper on China's rise and adding his own commentary.

The news of Japan's Princess Kiko being pregnant makes the writer of The Asia Pages a little nervous. If she will have a son, “what will happen to all the progress Japan has made in regards to warming up to the idea of having a female empress“?

John at Sinosplice is not sure how to best explain to his Chinese students in English “the difference between ‘value to society' and ‘inherent human worth'“. Readers debate whether this is a linguistic or cultural problem.

Naijablog has a quote from a discussion between Wole Soyinka and Ulli Beier which he says “which should serve as a message to anyone primed with evangelist intent” ….Soyinka “The person who needs to convert others is a creature of total insecurity”

Ethioblog writes on Ethiopian cross country skier, Robel Teklemariam who will be the only Ethiopian and possibly African participating at this months Winter Olympics …..”Robel Teklemariam said he hopes his countrymen's long-distance records on the track will translate into success in the cross-country skiing events.”

Musings of a Naijaman points to the African regional Commonwealth Prize for Best First Book and other African literary and art links.

You Missed This goes behind the scenes in Kenya and asks what role foreign powers had/have in Kenya? Did they play a part in exposing the Anglo-Leasing scandal?

Yebo Gogo reports that the Government of Togo has agreed to talks with the country's opposition He suspects that this mainly to encourage European aid to flow into the country.

Zimbabwean Pundit reminds us that for Zimbabwe's displaced urban dwellers, life has not changed …..”Large portions of Zimbabwe's urban dwellers continue to live undocumented lives outside of the meagre infrustructural support offered by the failing government.”

Afrika-aphukira discusses food as a measure of the level of mental colonisation which can be seen by the different foods Malawians eat at home and what they eat outside. “In our homes, we eat foods such as nsima, beans, mfutso, masamba otendera, nsomba, among many others, while in our hotels and restaurants we serve mostly rice, beef, chicken, spaghetti, and other foods mainly guided by Western tourist tastes”

MentalAcrobatics reminds Kenyans of the 2002 “watershed” elections and the power that voters had “The power of the ballot was born. All of a sudden people realised, “Hey this kura of mine can change things.” We should remember just what a leap that was.”

Voice of Somaliland Diaspora - Ottawa assesses the annual budget speech by the Minister Of Finance To Parliament

Ethan, My Hearts in Accra, has a roundup of the Kenyan reaction to the Githongo scandal.

KhmerAK watches a Cambodian horror movie and gives the plot away: “Srey Neang become a very Scary Ghost!!! She go back to village and kill peoople who have killed her family!…Nobody can stop her!!!”

Once upon a Weblog reflects on Indonesia's tragic abundance: “The country practically has everything necessary to develop into a successful nation: copper, tin, gold, forests, minerals, and oil–the black gold. Its wealth, as well as the strategic location, is supposed to be a blessing for Indonesians. However, after 60 years spanning 6 presidents, the state of abundance has been more of a curse.”

Frus and Fuss in Malaysia criticizes the 14 municipal council members who went on a junket to South Africa: “Look here, don't play-play with my tax money!”

Sheila Coronel of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism vents her frustration with how the powerful local television media has abdicated its responsibility for informing citizens and making democracy function in favor of peddling products.

On Ideoblog, a law professor thinks about countries such as Singapore competing for lucrative private banking business by relaxing their laws: “The main point is, to what extent does this represent a “race to the bottom” in which tiny “Delawares” like Singapore erode big countries’ ability to impose efficient taxes and regulations?”

Down and Out in Sài Gòn realizes that it was a very good idea to buy a helmet for driving or riding a motorbike in Vietnam: “People here may be driving slower than in western countries; 20-30 km/h is the norm in the cities. But it's the fall that makes the difference.”

In Samimanetar, (Persian) blogger says he heard several times from Tajzadeh, Islamic activist before revolution, political reformist & blogger, that we were not stupid to make revolution in 1970's, stupid are people who wants to go back to 1979 (The year when revolution happened).